Painful Irony: My Editorial Becomes Element in an Entrance Examination

Posted on May 26, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Oh. I can’t bear it!

Through a very circuitous route, I have learned that a 2010 editorial I wrote for the on-line English edition of the Asahi was used in the English portion of an entrance examination. Wow, is that karmic retribution for the impure thoughts I have been thinking about supplementary education?

In the 2012 entrance examination for Aichi Education (!) University (愛知教育大学), my editorial shows up. It doesn’t have a title, nor an author or attribution listed and I will have to find out why that is, but it then includes the typical exam question strategy of fill-in-the-blank for the appropriate proposition (“Continued opposition […] the existence of the juku system has been one of the few areas of policy where the Japanese Teachers Union (Nikkyoso) finds itself in agreement […] education ministry officials.”)

Some sentences have been selected to be translated by the exam sitters.

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Posted in Distraction, Japan, Julian Dierkes, Media Coverage, Supplementary Education

Shadow Education Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Implications for Policy Makers in Asia

Posted on May 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Mark Bray and Chad Lykins have just published the definitive current statement on supplementary education in Asia, “Shadow Education -Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Implications for Policy Makers in Asia” as a book (PDF, available for free) through the Asian Development Bank.

Here’s a paragraph from their introduction that offers a flavour of the book:

Private supplementary tutoring is widely known as shadow education, since it mimics the mainstream. As the content of mainstream education changes, so does the content of the shadow. And as the mainstream grows, so does the shadow. This study shows that shadow education has a long history in parts of the region, but in recent decades it has greatly expanded. In the Republic of Korea nearly 90% of elementary students receive some sort of shadow education; and in Hong Kong, China, about 85% of senior secondary students do so. Figures are equally striking in less prosperous parts of the region. In West Bengal, India, nearly 60% of primary school students receive private supplementary tutoring; and in Kazakhstan a similar proportion of students do so at the senior secondary level. Proportions are lower in other countries, but throughout the region the shadow is spreading and intensifying. (p. X)

Countries covered in the book include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taipei, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

The report was released just as co-author Mark Bray was awarded was awarded a UNESCO Chair professorship in Comparative Education. Congratulations on the chair and the publication!

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Posted in Academic Literature, Cambodia, Chad Lykins, China, Hong Kong, Juku in Japan, Mark Bray, Mongolia

CIES 2012: Hidden privatization of public education in Cambodia

Posted on April 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Comparative and International Education Society

William Brehm, This Life Cambodia; Iveta Silova, Lehigh University, USA

“Hidden privatization of public education in Cambodia: equity implications of private tutoring”

The 1990s international construction of a new political economic order in Cambodia after two decades of civil unrest has had contradictory effects on education. The rhetoric of democracy thrives alongside corruption and human rights abuses; and the Education for All initiative exists alongside privatization of public education. In this context, private tutoring has emerged as an essential part of the public education system. A mastery of the required curriculum is now possible only through a careful combination of public schooling and private tutoring. Only those who can afford private tutoring thus receive access to the complete national curriculum while those who cannot are stigmatized. This paper draws on an analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, including 28 classroom observations (evenly split between private tutoring and public school classes), 20 focus groups with a total of 100 participants, grade and attendance tracking of 444 9th grade and 200 6th grade students, and informal interviews with 20 participants. The presentation concludes by explaining how a seamless combination of public schooling and private tutoring in terms of curriculum and pedagogy creates a public-private educational arrangement that stratifies Cambodian youth along socioeconomic, interpersonal, and familial lines.

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Posted in Cambodia, CIES 2012, Iveta Silova

CIES 2012 Panel: Comparative Perspectives on Shadow Education

Posted on April 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

This panel will focus on the phenomenon of private supplementary tutoring, which is widely called shadow education. Research on this topic has expanded in the last decade, but much more work is needed. As in other topics, a great deal can be learned from comparative analysis. The panel will analyze patterns in different parts of the world, with particular focus Asia and the Arab States. It will also address methodological issues.
Papers:
1.  Patterns of shadow education in the Asian region: learning from diversity and commonality
Mark Bray mbray@hku.hk, Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong
2. Methodology in research about shadow education
Chad Lykins lykins@hku.hk, Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Konk
3. Payoffs to private tutoring in the United Arab Emirates: a gendered affair
Samar Farah samar@alqasimifoundation.ae and Natasha Ridge  natasha@alqasimifoundation.ae, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
4. Drivers of shadow education in The Gambia: Addressing private provision of the public demand for quality education
Colleen King, Center for International Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
5. Hidden privatization of public education in Cambodia: equity implications of private tutoring
William Brehm will.brehm@gmail.com , This Life Cambodia; Iveta Silova isilova@gmail.com, Lehigh University, USA

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Posted in CIES 2012, Mark Bray

CIES 2012: Patterns of shadow education in the Asian region: learning from diversity and commonality

Posted on April 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Comparative and International Education Society

Mark Bray, Comparative Education Research Centre, Univ of Hong Kong

“Patterns of shadow education in the Asian region: learning from diversity and commonality”

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has commissioned a study of shadow education (private supplementary tutoring) in its regional member countries. The ADB region is wide and diverse. It includes prosperous countries in East Asia such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, and poor countries in South Asia such as Bangladesh and Nepal. Equally it includes countries shaped by a Soviet heritage and as well countries shaped by European colonial heritages. From a comparative perspective, the benefit of this diversity is that it brings a range of models and variables for analysis. This paper examines patterns in the scale and content of shadow education, noting changes over recent decades and likely future trends. It is mainly based on existing studies, and as such notes gaps as well as strengths in the literature. Finally, the paper remarks on the implications for the work of ADB, which is dedicated to reduction of poverty and which is concerned about social disparities while pursuing economic growth in the region.

