Search

Studies found that the mastery of Level-4 Science Process Skills (L4SPS) among secondary school students is still relatively weak. Thus, the purpose of this research was to determine the effects of 5E Inquiry-based Learning and Group Investigation (I5E-GI) model on the five constructs of L4SPS, namely Identifying Manipulated, Responding, and Constant Variables, Forming Hypotheses, Making Observations, Making Inferences, and Defining Operationally. A teaching and learning (TL) module was developed to guide teachers in implementing the I5E-GI method for the five L4SPS constructs. The L4SPS Test Instrument was constructed to measure the level of L4SPS mastery at the end of intervention. The quasi-experimental research design was conducted on 180 Form Four students taking Core Science subjects. A total of three groups were assigned, namely i) 5E Inquiry-based Learning and Group Investigation method (I5E-GI, n = 60), ii) 5E Inquiry-based Learning method (5E, n= 60), and iii) Traditional Learning (TR, n = 60) in an urban secondary school in Sarawak, Malaysia. Data were analyzed using the inferential statistical tests of MANOVA, MANCOVA, ANCOVA, and effect size. The results showed that there was a statistically significant effect across the three groups of TL methods. There is a statistically significant effect of the I5E-GI method compared to the 5E and TR methods on the five L4SPS constructs. As for the effect size, the I5E-GI method provides a more significant effect size than the 5E and TR learning methods. Overall, the findings prove that the I5E-GI method has positive implications for the mastery of L4SPS among Form Four students.

Qualities of effective teachers matter because teachers are the number one school-related factor that impacts on student achievement. Although researchers in the United States have studied frameworks for evaluating teacher effectiveness, these frameworks are not focused on teachers working in international schools. Thus, they may not reflect the importance of understanding both the context of working in intercultural settings and the skills that allow teachers to flourish in international schools. Using a systematic configurative synthesis review of 23 studies, this study identifies qualities of effective teachers working in international schools through a synthesis of the study findings. We identified four key attributes that are emphasized, if not unique, in international school effective teacher research: a focus on teacher collaboration and teacher leadership; cultural awareness and responsiveness from multi-national perspectives; and host country language acquisition. Overall, we find that a focus on what makes an effective international school teacher is lacking in the extant research, particularly given the predicted enormous growth of international schools.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate that project-based learning results in learners to be intrinsically motivated when learning History. Three methods were implemented in this study, namely role playing, poster-making and mixed projects (i.e., role playing and poster-making). To further enhance the understanding of intrinsic motivation, the three basic psychological needs, autonomy, relatedness and competence were implemented during all three methods of project-based learning. Adopted from the Self-Determination Theory's intrinsic motivation, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed and administered to sixty-eight Years 9 to 10 secondary school students from an international school at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia. Results from this study indicated that role playing was the preferred method of learning compared to the other two methods, and that project-based learning has been useful and effective in the acquisition of historical thinking skills. The findings also indicated the participants were receptive to implementation of project-based learning into their curriculum as a teaching tool for it proves to be beneficial in knowledge gain and memory retention, as well as intrinsically motivating them to perform better. The key finding of this study proves that project-based learning has contributed to students forming intrinsic motivation when it comes to learning History.

This paper explores the thesis of de-globalisation in relation to international education. Through interrogating accounts of international school leadership during the COVID-19 crisis, the tension between international expectations and localised realities is charted, with four central tenets of internationalism undermined by the pandemic experience. It is argued that the COVID-19 crisis, ostensibly a single global event, resulted in the fractalisation of international education; the conceptualisation of unified internationalism was undermined by the inherently localised material effects of the pandemic. In place of an internationalism that is unified, transcendent, inclusive and connected, international school leaders' accounts of leading through the pandemic focused on their sense that their schools were fractured, rooted, privileged and isolated. It is suggested that this international crisis demonstrates the precarious nature of the respatialising of the global that is intrinsic to international schooling.

The number of international schools has increased significantly this century, with new schools predominately situated in Asia and the Middle East. This growth has also seen a shift from not-for-profit to for-profit education, and from such schools being primarily for children of expatriates to being mainly for host nation children. New actors, such as global chains of international schools, have also entered the arena. This article explores the impact of the contemporary landscape on the professional relationship between international school principals and their governors/owners, by drawing on a study of 12 international school principals in Malaysia. There were five emergent themes from the analysis: principal autonomy; ownership support; principal accountability; principal affective dissonance and the locus of control. There were wide-ranging levels of autonomy given to principals, significant support from owners in terms of financial backing for areas of development and methods of accountability that ranged from formal to informal. Principals seemingly had affective dissonance over working in for-profit schooling and there were issues surrounding the locus of ownership. There is little research in this area, particularly in Asia and this work appears to be the sole work that includes consideration of leadership in international school chains.

