This book introduces Chinese educational reforms and developments rolled out in the year 2014, examining them from both macro and micro perspectives and pursuing a mixed-methods approach. This book depicts the current landscape of the Chinese education system and institutions on different educational levels and in a variety of educational types, covering the development and reform status, issues, causes and effects, strategy plans and trends in the specific areas of schooling, financing, educator development and student development. Based on policy analysis, case studies, surveys and big data analysis, it combines the perspectives of both officials and grass-root stakeholders. Presenting contributions by scholars from over 10 Chinese and international higher education institutions and research institutes, as well as administrators and educators from over 20 provinces and regions throughout the nation, the book offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date and solidly fact-based scholarly representation of Chinese education reform and development on the market.

The widely cited, though highly contested, idea that "the world is flat" (Friedman, 2004) carries with it a call for education to provide a leveling effect across continents and cultures Students in Skokie or in Skopje, as the theory goes, are expected to experience a school curriculum that shares certain common elements, goals, and purposes. Such a globalized view is not, however, without its complications. This book addresses some of the issues that arise when the transmigration of educational ideas occurs, with a particular eye toward the ethical dilemmas that curriculum workers face in international contexts. The authors who have contributed to this volume explore, through case examples and critical reflection, what happens when ideas that are drawn from one set of cultural norms and experiences is introduced into other cultural contexts. In many cases these are the stories of "donors" and "hosts," of structured inequities of power and influence, of disparities in material resources, and, as expressed in one of the cases, the dynamics of the "colonizer" and the "colonized." A recurrent theme concerns the challenges faced by educators working internationally to reconcile their own ethical predispositions toward equity and cultural responsiveness with certain tacit assumptions about the appropriateness or value of curriculum practices brought from the "developed" world for teachers and students in the "developing" world. How these dilemmas are navigated forms the content of this collection of reports from the field written by those who engage in this complex and important work. While the content of this volume is situated at the intersection between the field of curriculum studies and comparative education, it is fundamentally a book about curriculum. Most of the authors come from various disciplinary backgrounds with specializations in curriculum development in content areas such as social studies, geography, or mathematics. As "outsiders looking in" on the field of international education and with thoughtful reflections grounded in practice, the authors provide a new set of insights into the challenges of international curriculum work. Finally, since many of the questions raised by the work included here are ethical in nature, the book begins and ends with analyses that link the practical realities presented in the cases with contemporary philosophical thought. This, then, can be seen as the primary contribution of the book to the educational literature as it offers a careful and well-articulated synthesis of theory and practice in the field of international curriculum work. This publication would make an important contribution to courses in curriculum theory and practice, comparative and international education, and international development outside of the field of education.

From the 1920s to the present, an authoritative exploration of curriculum history in America, and the theory and foundations currently influencing school practices for Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grades. Educational reform. Charter schools. The standards movement. High stakes testing. Bilingual education. The controversies surrounding what we teach our children and how we do it have existed since John Dewey espoused his ideas concerning educational reform in the early 1900s. How do we decide whatand howto teach our children? Curriculum Studies: A Reference Handbook presents the most expansive, up-to-date survey of curriculum development in the U.S., ranging from its history and the origins of the cry for higher standards, to societal influences on schools and the legal challenges they face today. Supported by examples illustrating both successful and failed school reforms, critical developments of the past 25 years and their impacts, including the rise of charter schools, home schooling, the standards movement, high stakes testing, and authentic assessment, are carefully analyzed. The first work to examine ethical concerns with multicultural, multilingual students also addresses

This far-sighted volume describes emerging trends and challenges in university-level social sciences education in an era marked by globalization, austerity, and inequity. It spotlights solution-focused and interdisciplinary methods of teaching, developed to match influential academic ideas, such as self-directed learning and learning in communities, as students seek to engage with and improve conditions in their immediate environments. Chapters offer real-world applications of foundational concepts in the modern practice of teaching, learning, and curriculum development. Accordingly, the editors emphasize the relationship between pedagogy and curriculum, as both are critical in encouraging student autonomyand promoting optimum academic and societal outcomes. Included in the coverage: * Towards a concept of solution-focused teaching: learning in communities. * Heutagogy and the emerging curriculum. * Collaborative working in the statutory and voluntary sectors. * Delivering a community development curriculum to students with multiple identities. * Photography and teaching in community development. * A model for change: sharing ideas and strategies. The Pedagogy of the Social Sciences Curriculum will inspire sociologists, social workers, and health and sociology educators to take a deeper role in community well-being as students, faculty, and communities collaborate to make lasting contributions to society.

