Series 6, Episode 6: Quantitative Ethnography and Educational Research

Series 6, Episode 6: Quantitative Ethnography and Educational Research

Quantitative ethnography and educational research In this episode, concluding our mini-series introducing special issues of the Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Edward Vickers talks to Belle Dang, Andy Nguyen and Eric Hamilton about their work on quantitative ethnography. They begin by explaining what quantitative ethnography (QE) is, and why they see it as especially useful for educational researchers working in low- and middle-income countries. QE refers to methods of quantifying data from what is typically viewed as the inherently qualitative field of ethnography. It enables researchers to visually map or tabulate this data in ways that may be both illuminating for scholars, and readily understandable or persuasive to non-academic audiences such as policymakers, administrators or educational practitioners. The discussion then turns to the article by Belle, Andy and their co-authors on the ‘digital transformation’ of Vietnamese higher education. As Andy and Belle explain, this research was prompted by their experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and the strains this placed upon higher education in Vietnam. As elsewhere, in Vietnam policymakers and educators responded to these strains in part by accelerating the adoption of digital technology for instructional use. In this study, the authors compare the approaches to digital technology in the higher education sector during and after the pandemic, using ‘epistemic network analysis’ to quantify and visually map the patterns and connections between ideas in relevant documents. In their research on the take-up of digital technology in Vietnamese higher education, Belle, Andy and their team found that the focus shifted from primarily technical considerations during the pandemic to more searching reflection on the purpose and appropriate uses of the technology during the post-pandemic period. Faced with the immediate crisis of Covid-19, the sector rushed to expand digital infrastructure and put in place the necessary administrative framework, perhaps without a very sophisticated or secure understanding of the technology’s potential and limitations. However, once the emergency was over, more attention was directed towards elaborating a ‘vision’ for the collaborative use of digital technology in higher education. Nevertheless, the overall impression that emerges from the study of Vietnam is of general enthusiasm there for digital technology - at least among policymakers and university administrators. This episode concludes with some discussion of whether Andy, Belle or their colleagues encountered any scepticism concerning the merits of this rush to digitalise, or any wider public debate over the potential disadvantages of an excessive reliance on digital technology in higher education, or more generally. Related Readings: Hamilton E, Espino DP, Lee S, Lux K (2025), "Editorial: Quantitative ethnography in education research and evaluation in low- and middle-income nations". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 2 pp. 81–85, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-08-2025-064 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-08-2025-064] Nguyen, HL; Dang, B; Hong, Y; Nguyen, A (2025), "Digital transformation in Vietnamese higher education: an epistemic network analysis of policy documents". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 2 pp. 138–156, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-03-2024-0010 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-03-2024-0010]

Series 6, Episode 5: The Learning Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Learning Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa This episode continues our mini-series showcasing recent special issues of the Journal of International Cooperation in Education. This time, the focus falls on a 2025 special issue, "Addressing the 'learning crisis' in sub-Saharan Africa: Critical factors and potential solutions", edited by Nozomi Sakata and Moses Oketch. Nozomi Sakata and Hannah Edjah join Ed to talk about this issue, and especially Hannah's co-authored article examining a recent initiative to reform teacher education in Ghana. Hannah, Nozomi and Ed begin by discussing what is meant by talk of educational 'crisis' in the societies of sub-Saharan Africa. Who defines the nature of the 'crisis', and how are related narratives used to justify particular policies? This connects to the discussion in the previous episode of the podcast, which looked at the JICE special issue dealing with the politics of crisis narratives in education. The discussion then turns to the recent reforms to college-level, pre-service teacher education programmes in Ghana. In their article, Hannah and her co-authors gathered reflections from various stakeholders involved in designing and implementing these reforms, which aimed to standardise and centralise public provision of teacher education in Ghana. In their conversation for the pod, Hannah, Nozomi and Ed seek especially to probe the politics behind the reform process. They ask why a reform of this nature was proposed at this particular time, and by whom. Since the reform was largely funded by foreign aid, they reflect on the role of local voices vis-à-vis those of donors in the policy's design. And in so far as local voices were involved, whose voices were loudest, and why? Here they touch on the composition of the sample of stakeholders interviewed for this study, noting the preponderance of men over women - despite the fact that the majority of schoolteachers in Ghana are female. In a wide-ranging discussion, Ed, Hannah and Nozomi raise a number of difficult issues of relevance not just for our understanding of teacher education in Ghana, but to debates over the politics of educational reform in developing societies across Africa and beyond. Further reading: Oketch M, Sakata N (2025), "Guest editorial: Addressing the “learning crisis” in sub-Saharan Africa: critical factors and potential solutions". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 1 pp. 1–2, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-05-2025-063 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-05-2025-063] Edjah H, Adu Henaku E, Okrah AK, Sakata N, Yates C (2025), "Collaboration between stakeholders in the design of a context-based curriculum in Ghana". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 1 pp. 58–76, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-03-2024-0014 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-03-2024-0014] Nozomi Sakata, Chris Yates, Hannah Edjah & Abraham Kwadwo Okrah (2024), "Exploring postcolonial relationships within policy transfer: the case of learner-centred pedagogy in Ghana", Comparative Education, 60:4, 519-536, DOI: 10.1080/03050068.2023.2258681

