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Distance higher education for adults, media selection, and country profiles are considered in conference papers. Titles and authors are as follows: "Distance Education, Trends Worldwide" (Lord Perry of Walton); "Adults in Higher Education: Lowering the Barriers by Teaching and Learning at a Distance" (Hans G. Schutze); "Distance Education for Adults: Old and New Barriers for Participation" (Kjell Rubenson); "Distance Education for Adult Students: From Old to New Barriers for Participation?" (Ger van Enckevort); "Distance Education in OECD Member Countries"; "The Open University of the Netherlands"; "Background and Objectives" (Pierre Morin); "Basic Concepts" (Henk de Wolf); "The First Students" (G. van Enckevort); "The Open University of the United Kingdom" (Keith Harry); "The German Distance University: Its Main Features and Functions" (Jorn Bartels, Otto Peters); "The Instituto Portugues de Ensino a Distancia, Portugal" (Armando Rocha Trindade); "The Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain" (Doina Popa-Lisseanu); "Distance Education in Yugoslavia" (Ana Kranjc); "Towards a Contextual Rationale in Distance Higher Education: The Small Scale Cases of Australia and Sweden" (Urban Dahllof); "Adult Learning and the Consequences for the Selection of Media: The Japanese Approach" (Yoshiya Abe); "Technology-Based Distance Education for Adults in the United States of America" (Marilyn Kressel); "Distance Education, a Critical View from Canada" (Ian Morrison); "The Impact on Higher Education of New Information and Telecommunication Technologies" (Pamela Christoffel); "Selection of Media at the Dutch Open University" (G. van Enckevort, Freek Gastkemper)"; "Development of Computer-Based Learning Materials" (Jef Moonen); and "Computer Communication: A New Tool for Distance Education" (Norman D. Kurland). (SW)

These proceedings contain the following 12 papers on comparative adult education: "Adult Education as Concept and Structure: An Agenda for Research" (Colin Titmus); "Report on the Context and State of Comparative Adult Education and on Four Publications" (Alexander N. Charters); "Comparative Adult Education Research: Methods and Materials" (Dilnawaz A. Siddiqui); "Adult Education and Social Change: A Comparison of Canada and Sweden" (Kjell Rubenson); "Comparative Study of Adult Education Institutions and Organizations between the United States and Japan by the Use of Characteristics Mirroring Analyses" (Alexander N. Charters and Seiichiro Miura); "Andragogy and China: Cross-Cultural Considerations" (Daniel D. Pratt); "Participatory Research: Are Adult Education Graduate Programs Ready for It?" (Beverly Benner Cassara); "A Comparative Analysis of Recent North American Research on Women and Minorities" (Jovita Martin Ross); "Agricultural Extension Worldwide: Socio-Political, Organizational and Programmatic Characteristics" (William M. Rivera); "A Comparative Study of Andragogy (Adult Education) as a Field of Academic Study in the World" (Claude Touchette); "The Adult Education Center in Germany as a Case of Social Change and Cross-Cultural Comparison" (Klaus Harney); and "Adult Education World-Wide--Revisited" (Jost Reischmann). (KC)

The paper presents the aims and the design of the international e-learning course for teacher training "International Project" / Internet and Competence to work on the Project"/IPC/, organized with students from the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgaria) and universities from Germany, USA, Spain, Japan, Sweden and Poland (http://www.internationalproject-ipc.com/en/). The project has a long tradition and is developed in co-operation from university teachers by using different methods and approaches. The project is based on an inquiry-based learning. The topics of the student's investigations are connected with the school education and with the children's perspective on school, teaching and learning. Coached by university teachers and tutors the students work in many international groups using different research methods and web tools as wikis, chat forums or blogs. By working on topics selected from the teacher training curriculum the students improve their expertise related to the curriculum and develop awareness of cultural differences. At the end of the course the students from the different universities present the results of the comparative international research and do conclusions about the differences and similarities in the curriculum and the education in different countries and continents. The IPC project fosters the development of many competences for teacher students because of working and doing educational research in international team. [For the full proceedings, see ED622227.]

