The general trend in language education over the years has been to ascribe to language learners increasing power and responsibility for their own learning. While this is commendable, the autonomy of learners is still constrained by views of language that see learners as being mere "hosts" of another's language. Such views restrict…

Educators across the United States are facing more pressure to have more success, with more mandates, more testing, and more accountability and are being given less money and fewer resources to make it all happen. Essentially, schools are being instructed by the state and federal departments of education to make up a king-size bed with queen-size…

Announced by government in "New Challenges, New Chances" in December 2011, the sector-led Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning has been tasked with raising the quality, and improving the outcomes and impact, of adult vocational teaching and learning for learners and employers. It is a commission focused on the future--of…

This article describes some of the main technological trends and issues of the European landscape of research and innovation in educational technology. Although several innovative technologies (tools, architectures, platforms, or approaches) emerge, such as intelligent support to personalization, collaboration or adaptation in mobile, game-based,…

This descriptive survey research studied innovation for transformation in Nigeria university education: implications for the production of critical and creative thinkers. Thus, students' perception of knowledge generation and dissemination by university lecturers were elicited. From a population of registered students in a Nigerian university, 200…

The superintendents have become more of educational leaders in order to meet the federal mandates of NCLB and IDEA which have the goal of students with disabilities being proficient in reading and math by 2014, while providing FAPE to meet their individual program and service requirements. The increased accountability pressure of NCLB for federal…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate superintendents' trust-building characteristics and behaviors as perceived by principals and to determine the relationship between these perceptions and principals' job satisfaction and willingness to take risks. To this end, the researcher developed and piloted a 38-item questionnaire to…

The international community increasingly deploys advisers to work alongside high-level officials in postconflict and transitional countries as part of the peacebuilding and reform process. But those advisers are often underprepared to do their jobs. Drawing on the author's experience in helping to design and develop an innovative U.S. Department…

For a long time, children with special needs were educated along with other regular children in schools. The notion of special education was a western phenomenon and concept in Nigeria. How were children with special needs educated without special education programs? This paper will provide cultural perspectives on issues of disability and caring…

A notable trend in recent years has been the introduction of competency-based training (CBT) in vocational education and training systems in many countries. Several CBT training programmes in Ghana have been accredited and quality assured. This article explores the perception of both students and lecturers towards CBT and examines factors that…

Despite recent research indicating that students require explicit teaching in the key reading skill of comprehension in order to become successful readers, a significant gap in the research relates to teacher professional development (PD) in the area. A recent Irish study used gathered survey data to create a year-long PD programme for teachers in…

Connecting innovation with gifted education is a necessity not only in the current political climate but also because it is a field with deeply held beliefs about the importance of problem solving, creativity, imagination, and invention--all critical components of innovation. In this address, the author focuses on three key ideas. First, she…

Various injurious effects of schooling have been documented in the literature over the years, leading some authors to characterise schooling as violence. In this article we draw together such research to present an account of the ways in which schooling in the Global North damages young people (and their teachers). The range of damage includes:…

The University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT-Dallas) was conceived 10 years ago as a public institution along tried-and-true lines--a comprehensive metropolitan university meant to serve a diverse student population and to improve the economic outlook of a part of the city that prosperity has left behind. But that was before management consultants…

This article examines the interplay among the environment, learning, leaders, and innovations in school systems. Six conditions that, together, have potential to shape an environment that supports organizational learning are illustrated with data from two leaders of innovation: one in an environment that resisted change; the other in a supportive…