Showing papers in "Compare in 2015"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how menarche impacts the lives of schoolgirls in three low-income countries (Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia) and identified similarities between the three countries that would enable the adaptation to each context of a training book on menstruation issues for girls.
Abstract: The barriers to menstrual hygiene management faced by adolescent schoolgirls in low-income countries are gaining interest at practice and policy levels. The challenges include inadequate water, sanitation and disposal facilities for the management of menses with privacy and dignity, and insufficient guidance to help girls feel confident in attending school during menses. The studies described here aimed to examine how menarche impacts the lives of schoolgirls in three low-income countries (Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia). The focus included girls’ school participation; their relationship with parents, teachers and peers; their evolving sanitation and hygiene needs; their understanding of cultural issues and taboos around menses; and what education, if any, they received prior to and during puberty. This comparative analysis was aimed at identifying similarities between the three countries that would enable the adaptation to each context of a training book on menstruation issues for girls, which was develope...
121 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that it has become more difficult to categorise and label groups and individuals as being "inside" or "outside" systems, professional communities or research environments, and that more complex understandings can inform not only new methods of research, but also new methods for education.
Abstract: This paper presents some initial ideas on how the theoretical concepts of the ‘insider’ and the ‘outsider’ might be re-examined in an era where advances in comparative, qualitative research methodologies seek to be more inclusive, collaborative, participatory, reflexive and nuanced. Earlier essentialist definitions of the outsider as detached and objective, and the insider as culturally embedded and subjective, are re-examined and set within an international research and teaching context that recognises the increased migration of people, ideas and educational policies. It is argued that, in the context of such change, it has become more difficult to categorise and label groups and individuals as being ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ systems, professional communities or research environments. Such essentialist notions, which often underpin the production of large-scale, international datasets of pupil achievement, need to be challenged so that more complex understandings can inform not only new methods of research d...
115 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a cultural-textual document analysis of 12 months of personal journal entries written by the author while working as a Freirean adult educator in Mozambique is presented.
Abstract: While the anglophone academic literature has long engaged in analysis of the role of privilege in the work of educators in the Global North, this article represents an initial foray into such analysis in non-formal educational settings in the Global South. Through a cultural-textual document analysis of 12 months of personal journal entries written by the author while working as a Freirean adult educator in Mozambique, this article documents a lack of recognition of social privilege exhibited by the author in these entries, which is here referred to as the ‘White Saviour’ complex. This article also documents how the pursuit of what Freire calls ‘critical consciousness’ can effectively problematise this privileged mindset.
86 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the practices of teacher collaboration and professional learning communities in two urban, high-performing secondary schools in Northeast China and found that intentionally arranged organisational structures support teacher professional learning and collective inquiry.
Abstract: Drawing on data from a larger study on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and School Leadership in China, this article investigates the practices of teacher collaboration and PLCs in two urban, high-performing secondary schools in Northeast China. Qualitative data were collected from observations, documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 participants. The findings reveal that intentionally arranged organisational structures support teacher professional learning and collective inquiry. Collaborative teams in two schools are characterised by genuine collegiality, promoting disciplined collaboration and shared responsibility, which is different from contrived collegiality imposed on teachers. Professional learning is ongoing, supported and fully integrated into the culture and operation of the school system. Emotional bonds, trust and an inclusive school culture contribute to genuine collegiality. These learning communities establish a system of focused collaboration, peer mentoring an...
75 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that there exist fundamental cultural differences between Western and Chinese perspectives on the nature and transmission of knowledge that make education policy transfer in China challenging, and further proposed that China borrow education policy judiciously by integrating foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge, t...
Abstract: Recent education reform in China reflects the global trend of education policy borrowing from Anglophone countries such as the USA. The reform in China essentially advocates shifting from knowledge reproduction and didacticism to knowledge construction by students through a learner-centredness approach. Aware of the trend of borrowing policy from ‘Western’ countries, some educators in China use the proverb ‘the West wind has overpowered the East wind’ to describe this phenomenon. This paper examines the cultural factors that influence education policy borrowing in China by drawing upon Johnson’s metaphors of the ‘politics of selling’ and the ‘politics of gelling’. This paper argues that there exist fundamental cultural differences between Western and Chinese perspectives on the nature and transmission of knowledge that make education policy transfer in China challenging. This paper further proposes that China borrow education policy judiciously by integrating foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge, t...
