| Research in Comparative
| ISSN 1745-4999 | ||
| Volume 1 Number 1 2006 | |||
Other issues available | Journal home page | Publisher home page | |||
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CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text] | |||
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| David Phillips.
Introduction, page 1
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| Introduction |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.1 |
| VIEW FULL TEXT | BACK TO CONTENTS LIST | Research in Comparative and International Education (RCIE) is a new online journal devoted to recent work by scholars around the world. Its focus will be on research and its outcomes, and there will be particular interest in the methodological problems involved in inquiry in comparative and international education. This first issue contains a wide range of articles illustrative of the kind of work that will be included. In addition to general coverage of this kind, there will be thematic issues devoted to detailed coverage of a major topic: the first of these, planned for the end of 2006, will be on early childhood education. We invite contributions from researchers in all areas of comparative and international education. We hope that the forum provided by RCIE will be particularly attractive to young scholars exploring methodological possibilities in their research. We shall also be glad to consider interim reports on continuing research projects, ‘work in progress’ that might form the stimulus for further discussion of the kind that online publication can facilitate. David
Phillips |
The Theme of Educational Transfer in Comparative Education: a view over time |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.2 |
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This article analyses notions of ‘transfer’ in the literature of comparative education, searching for continuities and discontinuities in the way that the process of educational transfer has been construed. The analysis shows that the theme of transfer has been fundamental in comparative education from the early nineteenth century until the present day. Although some of the questions addressed in the field since its origins are still crucial today, it is suggested in the final part of the study that these problems should now be addressed in a world in which educational space has become more complex, as supra-national and sub-national actors become increasingly important in the production and reproduction of specialised knowledge about education. |
| Convergence of Higher Education and Economic Growth during the European Construction: a contribution to the cliometrics of growth (EU-15) |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.3 |
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With the Treaty of Maastricht, European states committed themselves to the pathway of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Admission to EMU assumes respect for certain so-called ‘convergence criteria’. In spite of this joint determination to achieve harmonisation, education, one of the most important socio-economic fields, remains in the hands of the member states. With this as the point of departure, this article is aimed at checking whether the construction of Europe was accompanied by convergence in terms of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and in terms of the development of higher education. Results show that depending on whether examination is performed on a stage-by-stage basis or for the entire study period, the development of higher education precedes or follows economic development. |
| Virtual Networks, Support Stockings and Community. Online Publication: a new context of meaning for comparative and international education? |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.4 |
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This article addresses the advent of this online only publication, the very context in which it is being made available. Central to the article is Delanty’s work on communicative communities. It is argued that it is particularly appropriate to view comparative and international education in this manner. Online publication offers comparative and international education a new context of meaning. Seen in this context, comparative and international education can be reformulated as one of the communicative communities that are more about communication than place, more about belonging than boundaries, more about the production of meaning than about the reproduction of meaning. |
| Are Students Expected to Critically Engage with Textbook Perspectives of the Second World War? A Comparative and International Study |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.5 |
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This article is a comparative study of perspectives of the Second World War in contemporary school history textbooks from England, Japan, Sweden, Italy and the United States. In the article the author examines the extent to which interpretations of the Second World War differ in the textbooks of each nation as well as the relationship between perspectives and contemporary political agendas. Research on developments in Germany is used as an anchor against which to compare developments in the five countries. Having described and analysed differences the author then investigates the extent to which students in the five countries may be expected to engage with perspectives offered. To construct alternative interpretations of the conflict the author supports an interpretative understanding of the discipline of history based in a neo-hermeneutic reading of the subject. |
| Comparing Language Learning Attitudes in England, Germany and the Netherlands: some methodological considerations |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.6 |
