Education & Pedagogy

Teacher education needs to engage teacher candidates in developing cross-cultural competence so that they may be able to transmit global learning to their future students. This study theorizes cross-cultural competence (CCC) from the perspectives of multicultural and global education. During a four-year project at a mid-western US university, utilizing Web 2.0 technologies, the authors implemented and evaluated a pedagogical approach intended to foster cross-cultural competence with an emphasis on dispositional transformation. A mixed-method design assessed students on CCC standards and found that they developed affective as well as cognitive CCC. By implication, the model can be adapted in other teacher education classrooms to foster cross-cultural, multicultural global learning.

This article seeks to provide theoretical insight into supply and demand factors within higher education and how these relate to each other and to graduate unemployment within the South African context. Research was undertaken primarily to determine the graduate unemployment rate at a higher education institution in South Africa and secondly to ascertain whether work-integrated learning (WIL) had an effect on graduate unemployment. Statistical analysis revealed that the graduate unemployment rate at a certain higher education institution in 2011 was 46% while WIL reduced graduate unemployment. The unemployment rate for students who had had no WIL was 63%, whereas the unemployment rate for those who had complete WIL in the course of their higher education training decreased to 26%. Findings supporting the mitigating influence of WIL are a potentially valuable contribution to policy and practice in higher education.

Concerns over equity of access to higher education are widespread, but there is significant disagreement over what should constitute a fair system. This article assesses diverse conceptualisations of equity and explores the ways in which they embody themselves in the policies of three systems, those of England, Brazil and Kenya. While showing significant disparities of income level and enrolment ratio, all three have made concerted efforts to expand higher education access, accompanied by increasing stratification in terms of the quality and prestige of institutions. Analysis of policy options and outcomes leads to a proposal of three principles for understanding equity of access: availability, accessibility and horizontality. The third of these principles addresses the little-acknowledged safeguard that disadvantaged students should not be confined to lower-quality institutions, while at the same time allowing for diversity of ethos and disciplinary focus.

This article explores several aspects of service quality for the provision of higher education. Alongside the trend of the massification of higher education over the past two decades, higher education institutions are required to review quality across a range of outputs, besides teaching and learning. The study was undertaken within the undergraduate placement programme of a UK higher education institution and investigated aspects of service quality through students' surveys conducted over a five-year period and staff questionnaires and interviews. The findings of the study point out that, amongst other factors, the increase in student numbers implies a deterioration of higher education service quality. Based on the findings, several areas that can potentially improve the quality of higher education services in modern universities are identified.

As the number of students traveling from the Global South to study in the Global North continues to grow (OECD in Education at a glance 2014: highlights. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2014_eag_highlights-2014-en, 2014), we argue that it is necessary to broaden our conceptual approaches to the study of this dynamic. This article utilizes the framework of "global imaginaries" to examine the links between intensifying international student recruitment and international students' experiences with racism. We suggest that both recruitment and racism are framed by a dominant global imaginary rooted in Western supremacy. This imaginary both makes Western higher education a desirable product in the global higher education market and shapes the reception of international students.

The article addresses "Bildung" from a Finnish perspective and asks: Are there specific meanings of Bildung that are typical of a certain time and place? The author applies a multi-layered theory of critical positivism, adapting its three-level structure to music education and the concept of "Bildung." First, she discusses "Bildung" as a fundamental value in education, especially in the light of ideas presented by J. A. Hollo, a Finnish philosopher in education, who emphasizes a broad education, including the arts. Secondly, she examines "Bildung" as part of an expert culture of Finnish music teachers, and thirdly, as an educational aim in legislation. Although Bildung is under threat in today's society, the article stresses that a Finnish view of "Bildung" emphasizes its social dimensions, according to which everyone has a right to a broad education, including music.

Is there anything more important than the health, well-being and education of a nation's children? This paper takes the position that school is the most important place to educate children about health and to develop lifelong health promoting skills. We believe that health promotion programs and activities are integral to the school's educational program, not as extracurricular, but as central to school's educational mission. In this chapter, we highlight the importance of physical education and physical activity as key components of a well-designed coordinated school health program. We also outline the skills that PE teachers must learn to take a leadership role in the school health movement.

