In a world of high tech and low touch, it is easy for public relations programs to stray from tried-and-true interpersonal strategies long associated with solid communication planning. New technologies allow communications professionals to quickly send e-mails and telephone calls to selected groups. Social media sites provide users immediate…

Michigan's intermediate school districts were created by constitutional convention in 1962. Between their inception and 2000, few units of government were less visible and less understood. This article chronicles the emergence of one intermediate school district as an aggressive force for change in education and a locus of activity for community…

Fixation on language in language policy debates is not a natural given. In fact, it has to be re-examined. This paper argues that another effective way to look at language policy is to suspend talk on language, and instead first engage with social development issues where people are at the heart of the social landscape. It discusses three ways of…

In this article, the author offers reflections on the sociology of education, beginning with a discussion on the trajectory of the rise of the sociology of education in Russia. The author examines how the sociology of education in Russia looks compared to the rest of the world. The sociological study of education in Russia and the Soviet Union has…

Higher education in Russia is experiencing changes in curriculum and in the specialization and function of institutions in the search for a better model for a post-Soviet society. The early 1990s saw the start of the reform of the system of education in Russia. However, problems of quality and of continuity with secondary education have still not…

In this second article on the theory of "ground rules for talk" I extend a debate between myself and Professor Neil Mercer over the introduction of "ground rules" into classrooms. I critique ground rules through the use of sociological theory and argue that advocates of the ground rules perspective need to recognise the ideological nature of their…

The authors focus on the investment into school leadership in England during the New Labour governments from 1997, and through this they make a contribution to an ongoing scholarly conversation about leadership development. They are concerned to both understand and explain leadership as a policy intervention into the professional practice and…

This article builds on the author's earlier work, published in Vol. 28 No. 1 of this journal, that critiqued the Orientalist legacy in Anglo-American discussions of Japanese education. One of the manifestations of this legacy is the prevailing view among the Anglo-American observers of Japanese education that Japanese education is the…

When Ghana became independent in 1957 it had one of the most developed education systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over the next forty years its education system expanded to provide places for most, but not all, of its children. Since the education reforms of the late 1980s enrolments have grown steadily; this contrasts with some SSA countries…

The article discusses the entry of standardised measurement into the educational systems of Sweden and Germany and the processes of shape-shifting associated with this process. In the first part of the article, we investigate how standardised measurement challenged existing ways of conceiving education in Sweden and Germany during the first half…

Although the number of women who served on Scotland's school boards (1873-1918) was not large, they made the case for female representation on public bodies both through their electoral campaigns and their record of office. Many were simultaneously active on parish and town councils and in feminist causes, with a few in the labour movement from…

As a solution to dwindling government revenue, higher education in Great Britain has recently begun to increase fundraising. While it looks to the United States' higher education sector as a model, there are significant legal, historical and cultural differences between the two nations that could limit the British higher education sector's…

This study explored the responsibilities and experiences of three collegiate drum majors as student leaders of a marching band at a major university. Marching band continues to be a prevalent and highly visible aspect of music education in the United States. The preparation and utilization of student leaders in music remains common, but little…

"Diversity" is a highly popular and oft-used term and concept in K-12 and higher education. This literature review examines the dominant discourse on diversity--a discourse that positions difference as deficit. Although traditional schooling has been resistant to system-wide change, this review will also consider research showing teachers as well…

Advocates for education have seized upon the current economic downturn as an opportunity to advance their cause. If governments are poised for an attempt to spend their way out of a deep recession, what better target than underfunded educational institutions, from daycare to universities? Public support for increased spending on education is…