This article examines, from a broad historical perspective, how Australia's negative "linguistic culture" has shaped languages education in our country. Language teachers' pre- and inservice training does not often address this topic. Yet to be able to anchor one's profession within a historical, sociocultural, and political perspective,…

This study reports on the uneasy compromise in language and education policies in the post-Soviet Republic of Moldova since its first moves toward independence in 1989. Taking an approach that posits language policies as needing to be anchored in both international norms and the idiosyncrasies of local conditions, the discussion explores the…

For the past 20 years, youth services in England have increasingly articulated their work in terms of curriculum, yet youth work academics have consistently maintained that a youth work curriculum is anathema. This paper argues that youth work necessarily has a curriculum; however, it is not the formal school curriculum, nor is it explicitly…

Teacher education in Australia is subject to a great deal of policy interest at both Federal and State levels; it is also part of education policy shifts for the whole university sector. This paper explores Australian teacher education policy in terms of its governance, focusing on three current "sites of contestation": university…

In this paper I conduct a historical analysis of the emergence of ALBA in Nicaragua prior to Daniel Ortega's return to the presidency and the country's official membership in the initiative from January 2007 on. I argue that ALBA is a rival structure that evolved from the contradictions inherent in hegemonic globalisation. Within the framework of…

District-level leadership often has been perceived as irrelevant to educational reform. This study compared district political and apolitical board and superintendent turnover to student performance change on the state criterion-referenced test. Results included student test score decline as board turnover increased, particularly in smaller…

In this article, I reflect on Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu's classic research on the "burden of "acting White"" to develop a long overdue dialogue between Africana studies and critical white studies. It highlights the dialectical nature of Fordham and Ogbu's philosophy of race and critical race theory by locating the origins of the "burden of…

Nanotechnology is viewed by those in favor of its development in two different ways, and the divide is not recent. This article describes the origins of the differing visions of nanotechnology and examines their broader impacts. The typical history of the field tells nothing about these differing visions, which perhaps misleads. At least two…

The paper reflects on the use by the UK central government of statistical evidence in educational policy matters. Particular attention is given to school league tables. The paper is generally critical of government attitudes, but suggests that progress towards rational decision-making does occur. (Contains 5 notes.)

Traditionally, violent acts against children in Japan were considered private, isolated incidents largely outside the reach of government policy and legal action. Increasingly, however, public perception in Japan, mainly driven by the mass media, has shifted away from such complacency. A few well-publicized attacks on children have forced Mombusho…

President Bush's education legacy is inexorably tied to the No Child Left Behind Act, the comprehensive K-12 reform law he signed in January 2002. The law has drawn praise for requiring schools to show specific progress in educating minority and low-income children or face sanctions for failing to do so. But critics say the Bush administration…

The role of education in fostering economic growth and social development is universally recognized. Although history places the provision of education firmly within national control, countries increasingly search outside national borders for alternative distribution frameworks. Tellingly, the World Trade Organization recently included education…

In a great number of countries religion plays an important role in public life. As far as Greece is concerned, it has always been a key element in public life including education. Religious education is a compulsory subject taught in a confessional and catechist way, while Orthodoxy saturates school culture, making the Greek educational system…

Employing Bourdieu's notion of social field, this research conceptualizes New Jersey's alternate route to teacher certification as a contested arena, in which the interests, ideologies, and visions of different stake-holders regarding the character of public education have collided. Findings for this study are primarily based on data from the New…

In 2005 the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the central organisation of unions in New Zealand, initiated a Learning Representatives Project based on the British model. The Government approved an eight-month programme to be funded through its Tertiary Education Commission to "scope the project". Work began not just on scoping, but on…