The scope of the book --
The functions of education --
Education versus training --
Stages of education development --
Education and national development --
Globalization and education --
Key foci of policy analysis --
Education policy orientations --
Models for analysing education policy --
Policy borrowing --
Policy changes in higher education --
Orientations to curriculum --
Approaches to curriculum planning --
Outcomes-based education --
Alternatives to the objectives model for curriculum planning --
The curriculum ideas of Kieran Egan --
Learning and the conditions that enhance learning --
Questioning some taken-for granted assumptions about teaching and learning --
Approaches to teaching --
Learning through making and doing --
Direct instruction --
Different types of leadership --
Leadership for learning --
Leadership in assessment for learning --
Leadership for change --
Some challenging positions for leaders to consider --
The evolution of teacher preparation --
A model to inform planning for teacher preparation --
Globalisation, internationalisation and teacher preparation --
Teacher induction --
Alternative models of teacher preparation --
Standardised testing --
National curriculum --
Education in countries in transition --
Shadow education --
The challenge of ICT in the classroom

[The book] offers an essential exploration of key concepts and issues in education that will allow education studies students, as well as trainee and practising teachers, to engage in reflection, non only on work at the classroom level, but on education more broadly. Using detailed examples, the book problematizes many popular and taken-for-granted views, allowing the reader to challenge and seriously consider the nature of the education enterprise. [Publisher]