This article reflects on the meanings of comparing and contrasting in international and comparative education, using two education utopias as case studies. It is inspired by our visits to schools in rural China and Finland and by our interest in issues of social justice, equality/equity. The article also discusses the meanings of the fashionable…

In the article, some countries' experience in organizing professional training and activities of probation officers has been analyzed. Based on comparative analysis of activities of the Probation Institute abroad, it has been determined that probation service has different functional and organizational features in individual countries. For…

This inventory of adult basic education and basic skills programmes takes the form of 35 system descriptions, covering 32 countries (all EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey). Its main goal is to support mutual understanding and dialogue between countries. The document has been drafted on the basis of a standalone…

This article explores early childhood curriculum reform in Australia and Singapore in order to identify international trends in early childhood education (ECE), similarities in curriculum reform initiatives and implementation strategies adopted. We have observed the existence of many shared ideas across the two contexts that may influence…

The paper draws on a series of Australian Research Council (ARC) projects aimed at understanding better the process of doctoral examination. The early phase focussed on the Australian doctorate, which functions without a Viva, while the later phase was concerned with comparing the earlier findings with analysis of the United Kingdom (UK) and New…

This article focuses on analysing the effect of educational differentiation policies of OECD educational systems on socioeconomically disadvantaged students, based on data from PISA 2009. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a definition of two subgroups of disadvantaged students: those that achieve high scores, and those obtaining scores…

This ethnographic study examines the educational struggles of Russian-born Buriat Mongolian children studying in China at a Mongolian/Mandarin school, by emphasizing conflicting educational paradigms between the Russian and Chinese systems. Educational practices are compared. Standardized assessment, teacher-centered classrooms, and group-…

Not surprisingly, in an increasingly neo-liberal context of international competition for educational prestige, conversations about teaching and teacher preparation have taken hold across the globe. Further complicating these matters is that ideas about teaching, learning, and learning to teach cannot be understood or analyzed in a vacuum; that…

This article considers the role of diverse institutions in framing adult learning systems. The focus is on institutional characteristics and configurations in different countries and their potential impact on the extent of adult learning, as well as on inequalities in access to adult learning. Typologies of education and training systems as well…

We know little about how internationalisation processes are understood, rationalised and prioritised in different parts of the world. A global survey of internationalisation in universities was undertaken at the University of Southampton to fill this gap. Its purpose was to discover how strategic leaders in universities in different parts of the…

The issue of teacher effectiveness has risen rapidly to the top of the education policy agenda, and the federal government and states are considering bold steps to improve teacher and leader effectiveness. One place to look for ideas is the experiences of high-performing education systems around the world. Finland, Ontario, and Singapore all have…

This article presents an interview with Michael Barber, a partner at McKinsey & Company, leading its global education practice. He has been working on major challenges of performance, organization, and reform in government and the public services, especially education, in the U.S., U.K., and other countries. Barber was instrumental in preparing…

In today's world, the developments being experienced in geography education are focusing on issues like the following: integrating technology into geography courses, placing a comprehensive and integrative perspective regarding geography into the curriculum, stressing independent learning and team-learning simultaneously, educating students to…

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…

While great progress has been made by the international community to promote inclusive education for all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender or disability, many countries still continue to marginalize and exclude students in educational systems across the globe. High-stakes assessments in market-driven economies…