The general purpose of this study is to identify the target policies for in-service education in Turkey's main policy papers and documents of teacher training and development institutions, and to investigate reflections of these policies on practice. The study was based on historical research, which is one of the qualitative methods. The data were…

The long and winding road is a metaphor for a journey, often used to describe life journeys and the challenges encountered. The metaphor was used for the title of my keynote to refer both to the journey towards the current position of virtual exchange in education policy -- but also the long road ahead. This paper aims to explore the emergence of…

"The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training" offers an in-depth guide to the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training (VET). With contributions from a panel of leading international scholars, the Handbook contains 27 authoritative essays from a wide range of disciplines. The contributors present…

Leadership preparation programs are in transition as scholars seek to determine more sophisticated approaches in developing leaders for the increasing demands of accountability policy. This critical conceptual analysis focuses on leadership preparation for the socialization of school leaders. It is intended to reframe current perspectives about…

Charter schools--what was their original promise? They would enroll diverse groups of students. They would give teachers the room and power to innovate. They would be educational laboratories that would find new ways to reach students, and they would share those lessons with other public schools. But charter schools haven't lived up to their…

In this article, the late Jarl Bengtsson briefly traces the evolution of the concept of lifelong learning within the member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He points out that on the one hand lifelong learning is accepted, in policy terms, by all OECD countries and many other countries, but on the other…

This article describes the role that schools are playing in supporting career development for young people. It examines the history of career-related programming in schools, including school-to-work programs, career and technical education, the college and career readiness movement, and current school reform initiatives. This understanding of…

Sultanate of Oman is one out of many developing countries around the world which have valued English as a very important international language and a tool for achieving multiple purposes. When His Majesty the Sultan came to power in 1970, the government accepted English as the only official foreign language and allocated huge budgets and resources…

The current decade has seen a significant return of interest in vocational education and training (VET) amongst the international policy community. This rise in policy and programmatic interest in VET's role in development, however, stands in contrast to the state of the academic debate. Whilst there have continued to be both policy and academic…

Inclusion, promoted internationally by both legislative mandate and societal values, is a practice in which early childhood educators are encouraged to explore new methods for serving children with disabilities and developmental delays in typical early childhood programs. The belief that children with disabilities should participate within natural…

This paper is a contribution to the debate in Germany and beyond in Europe on future directions for education. It builds on and extends earlier work by the authors, on democratic experimentalism (Moss, 2009; Fielding & Moss, forthcoming) and early childhood workforce professionalism (Urban, 2008, 2009, 2010; Dalli & Urban 2010). At a time…

Since the mid-1980s, arts policymakers in Minnesota have positioned "media arts"--defined as the "study and practice of examining human communication through photography, film or video, audio, computer or digital arts, and interactive media"--within the realm of aesthetic education and considered it one of six arts areas. This…

Education, as a field of research, is not clear-cut, well-defined and delimited; it encompasses humanities and behavioral and social sciences. Although expectations about educational research outcomes helping to frame policy and improve practice are frequently unrealistic, the different methodological approaches are not necessarily in conflict.…

Argues the necessity of analyzing the relations between educational theories and educational practice. Points out the unstated theories and assumptions about modernization, economic development, educational policymaking, and human motivations that underlie Psacharopoulos's comparative education "solutions" to developing nations' education…

Outlines the evolution of curriculum theory and practice in Spain from the 1970s to the 1990s. Discusses changing perspectives in response to political developments and reasons for the failure of the curriculum innovations introduced by the Socialist government after 1982. Advocates developing a dialectical theory of curriculum reform. (DB)