Education & Pedagogy

Since 2015, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization has posited physical literacy as a central tenet and pedagogical reform initiative of quality physical education. An assessment of physical literacy is, therefore, becoming an increasingly important aspect of physical education in schools. Internal and external threats to assessment instrument validity are always important considerations in assessment tool development, but this paper identifies why particular attention needs to be paid to the content validity of one such instrument being used by physical educators and researchers. Specifically, this paper interrogates the content validity claims of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy--Version 2 and discusses why greater attention needs to be paid to the content validity of this instrument if pedagogical reform in physical education is not to be undermined.

Based in Lebanon, Jusoor's Refugee Education Program has supported out-of-school Syrian refugee children since 2013 with the aim of bringing them back on the path of formal schooling. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of all schools and educational centers in Lebanon. To keep students learning, Jusoor switched to an online learning format. This distance learning program was named Azima, or "Determination" as translated from the Arabic, in reference to the refugee children's determination to continue learning despite the adversities they face. Through the program creation, iteration, and transformation, a set of best practices emerged that could be useful for the establishment of distance education in general, and for distance education programs catering to out-of-school children or children coming from a vulnerable background in particular.

The purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine sexual health beliefs, self-efficacy, and knowledge of resources among sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) participants. Sexual health education policy is inconsistent throughout the United States, especially in socially conservative regions of the U.S. Reach One Teach One North Dakota (ROTO-ND) was developed as an evidence-based and community implemented sexual health education program. Our results demonstrated improvement across the outcomes of interest among SGMY following the educational intervention. Multivariate analysis offers context of predictor variables post-education. Our findings underscore the importance of inclusive education for SGMY.

With rapid economic advancement and government commitment to the expansion of higher education, China has taken a leap forward from being a leading sender of international students to an attractive destination for international students. In many respects, the hurried expansion and internationalization of Chinese higher education itself are a subject worth examining, but it also raises questions regarding the provision of quality higher education. This qualitative study aims to understand the perceptions of international students regarding the quality of higher education in China through a case study of the University of China (pseudonym). Qualitative interviews with ten international doctoral students reveal the principal quality-related factors that influence international students to study in China. The findings also indicate that international students have a high level of satisfaction with the quality of education in China.

This article argues that the last three decades of school improvement policies have progressively limited the places and arguments created for arts education in public schools. The result has been a steady marginalization of the arts in the work of school improvement, an exacerbation of opportunity gaps related to access to arts education, and a small window of opportunity to push back against what has become a cycle of narrowing and layering demands on literacy and mathematics to the exclusion of all other areas. As the standards, accountability, and competition movements have led toward increasing privatization and turn toward private industry to solve the problems of public schooling, arts education continues to be marginalized by seeming to require outside intervention rather than intensive internal solutions. I conclude with a discussion of the policy strategies that might reposition arts education within current trends in education policy.

While it is nationally recognized that there is a high need for teachers, particularly those of diverse backgrounds and with ESL/bilingual certifications, barriers to certification continue to exist for undocumented individuals. Within the state of New Jersey, these barriers mirror the national limitations. Although New Jersey has made efforts to address citizenship and reform policies, some barriers persist, hindering these candidates from making a positive impact on students' lives through a teaching career. This policy piece aims to shed light on the barriers to teacher certification faced by undocumented individuals and outlines measures taken by the Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N) Department of Urban Education to address these challenges.

This research aimed to explore the readiness, expertise, and multimedia needs in education. An online questionnaire was used to collect data. A total of 124 students from the Faculty of Industrial Education responded to the survey. The data showed that most students have notebooks and smart phones as important tools for creating multimedia. The results showed that students have expertise and multimedia needs in education. Overall, there was a median level of expertise and the highest level of needs in multimedia for learning. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on multimedia integration in education by providing insights into educators' readiness, expertise, and multimedia needs. By understanding and addressing these factors, stakeholders can work towards harnessing the full potential of multimedia technology to enhance teaching and learning experiences in educational settings.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 24th February 2022, was met with widespread condemnation across Europe, with many universities and higher education-focussed national and regional organisations issuing their own public statements about the invasion and subsequent conflict and, in some cases, taking specific action in relation to one or both of the countries. This article draws on an analysis of 55 such statements to examine what they reveal about how higher education organisations conceptualise the European higher education space, and the position of Russia and Ukraine within it. Specifically, the article considers what spatial imaginaries -- pertaining to higher education -- are evident in the statements about the Ukraine conflict issued by higher education organisations across Europe, and the extent to which the statements provide evidence about the role of these organisations as normative policy actors.

