While the European Parliament is increasingly involved in EU governance, its role in policy developments in domains of strategic importance for the EU has not been the focus of many studies. In this article, we analyse a new digital dataset containing more than 10,000 speeches delivered in the European Parliament plenary between 1999 and 2014 and…

It would be difficult to find any pedagogical story that is comparable to that of "jugyou kenkyuu" (or lesson study in English) that has been practised for over a century in Japan in isolation and became a method that was used worldwide in less than 10 years. Because of its uniqueness and its history, it is an irrefutable challenge to…

This article addresses the conceptual question "what is lesson study?" as an issue that arises in the context of the globalisation of lesson study as a method for improving teaching and learning beyond its presumed origins in the Japanese education system. To what extent can adaptations of the method in different national settings be…

This study analyses the teaching scripts and structure of lesson practices of a Singaporean English teacher at two different levels of class through a comparative analysis. Specifically, it aims to clarify how his view of teaching as tacit knowledge determines the structure of the lessons. The emphasis here is on the examination of a Singaporean's…

In the last two decades, calls to place citizenship education (CE) at the top of national and European educational policy and research agendas have been gaining in prominence. Large-scale comparative studies, such as the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), are often considered the main evidence base for setting these…

Blended learning has risen in popularity in the last two decades as it has been shown to be an effective approach for accommodating an increasingly diverse student population in higher education and enriching the learning environment by incorporating online teaching resources. Blending significant elements of the learning environment such as…

Global university rankings are a worldwide trend that emerged in times of the globalisation and internationalisation of higher education. Universities worldwide are now striving to become "world-class" institutions and are constantly aiming to improve their ranking position. Global rankings of universities are thus perceived by many as…

As countries worldwide aim to reform their education systems and improve teaching and learning, lesson study (LS), which originated in East Asia, has recently attracted great attention. In order for international educators and policy makers to better understand the history and the state of the art of LS in East Asia, this article introduces three…

The "employability" paradigm is beginning to be publicly regarded as one of the key developmental paths and "modernisation" principles of higher education institutions. In this context, the article first overviews the existing practices for tracking graduates' early careers in Europe. Next, it identifies and discusses relevant…

This article describes how lesson study creates a process of teacher learning whilst developing student learning through collaborative planning, guided observation and reflection. It presents a framework for conducting lesson study in a teacher development programme in Lower Austria. The role of knowledgeable others in the development of ownership…

Taking as its point of departure the discussion about the disconnection between research and practice, this article presents learning study as a research approach to overcoming this gap. Learning study has commonalities with design research and lesson study, but is a teacher-researcher collaboration where both have a common object of research.…

In this article we review the evidence of the impact of lesson study on student learning, teacher development, teaching materials, curriculum, professional learning and system enhancement. We argue for lesson study to be treated holistically as a vehicle for development and improvement at classroom, school and system levels rather than as a…

This article is an account of the history of learning theory as the author has come to know and interpret it by dealing with this subject for almost half a century during which he has also himself gradually developed the broad understanding of human learning which is presented in his well known books on "How We Learn" and a lot of other…

The role of teachers is becoming increasingly important in advancing student learning outcomes. This article discusses one area that is still in need of significant reform in Albania: the induction and mentoring of new teacher-candidates. Based on a mixed-method study involving 275 Albanian teachers and mentors, it provides insights into the…

Focusing on Hungarian minority youth in a rural Slovakian setting, this article analyses their higher education aspirations and choices amidst significant economic, political and educational reforms. Relying on mixed methods and a longitudinal design, the research follows a cohort of high school students from their last year of secondary school…