In the post-Mao era, the Chinese government carried out a series of education reforms to modernise education provision. This paper explores two related aspects of these reforms through comparative case study research in three different school locations within the same region in China. The first focus is upon system reform initiated through…

If colleges and universities are to live up to their responsibility to educate tomorrow's decision makers, they must develop a different, less convenient, curriculum: one that addresses real-world issues. Granted, most universities already have courses dealing with some of these issues; however, these courses often are buried within majors and…

Geographical, economic, social and cultural barriers to accessing services in rural areas are widely reported. Less widely discussed are dilemmas posed by individual and community reluctance to address sensitive health issues. This article, focusing on the highly sensitive area of mental health, and employing a participatory action approach,…

This article summarizes 12 presentations in Group 7 of the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association held in Padua, Italy, that focused on procedures for verifying the efficacy of vocational guidance programs. Three…

This paper presents some reflections on the process of creating research, from the point of view of a psychologist working in an academic environment in a developing country which is undergoing social transformation. It explores some tensions between global and local concerns in research, and reflects on the relation between research, art,…

Contemporary rural social movements bring diverse interest groups and stakeholders together at the local scale in the pursuit of common visions and goals, often against the backdrop of an external threat. The challenge for a movement's leaders is to negotiate and design a rural agenda that resonates with this complex constituency. One way to…

Reflecting on the 140th anniversary of the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified July, 1868), this qualitative case study described a response by educator-activist Tony Stewart to the Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi hate group that attempted to intimidate Stewart's community, Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, between 1972-2000. Stewart galvanized community response using…

This study intends to identify the aspects of the Ugandan teachers' jobs and work environment perceived by selective participants as satisfactory, as well as those perceived as less satisfactory or unsatisfactory. The study is based on the assumption that teachers, being directly involved in the current activities of educational institutions, have…

This dissertation was a single case study with Green Dot Public Schools (GDPS) describing their rapid scale-up process. Specifically, it investigates the phenomenon of the inherent tension between maintaining the fidelity of the original model school's design, culture and values with local adaptation of the brand by stakeholders at the expansion…

The first 100 days of a new senior executive appointment are fraught with multi-faceted challenges that rely on specific leadership approaches for their resolution. The purpose of this article is to (1) explore which leadership issues and initiatives most present themselves in the first 100 days of such an appointment, (2) examine the extent to…

The purpose of the study is to thoroughly examine a school district's plan for developing, implementing, and monitoring a strategic plan for adequately preparing students with twenty-first century skills or the marketable skills students will need in order to contribute to the dynamic twenty-first century workplace while meeting federal and state…

Business-Higher Education Forum's study of the Seamless Education Partnership began with a theory of action for cross-sector efforts to increase alignment from Pre-K through graduate school (P-20) and improve educational outcomes. BHEF's theory of action posits that community leaders coalesce around a shared vision that is shaped by local context…

Regional adult education and training providers have been required in recent decades to adapt to funding structures rather than engage with their local communities. This has meant providing education programs that are funded based on national or State and Territory based policy frameworks, often linked to human capital development. Adult education…

Substance use among youth remains a major public health and safety concern. One fundamental way to address youth substance use prevention is to keep young people on a positive trajectory by engaging them in positive activities from early years of their childhood. In this article, the author offers a best practice analysis of systematic review…

This article assesses the social and political significance of the international farmers' movement, La Via Campesina by exploring how it has evolved since its inception in 1993. It explores the movement's accomplishments and the tensions that exist between international expansion and a commitment to represent the local interests of member…