Education & Pedagogy

A Degree Apprenticeship model has recently been introduced into the United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education system as part of wider changes to vocational training. The system has experienced numerous rapid changes in regulation and funding, and it is now little understood by many stakeholders. Distinguishing different phases in UK Higher Education, and using a salience model as a lens for analysis, this article identifies and examines stakeholders with regards to their influence on the Higher Education curriculum. The new Degree Apprenticeship model is funded by an employer payroll levy and it requires Higher Education institutions to deliver training to specific standards. This research explores the implications of the model for the Higher Education curriculum, concluding that the direct involvement of employers in the design and delivery of vocational Higher Education introduces untried elements into UK Higher Education on the assumption that the funding requirement will lead to a change in employer behaviour. This, coupled with the opening of Higher Education provision to private providers, transfers power over the curriculum to those with potentially no commitment to wider public values, and may offer a threat to the international standing of UK Higher Education. This article contributes to research in understanding how Higher Education systems respond to, and actors cope with, imposed change.

The demise of apartheid in 1994 introduced many changes to the social, political, and economic sectors of South Africa with similar changes in the higher education sector. This article offers an integrative review and analysis of higher education policies implemented and legislation passed that significantly impacted the nature of the South African system of higher education. While the primary interest is on policies implemented since South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994, the analysis begins with an evaluation of the Extension of University Education Act (No. 45) of 1959, the seminal legislation that created the hyper-segregated system of higher education, the detrimental effects of which most of the policies implemented post-1994 sought to address. We employ content analysis as a research approach and critical policy analysis as a theoretical framework to examine the aforementioned legislation and two post-1994 policy papers, the "Education White Paper 3" and the "National Plan for Higher Education," which provided a framework for creating a new, equitable system of higher education. While there has been modest success emanating from the implementation of these policies, there are deep-seated challenges in the higher education sector that persist 20 years into the new democracy.

This study sought to investigate the association between nativity status and Hispanic young women's formal sex education and parental sex education in the USA. We used data from a cross-sectional sample of 310 Hispanic young women aged 18-24 years old from the 2013-2015 US National Survey of Family Growth. We assessed 11 outcomes: four formal sex education topics; receiving any formal sex education; a formal sex education scale; four parental sex education topics; and receiving any parental sex education. The majority of our sample was US-born Hispanic versus foreign born (72.6% and 27.4% respectively). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received any type of formal sex education than US-born Hispanics (adjusted odds ratio = 0.81; 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.68, p < 0.01). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received parental HIV sex education than U.S.-born Hispanics (aOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.97, p < 0.05). Nativity status did not have a significant effect on each unit increase on the scale (aB = -0.07, SE = 0.16; aß = -0.42, p > 0.05). Our results indicate that having appropriate sex education knowledge is better than not being cognisant. Future studies should however examine the quality and content of sex education programmes so policymakers can better understand these young women's sexual behaviours and decisions.

This study aims at highlighting the role of Continuous Education Programs at the Saudi Universities in Religious, Social, and Health Literacy; King Saud University was taken as an example. To achieve the goals of the study two questionnaires were distributed among two samples from King Saud University; (101) of students, and (9) of continuous education centers' directors. Results showed that continuous education programs presented in religious awareness development do not contribute sufficiently in developing them. However; continuous education programs have favorable role in community's social culturing. Also, continuous education programs contribute, at medium degree, in community's health culturing. On the other hand; people in charge agree that the investment revenue in financing continuous education programs is minor as well as financing offered by the University. In light of the study results, the researchers recommended paying more attention to present more continuous education programs of concern as to individuals' needs through cooperation with the research center in the University to perform survey studies targeted to define the individuals' needs in terms of religious, social and health issues.

Meaningful and emancipatory education which empowers citizens as democrats is the ideal education which can propel the socio-economic and political fibre of nay nation-state. After independence, Botswana aligned her education system with the envisioned development process. The sad thing about this ambitious approach in Botswana is that it sought to produce citizens who would pragmatically be engaged in the development of a democratic nation-state yet the pedagogically approaches to education were at variance with pragmatic and empowering democratic education. The ultimate result became mass production of the educated or degreed citizens who could not penetrate the job market. Bookish and examination-oriented education which is far divorced from vocation and the realities of the job market ultimately results in the perpetuation of frustrated educated citizens who roam the streets as victims of the diploma disease. Botswana is traumatized by the diploma disease as evidenced by escalating figures of unemployed graduates. As such, this paper argues that Botswana's education system should focus on the ideals of pragmatic democratic education by embracing and advancing Business Education which will empower citizens to develop vocational skills which they can utilize to create jobs for themselves, thus countering the current traumatic scourge of the diploma disease.

