International Journal of Comparative Education and Development最新文献

{"title":"Reinterpreting teaching excellence","authors":"F. Su, M. Wood","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-05-2019-052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-05-2019-052","url":null,"abstract":"This special issue 'International perspectives on teaching excellence in higher education' developed out of the guest editors’ interest and ongoing research into the idea of teaching excellence (Su and Wood, 2012; Wood and Su, 2017). The \u0000special issue aims to explore teaching excellence from an international perspective, helping us to understand broader conceptions and practice of teaching excellence as situated in contrasting geographical and policy contexts. Increasingly the marketisation of higher education and stakeholders’ demands on and expectations of the value of higher education has led to increased interest in questions such as – what is teaching excellence in higher education? How might excellence be defined, operationalised and measured? Who are the key stakeholders in pursuit of teaching excellence? In this special issue, teaching excellence is explored through conceptual, theoretical, policy and academic practice lenses.","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91318045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"School feeding as a social protection programme or a political largesse: a review","authors":"Issah Iddrisu, Muhideen Sayibu, Shuliang Zhao, Abdul-Rahim Ahmed, Amran Said Suleiman","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-03-2018-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-03-2018-0005","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000In an attempt to tackle the incidence of poverty and social exclusion in the Ghanaian society, a number of social protection programmes including the school feeding programme is introduced. The programme is designed to cater for the extreme poor and as well encourage enrolment and attendance in the country. The purpose of this paper is to assess the intention or objective for which the programme is initiated and the realities on the ground. It looks at whether the current beneficiaries are the extreme poor described in the policy document.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The study explored the incidence of poverty in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS6) and the Ghana School Feeding Annual Operation Plan (GSFAOP) with the help of the school feeding policy document to draw on actual beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries. The differences between percentages of poverty (2012/2013) and feeding schools was computed using GLSS6 and GSFAOP. The study also conducted a number of open-ended interviews with some stakeholders to validate the nature of recruitment of beneficiary schools.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The study concluded that there is a mismatch of potential beneficiaries and current beneficiaries using the referred data sources. It was found out that majority of beneficiary schools are located within areas of lesser incidence of poverty. This could be attributed to political interference in view of testimonies from respondents and the computerisation of GLSS6 and GSFAOP. The study therefore proposed that the allocation of feeding schools should be done to reflect the percentage of poverty situation in each region. This could be achieved when the district education office takes control. It will help minimise the level of politicisation and as well improve efficiency.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The study therefore highlighted the relevance of the school feeding programme and the inverse relationship it has with political interference. It again demonstrates the need to restructure the operations of the programme to meet the objective for which it was established.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74779258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"TEFL/TESOL teachers on the move: mobility and culture","authors":"L. S. Lam","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-07-2017-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-07-2017-0014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to discuss the story of 15 TEFL/TESOL English language teachers who spend their lives working globally.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Interviews from the research based on the grounded approach generated, among others, three inter-related themes, namely, the global drift, distinctive cultural dispositions and the concept of global quality.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The global drift symbolizes interviewees’ mobility pattern and captures their Hong Kong experience in four states – adaptation, drifting in global comfort, drifting in global discomfort and bitter/sweet home, each representing a different quality of mobility which contributes to the development of cultural dispositions. Findings of cultural disposition home and openness are considered in relation to studies of its kind. Four aspects of home perceptions in the data are identified. While interviewees developed complex and varied notions of home, it is argued that the geographical home remains a significant resource in the making of home. Data also suggest that most interviewees’ openness is limited – it is selective, functional and transient. Global quality, a concept emerged from the research, summarizes the distinctive cultural traits of the community of the globals. It overlaps with, but does not necessarily equate with, cosmopolitanism.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The conclusion relates the study, including the concepts generated from this research, to cosmopolitanism. Two theoretical constructs are employed in the analysis: form of mobility and nature of mobility.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89530497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mixed implications of private supplementary tutoring for students’ learning","authors":"R. Mahmud","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-05-2018-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-05-2018-0008","url":null,"abstract":"PurposePrivate supplementary tutoring, common in many countries, has mixed (both positive and negative) dimensions that impact student learning. Private supplementary tutoring runs parallel to mainstream schooling and provides lessons before or after school hours in exchange for additional fees. The purpose of this paper is to focus on how private supplementary tutoring benefits students’ learning in secondary education. It also identifies the drawbacks of tutoring, and shows variations in and between urban and rural locations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employed a mixed methods approach using a survey and individual interview collected from two different research settings: urban and rural. Grades 8 and 10 were purposefully chosen for data collection. A sample of 802 participants, including 401 students and their 401 parents (either mothers or fathers), participated in the survey, in addition to 48 interviewees comprising students, parents and teachers.FindingsAt times, pupils’ educational perspectives are influenced by the conflicting (positive/negative) standpoints of tutoring issues. The paper finds mixed impacts of private tutoring with a focus on disparities of implications between urban and rural locations. It identifies positive aspects such as learning attainment, exam preparation, relationship growth and lesson practice, as well as negative perspectives, such as an examination-centered aim and hamper of mainstream school learning.