71 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of international student achievement studies and the recent economic crisis in Europe are influencing the development of educational policy transfer and borrowing, from East to West, from Hong Kong to the UK.
Abstract: This paper analyses how the impact of international student achievement studies and the recent economic crisis in Europe are influencing the development of educational policy transfer and borrowing, from East to West. This is contrasted with education reform movements in East Asia, which have long legacies of borrowing from so-called ‘progressive’ discourses in the West. England and Hong Kong are used as case studies. Since 2010, England’s coalition government has prioritised its determination to look to jurisdictions like Hong Kong to inspire and justify reforms that emphasise traditional didactic approaches to teaching and learning. In contrast, Hong Kong’s reforms have sought to implement practices related to less pressured, more student-centred lifelong learning, without losing sight of strengths derived from its Confucian heritage culture. Conclusions highlight factors that underpin English interest in Hong Kong education policy, values and practice and point to the need for further attention to be g...
67 citations
TL;DR: The authors brought together for the first time a group of some of the most widely known observers of the World Bank's (WB) education policy, who are know as 'experts'.
Abstract: As clearly stated in the introduction: ‘this book brings together for the first time a group of some of the most widely known observers of the World Bank’s (WB) education policy’ (xvi) who are know...
61 citations
TL;DR: The Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) as discussed by the authors was a UK Border Agency-funded integration programme for recognised refugees and operated through voluntary-sector organisations nationwide. But without bespoke support such as RIES, refugees will struggle to make informed and strategic decisions about their future education choices, restricting their ability to exercise autonomous agency.
Abstract: The UK government’s austerity cuts have negatively impacted many voluntary-sector interventions that provided support to refugees. One such intervention, the Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES), is discussed in this paper. The RIES was a UK Border Agency-funded integration programme for recognised refugees and operated through voluntary-sector organisations nationwide. Findings of this small, qualitative study tentatively suggest that without bespoke support such as RIES, refugees will struggle to make informed and strategic decisions about their future education choices, restricting their ability to exercise autonomous agency. Current UK policy of counting refugees alongside other types of migrants will not cater for the specificity and multiplicity of issues faced by refugee young people. This will inhibit their opportunities and increase vulnerabilities, compounding their precarious position in UK society.
53 citations
TL;DR: The concept of shadow education may be unfamiliar, but should hold no terrors as mentioned in this paper, which is a review of a book about private tuition, co-published by the Asian Development Bank and the...
Abstract: The concept of shadow education may be unfamiliar, but should hold no terrors. This is a review of a book about private tuition. The book has been co-published by the Asian Development Bank and the...
53 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the degrees of congruence between two early childhood evaluation systems on various quality concepts: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) and Zhejiang's Kindergarten Quality Rating System (KQRS).
Abstract: This study examined the degrees of congruence between two early childhood evaluation systems on various quality concepts: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) and Zhejiang’s Kindergarten Quality Rating System (KQRS). Analysis of variance and post hoc least significant difference tests were employed to show the extent to which the ECERS-R ratings predict a kindergarten’s placement on the KQRS. Results found two quality dimensions (Language-reasoning and Interaction) that did not distinguish the quality between any levels of kindergartens, whereas one dimension (Space and furnishing) successfully distinguished the quality between all levels of kindergartens. Activities and Programme structure only distinguished the quality differences between Level-2 and Level-3 kindergartens, whereas Personal care and Routines only distinguished the quality differences between Level-1 and Level-3 kindergartens. Findings based on item-level analysis provided further insights into underlying cultura...
47 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed a multi-level comparative approach to analyse Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) and Programme of International Student Achievement (PISA) mathematics results for a country, Russia, where the two tests provide contradictory information about students' relative performance.
Abstract: In this paper, we develop a multi-level comparative approach to analyse Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) and Programme of International Student Achievement (PISA) mathematics results for a country, Russia, where the two tests provide contradictory information about students’ relative performance. Russian students do relatively well on the TIMSS mathematics test but relatively poorly on the PISA. We compare the performance of Russian students with different levels of family academic resources over the past decade on these tests compared to students with similar family resources in Russia’s neighbours and to Russian students studying in Latvian and Estonian Russian-medium schools. These comparisons and interviews with educators in Latvia and Estonia help us understand why students in Russia may perform lower on the PISA and to draw education policy lessons for improving international test performance generally and Russian students’ PISA mathematics performance specifically.
