US-China Education Review 2013 (10B)

US-China
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Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 29)
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US-Chi na
Educ at i on Revi ew
B
Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 29)

Contents
Educational Sociology
The Dormant Outcome of Racial Microaggressions in Taiwan: Language-Delayed Mixed
Children and Their Immigrant Mothers 735
Sa-hui Fan, Hao-pai Ni
Teacher Education
Enhancing Teacher Quality in the U.S.: Developing Reform-Oriented Teacher Education
Programs for Elementary Science Teachers 749
Thomas J. Diana, Sudipta Ghose
Educational Policy and Management
Strengthening Industry-University Linkages Through Public-Private Partnerships
in Capacity Building 761
Mary Chepkite Lopokoiyit, Grace Soprin Amurle, Roselyne Wangare Gakure
School Governance: An International Comparison 772
Simona Franzoni, Francesca Gennari
UPAEP High School Summer Academy at Oklahoma State University 780
Maria G. Fabregas Janeiro, Pablo Nuo de la Parra, Blanca Elena Lozano
Educational Economics and Management
Painful Transformation of the CEECs From Their Former Inefficient Command
Economy to the Fraudulent Modern Market Economy 786
Dusan Soltes

European Leonardo Project ARIADNE: Process of Transferring Managerial Skills
in the Social Economy 795
Thibault Cunoud
Vocational and Technical education
Scientific Literacy Measurement Model Based on Occupational Variation 803
Liang Ai-ying, Xiao Wen-bin, Huang Yi, Zhang Na, Wang Ke-wei
US-China Education Review B, ISSN 2161-6248
October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 735-748

The Dormant Outcome of Racial Microaggressions in
Taiwan: Language-Delayed Mixed Children
and Their Immigrant Mothers

Sa-hui Fan
National Taichung University of Education,
Taichung, Taiwan
Hao-pai Ni
Da Chien General Hospital,
Miaoli, Taiwan

This study explores how racial microaggression toward Southeast Asian immigrant mothers in Taiwan, results
in language delays for their children. This study, spanning more than two years, used an ethnographic
data-gathering approach to examine the contextual factors surrounding bicultural language-delayed children and
their mothers in Taiwan. Following four cases of mixed children with nonorganic language delays, this study
attempts to answer these questions: In the families of language-delayed mixed children, what forms of racial
microaggression, if any, appear? What impact does racial microaggression have on the mental well-being of
Southeast Asian immigrant mothers? What linguistic environments are typically provided by the mothers who
were targets of microaggression? The data showed that racial microaggression not only caused the mothers
isolation, incompetence in maintaining jobs, and passiveness, but it also hindered them from providing their
children with sufficient linguistic input at early ages, consequently delaying the childrens language
development.
Keywords: language delay, immigration, racial microaggressions, ethnography, sociocultural theory
Introduction
Dating back to the last two decades of the previous millennium, globalization gradually became a
significant issue. According to Harvard scholar of immigration studies (Suarez-Orozco, 2001), there are three
pillars of the globalization movement: (1) new information and communication technologies; (2) the emergence
of global markets and post-national knowledge-intensive economies; and (3) unprecedented levels of
immigration and displacement (p. 345). As the third pillar implies, it has become a worldwide trend for people
to emigrate or immigrate for pragmatic reasons, and people in Asia have followed this global movement as well.
In Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and Japan, there has been an intensively growing flow of immigration,
which includes immigrant spouses from Southeast Asian countries. Legal entrances for these new immigrants
have been granted mainly because their marriages have been arranged through cross-national marriage brokers.

Acknowledgement: The authors deepest gratitude to the National Taichung University of Education, which commissioned this
research project NTCU97210.

Sa-hui Fan, Ph.D., assistant professor, English Department, National Taichung University of Education.
Corresponding author: Hao-pai Ni, M.D., attending physician, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Da Chien
General Hospital.
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THE DORMANT OUTCOME OF RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS IN TAIWAN

736
This new form of immigration in Asia involves closer and deeper personal contacts than the older forms of
immigration in the Western world. The individual attitudes of members of the host society have been either
more beneficial or more detrimental to the new immigrants. Because of the fresh and unfamiliar outlook of this
new immigration, some of the novices hosting societies continue to struggle with how to accommodate their
new immigrants respectfully and adequately. The following scenario illustrates one of the examples of struggle
occurring in Taiwan.
In May 2004, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan publicly disparaged the birth
rights of Southeast Asian immigrant spouses in Taiwan (Lan, 2004). He appealed to such immigrant spouses
not to give birth to too many babies, because, as this official posited, for the sake of eugenics, children born
into these types of families would more likely become problematic once reaching adulthood. This racist
statement received many attacks after it was reported, giving rise to the broad public discussion and debate.
This controversial statement, similar to the proverbial tip of the iceberg, is indeed indicative of the popular
racist attitudes toward the explosive growth of the immigrant population in Taiwan.
A widespread belief regarding the mixed children of immigrant spouses in Taiwan is specifically related to
the language development of these children. Several reports in the newspapers discussed the problems that
these children might face (Chuan, 2004; Hsia, 1997), while some researchers (Lin, 2004; Tsai, Yang, Huang,
Yu, & Chou, 2004) have echoed the viewpoint that due to the sociocultural disadvantages encountered by these
children, it seems to be reasonable to expect these children from the bicultural families of immigrant spouses
will perform less well in school compared to their traditional Taiwanese counterparts (Lin, 2004) and will also
experience delayed language development.
To unravel this unexamined controversy regarding the language development of this group of children, a
group of educational researchers (Wang et al., 2006; Yeh, 2006) conducted several large-scale statistical studies,
in which they compared the academic achievements, including the language and literacy development of
elementary school children from families of immigrant spouses with those of their counterparts, children from
traditional Taiwanese families. The results of their studies indicated that with regard to language development,
children from the families of immigrant spouses did not seem to perform significantly less well than their
traditional Taiwanese peers. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan (Department of Statistics, Ministry of
Education in Taiwan, 2004; 2005; 2006) conducted a similar three-year (consecutive) investigation into the
academic achievements and distribution of this specific population in elementary schools. The results of that
investigation showed similar findings. That is, children from families of Southeast Asian immigrant spouses
did not perform significantly less well than their counterparts. Thus, it can be concluded that the above research
appears to refute the theory of eugenics.
However, it is too soon to claim that the mixed children of immigrant spouses adapt well to language
learning. For example, Yeh (2006) noted in her paper that there appears to be a significant discrepancy between
the preschoolers from families of immigrant spouses and their Taiwanese counterparts with regard to literacy,
as the culturally mixed preschoolers performed significantly less well before grade school than their traditional
Taiwanese counterparts. Nevertheless, these slow language learners seem to catch up in later years after
entering elementary school, perhaps, because they are immersed in more abundantly linguistically stimulating
environments in the elementary schools. In another statistical report of Hsiao (2007), it was found that the
higher the quality was of cognitive ability-related activities between the immigrant mothers and their children,
the more distinctive their childrens cognitive abilities were. Therefore, to conclude from these two studies, it

737
seems that the environment for language learning is more crucial to the language development of these mixed
children than genetic factors are. Hence, the question to be asked with regard to the discrepancies in language
development between the children from culturally mixed families and traditional Taiwanese families might
instead be What environmental factors contribute to the early language delay of these culturally mixed
preschoolers? This contextual perspective has also been supported by scholars of the Sociocultural Theory of
Literacy (Heath & Street, 2008), which asserts that language acquisition is not simply affected by the
individuals cognitive skills, but it is also affected by environmental factors.
Borrowing from a perspective that allows us to examine the environmental factors of language acquisition,
this study attempts to utilize the theoretical framework of racial microaggression (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, &
Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue, Nadal, Capodilupo, Lin, Torino, & Rivera, 2008), as it explores immigrant
mothers experiences with the host society, as well as the linguistic environments these mothers have created
for their second-generation children. Most East Asian cultures are characterized as being circular/implicit rather
than linear/overt in their styles of thinking and expressions. Because the Taiwanese style of communication is
prone to being subtle and indirect, compared to Western styles of communications, racism can exist at a covert
level, rather than as an explicit form of attack. By adopting the framework of racial microaggression, it was
useful to examine and identify the implicit racial environment existing in bicultural families of Southeast Asian
immigrant spouses in Taiwan. Specifically, this study intended to answer the following questions:
(1) In the families of language-delayed mixed children, if there is evidence of the existence of
microaggression, what form or forms does this racial microaggression take?
(2) What impacts does racial microaggression have on the mental well-being of Southeast Asian
immigrant mothers?
(3) What linguistic environments are immigrant mothers who are victims of microaggression usually able
to provide for their children?
The Subtle Form of Racism: Microaggressions
The various forms of racism in host societies that accept immigrants have become an (almost) universal
social problem. Studies (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008) on mental
health have found that an environment filled with racism causes significant damage to the psychological
stability of immigrants and minorities. Derald Wing Sue, professor of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at
the Teachers College of Columbia University, compiled a series of qualitative data and noted that a new subtle
form of racism was slowly beginning to replace the traditional, more overt forms of racism (Sue, Bucceri, Lin,
Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008). Sue also found that the harmful effects of this more
civilized form of racism on the mental health of immigrants and minorities were no less severe than the effects
of the more overt racism. Sue called such an evolving form of modern racism microaggression and stated that
racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities,
whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults
to the target person or group (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007, p. 7). This newly defined modern and
implicit racism can be divided into three theoretical categories, microassaults, microinsults, and
microinvalidations, and it can be expressed in eight themes in everyday life (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, &
Torino, 2007) (see Figure 1).

738

Figure 1. Categories and relationships among microaggressions.
Definitions of the Three Racial Microaggression Categories
The first category of racial microaggression is microassault. According to Sue and his colleagues (Sue,
Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008), Microassault is an explicit racial
derogation characterized primarily by a verbal or nonverbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through
name-calling, avoidant behavior, or purposeful discriminatory actions (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino,
2007, p. 274). Sue and his colleagues also posited that of the forms of microaggression, the microassault is the
most similar to traditional overt racism. The perpetrators of microassaults conduct this form of racism with
more self-awareness, and its harmful effects are more obvious, compared to the other two forms of
microaggression. Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, and Torino (2007) defined the second form of racial
microaggression, microinsult, as being characterized by communications that convey rudeness and
insensitivity and demean a persons racial heritage or identity (p. 274). According to the descriptive details in
Sues studies (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007), a microinsult can take the form of an
implied condescending tone when speaking to someone, or it might be evidenced in nonverbal ways, such as
avoiding or ignoring a person of color. Third, Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, and Torino (2007) defined
microinvalidation as being characterized by communications that exclude, negate, or nullify the
psychological thoughts, feelings, or experimental reality of a person of color (p. 274). One example of a
microinvalidation is to ignore the skin color of the immigrant/minority intentionally.
Eight Themes of Racial Microaggressions
Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, and Torino (2007), Sue et al. (2007), and Sue et al. (2008) investigated the
general forms of microaggressions and divided them into eight themes that occur in everyday interactions. The
first four themes can be identified as sub-categories under microinsults, while the latter four appear as
sub-categories under microinvalidations. Along with the more overt form, microassaults, all the three forms of
microaggressions are woven together, thus, resulting in what we now classify as environmental
Racialmicroaggression
Environmentalmicroaggressions(macrolevel)
Microinsult
OftenUnconscious
Ascriptionofintelligence
Secondclasscitizen
Pathologizingcultural
Values/communicationstyles
Assumptionofcriminalstatus
Microassult
OftenConscious
Microinvalidation
OftenUnconscious
Alieninownland
Colorblindness
Mythofmeritocracy
Denialofindividualracism

739
microaggressions. Sue et al.s (2007) specific descriptions of the individual themes are briefly explained as
follows:
(1) Ascription of intelligence: Assigning a degree of intelligence to a person of color on the basis of his or her race;
(2) Assumption of criminal status: Presuming a person of color is dangerous, criminogenic, or deviant on the basis of race;
(3) Pathologizing cultural values/communication styles: Promoting the notion that the values and communication styles of
the dominant culture are ideal;
(4) Second-class citizen: Giving preferential treatment to a white person as a consumer over a person of color;
(5) Alien in own land: Assuming Asian Americans and Latino Americans are foreign-born;
(6) Denial of individual racism: Making statements that deny the individuals (white persons) racial biases;
(7) Color blindness: Making statements that indicate that a white person does not want to acknowledge race;
(8) Myth of meritocracy: Asserting that race does not play a role in success. (p. 78)
The Latent Effects of Racial Microaggression
At first glance, this implied the form of racism and microaggression, might seem too invisible to inflict
any harmful or damaging effects on immigrants/minorities. However, a series of studies (Constantine, Smith,
Redington, & Owens, 2008; Constantine & Sue, 2007; Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al.,
2007; Sue et al., 2008) been conducted on different ethnic groups in the U.S. indicated that the invisibility of
this racism actually produced profound psychological problems for its victims. Sue et al. (2008) described its
latent but powerful effects as follows.
Microaggressions have a harmful and lasting psychological impact that may endure for days, weeks,
months, and even years. Participants reported feelings of anger, frustration, doubt, guilt, or sadness when
they experienced microaggressions and noted further that the emotional turmoil stayed with them as they
tried to make sense of each incident. The research team members observations of that many participants
seemed to become distressed as a result of retelling their stories (e.g., crying/tearing, fluctuations in voice
volume, and stammering over words) provided additional evidence substantiating the long-lasting effects of
the stress and trauma experienced from being subjected to various microaggressions (Sue et al., 2008. p.
336).
A series of studies have noted that the severe harmful effects of microaggression are generally latent and
long-lasting and its effects are particularly noticeable in the self-esteem and emotional turbulence of the
individuals. Solorzano, Ceja, and Yosso (2000) noted that the daily common experiences of racial aggression
could have a significant impact on racial anger, frustration, and self-esteem. Sue et al. (2007) also indicated that
overt racial discrimination was identified as one of the potential social risk factors for mental illness. Common
comments from the studied groups indicated that they felt trapped, invisible, and unrecognized (Sue et al., 2007,
p. 78). Additionally, Chakraborty and McKenzie (2002) and Kim (2002) provided empirical evidence that
microaggression is related to the physical well-being of minorities/immigrants and such forms of racism
contribute to their levels of stress, depression, and anger. Williams, Neighbors, and J ackson (2003), in their
studies that examined the relationship between racism and mental health, also found that higher levels of
discrimination were associated with lower levels of happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and feelings of
mastery or control. Thus, as evidenced by the previous research, it can be clearly concluded that there exists
latent damaging effects of racial microaggressions on immigrant groups.

740
Mode of Inquiry
Ethnography has been long employed by literacy researchers as an effective method for examining the
contextual factors of language learning (Heath & Street, 2008; Knobel & Lankshear, 2003; Street, 1995a;
1995b; 2000; 2003; 2008). The current study used ethnography as the main mode of inquiry to examine
contextual microaggression in the families of Southeast Asian spouses in Taiwan. The fieldwork lasted for
more than two years. The data from this study form a portion of a larger project on the home literacy events of
mixed children in Taiwan. The current study focused on examining how racial microaggression in daily
interactions hindered Southeast Asian immigrant mothers from providing their children with sufficient
linguistic inputs.
The Field Site
The main research site was the home of each of the four participating language-delayed children, who
were referred by the hospital of the second author. All of the homes were located in an agricultural county,
where the targeted population was large because of its high population of blue-collar workers and farmers
(Wang, 2001). The researchers visited the families, the schools, the communities, and the hospital at a
minimum frequency of once every other week.
Participants
All four participating families were recruited from the hospital and were referred by the second author, a
physiatrist for more than 14 years. The participants included one girl and three boys. The ages of the children
ranged from five to eight years old. The fathers of these children were all Taiwanese, and they all worked either
as blue-collar workers or as farmers. The mothers, including three Vietnamese women and one Indonesian
woman, had lived in Taiwan for seven to nine years. Detailed background information of the participating
children is provided in Table 1.

Table 1
Background Information of the Participants
Pseudonyms Wang Yu Wei Chen
Age 8 6 6 5
Fathers highest education level
Elementary school
graduate
Senior high school
graduate
J unior high school
graduate
Elementary school
graduate
Mothers highest education level
Elementary school
graduate
Elementary school
graduate
J unior high school
graduate
Elementary school
graduate
Mothers country of origin Vietnam Vietnam Indonesia Vietnam
Mothers years in Taiwan 9 8 9 7
Sex Male Female Male Male
Familys financial status
Lower SES (Social
Economic Status); Father
is a blue-collar worker.
Lower SES; Father is
a blue-collar worker.
Lower SES; Father
is a farmer.
Lower SES; Father is a
farmer.
Methods of Data Collection
The main methods of data collection included formal, semi-structured interviews, informal conversations,
and non-intrusive observations. At least one formal interview was conducted with the parents, the language
therapists, the schoolteachers, and the school counselors during the fieldwork, while the informal conversations,
especially with the fathers, mothers, and children, occurred whenever the opportunity arose. The nonintrusive
observations occurred during class meetings, parenting classes at school, sessions with language therapists, and

741
family or community gatherings.
Diagnosis of Language Delay
The participants were recruited from an early intervention clinic for language-delayed children located at a
hospital. The children were diagnosed with delayed language development when their test results on the
instrument (Lin, 1992) were at least two standard deviations from the norm. Children who had known
congenital diseases or organic brain lesions that could possibly affect their normal language development were
excluded from the study.
Data Analysis
The field data were first categorized into 38 themes (see Appendix) pertaining to the overall home
language environments of the four children. In the second round of the data analysis, the focus was on the
themes of the three categories and the eight sub-categories of microaggression, the latent emotional responses
of the victim/mother, and the home language environment. An analysis software program for qualitative data,
MAXQDA, was employed to assist in the analysis of the data.
Findings
Summary of Findings
The findings indicated that racial microaggression caused diffidence and emotional damage to immigrant
spouses, and these impacts were easily evidenced in the Taiwanese mixed families with language-delayed
children. However, not all of the themes and categories elicited in the previous American studies (Sue,
Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008) could be applied directly in the current
research. This difference might have occurred because racial microaggression can appear in forms that are
shaped by specific local contexts. Nevertheless, the findings indicated several similar themes of racial
microaggression between the Taiwanese context and Sues studies, although the topics of the incidents were
not the same as those in the American incidents. The results also directed our attention to the negative
psychological responses of the immigrant mothers, including isolation, incompetence at work, and passiveness.
These latent effects of microaggression echoed the findings reported in Sues (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, &
Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008) studies. The resulting damage prevented the victimized
immigrant mothers and other families from co-creating a functional environment for language learning for the
second generation, and instead, a dysfunctional environment was constructed for the children to learn the
language (see Figure 2).
The Emerging Categories of Microaggressions
In these four Taiwanese families with Southeast Asian immigrant spouses, several themes of
microaggression and their sub-categories emerged in daily family interactions. Microassaults and
microinvalidations of the immigrant mothers native languages and two sub-categories, assumption of
problem-maker status and second-class citizen of microinsults, recurred during the period of fieldwork.
Microassaults. A microassault is a conscious assault by people in the mainstream. The bias originates
from overt intentions to denigrate the targeted person. Two levels of microassaults were evidenced in these four
families. The first appeared at an environmental level, as the father of the first case expressed his anger at being
labeled the husband of an immigrant spouse by the school. In addition, according to the school counselor, the
father had transferred to his own family of his anger that was triggered by this negative stereotype, which he

742
had already internalized. The second level of microassault appeared inside these mixed families, in which the
communication styles, languages, and cultures of the immigrant spouses were overtly belittled. Vignettes of
examples are presented as below.

Figure 2. Summary of findings.

