Since the 1980s, school bullying--"Ijime"--has been a major concern of educational policy in Japan. In Japanese schools, homeroom teachers provide guidance for students' psychological and social development, in addition to academic development. Homeroom teachers spend significant time counseling students, visiting their families, and developing a…

This article examines how the "discourse moment" constituted by "D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic" might affect the future of schooling for Roma youth. In this article, the authors follow the scheme proposed by Lilie Chouliaraki and Norman Fairclough, who suggest a five-part framework for critical discourse analysis: statement of the problem,…

In this article, the authors develop an argument about the global forces that have led to the explosive growth of national educational assessment and international testing. In particular, the authors argue that the international acceptance of testing comes from key ideological forces in the world polity that are associated with the accelerating…

In recent decades, a dramatic shift has occurred in higher education throughout much of the industrialized world. For the first time in history, women are completing more education than men. Through the 1970s, women lagged behind men in the number of tertiary degrees completed in most nations. Since the 1980s, women have begun to reach parity with…

Drawing on a critical theoretical paradigm and critically engaging with the externalization thesis that Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Jurgen Schriewer have developed, this article examines the politics of "Finnish education" in the ongoing Japanese education reform debate. More specifically, it examines the various discursive uses of "Finnish education…

The study of policy in comparative education has been approached using methods associated with the principal social science disciplines that have informed the field since its inception. In particular, the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, and anthropology have had a significant influence on determining the acceptable methods…

Recent evidence highlights several worrisome trends regarding aid pledges and disbursements, which have been exacerbated by the global financial crisis. First, while overall development assistance rose in 2008, after 2 years of decline, the share of all sector aid going to the education sector has remained virtually unchanged at about 12 percent…

Over the past two hundred years in the United States and Germany, special educational systems have been institutionalized to facilitate access to learning opportunities for children with disabilities, difficulties, and disadvantages. Originally heralded as innovative, the positive views of these mainly segregating and separating educational…

During the past decade, the authors have conducted research in their own countries, all of which are considered conflict or postconflict societies: Israel, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland. They have focused on a variety of topics related to peace education, reconciliation, and coexistence. Giving special emphasis to the formation of identity in…

Conflicts over East Jerusalem are often thought to reflect larger conflicts in the Middle East. In this article, the authors focus on schooling in East Jerusalem in order to provide a better appreciation of the protracted conflict in the area. This close examination of schooling in East Jerusalem can illuminate reasons for the political paralysis…

When "Preschool in Three Cultures" was published in 1989, it attracted great attention, as a result of the insights into the three cultures explored as well as the methodology that anchored the research. What made the book so intriguing to many scholars, regardless of their geographical areas of interest, however, was the unique methodology…

This article provides background on the education of ethnic minorities in China, as well as education in Tibet, and is followed by a review of the origin and development of boarding schools for Tibetan students. The article also examines the experiences and reflections of Tibetan students and their families. Data are partially derived from the…

Despite the tremendous expansion in education access worldwide, countries differ dramatically both in primary and secondary enrollment rates and in student achievement. Although per capita income explains a great deal of the difference, schooling outcomes vary sharply even among countries at similar income levels. This study asks whether…

One of the most distinctive qualities that characterize present-day society is the social fact that people are shifting to the information age. In recent years, they have witnessed remarkable developments in information and communication technology (ICT), in which microelectronics, computers, and telecommunications have converged. Transnational…

An increasingly common approach to comparative education research, particularly with respect to mathematics education, has been the exploitation of video technology, not least because the use of video cameras offers several advantages over traditional methods such as direct observation. It is important to acknowledge, however, that video…