Education & Pedagogy

Drawing on a critical theoretical paradigm and critically engaging with the externalization thesis that Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Jurgen Schriewer have developed, this article examines the politics of "Finnish education" in the ongoing Japanese education reform debate. More specifically, it examines the various discursive uses of "Finnish education reform" that circulate in the debate. Situating the politics of externalization in the sociological discussion of reflexive modernity, the study demonstrates how progressive--and to a lesser extent neoliberal--observers appropriate the symbolic signifier "Finnish education" to construct a given truth about the state of Japanese education, authenticate their preferred definitions of its "crisis," and then naturalize given "solutions." In particular, the author focuses on how progressive observers refer to Finnish education to redefine the "crisis" and legitimize their dissenting voices against the ongoing conservative-led reform. The author identifies in the progressive articulation the same set of discursive strategies as used in the conservatives' appropriation of U.S. and British education reform discourses. Furthermore, drawing on Finnish scholars who are critical of their country's education policies, the author shows the highly selective nature of the truth claims that Japanese progressives make about Finnish education. The author then goes on to examine how Japanese neoliberal observers appropriate the symbol "Finnish education" in their arguments, illuminating its multiaccentuality--how it is articulated in ideologically opposed discourses (Hall 1985). In conclusion, the author discusses the implications of the study for the conceptualization of externalization and the comparative studies of education in general. (Contains 1 table and 13 footnotes.)

Advocates for virtual education say that it has the power to transform an archaic K-12 system of schooling. Instead of blackboards, schoolhouses, and a six-hour school day, interactive technology will personalize learning to meet each student's needs, ensure all students have access to quality teaching, extend learning opportunities to all hours of the day and all days of the week, and innovate and improve over time. Indeed, virtual education has the potential not only to help solve many of the most pressing issues in K-12 education, but to do so in a cost-effective manner. More than 1 million public-education students now take online courses, and as more districts and states initiate and expand online offerings, the numbers continue to grow. But to date, there's little research or publicly available data on the outcomes from K-12 online learning. And even when data are publicly available, as is the case with virtual charter schools, analysts and education officials have paid scant attention to--and have few tools for analyzing--performance. Until policymakers, educators, and advocates pay as much attention to quality as they do to expansion, virtual education will not be ready for a lead role in education reform. Both virtual education advocates and education policymakers should learn from nearly two decades of experience with charter schooling, another reform movement predicated on innovation and change within public education. After nearly 20 years of practice, the charter school movement provides important lessons on how to ensure that improved student outcomes remain the top priority. The charter school movement's successes and mistakes have a lot to teach virtual schooling about bringing change to public education.

Objective: In many parts of Uganda, the demand for health education is greater than the conventional health sector can provide and community health education volunteers fill the gap. Using two case study non government organizations (NGOs) that heavily rely on volunteers as health educators, this article shows the problems of unsystematic preparation of volunteers for their roles in health education. Design: An exploratory cross-sectional design using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions was used. Setting Two case study NGOs that heavily rely on volunteers as health educators were selected in a rural district in eastern Uganda. Method: Focus group discussions and observation of health education sessions were conducted, as well as in-depth interviews with volunteers and staff of the selected NGOs. Results: The NGOs were enthusiastic about the role of volunteers in health education and regarded them positively. However, the process of recruitment was informal. Orientation of the volunteers was insufficient and rather unsystematic. A minimal focus was placed on methods of conducting health education during the training of the volunteers, suggesting a failure to view health education as a professional field. This left the practice of health education at the mercy of the volunteers' own less reflective self-designed pedagogical approach. Conclusion: While there is a high enthusiasm for the potential role of volunteers, by both the NGOs and the community, their preparation for health education so far does not measure up to the demands of the tasks they are to perform. The limited emphasis on skills in planning, organizing and methods of health education leaves the practice of health education haphazard and indicates failure to view the area as a professional field.

In many ways, the push for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education appears to have grown from a concern for the low number of future professionals to fill STEM jobs and careers and economic and educational competitiveness. The proponents of STEM education believe that by increasing math and science requirements in schools, along with infusing technology and engineering concepts, students will perform better and be better prepared for advanced education or jobs in STEM fields (often referred to as the STEM pipeline). The lasting result would be that the United States would again rise to the top of international rankings. While the outcome remains to be seen, many in the field of technology education have taken the idea of STEM education and have attempted to either integrate more math and science into their courses or highlight the ways in which those concepts were already being integrated. The believed benefits of doing so are that students experience real-world problems making more connections to STEM fields and the ever-changing workforce, sparking interest in STEM fields. Creating these links earlier in the students' educational careers could potentially result in an increased number of students entering into fields associated with STEM. This article presents the results of a survey that explored the current teacher and administrator perceptions of STEM education. The research concludes that: (1) STEM education is not well understood; (2) there is not a clear vision for STEM education even amongst those who believe it is important; and (3) there is little evidence that STEM education exists in the school in this survey, based on the lack of collaboration that exists. (Contains 3 figures.)

