The "community of inquiry" as formulated by C. S. Peirce is grounded in the notion of communities of discipline-based inquiry engaged in the construction of knowledge. The phrase "transforming the classroom into a community of inquiry" is commonly understood as a pedagogical activity with a philosophical focus to guide…

Many medical schools offer pre-professional programs to undergraduate students. The main purpose of the university pre-professional program (UPPP) is to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills required to successfully cope with the academic demands of further education provided by professional colleges. The aim of this commentary…

It is six years since NIACE published the findings of its Committee of Inquiry on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Its report, "More than a language," made significant and wide-reaching recommendations aimed at addressing the quality of provision, unmet demand and the structure of ESOL teaching qualifications. The…

During the author's travels all over the United States speaking to a wide variety of audiences, and his visits with leadership groups in the Middle East and Far East, he has encountered diverse audiences who share his concern that the majority of students are leaving high school without the skills that matter most--even in those school districts…

This paper is a version of the author's Keynote Address at the Oceania Comparative and International Education Society (OCIES) Annual Conference on November 21, 2018. She talks about the history of comparative education and how the it relates to the Oceania region. It is a field that relies heavily on accounts of Oceanic lives and classrooms…

In this commentary, Rosita Ulate Sanchez states that Venezuela, like other Latin American countries, begins the 21st century by confronting realities that require changes in its learning and education systems. The purpose of Venezuela's education system is to generate social renovation and economic development. It seeks to achieve this through…

According to a recent study, institutions of higher learning in South Africa fail to a great extent to integrate the key management functions that are fundamental to effective quality management. This article argues that the effective promotion of quality of a university's core business depends to a large extent on the ability of an institution's…

This article draws on the Language Learning Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Program 2012 thanks to which Dr. Suresh Canagarajah from Pennsylvania State University lectured at Universidad de La Plata in Argentina in May of that year. He delivered a talk open to language teachers, students and the community in general and also taught a…

Aya Matsuda is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of English at Arizona State University, Tempe, USA. Her research interests include World Englishes (WE), the use of English as an international language (EIL), and the pedagogical implications of the global spread of English. She has published widely in various books and…

Whilst the past 35 years have seen numerous attempts at national curriculum collaboration in Australia, these have invariably failed largely due to the constitutional reality that the States have responsibility for curriculum. Federal government involvement in curriculum can only be achieved, therefore, with the consent of the States. To achieve…

It is believed that the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)--i.e., inquiry into learning--has the potential to further deepen the ability to question, learn, and act together--especially when it is understood and enacted through the values and practices of democratic civic engagement (DCE). The authors provide a brief example of what they…

This paper assesses the growing UK private sector in education and questions whether it is, as its supporters suggest, a valuable addition to an already diverse national system. An earlier "Perspectives" paper (Woodfield et al 2011) explored the emerging partnerships between public and private sectors. This follow-up explores the roles…

In this commentary, William J. Hunter reflects on this career, and struggles with the fact that teacher preparation programs do not include a course in educational research. When this was mentioned to colleagues (or students), a highly predictable response was "Why should teacher candidates learn about research?" Years of trying to give…

In local, diverse learning communities in Ontario, educators may have to look closely at how engagement can be established in meaningful and authentic ways that encourage and foster student agency and democracy. As students are critically engaged and grasp the relevance of their learning within the context of their daily lives, learning in a…

In their quest for resources to support children's early literacy learning and development, parents encounter and traverse different spaces in which discourses and artifacts are produced and circulated. This paper uses conceptual tools from the field of geosemiotics to examine some commercial spaces designed for parents and children that…