The article examines harmonization of higher education as an prerequisite of improvement of study quality in Lithuania. It overviews the development of higher education and criteria of university and higher non-university study programmes. An assumption is made that higher university and higher non-university studies are poorly harmonized and the…

In recent years discussions surrounding early childhood curriculum has focused on the movement from developmental to sociocultural theory. A further area worthy of investigation involves the role of content in early childhood education, specifically the relationship between content, context and pedagogy. The paper draws on teacher vignettes to…

The School of Education of a mid-Atlantic region, graduate-only Christian institution sought to build a cohesive, indigenous conceptual framework to assure that school instruction and scholarship were aligned with university and school foundational documents, especially the mission and vision statements. A visiting professor was engaged to…

The paper sets out the main characteristics of the school system in Wales since 1999 when responsibility for education was devolved to the newly-created National Assembly for Wales. It moves on to consider the advances made in student attainment during this period, some of which can be ascribed to progress in learning and teaching pedagogy,…

This essay explores the themes of curriculum and pedagogy, as outlined by the editors of this special edition, in the context of Portland State University's institutional transformation. We elucidate select mechanisms that support curricular-community interactions, known at PSU as "community-based learning." In doing so we discuss how…

This review considers three areas of findings from research on district roles in reform, drawing particularly on the studies of claimed successful districts. First, the author identifies the challenges confronting district efforts to implement systemwide improvements in student learning. Then, he summarizes evidence about how successful case…

Human resource development (HRD) as a scholarly endeavor and as a practice is often criticized in the adult education (AE) literature and by AE scholars as manipulative and oppressive and, through training and other interventions, controlling workers for strictly economic ends (Baptiste, 2001; Cunningham, 2004; Schied, 2001; Welton, 1995). The…

This practice article explores the relationship between practice and professional learning. Are these two distinctly separate activities, competing for the time of a staff member, or are practice and learning linked? If so, what is the nature of this link and how can we best align professional learning with practice outcomes? Using an example from…

This article provides an account of how one manager considered the alignment of an organisational vision with an implementation strategy for creating an effective organisational infrastructure. The discussion reported in the article provides a manager's view, a case, of how one institution introduced online learning initiatives. Critical to this…

This article examines the introduction of the final examination as an external national system of assessment of students in the transition from secondary school to university education. Since 1991 Slovenia has followed foreign models, the British one in particular; however, it has also considered its own traditional system of education. Students…

The development of a system of regulation in early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Ireland was a slow process. Some decades passed between initial calls for regulation and the actual implementation of standards in 1997, reflecting the delay and inaction that has characterised ECCE policy implementation in general in Ireland. The present…

Drawing on knowledge and experience gained through the study of K-12 science, mathematics, and technology education practices and efforts to reform them, this article suggests several ways to strengthen outreach efforts aimed at students in the elementary grades. The article begins with a description of Project 2061, an education reform initiative…

Education in the 21st century must respond to the needs of an increasingly diverse school community and all of its stakeholders. Changes in both the United States and the broader global society call for updated knowledge and new skills. The primary goal of school community relations is to create an understanding among everyone in a community…

A modern understanding of the cell and its functions has been translated into learning goals for K-12 students by Project 2061's "Benchmarks for Science Literacy" and by the National Research Council's "National Science Education Standards" ("NSES"). Nearly every state has used these national documents to develop…

In this article, the author is asking that teacher educators respond to two papers that recommend political activity. Becoming politically active is one way of reacting to the situation that currently faces teacher educators, but political activity is not for everyone. It is time-consuming, exhausting, and at times depressing. It is also…