Research in Comparative and International Education
ISSN 1745-4999

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

David Phillips. Comparative Education: method, pages 304‑319
Jason Nicholls. From Antithesis to Synthesis: re-interpreting the Brian Holmes/Edmund King dialectic, pages 320‑334
Julia Paulson. The Educational Recommendations of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: potential and practice in Sierra Leone, pages 335‑350
Hubert Ertl & H.- Hugo Kremer. Curricular Reform and College-based Innovation in Vocational Education and Training in England and Germany, pages 351‑365
Philipp Grollmann & Klaus Ruth. The ‘Europeanisation’ of Vocational Education Between Formal Policies and Deliberative Communication, pages 366‑380
Kimberly Ochs. International Migration and Its Impact on Education: a look at Germany and the USA, pages 381‑392
Nicola Savvides. Comparing the Promotion of European Identity at Three ‘European Schools’: an analysis of teachers’ perceptions, pages 393‑402
Xue Han. Collective Reflection on a Public Lesson in a Mathematics Teaching Research Group, pages 403‑418

Comparative Education: method

DAVID PHILLIPS University of Oxford, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.304

This article is a slightly edited excerpt from a forthcoming book by David Phillips & Michele Schweisfurth: Comparative and International Education: an introduction to theory, method, and practice (Continuum, 2007). This part of the study rehearses some of the considerations of method in comparative studies in education.

From Antithesis to Synthesis: reinterpreting the Brian Holmes/Edmund King dialectic

JASON NICHOLLS University of Oxford, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.320

The author reinterprets the work of two pioneers of methodology in comparative education, Brian Holmes and Edmund King. Where the two thinkers have tended to be understood as opposites, the author argues that this is not the case. Indeed, Holmes and King may be worth more together than apart, the systematic approach of the former complemented by the cultural sensitivities of the latter and vice versa. In this article, the two thinkers are understood, essentially, as anti-positivist liberals sympathetic to the ideas of Popper.

The Educational Recommendations of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: potential and practice in Sierra Leone

JULIA PAULSON University of Oxford, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.335

This article investigates the impact of the educational recommendations made by Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SLTRC) while exploring broader questions regarding the potential of truth commissions to contribute to post-conflict educational reconstruction and reform. The complex interrelationships between education and conflict in Sierra Leone’s civil war are explored, as is the current situation of educational reconstruction in the country. Using data gathered during field research in Sierra Leone, the contribution of the SLTRC educational recommendations to identifying post-conflict educational needs and to the educational reconstruction process is assessed. While the article suggests that truth commissions present potential to contribute to post-conflict educational reconstruction, it also points to the limitations of this process in Sierra Leone.

Curricular Reform and College-based Innovation in Vocational Education and Training in England and Germany

HUBERT ERTL University of Oxford, United Kingdom H.-HUGO KREMER University of Paderborn, Germany

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.351

This article outlines a small-scale comparative research project which investigates the effects of the wide-ranging reforms in the vocational education and training (VET) sector of Germany and England on the work of colleges and teaching personnel. The article provides some background to the ongoing reform of college-based training in the two countries. From an institutional perspective, the article examines to what extent VET reforms lead to innovative teaching practice at vocational colleges (Berufsschulen in Germany) and further education (FE) colleges (in England). It also looks at the degree to which administrative and leadership structures at colleges enable and prepare lecturers to embrace changes and to what extent these structures result in a reactive or proactive stance regarding educational innovation. From a personnel perspective, the lecturers’ attitudes towards change are investigated. Their perceptions of current reforms are examined as well as the connection between reforms and their translation into innovative practice.

The ‘Europeanisation’ of Vocational Education between Formal Policies and Deliberative Communication

PHILIPP GROLLMANN & KLAUS RUTH University of Bremen, Germany

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.366

This article deals with current European policies of vocational education and training, namely the Copenhagen Process, the Open Method of Coordination and the framework of the Lisbon Agenda. The analysis shows that there is no standard European path of achieving the Lisbon Goals, but rather that there are considerable variations depending on the prevailing VET systems and the respective VET policy. Two antagonistic scenarios on the possible effects of the current activities to implement a European Credit Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), and the European Qualification Framework (EQF) are sketched. The best and worse case scenarios can be used to assess the current national activities to improve the quality of European VET systems and stimulate processes of discursive communication. The concluding section outlines some prospects of a European VET policy by utilising the presented findings and proposes some cornerstones of a European VET policy aiming at improving the teaching and learning processes. It is argued that the coherence of policies formulated through the so-called Lisbon Goal is not mirrored in concurrent European policies of VET and that more ‘deliberative’ processes of communication between different actors in VET spanning from the level of practice to the level of European policies are needed in order to truly ‘Europeanise’ VET in Europe.

International Migration and Its Impact on Education: a look at Germany and the USA

KIMBERLY OCHS University of Oxford, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.381

This article looks at the impact of international migration on the German education system, including formal, non-formal and informal education at all levels. The first section provides an overview of the issue of international migration, and the international policy discourse about migration and education. The second section provides a brief overview of the German education system, providing a backdrop for the discussion. Section three takes in turn the impact of migration on the different levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary), and also includes an account of the inspection of German schools, universities and selected educational institutions by the United Nations, in which the author participated as an observer, where special attention was given to the human rights of children and the experiences of migrant students. Section four compares the situation in Germany with that in the USA, and proposes a number of issues for consideration among practitioners, policy makers and researchers to build upon the current debate and to improve the situation in both Germany and in the USA. This is of particular relevance given the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s most recent PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) study and continued concerns about Germany’s lacklustre performance in comparison to other developed nations.

Comparing the Promotion of European Identity at Three ‘European Schools’: an analysis of teachers’ perceptions

NICOLA SAVVIDES University of Oxford, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.393

This article presents some preliminary findings from a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council that is investigating how the ‘European School’ ethos of developing a European identity amongst its pupils is being pursued. The project involves a multiple case study of three European Schools (Brussels I [Belgium], Culham [United Kingdom] and Alicante [Spain]) to identify the steps being taken and the conditions in place that are seen to contribute towards this ethos. The study’s research proposal was published in an earlier issue of this journal and this article follows on from that by presenting some of the research findings to date. The findings presented here are from one dimension of the project, namely that of teachers’ interpretations of and attitudes towards the European identity ethos and their attempts to implement it through their teaching. The findings are based on an analysis of interviews conducted with history, geography and English language teachers in the English language sections of the three schools. Analysis of this sample of interviews was conducted in order to discover some of the key themes that are arising in relation to the study’s research questions across the three schools.

Collective Reflection on a Public Lesson in a Mathematics Teaching Research Group

XUE HAN Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2006.1.4.403

This study explored how teachers’ collective reflection within one community of practice – a teaching research group consisting of Chinese mathematics teachers – might have enabled or constrained teacher learning. Close examination of the specific interactions within one group meeting provided the focus for the present investigation. Using a narrative discourse analytical approach, this study examined the potential learning opportunities created or foreclosed by the community through unfolding several key episodes. It indicated that further research on specific interactions transpiring within a teachers’ community can contribute to understanding the complex relations between teachers’ communities of practice and improvement of teaching practice.

© SYMPOSIUM JOURNALS Ltd
PO Box 204, Didcot, Oxford OX11 9ZQ, United Kingdom
info@symposium-journals.co.uk
www.symposium-journals.co.uk