In this article, the author talks about the Race to the Top-District (RttT-D) grant competition. People need to pay attention to RttT-D because the priorities expressed in its requirements are very likely to be harbingers for other competition requirements. If one thinks he/she might apply for any type of competitive federal funding in the future,…

This paper contributes to sport, sociology and the body literature by exploring the "exposure and effect" of culture, in particular bodily practices placed on three adolescent swimmers immersed in the Australian swimming culture using an ethnographic framework. The research reported is particularly notable as it addresses two distinct…

This paper contributes to current debates on the relationship between globalisation and higher education. The main argument of the paper is that we are currently witnessing transnationalisation of academic capitalism. This argument is illustrated by examining the collaboration between transnational corporations and research universities, and how…

The latest batch of states seeking relief under the No Child Left Behind Act dodge pitfalls that tripped up the first round of applicants. In the latest round of applications for waivers under the No Child Left Behind Act, states have learned lessons from their predecessors and dodged pitfalls that triggered some big revisions from first-round…

The Province of Quebec subsidizes nearly 50% of private education, and at the same time heavily regulates private schools. To date, no studies have been done to determine the effect of the unique nature of competition from K-12 private schools on public school education of the sort found in Quebec. The authors used multiple regression to determine…

This article aims to critically examine the media discourse of university students' competiveness. Drawing on commentaries, editorials, and reports from the mainstream local printed media, this study addresses the following questions: (1) Which of these introduces and promotes the support of university students' competitiveness? (2) What is the…

Students in the USA have fallen near the bottom in international competitions and tests in mathematics and science. It is thought that extrinsic factors such as family, community, and schools might be more influential than intrinsic attitudes toward science interest. However, there are relatively few valid and reliable measures of intrinsic…

This new century has witnessed the rapid and frequent emergence of many new information and communications technologies (ICTs). On one hand, digitalisation enhances our economic, social and political lives. But on the other hand, it leads to certain negative social impacts. One prevalent problem is digital divide--the gap between different social…

This is a very special year; it is a Paralympic year featuring the 2012 London Paralympics. So why should teachers consider including disability sport, especially Paralympic sport, in the general physical education (GPE) curriculum? Because students with and without disabilities could benefit from such a curriculum model, and physical education…

Rather than banking enormous gifts, Harvard University built its wealth by adhering to a coherent strategy that gradually became the common sense--the prevailing ideology--of how to build and maintain the wealth of private universities. President Charles W. Eliot formulated this "free money" strategy over the course of his administration from 1869…

Thirty years after pro-market policies were first adopted, how best to organize Chile's scientific enterprise remains as elusive as when universities were state-run and funded. This paper explores scientific research at a for-profit university, University Andres Bello, to ask if a new mode of knowledge production is in the making and with what…

The issue of competition in sports is controversial in certain philosophies of education, especially among the more conservative, often religious, educators. Some understand competition negatively, as opposed to ideal human solidarity, and therefore argue that the practice of sports conveys dangerous attitudes of violence, pride, selfishness, etc.…

Sex segregation is a core organising principle of most modern sports and is a key element in the marginalisation and subordination of girls and women in sport and beyond. In this article I explore the only Olympic-level sport which is not organised around sex segregation--equestrian sport--in order to consider the implications of sex integration…

The recent trend of university internationalization has seen a rapid increase of English as medium of instruction (EMI) courses in Taiwanese tertiary education. Yet, few large-scale studies have been conducted to investigate student learning in EMI courses. This study surveyed 476 students from 25 EMI courses at six universities in Taiwan to probe…

This article is based on our own experiences and that of several of our colleagues teaching social and cultural anthropology in different Dutch institutions for higher learning. We focus in particular on teaching and learning in two small liberal arts and science (LAS) colleges, where anthropology makes up part of the social science curriculum…