Comparative Education and the Mediterranean Region – serie

The rapid social, economic and technological changes taking place in the world today have led to the rise of social and emotional learning (SEL) as an essential requirement in positive human development and meaningful education. SEL competencies such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, problem solving, collaboration, understanding and empathising with others, embracing diversity and conflict resolution, are key 21st century competences.The turbulences taking place in the Mediterranean region such as civil strife, violence, socio-economic hardship, forced displacement, human trafficking and child abuse, have directed academics’, policy makers' and practitioners’ interest towards SEL. SEL became an innovative avenue in preventing and addressing some of the main challenges being faced by countries in the Mediterranean basin in the healthy development and quality education of children and young people.Social and Emotional Learning in the Mediterranean: Cross Cultural Perspectives and Approaches is the first publication of this kind to explore how the Mediterranean region is seeking to address the issues and challenges in the promotion and implementation of SEL. It is an attempt to raise awareness on the SEL policies, frameworks and practices taking place in the Mediterranean region, to share and celebrate good practices, and to critically reflect on the challenges faced in the effective implementation of SEL in the region, with recommendations for policy, interventions and research.

The rapid social, economic and technological changes taking place in the world today have led to the rise of social and emotional learning (SEL) as an essential requirement in positive human development and meaningful education. SEL competencies such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, problem solving, collaboration, understanding and empathising with others, embracing diversity and conflict resolution, are key 21st century competences.The turbulences taking place in the Mediterranean region such as civil strife, violence, socio-economic hardship, forced displacement, human trafficking and child abuse, have directed academics’, policy makers' and practitioners’ interest towards SEL. SEL became an innovative avenue in preventing and addressing some of the main challenges being faced by countries in the Mediterranean basin in the healthy development and quality education of children and young people.Social and Emotional Learning in the Mediterranean: Cross Cultural Perspectives and Approaches is the first publication of this kind to explore how the Mediterranean region is seeking to address the issues and challenges in the promotion and implementation of SEL. It is an attempt to raise awareness on the SEL policies, frameworks and practices taking place in the Mediterranean region, to share and celebrate good practices, and to critically reflect on the challenges faced in the effective implementation of SEL in the region, with recommendations for policy, interventions and research.

This edited volume focuses on the cultural situatedness of educational leadership in countries in the Mediterranean basin (Malta, Israel, Spain, Algeria, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus) featuring chapters that explore the reception of the leadership concept and its enactment in education settings within one or more countries of the Mediterranean; consider how both local and global policy discourses work on education leaders who translate this in a distinct school context; focus on the interplay of leaders, followers and context as a complex and ambiguous social construction within the Mediterranean context; study leadership via a combination of a theoretical definition and a consideration of what a particular group means by ‘leadership’, with a specific openness to local meanings; explore the unfolding of education reform as either a top-down or bottom-up process; consider the various cultural, religious, social and local factors that ‘dictate’ both leadership enactment, in addition to the power flow among leaders and followers; argue how the territorial, political and religious conflicts affect educational leadership, and thus the implementation of education reform to either conform to or converge from globalized discourses.This book is targeted for post-graduate and doctoral students, as well as scholars, interested in the study of educational leadership, policy and politics of education, Mediterranean studies, and sociology of education. It is also of interest to those who feel the need to address the ‘missing-what’ of educational leadership in the Mediterranean region, an area of study that is largely dominated by Western models.

This edited volume focuses on the cultural situatedness of educational leadership in countries in the Mediterranean basin (Malta, Israel, Spain, Algeria, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus) featuring chapters that explore the reception of the leadership concept and its enactment in education settings within one or more countries of the Mediterranean; consider how both local and global policy discourses work on education leaders who translate this in a distinct school context; focus on the interplay of leaders, followers and context as a complex and ambiguous social construction within the Mediterranean context; study leadership via a combination of a theoretical definition and a consideration of what a particular group means by ‘leadership’, with a specific openness to local meanings; explore the unfolding of education reform as either a top-down or bottom-up process; consider the various cultural, religious, social and local factors that ‘dictate’ both leadership enactment, in addition to the power flow among leaders and followers; argue how the territorial, political and religious conflicts affect educational leadership, and thus the implementation of education reform to either conform to or converge from globalized discourses.This book is targeted for post-graduate and doctoral students, as well as scholars, interested in the study of educational leadership, policy and politics of education, Mediterranean studies, and sociology of education. It is also of interest to those who feel the need to address the ‘missing-what’ of educational leadership in the Mediterranean region, an area of study that is largely dominated by Western models.

The Mediterranean has once again come into its own in global geo-politics, attracting international interest that goes well beyond the typical stereotypes propagated by the tourist industry. Popular movements clamouring for democracy, conflict zones that have a spill-over effect well beyond the region, efforts to engage with globalisation on its own terms—one and all play out in various sectors of society, education included.Educational Scholarship across the Mediterranean: A Celebratory Retrospective brings together in one volume a selection of the best articles that have appeared in the Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, whose first issue was published in 1996. Each chapter highlights challenges faced by education systems across the region, seen from the perspective of leading scholars who draw on original empirical data, a broad spectrum of theoretical frameworks, and personal experience to reflect on education-related topics. Among these we find critical considerations of the role of the economy, demography, gender, social stratification, religion, politics, culture and language in shaping educational systems and practices.Much has been achieved in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean over the past 25 years—and yet, a consideration of the continuities as much as of the ruptures is instructive, showing how education remains both a transformative and reproductive force in communities.

The Mediterranean has once again come into its own in global geo-politics, attracting international interest that goes well beyond the typical stereotypes propagated by the tourist industry. Popular movements clamouring for democracy, conflict zones that have a spill-over effect well beyond the region, efforts to engage with globalisation on its own terms—one and all play out in various sectors of society, education included.Educational Scholarship across the Mediterranean: A Celebratory Retrospective brings together in one volume a selection of the best articles that have appeared in the Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, whose first issue was published in 1996. Each chapter highlights challenges faced by education systems across the region, seen from the perspective of leading scholars who draw on original empirical data, a broad spectrum of theoretical frameworks, and personal experience to reflect on education-related topics. Among these we find critical considerations of the role of the economy, demography, gender, social stratification, religion, politics, culture and language in shaping educational systems and practices.Much has been achieved in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean over the past 25 years—and yet, a consideration of the continuities as much as of the ruptures is instructive, showing how education remains both a transformative and reproductive force in communities.