The issue of modularising vocational education and training (VET) systems has been the subject of heated debate in many European countries. In particular, in Scotland the use of modules within the curriculum has been seen as either restrictive or liberating depending upon the theoretical stance taken. At a more pragmatic level modularisation of…

Educational agencies are going through a difficult transition, with important consequences in terms of de-legitimacy of the social mandate historically assigned to the school. The reason for this widespread unease can be traced to the fact that today we live in a complex system. This paper arises within this problematic framework with the intent…

In the article the principles, strategies, methods, techniques of communicative pedagogy of American scientist Thomas Gordon and system components of effective communication training for parents, teachers and administrators are enlightened. It has been determined that the main principle of Thomas Gordon's pedagogy is an interactive way of knowing…

Many academic librarians who provide library instruction have never received formal training in educational theory and methods. To bridge this gap and improve the teaching skills of instruction librarians, some academic libraries have established peer review of teaching programs. Despite the recognized benefits of peer review, it may not be…

Communication competence is a leading agent in professional success and the ability most sought after by employers. Educational institutions benefit by producing students with such sought-after skills. However, there is a disconnect between skills practitioner stakeholders desire and what graduates deliver. Strengthening the value of a business…

The primary goal of education is to provide meaningful instruction to all students while fostering generalization throughout the curriculum and beyond. As such, educators continuously seek out instructional methods and techniques to appropriately meet individual student needs while choosing "what" and "how" to teach. The current work provides an…

In this target article, we argue that current approaches to gifted education are based on the erroneous view that to understand the development of exceptionality we need to understand firstly the components of giftedness, including cognitive such as intelligence and non-cognitive factors such as motivation. In contrast, systemic approaches to…

Based on over twenty years of empirical and intellectual work about knowledge production in the field of educational administration, I examine the origins and development of the canon, methodologies and knowledge workers in England. I focus on the field as being primarily concerned with professional activity and how and why this was established…

This essay reviews six competing positions on U.S. school reform: a speech from Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan; Diane Ravitch's "The Death and Life of the Great American School System"; Frederick Hess's "The Same Thing Over and Over"; Charles Payne's "So Much Reform, So Little Change"; Anthony Byrk and others' "Organizing School for…

Family-centred practice has been included in the Victoria, Australia Early Years Learning and Development Framework as a key practice principle for professionals working across all early years programs in that state. While this model of partnership for engaging and collaborating with families has long been used in the early intervention sector,…

This article presents the experiences of nursery and primary head teachers (n = 12) on the English Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) after its first year of implementation in 2010. Findings are drawn from a subset of data (head teachers of primary and nursery schools) which forms part of a larger Department for Children, Schools and Families…

This article presents the author's response to D.G. Mulcahy's "Energizing Liberal Education" which compellingly contends that the long-term viability of liberal education depends upon both methodological and curricular diversification aimed at the "many sided development" of the student. Professor Mulcahy thoughtfully espouses both the cultivation…

America is on the precipice of ruining its foundation for success. The movement toward a centralized education system through federal mandates and common curriculum and testing is threatening the very system that has contributed to America's success and that holds the potential for its future success: that is a decentralized, diverse, largely…

The Earth Charter represents the philosophy and ethics necessary to create a new period of human civilization. Understanding and adoption of this new vision is the most important mission of education for sustainable development (ESD). This article argues that for successful implementation of ESD principles at school, the school education system…

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…