Education & Pedagogy

It is impossible to imagine modern life without education. It allows a person to learn something new, to know the reality around, to realize their abilities, to reveal their talents, to find a vocation in life. Education is not only the process of learning new information, but it is also the upbringing and development of the individual, their exposure to the world and national culture, the formation of a certain system of values. Currently, there are several problems in education, like in any other public sphere, that cause active discussion in society and require resolution at the legislative level. This article presents a legal study of spiritual education, taking into account its legal regulation and implementation in Russia at the present stage. The authors of the article consider the most important aspects of the implementation of the right to spiritual education in Russia and conduct a comparative legal analysis of the Russian legislation on spiritual education. The article considers the types of educational organizations that provide religious education and their educational programs, describes the foreign experience of religious education, and conducts a systematic analysis of educational standards of higher education. The authors identify current problems in the field of organization and implementation of religious education, give recommendations for their solution, and indicate areas for improving legislation on religious education. It is concluded that the introduction of subjects teaching religion in educational institutions is legal in compliance with the principle of voluntary choice of education.

The main purpose of this study was to identify the challenges distance education students experience during their education degree studies. The specific objectives studied included the following: to investigate the technical and technology limitations, limited interactivity between lecturers and students and among distance education students, and lack of support from administrative staff. The research design employed in this study was the survey research design. The distance education students were asked to complete an online survey to determine their experiences doing their studies on a distance mode. The target population for this study included all distance education students (1675) who are enrolled at the Centre for Open, Distance and eLearning (CODEL) at the University of Namibia in 2020. The questionnaire instrument was administered via google form, 354 responses were received in spreadsheet formats, and chats generated from the responses, the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences (SPSS) file, the descriptive and reliability statistics for all the variables. Based on the findings of this study, this study concludes that the University of Namibia needs to improve slow internet speeds, limited internet access, lecturer student interaction, collaboration between distance education students, lack of computers, among others. Some of the recommendations made by this study include: increased funding in ICT infrastructure for distance education students, better training for lecturers on how to deliver pedagogy and the CODeL administrative staff to better support distance education students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the quality of technical education in a developing nation, India. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were 465 students and 310 faculty members who were randomly chosen from a total of 31 institutions/colleges/universities providing engineering education in Punjab state of India. The factor structures were obtained by applying factor analysis. Findings: The result of this research reveals ten factors determining the quality of technical education, such as teaching practices, infrastructural facilities, industry--institute linkage, faculty's qualification, reputation of the institute, procedural simplification, administrative staff services, access and equity, financial burden of the course and work culture. Moreover, the research results also reveal eight factors affecting the quality of technical education, namely, institutional standards, institutional support, teaching environment, teaching practices, performance-linked promotion, work culture, academic freedom and administrative services in this order of preference are essential for the delivery of quality in technical education. Originality/value: This study is the first attempt to examine the factor structure of technical education quality from both the perspectives of students and faculty. The implications of this study are expected to help the management of technical education institutes, regulatory agencies and the government in devising strategies to enhance the quality of technical education in India.

Public education is not just a way to organise and fund education. It is also the expression of a particular ideal about education and of a particular way to conceive of the relationship between education and society. The ideal of public education sees education as an important dimension of the common good and as an important institution in securing the common good. The common good is never what individuals or particular groups want or desire, but always reaches beyond such particular desires towards that which societies as a whole should consider as desirable. This does, of course, put the common good in tension with the desires of individuals and groups. Neo-liberal modes of governance have, over the past decades, put this particular educational set up under pressure and have, according to some, eroded the very idea of the common good. This set of contributions reflects on this state of affairs, partly through an exploration of the idea of publicness itself -- how it can be rearticulated and regained -- and partly through reflections on the current state of education in the 'north' and the 'south.'

