Across the globe, educators are grappling with how best to prepare a new generation to engage the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Along with knowledge and skills, many are now emphasizing the importance of character. Yet, while there has been a robust movement to educate character among children and adolescents, much less…

These essays provide richer set of writings on the philosophical, empirical and practical issues raised by a focus on character, and in particular its relationship to questions of opportunity. Each one is an intellectual pemmican: sharp and to the point. Two scholars draw attention to the gendered nature of character formation (Segal and Lexmond);…

This book takes a holistic approach to pedagogy and argues that the purpose of education is to educate the student's whole personality including cognitive, social, and moral domains. The four sections and twelve chapters address the current pedagogical challenges in basic and higher education in international contexts. The authors describe the…

Filling a significant gap in the literature, this book examines the impact of culture on the social behaviors, emotions, and relationships of children around the world. It also explores cultural differences in what is seen as adaptive or maladaptive development. Eminent scholars discuss major theoretical perspectives on culture and development and…

"Contemporary Debates in Childhood Education and Development" is a unique resource and reference work that brings together leading international researchers and thinkers, with divergent points of view, to discuss contemporary problems and questions in childhood education and developmental psychology. Through an innovative format whereby leading…

As liberal democracies include increasingly diverse and multifaceted populations, the longstanding debate about the role of the state in religious education and the place of religion in public life seems imperative now more than ever. The maintenance of religious schools and the planning of religious education curricula raise a profound challenge.…

The Indian higher education system today faces a daunting challenge of expansion in the face of globalised competition and all this has in turn made the access to higher education even more difficult. With tertiary education at the disposition of the privileged few, and majority percentage excluded from the educational stream, the prospects of…

Mark Van Doren, the noted literary scholar, once remarked, "The college is meaningless without a curriculum, but it is more so when it has one that is meaningless." Many current critics of undergraduate curricula in America assent to the crucial need for programmatic renewal in our colleges and universities. They bemoan the cookie-cutter…

John Dewey (1859-1952) was a major figure of the American cultural and intellectual landscape in the first half of the twentieth century. While not the originator of American pragmatism, he was instrumental to its articulation as a philosophy and the spread of its influence beyond philosophy to other disciplines. His prolific writings encompass…

The third volume of "The Soul of Educational Leadership" series offers key concepts and strategies for sustaining the critically important work of professional learning communities. With contributions from Shirley Hord, Maurice Elias, Karen Seashore Louis, Andy Hargreaves, and other nationally known educators, this essential reading for all school…

The psychological study of moral development has expanded greatly, both in terms of the diversity of theoretical perspectives that are represented in the field, as well as in the range of topics that have been studied. This "Handbook of Moral Development" represents the diversity and multidisciplinary influences on current theorizing about the…

The papers presented as chapters in this book outline the background and professional preparation teachers need in subject area knowledge, understanding of intellectual and emotional growth, learning theory, and moral principles. The volume is organized into four parts. Each part is introduced with a brief essay that relates the accompanying…

This handbook encompasses a range of disciplines that underlie the field of peace education and provides the rationales for the ways it is actually carried out. The discipline is a composite of contributions from a variety of disciplines ranging from social psychology to philosophy and from communication to political science. That is, peace…

This fourth volume of "The Soul of Educational Leadership" series offers key strategies for identifying the moral and ethical dimensions of school leadership practice. With thought-provoking contributions from top leadership figures like Terrence E. Deal, Dawna Markova, and Scott Thompson, this enlightening resource combines research with…

Scholarly analysis in the sociology of education has burgeoned in recent decades. "Frontiers in Sociology of Education" aims to provide a roadmap for sociologists and other social scientists as they set bold new directions for future research on schools. In Part 1 of this forward-looking volume, the authors present cutting-edge research…