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Lusheng is a traditional wind musical instrument cherished by various ethnic minorities in China. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of Lusheng Chinese musical instruments in promoting literacy through educational functions and transmission. Conducted in Guizhou Province, a region rich in ethnic diversity, this study employs qualitative methods and engages two key informants who are local artisans with interview and observation forms. The data analysis reveals multifaceted insights into Lusheng's transmission and promotion. Findings highlight the challenges posed by modernization to traditional craftsmanship, emphasizing the urgency of preserving Lusheng production skills. The inclusion of Lusheng in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list and the establishment of educational programs in primary, and secondary schools, and universities underscore the government's commitment to safeguarding Lusheng culture. Moreover, the research underscores the transformative impact of modern media on Lusheng's dissemination, and cross-cultural engagement is recognized as vital for expanding its influence. Balancing tradition and innovation remains a challenge. The study suggests collaborative efforts among government, academia, and society to develop a comprehensive conservation strategy, ensuring the continued transmission and promotion of Lusheng culture.

This study aims to explore whether the creativity of university students in Higher Vocational Education in China can enhance their creative performance through autonomous motivation. The theoretical foundation of this study is interactionist model of creativity, the study employs structural equation modeling for analysis and validation. A survey assessing creativity, creative performance, and autonomous motivation was administered to students from higher vocational schools in China, yielding a valid sample of 392. The overall model results indicate that the creativity of vocational college students has a significant positive impact on creative performance, creativity positively predicted autonomous motivation, which enhanced creative performance. The autonomous motivation partially mediates the relationship between creativity and creative performance. The findings recommend that higher vocational institutions initiate creative activities to foster students' creativity and continuously bolster their autonomous motivation, thus enhancing the creative performance of future technical and skilled professionals -- vocational college students.

The study focuses on the preservation and transmission of Gannan Tea Picking Opera knowledge after the Cultural Revolution in 1949 using qualitative research methods such as interviews and observations with seven key informants. The following findings were obtained, which can be divided into three distinct periods: The tortuous development phase from 1949 to 1966 marked significant growth and development, with the establishment of specialized schools and the implementation of the "three reforms" contributing to knowledge transmission and preservation. The survival dilemma period from 1966 to 1976 during the Cultural Revolution imposed constraints on artistic expression, but the return of artists from rural areas and their role in recruiting apprentices supported the continuity of Gannan Tea Picking Opera. Finally, the Ganzhou Gannan Tea Picking Opera Troupe and educational institutions contributed to the revival of this traditional art form during the period of rebirth from 1976 to 2023. Retired artists continue to play a vital role in knowledge preservation and dissemination, reflecting the enduring resilience of Gannan Tea Picking Opera.

This study aims to examine the relationship among motivation for joining an educational leadership training programme (MOT), perceived skills (PS), and perceived changes in transformational leadership (PCTFL) in educational leadership training. The study drew on survey data from 761 participants who were associated with a leadership development programme under an EU-China cooperation project. The conceptual model was tested by structural equation modelling (SEM) by the Mplus programme. MOT and PCTFL were measured, respectively, by second-order factor structure assessments due to their multi-dimensional nature. The findings of the study suggest that motivation positively influences perceived changes in transformational leadership, and this relationship is positively mediated by perceived skills as learning gains in educational leadership training. The study provides novel empirical evidence on motivation that leads to transformational leadership changes in leadership training programmes. Policymakers and other key stakeholders can use these findings to gain a deeper understanding of the success of projects and encourage academic members to participate in leadership training programmes to improve transformational leadership.

The growing adoption of online platforms for educational goals has raised concerns among learners regarding online learning contexts. These platforms have been identified as productive mediums for learning English as a second language. However, learners consistently strive for enhanced platforms, and their perspectives may change when confronted with concerns about the platform's overall quality, specifically in relation to its reliability and privacy. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the impact of platform quality, including features such as reliability, design, and security, in combination with learners' familiarity with these platforms. A quantitative research approach was utilized to accomplish this goal, which entailed circulating an online survey by 410 Chinese North East public and private university graduate and postgraduate students, which were analyzed using SmartPLS 4 software. The study's findings indicate that certain elements of website quality, such as design and privacy, do not significantly impact platform satisfaction. Learners generally prefer criteria other than design and privacy considerations when assessing language learning applications. While platform design, familiarity and satisfaction significantly impact intrinsic motivation towards English learning. These characteristics contribute to the creation of a conducive learning environment for learners, which in turn promotes motivation, engagement, and, eventually, the development of language competency. By implementing these strategies, managers can cultivate a more immersive, gratifying, and stimulating English language acquisition encounter on online platforms, resulting in heightened satisfaction and competence. Based on the study's findings, the study suggested platform executives investigate these indicators using learner feedback and appropriately modify the platform's services.