Teacher grit and teacher leadership are two qualities that are touted to improve teacher performance (Duckworth, Quinn & Seligman, 2009; Smylie, Lazarus & Brownlee-Conyers, 1996). However, few empirical studies have investigated the direct relationship between teacher grit and leadership and their direct effects on student achievement. In this case study, a survey of 22 teachers in a Malaysian international school was conducted using Duckworth & Quinn's (2009) short grit (Grit-S) questionnaire to measure grit, and Katzenmeyer & Moller's (2009) Teacher Leadership Self-Assessment (TLSA) questionnaire to measure leadership potential. The findings indicate that grit is positively correlated with five out of six of TLSA's leadership dimensions, except the diversity dimension. Using student results in a standardized examination, this study further found that differences in teacher grit or leadership potential do not result in significant differences in student achievement. The findings are followed by a discussion on the implications of the results on the emphasis of grit and teacher leadership in education reforms, and the limitations of this study.

Demand for elite English private schools overseas is increasing and their numbers have risen rapidly in the first two decades of this century. With little research focussed on this type of international school, Bunnell (2008) discusses their first ten years, and the reasoning behind their initial appearance in Thailand. In this paper I examine Bunnell's work and explore different views of these international elite English private schools. I reflect on the growth since Bunnell's research and, using Kapferer's model of globalisation (2005), re-position the globalised elite English private schools in relation to different school groups and their business models. I follow their progress and development over their second decade and argue how their primary task may have shifted focus, before discussing the increasing use by these international schools of accreditation and affiliations for the purpose of legitimisation. I conclude that these newer, globalised international schools have shifted from an ideological base to one of capitalism, noting how the globalised elite English private schools have branded themselves to support their longevity in an increasingly crowded market.

The globalisation of science, industry and commerce has resulted in the internationalisation of education. In this context, 'a global citizen', representing the Humboldtian educational model, has to have "universal" cognitive skills and cultural competences formed by an international/global education. However, Malaysia's unique situation, as seen in the case of Penang Island, shows a multicultural education that effectively adapted to the global market. Most of the schools were transformed to national schools after Malaya's independence from the United Kingdom, yet some retained their international nature. This article shows how national schools in Penang Island preserved their culture after independence, resulting in cultural pluralism (multiculturalism) in the educational system and, at the same time, maintained their global value for Economy 4.0. This multicultural and industry-oriented approach contrasts with the Humboldtian universalistic model, and yet contributes to the growth of science and a global economy. In this regard, it is argued that for the "sustainable" development of science, technology and society in Penang, the 'epistemological pluralism' with cross-disciplinary thinking in diverse cultural contexts should be promoted in educational and global policies.

This paper explores the discursive construction of race in Malaysian international schools and its relationship with postcolonialism. In response to the expansion of international schooling, it analyses data from a study of international school leadership in Malaysia, a former colony, through a postcolonial lens. It draws on face-to-face interviews with twelve international school leaders, and discourse analysis of sample websites from Malaysian international schools. Malaysia is an ethnocracy, with three distinct racial groups, and ethnicity affects many aspects of life, including education, and it is suggested that international schools offer no exception to this. The data indicate four emergent themes, these being constructions of: school identity; educational expertise; leadership; and Malaysia itself. The authors posit that international schools in Malaysia operate as postcolonial sites. Despite the origins of international schools lying within a movement committed to equality, these institutions are implicated in the construction and replication of racial divisions.

The growth in the popularity of Malaysian international schools conducting English-medium instruction (EMI) highlights the importance of an alternative perspective in examining the challenges encountered in the first year of teaching. While numerous relevant studies have been conducted among expatriates working as international school teachers, a research scarcity is observed concerning novice teachers in international schools. The study data were collected from semi-structured interviews and reflective journal entries. Nine novice teachers were recruited as the current study participants. The findings reveal that novice teachers encountered different challenges during the first year of teaching at international schools. Hence, adequate knowledge and support are pivotal for novice teachers. The results emphasise a refined teacher education program with continuous professional development, training and support, which would ease novice teachers' challenges and struggles during the first year of teaching at international schools.

