Education & Pedagogy

Supporting cultural and linguistic differences through literacy education fosters inclusive, diverse learning environments where students thrive. By recognizing and valuing students' unique cultural backgrounds and languages, literacy education can be tailored to bridge gaps and promote comprehension, communication, and critical thinking. Culturally responsive teaching methods and materials help students personally connect with the content, making learning relevant and accessible. Integrating multilingualism and diverse perspectives in literacy education enhances language skills while encouraging respect for diversity and social cohesion. Further research may help empower individuals, improving educational outcomes, and promoting an equitable society. "Supporting Cultural Differences through Literacy Education" explores how literacy education can be tailored to support cultural and linguistic diversity, fostering an inclusive learning environment. It examines strategies for integrating diverse cultural perspectives and multilingual approaches to enhance literacy skills and promote social cohesion in diverse classrooms.

This book explores a range of technological and legal matters introduced to the education system by recent and significant technological developments. It delves into the transformation of education systems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented various new challenges and threats that educational institutions were compelled to address. While most education policies prioritize innovation and smart technologies as crucial drivers of global economic growth, it is essential to acknowledge that inadequate preparedness for future digital transformations may result in missed opportunities for social and economic growth. Thus, the book comprehensively addresses the complexity of legal and ethical key issues related to technological development and the use of smart technologies in and for education. Its goal is to contribute to the global commitment to safeguarding the right to education in an ever-evolving technological landscape.

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, this edited volume explores the changing landscape of International Student Education in Japanese universities and the impact on global student mobility. Through analysing a wide range of data, the book engages historical, cultural, linguistic and pedagogical contexts relating to higher education in Japan. With a particular focus on Japanese tertiary education, the chapters provide comprehensive analysis from surveys and interviews conducted since 2020 amongst Japanese and non-Japanese Higher Education institutions (HEIs) on leadership styles, decision-making behaviours and perspectives on higher education practices in Japan. The authors also examine the challenges and impact on student mobility and international student education, and present future directions for the internationalisation of higher education in post-pandemic Japan. This book will appeal to researchers, educators and anyone with an interest in higher education development, international student mobility and language learning.

In this chapter, the authors provide a historical overview of the development of comparative and international education societies throughout the earth. In most cases, these societies have gradually grown and continue to thrive; in other cases, some comparative education societies have become dormant and a few no longer exist. A historical analysis that outlines the rise and fall of comparative education societies is provided. An overview of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies is also discussed, including its lead organizational role in serving as a historical hub to help comparative education societies preserve and disseminate their respective histories. The chapter concludes with suggestions on how anyone can get involved to help contribute to the history preservation of comparative education at the individual, national, regional, and global levels. [For the complete volume, "Comparative and International Education: Survey of an Infinite Field. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 36," see ED661540.]

This edited volume examines the decolonization of worldviews and ways of knowing in education and educational policy. It critically challenges the Western interpretation of epistemology and ontology, providing a platform for contributors to demonstrate how concepts of decolonization, knowledge and worldviews are understood, as well as the impact of these understandings in creation of policies and practices in education and pedagogy. It also offers insight into related themes on student resilience, English language, the internationalization of western knowledge, indigenous paradigms, and curriculum transformation. Chapter authors present new understandings of decolonizing knowledge and diversity, analysis of non-Western and indigenous epistemologies and worldviews, and examples of implementation of equity in policy and education through case studies. Creating and initiating a platform for wider debate, it will ultimately appeal to scholars, researchers, policy makers and educational leaders concerned with decolonizing education and policy in North America and beyond, and with interests in indigenous education, decolonizing education, sociology of education, and philosophy of education.

The placement of children with disabilities in schools has been a long-standing discussion in education and human rights forums, including the United Nations (UNESCO, 1994, 2023). Education for all children is a key goal highlighted in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In support of ensuring pupils can learn alongside their peers, this book offers practical applications of research-informed approaches focusing on Physical, Academic, and Social access (or ramps) to inclusion. The PAS framework serves as a central concept in this book, outlining a process for educators and schools to use in supporting inclusion work. The book is organized into four sections, featuring chapters that highlight current research in inclusive education from various contexts and countries, offering practical applications across multiple sectors and curricula to support students, teachers, and their families in understanding the value of inclusive education.

