Welfare Reform on the Web (November 2001): Education - Overseas

A DISABLING EDUCATION: THE CASE OF DISABLED LEARNERS IN MALAYSIA

A.H. Adnan and I. A. Hafiz

Disability and Society, Vol. 16, 2001, p. 655-669

Paper discusses ways in which current policies on the education of disabled people in Malaysia do not correspond to their needs and wants. This is due partly to the confusion arising from different definitions of disability adopted by various government agencies, derived from misconceptions about physical and mental impairments. The implications of these misconceptions and conflicting definitions for actual educational provision is examined. It is suggested that the situation could be improved by including the disabled students in mainstream education.

PUBLIC POLICY, COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND THE PATH TO GLOBALIZATION

J. S. Lewis

Higher Education, Vol. 42, 2001, p.237-262

Government policies in Canada and the US during the 1990s directed community colleges toward economic goals, emphasising workforce training and state economic competitiveness as outcomes, compelling college to improve efficiencies, increase productivity, and to become accountable to government and responsive to business and industry. Pressures to orient institutions to the marketplace, evident in the emphasis placed on vocational training, were consistent with the needs of global capital. Institutional responses, evident in behaviours such as marketization and the pursuit of productivity and efficiency, altered community college missions, leading to their pursuit of economic ends.

THE TENSION BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL SUB-STRUCTURES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL REFORM

J. Imants, P. Sleegers and B. Witziers

School Leadership and Management, Vol.21, 2001, p.289-308

Article discuses the relationship between subject departments and units for student guidance in Dutch secondary schools. Argues that tensions and conflicts between these two sub-structures interfere with an integrated approach to school reform aimed at teachers' professional development and improved student learning. Recent results of research on the school as a context for teacher learning, teachers' professional communities and organisational learning are presented. A critical analysis is presented of the manageability of the process of teacher learning in these contexts. The results of this analysis are then used to discuss results of research on autonomous teams in secondary schools.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

J. Xie and G. Wu

International Journal of Training and Development, vol. 5, 2001, p.223-232

Presents on overview of human resource development (HRD) in China, covering the demographic and economic background, HRD policy and strategy, vocational education, corporate policies and strategies, and training for entrepreneurs