This new book, from internationally renowned education scholar Pasi Sahlberg and his colleagues, focuses on some of the most controversial issues in contemporary education reform around the world. The authors devote a chapter to each of these ''hard questions'': Does parental choice improve education systems? -- Is there a future for teacher unions? -- What is the right answer to the standardized testing question? -- Can schools prepare children for the 21st-century workplace? -- Will technology save schools? -- Can anyone be a teacher? -- Should higher education be for the public good? -- What knowledge and skill should an educator have?

How educators respond to hard questions on educating change? : three foundational skills that education change-makers need -- Can parental choice improve education for all? / Janine Campbell, Jonathan Seiden & Aline Hankey -- What is the right answer to the standardized testing question? / Momar Dieng, Elaine Koh & Lauren Marston -- Can anyone teach? / Fairuz Alia Jamaluddin, Lauren Owen & Elyse Postlewaite -- Do we still need teacher unions? / Aditi Adhikari, Jason Brown & Amanda Klonsky -- Will technology make schools smarter? / Chu Chen, Reema Souraya & Kolja Wohlleben -- Can schools prepare kids for work? / Love Basillote, Terence Tan Wei Ting & Sharon Yoo -- Can higher education be transactional? / Zachary Goldman, Wen Qiu & Randy Tarnowski -- What can we learn from hard questions?.