Gandhi and Mao on manual labour in the school: A retrospective analysis

Mahatma Gandhi's views on relating the world of formal education to the world of work were developed first in his experimental ‘Tolstoy Farm’ in South Africa. On his return to India, Gandhi insisted that a required manual labour component in the curriculum would help regenerate India's village economy, develop in India's children a deeper understanding of India's cultural roots, motivate children to relate ‘book learning’ to life in society, and destroy invidious caste distinctions. The major proposals and suggestions in Gandhi's writing will be discussed in the context of his hopes for using schooling as an agent of progress in India. Mao Ze-Dong's views, on the other hand, were developed in the context of his Yenan experience in the 1930s, i.e. the decision to consolidate a power base in the interior of China before waging a class war against the landlords and capitalists of China. Mao's views were also, to some extent, rooted in the Chinese reality of stagnant, poverty-stricken rural areas. But, Mao's writings indicate that Marxist hopes to relate theory and practice (as understood in dialectical materialism) and to ensure that everyone participated in mental as well as manual labour in a socialist society had led him to formulate his proposals. Both Gandhi's and Mao's views and proposals have been more or less abandoned in India and China respectively. The similar and dissimilar reasons which led to such a fate are examined in this retrospective analysis.     

George Andrew Olah

Hungarian born American chemist, George Andrew Olah was a prolific researcher. The central theme of his career was the pursuit of structure and mechanisms in chemistry, particularly focused on electron-deficient intermediates. He leaves behind a large body of work comprising almost 1500 papers and twenty books for the scientific community. Some selected works have been published in three aptly entitled volumes, Across Conventional Lines.There is no way to capture the many contributions of Olah in a short essay. For this appreciation, we have chosen to high-light some of those contributions that to our mind represent a significant advance to the state of knowledge.     

Examination reform in traditional universities: a few steps forward,many steps back

After a brief discussion of the historical background, this article examines national attempts to reform the examination system in India. Reform attempts are discussed under eight categories: syllabus review and revision; increased frequency of public examinations; introduction of internal assessment; development of question banks; changeover to a grading system; semesterisation; improving the efficiency of the public examination bureaucracy, and, creation of autonomous colleges. Most of the impetus for reforming the examination system came from the availability of Western experts at very little cost to India and admiration for American and British practices among Indian higher education authorities. The failure of most of the reforms provide salutary lessons regarding educational borrowing for reform. The concluding pages discuss the theoretical issues related to the reform effort.First published inHigher Education Reform in India, eds. Philip G. Altbach and Suma Chitnis (New Delhi: Sage Publications India P.T. Ltd.).     

Living with imperfect comparisons: The challenges and limitations of comparative paralympic sport policy research

In this article, the authors explores the challenges and limitations of conducting cross-comparative management/policy research in the Paralympic sporting domain. The comparative sport policy debate in able-bodied sport has emerged, in part, due to the increasing complexity, uncertainty, and competitive nature of high performance sport environments and a desire to understand why some countries are more successful than others at international sporting competition. The same issues and questions have also emerged within the Paralympic context. As a precursor to establishing a research agenda in this area, however, it was deemed important to begin to address the epistemological, methodological, and practical issues in comparative sport research. The analysis draws upon the broader sociological literature and examples from the Paralympic sporting context to identify and discuss the challenges and limitations of the comparative approach as well as recommendations for mitigating against them.     

Institutional Image and Retention

The image or `branding' issue hasbecome a strategic managerial decision forpostsecondary institutions because it impactsupon the desire of a student to persist andcomplete, or to drop out. This paper examinesthe relationship that exists between students'expectations and their lived experience asreported by students in an actual institutionalsetting. It is a case study which suggestsactionable outcomes for the particularinstitution. More importantly, the approachused here is easily replicable and may beemployed to provide useful information forimage enhancement in other university settings.     

The impact of attaining the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma on academic performance in bioscience higher education

Since the introduction of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma Qualification (WBQ) in 2003, an increasing number of students are applying to higher education institutions (HEIs) with this qualification. The advanced-level WBQ is regarded as equivalent to one General Certificate of Education A-Level (GCE A-Level). This study assesses the impact of attaining the WBQ in addition to three GCE A-Levels on overall university degree performance in comparison to attaining four GCE A-Levels, in three cohorts of undergraduate students (Year 1?=?318, Year 2?=?280, Year 3?=?236) studying Biosciences from 2005 to 2011 at a UK HEI. Binary logistic regression was used to compare the academic attainment of students who had achieved four GCE A-Levels to those who had achieved three GCE A-Levels in addition to the WBQ. Comparisons were also made between students who had achieved three GCE A-Levels and those who had achieved three GCE A-Levels in addition to the WBQ. The results suggest that students who achieved the WBQ qualification in its current form, in addition to three GCE A-Levels, performed less well academically in undergraduate studies than those who achieved four GCE A-Levels. Furthermore, this effect was still present when the balance between coursework and examination was considered, and when students who had achieved the WBQ in addition to three GCE A-Levels were compared to students who had achieved three GCE A-Levels.     

Citizens' educational values and their satisfaction with a state university

This study describes citizens' values regarding (1) the importance of various university goals and activities, (2) the importance of various academic fields or disciplines, and (3) the importance of various reasons for attending the University of Minnesota. The study examines the relationships between these categories of educational values and citizen satisfaction with the University of Minnesota. A stratified random sample of 722 Minnesota citizens received a questionnaire which had a series of items related to the purposes of the study; 56% returned completed questionnaires. Common factor analyses were used to identify categories of educational values. Citizens' values regarding important goals and activities of the university and their values regarding important reasons for attending the university were somewhat useful in explaining their satisfaction.