International and Comparative Education Commons^™

The Comparative And International Education Society Of Canada (Ciesc), Suzanne Majhanovich, Zhang Lanlin

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided

Shifting From Ideal To Critical Multiculturalism In Canadian Teacher Education Programs: Examining The Challenges, Dragana Martinovic, Sheila Windle, S. Nombuso Dlamini

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper describes a recent initiative designed to provide support for teacher candidates from culturally diverse backgrounds as they traverse a one-year teacher education program in Canada. Results and discussion are based on qualitative data from an information survey, student-professor conversations, a review of seminar documents and processes, and observations and reflections made by professors conducting the seminar. Overall, the Language and Cultural Engagement Seminar was successful in providing a supportive environment in which complicated and politically volatile issues, which would otherwise have remained unacknowledged, were discussed openly. The main concerns expressed by participants were the communication concern (grammar, vocabulary, …

Esl/Efl Instructors’ Beliefs About Assessment And Evaluation, W. Todd Rogers, Liying Cheng, Huiqin Hu

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The beliefs of 95 ESL/EFL instructors in Canada, 44 in Hong Kong, and 124 in Beijing about assessment and evaluation were examined with 32 questionnaire items. While the results revealed more similarities than the differences, among the instructors in the three contexts, the beliefs expressed by the instructors in the three contexts were somewhat mixed and, at times, contradictory. While the beliefs that assessment and evaluation were important for instruction and help improve student learning and the actual purposes of and uses of assessment and evaluation held by the instructors were positively related. The instructors’ beliefs about how they conducted …

Students’ Organizations In Canada And Cuba: A Comparative Study, Kendra Coulter

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

As a comparative case study of two different national post-secondary students’ federations, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), and the Cuban Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU), this paper explores why postsecondary students organize politically. The history and present activities of each organization are reviewed to compare their work as it takes place in two very different national contexts. The paper then moves to a discussion of the political goals and motivations driving these organizations in the neoliberal present and argues that students in both organizations are engaged in similar efforts both to improve their own lives and social conditions more generally. …

Poverty And Inequality In The Niger Delta: Is National Economic Empowerment And Development Strategy The Answer?, Macleans A. Geo-Jaja, Steve Azaiki

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The paper examines economic poverty and educational poverty in the Niger Delta, a region endowed with enormous, but misused, resources. The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) is contrasted with other poverty reduction strategies. The blindness of NEEDS to the complex causes of the situation in the Niger Delta is noted. The issues analyzed concern the emphasis placed on market forces, the schemes used to finance education, and the choice of provision of education towards equality. The final section of the article gives a critical reading of the strategy currently adopted to reduce the incidence of poverty in Nigeria …

Decentralization And Education In Uganda, Immaculate Namukasa, Ronald Buye

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Uganda is one of the African countries that have decentralized its education system. This country-specific paper examines the implementation process and the way forward to decentralizing education in a developing country. There have been gains and challenges from decentralization and processes linked to it. While the implementation of Universal Primary Education in 1997 increased significantly school enrollment aas well as the number of classrooms; on the other hand, student-teacher and student-resources ratio also increased, and corruption and mismanagement of resources remained a challenge.

Uganda est un des pays d'Afrique qui ont décentralisé leur système d'enseignement. Cet article spécifique sur un …

Book Reviews

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Editor's Notes And Front Matter, Suzanne Majhanovich

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Presidential Address, 2006 Comparative Education In Changing Times: A View With A Southern Exposure, Cecille De Pass

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Adopting a wide angle lens to photograph selected educational vistas, the address also focuses on specificities associated with intractable challenges in comparative education. The paper offers a three part approach to discuss concomitant complexities: the first approach represents a well established historical tradition; the second, emphasizing interdependence, usually depicts the dominant mainstream perspective. In contrast, the third approach embedded in social justice, critical pedagogy, and opposition, demands significant structural changes. Understandably, the latter is the least likely to be adopted at regional, national and international levels.

