This book analyses selected critical concepts of policy and practice in educational leadership in five European countries. The editors and contributors cover Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Denmark and Norway, spanning a wide geographical region as well as diverse historical and political contexts. The analyses primarily consider the issues of convergence and divergence in local educational leadership policies and practice that are developing and emerging from traditional structures and discourses under global, trans-national and regional influences. Focusing on both the macro and micro levels, this book examines a range of topics including international benchmarking, inclusive education practices and digital transformation. It will be of interest and value to scholars of educational leadership in Europe, particularly within smaller countries. "Today's local educational leadership policies and practice are connected with the historical roots of five small European countries. In the analysis, perspectives from within each country and comparisons are used interestingly. Both levels of analysis bring out new understandings of the relationship between policy and practice and how they have been related to leadership in a historical discourse. In my opinion the different country chapters and the comparisons represent important new knowledge and I recommended the book as reading for school leaders and policy makers in the field of educational leadership." -Professor Olof Johansson, Umea University, Sweden "The book fills a gap in the research of cross-national research, comparing school leadership issues in two Balkan countries, Croatia and Slovenia, one Baltic country, Lithuania, and two Scandinavian countries, Norway and Denmark. To my knowledge it is the first time there has been this sort of cross-investigation of commonalities and differences in school leadership conditions between these countries in the age of globalization. I am sure that many scholars and practitioners can benefit from this book and hereby recommend it. " -Associate Professor Emeritus Klaus Kasper Kofod, Aarhus University, Denmark

This open access book presents religious literacy as the main explanatory factor when dealing with certain ethnic groups that attract stereotypes which gloss over other personal factors such as age, class, gender and cultural differences. It discusses freedom of religion, and the Christian revival movement. It examines religious literacy and religious diversity in multi-faith schools. It looks into the role of Mosques and Islamic divorce. Finally, it discusses the prevention of violent radicalization and extremism in Finland. Using recent data on Finnish secular society, the book promotes a new understanding which is needed with respect to popular and media portrayal of religion, or with respect to public discussion about religion. It addresses actors in civic society, public servants and higher education.

This book explores specific aspects of Martin Luther's ideas on education in general, and on religious education in particular, by comparing them to the views of other great sixteenth-century reformers: Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and Philip Melanchthon. By doing so, the author highlights both the originality of the German reformer's perspective, and the major impact of the main religious movement at the dawn of modernity on the development of public education in Western Europe. Although Martin Luther was a religious reformer par excellence, and not an educational theorist, a number of pedagogically significant ideas and ideals can be identified in his extensive theological work, which may also qualify him as an education reformer. The Protestant Reformation changed the world, bringing to the fore the relation between faith and education, and made the latter a public responsibility by proving that the spiritual enlightenment of youth, regardless of gender and social origin, is indissolubly linked to instruction in general, and especially to a more thorough understanding of the classical languages, arts, history and mathematics.

This book offers a case study of children and young people in Groruddalen, Norway, as they live, study and work within the contexts of their families, educational institutions and informal activities. Examining learning as a life-wide concept, the study reveals how 'learning identities' are forged through complex interplays between young people and their communities, and how these identities translate and transfer across different locations and learning contexts. The authors also explore how diverse immigrant populations integrate and conceptualize their education as a key route to personal meaning and future productivity. In highlighting the relationships between education, literacy and identity within a sociocultural context, this book is at the cutting edge of discussions about what matters as children learn.

This guide helps teachers to observe and understand the changes in young children's language. It helps practitioners and literacy leaders to create powerful language programmes and to improve techniques for recording and assessing change in children's oral language development.

Executive leadership faces new vulnerabilities. Many leaders privately concede them, but few are willing to talk publicly about them. "Unthinkable" events since 2014 have revealed a new leadership fragility at the highest levels. And the pace of change in 2017 shows that the uncertainties are greater than ever. Is this the "new normal?"Thinking The Unthinkable is an investigation into why leaders have appeared more unable or unwilling than ever to anticipate the biggest issues of our time.In an era of "wicked problems" why are current leadership behaviours and culture apparently not fit for purpose? What are the causes of so many failures in policy and strategic forecasting? Are they human frailties? Or are they systemic failures to embrace smartly new realities?Through hundreds of interviews and conversations, Nik Gowling and Chris Langdon have analysed the deep new challenges to the human capacity of leaders at the highest keels to accept, understand, embrace then handle the extraordinary processes of change and disruption. This essential book draws on the candid responses. The findings are scary and disconcerting.

