Conference Agenda

The shortage of teachers is considerable in many European countries (Federičov, 2020; García, & Weiss, 2019). It concerns different school types from primary schools to vocational schools. Moreover, a wide range of school subjects is affected. The lack of teaching personnel that European countries face today has obviously led to severe challenges in society. Hence, there is an urgent need of recruiting, mobilizing and retaining educated teachers in many parts of the world.

Against this background, the aim of the symposium is to describe, explain and compare teachers’ shortage from the perspective of three European countries: Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The purpose of this session is to discuss the phenomenon and how to handle it depending on different situations in each country. Having a clear understanding of background factors and main explanations will lead to a better insight and preparedness to prevent and correct the shortage in a short and long term.

Researchers from three countries, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, are going to share their findings from their research activity for two years. The overall ambition of the session is to comprise new knowledge and gaining a deeper understanding of the problem of teacher shortage, including how reasons, solutions and implications behind teacher shortage are mutually intertwined, which will be of importance for stakeholders in the three countries and internationally. We are also going to discuss possibilities and problems with international comparisons concerning methodology and theoretical aspects focusing on research and literature in the field. Due to variations between the studied countries, we suggest a multiple case design as methodological approach which allows an individual analysis as well as a comparison of the countries. The methodological model comprising 8 parameters and 23 indicators summarizes the interacting factors influencing teacher shortages (Ana et al., 2022).

The discussion session is going to be a focussed conversation centred around the following questions:

(a) How may the current situation be described regarding the teacher shortage in each of the three countries? What are the background factors and main explanations for teacher shortage?

(b) What similarities and differences can be seen, regionally, nationally, and internationally? How can these similarities and differences be explained? What can be learnt from each other and from the three countries?

c) How could each country understand, prevent, and correct the shortage of teachers in the short and long term?

d) How may the lack of a specific teacher category, vocational teachers, in this context, be explained and understood?

The university partners have been working together for two years in a research-based net-work-project (What About Teachers’ Shortage, WATS’ up) and are keen to advocate for others of similar interests to become involved. Participants are encouraged to join this discussion and to help expand the international network of researchers interested in teachers´ shortage worldwide.

Expected outcomes related to research will be the research contribution of scientific novelty of new knowledge in teacher shortage in a transnational perspective. These insights are going to lead to a knowledge contribution of the phenomena of teacher shortage, which may be difficult to attain solely on a national level. The research project may also shed light on which strategy leads to teachers staying in their profession in the long term.

The supply of teachers in Sweden is seen today as a challenge of historic proportions (Ber-tilsson, 2018). However, the lack of teachers is not only a Swedish problem, but exists largely in all European countries (Federičová, 2020) and in the USA (Garcia & Weiss, 2020). The proportion of fully trained teachers in Sweden needs to increase by just over 50% until 2035. The shortage of certified teachers varies greatly between school forms, be-tween 25 and 85%, where the largest shortage is within special schools. The imbalance will thus continue for many years to come. The variation between schools is great. Findings in-dicate that one of the problems for schools is not a shortage of teachers coming into the sys-tem, but that many of the newly graduated teachers do not choose to go into teaching at all or leave after just a few years (Statistiska Centralbyrån, 2017). Teacher shortage can be traced back at least 50 years and that the causes are many and complex, for example many different reforms, deteriorating conditions, low status of the profession and New Public Management as a management philosophy. The possibilities to solve the problems in the long term are several: higher wages, better working conditions, strengthened professional identity, higher status, and flexible ways to study to become a teacher. Analysis of the situa-tion have shown the following:1) Paradoxically, every educational policy reform in Sweden seems create even greater degree of problems with teacher supply. 2) The dominant man-agement philosophies, New Public Management, must be re-evaluated in relation to the school and its activities. 3) A broad anchoring with all significant relevant actors is needed to meet the internal and external challenges that exist for Swedish schools and for to be able to remedy the teacher shortage (Boström et al. 2021). Drawing on Bacchi's (2009) critical policy analysis What’s the Problem Represented to be (WPR) this paper analyses national and regional actors' perceptions of the problem in the light of previous research in the light of previous research and in relation to international findings, national and regional stakeholders' perceptions of the problem and its consequences.

Bacchi, C. L. (2009). Analysing policy: What’s the problem represented to be? Frenchs Fo-rest, N.S.W Pearson. Boström, L., Bostedt, G., Håkansson Lindqvist, M (2021)Den allvarliga lärarbristen i Sve-rige – hur kunde detta hända och vad kan vi göra? PAIDEIA, nr. 22, 6-22 Federičová, M. (2020). Teacher turnover: What can we learn from Europe? European Jour-nal of Education, 2020(00), 1–15. DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12429 García, E. & Weiss, E. (2020). A policy agenda to address the teacher shortage in U.S. pub-lic schools. The sixth and final report in the ‘Perfect Storm in the Teacher Labor Market’ series. Economic Policy Institute. Washington, DC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611183.pdf Statistiska centralbyrån SCB (2017). Lärare utanför yrket. Temarapport 2017:2.

Teacher shortage in Germany has reached an alarmingly high level. In total, estimations point out a gap of 30.000 qualified teachers in August 2022 (Stephanowitz, 2022). In order to define the rather complex phenomenon (in Germany) more precisely, a differentiation between several determinants like federal state, region, school type, and subject seems to be adequate. For instance, primary schools, special needs schools, and vocational schools are strongly affected as well as the subjects mathematics, chemistry, physics, and music (KMK, 2022). The impact of the imbalance is manifold: classes are cancelled, some subjects are deleted from the timetable, teachers work overtime, or not fully qualified staff—often university students—is hired. As a consequence, job satisfaction suffers and sickness rates rise. Several causes of teacher shortage can be identified: for example, miscalculations, demographic developments such as rising birth rates and migration, and also an unpredictable number of dropouts at university or in teacher training. Moreover, there is an aging teacher population. Accordingly, many teachers will soon reach retirement age (Eurydice, 2021). In addition, the number of study places does not match the demand of teachers, especially as the educational planners assume that on the one hand every student enters the labor market and on the other hand after a standard period. Reality looks different: Studying often takes much longer than expected (Kreienbaum, 2008) or students drop out. Not all of those who complete their exams become teachers. The short-, medium- and long-term measures to counteract the shortage are as varied as its causes: some schools re-activate retirees. Those working part-time are asked to switch to full-time. In some federal states, academics from other professions are trained as teachers in special programs. In order to gain a better understanding of the complex phenomenon, interviews with experts in the field of Educational Science were carried out (Kreienbaum & Wüllner, 2023). Their views on the problem as well as their ideas to overcome the crisis will be presented and discussed. We aim at structuring our results with the help of the methodological model created by the WATS up team (Blanco et al., 2023).

Blanco, A. M., Bostedt, G., Michel-Schertges, D., & Wüllner, S. (2023 in press). Studying Teacher Shortages: Theoretical Perspectives and Methodological Approaches. Eurydice/European Commission/EACEA. (2021). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/o/opportal-service/download-handler?identifier=78fbf243-974f-11eb-b85c-01aa75ed71a1&format=pdf&language=en&productionSystem=cellar&part= KMK (2022) = Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. (2022). Lehrkräfteeinstellungsbedarf und -angebot in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2021-2035. [Teacher Recruitment Requirements and Supply in the Federal Republic of Germany 2021 - 2035. Summarized Model Calculation of the German States]. https://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/Dateien/pdf/Statistik/Dokumentationen/Dok_233_Bericht_LEB_LEA_2021.pdf Kreienbaum, M. A. (2008). Katholisch, weiblich, weit gereist – der aktuelle Bildungshintergrund angehender LehrerInnen in NRW. [Catholic, Female, Well-travelled – The Current Educational Background of Prospective Teachers in NRW]. magazIn, 18-25. Kreienbaum, M. A., & Wüllner, S. (2023 in press). Lehrkräftemangel in Deutschland – Ursachen, Maßnahmen und Einschätzungen aus der Perspektive von Expert*innen () [Teacher shortage in Germany - causes, measures and assessments from the perspective of experts]. Stephanowitz, J. (2022, 30. August). An deutschen Schulen fehlen bis zu 40.000 Lehrer. [At German Schools there is a Shortage of 40.000 Teachers]. https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/schule/2022-08/lehrermangel-40-000-lehrer-fehlen-deutscher-lehrerverband

Teacher shortages in Denmark as well as internationally are a growing problem (Andersen et al., 2021; Boström et al., 2021). In the Danish literature, such shortages are often described as problems of recruiting and retaining teachers (KL, 2016), as well as minimising the number of teachers who leave the profession (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2010). One-third of all new Danish teachers leave their jobs in state schools during the first year, and four out of ten teachers resign during the first five years , feeling that the job is demanding, unrewarding and lonely (Dahl et al., 2022). Overall, 17,000 qualified teachers do not work in schools (DLF, 2018); both political (DLF, 2018) and professional (Nordenbo et al., 2008) stakeholders seem to agree that the lack of qualified teaching staff in schools damages children’s schooling. The problem of teacher shortages in Danish schools seemingly does not concern a general lack of trained teachers, but rather that schools find it hard to attract and retain teachers (DLF, 2018). But why do Danish school teachers leave the profession? And how may the problem of teacher shortages, particularly teacher retention, be addressed by schools? Drawing on self-determination and motivation theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017) and situated learning theory (Wenger, 1998), the paper explores the motivation and professional becoming of new teachers, whose working-lives are characterised by a multi-faceted complex of problems (Dahl et al., 2022; EVA, 2019; Hargreaves, 2000; Hjort & Weber, 2004). The paper concludes that although new teachers start their careers as inspired individuals who are motivated for ‘doing good’ (Pedersen et al., 2016), their motivation for teaching is dismantled (Dahl, 2020) when they experience the conflicting demands of personal and professional ambitions, political plans, in a time-, top- and economyrestricted everyday school practice in schools.

Andersen, F.Ø., Frederiksen, L., Sunesen, M.S.K. & Thorborg, M. (2021). Lærermangel i Danmark. Paideia, 22: 21-32. Boström, K., Bostedt, G., & Lindqvist, M. (2021). Den allvorliga lärerbristern i Sverige – hur kunde dette hända och vad kan vi göra? Paideia, nr. 22: 6-20. Dahl, K.K.B. (2020). Mo(ve)ments in professional identification. Compare, 50(1): 123-140. Dahl, K.K.B, Laursen, P.F., & Andreasen, B. (ed.) (2022). Overlevelsesguide for nye lærere. Dafolo. DLF, Danmark Lærerforening (2018). Folkeskolens rekrutteringsproblemer. DLF. EVA, Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. (2019). TALIS 2018. EVA. file:///C:/Users/au50263/Downloads/TALIS%202018_011019.pdf Hargreaves, A. (2000). Nye lærere, nye tider. Klim. Hjort, K. & Weber, K. (2004). Hvad er værd at vide om professioner? I Hjort, K. & Weber, K. (red.), De professionelle. (s. 7-20). Samfundslitteratur. Nordenbo, S. E., Larsen, M. S., Tiftikçi, N., Wendt, R. E. and Østergaard, S. (2008). Lærerkompetencer og elevers læring i barnehage og skole. Copenhagen: Dansk Clearinghouse for Uddannelsesforskning

Teacher shortage in Germany is severe – especially in vocational schools. Recent prognoses expect a shortfall of approximately 1600 qualified V(ocational)E(ducation) and T(raining)-Teachers a year until 2035 (Autor:innengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung, 2022, 315). The lack of vocational teachers concerns beyond S(cience)T(echnology)E(ngineering) and M(athematics) and the personal service professions. It is an unsolved problem at present whether the expansion of training capacities and the development of cross- and side-entry programmes will be sufficient to address the shortage in all vocational disciplines. Therefore, it is quite important to understand both, the attracting as well as the deterring factors of choosing teaching in vocational schools as a career. In educational research, however, teachers’ motivation in the choice of career has been analysed especially referring to expectancy-value theories (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) mostly based on university student samples (Watt et al., 2012; König et al., 2013). This is obviously not ideal for two reasons: Firstly, in student-teacher surveys, the motivation to become a teacher is measured after the transition in teacher education (Goller & Ziegler, 2021). This might lead to biased answers due to social desirability and false memories to an extent we can’t nearly assess yet. Secondly, we learn less about the dissuasive factors of teaching as a career if we only ask those who have already - at least to a certain extent – decided on the teaching profession (Renger et al., 2022; Rahn et al., 2023). Against this background, the lecture will explore the questions, what influences students’ motivation or (dis-)inclination of choosing teaching as a career before deciding to start teacher training? Which attraction factors and especially which aversion factors can be identified? In order to answer this, empirical findings from a survey of roundabout 540 students of German vocational schools are presented and discussed. Referring to expectancy-value theory the fit choice scale of Watt & Richardson has been adapted. In addition, the prestige of teaching in VET as a profession has been measured. With a few exceptions, the scales have satisfactory or good internal consistency. Some descriptive results and logistic regression models will be presented and discussed as well. The presentation will lead to practical conclusions for VET-Teachers’ current recruiting strategies on the national level, which might run the risk of having undesirable side effects and some conclusions for international comparing research on the teacher shortage in VET.

Autor:innengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung (2022). Bildung in Deutschland 2022: Ein indikatorengestützter Bericht mit einer Analyse zum Bildungspersonal. Bielefeld. Eccles, J. S. & Wigfield, A. (2020). From expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: A developmental, social cognitive, and sociocultural perspective on motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101859 Goller, M. & Ziegler, S. (2021): Berufswahlmotivation angehender Wirtschaftspädagog*innen: Validierung des FIT-Choice-Ansatzes und Exploration der Gründe für das Studium der Wirtschaftspädagogik, 117 (2), 154–193. König, J., Rothland, M., Darge, K., Lünnemann, M. & Tachtsoglou, S. (2013). Erfassung und Struktur berufswahlrelevanter Faktoren für die Lehrerausbildung und den Lehrerberuf in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 16(3), 553–577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-013-0373-5 Rahn, S., Schäfer, B., Fuhrmann, Ch. (2023). Berufsoption „Lehrer*in an einer beruflichen Schule?“ Warum sich Schüler*innen (nicht) für das Lehramt an beruflichen Schulen interessieren. Zeitschrift Bildung und Erziehung, 01/2023. Renger, S., Köller, M. M., Möller, J. (2022): Was motiviert Schülerinnen und Schüler für das Lehramt?. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 36, 1–15. Watt, H. M.G., Richardson, P. W., Klusmann, U., Kunter, M., Beyer, B., Trautwein, U., Baumert, J. (2012).Motivations for choosing teaching as a career: An international comparison using the FIT-Choice scale. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28 (6), 791–805.

Teaching comes with a great deal of stress and emotional challenges, and is often considered one of the most stressful professions (Maslach et al., 2001). Research suggests that work-related stress combined with the lack of personal and organizational resources for coping with it is one of the primary reasons teachers decide to leave the profession (Montgomery & Rupp, 2005). Consequently, teacher attrition is becoming a growing challenge for educational systems internationally, with aspects of occupational well-being proving central for the decision to leave the teaching profession (OECD, 2020; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). In Croatia, around a third of teachers express the desire to leave the teaching profession (Radeka & Sorić, 2006), and, as well as many other European countries, Croatia is beginning to face the problem of recruiting, hiring, and retaining teachers (European Commission, 2018; Katsarova, 2020; Marušić et al., 2017). Therefore, raising awareness about teachers’ occupational well-being and implementing policies to support it can be beneficial not only for teachers and their students, but for entire educational systems and communities.

Since teacher attrition has significant consequences at the system level, research has been dedicated to identifying teachers who are at the highest risk of leaving the profession. According to analyses of teacher attrition, 40-50% of teachers decide to leave the teaching profession during the first 5 years of their careers (Ingersoll & Merrill, 2013; Perda, 2013). This suggests that attrition rates are especially high in early-career teachers, who often have difficulties making the transition from their initial education to work due to the amount of stress they are faced with in their beginning years of teaching. Meanwhile, not much attention is directed to occupational health and well-being of teachers and supporting them in this aspect through pre-service and in-service training. This points to the importance of identifying predictors of the decision to leave the teaching profession, in order to provide support to young teachers during their transition into the profession and thus contribute to the prevention of early-career teachers’ attrition through strengthening their commitment to the profession.

One way to foster teachers’ occupational well-being and their motivation to stay in the profession is through strengthening their social and emotional competencies (SEC): their self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship skills. Teachers' SEC are related to their occupational well-being by influencing how teachers cope with emotional challenges in their everyday work (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). This points to social and emotional competencies as potential psychological resources that can alleviate negative outcomes such as burnout and leaving the profession in early-career teachers (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2000; Mérida-López et al., 2020). However, research in this field has remained fragmented and has examined these competencies and relevant outcomes in isolation.

This research aims to investigate the relationships between early-career teachers’ social and emotional competencies, burnout and teacher commitment. We will first examine SEC as predictors of teacher commitment, under the hypothesis that teachers with lower SEC are less likely to stay in the teaching profession. We will further explore burnout as a potential mediator of the relationship between SEC and teacher commitment, to examine whether teachers with lower SEC experience higher burnout and are therefore less likely to stay in the teaching profession.

Our presentation emanates from the four-year project Following the Money - Finding Professional Learning? (The Invoice Project) funded by the Swedish Research Council (dnr 2019-03828). The overarching aim of the project is to deepen the understanding of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD), in a decentralized and market-oriented context. The overall project started in a “following the money”-approach (Ball, 2012), where teachers' CPD was studied through data in the form of invoices. Early in the process we noticed a strong focus on children and young people as neurological beings. Further work showed that neuroscience-informed CPD seemed relatively common in Swedish schools (Levinsson et al., 2022), obviously affecting aspects of teaching and learning in the direction of a certain pedagogic ideal. We discern such patterns of pedagogic ideals as modalities, and in this case, we identified a neuro-educational ideal.

The increased influence of neuroscience in education has attracted attention internationally (see Ansari et al., 2012), as well as in Europe (see Howard-Jones, 2014) and Sweden (Levinsson & Norlund, 2018). But few studies, if any, have examined the nature of the neuro-educational content offered to teachers via CPD, or further explored its distinctive features and implications as a pedagogical ideal. Thus, the aim of our presentation is to introduce, operationalise and exemplify the characteristics of a neuro-educational modality. By ‘operationalising’ we relate to the breaking down of the modality into its sub-components. The pedagogic modality is finally discussed, and critiqued, not least regarding its consequences for teachers and students. This gives us the opportunity to connect to the conference theme regarding the value of diversity in education.

The study is framed by curriculum theory (see Young, 1971, 1998) and sociology of education. We make use of the well-known four-field model over modalities developed by the sociologist of education Basil Bernstein (1990). The model enables analyses and conclusions from a social justice perspective.

A modality is composed of several different ingredients, which not least are captured by the conceptual pair ofclassification and framing (Bernstein, 1990). The concept of classification stands for the relationship between categories (for example school subjects) or in other words the degree to which these categories are isolated from, or interfere with, each other (Bernstein, 2000, p. 99). Framing represents who, the teacher or the student, is in control over phenomena such as material selection and work pace (cf. Bernstein, 2000, p. 99). We collect another three elements from curriculum theory: i.e. selection (of teaching material or activities), organization (in the classroom) and assessment (of the students’ performance).

This in-depth case study aims to explore the bodily lived-through experiences of one experienced primary school teacher to elicit insight into the bodily awareness they may bring to the classroom situation. By surfacing and making visible any bodily awareness we aim to further develop our understanding of the role of the body in and for teacher learning.

Three research questions guide this study:

1. What are the bodily lived experiences of an experienced teacher during a typical lesson?

2. What can be elicited from an experienced teacher’s lived experiences that make visible the bodily felt sense that underpins their classroom practice?

3. What, if anything, can we learn from the surfaced bodily felt sense elicited from an experienced teacher?

To date, there has been little research that addresses the role of the body as a source of information for helping teachers become more aware of the role of the body in and for teaching. For example, Ivinson (2012) and Shapiro and Stolz (2019) have shown that the body is implicated in teachers’ instructions, observations and pupils’ learning. However, it is not clear how such examples relate to how teachers learn through their lived-through bodily experiences. In contrast, the idea that the teacher’s body can inform reflective practice is explored by Nagamine et al (2018) who show how a pre-service teacher was able to gain new insight into their lived-through bodily experience enabling them to overcome the debilitating effects of their anxiety in the classroom. By exploring lived through bodily teacher presence in the classroom we may be able to elicit insight into how teachers might use bodily knowing to respond to the needs of their pupils.

Embodied knowing considers the body to function as “a constituent of the mind” (Fugate et al., 2019), a locus for knowing and differs from the more familiar Cartesian dualism, a way of knowing, that separates the mind from the body. Grounded in the phenomenological tradition of the lived-through body (Husserl, 2001) and Merleau-Ponty’s (2008 [1945]) phenomenology of the body, our bodies connect us to the world we inhabit, possess the capacity to be pre-reflectively immersed in the world, and are integral to understanding what it means to know the world (bodily knowing). The value of investigating the world through Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of the body is the opportunity to surface hitherto hidden insights about the role of the teacher’s body and the world they inhabit (Stolz, 2015) and how these insights can be applied to support teacher learning.

Realising a sense of bodily awareness enables one to experience one’s bodily sensations as, “an essential aspect of one’s lived experience” (Menzel et al. 2019, p53). By paying direct attention to bodily sensations (embodiment in mindfulness terms), it is possible to notice what Gendlin (2003) referred to as a bodily felt sense of any given situation. For Gendlin, our bodily felt sense does not announce itself through words or thoughts rather it is encountered as a “single (though often puzzling and very complex) bodily feeling” (Gendlin, 2003:32). We bring Gendin’s idea of bodily felt self into conversation with the research participant’s account of their bodily lived-through experiences and explore how this bodily awareness informed their teaching practice.

This study is an exploratory study that looks at teachers’ experiences of using the history resource pack through Project Based Learning. The study was done in the framework of an experimental project carried out with 30 public school history teachers in Armenia. The teachers were all female, with almost equal representation from all regions in Armenia.

In 2021, the Paradigma Educational Foundation started an initiative of developing resources to help teachers teach under-explored sections of Armenian history, including gender-sensitive topics and women’s role in Armenian history, through the lens of active historical thinking (Metzger and Harris, 2018; Seixas 2015). To that end, the foundation developed an innovative history-teaching resource pack called “History #5”. Therefore, this paper reports the finding of the study done to explore the practices of teachers with the resource pack in developing active historical thinking skills and multiperspectivity, as well as discussing gender-sensitive topics. The project was run in collaboration with UNICEF Armenia and the National Center for Education Development and Innovation.

The aim of the study was to explore teachers’ experiences of teaching with the resource pack through PBL and their practices of dealing with gender-sensitive topics. The study also aimed at identifying the affordances and constraints of the resource pack for further improvement.

The “History#5” resource pack is a history-teaching resource based on the theories of active historical thinking and multiperspectivity. Active historical thinking as a theory developed at the end of the 1970s in the UK, USA, Canada, and Germany (Metzger and Harris, 2018) and has been internationally spread through the work of Peter Seixas (Seixas, 2015). Active historical thinking theory holds that history teaching and learning should aim at helping students: Establish historical significance; Use primary source evidence; Identify continuity and change; Analyze cause and consequence; Take historical perspectives; and Understand the ethical dimension of historical interpretations.

Multiperspectivity is based on the constructivist approaches of the Nouvelle Histoire movement. It assumes that “we too have a perspective which has been filtered through our own cultural context, reflects our own standpoint and interpretation of what has happened and why, our own view of what is and is not relevant, and may also reflect other prejudices and biases” (Stradling, 2003, p.14).

In the course of the project teachers used the resource pack through project-based learning, as it helps students develop key knowledge and skills (Larmer et. al, 2015). Moreover, using PBL is required by the new national curriculum. Within history teaching, that means the development of active historical thinking concepts and multiperspectivity, as well as encouraging student-centered experiential learning (Kolb, 2015), and a facilitator role for the teacher through scaffolding (first introduced by Wood, Bruner and Ross, 1976).

Therefore, studying this new resource pack through PBL aims at contributing to the knowledge base of history teaching and provides implications for policymakers, history educators, teachers, and the organizations working in the field. Moreover, it seeks to contribute to an understanding of the teachers’ motivation for using the resource pack, challenges and opportunities associated with the pack, its sensitive topics, and PBL. Thus, to achieve this aim this study employs a qualitative methodology and sets out to answer the following research questions:

• What were the experiences of teachers doing project-based learning through the use of the “History#5” resource pack and the project-based learning guide developed to assist project implementation?

• What were the experiences of teachers while discussing the gender-sensitive topics of the “History #5” resource pack and questions arising during the project?

This paper reports on a pilot project in a public school (pupils aged 6-16) in a small municipality regarding a school development project that the authors have developed and facilitated in the school year 21/22. The goal of the project was to create knowledge about how to foster teacher development through an intervention centered around Professional Learning Communities (Stoll, et al., 2006; Doagan & Adams, 2018) and Action Learning (Aubusson, 2012; Revans, 1998). More specifically, the project sought to fulfill the ambition of the school administration who wanted problem-based and project-organized learning (PBL) to be the focal point for a pedagogical and organizational reorientation of the public schools in the municipality. A reorientation that held the potential to improve student motivation as well as increase the schools’ ability to develop students’ understanding of the world around them and foster their acquisition of 21^st century skills (OECD, 2019) – a goal that is shared widely in the primary educational sector across Europe and described in the European Councils recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning (European Council, 2018).

PBL is an international recognized pedagogical approach. Evidence for PBL’s effectiveness in improving stu-

Dents’ outcomes is promising although further research is still needed (Condliffe, 2017; Grant & Tamim, 2019). PBL can be organised in many different ways and in very diverse settings. However, across the research literature there is general agreement on the common characteristics that form the basis of PBL in education (Barrows 1996; de Graaff & Kolmos 2007; Savin-Baden & Major 2004). As such, PBL is characterised by the following principles:

• Learning is organised around real and complex problems that links theory to practice
• The nature of the academic work that students produce is authentic
• Knowledge is constructed through active learning processes
• Learning is a social phenomenon based on students’ active participation and involvement
• Learning takes place in small groups in order to achieve a goal only reachable through collaboration
• Teachers acts as facilitators of learning
• Students take responsibility for identifying own learning needs and organizing own learning path.

The full paper describes the concrete background for the competence development project as well as the didactic and practical considerations behind the design. Through countless research projects, organizational researchers have documented the difficulties of implementing successful organizational change (Beer & Nohria, 2000; Hughes, 2011). Educational institutions are in no way more susceptible to change than other organizations - rather the contrary (Burner, 2018). However, Fullan (2011), points to four conditions that, if met, provides initiatives aimed at promoting educational change a greater probability of success:

1. Cultivate the intrinsic motivation of teachers and students
2. Engage teachers and students in continuous improvement of teaching and learning
3. Inspire cooperation and teamwork
4. Be sure to involve all teachers and students

Based on Fullan’s four principles and Hargreaves & Shirleys (2020) notion of Leading from the Middle, small groups of teachers met once a month with a university facilitator to develop pedagogical PBL-based experiments which were subsequently tried out in class and finally evaluated at the next meeting in the learning group. After one year, the project was subject to a quantitative evaluation through a survey questionnaire. Finally, focus group interviews with teachers and managers were conducted (interviews with students is to be completed in Spring 2023). The research question that the project sought to answer was:

Are the principles behind theories of Professional Learning Communities, Action Learning and Problem-based Learning an effective way to foster pedagogical development for teachers in all subjects and classes simultaneously in primary education?

Abstract

With continuous development of the Internet, learners are overwhelmed by information flow which is available and sometimes accurate if filtered properly. During our experience of implementing different projects with Nazarbayev Intellectual School students, we noticed that they tend to find most of the information on the Web, but not necessarily criticizing it or checking for relevance to what they’re looking for. For that reason, as an Action research group, we took an aim to enhance learners’ skills of judging information for relevance while implementing project-based learning thereby improving their reading literacy.

Project-based-learning (PBL), as it is called, stands for a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in projects. The concept of PBL is similar to the notion of “knowledge building” launched by Bereiter and Scardamalia. Students are focused because they are creating a product or building something that reflects their dedication and passion.

The definition of PBL in Blumenfeld’s publication (1991) which discussed the effectiveness of project-based learning and motivation, PBL is a set of drive activities that culminate in a final product. Moreover, a question or a problem is set before the project begins and the solution is found by the end of the project. Analyzing the nature of PBL through different scientific articles we decided that implementing PBL would be advantageous as it matched perfectly with my goals to improve my students’ digital literacy, searching and sorting skills. Thus, we linked research to PBL as conducting research and doing projects is essential for their further academic life, development of problem-solving, critical analysis, communication and evaluation skills.

Defining the problem:

Though conducting research and working on a project might seem appealing and engaging, there are hurdles which students can be faced with. First of all, they find it challenging to identify the relevance of the data they collected to their project goals and research questions which may in turn take them off the track if not guided or given support. Students usually have problems:

While working with data from the internet:

• students write full sentences to a search engine thinking that more they write, more accurate information will show up;

• students trust a search engine that may return hundreds of unreliable documents;

• students hope that one or two listed on the first page will be relevant;

• students limit their research with one or two sources;

While working with data they collected from their surveys, interviews, experiments:

• they think every information they collected is relevant to their project. Therefore they struggle with sorting information which includes evidence and facts

• students struggle with contracting open-ended questions;

• after every new information students tend to shift from their initial goal.

• students focus on irrelevant, additional information rather than relevant data.

The skills needed for work in the 21^st century have been debated since this century began. The Partnership for 21^st century skills, established by leading multi-national companies including Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe, Ford, Dell and Pearson, set out to establish a framework for the 21^st century skills needed in the modern workplace. These, naturally, included the use of ICT and digital technologies, as well as those better known as 21^st century skills today such as critical thinking, creativity, and team working. The OECD adopted the concept in 2010 with Andreas Schleicher stating “educational success is no longer about reproducing content knowledge, but about extrapolating from what we know and applying that knowledge to novel situations” (https://www.oecd.org/general/thecasefor21st-centurylearning.htm).

Not all countries have adopted the language of 21^st century skills. However, many have adopted what we refer to here as ‘generic’ skills as part of their curriculums and values for education (OECD 2022). Apart from the OECD, other frameworks have been developed. For example, Skills Builder (https://www.skillsbuilder.org/) is used by employers, educators, and impact organisations across 10 countries including England, as it provides a useful framework to define skills. Eight essential skills are identified – listening; speaking; problem solving; creativity; staying positive; aiming high; leadership; and teamwork. Voogt and Roblin (2012) highlighted the key common skills as being ICT literacy, collaboration, communication, social and cultural skills, with a majority also including creativity, critical thinking and problem solving.

Although 21^st century skills are often related to children in compulsory schooling through curricula, the academic literature focuses on them in the context of those skills required by graduates transitioning into the modern workplace. Similarly, large scale quantitative research on the changing skills needed in job roles is driven by the availability of the comprehensive US-based O*NET taxonomy. To enable this more locally, England has been reviewing skills taxonomies (Popov et al, 2022) in preparation for developing its own version. 21^st century skills therefore, despite mostly being delivered to children and young people during compulsory education, are mainly researched in the context of being skills for work.

Our research focuses instead on the generic skills taught to young people aged 14-19. We review how generic skills are delivered to 14–19-year-olds across a range of jurisdictions focusing particularly here on England, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Scotland. We structure our analysis around four key factors: the systems and structures; the formation and enactment of policy; the educational and vocational cultures and traditions; and the education and status of teachers. We find that policy coherence and the professional status of teachers is crucial for the effective and consistent teaching and learning of generic skills to 14-19 year olds.

Across the four countries there is significant variation in the extent that generic skills are incorporated into the curriculum and how far this is a central curriculum design consideration and how far it is secondary. Policy coherence includes incorporating generic skills into the 14-19 curriculum at the same time as making sure they are part of a more general shift to adopt generic skills in other parts of the curriculum. For example, in Scotland, the Curriculum for Excellence was initially devised in 2004 and has been refreshed in 2019. The most recent version retains the explicit reference to skills, stating that young people are entitled to experience ‘opportunities for developing skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work’ (Scottish Government, 2019).

Changes in the workplace, technological evolution and political aims for labour mobility challenge initial vocational education and training (IVET) systems to prepare students for life-long learning (Billett, 2014; Nägele & Stalder, 2017). Basically, IVET provides students with a formal qualification which can be referred as domain-specific competencies (Gekara & Snell, 2018). However, due to their inevitable lack of versatile job experience young IVET graduates cannot stand out in recruitment situations with their domain-specific competencies; instead, students profit from domain-general competencies (Löfgren et al., 2022; Nägele & Stalder, 2017). These refer to integrated sets of knowledge, skills and attitudes that broadly assist an individual to adapt and act in unknown situations (Gekara & Snell, 2018; Nägele & Stalder, 2017).