The purpose of this study is to find out the impact of effective educational leadership on school students' performance in Malaysia. Based on the current study, most of the researchers have used both qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct their research on several topics that related to effective educational leadership and student's performance. Therefore, in this research, the data were collected using both, qualitative and quantitative methods which was the interview and survey questionnaire. The selected participants for this research, using convenient sampling, were six teachers working for two international schools in Selangor, Malaysia. One teacher who had already involved in school administrative level was selected for the interview. The other five teachers were requested to answer the survey questionnaire. The interview and questionnaire were selected because, the researchers wanted to further understand on the participants' experience and knowledge on educational leadership and teaching perspective. In addition, it is aimed to provide insights in assisting to develop ideas, solution and hypotheses for future research. These methods were also used to further analyse the issues dealt with one of the effective educational leadership models (i.e. distributed leadership) and students' performance. The findings indicated that leaders need to build high degree of reciprocal trust to negotiate successfully the fault lines of formal and informal leadership. It is also highlighted that effective leadership (distributed leadership) and quality teachers are two main contributing factors on students' performance. Lastly, based on the analysis and results, related suggestions were given.

There is a growing recognition of diverse settings and different varieties of English and accents. However, there seems to be a lack of research on the investments and views of Expanding Circle students who relocate to study in Asian Outer Circle countries, especially on the identities of proficient speakers and/or teachers of English. This study attempts to fill this gap by examining the perceptions of Korean secondary school students in Malaysia through online questions and face-to-face interviews. Among others, findings suggest that the students had investments not only in English but also in their own sociocultural identities which were connected to their own accents. The students also felt that proficient English speakers and/or teachers should have pronunciation and accents that they could understand and that they were familiar with. Since they could not understand some of their native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), they did not feel that a person needed to be a native speaker in order to be a proficient speaker of English. Neither did they have any desire to imitate native speakers' accents in learning to be proficient speakers because their own accents could be understood. The findings of this study suggest that NESTs may not necessarily be ideal English speakers with accents that need to be imitated. Instead, teaching and learning English should focus on communication between interlocutors from various contexts.

The diverse arena of International Schooling concerned with schools delivering a non-local curriculum in English largely outside an English-speaking nation, has grown enormously during the current wave of globalisation. Traditionally, the arena of "International Schools" played an intended ideological and pragmatic role, albeit in a rather discrete and peripheral manner which in practice facilitated an exclusive schooling experience for a limited and already privileged transnational elite clientele. Its growing appeal and access to a wider, localised clientele is now a key source of tension. A period of fast-paced, reactionary policy-making in areas such as China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Qatar, has quickly and rather quietly ushered in a new, diverse provision of private international schooling, supported by a complex global package of commercially-driven support-agencies and backed by private equity. Further, a body of state-backed "Public International Schools" are discretely beginning to appear, offering an entirely new arena of activity. Moreover, there is evidence that much of this is occurring without national debate or awareness, creating a newer and more complex form of "crypto-growth". The arena of International Schools now competes directly within the national sphere of education, raising both their political profile and critical discussion about their emergent purpose and intentions. The role now seems much more blurred and problematic, and tensions are beginning to appear at a local and national level adding to the sense of insecurity and precarity.

This study was conducted to investigate whether implementing communicative activities, in particular information gap and language games, in Libyan secondary schools affect students' speaking performance. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent, pre-test-post-test design was conducted on 42 first year Libyan secondary school students in a private Libyan international school in Malaysia. Eight different information gap and language game activities based on communicative language teaching (CLT) principles were implemented for 15-20 minutes during eight sessions. The results from the paired sample t-test indicated that there was a significant difference between the pre-test compared to the post-test. Students' speaking performance improved after implementing the communicative activities in the classroom. However, the results from the independent sample-test illustrate differences in mean scores between male and female students, which are in favour or female students. Nevertheless, the differences between genders were not statistically different.

Students' ESL writing skills in general are not at a desirable level. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of utilizing the STAD [Student Team Achievement Division] method to enhance descriptive writing skills among students in an international school in Selangor, Malaysia. This study employed an action research design. The sample consisted of 20 Year 6 students aged between 11 and 12 years. The data for the research was obtained using a pre-test and a post-test, focus group interviews with students, teacher's reflection and an observation checklist. The action-research was carried out over a period of 6 weeks. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the qualitative data (interviews, teacher's reflections and observations) was analyzed based on emerging themes. The findings from the quantitative data indicated that the STAD method helped to enhance students' descriptive writing skills. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that students enjoyed writing in groups and they stressed that they learned a lot from their friends when they wrote in groups. The teacher's reflection revealed that the STAD method improved students' writing skills through collaborative learning as they get the opportunity to edit their group essays. Findings from the observation showed that students were actively engaged in the process of writing during group work and their social skills improved too. This study has pertinent theoretical implications, pedagogical implications and practical implications in ESL writing.

