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Abstract: Abstract What potentials does curiosity bear for education' Some characterizations portray curiosity as self-motivated search for answers, a drive conformable with conventional education’s imperative for correct answers. For participants in this study, curiosity engages them with their relationships to the world. This article examines curiosity from along my developing in learning and teaching. While school settings limited or excluded curiosity, both for me as a student and as a teacher, it relates how I encountered the value of curiosity in examples of my father, mentors, and other experiences. Beginning with a gradual and uncertain process, I transitioned from being an educator bound by conventional expectations, to a teacher-researcher creating environments where learners’ expressions and acts of curiosity constitute the educational work that I actively support and seek to extend. Curiosity in the classroom generates trajectories and engagements that differ from conventional instruction. This article demonstrates and researches the educational work of curiosity, through contextual narratives from my teaching as a beginner at accommodating students’ curiosity, and from my recent teaching, where students and I more fully commit to the relational and educational possibilities of encouraging curiosity. In facilitating these experiences, I apply the research pedagogy of Eleanor Duckworth, ‘critical exploration in the classroom’. In narratives from my teaching, curiosity propels exploring relationships among: floating and sinking; trees, leaves and acorns; dye in water; maple sap sweetness; bubbles in water; and permutations of objects. Provocations from historical works include: Leonardo’s drawings; Hooke’s and Ramón y Cajal’s microscopy; Keats’ “negative capability”; Dewey’s reflections on interdependency among children and adults; and children’s creations in Reggio Emilia preschools. As experience builds through curiosity, relations deepen in ways simultaneously unadulterated—exploring unconstrained—and unchildlike—sustaining commitment. Participants characterize our process as having “No End Goal” imposed from outside themselves, unlike formal instruction that suppresses personal curiosity in favor of pre-ordained goals. The natural world, opened by curiosity, embodies ever-emerging relationships that accommodate concurrent widening and deepening of learners’ involvement and realizations. Learning experiences happening through relationships are infused with emotion, aesthetic qualities, and social connections and concerns. PubDate: 2024-06-23
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Abstract: Abstract This paper uses narrative inquiry, ethnographic observations, and philosophical consideration of phenomenology to explore the role of mindfulness training, specifically a yoga-based practice, in supporting resiliency, academic achievement, and holistic well-being. Holistic well-being has become a critical and significant area of focus in education as increasing stress, anxiety and depression are resulting in both mental and physical illness, causing a significant decrease in overall resiliency observed both in students and teachers. This problem has been compounded by COVID-19, increasing use of technology and social isolation (Kush, Badillo-Giocoechea, Musci, & Stuart, 2022). It is critical to seek ontological ways of being and epistemological opportunities that consider relationality and holism to deepen our understanding of the complexity of our human experience, individually and collectively. The purpose of this paper is to offer proactive considerations to achieve well-being in our increasingly complex and overwhelming educational environments by considering the lived experience of the author as a yoga practitioner, academic researcher, and classroom educator. It begins by exploring the concept of interconnectivity and reflection on lived experience, and then it establishes a working definition for both resiliency and yoga. It then connects the key concepts of yoga practice to educational neuroscience, curriculum, teaching, and learning. Finally, it explores practical applications to teaching and learning and future research to be considered regarding resiliency, yoga, and holistic well-being. PubDate: 2024-06-12 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09520-3
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Abstract: Abstract Written as a letter to Galileo, an education graduate student narrates from course experiences that deepened her understandings of Galileo and natural and intellectual properties underlying his works. Having taken the Galileo-themed course with Elizabeth Cavicchi at MIT’s Edgerton Center in three prior terms, on taking it a fourth time, this student, the paper’s author, developed and documented perceptive observations of learning. Geometry instruction, as these classmates experienced in school, had equipped them with superficial, rigid access to similar triangles and ratio relations—the mathematical tools of Galileo. While applying these tools in class activities, the classmates faced confusion, dilemmas, and discrepancies. By giving themselves the space to work through these “troubles”, classmates initiated their own “learning opportunities”. New resilient, flexible understandings arose. Students were no longer confined by prior formulaic rules. The student author discerned a new Euclidean relationship of proportionalities among triangles constructed between parallel lines. These developments are articulated as the experiences arose, providing an analysis and immediacy that is rarely observed or documented frankly by educators and learners. A practitioner of the pedagogy critical exploration in the classroom based on researches of Eleanor Duckworth, Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder, the