In this study, Finnish IVET students’ domain-general competencies are investigated from the student perspective. In fact, Finnish technical-trade employers and IVET teachers have considered that IVET students graduate with varying or even unsatisfactory levels of competencies (Löfgren et al., 2020, 2022). However, students themselves have been seldom consulted (Billett, 2014). Also, Panadero et al. (2019) note that there are not many validated self-report instruments for IVET student domain-general competencies except for the one of Kyndt et al. (2014). They measured the following domain-general competencies that are not sufficiently addressed in the formal curricula but are greatly beneficial in the workplace: work organisation, cooperation ability, professional attitude, problem solving, active listening, empathy and assertiveness (Kyndt et al., 2014). This instrument covers very well the competencies we have found to be important for the Finnish IVET graduates (see Löfgren et al., 2020, 2022).

Despite its rarity, the instrument of Kyndt and colleagues (2014) and all other competency questionnaires alone may give a too simple, acquisition-driven impression of the student development of competencies. This is problematic because technical-trade educators, for example in Finland (Virtanen et al., 2014) and Sweden (Nylund & Gudmundson, 2017) tend to prefer a craftsperson habitus to their pedagogical task; thus, educators seem to stress students’ responsibility for their studies.

In fact, the learning environment alone can help the IVET students to overcome their difficulties and to continue with their studies, provided that the educators especially concentrate on their interaction with the students (Virtanen et al., 2014). In an advanced learning environment, educators at school and in the workplace provide the students with social support, recognition, equal treatment and a positive climate for learning so that the students may overcome individual adversities and develop more positive self-efficacy beliefs and a motivation for learning (Lüthi et al., 2021; Virtanen et al., 2014).

This study aims to discover how IVET students consider their learning of domain-general competencies and learning environment. We also want to find out how the experienced vocational learning environment contributes to student learning of domain-general competencies. The research questions are as follows:

RQ1) How do technical-trade IVET students perceive the domain-general competencies they have learned during their studies?

• H1. Students’ domain-general competencies consist of the categories of Work organisation, Cooperation ability, Professional attitude, Problem solving, Willingness to learn, Active listening, Empathy and Assertiveness.

RQ2) How do technical-trade IVET students experience their learning environment established by vocational educators?

• H2. Students’ experienced learning environment in IVET consists of receiving Social support from teachers and workplace mentors; encountering Equality and relatedness; having a constructive Climate for learning; and receiving Recognition for one’s opinions and efforts in learning.

RQ3) How does the experienced learning environment relate to technical-trade IVET student learning of domain-general competencies?

• H3. A supportive, equal, constructive and encouraging learning environment contributes to student learning of domain-general competencies.

In Germany, teachers traditionally study two subjects, for regular schools for example physics and English. In vocational education and training (VET), for example metalworking and English. This is in line with teaching at regular schools: Students have lessons in ~10 subjects each week and each teacher is responsible for two subjects. In VET-schools, this classical structure of teaching was replaced successively since the late 1990s by the so-called “learning field” approach (Lernfeldansatz, cp. for example KMK 2007). In this teaching approach, apprentices only have lessons in their vocation, subdivided into 10-15 (depending on the vocation) consecutive learning fields distributed over three years. General subjects like “[m]athematical and scientific content, technical contents, safety information and economics, business administration and ecological aspects should be imparted in an integrative manner within the learning fields” and “40 hours of English language objectives and contents are integrated into the learning fields” (BIBB 2015). In the first ten years after this re-structuring, many generic papers on learning fields have been published (cp. for example Fischer 2004, Straka 2005, Deitmer 2007).In the last years, nonetheless, the scientific and pedagogical discussions became rather quiet. Now, more than 25 years after this paradigmatic shift, it is time to explore its introduction, success, possible weaknesses and development potentials – and to work on the latter. Our research questions, exemplarily for the general subjects of physics and English, are:

* How advanced is the implementation of the learning fields on meso-level in the technical VET-schools in the German federal state of Bremen?

* Are there any concrete concepts or collections of examples of apparent good practice that could support VET-teachers in teaching accordingly?

* How does the implementation on micro (teaching)-level take place?

* From the perspective of the teachers, where are the deficits and how could they be overcome?

Although the empirical part of the study focusses on one country, only, we expect that the paper could help improving VET-teaching and VET teacher education in other countries, as well – and vice-versa, so that we could learn from the experiences made in other countries represented by delegates in the audience.

This symposium collects four papers that look at relevant dimensions of vocational education and training (VET) for international comparisons. Papers will include conceptual considerations as well as empirical findings from different countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the USA). Specific emphasis will be put on the concept of occupations (and related concepts such as vocation or profession) that is often neglected in comparative research on VET. Instead, recent comparisons have concentrated on the organisation of educational programmes and structures, the integration of general content into VET or mechanisms of systemic governance (e.g. Busemeyer &Trampusch, 2012, Nylund & Virolainen 2019 or Pilz 2016).

This type of governance research is, however, to a certain extent blind to questions that are directly focussing at other very relevant issues for educational research, such as the organization and practice of vocational teaching and learning in companies and schools or the subjective side of learning processes and its results. Whilst socio-cultural accounts of vocational and work-based learning and related concepts such as boundary crossing or the concept of tacit knowing have developed some significance in the international VET research discourse, they have only scarcely been tackled by comparative research. And this despite the fact that they constitute particularities that make VET distinct from general or academic education, and hence, are at the heart of vocational education (Cedefop 2017).

On the one hand, (comparative) VET research has to start from the assumption that it is different from other forms or programmes of education and therefore needs a common concept of “occupation” or “vocation”; on the other hand, the concept of occupation is questioned repeatedly. Some of the most important reasons for this are the discussion about the decreasing importance of occupations in life histories with quite different jobs, the decreasing importance of occupations in increasingly liberalized and flexible labour markets and the disappearance of entire occupations due to the rapid development of digital technologies.

The first contribution will introduce a framework that was developed in two Cedefop-Projects over the last six years and that is intended to provide a frame of reference for the comparison of VET-systems and concepts. It integrates three perspectives on VET: an educational system perspective, a socio-economic perspective and an epistemological-pedagogical perspective. In accordance with the three perspectives the symposium will include considerations from different disciplines and empirical fields of research and reflect on the significance of “occupation” as an important parameter of VET research. This includes sociological, educational and economic considerations. At the end of each contribution findings from all the contributions will be related to the framework.

The second contribution looks at the development of occupation as the reference system for VET in a Swiss-German comparison and relates it to overall developments in the vocational education and training systems of the two countries.

The third contribution represents a look at changes relevant to VET from the socio-economic perspective and is based on insights and theoretical concepts from a number of interviews that were carried out with eminent academic experts from different countries and disciplines in the relation between rapid technological changes and the way how work is organised.

The last paper will analyse the significance of the concept of “occupation” and “occupational practice” for the comparison of VET and how this integrates into the general framework. Specific emphasis will be laid upon the role of “occupation” and “occupational practice” as a “tertium comparationis” in comparative research.

Finally, a discussant advocating a psychological perspective on vocational education and "occupation" as a means of individual growth will round out the needed multidisciplinary view of “occupation” and VET.

Comparative research on VET in Europe has taken on a new dimension as a result of the enlargements of the European Union and increased educational cooperation since the mid-1990s (Clarke, Westerhuis, & Winch, 2021). Especially due to the accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union, the variety of systems to be considered as well as the intensity of research has increased massively in the last two decades (Tūtlys, Markowitsch, Pavlin, & Winterton, 2022). To manage this increasing complexity various VET typologies have been developed (for excellent overviews see for instance Rageth and Renold (2017), Gonon (2016) or Bosch (2016)). However, putting national VET systems into prefabricated boxes runs the risk of overlooking national specificities of VET and of reproducing cultural prejudices. Apart from that, many typologies focus on a very limited set of dimensions of comparison. More open systems for the analysis or descriptions of countries’ VET systems tend to be the exception. The paper presents a new framework for comparing VET building on previous conceptual frameworks in particular on works by Moodie (2008); Rojewski (2009) and Billett (2011) and uses design principles of the ‘morphological analysis’ (Zwicky, 1969). The framework has been developed jointly by an interdisciplinary group of VET researchers over a seven-year period as part of Cedefop's research on the future of VET. It essentially consists of 50 dimensions to analyse VET systems, as well as parts of them, structured according to three overlapping main perspectives: an epistemological and pedagogical perspective, an education system perspective, and a socio-economic or labour market perspective. It is expected that the research paper presenting the framework will be published in spring 2023. The presentation will focus on the methodological principles of the framework, illustrate various applications and provide an outlook on a possible new theory of comparative VET research.

Billett, S. (2011). Vocational Education - Purposes, Traditions and Prospects. Dordrecht: Springer. Bosch, G. (2016). Typologien nationaler Berufsbildungssysteme [Typologies of national VET systems]. Zeitschrift für Berufs-und Wirtschaftspädagogik, 112(1), 15-36. Clarke, L., Westerhuis, A., & Winch, C. (2021). Comparative VET European research since the 1980s: Accommodating changes in VET systems and labour markets. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 73(2), 295-315. Gonon, P. (2016). Zur Dynamik und Typologie von Berufsbildungssystemen. Eine internationale Perspektive [On the Dynamic and typology of VET systems. An international perspective]. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 62(3), 307-322. Moodie, G. (2008). From vocational to higher education : an international perspective. Berkshire, England ; New York, NY: SRHE and Open University Press. Rageth, L., & Renold, U. (2017). The linkage between the education and employment systems: Ideal types of vocational education and training programs. Rojewski, J. W. (2009). A conceptual framework for technical and vocational education and training. In R. Maclean & W. D. (Eds.), International handbook of education for the changing world of work (Vol. 1, pp. 19-39): Springer. Tūtlys, V., Markowitsch, J., Pavlin, S., & Winterton, J. (Eds.). (2022). Skill formation in Central and Eastern Europe. Bern: Peter Lang. Zwicky, F. (1969). Discovery, Invention, Research through the Morphological Approach. Toronto.

The development of the notion of occupation (“Beruf”) as an organising principle of VET in Germany and Switzerland (and beyond) will be discussed. Specifically, dual apprenticeships, like in German-speaking countries and regions are closely linked to occupations. That is why in both countries around 230-320 different occupations are designed for learning and acquiring skills through VET. Specific organizations (in Germany employer and employee representatives and chambers, in Switzerland -interprofessional ad hoc-committees) are entitled to steer– together with firms, state and school representatives - the ongoing development and innovation of dual apprenticeships in VET. Professional associations play a dominant role in defining and shaping occupations and VET requirements and renewing the regulations for learning an occupation. Although occupations – in times of globalization, technical changes and in the context of economic uncertainties, in short in the knowledge economy - are not any more stable concepts, nevertheless they set standards and requirements in fulfilling a highly qualified work. Thus, debates if occupations loose their importance, are popping up from time to time, do not really fit to the fact, that while some occupations disappear, in the meantime others emerge. The contribution is based on an analysis of aims – that can be located in the framework for comparing VET- that are expressed by different actors within the reform discussions in the two countries. Occupations reveal to be quite an important reference for all actors in the field regarding the reform of a national VET system as a whole, but also for defining the required competences and skills for specific tasks and for the syllabus. Although the concept of occupation is quite fluid, occupations are crucial for the further development of dual apprenticeships because they link work qualifications in the firm with educational standards, forwarded by professional organizations and state bodies. These insights are also important for countries, which recently developed apprenticeships.

Bürgi, R., Eigenmann, P. & Gonon, P. (2022). Reshaping the Role of Professional Associations and the Federal State in Swiss VET: Ambiguous Reactions to the Knowledge Economy. In Emmenger, P. & Bonoli, G. (eds.) VET and the knowledge economy (65-75). Oxford: University Press Bürgi, R. and Gonon, Ph. (2021). Varieties within a Collective Skill Formation System: How VET governance in Switzerland is shaped by associations. In International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), 8,1, 46-64. Deissinger, T. (1998): Beruflichkeit als organisierendes Prinzip der deutschen Berufsausbildung. Markt-Schwaben: Eusl. Gonon, Ph. (2017). Renaissance der dualen Berufsbildung durch Modernisierung. In: Schlögl, Peter, Stock, Michaela, Moser, Daniela, Schmid, Kurz & Gramlinger, Franz (Hrsg.): Berufsbildung – eine Renaissance? Bielefeld: Bertelsmann, S, 44-60. Gonon, Ph. (2017): Beruflichkeit: In: Berufsbildung- Zeitschrift für Theorie-Praxis- Dialog, 71,164, 1. Gonon, Ph. (2016). Beruf und Profession im Kontext der Expansion der schweizerischen Berufsbildung. In: Zimmermann, Th., Jütte, W. & Horvath, F. (Hrsg.): Arenen der Weiterbildung. Bern: hep Verlag, S. 190-199 Kutscha, G. (1992). 'Entberuflichung' und 'Neue Beruflichkeit' – Thesen und Aspekte zur Modernisierung der Berufsbildung und ihrer Theorie. In: Zeitschrift für Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik 88, 7, 535-548

This contribution is based on the analysis of a series of interviews (see as an example Latour 2018) with twelve leading academic researchers from France, the United Kingdom, Austria, the USA and Germany on the impact of digitalisation on the economy, work and society as a whole. The multiple perspectives expressed in these interviews constitute a widening of the discourse on the relationship between work and technology that can be made productive for the discussion on vocational education and training and the role of occupations. The interviews are available online as approximately 25-minute videos and took place in 2018 and 2019. They broaden the view beyond the common thesis of the substitution of human labour by digital technological solutions to various considerations regarding the actors, effects and opportunities resulting from technological change. The statements and present analyses are to be understood as theoretical markers of a strangely neglected field. Technical change is known to have an influence, but the mechanisms are seldomly explicated. They are also said to have an impact on occupations (see the economic substitution-idea (Frey/Osborne 2017), but occupations are only seen as statistical, time-irrelevant concepts. Thus, the analysis of theoretical approaches provides an insight into the effect of technologies on the structures of human-technology coexistence and their interdependencies, while it also points to very current specific conditions that are said to be capable of dissolving and altering even political and economic structures. This contribution to the symposium will be an extension to prior analysis of the interviews (Tiemann, Helmrich 2019) with a designated look at the relevance of the different approaches to comparative work on VET and the role of the concept of occupation, theoretically and statistically.

Frey, Carl B.; Osborne, Michael A. (2017): The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization? In: Technological Forecasting and Social Change (114) C, S. 254-280. Tiemann, Michael; Helmrich, Robert (2019): Auf dem Weg zu einer KI-Welt von morgen. Soziale, ökonomische und technologische Entwicklungen. In: Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis (3), S. 19–22. Latour, B. (2018) ‘Theory-Interview on the Relationship Between Societal and Technological Change’, www.bibb.de/dokumente/pdf/a12_latour_kurz-transkript.pdf .

This contribution is based on reflections on the further development and the application of the framework presented by Symposium Paper I. Specific emphasis will be laid upon the role of “occupation” and “occupational practice” as a “tertium comparationis” for comparative VET research. In an analysis of concepts of curriculum and comparative research in VET we found that the literature that in many cases does not refer explicitly to the notion of occupation or vocation. It only does so in an implicit way. Sometimes approaches refer to theory and practice, however, given the close connection between the knowledge and the practice itself, which is a genuine feature of VET a simple theory-practice-divide is not useful (see also Dietzen 2017, 2020). Based on concepts and terms from the socio-cultural approach (Billett, 2017; Billett et al., 2018; Harteis, 2018) we examine if ‘occupational practice’ can serve as the major reference system for comparative VET. Concepts from this approach, such as situated knowledge, canonical occupational knowledge and vocational knowledge will be located within the framework for comparative VET. Situated knowledge is the knowledge that is required at certain workplaces or in specific organisations – the concept remains largely within the scope of the socio-economic perspective. Canonical occupational knowledge is the knowledge that is generally accepted as the knowledge required to practice a certain occupation and spans different perspectives from the framework. Situated and canonical occupational knowledge - can become ‘vocational knowledge’ by processes of learning, internalisation and identification located in the focus of the epistemological-pedagogical perspective. In the contribution the benefits and limitations of making “occupational practice” the major reference for comparative research in VET will be discussed based on examples from the prior contributions and with reference to other concepts from VET research that were analysed in producing the framework for comparative research mentioned in the first contribution.

Billett, Stephen (2017): Theorising occupational practice and its learning: Personal, institutional and brute factors. In: Peter Grootenboer, Christine Edwards-Groves und Sarojni Choy (Hg.): Practice theory perspectives of Education and Pedagogy. Dordrecct: Springer, S. 67–86. Billett, Stephen; Harteis, Christian; Gruber, Hans (2018): Developing occupational expertise through everyday work activities and interactions. In: The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance, 2nd ed. New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge handbooks in psychology), S. 105–126. Dietzen, Agnes (2017): Knowledge Concepts in Competence-based VET Research Perspectives on Cognitivist and Social-Constructivist Approaches. In: Martin Mulder (Hg.): Competence-based vocational and professional education, Bd. 23. Cham: Springer (Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects), S. 719–737. Dietzen, Agnes (2020): Implizites Wissen, Arbeitsvermögen und berufliche Handlungskompetenz. In: Rico Hermkes, Georg Hans Neuweg und Tim Bonowski (Hg.): Implizites Wissen. Berufs- und wirtschaftspädagogische Annäherungen. 1. Auflage. Bielefeld: wbv Media (Wirtschaft - Beruf - Ethik, 38), S. 87–107.

Languages serve as communicative and social tools that are the foundation of all learning and communication. Therefore, language competences in the workforce are strategically important to develop and maintain external contacts, such as with national and international customers, clients and patients. In addition, they are of importance internally within companies and work teams, where often people with different language backgrounds work together. VET programmes that prepare learners for future work situations, attract linguistically diverse cohorts. These can include young people who have resided in a particular country from birth or for a long time, as well as those who have arrived more recently in a country.

Typically, many languages come in contact in VET programmes, such as the instructional language, any curricular foreign languages, learners’ family languages, and further languages that might be present in the workplace.

Especially those learners who have newly arrived from abroad, often struggle linguistically and may drop out before completion of their course (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2021). Therefore, considering how languages are learnt, used and perceived in VET programmes is not just a practical concern, but also one of social justice and one related to equal opportunities for individual VET learners, and the wider economy (Blixen & Hellne-Halvorsen, 2022).

Representatives of the LiVE network (Languages in Vocational Education) will present findings from four projects (Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein) that shine a light on technical, healthcare and trade-oriented vocational programmes, addressing the following questions:

• What language resources do learners bring to their VET programmes?
• How can newly arrived young people enrolled in VET programmes be supported to develop communicative competence in the locally dominant language?
• What additional languages do young people enrolled in VET programmes learn privately or desire to learn in the future?
• What is the role of English as a curricular subject, a language of instruction or a communicative tool in VET programmes in non-English dominant countries?

Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from VET learners, as well as classroom and work-place educators, we discuss our findings with the help of critical perspectives and socio-culturally informed theoretical frameworks.

The findings presented in our symposium confirm for instance that, on the one hand, VET cohorts are likely to be highly international and multilingual (Meier & Styger), and on the other hand, that learners require language support not only to develop the language of learning where necessary (Andreassen; Brekke & Kjelaas) but also additional languages in which they may already have competences or in which they desire to develop competences (Andersen; Meier & Styger). Languages are also tied to identities (Meier & Styger; Andreassen), while apprentices’ language competences enable internal and external work communication and socialisation (Meier & Styger).

Our work has implications for VET colleges and workplaces that may not always be aware of their learners’ language competences or communicative needs. Our joint findings and considerations lead us to formulate a series of recommendations, which we will present in our symposium, above all that this research area deserves greater attention by VET programme leaders, teachers, workplace instructors, as well as respective employers, business leaders, policy makers and researchers. This is of significance, because linguistically diverse VET cohorts and work contexts are a realty for many; because workplace integration and learning is related to wider social participation and inclusion; and because multilingualism is a potential asset for individuals, employers and the wider economy.

Two thirds of young people in Switzerland (WBF, 2017) and half in the Principality of Liechtenstein (LFL, 2021) choose a vocational programme rather than academic-focussed education. These cohorts are often rather multilingual, in our study 71% of surveyed apprentices (n=674) reported that they can speak three or more languages. However, the role of language diversity, language use and language socialisation more widely in vocational programmes seems severely under-researched (Coray & Duchêne 2017). Guided by language socialisation (Meier, 2018) and social cohesion frameworks (Meier & Smala, 2022), we developed the following questions: What languages do apprentices bring to their VET? How do they develop and use their languages? What role do languages play in their linguistic socialisation in different professions? We explored these questions with technical and trade-focussed apprentices, such as masons, electricians, mechanics and hairdressers. VET programmes in Switzerland and Liechtenstein are of the dual-track variety. In our case, the apprentices all attended a vocational college in eastern Switzerland right on the border to Liechtenstein. Their workplace training thus took place at a host company in either Switzerland or Liechtenstein, where German dialects are the predominant mode of communication. In Spring 2022, we collected 674 survey responses and conducted 11 interviews with apprentices in nine professions. In Autumn 2022, we then invited academics, employers, teachers and policy makers to respond to our first findings via a survey (n=90). Consequently, we analysed and interpreted these findings together. Findings related to apprentices (Meier & Styger, 2022) show that the participants in our study have 42+ nationalities, and they can use 56 languages and varieties at different levels of proficiency, thus constituting a very international and multilingual group that brings much linguistic capital to their work and learning. The learner findings further suggest that a majority of apprentices are interested in learning an additional language in the future, but that language learning opportunities at present (at college, at work and privately) are distributed rather unevenly. Similarly, apprentices in some professions are likely to be exposed to more than one language at work, where many mediate and translate between languages, thus smoothing communication in work teams and with customers. Alternatively, in other professions exposure to several languages is less likely, as German, or dialect, is often deemed predominant in their work. In this talk, we will unpack and discuss these results, taking into account stakeholder views, and draw conclusions for practice, policy and research.

Corary, R. & Duchêne (2017). Mehrsprachigkeit und Arbeitswelt: Literaturübersicht. Wissenschaftliches Kompetenzzentrums für Mehrsprachigkeit. Universität Fribourg. LFL (2021) Satistikportal. Bildungsverläufe. Landesverwaltung Fürstentum Liechtenstein. https://www.statistikportal.li/de/themen/bildung/bil-dungsverlaeufe Meier, G. (2018). Multilingual socialisation in education: Introducing the M-SOC approach. Language Education and Multilingualism: the Langscape Journal, 1, 103-125 Meier, G. & Smala, S. (2022). Languages and Social Cohesion: A Transdisciplinary Literature Review. Routledge. Advances in Sociology. Meier, G. & Styger, E. (2022). Zwischenbericht zum Projekt Mehrsprachigkeit in der gewerblich-industriellen Berufsbildung: Erste Analysen und Erkenntnisse zur Perspektive der Lernenden aus der Schweiz und dem Fürstentum Liechtenstein. https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/m-voc/reports-and-surveys/ WBF (2017). Förderung des Fremdsprachenerwerbs in der beruflichen Grundbildung. Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung WBF. www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/de/home/dienstleis-tungen/publikationen/publikationsdatenbank/fremdsprachen.html

In Norway, a high proportion of newly arrived immigrant students (NAIS) are enrolled in vocational education (Blixen & Hellne-Halvorsen, 2022). Oral communicative skills in Norwegian are foundational in the professions that these students are training for (Batenburg et al., 2020). Therefore, a strong emphasis on oracy in the locally dominant language is important in VET in general, and in VET for NAIS in particular. However, to our knowledge, research on oracy in vocational education is scarce. Whereas the emphasis on literacy and literacy skills in both academic education and VET has increased over the last 10-20 years (e.g., Visén, 2021; Hellne-Halvorsen, 2019), oracy has received far less attention both in research and classroom practice (Batenburg et al., 2020). Thus, it is crucial to explore what characterizes the oracy demands in various professions, as well as what role these abilities play in the training of the students. In this study, we therefore investigate the following questions: What do educators in VET perceive as the key requirements for oral skills in Norwegian in their professions? What part does oracy in Norwegian play in the training of students? And how are Norwegian oral communicative skills assessed? The study started in January 2023. Qualitative data was collected from seven upper secondary schools with vocational programmes, mainly in the Healthcare, Childhood and Youth development-programmes as well as in Technical and Industrial production-programmes. Both educators (N=30) and students (N=30) participated in our study. The data analysis is guided by a sociocultural framework, especially the principles of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) (e.g., Gibbons, 2015). This will enable us to develop insights into the oracy demands and training in VET, crucial for both educational policy and practice, especially with regards to better targeted pedagogies for newly arrived and linguistically diverse immigrant students. We will share first findings and main themes in this talk.

Batenburg, E. v. Oostdam, R., Gelderen, A. v., Fukkink, R & Jong, N. d. (2020). The effects of instructional focus and task type on pre-vocational learners’ ability in EFL oral interaction. ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics 171(2), pp. 153–190. Blixen, T. B. & Hellne-Halvorsen, E.B. (2022). All teachers are language teachers – A Norwegian Study on How Teachers in Vocational Education and Training Programs Experience and Reflect on Complementary Literacy Practices and Didactic Strategies in Multicultural Classrooms. In: L. M. Herrera, M. Teräs, P. Gougoulakis & J. Kontio (eds). Migration and Inclusion in Work Life – The Role of VET. Emerging issues in Research in Vocational Education and Training, vol. 7. Gibbons, P. (2015). Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning. Heineman. Hellne-Halvorsen, E. B. (2019). To kontekster – to skrivepraksiser? Skriving i skole og bedrift i fag- og yrkesopplæringen. Nordic Journal of Vocational Education and Training (NJVET) 1 (2019). Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (2021). Norwegian White Paper 2020-2021 The Completion Reform [Norwegian: Fullføringsreformen]. Visén, P. (2021). Tricks of the trade or situated literacy – disciplinary reading literacy practices in vocational education. Nordic Journal of Literacy Research 7(1).

In Norway, workplaces are becoming increasingly multilingual, and the use of English is more prevalent than ever in the professional sphere (Språkrådet, 2018). Still, Norwegian proficiency is a significant factor in employability and success across professional settings (e.g. Staalesen et al., 2018). In line with national language and education policies (e.g. Innst. 253 L, 2020) and requirements in the professional realm, Norwegian is the dominant language in mainstream VET. However, exceptions exist, and in this paper I explore such a case: A hairdressing class where the teaching materials are in English rather than Norwegian, even though teaching, assessments and the students’ future working lives are mainly Norwegian-monolingual. I report from a VET class in which I conducted linguistic-ethnographic fieldwork in 2020-2021. The participants are ten linguistically diverse students and one teacher in the hairdressing program. The teacher reports that the students overall are not advanced English users. Despite this and the Norwegian-monolingual education context, the class uses a mainly English-language digital multimodal learning platform when working with the hairdressing/vocational subject. The platform replaces the subject’s textbooks, and offers a range of resources, e.g. instruction videos, vocabulary quizzes, etc. in English. I investigate how the hairdressing teacher and the students orient to the digital platform in their work with the vocational subject. Core questions are: What are the perceived benefits and challenges of the digital learning resource? Are the affordances of the digital resource perceived to outweigh the (primarily linguistic) limitations and challenges it poses in a diverse vocational classroom? Analytically, the study adheres to a linguistic-ethnographic methodology (Copland & Creese, 2015). The theoretical framing includes language ideologies and elite multilingualism (e.g. Barakos & Selleck, 2019), and Bourdieu’s (1986, 1991) capital. Preliminary results suggest that the digital platform is viewed as an asset in the teaching of the vocational subject, especially by the vocational teacher, despite the language-related challenges some students experience. This speaks to the relative anglonormativity in Norwegian educational settings (e.g. Beiler, 2021). The students’ positions vis-a-vis the platform vary more. The use of the English-language digital platform (and its specialized vocational vocabulary) is arguably incongruent with the linguistic profile of the student group and the established norm of using Norwegian in the classroom. Moreover, it contrasts the formal curricular framework of the vocational program subject, which has a Norwegian-monolingual form and intention.

Barakos, E., & Selleck, C. (2019). Elite multilingualism: Discourses, practices, and debates. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(5), 361–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1543691 Beiler, I. R. (2021). Marked and unmarked translanguaging in accelerated, mainstream, and sheltered English classrooms. Multilingua, 40(1), 107–138. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2020-0022 Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood. Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Polity Press. Copland, F., & Creese, A. (2015). Linguistic ethnography: Collecting, analysing and presenting data. Sage. Innst. 253 L. (2020). Innstilling frå familie- og kulturkomiteen om Lov om språk (språklova). Familie- og kulturkomiteen. https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Innstillinger/Stortinget/2020-2021/inns-202021-253l/?all=true Språkrådet. (2018). Språk i Norge – kultur og infrastruktur. https://www.sprakradet.no/globalassets/diverse/sprak-i-norge_web.pdf Staalesen, P. D., Heglum, M. A., & Berg, H. (2018). Arbeidsgiverperspektivet i inkludering. En undersøkelse blant NHOs medlemsbedrifter. (Rapport No. 2018–12). Proba samfunnsanalyse. https://www.nho.no/contentassets/b36417854c2749d48b243abd4ccf4f34/190322_probarapport-18047-arbeidsgiverperspektivet-i-inkludering-.pdf

In Norway, most newly arrived minority language speaking students choose the vocational path in upper secondary school. Only half of this group complete their education within 6 years and for those who have a limited school background, the completion rate is expected to be even lower (Integrerings- og mangfoldsdirektoratet, 2021; Thorud, 2017). Migrant students are faced with several challenges when entering the mainstream school system and linguistic barriers have been identified as a major obstacle (Bakken & Hyggen, 2018; Dewilde & Kulbrandstad, 2016; Lunga et al., 2020). The education of newly arrived students has been a relatively under-researched area, particularly when it comes to the students’ own experiences and to the many transitions they go through in the educational system (Jama, 2018; Nilsson Folke, 2017). Furthermore, vocational education has overall received little attention in research and theory development (Hellne-Halvorsen, 2014; Herrera et al., 2022). This study attempts to address these voids by investigating one student’s experiences with transitioning from an introduction class for newly arrived migrants to vocational school. I investigated this student’s experiences related to first language use in the two school contexts by asking: 1) what characterizes his experiences concerning first language use in the transition from introduction class to vocational school? And, 2) How can these experiences be understood? I will share findings from a relevant study drawing on data material from critical linguistic ethnographic fieldwork where I followed 22-year-old Hamid in his transition from an introduction class for newly arrived migrants to vocational school. Connections, or potentially disconnections, with language practices in students’ previous school contexts appeared as a key element towards understanding linguistic challenges experienced in vocational school. The use of first languages as a resource to both second language and subject content learning became an increasingly important factor as Hamid transitioned to vocational school. Data material consists of fieldnotes from participatory observation and transcripts of in-depth interviews with the student, his teachers, and school leaders. I consider ideological and pedagogical underpinnings influencing the student’s experiences by drawing on critical sociolinguistic theory on language and language learning.

