Education & Pedagogy

The Maltese islands consist of Malta, Gozo, and Comino and two tiny uninhabited islands, strategically located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. This handbook contains a brief description of secondary education in Malta. Following the introduction, section 1 provides an overview of the mission of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Malta's constitutional and legal framework, the state system of education, the student population, educational administration, and landmarks in the development of secondary education. Section 2 discusses the following issues: policy formation and educational innovation, educational finance, the varying educational tracks, absenteeism, curriculum, postsecondary education, evaluation and assessment, support services, school staff, the school year, salaries, and the European influence. Section 3 reports on efficiency and performance of the secondary education system; and the student population, student intake, and graduates at the University of Malta. The fourth section describes challenges to Malta's educational system, which include lifelong learning, information technology, national development and educational change, resource allocation, teacher shortage, decentralization, examinations and certification, and schools as community centers. Nineteen tables are included. (Contains 22 references.) (LMI)

New Jersey's Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994 expands and codifies certain authorities of trustee boards, creates a statewide coordinating board called the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, and creates the Presidents' Council which consists of the presidents of the 46 institutions of higher education which receive state funding. The Act mandates that boards of trustees, presidents, and the statewide coordinating board reconceive how they do what they do and question why they do it at all, in response to tremendous forces of change. The goals for higher education as expressed in the Act include access, affordability, and excellence. This paper discusses membership and activities of the Commission and the Council and responds to criticisms that the new governance structure is lacking in accountability, authority, and stature. The paper concludes that institutions of higher education must have local control for strategic as well as tactical and expedient decisions, and they must be flexible, responsive, and visionary. A summary of Commission priorities and a work plan for making recommendations on higher education funding and tuition establishment are appended. (JDD)

A diverse group of individuals was asked to prepare brief commentaries on the condition of higher education, its contribution to the economic and social development of southern U.S., and its need for reform. The 12 resultant essays, each printed seperately, and gathered together in this collection: "Higher Education: A Prized Asset in Need of Change" (Gerald L. Baliles); "Higher Education: Passport to the American Dream" (Bob Edwards); "Higher Education and the New Economy" (Johnnetta B. Cole); "Customer-Driven Accountability in Higher Education" (James R. Mingle); "Higher Education: The Future in Miniature" (John T. Hartley); "The Practical Value of Higher Education" (Sally Clausen); "Promise and Challenge: The New Demographics of Higher Education" (William H. Gray III);"Charting Higher Education's New Realities" (George W. Johnson); "The Community College's Open Door" (Mary D. Thornley); "Listening to Higher Education's Different Voices" (Pat Gray); "Successful Universities Reach Out to Students" (Bill Hobby); and "Restoring Higher Education's Leadership Role" (Dorothy S. Ridings). (JDD)

This study examined the attitudes of prospective teachers toward social diversity. Students were from selected teacher education programs at two different universities. The group of prospective teachers from one university received instruction in multicultural education, the other group did not. Pre- and post-questionnaire data were collected to ascertain if there were different attitudes toward social diversity between the two groups. One hundred thirty-four pre-post responses could be matched for comparison. Findings indicated that at the beginning of the students' professional semester there was no significant difference between the two groups. Both reported positive attitudes toward social diversity, with females reporting more positive attitudes than did males. At the end of the first professional semester there was a significant difference between the two groups. Students who had received instruction in multicultural education reported more positive attitudes toward social diversity. Since training in multicultural education impacts social diversity attitudes positively, areas in which teacher educators need to help themselves and their students gain multicultural competency are suggested. (Contains 21 references.) (LL)

This paper on quality and distance education argues that if the goal of education is to produce an independent learner, distance education is ideally suited to encourage effective independent learning when the instruction and programming is of a high quality. The paper first notes the Australian government's interest in promoting distance education that incorporates both quality and economies of scale. The paper then defines quality education as education that produces an independent learner. A look at the current indicators of quality in distance education notes that distance education is extremely public, a fact that puts the students in a position to judge the quality of the services. It is suggested that quality may be improved through viewing students as customers and in particular through understanding who the customer is and encouraging student collaboration. It is further noted that not only is the student a customer but the future or current employer is also a customer of the educational services, and that distance learning institutions need to keep close to their customers through various techniques including mentoring and making greater use of technologies. (Contains 15 references.) (JB)