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Posted in CIES 2012, Mark Bray

Standardized Testing and Its Uses by Policy-Makers

Posted on April 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Keita Takayma has written a very nice Asia Pacific Memo (English/Japanese) that compares the national testing regime in Australia (NAPLAN) and in Japan (全国学力・学習状況調査). While both are standardized tests, they crucially differ in that the NAPLAN results are intended to be released to the public to create competition for positions on school league tables. This quasi-market is then meant to create pressure on schools to pursue changes and improvements as in the theoretical versions of arguments for charter schools in the U.S. that are also meant to spur on competition.

In Japan, by contrast, full data and analysis of the national test is only available to policy-makers. These analyses are then intended to spur policy-makers to improve results through a policy-making process, rather than relying on market mechanisms.

As a side note, I noticed in the school calendar for my oldest child that PISA testing is being conducted in his school this week. Yes, it is 2012, so PISA testing is going on.

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Posted in Australia, Education Policy, Japan

Juku Flyer Vancouver V

Posted on April 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Here’s another flyer. I picked this one up in Kerrisdale.

Juku Flyer Vancouver V

Note that the time table shows some emphasis on (provincial) exam preparation, but also some emphasis on English. In that context, it seems surprising that some of the English text is a bit awkward suggesting a non-native writer (i.e. someone like me).

Juku Vancouver V Timetable

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Posted in Advertising, Vancouver

AERA 2012: Impacts of Supplemental Tutoring Configurations for Preschoolers at Risk for Reading Difficulties

Posted on April 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

American Educational Research Association

Apr 17, 12:25-13:55h

Carol Vukelich, Myae Han, Matha Buell (all Univ of Delaware), and Laura Justice (Ohio State Univ)

“Impacts of Supplemental Tutoring Configurations for Preschoolers at Risk for Reading Difficulties”

Background: Providing preschoolers at-risk for reading difficulties with additional support is of increasing interest in early childhood education.  However, the research on programming in preschool for this additional support is limited and yields inconclusive findings.   Objective. The current studies explore different grouping configurations in a supplemental tutoring program for at-risk preschoolers in order to provide early childhood educators with guidance on grouping strategies for use in their supplemental instruction.

Methods. Two grouping configurations are examined via two studies. In Study 1, forty-five at-risk preschoolers (18 boys, 27 girls) were selected and randomly assigned to a one-on-one tutoring or paired tutoring condition.  In Study 2, fifty-four at-risk children (31 boys, 23 girls) were selected and randomly assigned to one of two pairing conditions: with a highly-skilled peer or with a similarly low-skilled peer.  In each study, children received tutoring that supplemented the classroom instruction twice a week over the academic year.

Results: In Study 1, children in both conditions made similar gains on the alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness measures and the one-on-one group outperformed the paired group on receptive vocabulary but the effect size was small. In Study 2, the children in the matched-pairing condition evidenced a trend toward greater gains than those paired with high-skilled peer on the phonological awareness measure but not on alphabet knowledge and receptive vocabulary measures.  Conclusion. The results of studies hold promise for achieving optimal outcomes by providing supplemental instruction to the maximum number of preschoolers using a dyad model instead of the typical one-on-one model.

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Posted in AERA 2012, Preschool, United States

AERA 2012: Private Supplementary Tutoring for Secondary School Students in Hong Kong

Posted on April 12, 2012 by | Leave a comment

American Educational Research Association

Apr 15, 10:35-12:05h

Chad Lykins and Mark Bray, Comparative Education Research Centre, Univ of Hong Kong

“Private Supplementary Tutoring for Secondary School Students in Hong Kong: Scale, Nature and Implications”

Studies suggest that private supplementary tutoring is intensifying in scale, intensity, and importance, with many students regarding it as essential to satisfactory academic results. However, there is a lack of evidence about the nature of this tutoring, including the subjects studied, modes of delivery, and costs. This paper presents evidence on private supplementary tutoring from a mixed-method study involving a survey and group interviews with secondary school students in Hong Kong. It then analyzes this evidence in the light of research on the rapid growth and evolving nature of private tutoring in Hong Kong and throughout the world.

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Posted in AERA 2012, Chad Lykins, Hong Kong, Mark Bray

AERA 2012: Supplementary Schools Making a Difference to the Attainment of Black Children

Posted on April 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

American Educational Research Association

April 15m 8:15-9:45

Uvanney Maylor

University of Bedfordshire

“Supplementary Schools Making a Difference to the Attainment of Black Children”

This paper reports on an English government commissioned study in 2009-10 which sought to understand the reach/provision of supplementary schools, and identify the unique contributions that they make to the mainstream school learning/attainment of nationally low attaining African-Caribbean, Somali, Turkish and Parkistani heritage children aged 5-18 (DfE 11). The study was intended to build on government perceptions that:

supplementary schools can help to access and unlock the hidden potential of students whose individual intellectual potential has been reduced by a culturally uniform approach to learning? Supplementary schools can engage pupils effectively and help to translate elements of the mainstream curriculum into a culturally embedded context. (Ryan, MP 2008: Hansard columns 1066-7)

Running through this study was also a government/educational policy maker desire to understand the active involvement of minority ethnic parents in supporting their children?s education. In furthering such understanding, this paper is specifically concerned with the experiences of Black (African and Caribbean) children, and examines the difference Black supplementary schools make to Black children?s learning and educational outcomes.

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Posted in AERA 2012, United Kingdom