Education & Pedagogy

In an increasingly technological world, technology education programs designed to meet the needs of the demanding technological environment must be planned and coordinated efficiently. In response to this changing technological environment, the provision of technology education in Ireland is currently undergoing development. The educational process in Ireland is government driven, as in other European countries. Technical subjects have been included in the Irish curriculum since 1885 as manual instruction and educational handicraft. These subjects were entitled Metalwork, Woodwork, and Technical Drawing. The introduction of Technology as a subject in its own right occurred in 1989, based on the rationale that technology education was seen important for economic success. The recognized importance of technological literacy in providing a broad and balanced education highlights the importance for the inclusion of technology education in the core curriculum. As is true in most countries, there are a lot of issues, ideologies, and philosophies that must reach compromise before progress can be made. Ireland is an example of such a country.

Recognizing the significance of education in promoting sustainable development (SD), China has developed a number of policies and initiatives relating to education for sustainable development (ESD) and climate change education (CCE). The article first reviews China's national policies and initiatives with regard to SD, climate change, education, ESD and CCE. Second, it investigates the educational approaches adopted in the implementation of ESD and CCE in China, including the establishment of ESD schools and districts, curriculum development, the promotion of the ESD teaching and learning model, thematic activities, and the monitoring and evaluation mechanism. Third, a number of characteristics of ESD in China are analyzed in the article. For example, ESD in China is considered as a way to quality education; and it follows a whole school approach and often requires cross-sectoral cooperation. Last, the article identifies several main challenges faced with the ESD and CCE work in China and provides some feasible solutions to these challenges.

High-quality inclusive education program is indispensable to ensure access to education for children with disabilities. This study examined accessibility of instructional provision for children with disabilities. Qualitative, case study method was carried out, using purposive sampling followed by observation, interview and focus-group discussion to collect data. It begins with introducing how Inclusive education (IE) enhances learning accessible. Jegnoch Metasebiya Primary School is one of the schools awarded in the country for its best performance. The study revealed that the number students with disabilities enrolled in the school were not significant. It also found that the schooling and instructional activities were not accessible for the children. The study concluded that the school was implementing an integrated approach. Recommendations were made for the regional education office and the school to allocate adequate budget, promote inclusive education and to strengthen collaboration with all stakeholders.

Response to Intervention (RTI) may create an opportunity for equitable approaches to special education evaluation, in part, through collaboration among general and special education teachers, who can combine their areas of expertise to better understand how to serve students' unique academic needs, particularly in underresourced schools serving diverse learners. Historically ineffective attempts to improve collaboration between general and special education, however, may pose challenges to effective RTI implementation. In this study, the author uses Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to examine how RTI implementation and the intersection of other context-specific conditions impact the way general and special educators work together at one public elementary school serving a large population of diverse learners. Findings indicate that, outside of referral meetings, RTI implementation was primarily a general education endeavor. The results hold implications for the way teacher education programs prepare general and special candidates to foster collaborative approaches to RTI in unique K-12 contexts.

Understanding the policy directed education environment in which health education as a subject sits in "The New Zealand Curriculum" (NZC) is akin to attempting a complex jigsaw puzzle without a picture to show how the pieces fit together. This article will provide an overview of the multiple education policies, presented as a "jigsaw", that give shape to health education in "NZC." Ongoing challenges for health education associated with aspects of the jigsaw will be highlighted, including consideration of policy that guides whole-school approaches for the promotion of wellbeing as an integral feature of schooling improvement. As the health and education sectors, and different parts of the education sector, intersect and often collide in relation to health education, a wide range of stakeholders would benefit from better understanding of the policy-bound responsibilities and accountabilities of schools in order to ensure that their service provision and resources are consistent with current policy and reflect best practice on educational terms.

This paper explores self-efficacy theory (Bandura), situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger), and self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci), the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework (TPCK or TPACK; Mishra & Koehler) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards (for Educators) as they relate to the preservice teacher education program, including both coursework and field experience. Regarding teacher education program coursework, this paper examines research studies that report on findings from both quantitative and qualitative research about preservice teachers' experience with technology integration in the context of the teacher education program, in which the TPACK framework or ISTE Standards were used in the curricular design of the program's academic coursework. Regarding teacher education program field experience, this paper examines the context provided by the mentor teachers' self-efficacy regarding and use of technology.

The humanities and social sciences, and in particular the educational sciences, are facing major challenges in view of the current socio-political, economic and foreign policy upheavals. The authors characterize some of these challenges to education theorists and practical pedagogues against the background of the ideas of a "Humanization of Education" that emerged in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and led to the founding of the "International Academy for the Humanization of Education" (IAHE) in 1995. That humanization approach is still very relevant today. Here, the focus is on the current discussions of national identity, individuality and social responsibility, problems and tasks of inclusion and integration, as well as on the effects of digitalization on personality development. The influence of "Progressive Education" in the first half of the 20th century on the discussions centering on the "Humanization of Education" is taken into account, and the authors pose the question of the sustainability of such innovations in times of social upheavals.

This article describes the qualitative study of the redesigning of a course based on the Canadian "4CO-teaching method" for student teachers. This method consists of four different phases of co-teaching: co-design, co-execution, co-debriefing, and coreflection. Through this way of co-teaching, student teachers in both primary education and in arts education (theatre, dance, and visual arts) were taught how to design arts lessons for primary education together, how to carry them out as a couple, and how to jointly reflect on their lessons. The course, called "Teamplayers", aimed to teach these student teachers how to complement their knowledge and skills during the designing and teaching of arts lessons and, thus, enhance the quality of arts education. This research study evaluated the design of Teamplayers and the students' experience with the method of 4CO-teaching with the aim of improving the course. [Note: The title on the PDF has "CO4" instead of "4CO" as found throughout the paper.]

