Perspectives on Educational Practice Around the World

Description

This book explores the philosophies, barriers and opportunities shaping education environments for children, teachers and student teachers in diverse countries around the world through a series of pertinent articles. These are drawn from the contributors’ experiential knowledge of education in contexts such as Australia, Canada, China, Finland, India, Nepal, Palestine, Qatar, South Africa, the UK and Venezuela. The issues raised enable valuable insights into formal education from pre-school to higher education within individual national contexts, while also having significance across state boundaries. They are set against a background of international comparisons, global economies and communications, and environmental and social change. The topics covered include global citizenship, learning environments, inclusion and inequality. Each of the articles introduces a key issue, offers contextualized examples and questions to prompt discussion and further research, along with a guide to further resources. Thoughtfully structured, the editors provide an overarching introduction and concluding chapter, reflecting on global issues and directions of travel in educational policies as well as highlighting countries which are bucking current trends. They also include a short introduction to each part, drawing together chapters and challenging thinking. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Dedication Contents Contributors Preface Introduction Part I A view from the inside 1 What is the purpose of education when an education system is infected by poverty, corruption and teacher shortages? 2 How practical is it to implement national standards in an international setting? 3 An imperial relic or preparation for global society? What are the issues of having English-medium schools? 4 Who decides what should be taught in our schools and why? 5 What are the effects of changing curriculums? 6 Are there strategies that provide successful inclusion for all students in general education? 7 Can diversity really be used in teaching minority language students? 8 How can inclusion be promoted through a linguistically responsive pedagogy? 9 How much does teacher enthusiasm affect student learning? 10 What social justice is being achieved through education? 11 What pedagogical questions are raised in reforming early literacy instruction? 12 Does collaborative teaching practice work? 13 How can we learn from teaching in another country? 14 How can visually impaired children be supported? 15 How do theory and practice relate to each other in the social reality of the classroom? Part II A view from the outside looking in 16 What can we learn from two contrasting cultural educational traditions? 17 How could this be? 18 How can you build well-being in a culturally different context? 19 How can international exchange programmes support teacher development? 20 How might teachers adapt their practice in response to traumatized students? 21 What do children think about other nations, peoples and cultures? Part III A meeting of minds 22 How do we prepare teachers as global educators and balance national accreditation requirements with global challenges? 23 How does prescribed curriculum content impact on inclusive education practices in emerging educational systems? 24 What are the challenges for teachers of implementing curriculum change? 25 What can be gained from intercultural engagements? 26 How might experiencing another culture challenge assumptions? 27 How can we learn to live within planetary limits? 28 A perspective on the perspectives Index