Higher education systems all over the world are currently occupied with the crucial problems of equal opportunity and accessibility in the tertiary level. The paper focuses on the perennial issue of center and periphery in higher education. It takes Israel as a case in point. Like many other Western countries Israel is undergoing a speedy process of what is termed "massification of the higher education system". The inauguration of fully accredited public and private colleges as well as the academisation of the teaching profession brought about a dramatic increase in the enrolment of degree programs. During the 1980s and the 1990s the number of students in Israel tripled and the odds of attending a higher education institution grew by 50 per cent. The paper poses several pertinent questions in this respect. a) Has the recent transformation in the Israeli higher education system really increased the odds of higher education attendance? b) Has it indeed reduced social selection processes in higher education? c) Has it really equalised opportunity to attain access to the most desirable fields of study? The paper tries to answer these questions first by analysing available data published by the CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics) and second by analysing data pertaining to the largest public college in the country. It arrives at a cautious conclusion that the system did increase the odds of higher education. It reduced social selection in higher education. It also enhanced opportunities to attain access to the most desirable fields of study. Peripheral populations definitely benefited from the establishment of a binary system of higher education in Israel. (Contains 8 tables.)

This article talks about a meeting on "Higher Education in Recessionary Times" on March 24, 2010, which was hosted by the Society for Higher Education Research Policy Network. Although the meeting did take place in the context of an expected General Election, and on budget day, there was a general sense on the day that whoever won the Election (or as it turned out, did not quite win), there were going to be cuts across the public sector and those cuts would include higher education. The Russell Group of universities had made something of a pre-emptive strike (or pre-emptive resistance) to this policy: arguing that any cuts in higher education would fundamentally damage the standing and the quality of higher education in Britain. Yet, as everyone who works in higher education at present knows only too well, the playing field of higher education is anything but a level one; on the contrary it is marked by peaks and troughs that disrupt much of the "play" of degree level work. It was in this context that Carole Leathwood welcomed the delegates and spoke in her introduction of the considerable material and social part that higher education plays in the British economy. Thinking about cuts in the very process by which citizens become holders and makers of knowledge rather than passive recipients of it, is not in itself a welcome prospect. Yet, part of the essential self-reflection of the day was to examine some of the ways in which cuts in higher education might be imposed and the impact that they would make. In all, the day provided considerable material for further thought and debate and was generally agreed to have been extremely useful in bringing together a wide range of those working in higher education.

Opportunities for higher education in China have grown continually since the reestablishment of the college entrance examination system in 1978, with a percentage of overall enrollment that soared from 1.56 percent in 1978 to 15 percent in 2002, showing that China had already entered the era of mass higher education. However, does the expansion of higher education and an overall increase in opportunities actually mean a greater degree of fairness in higher education? Most studies of disparity in opportunities for higher education in China today focus on issues such as unbalanced development among different regions and disparities between city and country or male and female, with studies of differences in social stratum being comparatively few, and even though some articles have discussed this issue, their discussions are not supported by reliable data. In this study, the author attempts to present a concrete hypothesis concerning how such factors as social stratum based strategic behavior affect the allocation of opportunities for higher education. The results of this analysis show that, while the mechanism for gaining opportunities to access higher education is complex, the basic thread that runs through it can be clearly seen: Though differences in nature among the various types of higher education have determined that opportunities for them are governed by different models, the scarcity of such social opportunities and the differing effects of social-class background and social status were clearly present throughout the 1978-2003 period, while, at the same time, the different types of senior high level education corresponded clearly to the differences among types of higher education. (Contains 3 notes and 1 table.)

Purpose: Engagement of non-academic stakeholders is an important element of education for sustainability, but is rarely mentioned in contemporary agricultural education literature. This article investigates the process of engagement of non-academic stakeholders into higher education programs on agriculture. Non-academic stakeholders refer to private firms that are focused on the acquisition of knowledge with the objective of achieving a competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: Eleven cases of agricultural education at the undergraduate (Bachelor's degree) and graduate (Master's degree) levels in three different countries (Italy, Greece, Norway) were analysed through interviews with teachers and stakeholders and "in-situ" observations. Findings: Qualitative analysis revealed three categories of motivation (inspiration, marketing, sharing experience), two benefits (energy, problem-solving) and four combined categories (exchange, new knowledge, new workers, practical contribution). A conceptual model, developed in the study, provides guidelines for the engagement process, enabling more collaborative education approaches in agriculture and food. Practical implications: The proposed model provides educational institutions with a tool for assessing stakeholder engagement process in new/existing education initiatives, enabling transformation of education from narrow individual disciplines to integration of knowledge sources and a variety of learning arenas in education. Theoretical implications: Within the framework of university-industry collaboration in combination with action-oriented education for sustainability, findings provide unique insights into the engagement of stakeholders in education. Originality/value: This study contributes to knowledge by applying principles of action learning and focusing on the education side of engagement. The results demonstrated that engagement in action-oriented collaborative education offers several benefits to non-academic stakeholders. This was found to have real effects on farm businesses, manifested as changes in production processes and discovery of new marketing opportunities.

