The rationale for this article is that the actors in the South African higher education system, and particularly those with the responsibility for leading it, need to be clear about the arguments in the transformation debate and in particular about how these get at what is actually happening within it, and to be-consciously and self-critically…

In England, until May 2010, the New Labour party had been in power for thirteen years. This paper is a reflection back upon its period in office and its strident policies on parents and families. It questions its stance on parental "voice and choice," looks at issues of trust and contract, and considers the idea of "parent…

While school-finance lawsuits have attracted significant attention in the legal community and generated numerous state-specific case studies, nationwide analyses of the effects of school-finance judgments (SFJs) have been relatively few. This small pool of studies has produced some common conclusions, namely, that such judgments reduce funding…

In a globalizing world, local and global governance arrangements are increasingly interdependent, which produces harmonization in some instances and new tensions and contradictions in others. Analysis shows that successive waves of globalization have affected the governance of education in Viet Nam differently. It shows that the globalization of…

Zero exclusion schools are possible. More realistically, clusters of schools, with support, coordination and brokering by the local authority (LA) or through local partnerships, can organise and sustain an inclusive educational community. Exclusion from school is a quiet mockery of "Every Child Matters." Even with the coalition…

This paper provides a media analysis of three interrelated sets of newspaper articles dealing with youth, schooling and violence. Understanding the media as a dominant and powerful cultural text that creates the realities it describes, the paper takes a critical view of the 'standpoint' of recent media representations of the Cronulla (Sydney,…

This paper explores contemporary Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum in Australia in the context of the ongoing development of a new national curriculum. Drawing on policy documents and academic commentaries it reviews and problematises the current position and prospective development of HPE in the Australian Curriculum, examining key…

This article looks at research undertaken into two international schools focusing on micropolitics and the importance of school location. Location appears to have a significant impact on the behaviour of those associated with each school, such as reactions to physical environment, local culture and clientele. These affect the micropolitical…

Since the return of the Labour government to power in the UK in 1997 issues of social inclusion have risen up the political and statutory agenda within higher education (HE). This study reports the findings of disabled students lived experiences and views of transition from induction through to employability within one HE institution. The study…

As a flashpoint for specific instances of conflict, Muslim sartorial practices have at times been seen as being antagonistic to "western" ideas of gender equality, secularity, and communicative practices. In light of this, I seek to highlight the ways in which such moments of antagonism actually might be understood on "cosmopolitical" terms, that…

Education is currently one of the key resources that enable countries to flourish and grow economically; as world experience has shown, the importance of this factor will increase steadily. To a large extent, the full-fledged restructuring of the Russian economy depends on the character and effectiveness of transformations in Russia's system of…

The article tries to answer two questions: Has the education system of the GDR disappeared without a trace? What role could academics in the field of education from the GDR play after the state of the GDR was dissolved? The policies of the East German states are looked at with respect to the heritage of the GDR education system, and attention is…

This paper outlines a project to transform part of the shattered education system of Kosovo. By way of case study, it presents some of the factors that were impediments to the formation of a reformed system for training new teachers. This was part of an attempt by international agencies to assist Kosovo in modernizing its education system.…

The federal Bilingual Education Act (BEA; 1968) augured a new era in the national politics of diversity, schooling, and state, and California became symbolic of the problems and promise of bilingual pedagogy. This article explores how the BEA was pivotal not only in conceiving a federal commitment to the educational achievement of…

This paper articulates the concepts of political culture, schooling and slavery in order to comprehend the process of instituting modern schools in Brazil, during the period immediately after Independence in 1822. With a view to this, it takes as its starting point the strategies and proposals of different groups disputing the direction of the…