Education & Pedagogy

Since devolution of education policy to the four 'home' nations of the UK, distinct approaches to addressing social inequalities in higher education participation have developed across the four jurisdictions (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). From a critical examination of 12 policy documents, this paper presents a comparative policy analysis of the qualitatively distinct ways that inequalities in higher education are conceptualised across the home nations. Basil Bernstein's theoretical ideas are drawn on to help unearth distinctions in their beliefs about the underlying nature of educational inequalities. These can be understood in relation to their degree of closeness to either neoliberal or social democratic ideological positions, and we show that the home nations of the UK place differing emphases on "what" form of higher education they aim to widen access to, and "how" they intend to achieve this.

This article is the result of scientific comparative-pedagogical research, which purpose was to highlight the main features of postgraduate professional pedagogical education in Mexico. The author found that the postgraduate professional pedagogical education in Mexico is performed by public and private higher education institutions: higher pedagogical schools, universities, autonomous universities, technological universities, technological institutes, research institutions, institutions of postgraduate education. Despite common goals, public and private institutions performed the postgraduate professional pedagogical education on various organizational and procedural schemes. The main characteristics of postgraduate professional pedagogical education in Mexico are a relatively recent launch of the first programs (70s of the twentieth century); the rapid development of postgraduate professional pedagogical education in the 80s-90s years of the XX century; the relative uniformity of its distribution between the state (61.1%) and private (39.9%) universities; careful surveillance of public higher pedagogical education quality through periodic programs's evaluation; various thematic orientation of the programs; low rates of the ultimate effectiveness (the number of graduates, who received a diploma).

A common concern in teacher education programs is the fragmentation of knowledge between courses that contribute to separation between discipline-focused theoretical knowledge and teachers' practical work in schools. Drawing on reviews on innovative learning spaces in schools and analysis of teacher knowledge, we theorize a conceptualization of professional learning with an intention to draw attention to a re-visualization of teacher education. We refer to the concept of electronic-portfolios as a powerful connective tissue in creating new spaces for teacher education, followed by an outline of an aspect of our teacher education program, with insights from students, that is emerging. We conclude with reflections on how we are integrating deep conceptual understandings of education with cumulative narratives of education in practice.

Education reform legislation has led to an upwelling of mandatory teacher evaluation for all elementary, middle school, and high school educators, including those who teach special education. While this reform effort aimed to improve overall teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes, the teacher evaluation for special education is a retrofitted version of the general education teacher evaluation model and yields little meaningful information and increased stress levels for both the special education teacher and their evaluator. Before this problem can be rectified, the barriers standing in the way to a meaningful special education teacher evaluation need to be identified. This article examines existing literature related to special education teacher evaluation to identify those barriers, so progress can be made to improve the delivery of special education instruction and outcomes for students with disabilities.

COVID-19 pandemic has eroded gains towards Kenya Vision 2030's poverty eradication goal by denying Kenyan children and youth with disabilities access to (quality) education. Situational analysis on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on education of primary and secondary school-age individuals from March 2020 to December 2020 reveal that the education opportunities for learners with disabilities remained unpredictable as the disease ravaged communities to the end of the year. Learners with disabilities fell behind academically after school closure and COVID19 related biases predisposed them to academic failure and failed adulthood. Then, the implementation of disaster education and recovery plans are overdue and must intentionally target education of children and youth with disabilities.

The research into the environmental education competency of secondary school teachers was conducted using mixed research methods. The data were collected using the questionnaire and the structured interview. The teachers of eco-schools completed the questionnaire and teacher advisors as well as mentor teachers of the eco-school project participated in the structured interview. The research findings revealed that most respondents had a moderate level of environmental education competency that involved six aspects: knowledge of the environment, basic understanding of the environment, responsibility for the environmental education of professional teachers, planning and practice with regard to the environmental education, promoting learning about the environmental education and evaluation of the environmental education. The approaches to enhance the environmental education competency of secondary school teachers should involve multidisciplinary instruction learning, community-based learning, project-based learning, happy teaching and learning, and holistic learning management.

Purpose: This report provides an overview of social science education in primary and secondary education in Sweden with the purpose of introducing the international research community to policy-related issues concerning citizenship education, educational institutions and the scholarly state of the art. The principal topics are: a context of Sweden and its educational setting, the current policy documents and upcoming reforms, the state of teaching and teacher education, and the state of the art of Swedish social science education theory and research. Findings: Social science education holds a strong position as the main agent of citizenship education in Swedish schools and is a mandatory subject in every school year. The current and upcoming syllabi both emphasise disciplinary knowledge as well as citizenship education. Sweden has a growing community of researchers, but this community is somewhat fragmented because researchers originate from different disciplines.

