From 2012 to 2016 all teachers of mathematics, in primary through to upper secondary and adult education, in Sweden are to be given the opportunity of receiving state-coordinated professional development (PD), generally involving around one meeting per week for a year. We examine the ways in which this programme and its content are research-based…

A pair of papers re-examined the evidence from a national initiative to train all teachers in England to bring them up to the level of newly qualified teachers, who are required to know when to use and when not to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in their professional practice. The first paper confirmed that multilevel…

As a participant-observer, the author relates observations, interviews, and surveys from her experience in a Cuban Escuela al Campo ("School to the Countryside," or EAC) camp located on a collective farm outside of the city of Havana. The Pioneers, the youth section of the official Cuban Communist Party, organize the EAC program…

In the period 1917 to 1934, from being a country where almost ninety percent of the population consisted of illiterate peasants, the Soviet Union was transformed into an emerging industrialized society, where almost ninety percent had achieved literacy. The massive campaign which achieved this is described in this article. (Author/CB)

The direction quality assurance and its ancillary practices is taking in the transformation process in South Africa is discussed in this article. The article argues that it is incorrect to suggest that the higher education system has been captured by managerialism. While efficiency is an important driver of the system, the imperatives of redress…

Argues that the British Government's National Curriculum document contains conflicting messages, particularly regarding "relevant education" and "cross curricular learning." Points out what the author considers to be puzzling contradictions and confusions operating within the government's own ideology and educational aims. (TW)

Uses France and England--because of their radically different institutional and ideological traditions in education--to illustrate common trends in educational accountability. Explains general trends affecting advanced capitalist societies at the present time, e.g., the use of corporate management approaches in education and the adoption of…

Presents the results of a survey conducted by the Canadian Society for Education through Art (CSEA). The survey questioned the relevance of policies in place since the late 1960s. The policies addressed subjects including competitions and exhibitions, commercially prepared materials, and the teaching of art. Includes responses and discussion. (MJP)

Discusses the Finnish government's decision of principles concerning the development of adult education in terms of "free cultural and educational work": adult education centers or civic and workers' institutes, folk high schools, and study circles and cultural work of national civic organizations. (MF)

The National Framework for the Recognition of Training (NFROT) is one of the key structures underpinning training reform in Australia. NFROT's basic principles and fundamental purposes are supported by almost everyone involved with the framework, and there is strong evidence that NFROT has provided considerable benefits to providers and learners…

Focusing on recent trends in Chinese Taipei, this paper analyzes ways in which adult education policies may be used to establish a successful and permanent foundation for lifelong learning. First, political, social, and educational dimensions of life in Chinese Taipei are examined, highlighting a major weakness in the field of adult education due…

In January 2006 the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) launched its draft publication, "A Professional Development Framework for e-Learning" (ePD) for consultation with the post-16 education and training sector. In March 2006 the Learning and Skills Council funded the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) to run a pilot to…

This bulletin provides an update on current developments in core skills in further education. Section 1 contains information about the Further Education Unit's (FEU's) Core Skills Post-16 project, in which colleges are testing principles that underpin all good quality learning programs. Important findings and examples are outlined under the five…

Despite Botswana's commitment to the ideals of democracy and equity, abject and relative poverty are widespread among the country's rural populace. Since Botswana's independence, its rates of poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy have increased. The situation necessitates fundamental changes in the lives of Botswana's rural residents. Such change…

This document presents a framework for vocational education (VE) in Australia. Section 1 presents an overview of the range of references in Australia's "Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century" to elements of VE in schools and linkages between the education/training sector and business/industry. Section 2…