The notion of learning context has been central in the research related to the socio-cultural turn that has been carried out in the field of Education during the last decades. Context is a fundamental element in the learning process-aprocess that must be understood in relation to the context in which it occurs. In this article we show…

In this paper, the author first cites passages that highlight the key developments and dilemmas of teacher education in Ghana in the 1960s, when the new nation resolved to prepare its largely untrained teaching force in "progressive" methods. Across the decade--and across subject areas--Ghana conducted in-service teacher training to…

For millions of years, human beings evolved and then lived in small social groupings that were intergenerational, with simple divisions of labor, oriented to common tasks and values. It was a limited existence in many ways, but there was community and continuity. And now, very suddenly in evolutionary time, we have built the teeming cities and…

The old saying, that a single spark can start a prairie fire, appears in many forms and in different cultures carrying a range of shifting implications and meanings. In this article, William Ayers writes that in some instances, prairie fires are not always catastrophic. They are naturally occurring events necessary and renewing; removing the thick…

An interview with educator and author Alfie Kohn discusses the need to stop confusing better learning with higher test scores; how progressive education helps children learn to think for themselves; professional development that appeals to teachers' long-term goals for their students; and restructuring education so teachers can ask for help,…

The tougher standards movement has five fatal flaws. An emphasis on scores limits student willingness to experiment and be challenged. The "basic skills" approach to teaching--pouring knowledge down student throats--has never worked well. Standardized testing necessarily creates winners and losers. Accountability is coercive and…