This collection highlights the diverse ways comics and graphic novels are used in English and literature classrooms, whether to develop critical thinking or writing skills, paired with a more traditional text, or as literature in their own right. From fictional stories to non-fiction works such as biography/memoir, history, or critical textbooks, graphic narratives provide students a new way to look at the course material and the world around them. Graphic novels have been widely and successfully incorporated into composition and creative writing classes, introductory literature surveys, and upper-level literature seminars, and present unique opportunities for engaging students' multiple literacies and critical thinking skills, as well as providing a way to connect to the terminology and theoretical framework of the larger disciplines of rhetoric, writing, and literature.

This edited volume brings together a collection of chapters from leading scholars in rural education with the purpose of linking knowledge from the rural education field to the wider discipline of education studies. Through addressing significant issues in the rural education field, the book gives insights from rural education that have general relevance for the wider disciplines of education, and provides up-to-date scholarship in research in rural contexts. This book aims to be a definitive and comprehensive edition of contemporary rural education scholarship that works as a guide for those new to researching in and for rural contexts, as well as actively expand the other sub-fields of education from a rural perspective. It examines the connection between rurality and the other domains of educational research, exploring what a rural perspective might bring to the broader fields of educational research, and how it might evolve them. In its unique approach, this book brings the concept of 'rural' to the disciplines of education; chapters regarding the ethics of research in the rural context speaks to a gap in rural education, and provide tools for engaging marginalised communities more generally in educational research.

Educational strategies have evolved over the years due to research breakthroughs and the application of technology. By using the latest learning innovations, curriculum and instructional design can be enhanced and strengthened. Also, as learners move away from traditional scholarly media and toward technology-based education, students gain an advantage in learning about their world and how to interact with modern society. Learning Strategies and Constructionism in Modern Education Settings is a critical scholarly resource that enhances the competencies of educational professionals by providing practical advice on providing an innovative educational process to promote the cognitive growth of individuals, regardless of special needs or obstacles. The book features coverage on a variety of topics including integration approaches of digital media in the teaching/learning process, the role of parents for developing digital literacy in their young children, and the effectiveness of using technology tools to teach mathematics. As a publication focused on education advancements through technology, the book serves as a useful resource for academicians, educators, school administrators, and individuals seeking current research on education technologies.

The politicians and pastors who revised the Texas social studies standards made national and international headlines. However, much of that coverage was sensational and squeezed the process into a narrow 'culture war' storyline. Politics and the History Curriculum sets the debate over the Texas standards within a broader context by exploring the tangled and powerful mixture of politics, religion, media, and education. This volume provides a clear analysis of what happened and why, along with sensible recommendations for teachers and policy makers.

Two persistent dilemmas haunt school reform: curriculum politics and classroom constancy. Both undermined the 1960s' new social studies, a dynamic reform movement centered on inquiry, issues, and social activism. Dramatic academic freedom controversies ended reform and led to a conservative restoration. On one side were teachers and curriculum developers; on the other, conservative activists determined to undo the revolutions of the 1960s. The episode brought a return to traditional history, a turn away from questioning, and the re-imposition of authority. Engagingly written and thoroughly researched, "The Tragedy of American School Reform" offers a provocative perspective on current trends.

The Second World War stands as the most devastating and destructive global conflict in human history. More than 60 nations representing 1.7 billion people or three quarters of the world's population were consumed by its horror. Not surprisingly, therefore, World War II stands as a landmark episode in history education throughout the world and its prominent place in school history textbooks is almost guaranteed. As this book demonstrates, however, the stories that nations choose to tell their young about World War II do not represent a universally accepted ""truth"" about events during the war. Rather, wartime narratives contained in school textbooks typically are selected to instil in the young a sense of national pride, common identify, and shared collective memory. To understand this process War, Nation, Memory describes and evaluates school history textbooks from many nations deeply affected by World War II including China, France, Germany, Japan, USA, and the United Kingdom.It critically examines the very different and complex perspectives offered in many nations and analyses the ways in which textbooks commonly serve as instruments of socialisation and, in some cases, propaganda. Above all, War, Nation, Memory demonstrates that far from containing ""neutral"" knowledge, history textbooks prove fascinating cultural artefacts consciously shaped and legitimated by powerful ideological, cultural, and sociopolitical forces dominant in the present.