Bakken, A., & Hyggen, C. (2018). Trivsel og utdanningsdriv blant minoritetselever i videregående. Hvordan forstå karakterforskjeller mellom elever med ulik innvandrerbakgrunn? NOVA. Dewilde, J., & Kulbrandstad, L. A. (2016). Nyankomne barn og unge i den norske utdanningskonteksten. Nordisk tidsskrift for andrespråksforskning, 11(2), 13–33. Hellne-Halvorsen, E. B. (2014). Skrivepraksiser i yrkesfaglige utdanningsprogrammer [Universitetet i Oslo]. I Norbok. https://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2019091977070 Herrera, L. M., Teräs, M., Gougoulakis, P., & Kontio, J. (Red.). (2022). Migration and inclusion in work life—The role of VET (Bd. 7). Atlas Akademi. Integrerings- og mangfoldsdirektoratet. (2021). Gjennomføring av videregående opplæring blant unge innvandrere. IMDi. https://www.imdi.no/om-integrering-i-norge/kunnskapsoversikt/gjennomforing-av-videregaende-opplaring--blant-unge-innvandrere/ Jama, H. (2018). Nyankomne elever i det norske utdanningssystemet: Overgangen fra innføringstilbud til ordinær undervisning [Masteroppgave, Universitetet i Oslo]. https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/64321/Masteroppgave-Hibo-Jama---v-r-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Lunga, W., Bislimi, F., Momani, F., Nouns, I., & Sobane, K. (2020). Barriers to access to education for migrant children. G20 Insights. https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/barriers-to-access-to-education-for-migrant-children/ Nilsson Folke, J. (2017). Lived transitions: Experiences of learning and inclusion among newly arrived students. Department of Child and Youth Studies, Stockholm University. Thorud, E. (2017). Immigration and Integration 2016–2017 (s. 180). regjeringen.no/contentassets/005e1d69ad5141958451b8770552dab9/immigration-and-integration-20162017.pdf

In today’s world, scientifically literate people are needed to solve problems and make responsible decisions in science, medicine, and other areas important for society (OECD, 2019). This suggests that learning in science subjects needs to equip students not only with the necessary knowledge, but to promote the application of knowledge, plus the gaining of 21st-century skills and associated values (Cipková et al., 2020). A worldwide concern in science education is perceiving learning as a series of disconnected knowledge acquisitions, which impacts students’ interest in science (Author 1 et al., 2019). In such a learning environment, students have difficulty in perceiving how to apply knowledge, to solve real-life global challenges, as well as lack the ability to make links between knowledge from multiple subjects (Cipková et al., 2020). For learning to be meaningful, Ausubel et al. (1968) indicate information needs to be completely conceptualized and used to make connections with other previously known knowledge, thus aiding further learning. As indicated in previous research, applying meaningful learning methods (e.g. mind mapping tasks), has a positive influence on students’ self-efficacy (Baltaoğlu & Güven, 2019). DCIs and ICIs form a unified scientific framework for various topics of the curriculum, as set out in the curriculum and are forming a necessary core for conceptualizing science (NRC, 2012; Author 1 et al., 2019). These are important in everyday life and in the future, currently agreed upon by science and society (Author 1 et al., 2019). DCIs and ICIs can support a perception of interdisciplinarity between science subjects and in so doing, support the development of conceptualizations, which, in turn, makes the learning process more meaningful (NRC, 2012). The goal of this research is to identify students’ ability to use DCIs and ICIs to form maps to support meaningful learning across science subjects. The following research questions are put forward:

RQ1 How effective are students in expanding DCI and ICI maps as a tool for promoting self-efficacy in science?

RQ2 What differences occur in students’ self-efficacy between an experimental group that expand DCI and ICI maps and a control group not utilizing such maps?

RQ3 What are students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the developed teaching/learning method, within the experimental group, for supporting students’ self-efficacy?

In both Swedish and international research there is a significant gap of knowledge about pupils' experiences of Physical Education [PE]. According to the Swedish National Agency for Education, the grading system implemented in Sweden in 2011 was intended to be more equitable. But rarely has a grading system been more criticised by pupils. Grades don´t work the same for all pupils, younger pupils are more affected by grades than older and high-performing pupils (Vetenskapsrådet, 2015). Pupils have emphasised that they experience problems with assessment and grading, as well as lack of clarity about the PE teacher role (Redelius & Hay, 2012). It´s also important that students know when the assessment happens and what´s being assessed (Redelius & Hay, 2009).

PE teaching should create better conditions for all pupils to participate in activities according to their own abilities. Different conditions and challenges apply to a diversity of pupils, depending on their ethnicity, gender, culture, socio-economic background, to participate in physical activities in PE on equal terms. It´s necessary to recognise all forms of diversity in teaching and different learning contexts but this needs to agree with changes in curricula, pedagogical strategies and the teaching style of the PE teacher. Diversity generates heterogeneous systems, and thus can have a positive impact on teaching with greater inclusiveness in assessing pupil performance and creating fair and equal opportunities for each individual pupil. A school for all is a school where all pupils, regardless of their differences, are equally valued and teaching is adapted to each pupil's different abilities (Skolverket, 2017). Simultaneously, teachers should promote variety and diversity as something positive, which creates an understanding that everyone has the right to develop their abilities at their own pace, integrated with others (Hammar & Johansson, 2013).

In PE, there are several aspects of diversity that need to be reviewed. This study is based on a Swedish context, but is also applicable to provide knowledge and understanding for other European countries. The study also presents the pupils' own suggestions for improving PE, which is an important societal investment. The purpose of this study is to contribute to increased knowledge and a deeper understanding of PE, based on the pupils' perspectives on assessment and the grading system in PE.

The study takes a socio-cultural approach and a dialogical perspective on the theory of Social Representation [SR] (Markova, 2003). SR is characterised by sentences, values, similarities, ideas and practices shared by groups of people in societies and is used as a tool to describe and analyse the creation of common social representations. SR is used to analyse pupils’ common knowledge about PE; how they understand each other and the topic, and how they are socialised into, and develop social representations of, grading system.

From a socio-cultural perspective, individual learning is tied to social interaction (Säljö, 2014). We influence the group and the group affects us. The context is constantly changing both unconsciously and consciously (Linell, 2009). In PE, it´s relevant for pupils and teachers to interact in teaching and to link activities to real and meaningful contexts. These contexts are important for pupils’ motivation and meaningful teaching. Different representations are shared within the group of pupils and determine how the group members perceive, act and think together. SR provided a useful way of finding out what PE was in the social context (Moscovici, 2001,2008). The study focuses on what pupils talk about in connection to PE, and is based on a dynamic constructivist approach – and thus how the pupils construct content in PE.

Over recent years, several countries in Europe and elsewhere have seen a resurgent interest in the concept of learning progression and what it means to progress in learning. Learning progressions, or ‘progression frameworks’, are typically thought about as optimised pathways along which pupils might be expected to progress towards greater sophistication in knowledge and skills. They can be informed by or be the product of research and classroom evidence, and can be used to support effective teaching, learning and formative assessment. They have also been critiqued for imposing a sense of linearity and predictability in learning as well as artificial ceilings that can be narrowing and reductive. While many studies of learning progression are concerned with single concepts or ideas (e.g., progression in understanding the concept of matter), the notion that learning becomes more sophisticated is variously reflected in different country’s curricula.

In recent years, some countries and jurisdictions have chosen to foreground ideas of learning progression as part of curriculum development and/or enactment. One such country is Wales which, following the publication of Successful Futures (2015), has embarked upon an ambitious programme of curricular reform in which the curriculum is structured around 6 areas of learning experience, each with its own set of progression frameworks. Foregrounding progression in curricula opens up questions about the relationships between high-level curricular frameworks of progression, and how pupils actually learn over time in and across different subjects or curricular areas. Does pupil learning develop as curricular progressions suggest? We see these relationships as multifaceted, reified within processes of translation and enactment and variously influenced by complex factors.

Here, we present a study funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (RIG009335) that was undertaken to design a methodological approach for developing a rich understanding pupils’ progression in learning. It is set within the context of Welsh Educational reform and is designed to form part of a future and larger-scale longitudinal study that will follow individual pupils through several years and stages of a national education system in which learning progression is foregrounded. We positioned this study by first exploring, challenging and making explicit our own understandings and assumptions about the nature of learning, its acquisitional and participatory natures and the socio-cultural context of classrooms. Making progress in learning was seen as different to making progress in performance and we distinguish between ‘learning progressions’ as symbolic representations of possible ways learning might evolve, and the substantive learning of pupils which may or may not reflect these. We considered the method in relation to three characteristically different areas of learning: Maths & Numeracy, Humanities, and Science & Technology.

Rather than testing the extent to which pupil learning reflects smaller-scale intervention type progression frameworks as explored in the review, or the extent to which assessed performances meet pre-determined outcomes, learning is viewed more holistically. Here, it is seen as non-linear, mutable, involving misconceptions, confusion, gaps, connections, divergencies, emotion, realisation, and insight. Rather than successive performances, progress in learning is seen as an epistemic process of meaning making. While socially and culturally mediated, learning is seen as that which takes place in pupil’s heads. The approach does not prescribe or preclude any particular assessment or pedagogical approaches but accommodates these as part of curriculum is translated through practice. We noted that almost all symbolic learning progressions rest upon a conventional empirical model of fixed time, but that this may not reflect the experience of pupils as they make meaning. We therefor incorporate both fixed and fluid models of time (Neale, 2019).

One of the greatest challenges for teacher education is to prepare teachers for the complex task of teaching for excellence while at the same time pursuing equity and inclusion (Cochran-Smith, Ell, Grudnoff, Haigh, Hill and Ludlow, 2016). 

The challenges are not new. There have always been pupils who are marginalized by the education system and these systemic inequities have continually shaped the context in which teachers have to do their work (e.g. Gadsden, Davis & Artiles, 2009). However, today the dimensions of diversity and inequality have increased due to recent migration patterns (OECD, 2019) and social justice, equity and inclusion movements that gained importance during the last decades (Biesta, 2012). 

Many studies have been performed on how to prepare teachers to teach for equity and inclusion, growing at hundreds per year. Researchers have appraised, summarized and brought together existing studies in reviews and meta-analyses. A review of 26 review studies was performed by the chair (Van Peteghem & Consuegra, 2021) and summarizes the recurrent recommendations for teacher education in a grid containing ten principles: 1) inclusion and diversity should not be isolated in one course but integrated throughout the curriculum, 2) guidance  is needed during recruitment and study progress 3) critical inquiry and self-reflection should be key learning goals, 4)  mentoring and coaching should be offered before, during and after training practice, 5) community-based learning should be included to learn in and with local contexts and partners, 6) collaboration with schools is necessary to facilitate transition into practice to reduce the practice shock, 7) collaboration within and outside of school is a key learning goal, 8) student-teachers should have safe spaces to share thoughts without fear for negative consequences, 9) student-teachers should not only learn about inclusion and diversity in general but also about special needs of specific target groups, 10) the use of technology can  be exploited to support multiperspectivism. 

The grid has been discussed in depth during a physical two-day visit to Paris in November 2022 by the members of the Connected Research Community (CRC) ‘Research for inclusive education’ which is part of the EUTOPIA European University alliance. This alliance brings together ten European universities aiming to become, by 2030, an open, multicultural, confederated operation of connected campuses. The CRC aims to connect research initiatives across EUTOPIA partners and beyond in order to improve teacher education for inclusion.  

In this symposium four studies from teacher education institutions in Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and Gothenburg (Sweden) are presented with each study addressing one or more of the principles in the grid for teacher education for inclusion. The first paper shows how collaboration between regular and special education teachers can change practices and discourse about ‘students in difficulties’. The second paper describes under which conditions constructive disruption experienced by pre- and in-service teachers during collaborative inquiry in urban schools can lead to changes in beliefs and practices. The third paper uses the grid to analyse program documents and interviews with leadership and teacher educators to assess the curriculum of a teacher education program.  The fourth paper investigates how hybridization of the teacher education curriculum can contribute to teacher education for inclusion for example by creating online safe spaces.

Mixed methods are used in the studies such as document analyses, semi-structured interviews, observations and surveying. The discussant is not a member of the CRC and will discuss how inclusion might be defined and operationalised differently in the four studies and how the grid could be further developed to be used as an analytical framework for teacher education institutions to self-assess their programs. 

In France, specialized teachers of the RASED (Réseau d'Aide aux Elèves En Difficulté) are in charge of primary school students labelled by “regular” teachers as being "in difficulty". These specialized teachers are resource persons as indicated in the reference framework of competences (Official journal of 12-2-2017). As such, they can engage in a partnership with their “regular classroom” colleagues as co-teachers. Co-teaching is defined as the joint pedagogical work, in the same group, time and space, of two teachers who share educational responsibilities to achieve specific objectives (Tremblay, 2015). Co-teaching allows caring for these students reported as "in difficulty" within the classroom.  This research begun in 2022 and deals with the item "Collaboration" (item 7 of the grid). This study is based on the observation of 10 pairs of regular teacher-specialized teacher working collaboratively.  The methodology consists of a longitudinal collection of different types of data: forms filled in by the class teachers, a questionnaire filled in by these teachers, observations of videos of co-teaching sessions, semi-directive interviews (Imbert, 2010), conducted by the specialised teacher, which will question the regular teacher on his or her practice after the experience of co-teaching, particularly with pupils identified at the outset as being in difficulty. Finally, a seminar gathered together the specialized teachers and allowed them to discuss the collaborative modes of each of them and to share the evolution of this partnership with their “regular classroom” colleagues.  Preliminary results indicate a twofold evolution among the regular teachers. On the one hand, their professional gestures (Bucheton and Soulé, 2009) are more anticipated and allow better support to "students in difficulty". The joint identification of the pedagogical and didactic parameters that affect the construction of learning makes it possible to remove the disagreements (Champain 2019, 2023) that prevented the progress of students reported as "in difficulty". All regular teachers broaden their representations to a class system that encompasses their own practice.  On the other hand, the discourse of the classroom teachers shifts, with regard to the stated objective, the forms of student engagement, and their productions. The teachers' statements about the "lack of concentration of the students", their "inattention", their "laziness", evolve and are transformed into needs. From a discourse centered on the pupil as the sole bearer of the difficulty, we thus observe the displacement of the "difficulty", this term opens to more systemic considerations.

BAUTIER, E. & RAYOU,P. (2009). Les inégalités d'apprentissage. Programmes, pratiques et malentendus scolaires, PUF, coll. « Education et société ».  BERZIN, C & BRISSET, C, (2008). « Le statut de la difficulté dans les apprentissages : les représentations des enseignants spécialisés et non spécialisés », Armand Colin. Carrefours de l'éducation, n° 25. 91 – 101  BUCHETON, D. et SOULÉ, Y, (2009). « Les gestes professionnels et le jeu des postures de l’enseignant dans la classe : un multi-agenda de préoccupations enchâssées », Éducation et didactique, vol 3 - n°3.  CHAMPAIN, P., (2019). « Les difficultés de compréhension des attentes de l’école : du malentendu au mal attendu. Point de vue des enseignants et mise en perspective avec les productions d’élèves, étude exploratoire. », in « La lettre de l’AIRDF, N°66, pp.10-15.  JANIN, M., MOREAU, G., et TOULLEC-THERY, M. , (2021) « Le coenseignement dans une classe hétérogène promeut-il une différenciation pédagogique ? » Éducation et socialisation.   MONTFROY, B. (2002) «La définition des élèves en difficulté en ZEP : le discours des enseignants de l’école primaire ». Revue Française de Pédagogie, n° 140. 33 – 40. 

Collaborative inquiry (principle 3 and 7 of the grid) is conceived as a systematic process of inquiry-based learning about school-related issues among different actors inside and outside schools, i.e., in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, secondary school students and teacher educators. In the last decade, the authors each conducted a long-term research project in Belgium on various aspects of collaborative inquiry. Willegems (2020) examined how it can contribute to pre-service and in-service teachers' professional learning (professionalization). Strijbos (2022) probed how and under what conditions it might enhance student participation in their schools. Both research projects were situated in the context of urban secondary schools since evidence suggests major challenges in terms of both sustainable teacher engagement and student participation (Milner & Lomotey, 2017; Nasir et al., 2011; Sampermans et al., 2017).   Regardless of their disparate research foci, both authors found that when actors share their divergent perspectives and voices with each other it causes a disruption of the familiar practice. Moreover, they both observed in real-life settings that such disruption can be constructive in nature when the right level of turbulence is achieved, stimulating actors to adjust their daily practice and beliefs (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009). Collaborative inquiry, in other words, through constructive disruption, has the potential to change school practice.   Drawing on research findings from both PhD projects (Strijbos, 2022; Willegems, 2020), we will summarize how constructive disruption, provoked by voicing professionals and youth in the context of collaborative inquiry, can contribute to more inclusive urban school practices. For three focus areas, we infer how teacher education can prepare pre-service teachers to do so.  First, it proves critical to balance the prevailing multiple voices. To this end, an adequate learning and working environment characterized by an overall positive approach should be created, allowing ample opportunities to make the different perspectives explicit. Second, it requires specific expertise among teachers to establish inclusive school practice: (1) expertise in emotional interaction, recognizing and adequately dealing with emotions between participants, and (2) expertise in conflict, provoking and channeling disagreement and controversy for depth in relationship and communication to be obtained. Finally, unambiguous assignment and interpretation of the roles and responsibilities of all actors appears of paramount importance. Without this, participants prove to fulfill their roles in accordance with their own judgments, causing frustration when unspoken expectations are not put into practice. 

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2009). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. New York: Teachers College Press.   Milner IV, H. R., & Lomotey, K. (2017). Handbook of Urban Education. Routledge.  Nasir, N. S., Jones, A., & Mclaughlin, M. (2011). School Connectedness for Students in Low-Income Urban High Schools, 39(8), 1755–1793. http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=16173  Sampermans, D., Maurissen, L., Louw, G., Hooghe, M., & Claes, E. (2017). ICCS 2016 Rapport Vlaanderen. KU Leuven, Centrum voor Politicologie.  Strijbos, J. (2022). Student Participation in Urban Schools: Investigating the Democratic Potential of Student-Teacher Partnerships.  Willegems, V. (2020). Inside Stories of Collaborative Teacher Research Teams: Spaces for Developing Extended Professionalism in School-university Partnerships. 

This paper aims at identifying how principle 1 (integration) is implemented in Sweden for teacher education. Most teacher education programs in Sweden incorporate a short module (ca 7.5 ECTS) that incorporate aspects of special education, conflict management and social relations. However, we know little about if and how inclusive education content permeates the core curriculum (Miškolci, et al. 2021).  The Swedish context is characterized by collective action spearheaded by a social democratic welfare state. This political and cultural background has been instrumental in creating an early and fertile base from which to criticize the traditional special educational and exclusionary approach and to formulate concepts such as normalization, integration and inclusion (Beach & Dyson, 2016).   However, a number of findings reveal a large gap between policy intentions and practice with regards to inclusion. There are general agreement both among researchers and practitioners that an indispensable element of inclusive education involves ensuring that all teachers are prepared to teach all students (Paulsrud & Nilholm, 2020). This study explores how integration of inclusion towards teacher education is implemented in Sweden. We are exploring the degree to which the ten principles of effective teacher education for inclusion (Van Peteghem & Consuegra, 2021) are present in the curriculum of general teacher education program for primary and secondary schools at a Swedish university and how it is perceived to be present. The analytical framework for data-analysis is guided by the ten principles for effective teacher education for inclusion To analyze prescription and reality, a mixed method design is adopted combining document analysis (reviewing program goals, curriculum, syllabus etc.) and semi-structured interviews with five program leaders in our faculty and ten teachers educators. We are studying how integration is done considering the text and how it is put into practice for teacher educators.   Analyses are still being finalized at the moment of submitting this symposium. Preliminary results shows how the concept of inclusive education is very little infused in different subjects and content matters and in which cases inclusive education is translated (or not)  into learning and teaching practices.  The presentation will conclude by highlighting challenges, opportunities and dilemmas to competently prepare teachers to be able to create an inclusive learning environment in their teaching practices. 

Beach, D., & Dyson, A. (Eds.). (2016). Equity and Education in cold climates, in Sweden and England. London: Tufnell Press.  Miškolci, J., Magnússon, G., & Nilholm, C. (2021). Complexities of preparing teachers for inclusive education: case-study of a university in Sweden. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 36(4), 562-576.  Paulsrud, D., & Nilholm, C. (2020). Teaching for inclusion–a review of research on the cooperation between regular teachers and special educators in the work with students in need of special support. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-15. 

The communication proposed aims at understanding the consequences of the use of technology (point 10 of the grid  of Van Peteghem & Consuegra, 2021) on teacher education for inclusion.  We approach this question by considering the situation in our own teaching academy, in France, and we further focus on teacher training for vocational and technological schools. This academy is in the biggest administrative area of France. This area contains socially disadvantaged families, which goes with younger teams of teachers, turnover, and recruiting difficulties that are higher than the national average. So we have to consider inclusive education in an intersectional approach (Artiles & Kozleski 2007).  The Covid19 pandemic has profoundly added to this context, taking teacher training away from its face-to-face roots into a system that was almost exclusively distance-learning, and that now is becoming increasingly hybridized between the two approaches. This has resulted in, among other things, large-scale changes in the use of technology for teacher training.  We consider a broad approach to inclusion looking for universal pedagogy (Bergeron et al 2011) : As teachers develop their ability to teach children with special needs, this also improves their ability to teach all children generally. We also care that as an innovation (Cros, 2001), digital environment facilitates transformations in teaching (Barrette, 2009) but is also a generator of inequalities (Plantard, 2021). Using the grid as an analysis of change, we are studying the consequences of the hybridization of the teacher education. Regarding our methodology, we reconducted a survey we already had in the general population of teachers in 2016 (n=260) on our trainee teachers in december 2021 (n=102) and completed by four focus groups of 15 trainees in February 2022 and seven long interviews in the summer of 2022.   Our results show that the hybridization of face-to-face and online distance-learning tends to lead to more collaborative work, as well as fostering online communities that further aid teacher education. These correspond to points 5 and 7 of the grid. This socialization tends to cross disciplines, which further helps integrate inclusion (point 1 of the grid) into the full experience of teaching. Trainees further testified during the interviews how they are reusing their online training to provide online "safe space" (point 8 of the grid), where their pupils felt more comfortable asking questions. This too fosters a universal pedagogy. We will thus discuss the issues of digital technology for teacher education. 

Artiles, A. J., & Kozleski, E. (2007). Beyond convictions: Interrogating culture, history, and power in inclusive education. Language Arts, 84, 357-364.  Barrette C. (2009). « Méta-recherche sur les  effets de l’intégration des TIC en pédagogie collégiale».  Revue internationale des technologies en pédagogie universitaire, vol.6, n°2-3, p.18-25  http://www.ritpu.org/IMG/pdf/RITPU_v06_n02-03_18.pdf  Bergeron L., Rousseau N. & Leclerc M. (2011). La pédagogie universelle : au cœur de la planification de l’inclusion scolaire. Éducation et francophonie, n°39(2), pp.87–104. https://doi.org/10.7202/1007729ar  Cros F. (2001), L’innovation scolaire. Paris, Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique.  Perez-Roux T. (2020). Le rapport au numérique des enseignants: controverses au sein d'un lycée et enjeux identitaires. B. Marin et D. Berger (dir.). Recherche en éducation : des enjeux partagés, Le réseau des INSPE, 2020.  Tricot, A. (2017). L’innovation pédagogique. Retz.  Van Peteghem, H., & Consuegra, E. (2021). Aandacht voor culturele diversiteit in de (leraren)opleiding. In Diversiteit in het hoger onderwijs: van theoretisch kader naar praktijkgerichte verandering (pp. 129-145). ASP. 

The European Commission (2017) points out that teachers need to be prepared for career-long professional development, collaborative work and for dealing with diversity in their classrooms. According to the Paris Declaration (Council of the EU, 2015), due to the increasing numbers of immigrants entering the EU, the question of addressing the diversity of students is one of the most pressing challenges for educators. At the same time, TALIS results (OECD, 2019) show that teachers across the EU do not feel well prepared for teaching in diverse settings. Teachers are central to addressing a key challenge for schools in the 21st century, which is to teach different students with a variety of abilities, motivations and backgrounds to succeed in school and later in life. Diversity awareness can support teachers’ capacities to meet the needs of diverse classrooms and schools and create more inclusive classrooms. In the symposium, we will explore diversity awareness together with the social and emotional competencies of teachers and principals from several different perspectives as well as several different countries. The symposium brings together insights from two European Erasmus+ projects The HAND IN HAND: Empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity related career challenges (HAND:ET) and HEAD: Empowering School Principals for Inclusive School Culture. In the first paper, Odak and colleagues base their discussion of teachers’ role in supporting diversity and social justice in schools on an extensive literature review. The second paper by Roczen and colleagues in addition to the first theoretical paper provide empirical support by focusing on the process of measuring of social and emotional competencies and diversity awareness of teachers across Europe. The following papers bring provide further insights into diversity awareness from individual countries. From Slovenia, Kozina and Vršnik Perše explore the role of mindfulness in fostering social-emotional competencies and diversity awareness of teachers using HAND:ET data. From Sweden, Dahlström and Oskarsson focus on practicing diversity awareness in the classroom by using empathic curiosity.From Austria, Fredericks and colleagues report on teachers' self-assessments of their well-being, and multicultural and egalitarian beliefs in the context of teaching in a diverse environment using data from the HAND:ET project. The symposium ends with a paper of Mlekuž and Veldin focusing on teachers and principals and their role in building inclusive schools in Croatia and the Republic of North Macedonia using the data from the HEAD project.

In this paper, we focus on teachers’ diversity awareness and teachers’ critical consciousness, as these competencies are central for understanding "HAND IN HAND: Empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity related career challenges"project’s stance on diversity. A large body of literature illustrates that the way how teachers teach diversity matters. In addition, the role of teachers in minority students’ achievement is well researched from the perspective of social psychology (e.g., Chin et al., 2020). However, there is a lack of research focusing on teachers’ awareness of diversity, inequality and social justice, as well as on their feelings of competence and preparedness for working in culturally diverse classrooms (Kim & Cooc, 2022). Following on Bell’s (2016) notion that diversity and inequality are inseparably connected, we reviewed literature that explored how teachers perceive and react upon diversity and inequality in their classrooms. We aimed at exploring diversity awareness and critical consciousness in education; why teachers’ diversity awareness and critical consciousness are important; and how these competencies can be supported. Regarding the theoretical perspective, we outline a conceptual model based on our understanding of teachers’ diversity awareness and critical consciousness, as an attempt to provide more conceptual clarity in this field. Our approach accentuates the transformative potential of teachers and their beliefs, behaviours and competencies for social justice in education. The majority of papers on teachers’ diversity awareness and critical consciousness that we included in our review has been published within the last few years, indicating a growing importance of the topic for educators. The growing interest in the topic is due to the increase of diversity in classrooms and the recognition of the teachers’ role in addressing diversity and inequality. However, large-scale studies would be a needed contribution to the field, as most of the existing studies are small-scale. Policy recommendations stemming from our literature review will also be discussed. In line with recommendations from recent international policy documents, such as the OECD policy framework on promoting inclusive education for diverse societies (Cerna et al., 2021; Santiago & Cerna, 2020), we argue that, if our aim is to make schools inclusive for all, both diversity awareness and critical consciousness need to be supported through preservice and in-service teacher professional development programs.

Bell, L. A. (2016). Theoretical foundations for social justice education. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, D. Goodman, & K. Y. Joshi (Eds), Teaching for diversity and social justice, p. 3 – 26. New York: Routledge. Cerna, L., Mezzanotte, C., Rutigliano, A., Brussino, O., Santiago, P., Borgonovi, F., & Guthrie, C. (2021). Promoting inclusive education for diverse societies: A conceptual framework, OECD Education Working Papers No. 260. Chin, M. J., Quinn, D. M., Dhaliwal, T. K., & Lovison, V. S. (2020). Bias in the air: A nationwide exploration of teachers' implicit racial attitudes, aggregate bias, and student outcomes. Educational Researcher, 49(8), 566-578. Kim, G. M. & Cooc, N. (2022). Student immigration, migration, and teacher preparation. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1-23. Santiago, P. & Cerna, L. (2020). Strength through diversity: Education for inclusive societies. Design and implementation plan. EDU/EDPC(2019)11/REV2. Directorate for Education and Skills. Education Policy Committee

The EU Erasmus+ project "HAND IN HAND: Empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity related career challenges (HAND:ET)" supports teachers with a mindfulness-based training program that integrates family therapy elements and aspects from diversity awareness and anti-discrimination trainings. The program is implemented in Croatia, Austria, Portugal, Sweden and Slovenia. To evaluate the intervention, we will investigate whether socio-emotional competencies (CASEL, 2013), diversity awareness (Mosley-Howard et al., 2011), and teacher collaboration significantly increase between the pre-test and post-test period in all five countries in the training group (experimental group) compared to a control group that does not receive HAND in HAND: Empowering Teachers training. At the time of the presentation of this paper, only pre-test data will be available. These data will be used to investigate whether the measurement instruments are sufficiently reliable and whether the dimensional structure matches the expectations. In each of the five countries, 12-20 schools (total N = 1000 teachers plus principals and other school staff) were invited to participate in the intervention study. Schools were then randomly assigned to either the experimental group (6-10 schools per country) or the control group (6-10 schools per country). Existing self-report scales were compiled for pre- and post-measurement of socio-emotional competencies and diversity awareness. In addition, participants will be surveyed using focus group interviews at the end of the program. Confirmatory factor analyses will be used to corroborate the assumed dimensionality of the scales, and internal consistency will be used to determine reliability. The effects of the training on socio-emotional competencies, diversity awareness, and teacher cooperation will be examined by variance analysis as soon as data from the post-test is available. In this presentation, the results of the pre-test data are presented. These include information on the reliability of the scales and their structure. The “HAND in HAND: Empowering Teachers” program is a "policy experiment" with intensive involvement of actors from educational policy, so that in case of a positive evaluation of the training, conditions are established for an effective, preferably Europe-wide dissemination. This can make an important contribution in supporting teachers to deal constructively with the challenges of everyday school life, improving the well-being of teachers and students, and facilitating an inclusive school climate.

Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) (2013). The 2013 CASEL Guide: Effective social and emo on- al learning programmes-preschool and elementary school edition. Chicago, IL: Author. Mosley-Howard, G. S., Witte, R., & Wang, A. (2011). Development and validation of the Miami University Diversity Awareness Scale (MUDAS). Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 4(2), 65.

Teachers across Europe face a multitude of challenges associated with the characteristics of their profession, e.g., new skills requirements and rapid technological developments, challenges associated with their teaching and classroom interactions, e.g., discipline and increasing social and cultural diversity. The challenges faced by teachers are adding to the frequency and intensity of their emotional problems. Therefore, teachers’ resilience and well-being need support. One mechanism for supporting teachers lies in promoting their social, emotional competencies and diversity awareness. Possessing and developing teachers’ social, emotional competencies and diversity awareness has proved to be important, both for the teachers themselves and for those they are in close contact with. Much of the work in diversity research has focused on training multi-culturally competent teachers and on transforming the curriculum to embody multiculturalism. Nevertheless, a gap remains between conceptual understandings of diversity and teachers' actual abilities to respond to challenging moments of encountering diversity. One of the possible mechanisms of support for teachers in challenging situations is mindfulness (Roeser et al., 2012). Mindfulness as teachers’ ability to focus and stabilize awareness of the present moment and to be aware of their patterns of behaviour and reactions when under pressure, can be understood as a tool for fostering social and emotional competencies on one hand as well as diversity awareness on the other. In the current paper we are empirically testing this hypothesis by analysing the predictive power of teachers' mindfulness for their own well-being as well as their behaviour in the classroom, e.g., mindful teaching and self-efficacy to teach in diverse classrooms. We will use data from the Slovenian sample of the “HAND IN HAND: Empowering teachers across Europe to deal with social, emotional and diversity related career challenges (HAND:ET)” project (N = 272; 253 females). Implementing the HAND:ET project, teachers were administered with a battery of measurement tools targeting their social, emotional as well as their diversity awareness competencies. In the current study we will use MAAS (Brown & Ryan, 2003) as a measure of mindfulness, WHO-5 Wellbeing Scale (Topp et al., 2015) as a measure of well-being, Mindful Teaching (Frank et al., 2016) as a measure of mindful teaching and PISA 2018 Teachers' Self-Efficacy to Teach in Diverse Classrooms (OECD, 2020) as a measure of teachers' self-efficacy to teach in diverse classrooms. Implications for research and practice will be discussed.

Roeser, R. W., Skinner, E., Beers, J., & Jennings, P. A. (2012). Mindfulness training and teachers' professional development: An emerging area of research and practice. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 167-173. Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). The mindfulness attention awareness scale (MAAS). Acceptance and commitment therapy. Measures Package, 82. Topp, C. W., Østergaard, S. D., Søndergaard, S., & Bech, P. (2015). The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: a systematic review of the literature. Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 84(3), 167-176. Frank, J. L., Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2016). Validation of the mindfulness in teaching scale. Mindfulness, 7, 155-163. OECD (2020), PISA 2018 Results (Volume VI): Are Students Ready to Thrive in an Interconnected World?, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d5f68679-en.

