Activities
The Refugee Situation in Malaysia: Challenges and Opportunities
Alan Vernon, UNHCR
16 May 2012, 10.00- 11.30
CRICE, Faculty of Education (Bilik Cemerlang), University of Malaya
Malaysia continues to be criticized internationally for its treatment of refugees. Is such
criticism fair? What can be done to improve the situation of refugees in Malaysia? What
can be done to better educate the public about the difference between refugees and
migrants? What can be done to ensure that refugee children have access to education of
appropriate quality? Each of these questions presents both challenges and opportunities.
This presentation will suggest how the Malaysian Government can transform its current
approach to refugees in a way that will improve the situation of refugees, save money,
generate good will and bring credit to the country for its humanitarian generosity.
Comparative Education and Research Capacity Building:
Reflections on International Transfer and the Significance of Context
Michael Crossley, University of Bristol
7 March 2012, 15.00 - 17.00
CRICE, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in comparative and international education, along with a fundamental reconceptualisation of this distinctive multidisciplinary field of study. The nature and significance of these developments are explored with particular reference to their implications for broader research capacity building initiatives worldwide.
Perspectives on the Contribution of Higher Education to Education as a Humanitarian Response
Colin Brock, University of Oxford
8 March 2012, 10.00 - 12.00
CRICE, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya
Higher Education, or the 'Tertiary Sector' is not usually immediately thought of in terms of educational responses to humanitarian crises. This presentation begins with a definition of what the speaker sees as comprising tertiary education, and that is 'anything' above, or subsequent to, secondary education.
Educational Research: the Need for Philosophy
Richard Pring, University of Oxford
8 March 2012, 15.00 - 17.00
CRICE, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya
There are many kinds of educational research - empirical investigation into 'what works', narrative accounts of learners and teachers, lessons form comparative studies, historical explanations of the present arrangements, and so on. But rarely are the deeper philosophical issues explored which are assumed but not taken into account in these different kinds of research.
Panel discussion on 'International Perspectives on the Idea of Quality in Education'
CRICE, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya
9 March 2012, 15.00- 17.30
Quality in respect of education is an elusive goal. It is certainly not to do solely with empirical achievements such as test scores. Since formal education in schools and other institutions is only part of any individual's learning, this makes quality even more elusive.
Comparative and International Education: Its Past , Present and Future
Colin Brock, University of Oxford
16 November 2011, 10.00- 12.00
CRICE, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya
The purpose of this presentation is to consider: why and how Comparative Education developed as one of the sub-disciplines of Educational Studies; how International Education came on board with it; what are the intellectual justifications for it; and what are the prospects for it in the future. From the first serious efforts of Michael Sadler in late-nineteenth century Britain, Comparative Education became established as one of the Foundations of Educational Studies in the 1930s and began to flourish in the 1960s in universities around the world.