This article responds to a question put forward approximately a decade ago by the history of education research group at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven: Did the child-centred ideas of New Education, as promoted by Ovide Decroly, influence the education policy in the former Belgian colony of Congo? Naturally, ideas were circulating that could…

This article analyzes the role that international organizations play in orienting education reforms and changes, based on an examination of key texts these organizations produced in the 1990s. The analysis shows that some specific trends persist: UNESCO and UNICEF centre their philosophy on a humanistic and child-centered vision of education,…

In recent decades, historical studies of public policies on children and youth have paid scant attention to the transnational dimension which may have governed their emergence. This article focuses on the transnational perspective of social and cultural history, to understand the role that international organizations have played in disseminating…

The article addresses international efforts at child protection, emphasizing the criminal law on juveniles before 1914, and focuses on key international organizations and their various conferences and congresses. Although there was an institutional divide between welfare in general, child protection and youth crime, the organizations covered…

What are the origins of international schools? Authors in the fields of education and institutional history often point to the "need" of an invisible group of parents. This need, and the "demand" these schools claim to fulfill, haunt common discourse. From a historical and sociological viewpoint, however, these are precisely…

This article traces the influence of international networks in three Middle Eastern universities from the 1920s onwards: the American University of Beirut, the American University in Cairo and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It shows how American, internationalist, imperial and religious actors competed and how the universities were placed in…

As a result of changing employer needs, shifts in the labour supply, and demographic forces, there could be increasingly significant mismatches between worker skills and job requirements by 2030, which could raise structural unemployment levels and slow economic growth. These gaps would include shortages of high-skill workers in advanced economies…

The article underlines the historic importance of the treatment of skills development, finally, by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR) team. Among the many challenges in its analysis are the multiple and overlapping meanings of the word skill, and the consequent difficulties of quantifying and monitoring efforts at skills…

The construction industry is contributing to the sustainability agenda through numerous strategies to improve energy efficiency in the design, materials, and operating conditions of buildings. However, this is only one driver of change in the construction sector. This article, which takes Australia as a case study, shows that many other drivers…

Most countries in South Asia are either in the middle-income bracket or moving towards it; to move up the value chain towards higher incomes, they need more skilled people and larger investments in infrastructure. The combination of globalization, technological advancement, unprecedented labour mobility, and the demographic dividend offers them…

Germany has a "dual system" of initial vocational education and training, one that other countries admire and would like to adopt. Can it hand this model over to them? This article argues that doing so will require far more than a simple process of copying. Instead, any transfer must reflect the existing conditions in the country…

Though viewed as second-class until fairly recently, Canada's system for providing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) now provides relevant post-secondary education that meets the needs of highly skilled professionals in all job categories. As the system evolved, it changed the public view of skills education. This article…

This article explores the potential of mobile learning in adult education with a particular focus on identity formation and self-representation. It draws on the mobile learning experiences implemented within MyMobile--Education on the move, a European project (2010-2012) whose main purpose was to develop guidelines for mobile learning in adult…

This paper addresses ways that mobile technologies can be used in teacher development, and focuses on mobile technologies. In particular, it addresses issues of context. It outlines and explores accepted practice and illustrates how mobility invites change and reappraisal of the teacher education process. It places this against a backdrop of…

Equity is the most significant problem educators face. Very large inequities and inequalities persist in both education and society. Why? What can be done about them? While much has been written about these issues, progress is very slow and there is little agreement on why or what to do. While this article cannot resolve these questions, it raises…