Education & Pedagogy

University systems maintain prohibitive closures that constitute a closed-loop system: opaque academic practices, control of what counts as knowledge, financial and social exclusion, and the perpetuation of privilege. Yet this closed-loop system is also governed by adherence to values around education as a public good, openness, and authenticity, and education as a vehicle for social mobility. The closures and openings created with such systems are in tension. Open education in universities is entwined in these tensions. In this paper, we differentiate between prohibitive closures and enabling closures. We define enabling closures as closed loops of activity that allow for openings both at the boundaries of the university and within. It is through these enabling closures that universities can adhere to open education as accepted policy and practice. As such, in this paper we explore how open education sits in tension with closed technological and increasingly commercialized educational infrastructures in higher education.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in education necessitates a shared understanding of its intended purpose and societal implications. This paper underscores the significance of "societal perspectives" in AI and education, often overshadowed by "technological aspects." At the same time, policy guidelines for the integration of AI technology within educational systems are playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of education. What we as society "imagine" AI and education to be, will in some shape or form lead the development of suggested fixes. The aim is to aid the understanding of why and how visions of learning and education are framed in relation to developments in Educational Technology (EdTech) and their introduction in education. It thereby contributes to the ongoing discussion on the integration of AI in education and its potential societal impacts.

This paper explores transnational circulation during the early 1970s of lifelong education and recurrent education as 'policy repertoires' addressing redistribution of participation in organised (adult) learning throughout life. Focused on a re-reading of UNESCO's 1972 report on lifelong education, the paper offers a critical analysis of the Faure Commission's 'position-taking' with regard to its understanding of recurrent education as a policy repertoire. Frequently cited differences between the Commission's policy recommendations for lifelong education and its position-taking regarding recurrent education are shown to have fragile empirical foundations. This paper argues that Faure's report explicitly appropriated and openly incorporated arguments favouring recurrent education in its own policy recommendations for lifelong education. Mainstream interpretations of the Faure report are subsequently subjected to a critical analysis of putative neoliberal tendencies articulated by the Faure Commission's own report. Key areas for further social-historical research regarding policy repertoires in the 1970s are identified.

Purpose: This study analyzed the developmental history and specific practical approaches of transcultural education in German universities and summarized its experiences to provide meaningful suggestions for transcultural education in Chinese universities. Design/Approach/Methods: This study systematically reviewed and analyzed the historical origins and practical approaches to transcultural education in German universities through policy interpretation and case analysis. Findings: Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, German universities have effectively promoted integration and communication among communities with diverse cultural backgrounds through various forms and types of transcultural education. They launched curricula and lecture models characterized by university styles, fostering the integration and solidarity of individuals from multicultural backgrounds. Originality/Value: It is of immediate significance for both the theoretical understanding and practical exploration of transcultural education with Chinese characteristics to conduct a systemic analysis of the specific practical approach of transcultural education in German universities.

In this article we examine the European Semester as an innovative form of policy coordination, with distinct effects on education and skills policies for Member States. We analyse the Semester's framing of education policy, and examine its manifestations in Spain and Sweden, two countries considered to be different in their approach to education. Drawing on a policy instrumentation approach and interviews with policy actors and documentary analysis, our research suggests that while the Semester has given education policy a significant place within the EU's governance, economic rationales for education are clearly dominant in the process. Still, we identify underpinning logics that strengthen the social and educational perspectives represented in the Semester, although these are still treated as productive forces for labour market integration. In addition, there is a strengthening of collaboration between the European Commission and Member States, but also tensions between different parts of the Commission over the definition and direction of education policy.

Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) has been a neglected area in teacher education despite the potential it offers for stimulating societal change via the school system. Our work in recent years to promote this aspect of teacher education in Canada led us to reflect on our experiences, the challenges we have faced, and the lessons learned about leading this type of change. The study involved a collaborative action research approach with a series of meetings in which we acted as critical friends and then used coding to identify emerging themes. In this way we were able to identify successful leadership strategies and support each other in our endeavors. By connecting our experiences to theories related to leadership in environmental education, we were able to identify useful leadership strategies. Little has been published specifically related to leadership in this field, so we hope that our findings will assist others in this work and stimulate further research.

This article substantiates the need for consolidated government support and coordination of postsecondary correctional education in the United States. Using the case of New York as a point of entry to critically examine the human right for all to learn and transform with dignity -- including millions of people languishing in prisons under mass incarceration -- the author situates the history of higher education in prison within a dynamic network of education providers that emerged across the state. The analysis contends that withholding the right to learn violates a basic human right to (inter)personal growth, and that freedom to learn is fundamentally debased when education embedded in meaningful human relations -- absent exploitation and predatory practices -- is foreclosed. As such, the threat of fully online modalities and delimited education content comprise a form of censorship that undermines the true value of embodied and diverse learning experiences, with particular ramifications for people in prison.

