As a result of globalization, technological advances, travelling facilities and internet, more communities from diverse cultures begin to interact and share their daily lives. Today, English is utilized for communication prevalently occurred in the encounters among the people whose native languages are not English. For this reason, main goal of…

The question of knowledge versus competency in contemporary curricula is controversial. In this article we endeavour to show that the controversy has much to do with the way society is conceptualized as either a class differentiated or a function differentiated society. We examine Michael Young's input to the curriculum debate concerning the…

This article argues that crucial elements of the three most important theoretical models of twentieth-century education can be traced back to three Protestant denominations that were developed in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. First, rather than to look in depth at the Protestant Reformers' own educational ideas, the paper…

Despite significant advances in STEM education and a growing emphasis on gender equality in research and policy circles, women across Europe remain under-represented in STEM careers and among graduates majoring in STEM related fields. This report aims to consolidate current research findings, policy analyses and best practices in relation to…

The Covid-19 pandemic has created global disruption in education. It has served to highlight pre-existing inequalities, at the same time as it has stimulated new forms of educational provision, notably 'online learning'. This article focuses on the debates and conflicts provoked by the pandemic's impact on schooling in England. It aims to show how…

According to the 2013 report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), most teacher education programs are failing in the United States. These programs, NCTQ insists, are not preparing new teachers with sufficiently 'scientific' methods and are, in the process, failing to properly train prospective teachers how to 'lead the classroom' (p.…

The aim of this article is to explore methodological issues related to scenarios on vocational education and training (VET). In particular, we examine the extent to which VET scenarios depend or build on generalizable future expectations ("myths of the future") or archetypes of the future. The analysis builds on a review of recent…

In our contribution, we investigate the relationship between social investment (SI) and lifelong learning (LLL), discussing how LLL can be integrated theoretically within a SI approach, by focussing on the ideational principles and policy strategies. First, we describe the SI and LLL perspectives, reviewing their foundations and main principles.…

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) has been subject to controversy historically and several studies have analysed the challenges and barriers to delivering it in schools. Recently, however, a new global phenomenon has sharpening debate with the emergence of anti-gender movements and their discourse on 'gender ideology'. The focus now is less on…

Recently, both sociology of science and policy research have shown increased interest in scientific uncertainty. To contribute to these debates and create an empirical measure of scientific uncertainty, we inductively devised two systems of classification or ontologies to describe scientific uncertainty in a large corpus of food safety risk…

The health and social crisis caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had an especially strong impact on the academic prospects of the most vulnerable populations in society. This paper focuses on the consequences of the current crisis in terms of their potential to negatively impact school disengagement and early school-leaving rates. First,…

Many European governments, including Norway, have ambitious educational policies regarding digitalisation. Many businesses and policymakers pay great attention to the use of digital technologies in education in order to meet the future demands for a competent and qualified workforce. Among researchers and policymakers, there is a general consensus…

Results of international achievement surveys such as the Programme in International Student Assessment have consistently reported an achievement gap between immigrant and non-immigrant student populations around the world. This paper unpacks this persistent achievement gap by examining key characteristics that influence the performance of first-…

In this article, I focus on the increasing interest taken by European political and educational policy makers in inter-worldview education. My article has two parts. The first part consists of a document analysis of pivotal European publications on this and related issues. In the second and more critical part of this article, I make explicit my…

This article explores policy and practice in relation to support for speakers of community languages in Northern Ireland primary schools against the backdrop of the broader UK context, with reference also to the Republic of Ireland and wider European and international experiences. After an initial discussion of the educational, social and…