This article takes the history of teacher research in one large urban school district over a period of 20 years as a telling case of the intensely local character of this work. Beginning with an overview of the variations and different conceptions of teacher research in the USA, we argue that teacher research is continually being invented and…

This research incorporated an ecological approach to examine American and Northern Irish children's understanding of the 2003 war in Iraq and the sources of information from which they acquired that understanding. Responses to interviews indicated that the children from the two countries had some common conceptions of and sources of information…

This ethnographic study of linguistic landscape (LL) (Landry & Bourhis, 1997), describes the urban multilingual practices of Tunisia as evidenced by its policy statements, street signage, and local perceptions. Data for this investigation were collected primarily from publicly visible signage in both the capital city (Tunis), and in the suburb…

Scholarship has isolated internal economic conditions and political institutions as essential factors in political development and democracy-building, this research suggests that external influences are at play. During times of civil war and post-conflict reconstruction, governmental and socioeconomic structures are likely weak or nonexistent, and…

While school-finance lawsuits have attracted significant attention in the legal community and generated numerous state-specific case studies, nationwide analyses of the effects of school-finance judgments (SFJs) have been relatively few. This small pool of studies has produced some common conclusions, namely, that such judgments reduce funding…

Purpose: This paper's purpose is to tell the life-stories of four women who succeeded in forging paths to senior positions as principals in Arab schools in Israel and to describe the personal, professional and sociopolitical contexts of their principalship. Design/methodology/approach: This is part of a larger research effort that explored the…

Distance education and open learning are western innovations, representing the educational concepts, cultures and societies of western countries. The introduction of distance education and the adoption of open learning in China's radio and TV universities are by no means an indication that they will and can be copied wholesale. Open and distance…

Purpose: To examine the role of power in interactive policymaking settings. Design/Methodology/Approach: A literature study is combined with four case studies relating to citizen participation in natural resource management and rural development in the Netherlands. Findings: Many of the identified problems and dilemmas of interactive policymaking…

Of all the social constructs impacting the contemporary world, gender is perhaps the most pervasive and the most insidious. Its inequities creep into our everyday lives with impunity. Across the globe, gender construction has evoked challenge, undergone reform and, in some instances, transformed thinking in societies. Yet, for all the gains made…

This article presents the story of Wilson College, the only college in the United States where a group of alumnae took the trustees to court over the issue of the announced closing and won the case. The court reversed the trustees' decision on the grounds that the college had failed to seek approval from the court before announcing the change in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the policy process that led to the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in the United States and the Bush Administration's role in this process. Design/methodology/approach: The research design is historical and archival. A description of the NCLB Act is given and the major provisions and…

Many school districts are in need of a successful plan of action for school district referendums. The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the perceived effectiveness between factors and strategies surrounding referendums and the passage of those measures meant to improve school funding and facilities. The findings from Johnson and…

This article concerns the impact of educational reforms on young people in Bolivian society as they transition into adulthood, against the backdrop of globalisation and far-reaching structural changes. Ethnicity and cultural capital are linked in complex ways with social stratification in Bolivia. In a pluricultural society, the language of…

This policy brief focuses on the School District of Philadelphia's high school selection process and the ways in which it reinforces and compounds inequities that already exist among the District's tiered system of selective, non-selective, and charter high schools. Focused in particular on the impact that these policies have on non-selective…

This paper argues that the welcoming by western humanists of pedagogies of critical and creative thinking in Asian universities--as if such thinking will breed an eastern counter-voice to western neo-liberalism--is misguided. The paper will question the rise of creative and critical thinking in higher education in Asia by analysing the…