Education & Pedagogy

This article presents analysed data from the first year of the Rural Teacher Education Project (RTEP 2007-2009) with a view to illustrating how a generative theory of rurality as education research was developed, and for which ends it might be utilised. The article suggests that data from projects in rural communities, which take the rural as context, need to interrogate the role and purpose of education in such contexts in relation to notions of social and professional identity. I argue for the application of a social theory in which the rural is linked to the possibilities of identity and interaction in terms of the quality of teacher education and the quality of education in rural communities. The theory accounts for the ability of people (in this case teachers) to sustain themselves in space and time--both as subjects and agents able to resist or transform the environment, depending on resources available. It also illuminates the reality, or otherwise, of subjectivities and perceptions in our collective imaginary concerning education and the transformation project in South Africa. (Contains 10 figures and 1 endnote.)

Sixty years ago, federal guidelines regarding the instruction of special populations in American public schools were nonexistent. Racial minorities, language minorities, women, the poor, and those with physical and mental disabilities had not been identified as groups that needed special protections. Much has changed since then. Federal legislation that is designed to ensure that all of these groups have access to equal educational opportunities in the United States is now in place. This article examines the evolution of policies surrounding bilingual education to illustrate that the need to ensure the educational opportunities of certain student populations compelled the federal government to become more involved in the governance and oversight of American public education. The implementation of such federal "protection policies" designed to expand educational opportunities for traditionally underserved groups of students ultimately fortified and solidified the federal government's more pronounced role in public education.

The features of Korean higher education development are related to sociocultural tradition (Confucian tradition), the model university ideas, and economic development in Korea. The modern university ideas adopted in Korean are based on the German model which was established by the Japanese colonial government and drawing on the US university model after the World War II. However, the modern university ideas are intertwined with socio-cultural factors and have been embedded in current Korean universities. As well as the western ideas and the Confucian tradition, the growth of Korean higher education has relied upon the rapid growth of the Korean economy. Education development is well aligned with economic development in Korea thanks to government policy initiatives. This framework can be applied in the analysis of higher education development in other countries. Higher education development cannot be solely explained by individual cultural, historical or economic factor. These three factors are interlinked and influence the development of Korean higher education.

Scholarly research is crucial to teaching and learning because it keeps the work of teacher educators and the teaching and learning in schools of education dynamic. Research fosters habits of critical reflection, encourages teacher educators to learn throughout their careers, and ensures that concepts in teacher education adapt to current understandings, politics, and policies. For many of the same reasons that research is valuable for the work of teacher educators, it is valuable to teachers, particularly teachers in urban areas. To understand the value of research to teaching and learning, consider what teacher education looks like without it. Conducting scholarly research makes teacher educators more reflective teachers. In the current political climate, everyone must remember that education should be meaningful to the learners. Research has a unique potential to remind educators that that learning is fascinating and rewarding. When teacher educators and teachers are involved in scholarship, rather than simply reviewing techniques, their thinking and their practice naturally embraces the reflection and creativity without which learning--authentic learning--simply cannot exist.

Last couple of decades, some developed countries emphasized to develop civil society in developing countries. The main goals were to promote democratic norms and values among citizens who will not be thinking about democratic society otherwise. To establish democratic norms and values, many view that higher education is necessary. The relationship between higher education and civil society is not clear to many. Some believe that higher education seems to gear toward building career. For some, main motto of higher education is to motivate students for providing public service that would establish a democratic civil society. Higher education system in universities of Bangladesh failed to meet people's expectations because of its poor shape. Higher education serves as the engine of growth for a nation's economic and social development. The products of higher education run the country, spearheading all the state mechanisms and areas of expertise. This paper is an attempt to explore the relationship between higher education and commercialization which leads constraints of building civil society in Bangladesh. (Contains 1 table.)

