title: University teachers' perceptions of their roles in curriculum decision making: A case study at Hanoi National University of Education (Vietnam)

authors: Nguyen, Thu Trang

subjects: university teachers

abstract: This study is concerned with university teachers' perceptions of their roles in curriculum decision making in the setting of Hanoi National University of Education (Vietnam). This is one of the largest teacher training universities in Vietnam. Since research on teachers' curriculum decision making at tertiary institutions has been carried out internationally, it is suggested that these issues should be examined with due consideration within the Vietnamese higher education context. 

Information for the research was gathered using a qualitative approach. Individual, face-to-face interviews were conducted with eight teachers at Hanoi National University of Education. These teachers taught different disciplinary subjects and some of them held positions as Deans of Faculties and Heads of Departments at the university. The teachers were interviewed in Vietnam through May to June 2009. The interview responses were then analyzed and interpreted using my own approach adapted from literature on qualitative research methods.

From my research findings, it was evident that ways Hanoi National University of Education teachers conceptualized curriculum and curriculum decision making were influenced by the top-down, centralized model of management dominating over Vietnamese education in the last 3 decades (1980s-present). Curriculum was frequently defined by looking at its legality and authority. Meanwhile, curriculum decision making was seen as a function of authoritative agencies rather than the activities of university teachers themselves. My research also found that university teachers possessed a high degree of self-awareness about their responsibilities and professional capacity related to curriculum decision making. Although most university teachers thought they were encouraged to engage in curriculum decision making, they expressed an expectation of being given more roles and involvement in this process. Additionally, a majority of university teachers were worried about the limitations in their professional competence and the lack of professional development opportunities. They, therefore, suggested recommendations for facilitating Vietnamese university teachers' participation in curriculum decision making. These recommendations involved educational management and policy changes, professional development for university teachers, and changes in the curriculum perceptions of university teachers themselves.

text: University teachers' perceptions of their roles in curriculum decision making: A case study at Hanoi National University of Education (Vietnam) This study is concerned with university teachers' perceptions of their roles in curriculum decision making in the setting of Hanoi National University of Education (Vietnam). This is one of the largest teacher training universities in Vietnam. Since research on teachers' curriculum decision making at tertiary institutions has been carried out internationally, it is suggested that these issues should be examined with due consideration within the Vietnamese higher education context. 

Information for the research was gathered using a qualitative approach. Individual, face-to-face interviews were conducted with eight teachers at Hanoi National University of Education. These teachers taught different disciplinary subjects and some of them held positions as Deans of Faculties and Heads of Departments at the university. The teachers were interviewed in Vietnam through May to June 2009. The interview responses were then analyzed and interpreted using my own approach adapted from literature on qualitative research methods.

From my research findings, it was evident that ways Hanoi National University of Education teachers conceptualized curriculum and curriculum decision making were influenced by the top-down, centralized model of management dominating over Vietnamese education in the last 3 decades (1980s-present). Curriculum was frequently defined by looking at its legality and authority. Meanwhile, curriculum decision making was seen as a function of authoritative agencies rather than the activities of university teachers themselves. My research also found that university teachers possessed a high degree of self-awareness about their responsibilities and professional capacity related to curriculum decision making. Although most university teachers thought they were encouraged to engage in curriculum decision making, they expressed an expectation of being given more roles and involvement in this process. Additionally, a majority of university teachers were worried about the limitations in their professional competence and the lack of professional development opportunities. They, therefore, suggested recommendations for facilitating Vietnamese university teachers' participation in curriculum decision making. These recommendations involved educational management and policy changes, professional development for university teachers, and changes in the curriculum perceptions of university teachers themselves.

year: 2010

title: Health invaders in New Zealand primary schools

authors: Burrows, Lisette

subjects: health policy

abstract: Escalating concern over childhood obesity rates, children’s eating habits and their physical activity regimes has fuelled the development of multiple health policies and resources. Many of these are reaching into primary schools, contouring pedagogical opportunities and influencing how young people may come to understand themselves as healthy (or not). In this paper, we map the health policy/resource context in New Zealand emergent over the past two decades, examining the form and content of health messages circulating and their incursions into primary school environments. We also consider the potential effects for teachers and students of enduring health ‘invasions’ in the primary school space.

text: Health invaders in New Zealand primary schools Escalating concern over childhood obesity rates, children’s eating habits and their physical activity regimes has fuelled the development of multiple health policies and resources. Many of these are reaching into primary schools, contouring pedagogical opportunities and influencing how young people may come to understand themselves as healthy (or not). In this paper, we map the health policy/resource context in New Zealand emergent over the past two decades, examining the form and content of health messages circulating and their incursions into primary school environments. We also consider the potential effects for teachers and students of enduring health ‘invasions’ in the primary school space.

year: 2015

title: Culture is our business: Issues and challenges for forensic and correctional psychologists

authors: Tamatea, Armon J.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Psychology has made significant advances in the development of more empirical, standardized, and consistent approaches to the prediction, assessment, and treatment of offending behaviour. However, crime occurs in a cultural context. Similarly, forensic and correctional psychology derive from a cultural basis that privileges certain types of knowledge and promotes certain forms of practice that are incommensurate with the outlook and realities of some offenders and their communities. While there is an emerging literature on ethnicity and race in criminal justice psychology, very little research that addresses culture is published. The reasons for this knowledge gap are complex, not least because the worldviews of indigenous and diverse communities do not superimpose neatly onto current best-practice models of risk assessment or offender rehabilitation. Given Australia and New Zealand’s commitment to the involvement and wellbeing of indigenous peoples as well as the shared experience of progressively more pluralistic societies, it is argued that there is a critical need to bring the somewhat disparate domains of forensic psychology and culture into conversation with a view to informing policy and practice. The example of risk assessment is used to illustrate some of the complexities of working with cultural difference. Central to this article is a call for a culturally-engaged and proactive philosophy of practice that embraces the needs of diverse offenders, victims and communities.

text: Culture is our business: Issues and challenges for forensic and correctional psychologists Psychology has made significant advances in the development of more empirical, standardized, and consistent approaches to the prediction, assessment, and treatment of offending behaviour. However, crime occurs in a cultural context. Similarly, forensic and correctional psychology derive from a cultural basis that privileges certain types of knowledge and promotes certain forms of practice that are incommensurate with the outlook and realities of some offenders and their communities. While there is an emerging literature on ethnicity and race in criminal justice psychology, very little research that addresses culture is published. The reasons for this knowledge gap are complex, not least because the worldviews of indigenous and diverse communities do not superimpose neatly onto current best-practice models of risk assessment or offender rehabilitation. Given Australia and New Zealand’s commitment to the involvement and wellbeing of indigenous peoples as well as the shared experience of progressively more pluralistic societies, it is argued that there is a critical need to bring the somewhat disparate domains of forensic psychology and culture into conversation with a view to informing policy and practice. The example of risk assessment is used to illustrate some of the complexities of working with cultural difference. Central to this article is a call for a culturally-engaged and proactive philosophy of practice that embraces the needs of diverse offenders, victims and communities.

year: 2017