The Miracle Learning System

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"Finnish pupils’ success in international student assessment tests and the characteristics of the Finnish educational system are the focus of interest all around in the world. The significance of Finnish educational policy and societal atmosphere are continuously discussed. This book provides explanations, answers and reflections to these questions. Over 30 expert authors have contributed to this book by bringing their own specific research-based points of view.The second edition of the book introduces the new national curriculum for basic education that now provides guidelines for school-based curricula. Students’ learning with engagement and schools as learning communities are core visions of the reform. The authors also reflect on the PISA 2012 results. The book gives an example on how to use PISA information for national improvements. In Finland, all evaluations are enhancement-led and this also includes PISA measurements.The book illustrates how teaching and learning of different subjects is realized in Finnish schools and describes the essential characteristics and methods of teaching, learning materials and research on these issues.The book provides important insight and reflections to international researchers, teachers, students, journalists and policy makers, who are interested in teaching and learning in Finnish schools. It shows the results of the systematic and persistent work that has been done on education and schooling in Finland.The main features of education in Finland are: Strong equity policy.Teachers as autonomous and reflective academic experts.Flexible educational structures and local responsibility for curriculum development.Evaluation for improvements, not for ranking.No national testing, no inspectorate.Research-based teacher education.Teachers’ high competence in content knowledge and pedagogy.Trust in education and teachers."

In Sparks' third book on South Africa, he writes about the outcomes and continuing struggles of a post-Mandela elected government. The democracy faces a widening gap between rich and poor, continued racial and ethnic tensions, and conflicts with other countries such the Congo and Zimbabwe. He describes it as a land where the First and Third World meet, with examples that are important to other countries facing the same challenges.

Using Hélène Cixous' notion of 'l'écriture féminine' as an analogy for transformational learning and an investigative tool, Hoult explores why some adult learners are able to survive and thrive in the education system, despite facing significantly more challenges than the average student.

Education is regarded as a cross-cutting issue for disaster risk reduction (DRR) through reviewing the Sendai Framework for DRR (SFDRR) 2015–2030. Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the education sector is one of the important efforts to enhance resilience in a community. DRR in the education sector not only focuses on provision of disaster education, but also includes securing a safe school environment, developing school disaster management plans, and building the capacity of school teachers and local educational officers. Japan, with its wealth of experience in DRR, has developed a good resilient system in its education sector, which has been tested and revised through experiences of past disasters. This book reviews the evolution of DRR in the education sector in Japan, including some of the recent developments after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, focusing on DRR governance and practices in national policies, curriculum development and teacher training, community linkage, and international cooperation, to enhance resilience in the education sector. The primary target groups for this book are students and researchers in the fields of disaster management and DRR studies. Another target group comprises practitioners and policy makers, who will be able to apply the collective knowledge from this work to policy and decision making. The book provides an overview of the current research trends and furnishes basic knowledge on this important topic.

Solution-focused systemic structural constellations for therapy and organisational change. Constellation work is an effective way of externalising and working with problems in family and organisational life. Solution focused practice is the art of building solutions as simply as possible. The author combines the two and sets out a radical yet gentle form of practice. The pioneering work of the author and her partner Matthias Varga von Kibed is highly influential in Europe and appears here in English for the first time.

Miracle moments are the "cracks of light" pouring into the ego's dark system. It is the ego which makes you a slave of time, dreaming a dream of violence, pain, fear, guilt, and despair. Discover how to make of every meeting an opportunity for miracle moments, opening your mind to experience the best that life has to offer, allowing the wisdom of the inner light to shine. What are miracle moments? How can we achieve them? What are the catalysts that make these moments possible? How can the notion of miracle moments be applied to our personal relationships, to psychotherapy, and to educational, organizational, and political settings? What can miracle moments teach us about race, religion, politics, and sex? The author, Antonio Monteiro dos Santos, brings together his experience of twenty-five years as a psychotherapist, the knowledge of A Course in Miracles, of The Bhagavad Gita, and of the Gospel of the Buddha to write this passionate book in answering these questions. His practice of yoga and meditation, and his work and experience with the power of silence permeates his writings. The experience and wisdom of accomplished psychotherapists and communicators such as Carl R. Rogers, Virginia Satir, Eugene Gendlin, Erving Polster, John Grinder, Robert Stein, and Robert Nemiroff presented in this book, add to its richness, making it into a profound statement about the crucial moments of life.

Author Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, a Puerto Rican child of migrant farm workers, defied family, tradition, and expectations to reach the highest ranks of academia and overcome monumental obstacles to create LEAP Academy, one of the nations best charter schools. In The Miracle on Cooper Street, Bonilla-Santiago shares the challenges and obstacles, potential resources, and support of fellow professionals that moved LEAP Academy from a small charter school in 1997 to its top position today. She describes and analyzes the establishment and accomplishments of LEAP Academy in one of Americas poorest and most violent cities, Camden, New Jersey. Bonilla-Santiago also shares the story of her personal and professional struggles as a Latina from an impoverished and working-class background, surviving and fighting for respect in an academic world that many times did not value racial or ethnic diversity. Those experiences forged a dream of transforming a poor urban community through education. The Miracle on Cooper Street narrates an inspiring account that shows how one determined individual can make a profound difference in the lives of at-risk children and their communities. It presents a working model for charter schools, while at the same time admitting that LEAP is a work in progress. Most of all, it describes an inspiring institution that has seen many young people break the cycle of poverty, graduate from high school, succeed in college, and go on to live productive lives.