Jingjing Lou

Based on an ethnographic study in a rural middle school in Northwest China, the author explores how the transition of the rural countryside, specifically townization, has challenged the urban–rural dichotomy being reproduced in and by formal schooling. Rural students ...

In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to international education in schools in the USA. Education professionals, business leaders, and politicians realize that schools and school leaders must identify multiple opportunities for students to interact with and experience a global society. Nationally, there has been a considerable investment of funds by several key foundations and much political talk about the need to push American education towards a model of schooling that expressly responds to the need for ...

My dissertation is an ethnography on how rural Chinese students perceive their schooling and surrounding society in the larger context of rural "townization" and how such perceptions alter students' understandings of the value of school, their engagement in school, their ...

Based on the author’s personal reflection from teaching a first year seminar on ecology, development and education in a US liberal arts college, this article explores the desirability as well as possibility to incorporate Eastern philosophies into Western liberal arts education. The article highlights two lessons that the author has generated from her teaching experience. Both lessons focus on the acquisition of skillsets that are at the core to both liberal arts education and education for sustainable development, and how the introduction of Eastern philosophies and their perspectives helps students accomplish or further strengthen these skills. Specifically, students develop more critical thinking skills by shifting the paradigm, and practice liberal arts education in real life by bringing knowledge and action together, connecting individual to community, and linking the global to the local.

In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to international education
in schools in the USA. Education professionals, business leaders, and politicians
realize that schools and school leaders must identify multiple opportunities
for students to interact with and experience a global society. Nationally, there
has been a considerable investment of funds by several key foundations and
much political talk about the need to push American education towards a model
of schooling that expressly responds to the need for internationally competent
citizens. Using mixed methodology design, this study is fueled by a desire to
better understand several overarching elements in international education. In
short, the authors of this paper posit that no further research, policy formation,
or program development within the realm of international education for public
schools can be undertaken until an understanding of the current state of international
education and the capacity for internationalization is empirically explored

Based on an ethnographic study in a rural middle school in Northwest China, the author explores how the transition of the rural countryside, specifically townization, has challenged the urban–rural dichotomy being reproduced in and by formal schooling. Rural students express criticism of the chaos, pollution, and corruption they have experienced during townization, which also penetrate the school walls and become part of their daily schooling experience. Students’ resistance to townization corresponds to their resistance to schooling. The author analyzes three groups of rural youth (conformists, reformers, and rebels), and how their resistance is limiting and even self-defeating, yet also has potential for being liberating.

There have been ongoing discussions about the most recent curriculum reform in China. The new curriculum aims at a more quality-oriented (suzhi) education and producing more well-rounded citizens to meet the challenges of global competition. However, it is questioned how suzhi education
is possible with entrance examination still being the sole sorting mechanism. A semester-long ethnography in a rural middle school in northwest China reveals how rural students face many challenges with the new curriculum. Based on interviews, analyses of textbooks, and observations of classroom
teaching, the study examines how rural students question the relevance of their curriculum and further the meaning of formal schooling. In addition to the dichotomy between an exam-oriented and quality-oriented curriculum, students are also troubled by the dichotomy between general/academic education
and relevant/practical education. The study raises concerns about the urban-centered curriculum and how the rural community’s absence in the picture has led to rural students’ increasing disengagement in schooling and even dropout. It also reveals how the substance of suzhi education and the new curriculum have further reduced rural students’ chance to move upward socially. The article concludes by pushing for discussions on how formal schooling can better serve rural children and youth.

My dissertation is an ethnography on how rural Chinese students perceive their schooling and surrounding society in the larger context of rural “townization” and how such perceptions alter students’ understandings of the value of school, their engagement in school, their educational and career aspirations, and life expectation. In particular, my dissertation study reveals the impact of social, economic, and demographic change on the “ecology of rural schooling”, when “pollution” has become a powerful metaphor among students for widespread anxiety about the corruption of rural society. Rural youth became critical and even cynical about their society, especially at the township and county level, when they share with each other their concerns about the pollution of the countryside due to industrialization, and the corruption in the community and the larger society linked to recent socio-economic reforms and development. Schooling, media, and migration expand students’ imagination, especially regarding “the city”, which rural youth tend to romanticize as that is where their hope and future lies. Schooling is usually “a ticket to board on a train to the city”. Yet, such belief in education is no longer as firm as before, as recent education policies de facto diminish rural youth’s prospects to move upward through education. Besides, school has turned into “a big prison” for many students, due to heavy academic pressures and safety concerns. Thus, many rural students drop out at a very earlier stage of the compulsory schooling. As a result, the school wall
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crumbles: the boundaries between chaotic society and school are no longer as clear; students face many ambiguities and are confused about what they should do and be; and rural youths’ faith in schooling is being called into question. My study fills a significant gap in the literature on contemporary rural schooling by providing an alternative to the dominant developmentalist paradigm that treats school as a black box, focusing almost entirely on access and attainment rates, and therefore neglecting the differential experiences of rural children. It enriches studies about rural China and rural youth in particular and provides recommendations for policy makers.

This paper explores the aims and outcomes of an international teacher/student exchange initiative called, “Pathways to Peace: Imag(in)ing the Voices of Chinese and American Middle School Students.” The initiative, begun in the spring of 2005, was designed to support three interlinked activities: facilitating short-term exchanges of Chinese and American middle school teachers; engaging Chinese and American middle school students and their teachers in an interactive activity to enhance global understanding and collaborative learning for peace; and creating virtual and real “sharing our voices” exhibitions of Chinese and American middle school students.  The project is based on the assumption that a vital component of peace education is direct learning and mutual exchange across cultures.  Photovoice methodology, the means for facilitating such learning and exchange, is a research and learning tool aimed at building dialogue among culturally diverse groups and examining individuals’ perceptions of social reality through the use of photographic images.  This paper is divided, broadly, into two sections.  Section one introduces our research project in relationship to peace education.  Part of two analyzes specific findings from the photovoice project.

This thesis explores the reform of the financing of Russian higher education, which was triggered by the country's economic transitions and crisis. It presents the main stakeholders in the higher education system, their different interests, concerns and reform visions, as well as the collisions among these reform plans.