Sponsored by the Conflict Resolution Education Network

"Far and away the most comprehensive guide available.... Warters presents a wide range of possible program structures and provides the information that organizers and participants need to select the best option."
--James B. Boskey (1942-1999), former editor and publisher, The Alternative Newsletter, and former professor of law, Seton Hall Law School, New Jersey

"Professionally written, logically organized, and delivered in a personal style that is appealing to the reader.... A thoughtful balance of theory with pragmatic suggestions for developing and integrating a mediation program on campus."
--Roger Witherspoon, vice president, Student Development, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

"Warters not only conveys the need for mediation on campus, but the importance of relating mediation to existing mechanisms such as student judicial affairs and other grievance processes."
--Gene Zdziarski, developer of Student Conflict Resolution Services and associate director of Student Life, Texas A&M University, and former board member of the Association for Student Judicial Affairs

Learn how to design, implement, manage, and evaluate mediation and conflict resolution programs on all types of campuses. William C. Warters--a widely-known authority on dispute resolution in higher education--offers administrators, faculty, student services professionals, and student groups step-by-step advice on mediation program development. He draws on case examples and ideas from campuses across the country to illustrate strategies for developing creative and effective responses to conflict. Readers will find a ten-step guide for creating new programs, plus advice on staff training, program promotion, results evaluation, and more. Sample forms, policy language, promotional materials, mission statements, assessment questions, and a case management script are among the many resources provided in this guide.

Great Aspirations is more than a series of case studies from Outstanding schools; it is a collection of stories of what can be achieved when school leaders believe in achieving the exceptional. It is the latest in a collection of case studies emanating from the Going For Great programme, run by the London Leadership Strategy. Going for Great supports outstanding schools to learn from each other and in turn support the schools around them. Now in its 9th year, Going for Great has supported 130 schools. Each year, a new cohort contributes a book of case studies documenting innovative, inspiring initiatives in their schools. This book is the 8th in that series.

This book provides a lively account of one of the most important and overlooked themes in American education. Beginning in the colonial period and working to the present, Gaither describes in rich detail how the home has been used as the base for education of all kinds. The last five chapters focus especially on the modern homeschooling movement and offer the most comprehensive and authoritative account of it ever written. Readers will learn how and why homeschooling emerged when it did, where it has been, and where it may be going. The second edition has been thoroughly revised to incorporate the most recent scholarship on the topic and to provide comprehensive coverage of recent trends.

This unique book has been written to save schools and their leaders from going belly-up. While no book can anticipate every possible horror situation, Mike Waters' book provides anyone who wants their school to steer clear of shocking events the guidance to do just that. But since such things can happen anyway, it is also about preparing and responding to them if they do occur. Think a school-harming won't happen to you or your school? They are happening more and more and often to the best schools and school leaders. Think your crisis management procedures will see you through? Don't bank on it. Many of the events that rock schools don't start off as obvious crises. They may start off as something seemingly minor and containable - a routine parental complaint, perhaps, or a stupid action by a member. Then things spiral out of control. That's the world that many school leaders find themselves in today. And if you want painful, first-hand evidence for this, you have only to read the school leaders' own accounts of their harrowing experiences provided in the book.Because Dr Waters' book draws directly on his experiences of working with schools rocked by crises they never saw coming, it is filled with practical wisdom. But it is also blessedly short. It's a book for busy people who want to save themselves stress and turmoil. If that's you, then read it before it's too late.

Written by acclaimed school reform advocate Phillip C. Schlechty, Leading for Learning offers educators the framework, tools, and processes they need to transform their schools from bureaucracies into dynamic learning organizations. Schlechty explains how to move beyond some of the deeply ingrained and negative conceptions of schooling that guide so much of their practice. He shows educators how they can take advantage of new learning technologies by increasing their organization's capacity to support continuous innovation.

