In the United States, where technological progress is portrayed as humanistic progress, computer technologies often are hailed as the great equalizers. Even within progressive education movements, such as multicultural education, the conversation about instructional technology tends to center more on this or that wonderful Web site or piece of…

In the large and complex landscape of pedagogy, the focus seems to have turned away from the concept of teaching and towards a stronger emphasis on learning, probably supported by neo-liberal ideology. The teacher is presented more as part of the force of production than as an autonomous performer of a mandate given to him/her by society. He/she…

Many scholars in the area of citizenship education take deliberative approaches to democracy, especially as put forward by John Rawls, as their point of departure. From there, they explore how students' capacity for political and/or moral reasoning can be fostered. Recent work by political theorist Chantal Mouffe, however, questions some of the…

The Tax Relief Act of 1997 created an important tax provision which helped taxpayers offset the cost of higher education. This provision was in the form of education tax credits. Because a tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in tax liability, these education credits were designed to reduce the amount of tax due for college students or…

From 2000 to 2009 Umeå University had a genuine faculty board for teacher education that was responsible for both first-cycle teaching and research training. The board itself was an innovation in the Swedish high school system and introduced a new practice-oriented subject for the doctoral degree, "pedagogiskt arbete" ("Educational…

Currently, the decline in teacher numbers has become an important topic for discussion in the field of teachers' work in Australia. The purpose of this article is to discuss current initiatives being implemented by both the Australian federal government and the South Australian state government to retain and attract prospective teachers and some…

Is political science positioned to embrace and incorporate the changing demographics, increasing multicultural diversity, and ever-growing disparities in the concentration of wealth present in many nation-states? Can political science do so within its research, teaching, and professional development? These two questions were the focus of the work…

This hearing is the first in a series convened by the Committee on Education and the Workforce to examine federal rules and regulations that undermine the strength of the nation's education system. The House has charged this committee to look at rules and regulations within the jurisdiction that may hinder job creation and economic growth. This…

Prior to the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the public was expressing discontent about the declining of students' test scores and the quality of public schooling. The federal government eventually began discussing and debating for education reform and the No Child Left Behind of 2001 was finally passed and signed by President…

This book examines the influence of neoliberal ideas and practices on the way knowledge has been conceptualized, produced, and disseminated over the last few decades at different levels of public education and in various national contexts around the world. Contents of this book include: (1) Introduction: The Contemporary Politics of Knowing and…

It is estimated that approximately 3 million students are enrolled as international students, and it is possible to project that this number may reach more than 7 million by 2025. As global demand exceeds the supply, competition is building for the best of these students. Some countries (or regions) clearly envisage the opportunity this represents…

For most of the past decade the policy debate over improving U.S. public education has centered on teacher quality. In this debate, teachers and their unions have often been seen as the problem, not part of the solution. Further, current discourse often assumes that conflicting interests between teacher unions and administration is inevitable.…

Through special funding by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2008, the Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) at Hiroshima University has been able to implement a new research project on the reform of higher education in the knowledge-based society of the 21st century. RIHE hosted the third International Workshop on the Higher…

Expanding economic opportunity in Texas depends on our state's ability to increase the college graduation rate for the thousands of college freshmen arriving on campuses each year. The pending budget bills would hamper college access for thousands of Texans through severe cuts to successful financial aid programs, including TEXAS Grants (Towards…

Although priding itself on high rates of literacy achievement, New Zealand's track record in the last two decades has noticeably declined. Successive New Zealand governments have invested heavily in trying to redress this decline with limited success. Demographic changes in population due to immigration provide a partial explanation, but arguably,…