Despite growing scholarly attention to multicultural teacher education, most scholarship focuses on teacher education students rather than those who are preparing them to teach multiculturally. This study, a grounded theory exploration of data from a survey (N = 70) of multicultural teacher educators, represents an attempt to shift some of that focus to the challenges faced by those teaching multicultural teacher education courses. Findings support many of the challenges named, but rarely empirically studied, in the literature, including the prevalence of student resistance. However, the findings revealed challenges to existing presumptions, such as evidence that the primary challenge to the implementation of sound multicultural teacher education is not a lack of multicultural sensibility in multicultural teacher educators, but the myriad challenges impeding their abilities to deliver learning experiences that are consistent with their visions for multicultural education. Implications, including those regarding professional and support opportunities available to multicultural teacher educators, are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how a unique Islamic education system, named Pondok Pesantren, implemented and contributed substantially to the character education of its students. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 12 teachers and 24 students of Pondok Pesantren Darunnajah, Indonesia were interviewed, participated in focus groups discussions, and were observed. Findings: Findings suggest that Pondok Pesantren Darunnajah adopts the comprehensive approach of character education which is laid on Islamic values as its ultimate philosophy. The majority of teachers and students reported that the Pondok Pesantren Darunnajah educates and develops students' character by infusing knowledge, providing supportive conditions or environment, then giving chances to practice and form. Originality/value: The paper proposes a model of character education at Pondok Pesantren, as well as other Islamic education systems which have similar characteristics on the implementation of character education. Recommendations for future researches and practice are also presented. (Contains 1 table.)

This paper represents a contribution to the Skills Commission's call in 2009 for more research into the attitudes of apprentices towards advanced further education and higher education. Understanding of the perspective of apprentices has been argued to be important to informing any policy change aimed at increasing the low progression rate of apprentices to higher level learning. This paper outlines how the issue of apprenticeship progression, particularly progression to higher education, has latterly fitted with the aims of Lifelong Learning Networks, set up to facilitate progression for learners on vocational pathways and to create opportunities for vocational learners to build on their earlier learning. We present two pieces of research into apprentices' attitudes towards progression to higher levels of learning and show how this forms a contribution to our understanding of the issues around progression from apprenticeships, within the wider context of Lifelong Learning Networks' endeavour to facilitate greater vocational progression into higher education. (Contains 9 tables.)

Entrepreneurship education in higher education is crucial for fostering innovation, shaping entrepreneurial attitudes, and equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to establish and manage successful enterprises. This research extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurship education and students' intentions regarding electronic entrepreneurship in Vietnam. The research design employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the mediating effects of attitude toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and Social Media Entrepreneurial Usage (SMEU). The research design comprises a preliminary study and a main study. A preliminary study (N = 20) enhanced the questionnaire by applying Cronbach's Alpha. The main sample consists of 245 respondents who answered the questionnaire designed using a 5-point Likert scale. The findings indicated that entrepreneurship education indirectly influences electronic entrepreneurial intentions through all four mediating determinants. Practical implications emphasised the significance of contemporary, technology-enhanced entrepreneurship education programs in cultivating students' competencies, confidence, and motivation for digital entrepreneurship, hence contributing to a sustainable and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This qualitative study investigated university teachers' value perceptions and pedagogical approaches to values education. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and document analysis with 10 Chinese university teachers, the study identified five main value types emphasised by the participants (i.e., benevolence, security, tradition, conformity and self-direction values) and three approaches adopted in values education (i.e., traditional, constructivist and critical approaches). The findings show that university teachers actively incorporated curricular values into their teaching and enacted these values through their own interpretations and pedagogical decisions. However, their practices displayed an imbalanced pedagogical pattern, characterised by relatively extensive content knowledge but less developed pedagogical content knowledge related to values education. These findings further highlight teachers' struggling agency in a standardised accountability context, where insufficient professional support constrained their capacity to enact values education in pedagogically meaningful ways. The study offers implications for values education reform and teacher development in higher education institutions.

