Education & Pedagogy

The quality of provision in the further education sector in the United Kingdom has long been contested. An ongoing issue in further education colleges has been the focus upon minimum competence in qualifications. Yet, there are examples of high standards in teaching and learning. Drawing on interview data with 24 WorldSkills Training Managers working in the vocational education and training system in the UK, the potential contributions of their expertise is examined. Many well-documented pressures exist in further education which counteract an approach to teaching and learning aimed at excellence rather than competence and the Training Managers articulated these. However, a supportive senior management team and continuing professional development was cited as an enabling factors allowing these teaching professionals to draw on their expert practice and flourish. Building on the experience of Training Managers, could be a fruitful avenue for the pursuit of vocational excellence in further education when few other such drivers are currently available in the system.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has been the backbone of Singapore's push to build an industrialised workforce and is currently responsible for the post-secondary education of 65% of its Primary 1 cohort. Admissions to polytechnics increased from 5% of Primary 1 cohort in 1980 to 40% today while the Institute of Technical Education takes in 25% of this cohort. Under the current nation-wide comprehensive SkillsFuture Singapore initiative, skills acquisition seems to have replaced academic qualifications to become a new byword in Singapore's education landscape. This paper traces the development of Singapore's TVET into the current SkillsFuture epoch to analyse the tensions that have been wrought amongst knowledge, skills, habitus and curriculum frameworks. The role and place of vocational education, and its affordance and constraints within the wider hierarchy of what counts as valuable education in Singapore are also explored as questions here, including the complexities and issues around equal opportunities and social mobility, broader talent development, and the formation of life-long learners.

From the perspective of "suzhi" education, this study analyses the historical development of the undergraduate educational model at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT). It could be argued that BIT's talent-cultivating system's transformations from 1940 to 2020 echo Chinese higher education's reform and development. This study concludes that BIT has experienced four phases: (1) from advocacy for general-specialized education's integration to general education's disappearance; (2) from the rectification of specialized education to the germination of "suzhi" and general education; (3) the flourishing of "suzhi" education and general education; and (4) the establishment of the Shuyuan System. The case of BIT reflects Chinese higher education's development and the process of transforming from meritocracy to popularization. Chinese universities have changed their paradigm from emphasizing specialized education to highlighting "suzhi" education, as well as from focusing on training students into specialists to stressing students' holistic development.

In this paper, we craft a dialogue between "The Anthropocene as we know it: posthumanism, science education and scientific literacy as a path to sustainability," by Sophia Jeong, Brandon Sherman, and Deborah Tippins and, "The quest for sustainable futures: designing transformative spaces for youth through critical response-ability," by Shakhnoza Kayumova and Deborah Tippins. We argue for an optimistic approach to post-Anthropocene science education that acknowledges humans as the animals we are, albeit with a more sophisticated understanding of our place in the world. It is this understanding that gives us both responsibility and a response-ability to our human and non-human actors within our earthly entanglement. To do this requires reimagining science classrooms as locations of opportunity where students develop agential literacy. These classrooms provide an environment that allow students to develop their skills as sustainability engineers. We advocate for embracing indigenous ways of knowing, opening locations of possibilities through policy reform, fostering an integrated model of STEM education, and re-imagining teacher education to promote and move toward equitable science education.

The edtech community has promoted claims that digital education enhances access, learning, and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic tested these claims like never before, as higher education systems seemingly overnight had to move teaching online. Through a sequential mixed-method approach, we investigated how 85 higher education leaders in 24 countries experienced this rapid digital transformation. Through their experiences, we identified the multiple and overlapping factors that contribute to an institution's ability to realize the potential of digital education, in terms of access, learning and collaboration, whilst highlighting deeply rooted inequalities at the individual, institutional and system level. Drawing on these empirics, we put forth recommendations for closing the digital divides and pathways forward. Higher education leaders are uniquely positioned to move beyond the emergency adoption of online learning towards inclusive, long-term visions for digital education, which emphasize collaboration over individual gain.

While some studies in Zimbabwe have examined the relevance of education in rural settings, very few have done so using a human development-oriented framework such as the capabilities approach, as this paper does. In linking education and human development, the capabilities approach facilitates an examination of intersecting individual contexts and educational processes, which influence perceptions, decision-making and outcomes. This paper uses Chakohwa village as a qualitative case study to question education's relevance in certain rural settings, especially in a developing country context. Data was collected through a focus group discussion and interviews with key respondents. Questioning the curriculum and the learning process, reveals how, if at all, education can be converted into a valued functioning and the conditions of possibilities in such contexts. The study also highlights the need for a minimum threshold of resources before education can be valued intrinsically and instrumentally, and the implications for human development.

In Peru, Indigenous students from rural communities must often migrate to urban areas to access higher education. Navigating to and through urban higher education is a complex task where Peru's oppressive colonial legacies intertwine with students' community values, resources, and strengths. How can we more deeply understand the interconnecting systems that oppress and support rural Indigenous students, and how can we mobilize these understandings to reimagine higher education? In this paper, we use photo-cued interviewing and ecological systems theory to: (1) make sense of rural Indigenous students' experiences as they navigate to and through higher education in urban areas; and (2) uncover levers for systemic change to improve higher education policy and practice. In doing so, we expand beyond a two worlds perspective of Indigenous educational experiences to offer a more holistic view on coloniality and Indigenous resilience in higher education.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world and arts education. Performing arts classes across the world were labeled as deadly activities and banned for in-person instruction and experiences in schools and communities for months. Strict mandates were enforced for masking students and social distancing. Restrictions for talking, singing, playing instruments, dancing, touching, ventilation, sharing equipment and resources in visual, performing, and media arts, and group activities associated with arts education were daunting. The arts have been described as a universal language that celebrates and honors culture, diversity, ethnicity, inclusion, and individual authenticity, as well as basic education in the United States. Consequently, the impact of pandemic mandates resulted in social, emotional, and psychological trauma for those affected, as people are born to dance, sing, act, create, make music, and play--individually and collectively. How have arts educators, students, and programs survived with resilience during this unprecedented time in history?

