Purpose: This paper aims to identify and compare the nature of decentralization that has emerged in three important Asian societies after a decade of their involvement in the decentralization movement. Design/methodology/approach: Data from the first cycle of the program for international student assessment were analyzed to investigate educational…

The quest for perfection has been anecdotally associated with great achievement and despair; with adjustment and maladjustment. No population has more frequently been associated with perfectionism than the gifted. This study was designed to (i) identify the types of perfectionism observed in a sample of Australian school students, and (ii) to…

Despite criticisms in the literature on pedagogy, lecturing continues to be the dominant teaching method on most undergraduate programmes. Drawing on research examining teaching practice in undergraduate Social Policy programmes, accounts of approaches to lecturing are discussed in the context of the arguments in the literature for more active…

Over the last fifteen years, increasing numbers of fathers have been attending medical or day-care centers for young children, traditionally "reserved" for mothers and babies. Thus the professionals who work there are able to take an active part in the "co-construction of the fathers" by accompanying their emerging fatherhood. The…

Smyth introduces this special issue with the claim that the question of "how to pursue forms of leadership that listen to and attend to the voices of...young people" is the "most urgent issue of our times". Dana Mitra's article describes what seem to be serious and elaborate attempts to involve students in school…

Our examination of three schools demonstrates how students can be involved in school reform by giving input about problems, helping design the reform, and sharing implementation responsibilities with adult leaders. Their involvement affects both the reform--as students leave their fingerprints on it--and the students themselves, who show signs of…

This article examines evidence provided by quantitative and qualitative measurement of second language (L2) proficiency by elementary-level learners of French, following participation in a school foreign exchange visit. Based on a study consisting of a controlled analysis of test results from 68 pupils studying French at three secondary schools in…

The necessity for parents and teachers to work together collaboratively to optimize children's learning and development in early childhood education is well recognized. Yet, ways in which initial teacher education programs might prepare teachers for professional relationships with parents are rare in the literature. This paper reports on the use…

In contrast to the many studies that have examined parenting in low-income families from a deficit perspective, this study examines their strengths by proposing and testing a model of parenting goals derived from social and developmental theories on goal-orientation, motivation, attachment, and child socialization. The model posits two categories…

There is little research that reports children's perspectives on physical activity, bodies and health. This paper, drawn from a larger multi-method study on physical activity in the lives of seven- and eight-year-old Australian children, attempts to "give a voice" to 13 children's views. Interviews focused on children's activity…

Developing trusting relationships between teachers and students in urban secondary schools everywhere is a challenging task that is essential to maintaining an effective learning environment. Trust involves a fragile web of relationships nurtured through positive daily interactions. We examined strategies that US urban high school teachers used to…

The purpose of this study is to describe forum participation of international graduate students who speak English as a foreign language in two Web-based graduate courses. Research questions focused around how linguistic and cultural differences impact nonnative speaking international students' perception of classroom participation, what effect…

In May of 2004 Henry Giroux, a creator of the field of critical pedagogy and a leading advocate for young people, democracy, and education in the United States, reluctantly left Penn State University after twelve years as a Distinguished Professor in the education department. He has been a critic of the corporatization of and conservative…

Background: Fostering the innate need to lead, teach and care for others is fundamental to creating a just and moral society. The nurturing begins early in life and becomes especially vital during the adolescent years, when peer pressure and the need to belong are heightened. Unfortunately, many youths believe leadership is associated with being…

When a fire breaks out in the twin cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, the firefighter response time is just a bit quicker these days, thanks to student research at Bates College. When the alarm sounds, firefighters click on a computer map that tells them the size of the burning structure, the quickest route to the fire, the closest hydrant and…