TL;DR: The authors proposed a post-2015 education framework for improving, not overhauling, learning assessment, and achieving educational quality in the future, focusing on the following three objectives: clarity, measurability and equity.
Abstract: Altinok, N. 2012. A New International Database on the Distribution of School Achievement. Background paper prepared for the 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO. Cheng, X., and C. Omoeva. 2014. EPDC National Learning Assessments Mapping Project: Key Findings. Washington, DC: Education and Policy Development Center. Colclough, C. 2005. “Rights, Goals and Targets: How Do Those for Education Add up?” Journal of International Development 17 (1): 101–111. EFA Steering Committee Technical Advisory Group. 2014. Towards Indicators for a Post-2015 Education Framework. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Filmer, D., A. Hasan, and L. Pritchett. 2006. A Millennium Learning Goal: Measuring Real Progress in Education. CGD Working Paper 97. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development. Hunt, F. 2015. “Review of National Education Policies: Teacher Quality and Learning Outcomes.” Prospects (in press). Köseleci Blanchy, N. 2014. “Improving, Not Over-Hauling Learning Assessments Post-2015.” World Education Blog, November 19. https://efareport.wordpress.com/ 2014/11/19/improving-not-over-hauling-learning-assessments-post-2015/ Rose, P. 2014. “Three Lessons for Educational Quality in Post-2015 Goals and Targets: Clarity, Measurability and Equity.” International Journal of Educational Development (in press). Rose, P. 2015. “Lessons from 25 Years of Education for All.” In Routledge Handbook of International Education and Development, edited by S. McGrath and Q. Gu. Oxford: Routledge. UNESCO. 2014. Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All. Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). 2014. Learning Metrics Partnership. Paris: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the transfer of the Bologna Process (BP) outside Europe, focusing on its "external dimension" and dynamics in global settings, and argue that the BP impacts on the internationalisation activities of universities, especially with regard to cross-border transparency of qualifications, transnational improvement of quality assurance and interregional mobility of students or scholars.
Abstract: The paper examines the transfer of the Bologna Process (BP) outside Europe, focusing on its ‘external dimension’ and dynamics in global settings. It argues that the BP impacts on the internationalisation activities of universities, especially with regard to cross-border transparency of qualifications, transnational improvement of quality assurance and interregional mobility of students or scholars. However, the outcomes following the international transfer of the BP-model are unclear. As the BP-model makes its way to regional, national and local contexts, it meets existing policy discourses and practices, whose priorities may in fact differ from its postulates. The paper asserts that the non-linear conceptualisation of this model outside Europe is significantly affected by the socio-economic, political, historical and cultural context of each region. National visions, economic demands, political will, social objectives, administrative regulations, cultural traditions, ideological norms and philosophical i...
TL;DR: The authors investigated teachers' beliefs about teacher learning in professional learning communities and their influence on collegial learning activities in two departments of a Hong Kong secondary school and found that teachers in the Chinese Department believed that learning could be achieved in PLCs and their practices of collegial activities were conducive to teacher learning.
Abstract: Factors leading to successful professional learning communities (PLCs) have been widely discussed in the West, but little is known about how/whether teachers’ beliefs contribute to PLCs in the Chinese context. This qualitative case study aimed to investigate teachers’ beliefs about teacher learning in PLCs and their influence on collegial learning activities in two departments of a Hong Kong secondary school. Semi-structured interviews and observations were employed to collect data. The findings indicate that teachers in the Chinese Department believed that learning could be achieved in PLCs and their practices of collegial activities were conducive to teacher learning. Conversely, teachers in the English Department did not believe that interacting with colleagues would foster learning and their collegial activities yielded limited accomplishment in teacher growth. It is suggested that teachers’ beliefs play an important role in facilitating or impeding reform initiatives on teacher development. Implicati...
TL;DR: In this article, one of the main purposes of Comparative Education has been the identification of effective features/models that can be "borrowed" to improve schooling, which is a common task in comparative education.
Abstract: Since its emergence as a field of study, one of the main purposes of Comparative Education has been the identification of effective features/models that can be ‘borrowed’ to improve schooling. This...
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effectiveness of a bilingual education program involving ethnic minority children in Cambodia by comparing their performance in mathematics, Khmer literacy and oral Khmer to their ethnic minority peers whose education is in the national language only.
