Research in Comparative and International Education
ISSN 1745-4999

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

Martin Johnson & Newman Burdett. Intention, Interpretation and Implementation: some paradoxes of assessment for learning across educational contexts, pages 122‑130
Satomi Izumi-Taylor, Yu-Yuan Lee, Deborah Moberly & Lei Wang. Reflective Skills of Pre-service Teachers: a cross-cultural study of American and Japanese college students, pages 131‑143
Joe Tin-Yau Lo. The Primary Social Education Curricula in Hong Kong and Singapore: a comparative study, pages 144‑155
Katerina Bodovski & Rachel E. Durham. Parental Practices and Achievement of Mexican and Chinese Immigrant Children in the USA: assimilation patterns?, pages 156‑175
D. Brent Edwards Jr. A Comparison of Local Empowerment in Education: Porto Alegre, Brazil and Chicago, USA, pages 176‑184
Salam Adlbi Sibai. ‘Sometimes I Am Spanish and Sometimes Not’: study of the identity and integration of Spanish Muslim women, pages 185‑204
Brad Mazon. Taking the Global Leap: student affairs professionals and internationalization, pages 205‑209
Stephen Larmar & Ann Ingamells. Enhancing the First-Year University Experience: linking university orientation and engagement strategies to student connectivity and capability, pages 210‑223

Intention, Interpretation and Implementation: some paradoxes of assessment for learning across educational contexts

MARTIN JOHNSON Cambridge Assessment, United Kingdom
NEWMAN BURDETT University of Cambridge International Examinations, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.122

The language of formative assessment, sometimes referred to as ‘assessment for learning’ (AFL), is becoming ubiquitous within international educational discourse. Despite this, levels of common understanding might be considered questionable since the concept appears to have been subject to many different interpretations and to have resulted in varying implementations. The reason for this ambiguity partly lies in the way that the language of formative assessment or assessment for learning has increasingly been applied beyond the context of classroom practice; shifting the focus of assessment from explaining how classroom learning interactions can enhance individual development to considerations involving larger-scale, system-wide accountability purposes. This shift appears to contradict the original spirit of AFL and has led to a blurring of the formative and summative boundaries of assessment. This article presents some empirical data from a small-scale research project to suggest that this issue has a practical impact in the classroom. The article considers the variety of ways that the language of AFL is used by teachers in differing international contexts and suggests that a conflict of purpose might underlie such variations. The article goes on to suggest the need for further research addressing some of the fundamental paradoxes within assessment discourse caused by this conflation of purposes, and identifies areas for further research and investigation.

Reflective Skills of Pre-service Teachers: a cross-cultural study of American and Japanese college students

SATOMI IZUMI-TAYLOR Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, University of Memphis, USA
YU-YUAN LEE Applied Foreign Language Department, Nan Kai University of Technology, Nantou, Taiwan
DEBORAH MOBERLY Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, University of Memphis, USA
LEI WANG Our Lady of the Lake University, San, Antonio, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.131

The purpose of this study was to examine similarities and differences in concepts of reflection among American and Japanese pre-service teachers majoring in early childhood education. Pre-service teachers completed a survey asking them to describe approaches and processes of reflection in their daily practice. The quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that both American and Japanese pre-service teachers considered reflection to be related to their thinking, improvement, and morals. However, although American pre-service teachers viewed reflection to be associated with teaching skills, none of their Japanese counterparts perceived it in this way. Their cultures clearly influenced their concepts of reflection: specifically, American pre-service teachers noted that college instructors encouraged them to write down their reflections, while their Japanese counterparts indicated that reflection was supported by talking to others. Reflection was perceived to be a disposition by American pre-service teachers, whereas their Japanese counterparts viewed it as a skill that they had already learned from early childhood. Implications for teacher education are also presented.

The Primary Social Education Curricula in Hong Kong and Singapore: a comparative study

JOE TIN-YAU LO Department of Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong SARC

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.144

In the face of the challenges of globalization, nation states try to reinvigorate their traditional or national values and local identities as a kind of counterbalance to globalizing influences. Hence, social and citizenship education across nations in Asia takes different forms with certain distinctive varieties in terms of policies, practices and values in alignment with national priorities. Based on this premise, this article compares and contrasts the primary social education curricula in Hong Kong and Singapore in order to trace the differences and similarities in the responses of these two Asian city states to external and internal forces since the turn of the century. The article particularly sheds light on the tensions and contradictions in policies and practices in social and citizenship education as a result of the interaction of global and local perspectives.

Parental Practices and Achievement of Mexican and Chinese Immigrant Children in the USA: assimilation patterns?

