Yau Che Ming, Nanyang Technological University

Design and Technology (D&T) in Singapore is a secondary school subject that highlights design process with technological knowledge and workshop skills. It is still relatively new to Singapore teachers and students as it has been launched in 1990s. On the contrary, the subject had been launched in Hong Kong since 1970s. Within these 30 years of practising D&T in secondary school, there were many changes upon the arrangement and curriculum of the subject. The emphasis of the subject is so different from that of Singapore in spite of their similar historical background.

Now, D&T in Hong Kong is experiencing the educational reform and D&T in Singapore is experiencing the changing of the syllabus as well. Both are trying their bests to meet the needs of the new era of this knowledgeable world. The paper mainly presents the comparison of D&T between Singapore and Hong Kong in the perspective of a D&T teacher trainer. Comparison on their newest syllabus will be made in terms of content taught, curriculum arrangement, time allocation, assessment method, teaching strategies etc. Practical situations as well as some hidden curriculum in both places will be highlighted so as to give a more real situation. The paper serves as a start to encourage our D&T teachers to share the experience and the curriculum with other places all over the world.

Yeh Jung-Hua, National Museum of Nature Science

Most new technology is the complexity of several abstract science concepts and fancy phenomena. It’s easy to show students lots of technology products. But to understand their technical concepts is another story. How to teach that science behind technical is an important problem in Taiwan. Technical educations from technical high school to college such as mechanical engineer face the other problem. Students learned lots engineer calculating method and physics principles, but they had no idea about how and when to use the knowledge they had learned. The program which National Museum of Natural Science conducted since 2004 aimed to provide technical major students a stage for application what they learned from school.

The member of this program includes several National high Schools, department of mechanical engineer in different National and private technical university, and National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan. There were 4 stages in the program. The first stage was sterling engine model making workshop for high school students. Next stage was high school students’ creativity conference for sterling engine. Then is exhibition of sterling engine that make by college students. The last phase will be competition of sterling engine efficiency for upper high school students.

This program stepped into the third year; it just accomplished the second stage. The model making workshops not just introduce the science concepts about sterling engine, it also motivated students to practice what they learned. College students were trained as assisted teacher in model making workshop, these experience motivated them to practice their engineering calculation and capable to design more efficiency sterling engine.

Robertson Christine, RMIT University

Terrill Sarah-Jane, RMIT University

Mountford Georgina, RMIT University

The familiar face of teaching and learning is evolving and adapting as new challenges arise and new and varied learning needs emerge in the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET)sector.

“Recognition” as a form of assessment is a methodology that is gaining importance in the VET sector. Put simply, recognition can be described as an assessment practice that involves a detailed analysis of a learner’s existing knowledge and skills that is then mapped against the learning and assessment requirements of a vocational qualification.

Recognition processes can formally acknowledge competency already achieved, tailor programs to suite individual learner requirements, deliver in flexible and dynamic ways outside the formal classroom paradigm, identify gaps and provide training in these areas. Pathways can also be created for entry into high level qualifications.

Why then is there much confusion about recognition as a methodology and resistance by VET teachers/trainers to the development and implementation of effective recognition processes?

This paper will describe the current post compulsory education and training context which is driving the promotion of recognition and assessment of existing skills and knowledge across a range of industry sectors, both in Australia and globally.

Drawing on broad ranging experience and research in the design and development of contextualised workplace training and assessment projects over a five year period, the authors explore and deconstruct the process and requirements for moving traditional training and assessment methodologies to a more learner centred and industry relevant pedagogy. Solutions for successful implementation of recognition practices that facilitate the move to more flexible and responsive industry engagement will be identified, thereby building capacity to respond to the challenge of working in new and dynamic ways in vocational education and training.