School counselor: I have an example of a father who feels very ashamed that he was called a husband of an
immigrant spouse. Our school has been holding several parenting workshops designed for such culturally mixed families.
I usually send out notices in advance to every qualified family. One day, a father sent to me his crying daughter and asked
me to stop sending them this type of notice. He was very angry to be acknowledged as a husband of an immigrant spouse
by the school.
Wangs father: If I could have made the decision again, I would rather not have married an immigrant spouse. She is
so difficult to communicate with! She has become such a burden to me!
Researcher: Do you speak Vietnamese with your child?
Chens mother: I have tried sometimes, but my husband and my parents-in-law want me to stop using Vietnamese to
talk to the child.
Microinsults. Microinsults indicate the form of an implied condescending tone when speaking to
someone or through nonverbal forms. In this study, it takes the form of assumption of problem-maker status
and second-class citizens.
Assumption of problem-maker status. One category of microinsultsassumption of problem-maker
status, occurred in most of these families. The microinsults in this project tended to assume that the immigrant
spouse was the cause of problems or had a flaw in her personality. The immigrant spouses were the targets of
derisive comments and were referred to as lazy persons and slow learners of Mandarin, and they were
deemed to be the cause of the childrens language delays. These negative stereotypes of the immigrant spouses
prevailed in almost every participating family.
Weis father: She speaks simple Mandarin and Taiwanese. She has been in Taiwan for more than nine years, but can
only speak simple Mandarin. She is just lazy!
Formsofenvironmentalmicroagressions
Microassaults
Microinsults
assumptionofproblemmakerstatus
secondclasscitizen
Microinvalidationsoflanguagesofthemothers
Consequentialstatusofmentalhealth
Isolation
Imcompetenceatwork
Passiveness
TheResultinglanguagelearningenvironmentsforthechildren

743
Language therapist: Weis mother does not accept the responsibility of rearing the children. Over the past several
years, many Southeast Asian immigrant spouses from Southeast Asia have come to Taiwan. I found that they have caused
some problems. The mixed children constituted a high percentage of the student population in rural elementary schools.
Many of these Southeast Asian mothers ran away and left their poor children to the fathers. Many of the immigrant
mothers just ran away and never came back.
Yus father: She does not like to interact with Taiwanese people Taiwanese bosses and workers tend to assume that
Indonesian spouses are prone to laziness and crime.
Chens mother: My husband and my sister-in-law thought at first that Chens language delay was caused by me. They
thought that it was I who was the problem because I had a strong accent when I was speaking Mandarin.
Second-class citizens. The larger Taiwanese population views the immigrant spouses as second-class
citizens due to two major policies that generally disadvantage immigrant spouses. First, in some suburban
counties, immigrant spouses must take a written Chinese test to obtain a drivers license to operate the most
common transportation vehicle in Taiwan, a scooter, regardless of their level of Chinese literacy; and Second, a
new immigration policy full of discriminatory laws was recently established. Any immigrant spouse must have
evidence of having deposited a large amount of money, equal to USD 14,000 in her bank account to apply for
Taiwanese citizenship. These two policies generally display the environmental biases that cause immigrant
spouses to be perceived as second-class citizens.
Yus father: She drove the kids around on a scooter, but she did not get a drivers license. I have gone to different
governmental institutions. They told me they did not prepare any special test for immigrants. All the immigrant spouses
need to take written tests in Chinese in Taiwan.
Wangs father: The government set a new policy for immigrant spouses who apply for a Taiwanese identification. An
immigrant spouse will need to deposit NTD 400,000 in her bank account (approximately USD 14,000) if she wants to
apply for Taiwanese identification. If I had that much money, I would not need to marry an immigrant spouse from
Southeast Asia.
Microinvalidations. In this study, microinvalidations appeared in the form of invalidating the native
languages of the immigrant mothers. Compared with the microassaults on the mothers languages in the
previous section, microinvalidations were more implied and indirect ways of invalidating the mothers native
languages. Further, their languages were generally suggested to be ignored by their families, and the
immigrant mothers illiteracy in Chinese language was regarded by the families as a personality flaw or
weakness.
Researcher: Did she talk to the kids in Vietnamese?
Yus father: Seldom. She talked to them only in Mandarin.
Researcher: What languages do you expect Yu to learn well?
Yus father: After she has learned Mandarin well, then she can learn English.
Researcher: In what language does your boy talk to you?
Weis father: In Taiwanese.
Researcher: The same with his mother?
Weis father: The same: Taiwanese.
Researcher: What languages do you want Wei to learn?
Weis father: Well, if he can learn Chinese well, then English. His mom can also speak English. She learned English
in Indonesia.
Consequential Status of Mental Health
The immigrant mothers living in the areas where microaggression was perpetrated were found to struggle

744
with issues related to their mental well-being. The three themes related to the mothers emotional problems that
emerged from this study were the mothers isolation, incompetence related to work, and passiveness. This
finding echoed Sues (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008) descriptions
of the effects on the mental health of victims of microaggression.
Isolation. According to the descriptions of the fathers, the immigrant mothers easily felt to be isolated.
Yus father: If you work in the factory, you need to be very sociable and get along with other coworkers. She did
not adapt herself very well to the social network among Taiwanese laborers. She felt that other coworkers badmouthed
her! She does not make friends with any Taiwanese. She even sometimes rejects people from her homeland.
Weis father: She does not go out and hang out with people. She has few contacts with people outside the family.
Researcher: How long has your wife (Weis mother) been here?
Weis father: About nine years.
Researcher: Did she meet any good friends here?
Weis father: She does not talk to any other people outside the family, not even to the Indonesian women in the
neighborhood.
Incompetence related to work. From the interviews with the schoolteacher and the fathers, the
victimized mothers were evidenced to lack competence to work in their communities.
Schoolteacher: Weis mom is very incompetent. She could not even finish the task assigned by the leader of the
volunteer mothers. No one in this neighborhood wants to hire her, even for a tentative job, because they do not believe that
she can do it well.
Yus father: She (Yus mother) prefers to work on the tea tree farm. She likes leaf-picking because it is individual
work. She is not able to work in the factory because then she would need to interact with other Taiwanese.
Passiveness. The immigrant mothers were generally regarded by people around them as holding passive
attitudes.
Language therapist: Weis mother looks to be in poor health. She is so skinny! She looks quite passive According
to Weis schoolteacher and neighbors, Weis mom is quite lazy, very lazy, very passive!
Language therapist: I knew that she (Yus mother) was depressed for several years when Yu came to language
therapy. She did not talk to me at all in the beginning.
The Resulting Language Learning Environments for the Children
The language learning environments for the children of mixed heritage in this study appeared to be
constrained. The two main themes that emerged from the field data were insufficient linguistic interactions
between the mothers and the children and the mothers lack of understanding of the learning format in
Taiwanese schools. The insufficient linguistic interactions were the result of the mothers diffidence and
insecurities associated with using their

second language, Mandarin. Similar causes might also
have discouraged immigrant mothers from exploring and understanding the learning format in Taiwanese
schools.
Insufficient linguistic interactions between mothers and children. The following conversations
indicate that the mothers did not actively interact verbally with their children.
Researcher: Mrs. Yu, do you plan to do anything to help Yu to learn the language better?
Yus mother: (Silence).
Yus father: She might just leave it to me.
Researcher: Is it just because she looks up to you?

745
Yus father: I need to make most of the decisions. Even now, she is not willing to take the kid to the hospital for
therapy by herself. She wants me to go with her every time Sometimes, I tell her that I am also a person with limitations.
It is impossible for me alone to provide all the necessary resources for this family.
Weis father: Weis mother is not able to speak or understand Mandarin well. Wei uses and learns Mandarin in
kindergarten. But when he gets back home, his mother does not understand what he has learned in school.
Lack of understanding of the learning format. According to the family and teachers of these families,
the immigrant mother seemed to be unfamiliar with the educational values and school format.
Wangs aunt: You (Wangs schoolteacher) should help us in telling his (Wangs) mom not to take Wang to Vietnam
during the school semester. It influences his performance in school.
Wangs schoolteacher: Oh, yes, it reminds me that Wang took a two-week leave to go to Vietnam with his mom
during the midterm last school year. It did influence his schoolwork!
Wangs aunt: She (Wangs mother) does not understand the importance of schoolwork and just takes Wang back to
Vietnam anytime she wants.
Conclusions
Many people in a dominant society unconsciously believe that children who have an immigrant/minority
parent might learn languages more slowly due to their disadvantaged immigrant/minority status. Most of the
research on how to enhance the learning of language-delayed children reduces the scenario to that of a sole
character, the child, or of two characters, the child and the mother. Thus, according to these studies, the
cognitive skills of the child or the mothers child-rearing methods might easily be assumed to be either the
entire, or at least a partial, the cause of the language delay. This study went beyond this single- or double-
character scenario to address some deeper causes that are embedded in the infrastructure of the society. In the
case of Taiwan, hostile racial microaggression is likely a potential cause of language delay among children of
mixed heritage.
According to the field data, different themes of the microaggression perpetrated against the immigrant
mothers were evident among the four participating families of the children who are language delayed. Similar
to the many cases reported by Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, and Torino (2007), Sue et al. (2007), and Sue et al.
(2008), the latent damaging effects of microaggression were apparent in these immigrant mothers as they
responded to derogatory speeches and condescending situations with negative emotional responses, such as
isolation and passivity. There is little doubt that these immigrant mothers were unable to provide a language
learning environment with abundant linguistic stimulation for their children, and they were also not capable of
assisting their husbands in doing so. Thus, it can be concluded that the deficient language learning environment
was actually rooted in the microaggressions perpetrated by the mainstream society.
Due to the limited number of participants in this study, it would be inappropriate to generalize the results
and claim that racial microaggressions in the environment is the only causal factor in language delays in
children of mixed heritage. Furthermore, it is not the main purpose of this study to single out Taiwan as a
nation that discriminates against new immigrants as it might be part of the universal nature of humans to
condemn or think less of people who belong to other groups. Instead, this study aimed to identify the
significantly harmful results of unconscious racial microaggression perpetrated by any mainstream society. The
extent of the consequences can go far more beyond what the perpetrators expect when they engage in behaviors
of microaggression. In fact, the latent effects were so severe that they impacted the development of the next
generation and the development of the school system, thus affecting the whole society. As suggested in Sues

746
(Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, & Torino, 2007; Sue et al., 2007; Sue et al., 2008) papers, the best way to deal with
racial microaggression is to acknowledge it and bring it out into the open, rather than covering it up or hiding it.
With hope, this study will provide a reflective direction for studies in Taiwan regarding how to perceive and
how to assist children of mixed heritage who are delayed in language development.
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Appendix
Code System
Academic achievement of the child
Care-taker of the child
Childrens attitudes towards the mothers language and culture
Childrens bicultural experiences
Childrens bilingual experiences
Childrens cultural identities
Common characteristics of the two groups
Delay causes: possible causes of language delay claimed by the family members or the language therapists
Difficulties encountered by the immigrant mothers
Familial problems
Familial supports for the mothers adaptation
Family geographic background
Family support for the mothers heritage language
Fathers educational expectation for the child
Fathers role in the family
Fathers linguistic events with the child
Fathers background
Language development
Language therapy
Linguistic environment in the family
Macro factors of the linguistic environment
Mandarin proficiency of the mother
Marital relationship of the parents
Micro factors of the linguistic environment
Microagression/micorinvalidation
Microagression/microassault
Microagression/microinsult
Mothers adaptations
Mothers role in the family
Mothers background
Mothers social circle in Taiwan

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Mothers educational expectation for the child
Parental attitudes towards language therapies
Participations in the orientation programs (mother)
Preschool or kindergarten experiences
Progress of the language therapy
Social supports or interventions for the mother
Socio-economic status of the family

October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 749-760
Enhancing Teacher Quality in the U.S.: Developing

Reform-Oriented Teacher Education Programs
for Elementary Science Teachers
Thomas J . Diana
Utica College, New York, United States

Sudipta Ghose
Delhi University, New Delhi, India;
Utica College, New York, United States

This paper provides an overview of reform efforts made to strengthen elementary science education in the U.S.. To
sustain our place as a world leader, it is crucial that the U.S. not only continue to make gains in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics, but also for the citizens of the U.S. to have a firm grounding in science and how it
applies to their daily lives. This can be attained by having effective, reform-oriented science teachers in all
elementary classrooms. This paper discusses research directed towards determining crucial components which
influence elementary science methods courses and offer innovative strategies for enhancing the quality of science
teacher education programs.
Keywords: teacher education programs and policy, preservice teacher education, teacher education reform, teaching
elementary education (Grades pre K-6), technology, science, science education
Introduction

As the 21st century moves forward, the educational system in the U.S. is continuously subjected to intense
scrutiny. While, current stakeholders in K-12 education are primarily concerned with the economic difficulties
in the field and how to evaluate both student learning and teacher effectiveness, concerns over the status of
education in the U.S. and the desire to maintain our prominence as a world leader exist. As the need to maintain
high quality education in the U.S. has been recognized, there is a significant awareness of the role played by
teachers and teacher education programs. Throughout U.S. history, the education system has undergone several
major waves of reform in the hopes of creating a system that fosters successful learning at all levels (Abell &
Lederman, 2007; Hurd, 1986). Over the past 50 years, science education has gone through continual waves of
reform and also been subjected to intense scrutiny.
Beginning with the launch of the earth-orbiting satellite Sputnik in 1957, the A Nation at Risk report by the
National Commission of Excellence in Education published in 1983, and more recently with the report Rising
Above the Gathering Storm published in 2005, U.S., science education is at a crossroad in determining how
best to meet the needs of our future citizens.
This crossroad for science education includes developing the NGSS (next generation science standards)

