The author has been reading George R.R. Martin's marvelous fantasy epic, "A Song of Ice and Fire," about a medieval-ish kingdom and its wars and intrigues. What fascinates him most about the narrative is the extent to which it parallels his experiences as a community-college professor and administrator. The author argues that for all the good they…

This article begins by describing a desirable design approach that is only practiced by a few designers today. This design approach is desirable because it responds to a society that suffers from a number of illnesses due to communications and artifacts that do not satisfy the needs of people. The article then proposes the kind of design education…

In this article, I provide findings from a multisite case study of three urban high schools. In each of the schools, principals endeavoured to foster the capabilities of their department chairs to enhance school-wide instructional capacity and increase student achievement. Data were gathered from interviews, participant observations and document…

Background: Using mechanical restraints to protect a person who engaged in dangerous self-injury was decreased by manipulation of an establishing operation involving the client choosing the staff person who would work with her. Materials and Methods: The client was a 28-year-old woman diagnosed with autism, bipolar disorder, static cerebral…

In this study, the relations between value-based leadership and distributed leadership behaviors of school principals were defined on the basis of the views of the primary school teachers. A casual research was designed for this. 225 primary school teachers were took part in study group determined the maximum variation sampling method. Data were…

Background: Quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities has been reported in the research literature across differing demographics. There has been, however, little research that has examined in-depth the experiences of women with intellectual disabilities aged 40 years or older. Materials and methods: Fifty-five women from Sydney,…

This article is a response to "Living in the Gutter: Conflict and Contradiction in the Neoliberal Classroom, A Call to Action" (2011, this volume). Among other critical insights, Ayers and Ayers argue that conversations about educational reform must be framed in ways that center education for democracy. Here, the author builds on this…

Calls for shared curricula for the common standards have triggered renewed debates about who decides what students learn, and even about varied meanings of the word "curriculum," adding layers of complexity to the job of translating the broad learning goals into classroom teaching. The most recent calls for common curricula came from the American…

Any kind of practices at schools are made based on a planned and programmed process. There is a decision taken prior to every action and it is important at what level these decisions are taken. Development of participative management approach at schools positively affects the teaching process. Education staff participation in decisions causes…

Though viewed as second-class until fairly recently, Canada's system for providing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) now provides relevant post-secondary education that meets the needs of highly skilled professionals in all job categories. As the system evolved, it changed the public view of skills education. This article…

In recent years, education and family policy in the UK has sought to incorporate the views of children and young people through an active participation agenda, in the fulfilment of children's rights under the obligations of the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child. Drawing on empirical evidence, this paper suggests that this aspiration is…

Group decision-making can result in important benefits for organizational effectiveness. However, collaborative environments do not emerge organically. Effective leadership is critical for group success. Educational leaders must understand group processes and the importance of creating a culture that supports collaboration. Student discipline for…

In this paper I report on leadership for sustainability in regional schools in Western Australia (WA) in the context of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI-WA). Case studies are developed to examine leading cultural change in eight WA regional schools with data presented in three representative narrative accounts. Consistency is…

Nation states around the world, including Singapore, are endeavouring to reform their education systems in order to successfully compete in the global economy (Carnoy, 1999). With human capital as Singapore's primary resource, it is unsurprising that the state has placed great emphasis on strengthening the economic-education nexus. This tight…

Many states have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which emphasize "deeper learning" skills, such as mastery of core academic content, critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. But can the new tests being developed to align with the CCSS be used to promote deeper learning and high-quality classroom instruction?…