While the fresh debate on education's autonomy continues in this special issue as in other forums and venues, new layers of complexity on this theme continue to emerge, just as further nuances are revealed in the course of discussion. Following this welcomed growth in the discussion, and in the spirit of characterizing autonomy--and therefore also…

We are living and learning in a time of multiple crises with profound implications for every aspect of our lives. Hankering for what we have 'lost' is understandable, but we need to take the opportunity to build something better. This means being wide awake to the realities of crisis and combining a sense of urgency with radical optimism and hope.…

The blows of the financial recession of 2007-09 and now the COVID-19 crisis have emboldened populist political leaders across the globe. Their platforms typically involve a mixture of nativist or nationalist tropes, often infused with hostility to refugees and immigrants and built upon foundations of racism and intolerance. The internet provides…

This is an argument for a new public education for England, but not for a new public school. The focus should be on aims, not structures. We should ensure that all schools (community schools, private schools, academies and religious schools) are working to realise the same nationally determined aims. The national set of aims should be determined…

In Chapter VIII of "Democracy and Education", Dewey objects to all three of the following propositions: (1) education serves predefined aims; (2) Education serves aims that are external to the process of education; and (3) Education serves aims that are imposed by authority. From the vantage point of policy-makers and authors of…

Turkey has become a powerful example of rising ethno-religious nationalism since the ruling Justice and Development Party allied with the Nationalist Movement Party in 2016. Conceptualising the political ideology in power as Islamic nationalism, I expose ways in which this ideology is articulated in the education reform discourse of 'new Turkey'…

This book explores the extent to which populism and the populist agenda is influencing curriculum content and learning methods in higher education. Against a background of increasing inequalities and a rising tide of nationalism and populism, this book raises concerns that populism -- and its various manifestations -- represents a grave challenge…

This essay is a critical humanist discussion of curriculum; a departure from the technicist view of education [education meant to support a global capitalist economy] and an analysis of curriculum considering critical humanism, political economy and critical race theory among other modes of critical analysis and inquiry. Our discussion supports a…

Karl Popper's falsificationist epistemology that all knowledge advances through a process of conjectures and refutations carries profound implications for politics and education. In this article, I first argue that, on a political level, it is necessary to establish and maintain an open society by fostering not only five core values, viz. freedom,…

Typically, school curriculum has been viewed through the lens of preparation for the workplace or higher education, both worthy objectives. However, this is not the only lens, and perhaps not even the most powerful one to use, if the goal is to optimize the educational system. "Curriculum on the Edge of Survival, 2nd Edition," attempts to define…

Motivations to reform curriculum in post-conflict, or post-colonial states are often driven by the need to (re) construct a cohesive and publicly legitimated national identity that is starkly different to that which existed prior. This paper explores the context behind such action in the Timor-Leste (East Timor) and some challenges which policy…

As John Dewey noted in his last book, each generation, in its turn, must assume responsibility as caretaker of democracy. He noted that one should never take democracy for granted. Everyone lives in an imperfect democracy, and teacher educators should play their part in protecting, nurturing, and advancing democratic ideals, rituals, values, and…

Why are Americans, and young Americans in particular, so turned off to government and politics? And, what can be done to arrest these trends? In this article, I suggest that three primary, and mutually reinforcing, trends, which can be summed up as the "relevance factor," the "negativity factor," and the "triumphant market factor," have conspired…

Structured according to the conceptual frameworks of nationalism and globalization, this study examined relationships between and among the Armenian Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia, and Armenian secondary school teachers and principals from 1991 to the present. Each group played a…

This article examines the relationship between knowledge and policy in French-speaking Belgium. It starts by describing Belgium as a consociational democracy, i.e. a society that is largely organised around integrated pillars of society (Catholic, secular), each of which provides a wide range of services (educational, training, health, health…