A global education race now pits countries, regions, and school systems against one another. The racecourse has been created by a small number of influential international testing programs, and the popular media announces winners and losers. Fear of falling behind haunts policy-makers and shapes educational priorities around the world. But are we running in the right direction? We all have a stake in education, and as informed citizens we need to understand the increasingly influential and controversial phenomenon of international testing and what it means for students and the future of our schools. The Global Education Race provides educators, parents, and policy-makers with a lively and accessible introduction to the most influential international testing program: PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, operated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The authors draw on the latest research on assessment and education policy to provide a clear account of how the test works and to investigate PISA’s influence on educational goals and practice in schools around the world. The book aims to provoke informed debate about the role of testing, data, and comparison in educational change. Includes a foreword by David C. Berliner and Pasi Sahlberg.

In this fiercely intelligent yet accessible book, one of the nation's leading sociologists and experts on race calls for "another kind of public education"--one that opens up more possibilities for democracy, and more powerful modes of participation for young people of color.

At a time of impending demographic shifts, faculty and administrators in higher education around the world are becoming aware of the need to address the systemic practices and barriers that contribute to inequitable educational outcomes of racially and ethnically diverse students.Focusing on the higher education learning environment, this volume illuminates the global relevance of critical and inclusive pedagogies (CIP), and demonstrates how their application can transform the teaching and learning process and promote more equitable educational outcomes among all students, but especially racially minoritized students.The examples in this book illustrate the importance of recognizing the detrimental impact of dominant ideologies, of evaluating who is being included in and excluded from the learning process, and paying attention to when teaching fails to consider students’ varying social, psychological, physical and/or emotional needs.This edited volume brings CIP into the realm of comparative education by gathering scholars from across academic disciplines and countries to explore how these pedagogies not only promote deep learning among students, but also better equip instructors to attend to the needs of diverse students by prioritizing their intellectual and social development; creating identity affirming learning environments that foster high expectations; recognizing the value of the cultural and national differences that learners bring to the educational experience; and engaging the “whole” student in the teaching and learning process.

This volume explores contemporary issues of ethnic, cultural, and national identities and their influence on the social construction of identity. These issues are analyzed from the perspective of seven nations: China, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Ukraine, Wales, and the United States. While different, these perspectives are not mutually exclusive lenses through which to review the discourse between ethnic and educational dynamics. The chapters in this book illustrate how these seven perspectives differ, as well as overlap. *Part I explores ethnicity and race as important variables in explaining minority students' academic performance and schooling in the United States and China. *Part II focuses on ethnic and racial identity issues in Israel, Japan, and South Africa. *Part III addresses ethnic and racial identity as it affects racial integration at different levels of education in post-apartheid South Africa, and the effects on schooling of a rapidly changing ethnic map in the United States. *Part IV focuses on issues of language and national identity in three countries: Ukraine and Wales, where a national language is central to nation-building, and China, where 61 languages are in use and bilingual education is essential in enhancing national literacy and communication. The questions this book addresses are highly significant in today's global economy and culture. Scholars and professionals in the fields of comparative, international, and multicultural education and educational policy will find the volume particularly pertinent.

This groundbreaking book describes theory, research, and practice that can be used in civic education courses and programs to help students from marginalized and minoritized groups in nations around the world attain a sense of structural integration and political efficacy within their nation-states, develop civic participation skills, and reflective cultural, national, and global identities.

An examination of families and schools in South Africa, revealing how the marketisation of schooling works to uphold the privilege of whiteness.

This volume brings together cutting edge research, critical commentary and candid, personal accounts in a rich array of fresh perspectives on the dimensions of race and racism that have been prevalent in many societies (for instance, in education, other sectors of human resource development and mainstream versus minority life experiences). Contributions from countries and settings worldwide illustrate the diversity of experiences and situations regarding race that have existed in a given time period, and the complexity of injustice issues wherein race is one of many interrelated and entwined factors contributing to a situation in a given society. Sub-themes emerge in aspects such as language, religion, gender, age, culture, national origin and immigrant status, migration history, workforce demands and literature. Accounts of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial historical contexts and the accompanying shifts in attitudes and policies toward racial groups, ethnic minority groups, indigenous peoples and other subaltern groups offer readers a view on significant changes in the world regarding diversity and identity issues. These matters are rooted in policy and practices of daily life in the context of globalisation and in comparative perspective across countries. Insider perspectives, personal accounts and author testimonies from inside countries add a valuable personal dimension. Furthermore, this collection brings together cases in a wide range of settings, both in developed countries of the north and in developing countries and post-colonial states of the south, and a spread of perspectives from established scholars as well as new emerging scholars. Collectively, the contributions also focus on efforts to transcend the legacies of racism and injustice, exploitation and exclusion. The different cases reveal universal issues and common threads, and also contextually shaped distinctive features within different countries. The result is a panorama of insights on race and related issues as well as prospects for building post-racial societies, ranging from the global level and the local level within countries to personal dimensions. This collection is distinctive in that all regions of the world are represented, and it includes stories from the corners of the world that are seldom highlighted. This volume is a valuable resource illustrating historical and contemporary research along with thoughts on race and racism issues. While the interdisciplinary fields of Comparative and International Education and Post-Colonial Studies are the primary scholarly areas of focus, because of the interdisciplinary nature of the content, it will interest scholars and readers in a wide spectrum of fields including education, history, political science and policy studies, comparative literature, sociology, culture studies, literature, art, social work, development studies, global studies, third world studies and diversity and multiculturalism studies.