Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education
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China as a Contesting Ground for Ideologies: Examining the Social and Ideological Forces that Influence China’s Educational System
No full textFrom 1919 to 1921, John Dewey travelled and lectured in China. He received a thunderous welcome and exercised a tremendous influence in China, however, very little has been written about it. The first purpose of this article is to investigate Dewey\u27s visit to China and his influence on Chinese education. The second is to examine the various social and ideological forces with which Dewey\u27s progressivism co-existed and interacted in shaping China\u27s current educational system, and to determine which force(s) exert the strongest influence. China\u27s educational system today is defined and guided by a synthesis of various social and ideological forcesÑtraditional Confucianism, Deng\u27s pragmatism, Maoism, and Dewey\u27s progressivism. These forces, although often theoretically exclusive of one another, have in practice been woven into the tapestry of the system at all levels. This paper encourages readers to learn from others in improving their own educational systems
Empowering Untenured Faculty Through Mosaic Mentoring
No full textMentoring programs have consistently demonstrated their value in assisting new and early faculty members to make successful adjustments and productive contributions to the academy. Yet, mentoring programs have failed to be consistently implemented despite their efficacy and increasing levels of job dissatisfaction reported by new and early faculty members. To extend the understanding of this issue at a research-based university in western Canada, a survey was sent to deans, department heads, and new faculty. Based on the results of this survey, a focus group of new faculty members was conducted and semi-structured interviews were held with department heads who had implemented effective mentoring programs. The results of this investigation indicate that mosaic mentoring programs, which have no agendas to preserve hierarchies and power imbalances, and which view all faculty members as continuing learners, could reduce feelings of dissatisfaction among new and early faculty members and support conditions for identity transformation
Designing and Co-Facilitating Online Graduate Classes: Reflections and Recommendations
No full textThis paper reflects on the experiences of two colleagues who co-taught a larger-than-traditional online graduate class in a Master of Continuing Education program in the fall of 2002. Their goal was to test a number of design and facilitation assumptions that had been successful in smaller online graduate-level classes. They began with a set of agreed-upon design and facilitation principles acquired from several years\u27 experience teaching online graduate classes. Their experiences in the larger online class and their subsequent recommendations are presented here in three phases: pre-course design, mid-course design modifications. and post-course evaluation, with reflections on their original assumptions and design/facilitation strategies. The paper closes with their thoughts on this novel experience of co-teaching a larger online graduate class
The Organizational Meaning of Research
No full textPractitioners and theorists have given attention recently to the role and status of research activities in Canadian university continuing education units. For individuals in units that are increasing the proportion of their organizational activities devoted to research, there will be an ongoing process of cognitive change and development as a new organizational culture emerges. Sensemaking is used in this article as a heuristic for exploring the process of incorporating and developing research activities in university continuing education units. Sensemaking is the cognitive process of justifying or legitimating a decision or outcome after the decision or outcome is already known. It is associated with organizational models that reject an exclusively rational decision-making paradigm of organizational action. Sensemaking recognizes the centrality of the following elements in the interpretation of research activities and their relationship to organizational life: time, identity construction, and the ongoing creation of context. The authors provide an extended reflection on the process of meaning-making that may be experienced by individuals as conventional research becomes a more important part of organizational life. Such a reflection may support and inform the change process as it occurs in university continuing education units
Creative Retirement: Survey of Older Adults\u27 Educational Interests and Motivations
No full textThe University of Manitoba\u27s Continuing Education Division (CED) and Creative Retirement Manitoba (CRM) formed a partnership to promote applied research on lifelong learning and older adults, to develop new and to complement existing educational activities, and to explore new program models and instructional methods to meet the educational needs of older adult learners. A survey, the first in a larger research project of this partnership, was undertaken to identify the learning interests and motivations of a select group of active older adults who participate in CRM\u27s activities. The results indicate that these learnersprefer to learn only for interest, in non-educational settings or on their own;are interested, motivated, and physically and financially capable;confront situational and institutional barriers to learning; andconsider learning important to their lifestyle.These findings are consistent with the notion that an active lifestyle, including continued learning, may lead to improved quality of life, and better health and wellness for older adults. University continuing education (UCE) has a role to play in developing and supporting learning opportunities and programs for older adult learners, albeit a measured one