Se servant d’un objectif à grande ouverture pour photographier les vues choisies de l’ …

Comparing Connecticut And Finland: Teacher Friendly Policies In An Age Of Accountability, Marianne Larsen

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Educational policy makers across a wide array of settings have made concerted efforts to improve their educational systems by paying close attention to their teaching profession. The state of Connecticut in the north-eastern U.S.A. and the northern European country of Finland are two such jurisdictions. However, unlike most other settings, where low-trust, accountability based policies have been imposed on the teaching profession, Finland and Connecticut’s policies can be considered teacher-friendly. This paper compares the teacher policies implemented in those two settings over the past fifteen years. Given the well-documented link between teacher quality and student achievement, it is worth considering …

Policy As Outcome: Inequities Generated From Unintended Policy Outcomes, Katina Pollock

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Intended and unintended outcomes of economic, political, and educational policy can create employment arrangements and work environments that limit opportunities for career advancement, professional development, and employment equity for certain groups of teachers. This paper, written from a critical lens, attempts to demonstrate how national and local policy outcomes in England have negatively impacted some educators who worked for Teacher Recruitment Agencies (TRAs) in the 1990s. In conclusion, the collective impact of policy outcomes for recruitment agency teachers has resulted in: a lack of control over workplace environment in schools that require extensive supports, financial arrangements that result in limited …

Chinese Graduate Students At North American Universities: Learning Challenges And Coping Strategies, Jinyan Huang, Don A. Klinger

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The paper investigated four Chinese graduate students’ perceptions of the challenges they face and the coping strategies they use in their English academic learning at two North American universities. They reported experiencing the following seven major challenges in their academic learning: 1) financial difficulties; 2) problems in using English for academic purposes; 3) frustrations in becoming a permanent resident; 4) difficulty in adapting to the classroom learning environment; 5) lack of critical thinking skills; 6) acculturation problems; and 7) loneliness and academic anxiety. For each of the seven challenges they have developed corresponding coping strategies.

Cet article examine la perception …

Does School/Site Based Management (Sbm) In Japan Achieve Its Policy Purposes? A Policy Analysis Of Japanese Education Reform Regardingschool Advisors And School Management Councils, Jun Hirata

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The purpose of this paper is to analyze decentralized education reform in Japan in terms of School/Site-Based Management (SBM). In the literature, SBM embraces two major elements, namely, the devolution of decision-making authority to the individual school level and Shared Decision-Making (SDM). In Japan, school advisors and school management councils have been established with similar purposes with SBM since 2000. However, because the decision-making authority is not sufficiently devolved to each school and many groups of stakeholders are not significantly involved in decision-making processes, a SBM form of school governance has not been realized in Japan.

Cet article a pour …

A Comparison Of The Portrayal Of Visible Minorities In Textbooks In Canada And China, Bing Wang

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Canada and China are both multiethnic countries and have articulated a strong commitment to multicultural education. However, in the process of curricula control, decision makers, drawn from the mainstream culture, develop, implement, and interpret the formal curriculum. Consequently, the ethnic content included in the mainstream curriculum could be biased, fragmented, or with important omissions. This paper evaluates the portrayal of selected visible minorities in some currently used social studies (history) textbooks in Alberta and China, to reveal how knowledge of ethnic cultures is filtered through the dominant perspectives and to explore ways to educate all students to be responsible citizens. …

Book Reviews

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Cie Journal/Revue Eci 35(1) & 35(2) Referees/Critiques

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Editor's Notes And Front Matter, Suzanne Majhanovich

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

On Globalization And Ethnomathematics, Thomas Varghese, Daniel P. Mccusker

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The changes of globalization are forcing educational systems of developing countries to mimic the curricula, teaching methods and assessment tests of highly industrialized nations. Simply copying a curriculum built for a specific culture, however, may not be effective in another culture as mathematics is a product of the culture and socioeconomic system of a particular country. Mathematics teaching that is founded on and built upon the local cultural knowledge and/or the cognitive background can be more effective and will yield more opportunities to marginalized groups. Inclusion of ethnomathematics (everyday mathematics) in the curriculum helps to situate mathematics in real-world contexts. …

Technology Education And Economic Competitiveness In Developing Countries: The Sri Lankan Experience, Anthony N. Ezeife, T. Arivalagan

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper examines the status of technology education in developing countries generally, and Sri Lanka in particular. A review of current literature reveals that science and technology are critically important for every country's socio-economic development. The conceptual framework and major features of technology education that should be emphasised in developing countries are discussed. The paper also highlights some severe barriers and limitations that inhibit technology education in developing countries. It is concluded that the Sri Lankan economy requires an effective implementation of appropriate technology education, and that this implementation must begin with scientific and technological literacy at the school level. …

Disrupting Contemporary Child Slavery Through Organization Networks: The Possibilities And Barriers, Lynette Shultz

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Increases in slavery have been identified in most countries in the world and are understood to be a global problem with local patterns and consequences. Education organizations, including schools, teacher organizations, as well as non-formal education organizations, have the potential to function as powerful partners in preventing and eliminating child slavery through the provision of quality education and also as locations of information sharing and action coordination. This study examines existing organization, inter-organization and organization–institution networked relationships to understand if and how education organizations have taken up an active role as sites to disrupt contemporary child slavery or to rehabilitate …

