World-class Education Research Articles

The Second Leap Toward “World Class” Education in Korea

Over the past few decades, Korea has made great accomplishments in the quality of its education as well as the quantitative expansion of education in spite of many obstacles. Facing the new challenges of globalization and social polarization, Korea has prepared to make a road to the second leap toward “world class” education. However, Korea faces tough challenges on the road to the world class education. The driving forces for rapid development brought about a lot of shadow. This article reviews the historical development of Korean education, examines the outcomes of Korean education, and finally proposes several tasks for performing the world class education.

Improving accountability through alignment: the role of academic health science centres and networks in England.

BackgroundAs in many countries around the world, there are high expectations on academic health science centres and networks in England to provide high-quality care, innovative research, and world-class education, while also supporting wealth creation and economic growth. Meeting these expectations increasingly depends on partnership working between university medical schools and teaching hospitals, as well as other healthcare providers. However, academic-clinical relationships in England are still characterised by the “unlinked partners” model, whereby universities and their partner teaching hospitals are neither fiscally nor structurally linked, creating bifurcating accountabilities to various government and public agencies.DiscussionThis article focuses on accountability relationships in universities and teaching hospitals, as well as other healthcare providers that form core constituent parts of academic health science centres and networks. The authors analyse accountability for the tripartite mission of patient care, research, and education, using a four-fold typology of accountability relationships, which distinguishes between hierarchical (bureaucratic) accountability, legal accountability, professional accountability, and political accountability. Examples from North West London suggest that a number of mechanisms can be used to improve accountability for the tripartite mission through alignment, but that the simple creation of academic health science centres and networks is probably not sufficient.SummaryAt the heart of the challenge for academic health science centres and networks is the separation of accountabilities for patient care, research, and education in different government departments. Given that a fundamental top-down system redesign is now extremely unlikely, local academic and clinical leaders face the challenge of aligning their institutions as a matter of priority in order to improve accountability for the tripartite mission from the bottom up. It remains to be seen which alignment mechanisms are most effective, and whether they are strong enough to counter the separation of accountabilities for the tripartite mission at the national level, the on-going structural fragmentation of the health system in England, and the unprecedented financial challenges that it faces. Future research should focus on determining the comparative effectiveness of different alignment mechanisms, developing standardised metrics and key performance indicators, evaluating and assessing academic health science centres and networks, and empirically addressing leadership issues.

10 steps to a world class education system

Ahead of this year's Whole Education conference , David Crossley draws on the views of national and international education leaders to define how we can build a world class system. He offers 10 key ways forward and a manifesto for change.

10 steps to a world class education system

Ahead of this year's Whole Education conference, David Crossley draws on the views of national and international education leaders to define how we can build a world class system. He offers 10 key ways forward for our schools

Nazarbayev University: Integration of Western and Central Asian Educational Systems

In 2010 the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, attended the opening ceremony of a new university in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. The ambitious enterprise, named Nazarbayev University, enjoyed unprecedented privileges, such as complete independence and autonomy from the Ministry of Education and Science in determining its academic policies and curriculum, as well as exorbitant state funding in order to bring in the brightest minds of universal scholarship, and to partner with some of the most globally-reputed universities such as University College London, University of Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University, University Wisconsin-Madison and others. All with the aim of ultimately creating an educational basis and infrastructure for a high-quality international university through adopting Western educational standards, and incorporating them with the best practices of Central Asian and ex-Soviet Union educational systems to offer world-class education to 20,000 students every year. Will the project idea be able to sustain itself for the years ahead and what are the problems in the teaching process and management that the university is experiencing during the first years of its establishment? The aim of this paper is to browse through and analyze some of the topical issues.

