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Soalan Perbincangan Topik Hmef50333
Soalan Perbincangan Topik Hmef50333
TOPIC 1
x
Give ONE (1) example of a single within-country study and ONE (1)
example of a large scale comparative study in education.
Nicholas Hans
Perceived that a number of common traits underlie the customs,
traditions, policies and socio-historical factors that influence educational
practice in different countries.
These commonalities may be studied to provide insight into the
factors that lead to educational decision making in a country.
Hans was of the opinion that the solutions to educational problems that
have been attempted in one country should be examined in light of the
common educational and socio-historical backgrounds of other countries
under scrutiny.
George Bereday
Wrote Comparative Methods in Education
o attempts to define the field by method, and talks about systematic
data collection and comparison.
o To conduct research using a systematic form, Bereday proposed a
four-stage procedure, commonly known as the “description-
interpretation-juxtaposition-comparison” method.
o Emphasised the collection of precise, similar data from each
country being studied, with the overall purpose of constructing
theory about schooling and society.
multilingualism
one of the main objectives of comparative education was to gain a
comprehensive understanding of the qualities and shortcomings of
different systems of education in the world.
making the field part of mainstream education.
Philip Altbach
o addressed many issues in international higher education e.g. academic
freedom; student political activism, educational structures and politics of
various countries; education and scientific development; and trends in
higher education in USA, India, Africa and Japan.
Saravanan Gopinathan
o specialist in comparative education, focussing his work on language
policy, planning, bilingualism and higher education.
o focused on economic restructuring and educational reform in Singapore,
and on the role of language and society in university education reform.
o a countrys educational policies are often determined by national factors
(1996). These factors may be a country’s national economic agenda, its
ethnic composition and its socio-historic profile.
Topic 2
X
Understand our own
Crossley and Watson (2003) propose that the fundamental purpose of
comparative education is that educationist be able to better understand and
work on education in their own country, and outlined the following purposes of
comparative education:
Gain a better understanding of our own systems
Satisfy intellectual and theoretical curiosity about other cultures
Better understand the relationship between education and society
Explain and analyse similarities and differences
Understand problems in education
Contribute to improvement of educational policy and practice
Promote intellectual understanding and cooperation though
improved sensitivity to differing world views and cultures
Planning
o the means by which a country formulates educational
policies, determines objectives and identifies strategies that
will help to meet its human resource needs.
o proper planning helps build community relations and
improves the social well-being of a people
o planning a school system that is responsive to the needs of a
multicultural and multilingual Malaysian society.
o takes into account both internal factors such as
multiculturalism, and external factors such as globalisation.
Improvement and innovation
o to provide a mechanism for implementing measures that will
improve the social and economic status of a people
o keeping abreast of international developments in innovative
forms of teaching and learning so that nations can achieve
greater success in their efforts to provide education for their
people.
o E.g. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was a
pencil-and-paper test, now in many parts of the world TOEFL
is taken electronically.
o six broad areas where innovation may be applied, as follows:
(a) The learning context;
(b) The curriculum to accommodate learners’ previous
knowledge and experiences and set them on a course of
improved understandings;
(c) Learning activities that achieve learning outcomes;
(d) Assessment that is integrated with desired learning
outcomes;
(e) Achievement that is tracked at a formative and summative
level; and
(f) Our roles as teachers, from expert content providers to
people who can create and support learning communities,
both with our students and among our peers.
Education for international understanding
o to promote international understanding, which refers primarily
to amicable cross-border relations through the exchange of
ideas, information, points of view and knowledge among
educationists from different countries.
o To promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among
all nations, racial or religious groups
o The roots of this dimension of comparative education are in
the Recommendations for Education for International
Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education
relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms drawn
by UNESCO in 1974
o E.g. UNESCO Institute for Education in Germany, the
International Bureau of Education in Switzerland and the
International Institute of Educational Planning in France.
Topic 3
1. The following are some key concepts within the scope of comparative
education:
a. National Education Philosophy
b. Education Policy
c. Education Planning
d. Education Structure
Elaborate what is meant by the above terms based on examples from
your home country,
What is the role played by education policy in national development?