Government regulations require businesses to improve their processes and products/services in a green and sustainable manner. For being environmentally friendly, businesses should invest more on eco-innovation practices. Firms eco-innovate to promote eco-efficiency and sustainability. This paper evaluates the eco-innovation performance of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with data envelopment analysis (DEA). Data were gathered from the world bank database and global innovation index report. Findings show that for most OECD countries, energy use and ecological sustainability are more important than other inputs and outputs for enhancing eco-innovation. [For full proceedings, see ED571459.]

This summary of proceedings includes papers from and about a workshop on technical education in Nigeria and the lessons Nigeria may gain by examining the vocational and technical education systems of Germany, the United States, Great Britain, and Japan. The following papers are included: "Foreword" (Iyorchia Ayu); "Introduction: A Time for Action in Technical Education"; "Why We Sponsored the Workshop" (Klaus Bauer); "Importance of Technical Education" (Iyorchia Ayu); "Technology for Industrial Advancement" (Daniel O. Akintonde); "Technical Education in Nigeria" (P. E. O. Towe mni); "Contribution by the Representative of the National Association of Technological Engineers" (Abimbola Daniyan); "Excerpts from Paper Submitted to the Workshop by the National Association of Technological Engineers: Alternative Proposal for the Three Existing Parallel Routes"; "German Vocational Training in the Dual System" (Richard von Bardeleben); "Content and Process of the Dual System" (representative of the German company FESTO); "Contribution of Industrial Training Fund (ITF)" (Alhaji Usman Mohammed); "International Spread of the Dual System"; "Vocational and Technical Education in USA, Great Britain, and Japan: Lessons for Nigeria" (S. O. Olaitan); "UNESCO's Contributions to the Development of Technical and Vocational System: The UNEVOC Project (International Project on Technical and Vocational Education)" (Hans Kronner); "Implementation of Manpower Training Programme in Private Industries" (E. O. Ugwu); "Implementation of Manpower Training Programme in Governmental Organizations (An Example of Dornier Training Support to the Nigerian Navy)" (M. O. Bakare); "Implementation of Manpower Training Programme by Governmental Organisations"; and "Technical Education--The Way Forward." Concluding the proceedings are a summary of workshop observations and recommendations and lists of workshop participants and official reporters. (MN)

Historically, older and lower-skilled adults in the U.S. have participated in Adult Education and Training (AET) at lower rates than other groups, possibly because of perceived lack of return on investment due to the time required to recover training costs. Global, knowledge based economies have increased the importance of lifelong learning for all age groups. This paper reports results of a study that used data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to examine the relationship in the U.S. between participation in AET programs and employment, labor force participation, and income, for adults aged 45 to 65. In addition, comparisons were made for outcomes of AET participation in the U.S. with those in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the U.K. Consistent with U.S. outcomes, comparison countries had lower AET participation rates by the unemployed compared to the employed and there were wide variations in AET participation between the lowest income quintile and the highest income quintile. For all countries, there was a significant relationship between AET participation and income. There was also a significant relationship between AET participation and labor force participation. [For the full proceedings, see ED581791.]

