The discussion identifies six contradictions that characterize the emergent learner-centered teaching role: (a) control/flow, (b) facilitator/evaluator, (c) teacher learning/student learning, (d) subject expert/teaching expert, (e) caring for students/caring for self, and (f) individual mentor/group leader. Key concepts are presented (conflict,…

In this article, the author compares the legacies of two remarkable educators--John Dewey and Maria Montessori. These include changes in education now so commonplace that is accepted as traditional. Both Montessori and Dewey lived long enough to see their ideas receive worldwide recognition and acceptance, along with a share of misunderstanding…

Based on public opinion, public schools have never made the kind of dramatic, positive impact on the lives of the poor that it originally intended. In order to assess whether public schools are effective or not, the author attempts to answer several questions. These questions include: (1) Is school a sorting mechanism?; (2) Is public education a…

In this article, the author discusses her views on philosophies and theories by Lev Semenovich Vygotsky and Howard Gardner. Here, she argues that Vygotsky's ideas should be viewed through the prism of Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences, and that the combination of these concepts can shed new light on education--on teaching and learning.…

This article has four sections. First, the author presents a theoretical discussion of the different explanations regarding the explosion of education after World War II. She explains how the actor-network theory--a theory of knowledge and of agency--enables people to understand the formation of the education-economic growth black box. The…

This article is dedicated to shedding light on a spectrum of issues in educational thought in Islam, which may--due to their universal relevance--be of interest not only to specialists but also to a wider readership. It also provides an idea of the educational views and philosophies advocated by some great medieval Muslim thinkers which offer…

This essay suggests a way for creating a curriculum for the future amidst the challenges of post-modern uncertainty. Curriculum discourse in the past has been dominated by widely-accepted key questions, which produce and maintain curricula that are essentially fragmented and reductionistic, and directly opposed to the essential demands of the…

Examines how economic, social, and political conditions affected the formation of educational philosophy in Palestine during the 1972 revolution and again during the 1999 establishment of an independent Palestinian entity. Identifies educational philosophy as a central and decisive factor in shaping, reproducing, and representing individual and…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the…

As a post-9/11 society in the United States, people live in a complex and pluralistic world that pushes to rethink how to approach education. People want to know what is right and good, but how to discern this in a world where consensual understandings of meaning are missing, even within the nation's borders? Those in the northern, and…

In this article, the author discusses the new role assessment is playing in the higher education (HE) arena. Highlighted are the feelings of higher education faculty who observe the lack of preparation of students entering HE, and the fact that in introductory courses they are often teaching the skills--writing, critical thinking, basic…

The author notes that teachers who continually require students to sit still and stop talking apparently prefer to teach a grove of trees rather than a classroom full of students. School environments should be designed to enhance the development of student brains -- and student brains are about movement, not motionless stagnation. 21st century…

Accessibility is one of the pillars of the American system of higher education. It is traditionally held that higher education should be "readily and widely accessible to persons of a broad range of abilities, circumstances, and ages." A basic philosophy concerning access can be found in the report of the 1947 President's Commission on Higher…

In this reflective essay, the author considers the interpretations, perspectives, and intentions she brings to religious education, and how they become part of the curriculum, influencing not only what she teaches but how she perceives the needs of students. She asserts that instead of focusing on curriculum to solve cultural diversity issues,…

The article argues that the most important trends in the recent metamorphosis of higher education, especially of university teaching and research, cannot be understood without placing them in the context of general developments in political life. Both processes reveal alarming features and there is a link between them. In recent decades a religion…