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Article
Publication date: 25 April 2008

Pak Tee Ng

The purpose of this paper is to highlight three important insights into educational quality assurance, using Singapore as a case study. It is useful to policy makers and…

5046

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight three important insights into educational quality assurance, using Singapore as a case study. It is useful to policy makers and practitioners to understand the phases and paradoxes in their educational quality assurance journey so that they may recognise and manage better the complex dynamics of quality assurance in education.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilises a phase model to analyse the development of quality assurance and the challenges and paradoxes involved. This phase model is a framework of analysis of the quality assurance dynamics of primary and secondary education in Singapore with the following phases: standardisation; local accountability; and diversity and innovation

Findings

The paper finds that: quality assurance develops in phases, each with its own characteristics and challenges; quality assurance changes the nature of education; quality assurance is a paradoxical journey.

Practical implications

The Singapore case study serves as a mirror to other developing countries in recognising and managing the delicate dynamics of quality assurance.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates the phase model of educational quality assurance in Singapore and the analysis of the delicate balancing act between conformity and diversity, and between standards and innovation.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2014

David Starr-Glass

This article, which is exploratory in nature, considers the experiences of migrant students enrolled in the transnational degree program of an accredited American college located…

Abstract

Purpose

This article, which is exploratory in nature, considers the experiences of migrant students enrolled in the transnational degree program of an accredited American college located in the Czech Republic. Migrant students have considerable experience in negotiating the different national cultures of their college and of the new country in which they live. Students, participating in a Cross-culture Management course, were asked to maintain reflective journals in which they recorded their experiences of national culture difference. The purpose was to encourage consideration, reflection, and the growing internalization of cross-cultural appreciation and negotiation.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were asked to maintain reflective journals during the semester, in which they identified and considered critical incidents and defining issues in their cross-cultural experiences. Journals were analyzed from an inductive phenomenological perspective with no preconceived imposition of structure, although participants had been informed that the root-metaphor of the journal should be that of “journeys”. Ten emergent themes were identified and a number of these, which seemed to impact national culture adaptation, are discussed. In an attempt to retain the authentic voice of participants, verbatim quotations are reproduced in some detail.

Findings

The emergent themes identified give insight into the range of national cultural complexities that these migrant students confronted. Sharing these issues with those who have less national culture experience might increase their understanding of the adaption process. More importantly, the journal increased reflection, prompted deeper sensemaking, and allowed participants to articulate their experiences. Making explicit their own cultural adaption problems may also be beneficial for these participants.

Originality/value

Cross-culture education has often taken a didactic approach that emphasized teaching and learning. The reflective journal focuses on an experiential approach to making sense of cultural experience. From a learner perspective, the use of a reflective journal stimulates reflection and contributes to resolution. From an instructor perspective, journals provide valuable insight into issues significant in a developing awareness of a national culture. Journals also provide an unrecognized insight into the personal experiences of international and transnational students that may have implications in their general learning and broader education.

Details

Journal of International Education in Business, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-469X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Wee Ming Ong and Subas Prasad Dhakal

Although the international education sector is one of the significant contributors to the Australian economy, international students continue to experience various forms of social…

Abstract

Purpose

Although the international education sector is one of the significant contributors to the Australian economy, international students continue to experience various forms of social inequalities. This paper aims to focus on overseas doctoral researchers (ODRs) – candidates and graduates – and capture their experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the adaptive capacity framework, an exploratory qualitative study was carried out based on interviews with doctoral candidates (n = 6), doctoral graduates (n = 5) and supervisors (n = 4) in various Business Schools in Australian universities. Given this study’s exploratory and interpretive nature, the research question was deliberately broad: what insights can be generated for key stakeholders by capturing the experiences of ODRs in Australia through the lens of adaptive capacity?

Findings

Findings indicate that financial pressure, social exclusion and cultural bias were the three main challenges ODRs had to overcome; female ODRs perceived that supervisors and faculties often overlooked the mental health aspects; and better pedagogy of research supervision, institutional support and national policies are needed to develop adaptive ODRs.

Research limitations/implications

If ODRs are to become an integral part of the knowledge economy, key stakeholders need to focus on support mechanisms for these researchers. That way, Australian universities can not only improve their image of treating international students only as a part of the revenue flow but also enhance the educational experiences of ODRs and set them up for future success.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it demonstrates the utility of the adaptive capacity lens to capture the experiences of ODRs. Second, it discusses research implications for the three key stakeholders: supervisors, higher education institutions and the government.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2017

Mark Edward Deschaine and Benjamin P. Jankens

With increase requirements and a more clinical approach for administrator internships in principal preparation programs, universities are taking a look at their internships and…

Abstract

Purpose

With increase requirements and a more clinical approach for administrator internships in principal preparation programs, universities are taking a look at their internships and how they are implemented. The purpose of this paper is to propose a structure and framework incorporating promising practices from recent literature and explores how to successfully implement new standards and state requirements. Additionally, a framework for practice is included as a foundation for a clinical internship program that applies theory and promising practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Internships are a critical aspect of the principal preparation program and are crucial to preparing students to fulfill their future leadership roles. This brief reviewed the related literature, which revealed the lack of quality in various educational leadership programs and posited that the internship is an essential element to principal preparation. Key considerations to successful internships, and why they are necessary to overall candidate preparation were also presented. Additionally, a sample program was described that included aspects of both performance and accountability and served as a framework for new and revised internships.