This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and the Workforce about preparing students for success in the skills-based economy. Opening statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Aaron Bean, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; and (2) Honorable Suzanne Bonamici, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. Witness statements were provided by: (1) Danny Corwin, Executive Director, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools; (2) Kelly Mosley, Supervisor, Career and Technical Education, Clay County District Schools; (3) Richard Kincaid, Senior Executive Director, Office of College and Career Pathways, Maryland State Department of Education; and (4) Brandon Mabile, Strategic Development Manager, Performance Contractors Inc. Additional submission by Chairman Owens: Letter dated January 18, 2024 from Western Governors' Association.

There has been significant and sustained advocacy for a Year 7-10 Outdoor Education curriculum in Victoria and Australia for over forty years. Beginning in 2018, this prompted the formation of the Outdoor Education in the Victorian Curriculum (OEVC) project team, involving representatives from state-based professional associations: Outdoors Victoria, the Victorian branch of ACHPER (Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation), the Residential Outdoor Schools Association (ROSA), and Victorian universities with interests in Outdoor Education. The OEVC project has been formalised in recent years to focus on this vital work, consulting with teachers, administrators and academics in the drafting of a specific Year 7-10 Outdoor Education curriculum. To ascertain the perceived impact and appropriateness of a Year 7-10 Outdoor Education curriculum, teachers' insights were solicited via an online survey, administered via statewide conferences of OE teachers convened separately by Outdoors Victoria, ACHPER Victoria, and ROSA. In this paper, we share the process surrounding the drafting of this Outdoor Education curriculum and the findings of the teacher survey. These findings suggest a Year 7-10 Outdoor Education curriculum in Victoria be seriously considered because it would support teachers and students who are already studying in this area in Years 7-10. Further, we suggest a possible solution might be to offer it as an option within the Health and Physical Education learning area in the Victorian Curriculum.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how community education outreach and campus-based programmes can promote engagement and belonging in higher education for marginalised communities, in this instance, the Irish Traveller community, who are traditionally under-represented in higher education. This paper is informed by both research and practice with collaborative community partners to provide a critical examination of learner experiences of higher education embedded in community and cultural contexts. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on situated learning theoretical perspectives, this paper adopts an evaluative case study methodology. Data from an open-ended survey and graduate statements are presented to reflect learner perspectives and wider programme co-design and implementation considerations, with a focus on practical implications and actionable insights. Findings: Community education approaches are essential in promoting genuine belonging and engagement in higher education, particularly for learners from marginalised communities. The provision of learning opportunities both within the campus and on an outreach basis with collaborative partners significantly impacted learners' sense of identity and "belonging" in higher education, challenging previous perceptions of "not being good enough" and "imposters" in the "foreign land" of higher education. Originality/value: This paper proposes innovative collaborative community education approaches to promote the engagement of learners from traditionally under-represented minority groups in higher education.

Over the past three decades, environmental issues have been on the global forefront and continue to affect people's daily lives. Although the need for environmental attention is at an all-time high, outdoor and environmental education (OEE) plays an insufficient role in school systems. As technology continues to contribute to advancements in every sector of the modern world, there is a dire need for education to find its way back to its roots. In achieving this, the ministry, school board members, principals, teachers and parents need to acknowledge the importance of experiential education and creating a sense of place for students during this important developmental stage of their lives. Sense of place can have many individualized meanings; common goals relate to the basics of individuals' developed relationships and understanding with nature, the environment, wildlife, community, and, most importantly, each other. To this the author suggests the days of endless textbook work, learning for the purpose of regurgitation and standardized testing have long passed their welcome. This article discusses a new direction for teaching methodologies, the importance of creating sense of place, and the potential in working with the traditional curriculum through integration of environmental and outdoor education.

Students in general and special education experience bullying. However, few empirical investigations have examined involvement in bullying along the bully/victim continuum (i.e., as a bully, victim, or bully-victim) among students with disabilities. A total of 816 students, ages 9 to 16, participated in the present study. From this total sample 686 were not receiving special education services (categorized as "no disability"), and 130 were receiving special education services (categorized as "observable disability," "non-observable disability," and "behavioral disability"). Data on students' involvement in bullying, office referrals, and prosocial behavior were collected. Results indicated that students with behavioral disorders and those with observable disabilities reported bullying others more and being victimized more than their general education counterparts. Students with behavioral disorders also had significantly more office referrals than students in general education. Seventh graders in general education reported more bullying behavior than sixth graders and ninth grades in general education. Fifth graders in general education reported more victimization than students in all other grades in general education. However, the grade differences were not significant for students in special education. No gender differences on bullying and victimization were found. Students with disabilities reported less engagement in prosocial behaviors than their general education peers. Implications for bullying prevention and intervention across both general and special education are discussed. (Contains 7 tables.)

