New Frontiers of Educational Research – serie

This edited volume with selected papers from extinguished experts and professors in the field of learning technology and the related fields who are far-sighted and have his/her own innovative thoughts on the development of learning technology. This book will addresses the main issues concerned with the trend and future development of learning processes, innovative pedagogies changes, effects of new technologies on education, future learning content. Learning technology has been affected by advances in technology development and changes in the field of education. Nowadays we cannot afford to sense the changes and then make adaption to it. What we should do is to predict the changes and make positive and active reactions to help the trend go smoothly and in a more beneficial way. This book aims to gather the newest ideas on the frontiers and future development of learning education from the aspects of learning, pedagogies, and technologies in learning in order to draw a picture of learning education in the near future.  ​

(Re)Imagining the world: Children’s Literature’s Response to Changing Times considers how writers of fiction for children imagine ‘the world’, not one universal world, but different worlds: imaginary, strange, familiar, even monstrous worlds. The chapters in this collection discuss how fiction for children engages with some of the changes brought about by new technologies, information literacy, consumerism, migration, politics, different family structures, cosmopolitanism, new and old monsters.  They also invite us to think about how memory shapes our understanding of the past, and how fiction engages our emotions, our capacity to empathise, and our desire to discover, and what the future may hold. The contributors bring different perspectives from education, postcolonial studies, literary criticism, cultural studies, childhood studies, postmodernism, and the social sciences. With a wide coverage of texts from different countries, and scholarly and lively discussions, this collection is itself a testament to the power of the human imagination and the significance of children’s literature in the education of young people. ​

This book addresses two main questions, namely how to prepare high-quality teachers in the 21st century and how the East and the West can learn from each other. It addresses the different challenges and dilemmas that eastern countries, especially China, and western countries are facing with regard to teacher education. We explore the question by examining teacher education research, practice and policy in different countries, identifying both common problems and country-specific challenges. We then try to find valuable experiences, theories and practice which can solve specific problems in the process of teacher education, also addressing how local and global factors impact it.In this regard, our approach does not strictly separate pre-service teacher education from teachers’ in-service professional development, adopting an integrative perspective. Further, we believe the respective social and cultural contexts must also be taken into account. Lastly, we call for teachers’ knowledge and individual character traits to be accounted for in the education of high-quality teachers.

This book will examine how universities in China and the US are responding to markets and increasing global competition. For both countries, a university education is seen as key to economic development. While China and the US have two very different political systems, they represent the two largest economies in the world and share beliefs that higher education plays an integral role to economic development. The book will bring together scholars with multiple perspectives on the topic to create dialogue around similarities and differences. This book will appeal to students, scholars, and higher educational administrators in both countries and other countries as well who are seeking to understand the strategic change in higher education in both China and the US. ​

(Re)Imagining the world: Children’s Literature’s Response to Changing Times considers how writers of fiction for children imagine ‘the world’, not one universal world, but different worlds: imaginary, strange, familiar, even monstrous worlds. The chapters in this collection discuss how fiction for children engages with some of the changes brought about by new technologies, information literacy, consumerism, migration, politics, different family structures, cosmopolitanism, new and old monsters.  They also invite us to think about how memory shapes our understanding of the past, and how fiction engages our emotions, our capacity to empathise, and our desire to discover, and what the future may hold. The contributors bring different perspectives from education, postcolonial studies, literary criticism, cultural studies, childhood studies, postmodernism, and the social sciences. With a wide coverage of texts from different countries, and scholarly and lively discussions, this collection is itself a testament to the power of the human imagination and the significance of children’s literature in the education of young people. ​

This edited volume with selected papers from extinguished experts and professors in the field of learning technology and the related fields who are far-sighted and have his/her own innovative thoughts on the development of learning technology. This book will addresses the main issues concerned with the trend and future development of learning processes, innovative pedagogies changes, effects of new technologies on education, future learning content. Learning technology has been affected by advances in technology development and changes in the field of education. Nowadays we cannot afford to sense the changes and then make adaption to it. What we should do is to predict the changes and make positive and active reactions to help the trend go smoothly and in a more beneficial way. This book aims to gather the newest ideas on the frontiers and future development of learning education from the aspects of learning, pedagogies, and technologies in learning in order to draw a picture of learning education in the near future.  ​

This book provides an overview of some fundamental topics of international Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), e.g. genesis of TVET research, fields of TVET research, curriculum development, TVET planning and developing, methods of TVET research etc. The International Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research (Rauner/Maclean), published in 2009 by Springer, was the first handbook to provide a comprehensive coverage of TVET research in an international context and with a special focus on research and research methods. Building upon the great success of this handbook and replying to the great demand expressed by researchers, (postgraduate) students and decision makers in VET, this new book “Areas of Vocational Education Research” focuses on providing an easier accessible overview of the fundamental topics of international TVET research.

