Education & Pedagogy

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) provides legal guidelines to include who participates in the individual education program team, how students with disabilities require least restrictive environment and free and appropriate public education and describes each eligibility category and criteria to meet the eligibility for special education services. If students with disabilities are made ineligible or are placed into the incorrect eligibility category or classroom environment, there are greater concerns for academic gaps and poor behavior for these students. The purpose of the study was to determine how the special education teachers, who are members of the Individual Education Program team, made rational choices for students with disabilities based on the special education teacher's knowledge of Individual with Disabilities Education Act (2004) which impacts these teachers' level of participation in the individual education program process. A phenomenological study was utilized in conjunction with the rational choice theory as a framework. Special education teachers were recruited through a social media site and a national honor society. Nine special education teachers representing seven states in various sized school districts were interviewed. The school districts varied between rural, suburban, and urban. The researcher hand-coded the results. The results by six of the special education teachers determined eligibility and placement was not always a data driven decision making the deciding factor a rational choice. Also, interviewees determined important areas of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act included least restrictive environment, free and appropriate public education, and placement, and concluded all components are connected. The varied results of how students with disabilities are made eligible and placed determined special education teachers and administration would benefit from more training on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to better serve students with disabilities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This timely book features rich examples of students and teachers, defined as learning partners, disrupting hierarchy in education by collaborating on social change projects. At the book's core is Paulo Freire's theorization of students and teachers working together toward co-liberation. Co-written by learning partners, each chapter in this collection highlights a social change project that puts Freire's theories into action. Projects span a range of academic disciplines and geographical locations from K-12, university/college, and nonformal educational contexts. Appropriate as both a textbook and a primer on collaborative social change-making, "Disrupting Hierarchy in Education" offers inspiration and models of community-engaged learning programs from across the globe. Topics include community education, public writing, using media for popular education, adolescent and youth development, climate change education, peace and justice leadership development, revolutionary nonviolence, literacy teacher education, citizenship education, development of Latin American studies, palliative care, reflections on identity and subjectivity, antiracism education, trauma-informed pedagogy, wellness, and art curation. Book Features: (1) Real-world examples of teaching and learning for social justice in ways that disrupt traditional educational hierarchy; (2) Chapters co-written by diverse learning partners: educators (e.g. elementary school teachers and professors), undergraduate and graduate students, youth advocates, artists, curators, and founders and leaders of NGOs; (3) Projects that cover a wide terrain, including K-12 settings, university/college, wellness, arts, media, and popular education; (4) Examples from across the globe, including the United States, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Jamaica; and (5) Discussion questions and/or suggested activities at the end of each chapter. [Foreword written by Antonia Darder. Afterword written by Monisha Bajaj.]

The 23rd BCES Annual International Conference, hosted by Yeditepe University in Istanbul in September 2025, brought together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from across the globe under the theme "Education at a Crossroads." This pivotal gathering fostered critical dialogues on the pressing challenges and transformative opportunities facing education in the 21st century. This volume captures the rich diversity of perspectives, research findings, and innovative solutions shared during the 23rd BCES Conference in 2025, reflecting the multifaceted nature of education at this decisive moment. The volume features 33 papers authored by 56 scholars representing various regions across the world, from East Asia and South Africa to the Americas and Northern Europe. Their collective work enriches the global dialogue on education, offering versatile insights and innovative solutions to the challenges explored in this conference. Methodologically, the papers are equally diverse. Alongside empirical studies presenting robust research findings, this