This article explores the relationship between the critique of religion and critical thinking in religious education. The contribution reports on research into religious education in upper secondary schools in Norway based on interviews with teachers, student focus groups, and observations of planned teaching. I claim that teaching about the…

The UK education system is becoming increasingly dominated by exclusive economic and political ideology. The neoliberal agenda marketises young people and encourages them to take part in a competitive system. The rise of multi-academy trusts (MATs) further exacerbates an already inequitable system in which young people with special education needs…

This study utilizes the personal critical narrative of myself, a woman from the Chaoshan region in China, as the primary data source to explore the impact of traditional gender roles and patriarchal values on women's personal growth transformation through a feminist lens. Integrating feminist and transformative learning theory, it encompasses my…

This paper begins by revisiting my earlier critical review of the international scholarship on Japanese schooling (Takayama, 2011). In this work, I critiqued three books on Japanese schooling, by Ryoko Tsuneyoshi (2001), Nancy Sato (2004), and Peter Cave (2007), along with other English-language scholarships on Japanese education. Drawing on a…

Because dominant social work is mismatched to many contexts, alternative practice and educational approaches have emerged. To highlight educational examples, this phenomenological study explores the experience of 28 Canadian and South African educators teaching alternative social work. These educators conceptualized a multidimensional, integrated,…

This article offers insights into partnerships that support refugee teachers to adapt and sustain teaching and learning despite multiple compounding obstacles spurred by political and economic crises, disaster, and COVID-19. Drawing from a 3-year study of Syria refugee education in Lebanon (2018-21), I focus on one dimension of partnership that…

The purpose of this study is to reveal how school principals position themselves against bureaucracy and investigate their conceptions of bureaucracy in public education system. Phenomenological approach was used to analyze the qualitative data. Participants were 19 primary, middle and high school principals from 11 provinces of Turkey. The…

The present article is dedicated to the hyper-hierarchization of small-scale organizational spaces (and the most immediate ones for most academics)--university departments. By using the anarchist critique of hierarchies to deconstruct the architecture of an undisclosed department located at one of the South African universities, the author…

In this paper, we make initial advances towards building an argument for the inclusion of Critical Literacy Awareness within the new Early Career Framework in England. Using illustrative examples from recent research projects, we argue that post-2010 education policy has discursively divided practitioners, structuring relationships between…

This article foregrounds the value of using "critical policy historiography" as an analytical/methodological tool in undertaking policy formulation research, highlighting the importance of taking a long-term historical perspective. Using school-funding policies in South Africa as a case study, it argues that while there was wide…

This article problematises the concept of 'resilience', and the globalised power dynamics which lie behind a narrative of overcoming adversity in the context of Palestinian Theatre. By exploring the work of ASHTAR, specifically focusing on the artist Iman Aoun, this paper examines the lack of political and practical solidarity revealed in…

This paper explores the relationship between teachers and learners, particularly within Mathematics education, examining how language and discourse influence relationship dynamics. It acknowledges historical educational hierarchies where teachers exerted authority and students assumed passive roles. Through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis…

Many contemporary analyses criticise metrics-based evaluation in the higher education context as a neoliberal technology, notwithstanding the different national contexts and organisational topographies in which metrics are used. This Anglo-German study offers a comparative exploration of the role of metrics in two contrasting cases: highly…

Vocational education and training (VET) systems are currently confronted with extensive reforms. Teacher commitment and active participation play an important role in the achievement of policy objectives. Contemporary education reforms therefore seek to shape the conduct of teachers not only through strict regulations but also by subtle and…

This article challenges the dominant notion of the 'high-performing education system' and offers an alternative interpretation from a Daoist perspective. The paper highlights two salient characteristics of such a system: its ability to outperform other education systems in international large-scale assessments; and its status as a positive or…