The present study aims to translate the questionnaires of Parents' Attitudes toward Early Childhood Career Development (PAECCD) and Parents' Attitudes toward Vocational Education Implementation in Preschool Curriculum (PAVEIPC) into Chinese versions (PAECCD-C and PAVEIPC-C) and examines their reliability and validity through two studies. In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) were conducted to evaluate their factor structure among 232 Chinese preschoolers' parents. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted to confirm their factor structures among other 355 Chinese preschoolers' parents, supporting the superiority of the initial theoretical model. Multigroup CFA comparisons indicated the measurement invariance for fathers and mothers. The PAECCD-C and PAVEIPC-C had excellent reliability values from 0.82 to 0.92. This study added to the existing research literature by supporting the applicability of PAECCD and PAVEIPC among Chinese preschoolers' parents.

This study examined the impact of integrating virtual science inquiry activities with Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) teaching strategies on 5th graders' understanding of science concepts and epistemic beliefs in science. A cohort of 80 5th graders (mean age of 12 years old, 40 boys and 40 girls) from a public primary school in North China took part in the research. The data collected encompassed pre-test and post-test results on understanding of science concepts and epistemic beliefs, along with students' behavioral data during virtual science inquiry. The findings demonstrated that integrating virtual science inquiry activities with POE strategies increased students' understanding of science concepts and epistemic beliefs in science. Furthermore, notable differences were found in observation time and inquiry strategy between high and low achievers, while significant distinctions in page time allocation and page navigation behavior were evident between boys and girls. The results provided empirical support for enhancing the implementation of virtual science inquiry activities in primary school science learning.

The allocation of financial resources in higher education has always been a hot topic of concern in academia and society. The measurement and evaluation of the allocation efficiency of higher education financial resources from the perspective of 'Double first-class' construction is the most important initiative to improve the quality of higher education development and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. The author constructs a resource allocation efficiency evaluation index system, including two input factors: basic expenditure and project expenditure, and four primary indicators: personnel cultivation, scientific research, international repercussions and social contribution, in addition, ten secondary culture results, results Awarded, education of students abroad, achievement transformation, etc., are considered as output factors. The three-stage Global Super Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) model is applied to accurately measure and scientifically evaluate the allocation efficiency of financial resources in China's higher education. Results show that: first, the true efficiency level can be revealed by eliminating the influence of external environmental factors and random noise. Only 2.82% of universities are located on the effective frontier, indicating that there is significant room for improvement in universities' financial resource allocation capacity and fund utilization efficiency. Second, influenced by factors such as external dependence, R&D intensity, industrial structure and fiscal decentralization, the financial resources allocation efficiency is significantly overestimated, many universities rely heavily on external policy environments for financial resource allocation, and the support from the external environment for efficiency improvement in a few universities still needs to be strengthened. The third, promoting the classification evaluation of universities can meet the needs of 'Double first-class' construction and guarantee the development of university characteristics and diversification. The research shows that first-class universities, comprehensive universities, eastern universities have relatively mature management capabilities, and first-class universities, comprehensive universities and central universities are the most suitable for operation scale; while first-class disciplines, liberal arts universities and western universities have the most significant improvement in the efficiency. Additionally, in view of the research questions and empirical analysis results, this paper also discusses the construction of evaluation index system, the impact of environmental factors and efficiency measurement, classification evaluation, and the effectiveness and promotion of the three-stage Global Super-SBM model, presenting the supporting literature, the uniqueness of this study and the areas for further research. Finally, conclusions are summarized, and suggestions are proposed to provide theoretical guidance and methodological references for dynamic adjustments in the allocation of resources in the new round of 'Double first-class' construction and the strategic planning of higher education resource allocation.

This study aims to understand how social organizations participate in education governance and how they interact with state actors in the context of education governance in China from a network governance perspective. Based on a multiple case study, we selected four social organizations (a think tank, an academic association, and a domestic, and overseas organization each focused on educational philanthropy) for this qualitative investigation. The study findings indicate that although the government of the People's Republic of China uses a network approach to steer the country's educational system, the government maintains its supremacy over social organizations, leading to hierarchical and submissive policy networks. However, social organizations may obtain the freedom to conduct their work and influence the educational system if they could gain the government's political trust and support. These study's findings suggest that the mode of Chinese education governance is a mixture of government, characterized by bureaucratic and top-down governing, and governance, characterized by the government steering society via collaborations with nonstate actors. Therefore, it can be conceptualized as a "network government", reflecting China's political and ideological systems by emphasizing the institutional monitoring and supervision of social organizations through policy networks to strengthen the state's governing capabilities from the top down.

The cultivation of innovative ability is an important part of China's current long-term education planning and innovative development-driven strategy, as well as an important issue of university teaching reform. The cultivation of innovative ability of dance professionals in colleges and universities is a problem of great concern for dance majors in terms of innovative teaching and new curriculum reform. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between innovative self-efficacy and innovative ability of dance majors, as well as the gender differences between the two. Through a questionnaire survey of dance majors in 6 universities in central China, 565 valid questionnaires were collected, and the relationship between variables was tested by difference analysis and Structural Equation Model model. The research results show that there are significant differences between genders in terms of innovative self-efficacy and innovative ability of dance majors; the innovative self-efficacy of dance majors has a positive impact on their innovative ability.

