Innovations of education socialisation in Vietnam: from participation towards privatisation

Abstract

Education reforms worldwide, in both developed and developing countries, address the content of education programmes and/or changes education systems. There are different paths, and different socioeconomic contexts, for those nations which pursue education reform, and Vietnam makes for an instructive example. The country’s socioeconomic renovation, known as Doi Moi since the late 1980s, has put forward the discourse of socialisation, which generally advocates greater public participation in all areas of society. Although socialisation has been the central ideology of the Doi Moi process, there is still a dispute about its meaning and implications. This paper contributes to debates about reforms by examining the discourse of socialisation in Vietnam through analysis of government documents and public opinion in various media. These secondary documents on education socialisation in Vietnam, highlight the institutionalisation of education socialisation in an apparent movement from general public participation to a form of privatisation. This institutionalisation has dramatically transformed the conditions of people’s access to education in Vietnam.     

A pump-free membrane-controlled perfusion microfluidic platform

In this article, we present a microfluidic platform for passive fluid pumping for pump-free perfusion cell culture, cell-based assay, and chemical applications. By adapting the passive membrane-controlled pumping principle from the previously developed perfusion microplate, which utilizes a combination of hydrostatic pressure generated by different liquid levels in the wells and fluid wicking through narrow strips of a porous membrane connecting the wells to generate fluid flow, a series of pump-free membrane-controlled perfusion microfluidic devices was developed and their use for pump-free perfusion cell culture and cell-based assays was demonstrated. Each pump-free membrane-controlled perfusion microfluidic device comprises at least three basic components: an open well for generating fluid flow, a micron-sized deep chamber/channel for cell culture or for fluid connection, and a wettable porous membrane for controlling the fluid flow. Each component is fluidically connected either by the porous membrane or by the micron-sized deep chamber/channel. By adapting and incorporating the passive membrane-controlled pumping principle into microfluidic devices, all the benefits of microfluidic technologies, such as small sample volumes, fast and efficient fluid exchanges, and fluid properties at the micro-scale, can be fully taken advantage of with this pump-free membrane-controlled perfusion microfluidic platform.     

Value orientations and motivational interference in school-leisure conflict: The case of Vietnam

The experience of motivational interference during studying and leisure in a school-leisure conflict and its relationship to pupils' value orientations were investigated in a self-report study of Vietnamese pupils (N = 346, mean age = 15 years). The results were compared with a combined sample consisting of pupils from nine other countries (N = 2155). From a cross-cultural perspective, the mean values of the variables show that Vietnamese pupils differ with regard to their values and motivational interference from pupils in other countries. Within the Vietnamese sample, modern value orientation was positively related to decision for a studying activity in a school-leisure conflict and to experience of motivational interference during a leisure activity and negatively related to interference during studying. For post-modern value orientation, the relationships were mostly reversed. Despite differences between sample means, the consistency in the relationships between the variables across the samples indicates that the pattern of relationships can be generalized.     

Optimal release conditions for the free throw in men's basketball

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum release conditions for the free throw in men's basketball. The study used hundreds of thousands of three-dimensional simulations of basketball trajectories. Five release variables were studied: release height, release speed, launch angle, side angle, and back spin. The free throw shooter was assumed to shoot at 70% and to release the ball 2.134 m (7 ft) above the ground. We found that the shooter should place up to 3 Hz of back spin on the ball, should aim the ball towards the back of the ring, and should launch the ball at 52 degrees to the horizontal. We also found that it is desirable to release the ball as high above the ground as possible, as long as this does not adversely affect the player's launch consistency.     

Engagement in Language Policies and Practices with and for Vietnamese Minority Student Youth

Drawing on the recent call for repositioning youth as creative and responsible agents in language and education research (e. g., McCarty & Wyman, 2009) and the notion of engaged ethnography (e.g., Davis & Phyak, 2015), the researcher engaged 16 minority student youth in a remote mountainous province in Vietnam in interrogating the realities of the current language policies (LP) while working actively with them to give rise to effective and responsive LP transformations. Youth’s resistance to the current LP, their critical awareness of their linguistic wealth, and their comprehensive recommendations for LP improvements greatly affirm themselves as resourceful and responsible agents in decision-making and pedagogical revitalizations. This article calls for respecting and recognizing youth’s power, voices, and rights, and invites them to deconstruct educational policies to promote multilingualism and effective educational change. Towards this end, I discuss implications to promote youth engagement in language education policies and practices.     

How academics manage individual differences to team teach in higher education: a sociocultural activity theory perspective

Higher Education - In the higher education (HE) landscape worldwide, team teaching has become increasingly common. The growing prevalence of team teaching in HE has mainly been driven by the...     

Key Problems in Organizing and Structuring University Research in Vietnam: The Lack of an Effective Research “Behaviour Formalization” System

Structure and organization seems to be at the root of many of the questions raised about institutional behaviour; however, with respect to research on university capacity building, few studies have examined research organizational problems, particularly in developing countries. This study investigates academic reactions to the structure and organization of research at four leading Vietnamese universities. Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 55 participants, the study finds that the four case-study Vietnamese universities have accomplished a number of the more visible tasks of research management such as creating research and research management positions; deciding primary organizational units for research delivery; creating a research office; and creating research oversight committees. However, they seem to neglect the other less visible tasks of organizing and structuring research such as developing rules for research integrity; developing a mechanism for evaluating the quality of research outcomes; preparing researchers and research managers for the necessary skills and knowledge; and deciding vertical and horizontal decentralization. The study concludes that even though research has been formally structured and organized, the management of research has not yet been professionalized. The key problem in organizing and structuring research is the lack of an effective system for research behaviour formalization. A more effective system for better formalizing research behaviours should be developed so that Vietnamese universities can integrate more successfully into the global research.     

International students in transnational mobility: intercultural connectedness with domestic and international peers,institutions and the wider community

International students’ connectedness with their peers, institutions and the broader community significantly affects their learning and wellbeing. It is important to understand their multiple desires for intercultural connectedness in order to nurture it. This paper analyses the motives and nature of international students’ intercultural connectedness. It is based on a study that includes more than 150 interviews and fieldwork with international students and staff from 25 vocational education colleges in Australia. Drawing on Blumer’s symbolic interactionism theory as a conceptual framework, the study found international students’ motivation to engage in intercultural connectedness is linked to not only their desire for respect and recognition for intellectual, cultural and linguistic capacities and diversities but also for employment aspirations. The research shows various dimensions in which intercultural engagement is seen to encompass not only empathy, sociability and equity but also employability. The findings suggest meaningful interaction is essentially bound to reciprocal learning.