Across the globe citizenship education is high on the reform agendas of policy makers and educators. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the entry of former Soviet bloc states into the European Union, the fragmentation of the former Yugoslavia, the major population movements from poor to rich countries, and the increased threats of international terrorism and civil wars in many states have all added to the need to provide up-dated and reflective approaches to citizenship education. Within nation states, the impact of globalisation on social, economic and political structures has caused power shifts across and within international borders demanding greater citizenship awareness and participation. The effect of these changes and the practice and needs of citizenship are profoundly affected by the distinctive particulars of the places in which they occur. This is an essential ingredient in any understanding of what is happening and of any program addressing the resulting citizenship challenges. Too often, citizenship education has been perceived simply as a matter for schools. In this book, the discussion is extended to embrace post-school education. It is acknowledged that the educa

This six-volume handbook covers the latest practice in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). It presents TVET models from all over the world, reflections on the best and most innovative practice, and dozens of telling case studies. The handbook presents the work of established as well as the most promising young researchers and features unrivalled coverage of developments in research, policy and practice in TVET.

A comprehensive guide to competences Competence has become a key concept in political and scientific discussions. It is used as a headword in publications, at conferences and congresses: it dominates strategy papers and practical concepts; it is the standard bearer and point of crystallization for sometimes bitterly fought differences of opinion. The text explains the term “competence” and reflects the current international discussion. From the Contents: Development guidelines and approaches regarding education policy The competence concept and its difference from similar concepts Building blocks of competence Types of competences Genesis of competence Recording competence and measuring competence Fields of application Instruments for recording and harmonising competences and qualifications for comparison purposes

This open access book addresses how to help students find purpose in a rapidly changing world. In a probing and visionary analysis of the field of global education Fernando Reimers explains how to lead the transformation of schools and school systems in order to more effectively prepare students to address today’s’ most urgent challenges and to invent a better future. Offering a comprehensive and multidimensional framework for designing and implementing a global education program that combines cultural, psychological, professional, institutional and political perspectives the book integrates an extensive body of empirical literature on the practice of global education. It discusses several global citizenship curricula that have been adopted by schools and school networks, and ties them into an approach to lead school change into the uncharted territory of the future. Given its scope, the book will help teachers, school and district leaders tackle the change management needed in order to introduce global education, and more generally increase the relevancy of education. In addition, the book offers a “bridge” for more productive collaboration and communication between those who lead the process of educational change, and those who study and theorize this important work. At a time when the urgency of our shared global challenges calls for more understanding and collaboration and when the rapid transformation of societies requires that we help students develop a clear sense of relevancy and purpose, this book offers a way to pursue deep and sustainable change in instruction and school culture, so that students learn that nothing human is foreign and that they can find meaning in lives aligned with audacious purposes to make the world better.

Pick and Sirkin show how IMIFAP, a Mexican NGO, has employed a development strategy to encourage the establishment of a participatory, healthy and educated citizenry. The program strategy is grounded in Amartya Sen's approach to sustainable development through expanding individual's capabilities and freedoms. It presents the Framework for Enabling Empowerment (FrEE) and the step by step strategy "Programming for Choice," based on the practical experience and evaluation of IMIFAP's programs. The end goal is to achieve sustainable community and individual development that can be expanded across a variety of life domains (social, economic, political, education, health and psychological). The book shows how community development can be enhanced if people are enabled to make accountable choices and expand their alternatives. International development efforts will not be sustainable if we continue to build schools without quality teachers; health clinics without enhancing logistical and psychological access and improving quality of care; and laws that are not enforced. Institutions will only flourish if their leaders and bureaucrats enhance their personal capabilities. The central premise of the book is that enhancing skills, knowledge and reducing psychological and contextual barriers to change are central (and often neglected) aspects of sustainable development. IMIFAP was founded in 1984. Through its health promotion and poverty reduction work it has reached over 19 million people in 14 countries through over 40 different programs and over 280 educational materials with support from over 300 funding agencies and government and private institutions. Its mission is to enable society's poor and vulnerable to take charge of their lives through helping them develop their potential. We have found that through the IMIFAP "I want to, I can" programs people take the control of their lives in their own hands. Examples of these results are presented including numerous testimonies.

Although universal schooling has been adopted as a goal by international organizations, national governments, and non-profit organizations, little sustained international attention has been devoted to the purposes or goals of universal education. This book offers diverse views from experts around the world on the purposes of universal education.

For the free movement of labour across the European Union, establishing transparency and comparability of qualifications across member states is vital. This book examines how qualifications, knowledge, skills and competences are understood in different national contexts and trans-nationally and reveals a complex picture of differences and similarities both within and between countries. Against the background of EU policy initiatives, and in particular the European Qualifications Framework, an important focus is on the prospects and difficulties of establishing cross-national recognition of qualifications. Drawing on case studies of particular sectors and occupations in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands, this insightful book, written by leading academics in the field, will be a vital resource for students and researchers involved with vocational education and training, continuing professional development, human resource management and European Union policy.

The first resource to combine the theory of globalizing education preparation programs (EPP) with practice collected from all regions of the world, At School in the World: Developing Globally Engaged Teachers makes the case for the necessity of incorporating global citizenship and intercultural competence development into education curricula at all levels. This volume includes the voices of forty-seven emerging and distinguished intercultural education scholars from ten countries, providing a breadth and depth of experiences and practices never before collected in one book. This is an ideal resource for division leaders of EPP at colleges and universities, education policy developers, teacher preparation faculty, preservice teachers (undergraduate and graduate), and practicing teachers. Through insights from the field and practical examples, along with its broad scope, this comprehensive work aims to help these education practitioners develop their awareness of the importance of internationalization of teacher education; develop their intercultural competence; and learn strategies for incorporating global approaches in their courses and programs.

This book describes how different nations have defined the core competencies and skills that young people will need in order to thrive in the twenty-first-century, and how those nations have fashioned educational policies and curricula meant to promote those skills. The book examines six countries—Chile, China, India, Mexico, Singapore, and the United States—exploring how each one defines, supports, and cultivates those competencies that students will need in order to succeed in the current century. Teaching and Learning for the Twenty-First Century appears at a time of heightened attention to comparative studies of national education systems, and to international student assessments such as those that have come out of PISA (the Program for International Student Assessment), led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This book’s crucial contribution to the burgeoning field of international education arises out of its special attention to first principles—and thus to first questions: As Reimers and Chung explain, “much can be gained by an explicit investigation of the intended purposes of education, in what they attempt to teach students, and in the related questions of why those purposes and how they are achieved.” These questions are crucial to education practice and reform at a time when educators (and the students they serve) face unique, pressing challenges. The book’s detailed attention to such questions signals its indispensable value for policy makers, scholars, and education leaders today.