The capacity to successfully, positively engage with the cognitive capacities of critical thinking has become the benchmark of employability for many diverse industries across the globe and is considered critical for the development of informed, decisive global citizenship. Despite this, education systems in several countries have developed policies and practices that limit the opportunities for students to authentically participate in the discussions, debates, and evaluative thinking that serve to develop the skill set and mindset of critical thinkers. This writing examines the status of critical thinking in four different contexts across the globe as reflected in educational policies and academic experiences as a preface to investigating actual classroom practices and possible impacts the support of critical thinking skills may have on the potential development of the global citizens of the future. Each vignette reflects the contextualized difficulties that are presented by social and cultural concerns and traditions of making meaning. These stories of education also illustrate the various ways in which the skills and capacities of critical thinking are interpreted in different contexts and address the negative nuances with which thinking critically has become associated. Finally, a pedagogical model of teaching, which may support student development of the skill set of critical thinking within the boundaries of social and cultural mindsets, has been developed.

In the context of English as a global language, compulsory English language education at the primary level has become an inevitable trend in many non-English-speaking countries, including Vietnam. However, there have been concerns regarding how English language policy is realised across contextual settings, especially in rural and remote areas of Vietnam. Based on language-in-education goals, this article investigates English language policy implementation in Vietnam’s rural and remote areas from the perspective of primary English teachers from 2008 onwards. The present paper employs a desk review of existing literature, policy analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Data collected from multiple sources show the inequality of access to English language learning in the rural localities. The findings also indicate a significant gap between the current English language policy goals and implementation in the rural primary sector regarding slow execution, curriculum variations, limited teaching resources, inappropriate pedagogy, and assessment. These problems have been accelerated due to a shortage of teachers as well as inconsistency and limitations related to pre-service teacher training programs and recruitment. Identifying significant challenges of English language policy implementation in the Northwest of Vietnam helps shed light on primary English education in remote and marginalised regions. Therefore, the recommendations target policy makers, teacher educators, and stakeholders to assist primary English teachers in rural areas to improve and advance the success of primary English education in Vietnam’s remote areas and beyond the specific context to which it refers.

Nearly five decades of neoliberal economic and education policies have created western societies defined by individualism and inequity. In the face of the global Covid-19 pandemic, amid devastating death tolls and fragmented government responses, these societies have proven ill-prepared to do the hard work to collectively combat the virus and support all of their citizens. This article explores the five Cs of neoliberal education (conservatism, commerce, conventions, competitiveness and conformity) and the caustic effects they have yielded. Further, the article posits that the pandemic has offered a once in a generation opportunity to rethink western schooling based on a new set of Cs starting with community and its antecedents of collaboration, compassion, care, creativity and criticality, voice and choice, conscience, conservation, commitment and capacity. Progressive school principals and the educators they lead have long railed against the status quo that marginalizes the talents of many students. These same educators will soon find themselves ensnared in a renewed ideological tug-of-war between neo-liberal forces and those hoping to humanize the unforgiving face of governmentality. The authors provide guidance to and assert that school principals must fully engage in this tug-of-war to leverage this terrible opportunity for meaningful change.

This research presents a review of the literature around meeting students’ learning needs in Australian schools. It is referenced to one group of students with refugee experience who have been in Australian schools for over 15 years; students with a background of oracy from Southern Sudan. The development of psychological health and literacy competencies are two of the most critical and complex responsibilities undertaken by education, and, in the case of these students two of the most significant when considered in relation to successful settlement, acculturation and assimilation. In presenting this literature, the bigger picture of how schools can fail, not only these students, but for any number of students from diverse backgrounds, becomes startlingly obvious, as do the ways in which the current political agenda inherent in the public education system in Australia privileges students of specific class and culture. Finally, recommendations are made regarding the development of policy and the concentration on pedagogical practices which acknowledge and respect the strengths and capabilities of this group of students.

As the world becomes increasingly violent and disrupted by forces which impact on millions of families, destroying the communities and ways of life, the lives and prospects of those who survive are increasingly dependent on the humanity of others for understanding, generosity and acceptance as fellow humans. Many of those who suffer forced migration as refugees and asylum seekers are children and young people who have the right to be educated and whose future well-being is heavily reliant on acceptance and inclusion into societies which are very different from their homelands. While only a relatively small percentage (16%) of these populations are placed in schools in developed countries, the challenges for both the students and school leaders is considerable. This paper discusses the importance of belonging as part of school culture and ethos, indicating that deep, critical reflective practice undertaken by school leaders and principals with the intention of deliberately developing radical empathy, based on phenomenological principles, can play a critical role in transforming schooling for these students and their families. Furthermore, the possible impact of developing radical empathy is explored briefly using the perspective provided by Leithwood and his colleagues’ Four-Path model of school leadership.