Thomas J . Diana, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Education, Utica College.
Sudipta Ghose, Ph.D., associate professor, S.P.M. College, Delhi University; formerly visiting professor, Utica College.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
ENHANCING TEACHER QUALITY IN THE U.S.
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which will guide K-12 science teachers for years to come (National Research Council, 2012). The concern of
the current status of K-12 science education is persistent among the stakeholders in the field of science
education who continue to debate over the most effective ways to prepare and support both elementary and
secondary science teachers. However, there is a clear consensus that teachers do play a significant role in the
development of children in the U.S. (Hanushek, 2011; National Commission of Teaching and Americas Future,
2003).
The U.S. mirrors every society in its attempt to determine how to adequately prepare the current
generation of youth for life and work in the decades ahead. Societies continually refine their educational system
in an effort to make adjustments based on the changing times (Yager, 2004). The following describes the most
recent reform mandates aimed at enhancing the field of science education in the U.S..
Recent Efforts to Improve Science Education in the U.S.
The U.S. is vigorously continuing its attempts at systematic reform as these national initiatives continue to
have substantial influence on all educational disciplines. Most notably, the federal NCLB (No Child Left
Behind) Act of 2001 calls on educational practitioners to use scientifically-based research in an attempt to close
the achievement gap that currently exists in American schools. The central goal of NCLB (now referred to the
ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act)) is to have all students reach proficient or advanced levels of
state academic achievement standards in both math and ELA (English-language arts) (Hombo, 2003). ESEA
legislation also requires that a highly qualified teacher be teaching in every classroom in America. Yet, in the
science education field, this legislation comes at a time when uncertified or inadequately prepared teachers are
teaching in thousands of science classrooms across the country.
In response to the growing need of qualified teachers, federal legislation has called for the need to bring in
30,000 professionals into the U.S. high school classrooms under the ACI (American Competitiveness Initiative),
which committed almost six billion U.S. dollars in 2007 and more than 50 billion U.S. dollars over the next 10
years. In partnership with the private sector, state and local governments, and colleges and universities, the ACI
aims to promote new levels of educational achievement and economic productivity. One of the most formidable
goals of ACI is to strengthen the quality of American education and give students a strong foundation in math
and science. More recently in 2009, the federal government developed a grant competition for K-12 schools
called the RTTT (Race to the Top) Fund. RTTT is a 4.35 billion U.S. dollars competition developed to spur
innovation and reforms in states and local school districts across the U.S. (U.S. Department of Education, 2009).
A key feature of the RTTT competition is the emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics) fields. RTTT is the latest national reform mandate to impact K-12 science education and the
results of this reform will hopefully lead to improved science teaching and learning and all levels, starting with
elementary science. Simultaneous to these federal mandates and programs, educational researchers have
continued to investigate elementary science education and its impact on student learning.
Research on Elementary Science Teacher Education
In the midst of these reform efforts, science education stakeholders have continued to try and meet the
challenges of developing and supporting K-12 science teachers. The CSMEEs (Center for Science,
Mathematics, and Engineering Education) report, Every Child a Scientist: Achieving Scientific Literacy for All
(CSMEE, 1998) stressed that all students should have strong content knowledge in science education and the
751
curriculum should enable them to gain an understanding of the science and technology that they need in todays
society. In addition, the reports Taking Science to School (National Research Council, 2007a) and Ready, Set,
Science: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms (National Research Council, 2007b) suggested
that training preservice teachers in the same way in which they would be expected to teach in their future
classes. This includes a focus on clinically-rich field experiences and student teaching. The National Research
Council (2010) report, Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments and the research
reported by the CAISE (Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education) (2010), Making Science
Matter: Collaborations Between Informal Science Education Organizations and Schools, stressed the need for
further collaborations between science institutions, community organizations, and schools so that young
learners have engaging, comprehensive science learning experiences. By examining science teacher preparation
programs, we can better understand how to adequately prepare K-12 science teachers in an effort to improve
the science teaching and learning in todays classrooms. As a result, if as science teacher educators, we can
effectively prepare all science teachers to be successful in the classrooms, then, the results will likely be
translated into higher achievement by our K-12 science students.
Past educational research has proposed that learning to teach takes place along a continuum of
professional development experiences and programs which begins with preservice teacher preparation and
continues through the induction years (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999; Feiman-Nemser, 2001; Wilson,
Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2002). The NCTAF (National Commission of Teaching and Americas Future, 2003)
report argued that teacher preparation programs must play a significant role in ensuring that highly qualified
beginning teachers are available to fill our nations classrooms. A number of research studies have also shown
that teacher education programs can, and do play a pivotal role in recruiting, preparing, and supporting future
teachers in becoming effective school leaders (Adams & Krockover, 1997; Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy,
2002). Yet, there is a growing body of research that suggests these programs are often a series of disjointed
experiences that lack of meaningful coherence and fail to recognize that learning to teach is a continuum of
experiences (Feiman-Nemser, 2001; Garet, Porter, DeSimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Goodlad, 1990). Unless
teachers have access to lasting and meaningful professional learning opportunities throughout the entire
continuum of their careers, they are unlikely to become agents of change in bringing about improvements in
public education (Ball & Cohen, 1999).
There appears to be agreement among education stakeholders that effective science teachers should have
deep knowledge of the science content contained within the K-8 curriculum, know how students learn science
and how childrens understanding of core ideas in science builds across K-8, not just at a given grade,
understand the conceptual ideas that students have in the earliest grades and their ideas about science itself,
know how to assess childrens developing ideas over time, and know how to interpret and respond
(instructionally) to the results of assessment (National Research Council, 2007a). While these aspects of teacher
education should be developed during the teacher education program and continuously during their teaching
career, like in any learning situation, preservice teachers come to teacher education classes with varying levels
of knowledge on these aspects of teaching and learning. Nevertheless, it has been shown that the development
of teachers knowledge required to teach science effectively depends on: (1) teachers having a strong
conceptual knowledge of the content; (2) teaching experience with respect to specific topics; and (3) knowledge
of students conceptions and learning difficulties (Smith, 1989).
If we focus our research efforts on how to effectively prepare teachers, the results will likely be translated
752
into an overall positive impact on the students in the classrooms. Teacher education and the professional
development of beginning elementary science teachers needs to continue to be the subject of more in-depth
research investigations. In an effort to determine the best methods of supporting beginning science teachers,
past researchers (Luft & Cox, 2001; Luft & Patterson, 2002; Luft, Roehrig, & Patterson, 2003) have focused on
teacher preparation programs to determine how to meet their needs as they make the transition from their
formal education programs to the early years of their careers.
This paper extends this effort and discusses preservice elementary science teacher education in hopes of
preparing them for successful careers in the science teaching field. In addition, this paper examines several
critical professional development components of elementary science methods courses in an attempt to meet the
needs of preservice science teachers and support their professional learning as they make the transition to their
own elementary science classrooms.
Context
This paper discusses the central components which influence elementary science methods courses and
how to overcome the obstacles often found in preparing preservice elementary teachers to teach science. These
components include integrated professional learning experiences, reform-oriented teaching methods,
microteaching lessons, elementary science fieldwork experiences, examining misconceptions of both students
and teachers in science, and lesson/unit planning.
Although numerous studies have been conducted to investigate science teacher education programs in the
U.S., few studies have explored the way in which elementary science methods courses have impacted the
preparation of teacher candidates. In addition, few studies have centered on how to support beginning
elementary science teachers as they progress into the early years of their careers.
As recent reforms in the U.S. education have shifted the attention towards teacher education, the role that
teacher education programs play has become a focal point in the preparation of our future elementary science
teachers. Most education stakeholders claim that educational reforms, including the federal NCLB Act of 2001,
have caused a watering down of the science curriculum (Nichols & Berliner, 2007). Until 2007, state mandated
testing focused on math and ELA. As a result, many schools were forced to cut back on their science
curriculum. Starting in 2007, states have to test students once a year in science within three grade spans: 3-5,
6-9, and 10-12. For most science educators, the hope remains that the state mandated testing will cause a
renewed focus on science teaching and learning in the elementary grades, even though at this point the scores
will not count toward schools meeting AYP (adequate yearly progress). Along with the renewed focus on
science teaching in elementary schools comes a key question on what science elementary teachers should know
as they enter the teaching profession in order to be able to balance the challenges of a high-stakes testing
environment and meaningful science learning. This question has plagued science teacher educators for years.
Elementary Science Methods Courses
The overarching goal of elementary science methods courses is to provide preservice students with
practical and theoretical knowledge that they need to become highly effective classroom teachers in elementary
science. Elementary science teaching is complex and requires a solid understanding of science concepts, lesson
and unit planning, curriculum development and modification, and appropriate teaching and assessment
strategies. The objective of the course needs to prepare the preservice students for the student teaching
753
experience with the knowledge and skills that are essential for effective science teaching to occur. Emphasis
should be placed on teacher decision-making that is research-supported. The decision-making promotes
ongoing professional development practices throughout the preservice teacher education program and into each
students career as an educator. The science methods course should also be designed to provide a
comprehensive overview of the objectives, skills, concepts, experiments, materials, and methods necessary to
teach science to elementary school children. The integration of the curriculum also needs to be addressed.
Methods of cross-cultural language and academic development should also be integrated into the course. The
class activities should be geared toward engaging preservice students in as many authentic science teaching and
learning experiences as possible. Students enrolled in the teacher education program discussed in this paper
participate in microteaching episodes, demonstrations, role-playing exercises, class discussions, and inquiry
activities throughout the semester.
Methods
This paper represents a small scale inquiry project aimed at reforming one elementary science teacher
preparation program. The authors of this paper discussed, developed, and incorporated a hands-on and
minds-on science methods course correlated with state and national science education standards, for improving
and strengthening preservice science teacher education. One of the authors, who was also the course instructor,
developed the course content for preservice elementary science teachers. The other author served primarily as
an observer. The course material was presented to the undergraduate students in two lectures per week, each
lecture lasts one hour and 15 minutes. The following will describe the key components of the methods course
(see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Key components of elementary science methods course.
Elementaryscience
methodscourse
Microteaching
Misconceptions
Fieldwork
Experiences
Technology
Integrated
Learning
Lesson&
UnitPlanning
Reflection
754
Context of Elementary Science Teacher Education Program
School
The E-STEP (elementary science teacher education program) is one of the several programs offered at a
private liberal arts college located in the northeastern region of the U.S.. Other programs include arts and
sciences, health professions, and business and justice studies. The private college has 37 undergraduate majors,
21 minors, and 21 graduate programs with a total enrollment of 2,537 undergraduates and 736 graduates. There
are 128 full-time faculties.
Program
The E-STEP is designed for candidates who are seeking state certification in early childhood and
childhood areas. The candidates major in a liberal arts field (for science, these include: biology, chemistry,
physics, and geology). In order to be state certified prospective teachers, they are required to complete a
bachelors degree, including the teacher education program requirements, and pass the mandatory state teacher
certification examinations. Courses in the teacher education program include both observation and fieldwork in
diverse educational settings as well as regular course work.
One of the major aims of E-STEP is to provide preservice elementary science education students with a set
of integrated and coherent experiences that will continually expand their professional development as science
teachers. These experiences permeate throughout the entire program, although they become a major focus area
within the elementary science methods course. These experiences give students the opportunity to consider
their current conception of effective science teaching and learning and also offer them the chance to reflect on
their own pedagogical growth and change as their ideas develop over time. At each stage of the program,
preservice students are placed in situations where they can refocus their ideas or modify them to fit their
constantly evolving conceptions of what it means to be an exemplary science teacher.
Participants
During the spring semester of 2012, 20 undergraduate students were enrolled in the elementary science
methods course at the private liberal arts college described earlier. Enrollments into the childhood or early
childhood/childhood certification program are for any student who has an interest in education. Once admitted,
students continue through a sequence of coursework and fieldwork experiences until their final culminating
experience, student teaching or teaching practice. None of the students enrolled in the course has extensive
experience with science beyond their K-12 schooling. All of the students enrolled in the elementary science
methods course were in their third or fourth year of college. The following sections describe the central
components of the reform-oriented elementary science methods course.
Microteaching Lessons
Microteaching in teacher education programs serves many purposes. The microteaching experience is
often the first real teaching experience for many teacher candidates. As novice teacher candidates prepare to
enter the profession, the more experience they have, such as preparing to teach, presenting their lessons and
teaching to a group of learners, and then reflecting on their teaching experience, the smoother the transition will
be when they have their own classroom. Microteaching gives students the opportunity to experiment with
teaching in a controlled setting. In addition, microteaching also allows peers to observe and critique various
teaching behaviors and techniques.
During the methods course, each student develops two lesson plans that attempt to exemplify inquiry
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science teaching and learning strategies covered in the course. One is focused on the physical sciences while
the other on the living environment. These lessons are designed around the state learning standards, as well as
the National Science Education Standards, using the state core curriculum guide to select appropriate science
content. Once, feedback on their original lesson plan is given by the course instructor, each student then teaches
these lessons to a group of science learners. Feedback from the instructor and other students is provided to the
teacher immediately following the microteaching episode. Ipad technology is used to record the teaching
episode and immediately following the lesson, the course instructor plays several segments of video focusing
on strength and areas that are in need of improvement. Areas that are consistently viewed and commented on
are questioning strategies, teacher presence (voice projection, tone/pitch, etc.), and teaching strategies. Students
then reflect on their teaching experiences based on their own beliefs regarding the lesson in addition to the
feedback from the course instructor and peers. The focus of microteaching lessons is not on developing a
flawless lesson, but on how each lesson can be improved.
Integrated Learning
With the current emphasis being placed on math and ELA learning in the elementary curriculum, science
teachers continually feel the pressure to be able to teach science. One strategy to effectively teach science
content while maintaining a focus on both math and ELA concepts is to teach science through an integrated
approach. Incorporating science within the math and ELA curriculum is a strategy that elementary teachers can
employ to develop lessons that correlate to the state and national standards as well as engage students in
meaningful science learning. Two examples include teachers utilization of trade books while teaching the
science curriculum and analysis of mathematics data from in class science activities (National Science Teachers
Association, 2003). The aforementioned microteaching lessons in the science methods course consist of an
integrated learning component, so preservice teachers can have the experience of developing and teaching
interdisciplinary lessons.
Fieldwork Experiences
Each preservice elementary science teacher experiences at least 20 hours of fieldwork in an elementary
science classroom. The fieldwork component of the methods course is designed to provide students with a way
to experience theory in action. Students observe experienced science teachers as they work with children in
their classrooms. Students are strongly encouraged to spend the majority of time in the field trying out the
techniques and strategies that are covered in the methods course. Since each field site is unique, students are
expected to work with their field site mentor teacher(s) to create an experience which is meaningful to them.
Ideally, students work with children in a variety of ways throughout the semester. Each K-6 science teacher
videotapes himself/herself teaching at least two lessons during his/her fieldwork experiences. In addition, each
science teacher may be observed by a college supervisor in addition to the host teacher. The evaluation reports
from these observations can be collected as a source of data related to the preservice science teachers
demonstrated classroom practices covered in the methods course. Ideally, the fieldwork experiences should
reflect the philosophy of the science teacher education program. For example, reform-oriented philosophies
including such items as inquiry, constructivism, and inclusive practices are focal points for the E-STEP program.
Misconceptions
Misconceptions are prevalent both in science teaching and science learning. Beliefs, ideas, and concepts
that in conflict with currently held scientific thought remain a challenge for both the elementary science
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teachers and the elementary students. Misconceptions continue to be a common issue that science teachers
consistently need to overcome in K-6 classrooms. Effective science teachers need to learn how to effectively
identify student misconceptions, and then, address them through their instruction (Davis & Smithey, 2009).
When it comes to misconceptions, the bottom line is that if a science teacher does not identify student
misconceptions (by making assumptions of what students understand), then, students will not likely to undergo
conceptual change. Misconceptions serve as one focal point during the elementary science methods course.
Students interview a group of science students regarding a specific science content area covered in the
elementary curriculum. Preservice teachers are asked to probe student misconceptions in their fieldwork
classroom and reflect on their experience interviewing students. First, students need to determine their own
knowledge (or lack of knowledge) of a particular science concept, and if needed, learn the scientifically
accepted concept and idea. Students often add to their own understanding of science concepts and ideas and
explicitly think of ways in which teachers can identify and eliminate student misconceptions. Students then
reflect on their interview results and develop teaching strategies on how they can both identify and address
student misconceptions for the entire class.
Lesson Planning and Unit Planning
To provide further evidence of the preservice science teachers beliefs and practices, sample lesson plans
and unit plans are developed and taught during the elementary science methods course to further demonstrate
reform-oriented practices. Unit plans reflect student-centered lessons that are connected to one another in such
a way as to develop a coherent content story line instead of a series of unconnected science activities
(Moscovici & Nelson, 1998). Each student develops an extensive 10-day unit plan that includes: a unit
overview with objectives and a timeline of events, daily lesson plans, and assessment components. This unit
plan is developed by the student, but often includes ideas and materials suggested by the mentor teacher in
fieldwork. The unit plan encompasses a wide variety of inquiry-based teaching strategies, assessment
techniques, activities, and resources that demonstrate the depth and breadth of knowledge and skills the student
possesses. All elements of the unit plan reflect the intent of the National Science Education Standards with
regard to teaching elementary science for understanding through an inquiry approach.
Technology
An Internet search for educational technology will return thousands of results, many looking to sell a
product or provide a service. However, despite the abundance of educational technology available, there are
limited educational research studies about how technology is being utilized in the classroom, and there are even
less studies examining how to incorporate technology into teacher education programs. Educational researchers
have determined that technology is often underutilized and poorly integrated into K-16 science activities (Abell
& Lederman, 2007).
For adults, technology permeates almost every aspect of todays society and our work and personal lives
are greatly influenced by technology (Tinker & Vahey, 2002). It has been found that 78% of American children
from the ages of 12-17 go online regularly (Levin & Arafeh, 2002) and as many as 90% of American children
aged 5-17 use computers regularly (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Even more alarming is the fact that
99% of American schools are connected to the Internet with a 5:1 student-to-computer ratio (U.S. Department
of Education, 2004), yet, little is known as to how much impact the Internet and technology have on the
learning of our nations youth.
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Elementary science teacher preparation programs need to highlight the role educational technology plays
in elementary science education and demonstrate how elementary science teacher educators can integrate
technology into their curriculum. Emerging technology in the classroom has the potential to change the
traditional roles and behaviors of teachers and students and develop a new vision for teaching and learning. The
current generation of preservice students is technologically savvy, and therefore, adept at using technology in
the classroom. The NCTAF (2003) summary report, No Dream Denied, a Pledge to Americas Children, stated
that education stakeholders must:
Adopt modern technologies and make use of research findings that enable teachers to diagnose student learning needs
and deploy appropriate teaching strategies that customize instruction appropriately. Use Internet based, Networked,
learning communities that enable teachers and students to participate in high quality learning anytime, anywhere. (p. 18)
The NCREL (North Central Regional Education Laboratory) report stated, Educators must prepare for a
technology-rich future and keep up with change by adopting effective strategies that infuse lessons with
appropriate technologies (NCREL, 2005, p. 3). Technology and its impact on elementary science teaching and
learning must be a major focus in future research studies in the science education field.
Using the Internet for information, YouTube for exemplar, calculators for cutting down manual
calculations, and therefore, precious time is common place in education circles today. Virtual tours of remote
places from space to the depths of the ocean are all possible today with the advancing technologies that are
available to teachers. Utilizing e-books on tablet computers and e-readers which also have music, animation,
and interactive elements are one example of emerging technology elementary science teachers need to integrate
into their science curriculum. There are also several adaptations, such as listening to a narrator which may be
useful for children with special needs.
Technology can even be used for differentiating instruction for different learning styles; transmitting
science content to students unable to be present in class, etc.. However, some perplexing questions, such as the
desirability of using social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for teachers communicating with students and too
much texting in lieu of direct communication, remain unanswered. Reading an e-book may feel like playing a
video game and children may be distracted by animations and games like features within e-books which may
interfere with their learning. Although, the cons need to be weighed with the pros of technology today, what is
clear is that teacher education programs and science methods courses need to expose preservice teachers to the
benefits and drawbacks so that when they make the transition to their own classroom, they will be equipped
with the experience to make informed decisions when it comes to technology.
Throughout the spring semester of 2012, the course instructor integrated ipad technology into the
elementary science methods course. This served as a model of one type of technology students will need to be
accustomed with when they enter student teaching and as they make the transition to their classrooms. The ipad
represents one example for the course instructor to model several science teaching strategies. These strategies
include how to effectively provide science demonstrations, discrepant events, integrating video into the
classroom, utilizing cooperative learning, using a differentiated instructional approach, and using technology
for assessment purposes. The integration of ipad technology into the methods course gave students ample
opportunities to experience numerous Apps related to science and science teaching.
These Apps were used to demonstrate appropriate level science content in addition to serving as a tool
for modeling how to effectively use the ipad in the science classroom.
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In addition, students enrolled in the science methods course were able to experience how to choose
appropriate curriculum for the K-12 classroom. Students worked with Apps that were designed to help meet the
needs of students with special needs. For example, students were able to examine such Apps as: ABC
Dataan App created to assist students in ABA (applied behavior analysis) and Web Readeran App created
to provide text to speech for assistance in learning how to read.
Students were also able to examine interactive textbooks and analyze the pros and cons of integrating
digital textbooks into the science curriculum. Examples include McGraw-Hill texts for Biology, Chemistry, and
Physics.
Using the Ipad as a Reflective Tool During Microteaching
With the integration of ipad technology into the science methods course, preservice students are able to
immediately playback both video and audio from their microteaching presentations. This immediate feedback
assists the instructor to discuss the pros and cons of their lesson paying particular attention to specific teaching
behaviors (questioning skills, presentation style, voice projection, etc.). The integration of ipads into the science
methods course is used for the students to watch their teaching episodes on their own and reflect on their
teaching practices. By watching their actual lesson, preservice students are able to think about and reflect on
specific teaching behaviors that were displayed during their presentation. The ability to playback their actual
lesson significantly enhances their reflective practice. This reflective analysis allows the students to provide a
much richer description of how to evaluate their own teaching performance. The videos of actual teaching
practices can then be integrated into electronic teaching portfolio.
Discussion
One of the challenges in science education is keeping abreast with research in both science and methods of
science education. By bringing in reports of recent developments in science and technology into the classroom
in a manner in which students can understand and relate to, teachers will not only enable the young learners to
appreciate science, but also to be rational and reflective in their thinking and their everyday lives. Reports of
contemporary research regarding genetic engineering, global climate change, dangers of pseudoscience, and
other discoveries and inventions, when discussed in classrooms, enable students to be not only keep abreast
with new information, but also develop in their interest and passion for learning science. Similarly, everyday
new breakthroughs on how children learn and how children learn science are being unraveled. A teacher not
engaging with new research and research-based practices will continue to teach in confirmation with the
Piagetian Stages, though, current researchers, such as Shayer and Adey (2002), claimed that there is much more
on science learning. The goal of continuous progress in science education makes it even more imperative that
teacher preparation program and more specifically, science teacher preparation programs need to continually
refine their goals for teaching and learning which include making program changes, so that the continually
changing needs of preservice teachers are adequately addressed.
This paper provides a discussion of the need to further investigate preservice science teacher preparation.
More research is needed on the various aspects of teaching and learning and the feasibility of implementing
those aspects in real learning situations for their students. Preservice teachers need to experience the process of
articulating their evolving beliefs in relation to new knowledge gained through course work. They need
experience and practice in making that typically unconscious act conscious and reflective. Through that process,
preservice teachers can identify the gaps between their beliefs and practices while teacher education programs
759
need to develop and incorporate more effective ways of organizing teacher preparation and professional
development experiences that meet the changing needs of teachers.
Conclusions
As science teacher educators, it is imperative that we understand how to adequately prepare prospective
elementary science teachers to overcome the daily struggles that accompanied with the early induction years of
their career. In the science education field, there has been a widespread disagreement concerning the impact of
science teacher preparation programs on prospective science teachers. This paper discusses the impact key
professional development experiences have on elementary science teachers beliefs and practices at various
stages of their teaching career.
Science teacher educators need to continue developing professional development experiences that have the
potential of lasting impacts for many of their graduates well beyond their formal education. Following the
incorporation of these professional development experiences into teacher education programs, science teacher
educators need to investigate whether or not these specific experiences are meaningful and worthwhile.
Hopefully, this assessment performed by science teacher educators will then lead to changes in how these
experiences are incorporated into their programs.
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 761-771

Strengthening Industry-University Linkages Through
Public-Private Partnerships in Capacity Building
Mary Chepkite Lopokoiyit
Egerton University, Nairobi, Kenya
Grace Soprin Amurle
African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi, Kenya
Roselyne Wangare Gakure
J omo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

This paper reviews two case studies of innovations in public-private partnerships in capacity in public universities.
The paper discusses the efforts of RUFORUM (Regional Universities Forum) and the AERC (African Economic
Research Consortium) in capacity building in universities that are focused on retooling of lecturers and the
development of relevant curricula. These organizations focus on ensuring that teaching and research in the
universities are geared toward action learning and research that would address the needs of industry. The activities
carried out in the partnerships include: the development of faculty staff, exchange visits for staff and students,
industrial attachment and sabbaticals, curricula reform in universities to meet industry needs, and the development
of a Pan-African pool of expertise and community of practice that will drive the development agenda in Africa.
This has led to the development of relevant regional academic programmes, shared pool of expertise across
partner universities, improved teaching-learning experience, information sharing, and increased e-learning. The
inclusion of innovative courses in communication, personal development, and ICT (information and
communication technology) ensures that graduates transit better to the work place with faster returns to industry.
The partnership structure and functioning are explored to draw out characteristics, outcomes, and possible impact.
In particular, the roles of various partners and the role of these broker organizations in facilitating, sponsoring,
and managing the partnerships are examined. Lessons for up-scaling such partnerships are proposed and the
impact of such partnerships to industry growth is drawn. The paper stimulates discussion on developing such
partnerships to enhance the quality of graduates and the role of industry in developing relevant curricula in
universities.
Keywords: public-private partnership, universities, industry, broker organization, curricula
The Role of Higher Education in Economic Development
Rising demand for knowledge and highly skilled labour have changed the role of universities not only in
Africa but also in many countries in the world. The driving factor is the unprecedented evolutions in the global

Mary Chepkite Lopokoiyit, M.B.A., M.Sc., Department of Agricultural Education and Extension, Egerton University.
Grace Soprin Amurle, M.B.A., director, Finance and Administration, African Economic Research Consortium.
Roselyne Wangare Gakure, Ph.D., professor, School of Human Resource Development, J omo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
STRENGTHENING INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY LINKAGES

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economic environment now haunted by new challenges like the effects of climate change (De Ferranti, Perry,
Gill, Guasch, Maloney, Snchez-Pramo, & Schady, 2003). Africa is more vulnerable with not only the effects
of climate change but also issues on food insecurity, natural resource management, and conflict (AERC
(African Economic Research Consortium), 2010). The question is: Does Africa possess adequate human capital
with the requisite skills to cope with the globalization trends and the emerging challenges? The productivity of
highly-skilled human capital is undoubtedly the main contribution that universities make to a nations
innovation system. As argued by De Ferranti et al. (2003), efforts to upgrade the technological infrastructure
and stimulate innovation are unlikely to yield a high return if not complemented with sufficient stock of
advanced human capital.
Taking cognizance of these challenges facing higher education in Africa, the development of
public-private partnerships in strengthening the local capacity of individuals and institutions constitute a new
mode of operation in development. As noted by Hartwich, Gottret, Babu, and Tola (2007), few models of
public-private partnership are known to have succeeded in making significant impact in strengthening
capacities of partnership in Africa. According to Hartwich et al. (2007), prerequisites for successful
public-private partnership entail capacities to identify opportunities, develop common interest, tap into external
expertise, and commitment to the partnership agreement. UNDP (United Nations Development Program) (2002)
defined capacity as the ability of people, institutions, and societies to perform functions, solve problems, and
set and achieve objectives while capacity development is the process in which individuals, groups, and
organizations enhance their abilities to mobilise and use resources in order to achieve their objectives on a
sustainable basis. Efforts to strengthen the abilities of individuals, groups, and organizations comprise: human
skills development, organizational change and developments, networking, and changes in
governance/institutional context (ADB (Africa Development Bank), 2004).
Tennyson and Wilde (2000) argued that the partnership broker is a new kind of leader, who works behind
the scenes, often unrecognised and unacknowledged to bring about robust and productive partnerships for the
benefit of all, particularly those most at risk. This paper critically reviews the work of two partnership brokers
in higher education in Africa; the RUFORUM (Regional Universities Forum) (see Appendix) for Capacity
Building in Agriculture and AERC (African Economic Research Consortium) have identified a need and have
built successful and sustainable partnerships and networks of individuals and institutions across SSA
(sub-Saharan Africa) and the rest of the world. They have enabled the strengthening of capacity through
capacity building in advanced skills and knowledge development and sharing in higher education. RUFORUM
and AERC have enabled access to knowledge and information networks and linkages that would not otherwise
have been achieved by the individual organizations and universities on their own. As noted by Oghenekohwo
and Abu (2011), the inadequate public investment in higher education research provides a justification for
private initiatives in university teaching, training, and research.
The Role of Intermediaries and Brokerage Organizations in Partnerships and Networking
Tennyson and Wilde (2000) defined a partnership as an alliance between organizations from two or more
sectors that commit themselves to working together to undertake a sustainable development project. Such a
partnership undertakes to share risks and benefits, review the relationship regularly, and revise the partnership
as necessary.
Successful partnerships have partners who share four key characteristics:

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(1) Uphold the principles of openness and equity;
(2) Share risks and benefits;
(3) Adapt well to change;
(4) Work towards empowerment: Shared resources, capacity building, and institutional support.
As public policy comes to grips with these new ideas, it is becoming increasingly apparent that
intermediary organizations, which sit between and connect different agents involved in networks and
partnerships in developing countries are important as they fulfil boundary work and play a role in bridging,
bonding, and linking social capital (Fisher & Vogel, 2008; Hall, 2006; Heemskerk & Wennink, 2004;
Mytelka, 1993; Szogs, 2008). They are third-party catalysing agents necessary to bring partners together,
motivate them, provide information, and enable space for negotiations (Kristjanson et al., 2009). Networking is
about sharing and creates space for joint learning and innovation. Networking can only be effective when
network members are able to effectively communicate with each other, and when communication infrastructure
and information services are available. Achieving innovation depends upon the quality of the communication
and learning processes embedded in the networking efforts of relevant social actors (Heemskerk & Wennink,
2004). One of the most intriguing issues emerging from the study of networking for innovation is its apparent
arbitrariness: Different social actors generally perceive the same situation quite differently, coming to different
and often conflicting proposals for intervention. As a result, institutional arrangements are continuously
renegotiated and adapted, both formally and informally. This underscores the fluid nature of successful
configurations and the balance of power within these that may govern the course of innovation at any one
moment in time.
Characteristics of Networking as a Strategy for Improving
Inter-organizational Innovativeness
Several scholars have identified the role and characteristics that networks play in sustaining partnerships in
consortiums (Fisher & Vogel, 2008; Howells, 2006; Johnson, 2008; Kristjanson et al., 2009; Leeuwis, 2004;
Mytelka, 1993; Szogs, 2008). They are summarized as follows:
(1) Networks are purposefully created by agencies;
(2) Mutual inter dependence exists as the main reason for joining up;
(3) Technical solutions and intervention objectives are open to debate;
(4) Active participation of all members organizations/agencies is a formal requirement and a working
standard;
(5) Networks recognize and nurture mutual interdependence of actions/programmes for mutual support,
services, and participation in public debates;
(6) Network organizations and staff engage in communication for innovation.
Network Activities
Marques, Alves, and Saur (2005) summarized the key activities carried out by brokerage organizations in
managing networks.
Learning through joint reflection. The objective of encouraging learning through joint reflection is to
make use of the combined analytical powers of staff members of like-minded development agencies,
facilitating the sharing of knowledge ideas and experiences, hence, increasing the quality of operations