In this qualitative study, we investigated the social class worldviews of Chinese International Students (CIS) in the United States. Social class worldviews are a constellation of beliefs, attitudes, and values that individuals use to maintain a sense of psychological equilibrium within their perceived social class groups and culture. Having interviewed eleven CIS in a midwestern city in the United States, the researchers found that their experiences reflected five themes: (1) social class consciousness; (2) social class socialization; (3) social class resources; (4) social class values; and (5) social class challenges. Suggestions for research and implications for higher education are discussed

Critical thinking represents one of the most absolutely vital talents for every individual, both in the workplace and in their personal lives. Critical thinking has become a primary concern for all educational institution students in recent decades, particularly Chinese undergraduates. The intention of this study was to investigate the needs analysis of Chinese international college undergraduates' perceptions of critical thinking skills incorporated into a cross-cultural communication course, as well as their expectations of critical thinking skills instructional coursework throughout the cross-cultural communication context. Throughout this mixed-methods investigation, 78 Chinese international college students volunteered to complete a critical thinking disposition inventory (CTDI) as the primary research instrument, in addition to a semi-structured interview. The research uncovered that Chinese international undergraduates exhibited unclear notions of critical thinking abilities. As a byproduct of China's education system, the majority of Chinese international college undergraduates were flooded with dismissive attitudes toward critical thinking abilities. In order to control their academic advancement in a more critical and analytical fashion, Chinese students expressed a pressing need for critical thinking skills to be included in their cross-cultural communication course.

Anxiety has a significant effect on oral communication, particularly when it occurs in the form of a public address. The quality of a public academic speaker's oral presentation may highly be determined by a variety of emotive elements. However, this has received much too little attention in the realm of academic dissertation oral defense presentations, despite the fact that this process may be incredibly nerve-wracking for both novice and experienced postgraduates, EFL learners in particular. In the current study, 68 Chinese EFL Ph.D. candidates consented to complete a revamped version of the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA). Chinese EFL postgraduates reported an average high level of public speaking anxiety (X=4.34) during their doctoral dissertation defense presentations, as measured by three categorical variables: public speaking apprehension (X=4.40), self-behavior management (X=4.35), and fear of negative evaluation (X=4.26). Throughout Ph.D. candidate participants' dissertation defense, fifteen anxiety-related questionnaire items were recognized to be the most anxiety-provoking conditions in terms of public speaking anxiety. In addition, differences in gender and graduate study specialization were not significantly associated with Chinese EFL Ph.D. candidates' experiences with public speaking anxiety. Despite the findings, research has revealed that Ph.D. candidates in English as a Foreign Language from China exhibit statistically significant levels of anxiety related to public speaking, and as a result, pedagogical recommendations have been proposed.

Considering job resources of college teachers as a mediating variable, this study analyzed the relationship between job crafting and job engagement and established a model of the mechanism underlying the effects of job crafting on job engagement. This theoretical hypothesis model was empirically validated using 300 valid questionnaires completed by college teachers in Hebei Province, China, who were selected through convenience sampling. Job crafting directly affected job resources, and job resources exerted a direct effect on job engagement. However, job resources played a full mediating role in the relationship between job crafting and job engagement after it was added as a mediating variable.

This study explores the relationship between college students' perceived transformational leadership and their learning outcomes based on social cognitive theory. Furthermore, it elucidates the mediating role of academic self-efficacy and achievement goal orientation. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 916 Chinese college students, and the findings indicate that college students' perceived transformational leadership significantly and positively influences their learning outcomes. Academic self-efficacy singly mediates the relationship between college students' perceived transformational leadership and learning outcomes. Achievement goal orientation also singly mediates this relationship. Additionally, academic self-efficacy and achievement goal orientation act as serial mediators between college students' perceived transformational leadership and learning outcomes. This study provides theoretical and empirical evidence for enhancing college students' learning outcomes.

Students' problem-solving strategies and the differences among strategy groups were explored by analyzing the process data collected during student interactions with computer-based science items. Data were gathered from 1516 eleventh-grade students from 4 schools in China. Analyses of the sequences of students' response actions revealed that the students were divided into four strategy groups when designing experiments to solve scientific problems: the scientific and rigorous strategy (18.5%), scientific and less rigorous strategy (25.4%), incomplete strategy (31.5%), and chaotic strategy (24.6%). The heatmaps of response actions for each strategy and the frequencies of the most representative response sequences were further explored to understand the students' detailed trajectories. The results showed that successful problem solvers were generally inclined to explore all possibilities of experimental combinations and design experiments scientifically and rigorously based on the relevant scientific principles. Moreover, the timestamps of response actions were explored to show that the students who adopted the scientific and rigorous strategy spent more time seeking solutions, suggesting that students may need sufficient time to solve complex and authentic scientific problems. The findings enrich the literature on using process data to address theoretical issues in educational assessment and provide students with individualized instructional needs for teachers to improve students' scientific problem-solving competency.