volume includes theoretical and conceptual frameworks that challenge conventional paradigms, critical analyses of education policy decisions shaping national and global systems, and reflective personal views on contemporary educational challenges. This methodological plurality mirrors the complexity of education at a crossroads, offering both evidence-driven solutions and provocative intellectual discourse. Organized into six thematic parts, representing the BCES Conference thematic sections, this volume focuses on key dimensions of today's educational discourse: (1) Comparative and International Education; (2) International Education Issues; (3) Preschool and School Education: Policies & Practices; (4) Higher Education & Teacher Education and Training; (5) Law and Education; and (6) Wellbeing in the School Ecosystem. [Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]

This document contains 51 papers from a conference devoted to the theme of exploring spaces in adult education. The following are among the papers included: "Exploring Everyday Spaces: Women's Transitions from Welfare to Paid Work and Education" (Cynthia Lee Andruske); "Lost in Space? Re-valuing the Impact of Education Research" (Paul Armstrong); "Reclaiming and Problematising Self-Directed Learning as a Space for Critical Adult Education" (Stephen Brookfield); "Imposing Spaces in the Curriculum of Adult Learners: Models of the Same Players in Different Situations" (Darol M. Cavanagh); "Identity, Location and the Making of Adult Educators" (Clive Chappell); "Universities and Regional Partnerships for Learning: Reinterpreting the 'Local' in the Education of Adults" (Janet Coles and David Smith); "Space, Place and Subversion in University Adult Education and Continuing Education" (Ian Davidson); "Maintaining Spaces for Adult Learners in Science" (Jane de Rennes); "Back to the Land? Service and Self-Interest in Adult Education in Rural England 1920-1945" (Bernard Deacon and Lynne Thompson); "Adult Education and Social Movements: The Significance and Workings of Social Movements as a Part of the Civil Society, an Approach from the Angle of Adult and Continuing Education" (Luc Dekeyser); "Skills and Employability in the Spotlight: Exploring Official Discourses of Training" (John Field); "English, Afrikaans, Xhosa and Swetswana: Contested Language Space in a South African Adult Education Programme" (Jonathan Geidt); "Dis-stanced Learning: Adult Learners, Heidegger and Spatiality (Peter Gray); "Shaping Learning through Space: The Case of Outdoor Management Training" (Roger Hall and Caroline Rowland); "Doing the Right Thing: Positioning the Adult Learner through Discourses of Guidance and Counselling" (Roger Harrison); "Different Theatres, Different Audiences: The Arts and the Education of Adults" (David J. Jones); "Casual Literacy and Campaign Zeal: Environment and Conflict" (Jane Mace); "Sustaining Critical Communities: Stretching the Academy" (Ian Martin and Mae Shaw); "Orientation in Time: Leisure, Learning and the Life Course" (Jane McKie); "Troubling Spaces in the Analysis of Adult Education Policy" (Katherine Nicoll); "Accommodation for Adult Education" (Gerald Normie); "Going Back to Our Roots: The Role of Transformatory Education in the Battle against Social Exclusion" (Martin Notley and Helen M F Jones); and "Men on the Margins: Towards an Account of Men's Experience of Adult Education" (Rebecca O'Rourke). (Each paper contains references.) (MN)

Among the 61 papers in this volume (some in French) are the following: "Problems and Pitfalls in a Naturalistic Inquiry into the Relationship between Environmental Remembrance and Life Satisfaction among the Elderly" (Barrick); "Educating the Adult Educator" (Baskett); "Socio-Psychological Factors in Electronic Networking" (Boshier); "Study of the Impact of Education on Nursing Students' Attitudes toward Cancer and Cancer Patient Care Using a Solomon-Four Group Design" (Boyd, Law); "Team Tutoring" (Brook, Owens); "Self-Directed Learning" (Brundage); "Distance Delivery to Northern Sites by Computer Conference" (Carney, Archer); "Educational Information Brokering and Referral Services in Alberta" (Chapman et al.); "University Program for Adults with Severe Mental Disabilities" (Chapman, Tautchin); "Politics of Evaluation Studies in Adult Education" (Chaytor, Murphy, Chaytor); "Overview of Research into Adult and Continuing Education in Scotland" (Cooke); "Perceptions of Professionalism of the RN to BSN Student Pursuing a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing" (Critzer, Groeneweg); "Issues in Distance Education from the Faculty Point of View" (Cruikshank, Gillen); "Alberta Profile of Adult Basic Skills" (Deane, Martin); "International Connections in Adult Education" (Draper): "Human Service Worker as an Adult Educator" (Farquharson); "Intergrated Community-Based Human Resource Development in the Republic of the Philippines" (Griffith); "Learning Partnerships in Adult Education" (Hey); "Factors Affecting Information Preferences of Seriously Ill Adults" (Hinds);"Effectiveness of Education and Development of Work" (Kauppi); "Using Focus Group Interviews to Assist Program Planning" (Kops, Percival); "Ensuring 