The RizbA scale combines psychometrics and art theory and enables a measurement of pictorial expression. This study explores its factor structure and a potential gap between theory and empirics. A sample of 275 pictorial works by artists and nonprofessionals was rated by 179 art experts. Three CFA path models were specified: models A and B based…

The research focuses on examining the use of the interpretation of works of art in pre-school education in three dimensions - the current state of the use of the interpretation of works of art, the opinions of kindergarten teachers on art, and the opportunities for kindergarten teachers to acquire knowledge about the theory and history of art in…

Extending recent analyses using PISA data, the current study utilises the OECD's Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) to test the central claims of knowledge capital theory. PIAAC has a distinct advantage over PISA in that it more directly tests levels of purported 'knowledge capital' across an entire national workforce, rather than offering…

This article argues that contemporary conceptual frameworks for understanding religion may not be adequate for the arena of religion and school choice. Successive published research suggests that people are choosing religious schools for reasons other than religion. But what if the reasons why people might be religious and their motivation for…

This article explores the interconnections between young adult fiction and young adult readers' constructions of place within two contemporary texts. It employs a qualitative, multiple case study design, and utilizes discussion groups, semi-structured interviews, and the creation of place-journals to interpret some of the ways in which several…

Germany has only recently started to discuss the possible contribution, on a conceptual basis, of post-colonial theory to development education. Drawing on key policy papers, this article explores how post-colonial and antiracist critiques of German development education have changed the field in the past decade. It first provides the history of…

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."…

This paper addresses "the gift" as the central concept in a discussion about the literacy education for new immigrants that has been developing in Taiwan since the early 1990s. The point of departure for this discussion is the advent of international marriages that are the consequence of new arrivals from Southeast Asia and China, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on ideas that have been published in the "Journal of Educational Administration" over the last 50 years that present perspectives on the nature of educational administration and its various aspects, that are alternatives to the mainstream systems-scientific view of…

This paper contributes to arguments for the potential of Giddens' structuration theory in educational research. It illustrates how "conceptual schemes" from structuration theory were applied to the author's empirical research on a type of alternative educational practice in India, "private school outreach". It shows how…

This paper addresses the question of interaction between home and international students using qualitative data from 100 home students at two "teaching intensive" universities in the southwest of England. Stephan and Stephan's Integrated Threat Theory is used to analyse the data, finding evidence for all four types of threat that they…

This article provides a critical analysis of some of the key theories and assumptions that underpin prevailing approaches to the concept of "information user" in contemporary information research and professional practice, suggesting that they continue to reflect a tacitly systems-oriented focus. The author draws on the Sense-Making…

In "The Educational Imagination," Elliot Eisner presents a theory of educational criticism and a form of qualitative research in education. Central to his theory is the notion of the connoisseur, a particular kind of observer who, on the basis of certain qualities, can be trusted to write an incisive and illuminating account of an…

Several schools of thought regarding media criticism, derived from diverse disciplines and literary sources, have emerged during the last decade. To examine their application to the visual communication media arts such as film and television, this paper: (1) reviews the literature of media criticism; (2) discusses various approaches to visual…

This paper discusses some traditional approaches to the teaching of evolutionary theory at pre-university level, criticising in particular some of the more commonly used models and exemplars. Curricular demands are described and an alternative approach is suggested, using the emerging story of human evolution. Recent discoveries help to illustrate…