This study analyses and evaluates the impact of two recent (2001 and 2010) education reforms on Ukrainian secondary schools, and, in particular, on science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology and Earth science), in terms of the structural, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the reformed disciplines. It also examines societal…

The aim of this article is to explore how neo-institutional theory may be applied as an analytical framework to investigate the relationships between teachers' perceptions on their professional change on the one hand, and the numerous change efforts embedded in recent neo-liberal educational policies in Norway on the other. Based on…

In this article the authors discuss developments in the Europeanisation of higher education policy context of Sweden, and in particular certain changes within the field of education science. Detailed career narratives from 30 interviews have been produced and analysed. These narratives illustrate how research careers in education are formed and…

In this article, the author describes how the methodological approach of autoethnography enabled her to interrogate the philosophical underpinnings of the learning and teaching practices that she espoused as a university academic. This critical questioning was provoked through her interactions with postgraduate students from a range of contexts…

In recent years the higher education context in Estonia, as in most European countries, has changed a lot. All changes have an impact on university teachers' practice and their work organisation, and are presenting new challenges. The current research aims at developing an understanding of Estonian early career academics' professional…

New forms of activities now shape and govern the Swedish education system, based on governance through comparison. The focus on comparison can be regarded as soft governance and different types of (self-) evaluations and valuations are, at present, deeply embedded keystones in the decentralised education system. Recently this has, together with…

There are great expectations that new digital technology will become a powerful tool for developing education activities. Like many countries in Europe and worldwide, Sweden has invested a large amount of resources in new technology and new media (hereafter called digital media), and they have become a natural and important part of school…

This article seeks to nuance arguments about the impact of broad policy technologies of auditing processes upon teachers' practices by providing empirical evidence of the effects of such processes, in context. Specifically, the article draws upon a cross section of teachers' accounts of schooling practices in a specialist, academically oriented…

Through the concept of teacher identity, this article examines in detail the factors in the process through which the two teachers under study changed from traditional teachers into co-teaching professionals. The interview data were analysed by thematic narrative analysis. The results showed that the teachers' own attitudes, conflicts in their…

The article analyses the discourses underpinning formal vocational education and training (VET). More specifically, it presents three accounts of European VET with the twofold aim of reviewing them and of recommending a conceptual shift that leads to further theoretical discussion. The discussion is organised around the existence of three…

This article concerns issues of classroom management in heterogeneous classrooms. Although research in the field of learning styles has yielded mixed results, there is a call for information about how they could be used to individualize instruction, especially in primary schools. This article is part of an ethnographic study aiming to examine…

This article presents the results of a study on the project "Teacher Educators Study Their Own Practices". Nine teacher educators participated and conducted a self-study into their own practices. The leading question of this article is whether their self-studies contributed to the development of their professional identities. Data sources were…

This article deals with the negotiation process deciding the institutional organization of vocational special needs education and training in Finland. Traditionally, the state has been a strong actor in organizing vocational special needs education in Finland. At the beginning of 2009, however, all five state-maintained vocational special schools…

The study investigated how to facilitate teachers in developing their work in improving the teaching and learning of children with visual impairment (CVI) accommodated in ordinary classrooms. The study takes the form of collaborative action research where the researcher works in collaboration with the teachers. The project is being conducted in…

Following the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment for Germany, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research founded the capital investment program "Future Education and Care" as a federal measure to support the expansion of all-day schooling in Germany. During this process it became obvious that learning and teaching in…