Kategoria BISAC: Education >> Educational Policy & Reform

Education and poverty exist in a highly contested relationship even in the developed world. On the one hand, educational outcomes seem solidly attached to socio-economic status, and on the other, education is often cited as a way out of poverty. Success at de-coupling poverty from educational outcomes varies across the developed world. The issues connecting education and poverty are complex, but the question of the successful engagement of students from poor backgrounds involves a complex mix of public policy on poverty, public policy on education, and teacher action. This book focuses on...

It is a common ambition in society and government to make young people more creative. These aspirations are motivated by two key concerns: to make experience at school more exciting, relevant, challenging and dynamic; and to ensure that young people are able and fit to leave education and contribute to the creative economy that will underpin growth in the twenty-first century.

Transforming these common aspirations into informed practice is not easy. It can mean making many changes:

• turning classrooms into more exciting experiences;
• introducing more thoughtful...

What do we mean by the word 'context' in education and how does our context influence the way that we learn?

What role can technology play in enhancing learning and what is the future of technology within learning?

Re-Designing Learning Contexts seeks to re-dress the lack of attention that has traditionally been paid to a learner's wider context and proposes a model to help educators and technologists develop more productive learning contexts. It defines context as the interactions between the learner and a set of inter-related resource elements that are not tied to...

What lessons can we learn from the relationship between policy-makers and schools over the life of the New Labour and its predecessor Conservative government? What happened to Education, Education, Education as it travelled from political vision to classroom practice? What are the lasting legacies of 13 years of a reforming Labour government? And what are the key messages for a coalition government?

These are the questions addressed to the architects of educational reform, their critics and the prophets of better things to come. The 37 interviewees include ministers past and...

In recent years a number of popular books have savaged religion arguing it is a dangerous delusion that poisons human societies and relationships. This is but the most recent manifestation of a secularising agenda that has been sweeping contemporary democratic societies since the Enlightenment. This book pushes back against that agenda, examining its key assumptions and arguing that the exclusion of religious people and ideas from education and the public square is both undemocratic and unwise.

For the most part the book draws arguments and examples from Christianity, the religious...

As the third millennium progresses, we are faced with increasing pressures relating to climate change and the sustainability of life on Earth. Concerned citizens are realizing that the responsibility to respond is both local and global. There is an increasing sense of urgency about the need to reform the processes of schooling and curriculum to better prepare students for global citizenship. Educators, policy makers and the wider community are seeking information about how to proceed with this reform effort, particularly how alternative and integrated approaches to curriculum can be used...

Peer Relationships in Early Childhood Education and Care brings together fresh perspectives and research about young children's relationships. It examines children's rights and well-being against a backdrop of increased social movement and migration, changing family structures and work practices, and the growing prevalence of education and care services for young children.

With contributors from diverse cultural, geographical and disciplinary backgrounds, this edited collection shows how educators support children's peer relationships and use these as a basis for enhancing...

The nature of literacy is an issue of global debate. When the National Literacy Strategy NLS] was introduced into UK schools it was arguably the most ambitious educational reform programme in the world, and the controversy necessarily intensified. How can the impact of such reforms be assessed?

In its ten year history the NLS affected every primary and secondary teacher in the country and, therefore, every child. The initiative provoked a widespread recognition of the importance of literacy for all children and attracted the attention of many other governments. This book is the...

Winner of the 2013 American Educational Studies Association's 2013 Critics Choice Award

Teachers the world over are seeking creative ways to respond to the problems and possibilities generated by globalization. Many of them work with children and youth from increasingly varied backgrounds, with diverse needs and capabilities. Others work with homogeneous populations and yet are aware that their students will encounter many cultural changes in their lifetimes. All struggle with the contemporary conditions of teaching: endless top-down measures to manipulate what...

Curriculum scholars and teachers working for social justice and equity have been caught up in acrimonious and polarizing political debates over content, ideology, and disciplinary knowledge. At the forefront in cutting through these debates and addressing the practical questions involved, this book is distinctive in looking to the technical form of the curriculum rather than its content for solutions. The editors and contributors, all leading international scholars, advance a unified, principled approach to the design of curriculum and syllabus documents that aims for high quality/high...

Leading for Instructional Improvement

Educational experts agree that quality teaching is the single most important factor in improving educational outcomes for all students. Teaching is a highly sophisticated and complex endeavor requiring deep expertise on the part of teachers and school leaders. This book shows how teacher, school, and district leaders can cultivate the expertise of teachers to deliver high quality instruction for all students. Leading for Instructional Improvement captures the nationally acclaimed work conducted by the Center for Educational Leadership...

What explains the growing class divide between the well educated and everybody else? Noted author Brink Lindsey, a senior scholar at the Kauffman Foundation, argues that it's because economic expansion is creating an increasingly complex world in which only a minority with the right knowledge and skills--the right "human capital"--reap the majority of the economic rewards. The complexity of today's economy is not only making these lucky elites richer--it is also making them smarter. As the economy makes ever-greater demands on their minds, the successful are making ever-greater investments...