Education & Pedagogy

I give a brief account of the emergence in Britain in the late 1960s of a secular religious education (RE), utilizing material from the religions of the world, and refer to its role in multicultural education in the 1970s. Next, I summarize some developments in the history of the uneasy relationship between multicultural and antiracist education up to the early 1990s, when new critical approaches to multicultural education appeared, noting that the political climate in Britain under Conservative Governments prevented any positive influence from these on policy. Since the election of a Labour Government in 1997, two main factors have resulted in the restoration of some multicultural/intercultural education to the curriculum: The first is a response to social disruption nationally and globally. The second is the introduction of citizenship education in the curriculum of English and Welsh schools. In the case of social disruption, in relation to riots in England and to the events of 11 September 2001, in New York and their global consequences, religion has been a key element requiring analysis and response. Policy discussions, in England and Wales and in Europe more widely, are recognizing the importance of the religious dimension to intercultural education. New interpretive and dialogical pedagogies of RE share similar analytic stances towards "culture" and "religion" and similar critical and reflexive methodologies to recent approaches to multicultural/intercultural education. Thus, RE, employing these pedagogies, can make a direct contribution to an intercultural education working to promote social cohesion. There are also opportunities for fruitful collaboration between educators in the RE and intercultural fields.

There is increasing interest in understanding and describing the links between education and "social cohesion". However, the theoretical and empirical base for understanding these links is limited. There is also a shortage of practical tools for education policy-makers and planners, to help them assess the impact of policies and investments, and to plan for future reform. This paper describes the initial development of an analytical and planning framework for addressing education and social cohesion within the context of a sector-wide approach to education reform in Sri Lanka. A brief literature review suggests three inter-connected domains in which links between education and social cohesion might be usefully analysed, together with three working hypotheses: (i) "political economy/governance": education affects social cohesion through transparency and participation in education policy formulation, planning and management; (ii) "equity/equality of opportunity": education affects social cohesion through the distribution of education resources, opportunities and outcomes; (iii) "teaching/learning": education affects social cohesion through the development of certain competencies in students. Drawing on this analytical framework, research conducted in Sri Lanka is used to identify a set of interventions to promote social cohesion, with corresponding baseline, process and outcome indicators as benchmarks for measuring the progress and impact of intended policy measures. This process is described within the context of a "sector-wide approach" to education reform, intended to bring together the activities of the government and external partners within a single comprehensive medium-term planning and budgetary framework.

A 50 state look at the nation's governors and their leadership on education over the past year shows that Governors are focusing much of their attention on two critical areas of education policy--high school and preschool. At least 22 governors proposed significant policies last year aimed at improving high schools, or have made such proposals so far in 2006, "Education Week" found in preparing this special report. At least 20 governors began last year or have initiated in current legislative sessions pushes to expand pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds or other early-childhood programs. This Education Week special report offers a detailed look at the leadership of governors in shaping their states' education agendas through legislation, regulatory action, public involvement, and proposal or endorsement of ballot measures. The 50-state table reflects the highlights of each governor's 2005 education proposals, the outcomes from that year-including the final actions from year-round legislative sessions-and updates on the governors' 2006 agendas and re-election status. The information in the state-by state-table was gathered during interviews by "Education Week" with governors' education advisers and other staff members, with legislative-staff members and through analyses of state budgets and other state government documents. Additional information, including an interactive map of the states, and a PDF copy of this report is available at www.edweek.org/governors/. [Education Week's coverage of leadership is supported in part by a grant from The Wallace Foundation.]

The Government of Uganda aims to provide good quality education for all learners in inclusive schools. However, some learners who have severe disabilities, including those who are deaf, will, for some time, continue to receive their education in special schools. In this article, Kirsten Kristensen, consultant in inclusive and special needs education for many countries in East Africa, Martin Omagor-Loican, Commissioner for Special Needs Education, Negris Onen, Principal Education Officer for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, both at the Ministry of Education in Sports in Uganda, and Daniel Okot, co-ordinator for the Diploma in Special Needs Education at Kyambogo University, provide an account of their study of 15 such schools. The findings from the study indicate a striking need for reform and transformation. While Uganda has an advanced structure for training teachers in special needs education, quality of education and educational materials in special schools, is poor. Often children are admitted to special schools without proper assessment of their educational needs and the resources are not available to provide them with an appropriate range of experiences. The authors of this article call for a thorough going review of provision and make a series of coherent and persuasive recommendations for developments in policy and practice focused on enabling special schools in Uganda to play an essential role in future as resource centres supporting an inclusive education system.