In diagnoses of our time, crises - and how they overlap (Polycrises) - have become a central category to describe current and future societal conditions, as well as challenges and opportunities that educational systems worldwide need to (pro-)actively confront. These comprise, amongst others, the climate crisis, the energy crisis, the economic crisis, the diversity crisis (currently also in relation to digital bias), and the COVID-19 crisis. The threats and disruptions of these and other crises already have had and will bring further changes to the future of the individual, society, and the planet, as well as the systems of Education and their contexts. Crises need not only be seen as dystopian (external) events affecting systems but also in relation to their potential to initiate turning points for transformations and changes by social actors operating in different contexts. For example, personal and interactive crises can serve as starting points for learning and Education, especially when teachers accompany them well. We see Education and vulnerability as deeply intertwined. While Education in itself must be seen as a vulnerable social process since individuals need to change their current understanding of themselves, towards the world and one another, also the contexts in which Education takes place are highly volatile and vulnerable to external circumstances: The way in which processes of Education and Bildung are structured through policies and finance mechanisms bracket the experiences that teachers and students can make in these systems and thereby opening and limiting opportunities for dealing with and utilizing crises for their educational potential. In our symposium, we want to investigate the perspectives of students and adults who have been experiencing times of crisis not only in these already vulnerable educational contexts but also from a position of previous marginalization prone to reinforce prior, shift, or create new vulnerabilities. Educational Research conducted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated existing inequalities in Education, especially for children and adults living under conditions of poverty, disability, and 'divergent' or non-European backgrounds. Yet, Research in which these groups' own perspectives on their perceptions of vulnerability have been the starting ground to investigate deeper contemporary structural issues of in/equality remain scarce. This symposium will shed light on this desideratum. We will take the COVID-19 pandemic as an example to embed and problematize those experiences. Not only do we want to give students the possibility to voice their experiences from their point of view, but we also want to investigate the contexts in which those experiences were generated, e.g., isolation, rules in children's homes, the provision of (educational) support and accommodative measures during school closures and lockdowns as well as their impact on students' possibilities to participate in online or remote ways of communication. In the symposium, we want to take a comparative perspective by investigating the situation in three European countries (Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom) as well as Canada and see how far different approaches in dealing with the pandemic can be seen as reflections of how differing contexts address, thematize, react and adapt to situations of crisis in educational contexts. We want to show how these contexts differ not only in an international comparison but also within countries and societies themselves. Our Research also indicates that, albeit in fragile ways, crises can lead to new forms of individual and collective (political) agency and conscientization toward/equality and its social production amongst groups considered vulnerable. In that regard, Educational Research can serve a catalyzing function, raising various ethical and methodological issues and challenges, some of which will also be shared and discussed within this symposium.

This paper investigates the experiences of children and teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This group is particularly at risk of being affected by negative consequences of the COVID-19 situation because they experienced the pandemic during their transition from childhood to young adolescence, which is a vulnerable phase. In the project "Impediments and enablers to schooling of non/privileged students during the COVID-19 pandemic – a comparison between Canada and Germany", funded by the German government, we compare how students from non/privileged milieus experienced school and out-of-school (including family) life during the different phases of the pandemic, as well as the school and classroom ways of dealing with them. An indicator of levels of inclusion, equity, and diversity provided by students' "sense of belonging" in schools. This indicator reflects how students' individual and group needs are being accommodated in both academics and school life in general. Canada ranked 15th out of 32 for this measure, and Germany 25th (OECD, 2018, p. 193). School contexts differ between these two countries as well: while the German states has a tracked school system that distinguishes vocational and academic tracks, Canada's provinces have only one track. The different school tracks correlate with different socio-economic privileged milieus, while inequality in Canadian schools is related to the school catchment area. The context also differs since schools in Germany were closed for almost a year – with small breaks in between – while Canadian schools only closed for two months at the beginning of the pandemic. In the paper, the experiences of non-privileged students on schooling and out-of-school life in Canada and Germany are contrasted. This will be done based on group interviews conducted with small groups in the schools. The comparison shows that non-privileged students from Germany were experiencing exclusion from educational resources much more than their peers in Canada. Due to the lack of devices and internet access, they were not included in day-to-day options in remote exchange with teachers and peers. Moreover, they were not engaging in other activities, like gardening, at home. In contrast to their Canadian peers, the German students were offered less support, like reducing academic expectations and offering personal support in working on tasks.

OECD. (2018). Equity in Education. Breaking down barriers to social mobility, PISA. OECD, Publishing. https://doi.org/doi:https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264073234-en

This contribution sheds light on potential shifts in the perception of vulnerabilities and their impact on institutionalised education and care from the perspective of those who may have been, remain, or have become (even more) vulnerable. Rather than affixing the label of "vulnerability" to a particular subpopulation or seeing vulnerability (solely) as an inherent characteristic in individuals, we follow Luna (2019), who proposes a contextual understanding of vulnerability. She develops an understanding that the vulnerabilities might be subject to change if situational contexts change, such as that an individual is no longer or even more susceptible to vulnerability. Crises, as in our case, the COVID-19 crisis, can serve as an excellent example of unravelling the multilayeredness and potential cascading effects of vulnerability itself and the diversity among those being perceived as vulnerable. As indicated in this symposium's umbrella text, individual dispositions of becoming vulnerable have to be seen in relation to contextual factors. In crises and their aftermath, well-established, inscribed, or outdated institutional logics that often control or guide vulnerable peoples' lives may be shattered or exacerbated. Support structures, processes, and interrelations may be subject to dysfunction, disruption, or new orders. Shocks to the system during COVID are being addressed and negotiated from an abstract or institutional perspective (Mladenov & Brennan, 2021), seldomly do those who might or have been affected get a say. The research project "Cov_Enable: Reimagining Vulnerabilities in times of crisis" (FWF Project P 34641) has been tracking some of these developments. It aims to shed light on how conceptions of vulnerability are being reshaped and travel between the political-, organisational- and individual levels (Subasi-Singh, 2022). In particular, it wants to disentangle how (new) discourses and practice (formations) in the contexts of (inclusive) education and (supported) living are impacting children, youth, and adults labeled as vulnerable. In this presentation, we will use selected samples of first-hand accounts of students and adults with disabilities from two contrasting lifeworlds and governing institutional systems in the fields of schools and supported living of remaining, recently being made (further), and or no longer being vulnerable. We aim to elucidate an understanding of the multilayered-ness and contextual interdependency of varied institutional changes in response to crises and the diverse forms of individual and collective (political) agency and how these are being enabled or suppressed by institutional actors.

Luna, F. (2019). Identifying and evaluating layers of vulnerability–a way forward. developing world bioethics, 19(2), 86-95. Mladenov, T., & Brennan, C. S. (2021). The global COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor: Implementation, findings, disability studies response. Disability & society, 36(8), 1356-1361. Subasi-Singh, S. (2022). Putting on Intersectional Glasses: Listening to the Voice of the Vulnerable. Social Inclusion, 11(1).

The Voices project engaged with 1860 children and young people aged five-to-18 years over 21 months in the North East of England during the pandemic about their experiences of COVID-19 across multiple life facets through participatory methods using drawing, writing, focus groups, comics and action cycles. They were from 70+ mostly economically disadvantaged schools and groups in North East England. We heard what it was like doing online schooling at home and attending school with Covid-19 arrangements, and we heard about varied and complex aspects of informal learning and experience. This project was co-produced by researchers and practitioners from Newcastle University (UK) and the charity/NGO Children North East, and with children and young people. We draw on the work of Forbes and Kerr (2022) of asset-based approaches to communities considered vulnerable. They suggest the need for “policymakers to shift attention from ‘fixing’ the perceived deficits of disadvantaged neighbourhoods, to recognising and building on the resources, or assets, they hold” (Forbes and Kerr, 2022, 1). This paper considers this juxtaposition between assets and vulnerabilities from a number of perspectives and we present two of them in some detail. These include, 1) taking a non-stigmatising approach to sampling and 2) co-producing some aspects of the research with children and young people. In terms of sampling, we set out to engage with children who were from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and from a range of vulnerable situations. Our paper discussed how we negotiated building our sample at the same time as refusing from an ethical perspective to ask for individual vulnerability data. Co-production assumes mutual respect for each other’s contribution to design, create and deliver (research, services, actions) and therefore requires the recognition of the assets of all those involved. A range of different methods (focus groups, drawing pictures, writing, producing comics with artists, producing a TikTok video) were built into the project to enable children and young people to respond in different ways. Co-production was built into the project from the start with action cycles co-produced with young people engaging with stakeholders in the areas of transport, employment and digital lives. We consider what arose for children as home school boundaries collided in a number of ways not all of them expected and themes from the research were in every aspect of children’s lives.

Forbes, C., & Kerr, K. (2022). Endogenous assets-mapping: a new approach to conceptualizing assets in order to understand young people’s capabilities and how these relate to their desired educational outcomes in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Cambridge Journal of Education, 1-17.

Providing care is a moral act. According to care ethics, provision of care aims to satisfy the needs and promote the well-being of vulnerable others. To this end, the one-caring takes decisions regarding the assumed best interest of the cared-for (Noddings 2002). Although the definition of care is closely related to cultural and contextual factors, care in general is considered both a labour and an ideal that guides normative judgement and action (Held 2006). Hence, care may be understood as a virtue or motive (Rachels 1999). Tronto (2005) suggests that care involves the following elements: a) attentiveness, aiming to recognize the other’s needs; b) responsibility as a behaviour that is different from obligation; c) competence, in terms of having the adequate knowledge to provide care; and d) responsiveness, as the outcome of understanding the vulnerability of the cared-for and the inequality in the caring relationship.

In the context of impairment, being cared for is sometimes inevitable, particularly when the impairment is severe. Thus, some disabled people may find themselves permanently dependent on others. According to Oliver (1989) though, disabled people’s dependency on non-disabled people is not a de facto situation; in contrast, it is created ‘not because of the effects of the functional limitations on their capacities for self-care, but because their lives
are shaped by a variety of economic, political, and social forces which produce this dependency’ (p. 17). Thus, in a context where caring for disabled people is considered a moral obligation of the non-disabled ones (Kittay 2011), particularly of mothers (Tronto 2005), and an act of welcomed philanthropy towards some allegedly pitiful, incapable, and less than human creatures (Oliver 1989), caring may eventually generate unequal power relations, stigmatize the cared-for as a weakling, and thereby reproduce disability
(Scott and Doughty 2012).

Even though being a disabled parent may be a challenging and fulfilling task, which may imply ‘recapturing’ a lost gender (Ganle et al. 2020), in the long-term the combination of parenthood and disability may entail receiving care from adult children (Ireland and Pakenham 2010). According to Heger (2017), adult children, daughters more often, seem to feel a social obligation to take care of their disabled parents. However, being the one-caring for a disabled parent is not always an easy task. Thus, elevated levels of anxiety and greater adverse caregiving experiences have been reported by some children of disabled parents compared to children of non-disabled parents (Shepherd-Banigan et al. 2020). In addition, likely negative caregiving experiences, coupled with lack of choice, seem to be closely related to poor adjustment to caring for a disabled parent (Heger 2017).

On the other hand, it is argued that caring for a disabled parent may result to benefits for the one-caring child, because of reaching higher levels of maturity and independence, as well as acquiring practical skills (Ireland and Pakenham 2010). Hence, it seems that there are contradictions regarding the literature around the impact of caring for disabled parents on non-disabled children, which need to be better explored.

Since simply imagining what life is like when a non-disabled person giving care becomes a disabled person needing caring, and the opposite, is not enough, it seems essential to go beyond the superficial, aiming to comprehensively understand the impact of an event like disability and its dimensions. However, observations made by outsiders may miss a large part of what disabled people really think and experience (Oliver 1990). For this reason, it seems essential to listen to the stories of disabled people, who had to switch roles, in the context of reality, within which an interpretation of care as a tool for (dis)empowerment and (in)dependence may occur. Thus, through a shared activity of meaning-making, a better understanding of care in the context of disability may occur.

Research questions

This study focuses on main aspects of the pedagogical encounter between teachers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents in introductory non-formal classes within the frame of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in a Greek island.

This NGO offers housing to about 100 hundred unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents as well as introductory non-formal teaching in a number of subjects as Greek and English language, mathematics, music and art. The students are from different countries for instance, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Ethiopia and Morocco.

Specifically the research questions concern:

- Which are teachers’ main pedagogical and didactical challenges and concerns in this context?

- How do teachers approach the unaccompanied asylum-seeking students’ heterogeneity in introductory non-formal classes?

- How do the unaccompanied asylum-seeking students experience the pedagogical encounter with their introductory non-formal classes? Which are their main challenges and concerns?

Theoretical background

Research on the education of newly arrived refugee students is limited and mainly descriptive aiming at evaluating best practices (Nilsson Folke, 2017). Several researchers have emphasized the importance of a holistic model of addressing the refugee students’ social, emotional and learning needs (Arnot & Pinson, 2010). Moral issues such as a welcoming environment without racism (Candappa, 2019; Rutter, 2006), a caring ethos and giving of hope (Taylor & Sindhu, 2012), engagement in education Christie & Sidhu, 2006) and even compassion (Pinson, Arnot & Candappa, 2010) are signified. Devine (2009) have highlighted how the friendships that the refugee students develop at school are crucial for the sense of regularity and belonging. Specifically, during extended transition time that intensifies uncertainty and vulnerability (Dånge, 2022).

This study connects to the holistic approach highlighted by the referred previous research and investigates an unsearched area, the non-formal forms of education of unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents within the framework of an NGO in Greece. Although the educational activities of NGOs concern a transitory period, they are of great importance, as it is the first offer to unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents to be involved in an organised learning environment during a demanding, usually long period, of waiting for the outcome of asylum-seeking.

Inclusion of all students in a warm and welcoming school environment is a central goal of school districts and individual schools (Hilt, 2017). Moreover, as Fahey et al. (2019) point out, education is key to equity and inclusion in a diverse society of migration. In an Erasmus+-project, we investigated how primary and secondary schools in five European countries collaborated with other actors to support pupils with migration backgrounds. Focus is on inclusion and ensuring equivalence of opportunity for the migration background students. To succeed, schools cannot work in isolation, but requires the support of the local community, families, and professional networks (Ainscow, 2020). This paper aims to investigate what characterizes networks where leaders, teachers and other school professionals collaborate with external actors to support migrant students enrolled in introductory classes.

Theoretically, the paper draws on institutional theory, more closely the ideas of intra- and interinstitutional collaboration. As claimed by for example Eisenberg et al. (2010), organizations exist in complex, dynamic, and relatively unstable environments. To make meaning of a phenomenon in question, in our case the inclusion of students with migration backgrounds, multiple actors cooperate within and between heterogenous, institutional boundaries (Thornton & Ocasio, 2008). Through such dynamic forms of interaction, actors must moreover work together in both formal and informal meeting places, and through this both form and engage in various networks (Czarniawska, 2008).

In Norway, many young students in basic education coming from countries outside the EU arrive without their parents; often males aged 16-25 (Eide et al, 2017). In many cases, these migrants lack papers or documented formal education. To qualify for admission to main-stream upper-secondary programs or higher education, they must first acquire basic qualifications through a separate introductory program (“kombinasjonsklasser”), aimed at young, adult migrants. By law, all students are legally obliged to attend comprehensive school (Years 1-10); whilst most students complete upper-secondary education (Years 11-13/14), even though dropout rates are substantial (Education Act, 1998; Halvorsrud, 2017). To retain students, schools collaborate with a range of other public and private partners, such as healthcare facilities, youth clubs, local police authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Norwegian Red Cross. Such collaboration is focus of this report on the Norwegian case through zooming in on two separate networks.

Once young migrants arrive the country, and are granted e.g. asylum status, enrol into combination classes to acquire necessary basic education and Norwegian language skills. These classes are a collaboration between the county-run upper-secondary schools and the local, municipal authorities. Schools offering such programs were targeted in the case studies, since they handle most of the teaching and social-pedagogical work surrounding these students, in collaboration with other actors in their respective networks such as health services, social services, and the local police force.

Public upper-secondary schools are legally governed by one of the 11 counties, responsible for carrying out demands put forth in the Education Act (1998) and the National Core Curriculum (LK20). To oversee enactment of these responsibilities, County Governors’ Offices (CGOs) inspect schools on a regular basis. Official inspection reports are regularly published on CGOs’ websites (Author A, xxxx). In addition, each county must ensure that each school within their respective jurisdictions have a sound system for assessing and monitoring regulatory requirements in accordance with §13-10 in the Education Act (1998). Risk management is also an important part of such a quality system on the regional and school level.

In the study, two key questions are addressed; What characterizes collaborative processes in support of students with migration backgrounds, and what challenges do these actors experience?

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

See "Reimagine Special Education (RiSE) (Part 1)"

Given their promising equalising effects, strengthening the link between the different settings and modalities of formal, non-formal and informal education has become the central goal of inequality-related education policy, research and professional practice (Hadjar et al., 2022). The corresponding efforts to address the complex vulnerabilities of children and young people show a broad spectrum: from the recognition of different ways of acquiring competences to the networking of different institutions and a stronger inclusion of out-of-school activities in formal education to a corresponding interplay of diverse teaching and learning modalities in complex learning ecologies (e.g. Russell et al., 2013). However, given the diversity of educational landscapes in Europe, a variety of concrete patterns in the interlinking of educational settings and learning activities is also evident, which have emerged at the intersections of national welfare/education systems and In particular (in)equity structures (West & Nikolai, 2013), institutional pathways and supranational/global forces (Hoppers, 2006, Roosma & Saar 2010). The variance of these policies and initiatives to combat inequalities precisely by means of diversity of education relates both to a) what is understood by formal, non-formal and informal education/learning, b) which patterns of relationships between these three (exemplary) types of education are sought (complementary, alternative, supportive, combating, transformative, etc.) and c) from which institutional structures and modes of separation, connecting and blurring of formal, non-formal and informal education these attempts gain their legitimacy and their actually realised or just hoped-for effectiveness (e.g. Schmachtel, 2015). Even if this discoursive differentiation of formal, non-formal and informal education is mainly found in governance-related perspectives, the aim of diversifying education also leads professionals everyday striving for more equity as well. Against this backdrop, the panel focus at the discursive yet idiosyncratic expert knowledge of professionals and other experts and stakeholders on actively combating educational inequalities through a ‚diversification of education/learning‘ in three different national education/welfare systems – Germany, Spain and Norway.

Each contribution will present a qualitative case study on pioneering educational practices in combating educational inequalities in their specific national, regional and/or local contexts, selected along the MILC approach of the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation project PIONEERED (Seiler et al., 2021), which inquiries into pioneering policies and practices in tackling educational inequalities across nine countries along an intersectional understanding of inequalities. The case studies provide a comprehensive approach to understanding how practices and policies of interlinking formal, non-formal, and informal education/learning in tackling inequalities are embedded in a dynamic context of change (Simons, 2009). By that, it allows for a balanced comparative analysis of the similarities and differences within and across the educational fields and national contexts. Each presentation will specifically address the following questions:

• How does each intervention capture the complexity of educational inequalities? How do practitioners relate inequalities and their respective interventions to the diversity of educational sectors, settings, modalities and activities?
• What patterns of linking and interweaving formal/non-formal/informal education are visible in practitioners' practice and how are these patterns linked to complex inequalities in education at the levels of access, treatment and impact?
• In which (sub)national political contexts, pathways and discourses are these patterns embedded? How are the common institutional contexts contested and changed by these pioneering practices?

The presented (sub)national case studies will be discussed comparatively with a view to the question of how this perspective on the link between formal/non-formal/informal education, can help to identify instruments to combat inequalities across Europe based on the knowledge of experts and professionals in the respective contexts. The discussant's commentary will lead to this comparative perspective.

The Spanish Second Chance Schools are alternative educational organisations to the formal system, managed by third sector entities. They are aimed at unemployed young people (aged 15-29) who have dropped out of compulsory education. Their offer is based on an innovative pedagogical model, which combines: flexible itineraries, personalised teaching, vocational guidance and training, work experience in collaboration with companies and attention to the educational and employment needs of vulnerable groups (Meo and Tarabini, 2020). These institutions distinguish themselves from other similar initiatives (especially within formal education) by their "non-compensatory" approach to the educational problems of vulnerable groups (Mills et al., 2017). In contrast to the disciplinary and content simplification approach, these institutions are committed to connecting with young people's interests and dignifying non-academic knowledge. Second Chance Schools seek to redefine the very concept of 'success' and pay special attention to the subjective dimensions of learning: recognition, sense of belonging to the institution and emotional attachment to the program (Tarabini, Jacovkis and Montes, 2021). One element that highlights the relevance of Second Chance Schools as a practice of interest is its prominent role in the fight against Early School Leaving (ESL). ESL was identified by experts and stakeholders as one of the main challenges of the Spanish education system, both because of its high prevalence (well above the European average) and because of its concentration among the most vulnerable students. The inflexibility of the formal curriculum and the lack of alternatives to the single, academic-centred pathway were pointed out on several occasions as one of the factors explaining the high ESL in Spain. In this sense, Second Chance Schools offer enormous potential to overcome the problem, as they are filling a gap that the formal system has been unwilling or unable to address -without losing the connections and guaranteeing permeability-. From this scenario, the main objective of this contribution is to explore the role of Second Chance Schools as a mechanism for educational reconnection, identifying both the 'good practices' that characterise their organisational-pedagogical model and the main limitations or barriers that must be overcome. Likewise, although this contribution focuses on the role of Second Chance Schools in the Spanish context, the comparative dimension with other European initiatives that highlight the need to articulate formal and non-formal education serves as a central element to better understand how to address the increasingly complex socio-educational inequalities.

Meo, A., & Tarabini, A. (2020). Teachers’ identities in second chance schools: A comparative analysis of Buenos Aires and Barcelona. Teaching and Teacher Education, 88, 102963. Mills, M., te Riele, K., McGregor, G., & Baroutsis, A. (2017). Teaching in alternative and flexible education settings. Teaching Education, 28(1), 8-11. Tarabini, A., Jacovkis, J. y Montes, A. (2021). El model d’escoles de noves oportunitats: una peça clau del sistema educatiu per a garantir l’èxit escolar. Red española de escuelas de segunda oportunidad

Along with the other Scandinavian countries, the Norwegian education system is widely recognized as one that promotes educational equality and equity. Secured by the social-democratic welfare system, efforts to achieve education for all have a longstanding tradition within educational policy and practice (e.g. Volckmar, 2016). The goal of maintaining and even strengthening educational equity is supported by numerous educational policy measures, such as a low-stratification structure of the education system, the gradual expansion of comprehensive schools to thirteen years, and the introduction of the principle "adapted education". The latter emphasizes that children have the right to an education adapted to their needs, abilities and requirements. This means that the educational institutions are obliged to establish appropriate practices that address the growing diversity of the student body by recognizing and including non-formal and informal educational settings (NOU 2009: 18). With these developments, Norway is in line with the perspective that it is not enough to legally secure access to educational institutions to ensure equality in education, but that specific resources and measures within the education system are needed. In this context research points to the insensitivity of educational institutions regarding the wider socio-cultural embedding of educational practices also including non-formal and informal education (e.g. Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Grundmann et al., 2003). This often leads to a gap between the intended egalitarian educational policy and the reality of educational practice. Based on stakeholders’ (such as government officials, teachers' union experts, education practitioners) perspectives from Norway which explicitly indicate that an egalitarian educational process for everyone requires a balanced relationship between the formal, non-formal and informal educational arenas (Jobst et al., 2022) the presentation examines two different approaches on how to interlink formal, non-formal or informal educational settings within the Norwegian egalitarian education system. The declared goal of the two practice cases is to reduce educational inequality and thus motivate at-risk young people to complete school. Both cases differ in their character – while one practice is part of a top-down program the other practice can be described as bottom-up. Against this background, we compare both cases in terms of their mediation between formal, non-formal and informal educational settings. Further, we show the extent to which non-formal educational practices can influence formal educational contexts and how this can lead in stakeholders’ perspectives to equal participation in education.

Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J.-C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture. Sage. Grundmann, M., Groh-Samberg, O., Bittlingmayer, U. & Bauer, U. (2003): Milieuspezifische Bildungsstrategien in Familie und Gleichaltrigengruppe. In: Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 6, 1, S. 25-45. NOU 2009: 10. (2009). Fordelingsutvalget. Finansdepartementet. Jobst, S., Jensen, J, Skrobanek, J. & Strand, D. (2022). Working paper: Existing programme- and non-programme-related pioneering practices tackling/reducing educational inequalities from a comparative perspective. edited by PIONEERED. Bergen. Volckmar, N. (2016). Utdanningshistorie: grunnskolen som samfunnsintegrerende institusjon. Gyldendal akademisk.

Given the highly stratified and segregated German education system and its complex federal governance the last two decades has been characterised by strong forces to networking the diverse sectors, settings and modalities of formal, informal and non-formal education socio-spatially into so-called "local education landscapes" (Olk, 2017). Even if the inequality-reducing effects have not yet proven (Duveneck, 2023), the will to counter the high correlation between educational success and social origin in Germany by systemic and social space related networked offers is unbroken (Coelen et al., 2022). Strengthening cooperation between schools and child and youth welfare services plays a key role here, which has developed into particularly complex cooperative relationships in elementary and primary education. Not only that the services of early childhood education and care (ECEC), which are administratively assigned to child and youth welfare, work more closely with primary schools in a transition-related perspective. The relatively newly developed services of school social work, inclusive school support and all-day care at schools are also predominantly provided by services of non-formal education. Against this background, the case study presented here highlights a local initiative in which an ECEC centre and a primary school in a highly stressed urban location have joined forces to create educational provision in a most inclusive and inequality-sensitive way. The presentation highlights the complex linkage of actors, concepts and practices of formal, informal and non-formal education/learning resulting from this alliance, which goes beyond the usual cross-sectoral cooperation based on trust and common goal formulation (Kolleck et al., 2020). Rather, what can be observed in this ‘education house’ is a complex "boundary work" (Langley et al., 2019) between the diverse organisational units of this alliance, which has enabled them to use the three policy megatrends after the German "PISA shock" - massive expansion of early education and all-day schooling, as well as the gradual dismantling of the special school system - to develop a highly comprehensive 'neighbourhood hub' (Clark et al., 2022) which intersects informal, nonformal and formal education in a localized integration of ECEC, school and social services and area based relations as well. In particular, the presentation will discuss how this cross-sectoral alliance makes it possible to combine a place-based approach with the network-based approach driven by education/social policy in a way that could help to further develop the understanding of "locality" in "local education landscapes" with a view to inequality-sensitive education in early years.

Clark, K., Cahill, R. & Ansell, D. (2022), Early Childhood Development and the Role of Neighbourhood Hubs for Supporting Children’s Development and Wellbeing in Disadvantaged Communities: A Review of the Literature Life Course Centre Working Paper No. 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4118008 Coelen, T., Hemmerich, S, Jestädt, H., Klepp, S., Million, A., Zinke, C. (2022). Bildungslandschaften in Campus-Form aus schulischer Perspektive. Die deutsche Schule 114 (1): 46-60. doi:10.25656/01:24322 Kolleck, N.; Rieck, A.; Yemini, M. (2020). Goals aligned: Predictors of common goal identification in educational cross-sectoral collaboration initiatives. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. 2020. Volume 48 (Issue 5). S. 916-934 DOI: 10.1177/1741143219846906 Olk, T. (2017). Educational Landscapes and the Reduction of Socio-spatial Educational Inequality in the City. In Million, A., Heinrich, A., Coelen, T. (eds) Education, Space and Urban Planning. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38999-8_22 Langley, A., Lindberg, K., Mørk, B. E., Nicolini, D., Raviola, E., & Walter, L. (2019). Boundary Work among Groups, Occupations, and Organizations: From Cartography to Process. Academy of Management Annals, 13(2), 704–736.

Social media platforms and other online spaces form a large part of today’s (everyday) culture. Therefore, scholars across various fields are increasingly concerned with the entanglement of media practices, self-presentation, and body images on social media (Aparicio-Martinez et al., 2019; Chua & Chang, 2016; Cruz-Sáez et al., 2020; Mahon & Hevey, 2021). What is still missing from the literature, however, is the intersection between body images, algorithmic systems, and power relations in the context of educational research.

This symposium thus explores ways in which algorithmic systems can shape body images by taking data-informed discrimination (Chun, 2021a), network gaps (Chun, 2021b) and AI/ML systems (Crawford & Paglen, 2019) into account. Our assumption is that algorithmic systems with their recommendations (Seaver, 2022) of whom to follow and what to see next are producing a mostly affirming and normalizing social stream that might have a significant impact on what body images are circulating. So rather, it can be assumed that there is a lack of diversity due to algorithmic influence. And this is where educational science should respond.

With the theme ‘Normalizing the body’, we focus on the role of algorithms in processes of constructing body images that fit societal - often ‘Western‘ - norms and expectations. We critically question whether the initially widespread promise that digitalization and, specifically, the internet and social media platforms, will make participation and representation more diverse can be fulfilled when algorithmic systems are based on discriminatory data.

As such, this symposium addresses the potential biases in and limitations of algorithmic systems, and how these may impact the re-presentation and portrayal of diverse bodies. We do this through three papers: The first, Designing the ‘normal’ body, critically reflects on the normalization of menstruating bodies in the context of self-tracking apps and socio-technical feedback loops. With media educational and biopolitical considerations in mind, the paper argues that algorithmic recommendations within menstrual cycle tracker apps have a disciplinary effect since they (re-)produce norms and normalities of (menstruating) bodies. The second paper, Damn Data!, explores the practices and complex entanglements of AI in creative articulative processes as part of media education. By doing so, on the one hand, the paper highlights the explorative potential of AI/ML Systems in the creative play on re-presenting bodies, on the other hand, it reflects the inherent contingency of digital media practices. The third and final paper, Beauty and the biased, explores diversity on TikTok, focusing on issues of content regulation and biased data used in recommendation systems. To respond to this from an educational perspective, the paper looks at how media education can help us recognize when actions and policies take different forms than intended when it takes into account the power relations inherent in content regulation and media practices.

All contributions start from an educational perspective by also including such approaches that consider the interdisciplinarity of the subject. By doing so, they pursue the same pressing question: How can and must we think and research diversity in educational science, taking into account increasing algorithmic influences?

The increasing measurement of life worlds and the “quantification of the self” in the present are accompanied by “new[] technologies of self-measurement” (Mau, 2018, 167). Self-tracking apps or corresponding tools are “continuously integrated into the course of life” (ibid.) under the digital condition (Stalder, 2018). This is also where the so-called menstruation apps can be classified into, which enable users to translate bodily and embodied states in relation to their menstrual cycle into data by means of predefined categories. The paper takes the phenomenon of menstruation apps as an opportunity to critically reflect on the normalization of the menstruating body in the context of sociotechnical feedback loops. In a first step, it is therefore argued that the apps with their predefined categories can be read as little tools of knowledge (Hess & Mendelsohn, 2013) that have a disciplinary effect on a subjection-theoretical and biopolitical level (Foucault, 2008) insofar as they (re-)produce conceptions of norm or ›normality‹ of menstruating bodies. The crux is: By (un)consciously making their data available, users contribute to generating ›(a-)normality‹ via socio-technical feedback loops (Chun, 2021) and are constantly confronted with having to ask themselves: Is my cycle (currently) ›normal‹? Do my ›symptoms‹ - as the app Flo calls it - correspond to what is ›normal‹ for my menstrual status? Accordingly, what might initially appear as ›personalisation‹ and thus diversification, reveals itself as normalization in the course of socio-technical feedback loops and algorithmic recommendation. Starting from this problematization, the paper concludes in a second step with critical reflections on the concept of Bildung as a “response to the possibilities of things” (Zirfas & Klepacki, 2013, 43). For while “ideas about people and their behavior are inscribed in technical objects”, it is nevertheless “only the relations in actual activity” (Allert & Asmussen, 2017, 41) within which or through which subjects are formed. In qualitative educational research we must therefore surely ask whether Bildung under the digital condition (Stalder, 2018) thus ultimately emerges at the ›edges of the (little) tools‹.

Allert, H., & Asmussen, M. (2017). Bildung als produktive Verwicklung. In H. Allert, M. Asmussen, & C. Richter (eds.). Digitalität und Selbst. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Subjektivierungs- und Bildungsprozesse (pp. 27–68). Transcript. Chun, W. H. K. (2021). Discriminating data: Correlation, neighborhoods, and the new politics of recognition. The MIT Press. Foucault, M. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979. Palgrave Macmillan. Hess, V. & Mendelsohn, J. A. (2013). „Paper Technology und Wissensgeschichte“. NTM 21 (1): 1–10. Mau, S. (2018). Das metrische Wir. Suhrkamp. Stalder, F. (2018). The digital condition (V. Pakis, Trans.). Polity. Zirfas, J., & Klepacki, W. (2013). Die Performativität der Dinge: Pädagogische Reflexionen über Bildung und Design. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 16(2), pp. 43–57.

