Exploring childhood in a comparative context

Exploring childhood in a comparative context
Author: Mabel Ann Brown
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2013-09-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 113649944X

Exploring Childhood in a Comparative Context meets an increasing need for students focusing on early childhood to be familiar with alternative practices in other countries. Providing a ready-made source of information about a wide range of countries including Finland, the Netherlands, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa and many more, the book clearly describes the way each country understands and conceptualises childhood. Each chapter includes contextual information about the country, an introduction to the theory that has shaped practice and describes the curriculum for pre-school and primary education. Including vignettes from practitioners working in each country to illustrate practice, the chapters explore key themes such as: Child development Parental involvement Teaching and learning Professionalism Assessment Pupil experience. Accessibly written and including opportunities for reflection, this timely new book will give students a valuable insight into alternative education systems that is essential if they are to become practitioners with a current and global approach.

Europeanisation in Teacher Education

Europeanisation in Teacher Education
Author: Vasileios Symeonidis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2020-11-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000260046

This book explores the phenomenon and process of Europeanisation in the field of teacher education. Drawing on comparative case studies in Austria, Greece and Hungary, it examines empirical data and analyses key themes around the continuum of teacher education, the development of teacher competence frameworks, and the support to teacher educators. The book is the first of its kind to systematically research the landscape of European teacher education, exploring the interactions between national and European influences in the trajectory of teacher education policy and practice. Chapters offer an original and in-depth understanding of European influences that draw on evidence from policy documents and interviews with relevant stakeholders. It argues that teacher education systems are being Europeanised, although at different speeds and directions for each country. Factors such as the socio-political and economic contexts, historical traits and policy actors’ preferences at both national and institutional levels determine the translation process. This book will be of great interest for academics, educational researchers, practitioners and policymakers in Europe and beyond, informing wider discussions about the emerging European context in teacher education, education policy and what it means to be a European teacher.

Educational Standardisation in a Complex World

Educational Standardisation in a Complex World
Author: Hanne Riese
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2022-04-20
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1800715897

This book presents the reader with tools to challenge accepted ideas about the standardising forces transforming educational reality, by discussing standards and standardisation from a range of different theoretical perspectives and contexts.

Inclusive Education

Inclusive Education
Author: Zeta Brown
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2016-04-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317429265

Inclusive education is complex, multi-faceted and ever-changing and to date there has been no fixed definition of what is meant by the term ‘inclusion’, leading to confusion about what inclusive education actually means in practice. This key text introduces readers to the underlying knowledge and wider complexities of inclusion and explores how this can relate to practice. Considering inclusion as referring to all learners, it surveys the concept of inclusive practice in its broadest sense and examines its implementation in a variety of educational institutions. Throughout the book, international contributors consider this broader concept to critically evaluate the realities of practically implementing inclusive objectives. Each chapter assesses key theories and concepts alongside a range of examples to encourage students to think critically and reappraise their own experience as learners. Key topics covered include: • studying the definition of inclusion • the relevance of pedagogy in inclusive practice • how to lead and manage for inclusion • the issue of inclusion in early years, primary, secondary and post-16 settings • inclusive practice for families • international perspectives on inclusive practice. Fully illustrated with tasks, case studies, discussion questions and recommended reading, Inclusive Education is essential reading for second and third year students looking to extend their research and writing, and to develop their critical and reflective thinking.

Austerity and the Remaking of European Education

Austerity and the Remaking of European Education
Author: Anna Traianou
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2019-06-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1350028509

Austerity and the Remaking of European Education offers historically and empirically grounded accounts of national educational formations in Europe, at a specific time in their reshaping through encounters with global policy frameworks, and social and economic developments. The authors explore these issues in the context of different pressures that impact on European education systems - from the constraints established by the European Central Bank and the European Commission across Southern Europe, to the 2008 financial crisis and the increased migration. The book provides a rigorous theoretical approach to European and national policies, combined with detailed analyses of national educational contexts in England, France, Greece, Hungary and Sweden. These in-depth studies identify major issues of national education policymaking, and explore the complexities of global/national relationships. The economic crisis, the rise of the Left in Greece and of the populist Right in many countries in Europe, questions of cultural and religious diversity, tensions between marketization and inclusion are all brought into focus, offering findings that are of great interest to researchers of education policy, politics and sociology of education alike. In the final section of the book, the authors explore policy alternatives, as embodied in the activities of both governments and non-state actors, such as trade unions and social movements.

Symbolic Universes in Time of (Post)Crisis

Symbolic Universes in Time of (Post)Crisis
Author: Sergio Salvatore
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2019-06-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030194973

This book investigates whether, how and where the cultural milieu of European societies has changed as a result of the socio-economics crisis. To do so, it adopts a psycho-cultural approach, which views the cultural milieu as a set of meanings, placing the generalized image social actors have of themselves, the world, events and their relationships in the context of the socio-political and institutional environment, including policies. By analyzing the changes in cultural milieu and social identity, the book develops strategic and methodological guidelines for the design of post-crisis policies, providing a concept of how the cultural dynamics are associated with certain individual characteristics and specific socio-economic phenomena.

Youth Identities, Education and Employment

Youth Identities, Education and Employment
Author: Kate Hoskins
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2017-07-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1137352922

This book investigates how policy, family background, social class, gender and ethnicity influence young people’s post-16 and post-18 employment and education access. It draws on existing literature, alongside new data gathered from a case study in a UK state secondary school, to examine how policy changes to the financial arrangements for further and higher education and the changing youth employment landscape have had an impact on young people’s choices and pathways. Hoskins explores a number of topics, including the role of identity in young people’s decision-making; the impact of changes to young people’s financial arrangements, such as cuts to the Education Maintenance Allowance and increased university fees; and the influence of support from parents and teachers. The book will be of interest to students and researchers of Education and Sociology.

Socioeconomic Fragmentation and Exclusion in Greece under the Crisis

Socioeconomic Fragmentation and Exclusion in Greece under the Crisis
Author: Dimitris Katsikas
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2018-03-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319687980

This volume uses new empirical evidence and analytical ideas to study phenomena of fragmentation and exclusion threatening stability and cohesion in Greek society in the aftermath of the crisis. The contributors argue that processes of fragmentation and exclusion provoked by the crisis can be observed on both a material and an ideational level. On a material level, rising levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality have produced new social security “outsiders”, while on an ideational level, a discursive-cultural shift is documented, which has led to new understandings and categorizations of new (and old) insiders and outsiders. Moreover, the volume attests to the aspirations, but also the limitations, of spontaneous civil society mobilization to address the social crisis. Finally, the volume offers a discussion of the political management of social fragmentation and exclusion in Greece both before and after the onset of the crisis. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of social policy and phenomena of poverty, social exclusion and economic inequality, civil society studies, and comparative political economy and politics.