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the awareness of private supplementary tutoring that benefits students’ learning while also bringing disadvantages. It shows implications of fee-charging tutoring which may relate to students’ family socio-economic situations. The paper addresses private tutoring in general (including English and all other subjects) in most cases, and, more specifically, private tutoring in English as a subject in some cases.","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80917010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Academic excellence as “competitiveness enhancement” in Russian higher education","authors":"E. Tsvetkova, S. Lomer","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-08-2018-0029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-08-2018-0029","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to analyse critically the Russian Academic Excellence Initiative (the Project 5-100), designed to propel five leading Russian universities into world university rankings (WURs) by 2020, and research it through the lens of neoliberalism. The paper seeks to reveal recurrent discourses and dominant orders of discourse constituting the overall concept of “excellence” in Russian higher education (HE) policy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Since the Project 5-100 has been designed in line with a neoliberal model of academic excellence initiatives, emphasising “competition as a driver of excellence” (Hazelkorn, 2009), Fairclough’s approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) has been adopted as a qualitative research method. There is no universally accepted definition of “excellence” in HE policy; therefore, this CDA also aims at revealing the Russian government’s vision of the concept and its voice in HE policy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The paper concludes that the government reinforces neoliberal discourse on the HE agenda and transforms the 5-100 Universities’ identities through emphasising the role of WURs in modernising the HE system. Consequently, within the neoliberal paradigm, the Project 5-100 can be regarded as a manifestation of the commodification of “excellence” in Russian HE policy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This research intends to broaden knowledge of excellence initiatives in HE policy and reveal their features and neoliberal natures. It also seeks to contribute in terms of showcasing a qualitative study of the Project 5-100 for future comparative analyses of similar HE policies.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"68 5 Pt 1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77445909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"International students in Kazakhstan","authors":"D. Mukhamejanova","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-07-2018-0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-07-2018-0024","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Kazakhstan has taken considerable steps to improve the incoming mobility of international students; however, despite these measures, the number of international students studying in Kazakhstan is still very low. Research indicates that in order to attract and retain international students it is necessary to build a thorough understanding of their experiences in the host country. The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of international students’ experiences in Kazakhstan by exploring how they exercise their human agency while adapting to the academic and socio-cultural life in Kazakhstan.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The author used a purposeful criterion sampling to select six international students from Afghanistan, Great Britain, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine and the USA studying at Kazakhstani universities to participate in this research. The primary data collection was semi-structured in-depth interviews. Supportive methods included a demographic questionnaire and a researcher journal.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The study revealed that the international students actively employed their human agency to negotiate their studying and to adapt to their life in Kazakhstan. They did not simply adjust to the host environment, but also learned from it and attempted to transform it according to their circumstances and goals.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The implication is that Kazakhstani universities and any other higher education institutions that seek to increase the number of their international students should consider not only how to attract these students, but also how to adapt their institution’s practices and regulations to create an inclusive learning environment for their diverse student population. It is also very important for higher education institutions to provide international students with the necessary conditions to exercise their human agency because as it was revealed by this study, international students’ human agency is a very powerful mechanism helping them live and learn comfortably in their host country.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Taking into consideration the reviewed previous research, this was the first attempt to use Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory for the purpose of building an understanding about how international students exercise their agency while adapting to the academic and socio-cultural life in the host country. The social cognitive theory allows investigating international students as active and self-sufficient agents of their own adaptation process who can and do change themselves, and have the potential to navigate and alter their host environment to achieve their own goals. This study encourages researchers and practitioners to think about international students outside the dimension of internationalization as a means of improving country’s economic capital.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74702217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parents as “stakeholders” and their conceptions of teaching excellence in English higher education","authors":"M. Wood, F. Su","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-05-2018-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-05-2018-0010","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to explore parents as “stakeholders” in higher education in England and how they perceive teaching excellence.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The study adopted a qualitative research design using an interpretative approach through which the authors aimed to develop understandings of parents’ perspectives as higher education “stakeholders”. The empirical data were gathered via focus group interviews and an online survey with 24 participants in the UK.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000This study found that the majority of parents wished to be treated as an important stakeholder group in higher education. Parent participants perceived that teaching excellence could be evidenced through indicators and measures, for example, the design and delivery of the courses, progress measures, contact hours, speed of return of marked work, graduate employability and so on. They also saw value and significance in the students’ exposure to ideas and perspectives not previously experienced, in zeal and passion in the teaching, and in an academically nurturing, understanding and supportive pedagogical relationship between academic and student.