The onset of COVID-19 made governments and other education actors prioritize distance learning, particularly through education technologies (EdTechs). Most sub-Saharan African countries adopted and adapted this approach. This paper examines the extent of EdTechs' deployment in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic among marginalized and vulnerable populations. A cross-sectional study design was adopted for the study from which this paper drew its data, with both secondary and primary data utilized. The findings show that marginalized/vulnerable learner populations are still left out on EdTech supported learning. This article proposes salient recommendations that could help advance inclusive education discussion and related EdTechs' discourse.

This study identified appropriate pedagogy for computational thinking in K-12 computer education. The Delphi technique was employed to collect different views, ideas and opinions derived a consensus from a panel of 12 international experts through a series of questionnaires. The experts have various experiences in computer science, computer education and computational thinking. After three rounds of survey, the expert panel identified a total of 13 appropriate teaching/learning strategies to develop computational thinking skills in K-12 computer education distributed among the nine skills of computational thinking: eight strategies derived from the 12 teaching and learning strategies in the first draft of the Delphi survey questionnaire and five strategies suggested and agreed by the panel. This study demonstrated the importance of finding an appropriate pedagogy for computational thinking with a focus on K-12 computer education.

The right to education is universally recognized as a fundamental human right, safeguarded by numerous international declarations and conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Viewing refugee education through the lens of human rights is rooted in the principle that everyone, regardless of citizenship status, should have equal educational opportunities as an integral aspect of their broader human rights. However, such opportunities are variable. Using an interpretive approach to policy analysis, this paper reviews the Australian education policy space in the context of international initiatives, exploring national responses juxtaposed with key global arrangements. In shedding light on the alignment--or lack thereof--between national policies and international obligations, this paper contributes valuable insights to the broader debate on the importance of rights-based refugee education.

Poverty alleviation through education is counted as a critical move in China's campaign against poverty, aiming to elevate the education levels of the underprivileged population, halt the intergenerational transmission of poverty, and assist social equity and economic development. This article is a review of the evolution of China's policies on poverty alleviation through education and an encapsulation of its major efforts in this area. Also discussed are the outcomes and challenges of the move. The study finds that it has significantly improved the educational standards in poverty-stricken areas and bolstered the financial states of the disadvantaged persons, while issues, such as the problematic implementation of policies, illegitimate notions of education in the underprivileged, and high turnover in rural teachers, remain. Corresponding suggestions are proposed for further advancement of poverty alleviation through education in China.

Chinese international students have consistently constituted the largest international student body in the United States (U.S.) higher education for decades. Due to their prominence in U.S. higher education institutions, it is imperative to closely examine their lived experiences. Existing empirical research demonstrates that plenty of Chinese international students are underserved, coping with issues such as culture shock, linguistic barriers, educational disparities, racial discrimination, and mental health concerns. This systematic literature review aims to: 1) Explore whether Chinese international students face challenges in the U.S. higher education; 2) Categorize the challenges (if present) encountered by Chinese international students in the U.S. higher education; 3) Provide recommendations to key stakeholders in international education, empowering them to refine current administrative policies and teaching pedagogies to better support the well-being of Chinese international students in the U.S. higher education.

In the summer of 2022, UNESCO held CONFINTEA VII, a gathering of over 140 governmental delegations with the dual purpose of examining the current state of adult learning across the world and establishing a set of comprehensive goals for the next 12 years for the field of adult education. Held regularly since 1949, the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) provides an agenda relevant to adult educators on a global scale. CONFINTEA VII's declaration, the Marrakech Framework for Action (MFA) is grounded in principles, policies, and action recommendations to achieve UNESCO's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals and was unanimously ratified by participating delegations. This article provides an outline of the priority areas and action recommendations of the MFA as a prologue to this special issue of "New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education," "Global Trends in Adult Education."

This study examines the history of craft education, especially in the context of social and temporal changes, and envisions its future based on narratives collected by student teachers at two Finnish universities. The research material covers essay responses that discussed the future of craft education in the light of forecasted megatrends. The essay responses were analysed using narrative methods, and the results are presented as visions of the priorities and content of future craft education. While craft teaching today emphasises technology, well-being and communal living, the growth of digitality, sustainable education and materiality is likely to continue in the future. We envision that future craft education will focus on pedagogical content rooted in craft traditions, with a strong emphasis on skills education.