Support your answer with the use of at least ONE (1) example. [4 marks]
Education policy
a guiding principle or a course of action that steers a country’s
educational programmes or decisions. Commonly, a government devises
a policy after deliberation and discussion among lawmakers,
educationists, social scientists and other interested parties.
circumscribe a country’s national educational philosophy, and usually
include a justification for a course of action that has been/will be taken.
Singapore
o The bilingual policy is a fundamental feature of the Singapore
education system. It ensures that children learn at least two
languages in schools - English and their mother tongue. English is
essential as it is the language of commerce, technology and
administration. The learning of the mother tongue, which could be
Chinese, Malay or Tamil, enables the children to keep in touch with
their heritage and cultural values.
European union
o three major goals
(i) To improve the quality and effectiveness of EU education and
training systems;
(ii) To ensure that they are accessible to all; and
(iii) To open up education and training to the wider world.
o thirteen specific objectives covering the various types and levels of
education and training (formal, non-formal and informal) aimed at
making a reality of lifelong learning. Systems have to improve on all
fronts: teacher training; basic skills; integration of Information and
Communication Technologies; efficiency of investments; language
learning; lifelong guidance; flexibility of the systems to make
learning accessible to all, mobility, citizenship education, etc.
Education structure
the way in which teaching and learning in schools and tertiary institutions
are organised in a country.
o The order or sequence in which institutions providing basic
education are to be attended, e.g. attending primary school
before secondary school or a post-secondary institution;
o The number of years one spends at each level, e.g. six years or
seven years at the primary school
o The pathways to admission and graduation, e.g. attending primary
school at the age of seven or how one can qualify for admission to
an institution of higher education such as a university.
China
o Pre-school Children of 3 to 5 years old receive pre-school education
at kindergartens.
o Primary School For children of 6 to 11 years old. Primary schools are
generally run by local government. Some are run by enterprises and
individuals.
o Secondary School For teenagers of 12 to 17 years old. Secondary
schools are generally run by local governments and educational
departments. Secondary schools include common middle schools,
vocational schools and specialised secondary schools. Common
middle schools include junior schools and senior schools, each with
three-year period of schooling. Some junior middle school
graduates are accepted by senior middle schools while some go to
vocational schools and specialised secondary schools, with a
schooling period of three to five years.
o Higher Education Including two to three years short higher
education, undergraduate education and graduate education.
Topic 4
1. Describe the education structure of Japan, giving emphasis to the
different levels of schooling as well as to the role played by the Ministry of
Education of Japan, the Monbukagakusho.
Elaborate on the education system in Japan, highlighting key features
with respect to the different levels of schooling as follows:
a. pre school
b. primary/elementary
c. secondary
d. higher education
The
Monbukagakusho
Prefectures Municipalities
Preschool: Yohchien/Hoikusho
either run by the government or privately run (most private)
Article 78 of Japan’s School Education Law, the main objectives are:
o To cultivate good habits
o To experience and taking part in group life
o To cultivate good attitudes toward the surrounding social life
o To guide language use and foster reading habits
o To cultivate expression through music, dances etc.
the kindergarten or Yohchien
o guided by the School Education Law, which means that it comes
under the aegis of the Monbukagakusho
o Children from the ages of 3 to 5 can attend kindergarten for 4 hours
a day.
o Guidelines for teaching and learning in kindergarten are given in
the Course of Study for Kindergartens
the day care centre or Hoikusho.
o follow the Guidelines of Education and Care in Day Care Centres
issued by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
o babies and young children below the age of 5 attend day care for
about 8 hours a day.
compulsory
free for all schoolchildren
begins at age six, with primary education offered from Grade One to
Grade Six.
the Monbukagakusho introduced the Course of Study for Primary Schools
in 1989.
o nationally designed
o government-approved textbooks (free from grade one to nine)
heavy emphasis on Japanese language and moral
education.
shaping children’s attitudes and moral character.
cooperation, proper ways to interact in society and the
importance of working as a unified group.
complexities of written Japanese and about the different
registers in spoken language.
