Canadian and International Education / Education canadienne et internationale

CIE Journal/ Revue CIE 2012: REFEREES/EVALUATEURS

Marianne Larsen — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:41 PST

Book Review: Life at the Intersection: Community, Class and Schooling

Paul Orlowski — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:40 PST

Book Review - Educating children in conflict zones: Research, policy and practice for systemic change. A tribute to Jackie Kirk.

Allyson M. Larkin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:38 PST

Educating children in conflict zones: Research, policy and practice for systemic change is a volume dedicated to the memory of Jackie Kirk, an educational researcher who was killed while working in Afghanistan. This collection of research articles is an excellent contribution to the field of education, conflict and development studies, Kirk's area of expertise. The initial article is by Kirk and is a seminal piece in the field of education and conflict studies, and subsequent contributions by leading researchers in the field such as Lyn Davies, round out a volume that both adds to the growing knowledge of the contested role of education in conflict and lays out an agenda for future research.

Commentary: Cultivating a defiant global research imagination in international education

Jane E. Kenway — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:35 PST

Reconceiving International Education: Theorizing Limits and Possibilities for Transcultural Learning

Paul Tarc et al. — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:26 PST

This multi-voiced paper explores the micro-level dimensions of human learning and becoming from transcultural encounters, lessons and/or curriculum under heightened transnationalism. It posits that mainstream approaches to conceptualizing the ‘education’ of international education lack sufficient theorization of difference, sociality, history and learning in trans-local spaces and suggests that there are expanding networks of transcultural engagements to be examined under the umbrella of international education. To explore this reconceived pedagogical landscape of international education three specific cases are presented: an auto-ethnographic reflection on coming into and making sense of one’s international experience, a conceptual framing of internationalizing preservice education curriculum and a qualitative analysis of the pedagogical impacts of undergraduates’ international internships. Each case illustrates the complexities, possibilities and challenges of (framing) learning and becoming in sites of transcultural engagement.

The role of language in processes of internationalization: Considering linguistic heterogeneity and voices from within and out in two diverse contexts in Ontario

Julie Byrd Clark et al. — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:17 PST

This multi-voiced paper considers the role of language and linguistic heterogeneity in relation to larger discourses and processes of internationalization and globalization in Canadian higher education by examining two particular educational contexts in Ontario: newly arrived adult students participating in Immigrant language training programs; and Franco-Ontarian students transitioning to post-secondary schools and gaining access to higher education. The authors argue for a multidimensional conceptual approach to theorizing internationalization; one that takes into account the significance of language from the global, transnational and local levels of the social world whereby linguistic heterogeneity is viewed as the “norm” and one that allows for a broader and deeper engagement when considering what international education might mean for citizenship, integration, and linguistic minorities in Canada.

North-South International Education Partnerships: Two Canadian Projects with Tanzania.

Aniko Varpalotai et al. — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:13 PST

Abstract

The following is a review of two Canadian-Tanzanian international partnerships working in Tanzania within the education sector. Project TEMBO (Tanzania Education and Micro-Business Opportunity) supports the development of formal and non-formal education for girls and women in collaboration with other local and international non-governmental organizations. The Huron University College/University of Dar es Salaam project is strengthening post-secondary educational opportunities in collaboration with civil society organizations and local government. Both projects are focused on literacy in the broadest sense to achieve critical skills in civic engagement, poverty reduction, problem solving, decision-making and reducing gender imbalances, and as such are in line with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Achieving improved access to information and educational opportunities for Tanzanians that support poverty reduction are the shared objectives of these two projects. This article will outline some of the methods which have been used to successfully offer access and educational opportunities despite ongoing challenges and constraints within the project environments.

Exploiting globalization while being exploited by it:Insights from post-Soviet education reforms in Central Asia

Sarfaroz Niyozov et al. — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:09 PST

Building on an examination of comparative and international literature and their research and development experiences, the authors highlight a number of continuities, changes, and issues between Soviet and post-Soviet, international and Central Asian experiences of borrowing and lending of education reforms. Even though Central Asian actors and institutions are not totally helpless victims and though international experts and NGOs appear well-meaning in these globalizing education transfers, the processes are leading toward reproducing global and local dependencies and inequalities.The trajectory of education reforms in Central Asia echo those of other developing countries. In response, the authors urge local policy makers and comparative educators to join in a critical and reflexive strategic venture of re-encountering and reshaping the global and neoliberal offers to serve the needs of interconnected local and global justice.