Learning To Learn Culture: The Experiences Of Sojourners In Nunavut, Christine Wihak

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Cross-cultural proficiency is vital for educational professionals, whether working abroad or in multicultural Canadian cities. This study explores the process of learning culture identified through an analysis of the narratives of 10 women counsellors who lived and worked in educational settings in Inuit communities in Nunavut. Their learning strategies parallelled the process described in adult learning theory, suggesting the usefulness of such theory for guiding the development of professional education and training programs aimed at the development of multicultural competence. In turn, the theoretical perspective highlights the importance of direct cultural immersion rather than an academic approach to learning culture. …

Framing Possibilities: Representations Of Black Student Athletes In Toronto Media, Roger Saul, Carl James

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This article draws upon a weekly feature in the Toronto Star newspaper, the “High School Report,” to explore the representations of black male student athletes over the school year 2003/2004. These media representations contribute to an understanding of the wider social reality of student athletes. Our investigation points to the fact that the media present black male students compared to their white counterparts as giving priority to athletics over academics. By ignoring the structural inequities they face in schools and society, the media contribute to a popular discourse which frames the social and educational possibilities of black male students in …

Accessing The Transition To Careers For Female Undergraduates In The Restructured University In New Brunswick, Marilee Reimer, Adele Mueller

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The reality of “non-traditional” students attending Canadian universities is increasing with the absence of the baby-boom echo generation in Atlantic Canada and several other provinces. Women students who are “first-in-the-family” face multiple disadvantages in accessing the university to career transition process, none more central than the invisibility of that career transition to students from low income families or those with no previous post-secondary education. This institutional ethnography examines how three universities in New Brunswick are addressing the specific needs of these students and the question of access to careers for non-traditional women students.

La réalité des étudiants "non- traditionnels" suivant …

Book Review, Jan Sobocan

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Announcement

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Editor's Notes And Front Matter, Suzanne Majhanovich

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Decolonizing Indigenons Education: Beyond Culturalism: Toward Post-Cultural Strategies, Yatta Kanu

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

As a response to the recent international calls to decolonize the education of Indigenous students and increase school success among them by including indigenous knowledge into school curricula, aspects of Aboriginall cultural knowledge/perspectives were integrated into the Social Studies curriculum in a Canadian inner city school in order to appraise the effect on academic achievement, class attendance and school retention among some Canadian Aboriginal students. Results suggest some optimism about increasing school success among these students by integrating Aboriginal perspectives. Five effective approaches to the integration of Indigenous perspectives into the school curriculum and some critical elements of instruction that …

La Guerre Et Le Génocide De 1994: Impacts Et Nouveaux Espoirs Sur L'Éducation Des Jeunes Filles Au Rwanda, Donatille Mujawamariya, Susan Judith Ship

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

A travers un cadre theorique femme/genre et developpement, les auteures menent une discussion sur la sous-scolarisation des filles au Rwanda. Elles explorent ensuite comment les inegalites de genre interagissent avec des inegalites socioeconomiques et regionales pour entraver l'acces equitable et la participation des filles it l'education formelle au cours des periodes coloniale, apres l'independance et postgenocide. Dans la suite, elles montrent comment les organisations de femmes jouent, actuellement, un role crucial dans la promotion de l'empowerment des filles et l'equite de genre en education a travers la conscientisation a la problematique de genre, des programmes et activites innovateurs.

The authors …

Privatization Chinese Style: Tuition Reforms In China's Postsecondary Education, Lanlin Zhang

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Since the endorsement of a socialist market economy in 1992 in the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, self-financing and fee-charging principles have been widely adopted, and finally legitimized in China's higher education system. However, refonns in China's post secondary education, mainly privatization and tuition fee hikes, have produced some serious controversies and concerns among students, parents, and international education researchers. This article delves into the issues of post secondary education refonn in China and brings into attention problems that occur when policies are institutionalized in a centralized decentralization setting.

Depuis l'adhesion a une economie de marche socialiste …

New Immigrants' Barriers To Participation In Society And The Economy, Atlanta Sloane-Seale

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper focuses on the barriers that new immigrants face, in spite of their utilization of the services provided, to their participation and integration into society and the economy in order to better understand the events, factors, and difficulties that have an impact on their economic outcomes. Qualitative methodology and a grounded theory perspective were used to develop themes and patterns from their stories. An inclusive, multidimensional framework, including institutional, structural, situational, dispositional, informational, and self-determination factors for thinking about their participation and integration into society and the knowledge economy related to employment and education has emerged from this study. …