Research in Comparative and International Education
ISSN 1745-4999

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

Alexander W. Wiseman & Cheryl Matherly. The Professionalization of Comparative and International Education: promises and problems, pages 334‑355
Belén Ballesteros & Patricia Mata. Approaching the Concepts of ‘Educational Achievement’ and ‘Best Practice’: Delphi methodology as a tool for building consensus, pages 356‑365
Iveta Silova. The Crisis of the Post-Soviet Teaching Profession in the Caucasus and Central Asia, pages 366‑383
Edward R. Howe. The Internationalization of Higher Education in East Asia: a comparative ethnographic narrative of Japanese universities, pages 384‑392
Satomi Izumi-Taylor, Yoko Ito, Masako Saito & Toshiko Kaneda. Who Should Be Minding Our Children? A Cross-Cultural Study of American and Japanese Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Childcare for Children under Age Three, pages 393‑405
Michalinos Zembylas, Zvi Bekerman, Claire McGlynn & Ana Ferreira. Teachers’ Understanding of Reconciliation and Inclusion in Mixed Schools of Four Troubled Societies, pages 406‑422
Hanan Salah El-Deen El-Halawany. Higher Education and Some Upper Egyptian Women’s Negotiation of Self-Autonomy at Work and Home, pages 423‑436

The Professionalization of Comparative and International Education: promises and problems

ALEXANDER W. WISEMAN Comparative and International Education Program, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
CHERYL MATHERLY Center for Global Education, The University of Tulsa, OK, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.334

The purpose of this study is to identify, describe, and analyze historical trends in the professionalization of the field of comparative and international education, as indicated by the founding, expansion, and evolution of the professional associations and graduate programs serving the field. Using historical and university data as well as unique membership data from the Comparative and International Education Society, the authors find that (1) professional associations and university programs in comparative and international education contribute to and secure control over expert knowledge, training and credentials; and (2) the merging of ‘comparative’ and ‘international’ education has contributed to the professionalization of the field. In particular, the authors find a simultaneous and complementary process of professionalization and fragmentation occurring within the field of comparative and international education.

Approaching the Concepts of ‘Educational Achievement’ and ‘Best Practice’: Delphi methodology as a tool for building consensus

BELÉN BALLESTEROS & PATRICIA MATA Faculty of Education, National University of Distance Education, Madrid, Spain

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.356

This article presents the results of applying the Delphi technique to build a consensus around the concepts of ‘educational achievement’ and ‘best practice’ in compulsory education. After defining their key informants, including different groups of educational agents (teachers, families, students, academics and experts), the authors developed two different questionnaires. The first questionnaire aimed to gather the informants’ opinions and the second was developed on the basis of the results of the first in an attempt to to reach the desired degree of consensus. Two rounds of consultation were enough to allow the authors to indicate tendencies and points of debate regarding what is meant by educational achievement and best school practice.

The Crisis of the Post-Soviet Teaching Profession in the Caucasus and Central Asia

IVETA SILOVA College of Education, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.366

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the teaching profession has begun to erode in the Caucasus and Central Asia as evidenced in such indicators as a teacher shortage, the feminization of the profession, an over-aged teaching force, a low transition rate from teacher education graduation to professional service, and a decrease of enrollment in teacher education programs at colleges and universities. While all of these indicators have been well documented, this article considers another indicator which may signal the low status of the teaching profession – the comparatively low results of centralized university examinations among students entering pre-service teacher education programs compared to more competitive, high-demand higher education programs. Using data from centralized university admission tests in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan for the 2007‑08 academic year, the article illustrates that it is the lowest-performing students who are typically entering pre-service teacher education institutions, thus further undermining the prestige of the teaching profession and the quality of education in the former Soviet republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The Internationalization of Higher Education in East Asia: a comparative ethnographic narrative of Japanese universities

EDWARD R. HOWE Faculty of Education, Utsunomiya University, Japan

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.384

How is Japan becoming internationalized? A common response is ‘through student mobility’. But can Japanese universities continue to attract thousands of East Asian students annually, given increasing competition from other Pacific Rim nations like Australia, South Korea and Singapore? Japan’s internationalization, a focus of educational reforms for decades, is mainly driven by neo-liberal globalism. Marginalized transborder students require our attention. A hegemony of Western knowledge combined with critical social justice issues including access, diversity and equity concerns demands further research. Moreover, much work is needed to foster global citizenship and critical thinking among local students. Nevertheless, systemic changes in society can originate from innovative teacher education programmes focused on internationalization and global citizenship. It is up to internationally minded teachers to lead the way.

