School gardens must overcome a range of challenges to be successful but are often lauded for fostering hands-on education and real-world learning. This thematic literature review synthesises 22 journal articles and two book chapters, extending on previous reviews by amassing their themes into one singular reference point for scholars, while…

Most Western democracies have long provided public funding to non-government schools, but the reasons for these arrangements differ with significant practical consequences.

In this article, we contribute to the scant literature covering quantitative studies on the determinants of the non-academic staff incidence in higher education institutions by analysing how the proportion of non-academic staff is related to key features such as size, prestige, year of foundation and financial structure of universities. We apply…

Learners who learn from OER often cannot have their learning assessed or receive a credential. Open credentials offer a potential solution to this problem, combining badges or micro-credentials with competence frameworks and digital seals. This study identified the current situation of open credentials in post-secondary education in Europe, the…

According to Church statistics, 6.9 million children were enrolled in Catholic primary and secondary schools in Europe. Enrolment has remained relatively stable over the last 40 years in comparison to other regions of the world, contributing to education pluralism. This may be in part because in many countries, Catholic and private schools benefit…

This international study examined how to support equity and inclusion for 18 mothers in academia ("motherscholars"). Applying Acker's theory of gendered organizations as a framework for the study, we recruited participants from Facebook groups for women and mothers in higher education across disciplines and nine countries. To attend to…

This paper focuses on international student mobility and the funding of higher education. We theorize that relying on international students for funding is stronger for institutions in developed English-speaking countries because they more often adopt marketization practices. Compared to Northern and Southern European countries, we find that they…

This paper analyzes the key determinants of the quality of preschool education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on the analysis of recent data, the paper indicates the status and development trends in this regard in the last decade. Although preschool education in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long tradition, it is facing a number of challenges,…

This exploratory study responds to the criticism that non-instructional faculty or "academic professionals" at American universities are the cause of "administrative bloat." The purpose of the study was to build from the work of Rhoades (1998) and Kane (2007) to examine whether academic professionals at an R-1 (very-high…

Across the Central Eastern European region, inclusive education has become a policy aim. Europeanization, influence of United Nations agencies, and shifts away from Soviet models of education have led to new policy aspirations for the inclusion of children with special education needs (SEN). At the same time, policies in many countries often lack…

This study provides comparable lower-bound estimates of inequality of opportunity for tertiary education (EIOp) for 31 countries in Europe, by using the two EU-SILC waves for which information on family background is available (2005 and 2011). The results reveal an important degree of heterogeneity, with Northern European countries showing low…

Neoliberal theories--whether the new public management, principal-agent theory, or performance management--have provided the rationale for sweeping reforms in the governance and operation of higher education. This paper expands our understanding of neoliberal theory and practice by examining a leading neoliberal reform: performance-based funding…

Over the last 30 years, governments have continuously adjusted their Higher Education policies to make universities more efficient (achieving more by spending less) and more effective (by increasing the percentage of graduates, by reducing the number of university dropouts and by focusing more on the third mission). At the core of governmental…

The focus of this paper is upon an examination of the 'direction of travel' in European countries from special needs education to inclusive education -- a development influenced by the Salamanca Statement. The 1994 Salamanca Statement argued that inclusive schools provide 'an effective education for the majority of children and improve the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to define the impact of the investment in training in education by the European Social Fund (ESF) in four Eastern countries, namely, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Hungary. Those countries have some political, cultural, social and economic similarities and share some common ground in the human resource…