Search

This paper draws attention to the current and possible effects of COVID-19 on the mobility trajectories of mainland Chinese students studying in Asia. By drawing on 35 biographical interviews, this paper focuses on their decision to study in Asian countries and regions. Particularly, it calls for more attention to Asia in global student mobilities and discusses whether COVID-19 has changed the position of Asia in the global landscape of student mobility. Results show that even if COVID-19 provides an opportunity for Asian universities to embrace more international students, Asia still lacks the capability to attract great numbers of them. Finally, the study argues that college students' choice of mobility destinations is shaped by their perception of the central-periphery structure of higher education, which is hard to be shaken by the pandemic.

By reviewing regulative documents and extant literature, this paper explores the realities and trends of international students in East and Southeast Asia (ESA). It also shows motivation and strategies of four new players in the international higher education sector in East and Southeast Asia i.e., China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. Apart from showing that intraregional students have not predominated the overall international student population in the region anymore, the paper highlights that ESA region has become an established hub of international students rather than a new emerging destination as it was in previous years. The overall net flow of international students in this region was still deficit prior to 2010s, but the deficit in 2017 is still less than that of 2010?s. This is probably the first study of its kind to examine the trends of international students as well as of higher education policies of countries in the ESA region. The findings of this study shall provide an insight into international higher education trends among the ESA countries for stakeholders, including policymakers, university managers, faculty, students, and parents.

This paper discusses the emergence of the new global educational governance characterized by 1) global educational reform movement, 2) the active participation of the international organizations in global educational policy making, and 3) the emerging performative culture. Against this background, this article contextualizes the East Asian Educational Model (Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong) and its operation mechanism by appropriating the Confucian habitus and educational harmonization. Then this study compares the EAEM, the high performing educational system, and the representative global fourth-way countries by interrogating the underling binary--new orientalism vs. reciprocal learning. Finally, this paper draws some implications by learning from these different educational systems.

Recently there has been an increase in the number of students learning Mandarin Chinese (in mainland China and internationally). This increase has led to speculation that Mandarin Chinese is becoming a mainstream global language to the point of becoming a "lingua franca." This paper utilizes research findings from different regions and focal points and argues that Mandarin Chinese could be accepted as a "lingua franca" within some contexts, but is unlikely to do so in others. It argues that Mandarin Chinese is generally accepted as the "lingua franca" of China and a possible "lingua franca" within the East Asian region, while unlikely to become a "lingua franca" globally. The paper compares a number of different reasons for studying Mandarin Chinese by different stakeholders (i.e. governments, school boards, individual students) as well as comparative numbers of language learners. This paper also examines if Mandarin is the dominant and undisputed form of global Chinese. It concludes by demonstrating that there is a greater need for further research into Mandarin Chinese as a "lingua franca."

Web-based technology has proven itself indispensable in education, especially in distance education and in developing countries. Technological advances and the COVID-19 pandemic have forced higher education institutions to be innovative in delivering education in their countries. This article seeks to demonstrate the role and value of e-portfolios as an alternative teaching and learning tool in distance education and the online environment, especially in developing countries. A systematic review of peer-reviewed academic studies of e-portfolios between 2010 and 2020 was conducted. A total of 18 papers were selected according to the inclusion criteria. The review shows that the use of e-portfolios is still a relatively new trend in developing countries. The study also revealed that e-portfolios can infuse important skills such as self-directed learning, critical thinking, and lifelong learning. These results have the potential to help institutions to creatively design appropriate support tools and strategies alongside the implementation of e-portfolios in their contexts.

Due to global attention on student employability, employers are expected to be involved in institutional governance in higher education and quality assurance (QA). Due to the difficulties in recruiting motivated employers to participate in external QA governance and process, this has become a challenging issue in many Asian nations. The paper aims to explore employer legitimacy in Asian national higher education regulations and EQA system according to a four-dimensional diagram of institutional governance model. There are two major findings. First, Asian governments developed QA policies with a focus on employer engagement but the emerging practice is still ineffective. Second, approaches of employer engagement in QA governance vary context to context, such as HK and Malaysia in the excellence mode; Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand belong to advanced type; and China, Thailand, and Vietnam fall in the intermediate category.

