In recent decades, higher education has experienced a massive expansion worldwide, which has often been linked to increasing higher education diversification. New sectors and new types of institutions emerged with this massification process to offer more diversified types of advanced training. At the same time, this expansion was often embedded in…

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international community committed to address a great number of challenges. Among those emphasised by the SDGs, some are highly relevant for indigenous groups. Education, poverty, access to justice and climate change are only a few of the issues affecting indigenous people's…

The theories and approaches of steering/monitoring a process of change within education systems have evolved over the last 20 years or so as a result of many factors such as globalisation and decentralisation, a faster pace of change, increasing expectations and demands from various stakeholders (parents, employers, teacher unions, etc.) and the…

Italy was among the promoters of the Bologna Process and the early adopters of the reform. If one looks at its impact on the formal structure of curricula and study programmes, the reform undertaken under the Bologna banner seems to have been one of the major educational reforms ever achieved in Italy. This article describes how the Bologna…

What accounts for the rapid growth in the For-Profit (FP) higher education sector in the US? How will its growth influence educational opportunity and degree attainment rates in a country that first pioneered a mass higher education built largely on expanding public colleges and universities? The current US experience is a version of what I call…

According to the findings of a recent European study on competence requirement for the early childhood education and care workforce, competent systems that succeed in achieving high levels of professionalism are embedded in coherent public policies that build on consultation with key stakeholders, particularly at local level. In order to flourish,…

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework is often claimed to be a success and an example to other countries. However, if other countries wish to learn from this example they should not only study the current framework; they should also examine the sequence of policy reforms, over a quarter of a century, through which it developed. The…

Cyprus will soon become a member of the European Union. The negotiations for its access have ended and as from next year it will represent one of the countries that will expand the EU. The member countries of the EU have progressed in the field of education, they have high requirements from their schools and offer quality education (although there…

The imperatives and complexities of introducing human rights principles at primary and secondary school levels in postcommunist societies are presented, focusing on presentation of concepts of individualism, democracy, and human rights in textbooks; teaching practices that reinforce learner-centered approaches; and consideration of a national…

Discussion of higher education reform in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989 draws on writings in previous issues of this journal and extends the discussion to develop a conceptual framework for examining the reform process and identify key forces that either initiated and facilitated reform or hindered it. Attention is given to the unusual…

Three types of change in higher education resulting from the establishment of the European Community and related educational initiatives are examined: (1) those that are compulsory or unavoidable; (2) those that will be facilitated or encouraged; and (3) those for which the approach of 1992 represents an exceptional opportunity. (MSE)

A discussion of the effects of social upheaval in Northern Ireland on the school system looks at the politically and religiously divided schools, traditional segregation by social class and sex, changes currently being attempted, establishment of common curricular elements, and the role of parents. (MSE)

This paper contends that former Eastern bloc countries, which have rejected centralized, authoritarian political systems, are emulating a United Kingdom school development model which itself is authoritarian, centralized, and coercive. The paper characterizes that authoritarianism and suggests an alternative educational model of centralized…

It is proposed that changes in interuniversity cooperation in the Netherlands are a reflection of changes in university management and governance, which in turn are a reflection of changes in the political culture of the country, especially in the attitude of the central government toward the universities. (MSE)

A discussion of the status of the comprehensive secondary school in Germany looks at its history within the overall educational system, curriculum design, the relatively traditional approach taken by West Germany in comparison to other European countries, and the chances for comprehensive schools in a united Germany. (MSE)