When writing about transformation in higher education (HE) in South Africa, it is quite popular to mention the fall of apartheid, and perhaps also 1994, as a starting point for significant change. I, myself, have made this mistake (see Bernard, 2015). However, the recent #FeesMustFall protests highlighted that many approaches to transformation…

Many people with mental health issues are workless; despite this, good quality work is often promoted as beneficial for wellbeing. In this article, I explore my personal reflections about managing my experiences of mental distress in the workplace, whilst working as a senior lecturer in social work in the UK. The potential of Acceptance and…

In this article, Richard Hill addresses the topic of China supposedly undermining Australia's national security and way of life, and causing ructions on university campuses. He writes that Chinese infiltration, or so it seems, is everywhere, from excessive housing investments and land buy-ups to dodgy dinner dates with ALP officials; and from…

This article takes the author's personal experience of being a Head of Department (HOD) in an English University, and frames this experience as a transition narrative. The format draws on the work of Sandra Acker, who framed her own experience as a Head of Department in Canada, in three areas. Utilising literature both on Higher Education…

This paper aims to argue that school rituals played critical roles for the educational purpose in Confucian school education in the Joseon period. Diverse rituals were performed in Confucian schools of the Joseon period, and these rituals formed a comprehensive ritual system of the school education. These school rituals can be read to manifest the…

Amid increasing global and national interest in the built educational environment, this editorial considers developments within the Nordic countries that are investigated and discussed within the articles in this special issue. We discuss commonalities and divergences in the experiences of transition and change in the schools, located in a range…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of the history, the present and the future or the learning organization as a concept and a practical approach, from the perspective of Professor John Burgoyne. Design/methodology/approach: This conversation piece follows the development of the concept from its early days into the current debates and…

Social movements are pedagogical spaces for collective learning across difference. Divergent worldviews, interest and identity, historical legacies and relations of power complicate notions of allyship and solidarity for common cause. In this article, we draw on social movement and transformative learning to reflect on our experiences of learning…

The Youth Strike for Climate raised important global attention to interconnected climate, energy and environmental issues -- it also compelled us to consider what we will do to address these pressing challenges. Developed through consideration of such dynamics, we propose critical energy literacy as an emerging theory that denotes understanding of…

The issue of class size is a complex and contested topic that has divided opinion for many years. Whilst many teachers believe that smaller class sizes assist in enhancing outcomes, a number of policy influencers, policy makers and researchers argue that it has little influence on success in learning and that decreasing class sizes is not…

Given how China has been the top source of international students worldwide, there has been growing media and research interest in Chinese international students. However, much of the narratives tend to focus on their struggles. In this commentary, I draw upon insights from my personal experience as an international student and, consequently,…

This commentary discusses SSIs in relation to environmental ethics. In their article, Augusto Macalalag Jr., Joseph Johnson and Michelle Lai note tensions between SSIs and environmental education and investigate educational experiences that address some of these tensions. The discourse associated with SSIs generally does not consider…

Recognizing the valuable role nature plays in human development as well as humans' responsibility toward the earth is critically important when considering how to transform education for the betterment of the individual and society. In this article, the author views nature as a force or phenomenon of the metaphysical world. As such, she suggests…

Shi Gendong wrote this essay in response to the topic "Even Laureates Were Beginners Once: Lessons Learned Along the Way," which was the title of the Laureate Panel at the Kappa Delta Pi Convocation in October 2017.

This commentary aims to encourage a research-based, critical, inquiring approach to the development of play-based learning in primary schools. I suggest that this approach could build from the wealth of knowledge in the early childhood education sector. I also invite greater collaboration between early childhood and primary teachers, particularly…