Background: Lengthy sequences of decontextualized adult education and literacy program courses pose a challenge to two-year college students' educational outcomes. The Integrated Education and Training model has been suggested as a promising approach to creating accelerated and contextualized pathways from adult education and literacy programming to two-year college credentials. Yet, research investigating the effects of exposure to Integrated Education and Training on student outcomes is sparce. Objective: My study investigates the associations between exposure to Integrated Education and Training and shorter-term, interim, and longer-term two-year college educational outcomes. Research Design: My quantitative study employs propensity score matching to develop a sample that is balanced in student characteristics between a student group served in Integrated Education and Training and their counterparts co-enrolled in adult education and literacy programming and workforce training that is not part of an Integrated Education and Training program. I generated regression models to explore the relationship between exposure to Integrated Education and Training and a series of educational outcomes. Conclusions: Exposure to Integrated Education and Training is significantly and positively associated with each of the analyzed student outcomes including completing college credits in the first semester, college persistence to the second year, achieving a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or greater, and obtaining a two-year college credential. My study's findings extend the existing research on contextualized instruction by investigating a specific model of contextualization and suggest Integrated Education and Training as a mechanism for students to build momentum toward two-year college success.

Several countries have implemented educational changes in recent years, most of which generally happen suddenly and abruptly to appease sectors of society that benefit economically. Most educational change watchword is innovation, fulfilling more a propaganda space than a fundamental educational transformation. One of the foremost educational innovations in science education was the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC), a physics education project aimed at improving science education in the USA during the Cold War. In this period, teacher training was critical to the science education imbroglio in which the country found itself, primarily due to the long period the government made little educational investment. The reactions came with the creation of multiple committees, including the PSSC, when the nation faced a shortage of qualified teachers and a crisis in training scientists. In this investigation, we seek to understand the relationship between economic policies and science education in the USA by analysing the administration's economic reports through document analysis methodology. The findings show that science education had three different levels of priority throughout the period: the first, when it was deemed irrelevant; the second, when it started to be seen as imperative for economic and technological development; and the third, when science education was considered essential for national security. This historical case study shows the lasting impacts of treating education as unimportant, even for a short period, and the enormous inertia to move the complex economic and political network between society's superstructure and infrastructure activities.

Mental well-being holds paramount importance and its relevance within the realm of higher education is undeniable. The academic journey often brings about unique challenges, stressors, and transitions that can impact students' mental health (MH). This study explores the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and MH education within higher education institutions, focusing on the intersection between Deep Learning (DL), MH education, and policy. The research aims to assess how AI can enhance MH support systems in educational settings and whether a combination of DL and MH education can contribute to a psychologically healthy community. The study tests hypotheses regarding the fundamental need for MH education to cope with stress, the role of AI in diagnosing mental health issues, the potential for AI to predict and reduce anxiety and depression, and the impact of policies in making MH education a mandatory component. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 600 valid responses from students, faculty members, educational technologists, and MH professionals across 12 universities in China. The data were analyzed using SPSS, revealing strong support for the integration of AI and MH education in promoting a psychologically healthy academic environment. The novelty of this study lies in its innovative integration of DL, MH education, and policy, offering a unique model for supporting mental health in higher education. The findings contribute to the broader understanding of how technology, education, and policy can collectively enhance student well-being and inform future strategies for integrating AI into educational and mental health practices.

