Purpose: Newly designed schools for centuries have projected fresh ideals regarding how children should learn and how human settlements should be organized. But under what conditions can forward-looking architects or education reformers trump the institutionalized practices of teachers or the political-economic constraints found within urban…

The principle of equality states that it is bad for some people to be worse off than others. In the context of distance education, this principle is violated on those occasions where on-campus students have access, not only to all the resources available to distance education students, but also to face-to-face tutorials. This is because the…

Many have suggested that issues of democracy are fundamentally related to school curricula and contexts (Conant, 1948; Dewey, 1944; Dimitriadis and Carlson, 2003; West, 2004). Current social theorists have suggested that a globalized social, economic, and cultural structure has necessitated a rethinking of the relationships between individuals,…

Over the period 2006-2008, the Dutch Open Universiteit Nederland conducted an experiment in which Open Educational Resources (OER) were offered in an effort to bridge the gap between informal and formal learning and to establish a new style of entry portal to higher education with no barriers at all. OpenER received considerable attention both in…

The reality that no one wants to leave anyone behind is the one fact that everyone--educators, politicians, moms, dads and the media--can agree on. However, U.S. schools' narrowing focus on reading, math and science test scores may be putting this generation of learners even more at risk, according to some of the leading thinkers in society today.…

The Common Principles, originally developed and applied to high schools, guide schools to evaluate what is happening and strive, through reflection and common understanding, to seek improvement. What distinguishes the application of the Common Principles in an elementary school? And what makes a Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) elementary…

In this report, the author responds to papers by Gambrill and by Howard and Allen-Meares that call for significant pedagogical reforms in social work education based on principles of evidence-based practice (EBP). His remarks focus on the promise of EBP as an agent of broad-based reform in social work education and on the implementation of EBP…

In this article, the author shares his views on impacts of educational rituals on students. He points out that these rituals have nothing to do with education and have a negative effect on education. He questions why teachers still practice these rituals, even if these rituals have negative impacts on students. The following rituals are discussed:…

In its history, professional social work has long given at least lip service to the idea of building on client strengths as a part of the helping enterprise. This article provides an overview of the strengths approach to practice as it has evolved in social work and how that method and style might be applied by school counselors in their work with…

A recent qualitative research study gathered the career reflections of the generation of distance education practitioners who developed more flexible higher education (via distance modes) in the second half of the twentieth century. Part of that study's results focus on the lessons the practitioners learned about what constitutes effective…

This paper looks at a qualitative case study of distance learning at Universiti Utara Malaysia as described by a small group of distance learners as they progress through their courses at the institution. It concerns the learners--it is their story, their experience, their perspective. In particular, this thematic report looks at "learning…

This article looks at the contemporary rationale for faith-based universities. There has certainly been a new openness to issues in religion within higher education more generally. Religious influence and involvement in higher education continues to be extensive and manifests itself through the presence of believing Christians, Jews and Muslims in…

In public services delivery, action learning is increasingly employed in the hope of improving capacity to address complex, multi-casual and "wicked" social issues to improve the lives of citizens. Yet the understanding of how and why action learning might have potential for enhancing organizational or systemic capability rarely goes…

This paper compares the founding of the elementary school systems of Ireland and Ontario in the nineteenth century. The systems shared a common set of textbooks that had originated in Ireland. Using examples from a number of these books, which were part of a series that had been specially prepared for the Irish national school system, founded in…

This article discusses in detail the goals of multicultural education for young children. Specific goals include the following: (1) culturally responsive teaching; (2) developing identities; (3) broadening perspectives and creating connections; (4) critical thinking; and (5) social activism. With emphasis on these goals, multicultural education…