Based on institutional theory, this study explores the causal relationship between teacher professional identity, perceived institutional norms, and teachers' conformity behavior in colleges and universities in Hunan Province. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 500 teachers from two universities in Hunan Province. The reliability and validity test results and structural equation modeling analysis show that the professional identity of college teachers positively affects their conformity behavior, and that perceived institutional norms partially mediate the relationship between teacher professional identity and teacher conformity behavior. The research enriches the application of institutional theory in university organization and provides an empirical basis for universities to improve teachers' conformity behavior.

This study aims to explore the impact of perceived transformational leadership on knowledge sharing behavior among university teachers in Anhui Province, China. Using a questionnaire survey method, convenient sampling was conducted among college teachers in Anhui Province. With 326 teachers as the research subjects, SPSS software was used to analyze the relationship between teachers' perception of transformational leadership and knowledge sharing behavior in the context of colleges and universities. Additionally, this study compared the impact of demographic variables such as age, teaching experience, and professional title on teachers' knowledge sharing behavior. The research results indicate that Anhui university teachers' perception of transformational leadership has a significant positive impact on knowledge sharing behavior. Moreover, there are significant differences in teachers' knowledge sharing behavior based on their age, teaching experience, and professional titles.

Physical education teachers in colleges and universities have the crucial responsibility of acting as mentors and guides for the healthy growth of students. The work engagement of these teachers affects the quality of higher education personnel training and health education. Based on the job demand-resource model, this study conducted a questionnaire survey on 500 physical education teachers in 20 colleges and universities in Hebei Province, China. The subjects were selected through convenience sampling. Out of the total, 456 valid questionnaires were recovered. The intermediary effect was tested through the AMOS model analysis and the Bootstrap method. The results revealed that the perceived organizational support of the participating physical education teachers in colleges and universities can positively affect their sense of teaching efficacy, which in turn positively affects work engagement and has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between perceived organizational support and work engagement.

Physical education teachers are the practitioners of physical education curriculum reform who work at the front line of teaching, and their innovation behavior play a crucial role in promoting the smooth implementation of physical education curriculum reform. This study uses goal orientation theory as a theoretical basis to explore the mediation effect of learning goal orientation in the influence of perceived organization support on physical education teachers' innovation behavior. A total of 402 valid questionnaires were collected from physical education teachers in 40 schools at the basic education level in China, and the relationship between the variables was tested using structural equation modeling. The findings showed that physical education teachers' perceived organizational support had a positive effect on learning goal orientation and innovation behavior. Physical education teachers' learning goal orientation significantly influenced their innovation behavior. Additionally, learning goal orientation partially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support and innovation behavior.

Strengthening the cultivation of students' innovation ability is an urgent requirement for the construction of China's innovation system, and vocational colleges are a crucial driving force for cultivating technical innovation talents. Therefore, this study aims to explore the influence of metacognition on innovative behavior among vocational college students in Hainan, China and the differences between the behavior of boys and girls. Five vocational colleges were selected by purposive sampling. A total 600 students and 577 valid questionnaires were obtained, with 285 male and 292 female respondents. The results of the study found that the metacognition of boys and girls in vocational colleges has a positive and substantial impact on innovative behavior, and that the effect of metacognition on the innovative behavior of girls is higher than that of boys.

Purpose: The challenges faced by universities in China have presented opportunities to enhance the leadership of educational leaders in universities. Little has been written about the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders in Chinese higher education (HE). The objective of this study is to provide an authentic understanding of 1) the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders as experienced by academic members, 2) experienced contextual factors related to the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders. Design: Qualitative research was conducted, and the perceptions of 13 academic members from nine universities in China were explored. Findings: This study revealed authoritarian leadership style was the most reported leadership style of the mid-level educational leaders, followed by transformational and transactional leadership styles. Participants suggested to minimise the adoption of authoritarian leadership style and to encourage the application of transformational leadership style. Regarding the factors that shape leadership style of mid-level educational leaders, this research supports the following factors: culture, organizational policies & administration, discipline, and incentive mechanism. Originality: We gained a deep understanding of the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders and the contextual factors that shape the leadership styles in this study. The results can be conducive to future leadership training and to the mid-level educational leaders to create environments that facilitate the application of educational leadership practices.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Jiangsu University teachers' competency and engagement on their job performance and determine whether teacher competency affects job performance through the mediating role of engagement. We constructed a theoretical model based on self-determination theory (SDT) and the job demand-resource model and validated it using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study sample comprised teachers from 8 types of undergraduate colleges and universities in Jiangsu Province, China. Three hundred and fifty-four university teachers were surveyed using the Teacher Competency Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the Job Performance Scale. The results showed a significant positive effect of university teachers' competency on their engagement and job performance. Additionally, SEM analysis showed a partial mediation effect of engagement in the relationship between teacher competency and job performance. The findings not only enrich our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between university teachers' competency and job performance but also extend the scope of SDT and suggest practical discussions and recommendations.