Virtual Leaps in Distance Education: A Conversation with Dr. Naveed A. Malik, Founding Rector of the Virtual University of Pakistan

Executive SummaryBesides being an honest, knowledgeable, humble, and respected man, Dr. Naveed A. Malik is the Founder-Rector of the Virtual University of Pakistan. In his position as the Rector, Dr. Malik is the Chief Executive and Academic Officer of the University and his responsibility is ensure that the provisions of the Virtual University Ordinance, the Statutes, the Regulations and Rules are faithfully observed in order promote teaching, research, administration, general efficiency and good order of the University.Dr. Malik obtained his Master's degree in Physics from the University of Punjab, Pakistan and later the Doctor of Science degree from M.I.T. in the field of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science specializing in Digital Signal Processing. As a staff member at the University of the Punjab, Dr. Malik established the Spark Source Mass Spectroscopy laboratory and later, became the founder chairman of the Department of Computer Science. He was the principal architect and developer of the Punjab University's computerized examination system and was also responsible for the design and implementation of the University's fiber-optic campus-area network that was commissioned in 2000. He has been associated with the Virtual University project from its inception date. He has lectured extensively, has been an active systems and software development consultant and has published several papers on various technical subjects. Dr. Malik is currently coordinating an IDRC funded multi-country research effort in distance learning technologies. He is a life member of the Pakistan Institute of Physics and was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2008 for services education.Virtual University (lrU). The Virtual University of Pakistan, which is one of the first universities around the world that is based on modern communication technologies,1 was established by the Pakistani government as a public sector, not-for-profit institution with a mission to provide extremely affordable world class education aspiring students all over the As part of its education process, VUP uses free-to-air satellite television broadcasts and the Internet, which allows students follow its rigorous course and programs regardless of their ability attend face-to-face sessions or their physical locations. This process alleviates the lack of capacity in the existing universities while simultaneously tackling the shortage of qualified professors in each field of study. By identifying the best professors within the country or outside of the country in various subjects, regardless of their institutional affiliations, and requesting them develop and deliver hand-crafted courses, VUP aims at providing the very best courses students around the country. VUP's degrees are recognized and accepted all over Pakistan as well as overseas. VUP opened its virtual doors in 2002 and in a short span of time has reached throughout the country serving over 100,000 students. Furthermore, VUP is associated with more than a hundred institutions providing infrastructure support students across the country at a fraction of the cost of traditional educational organizations.VUP delivers education through a thoughtful combination of broadcast television and the Internet. VUP2 courses are designed and delivered by knowledgeable and published experts in the field. For each course's topics, professionally developed lectures are recorded at the school's studio environment and they are accompanied by relevant slides, video clips and other materials for broadcast students. Besides being broadcasted over the television networks, course lectures are also made available in the form of multimedia CDs which are sent registered students. These course lectures are also available as streaming media from the Virtual University's servers their students.The multiple formats allow flexibility for students who may view the lectures at a time of their choosing. …

Key education and quality issues and reassessments coming from the developing world

I am pleased to introduce this present issue of Prospects: the first non-thematic collection of peer-reviewed articles that we are publishing in 2013. We continue to seek strong general-interest submissions by researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners alike, on topics of crucial importance to the field of comparative education. While maintaining the journal’s very distinctive profile, substance, and identity, we also continue our earnest efforts to publish the very best in education research, theory and practice, coming from various geographical regions, with a special focus on curriculum-related issues. In this issue, we showcase research pertaining to several topics that lie at the heart of contemporary educational research and policy: education quality, access to education, indigenous education, motivation, class management, school-based management, world-class education, and rural education. Most importantly, these studies offer ways to reinterpret and adapt theory to the needs and contexts of the international and developing world. The geographical coverage of the articles is notable and includes countries as diverse as Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, and Pakistan. The issue opens with a controversial Viewpoint, authored by Helen Abadzi, a leading psychologist who has worked for over 25 years as an education specialist and senior evaluation officer in the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education. Her article is a foray into a largely unexplored phenomenon: the decision-making processes of schoolbased management committees in low-income countries. Committees of low-income populations may lack the time and resources, as well as experience with quality schools, to accurately evaluate service delivery. She suggests developing links between two groups— the donor community and governments, and the neuropsychologists and experts in artificial intelligence who study decision-making—in order to better understand the routes from management committee decisions to service delivery and to help improve services to lowincome populations. Zsuzsa Millei and Robert J. Imre examine early childhood education in Hungary between 1948 and 1989. They argue that the socialist kindergarten in Hungary was set up

