One of the aims of the implementation of a two-tier degree system was that the new Bachelor's degree should serve two functions: as a basis for further studies (Master's level), and at the same time to qualify for the labour market. This twofold function may be present to a different degree in various countries, but was an explicit policy…

There is an ongoing discussion about teacher education today: its organisation, its academic status and the competence that results from different programmes. There is no one best way to organise teacher education. Rather, the appropriateness of organisation is related to the desired aims. In this article, we discuss one way to organise and…

This article takes up the issue of the internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) reforms, expressed in the way policy instruments such as National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF) are introduced in the European Training Foundation's (ETF) partner countries. There is an international debate and different perspectives regarding…

Victoria University, like many other educational institutions, has recently nominated workplace learning as an essential feature of all its courses. As a contribution to the framing of this shift in an educationally responsible way, this article explores the question: How can tertiary education organisations design on-campus work-based experience…

This paper analyses how Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) can assist in increasing access to quality education and discusses how it can contribute to the content and learning methods on the Education for All (EFA) agenda. It explores both the tensions and the common ground between ESD and EFA, and identifies the potential synergies…

This paper looks at the implementation of the DESD from a global perspective. It takes the position that quality education is fundamental for learning how to live sustainably, and that the DESD needs to be better positioned in the education landscape and conceived as a global social movement that must be fostered and nurtured for the well-being of…

Family-centered care (FCC) is widely acknowledged as supporting positive outcomes in children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and their parents. The intent of this mixed-method research was to enhance understanding of family-centered behaviors in professionals who had received specialty training in the principles of FCC and to explore…

A recent independent review of Australian higher education has made a series of recommendations that the government has largely accepted and that have the potential to alter dramatically that country's university system. In combination, some of the consequences of the review have significant implications for regional education, particularly new…

The idea of emancipation plays a central role in modern educational theories and practices. The emancipatory impetus is particularly prominent in critical traditions and approaches where the aim of education is conceived as that of emancipating students from oppressive structures in the name of social justice and human freedom. What is needed to…

Authentic research, in which students pose original questions and attempt to find the unknown answers, addresses principles of undergraduate education in an ideal way. With careful planning and reasoned considerations it will benefit students, faculty, and institutions.

It is necessary that children are taught pedagogy of peace that includes recognition and rejection of violence, understanding of differences through dialogue, critical awareness of injustice, social justice and imaginative understanding of peace. The prime responsibility of a teacher is to help students to become good human beings, motivated to…

This article argues that the stifling of innovation in teacher education has threatened the vitality of the field. Departing from the typical debate over the merits of the traditional versus the alternative route, this article encourages a pluralistic approach to teacher preparation that the author believes holds promise for revitalizing the field…

This article addresses the gradual introduction of arrangements for validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe. While the debate on how to identify, assess and recognise learning achievements acquired outside formal education and training institutions has been going on for several decades, we can now observe that these approaches are…

The increase in violence in South African schools, as elsewhere, has been associated with a general "decline in moral values". There have been three different responses that emphasise the decline in religious teaching at schools, the loss of traditional values like "ubuntu," communalism and the like; and humankind's increasing…

This article presents the author's response to Randy Garrison's article titled, "Implications of Online and Blended Learning for the Conceptual Development and Practice of Distance Education." Garrison's article seems to have missed many important developments relating to distance education and obscures the evolution of distance…