Immigration is often assumed to be a key condition leading to ethnic conflict. However, in both immigration studies and ethnic studies there is an inadequate theorization about the relationship between immigration and ethnic conflict, and there is little systematic cross-national comparative evidence on this relationship. This paper is a step toward filling these gaps in the literature. In contrast to the "inevitable hypothesis" that assumes ethnic conflict as a natural outcome of immigration, we propose a "conditional hypothesis" that contends that only under certain conditions will migration and contact generate conflict between groups. These conditions include, but are not limited to, group direct competition for scarce resources, unequal allocation of socioeconomic resources and political power, ethnic and cultural policy based on ethnic/cultural superiority or inferiority, and perceived threats from other groups especially those with a large size and lower-class backgrounds. The historical and contemporary evidence from selected major immigration countries reviewed in this paper seems to give little credence to the inevitable hypothesis but lend substantial support to our conditional hypothesis. It is evident that when these conditions are present, so is ethnic conflict. This is particularly true in the USA, Canada, Australia, and Germany. In contrast, in Japan none of these conditions is present, and hence we see little conflict along ethnic lines. In tandem, the conditional hypothesis and the contact hypothesis suggested by psychologists grasp more completely the role of migration and contact in relation to ethnic conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern education emerged in the long modern century stretching from the mid-eighteenth century through the early twentieth century. Many accounts of modern education assert that its goals, structure, content and functions were essentially identical across all modern societies. This paper argues, to the contrary, that at least six distinctive patterns of modern education emerged, each reflecting their unique temporal and spatial context and the nature to the ideological, economic, and political changes that accompanied their birth and systematization. These patterns are the Prussian, French, English, American, Japanese, and Russian approaches to modern education. The paper first seeks to describe the process of emergence of these respective systems, and then it reflects on some of the implications for institutional theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] achievement of twenty countries in light of some of their demographic differences. SES [student socioeconomic status], nuclear family, gender, home language, and native status were predictive of achievement for every country. Demographics accounted for as little as 8 percent to as much as 22 percent of individual score variance depending on the country and subject. Being male was almost a universal advantage in math, but was a far greater disadvantage in reading for every country. The relative performance of some countries changed when scores were adjusted for demographic differences; however, the Asian countries and Finland remained on top. Instructional strategies related to countries performing above expectations were explored.

The present study examined an international sample of adults from the Survey of Adult Skills administered by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2009) to assess (1) how specific individual and country-level characteristics predict adult readiness to learn, and (2) how readiness to learn predicts adult skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. Multilevel modeling showed that education and hours worked positively predicted readiness to learn, while age negatively predicted it, and men showed high levels of readiness to learn than women. At the individual level, a positive relationship between readiness to learn and skill proficiency was observed, while at the country level a negative relationship occurred. This "readiness to learn paradox" is discussed in terms of cultural differences in learning environments.

This paper argues that play is an important and fundamental educational process and that the child's right to play should be respected. The paper also comments on the 1990 Tokyo International Conference on the Child's Right to Play. Several issues related to children's play, both in and out of school, are discussed. The focus is on the state of children and play in New Zealand, but examples from several other countries are also provided. The issues discussed concern: (1) the space reserved for children's play; (2) the importance of playmates in the process of learning social skills; (3) the role of adults in children's play; (4) the child's right to play in safety; (5) dangers of crossing the street in traffic; (6) sexual abuse; (7) play as a therapeutic process for sick or hospitalized children; (8) toy-lending libraries; (9) concerns about war toys; (10) racism and sex stereotyping; (11) computer games; and (12) the importance of creative play. (GLR)