This article provides a review and critique of scholarship on female education in Ireland, arguing that researchers have provided a consensual narrative in which women religious (nuns) played a central role in providing academic education to girls and higher education to women. The tendency has been to claim the activities of women religious as part of the impetus that drove the organised women's movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that brought about a "revolution" in female education. But there remains a need to stand back from this decidedly secular "cause and effect" narrative, and turn a critical eye on the urge which congregations themselves identified as central to their mission in education. This is a revisionist perspective, qualifying and modifying claims made elsewhere by this author, and challenging the way in which the work of nuns in education has been interpreted as a part of the female education "revolution". Recognising the spiritual impulse within religious orders that found expression in acts of duty, vocation and mission, the article concludes that convent education had purposes that were quite distinct from those prescribed by official "state" education programmes and examination systems, and that these purposes demand greater scrutiny in order to provide a more balanced understanding of female education in Ireland. (Contains 1 table and 58 footnotes.)

Historically, research in teacher education has played a practical role deriving its questions directly either from "the doing" of teacher education and/or having sought to directly improve "the doing" of teacher education. As a result, a tendency towards moral, intellectual and institutional parochialism has confined both the promise and purpose of research. It is argued that the field of teacher education might look towards curriculum theory as a possible antidote to parochialism. Curriculum theorising invites consideration of teacher education as a cultural object, nested in layers of meaning that require interpretation and critique. Drawing inspiration from the few scholars whose work is located at the interstices of teacher education and curriculum theory, this article suggests that a curriculum turn is characterised by (1) an attention to language, what it is up to and what it makes of aspiring teachers and their teacher educators; (2) a focus on the fragility of human experience as it is lived in teacher education; and finally (3) a search for new and provocative relations between the social and (teacher) educational worlds. The upshot of a curriculum turn in teacher education research is an emphasis on the significance and complexity of teachers' work, and the value of teacher education; the recovery of teacher education as an educational project; and an enrichment of the questions that the profession asks of itself.

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the analysis of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum in six countries involved in the UPDATE-project, and on that basis, propose a conceptual foundation for technology education in ECE that aims to enhance gender sensitive technology education in the continuum from early years to adulthood. The existing ECE curricula in the participating countries were analysed according to the general pedagogical approach as well as the contents specific to technology education. In many cases technology education was presented generally or implicitly, embedded in various curriculum content areas, and the existing curricula did not offer much support for teachers to figure out the nature, aims and pedagogical means of early childhood technology education. The comparison of the curricula raised some common key-issues which are important to construe more theoretically. In consequence, the article also focuses on the contemporary view of child-centred pedagogy and the conceptualisation of technology education fitting into the scope of ECE. Play is highlighted as a fundamental way of learning seldom studied in the context of technology education. In addition, a gender perspective on technology education deals with equal possibilities of both sexes to acquire knowledge, abilities and attitudes needed in technological agency.

There is a presumption among many policy makers that higher education is not necessary for economic growth and development; it is literacy and basic education and at best secondary education that are argued to be important. Estimates of internal rate of return contributed to strengthening of such a presumption. Accordingly, higher education has not figured on the poverty reduction agenda of many poor countries and of the international development organisations. The available limited research evidence shows this is not a correct presumption. However, most of the research concentrates on analyzing the role of literacy and basic education in development--economic growth, poverty reduction and social development, and the role of higher education in economic growth, not in poverty reduction and social development. The article uses most recently available secondary data on higher education and economic growth, poverty reduction and human development indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy. With the help of regression analysis of data on a large cross section of countries--developing and developed--it analyses the relationship between post basic education and development indicators. The simple analysis attempted here leads us to conclude that higher education plays a significant role in development. It argues that though the contribution of higher education to development is quite significant, many developing countries do not pay adequate attention to it. (Contains 10 tables and 2 figures.)