The paper focuses on the impact of globalization on postcolonial Samoa's social, culture, and education. Due to the many global social, cultural, economical and educational changes, Samoa in the postcolonial era is currently in the process of recontextualising and restructuring Samoan cultural values to coincide with its social, cultural,…

The author of this opinion piece provides what he believes to be a definition of the present special education system at it's worst. Special education is described as a team of professionals gathered to plan for the individual. They assess, interpret, break down deficiencies into categories and divide those deficiencies to distribute among a…

This paper explores the culture of education policy making in Shanghai using the conceptual tool of a "global assemblage". A global assemblage is essentially a collection of ideas and practices that arise from the interplay between a global form and situated sociocultural elements. Focusing on the global form of curriculum reform, this…

The mandatory curriculum mooted by the Israeli Ministry of Education for implementation is designed to include the most important body of knowledge to be taught and acquired by every student in the educational system. In addition to the knowledge present in the mandatory curriculum it also includes the learning skills and social values necessary…

The authors discuss the need to balance the unique history of Russian higher education, preserving and developing those areas in which the country has traditionally excelled and competed successfully at the international level, with the country's signatory acceptance of the Bologna Agreement for European educational integration. While apprehensive…

Accomplishing the tasks spelled out in the 1999 Bologna Declaration requires reforming the structures of higher education in the countries of Europe to bring them into closer harmony, while preserving fundamental values and traditions in education that have been formed in each country. The author discusses fundamental differences between the…

This article critiques the "Research, Development, and Dissemination" model for development of innovations in special education and urges greater recognition of the cultural perspective for understanding resistance to change by teachers. Difficulties teachers have had in implementing Direct Instruction principles and their reactions to…

The five commissioned papers in this anthology provided part of the research base for the national report, "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent." In the first paper, "The Performance of High Ability Students in the United States on National and International Tests," Carolyn Callahan describes…