The Roles of Professional Organizations in School Library Education

International guidelines for school libraries and school librarians exist. However, the role of professional library associations in school librarian education has been largely overlooked. This exploratory study examines the role of professional library associations in Brazil, Honduras, Nepal, and the United States (specifically California) relative to school librarian pre-service education and in-service professional development. The associations are analyzed in light of communities of practice and the contingency theory of socialization. The findings demonstrate how professional library associations provide culturally relevant professional development that melds professional expertise and socialization.

Implications for Recruiting International Students to the University of North Carolina System

In 2011-2012, international students and their families contributed almost 22 billion dollars to the U.S. economy and to higher education. Although there were a record number of international students (764,495), they represent only 4% of the 20.6 million students enrolled in higher education. Are institutions capitalizing on this market and how specifically does it benefit the institution and state economy as well? In order to answer this question, the financial implications of recruiting international students to North Carolina, particularly the University of North Carolina (UNC) System were explored. In North Carolina, the net contribution of foreign students and their families was USD$338,418 million and specifically within the UNC System, USD$174,326.9 million (51.51%). Of the 14 institutions examined, six relatively smaller institutions had the most significant overall increase in enrollment during 2009-2011, and masters’ institutions in particular reported a 23.10% positive change, followed by doctoral/research institutions with a 21.93% change.

Critical Teaching and Learning Issues in International Education

This chapter focuses on a limited compilation of literature with attention to the issues in critical teaching and learning within the international education milieu. The approach taken in this chapter is that of a conversation with particular interest directed to the question of what might constitute an appropriate teacherly and learner response to challenges they may face in the international educational schema. The chapter not only illustrates the tasks of internationalized education but also contributes to a collective exchange of the complexity of this phenomenon and its threats to teaching and therefore learning in the now. The exponential expansion of new technologies, the inception of an increasingly mobile society, and the marketization of knowledge in Thomas Friedman’s (2007) Flat, the globalized world has fanned the already fiery demands for teaching and learning on the international stage (as cited in Tubbah & Williams, 2010).

Global Education in the Russian Federation

This chapter explores the history of international activities and global education in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation. Although readers might expect that Russia has over the centuries had a significant impact on global matters, just the opposite has been the case. Rather than impressing its mark on the world, Russia has generally been a country that was affected by global developments and has had to react to its demands and influences. One of the barriers to Russia’s assuming a more proactive role today is Russian suspicion toward globalization and the intentions of Western countries within a global framework. In addition, Russians fear that too hasty an introduction of globalization might help tear their multi-ethnic nation apart. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that unless Russia stabilizes its domestic cultural interactions and unless direct benefits for Russia can be discerned from a more global orientation, its involvement in global education will remain quite restrained.

Using Technology to Address Workforce Readiness Skills

All too often, students either drop out of school or graduate with poor workplace readiness skills. The lack of preparedness is costly both on a short- and long-term basis to students, families, employers, and societies in general. In the workplace, employers are forced to be at the vanguard of addressing critical basic skill deficiencies related to reading, writing, mathematics, and using computers, among others, to remain competitive. Addressing these worker skills gaps through training and development activities can be cost prohibitive to organizations, especially in tough economic times. Understandably, business leaders are becoming more critical of an education system that produces individuals with such gaps. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the use of technology as a productive means of meeting the developmental or remedial educational needs of various underprepared workers entering the job market.

Collaboration Not Competition

This chapter documents the development of a program for college faculty, public school teachers, graduate, and undergraduate students to pursue international travel, study, and teaching in Thailand. The program features collaboration among institutions, faculty colleagues, and school personnel focused particularly on science and mathematics education. The chapter reflects on the current methodological perspectives used to compare educational systems and the concomitant outcomes in workforce articulation. Details of expansion, development, and measurement of local, individual, and program success are provided and analyzed using current competitive international models. An alternative view of international relationships as collaborative learning opportunities is proposed.