Student learning outcomes assessment examines whether programs cover the material stated in their learning goals, whether students are learning the material, and the impact on student retention, graduation, post-graduation outcomes, and institutional accreditation, with the aim of providing faculty with data that can be used to help programs evolve or improve. While there is a plethora of research regarding effective methods of assessment used in the United States, little has been written regarding cross-national comparisons of assessment methodologies. This paper examines the current state of assessment in several nations and regions, and draws parallels in practices across countries. A literature search using the term "outcomes assessment" yielded 228 articles, of which, only 35 described practices outside the United States. Generally, searches on the terms "outcomes assessment" and "global" tend to return studies of outcomes assessment of teaching about global issues as it is practiced in the United States, rather than results about outcomes assessment practices used in other countries.

This paper re-reads a selection of critical interdisciplinary theories in an attempt to open a space in higher education for cross-cultural dialogue during the rise of Asia. Theories of globalization, deterritorialization, power/knowledge and postcolonialism indicate that students and academics have the ability to re-imagine and influence globalization processes in higher education. The current power effects of global discourses restrict the imaginaries and territories of globalization--leading to specific enactments in ways that prioritize western understandings of higher education. The paper argues for the need to explore hegemonic discursive formations of globalization to uncover processes of "othering" and the subjugation of knowledges. In this regard, a postcolonial perspective can help by opening up scenarios for the future of higher education in the Asian Century.

Like all organisations, good governance is a fundamental requirement for the responsible and accountable management of universities in general and open universities in particular. This is to ensure that these (open) universities remain relevant to their mission of facilitating unfettered access to higher education for citizens and at the same time continue being reliable contributors to personal and institutional developments, the vital ingredients to maintaining sustained national development. While several studies have, in the past, been conducted on governance of universities, almost all of them have centred around conventional, face-to-face institutions. Not much published literature is in evidence on the governance of Open Universities. This paper, drawing from a study on the governance of a few open universities in Asia, tries to discuss the nature of their challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from their practices and experience. The study focused on aspects relating to institutional autonomies such as curriculum, budgeting and financial management, admission standards, conferment of qualifications, academic staff appointments, development and promotions and research policies. Our findings indicate that, similar to conventional systems, the state plays a crucial role in many aspects of governance both in publicly funded and privately supported institutions. Recent attempts at governance transformation towards greater institutional autonomies is beginning to show limited changes in some but not all jurisdictions studied.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how principals' leadership approaches to teacher professional development arise from school banding and may impact upon teacher professional capital and student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The case study is situated within the context of school-based management, comprising reflective accounts of nine school principals selected by stratified sampling from a sample of 56 Hong Kong schools to represent Bands One, Two, and Three schools. The reflective accounts were triangulated with observations of teachers and analysis of school websites. Findings: First, under school-based management, principals remain obliged to recognize the power of state-defined examinations in determining the schools' future priorities. Second, the exercise of school autonomy in response to this obligation varies, depending upon the competitive advantage schools have in the school banding system. Ideally, effective school-based management is dependent upon the principal's capacity to facilitate good instructional practices. However, principals need to adjust their leadership practices to school contextual demands. Third, adaptations to contexts result in the varied developments of teacher capacities in schools, corresponding with the types of principal leadership adopted. Originality/value: While statistical studies have identified attributes of exemplary principal leadership, few studies have examined the qualitative reasons for the exemplification of these attributes, and the influence of the school context in shaping these attributes. Departing from assumptions that leadership attributes are intrinsic to individuals, this paper considers how principals contextualize leadership in teacher professional development to the schools' student academic achievement.

How much is hegemony and how much is self-determination in the higher education systems in Southeast Asia? This paper argues that while the question of centre and periphery is still relevant to the analysis of international university systems, the analytical frameworks from which it has arisen may lose viability in the long term. Southeast Asian states are making use of higher education to act in ways that will contribute to the altering of their peripheral position in the global economic and political system. While changes in Southeast Asian higher education are closely tied to global markets and follow what sometimes appears to be a dependent pattern of adaptations driven by Western developed economies, the paper argues that there is also a significant amount of resistance. As Southeast Asian countries adapt in ways that help embed economic globalisation within their national landscape, the manner in which the adaptation occurs is more selective, open, and democratic than before. Moreover, while global communication with core (centre) university systems has been more open and transparent, the system is closed to direct intervention from the outside, making hegemony a less plausible explanation for the manner in which the system is reacting within the new global environment of financial interdependency.