Abstract: There is little research in the developing countries of South East Asia on the effectiveness of bilingual education programmes that use first language instruction for ethnic minority children. This study investigated the effectiveness of a bilingual education programme involving ethnic minority children in Cambodia by comparing their performance in mathematics, Khmer literacy and oral Khmer to their ethnic minority peers whose education is in the national language only. The findings show that students in the bilingual schools performed better in mathematics than their peers in the monolingual schools, but the differences in Khmer literacy and oral Khmer test scores were statistically insignificant. The study suggests that bilingual education using first language instruction could benefit academic development among ethnic minority students in Cambodia, at least in terms of mathematics achievement.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of the hidden costs of schooling in the context of Rwanda's fee-free education policy and found that children continue to contend with a range of schoolrelated costs that impact attendance, performance and completion.
Abstract: As primary school enrolment rates in Rwanda near ubiquity, completion rates remain low and repetition rates remain high. This study investigates the impact of the ‘hidden costs’ of schooling in the context of Rwanda’s fee-free education policy. Using a social-science case study, focus groups and interviews were undertaken with 200 participants, including local leaders, school administrators, children and caregivers. Findings suggest children continue to contend with a range of school-related costs that impact attendance, performance and completion. Examination fees, after-school coaching and ‘voluntary’ parent-teacher association dues were found to have serious consequences for children’s educational experience. Findings illustrate how these ‘hidden costs’ may be a key factor explaining why children do not complete their schooling once enrolled. A series of policy recommendations are offered and broader implications for children’s rights and Education For All are discussed. Further in-depth and comparativ...
TL;DR: In the second half of the twentieth century, the Argentine education system went through a clear process of privatisation expressed in the increasing enrolment and state funding of the private sector as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: During the second half of the twentieth century, the Argentine education system went through a clear process of privatisation expressed in the increasing enrolment and state funding of the private sector. Especially in the 1990s, when the country implemented neoliberal economic policies, the academic literature had found in neoliberalism (in ideology, public policy and the enactment of certain laws) an explanation for this process of privatisation. Since the 2000s, and after a severe economic crisis, successive governments have rejected the neoliberal policies and have established a set of regulations and public policies with the explicit purpose of changing the previous policy trend. This article shows that after one decade of this new policy opposed to neoliberalism, the evidence suggests that privatisation of education has not only not been reversed but even expanded in a significant manner, reaching striking rates of increase, both in private enrolment and in state funding. Finally, the evidence prese...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the culture-invariant and culture-dependent nature of teachers' ethical sensitivity in two countries and found that the dimension of taking the perspective of others is particularly dependent on culture, given the differences in the cultural dimensions of power distance and the collectivity of the countries studied.
Abstract: In this study, we investigated the culture-invariant and culture-dependent nature of teachers’ ethical sensitivity in two countries. Our case study involves teachers from Finland (n = 864) representing Western culture, and from Iran (n = 556) representing Eastern culture. Culturally bound elements of ethical sensitivity were studied with the Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire. The analyses revealed that ‘Caring by connecting to others’ is a central, culturally invariant dimension of ethical sensitivity in both cultures. In the dimensions of ethical sensitivity, the dimension of ‘Taking the perspective of others’ is particularly dependent on culture, given the differences in the cultural dimensions of power distance and the collectivity of the countries studied.
TL;DR: Gender education and equality in a global context gender education, education education education in international development view online card magic guide browserfame pearson education inc 3 answers whrose issues in urban earthquake risk nato science series e the devil and the dolce vita xonecs semester at sea course syllabus ed.s852 promoting social justice through view online valores globales e igualdad de gÉnero en educaciÓn school of education studies ambedkar university delhi edgenuity student guide jobles wolves foxes coyotes wildlife painting
Abstract: gender education and equality in a global context gender education and equality in a global context gender education and equality in a global context gender education and equality in a global context chapter 2 girls’ right to education unesco recoup working paper 2 global gender goals and the social class and education global perspectives education recoup working paper 17 globalising the school curriculum bibliography justice and equality peri global education, asylum and the ‘non-citizen’ child women's colleges and universities in a global context hs204f education, gender and development gender mainstreaming a overview united nations 7 researching gender share and discover research academic staff profession profile form kenyatta university gender in indian society: concepts, practices and education, asylum and the ‘non-citizen’ child springer women and the white mans god gender and race in the foreword / prefÁcio ao dossier temÁtico gender, education education in international development view online card magic guide browserfame pearson education inc 3 answers whrose issues in urban earthquake risk nato science series e the devil and the dolce vita xonecs semester at sea course syllabus ed.s852 promoting social justice through view online valores globales e igualdad de gÉnero en educaciÓn school of education studies ambedkar university delhi edgenuity student guide jobles wolves foxes coyotes wildlife painting basics ebook r e l mccaskill company v m dekle historia universal de la infamia spanish edition totte discoveries ancient china discoveries s nolia gender and education view online (session 2017-18) applications of bifurcation theory proceedings of an recoup working paper 8 gendered experiences of teaching in letters horace walpole classic reprint lxnews faireconomy crises culture competition and the role of law analogy examples from short stories ceyway history of the wars volume vi vaelid smart goals examples for special education beaconac the transformation of political culture massachusetts ford bronco 88 service manual mrvisa
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on curriculum reform as a way universities materialise the seemingly abstract economic logic of the so-called knowledge society at the level of student-citizens, who are to be educated to become economic globalisation's next agents.