Other academic subjects that are emphasised are
arithmetic, science and history.
“daily life” course which focuses on character development
and teaches children the importance of communal effort
and teamwork.
Children also learn art, handicraft, music, homemaking and
physical education.
o generally have 30 to 40 students in a class.
o good facilities such as teaching materials and audiovisual
equipment for academic work.
o For co-curricular activities, most schools are equipped with a
gymnasium and/or a swimming pool.
not compulsory
to prepare students for university placement and/or employment.
follow curricular guidelines provided by Monbukagakusho - the Course of
Study for Upper-Secondary Schools since 1994.
categories: (i) Regular or academic track (futsu); or (ii) Vocational track
which prepares students for commercial (shogyo); or (iii) Industrial (kogyo)
work.
In the academic track, students take courses such as Japanese
language, English, mathematics and science.
The vocational track includes anything from ICT to fish farming.
An informal ranking system is used for upper-secondary schools based on
the number of graduates who get admitted into prestigious universities.
One of the focal areas of this curriculum is the importance of family life
and the role of the family in society.
o home economics
the upper-secondary schools now offer history, geography and civics and
not just social studies
Like lower-secondary schools, teachers in upper-secondary teachers
teach courses in their areas of specialisation.
Higher Education
After World War II the Japanese introduced a 6-3-3 education structure for
primary and secondary education. Discuss what is meant by the 6-3-3
structure? [10 marks]
Compare and contrast the Japanese 6-3-3 education structure with the
education structure in your home country. Highlight the similarities and
differences. [10 marks]
Pre-World War II
Early
o localised
o based on Japanese values.
first national public school system established in the 1870s
o Until the end of World War II, Japanese education was
controlled by a centralised government.
o educational philosophy was guided by the Imperial Rescript
on Education (1890) which stressed Confucian principles.
honour the hierarchical nature of human relations
service to the country
the pursuit of learning and morality.
o early twentieth century, with German and Christian influences
being exerted on education at the tertiary level.
Higher secondary school system was highly selective
and elitist, with few opportunities made available to
women.
Post-World War II
new ideas were introduced by the United States Education Mission
(1946)
o less elitist
o compulsory schooling for all Japanese was extended to nine
years.
o the curriculum and content of textbooks were reviewed to be
less focused on morality and more on social studies.
o teachers’ unions were established
o school boards were to be locally elected.
o new 6-3-3 structure aimed at democratising education was
introduced
when Japanese sovereignty was restored in 1952, the Ministry of
Education of Japan regained control.
o Moral education was re-introduced and Japanese ideals
were brought back
o School boards were to be appointed.
in the 1960s when the country was besieged by student riots.
o University Control Law (1969)
Ministry could close departments or whole universities if
conflicts is not settle within nine months
o introduction of education reforms in the early 1970s.
4. The Japanese education system faces three major challenges:
a. a lack of instruction that deals with different levels of student ability;
b. pressure due to excessive competition; and
c. strict regulation to ensure student discipline.
Explain these challenges.
The Japanese hold several important beliefs about education, that all
children have the ability to learn the material; that effort, perseverance,
and self-discipline, not academic ability, determine academic success;
and that these study and behavioural habits can be taught.
Many children face difficulty as they are unable to conform to the strict
demands laid by a highly rigid education structure. For example, there is
little room for instruction for slow learners as teaching for some subjects is
lecture-oriented.
Japanese teachers and educators have also raised the issue of a lack of
flexibility in the lower-secondary school, where students are exposed to
examination-oriented teaching and learning. Teachers, in turn, are
expected to cover all curricular requirements within an allotted time.
Additionally, students find that there is little opportunity to take subjects
that are of interest to individuals.
The school-refusal syndrome (toko kyohi) or excessive absenteeism has
been observed in some lower-secondary schools.
Topic 5
Higher Education Policy refers to how universities, colleges and other post-
secondary institutions operate within an education system to understanding
how governments respond to national labour and economic needs, and how
they accommodate global trends in the field.
According to Lee and Healy (2006), Higher Education policy has received
much attention due to the following reasons:
(a) massification
(b) diversification
(d) marketisation
Examine in detail each of the above reasons with regards to Higher
Education.
