Education & Pedagogy

In April 2009, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam invited more than 30 experts in the field of Holocaust education from a dozen countries for a three-day seminar to share their thoughts and experiences to provide insight into the kinds of opportunities and challenges educators might face in the future when teaching about the Holocaust in diverse classrooms and other diverse contexts. This article presents a number of questions which highlighted the discussion of new successful ways of teaching the Holocaust. In the authors' opinion, the themes highlighted in this supplemental issue of "Intercultural Education" will help educational professionals in the fields of, for instance, Holocaust education, human rights education, citizenship education and intercultural/multicultural education gain insight into how teaching about the Holocaust and related issues can help them to see how their disciplines are interconnected.

This feminist content analysis of selective adult education journals and conference proceedings draws on feminist aesthetic theory to develop a deeper understanding of women adult education scholars' work with/in the arts. Four major categories identified were community cultural development, aesthetic civic engagement and knowledge mobilization, arts-based research, and art education. Within these were multidimensional and at times contesting themes of cultural justice, identity and agency, elitism and postmodernism in museums, artistic quality and collective process, personal and social transformation, and pleasure and subversion. Women's diverse cultural practices contribute not only to liberatory or emancipatory struggles in feminist adult education but also to discourses of feminist aesthetic theory that all but ignore the educational potential of the arts.

Internationalisation of the higher education sector across the world has become the norm and this is also true for South African universities. Another dimension has with increasing intension moved into the foreground, namely the need to Africanise South African higher education. The imperatives of these two dimensions are often portrayed as polarised positions and it is thus perceived that the one negates the benefits of the other. This article argues that compatibility exists between internationalisation and Africanisation of higher education in South Africa. To substantiate this argument, the conceptualisation of internationalisation and the Africanising of South African higher education, from selected literature, is presented. Subsequently, it is shown why these two conceptualisations could be perceived as contradictory to each other, and hence some touch points for finding compatibility between them are identified. Some pointers for further research are also indicated.

Repeated calls have recently arisen for increasing the educational level of early childhood teachers in all early care and education settings including classrooms for infants and toddlers. Since the majority of teachers in early child settings do not have a college degree, higher educational expectations could place a strain on early childhood teacher preparation programs. Implications of increasing educational expectations of teachers for the higher education institutions that prepare early childhood educators are presented. Challenges related to both the needs of the institutions as well as the needs of the students are addressed. The successful utilization of online courses is explored as one solution to meeting some of the challenges. Recommendations are summarized for policy makers, institutions of higher education, teacher education programs, and faculty.

This special issue of "Industry and Higher Education" is devoted to a selection of papers, revised for publication, from the Sixth International Conference on "New Horizons in Industry, Business and Education" held on the island of Santorini, Greece, in August 2009. In this introductory paper the author provides an overview of the conference, summarizes the most important presentations, and offers some reflections on the conference outcomes. The key objective of the NHIBE 2009 was to identify the impact of new technologies on education, business and industry. Special attention was drawn to the innovative approaches and experiences developed in education in an effort to adapt teaching methods to the new technological era. Furthermore, business strategies and worldwide educational strategies were emphasized. The major topics were: educational strategies; career counseling; new educational methods; industry and education; entrepreneurship; corporate finance and governance; and business strategies.

This article presents the state education finance and governance of Delaware. Funding for public education generally comes from three sources: the federal government (7.6%), the state government (64.3%), and local governments (28.1%). Educational expenditures for K-12 public schools in Delaware total $1.66 billion. Per-pupil expenditure in the state equals $11,061, which is above the national average by about 25%. Delaware's basic education governance structure includes a chief state school officer, a state board of education, and 16 local school boards. The chief state school officer is appointed by the governor for an unlimited term. One challenge facing the state is the low levels of college readiness, college completion, and employment readiness for both White and minority high school graduates. (Contains 1 table.)

Character education is supposed to meet early adolescents' need (i.e., eighth and ninth graders) for strengthening social competence. Moreover, adolescents' engagement in character education is integral to their learning from the education. The engagement and deficit in social competence are therefore plausible conditions for the effectiveness of character education in promoting social competence. Based on a quasi-experimental design, this study focuses on the prediction of social competence of 920 ninth graders in secondary schools of Hong Kong, China. To reduce bias from the selection process of the study and the character education program, the study adjusts for the propensity of enrolling in the program throughout the analysis. The results of the analysis show the contribution of the character education program to social competence. Moreover, engagement in the program and prior lower social competence are the adolescent's characteristics that are responsible for the contribution. (Contains 4 tables.)

