Starting from Illich's identification of the compulsory schooling process with the rational initiation rite to the modern, free-market, society, the paper aims to detach the philosophical premises this expensive and unequal ritual is grounded in. After having referred to Van Gennep's conception of the rites of passage, we shall show that the…

Over the last several hundred years, local and national educational systems have evolved from relatively simple systems to incredibly complex, interdependent, policy-laden structures, to which many question their value, effectiveness, and direction they are headed. System Dynamics is a field of analysis used to guide policy and system design in…

This paper reviews the long attempt to transform teacher education in Thailand. Although a brief summary of educational systems and models of teacher preparation from 1892 to 1973 has been provided, the prime focus of the paper is on presenting changes in teacher education from 1974 to the present day, against the backdrop of key political and…

Since the break up of the USSR, its former republics have seen the emergence and rapid expansion of an examinations industry that was, to all intents and purposes, unknown in Soviet times. New national assessment agencies have been established and been charged with, amongst other things, developing high-stakes exams to replace the diverse and…

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) is the largest international study of civic and citizenship education ever conducted. Over 140,000 Grade 8 students, 62,000 teachers, and 5,300 school principals from 38 countries participated in this study. Among these were five from Asia, 26 from Europe, six from Latin America, and…

TO ELIMINATE THE PROBLEMS ARISING FROM THE ACQUISITION OF INAPPROPRIATE MEDIA MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT, AN INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS UNIT WAS DESIGNED, TESTED AND EVALUATED AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION. THE SYSTEM, DEVISED WITH THE AID OF A REVIEW OF THE APPROPRIATE LITERATURE, CONSISTS OF FIVE PHASES--(1) IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM AND…