Education & Pedagogy

This article provides a critical exploration of the textbook-based character of Finnish educational culture. The opening section points to the need to recognize and better understand the role of textbooks in Finnish education. The next section outlines how and why textbooks have become a characterizing feature of Finnish educational culture before addressing different ways in which pupils and student-teachers are socialized into textbook-based practices of schooling. The later sections critically consider the importance of textbooks as part of Finnish education, as well as the implications for educational research, the ongoing development of Finnish education and in particular teacher education. This study suggests that a more clearly explicated understanding of text-based educational cultures is needed to better understand the character of Finnish education and to broaden the lens for theorisations of, as well as practices within, education.

The literacies of Black and other communities of Color have long been narrated pathologically in literacy teacher education. Literacy teacher educators have been complicit in upholding linguistic injustice and enacting linguistic violence in and through their practices, devaluing the practices, marginalizing the experiences, and interrogating the humanity of Black and other teachers of Color. In this article, extending Ladson-Billings's concept of the education debt, I assess the literacy teacher education debt, unveiling how white English and whiteness in general have been (over)valued and positioned as currency in literacy teacher education. After (re)examining and (re)assessing offenses and harms inflicted by literacy teacher education across historical, economic, sociopolitical, and moral realms, composing the literacy teacher education debt, I take a restorative justice approach and offer an invitation to right literacy teacher education by addressing obligations and committing to healing as a matter of justice.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly interconnected world as well as the growing role of inter- and supranational organizations, policy transfer has become a widespread phenomenon, not least in the realm of education. While policy transfer research has focused predominantly on isolated education sectors, less is known about the overall institutional conditions that favour or inhibit policy movement in different education sectors. We argue that the conditions for cross-border policy synthesis, as a central form of policy transfer, differ systematically between the two main education sectors preparing for labour market entry, namely higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET). Taking the case of the cross-border region of France, Germany and Switzerland as an example, the institutional analysis shows that demand-side, programmatic, contextual and application conditions are more favourable towards cross-border policy synthesis in HE than VET.

This article illustrates the shared work of Indigenous scholars and community members rooted in Indigenous knowledge toward the goal of decolonizing mathematics education. Furthermore, this study highlights "IndigiLogix: Mathematics|Culture|Environment (M|C|E)" programming, which is a mathematics precollege program created to advance college access and community empowerment for Indigenous students. "IndigiLogix" programming seeks to decolonize mathematics education through 4 curricular examples rooted in Indigenous place-based education, with the components of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity (BMIG), and Indigenous mathematics knowledge. In partnership with public schools' Indian Education Departments and Indigenous community Elders and community members, this model was employed in a precollege mathematics program for Indigenous youth.

This research explores how critical education can contribute to the development of critical human capital relevant to Ghana's socio-economic development. Teaching and learning in many Ghanaian classrooms follow a rigid curriculum with limited or no classroom interaction, restricting students' creativity and critical consciousness. A systematic literature review was conducted using scholarly articles and books to identify concepts that promote critical education. The research revealed four concepts (i.e., problem-posing education, teacher and student roles, praxis, and dialogue) and the following about education: education should be about the critical examination of the social world, resulting in actions that serve the best interest of society. The research concluded that critical education could empower students to become critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and change agents who can champion the cause for Ghana's socio-economic development.

The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes of faculty members at higher education toward inclusion for students with high incidence disabilities in higher education. For the aim of this study, a sample of 247 higher education faculty members were therefore collected. Multiple linear regression was conducted for data analysis. Results have shown that university-type accommodation services, training, academic rank, and university region are statistically significant predictors of higher education faculty members' attitudes toward the inclusion for students with high incidence disabilities in higher education. Some recommendations are hence provided to help improve the inclusion of students with high incidence disabilities in higher education in Saudi Arabia.

The research aims to assess the cultural diversity of international students studying in higher education institutions. The results of the research provide an overview of the attitude of students studying in institutions of higher education to learning, the factors influencing their studies, and their expectations for their studies abroad. One type of quantitative research method, the questionnaire, was chosen for the primary research. The research results reflect the perspectives of students from different cultural backgrounds in institutions of higher education and focus on the phenomena and situations they experience. Following the hypothesis test results, an outcome can be seen that students believe that their studies in higher education provide a good foundation for their personal development. The results also confirmed that learning in a multicultural environment could positively affect students' working abilities.

In early 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global emergency. This pandemic has affected higher education, especially the world of business education and professional programmes, beyond imagination. This study/project examines an innovative teaching and learning approach, Lean methodology, and its application to business education. Although Lean Thinking originated in the automobile industry several years ago, research on its application and sustainability at academic institutions, especially in the teaching and learning process, has been extremely limited. Recent research demonstrates that this approach has been successfully implemented in healthcare and health sciences education. This project takes a step forward and identifies how a similar approach can be applied to business education in post-pandemic education. The project concludes with practical tips that higher education institutions can use as planning for post-pandemic begins.