Complex algorithmic, data-driven infrastructures have rapidly inscribed themselves into almost all processes of everyday life. And although they remain hidden underneath the perceptible surface, they shape the way we perceive the world around us, but also ourselves, how we think and act under the digital condition (Stalder, 2018). Art is not unaffected by this either. The application of AI in creative, artistic processes is becoming increasingly popular, which at the latest became obvious with the introduction of Dall-E 2 or stable diffusion in the spring and summer of 2022. This raises the question of how artists deal with complex algorithmic and data structures in such articulative processes and to what extent new forms of the subjection result from this. As art always operates under prevailing socio-technical as well as socio-cultural conditions, it reflects on social values and norms (McLuhan, 1964). For example, art also deals with diversity issues and discrimination problems that are reproduced or even reinforced by digital technologies (Bajohr, 2022). This bias is caused by the underlying training data with which the models were fed. „They are central to how AI systems recognize and interpret the world. These datasets shape the epistemic boundaries governing how AI systems operate, and thus are an essential part of understanding socially significant questions about AI“ (Crawford & Paglen, 2019). The paper demonstrates in three steps to what extent the role of "AI" in articulative processes can be understood as explorative in relation to diversity issues and discrimination problems: In the first step, the relation between machine learning and big data is discussed. Following on from this, the second step highlights the extent to which this data can be seen as biased (Stark et al., 2021; Crawford & Paglen, 2019). In the third step, empirical material in the form of qualitative interviews and ethnographic observations is used to show how the artistic approach to such complex infrastructures and technologies is shaped and what the role of data is in this process. The resulting works not only make the inscribed complexity visible, but can also be experienced beyond it. They can contribute to important discussions about AI, diversity, and discrimination in the public sphere and sensitize the audience to these issues. In turn, from a media-educational point of view, these artistic practices may provide access to the complexity of data-driven algorithmic systems (Verständig & Ahlborn, 2020).

Bajohr, H. (2022). Malen nach 0 und 1. REPUBLIK. https://www.republik.ch/2022/05/07/malen-nach-0-und-1 (last access: 14.12.2022) Crawford, K. & Paglen, T. (2019). “Excavating AI: The Politics of Training Sets for Machine Learning (September 19, 2019) https://excavating.ai (last access: 14.12.2022) McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Mentor. Stalder, F. (2018). The digital condition (V. Pakis, Trans.). Polity. Stark, L., Greene, D., & Hoffmann, A. L. (2021). Critical Perspectives on Governance Mechanisms for AI/ML Systems. In J. Roberge & M. Castelle (eds.), The Cultural Life of Machine Learning (p. 257–280). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56286-1_9 Verständig, D., & Ahlborn, J. (2020). Decoding Subjects? Über Subjektivierung und Kreativität im algorithmischen Zeitalter. In J. Holze, D. Verständig, & R. Biermann (eds.), Medienbildung zwischen Subjektivität und Kollektivität (Vol. 45, p. 77–94). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-31248-0_5

Social media platforms such as Instagram or TikTok experience great popularity, especially among adolescents. The body is constantly a key player in an individual’s self-representation on social media - and TikTok is no exception (Liu, 2021). TikTok as a short video social media platform can have a significant impact on how people perceive and feel about their bodies (Rodgers & Melioli, 2016; Maes & Vandenbosch, 2022). For media educational research and practice, it is relevant to understand how the configuration of body images and media practices are established and how the representation of diverse groups in media content, including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability are impacted by algorithmic systems. Social media has the potential to amplify diversity, greater range of voices, perspectives, and experiences to be represented and heard. This can lead to more inclusive and representative content, and can also foster a better understanding and appreciation for different cultures and groups. However, social media platforms, such as TikTok, have faced criticism for not doing enough to promote diversity and inclusion. There have been instances of discrimination and mistreatment of marginalized groups on these platforms, as well as a lack of representation among content creators and in the algorithms that recommend content to users (Civila & Jaramillo-Dent, 2022). There are efforts being made to address these issues, including calls for more diverse hiring practices at tech companies and efforts to raise awareness and improve the representation of underrepresented groups in data, algorithms, and content recommendations. The paper addresses the outlined problems in three steps: In the first step, a literature review is done to establish the theoretical basis at the intersection of diversity, social media and content regulation. In a second step, a systematic conceptual analysis will be unfolded in order to discuss the specific quality of face-based filters and other algorithmic features of TikTok which are supposed to promote diversity but in fact a) reinforce normalized body images, b) reproduce binary body configurations, and therefore c) shape exclusive social spaces. Finally, the third step is to clarify how media education can contribute to uncover the inversion of the intended actions and measures of the relations on platforms, content creators.

Civila, S., & Jaramillo-Dent, D. (2022). #Mixedcouples on TikTok: Performative Hybridization and Identity in the Face of Discrimination. Social Media + Society, 8(3), 205630512211224. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221122464 Khattab, M. (2019). Synching and performing: Body (re)-presentation in the short video app TikTok. WiderScreen, 21(2). Liu, J. (2021). The Influence of the Body Image Presented Through TikTok Trend-Videos and Its Possible Reasons: 2nd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2021), Dali, China. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210609.072 Maes, C., & Vandenbosch, L. (2022). Adolescent girls’ Instagram and TikTok use: Examining relations with body image-related constructs over time using random intercept cross-lagged panel models. Body Image, 41, 453–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.04.015 Rodgers, R. F., & Melioli, T. (2016). The Relationship Between Body Image Concerns, Eating Disorders and Internet Use, Part I: A Review of Empirical Support. Adolescent Research Review, 1(2), 95–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-015-0016-6

Space matters to education. Physical spaces and material resources affect how teachers teach and students learn. Reflecting the diversity of users and uses, relations between school premises and education have proven extremely complex, with few direct causal links between physical elements and learning (Woolner et al., 2007). Spaces, nevertheless, facilitate or constrain activities and behaviour (Sigurðardóttir & Hjartarson, 2011; Stadler-Altmann, 2016), reflect educational cultures and often entrench educational values. Design and redesign, accordingly, may serve to enhance the alignment between space and pedagogy (Frelin & Grannäs, 2021), reflect new values and encourage innovative practices (Woolner et al., 2018).

Enthusiasm surrounds innovative learning environments or ILEs (OECD, 2013). The evidence base has been recognised by significant decision-makers, such as municipal bodies, national governments, the OECD and the World Bank (Grannäs & Stavem, 2021), and mandates for open, flexible school facilities are manifested (Sigurðardóttir & Hjartarson, 2011). The potential contribution of educational practitioners and their pupils to the adaption and redesign of conventional and innovative facilities, however, is often neglected (Bøjer, 2019: 45). A participatory approach to developing school space is frequently recommended (Blackmore et al., 2011), but uncertainties remain about how to carry it out.

One of the keys to successful alignment of practice, culture and school facilities, is to ignite awareness and initiative among practitioners and learners regarding their everyday physical environment and its possibilities. Although experience shows that designs for schools, cannot simply be transported between nations, approaches to planning and designing can be exported and used successfully in contrasting contexts (Woolner & Cardellino, 2021). Our ongoing research collaboration, DRAPES, and, specifically, our recent Erasmus+ project Collaborative ReDesign of Schools or CoReD (https://www.ncl.ac.uk/cored/), aimed to do just that, bringing together values, needs and pedagogical intentions when planning physical changes in schools or adjusting the arrangement and application of existing spaces. Guidance and tools were needed for school users to contribute to the design and redesign of their physical learning environments. The aim of this symposium is to share experiences gained from our research and development of six analytic tools for collaborative and participatory reflections on educational settings and redesign of schools, focusing particularly on how tools, initially developed in one European country (Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom), were adapted and used in differing national and school contexts, deepening our understanding of how each tool can be applied in diverse ways and settings.

Our overall goal has been to give practitioners the means to engage effectively with their own settings and practices to improve the fit between teaching, learning and space, as well as communicate our results to a global audience. The key idea has been to develop tools sufficiently structured for practitioners to pick up and use, but flexible enough to adjust for different design stages and educational settings. Fully developed, user-friendly tools, with instructions in six languages, are now maintained on a project website, supported by 26 case studies as well as cross context syntheses of how the tools work best and elaborated principles and guides for collaborative redesign of educational settings. The presentations report sections of these efforts including case studies, cross case synthesis and conclusive guidelines for tools developed and tested in the project. We also seek to problematise the successes noted of the tools, questioning how they function as supports for thinking, and enablers of collaborative discussion of design by specialists in education rather than architecture. We also consider these collaborations within the limits that wider national and political contexts put upon the opportunities for practitioners to take control of the design and use of school space.

Class observation is a main instrument for understanding teaching and learning processes in schools when the results of observations are analysed and reflected based on the theory of teaching and learning (cf. Helmke 2012; Meyer 2010). In particular, to understand the relationship between pedagogical activity and architectural space design, these questions need to be considered: - How do teachers use space for teaching? (cf. Stadler-Altmann 2016, 2019) - How do pupils use their rooms for learning? (see Woolner & Stadler-Altmann 2021; Stadler-Altmann 2015) The tool Cartographic Observation can be used to graphically illustrate lesson observations. This allows the movement patterns of teachers and students to become visible. At the same time, the interactions between teachers and students are recorded to document what happened in class. This combination provides a different view of classroom activities and is therefore of interest to both educational scientists and architectural designers. In our presentation we will introduce Cartographic Observation (Horne Martin 2002) as a research tool and explain how this tool was used in the CoReD research project. Therefore, we will use case studies from Italy and Portugal. The case studies have been conducted in pre-schools on the one hand and in basic schools on the other. Consequently, in addition to the international comparison, an analysis can also be made between the tool’s use in different educational institutions and respective pedagogical contexts. Additionally, results can also conclude on the tool’s ability to be implemented with lessons from different subjects, and with students from a wide age range. By comparing the tool’s use and outcomes in these case studies, we can show the benefits of the instrument. We will also describe possible applications in pedagogical practice and open further research perspectives on the basis of our research results. The comparison of the analyses from the perspective of educational science and architecture is particularly attractive.

Helmke, A. (2012), Unterrichtsqualität und Lehrerprofessionalität. Diagnose, Evaluation und Verbesserung des Unterrichts. 4. Aufl., Seelze: Kallmeyer. Horne Martin, S. (2002) ‘The classroom environment and its effects on the practice of teachers’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 22: 139-156. Meyer, H. (2026), Was ist guter Unterricht? 15. Aufl., Berlin: Cornelsen Stadler-Altmann, U. (2019), Pedagogical Research in regard to School Design Processes. A fragmentary overview developing pedagogical inspired principles for both planning and designing school buildings, in: Weyland, B.; Stadler-Altmann, U.; Galletti, A.; Prey, K., SCUOLE IN MOVIMENTO. Progettare insieme tra pedagogia, architettura e design, Franco Angeli Open Access, pp. 14-23. Stadler-Altmann, U. (2016) (Hrsg.), Lernumgebungen. Erziehungswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf Schulgebäude und Klassenzimmer [Learning Environments. Educational perspectives on school buildings and classrooms – bilingual publication], Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Barbara Budrich. Stadler-Altmann, U. (2015), The Influence of School and Classroom Space on Education, in: C. Rubie-Davies, J. M. Stephens, & P. Watson (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Social Psychology of the Classroom, London: Routledge, p. 252-262. Woolner, P.; Stadler-Altmann, U. (2021), Openness – Flexibility – Transition. Nordic prospects for changes in the school learning environment, in: Education Inquiry. DOI 10.1080/20004508.2021.1957331

The building of new schools in the city of Stockholm is and will be extensive. The new schools are built with innovative learning environments, featuring configurations of spaces in various sizes, with requirements for flexibility but also cost efficiency. Because new knowledge is required about how these innovative learning environments function, a large-scale post-occupancy evaluation study was carried out using the pedagogical walk-through tool, with focus on the inhabitants and the aim to revise the municipal school building program. A selection of students and mainly teaching staff in four newly built schools participated. The focus was on the physical environment and its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the pedagogical practice. Four previously identified key locations were investigated: team learning spaces, entrances, dining rooms and sports halls. Twelve pedagogical walk-throughs were carried out with a total of 51 adults and 31 students. Each walk-through took about two hours, and the participants initially filled out an individual assessment protocol based on possible activities in each space, positive and negative impressions, and suggestions for improvements. The individual assessment was followed by a focus group conversation that was recorded. The data analyses were informed by previous research studies, and the collected individual and group statements sorted into six categories: Flexibility, flow, interior design, sound environment, social environment, and visual environment. Important strengths and weaknesses regarding the physical learning environment and conditions for the environment to function well were identified. Spatial relationships, for instance, and in particular, the placement of doors, were considered important. Most or all spaces were intended as learning spaces and the need for social spaces for students had been underestimated, especially for older students. Different configurations of space, furniture, lighting, and technology were seen as more or less flexible, but careful consideration of the organization of flow of students and materials deemed especially important in these innovative learning environments, to avoid problems that make pedagogical practices harder to carry out. The results will inform future school building processes in Sweden and elsewhere.

Frelin, A., & Grannäs, J. (2021). Designing and Building Robust Innovative Learning Environments. Buildings, 11(8), 345. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11080345 Frelin, A., & Grannäs, J. (2022). Nya lärmiljöer: Från vision till pedagogisk verksamhet i två innovativa skolor. Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner. Frelin, A., Grannäs, J., Sundholm, M., & Van de Meulebrouck, T. (2022). Pedagogisk utvärdering av skolmiljöer. Gåturer i fyra skolbyggnader i Stockholms stad. Gävle University Press. Sigurðardóttir, A. K., & Hjartarson, T. (2016). The idea and reality of an innovative school: From inventive design to established practice in a new school building. Improving Schools, 19(1), 62–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480215612173 Sigurðardóttir, A. K., Hjartarson, T., & Snorrason, A. (2021). Pedagogical Walks through Open and Sheltered Spaces: A Post-Occupancy Evaluation of an Innovative Learning Environment. Buildings, 11(11), 503. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11110503 Woolner, P. (2018). Collaborative Re-design: Working with School Communities to Understand and Improve their Learning Environments. In R. Ellis & P. Goodyear (Eds.), Spaces of teaching and learning: Integrating perspectives on research and practice. (pp. 153–172). Springer. Woolner, P., & Cardellino, P. (2022). Learning Environment Design and Use. Buildings, 12(5), 666. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12050666

Survey on Students School Spaces (S3S) is a tool that aims to redesign and re-rehabilitate school spaces through an inclusive process, by integrating student feedback in the co-design of learning environments (Coelho et al., 2022). Acknowledging the need to align school and pedagogy, S3S was developed for the alignment between student use and appropriation and their school spaces. This is achieved by a bipartite procedure of an initial students’ online survey and a subsequent focus group in the form of an on-site walkthrough of students within the mentioned spaces (S3S’s tutorials and materials: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/cored/tools/school-spaces). The survey reaches a more extensive array of students who use the school premises, and the walkthrough can detail more specific circumstances of student’s occupation of these spaces. The tool can, ultimately, provide information and ideas on students’ feelings, experience and activities that can feedforward physical changes in the school, by means of a bottom-up and participatory design process. S3S was implemented in three ssettings – Eugénio de Castro School and Rainha Santa Isabel School in Portugal, and Ponteland High School in the UK, three schools with very different conditions, construction dates and building types. In Portugal, the intention was to co-design adaptations to premises (built in 1972 and 1999) that were recognised to have limitations due to both age and design. In some contrast, the UK school was newly constructed and S3S was chosen by senior leadership as a means to conduct a student-focused post occupancy evaluation. Overall, the use of S3S in these schools proved that it is user-friend and flexible and can be adjusted to each school’s needs and expectations. Even though it was largely motivated by the school leaders, it can be mediated by teachers and/or students, according to the schools’ communities and their dynamics. As we will show, it can consider small or large-scale rehabilitations, either with moveable or more permanent physical improvements. We will also consider how the opportunity provided to students by S3S can be limited by constraints, evident in the case studies, including the control by teachers of the process and delays at the municipal level in implementing refurbishments. Yet, set against these limitations, we report actual changes that have occurred in these schools, or that are anticipated in the future, validating the tool as an enabler of co-redesign, perhaps in seemingly minor ways, and a catalyst for a more profound sense of ownership and empowerment of students.

Coelho, C. (2017). Life within architecture from design process to space use. Adaptability in school buildings today – A methodological approach. PhD Thesis. Departamento de Arquitetura da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia. Universidade de Coimbra. Coelho, C.; Cordeiro, A.; Alcoforado, L.; Moniz, G.C. Survey on Student School Spaces: An Inclusive Design Tool for a Better School. Buildings 2022, 12, 392. https://doi.org/10.3390/ buildings12040392

Social inclusion and inclusive education are key priorities in the Europe 2020 strategy and among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the formulation of such goals, there is extensive evidence that various types of barriers are preventing young Europeans from being successfully integrating into society. Those successful at school come primarily from high socioeconomic backgrounds (Broer,Bai & Fonseca, 2019; Chung, 2015). This factor influences their success at school in terms of engagement, grades and their performance in upper secondary school (Alexander, Entwisle & Horsey 1997; Benner, Boyle & Sadler, 2016). From this perspective we argue that the educational system reproduces inequalities, and that many of those struggling have experienced a lack of social inclusion. Social inclusion through education is therefore vital to individual and society as a whole.

This symposium focuses on the project Erasmus+ KAIII “Co-created Education through Social Inclusion” (COSI. Ed). COSI.ed is an upscale of the proven good practice from the Erasmus+ project; Marginalisation and Co-created Education (MaCE). The COSI.ed project intends to develop a comprehensive model for social inclusion of pupils in the risk zone for social exclusion and dropout, as well as a political strategy that can be used throughout Europe. Central in the project are the four cornerstones: 1) context (background, schooling and cultural/national, 2) Co-creating (egalitarian perspective to learning, acknowledging competence in the expert as well as the learner), 3) indirect approach (how to communicate with children vulnerable positions to give them voice) (Moshuus & Eide; 2016) and 4) Equality Literacy (what support or hinder learning, for the expert to understand and to empower the learner to)(Stuart.et.al 2019)

The COSI.ed project is conducted in five different countries and educational contexts representing Southern (Portugal and Spain), Eastern (Poland) and Northern Europe (Norway and Denmark). The objective of the project is to prevent and reduce Early School Leaving from Education and training (ELET)and contribute to change of policy. The ambition is to portray an inclusive educational practice for theorists, researchers, educational authorities, and stakeholders to provide theoretical perspectives to practitioners to strengthen their educational work , provide more equal educational opportunities and preventing school dropouts. Following this project we have the Collaborate Competence Groups (CCG) where the pupils, students, politician, professor and teacher meet to analyses, advice and support the project nationally and internationally.

Co- creation in public sector refers to joint working between people or groups who have traditionally been separated into categories of user and producer (Durose, 2017). When young people and other stakeholders’ experiences and tacit knowledge is included in development and implementation of new practices they are experienced as more useful than practices developed and imposed in a ‘top down’ approach(Shamrowa&Cumings,2017).

COSI.ed builds on the understanding that educational staff, role models and the pupils co-create as part of a community of practice. Role models collaborate and share knowledge and experience with students to further develop our approach. By using the embedded methodology pupils learn about themselves, how to excel and the educational staff develop skills and understanding to socially include the pupils.

The collection of studies forms a novel opportunity to discuss strengths and weaknesses of upscaling a co-created model for achieving social inclusion in European countries with diverse contextual characteristics. The symposium contributes to further knowledge about models for social inclusion by focusing on social disadvantage pupils as well as the various teachers’ good practices. In two subsequent symposia we will present the COSI.ed project and the overall design in the first paper. Through the next five papers we will present challenges related to implementation of COSI.ed in the participating countries.

11 partners from five countries are working to develop a European policy that will show a way to include young people in vulnerable positions so that they can find their place in society through school or work. To manage this COSI.ed project will upscale the MaCE-model (developed within the previous project) of socially including young people to excel at school and work. Through the partnership in COSI.ed we will work on upscaling the model, within various national contexts, from local to regional, national and European policy level. The project builds on the MaCE-model, with the four cornerstones of Context, Co-creation, Indirect Approach and Equality Literacy, which is the base of our work with the young people at risk of social exclusion (Bunting & Moshuus 2017; Gravesen, Stuart, Bunting, Mikkelsen, Frostholm & Mikkelsen 2021, Stuart et. Al. 2019; Moshuus&Eide 2014). At this stage of the work, we have tried out the model in the different contexts; rural, urban, in the south, the east and the north of Europe, in countries with a large part of the population with low socio-economic outcome and in a country with a high completion rate. In each context, the chosen group of beneficiaries are young people at risk of dropping out of education or training, who work within the project with trained and selected role models. We have as well co-created with the local partner’s role models, the students, the professionals and the university professors within Collaborate Competence Groups (CCG), who have followed the project locally and internationally as International CCG. Halfway through the project we are tracking down the evidence of the project's efficiency. We are also developing further inclusive and egalitarian methodology to be applicable in the different contexts through the development of effective tools, guidelines and scientific evidence. This paper will give an overview of the COSI.ed project, present the experiences across the national partners, and in that way also create a backdrop for the other presentations in the symposium.

Bunting M., & Moshuus, G.H., (2017) - Young peoples’ own stories of dropping out in Norway: An indirect qualitative approach, Acta Didactica, Vol.11, Nr. 2, Art. 5. Gravesen, D. T., Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Mikkelsen, S., & Hornbæk Frostholm, P. (2021). Combating Marginalisation by Co-Creating Education. Emerald; Moshuus, G. H., & Eide, K. (2016). The Indirect Approach: How to Discover Context When Studying Marginal Youth. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406916656193 Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Boyd, P., Cammack, P., Hornbæk Frostholm, P., Thore Graveson, D., Moshuus, G. Walker, S. (2021). Developing an Equalities Literacy for Practitioners Working with Children, Young People and Families through Action Research. Educational Action Research, 28(3), 362-382

The European strategic framework for education and training 2030 aims to reduce Early Leaving from Education and Training (ELET) to 9% (Council of the European Union, 2021). Spain is one of the countries in the European Union with one of the highest ELET standing at 13.3% in 2021, compared to the EU average of 9.7% (Eurostat, 2022). In this scenario, research pointed to the strategic role of vocational education and training (VET) in the prevention of ELET (Cedefop 2020; Marhuenda-Fluixá, 2019) and the need for improvement and development of this training, which is still characterised by low participation and high drop-out rates with over half of students estimated to drop out of this training without the corresponding qualification (Martínez-Morales & Marhuenda-Fluixà, 2020; Salvà-Mut et al., 2020). Against this background, we consider implementing the COSI.ed,project in Initial and Continuing VET be vital. The project promotes a rethinking of the teaching and learning processes by situating students, who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out, at the centre, based on their own experiences and knowledge, with the aim of promoting the development of skills and competencies to contribute to the further development of their sense of self-efficacy (Gravesen et al., 2021). In this paper, we present the preliminary results of the COSI.ed project implementation in the regional context of the Balearic Islands. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 young people who started their training in the 2021-22 academic year in two VET centres: Sociedad Cooperativa Jovent and Naüm Proyecto Socioeducativo. At the same time, 6 interviews were carried out with the trainers (role models) to gather their first impressions on the implementation of the project. The results point to an improvement in the learning and learning processes of the students as well as their engagement with special emphasis on the relationship with teachers. Related to the trainers, although they highlight the benefits of the project, their voices denote certain resistance to change. This is why, in the project’s second phase, emphasis should be placed on improving their involvement.

Cedefop (2020). Vocational Education and Training in Europe, 1995-2035: Scenarios for European Vocational Education and Training in the 21st Century. No 114.Publications Office of the European Union. Cedefop reference series. http://data.europa. eu/doi/10.2801/794471 Council of the European Union (2021). Council Resolution (2021/C 66/01) on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030). Official Journal of the European Union, 26-11-2021. EUROSTAT (2022). Database. Early leavers from education and training by sex and labour status. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=edat_lfse_14&lang=en Gravesen, D. T., Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Mikkelsen, S. H., and Frostholm, P. H. (Eds.). (2021). Combatting marginalisation by co-creating education: methods, theories and practices from the perspectives of young people. Emerald Group Publishing. Marhuenda-Fluixá, F. (Ed.) (2019). The School-Based Vocational Education and Training System in Spain: Achievements and Controversies. Vol. 32. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981- 13-8475-2. Martínez-Morales, I. & Marhuenda-Fluixà, F. (2020). Vocational Education and training in Spain: steady improvement and increasing value. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 72(2), 209-227. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2020.1729840 Salvà-Mut, F., Ruiz-Pérez, M., Psifidou, I., & Oliver-Trobat, M. F. (2020). Formación profesional de grado medio y abandono temprano de la educación y la formación en España: una aproximación territorial. Bordón. Revista de Pedagogía, 72(4), 95-116

Internationally, as well as in a Danish context, a relatively high level of education in the population has increasingly become a prerequisite for both individual and national success and stability on the (inter)national labor market and in global competition (Thomsen & Andrade 2016). Thus, the importance of young people having equal opportunities for entering and staying and finishing education has become goal for education policies (European Commission, 2017). However, empirical studies indicate that when it comes to educational equity, making education accessible for all students will not ensure equal educational outcomes, there are still various barriers preventing young people to succeed in education. Educational mobility in Europe as well as in Denmark is thus still relatively low and the dropout rate relatively high, especially for socio-economically challenged pupils and students (Karlson & Landersø, 2021). Implementing an upscaled MaCE-model focusing on the good practices from the former Erasmus+ project Marginalisation and co-creation in new partner schools, is the core objective of COSI.ed project. This in trying to prevent dropout and support students in reentering or completing education, making the schools more inclusive and relational oriented. The model focuses on a rethinking of teaching with a strong focus on student engagement, student-teacher relations and using an indirect approach inspired pedagogy (Gravesen et al., 2021). But how is it to be a young person in a marginalized position in education – and (therefore) in society? How does it feel as a young person not being able to live up to societal norms for education and adult life course? Which experiences does young people situated on the margins of education have with the school system, teachers, social workers, municipalities etc.? Using the indirect interviewing method, and ethnographic inspired fieldwork in the Danish COSI.ed partner school for young people in vulnerable positions, this PhD-project examines this, asking how students in vulnerable positions experience and understand their own life conditions and opportunities/barriers in the context of their educational trajectories (Frostholm & Walker, 2021; Moshuus & Eide, 2016). And furtherly asking how it is to be met and approached differently in the COSi.ed partner school in Denmark. In using the indirect approach, closely connected to the ethnographic interview (Spradley, 1979) and lifeworld-oriented interviewing methods (Brinkmann, 2020) I seek in-depth understandings in trying to let the young people guide the conversation as much as possible. In this presentation, I will present the preliminary findings of the project.

Brinkmann, S. (2020). Unstructured and semistructured interviewing. In P. L. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research: Second Edition (2 ed., pp. 424-456). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190847388.013.22 European Commission, (2017). Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a renewed EU agenda for higher education. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52017DC0247 Frostholm, P., & Walker, S. (2021). The Indirect Approach – The Basics, the Craft and the Ethics (pp. 61–75). https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-448-620211006 Gravesen, D. T., Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Mikkelsen, S. H., and Frostholm, P. H. (Eds.). (2021). Combatting marginalisation by co-creating education: methods, theories and practices from the perspectives of young people. Emerald Group Publishing. Karlson, K. B., & Landersø, R. (2021). The Making and Unmaking of Opportunity: Educational Mobility in 20th Century-Denmark. København: The ROCKWOOL Foundation Research Unit Moshuus, G. H., & Eide, K. (2016). The Indirect Approach: How to Discover Context When Studying Marginal Youth. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 15(1), 160940691665619. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406916656193 Spradley, J. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning. Thomsen, J-P., & Andrade, S. B. (2016, dec 22). Uddannelsesmobilitet i Danmark. SFI - Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Velfærd. SFI Tema Nr. 03:2016

Introduction and research interest

In the course of global migration, the group of minors is a large and often inadequately considered group. The estimated number of people aged 19 or younger living in a country other than the one where they were born increased to 40.9 million in 2020 (IOM, 2021, 48). In 2019 children and adolescents under the age of 18 make up 12 percent of all international migrants (2020: 14,6 percent, UN DESA, 2020), but account for 50 per cent of refugees and 42 per cent of internally displaced persons in 2019 (IDAC, 2020).

The conditions of youth migration differ widely in terms of the reason for migration, the legal conditions, the economic circumstances, the educational qualifications, the time periods as well as the place of origin and destination of migration. In the symposium, the educational trajectories of young people will be examined with special focus on the intersections between (forced) migration and further social group categorisation in the context of school. The three contributions chose a critical perspective on the multidimensional social inequality arising from this.

The symposium on youth and (forced) migration brings together research from the three Western European countries England (Julie Wharton), Germany (Henrike Terhart) and Austria (Seyda Subasi Singh et al.) as central destinations of migration towards Europe. The contributions are discussed by Anke Wischmann, Germany. The symposium is chaired by Rory Mc Daid, Ireland.

Theoretical framework

The term "youth" as an independent phase of life is closely linked to the emergence of modernity (Roth 1983). Over time and depending on the geographical context, the understanding of youth is subject to processes of social change. Political developments, social systems and their institutions shape the lives of young people over time as well as young people's voices and action influence society (Clarke et al., 1979). In this context, the phase of youth defined along the social category of age cannot be considered separately from other relevant social categories: Gender, socio-economic status, disabilities, nationality, migration religious affiliation etc. have an influence on the socially unequal experience of youth (Center of Intersectional Justice, n.d.).

Therefore, in the symposium the contributions focus on the intersection of youth and (forced) migration also taking further socially relevant categories into account. In order to use the potential of an intersectional approach (Crenshaw, 1989), the interconnection of youth, migration, disability, socio-economic status as well as nationality and the respective migration regime is taken into account. In doing so transnational inequality relations, postcolonial structures and dependencies between countries and regions must be taken into account in order to be able to grasp in the lifes of many young people in Europe (Wimmer & Glick Schiller, 2002). The contributions critically examine the asymmetries of the power interests involved and question a Eurocentric understanding of the migration of youth (Hummrich, 2020).

Methodologies

Based on the respective research interest presented in the contributions, different methodological approaches of qualitative interview research are used. These range from visual mapping and interview techniques, to a dialogue orientated interview setting to cross-border interview case studies.

Outcomes

The outcome of the symposiums on youth and (forced) migration in an intersectional perspective are to

1. broaden the perspective on youth migration in its variety and reveal the similarities and differences in the experiences of migrated youth under the conditions of social inequality.
2. use the approach of intersectionality as a sensitising concept to examine and theorise the conditions of educational trajectories of young migrated people.
3. provide a space for discussing different methodological approaches of interview analysis to analyse the migration paths regarding education of young people migrating to Europe.

Welcoming a young person who is seeking sanctuary into an educational setting requires teachers to consider how they might remove barriers to learning and participation, where labels such as ‘asylum seeker’ or ‘refugee’ may ‘form markers of separation, markers of not belonging’ (Slee, 2019, 910). If a young person seeking sanctuary also has an impairment or other additional need, teachers are also required to consider how include this young person under the requirements of United Kingdom’s The Equality Act 2010, in which ‘disability’, another label, is a protected characteristic. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2019) warns that attitudes and beliefs about disability can lead to social exclusion for people seeking asylum and offers guidance as to how to overcome this. In a series of dialogic interviews with teachers based on the work of Buber (1999), this research explores the way in which teachers endeavour to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for new arrivals who are seeking sanctuary and also have an impairment or additional need. There is an exploration of the reasonable adjustments that are needed to create an inclusive environment for young people with intersecting needs. The themes of emotional wellbeing, language needs and the attitudes of the young people, their families and the teachers are explored. There is also a consideration of the ‘SENitizing’ (Migliarini, Stinson and D’Alessio, 2019) of young people by their teachers. A discussion about the categorisation of young people as having ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health’ needs (DfE and DoH, 2015) as a result of their experiences as a young person who has been forced to migrate is advanced. This research proposes that educators should be supported to understand ways in which the intersectionality of disability and being a refugee might have on a young person’s sense of identity and inclusion or exclusion in their educational community (Bešić, Paleczek and Gasteiger-Klicpera, 2020). This research has implications for policy makers and teacher educators.

Bešić, E., Paleczek, L. and Gasteiger-Klicpera, B. (2020). Don’t forget about us: attitudes towards the inclusion of refugee children with(out) disabilities, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24:2, 202-217. Buber, M (1999 [1923]). I and Thou. Translated by Ronald Gregor Smith. Edinburgh: T.& T. Clark. Department of Education (DfE) and Department of Health (DoH) (2015). The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25 [accessed 28.01.23]. Migliarini, V., Stinson, C, and D’Alessio, S. (2019). ‘SENitizing’ migrant children in inclusive settings: exploring the impact of the Salamanca Statement thinking in Italy and the United States, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 23 (7-8), 754-767. Slee, R. (2019). Belonging in an age of exclusion, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 23(9), 909-922. The Equality Act (2010). Available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents [accessed 28.01.23]. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (2019). Working with Persons with Disabilities in Forced Displacement: Need to Know Guidance. Available at https://www.unhcr.org/publications/manuals/4ec3c81c9/working-persons-disabilities-forced-displacement.html [accessed 28.01.23].

