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Specialist research holds key to facing up to globalisation

Asian universities should strengthen their identity through investment in specialist research to cope with the challenges of globalisation, a conference attended by more than 30 Asian education leaders was told.

As part of celebrations for its 15th anniversary, Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) invited university heads and scholars to attend a roundtable discussion on the challenges facing Asian education.

Entitled 'Universities of Education: Transforming Future Learning in Asian Societies', the conference addressed issues ranging from the identity of universities to how to attract talent to teaching.

Dato' Aminah Ayob, vice-chancellor of Sultan Idris Education University in Malaysia, said Asian universities should stand out from their overseas counterparts.

'Our goal should be to create our own identity,' she said. 'We should conduct more research on education and local culture and refrain from borrowing others' theories.'

Lee Wing-on, chair professor of comparative education with HKIEd, said that research methodologies should be strengthened to turn education into a 'convincing profession'.

'We would get a body of knowledge and command respect through strengthening our research methodologies,' he said.

Professor Lee lamented the 'semi-professional' status of education in the eyes of the general public.

'We need to convince others that we are a real profession comparable to the legal or medical professions. Up to now we have been more or less a semi-profession because everyone claims they know about education and can help educators do their jobs.'

Mark Bray, director of Unesco's International Institute for Educational Planning, agreed. 'We should strengthen education as a discipline and it needs to be done in a rigorous way.'

Professor Bray added that universities should be outward-looking and avoid confining education to a local context.

'Education has a tendency to be a bit parochial,' he said. 'We have to resist the temptation to say education is a local thing. Asian universities should assume a leadership role, especially now when East Asia is booming. Instead of just looking inward, they have to look at other countries as well.'

Professor Bray was also worried that education as an issue had been eclipsed by other concerns that dominated world agendas. 'Education agendas are under threat,' he said. 'With issues such as global warming and swine flu topping leaders' concerns, education is being pushed down the agenda.'

Due to the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus, more than 10 university presidents could not attend the conference as scheduled. Those who were absent included representatives from Japan and Taiwan.

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