The focus of this book is on exploring effective strategies in higher education that promote meaningful learning and go beyond discipline boundaries, with a special emphasis on Subjectivity Learning, Refreshing Lecturing, Learning through Construction, Learning through Transaction, Transformative Learning, Using Technology, and Assessment for Learning and Teaching in particular. The research collected in this book is all based on empirical studies and includes research methods and findings that will be of great interest to teachers and researchers in the area of higher education. The main benefit readers will derive from this book is a meaningful insight into what other teachers around the world are doing in higher education and what lessons they have learned, which will support them in their own teaching.

This book, written by an international team of experienced researchers, investigates unique and dynamic approaches to key issues in policy transformation, curriculum reforms and teacher training in three cultures – China, Japan and the United States – in a globalized world. By examining their respective policy choices and evidence-based practices, the authors show how best to provide for young children based on their needs and interests, and the three countries’ strategies for doing so. This book provides the latest information on the rapid developments already underway and further changes to be expected in these diverse cultures.

Teacher-educator international professional development involves personal and professional, research- and practice-oriented, and pragmatic and aesthetic growth. This text encourages teacher educators to explore this work as Ren, or benevolent human beings, in cultivating global professional communities. As faculties engage in Ren as a vital 21st century form of development, new insights may emerge for how to revive and apply this concept in our changing global society. This text begins by discussing evolving concepts of achievement in an era of globalization, contrasting comparative conquest with global notions of relational integrity. Evolving aspects of achievement in 21st century China are also included. The text goes on to explore aspects of 21st century teacher quality and professional development, before presenting a theoretical framework for the international professional development of teacher education faculties as a process of becoming professional individuals, research-based practitioners, and aesthetic engineers. Narrative inquiry, including the aesthetic approach employed in this text, is described as the research method used to explore the development of 15 faculty participants in this text’s case study of one teacher education research center at a Chinese university. Findings from the author’s two-year immersion at the research site involve three overarching “complementary contrasts,” or “tensions held in balance,” across the 15 faculties in this study. These tensions included harmonizing (1) community and individuality, (2) adaptability and expression, and (3) authority and compassion. The findings are discussed in light of the original theoretical framework for teacher-educator international professional development by integrating participant interviews, research publications, and further observations into current academic discourse. The text concludes by offering implications for teacher-education practice, research, and policyfor China, and other countries including the U.S., and suggests how the findings connect to global academic discourses on teacher-educator professional development across international settings.

This book covers research on the financing of compulsory education in rural China and provides a highly informative read for readers who are interested in the issue of financing compulsory education in poor areas. Basing on data collected from field studies in 12 counties in 4 provinces around China, this book presents the current status of a new mechanism launched by the Chinese government in 2005 order to ensure funding for compulsory education in the relatively poor rural areas. This mechanism is conceived as a milestone in Chinese compulsory education history, marking the establishment of a government sponsoring model for compulsory education in rural China. Through comparative study, the research finds that the new mechanism not only lightens peasant families’ economic burden for having their kids receiving compulsory education, but also breaks the bottleneck of restricting funding for rural compulsory education. The research then also identifies the difficulties and challenges for future improvement.

This book will examine how universities in China and the US are responding to markets and increasing global competition. For both countries, a university education is seen as key to economic development. While China and the US have two very different political systems, they represent the two largest economies in the world and share beliefs that higher education plays an integral role to economic development. The book will bring together scholars with multiple perspectives on the topic to create dialogue around similarities and differences. This book will appeal to students, scholars, and higher educational administrators in both countries and other countries as well who are seeking to understand the strategic change in higher education in both China and the US. ​

The focus of this book is on exploring effective strategies in higher education that promote meaningful learning and go beyond discipline boundaries, with a special emphasis on Subjectivity Learning, Refreshing Lecturing, Learning through Construction, Learning through Transaction, Transformative Learning, Using Technology, and Assessment for Learning and Teaching in particular. The research collected in this book is all based on empirical studies and includes research methods and findings that will be of great interest to teachers and researchers in the area of higher education. The main benefit readers will derive from this book is a meaningful insight into what other teachers around the world are doing in higher education and what lessons they have learned, which will support them in their own teaching.

This book provides an overview of some fundamental topics of international Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), e.g. genesis of TVET research, fields of TVET research, curriculum development, TVET planning and developing, methods of TVET research etc. The International Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research (Rauner/Maclean), published in 2009 by Springer, was the first handbook to provide a comprehensive coverage of TVET research in an international context and with a special focus on research and research methods. Building upon the great success of this handbook and replying to the great demand expressed by researchers, (postgraduate) students and decision makers in VET, this new book “Areas of Vocational Education Research” focuses on providing an easier accessible overview of the fundamental topics of international TVET research.

