‘But you’re white’: An autoethnography of whiteness and white privilege in East Asian universities

It is well established within the field of Critical Whiteness Studies that white privilege routinely materialises in Western universities. Yet, even though a third wave of Critical Whiteness Studies is increasingly focussing on whiteness in non-Western contexts, there has been insufficient attention toward whether white privilege also exists in East Asian universities. This article seeks to explore this issue by offering an autoethnography in which the author, a mixed-race academic who is racialised as white on some occasions and as a person of colour on others, critically interrogates whiteness in East Asian higher education. It is argued that those who are racialised as white are privileged in East Asian universities and may even seek to actively sustain this. In departing from the dominant understanding of whiteness as always-and-only privileging, this article also explores the extent to which white academics in East Asia may also be disadvantaged by their whiteness.

Cross-national structure of economic competence: Insights from a German and Russian assessment

In this paper, we present a study, which models and measures the competencies of higher education students in business and economics—within and across countries. To measure student competencies in a valid and reliable way, the Test of Understanding in College Economics was used, which assesses microeconomic and macroeconomic competencies. The test was translated into several languages and adapted for different university contexts. In the presented study, the test contents were also compared with regard to the educational standards and the university curricula in Russia and Germany. Our findings from the cross-national analysis suggest one strong general factor of economic competence, which encompasses micro- and macroeconomic dimensions. This points to a stronger interconnection between learning and understanding economic contents than previous research suggests and indicates far-reaching curricular and instructional consequences for higher education economics as well as needs for further research, which are discussed in this paper.

The media’s role in shaping the public opinion on education: A thematic and frame analysis of externalisation to world situations in the Portuguese media

This article uses thematisation theory (Luhmann, 1996; Pissarra Esteves, 2016) and frame analysis (Entman, 1993) to analyse externalisations to world situations (Schriewer, 1990) in the Portuguese print media’s discussion of education. Our data constitutes news and opinion articles collected after each PISA cycle’s results was published. The analysis demonstrates that the education themes discussed in the media between 2001 and 2017 are consistent, despite occasionally being discussed more intensively, frequently following the themes highlighted by PISA reports and OECD media communications. The frames used for these themes are more diverse, changing according to the speaker’s agenda and viewpoints. Externalisations (frequently PISA, OECD, and other participants in the survey) serve as sources of authority that help in thematising and framing education. This process works as a mechanism of double reduction for the complexity of the social world, narrowing the possibilities of how education is seen and interpreted by the public.

Economic literacy among beginning higher education economics students in Japan and Germany and its socio-demographic influencing factors

In view of cross-national student mobility and increasing internationalization of the labor market, a common understanding of economic concepts as well as awareness for country-specific factors influencing economics education is essential. Therefore, the development of instruments that allow for comparable investigation across countries is crucial. The present study describes economic education in Japan and Germany and explores the specific conditions for access to higher education in each country. On this basis, we examine the level of economic literacy (using TEL-IV) at the beginning of higher education among 232 German and 198 Japanese students of Business & Economics and the impact of personal influencing factors thereon. Overall, comparable entry levels can be observed, whereby each student group shows different response patterns. Predicting economic literacy, primarily gender and interest reach significance. A final outlook regarding the significance of cross-national studies is given, taking limitations and implications of this study into account.

Book Review: Researching second language acquisition in the study abroad learning environment: An introduction for student researchers

Researching Second Language Acquisition in the Study Abroad Learning Environment: An Introduction for Student Researchers (Isabelli-García and Isabelli, 2020) presents an overview of some of the major topics relevant to research on study abroad. This book is intended to be a basic primer for advanced students and beginner professional researchers and serves to provide general orientation on various aspects ranging from language and interactional systems to research gaps in the topic area. The book gives a relatively thorough presentation on some of the scholarly perspectives on study abroad that can be used as a guidebook for anyone who is interested in conducting academic research in the area. While there are some shortcomings, the book does an excellent job of synthesizing some of the major scholarly themes that are relevant to study abroad. Consequently, this is a useful book not only for novel researchers but also for faculty or staff who are interested in organizing university study abroad programs and would like a more thorough background.

To shelter or unshelter? An analysis of international students’ experience in introductory communication courses

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which sheltered versus unsheltered contexts of introductory communication courses impact communication skill development and overall learning outcomes for international students. Specifically, this study examined the following outcome variables: public speaking anxiety, engagement, communication mindset, communication efficacy, and student performance to investigate whether it is beneficial to sheltered international students in introductory courses. Results showed that there was no significant difference between groups for the public speaking anxiety, student engagement, or overall course performance, except for the final group presentation performance. However, there was a significant interaction effect for communication mindset and communication efficacy; students in sheltered sections saw increases in these outcomes over the course of the semester, while unsheltered students experienced the opposite.

Towards understanding of policy transfer and policy learning in adult education in the context of United Kingdom

Over the past decade, adult education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the UK context have been strongly affected by the implications of unstable political, social and economic situations, specifically in relation to social and economic inclusion of vulnerable young adults. This paper argues, that the development of policy transfer and policy learning in adult education has been characterised by its multidimensional nature and has been influenced by the implications of contemporary global challenges, country-specific priorities and the European agenda on inclusion. The notion of policy learning in adult education highlights the complex interdependencies between policies and practices. We will endeavour to consider how the complex interplays between country-specific priorities, global discourses and the European agenda on active citizenship (AC) contribute to national policies and practices for social inclusion of young adults in the UK context. Selected case studies will demonstrate the ways this policy agenda transfers into specific programmes for vulnerable young adults.

Decolonising recognition of prior learning – The drawbacks of policy mimicking

Recognition of prior learning features at the top of the policy agenda in many countries because recognition of prior learning (RPL) has proven effective in some parts of the world; and there is much policy learning taking place. Therefore, many countries want to gain the advantages associated with RPL. It brings benefits to individual end-users and countries as a whole. Whether RPL should be identically implemented everywhere is more questionable. This paper proposes a reflexion based on experience: It looks at what RPL is about, at what it took to implement the validation des acquis de l’expérience (VAE) system in France and its potential transferability. While it is important to learn from one another, transporting a system from one national context to another is unlikely to work because the necessary social and cultural context is never transferred along with the technical apparatus. This is not new, but this paper emphasises the need for appropriate adaption whenever systems are borrowed.

Reconstructing policy transfer in adult and vocational education and training

The article contributes to the understanding of educational policy transfer with a particular focus on VET and labour-market related training. A review of VET policy transfer literature is followed by a description of travelling VET reforms in adult and vocational education and training around the globe. Historical foundations of VET policy transfer are described with an emphasis on lending and borrowing from the global North to the global South. Finally, contemporary forces that influence global policy transfer, derived from personal observation, are described. We aim to contribute to a better understanding of policy cycles by depicting the influence of different dynamics on decision-making for policy transfer in VET. We argue that there can be various reasons to policy transfer, not just attractiveness of a particular educational system or approach, but also global industry demands for workforce development or the influence of big data and social media.