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Children have been marginalised in nationalism studies, particularly in the discussion of education. The process of education was taken for granted while children’s agency and their construction of national discourses were neglected. This thesis was to examine and compare children’s national discourses and those in pedagogical materials in the context of recent Taiwanese nationalism since 2000. This thesis concerned children’s discourses and pedagogical discourses in four areas: (1) the nation; (2) national identity; (3) ethnicity; and (4) being a minority. Data was collected through individual interviews, documentary research and observations. Individual interviews were conducted with a sample of 28 primary school children (aged 8-11) in a selected primary school in Taiwan. The participants were recruited from children of Chinese immigrants, children of Vietnamese immigrants, and children of native Taiwanese to compare their various experiences and perspectives. The findings showed that children’s discourses did not necessarily correspond to pedagogical discourses although they partly match to each other. The nation was portrayed as ‘Taiwan’ consistently in the textbooks and by children, while the ‘Republic of China’ was being ‘forgotten’ by children and marginalised in textbooks. In addition, a Taiwanese identity is prevailing among children. However, children challenged the existing concepts of ethnicity and the language policy at school. Finally, this thesis found that the national discourses in pedagogy was rather exclusive than inclusive. Therefore, the minority groups, such as children of immigrants, Hakka, and the Aborigines, felt being the ‘others’ in the discourses of Taiwanese nationalism. In conclusion, children are not objects of pedagogical national discourses. Instead, the pedagogical discourses rely on students’ interpretation and performance. Therefore, children are active subjects who are able to challenge pedagogical discourses and construct their own national discourses.

Moral education in Japanese and Taiwanese primary schools is an important source of political socialization. An analysis of these two countries' moral education curricula reveals traditions which reinforce national solidarity and central governmental authority. Moreover, political ideology is merged with supporting academic, economic, and cultural values. This study examines the political ideology of the moral education curricula in Japanese and Taiwanese primary schools, the values and behavior promoted by these ideologies, as well as the similarities and differences between the Japanese and Taiwanese systems. It is shown that a distinctive feature of both systems is the emphasis placed on political conformism, high academic achievement, professional diligence and economic success.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to examine whether teaching materials designed around fourth graders' preconceptions effectively produced conceptual change about light propagation. Four Taiwanese fourth-grade intact classes (194 subjects), taught by two teachers, participated in this study. The experimental group was exposed to the conceptual change materials (CCM), and the control group was exposed to the current traditional materials (non-CCM). A 10-item paper-and-pencil instrument for assessing conceptual change was developed, which included three categories: Category I, a window image, a phenomenon children observe in life experiences; Category II, a pinhole image, a classroom demonstration of how light travels; and Category III, shadows, an advanced application of light propagation. T tests were employed to assess differences between the pretest and posttest in each group. ANCOVA with the General Linear Model procedure was used to assess differences between the control and experimental groups. No teacher effect and no interaction between pretest and treatment were found in the procedure; therefore, pretest scores were used as the covariate and posttest scores were used as the response in the analysis. Results revealed that, both in the overall test and in Category I, significant differences existed between the experimental group and the control group after the teaching interventions. However, no significant differences existed between the groups in either Category II or Category III after teaching interventions. Children in the experimental group performed significantly better than did children in the control group in Category I (t=-2.44, p<.05 posttest; t=-2.57, p<.05 delayed posttest), but there was no significant difference between the groups in Categories II and III. CCM appears to work better in life application than in classroom activities and advanced application. The study suggested that the CCM teaching approach was effective, but the low percentage (55%) of the scientifically accepted concepts retained after teaching intervention needs to be improved. The test-retest stability between posttest and delayed posttest indicated that the CCM teaching approach had a lasting effect after two weeks. / Graduation date: 1996

