Contemporary reform movements have roots in post-World War II changes. Back then, social reformers in the United States targeted education as a field for the human sciences to intervene and impart a new kind of knowledge into daily life. These experts developed Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), a science-based curriculum, steeped in biological and…

Kyrgyzstan's relative openness to a diversity of ideas, combined with its poverty, has caused it to accept a plethora of international academic institutions and programs, often exported by the sender rather than imported at Kyrgyzstan's request. These institutions suggest a variety of visions of Kyrgyzstan's future and of the political and…

This article addresses reform of Roma education in Slovakia against the backdrop of continued stigmatization of Roma students. Transnational NGOs and IGOs promote rights-based solutions leading to the fullest possible inclusion of Roma students in mainstream education. The Slovak state promotes educational policies that lead to the fullest…

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia, Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have engaged in education reforms based on international frameworks. One of these, the Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) approach, is distinctively grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). CFS standards are comprehensive,…

This article uses the theory of bright vs. blurred boundaries of Alba (2005) and the adaptation strategies of Berry (2005) to explore the national context of the process of identity formation. Issues of citizenship, language, religion, and race are discussed within the national context of Italy. The study is based on field research among the…

In the past decade, the Croatian higher education system has been under intensive transformation, one mostly driven by an increased demand for postsecondary education and by the process of Croatia's accession to the European Union. Although there had already been a constant need and pressure for the transformation of tertiary education…

This paper describes the development of the Bologna process in Romania. The historical context covers the last years of the communist regime through 1989. From 1990 free elections of university leadership, the foundation of private universities and new democratic legislation, and projects for reforming higher education funded by different sources…

Greece has not been among the signatory countries that rushed enthusiastically into the implementation of the Bologna process; it has only gradually and grudgingly managed to adopt some of its provisions over the past decade. This paper sheds light on the forces and factors that have put obstacles in its way, including: (1) the epistemological…

This article offers a new approach to conceptualizing the limited affordability and access to higher education for socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Georgia. Unlike most traditional views, it associates the issue with corruption, collusion, and nepotism existent in the country's higher education, job market, and banking system. It argues…

This paper represents a reflective account of a recent Cambridge University graduate, who critically assesses her successes and struggles in establishing herself as a social science researcher in Western academia. Reflecting on her various (sometimes conflicting and sometimes, in a paradoxical way, complementary) identities, the author explains…

Throughout Eurasia, an Islamist social movement is helping Central Asians transition from their communist experience by building schools, offering English-language courses for adults, and consciously supporting a freer public sphere. It is because of both the extreme local conditions and the continuous success of the Turkish schools that…

There is little discussion in Germany on governance of further education. This is surprising for two reasons--first, that the process of German unification should have sparked such a debate, and second, because it was expected that the current international discussions about governance would also reach a scholarly debate on further education. A…

This paper presents the main developments in education and care for vulnerable groups of children and youth in Slovenia over the past twenty years. It describes the education system and provides an overview of the development of social pedagogy as a discipline and the practice of working with some groups of vulnerable young people. The trends can…

In this article, the author shares a little background on the life of William W. Brickman as his adoptive father. His father's parents immigrated to the United States from Jedwabne, northern Russian Poland around 1908. His father was born on June 30, 1913 in a tenement house located at 200 Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His…

This article discusses William W. Brickman's contributions to the field of comparative and international education. Through archival research of Brickman's collection at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, interviews with his former colleagues, students, and family members, and a content analysis of his publications and the two journals…