The systems of education in the world have adopted many philosophies of education that are either skewed toward change or committed to conservancy. African philosophy and African philosophy of education form an activity and a process which is context-sensitive, whereby the relativity factor defines the peculiarity of thinking about education. However, alien philosophies have permeated the systems of education in Africa. The fulcrum of this treatise is to initiate thought which is necessary to avert this contemporary situation facing education theory, policy, and practice in Africa by interleaving African ontology and epistemology to augment the systems of education. Additionally, this treatise brings to the frontline the essence of African thought in education. This treatise underlines that education that teaches the learner about learning is insufficient, because the focal point of such education is to draw its attention only to the essentials for the longevity of an alienated pedagogy itself as well as to perpetuate the supremacy of foreign influence.

In recent decades there has been an increasing number of parents opting for alternative forms of education worldwide. However, most studies on this phenomenon are conducted within Western contexts, while little is known about alternative education in China. This paper addresses this gap by providing an overview of alternative education in China over the past 20 years. This paper consists of four parts. First, we review the definition, categories, and development of alternative education in China. Second, we discuss three critical questions, namely (1) who is practising alternative education, (2) why do they choose alternative education, and (3) what is the legal status of alternative education in China? Subsequently, we develop a framework that enables us to situate different types of alternative education. Finally, we consider the phenomenon within a broader context and discuss the theoretical potential of further research into alternative education in China.

Using rich administrative data from the Chilean education system, this paper looked at the link between curriculum tracking and social inequalities considering the way that tracking is organised: between- or within- schools. In particular, it examines the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on track placement (general or vocational), and gaps in higher education access between graduates from both tracks. Result suggests that in a highly socially differentiated education system such as the Chilean one, within-school tracking diminishes SES segregation between tracks. However, the study does not provide evidence that this specific form of tracking mitigates inequalities between tracks, as measured by access to higher education. Considering only the direct effects of tracking operating through instructional and institutional mechanisms, the access gap between general and vocational tracks increases instead of narrowing. The implications for future research are discussed in light of these finding.

Malawi struggles with youth access to higher education. Up to 60% of eligible university candidates may not be accepted, while less than 1% of Malawi's qualified cohort get enrolled in some form of tertiary education. This paper reveals youth's experiences in alternative higher education programs and show if the programs align with their aspirations, prepare them for lives that they have a reason to value and enhance their wellbeing. The broader Ph.D. study from which this paper stems used a qualitative case study based on the views of youth from a selected NGO. Limited explorations and knowledge on whether alternative higher education programs offered by NGOs for youth who fail to access university in Malawi meet the youth's aspirations; the paucity of such studies in Malawian higher education necessitated empirical research on this topic. The paper uses the capabilities approach as a conceptual framework to refine it within higher education.

Science education has historically been viewed both as a tool to advance competitiveness as well as to improve the human condition. However, science education as it is enacted at a systemic level often presents itself in over-simplified (and typically Westernized) form that does not fully lend teachers and students the opportunity to explore the relationship between science and peace. This article explores science education literature through the lens of peace education frameworks to look for opportunities to explicitly acknowledge the possibility for the integration between these two fields. The review revealed four major themes in science education literature with connections to peace education, including (1) 'science for all' initiatives, (2) science-technology-society and socio-scientific issues movements, (3) decolonization and diversity, and (4) science education as political activism. This article provides recommendations for emphasizing these themes in the context of science education standards, teaching resources, and teacher education programs.

In this article, we present an extensive overview of inequities in three areas of education: (1) gifted and talented education; (2) accelerated coursework; (3) and discipline. Intersectionality undergirds our focus on these three areas as they go together to paint a disturbing picture of the experiences of Black children in P-12 schools, as well as institutions of higher education. In addition to laying out the culturally assaultive problems, we provide recommendations and resources designed to develop anti-racist, culturally competent educators, along with an equitable education system where Black students are "seen" as capable, intelligent, good citizens, and humans who are understood and affirmed; thus, "All Eyez on Me" results in dynamic rather than deficit thinking among education professionals.

This article explores innovative praxis in Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in four preservice teacher education programmes in Canada. ESE is finding its way into teacher education in a variety of innovative and interdisciplinary ways, as both part of mainstream programmes and in their co-curricular margins. Using a case study approach, each case builds on unique connections to Indigenous education, art education, cultural learning or educational gardening, which supports a variety of differing aspects in relation to ESE. These cases share a common theme of building relationships at the heart of ESE teaching and learning in the mainstream and the margins of the academy. Brought together through a Canadian network of faculty, researchers, policy-makers and community educators that was formed in 2016, these cases demonstrate a deep commitment and imaginative capacity for embedding ESE in Canada's teacher education systems.

The purpose of this study was to review the perception of quality of education in students who take physical education and sports education in three different universities. Descriptive survey model was used in this study to reveal the current situation. The Six-Question Personal Information Form and also Scale of Quality of Education in Universities Providing Physical Education and Sports Education that was developed by Paktas were utilized to determine the demographic attributes of participants. It is observed at the end of the analyses that there is a significant relationship between perception of quality of education and gender; university and department (p<0,05). According to the results, considering the dimensions and subdimensions, the perception of quality of education in students in Bülent Ecevit University is higher compared to the same perception in other students from other universities.