Transnational references in the lives of young migrated people are (made) relevant in educational institutions in different ways (Fürstenau & Niedrig, 2007). The appreciation of cross-border mobility by young people varies greatly and often depends on whether the respective migration is seen as a (economical) burden or a gain. With a special focus on the intersection of youth, migration and socio-economic status the contribution focusses on youth from abroad who attend private boarding high schools in Germany for several years with the aim of completing the Geman university entrance examination (Abitur) (Terhart, 2022). This international students mobility is regarded as a phenomenon of the increasingly global school choice of internationally oriented families (Ball & Nikita, 2014), and at the same time private boarding schools benefit from a wealthy client group (Kenway & Fahey, 2014; Brooks & Waters, 2015). But how do the young people themselves experience the change to another national school system, everyday life at a German boarding school and contact with their family, which usually lives far away? As part of a Grounded Theory-Interview study including case studies of students, parents and school representatives’ perspectives (Strauss/Corbin, 1996; Stake, 2003, S. 136ff.; Fatke, 2013) the contribution focusses on the young migrated students experiences attending private boarding schools in Germany. As a phenomenon of privileged educational migration the growing up in transnational contexts against the background of family expectations of an internationally prestigious school education in Germany is examined. In the analysis of ten interviews with students, it becomes clear that the young people have to get used to the new conditions during the transition to the German school system. In most cases, reference is made to the advantages of attending school in German boarding schools with regard to the resulting further educational and professional opportunities in the global startification structure of the global educational market. The (social) price paid by the students and their families for this option is estimated differently. As they navigate their transnational educational experiences, gendered arguments become just as apparent as the othering process they are subjected to as migrants.

Ball, S. J., & Nikita, D. P. (2014). The global middle class and school choice: A cosmopolitan sociology. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17(3), 81-93. Fatke, R. (2013). Fallstudien in der Erziehungswissenschaft [Case studies in educational science]. In B. Friebertshäuser, A. Langer, & A. Prengel (Hrsg.), Handbuch Qualitative Forschungsmethoden in der Erziehungswissenschaft (4. rev. Ed., p. 159-172). Beltz Juventa. Fürstenau, S., & Niedrig, H. (2007). Jugend in transnationalen Räumen. Bildungslaufbahnen von Migrantenjugendlichen mit unterschiedlichem Rechtsstatus [Youth in transnational spaces. Educational trajectories of migrated youth with different legal status]. In T. Geisen & C. Riegel (Hrsg.), Jugend, Partizipation und Migration [Youth, partizipation and migration] (p. 239–259). Wiesbaden: VS. Kenway, J., & Fahey, J. (2014). Staying ahead of the game: The globalizing practices of elite schools. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 12(2), 177-195. Strauss, Anselm L., & Juliet Corbin (1996). Grounded Theory: Grundlagen qualitativer Sozialforschung [Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory procedures and techniques] Beltz. Stake, R. E. (2003). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry (p. 134-164). Sage. Terhart, H. (2022). Transnationale Bildungsverläufe zwischen globaler Bildungsorientierung und nationalem Schulsystem [Transnational trajectories between global educational orientation ans national school system]. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 66/3, 401-420.

Refugee youth’s access to formal and non-formal education provisions in times of crisis plays an important role in achieving normality and a feeling of safety for all but especially young children. In 2022, in a very short period of time, millions of people needed to move out from Ukraine and crossed the border to EU countries. In this paper, we rely on data collected through mapping and accompanying interviews with youth residing in Austria. By using the Journey Maps method (Howard, 2014), the aim is to compare the response given to the acute need for education of refugees who arrived from Middle Eastern or African countries in 2015 and experiences of those arriving during the Ukraine conflict. At least two maps from the two periods will be initially analyzed using thematic analyses. Thus four participants have been invited to map their educational journeys and comment on these in the course of accompanying interviews, either in a current or retrospect perspective. How EU- level and national Austrian policy responded to accommodate students affected by the biggest conflicts in the last decade is analyzed by relying on refugee students’ visualisation of their journey to school after arriving in Austria. Language-related barriers, public acceptance, recognition of previous education, involvement of parents as well as non-formal education provisions are the experiences to be compared. The preliminary results show that the educational response was in line with the solidarity and quick response given to the Ukrainian crisis in Europe. However, this approach illustrates a politicized humanitarian approach that perpetuates the historically-rooted oppression against marginalized groups in Europe (Esposito, 2022). The continuation of national education in Ukraine remotely, the quick recruitment of Ukrainian teachers and the lack of identification of Ukrainian children who are school age were some of the challenging areas identified. On the other hand, the interviews revealed that the inclusion of Ukrainian children in the Austrian school system has been more smoothly compared to that of peers from Syria, Afghanistan or other Middle Eastern or African countries. The high level of othering, racial prejudice, and negative media coverage against refugees who arrived in Austria upon conflict in the Middle East starting in 2015 have not been experienced in the context of Ukrainian children.

Esposito, A. (2022). The limitations of humanity: differential refugee treatment in the EU. Retrieved from https://hir.harvard.edu/the-limitations-of-humanity-differential-refugee-treatment-in-the-eu/ [accessed 28.01.23]. Howard, T. (2014). Journey mapping: A brief overview. Communication Design Quarterly Review, 2(3), 10-13. UNHCR. (2022). Education in emergencies. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/education/emergencies [accessed 28.01.23].

One of the foundational arguments for literary study has been the promise of literature to change lives and offer students new ways of seeing themselves, their communities, and the future. The three papers in this panel engage with English literary pedagogy and ‘literary linking’ (McLean Davies, Truman, and Buzacott, 2021) methodology to consider how literary texts can be activated to address pressing contemporary concerns globally including the climate crisis, environmental racisms, and gender equality.

Recent years have seen global wildfires and floods, a international #MeToo movements highlighting ongoing violence against women and girls in schools and beyond. The three papers in this symposium investigate how literature may be mobilized in diverse settings including contemporary classrooms and the street to activate discussions around these crises and beyond. The papers engage with a variety of literature including Indigenous Australia literature (paper 1); texts that center issues of consent, particularly those written by women and non-binary authors (paper 2); and children’s literature on climate justice (paper 3).

Methodology

Each of the symposium’s research projects engages with literary linking methodology which asks teachers to reimagine the potential and purpose of literature through animating the relations between texts, contemporary social issues, and critical theory. Literary linking as a methodology goes beyond notions of a text-based intertextuality and considers teachers’, researchers’, and students’ situated understanding of their own pedagogical spaces, and intersectional contexts and environmental concerns as vital in the creation of literary understanding in contemporary life.

Significance

The three papers in this panel draw from interdisciplinary scholarship in the fields of affect theory, feminism, anti-colonialism, speculative fiction, and embodied learning in combination with empirical research in schools and the community to demonstrate the affordances of engaging with literature to make sense of a world in crisis.

Structure: The panelists will attend in person from Australia and the UK. Each will give a 20 minute paper followed by a discussion.

This paper focuses on speculative climate fiction as a transdisciplinary method for highlighting injustices in the present and imagining different climate and technological futures. I investigate an in-school research project that took place in Australia where year 9 English students engaged with the text Terra Nullius by Aboriginal author Claire Coleman. The project used ‘literary linking’ (Truman, Mclean Davies & Buzacott, 2021) to investigate themes of climate change, settler colonialism through cross-curricular collaboration between English literature and STEM. Australia, like the rest of the planet, is in a climate crisis. The past several years have seen extreme weather events including bushfires, flooding, and drought across the continent. Concomitantly, the crisis of settler colonialism continues in Australia, as highlighted in Coleman’s allegorical climate fiction which although set in a speculative future, incriminates the factual past. As an example of speculative climate fiction, Coleman’s text highlights the potential of narrative as a pedagogical and social tool for predicting, critiquing, and building a different world. Considering the material effects of stories in creating worlds aligns Indigenous scholars (Dillion, 2012) who argue for the power of narrative in shaping experience, critiquing the present, and positing different futures. Specifically, Indigenous climate fictions provide the opportunity for critical reflection on aspects of how our world currently is and where we might end up if we continue along certain paths (Whyte, 2018). These critical reflections then offer a chance for further speculative thinking which asks what needs to be done in the present to arrive at an alternative future. Data sources for the paper will include an engagement with climate fiction narratives, and discussion of an experimental cross-curricular project between English literary education and STEM, in a contemporary year 9 classroom in Australia. Students consider the power of narrative for thinking about climate, settler colonialism, and proposing different futures in times of crisis.

Dillion, G. (2012). Walking the Clouds (G. Dillion (ed.)). Arizona University Press. Truman, S. E., McLean Davies, L., & Buzacott, L. (2021). Disrupting intertextual power networks: challenging literature in schools. Discourse, 0(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2021.1910929 Whyte, K. P. (2018). Indigenous science (fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral dystopias and fantasies of climate change crises. Environment & Planning E: Nature & Space, 1(1/2), 224.

Linking Literature and consent education: literate practices in crisis times This paper takes up the concept and method of “literary linking” (Mclean Davies et al 2020; Truman et al 2021) to explore the intersections of the teaching of literature and consent education in L1 contexts. It reports on a research project--undertaken in partnership with the Stella Prize for Australian women and non- binary writers--which developed a framework to support conversations about consent in Australian English classrooms. This framework was developed in an interdisciplinary collaboration with experts in respectful relationships education and the inductive and iterative close analysis of 50 texts set for study in secondary English classrooms. Background and questions As a result of the continued, gendered abuse of power in public, institutional and private spaces, parents and students have called for greater time spent on consent education in schools. While usually the remit of health and wellbeing curriculum area,issues of ethics and relationships are also implicitly the mainstay of L1 education, through the study of literature and texts. Thus, it is timely to consider how issues of consent might be productively addressed in secondary English and what this means for our understanding of the nature of literary study. Theoretical framework: Drawing on Green’s notion of a “literary literacy” (2002), concepts of relational literacies (McLean Davies et al 2021), and “relational reading” (Graham, 2014), the paper will offer insight into the ways that literary linking as a pedagogy enables consent discourses to be contextualised within broader discussions of relationality and sustainability. Accordingly it will show that raising these issues in L1 expands our conceptualization of the possibilities of a “Literary literacy” in times of global crisis.

Graham, M. (2014). Aboriginal Notions of Relationality and Positionalism. In Global Discourse: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Current Affairs and Applied Contemporary Thought. 4 (1), 17-22. Green, B. 2002. “A Literacy Project of Our Own?” English in Australia 134 (July): 25–32. McLean Davies, L & Buzacott, L. (2021). “Rethinking Literature, Knowledge and Justice: Selecting ‘Difficult’ Stories for Study in School English.” Pedagogy, Culture & Society. 1 (15). https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.1977981.

The paper draws on a three-year project exploring children and young people’s embodied relationship to treescapes (that is, spaces where trees are). We draw on our experiences of using story crafting as a method (Karlsson, 2009) to attend to children’s narratives as sites, where the discursive, the social, and the material/physical intertwine. We particularly are interested in the embodied experiences of treescapes with children in and outside the school context in the North of England. Our focus here was on the ways in which a story could develop provocations and inquiries with the children that led to further thinking about storying in a world threatened by climate change. We apply “critical literacy” (Vasquez 2014) as a framework to provide children a space for engaging in critical discussions around the themes of hope, trees, and environmental change. We read a story to the children who then responded with small stories of hope and drawings. The story was called ‘The Tree of Hope’ which involved a child, Khadra, finding out how to re-plant her home space, which had been a desert. The children in the school were re-planting their playground and finding out why trees were important in the climate crisis. When we told the story new possibilities and stories of hope emerged (Ojala 2012). Through this, we trouble assumptions about who knows what and how in environmental education (Trott and Weinberg, 2020) challenging adult-designed naturalised curriculum practices. Linking literacies through the story created an emergent space of practice that offered a structure in which to work with hope as a method (Kraftl 2008).

Karlsson, L. 2009. To construct a bridge of sharing between child and adult culture with the Storycrafting method. In: Ruismäki H and Ruokonen I (eds) Arts Contact Points between Cultures. Department of Applied Sciences of Education. Research Report 312. Helsinki: University of Helsinki, pp. 117–128. Kraftl, P. 2008. Young People, Hope, and Childhood-Hope. Space and Culture, 11(2), 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331208315930 Ojala, M. 2012. “Hope and Climate Change: The Importance of Hope for Environmental Engagement among Young People.” Environmental Education Research, 18 (5), 625–642. doi:10.1080/13504622.2011.637157. Vasquez, V.M. 2014. Negotiating Critical Literacies with Young Children. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group: New York. Trott, C. D., Weinberg, A. E. 2020. "Science Education for Sustainability: Strengthening Children’s Science Engagement through Climate Change Learning and Action", Sustainability, 12 (16), pp.1-24. Doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166400

This symposium consistes of 3 papers.

Paper 1:

This paper presents the four-year (2015-2019) journey of Nabah, a young Bangladeshi-British Muslim woman. Her story lies on a spectrum that runs from being a ‘science refuser’, through ‘science hesitancy’ to ‘science responsive’, and then to being a ‘science habitue’. The group we call ‘science refusers’ is substantial in the UK. It includes those who are virulently anti-science, who, for example, believe the earth is flat, that the Covid19 pandemic is a government ploy to microchip the country’s population etc. (Watts, 2023). However, more germane to our discussion here, this group also contains people who find science inhibitively difficult, for whom science makes little or no sense at all. More importantly, for some, science is simply ‘not for them’ because they belong to racially and economically underprivileged British backgrounds, and so they reject science education/career status (Archer, 2018; Wells, Gill and McDonald, 2015). For this group, science is seen as counter-intuitive and fails any personal cost-benefit analysis. We have coined the term ‘dysciencia’ (Salehjee and Watts, in Production) to describe anti-science beliefs because ‘symptoms of disaffection…are grounded in a person’s functional worldview’ (Holton, 1993, p.145).

Paper 2:

This paper develops the inclusion of organizational hierarchy and contemporary leadership in discussions around the decolonisation of the curriculum by use of a critical realist approach (Thorpe, 2019) that helps to identify hierarchical fragility and the dominant leadership approaches that support hierarchy as a mechanism to justify privileges and maintain racism and other forms of injustice. The paper outlines how modern leadership’s roots can be traced back to the accounting practices of the slave plantations (Rosenthal, 2019) and managerialism (O’Reilly and Reed, 2010) with its wish to create and maintain hierarchy even in its discourses, such as collaborative leadership, that appear to offer liberation (Lumby, 2019). It then identifies how much energy has been expended in seeking to eradicate fragility in organizations with the goal of improving efficiency through ‘strong leadership’, before moving to link racism and hierarchy as constraints upon the decolonisation of the curriculum.

Paper 3

This paper calls for the continued raising of cultural awareness through diversity training at all levels of education, through kindergarten / nursery into further, higher and adult education (Race, 2015). Maria Montessori obtained her doctorate and worked at Sapienza University in the 1890s. Her approach to learning that focuses on developing independence amongst learners and personal development in the classroom is still very much applicable today. It is this application of the Montessori theory and method in Italian and international contexts that needs to be encouraged and developed (Williams, 2021; 2022). But that, or any development, has been affected by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The need to educationally adapt in unpredictable times provides both challenges and opportunities for professional practitioners. UNICEF (2020) encouraged the use of multiple delivery channels with 68 out of 127 countries reporting in relation to remote learning with Covid-19. Access to content is the key to remote learning but also to provide children with psychosocial support and encourage the safe use of technology. Gilead and Dishon (2022) talk about the possibilities or adapting educational practice, but future predicted crisis situations hinders both change and wider transformation. Within these European and Global climates, how to be continue to advocate multicultural dialogues within multicultural education?

In voicing Nabah’s story, we have aired the sense of a ‘dysciencia syndrome’, wherein people exhibit inability, incapacity, disinterest, low motivation and poor self-esteem in relation to the learning of science. Nabah’s a story, in Hanson’s (2008) words, is of a young woman swimming against the tide. To maintain the metaphor, while social waves roll over her, there also exists a powerful undertow of personal perceptions and beliefs. She began as a girl in science refusal, as dyscientic, and ended (so far) as a young woman in growing personal agency in science acceptance – moving from one end of our putative spectrum to the other. In this, it is also a story of a movement from self-exclusion to self-inclusion. Nabah’s future lies, of course, in the future. We sincerely hope that she succeeds in achieving her science habitué. We gathered a collection of Nabah’s self-perceptions through interviews between 2015 and 2019. Over these four years, we used several different methods to work with her, primarily collecting her self-told, reflective stories. Other approaches included six short questionnaires and classroom conversations between October 2015 and August 2017 that explored Nabah’s aspirations, engagement, perceptions about school and out-of-school science. In addition, we conducted two semi-structured interviews, one in August 2016 and the second in July 2017, and a further open-ended conversational interview in March 2019.

Archer, L. (2018). “An Intersectional Approach to Classed Injustices in Education: Gender, Ethnicity, ‘Heavy’ Funds of Knowledge and Working-Class Students’ Struggles for Intelligibility in the Classroom”. In Education and Working-Class Youth (pp. 155-179). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Charmaz, K. (1999). “Stories of suffering: Subjective tales and research narratives.” Qualitative health research 9(3): 362-382. Clandinin, D.J., & Connelly. F.M. (1998). “Stories to live by: Narrative understandings of school reform.” Curriculum inquiry 28(2): 149-164. Hanson, S. (2008). Swimming against the tide: African American girls and science education. Temple University Press. Holton, G.J. (1993). Science and anti-science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Salehjee, S., Watts, D.M. (In Production) Dysciencia to Science: The story of Nabah,. in Race, R. (Ed.) Evolving Dialogues in Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education. London, Open University Press. Wells, C., Gill, R., & McDonald, J. (2015). “‘Us foreigners’: Intersectionality in a scientific organization.” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 34, 539–553. Watts, D.M. (2023) Science and anti-science. In Debates in Science Education, 2nd edition (pp. 85-98). London: Routledge.

When applying a critical realist approach to the decolonisation of the curriculum by drawing on the concept of white fragility (DiAngelo, 2018) that exposes the hierarchical fragility in educational organizations that maintains social injustice and inequalities. In my contribution to a collection of proclamation and provocations about decolonising the curriculum, I argued that ‘the decolonising of the school curriculum must involve the removal of oppressive authority. A focus on the content of the curriculum is not enough unless aligned from the beginning with a challenge to hierarchy in schools and other education organisations… as learning about a liberating content when filtered through an oppressive authority will not decolonise the curriculum’ (Race et al., 2021, p. 89). Hypothetically, transforming authority has to produce a change in culture which will not only allow all education organisation to change in relation to decolonising curriculum but also addressing white privilege, thereby increasing understandings of colonising processes in different countries, but how we can use teaching and learning from top to bottom to address how we can transform education for a more social, multicultural and equitable profession (DiAngelo, 2021). A critical realist understanding of mechanisms and structure is used to connect Kellerman’s (2012) argument about the change in the balance of the power between leaders and followers that leaves the former more fragile with the concept of white fragility leads to a new understanding of fragility within hierarchy and how this works again the decolonisation of the curriculum, whilst acknowledging how appealing leadership discourses can be for those seeking curriculum reform and greater social justice. The ambiguity involved in the legitimation of hierarchy as a form of control embedded in struggles around matters of diversity and inequality (DiTomaso, 2021) is used to argue that things need not be as they are and that the challenge to hierarchy must remain an important aspect of all attempts to decolonise the curriculum.

DiAngelo, R. (2018) White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston: Beacon Press. DiAngleo, R. (2021) Nice Racism. How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm, London, Allen Lane. Kellerman, B. (2012) The End of Leadership. New York: Harper Business. Lumby, J. (2019) Distributed Leadership and bureaucracy. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 47(1), pp. 5–19.  Race, R., Gill, D., Kaitell, E., Mahmud, A., Thorpe, A. and Wolfe, K. (2022) Proclamations and Provocations. Decolonising curriculum in education research and professional practice. Journal of Equity in Education and Society, 1(1), pp. 82–96. Rosenthal, C. (2018) Accounting for slavery: Masters and Management. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press. Thorpe, A. (2019) Educational leadership development and women: insights from critical realism. International Journal of Leadership in Education 22(2), 135-147.

It is important to report that evolving dialogues continue in academic literatures relating to multiculturalism and multicultural education (Baptiste and Writer, 2021; Race, in Production). However, it would be naïve to belief how politics has shaped or moved policymaking to more integrationist and assimilationist based ideas. Within this paper we will look at the Trojan Horse affair, Fundamental British Values and the Prevent Policy and Channel Processes (Bi, 2020; Winter et al, 2022; Elwick and Jerome, 2019). Miah et al (2020: 232) argue that the Trojan Horse affair can be interpreted through the prism of ‘security as a discourse’; a discourse through which certain groups in society are securitised.’ What does this mean for groups that are ‘securitised’ or stigmatised? Fundamental British Values develops the debate. Britain contains four unique countries with four different education systems. FBV should be international in its education application but does the curricula and professional practice focus on one rather than four countries histories and cultures? Prevent and Channel also returns to how groups are ‘securitised’ with the fact that more Channel multi-agency groups are set up for extreme right-wing radicalisation concerns is greater than referrals for Islamist concerns (Home Office, 2023). Is this information being taught in schools and universities? Another important education issue to be highlighted is (under) performance in the classroom. Within wider international perspectives, the OECD (2018) focus on the nature of education performance and argue that the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged which develops from the age of 10 years old. The impact of well-being on performance is also examined. The report highlights that one in four of disadvantaged students across OECD countries are “socially and emotionally resilient”, meaning they are satisfied with their life, fell socially integrated at school and do not suffer text anxiety. In Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the share of such students is among the largest (30% or more) but in other European countries, including Bulgaria, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal and the United Kingdom, the share is comparatively small (less than 20%) (OECD, 2018). Specifically, we will look at the recent developments within the Ministry of Education and Merit in Rome, Italy to see whether recent education policy covers a multicultural, integrationist or assimilationist agendas (MoEM, 2023).

Home Office (2023) Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme statistics, 2021-2022, Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), last accessed 29th January 2022. Ministry of Education and Merit (MoEM) (2023) Italian Government Home Page, Ministry of Education and Merit - Miur, last accessed 31st January 2023. Organisation for Economic and Cultural Development (OECD) (2018) Equity in Education: breaking down barriers to social mobility, Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility | en | OECD, last accessed 7th November 2022. OECD (2021) Better Life Index – Italy, OECD Better Life Index, last accessed 7th November 2022. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2020) Promising practices for equitable remote learning Emerging lessons from COVID-19 education responses in 127 countries, IRB 2020-10.pdf (unicef-irc.org), last accessed 13th October 2022. Williams, M. (2021) The Contribution of “A Sister of Notre Dame” and the “Nun of Calabar” to Montessori Education in Scotland, Nigeria and Beyond. Rivista di Storia dell Educazione 8(2): 123-134. doi: 10.36253/rse-10344m, last accessed 13th October 2022. Williams, M. (2022) Becoming an International public intellectual: Maria Montessori before the Montessori Method, 1882 -1912/, British Journal of Educational Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00071005.2022.2108757, last accessed 13th October 2022.

BACKGROUND: While student and teacher health enjoy a high level of interest in empirical health research, research on the health of school leaders has barely been on the research agenda. The few studies available indicate, among other things, that school principals are frequently affected by psychological stress, which is more pronounced compared to other occupational groups (Dewa et al., 2009; Philips et al., 2008). Findings in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 indicate that school principals feel stressed primarily due to workload, interpersonal conflict, a lack of resources, and personal pressure (Hansen et al., 2020). Looking at physical and psychological exhaustion, 45% of school principals and school board members surveyed in a German study reported that they find it difficult to recover at the end of a workday, and one-third often/always feel psychologically exhausted (Dadaczynski et al., 2021). In a Swiss study, 29% of school leaders reported reduced well-being, a quarter find it difficult to recover after a workday, and one in five school leaders often feel psychologically exhausted at work (Sandmeier et al., 2021). How school leaders cope with work-related stress and the extent to which work-related coping behaviors are associated with mental health has not been studied to date.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Based on the job demands-resources model (Demerouti et al., 2001) and transactional stress theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), the relationship between work-related stress and mental health of school administrators during the COVID-19 pandemic will be examined. In addition, we will analyze how school principals cope with work-related stress and the extent to which coping behaviors may explain the relationship between stress and mental health.

This study involved two research approaches: 1) a case study and 2) a robust literature review. These were conducted to strengthen the very sparsely studied phenomenon of teacher wellbeing in the primary school context. By combining these two methods, we are able to obtain a broader and deeper picture of the studied phenomenon. This study answers two research questions: 1) What experiences do teachers have regarding their wellbeing during teacher classroom management (TCM) implementation? 2) What studies have been conducted on teacher wellbeing in dealing with students with externalising conduct? Therefore, the aim of this study was to strengthen our understanding of teacher wellbeing using a multimethod approach.

The diversity of pupils and their different difficulties challenge teachers’ skills and methods in teaching. Some behavioural challenges require rapid intervention and a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach by the teachers. An internationally recognised tool, TCM, aims to support pupils’ socio-emotional development, improve teacher–pupil interaction, and strengthen school–home cooperation. This case study examines teachers’ experiences of TCM in the Finnish primary school context. The study is qualitative, and the data (N = 16) was collected through focus group interviews.

The theoretical framework of this study includes various indicators of teacher’s wellbeing. A systematic literature review was conducted to develop a robust theoretical framework for this paper. Wellbeing is a multidimensional notion and an understudied phenomenon (Berlanda, et al., 2019; Reddy et al., 2018; Weiland, 2021). Wellbeing theorists study the individual trait of flourishing, “understood as optimal ways of functioning characterised by goodness and wholeness” (Cherkowski & Walker, 2016). Research on human flourishing focuses on the importance of healthy relationships (Cherkowski & Walker, 2016), centrality of emotion and affect (Fredrickson, 2001), and feelings of competence (Dollansky, 2014). We therefore included Gibbs (2018) thoughts about teachers’ identities, autonomy, and efficacy.

Seligman’s (2002, 2011) wellbeing theory stemmed from positive psychology, studying positive human qualities, habits, and mental models, rather than the analysis or exploration of deficits and negative attributes (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). In 2002, Seligman claimed that ‘happiness’ is made up of three elements: positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. In 2011, Seligman revised his theory to include two other elements: relationships and accomplishments. According to Seligman (2011), positive relationships, or a lack thereof, have a critical influence on overall wellbeing; wellbeing should be viewed as a construct.

Researchers recently have followed Seligman’s approach to viewing the issue of teacher wellbeing through a positive psychology lens. The conversation turned to retaining teachers through mindfulness (De Stercke, Goyette, & Robertson, 2015), with positive teacher leadership practices focused on wellbeing for all (Cherkowski, 2018). Cherkowski (2018) specifically emphasised teacher wellbeing as a priority in its own right. This is in contrast to focusing on wellbeing as a tool to prevent burnout and attrition or solely to benefit students. In this paper, we aim to develop a deeper understanding of teachers’ wellbeing regarding students’ externalising conduct in classroom/schools as a preventive approach to wellbeing in education.

Teaching is an increasingly demanding profession linked to many intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal, organizational, and administrative obstacles, hurdles, and challenges (Mäkelä & Hirvensalo, 2015). In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the effort and complexity of the teaching profession while requiring teachers to adapt to new job demands (e.g., shift to remote teaching). Specific physiological and psychological job demands and the limited individual preconditions for their fulfillment can cause teachers to experience feelings of insufficiency, relatively high levels of stress, low job satisfaction, and absenteeism (Bogaert et al., 2014). Thus, some teachers leave the teaching profession during their productive years, and older teachers consider, and often choose, early retirement (Dunlop & Macdonald, 2004).

The work ability concept was proposed to identify whether individuals are able to continue to meet the physical and psychosocial requirements of their profession. Work ability is defined as a balance between personal resources and work characteristics or as the individual capacity to complete required work tasks and cope with the job demands successfully (Ilmarinen et al., 2008). For our research, we define work ability as a teacher’s self-perception or evaluation of their capacity to continue working contentedly in the teaching profession, given the characteristics of the job and their personal resources.

The importance of work ability in the context of well-being is that it predicts the quality of life in the physical, psychological, relational, and environmental domains (Milosevic et al., 2011). Among teachers, work ability was a significant and important predictor of current job satisfaction (Ünlü & Filiz, 2019).

In recent years, several studies, meta-analyses, and reviews have been published to identify and better understand a range of work-focused antecedents of work ability as a way to maintain and enhance work ability and, therefore, teachers’ well-being (cf. Cadiz et al., 2019). Considering the JD-R theory (Schaufeli & Taris, 2014), work ability can be influenced negatively by job demands (e.g., job insecurity, pupil misbehavior, time pressure, and work overload). Furthermore, the JD-R model assumes that high job demands and insufficient job resources may cause burnout. Based on the health impairment process (Schaufeli & Taris, 2014), we propose that high job demands and lacking job resources might result in a higher strain (burnout), and burnout can have an unfavorable effect on work ability.

Although these relationships have already been the research subject, the most frequently used diagnostic tool—the Work Ability Index (WAI) has been criticized (cf. Hlaďo et al., 2020). The main reasons are that the WAI overlaps with the construct of burnout and does not reflect the job specifics of the teaching profession.

Considering this research gap, the main goals of our paper are: to (1) develop and validate a new research instrument measuring work ability among teachers conceptually distinct from burnout and (b) examine the relationships between job demands, job resources, burnout, and work ability among lower secondary school teachers.

Like many other European countries Austria is currently implementing a nationwide Quality Management System for schools (QMS; https://www.qms.at/). Its aim is systematic and targeted school and teaching development based on a quality circle of plan–do–check–adjust (PDCA, ‘Shewhart Cycle’) and thus similar to other countries, especially some German Länder with which there is also a continuous exchange. The most important features are the introduction of a mandatory quality framework for all schools as well as an increased data or evidence orientation in school and teaching development in general. QMS-tools include the definition of a school’s pedagogical guiding principles, a school development plan, a balance and target agreement meeting between the principal and the regional school quality manager (formerly ‘school inspector’) and a quality handbook. To support the data orientation, an internet platform with several hundred instruments for internal evaluation was provided. Formerly different quality management programs for general and vocational schools (and thus different traditions and instruments) are being merged into QMS.

The implementation process and the diffusion of the QMS and its elements into the school system are formatively evaluated in an accompanying process (Rossi et al., 2019; Stockmann, 2011). The overall objective of this evaluation is the generation of knowledge for the optimization of the implementation process as well as its monitoring and documentation of progress.

The theoretical background of this research is based on Rogers’ (2003) ‘Diffusion of Innovations’ describing typical stages of immersion. Accordingly, knowledge of the innovation is the starting point, in concrete knowledge of the QMS model, which should subsequently lead to a positive attitude or acceptance (persuasion). The next stages are the informed decision of the actors to adopt the innovation (decision) and the actual implementation, which in the best case leads to reinforcement and confirmation. Coburn (2003) focuses attention on the depth of change, its sustainability and ownership in the medium and long term, although these are of little importance in the initial phase. A closer look at the context of implementation and the creation of necessary framework conditions follows the approach of implementation research (Petermann, 2014).

The design of the evaluation and the underlying theoretical assumptions lead to the following three guiding questions:

• How deeply has the nationwide Quality Management System already diffused into everyday school life?
• How can the implementation process be further promoted and supported?
• Are there different patterns in this respect in different school sectors, specifically between general education and vocational education?

According to the underlying model of Utilization-Focused Evaluation (Patton, 1997, 2000), the detailed questions are defined in the further course of the evaluation in close coordination with the persons responsible for QMS.

Past findings concerning whether and how feedback from external evaluations benefit the improvement of schools are inconsistent and sometimes even conflicting, which highlights the contextual nature of such evaluations and underscores the importance of exploring them in diverse contexts. Considering that broad international debate, we investigated the use and impact of feedback from external evaluations in compulsory schools in Iceland, particularly as perceived by principals and teachers in six such schools. The research questions guiding the study was “How and to what extent do schools use the feedback presented in external evaluation reports?” and “To what extent do schools sustain the changes made after using the feedback from external evaluations instrumentally?” The framework used for analysing the evaluation feedback use was based on Rossi et al. (2004) and Aderet-German and Ben-Peretz (2020) and distinguishes between instrumental, conceptual, strategic and reinforcement-oriented use.

To reach objective 4 and 17 adopted by the General Assembly in September 2015, go through working together, teachers and students need to form a community of knowledge seekers and builders as the UNESCO (2021) affirms, so one of the ways to achieve these two sustainable development goals is to form communities of professional practice.

Thus, improving education is significantly dependent on the ability of school leaders to connect everyone (teachers, families and local community) into a professional community of practice, which increases their professional capital. It has three dimensions; human capital is acquired and useful skills of all inhabitants or members of society (Smith, 1776); social capital, those characteristics of social organization, such as trust, standards and networks that can improve the efficiency of society by facilitating coordinated actions (Putnam, 1995) and decision capital, is what professionals acquire and accumulate through structured and unstructured experiences, practice and reflection , capital that allows them to make judgements.

