Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education Reform
Contributions by Gérard Bonnet, Mary Canning, Kai-ming Cheng, Terry J. Crooks, Luis Crouch, Ori Eyal, Eva Forsberg, Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew, Ratna Ghosh, Martin Gustafsson, Batia P. Horsky, Dan Inbar, Barbara M. Kehm, Stephen T. Kerr, Allan Luke, Ulf P. Lundgren, Robert W. McMeekin, Adam Nir, Peter Schrag, Hasan Simsek, Ryo Watanabe, Alison Wolf, Ali Yildirim Edited by Iris C. Rotberg
Not available to order
Publication date:
16 April 2010Length of book:
454 pagesPublisher
R&L EducationISBN-13: 9781607095026
In Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education Reform, Rotberg brings together examples of current education reforms in sixteen countries, written by 'insiders'. This book goes beyond myths and stereotypes and describes the difficult trade-offs countries make as they attempt to implement reforms in the context of societal and global change. In some countries, reforms are a response to major political or economic shifts; in others, they are motivated by large upsurges in immigration and increased student diversity. Irrespective of the reasons for education reform, all countries face decisions about resource allocation, equality of educational opportunity across diverse populations, access to higher education, student testing and tracking, teacher accountability, school choice, and innovation. The essays in this volume reveal: _
The chapters are...lucid, accessible, and insightful, and the concluding chapter is a thoughtful synthesis of the themes that weave throughout the book....Rotberg gets the editing business right; as a result, education policy makers, scholars, and practitioners interested in comparative education reform will find the book's sum is greater than the individual parts....I recommend the book because the individual case studies are informative. Reading Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education Reform is like being on an interesting, sixteen stop, world study tour. I also recommend the book because Rotberg carefully and thoughtfully pieced together the concluding chapter. Readers who read the book from beginning to end will still be processing the sixteen stories and the wide-ranging content as they begin the final chapter. By identifying the themes that weave throughout the chapters, Rotberg helps the reader make sense of this worldwide intellectual journey....Rotberg does more than identify the themes; she illuminates them by constantly referencing the most essential points made by the individual contributors. What results is a theme, example, example, theme, example, example rhythm that provides readers with a thoughtful, manageable, and memorable conceptual framework that should enable them to draw upon the work in their own professional activities.