teacher supported classmates in delving into their questions, which were not expected in advance. Class activities included: observing objects in perspective; collectively working through Euclid’s definition of same ratio (in Elements Book 5) on their own terms; investigating errors arising in using a laser-cut prototype instrument based on Galileo’s geometrical compass; and exploring a fulcrum balance. Learners’ own curiosity opened up areas that they otherwise ignored. How is it ever possible to teach the spirit and method of scientific inquiry' How is it ever possible for anybody to learn it' What it takes for scientific inquiry to take root, develop, and grow' The details of a student/author finding her own ways into deep questions, and making sense of them, reveal the strengths of learning this way. In the background, we see the ways of the teacher. Both enhance our understanding of how Galileo understood learning. PubDate: 2024-06-05 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09528-9
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Abstract: Abstract Despite the ideological and political support of inclusive education for students with disabilities in U.S schools, the interpretation of the concept of inclusion is still vague and disputed. This article proposes a continuum model of inclusion based on current research, policies, and practice. The inclusion continuum model was developed to provide all stakeholders including practitioners, school leaders, policy makers, and researchers with a common lexicon that will allow them to discuss inclusion for all students with disabilities through a shared understanding that may allow for more insightful student placement decisions. Quality indicators for the model are described that can be used by stakeholders and decision makers to identify current inclusion practices and to provide guidance for how inclusive practices can be implemented most effectively and equitably for all students. The article also provides organizational guidance for the systemic changes necessary for successful inclusion implementation. PubDate: 2024-06-04 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09527-w
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Abstract: Abstract For many years, the Reggio Emilia approach has been in the spotlight of the international debate on early childhood education, attracting countless devoted followers in preschool centres all over the world and inspiring an ever-increasing amount of pedagogical research. At the heart of this educational philosophy, space is considered a ‘third teacher’ and so is carefully thought and arranged, functioning as a key source of educational stimulation and insight. However, although a great number of studies from the field of pedagogy have been carried out to gain a better understanding of Reggio Emilia’s physical learning environments, not so much has been said from the designer’s perspective. This paper tries precisely to fill that gap, not purporting to isolate these fields of knowledge from one another but rather with the intention of setting an original inquiry that brings them closer together. This is made possible thanks to the definition of an innovative critical lens that diverges from previous discussions on the topic. More specifically, the work is triggered by Alfredo Hoyuelo’s statement (La estética en el pensamiento y obra pedagógica de Loris Malaguzzi, Octaedro, 2006, p. 120) in reference to Loris Malaguzzi’s theories: “building pedagogy means dreaming the beauty of the unusual”. Simply by replacing the term ‘pedagogy’ with ‘physical environments’ in that sentence, a novel insight for both architects and educators can emerge, with major implications in terms of conception, design, use and signification of space. PubDate: 2024-05-29 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09525-y
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Abstract: Abstract Gender equality and women’s empowerment are important issues that still need to be addressed, despite some progress in recent years. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to tackle various global challenges, including the 4th (Quality Education) and 5th (Gender Equality) goals that were used to frame an activity in a science education subject in a primary education teaching degree. Previous research has found a decrease in girls’ interest in STEM and STEM-related jobs in primary and secondary education. To encourage girls in primary education towards STEM-related professions, an activity was organized in a science subject at a university in Navarre, Spain. The goal of this activity was to identify inspiring women scientists who could serve as role models for university and primary school students. A knowledge model, which is a concise and graphical representation of knowledge through concept maps, was created using the methodology of knowledge model design (Cañas et al. Revista De Informática Educativa 13:145–158, 2000) to showcase all the women scientists selected by the students. This final model is publicly accessible and can be shared with any educational center interested in promoting gender diversity in STEM fields. The results showed that the students learned meaningfully as they inquired about women scientists in professions that are typically considered more suitable for men. As these students are trainee primary school teachers, they can become part of an educational network that empowers girls by developing STEM-related activities that promote gender equality. PubDate: 2024-05-27 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09522-1
