Educational Borrowing

New evidence builds upon the Student Engagement IndexTM and Teacher Engagement IndexTM research (Scott-Webber, Konyndyk, & French, 2019; Scott-Webber, Konyndyk, French, & French, 2018; Scott-Webber, Konyndyk, French, Lembke, & Kinney, 2017) determining post-occupancy answers to, “Can we demonstrate that the design of the built environment for grades 6–8 impacts student academic engagement levels post-occupancy?” The early studies used respondents from grades 9–12. This one is from users in grades 6–8 (‘alpha’ pilot). All studies were conducted in the USA as convenience samples. Engagement performance is a high predictor of student success across multiple domains and learning/work experiences. Specifically, “Research that shows that engagement, the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities, is the best single predictor of their learning and personal development” (Anonymous, NSSE, 2010, p. 2), and thus our research focus. From both the students and educato...

The transformation of post-socialist education is perhaps one of the most interesting developments in the history of comparative education. The collapse of the socialist system led to a series of crises: -          Ideological crisis – the collapse of the socialist idea of education, partially replaced by the ideology of neoliberalism. -          Social crisis – dismantling of the socialist welfare system and attempts to replace it by different Western models of social welfare. -          Economic crisis – transition from planned to market economy which led to deterioration of educational infrastructure. -          Cultural crisis – socialist culture was replaced by different modifications of promoting national and/or regional cultures. -          Structural crisis – countries with practically identical educational structures chose different ways of restructuring education. After the failure of the previous system Western researchers assumed that the common model of transition will ...

New evidence builds upon the Student Engagement IndexTM and Teacher Engagement IndexTM research (Scott-Webber, Konyndyk, & French, 2019; Scott-Webber, Konyndyk, French, & French, 2018; Scott-Webber, Konyndyk, French, Lembke, & Kinney, 2017) determining post-occupancy answers to, “Can we demonstrate that the design of the built environment for grades 6–8 impacts student academic engagement levels post-occupancy?” The early studies used respondents from grades 9–12. This one is from users in grades 6–8 (‘alpha’ pilot). All studies were conducted in the USA as convenience samples. Engagement performance is a high predictor of student success across multiple domains and learning/work experiences. Specifically, “Research that shows that engagement, the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities, is the best single predictor of their learning and personal development” (Anonymous, NSSE, 2010, p. 2), and thus our research focus. From both the students and educato...

The Covid-19 crisis made spaces for people to immerse themselves in moments of reflection. The suspension of time, sites, and body mobility, the collapse of the past principles; as the macro learning environment has undergone unprecedented changes, how could people read and react to those changes? Learning at the university, almost all the students have to adopt an online format as a singular way to access higher education, which calls for more self-management capacities and learning autonomy. Bodily learning is crucial from the pedagogical perspective, drawing insights from The Affective Turn, where Clough (2008) took the human body as biomedia so as to affect learning and transform knowledge. This paper shines a light on the new bodies and spaces with inherent innovation potentiality. Based on the literature review chiefly from Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, and Culture Studies, this paper engages with four typologies of learning epistemology, nomad, heterotopia, liminality,...

The aim of this paper is to study importance of English language and crucial role of English language teachers in implementation process of the Saudi vision-2030.The study included 100 teachers of English (both males and females) teaching at the foundation year of King Abdul Aziz university, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia. The method of analysis was 'mixed type.' There might be a difference in perceptions towards English language's importance and teachers' role based on academic and professional factors (knowledge, education, training), and other factors (nationalities, gender, education and different backgrounds). This study explored such factors that are quite crucial in affecting the implementation process of the Saudi vision-2030. The finding and results will contribute to the concerned government offices which are trying to implement the vision-2030 especially the education sector.

This paper was commissioned by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2009 report. It has not been edited by the team. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to the EFA Global Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. The papers can be cited with the following reference: “Paper commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009, Overcoming Inequality: why governance matters ” For further information, please contact

Higher education institutions in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have started internationalizing quality assessment procedures; those in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan have not. The differences concern politics (the willingness of national leadership to be transparent, internally and externally) and economics (the nation's ability to finance educational reform and to resist inappropriate "educational…

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) considers education a top priority, and more emphasis has been placed on this following the 2016 announcement of Saudi Vision 2030. Since then, the country has witnessed several economic and social changes. As a result, the Kingdom has initiated a plan to invest in human capital through education to diversify its economy and increase employment. This includes educational reform with regard to primary and secondary education geared toward preparing students for higher education and the workplace. However, several factors may hinder the successful execution of this plan. This report will provide insights into factors such as cultural dimensions, learning profiles, the English language proficiency gap, and information on borrowing educational models from the West. It will also include some suggestions and recommendations to enhance teacher education programmes so that positive educational reform may be achieved effectively.

In the summer of 1943 Americans were marching victoriously through Sicily and making their way up the Italian peninsula to fight Fascist and Nazi troops, and eventually defeat them. They had planned to complement the military action with action in the field of education and to that purpose educator Carleton Washburne – at the time an officer and soon in charge of such task – gathered as much information as possible about the Fascist school system, on the one hand, and endeavoured to change it by infusing it with democratic values supported by a progressive education perspective, and by revising school textbooks and contents, on the other (Washburne, 1970; Fornaca, 1982). The overall aim was not to overturn the school system that they had found, but – as a report issued by the Allies stated – to change it step by step since both the system and ‘the human material... cannot be transported suddenly and without shocks into the new one by way of a magic wand ’ (Fornaca, 1982, p. 40). Ita...

