Global Learning in the 21st Century


Book Description

In this 21st century, technological and social changes have never been as rapid as before, and educative practices must evolve and innovate to keep up. What is being done by educators today to prepare future global citizens? What are the skills and competencies that will be required by our students? What changes in how we approach education might need to be made? This book presents a modern focus on some significant issues in teaching, learning, and research that are valuable in preparing students for the 21st century. The book discusses these issues in four sections. The first section presents contemporary, innovative curriculum and pedagogical practices that are relevant for the 21st century. This also includes how social networking has an integrated role within current educative practice. The next section then explores issues and current research around motivation and engagement, and how these are changing in this era of technological and social change. The third section presents debates around inclusion and social contexts, both global and local. Finally, the fourth section explores current discourses in regard to internationalisation and globalisation and how these are being considered in educational research. The book is an important representation of some of the work currently being done for these rapidly changing times. It will appeal to academics, researchers, teacher educators, educational administrators, teachers and anyone interested in preparing students for a modern and globally interconnected world.




New Considerations and Best Practices for Training Special Education Teachers


Book Description

The topic of special education is rich in knowledge and pedagogy that covers multiple disciplines within the school environment. Many special educators complete graduate degrees and explore a variety of topics within the special education context; however, there is a need for more resources that provide essential knowledge to special education professionals. New Considerations and Best Practices for Training Special Education Teachers discusses best practices and strategies special education professionals require to become more proficient in teaching students with exceptional needs and addresses the most important components of the special education teacher’s job. Serving as a guide of what a special educator must know to be effective within the classroom and providing an overview of the most important components of the special education teacher’s job, the needs of the special educator, along with new research in the field, this timely book covers a range of topics such as assistive technologies and special education law. It is ideal for special education teachers, industry professionals, guidance counselors, academicians, professors, researchers, practitioners, and students.




Teaching and Learning for the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

This book describes how different nations have defined the core competencies and skills that young people will need in order to thrive in the twenty-first-century, and how those nations have fashioned educational policies and curricula meant to promote those skills. The book examines six countries—Chile, China, India, Mexico, Singapore, and the United States—exploring how each one defines, supports, and cultivates those competencies that students will need in order to succeed in the current century. Teaching and Learning for the Twenty-First Century appears at a time of heightened attention to comparative studies of national education systems, and to international student assessments such as those that have come out of PISA (the Program for International Student Assessment), led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This book’s crucial contribution to the burgeoning field of international education arises out of its special attention to first principles—and thus to first questions: As Reimers and Chung explain, “much can be gained by an explicit investigation of the intended purposes of education, in what they attempt to teach students, and in the related questions of why those purposes and how they are achieved.” These questions are crucial to education practice and reform at a time when educators (and the students they serve) face unique, pressing challenges. The book’s detailed attention to such questions signals its indispensable value for policy makers, scholars, and education leaders today.




Learners Without Borders


Book Description

The future of education centers empowered students in a global learning ecosystem. Despite decades of reform, the traditional borders of education—graduation, curriculum, classrooms, schools—have failed to deliver on the goals of excellence and equity. Despite massive societal changes, education remains controlled by an old mindset. It is time to change that limiting mindset and, more importantly, the ineffective practices in education. To truly serve all learners, future classrooms must remove the boundaries of learning and become student-centered, culturally responsive, and personalized—supportive and equitable environments where each student can direct their own learning and seek multiple pathways to skills and knowledge in a global learning ecosystem. This compelling call for transformative change offers all involved in education Evidence-based arguments that reveal the need to break the traditional borders that limit learning Strategies to personalize learning and remove the confinement of traditional pathways Examples from around the world to create equitable and student-centric learning environments Resources for creating a school learning environment that expands opportunities for personalized learning into the global learning ecosystem It is time to now imagine a different kind of learning, without borders, and to begin the shifts in practice that will result in personalized learning for all students.




Global Perspectives on Home Education in the 21st Century


Book Description

Home education is the fastest growing educational movement in the world, yet the research remains limited on why and how it has become so popular. As more and more families seek to homeschool, it is imperative that further studies are undertaken to understand how students’ lives are impacted, as well as the challenges and opportunities that arise from this method of schooling. Global Perspectives on Home Education in the 21st Century is an edited collection that focuses on the major factors behind the global rise of the home education movement and explores many of the current issues faced in relation to homeschooling. The book examines key themes that include parents’ and children’s experiences of home education, how and why families choose to home educate, and what happens to home educated children once they are finished. Including topics such as unschooling, self-directed learning, willed learning, and holistic education, this book is primarily intended for home educators, school administrators, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.