This study aims to determine the metaphors created by teacher candidates for technology-assisted instruction in special education. This is a descriptive study, which was conducted in survey model. The study group consisted of 138 volunteer teacher candidates studying at the second, third and fourth grades of the Special Education Department. Teacher candidates' metaphors about the use of technology in special education were created online collected with a questionnaire. In order to reveal the metaphors of teacher candidates for technology-assisted teaching in special education, sentences such as "To me, technology-assisted teaching in special education are like ......; because, …….". The content analysis technique in the research was used for data analysis. Teacher candidates of the Department of Special Education have produced 56 metaphors about the use of technology in special education. These metaphors are grouped according to their common features and grounds for use. The grouping study, metaphors were collected under six different categories. The metaphors created by the teacher candidates were visualized using figures and tables, categorized, and explained using direct quotes from the participants' reasoned explanations. It is observed that the metaphors of water, key and compass were used frequently about the technology-assisted teaching in special education. Among these metaphors, water has been repeated 15 times and became the most used metaphor by teacher candidates, while key and compass have been repeated seven times. It is concluded that teacher candidate' perceptions of technology-assisted teaching in special education are generally positive.

Previous research has analyzed the meaning and value of STEM education and explored both its current possibilities and future development. However, STEM education experts have not reached a consensus on the goals of STEM education, making its promotion more challenging. Thus, this study examined which particular STEM education goals should be emphasized through a survey questionnaire. The study employed a stratified random sampling method to collect survey data from secondary teachers of STEM-related courses (i.e., science, technology, and mathematics) in Taiwan. A total of 645 valid survey responses were collected and then analyzed by independent t-test and analysis of variance to examine teachers' perceptions about 17 critical competencies proposed as education goals relevant to STEM education. The findings revealed that STEM teachers generally had positive attitudes and high levels of acceptance toward implementing the 17 proposed STEM education goals through integrative STEM education. However, the proposed goal of "cultivating students' entrepreneurial capabilities" received lower scores and should not be used at the secondary level. It may be introduced as an important education goal in tertiary STEM education. In addition, STEM teachers with different backgrounds (e.g., STEM teaching experience, perceptions of STEM teaching methods) perceived the competency goals as having different levels of importance in STEM education. Teachers' willingness to teach STEM using a transdisciplinary integration method increases when they have access to sufficient resources and support.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world struggled to address growing educational inequalities and fulfil the commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 4, which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities and changed how education functions, moving to online and hybrid methods. The challenges in global education highlighted and worsened by the pandemic make it necessary to re-evaluate education systems and the policies in place to support access, quality and equal opportunity. This article focuses on analysing education policies at a national level. It tests a pilot policy analysis tool, the International Education Index (IEI), developed as a starting point to begin this reconsideration and create an accessible and comprehensive way to evaluate national education systems to inform decision-making and policies in the new context. This research uses Ireland and Northern Ireland to test the IEI pilot tool. The IEI consists of 54 questions across nine indicators, including institutional frameworks, education strategies, digital skills and infrastructure, twenty-first century skills, access to basic social services, adherence to international standards, legal frameworks, data gathering and availability and international partnerships. Countries can score 108 points to be categorised as having developed, emerging or nascent national education systems. Ireland scored 94 and Northern Ireland 81, indicating that they have developed national education systems.

Purpose: In College Learning for the New Global Century, the National Leadership Council of Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) argue for a liberal education for all students because "(i)n an economy fueled by innovation, the capabilities developed through a liberal education have become America's most valuable economic asset." (LEAP, 2007). The Business for a Better World Center and the School of Business at George Mason University endorse this view and have applied the liberal education approach to the study of business. This paper aims to explore the current environment of business education, the role of liberal education and the school's programs and their benefits. Design/methodology/approach: This paper relies on a case-study approach. Findings: In this paper, the authors explore how George Mason University's School of Business brings a liberal education approach to business education and draws on a combination of high impact practices, such as first-year seminars, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, collaborative assignments, undergraduate research, community-based learning, internships, capstone courses and projects and diversity and global learning (Kuh, 2008). Mason's experience demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of this integration. Originality/value: This case study provides unique insight into how business schools can integrate a liberal education approach into business education with successful results. As such, the paper contributes to the growing body of research on the benefits of liberal arts and business education models as a means of addressing global goals and provides a valuable case study to understand better the necessity of integrative, interdisciplinary learning.

