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Given the less mature homeschooling ecosystem in China, together with the similarity of purpose, the current study examined the lived experiences of curricular choice making in the USA and China and categories of respective families (homeschools), as a way of understanding curricular flexibility. In addressing these features, based on an updated model of curricular flexibility as it applies to homeschooling, the authors examined the aspects of who, what, when, where and how to see if this context offers new light. The authors then consider ways in which the model can be further updated for greater analytical clarity and accuracy. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

A descriptive case study was conducted in the Xi'an city of China and the Seattle metropolitan area of the USA. A survey and two rounds of semi-structured interview data were collected from ten homeschooling families in both contexts.

The study found families’ adjusted curricula for different motives, as they navigated differing societal contexts, and curricular flexibility in homeschooling contexts was theorized as standardization and structuring strategies and social dimensions, and family preference patterns were identified. Chinese homeschooling families had comparatively less variety of available resources and freedom to homeschools compared to American counterparts, and they operated with the awareness of a standard national curriculum and its social implications.

This study elaborates on a little-discussed topic – the overall curriculum of each homeschool and motives influencing changing curricular choices during the process of homeschooling. And it is the first paper to use the model to explicitly define curricular flexibility in the homeschooling context, thus extending the existing theoretical discussion of curricular flexibility.

The aim of this chapter is twofold: first, it will discuss the roots and the aims of the curriculum reform launched in Portugal in 2017, suggesting that it shows the influence of international policy borrowing. Secondly, it aims to present and to discuss the trends that this reform is putting in place, highlighting some successful practices as well some misconceptions and controversial practices. To accomplish such aims, it follows the analytical framework that inspires this book, namely the approach that understands curriculum making as a dynamic process of interactions between different layers of the system, emphasizing the meso and the micro layers of curriculum decision-making. The focus on the experimental period that this chapter narrates is also an opportunity to analyse dynamics among the layers of curriculum making.

Placing gifted and talented students together organizationally is not a substitute for appropriate services. The placement or program model fundamentally serves as a vehicle to group or organize students together but programming, in practice, sometimes referred to as a service delivery model, is not the same thing as service. Placement is a management strategy. It must be coupled with curriculum and instructional modifications in order for substantial and positive academic and social–emotional effects to occur for gifted and talented students. Specifically, the program placement model is only as good as the curriculum and instructional models provided within that placement. This chapter provides descriptions and research evidence of the macro program models used for serving gifted students and more commonly used program placement models for grouping gifted students together within the traditional school day and beyond. Non-negotiable components and future directions are also discussed within the context of placement.

The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on architectural education (AE) was investigated, and a framework was proposed to reduce the impacts' negative consequences.

Systematic literature review, bibliometric and content analyses were combined to gain an in-depth understanding of the effects of the pandemic on AE and projections for its future. Relevant documents were extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) database. Bibliometric connections in the context of AE and COVID-19 pandemic were explored using text-mining and content analysis was performed.

The challenges, development tendencies and collaboration networks in AE during the pandemic were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The most influential articles, journals, authors and countries/regions were highlighted using a bibliometric analysis. The analysis of keyword tendencies and clusters indicates that new concepts have emerged in AE research during the pandemic involving online, in-person and hybrid education. Using content analysis of 57 subtopics, 39 (18) were categorized as having negative (positive) effects. A comprehensive mitigation framework was designed to reduce the impact of the pandemic on AE.

The study findings can enable practitioners to construct effective solutions to COVID-19- and other disaster-related problems regarding AE. The implications, obstacles and mitigation framework presented can help identify gaps in the literature and guide further research.

This paper presents the first bibliometric and content analysis of AE and COVID-19 pandemic-related studies published from January 2020 to June 2022 to highlight several research directions and academic development within the field.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and explore ways UDL decreases potential barriers for diverse students while increasing opportunities to learn. The sociocultural theory of Lev Vygotsky (1978) serves as a theoretical framework for UDL. Vygotsky (1978) placed much emphasis on the role of the social interaction in the development of cognition stating, “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 57). Additionally, he focused considerable attention on language and private speech. The ability to express oneself in any environment, particularly the classroom, is critical to intellectual development. Another pivotal concept is that of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which reflects the point between what a child has previously learned and can complete independently and that which they cannot do, even with supports. Our intent was to use student examples, or case studies, of typical diversity in the classroom, to demonstrate the application of UDL principles. Specifically, we provide ways planning for representation of material, expression of material, and engagement in material, which can benefit all learners. The case study examples demonstrate ways effective planning can benefit learners in many areas. The case studies presented in this chapter reflect a small portion of the diverse population in classrooms across the nation. Yet the case studies demonstrate ways planning can incorporate students “in the margin” while at the same time benefitting all students in the classroom. Addressing diversity through the UDL lens helps teachers accommodate individual differences through intentional instructional design, while at the same time providing resources for all students in the classroom.

