Education & Pedagogy

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is a form of education seen by many governments and educators as a preparation of the types of students needed for the future. STEM education is being developed in many countries without the support of official policy, such as is the case in Canada. In the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a private non-profit organisation, Achieve Inc.™, have been enlisted to develop policy to guide the development on STEM nationally. Due to its influence in global politics and economy, many countries, including Canada, are interested in how the United States is preparing its citizens for the future through STEM education. In this paper we present a critical discourse analysis on STEM policy from the United States as a basis to discuss: biopolitics in science education; notions of citizenship in contemporary school education and science education; and citizenship and STEM education.

For over a century, teacher preparation programs (TPPs) have experienced peaks and valleys in preparing preservice teachers to deliver technology and engineering (TE) experiences in elementary classrooms. Calls to integrate engineering concepts into elementary education (Katehi, Pearson, & Feder, 2009; Kimmel, Carpinelli, Curr-Alexander, & Rockland, 2006)--especially as it relates to the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS; NGSS Lead States, 2013) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education--compels TE teacher educators to evaluate their curricular programs relative to elementary education. To assist teacher educators in this self-assessment, the Teacher Preparation Committee of the Council on Technology and Engineering Teacher Education undertook a mixed methods study, the purpose of which was to identify and characterize the models of teacher preparation programs that prepared preservice elementary teachers to deliver TE experiences in elementary classrooms.

Separate approaches in engineering education, research and practice are not very useful when preparing students for working life; instead, integration of education, research and industrial practices is needed. A triangular approach (TA) as a method to accomplish this integration and as a method to provide students with integrated expertise is proposed. The results from the application of TA, both at the course and programme level, indicate that the approach is suitable for developing engineering education. The student pass rate for courses where TA has been used has been higher than for previous approaches, and the student feedback has been very positive. Although TA aims to take both theoretical and practical aspects of engineering as well as research and education into account, the approach concentrates mainly on activities and therefore leaves the goals of these activities as well as the values behind these goals uncovered.

This article was developed from an earlier invitation to discuss what it was like to teach at a comprehensive arts and science college with a large teacher education program while also trying to conduct and publish applied research. Were there any particular tricks to getting things done that could be handed down to younger professionals working in similar circumstances? Any words of wisdom to pass along that might mitigate the challenges of not having enough time or at least make professional writing and manuscript rejection easier? Perhaps, but that would require someone of greater intellect and stature than the authors have. What the authors can share, however, are some important lessons they have learned while developing an applied research agenda in special education teacher education. The lessons reflect experiences the authors found helpful in navigating the higher education waters for the past three plus decades.

The aim of this study was to compare time management perception of students studying at Department of Physical Education and Sports Teaching and program in Primary School Education. Totally, 170 students took part in this research. Data was gathered through Time Management Scale that had been developed by Britton and Tesser (1991) and was translated to Turkish Language by Alay and Koçak (2002). In evaluation part, frequency analysis and parametric tests were used. It was statistically determined that there were significant differences between students studying at department of physical education and sports teaching with program in primary school education. It is considered that the students of Physical Education and Sports Teaching Department have high perception in all three sub-dimensions because of their habit of using the time well in the competition or the habits of time planning such as nutrition and sleeping out of sporting time.

In the spirit of moving toward a more "global community", multicultural special education practices designed to reach culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students represent an imperative in countries world-wide where education is a core value, including the United States (U.S.) and South Korea. As CLD students in the U.S. and South Korea attend public schools at increasing rates, exploring current education practice and policies is warranted. The authors conducted a comprehensive review of the literature as well as an exploration of educational policies and laws across both countries. As a result, the authors identified: the latest student demographic trends and issues, and current policies and practices addressing the education of CLD students with and without disabilities in both countries. Implications and recommendations for special education teacher educators will be provided.

Access to higher education opened up avenues for more women workforce in decent employment contributing to the national economy. Government policies/schemes played a significant role in improving this significant indicator of women empowerment. This access also had an impact on their enrolment and choice of subjects but was accompanied by several challenges. More women in higher education were not accompanied by increase in employment for women, and have remained vastly inadequate. This is evident from the declining workforce participation rate for women in the country. This article attempts to analyze this disconnect or mismatch between higher education and employment for women despite phenomenal improvements in their access to higher education in India especially in the urban context. It highlights the key reasons pertaining to this disconnect and emphasizes that the quest of women's declining employment can only be resolved by plugging the gap between higher education and employment for women in future.

Immigration policy in the UK restricts migrants' eligibility to some services and benefits, including in the sphere of education. Compulsory education is available to all, but many migrants face restrictions based on residency and immigration status, which affect fee rates and entitlement to financial support for further and higher education. The article draws on two studies of (i) family migrants and (ii) young precarious migrants to explore how both groups experience bordering in education. We expose how immigration status operates as a category to produce inequalities in educational opportunities. In particular, we show how it intersects with gender and life course, becoming significant unexpectedly at particular moments in time and impacting on migrants' structural and affective integration. In light of this evidence, the article considers the logics behind the funding restrictions, questioning their counterproductive nature for those who are long-term resident and/or likely to remain in the UK.