Students in this era need to grasp the concept of geometry instead of memorizing formulae. This is important for them to further their knowledge in geometry. The purpose of the research was to determine whether GeoGebra software influences year one students' performance in geometrical reflection. The research utilized an experimental research method. A total of 24 Year One students were randomly selected from an international school. The research used pre-test and post-test. The sample selected were taught and learnt by using GeoGebra software after the pre-test. Then, a post-test was given to them. A paired sample t-test was conducted and the results indicated a significant difference between pre-test and post-test. ANOVA was also conducted to test the influence of gender and ability level on student performance in geometrical reflection. The findings show a significant difference in the scores between genders. Similarly, the results also found statistically significant difference in scores among the three student ability groups. In conclusion, the study implies using GeoGebra enhances students' performance in geometrical studies. Implementing teaching and learning geometry using GeoGebra would help students to explore the concept more in detail and help them to build and develop their geometry knowledge.

School leaders employ essential skills and requisites to lead culturally diversified teams in order to achieve organizational objectives. This study aims to uncover the leadership styles of international school leaders in the culturally diverse environment of Malaysia. In uncovering perspectives on cultural diversity, this exploration employs a qualitative approach using interviews with four school leaders, observation field notes and documentary analysis from three international schools. Qualitative data analysis rendered a contextualization of instructional and transformational leadership attributes in international school leadership. The perspectives of school leaders specified practices of creating a shared mission and vision through the school's core values, curriculum and co-curricular activities while encouraging harmonious interaction among the members of the international school community. Despite the presence of challenges stemming from cultural differences, the school leaders highlighted the vitality of their role in providing a safe learning environment. Hence, this paper provides guidelines to prepare potential school leaders with the essential leadership skills for international schools in multicultural environments and for the advancement of culturally responsive leadership in the globalized era of the 21st century.

Although there is an extensive literature across a range of national contexts concerning the evolving role of the school leader, little has been written about the rapidly expanding world of international school leadership. This paper focuses on the top tier of leadership of international schools by drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 school principals in Malaysia, during which they reflected on the nature of their job and the routes they had taken to headship. It is argued that although the overwhelming majority had taken a school leadership qualification and found elements helpful, they felt that it did not adequately prepare them for their role. Several ways in which international school leadership differs significantly from educational school leadership in other contexts are identified, with principals needing to pay attention to loneliness, transience, cultural differences, governance, business elements, and managing school composition. By identifying key challenges faced by international heads, and by charting the paths that individuals take towards headship, this article seeks to understand the nature of senior leadership in international schools.

This study examined the effects of collaborative blended learning writing environment on students' writing apprehension and writing performance as perceived by a selected group of EFL students enrolled in one of the international schools in Malaysia. Qualitative case study method was employed using semi-structured interview, learning diaries and observation. Twelve male students enrolled in Class Ten were selected to participate in a 13-week study. To learn how to write collaboratively, the students followed the procedures of the blended learning writing process. Students were divided into three groups and were given the freedom to choose the members of the group they would like to work with. They went through the writing process in face-to-face and online learning modes via the class blog and online Viber discussion. Data collected were analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. The findings indicated that the students had positive perceptions towards the collaborative blended learning writing environment they had experienced. They perceived that the collaborative blended learning activities had helped them reduced their writing apprehension and improve their writing performance as they experienced and learnt much knowledge concerning the micro and macro aspects of writing. Students also viewed that their online discussion and collaboration on writing in Viber groups and the class blog had assisted them greatly in their writing task.

During the past two decades, a growing number of universities, mainly from developed countries, have established branch campuses in developing countries. From the developing country perspective, attracting foreign universities can help mitigate financial constraints and capacity shortages that impair the state's ability to provide greater access to higher education, while also improving teaching and research in general. However, foreign universities may also be detrimental if they crowd out their domestic counterparts. We explore different scenarios and policy options for developing countries aiming to attract foreign universities, building upon a review of four case studies from Chile, China, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia. Our analysis illustrates how host countries can provide incentives to align incoming foreign universities to complement and strengthen the areas of weakness in their higher education systems. We also reflect on how policy-makers can deal with the challenges associated with the dual embeddedness of international branch campuses.

