“Countability not answerability?” Accountability in Hong Kong and Singapore universities

Singapore and Hong Kong are vying to be the principal educational hub for the Asia-Pacific region and have begun to compete with Australia, Britain, Canada and the USA in providing cross-border education. Although these four Anglo-American countries still dominate cross-border education, Singapore and Hong Kong hope to make inroads into this export market and compete on the global stage. To create “world-class” universities, Singapore and Hong Kong have introduced quality assurance mechanisms, diversified funding sources, and restructured their university governance systems. This article compares the accountability measures introduced into Hong Kong and Singapore universities, and the responses of academics and administrators to these measures. The results indicate that both countries introduced greater autonomy as they augmented accountability for their universities, and the term “decentralised centralism” describes the kind of government control exerted in these Asian universities in the twenty-first century.     

Influences of Teacher–Child Social Interactions on English Language Development in a Head Start Classroom

Increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking preschool children require attention to improve the likelihood of success in school. This study, part of a larger 2-year ethnographic study of a Head Start classroom, elaborates the role of teachers’ interactions with students who were learning English. Using an interactional ethnography approach, the authors focus on the social nature of these interactions. The study illuminates the kinds of teacher interactions with students that support and hinder the students’ language learning. It reinforces the importance of student engagement in social interactions with teachers and with English other than codes of obedience and authority. Finally, it recommends actions teachers can take to provide optimal circumstances for English learning interactions for students.

Education for all: the globalization of learning targets

It is argued that the ambitious programme ‘Education for All’, launched by UNESCO, could be seriously undermined by its reliance upon the achievement of numerical ‘targets’. Evidence from existing attempts by countries to impose educational targets reveals undesirable side‐effects and distortions of educational systems. The paper explores some of the possible consequences of UNESCO's adherence to such targets.     

Internationalisation in practice in Australian independent secondary schools: a global-local nexus?

The phenomenon of internationalisation of education in the twenty-first century has developed more rapidly and has been the subject of more research in higher education than in the schooling sector. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the perspectives of school leaders, teachers and students about ‘internationalisation in practice’ in two case-study Australian independent secondary schools that adopted different approaches to internationalisation. Theoretical lenses of both interpretivism and critical theory were used to guide the research at different stages. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Findings indicate that whilst globalisation is having a powerful impact on schools, local contextual factors such as school ethos, school resources, teacher values and parent demographics and expectations play a significant part in shaping how schools engage with internationalisation. Wider implications for equity, teacher education and further research and theory development are also discussed.     

The comparative ethnography of educational projects: youth and adult literacy programmes in Brazil

This article elaborates the concept of educational projects, a term that signifies consistent constellations of institutions, financial resources, social actors, ideologies, theories of knowledge and attendant pedagogies that shape local cultural practices of schooling. The article demonstrates the utility of the concept of educational projects for comparative and international educational studies by examining competing educational projects in Brazilian literacy programmes for youth and adults. In conclusion, the article argues that the concept of educational projects provides a theoretically rich comparative tool for the field of comparative and international education.     

Science education goals and curriculum designs in American and Chinese High Schools

This paper reports findings from a comparative study of science education goals and curriculum designs in American and Chinese high schools, based on data gathered from a survey of Chinese educationists who came to the USA as visiting scholars between 1991 and 1994. The ideal goals of science education are similar in the USA and China, but the real emphases are quite different in the two nations' schools. In curriculum design, American science education has wider scope but much less depth than its Chinese counterpart. These differences are also reflected in text-books and classroom activities. Implications for change in science education are discussed for both American and Chinese high schools.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel befaßt sich mit den Ergebnissen einer vergleichenden Studie zu den Zielen der wissenschaftlichen Erziehung und Curriculumsentwürfen in amerikanischen und chinesischen Hochschulen; basierend auf einer Studie chinesischer Erziehungswissenschaftler, die zwischen 1991 und 1994 als Gastschüler in die USA kamen. Die Idealziele wissenschaftlicher Erziehung sind in den USA and in China gleich, aber die reale Umsetzung ist in den Schulen beider Nationen sehr unterschiedlich. Im Curriculumsentwurf hat die wissenschaftliche Erziehung der Amerikaner einen breiteren Umfang aber weniger Tiefgang als die ihrer chinesisischen Kollegen. Diese Unterschiede zeigen sich auch in Textbüchern und Aktivitäten im Klassenraum. Diskutiert werden anschließend Änderungsvorschläge sowohl für amerikanische als auch für chinesische Hochschulen.

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Résumé L'article commente les résultats d'une étude comparative entre les Etats-Unis et la Chine sur les objectifs de l'enseignement scientifique et l'élaboration des programmes correspondants. Ces résultats proviennent de données collectées lors d'une enquête réalisée par des pédagogues chinois séjournant dans des lycées américains entre 1991 et 1994. Les objectifs théoriques fixés pour l'enseignement des sciences correspondent dans les deux pays, mais les applications pratiques divergent notablement. En ce qui concerne la structure des programmes, l'enseignement américain est plus vaste mais moins approfondi que son équivalent chinois. Cette différence se reflète également dans les manuels scolaires et les activités en classe. S'ensuit une discussion sur les conséquences qu'aurait une révision de l'enseignement de cette matière dans les lycées des deux pays.

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Sumario Este trabajo informa los resultados de un estudio que compara los objetivos de la educación y los delineamientos de currículo de las universidades estadounidenses y chinas, basándose en datos recogidos de un informe confeccionade por especialistas en pedagogía chinos que permanecieron en los EE UU entre 1991 y 1994 como eruditos invitados. Si bien los objetivos ideales de los estudios científicos son similares en los EEUU y en China, los énfasis reales son bastante diferentes en los sistemas de ambas naciones. en el delineamiento del currículo americano, la educaíon científica presenta una gama más amplia, pero mucho menos profunda que la de su equivalente china. Estas diferencias también se reflejan en los libres de textos y en las actividades en las aulas. Se están discutiendo las consecuencias para un cambio en la educación científica, tanto para universidades estadounidenses como para las chinas.