Educating for the Twenty-First Century: Seven Global Challenges


Book Description

Educating for the Twenty-First Century is an engaging account of some of the most critical challenges for humanity, seen through the unique perspective of a school principal. A virtuoso performance of great imaginative force, the book takes the reader through philosophical reflections, humorous anecdotes, syntheses of cutting-edge research and examples of best practice, to answer fundamental questions about education and learning in the 21st century. Provocative, touching, accessible, but always profound, the book is a must-read for policy-makers, school and university leaders, parents and anyone passionate about education and the future of the planet. "A significant book, which makes it required reading for educators, public policy experts, indeed every thoughtful citizen of our time." - AC Grayling, Philosopher and Master of the New College of the Humanities "An essential book for all those who are interested in the future of their children, in other words, the very future of humanity." - Luc Ferry, Philosopher and former Minister of Education, France




Understanding Global Skills for 21st Century Professions


Book Description

This book highlights the increasing need for people who will be working in professions such as teaching, health, engineering and business management to have the skills for living and working in a global society. Globalisation and the challenges resulting from recent political events in Europe and North America have given rise to a need for training and further and higher education programmes to address the skills young people all need to effectively engage in the current global society. Reviewing the range of theories and debates surrounding skills for the twenty-first century, the author suggests there is a need to directly address the real-world issues of today and move beyond abstract concepts such as team work, critical thinking and problem solving, as important as these concepts are. The author proposes a new framework for global skills using examples from international and national policy-makers and evidence from further and higher educational programmes and training courses. This pioneering yet practical book will be of value to students and scholars of global education as well as practitioners and policy makers.




Implementing Deeper Learning and 21st Century Education Reforms


Book Description

This open access book is a comparative analysis of recent large scale education reforms that broadened curriculum goals to better prepare students for the 21st century. The book examines what governments actually do when they broaden curriculum goals, with attention to the details of implementation. To this end, the book examines system level reforms in six countries at various levels of development. The study includes system level reforms in jurisdictions where students achieve high levels in international assessments of basic literacies, such as Singapore and Ontario, Canada, as well as in nations where students achieve much lower levels, such as Kenya, Mexico, Punjab-Pakistan and Zimbabwe. The chapters examine system-level reforms that focus on strengthening the capacity to teach the basics, as in Ontario and Pakistan, as well as reforms that aim at building the capacity to teach a much broader set of competencies and skills, such as Kenya, Mexico, Singapore and Zimbabwe. The volume includes systems at very different levels of spending per student and reforms at various points in the cycle of policy implementation, some just starting, some struggling to survive a governmental transition, and others that have been in place for an extended period of time. From the comparative study of these reforms, we aim to provide an understanding of how to build the capacity of education systems to teach 21st century skills at scale in diverse settings.




The Global Education Guidebook


Book Description

In The Global Education Guidebook: Humanizing K-12 Classrooms Worldwide Through Equitable Partnerships, author Jennifer D. Klein asserts that teachers must give students access to meaningful partnerships with other classrooms around the world. Doing so cultivates the equitable thinking that students need to be empathic, solution-oriented global citizens. PreK-12 teachers and administrators need to foster partnerships that endorse humanity and eschew exoticizing people from other cultures. Klein takes readers through the key strategies for forming globally connected, student-driven educational relationships that benefit students and communities on both sides of the partnership. By purposefully choosing a partner, deciding on a design, employing the right technologies, and being mindful of potential pitfalls, educators around the globe can build communities that prepare all students to thrive in the 21st century.




Elementary Education


Book Description

Elementary education provides the foundation for a learned and literate global citizenry. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that everyone has the right to education. Likewise, the document states that elementary education should be free, compulsory, and universally accessible to all children. Parents, leaders, and policymakers recognize the importance of education in developing basic skills. Yet, the purpose of education goes beyond just skill building; the purpose of education, as Paulo Freire asserts, is for emancipation and the development of independent thought and critical awareness. Education is freedom. It is as Nelson Mandela once declared "the most powerful weapon to change the world." Again, elementary education provides the roots for the world and for our future. Yet, each society situates their systems of elementary education based on their society's cultural values, economic goals, political whims, and socio-historical context. To understand the larger goals of elementary education it is important to have a comparative and international lens, which is provided in this new NOVA Science book titled Elementary Education: Global Perspectives, Challenges and Issues of the 21st Century. The book is co-edited Dr. Erik Jon Byker and Dr. Akesha Horton, both editors are long-time global educators committed to social justice. The purpose of this book is to describe and explain the perspectives, challenges, and issues related to elementary education in this current, twenty-first century global age. The book's authors and the content of the book's chapters represent several countries across the globe including India, Indonesia, Greece, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, and the United States of America. The book is organized into three sections: (1) context, (2) competencies, and (3) content. The context section examines the historical and current context for elementary education from international perspectives. The competencies section focuses on the skills and dispositions necessary for pre-service and in-service teachers to navigate the contours of elementary education in a global age. The content section explores elementary education subject matter-largely in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-that will continue to eminent throughout the twenty-first century. Elementary Education: Global Perspectives, Challenges and Issues of the 21st Century is a timely book for internationally-minded educators, government leaders, parents, practitioners, and policymakers for gaining deeper insight into the critical role of elementary education in preparing children for our dynamic, interconnected, and globalized world.