The purpose of this study was to examine the research papers published in 6 SSCI (Social Sciences Citation Index) Q1 (quartile 1) category journals in the field of science education between 2004-2024 years with regard to the most influential publications, prevailing themes, emerging areas of interest, existing and future relationships between topics, social interactions among authors and their affiliations. In this study, the bibliometric analysis was used for a more rigorous and evolution of the field of large amounts of scientific data. Performance analysis and science mapping analysis were performed using the VOSviewer programme. Publication-related metrics, citation-related metrics, and citation and publication-related metrics were documented for the performance analysis. For the science mapping analysis, citation analysis, co-authorship analysis, co-word analysis, and bibliographic coupling analysis were performed. While there was a sharp decline in the number of science education studies published in 2019, science education studies generally show an increasing trend. Science education studies originate mainly from the USA, Australia and England. Prevailing themes were identified: STEM education, chemistry education, scientific inquiry, teacher education, conceptual change, argumentation, and socio-scientific issues. It was found that the research interest of science researchers has changed from COVID-19 to the present (2019 to 2024). Systems thinking, equity, gender, science identity, engineering education, computational thinking, online education, and systematic reviews were identified as emerging areas of interest. This study provides important implications for multiple stakeholders, including science researchers, curriculum developers, science educators, and education policymakers.

This study addresses the critical need for a systematic framework to integrate Ideological and Political (I&P) education into junior middle school Physical Education and Health curricula, aiming to cultivate socially responsible citizens aligned with socialist core values. The research employs a mixed-methods approach. This includes a literature review, qualitative analysis using NVivo 12.0, Delphi expert validation, hierarchical analysis for indicator weighting, and student self-assessment questionnaires. Through this process, a comprehensive three-tiered index system was constructed. The framework comprises 3 first-level indicators (Sports Moral Education, Ideological Education, Political Education), 9 second-level indicators (e.g., Sportsmanship, Three Views Education, Patriotism Education), and 43 third-level indicators (e.g., Perseverance, Socialist Core Values, Idealistic Beliefs). Hierarchical analysis revealed Sports Moral Education as the highest-weighted dimension (0.4126), underscoring its centrality in holistic student development. Results identified strengths in embedding Sportsmanship and Sports Ethics but exposed significant gaps in Political Education and Three Views Education, with student self-assessments lagging behind expert expectations. The index system enables structured evaluation of I&P integration efficacy, informing targeted curriculum enhancements. Practical applications include redesigning interdisciplinary pedagogical activities, strengthening teacher training, and developing multifaceted assessment tools that measure civic-mindedness alongside physical competencies. This research provides educators and policymakers with an evidence-based blueprint to systematically advance I&P objectives within physical education, ultimately fostering students' civic responsibility and alignment with national educational goals.

The Council of Higher Education (CoHE) switched to distance education with digital tools in all universities as of March 23, 2020. The relevant decision was put into effect by the universities. Since this date, distance education has been utilized in almost all programs in universities. COVID-19 Pandemic period was finished, and face-to-face education was started in 2021. This research aims to analyze the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, the research study group designed in the scanning model consists of 1605 students enrolled at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University. The research data were obtained with the "Scale on the Satisfaction Levels of University Students with Distance Education," which was developed by Baltaci, Mercan-Annak, Akbay, Akaydin and Sökmensüer (2021) and whose validity and reliability have been proven. The SPSS Statistics 20 program analyzed the data. It was investigated whether the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education showed a statistically significant difference concerning certain variables during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study determined that undergraduate students were generally satisfied with the distance education they received during the COVID-19 pandemic. A statistically significant difference was found between the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education applications based on gender, department, self-efficacy perception of computer use skills, and having problems accessing distance education. On the other hand, no statistically significant difference was seen between the satisfaction levels of undergraduate students with distance education applications based on age, grade level, regular Internet access, and distance education status before the epidemic.

South Africa must embark upon the third epoch of education policy after the failures of the first two epochs: the 1953-1994 ("apartheid") era and the 1994-2021 era (the dawn of democracy and the dismantling of apartheid structures). There were not enough education opportunities to guide all the children of the country to maturity and acceptance of their civilian responsibilities. This paper examines the reasons why the education policies of the first two epochs failed and contributed to a poor, unequal and ineffective school education system. The paper also explores the challenges that the education system needs to confront to create a new education system that will support the attainment of the hitherto unfulfilled expectations and dreams that its citizens carried into the democratic era. The education policy of the third epoch must address critical issues to chart the way to an effective education system. There is a need to reorganize (reset) the education system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A streamlined curriculum needs to focus on the essential skills and knowledge the country needs. The system can no longer ignore the need for the adequate provision of vocational and technical education to alleviate the sharply rising unemployment rate of young people and support the growth of the economy. Quality education policy must function despite the lack of funds for the provision of appropriate and functional infrastructure and competent human resources. [For the complete Volume 20 proceedings, see ED622631.]