With rapid developments being made in science and technology, there is also an increasing need for different educational methods. Distance education allows increased access to education and more flexibility for the students. This descriptive study was conducted to establish the opinions of nursing students about distance education being adopted for the first time. The study comprised 261 nursing students, who were applied a data collection form in class. Of these students, 55.6% stated that they had problems while taking courses through distance education, 83.1% stated that it was not beneficial, 90.8% stated that distance education could not be used for applied vocational courses. It was found the mean scale scores were lower for the students who thought that distance education was not beneficial, who would like to take these courses through formal education and who believed that the applied vocational courses could not be provided through distance education. The students had difficulties in accessing the internet during the courses. The students' attitudes towards distance education were at moderate level and the negative conditions adversely affected the students' opinions. In addition, the majority of the students thought that the vocational courses could not be made through distance education, and this is considered to be a positive finding.

Theoretically, education supports improving graduates' socioeconomic outcomes and careers by injecting citizenship values and making sure they are employable. Evidence confirms that socioeconomic background influences the level of education achieved which in turn greatly shapes the careers of graduates. Relevant knowledges and competencies are the fundamental parameters for career advancement. Ideally, education delivers the knowledge and competencies needed, and engineering is no different in this respect. The role of engineering education is crucial and to remove its associations of being a white-collar job, engineering education programs were developed to help working-class people enter this profession and advance their socioeconomic prospects. While socioeconomic backgrounds of engineering graduates can to some extent guide their career advancement the role of education is the major factor. A number of studies have examined the influence of socioeconomic backgrounds of graduates on career advancement, but none so far have been done for engineering education; particularly in a former British colonial setting. With this in mind the paper is the first to tackle this subject. Multiple techniques were used to collect the data and the findings confirm that engineering education and career advancement are not saliently linked. Not only education, but urbanized socioeconomic backgrounds do greatly govern the career advancement of engineers. A well targeted policy intervention may help engineering education to play a larger and more desirable role.

Originating from the field of physical education, physical literacy is an individual disposition that accentuates the importance of lifelong physical activity. Sport education is a sport-based physical education curriculum and instructional model that has been espoused to operationalize physical literacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sport education within a compulsory physical education program on university students' physical literacy and physical activity levels. A parallel-group single-blind cluster-randomized research design was used to examine the effect of a 10-lesson sport education intervention in physical education on students' physical activity and physical literacy from baseline through post-intervention and follow-up phases. A total of 372 participants completed all phases of data collection. Results showed increases in the affective and social domains of physical literacy across both groups. Findings also revealed a greater increase in daily self-reported physical activity levels and a reduction in perceived disempowering motivational climate in the sport education group at the follow-up phase. With a limited controlling and ego-evolving climate, sport education was found to be beneficial in developing the behavioral domain of undergraduate student physical literacy.

Research Findings: Many policy efforts designed to improve the quality of early care and education (ECE) settings in the United States have focused on increasing teachers' education levels, despite the weak evidence linking education to quality. Much of this evidence comes from studies with single-sector samples (e.g., only child care, Head Start, or state pre-k) and typically does not include programs serving toddlers. This paper addresses these limitations using statewide data from Louisiana to estimate whether teacher education and the quality of teacher-child interactions differ by sector and age, and whether differences in education level may explain differences in quality. We find that both education level and the quality of teacher-child interactions is greater in more highly regulated sectors, and that differences in education explain part of the by-sector differences in interaction quality across age groups. Policy or Practice: Findings support recent calls to increase ECE teacher education at all ends of the education spectrum (e.g., including AA and CDA), and suggest future research on the causal link between education and quality is warranted. Researchers should continue to find ways to leverage data from Quality Rating and Improvement Systems to ask key first-order questions about quality in ECE.

This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between prospective teachers' beliefs about the need for multicultural education and their self-efficacy perceptions about multicultural education. Descriptive and correlational survey models were used in the research. The research sample composed of 251 prospective classroom and social sciences teachers at a state university in Turkey participated in the study. The research sample was obtained using the convenience sampling method. Data collection tools consisting of the Personal Information Form, Self-Efficacy Perceptions for Multicultural Education and Beliefs about the Necessity of Multicultural Education scales were used. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multivariate variance analysis and path model were used to analyse the research data. The findings show that prospective teachers have a high level of participation in their beliefs about the self-efficacy and necessity of multicultural education. In addition, there was no significant difference between prospective teachers' beliefs about the need for multicultural education and their self-efficacy perceptions of multicultural education in terms of gender and department. A moderate positive relationship was found between prospective teachers' beliefs regarding the necessity of multicultural education and their self-efficacy perceptions toward multicultural education. The prospective teachers' beliefs about the need for multicultural education significantly predicted multicultural education self-efficacy perceptions.