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and behavioral standpoints), from this academic and practical scientific discipline, is aimed ultimately to benefit society. This International Conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the several areas within the Psychology field, new developments in studies and proposals for future scientific projects. The goal is to offer a worldwide connection between psychologists, researchers and lecturers, from a wide range of academic fields, interested in exploring and giving their contribution in psychological issues. The conference is a forum that connects and brings together academics, scholars, practitioners and others interested in a field that is fertile in new perspectives, ideas and knowledge. There is an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, which can supplement the view of the human essence and behavior, showing the impact of their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. This is, certainly, one of the reasons there are nationalities and cultures represented, inspiring multi-disciplinary collaborative links, fomenting intellectual encounter and development. InPACT 2016 received 332 submissions, from 37 different countries, reviewed by a double-blind process. Submissions were prepared to take form of Oral Presentations, Posters, Virtual Presentations and Workshops. It was accepted for presentation in the conference 96 submissions (29% acceptance rate). The conference also includes: (1) A keynote presentation from Prof. Dr. Richard Bentall (Institute of Psychology, Health & Society of the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom); (2) Three Special Talks, one from Emeritus Professor Carlos Amaral Dias (University of Coimbra, Director of Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Vice-President of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Private practitioner of psychiatry and psychoanalysis, Portugal) and Prof. Clara Pracana (Full and Training member of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Portugal), another from Emeritus Professor Michael Wang (University of Leicester, United Kingdom), and a third one from Dr. Conceição Almeida (Founder of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy, and Vice-President of the Board. Member of the Teaching Committee, Portugal); (3) An Invited Talk from Dr. Ana Vasconcelos (SAMS--Serviços de Assistência Médico-Social do Sindicato dos Bancários de Sul e Ilhas, founding member of the Portuguese Association of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and member of NPA-Neuropshycanalysis Association, Portugal). Thus, we would like to express our gratitude to all our invitees. This volume is composed by the abstracts of the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT 2016), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). This conference addresses different categories inside Applied Psychology area and papers fit broadly into one of the named themes and sub-themes. To develop the conference program six main broad-ranging categories had been chosen, which also cover different interest areas: (1) In CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: Emotions and related psychological processes; Assessment; Psychotherapy and counseling; Addictive behaviors; Eating disorders; Personality disorders; Quality of life and mental health; Communication within relationships; Services of mental health; and Psychopathology. (2) In EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: Language and cognitive processes; School environment and childhood disorders; Parenting and parenting related processes; Learning and technology; Psychology in schools; Intelligence and creativity; Motivation in classroom; Perspectives on teaching; Assessment and evaluation; and Individual differences in learning. (3) In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: Cross-cultural dimensions of mental disorders; Employment issues and training; Organizational psychology; Psychology in politics and international issues; Social factors in adolescence and its development; Social anxiety and self-esteem; Immigration and social policy; Self-efficacy and identity development; Parenting and social support; and Addiction and stigmatization. (4) In LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY: Violence and trauma; Mass-media and aggression; Intra-familial violence; Juvenile delinquency; Aggressive behavior in childhood; Internet offending; Working with crime perpetrators; Forensic psychology; Violent risk assessment; and Law enforcement and stress. (5) In COGNITIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: Perception, memory and attention; Decision making and problem-solving; Concept formation, reasoning and judgment; Language processing; Learning skills and education; Cognitive Neuroscience; Computer analogies and information processing (Artificial Intelligence and computer simulations); Social and cultural factors in the cognitive approach; Experimental methods, research and statistics; and Biopsychology. (6) In PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL PSYCHOTHERAPY: Psychoanalysis and psychology; The unconscious; The Oedipus complex; Psychoanalysis of children; Pathological mourning; Addictive personalities; Borderline organizations; Narcissistic personalities; Anxiety and phobias; Psychosis; Neuropsychoanalysis. The proceedings contain the results of the research and developments conducted by authors who focused on what they are passionate about: to promote growth in research methods intimately related to Psychology and its applications. It includes an extensive variety of contributors and presenters by sharing their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. Authors will be invited to publish extended contributions for a book to be published by inScience Press. We would like to express thanks to all the authors and participants, the members of the academic scientific committee, partners and, of course, to the organizing and administration team for making and putting this conference together. (Individual papers contain references.) [Abstract modified to meet ERIC guidelines.]

