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Education Landscapes in the 21st Century: Cross-cultural Challenges and Multi-disciplinary Perspectives
Editor: Iris Guske and Bruce C. Swaffield
Date Of Publication: Jun 2008
Isbn13: 9781847185761
Isbn: 1-84718-576-2
With contributions from scholars and practitioners in the fields of education, literacy, literature, media, communication and cultural studies from all five continents, the present volume focuses on themes of pressing importance in today's globalized community.

By giving voice to educators committed to excellence in teaching from primary school to university, the book introduces the reader to a plurality of approaches to, and applications of, up-to-date theories in the fields of cognition, language acquisition, intercultural communication and technology-based distance education, to name but a few.

Though situated in a concrete educational context—be it a Chinese EFL-classroom in transition, an online MBA-course offered in post-Communist Romania, or a U.S. university utilizing community elders as a pedagogical tool—each paper was selected on the universal value of its findings, which professionals facing the challenges of 21st century pedagogy will find readily applicable in classrooms worldwide.

Since teaching paradigms are strongly culture-bound and influenced by national policies as much as international politics, this book represents a maximum of diversity by including philosophical texts, hands-on research results and articles in the critical discourse tradition, which reflect a number of contentious issues, ranging from the pros and cons of dual-language classrooms to potentially racist literature curricula and the intersection of politics and pedagogy in a post-September 11 world.

Bruce C. Swaffield

Dr. Swaffield, Professor of Writing, Literature and Journalism at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia (U.S.), is the founder and director of the Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture, which meets annually in Rome, Italy. He writes a monthly commentary on international issues for Quill magazine, published by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Iris Guske

Dr. Guske is Director of the Kempten School of Translation and Interpreting Studies (Germany). Combining practical and theoretical approaches in her fields of specialization—Developmental Psychology, Socio-and Psycholinguistics, Migration, and German-Jewish Studies—she has published language coursebooks as well as scholarly work, such as a study on the Kindertransport.

Price Uk Gbp: 44.99
Price Us Usd: 67.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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Interesting reviews

From Navigating Music and Sound Education

“We rarely have the opportunity and time to engage with the practicalities of music teaching through the lens of evidence-based practice. This book provides us with a wonderful exception that is accessible to beginning and established teachers. It contains a wide range of stimulating and thought-provoking material that draws on real-world experiences and events, which are contextualised, informed and structured by theory. This is a powerful combination that we can visit again and again for insight and inspiration. Congratulations to all involved, particularly the editors for shaping such a valuable contribution!”
—Professor Graham F. Welch, University of London; President, International Society of Music Education

“Navigating music and sound education draws together a range of issues increasingly acknowledged to be at the basis of reflective and effective music learning and teaching: social settings, cultural dimensions, gender, indigeneity, varying cognitive approaches, inter-disciplinary connections, technology, types of learning, and creativity. It opens up areas of pedagogy that go beyond classroom methodology to acknowledge student individuality and encourage music learning and teaching grounded in the reality of students’ musical and social lives. It will be invaluable for those training to become educators and for teachers already in the field.”
—Associate Professor Peter Dunbar-Hall, University of Sydney

“This book brings an important contribution to music teacher education as it challenges the readers to rethink their paradigms of music education. It highlights the importance of preparing a reflective teacher, autonomous, creative and conscious of the multifaceted and multicultural locus in which they will work. The book also draws on the importance for music teachers to consider the context in which they work, and establish a dialog between local musical traditions, informal music practices and global trends of music teaching and learning. Most importantly, all chapters are in one way or another derived from research carried out on specific areas, thus stressing the importance of the research informed practice in music education.”
—Professor Liane Hentschke, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; International Society of Music Education Immediate Past President

Many readers will appreciate Steve Dillon and Kathy Hirche’s description of the future of education in their work with dynamic technological contexts.

Navigating Music and Sound Education is a wonderful guide and resource for pre-service music teachers, for teachers in the field, and for teacher educators.

It offers a range of fresh perspectives on the state of music education as it is and as it might be. Kari K Veblen

Navigating Music and Sound Education is an ambitious project which features current research from 20 individuals whose professional identities run the gamut from musician to songwriter to student to educator to music therapist to ethnomusicologist. The book’s scope is perhaps the most exciting aspect of Navigating Music and Sound Education.
Kari K Veblen
University of Western Ontario
British Journal of Music Education
October 2011