This article examines a Confucian conception of competence and its corresponding response to the competencies agenda that underpins international large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It is argued that standardised transnational assessments are undergirded by a technical rationality that…

Lifelong learning is now a recurring topic in national human resource, employment, entrepreneurship and educational reform discourse. In Singapore, the government urges citizens to be lifelong learners to enhance their employability and reminds them that lifelong learning is a survival strategy for the country. This paper presents and analyses…

Although it is generally assumed that the thoughts of Ernst Mach and the scientific fields he influenced (in this case psychophysics and "Gestalt" psychology) emigrated from Europe during Second World War they apparently survived in Finland, influencing the Finnish education system. The following article evaluates this relationship and…