“Simple acts of kindness” are not so simple. Broidy argues both for the complexity of kindness in action, and for the value of an approach to teachers’ relationship with their students and other clients that is rooted in a “sensibility of kindness.” Broidy’s case for kindness begins by disentangling the concept of kindness from its many near relations. He traces the role of kindness and related concepts in both American educational history and in modern organizations promoting their versions of kindness. Broidy explores the ways we decide ethical questions, focusing on the complex of perceptions, emotions, dispositions, and priorities that form our ethical sensibilities. He argues that a sensibility oriented toward kindness is the best foundation for a teaching ethic; and shows how new and working teachers can develop and employ such a teaching ethic. Finally, he connects a kindness-oriented teaching ethic to the societal need to maintain and develop a long-term democratic ideal.

O livro A liturgia escolar na Idade Moderna propõe-se a ser uma tentativa de reconstituição de alguns aspectos das práticas e do pensamento sobre a educação entre os séculos XVI e XVII nas sociedades europeias. Com o objetivo de fazer uma reconstituição de alguns aspectos da história da escolarização no Ocidente no referido período, o livro centra-se no percurso civilizador ocorrido nos países da Europa, procurando entrelaçá-lo com facetas da história da cultura que marcaram o campo educacional. Nesse sentido, a Reforma protestante e o Renascimento, bem como os autores humanistas, como Montaigne, Erasmo e Vives, são trabalhados com a finalidade de averiguar a dimensão pedagógica de seus escritos. Em seguida, são analisados os projetos de escola arquitetados por Ratke, por Comenius, pelos jesuítas e por La Salle. A Modernidade de tais propostas verifica-se pela permanência de muitos dos elementos propugnados por tais referências teóricas e práticas do campo da história educacional. A escola moderna tem por intuito instruir e civilizar. Assim, à história dos discursos, das teorias, enfim, das representações sobre a escola, une-se outra história: a das ações, das práticas e das atitudes, as quais, no cotidiano, estruturam o ritual da escolarização. O propósito deste trabalho foi o de identificar como o discurso pedagógico dos séculos XVI e XVII teve correspondência em ações educativas desenvolvidas pelas escolas e colégios da época. Nesse sentido, procurou-se compreender o discurso humanista sobre a educação e o impacto da Reforma protestante sobre o debate pedagógico. Por outro lado, os regulamentos de colégios jesuíticos e escolas lassalianas davam a ver uma dimensão prática da questão educativa, o que contribuiu para estruturar um dado modelo de escola, seja do ponto de vista dos princípios pedagógicos declarados, seja no que concerne aos métodos utilizados na atividade docente. Por fim, procurou-se reconhecer o potencial irradiador desse imaginário social que marcou boa parte do repertório educacional da modernidade. À guisa de referencial teórico, o trabalho conta com a compreensão do processo civilizatório, no sentido que Norbert Elias confere a essa ideia. Nossa hipótese é a de que o discurso pedagógico teve uma participação ativa no modelo que construiu um determinado padrão civilizador, presente na Europa entre os séculos XVI e XVII. No que diz respeito à metodologia do trabalho, procedemos a uma revisão da bibliografia, bem como a um estudo de textos de autores clássicos do período estudado, buscando atentar para a dinâmica desenvolvida entre representações culturais e práticas sociais – pela acepção de Roger Chartier - na formação de visões de mundo, configuradas a partir de conteúdos simbólicos e valorativos que falam à razão, mas também ao coração; que organizam discursos e gestos, modos de agir e toda uma rede de comportamento que se identifica, no limite, com o roteiro da civilização ocidental.

For many years, government policy has associated young people 'being NEET' (Not in Education, Employment or Training) with educational underachievement, worklessness, generational poverty, poor health, antisocial behaviour, and reduced life expectancies. Researchers and policymakers continue to debate whether young people become NEET as a result of their own choices (i.e. their personal agency), or as a result of external factors (i.e. social, political and economic structures). Most recognise that the truth is somewhere between the two, but a clear understanding of how each interacts in causing young people to become NEET has so far been elusive, making the development of effective policy and practice problematic. Agency, Structure and the NEET Policy Problem makes headway against this problem through an original approach that draws on social cognitive theory and the lived experiences of young people themselves.

An Alternate Pragmatism for Going Public interrogates composition’s most prominent responses to contemporary K–16 education reform. By “going public,” teachers, scholars, and administrators rightfully reassert their expertise against corporate-political standards and assessments like the Common Core, Complete College America, and the Collegiate Learning Assessment. However, author Jim Webber shows that composition’s professional imperative for self-defense only partly fulfils the broader aims of “going public,” which include fostering public participation that can assess and potentially affirm the public good of professional judgment.

Drawing on the pragmatic/democratic tradition, Webber envisions an alternate rhetoric of professionalism, one that not only reasserts compositionists’ expertise but also expands opportunities for publics to authorize this expertise. While this public inquiry and engagement may not safeguard professional standing against neoliberal reform, it reorients composition toward an equally important goal, enabling publics to gauge the adequacy of the educational standardization so often advocated by contemporary reform.

Competency-Based Education introduces educators to a new model for anytime, anywhere schooling and provides tools and curriculum resources for redesigning the traditional structures of K–12 schools. Based on pioneering work across multiple states, the book shows how educators can design central elements of competency-based education—including performance tasks, personal learning plans, and grading systems—to meet the needs and interests of all students. The book incorporates case studies and voices from the field, and examines the variety of competency models that schools have adopted, highlighting the benefits for students.

Digital personalization is an emerging interdisciplinary research field, with application to a variety of areas including design, education and publication industry. This book focuses on children's education and literacy resources, which have undergone important changes with the 'personalization revolution' in the early 21st century.

The author develops original insights from educational research and her own studies concerned with digital and non-digital personalization, to discuss in a clear and critical way the thinking, research issues and practical implications of this new field. She scrutinises the character of technology-based personalized education to substantiate the claim that the current models of personalized education tend to be technology- and business-driven, with little pedagogical understanding of the social value of personalization. Research involving touchscreens, personalized books and 2-8-year olds is interrogated for its impact on children's development of language, creativity, identity, as well as family dynamics and classroom dialogue. The literature available on digital and non-digital personalization is discussed in relation to five key themes of personalized education, the so-called 5As: autonomy, authorship, aesthetics, attachment and authenticity. It is argued that the 5As need to be anchored in humanist principles for a sustainable pedagogy and practice. Based on the insights from research with typically and atypically developing children, Kucirkova proposes personalised pluralisation, as a pedagogical framework of personalized education for the future. The book aims to help scholars and professionals understand the connections between personalization and literacy, personalization and education, and personalization and wider socio-moral issues.