This study aims to measure the perceptions of students of Bayburt University School of Physical Education and Sports about the quality of education at the institution where they study and to investigate whether there is a difference between perceptions of students about the quality of education concerning different variables. This study is a descriptive study designed using the scanning model. The study population consists of 673 students continuing their education in 2020-2021 at Bayburt University School of Physical Education and sports. The sample consists of 276 students studying in this institution. The scale Physical Education and Sports Sciences Performance in Universities Providing Physical Education and Sports Education (PESPERF) developed by Paktas (2015) for the School of Physical Education and Sports students was used for the study. The analysis of data was carried out using SPSS 25.0 package program. The significance tests were based on a significance level of 0.05 (p). Independent samples t-test (Independent Samples T-test), one-way analysis of variance (One Way ANOVA) for unrelated samples with more than two means, and tests for correlation analysis were used to analyze the data concerning the sub-dimensions. Before the research was carried out, permission was obtained from Ethics Committee of Bayburt University. As a result of the analysis, a significant difference was found in favor of male students in all sub-dimensions except manager's vision according to the gender variable. Consequently, it can be said that the variable of gender, have a significant influence on individual perceptions of educational quality.

In present conditions, where distance education applications in higher education have become widespread due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is seen in the research studies that the satisfaction levels of the lecturers and students are low. Although the developments in information technologies have reached advanced dimensions, the problems experienced in distance education systems have negatively affected the course functioning of the educators and the students' level of participation in the course. The issues experienced led the researchers to studies in which in-depth analysis of distance education applications was carried out. This study aims to evaluate the distance education applications in sports higher education. This research follows a case-study design, with a qualitative study model applied in terms of the techniques used to analyse the data obtained. The descriptive analysis method was taken as the basis of the study. As a qualitative research tool in the study, a semi-structured interview form was used by choosing the interview technique. The research study group consisted of fourteen academicians working in universities in Turkey, selected by criterion sampling, one of the purposeful sampling methods. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed in the MAXQDA 20 qualitative data analysis program. As a result of the study, it was emphasized that distance education in sports sciences should be designed and implemented according to the targeted outputs of the field-specific courses and the students' accessibility to distance education.

This research explores how editorial advisory board members across four highly ranked international higher education-focused journals understand higher education internationalization generally, and internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) specifically. Notionally, as gatekeepers, editorial advisory board members hold a powerful strategic position in the scholarly debates that characterize an active discipline, and can indirectly assert a strong influence over the academic direction of the field(s) to which they belong. All editorial advisory members for the journals "Higher Education, Studies in Higher Education, Higher Education Research & Development," and the Journal of Studies in International Education were invited to contribute to this research with 25 (N = 25, 30%) consenting to participate. Utilizing qualitative, semi-structured interviewing, participants discussed their views on higher education internationalization, IoC, and the importance of these in the contemporary university. Participants also discussed what dimensions of IoC need to be further addressed in higher education discourses and research, and opportunities and challenges they foresee concerning higher education internationalization now and into the future. Findings reveal, for participants, internationalization continues to be perceived as a multivocal, largely Anglo-European, and neoliberal enterprise which is at a crossroad, and needs to be reimagined for the betterment of all in society. Collectively, participants draw attention to a lack of criticality and problematization within higher education internationalization discourses, and highlighted the need for research, scholarship, and academic leaders to expand the focus of IoC to address future global challenges and needs.

