Education & Pedagogy

Background: The public often perceives STEM disciplines as objective and neutral from human and societal factors. However, recent movements in STEM education have increasingly challenged this value-free assumption, advocating for the integration of empathy into STEM education reform. How STEM education leaders view the role of empathy profoundly influences STEM education policy and curriculum design, yet our knowledge of this remains very limited globally. We interviewed 26 STEM education leaders in Hong Kong--comprising university faculty, secondary and primary school science/STEM teachers, and out-of-school STEM education providers. We develop and employ a novel analytical framework of two-fold orientations in STEM education (utilitarian-oriented and humanist-oriented) to interpret our empirical data. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that empathy serves dual roles in STEM education: as a "tool" (utilitarian orientation) and as an "aim" (humanist orientation), with leaders referencing the latter twice more frequently. As a tool, participants identified empathy's utility for (1) capturing student attention and (2) facilitating problem-solving in design activities, with notable consensus across all panel groups regarding its procedural value. As an aim, participants positioned empathy as (1) a fundamental educational value embodied in the creed for education and value-based pedagogy, (2) an essential component in defining STEM's disciplinary boundaries, and (3) an ultimate goal focused on social service and transformative outcomes. These views vary according to their professional roles--school-based educators strongly emphasized empathy's role as an educational value and goal, while university faculty and out-of-school STEM education providers expressed concerns about the potential dilution of disciplinary boundaries. Conclusions: While leaders demonstrated consensus regarding empathy's instrumental role in STEM education, notable disagreements emerged concerning its incorporation as an educational aim, particularly regarding disciplinary boundaries. The pattern of responses suggests that leaders' professional contexts strongly influence their view of empathy's role in STEM education. Our two-fold orientation framework provides a more nuanced understanding of how leaders position empathy in STEM education, revealing both tensions and synergies and evoking further discussion regarding the defining characteristics of STEM education. A cohesive collective understanding of empathy's role remains underway, highlighting the need for enhanced professional dialogue among diverse STEM education stakeholders.

The internationalization of professional continuing higher education represents a major challenge for education systems seeking to respond to the transformation of labor markets, the development of lifelong learning, the international mobility of professionals, and the emergence of new organizational models focused on social and territorial impact. Among these developments, the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) has become an important field of professional activity and educational development. Cooperatives, mutual organizations, associations, foundations, social enterprises, solidarity-based financial institutions, and other organizations pursuing social, environmental, or collective objectives require professionals capable of managing complex organizations while integrating economic, social, ethical, and territorial dimensions. This research report examines the internationalization of professional continuing higher education for the Social and Solidarity Economy through a comparative analysis of French and international models. It explores the relationship between adult education, professional development, institutional autonomy, national qualification frameworks, continuing higher education, social economy ecosystems, and international credential transparency. The study adopts a qualitative comparative approach based on the analysis of international education and lifelong learning frameworks, professional education models, approaches to social and solidarity economy education, and institutional practices relating to adult learning and professional qualifications. The research argues that the internationalization of professional higher education cannot be reduced to the international circulation of academic programs or the translation of curricula. It requires a broader process involving institutional transparency, competency-based learning, contextual recognition, quality assurance, experiential learning, digital verification, and the ability to interpret educational credentials across different national systems. The report proposes a multidimensional framework for the internationalization of professional continuing higher education in the Social and Solidarity Economy. This framework combines six dimensions: institutional transparency, professional relevance, learning outcomes, experiential pedagogy, international comparability, and social impact. The French experience is examined as an applied institutional case through the development of professional continuing higher education activities oriented toward international management, educational sciences, adult learning, and the Social and Solidarity Economy. The study concludes that the future of international professional education lies not in the uniformity of educational systems, but in the development of transparent, flexible, competency-based, and socially responsible learning pathways capable of connecting adult professionals, educational institutions, organizations, territories, and international partners.

In order for some minority groups to perform well academically, they need to develop a positive relationship with their teachers. Given the ongoing cultural difference between the majority of the teaching workforce and the student population, the question for teacher education programs is how they might assist future teachers in developing dispositions that will increase their ability to interact and teach diverse students effectively and in a culturally responsive manner. The demographic profile of the students in the John Carroll University (JCU) Teacher Education Program suggests a traditional-aged, White population, many of whom have transitioned from a K-12 Catholic education into a Catholic higher education setting. Many of these students also enjoy an affluent socio-economic status and, as such, they have managed to engage in their daily activities nearly exclusively in the company of other White Americans. This could possibly connote a "culturally deprived" status because of the extensive homogeneous life experiences these students have had. Frequently, they express fear when informed they may have to spend time within an urban educational or community setting. Most routinely express doubt about their ability to teach effectively children who are poor or minorities. In one or two extreme instances, students had parents intervene in hope of avoiding a mandatory "border crossing" experience involved in a service-learning assignment. Such responses clearly indicate the challenge of creating new dispositions in the John Carroll teacher education students. Clearly, understanding which practices, knowledge, and experiences most influence the development of desired dispositions is essential. Possession of that information would allow the JCU Teacher Education Program to maximize its efforts and increase desired outcomes. There is, however, a first task, specifically, the need to ascertain the students' present dispositions related to multicultural education. The effort described in this article seeks to identify student dispositions related to multicultural education at an initial stage--that is, student dispositions before they have had college coursework in the education core and, specifically, before the sole multicultural education course. The effort sought to ascertain student dispositions related to multicultural education developed largely through their personal experiences and exposure within the K-12 educational setting. This article is a descriptive study of the entry level undergraduate education students' dispositions to multicultural education. (Contains 3 tables.)