Several education hubs have emerged in the last decade in Asia and the Middle East. These ambitious policy initiatives share a common interest in cross-border higher education even though diverse rationales underpin their development. While some claim to be an international education hub, others claim to be a regional education hub or simultaneously international and regional. Considerable rhetoric and assumptions of uniformity exist in the discourse of education hub development. This paper clarifies the regional dimension of education hubs in terms of concepts, rationales, and strategies of regional engagement. Policymakers pursue different definitions of region as they leverage higher education to gain geopolitical influence in targeted spheres. Furthermore, the distinction between the role of a regional leader and regional broker presents different opportunities for an education hub. The paper compares the development of three key education hubs in Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the holistic picture of sustainability curricula in Asian higher education. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis was conducted based on Asian management education for sustainability in higher education. Online courses arrangement, teaching methods, instructors' educational background and cross-referencing data between triple bottom line and sustainability courses have been investigated. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights about the current state of sustainability education in Asia. The results show that there is an opportunity for interdisciplinary integration, as there are imbalanced sustainability courses offered by business, science and engineering schools. It also suggests that Asian universities should add an international connection and active promotion of sustainability education on their Web sites. Research limitations/implications: Findings are based on web-based sustainability-related courses. Future research could apply method of case study to do a deeper study. Practical implications: The paper provides an overview of Asian management education for sustainability and curricula analysis through our research, and that this will further assist in the development of interdisciplinary integration in Asian management education for sustainability. Originality/value: This paper is the first attempt to gain better understanding of sustainability-related courses offered in leading business/management colleges in Asia.

This paper argues that it is timely for educational researchers in Asia, and Singapore in particular, to generate cultural- and empirical-knowledge bases in school leadership that will speak to the specific interests of Asian students, educators and practitioners. As economic and social development across Asia gathers momentum, the more advanced Asian systems of education, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, will increasingly have the resources and expertise to launch significant research programmes in school leadership and organisational change, thereby challenging the persistent and present dominance of Anglo-American perspectives. The paper reports a planned large scale research programme for school leadership and organisational change in Singapore. Support for such a programme from all three major stakeholders--the Ministry of Education (MOE), the National Institute of Education (NIE) and school leaders and teachers--is conditional on the research programme leading to school improvement and better student outcomes. The paper sketches the politico-cultural-economic conditions of Singapore in which such an agenda has been formed; describes the main features of the research programme; and then relates its features to a possible broader Asian and international research agenda in school leadership. The planned Singapore programme has congruence with a future international research agenda advocated by scholars for the field of educational leadership. (Contains 2 figures.)

Purpose: This paper aims to review and analyze the functions, strategies and related issues of developing a regional education hub in the trends of education development in China as well as the Asian Pacific region. Design/methodology/approach: Taking Hong Kong as an emerging case, it examines through literature and international comparison the relationship between education hub development and higher education development as well as the strategic functions of an education hub to the future development of Hong Kong. Findings: The development of an education hub was found closely linked to the demand for higher education in the Asian Pacific region as well as the internal dynamic of higher education and society in Hong Kong. The mode of education hub development in Hong Kong should be driven by soft-power building instead of industrialization. The requirements for successful implementation include the huge demands for higher education in the region, the strengths of the higher education sector, the supporting policies and measures for international students and education service providers, and the leadership and support of central agencies. Originality/value: This paper provides a new typology of higher education developments and a new mode of education hub development to analyze the strategic functions and requirements of developing education hub in the context of Asia-Pacific Region. The discussion and analysis in this paper will contribute to the related literature, policy development and initiative implementation in the areas of education hub and higher education not only in Hong Kong but also other parts of the world. (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory survey as part of a presentation for the Bridging Worlds 2008 conference. It seeks to understand how library institutions in the South East Asia (SEA) region have implemented Web 2.0 technologies--blogs, RSS feeds, wikis, or the use of services like Flickr, YouTube, de.lici.ous. Design/methodology/approach: Libraries surveyed were in: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, People's Republic of China, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. The survey relied on references in published papers, internet searches and personal contacts. Findings: The survey found that more academic libraries than public libraries were using Web 2.0. technologies. Blogs and RSS feeds were the most common. Blogs were used mainly as web publishing tools rather than as a means to engage library users. Research limitations/implications: The survey is not comprehensive. The search relied mainly on English publications and keywords, while the native language of most countries surveyed was non-English. Future research could comprehensively cover each country, by the type of library or language. Practical implications: The paper contends that Web 2.0 does not rely on technology, but more on practice and participation. The emphasis should be on relationships rather than transactions. Suggestions are offered on how libraries can adopt a Library 2.0 mindset without focusing on technology. A call is made to establish an East Asian Librarians 2.0 directory. Originality/value: The paper offers a non-technological perspective to institutions and practising professionals who are reviewing their Web 2.0 implementation.

