Meaning of life as a protective factor of positive affect in acculturation: A resilience framework and a cross-cultural comparison

Although research has demonstrated a strong linkage between meaning of life and positive emotion, few studies have examined this association in the context of acculturation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive effects of meaning of life and acculturative stressor on positive affect in a sample of Chinese international students in Australia and Hong Kong, and to compare these effects between the two groups. Four hundred mainland Chinese postgraduate students at six universities in Hong Kong and 227 Chinese international students at the University of Melbourne in Australia completed a questionnaire that included measures of acculturative stressor, meaning of life, positive affect, and demographic information. The analyses revealed that (1) meaning of life had a strong positive contribution to predict positive affect in acculturation, and acculturative stress had a negative impact on positive affect within both samples; (2) social interaction had a significant negative predictive effect on positive affect in both samples, and academic work served as a significant negative predictor of positive affect in the Hong Kong sample; and (3) meaning of life was found to mediate the relationship between acculturative stress and positive affect in both samples. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

青奥会契机下的南京城市国际化发展路径探析

目前推进城市国际化,打造国际城市已成为各个国家、各大城市一种新的发展途径。而大型赛事是具有全球影响力和广泛参与度的体育盛会,能够推动举办城市的国际化发展进程。青奥会作为规模仅次于奥运会的大型体育赛事,2014年将在南京举办。因此南京应以青奥会为契机,抓住赛前、赛中、赛后三个阶段机遇,改善南京城市现状,以此消除南京城市国际化发展中的障碍。     

A Comprehensive Analysis of High School Genetics Standards: Are States Keeping Pace with Modern Genetics?

Science education in the United States will increasingly be driven by testing and accountability requirements, such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, which rely heavily on learning outcomes, or "standards," that are currently developed on a state-by-state basis. Those standards, in turn, drive curriculum and instruction. Given the importance of standards to teaching and learning, we investigated the quality of life sciences/biology standards with respect to genetics for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using core concepts developed by the American Society of Human Genetics as normative benchmarks. Our results indicate that the states' genetics standards, in general, are poor, with more than 85% of the states receiving overall scores of Inadequate. In particular, the standards in virtually every state have failed to keep pace with changes in the discipline as it has become genomic in scope, omitting concepts related to genetic complexity, the importance of environment to phenotypic variation, differential gene expression, and the differences between inherited and somatic genetic disease. Clearer, more comprehensive genetics standards are likely to benefit genetics instruction and learning, help prepare future genetics researchers, and contribute to the genetic literacy of the U.S. citizenry.     

Parental perspectives and challenges in inclusive education in Singapore

Relatively little work has focused on inclusive education in Singapore. This study examines the experiences and perceptions of parents whose children with disabilities are attending mainstream secondary schools in Singapore. Data was drawn from interviews with 13 parents of children with mild disabilities. Our findings reveal that parental perspective on inclusive education in Singapore is not only about classroom support but also reflects a deeper concern about whether their children with disabilities will emerge from school as contributing individuals in society. While parents strive to effectively include their children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, there were dichotomies in their (1) understanding of disabilities, (2) expectations of school support, and (3) expectations for their child with disabilities. Given that academic and social prowess is a critical prerequisite to have a shot at entering the meritocratic Singapore society, the tension parents experience is to gauge a reasonable amount of pressure to exert on their children, the school and themselves as they assert their children's educational entitlements within an imperfect but evolving state of inclusion.     

Teacher change beliefs: validating a scale with structural equation modelling

The objectives of the study were to validate a substantiated Teacher Change Beliefs Model (TCBM) and an instrument to identify critical components of teacher change beliefs (TCB) in Malaysian secondary schools. Five different pilot test approaches were applied to ensure the validity and reliability of the instrument. A total of 936 teachers from 47 high-performing secondary schools completed the survey. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the models. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to identify the underlying factors, whereas confirmatory factor analysis was applied to test the measurement models. The analysis yielded a three-factor TCBM: (1) discrepancy, (2) efficacy and (3) principal support. The results demonstrated a good fit of the model: normed χ² = 3.156, Tucker-Lewis Fix Index = .987, Comparative Fix Index = .991 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .048. The results also provided evidence for convergent validity, discriminant validity and construct reliability. The TCBM is an empirically tested model derived in a local Malaysian cultural education setting. It provides direction for practitioners in planning and designing training programmes of change management for school principals in the enhancement of TCB among teachers in schools. Besides, Teacher Change Beliefs Scale is a promising and welcome tool for both practitioners and researchers. With only nine items, it is easy to administer and not time-consuming.     

Instructional leadership practices in Singapore

This paper presents a review of the literature on principal instructional leadership in Singapore. The authors investigated the dimensions of instructional leadership in the practices of Singapore principals and highlighted the strategies these leaders adopt to enact their instructional roles. Singapore principals were found to play an active role in defining the school vision and promoting the school climate. However, in the areas of curriculum implementation and classroom instruction, the middle management team in the school played more active roles as compared to principals. Five broad conclusions were discussed to provide perspectives on instructional leadership practices in Singapore. This paper also highlighted limitations on current instructional leadership research in Singapore and pointed to areas of future research.     

Global pedigree and national imperative: Hong Kong universities’ response to China’s grand strategies

Higher Education - Literature offers a theoretical framework exemplifying the inherent tensions between “becoming Chinese” and “remaining global” in the evolution of the...     

中国第一代十大油画家的艺术品及其行情（上）

20世纪90年代，国内的油画市场并不景气。最初京沪两地有多家拍卖行开拍中国油画，由于藏家、买家很少，致使不少拍卖行放弃了中国油画的拍卖，能坚持的恐怕只有嘉德等极少数拍卖行。近几年，随着中国艺术品行情急剧升温，各路藏家对中国油画价值的认识发生了转变，不少藏家认为油画是一种国际性的收藏品，已故的世界级名家作品价格常高达百万乃至千万美元，而在世有成就的油画家作品价格也大都动辄数十万乃至上百万美元。     

The operation of grade retention and educational inequality: who gets retained in Macao and why?

While the existence of a class, gender, or ethnic gap in educational attainment is well documented for many societies, how the practice of grade retention contributes to these patterns of educational inequality has been inadequately addressed. Given that grade retention is commonly practised in Macao, Macao is used as a case for illustration. Using data from PISA 2009 and a qualitative research project, we seek to demonstrate how inadequate state regulation could make possible the manipulation of grade retention institutionally and individually in Macao. This, in turn, illustrates how the specific contextualized structural operation of grade retention could serve as a mechanism for social differentiation and thus play a role in contributing to the observed educational inequality.