"Bildung" has a long tradition in continental European education but in England it is less well known and is underused to theorise about education. In this paper the German concept of "Bildung" is applied to pre-service teacher education in England where teacher education has become increasingly dominated by instrumental and technicist approaches that encroach on the development of professional values and educational wisdom. Nevertheless, criticisms to current trends in teacher education do exist in England with programmes that include values-based elements challenging the prevailing norms of this performativity driven approach. This paper adds to those criticisms by proposing "Bildung" as an underpinning philosophy of teacher education and as an unusual lens with which to reframe teacher education.

The focus of this study was to explore teacher educators' experiences as they prepared preservice teachers to implement a new physical education curriculum, and to identify their professional needs to support this work. Individual interviews were conducted with 14 teacher educators who taught in a physical education teacher education (PETE) programme. Data were analysed in the spirit of grounded theory [Mordal-Moen & Green, 2014. Neither shaking nor stirring: A case study of reflexivity in Norwegian physical education teacher education. "Sport, Education and Society," 19(4), 415-434]. Time to engage with curriculum, space to come together, leadership to manage the process, and opportunities to meet together in a professional capacity were identified as important for implementation of curriculum change in the PETE programme.

Distance learning technology continues to grow and undergo significant changes in higher education settings. Applying strategic planning methods from organizational behavior and operations management can act as a useful guide for the implementation of a sustainable distance learning program. Strong planning can help ensure the distance learning program system's operational readiness, effectiveness, and sustainability. Distance learning operations planning requires a defined strategy that examines organizational human and technical structures. We discuss a distance education planning approach applied to three higher education cases with a goal of improving their distance education efforts. The research contexts were in the United States of America: a small Midwestern university seeking to grow online programs in support of its competitive strategy, a large western university with established distance programs, and a regional community college. This article will illustrate the use of business-oriented, systems thinking models for evaluation and distance education program improvement.

This mixed methods study examined non-Indigenous teacher candidates' attitude towards a mandatory Aboriginal Education course in teacher education from teacher candidates' and course instructors' perspectives. Results from Likert-scale pre- and post-course surveys of two sections of an Aboriginal Education course at a small Canadian university indicated that teacher candidates felt more knowledgeable by the end of the course, and maintained a fairly strong interest in and positive attitude towards the course. Results from course instructors provided additional and at times contradictory information, describing the course as limited and, at best, an introduction to the issues and perspectives within Indigenous education. The results suggest the need for mandatory Indigenous Education courses and for faculties of education and school boards to provide further learning opportunities with Indigenous education content and resources.

In early February, music educators from across the Buckeye state convened in Cleveland for the annual Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) Professional Development Conference. This year's OMEA Graduate Research Forum featured Dr. Kenneth Elpus, renowned music education scholar, as the keynote speaker. Dr. Elpus is associate professor of music education and associate director at the University of Maryland School of Music. His research efforts have primarily focused on music education and educational policy, music student and teacher demographics, and access to arts education in the United States. Dr. Elpus' keynote address highlighted his past, present, and ongoing research analyzing nationally representative data sets. Attendees were fortunate to view his in-process work on music teacher demography and his recently published studies on the availability of high school arts courses and the demographic profile of middle school music students.

Within the higher education sector in Australia regionality is not well defined, which is a significant issue for regional universities, given the opportunities for development and growth stemming from the Australian Government's focus on regional higher education. This paper contends that if regional universities are to operate successfully in an increasingly competitive sector, they need to centre their operations around a clear definition of regionality. Based on a review of definitions of regionality in international higher education contexts, and an analysis of how regionality is defined outside of higher education, this paper provides a definition of regionality for Australian higher education. Whilst acknowledging the differences in potential contexts and applications, this definition seeks to provide a basis upon which regional universities in Australia can determine the ways in which they may create a strong identity, achieve the Australian Government's objectives for regional higher education, and reap the associated benefits.

This paper articulates how the teaching of movement, physical activity and sport, through formal education and schooling, and the medium of physical education, affords opportunities for twenty-first-century character education. We begin by outlining our theoretical framework for character education and identify how character-traits developed through teaching morally and morality, can be pigeonholed into one of four categories, including performance, moral, civic and intellectual virtues. We then scaffold five models-based approaches to teaching physical education through memetic, progressive and transformative pedagogy based on their scope for educating the moral person. In doing so, we illuminate how model-based theories play a pivotal role when educating for character and illustrate the importance of physical education as a developmental platform for character, practical wisdom and human flourishing.