KATERINA BODOVSKI Department of Education Policy Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA
RACHEL E. DURHAM Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.156

The authors used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998‑99 (ECLS-K) data to examine the mathematics and science achievement of two immigrant groups in the United States – Chinese and Mexican students. The authors also assessed variation in parental practices and fifth-grade achievement according to ethnicity and the age at which parents arrived in the United States, i.e. comparing children whose parents were born outside of the United States and immigrated after the age of 17, those whose parents immigrated before the age of 17, and native-born parents. The findings support the segmented assimilation framework: Mexican immigrant parents (both arriving as adults and at younger ages) and Chinese immigrant parents (arriving as adults) reported lower levels of parental involvement at school, enrollment in extra-curricular activities, and provision of literacy materials. However, these behaviors among native-born parents of Mexicans and Chinese more closely resemble those of native-born whites. At the same time, although immigrant parents uniformly expressed higher educational expectations than white parents, the achievement patterns of their children diverged along ethnic lines and varied according to the life stage that the parents immigrated to the United States, indicating a process of increasing assimilation among immigrant families but with group-specific patterns. The authors found decreasing disparities in mathematics and science achievement between immigrant and white students: Chinese students’ advantage and Mexican students’ disadvantage relative to white students disappeared by the second generation and third generation, respectively.

A Comparison of Local Empowerment in Education: Porto Alegre, Brazil and Chicago, USA

D. BRENT EDWARDS Jr Department of Educational Leadership, Higher Education, and International Education, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.176

Democratization of decision-making processes and increased local involvement are mentioned regularly as desirable ways to proceed in education policy reform. Nevertheless, the limited publications examining reforms for more democratic organization of school districts have tended to focus on isolated examples and very specific aspects of that reform; and while, more recently, scholars have argued for the democratization of education generally in response to global trends, what is missing from the debate is a comparison of specific reforms in education designed to allow for system-wide democratization and authentic participation. This article reviews the existing literature investigating democratic school system reform in Porto Alegre, Brazil and Chicago, USA – both chosen because they were uniquely able to achieve system-wide reform for more democratic involvement. The article discusses the reforms in terms of their context, specific policy mechanisms, successes, and limitations.

‘Sometimes I am Spanish and sometimes not’: a study of the identity and integration of Spanish Muslim women

SALAM ADLBI SIBAI Faculty of Education, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.185

This article reports part of a wider investigation which is still being developed and analyzes in depth the lives of female university students who are both Spanish and Muslim. The first part of this research was published in the Revista Española de Educación Comparada, where the results of the study in Madrid are presented. Here, the second part of the research is presented: the outcomes in the Valencian Community, Ceuta and Melilla. The research focuses on the identity and integration of female Spanish Muslim university students in the society in which they were born and grew up. The situation in Ceuta and Melilla is analyzed, which is totally different than the situation in Madrid and the Valencian Community because of their history and location in the north of Africa, and because of the large Muslim population in both cities. Through a primarily qualitative methodology, complemented by the quantitative method, the research investigates which elements these women will include or exclude from their identities and which adaptation strategy (following Berry’s model) they have selected to interrelate with their society. The primary data are taken from one-to-one interviews, group discussion sessions and surveys.

Taking the Global Leap: student affairs professionals and internationalization

BRAD K. MAZON College of the Marshall Islands

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.205

Student affairs professionals can play a more prominent role in campus internationalization efforts. Unfortunately, they do not often view themselves as having the necessary knowledge, understanding, and tools to engage with international education matters, much less facilitate internationalization experiences on behalf of students. By rethinking their roles as facilitators of internationalization experiences, and as professionals with global skills and aptitudes, student affairs professionals will have a greater capacity to influence campus internationalization policy and programs.

Enhancing the First-Year University Experience: linking university orientation and engagement strategies to student connectivity and capability

STEPHEN LARMAR & ANN INGAMELLS School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

doi:10.2304/rcie.2010.5.2.210

Over the past decade in Australia there has been an increasing focus in higher education on identifying cogent approaches for assisting first-year university students in their transition into the university setting. In recent years, an emerging body of literature has given emphasis to the efficacy of a range of strategies for engaging first-year undergraduate students. This article reports on a range of effective school-based university orientation and engagement activities that have been informed by the current body of knowledge on student engagement in higher education. Discussion gives emphasis to the impacts of a range of strategies on the early learning environment experiences of first-year students within the School of Human Services and Social Work at Griffith University, Australia. Attention is also drawn to some of the implications for best practice in the orientation and engagement of first-year students at the levels of the institution, academics and students. Finally, the article identifies how the school-based initiated strategies suggest a broad set of possibilities for engagement and change.

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