The first phase of the Schooling for the Future Project surveyed high-profile educational policy makers and leaders in 11 societies across the Asia-Pacific region. The survey, in the form of a written questionnaire, asked respondents to rank the six OECD/CERI Schooling for Tomorrow scenarios (OECD/CERI, 2001. "What schools for the future?" Paris:…

Interview participants comprised a purposive, theoretical sample of 10 senior education policy leaders from across Australia. Participants argued that the current bureaucratic organization of schooling would persist in the future because of intensifying pressure for schools to satisfy diverse political priorities; current funding arrangements had…

This chapter provides a cross-societal discussion of the findings of the "Schooling for the future" study, the case studies. It examines why senior educators and policy leaders in each of the six case study societies believe that bureaucratic school systems are the most likely scenario for the future even though these are not the most desired. It…

There is a growing body of research indicating that students who can self-regulate cognitive, motivational, and behavioral aspects of their academic functioning are more effective as learners. We studied relations between the self-regulation strategies used by a group of Italian students during the final years of high school and their subsequent…

While school bullying in Japan, Ijime, has been a topic of major public concern since the 1980s, few qualitative studies have been conducted to examine its nature and correlates. Through a case study of 30 ninth graders in a Japanese middle school, the study found that Ijime has complex group dynamics in its onset and process. The analysis of…

In the last decade a number of national and international activities and public policies in the US have converged to prescribe a particular conception of educational research. Randomized control trials have been set as the ''gold standard'' and educational researchers are now pressed to come up with ''solid'' evidenced-based findings of ''what…

The present study sought to compare the effects of training teachers in specific communication skills designed to promote thinking and scaffold learning on teachers' and students' verbal behaviours during cooperative group work. Thirty teachers and 826 children from years 5 to 7 participated in the study. The results show that when teachers are…

This paper views teacher learning as the nourishment of life rather than the mastery of expertise, and curriculum innovation as the reclaiming of authentic language rather than rational manipulation of curriculum systems. The perspective allows the traditional notion of knowledge-based teaching and teacher education to be challenged by asking a…

This is an essay about research methodology, particularly the use of narrative method, in a project which depicts portraits of 10 influential educators of China. The essay begins with reflections on the dialogue of civilizations and the potential future influence of Chinese civilization in the global community. It then goes on to consider the…

In Hong Kong, early-years teachers face professional challenges in adopting a creative and child-oriented pedagogy in which play-based learning is central. The paper illuminates teachers' understanding of play, approaches used, difficulties faced, and their power in finding solutions. Six Hong Kong kindergarten teachers participated in an in-depth…

This paper describes the professional growth of two teacher educators. It notes obstacles to teachers' professional development, and investigates the factors which make some teachers less vulnerable to challenges. The paper observes that teacher educators who engage in self-study can reach a renewed understanding of their roles both in and beyond…

This paper focuses on a most significant domain of inner power of teachers' lives--their leadership of student learning. Traditional conceptions of teacher leadership owe much to the presumption of a classroom, or a formally designated site, where teacher instructed learning takes place. However, the rise of the Internet, with its ready…

Research into powerful learning environments has concentrated mainly on general influences on students' engagement and learning. This paper considers a series of inter-related concepts that have been shown to be associated with student learning in higher education including, conceptions of knowledge and learning, learning orientations, and…

Learners are active actors in learning environments and not mere consumers of instructional designers' products. In line with mediating paradigm instructional conceptions of students are analysed. These conceptions act as cognitive filters that affect students' use of both instructional interventions and support in learning environments. To gain…

The goal of this chapter is to outline a theoretical and empirical perspective on how learners' conceptions of educational technology might influence their learning activities and thereby determine the power of computer-based learning environments. Starting with an introduction to the concept of powerful learning environments we outline how recent…