Purpose: In recent times, many universities have been pressured to become heavily involved in university branding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate students' perceptions of different international universities (brands) in terms of important university attributes, including the country in which the university's main campus is located and educational programs are designed (COD) and the method by which the educational services are distributed internationally (DM). Design/methodology/approach: Using a conjoint simulation procedure, this paper predicts the impact that university attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese students' preferences for international universities. Findings: The results suggest that, although COD and DM are important factors, the extent to which these factors dominate student preference differs significantly across students according to nationality. Research limitations/implications: The simulation suggests how international universities can improve their branding strategies, and highlights the need to understand students' preferences when developing marketing strategies. Originality/value: Past research has compared the importance of university attributes across countries from the perspective of students, but failed to assess this issue in the light of existing university brands (at an institutional or country level). Such knowledge can provide an indication of student preferences and competitive performance, which are of great interest to education marketers. The present study predicts the impact of various university attributes on Malaysian and Chinese students' preferences for specific international universities (brands) in four different countries, and changes in preference that occur when the style of delivery or course suitability is altered.

This paper critically examines conceptions of international employability. Drawing on a study of stakeholder views on the employability curriculum at the Malaysia campus of a British university, the paper questions whether there is an identifiable notion of international employability. Contrasting the perceptions of Malaysians and expatriates, both lecturers and students, it is suggested that employability is a blurred, evolving and culturally based concept. In questioning the existence of an identifiable notion of 'international employability', the paper suggests that universities with large numbers of overseas/international students and staff need to give more attention to understanding competing notions of employability. Moreover, universities with nationally diverse student bodies may need to develop multiple employability curricula to meet their varied needs.

This paper explores the identity of teachers in international schools who are embarking on postgraduate studies in education. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers starting an international qualification, it establishes key aspects of their identity and notes that they feel distinct from teaching professionals in their passport countries. From this discussion, a tool-box of concepts for understanding the identity of international school teachers is suggested, together with a typology of international school teachers echoing Hayden & Thompson's (2013) typology of international schools. It is suggested that these concepts require further exploration and empirical substantiation in order both to understand their implications for addressing teacher shortages and to understand the knowledge, skills and attitudes that teachers with non-conventional qualifications and backgrounds may offer to schools.

This paper explores internationally mobile global middle class families (GMCF) in terms of how they rationalise moving away from their home country, select schools and reimagine their young children's futures in an international setting. Building on Appadurai's notion of 'the future as a cultural fact' and Anagnost's concept of 'life-making in neoliberal times' we analyse how the search for escaping the past is dialectically related to seeking better futures. For GMCFs, the search for better futures within current neoliberal times leads to them discursively constructing spatial-temporal movements across international boundaries. The term 'futurescaping' is introduced and used to understand the act of imagining futures that are shaped by a person's past and present experience. We argue that futurescaping is more than simply transnational mobility, but is a multidimensional act, which is dynamic, culturally value-ladened, historically embedded, futuristic and provides a unique view into the everyday lives of internationally mobile GMCF.

Across Asia, the international school scene has experienced marketisation and corporatisation. A consequence is that many wealthier families -- outside of expatriate communities -- view international schools as a desirable choice, and they seek ways to enrol their children in international schools. States have responded to this situation through policies that manage the boundaries between public or national school systems and international schools. States have made compromises in their international school policies -- compromises that allow markets to creep into the broader education systems. This mode of market creation is subtle: Neither families nor state agents advocate for 'choice' as a value, nor are there public discourses around international schools in the region celebrating 'choice' in education. The compromises made in international school policy relate to whole education systems and have implications for inequality, citizenship, and national identity.

This paper examines how one particular class of educational leader--international school Heads--relate to managerialism. Representing a novel site of new theorisation, the independence enjoyed by these leaders allows a 'purer' view of managerialism as experienced 'in here' (inside the subject), not just as a reaction to what is 'out there' (i.e. to policy). Through analysis of twenty-five face-to-face interviews, they were found to have relationships to managerialism that are not compliant or transgressive, educational or managerial, but hybridic. Some Heads relate to managerialism pragmatically; they reluctantly 'do' managerialism but avoid, segment and/or moderate managerial influences on their identities. Other Heads proactively use managerialism to discipline their staff and organisations; they draw power from managerial discourses; and they claim its values as their own. Seen through the lens of hybridity, educational identifications remain important, indeed they remain paramount, but for some subjects, they have been conjoined with complimentary managerial ones.

