The article integrates the seven papers of the two special issues with a special focus on discussing the differences in people's beliefs about creativity between the Chinese and American cultures: How it is conceived, evaluated, and nurtured. It uses three metaphors to capture major differences in these aspects, and highlights areas with profound…

This review of the literature explores how Americans and Chinese view creativity and what they expect from creative products. American and Chinese explicit beliefs about creativity (i.e., expert opinions) share many similarities. Implicit beliefs, however, show more divergence: Americans tend to value novelty and more "groundbreaking"…

People are living longer so expectations of grandparents should be redefined. Learning for them should focus on fulfilling family and community roles to retain a sense of purpose. Grandparent education requires a willingness to learn from the observations of younger family members. The intergenerational perceptions of American grandparents were…

This article examines how four urban elementary teachers designed their literacy instruction in ways that sought to sustain students' cultural competence--maintaining their language and cultural practices while also gaining access to more dominant ones--amid expectations to prepare students for high-stakes testing. A large part of their teaching…

Internationalising higher education (HE) shows tensions between recruiting international students as a means of securing income and meeting their particular educational needs towards practices of caring for their social, psychological, intercultural and educational well-being. This paper briefly outlines the extent of current HE…

The purpose of the research was to increase understanding of the experiences in the lives of upper elementary-aged students that foster an intrinsic motivation to seek information, as well as to compare and contrast the experiences of intrinsically motivated students from an individualist culture (Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.), a collectivist…

Beginning as early as preschool, race and gender are intertwined with the way US schools mete out discipline. In particular, black students and male students are much more likely than others to be suspended or expelled--punishments that we know can hold them back academically. These disparities, and the damage they can cause, have driven recent…

Teachers are important social agents who affect students' cognitive and social behaviors, including students' self-directed use of technology for language learning outside the classroom. However, how teachers influence student behaviors may vary across cultures, and understanding how teacher influences vary across different cultures is critical to…

Purpose: This paper aims to theorize observations as an American professor that schools are a morally formative culture for all students, but international students especially. Formative because schools mold students' right or wrong behaviors as dictated by the culture. The purpose of the authors' examination into international students'…

In order to reflect international reform movements in a system- and culture-comparative perspective, the following article investigates the early childhood education systems in Germany and in Hong Kong, with reference to the respective social and educational roots, pedagogical development lines, and basic educational approaches. In addition,…

Children's social competence and behavioral adjustment are key issues for child development, education, and clinical research. Cross-cultural analyses are necessary to provide relevant methods of assessing them for cross-cultural research. The aim of the current study was to contribute to this important line of research by validating the 3-factor…

Madrasa is the living form of an educational system which thrived in the past. It remained unaware of the swiftness of progress and development which came about in other walks of life and the education that was being imparted through it was also kept away from any change and innovation. As a result, the "madrasa," to some extent, fell…

The purpose of this study is to examine the role mentors play in the development of attitudes and perspectives of novice teachers. Specifically, this study explored how mentors assist new teachers in re-framing their thinking about their students and their teaching practice. This study's central research questions are: How do full-release mentors…

The purpose of this case study is to explore the impact that Third Culture Kids have on one international school community. Third Culture Kids or TCKs are children who live in a culture that is not the culture of their parents (Pollock & Van Reken, 1999). Not to be confused with immigrants, these children move from country to country and do…

The number of international students who pursue higher education in Western countries, such as the US, increases yearly. Asian international students are a significant proportion of international students from different countries. Numerous researchers have identified various challenges encountered by this group of international students, including…