This book draws together the perceptions and experiences from a range of international professionals with specific reference to food education. It presents a variety of teaching, learning and curriculum design approaches relating to food across primary, secondary and vocational school education, undergraduate initial teacher education programs, and in-service professional development support contexts. Contributions from authors of a variety of background and countries offer insight into some of the diverse issues in food education internationally, lessons to be learned from successes and failures, including action points for the future. The book will be both scholarly and useful to teachers in primary and secondary schools.

Focusing on the future development of basic education in China, and on overcoming related issues, this book identifies key breakthroughs, priorities and important fields of basic education reform. In addition, it introduces the "Three Power Model" - decision-making, principals' leadership, and learning power - to help address the challenges of future development. Unlike much of the research on basic education reform, the book draws on a forward-thinking, realistic and comprehensive project: bringing together 15 universities and research institutes, 16 provincial administration departments, and 100 selected primary and secondary schools, it has also been strongly endorsed by the nation's leaders. After five years of practice and innovation, it has made significant breakthroughs in many provinces. Sharing unique insights into the project and its outcomes, the book offers an invaluable asset for education researchers, primary and secondary school teachers, and anyone interested in the evolution of basic education in China.

Teacher-educator international professional development involves personal and professional, research- and practice-oriented, and pragmatic and aesthetic growth. This text encourages teacher educators to explore this work as Ren, or benevolent human beings, in cultivating global professional communities. As faculties engage in Ren as a vital 21st century form of development, new insights may emerge for how to revive and apply this concept in our changing global society. This text begins by discussing evolving concepts of achievement in an era of globalization, contrasting comparative conquest with global notions of relational integrity. Evolving aspects of achievement in 21st century China are also included. The text goes on to explore aspects of 21st century teacher quality and professional development, before presenting a theoretical framework for the international professional development of teacher education faculties as a process of becoming professional individuals, research-based practitioners, and aesthetic engineers. Narrative inquiry, including the aesthetic approach employed in this text, is described as the research method used to explore the development of 15 faculty participants in this text's case study of one teacher education research center at a Chinese university. Findings from the author's two-year immersion at the research site involve three overarching "complementary contrasts," or "tensions held in balance," across the 15 faculties in this study. These tensions included harmonizing (1) community and individuality, (2) adaptability and expression, and (3) authority and compassion. The findings are discussed in light of the original theoretical framework for teacher-educator international professional development by integrating participant interviews, research publications, and further observations into current academic discourse. The text concludes by offering implications for teacher-education practice, research, and policy for China, and other countries including the U.S., and suggests how the findings connect to global academic discourses on teacher-educator professional development across international settings.

As the issue of school reform grows ever more intense, it is imperative that we learn what we can from previous efforts. The new social studies was a 1960s attempt to transform the teaching of history and the social sciences in schools. With origins in the Cold War, the movement sought to develop critical thinkers through "inquiry" and "discovery." Though it led to a veritable treasure trove of innovative materials, the "revolution" envisioned by its proponents never materialized. Engagingly written and drawing on previously untapped archival sources, "The Hope for American School Reform" offers an insightful perspective on current trends.

This book traces the early history of the Montessori movement in the United States through the lives and careers of four key American women: Anne George, Margaret Naumburg, Helen Parkhurst, and Adelia Pyle. Caught up in the Montessori craze sweeping the United States in the Progressive era, each played a significant role in the initial transference of Montessori education to America and its implementation from 1910 to 1920. Despite the continuing international recognition of Maria Montessori and the presence of Montessori schools world-wide, Montessori receives only cursory mention in the history of education, especially by recognized historians in the field and in courses in professional education and teacher preparation. The authors, in seeking to fill this historical void, integrate institutional history with analysis of the interplay and tensions between these four women to tell this educational story in an interesting-and often dramatic-way.

The contributions to this volume aim to stimulate discussion about the role of assessment in the learning experiences of students in music and other creative and performing arts settings. The articles offer insights on how assessment can be employed in the learning setting to enhance outcomes for students both during their studies at higher education institutions and after graduation. An international group of leading researchers offers an exciting array of papers that focus on the practice of assessment in music, particularly in higher education settings. Contributions reflect on self-, peer- and alternative assessment practices in this environment. There is a particular emphasis on the alignment between assessment, curriculum structure and pedagogy.

