Education & Pedagogy

Research evidence suggests that, worldwide, physical education in early years is mainly taught by primary teachers (Graber et al., 2008; Hunter, 2006; Kirk, 2005). Descriptions of primary teachers' experiences of teaching physical education are particularly essential as an avenue for developing better-quality teacher training for teaching primary school physical education (Hunter, 2006; Kirk, 2005; Pangrazi, 2003; Tsangaridou, 2008). The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and discuss illustrative findings of research conducted on primary school teachers who teach physical education. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first section, research findings on in-service primary teachers are presented and discussed. In the second section, an account of empirical inquiries on pre-service primary teachers is reviewed. Finally, the third section provides a summary of the major findings, discusses the main conclusions, offers implications for teacher educators and points out directions for further research.

This paper is a reflection on recent Portuguese policy on adult education. It explores the policy discussion at the national level from 1999 and in particular after 2005, when the New Opportunities Initiative ("Iniciativa Novas Oportunidades" in Portuguese) was adopted and European Union (EU) guidelines were given considerable emphasis. The first section discusses the empirical methodology undertaken. The second section briefly examines policy discourses since 1974, stressing dominant trends such as popular education, second-chance/compensatory education and vocational training. The third and fourth sections explore adult education and training policy discourses from the perspective of social justice. Particular attention is devoted to a specific policy instrument--the recognition of prior learning ("Reconhecimento, Validacao e Certificacao de Competencias"--RVCC), aimed at widening adult access to basic education--in the fifth section. The last section is devoted to final thoughts, in particular the contribution of the RVCC to social justice.

The present article examines the situation of girls in Spanish academic secondary education during the first Francoism. It outlines the measures introduced by the Franco Regime that maintained the traditional access for girls to the same academic curriculum followed by boys, although in separate schools. Later, it examines the various projects put forward specifically for female secondary schooling that sought to remove girls from the academic pathway and the reasons for their failure. Finally, the article studies the paradox posed by the fact that, despite official statements against academic education for women, the number of girls in academic secondary education and universities did not stop growing during the first Francoism. For the explanation of this paradox, it seeks to address the unwanted effects of Francoist education policy, especially the effects of social elitism and single-sex education on the presence of girls. (Contains 4 figures and 13 notes.)

This study investigates the somewhat underexplored field of sexuality education in Swedish school-age educare and is part of a larger practice-based research project on sexuality education in primary school. This paper aims to identify how and where sexuality education in school-age educare could be enacted, and what it might include. Empirical data consist of example stories from the everyday work life of a school-age educare teacher that have been analysed using the work of Annemarie Mol, John Law and others on complexities, multiplicities and spatialities. The findings show that sexuality education is conducted in informal spatialities such as the boys' locker room and on the football field. It also seems to be in need of approaches that include staff de-dramatising, listening-in and alternating between planned and spontaneous activities linked to sexuality education. Consequently, the study contributes a hitherto underexplored perspective by identifying and visualising sexuality education in school-age educare.

While public and private perceptions over the purpose and value of education have long existed, ongoing politicized attacks on higher education have given new consequences to these tensions. Although literature has examined varying undergraduate student perceptions of education, less has been written about graduate populations. Thus, guided by Labaree's framework on education's competing goals, we explore how graduate student perceptions of education (mis)align with such ideals. This exploratory study draws from semi-structured interviews with 48 students from postsecondary institutions across the United States. Their narratives highlight four prominent findings: connecting with and contributing to society, the convergence of financial gain and altruistic ideals, social efficiency perspectives, and critical thinking and pursuit of self-knowledge. We conclude by recommending an expansion of Labaree's framework, more research connecting perceptions of the purposes of education and students' programs and social identities, and the importance of developing critical thinking skills in higher education.

Purpose: This study reviews documents and analyzes features of a knowledge base represented by AI-inclusive education through bibliometric analysis. The intention is to shed light on research subjects, theoretical frameworks, and publication trends in AI-inclusive education. The results will support the advancement of AI-powered inclusive education systems and aid in closing comprehension gaps. Design/methodology/approach: The findings reveal the primary study topics and their theoretical underpinnings, promoting further development of AI-driven solutions for inclusive education. Findings: According to the report, AI-inclusive education is fueled by technological breakthroughs, but it is imperative to integrate these tools with efficient teaching strategies. Originality/value: To ensure that AI technology effectively promotes inclusive education, future research must address the difficulties of integrating AI into various educational settings and for various user groups.

This article examines the contradictions of democratic education in Kerala through a historical analysis of the first Education Bill proposed in 1957. Although Kerala is often celebrated for its emphasis on public education, the bill's rejection reveals how entrenched caste and class interests disrupted any promise of democratic education at the time. Using legislative debates and the writings of Joseph Mundassery, Kerala's first education minister, this article traces how the bill's provisions, aimed at regulating aided institutions and securing teachers' rights, were met with opposition from elite caste and religious organizations, ultimately leading to the fall of the first Communist government. Departing from celebratory accounts of Kerala's educational success, this article argues how the incomplete democratization of education under the first Left government enabled the unchecked privatization of educational institutions in the present and reinforced the caste and class hierarchies within Kerala's educational landscape.