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study uncovered some apparent tensions, contradictions and challenges for parents as stakeholders in higher education, for example, in reconciling the co-existence of their desire to be involved and engaged with scope for students to be formed as independent young adults. Parents’ desire to measure teaching excellence is also compounded by their concern that excellent teaching is thereby reduced to a box-ticking exercise. This study has implications for higher education institutions wishing to engage parents as a stakeholder group in a meaningful way.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86019395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diffusion of lesson study as an educational innovation","authors":"Mitsuko Maeda, Y. Ono","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-10-2018-0044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-10-2018-0044","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Lesson study (LS) is a professional development approach that has been attracting attention as an educational innovation since the late 1990s. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that contribute to the adoption of LS by schools in developing countries without development assistance.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The diffusion of innovation theory was used as an explanatory device. The study examined the characteristics of LS perceived by 28 teachers in an Indonesian primary school, where LS was actively and autonomously adopted without development assistance. Data were collected from multiple sources, including interviews with some teachers and a questionnaire for all 28 teachers.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000While previous studies have indicated that LS as an educational innovation lacks the ideal sets of perceived characteristics that could promote its adoption, this study found that such negative characteristics were mitigated in the Indonesian school. It also found that some of the factors facilitating LS adoption may be information on the outcomes of LS and less hierarchical relationships among teachers and professors. Furthermore, active school leadership was found to be a significant factor in this adoption.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Regarding adoption of LS in developing countries, previous studies focused on how development assistance works, what strategies of development assistance are necessary for introducing LS and how development assistance programs can be sustained. However, scant attention has been paid to how schools in developing countries have fared without development assistance. This study sheds light on this missing point.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"90 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84311279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"I am an internationalising teacher","authors":"A. Poole","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-08-2018-0026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-08-2018-0026","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper was written in response to the tendency for the international education literature to position the international teacher in essentialist and western-centric terms. The international school landscape has changed significantly in the last 20 years, leading to the rise of type C non-traditional international schools, which requires a reconceptualisation of the international teacher. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a Chinese English teacher (Daisy) in an internationalised school in Shanghai constructed her identity as an international teacher.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper drew upon concepts from the teacher identity literature in order to construct a comparative conceptual framework comprised of personal, professional and cross-cultural domains of experience. Commensurate with this framework, in-depth phenomenological interviewing and member-checking were utilised in order to gain access to the participant’s lived experiences. Member-checking and data analysis became a dialogic and recursive process in which rapport was continually maintained and strengthened through the sharing of raw and analysed data, with additional comments and suggestions being fed back into an emerging interpretation in order to generate more data and enhance validity.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings highlighted how Daisy was active in not only constructing her identity as an international educator but also mobilising this identity to challenge the western-centric nature of international education. The findings also revealed moments of discursive dissonance. Daisy simultaneously constructed an identity as an “internationalising” teacher, but was also constructed as an international teacher through a discourse that presented international education as constructivist, and therefore western-centric, in nature. Implications and recommendations are made for practice and research based on these findings.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper offers an alternative perspective on the international teacher experience, which continues to be western-centric in focus, by exploring the development of an international teacher identity from a Chinese perspective.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74553453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rethinking teaching excellence in Australian higher education","authors":"Trudi Cooper","doi":"10.1108/IJCED-10-2018-0038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-10-2018-0038","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to explore: why the concept of teaching excellence has been uncritically accepted into the lexicon of university management; and how it has been used to co-opt university teaching staff into supporting the myth that teaching quality can be maintained as financial support for teaching has declined.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This paper is conceptual and analytical rather than empirical and a critical management perspective is adopted.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Per capita funding of university teaching has declined steadily. The concept of teaching excellence has been used to distract attention away from discussions about funding and the conditions required to promote good teaching in universities. The construction of teaching excellence as an attribute of individual teachers has co-opted university teachers into supporting the illusion that teaching quality can be maintained, despite falling organisational support and decreased funding.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Teaching in universities can only be improved through changes to the management approach and maintenance of per capita funding, and ultimately democratisation of universities. This will require changes to the regulatory framework, and national policy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The author concludes that teaching excellence is unhelpful as a concept. Instead the focus of discussion needs to return to ensuring that the necessary conditions for responsive teaching are in place.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000Democratise the workplace and management methods; adopt matrix management structures; Rebalance to focus on social benefit and public good.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper uncovers tensions, contradictions and missing elements in current policy and concludes with suggestions for change.\u0000","PeriodicalId":51967,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Education and Development","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84452499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}