This book covers research on the financing of compulsory education in rural China and provides a highly informative read for readers who are interested in the issue of financing compulsory education in poor areas. Basing on data collected from field studies in 12 counties in 4 provinces around China, this book presents the current status of a new mechanism launched by the Chinese government in 2005 order to ensure funding for compulsory education in the relatively poor rural areas. This mechanism is conceived as a milestone in Chinese compulsory education history, marking the establishment of a government sponsoring model for compulsory education in rural China. Through comparative study, the research finds that the new mechanism not only lightens peasant families’ economic burden for having their kids receiving compulsory education, but also breaks the bottleneck of restricting funding for rural compulsory education. The research then also identifies the difficulties and challenges for future improvement.

This book, written by an international team of experienced researchers, investigates unique and dynamic approaches to key issues in policy transformation, curriculum reforms and teacher training in three cultures – China, Japan and the United States – in a globalized world. By examining their respective policy choices and evidence-based practices, the authors show how best to provide for young children based on their needs and interests, and the three countries’ strategies for doing so. This book provides the latest information on the rapid developments already underway and further changes to be expected in these diverse cultures.

Teacher-educator international professional development involves personal and professional, research- and practice-oriented, and pragmatic and aesthetic growth. This text encourages teacher educators to explore this work as Ren, or benevolent human beings, in cultivating global professional communities. As faculties engage in Ren as a vital 21st century form of development, new insights may emerge for how to revive and apply this concept in our changing global society. This text begins by discussing evolving concepts of achievement in an era of globalization, contrasting comparative conquest with global notions of relational integrity. Evolving aspects of achievement in 21st century China are also included. The text goes on to explore aspects of 21st century teacher quality and professional development, before presenting a theoretical framework for the international professional development of teacher education faculties as a process of becoming professional individuals, research-based practitioners, and aesthetic engineers. Narrative inquiry, including the aesthetic approach employed in this text, is described as the research method used to explore the development of 15 faculty participants in this text’s case study of one teacher education research center at a Chinese university. Findings from the author’s two-year immersion at the research site involve three overarching “complementary contrasts,” or “tensions held in balance,” across the 15 faculties in this study. These tensions included harmonizing (1) community and individuality, (2) adaptability and expression, and (3) authority and compassion. The findings are discussed in light of the original theoretical framework for teacher-educator international professional development by integrating participant interviews, research publications, and further observations into current academic discourse. The text concludes by offering implications for teacher-education practice, research, and policyfor China, and other countries including the U.S., and suggests how the findings connect to global academic discourses on teacher-educator professional development across international settings.

This book addresses two main questions, namely how to prepare high-quality teachers in the 21st century and how the East and the West can learn from each other. It addresses the different challenges and dilemmas that eastern countries, especially China, and western countries are facing with regard to teacher education. We explore the question by examining teacher education research, practice and policy in different countries, identifying both common problems and country-specific challenges. We then try to find valuable experiences, theories and practice which can solve specific problems in the process of teacher education, also addressing how local and global factors impact it.In this regard, our approach does not strictly separate pre-service teacher education from teachers’ in-service professional development, adopting an integrative perspective. Further, we believe the respective social and cultural contexts must also be taken into account. Lastly, we call for teachers’ knowledge and individual character traits to be accounted for in the education of high-quality teachers.

This book intends to provide a comprehensive introduction to the status of development of Chinese mathematics education in the 21st century. To this end, the book summarizes and presents the research and practices of Chinese mathematics education in the following aspects: (1) characteristics of Chinese school mathematics curriculum and textbooks, (2) Chinese ways and strategies of teaching mathematics and the characteristics of mathematics classroom instruction in China, (3) Chinese instructional practices in developing (both gifted and underachieving) students’ mathematical capabilities, (4) how  professional development of mathematics teachers is promoted in China, including mathematics teachers’ pre-service and in-service education, and how Chinese mathematics teachers design and implement teaching and research activities, and (5) how  mathematics education is assessed and evaluated, including how to evaluate teachers’ teaching and students’ achievements. Relevant research in Chinese mathematics education involving methods of surveys, interviews, text analysis, etc., are reviewed and analyzed. Results of a number of video studies of Chinese mathematics classroom teaching and learning are also integrated into this book.

This book intends to provide a comprehensive introduction to the status of development of Chinese mathematics education in the 21st century. To this end, the book summarizes and presents the research and practices of Chinese mathematics education in the following aspects: (1) characteristics of Chinese school mathematics curriculum and textbooks, (2) Chinese ways and strategies of teaching mathematics and the characteristics of mathematics classroom instruction in China, (3) Chinese instructional practices in developing (both gifted and underachieving) students’ mathematical capabilities, (4) how  professional development of mathematics teachers is promoted in China, including mathematics teachers’ pre-service and in-service education, and how Chinese mathematics teachers design and implement teaching and research activities, and (5) how  mathematics education is assessed and evaluated, including how to evaluate teachers’ teaching and students’ achievements. Relevant research in Chinese mathematics education involving methods of surveys, interviews, text analysis, etc., are reviewed and analyzed. Results of a number of video studies of Chinese mathematics classroom teaching and learning are also integrated into this book.