The philosophy of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy, fundamental to Waldorf education, provides an alternative view on education to that in the non-western world. The article illustrates a rhizomatic, informal diffusion of 'alternative education' in contrast to 'policy borrowing' in education, reporting how Waldorf education and Anthroposophy are regarded and operated in an East Asian context. An initial exploratory study of this provides insider perspectives of 'knowledgeable' practitioners in Waldorf early childhood centres in East Asia, regarding their understanding and practices of Anthroposophy and its three key concepts: the Four Temperaments; the Seven-Year [development] cycle; and the Twelve Senses. Participants identified key features of Waldorf education: holistic development of the child; nature relatedness; modelling and imitation; and contextualisation and localisation. Many features of Waldorf education ran counter to significant values and practices in schooling in the local culture. The paper indicates how to reconcile these, and makes recommendations for further research.

Academic work in China has proliferated in response to the persistent and recently intensified policy interest in education modernization, which, however, has received little scholarly attention. This paper explores the Chinese academic discourse on education modernization from 1985 to 2021. Three main patterns have emerged from the literature: (1) localizing Western modernization theory; (2) innovating a "new Chinese culture" through synthesizing the Chinese and Western merits; and (3) interpreting the "Chinese road" to education modernization. By comparison with the historical intellectual discourse, this paper illustrates that a unilinear notion of time, a dichotomous view of "China-West," and deeply rooted nationalism have conjointly characterized the contemporary academic discourse, enabling Chinese scholars to envision the progress of education and justify what policymakers desire in education. Thus, the current construction of education modernization with Chinese characteristics has been continuously underpinned by the Western modernist framework, while imagining education inspired by Chinese cultural resources has been restricted.

Elevating student voice is a critical need in the design, implementation, and dissemination of special education research. Centering student voice in special education research would increase opportunities for students with dis/abilities to act as causal agents in their own lives, yet students with dis/abilities are largely excluded from the student voice movement. In this paper, we operationalize a student voice "orientation" for pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade (PK-12) special education research, describe five methodological strategies for adopting a student voice orientation in PK-12 special education research, and discuss barriers to doing so. Each methodological strategy includes examples from selected prior studies drawing on a range of methods and methodologies. Our goal is that all PK-12 special education researchers consider and begin to adopt a student voice orientation in their work.

Increasing standardization and multiple layers of accountability spelled out in local and national education policy today call for a more complex understanding of multiculturalism and its relevance to education. As schools become more diverse, educators must rededicate to ensure equity and social justice, creating opportunities for every student to achieve to his or her fullest, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or any other identity around which academic achievement gaps presently revolve. Teacher educators and staff developers face this challenge of preparing teachers to confront the array of educational, social, and moral problems and to do so in a rapidly expanding electronic environment. Two recent innovations in teacher education--case method pedagogy and online course delivery--offer promising possibilities for addressing these challenges. In this article, the authors describe the application of such innovations in preservice and in-service learning experiences, combining case methods, online learning, and multicultural education.

Teacher education for inclusive education (IE) is recognized as vital for improving quality and equity in education globally. In the Western Balkan countries it is also part of the transition process towards joining the European Union and has attracted international funding for IE-related projects. A key finding from research funded by the European Training Foundation, carried out by the authors as members of a seven-country research team in 2009-2010, was that the prevailing local understanding of IE was very narrow. In this article we hypothesize the reasons for this finding. We use a case study of school and teacher education systems in Serbia to explore how this understanding has constrained the development of IE and associated teacher education and limited the efficacy of some recent internationally supported developments. We identify both challenges and possible ways forward for teacher education for IE based on promoting a concept of IE that is both collaboratively agreed and comprehensive.

This article describes the unique characteristics of internationalization in teacher education in the Republic of Belarus, by asking how the creation of a national system of teacher education after the USSR's disintegration has both enhanced and hindered internationalization. The question is answered by providing an overview of the specific challenges in establishing a national teacher education system after the Republic of Belarus became independent in 1991, by introducing a concept of internationalization, and by analysing three components of the internationalization of teacher education in Belarus. The authors conclude that internationalization in teacher education is still weak; it has been hindered mainly by the frequently changing, indecisive, and incoherent national policies that have left little academic freedom for those higher education institutions specializing in the initial education of teachers. The new nation's various and changing contacts with other countries, in both east and west, call into question the term "internationalization" for Belarus, where former national contacts have quickly embraced internationalization.

Empowering students with disabilities to remain physically active after graduation is often a struggle for physical educators. One reason for this is that physical educators are often left out of the transition-planning process. In order to be seen as a key member of the special education team, physical educators need to use the same instructional strategies, theories, and models as special educators. The Taxonomy for Transition Programming is a commonly used model in special education that helps individualized education program (IEP) teams to prepare students for life after high school. This article provides examples of how physical education teachers can collaborate in the transition process. Additional strategies for meeting the needs of students with low-incidence disabilities are also included. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

Though Japan has established one the largest higher education systems in Asia much earlier than most of the other Asian countries and some European countries, including the UK, Germany and France, except for a very few Japanese books and articles, little research has been published in Japan on this topic. This article will address the research question: how did Japan's higher education shift from massification, through to post-massification and, now, to near universal access? By examining the changes in the enrollment in Japan's higher education based on quantitative analysis, the article will provide an example of how an Asian country had experienced different stages of the growth in enrollments in higher education. Moreover, it is also argued that the major findings from Japan's case study are not necessarily consistent with the definition of the three-stage linear changes in higher education enrollment by Martin Trow.