Findings

Although the internship experience is but one part of a larger curricular sequence, it has a central role in the preparation of future school administrators. School administrator preparation programs have an obligation to allow participants to fully experience the breadth and depth of issues and environments that they will encounter. A structure and framework is needed that incorporates promising practices from recent literature, and explores how to successfully implement new standards and state requirements for a clinical internship program applying current theory and promising practices.

Originality/value

Creating and maintaining effective internship experiences is an ever-evolving process that requires dedicated faculty and resources. Learning through internships is a central element of future principal candidates’ overall success. Authentic practice and experience in real school settings ensures that future educational leaders receive the best preparation that universities and faculty can provide.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 28 March 2022

Elizabeth Kline

Investment in graduate education is costly in various ways so completion success is a big concern for universities and stakeholders. Largely the graduate educational landscape…

Abstract

Purpose

Investment in graduate education is costly in various ways so completion success is a big concern for universities and stakeholders. Largely the graduate educational landscape moves along a commonly structured path from acceptance to graduation. Despite many having successfully attained the award, the research literacies that signal doctoral achievement remain obscure and scholars continue to struggle with developing clear and tangible measures for the competencies that represent attainment of the degree. Feedback gathered from faculty at a large research institution through a series of semi-structured interviews illustrated the challenge departments have to effectively communicate what it takes to get through graduate education. As a result students still have a difficult time understanding the complexity of graduate training. This study views graduate education from the lens of intellectual journeys, as opposed to the research lifecycle, as a way of uncovering distinct disciplinary discourse practices and offering libraries critical points to align services using this framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is highly flexible and adaptable to many contexts besides graduate education. This study takes a different approach from previous studies in its framing of discussions with academic faculty, using journey maps, to focus on the intellectual journeys of graduate students. Faculty from different disciplines participated in one-on-one, hour-long interviews. Discussions were audio recorded, transcribed, and then coded into NVivo. Iterative review on the data continued until themes emerged. The data gathered were used to compile a detailed map of the processes and requirements that make up graduate education. This approach to the data helped to identify what faculty perceive as the greatest struggles for graduate students and provide evidence of the key places within the intellectual journeys of graduate students.

Findings

This paper provides a discussion of graduate student personas revealed through intellectual journeys, assesses the issues students encounter, shares critical time points and key places within these intellectual journeys where significant development occur, and suggests how libraries can and should connect with graduate committee members to establish missing support structures. Practical suggestions for library support are given for the areas where students struggle most. These critical services can be aligned to key developmental phases that will not only positively impact the time to completion but also retention.

Originality/value

First, the methodology discussed is highly flexible and adaptable to many contexts besides graduate education. Second, librarians adopting this methodology can generate their own editable journey maps not only to offer the most critical services but these tools also double as visual communication and negotiation tools for graduate students and their mentors during graduate training. Third, previous research has suggested that the most instrumental factor for graduate students completing their degree was the concept of forward progress. Framing the graduate experience and orienting library graduate support through the lens of disciplinary intellectual journeys achieves an action-oriented approach that supplements and addresses structural inequities by providing consequential support at meaningful points in a student’s journey thus allowing students to make forward progress and ultimately lead to faster completion rates.

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2021

Anna Sanczyk, Lisa R. Merriweather, Cathy D. Howell and Niesha C. Douglas

The purpose of this research study was to explore U.S. STEM faculty’s perceptions of culturally responsive mentoring underrepresented doctoral students in STEM programs. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research study was to explore U.S. STEM faculty’s perceptions of culturally responsive mentoring underrepresented doctoral students in STEM programs. The research question that guided this study was “How do STEM doctoral faculty mentors engage in culturally responsive mentoring?

Design/methodology/approach

A case study research design was used and included findings from an embedded case drawn from a larger ongoing study. Six STEM faculty participants provided in-depth insights into the dynamic nature of the culturally responsive mentoring journey through semi-structured interviews that were analyzed using thematic analysis. The theoretical framework for this research study was grounded in the ideas posited by culturally responsive pedagogy.

Findings

The findings revealed three themes related to the mentoring journeys experienced by the faculty fellows: an academic journey, an intentional journey, and a subliminal journey.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this research provide significant contribution to the current literature on mentoring and point to the importance of continuous, structured research efforts to increase the quality of mentoring for URM students in doctoral STEM programs.

Practical implications

STEM faculty could benefit from participating in mentor training framed by culturally responsive pedagogy. Future research is needed to explore the mentor training needs of STEM faculty in other environments, including contexts outside the United States.