In complex contexts, a new governance of the school is required, with horizontal leaders (leadership from the middle) that build projects, cultures and environments with a community vocation of commitment to educational improvement, while expanding the social capital of the Professional Practice Community.

COMMUNITY OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Interestingly, Domingo-Segovia et al. (2020) have used the term of “Professional Practice Community” as a broader term to “professional learning community” that includes the school and the local community context. Community that requires the emergence of fluid networks of interrelationship, communication and support for the learning of all and for all, with a shared and networked leadership, articulated from a broad perspective of “middle leadership” (Rincón, 2019).

Therefore, as an “extended” community, the stage and actors must be linked and expanded with the collective goal of educational improvement, expanding networks of influences and opportunities. Hence the importance of the “increase of professional capital” (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2014), the next point to be discussed.

PROFESSIONAL CAPITAL AND LEARNING ANALYTICS

The key to this term is the systemic development and integration of three types of capital – human, social and decision-making – into the teaching profession. Professional capital has to do with collective responsibility, not individual autonomy; with rigorous training, continuous learning, going beyond the evidence, being open to the needs and priorities of students and society “ (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012).

In addition, the use of learning analytics defined as “the measurement, collection, analysis and presentation of data about students and their contexts, in order to understand and optimize learning and the environments in which it occurs” acquires a relevant value as it can be used as a means to extract the most effective methodologies, processes and tools in data measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of professional capital (Khalil & Ebner, 2016).

Thus, The rationale for this work was to understand the structure of how learning analytics can help the improvement and understanding of professional capital in the field of education by analyzing its scientific output. For this purpose, bibliometric maps offering a better understanding of the structure of a scientific domain through the graphical representation of the different units of analysis and their relationships (Small, 2006)

Thus, this research will answer the following questions:

RQ1: What are the key themes or knowledge grouped around the use of learning analytics for the improvement of professional capital?

RQ2: What is the research trend of the field under study?

RQ3: What are the research boundaries extracted from the network analysis?

The steps and tools used in this process are explained more specifically in the methodology.

Mathematics is perceived by many students as a particularly difficult subject, and many tend to experience higher levels of anxiety in relation to mathematics compared to other subjects (Goetz et. al., 2007). At the same time, mathematical competencies are fundamental to several aspects of contemporary society (OECD, 2013). Fostering motivation is therefore important for supporting students who experience difficulties in mathematics, especially since motivation is a driving force for learning mathematics over time (Wigfield et al., 2016). A number of studies have shown a positive relationship between motivation and achievement in mathematics, regardless of theoretical approach (e.g., Kriegbaum et. al., 2018; Prast et. al., 2018). Students who are motivated also tend to engage more in mathematical activities because they find them enjoyable and interesting (Eccles & Wigfield, 2004), and the development of motivation for mathematics during elementary school is related to the choice of mathematics-intensive careers (Musu-Gillette et. al., 2015).

One of the most important theories of motivation for mathematics is the Expectancy Value Theory of Motivation (EVM) proposed by Eccles, Wigfield, and colleagues. According to EVM, motivation is a function of a person's expectancy of success and the value they place on the task. Expectancy of success refers to a person's belief in his/her own ability to to successfully complete a task, and value refers to the importance or relevance of the task to the person's goals or interests. Students with a higher expectancy of success and a higher value placed on mathematics tend to have higher motivation and achievement in mathematics (Wigfield et. al., 2016).

Another theory relevant to motivation is Dweck's (1995) theory of implicit intelligence. The theory states that individuals can have implicit beliefs about the nature of intelligence that can be either fixed or malleable. People with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence is not changeable, whereas people with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed through effort and learning. Students' implicit beliefs about intelligence are related to both academic achievement and motivation (e.g., Song et al., 2022), implying that students with a growth mindset tend to develop several adaptive academic behaviors, such as higher motivation and achievement, than those with a fixed mindset (Yeager and Dweck, 2012).

Wigfield et al. (2004) hypothesized that Dweck's theory of implicit intelligence is related to EVM in that individuals who believe their abilities cannot be improved through effort will not engage in activities they believe they are not very good at. However, few studies have examined how such motivational beliefs are formed in children. Eccles and Wigfield (2020) proposed in their situated expectancy-value theory (SEVM) that beliefs and values are also shaped by social context, such as family, peers, and culture. In a study of how parental beliefs about fixedness of ability affect interactions with their children, Muenks et al. (2015) found that parents with fixed mindsets engaged in more controlling and achievement-oriented behaviors and were less likely to engage in math-related activities with their children. Although few studies have examined how parents' mindset affects their children's motivation, a study by Song et al. (2022) showed that children reported having greater self-reported persistence when their parents had more growth mindset. Xie et al. (2022) also found that parents' mindset indirectly predicted math anxiety through their failure beliefs.

Thus, the present study aims to investigate the role of parents' beliefs about mathematical ability, i.e., their fixed or growth mindset, in fostering student motivation. Specifically, we focus on parents' beliefs of mathematical ability as innate or malleable, and whether and how parents' mindsets affect students' self-concepts about their ability, value, and achievement of mathematics.

Using data from the first two cycles of ICCS in 2009 and 2016, this paper analyses the relationship between expected political engagement and affiliation and engagement with religion as well as attitudes toward the influence of religion in society among lower-secondary students in 10 European countries. It reviews changes over time as well as of associations between indicators of religious attachment among young people with indicators of intended political engagement in the future. The databases provided by ICCS provide an excellent opportunity to investigate the links between religious affiliation and beliefs among young people as motivating factors driving expected individual engagement in society.

Religion has been identified as an important influence on civic participation and engagement (see Pancer, 2015; Putnam, & Campbell, 2010; Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995) and research findings suggest that religious affiliation has an impact on political and social engagement among adults (see Ekström & Kvalem, 2013; Guo, Webb, Abzug, & Peck, 2013; Perks, & Haan, 2011; Verba et al., 1995). Similar observations have also been recently reported based on comparative international surveys across different countries (Pew Research Center, 2019a). It has been argued that religious organizations provide networks focused on political recruitment and motivation while participation in religion encourages adherents to consider features of society (a world view) that they see as desirable (Campbell, 2001; Jones-Correa & Leal, 2001; Putman & Campbell, 2010).

Pancer (2015) presented some evidence that schools and neighborhoods may contribute to both civic engagement and religious formation among adolescents. Vermeer (2010) viewed religious education at schools as a contributor to socializing young people in ways that had civic value while Francis et al. (2015) regarded church attendance and education about religion at school as factors that nurture tolerance in a religiously diverse society. In this sense engagement with religion could also be viewed as an important part of a broader civic engagement.

Research also suggested that, even after controlling for other variables, religious tradition and attendance of religious services tend to be related to indicators of civil participation (Smidt, 1999; Storm, 2015). However, other studies have also reported negative effects of religious affiliation on democratic citizenship as manifested in lower levels of political knowledge and lack of political efficacy among strongly religious people (Scheufele, Nisbet, & Brossard, 2003). Research among US adolescents (Porter, 2013) indicates that moral identity may be positively associated with voluntary service and expressive-political involvement but negatively related to traditional-political involvement. Findings from ICCS showed that lower-secondary students with higher levels of civic knowledge were less likely to endorse religious influence in society (Schulz & Ainley, 2017; Schulz et al., 2018). Results also showed that in most countries students who attended religious services held more positive attitudes towards the desirability of religious influence on society (Schulz et al., 2010 & 2018; Schulz & Ainley, 2017).

The relationship between religious attachment and civic engagement is a phenomenon, which has frequently been highlighted in other studies. This paper provides evidence about changes in religious affiliation and attitudes toward the importance of religion for society between 2009 and 2016. Further, the paper explores how these variables relate to expected participation in the future while considering also the context of the general status of religion in each participating country. Using data from an optional component of the ICCS student questionnaire, this paper investigates the extent to which lower-secondary students from 10 European countries in 2009 and 2016 were attached to a religion, endorsed its influence on society and the extent to which their engagement with religion was related to their expected future participation.

Scientific Inquiry (SI) is one of the overarching goals for science education all over the world (Abd-El-Khalick et al., 2004). An understanding of SI is fundamental to scientific literacy, and involves combining content knowledge, process skills and an understanding of the processes and methods scientists use to generate new knowledge (Lederman et al., 2014). This study focuses on the last mentioned, which is described as learning about scientific inquiry (Hodson, 1996), currently often disused in terms of learning about scientific practices (Osborne, 2014). However, this learning goal is often obscured due to the conflation between SI as a pedagogical strategy and as a content matter (Gyllenpalm & Wickman, 2011; Lunde, et al., 2015). Both teaching and research have generally focused on SI as either a pedagogical strategy to learn science, or on students´ abilities to conduct scientific investigations. One reason for this is the tacit assumption that students automatically learn about scientific inquiry simply by doing inquiry. Yet, this assumption has since long been challenged by a large body of research which demonstrates the need for explicit instruction about scientific inquiry as content knowledge (Lederman et al., 2019). Another problem has been the lack of valid instruments for meaningful assessment of students’ understanding about SI (Lederman et al., 2014). We address these issues by using the VASI-questionnaire (Views About Scientific Inquiry) developed for this purpose and present findings from Sweden in primary-, middle- and secondary school. The data is a subset of a larger international project (see e.g. Lederman et. al., 2019) but we focus the analysis on the progression of students’ knowledge over time in a cross-sectional study design.

In Sweden the science curriculum is specified for the school years 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12, and divided into the subjects physics, chemistry and biology from year 1 . Students begin learning about scientific inquiry in all science subjects already from the first year. A progression in students´ knowledge is then expected as the central content related to SI successively becomes more advanced in later school years (The Swedish National Agency for Education, 2022). Despite this focus on learning about SI in the curriculum, explicit teaching about SI seems to be rare in Sweden. Yet, practical activities where students are engaged in some form of scientific inquiry has a long tradition, although these are often used as a pedagogical strategy for other educational goals (Högström et al., 2012, Lunde et al., 2015).

The purpose of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of students’ views of SI and how this can develop over time in order to better understand how this important topic can be addressed by teachers, curriculum developers, national test designers and text book authors. In particular, the study examines the following question:

What are students’ views about scientific inquiry in Sweden in primary-, middle and upper secondary school?

Inclusion is vital for societies that strive for social justice and is an essential part of the European Commission’s strategic plan for 2021 – 2030 (European Commission, 2021). In 2009, The Education and Training 2020 agenda stated that:

‘Education and training systems should aim to ensure that all learners — including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, those with special needs and migrants — complete their education… Education should promote intercultural competences, democratic values and respect for fundamental rights and the environment, as well as combat all forms of discrimination, equipping all young people to interact positively with their peers from diverse backgrounds.’ (Council of the European Union, C119/4).

To realize these aims, teachers require knowledge and skills on how to deliver high quality education to all students, in addition to having positive attitudes towards diversity and inclusion. Teacher education has a key role in educating teachers about different students’ needs and inclusive practices. However, teachers and teacher educators feel unprepared and in need of more information in this area (Florian & Camedda, 2020; Guðjónsdóttir & Óskarsdóttir, 2020).

The purpose of this symposium is to contribute to the limited knowledge base of research-supported educational practices that promote inclusion and social justice. It was initiated by members of the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED), an international group that aims to contribute to teacher educators’ professionalization by sharing ideas, practices and research (Kelchtermans et al., 2018). The symposium will present three teacher education programmes that deal with inclusion and social justice from different perspectives. The first programme helps student teachers and teacher educators to bridge ethnic tensions, respect and collaborate with each other as they deal with shared social justice issues such as gender and poverty. The second programme helps teacher educators re-examine their own beliefs and practices and consider how best to address challenges associated with social justice with student teachers. The third programme supports the transition to work of beginning teachers with significant physical or sensory impairments. Together, the three presentations deal with multiple aspects of diversity. Although the three national contexts are very different from each other: Ireland, Belgium (Flanders) and Israel, they all must address tensions emerging from ethnic diversity, social inequalities and physical disabilities. In the discussion, we will compare the theoretical perspectives and practices each programme employed and specify shared, as well as unique, principles that may help other teacher educators to promote inclusion and social justice through teacher education programmes.

Baseline data on PSTs’ understandings of social justice and Development Education (DE) issues and consideration of the implications for initial teacher education programmes North and South, was presented by Bryan et al. (2011). While the study garnered data from North and South, no specific attention was paid to the teaching of social justice and the meaningful and innovative ways in which such teaching practices can encourage PSTs’ learning with and from peers in the respective jurisdictions. The aim of the project is to develop and share a teaching approach to social justice across two initial teacher education (ITE) programmes from North and South Ireland. The aim is to encourage (seven) teacher educators and (32) pre-service teachers (PSTs) to learn with and from each other, within and across their respective jurisdictions. Teacher educators and PSTs will appreciate the extent to which specific social justice issues are unique (or not) to their jurisdiction and also the school placement contexts. The research questions are; (1) In what way does ITE programmes from the North and South sharing discussions around social justice enhance PSTs’ and teacher educators’ perspectives and experiences with respect to the reality of addressing social justice in schools? and (2) What considerations need to be addressed in formalising a shared North and South ITE space to discuss and enact social justice in schools? Informed by Freire’s (1973) concept of dialogue, and underpinned by agonistic respect (Monforte & Smith, 2021), our social justice journey will involve a community of learners where PSTs and teacher educators will reflect and develop their pedagogical approach and curriculum delivery for matters relating to social justice through practitioner research. The project will extend a three-tiered teaching model that is well established in one university with respect to encouraging PSTs as practitioner researchers (Tannehill et al., 2020). This project will provide empirical data on teacher educators’ and PSTs’ experiences of sharing a social justice space across North and South and subsequent teaching practices. This will lead to capturing the teaching practice realities of striving to teach for social justice while theoretically developing a pedagogy for social justice. The social justice space captures the distribution of opportunities and privileges within a society. This provides a clear warrant for ITE to work toward the development of PSTs who are socially just in their beliefs and practices and better equipped to work in diverse and inclusive school learning environments.

Bryan, A., Clarke, M., Drudy, S., Gallagher, T., Hagan, M., & McEvoy, B. L. (2011). Social justice education in initial teacher education: A cross border perspective. School Leadership Policy and Practice North and South, p.133. Freire, P. 1973. Education for critical consciousness. New York, NY: Continuum Monforte, J. and Smith, B., 2021. Conventional and post qualitative research: An invitation to dialogue. Qualitative inquiry, 27(6), 650-660. Tannehill, D., Scanlon, D., & MacPhail, A. (2020). Applying Research to Practice in Physical Education. Physical Education Matters, 15(3), 80-84.

Teacher educators have an important responsibility in being responsive to diversity, as they foster how issues of diversity, inclusion and equity are addressed in education by preparing the next generation of teachers (O’Hara & Pritchard, 2008). However, prior research on teacher educators’ ways of dealing with diversity has pointed out that they feel insecure and experience various barriers to be responsive to diversity (Ponet et al., under review). Well-designed professional development initiatives (PDI) are therefore needed to respond to these constraints. Unfortunately, in many national and higher education institutional policies only limited attention is given to PDI’s for teacher educators (Vanderlinde et al., 2021). In this study, it was our goal to investigate and describe the design for an impactful teacher educator PDI on responsivity to diversity. After a first consultation of the literature on effective PDI’s in education and the professional development of teacher educators (e.g., Merchie et al., 2016; Tack et al., 2021), a co-creative tailored-based approach for the design of the PDI seemed most promising. A case study design gave insight 1) into the context of two teacher education colleges in Flanders that participate in a PDI to foster teacher educators’ dealing with diversity, and 2) into the individual professional development needs of participating teacher educators. In particular, building on qualitative methodologies, semi-structured interviews were conducted (Mortelmans, 2011). On the one hand with all teacher educator participants (n=20), on the other hand with one key actor per institution that is involved in policy regarding professional development and regarding diversity, inclusion and equity. Additionally, the communication between the research team and the facilitators of the PDI were scrutinized. The data was explored via inductive coding techniques. Consequently 8 design principles for the PDI emerged from the data. For instance, the PDI should challenge their frames of references as a precondition to foster other practices; and include choices to focus on and cater the specific individual needs of the participants. Taking these design principles and the specificity of each teacher college in account, a new PDI was designed with tailored alterations to the specific contexts. This study adds to the field in a theoretical and practical way. Theoretically, the design principles expand the limited literature on teacher educators’ PDI for responsivity to diversity. Practically, policy makers as well as teacher educators themselves can find inspiration to design own PDI’s to foster dealing with diversity and make tailored alterations.

Merchie, E., Tuytens, M., Devos, G., & Vanderlinde, R. (2016). Evaluating teachers’ professional development initiatives: Towards an extended evaluative framework. Research Papers in Education, 33(2), 1–26. Mortelmans, D. (2011). Handboek kwalitatieve onderzoeksmethoden. Acco. O'Hara, S., & Pritchard, R. (2008). Meeting the Challenge of Diversity: Professional Development for Teacher Educators. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(1), 43-61. Ponet, B., Tack, H., Vantieghem, W., & Vanderlinde, R. (under review). Uncovering the role of teacher educators in the reduction of inequalities in education: a critical discourse analysis. Tack, H., Vanderlinde, R., Bain, Y., Kidd, W., O’Sullivan, M., & Walraven A. (2021). Learning and design principles for teacher educators’ professional development. In R. Vanderlinde, K. Smith, J. Murray & M. Lunenberg (Eds.), Teacher Educators and their Professional Development: Learning from the past, looking for the future (pp. 51-64). Routledge. Vanderlinde, R., Smith, K., Murray, J., & Lunenberg, M. (Eds.). (2021). Teacher Educators and their Professional Development: Learning from the past, looking for the future. Routledge.

Employing teachers with physical and sensory impairments (PSI) has significant advantages. Their presence in schools contributes to diversifying the teaching force, and provides opportunities for social and personal interactions that are often limited and evoke discomfort. Effective teachers with PSI can reduce negative stereotypes relating to disabilities. Furthermore, they can be positive role models for students with disabilities (Neca et al., 2022; Parker & Draves, 2018). The transition from initial teacher education into teaching requires particular attention and support, as this is the most vulnerable stage in the career of most teachers. In Israel, during the first two years of teaching, beginning teachers (BTs) have regular meetings with school-based mentors, and participate in an obligatory workshop facilitated by a higher education based teacher educator. This case study examines a unique online workshop that was devised to support BTs with PSI. It explores how the workshop’s facilitators supported BTs with PSI’s professional development as teachers and their integration into the education system. The participants are the four facilitators of the workshop. The data are transcripts of audio recordings of the workshop’s 18 meetings. We received the participants’ (and the institutional IRB’s) permission to analyze the recordings, while disguising participants’ identities. We performed a thematic analysis of the facilitators' audio segments in the recordings (Braun & Clarke, 2021). The analysis resulted in themes that describe the facilitators’ behaviors as ‘actionable principles’ (Schechter, 2019): 1. Workshop facilitators were devoted to BTs by being available to them at all times (Miller & Kass, 2018). 2. They set high expectations and performance standards (Miller & Kass, 2018; Hewett et al., 2020). 3. They supported BTs’ wellbeing and psychological needs by strengthening BTs’ sense of autonomy, relatedness, self-efficacy and accomplishment (Hewett et al., 2020; Ryan & Deci, 2020). Specifically, facilitators encouraged BTs to share solutions they devised themselves to overcome challenges, and added further ideas. 4. They designed the academic workshop as an online Community of Practice (Kaplan et al., 2022). The first two principles are known as supporting individuals with disabilities, whereas the latter two support BTs. Together, these principles can be implemented in other contexts, and thus contribute to successful inclusion of teachers with SPI in schools.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis? Qualitative research in psychology, 18(3), 328-352. Hewett, R., Douglas, G., McLinden, M., & Keil, S. (2020). Balancing inclusive design, adjustments and personal agency: progressive mutual accommodations and the experiences of university students with vision impairment in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(7), 754-770. Kaplan, H., Alatawna-Alhuashla, H., Bar-Nadav, B., & Al-Said, K. (2022). Developing Excellence Leadership and Autonomous Motivation among Beginning Teachers in the Arab-Bedouin Community in Israel: A Self Determination Theory-Based Intervention Program. Open Journal of Leadership, 11(3), 246-278. Miller, E., & Kass, E. (2018). Professional success stories of people with disabilities. (Research report No. mof.‪study_13131). Tel Aviv: MOFET (In Hebrew).‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Neca, P., Borges, M. L., & Pinto, P. C. (2022). Teachers with disabilities: A literature review. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 26(12), 1192-1210. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary educational psychology, 61, 101860. Schechter, C. (2019). The collective wisdom of practice: Leading our professional learning from success. Thousand Oaks, Cal.: Corwin Press.

Abstract: This symposium offers a global, “state-of-the-art”, picture of research informed educational practice (RIEP, e.g., Brown, Schildkamp & Hubers, 2017; Groß Ophoff, Brown & Helm, 2023), derived from the current evidence-based policy, drawing from numerous studies from across Europe addressing if, how and to what effect teachers’ engagement with academic research can be fostered. These studies are uniquely framed by the widely shared fundamental conception of evidence and data use in education as a complex, cognitive, knowledge-based problem-solving or inquiry cycle with consecutive phases that are not ensued in a linear, but rather iterative fashion (a.o. Groß Ophoff & Cramer, 2022; Schildkamp et al., 2013). In this research field, RIEP is explored on a variety of levels (e.g., data, user, context) and in different contexts of application in the educational sector (e.g., educational practice or teacher education) and draws on sociological, psychological and leadership approaches. In this connection, the differentiation between fields of research and practices allows us to understand that the diversity of publications (more scientific or more praxeological) constitutes more of a richness than a problem, on the condition that we distinguish the contexts, the purposes and the modalities of production and diffusion. Indeed, recently, several research currents have engaged in hybrid work, of a scientific nature (distanced, objectified, instrumented) but conducted in partnership with field actors (Albero, 2017). While recommendations on the use of research findings are available in abundance, it becomes more and more clear that fostering it is a truly challenging business, the very desirability of which deserves to be questioned. In response, this session provides clear implications with practical propositions and ways forward, exploring the full gamut of RIEP, from initial teacher education, to in-service professional development; and examining political and contextual factors from the systems level to the motivations of the individual teacher. The objective of this session is not only to provide a European overview of research-informed teaching practice in education, but to address the ways research findings can be mobilized, and to question the many variations of “evidence relations” in teacher education: What are they? Where does the desire to strengthen RIEP come from, what is its history? Should it be encouraged and how, under what conditions? What are the relevant conclusions on how to make teachers' engagement with research a reality? How does RIEP differ from other approaches such as evidence-based practice in education?

Significance: Although numerous studies have posited ways forward for RIEP, it is clear that fostering it is truly complex and challenging business (Brown et al., 2022; Groß Ophoff & Cramer, 2022). In response, this symposium addresses this issue in a unique manner, providing insight by exploring a variety of levels and perspectives; drawing on systems theory, sociological, psychological and leadership perspectives. It provides clear implications with practical propositions and ways forward.

Structure: The presentations will be in the order below. The chair will introduce the overall theme of the symposium. This will be followed by presentations from the other participants. The symposium will conclude with comments from the discussant and then questions from the audience.

This paper considers the engagement by teachers and school leaders in England in research informed educational practice (RIEP). Research in the area of RIEP has been criticised for being “under theorised” (e.g. Nutley et al., 2007); leading to researchers failing to consider the full range of factors influencing the research-practice gap. In response, we adopt Baudrillard’s (1968) semiotic theory of consumption, which is concerned both with consumer behaviour and the “objects” which are consumed. Specifically, how objects are “experienced” and what needs they serve in addition to those which are purely functional. The research questions addressed in this paper are: • RQ1: What potential benefit, cost and signification factors can be identified that might account for the current research-practice gap? • RQ2: Which individual and combinations of benefits, cost and signification factors appear to be most closely associated with educators’ use of research evidence? • RQ3: What implications emerge for policy and practice in terms of how to increase educators’ use of research evidence? Methods: A survey study was conducted to address these questions. To develop the survey recent literature (broadly 2010 and later) was reviewed that generally encapsulated the area of RIEP. The survey was undertaken by teachers in England. The aim of our sampling strategy was to achieve a representative sample of teaching staff, both in terms of their own individual characteristics, as well as the characteristics of the schools they work in. The survey was administered by email and a one percent response rate was achieved (approximately 250 schools). Findings: Regression analyses were used to ascertain whether the research-practice gap is caused by educators failing to perceive the benefits of engaging in RIEP; from educators believing that the costs involved with research use are too high; or from RIEP-type activity not being sufficiently desirable for them to want to engage in it. As you might expect, a range of factors emerged across each of these three areas and policy implications include the need for training and mentoring as well as coaching for school leaders to help establish RIEP within and across schools. Scholarly significance: By developing and testing a survey grounded in a strong theoretical basis, we have, for the first time, kickstarted an exploration of factors promising for “bridging” the research practice gap. The result is a richer and more nuanced understanding of what is required to achieve RIEP than has been possible from previous work.

- Baudrillard, J. (1968). The System of Objects. Verso. - Nutley, S.M., Walter, I. and Davies, H.T.O. (2007). Using evidence: How research can inform public services. The Policy Press.

In recent years, Austrian teacher education was faced with far-reaching reforms based on an expertise on the future of pedagogical professions (PädagogInnenbildung NEU) by the Austrian Ministries of Education and of Research in 2010. Therein, the recommendation was expressed that scientificity and research need to be established as constitutive elements of teacher education with the goal to support research-related attitudes and an inquiry habit of mind (Brown & Malin, 2017; Reitinger, 2013). Groß Ophoff and Cramer (2022) identify the latter “soft” aspect of research competence as the intention to use evidence, which marks the Rubicon between predecisional phase and volitional processes (Heckhausen, 1989) of RIEP. However, findings on influencing attitudinal factors and the effects of inquiry learning in teacher training (Groß Ophoff et al., 2018; Wessels et al., 2019) raise the question, to what extent this can be accomplished in teacher education: The two studies presented aimed therefore at exploring (1) how useful Austrian teacher students find research and for what, and (2) to what extent their intention to use research can be predicted by the perceived value, but also their research-related learning opportunities (RLO). Data is analysed via structural equation modelling (Muthén & Muthén, 2017). In Study 1 (Haberfellner, 2016), 295 students at two teacher training institutions were surveyed about their perception of the utility value of research evidence (e.g., for their bachelor thesis, or teaching in classrooms) and their inquiry habit of mind. Study 2 was carried out in 2021 at two institutions. 125 Teacher training students were surveyed about the same topics as in Study 1, but also about RLO (Rueß et al., 2016). Results from Study 1 indicate, that the perceived value of evidence for classroom teaching has a positive effect on the general intention to use research, even though research appears to be mainly perceived as useful for thesis writing. Student teachers’ research-related mindset could be further differentiated in Study 2, according to which they particularly show a pronounced praxeological (research averse) stance. Vice versa, only students’ research-oriented stance (orienting lesson development on scientific principles as a necessity) could be predicted by the perceived usefulness of research, but also by the extent of RLO during their studies. The results will be discussed against current developments in Austrian teacher education still faced with the challenge that the aspirations and ideas of academization come up against structures and traditions that are sometimes at odds with each other.

- Brown, C., & Malin, J. (2017). Five vital roles for school leaders in the pursuit of evidence of evidence-informed practice. Teachers College Record. - Groß Ophoff, J., & Cramer, C. (2022). The engagement of teachers and school leaders with data, evidence and research in Germany. In C. Brown & J. R. Malin (Eds.), The Emerald International Handbook of Evidence-Informed Practice in Education (pp. 175-196). Emerald. - Groß Ophoff, J., Schladitz, S., & Wirtz, M. A. (2018). Motivationale Zielorientierungen als Prädiktoren der Forschungskompetenz Studierender in den Bildungswissenschaften. Empirische Pädagogik, 32(1), 10–25. - Haberfellner, C. (2016). Der Nutzen von Forschungskompetenz im Lehramt. Eine Einschätzung aus der Sicht von Studierenden der Pädagogischen Hochschulen in Österreich. Klinkhardt. - Heckhausen, H. (1989). Motivation und Handeln (2.). Springer - Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017). MPlus Version 8. Muthén & Muthén. - Reitinger, J. (2013). Forschendes Lernen. Theorie, Evaluation und Praxis in naturwissenschaftlichen Lernarrangements. - Rueß, J., Gess, C., & Deicke, W. (2016). Forschendes Lernen und forschungsbezogene Lehre–empirisch gestützte Systematisierung des Forschungsbezugs hochschulischer Lehre. Zeitschrift Für Hochschulentwicklung, 11(2), p. 23-44. - Wessels, I., Gess, C., & Deicke, W. (2019). Competence Development Through Inquiry-Based Learning. In Inquiry-Based Learning–Undergraduate Research, p. 59-69.

Objectives: Starting from a reflection on the history of statistical reason (Desrosières, 2010), this contribution questions the relevance and the conditions of the usefulness of scientific evidence in educational policy-making. Through a critical perspective of the epistemological foundations of evidence-based logic, we propose analytical tools aimed at better understanding the resistance that educational reforms regularly encounter when they are implemented. Theory: Evidence-based policy in education is part of statistical reasoning and, more directly, an extension of evidence-based medicine (EBM). It aims to rationalise educational policies and practices through the use of research results, data considered as evidence, in decision-making. In this contribution, we propose to question the transposition of the epistemological principles of these two currents to the field of education. Insofar as the educational sciences are part of the humanities and social sciences, their scientific regime is different from that of the natural sciences. The SHS are historical sciences, which are characterised by the absence of “repetition of phenomena taking place in a constant or indifferent context” and which therefore rely on evidence that is “always dependent on a singular context of observation, measurement and argumentation” (Passeron, 2001). Due to their positivist epistemology, evidence-based approaches ignore this or do not take it into account. Methods and findings: To analyse the impact of the epistemological foundations of evidence-based policies on their implementation in the schools, we draw on previous research (Draelants, 2009) carried out on the reform of the abolition of grade retention in Belgium in the 1990s. The analysis of the design processes of the reform and of semi-structured interviews with teachers allows us to identify the knowledge and evidence that are left “out” - the willful ignorance (Weisberg, 2014) - and that contribute to the resistance that puts the reform to failure and, more broadly, to the distrust of public action and the expertise on which it is based. Significance: Evidence-based policies are gaining ground in many sectors of society, including education. The originality of our proposal lies in the perspective of the design processes of educational policies based on so-called "evidence" with the epistemological foundations of the evidence-based logic to better understand the resistance often observed in the practices of professionals. Our contribution aims to provide tools for analysing educational policies and to advocate for a broader definition of the evidence to be taken into consideration in public action in education (research and practice informed policy).

Desrosières A. (2010). La Politique des grands nombres. Histoire de la raison statistique. La Découverte. Draelants H. (2009). Réforme pédagogique et légitimation. Le cas d’une politique de lutte contre le redoublement. De Boeck Université. Draelants, H., & Revaz, S. (2022). L'évidence des faits. La politique des preuves en éducation. Presses universitaires de France. Passeron, J.-C. (2001). La forme des preuves dans les sciences historiques. Revue européenne des sciences sociales, XXXIX-120, p. 31-76. Weisberg H. I. (2014). Willful Ignorance. The Mismeasure of Uncertainty. Wiley.

The chronicle experience of stress in an educational setting has concerning aftermaths such as teachers’ attrition and burnout, and up to half of the teachers abandon their job in the first five years of their professional life or during their career before retirement. Irrespective of the sources, teachers’ occupational stress resulting in several reverberations such as language teacher attrition can have traumatic impacts such as a shortage of teachers in any educational system. Therefore, recognizing those factors and strategies employed by EFL teachers to sustain effectively while maintaining instructional equilibrium is of great help to lead more productive teaching and healthy life. Language Teacher Immunity defined as a protection mechanism developed by language teachers over their career is among those factors assisting teachers to deal with daily hassles typical of the language teaching environment and thrive despite adverse conditions of a classroom setting. In line with such a stance, and to fill the literature gap, the present study aimed at discovering EFL teachers’ level of occupational stress and their immunity type, either productive or maladaptive. Additionally, an attempt was made to examine whether there are any relationships between teachers’ stress levels and the type of immunity they developed over their careers. Applying a quantitative approach and convenience sampling, the data were collected from in-service English language teachers (N=204) working in both private and public language schools in West/East Azerbaijan, Iran. The data were collected through two validated and localized questionnaires to be administered electronically. The initial analysis revealed that more than forty per cent of teachers find their profession stressful in one way or another, while men were more stressed than women. There is a positive correlation between the level of occupational stress and developing maladaptive teacher immunity. While experience correlates positively with both stress level and the development of positive immunity, other biographical differences showed no significant effects. Implications have been made to language teachers, curriculum designers, educational policymakers as well as institutions which can be of help to improve the EFL teachers' general well-being and teaching environment.