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Abstract: Abstract Drawing on the experiences of teaching Beloved in an elite, college preparatory context, the following research paper works towards alternative approaches to teaching trauma and difficult histories. After exploring some of the limitations and applications of the education as séance approach, this paper constructs a framework for teaching difficult histories modeled after Toni Morrison’s description of The Clearing, a place of embodied, radical subjectivity, and personal transformation within a community of love and support. PubDate: 2024-05-25 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09523-0
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Abstract: Abstract Teachers are the most important resource in any school system. However, operating at the intersection of knowledge, skills, and the transmission capacity of values through reflective practice can be challenging. This study focuses on the experience and challenges of teachers in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ethiopian public universities when it comes to reflective practice. To achieve our objective, we used a descriptive survey research design with a mixed research approach to collect primary data from 140 HEIs teachers (127 male and 13 female) at four public universities in Ethiopia. We employed a random sampling technique and utilized questionnaires, and interviews. We used two types of questions to gather data: one to assess the teachers’ experience with reflective practice and levels of instruction, and the other to identify problems and instruction levels. Qualitative data were analyzed through subject description, while quantitative data were tested using descriptive, Pearson correlation, and univariate analysis of ANOVA statistics. The results indicate that the experience of HEIs teachers reveals significant associations in all favorable aspects of reflective practice components (i.e., reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, reflection-with-action, and self-appraisal). However, some teachers agreed or disagreed that they faced challenges in their teaching experience. Some problems encountered were agreed upon, while others were not. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for improvement. PubDate: 2024-05-23 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09526-x
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Abstract: Abstract An academic volume is a literary text, and the knowledge within is a subject to its interpretation. In the spirit of work by last century’s great literary scholars Auerbach (Time History and Literature. Princeton University Press, 253–265, 2014) and De Man (The Resistance to Theory. University of Minnesota Press. 21-26, 1987) I have applied a film theory conceptualization of paratext defined by Gray (Show Sold Separately. New York University Press, 2010) to reading of an educational classic The Process of Education by Bruner (The Process of Education. Harvard University Press, 1977). By contrasting the reviews of this famous text published within the last two decades with the volume and its later explanations by the book’s author, I have critically confronted the interpretation of this text. Themes discussed include the historical context and the influence of The Process of Education for the development of education in the United States and elsewhere in the world until today. PubDate: 2024-05-21 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09521-2
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Abstract: Abstract Due to their soft and hard skills, retirees in any field of study, including the arts, humanities, social, natural and biomedical sciences, mathematics and engineering, carry a wealth of experience, both personal and professional, could continue to be of benefit to students and early career researchers, even after they have retired. Their educational background and experience could enrich the education knowledge stream if their input, expertise and skills could be tapped after retirement, provided that they are physically and/or mentally healthy, able to communicate their ideas in a clear, lucid, and constructive way, and have accompanied support. Perspectives are offered about how retirees could benefit the research and education knowledge stream across disciplines in schools and institutes of higher education, such as universities. PubDate: 2024-05-20 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09524-z
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Abstract: Abstract Vocational teachers (VTs) have been seen as the key individuals executing changes, solving problems and achieving goals in vocational education and training (VET). Therefore, the work of VTs is fragmented between different types of tasks which influence their professionalism and professionality (individual views, experiences and professional practices of teachers). Despite this, their professionality has been studied remarkably little, and previous studies have focused on different narrow aspects of professionalism. However, it is not clear how various factors, including changes in VET, can shape VTs’ perception of their professionality. Based on a meta-analysis, this study aims to create comprehensive knowledge through an empirical model of vocational teacher professionality in the context of VET changes based on the example of Estonian VET. The results show that VTs have expressed different perceptions, evaluations and experiences of change in VET, and therefore different forms of collaboration and learning activities have been used to adapt to changes, which together shape the professionality of VTs. Therefore, three profiles of VT professionality have emerged and the wider scope of the collaboration of VTs fosters more positive attitudes, satisfaction and commitment to their work and profession, while also relating to their higher self-efficacy, which supports coping in demanding pedagogical situations and when faced with new tasks and roles in a changing context. PubDate: 2024-04-23 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09519-w
