This paper examines the context of current social policy and analyzes the bureaucratic impediments to achieving greater coordination of programs and services for Australia's Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Specifically, the paper demonstrates how a "national commitment" involving bureaucratic rationality and imperatives continues…

How the trend toward school-based management since the 1988 Education Reform Act has affected racial educational equality in England and Wales was studied through an examination of the policies and practices of a British Local Education Authority (LEA), identified as Woodshire. A review of the policies, practices, and events in the Woodshire…

This booklet examines the post-Persian Gulf War Middle East and the reconfiguration of political reality. Six chapters discuss: the Arab crisis; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; the Arab systems of government; new political alignments; windows of opportunity; and building on the Gulf victory. An annotated reading list consisting of 22 items is attached.…

This case study of the Kossuth Lajos Tudomanyeyetem, an academic library in Debrecen (Hungary), conducted in May 1992, describes its functioning and needs. Information gathered through a series of interviews, tours, library reports, and a review of relevant literature forms the basis for the case study. An overview of the library in its historical…

The function of qualitative research in education is examined, taking into account the curriculum development of one institution, the Escuela Normal Veracruzana, Jalapa (Mexico), which is one of the oldest teacher training colleges (dating from 1886) still functioning in Mexico. Although this academic institution never traditionally promoted the…

The study provides an overview of the Education and Local Development (ELD) projects conducted in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania as part of the OECD/CERI (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Centre for Educational Research and Innovation) project. The CERI ELD project was planned to investigate: the…

The 12 papers in this compilation focus on the activities of general research libraries, i.e., national, parliamentary, and university libraries: (1) "Commercial and Revenue Raising Activities in National Libraries" (Maurice Line & Peter Scott, New Zealand); (2) "The End of All and Forever--On the Acquisition Policies of…

A discussion of public language policy formation focuses on the situation in the Netherlands and Europe. First, a number of considerations in the formation of second language instruction policy are reviewed, including determination of content, conditions of instruction, and languages to be taught. The Dutch national program for foreign language…

Actions that colleges can take to meet their moral responsibilities in response to apartheid in South Africa are discussed, along with different sides to the question of divestment from American companies doing business in South Africa. It is suggested that divestment even by a large number of colleges is unlikely to cause American companies to…

The political, cultural, and social factors that have influenced English language teaching in the People's Republic of China's colleges are examined. First, a brief history of English teaching in China is presented, beginning in the mid-19th century and focusing on the 1949 Revolution, the 1960 Sino-Soviet split, and the the Cultural Revolution of…

The topic of this paper is the "new sociology of education" (NSOE) and its origins in the early 1970's. One aim of this paper is to argue that the regressive return to a rigid and ahistorical academic curriculum is not the only alternative. A second theme is the suggestion that the NSOE took a highly unreflective view of the role of…

Basic elements of the higher education system are considered, along with variations across nations (the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan, Italy, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Australia, Canada, the United States, Poland, Yugoslavia, Mexico, and Thailand). Three basic elements of the organization of higher education system are identified:…

Using as an example the development of the comprehensive school concept in the Netherlands, this paper explores the strategy for educational innovation in a centralized national educational system, the role of educational research and evaluation in educational innovation, the impact of research on policy-making, and the strengths and weaknesses of…

The economic, social, political, and pedagogical issues that surround the notion of democratization of higher education are considered, based on various approaches being undertaken around the world to open up higher education to new population groups. Conservative, liberal, and radical interpretations of democratization and the role of education…

The effect of Benito Mussolini and the Fascist movement in post World War I Italy on the university is examined with focus on the Fascist-Catholic struggle for Italian youth during the time span 1922-1943. Discussed is the attempt of the Gioventie Universitaria Fascista (GUF), the official organization of the university students and the…