"Clearly not for the fainthearted, Schlechty's engrossing appraisal of American education calls for a bold, truly fundamental transformation of how we run our public schools. Some books are thought-provoking; this one is action-provoking." --W. James Popham, professor emeritus, UCLA

"Dr. Schlechty has once again written an insightful book that educational leaders can use as a road map in transforming our schools into learning organizations designed to serve twenty-first century students." --Dr. Randy Bridges, superintendent, Alamance-Burlington School System, NC

"Because education is ultimately a community responsibility, Schlechty's proposal to shift school systems from bureaucracies to learning organizations can open doors to citizens who are frustrated by the bureaucracy in their efforts to reclaim their role in education. This book is as much for them as it is for professional educators." --David Mathews, president, Kettering Foundation

"Anyone in a school leadership position--from the board room to the classroom--should read this engaging and thought-provoking book. It's a must?-read for all immersed in or contemplating the transformation of public education." -- Claudia Mansfield Sutton, chief communications and marketing officer, American Association of School Administrators

This book critically assesses the role of agrobiodiversity in school gardens and its contribution to diversifying diets, promoting healthy eating habits and improving nutrition among schoolchildren as well as other benefits relating to climate change adaptation, ecoliteracy and greening school spaces. Many schoolchildren suffer from various forms of malnutrition and it is important to address their nutritional status given the effects it has on their health, cognition, and subsequently their educational achievement. Schools are recognized as excellent platforms for promoting lifelong healthy eating and improving long-term, sustainable nutrition security required for optimum educational outcomes. This book reveals the multiple benefits of school gardens for improving nutrition and education for children and their families. It examines issues such as school feeding, community food production, school gardening, nutritional education and the promotion of agrobiodiversity, and draws on international case studies, from both developed and developing nations, to provide a comprehensive global assessment. This book will be essential reading for those interested in promoting agrobiodiversity, sustainable nutrition and healthy eating habits in schools and public institutions more generally. It identifies recurring and emerging issues, establishes best practices, identifies key criteria for success and advises on strategies for scaling up and scaling out elements to improve the uptake of school gardens.

Sociology for Education Studies provides a fresh look at the sociology of education, focusing on themes such as habitus, hegemony and intersectionality. It supports students in applying sociological theory to their own educational experiences and developing an understanding of why social orders appear to be predetermined, why the state continues to create education policy in certain forms and, crucially, how to make it better. The book explores the multi-faceted perspectives that influence the sociology of education and presents examples of the applications of sociology to a wide variety of different educational contexts, including education in schools and in the community. Chapters cover topics such as: Morality, education and social order Spaces of invisibility and marginalisation in schools The global political economy of education Rethinking the 'international perspective' in Education Studies This accessible book is an essential read for students of Education Studies as well as those involved in teacher education and training.

This essential new resource shows how educators can use existing dollars effectively and productively. The key lies in creating finance systems that give schools greater control over their budgets?allowing more resources to flow directly to teachers and students.

Allan Odden and Carolyn Busch look at inefficiencies in current education spAnding, examine varied approaches to school-based financing, and offer recommAndations for restructuring finance systems to meet ambitious reform goals. In addition, they propose ways to make funding more equitable across districts, outline the various elements that make school-based management work, and describe the key roles and responsibilities for the district, even in a decentralized system.

Financing Schools for High Performance is filled with examples of budgets, finance structures and formulas. It will prove to be an indispensable aid for state, district, and school-level administrators.

As Education Secretary from 2014-16, Nicky Morgan had a job she describes as "one of the best in the UK Cabinet". In her time in office, she announced a GBP3.5m programme to be spent promoting classes and extra-curricular activities that build "grit" and "resilience" in a generation of schoolchildren. Here, she reveals why she believes that building characterful children has a positive impact on academic attainment. In writing this book, she had the privilege of visiting some of the schools who won Department for Education character awards. Hearing their stories, looking at the work they've done to promote character education and identify the values they want to embed in their schools and seeing how positive they are about this area of their school life confirmed to her that focusing on character sits alongside gaining knowledge. In fact, the former helps the latter.The generosity of the schools enabled her to capture key examples and bring character education to life. Change in education doesn't happen by accident. It needs a deliberate push.Public awareness needs to be raised, government needs to make it clear to those in the education system that this is a priority and they will support it and, most importantly, the frontline namely schools, heads, teachers, governors and communities need to be enabled to create the conditions to allow systemic change to happen, to take hold and to grow. Education is the greatest investment we can make in the future of our country. And the greatest investment the education system can make in our pupils is to ensure they gain both knowledge and character.

