EDITORIAL NOTE

Research in education: trends and innovations

There is growing international interest in newer approaches in research and the development and use of new methodologies, especially as it seems that the traditional quantitativequalitative debate is now a thing of the past.

For example, the EARLI (JURE Junior Researchers) conference in July 2008 in Utrecht had as its focus Innovative and Creative Perspectives: New Directions in Educational Research.

Already in 2007, the editorial committee of the South African Journal of Education (SAJE) had started compiling a number of articles that focus specifically on this need for newer and specialised approaches in research methodology.

The first five articles in this issue of SAJE come from Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia and reflect the perspectives of specialists focusing on specific areas in the educational research field. The articles are representative of recent perspectives and developments on various continents. The editorial committee hopes that these articles will pave the way to "new" and even "different" ways of thinking and doing, as well as creating a forum and a stimulus for academic discourse.

Philip van der Westhuizen (Editor); Tilla Olivier (Assistant Editor)