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Conference on Education and New Developments 2015-END 2015, taking place in Porto, Portugal, from 27 to 29 of June. Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the human being, in the way one thinks, feels and acts. One of the most important contributions resides in what and how we learn through the improvement of educational processes, both in formal and informal settings. Our International Conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the processes, actions, challenges and outcomes of learning, teaching and human development. Our goal is to offer a worldwide connection between teachers, students, researchers and lecturers, from a wide range of academic fields, interested in exploring and giving their contribution in educational issues. We take pride in having been able to connect and bring together academics, scholars, practitioners and others interested in a field that is fertile in new perspectives, ideas and knowledge. We counted on an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, which can supplement our view of the human essence and behavior, showing the impact of their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. This is, certainly, one of the reasons we have many nationalities and cultures represented, inspiring multi-disciplinary collaborative links, fomenting intellectual encounter and development. END 2015 received 528 submissions, from 63 different countries, reviewed by a double-blind process. Submissions were prepared to take form as Oral Presentations, Posters, Virtual Presentations and Workshops. It was accepted for presentation in the conference, 176 submissions (33% acceptance rate). The conference also includes a keynote presentation from an internationally distinguished researcher, Professor Dr. Martin Braund, Adjunct Professor at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa and Honorary Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of York, UK, to whom we express our most gratitude. This volume is composed by the proceedings of the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2015), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.) and had the help of our respected media partners that we reference in the dedicated page. This conference addressed different categories inside the Education area and papers are expected to fit broadly into one of the named themes and sub-themes. To develop the conference program we have chosen four main broad-ranging categories, which also cover different interest areas: (1) In TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Teachers and Staff training and education; Educational quality and standards; Curriculum and Pedagogy; Vocational education and Counseling; Ubiquitous and lifelong learning; Training programs and professional guidance; Teaching and learning relationship; Student affairs (learning, experiences and diversity); Extra-curricular activities; Assessment and measurements in Education. (2) In PROJECTS AND TRENDS: Pedagogic innovations; Challenges and transformations in Education; Technology in teaching and learning; Distance Education and eLearning; Global and sustainable developments for Education; New learning and teaching models; Multicultural and (inter)cultural communications; Inclusive and Special Education; Rural and indigenous Education; Educational projects. (3) In TEACHING AND LEARNING: Educational foundations; Research and development methodologies; Early childhood and Primary Education; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Science and technology Education; Literacy, languages and Linguistics (TESL/TEFL); Health Education; Religious Education; Sports Education. (4) In ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES: Educational policy and leadership; Human Resources development; Educational environment; Business, Administration, and Management in Education; Economics in Education; Institutional accreditations and rankings; International Education and Exchange programs; Equity, social justice and social change; Ethics and values; Organizational learning and change. The proceedings contain the results of the research and developments conducted by authors who focused on what they are passionate about: to promote growth in research methods intimately related to teaching, learning and applications in Education nowadays. It includes an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, who will extend our view in exploring and giving their contribution in educational issues, by sharing with us their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. (Individual papers contain references.)

This study evaluates an international collaborative project developed and practiced on the internet, as a form of SNS, focusing on how much university students from six countries worldwide participated in the project, from the viewpoint of the participants' contribution to the forum discussion of their own group's topic on education. The 66 participating students' communication data posted in the eight group forums were compiled and analyzed by quantitative and qualitative methods. As for the quantitative method, the corpus data comprising 48,990 running words was analyzed by topics and countries to obtain profiles of the characteristics of the participants' English language use in terms of message volume as well as vocabulary density, sentence length, and key words. As to the qualitative method, the data were analyzed by KBDeX software focusing on some key words such as "agree/disagree" and "opinion" to investigate the interactive discourse of discussion, negotiation, or mediation in each group. The results from both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed the students of each country had their own distinguishing features in language use and communication patterns. [For full proceedings, see ED565087.]

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a fast pace and affecting academia and professional practice in many ways. Paradigms such as just-in-time learning, constructivism, student-centered learning and collaborative approaches have emerged and are being supported by technological advancements such as simulations, virtual reality and multi-agents systems. These developments have created both opportunities and areas of serious concerns. This conference aimed to cover both technological as well as pedagogical issues related to these developments. The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference received 98 submissions from more than 24 countries. Out of the papers submitted, 29 were accepted as full papers. In addition to the presentation of full papers, short papers and reflection papers, the conference also includes a keynote presentation from internationally distinguished researchers. Individual papers contain figures, tables, and references.

