Christopher Bjork - Böcker

If there is one thing that describes the trajectory of American education, it is this: more high-stakes testing. In the United States, the debates surrounding this trajectory can be so fierce that it feels like we are in uncharted waters. As Christopher Bjork reminds us in this study, however, we are not the first to make testing so central to education: Japan has been doing it for decades. Drawing on Japan's experiences with testing, overtesting, and recent reforms to relax educational pressures, he sheds light on the best path forward for US schools. Bjork asks a variety of important questions related to testing and reform: Does testing overburden students? Does it impede innovation and encourage conformity? Can a system anchored by examination be reshaped to nurture creativity and curiosity? How should any reforms be implemented by teachers? Each chapter explores questions like these with careful attention to the actual effects policies have had on schools in Japan and other Asian settings, and each draws direct parallels to issues that US schools currently face.Offering a wake-up call for American education, Bjork ultimately cautions that the accountability-driven practice of standardized testing might very well exacerbate the precise problems it is trying to solve.

If there is one thing that describes the trajectory of American education, it is this: more high-stakes testing. In the United States, the debates surrounding this trajectory can be so fierce that it feels like we are in uncharted waters. As Christopher Bjork reminds us in this study, however, we are not the first to make testing so central to education: Japan has been doing it for decades. Drawing on Japan's experiences with testing, overtesting, and recent reforms to relax educational pressures, he sheds light on the best path forward for US schools. Bjork asks a variety of important questions related to testing and reform: Does testing overburden students? Does it impede innovation and encourage conformity? Can a system anchored by examination be reshaped to nurture creativity and curiosity? How should any reforms be implemented by teachers? Each chapter explores questions like these with careful attention to the actual effects policies have had on schools in Japan and other Asian settings, and each draws direct parallels to issues that US schools currently face.Offering a wake-up call for American education, Bjork ultimately cautions that the accountability-driven practice of standardized testing might very well exacerbate the precise problems it is trying to solve.

Global interest in Japanese education and industrial training has grown steadily over the last twenty years. The English-language articles included here, written by Japanese and foreign scholars, contain historical studies, and a range of other topics and disciplinary perspectives. An introduction provides a general context for the essays which follow, and represents some recent thinking on the successes and costs of Japanese education and training from school to office and shop floor.This set covers:* the contribution of Japanese education and training to the economy and culture of Japan today* the lessons Japan has to offer the rest of the world* the Japanese influence on the 'East Asian Approach' to education, in comparison with the educational systems of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong* Japan's promotion of 'learning organizations' and 'knowledge workers' for the information age

Indonesian Education: Teachers, Schools, and CentralAuthority, the first published study of life inside Indonesian schools, explores the role that classroom teachers' behavior and locates their actions within the broader cultures of education and government in Indonesia.

Indonesian Education: Teachers, Schools, and CentralAuthority, the first published study of life inside Indonesian schools, explores the role that classroom teachers' behavior and locates their actions within the broader cultures of education and government in Indonesia.

This volume documents the significant changes that have occurred in Japanese schools since the collapse of that nation's economic bubble. Before the recession, Japan was the country that most others sought to emulate due to its students' performance on standardised tests. Now, however, a much different and more complicated picture of the Japanese education system emerges.This book places Japanese education in a global context, with particular attention given to how their education system is responding to changing expectations and pressures that emerge from rapid social change. Chapters written by respected scholars examine issues related to equality, academic achievement, privatisation, population diversity, societal expectations, and the influence of the media, parents, and political movements. The research in this book will provide valuable lessons for policymakers and practitioners facing similar challenges.

Decentralization and Education: Asian Experiences and Conceptual Contributions examines the specific ways in which decentralization policies have affected the structure and delivery of education in eleven Asian nations. Written by top scholars in the field, the case studies provide detailed and rich empirical evidence documenting the tensions as well as synchronisms between the ideas that form the basis of decentralization policy and the contexts into which they are introduced. The high quality of this collection of essays and the careful attention to local contexts for implementation will make this book a must read for academics, policy planners, practitioners, and students of Asia.

Taking Teaching Seriously expands and enriches discussions about teacher preparation in the United States. Its authors describe the unique contexts for teacher preparation offered by liberal arts institutions and analyze the effects of these programs on their graduates and on K12 schools. They emphasize that the goals and conditions for teacher preparation differ from larger public institutions in several key respects including supervisor-student teacher relationships, philosophical foundations, and approaches to clinical fieldwork. Taken together, the essays provide compelling evidence that educational studies programs in liberal arts colleges and universities constitute a vital component of the teacher education system in the United States.