Purpose: International branch campuses (IBCs) are complex entities and while much has been written about their expansion and development, the literature is largely from an external perspective. There have been few longitudinal studies examining the development of an IBC over time. The purpose of this paper is to review the development of one IBC over an eight-year time period, to identify the key learning points for institutional managers of other IBCs or for institutions intending to establish an IBC. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a culmination of research, conducted during the eight years when the lead author worked at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC). The author was involved in practical management aspects as well as the research and analysis of IBC development. This paper represents a form of ethnographic research where the author conducted interviews, meetings and discussion groups, observed institutional policies, strategies and operations in action and was in an ideal position to identify and discuss their impacts on institutional performance. Findings: This paper examines key management issues during the early, developing and evolving stages of an IBC and discusses key issues including communication, curriculum, identity and management. Key challenges, procedural issues, managerial responses and strategy will be presented to highlight foundational concerns for IBC development and areas and topics that must be given priority and support. Originality/value: This paper considers the management of an IBC from the reflective standpoint of an author employed in a senior management position, during a period of significant growth of UNMC. The author provides insights and discussion involving practical experience.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an adapted Porter Diamond Model (PDM) that can be used by transnational education (TNE) countries and institutions as an analytical framework for the strategic evaluation of TNE host countries in terms of attractiveness for exporting higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a literature review to adapt the PDM in the context of TNE host countries. A pilot study of adapted PDM is conducted for China and Malaysia. Available country data are collected via desk study. Findings: The pilot application of the adapted PDM revealed no major issues or failings. Only some minor difficulties in the identification of appropriate data which can be resolved with the use of alternative metrics. The results from the analysis of the two countries indicate that China and Malaysia are both suitable TNE host countries for expanding existing and developing new activities. This also indicates that the proposed use of the adapted PDM is suitable to effectively evaluate TNE host countries. Practical implications: This adapted model can be used by TNE exporting institutions and countries to access the suitability of prospective TNE host countries for education export. Also, it can be used to evaluate the future risks for existing TNE activities. TNE host countries can use the model to strengthen their attractiveness for education import or to plan of becoming education hubs. Originality/value: Considering the scale and the expected growth of TNE, as well as the lack of strategic analysis tools for TNE; the proposed model provides a valuable practical tool to aid strategic planning at institutional and country level.

Transnational education is becoming a popular way for students to earn an attractive credential from a foreign university in emerging education hubs in Asia. In an era where students are staying closer to home for their education, this paper offers insights into the motivations or choice criteria used by students currently enrolled at international branch campuses in Malaysia. Findings from a survey of 218 undergraduate and postgraduate students plus semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with 18 students indicated that the motivations for studying at an international branch campus are a function of the combined pull-push factors (i.e. institution and academic reputations, marketability of the degree, low tuition fees compared to home institution, low cost of living, safe country for study, similarity of education systems as well as cultural proximity). The study proposes a model of student destination and institution choices based primarily upon "push" factors which apply to international branch campuses in Malaysia. The success of a given university operating in a foreign market is shown to be influenced greatly by the destination's costs, attractiveness attributes, and locational convenience for students. The findings of the paper are especially relevant to developing market policy-makers of higher education in crafting specific management and marketing strategies targeting students to study at international branch campuses, particularly in Malaysia.

This paper examines middle leadership of the heads of English, maths and science departments in four international secondary schools in Malaysia. It focuses on their roles, responsibilities, role relationships, instructional engagement and leadership involvement within the theoretical framework of instructional, distributed and teacher leadership. The study is a qualitative multi-method case study, involving observation, documentary analysis, and semi-structured interviews with 12 heads of department, 36 teachers, and four principals. With respect to the middle leaders' roles and responsibilities, the findings illustrate cross-school and in-school differential developments, with contextual factors contributing to uneasy role relationships. The results also show that, while broad-based leadership opportunities are limited for the middle leaders and teachers, the most powerful and common feature of all these international schools is the centrality of teaching and learning.

Historically, "free play" in many European heritage communities has been a valued practice. However, political imperatives have challenged these beliefs and necessitated a more academic curriculum to raise standards, resulting in a "push-down" curriculum. By contrast, many Asia-Pacific communities have increasingly included play in their curricula and discussed the benefits of imagination and creativity. Contradictions and tensions associated with the differing perspectives on the value of play present themselves when families move countries. This is evident in some international schools, where a diversity of families and differing play and academic practices interact. In order to understand this complex problem, cultural-historical theory was drawn on to investigate three expatriate families as the children transitioned into a Malaysian international school context. An analysis of digital video recordings (90 hours) of everyday life of the children at home and in school, and interview data of parents and teachers, found that an increase in a child's academic competence was associated with a change in motive orientation in the family home from play to learning. Unexpectedly, play practices in the home turned into academic learning activities, which the authors have termed a "push-up" curriculum, supporting the learning agenda of the international schools.