The Research Institute for Higher Education in Hiroshima University started a program of research on the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) in 2005. The fourth and final conference was held in Hiroshima in January 2010. The following papers are presented at the conference: (1) Differentiation and Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning in the Knowledge Society: From the Perspective of Japan (Akira Arimoto); (2) Comparing the Academic Research Productivity of Selected Societies (William K. Cummings); (3) Teaching and Research in Germany: Narrowing the Gaps between Institutional Types and Staff Categories? (Ulrich Teichler); (4) Teaching and Research in a Changing Environment: Academic Work in Italy (Michele Rostan); (5) Teaching and Research in Higher Education in South Africa: Transformation Issues (Philip Higgs, Leonie G. Higgs, Isaac M. Ntshoe, and Charste C. Wolhuter); (6) Teaching and Research Activities of the Chinese Academics (Futao Huang and Min Li); (7) Convergence and Divergence of Teaching and Research Activities in the Japanese Academic Profession (Yusuke Hasegawa and Naoyuki Ogata); (8) Teaching and Research in the Japanese Academic Profession: A Focus on Age and Gender (Hideto Fukudome and Naomi Kimoto); (9) Presenting Malaysian Academics to the World: What's Holding Us Back? (Ahmad Nurulazam Md Zain, Munir Shuib and Melissa Ng Lee Yen Abdullah); (10) Scholarship of Service: Faculty Perceptions, Workloads, and Reward Systems (Jung Cheol Shin); (11) The Divergent Worlds of Teaching and Research among Mexican Faculty: Tendencies and Implications (Jesus F. Galaz-Fontes, Jorge G. Martinez-Stack, Etty H. Estevez-Nenninger, Ana L. de-la-Cruz-Santana, Laura E. Padilla-Gonzalez, Manuel Gil-Anton, Juan J. Sevilla-Garcia, and Jose L. Arcos-Vega); (12) The Balance between Teaching and Research in the Work Life of American Academics, 1992-2007: Is It Changing? (Martin Finkelstein); and (13) Changes and Realities in Teaching and Research Activities of the Academy (Futao Huang). Appended are: (1) Conference Program; and (2) List of Participants. Individual papers contain tables, figure, footnotes and references.

This collection of seminar papers is concerned with the presentation of emotions on the screen, the emotional impact of such presentations on young children, and the use of children's televised drama to foster the development of emotional sensitivity. Also considered are differences in the violence depicted on Japanese and American television, and areas in which researchers and producers can cooperate to reach common objectives. Two of the papers present analyses of a children's cartoon serial named "Heidi" and the real-life film titled "Big Henry and the Polka Dot Kid." One of the analyses is an interaction analysis of social behavior and the other is a psychological analysis. Other papers present a developmental view of the impact of television on children's emotions; a discussion of the differences between real drama and kitsch; a description of the use of children's television drama in the East German television organization to develop and educate children's emotions; a comparison of pain, aggression, and identification with aggressors and victims on television in Japan and America, accompanied by a discussion of possible reasons for the differing crime trends in the two countries; and an outline of emerging areas for cooperation between educators and television producers. A brief summary of the main points of the group discussions in the seminar is provided, along with a list of the participants and their addresses. (Author/SS)

This document contains the following seven papers, all in both English and Korean, from a conference on human resources development and school-to-work transitions in the knowledge-based society: "The U.S. Experience as a Knowledge-based Economy in Transition and Its Impact on Industrial and Employment Structures" (Eric Im); "Changes in the Industrial Structure and Employment Patterns in a Knowledge-Based Society in Japan" (Shigemi Yahata); "Human Resource Development Strategies for the Knowledge Economy" (Nigel Haworth); "Strategies and Direction of Human Resources Development in Knowledge-based Economic System: Experience in the UK" (Peter Upton); "Methods of Strengthening Effective Transition from School to Labour Market" (Bent Paulsen); and "Methods of Strengthening Effective Transition from School to the Labour Market in Australia" (Chris Robinson). Each of the papers includes an abstract; some contain lists of references. (KC)

