This volume contains selected papers submitted to the 16th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in June 2018 in Golden Sands, Varna, Bulgaria. The 16th BCES Conference theme is "Education in Modern Society." The book includes 32 papers written by 67 authors. The volume starts with an…

This article is about education and learning for the "retired". In using this term, it is recognised that any such definitions and given age bands cover a wide range of situations and learning needs. Such diversity should closely inform the educational agenda for older adults, and as it is a life phase defined by challenge and change…

Global information resources and sophisticated technology have accelerated the availability and utilization of Online Information Resources (OIR) in the Open Distance Learning environment. The study examines the contributions of OIR to Open Distance and Lifelong Learning in relation to three purposively selected dual-mode institutions in…

Economic globalization not only brings opportunities to all countries in the world, but also brings crises and challenges. The solutions to crises and challenges also entrust education different missions. To this end, there is an urgent need to re-examine the purpose of education, to update the means of education and to change the role of…

Entrepreneurship education has become increasingly popular across the globe, with many governments advocating for its integration into school curricula. In fact, the European Commission included a "Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship" to its list of eight key competences necessary for lifelong learning. Behind this recommendation is…

The importance of university-business cooperation (UBC) continues to grow. To date, however, our understanding of UBC in education is lacking, as is our knowledge of the motivations of academics. This research explores a comprehensive mix of motivations underlying education-driven UBC in the form of student mobility, curriculum design and…

In this paper, we discuss the case of the recent introduction of a career guidance software within Italian schools with the aim to explore the use of digital devices in the governance of educational processes within the field of lifelong guidance. First, we provide a semiotic analysis of the software and its online platform with the aim of…

This is an age of profound socio-economic and geopolitical change. While the world is increasingly interconnected it is also threatened by climate change and demographic transformation. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is aggravating the disruption caused by these seismic societal shifts. Meeting the challenges of a changing world requires new skills…

Throughout 2020, and into 2021, national governments were forced at different times to impose 'lockdown' on traditional approaches to education to cope with the impact of COVID-19. Higher education institutions (HEI) with face-to-face models scrambled to 'pivot' to distance and online learning. Whilst originally conceived as a temporary measure,…

The purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to determine how teacher leadership is conceptualised in official documentation in South Africa. Document analysis of national official documentation was performed, using the attributes of teacher leadership as indicated by Webber (2018) in a priori coding in the content analysis. The document…

The results of a 3-year fieldwork study within France's National Centre for Distance Education are presented, specifically detailing the impacts on higher education middle management overseeing curricula design for a series of French 3-year degree programs undergoing revision in how students are financially charged for the programs. Following the…

Everyone feels lonely some of the time. However, chronic loneliness can impair learning, affect physical and mental health, and is even linked to early death. Loneliness is thus not only a personal matter; it is a public health concern. Schools provide spaces and opportunities for friendships. By bringing together students from different…

The higher education experience was markedly different than usual for those enrolling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher education institutions of all kinds found their instructional methods profoundly disrupted by the closure of their physical campuses, and the crisis exposed the urgent need for policy makers and institutional leaders to adjust…

Forcing education institutions to rely on online learning exclusively, the recent pandemic has brought lifelong learning (LLL) to the forefront. The effects of the recent education approaches on students' LLL skills merit investigation. First-year students may be at a greater risk because of their limited tertiary education experience and…

In the context of educational globalization and increasing dominance of supranational organizations in educational governance, least developed countries (LDCs) have faced a new level of tension about whether their educational policies should follow the global educational models or seek solutions of their multifarious problems by promoting local…