This book reports on the findings of a series of studies on the development of zero-to-three-year-old Chinese children supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. The studies were conducted by a research group at the Institute of Early Childhood Education, Beijing Normal University. In the first part of the book, findings concerning the developmental trajectory are presented, including physical and motor development, cognitive development, language development, social and emotional development. The focus of the second part is on the effect of family environment and practices. Specifically, the authors provide empirical evidence allowing readers to better understand how the home environment and educational practice in the family impact the psychological development of children in their early years. In the last part, culture-specific issues like the new universal two-child policy in China are discussed. Most of the parts are based on large-scale investigations and analysis of the status quo, complemented by small-sample studies and case studies. The findings presented here will promote theory building and public understanding of early care and education in China. Moreover, the behavior observation scales and assessment tools developed by the research group are cultural appropriate and may serve as a foundation for further studies on early care and education in the Chinese cultural context.

This book examines how educational change has progressed in three contrasting areas spread across China since 1990, exploring key issues concerning rural education in poor, rich and minority areas. Of the three areas covered in this book, the first is a rich one near Beijing; the second is in the northwest in Shanxi on the Loess plateau; and the third is in Sichuan on the high plateau leading to Tibet. Central issues include the impact of large-scale demographic change and migration, with increasing numbers of left-behind children in sending areas, and large increases in the numbers of inbound migrants in receiving areas; dramatic increases in the boarding of children in rural areas as a result of rural school merge; changing patterns of teacher deployment; recentralization of responsibilities for school financing; and growing concerns regarding horizontal and vertical inequalities in both access and participation.

This book investigates the unique and dynamic approaches to key issues of changing images of child and childhood, by different countries in the Asia-Pacific. Key concepts considered are re-conceptualizing early childhood education and care, re-eaxming early learning standards and redefining professionalism. The Asia Pacific region includes countries belonging to both the Majority and Minority worlds and which vary widely in terms of their cultural geography, social-cultural beliefs, and levels of development, demographic profiles, political systems and government commitments to early childhood services. An international team of experienced researchers from different countries guarantees diverse perspectives. By examining different countries’ policy choices and evidence-based practices, the authors show how best to provide for young children based on their countries’ strategies.

This edited book is on the theory and practice of teacher education from the most distinguished and experienced scholars in the field around the world. In this book, they explored the most urgent and significant issues in teacher education in this globalized time. The dealing of these issues can directly impact the quality of teacher education and education in general. How to improve the quality of teacher education is a global issue that many countries, no matter developed or developing, face. This book provides multiple perspectives to address the challenges and possibilities for improving teacher quality. A point needs to further highlight in this book is that the researchers pay more attention to the inner landscape of teachers, such as the issue of identity, sense of person, etc. In this book, the readers can learn the insights and multiple perspectives of the best scholars in teacher education.

This book employs the modern econometric approaches such as DEA, Malmquist Index and Tobit models to evaluate research effectiveness and productivity of research-oriented universities in China. On the basis of five-year longitudinal data of more than a hundred “Project 211” universities, this book illustrates the current status of the effectiveness and productivity of  research-oriented universities , demonstrating  regional differences, exploring dynamic changes and identifying underlying factors. Any researcher or policymaker who cares about the recent development in Chinese higher education in the 21st century will benefit from our in-depth analyses.  ​

This book examines how educational change has progressed in three contrasting areas spread across China since 1990, exploring key issues concerning rural education in poor, rich and minority areas.

This book investigates the unique and dynamic approaches to key issues of changing images of child and childhood, by different countries in the Asia-Pacific.

This edited book is on the theory and practice of teacher education from the most distinguished and experienced scholars in the field around the world. In this book, they explored the most urgent and significant issues in teacher education in this globalized time. The dealing of these issues can directly impact the quality of teacher education and education in general. How to improve the quality of teacher education is a global issue that many countries, no matter developed or developing, face. This book provides multiple perspectives to address the challenges and possibilities for improving teacher quality. A point needs to further highlight in this book is that the researchers pay more attention to the inner landscape of teachers, such as the issue of identity, sense of person, etc. In this book, the readers can learn the insights and multiple perspectives of the best scholars in teacher education.

This book employs the modern econometric approaches such as DEA, Malmquist Index and Tobit models to evaluate research effectiveness and productivity of research-oriented universities in China.