The objective of making vocational education and training (VET) globally competitive and attractive by the European Union has put vocational teachers in the spotlight. As a result, the VET teacher profession in Europe is facing many challenges and demands expressed constantly by the general public, representatives from the world of work, public…

Many microfinance advocates claim that micro-credit has a positive effect on the educational outcomes of the children of micro-credit borrowers, and that these educational improvements provide us with evidence that micro-credit institutions are serving the social function for which they have been designed. This paper draws attention to this area…

This paper presents the research design, rationale, and the results of a historical document-based research project to answer the following two-part question: How do popular and dominant political, social, and economic forces affect the creation and delivery of American history curriculum in public schools between 1890 and 1920 and how is this…

The "Global Inventory of Regional and National Qualifications Frameworks," the result of collaborative work between the European Training Foundation (ETF), the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] and UIL [UNESCO Institute for…

This proceedings is divided into two parts. Volume 13, Number 1 contains papers presented at the thirteenth annual international conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in Sofia, Bulgaria June 10-13, 2015. Volume 13, Number 2 contains papers presented at the third International Partner Conference, organised by the…

Quantity and quality have long been recognized as primary factors to explain educational development. However, our understanding of the relationship between quantity and quality of education is quite limited and unclear. In this context, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between quantity and quality of education. To achieve…

This paper reports research in five European universities, in four countries between 2004 and 2008. The research explored and compared institutional contexts for academic development and the interpretations and reflections of a number of academic developers on the organizational position and role of academic development, and of…

The purpose of this review paper is to contribute to the effort of rethinking scientific literacy in a form that is appropriate for describing and theorizing its occurrence "in the wild," that is, in the everyday world that we share with others (as opposed to testing situations in classrooms and laboratories). Consistent with our commitment to…

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a regional economic grouping of 15 countries whose common vision is to promote economic, social and political development and growth. Arguably, sustainable growth can be realized if there is equal access to all positions of power and influence in the area, but an investigation of 117…

Educational development, which the authors use to refer to the field of professional and strategic development associated with university and college learning and teaching, can be described in many ways by referring to its different aspects. In this article the authors endeavor to categorize many of the models that have been used to describe…

The importance of recognising the mismatch between a shared perception of separateness in Western thinking and the systemic and inevitably participative nature of the world is outlined. The article then traces the development of forms of "education for change" that seek to address sustainability issues that stem from dissociation, and notes that…

Important decisions about students are made by combining multiple measures using complex decision rules. Although methods for characterizing the accuracy of decisions based on a single measure have been suggested by numerous researchers, such methods are not useful for estimating the accuracy of decisions based on multiple measures. This study…

This paper summarizes the experience and findings from the monitoring work carried out by UNESCO throughout 2009 to examine and assess the possible effects of the global financial and economic crisis on education provision in its Member States. The findings showed that although it was too early to ascertain the full extent of the impact of the…

The author enjoyed reading Katharine Hay's ambitious and humbling visions for evaluation field building in South Asia. She has successfully positioned herself on a high mountain with a wonderful set of binoculars that enable her to see the entire evaluation landscape of South Asia. She magically sees and describes significant historical forces and…

Malawi was the first country after the Jomtien conference to offer free primary education. Despite this policy, universal education has remained elusive. Many children do enroll in school, but not at the official/recommended age and drop out before completing school. Understanding these transition points--entry and completion--is critical to the…