Based on the concept of sustainability and the aim of addressing China?s great need for talent with green skills, a green skills scale was designed with the help of Chinese university students. Students from four institutions of higher education who had agreed to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) participated as research subjects. With reference to the reviewed literature, a green skills scale was developed for Chinese university students. The scale was reviewed by experts and scholars and subjected to a reliability and validity analysis, and 900 students were selected to be included in the sample. The green skills of university students are divided into four dimensions: cognition of green knowledge, mastery of green skills, application of green skills, and green skills development, resulting in a total of 16 questions. The overall reliability of the scale is 0.845, the reliability of the dimensions lies between 0.813 and 0.880, the correlation coefficients between the dimensions lie between 0.185 and 0.497, and the root-mean-square values of the AVE of the corresponding coefficients are all larger than the correlation coefficients of the corresponding row and column variables, demonstrating that the green skills scale for university students has good reliability and validity.

Due to the radical changes and complexities within academic institutions, leadership development addressed to academic leaders in the digital age has become more critical. In the available literature, the outcome assessment of leadership development and its related factors have not been evaluated rigorously. The current study investigated the contribution of peer interaction and two subscales of motivation to the effectiveness of the leadership development programs perceived by training participants in a diverse context. Of 101 participants, the majority of training workshop attendees were junior and middle-level leaders from both European universities and Chinese universities who participated in the leadership development programs organized under an EU project. PLS-SEM was exploited to validate the measurement model and test the hypotheses. The results showed that self-growth and peer interaction significantly contribute to perceived effectiveness, whereas networking motivator shows nonsignificant impact. The findings also illustrated that the two motivation patterns have significant effects on interaction quality. The mediating role of peer interaction on the relationships between the two motivational factors and perceived effectiveness, respectively, were not found in the current study. The findings contributed to identifying the role of different contributors to the effectiveness of the leadership development program in HE contexts and the potential of such a program to enhance knowledge and capacities of academic leaders regarding university governance and leadership.

This research investigated the impact of processing instruction (PI) on the acquisition of the English third-person singular present tense by Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners and whether this effect would extend to the acquisition of other language components. This study featured the pretest-immediate-posttest design and participants were required to participate in all tests (pretest, immediate posttest, delayed posttest). Two classes were assigned to receive PI and Traditional Instruction (TI) respectively, while another class served as the control group. A language background check was conducted 2 weeks before the main experiment. And after three consecutive class hours, there is an immediate posttest and a delayed posttest in 2 weeks. By comparing the results of the three tests, the study measured and compared the primary effects, secondary transfer-of-training (TOT) effects, and cumulative TOT effects of PI and TI. The findings showed that both PI and TI had significant effects, although they differed in the extent and duration of improvement in acquisition effectiveness. PI was found to be superior to TI, which could be reflected in primary and two TOT effects except the interpretation tasks related to passive voice. This study suggests that PI can be utilized in grammar teaching due to its efficacy in teaching specific linguistic structures and its transfer-of-training effects on other grammar rules.

This study illuminates the motivation and learning experience of Chinese and European academic members who attended an educational leadership training programme. Data were collected through participants' registration forms and learning reflection reports. A qualitative content analysis research method by MAXQDA2022 is adopted in this research. The findings revealed European and Chinese participants' motivation for joining the leadership training programme and their perceived effectiveness of the training programme. Drawing from the study's findings, this research examines the components of a culturally appropriate methodology for a cross-cultural professional leadership training programme and provides insights into the interplay of factors that impact the perceived effectiveness of such a leadership training programme. Additionally, recommendations for future program design are offered.

Students' understanding of the meaning of the equal sign develops slowly over the primary grades. In addition to updating their representations of equations to recognize that the equal sign represents an equivalence relation rather than signaling an operation, students need to move beyond full computation to efficiently solve equivalence problems. In this study, we examined the longitudinal relation between arithmetic and equivalence for students who were capable of accurately solving arithmetic problems in different formats. Chinese students (N = 612; M[subscript age] = 9.0 years in Grade 3, 57% boys) completed measures of arithmetic fluency and equivalence fluency in Grade 3 and again in Grade 4. They also completed a non-verbal reasoning task in Grade 3. We tested a cross-lagged structural equation model to examine the reciprocal relations between arithmetic and equivalence fluency. We found reciprocal relations between the development of arithmetic and equivalence fluency from Grades 3 to 4, with a greater influence of arithmetic on the development of equivalence than the reverse. Furthermore, non-verbal reasoning predicted the development of equivalence, but not the development of arithmetic. Based on our findings, we conclude that for Chinese students with prior basic understanding of equivalence, flexible access to arithmetic facts supports their development of equivalence fluency.

Fairy tales have been an essential ingredient in children's literature. Canonical fairy tales passed down from generation to generation not only enrich children's imagination but connote significant values typical of the community. However, as time passes, contemporary writers often challenge these traditional values when they work on the same topic. This changing face is evidenced by Emma Donoghue's rewriting of classical tales. Based on my teaching of Donoghue's story 'The Tale of the Bird' alongside Andersen's 'Thumbelina' at a university in Hong Kong, this paper discusses the ever-evolving cultural values and the benefit of reading Donoghue via Andersen or vice versa in the literature class and beyond.