This qualitative, ethnographic study was conducted to discover and describe the motivational influences in the lives of students and graduates of The Leadership Center, located in rural Honduras, as they traveled a journey through high school and on to The Leadership Center in pursuit of education and a vocation. The sample of study participants consisted of thirty young women, thirteen graduates, and seventeen students; 55.6% of the population of students and graduates participated at some level in this study. The lack of education emerged as an element of the culture of rural Honduras while the importance of education emerged as a counter-theme to the cultural impediments to education. The importance of education consisted of five subthemes: (1) key to improvement, (2) love of learning, (3) growth mindset, (4) increase job opportunities, and (5) learning English. The findings from this study contribute to the fields of education and international development by helping educators and those serving in community development roles in developing nations and under-resourced communities and populations understand the motivational influences that kept these young women on the path of continuing their education. Future research studies might examine a trend identified in this study of family members continuing their education later in life by taking advantage of degree completion programs offered by the Honduran government to enable adults to complete primary school or high school, explore why the majority of young women in rural Honduras are not pursuing education beyond the primary level, and investigate why available alternative educational delivery systems are not being adopted by more rural communities which currently lack secondary schools.

If everyone needs education to succeed, why is education always under fire politically? Why is the education system always on defense? To try to better understand the seemingly contradictory politics of education, the author began to examine primary data on the labor market, historic and current educational attainment rates, and scholarly literature on these topics. He researched the recent history of business and public policy. He started paying close attention to how the most powerful actors and institutions in society talked about the purposes-- and purported flaws--of education. In sum, the author discovered that the decades of claims that public schools and colleges are failing are at odds with official data on the education system and economy and with much scholarly research. Decades of claims about the so-called knowledge economy are also false, as there is not now, nor has there ever been, an abundance of high-wage, high-skilled jobs in the United States. Instead, the real economy is dominated by low-skill, low-wage service sector jobs. This is why both K-12 and higher education are always on defense: since at least the 1980s, corporate America has engaged in a nonstop political campaign to deflect all attention away from its role in catalyzing inequality and onto the education system. Corporate America blames schools and colleges for the economic insecurity, stagnant wages, and poverty it creates. This article discusses how the "fantasy economy", the mythical version of the economy where the education system is always failing, and the workforce is always inadequate, has driven the corporate education reform movement and the concomitant underfunding of public schools and colleges over the past several decades.

This article examines the global transformation of undergraduate legal education through the analytical lens of transformative learning theory, with a particular focus on how practice-oriented reforms contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (Quality Education) and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). Using China as a central case, the study analyses a series of landmark policy initiatives--the "Outstanding Legal Professionals Education and Training Plan" (2011), the "Outstanding Rule-of-Law Professionals Education and Training Plan 2.0" (2018), the "National Standards for Teaching Quality in Law Programmes" (2021), and the "Opinions on Strengthening Legal Education and Legal Theory Research in the New Era" (2023). Case studies from Yangzhou University and Yantai University demonstrate how internships, legal clinics, moot courts, and structured collaborations with judicial institutions have reshaped pedagogy, moving legal education away from rote learning toward reflective, experiential, and ethically grounded models. To situate these reforms in a broader perspective, the article compares developments in China with experiences in the United States, Germany, and Finland. These comparative insights reveal different institutional pathways toward integrating practice-based training: the U.S. emphasis on clinical education and structured reflection, Germany's apprenticeship model through the "Referendariat," and Finland's student-centred, problem-based pedagogy. Despite variations, a common trajectory emerges in the convergence toward cultivating reflective practitioners equipped with professional competence, ethical awareness, and civic responsibility. By embedding experiential education into both national reforms and global debates on sustainable development, the study highlights how legal education can function as a lever for professional identity formation, institutional capacity-building, and inclusive justice. In this sense, China's experience contributes to a comparative dialogue on how legal education systems worldwide can advance the SDGs through transformative learning.

