Dialogue and Cooperation in Educational Transformation for a Sustainable Future

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

As we move towards a more equitable and inclusive educational future, we are facing urgent and intense challenges related to learning and working conditions in schools and universities worldwide. It is well acknowledged that protest has been a powerful force in addressing these issues and securing a sustainable future in education and society. This panel will focus on dialogue and cooperation as the two main instruments for promoting educational transformation in contemporary educational research and practice.

First, the paper entitled Open Science and Open Education: A Common Public Goods and A Social Contract? by Yue KAN discusses the importance of open science and the international mobility of scientists in promoting scientific progress and innovation. It emphasizes the need for transparency, openness, and reproducibility in science and argues that knowledge should be treated as a global public good. The paper also highlights the challenges facing the open science movement, including the business models of commercial publishers and the requirement for authors to surrender copyright to their work. It concludes by calling for a shift towards a social contract in which science is open to society and accessible to all levels of inquiry and highlights the unanimous adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science in 2021 as a major step towards achieving this goal.

Second, Hantian WU and Jingji ZHANG’s paper entitled South-South higher education interactions under a double-disruption Scenario and beyond reveals that automation and the COVID-19 recession have exacerbated global inequality and the risk of fragmentation, further widening the gap between emerging and developed economies. The study uses the conceptual perspective of Southern epistemologies and the typology of inward- and outward-oriented diffusion of innovations through higher education internationalization to investigate different types of higher education interactions between countries/regions in the global South. The findings suggest that regional cooperation remains the most promising form of South-South higher education interactions, and the notion of neo-colonialism serves as a wake-up call for the outward-oriented internationalization of higher education in Southern countries.

Then, in terms of Henan CHENG’s study Cross-fertilization of Culture”: The Impact of International Institute of Teachers College and The Role of Chinese Educators in Promoting International Understanding and Cooperation, the study looks back at the history of the International Institute of Teachers College, Columbia University, founded in 1923, which has a significant impact on promoting international understanding and collaborations. Adopting Monroe’s (1928) conceptual framework of “cross-fertilization of culture”, this paper highlights its dissemination of American democratic ideals and progressive education practices, the cultivation of future educational leaders with international vision and experience, and the promotion of international understanding and cooperation. It also sheds light on the important role of Chinese students and scholars in the Institute's work and their contribution to promoting a better understanding between the West and the East.

Fourth, in Transnational Mobile Academics in Internationally Co-Founded Universities: Motivations and Professional Development by Shuangmiao HAN and Xingjiang SHAO, the study discusses how globalization and the increasing inter-connectedness of knowledge production have led to internationalization policies and strategies by nation-states and universities. It focuses on the transnational mobility of academics, particularly from developing countries to international universities in China. The study explores the motivations and benefits of international faculty transnational mobility in the context of a joint international institution in China. The study identifies three sets of motivations for international academics: funding from the Chinese government and institutions, institutional advantages of the international collaborative institution, and the multicultural environment of the institution and the wider social context. The study highlights the interplay of individual, institutional, and national contexts on academic mobility, and provides policy implications for countries keen on recruiting international academics and promoting higher education internationalization.

Finally, in Learn from Whom? A Comparison of the Cross-National Attraction of Basic Education among Finland, Singapore, and China by Shanyun HE, policy borrowing has become the primary approach to education reform in many countries around the world. This study analyzed media reports about PISA-related issues in the US, UK, Germany, and India from 2018 to 2020 to compare the cross-national attraction of basic education in Finland, Singapore, and China. It was found that the economy, traditional culture, and geopolitics are important factors influencing the cross-national attraction of “target countries” to others and that factors that determine the cross-national attractiveness of these three countries are different.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Organizer

• Shanyun He, Zhejiang Uinversity

Chair

• Yue Kan, Zhejiang University

Individual Presentations

• Open Science and Open Education: A Common Public Goods and A Social Contract? - Yue Kan, Zhejiang University

• Learn from Whom? A Comparison of the Cross-National Attraction of Basic Education among Finland, Singapore and China - Shanyun He, Zhejiang Uinversity

• Transnational Mobile Academics in Internationally Co-Founded Universities: Motivations and Professional Development - Shuangmiao Han, Zhejiang University; Xingjiang Shao, Zhejiang University