764
(Howells, 2006; Johnson, 2008). Successful networks require a critical mass of actors, in terms of quality and
quantity of the relationships. A small network may not be able to provide these conditions. Network
participants should exhibit complementary idiosyncratic abilities. The integration of these abilities provides a
base for common developments. The creative combination of complementary activities, knowledge, and skills
enables the desired synergies.
Services. Services within a network include training, communication, documentation, intellectual property
management, and information services (Leeuwis, 2004). In providing these services, the network organization
tries to make optimum use of existing capabilities and facilities among its members. The opportunity and
frequency of informal gatherings appear to be important success factors in innovation networks because they
serve to create and reinforce trust-based relationships between partners (Kristjanson et al., 2009; Van Lente,
Hekkert, Smits, & Van Waveren, 2003).
Advocacy. Advocacy is the activities performed or facilitated by the network organization on behalf of its
members with respect to participation in the public or government development debate, putting forward the
aims related to their mission statement and clients. The network may formulate proposals on contemporary
development issues, voice these in the public media, as well as organize conferences, contribute articles to
scientific journals and distribute relevant publications, and also build coalitions with relevant parties outside the
network or with other networks. Network success is dependent upon the capacity of its members to share a
common vision and clear cooperation goals (Howells, 2006; J ohnson, 2008). A strong and viable idea is needed
to give shape and direction to the network. This idea should be ambitious enough to congregate interests and
wills and, as stated before, give members a positive sense of ownership. Network brokers require the capacity
to continuously promote and evaluate relationships and processes within the network and to act in order to
adapt and reinforce its activities. The involvement of firms top executives in the network improves the
conditions for productive cooperation. The high-level representation in network meetings allow for agile,
flexible, and solidary decision-making processes.
Network management. This is the facilitating aspect of the network process itself and includes caring for
network communication infrastructure, network operating procedures, the monitoring of network resources,
activities, and outputs, and coordination with other organizations and networks (Coles & Dickson, 2003).
Network institutional structures, such as rules, regulations, and obligations, both formal and informal, are
necessary to create and manage relationships within the network.
From a policy perspective, it is important to understand the effectiveness of different brokerage
mechanisms and the processes that govern these organizations in specific contextual settings (German &
Stroud, 2007; Spielman, Von Grebmer, & Hartwich, 2007). The experiences of innovation brokers in higher
education are important in order to draw lessons from these cases. The paper discusses the factors that
determine their effectiveness and explains the circumstances that have led to the emergence of these
arrangements. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this experience to higher
education in Africa.
Networking and Collaboration in the AERC
The AERC has undertaken successful and innovative capacity building programmes over the last 20 years
in SSA (AERC, 2010). Established in 1988, AERC principle objective is to strengthen local capacity for
economic policy research in SSA through a synergetic programme combining economic research with post

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graduate training in economics (AERC, 2010). AERC strength is founded on two key success factors: its
network of researchers, students, resource persons, collaborating institutions, institutional partnerships, policy
makers, and funding institutions. The network comprises individuals and institutions from Africa and other
parts of the world. Its unique and lean governance structure enables AERC to operate independently, and yet,
synergistically feed into each other in ensuring relevance, quality, and maximum use of resources that support
an African based strategic agenda which is adaptable and evolves in tune with the challenges in the global
environment. Similarly, AERC ability to mobilize resources to finance the collaborative programmes is a
reflection of its record of achievements as noted by various evaluations and programme reviews (AERC, 2010).
AERC recognizes that generation of new frontier knowledge is acquired by building local capacity for
independent and rigorous inquiry into problems pertinent to the management of Africa economies. This is
achieved through a series of peer review research workshops coupled with technical workshops on
methodological aspects and other special research areas, such as climate change, gender, and communicating
research outputs to policy makers among others. Increasing the pool of researchers requires generation of a
critical mass of well trained individuals. AERC efforts in the postgraduate training programme of Masters and
Ph.D. is achieved through a collaborative model that brings together over 24 universities in over 20 countries
across SSA, covering both the anglophone and francophone countries. This collaboration requires the adoption
of a common curriculum in the teaching of core courses, lecturers exchange programmes between universities,
and the teaching of electives at a joint or shared facility to enable a large menu of elective courses to be taught
by highly qualified professional group of lecturers selected through an internationally competitive process.
High quality standards are managed and monitored by Academic Boards consisting of members drawn from
collaborating universities. This model has several positive effects including building capacities of collaborating
universities by improving infrastructure through support for equipment and teaching materials, lecturers
exchange programmes, faculty research support, and network linkages. The Ph.D. student thesis process is
equally linked to the research peer review and resource persons support to develop a higher quality of thesis
proposals to develop the research skills of these students. AERC facilitates the attachment of student and
researchers to various institutions locally and internationally to tap into frontier information, knowledge, and
practical skills. The model facilitates production of high quality group of competitive professionals, retention of
such capacity in Africa, and increasing the pool of quality teaching staff in the universities (AERC, 2010).
Through this effort, AERC has facilitated the training of over 2,500 researchers, 2,500 master students, and
over 300 Ph.D. students.
RUFORUM for Capacity Building in Agriculture
The RUFORUM for Capacity Building in Agriculture is an African owned network organization of 29
universities in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa established in 2004. The consortium had previously
operated as a program of the Rockefeller foundation beginning in 1992. RUFORUM is registered in Uganda as
a not-for-profit limited company and is currently in the process of registering as an international NGO
(non-governmental organization). RUFORUM is a consortium of 29 universities in Eastern, Central, and
Southern Africa. It is mandated to oversee graduate training and networks of specialization in the COMESA
(Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) countries. RUFORUM was explicitly created to engage
African universities with development processes in agriculture through strengthening (quality and quantity)
human resource capacity and subsequently agricultural research for development to improve the productivity of

766
small-holder farmers. It seeks to redress decades of underinvestment in agricultural training and research and
puts agricultural tertiary education and training in tandem with labour market requirements and actors in the
agricultural sector through regularised forums and collaborative training and research. The member universities
are presented in Appendix. A total of 265 M.Sc. and 99 Ph.D. students have been trained. Women consitituted
33.58% and 25.5% at the M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels respectively (RUFORUM, 2011). Over 150 academic staff
have benefited from RUFORUM support in terms of short course training and attending conferences. Several
learning platforms, at national and regional levels, have been held.
The partners and stakeholders in RUFORUM consist of not only member universities but also affiliated
universities, professional organizations in education, agriculture, research, and higher education, NARI/O
(national agricultural research institutes/organizations), ministries of higher education, regional and
international research organizations, international partner universities, regional and international funding
agencies, and a rich network of individuals in the region and internationally.
The RUFORUM governance structure is designed to promote ownership of the organization by the
member universities, while at the same time, ensuring good international practices and quality. RUFORUM is
run by a highly qualified staff head by a CEO (chief executive officer), who employs a total of 21 technical and
support staff (RUFORUM, 2011). There are several governance organs that are serviced by a regional
secretariat as the management and service delivery unit. Each of these organs has distinct responsibilities that
are interlinked or fed into each other. The key governance structure of the consortium are:
(1) Annual general assembly. This is the annual meeting of RUFORUM member universities and other
stakeholders and it is the supreme organ of the organization. It provides the overall orientation of RUFORUM
mission and programmes;
(2) Board of directors. The Board of Directors consisting of 15 members is composed of representatives of
vice chancellors, civil society, and private sector, NARS (national agricultural research stations)/regional
research and training networks and organizations, and continental/international organizations. The board meets at
least once a year and it is the legal representation of RUFORUM. It recruits regional staff and supports resource
mobilization and linkage to national governments;
(3) IAP (International Advisory Panel). In recognition of the increasing partnerships with international
organizations and funding agencies, the IAP was set up to provide international oversight and quality assurance,
mobilize international support and partnerships, and provide policy advice to the Secretariat and Board of
Directors. This panel consists of six eminent international experts, four from within Africa and two from outside
Africa. It is a new organ to support international recognition of RUFORUM and its programs;
(4) Technical committee. This committee is composed of five elected representatives of the participating
faculties in RUFORUM and seven representatives of stakeholders from outside the university system. This
committee is gender-balanced consisting of six male and six female. The committee meets usually twice a
year and is charged with establishing proposal write up guidelines and reviewing and approving of grant
proposals;
(5) Deans committee. This committee consists of deans of participating faculties. It meets at least twice a
year to review issues from the national forums and regional thematic groups and provide feedback information to
the Secretariat and Technical Committee on activity progress and issues emerging at individual university and
country levels.


767
RUFORUM Activities
In line with its mandate, RUFORUM has facilitated donors to maximize their assistance to higher
education and research in Africa by providing a brokerage role, monitoring the evaluation of programs, and
activities, providing fund management and auditory role. Through RUFORUM, participating universities have
strengthened research, postgraduate programmes, university curricula, and outreach activities to the rural
farmers. Specific activities and programmes include:
(1) J oint regional training programmes have been developed by universities under RUFORUM. These are
regional programmes in which students from the region can apply. This enables a regional credit transfer
system and increased student intake and visibility in target universities. A summary of these programmes is
presented in Table 1;

Table 1
Regional Postgraduate Programs and Host Universities Program in Host University, Country M.Sc. Level
Postgraduate programme University Country
M.Sc., research methods J omo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Kenya
M.Sc., agricultural information and
communication management
Egerton University
University of Nairobi
Haramaya University
Kenya
Kenya
Ethiopia
Ph.D., plant breeding and seed systems University of Zambia Zambia
M.Sc., plant breeding and seed systems Makerere University Uganda
Ph.D., dryland resource management University of Nairobi Kenya
Ph.D., plant breeding and biotechnology Makerere University Uganda
Ph.D., aquaculture and fisheries University of Malawi Malawi
Ph.D., agricultural resource economics University of Malawi Malawi
Ph.D., soil and water management Sokoine University of Agriculture Tanzania
Ph.D., ARI (agricultural rural innovation)
Egerton University
Makerere University
Kenya
Uganda
Note. Source: Summarised from RUFORUM annual reports.

(2) Strengthening skills and competencies of academic staff: Regional training sessions have focused on
proposal writing, data management, personal mastery, and experimental design gender mainstreaming;
(3) Strengthening regional networking and learning activities: These include hosting of women in science
conference for African women, RUFORUM biennial conference for universities and facilitating participation in
several network meetings. These meetings and learning platforms are used to interact, share research findings,
challenges, and to strengthen RUFORUM networks and partnerships;
(4) Regional e-learning approaches integrated into curricula of at least one regional programme. The
e-platforms, e-books, learning resources, and social networks for the regional programmes are maintained by
RUFORUM;
(5) Provision of scholarships to graduate students. Seventeen research Scholarships available on
competitive basis every year;
(6) Staff exchange programmes awarded through Food Security Center Initiative;
(7) The CGS (Competitive Grants System) comprises a number of different competitively awarded grant
programmes including the GRG (Graduate Research Grants), the CARP (Community Action Research
Programme) for staff, and the FAPA (Field Attachment Programme Awards) for students to engage with

768
prospective employers and clients of their research. Over 70 grants have been awarded, through the
RUFORUM TAC (Technical Advisory Committee);
(8) Facilitating a regional field attachment and student internship;
(9) Scoping studies on capacity gaps, M & E (monitoring & evaluation) practice and capacity gaps at
secretariat and member universities done;
(10) Developing the universities M & E capacity, including the specific strategies to build capacity to
track RUFORUM grants and research support, as well as develop capacity to track agricultural research and
training performance;
(11) Fundraising, fund management, and facilitating universities to fund raise through proposal writing.
Characteristics of the Brokerage Roles of RUFORUM and AERC
for Successful Partnership
The success of AERC and RUFORUM are hinged on several pillars of success attributed to the unique
characteristics of these organizations:
(1) Founded and established by a consortium of organizations with a common vision;
(2) Commitment by members and actors to support the institution;
(3) Clear governance and management structures;
(4) Well developed monitoring and evaluation systems;
(5) Lean, efficient, and flat organization structure;
(6) Highly qualified and innovative staff;
(7) Ability to raise and manage funds on behalf of donors weary of direct funding to institutions;
(8) Playing a mediatory role and auditory role between institutions and funding agencies;
(9) Ability to develop networks and partnerships;
(10) Activities based on gap/need studies and research in the identified core areas operation.
Common Activities Carried out by RUFORUM and AERC
An analysis of the activities, characteristics, and brokerage roles of RUFORUM and AERC reveals
common traits that contribute to the organizations success in brokering capacity building in higher education
among various governments, partners, and universities. These characteristics focus on building social capital
and trust through effective communication, networking, and prudent management of resources, and include:
(1) The ability to influence policy and organizational change in universities and ministries of education in
partner countries;
(2) Clarifying benefits, roles, and responsibilities among partners and stakeholders;
(3) Maintaining strong training and capacity development of university faculty;
(4) Facilitating exchange, pooling, and sharing of highly qualified expertise among institutions of higher
learning;
(5) Establishment and facilitating access to electronic knowledge databases, platforms and library;
(6) J oint development and sharing equipment, laboratories, and facilities for advanced research and
scholarly work;
(7) Development of regional academic programmes at Master and Ph.D. levels to meet emerging needs in
SSA;

769
(8) Initiating curricula review with stakeholders in the public and private sector to address industry needs
strengthening university-industry linkages;
(9) Facilitating relevant action oriented research to address local and industry challenges that impact on
development;
(10) Improved competencies in pedagogical and andragogical teaching methods to develop critical
thinking, problem-solving approach, creativity, and initiative in students;
(11) Recruitment of students from different countries to enhance and enrich learning, sharing, and
reflection experiences;
(12) Facilitation of student placement in SEP (supervised experiential programmes) preparing graduates
for better transition to the work place and bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Challenges and Opportunities
To achieve sustainable economic development requires effective management of a nations resources.
Knowledge-based workforce is a prerequisite for the rapid and sustainable transformation of an economy
(Ebong, 2007). The MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) (2000) articulated in its 8th goals and
development of global partnership for sustainable development. Likewise, UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) (1998) mandated in the world declaration on higher
education for the 21st century in its Article 17 on partnership and alliances, required higher education
institutions to engage themselves with public or private and the civil society groups in the proves of research
for sustainable development in African continent. Akinpelu (2005) noted that higher education system in most
African countries in their present structure is not contributing to achieving this mandate neither has it explored
to its fullest, the opportunities envisaged in public-private partnerships. Few innovative institutions have,
however, played a facilitative role in enhancing capacity of a large pool of individuals and higher education
institutions through effective public-private partnership in specific niche areas of economic development. This
model has so far been replicated by other institutions in other parts of the world, such as the LACEA (Latin
American and Caribbean Economic Association) and the AEA (American Economic Association). Likewise, in
Africa, the APHRC (African Population and Health Research Center) and the PASGR (Partnership for African
Social And Governance Research) are other examples of institutions that have replicated this innovative model.
It is recommended that these innovative networks and brokerage approaches implemented by RUFORUM
and AERC models could be up-scaled by private and public universities and other stakeholders in respective
industry regionally and internationally to facilitate the strengthening of the quality of teaching and research, and
to inform policy in Africa.
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Appendix
RUFORUM Member Universities:
Africa University, Zimbabwe
Catholic University of Mozambique, Mozambique
Eduardo Mondlane University Mozambique, Mozambique
Egerton University, Kenya
Gulu University, Uganda
Haramaya University, Ethiopia
J omo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Kenyatta University, Kenya
Kordofan University, Sudan
Kyambogo University, Uganda
Makerere University, Uganda
Mekelle University, Ethiopia
Moi University, Kenya
Mzuzu University, Malawi
National University of Burundi, Burundi
National University of Rwanda, Rwanda
Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda
Universit Catholique De Bukavu, Dr-Congo
University of Botswana, Botswana
University of Gezira, Sudan
University of J uba, Sudan
University of Lesotho, Lesotho
University of Malawi, Malawi
University of Nairobi, Kenya
University of Namibia, Namibia
University of Swaziland, Swaziland
University of Zambia, Zambia
University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 772-779

School Governance: An International Comparison

Simona Franzoni, Francesca Gennari

University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

To improve schools quality and autonomy, it is necessary the switch from school government models
characterized by higher powers to school governance models which produce consent around their own choices,
on the basis of a wide involvement of stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to verify if there is a governance model
which is able to build, manage, and develop school network, analysing the actual situation about the relationships
between school and its stakeholders and the actors role in the educational decision-making processes (as condition
for the establishment and development of network and their managing through new governance models) in some
European countries (such as Greece, Italy, Romania, Sweden, and the Netherlands). The analysis reveals beyond
the differences in the educational systems of all countries involved, the weakness of an effective governance model
where each key actor shares a common purpose and collaborates to draw on individual strengths, respect a variety
of perspectives, and actively promote learning opportunities and economic development.
Keywords: governance, international comparison, schools
Introduction
The success of the educational system is becoming increasingly important for the economic development
of society and the social growth of local, national, and international territories. Today, the European education
system needs to promote new models of the development of knowledge, and in particular, to define new
competences in the social and professional context.
As globalisation continues to confront the European Union with new challenges, each citizen will need a
wide range of key competences to be flexible to a rapidly changing and highly interconnected world. Therefore,
the mission of the educational system can be summarised as the development of knowledge, abilities, and
attitudes for personal realisation, active citizenship, social inclusion, and inclusion in the world of work. This
means to pursue the eight key competences for lifelong learning recommended by European Union
(2006/962/EC).
Nowadays, the school is called on to improve the quality of services, in order to respond to the educational
needs of the community. To optimise the use of public financial resources and the relations with its
stakeholders, the school needs the efforts of inter-institutional cooperation among the different actors involved
and the integrated development of educational services in order to respond to the educational and training
expectations of a local community (OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), 2011;

Although the article is the result of a team effort, S. Franzoni can be considered the author of sections: Introduction,
Empirical Research, and Discussion of FindingsGovernance; and F. Gennari, the author of sections: Discussion of
FindingsSchool and Local Community and Conclusion.
Simona Franzoni, M.B.A., associate professor, Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia.
Francesca Gennari, M.B.A., assistant professor, Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

773
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), 2008). The school should be
integrated within the local community so as to create a network (Caldwell, 2009), which implies the adoption
of a governance model where every actorschool, public authority, enterprises, universities, non-profit
organization, etc.plays a significant role in the territory.
In addition to the contributions to managerial and leadership models, development conditions of schools
refer to two main research fields in education: school effectiveness (Mortimore, 1998; Scheerens & Bosker,
1997; Teddlie & Reynolds, 2000) and school improvement (J oyce, Calhoum, & Hopkins, 1999), a new
paradigm called school governance, which has been characterized international education systems under the
spur of the public governance approach (Kooiman & Van Vliet, 1993; Bovaird & Loffler, 2002; Schedler, 2003;
Osborne, 1998; 2010). In particular, the public governance concerns the role of public administration in
networks. The networks are formed by public actors as well as non-profit organizations, enterprises, and
organizations as expressions of civil society in which the processes of dialogue and negotiation are activated in
order to foster cooperation on the development of projects and policies.
The school is the basic operational unit of the educational system, its core business is related, however, to
a complex network of relations of the following nature (Sliwka, 2003; Kenis & Provan, 2009; Klijn, Steijn, &
Edelenbos, 2010): vertical within the public system of reference; horizontal, with reference to all the actors of a
community, who have a direct or indirect interest in the quality of educational outcomes compared to their
expectations.
This situation and the progressive realization of the crucial role of the school for the economic
development of a community, has emphasised the need for a modern model of governance of the education
system aimed at enhancing the network of relationships with the various relevant actors, and seems to represent
the most appropriate way to safeguard autonomy of actors while maintaining the capacity to create synergies at
the same time and to achieve the best results in an environment characterised by increasingly financial
resources constrained.
This study is mainly intended to answer the following question: Which is the actual situation about the
relationship and the cooperation between school and its stakeholders and the actors role in order to safeguard
the quality of educational services?
Therefore, the article has the following research objective: To verify if there is a governance model which
is able to build, manage, and develop network analysing the actual situation about the relationships between
school and its stakeholders and the actors role in the educational decision-making processes (as condition for
the establishment and development of network and their managing through new governance models) in some
European countries (such as Greece, Italy, Romania, Sweden, and the Netherlands).
Empirical Research
The aim of the analysis is to verify the key actors role in the educational system, and the relationship and
the level of cooperation between school and its stakeholders in some European countries (such as Greece, Italy,
Romania, Sweden, and the Netherlands) and to understand if the model discussed in the section above can find
an effective application.
The tools used to conduct the empirical research were the focus groups (Morgan, 1997). In particular,
five focus groups were simultaneously made in the partner countries in February-March, 2011; they were
composed by about a dozen people representing the main categories of schools stakeholders, namely principals,

774
teachers, pupils (at least 14 years old), parents, and other stakeholders (politicians and employees of education
in the local public authorities, employees in vocational guidance and counselling service, executives of cultural
and sports associations, enterprises, universities, etc.). The questions addressed to all stakeholders were:
(1) Does integration exist between the school and the local community? Is there anything that can be done
in order to improve the relationship and cooperation between school and local community?
(2) How does each actor participate in the educational decision-making processes (since decisions are
taken till when they are realised)? Which could be the role of each actors to produce high-quality education
through more participation and responsibility?
Discussion and Findings
Questions proposed to people taking part in the focus groups reflect two areas:
(1) School and local community;
(2) Governance.
School and Local Community
Table 1 highlights the difference in answers given in the same country. In Greece, the stakeholders
opinions (principals and teachers) depend on not only the place where the school is situated, but also the people
working in it. Other external stakeholders, in particular, administrative staff working in offices of education
believes that school is not well integrated in the local community. Teachers who were detached from their
school post in order to serve education from an administrative (secretarial) position tend to believe that
cooperation between local authorities, parental boards, and other stakeholders is not always good, effective, or
with a positive impact on the school due to the excessive workload.