The future of the political, social, cultural, and economic sectors will depend on the contributions of today's students. In rethinking education to cope with rapid change, innovation, technology, and research are indispensable tools of education. This book is a synthesis of ideas contained in papers presented at a symposium sponsored by UNESCO's Asian Centre of Educational Innovation for Development. Part 1, "Perspectives of Change," includes chapters entitled "Time: Change: Education" and "The Framework: Emerging Growth Points: Problems." Part 2, "Prospects," includes the chapters, "Envisioning Future Education"; "Educating System as Open System"; "Knowledge-base of Education"; "Knowing-Learning-Teaching: The Process"; "Values: The Centre that Holds" and "Implications for Planning of Education." An annex provides a list of speakers and their papers. (LBG)

The social foundations of education (SFE), an interdisciplinary educational field of study, occupies a tenuous position in university-based schools of education. In the era of teacher professionalization and practice-based teacher education, SFE has been relegated to the fringe and its value to teaching practice has been largely disregarded. Focusing specifically on conceptual essays and qualitative studies published by SFE university faculty that advocate for a closer relationship between SFE and teacher education, this literature review examines the ways that SFE teacher educators articulate the value, purpose, and contributory role of SFE in teacher education and explores the pedagogical approaches that they use in their pre-service teacher education classrooms. After analyzing the purposes of SFE in teacher education, as defined by SFE faculty, and the pedagogies that inform their teaching practice, I conclude this review by discussing the fundamental tensions and deeply embedded conflicts between teacher professionalism and the cultural perspectives and knowledges that are highly valued within the SFE discipline and by offering recommendations concerning the future of SFE.

This paper calls for systematic inquiry into the relationship between secular governing formations and education inequalities. We present a thematic analysis of existing scholarship on secularism, the secular and post-secular in education. Our review of 184 texts reveals a frequent implicit or explicit reliance on the liberal state to address religious inequalities in education, and to draw the line on the extent of public religious expression. Taking a critical sociological approach, we argue this reliance neglects the state's regulation, as opposed to its elimination, of the violence of multiple education inequalities. Understanding state sovereignty as an assemblage of forces, we illustrate the need for a cohesive body of research into how secular sovereign power "privatises and de-privatises" religiosity through education, and how race, gender and sexuality are shaped as public or private concerns in the process. We conclude with key indicators for a Critical Secular Studies research and curriculum agenda.

Jazz arrived in mainland China as early as the 1920s. It has since been a popular music genre among the middle and upper classes. Similar to that in the West, jazz education in China has been increasingly formalized, with a growing number of universities and academies offering jazz degree programs or courses. Despite a few studies on jazz and its early education in China, little is known about how formal jazz education is implemented in contemporary Chinese academic settings. In the present study, we examined and contrasted jazz program policies across three higher education institutions in China wherein at each one, a specialized unit for implementing jazz education has been established. The comparison foregrounded commonalities and differences across the three programs. We also discussed how the institutions responded to the local political and economic contexts in developing their jazz programs. We have concluded by deliberating on the future of jazz education in China in relation to public acceptance of jazz and the recent development in school curriculum.

Although there is a notion of a 'Nordic tradition' of outdoor education in the international literature, research from the Nordic countries is rarely included in research reviews. Therefore, this scoping review provides an overview of empirical studies on outdoor education (grades 1-13) from the Nordic countries. Of the 586 hits, 52 studies met the inclusion criteria and were subjected to descriptive and content analyses. The majority of the studies are qualitative and situated in primary school contexts. Multiple school subjects and science are the most common subject matter addressed by outdoor education, but "friluftsliv," mathematics, and language are also represented. The content analysis indicates that teachers' perspectives are most frequently investigated, followed by nature of outdoor education, well-being, and cognitive learning. Fewer studies investigate teaching and learning processes, digital resources, and education for sustainability outdoors. Suggestions for further research on outdoor education in Nordic countries are discussed.