Series 6, Episode 4: The Politics of Post-Crsis Challenges in Education

JICE special issue on 'The Politics of Post-Crisis Challenges in Education' Spotlight on Education and Youth Activism in the Philippines Continuing our mini-series introducing the Journal of International Cooperation in Education , this episode focuses on a recent special issue on the theme of 'The Politics of Post-Crisis Challenges Confronting Education', edited by Latika Gupta and Edward Vickers. The theme is taken from that of the 2023 conference of the Comparartive Education Society of Asia, which was held in Hiroshima, Japan. Edward Vickers begins by briefly discussing this theme of 'crisis', and the way in which the special issue tackles it. He provides an overview of the articles in the issue, which include an edited transcript of a panel discussion [Vickers%20E,%20Bryan%20A,%20Elfert%20M,%20Fernando%20N,%20Rizvi%20F%20(2025),%20%22Discussion:%20Crisis?%20What%20crisis?%20International%20organisations,%20crisis%20narratives%20and%20education%20policy%20debate%22.%20Journal%20of%20International%20Cooperation%20in%20Education,%20Vol.%2027%20No.%203%20pp.%20309%E2%80%93328,%20doi:%20https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-070] at the CESA conference in which he, Fazal Rizvi, Maren Elfert, Audrey Bryan and Nishara Fernando discussed 'international organisations, crisis narratives and education policy debate'. The discussion then turns to this episode's featured article by Chris Millora, on 'informal learning and youth social action in the Philippines'. Joining the conversation with Ed and Chris is Mark Maca, who has extensively researched the history and politics of education in the contemporary Philippines. Among the issues Ed, Chris and Mark discuss is whether, or in what sense, the Philippines today should be seen as a society 'in crisis'. To the extent that it should be, they interrogate the nature of that crisis and its educational implications. Mark, whose work focuses primarily on formal schooling, explains the role of the school curriculum in teaching about citizenship and recent changes in this respect. He reflects on the significance of formal schooling in moulding Filipino citizens. Chris focuses in his article not on formal but on informal learning about citizenship. He explains what he means by 'informal' learning, and why he sees it as important. The data for his paper comes from case studies of two youth activist groups in the Filipino region of Iloilo: Youth4Health, which seeks to raise HIV awareness, and Buligag Youth, which works to enhance youth involvement in local governance and politics. Chris discusses who these young people were: their social and educational backgrounds, and their reasons for engaging in activism. He reflects on how their activism influences their experience of citizenship, and briefly discusses how they have moved on from activism, and whether any have become involved in formal politics. Further reading: Gupta L, Vickers E (2025), "Editorial: The politics of post-crisis challenges confronting education". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 225–230, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-069 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-069] Millora C (2025), "Young people “learning to become” active citizens: informal learning and youth social action in the Philippines". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 231–245, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-02-2024-0007 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-02-2024-0007] Vickers E, Bryan A, Elfert M, Fernando N, Rizvi F (2025), "Discussion: Crisis? What crisis? International organisations, crisis narratives and education policy debate". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 309–328, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-070 [https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-070]

Series 6, Episode 3: Introducing the Journal of International Cooperation in Education (JICE)