Table 1
Integration Between School and Community
What does integration exist between the school and the local community?
Principals Teachers Students Parents
Other external
stakeholders
Greece Different opinions Different opinions
Some initiatives,
but, not systematic
Not or moderately
connected
Not well integrated
Italy Strong integration
Various and sometimes
contradictory scenario
Some initiatives,
but, not systematic
Well integrated
Some initiatives,
but, not systematic
Romania (*) Well integrated Well integrated Very well integrated (*)
Sweden
It depends on school
location
Well integrated, but often, it
depends on teachers
commitment
Not so much Very well integrated
It varies from region
to region and school
to school
The
Netherlands
Answers are very
different, depending
on in which location
and schools
It depends on the location
Existing, but to
improve
(*) Close collaboration
Note. (*) Focus groups were not carried out for organizational reasons.

In Italy, opinions are contrasting; furthermore, there is a general satisfaction about the relationships
between school and community. The principals opinion refers to a strong integration of schools in their own
local community: There are experiences of cooperation between schools and the world of work for internships
and stages.
Many of such other external stakeholders recognize the social role of the school and its capacity to cope

775
with social problems/emergencies, but, the relations with schools/local public authorities are often difficult and
the co-operation is generally weak.
In Romania, stakeholders interviewed are substantially satisfied about integration between school and
community.
In the Netherlands, the answers depend on the location, otherwise, schools and communities seem to be
integrated as a part of labour market, socially via program activities of sport & exercises. Other external
stakeholders say that, in general, there is a close collaboration with school, but, not within the working field.
In Sweden, school and local community are generally considered to be well integrated, although, with
regional peculiarities. The contact with the local community is considered to be easier in early stages of
education. Students often felt they were less well integrated.
In Table 2, there are the stakeholders suggestions to improve the relationship between school and local
community. The answers differ according to the stakeholders category and the country. However, some
opinions are recurrent, in particular, in regard to the improvement of communication and tools for removing
bureaucratic ties and to favor greater involvement.

Table 2
Suggestions for the Improvement of the Relationship Between School and Community
Is there anything that can be done in order to improve the relationship between school and local community?
Others external
stakeholders
Greece
To open schools doors;
to remove bureaucratic
ties; and awareness of
the schools role in the
territory
To open the schools
doors; more
communication
Systematic dialogue
with other stakeholders
Initiatives
acknowledgement;
more
communication
Less bureaucracy;
society and local
community should be
fully informed of what
the school community
does, implements,
plans, aims at, or
aspires
Italy Proactive school
To open the schools
doors; to maintan
good relationship
Stable relationship
with the community
Involvement of the
social and cultural
initiatives of the
territory
Involvement of all
stakeholders towards
common goals,
optimizing resources
Romania (*)
Reinforcement of
partnership and
communication
Involvement of
students in extra
curricular activities
Involvement of
students in extra
(*)
Sweden
More emotional
involvement by
teachers and parents
School more careful
about territory
School more careful
about territory
School opened also
for extra curricular
activities
Schools should be
interested in the local
community and they
should be interested in
and take initiative with
the creativity
The
Netherlands
To make the school
visible for the
community
To open the schools
doors
To let people from the
field giving classes
(*)
Teachers should visit
the practice more or
have work experience

In Greece, stakeholders suggestions are made in two major directions. First, they tend to make school
more extroverted through various events, projects, community work, and volunteering; and second, they tend to
make curriculum less analytical and cognitive and more connected to real life and local community interests.
In Italy, there are a number of obstacles, such as financial and prejudicial ones, but, many suggestions are

776
given on improving cooperation with schools, non-profit organizations, families, and enterprises, in terms of
mobility, cultural, and social activities.
The Romanian skakeholders say that in order to improve the relationship between school and local
community, the schools need more communication and skill to promote performances and partnerships.
In the Netherlands, all groups suggested to open up school for community, make school visible by hosting
events, involve community in teaching processes, and make school fitness facilities available for local
community.
In Sweden, teachers, principals, and stakeholders highlighted the potential for a lot of co-operation within
the educational structure. Schools should be interested in the local community, and local community itself
should be interested in and take initiative with the creativity that students have.
Generally, the stakeholders interviewed say that there is, more or less, an effective or potential integration
between school and local community. All of them perceive the importance of this relation and they clearly
underline the need to improve it.
Governance
In regard to the effective participation of relevant stakeholders in decision-making processes, Table 3
shows that in Greece, the principal has a crucial role, characterised by wide responsibility, but not connected
with substantial authority. Other external stakeholders also report a limited involvement in the school
decision-making processes.

Table 3
Stakeholders Role in the Decision-Making Processes
How does each actor participate in the decision-making processes of the school (since decisions are taken till when they are
realized)?
Others external
stakeholders
Greece
Leading role in the
school unit with a lot of
responsibilities without
the corresponding
authority
Complex role, not
involved, but proposed
solutions given; lots of
constraints and
limitations
Limited
Little to none
involvement;
supportive role in the
learning process
Mediatory and
transactional role
Italy
Crucial, fundamental role
in any aspect of the
decision-making process
Significant role, but lack
of participation;
individual over collective
Have representation,
but not listened to
Listen to, but can not
take decisions; weak
representation; little
interests
(*)
Romania (*)
Information disseminator
coordinator
Organizer or
co-organizer of public
events and
volunteering activities
Participants, and,
sometimes,
co-organizer of extra
(*)
Sweden
Legal responsibility,
but they must involve
stakeholders
Through work teams and
directly with the head;
lots of opportunity to
influence
Not consistant
influence; difficult to
access the principal
directly
Representation in
school boards
Involved in
decision-making
and sustainability
of school
The
Netherlands
Very active role
Connecting theory with
practice and offer their
expertise
Can influence lessons
planning
(*)
Involvement in
development of
new curriculum;
participation in
public events
Note. (*) Focus groups were not carried out for organizational reasons. In particular, in Italy, other stakeholders did not take
part in the decision-making processes.


777
In Italy, the principal has a very important role in all decision-making processes, in the border of his/her
authority. Others (teachers, students, and parents) complain about a formal, but not substantial involvement and
the other external stakeholders category is not involved in this question because of its limited participation in
educational decision-making processes.
In Romania, the role of stakeholders interviewed seems to be contained in some initiatives of coordination
and organization but there is not a substantial participation in decision-making processes.
In the Netherlands, it is possibile to observe a very active role by all actors. In particular, the department
managers are responsible for the educational process in their own department.
In Sweden, only the students lament a limited involvement in the decision-making process. The principals
should make clear about suggestions and arguments to be discussed further and how parents do get involved in
decisions.
Table 4 shows the stakeholders suggestions for a more active participation in the decision-making
processes.

Table 4
Suggestions for a More Decision-Making Processes
Which could be the role of each actor within a more lively and participative school?
Others external
stakeholders
Greece More autonomy
Have a more
substantial role, as an
important and
respectful social
agent
There should be a
system of
decision-making
with students being
asked to participate
in a voting process
Family and school need
working together,
sometimes going
beyond the legislation
More active
engagement in some
aspects of school
Italy
More active role in
decision-making
process by all
stakeholders (real
school autonomy)
To work together;
to develop tools for
involvement and
team-working
Transparency and
listening to students
more carefully
Parents should be
trained to interact with
the school
(*)
Romania (*) More involvement More involvement
More organizers of
after-school activities
(*)
Sweden
To be open-minded
and capable to meet
people
Yet, good
opportunities to
influence
It would be good to
be more involved
with enterprises
To use parents
knowledge as many
have high competences
Perhaps need more
coordination from a
central point
authorities/government
The
Netherlands
An initiator and
ambassador with
influence in the climate
and feeling for safety
in the school
Have a better
equipment in order to
be able to improve
the training, and
teachers are able to
connect between
theory and practice
More dynamism (*)
More involvement and
introduce external
experts in the school

In Greece, principals and teachers hope to improve their role. In particular, they ask for a managirial role,
for less bureaucratic ties and for their engagement in the decision-making processes with all stakeholders.
Students would like to have a decision-making system with a direct engagement by means of a voting process.
Parents say that family and school should closely work together and many fields of school and family life could
be improved. The other external stakeholders should be included in some aspects of school administration and
in various school events.

778
In Italy, all stakeholders hope for a substantial participation in the decision-making processes in a very
active way. In particular, principals need to deal discussion about different choices in a systematic way with all
stakeholders. Students need more information about what happens inside and outside the school and they hope
to improve the dialogue with all stakeholders in decision-making processes. Parents need tools and traning to
improve their role and to better communicate.
In Romania, the stakeholders hope for more involvement by everyone. In particular, the students need to
be more involved in participation and organization of events and extracurricular activities.
The Dutch and Sweden answers are more focused on personal characteristics (open mind, capacity to
relate with others, etc.) than on external tools for active involvement.
In fact, the Dutch principals should be customisable and able to promote networking. The students would
like to interact with other internship places (as hospitals) and other external stakeholders propose to introduce
experts from practice into the school.
The Swedish parents and the other external stakeholders would have more activities and a clear division of
responsibility, indeed, educators have little time and external actors who want to work with schools can have
difficulty in getting a response.
Generally, there is a limited involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making processes of the school
with the consequent difficulty of moving towards common objectives and results. The majority of the partner
countries involved in the project are characterised by educational governance systems not marked by the
sharing of mission and strategies through the actors engagement in the educational choices.
Nevertheless, in all countries, all stakeholders involved hope for the development of a governance model
where each actor, according to its level of importance and defined responsibilities, takes part in the
decision-making processes.
Conclusions
The above considerations show that the school needs to apply a broader approach that is increasingly
oriented towards integration in local contexts. In gereral, a lot of focus groups put forward similar suggestions
for further integrationco-ordination, scope, and flexibility through a varierty of incentives aimed at teachers,
parents, students, and stakeholders in order to cooperate together with the future education. The stakeholders
response vary and reflect the different levels of school autonomy. Nevertheless, all of them say that the
advantages a school gets by participating in a network are immediately measurable referring to the possibility
of sharing investments, exploitation of innovation and technology, containment, and rationalization of
production costs and risks.
The considerations above highlight the need for the different European countries to commit themselves in
order to achieve, together with schools, well-structured and managed network systems consistent with the needs
for the improvement of overall benefits. Indeed, networking among institutions and individuals in education is,
therefore, increasingly seen as a powerful stimulus to organizational learning and development.
The analysis reveals beyond the differences in the educational systems of all countries, the weakness of an
effective governance model where each key actor shares a common purpose and collaborates to draw on
individual strengths, respect a variety of perspectives, and actively promote learning opportunities. Therefore,
an effective governance should encourage the sharing of a common vision and purposes among all stakeholders.
In this context, each actor, according to its level of importance and defined responsibilities, takes part in the

779
decision-making processes in order to pursue the mission of an educational system which is able to produce
new knowledge and competences, and in general, to participate to the economic development of society and the
social growth of local, national, and international territories.
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 780-785
UPAEP High School Summer Academy at Oklahoma

State University
Maria G. Fabregas Janeiro
Oklahoma State University,
Oklahoma, United States
Pablo Nuo de la Parra
UPAEP University,
Puebla, Mexico
Blanca Elena Lozano
Oklahoma State University,
Oklahoma, United States;
UPAEP University,
Puebla, Mexico

Short-term study abroad programs have grown in popularity during the last years. These programs are designed
to meet students specific needs. In 2012, UPAEPs (Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla) high
school requested OSU (Oklahoma State University) to host a two-week program for students enrolled at UPAEP
high school. These programs were designed and delivered by the UPAEP Liaison Office in the United States.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of designing and delivering a two-week program called
Summer Academy UPAEP 2012. This program took place in Stillwater, Oklahoma, at the OSU campus.
Twenty-five Mexican students participated in the program. This program was a new experience for both
institutions (UPAEP and OSU). The Summer Academy 2012 was a success. The students and professors
evaluations showed that the program exceeded their expectations. The goal of this program was to offer high
school students the opportunity of a short international experience, aiming to contribute to the improvement of
students leadership, entrepreneurship, and intercultural competence skills, preparing them to face the challenges
of the 21st century.
Keywords: summer programs, study abroad, high school, international programs.
Introduction

Employers around the world are seeking leaders and entrepreneur professionals who are able to work with
people from different cultures. These types of professionals are valuable and appreciated. This tendency leads
to an increasing number of students seeking comprehensive study abroad experience that will prepare and offer
them the required tools to succeed in a global market (Bhawuk & Brislin, 1992; Golay, 2006; Rizvi & Walsh,
1998; Stier, 2006). Higher education institutions have been provided these opportunities for years. However,
the opportunities for high school students are very limited. Short- and long- term study abroad programs have
proven to help facilitate students expanded global awareness and meet those specific goals and academic
objectives (Herbst, 2011; Keefe, 2008).
More than 85% of the higher education institutions in the United States are offering some kind of

Maria G. Fabregas J aneiro, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor, Colleage of Human Sciences, Oklahoma State University.
Pablo Nuo de la Parra, Ph,D., general director, International Relations of Graduate Programs and Research, UPAEP
University.
Blanca Elena Lozano, M.Sc., Oklahoma State University; M.A., UPAEP University.
DAVID PUBLISHING
D
UPAEP HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER ACADEMY AT OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
781
short-term study abroad programs, almost 250,000 students participated in those programs during 2010.
However, these opportunities and experiences are not as popular in other countries (Whalen, 2008). UPAEP
(Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla) is one of the few international universities that offers
these programs (Fabregas J aneiro, Lopez Fabre, & Tello, 2012). In 2011, UPAEP offered four short-term
academic programs to undergraduate students, these courses supported the institutional goal of increasing the
number of students traveling abroad (Fabregas J aneiro et al., 2012). Due to the success of four undergraduate
faculty-led programs in 2011, UPAEP decided to include high school students and designed summer programs.
The efforts were coordinated by the UPAEP Liaison Office at OSU. The Summer Academy 2012 took place
from J uly 7th to July 21st, 2012, at OSU (Oklahoma State University). Twenty-five UPAEP high school
students were enrolled and attended the Summer Academy 2012. Three professors accompanied the students to
OSU.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of designing and delivering a two-week program for
UPAEP high school students, called Summer Academy UPAEP 2012.
Theoretical Framework
Summer Study Abroad Programs
Short-term study abroad programs have grown in popularity during the last years. These programs are
more affordable than one or two semesters abroad programs, and can fulfill some of the needs of students
internationalization (Donnelly-Smith, 2009). The students are engaged in short-term study abroad experiences
for less than eight weeks. These programs are known to offer a more focused and intense international
experience for their participants (Donnelly-Smith, 2009; Mills, Deviney, & Ball, 2010).
High School Study Abroad Programs
High school is considered to be the most advantageous time to study abroad. During this period, students
are able to gain a sense of independence, develop critical thinking skills, practice tolerance, and develop
self-acceptance. They also meet new friends, have the ability to interact for the first time in an unfamiliar city,
and learn to speak another language. Studying abroad in high school provides options not otherwise considered,
developing leadership skills and adding insight into self-realization and personal development. It also
encourages students to improve their understanding of world politics, globalization, socioeconomic concepts,
and to be informed and educated citizens of the world, in journeys introduces study abroad programs for high
school students (Alabama State University, 2009; Buss, 1986; Smithsonian, 2009).
Although, many may consider summer programs (short-term) may not have long-term effects in the
learning process, a 2009 survey of more than 6,000 alumni from 20 universities, who had participated in study
abroad programs (Donnelly-Smith, 2009), reported no difference in the global engagement among students that
have studied abroad for longer or shorter time periods. This effect in the students is achieved in a more
affordable way than attending longer programs. The short-term programs are a good alternative for students and
professors who for different reasons may not be able to engage during long periods of time (Mills, Deviney, &
Ball, 2010). Short-term summer programs may be also used as a tool for recruiting future students for different
colleges (Fabregas Janeiro et al., 2012).
782
Participants Institutions
UPAEP is a private university located in Puebla, Mexico. Since it was founded on May 7, 1973, it has
become a recognized university with strong presence in the state and the region. UPAEP has a population of
more than 13,500 students enrolled in the undergraduate and graduate programs, and offers over 50
Undergraduate Programs, 33 Master Degree Programs, and 13 Doctoral Programs. UPAEP also has a high
school system, with nine high schools, in the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala. In December 2010, two of those
high schools were recognized by the International Baccalaureate to impart the diploma program (UPAEP,
2011).
OSU is a public, land-grant university located in the State of Oklahoma, in the United States of America.
It was founded in 1890, and by 2011 fall, its population was over 35,000 in the undergraduate and graduate
programs. OSU has four campuses located in Stillwater, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Okmulgee. OSU is
organized academically in colleges, such as Engineering and Architecture, Education, Administration,
Agriculture, Veterinary Science and Arts and Science, and School of International Studies and Outreach (OSU,
2012a; 2012b).
UPAEP and OSU started their academic relationship by signing a MoU (memorandum of understanding)
in 1992. This memorandum set the general framework to start the academic collaboration between both
institutions. In 2002, UPAEP and OSU started offering exchange opportunities for students and faculties, and
in 2006, OSU and UPAEP developed more than 19 Masters Dual Degree Programs. By 2013, OSU and
UPAEP are offering 38 Dual Degree Programs, including Master and Ph.D. Programs, having more dual
degrees than any other university in America. In 2011, both institutions started to offer short-term faculty-led
programs (Fabregas J aneiro et al., 2012; Fabregas J aneiro & Nuo de la Parra, 2012).
Development of the Project
Background
In September 2011, UPAEP Liaison Office at OSU received an authorization to organize summer
academy programs at OSU for the 2012 summer. High school students will travel with professors to OSU. The
program will be two weeks long. Both institutions got together and defined UPAEP Liaison Office
responsibilities. The basic responsibilities included: (1) determine the objective of the program; (2)
development of the day-by-day agenda; (3) selection and interviews of professors, staff, trainers, and
academic and cultural visits; (4) budgeting; (5) institutional authorizations; and (6) students invitations
(including parental authorization for minors).
Objective of the Summer Academy
The objective of the summer academy was to offer high school students the opportunity of a short
international experience, aiming to contribute to the improvement of students leadership, entrepreneurship, and
intercultural competence skills, preparing them to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Pre-arrival Responsibilities
Once the summer academy proposal was approved, the UPAEP Liaison Office defined the pre-arrival and
the development of the 2012 Summer Academy Program responsibilities. The pre-arrival activities included: (1)
adjusting budget according to the final number of participants; (2) hiring professors and staff members; (3)
designing final agenda, including academic and cultural visits; (4) staff training; (5) designing logo and
783
organize reading materials and orientation sessions; (6) receiving copies of passports and visas; (7) contracting
housing, transportation, classrooms, and meal plans at OSU; and (8) collecting release and authorization forms.
Development of the 2012 Summer Academy Program
The Mexican students arrived at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma city on J uly 7th, 2012, this
program lasted for two weeks (until J uly 21st). Twenty-five UPAEP students were enrolled and attended the
Summer Academy 2012, nine students from Santiago campus, six students from Angelopolis, three from
Cholula, and seven from Huamantla UPAEP High School. Along with the UPAEP students, three professors
participated in the program.
The students were welcomed at the airport and transported to Stillwater by bus. During the first two days
of the program, the rooms were assigned, materials were distributed, and the orientation session took place.
During the orientation session, students were informed of general rules, as well as expectations for the program.
The students received a day-by-day itinerary and met staff, professors, and trainers. The students also
participated in a rally on campus. Throughout the two-week long program, students had the opportunity to
attend four different courses: (1) leadership; (2) entrepreneurship; (3) English conversation; and (4) working in
a diverse society. They also participated in several sports activities, such as a boot camp and sports tournaments
organized exclusively for the participants of the program.
Alongside the academic activities, the participants had the opportunity to attend recreational and academic
field trips, integration activities, such as campus and stadium tours, rope courses, lake swimming, cook outs,
kayaking in the Illinois River, and visit museums and shopping centers. Wal-Mart Distribution Center and Fly
Safety were also included in the program. The program concluded on Friday, July 20th, with a graduation
ceremony and the presentation of the students experiences during the two weeks they spent at OSU.
Conclusions
There is a need to design and deliver short-term study abroad programs for Mexican high school students.
Short-term study abroad programs have shown to be as valuable in the experience for students as longer
programs in global engagement (Donnelly-Smith, 2009; Mills, Deviney, & Ball, 2010; Paige, Fry, Stallman,
J osic, & J on, 2009).They are short in duration, but long in the effects they have on participants.
The success of the program depends on the effective planning and delivering. During the process of
designing and delivering short-term summer program, it is important to set objectives for each one of the
academic and non-academic experiences, maintaining the academic standards of courses and practices while
working towards a personal growth and intercultural learning related to the outside classroom activities
(Hoffa, 2007). While working with high school students, choosing the right instructors, as well as developing
the adequate programs become even more important. There is a need to meet the students expectation of the
program being not only educational, but also funny. Encouraging and helping them in meeting new
people and getting to know new cultures, Summer Academy 2012 was successful in accomplishing all these
goals.
The summer academy hosted by OSU and organized by UPAEP Liaison Office in OSU was successful
and will be replied adding one more week for the experience. One of the clues for success of this short-term
program depends on the organization skills and commitment and support of both institutions. The parents trust
is also an important factor for the success.
784
Final Reflection
The program was able not only to bring together three different UPAEP campuses to work together, but
also built strong friendship bonds between each other. When talking to the participants of the program about the
professors and coordinators they worked with, they had nothing to say but positive comments about their
American and Mexican professors. Several students commented not only on how much respect they have for
them, but also trust and how fun it was to working throughout the classes and academic trips. During
graduation, some of the students were asked to talk about their experience. Several comments related with
changing stereotypes, knowing new cultures, friendship, and trust were made. Some students talked about how
amazing it was to live and learn so much in two weeks.
OSU and UPAEP did not have experience in designing and delivering short-term study abroad programs
for high school students. Due to the evident success of the program, it will be something that the university will
encourage in the future. We also invited the students to consider OSU as one of their options when choosing
colleges in the near future.
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October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 786-794