Under neoliberalism, instrumentalization of education for economic purposes has been intensely accentuated in post-industrial societies, necessitating critical reflection on both educational practice and theory. How should a theory of education be structured as to consider both societal needs and the individual's right to develop as a cultural subject and political citizen? Non-Affirmative Theory of Education (NAT) and Educational Subject Philosophy (ESP) represent theoretical attempts to address the question in Europe and China. This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the two approaches that seek to respond to the same educational problem from different perspectives. The comparative analysis reveals that ESP conceptualizes the nature of education as "subjectivity" and NAT as "non-affirmativity." Both approaches emphasize education as a specialized activity aimed at cultivating individuals, advocating for the development of culturally reflective and self-determining subjects. They acknowledge that such education must function by summoning students' self-activity or leading their instructional cognition. Crucially, educators cannot provide answers on behalf of the learners. However, regarding how to address the relationship between education and other social practices, NAT advocates for clarifying the boundaries between educational practice and other social practices, while ESP proposes a functionalist approach, emphasizing that respecting the independence of education means nurturing autonomous and responsible social subjects, thereby contributing to the collective progress of various societal domains in the long run. NAT illustrates that the knowledge economy era requires non-affirmative education, whereas ESP's perspective reminds educational researchers that in an age where economic practices are amplified and human economic attributes are emphasized, it is essential to consider the essence of education from a three-dimensional standpoint--encompassing education, human development, and social progress--so that education can unify its functions of promoting the development of individuals' inner powers and fostering societal advancement.

This paper takes stock of developments in, and the state of, the field of comparative and international education at the beginning of the 21st century, using as data base articles published in the journal "Comparative Education Review" during the second decade of the 21st century and to compare results with a content analysis done on the first 50 years of the existence of the Review and which was published in 2008. The 246 articles that were published in the "Comparative Education Review" during the decade 2010-2019 were analyzed under the following metrics: levels of analysis of articles; number of units covered by articles; research methods; narrative basis; phase of education articles cover; and mode of education articles deal with. Compared to the first 50 years of the existence of the "Review," single-unit national-level studies still dominate the field, though less so. A case can be made out for a deconcentration to allow more space for research at geographic levels both larger and smaller than the nation-state. The most prominent narrative in which articles are framed is that of the social justice narrative. The neo-liberal economic narrative stands strong too, while the poor standing of the human rights narrative is disappointing. Turning to modes and phases of education is concerned, the shadow education system has registered on the comparative and international education research agenda, while there seems to be a modest upswing in interest in pre-primary education. Thoughts about the future trajectory of the field are suggested. [For the complete volume, "Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2023. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 48," see ED675066.]

This chapter offers a survey of education development in the Baltic region and the dynamics of global forces in the three Baltic states' contexts. First, a brief overview of the incoming new-liberal global trend that impacted the education in the Post-Socialist European region will be provided, followed by a discussion of similarities and differences in the development of education in Baltic states as co-shaped by contextual contours of the post-socialist region at whole. It shows that the contextual social and cultural realities of Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania not only have a powerful mediating role on the impact of global forces but are in their own right an agency in shaping the education response of Post-socialist societies of this region. Second, the knowledge of the interrelationship between education and societal cultural contexts in the Baltic region will be explained, stressing the lack of research on informal settlements or the informal economy and its intersection with education. The International Comparative Education research agenda will not only be of significance for the Baltic states but to the entire world. Many aspects of the contextual architecture of the region are becoming increasingly evident world-wide tending the neo-liberalism in education as distinct from liberalism insofar as it does not advocate market-economic policy but instead is highly constructivist and approve a strong state to bring reforms in every aspect of society transforming the education and teaching labor market. [For the complete volume, "World Education Patterns in the Global North: The Ebb of Global Forces and the Flow of Contextual Imperatives. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 43A," see ED674979.]

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that schools assist students with disabilities to develop independent living skills and abilities essential to succeed in most of their life's endeavors. According to the law, each student with a disability must have an individualized education program (IEP), and the IEP must address transition services. Transition planning is required in the IEP for students by age 16; many students begin this planning at age 14 or earlier so that they have the time to build skills they will need as adults. This third factsheet in the IDEA Factsheet series discusses where students with disabilities usually receive education services. The coronavirus pandemic caused at least 123,000 public and private schools to close across the U.S. School closures affect more than 50 million students, including 7 million students ages 3-21 who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). With prolonged school building closures, school districts are faced with more challenges about how to provide remote learning for students with disabilities while complying with civil rights and disability laws. By increasing awareness of where students with disabilities receive their instruction, school leaders can work with teachers, specialists, and parents to make evidence-based policies and develop effective strategies to support the learning of each student with a disability. Therefore, this factsheet reports the 2018-19 IDEA data from the U.S. Department of Education regarding the following topics: (1) Where do students ages 3-5 with different disabilities usually receive their education services? (2) Where do students ages 6-21 with different disabilities usually receive their education services? and (3) How do education environments for students with disabilities differ by states?