This article presents a case study of a university ESL program that was highly resistant to reform, despite substantial evidence that its curriculum and policies were ineffective. The author draws on surveys, interviews, and participant observation to show how remediation served not only as an instructional model, but as an institutional identity…

The Chinese government is pouring resources into building vocational education at all levels of the Chinese educational system. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in three vocational secondary schools in 2007-2012, this article compares rural and urban schools to highlight the persistent urban-rural divide in implementing vocational…

This article presents the evaluation findings of an education policy initiative that involved the employment of facilitators to broker the policy and its implementation. An Australian state's education authority piloted the employment of physical activity facilitators to expedite the implementation of "Smart Moves" in schools, a…

Previous research in the area of resistance has inadequately described opposition to change within-school reform initiatives with a social justice orientation. A lack of attention to, and agreement on, the nature and causes of resistance may explain why so many equity-minded educational reforms fail to be sustained. This article highlights various…

Purpose: Based in the discipline of applied consultancy-research, this paper seeks to present a synthesis-review of the social dynamics underlying the stalled negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Its aim is to enhance understanding of the processes involved, to offer a working agenda to the organizational…

The paper seeks to understand how higher education policy from the European Community is defused and transferred to Armenia, a developing country. Particularly, this study aims to delve deeper in the actual implementation process of higher education reforms in Armenia through teachers' perceptions. The findings mainly reveal that teachers do long…

This article discusses the issue of the sustainability of educational change in the light of findings from research undertaken in tandem with a development project initiated by a Scottish Education Authority, The Highland Council. The paper reviews some of the key themes that have emerged from recent literature on educational change, before…

In a recent issue of "Educational Action Research," Stephen Kemmis argued that action research should be participative in nature and involve "open communication" by engaging the voices and perspectives of others besides teachers, such as students, parents/caregivers and other community members. This article explores the…

Given the urgency for increased student achievement, it would seem that redesigning principal preparation programs around leadership practices that have an impact on students' learning would be a high priority in every university. Yet, it is not. Despite some movement in some areas, the overall pace of change has been too slow, the changes are not…

After identifying the aspects of classroom life that school restructuring might influence, this paper summarizes findings on school principals' perceptions concerning the potential effects of fundamental school reform. Because so little is known about principals' views on restructuring, an exploratory study employing qualitative methodology…

The transformation from an industrial society to a postmodern knowledge society has given rise to a new set of values that are manifesting to varying degrees in modern organisations. Besides quality orientation, these include focus on teamwork and cooperation, democratisation of the workplace, fairness and equity in labour relations, and a respect…

Family connections, traditional activities, educational goals, and fatalism are themes running throughout research and published observations about Appalachia. Information from 3 days of interviews with the author's grandmother, an 87-year-old Appalachian woman, is compared to these common research themes. The interviewee's experiences concerning…

This case study of the Toronto Board of Education's secondary system thoroughly analyzes barriers to implementing antiracist education in a large, ethnically diverse education district. Findings highlight implementation difficulties, including poor leadership, lack of minorities in key positions, informal resistance, and decentralized decision…