Who Should Be Minding Our Children? A Cross-Cultural Study of American and Japanese Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Childcare for Children under Age Three

SATOMI IZUMI-TAYLOR Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, University of Memphis, USA
YOKO ITO Faculty of Education, Chiba University, Japan
MASAKO SAITO Department of Education, Meisei University, Tokyo, Japan
TOSHIKO KANEDA Department of Early Childhood Education, Shiraumegakuen University, Tokyo, Japan

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.393

The purpose of this study was to examine American and Japanese pre-service teachers’ understanding of the notion of whether or not children under age three should be cared for by their mothers at home. The participants were 87 female Japanese and 64 female American college students majoring in Early Childhood Education. The participants responded to the instrument assessing their concepts of who should care for children under age three. Factor analysis yielded six factors for the Japanese sample (communication; a mother as a primary attachment figure; blood relations; multiple attachment figures; the quality of attachment; and needs of the child), while five factors emerged from the American sample (a mother as a primary attachment figure; the quality of attachment; multiple attachment figures; constant care; and secondary attachment). The implications for early childhood teacher education are presented.

Teachers’ Understanding of Reconciliation and Inclusion in Mixed Schools of Four Troubled Societies

MICHALINOS ZEMBYLAS Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
ZVI BEKERMAN Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
CLAIRE McGLYNN Queens University, Belfast, UK
ANA FERREIRA University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.406

In this article, the authors examine how teachers in four troubled societies – Israel, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and South Africa – understand and implement reconciliation in light of the increasing diversity of these societies. The authors particularly pay attention to a dialogical encounter between reconciliation and inclusion, as they look for ways to contemplate how each might be of mutual benefit in educational theory and practice. In the first part of the article, the authors give an overview of current thinking on reconciliation and its role in education, and suggest that the notion of inclusiveness can enrich it. The context of the research is then provided by looking briefly at the socio-political and educational settings in which the study was conducted, followed by a discussion of the research methodology. The findings from the study are then presented with the main themes identified as arising across the four research locations. These themes concern understandings of reconciliation and inclusion, student diversity, teachers’ challenges, helping students deal with conflict, and teachers’ development. Finally, whilst acknowledging the exploratory nature of these findings, the authors discuss what policy makers, school leaders and teachers might change about policies and practices for reconciliation education in the four settings studied and, by implication, other comparable settings.

Higher Education and Some Upper Egyptian Women’s Negotiation of Self-Autonomy at Work and Home

HANAN SALAH EL-DEEN EL-HALAWANY Foundations of Education Department, Faculty of Education, Assiut University, Egypt

doi:10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.423

This research aims to compare the effect of higher education on some Upper Egyptian women’s practice of self autonomy at both work and home. The most important revelation this research makes is the fact that although no one can deny the importance and significance of higher education to Upper Egyptian women, yet it failed to challenge the traditional gender division of work. Hence, it affected negatively Upper Egyptian women’s perceptions of self-autonomy. The empirical evidence laid down in this research emphasizes that the relationship between women’s higher education and their self-autonomy, empowerment, and gender equality yields consistently positive effects of education on some aspects, especially on their participation in decision-making at home. However, women seem to be unaware of their possession of such power. For other aspects of women’s life, the empirical evidence suggests that a range of underlying social, cultural and especially economic conditions need to be more favourable in order for women’s higher education to have a beneficial effect on gender equality and women’s mastery of self-autonomy.

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