This multidisciplinary collection probes ways in which emerging and established scholars perceive and theorize decolonization and resistance in their own fields of work, from education to political and social studies, to psychology, medicine, and beyond. In this time of renewed global spiritual awakening, indigenous communities are revisiting ways of knowing and evoking theories of resistance informed by communal theories of solidarity. Using an intersectional lens, chapter authors present or imagine modes of solidarity, resistance, and political action that subvert colonial and neocolonial formations. Placing emphasis on the importance of theorizing the spirit, a discourse that is deeply embedded in our unique cultures and ancestries, this book is able to capture and better understand these moments and processes of spiritual emergence/re-emergence.

Over 60 million children of primary-school age, mostly in Africa and Asia, are not in school. More then 250 million are in school but are not experiencing meaningful learning.

In South Africa, school is compulsory for children aged seven to 15, where they are expected to learn core skills – reading, writing and arithmetic – and improve their chances of future employment. But for some, schools are places of persistent failure, of humiliation, of boredom and lack of progress.

Finding Place and Keeping Pace: Exploring meaningful and equitable learning in South African schools is about getting access to and completing a full cycle of good-quality basic education. The contributors span a range of methodologies that include policy analysis, classroom observation and learner assessment, bringing together a rich set of studies that explore a pattern of exclusion from meaningful learning by South African schoolchildren. In particular, they look at schoolchildren who attend school regularly, but are not learning due to inadequate facilities, indifferent teachers and socio-economic factors. They are at risk of either dropping out or leaving school with limited resources.

Within the country, access to schooling remains uneven across and within provinces, and between different communities, with poverty, race and location being major factors. Physical access is just the first hurdle – once through the school gates it is expected that children will be provided with knowledge and values that will allow them to function in the economic and social life of the country. However, this is not the general case – children may be at school but without accessing education.

The authors identify several patterns of exclusion, including different forms of marginalisation, age-inappropriate enrolments, and the fact that school choice, voice and quality remain restricted. They also make policy recommendations, which include improving the quality of teachers and teaching, enhancing parental and community involvement, and clarifying the Language-in-Education policy.

This book examines the benefits of applying the Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) to teacher professional development. At present no government, local authority or school is actively applying Identity Structure Analysis to monitor school improvement: in a profession where turnover is extremely high, ISA is framed as a way for professional development to meet the needs of the specific teacher. Examining idiographic ISA analyses as well as practical advice for implementing professional development programs, the authors scrutinise how ISA can be used in conjunction with mentoring to offset teacher turnover. This practical volume will be of interest and value to scholars and researchers of teacher identity and professional development, as well as researchers and policymakers interested in reducing teacher turnover.

This book examines how democratic education is conceptualised by exploring understandings of emotions in learning. The authors argue that emotion is both an embodiment and enhancement of democratic education: that rationality and emotion are not separate entities, but exist on a continuum. While democratic education would not exist if it were incommensurate with reason, making judgements about the human condition could not happen without invoking emotion. Synthesising Muslim scholarship with the perspectives of the Western world, the book draws on scholars such as Ibn al-Arabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Fazlur Rahman to offer an enriched and expanded notion of democratic education. This engaging and reflective work will be of interest and value to students and scholars of educational philosophy and cultural studies.

This book marks the centenary of the first Waldorf School, established by Rudolf Steiner in Stuttgart in 1919. With around 1,150 Waldorf Schools and over 1,800 Waldorf Kindergartens established in over 60 countries, this book examines and analyses how the initial impulse of Steiner education has grown over the last century to become a worldwide alternative movement in education. The author documents and compares the growth and development of Waldorf schools and Steiner-inspired educational institutions around the world, and determines the extent to which the original underpinning philosophy has been maintained against the contexts and challenges of contemporary global trends in education. Within such diverse international contexts, it is significant that the schools retain such a distinctive identity, and clearly redefine how 'alternative education' can be viewed. This comprehensive volume will be of interest and value to scholars of Steiner education and Waldorf schools as well as alternative education more widely.

Over the past two decades, efforts to improve schools have significantly modified role expectations for principals. Today, school-level administrators are expected to be both visionary leaders and competent managers. Based on the conviction that administration is an amalgam of leadership and management, The School Principal emphasizes the need for practitioners to apply conceptual skills to make "what to do" decisions, to apply technical skills to make "how to do" decisions, and to apply relational skills to engage in democratic decision making. Kowalski frames the book with a discussion of the nature of schools, the roles of principals, and their need to improve schools. The book then provides a balanced treatment of leadership and management, covering issues of personal behavior, instructional leadership, relationship building issues, finances, facilities, personnel management, pupil services, and maintaining safe schools. The text closes with discussion of the vital aspects of practice for contemporary principals, addressing problem solving, collaborative change strategies, and personal commitment to being a principal. Special Features: Vignettes introduce the subject matter in the context of common challenges faced by practitioners. Knowledge-Based Questions and Skill-Based Activities prompt readers to engage with and reflect on the chapter content. The School Principal aligns with the Educational Leadership Consortium Council (ELCC) Standards. Treating principals as concurrently visionary leaders and competent managers, this excellent text addresses the needs of aspiring and practicing principals, providing the tools to build effective and efficient schools.

