Internationalization of higher education is a major characteristic of China's higher education policy. Accordingly, the Chinese government is fervently encouraging the spread of Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes, student exchange programs, recruitment of international students, and international collaborations. South Asia…

In this article, the author explores an East-West epistemological convergence of humanism illuminated in three main themes in the works of Confucius (551-479 BC), Makiguchi Tsunesaburo (1871-1944), and John Dewey (1859-1952): "human-nature interconnection," "associated self-cultivation," and "value creation." She contends that these thinkers'…

Teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign language and its culture is complex for Kenyan learners. It requires them to consider contrasting intellectual, policy and economic dimensions that instead of aiding its propagation among Kenyan learners, could even facilitate a hindrance to its progression. Potential measures that could be embraced…

Vietnam's higher education sector, which has expanded dramatically over the past 20 years, has now reached a point where it is ready to become more research-oriented and better networked internationally. There are, however, aspects of the sector that remain desperately in need of further reform. This paper provides a contemporary review of the…

As of year-end 2014, the Confucius Institutes--the largest international educational cooperation project in human history, and the largest internationalization project in the history of Chinese universities--celebrated their first decade of existence. This case study examines 27 Confucius Institutes in 15 countries spread across six continents…

Brazil tertiary education has evolved substantially in the last 20 years. The policies set up by the Brazilian government aimed at different targets. There were actions to expand the enrollments in the country's public universities, mainly through a program called Reestruturação e Expansão das Universidades Federais (REUNI). The government also…

This empirical study investigates secondary science teachers' perspectives on science education reform in Taiwan and reflects how these teachers have been negotiating constructivist and learner-centered pedagogical approaches in contemporary science education. It also explores the challenges that teachers encounter while shifting their pedagogical…

China's recent education reforms are a result of selective policy borrowing from "the West". Although comparativists have highlighted the importance of cultural context in policy borrowing in China, what remains relatively under-explored is the epistemological basis for cultural views that mediate policy transfer. This article argues…

Recent education reform in China reflects the global trend of education policy borrowing from Anglophone countries such as the USA. The reform in China essentially advocates shifting from knowledge reproduction and didacticism to knowledge construction by students through a learner-centredness approach. Aware of the trend of borrowing policy from…

Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore are in the process of adopting approaches that can be characterised by the terms "learning society" and "lifelong learning". This report uses case studies to present a description of the three countries' national socio-economic climates and to assess their political will and…

Heterosexism faced by sexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer/questioning [LGBQ]) students has been extensively studied internationally in the past 2 decades but has only recently received attention from Hong Kong Chinese society. Chinese LGBQ students are not guaranteed to be included in Hong Kong schools, where antidiscrimination…

This paper presents an ethnographic interpretation of education as a social technology of state sovereign power and governing in the borderlands of contemporary China. Illustrated with snapshots from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Pumi (Premi) ethnic village located along China's south-western territorial margins, it is argued that the…

The promotion of educational equity and improvement of educational quality in China are contextualised in tenets of Confucianism and policy directives, inspiring educational research and practice. In this paper, we first explore the historical and cultural roots of educational equity and quality through Confucianism and elaborate on the current…

Enormous variation exists among nations and regions in their inclusive education provisions. In addition to comparisons based on policy documents and figures, in-depth and contextually grounded comparative studies involving qualitative data based on stakeholder experiences are needed, especially between western and Asian regions or nations where…

This paper analyses how the impact of international student achievement studies and the recent economic crisis in Europe are influencing the development of educational policy transfer and borrowing, from East to West. This is contrasted with education reform movements in East Asia, which have long legacies of borrowing from so-called…