Education & Pedagogy

This article explores technology's integration, assessment, and reflection within a single secondary education program at a Mountain West university. In light of the publication of the Teacher Education Technology Competencies (TETCs), faculty members of a secondary education program focused on existing practices and pathways for expansion to better align with the TETC standards in the future. The purpose of this study was to explore existing practices of incorporating technology into secondary methods coursework and to search for new spaces to implement the TETC guidelines and structure, as well as explore the roles faculty play in the adoption and implementation of technologies. Vignettes authored by faculty in each content area provide a rich depth of faculty experience and dispositions regarding technology integration, as well as spaces for the deeper use of technology based on the TETC recommendations. Key questions emerged about the efficacy of current technology practices, as well as the experiences and dispositions of the faculty within the secondary education program. Findings show that secondary education faculty use domain/content-specific technologies in their course; are expected to be "meta-experts", both discovering and implementing technology simultaneously; and tend to discover technologies through content-specific interactions and discussions.

International mindedness (IM) is a term often used by the International Baccalaureate (IB), international schools and researchers in the field of international education. However, within the discipline of music education, this concept remains relatively unexplored. Conducted as a scoping review, using Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework, this study charts the research literature that explores IM and its related concepts within music education settings. A broad definition of music education was adopted, incorporating both formal and informal learning environments. Related concepts to IM, used as search terms, were taken from two IB commissioned reports (that is, Castro, Lundgren and Woodin, 2013; Singh and Qi, 2013). Only primary studies, with a publication date between 2000 and 2020, were included. In total, 218 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria, the majority of which addressed the concepts of multicultural education, intercultural competence, cultural awareness and social inclusion. No primary studies were included for the concepts of common humanity, human rights education, language rights, omniculturalism, transcultural competence and world mindedness/citizenship. Only four primary studies were found that address IM, conducted by the same two researchers, leading the author to question whether future research exploring IM in music education settings is a worthwhile endeavour. In sum, although a significant amount of literature was found through this scoping review, several concepts remain underdeveloped, or completely unexplored, within the field of music education.

To implement a teacher-led basic life education program in schools. Design thinking methodology was used to develop a comprehensive program to make teachers competent and confident in the delivery of Basic Life Support (BLS), and then to independently implement teaching programs in their school's community. Specific teaching material and training manikins were provided by the "ABC Save Lives association." Training was open to all but focused on physical education teachers at all schools in the region. Between 2011 and 2019, 1,726 teachers from 208 schools [35% preschool-primary, 28% secondary, 28% private schools partly funded by public funds; 9% vocational] participated in the program. Sixty percent (619) were physical education teachers, who trained 59465 students. All schools have progressively been supplied with at least five BLS manikins each. In 2014, the regional government of Navarra approved mandatory BLS education in physical education in primary and secondary schools. With adequate education and proper support, physical education teachers can independently implement a Basic Life Support program in their schools aiming to increase bystander cardio-pulmonary resuscitation competencies. Furthermore, the Basic Life Support education increases students' confidence of social responsibilities and awareness of cardiac arrest as a public health problem.

Home education is becoming an important issue for education policy in almost every country across Europe. It should also be of potential interest to the geography of education which, however, has remained the domain of research to educational studies. Consequently, no studies currently compare the individual aspects of home education by looking for the geographical factors behind this phenomenon. This article sets out to present a current and comprehensive picture of the legislative frameworks regulating home education in all the countries of Europe and tries to identify their spatial context and conditions. It is based on a comparative content analysis of texts collected in an extensive literature review of more than 500 publications and documents. Promising areas for further, more in-depth geographical and educational research on this subject has been identified while various spatial patterns of country's legislative framework on home education was discovered, like the unique position of Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, South-eastern and Central European countries, and factors like collapse of communist totalitarian regimes in the former Eastern bloc, spread of the individualising ideology of neoliberalism, the neolocalism reaction to the standardising effects of globalisation, the international immigration, and the success in the integration of immigrants.

The Republic of Moldova is located in a tense geopolitical environment between the European Union (EU) and the Russian Federation. As the EU and Russia have incorporated higher education in their foreign policy agendas, this article analyses (1) whether the higher education policies of the EU and Russia are in competition in Moldova and (2) how the Moldovan higher education system is positioned between these external actors. At the theoretical level, higher education policy is conceptualised as a part of the soft power portfolio of the EU and Russia. The article draws on policy documents, primary data on university partnerships, and secondary data on student mobility. It is indicated that higher education policy is viewed by the EU and Russia through a geopolitical prism and to bind Moldova closer into their own orbit, resulting in an element of competition. Simultaneously, the Bologna Process has created an element of regional convergence. As for Moldova's positioning, a strong EU vector is identified, however, Russia continues to play a significant role -- an orientation that is facilitated by domestic and international influences. Finally, a geopolitical divide in higher education is visible in the secessionist Transdniestria region, which almost exclusively relies on Russia.

