Sustainability is a complex, ill-defined concept that has been the subject of much debate over the last two decades (Wals and Jickling, 2002). The ill-defined nature of sustainability manifests itself within socio-scientific issues where conflicting reality constructions, values, norms, and interests interact. Initial teacher education as part of…

Educational institutions have an important role in the achievement of the United Nations' sixteenth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies. In Scotland, all teachers must meet Professional Standards, at the heart of which is a set of goods that include sustainability, democracy, equality, human rights,…

This paper follows on from the previous bulletin (Redford 2017), which covered the education remit of the Parliament's Education and Skills Committee between February 2017 and June 2017. The following bulletin covers the Education remit of the Education and Skills Committee from August 2017 to January 2018.

Set against globalization and as an expression of it, transnational higher education (TNHE) has become an important part of the Chinese educational higher education (HE) system. Research has widely investigated macro topics, for example, policy and developmental history of Chinese HE. However, limited studies have explored Chinese students'…

This paper proposes the concept of 'Curricular Epistemic Socialisation' as a process through which the school curriculum shapes the disciplinary epistemologies and identities of high school (11-18) teachers. Drawing on a survey of history teachers in Scotland (n=101), a cohort comparison is made between those trained since the introduction in 2010…

Donald Trump's ascendancy in American politics has made visible a plague of deep-seated civic illiteracy, a corrupt political system, and a contempt for reason that has been decades in the making; it also points to the withering of civic attachments, the undoing of civic culture, the decline of public life, and the erosion of any sense of shared…

This paper forms the first part of research into the phenomenon of curriculum narrowing within Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). It presents findings from a preliminary analysis of publicly available data -- Scottish Qualifications and school leavers' attainment data, aggregated by local authorities. Our findings show that the senior…

This paper examines some aspects of the work of Margaret McMillan (1860-1931), who is best known for her advocacy of child welfare and nursery education in the first decades of the twentieth century, but who was also closely involved in early socialist movements and, to a lesser extent, the campaign for women's suffrage. The particular focus is on…

This paper will question the notion of research, evidence and tools within a practitioner enquiry orientated practice. Basing the discussion within the current education research and policy context in the UK and the wider Global Education Reform Movement, I will ask questions about how a practitioner enquiry frame as located within Scottish…

This paper follows on from the previous bulletin (Redford 2018), which covered the education remit of the Parliament's Education and Skills Committee between August 2017 to January 2018. This bulletin covers the Education remit of the Education and Skills Committee from February to July 2018. [For the previous bulletin (v50 n1 2018), see…

Differentiated instruction for diverse learners has been generally applied to compulsory education. However, the challenge of learner diversity is faced by other educational institutions. In Malta, most children attend evening classes twice a week in Christian formation at the centres of the Society of Christian Doctrine. The aim of this study was…

The global trend towards the expansion of student participation in higher education study has resulted in unprecedented challenges to the sector as it seeks to respond to greater diversity in the student body and increased demand for academic support and flexibility in entry pathways. Unsurprisingly, this trend has been accompanied by a…

This article offers some insights into the early life and educational experiences of the writer and educationalist Anna (Nan) Shepherd (1893-1981), with a view to exploring her legacy for contemporary educators and academics--and indeed for all those who have a stake in education. Nan Shepherd's example suggests that it is only by contemplating…

This paper explores the professional learning needs identified by teacher educators in Higher Education Institutions in Scotland, with a particular focus on their "researcherly dispositions" (Tack & Vanderlinde, 2016), and identifies some of the implications for the professional learning of teacher educators more broadly. The…

This paper follows on from the previous bulletin (Redford, 2016), which covered the education remit of the Parliament's Education and Skills Committee between February and August 2016. The following bulletin covers the Education remit of the Education and Skills Committee from September 2016 to January 2017.