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Using grounded theory research methodology, a theory was developed to explain how Singapore junior college science teachers implement educational reforms underpinning the key initiatives of the "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" policy. The theory suggests Singapore junior college science teachers "deal with" implementing curriculum reforms by engaging in a three-stage process of individualised amelioration of teaching and learning. The argument is made that individual amelioration takes place because of an absence of fit between the reform initiatives and the demand on teachers to prioritise preparation of students for national examinations. This paper also discussed the teaching practices of Singapore junior college science teachers with regards to curriculum implementation in light of other scholarly works. (Contains 3 tables and 9 figures.)

This paper argues that the current approach to educational quality formation in transnational higher education promotes educational imperialism, and that guidelines and practices should be altered to embrace context-sensitive measures of quality. The claims are sustained by findings from a study that investigated how academics understood and pursued educational quality in an Australian university programme delivered in partnership with a Chinese university in China. A key finding was that a home programme functioned as the single reference point for quality in the programme delivered in China. Quality in the China programme was sought through the imposition of practices and philosophies associated with the home programme, which required the suppression of local educational traditions. The paper points out that reliance on a home programme as the single measure of quality is encouraged by governing UNESCO/OECD guidelines on quality in cross-border provision.

This article provides an overview of the progress of efforts to formulate quality frameworks for Australian higher education delivered overseas, notably in the Asian region. With the quest for quality frameworks for Australian transnational higher education established as the context, the article then traces our work to draw out and establish principles of quality that might inform such frameworks. Distinguishing this work is the endeavor to extract understandings about the constitution of quality in Australian transnational higher education. The article reports initial findings of ongoing empirical research into academic stakeholders' perspectives on issues of quality in teaching and learning in transnational programs aimed at developing principles to enhance quality frameworks.

Why has Australian offshore higher education become the educational investment of choice for many students? What benefits do students anticipate from this education? What is the relationship between educational goals and educational experience? To address these questions, this paper draws on findings from empirical research conducted with students studying at an offshore campus of an Australian university in Malaysia. It was found that students typically chose to enroll with the Australian university to receive an international education. Reasons offered for seeking an international education effectively delineated two groups of students. For Malaysian nationals, an international education was valued largely as a passport to employment with (Western) multinational corporations operating in Malaysia. Generally the Malaysian students made "positional" investments in Australian offshore higher education. For non-Malaysian students an international education was typically selected as an aid to procuring a new identity. These students chose an international education with the hope of expunging provincial outlooks. From international education, they wanted new ways of viewing the world, new habits of thinking and new skills and approaches. They sought a personal metamorphosis. These students, therefore, typically made "self-transformative" investments in international education. The paper further shows that investment choices influenced the way students experienced their education. Of the two populations distinguished by investment type, students who made self-transformative investments were more likely to respond positively to challenging education experiences associated with studying at the campus.

This paper explores the impact of the internationalization of higher education on the formation of student identity. It does so in the context of increasing developments in offshore education and the rapid emergence of the professional doctorate in Australia and overseas. Drawing on data from a larger qualitative study of student experiences of offshore education, the focus is on professional doctorate candidates located in Hong Kong. Identity is characterized by a series of dilemmas experienced by the students as they seek to become members of the academic community. These dilemmas centre on a range of inter-related issues, including sense of belonging, educational goals, learning style preferences and relationships with supervisors.

Since Hong Kong's sovereignty reverted to China in 1997, the university Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) sector has faced an array of unprecedented challenges created mainly through government policy initiatives, an associated and rapid increase in the demand for continuing education, and dramatic changes in the nature of that demand. This paper reports the outcomes of a qualitative study that examined how the sector responded to these challenges. It identifies and describes a triangle of inter-related strategies of response, namely "building organisational strength", "programme planning and development" and "quality assurance". (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

This paper reports the findings of qualitative case studies aimed at exploring student experiences of offshore programmes delivered in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia by Australian universities. The paper draws on a cross-case analysis of the studies to develop propositions about student experience and identity formation in the context of offshore education. The propositions are that: offshore students consider international education to be part of a long-term trajectory of identity formation, with the choice of programme delivery being a strategy to progress along the trajectory; offshore students seek identity as members of the educational community through pursuing local ways of belonging; and offshore students deal with the demands of family, work and study by prioritizing and compartmentalizing roles and activities. The findings provide insights into student perspectives on what makes a quality educational experience for international students studying offshore.

Drawing on records of parliamentary debates, this paper investigates the first Commonwealth intervention in schooling. It reveals that compulsory provisions associated with formal schooling were employed to support a policy of compelling boys to undertake training. It shows how military training was positioned as a neglected aspect of ordinary education to enable the Commonwealth to deploy schools and teachers in the service of the scheme and to make schools subordinate to military authority. The paper points out that Commonwealth intervention in schooling articulated the nation-state as the intended beneficiary, a view of education alien to educationists at the time.

Within the context of higher education, it is the international student who travels to another country to study who is typically identified as the subject at risk of culture shock. This paper attempts to go further by suggesting that international students studying in their home country with an overseas institution may also experience culture shock as an effect of this engagement. To support this contention, the paper reports findings of an interpretive case study of a group of masters' degree students in Singapore taught by an Australian university in partnership with a local provider.

This paper highlights the complexities surrounding the social practices involved in being an international higher degree student, and the ways in which these practices contribute to the formation of student identity. It reports research in progress aimed at understanding how higher degree students experience studying for a degree delivered 'offshore' by an Australian university. In particular, it presents findings of two interpretive case studies, one of a masters degree course delivered in Singapore and another of a doctoral dissertation programme delivered in Hong Kong. The line of inquiry concerns questions about the perspectives of the students: how they understand the dynamics of their particular educational context and their sense of themselves as students in relation to the communities to which they belong.

Since Hong Kong’s sovereignty reverted to China in 1997, the university Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) sector has faced an array of unprecedented challenges created mainly through government policy initiatives, an associated and rapid increase in the demand for continuing education, and dramatic changes in the nature of that demand. This paper reports the outcomes of a qualitative study that examined how the sector responded to these challenges. It identifies and describes a triangle of inter‐related strategies of response, namely ‘building organisational strength’, ‘programme planning and development’ and ‘quality assurance’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]