The study describes and analyzes teachers' micropolitics to serve two purposes: to understand how teachers make sense with the way change is led and to interpret if the way they make sense can influence the change process. This empirical study revealed the following: Teachers felt that their professional development was affected because of…

State control over higher education has been provided for in the Brazilian legal system since the establishment of the republic, with university autonomy having been the object of six reforms of higher education and various federal decrees up until the federal constitution of 1988, which upheld it in Article 207. In a country with a limited and…

Although much contention has surrounded the introduction of the English citizenship curriculum, its political agenda clearly reflects a transformative approach to issues of justice and equity. In light of this agenda, this article supports feminist work in further problematizing the curriculum's silence around relations of gender and citizenship.…

This article aims at scrutinizing an example of how education can help a whole nation survive the most fateful times in its history: a world war followed by a struggle for independence. Therefore, the latest times of the Ottoman Empire in general and Ottoman education in particular are outlined to illustrate what the young Turkish republic…

On September 8, 2001, Semra Sexer--wife of Turkish Republic president Ahmet Sezer and a retired teacher--started the Support Campaign for National Education (2003, 2004, 2005). This campaign aimed at finding problems in national education and offering solutions. Assessment meetings about the campaign were held on May 5-6, 2003, in Istanbul;…

The purpose of this article is to examine a nationwide effort of educational reform in Peru. Specifically, the authors take a close look at the nation's efforts to change secondary education through the implementation of a 2-year postsecondary learning opportunity called the "bachillerato." First, the authors briefly present the contextual…

This article focuses on the latest developments in higher educational policy in the Russian Federation and the influence of international organizations such as the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on these policies and education reforms. This article's primary purpose is to explore how the newly…

With Christianity and the Jewish religion, Islam has been the leading divine religion, accepted and obeyed by millions over a large geography since its declaration in the early 7th century. In this article, the authors shed light on some milestones in Islamic civilization, such as the golden age, the Abbasids, the Ottomans, and the rise of Western…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the reform efforts in the education system of Turkey and identify missing points of the reform process that was introduced in 2004. An overview of the Turkish educational system is briefly described, followed by the analysis of the reform's rational. This new curriculum is evaluated in terms of its missing…

For teachers engaged in the process of policy change, the way that they interpret policy and translate it into their daily practices will influence the implementation and the effects of a policy shift. Thus, it is important and necessary to examine educational decentralization policies from the local perspective, for the ways in which teachers…

The opportunity for and expectation of parents' involvement in the education of their children is a staple of the American educational system. The absence of parent participation in their children's education has been decried by educators as a contributing factor to a range of problems in schools, from poor academic performance to disciplinary…

Ethiopia is a nation of more than 70 million people characterized by diverse ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. Since the early 1990s Ethiopia has entered into the process of transformation towards a more civil society. This transformational process has led to numerous socioeconomic and political policy reforms. Central to reforms in the…

John Dewey was one of the most significant figures in the history of the Chinese people. When he and his first wife visited China from May 1, 1919 to July 11, 1921, delivering lectures on the philosophy of education, social and political philosophy, ethics, experimental logic, art, and other topics, Dewey was met by the people of China with open…

Perhaps one of the most remarkable events of the 20th century was the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Ground zero was positioned in what are now Russia and all of the new nation-states that formerly constituted the Soviet bloc. Few new nation-states believed the transition from a totalitarian and closed state to an independent, open, and…

On June 27, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris" was promulgated by the justices. The case involved the constitutionality of Ohio's Pilot Project Scholarship Program, which provides tuition aid for certain students in the Cleveland City School District to attend participating public or private (religious and…