Theorizing International Education: (Shifting) contexts, concepts, methods

Paul Tarc et al. — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:05 PST

Dedication of this Special Issue of Canadian and International Education to Joe Farrell

Marianne Larsen — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:46:01 PST

Commentary/Commentaire

Gerard Postiglione — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:47 PST

‘Headmasters Become Noblemen’: Mainland Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives on Changes in Education in the Post-Mao Era

Lorin G. Yochim — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:39 PST

In this article I report findings of research into the lives and work of Mainland Chinese teachers of English in a broader context characterized by market economic reform. I draw on transcriptions of group interviews to describe and discuss teachers’ lives and work, and forward a critical analysis that posits a connection between teachers’ accounts and the re-structuring of social relations in post-Mao China. The article details one of several themes treated in the study, specifically the broad category of ‘effects of educational reform.’ I suggest that the compliance and resistance apparent in these accounts reveals Chinese teachers to be neither cultural dopes nor harbingers of some newly emerging democratic society.

New Curriculum Reform in China and its Impact on Teachers

Linyuan Guo — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:29 PST

China, the developing country with the largest and oldest public education system, is transforming its education system through a nation-wide curriculum reform. This large-scale curriculum change signifies China's complex and multi-dimensional processes and endeavors in empowering its educational system to meet the challenges and opportunities in the era of globalization. This paper reports on an interpretive case study with a particular interest in understanding the impact of the nation-wide curriculum reform on teachers in urban areas. Findings from this study present the complex dimensions of teachers’ lived experiences during this dramatic education change and shed new insights on the current teaching profession in urban China.

Education under China’s Market Economy: A Case Study of Urban and Rural Teachers in Hunan Province

Qing Li — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:27 PST

The purpose of this article to investigate the working and living conditions of teachers under China’s market economy, with a focus on urban and rural schools. This paper is a case study of teachers in Hunan province, representing Central China. A total of eighteen teachers in seven different schools participated in the study.

The analysis of data shows that teachers experience change of teaching as reflected in the shift to learner-centred approaches, as well as changes of curriculum, textbooks and teacher evaluation. Under market economy, Chinese educational system still possesses urban rural inequalities, for the same or different reasons. The urban rural gap is reflected in teachers’ living and working conditions including salary, benefit, pension, available teaching resources, and school environment. It is also reflected in the opportunities they have.

Teaching in Northwestern China Under a Market Economy: Opportunities and Challenges

Gulbahar H. Beckett — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:25 PST

This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach and working with more resourceful students and their parents required constant professional development and overtime work which was challenging and stressful. Findings indicate that the Hanyu (national language also referred to as Putonghua) medium of instruction for minority students, another pedagogical change under the market economy, presented additional challenges to minority teachers who were concerned that the Hanyu medium of instruction may have been an impediment to minority students’ educational achievement and presented serious issues that deserved urgent attention.

Teaching English for Economic Competiveness: Emerging Issues and Challenges in English Education in China

Yan Guo — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:18 PST

Under China’s market economy, English language learning has been adopted as a strategy to promote the nation’s economic competitiveness in a global economy. This development reflects a discourse of linguistic instrumentalism. Based upon individual interviews of 24 English teachers in Zhejiang Province, China, the study reveals that teachers question the assumptions of linguistic instrumentalism, the gatekeeper role of English, the impact of the increasing dominance of English on Chinese language, and their students’ internalization of the belief in the superiority of Anglo culture. In addition, the study suggests that as a result of globalization, the delivery of English education in China has experienced unprecedented marketization and privatization. Despite increases in their salaries, teachers still live in poor conditions. Under the fee-paying principle, parents expect teachers to provide the best service to their children, and as such the relations between teachers and students have become like those between businesses and clients. It seems evident that teaching has been devalued and commodified in the age of market economy.

Globalization, Market Economy and Social Inequality in China: Exploring the Experience of Migrant Teachers

Shibao Guo — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:12 PST

This study explores the experience of migrant teachers in China. In particular, it examines how China’s market economy might have impacted on the status and living and working conditions of migrant teachers. The study adopts a case study approach, drawing on personal interviews with 21 school teachers in Shenzhen and Zhuhai of Guangdong Province. The findings reveal that despite China’s economic miracle, migrant teachers’ status and teaching and living conditions have not improved. On the contrary, they have deteriorated. Migrant teachers are paid less, live in poor housing conditions, and face heavy workload. Many teachers have to tutor outside of school hours or work a second job to make ends meet. Through an account of the experience of migrant teachers in China, this study contextualizes the concept of globalization by examining its impact on China through the influence of the market economy. It also reveals a number of social injustice and inequality in education which requires the Chinese government to take immediate actions to reduce and eliminate it.

Introduction: Teaching under China’s Market Economy

Shibao Guo et al. — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:45:08 PST

A perspective on Free Higher Education in Nigeria

K.C. Prince Asagwara — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:07:23 PDT

Transnational Curriculum Transfer and the Role of Feasibility Assessment

Andrew Hughes et al. — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:07:18 PDT