Originality/value

This study extends understanding of STEM faculty's knowledge, dispositions, and abilities of culturally responsive mentoring and emphasizes the need for ongoing professional development training in this area.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 December 2021

Gustav Hägg and Colin Jones

This paper explores the idea of the prudent entrepreneurial self, through re-conceptualizing prudence into the domain of entrepreneurial education, to unite the two processes of…

1996

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the idea of the prudent entrepreneurial self, through re-conceptualizing prudence into the domain of entrepreneurial education, to unite the two processes of becoming enterprising and entrepreneurial. It is argued that developing a capacity for prudence among graduates involves past, present and conjecture forms of knowledge that the authors find in the interplay between individuation and social awareness.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on Palmer's idea of wholeness, the authors discuss six poles of paradoxes in entrepreneurial education and in conjunction establish a philosophical argument for the idea of stimulating the development of prudence as fundamentally important to contemporary notions of entrepreneurial education.

Findings

The paper presents a model to develop a schema that moves students towards becoming prudent entrepreneurial selves. The model rests on two interrelated developmental processes – individuation and social awareness – conditional for developing the three forms of knowledge (past, present and conjecture) that makes up prudence where developing prudence is a means to handle or cope with the unknown.

Research limitations/implications

This paper argues that for enterprise and entrepreneurship education to realize their potential contributions, both the relationships between each field and the overarching purpose that ties the fields together need to be rethought, and the poles of paradoxes need to be connected to further develop both fields and creating wholeness for the emerging scholarly discipline.

Practical implications

To educate towards the prudent entrepreneurial self means educating towards an unknown end where student development aims to meet both the objectives of individual development and the growth in social awareness required to handle the changing nature of contemporary society.

Originality/value

This study philosophically conceives a united enterprise and entrepreneurship education landscape in which deeper student learning makes possible the notion of the prudent entrepreneurial self.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 27 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

Timothy Clark

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and illustrate the potential relationships between doctoral students’ life histories and educational experiences and their…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and illustrate the potential relationships between doctoral students’ life histories and educational experiences and their methodological understanding and assumptions.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative research design consisted of life-history interviews with nine doctoral researchers in the UK in disciplines relating to the social sciences.

Findings

The study indicated that the students’ methodological assumptions may be understood as a socially constructed product of their life histories and academic experiences. Experiences of postgraduate research training were presented as having the potential to unlock the methodological consciousness required to re-frame these experiences, improve understanding and resolve methodological conflict.

Originality/value

This paper provides an insight into the complex nature of the development of methodological understanding and a provocation for considering methodological becoming through the lens of socialisation. This may have utility for both doctoral students and educators.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2010

Jill Sperandio

The purpose of the paper is to discuss and examine the development of frameworks and models to guide future research into studies of women's paths to educational leadership…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to discuss and examine the development of frameworks and models to guide future research into studies of women's paths to educational leadership worldwide.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded theory approach to the development of a model of the factors and their interaction that determine the path to educational leadership for women is adopted, drawing on existing research for world‐wide studies.

Findings

Past studies in this field have focused on identifying barriers and opportunities that are gender sensitive. With an increasing interest in developing educational preparation programs that are context and gender specific, there is a need to provide research frameworks to allow for meaningful comparisons between contexts to identify commonalities and differences, and for models to predict the likely outcomes of interventions in current procedures for drawing women into educational leadership. The model presented in the paper allows for the identification of those factors in any given context that influence the success of women aspiring to leadership.

Social implications

Understanding the culturally determined interaction of social and institutional factors that create unique contexts for career building is a prerequisite of developing leadership preparation for women designed to increase their successful entry into, and practice of, school leadership and to rectify their under‐representation in this field worldwide.

Originality/value

Conceptualizing educational leadership for women at an international level is a newly emerging theme that this paper hopes to advance.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 48 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2023

Lorena Gutiérrez

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of documentation on the educational experiences, college readiness and aspirations of undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of documentation on the educational experiences, college readiness and aspirations of undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Design/methodology/approach

This ethnographic study was conducted in a High School Equivalency Program at a large university in the Midwest. Data was collected during two semesters across a three-year span. Participants included six Mexican migrant and seasonal farmworkers who were preparing to earn their General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Using the grounded theory, data was collected and analyzed simultaneously where initial and focused coding took place, followed by cross-case analysis.

Findings

Analysis of student interviews, participant observations and in-depth fieldnotes that include the K-12 educational experiences, experiences during and after the High School Equivalency Program reveal that undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers aspire to earn a GED diploma to access a better future inclusive of college. However, the legal liminality, the uncertainty and ambiguity of being undocumented, impacts their educational journey prior to, during and beyond the High School Equivalency Program. Furthermore, undocumented Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers are unable to change their material conditions with a GED because of their documentation status.

Originality/value

Although researchers have studied the education experiences of Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers, analysis and consideration of documentation status is missing. This study contributes much needed findings about the impact of documentation status on the educational experiences, college readiness, and aspirations of Latinx migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

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