'Guidance and Control'" (Law); "Training Administrators of Adult Education" (Lusthaus); "Lifelong Education" (Mathieson); "Delivering a Baccalaureate Program for Registered Nurses by Distance Education" (McDonnell et al.); "Futures Research" (Milk); "Theoretical Perspectives of Recurrent Education" (Minnis); "Discourse of Dropout in Distance Education" (Munro); "Internationalisation of Distance Education" (Othick); "Experience of Learning through Home Study" (Passmore, Haughey); "Life Satisfaction of the Elderly in a Nursing Home" (Pattison); "Life Situation and Prior Learning of Adult Learners Studying at a Distance" (Peruniak); "Origins of the Community Development Concept" (Pyrch); "Examination of the Field of Adult Education as Conceptualized in Knowles' Theory of Andragogy Utilizing Kuhn's Model" (Radkowksi); "Heroine's Journey" (Rowe); "Historical Study of Advocacy on Behalf of Adult Education in British Columbia" (Selman); "Evaluating a Telewriter System to Enhance Audio-Teleconferencing" (Shale, Garrison); "'Need' in Adult Education" (Sork); and "Educational Equivalents" (Thomas). Twenty-three other papers are also included. (MN)

Degrees in technical and further education (TAFE) are relatively new, but are likely to grow as a consequence of government policies that both seek to increase the percentage of Australians holding a bachelor degree and create a more unified tertiary education sector. There are ten TAFE institutes authorised to offer higher education in five states, with fewer than 1600 higher education students in TAFE in 2006. Initially, TAFE institutes focused on niche programs not offered by universities; however, they now offer vocationally focused programs similar to those of many universities. This project sought to understand different perspectives on the nature of higher education in TAFE by interviewing staff from six state offices of higher education, senior managers at two dual-sector universities and nine TAFE institutes (in six states), along with teachers and students. Six of the nine TAFE institutes included in this project offer higher education, and the other three do not. Most interviewees argued that the rationale for higher education provision in TAFE is to meet, through its applied orientation, specific industry needs and to provide a pathway for students who need support to access higher education. Others argued, by contrast, that industry and students benefit most if TAFE works in partnership with universities through complementary provision, rather than via its own higher education provision. Interviewees argued that the different reporting, funding, quality assurance, industrial and curriculum frameworks of the higher education and vocational education and training (VET) sectors constrain the growth of higher education in TAFE. The challenges identified as confronting TAFE in developing this provision include: the absence of a research culture; difficulties in recruiting appropriately qualified staff; the need to invest in staff development; the existing industrial award covering TAFE teachers; costs of program development; the resources needed to sustain higher education provision; and, crucially, the absence of public funding for TAFE's higher education qualifications and the lack of community understanding about these programs. Some TAFE institutes are seeking to become a new type of institution, similar to a polytechnic that offers a range of qualifications, from senior school and VET, through to higher education. Other TAFE institutes see their higher education programs as an extension of their role as VET providers. Teachers were, if anything, more in favour of higher education in TAFE than senior management, but most teachers argued that existing industrial and working conditions were obstacles to its development, as was management's lack of insight into the nature of their work. Students said that they valued the high levels of support they received, although younger students were more uncertain of their identity as higher education students and more troubled by the status of their qualification, even though almost all claimed they would recommend their program to friends. The status of TAFE's higher education qualifications was an issue that concerned all categories of interviewees. This project concludes that higher education in TAFE should be established as a component of a coherent tertiary education policy framework to ensure the quality of provision and that it meets its intended outcomes. This includes consideration of the governance, policy, funding, quality assurance, curriculum and industrial frameworks required to realise academic standards and to support TAFE institutes to develop economies of scale and the expertise and culture needed to sustain higher education provision. Three appendices are included: (1) Methods; (2) Profile of interviewees; and (3) Profile of higher education programs in TAFE institutes. (Contains 8 tables and 13 footnotes.) [Funding for this report was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Additional information relating to this research is available in ED507214 "Higher Education in TAFE: Support Document".]

