In many ways, education mirrors society by reflecting changing and emergent goals and values as well as by contributing to both the reproduction and production of particular life forms. In the context of the formative project «Europe,» education is called upon to play an increasingly central role, one that is responsive to particular images of the European Union and to its aspirations and goals. The widespread conviction is that education and training will re-invigorate ailing economies, and that, in the context of globalization, national and regional competitiveness will only prevail if there is a qualitative continued improvement in human capital. This volume critically examines such claims, considering the ways in which learning is being constructed across Europe and the implications this has for notions of democratic citizenship and education.

The Editors: Michael Kuhn is policy analyst and Director of the Forum for European Regional Research at the University of Bremen in Germany. With his background in educational theory, philosophy, and political science, Dr. Kuhn has worked in numerous international research projects mainly under European Union programmes. His recent publications include: The European – A New Global Player? (Peter Lang, forthcoming); Building the European Research Area, Socio-Economic Research in Practice (co-edited with Svend Otto Reme; Peter Lang, 2004); Towards a Knowledge Based Economy? Knowledge and Learning in European Educational Research (co-edited with Massimo Tomassini and P. Robert-Jan Simons; Peter Lang, 2006); Concepts of Knowledge and Learning: The Learning Society in Europe and Beyond (co-edited with Ronald G. Sultana; Peter Lang forthcoming). Ronald G. Sultana is Professor of Educational Sociology and Comparative Education and Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Educational Research at the University of Malta. He is the founding editor of the Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, and he represents the Mediterranean region on the editorial board of several international journals of education. He is the author or editor of fifteen volumes, and has published over eighty articles and chapters in journals and books. Most of his recent publications focus on education in the Mediterranean and in the European Union, and include Guidance Policies in the Knowledge Society: Trends, Challenges and Responses Across Europe (2004); Teacher Education in the Euro-Mediterranean Region (Peter Lang, 2002); Challenge and Change in the Euro-Mediterranean Region: Case Studies in Educational Innovation (Peter Lang, 2001); and Politiques et Stratégies Éducatives: Termes de l'échange et Nouveaux Enjeux Nord-Sud (co-editor; Peter Lang, 2001). He is co-editor with Michael Kuhn of Concepts of Knowledge and Learning: The Learning Society in Europe and Beyond (Peter Lang, forthcoming).