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Abstract: Abstract This article argues that in pluralistic, secular, democratic schooling we need a concept of critical character education. There are substantial challenges to the theory and practice of character education, which indicates that character education is a “problem” in the philosophical sense. The way forward is to cultivate a critical theory of character education, which is democratic, culturally responsive, socially relevant, and philosophical complex. This understanding of character and virtue as a problem is grounded in the philosophical tradition from Socrates to Alasdair MacIntyre. The theory of education grounding the idea of critical character education is found in sources such as Dewey, Freire, and Noddings. As we confront global challenges to democracy, the way forward must include a theory of critical character education. PubDate: 2024-04-09 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09510-5
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Abstract: Abstract The study evaluated the suitability of primary school teachers’ professional development policy implementation conceptualization of targets, reflective contents, process, methods and contexts in which it occurs in Oromia. The researchers used a mixed method with concurrent triangulation design. The researchers selected a total of 618 samples of the study using different sampling techniques such as purposive, convenience, stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The data were collected from primary sources of data such as teachers, mentors, principals, supervisors, coordinating committees and parents using questionnaires, interview, focus group discussion, document examination and observation. Then, the researchers analyzed the data using mean, standard deviation, one-way ANOVA and post hock test, and thematic narration. The study showed that both veteran and novice teachers were less able to conceptualize and contextualize their professional development practices to the existing phenomena in the schools under investigation. Teachers’ professional development practices were powerless to update professional competencies and improve professional and innovative pedagogical practices in classrooms. In addition, the professional development contents and activities were repetitive from time to time. Primary school teachers were not learning proficiently from continuous professional development practices to ensure basic and specific professional competencies required in classrooms. The implementations of reflective activities such as action researches, classroom observation, differentiate learning; collaborative learning, microteaching and lesson studies couldn’t contribute to practical changes. Teachers weren’t actively participating in professional development because of lack of conceptualization and contextualization of reflective activities to improve professional competencies although they are transformative intellectuals. Therefore, teachers, mentors, principals, and cluster supervisors should use face-to-face learning and digital learning strategies to improve instructional practices in classrooms, and values and prestige of teaching profession. Likewise, the study forecasts the requirement of context specific policy framework and practical toolkit for newly deployed and experienced teachers rather than focusing on the generic policy document. PubDate: 2024-03-18 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09514-1
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Abstract: Abstract This article discusses challenges posed to the design and enactment of twenty-first century school curricula by examining three core issues: pedagogical autonomy, the balance and integration of knowledge and thinking skills, and curricular flexibility. It focuses on how a committee of experts commissioned by the Israeli ministry of education to advise it on reforming the state curriculum responded to these challenges. The discussion highlights two fundamental questions in curriculum design: how to integrate global research finding with local conditions' and how to respond to a changing and unpredictable reality' To deal with the challenges, the article offers a model that aims to enhance the flexibility of the curriculum, and a list of criteria to assist educators on all levels in making informed curricular decisions. Although the analysis is situated within a particular cultural and national context the issues addressed have general and global implications. PubDate: 2024-03-08 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09515-0
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Abstract: Abstract In today’s world this gap between the richest and the poorest is constantly widening. This paper aims to examine the impact of this economic inequality on the quality of education in two selected European countries—Poland and Finland. The choice of countries is not accidental: Finland was chosen because it has one of the best-rated education systems in the world, while Poland was chosen to indicate potential solutions, the application of which, may improve the quality of education in our country. To demonstrate that economic inequalities have a significant impact on education, rather show that it is economic inequalities, and no other factors such as political and administrative decisions, that have a significant the regional level was taken as the reference level in the analysis. PubDate: 2024-03-05 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09516-z