Background: Media education is the study of the media with the aim of cultivating people's media literacy. In the past four decades, media education has rapidly developed in school systems and communities all over the world. Each country has its own developmental trajectory. With the rise of the interactive new media, media education is going to have a paradigm shift, bringing media education study into a new era. Goals: This paper discusses the rationales, definitions and approaches of media education. It also provides an overview about the global development of media literacy training. Results: Although different countries define media education in different ways, they share the common goal of training media literate people to deal with the media in an intelligent and responsible way. Media education has been well developed in the West but in recent years Asia regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China and Japan are gaining their momentum. With the emergence of various new media devices, media education is regarded as playing a more important role in cultivating wise prosumers in the 21st century.

This paper explores the concept of miniature students to interrogate the ways in which early childhood care and education systems in East Asian countries are being constructed. Experiences drawn from working in the Hong Kong education system and observations of teaching and researching in Hong Kong have enabled an analysis about the ways in which young children are conceptualized, normalized, and governed from the beginning of preschool. The purpose of the analysis presented is not to create an alternative grand narrative of childhood or studenthood, but rather to explicate the ways in which young children are being shaped into miniature students from the beginning of their (in)formal educational experiences. A post-structuralist lens is used to explore the ways in which this concept has become manifested within the context of a privatized system, regulated by government and supported by new forms of funding to increase participation. Going beyond the geopolitical space of Asia, the making of miniature students can also be observed in many other countries in which governments focus on "rigorous" assessment schemes or systems that are considered to result in improved high stakes test scores. The making of miniature students is perpetuated by a drive by governments toward narrow education outcomes.

This paper reports findings of a qualitative study that explored international students' identity negotiation during their cross-border studies against the backdrop of the internationalisation of higher education in Asia. Through a comparative narrative-based case study of two Burmese international students' experiences during their studies in a Hong Kong university, the paper reveals both similarities and differences in their negotiation of (i) identities as 'non-local'/'international' students in the university context and (ii) national identities in relation to the local community and the imagined global/international community. In particular, the findings illustrate the divergent ways in which the two international students negotiate the meanings they attach to the 'non-local' student label, respond to local students' (mis)recognition of their national identities, and perceive the (in)compatibility between their national and global identities. Overall, the findings point to the diversity and heterogeneity in international students' experiences which appear to be variably shaped by differential dispositions and capacities in exercising strategic agency for identity (re)construction. The case study also calls for the need to problematise the reification and over-simplification of the so-called 'international student experience' and argues for the importance of paying attention to the complexity of international students' identity negotiation in the context of international education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education reform is increasingly based on emulating the features of "world-class" systems that top international attainment surveys and, in England specifically, East Asia is referenced as the "inspiration" for their education reforms. However, the extent to which the features identified by the UK Government accord with the situation within East Asia is problematic. This paper examines the relationship between the English representation and the "reality" of East Asian education systems, using school autonomy as an illustrative example. We focus on Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are cited extensively to legitimate policies providing greater autonomy for schools in England. We argue firstly that the English representation has been largely discursive and inaccurate; has failed to recognise the variations across the region; and has been selected to endorse the Government's ideological preferences. Secondly, the scope, form and nature of school autonomy vary markedly, and are operationalised in each society in ways reflecting the prevailing sociopolitical priorities.

Several education hubs have emerged in Asia and the Middle East in recent years with a specific focus on cross-border higher education. Through considerable efforts in policy planning and generous funding, these hubs aim to transform a country or city into an eminent destination for education, research, and training. The inherent design of these hubs raises many questions about higher education's contribution to international relations as large numbers of local and foreign actors congregate. Specifically, some education hubs are leveraging cultural heritage and colonial legacy as an instrument of soft power by emphasising shared cultural identities and values. By engaging in cultural diplomacy, education hubs seek to exert influence on the international stage. However, assumptions about shared identities and values as well as the prevailing political climate of the local society present serious challenges for policy implementation. Alternatively, an education hub can also engage with international actors based on an enduring faith in the venture of science to propel the knowledge economy--another kind of norm that underpins soft power. This paper compares Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong as education hubs that engage in soft power and cultural diplomacy.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study are two highly respected studies of school pupils' academic achievement. English policy-makers have been disappointed with school children's performance on these tests, particularly in comparison to the strong results of young people from East Asia. In this paper, we provide new insight into the England--East Asia gap in school children's mathematics skills. We do so by considering how cross-national differences in math test scores change between ages 10 and 16. Our results suggest that, although average math test scores are higher in East Asian countries, this achievement gap does not increase between ages 10 and 16. We thus conclude that reforming the secondary school system may not be the most effective way for England to "catch up" with the East Asian nations in the PISA math rankings. Rather, earlier intervention, during pre-school and primary school, may be needed instead.

