This paper details major and significant developments in the teaching of English to pupils aged 5-16 years in the school system in England, the years of compulsory education. To begin with definitions of terms. There are four aspects of language education provision that pertain in England: (1) the teaching of English as the mother tongue; (2) the…

This paper deals with the way the vision of including children with special educational needs into their home school, constituted for instance in UNESCO's "The Salamanca Statement and Framework on Special Needs Education", has merged with other contemporary discourses (ideas and practices) in Icelandic education. In particular, the paper…

As the most populous Muslim country in the world, Indonesia has a unique experience in dealing with Islamic education, a system that was established years before the country's independence. This paper summarizes the development of Indonesian Islamic schools with special reference to their changing curricula. Using the social constructionist…

This paper is intended to describe the roles and responsibilities of the small school head and is based on the personal experiences of a serving headteacher. It seems an accepted element of academic discourse that recent governmental initiatives have impacted on the leadership and management of educational institutions in such a way that they have…

The recognition, development and implementation of multicultural education in America is a relatively new and emerging idea. Prior to the middle of the previous century, the concept of addressing and providing a meaningful educational experience for all students, including students of color, was non-existent. In recent years, through the work of…

This article examines the implementation of educational policy in a religious education program at a Los Angeles Catholic parish. It charts the elimination of Spanish-based classes ("doctrina") for Mexican immigrant children in favor of "English-only" instruction. The article offers insights into the politics of language use in everyday practice…

Higher education faces common worldwide challenges imposed by social and economic factors. Yet, each system has its own challenges and demands that need to be looked at within its own context. Higher education in Saudi Arabia faces three challenges: limitation of places, depletion of resources, and quality measures. Some measures have been…

In "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris," the Supreme Court of the US made it clear that governments do not unconstitutionally "establish" religion merely by permitting eligible students to use publicly funded scholarships to attend qualifying religious schools, so long as the students' parents are able to make a "true private…

This paper considers some of the current knowledge about our understanding of and provision for early childhood internationally. It looks at its relative importance, offers a short overview of research and terminology, outlines a global perspective (the big picture) and provides a brief summary of the current South Australian policy and position.…

Partnerships that form to advance early childhood education are influenced by history and purpose. They are enacted in diverse social, cultural, economic, geographic and educational contexts. Using the theme of "strong and equal partnership" between family and school, and taking a theoretical standpoint that values social cohesion and…

This paper is concerned with the longstanding question of policy for those referred to nearly half a century ago by the Crowther Report as the "bottom half"; those mainly working class children who, in a sense, are "selected for failure". The issue of selection is a matter of concern in countries around the world and has been…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the national development of Taiwan has shaped the context of music learning through the development of local cultures in current education reform. Through the examination of relevant literature, official documents, websites and a selection of music education publications that are commonly…

Film scholars are facing widespread pressures to desist from teaching modes of analytic and theoretical discourse that were once considered important to fostering critical understandings of moving-image culture, but which have since been denigrated as either too difficult (i.e., "elitist") or too controlling (i.e., "totalizing")--or both--in the…

Judith Butler is perhaps best known for her take-up of the debate between Derrida and Austin over the function of the performative and her subsequent suggestion that the subject be understood as performatively constituted. Another important but less often noted move within Butler's consideration of the processes through which the subject is…

What happens when a highly regulated educational system--one featuring academic freedom, a national outlook, and an input-oriented, state-run bureaucracy--attempts to internationalize and introduce management structures that are outcome-oriented, deregulated, and more efficient? In the case of Germany, examined in this article, it has long been…