The changing educational landscape requires new organizational frameworks to understand how schools and universities make sense of and respond to broader institutional forces like accountability, diversity, and the market. In this article, we draw on recent innovations in organizational theory to propose a model that identifies two general…

What do we actually do when we research education policy and governance? Why do we tame the messy hinterland of research into smooth accounts and what do we lose in the process? In this volume, distinguished scholars in education policy and governance research discuss how the practice of methods is messy, subjective, and provisional. They approach…

This book concisely explores the distinguishing features of scientific knowledge and research in early childhood education and care (ECEC). It has a dual-level focus of containing and relating the concrete practices of conducting research with the more fundamental conceptual discussions around research -- the Bildung of the researcher. The book…

Transformative approaches to teaching and learning have become ubiquitous in education today. Researchers, practitioners and commentators alike often claim that a truly worthwhile education should transform learners in a profound and enduring way. But what exactly does it mean to be so transformed? What should teachers be transforming students…

This book offers an overview of the complex world of digital materials for music education and of their possible use in the everyday practice of music teachers. It presents a multidimensional taxonomy of digital materials for music education. Through the taxonomy it is possible to derive a clear framework of the whole field and to perform analysis…

The first of two volumes dedicated to this little-explored topic, this volume gathers international perspectives to critically assess how Waldorf education has been perceived and discussed in both public and academic arenas. The book thereby challenges the historical concept of Waldorf education as an international movement championing…

Item response theory (IRT) refers to a family of mathematical models which describe the relationship between latent continuous variables (attributes or characteristics) and their manifestations (dichotomous/polytomous observed outcomes or responses) with regard to a set of item characteristics. Researchers typically use parametric IRT (PIRT)…

Educational leaders confront instances of inequity every day, whether they are aware of it or not. Many find themselves inadequately reacting to such issues due in part to traditional preparation programs that fail to interrogate the existence and impact of systems of oppression. Why is naming and tackling inequity not at the forefront of every…

This volume presents a novel, theoretical, micro-analytical model -- the 3A Methodology -- for assessing the quality of school education. Drawing on philosophers as well as theoretical and pedagogical traditions from European and American contexts, the authors construct a model that is relevant to teachers, researchers, and teacher educators…

This book addresses issues and challenges arising in the theory and practice of international education. Written by leading international experts in the field, it draws on up-to-date scholarship relating to this burgeoning area of study. The book reflects research that focuses on the increasing importance worldwide of the international schools…

Biology education research provides important guidance for educators aiming to ensure access for disabled students. However, there is still work to be done in developing similar guidelines for research settings. By using critical frameworks that amplify the voices of people facing multiple forms of marginalization, there is potential to transform…

The goal of this study was to extend research on scale contextualization (i.e., frame-of-reference effect) to the decision making styles construct, compare the effects of contextualization across three unique decision style scales, and examine the consequences of scale contextualization within an item response theory framework. Based on a mixed…

Taking a dialogic approach, this edited book engages in analysis and description of dialogic discourse in a number of different educational contexts, from early childhood to tertiary, with an international team of contributors from Australia, Finland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The chapters focus mostly on dialogic face-to-face discourse,…

This is the first edited volume to bring together research on the interaction between language teacher identity and wellbeing. It addresses the need for further research on the experience of language teachers and the vulnerability and resilience they demonstrate in the face of threats to their wellbeing. Naming, describing and analyzing issues…

Language is on display all around us, all the time, and the study of this linguistic landscape is one of the fastest-growing areas of research in applied linguistics. This book provides an overview of how the field of Linguistic Landscape Studies has emerged and developed over the past 20 years, combined with an in-depth exploration of the…