Education In Times Of Transition

Teacher education in times of change offers a critical examination of teacher education policy in the UK and Ireland over the past three decades. Written by a research group from five countries, it makes international comparisons, and covers broader developments in professional learning, to place these key issues and lessons in a wider context.

The yearbook takes as its starting point the context of the new millennium; the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the continuing rise of the Pacific Rim & particularly of the People's Republic of China, the new energy of the USA, the UK & Germany, & the renaissance of Islamic states. The yearbook will pose the question: are there educational patterns, educational lessons to be learned, within these major political & economic transitions, some of which have tipped into crisis, all of which have been traumatic?

The collection brings together the latest work of researchers from Australia, Africa, Asia, and Europe focusing on early childhood leadership matters. It covers different aspects of leadership in early education: professional education and development, identity and leadership strategies as well as governance and leadership under different frame conditions.

This book offers a unique insight into the ways in which education systems, governance, and actors at multiple scales interact in initial steps towards building peace. It presents a spectrum of recently conducted research in the context of Myanmar, a society in the midst of challenging transitions, politically, socio-culturally and economically. Divided in 3 thematical research areas, the first part on Myanmar’s policy landscape aims to unravel the integration of peacebuilding into the education sector at macro and micro policy levels. The second part examines the role teachers play in processes of peacebuilding, and the third part examines ways in which formal and non-formal peacebuilding education programs address the agency of youth in Myanmar. This book is an essential guide for students embarking in the field of education, conflict and peacebuilding.

The eminent Harvard educationalist Howard Garner writes a preface to the Place Model within his Good Project Blog which provides a preface to this timely book. Professional is a slippery term, open to willful abuse, misuse and misunderstanding – as evidenced by the ways in which this chameleon term can be used as both a compliment and an insult. In this book academics from a range of professional fields deconstruct ‘professional’ and reimagine professionals in an age of rapid change where professionals are both increasingly in demand and frequently under threat. Several deploy the lens of Clarke’s Place Model to examine professions including teaching, midwifery, social work, journalism, and optometry. Some papers are empirical and some are based around using the Place Model as a thought experiment. All turn a critical eye on professionals and all find them to be, like all humans, neither devils nor divines (Maya Angelou), but at their best a combination of two indispensable characteristics, trustworthiness and expertise.

Sponsored by the Museum Education Roundtable

The core assumption of this book is the interconnectedness of humans and nature, and that the future of the planet depends on humans’ recognition and care for this interconnectedness. This comprehensive resource supports the work of pre-service and practicing elementary teachers as they teach their students to be part of the world as engaged citizens, advocates for social and ecological justice. Challenging readers to more explicitly address current environmental issues with students in their classrooms, the book presents a diverse set of topics from a variety of perspectives. Its broad social/cultural perspective emphasizes that social and ecological justice are interrelated. Coverage includes descriptions of environmental education pedagogies such as nature-based experiences and place-based studies; peace-education practices; children doing environmental activism; and teachers supporting children emotionally in times of climate disruption and tumult. The pedagogies described invite student engagement and action in the public sphere. Children are represented as ‘agents of change’ engaged in social and environmental issues and problems through their actions both local and global.

It has always been the case that the teaching of art has had to deal with social changes. We are currently facing historic challenges and phenomena which we could never have imagined – the global financial crisis, the massive migration flows, and the ubiquitous spread of new technologies in our everyday life. Creative competence is needed for overcoming the disciplinary boundaries and in order to make equal opportunities for education possible in a diverse society. This publication takes a critical look at the role of art and design education amidst these social changes – using theoretical reflection, practical experience, and empirical analysis.