At many times in educational history, including the past decade, there are reports of crisis and cries for reform. The successes of foreign competitors are pointed to, new moneys are sought and laws passed. Occasionally these reform efforts make a difference. Just as often, they end up as mere rhetoric and the educational indicators continue to slide. Education is a dynamic sector with its ups and downs. To understand these ups and downs and to gain a clearer grasp of the essentials of reform, we need to look deeply into the origins and development of successful and failed reforms. This book seeks to answer that need. To do so, it stresses two important themes. First, the essence of educational practice lies in the institutionalised ideals and norms of an educational system, not in how much is spent on education or how many people are involved in education. Second, while many contemporary observers of education tend to think that sound educational practice is pretty much the same around the world, this book argues that these are at least six distinctive educational InstitutionS currently in place in the modern world, each with its unique strengths and weaknesses. Each also has its own cycle of reform and renewal. So the landscape of educational reform is much broader than most observers acknowledge. The book is unique in highlighting the principle characteristics of Japanese education alongside those of Soviet Russia and the core educational systems of Western Europe and North America. While the account focuses on ‘national’ differences, the analysis actually begins from the ground up, looking at particular schools that emerged early in the six modernising experiences. These early schools are described here as representative schools, for the practices they initiated have had a profound influence on the direction of subsequent reforms in their respective national settings.

Accessible, insightful, comprehensive and universally applicable, An Illustrated Guide to Managing Institutions of Higher Education details the fundamental elements of all institutions, and offers a practical framework to enable leaders to understand their institutions clearly and manage them more effectively.

Universities and colleges have long been seen as academic communities. This book explores how the nature of these communities is changing under pressure for autonomy to be balanced by accountability; and from resource constraints from the state that is now a sponsor or client rather than a patron (leading to competition rather than collegiality). It also explains the positions of higher education institutions in relation to their regional communities, minority groups, the work of the European Community, and links to employers and learning in the community, at work and elsewhere. The final section of Higher Education and its Communities looks at how new technologies open up the global community but also may affect relationships within the learning communities at the heart of higher education''s core functions; and looks at the danger of a control culture in a community where IT allows, indeed requires, a record of activities and transactions that are open to surveillance. Nevertheless, the values of the academic community live on even in societies with a historical oppression and that is the message of the book''s final chapter.

Excerpt from Thoughts on Educational Topics: And Institutions In a private conversation, Professor Guyot made a remark which seems to have a public value. You give to your schools, said he, credit that is really due to the world. Looking at America with the eye of an European, it appears to me that your world is doing more and your schools are doing less, in the cause of education, than you are inclined to be lieve. For one, though I ought, as much as any, to stand for the schools, I give a qualified assent to the truth of this observation. There is much learn ing among us which we cannot trace directly to the schools; but the schools have introduced and fostered a Spirit which has given to the world the power to make itself learned. It is much easier to disseminate what is called the Spirit of education, than it was to create that Spirit, and preserve it when there were few to do it homage. For this we are indebted to the schools. Unobserved in the process of change, but happy in its results, the business Of education is not now confined to profes Sioual teachers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This authoritative reference source covers all higher education themes in a comprehensive, accessible and comparative way. It maps the field for the twenty first century reflecting the massive changes that have occurred and the challenges ahead for future research. It provides a rich diversity of scholarly perspectives and covers the entire spectrum of higher education from a geographical, a topical and disciplinary perspective. It is unrivaled in its capacity to go beyond national boundaries and provides indispensible comparative analyses. The major reference works available about higher education have been published more than two decades ago and since then higher education has undergone major changes that have resulted in a much larger, diverse, global, and multidimensional reality. One of the main trends has been relentless expansion on a worldwide scale. This has led to mass higher education becoming a reality across continents, substantial growth in the number of countries with universal access to higher education, and great diversification of the student body. The tremendous increase in the international links in higher education, through issues such as training, students’ mobility, staff mobility, research activities, is another major change. The consequence is a global dimension that is strongly associated with the intensification of international networks in which institutions and researchers explore, create and share knowledge. As a result of the changes and trends, higher education has increasingly become part of debates that highlight its complexity as an institution that combines relevant political, social, economic, and cultural purposes and dimensions. Asked to play important and varied economic and social roles, higher education has had to reshape its priorities, and organizational and decision-making structures. The growth and increased complexity of the field have both led to more attention being paid to all aspects of higher education and to the expansion of research.

The World List of Universities and Other Institutes of Higher Education, now in its twenty-fourth edition, has been revised to include more information one each institution in over 170 countries. There are 14,000 institutions listed with information verified from the governing body of education in each country which is thoroughly up-to-date. Details on the institutions include: name of institution in English and local language equivalent; full postal address details and telephone and fax numbers; email and website address where available; officers' names with contact details; List of faculties, departments and major subject areas.