Tan Jeanne, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Glamour and fame are often words which are associated with fashion. The glittering facade often threatens to overshadow the quintessential creativity, craftsmanship and skills which form the backbone of the industry. The ephemeral nature of fashion and the prevalent believe that creativity is inborn and intuitive had resulted in fashion being deemed as “occupying the lowest intellectual rung of the design ladder.” ( Griffiths, 2000) Due to the general low regard of the academic value of fashion, there are few research based on fashion pedagogy. As a leading exporter and manufacturer of fashion, the Hong Kong fashion industry plays very important roles in both the global fashion industry and the local economy. For Hong Kong to retain its competitive edge in fashion it is imperative for it to diversify its fashion services and promote original local fashion designs of international caliber. The local fashion industry had previously been focused on manufacturing and exporting with little creative input. While there are local fashion design companies, they are mostly involved in creating fast fashions which are heavily influenced by the international collections. (Reinach, 2005) Albeit Hong Kong is not a newcomer to fashion, the industry is still relatively young in terms of producing its own original and distinct local designs. To better facilitate the creation of a conducive environment to nurture local fashion designers it is important to explore the current research gap within fashion education in Hong Kong. This paper firstly investigates fashion design education in Hong Kong. Secondly analyze how the local society and culture influence fashion designers. Thirdly explore the possibility of developing new teaching materials or alternative teaching methods which are specific to the needs of the local fashion design students.

Josephine Yazali, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration

The world is in transition period from regional and national based society to a knowledge-based, one world- one village, or global society in 21st century. Millions of poor and illiterate Indians in our country may not even know what globalization is all about. This term has now become a catchword. Like many aspects of life, education is undergoing constant changes under the effects of globalization. The structure of education is being altered to enable it to compete in an open, global market, leading to the modification of education. Education institutions around the world are being forced to compete globally, by engaging in entrepreneurial activities to sustain themselves in an uncertain and competitive world. India is not exceptional.

The basic theme of this paper is to highlight the importance of highly demanded job oriented education in the age of globalization. As the world of work is demanding skill oriented education but the supply is unlatching. Today the role of secondary education Policy should not restrict only supplying students for higher education but also can change the strategies of supply and quality of supply to meet the global demands. Today, it is widely recognized that secondary education has functions other than preparing students for higher education. In order to enable secondary education to play such a role, there is a need to create suitable educational environments, renew educational methods and contents, and modify the traditional structures of secondary schooling. It goes without saying that education is to be linked with socio-economic needs of the society. The purpose of education is not to create human robot or to supply skilled manpower to the global market. Instead, education must become an effective instrument of economic development and social change.

Yamanaka Chihiro, Kobe University

This paper outlines emergence and development of ideas, ‘educational and vocational guidance’ in Japan from early 20th century to the present, particularly focusing on the influence of thoughts and activities from overseas. Japanese domestic development can be chronologically divided into three periods: vocational guidance period from 1915 to 1950s, career guidance period from 1960s to 1970s, and career education period from 1980s. Each of these periods is generated by Western theories or rationales.

At first, Frank Parsons was identified to commence vocational guidance period with his book, Choosing a Vocation published in 1909. In Japan, he has been regarded as the founder of vocational guidance movement, which is represented by establishment of Osaka Vocational Guidance Center. After the World War Second, The Techniques and Principles of Vocational Guidance written by Myers in 1941 was adapted as a schoolteachers’ guidebook. Secondly, career guidance period is followed by Super who had made a speech at the University of Tokyo in 1957 to introduce such humanistic perspectives as vocational maturity and vocational psychology. As entrance examination of colleges and universities became much more competitive than ever, the idea, career guidance, has deteriorated into schoolteachers’ guidance to help students choose their university. Finally, Marland has opened the third era, addressing ‘career education’ as an aspect of support of career development since 1973, which has been expected as a strategy to resolve the recent Japanese vocational issues: furita (those who do part-time or short-term work), NEET (Not in education, employment or training ), etc.

Ng Pui Yee, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Vocational education has played an important role of developing the life-long learning in Hong Kong. With the promotion from the government, industry and educational organizations for the “Creative Industries” in Hong Kong, there is a need to foster design-related education and to strengthen the designers’ competence to meet increasing competition for local and global needs. However, not many studies have been made to address the needs of the part-time vocational students. Through the survey based on the needs assessment, the purposes are twofold, to identify the actual needs of students in terms of values, attitudes, existing difficulties between study and career competencies and areas of improvement. In specific, to acquire both descriptive and attitude-probing data for designing a new subject or integrated subject as learning and teaching activities. Questionnaires were conducted to part-time students, and semi-structured interviews were undertaken to lecturers and design associations and owners. The values of the study will contribute to firstly, to enhance students’ self-building skills, confidence for design competencies, secondly, as valuable sources for evaluating new curriculum for students and staff development programme in vocational education, thirdly, to meet the requirements of employers for better-trained and quality designers.