Against a formidable national discourse that emphasizes academic standardization, accountability, and high-stakes testing in educational policy, "Character and Moral Education: A Reader" seeks to re-introduce and revive the moral mission of education in public conversation and practices in America's schools. With contributions from a prominent array of scholars and practitioners, the book critically analyzes moral education, broadly defined as both an academic field that attempts to develop moral human beings, and as a principled discourse aimed at creating ethical educational policies and practices. With theoretical rigor and practical wisdom, this volume offers diverse and cutting-edge scholarship on character and moral education in 21st-century schools. This timely and important book will appeal to all those concerned with both the ethical well-being of today's students, and the school's responsibility to prepare individuals to lead moral lives in the future. This book contains: (1) Introduction (Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu); (2) Moral Education in the Schools (William J. Bennett and Edwin J. Delattre); (3) The Great Tradition in Education: Transmitting Moral Values (Edward A. Wynne); (4) Character Education: Seven Crucial Issues (Thomas Lickona); (5) Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education (Thomas Lickona, Eric Schaps, and Catherine Lewis); (6) Character and Academics: What Good Schools Do (Jacques S. Benninga, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Phyllis Kuehn, and Karen Smith); (7) The Politics of Character Education (David E. Purpel); (8) The "Moral Poverty" of Character Education (Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu); (9) Legislating Character: Moral Education in North Carolina's Public Schools (Aaron Cooley); (10) Character Education in Contemporary America: McMorals? (Suzanne S. Hudd); (11) Would You Like Values with That? Chick-fil-A and Character Education (Deron Boyles); (12) Does Character Education "Really" Support Citizenship Education? Examining the Claims of an Ontario Policy (Sue Winton); (13) Michael H. Romanowski Through the Eyes of Students: High School Students' Perspectives on Character Education (Michael H. Romanowski); (14) How Not to Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education (Alfie Kohn); (15) Character Education from the Left Field (Dwight Boyd); (16) Morality, Virtue, and Democratic Life (John F. Covaleskie); (17) Liberal Education and Moral Education (Daniel R. DeNicola); (18) Democracy in a Cosmopolitan Age: Moral Education for the Global Citizen (Scott Fletcher and Peter J. Nelsen); (19) Neo-Deweyan Moral Education (Douglas J. Simpson); (20) Critical Pedagogy and Moral Education (Ronald David Glass); (21) Feminist Theory and Moral Education (Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon); (22) A Warrior for Justice: Jonathan Kozol's Moral Vision of America's Schools and Society (Richard Ognibene); (23) Framing Adolescents, Their School, and Cultures: Contested Worldviews (Linda Irwin-DeVitis); (24) Fear of Uncertainty, Control, and the Criminalizing of Youth (Lynda Stone); (25) Navigating Inequities: A Morally Rooted Pedagogy of Intentional Mentoring With Black Children and Other Youth of Color (Janie Victoria Ward); (26) Cultural and Subjective Operations of Ignorance and Resistance in Sexuality-Related Curricula (Jennifer Logue); (27) Feelings of Worth and the Moral Made Visible (Barbara Stengel); (28) Teaching Themes of Care (Nel Noddings); (29) Surveying the Soil: Building a Culture of Connectedness in School (Marcia Peck); (30) "Doubt" and the Framing of Virtue Through Film (Susan Verducci and Michael Katz); (31) On the Relationship of Peace Education to Moral Education (Cris Toffolo and Ian Harris); (32) Earth's Role in Ethical Discourse and Functional Scientific Literacy (Michael P. Mueller, Dana L. Zeidler, and Lynda L. Jenkins); (33) Understanding Unbelief as Part of Religious Education (Nel Noddings); and (34) Moral Education for the 21st Century: A Buddhist View (Daniel Vokey).