The First Year at School: An International Perspective


Book Description

This book explores an under-researched but vital part of education: the first year at primary/elementary school. The work shows that children’s progress varies enormously from school to school, class to class and child to child. This variation is important because the more progress that children make in that first year of school, the higher their academic attainment at the end of compulsory schooling. The iPIPS (international Performance Indicators in Primary Schools) project, upon which this book is based, has been able to provide deeper insights into some of the key issues within and across different contexts whilst highlighting new and some ongoing issues. Despite all the work there remain unanswered or new puzzling issues which are also explored. We need to know how to improve the education at that stage and, more broadly, we need greater clarity about when children should be taught to read and be introduced to formal arithmetic, in other words, when they should start school. We also need to be clearer about whether, when and how young children should be assessed. The book will suggest some answers but it will raise important questions and dilemmas for which we do not, as yet, have answers.




Education in Brazil An International Perspective


Book Description

The Education in Brazil: An International Perspective report was developed drawing on internationally comparative data on education in Brazil, in particular the extensive range of data collected by the OECD through its surveys. The experiences of other countries and how they have tackled challenges similar to those now faced by Brazil, along with the insights from consultations with key national experts, also inform the analysis.




Higher Education in Germany—Recent Developments in an International Perspective


Book Description

Otto Hüther and Georg Krücken analyze the developments of the last 20 years in their new book on German higher education. The foreign observer of German higher education, even the informed foreign observer, struggles to find denominators, not to mention common denominators of a bewildering array of approaches. Otto Hüther and Georg Krücken, in this book, do an absolutely splendid job of offering theoretical perspectives, qualitative and quantitative data, and comparative assessments This book discusses the main higher education structures in Germany, both conceptually and with a particular emphasis on recent developments like, e.g., the growth and differentiation of the system, governance reforms, and the Excellence Initiative. It analyses recent developments from an international perspective, as the German system is clearly embedded in broader, transnational trends. As such, the book provides a comprehensive and detailed account of both new dynamics and stable paths in the German higher education system. This book will be of interest to scholars and students dealing with higher education or Germany as an object of study (e.g. in education research, science studies, organization studies, sociology, psychology, political science), and to higher education managers, leaders, and policymakers who are interested in recent trends in German higher education




Choosing Choice


Book Description

The first cross-national comparative study on school choice policies, this volume features prominent scholars who analyze experiences in countries around the world, England, Chile, South Africa, the Czech Republic, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. Together, they answer such important questions as: Why are policies that expand educational options being adopted in such a diverse set of countries? Why have governments in widely varying circumstances come to view school choice as an apt response to educational dilemmas? What have we learned about the impacts of these policies on existing educational systems and the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom? The analyses presented here illuminate school choice policies as a critical worldwide development in education, noting both similarities and differences across countries. This volume broadens our understanding of school choice on the world stage while exploring implications for education policy in the United States.




Integrated Approaches to STEM Education


Book Description

This book provides a platform for international scholars to share evidence for effective practices in integrated STEM education and contributes to the theoretical and practical knowledge gained from the diversity of approaches. Many publications on STEM education focus on one or two of the separate STEM disciplines without considering the potential for delivering STEM curriculum as an integrated approach.This publication analyzes the efficacy of an integrated STEM curriculum and instruction, providing evidence to examine and support various integrations. The volume focuses on the problems seen by academics working in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and provides valuable, high quality research outcomes and a set of valued practices which have demonstrated their use and viability to improve the quality of integrated STEM education.




International Perspectives on Teaching Excellence in Higher Education


Book Description

There has been an explosion of interest in teaching excellence in higher education. Once labelled the ‘poor relation’ of the research/teaching divide, teaching is now firmly on the policy agenda; pressure on institutions to improve the quality of teaching has never been greater and significant funding seeks to promote teaching excellence in higher education institutions. This book constitutes the first serious scrutiny of how and why it should be achieved. International perspectives from educational researchers, award winning teachers, practitioners and educational developers consider key topics, including: policy initiatives research-led teaching teaching excellence and scholarship the significance of academic disciplines research into teaching excellence rewarding through promotion inclusive learning and ICT. Teaching Excellence in Higher Education provides a guide for all those supporting, promoting and trying to achieve teaching excellence in higher education and sets the scene for teaching excellence as a field for serious investigation and critical enquiry.




