In 2010, a comprehensive reform required Italian state universities to restructure their institutional governance by revising their statutes. This interpretative paper aims to evaluate whether the Italian reform is congruent with its declarations, examine the variations in the implementation within the same country of a unitary national regulation…

Educators at all levels care deeply about helping students succeed academically, graduate on time, and emerge from school well prepared for college and careers. Today's emphasis on holding schools accountable for failure--while necessary--is at best a means to an end. Findings from local and statewide accountability systems can help state…

Social stigma is widely recognized as a major barrier to recovery from mental illness. In Poland, as in other countries, the society perceives mental illnesses as an intimidating problem, while the people affected are often treated with reservation and a sense of distance. One of the first Polish organizations addressing stigmatization and social…

Although most social science research on adolescence emphasizes risks and challenges, an emergent field of study focuses on adolescent thriving. The current study extends this line of inquiry by examining the additive power of identifying and nurturing young people's "sparks," giving them "voice," and providing the relationships and opportunities…

The findings in this special issue, gives a strong evidence for students' capacity both to contribute with insight on their own teaching and learning, as well provide suggestions and solutions on how to improve the education system. But the data from the Centre Research Study also indicates that even if many institutions have systems where they…

Clinical art therapy and studio-based community art therapy represent two major paradigms in art therapy practice. This viewpoint explores how critical theory can be incorporated into both paradigms and result in common ground between them. Critical theory encompasses an understanding of oppression in psychological, social, and cultural contexts…

Louis V. Macias reminds us that educators' attitudes toward first-generation students have a great impact on their eventual success … or failure. Are you serving the best interests of your students with an inspirational, success-oriented mind-set that considers all of their capabilities?

In this article the author, Rachel Rimmer, explores how improvisation can facilitate skills that are transferable to other areas of dance practice, enabling different areas of study to complement each other. The experimental forum of improvisation as an alternative method of learning technique is considered, contemplating the value of this…

The authors utilize Photovoice methodology to engage in an examination of the possibilities of counternarrative through the photographs, oral accounts and drawings of three inner-city youths. In the process, this article seeks to expand upon and challenge prior uses of Photovoice methodologies and Critical Youth Engagement. The authors posit the…

Introduction: This paper presents a way to design and conduct interviews, within a sociocultural perspective, for studying information literacy practices in everyday life. Methods: A framework was developed combining a socio-cultural perspective with a narrative interview was developed. Interviewees were invited to participate by talking and using…

The neoliberal proposition that the "invisible hand" of the market is the most efficient and just mechanism for structuring economies, societies, and cultures has had a powerful impact on the nature and delivery of what have historically been considered as "public goods" in America, including social welfare services and public education. The mode…

Drawing on key incident analysis of classroom transcripts from Bashkortostan, France, North Korea, and Suriname, this article discusses the relationship between an increasingly canonical content of education and the discursive organization of teaching processes at the expense of both teachers' and students' voice. It argues that canonical…

Political scientists have found that one of the strongest predictors of political participation is political efficacy, the belief that individuals' actions can influence political processes. Prior research indicates that political efficacy increases through various experiences, such as discussions of public issues, but it does not explain why or…

The issue about when children should begin primary schooling continues to be an area for discussion amongst educators, parents, and children who indeed have some views about this. The compulsory entry age of children into formal schooling is different in many countries. It is not only the starting age that has invoked discussion, but also the…

This paper identifies the various factors driving the outcomes assessment movement, contrasts the old paradigm with the model now espoused by regional accreditors, discusses the six-step process of student outcomes assessment, emphasizes faculty ownership of the process to prevent administrative usurpation, and proposes specific strategies to…