Despite their widespread adoption and recognised benefits, rubrics have been critiqued for their potential misalignment with student needs. The voices of international students, who constitute a substantial portion of the higher education population, remain underrepresented. This study examines the perspectives of international undergraduate…

Examining the entanglement of democracy and social justice in education and the relationship to social mobility, this paper critiques the individualising nature of social mobility in policy discourse as inimical to human flourishing and education as a public good. The rhetoric of social mobility which responsibilises individuals for their success,…

The study aims to understand participants' perspectives on the prevailing conditions and practices of inculcating democratic values and how these values can be instilled among secondary school students. A qualitative research design was employed to execute this study and a purposive sampling technique was used to select twelve study participants…

Purpose: The years 1960-1970 were decisive years in the development of Swiss vocational education and training (VET). The post-World War II economic boom, technological innovations and the debate concerning equal opportunities and the democratisation of education put the VET system under pressure. Reforms were thus undertaken to increase the…

This article explores the context for the accompanying suite of papers on creating and sustaining democratic spaces in education. Prompted by the centenary of Summerhill, the internationally famous democratic school founded in Suffolk, England, in 1921, by A.S. Neill, this collection of papers explores and broadens out the central questions at the…

"Reconstructing Democratic Education" was an international conference held virtually on June 22, 2024. This article uses the words of the speakers and the participants to present some of the stories and reflections that stimulated us that day. Speakers touched on a wide variety of challenges that democracy in general and schools in…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, abnormal conditions potentially lessened community partnerships in school-based management (SBM), such as democratic erosion at the decision-making or policy-making levels at school. To address these issues, this study aimed at investigating the implementation of SBM at an Islamic elementary school in Indonesia. In…

Purpose: In light of growing attention to promoting democratic learning opportunities in the EU and the US, this study provides insight into student opportunities to engage in the organisation of mock elections in Dutch high schools, and constraints that teachers identify in implementing mock elections. Approach: A survey study was conducted. One…

This qualitative phenomenological study delves into the product of women's leadership in Catholic colleges of education in four regions of Ghana. Using the synergistic leadership and organizational culture theories as the conceptual frameworks, the study examined the essence of the lived experiences of women in leadership positions of these…

This paper presents findings from a research study, which sought to illuminate the perceived notions of inclusion of four to five year old children in pedagogical activities, in the early years classes of two schools in the North of England. It employed a qualitative methodology to gather extensive data with forty children over a six-week period…

This article was initiated by our discomfort regarding recent policy developments in Nordic early childhood education (ECE) where previous decades' policies on creating solidarity, equality and universal access to social welfare and promoting democratic participation are seemingly waning. While from a global perspective, these policies might seem…

In spite of policy impetus, research shows that teachers struggle to address the increasing diversity in classrooms, among others, due to the lack of competences to deal with it. The acquisition of Intercultural Competence (IC), which could be defined as "the ability to mobilise and deploy relevant attitudes, skills, knowledge and values in…

First Public Lecture sponsored by Teaching Public Administration (delivered at the Public Administration Conference, University of Northumbria 12 September 2018). The author provided views on why public administration is needed now more than ever, outlining how current events necessitate the need for research to inform our teaching and learning.…

In spite of policy impetus, research shows that teachers struggle to address the increasing diversity in classrooms, among others, due to the lack of competences to deal with it. The acquisition of Intercultural Competence (IC), which could be defined as "the ability to mobilise and deploy relevant attitudes, skills, knowledge and values in…

Previous research has contributed to the literature on what constitutes school leaders' and teachers' democratic practices in both high- and low-stakes accountability contexts, but less is known about how they interpret, legitimize, and translate the democratic purpose of education in a low-stakes, 'soft-regulation' system. The current study used…