Europe 2020

This chapter seeks to enhance academic and policy-maker understanding of the European Union’s (EU) evolving higher education system by providing context and an overview of some of the major higher education initiatives currently being implemented as EU higher education adapts to turbulent economies, unstable political systems, and rapidly changing social structures. The recognition that higher education is the driver of a country’s knowledge-based economy has impacted higher education policies at a national and supranational level. Divergence among the EU member states in their organization of higher education, and the emergence of challenges which go beyond national frontiers, has proved the catalyst for developing a cohesive policy and strategy for EU higher education delivery. Initial efforts to increase European influence in national higher education policy began with the Sorbonne Declaration (1998) and continued with the Bologna Declaration (1999), the Lisbon Strategy (2000), and finally the EU 2020 strategy (2010).

Open, Flexible and Participatory Pedagogy in the Era of Globalisation

The socio-political and economic conditions of the world signal that the global society is moving towards an era of international, cross-border collaboration in education. International higher education by its very nature sits at an intersection of socio-cultural, economic, and geopolitical variables. Over the years, we have seen the complex interaction of the factors that influence patterns of student mobility, institutional strategies and economic forces. Worldwide, institutions of higher education (IHEs) are including global and international themes in their mission statements, courses, and strategic plans. Internationalization is seen as the integration of an international/intercultural dimension into teaching, research, and service of an institution. Internationalizing educational delivery can require significant change and is systematically complex, requiring faculty, staff, students, administrators, and community members who aspire to communicate with, understand, and connect with the diverse 21st-century global community. In this globally connected millennium, as institutions are moving towards Open Access and the use of OER (Open Education Resources) to widen participation and access to higher education, there is a consequent need to redesign pedagogy, teacher roles, and the use of technology to support learning.

A Comparative Study on Undergraduate Computer Science Education between China and the United States

With the rapid growth of the Internet and telecommunication networks, computer technology has been a driving force in global economic development and in advancing many areas in science, engineering, health care, business, and finance that carry significant impacts on people and society. As a primary source for producing the workforce of software engineers, computer scientists and information technology specialists, computer science education plays a particularly important role in modern economic growth and it has been invested heavily in many countries around the world. This chapter provides a comparative study of undergraduate computer science programs between China and the United States. The study focuses on the current curricula of computer science programs. It in part is based on the author’s direct observation from his recent visits to several universities in China and the conversations he had with administrators and faculty of computer science programs at the universities. It is also based on the author’s over two decades experience as a computer science educator at several public and private American institutions of higher educations. The education systems in China and the United States have different features and each of the systems has its strengths and weaknesses. This is likely also true for education systems in other countries. It would be an interesting and important task for us to explore an innovative computer science education program, which perhaps blends the best features of different systems and helps better prepare graduates for the challenges working in an increasingly globalized world. We hope the study presented in this chapter provides some useful insights in this direction.

Chinese Pedagogy or Western Andragogy?

This chapter reports the results of a study designed to compare Chinese adult education methods with Western (i.e., United States) educational methods using the conceptual framework of the principles of andragogy. Adult educators from two universities in China and one university in the United States responded to an online survey comprised of closed- and open-ended questions about their teaching practices. Study results indicated that while the U.S. educators were consistently andragogical in their approach, Chinese adult educators were less so. Although a few andragogical elements were reported by the Chinese educators, their approach appeared more pedagogical, a finding that was consistent with reports in the literature of adult education in China. Even in 1998, under the leadership of the former administration, the Chinese people were promised the growth of China’s education system. Today, China provides resources to support education so that China is more competitive in the global market today. China’s blueprint for the future is evidence of the commitment to education China emphasizes. China has created its own Ivy League schools to support the next generation workforce that are competitive with Ivy League schools in the United States. China’s Ivy League is funded by the government. It leads to the question of whether the recession of 2008 in the United States will negatively impact the services American institutions will offer and ultimately affect the number of international students enrolling in universities in the United States. It also leads to the question on whether China will surpass the United States in the quality of education it provides to its students and therefore reduce the number of Chinese students who study in the United States. The style of teaching in this new system may impact both the quality of education provided and its impact.