John Chi-Kin Lee

Colin Marsh

Education officials, specialist leaders and teachers have all been involved in different ways to bring about school reform in Hong Kong. This book is a very current and relevant analysis of this reform, highlighting the way in which agencies have cooperated in bringing about change over the last several decades. Through a process of wide-ranging decision-making, collaboration and consensus among key bodies and agencies of change, some important developments have occurred. The reforms collectively have had, and are continuing to have, a major impact upon schooling in Hong Kong. This volume represents a range of authors and specialists involved in a number of different reforms, covering themes such as historical policy contexts, new curriculum approaches, changing pedagogies, school leadership, implementation and change, and assessment and evaluation. This is a very topical book which provides a probing analysis of how an Asian education system has been able to reach and maintain a very high performing level.

The Case of Hong Kong

Asia's High Performing Education Systems

Kerry J. Kennedy

There has been much debate in recent times between the Anglo American tradition of curriculum studies and the Continental and North European tradition of didactics (Didaktik). As important as such debate has been, this book seeks to add new voices to the debate representing ideas and traditions from a different part of the world. The focus is on Chinese curriculum thinking that has passed through a number of stages and currently represents a blend of some aspects of the American tradition and Chinese cultural traditions. How does Chinese thinking about curriculum, teaching and learning resonate with European didactic traditions and what are the implications for theorizing an expanded field of curriculum studies? This book deliberately transcends borders and cultures to explore new territory, to provide a platform for open dialogue and to open up new areas of investigation Chapters include, Curriculum Reform and Research in China: A Social-Historical Perspective What Mathematics Did Teachers Learn? Comparison of the School and the Pre-Service Teacher Mathematics Curricula in Germany and Taiwan Living in Parallel Worlds: A Transatlantic Dialogue between General Didactics and Instructional Design

A Conversation between Chinese Curriculum and European Didactics

Theorizing Teaching and Learning in Asia and Europe

Margarita Pavlova

Kerry J Kennedy

To help researchers, educators and policy makers understand and support the development of 21st-century skills in schools, this edited volume explores the various iterations of "soft" skills with a particular focus on their implications for values and evaluates ways in which "soft skills" and "hard" values can be integrated. Discourse throughout the 21st century has focused on the changing nature of work, the need for new skill sets and the disruptive effects of new technologies. This has been a neo-liberal discourse that subordinated personal and individual needs to the needs of a productive workforce delivering more and more efficiencies linked to higher and higher profits. The solution is often seen to be in the development of a school curriculum that focuses on work-ready skills for an increasingly complex work environment and its demands. Agencies such as OECD and UNESCO highlight the need to link the skills agenda with complementary values. Yet this process is at a very early stage. The proponents of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for example highlight the impact of new technologies, not just on work but also on the social world. Yet they neglect to explore the values that would be needed in these new disruptive environments. This book takes up that issue and lays out the multiple value systems that are available for this new 21st century world. It is an important resource for policy makers, academics and teachers with responsibility for a new generation.

Meeting Education's 21st Century Challenges

Soft Skills and Hard Values

Noel Gough

In recent years, there has been increasing attention placed on international and transnational aspects of school and higher education curricula, and the different research approaches and lenses through which these issues are studied. This edited volume explores diverse perspectives and discourses of curriculum studies contributed by scholars both within and outside the "majority world". In addition, it tackles both transnational cross-border endeavours involving national governments and policy measures, and the promises, challenges and failings of those formal relationships. The book consists of three sections. The first section provides an introduction and overviews of transnational education in connection with curriculum studies, schooling and higher education. The second section deals with transnational and international perspectives on curriculum studies, schooling and education. The final, third section highlights transnational and international perspectives on higher education. This timely volume tackles the questions often posed by curriculum scholars and educational researchers around the possibility of a transnational approach to curriculum studies and how (and if) a common set of means can transcend national boundaries and sensitivities. It looks at the common issues and problems across nations that international and transnational curriculum and educational research work could address. This volume will appeal to researchers and policy makers interested in transnational education and curriculum studies.

International Perspectives

Transnational Education and Curriculum Studies

The book examines ancient religious traditions and modernity in a globalized Asia that is as much in need of a moral compass as it is economic development. Religious education has been an aspect of many societies over time and irrespective of culture. Yet as globalization advances local values are challenged every day by internationalized discourses and global perspectives. It is this context that provides the rationale for this edited book. It seeks to understand what forms religious education takes in Asian contexts and what role it continues to play. On the one hand, the societies which are the subject of this book reflect ancient religious traditions but on the other they are responsible for a significant portion of the world’s economic development. The book will appeal to researchers interested in the current state of religious education in Asia, policymakers with responsibility for religious education and teachers who practice religious education on a daily basis.

Spiritual Diversity in Globalized Times

Religious Education in Asia

Rupert Maclean

This book addresses growing reservations about the relevance of educational systems to the economic and social needs of individuals by examining different aspects of transitions from school to work or further studies within formal and informal settings in Asia. Highlighting important issues such as selectiveness and inclusiveness, integration of transversal competencies, vocationalisation of secondary schooling, approaches to career guidance and emerging models of student support, it is of particular interest to educators, policymakers and other stakeholders who are concerned about the effectiveness of system-wide and institutional-based approaches. The first part of the book explores different models, mechanisms and approaches to policy and practice in the context of Asia, while the second part examines Hong Kong students’ transitions to post-school life and provides an account of issues and challenges the government and individual schools experience in terms of structural support for both mainstream and special-needs students.

John Chi-Kin Lee

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