Painful Transformation of the CEECs From Their Former
Inefficient Command Economy to the Fraudulent Modern
Market Economy
Dusan Soltes
Comenius University of Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

The paper deals with some of the most complex problems of transition of the former socialist countries in the
CEECs (Central and East European countries) from their previous socialist command economy to the modern
capitalist market economy. In addition to many problems linked directly to the complexity of this transformation
itself, the entire process has been further made even more complex by some other factors in the parallel running
processes like transformation from the previous one-party political system to the so-called multiparty democracy
that has also not been an easy and straightforward process, as there have also not existed any previous experiences
from such a new political system. As all that would not be just enough, these very complex processes have been
further made even more complex and painful by the fact that many of the CEECs have at the same time to go
through another very demanding process that is being the building of their independent statehood after breaking
away from their previous multinational states like that in the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czecho-Slovakia,
etc.. And in order to make it even more complex, in parallel, there has been running a process of integration of the
new market democracies into the regional and global structures like the EU (European Union), NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization), OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), UN (United
Nations), etc..
Keywords: transformation, market economy, privatization, unemployment, CEECs (Central and East European
countries), command economy
Introduction and Some Background Information

Within the last 20-25 years, the CEECs (Central and East European countries) have been passing through
a very complex and complicated process of transformation from their former socialist command economy that
has been often criticized for its inefficiency and various other shortcomingsafter all that finally also
contributed to the total demise of the socialist system and its command economyto the modern capitalist
market economy. But now, after more than 20 years of that transition to the market economy, the experiences
are very often quite mixed ones and less than satisfactory in comparison with what has been originally expected
from the new system after 40 years of or so the socialist one-party domination with its command economy.
The CEECs are nowadays very often for various objective but also subjective reasons more frequently
experiencing many of the potential negatives of the market economy than its benefits. There is a relatively high

Dusan Soltes, professor, Faculty of Management, Comenius University of Bratislava.
DAVID PUBLISHING
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PAINFUL TRANSFORMATION OF THE CEECs

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unemployment, the former socialist property has been privatized in a way that is often called just as a total
fraud on the people who have that enormous amount of the former national/state property created. The former
relatively highly-developed industry has not been existing anymore and the countries are fully dependent on
this respect for the FDIs (foreign direct investments) and/or imports often of very questionable quality.
Especially, instead of expected positives, the FDIs are often bringing just a lot of new and before unknown
problems like huge amounts of laid-off workers under the pretext of their redundancy, inefficiency, over
employment and subsequent huge and before absolutely unknown unemployment, high productivity, especially
in the traditional assembly plants but with very low wages, etc.. On the other hand, there are offered huge
incentives for investors, tax holidays, and then, shortage of tax incomes for the state budgets, etc.. In view of
this and many other problems, the standard of living for a big portion of the society has been often still lower
than before this ongoing, and never ending transition with its permanent inflation and monopolic high prices
dictated by the international monopolies, etc..
The following parts of the paper in more details deal with these and other problems in the context of in the
parallel running processes of integration of the CEECs into the international regional and global structures like
the EU (European Union), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Eurozone, OECD (Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development), etc..
Some Most Visible Factors and Main Problems of the Painful
Transformation to Market Economy in the CEECs
In the following parts of this chapter, we deal in more details with at least some of the most typical
problems and weaknesses of the ongoing painful transition to the multiparty democracy, and especially, to the
modern capitalist market economy at least to such an extent as it is possible within the required scope of this
paper.
Privatization as One of the Fundamental Most Painful and Fraudulent Transformation Process Towards
the Modern Market Economy
Especially, in the first year after the total demise of the socialist system in the CEECs, a massive process
of privatization of the former state property has been launched, and to some extent, it has not been completed
even until now. Because also in some paradoxical situation, that inefficient command economy has created
such huge properties that there is still something that could be privatized and/or as some cynics call it to
stealing or robbing it. In different countries, it has had some specific, but the common ground has been that the
previous state property in many cases has finished in the hands of the new private owners who were nobody
else as in many cases, their previous socialist party nomenclature cadres with all their shortcomings and
inefficiency that finally also led to the demise of the entire communist system. In a very short time after such a
privatization, many previously somehow running companies were on the brink of collapse and bankruptcy.
Thus, instead of creating the so-called domestic national capital generating class of new capitalists, their
newly and cheaply acquired private properties were soon either completely robbed or in the better case offered
for the sale off to foreign investors very often for the fraction of their real market value. It is not surprise that
the foreign investors very often came as savers of the last resort of such on the verge of bankruptcy being
former socialist and then newly privatized companies. They have taken all possible benefits in the form of
various incentives, grants for creation of new or keeping existing jobs, have taken several years of tax and
other related holidays, etc.. Finally, when all these and other perks have expired, they have just moved further

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to the East for even cheaper labor, lower costs, etc., having left behind them just closed production facility,
unpaid wages, other social payments and contribution, and mainly their unemployed former employees.
However, the biggest fraud in the process of privatization has been made on ordinary people, i.e., the
former so-called owners of the socialist national property. For example, in the former Czecho-Slovakia, their
compensation has been organized through the so-called voucher privatization, i.e., every citizen could for
some nominal fee acquire then for free shares of privatized companies in the nominal value of 10,000 Korunas,
i.e., in the particular conversion exchange rate to euro, it represented an amount of about 330 euros? In many
cases, like in the case of the author who was contributing to the creation of that former socialist national
properties for 25 years with the salaries of about double of that time average salaries, and of course paid the
adequate taxes to the state budget, it represented a reward and/or compensation of about 13.20 euros per year?
And of course, those shares acquired through this voucher privatization have mostly never brought any
dividends or other income as most of particular companies being offered for the voucher privatization have
soon been in the above-mentioned process of bankruptcy or other forms of closure or just simply have not
existed anymore, etc.. In this way, millions of the new owners of the privatization vouchers have been
gradually striped off their newly acquired private property that has represented billions of euro value of the
former socialist so-called national property. In many cases, that all has just simply disappeared in the hands of
often very doubtful new domestic or foreign capitalists. And it would not be the end of the entire voucher
privatization, many owners of the absolutely no value have even now to pay maintenance fees for so-called
administration of their totally worthless shares often not existing companies. Not surprising that many authors
call this process of the privatization as a fraud and robbery of the millennium, as such chance could happen
really only once in generations and the entire region as a wild East.
Unemployment as the Most Painful Consequence of the Above Privatization and Transformation to
Modern Market Economy
In view of the above wild and fraudulent privatization in the CEECs, a lot of the former maybe mostly
not the most efficient production capacities have just gradually disappeared, thus, left out enormous numbers of
the so-called redundant workforce, jobless and unemployed in the countries that have never before had
known such problems. It is quite common that the unemployment has officially been up to 25-30% of the total
workforce. However, even nowadays, it has still been relatively too high being in different CEECs between
10-25%, in spite of the fact that hundreds of thousands havewithin the EU free movements of persons
found often not the jobs within their qualifications but at least some although less qualified but still better paid
jobs than in their home countries of the CEECs region. Luckily enough, this kind of free movement has existed
as otherwise the unemployment in many countries would be hovering close to the catastrophic levels of over
30-35% what already represents numbers that are really threatening by serious social unrests, enormous
criminality, etc.. Of course, the most negatively affected people of older age groups, who lost their share on the
national property in the above wild privatization and then also any social guaranties as in the age of 40 plus, it
is often very difficult to find a job and also go to work as a foreign worker abroad even within the above EU
free movement of persons. The former socialist countries, thus, are nowadays loosing several times enormous
financial and human resources as mostly well qualified young people being educated home are working and
contributing to the growth in their new countries of work. While older people are left on the unemployment
benefits or minimal pensions, as there is a popular saying that the society in general becomes older and there

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is not enough resources for their better pensions. But the problem is not that objectively people live longer, the
real problem is that there is not enough young people who would be working at home, thus, in the kind of a
solidarity would be contributing to the pension funds as it was before this transition. Many young peole are
either abroad or unemployed, and many of them are unfortunately forced to various anti-social activities, such
as prostitution, criminality, drugs, etc.. What is just further negatively affecting the overall socio-economic
situation in the CEECs that never before has been existing in such a huge scope.
Negative Consequences of the Modern Market Forces Are the Same as in the Old CapitalismProfit by
Whatever Ways and Means
In view of the above still rather huge unemployment, the functioning of the market economy has been
further contributing to the very negative socio-economic development in the CEECs, as the higher
unemployment means not only the above negative consequences, but also many subsequent ones. It is a vicious
spiral that the higher unemployment and lower incomes also mean lower domestic consumers demand, and thus,
also lower demand for production, quality of production, less pressure for innovations, etc.. That finally again
forces companies to the reduction of production, and thus, also further lowering their demand for employing
new workforce, etc.. It is again one of the paradoxes of the market economy in the CEECs region, although, the
economy has been in many cases growing faster than the average of the EU or OECD, etc., such a positive
macroeconomic growth has not generated any new jobs as normally it is the case of the economy growth. It
looks like that it is growth for statistics of the EUROSTAT (Statistical Office of the European Communities),
WB (World Bank), IMF (International Monetary Fund), OECD, and other international organizations, but not
for the people of the particular CEECs.
Those who are luckily enough having jobs have under such situation a much lower chance for more
adequate wages, less intensive work, better social and health benefits, etc.. Basically, the employers could
dictate very tough conditions for their employees who have to be happy to have any job, as there is a long cue
of unemployed who are ready to immediately take over any job after those who would like to apply in practice
one of their fundamental human rights, like a right to strike, etc., that otherwise is a very popular and almost a
national hobby in many old EU member states. Although, the productivity in the CEECs has nowadays reached
almost the levels in the old EU member states, the wages are just a fraction of the salaries of their partners in
the same companies being based in their home countries in the old EU member states. In general, the wages in
the CEECs region are representing for about the same quality and capacity of production only about
one-quarter or one-third of the wages of their colleagues in the old EU member states. This situation has also
negative consequences on many aspects of the standard of living in the CEECs. If we take quality of food for
example, we could say that the quality of the food in the CEECs is much lower than that in the rest of the EU.
As a consequence of the lower purchasing power in these countries, a lot of the food stuffs in the CEECs are of
lower quality, made of lower-quality components, being before expiration of the period for consumption, and
with various doubtful substitutions for more healthier or nutritious foodstuffs by their less qualitative but
cheaper substitutes. Then, it is not surprise that the CEECs have become a dumping area for less qualitative
foodstuffs and other commodities in recent years. That could be illustrated by some of the most recent affairs in
this respect, e.g., an import to the CEECs of several times repacked chickens being after their original
expiration dates, poisoned chicken eggs, cooking oil with dangerous carcinogen substances in it, rotten or
otherwise damaged vegetable and fruits, alcoholic beverages not only with ethanol but also with killing

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methanol, etc.. It is especially the case of the agricultural products as due to the much lower subsidies to
agriculture in the CEECs in comparison with their counterparts in the old EU states and also the higher taxation
of foodstuffs, the former highly efficient socialist big agricultural farms cannot just compete with their
competitors from the other part of the EU common market within its free movement of goods. Thus, the CEECs
region also for this reason has become an area with enormous and normally unnecessary imports of all various
agricultural commodities, e.g., even potatoes that are now imported to such countries like Slovakia, where have
always been almost ideal conditions for growing potatoes serving even for a solid export, but now, the country
has become an importer of this staple even from such untypical potatoes countries like France, Germany,
Belgium, Italy, etc., and of course, the prices are quite naturally sometimes much higher than that of the
domestic production. And such examples we could bring much more from various other parts of the
functioning of the EU common market!
Fraudulent Marketing as One of the Most Negative Aspects of the Entry of the Modern Market
Economy Into the CEECs
One of the most negative consequences of the modern contemporary market economy that has come to the
CEECs, together with all other processes of transformation, has also been the modern marketing methods and
techniques that are really representing almost scientific perfection of the manipulation with potential customers
and clients. In this respect, they clearly violate any even the minimum standards of the protection of consumers
as it has been enshrined in the EU acquis communautaire (Community Legislation of the EU), i.e., the EU
community legislation on the protection of customers. In this respect, it is really necessary to hail the stance of
the EU institutions that has also been demonstrated by such an important fact that there does not exist any
possibility for funding any project related to marketing from the EU funding schemas.
The generally negative consequence and impact of the fraudulent marketing have been further enhanced
by the fact that the population of the CEECs has been for years of their socialist system of almost absolutely
freed of any not to mention a fraudulent marketing. Therefore, it is just an undeniable fact that this kind of the
mostly fraudulent marketing has managed to cause, especially, at the beginning of the process of transportation,
a lot of severe damages of the moral, financial, and various other damages. One of the most typical practices of
this kind of the marketing has been the fact that in many cases it has led to the total and/or very serious
misunderstanding from the side of the potential customers, clients, etc.. In many cases, it is hardly believable
that somebody could become to be attracted by such various unfair fraudulent marketing practices. For example,
to this author, so far nobody has explained what is the difference between the popular marketing slogan, e.g.,
for cars with four-wheel drive a typical marketing slogan is in this respect All wheel drive. Have anybody
ever seen any (personal) car with more than four wheels? Or all those on the miraculous training machines,
instruments, tools, and nutritious supplements (often of the most dangerous doping substances otherwise fully
prohibited even for the professional sportsmen) that in a few weeks or maximum couple of weeks they manage
to change your body from of whatever shortcomings to the bodies of the most famous bodybuilders or movie
superstars, etc., they are of course demonstrating those advertisements. And of course, all that can be achieved
only for the fraction of the normal price now only being available for the miraculously low prices of only
particular absolutely lowest price ending by .99. Especially dangerous are these fraudulent practices of the
modern marketing for the young people who are most eager to believe all those stupid, silly promises, etc..
With this kind of fraudulent marketing very closely has also been associated the common practice to use even

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the youngest children for marketing and advertisement practices, although, it has to be clear to any company
and producers that misuse of children for commercial purposes has been for years already forbidden by the UN
Convention on the Rights of Child that has been ratified by all countries in the world but two! And a child has
been defined there by the age of 18, so any misuse of children in this respect is a clear violation of the
particular UN convention, but who cares if it is going to achieve the highest profit margin!
We do not need to go any further about the fraudulent marketing and advertisement, especially by some
companies from pharmaceutical industry. They are one of the most aggressive on the TV screens regarding
miraculous effects of all possible and impossible medicines and cure elements being freely available for sale
without medical prescription, but if you want to use it, you have to read at least 3-4 pages of instruction that are
warning you about all possible and impossible negative consequences on your body even in case of such a
common medicine like ordinary painkillers, but the most important is that you have already bought it in the
good belief that it will do everything as you have seen it in the expensive TV promotion shots. It is clear that all
those very expensive advertisements have to be paid by patients through still more and more expensive
medicines and that all in the countries where just quite recently the health care and also education has to be
according to the national constitutions stillat least nominally and on paper, but unfortunately, not in
realityfor free. Among most popular fraudulent marketing practices belong to such methods like the same
price but for a smaller product or even lower price but disproportionally much smaller or less quality product
where banana in chocolate is substitute by only a banana flavor, etc.. It could be possible to mention here also
unfair practices of marketing regarding the misuse of the most modern and fashionable social networks, but the
size of the paper does not allow us to cover all the negative consequences of the fraudulent marketing and
advertisement of the contemporary market economy that is dangerous, especially in the CEECs. J ust for
generations, they have not been used to withstand such a primitive but finally efficient pressure. Its substance is
just simple convincing you to buy anything whatsoever, just buy it, the rest is then already your own problem.
After all, nobody has been and/or could force you to anything, we are just a part of the market economy and
democracy where everybody is responsible for its destiny!
Euro as an Unwanted Victim of the Whole Range of the Fraudulent Practices of All Kind of Vendors
One cannot deny the fact that sometimes even the best intentions like it has been in the case of the euro as
the so-called common currency of the EU finally could not meet its original objectives and could be misused
for something completely else. First, not so correct is the term of the common itself, as even after more than
decade, it is common still just for 17 out of 28 EU member states, and then, there are following many other
aspects that unintentionally make the euro an instrument of the potential and not only potential fraud. The main
of them are as follows:
(1) In spite of their relatively high value, the euro coins almost automatically create an perception that it is
just a coin, i.e., a small change, so people are paying by them also the relatively high prices that otherwise
would look to them as too high. We have to realize that the highest value coin is two euros, what is a relatively
big value if compared with the US dollar that has the highest coin as a half dollar and already one US dollar is a
banknote, although, one euro is now about 1.35 US dollars. This simple fact leads costumers to be less
conscious on the real fact of the particular price that automatically looks like penny price, although, it is much
higher in fact. For example, also in case of Slovakia, such a small change like a coin of one euro represents 30
korunas what was already an amount that was considered differently than now it is with a small change in the

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form of coin;
(2) This fact is especially attractive for all kinds of vendors and sellers as it is very easy to rounding
prices to some more specific prices, while for customers, it is still just a case of some pennies that are not
worse of any specific concern;
(3) Some vendors, like in the oil industry, they go even that far that they quote their prices not in real euro
values but in fraction of them, although, in reality, one euro consists only of 100 cents, but the prices as a rule
are displays up to 999 cents per liter;
(4) As a consequence of this games with euro, the prices since introduction of euro have sky rocketed up
to the previously unbelievable high levels. For example, while in Slovakia, on the day of introduction of euro
on J anuary 1, 2009, the exchange rate was one euro to 30,126 former Slovak korunas, now, just less than four
years, that original exchange rate remained only for salaries and other incomes of citizens, while the prices are
nearing one euro to 10 korunas in common prices, while in some relatively low prices in and around 1-2 euro
coins, the trend is already in many cases equal to the exchange rate of 1:1 and/or very near to it as, e.g., all
prices that before were bellow 10 korunas, i.e., about 33 cents do not exist anymore and the lowest most
common prices are mostly on the price tag of 50 cents or more. Not to mention the prices of immobilities where
the current prices are already higher in Euro than they used to be, e.g., in Slovak koruna.
Again, for the required scope of the paper, we cannot go into any elaboration regarding all other negative
aspects of euro that finally led after less a decade to the current stage when the very existence of the so much
hailed common currency has been on the verge of the total collapse and demise, earlier than it could celebrate
its 10th anniversary of its birth when even a special champagne wine has been introduced. To our knowledge,
there has not been any celebrations of the first decade of its existence and most probably nothing similar has
been planned for the near and but so near future!
Energies in General and the Crude Oil in Particular as the Real Paradise for Any Possible Fraud on
Customers
If anything could be presented as a typical example of the fraudulent activity of the contemporary market
economy, then we cannot find any better example than the energy sector, and in particular, its most attractive
part, i.e., the oil industry. And again, the main victims of any fraudulent behavior are if not all but definitely
some of the CEECs including of course also the Slovak Republic.
In this connection, it is necessary to state at the beginning that the main energy commodity supplies (crude
oil and gas) have been still provided like before, through the special pipelines from the former Soviet Union,
i.e., nowadays, from the Russian Federation, and it is also necessary to state that these supplies are provided on
the long-term contracts, so no specific spot volatile daily changing prices from the commodity stock exchanges
are applicable. But it would not be a modern market economy if also in such situation, it would not find ways
or means on how to increase the prices for these so-called black gold commodities. In spite of the above
specifics of the supplies of them, on the basis of the long-term contracts, the market prices in the CEECs are
derived from the spot prices on the commodity markets in Amsterdam, London, etc.. In principle, there is
always a quoted price on that one market among them, where the spot price for the delivery within some weeks
or days is going up. It is interesting that those prices are regarding of the crude oil that has nothing to do with
the Russian oil, but it is, e.g., the North Seas Brent or whatever other kind of the crude oil, but definitely not
the Russian one. The other fraudulent market price policy in this respect is the fact that those prices from the