This paper demonstrates how the research-practice nexus may be strengthened in higher education by harnessing the conceptual ideas and key findings of a special issue to engage private and public organisations as partners to organise a regional workshop that is followed up by a suite of activities for teacher education institutions and their leaders to develop pre-service teachers' ICT in education competencies. The three day education deans workshop in June 2011 was organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Education together with UNESCO, Microsoft and SEAMEO. By bringing together these organisations and the regional education and ICT experts, the Asia-Pacific Education Deans Workshop provided a unique regional platform to discuss and share promising practices and lessons learnt, co-create a vision of technologies in teacher education within a community of practice, and co-construct a strategic plan to achieve that vision. (Contains 1 figure.)

Empirical evidence of Asian students' traditional citizenship values was provided in the Asian Regional Module (ARM) of the International Civic and Citizenship Study. This paper is based on a secondary analysis of the ARM data. Three issues are addressed. First, a theoretical analysis of the ARM constructs contributes to their construct validity. Second, the endorsement of these constructs by students from five Asian societies is compared indicating that some of the differences between societies were statistically significant, although effect sizes were generally weak or moderate. Third, the predictive validity of the constructs was examined. They had a small but differential effect on students' civic knowledge and a generally negligible effect on school participation. Variance at school and individual level accounted for by the ARM constructs differed across societies. The implications of these results for civic education and future research in the field are discussed. (Contains 5 tables.)

The race to establish regional education hubs is a recent development in cross-border higher education. This article briefly examines the rationales and strategies used by three countries in the Middle East and three in South East Asia which are working towards positioning themselves as regional education hubs. The different approaches and purposes among the six countries highlight the need for a typology of education hubs. Three types are proposed: the student hub, the training and skilled workforce hub, and the knowledge/innovation hub. The final section of the paper takes a closer look at Malaysia's cross-border education initiatives and its actions to establish itself as a competitive education hub in a region where Singapore and Hong Kong have similar intentions. Whether Malaysia has the ability to make a quantum leap from being a student hub to becoming a knowledge/innovation hub remains to be seen and appears to be an optimistic outlook.

This study examines generalized trust and trust in institutions in Confucian Asia, covering six countries namely, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and one dependent region, Hong Kong. Using data from the 2006 AsiaBarometer Survey, our study affirms the reliability and validity of using a two-item scale to measure generalized trust. Our analysis suggests that due to demographic differences, there are variations in the level of generalized trust of countries in Confucian Asia, despite the fact that these societies share a similar background in Confucian philosophy. The relationships between generalized trust and political trust, and between generalized trust and trust in public institutions, are weak but positive. The positive relationship between generalized trust and trust in economic institutions is only significant for some of the economies, while trust in international institutions has the weakest relationship with generalized trust for all societies. We conclude the paper with research implications.

Internationalization becomes increasingly important in higher education in a globalized world. Exporting higher education services by recruiting overseas students is an integral facet of internationalization of higher education. It not only helps develop the place as an education hub but also facilitate internationalized environment of higher education. Alongside this global trend, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are of no exception and have embarked on the process of internationalizing their higher education campuses by recruiting more international students, striving for achieving the policy goal of developing themselves into regional education hubs. Hong Kong has no doubt had some comparative advantages over other Asian competitors in the region but there are several major hurdles it needs to overcome before it can successfully export its higher education services. This paper reports part of a territory wide study in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of exporting Hong Kong's higher education to the Asian markets. In addition, to counteract the economic driven imperatives in restructuring higher education, the author would like to caution the importance of going beyond income generation and put forward a question of what the real aim and mission of internationalization of higher education are in the Asian region.

