Siu-Yau Lee, John Chi-Kin Lee and Bess Yin-Hung Lam
The purpose of this paper is to offer direct tests of the effectiveness of renaming vocational education and training (VET) in enhancing the image and popularity of the subject…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer direct tests of the effectiveness of renaming vocational education and training (VET) in enhancing the image and popularity of the subject. Although many proponents of renaming argue that the word “vocational” is associated with lower levels of skills and knowledge and should therefore be supplemented by better recognised words, empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of this strategy is scant.
Design/methodology/approach
This study exploits a rare policy change in Hong Kong, where VET was renamed as vocational and professional education and training (VPET) and conducted an original survey experiment of 1,004 parents in the city to test if the new name would improve respondents' perceptions of the subject.
Findings
The findings reveal a complex picture regarding the effects of renaming. Although renaming does not seem to improve the overall popularity of vocational education, it may widen the support base for vocational education by diluting its class character. Specifically, while attitudes toward VET are significantly and negatively correlated with family income, no such association is found in regard to VPET.
Originality/value
This paper offers the first direct and comprehensive test of the effectiveness of renaming vocational education – a popular policy suggestion in many countries. Its findings complicate conventional expectations and contribute to the study of educational preferences in advanced economies.
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Zhonghua Zhang, John Chi-Kin Lee and Ping Ho Wong
The purpose of this paper is to address the statistical issues associated with the hierarchically structured data in previous studies that focused on servant leadership. To…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the statistical issues associated with the hierarchically structured data in previous studies that focused on servant leadership. To resolve these issues, multilevel modeling methods were applied to re-visit the construct validity of the servant leadership questionnaire developed by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) and investigate the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction under a multilevel framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey data was obtained from a sample of 2,089 teachers from 117 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. The analyses were conducted using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MLCFA) and multilevel structural equation modeling (MLSEM).
Findings
The results revealed the significant and non-trivial variances that were explained at the organization level in the items measuring servant leadership, which justified the use of MLCFA and MLSEM. The results of MLCFA provided empirical support for the multidimensional construct as well as the second-order factorial structure of servant leadership measures at both the individual and organization levels. In addition, the positive relationships between servant leadership and the followers’ job satisfaction were found to vary at different levels.
Originality/value
This study reiterates the importance of using appropriate methods to capture a solid definition of the construct of servant leadership and provides new insights into the conceptual framework of servant leadership as well as the effects of servant leadership on individual and organizational outcomes.
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John Chi‐kin Lee, Daoyong Ding and Huan Song
The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments in school developmental supervisory evaluation in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai in the Chinese Mainland.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments in school developmental supervisory evaluation in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai in the Chinese Mainland.
Design/methodology/approach
The main research approach is qualitative, using documentary analysis and interviews of an inspector, principals and teachers from two primary schools.
Findings
There were perceived positive and negative impacts of school supervision and evaluation.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the implications for fostering a shared school‐government community of school supervision and evaluation, promoting a dynamic approach for addressing contextual differences as well as achieving better coherence among educational reform, supervision and evaluation policies.
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Andrew J. Hobson, Linda J. Searby, Lorraine Harrison and Pam Firth
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.