Teachers are the most important single element of the education system but what does it take to create high quality teachers in today's world? Around the world, countries are struggling to understand how to change their schools to meet global demands. International comparisons have shown that schools in Finland lead the league tables, but why is…

To achieve efficient and effective quality improvement, European universities have gradually adopted organizational strategies, structures, technologies, management instruments, and values that are commonly found in the private business sector. Whereas some studies have shown that such managerialism is beneficial to the quality of job performances…

This paper looks at the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as an important part of the international trade law system and explores if and how it affects the steering capacity of a nation state regarding higher education. It offers a new conceptual framework to look on the impact of GATS on higher education within its increasingly…

Freedom of educational choice has existed for over 85 years in the Netherlands. Despite the system's excellent quality, it is expensive and features a relatively uniform curriculum. The Dutch experience suggests that choice will not result in an open, competitive market in education, because professional, political, and public interests will…

As higher education has grown and state funding has been constrained, the financial sustainability of institutions of higher education (HE) has become an issue for policy makers and for those who govern and manage these institutions. The challenge for governments is to ensure that increasingly autonomous institutions respond to public interest…

In the Netherlands, the exigency of financial restraint has prompted educational expenditure cuts. Concomitant to these has been a move toward decentralization, with self-regulation at the institutional level. This paper argues that the operation of market forces and the promotion of institutional autonomy requires financial independence.…

Analyzes differences in the availability of school choice in the Netherlands, England, and Scotland, focusing on trends in 10 choice-related variables. Concludes that all three countries are moving toward an increased market mechanism but exhibit extensive differences, with the Netherlands approaching the market mechanism most closely. Contains 61…

Globalization and individualization have radically changed both the economic system and the personal life world in industrial or postindustrial nation-states. To survive hypercompetition and volatile consumer choice, learning organizations and a workforce engaged in lifelong learning are needed. Constructing "the good life" has become an…