In this study, we aimed to characterize students' inquiry skill profiles and investigate whether students' gender, major, school location and type, and household registration are related to their inquiry skill profiles. By providing an animation-based activity, we engaged students in a scientific inquiry on the atmospheric chemistry of climate change. Students performed data analytics, control of variables, and scientific reasoning tasks, which represented essential skills in the inquiry process. After removing the invalid data and conducting the two-stage stratified sampling, we analyzed 724 11th-grade Chinese students' multiple-choice and open-ended responses. A latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify if there were subgroups of students' inquiry skills. ?2 tests were conducted to examine whether the profiles' distribution differed in gender, major, school location, school type, and household registration. We identified four types of inquiry skill profiles among students: sophisticated, experimental, moderate, and basic, based on their skills in data analytics, scientific reasoning, and control of variables. The findings showed that school location significantly affected students' inquiry profiles, while school type, student major, and hukou had a mildly favorable impact. To sum up, the marriage of the LPA approach and the animation-based activity has illuminated not just students' different inquiry skill profiles but also the relationships these profiles have with certain demographic factors. We discussed that it is imperative to recognize these varied inquiry skill profiles and work to bridge the disparities stemming from demographic differences for a more equitable science education environment.

Higher education institutions are increasingly looking to implement online and distance learning (ODL) options for students. Professional development for the design of ODL is needed to support these strategies. This study explores how, in what ways, and to what extent, design for ODL approaches from a series of Learning Design & Course Creation (LDCC) Workshops were implemented. The LDCC Workshop is a mature and substantial professional development activity which adopts a constructivist and student-focused pedagogy and is based on design for ODL approaches embedded at the Open University (UK). Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with participating staff from five Chinese Open Universities. Data was analysed using the Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) approach. As a result, six "LDCC impact narratives" were identified and are discussed in terms of learning design being implemented in three orientations: product, practice, and process. The findings illustrate that design for ODL approaches were implemented in all three orientations, but the extent to which they were implemented was dependent on certain institutional enablers being present and/or staff being given opportunities to put into practice what they learnt.

Drawing on ecological perspectives, this study investigates changes in the bilingual education of ethnic Koreans in China in the context of globalization. Focusing on two Chosonjuk (ethnic Korean in China, ?????, ???) schools in Northeast China that experienced challenges due to declining enrollment as a result of the increasing popularity of attending "Han" (ethnic Han Chinese, ??) schools, this study discusses the ways in which these two schools repositioned their bilingual programs to leverage the Korean (Chosonmal, ???) and "Mandarin" (Putonghua, ???) languages as linguistic capital and the ways in which such repositioning affected the school choices of Chosonjuk families and other student families. Our findings show that these two schools implemented a series of changes, including the provision of individualized instruction to students to meet their specific needs and the enrollment of "Han" students and international students from South Korea who were interested in learning the Korean or "Mandarin languages." These practices increased the attractiveness of the two schools to families with a variety of needs and concurrently created an inclusive educational environment for the students.

Higher education institutions are increasingly moving from traditional education approaches to incorporate online and distance learning (ODL) models, and this represents a substantial educational challenge for many educators. One way to support this challenge is by providing appropriate professional development (PD) for the design of ODL. Based on models from the Open University, UK this paper contends that PD for the design of ODL should align learning design frameworks with constructivist and student-focused pedagogies to manage the change to the professional teaching identities of participants that designing ODL represents. Robust professional identities are important for mitigating anxiety, embedding lasting change and leveraging the benefits of ODL for institutions and students. In this study, the rationale, model, and strategies of the Learning Design and Course Creation Workshop, based on current literature and participant feedback gathered immediately after instances of the PD was completed in China, are described. Evidence and examples of impact gathered from a second instrument, gathered after implementation, is also provided, and discussed in this context. The findings and conclusions will be of interest to those tasked with providing PD to support educators faced with rapid educational change, particularly as a response to the global demand for the design of ODL.

Purpose: As university faculty faced new challenges, such as rapid digital social and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response, this study aimed to identify the daily changes in the interaction between the faculty and the organizational environment (colleague, policy and new issue) by exploring their recent dynamic educational efforts and the professional development. Design/methodology/approach: This is a study wherein perceptions of 20 faculty from 15 universities and colleges were collected through in-depth online interviews. The authors analyzed interview data by arranging and visualizing the analyzed data using network clustering. Further, they applied the Latent Dirichlet allocation of the topic modeling to monitor the appropriate number of clusters, ultimately determined as four clusters using partial clustering. Findings: The results showed that university faculty spontaneously tried to solve the problems through informal learning while the commitment to peer learning was deepening, reflecting the collectivist orientation nature of Chinese culture. Besides, the faculty also required support to reflect on their daily efforts for professional development. These results about their various learning routines prove the justification for the faculty's professional development to be discussed from the "learning by doing" perspective of lifelong learning. Originality/value: This study proved the significance of informal learning for university faculty's professional development and the reasonable value of peer learning, and provided insights into how the Chinese context may influence university faculty's informal learning experience.