There has been an ongoing debate regarding where a university should house entrepreneurship programs. Should they be in the business school, at the central administration level, or housed in another college such as engineering? Many argue that the entrepreneurship programs should be housed where the best ideas come from (i.e., engineering, computer science, or biosciences). Others strongly argue on traditional lines that entrepreneurship involves essential business tools so the programs need to be housed there. This chapter asserts that the debate over location is moot in regards to how to more effectively launch start-ups and create entrepreneurial talent. For a university to be effective, it needs to build an ecosystem that integrates programs, people, and ideas from across the campus and avoid the traditional silos that schools and colleges create. A model for this from the University of Missouri-Kansas City is used to illustrate an effective university entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This chapter reports on findings from a wider research project undertaken in Portugal. It focuses on the views of school principals with respect to (new) policy on the school curriculum. School principals have to balance conflicting goals and to manage tensions of implementation, particularly in a context of intense school reform. As policy gatekeepers and interpreters, school leaders have a pivotal role to play in how policies are framed, managed, and discussed in the context of their schools. Data presented in this text are drawn from a wider 3-year study. Findings point to the existence of contradictory elements in the principals' accounts. In general, they are critical of the new curriculum policy and question the adequacy of the conditions currently existing in schools to put it into operation. Overall, the regulatory and centralized orientation stands in sharp contrast to the very essence of the policies that call for local, contextualized, and innovative solutions. Such findings need to be analyzed within a centralized and bureaucratic education system in which a logic of control and standardized management of education still dominates.

The education system worldwide is regulated through the dominant paradigm of planning and enactment, but the representations of curricula and lesson plans underpinning the paradigm are poorly correlated to classroom practice. This paper aims to understand how despite this the paradigm remains dominant and explores the implications of its continued success for the current educational practice.

Bateson's concept of the economy of flexibility is applied to the education. Genetic control is mapped onto the formal specification of learning activities, while somatic control is mapped onto teachers' improvisatory practice. The conflicting regulatory messages generated within the dominant paradigm are discussed in terms of Bateson's double bind theory.

The success of the dominant paradigm is comprehensible when conceived of as an economy of flexibility. However, the analysis indicates that this success is dependent on two conditions: that sufficient flexibility is maintained in classroom practice, and that there should be a weak but reliable channel whereby innovations in classroom can filter through to the level of planning. Current developments in educational technology and management practice threaten both these conditions, by increasing the ability of managers to monitor educational activities, and by providing technocratic solutions to pedagogic questions. Flexibility is squeezed out of the system, and the contradictions of the dominant paradigm are increasingly enforced to place teachers in a double bind.

The analysis provides a model for relating the problems experienced by teachers in their practice to changes in technology, policy and institutional organisation.

This account aims to introduce contrasting perspectives on teaching and learning methods, and to detail the growth of new forms and vocabularies of access to learning. As we move towards the new millennium, the development of national, yet diversified, credit frameworks and systems will provide an essential underpinning for the organisational culture that will be needed to sustain the wellbeing and growth of the educational system. These new systems are already being incorporated into the practice of ‘virtual’ education. Lifelong learning has widespread support across the social and political spectrum and its importance can hardly be over‐stated as we seek to maintain competitiveness in a changing world. Increasing knowledge and understanding to serve both the needs of the economy and of individuals to play a major role in democratic life has become an agenda of necessity as well as desire. An open society requires open systems of knowledge. A prognosis for the future is submitted where the significance of part‐time modular and open flexible learning is evaluated in terms of a curriculum rooted in useful knowledge and competences, acquired at different sites of learning, including the workplace. It is argued that modular structures, using the potential offered by credit accumulation and transfer to different institutions with different missions, can transcend and transform the learning opportunities for students in a mass system of higher education which is rapidly becoming part of a global market economy and society. Continuous lifelong learning involving its key features of open access, recognition of learning wherever it takes place and the growth of new learning networks and partnerships, is at the conceptual heart of the development of the virtual university.

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study evaluated a Master of Science program in Clinical and Translational Research (MSCTR) geared toward training physicians in research methodology. The purpose of this study is to allow trainees to articulate their expectations, needs and experiences in the MSCTR and to develop novel training methods and/or curriculum modifications to improve physician-scholar training.

The mixed-method study design with qualitative emphasis included interviews, participant journal entries and a survey. Interview and journal entry data were analyzed using a modified seven-stage hermeneutic analysis and survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Findings suggest three major areas for improvement, namely, curriculum, mentorship/relationships and instructional methods. Concluding recommendations to address these three areas include: make ongoing curriculum updates to provide a sequential pathway but also allow for flexibility, improve statistical training, invest in online courses and create a more structured mentorship program.

Extant research, though minimal, has evaluated clinical research training programs in terms of alumni productivity. However, this is the first study of its kind to examine a clinical research training program primarily qualitatively and from the perspective of its students and alumni.