China’s cultural, economic, and political rise has brought the country to the forefront of global scholarly inquiry. In recent years, international assessments such as PISA have placed countries of predominantly Chinese descent or influenced by the Chinese writing system and Confucian philosophy at the top of student performance rankings. Can a distinct “Chinese education model” be identified? If so, is it a contributing factor to the educational successes of countries heavily influenced by Chinese culture and philosophy? These are some of the questions that we invite you to examine with Professor Chou.
MEET THE SPEAKER Professor Chuing Prudence Chou Professor, Department of Education, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Chou (周祝瑛) received her PhD in Comparative and International Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and is a professor in the Department of Education at National Chengchi University (NCCU), Taiwan. She has been a visiting professor for research and teaching with Fulbright and other fellowships in several universities (Harvard University, University of Auckland, South Normal University in China, Akita International University, Tohoku University in Japan, and University of Vienna).
Her research interests include comparative studies on international higher education reform, the impact of world-class university ranking, and cultural exchange in rival states. One of her book entitled The Great Experiment of Taiwanese Education: 1987-2003 (2003), is a well-known and widely-cited publication in Taiwan. In another book, Taiwan Education at the Crossroad: When Globalization Meets Localization (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), she proposes a new paradigm entitled “cross-straitization” that attempts to promote mutual understanding and peace-making among nations in conflict via educational exchanges. Another book entitled “The SSCI Syndrome in Higher Education: A Local or Global Phenomenon (Netherland: Sense Publishers, 2014) touches upon an ongoing crisis caused by the world-class university rankings and makes a cogent argument for culturally-responsive research in the social sciences and humanities across the non-English speaking world. Her new edited book, entitled “Chinese Education Models in a Global Age” (Singapore: Springer) has published in 2016.
In addition, Chou’s lecturing topics include: Comparative Education, Chinese Education, World Trends in Education, (2000-2014, NCCU, Taiwan); Culture Exchange in Rival States (2015, University of Vienna, Austria), Peace and Conflict Education（2012,2013, Akita International University, Japan), Education in Taiwan and China (2013. Tohoku University, Japan).
This free lecture is presented by the HEAD Foundation, a Singapore-based think tank devoted to the research, policy influence, and effective implementation of education for development in Asia.
