Steve Cochrane argues for the need of young people who practice the principles of humane education, and why those principles need to be central to the work of schools worldwide. The priniciples of humane are: (1) Caring about the problems affecting people, animals, and the natural world; (2) thinking critically about the root and systemic causes…

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 calls on the education field to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" by 2030. Education advancements such as the ones required to achieve that goal are often the result of decades of hard work. Unfortunately, the global…

Diplomacy as it is traditionally understood is changing. Diverse, non-state actors in the social sector have become influential participants in setting global goals and priorities. In education, classroom teachers, administrators, academics, and policymakers play an increasingly important diplomatic role in exchanging knowledge, building consensus…

Diverse actors and organizations representing governments, civil society, international agencies, and the private sector participated in consensus-building and negotiation activities toward shaping SDG 4 and outlining the priority targets and indicators for which all education stakeholders would have collective responsibility to meet. As the…

Bringing the transformative change to classrooms that supports student achievement requires a high level of collaboration and leadership. This article describes an innovative model for school improvement that focuses on coaching to elevate educators into true change-makers.

Learning assessment is essential for education systems to provide quality and equitable education. Education partners, both national and international, are supporting education systems around the world in their efforts to develop and implement holistic learning assessment strategies and mechanisms. In many cases, examining how learning is being…

Children who are well nurtured, appropriately cared for, and provided with positive learning opportunities in their early years have a better chance of becoming healthy and productive citizens of nations and of the world. This article reviews the art and science of policy planning for early childhood development (ECD) from a diplomacy perspective.…

Communities and governments can learn from each other to provide access to education and meet the learning needs of their most vulnerable children. Education Diplomacy can be used to prioritize education challenges, build mutual understanding, and shape consensus toward solutions that are supported by empowered parents/guardians, teachers, school…

Education has been one of the highest priorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since it became a country in 1971 under the leadership of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In 1962, when oil production started in Abu Dhabi, the country had just 20 schools for less than 4,000 students, most of them boys. The discovery of oil became the…

Within these last 20 years, professional development schools (PDSs) have emerged and become, for many, the sine qua non of teacher preparation and professional development. Over the past decade, as PDSs increasingly became a focus of reform efforts and a subject of conversation, regional PDS conferences proliferated. As a result of these efforts,…

Opportunities for professional development can benefit the practice of teaching, the learning of students, and the culture of schooling. Thus, considerable attention has been given to effective professional development programs and many reform agendas have made such initiatives a priority (No Child Left Behind, 2002; National Board for…

"The great teacher is not the man [or woman] who supplies the most facts, but the one in whose presence we become different people." This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson is an important reminder that education involves more than just teaching academic content and meeting state, or national, standards. Teachers inspire, encourage, challenge,…

A teacher of children with multiple handicaps and the mother of a child in the class describe changes made as they worked together to create a more open and child-centered classroom. (RH)

Describes the Professional Development Schools (PDS) initiative to simultaneously restructure schools and teacher education programs. Outlines program components. Presents steps to develop an inclusive PDS through the University of Central Florida-Daytona Beach, Volusia County School District, and the Florida Inclusion Network, including public…

Maintains that an overhaul of the public educational system is necessary to meet the needs of all students, including poor and minority students. (BB)