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By juxtaposing Paulston’s [Paulston, R. G. (1999). Mapping comparative education after postmodernity. Comparative Education Review, 43(4), 438–463; Paulston, 1977] demonstration of relationships between theories of social and educational change/‘reform’ and Delamont’s Four great gates: dilemmas, directions and distractions in educational research (2007), this metanarrative explores how comparative and international education research in Australia and China has evolved in terms of self-determination, planned change and strokes of luck. The tendency to adopt a deterministic/fatalistic perspective in comparative education research in this part of the world rises from the general perception that, unlike its North American and European counterparts, the field is too narrowly defined by local institutions [Denman, B. D., & Higuchi, S. (2012). At a crossroads? Comparative and international education research in Asia and the Pacific. Asian Education and Development Studies, 2(1), 4–21] and often resorts to ‘hits’ and ‘misses’. By utilizing Paulston’s work and comparing it with Delamont’s, this analysis serves as a stop-gap measure to not only help justify its means and recognize its potential but also to counter the persistent dissatisfaction that scholars try to prove and promote comparative education as a field of study in the region. In addition, the terms of reference of self-determination, planned change and strokes of luck are broadly interpreted metaphorically, using the iChing or Book of Changes (Van Over, 1971), in order to help rationally order and rhetorically clarify trends in educational scholarship, policy and practice. In the Asia and Pacific region generally, comparative and international education research can be viewed as different ways of thinking and knowing, regardless of the research methods employed. The trends, challenges, opportunities and risks associated with the field are identified as location-specific, time-sensitive and culturally unique.

Utilising dialogic meta-narrative analysis, a form of inquiry based on examining the difference between voices in meaningful and relevant dialogue (Wegerif, 2006, p. 347), the purpose of this paper is to present an examination of three relevant works on theories of the global South for identifying educational patterns, themes, and biases from the worldview perspectives of the respective authors.

In comparative and international education “qualitative” research, the acceptance of differing points of view and reference have often resulted in a fragmented and fractitious affirmation of cultural relativity, whereby the pursuit of truth (Veritas) has been replaced by the pursuit and contestation of a plurality of knowledges and truths. Davies defines this as “discursive practice”, which refers to the way discourse and the production of selves produce and reconstitutes one’s social and psychological realities (Davies, 1999, p. 88). The positional and discursive worldviews relative to “other” are not only dependent on locational, contextual, and time (Zeitgeist) dimensions, but also on disciplinary methodological foundations and subjective interpretations of both experience and choice.

The analysis of the three scholarly works identifies issues of comparative education research from a dialogic and dialectic perspective, suggesting that relativistic notions of research are required and necessary in order to expand horizons and “break out of the box” to broaden one’s imagination.

The questions raised by all three worldviews require further research: Who pays? Who benefits? Should the field contest the positional points-of-reference of comparativists? Should theory and mode of inquiry be made more clear in order to understand and discern the positional authority of the researcher and the researched? Should relevant literature addressing subject material involve greater scrutiny – if not collaboration – between scholars from different worldview perspectives?

Subjectivity, validation and significance of findings contribute to dissemination and advancement of knowledge, and if not robust or rigorous, are simply another point of view.

This is a new paradigmatic approach to problematising comparative and international research from three positional worldviews. The value in problematising the three worldviews helps to delve deeper into the issues at hand regarding the global South.

Worldwide, dichotomies exist within macro- and micro-educational planning of systems of education. Inner Mongolia represents an interesting case in the sense that its educational system has been influenced by its historical and passive reliance on China’s political reforms and ongoing identity issues. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how cultural ecology and isomorphism can be compared and managed in the form of a dualism, involving complex organisational structures, operational procedures, and learning outcomes. These may be macro in focus but may also promote the development of social and cultural identity at micro levels. Emphasis is placed upon examining cultural ecology, a concept advocated by the cultural anthropologist, Roy Rappaport, but with concern for embracing indigenous knowledge as a complement to traditional educational attainment.

This discussion further considers the feasibility and implementation of a rubric (the Denman-James Rubric (DJR)) that is a custom-tailored pilot project designed to visually demonstrate one’s mastery of creativity and communication, reflective thinking, and analytical and problem solving skills. A demonstration of the DJR is presented to highlight the progress made in its usage and utility in Inner Mongolia and elsewhere.

