Announcement

Yang Rui and Anatoly Oleksiyenko have co-edited a special issue of Frontiers of Education in China (Vol.10, No.1,2015) on the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). The The issue has eight articles. The lead article, by Oleksiyenko and Yang, is entitled ‘Nix the BRICs? Competitive and Collaborative Forces in the Ostensibly “Blocalized” Higher education Systems’. Separate articles are written by Anatoly Oleksiyenko and by Yang Rui and Xie Meng.

In a related matter, on 14-15 May 2015 Hugo Horta gave a plenary address in St Petersburg, Russia, at a conference entitled Education and Global Cities: Prospects of BRICS. The conference was organized by the 5-100 Project, Ural Federal University, ITMO University, and the National Research University of Saint Petersburg.

Hugo’s presentation was in plenary session titled “University of (not in) the City”, which focused on the contribution to the economic life of cities and their strategic development in the scope of global knowledge societies. Hugo noted ways in which universities can use research based teaching to engage students (and thus the university) with local communities, highlighting the potential pros and cons of doing so.

Room to Read is an international non-governmental organization that supports children’s literacy and girls’ education in Asia and Africa. The speaker Matthew Jukes leads the development and implementation of Room to Read’s research, monitoring and evaluation strategy. Prior to joining Room to Read in 2012, Matthew was an associate professor of international education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where he taught courses on evidence-based decision-making and on the roles of both culture and health in effective education. His research at Harvard focused on improving children’s development and learning in low-income countries, primarily through the evaluation of projects to improve early-grade literacy interventions and to promote learning through better health.

Matthew has also applied his research to work with the World Bank, UNAIDS, UNESCO, Save the Children and the UK Department for International Development. He has experience as a classroom teacher in Gambia and holds a doctorate in developmental psychology and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Oxford University.

Date: Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Time: 7.00 -8.00 pm

Location: Room 406, Meng Wah Complex

All are welcome!

“Changing Times, Changing Territories: Comparative Education in and from Hong Kong”

3:00 pm, 7 February 2015, at Rayson Huang Lecture Theater, The University of Hong Kong.

Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) celebrated its 20th anniversary with a public lecture! The keynote speech for this occasion was held in the Rayson Huang Theatre at 15:00, Saturday, 7 February 2015.

The lecture was chaired by Maria Manzon, Research Scientist at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. She is also Chair of the Admissions and New Societies Standing Committee of WCCES and Editor of CIEclopedia. The keynote speakers are five former CERC directors: 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Lee Wing On was the founding Director of CERC in 1994, and taught at HKU until 1998. He subsequently held positions at the University of Sydney, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, and the National Institute of Education in Singapore. He is now Vice-President of the Open University of Hong Kong.

Mark Bray was Director of CERC from 1996 to 2001, and again has been Director from 2010 to the present and UNESCO Chair Professor in Comparative Education, University of Hong Kong. He handed over the Directorship in 2002 when he became Dean of the HKU Faculty of Education.

Bob Adamson was Director of CERC during 2002. He subsequently moved to the Hong Kong Institute of Education, where he is now Chair Professor of Curriculum Reform.

Mark Mason was Director of CERC from 2002 to 2008. He subsequently moved to the Hong Kong Institute of Education and then in 2013 took leave of absence to work in Geneva as Senior Programme Specialist in UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education.

Yang Rui was Director of CERC from 2008 to 2010. He remains in HKU as a member of the CERC Management Committee and is a Professor in the Division of Policy, Administration and Social Sciences Education with particular focus on education in China and issues of globalisation.