International Perspectives on Inclusive Education


Book Description

Internationale Entwicklungen und Impulse fordern dazu auf, Bildungssysteme gerecht und inklusiv auszugestalten. Das vorliegende Buch greift dies auf und fokussiert das häufig unscharf diskutierte Verhältnis zwischen inklusiver Bildung und Bildungsgerechtigkeit. Durch die Zusammenstellung von aktuellen Forschungsergebnissen und theoretischen Beiträgen aus mehreren europäischen Ländern zu dem Thema schaffen die Autor*innen einen übergreifenden Diskussionsrahmen.




Sámi Educational History in a Comparative International Perspective


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of Sámi education in a historical and internationally comparative perspective. Despite the cross-national character of the Sámi population, academic literature on Sámi education has so far been published within the different nation states in the Sámi area, and rarely in English. Exploring indigenous educational history around the world, this collection spans from Asia to Oceania to Sápmi and the Americas. The chapters frame Sámi school history within an international context of indigenous and minority education. In doing so, two narrative threads are established: both traditional history of education, and perspectives on the decolonisation of education. This pioneering book will appeal to students and scholars of Sámi education, as well as indigenous education around the world.




International Perspectives on Higher Education


Book Description

Trevor Kerry draws together contributions from leading academics in the field based in Europe, Canada and Australia to examine key themes in higher education, including: • academic freedom • leadership and management • the nature of learning and teaching • ethical behaviour • curriculum innovation • attitudes to globalization and internationalization The contributors explore what might constitute effective higher education provision, drawing on innovative practice from around the world and encouraging higher education practitioners to become more analytical and critical about their institutions, about their own roles, and about the ways in which they and their work serve their client-base. In so doing the book confronts the contextual conflicts that arise from political, social and fiscal agendas for higher education.




International Perspectives in Educational Effectiveness Research


Book Description

This edited volume explores questions about ‘what works’, how, for whom, when, and why in education, and considers how and to what extent such knowledge can be understood and extended across countries and different educational systems. The book starts by presenting an overview of the history of educational effectiveness research and offers examples of current theories of educational effectiveness. Next, it provides exemplars of effectiveness studies that report on educational systems, policies, and practices from across six continents. These studies vary in their research methods and outcomes, illustrating a field of research that is conscious of its origins, its agenda, and its ambition to understand and improve the functioning of schools, networks, and education systems around the world. The book brings these threads together within the final chapter and uses them to signpost directions for future research. 'International Perspectives in Educational Effectiveness Research is an excellent and timely addition to the educational effectiveness literature. It offers a rigorous and insightful range of international perspectives that will be of interest to researchers, policy makers and students of the field.' - Professor Christopher Chapman, University of Glasgow, UK & President-Elect of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement 'This important new volume brings up to date the contributions of educational effectiveness research to the development of policy and practice in the field over the last 50 years. Drawing together the ideas of many of the major researchers in the field, it provides a comprehensive analysis of these earlier contributions, leading to critical commentaries that point to areas for future attention. The editors make use of expertise from a range of disciplines to strengthen the themes that are addressed. Most importantly, the book emphasises the need to pay greater attention to the challenge of equity - arguably the most significant challenge facing education systems internationally. In this respect, a particular strength of the book is the accounts provided from many different parts of the world. These underline the importance of context, a factor often previously overlooked in this field of research. Given all of this, I have no doubt that International Perspectives in Educational Effectiveness Research will become a major source for practitioners, policy-makers and researchers.' - Professor Mel Ainscow, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Manchester & Professor of Education, University of Glasgow, UK