Suchergebnisse

Media rankings of universities have become common in many countries. Although frequently criticised by a range of commentators, media rankings are used by students in destinational decision-making, and by universities in their own marketing. By critically reading three prominent media ranking systems, several trends emerge. Asiaweek, U.S. News & World Report and Maclean's magazines each adopt an activist/investigative stance as a justification for their hierarchical rankings of higher educational institutions. Central to this position is an argument for opening up universities to public scrutiny, resulting in greater accountability to students, parents and taxpayers. However, an analysis of the data collection methodologies shows that these stakeholders are excluded from the evaluation process. Instead, all quantitative data is collected from university central administrations, and the subjective reputational surveys are completed by senior university staff and similarly empowered 'experts'. Rather than acting as intrusive tools of public accountability, the media rankings serve to reinforce existing conceptualisations of 'the university' and 'quality' as expressed by the tertiary sector's prominent players.

"The debate about whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught is being laid to rest because there is now a consensus among scholars that, though the teaching of entrepreneurship is a science as well as an art, it can be taught. This has equally led to the rapid expansion of entrepreneurship education within its offerings at higher educational institutions. While entrepreneurship is being offered as a degree programme at both undergraduate and graduate levels, in some countries, the education is offered within the curriculum of primary and secondary education as well as in vocational training and lifelong learning settings. Despite these remarkable developments, the consensus is yet to be reached on what and how entrepreneurship should be taught. This has led to the adoption of different pedagogic approaches by different countries and higher institutions. The recent thinking, however, suggests that there is a changing pattern from conventional teaching to modern methods based on action learning. As noted by Brush, Neck & Greene (2015), a practice-based approach will encourage students to go beyond rote memorisation of the content of entrepreneurial discipline, but navigate the discipline through practices of play, emphathy, creation, experimentation, and reflection. Consequently, the awareness of this shift elicits the need to compile the experiences of various entrepreneurship educators to further understand the opportunities and challenges associated with entrepreneurship education as well as its future directions. These experiences will assist in understanding what is working and what is not. It is important to note that entrepreneurship education has gone beyond the specific concept of a business startup"--

The landscapes of higher education have been changing rapidly, with enormous growths in participation rates in many countries across the world, and major developments and changes within institutions. But the languages that we need to conceptualise and understand these changes have not been keeping pace. This work seeks to address this issue

Over the past decades, there has seen a significant and consistent worldwide reform agenda for higher education financing policy. This paper is to analyze factors that keep driving these reform; to identify the reasons why governments and higher education keep searching for funding alternatives; to show the relationship among funding sources and paths; to discuss funding mechanisms and models adopted by some Asian and Western countries; and to discuss the effects of funding policy on student access, institute autonomy, competition, stability of institutes, quality and performance of education, responsiveness to market demands and fiscal burden.

PurposeThe paper aims to develop a case for re‐considering the role of schools in education policy. The argument is made that considerable amounts of the variation in pupil performance may in fact derive from factors based on variations in parents' ability to buy‐in support and enrichment of various kinds for their children.Design/methodology/approachThe argument of the paper is developed using secondary sources to make the case for non‐school explanations of variations in pupil performance and then offers a set of illustrations of the variety of types of bought‐in support and enrichment now being used in some families.FindingsThe paper concludes with the point that two contradictory education policy discourses are in play under New Labour. One, the discourse of standards/achievement, which works through testing, benchmarks, league‐tables, "coasting" schools, special measures, etc. totalises, individualises and commodifies the student as an "ability" – a cluster of performances. And in turn gives rise to "local economies of student worth" that "value" students differently within the processes of "school choice". The other, the discourse of choice and active parenting, totalises, individualises and commodifies parents and families as "consumers" of education and investors in cultural capital.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is discursive, exploratory and wide‐ranging. It sets out to make a plausible case that would merit further research rather than to establish at this stage a set of firm conclusions.Practical implicationsIf the argument is taken seriously then the focus of education policy would be decisively shifted. There is some evidence of a shift of emphasis towards more intervention and individual attention but achievement differences remain firmly located within schools.Originality/valueLittle attention has been focused on this kind of argument and there has certainly been no attempt to map the variety of and growth in private educational services.

Introduction : News Media, (Re-)Presentational Epistemology, and the School as a Built Environment Within the Neoliberal Context / Zane C. Wubbena and Brad Porfilio -- How the Networks Cover Education : Schools Are Not the Media's Pet / Michael J. Robinson -- The Mediatization of Educational Policies in Chile : The Role of the Media in a Neoliberal Education Field / Cristian Cabalin -- A Twenty-First Century Education : Mediatization of School Reform Discourses / Rebecca A. Goldstein and Nataly Z. Chesky -- The News Media and the Heritage Foundation : Promoting Education Advocacy at the Expense of Authority / Eric Haas -- Testing, Testing, Read All About It : Canadian Press Coverage of the PISA Results / Michelle Stack -- Neoliberal Education Reform's Mouthpiece : Education Week's Discourse on Teach for America / Michelle Gautreaux -- News Framing and Charter School Reform / Abe Feuerstein -- The Media Got it Wrong! : A Critical Discourse Analysis of QA : "Policy Changes to the Educational Policymaking Arena Making" / Peter Piazza -- Lessons From the "Pen Alongside the Sword" School Reform : Webster's Through the Lens of Radical Black Press / Kuram Hussain and Mark Stern -- Oppositional Politics and the Internet : A Critical/ Reconstructive Approach / Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner

The need for a new profession devoted to environmental matters is asserted. The qualities of such a profession are sketched, and it is argued that new initiatives in environmental education are needed in the form of graduate, professional programs with primary emphasis on practice. An example 2-year program is presented. A fundamental requirement is scientific competence; undergraduate preparation in the sciences or engineering is mandatory. The graduate curriculum itself is built on three primary cores: environmental science and engineering, business and management, and public policy. Additionally, an environmental round table is proposed as a focal point for academic, industrial, governmental, and public discussion on environmental matters. The round table would provide oversight for the professional educational program and an affiliated research institute.

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a holistic approach to assessing student teachers' competence development in education for sustainable development (ESD). This is to provide evidence on which teaching and learning formats help to foster which aspects of ESD-specific professional action competence in teachers. The studied competencies consist of content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and the willingness to actively support and implement ESD.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study design was used on two sequential modules of a university's teacher education program. A mixed-methods approach was applied that combined surveys, videotaped and PhotoVoice-supported focus groups, as well as pre- and post-assessment tools. Qualitative data analysis was based on the coding paradigm of the qualitative content analysis, whereas quantitative data were interpreted by means of descriptive statistics and paired samplet-tests.FindingsThe results from this study clearly indicate that the two courses contributed to a shift in students' non-cognitive dispositions. The study also provides evidence on the students' competence development and demonstrates how two different learning settings support different dimensions of teachers' professional action competence in terms of ESD.Originality/valueThe triangulation of data enabled not only a mere competence assessment but also deeper insights into learning processes, as well as into the drivers of and barriers to competence development. Furthermore, the study introduces an innovative approach to assessing the development of PCK.