Vietnam has experienced significant social, economic, political, and educational changes during the last two decades since the Doi Moi policy was implemented. To respond to new requirements required by the global economy, Vietnamese education has undergone remarkable reforms. This article critically examines these reforms in three areas: teaching and learning, curriculum, and governance. New reforms have, to a great extent, demonstrated incredible ingenuity in responding to market requirements and helped to develop a strong labor force for Vietnam. However, pressures to update the education system quickly have brought about severe problems. The article discusses failures in advancing learning practices, and it raises concerns about both the low quality and the poor cohort of teaching staff as main issues facing Vietnamese education. This discussion provides policymakers with useful hints to develop healthy educational policies in the future.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BanhT. L. (2006, December). State management reform for Vietnam higher education. Paper presented at the International Forum on WTO Entry and Vietnam Higher Education Reform, Hanoi, Vietnam.
2.
BuiT. C. (1995). Following Hochiminh: Memoirs of a North Vietnamese colonel.London: Hurst.
3.
BurbulesN. C., & TorresC. A. (2000). Globalization and education: An introduction. In BurbulesN. C., & TorresC. A. (Eds.), Globalization and education: Critical perspectives (pp. 1–26). New York: Routledge.
4.
CastellsM. (1996). The rise of the network society.Malden, MA: Blackwell.
5.
Communist Party of Vietnam. (1996, June 30). Bao cao cua trung uong dang [CPV central committee political report].Quan Doi Nhan Dan, p. 3.
6.
Confucius. (1947). The wisdom of Confucius. In ComminsS., & LinscottR. N. (Eds.), Man and man: The social philosophers (pp. 323–258). New York: Random House.
7.
CooperM. (2002). Vietnam: Is Doi Moi the way forward in post-crisis Asia? In HaleyV., & RichterF. (Eds.), Asia post-crisis management: corporate and governmental strategies for sustainable competitive advantage (pp. 135–153). Basingstoke, NY: Pal-grave.
8.
GershonR. (1997). The transnational media corporation: Global messages and free market competition.Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
9.
HamanoT. (2008). Educational reform and teacher education in Vietnam.Journal of Education for Teaching,34(4), 397–410.
10.
HaydenM., & LamQ. T. (2007). Institutional autonomy for higher education in Vietnam.Higher Education Research & Development,26(1), 73–85.
11.
HeldD. (1998). Democracy: From city-states to a cosmopolitan order? In HeldD. (Ed.), Prospects for democracy: North, South, East, West (pp. 13–54). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
12.
HoareL. (2004, November–December). Culturally sensitive human resource development in the multicultural workplace: “Western” and “Confucian heritage” experiences. Paper presented at the Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Melbourne, Australia.
13.
HofstedeG., & HofstedeJ. (2005). Cultures and organization: Software of the minds (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
14.
Institute of International Education. (2005). Higher education in Vietnam update.Hanoi: Author.
15.
JinL. X., & CortazziM. (1995). A cultural synergy model for academic language use. In BruthiauxP., BoswoodT., & Du-BabcockB. (Eds.), Explorations in English for professional communication (pp. 41–56). Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
16.
KeevesJ. P., & WatanabeR. (2003). International handbook of educational research in the Asia-Pacific region.Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
17.
KellyP. (2004). Not for wimps: Futures thinking and first year engineers. In InayatullahS. (Ed.), The causal layered analysis (CLA) reader: Theory and case studies of an integrative and transformative methodology (pp. 332–337). Tamsui, Taiwan: Tamkang University Press.
18.
KreitzmanL. (1999). Reshaping our world. In KreitzmanL. (Ed.), The 24 hour society.London: Profile Books.
19.
LondonD. J. (2010). Globalization and the governance of education in Vietnam.Asia Pacific Journal of Education,30(4), 361–379.
20.
LukeC. (2001). Globalization and women in academia: North/West—South/East.Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
21.
MarginsonS. (2004, July). Competition and markets in higher education: A glonacal and analysis.Policy Features in Education, pp. 1–59.
22.
Ministry of Education and Training. (2001). Primary curriculum.Hanoi: Author.
23.
MokK. H. (2008). When socialism meets market capitalism: Challenges for privatizing and marketizing education in China and Vietnam.Policy Futures in Education,6(5), 601–615.
24.
NgC.-H. (2009). Reforming learning in the Asia-Pacific region: An introduction. In NgC-H., & RenshawP. D. (Eds.), Reforming learning: Concepts, issues and practice in the Asia-Pacific region (pp. 3–21). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
25.
NgoD. D. (2006). Higher education in South-East Asia.Bangkok: UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.
26.
NgocM. L., & AshwillM. A. (2004). A look at non-public higher education in Vietnam.International Higher Education,36, 16–17.
27.
