We can give more money to schools -- that's important -- small class sizes, better classrooms, all those things I care deeply about.

WHITEHOUSE: Creating New Jobs by Investing in High-Speed Rail

Kunskapsskolan Enskede, a school for 11- to 16-year-olds in a suburb of Stockholm, is a former office block into which classrooms, open-study spaces and two small lecture-theatres have been squeezed (pictured).

ECONOMIST: Private education

It will put money in the pockets of working Americans, grow manufacturing, return teachers to classrooms hit by budget cuts, and cut taxes for small business.

WHITEHOUSE: United Steelworkers (USW) Back the American Jobs Act

It was one of those cubicle classrooms, surrounded by three just like it, with a small whiteboard on one end and the teacher sitting at a desk on the other.

FORBES: The Culture Shock of India's Call Centers

Of course, today's primary schools no longer treat pupils as small people who should be seen and not heard, but the report suggests that in many classrooms "talk remains far from achieving its true potential".

BBC: All change for primary schools?