COURSE INFORMATON
POLICY STUDIES IN EDUCATION
Course level and nature
MA (compulsory; fall)
Course lecturers
Core lecturer: Dr. YOU Yun (East China Normal University)
Guest lecturers:
Dr. JIN Jin (East China Normal University)
Dr. Charlotte NUSSEY (Institute of Education, University College London)
Dr. LIU Chang (Arizona State University)
Course outline
This course aims to help students develop a basic scholarly foundation for policy studies, specifically in the educational field. It introduces them to vital concepts, various theoretical perspectives, and critical and reflective ways of analysing and understanding educational policy making and implementation within a broad historical, social, cultural, economic and political contexts, as well as at institutional, local, national and global levels. Meanwhile, it draws attention to cross-national policy transfer and the internationalisation of policy, particularly, the networking of various policy actors in producing and disseminating educational knowledge that justify policy. Moreover, education policy is elaborated in the disciplinary visions of economics, sociology, ethnography and philosophy. On the basis of the general knowledge about education policy, case studies regarding gender, language and country are conducted.
INDEPENDENT STUDIES AND DISSERTATION WRITING
Course level and nature
MA (compulsory; fall)
Course lecturers
Core lecturer: Dr. YOU Yun (East China Normal University)
Joint lecturers: Students’ supervisors
Course outline
This course aims to help students learn designing and conducting independent studies in education and the basics of writing in English for academic purposes, especially, in preparation for dissertation. The whole course will be organized in a “project” style and divided into three parts. Firstly, students will be asked to identify a specific topic at the beginning. While being introduced to classic and emerging research methodologies, they will be encouraged to use what they have learned in their own research projects. Meanwhile, particular attention will be paid to necessary ethical discussions in education. Secondly, some excellent educational researches will be demonstrated and elaborated as illustrative examples. The last part focuses on grammar terminology; effective sentences and paragraphs writing; introductions and conclusions; and thesis statements.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT: A GLOBALIZED AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Course level and nature
MA (compulsory; spring)
Course lecturer
Dr. Nicholas Sun-Keung PANG (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This course is designed to familiarize students with theoretical and practical concepts of educational reform and school improvement, from a globalized and comparative perspective. The world today is becoming more globalized and the boundaries among countries have become blurred. Globalization has created impacts on educational systems with a change in educational governance in both basic and higher education. The globalized education systems have become more marketized and decentralized, highly competitive and called for high accountability. This course aims to introduce students about the various educational reform emerged in different countries and educational policies on school improvement since the 1980s of the last century and to examine the challenges and opportunities in these reforms and policy change. In the meantime, while students have earned the knowledge base of education reforms and school improvement in the Western countries, students are asked to reflected on the recent education reform and policy change in Shanghai and mainland China since the 1980s or earlier. A comparative and critical approach will be adopted in understanding the rationales, challenges, difficulties, and opportunities in these education reforms and policies on school improvement. Learning activities employed include reading academic papers, case studies, solving problems, scenario writing and experience sharing. Through these activities students will develop conceptual knowledge and analytical skills in the examining the recent moves in global educational reform and policy change in school improvement.
SCHOOL REFORM AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA
Course level and nature
MA (compulsory; spring)
Course lecturer
Dr. WANG Lijia (East China Normal University)
Dr. WANG Feiye (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This course places current and emerging issues of Chinese school reform and teacher development in global context. It offers students different conceptual bases to analyze relevant phenomena in the field. It uncovers impacts of reform strategies/policies on teachers’ development and examines teachers' agency exhibits in different contexts. Different views of seeing school within reform agendas are examined through the vision of sociology, management and policy study. Based on the general understanding of reform agenda, the course will employ different academic framework to reflect on Chinese teachers comparing with their counterparts in Western countries, their exhibition of accountability, leadership as well as their learning in community.
EDUCATIONAL INTERNSHIP
Course level and nature
Course lecturer
Supervisor team (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to observe school management and pedagogical practices on site and discuss relevant topics with school leaders and teachers, in particular for foreign students who are interested in learning about Chinese education. They will be encouraged to link the data collected from the front-line back to the theories, ideas and concepts obtained from other courses. This will also construct an empirical basis for their dissertation.