The necessity for the development and enhancement of teacher commitment to satisfying students' learning needs in response to the COVID crisis is increasingly highlighted. It is not known, however, how to increase commitment in schoolteachers to boost online teaching in light of the fact that they, too, are struggling to cope with the rapid, unexpected change. A total of 601 teachers from primary and secondary schools across China participated in this study, with an average teaching experience of 15.9 years. Structural equation modelling was used to verify the significance of contextual, cognitive, affective and behavioural factors in boosting teachers' commitment to online teaching. The findings demonstrated that teacher agency played a complete mediating role in the predicting power of other factors to teacher commitment. Therefore, it was recommended that attention be paid to the practice and opportunities for teacher agentic actions, which necessitates real encounters with online teaching, allowing teachers to act meaningfully and initiate a new set of teaching strategies.

The professional development of teachers is fundamental to educational reform and promotion, and such a development includes teachers' aesthetic experiences. This study aims to explore the impact of Chinese teachers' aesthetic experiences on their professional development and the differences between male and female teachers in terms of the impact of aesthetic experiences on professional development. In total, 500 teachers from 20 universities in Hainan and Guangzhou, China, were surveyed, and 488 valid questionnaires were collected. A multivariate regression analysis was conducted to examine the impact of each variable. The results of the study indicate that "aesthetic attitude," "understanding of beauty," and "full experience" all have a significantly positive impact on the professional development of both male and female teachers, whereas "pleasure of beauty" has no significant impact on teachers' professional development. The findings also demonstrate that no difference exists between male and female teachers in terms of the impact of aesthetic experiences on professional development, and the more practical conceptions of aesthetic experience have a direct impact on teachers' development.

Needs analysis guides course and curriculum design. In addition to mandatory courses, it is necessary for intensive language schools and institutes. Recent university graduates in China are increasingly enrolling in language training at public and private language schools to hone their communication abilities. On the other hand, English courses as the workplace prerequisites for Chinese university graduates have been scientifically researched and found to be exceedingly rare. The research's fundamental premise serves that there is a substantial link between the demands of Chinese recent graduates and university English course design. The aim of this research is to assess the goals, needs, and perceived utility of university English courses among recent on-the-job Chinese graduates over an eight-month period. After evaluating the questionnaire and interview replies, it was concluded that these Chinese young graduates in China had similar learning demands, with listening and speaking skills taking primacy. Additionally, various characteristics were discovered that show why an English course designed for future workplace purposes is advantageous to university students. The results are examined in terms of their pedagogical importance for curriculum creation and classroom practice in English courses at the university.

This research's aim was to explore the role of cognitive flexibility in mediating the effect of intrinsic motivation on the creativity of junior high school students. A creativity scale, an intrinsic motivation inventory and a cognitive flexibility inventory were utilized to investigate a sample of junior high school students in Shaanxi Province in western China. 765 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed using the structural equation model (SEM). The SEM analysis showed that intrinsic motivation and cognitive flexibility have significantly positive impacts on junior high school students' creativity. Furthermore, a full model revealed that cognitive alternatives and cognitive control mediate the relationship intrinsic motivation and creativity, and the mediation effect of cognitive alternatives is significantly greater than that of cognitive control. In general, the current research suggests that the impact of intrinsic motivation on junior high school students' creativity is mediated by cognitive flexibility, and its results amplify prior scholars' research results and give educators an inspiration how to cultivate creativity for the middle school students.

This research aims to systematically compare the educational concepts between the U.S. and China, to answer a research question: what courses, based on the experience of developing fire services in both countries, should be included in firefighting higher education programs to increase knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)? The authors utilized the method of content analysis and applied the theoretical framework from emergency management to compare those curriculums from both countries into common contextual research criteria. Results of our analysis demonstrate that the two countries have similar expectations by which to develop core KSAs in their firefighting higher education programs.

The #MeToo movement has brought the issue of sexual harassment to U.S. college campuses. Most scholarly work in this area focuses on White American women with little information on international student experiences. Because sexual harassment is considered hush-hush (shi) and taboo, many Chinese international students may not question harassment behaviors they experience. For many Chinese women attending a U.S. university, their first public discussion may occur during student orientation. Thus, students come to college campuses with varying levels of awareness of sexual harassment. Given the growing number of Chinese international students, the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of their experiences and perceptions of sexual harassment. The article also provides recommendations for university personnel working with international students.

Most studies have concentrated in assessing students' overall attitudes towards science, mathematics, and engineering/technology or the attitude towards individual STEM domain. The present research aims to explore primary students' gender and grade differences of their STEM domain-specific attitudes including self-efficacy and expectancy-value beliefs, as well as their correlations. The results showed no detected significant effects among these different STEM domains in the overall attitudes, the overall self-efficacy beliefs, and the overall expectancy-value beliefs for primary students. The correlations between self-efficacy and expectancy-value were much stronger for the science domain and engineering/technology domain than the mathematics domain. No gender difference of the self-efficacy beliefs was detected except in the mathematics domain, and the result that lower primary students performed significantly better than upper primary students in the self-efficacy was also mainly contributed by the grade difference in the mathematics domain. Whereas no different expectancy-value beliefs existed across genders and grade levels in various STEM domains. The present results reported some unique performances by the primary school students compared to the elder group.

