Progress in Education

The ongoing Progress in Education series presents substantial results from around the globe in selected areas of educational research. Schools are institutions that sail in the tempest of educational issues, reforms, strategies, data and tools, as well as reflect changes in society. Embedded in all of these are technology, diversity, and innovation - their inevitability has been demonstrated in our schools and communities. Chapter One describes and summarises a line of selected social-psychological research spanning over 40 research publications that have largely targeted students and teachers in the Detroit Public School (DPS) district. Chapter Two reviews a human-centred approach in the educational environment. Chapter Three uncovers, from a student perspective, whether or not affirmative action is good social policy. Chapter Four examines the college selection processes of high achieving students who attended urban high schools and eventually enrolled in a rural predominantly White institution (PWI). Chapter Five reviews developments in accredited universities in the United Kingdom where the development of shell frameworks, based upon the requirements of learners rather than subject discipline, has enabled some adults to fulfil their learning requirements and gain formally accredited qualifications. Chapter Six analyses the teaching profession and the requirements to become a teacher in Spain and compares them with those required to become a teacher in Finland. Chapter Seven reviews how newly qualified home economics teachers experience the initial stages in the workplace in Norway.