World class learners: educating creative and entrepreneurial students

Acknowledgments About the Author Introduction: To Create Is Human 1. The Wrong Bet: Why Common Curriculum and Standards Won't Help 2. The Changed World: The Need for Entrepreneurs 3. What Makes an Entrepreneur: The Entrepreneurial Spirit 4. Achievement Gap vs. Entrepreneurship Gap: The Myth of Education Giants 5. China vs. the U.S.: How the Best Education Stifles the Entrepreneurial Spirit 6. From Accident to Design: A Paradigm Shift 7. Freedom to Learn: Student Autonomy and Leadership 8. Product-Oriented Learning: Works That Matter 9. The Globe Is Our Campus: Global Entrepreneurs and Enterprises 10. Create a World-Class Education: Principles and Indicators Index

Knowledge Production in China and India: A Look at the Higher Education Sectors and Intended Changes for Indian Higher Education System*

China and India are two fast-growing economies and both countries have realized the significance of higher education in building the knowledge economy. Although India has been ahead of China in granting a world class education in the past, times are changing and India's attempts to modernize her higher education sector have been feeble. This study compares the two giants and suggests a framework for changes in the higher education sector in India in order that she remains competitive in the world of education.

Need for Human Resource Development (HRD) Practices in Indian Universities: A Key for Educational Excellence

Today’s education system needs to be global. ‘World Class Education’ involves a globally accepted high standard of education. Every country needs an increasing number of highly educated people and skilled professionals in order to integrate into the globalization process. These professionals include scholars, philosophers and leaders with vision. Leaders are our human capital. The state must provide opportunities for higher education to create human capital that meets global standards. The overall development of a society is largely determined by the quality of its education, especially higher education. A well-educated, well-trained population could propel a nation towards rapid economic growth. Despite lack of natural resources, countries such as Japan, Korea and Singapore have made rapid economic progress. This was because they invested heavily in education and training. On the other hand, countries such as Nigeria or Congo, despite enormous natural resources, are poor and backward because of large-scale illiteracy and lack of skilled workforce. The aim of education is to create well-trained, competent and progressive individuals who can perform all kinds of tasks and take on a lot of responsibilities. Higher education is the stage of education that takes place at the post-secondary level, and is provided mostly and most meaningfully by universities. A university introduces its students to discussions and debates that prevail in various disciplines and fields of knowledge. The objective of a university is not only to create and disseminate knowledge but also to develop human resources that will accelerate the socio-economic development of the nation. This is possible only when the employees working in these universities are motivated and empowered. To achieve this objective, universities must restructure and redesign their HRD practices and processes. In this background, the present article analyzes the existing HRD practices and processes in 10 leading universities in India and how should these universities go about transforming their HR systems and mechanisms to meet the rapidly changing environmental demands. The research approach and methodology adopted to carry out this study includes collection of primary and secondary data. Primary data has been collected by administering a well-structured and well-designed questionnaire on HRD climate survey developed by XLRI Jamshedpur (India). The questionnaire had been administered to 1,000 respondents selected from the 10 leading universities of India. Data from both the sources were analyzed statistically by applying various statistical tools and techniques to find the conclusions, based on which the guidelines, recommendations and policy implications were made for the improvement of HRD practices in the universities.

