Many academicians, politicians, and educators strongly believe that knowledge, organized in school curricula and transmitted through school systems, contributes to the economic strength of nations. How valid is this claim?

The current discourse of globalization is overwhelmingly centred upon the interconnectedness, or connectivity, of the contemporary world; to the great neglect of the issues of global culture and global consciousness. With contemporary worldwide culture increasingly characterized by such themes as astronomy, cosmology, space travel and exploration, there is an increasing disjuncture between academic concern with connectivity, on the one hand, and culture and consciousness of the place of planet earth in the cosmos as a whole, on the other. This book addresses this deficiency from a variety of closely related perspectives, presenting studies of religion, science, sport, international organizations, global resistance movements and migrations and developments in East Asia. It brings together the latest theoretical empirical work from scholars in the US, UK, Australia, Japan, China and Israel on the significance of culture and global consciousness. As such, Global Culture: Consciousness and Connectivity will be of great interest to scholars across and beyond the social sciences working in the areas of global studies, cultural studies, social theory, the sociology of religion and related issues.

Explores how educational research from a comparative perspective has been instrumental in broadening and testing hypotheses from institutional theory. This book contains theoretical discussions of the impact that comparative research has had on institutional theory and comparative scholarship that tests basic institutional assumptions and trends.

The mission of the International Journal of Educational Reform (IJER) is to keep readers up-to-date with worldwide developments in education reform by providing scholarly information and practical analysis from recognized international authorities. As the only peer-reviewed scholarly publication that combines authors’ voices without regard for the political affiliations perspectives, or research methodologies, IJER provides readers with a balanced view of all sides of the political and educational mainstream. To this end, IJER includes, but is not limited to, inquiry based and opinion pieces on developments in such areas as policy, administration, curriculum, instruction, law, and research. IJER should thus be of interest to professional educators with decision-making roles and policymakers at all levels turn since it provides a broad-based conversation between and among policymakers, practitioners, and academicians about reform goals, objectives, and methods for success throughout the world. Readers can call on IJER to learn from an international group of reform implementers by discovering what they can do that has actually worked. IJER can also help readers to understand the pitfalls of current reforms in order to avoid making similar mistakes. Finally, it is the mission of IJER to help readers to learn about key issues in school reform from movers and shakers who help to study and shape the power base directing educational reform in the U.S. and the world.

This volume provides new perspectives into the challenges of citizenship education in the age of globalization and in the context of multicultural and conflict-ridden societies. It calls on us to rethink the accepted liberal and national discourses that have long dominated the conceptualization and practice of citizenship and citizenship education in light of social conflict, globalization, terrorism, and the spread of an extreme form of capitalism. The contributors of the volume identify the main challenges to the role of citizenship education in the context of globalization, conflicts and the changes to the institution of citizenship they entail and critically examine the ways in which schools and education systems currently address – and may be able to improve – the role of citizenship education in conflict-ridden and multicultural contexts.

This text approaches the subject of education and development on the basis that free universal primary education is a human right, which should be accorded to all children forthwith. This must be provided as a package of benefits, encompassing universal primary education, basic health care and adequate nutrition. The analysis allows for the fact that policies for education are also subject to the influence of broader social philosophies and epistomologies than those solely of the educational system.