Browsing Comparative and International Education and Lifelong Learning Research Group by Issue Date
Now showing items 1-20 of 33
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Citizenship and democracy in further and adult educationThis book addresses the questions why citizenship education is an important subject for students in further and adult education and why we need democratic colleges to support the study of citizenship education. It investigates the historical roots of further and adult education and identifies how the adoption of citizenship education in the post-compulsory sector can enrich vocational studies in further education and programmes in adult education.
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Cases, simulacra, and Semantic Web technologies‘Ensemble’ is an interdisciplinary research and development project exploring the potential role of emerging Semantic Web technologies in case-based learning across learning environments in higher education. Empirical findings have challenged the claim that cases ‘bring reality into the classroom’ and that this, in turn, might provide the basis for an understanding of the role of Semantic Web technologies in case-based learning environments. We describe how the work of authors including Baudrillard and Deleuze has provided an alternative framework for understanding the relationships between cases and the realities with which they are purportedly associated. We discuss how the idea of the ‘simulacrum’ has influenced our understanding of learning environments, has informed design and development practices, and has led to a shift in our understandings of the potential affordances of Semantic Web technologies in educational settings.
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Mentoring for school leadership in South Africa: diversity, dissimilarity and disadvantageIn South Africa, until recently, mentoring has not been formalized as part of school leadership induction programmes or of leadership professional development. However, the South African government identified mentoring as a distinctive aspect of its pilot leadership development programme for school principals. This programme signalled a shift from ad hoc and informal mentoring to building mentorship into school leadership development programmes. However, there is still no clear understanding about what constitutes effective mentoring models and the significance of similarity and diversity in a mentoring relationship. In this paper I draw from two dissimilar datasets to explore mentoring from an identity (gender and race) perspective. Using similarity-attraction theory, the paper highlights the complexity of mentoring models and suggests that higher levels of dissimilarity in a mentoring relationship may lead to disadvantage.
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Networking for school leadership in South Africa: perceptions and realitiesThis article presents the findings from the evaluation of the pilot of a new entry qualification for school principals in South Africa. The programme, Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) School Leadership, had networking as a distinctive feature, and this article examines candidates’ perceptions and experiences of networking as a leadership development process. The methodology combined the survey, interviews and observations. The findings revealed that the practice, development and sustainability of networks were complex; networking advanced shared learning and facilitated candidates’ programme completion while addressing school-based problems through site-based assessment. However, networks were noted to be patchy, with a few operating successfully, but most still requiring development.
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A reflection on adaptability, achievement motivation and success of Central and Eastern European students in one English universityThis article focuses Central and Eastern European (CEE) students’ adaptability and achievement in one English post-1992 university. There are few studies that discuss values, beliefs, attitudes and needs as well as achievement (and factors contributing to it) between CEE and other learners. Since the expansion of the European Union, CEE students’ presence in British higher education has become more pronounced. CEE learners are treated as home students and yet they come from a distinctively different socio-historical background and pedagogic tradition, which is, to a certain extent, common in CEE countries as a result of the sovietisation of education systems within post communistic countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In the British higher education sector there is a move in curriculum delivery towards more personalised learning, which underlines that effective teaching and learning starts with understanding the individual student. Therefore, it is important that universities with a high proportion of EU students attempt to understand where CEE students come from and what their aspirations might be. This article attempts to provide some insights into CEE learners’ values, attitudes and motivations to learn and looks for possible reasons for their success.
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School leadership development in Commonwealth countries : learning across the boundariesThe field of educational leadership has received significant attention in the past decade due to a growing recognition of the role of effective leadership in improving schooling experience. The paper presents findings from a study exploring school leadership preparation and development in Commonwealth countries. Respondents from several countries that are members of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration Management (CCEAM) participated in the study that explored the nature of leadership development provision. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The findings suggest that there is a variety of leadership learning provision and that the content appears to have changed over the years. However, the degree to which this content is shaped by local contextual experiences is questionable. The paper argues that a meaningful model of crosscultural learning for leadership development is one that is informed by context specific experiences.