A confluence of scholarly interest has resulted in a revival of Thomistic scholarship across the world. Several areas in the investigation of St. Thomas Aquinas, however, remain under-explored. This volume contributes to two of these neglected areas. First, the volume evaluates the contemporary relevance of St. Thomas's views for the philosophy and practice of education. The second area explored involves the intersections of the Angelic Doctor’s thought and the numerous cultures and intellectual traditions of the East. Contributors to this section examine the reception, creative appropriation, and various points of convergence between St. Thomas and the East.

Ideal for students, this comprehensive thematic encyclopedia focuses on the Philippines, an important archipelago nation in Southeast Asia. The Philippines is a nation that has experience being ruled by two separate colonial powers, home to a people who have had strong attachments to democratic politics, with a culture that is a rich mix of Chinese, Spanish, and American influences. What are important characteristics of contemporary daily life and culture in the Philippines today? This volume explores the geography, history, and society of this important island nation. Thematic chapters examine topics such as government and politics, history, food, etiquette, education, gender, marriage and sexuality, media and popular culture, music, art, and more. Each chapter opens with a general overview of the topic and is followed by alphabetically arranged entries that home in even closer on the topic. Sidebars and illustrations appear throughout the text, and appendixes cover a glossary, facts and figures, holidays chart, and vignettes that paint a picture of a typical "Day in the Life" of students and adults in the country. A bibliography rounds out the work. Modern Philippines is a comprehensive volume on this leading Southeast Asia island nation.

The Co-opting of Education by Extremist Factions: Professing Hate is a study of the ways in which various extremist groups have appropriated education for social manipulation in order to gain political power, and, in some cases, to incite violence. It is a detailed exploration of case studies representing both a wide range of situational differences (time, place, and political orientation) and experiential similarities. To examine a broad scope of circumstances, this book explores various types of rule (from National Socialism to communism to capitalism) from around the world (Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America) and spans time periods from the mid-twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. With the purpose of allowing these diverse situations to dialogue with one another, this study explores each country in its own right as well as in relation to others, ultimately demonstrating the extent to which they influenced one another.

This book originated in a policy analysis class at Michigan State University taught during 2010. Using Professor Tatto’s unique approach to teaching policy analysis, the professor and students agreed to construct a class that represented a reflective and grounded experience in the policy analysis of a current and relevant issue with global ramifications; we began exploring policies that were developed at the global level and that were implemented locally. We investigated the surge of globally developed standards and regulations in an effort to improve education. Our goal was to learn cross-nationally about policies that seek to reform curriculum and instruction under efficiency and global competitiveness arguments, such as Education for All (EFA) and its USA cousin No Child Left Behind (NCLB). We knew our work would be bounded by the time available in a one-semester class, and by resource constraints. We did exploratory inquiry supported by literature reviews, reports on rigorous research studies, and in one case an exploratory case study. The policies we chose to explore, such as EFA and NCLB, offered us the opportunity to examine current reform tendencies that are intended to provide access to quality education for all children, the preparation of teachers to support diverse populations, the organization of schools to accommodate these children in response to vague policy mandates, and power issues affecting the different constituencies and stakeholders. The effects of these and other policies were difficult to track because research is scant and decisions are frequently made based on ideology or political persuasion. Our purpose was to explore the critical issues that originated such policies, and to search for documented evidence regarding policy implementation and effectiveness. We investigated the factors that seemed to interfere with successful implementation, from conceptual, theoretical, and methodological perspectives. In this class we learned that there are not ready-set frameworks for policy analysis, but rather that these have to be constructed according to the issues that emerge as policies are conceptualized and implemented to fit local contexts and needs. The book pays particular attention to the contexts of policy, including the evolving conceptualization of global and local systems of governance, knowledge regimes, and policy spaces. The book is designed for faculty and doctoral students in education who are interested in understanding diverse frameworks for policy analysis, and for those in the general public who are interested in the policies we analyze here.

This book provides a comprehensive and in-depth description of the education system in Lao PDR. It covers pre-school, primary, secondary general, secondary technical and vocational, post-secondary non-higher education, and adult non-formal education and training. In addition to the main content, the book includes a glossary of terms and abbreviations used; and an appendix on the organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Sports, including the linkages between the national, provincial and district level. The content covers public and private sector education provision alike.

Considering the Mekong region as an aggregation of various commons, the contributors to this volume investigate the various commons across the boundaries of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The book incorporates the specialized fields of political science, area studies, public policy, international relations, international development, geography, economics, business administration, public health, engineering, agricultural economics, tropical agriculture, and biotechnology. The contributions to the book cover various issues including innovation and technology, transport and logistics, public health and literacy, traditional medicine, infectious diseases, advanced agricultural technologies, irrigation, water resources, labor migration, human trafficking, and counterfeiting. They examine various commons and goods related to these issues, and discuss practices, policies, decision-making processes and governance strategies for imagining a future Mekong Community that will avoid the tragedy, and explore the comedy of the commons/anti-commons. A valuable resource for scholars of the Mekong region, and more broadly for academics working on the interdisciplinary study of transboundary governance issues.