Abstract: This article inquires into discourses of globalisation as they are put to use to accelerate higher education’s seemingly ready acquiescence to the demands of the market. We maintain that globalisation operates as a way to reason about space that produces images and narratives of universities, knowledge and students. We focus our analysis on curriculum reform as a way universities materialise the seemingly abstract economic logic of the so-called ‘knowledge society’ at the level of student-citizens, who are to be educated to become economic globalisation’s next agents. In order to locate curriculum’s productive role within university respatialisation, we offer a discourse analysis of the circulation of ideas about globalisation and higher education through intergovernmental and national documents, which take material form in a US state university system’s attempted curricular reform of its general education core. We inquire into the ways space, as a rationality, acts to create systems of reasoning about in...
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of affirmative-action policies on campus diversity, academic performance of quota and non-quota students and predictive validity of the college entrance exam as a selection criterion was analyzed at three public universities in Brazil.
Abstract: Since 2001, Brazilian universities have been implementing affirmative-action policies to correct the racial, social and ethnic disparities in university admissions. An examination of the social-inclusion policies at three public universities in Brazil – the University of Brasilia, the Federal University of Bahia and the State University of Campinas – was undertaken to analyse: (1) the impact of affirmative-action policies on campus diversity, (2) the academic performance of quota and non-quota students and (3) the predictive validity of the college entrance exam as a selection criterion. Using institutional enrolment, course grades in several academic programmes and retention indicators, the study finds that quota students do reasonably well and thus do not diminish the quality of their institutions. Academic performance varies by programme of study but, in general, variation is surprisingly slight. This latter finding suggests that the predictive validity of the college entrance exam is weak.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how student teachers experience their transformation into serving teachers in the liminal social spaces of the school-based practicum (teaching practice) is of key importance to them, their future students and their educators.
Abstract: How student teachers experience their transformation into serving teachers in the liminal social spaces of the school-based practicum (teaching practice) is of key importance to them, their future students and their educators. The practicum is a challenging experience for student teachers, even with help from university and school-based mentors, as their knowledge of practice, power and culture in schools lacks sophistication. The practicum, an under-researched but important aspect of education, was investigated by this study by asking 480 student teachers in three universities in Turkey and England in 2010–2011 about how well their universities prepared them for the practicum, what made practicums successful and how practicums fostered their professional development. Participants generally thought the practicum helped them to develop skills in student and classroom management, in meeting students’ diverse learning needs, in recognising multiple students’ perspectives and in grounding their understanding ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a mathematics-related belief questionnaire developed in Flanders for use with students aged 14-15 in England and Spain was adapted and refined for use in healthcare research.
Abstract: Much comparative research into education-related beliefs has exploited questionnaires developed in one culture for use in another. This has been particularly the case in mathematics education, the focus of this paper. In so doing, researchers have tended to assume that translation alone is sufficient to warrant a reliable and valid instrument for cross-cultural research, prompting concerns that a number of necessary equivalences are unlikely to have been addressed. In this paper, we consider the nature of these equivalences before examining the literature of a different field, healthcare research, to synthesise an approach to instrument adaptation that is pragmatic but rigorous. Finally, we demonstrate how this pragmatic approach, incorporating extensive cognitive interviews, enabled us to adapt and refine a mathematics-related beliefs questionnaire, developed in Flanders, for use with students aged 14–15 in England and Spain. Analyses indicate that the instrument so developed is multidimensional, reliabl...
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative sociological account of the present state and potential of Comparative Education (CE) as a field of study by examining the mechanisms and contexts generated by three "conjunctions" of power and CE is presented.
