In recent decades there has been an increasing number of parents opting for alternative forms of education worldwide. However, most studies on this phenomenon are conducted within Western contexts, while little is known about alternative education in China. This paper addresses this gap by providing an overview of alternative education in China…

This article discusses the 'Indianisation', 'nationalisation', and 'ruralisation' of the Montessori method in India at the eve, and in the aftermath of the country's political independence (1947). From 1914 onwards, Indian nationalists received Montessori's ideas through publications, the networks of the new education movement, and the…

Transitional justice and education both occupy increasingly prominent space on the international peacebuilding agenda, though less is known about the ways they might reinforce one another to contribute towards peace. This paper presents a cross-national analysis of truth commission (TC) reports spanning 1980-2015, exploring the range of…

In France, the notion of competence began to be discussed in the early 1990s and was finally enforced in the Education Act of 23 April 2005. Since its emergence, this notion has been strongly opposed by a certain number of teachers, unions and researchers. To understand how competence-based education finally prevailed, I take into account the…

This article introduces the notion of "justice-sensitive education"--derived from the ideals and practices of transitional justice (TJ) in countries emerging from conflict. It describes three mechanisms for this: structural reforms (relating to inequity and division); curriculum change (the treatment of history, human rights and…

Comparative education was established in Greek universities in the 1980s, with the creation of pedagogical departments and two laboratories, and the publication of a journal. There was an early emphasis on education policy analysis, in terms of assumptions about the 'semi-peripherality' of Greece within Europe. Later, the emphasis shifted to what…

The present article addresses the issue of structuration of the field of Comparative Education in Portugal. The narrative is constructed at two levels, one of a more descriptive nature, the other more interpretative. In the first part of the text, the construction of a comparative imagination is addressed on the basis of four main points in time:…

This article analyses history teaching in South Sudanese secondary schools and focuses on the interplay of local context, curricular intentions, and teachers' agency. Drawing on ethnographic data, the article focuses on how the main objectives of national unity and critical thinking are enacted by teachers in the classroom. Through theories of…

Issues of transitional justice are central to countries moving away from identity-based conflict. Research tends to focus on the most well-known forms of transitional justice, like truth commissions. Far less attention has been given to education as a form of transitional justice, and even less to teacher professional development, even though…

In many cases, political circumstances do not allow formal for transitional justice processes to occur in countries undergoing a transition from a violent past. In this paper, we ask if education can become a default front line of transitional justice work in the absence of explicit action by the state to address past injustices. Drawing from…

The Danish free school tradition has entailed a large degree of associational freedom for non-governmental schools, religious as well as non-religious. Until the late 1990s, the non-governmental schools were under no strict ideological or pedagogical limitations; they could recruit teachers and students according to their own value base, and were…

Are western psychological and educational theory and practice truly applicable to a range of diverse settings around the world? We demonstrate that there is a globally dominant pedagogical orthodoxy--not exclusively western--for which there is little supportive theory nor evidence of efficacy. There is an alternative--Standards for Effective…

This article highlights findings of a comprehensive plan for the Danish educational system to the year 1990. Two main categories are discussed: the framework and structure of the school system; and the curriculum, teaching methods, and other aspects of the "inner life" of schools and other educational institutions. (KC)

Traces history of foreign language instruction (predominantly Russian as a result of former Soviet political domination) in the German Democratic Republic prior to unification. Russian instruction, as a tool for ideological control, emphasized receptive skills such as lexis and morphology. Explains changes in content and methods in foreign…

This article reports on an empirical study exploring Ghanaian teachers' understandings of teaching, learning and assessment. It argues that received views of poorly trained teachers with untheorized and badly reasoned professional practices may mask a more complex situation. In defining learning, teachers in the study reproduced models consistent…