Reading several documents from the early history of Francis W. Parker School and an essay by John Dewey entitled "The Need for a Philosophy of Education" helps the author's students gain some precision in defining what otherwise remain rather loosely held opinions about the core values of the school. For most of the students, these…

This paper discusses the conceptual foundations for "Education for Sustainable Patterns of Living," the mission of the Center for Ecoliteracy in California. It offers an operational definition of ecological sustainability, and proposes study of living systems as a framework for understanding ecology. It considers key concepts for…

This article introduces the notion of the assessment of "learning power" as an important station in a mentored learning journey, which begins with the motivation and identity of the person who is learning, and moves through the awareness and development of the power to learn, to the publicly valued competencies and funds of knowledge of…

A college or university's general approach to students and student support services, as reflected in its institutional vision, can serve to advocate the adoption of one type of advising structure, approach, and delivery system over another. A content analysis of a nationwide sample of institutional vision statements from NACADA-membership colleges…

This article examines the role and usefulness of league tables that are increasingly used to measure and compare the performance of tertiary education institutions. The article begins with a general overview and a typology of league tables. It continues with a discussion of the controversies they have generated, including the basis and the range…

In this article the author considers the impact of research and theory on non-dominant minority groups and the influence these have on shaping educators' understanding of the sociocultural, historical, and structural forces that impinge upon their work in the schools and communities they serve. Specifically, she reconsiders the constraints of John…

In July 2005 the Council on Higher Education in South Africa constituted a Task Team to conduct an investigation into the regulation of higher education by government and other agencies during the past decade, and to promote debate on conceptions of institutional autonomy, academic freedom and public accountability in general, and in the specific…

Changed funding arrangements and views of education have resulted in a re-prioritization of activities and practices in Australian universities. While considerable research attention has been given to the consequences of these changes for university policies and the activities of academic staff, less attention has been given to how students…

Teachers have been understood in their functional role and collective agency in sociology. In this article, the author rethinks the structure and agency dimension of teaching in the context of Japanese school education in transition. The new curriculum in Japan puts emphasis on children's subjective experience of learning. This article explores…

At present the basic intellectual aim of academic inquiry is to improve knowledge. Much of the structure, the whole character, of academic inquiry, in universities all over the world, is shaped by the adoption of this as the basic intellectual aim. But, judged from the standpoint of making a contribution to human welfare, academic inquiry of this…

As public schools in countries like the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand continue to suffer from the damaging effects of poorly conceptualized educational reforms, educators struggle to come up with alternatives with which to reclaim schools. While acknowledging the situational, contextual and temporal differences between these…

Through qualitative interviews and document analysis, this nationwide study investigated how 25 principals from a sample of public, Catholic, and independent schools with varying financial resources understand the practices they use to support teacher learning. This Spencer grant-funded research illuminates how these leaders understand the…

Back when markets hinged on local contacts, product standardization wasn't a concern. When higher education was thought to be mainly about educating citizens, standardization wasn't much of a concern, either. Standardization has come later to higher education than to other commodities markets, but it has arrived. As with other commodities, unit…

The author provides notes on the historical context and membership of the consultative committees chaired by Sir W. H. Hadow, summarises each of the six reports produced between 1923 and 1933, and assesses the extent to which they informed the development of education in England, noting that the Plowden Committee felt compelled to reiterate many…

In this paper, we investigate the content and structure of teachers' pedagogical values. We have used the process of value clarification with 24 teachers to encourage them to recognize and articulate their own values and beliefs related to their professional morality and to their school community. This paper examines both the normative and…