This essay suggests an alternative accountability process on the basis of critiques of current evaluation practice in higher education. Using cases in the British university system, with some international commentary and thinking through experience in Asian universities in four countries in the wake of 'audit culture', the work of Thorstein Bunde…

Through the lens of an anticolonial (as opposed to postcolonial) analytical framework, this conceptual paper examines decolonising efforts (and failures) in Religious Education (RE) as a school subject in post-independent sub-Saharan Africa. It critiques the missionary/European epistemological hegemony that continues to render RE a colonial rather…

The work of Vygotsky is widely used in teacher education and other education-related literature, in discussion of sociocultural perspectives, and in relation to themes such as second language acquisition, the teaching of mathematics, and approaches to teaching and learning. Much of this work gives the impression that Vygotsky's work is…

The article presents the results of an analysis of the academic dispute about the scholarly ethos, conducted at the time of intense higher education reforms in Poland. Previous analyses of the academic debate on the change of the traditional university towards its entrepreneurial organization emphasize the polarization, that is, the criticism or…

While its purported aims are noble, the field of study abroad -- or education abroad as it is increasingly known -- is not immune from, and indeed embraces, discourses and practices that are, to use Gert Biesta's term, "learnified." Biesta defines learnification as "the translation of everything there is to say about education in…

This accessible guide will help studio art and design professors meaningfully and effectively transform their curriculum and pedagogy so that it is relevant to today's learners. Situating contemporary college teaching within a historic art and design continuum, the author provides a practical framework for considering complex interactions within…

Although person-first language is commonly used in many professional settings, this practice has received criticism from self-advocates and scholars who believe that identity-defining features, such as autism, cannot be separated from the individual. Arguments have been made that person-first language may perpetuate stigma by drawing attention to…

Whoa.nu started in 2000 as a community where members discussed all aspects of hip-hop in Sweden. The community became the most important place not only for discussions among members but also for releasing free albums and songs to the public and for arranging events. Moreover, the site was an educational hub for members to learn about hip-hop. The…

It seems reasonable to suppose that educational practices should be informed by philosophical and scientific understandings of the character and operation of mental processes. Clark and Chambers' 1998 'The Extended Mind' is a seminal paper in the philosophy of mind, but has received limited attention by educational researchers. Their Extended Mind…

There is a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon entitled 'The Real Reason Dinosaurs Became Extinct'. It shows three dinosaurs surreptitiously smoking cigarettes. Why would such a peripheral habit like burning some leaves cause an extinction? Like dinosaurs, neo-liberalism has had a bad press. There have been plenty of critiques of neo-liberalism, and…

This article examines the teaching of collaboration within tertiary education, critiquing the hegemony of a neoliberal mandate. This review of academic literature first identifies the significance of social capital and an intrinsic motivation to collaborate, to theorize how an important and complex graduate attribute (termed here 'collaborative…

The article explores how different concepts of "nature" were applied in secondary education in Germany around 1900 by examining the discussions on and practices in particular boarding schools. It will first scrutinise Enlightenment debates on "human nature" and how they were perceived in German secondary education in general…

Accepted definitions of educational leadership practice typically view it as influence to achieve organisational goals. Such definitions have been widely used over the last 30 years. During that time, the number of educational leadership theories/models has increased and cover the many aspects of educational leadership all of which implicitly or…

This article draws from a year-long ethnographic study documenting the use of comics in a school. Focusing on literacy work in a social studies classroom, it documents how comics were welcomed into and challenged classroom spaces. Comics were introduced, read, and engaged with collaboratively. While comics were able to support strategic practices,…

With, "The Mind on Paper," Olson hopes to amass the strongest empirical evidence needed, in his view, to support a more promising version of Goody's insights on literacy's impact on social and psychological change (Goody, "The domestication of the savage mind," Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1977). The book is also the…