World-class education: A response to global challenges

The importance of world-class education is demonstrated in the remarkable amount of attention the concept—and its implications for major education reforms—are currently attracting around the world. In several countries national and local education reforms seek to create educational systems whose graduates can successfully participate in a global society and contribute to an expanding global economy. This importance is also reflected in the wide range of specific educational programs being created, the choices being made, and the new educational challenges that are emerging. This special issue of Prospects critically examines the continued efforts to identify and analyze the possibilities and limitations of attempts to further refine measures of worldclass education. Further, it presents detailed case studies of the interpretations made by several countries and initiatives, such as South Korea, China, the state of Ohio in the United States, and the International Baccalaureate (IB), as they design and implement institutional responses to the evolving global challenges. The authors contributing to this issue, guest-edited by Dr. Don Adams, point to the complexity of various definitions that the concept encompasses. They also single out a predominant definition, which equates a ‘‘world-class’’ educational system with students’ excellent scores on international tests. In some countries, attaining world-class education has become a vigorous national policy. One might view the increasingly important international assessments as entrance examinations to the exclusive club of countries with such educational systems or see them as a set of supranational instruments for standardization. Thus, as Adams points out, important questions remain to be answered: Who is involved in advocating for testing to play a key role in constructing quality education? Whose voices are being heard? Whose are not? Whose discourse is it that results in particular standards, benchmarks, and indicators? Susan Robertson notes that we could view world-class education as an education ‘‘[...] that is open-minded about, and open to, learning that engages with a range of world concerns’’. Instead, it has been viewed instrumentally. The foci become questions related to what world-class education involves, what path will lead to it, and who will benefit. She

An international model of world-class education: The International Baccalaureate

This article posits that world-class education is international education, as defined by UNESCO, and presents International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes as examples of this phenomenon. It begins with the IB’s 1960s origins in international schools, which educated the children of globally mobile parents who worked principally in the UN and its agencies, and in embassies and multinational companies. Its origin led to its perception as elitist, but it has since been democratised in public (state) schools in quite a number of countries, notably in North America; starting in 2012, the IB offers the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) programme for students following vocational courses. Then follows an overview of the four education programmes of the IB, in order of creation: Diploma Programme (1970), Middle Years Programme (1994), Primary Years Programme (1997), and the IB Career-related Certificate (2012). Attributes of a world-class education are suggested: the concept of interdependence between nations, the shaping of attitudes, the relevance of curriculum content and teaching methods, and the importance of including an international perspective. The article concludes with a list of competencies for a world-class education based on the IB Learner Profile.

Making education world-class: “ThinkGlobalOhio”

For over two decades the State of Ohio has been reforming its education system. This article focuses on the 2006 reform initiatives: a newly elected governor pledged to review and revise its 2002 kindergarten to twelfth grad (K-12) academic content standards and benchmark them to international “best-in-class” measures, given Ohio’s need to develop human talent for new industries to replace disappearing jobs in manufacturing. Rather than look at only one other country or state in the US, Ohio compared its standards to those of eight countries and one province; based on this analysis, it rewrote its standards. Ohio has formally adopted the U.S. Common Core Standards and joined the national Partnership for 21st Century Skills, using those learning frameworks to pass legislative amendments for new academic standards and model curriculum. US federal funding from both “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top” ($400 million) confirms and validates the state’s efforts to build a world-class education system that will make Ohio’s students more competitive in a global economy that demands innovation and a highly skilled workforce.

Introduction—World-class basic education

Borrowing educational institutions and ideas from the past and from other contemporary education systems is a significant part of the educational history of many nations. Many of the current nations continue to probe the past for pleasure or insights, while some nations seek to erase much of their educational past. Further, an increasing number of contemporary governments and educational leaders actively seek to improve or redesign their educational programmes by borrowing current educational ideas, programmes, and institutions from other countries. This Introduction recognizes the legitimacy of multiple definitions of the term “world-class” but limits discussion to basic education. Thus, the focus here is on pre-university schooling. Attention will be given to the measurement of quality as an integral component of world-class education, approaches to its planning, and discussions of relevant contemporary issues and trends.

World-class higher education (for whom?)

The slogan “world-class education” is ubiquitous in education circles. This essay looks closely at who is advancing this idea, why, and where, and the kind of work it is asked to do. Though instruments for determining the world-class status of education institutions were first launched in the 1980s, they have grown exponentially in the past decade, for three main reasons. First, they offer opportunities for new players to enter the education sector and generate a profit from gathering and selling information. Second, they provide a way to generate competition within the sector, between component organizations. Finally, their global reach gives them tremendous power. A key concern with this concept, and the technologies associated with advancing it, is that they have not been sufficiently and critically engaged with in ways that show how central they are to orchestrating shifts in power and control over the education sectors they aim to govern, and that the interests involved operate in spaces with little public accountability.