In this paper, a comparative evaluation of the undergraduate program of Chemical Engineering curriculums of Chinese and Ethiopian universities was performed. The study employed systematic qualitative methods to synthesize the current qualitative researches into an explanatory process. To comprehend the Chemical Engineering curriculum structure in two countries, a survey of courses from each country institution is presented. Since both countries use harmonized chemical engineering curriculum with their respective institution, top university from each country was taken as a representative sample, Tsinghua University (THU) from China and Addis Ababa University (AAU) from Ethiopia. The major aspects in the comparison were the lengths of the programs, measurement of student workload, practical curriculum, and the ratio of general, core, compulsory and non-compulsory courses. At the THU, the minimum length for the undergraduate program is 4 years, whereas at AAU a minimum of 5 years is expected. While general education courses occupy 70% of the total credit in the THU curriculum showing more emphasis on general courses, the AAU curriculum gives more focus to core courses by allocating 70% of its total credit. The THU curriculum proves to be more flexible, offering more elective courses at different stages of the program; the AAU curriculum has provided the chance for a range of specialty streams offering elective courses in the final year of the program. Thus, it is highly appreciable for both countries' universities to optimistically add more courses to their present curriculum based on their socio-economic trait, cultural backgrounds, national demands, and resource availabilities.

Higher education (HE) in the changing context requires leadership training and development as a vital element for university governance and innovation. While there are several theoretical frameworks on leadership development, most of them are outcome evaluation-oriented. Consequently, there is a lack of a leadership development model which emphasises both design process and expected outcomes. In addition to this, HE leadership development has been gradually transformed toward complexity and flexibility due to the volatile external environment of the 21st century. Thus, instead of having a development programme that simply focuses on individual skill enhancement, a comprehensive leadership development programme that equally fosters leaders' competencies (leader development) and develops collective leadership (leadership development) is increasingly utilised. Unfortunately, previous theoretical frameworks fail to take into consideration these new features. The main aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive theoretical model for academic leadership development (ALD) that promotes both leader development and leadership development. In the present study, 24 academic leaders, lecturers and researchers from five European and six Chinese HE institutions co-designed the ALD model. The constructed model consists of four main dimensions: theoretical core, types of training and providers, training format and ultimate goals. The results contribute to developing, promoting and enhancing leadership development in academic settings.

This article examines the current narrative of Chineseness in the context of higher education in Southeast Asia. We hypothesise that the concept of Chineseness at the macro-level has shifted beyond historical, ethnic, and cultural to include geopolitical, socio-political and economic considerations. At the meso level, we focus on unpacking Chineseness through the development of higher education institutions studying the case of Chinese established educational institutions in Malaysia, particularly in how these institutions articulate and portray their Chineseness in a multi-cultural higher education context. Having examined both macro and meso levels, the article discusses the importance and complexity of exploring Chineseness at the micro-level while also highlighting areas and gaps that have not allowed a more thorough understanding of Chineseness in the given context. Understanding this phenomenon allows us to explore the hypothesis of a shifting conceptualisation of Chineseness and thereby contribute to a more nuanced understanding of internationalisation and international students in higher education.

Background: Behavior problems of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) bring many difficulties and stress to their parents, thus increasing their risk of depression. Recent studies have shown that the mindfulness and perceived social support may play significant roles in improving the depression of these parents as well as relieve their boundary of stress. However, related research conducted under the context of Mainland China is still limited, and no studies have yet explored the mediating effect of mindfulness and perceived social support on the relationship between behavior of children with ASD and depressive symptoms of parents in Mainland China. Objective: The present study aimed to examine the relationship between behavior problems of children with ASD and parents' depressive symptoms in Mainland China and focused on whether mindfulness and perceived social support may act as mediators in the association between child behavior problems and parents' depressive symptoms. Method: Participants were 286 Chinese parents of children with ASD. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R), and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12 (ISEL-12) were adopted to assess: child behavior problems, parental depressive symptoms, individual differences in mindfulness and perceived social support. Results: The direct effects of child behavior problems on parental depressive symptoms was statistically significant (direct effect = 0.137, SE = 0.043, p = 0.002). Child behavior problems also showed a significant indirect effect on parental depressive symptoms through mindfulness (indirect effect = 0.097, SE = 0.025, p < 0.001) and perceived social support (indirect effect = 0.088, SE = 0.023, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Two variables, mindfulness and perceived social support both played a mediating role in the influence of child behavior problems on parents' depressive symptoms. Parental depressive symptoms were significantly related to child behavior problems. Consistent with previous studies across diverse cultural backgrounds, the results of this study showed that the relationship between child behavior problems and parents' depressive symptoms was, in part, mediated by mindfulness and perceived social support of parents. Mindfulness interventions and effective social support for parents of children with ASD may be needed to help parents raise their children and relieve depressive symptoms.