Seminars

2010 Programme

15/16th April

A typology of Higher Education development in the Asia-Pacific region: reforms and education hub

Professor Yin Cheong Cheng, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Abstract

In response to the challenges from globalization, international competition, technological advance, and transformation towards knowledge economy, there have been numerous higher education reforms in the past two decades particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region. The role of higher education in creation and transfer of new knowledge as well as development of high-quality human resources has become much more crucial than ever to building up human capital for the future of the society and individuals in such competitive regional and global contexts. As appearing to be part of globalization and international trends, paradigm shift is evident and needed in higher education reform and human capital management in the Region. This presentation aims to (1) illustrate the trend of fast growing higher education in the Region and highlight the related challenges to human capital management in the Region in general and Hong Kong in particular; (2) present a typology (with four scenarios) of higher education development to demonstrate the key directions and features in pursuit of paradigm shift in reform, world class education and education hub in the Region; and finally (3) discuss the rationales, functions and dynamics of developing education hub as an important system to groom and manage high value-added human capital in the Region and particularly in Hong Kong as a world city.

CHENG Yin Cheong is the Vice-President (Research and Development) and Chair Professor of Leadership and Change of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He is also the President-elect (designate) of the World Educational Research Association and the Immediate Past-President of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association. He has extensive experiences in both education and research in the areas of educational effectiveness, leadership, reform, paradigm shift, and teacher education. He holds a doctorate from Harvard University and has published 20 academic books and over 200 articles internationally and regionally. Some of them have been translated into Chinese, Hebrew, Korean, Spanish, Czech, Thai and Persian languages. He is now serving as advisory member of 17 international journals. He has been invited to give over 70 keynote/plenary speeches by international organizations such as APEC, UNESCO, UNICEF, ICER, ICSEI (Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, & China), APERA, International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), Ford Foundation (US, Africa), World Bank, SEAMEO RIHED, and numerous national organizations in different parts of the world. He has been invited to provide consultancy services to national and international projects in Brunei Darussalam, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Korea, Mainland China, Netherlands (PISA-OCED2009), Macao, and Thailand.

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