Cooperative Learning in Vietnam and the West–East educational transfer

Under pressure of the continuing need to modernize, Vietnam is rapidly reforming its education system. Cooperative Learning (CL) with a Western-based model is being enthusiastically applied. This paper suggests that an authentic form of CL has long existed in the foundations of Vietnamese education. The reasons why Western-based CL is encouraged can be attributed to false universalism (the belief that a practice that originated from elsewhere can be “cloned” with similar results) and neo-colonialism (the perpetuation of a colonial mindset under the pressure of financial loans). While an adjusted form of CL has been suggested by previous studies to make CL culturally appropriate, this paper argues that a true hybrid form of CL which takes into account the authentic CL will have more potential to make this method not only culturally but institutionally appropriate. The paper indicates a strong need to identify and incorporate indigenous practice in the process of educational reform.     

Learning to be a person – East and West

This paper falls into two parts – a Western interpretation and an Eastern critique of the same process. The first part provides an interpretation of how we learn to become culturally embedded individuals. The paper notes the learning processes in the formation of the cultural and national self. We, in the West, have traditionally assumed that the process and its interpretation is universal because we have assumed the universality of human nature. Thereafter the paper seeks to adopt the philosophy of the East in which we move away from individualism and recognise that all people live in a universal network: this calls for a different interpretation of the process of becoming selves and so some of the implications of this Eastern approach are examined.     

Lifelong Cyberlearning System: A Pilot Project for the ‘Learning Society’ in the ROC

Abstracts

English: Lifelong Learning is an important national policy in the ROC, and a significant goal in our educational reform policy is to establish a ‘Learning Society’ based on the concept of lifelong learning. This paper is intended to provide a broad overview of the current status of developments moving us towards the Learning Society, and to elucidate a special pilot project: The Lifelong Cyberlearning System. This project is sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the ROC.     

Co-mentoring: The Iterative Process of Learning about Self and “Becoming” Leaders

Two pre-tenured faculty members at dissimilar institutions found themselves in similar positions – both were assigned to administrative positions that they did not seek. This self-study is an investigation of their processes of becoming leaders and how they aligned and/or conflicted with their espoused beliefs. A review of the literature that guided them is also included. Throughout the process, the two served as co-mentors for each other as they navigated the unfamiliar territory of educational leadership at the university level. Together, they strove to remain committed to shared ideals of democratic practice, transparency, and collaboration. As evidenced in the data, tensions existed as they learned and performed their new roles. Administrative duties and their enactment at times conflicted with their ideals of effective leadership. Electronic journals kept throughout the process were the main data source, which they then revisited to chart their own and each other’s learning and growth while leading. Looking back at their progression, they were able to identify four iterative phases in their development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Discussions of each phase, with examples, are focal points of the study. The co-mentoring model is one that, while not typically or formally used, was shown to be effective for these two new leaders. Leading each other’s learning helped them align ideals of leading (in teaching and scholarship) with traditional ideas of administration (management tasks and leadership enactments). This study provides clear recommendations for new leaders and those who support them in becoming leaders.     

Examining the Relationships Between English Teachers’ Lifelong Learning Tendencies with Professional Competencies and Technology Integrating Self-Efficacy

Education and Information Technologies - The aim of this study is to examine the lifelong learning tendencies of English teachers, their professional competencies, and their self-efficacy in...     

Between East and West: Sappho Leontias (1830–1900) and her Educational Theory

The paper presents one of the most prominent Greek women teachers and educators of the nineteenth century, and a leading figure of Greek women’s education in Ottoman territory, Sappho Leontias (1830–1900). Within a transnational framework and based on the study of the writings of Sappho Leontias, the paper presents her educational views, theory and philosophy and focuses on her connections to educational thought and activity “beyond ethnic/national borders”, investigating the influences on her theoretical schema. A secondary intention of the paper is to present the influence Leontias exercised on the education of her times through an overview of her educational activity. The historical and social conditions of the time and place, as well as gender ideologies, are taken into consideration; the paper supports the position that they affect or shape individual projects and choices to a great extent.     

Tensions Between the “Science” of Reading and a “Love of Learning”: One High-Poverty School's Struggle with NCLB

This article addresses one of the fundamental flaws of No Child Left Behind (NCLB): the disconnect it creates between the lived culture of schools and the inflexible mandates focused exclusively on scientific research. Specifically, we examined NCLB's Reading First Program, a grant program that focuses on promoting specific “scientifically-based” components of teaching reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension instruction). The data reported in the article is based on a qualitative case study of one high-poverty school in the Northeastern section of the United States. The findings suggest that missing in the story of scientifically-based research and accountability are the roles that context and individual student needs play in the professional role of a teacher in the classroom.     