"Policy borrowing" continues to be an important factor in the construction of higher education policy in East Asia. Many post-colonial societies have continued to look to the West for models that will assist them to reengineer their universities in the quest for creating world class institutions. Against this background, Hong Kong's University Grants Committee adopted an outcomes based approach to teaching and learning in 2005 and gained support from institutions under its responsibility for doing so. Supported with ample resources, the subject of numerous public symposia and incorporated into regular quality audit assessments, outcomes based approaches to teaching and learning are in the process of becoming part of Hong Kong's distinctive approach to quality reform in higher education. This paper reviews the policy context in which this initiative emerged, analyses the policy meaning in terms of its underlying theories and derives a set of principles that could guide the implementation of outcomes based approaches. The multiple possibilities associated with outcomes based teaching and learning demonstrate how systemic reform agendas are subject to interpretation and local adaptation.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is threefold: to analyze the current conditions of higher education services offered in the three target markets; to conduct market segmentation analysis of these markets; and to recommend the most appropriate market entry strategies for Hong Kong's education service providers. Design/methodology/approach: The data for this project were obtained primarily by questionnaire survey and interviews. The research team collected 1,370 questionnaires and conducted a total of 121 individual and focus group interviews in the four studied cities--Mumbai, New Delhi, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur. Findings: The study found that there was a high unmet demand for higher education overseas and that the visibility of Hong Kong's higher education was relatively weak in these Asian markets. In order to capture the continued rise of students in Asia, higher education institutions and the Hong Kong government need to work together to analyze the potential markets critically and employ marketing strategies sensibly. Several key recommendations have been provided based on the findings. Research limitations/implications: The study was undertaken in a few key cities in these three target markets. However, findings from the study may generate insights into other cities with similar characteristics in these countries and the Asian regions. Practical implications: The paper suggests that decision makers at the institutional level and government level seeking to enter these markets must pay attention to the importance of market segmentation and the 4P variables in formulating their marketing strategies. Originality/value: Few studies have examined the current condition of higher education services in these three emerging Asian markets. The study provides some useful marketing information to education decision makers in Hong Kong and elsewhere who may be interested in formulating marketing strategies in these markets. (Contains 1 table and 12 figures.)

Private supplementary tutoring has long been a major phenomenon in parts of East Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. In recent times it has grown dramatically in other parts of Asia and in Africa, Europe and North America. The factors underlying the growth of private tutoring vary, but in all settings it has major implications for learning and livelihood. Families with the necessary resources are able to secure not only greater quantities but also better qualities of private tutoring. Children receiving such tutoring are then able to perform better in school, and in the long run to improve their lifetime earnings. By contrast, children of low-income families who do not receive such benefits may not be able to keep up with their peers and may drop out of school at an earlier age. Tutoring also of course has a direct impact on the livelihoods of the tutors, providing employment and incomes for a range of professionals and amateurs of different age groups. The dynamics of inter-relationships are complex, and vary from one setting to another. This paper argues that private supplementary tutoring deserves much more attention from policy makers and researchers. (Contains 1 table.)

Will our Christian colleges in Asia serve as possible venues for the cultivation of communication and understandings among people of different cultures? This is the issue addressed in this paper and the author attempts to give a report of the work of Chung Chi College overall, with special reference to her distinctive contribution as a Christian college in Hong Kong, China, and its Asian contexts. As a Christian college, Chung Chi College has found herself serving not only as a light to the gentiles but also as "a bridge" between the Eastern and Western cultures, between Christianity and other religious traditions. (Contains 3 footnotes.)

As the demand for education rises, and with the increasing availability and sophistication of the means of delivery, open education and e-learning is being seen as a way to rapidly increase student numbers. This paper explores some realities of providing traditional open education and e-learning in an international environment and examines the influences of local context and cultures on the successful provision of traditional open education and e-learning in the light of Charles Sturt University's experience in Asia. The provision by a non-Asian university of open education programmes to Asian students creates a number of challenges. Many students will have to move to a different learning environment from those with which they are familiar. The success of such programmes is dependant upon the extent to which local context and cultural considerations are incorporated into the planning and delivery of teaching and learning. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) represent a crucial force for cultural change in both education and society and possible transitions between old and new learning as well as social values. This is especially so in East Asia, where the young have informally embraced ICTs but learn in formal contexts often still dominated by traditional transmission models of learning rather than the new learner-centred theories which inform policy imperatives for innovation and reform. Educational contexts like Singapore and Hong Kong are particularly exemplary because they have been so progressive in policy initiatives for ICT integration and reform in formal education, imperatives which conflict in practice with still dominant traditional learning expectations, teaching practices and models of assessment. As typified by such contexts, this paper investigates how the pedagogical dilemmas of a tension between old and new models of learning need to be understood and approached in terms of related and overlapping institutional and social dilemmas of change. (Contains 4 figures.)