Contribution of International and Comparative Approach to the Policy and Practice of Teacher Education

This study intends to identify the value and pitfalls of international and comparative approach for the policy and practice of teacher education.The structure of this article proceeds as follows:the first section focuses on explaining the meaning and the values of international and comparative approach;based on previous discussions,the second section makes a more in-depth analysis of the values of international and comparative approach to teacher education from five key themes;the final section of this article proposes and interprets the drawbacks of international and comparative approach in teacher education.

A comparison of perinatal and infant mortality rates in British Columbia and Finland:Similarities and differences

Introduction: Despite similarities, perinatal and infant mortality rates between British Columbia, (BC) Canada and Finland differ. Key variables that may influence stillbirth, early neonatal, perinatal and infant mortality rates in BC and Finland were studied. Methods: After standardizing definitions, data for all births between 2001 and 2009 from provincial and national registries were used to compare perinatal outcomes between BC and Finland. Annual change was evaluated with regression analyses. Results: Births before 22 weeks gestation were excluded. All mortality rates per 1000 were lower in Finland vs BC (perinatal: 5.1 vs 6.2, stillbirth: 3.4 vs 3.9, early neonatal 1.7 vs 2.4, infant 2.9 vs 4.0;all p Higher multiple birth and preterm birth rates in BC are affecting mortality rates. Finland’s policy of single embryo transfer is a potential explanation. It is possible to have good perinatal outcomes and low caesarean section rates. Conclusions: The Finnish health care system may suggest possible solutions for improved perinatal outcomes. Lower per capita health care expenditures in Finland do not appear to have adversely affected perinatal outcomes.

中国流动人口概念和数据的有效性与国际可比性

The two concepts of“liudong renkou(floating population or FP)”and“renkou liudong(mobility of the floating population or MOFP)”,along with relevant data based on these two concepts,have long been used extensively in China’s research and policy making,playing a central role in Chinese studies of migration.Unlike the concepts of“migrant”and“migration”in the international literature,which are focused on people’s spatial mobility,“liudong renkou”and“renkou liudong”are identified and measured by the separation of one’s place of residence from one’s place of household registration(hukou),an approach inconsistent with relevant international practices.By analyzing various census data and data from the China Migrant Dynamic Survey(CMDS),this article examines the validity and reliability of these two concepts and the data based on them in the international context,revealing that they have become increasingly invalid and unreliable for the purpose of measuring migration events since China’s reform and opening up in the late 1970s.The results further demonstrate that these two concepts and the data based on them have become increasingly detached from real migration events and processes.They may become invalid by overestimating the volume of the mobile population,ineffective due to systematic omission of certain mobile populations(such as urban-urban migrants),or misleading as to the changing direction of migration flows.In addition,data on the floating population cannot be used to calculate migration rates and are not comparable in the international context.The concepts of“liudong renkou”and“renkou liudong”and data based on these two concepts may still need to be used in China for a long period of time due to the continuing existence of the hukou system and its roles in the provision of public services,social welfare and social security.However,we argue that concepts,measurements,and methods of data collection in research on migration in China should be gradually shifted to and focused on migrations as spatial events;further,transition data,based on an individual’s residence five years ago and one year ago,should be gradually adopted as the main data source and included in the short form of future censuses;additionally,migration event data based on population registration and administrative records should be used more fully,so that China’s migration research can be conducted on the solid basis of valid and reliable data sources.