In this article, we describe the positive outcomes emerging from a three-year implementation of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) in the first Italian implementation of the model. Both students and teachers benefitted from the positive experience of the SEM educational approaches to talent development which provides an educational experience…

In this article, we analyse teacher professional development in five European countries (Italy, Germany, France, England and Finland), comparing their approaches to teacher professional learning and development (PLD). We performed this task using a general framework based on what several studies highlighted so far as key-features in educational…

Cultural and creative sectors and industries are a significant source of jobs and income. They are a driver of innovation and creative skills, within cultural sectors and beyond. They also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and well-being, to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. As national and local…

This paper considers the process of becoming an international public intellectual, taking the case of Maria Montessori (1870-1952), the Italian physician who became an authority on education and, unusually for a woman, a public intellectual. The focus is on her experience from the age of 12 which contributed to her emergence on the international…

England's early education and childcare system is at a turning point. Both major political parties have shown a significant interest in the early years, with the government recently announcing an expansion of funded provision for some one- and two-year-olds in the 2023 Spring Budget. But what can be done to ensure any changes to England's early…

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the biggest disruption to EU countries' societies and economies, including their education systems, since World War II. Responding to the crisis has forced national governments to increase their spending to keep the economy and public services afloat. This situation has brought about significant opportunities as…

Research with adults has increasingly moved beyond the focus on a small set of allegedly basic emotions, each associated with a signature facial expression. That expansion has been accompanied by a greater emphasis on the potential variability of emotion concepts across different cultural settings. In this conceptual review of children's…

PhD graduates are dealing with a lack of opportunities regarding long-term careers: the chances of eventually obtaining a stable position in university are hardly higher than a few per cent and slimmer when geographical constraints are set. The current scenario prospects a panoply of professional destinations for PhD graduates beyond university…

The U.S. R&D enterprise relies on businesses, federal and nonfederal governments, higher education institutions, and other nonprofit organizations. This report identifies trends in R&D performance and funding and compares them to those of the world's other major economies. The U.S. annual total of R&D has expanded steadily since 2010…

The Italian school system has a long tradition of inclusive education, starting in the 1970s with the first experiences of integrating students with disabilities into regular schools. Since then, legislation has developed to guarantee students with disabilities and other special educational needs the right to individualization and personalization.…

In this article, I connect two topics that are relevant to debates in educational studies today: an understanding of how educational discourses and practices convey and produce a definite kind of future, and the debate on what has been defined as the 'turn to character'. I do so by means of interviews with secondary school teachers in Sardinia…

Technical, economical, and social changes place great demands on the qualification of professional forces in all areas of the national economy. The decisive foundations for these qualifications are built in vocational education. Vocational education is an investment in the future and one of the decisive pillars of the prosperity of every state in…

This report projects Northern Ireland's skills base through to 2030 and compares this to a number of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The report shows that on current trends Northern Ireland will continue to lag many other countries on a number of measures of learning and skills in 2030. These shortfalls can…

The recent refugee crisis has put many Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries under considerable pressure to accommodate and integrate large numbers of refugees. Refugee students are a particularly vulnerable group due to their forced displacement, but their needs are not always met by education systems, which can…

This chapter explores the impact of Upskilling Pathways (UP), a developing European programme adopted by the European Council in 2016. UP targets all people over 25 who may be in employment, or unemployed, or economically inactive, but require uplifting in literacy, numeracy and digital skills. This is at a time when 73 million adults have low…