Self-directed learning (SDL) has become increasingly important in today's fast-paced and ever-changing society. This paper explores SDL's historical evolution, theoretical foundations, and practical applications, particularly in online environments. SDL is defined as a personal attribute and a process that empowers learners to take the initiative…

The changes produced in higher education as a consequence of neoliberal influences have had a considerable impact on the university world. As a consequence, there has been a growing research interest in how such changes have affected academics. However, recent review studies related to this issue are scarce in the literature. Therefore, this…

This article reassesses globalization in light of research, policy, and reforms directed towards 'the migrant' during times of crisis. In dialogue with Derrida's discussion of hospitality, the article questions the grounds that figure 'the migrant' as a metonym for globalization's dangers -- as excess mobility menacing the foundational sovereignty…

School building design plays a central role in the creation of learning environments and can therefore support educational change. However, non-architectural elements must also be considered particularly when change is attempted. Material space, pedagogical and organisational practices, staff culture and student milieu are interconnected features…

In 2019, Child Trends partnered with the Institute for Health Research and Policy of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC-IHRP), EMT Associates, Inc., and the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) to publish the first comprehensive policy analysis (see ED613844) to explore codified state statutes and regulations covering…

We analyse changes in the collective identity that Sweden's largest labour union for teachers had during the period 1990-2017. The study is based on theory about how collective identity is constructed in adaptation and resistance to external categorical dimensions and internal group identification. We identify shifts in relation to how the union…

The paper explores the historical significance of Hindu College Calcutta, a key institution in colonial India's intellectual discourse. Established in the early 19th century, the college faced numerous challenges, including opposition from conservative factions and financial constraints, as it evolved into a hub for education and independent…

This article provides an overview of adult learning theory, focusing on the theories covered in this issue of New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education. In offering a brief synopsis of each article and reflecting on the ways adult learning theories have evolved since the first update was published in 1993, this article explains several…

This study explores the agency of academics and the structures that enable or impede agency in curriculum change. The study was conducted at a research university that experienced curriculum change in two waves: the first on a departmental level, and the second as a university-wide curriculum change. Interviews were conducted with the same…

The article presents small-scale qualitative research that reveals the views of teacher education (TE) experts from different geographical regions of Europe on teacher education admission criteria (TEA) today and in the future world. This exploration would open the international debate on the future need to reinvent the TE, TEA, and rethink the…

'Global citizenship' has gained traction as a policy objective across school systems in recent decades. It has been defined as education for the development of a sense of cosmopolitan moral virtue, planetary identification and 'global competencies'. In this paper, I argue that historical sociology can help explain why this goal has gained…

Globalization of education is widely contested in the current academic discussion due to its polarizing effects on the economy, society, and culture. Globalization and colonization have several commonalities because the origin of globalization can be traced to the colonial era. The privatization of education has also emerged with globalization.…

2022 marks one hundred years since the foundation of the Irish State, and thus an appropriate time in which to reflect on how educational policy has shaped the nation over the course of a century. This article examines one hundred years of education policy through an equality lens, asking how the concept of educational equality has been…

Current motivation theory and research face serious theoretical, methodological, and practical challenges. One central challenge is the fact that research has focused mainly on motivation for traditional achievement tasks such as graded assignments and normative educational trajectories. Arguably, current motivation theory and research may be…

Critical pedagogy is in crisis. To address this crisis, this paper reinvents Paulo Freire's concept of utopia in and for our age of the Anthropocene. Understood as a system, postdigital critical utopia provides us with normative foundations and returns agency from invisible data and algorithms to human beings. Understood as a process, postdigital…