This article focuses on empirically analyzing the final products designed by 147 academics from 11 countries who participated in an international open education movement workshop by answering the research questions "What are the techno-pedagogical components of the products designed by the participants to encourage the open educational movement? and what practice of the open educational movement is being executed?" The article starts with a conceptual basis that describes the concepts of Active learning, Education 4.0, Complex Thinking and Open Education. It presents (1) the case study methodology on which this research is based, (2) two case studies on open education, (3) a game-based intervention proposal to support instructors in training university students in complex thinking skills based on Education 4.0 technologies and game-based learning principles, (4) and a discussion of the findings and opportunities for further work in the area. The findings of this study reveal that (A) the use of emerging and 4.0 technologies in initiatives of the open education movement continue to increase; (B) most of the open education initiatives designed by academics participating in the workshops were focused on the production of OER; and (C) inclusive access to education and continuing professional development of teachers is a constant concern addressed in open education initiatives. The results of this research suggest that training and development interventions implying the creation or design of open education initiatives should focus on encouraging all kinds of open education practices (i.e. use, production, dissemination and mobilization).

Physical education teacher education enrollment numbers are declining with limited empirical understanding. Recruitment into the physical education profession has been passive, although scholars have begun to advocate for an active approach. The present study utilized occupational socialization theory to understand why undergraduate kinesiology majors select a kinesiology concentration outside of physical education. Participants (n = 75) were kinesiology undergraduate students at a large, public university in the US Midwest. Quantitative data included forced-choice questions regarding socialization experiences (n = 75) that were analyzed descriptively and through independent-samples t-tests to identify gender differences. Qualitative data included autobiographical essays (n = 75) and semi-structured interviews (n = 23), analyzed using a multi-phase process. "Health and fitness" was the most highly rated recruitment facilitator, and many of the facilitators were different than those noted in the physical education literature. The four qualitative themes included the following: (a) the influence of family, teachers and coaches, and medical mentors on career choice; (b) future career goals aligned with the helping professions; (c) negative experiences in physical education act as a barrier to recruitment; and (d) firsthand and active recruitment into kinesiology. Participants' negative physical education experiences reinforces the idea that the passive recruitment process serves to socialize some students out of physical education. Future research should consider professional socialization within kinesiology-aligned fields outside of physical education. Active recruitment initiatives should be designed to increase enrollments in physical education teacher education.

The present article aims to identify the major problems English teachers face in the process of working with special educational needs learners in the context of inclusive education in general education schools of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Despite the studies on special methods and pedagogy of inclusive education carried out by the educators, there are still no inclusive education achievement indicators enshrined in law. The study uses the following general scientific methods: analysis of the current and prior normative legal acts regulating teachers' activities in the field of inclusive education, analysis of scientific and methodological literature on special, general, and inclusive education, synthesis of definitions of inclusive education concepts as well as a survey of English teachers. The conducted survey demonstrates a range of material, technical, pedagogical, and specific subject-related problems the teachers face in the context of inclusive education. Such problems are determined by the specifics and distinctive characteristics of teaching the English language in inclusive education conditions, as well as the preceding absence of courses on the methods of teaching the English language in inclusive education in the programs of higher educational establishments. One of the main problems identified by the study was insufficient level of teacher training courses to prepare for teaching within the inclusive education, as well as the lack of appropriate methods on teaching English in an inclusive classroom. Thereunder, the current article describes some practical ways of addressing problems defined.

The study had a descriptive survey model. The purpose of the study was to determine the problems faced in art education by academicians in fine arts education under the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic, and to help take measures for the solution of these problems. The population of the study consisted of higher education institutions/branches that provide fine arts education. The sampling was the academicians of the Fine Arts Education Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, and Painting/Sculpture and Conservatory Departments. After the pandemic was detected in Turkey in mid-March 2020, an attempt was made to contact the sampling between April and June 2020. The study was conducted with 196 academicians who had different academic titles. An online survey was used as the data collection tool in this study. The survey included 37 questions in 6 problem fields on demographic data, distance education backgrounds, and problems that could be experienced in distance education and art education, was applied to those who wanted to participate voluntarily in the study from academicians. Frequency and percentage distributions were used in statistical analysis of the data in the present study. The participants stated that they experienced problems mostly due to the contents/achievements of the courses, student-related problems, and measurement and evaluation-related problems during the distance education process. However, they also stated that they experienced fewer problems that stemmed from internet and computer, distance education program, and teacher-related problems.