Referring to the official measurement scale, global evidences confirm that 'education quality' has continuously been improving. On the other hand, studies examining the role of education discover that education continuously fails to play the desired role. Therefore, claims are made that 'education quality' is denting. Keeping this view in mind, this research is conducted to assess the education quality, making a comparison between the official measurement scale and 'inter-counterparts' perception'. Both primary and secondary data are used. According to the official measurement scale, 'education quality' has been improved substantially for every provision-primary to tertiary. Apparently, the entire system functions well where performances and 'education quality' of all provisions are synchronised. On the other hand, 'inter-counterparts' perception' indicates that 'education quality' of all provisions deteriorates gradually and they live in an isolation. This research suggested a new horizon for assessment which would ensure substantial learning outcomes; helping the developing world.

Entrepreneurial intention plays a central role in stimulating the growth of entrepreneurs. The purpose of this investigation is to explore the relationship between several forecasted variables that can drive to students' entrepreneurial intention, consisting of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial attitude, family education, and environment. We applied a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey model to capture the digestion of how entrepreneurship education, family education, environment, and entrepreneurial attitude can explain the entrepreneurial intention of vocational students. This research used a convenience sample of vocational students in Malang of Indonesia and was analyzed undergoing Structural Equation Modelling Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). This work confirms that students' environment can explain the intention and students' attitudes toward entrepreneurship. However, this study failed in explaining the role of entrepreneurship education and family education informing intention instead of stimulation students' entrepreneurial attitude. This study's surprising finding can be an initial opportunity to elaborate an appropriate model of entrepreneurship education for vocational schools.

This theoretical article focuses on reasonable accommodation in education by offering conceptual tools that could prove beneficial in resolving policy concerns for equity in music education. Providing reasonable accommodation entails making necessary and appropriate modifications that may include depending on the circumstances, physical or interaction-related changes. From the perspective of teacher autonomy, this article focuses on two aspects of reasonable accommodation: (a) its definition and (b) its implications for music education practice. Responsibility for reasonable accommodation is considered in the context of Finnish music education through three illustrations that address matters such as music notation and instrument selection. We conclude that the concept of reasonable accommodation offers students and teachers tools to prevent disadvantageous musical and pedagogical conventions from being enforced at the level of the local curriculum and through teachers' actions, potentially resulting in inequities and discrimination.

Out-of-school youth are often characterized as at risk, idle, or troublemakers and are essentially excluded from being citizens of their societies. In Tanzania and Uganda, where this study took place, youth who have not completed their secondary education are excluded from further education and formal work and are often not considered members of their community. This article puts forward capabilities and capability-enhancing pedagogies for formal and non-formal education settings that aim to foster greater inclusion and equality for such youth. Drawing on a 5-year study of youth in Tanzania and Uganda, the article identifies two capabilities, recognition and imagining alternative futures, that can be fostered through educational practices. Educational practices that change unjust social structures and relations are described, illustrating how they go beyond both capabilities that are individually focused, and critical pedagogy's emphasis on raising awareness of social injustices, but not necessarily resulting in social changes.

Virtual reality technology has made significant advances and is now widely recognised for its potential to provide fully immersive experiences that have relevance to many aspects of life, including education. This paper explores the effectiveness of VR technology for situated experiential education by adopting a user experience (UX) theoretical framing of an example application in tourism education. The trial of a VR-based experiential education tool followed by semi-structured interviews revealed many positive user perspectives that lend strong support for the technology's use for experiential education, however, several negative experiences were also identified, included the debilitating impact of motion sickness. The UX framework contributes a deeper analysis of the positive and negative experiences by applying the three UX facets, beyond instrumental facet, emotion & affect facet, and the experiential facet, which in combination serve to not only identify key areas requiring improvement but also assists in the prioritisation process. While the exploratory findings promote further engagement with VR to foster experiential education more research is required to locate VR's broader pedagogical place in tertiary education.

Research indicates physical education can foster personal and social development. However, few studies have examined teacher beliefs about delivering this aspect of the curriculum. To move research and practice forward, it is important to understand educators' self-efficacy beliefs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between physical education teachers' self-efficacy for teaching personal and social development, and other aspects of teachers' self-efficacy. Participants were 116 (73 women, 43 men) practicing, licensed physical education teachers who completed the Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum Self-Efficacy Survey and the General Education Efficacy Survey. Pearson correlations indicate significant (p < 0.001) positive relationships (r > 0.30) between participants' self-efficacy for teaching personal and social development and other aspects of physical education as well as general teacher efficacy. Findings support the relevance of self-efficacy for teaching personal and social development in physical education. Implications for practice and professional development are discussed as well as the need for continued research.

The pandemic unquestionably challenged the education world during 2020. In spite of the difficulties, however, there are reasons to be optimistic. Around the world, educators are gathering the tools, attitudes, and evidence needed to bring about long-needed education reforms, at a faster pace. The Yidan Prize Foundation is focused on the big ideas that help build a better world through education. Yidan Prize laureates offer plenty of insight and experience about what works, and now they are bringing them together with more experts in different fields of education, from economics to psychology. Together, this newly formed Council of Luminaries can help steer the world's post-pandemic approach. So, when seeking a silver lining, several questions arise that are presented in this article: (1) Is it the greater use of technology that has been seen worldwide?; (2) Is it bringing teachers and parents and guardians closer together to support education?; and(3) Should there be support for marginalized children who are missing out on their education?