This paper reports on an interview-based study which explored the implementation of a major policy initiative in Queensland, Australia, with particular attention to social justice issues. Interviews were conducted with key policy actors in three sections of the bureaucracy: strategic directions, performance and measurement; curriculum and…

During the past dozen years, the author has spent hundreds of hours discussing the relationship between education and democracy in seminars with groups of school- and university-based educators. Serving the public good in a democracy means serving the common weal, that of both the individual and the collective. The citizens of a democracy must…

This profile describes the key features of the examination and assessment systems of Romania. It provides a snapshot taken at the end of more than a decade of major political, social and economic changes, when it is widely accepted that Romania has made significant advances in its educational reforms and that important innovations are now becoming…

The process of healing from life under a military dictatorship is slow and arduous. Reviving one's sense of self when the peace has been shattered; articulating vision and purpose in a culture and a community polarized and divided, requires both a connection to the spiritual and an outlet for direct action. In both cases it is necessary to reclaim…

This paper explores whether the notion of "global citizenship" is too abstract to be valuable in driving curriculum policy and active citizenship for students. The paper looks firstly at three of the key aspects of an active role: a concern for social justice; rights; and culture and cultural conflict. It then examines actual curricula and…

In June 2003 the author travelled with students to Mexico to explore pre-Columbian culture and traditional artisanal work in the Valley of Oaxaca. They arrived in the midst of a massive teachers' strike and their education really began. When they were not visiting the Zapotec ceremonial city of Monte Alban or the communities of artisans in the…

Peer observation has become a feature of university practice over the last decade, the primary impetus for its introduction being the political drive to raise teaching quality via the development and sharing of 'good practice'. Peer observation within higher education (HE) involves observing colleagues in the classroom and has the further aim of…

Washington is a safe distance from the powerful winds that have wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, but a political storm continued to brew in the capital over President Bush's plan to help pay the costs of private school tuition for students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. As voucher opponents decried the president's plan, Louisiana's two U.S.…

Adult education and social justice are evolving notions. How adult education finds modes of articulation with social justice issues is a permanent challenge to which popular educators try to respond. Modes of articulation are necessarily different depending on the local and historical contexts. The author calls these modes of articulation zones of…

In this article, the author relates two cases that foreshadow the cultural politics of colonial structures. Drawing upon poststructural, postcolonial, and psychoanalytic theoretical approaches, the author analyzes a range of textual productions manifested in dispersed sites that have formed the colonial image-repertoire and subjectification of…

The decision whether to keep or to change a university's nickname is an "intense no-win situation" for a new president. To some, the name is racist and insensitive; to others, it reflects great pride and tradition.

A teacher recounts her experiences especially those related to the pressure caused by the need to adhere to the standards and tests as set by the various programs that affect their teaching and welfare of their students. It is important to evaluate the current conditions of the educators and take action to improve the situation.

In this article, I address the present-day political and pedagogical implications of the imposition of one year of English only immersion on limited English proficient (LEP) students. The article also presents a case study of an inner-city community in Massachusetts during the early years -- 1968-1974 -- of transition from English only to…

This paper presents the opening remarks made by Michael Gass at the 2004 Symposium on Experiential Education Research. In his speech, Gass draws attention to several of the dynamics connecting research to the current value and livelihood of the experiential education field. He contends that these dynamics ultimately have a large effect on…

The "information era" has brought up new literacies, although most of them are still not part of the K-12 curriculum or the teacher education curriculum. One of these new literacies is critical media literacy. The purpose of this article is to document the urgency for including this new literacy in school and teacher education curricula given the…