Education Discourse Across Borders

The Office of International Studies in Education presents “Education Discourse Across Borders: US-China Research of Emerging Scholars,” featuring presentations by visiting scholars from Southwest University (Chongqing, China) and Beijing Normal University.

While these colleagues have been at MSU learning more about US education, they have been simultaneously working on their research theses. Hear about new directions in Chinese education, new approaches to research in China and the insights these visiting scholars have gained from their time in the US.

A CASE STUDY OF THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENTAL UNIVERSITY-BASED ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO TEACHING

Wang You (Yoly)

This study investigates an alternative teaching program (ALT) in Michigan. It explores how non-traditional teacher preparation programs develop, including the critiques of the program, how the program administrators reacted to them, and the future direction of ALT in the US. Through some comparison of the dilemma of ALT in China, the author tries to provide references for Chinese alternative teaching development.

A STUDY ON THE RENEWAL OF HOME-SCHOOL COOPERATION AND THE LEADERSHIP ROLES OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN CHINA

Xu Fan (Frada)

Family and school are the two most important subsystems within the education and development of young children. How to coordinate effective and cooperative relationships between families and schools has become an important topic in world education reform. Since principals are leaders and designers of school processes, their understanding of home-school cooperation is a necessary component of successful partnerships.

THE CHALLENGE AND TRANSFORMATION OF TEACHER ROLES IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Ma Yining (Mant)

The author attempts to answer several important questions about teachers’ orientation toward technology in today’s context of educational modernization and informatization in both China and the US. More specifically, the author asks: What is Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)? What is the role of teachers in CSCL and what new challenges do teachers face in CSCL environments? How do we transform the role of teachers in this new atmosphere?

THE PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION OF SMART CLASSROOM EVALUATION SCALE

Lei Yi (Zoey)

China’s promotion of technology has resulted in many primary and secondary schools building smart classrooms, but can a “smart class” actually develop through a smart classroom? This research establishes a smart classroom assessment scale from the three dimensions of teachers, students and the classroom environment in an effort to better understand actual smart classrooms, promote development of smart classrooms and help explore the pedagogical possibilities of smart education.

A CASE STUDY OF COLLABORATIVE GUIDANCE MODE FOR PRESERVICE TEACHERS WITHIN A KINDERGARTEN INTERNSHIP

Wang Zhaoxuan (Betty)

The goal of this case study is to explore the relationship between teacher educators (mentor teachers, university instructors and field instructors) and the intern. More specifically, how do teacher educators understand their work and their responsibilities? How do teacher educators work collaboratively as a guidance team to support intern’s learning? Some reflections from an “outside researcher” will also be addressed.