EDUCATION IN CHINA: TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION
Course level and nature
MA (elective; spring)
Course lecturer
Dr. LI Lin (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This course aims at facilitating the students in grasping the fundamental characteristics of Chinese traditional education, the experiences of educational modernization, as well as key issues of educational reforms in contemporary China. Apart from knowledge-oriented inquiry, this course reserves particular emphasis on nurturing the students with a personality of perseverance, benevolence and compassion, which can all contribute to set a favorable foundation for their personal and professional development. The students, having been familiar with the core features of their traditional education, culture and its role in the evolution of human civilization, are also expected to generate a considerate and open attitude towards others and the alien cultures and thus treat them with an equal manner. In doing so, the students will be able to effectively participate in international interactions, to appropriately disseminate Chinese culture, and to better live in and contribute to this era of globalization.
ANTHROPOLOGY OF EDUCATION
Course level and nature
MA (elective; spring)
Course lecturer
Dr. DONG Xuan (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This course uses the anthropological approach to study schools and to understand the relationship between learning, teaching, societies and culture. It offers a holistic view of educational processes by exploring cultural aspects of the acquisition, transmission and production of knowledge. It uses a comparative framework to analyze the connection between educational systems and socio-cultural contexts, and to explore the roles schools play as agents of continuity, conflict and change in situations of cultural contact and in the new global order.
INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Course level and nature
MA (elective; fall)
Course lecturer
Dr. GU Xiaoqing (East China Normal University)
Course outline
The objective of this course is to help the students who have just entered the graduate stage of educational technology major to understand the main fields of educational technology/educational informatization research, the research methods used, the main research findings; Through the research practice in the field of educational informationization, the author has a preliminary grasp of the common research methods in the field of educational technology. Furthermore, it can explore the informationized teaching mode, have a deeper understanding of the key points of informationized learning environment design, and understand the change of teachers' role in informationized teaching.
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Course level and nature
MA (elective; fall)
Course lecturer
Dr. ZHANG Junhua (East China Normal University)
Course outline
Over the last couple of decades, the significance of leadership in determining the nature and quality in all kinds of educational contexts has attracted increasing attention in many parts of the world. This has been especially so of the principal ,hence the value of educational leadership. Leadership is the process of enlisting and guiding the talents and energies of aspiring leaders, principals, teachers, and students toward achieving common educational aims. This course will be delivered based on the theory and practice, policy and implication, research methods and application in the filed of educational leadership. The following contents will be addressed.
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION STUDIES
Course level and nature
MA (elective; fall)
Course lecturer
Dr. CHEN Hongyan (East China Normal University)
Course outline
Globalization has long been recognized as one of the crucial factors shaping the modern education. However, it is still not clear how to understand and conceptualize the huge shifts that taking place. Intercultural Education Studies (IES) is one of the most comprehensive and contemporary programs that focuses on globalization, culture and intercultural issues. It is a way to broad students’ global perspective and builds intercultural skills at home or abroad. The IES involves discovering how cultural identities shape the way people understand and operate in the world and recognizing culture at work in everyday experiences. Simply immersing oneself in a different culture does not automatically lead to deeper intercultural awareness. Growing student’s intercultural understanding depends on a blend of personal motivation and guided learning.
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ON TEACHER EDUCATION
Course level and nature
MA (elective; fall)
Course lecturer
Dr. ZHU Gang (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This graduate-level course will cover mainstream teacher education research paradigms, practices, and policies in a broad array of countries against different socio-cultural backgrounds. From the perspective of international comparative analysis, this course centers on the key components involving teacher education theory, practice, and reform: 1) Teaching and teacher education standards, 2) Different modes of teacher education program, 3) Pre-service and in-service teacher professional development, 4) Equity, diversity, and multiculturalism in teacher education. This course will review some landmark research articles, research reports, and government archives that shape the featured landscape of current teacher education globally.