Educational management was still a relatively new field of study and practice in the UK at the time of the Education Reform Act (ERA) 1988. The field focused on "management" and not leadership. This emphasis very much reflected the business world and its use in education illustrated the "policy borrowing" characteristic of an…

Leading researchers describe the field of special education as sharply divided between two different theories of disability. In this article Scot Danforth takes as his project addressing that division from the perspective of a Deweyan philosophy of the education of students with intellectual disabilities. In 1922, John Dewey authored two articles…

This book presents John Dewey's theory of inquiry and applies it to various areas of the primary, middle, and secondary school curricula. "Deweyan Inquiry" brings Dewey's theory of inquiry together with educational theory and practice. James Scott Johnston uses Dewey's late masterpiece "Logic: The Theory of Inquiry" as a guide…

The paper presents the social capital as the essential element of success of the Reggio Emilia preschools known for their unique approach to the early childhood education. The collaborative effort is introduced through examples of the currently ongoing "Reggio Narrates" project of Reggio preschools, the "Dialogue with the…

In this provocative volume, the authors argue that public education is a central part of American civil religion and, thus, gives us an unquestioning faith in the capacity of education to solve all of our social, economic, and political problems. The book traces the development of America's faith in public education from before the Civil War up to…

Leadership has been designated a talent area in federal and state definitions of gifted students who require differentiated programs since the Marland Report came out in 1972, yet it remains the least discussed of the curricular areas for gifted students. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and attitudes of administrators of…

Today, computers are part of kids' everyday lives, used both for play and for learning. We envy children's natural affinity for computers, the ease with which they click in and out of digital worlds. Thirty years ago, however, the computer belonged almost exclusively to business, the military, and academia. In "Engineering Play," Mizuko Ito…

As Australia is moving towards a national curriculum there are also activities to nationalise teacher education. This involves various departments of state and federal governments, third-party bodies funded by government such as the Curriculum Corporation and Teaching Australia, and non-government organisations such as the Business Council of…

Over the last decade in Australia, the role of the teacher has changed. Teachers are now expected to model and foster in their students a wide range of skills such as critical thinking, self-regulated learning, knowledge of self and others and lifelong learning. These changes are having a significant impact on the design of pre-service teacher…

John Radford's original article (Radford, 2008a) asked some hard questions about the content and purpose of a degree in psychology. The original article prompted a number of replies and a rejoinder from Radford (2008b). In the spirit of carrying on the discussion started by Radford and others, this article offers two personal perspectives on our…

In this article we describe a cosmopolitan orientation toward the place of values in human life. We argue that a cosmopolitan outlook can assist people in engaging the challenges of being thrown together with others whose roots, traditions, and inheritances differ. We show that cosmopolitanism implies neither an elite nor an aloof posture toward…

In this paper I chart the origins of modern day "biopedagogy" through an analysis of two historically specific figures of abnormality: the nervous child and the degenerate. These two figures form the positive (hygienic) and negative (eugenic) surfaces of biopolitics in education, sustained and articulated through the category of immunization. By…

Experiential learning has explicitly, since the publication of the Kolb "treatise" been a cornerstone of youth work practice in the UK. It is the contention of this paper that there is a significant misinterpretation of Kolb's theory by those who have applied his theory to youth work. Not least that experience is framed as:…

Consistent with the aims of this special issue, we present a systems perspective on self/identity, predicated on William James's classic distinction between "I" and Me, and use this perspective to explore conceptual relations between self/identity, motivation to learn, and self-regulated learning. We define the "I" self functionally in terms of…

What are the basic things that compose curriculum, and what are the questions that may be posed about these things? Joseph Schwab's conception of curriculum is used to introduce a scheme of questions concerning the nature, elements, and practice of curriculum. Formulations of questions by other curriculum theorists are reviewed and analysed in…