In international philosophy of music education, there are some philosophers who are important points of reference. One of them is the German Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). While his philosophy is complex, an oversimplified understanding of his ideas turned him into the "bad guy" of international music education philosophy, being in favor for…

As social and emotional learning (SEL) picks up pace in the twenty-first century, it is often presented as a universally progressive and even apolitical phenomenon. At the same time, a growing number of politically conservative groups are attacking SEL as a form of "lib-eral indoctrination." Amidst these layered contexts, there is an…

This study examines the reference societies of Norway and Sweden embedded in their education policy documents. We examined 4,260 bibliographic references in 19 white papers and green papers prepared for the 2016/2020 renewal of the Knowledge Promotion Reform in Norway and the 2015/2018 Knowledge Achievement Reform in Sweden. In addition, we…

The terminology of "Chinese characteristics" (zhongguo tese) is ubiquitous in China's political language, but its precise definition remains elusive. This study focuses specifically on the mobilising of the idea of Chinese characteristics of China's science evaluation programme: the China Discipline Evaluation (CDE). Implemented as an…

This is a conceptual paper that examines the emergence of the 'therapeutic university' and considers its potential implications for policy and practice in Higher Education (HE). Concern over the well-being and mental health of university students both in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally has recently intensified in media, academic and…

Despite efforts to help youth form better connections to the natural world, many recent science initiatives (such as the "Next Generation Science Standards") privilege laboratory science over field science, thus reinforcing an image of science that is placeless and individual. To better understand the impact of field science on youth, we…

The making of digital educational futures raises pressing social justice concerns. Against this background, scholars face the challenge of bridging the tasks of investigation and critical engagement. Inspired by French pragmatic sociology, this article presents the notion of "plural school worlds" as analytical anchor point for dealing…

Recent global reckonings with structural racism and histories of colonialism, slavery, and genocide continue to raise questions about how educators should engage students in questions of historical responsibility for difficult pasts. Recent educational scholarship has explored this issue largely through the lens of concepts such as collective…

Niklas Luhmann speaks of the function of education in relation to modern society. Only within modern society, he argues, is it possible to speak of the differentiation of a specific function system of education. It is, more particularly, the differentiation of other function systems that leads to the question about the function of education. I…

This article analyses the changes in education legislation and the history curriculum in Spain over recent decades. To this end, the characteristics established for the teaching of history in the last two education laws, passed in 2013 and 2020 -- the first by a conservative government and the second by a progressive one -- are studied and…

In this theoretical and provocative paper our aim is to problematize universal ideals, and the closely related belief in educationalization, that frame education today. Inspired by the ethico-political work of Agamben ([2007]. "Profanations." New York: Zone Books), and his focus on profane acts of play, and Zupancic's ([2008]. "The…

This review is in response to numerous research, studies and other reviews that present the under-addressed, longstanding need to rethink vocational education and training delivered to secondary students (VETdSS) in Australia and in similar jurisdictions. Further, it is unclear how secondary schools in Western Australia are navigating the…

This article reports on teachers' experience of working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis is based on a thematic analysis of group interviews with 76 teachers working throughout the Swedish school system, i.e., preschools, primary, secondary school, and municipal adult education. The interviews were conducted during autumn 2021.…

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…

The new comparative research in this volume explores the global flow of competence-based education, curricular policy, and frameworks for instructional practice. Taking critical perspectives, the chapters trace the pathways through which educators and policy actors adopted and reshaped competence-based education as promoted by the OECD, the World…