A key objective of inclusive education is to provide learners with special educational needs with an environment that fosters a sense of belonging. They lose the sense of belonging when they feel being separated from the rest of society. Segregation is, however, a logically necessary method and means of the pursuit of inclusion. The focus of this study was to uncover the experiences and views of Chinese stakeholders regarding the possible conflict between expansion of special education (i.e., segregation, exclusion) and promotion of inclusive education (i.e., inclusion, mainstreaming). We conducted in-depth interviews with nine academics, administrators, and practitioners to better understand the possible impact of inclusive education on regular education. The main finding is that special education can be provided in four forms which the participants argued is an advantage to meet the needs of all learners. They argued that giving home education for learners with high severity, attending special education schools and mainstreaming schools are rehabilitation methods to prepare learners for full integration should they prove successful. The study contributes to a broader understanding of how special education is provided in China and its potential effects on regular education (e.g., challenges in teacher preparation, lack of resources).

A worldwide trend towards high levels of participation in higher education, paired with concerns about the post-university destinations of an increasing pool of graduates, have brought about two parallel phenomena: a process of sharp stratification in higher education and the growing relevance of postgraduate education as undergraduate study becomes nearly ubiquitous, particularly among the most advantaged groups of students. To date, the literature on socioeconomic inequalities and access to higher education has focussed on undergraduate education, with some researchers specifically investigating access to the most prestigious institutions. We contribute to this body of research by investigating the effects of socioeconomic characteristics on access to postgraduate education at those universities believed to deliver elite forms of higher education. We look at access to 'elite' postgraduate education among English graduates, operationalised as belonging to the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. We analyse an exceptionally large dataset (N = 533,885) capturing graduate destinations, including postgraduate education at specific institutions. We find that socioeconomic inequalities in attending an elite postgraduate degree persist, but these are mediated by educational variables. Socioeconomically advantaged students are more likely to attain a good degree and to attend an elite institution at the undergraduate level, which powerfully predicts access to elite postgraduate education.

The study explored the household education expenditures for higher education exam preparation in Turkey. The study employed the case study design, one of the qualitative research designs. The study group consisted of families whose children were preparing for the higher education exam. The families were living in the city of Zonguldak. While determining the study group, criterion sampling technique and snowball sampling technique were used. The study data were collected using a semi-structured interview form. The study showed that households had education expenditures for higher education exam preparation. These expenditures were in the form of exam books and private teaching institutions/private lesson expenditures. Educational expenditures of households affected the economic, social, and individual life of the household. This effect was in the form of postponing or abandoning the basic needs of the household. Families recommended a change in the education system in order to reduce/eliminate household education expenditures. In a period when neoliberal education policies are on the agenda, it can be stated that the contribution of households to education expenditures will continue. Pulling away from the marketized examination approach and strengthening public education expenditures instead of household education expenditures are not limited to education policies, but also depends on the change in political and economic policies.

This feature article describes strategies for designing and facilitating an introductory health literacy education mini unit using a compendium of fundamental, case-based, and simulated learning experiences in undergraduate health education. It explores issues of definition, complimentary fields, associative pedagogy and established measures, before considering contextualized and scaffolded, and skill-building approaches, and their direct translation to health education practice. The guiding perspective acknowledges health literacy as an asset and critical outcome of health education; its transferrable skills continuously enhanced in changing contexts. Conceptual and experiential health literacy education interventions are both grounded in Constructivist learning theory and informed by salient instructional planning models. Pedagogical guidance for their facilitation is provided, with particular emphasis placed on encouraging newly developed and meaningful learning informed by students' prior experiences and knowledge. Featured collaborative and learner-centered instructional activities include live and virtual interactions, affording students practice using HL Universal Precautions to clearly communicate health information and confirm understanding of health messages. Collectively, the HL education unit was informed by emerging literature; National Health Education Standards; NACE Career Competencies; Health Literacy Clear Communication Recommended Practices; HESPA II 2020 Area VI competency, and sub-competencies. Lastly, extensive, practical applications align this HL education unit with health education practice.

Sustainability has been incorporating multiculturalism in music education (MME) for decades, but the dialogs of MME in China has always focused on school education, neglecting community-based music education. The cultural-political context of this study is in Xijiang, southwest China, where is a Miao-dominated community integrating Miao, Han and other ethnic cultures. This study employed a mixed-method approach with a convergent parallel design that combined a survey with qualitative methods including casual conversation, semi-structured interview, and documentary analysis. Findings revealed that despite the promotion and inheritance of Miao's music are highly valued, and the interest of minority ethnic communities in engaging in music learning and performance remains considerable, the sustainability of multicultural music education in Xijiang is in question. Problems are attributed to inadequate and unequal educational resources, devaluation of state institutes, shortage of teachers, and high illiterate rate. This article contributes to theorizing on sustainability in multicultural music education within a multicultural background in southwest China, by identifying the stakeholders in the education system and drawing on the empirical evidence on the truly needs of communities. The implications of the study include improvements in the development of multicultural music education.