A school that holds as a central belief that knowledge is individually and socially constructed by learners who are active observers of the world, active questioners, agile problem posers and critical and creative problem solvers must evolve leadership models and organizational patterns that mirror this model of genuine and meaningful learning as…

In this article, progressive education in New Zealand is examined across three eras. The "revered past" (1870s-1960s) focuses the influence of progressive ideas on the early childhood movement from the establishment of the first kindergarten in 1889 and on the schooling sector from the 1930s to the 1960s. The "contested…

Despite differences among progressive educators, they share the conviction that democracy means active participation by all citizens in the social, political, and economic decisions of their countries. The aim of this paper is to explore how Georgia is meeting goals and perspectives of progressive education by widely implementing civic education…

The issue of education and democracy has become more and more important in China. This paper firstly explains the theory of democracy in Chinese classrooms, and then focuses on the Chinese banzhuren who is responsible for classrooming, an important educational area equal to instruction. We illustrate how Chinese students achieve development…

As the last Soviet republic to become an independent nation, Kazakhstan has worked diligently to transform and develop its educational system including systemic changes related to decentralization, financing changes, and the shift to a credit system. A professional health sciences education workshop delivered in Kazakhstan exemplifies progressive…

The seminal tenets of progressive education bear a striking resemblance to the newly fashionable principles associated with with a new movement known as "21st Century Education". This article traces the development of progressive education principles, starting with the founding of the Progressive Education Association, and shows their close…

This article explores the history and pedagogy of Janusz Korczak within the context of his contemporary early Twentieth-Century European Innovative Educators which include Maria Montessori, Homer Lane, A.S. Neill, and Anton Semyonovitch Makarenko. The pedagogies of the aforementioned are compared and contrasted within the literature.

In the last decades, Citizenship Education (CE) has been at the forefront of both educational policies and international research regarding curriculum design and impact on pupils' knowledge, values and skills. However, not only what citizenship "is" is diversely conceived by different democratic traditions (Eisenstadt, 2000; Heater, 1999) but,…

This paper offers a critique of current definitions of active citizenship and argues that children and young people need to be seen as citizens within their school communities and not just citizens of the future. Pedagogy and school decision-making should reflect the aims of active citizenship and thus engage children and young people as active…

The Arab Spring exposed the hidden secrets of Egyptian society to the global community. In spite of the insatiable media attention paid to the Mubarak regime and the toll it took on the entire country, Egypt's education system received little attention. For decades, Egypt's public schools have forced students to attend segregated classes, based on…

This article examines Ronald Barnett's notion of an ontological turn in higher education as a language for framing the current existential demands and emerging learning needs of young adults. After presenting different interpretations of ontology, I make a case for how contemplative approaches can be applied to communication-based higher education…

Cambourne and Turbill trace the growth, change and finally marginalisation of progressive approaches to literacy education by examining whole language philosophy in Australia from the 1960s to the present. Using a critical lens, Cambourne and Turbill describe how whole language has been positioned throughout the last nearly 50 years in terms of…

The present reconfiguration of education by neo-liberal forces worldwide is taken as a basis for this essay. Drawing on examples of how this reconfiguration operates on national arenas through decisive and dishonest discourses of commoditisation and privatisation, management and efficiency, education for all and student-centred education, the…

In this paper, the author argues that the pre-service secondary teacher education "paradigm shift" or "system overhaul" that has been implemented during the 2003-2005 time period in Ethiopia reflects the pursuit of pathways which the author refers to as a managerial approach. Grounded mainly on personal narratives of a key self-narrator and views…