Abstract: This paper develops the basis of a comparative sociological account of the present state and potential of Comparative Education (CE) as a field of study by examining the mechanisms and contexts generated by three ‘conjunctions’ of power and CE. The first of these concerns issues of power over the field, how it has been, and is being, framed by the operation of ‘power’ of various kinds. Power over what counts as CE emerges through three forms of strategic selectivity, based on: (1) its missions, locations and wider contexts; (2) its political, discursive, theoretical, methodological and valorisational opportunity structures; and (3) its institutional locations within the structures of university governance and national and international funding bodies, and the conditions of knowledge production that they frame. Next, it addresses issues of power in CE, how it is and has been conceived, by whom, and with what analytic and political consequences. Finally, the paper directs attention to the potential power of...
TL;DR: In this paper, the differences between reading and math scores of migrants' children (8430 daughters and 8526 sons) in 17 OECD destination countries, coming from 45 origin countries or regions, using PISA 2009 data were investigated.
Abstract: In this paper, we attempt to explain the differences between reading and math scores of migrants’ children (8430 daughters and 8526 sons) in 17 OECD destination countries, coming from 45 origin countries or regions, using PISA 2009 data. In addition to the societal gender equality levels of the origin and destination countries (the gender empowerment measure), we use macro indicators of the origin countries’ educational systems, economic development and religions. We find that migrant daughters from countries with higher gender equality levels obtain higher reading scores than comparable migrant sons do (but this is not the case for math scores). In addition, the higher the gender equality levels in the destination countries, the lower the reading and math scores of both male and female migrants’ children in their destination countries. Further analyses suggest it is the difference between gender equality levels, rather than the levels themselves, that explains the educational performance of both female a...
TL;DR: The authors compared learning approaches of local English-speaking students and students from Asian countries studying at an Australian metropolitan university and found that non-CHC students are more likely to adopt a deep learning approach than CHC students.
Abstract: This study compares learning approaches of local English-speaking students and students from Asian countries studying at an Australian metropolitan university. The sample consists of students across 13 different countries. Unlike previous studies, students from Asian countries are subdivided into two categories: students from Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHC) and students from Asia-based non-Confucian Heritage Cultures (non-CHC). The rich diversity of student background enables meaningful comparison between cultural groups. There are three key findings. Firstly, CHC and non-CHC students are more likely to adopt a deep learning approach than local English-speaking (LES) students. Secondly, CHC students show a strong tendency to simultaneously adopt surface and deep approaches to learning. This tendency also exists with non-CHC students, albeit not as strongly as in as the former group. The LES students show the least tendency to adopt this mixed approach. Thirdly, memorisation appears correlated with deep ...
TL;DR: This paper argued that teacher unions' participation in policy making during South Africa's political transition was characterised by assertion of ideological identity (unionism and professionalism) and the cultivation of policy networks and alliances.
Abstract: This article contends that teacher unions’ participation in policy making during South Africa’s political transition was characterised by assertion of ideological identity (unionism and professionalism) and the cultivation of policy networks and alliances. It is argued that, historically, while teacher unions were divided along political and ideological lines, they have demonstrated flexibility in contesting for influence in the policy arena. In this regard, teacher unions’ agency plays an important part and is reflected in changes in organisational strategies to ensure their independence or prevent marginalisation. The article highlights the threat of state co-optation for teacher unions and suggests that a framework for managing teacher union–state relations based on ‘professional unionism’ could potentially contribute to more effective education service provision. Comparisons with teacher unions’ experiences elsewhere in the world are also made, while recognising the specificity of the South African si...
TL;DR: This article explored the circumstances in which individuals become secondary school teachers in England and France using a social constructivist theoretical framework, and specifically considered how national contexts play out in this decision, highlighting the role of national contexts, as well as of gender and social class, in this process.
Abstract: This article explores the circumstances in which individuals become secondary school teachers in England and France. Using a social constructivist theoretical framework, it specifically considers how national contexts play out in this decision. The findings presented in this paper draw on a corpus of 60 interviews with a sample of teachers based in English and French secondary schools. They show that national frameworks remain relevant to an exploration of teachers’ identities and cultures, as French and English interviewees draw on distinctive reasons to explain why they became secondary school teachers. While becoming a teacher is often thought of as a ‘vocation’ or as the result of ‘intrinsic’ factors, this paper highlights the role of national contexts, as well as of gender and social class, in this process.