With an eloquent, and original, comparison of the Holy Family's faith and decisions surrounding acceptance of unexpected gifts to that of families who have one or more children with disabilities, the authors of this article capture an aspect of faith rarely captured within the previous arguments presented for why Catholics must embrace their call…

In this interview, Dr. Ozen Guven talks to Dr. Mary Mendenhall, Sonia Gomez, and Emily Varni about their research on teachers and teaching practices in contexts of forced displacement. Mendenhall, Gomez, and Varni recently authored "Teaching Amidst Conflict and Displacement: Persistent Challenges and Promising Practices for Refugee,…

In this paper, I develop a critique of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-based lifelong learning policy discourse with a particular focus on "key competencies" (KCs) and its equity implications for school curricular policies. First, I review the discussion of KCs in the writings by the OECD-affiliated…

This article presents the author's reply to the comments of Bragg, Allington, Simmons and Jones to his article "Transaction and transformation at Trinity" (Pike, 2010) wherein he reported a case study of Trinity Academy, which serves a former mining community and social priority area near Doncaster in South Yorkshire. In 2008, just…

Policy sociologists typically research at large scale. This paper presents an example of a policy analysis which illuminates how policy is embedded in single incidents, lives and places. The case in point concerns the policy fetish for "closing the gap and raising the bar". This rhetoric is taken to mean improving the learning of all…

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available--from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for…

This paper discusses the impact that teaching and research on African theatre in the Workshop Theatre of the University of Leeds' School of English may have had in Africa and elsewhere. After surveying the productivity and influence of the Workshop Theatre to the present, the authors ask if they have contributed meaningfully to the development,…

The author of this article was the administrative judge in the People's Court in Haiding District, Beijing during the controversial lawsuit of Tian Yong, a college student required by his school to immediately withdraw from the school on the grounds of cheating. In this article, he relates how this particular case and others have given him a large…

Case studies illuminate the psychosocial characteristics of special populations of reentry women, the barriers they face, and their unique needs. (JOW)

Distance higher education for adults, media selection, and country profiles are considered in conference papers. Titles and authors are as follows: "Distance Education, Trends Worldwide" (Lord Perry of Walton); "Adults in Higher Education: Lowering the Barriers by Teaching and Learning at a Distance" (Hans G. Schutze);…

Puts forth a theory of popular education, the elements of which include (1) an emphasis on the relationship of education and learning to collective and emancipatory struggle, and (2) an analytical framework which connects learning and education with analysis of political economy and ideology. Tests the theory through a case study of Australian…

These proceedings address five themes that emerged from discussions among 28 of the nation's most experienced leaders in the uses of technology in higher education: (1) access and equity; (2) quality teaching and learning environments; (3) training and support systems; (4) collaboration and cooperation; and (5) finance. Technical, attitudinal, and…

Social implications of distance education at the university level are considered, based primarily on the case of La Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED) of Costa Rica. UNED, which is Costa Rica's attempt to implement Great Britain's open university philosophy of education, was developed in response to the following needs: to provide…

Educational change in Israel during the last 30 years is illustrated by comparing the status of Oriental and Ashkenazic (European) Jews. As opposed to the dominant Ashkenazic values of socialism, collectivism, and industrialism, the Oriental Jews in Israel value family, personalism, and traditionalism. As a result, the Israeli system tends to…

Presenting a case study of the African nation of Burundi to illustrate the great variation in the environment in which children are raised in developing and developed nations, this paper focuses on the importance of considering the context of a particular culture and society when educators talk about the quality of early childhood services.…