Amidst myriad reforms, the education landscape is rapidly shifting. There has been a call for teacher leadership to lead these reforms, helping transform the profession and reshape education. The call for teacher leadership is changing the role of a teacher, and as this role transforms, so must teacher education. The authors examine teacher leadership and ask the question: Can the seeds of teacher leadership be cultivated before a preservice teacher graduates to the school district? This article lays the foundation for ongoing research with three colleagues at separate teacher education institutes. Preservice teachers read about and interact via video conferencing with teacher leaders from across the country to see if and how they think differently about the potential of leading education--from inside America's classrooms.

Only 12 students graduated from the M.Ed.-Special Education program at the University of Guam during its first 20 years. In the spring of 2007, with technical assistance from The Monarch Center, the University of Guam School of Education in partnership with the Guam Department of Education and the Guam Commission on Educator Certification began a major program improvement effort. Designed to provide strong support to a diverse student population, the new program uses an accelerated cohort model composed of practicing and experienced teachers. Since the program redesign, 130 students have graduated. Current outcomes suggest that the benefits of this personnel preparation program extend beyond students with disabilities on Guam to include the larger Guam community.

Despite the almost universal adoption of Response to Intervention (RTI) in school districts across the United States, recent research report feelings of inadequacy on the part of general education (GE) teachers. In this study, the authors conducted a systematic review of the literature to examine research focusing on the teaching, learning, implementation, and evaluation of RTI in GE teacher preparation during the last decade (2003-2013). A total of 10 publications were identified through electronic and hand searches. Results reveal a longstanding gap in the literature on how GE preservice teachers can understand and apply RTI in their classrooms. More studies and recommendations are needed to help GE preservice and in-service teachers use RTI effectively with struggling students.

The high value accorded to the research-based development of education in higher education communities means that researchers in the field have an important role in determining the foci of such efforts. However, it is important to ask whether higher education research is providing answers that satisfy practical educational needs. In this study, themes in higher education research published in Finland during 2000-2008 were compared to those addressed in non-refereed writings published by higher education teachers and students. The thematic analyses, (n = 1,298) focusing on topics related to learning, studying, and their promotion revealed the need for a broader life-wide framework for developing student-centred pedagogy and guidance practices in higher education.

This article presents a new model of education that works with employers to help their employees gain the skills and credentials needed for promotions and career mobility. Southern New Hampshire University's College for America, a competency-based education model for working adults, increases their access to, and the convenience of higher education, while decreasing costs. The program was designed and runs in close cooperation with employers, while the skills developed are highly relevant to the world of work. With no courses or grades, the model is project-based and learning coaches assist students in making their way through the project mastery cycle. In addition, online resources are extremely user friendly, and analysis of the information collected is used to support student progress.

Parents currently have the unilateral ability to reject special education services. Yet, it is unclear how schools should support students with special education needs in this situation as schools may not challenge a parent's choice to revoke special education assessment consent or the provision of services. Guidelines for school professionals to address this quandary currently do not exist, thus this paper will draw on legal mandates, court precedents, and ethical analysis to provide recommendations for appropriate responses to these situations. In particular, what the related laws dictate, how to support students in the general education classroom, and how to deal with behavior and disciplinary infractions are discussed with attention to the National Association of School Psychologist's ethics for school psychologists.

This article details the journey Luke Rhine, a Program Specialist in Career and Technology Education at the Maryland State Department of Education, as he went about the difficult task of building consistency and establishing rigorous expectations for Technology education in Maryland. As a result, Maryland has developed a model for Technology Education that pairs instruction, assessment, and professional development. Rhine writes that while the majority of the work described within this article has occurred just over the past three years, and this piece highlights the work of four specific school systems, this statement needs to be made unilaterally--this work is a direct result of dedicated supervisors and teachers from across the state. Their support and effort is the reason that a common vision for technology education was established.

Racial equality and racial equity in U.S. education has been elusive although decades of education reform have them as goals. Current discourse advocate colorblind and post-racial solutions to racial inequality and racial inequity in education; these solutions implicate presentism, a view that exclusively circumscribes the existence of present-day conditions to the here and now. On the supposition that history is important in understanding present-day challenges, the article promotes historical reflexivity, a process in which education reformers consider the history around present-day desired goals and related outcomes. To illustrate the relevancy of history in developing education reform that facilitates progress towards racial equality and racial equity, a historical trace of racial inequality and racial inequity in education for the U.S. writ large and New Orleans specifically is presented.