Massification
Diversification
Internationalization
Policies on Funding
It refers to the amount of money given to HEIs, and the way in which
money is disbursed to them.
the trend in many countries has been to reduce government funding in
public institutions of higher learning.
many HEIs have to seek their own sources of funding, and/or set up a
department that will engage in entrepreneurial work to bring in funds.
the cost of education has gone up for the consumer, often leading to an
increase in the fees charged to the student.
determines the degree to which financial responsibility and control over
spending rests with the government or with the institution itself.
In Malaysia, public universities (IPTAs) receive almost all their funding from
the state, while research grants and funding for special projects may be
sourced from corporate bodies or international organisations.
X
Accreditation: The process by which a (non-) governmental or private body
evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific
educational programme in order to formally recognize it as having met certain
predetermined minimal criteria or standards. The result of this process is usually
the awarding of a status (a yes/no decision), of recognition, and sometimes of a
license to operate within a time-limited validity. The process can imply initial and
periodic self-study and evaluation by external peers.
Teacher Education
Lifelong Learning
Topic 6
The second area, communication, refers to how the information is passed from
one level to another, both within the planning community and among the
receiving community, that is teachers, students and administrators. Thus, when
plans for the shift to English for science and mathematics had been drawn up,
everyone in the country had to be informed. Training had to be conducted at
many levels and key personnel from the Ministry of Education had to be
summoned to help with the implementation of this new plan.
Nations that are at a post-war stage or those that have recently achieved
independent status for self-government.
Countries that have plural societies, i.e. multilingual or multicultural groups,
and places where there is a great deal of income disparity.
involves building a curriculum and formulating policies aimed at national
integration, bridging the rich-poor divide and increasing access to
education for rural, poor and marginalised sectors.
The Soweto uprising in 1976 was a turning point in South African history.
Trace the events that led to this uprising and highlight the implications this
event had on education in South Africa.
[TOTAL: 20 MARKS]
Traditions
European Rule
The advent of colonialism and with the arrival of the French, Dutch and
British on the shores of South Africa.
From the 1800s, European schools were set up, leading to instruction in
Christianity and literacy and numeracy skills.
Many English schools were established, as were schools that used
Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
The country was rich in resources and coal and diamond mines were
opened in many parts of the country.
o From the late 19th century, groups of men were taken away to work
in the mines, leaving women in charge of homes.
o The traditional informal education system was then disrupted
among communities affected by such moves.
There was a system of segregated and unequal education in the country.
o While schooling for the Europeans was free, compulsory and
expanding, education for Africans and other non-Europeans was
neglected.
o There were insufficient facilities for schooling, teachers and
educational materials due to a serious lack of funding.
o Ethnic identity defined the degree to which educational
opportunity was to be provided.
Under the apartheid system there were four ethnic
classifications: Blacks, Coloureds, Indians and Whites
They lived separately, and the education they received
prepared them for different roles in society.
Apartheid
Bantu Education
1953
Resources allocate to white schools
Less than 10% of the per capita income was spent on Black education.
Teachers in Black schools had little training while the curriculum and
textbook content was designed to prepare the people only for menial
jobs.
Ethnic identity defined the degree to which educational opportunity was
to be provided.
English was stopped in primary schools and limited in secondary schools.
In 1953, prior to the apartheid government’s Bantu Education Act, 90% of
black South African schools were state-aided and were mission schools.
o The Act demanded that all such schools register with the state, and
removed control of African education from the churches and
provincial authorities.
o Almost all the mission schools closed down.
The Bantu Affairs Department had to approve teachers, and also
controlled the local school boards consisting of parents and officials
which managed the everyday running of schools.
The 1953 Act also separated the financing of education for Africans from
general state spending and linked it to direct tax paid by Africans
themselves, with the result that far less was spent on black children than
on white children.
It was only in the 1990s that apartheid was considered outdated and non-
racial education was considered for implementation in South Africa.
Other aspects of government began to change as pressure mounted for
Black rule in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, was released from prison in 1990, and led the country to
its first free elections in 1994.
