A review of the Benin education system shows that it is still heavily school-based. Yet, a high level of wastage is currently being recorded at school level (about 50% success rate at primary level, about 40% success rate at high school level and about 1% enrolment rate of qualified candidates and success rate at tertiary level), leading to the…

In the spirit of exploration, this paper discusses the what, why and how of unconferencing and explores its implications as a transformative approach to faculty development in higher education. The authors define an unconference faculty development experience as: a less-structured opportunity for participants to learn and grow by sharing…

Following the events of 9/11, many misconceptions entered the policy-making platform with regard to the need for education reforms in the Muslim world. Based upon Western cultural and societal norms and increased scepticism of the role of religion in violence, these assumptions have triggered a strong wave of calls for a top-down approach to…

Literacy and numeracy are central to lifelong learning and sustainable development. In today's fast-changing world, both skills are essential to achieving independence and wellbeing, and provide the basis for sustainable societies with constant socio-economic progress. "Literacy and Numeracy from a Lifelong Learning Perspective," a new…

Networked learning and learning networks are commonplace concepts in most contemporary discourse on learning in the 21st century. This special issue provides a collection of studies that address the need for a growing body of empirical work to extent the limited understanding of the use and benefits of networks in relation to learning and…

This article examines text-based locations ("textrooms") as a third strand of the extracurriculum of composition. Through a diachronic analysis, I examine the nineteenth-century periodical "Godey's Lady's Book" and three twenty-first-century blogs as coauthored classrooms or powerful sites of women's informal writing education.

The concept of the university of the third age (U3A) is well established overseas and a key international focus for emerging global networks of senior citizen (i.e. seniors) lifelong learning. However it is yet to become so in Thailand although it too is in the process of becoming an ageing society. Moreover, this is despite the extent to which…

This review examines empirical studies of educational equity in and through the arts with broad implications for urban education. It extends the literature by (a) describing the interrelated spaces of urban education and the arts, (b) integrating knowledge of arts education across formal and informal learning environments, and (c) examining the…

The following article explores the conceptual background and pedagogical realities of establishing a well-being focussed language pedagogy in the context of an informal educational event called "Language Fest". The event was organised as part of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded large grant project "Researching…

This paper explores three themes, emerging from the Inter-Life project, an Art and Design education and social skills project set in a virtual world. We argue that they connect with the concerns raised by critical Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) researchers at the Alpine Rendezvous workshop entitled "TEL: the Crisis and the Response."…

Because children spend so much of their time in schools, their playgrounds offer a good setting for promoting active play in young lives. Teachers, instead of considering active play a taxing demand on their busy day, have begun to develop an informal curriculum for it. The authors review the research on children's active play and explores its…

This paper draws on the results of an ethnographic project carried out with five groups of secondary students. During one academic year, our research team accompanied youth in an inquiry into learning practices in and outside school. Here their observations and contributions are brought together to problematize the relationship between formal and…

This paper examines how the religious education of Turkish children in the "old letters" became an area of everyday contestation between the state and families and communities in the late 1920s and 1930s. Since children were seen as the nation's future, state authorities were adamant about teaching the new generation the new alphabet and…

This article charts the development of three literacy research frameworks: multiliteracies, new literacies, and popular literacies. By reviewing the literature surrounding three current conceptions of literacy, an attempt is made to form an integrative grouping that captures the most relevant elements of each for learning environments design.…

This response considers the strengths of Carr and Thesee's 2017 paper in "Democracy & Education" and explores further areas of research related to education for democracy or citizenship education. [For "Seeking Democracy Inside and Outside of Education," see EJ1162605.]