Mongolia is one of the countries in the world with the largest number of pastoralists. However, many pastoralists still face many challenges (Fratkin & Meir, 2005; Stolpe, 2016). On the other hand, since the post-Soviet market economic reforms of 1990, significant socio-economic changes have taken place in Mongolia, which have had a strong impact on the equality of the education sector (Ahearn & Bumochir, 2016; Steiner-Khamsi & Gerelmaa, 2008; Stolpe, 2016; Batkhuyag & Dondogdulam, 2018). However, we know that greater equality in education is not only beneficial to society, but also a way to increase economic growth (Hanushek and Woessmann, 2010). To overcome these difficulties, the education system has been reformed several times and borrowed or localized internationally used education system models to meet international standards. Unfortunately, the education sector does not have adequate schooling for children with disabilities, ethnic minorities, rural and remote herders, and the gap in academic achievement between these students has intensified in recent years. Therefore, this study aims to assess the current state of the education system and identify the causes of the biggest problems based on statistical and literature reviews. Student achievement levels vary, with student achievement declining year after year for unknown reasons, such as children living in low-income, remote rural areas, ethnic minorities, and children in dormitories. In the future, there is a need to further study the factors influencing this key issue in line with Mongolia's nomadic style and to further improve the education system.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) considers education a top priority, and more emphasis has been placed on this following the 2016 announcement of Saudi Vision 2030. Since then, the country has witnessed several economic and social changes. As a result, the Kingdom has initiated a plan to invest in human capital through education to diversify its economy and increase employment. This includes educational reform with regard to primary and secondary education geared toward preparing students for higher education and the workplace. However, several factors may hinder the successful execution of this plan. This report will provide insights into factors such as cultural dimensions, learning profiles, the English language proficiency gap, and information on borrowing educational models from the West. It will also include some suggestions and recommendations to enhance teacher education programmes so that positive educational reform may be achieved effectively.

Steiner-Khamsi, G., Silova, I. & Johnson, E. (2006). Neo-liberalism liberally applied: Educational policy borrowing in Central Asia. In J. Ozga, T. Popkewitz and T. Seddon (Eds.), Education Research and Policy: Steering the Knowledge-Based Economy (pp. 217-245). New York, NY: Routledge.

The essays in Globalization on the Margins explore the continuities and changes in Central Asian education development since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Reflecting on two decades of post-socialist transformations, they reveal that education systems in Central Asia responded to the rapidly changing political, economic, and social environment in profoundly new and unique ways. Some countries moved towards Western models, others went backwards, and still others followed entirely new trajectories. Yet, elements of the “old” system remain. Rather than viewing these post-Soviet transformations in isolation, Globalization on the Margins places its analyses within the global context by reflecting on the interaction between Soviet legacies and global education reform pressures in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Instead of portraying the transition process as the influx of Western ideas into the region, the authors provide new lenses to critically examine the multidirectional flow of ideas, concepts, and reform models within Central Asia.

Notwithstanding the variety of theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and conceptual lenses, the authors have one thing in common: both individually and collectively, they reveal the complexity and uncertainty of the post-Soviet transformations. By highlighting the political nature of the transformation processes and the uniqueness of historical, political, social, and cultural contexts of each particular country, Globalization on the Margins portrays post-Soviet education transformations as complex, multidimensional, and uncertain processes.

During the important, early years of transition for the post-socialist countries in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia, the Open Society Institute/Soros Foundation was arguably the largest and most influential network in the region. How NGOs React follows the Soros Foundation's educational reform programs there and raises larger questions about the role of NGOs in a centralist government, relationships NGOs have with international donors and development banks, and how projects are adopted and interpreted in different contexts.

Case studies (authored by former or current educational experts of the Soros Network based in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) look at the impact of capacity-building programs, the professional development of teachers, school administrators, government officials, textbook authors, publishers, teacher educators, and university lecturers, among others. Soros's particular focus on capacity-building and how this strategy was adopted across a wide area reveals much that will instruct NGOs working in international education policy. The unique combination of perspectives from Western as well as Eastern scholars based in the region makes this collection an essential retrospective on key processes involved in the transformation of closed societies into open and free ones.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asian education reform discourses have become increasingly similar to distinctive Western policy discourses traveling globally across national boundaries. Tracing the trajectory of ‘traveling policies’ in Central Asia, this article discusses the way Western education discourses have been hybridized in the encounter with collectivist and centralist cultures within post-socialist environments in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. In the context of international aid relationships, the article considers different motivations and driving forces for reforms, the way pre-Soviet and Soviet traditions are affirmed within the reforms, as well as how these reforms speak back to Western reform agenda. Emphasizing the historical legacy of Soviet centralist traditions, this article reveals how traveling policies have been ‘hijacked’ by local policy makers and used for their own purposes nationally.