COURSE INFORMATON
EDUCATION POLICY: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Course level and nature
PhD (compulsory; fall)
Course lecturer
Dr. GAO Xingyuan (East China Normal University)
Course outline
Educational policy: Issues and Challenges is an introductory course that offers an overview of philosophical debates over policy studies and educational leadership at both international level and national level. Topics include examination of Chinese educational system and law, current political contexts, and social justice for all students, with an emphasis on educational governance structures and equity-related responsibilities. The course will also discuss research methodology and methods that have been applied to expand our understanding of leadership issues and relevant policy context. Students are required to complete a comprehensive case analysis focused on law, policy or inequity issues in education.
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH DESIGN AND ACADEMIC WRITING
Course level and nature
PhD (compulsory; spring)
Course lecturer
Dr. Nicholas Sun-Keung PANG (East China Normal University)
Course outline
This course focuses on different perspectives, models and methodologies for educational research and introduction of the basics of academic writing and publication. First, various research ideologies and perspectives will be examined. Secondly, the principles of using different methodology in various educational research will be explored. Students will be asked to choose and decide a minor area of enquiry for practicing the skills and techniques of designing an instrument for a quantitative study of a research problem and to answer research questions with empirical data. A workshop on the use of SPSS for basic statistical skills and a follow-up tutorial on data entry and analyses will be given to each student for practice. Based on the obtained data and findings, students will be guided on how to draft an academic writing and prepare for an academic publication. The key requirements for international publications will be explored and discussed. Learning activities in this course include, critique on some samples of academic papers, design of a quantitative instrument for a minor research, earning experience to obtain quality data, workshop on the practice of the SPSS package and related statistical analytical techniques, tutorial for data entry and analyses, and preparation for academic publication. Advanced statistics, including linear structural equation modeling (LISREL) and multilevel analysis will also be discussed.
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
PhD (elective; spring)
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.
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.
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Course level and nature
PhD (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
PhD (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
PhD (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.