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Abstract: Abstract As science education shifts toward integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) approaches, guidelines for designing teaching and learning episodes that integrate curricular content and procedures from multiple disciplines become increasingly in demand. The existing plethora of conceptualizations of STEM makes difficult such an endeavor, leading to ill-defined lesson plans focused on only two –mainly science and technology or science and mathematics– out of the four STEM disciplines. The question addressed, therefore, is how the integrated STEM approach could be translated into classroom practices that integrate the four STEM disciplines in a way that is consistent and coherent with elementary education curricula. This manuscript advances a theoretically informed didactic model for the design and implementation of integrated STEM in elementary education. The article discusses how the model uses socio-constructivist principles to establish intentional and explicit connections between STEM disciplines via scientific inquiry, engineering design, and computational thinking practices. The model is rooted in learning theories developed by Piaget, Vygotsky, Ausubel, and Bruner and could serve as a roadmap for educators and researchers designing integrated STEM lessons. Future empirical research testing the model is warranted. PubDate: 2024-02-28 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09513-2
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Abstract: Abstract The paper explored the community involvement in education provision for indigenous pastoral community girls in Tanzania. It answered the questions on the way pastoral community is involved in education provision, the roles community leaders play in educating girls, and the challenges the community encounter in their involvement. Postcolonial theory guides the theoretical understanding of the study. The study adopted a qualitative approach, using a case study design. Data was collected using interviews, focus group discussions and observations, and analysed thematically. Findings reveal that the pastoral community is involved in education provision in various ways including attending to various meetings and through labour and financial contributions. Their involvement however is limited. Findings further reveal that although community leaders have vital role in educating girls, their involvement is limited. The study concludes that community involvement is still an important strategy for educating girls. Thus, sensitisation is required among members to enable them participate in effective provision of education for girls. PubDate: 2024-02-26 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09511-4
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Abstract: Abstract This article constitutes a review of Howard Woodhouse’s latest book, Critical Reflections on Teacher Education: Why Future Teachers Need Educational Philosophy (Routledge, 2023). It outlines Woodhouse’s assessment of the causes of the marginalization that the discipline of Philosophy of Education has undergone over the last 25 years, which has led to a decline in its stature. According to Woodhouse, this marginalization of Philosophy of Education has largely been the result of the increasing dominance of the money-oriented value program of the global economy and its influence on Education and Education programs. The value program of the global economy sees Education as a commodity to be bought and sold, rather than as a vehicle for the emancipation of human lives. This review anticipates several potential counterclaims that might be waged against Woodhouse’s call for a restitution of the discipline of Philosophy of Education and argues against them. It also entertains an alternative conclusion that can be drawn from Woodhouse’s premises, namely, that given the confluence of global crises in which we find ourselves, which to some extent comes as a result of a focus on the dissemination of knowledge as the goal of education to the neglect of wisdom in the application of that knowledge, going forward into the future, formal education should be inclusive of the cultivation of wisdom. PubDate: 2024-02-19 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09509-y
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Abstract: Abstract Despite daily interactions by principals with a variety of adults, there is scant research on the experiences which are so disrespectful that they become instances of workplace mistreatment. This study reveals, in a first of its kind, that workplace mistreatment does exist for principals and there are challenges to preventing it. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to confirm the existence of mistreatment in principals’ workplaces using the principals’ voices to describe their experiences of mistreatment. This study concentrates on adult-on-principal mistreatment across a range, from incivility to mobbing and its relative frequency. The presentation of this qualitative data originates in a mixed-methods study of 12 middle years principals, using two rounds of in-depth semi-structured interviews, plus three quantitative surveys. Parallel data analysis followed by cross data-set comparison was employed. Many adults were perpetrators: parents, teachers, superintendents, school trustees, and more, with particular types of incidents perceived as more frequent than others. While instances were not everyday occurences, principals identified the provocations for and types of harm caused from such incidents. This study suggests that principals could benefit from professional development regarding dealing with mistreatment at work, as well as a reworking of policies to protect principals from workplace mistreatment. Challenges regarding dealing with mistreatment episodes in a school environment are discussed. Further research is needed as data in this exploratory study are not generalizable over larger populations due to self-selection bias, scope and representativeness of the sample. PubDate: 2024-02-16 DOI: 10.1007/s10780-024-09508-z
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