Over the last decade, international branch campuses have been established by universities from developing countries as well as developed countries. Little research has been conducted into students' perceptions of branch campuses from different countries, or how universities from different countries compete in the increasingly competitive market. A framework incorporating the concepts of country of origin and country of service delivery is adopted to assess how potential undergraduate students in Malaysia perceive the home and international branch campuses of universities from the United Kingdom (UK) and India, which are used to represent universities from developed and developing nations. It was found that for a university from a developing nation, students perceived the image, reputation, quality and brand equity of its home campus more positively than its international branch campus. The results suggest that although all universities must devise and implement strategies that enhance the image and reputation of their international branch campuses, institutions from developing countries should seek niche markets where they do not have to compete directly with prestigious universities from developed countries.

Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously under two types of isomorphic pressures. On the one hand, they are obliged to conform to the institutions of their host countries, which lead them towards homogenising with the local Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), hence deviate from their parent unit's model. On the other hand, they are required to maintain their parent unit's identity across borders. By adapting to the local context, IBCs gain legitimacy in their local milieus and thus reduce tensions with local stakeholders. By maintaining similarity with their parents, they differentiate from the local competitors and therefore better compete in the market place. This paper addresses the duality (between adherence to the parent's and local expectations) by studying six important Australian and British IBCs in two major higher education (HE) hubs in South East Asia. We identify the determinants of the IBCs' strategic choices and their responses to institutional pressures. The analysis suggests that IBCs have maintained a high level of similarity with their parent units in terms of curriculum, but not so much in terms of staffing. We argue that staffing will continue to be the biggest strategic challenge faced by IBCs.

Although there has been considerable research into expatriate children attending international schools, there has been little investigation into children who attend international schools within their own nation. Seeking to redress this imbalance, this article analyses interview data from a small-scale study of host country nationals attending an international school in Malaysia, in order to examine the significance attached by them to international schooling, and contrasts these accounts with interviews conducted with their expatriate teachers.

This article reports on a study of the professional identity of expatriate teachers working in an international school in Malaysia. It examines the practical, cultural and professional challenges they experienced as they transitioned to an international school setting. Their experiences of curricular, organisational and cultural change are explored, and the impact of these on their professional identity is analysed. Also explored is the importance of a professional community with shared norms to maintaining a continued identity in the face of change.

For-profit education is increasingly prevalent within international schooling. The language of client, customer and consumer may not yet be embedded in the classroom, but international school leaders, particularly those operating in for-profit contexts, are having to respond not only to the needs of educational stakeholders but also to the commercial demands of the "bottom line". This article examines the occupational tensions facing international school leaders (specifically Principals and senior managers) as they attempt to master this plural for-profit context. The role of Principals within for-profit school contexts, this article finds, is changing. Principals may define their role in educational terms but this article highlights an emerging commercial narrative, concluding that (for-profit) international school leaders are increasingly required to be personally, philosophically and ontologically at ease with simultaneous educational-commercial discourses, as well versed in the patois of commerce as they are those of education.

The two decades from 1950 to 1970 were a crucial period of educational reorganization in Malaysia that stemmed from the decolonization after the Second World War. This educational reorganization sought to address the perennial issue of nation building via educational language policy. The development of Chinese education was under severe threat as the British colonial government opted for a national school system that used English and Malay as the media of instruction in place of the segregated vernacular school system that had existed during the colonial period. Much to the relief of the Chinese, the national school system failed to materialize due to the lack of financial resources to reorganize the entire educational system. But the Chinese were unable to maintain the Chinese school system within the ambit of the national educational system advocated by the postcolonial Alliance government. The Alliance government had only allowed the Chinese to undergo Chinese education at the primary level. At the secondary level, it opted for a monolingual system of education based on Malay as the main medium of instruction in order to foster national integration through a common language. The Chinese had to switch to this medium of instruction if they wanted to remain in mainstream education. Such a system of transitional bilingual education was aimed at incorporating the Chinese into the nation building process.

This paper explores the effects of the internationalisation of higher education on the working lives of academics at an offshore campus in eastern Malaysia. Using the interpretivist paradigm and grounded theory methods it investigates their perspectives on various themes as those emerge during a series of interviews. These emerging themes are: "Professional Practice", "Communication", "Quality Assurance" and "Curriculum Issues". These themes are interrelated, are tied together with the anchor theme of "serving two masters" and expose important areas that need to be monitored by both the offshore and Australian partners in order to ensure the quality and success of their cooperation in the long term.