Many parents struggle to advocate for their children with disabilities to obtain services at school. Subsequently, parents may turn to special education advocates to help ensure that their children receive appropriate services. However, it is unclear how special education advocates support families and secure services for children with disabilities. Before determining whether special education advocacy is effective, the advocacy process used by special education advocates needs to be understood. In this study, 33 special education advocates participated in individual interviews about advocacy. Participants reported that they used an advocacy process with five main stages: developing rapport with the parent, establishing clear expectations, learning about the child and the family, educating and empowering the parent, and participating in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Details about the advocacy process are provided, and implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.

The Kenyan educational system is an example of how increasing demand, external policies, and lack of resources have hindered access into Kenya's highest level of education. While it is possible to view higher education as the problem and the solution as a means to an educated workforce and economic development, the issues stem from growth, access, and challenges at the lower levels of education, primary and secondary. In order to improve Kenya's higher education access, educators and leaders should first examine the issues hindering primary and secondary education. The trends imply that if United States educators and leaders can better understand the challenges in Kenyan education, then we can better educate the Kenyan international students with the tools and knowledge to improve the Kenyan system when they return home after graduation.

Based on state and federal statistics, minority students are not being over identified for Special Education, the students in Special Education have a lower dropout rate than the students in general education, and students in Special Education show growth towards closing their learning gap. There are three controversial issues concerning Special Education and achievement. First is the concern that minority groups are over identified as Special Needs. The data indicates this may be occurring to some degree, but has lessened in the last few decades for some groups. Then there are the twin issues of closing the achievement gap between Special Education and regular education students and eventual high school graduation rates for Special Needs students. The new high school exit exam requirements heighten concerns of these issues. These topics are tackled herein through a pro and con debate. Natalie Bogg completed the Con side and Pro Rebuttal and Vernette Hansen completed the Pro side and Con Rebuttal.

Collaborative learning technologies (tools that are used for facilitating or mediating collaborative learning) have been widely incorporated in distance education as well as broadly adopted in higher education. While a range of collaborative technologies has been incorporated, their implementation has often failed to align with well-established and empirically validated principles for the design of learning (Bernard & Rubalcava, 2000; Chang & Hannafin, 2015; So & Brush, 2008). In this article we (1) describe how collaborative learning technologies have been effectively and ineffectively incorporated in the higher education setting; (2) review and analyze critical design principles for integrating collaborative learning technologies in higher education applications of distance education (with particular focus on online learning) and, (3) explore the relationship between technological transience and the effectiveness of collaborative distance education technologies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new saliency to educational efforts to ensure every person is able to make effective personal decisions and participate in civic affairs. However, social and political systems often constrain individual opportunities to enact personal decision-making. These sociopolitical contexts necessitate an increased emphasis on justice-centered education that equips students to recognize and respond to inequities in local and global contexts. In this article, we present three case studies of areas relevant to K-12 education to which the pandemic has drawn critical attention: how scientific knowledge changes, how decisions are made about science-based issues, and how the impacts of such decisions cascade in the environment. Collectively, these cases highlight the importance of justice-centered pedagogies for learning about complex socioscientific issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and how transboundary justice-centered education could support the meaningful convergence of environmental education, science education, and social studies education.

Education policy signals the level of support or importance for high-performing or gifted and talented students to school leaders, educators, parents, and other stakeholders. These policies communicate the value or goals of departments of education. Given the importance of education policy, there remains a void in the analysis of gifted and talented education policy, which accounts for less than 1% of the empirical literature. We sought to understand how publicly available individual state and territory departments of education's gifted and talented education policies and guidance documents coalesce with the NAGC (2019) Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards. Although not developed for the Australian context, they provide a common index from which to gauge alignment. Results indicated an uneven approach in both policy and guidance and this imbalance exposes opportunity gaps to address the specific learning needs of this student population.

This article explores the environmental and sustainability programs of Indigenous Higher Education Institutions (IHEIs) in North America. There are 38 Tribal Colleges and Universities in the United States and 26 Indigenous post-secondary institutions in Canada. Deploying a critical discourse analysis, the study examines IHEI websites to document Indigenous environmental sustainability education (ESE) program offerings. The comparative analysis of IHEI programming in each national context finds that 41 out of 62 IHEIs in Canada and the United States have Indigenous ESE programs. Findings also indicate that ESE programs are more prevalent among IHEIs in the United States than in Canada. Moreover, IHEIs in the United States also offered greater diversity of program types, from certificates to graduate studies. The findings highlight the importance of IHEI environmental and sustainability education program design for centering Indigenous Knowledge in higher education through Indigenous-controlled institutions.