Developing The Vision: Preparing Teachers To Deliver A Digital World-Class Education System

In 2008 Australians were promised a 'Digital Education Revolution' by the government to dramatically change classroom education and build a 'world-class education system'. Eight billion dollars have been spent providing computer equipment for upper secondary classrooms, yet there is little evidence that a revolution has occurred in Australian schools. Transformation of an education system takes more than a simplistic hardware solution. Revolutions need leaders and leaders need vision. In this paper, I argue that we must first develop educational leaders by inspiring future teachers with a vision and by designing our teacher-education courses as technology-rich learning-spaces. A multi-layered scenario is developed as the inspiration for a vision of a future-orientated teacher-education system that prepares teachers to deliver a 'world- class digital education' for every Australian child. Although written for the Australian context this paper has broad relevance internationally for teacher education.

€22 Billion Stimulus Brings Worries About Egalité

On 3 February, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced five new winners in the €7.7 billion Excellence Initiatives, which aims to help create a group of five to 10 world-class research and higher education clusters.

Launching a Dream to Foster a New Consciousness

I had an unexpected encounter on a far island off the coast of Australia with a group of young people. These young people wanted to escape from the modern world and they inspired my conviction: that we must do our best to reshape our world and make it a place acceptable for the younger generation. I realized that it is the dominant consciousness of an epoch that creates the structures and the practices of an epoch. We must now address the task of evolving or co-evolving our world's dominant consciousness. The fear and insecurity produced by this current dominant consciousness has created humanity's current sad condition. The Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University declares its mission to be a “state of the art” global institution. It has the clear-cut objective of fostering a new consciousness, defeating ignorance, and providing an affordable world-class education that permits economically less privileged people to take an active part in the construction of a better world. Our first tenet is the bio-epistemological “non- subordinate” horizontal model of education. This tenet is joined with our commitment to a cross-cultural social, interdisciplinary, and stereo-cognitive interaction-based academic platform. It is a platform that can empower young people to attain an innovative holistic view of the world and of themselves.

Comparing a U.S. education to those of top-performing nations

Brief news articles, announcements, and guest editorials on current mathematics education issues stimulate TCM readers to think about an issue or consider a specific viewpoint about some aspect of mathematics education. In addition to a new Coaches' Corner, this issue looks at the International Benchmarking Advisory Group's action steps to support a world-class education for U.S. students.

An Initial Action Research Investigation into the Effectiveness of Technology in Improving the Teaching and Learning of English Language in Qatar

Qatar is a Gulf state undergoing a sweeping educational reform where educational development is linked to ICT and the English language. ICT is promoted to upskill the future generation or the “digital natives”. English is seen as a key to a myriad of doors and a passport to a world class education. In all public schools, English is a compulsory subject taught from grade one where learners are exposed to English for more than 500 teaching hours every year. It is also the medium of instruction for maths and science. The purpose of my year-long study was to investigate the effectiveness of ICT in supporting the learning and teaching of English language in the Qatari context. It was guided by the critical paradigm and employed action research as the investigative methodology. The initial data collection process was carried out through a survey instrument. More than 200 students answered questions about their attitudes, perceived values, current uses and issues with ICT. The findings of the study have identified a number of challenges. One of which is the minimal support that ICT is providing to the teaching of the listening skill. An intervention programme was later designed in a form of a webquest lesson based on CLIL (content and language integrated learning) and informed by the survey findings, student’ voices and previous research in the field. After that, the intervention programme was trialed with two classes (n=50) and evaluated by qualitative (classroom observations) and quantitative instruments (questionnaires). Evidence from the evaluation data showed that ICT has the potential to support the teaching and learning of English language through its positive impact on autonomy and motivation. The results also revealed that teachers have limited knowledge of the potential of ICT and they could play an indirect role in impeding its use. This study has shown how action research, as a self-reflective inquiry, could broaden our understanding of the role of ICT in language classes. The study concluded that ICT-supported teaching of English in Qatar should be accompanied by a positive ICT culture, reflective research, proper staff training, teacher networking and supportive educational leadership.