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spot markets are quoted only when the prices are there going up. In such case, the increase of the price is
implemented immediately although accordingly the particular market rules that price is quoted for some future
delivery in weeks or months. But when there is the opposite trend and prices, e.g., in Amsterdam, London, or
wherever are going down then it is called just as a temporary turbulence on the markets and our prices in the
CEECs are that case absolutely stable, i.e., remain higher than those declining spot prices. And, if finally prices
here also have to go down then only by 1-2 cents/litter while going up the immediate increase is usually by
some multiplier of these decreases.
Hence, thanks to these simple fraudulent market and marketing policies, these commodities are extremely
expensive in the CEECs. In addition to these fraudulent manipulation with the different kinds of the crude oil
prices, there is an enormous tax burden on the prices, finally, the final price of petrol for drivers, e.g., in
Slovakia, is much higher than that of all neighboring countries in the region, including Austria, with its salaries
being higher than here by about 3-4 times in average. The main paradox in this case is that the same petrol on
both sides of the common border is often from the same refinery. That is also the proof of the common
knowledge that some governments do not miss any chance to grab from their citizens whatever higher profit
through not only higher basic prices but also adequate taxes and their cumulative effect. Absolutely specific in
this connection is the reaction of the oil prices here to any potential or real disaster or instability wherever in the
world that immediately used as a good excuse and a good reason for a substantial increase of oil prices. For
example, when there was the Arab spring revolt in Libya, the prices of course went up immediately, although,
the total export of crude oil from Libya has been only about 2% of the world oil market, but its impact on our
prices was immediate and much higher than those 2%. And again it has happened, in spite of the fact that
Libyan oil has absolutely nothing to do with our import of that commodity directly from Russia. Or if anything
happens in any other OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) or non-OPEC country (storm, dry
weather, rain, strike, heat, cold, demonstration, and/or any other event) that often has no whatsoever relation to
the world oil market and also absolutely nothing with our oil import from Russia, everything is a good reason
for the price hike on the markets of the CEECs and/or at least some of them including always also the Slovak
Republic.
Conclusions
In the above list of various specifics of the transformation to the modern market economy, we could
continue with many more examples of the potential and real fraudulent activities, but the required limited size
of the paper does not allow us to cover all of them. Hence, at least briefly, we have to mention in this
connection at least some of them. For example, that the foreign banks in the CEECs are charging for their
services here much higher and various other fees and payments than in their domestic and much richer home
countries in the EU. That housing and its construction have been much more expensive here than, e.g., in the
Austrian metropolitan Vienna being three times bigger and with much better infrastructure than in the
neighboring Bratislava. There is still a very high taxation of still relatively low incomes where on incomes has
been applied a common 20% income tax but on all purchases and services an other 20% VAT (value-added tax),
then, it is not surprise that the purchasing power in the CEECs has been very low, and thus, not any driving
force for any higher demand, production, etc.. The part of the privatization has been carried out through the
state monopolies of the old EU member states, which is another good example for how that wild privatization
has been carried out on the pretext that the state is the worst owner of any property. It means that most probably

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some states are considered to be more suitable for owning that such privatized property in the CEECs than their
own states. Unfortunately, that is really true! In some countries, the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been
growing in a record high tempos like in Slovakia, but what are the results of such a growth? Where are newly
generated jobs? Where are lower prices thanks to high productivity and more efficient production, distribution,
etc.? And so on and so forth, we could continue in the new examples on how the modern market and capitalist
economy have been often (mis-)applied in the CEECs.
In the end, it is perhaps worth to mention that the former DDR/GDR (the German Democratic Republic)
or the East Germany is the best example that something has been going here really not in the best possible way
regarding our transformation to the market economy. The former DDR/GDR has passed in difference to all
other CEECs in a completely different way. In difference to them, it has needed not 20 years and more for that
transformation and transition from one day to the next one, the former socialist East Germany has become from
one day to the next onean integral part of the Federal Republic of Germany, and thus, also a part of the EU,
and its citizens became citizens of the EU, and the country as a member of the OECD, etc.. The former
Peoples Army of the DDR/GDR during the one day has become the Bundeswehr (German army), and thus,
also a part of the NATO, and so on and so forth. But recently, there was a survey on the 20th anniversary of the
unification of Germany, almost 40% of the citizens of the former DDR/GDR expressed their wish that they
would rather live in the former DDR/GDR with all its shortcoming and restrictions, a powerful Stasi (their
KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti)) than in their new unified homeland. Those 40% could also be
understood as practically almost all people who could remember their life in their former first German state of
workers and farmers as the former DDR/GDR has been calling itself. That all in spite of all multi-billion
transfers from the West to the East Germany since its unification. In spite of the fact that the former East
German mark has been changed to the West German mark in the artificially much better exchange rate of 1:1.
That all Germans immediately without any starvations, belt-tightening, and accession negotiations, entry
criteria have become automatically the citizens of the EU, i.e., the number one economy in the EU and one of
the strongest in the world, etc..
Also, from this German example, it is clear that most probably something has really gone wrong with the
transformation of the former socialist CEECs to the modern capitalist market economy within the EU and all its
supporting funds, assistance, development programs, etc..
References
Soltes, D. (1999). International economic integration and critics of the current enlargement of the EU (p. 210). Bratislava:
SINAEL. ISBN: 80-85565-01-3
Soltes, D. (2004). Global trends in FDI and regional integration (p. 329). Bratislava: KEPS. ISBN: 80-968606-1-5
Soltes, D. (2007). Enlarged EU-27 and the growing fragmentation of its enlarged internal market. Proceedings of The 10th
International Conference of SGBED, Ryokuku University, Kyoto, J apan and Montclair State University, USA. ISBN:
13-978-0-9797659-0-2
Soltes, D. (2008, J anuary). Euro: A common currency of the EU, but... Proceedings of The 4th International Conference on
Banking and Finance , Langkawi Island, Malaysia. ISBN: 978-983-42220-2-1
October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 795-802

European Leonardo Project ARIADNE: Process of Transferring
Managerial Skills in the Social Economy

Thibault Cunoud
France Business School, Poitiers, France;
University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France

The European Leonardo project ARIADNE intended to create a training module for managers in the social
economy. The aim was to capitalize on the partners experience already providing training to improve transfer
process to those not qualified. After two-year working with Budapest Business School (Hungary), Ciriec (France),
Euricse (Italy), France Business School (France), Hautes Etudes Commerciales Lige (Belgium), Mac Team
(France), Open University (U.K.), and Ynternet (Switzerland ), this article describes the steps that were necessary
to complete this project. The challenge was twofold: How to distinguish managerial skills from the social economy
actors (undeveloped field of the study today) and how to provide European training significance (social economy
does not appear homogeneous between countries of project partners)? The approach was based on the construction
of different learning materials ultimately validated by academic and professional experts to sit the legitimacy of the
process. Partners have first realized a synthesis of innovative teaching practices about social economy training.
European managerial specific skills to managers in the social economy were then created training skills. An
important methodological work in the training module structuring came reinforce the inclusion of European
diversity. Conducting a seminar test in Hungary (partner does not have training in the social economy sector) has to
change for the better content of the module. Holding seminars in other countries, validating the relevance of the
constructed throughout the project, have confirmed the transfer of managerial skills among academic and
professional actors.
Keywords: transferring skills, training module, social economy managers
Introduction
The social economy is stronger in Western European area. It now represents 10% to 15% of national
GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and 12% of salaried jobs in these countries. However, social enterprises face
major challenges in terms of international context changing: competition, mergers, new rules... The
globalization challenge is the increased professionalization of their supervisors. Faced with this state of affairs,
existing courses in the social economy are mainly oriented on job skills without taking into account the
specificities of the sector (modes of governance, non-profit objectives, and multiplicity of goals). This
situation is more significant in Eastern Europe where this sector is not really existent. The main objective of
the project is to transfer an innovative management training in the social economy, prepared at the request of
companies in other European countries which do not possess. The construction of a European training on

Thibault Cunoud, teacher, researcher, France Business School; University of Poitiers.
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social economy based on the exchange of experiences developed in the project partner countries already
benefit from training in this area (Belgium, England, France, Italy, and Switzerland) for transposition at
Hungarian partner. It must show by European reference for management training in the social economy
validated by academic and practitioner experts. In support of this tool, the construction of a training module
will form a methodological structure to improve the social economy lectures in Europe, coupled with specific
lessons for each country. Hungary has no training on the social economy today. But this country will improve
transfer process and future dissemination to other countries of the European Union. To illustrate the common
process of training portability in the social economy, each project partner is committed to include at least part
of the European training module in their current offering. A dissemination plan will complement the
achievement of this goal.
Determination and Transfer of Social Economy Educational Specificities
An educational approach leads to have a pragmatic and innovative thinking in the profile and about the
topic discussed. To harmonize its assimilation method, ARIADNE partners (Budapest Business School, Ciriec,
Euricse, France Business School, Hautes Etudes Commerciales Lige, Mac Team, Open University, and
Ynternet) are based on the ECVET (European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training) approach
knowledge, skills and personal, social and/or methodological abilities in work situations, or study the
professional and personal development (Aribaut, 2009). However, training in the social economy is
characterized by a differentiating approach than traditional lessons. The social economy carries values that have
shaped attitudes and behaviors to a specific culture. Educational characteristics were defined collectively to
help shape ultimately creating a training module for three days in the social economy. At the beginning of the
project, Euricse, France Business School, Hautes Etudes Commerciales Lige, Open University, and Ynternet
are committed to make this transfer in terms of the social economy teaching skills they offered already.
In a collegial approach and partnership, it was decided to make a synthesis of specific educational sector
specificities. This work has helped Hungarian partner in the experiment module on its territory. This way of
working is the result of experimentation and exchange between teachers, researchers, and professionals in the
social economy. Relational and human values must be including within their teaching: How can you transmit
the values of the social economy? Table 1 summarizes the pedagogical and methodological elements that are
significant. The approach is based on the determination of the characteristics in the social economy, the
educational purpose, and the learning method.

Table 1
Synthesis of Specific Teaching in the Teaching of Social Economy
Social economy specificities Pedagogy goal Methodology
Historical culture and development
Long history about social economy
organizations into volunteers, general
interest, pioneering experience
Explain the signification of social
economy purpose
Personal testimonies from pioneers in the field
and bibliography of historical research
Legal and organizational forms adopted
The social economy statutes permit to
embody democracy between all
stakeholders
Understand the advantages and
limits to the social economy statutes
Presentation of all social economy statues and
after determination about their possibilities when
you create an organization (which link between
social economy statutes and the type of social
project of the structure)


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(Table 1 to be continued)
Sectors, modes of production, and service provision
The social economy activities are more
presented in social services (they permit
to create a better link between economic
viability and social services)
Understand why social economy can
be more competitive in certain types
of economic activities
The presentation of best practices in specifics
activities with case study permit to illustrate the
type of social economy competitiveness
Financing-mix (hybridization of resources)
Social economy organizations can use
different types of financing (depends on
the type of their activities)
Capacity to define the type of
activities and after to convince
various potential financers
Social business plan written with different type of
partners (public, private, both) and after an
validation by various audiences (for example,
bankers or associates)
Social innovation and creativity
Social economic sector is strongly
oriented in the ability to experiment and
innovation
Social economy must constantly
renew themselves to be socially
efficient (societal needs in changing)
Analysis of historical social needs evolution
(expert interviews, conferences, etc.) and after
creative workshop with psychologists
Governance
Social economy has a strong
configuration to take into consideration
all stakeholders
Capacity to define which type of
configuration to illustrate the social
economy governance. But also to
demonstrate its relevance and social
impact
Define tools to measure and assessment
governance impact on case studies
Human resource management aspects
Manage human resources and
volunteers where particular attention to
motivation (it is the goal of social
economy)
Ability to successfully manage a
social enterprise which this diversity
of human resources
The creation of role play to embed all types of
human resources (employees, volunteers)
permit to illustrate the wealth but also the
difficulties of this human configuration
Collaborative management
The management in social economy
should be unifying, meaningful, respect
the diversity of employees, a minimum
democratic
To develop students capacities to
collaborate and develop consensual
agreements
Guided reading of selected texts; online peer
discussion forums; use of case studies and best
practices
Assessment with extensive feedback; use of Wikis
on online platform for small group collaboration;
peer assessment
Small group work at occasional residential schools
European Framework About Specific Managerial Skills in the Social Economy
The creation of training must go through the questioning of experts in the field (academic and professional)
compared with their needs. Although, few studies have been done on the role of manager in the specific context
of social enterprises (Darbus & Lazuech, 2010), a methodological approach has been adopted in implementing
the European training module. The strategy was to define the specific managerial competencies in the social
economy to synthesize the process of formalizing the module. Indeed, the completion of training must be based
on the determination of upstream elements to be transmitted. The approach is pragmatic and consistent with the
expectations of professionals. Social enterprises are characterized by the multiplicity of objectives (social
purpose, economic activities, and political objectives), actors (volunteers, consumers, beneficiaries, public
authorities, local authorities, etc.), and resources (monetary and non-monetary, market and non-market, etc.)
(Defourny & Nyssens, 2006). Tensions may arise because of these multiplicities related to various aspects of
management practices. There are managerial skills common to all structures. But others appear specific to this
sector, particularly between the object of societal structure and economic pressure in the market.
To carry out this work, four main steps were necessary. Firstly, an exploratory phase of the literature
review with interviews of experts in the social economy management. These factors helped to build the first
version of a repository of expertise in the social enterprises management. From the outset, it was agreed to

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define sector-specific skills, knowing that leaders and managers may have differentiated skills in relation to
their activities. Each partner country with the European ARIADNE experience then came the repository during
group interviews conducted with 97 social enterprises managers in Europe (England, Belgium, France, Italy,
Hungary, and Switzerland). Discriminatory criteria were taken into account to focus attention on the role of
manager (size, legal form, activities, etc.). Based on this information, the competency model has been enriched
and ultimately approved collectively by the partners of the European project ARIADNE. Repositories of seven
specific managerial skills were divided into three sub-groups: knowledge (know), skills (power), and behavior
(behaving). Without developing a comprehensive whole tool, Table 2 briefly lists these skills:

Table 2
Repository of Specific Management Skills in the Social Economy
(1) To develop a strategy allowing to sustain the social economy multiple goals
(2) To know, understand, and mobilize the internal governance system
(3) To manage the various external stakeholders
(4) To manage the human resources
(5) To manage the financial aspects
(6) To know, understand, and be able to position the social economy
(7) To develop a feeling of membership and pride belonging to the social economy
Training Methodology for a Modular Approach on Management
in the European Social Economy
A methodological approach was made to structure the training module, in particular to be experienced in
Hungary. Several tools have been used in the ARIADNE project to carry out this work. There was the synthesis
of specific educational social economy and repository of management skills specific to the social economy. The
characteristics of each ARIADNE project partner have strengthened the process. These elements have helped to
define a general framework to develop a European training program on management in the social economy.
From the beginning, the training module was based on a modular approach that can be used ultimately in
different countries (as an autonomous formation is inserted into existing courses). Structure, based on three
days is presented in Table 3.

Table 3
Structure of the Training Module
Day 1: The role, definition, and characteristics of the social economy and its actors
Session 1
The social economy in Europe
Session 2
The social economy of the country
Day 2: Specific managerial skills to social economy
Session 3
Presentation of the European reference management skills
specific to social economy
Session 4
Focus on some specific managerial skills in social economy
Day 3: Future trends and the development of social economy
Session 5
The development potential of the social economy in Europe
Session 6
Local dimension and growth opportunities for social enterprises

The following briefly describe the variables that have been listed to define the methodological framework
proposed to constitute the training module:
(1) Part of existing training: The training can be autonomous (e.g., Hungary and Switzerland), used to

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enrich existing training social economy (e.g., Italy, Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom) even to
sensitize managers classic (as in France);
(2) The body education: Teaching in training social economy requires specific expertise between
theoretical and practical approach. It should provide the necessary resources, based on cutting
teachers/researchers/practitioners;
(3) The target audience: The project wanted to focus on leaders and managers (practitioners), but there are
different levels: beginners of leaders and managers in the social economy, experienced leaders and managers in
the social economy, and other sectors leaders and managers who are potentially interested in the social
economy;
(4) The national context: Each partner country has ARIADNE project specificities and complementarities
with other partners. These sessions set common to all countries and country-specific sessions;
(5) Managerial skills priorities: Each partner has conducted focus groups to test the repository of expertise.
This information can be used to help determine the priority management skills to be used during the training;
(6) The European dimension: The ARIADNE project was based on a dual dimension national/European
construction module. Stakeholders should keep in mind these two elements in the construction of the sessions;
(7) Format: The training module is designed for three days divided into several sessions to be taught
consecutively or divided. Each session can be completed to allow a thorough discussion of a topic;
(8) The method of teaching: A combination of teaching techniques can be used to improve the teaching:
lectures, project work (analysis of their own situation and proposing solutions), case studies, presentation of
best practices, learning by experience (stories, role plays, site visits, and internships), and peer exchanges.
The Experimental Training Module in Hungary
Most of the actors in the social economy were created in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This sector
is still young today where very few organizations have more than 20 years of existence. In light of this context,
there is no training available today in Hungary on management in the social economy (see Table 4). Thus, a
specific approach in Hungary was made to feed the transfer process of educational innovation. The target is
specifically the managers who work in the social economy, and therefore, the approach is quite unique in
Hungary. Participants in the experimental module of training provided in Hungary were extremely varied. The
gender distribution was nearly equal. There were people aged from 23 to 64 years old, although, the majority
were between 35 and 50 years old. All Hungarian regions were represented. The majority of staff had a high
level of qualification (in the field of economics, law, sociology, or B.A.) and most of them work in
organizations with important responsibilities of the social economy.
The training was shaped by education face to face structured by individual work and collaborative groups.
Stakeholders were mixed between lecturers and professional experts to broaden the educational approach. Lack
of time was not conducive to informal exchanges compared with the experiences of each, even if they were in a
common housing during the three days. Sharing e-mails between students and practitioners offered the
opportunity to strengthen the network effect. The most popular training module was undoubtedly the
description of the social economy in Hungary, little or no data is currently available. The training framework,
which served as the basis for the Hungarian module reinforced the relevance of the approach. Emphasis was
placed on specific managerial skills:
(1) To develop a strategy allowing to sustain the social economy multiple goals;

800
(5) To manage the financial aspects;
(6) To know, understand, and be able to position the social economy;
(7) To develop a feeling of membership and pride belonging to the social economy.
Favorable return students came consolidate these educational choices. The following show the key points
they have emphasized in return they could do:
(1) A precise knowledge of the sector with appropriate definitions for the social economy;
(2) The interest of European reference management skills specific to the social economy;
(3) The illustration of case studies/expert testimony selected competencies;
(4) The description of the process of membership of social enterprises;
(5) The stakeholders analysis (identification, operation, evaluation, and mobilization).

Table 4
Organization Module Provided Three Days in Hungary
Day 1: Introduction of theoretical fundamentals and specific presentation of managerial skills in the social economy
1.1 Conference
Presentation of the meaning of the social economy and social enterprise. Presentation of models and practices of the social
economy in Hungary and Europe. European Commission initiatives for the future development of social enterprises.
1.2 Roundtable
What are the types/forms of the social enterprise? Advantages and disadvantages of different legal forms. Difficulties of
management of organizations, the types of personal affection.
2.1 Conference
Introduction of the repository of management skills specific to the social economy developed during the project ARIADNE.
2.2 Roundtable
Determination and application of managerial skills most important in relation to the student profile.
Day 2: Development of managerial skills specific: from the theoretical to the practical
3.1 Teamwork
Technical development of interpersonal skills, communication, and negotiation.
3.2 Practices
Case studies in Hungarian and French.
3.3 Roundtable
Questions, comments, and feedbacks on case studies based on personal experiences.
4.1 Conference
Develop business skills (how to get money?).
4.2 Practices
Case studies in Hungarian and French.
4.3 Table discussion
Questions and/or comments on the case studies based on personal experiences.
Day 3: Explain and understand the sense of membership
5.1 Conference
What is the sense of belonging in the social economy?
5.2 Roundtable
Why and how an organization can appeal to the sense of belonging and pride?
5.3 Teamwork
Visit an organization of the social economy in Hungary.
Shared Process Module to Improve Quality Training
An evaluation process was conducted throughout the project to ensure the consistency of the training
module with the expectations of business partners on specific managerial skills provided. This process came to
perfect the process of transferability of managerial skills and educational project ARIADNE. Evaluation can be
defined as the deliberate collection, analysis, and discussion of the evidence from relevant sources regarding
the quality, value, and effect of disposition. The evaluation aims to identify changes induced by the project

801
activity, not only in the immediate outputs, but also in the long-term results. When designing an educational
assessment, apart from its goal, it is important to consider the following factors:
(1) The nature of actors with interests in the project (leaders and managers of social economy, pedagogical
experts, participants in the project);
(2) The life cycle of the project and timelines appropriate assessments (this is to define the modalities of
examinations of students, updating the content of the training data collected as part of the recruitment process);
(3) The assessment methods need to be appropriate to the specific configuration of these factors.
This evaluation (along with other elements of the project) has benefited from the use of various tools to
draw on the best practices of project partners of the ARIADNE. Terms of assessments therefore rested on the
following elements:
(1) When creating the repository of European managerial skills in the social economy (exchange with
experts in the field, formation of group interviews, content presentation at scientific conferences, and validation
with academic partners and professionals of the ARIADNE);
(2) Upon completion of a training methodology for a modular approach to management in European social
economy (content presentation at scientific conferences and validation with academic partners and professional
ARIADNE);
(3) During the experiment of the training module in Hungary (evaluation/satisfaction of students and
stakeholders);
(4) At a seminar taught in other partner countries (UK, Belgium, France, Italy, and Switzerland). Each
project partner of the ARIADNE was a group of academic experts and professionals to come and ultimately
validate the consistency in its entire educational approach.
The ARIADNE project wished to embody an innovative approach in training social economy managers in
Europe. A quality process was carried out with an evaluation process at each stage of the project to come
increment. Table 5 serves to illustrate briefly the type of assessment carried out by the project partners of the
ARIADNE (here, the seminar held in England, Belgium, France, Italy, and Switzerland). This approach is
considered necessary to validate fine in teaching material, especially for future partnership, and strengthens the
construction of the collegiate training module.