Matthews Bobbie, Flinders Institute of International Education

A longitudinal study was undertaken to investigate whether Confucian heritage culture (CHC) students’ approaches to learning were retained or in some way modified in a Western cultural, social and educational environment. The students were sojourners in Australia who intended to return to their homes in Asia on the completion of their studies. A bilingual (Chinese and English) version of the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) (Biggs, 1987) was used to measure sojourner students’ approaches to learning on five occasions over two years in Australia. A two-level analysis, using hierarchical linear modelling, was undertaken at the within and between student levels to see if there were statistically significant changes in the students’ approaches to learning. A negative occasion slope for Surface Motivation suggested that superficial learning decreased while the significant positive occasion slopes associated with the Deep and Achieving Approaches to learning indicated that learning approaches that were problem-based and directed toward achievement increased over time. These results showed that five of six approaches to learning changed during the period, but not for all groups of students. While there was no significant change for the Surface Strategy approach to learning over time, there were significant effects for particular groups of students. Implications for teaching overseas students in new learning environments were examined and recommendations made for the implementation of adjustments that would accommodate any differences in approaches to learning that were encountered.

Lee Rachel Nai Fern, Ministry of Education

Bathmaker Ann-Marie, University of Sheffield

Research into teachers’ theoretical beliefs views teaching as a cognitive activity in which teachers actively construct a personal theory, derived from their professional and practical knowledge as well as their goals, values and assumptions, and decision making abilities, that works for them in teaching.

This study explores an insider perspective on teachers’ beliefs in the use of English textbooks for teaching English in the upper secondary Normal (Technical) (henceforth NT) classroom in Singapore using Burns’ (1996) model of contextual levels of influences. Students streamed into the NT classes are considered to be academically `weakest’ amongst all three streams in the secondary level. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, it identifies factors influencing teachers’ perceptions toward the roles textbook plays in language teaching and learning. The findings are further used to infer the relationship between teachers’ use of textbooks and their attitudes towards the less `academically-inclined’ NT pupils. The results show that teachers’ beliefs are related to factors that exist within and beyond the classroom. Among the factors identified, those related to the institution and classroom tended to have a greater influence in the way teachers used their textbooks.

Besides pointing to the need for further research, the discussion brings out implications for curriculum and assessment review in NT stream in Singapore. In view of this, there remains a need for the NT English curriculum developers to further review the current English syllabus, teaching and assessment methods in order to help NT students achieve proper qualifications in English.

Nakazawa Wataru, The University of Tokyo

This presentation focuses on the transition of high schools to universities, vocational schools or labour markets in contemporary Japan. Under the long recession in 1990 and the rapid decline in the number of children, it was said that the Japanese transition system was said to have changed drastically. Some policies emphasizing the freedom of choice and privatization have been adopted in the field of education, and the simple course of secondary school system has been transforming to a diversified one. This implies that the differences among the high school courses have been clearly characterised. Although the opportunity for enrolment in higher education has expanded, it is inevitable to stratify the schools that are at the same stage of an educational system. In other words, the secondary schools will be stratified from academic schools to vocational ones. Some researchers indicated that while this phenomenon may enable many people to pursue higher education, it often results in the stratification being fixed and the limited opportunities for higher education from less prestigious or vocational schools being concealed. It has become more difficult for secondary school graduates to find a job, and the number of part-time and non-regular employees has been increasing. Further, this increases the inequality among the youth. However, vocational high schools may act as a safety net against unemployment or non-regular employment since they help young people acquire occupational skills. In this presentation, I analyze a longitudinal survey on high school graduation in the recent three years. The results will show that while social and economic backgrounds continue to have significant effects on students, those who graduate from vocational courses may tend to find regular jobs or enter higher vocational schools; however, those who graduate from less prestigious academic schools may face the risk of being unemployment, non-regular employees or not-in-education.