Borrowing from banks has become a common practice among Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs), and operating with a heavy debt load has become a characteristic of Chinese higher educational development. Substantial financial commitments acquired by HEIs during their rapid expansion since 1998 are now having serious consequences: numerous…

This article utilises the main principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness as one conceptual and methodological strategy for making sense of Nepal's recent experiences of educational reform, primarily an increasing loss in ownership in the transition from a project to programme (SWAp) aid delivery paradigm. Whilst drawing on…

International exhibitions provide a good arena in which to study the circulation and transfer of educational ideas and practices in the second half of the nineteenth century. Structured around themes of industry, progress, and civilisation, and defined as ephemeral museums of the new world of commodities for the consumption of the masses, they…

This article describes the changes and challenges that Competency-based education (CBE) has bought to the higher education arena. Cautions are being offered about the most prominent features of the version being promoted today, particularly its hyper-individualization. CBE's recent prominence is due to better technology, a friendly policy…

The new Labour government that entered office in 1997 made early childhood education and care (ECEC) a policy priority, after decades of neglect. The article provides an overview of the subsequent policy developments, looking at three areas in more detail: governance and finance; the organisation and management of services; and the workforce. It…

It is now 15 years since the signing of the 1998 Belfast (or "Good Friday") Peace Agreement which committed all participants to exclusively democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences, and towards a shared and inclusive society defined by the principles of respect for diversity, equality and the interdependence of people. In…

A state legislator who played a key role in enacting the nation's first charter school law in Minnesota tells the story of shaping the ideas and the bill. She now looks for ways that charter schools can coexist with traditional public schools to deliver a better education for all children.

As the demand for international education increases, middle-income non-English speaking countries, such as South Korea, play an increasing role in hosting the world's students. This mixed-methods study compares the different motivations and experiences of international students within and outside the East Asian region. Based on findings, this…

This article provides the rationales for three recommendations for the future of Instructional Technology: (1) instructional technology as a field seems to have reached a tipping point, where the basic approach to instructional design has stabilized to where further research at this level has waned, suggesting that it is time for instructional…

The article presents a review of the experience of practical testing (based in 385 experimental sites of the Russian Academy of Education) of current achievements of scientific academic schools that are developing the traditions of education. The organization of the innovative scientific and practical activity of the experimental sites of the…

The international literature contains few formal analyses of the state of Colombian higher education and its most critical issues. This article systematically and comparatively analyzes the emergence of Colombian doctoral programmes within a national and international context. It shows that, while Colombia has experienced a significant growth in…

The decline in the number of UK universities offering undergraduate degree programmes in subjects such as sciences, mathematics, modern languages and humanities has been well documented and is now of real concern. It appears that economics may be going through a decline in new (post-1992) UK universities with many economics programmes having been…

This paper deals with technical education growth, policies in pre and post independent India. The world is moving forward rapidly and positively, into an era where societies and economies are incrementally based on knowledge. The importance of nations in the 21st Century shall be judged not by their economic strength alone, but also by their power…

This article discusses smallness from the point of view of the Sami, an indigenous people of the Arctic, and describes today's Sami education in Finland, the factors that have affected its formation and the challenges in strengthening it. The purpose of the article is to provide ideas to develop Sami education and encourage discovering methods…

This paper proposes relative change theory as an alternative to the common theories used in examining education sector development in the developing regions of the world. The theory specifically seeks to explain the persisting limited impact of development aid efforts. It departs from the Marxist informed dependency and world-systems approach in…