Students’ Learning Activities Within and Between the Contexts of Education and Work

Many professional educational programs combine learning at an educational institute with learning in the workplace. The differences between these contexts, and the resulting challenges for learning, have been well-documented. However, there are few studies that explore the same students’ learning in both contexts, and even fewer that compare that learning to the learning that results from an integration of learning in both contexts. In this study we investigate, in detail, the similarities and differences of students’ learning activities both within and between the formal educational and workplace contexts of a professional educational program in the Netherlands. To that end, we analysed 1866 learning experiences of 148 students in a dual teacher education program. Analyses revealed that although the different contexts appear to be more conducive to certain kinds of learning activities, thereby confirming prior research, all learning activities did occur in all contexts. Our findings also confirm the value of learning that combines the educational and the workplace contexts, as this learning results in integrations of theory and practice and reflections on professional identity. Implications for dual education programs include focussing on increasing the diversity of learning activities within a single context and supporting students in learning how to learn, next to what to learn, irrespective of the context in which this learning takes place.     

Do Science Teachers Distinguish Between Their own Learning and the Learning of Their Students?

Learning beliefs influence learning and teaching. For this reason, teachers and teacher educators need to be aware of them. To support students’ knowledge construction, teachers must develop appropriate learning and teaching beliefs. Teachers appear to have difficulties when analysing students’ learning. This seems to be due to the inability to differentiate the beliefs about their students’ learning from those about their own learning. Both types of beliefs seem to be intertwined. This study focuses on whether pre-service teachers’ beliefs about their own learning are identical to those about their students’ learning. Using a sample of pre-service teachers, we measured general beliefs about “constructivist” and “transmissive” learning and science-specific beliefs about “connectivity” and “taking pre-concepts into account”. We also analysed the development of these four beliefs during teacher professionalisation by comparing beginning and advanced pre-service teachers. Our results show that although pre-service teachers make the distinction between their own learning and the learning of their students for the general tenets of constructivist and transmissive learning, there is no significant difference for science-specific beliefs. The beliefs pre-service teachers hold about their students’ science learning remain closely tied to their own.     

“Betwixt and Between”: Leisure-time Teachers and the Construction of Professional Identities

In 2014, a newly formed group of teachers graduated from Swedish universities. In addition to their qualification as leisure-time pedagogues, their degree includes teaching practical/aesthetical subjects in compulsory school. This group of teachers thus has to relate to dual professional identities and to maintain a balance between the socially oriented leisure-time centres and a goal- and results-driven school. In this article we describe their first two years after graduation, trying to get hold of their negotiation of professional identities and orientation in the professional landscape. Results shows that the graduates try to balance own ideals and hybrid professional intentions against traditional professional identities and labour market conditions and that position in a liminal phase might be crucial for the outcome.     

“My Heart Is in the East and I Am in the West”: Enduring Questions of Israel Education in North America

By examining writing about Israel education since the founding of the State, this paper highlights three questions that have surfaced repeatedly in Jewish educational discourse: What is the purpose of teaching American Jews about Israel? Who is best equipped to teach American Jews about Israel? How can Israel education foster positive identification with Israel without whitewashing over the imperfections of the Jewish State? By exploring how each question has manifested in Jewish education, it examines why—for very different reasons—these questions have endured over time, and considers what it might take to arrive at lasting conclusions about them.     

Educational practice in India and its foundations in Indian heritage: a synthesis of the East and West?

The paper examines education practice in India in terms of the division between indigenous cultures on the one hand, and the formal culture of learning and knowledge systems inherited from colonial times on the other. These ‘two Indias’ are still reflected in the modern educational system in India, seen in the vast differences between the formal school system, whose benefits reach only a minority of the population, and the millions of crafts-persons working in India's informal sector, many without education or training. The paper looks at reasons for these divisions within the culture and history of India's formal, non-formal and informal systems of education and training. The paper also throws light on the aspirations to unite these divided cultures of learning by looking at some of the writings of J.P. Naik, the famous educationist and secretary of the first Report of the Education Commission (1964–66) after India's independence. The analysis needs to be seen against the background of international educational thought which is improving the value, relevance and quality of non-formal and informal learning, as key pillars for building lifelong learning systems.     

Epistemological Predictors of “Self Efficacy on Learning Biology” and “Test Anxiety Related to Evaluation of Learning on Biology” for Pre-service Elementary Teachers

The degree to which pre-service teachers learn biology is related to both motivational factors of self-regulation and factors regarding epistemological beliefs. At the same time, self-regulation and epistemological beliefs are also associated with one another. Based on this relationship, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between components of epistemological beliefs and self-refulation (self-efficacy and test-anxiety) on learning biology. The study was conducted with 411 pre-service elementary and pre-service elementary science teachers by using a predictive research approach. Collected data was analyzed by the multiple linear regression technique. The results showed that only the belief about “existence of one truth” was a significant predictor of test anxiety while there was no epistemological predictor of self-efficacy. Conclusions and implications of the study will be discussed.     