Table 5
Evaluation Modality to ARIADNE Seminar
Two distinct groups (teachers and professionals in the social economy)
Presentation by the project partner of the ARIADNE (20 minutes)
Exchanges the elements of the ARIADNE project group separately (45 minutes)
Restitution by both groups collectively (45 minutes)
Fill the questionnaire (return on project elements and aspects of inquiry on the dissemination of ARIADNE) (20 minutes)
Supports
Slides for the introduction (ARIADNE project presentation)
Data of the Leonardo European project ARIADNE
European reference managerial skills specific to the social economy
Methodological framework proposed to constitute the training module
Structuring module provided three days in Hungary
Questionnaire challenge from the two groups on the elements of the ARIADNE project


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Conclusions
The ARIADNE project calls European management in the social economy. The approach is experimental
as little work in this direction exists today. The synthesis of specific educational social economy came to
describe how to proceed in the acquisition and transfer of skills determined. The social economy appears
specific in terms of its culture and values it preaches. Teaching methods should at least be correlated with the
relational and behavioral characteristics to prepare students for the social economy sector. As the repository of
managerial skills specific to the social economy, it had intended to raise the sectors needs required to
implement the training provided. It creates a link between supply and demand in order to make all relevant
educational activities in this direction. Ultimately, this framework has helped to identify the methodological
strategy in the choice of teaching to meet. Of course, the repository must be regularly updated to include
developments in the art in light of the changing business environment. The methodological framework of
training to develop the module was powered tools above. They form the basis for the main topics related to the
management of the social economy from a theoretical/disciplinary perspective and an expert/professional
management in the social economy. Thus, this tool allows you to set the number of topics covered and the
depth of analysis required. It provides an overview of national and European managerial challenges in an
approach based on the skills needed to pass. The evaluation process has been proposed throughout the
ARIADNE project, it has positively challenged European actors, both academic and professional. Efforts to get
a specific training module to managers of the social economy have been appreciated (little training data in this
direction is currently available).
References
Aribaut, M. (dir.). (2009). Get to know ECVET better, questions and answers. European Credit System for Vocational Education
and Training, European Commission, Education and Culture.
Chatelanat, G., & Pelgrims, G., (2003), Education and special education: Ruptures and integrations Collection Reasons
educational. De Boeck Superior Publication (p. 248). ISBN: 9782804144050
Cunoud T., Moreau C., & Mertens S., (2013), The specific managerial in social enterprises: A European approach by
management skills. International Review of Social Economy, 329, 80-91.
Darbus, F., & Lazuech, G. (2010). .What professional identity for executives of the social economy? Paper presented at The 23rd
Symposium, ADDES Association pour le Dveloppement de la Documentation sur lEconomie Sociale (ADDES), Paris.
Retrieved from http://www.addes.asso.fr/IMG/pdf/2010-10_Darbus_Lazuech.pdf
Defourny, J ., & Nyssens, M. (2006). Defining social enterprise. In M. Nyssens (Ed.), Social enterprise (pp. 3-26). London and
New York: Routledge.
Parodi, M. (2007). The ECU: Pedagogy in cooperative acts. International Review of Social Economy, 306, 2-36.

October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 803-811

Scientific Literacy Measurement Model Based on
Occupational Variation
*

Liang Ai-ying
South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Xiao Wen-bin
Guangdong Science Center, Guangzhou, China
Huang Yi
Ming Chuan University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Zhang Na
Guangdong Science Center, Guangzhou, China
Wang Ke-wei
Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Guangzhou, China

The Millers model has been mostly adopted in practice around the world, however, it has some shortcomings.
Exclusive qualified threshold failed to address the differences of the measured groups or satisfy in different
contextual measurement, especially while it was adopted in developing countries. Grounded on the Millers system,
this article proposed a new measurement model based on occupational variation to assess scientific literacy by
comparison instead of the threshold, so as to have relative levels of scientific literacy rather than absolute ones.
Furthermore, the new model was advanced with dimensions with weights. Research adopted the new model to
assess the TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) practitioners, by comparing their both comprehensive scores and
dimensional scores with the control group. Results addressed that the TCM practitioners had more comprehensive
system of science knowledge and the pharmacists had the highest comprehensive literacy scores in the filed. The
new measurement model explored further understanding of public scientific literacy in terms of occupational
variation in both broad and narrow senses, and offered a more comprehensive foundation for civil scientific literacy
measurement.
Keywords: scientific literacy, measurement, occupational variation, dimension, weight
Introduction

As a major component of civic literacy, scientific literacy reflects a countrys comprehensive power and
its international competence, thus, most countries attach great importance to the fundamental work of civic
scientific literacy survey. To broadly and accurately understand the levels of civil scientific literacy becomes

-
The paper is sponsored by Science and Technology Program of Guangdong Province, China; Program No. 2011b0106000209.
Liang Ai-ying, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, South China Normal University.
Xiao Wen-bin, M.A., deputy director, Department of Business Development, Guangdong Science Center.
Huang Yi, M.A., Department of Computer Science, Ming Chuan University.
Zhang Na, M.A., Department of Research and Design, Guangdong Science Center.
Wang Ke-wei, Ph.D., deputy director-general, Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology.
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the test criteria of the national education system as well as the basic reference for relevant laws and regulations.
Nowadays, countries in the world prevalently adopt the measurement system proposed by American
scholar J on D. Miller. Miller considered scientific literacy was composed of such three dimensions: (1) a basic
vocabulary of scientific terms sufficient for one to read articles in newspapers or magazines; (2) an
understanding of the process or nature of scientific inquiry; and (3) awareness and understanding of the impact
of science and technology on both individuals and society. If one could reach a reasonable degree in each
dimension, he/she would have the capability to learn scientific and technological policy in media and
understand the importance of relevant argumentations as well as to get involved (Miller, 1998).
The Millers model laid the foundation of American NSF (National Science Foundation) biennial
scientific indicator surveys since the late 1970s, a large amount of measurement effort has been taken ever
since then in America. A number of countries and regions like Britain, Canada, J apan, and India successively
applied Millers measurement indicators and methodology to carry out various surveys in practice.
China first adopted the Millers model on a national scale in 1990, and in 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005,
and 2007, six national wide scientific literacy surveys (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) had been
carried out to the public aged from 18 to 69. Taking the 2007 questionnaire as an example, the assessment
focused on scientific terminology, scientific methodology, and relations between science and society. Valuable
data of civil scientific literacy were acquired in such nationwide surveys.
Defects of Extant Scientific Literacy Measurement Systems
As the survey practice and theoretical research have been accelerated in depth, some drawbacks of the
Millers model become more and more obvious, especially, while applied in developing countries like China,
whose social features and education systems differentiate largely from those of developed countries. Generally
speaking, the Millers model exposed to be absolute and simple on measurement.
The Millers model was based on a threshold measurement, requiring the public to reach the minimal
level of literacy. However, adopting a sole threshold in assessment failed to differentiate scientific literacy and
only measure absolute scientific literacy, thus, it is unable to provide sufficient information to accurately
embody disparity and variation of civil scientific literacy, or to offer prospective guidance for national social
development policy and science education system. The threshold measurement simply divided the public into
two categories: qualified for minimal level of literacy and not qualified. Such black and white way of
measurement inevitably buried some detailed information of scientific literacy. For instance, in the Chinese
survey of 2007, the threshold of the second dimension was 10 questions, i.e., people who could pass the second
dimension had to answer at least 10 questions correctly. Therefore, people who got nine questions correct could
only be defined as not qualified. In fact, it was hard to tell the difference of scientific literacy between them
and those passed 10 questions. On the other hand, people who got only one answer correct were categorized
into the same category with those who got nine answers correct, and the disparity between them could be huge
but could not be reflected in measurement.
Furthermore, there was no weighted dimension in the Millers system. Only to reach three thresholds of
the dimensions respectively could be called as having scientific literacy, which counterbalanced the importance
of each scientific literacy dimension. In fact, the relative importance of each dimension is interacted with one
another, and varies in different historical background and social context. In order to be adopted in different
countries, the Millers model was always modified appropriately or simplified, which reflected shifts in

805
definition or in substance of scientific literacy (Beveridge & Rudell, 1988). Because of the existence of
disparity in historic and cultural contexts, a particular domain of scientific knowledge suitable to one country
might be biased toward other countriesRaza, Singh, Dutt, & Chander, 1996; Raza, Singh, & Dutt, 2002). A
country might have its distinctive understanding and orientation of scientific literacy indicators as well as their
relative importance, which might be greatly different from the other countries, thus, simple and unified
dimension model did not fit in different contexts.
Refined Measurement Model of Scientific Literacy Based on Occupational Variation
In order to perfect such limitations of the original measurement methodology, based on the Millers
three-dimensional model, this article proposed a measurement model with weights, to assess scientific literacy
among different occupational groups by comparison. Such measurement model does not have a threshold any
more. It is designed to carry out comparison among both comprehensive scores and dimensional scores of
scientific literacy to acquire relative scientific literacy rather than absolute one. By both horizontal and vertical
comparison, we can learn each individuals or the targeted groups scientific literacy, as well as the advantages
and disadvantages in various indicators, Thus, the refined measurement model turns out to provide a solid
foundation for differentiating civil scientific literacy, which facilitates to promote a more targeted science
popularization and scientific literacy education. The refined model contains the following features.
Comparison Measurement Based on Occupational Variations
We consider that individual citizen has certain scientific literacy, thus, it is more important for the
government and educational organizations to learn what exactly each indicator of scientific literacy is than Yes
or No judgment. Moreover, as scientific literacy is comprehensive and dynamic, we need to build up a
measurement model to keep track of it on the ground of certain variable.
Occupation, is closely related to economy, politics, culture, and other social contexts, thus, differences
among occupations demonstrate disparity in such background factors to a great extent. Meanwhile, a same
occupation in different countries or regions is yet highly commensurable. Therefore, we choose
occupation as variable in measurement. Occupational variation referred here contains both broad and
narrow meanings. J udging from the broad sense, professional variation refers to the discrepancies among
different professional fields, such as the discrepancies between educational professionals and financial
professionals. Whereas, in the narrow sense, it refers to discrepancies among different categories in one
professional filed. For example, multiple job categories like doctor, nurse, technician, etc. in the medical
professional field. The refined model takes advantage of comparison methodology rather than the threshold
measurement, to get more precise understanding of scientific literacy of different professional groups by
intra-professional and inter-professional comparisons. In such way can the measurement not only grasp the
overall level of certain professional group, but also understand strength and weakness of different
professional categories in science knowledge system. Thus, it not only facilitates us to fully learn the
characteristic structure of scientific literacy of a certain group so as to offer them a more effectively
targeted science education scheme. Moreover, comparison research could be further carried out among
scientific literacy of various professionals in the same country or scientific literacy of certain professionals
in various countries, thus, to effectively remedy the weakness of minimal level uncertainty in different
contexts.

806
Measurement System With Weights
In order to build up a measurement model more flexible in different contexts, we calculate the weights of
the dimensions of scientific literacy accordingly. We take advantage of expert rating to determine the weights
locally exclusively. We develop a small range of experts sampling survey where experts rank and scored each
dimension according to its relative importance, then we use the Fuzzy-AHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process)
coming with experts comments on sequence to determine the weight of each dimension. The judgment matrix
of the Fuzzy-AHP uses decimals between zero and one, which is in favor of integrating a few experts opinions
to determine weights.
First, the Fuzzy-AHP needs to set up a fuzzy complementary judgment matrix. Second, it uses a factor
set . The fuzzy complementary judgment matrix for pair-wise comparisons of factors
to determine their importance is shown as below:
11 12 1
21 22 2
1 2
n
n
n n nn
r r r
r r r
R
r r r
(
(
(
=
(
(

In the matrix,
0 1
ij
r s s
1
ii
r =
1
ij ji
r r + =
, r
ij
is the membership degree indicating factor C
i
has a
higher importance than factor C
j
. A higher r
ij
value means a higher importance of factor C
i
than factor C
j
, r
ij
=
0.5 indicates factor C
i
and factor C
j
are equally important.
Following the requirements of AHP, experts were asked to compare any two factors and determine their
relative importance with numbers one to five. Then the mean value was calculated in order to incorporate the
opinions of the experts. The scale method adopted in AHP was then replaced by the scale of Fuzzy-AHP, and
the elements of the fuzzy complementary judgment matrix were created. Thus, weights could then be calculated
with the fuzzy complementary judgment matrix determined by mean values of the experts.
Experts we selected are mainly from the fields of science education and science popularization, such as
from universities, science museums, science research institution and education department of the government,
etc., who are deemed to have a better understanding of scientific literacy and its indicators. Therefore, their
opinions are representative in one context to a greater extend. While carry out measurement among different
countries or regions, the weights can be calculated according to the methodology above, and the local scientific
literacy could be obtained after weighted calculation. Measurement results derived from such a method can be
more suitable to the real local level, thus, it meets the demands of scientific literacys socialization, which is in
favor of cross-cultural comparison.
Case Study of the New Scientific Literacy Measurement Model
In order to prove its feasibility, the new model should be tested among different occupations. The first
occupation we chose was the field of TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). TCM is a broad range of medicine
practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China for more than 2,000 years,
including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (tuina), exercises (qigong), and dietary therapy.
Until the end of 2009, China had established 37,268 medical institutions that have TCM treatment. Chinese
medicine professional staff had reached a high record of 517,400. TCM had spread into more than 160 countries
or regions. On the contrary, there had been no effective methodology to measure scientific literacy in the sphere of

807
Chinese medicine professionals, which left emptiness in the study of Chinese medicine professionals scientific
literacy. Therefore, in order to testify the validity and feasibility of the model proposed in this research, we took
Chinese medicine professionals as the pilot to be initially assessed by the new model. Based on the professional
discrepancies, the model measured various occupations within Chinese medicine professionals and carried out
data analysis and comparison between Chinese medicine professional group and contrast group.
The term Chinese medicine professionals in the case study is defined as all personnel directly engaging in
the field of TCM. It includes six categories: physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, technicians, and others
(company employees, pharmaceutical representatives, managers, and related personnel).
Gathering of Data and Information
Considering sample groups occupational distribution of TCM professionals, we selected professionals
for measurement mainly from the GHTCM (Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine), GHTCM
Branch in the GZHEMC (Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center), Guangdong No. 2 Hospital of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, J iangmen Hospital of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Panyu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou J ingxiutang
Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Guangzhou Chenliji Pharmaceutical Company Limited, and Guangzhou
Pangaoshou Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Totally, 1,500 questionnaires were issued and 1,403 valid
questionnaires were recovered. Samples in the contrast group were randomly selected from visitors to the
GDSC (Guangdong Science Center) which included public servants, teachers of primary and secondary
schools, army men, bank employees, journalists, company technical staff, and employees of property
management companies. Totally, 300 questionnaires were issued and 262 valid questionnaires were
recovered.
Defining Weights
We invited 80 experts from the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, Bureau
of Science and Technology of Guangzhou, Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology, and the Sun
Yat-Sen University, who were engaged in science and technology management and science
communication/research to have pair-wise comparison and determine their sequencing. Totally, 80
questionnaires were sent out and 79 were recovered. Table 1 shows the statistic results below.

Table 1
Dimension Weights
Scientific terminologies Scientific awareness Social functions of science Others
Weight 0.20000 0.33333 0.26667 0.20000
Note. Unit: person-time.
Calculating Comprehensive Scores and Dimension Scores
After the weights were defined, scores of scientific literacy were calculated. We designed different
questions of the questionnaire according to the scope of content in each dimension. Consideration was given to
the uniqueness of answers. Therefore, we would have dimensionless scores by removing the percentage symbol
from the correct rates of answers. After standardized (mean =100 and standard deviation =25), each score was
multiplied by the weight of the corresponding dimension, and the comprehensive score of scientific literacy
was achieved.

808
Measurement Results
According to the measurement methodology stated above, based on both broad and narrow senses of
occupational variation, comprehensive scores of scientific literacy and dimensional scores were obtained, to
analyze and validate the impact of occupation variation toward the level of scientific literacy.

Table 2
Comprehensive Scores of TCM Practitioners by Category
Occupation Comprehensive scientific literacy score
Physician 102.582
Nurse 103.064
Pharmacist 103.169
Teacher 100.570
Technician 102.570
Others 101.615

Nurses and pharmacists generally had higher comprehensive scores of scientific literacy, and teachers had
lower ones. There were distinct difference between occupational category and comprehensive score (P =0.000
<0.05by ANOVA (Analysis of Variance), thus, it demonstrated that occupational variation had distinct
influence on comprehensive scores of scientific literacy in the narrow sense (see Table 2).

Table 3
Dimensional Scores of TCM Practitioners by Category
Occupation Scientific terminologies Scientific awareness Social functions of science
Physician 116.240 112.351 94.146
Nurse 107.589 111.516 103.637
Pharmacist 113.083 113.646 96.169
Teacher 109.336 111.822 84.442
Technician 108.193 110.912 99.268
Others 107.607 109.611 95.736

The TCM practitioners scored higher in two dimensions: scientific terminologies and scientific
awareness. Whereas, they scored relatively lower in the dimension of social functions of science. Teachers,
physicians, and pharmacists had relatively higher scores than the other categories. There were distinct
differences between categories of TCM practitioners and dimensional scores (P =0.000 <0.05) by MANOVA
(Multivariate Analysis of Variance), it also demonstrated that occupational variation had distinct influence on
dimensional scores of scientific literacy in the narrow sense (see Table 3).
We found out that occupational variation was an important factor toward comprehensive scores as well as
dimensional scores of scientific literacy by analysis above; thereby, the feasibility of scientific literacy
measurement based on the narrow sense of occupational variation is validated. By dimension, scores of
scientific awareness were most centralized, whereas, scores of social functions of science were most
divergent. By category, teachers and practitioners in the others category had relatively stability in
dimensional scores, whereas, physicians or nurses did not. It could be explained that higher specialization and
minute division of labor were required for physicians and nurses that they might pay more attention to some
specific domains of knowledge instead of all. The comprehensive scores ranked in a sequence as pharmacists,

809
nurses, physicians, technicians, others, and teachers.
TCM practitioners had lower comprehensive scores than the contrast group, which suggested that scientific
literacy of TCM practitioners be a little bit lower than the level of the public. There were distinct differences
between comprehensive scores of TCM practitioners and the contrast group (P =0.024 <0.05) by ANOVA,
thus, it demonstrated that occupational variation had distinct influence on comprehensive scores of scientific
literacy in the broad sense (see Table 4). Both groups had obviously different distributed figures of
comprehensive scores by age. Interestingly noted, the oldest of the control group had the highest score among
all the sub-groups (see Table 5). Both groups had similar fluctuation while comprehensive scores by
educational background were compared. Samples with college background scored highest in the group of TCM
practitioners and samples with polytechnic school and below background scored highest in the contrast group
(see Table 6).
Table 4
Comprehensive Scores by Occupation
Occupation Comprehensive scientific literacy score
TCM practitioners 101.946
Contrast Group 102.615

Table 5
Comprehensive Scores by Age
Ages TCM practitioners Contrast group
1820 100.808
101.851
2130
102.307 102.958
3140
101.507 101.603
4150
102.752 102.528
5160
101.102 105.007

Table 6
Comprehensive Scores by Educational Background
Educational background TCM practitioners Contrast group
Polytechnic school and below
101.734 103.645
College for professional training
102.166 103.376
College
102.183 102.449
Post graduate and above
101.475 101.595

Table 7
Dimensional Scores by Occupation
Occupation Scientific terminologies Scientific awareness Social functions of science
TCM practitioners 110.294 110.753 94.877
Contrast Group 110.957 111.207 94.645

The contrast group was better at dimensions of scientific terminologies and scientific awareness.
There were distinct differences between occupations and dimensional scoresP =0.000 <0.05by MANOVA,
it also demonstrated that occupational variation had distinct influence on dimensional scores of scientific
literacy in the broad sense (see Table 7).

810
Similar to its narrow sense, occupational variation also had distinct influence on both comprehensive
scores and dimensional scores of scientific literacy in the broad sense, therefore, it demonstrated in a way that
occupational variation could be one important factor to scientific literacy assessment. There was a wide gap
between the scores of the two groups in the dimension of scientific terminologies, however, both groups were
almost at the similar level of dimension social functions of science. Overall, TCM practitioners performed
more evenly in three dimensions than the contrast group, which addressed that TCM practitioners had more
comprehensive system of science knowledge than the contrast group.
Conclusions
With unceasing progress of technology and rapid growth of global knowledge, civil scientific literacy
becomes an indicator of national power. Scientific literacy measurement pervasively used all over the world is
the Millers model that defined scientific literacy through absolute scales. In practice, the Millers model is not
specific and accurate enough while implemented under various social backgrounds. Therefore, the exploration
of diversified measurement approaches and the application of measurement results to meet the demands of
social development are the fundamental solutions.
Based on the Millers three-dimensional measurement system, with a focus on its limitations in practice,
we proposed the solution through setting occupational differences as the foundation to carry out measurement
by comparison, thus, to obtain the relative scientific literacy. Moreover, with structural analysis on scientific
literacy, the improved measurement model calculates the weight of each dimension with scientific statistical
methods to improve the validity of measurement indicators and mitigates the limitation of relatively low scores
in the Millers system.
We attempted to take TCM practitioners as subjects and creatively applied the comparison measurement
model to explore further understanding of public scientific literacy in terms of occupational variation in both
broad and narrow senses. Targeted data were provided for comparison horizontally among different
professional groups and vertically among different job categories of a professional group, and offered a more
comprehensive foundation for public scientific literacy measurement. In conclusion, the scientific literacy
measurement model based on occupational variation will have broad prospects for research and application and
is to be further developed and studied among different occupations.
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