Education & Pedagogy

This article explores the policy changes and actions that have taken place in Scotland between 2005 and 2014 in response to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). This article examines the development and content of policy documents relating to schools, Further and Higher Education and Community Learning and Development, and how these were developed and implemented through a series of collaborative partnerships between non-governmental organizations, government ministers, civil servants, education bodies, and other educational stakeholders. This article also explores the impact these policy developments have had on Scotland's contribution to achieving the DESD goal "to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning" (UNESCO, 2014).

This article aims to investigate the trends of education expenditure policy during the past few decades, as well as the recent allocation and distribution of education expenditure in Thailand. It also focuses on the development of the substance of education policy in Thailand. Political connection with the education expenditure policy is also examined in this study. Both the trends in education expenditure and the distribution across provinces in Thailand can provide a landscape of the making of education expenditure policy in Thailand. It is evident that education expenditure in Thailand has increased significantly in the past few decades even though the relative figure to gross domestic product (GDP) and to total public expenditure illustrated slightly more volatility. The current distribution of education expenditure in Thailand is still somewhat uneven. In particular, a higher level of education expenditure should be allocated to the needy in the poor area.

This article examines those aspects of curriculum relating to programmes that have developed across the further and higher education divide. It analyses one particular spiritual direction formation programme that has transitioned from a vocational training programme in the further education mode to a post-graduate academic programme in a higher education context. In identifying the core elements of this formation programme, it suggests several complementary educational approaches that resonate with the formation approach within academic contexts and examines whether these approaches adequately address the breadth of learning styles and relational aspects of learning that contribute to effective pedagogical approaches. The article recommends further research to assess the relevance of curriculum design to guidelines and standards demanded of both the further and higher education sectors.

With the advent and growth of elementary and secondary online education in the United States, teaching and learning has undergone radical change with unimagined alternatives to traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, and online education is here to stay. Law and policy in some states has lagged behind the emergence of online K-12 education. The purpose of this article is to provide a snapshot of current state regulatory frameworks related to elementary and secondary online education. The article is divided into the following sections: background information about K-12 online education; state statutory review of K-12 online education policy; curriculum matters; academic integrity in an online education environment; and teaching in K-12 online education. The final section presents conclusions and recommendations for future research.

This paper reports the results of a survey on ethics education in initial teacher education in Canada. Using an online survey and an academic calendar analysis, data was collected on ethics course requirements, perceptions about ethics content, institutional factors mediating the implementation of ethics courses, and teaching and learning objectives. Unexpectedly, the results showed that a required ethics course is as common in teacher education in Canada as it is in medical education and that an ethics curriculum is regarded highly by Canadian teacher educators as an aspect of teacher education. The paper concludes by suggesting directions for future research and underlining the need for network building in the area of ethics education for teachers in Canada.

In many PreK-12 school environments, individuals with a variety of professional identities and roles provide services to students. Typically, these individuals are trained with minimal interaction with each other, yet they must work cooperatively with each other in the schools. Interprofessional education (IPE) provides a model whereby students in different disciplines learn to collaborate. This article describes the origins and current status of IPE in the health professions; suggests strategies for applying IPE to educator training; describes a promising example IPE project involving two distinct school-based professionals, pre-service special educators and school counsellors in training, including outcomes documented through student reflections; and offers implications for implementing and sustaining IPE in schools of education.

For decades, James M. Kauffman has been a reputable scholar in the field of special education. While his contributions to the field cannot be doubted, his ideas about special education have been somewhat controversial and even devastating to the education of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners with and without disabilities. Specifically, his ideas about student labeling, standardized tests and testing, multicultural education, and disproportionate placement of CLD learners seem inconceivable and counterproductive. We respect Kauffman as a renowned scholar and we do not doubt his heart, however, we are unclear if he is aware of the negative consequences of his ideas. In this article, we critique his ideas based on his writings on some critical issues in special education

This study examines the mentoring experiences of prospective and beginning special education administrators to determine whether on the job mentoring is a viable method of equipping the prospective and beginning special education administrator with essential knowledge and skills. Three research questions were asked: What is the attainment of knowledge and skills and how does mentor support function for prospective and beginning special education administrators as a result of engagement in a mentoring relationship? Do mentors and protégés agree on the protégé's attainment of knowledge and skills and the level of the mentors' support? Do the attainment of knowledge and skills and the level of mentor support for protégés depend on whether the mentoring relationship is formal or informal? Study findings support mentoring as a critical component in the preparation of administrators in special education.

