The Great Curriculum Debate


Book Description

Since the early twentieth century, American educators have been engaged in a heated debate over what schools should teach and how they should teach it. The partisans—"education progressives" and "education traditionalists"—have usually kept their disagreements within the walls of the nation's schools of education. Periodically, however, arguments have erupted which have generated headlines and attracted public attention, making clear the potential for bitterness and rancor in education politics. In the 1990s, progressives and traditionalists squared off in a dispute over reading and mathematics. Arguments over how best to teach these two subjects is detailed in The Great Curriculum Debate: How Should We Teach Reading and Math? This book includes contributions from distinguished scholars from both sides of the debate, as well as influential nonpartisans. The proponents of "whole language" and "phonics" present their opposing views on reading. Advocates and opponents of "NCTM math reform"—the agenda of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)—discuss their differing opinions about math. Although the authors disagree on many of the most important aspects of learning, they agree on one point: the school curriculum matters. Decisions made now about the content of reading and mathematics will have long term consequences, not only for students and schools, but for society as a whole. Contributors include E. D. Hirsch Jr. (University of Virginia), Gail Burrill (Mathematical Sciences Education Board), Michael T. Battista (Kent State University), David C. Geary (University of Missouri, Columbia), Roger Shouse (Penn State University), Adam Gamoran (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Richard Askey (University of Wisconsin, Madison), Diane Ravitch (New York University), Catherine E. Snow (Harvard University), Margaret Moustafa (California State University, LA), Richard L. Allington (University of Florida), William Lowe Boyd (Penn State University), a




Voices on Choice


Book Description

A lively sampling of proponents and opponents in the school choice debate.




Leadership, Community Partnerships and Schools in the Pacific Islands


Book Description

This book explores a range of educational issues in the Pacific Islands, from school leadership in various contexts to the importance of forging cordial school and community partnerships. By presenting perspectives from a wide range of stakeholders, including community leaders, teachers, parents and students, it adds to the ongoing dialogue on educational issues in the Pacific Islands. Moreover, it promotes the forging of healthy school ecosystems that value equality, diversity, community engagement, fruitful citizenship, proactive school leadership, and valuable student learning, to drive an educated Pacific Islands population into the future.







Policy Debates in Comparative, International, and Development Education


Book Description

The complementary areas of comparative, international, and development education occupy a critical part of the landscape in educational policy debates in a global context. This volume brings together a distinguished group of international scholars and practitioners who focus on key policy issues in a variety of national settings throughout the regions of Asia/Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Latin America. The topics they address are critical for the future of education in a globalized context and include issues such as social justice, quality assurance, governance, access and equity, marketization, and the role of new media and technology, among others.




Relationality and Learning in Oceania


Book Description

Relationality and Learning in Oceania: Contextualizing Education for Development critically engages debates in comparative education and international development relating to context, culture, language and indigenous epistemologies. It draws on experiences of a south-north research-practice team in Solomon Islands and Tonga.







Reforming Learning and Teaching in Asia-Pacific Universities


Book Description

This book focuses on learning and teaching as the core business of higher education and explores reformative efforts in response to the influences of globalised processes in three advanced economies in the Asia-Pacific region: Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. This is a significant book as it adds to limited discussions on the globalisation of learning debates, and scholarly reflections on the links between globalised processes and changing educational practices, critical to understanding the current challenges and options available for charting future development for universities in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. It rejects an essentialising perspective that considers changes as inevitable and uniform. Instead it considers negotiations, arguments, and even resistance as competing forces and integral components of the process of reforming pedagogical practices in Asia-Pacific universities. This book discusses globalised processes as a new context for reforming learning and teaching and its focused discussions cover topics including meeting the needs of new student groups, new technological practices for change, use of English as an international language, and challenges in assessment and quality assurance.




Asia Pacific Education


Book Description

The Asia-Pacific region has rich and unique traditions, cultural diversity and common as well as unique challenges, including obstacles of language and geographical separation. As home to over 60 per cent of the world's population, this region has a diverse range of educational issues, which have not as yet been fully explored. This ground-breaking volume considers current perspectives on educational diversity, challenges and changes occurring across a number of countries in the region and provides a closer look at these complexities. Focus has been given to the influence and impact that these complexities are having on policy and practice in leadership, governance and administration structures. Who has been given the agency? What kinds of power currents are in play? What are the hidden political enablers and disablers in these narratives? The authors of chapters in this series have presented some solid examples of what is currently happening, the discourse that is emerging around it, the effects of these changes and their impact within the region. While some of these narratives are a synthesis of literature and policy, other chapters have focused on findings from empirical studies being conducted in this space. As a timely collection of works from active researchers in Education, the book supports and encourages the importance of on-going educational research within the Asia-Pacific region The findings in this book have been drawn from original and current research which is anticipated as being a valuable academic reference as well as a teaching resource in the field of Education. This volume will be beneficial to students and academics of Education around the world as well as a useful reference to educational academics, researchers, policy-makers and administrators across the Asia-Pacific region.The Asia-Pacific region has rich and unique traditions, cultural diversity and common as well as unique challenges, including obstacles of language and geographical separation. As home to over 60 per cent of the world's population, this region has a diverse range of educational issues, which have not as yet been fully explored. This ground-breaking volume considers current perspectives on educational diversity, challenges and changes occurring across a number of countries in the region and provides a closer look at these complexities. Focus has been given to the influence and impact that these complexities are having on policy and practice in leadership, governance and administration structures. Who has been given the agency? What kinds of power currents are in play? What are the hidden political enablers and disablers in these narratives? The authors of chapters in this series have presented some solid examples of what is currently happening, the discourse that is emerging around it, the effects of these changes and their impact within the region. While some of these narratives are a synthesis of literature and policy, other chapters have focused on findings from empirical studies being conducted in this space. As a timely collection of works from active researchers in Education, the book supports and encourages the importance of on-going educational research within the Asia-Pacific region The findings in this book have been drawn from original and current research which is anticipated as being a valuable academic reference as well as a teaching resource in the field of Education. This volume will be beneficial to students and academics of Education around the world as well as a useful reference to educational academics, researchers, policy-makers and administrators across the Asia-Pacific region.