This book explores Singapore's language education system. Unlike previous volumes, which discuss the bilingual requirement for learning, it focuses on Singapore's quadrilingual system, bringing together articles on each of the four languages - English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil - as well as articles that examine more than one language. It highlights past successes, current concerns, and future directions for language education. The book focuses on classroom pedagogy in all four official languages, showcasing how languages are taught and learned in Singapore as a basis for better understanding the system "from the inside out." The authors present empirical, classroom-based studies on language pedagogy in all four languages, as well as updated information on the current socio-political context and how it has influenced attempts at pedagogical innovation. Consideration is given to the dialectical relationship between policy and practice. The chapters also include discussions of pre-school-age learning, influences of language policy, home literacy practices, and commentaries by international language-in-education scholars. This approach also provides a basis for international comparison - especially for those who are interested in fostering English proficiency while maintaining one or more national languages. The volume is particularly important in light of the continuing international efforts to integrate English into national educational systems where it is not the dominant language.

This book brings together a group of leading international scholars to examine the paradoxical roles of schooling in reproducing and legitimizing large-scale structural inequalities along the axes of race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and disability. Through critical engagements with contemporary theories of class and cultural critique, the book questions the inherited dogma that underlies both liberal and conservative and also social democraticapproaches to teaching and makes a spirited case for teaching as a critical and revolutionary act.

A rare insider's view of educational development and problems in China since economic reform began in 1978, this volume critically examines the issue of political socialization through curriculum and compares the curriculum used during the Cultural Revolution with that compiled and used throughout China in 1988. Also explored are problems with student dropouts and teacher motivation in rural education and government-supported nonformal education; the tracking system and vocational education development in urban schools; problems that came about with economic and political reform; and the issue of inequality existing between and within rural and urban schools.

Turning to recent decentralization efforts in school administration, Jing Lin analyzes evidence suggesting that educational policy is politically controlled. Additionally, the development of educational research in the 1980s and 1990s constitutes the topic of one chapter, based on hundreds of published books and papers. Finally, Lin reflects on the massive student movement that arose in the spring of 1989 and delineates the social, economic, and political changes that sparked it. This final section treats these educational changes as an interconnected whole that underlay the movement and gave it such distinctive characteristics as nonviolence and a rational, constructive outlook.

Curriculum Windows: What Curriculum Theorists of the 2000s Can Teach Us about Schools and Society Today is an effort by students of curriculum studies, along with their professor, to interpret and understand curriculum texts and theorists of the 2000s in contemporary terms. The authors explore how key books/authors from the curriculum field of the 2000s illuminate new possibilities forward for us as scholar educators today: How might the theories, practices, and ideas wrapped up in curriculum texts of the 2000s still resonate with us, allow us to see backward in time and forward in time - all at the same time? How might these figurative windows of insight, thought, ideas, fantasy, and fancy make us think differently about curriculum, teaching, learning, students, education, leadership, and schools? Further, how might they help us see more clearly, even perhaps put us on a path to correct the mistakes and missteps of intervening decades and of today? The chapter authors and editors revisit and interpret several of the most important works in the curriculum field of the 2000s. The book's Foreword is by renowned curriculum theorist William H. Schubert.

Looking for a better way? Well here it is! This book is so practical it is scary. Really! Whether you are a first year teacher, seasoned teacher, an administrator or still in college trying to decide if the education route is for you, this book works. The author gives clearly detailed ideas guiding you through the first days and weeks of school. She provides tables and charts to further articulate ideas about how to make the concepts work. She does not leave anything out. The title may seem a bit unorthodox, but there is a reason for that. Textbooks and information alone do not engage our children in the classroom or in life. When we teach them how to develop their individual and collective sense of character first, they become engaged in learning and never look back. This book is a must read for any organization on the cutting edge of education today.

Critical Pedagogy and Global Literature enables a better pedagogical praxis by offering both wide-ranging theoretical explorations and results grounded in experience. Part One of the book focuses on various aspects of critical pedagogy and its importance for teaching world literature by offering ten carefully selected chapters written by established and emerging scholars in the fields of critical pedagogy, world literature, and postcolonial studies. Part Two of the book offers six brief, praxis-driven essays by instructors who have taught world literature courses at the university level. This comprehensive theoretical and praxis-driven engagement shows how teaching world literature can be accomplished with the goal of changing and transforming the world.