Digital technology is growing in popularity in the enacted teaching and learning process. However, there is ongoing debate regarding the evidence of its impact on teaching and learning in physical education. With increasing use in education, digitally competent teachers are essential to the success of its integration. The primary aim of this study was to explore perceived teacher competency levels in applying digital technology to the physical education classroom. Teachers perceived significantly low competency levels in relation to digital technology in physical education. This was a result of both personal and school hindrances which teachers identified as impeding the integration of digital technology in their physical education classes. Drawing on a holistic view of the dichotomy of pedagogy and technology, we suggest that this relationship is more complex than the one stated in most digital competence frameworks, therefore a narrow understanding of teacher digital competency in physical education.

President Truman asked the 1947 Commission on Higher Education to consider ways to expand educational opportunities to all Americans. The commission responded in Volume II of HEAD, a progressive document that recommended substantial federal support for higher education, particularly in the form of student aid. The American Council on Education (ACE) represented higher education in the commission's deliberations and had a powerful role in shaping education policy development between 1947 and 1972. Its position on federal funding for student aid was shaped by institutional autonomy, institutional diversity, and a weakening relationship between higher education and national goals, which made it difficult to navigate tensions between quantity and quality and between consumer and associational accountability. Ultimately, while the ACE played a central role in shaping Volume II, it did not lobby effectively for federal student aid funding for 25 years after its publication. The result was expanded access in a modern system that has fallen short of the progressive promise of the Truman commission.

Safety education aims to promote safe habits through experience-oriented education that combines knowledge, skills and attitudes. However, in situations where experience-oriented safety education is challenging, realistic content created through technological advancements can indirectly function as an excellent safety education tool that allows for individual safety experiences. This study conducted a safety education program for 34 elementary school students using the most commonly used realistic safety education content in Korea, the 'simulator fire extinguisher,' four times. Safety knowledge tests and safety problem-solving ability tests were used as measuring tools and statistical significance was verified through paired sample t-tests. This study demonstrated that the safety education program using the 'simulator fire extinguisher' was effective in improving safety knowledge and problem-solving abilities . The average score of elementary school students increased from 8.47 to 9.23 in safety knowledge tests and from 4.26 to 4.64 in safety problem-solving ability tests. These results were statistically significant (p < 0.001).

Purpose: This study examines whether education in developing countries directly impacts their foreign income from the top export sector. Design/methodology/approach: As most developing countries follow developed nations to shape their development, this study assumes developing countries as education-follower and developed countries as education-leader countries. Considering selected countries from the South Asian Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and African countries as follower countries and Group of Seven (G7) as leader countries, this study employs Dumitrescu-Hurlin Granger non-causality tests. Findings: This study finds that education-follower countries' achievements do not directly impact foreign earnings from their leading export sectors. However, findings also confirm that leader countries have a bidirectional causal relationship between tertiary education and earnings from high technology exports. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study urging research-intensive education with comparative advantages in international trade. Using educational attainment on export earnings from the leading sector, findings support dependency theory in education is still existed.

This article engages with the teacher education (TE) reform approach adopted in India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It locates the policy recommendations in the context and challenges of TE in India and makes sense of the NEP's vision for the domain. It examines the knowledge traditions and global education policy (GEP) discourses that underlie the proposed reforms, and the translation of the core reform ideas in the national regulatory framework for implementation. The first part of the findings identifies the knowledge traditions and influences of GEP inherent in the policy and argues that NEP's reform approach is an assemblage of fundamentally inconsistent discourses. The second part examines the regulatory norms and standards of the NEP-recommended TE programme to understand what makes it distinct as compared to similar ongoing programmes. Based on the analysis, the article argues that the proposed new programme is a tweaked version of India's conventional TE approaches.