An up-to-date description and analysis of the recent reforms, current structure and issues in Swedish education. All stages of the system, from pre-school through to adult education and teacher training are covered. The book seeks to place the material firmly within the context of Swedish society and politics but the problems addressed are of concern to people everywhere
Post-traditional students are rapidly becoming the majority of the higher education student population. This changing demographic within the higher education landscape increases the demand for flexible learning options accessible to non-traditional learners. Redefining Post-Traditional Learning: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a comprehensive research publication that explores shifting demographics within higher education and offers recommendations to current teaching methodologies. Highlighting a range of topics such as adult learners, pedagogy, and international students, this book provides a theoretical foundation, followed by an intentional dissection of current and best research practices through the lenses of andragogy, student demographics, and technology. It is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, educational professionals, school administrators, policymakers, academicians, teaching professionals, researchers, and graduate students.
Educational Change: From Traditional Education to Learning Communities outlines the transition of curriculum and instruction as well as classroom discipline historically. Various discipline approaches are described that vary in their applications in terms of the degree of teacher control and student self-direction. Various issues are identified which impact decorum in the schools, in particular the No Child Left Behind Act and associated standardized testing. The need for change in the schools is detailed along with the appropriateness of moving from traditional classroom instruction to democratic discipline as applied in learning communities. The nature of classroom discipline is described in connection with specific components of learning communities. When learning communities are employed in school, the leadership structures needs to be changed. The nature of relationships between school learning communities and communities outside the school are also described. This book explains how the learning community approach to education can be successfully implemented with the modifications that will be required of both teachers and students in making associated changes.
"Clifford H. Edwards presents a convincing case for the power of learning communities to more genuinely reflect the nature of the broader American society and to more authentically empower students as learners. How else can it be than the means necessarily being consistent with the ends? `Shades of John Dewey,' you might say! Yes, but more validly, the research findings of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are extensively actualized---that is, knowledge is constructed by the individual child/learner while immersed in a social context, whether family or school. Traditional education has always ignored how children truly learn, resulting in very limited learning outcomes---while the classroom itself has often been a scene of contrary wills between teacher and student."---Lary M. Arnoldsen, EdD, emeritus professor of secondary education, Brigham Young University --
Editor Iris C. Rotberg brings together, in one accessible source, current education reforms in 16 countries, written and analyzed by experts in the field. This book offers: education reform in a wide range of countries selected to represent diverse societies and education systems; a unique analysis of how education reformers respond to rapidly changing societies and increased demand for education in the face of limited resources; case studies showing the difficult tradeoffs countries make as they attempt to implement change, all in the context of historical antecedents, values, and political structures that facilitate or constrain their reform efforts; a book that goes beyond myths and stereotypes and describes how countries address global pressures, immigration patterns, and increasing gaps in socioeconomic levels; description of political and economic pressures that determine a country's policies concerning equality of educational opportunity, access to higher education, student testing and tracking, teacher accountability, decentralization, school choice, and innovation; an invaluable resource for policymakers, faculty, students, and the general public who are interested in how decisions made about the education system will ultimately affect the quality of education, educational access, and social justice.
In Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education Reform, Rotberg brings together examples of current education reforms in sixteen countries, written by 'insiders'. This book goes beyond myths and stereotypes and describes the difficult trade-offs countries make as they attempt to implement reforms in the context of societal and global change. In some countries, reforms are a response to major political or economic shifts; in others, they are motivated by large upsurges in immigration and increased student diversity. Irrespective of the reasons for education reform, all countries face decisions about resource allocation, equality of educational opportunity across diverse populations, access to higher education, student testing and tracking, teacher accountability, school choice, and innovation. The essays in this volume reveal: _
This book examines three Title I, year-round, or modified calendar schools that switched from a traditional to a modified schedule in order to meet the academic needs of the students.