This review focuses on the relationship between theoretical knowledge and professional practice within pharmacy education. The discussion takes two different approaches to examine the selected literature. The first approach is concerned with how curriculum changes may potentially contribute to the improvement of professional practice. This includes a consideration of curriculum issues such as placement based learning, problem based learning and interprofessional education. The second approach investigates how an awareness and knowledge of pharmacy "culture" can potentially impact on pharmacy education. This area of the discussion considers the use of a Habermasian philosophical framework, the relationship between knowledge and professionalism and the school of pharmacy as a community of practice. The review implies that there needs to be the development of a closer interest in the underlying issues that shape our philosophy of pharmacy education.

Technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) has received pronounced emphasis in planning and policy texts in Pakistan over the last decade. Several positive outcomes are typically ascribed to TVSD, ranging from purely economic (increased productivity, competitiveness and economic growth) to social (improved employment, poverty-reduction and socio-political stability). However, the relationship between TVSD and poverty-reduction is neither simple nor automatic. This paper reviews evidence from the country to establish the linkages between formal education, TVSD and poverty. Issues of access to different skills and employment systems are explored. Moreover, the role of environmental factors such as quality of education and training, macroeconomic situation, and access to credit, business development and re-training services in mediating labour market outcomes is discussed. (Contains 3 tables, 1 figure, and 18 footnotes.)

This article traces and analyses some of the key features of 14-19 education and training in England over the 30 years since such a phase was first mooted. It does this through an introductory narrative outlining the key policies and initiatives and the development of six themes drawing on analysis of a body of research and policy. The themes are: the waxing and waning of policy in relation to a 14-19 phase; policy imperatives driving 14-19 education and training; curricular commonality, differentiation and unification; pathways and progression; qualifications-led curriculum change and partnership, institutional autonomy and competition. The article concludes by outlining the implications of the analysis for the current political and policy context in relation to education and training for 14- to 19-year-olds.

Teacher education programs have a long history of producing excellent health and physical education (HPE) teachers for suburban school districts. But graduates who start their career at high-need schools often feel poorly prepared to face the challenges of low-income school districts, schools, and students. This article is directed primarily to teacher educators interested in improving HPE teaching and programs for students in high-need schools, whether they are located in urban centers or in suburban areas. The purpose of this article is to describe why and how one group of HPE teacher educators is addressing this need. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

About 60 years ago India established a policy of providing free and compulsory education to all children and began transforming the elite education system inherited from its colonial past into a mass education program. The task became a race against a rapidly growing population, which outstripped the pace at which children could be enrolled and educated in schools. Notwithstanding this demographic challenge, the system grew in size and the number of children participating in school grew many-fold. The struggle to reach the long cherished goal of universal elementary education continues even today. The present paper highlights two decades of EFA progress, paying particular attention to quantitative trends since 2001, and the policies framed and the strategies implemented to achieve greater equity and quality in the provision of basic education.

European policy-makers hope that by 2010 tertiary education in European countries will be "connected" and become the much sought for European Higher Education Area. The reforms currently unfolding will modernize the daily practices of European higher education institutions. From transferability of degrees, employing a credit-based system and improving the capital base of institutions, the shape and make-up of tertiary systems will yield more alignment from disparate systems with heterogeneous parts. The policy innovations in Europe, as a consequence, have implications for American policy-makers as well. As European tertiary education evolves, it will pressure American policy-makers to adapt and react, especially as its leadership in educational capital has slipped as a result of Europe's surge in degree attainment. (Contains 3 tables, 1 figure, 1 footnote and 13 resources.)

Australian trade unions are at a pivotal moment. In 2007-2008, a review of the training and education programs of the Education and Campaign Centre (ECC), the education arm of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), was conducted through a series of interviews with leaders of twenty-five unions. The review found that Australian unions do not generally view education as a core strategic activity, and many see the ECC simply as a training provider that they could access if they did not have their own trainers. We argue that there are greater possibilities for a national education centre than are currently being contemplated by the union leaders. A key to realising these possibilities lies in unions articulating a shared purpose for union education, and its role in supporting leaders, officials, delegates and activists in the continuing challenges they face in their work. (Contains 2 endnotes.)

Given the increasing power of neoliberal and neoconservative agendas in education internationally, critically democratic policies and practices are now even more important. Yet, one of the major problems with critical work in education has been the fact that some of the academic leaders of the "critical pedagogy" movement and of critical and democratic education in general in many nations have not been sufficiently connected to the actual realities of schools and classrooms. Yet, only when it is linked much more to concrete issues of educational policy and practice--and to the daily lives of educators, students, social movements and community members--can a critical and democratic education succeed. I point to a number of such linkages and suggest that because of this the ways we think about the role of education in social transformation needs to be made more nuanced and complex.