One of the key trends currently affecting the practices of teaching, learning, and creative inquiry, as mentioned in "The 2011 Horizon Report," is that learners prefer flexibility and mobility. Mobile learning is gaining popularity as an emerging trend facilitating the process of teaching and learning in the 21st Century. Research indicates…

While reformers and policymakers focus on achievement gaps, testing, and accountability, millions of students mentally and emotionally disengage from learning and many gifted teachers leave the field. Ironically, today's schooling is damaging the single most essential component to education--the joy of learning. How do we recognize the "wounds"…

In fewer than 10 years since the year 2000, systems around the world have been affected by global changes and new understandings that challenge what it means to improve schools and build capacity for improvement. This article examines seven issues in the last decade and their implications for "building capacity for improvement". It concludes that…

Unbundling is the process of deconstructing established structures and routines and reassembling them in new ways. It can occur as structural unbundling, which concerns the physical structures and delivery systems of schooling, or as content unbundling, which concerns the scope and sequence of what is learned.

Education reform towards a whole school approach to catering for diversity within Hong Kong government schools has seen the initiation of several strategies to support mainstream schools in this transition. One of these approaches is the use of a resource school model. Special and mainstream schools in Hong Kong are being invited to establish…

Development education and global learning, whilst being part of the landscape of education in England for over thirty years, have to date not had a high profile. What the terms mean, and their value and contribution to educational goals, have been described and defined in only a handful of publications. The introduction of the Global Learning…

The Chinese have been using standardized testing for centuries. Ancient Greeks have tried it for centuries since 5th and 4th BC. There is no evidence that they have become successful in educating their children through an imperial or elitist system. The impact of standardizing the education on a nation is significant. This is not only true for not…

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…

Modernization efforts in education, which were initiated in the 19th century, can be seen as forerunners of the modernization attempts in the Republic period. In this article, Greek education system in the Ottoman Empire will be discussed and the effects and importance of the changes observed in Greek girls' education in 19th and 20th centuries on…

History courses at The University of Auckland are typically assessed at two or three moments during a semester. The methods used normally employ two essays and a written examination answering questions set by the lecturer. This study describes an assessment innovation in 2008 that expanded both the frequency and variety of activities completed by…

The Secretary of State for Education's recent announcement of an English Baccalaureate at 16+ has opened up a debate about the nature of general education in the English upper secondary system. Drawing on evidence from national and local studies, we argue that it is important to see general education in England, not only in terms of the…

Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) make a compelling case for a coherent model of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, all built around a well-specified theory of learning. Arguing that dominant assessment policies and practices tend to drive pedagogy and student attitudes toward learning in pernicious ways, Black et al. make an argument that is…

Frank H. Wood is both a pioneer and a first-generation leader, and his contributions continue to influence the field today. Dr. Wood participated in several "firsts." In the 1950s, he taught the first public school class in Minnesota for emotionally disturbed students, and he later served as the first coordinator of programs for students…

This paper explores the culture of education policy making in Shanghai using the conceptual tool of a "global assemblage". A global assemblage is essentially a collection of ideas and practices that arise from the interplay between a global form and situated sociocultural elements. Focusing on the global form of curriculum reform, this…

This article aims to review the historical development of continuing professional development programmes (CPDPs) for teachers, as well as the policies and objectives of such programmes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) from the inception of these programmes until now. Styles of CPDPs that the Education Training Centres (ETCs) offer are…