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ABSTRACT The following article examines the methodological considerations involved in carrying out a trinational comparative survey of pupils’ attitudes to learning French, German and English (as foreign languages) at comprehensive schools in England, Germany and the Netherlands. The research was conducted as part of a Ph.D. study aiming to describe the nature of the pupils’ attitudes and to examine and compare the pupils’ perceptions of educational and socio-cultural influences in the different contexts. A discussion of the broader theoretical framework in which the study is located is followed by an analysis of research design and decision-making. This includes a detailed review of country, sample and instrument selection, along with an examination of the practicalities of access, piloting and analysis. Finally, a number of ethical issues are considered. |
| Investing in Teacher Effectiveness to Improve Educational Quality in Developing Countries: does in-service education for primary mathematics teachers in Sri Lanka make a difference to teaching and learning? |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.7 |
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The article reports the findings of a study into the efficacy of an in-service professional development programme aimed at changing the teaching strategies of primary mathematics teachers in Sri Lanka. It highlights some of the methodological dilemmas inherent in conducting large-scale experimental research in developing countries but also demonstrates important methodological techniques in collecting ‘fine-grained’ observational data of teacher professional behaviour. The analysis attempts to answer the question whether curriculum policy renewal, accompanied by materials development and training eventually translates into desired pedagogy. It shows that most primary mathematics teachers in Sri Lanka are easily sensitised to some ‘new’ teaching strategies but find others more difficult to use routinely. Further studies are needed to clarify whether those elements of pedagogy stressed as important during training and emphasised in the teaching guides, but which have not become part of the teachers’ repertoire, are resistant to cross- cultural transfer or simply unachievable due to the structural constraints of schooling in the developing world. |
| Theories of Intelligence, Goal Orientation and Attribution in Malawi’s MESA Schools |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.8 |
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This article suggests that, as the Malawian Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology continues to advocate for educational access, equity and quality, aspects of educational psychology may be particularly important to consider in context. It presents and discusses research conducted in June and July 2004. The key research concepts (theories of intelligence, goal orientation, attribution to setback, and confidence) are briefly introduced, and then, the study’s objectives, methods and findings are each discussed in turn. The research objectives included: (i) examination of the relation between particular Malawian students’ theories of intelligence and their goals and attributions in response to academic setback; (ii) examination of gender differences in students’ theories of intelligence, goals, setback attributions, and confidence levels; and (iii) exploration of the variables mentioned as possible predictors of students’ 2004 examination scores (controlling for student demographics and prior academic performance). In order to reach these aims, a survey was administered to 284 Malawian students attending Malawi Education Support Activity (MESA) schools. Test scores were collected from ‘progress books,’ and quantitative data were supplemented by semi-structured interviews with key informants. Students’ theories of intelligence were found to be associated with their goals and setback attributions, but not with their confidence levels. Females were significantly more likely than males to hold entity theories of intelligence, to have dominant performance goals, and to attribute academic setback to lack of intelligence. Male students reported moderately higher confidence than females. Regression analysis revealed ‘learning goal’ to significantly predict test scores. The findings suggest that student theories, goals, and attributions warrant further research and school community attention. In addition, the findings encourage questions concerning the cross-cultural applicability of certain educational psychology theories. In conclusion, this article recognises the need to understand cross-cultural differences in educational psychology, yet raises questions by identifying potential similarities between previous findings from the United States, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong and the study at hand. |
| How College/University Presidents around the World Make Decisions |
DOI: 10.2304/rcie.2006.1.1.9 |
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The world is rapidly changing into a different kind of world where the wealth of a nation is defined by the educational level of its people. Higher education institutions throughout the world provide the means to meet today’s information and knowledge requirements dictated by the ever-fluid global marketplace. Colleges and universities offer courses and programmes allowing nations to reap the benefits of an educated workforce and compete globally. College/university presidents by their position wield great power and authority to direct their respective institutions. Decisions made by presidents of colleges/universities have significant consequences on complex transnational tertiary education issues. If college/university presidents around the world are expected to make similar types of decisions to foster a borderless transnational tertiary education system, then it is important to know more about the substance of their work and how they make administrative and fiscal management decisions. The purpose of this global study was to identify ‘pre-choice’ factors employed by presidents of higher education institutions around the world when making decisions. Seven college/university presidents, one participant on each continent (North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, with an island representative as a substitute for Antarctica) was selected to accommodate global distribution. |
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