This document contains 95 papers and summaries of 5 poster sessions from an Australian conference on putting vocational education and training (VET) research to work. The following are among the areas covered in the papers: factors affecting VET graduates' employability over time; technical and further education (TAFE) institutes as models of learning organizations; school noncompleters' outcomes in VET; increasing disabled students' participation in VET; VET management; bringing research and policy development together; innovative and flexible approaches to training package implementation; online support for VET clients; work-based learning; self-determined learning in the workplace; quality control and employability; using statistical software to interpret educational research; moving from andragogy to heutagogy in VET; drivers of learning cultures within organizations; VET practices in foreign countries; action research as action learning; challenges facing TAFE teachers; urban disadvantage and provider equity strategies; factors preventing uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships among secondary school adolescents; literacy and first-line management; performance level assessment; linkages between adult continuing education and VET; using training indicators to improve VET planning; student experiences of generic competency learning; managing the transformation to an e-learning organization; learning from small enterprise structured work placements; and using research to inform business and strategic decisions. Many papers include substantial bibliographies. (MN)

The management of the 21st century faces the challenge of employing workforce in different countries. These employees have different preferences related to performance rewards. Our research employs the following three constructs: the institutional framework and its formal and informal implications for incentive compensation, diminishing marginal utility of individuals related to performance rewards, and the incentive system as a motivational device in the organizational work environment. We have conducted an empirical study using an enriched form of Hofstede's cross-cultural questionnaire to examine employees of one MNC in China, Germany, Japan and the USA. Our results show that employees from these countries have different preferences on incentives and that incentive plans designed for one country might not even have motivating consequences in the others. We also find that the logic of diminishing marginal utility applies to certain rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Received wisdom in the field of strategic management, coupled with a healthy dose of anecdote and folklore, suggests that CEOs in the United States are romanticized to a far greater degree than CEOs from other major nations. Certainly, they are paid much more. In an attempt to provide some explanation for these phenomena, we extend the theoretical construct of managerial discretion to the macroenvironmental, or national system, level and investigate whether there are quantifiable cross-cultural differences in the degree to which CEOs matter to company performance. We argue that variance in three inter-related macro-environmental factors -- national values, firm ownership structure, and board governance practices -- will lead to differences in the level of CEO discretion across countries. We apply a variance-partitioning analysis to a 15-year matched sample of 103 U.S. firms, 103 German firms, and 103 Japanese firms. Results provide strong evidence that the magnitude of CEO influence on firm performance is greater in U.S. firms than in German and Japanese firms, and moderate evidence that U.S. CEOs influence performance more quickly than do German and Japanese CEOs. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and research, as well as for the world of practical affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document contains 15 papers from a conference on preparing youth for the 21st century that was organized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The following papers are included: "Giving Young People a Good Start: The Experience of OECD Countries" (Norman Bowers, Anne Sonnet, Laura Bardone); "The Youth Job Market Problem at Y2K" (Richard B. Freeman); "Improving Educational Performance of At-Risk Youth" (Peter Mortimore, Jo Mortimore); "The Korsor Production School and the Danish Production Schools" (Gert Moeller, Verner Ljung); "Improving Pathways in the United States from High School to College and Career" (David Stern); "The Contribution of Education and Training to the Employability of Youth: Changing Concerns, Debates, and Measures" (Ulrich Teichler); "Youth Labour Market Entry in France" (Patrick Werquin); "The Transition from Initial Education to the Labour Market: Recent Experience in the United States" (Lisa M. Lynch); "The Japanese Employment System and Youth Labour Market" (Naoki Mitani); "Youth Unemployment in OECD Countries: How Can the Disparities Be Explained?" (Olivier Marchand); "Labour Market Policies for Disadvantaged Young People in Europe" (Ides Nicaise); "Lessons from Education and Training for Youth: Five Precepts" (W. Norton Grubb); "Promoting Employment for Youth: A European Perspective" (Jerome Gautie); "Improving Job Market Outcomes for Youth: The U.S. Experience with Demand Side Approaches" (Robert L. Lerman); and "The School-to-Work Transition Twenty Years On: Issues, Evidence, and Conundrums" (Paul Ryan). Most papers include substantial bibliographies. (MN)