Amidst rapid AI-driven labour market transformations, this study investigates how AI awareness and career education jointly enhance career development competencies among Chinese university students in China. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), this research examined the mediating roles of self-efficacy and employability confidence in linking AI awareness and career education to employability. Utilising administrated questionnaire survey from 460 Chinese university students in China and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the results demonstrate that: (1) AI awareness and career education positively correlate with self-efficacy, employability confidence and employability; (2) Self-efficacy mediates the relationship between AI awareness, career education and employability confidence; (3) employability confidence mediate the relationship between self-efficacy and employability. These findings underscore the critical need to integrate AI literacy into career education curricula to cultivate a future-ready workforce. The study extends SCT by contextualising digital-age career adaptability mechanisms and provides empirically driven strategies for higher education policymakers.

South Korea is well known for its distinctive, sometimes excessive, enthusiasm for education. This education fever is derived from South Koreans' concern with the pursuit of education as a way of achieving socioeconomic status and power; and thus, competitions to score well on tests have been valorized in South Korea. Now that English has become the language of power and opportunity in South Korea, this paper aims to examine how education fever has empowered bottom-up "de facto" English language policy over top-down English language policy. By referring to Cooper's, "Language planning and social change." Cambridge University Press (1989) and Kaplan and Baldauf's, "Language planning: From practice to theory." Multilingual Matters (1997) frameworks, this paper interprets private education in South Korea serving as bottom-up "de facto" policy, which exercises greater influence on how language policy is developed in practice than the top-down statement can. [For the complete volume, "Private Education in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Nations: Privilege or Preference. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects. Volume 80," see ED682535.]

Job demands and poor working conditions of special education teachers are one of the main reasons for teacher attrition, one of the most pressing issues in special education today. This study explored the job characteristics and working conditions specific to special education teachers of students with extensive support needs. Sixty-six special education teachers completed a survey of 74 job tasks, indicating the importance of each task, their confidence level, and available time and materials. The results confirmed the importance of 73 out of the 74 tasks. The analysis of the working conditions yielded six patterns, the largest pattern consisting of 35 tasks that were perceived as important but for which the teachers lacked the confidence, time, and materials for implementation. The findings are discussed in the context of demoralization of special education teachers, as well as in terms of school district policies and training of teachers in special education.

As a result of the expansion of higher education exports, the number of international students in China increased from 44,711 in 1999 to 492,185 in 2018, with an average yearly growth rate of 14%. This paper investigates whether the export of higher education improves households' well-being in China. Specifically, we study if there is a causal relationship between higher education exports and household consumption. Using a shift-share instrumental variable approach, we find that a one percent increase in educational exports (measured as the number of international students) increased household consumption by around 0.06%. The results indicate that growth in income/wealth is an important channel that promotes household consumption. Furthermore, we find that education exports mainly affect household developmental consumption, especially housing and education consumption. We also find that the promotion effect of education export on household consumption is not driven by tuition fees alone. Finally, a vital conclusion of our work is that education exports not only can bring more trade benefits but also can relieve the negative consequences of the low household consumption rate in China.

The UK coalition Government's call to end the "bias" towards inclusion represents a shift in "policy speak" as the new administration attempts to re-narrate special education by putting forward a "reasonable and sensible" solution to the "problem of inclusion". However, implicit in the call is the assumption that there has, in fact, been a "bias towards inclusion" in education policy and practice; here, that assumption is challenged. Using a critical disability studies perspective, Katherine Runswick-Cole, who is a research fellow in Disability Studies and Psychology in the Research Institute of Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University, draws on the concept of ableism and critiques of neo-liberal market systems in education to reveal and explore the persistent barriers to inclusive education embedded within the education system. It is argued that although there may have been an inclusive education policy rhetoric, this rhetoric is rooted in conceptual incongruities which, rather than promoting inclusion, undermine an inclusive approach to education.