Education hubs and talent development: policymaking and implementation challenges

The discourse on the internationalization of higher education emphasizes revenue generation while neglecting other diverse rationales pursued by governments and institutions. For countries that are seeking to venture into a knowledge economy or accrue greater competitive advantages under globalization, many policymakers view cross-border higher education as a platform for developing human talent. In this pursuit, education hubs stand out as large-scale initiatives supported by extensive planning and investment. By comparing the developments of Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong as education hubs, three distinct objectives are apparent: to develop local talent, to attract foreign talent, and to repatriate diasporic talent. Despite the attention directed at the recruitment of international students, developing local talent remains a fundamental goal among education hubs. Talent development includes manpower planning as well as more inclusive provisions that support the diverse interests among local students. On the other hand, education hubs do not share the goals of attracting foreign and repatriating diasporic talent. Contextual factors such as distinct political economies and ethnic sensitivities mediate the recruitment of external talent. Comparing the policy rhetoric of talent development against the realities of implementation reveals sharp misalignment in some cases. More importantly, the political inertia in Singapore and Hong Kong exerts a gravitational pull that is increasingly turning sentiments against some foreign talent.     

Researching Race Within Educational Psychology Contexts

In this article, we question why race as a sociohistorical construct has not traditionally been investigated in educational psychology research. To do so, we provide a historical discussion of the significance of race as well as present current dilemmas in the exploration of race, including an examination of the incidence and prevalence of race-related constructs in top educational psychology journals. As a means of expanding educational psychology's use of race as a sociohistorical construct, we introduce the concepts of race-focused and race-reimaged constructs. We end the article with suggestions for how we can begin exploring race as a sociohistorical construct in the field of educational psychology, including the need to challenge traditional paradigms and embrace culturally relevant methodologies.     

Enid on Enid: Blyton’s Use of Arthurian Narratives in The Knights of the Round Table

The article begins by assessing Enid Blyton’s contribution to the Arthurian revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, setting this in the context of longstanding debates about the function of children’s literature. It goes on to argue that Blyton’s use of the story of Enid in The Knights of the Round Table (1930) has a personal significance which deserves attention. The article also suggests that other figures in the story—Enid’s father, her mother, and her husband Geraint—have parallels in Blyton’s life. In Alfred Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King,” the tale of Geraint and Enid concerns the early phase of married life—a phase which must meet certain criteria if children are to be forthcoming. But Blyton’s source might have prompted unease on her part, for it was in 1928—the year in which The Knights of the Round Table was serialized—that Blyton, who had not conceived after 4 years of marriage, consulted a gynaecologist.     

The relationship between adult health and childhood maltreatment,as moderated by anger and ethnic background

Childhood maltreatment, anger, and racial/ethnic background were examined in relation to physical health, psychological well-being, and blood pressure outcomes. This study used data from a diverse sample of African American, Latino, and Caucasian participants (N = 198). Results from a series of multiple regressions indicated anger and total childhood maltreatment were robust predictors of poorer health. Although correlational analyses found maltreatment from the mother and father were associated with poorer health outcomes, when considered as part of the regression models, only a relationship between maltreatment from the mother and physical health was found. Greater anger scores were linked with lower blood pressure, particularly systolic blood pressure. Generally, more psychological and physical symptom reporting was found with greater anger scores, and higher levels of total maltreatment also predicted physical symptoms. The pattern of interactions indicated anger was more detrimental for African American participant's (and marginally so for Latino participant's) physical health. Interestingly, interactions also indicated total childhood maltreatment was related to fewer symptoms for Latino participants. Although child maltreatment may be viewed as a moral and/or human rights issue, this study provides evidence that it can also be viewed as a public health issue. Our study demonstrated that known health risk factors such as anger and maltreatment may operate in a different pattern dependent on ethnic/cultural background. The findings suggest health and health disparities research would benefit from greater exploration of the differential impact of certain moderating variables based on racial/ethnic background.     

Negotiating diversity: an empirical investigation into family,school and student factors influencing New Zealand adolescents’ science literacy

The purpose of this study was to examine a factor triad consisting of family, school and student variables contributing to New Zealand adolescents’ science literacy performance on Programme for International Student Assessment 2006. Results indicated that the selected variables in our study explained 25% of total differences in New Zealand students’ science achievement. Family socio-economic status (SES) as well as adolescents’ motivation to learn science and general value of science were influential factors in students’ science achievement. Findings also revealed a statistically significant interaction effect between SES and first-generation immigrant students but not between SES and second-generation immigrant students. Although parents’ perception of general value of science showed a positive effect on adolescents’ scientific performance, its predictive power was relatively weak.     

Destination choice of cross-border Chinese students: an importance-performance analysis

Higher education institutions are competing with one another to recruit students. As a major developing country with emphasis on human capital development, China has the largest group of tertiary students studying locally and aboard, including cross-border students in the Greater China region. This paper examines the destination choice of cross-border Chinese students. The empirical findings reveal that the most important attributes are programme reputation, recognition of university qualifications, availability of course information, safety and cost of living in the host cities. Importance-performance analysis was applied to the survey data. Results show that students are satisfied with the safety aspect, but not with the cost of living. Regression analysis indicates that student satisfaction was significantly affected by the perceived value of the programme, followed by accessibility. These findings can help improve the quality of education services of higher education administration by addressing the perceptions and concerns of cross-border Chinese students.     

Consolidating Pre-service Physics Teachers’ Subject Matter Knowledge Using Didactical Reconstructions

In the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, there are advanced physics courses designed for the needs of pre-service physics teachers. The starting point is that after introductory and intermediate physics courses, pre-service physics teachers know laws and definitions but the knowledge is quite fragmented and does not form coherent wholes. Graphical tools called didactical reconstructions were developed to help pre-service physics teachers to consolidate their physics knowledge. The idea behind the reconstructions is that “new” physics knowledge is always constructed based on previous knowledge (quantities, laws, theory). This means that every new concept is connected to previous concepts when it is formed; this is captured in the didactical reconstruction of processes. Then, when the knowledge is further constructed, the formed concept will be connected to other new concepts. This approach leads to the didactical reconstruction of structure: networks of quantities and laws, where the experiments and models construct the connections between quantities and laws. Here an overview and summary of the educational approach based on the didactical reconstruction is given for the first time. The results of the previously reported case studies show that the didactical reconstructions help students to connect the knowledge pieces into meaningful and more coherent wholes. These didactical reconstructions are now an integral part of our pre-service physics teacher education.