Now more than ever, it is important to recognize the immensely important role that mental health and peace education play in learning and educational outcomes. Too much time and resources are wasted on peacebuilding processes that do not last and so many lives have been lost in conflicts that could have been prevented if education was used to foster positive mindsets with children. Since its founding in 2018, the Afrogiveness Movement (coined from "Africa" and "forgiveness") has striven to stem the tide of conflicts in Africa by optimizing Cameroon's education systems such that it produces peace agents and not war mongers. Afrogiveness has improved learning and educational outcomes for 2,000 mentally traumatized students from conflict-affected communities, who otherwise may have fallen prey to the dragnets of violent extremism and juvenile delinquency. It is the authors hope that, by reading this article, education stakeholders across Africa will become intentional about using education for peace.

There is a paradox between the demands for safety and the productive value of risk in outdoor education and adventure learning. This seems particularly to be the case in Chinese culture, policy, and empirical practice of outdoor education. This paper aims to utilise the rich cultural context and philosophical perspectives of China to broaden the landscape of outdoor education knowledge. Chinese cultural intricacies and insights from Taoist philosophy offer an unconventional perspective for redefining traditional binary concepts of risk and safety, relevant to outdoor education as it is practised in China. A Taoist lens is used to analyse Chinese college students' documented reflections on their experience of outdoor education through a case study. The convergence of Taoist philosophy and culturally embedded pedagogical practices in China presents an innovative pathway for re-imagining the existing terrain of Western adventure learning research and teaching norms in outdoor education.

Higher education has often been accused of its anti-social character, represented by the metaphor of the 'ivory tower'. However, the idea of the pursuit of knowledge per se, which is associated with the ivory tower, has not been widely recognized as a public ideal of higher education. In this study, by drawing on the 20th-century British educational philosopher Paul H. Hirst's theory of liberal education, I revisit and re-evaluate the Newmanian idea of pursuit of knowledge as an end itself as a public ideal for higher education. I argue that the public criteria provided by discipline-rooted knowledge are among the criteria that are most able to define and legitimise higher education. These public criteria are compatible with the distinctive nature of higher education, which is essentially aimed at adult citizens and linked to research as the creation of knowledge, and can even serve to legitimise the cognitive structure of the society.

This scholarly review presents a case for transforming special education rather than reauthorizing special education law in its present form and, in doing so, reconceptualizing the inclusion movement to recognize marginalizing influences. A comprehensive review of research, policy reviews, and observations of praxis is undertaken to examine current U.S. special education law. Three unintended consequences are identified: (a) the least restrictive environment provision; (b) incremental successes of the inclusion movement's emphasis on placement; and (c) the effort to promote racial integration in current special education policy. While unintended consequences cannot be foreseen, the structure of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has changed little since the 1970s despite evolving praxis and understandings of social justice. This article is intended to facilitate a conversation about a path forward for special education, including whether IDEIA should be reauthorized in its present form, or what form might be taken under alternative policy.

The assetisation of education explicates a major shift in how the state understands education. Education is not only an immaterial public good available to everybody but can be treated also as a promotable group of assets. This article discusses the case of a certain period in the Finnish education export. The analysis shows how the Finnish state with its governance tools is actively shaping and transforming education into asset, and through this process of assetisation becomes a certain kind of element in an education asset itself. In this process, the previous nature of education export 'goods' has been transformed to a modern rent-seeking 'knowledge asset', that can produce rent and excess value to both the state and businesses alike. When the state is involved in assetisation, the process is inherently politicised, and is exposed to potentially drastic polity changes.

In this article, we engage with undergraduate geography students' reflections on their geography education. We begin by examining the position of geography within education across the British Isles. Following this, we critically consider how geography education is shaped by "the gap" between school and university geography and geographies of education, before reporting on the findings from a survey of 333 undergraduate students studying geography across the British Isles conducted in late 2020. We examine the complex question of who is studying geography at undergraduate level, students' journeys through their geography degree, and their experiences of personal and disciplinary frontiers in education. We conclude by arguing the importance of educators engaging with students' "everyday" geographies, and for further research into progress across education phases in geography to co-construct a rich and rounded geographic education.

To evaluate the evolution of statistical education research aimed at the inclusion of technological resources in the initial and continuing education of teachers in Brazil, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted on 25 works published in the Scientific Proceedings of the National Meeting of Mathematics Education and on 7 papers from the International Seminar on Research in Mathematics Education. This research was exploratory using both a qualitative and quantitative approach in which a descending hierarchical classification (DHC) was carried out. We consider that the inclusion of technological resources in the classroom still faces challenges stemming from the elaboration and execution of public policies that should guarantee a minimum of infrastructure for teaching institutions and teacher training.

This article examines the underrepresentation of African American and Hispanic students in gifted education, proposing that social inequality, deficit thinking, and microaggressions contribute to the inequitable segregated programs. Underrepresentation trends are presented, along with methods for calculating underrepresentation and inequity. Underrepresentation is placed under the larger umbrella of achievement gaps and inequities in school settings with attention to de jure segregation. I argue that underrepresentation is beyond statistical chance and is a function of attitudes and beliefs grounded in deficit paradigms among those with power or social capital. Denying access to gifted education based on race is counterproductive and illegal and is discussed with "Brown v. Board of Education" as the legal background and a recent court case in gifted education ("McFadden v. Board of Education for Illinois School District U-46"). Recommendations for desegregating gifted education are provided.