As social and economic problems change, so do the goals of education reformers. This content analysis of presidential debates transcripts, state of the union addresses, and education budgets from 2000 to 2015 reveals the ways in which presidents and presidential candidates have framed education goals thus far in the twenty-first century. Using…

This is Ghanaian case study that focuses on widening participation in national education policy-making via a social justice panel. It analyses the narratives of two former members of the Ghana Education Reform Committee and focus-groups interviews of ordinary Ghanaians. While the narratives of commission members are in favour of maintaining the…

Educators, policymakers, and citizens face questions of how to allocate scarce resources in the pursuit of competing goals for children and youth. Our goal in this article is to provide decision-makers with a framework for considering allocative problems in education, explicitly highlighting the implications of relevant feasibility constraints. We…

Modern conventional education is full of impositions on its students. Schools often impose on students where they must be, what they must do and learn, how they must behave and communicate in the places and the ways that the teacher and school define. However, the legitimacy of this imposition--how much of this imposition is necessary, useful,…

In this paper, I will reflect on the initial reconnaissance, action, and reflection cycle of my doctoral research, exploring Community Philosophy as a tool for critical parental engagement in a primary school (Elliot, 1991). I will examine how I reflexively engaged with my influence on participants, which then significantly influenced the framing…

What do artists do when they work in schools? Can teachers do the same? These were the questions at the heart of our recent research, investigating the work of 12 artists working in primary and secondary schools in England. Funded by Creativity, Culture and Education as a "legacy" project of Creative Partnerships (2003-2011) our…

Julian Le Grand, a well-known economist, identifies two types of public sector employee: knights (with altruistic motives) and knaves (with self-interested motives). He argues that the quasi-market, predicated on the assumption of knavish behaviour (or agent self-interest), is the most effective way of directing school managers and teachers…

When school leaders make calculated decisions to deviate from hierarchical or cultural directives and norms, they may be viewed as mavericks or brigands. This paper details a process of ethical checking to help differentiate ethical decisions from more arbitrary or self-serving decisions. The paper examines conflicts inherent in many professional…

The vision for the future embedded in inclusive values has fuelled educational reform. This paper will explore the utopian drive behind inclusion. The contributions of thinkers as diverse as John Dewey, Antonio Gramsci, and Paulo Freire give impetus to efforts to create a better tomorrow. They, and those who have previously struggled for…

Realization of a multiracial democracy is challenged like never before by a new era of color-blind politics and postracial supposition, fueled in part by the election of our first black President in 2008, but contradicted by the chronic persistence of racial segregation and social inequality.

Educational reforms, as initiated in Serbia in 2001, were based on the concept of quality education for all. This concept was put into practice as an inclusive approach in 2010/11. Inclusive education has been defined as a provision of full support and optimal environment for each student to be taught in the nearest school and in a regular class.…

Historically, teachers unions have played a special role in strengthening democratic cultures, and they are urgently called on to do so again. What is needed now more than ever says Kahlenberg, is a "social justice unionism" that goes beyond the narrow self-interest of members in bargaining for better wages and benefits to also engage in…

Colleges and universities incorporate international, student-teaching programs as a way to help prepare globally minded prospective teachers. This article adds to this conversation, offering insight from a multicase study analysis of three educators conducted 5 years after their experience student teaching in Kenya, East Africa. The researcher…

The current wave of educational reform is complex and situated in market-based initiatives coupled with a renewed emphasis on local autonomy, deliberation, and community--middle-of-the-road reforms. In practice, schools are challenged to develop organizational forms that can support collaboration and community engagement, alongside the…

The purpose of this critical ethnographic study was to examine the nature and meaning of cultural ecology in relation to preparing scholar-practitioner leaders. The ethnography focused on how the discourses and practices within the disciplinary setting of leadership preparation shape the identity of social scholar-practitioner leaders. The…