Highly qualified and well-prepared transition professionals are arguably the most important piece to improve postsecondary outcomes for youth with diverse needs. A dearth of dynamic field placements for preservice teachers to connect coursework to practice has been identified as a gap in teacher training. This need could be potentially filled by facilitating opportunities for preservice teachers to work in an inclusive postsecondary education program for college students with disabilities as these programs become more prevalent across the country. Researchers used a mixed-methods sequential design to examine the perceptions of graduates from a special education program regarding their experience in working with an inclusive postsecondary education program (IPSE) while completing their coursework. Researchers found that all survey respondents indicated working within an IPSE had an important impact on their current professional lives working with individuals with disabilities. Specifically, four major themes emerged from interviews regarding practices and philosophy shifts. Furthermore, findings showed that building rapport with students, advocating for students and facilitating inclusive outcomes had an impact on them as professionals. Reported changes in overall beliefs before and after working with the IPSE were also found. These findings are discussed and implications are provided.

Professional organizations have provided recommendations for mathematics teaching and learning; however, few studies have investigated the practical integration of those recommendations into mathematics teacher education programs. In this study, we examine how the reported--"big ideas" of courses in secondary mathematics teacher education programs emphasized the content and teaching practices necessary for future mathematics teachers, as recommended by policy documents. As part of a larger study, we conducted a series of interviews in secondary mathematics teacher education programs at four universities (names are descriptive pseudonyms): Great Lakes University (GLU), Midwestern Research University (MRU), Midwestern Urban University (MUU), and Southeastern Research University (SRU). We selected the institutions and programs based on their Carnegie Classification, the types of communities in which they were situated, the average number of graduates from a program, the departmental homes of their secondary mathematics education programs, and the demographics of their student populations. The analysis of data collected from 12 courses across four universities revealed specific ways in which big ideas in secondary mathematics teacher education programs emphasized areas related to mathematics learning, teaching, and issues of equity and access.

A central exam with objective criteria in student selection and placement for higher education in Turkey had not been applied until 1960s. Each higher education institution used to conduct its own exam according to the demand density. No exams were made when the applications were sometimes below the available capacity. In the 1960s, there were so many applications to higher education institutions that it exceeded the existing capacity. Upon the increase in the number of graduates from secondary education, the number of students who want to enroll in higher education increased, and thus some efforts were made to generate an examination that was acceptable by everyone, based on objective criteria, central, equal, fair, and economical, except for the oral and/or written exams of higher education institutions. In conclusion, the "Interuniversity Student Selection and Placement Center (ISSPC)" was established in 1974 so as to conduct exams for student selection and placement in higher education institutions. So, the student selection and placement exams for higher education gained a central quality based on the principles of assessment and evaluation. In this context, it is aimed to show the historical development of the student selection and placement process in higher education in Turkey in this study, which was carried out using document analysis method.

Teachers' attitudes toward distance education are important in terms of the effectiveness of the distance education process. They become even more critical during this time of global pandemics when face-to-face education has been compulsorily replaced by distance education. The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has changed the practices of the teaching profession. This period has revealed how teachers' life satisfaction while carrying out their profession can be affected by changes in education delivery. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between teachers' attitudes toward distance education and their life satisfaction during the distance education process. This research used the correlational survey method, a method in quantitative research. The sample group consisted of teachers (1,233 male and 3,671 female educators) working in different branches in Izmir. The "Life Satisfaction Scale" and "Attitude toward Distance Education Scale" were applied. Participants' demographic information was obtained using a "Personal Information Form" designed by the researchers. According to the results of the study, while there is a notable difference in teachers' limitations toward distance education and life satisfaction according to gender, there is no difference in the advantages gained from and attitudes toward distance education.

Ireland's system of special education has undergone unprecedented change over the last three decades. Following major policy developments in the mid-2000s which emphasised inclusive education, there have been changes to special education school personnel and funding structures which seek to include greater numbers of students with disabilities in mainstream education. There is one anomaly however: Ireland continues to operate a parallel system of special schools and classes with an emphasis on special class provision for students with disabilities. The aim of this paper is to examine the evolution of Ireland's special education policy over the past three decades and explore the extent to which it is compatible with its obligations under the United Nations Convention for People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and more recent discussions around moving to inclusive education. It uses a systematic investigation of policy and administrative data on special class growth over time to highlight anomalies between the policy narrative around inclusive education in Ireland and the continued use of segregated settings. The current system, therefore, suggests confused thinking at a policy level which has resulted in the implementation of special education grafted on to the general education system. Any move to an inclusive system therefore, in order to be successful, would require a root and branch overhaul of existing policies.

