In this essay, the editors and contributors to this special section on SoTL in the Arts and Humanities argue that given the current climate and context, debates within SoTL about appropriate methodology both lead scholars from their disciplines to reject SoTL and also, more importantly, distract us from more significant questions and challenges.…

Discussions of what images are portrayed in newspapers and their proportion in comparison to the actual census data provide an opportunity for consideration of how the agenda setting and framing theories of media could affect perceptions of a community and population. In the exercise described here, students are expected to learn a research skill…

Much recent research stresses the increasing relevance of international organisations (IOs) for national education policymaking. Yet, IOs' curriculum recommendations have remained largely out of scope, although they provide a forceful example of 'soft' governance. Based on a content analysis of 83 documents from 42 inter/-nongovernmental, global…

School governing bodies in England have considerable powers and duties, and their formal role positions them as decision-makers. This article draws on qualitative research in the governing bodies of four maintained schools. Using deliberative democracy as a sensitising concept, the article considers some processes by which decisions are made (or…

For far too long, the United States has neglected and wasted an enormous amount of human potential--much of it among groups that have never been given the opportunities they deserve. We're talking about bright students, advanced learners, striving pupils, and those with high but untapped potential--especially those who are Black, Hispanic, Native…

Based on 65 interviews and secondary information, this study evaluated the programme, process and political dimensions of the Ghana Free Senior High School Education (SHS) Policy. The evidence from the data showed that the programme and its political dimensions were emphasised to the neglect of the process dimension. Effectiveness, one of the…

In recent years, a new breed of political organizations has had remarkable influence in American educational policymaking. Proponents of neoliberal reform, these groups have been labeled as Education Reform Advocacy Organizations, or ERAOs. I situate these organizations within the larger network of Intermediary Organizations (IOs). To understand…

This paper discusses a research agenda setting project conducted for an international non-governmental organization which aims to help create a regionally relevant, high-quality knowledge base on key education issues of policy and practice. Specifically, we illustrate how our team adapted the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHRNI)…

During period 1975 through to 1987 the Commonwealth ventured into curriculum development, hitherto an activity for states and territories. Unlike the ACARA Curriculum of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments, there was nothing mandatory about the CDC's curriculum development activities. Here, the dominant influence was coordinative federalism. This…

This invited essay of "To Improve the Academy's" special feature on Creative Scholarship presents one example of creative scholarship in educational development as a forward to other forms and approaches in the special feature. This example, the Teaching and Learning Project, merges documentary and art photography traditions with faculty…

Despite the essentiality of freshwater to all life on the planet, the populous has inadequate understandings of water. Formal education plays a key role in shaping how individuals and communities make sense of water, its accessibility, management, consumption, and hazards. This article seeks to bring attention to the infuence of cultural framings…

A number of papers have focused on UN policy formulation processes, but little is known about how particular issues come to policy-makers' attention in the first place. This very early stage of policy formulation, called agenda setting, remains under-researched and more so in multilateral contexts. Applying Kingdon's multiple streams model to the…

Recent decades have witnessed a proliferation of nationally organized school reform interest groups like StudentsFirst. While historically active at the state and federal levels, these organizations are increasingly involving themselves in local school board elections by recruiting candidates, making donations, and offering policy advice. However,…

The goal of this paper is to describe what is needed to develop and implement a more robust and effective learning agenda focused on addressing fragility that effectively informs policy decisions. In particular, the paper makes three overarching recommendations: (1) Focus the learning agenda on the "collective wisdom" on supporting peace…

In an era of internationalisation and globalisation, neoliberal agendas have now become important aspects of many institutional and national governments' higher education policy. A major aspect of these neoliberal agendas is their impact on the curriculum. This paper critically examines the impact of neoliberal agendas on curriculum through a…