This article explores the response to cultural diversity and international mindedness at international schools in Malaysia and Brunei. It shows that the curriculum at these schools is set within a liberal-humanist framework, which some might suggest facilitates the project of "Westernization". It argues, however, that under the (local) circumstances in which the schools are set, this liberal-humanist framing, despite its limitations, is perhaps the most effective approach to the achievement of international mindedness.

Background and Purpose: Explicit form-focused instruction has significantly contributed to second language learners' explicit knowledge. However, the effect of explicit form-focus instruction (FFI) on second language learners' implicit knowledge of grammatical forms has been argued by scholars. This study examined the effectiveness of explicit FFI on implicit knowledge of ESL learners. Methodology: This quasi-experimental research was conducted at a selected international school in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The collected data were analysed through the application of ANCOVA and Scheffe's test. Findings: The findings showed that when explicit FFI was implemented in the form of metalinguistic information and metalinguistic explanation of the target form, the implicit knowledge of students would not increase. This suggested that the role of explicit FFI as the most effective and reliable tool to enhance implicit knowledge of learners should be doubted. Contributions: The theoretical implication of this study indicates that explicit FFI does not contribute to development of the second language implicit knowledge. Pedagogically, this study's findings could be beneficial either for teachers looking for an effective method of teaching or for researchers to utilise it in their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia-Australia diplomatic relations was established as early as in 1955 when an Australian High Commission was set up in Kuala Lumpur and was later formalised in 1957 when Malaysia gained its independence. Both countries cooperated closely in the areas of defence, education, and trade. Australia regarded Malaysia as its closest ally in the region. However, things began to change when Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad became Malaysia's Prime Minister (1981-2003). Ties between the two countries were tested with controversial issues that influenced their diplomatic relations, but the overall relationship remained intact. The current study analyses two main factors, namely souring factors, and enduring factors, that had influenced the pattern and character of the Malaysia-Australia relations in the era of Mahathir. It utilised a combination of methods, i.e. discussions from the English School theory, data collection through document analysis and interviews. The study found that the pattern of the Malaysia-Australia relations could be best understood and explained by the arguments offered by the English School theory of international relations. This is an important contribution to the study of Malaysia-Australia relations during Mahathir's era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the ongoing project related to the development of mobile-based learning application particularly for Alpha Generations who studies in international school. Due to the advancement of digital technologies, Alpha Generations tend to interact with mobile device compared to conventional environment as they were born in the century of digital age. This includes their learning activities. In Malaysia, expert in language literacy particularly Malay language is compulsory for all including foreigner students who learn in international school. As the mobile-based learning application could provide attractive and interactive interaction compared to conventional teaching method, providing children with additional mobile-based learning tool could facilitates them to have their own active learning experience. This study found that this is the research gap that should be fill in to ensure children in international school able to literate in Malay Language similar to mainstream student. Therefore, mobile-based learning application called BM Year 2 has been developed and evaluated. The proposed application also has been discussed in the previous paper which involves expert evaluation. To ensure the proposed application could fulfill the actual users' needs, user experience testing has been carried out and discusses in this paper. They are tested in terms of layout and design, functionality, and user's satisfaction. A set of questionnaires has been set up and distributed to the actual users upon they use the proposed mobile-based learning application BM Year 2. Overall, the empirical findings found that theBM Year 2 able to evoke positive learning experience to the actual users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to present the determinants of students’ perceptions of quality and experience of study at international branch campuses in Malaysia, a country that is set to become an academic hub in Asia. This study used a multi-method approach for data collection. The respondents comprised 245 students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) from six renowned international branch campuses operating in the country – three from Australia, two from the UK and one from India. In addition, a total of 21 face-to-face interviews were conducted after the survey. The results revealed that across the seven dimensions examined concerning education and non-education qualities – university reputation/image, programme quality, lecturers and teaching quality, student learning environment, effective use of technology, counselling and academic advising support, and social life (direct/indirect) facilities – the students were largely satisfied. The paper adds to the existing body of research on higher education service quality, particularly on students’ perceptions and expectations of international branch campuses. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

International branch campuses (IBCs) evidence the increasing intention of some governments to use private higher education to fulfill public policy goals related to economic development and building capacity within the postsecondary sector. This study uses two exploratory case studies (Malaysia and Dubai) to investigate the relationship between the government, public policy, and IBCs. The IBCs imported by the governments investigated in this study tend to be from well-established institutions in countries that attract a large number of international students. The results from the study suggest that governments are actively recruiting institutions from other countries to aid in improving the host government's education-related reputation and signaling to the world that it is modernizing its economy and its desire to be a regional education hub. Thus, IBCs not only increase local capacity and provide a different type of education, but are intended to foster new regional interest in pursuing an education in the host country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]