The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexities involved in higher education provision and how systems thinking and socio-technical systems (STS) thinking approach can be used to understand the education ecosystem. Systems thinking perspective is provided using two case studies: the development of European Learner Mobility (EuroLM)…

In recent years, a credit recognition system has been developing in Chinese higher education institutions. Much research has been done on this development, but it has been concentrated on system building, barriers/issues and international practices. The relationship between credit recognition system reforms and democratisation of higher education…

Institutional policies and policy systems are vital to the well-being of institutions of higher education. While many institutions dedicate time and resources to the development of key policies, the establishment of a well-designed and well-functioning policy system is often neglected. We refer to the discrepancy between the importance of…

Over the last 4 decades, the school effectiveness and school improvement research bases have gained prominence and recognition on the international stage. In both a theoretical and empirical sense, they have matured through a wide range of well-documented projects, interventions, and innovations across a range of countries, describing how efforts…

Over the last several hundred years, local and national educational systems have evolved from relatively simple systems to incredibly complex, interdependent, policy-laden structures, to which many question their value, effectiveness, and direction they are headed. System Dynamics is a field of analysis used to guide policy and system design in…

The implementation of quality assurance (QA) is one of the most challenging reform areas for Turkey due to the unique organization of its higher education system. This paper explores the development of QA systems in Turkish universities. Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors examine how Turkey accomplishes the goal of implementing…

Rounding the corner on the design of new teacher-evaluation plans, states and districts are beginning to wrestle with the significant technical and logistical hurdles for transforming their blueprints into reality. In the coming months, more states--especially those that won grants through the $4 billion federal Race to the Top initiative--are…

Information technology (IT) is an essential part of modern education. The roles and contributions of technology to education have been thoroughly documented in academic and professional literature. Despite the benefits, the use of educational technology systems (ETS) also creates a significant impact on the environment, primarily due to energy…

The Chinese Government has conducted a series of top-down reforms of teacher education over the past several decades. The reforms have established a relatively stable teacher education system, regulated teacher education programmes and curricula, and provided opportunities for in-service teachers to be trained and to upgrade their educational…

Since the break up of the USSR, its former republics have seen the emergence and rapid expansion of an examinations industry that was, to all intents and purposes, unknown in Soviet times. New national assessment agencies have been established and been charged with, amongst other things, developing high-stakes exams to replace the diverse and…

This study was designed to illuminate the state of education in Taiwan by constructing Educational Indicator Systems. The study, sponsored by the National Science Council between 1998 and 2000, was the first comprehensive indicator project to cover all educational levels in Taiwan. Various research methods were used, including panel discussion,…

The current project brings together academic and governmental specialists from Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam (CLV), in a collaborative study of the prospects for distance education (DE) in those countries. The study's overall objectives are to: (1) survey and take stock of existing educational scenarios and problems in CLV; (2) document the…

Reviews books considered to advance methodological and conceptual issues pertinent to comparative and historical educational research. (Author/DB)

Networked educational management has emerged as an effective, distributed management approach for managing educational technologies and e-learning in educational institutions. This management model has been developed during the writer's doctorate research and implementation of e-learning (also referred to as networked education) at Massey…

It is argued that the basic means-ends analysis of systemic educational policy may be mistaken in the current national context. The author agrees with the basic premises of systemic educational policy but thinks that a mandatory system of strong instructional guidance from the state has basic problems, as discussed. (SLD)