A primary research goal is to investigate whether differing teaching and learning approaches and the use of alternative assessments over a period of time can promote, encourage, and empower students into taking greater ownership of their learning.

This narrative is an original look at Inner Mongolia’s educational system and how it has been influenced by its historical and passive reliance on China’s political reforms and ongoing identity issues.

Historical studies of comparative education have been available and utilised in Europe and North America to justify and legitimise comparative and international education research in present day contexts (Cowen; Masemann et al.; Psacharopoulos; Schriewer). However, a review of the literature of comparative education research in Asia and the Pacific discloses that very little is known about its own history, purpose, or direction. The aim of this paper is to explore the idea that part of this circumstance stems from the fact that these fields of study are often perceived as undefined.

This analysis suggests that in the Asia and Pacific region, research in comparative and international education is generally perceived as narrowly defined.

This article points out that the “fields” differ in terms of paradigmatic representation but are both change‐dependent, and that while comparative education research does not necessarily require an international dimension to it, international education must contain comparative elements for critical analysis and reflection.

The first study of its kind to review the history of comparative education research in the region.

This paper provides an overview of the visiting friends and relatives category in international tourism researchover the last decade. It was delivered as a keynote paper at the international conference, “VFR Tourism: Issues and implications” held at the Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, in October 1996.

Natural selection—survival of the fittest—is as old as life itself. Applied genetics which is purposeful in contrast to natural selection also has a long history, particularly in agriculture; it has received impetus from the more exacting demands of the food industry for animal breeds with higher lean : fat and meat : bone ratios, for crops resistant to the teeming world of parasites. Capturing the exquisite scent, the colours and form beautiful of a rose is in effect applied genetics and it has even been applied to man. For example, Frederick the Great, Emperor of Prussia, to maintain a supply of very tall men for his guards—his Prussian Guards averaged seven feet in height—ordered them to marry very tall women to produce offspring carrying the genes of great height. In recent times, however, research and experiment in genetic control, more in the nature of active interference with genetic composition, has developed sufficiently to begin yielding results. It is self‐evident that in the field of micro‐organisms, active interference or manipulations will produce greater knowledge and understanding of the gene actions than in any other field or by any other techniques. The phenomenon of “transferred drug resistance”, the multi‐factorial resistance, of a chemical nature, transferred from one species of micro‐organisms to another, from animal to human pathogens, its role in mainly intestinal pathology and the serious hazards which have arisen from it; all this has led to an intensive study of plasmids and their mode of transmission. The work of the Agricultural Research Council's biologists (reported elsewhere in this issue) in relation to nitrogen‐fixing genes and transfer from one organism able to fix nitrogen to another not previously having this ability, illustrates the extreme importance of this new field. Disease susceptibility, the inhibition of invasiveness which can be acquired by relatively “silent” micro‐organisms, a better understanding of virulence and the possible “disarming” of organisms, particularly those of particular virulence to vulnerable groups. Perhaps this is looking for too much too soon, but Escherichia coli would seem to offer more scope for genetic experiments than most; it has serotypes of much variability and viability; and its life and labours in the human intestine have assumed considerable importance in recent years. The virulence of a few of its serotypes constitute an important field in food epidemiology. Their capacity to transfer plasmids—anent transfer of drug resistance— to strains of other organisms resident in the intestines, emphasizes the need for close study, with safeguards.

A case which because of its far‐reaching implications attracted considerable interest (see report on p. 91) was recently heard at Highgate. It was alleged that ice lollies were “unfit for human consumption” because of the temperature at which they were sold. Because the lollies were too cold, one stuck to a boy's lips and chin and another to a boy's tongue, peeling off skin when they were removed. The prosecution's case was that on the evidence, the vendors should be convicted of selling food unfit for human consumption, but the magistrates did not accept this contention and dismissed the case. The mishap was an unfortunate one, and Counsel's submissions for the defence notwith‐standing, it is difficult to see how the case could have been decided otherwise. There was never any suggestion of inferior ingredients being used in the manufacture of the lollies.

IT and society There oughta be a law. Too much of the UK legal profession is in the dark when it comes to information technology, says Professor Brian Napier. Speaking at his inaugural lecture as the first holder of the Digital chair at Queen Mary and Westfield College, itself the first established chair in IT at a British University, Napier called for law reformers to wake up to the ramifications of IT.