The country began to assume a new identity, and informally referred to
itself as the Rainbow Nation of Africa.
The new government embraced a culturally diverse people with 11
different official languages and a very rich history.
The plan to formulate a new policy framework and to restructure
education began with the setting up of the National Education and
Training Forum in 1993.
A substantial amount of resources - 23% of the national budget - were set
aside for education.
Compulsory education with a single core syllabus for all South Africans
from age seven to sixteen was introduced.
The first instance of integration of government-run primary and secondary
schools at the national level was in 1995.
Discuss THREE (3) features of Curriculum 2005 in South Africa. (10 marks)
Various measures that were taken to provide equal and fair access to
education
Section 29 of the Constitution states: (1) Everyone has the right (i) to a
basic education, including adult basic education; and (ii) to further
education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make
progressively available and accessible. (2) Everyone has the right to
receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in
public educational institutions where that education is reasonably
practicable.
The state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including
single medium institutions, taking into account: (i) equity; (ii) practicability;
and (iii) the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws
and practices.
There is a provision in the constitution for not only basic education, but
also for adult and further education.
o The latter was considered important as, under apartheid, many
adults were not able to take part in literacy-oriented activity, and
many qualified Africans had been denied access to tertiary
education.
In addition to this, the plan also included a provision for instruction in the
pupils own language, which may be in any one of the eleven officially
recognised languages in the country.
The state has to take steps to remedy or make compensations for far-
reaching inequities that were caused by years of apartheid rule.
Curriculum 2005
Topic 7
2. Using examples from the various countries that you have studied about in
the course, discuss the considerations guiding the formulation of the
public primary school curriculum.
Your essay should touch on the following aspects:
a. Curricular goals
b. Philosophy
c. Curricular control
d. Curricular content
Curricular goals
The public school curriculum is driven by economic needs as well as social
issues such as cultural integration and national unity.
The goals of personal, national and social development are addressed
either implicitly across the curriculum or are explicitly included in religious,
moral or ethics education and/or in subjects such as health education.
o The Malaysian public school curricula aim for intellectual
development (e.g. thinking skills and learning how to learn through
mathematics, science, history, etc.) as well as spiritual development
(e.g. good behaviour through religious and moral education).
o The Malaysian education philosophy stresses the need for its citizens
to be intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced.
There is also a call for the people to believe in God, possess high
moral standards and contribute to the betterment of the family.
The curriculum must help a people achieve life-goals which they see as
relevant to their culture and livelihood.
o E.g. A specific curriculum was developed for Maori medium
education to meet the specific needs for Maori language groups or
Iwi by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.
Curricular control
The curriculum of a country is characterised by specific input, that is,
curriculum content, and output, that is, children’s achievement.
Education planners aim to secure a minimum entitlement for all children
o there is basic or core content that all children have to be exposed
to.
o ensuring equity in all parts of the country
o adequate preparation for secondary school or for adult life
o to facilitate continuity for those who change schools.
often centralised at national, regional or local government level.
o For example, South Korea practices decentralised curricular control.
o Schools are encouraged to modify the national curriculum or to
develop new subjects to meet the needs, circumstances and
interests of schoolchildren and the local community.
greater adaptation to suit the needs of people in smaller localities or
specific language groups.
Formulation of the curriculum
Curricula content
Literacy skills are all the skills needed for reading and writing. They include such
things as awareness of the sounds of language, awareness of print, and the
relationship between letters and sounds. Other literacy skills include vocabulary,
spelling, and comprehension.
Numeracy skills is the skills required to reason and to apply simple numerical
concepts, including comprehending fundamental arithmetics like addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division, number sense, operation sense,
computation, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics.
4. The following are some of the main learning areas found in primary school
curriculum of many countries around the world.
a. Languages and literacy
b. Mathematics, science and technology
c. Humanities, religious/moral education and citizenship, social studies
/civics, history, geography
d. Arts, music
e. Physical education: sports, personal/social/health education
Compare and contrast the implementation of any TWO (2) of the above
mentioned areas with examples from countries around the world.
Humanities