Unprecedented reform to teacher education in England, through the Initial Teacher Training Market Review, led to the threat of removal of the right for established providers to offer programmes of initial teacher education beyond 2024 without reaccreditation. Such policy reform has been constructed in relation to a perceived gap in research about knowledge of the best way to educate or train new teachers. Using Lee S. Shulman's concept of signature pedagogies we consider the varying ways in which theoretical ideas are underpinned by common models of, and approaches to, teacher education pedagogy. We mobilise Shulman to analyse five models, which we categorise as 'knowledge-first' or 'people-first', to see the extent to which, if at all, there is a theoretically informed signature pedagogy for initial teacher education. Our analysis shows that there is no one discernible knowledge base or theory that underpins a signature pedagogy for teacher education, but a suite of possibilities about how a signature pedagogy of teacher education could be understood. Moreover, it is our contention that policy reform of initial teacher education based on econometric analysis fails to recognise the most important dimension of a signature pedagogy, learning how to act with integrity as a professional teacher.

The purpose of this systematic review was to characterize the implementation of reliability generalization meta-analytic (RGM) practices within mathematics education-related empirical research. RGM studies are used to investigate and generalize the reliability of a measure across various studies. An exhaustive literature search was conducted to locate studies related to mathematics education, including RGM studies of psychological tests. The literature search included articles as well as grey literature (e.g., conference proceedings, dissertations, theses). Of the 27 RGM studies examined, five were on scales that related to mathematics education research, five were on scales related to motivation and/or learning, four related to self-esteem, self-concept, and/or self-efficacy, six related to perceptions, well-being, and/or anxiety, and seven related to personality or behavior. Of the mathematics education-related RGM studies, 85.5% (N=9,184) of the articles examined across studies had no mention of reliability or fell into the convention of citing previously reported reliabilities. Increasing awareness of RGM studies could lead to an increase in RGM studies conducted on mathematics education research scales, leading to increased understanding of mathematics education scales. This paper contributes to the literature on the practical and empirical importance of RGM for mathematics and STEM education praxis.

There is clear evidence that Indigenous education has changed considerably over time. Indigenous Australians' early experiences of 'colonialised education' included missionary schools, segregated and mixed public schooling, total exclusion and 'modified curriculum' specifically for Indigenous students which focused on teaching manual labour skills (as opposed to literacy and numeracy skills). The historical inequalities left a legacy of educational disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Following activist movements in the 1960s, the Commonwealth Government initiated a number of reviews and forged new policy directions with the aim of achieving parity of participation and outcomes in higher education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Further reviews in the 1980s through to the new millennium produced recommendations specifically calling for Indigenous Australians to be given equality of access to higher education; for Indigenous Australians to be employed in higher education settings; and to be included in decisions regarding higher education. This paper aims to examine the evolution of Indigenous leaders in higher education from the period when we entered the space through to now. In doing so, it will examine the key documents to explore how the landscape has changed over time, eventually leading to a number of formal reviews, culminating in the "Universities Australia 2017-2020 Indigenous Strategy" (Universities Australia, 2017).

This paper unpacks the commercial rhetoric of "Google for Education." Through the analysis of information published on the official "Google for Education" website, the paper seeks to make visible how this service promotes and reproduces certain ways of talking, thinking about and doing education. The aim is to contribute to a critical discussion of the potential implications of allowing major commercial players to take the lead in the development of digital infrastructure in education. Guiding the analysis is the notion of 'problem' understood as central for "Google for Education"'s success story. The case of Sweden, in which "Google for Education" has become widely used, forms the vantage point for this discussion. The study makes visible how "Google for Education," in the commercial rhetoric, is constructed as the solution to problem representations by being positioned as a much-needed bridge, in the shape of digital information infrastructure, between digital policy and educational practice. However, "Google for Education" is far from simply a practical solution to a set of expensive and urgent problems. To uncritically embrace Google as the information infrastructure of education is to hand over power to one actor, which closes doors to alternative paths of doing and knowing in education.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in STEM education (AI-STEM), as an emerging field, is confronted with a challenge of integrating diverse AI techniques and complex educational elements to meet instructional and learning needs. To gain a comprehensive understanding of AI applications in STEM education, this study conducted a systematic review to examine 63 empirical AI-STEM research from 2011 to 2021, grounded upon a general system theory (GST) framework. The results examined the major elements in the AI-STEM system as well as the effects of AI in STEM education. Six categories of AI applications were summarized and the results further showed the distribution relationships of the AI categories with other elements (i.e., information, subject, medium, environment) in AI-STEM. Moreover, the review revealed the educational and technological effects of AI in STEM education. The application of AI technology in STEM education is confronted with the challenge of integrating diverse AI techniques in the complex STEM educational system. Grounded upon a GST framework, this research reviewed the empirical AI-STEM studies from 2011 to 2021 and proposed educational, technological, and theoretical implications to apply AI techniques in STEM education. Overall, the potential of AI technology for enhancing STEM education is fertile ground to be further explored together with studies aimed at investigating the integration of technology and educational system.