In this paper, following some brief introductory remarks, I provide a context to this Symposium by presenting a brief autobiographical account explaining how I became involved in curriculum theory and the idea of a knowledge-led curriculum and how I was led to write the paper under discussion. I then make brief comments on each of the six papers…

When we think of communities of the future, we have to think of new social contracts between universities and society with a different ecology, and an intense compatibility towards transdisciplinarity. We know that today there is a need for truly fundamental reflections and questions on knowledge as the building block of global societies…

This essay focuses on the use of ideal types within different theoretical frameworks for the comparative analysis of culture and values. It emphasizes the importance of cultural agency, and the potential for enhanced understanding and the anticipation of future developments through exploring deep-level cultural patterns. The essay is written as a…

Innovation can be as much a matter of process and content as of structure. Innovation in Australian higher education will be necessary in the next few years, but without the growth or structural change that usually accompanies it. (MSE)

This study is shaped by several concerns: the desire to address the future of comparative education, and the desire to argue that the future as well as the past may be understood better if viewed through a lens of hermeneutical imagination, with its power to enter into and bear witness to "exemplary" narratives of the past and present.…

Lists presuppositions or assumptions that have been fundamental to educational thought in this century. Explores the "metaphysics of education" through a historical comparison and contrast of Eastern and Western educational thought and development. Discusses universal schooling as necessary for economic success and industrialization in the…

Focusing on the education of young children in Kenya, this brief paper contains excerpts from a question and answer interview between two early childhood educators from the United States and Kenya. Both similarities and differences of the Kenyan and the U.S. system of education are revealed. Interview topics covered include the following: socially…

Environmental education in secondary schools in Great Britain has had a disappointing existence to date. The relationship between environmental education and other parts of the curriculum are explored, reasons for the lack of enthusiasm for environmental education in Britain are suggested, and some possible remedies to this situation are…

Examines the ways that developments in educational technologies have affected education globally since the end of World War II. Current applications of technology are described and trends for their future are discussed. The author outlines potential problems caused by increased utilization of new technologies by educational systems. (AM)

It is predicted that Oxford's organizational structure will become increasingly like that of other British universities. Demographic and socioeconomic changes are altering British higher education. (AM)

Compares the cultural role of sports and physical education in various countries around the world. The author discusses how the motivations underlying the demand for physical exercise and sports will affect future cultural roles of professional and recreational sports. (AM)

Considers how new technologies may affect the form and style of the British school curriculum. For example, technology is forcing a new role on both school and home. The British Open University uses the home as a major base for self-instruction, where academic work is built around already available media. (AM)

Western education systems have become globally embedded, and comparative education, by focusing on the delivery model of education, reinforces the status quo. A neo-comparative education would focus on learning and its relationship with culture as a means of understanding how individuals can be encouraged to engage with the many emerging forms of…

Discussed are the administration, organization, and control of higher education in the USSR. Higher education and social progress, including trends and prospects, are also examined. (RM)

This paper examines the influence of demographic factors on the contemporary South Australian education system, with emphasis on technical and further education (TAFE). Demography is essentially concerned with the study of changes in human populations, of birth rates and death rates, the timing of child bearing, internal migration and…