Asia Pacific Educational Research Association International Conference

Citation

Roberts, B. (2007), "Asia Pacific Educational Research Association International Conference", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 21 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem.2007.06021cac.001

Asia Pacific Educational Research Association International Conference

I attended this conference on behalf of IJEM which was one of the sponsors, which was appropriate as the Chairman of APERA is presently, Professor Yin Cheong Cheng, an associate editor of the journal. The theme of the conference which was held in the Institute of Education’s buildings, was “Educational research, Policy and Practice in an era of globalization”. As a sponsor of the conference very kindly gave me as editor a platform position at the opening ceremony a courtesy which was very much appreciated.

There were a number of opening speeches and welcomes followed by keynote speakers, Professor Colin Power, Professor Y.C. Chen, and Dr Jane Gilbert. Professor Power is editor of APERA’s official journal “Educational Research for policy and practice”. He argued for policy changes to be grounded in educational research as those involved in the determination of policy do not usually have an educational background-they may be good managers but poor leaders and are usually driven by a political need for change. Strategy change based upon practical needs is what drives APERA and actually the link with IJEM is important because its mission statement matches the APERA agenda.

Professor Cheng’s opening contribution outlined the need to face up to globalization challenges by highlighting research in paradigm shifts. He outlined three waves of educational reform – the 1980s “individual effectiveness”, 1990s “internal effectiveness”, and 2000s “future effectiveness”. It is important to base future research on an overarching framework which links future policy and practice to previous strengths or initiatives. These arguments are developed further in his new book, ”New paradigms for re-engineering education:globalization,localization and individualization”.

The final keynote at the opening day’s ceremony was that given by Dr Jane Gilbert of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. Dr Gilbert argued that ICT development has only given ‘digital busywork’ in many cases but hasn’t actually changed basic teaching practices because it has only been an “add-on” to an existing traditional system of knowledge acquisition. For ICT to be useful and meaningful to the learning process it needs to be personalised and a knowledge age education system needs to focus on the development of knowledge through meaningful research,”multi-model literacy” and “relationships, connections and interactions” as well as a system that allows learners to see themselves as active knowledge builders.

The parallel sessions at the conference were spread over the three days and developed the overall conference theme of “Educational research, policy and practice in an era of globalization:the Asia Pacific perspectives and beyond” This overarching topic was split into the following areas:

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  access and equality in education;

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  application of information technology in education;

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  changes in language education and mediums of instruction;

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  educational reform and national development;

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  expansion and restructuring of higher education;

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  innovation and reform in curriculum,psychology and assessments;

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  issues in early childhood education and basic education;

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  leadership and professional development;

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  lifelong learning,adult learning and professional training;

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  linking research with policy and practice;

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  management of reforms in school education;

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  marketization and privatization in education;

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  reforms in vocational/technical education; and

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  teacher education and educational changes.

I was very pleased to be one of the symposium presenters for “Opportunities for publication in International Journals; dialogue between editors and prospective authors”. This was a three way presentation by the editors of the sponsoring journals with substantial opportunity for the audience to engage in dialogue on how to achieve publication for their work. The session lasted over one and a half hours and I felt that both the audience and the editors were encouraged by both the number of attendees (approx 100) and the interest/enthusiasm shown.

I would like to thank Professor Cheng and his staff for the organisation of the conference and their encouragement for the involvement of IJEM – this was a very fruitful partnership which hopefully can be continued into the next APERA conference in 2008.

Brian Roberts