Ranking systems such as "The Times Higher Education's World University Rankings" and Shanghai Jiao Tong University's "Academic Rankings of World Universities" simultaneously mark global status and stimulate global academic competition. As international ranking systems have become more prominent, researchers have begun to examine whether global…

This paper discusses the findings of a study on the production and enactment of physical education (PE) curriculum policy reforms in an Australian context. Over a decade, significant senior school reforms in Western Australia (WA) interacted with the introduction of an Australian Curriculum that rendered curriculum development dynamic and complex.…

Debates in education policy draw on different theories about how to raise children's achievement. The "school competition" theory holds that achievement rises when families can choose among competing schools. The school resource theory holds that achievement rises with school spending and resources that spending can buy. The "family…

In this chapter, the issue editors set the stage for the chapters that follow by delineating recent developments in higher education and common strategies for creating globally competitive higher education institutions. The editors consider social justice concerns that arise with global competition and contend that contextualized priorities can…

The author, a former school board member and currently head of nationwide parent organization, assesses the competition between charter and traditional public schools, concluding that the competition and acrimony among them does not help them deliver a better education. Policies should be focused on helping both types of schools improve education,…

The role of competitive funds as a source of funding for academic research has increased in many countries. For the individual researcher, the receipt of a grant can influence both scientific production and career paths. This paper focuses on the importance of the receipt of a research grant for researchers' academic career paths utilizing a…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss group learning in line with economic perspectives of embeddedness and integration emanating from the work of Karl Polanyi. Polanyi's work defines economy as a necessary interaction among human beings for survival; the economy is considered inextricably linked from broader society and social relations rather…

Past research reveals a tension between children's preferences for egalitarianism and ingroup favoritism when distributing resources to others. Here we investigate how children's evaluations and expectations of others' behaviors compare. Four- to 10-year-old children viewed events where individuals from two different groups…

The use of Sport Education by physical education teachers to implement developmentally appropriate competitive activities is explored. The potential positive and negative consequences of competitive activities are discussed along with suggestions for teachers on how they can foster an appropriate competitive environment in physical education.

In recent years, Mainland Chinese teams have been the dominant participants in the two COMAP-sponsored mathematical modeling competitions: the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM). This study examines five factors that lead to the Chinese teams' dramatic increase in participation rate and…

Background: There is a growing interest in STEAM (STEM + the Arts) education as a means to enhance the creativity of STEM students and broaden interest in STEM fields. Many art educators, however, object to the instrumental justification for study in the arts as a way to improve student performance in other areas. Purpose: Drawing on the first two…

The higher education sector in Hong Kong has restructured substantially from elite to mass higher education since the introduction of education reform by the Hong Kong government in 2000. To stay ahead in this competitive environment in the education sector, management teams of self-financing institutions have to compete for students and identify…

As an international informatics contest, or challenge, Bebras has started the second decade of its existence. The contest attracts more and more countries every year, recently there have been over 40 participating countries. From a single contest-focused annual event Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge and an activities-based…

The authors discuss Triple Helix collaborations in the context of regional competitiveness. Through an exploratory case study, they identify and analyse the impact of the establishment of industrial PhD schools for participating industry and universities. The study was conducted in Sweden in 2014 and focuses on three industry--university…

Collegiality is one of the most symbolically significant concepts of higher education and continues to be widely espoused as a core value by members of the academic profession. However, the highly competitive and performative nature of modern higher education means that the conventional values and behaviours associated with collegiality, such as…