Education for learners with special education needs has become one of the major concerns of education policies in every corner of the world. In Macau, however, the transformation of schools into inclusive environments is reported to be slow because many teachers in Macau have not accepted the key values of inclusive education and possess little knowledge of their responsibilities as inclusive education teachers. Despite being nonempirical, the aim of this article is twofold: to inform inclusive education teachers, especially those in Macau and other developing regions, of the necessary knowledge, skills and strategies of working collaboratively with parents of children with SEN and provide policy makers concerned with practical ideas of designing effective professional development programmes for teachers working in the inclusive environment. The ultimate aim is to ensure that children with SEN benefit from an education process that includes quality learning opportunities.

The purpose of this study is to depict how the public goods of internationalizing higher education in Japan, especially inbound international students, are viewed by various stakeholders based on the main findings from semi-structured interviews. The interviewees include key persons from different levels or fields in Japan: officials from MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology), national agencies in relation to international students and international cooperation, a national-level professional association of higher education research, both top-level and middle-level leaders of one research-intensive national university, academics from Humanities, Engineering, and Economics, administrators in charge of internationalization of their respective universities, and international students from diverse backgrounds. The study begins with a brief introduction to the research background, before presenting the analysis and main findings from the interviews. It concludes by arguing how the public good and its relationship to the internationalization of Japanese higher education are viewed and interpreted by different stakeholders, and offering brief implications for research and practice.

The study aimed to investigate factors influencing participation in pre-school education and its implications for quality-education. The descriptive survey research design was employed through stratified random sampling to collect pertinent information through questionnaires and observational checklists. The first finding was that 68.92% of the total variance of the factors contributed to quality pre-school education was the site of the preschools, lack of enough spaces for children practices, poor instructional materials in kind and amount, and poor availability of curriculum materials to each child in the classroom. The second finding was that most teaching materials and curriculum contents (83%) were not from indigenous sources. Finally, large class sizes, high teacher-child ratio, low staff salaries, lack of well-trained staff, poor relevance of curriculum, and lack of parental involvement were found to be the major influencing factors affecting preschools' quality-education. Therefore, policymakers should be clear with the aims of pre-school education.

Education in an inter-cultural space is a feature of Aotearoa New Zealand: the education system is of European origin as are many in the teaching profession, while the student population is diverse. Within that diversity are Pasifika students, those with links to Pacific Island nations resident in Aotearoa New Zealand. This article offers insights into Pasifika education by focussing on a small-scale professional learning and development (PLD) programme based on Pasifika student and parent voice understood through Pacific concepts. A review of three strands of literature precedes a description of the PLD programme. Data from the programme is then discussed in terms of the kinds of knowledge teachers can develop through negotiating with va, a relational concept from the Pacific. This indicates that PLD which offers relevant student voice, concepts capable of challenging dominant world views, and socialisation into alternative ethics can provide a way forward in Pasifika education and, by implication, in other education spaces which have an inter-cultural profile.

This article provides an overview of the discourses on Dutch mosque education. Based on a review of the scholarly debates on mosque education in West, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles containing references to mosque education between 2010 and 2016 (N = 45). The data are sampled from the five largest Dutch newspapers. Most of the themes emerging from the literature are also reflected in the discourses on mosque education in the press. In line with other media analysis on representation of Muslims, the portrayal of mosque education in the Dutch press is also mainly negative. The key issues in the press portrayals included use of corporal punishment, inadequate training of imams, reinforcement of conservative gender norms, intensification of social segregation, links with religious extremism and local opposition to mosques. Fewer references concern the positive influence of mosque education on cognitive skills and identity development of the Muslim children.

Widening higher education participation can deliver benefits to individuals, societies and economies but rural populations experience factors which inhibit their aspiration for and participation in higher education. When designing outreach programs, universities need to consider this landscape of factors, many of which are socio-cultural. This article reports evaluation results from a project that trialled three university outreach programs designed to align with rural contexts with the aim of identifying aspects which were effective in addressing factors of rurality, revealing obscured future options and showing higher education pathways as attainable. Universities can work effectively with rural communities to inform people's higher education aspirations through 'disruptions', interventions that inform educational aspiration, and 'bridges' which support higher education participation through facilitating access to information, physical, financial, academic and social resources. A model including both 'disruptions' and 'bridges', jointly resourced and drawing on social capital resources of communities and higher education institutions is presented.

Adult environment literacy in the USA remains disturbingly low, despite the urgency of environmental problems. In the face of federal attack on many of the gains made in the last half a century to protect and sustain natural resources and human health, increasing understanding of complex ecological processes and the human role in environmental change is crucial. Non-formal environmental education in the USA for adults is less regulated and less studied that environmental education for children. Preserves are the most common place in which adults encounter nature and may be exposed to new ideas about the environment. This study conducts a rhetorical analysis of education programs at local preserves in southwest Florida to determine approaches utilized in promoting environmental literacy. Using rhetorical criticism, we identify the dominant levels of environmental literacy targeted by the sample parks through an analysis of audiences and messages. We also identify opportunities and barriers to an increased role for preserves in providing education to the public that advances environmental literacy.