Lifelong education and adult education — the state of the theory

Some years ago when the concept of lifelong education was in vogue and when there was a constant flow of literature about it being published by a core of writers gravitating around or employed by UNESCO, the constant warning was not to confuse the concept of lifelong education with adult education because this would unduly limit the concept and distort the educational philosophy it represented. This warning has not, generally, been heeded by writers and the expression ‘lifelong education’ has consequently lost the distinctive meaning writers like Dave, Cropley, Gelpi and Lengrand tried to give it in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979 Cropley edited a book called Lifelong Education: A Stocktaking which, in fact, tried to take stock of the state of the theory and to identify the problems with its promotion. Gelpi took up the latter task in some detail in a subsequent article but failed to address certain problems with the concept of lifelong education itself, raised earlier by Lawson. This paper goes over all this ground and then tries to clarify some confusions with the concept of lifelong education by examining two different interpretations or views of lifelong education, the ‘maximalist’ and the ‘minimalist’, which have evolved through the literature of the subject, identifying the former with the core of writers mentioned above. It then examines the role of adult education within the two interpretations, arguing that the ‘maximalist’ view has largely disappeared to the detriment of adult education, and reproposing it anew to adult education writers and practitioners.     

Lifelong learning: The dialectics of “lifelong educations”

This article examines the emergence of different patterns of lifelong education and at the same time gives an overall view of how the various contributions to this special issue add to our understanding of the process of change that is taking place in the educational arena. The article is structured around three main themes. First, it addresses the changing relationship between initial education, adult education and the general learning environments. As the author shows, these three elements form a complex and interacting web of influences, which can be fully understood only as a totality. Secondly, under the heading of The Dialectics at work behind and in education, the article discusses such factors as the changing patterns of employment and non-working time and the disparity between social demand for education and the institutional response. Thirdly, the author deals with the economy of lifelong learning and the changing role of the state in education. Overall, the author presents a picture of profound and widespread transition, in which many different types of learning society are emerging.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel untersucht das Auftreten unterschiedlicher Bildungsmuster im Bereich lebenslanger Bildung und gibt zugleich einen Gesamtüberblick darüber, wie verschiedene Beiträge zu diesem Thema unser Verständnis für den gegenwärtig im Erziehungsbereich stattfindenden Veränderungsprozess erhöhen. Dieser Artikel gliedert sich in drei Hauptthemen. Erstens geht er auf die sich ändernden Beziehungen zwischen einer Erstausbildung, Erwachsenenbildung und allgemeinen Lernumgebungen ein. Der Autor zeigt auf, daß diese drei Elemente ein komplexes und interagierendes Netz von Einflüssen bilden, das nur in seiner Gesamtheit vollständig erfaßt werden kann. Zweitens diskutiert der Artikel unter der Überschrift die angewandte Dialektik vor dem Hintergrund der Bildung und in der Bildung selbst Faktoren wie Veränderungen von Arbeitsplatz und arbeitsfreier Zeit und die Diskrepanz zwischen dem sozialem Bedarf an Bildung und der institutionellen Antwort darauf. Drittens behandelt der Autor die wirtschaftliche Seite des lebenslangen Lernens und die sich ändernde Rolle des Staates in der Bildung. Insgesamt präsentiert der Autor das Bild einer tiefgehenden und weitreichenden Übergangsphase, in deren Verlauf viele unterschiedliche Arten von Lerngesellschaften auftreten.

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Résumé Cet article examine l'apparition de différents modèles d'éducation permanente et explique également en quoi ce numéro spécial nous permet de comprendre les processus de transformation qui ont lieu sur la scène éducative. L'article est structuré autour de trois thèmes principaux. Il aborde en premier lieu l'evolution des liens existant entre éducation initiale, éducation des adultes et environments éducatifs. L'auteur démontre que ces trois éléments forment un édifice complexe d'interactions réciproques qui n'est vraiment compréhensible que considéré dans sa totalité. Il discute ensuite sous le titre Processus dialectiques en éducation divers facteurs tels que la mutation des modèles d'emploi et de temps hors travail, ainsi que la disparité entre la demande sociale en éducation et la réponse des institutions. Enfin, il se penche sur l'éducation permanente d'un point de vue économique et sur le nouveau rôle de l'Etat en matière d'éducation. L'auteur brosse avant tout le tableau d'une transformation profonde et générale qui donne naissance aux formes de société éducative les plus variées.