Konty (2005) introduced the idea of microanomie—when an individual cognitively gives higher priority to self-oriented values than to group-oriented values. Konty measured values with the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) and found that a high ratio of "self-enhancement" values to "self-transcendent" values was significantly related to deviant behavior. The study also found that the effects of gender on deviance were effectively reduced to zero by including microanomie in the regression model. In this study we replicate Konty's findings using three new samples from the United States, Germany and Japan in an effort to test the generalizability of the concept to other samples. We first test whether or not microanomie predicts deviant behavior at the individual level in a combined cross-cultural sample. Our preliminary results replicate Konty's findings that microanomie is related to deviant behavior at the individual level. A second question of interest is whether or not microanomie varies across cultures and whether or not that variation is related to differences in deviance across the cultures. Again, our preliminary results indicate that it does. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This volume contains papers on regional and global trends that affect the political factors which are changing the context within which academic mobility occurs: (1) "Introduction" (by Peggy Blumenthal and others); (2) "Political Dimensions of Regionalism in a Changing World" (David Leyton-Brown); (3) "Economic Dimensions of Regionalism" (Gary Hufbauer and Anup Malani); (4) "Cultural Dimensions of Regionalization" (Robert Picht); (5) "International Education from the Perspective of Emergent World Regionalism: The Academic, Scientific and Technological Dimension" (Malcolm Skilbeck and Helen Connell); (6) "Developments in the Internationalization of Higher Education in Europe" (Gisela Baumgratz-Gangl); (7) "Regional Cooperation and Mobility in a Global Setting: The Example of the European Community:" (Alan Smith); (8) "Academic Mobility Programmes in a Regional Context: A German Viewpoint" (Karl Roeloffs); (9) "East-West Academic Mobility within Europe: Trends and Issues" (Ladislav Cerych); (10) "The Hungarian Experience of Academic Cooperation with North America and the European Community" (Tamas Lajos); (11) "Academic Mobility in Russia" (Stanislav Merkurlev); (12) "International Cooperation Activities of Canadian Universities: North American and Other Current Trends" (Eva Egron-Polak); (13) "The Future of Educational Exchange in North America: A View from the United States" (Stanley N. Katz); (14) "From Threat to Opportunity: A New Perspective for the Development of International Education in North America" (Sylvia B. Ortega Salazar); (15) "Academic Mobility and Exchange in Brazil" (Eunice Ribeuro Durham); (16) "Japan and International Academic Mobility in Asia and the Pacific" (Yoshiya Abe); (17) "Academic Mobility in South-East Asia and the Role of Thai Higher Education" (Wichit Srisa-An); (18) "International Education in Australia: Historical Trends, Current Developments and Challenges for the Future" (Elizabeth Anderson); (19) "International Academic Cooperation in the Arab Region: Past, Present and Future" (Salah Morsi); (20) "Regional Cooperation and Mobility in Higher Education: The Implications for Human Resource Development in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Relevance of Recent Initiatives to Europe" (Anthony Smallwood and T. L. Maliyamkono); (21) "Research on Academic Mobility and International Cooperation in Higher Education: An Agenda for the Future" (Ulrich Teichler); (22) "Academic Mobility in a Changing World: Concluding Reflections on the Issues at Stakes" (Crauford D. Goodwin); and (23) "Bibliography" (Albert Over). The bibliography contains about 1,500 references. (JB)