Introducing the Journal of International Cooperation in Education In this episode, the first of a 'mini-series' on the Journal of International Cooperation in Education (JICE), Edward Vickers talks to Tatsuya Kusakabe and Sakata Nozomi, the journal's editors. In three subsequent episodes, Ed will introduce themes discussed in recent special issues of JICE. First, however, this conversation with Prof. Kusakabe and Dr. Nozomi introduces the overall goals and scope of the journal. JICE is managed by Hiroshima University and is published by Emerald. The journal is affiliated to the Comparative Education Society of Asia. JICE is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that engages with unconventional approaches to educational development and knowledge generation. The term ‘International Cooperation’ denotes the Journal’s vision that education can be a process of cooperation, with non-hierarchical, horizontal relationships among stakeholders. Since its official launch in 1998, JICE has become an alternative venue for generating non-Western-centric knowledge in educational development. JICE aims to contribute to accumulating field-level knowledge, policymaking and development strategies in the global South while espousing an unconventional mode of international cooperation in education. For more information on JICE, visit the journal website at https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jice [https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jice] Further reading: Hayashi, A. (2021). "Some Japanese ways of conducting comparative educational research". Comparative Education, 57(2), 147–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2020.1805862 [https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2020.1805862]

Series 6, Episode 2: Catherine Aymé on teaching French in Central Asia

Series 6, Episode 2 Catherine Aymé on teaching French in Central Asia In this episode of the Asian Education Podcast, we are joined by Catherine Aymé, who is a teacher and researcher at Sorbonne University Paris Nord in Information and Communication Science. Her doctoral research explores some of the intercultural tensions between France and Uzbekistan, focusing on ‘French as a second language’ educational resources that circulate in Uzbek universities. This episode focuses on issues related to language education, the context in which educational resources are developed and circulated, and how they are actually used. Situated on the Silk Road, Uzbekistan represents a link between China, Turkey and Europe. It has become an alternative destination for many institutions and companies that have lost access to Russia after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We discuss the geopolitical implications of this for the regions external ties, in education and more broadly. We then discuss the general state of French language education in Uzbekistan. In her doctoral thesis, Catherine considers educational resources as “composites”, cultural objects circulating in society, drawing on the work of Joëlle Le Marec in the field of information and communication science. Here she explains what this approach can tell us about the cultural politics of French language education in Central Asia, highlighting several intercultural tensions that her work has illuminated. Finally, we discuss how French language teaching in Uzbekistan relates to the broader context of second / foreign language education in a society where Russian and (more recently) English have dominated the foreign language curriculum. We ask what factors have determined the relative popularity of these languages amongst local learners. Links to the work of researchers mentioned in the interview: Pierre Moeglin, Professor in Information and Communication Science on Industrialisation of education Français : https://shs.cairn.info/industrialiser-l-education--9782842925475?lang=fr [https://shs.cairn.info/industrialiser-l-education--9782842925475?lang=fr] Joëlle Le Marec, Professor in Information and Communication Science at the  French National Museum of Natural History, laboratoire PALOC. on "Composites" in communication Français : https://shs.cairn.info/revue-etudes-de-communication-2002-1-page-2?lang=en [https://shs.cairn.info/revue-etudes-de-communication-2002-1-page-2?lang=en] Alex Frame, Professor in Information and Communication Science University of Burgundy on interculturality Anglais : https://www.academia.edu/6311710/Frame_A_On_Cultures_and_Interactions_Theorising_the_Complexity_of_Intercultural_Encounters [https://www.academia.edu/6311710/Frame_A_On_Cultures_and_Interactions_Theorising_the_Complexity_of_Intercultural_Encounters] https://hal.science/hal-00441666/file/culture_interculturality_frame.pdf [https://hal.science/hal-00441666/file/culture_interculturality_frame.pdf] Fred Dervin, Professor of Multicultural Education, Helsinki University on multiculturalism in education Anglais : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261550749_Multicultural_Education_in_Finland_Renewed_Intercultural_Competences_to_the_Rescue_In_International_Journal_of_Multicultural_Education_14_3_pp_1-13 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261550749_Multicultural_Education_in_Finland_Renewed_Intercultural_Competences_to_the_Rescue_In_International_Journal_of_Multicultural_Education_14_3_pp_1-13]