This book examines how religion operates as an institution of governance and discipline in society. The authors unravel the ways in which adolescents are socialized into adhering to the dictates of their religious identities, which often translates into practices of micro-aggression enacted in and through their interaction with the 'religious other' in schools and classrooms. Through ethnographic immersion in villages in the Gujarat, the authors identify media as a powerful source through which the dominant ideology of religious discrimination is perpetuated among adolescents. Subsequently, a critical media education framework was developed in order to equip these young people with the critical skills needed to challenge power relations, with the goal being to identify resources for resistance within themselves and their immediate media environments. Using pedagogic techniques such as spatial and cultural mapping, content creation and applied theatre practices to create a reflective yet practical guide, the findings of this book can be applied to a wide range of socio-cultural contexts.

This volume brings together many of South Africa's leading scholars of education and covers the full range of South African schooling: from financing and policy reform to in-depth discussions of literacy, numeracy, teacher development and curriculum change. The book moves beyond a historical analysis and provides an inside view of the questions South African scholars are now grappling with: Are there different and preferential equilibria we have not yet thought of or explored, and if so what are they? In practical terms, how does one get to a more equitable distribution of teachers, resources and learning outcomes? While decidedly local, these questions resonate throughout the developing world. South Africa today is the most unequal country in the world. The richest 10% of South Africans lay claim to 65% of national income and 90% of national wealth. This is the largest 90-10 gap in the world, and one that is reflected in the schooling system. Two decades after apartheid it is still the case that the life chances of most South African children are determined not by their ability or the result of hard-work and determination, but instead by the colour of their skin, the province of their birth, and the wealth of their parents. Looking back on almost three decades of democracy in South Africa, it is this stubbornness of inequality and its patterns of persistence that demands explanation, justification and analysis. "This is a landmark book on basic education in South Africa, an essential volume for those interested in learning outcomes and their inequality in South Africa. The various chapters present conceptually and empirically sophisticated analyses of learning outcomes across divisions of race, class, and place. The book brings together the wealth of decades of research output from top quality researchers to explore what has improved, what has not, and why." Prof Lant Pritchett, Harvard University "There is much wisdom in this collection from many of the best education analysts in South Africa. No surprise that they conclude that without a large and sustained expansion in well-trained teachers, early childhood education, and adequate school resources, South Africa will continue to sacrifice its people's future to maintaining the privileges of the few." Prof Martin Carnoy, Stanford University "Altogether, one can derive from this very valuable volume, if not an exact blueprint for the future, then certainly at least a crucial and evidence-based itinerary for the next few steps." Dr Luis Crouch, RTI

This book offers a nuanced understanding of how two different theories of leadership can be applied to achieve better results within schools. These leadership theories - Instructional Leadership and Leadership for Learning - have assisted our recent understanding of school leadership. This book interrogates the theories themselves as well as their impact on education systems around the world. It also looks at how they can be practically applied to educate school leaders within their schools and beyond, building partnerships with families, schools and other community agencies serving students. In doing so, the book considers the possibility that these theories are not opposed, but two sides of the same coin. Both are underpinned by the question 'how do we provide the best educational experience for students?'. The answer to this question will determine the way leaders go about the task of leading schools. This important book will be of interest and value to students and scholars of educational leadership, as well as educational leaders themselves.

This book addresses the issue of de-spiritualization in education through an interdisciplinary lens. It draws on curriculum scholarship of Dwayne Huebner, Martin Heidegger's interpretation of Plato's allegory of the cave, Buddhism, theories and philosophies of quantum physics, and philosophical hermeneutics, among others. In doing so, the author identifies the relationship between spiritual truth and education and probes the nature of consciousness, self, and reality. On this basis, she works to explore curriculum as an experience of consciousness transformation vital to the essence and purpose of education and argues for reason with faith and faith with reason as well as the imperative of curriculum imbued with spiritual wisdom and lived experiences.