This case study explored how multiple educational personnel in a middle school identified as an exemplar of inclusive education defined and provided students with severe disabilities access to the general education curriculum. Data sources including a questionnaire, interviews, observations, observation reflections, and artifacts were collected from 12 participants who worked as administrators, general education teachers, special education teachers, or paraprofessionals. Findings point to educational personnel who are committed to providing access to the general education curriculum in general education classrooms and carry out this mission through shared responsibility, collaboration, peer supports, and multi-faceted learning structures. These findings are discussed in relation to future research and practice in the areas of inclusion and severe disabilities.

Through its teacher education program, Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) is meeting the Anishinaabe of North Dakota's educational needs, strengthening tribal sovereignty and self-determination, and positively affecting people's lives. Pivotal to the success of the teacher education program are strongly committed faculty, supportive staff, and the cohort model learning community that TMCC employs. Students compare the model to a family which is unified in purpose and spirit. Perhaps the best measure of how the college's teacher education program is positively affecting the Turtle Mountain reservation and its community can be summed up in this student's comment: "This program has changed my life in an incredibly positive way. It has offered [an opportunity] where there was none."

Economic model has been greatly shifted from labor demanding to innovation demanding, which requires education system has to produce creative people. This paper illustrates how traditional education model accrued and developed based on satisfying the old economic model for labor demanding but did not meet the new social requirement for innovation demanding. Also, this paper illustrates how U.S. education reform movement turns into standardization movement that has been trapped by traditional education concept, for example, this standardization movement aims to produce great test takers, but fails to produce creative people with critical thinking skill. As well as this paper discusses how personalized education has been mentioned by Dr. Yong Zhao as a new model that focuses on exploring students? personal potential of innovation, which means personalized education is able to better adapt the modern society for innovation demanding, and it should take the place of standardized education.

In this article we explore how reconceptualizing the role of technology in place-based education (PBE) enhances place responsive pedagogies through technology. Combining the strengths of adventure learning (AL) and PBE, Adventure Learning @ (AL@) advances both place responsive education and online learning in science education. This is needed, as the conventional AL model lacks authentic explorations of places that are ''local'' to the expedition teams and the students following along. The AL@ approach promotes localized authorship and knowledge keeping. AL@ more fully realizes the potential of AL, using PBE approaches that engage students as authors of knowledge through direct field experiences and the creation of digital artifacts of scientific inquiry.

This study aims to find ways to improve learning outcomes in teacher education courses by using an Analysis Model for Learning Outcomes (AMLO). It addresses the improvement of the quality of teacher education by analyzing learning outcomes and implementing curriculum modifications related to specific learning objectives and their effects on student learning and achievement. The learning outcome data of two groups of female students enrolled in an education course were analyzed for comparison. The results indicated significant improvements in learning outcomes for the second group after curriculum modifications were implemented. These results highlight the importance of analyzing learning outcomes for quality improvement in teacher education. This paper discusses some of the benefits of using AMLO in teacher education and other disciplines, and provides recommendations for faculty members, administrations, and researchers.

Federal education policy reports in science and mathematics education have treated Students of Color consistently over the past two decades, addressing the underrepresentation of minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields with little regard to actual issues of race and ethnicity. We examine how 17 federal education policy briefs focusing on STEM have addressed issues of equity with regard to Students of Color. We use a critical race theory lens to interpret and understand our findings. We find that the documents used broadly defined, racially essentializing terms; that discourse surrounding race fluctuated, perhaps cyclically, over time; and that arguments for inclusive STEM education were made predominantly from a one-sided economic perspective, favoring the owners and operators of STEM enterprises.

The Author argues that historical regional developments in Europe and East Asia greatly influence the formation of an East Asian Higher Education Area. As such, this article compares European and East Asian regionalization and higher education regionalization processes to show this path dependency in East Asian regionalization of higher education on its regionalization process. Lastly, the author advances that (1) defining the East Asian region; (2) developing regional guidelines/frameworks; and (3) establishing sub-regional higher education areas, using regional guidelines/frameworks, need to be done prior to integrating into an East Asian Higher Education Area. This integration process is to be advanced by institutionalizing regional mobility, quality assurance and mutual recognition of higher education and professional qualification with the establishment of regional institutions focused on these areas.