In the context of the distinction between normative and descriptive approaches to the relationship between science and religion, this article discusses the recent work of the sociologist Elaine Ecklund. It reviews four of her published outputs, summarising her data concerning the views of religious people and professional scientists, including…

Many scholars and teachers in EFL education should agree that compared with reading and writing, listening has received much less attention. This brief article discusses important gaps existing in EFL listening and overall proficiency development. It presents the case for a greater focus on sounds and actual listening in the classroom and spoken…

Contextualised mobile assisted language learning (MALL) has been known for its potential in language learning rooted in social constructivism theories. However, a consistent approach to constituents of contextualised MALL, in addition to a quantitative tool to evaluate it, is missing in reported case studies. The present research, drawing upon…

According to proponents of self-determination theory, autonomous regulation is a universal psychological human need. Researchers have found autonomy (defined as acting in accordance with one's values) related to well-being across cultures. Encouraging client autonomy is therefore fundamental to the practice of humanistic counseling.

The IEA Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) is the first large-scale international study of the preparation of primary and lower-secondary teachers. The study investigated the pedagogical and subject-specific knowledge that future primary and lower secondary school teachers acquire during their mathematics teacher…

Spatial, social and academic journeys undertaken between Taiwan and Australia for doctoral education are the focus of reflection here. The discussion centres on the authors' experiences of, on the one hand, the development of a Faculty of Education's doctoral pedagogies in the early 2000s to reflect its international PhD candidature…

This article analyses the central themes running through the collection of papers in this special issue of Childhood, which were all given as papers at the XVI Durban World Congress of Sociology, 23-29 July 2006. These themes encompass the ways in which global processes of social change combining modernity with tradition have become important for…

Although China (People's Republic of China [PRC]), Hong Kong and Taiwan have many similarities in language, culture, values, Confucian traditions, family systems and other social-environmental variables, school psychological services in the three regions are distinctly different in both history and practice. Few studies in the psychology…

An outline is given of the context in which The International School Effectiveness Research Project (ISERP) was designed and it is argued that the deficiencies of existing studies and the increased internationalization of education makes the more rigorous approach of ISERP essential. A number of methodological lessons from the study are given,…

Discusses the challenges of designing a Chinese/English Web site in Taiwan for both Chinese- and English-speaking audiences, creating a single, consistent presentation. Explores how the Web-site development team reconciled different audience responses and tackled technological, cultural, and political issues. (SR)

Describes early childhood education in Taiwan, focusing on living patterns and child care arrangements, the position of the individual within the family and community, and the application of cultural norms to early childhood education. Compares the behavior of Chinese preschool children to that of American preschool children. (RJC)

This article examines East Asian societies' response to students who are gifted academically or talented in the arts, music, or sports, focusing on educational practices in China, Taiwan, and Japan. The study concludes that establishment of gifted education programs is not determined by economic development level or school quality but by the…

Argues that classroom art experiences that recognize the roots, and routes, of individual identities help form pathways for understanding ourselves and others' experiences. Talks about a trip to a Paiwan aboriginal community in southern Taiwan and the lessons learned about the integration of art with cultural life and identity. (DSK)

Attempts to identify the master stigma, that characteristic of an individual that he believes to have the strongest negative effects on interactions with others, as perceived by students from four developing nations. Racial background was the master stigma only for the Nigerian students and being a foreigner was for the Iranian, Taiwanese, and…

Explores benefits and limitations of online teaching and learning, online teaching strategies, and cultural aspects associated with cross-cultural collaboration based on email correspondence between American preservice teachers and Taiwanese students. American students practiced online instruction as tutors for English as a second language, and…