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities and inequalities of national education systems and hindered the education of millions of children globally. In response, the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre, which is a long-term, strategic partnership between the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), undertook a rapid review of literature to support policymakers. The research has six evidence-based outcomes that can help policymakers to build resilient education systems and thereby enhance education quality and equity during emergencies. The COVID-19 emergency provided the impetus for this research, with much of the reported data associated with this pandemic. Learnings from past education in emergencies have informed the understandings of the impacts and implications of the COVID-19 emergency, and have been synthesised with the COVID-19 literature to inform policymakers about how to build resilient education systems. This report presents evidence relating to two main types of emergencies affecting education: natural disasters and communicable disease, and political conflicts. Both types of emergencies can also coalesce within the same education system, resulting in complex and often protracted emergencies. This review found that emergencies impact education in two main ways: endangering children's wellbeing, and magnifying disparities in learning outcomes. [This publication has been funded by the Australian Government through the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre, a partnership between the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).]

Developed for California's local education agencies, this resource identifies six components an infrastructure needs to have in place to operate a well-functioning special education program. The publication also provides a tool for examining the degree to which these components are in place in your system. The results of that examination can help you decide where best to start system improvement efforts. The Six Basic Components: (1) Collaboration and Communication. Norms and processes that allow for meaningful and productive interaction between special education programs and other programs, as well as between schools and families; (2) Staffing. Processes to monitor and address personnel needs, and strategic allocation of staff with defined roles and responsibilities; (3) Policy and Procedures. The existence of up-to-date, documented, and accessible procedures that are compliant with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), along with a robust pre-referral system, such as a multi-tiered system of support; (4) Data Systems. Accurate and consistent data sources that are accessible and monitored at the student, classroom, and school levels; (5) Resource Management. Budget planning and monitoring processes that ensure that resources for special education are strategically allocated and managed to meet state and federal guidelines and to serve students with disabilities; and (6) Instructional Practices. Professional learning opportunities, systems, and processes for general and special education teachers and other personnel, to support high-quality Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and all students' access to the general education curriculum.

This is the "41st Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2019." Section 664(d) of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities and the provision of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities. The "41st Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2019" describes our nation's progress in: (1) providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for children with disabilities under "IDEA," Part B and early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families under "IDEA," Part C; (2) ensuring that the rights of these children with disabilities and their parents are protected; (3) assisting states and localities in providing for the education of all children with disabilities; and (4) assessing the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with disabilities. The report focuses on the children and students with disabilities being served under "IDEA," Parts C or B, nationally and at the state level. [For the "40th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the 'Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,' 2018," see ED594658.]

Efforts across higher education, economic development, workforce development and secondary education address alignment, which the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) Council defines as helping individuals prepare for and obtain meaningful careers while also meeting employer needs. Specifically, the relationship between workforce needs and higher education academic programs to reduce labor market imbalances. An evolving aspect of alignment focuses on deepening efforts related to specific skills and competencies needed across various industry sectors. In order for education and training to truly serve as an engine of growth in Virginia, the Commonwealth needs to develop a more robust understanding of the connections between education and the labor market, including supply/demand imbalances that can inhibit the growth of businesses or result in poor employment outcomes for individuals. Therefore, a coordinated, comprehensive workforce and higher education ecosystem can build capacity and inform student and policy decisions, academic programs, workforce development, economic development and other related efforts. Overall, stakeholders engaged as part of this project indicated the need and support for improved coordination of the various alignment initiatives and a consistent, routine source of labor supply, demand and shortage analysis and data translation to support such efforts. The higher education and workforce alignment project and resultant recommendations aim to fill in the gaps and connect these various ecosystem elements in an intentional manner resulting in comprehensive policy and program development via an incremental approach. The intent is to create the framework of connectivity organically through these recommendations.