The purpose of this study was to explore factors which influence Taiwanese vocational teachers' participation in program evaluations, use of evaluative results and, in turn, program improvement. Twelve Taiwanese public vocational high school teachers were interviewed during February and March 1992. To confirm the responses of the teachers, 12 school administrators and ten external evaluators were also interviewed. The literature indicates that teachers' participation in evaluation may be influenced by their self-esteem, perceived qualification of evaluators, the quality of the evaluation methods, and their subculture. These concepts are applicable but from a somewhat different perspective in Taiwan. Teachers do not seem to feel that they are active participants in evaluations and that evaluations may have little consequence to what they do. Current evaluation practices and purposes appear to be quite different than those described in official documents. These differences seem to be inevitable because of the cultural determinants of "saving face," "reciprocal obligation," and maintaining "social harmony." Evaluations appear ritualistic and ineffective as means to engage teachers in improving the quality of vocational evaluation on a systematic and sustained basis. Based on the findings, it was proposed that alternative evaluation methodologies should be employed. For short-term improvement, the evaluations should begin with teachers. Teachers need materials, help from experienced and expert teachers, training, and time to fulfill their evaluation responsibilities. Teachers would collect and analyze information and then use it to improve their instruction. Selected information would then be passed up to administrators and ultimately to the Ministry of Education. For long-term improvement, the principles and techniques of Total Quality Management should be applied to assure the quality of vocational education programs in Taiwan. / Graduation date: 1993

This thesis is an examination of the relationships and conflicts between franchisors and franchisees in the Taiwan retail franchise market. Two examples, convenience stores and estate agencies, are compared as these typify the retail and service sectors. The method adopted in this research is a form of exploratory qualitative research, since the purpose is to provide insights and understanding of the nature of marketing. In this research, there are many points, which conflict with previous research, such as the performance between multi-unit and single franchising, monitoring issues, buying back franchisees, the resource constraints of management talent and financial capital,brand transference and so on. From the empirical findings, the author suggests this is related to local culture and operational customs. Further, in international franchising, the author's results show that there is no relationship between internationalisation and company scale. What is important is whether any two businesses have the same commercial objective. Some interviewees offer valuable insights, which have never been discussed before, for example, most of the previous researches on financial constraints focus on whether it is cheaper to obtain capital from franchisees as compared to stockholders or financial institutions. However, a valuable point interviewees have suggested is that the question should be related to whether the power of the brand is strong as compared with other factors. In other words, if the brand power is strong, then other constraints will be minimized. Based on the above findings, relationships and conflicts between franchisors and franchisees are then explored. Based on the nature of industry and ownership patterns, what the franchisees care about is autonomy in the convenience store sector, whereas brand power is highlighted in the estate agency sector. The common point is that both industries stress the importance of communication, but this function fails in this research for different reasons and these reasons can be traced back to the difference of ownership patterns. Therefore, aside from the contribution to theories, three models are developed for practical application from the perspective of communication. In conclusion, with smooth organizational communication and constructive interactions, both parties will benefit from each other and enjoy the synergy of increased brand power.

This study investigated Taiwanese preschool teachers' awareness of cultural diversity of new immigrant children and how this awareness influences their educational practices. In particular, this study focused on the cultural awareness of preschool teachers who work with young Taiwanese children whose mothers are immigrants from Southeast Asia. This study used quantitative and qualitative methods. One hundred seventy-two Taiwanese preschool teachers from the different geographic areas of Taiwan participated in the study. Data were collected through the use of the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI) survey and participant interviews. Research results of the study revealed: (a) most Taiwanese preschool teachers had an awareness of cultural diversity, but their perceptions of how to create a multicultural environment need to be improved; (b) Taiwanese preschool teachers' personal experiences with children from different cultures were more associated with their cultural awareness than their ages and educational levels; (c) Geographic location was the factor affecting preschool teachers' awareness of cultural diversity and educational practices. This study is informative to the understanding of Taiwanese preschool teachers' awareness of cultural diversity and the implications of this awareness for classroom practice. In addition, multicultural perspectives of the Taiwan society toward immigrant families and children can benefit from the findings of this study. Future research should include the cultural needs of new immigrant children and the implementation of practices for educating new immigrant children.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Arts in Education