Nguyen-DuyQ., & SloperD. (1995). Socio-economic background of Vietnam since 1986: Impact on education and higher education. In SloperD., & CanL. T. (Eds.), Higher education in Vietnam (pp. 27–73). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
28.
Nguyen-ThiH. A. (2004). Cultural effects on learning and teaching English in Vietnam. Retrieved from http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp
29.
Nguyen-VanH. (2000). Vietnamese education under the renovation policy.Hochiminh: National University of Hochiminh.
30.
Nguyen-XuanT. (1995). Higher education in Vietnam: Key areas need assistance.Higher Education Policy,10, 137–143.
31.
OverlandM. A. (2006). Higher education lags behind the times in Vietnam: Outdated thinking in the classroom hampers the country's reform efforts.Chronicle of Higher Education,52(4), 37.
32.
Pham-DinhP. (2000). The Vietnamese economy under the renovation policy.Hochiminh: National University of Hochiminh.
33.
Pham-LanH., & FryW. G. (2002). The emergence of private higher education in Vietnam: Challenges and opportunities.Educational Research for Policy and Practice,1, 127–141.
34.
Pham-MinhH. (1998). Vietnam's education: The current position and future prospects.Hanoi: Gioi.
35.
PhanV. K. (1999). Phan Van Khai's talk. Paper presented at a meeting with Vietnamese students and Vietnamese Australians, Sydney, Australia.
36.
Phuong-MaiN. (2008). Culture and cooperation cooperative learning in Asian Confucian heritage cultures: The case of Vietnam.Utrecht, Netherlands: IVLOS Institute of Education of Utrecht University.
37.
PieterseJ. N. (1995). Globalization as hybridization. In FeatherstoneM., LashS., & RobertsonR. (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 45–68). London: Sage.
38.
PrattD. D. (1992). Chinese conceptions of learning and teaching: A Westerner's attempt at understanding.International Journal of Lifelong Education,11(4), 301–319.
39.
RenshawP. (1998). Community of practice classrooms and the new capitalism: Alignment or resistance.Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education,19(3), 365–370.
40.
RobertsonR. (1995). Globalization: Time–space and homogeneity–heterogeneity. In FeatherstoneM., LashS., & RobertsonR. (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 25–44). London: Sage.
41.
RobertsonR., & KhondkerH. H. (1999). Discourses of globalization.International Sociology,13(1), 25–39.
42.
RubyR., & LaddP. (1999). Learning styles and adjustment issues of international students.Journal of Education for Business,7(6), 363–379.
43.
SupalakG. (2002, April 4). Big plan to boost education quality. The Nation, p. 8A.
44.
TehranianM., & TehranianK. T. (1997). Modernity: Towards a new paradigm. In MohammadiA. (Ed.), International communication and globalization (pp. 147–155). London: Sage.
45.
Thanh-PhamT. H. (2006). The development of the higher education sector of Vietnam within the globalization discourse: Using future(s) methodologies.Journal of Futures Studies,11(2), 35–60.
46.
Thanh-PhamT. H. (2008). The roles of teachers in implementing educational innovation: The case of implementing cooperative learning in Vietnam.Asian Social Science,4(1), 3–10.
47.
Thanh-PhamT. H. (2010). Designing a culturally-relevant pedagogy for Confucian heritage culture (CHC) college students: The case of cooperative learning in Vietnam. Unpublished PhD thesis, School of Education, University of Queensland, Australia.
48.
ThomasE. (1997). Developing a culture-sensitive pedagogy: Tackling a problem of melding “global culture” within existing cultural context.International Journal of Educational Development,17(1) 13–26.
49.
TranK. (2002). Education in Vietnam: Current state and issues.Hanoi: Gioi.
50.
VCP. (2002). Ket Luan cua Hoi nghi lan thu 6 ban Chap Hanh Trung Uong khoa IX ve tiep tuc thuc hien Nghi quyet Trung uong 2 khoa VIII, phuong huong phat trien giao ducdao tao, khoa hoc va cong nghe tu nay den nam 2005 va den nam 2010 [Conclusion of the Sixth Plenum of the Ninth Central Committee of the VCP on continuing implementation of Resolution 2 of the Eighth Central Committee, strategy for education and training, science and technology development from now to 2005 and to 2010].
Vnu-Hcm (2001). Nhung thanh tuu buoc dau va nhung ton tai chu yeu cua DHQGHCM qua 5 nam hoat dong 1996–2000 [Initial achievements and weaknesses of VNU-HCM after 5-year operation]. Hochiminh: Author.
53.
WoodsideA. (1971). Vietnam and the Chinese model: A comparative study of Vietnamese and Chinese government in the first half of the nineteenth century.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Council on East Asian Studies.
54.
World Bank. (1996). Vietnam: Education financing.Washington, DC: World Bank.
