Book excerpt: Written in a comprehensive, narrative style, Schooling Around the World acquaints students with the major debates, practices, and challenges facing teachers throughout the world today. Drawn from first-hand experience and knowledge, the authors include the latest, most up-to-date viewpoints on comparative and international education. Designed to give students in teacher education programs a global perspective on their future profession, the text is constructed around a consistent structural format for each chapter so students can easily draw thematic comparisons among the numerous case studies presented. Features: Provides an insider's knowledge of the culture and education systems explored, as chapter authors are either nationals of the countries they write about or have had extensive experience working as educators and living in the countries presented. Features many of the great challenges facing the world and educators today. Case studies throughout the book address many persistent and emerging world issues: turmoil in the Middle East; the rising political and economic significance of China; the world-class education systems of South Korea and Japan; the rise of Islamic nationalism; turmoil in Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the fall of Communism; the burden of overpopulation; the quest for excellence in the United States; and more. Presents the relevance of comparative and international education in the Introduction, where all major themes and issues of the text are clearly outlined. Contains the latest, most up-to-date information on different nations in the world, written in a narrative style that is very accessible for undergraduate students, yet with a depth and scope appropriate for graduate students. Package this text with MyLabSchool-a powerful set of online tools that bring the classroom to life! Visit www.mylabschool.com for more information!