Interdisciplinarity is generally explained as connections across established disciplines and pointed out as central to developing 21st century competencies (Drake & Reid, 2018, Drake & Reid, 2020). Interdisciplinary teaching is put on the agenda in Norwegian curricula for grades 1-13 (Ministry of Education and Research, 2017). The curriculum specifies three interdisciplinary topics to focus on: 1) Public Health and Life Skills, 2) Democracy and Citizenship, and 3) Sustainable Development. Since these topics will be taught interdisciplinary in schools, interdisciplinarity must also be reflected in teacher training programs. Arneback & Blåsjö (2017) show how the organization of teacher education is influenced by school content, both in terms of didactics and the arrangement of disciplines. In teacher education, the division into disciplines stands strong. There has been little cooperation across subjects, and there is a need for restructuring and change of work habits both in how education is administered and how teaching is carried out (Biseth et al., 2022). How can we meet such changes in teacher education? We asked 13 teacher educators for their opinion on factors that promote and inhibit interdisciplinary teaching and learning in teacher education.

We did two focus group interviews at three different Universities, with 2-3 teacher educators in each group. In total, we have gathered data from 13 teacher educators with a variety of educational backgrounds and teaching experiences. We did a thematic analysis of the interviews and analyzed teacher trainers’ beliefs, based on their personal experiences, of what factors inhibit and promote interdisciplinary teaching in teacher education. In order to achieve interdisciplinarity in teacher education programs, the interviewees pointed towards a need for change in managment, leadership, methods used, and attitudes. This is in line with recommendations made Santaolalla et al. (2020) who among others suggest that teacher educators need shared spaces available so that they easier can cooperate on how to promote interdisciplinary education, and new study plans with new learning styles to achieve 21st century skills.

International organisations and their role and impacts on local/national and global policymaking in the sector of education have been object of discussion in a vast number of academic studies during the past decades (e.g. McNeely 1995; Verger, Novalli, and Altinyelken 2018; Martens and Windzio 2022). However, the perspectives of the practitioners working within these international organisations are rarely analysed. In this study we analyse the role and impacts of international organisations in the differentiation between education systems through the understandings of education experts in these organisations. Empirically the paper builds on thematic semi-structured interviews with Finnish education experts working in international organisations. Our research question is: How are the international organisations impacting the reduction, construction or continuity of differentiation between the educational systems of the Global North and the Global South through development collaboration initiatives?

We develop our analysis by combining the onto-epistemic lenses of complexity thinking (e.g. Cilliers 1998) with the Luhmaniann concept of differentiation (e.g. Luhmann 1982; Baraldi, Corsi, and Esposito 2021;) and utilise the perspective of sensemaking as a tool to guide the analysis (e.g. Weick, Sutcliffe, and Obstfeld 2005; Brown, Colville, and Pye 2015). The combination of different perspectives and concepts has been done successfully in previous literature (e.g. Zahariadis 1998; Howlett et al. 2016; Santos 2022) demonstrating that different theoretical lenses can benefit from being aggregated, not only leading to a better understanding of the phenomenon under analysis, but also by contributing to advancements of each of the different theories utilised, while also innovating the ways in which theories are utilised in qualitative research. In the case of this study, this theoretical aggregation enables the development of a more holistic analysis of the dynamics of development cooperation in the education sector, contributing not only to a better understanding of these dynamics but also of how the Finnish education experts involved in them make sense of what happens around their professional environment.

The study starts with two assumptions a) that there is an imaginary, blurry divide between the so-called Global North (often described as developed countries, also donor countries) and the so-called Global South (frequently see as the underdeveloped, peripherical countries, which are the receivers of international support); and b) that the initiatives developed by international organisations impact the development of education globally, but more intensively in the Global South as it has been discussed in earlier research (e.g. Verger, Novelli, and Altinyelken 2018).

Hence, while bundles of studies, analyse the role of international organisations from distant, macro-economic perspectives. We study the sensemaking of the (Finnish) education experts working in international organizations to understand, from an internal perspective, the roles and impacts of international organisations in development cooperation, with the aim of comprehending if these organisations indeed maintain or even increase differentiations North-South or if they actually manage to reduce this differentiation and harmonise education systems, access and quality globally, as it is the aim Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality of education. This study contributes to complementary fields of research, namely Global Education Policies studies and Development studies.

Our findings indicate that interviewees understand the complexity and ambiguity of development cooperation and that international organisations, by keeping the leadership of development cooperation initiatives often maintain and can even increase differentiations among education systems along the divide North-South.

Education systems globally are grappling with the challenge of how to best prepare children and young people for life and work in the context of a rapidly changing and uncertain future. This focus has become more urgent given the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the imperative for rapid economic recovery, promoting societal cohesion and building healthy, resilient citizens. In this context, contemporary thinking and research is no longer focussing on system reform, as in reshaping what is already in place, but rather system transformation which requires a fundamental rethink of the purpose and goals of education (Sengeh & Winthrop, 2022) and the ways in which learning is organised to ensure that every child is learning successfully (Masters, 2022). This presentation illustrates the research process and outcomes of doing system transformation in partnership with a national education system. The research contributes new methodological understandings to the practice of system transformation relevant to a broad international audience.

Education systems around the world are grappling with the challenge of how to best prepare children and young people for life and work in the context of a rapidly changing and uncertain future. This focus has become more urgent given the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the imperative for rapid economic recovery, societal cohesion and building healthy, resilient citizens. In this context, thinking and research is no longer focussing on system reform, as in reshaping what is already in place, but rather system transformation, which requires fundamental rethink of the purpose and goals of education (Sengeh & Winthrop, 2022) and the ways in which learning is organised to ensure every child is learning successfully (Masters, 2022).The system transformation literature (see Fullan, 2009; 2011; Fuller & Kim, 2022; Masters, in press; Sengeh &Winthrop, 2022; Winthrop et al., 2021) reflects common themes including developing a shared vision for the purpose of education, the importance of participatory approaches and, focussing system efforts on the teaching and learning core to ensure all students learn successfully.

Masters (in press), building on a review of practices across five of the world’s top performing systems, including two European systems (Finland and Estonia), conceptualises a learning system as six interconnecting components: a quality curriculum; informative assessment processes; highly effective teaching; comprehensive student support; strong leadership of learning and; a supportive learning ecosystem. At the centre of the learning system is a clear purpose- preparing young people for life and work and ensuring every student learns successfully. Sengeh and Winthrop (2022) conceptualise system transformation similarly. In their model, which they call a participatory approach to transformation, they refer to 3Ps: Purpose, Pedagogy and Position. Purpose is self-explanatory. This is the notion that, in a particular context, a shared vision of the purpose of education needs to be developed. Pedagogy refers to a sharp focus on the teaching and learning core. Position relates to the cohesion between different system elements to support the pedagogical core.

In 2022, ACER partnered with a national education system to implement a major system transformation initiative focussing on five core areas: curriculum implementation, quality teaching, assessment processes and practices, educational leadership, and school and system school improvement.

Consequently, the overarching research questions were:

1. What are international benchmarks describing international good practice in the areas of this system’s focus focus?
2. How does the current state of the system compare to international best practice as identified international benchmarks?
3. What key strategic actions need to be undertaken to work toward international best practice?

We find ourselves at the beginning of what might become an exciting new era in the field of Educational Change. Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley anticipated a new era, what they called a Fourth Way, that, “pushes beyond standardization, data-driven decision making, and target-obsessed distractions to forge an equal and interactive partnership among the people, the profession, and their government” (2009, p. 71). Many different stakeholders are now working in partnership to improve schools, including, among others, educators, university-affiliated researchers, parent groups, for-profit and charity organisations, and government agencies. This plurality of participants has helped a more diverse research landscape emerge. A welcomed departure from a technocratic model of evidence-based education, which narrowly assumed that, “the only relevant research questions [were] questions about the effectiveness of educational means and techniques” (Biesta, 2007, p. 5). Instead, researchers are developing new collaborative research strategies (Penuel et al., 2020) and refining working arrangements, such as Research Practice Partnerships (Coburn et al., 2021; Coburn & Penuel, 2016) and Networked Improvement Communities (Bryk et al., 2011; Russell et al., 2019), to support engagement between multiple stakeholders and build collective capacity for sustained improvement across large school systems (Fullan, 2010).

However, as Stephen Ball aptly points out, “policy works by accretion and sedimentation rather than revolution; new policies add to and overlay old ones, with the effect that new principles and innovations are merged and conflated with older rationales and previous practices” (Ball, 2021, p. 63). Festering just beneath the surface of this supposed collaborative landscape is a policy strata where accountability was, and in many areas, remains the cornerstone of education policy (Smith & Benavot, 2019). Dominant school improvement models emanating from this policy context have similar characteristics- they involve mandates for teachers in the form of prescribed practices and specified outcome targets, and involve routine standardized testing to support comparisons of student academic achievement across schools (Afdal & Afdal, 2019; Biesta, 2009; DeLuca & Johnson, 2017; Fuller et al., 2008; Jackson & Temperley, 2007; Taubman & Savona, 2009). Even in national contexts like England where schools appear to be gaining autonomy through networked governance (Goldsmith & Kettl, 2009), organizational replication reigns (Peurach & Glazer, 2012) as government agencies continue to steer education provision, albeit from a distance (Whitty & Wisby, 2016), resulting in “coercive autonomy” (Greany & Higham, 2018) and schools well within the “shadow of hierarchy” (Davies, 2011).

This presentation reports on findings from a Mixed Methods Social Network Analysis project that traced the activities of a teacher innovator as they scaled up their own educational improvement initiative from a single-school pilot into a thirty-school regional program. The research is part of a larger effort to explore how teacher-led educational change can thrive in contexts dominated by networked governance. Specifically, this research asks- How can classroom teachers repurpose School Improvement Networks to replicate their own improvement initiatives in schools?

In England, School Improvement Networks, or educational systems in which a central hub organization works with outlet schools to enact change (Peurach & Glazer, 2012), is becoming the predominant model for large-scale school improvement. For example, the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) Research Schools Network and the Department for Education (DfE) curriculum hubs and Teaching School Hubs are all systems where a lead school connects with outlet schools across a region to deliver common approaches for learning and teaching. Furthermore, by 2030, all schools in England are expected to be members of Multi-academy Trusts (MATs), or networks of schools, sometimes with dozens of members, controlled by lead schools and early joiners. Teachers can repurpose the relational infrastructure of networked governance to lead large-scale school improvement initiatives.

The Hungarian philosopher Agnes Heller reminds us that humans are not just in the world but are crucially born somewhere in the world. We learn a language and acquire cultural habits, and the places we grow up are therefore extremely significant for our becoming as human beings (Heller, 2019, p. 11). The German philosopher J.G. Herder (2004[1774], p. 26) was concerned with the significance of place for human perfection, arguing that place should play a significant role in educational theory. However, theories of Bildung, addressing the process of becoming a subject in the encounter with a material, social and cultural world, have rarely dealt with the significance of place explicitly. Although places situate our experiences with the world, they are seldom at the center of our intellectual scrutiny.

With this background, the double symposium will explore the possibilities of a relationship between Bildung and place. The participants of the symposium are from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the educational tradition of Nordic Bildung will therefore be a point of departure for us. Accordingly, the symposium addresses educational features that are unique to the Nordic countries considering our similar languages, educational structures and culture, and shared pedagogical heritage (Solberg, 2021; Bostad & Solberg, 2022). We want to explore Nordic Bildung as an example of the inherent relationship between Bildung and place, not just in the formation of individuals, but also in the formation of theories.

While there are forces in the educational field that pushes towards globalization and standards decontextualized from time and place, we need educational thinking that enables us to reconsider the significance of place for Bildung-processes, without falling back into nationalistic nostalgia (Heller, 2019). Martha Nussbaum (2012) has pointed out how different constructs of place, such as common culture (history and values), blood ties, ethnicity, earth-boundedness, linguistic belonging, and religion, have all been central elements in building national sentiments in Europe. This way of manifesting national belonging has led to the fact that newcomers, regardless of their time of residence, are seldom considered as belonging to the nation. Place thus appears to be a concept presenting possibilities as well as dangers for educational thinking, and the symposium therefore intends to investigate the relationship between place and Bildung as essentially conflicted and paradoxical. We have organized the symposium in two parts, each addressing a particular tension in the relationship between Bildung and place:

1) Bildung: between the familiar and the unknown: Theories of Bildung often refer to the classical Bildung-journey as an image of the Bildung process. Starting off in the familiar landscape of the place she grows up, the young person travels out into the world to meet and deal with the unknown, before returning home more enlightened than before (e.g. Gustavsson 2003). This archetypical image thus implies that both familiarity with what is known as well as openness to the unknown are crucial elements of the Bildung-process. The symposium will elaborate on the dilemma of familiarity and openness in the context of Nordic countries. What does it mean to be familiar with Nordic culture and/or belong to Nordic countries as places, and what does it entail for education to be open towards the world? Central perspectives in this part of the symposium will be the relationship between educating for national and/or local identity versus educating citizens of the world, as well as dilemmas concerning the significance of place for Bildung and sustainability.

Part 2 "Nostalgia:possibilities and dangers" is sent as a symposium application of its own.

The story of the roots of Nordic Bildung is at least twofold. One begins in the Christian and nationalist sentiments of thinkers such as Grundtvig, the other in ancient Greek philosophy. Bildung and Paideia connote the illusive process of human becoming. In this presentation, we will explore a different origin story, in order to sever two connections that are carried over in the “origin stories” of Nordic Bildung. One is the ideal of progress and growth for a particular “folk” embedded in Christian and nationalist sentiments. The other is the dominance of educational thought by philosophy instigated by Plato (Säfström, 2022). These two connections must be overcome in order to be able to conceive of education beyond the ideal of mastery: mastery of man over man, man over nature, and of state over man. The first thread of our alternative story begins at the foot of Yggdrasil where Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld are seated. The three women tend the tree while weaving the thread of destiny for men and gods alike. Without the care of the three Norns, the tree of life would perish and all the worlds along with it, without the threads of destiny no individual history would unfold. The other thread begins with the rise of platonic educational philosophy, in which man is tied to the state and a particular project for education, and where the progress of the state is paramount. The aim of education is to sort and develop in humans the virtues and values necessary for progressing society (Jaeger, 1943; Säfström, 2022). This idea displaced the sophistic ideal of plurality in and of languages and between people. It inserted an ideal of oneness in which “the city/soul functions like the body” (Cassin, 2014, p. 123), and the parts “conspire to become whole” (p. 123). Hence, plurality as well as individual becoming are subsumed under the ideal of oneness and progress of the state. Sophistical practice, however, insists on more than one, and the possibility “of interpreting the ‘same’ not as a ‘one’ but as a ‘with’” (p. 124). The caring ideal of the three Norns, and the sophistic ideal of plurality (Säfström, 2022), may open a path for Nordic Bildung where the plurality of tongues (languages and identities) do not descend into mere strife or nationalist sentiment, but can become precisely ‘more than one’, in caring for the common.

Cassin, B. (2014). Sophistical Practice. Toward a Consistent Relativism. Fordham University Press. Grundtvig, N.F.S.(1983). Statsmæssig oplysning. Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck. Jaeger, W. (1943/1986). Paideia. The Ideas of Greek Culture. Vol II. In Search of the Divine Order. Oxford University Press. Säfström, C. A. (2021). Please, show me your world! A sophistical practice of teaching. Revista de Educación, 395,pp. 35-58. Doi: 10.4438/1988-592X-RE-2022-395-521.

Although the ideal of authenticity can be traced back to thinkers such as Augustine and Rousseau, it gained prominence in the Nordic tradition of folk-Bildung by virtue of the German philosopher J. G. Herder. Herder is best known for his polemics against Kant’s idea of pure reason, arguing instead that reason is deeply embedded in the particularities of places – in languages and histories. In Herder’s (2002[1774]) view, nations, communities, and individuals, would have to find their own authentic cultivation processes towards humanity. Ideas about authenticity as an equally anthropological and communitarian potential, gained momentum in the era of nation-building and folk-Bildung in Nordic societies. Today, however, authenticity is scarcely discussed as an explicit ideal for Bildung. This presentation will discuss whether authenticity should be considered relevant for normative pedagogical theory today and (re-)establishing theoretical connections to Bildung and place. Charles Taylor (1991) has argued for authenticity as a modern virtue. However, Taylor argues that authenticity as an ideal has the potential of creating both subverted and elevated forms of self-fulfillment. For instance, if not to be subverted into narcissism, authenticity needs orientation towards “horizons of significance”, that is, sources of meaning and morality that exist independent of an individual. Based on Taylor, we argue that a Bildung-theory that values authenticity must be orientated towards such “horizons of significance”, located in language communities. This way, the concepts of Bildung, authenticity, and place become substantially connected. Still, the archetypical image of the Bildung journey implies a dialectical movement between two features: inauguration into what is known as well as openness and transcendence to the unknown. If authenticity is associated with being faithful to something original, it mainly emphasizes the first part of the Bildung-process. What we refer to as “horizons of significance” must be possible to criticize and transcend – if Bildung is not to be subverted into reactionism. We will thus explore the concept of alienation (Jaeggi, 2014) as a necessary aspect of an authenticity-based Bildung-theory. Finally, we will discuss the potential that lies in the communitarian aspects of Taylors theory when re-imagining Nordic Bildung. For Taylor (1995, 2016), the development of individual morality is constituted by language communities. The presentation discusses possibilities and pitfalls that lie in understanding authenticity as not only an individual, but also a communitarian Bildung-ideal. Lastly, we will question whether Taylors communitarianism can sufficiently guard against destructive nationalist tendencies in wanting to re-imagine Nordic Bildung.

Herder, J. G. (2002[1774]). Endnu en historiefilosofi til menneskehedens dannelse. Det lille forlag. Jaeggi, R. (2014). Alienation. Columbia University Press. Taylor, C. (1991). Autentisitetens etikk. Cappelens Upopulære Taylor, C. (1995). Philosophical arguments. Harvard University Press Taylor, C. (2016). The Language Animal. Harvard University Press

The paper explores the relationship between place and Bildung, by asking the question of whether education for patriotism is legitimate from a liberal democratic perspective, and consistent with the liberal conception of autonomy. Martha Nussbaum argues that liberal democracies that aspire to be just are dependent on emotional support from its citizens. Liberal principles, such as respect, equality, liberty, and justice, need to be supported by political emotions, such as compassion and empathy. She claims that education for patriotism, based on stories, heroes, and events, situated in our local contexts, will stimulate the kind of emotions liberal institutions need for support (Nussbaum, 2013). I agree that the stability of modern liberal democracies and liberal institutions need emotional support, and that good emotions should be developed through education. However, given the fact that most of us do not choose our national belongings, and that many citizens of liberal societies have multiply identities, and citizenships, it can be argued that education for patriotism violates democratic principles of legitimacy and autonomy (Brighouse 2007; BenPorat 2007). Patriotism has also been an important tool for nation building, resulting in losses of minority identity, culture, and language. I therefore argue that education for patriotism should be combined with exercises that stimulate critical thinking. In cases of conflict between the values of your local community and the nation, one should not need to put one’s local identity aside. Local identities can be used as a source for critical reflection on dominant conceptions, narratives, and values (Ben Porath 2007, Williams 2007). Drawing on theories of citizenship as “shared fate”, I argue that education for liberal democracies needs to take the student’s different social positions into account and allow for different interpretations of national symbols, narratives, and values. Education for patriotism needs to be responsive to the fact that shared national institutions and values have affected minority groups differently, and that we do not interpret institutions, and the values they are based on, in similar ways. I am using the situation of the Samì people in the Nordic countries to frame the discussion and to support my claims.

Brighouse. H. (2007). Should We Teach Patriotic History? In McDonough, K and Feinberg, W, Citizenship and Education in Liberal – Democratic Societies. Oxford University Press. Ben – Porath. S. (2007). Civic Virtue out of necessity: Patriotic and democratic education. Theory and Research in education, 5(1),, pp. 41-59. Sage publication https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1477878507073608 Nussbaum, M (2013). Political Emotion – Why Love Matters for Justice. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

This paper addresses the significance of place by considering the potential of Bildung for dealing with sustainability and solidarity. I consider Bildung in the sense of developing joint action competence (Mogensen, F., & Schnack, K., 2010)). Inspired by the German educational thinker Wolfgang Klafki’s critical constructive theory of Bildung, the aim is to develop abilities of self-determination, co-determination, and solidarity (Klafki, 1983). I will define place as formed by a dialectical relationship between individuals, the outside world, action and meaning, where students dealing with real-world problems, like climate change, can develop action competence. I will argue that Bildung for sustainability requires joint action competence in a specific place, and I will illustrate my argument with the example of the Danish folk high school Tvind. Tvind became internationally known for constructing the world’s tallest and most technologically advanced wind turbine in the 1970s (Lund, 2020). Like other folk high schools in Denmark, Tvind was based on the ideas of the Danish theologian, poet, and educational thinker N.F. Grundtvig. Historically, the folk high school played a significant role in developing a national democracy. At Tvind, however, these ideas were combined with developments in critical pedagogy emphasising international solidarity and environmental sustainability. Building the windmill was a pedagogical act, rooted in a place and an environmental discourse. The construction of the windmill represented a manifest ideal of renewable energy, as part of a growing opposition to A-power, resulting in a new environmental movement that subsequently impacted environmental policies in Denmark. Inspired by Klafki, Tvind illustrates a valid perspective on Bildung for sustainability, by fostering students ability to co-determination and solidarity while dealing with the epochal key problem sustainable energy (Klafki, 1983). However, these ideas developed in intersection with, but also in tension with, place-bound Grundtvigian thinking. Furthermore, Tvind was known as “the travelling folk high school”. The idea was that the students should develop action competence and the feeling of international solidarity by travelling around the world. Therefore, young Danes were sent to third world countries, turning - as a result - the folk high school into a globalized forum addressing third-world problems and poverty. In this sense Tvind exemplifies tensions of the global and local in theories of Bildung, as well as the travelling metaphor of Bildung.

Lund, B. (2020). Bæredygtighed og handlekompetence – et velkommen tilbage til 70’erne? Forskning og Forandring, 3(2), pp. 47-68. Grundtvig, N.F.S(1848) Folkeligheden in NS:FS: ed Danskeren et ugeblad. Første årgang (p 381 -384) F.H. Eibe Klafki, W. (1983). Kategorial dannelse og kritisk-konstruktiv pædagogik. Kbh: Nyt Nordisk Forlag Mogensen, F., & Schnack, K. (2010). The Action Competence Approach and the “New” Discourses of Education for Sustainable Development, Competence and Quality Criteria. Environmental Education Research, 16, pp. 59-74.

This proposal introduces an innovative model with its teachers’ manual that has the form of a flexible guide which primarily and purposefully promotes Lipman’s “Philosophy for Children and Community” mindset as a state of mind for teachers-parents’ relationship enhancement aiming to transform the learners and their relationship itself as well as the school’s perspectives into a learning community/organization.

R.Q.: How plausible is it for the teachers & parents (and implicitly children) to transform school into a learning organization if they form a Community of Inquiry that constitutes a circuit where learning is an ongoing goal for all actors.

The conversational framework that it’s based on, is an invitation from the teachers/facilitators to the parents to build new ways of fostering relations that enable people with diverse cultural, academic, and even language backgrounds to voice and share their needs and experiential knowledge. It is an invitation to the community to open-up with ideas and tools with which they can prompt reason in a Democratic environment where every member has a right to questioning, reflecting thinking, dialogic reasoning, and metacognition as well as try to unite their thinking into a potentially operational consensus for action. As Socrates once said: “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think!”

The pedagogical framework of P4C constitutes a way that children can learn how to think, analyze, and argue—necessarily from an early age—because otherwise their inherent ability to think abstractly is lost. Abstract thinking brings them to Philosophy (in the dialogic sense not in the academic historical one), familiarizes them with discussion and critical thinking honing their reasoning skills as they increasingly engage in Socratic Dialogue (Lipman & Sharp, 1994) that is activated by a text, story, art etc. In addition, Lipman observes (2003), P4C is characterized by reflective, deliberative, communicative, and dialogic actions, which conclude in both reinforcing individual judgment and, at the same time, solidifying a diverse community. Specifically, disparate individuals (eg. in ideas, beliefs, socio-economic backgrounds) are given the chance to voice their ideas in a democratic, empathic, and respectful manner and co-construct a community that promotes trust and well-being, while building a Community of Philosophical Inquiry -CPI- (Lipman, 2009).

Furthermore, according to Mezirow (2012), activating Transformative Learning processes, through the agency of a disorienting dilemma—in this case posed by the stories as a trigger for parents’ critical reflection—creating space to question assumptions (Taylor, 2000), re-think, and perform in new, alternative, different ways whilst actively participating in a Community of Philosophical Inquiry that could potentially lead to instant (epochal) or gradual (incremental) transformation (Mezirow, 2000). It must be understood that such participation does not by any means lead to an inevitable transformation, but it can certainly create a friendly, trusting community where reflective dialogue is more than welcomed!

For the parent-teacher-school complex envisioned in the presented model (Teachers-Parents’ Community of Inquiry) to act and learn together as a unified entity, it is most likely helpful to conceptualize and structure it to operate as a unified learning organization—one that Watkins & Marsick argue, will require deep changes in the actors’ mindsets, and the culture of the organization—ones that occur only in a series of interrelated overlapping stages over time (1993, 1999). This is the process that Watkins &Marsick envision in their widely accepted Model, Dimensions of a Learning Organization. The potential seems real because if it is able to keep learning continually it could potentially transform itself, and its members as individuals, as a group, and, ultimately, as a coherent organization through the three interrelated stages that characterize its emergence in their Model of Dimensions of a Learning Organization (ibid,1998).

The project presented here arises from the new educational needs that emanate from the changes taking place in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres. The boundaries of formal education, as it has been understood until now, are being breached by new forms of learning, communication, and relationships, which are claiming their place in educational institutions. This is particularly relevant at the level of secondary education where the boundaries of conventional cultural and social systems are constantly being overwhelmed by these new realities (Fernández Enguita, 2016). This makes it necessary to rethink the systems of teaching and working in the educational system. Students at this educational level have a profile and resources closely linked to the knowmadic society (Cobo, 2016, Movarec, 2008), in which there is less and less sense in a teaching model based mainly on the unidirectional transmission of knowledge (Downes, 2017). This, in interaction with families, teachers and other educational agents, generates a world of conflicts of various kinds: curricular, social, attitudinal and expectations, etc.

We are therefore interested in learning about experiences that are being developed in this sense and that are generating proposals that transform either the curricular or organizational dimension, the framework of relations with the community or the involvement of the new virtual spaces (Reig y Vílchez, 2013). To this end, we are developing the research "Nomadic knowledge in emerging pedagogical contexts: mapping innovative community practices in secondary education", over the years 2022 and 2023. Its focus of study is the disruptive, transformative, and emergent experiences that are being developed in secondary schools in Andalusia. We are interested in mapping the fundamental elements that are present in the development of these experiences from the perspective of integral, ubiquitous, and expanded pedagogies that connect and curricularly integrate places, people, and times for learning.

The research is focusing on the analysis of emergent experiences, using participatory and narrative research methodologies that allow for a respectful, hermeneutic, non-invasive, negotiated and openly collaborative approach.

In this paper we present the study of one of the cases studied, which takes place in the secondary school "Cartagineses". This is in a semi-urban area on the outskirts of the city of Malaga, where for the last 10 years an educational project has been developed based on the construction of a professional community, together with the families and the municipality, centred on interdisciplinary and collaborative work projects, openness to the environment and the use of personal technological resources, with the subsequent abandonment of the textbook as an educational tool.

The objectives we set ourselves are as follows:

1. To analyse and evaluate collaborative strategies in the Secondary School environment, offered as creative workspaces where students, teachers, families and/or external social agents configure new citizen, professional and personal profiles in diverse fields of experience and activity (artistic, social, literary, scientific, technical) through the conformation of horizontal architectures of participation and dialogue between expert and profane knowledge. 


2. To recognise and recover emerging types of knowledge that act in secondary schools, alternative and/or convergent with the official curriculum, which promote and develop political, social, and cultural models in a social framework of transformation and change in ideological and epistemological proposals.

3. To recognize the guidelines, relationships, models, and knowledge that secondary education centres bring into play in the search for school success and their meaning in relation to the conditions established from the current frameworks of society, as well as the way in which both visions interact, compete, confront, or collaborate, in the achievement of an emancipated, participative and critical citizenship.

A central aim of the Danish compulsory school (grade 0-9) is to prepare all students for further education (Folkeskoleloven 2020). This happens through educational guidance programs and as a part of the general curriculum. However, while 84% of 25-year olds in Denmark have obtained an upper secondary or vocational education, this accounts for only 62% of 25-year olds who grow up in a problematized neighborhood (Ministry of Interior and Finance 2018). This indicates that the location of students’ home and school affects their educational and future possibilities. Problematized neighborhoods refer to areas that are placed on an official list of “parallel societies” managed by the Danish Ministry of Interior and Housing (Ministry of Interior and Housing 2021). A central criteria for areas on the list is that 50% of the area’s inhabitants are of non-western descent. Other criteria refer to unemployment rates, crime rates, educational level and income level in the area. The public housing areas on these lists – and the people who live here – are targets of numerous political interventions. Recent initiatives include evictions of residents and demolition of apartment buildings to “mix” the resident population more (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Interior 2018). Schools in these areas are also subject to state intervention: Multiple projects have been launched to better the educational level of students and to increase the number of students who educate themselves further after finishing 9^th grade.

Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in three schools in problematized neighborhoods, the PhD project investigates intersections between the social categories race, gender, geography and class in an analysis of the schools’ educational guidance work with its students. This paper focuses on the tensions between what educational counselors and teachers present as attainable and “good” educational aspirations for the students and the students’ own educational aspirations.

In other to qualify the project’s understanding of future aspirations, I draw on Sara Ahmed’s concept of happy objects. Happy objects refer to “physical or material things but also to anything that we imagine might lead us to happiness, including objects in the sense of values, practice, styles as well as aspirations” (Ahmed 2010:29). In this sense, certain objects circulate as something that will lead us to happiness if we merely follow the right path. Thus, we are directed towards certain objects that we believe to cause us happiness. In this paper, I am interested in how certain educations or life choices (and not others) are circulating in the educational guidance as leading the students to a happy life, and what takes the shape of happy objects in the students’ own reflections on their future aspirations.

In my understanding of place, I draw on feminist geography which notes that categories such as social class and race “operate within and through spatial relations and differentiated geographies” (Parker 2011:435). I am thus informed by a material-discursive approach (Haraway 2004) in which I “recognize the importance of discourse while reasserting the materiality of bodies, of nature, of non-human and human interfaces” (Parker 2011:438). The paper hereby engages in the development of a theoretical framework that understands place as materially and discursively produced, and as affecting individuals differently depending on their intersectional social position (Crenshaw 1991; El-Tayeb 2011). This theoretical framework holds the possibility for a dynamic understanding of how the students’ context plays a central role in producing their subject position, educational aspirations and the educational guidance they receive.

The paper is guided by the following research questions: What takes the shape of ‘happy objects’ in the students’ and teachers’ reflections on the students’ future education and job? How can these happy objects be understood as intersectionally produced?

In 2015, 2.8 million people sought refuge or asylum in European countries (UN 2016) and recipients of the largest numbers of refugees and asylum seekers were Germany (700,000) followed by Sweden, France and Russian Federation (300,000 each) (UN 2016). The refugees came from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and North West African Countries and many of them were unaccompanied adolescent minors, i.e. at school age (Donini, Monsutti & Scalettaris, 2016; Menjívar & Perreira, 2019). In the case of Sweden, the refugees were unevenly distributed geographically by the authorities and small rural municipalities, often sparsely populated, received more refugees per capita than regions of the large cities.

The rapid and extensive inflow of refugees/asylum seekers (henceforth ‘migrants’) in Swedish rural municipalities brought with it challenges for the local administration in terms of integration (educational, social and labour integration), e.g. providing education and other municipal services. But the arrival of migrants also meant hope for the rural communities (Johansson, 2019). After a period in the rural areas, the migrants were relocated. Small rural municipalities continue (to varying extents) to receive quota refugees, and there is also some relative immigration to some extent, but the proportion of migrants in Swedish rural municipalities is significantly smaller today than in 2015.

Since 2015, structural changes of economic art have also taken place in Swedish rural municipalities. In the mid-2010s, during the large inflow of refugees 2015, Swedish rural regions were characterized by general depopulation, decreasing public services and labour market, etc, and some of them are still, more or less, in that situation. However, in Norrland (i.e. the Northern region of Sweden) where most Swedish rural regions are located, an industrial expansion related to ‘green industry’ is taking place. The industrial boom has led to a great need for labour with a need for also institutional support and access to services for this labour in certain Norrlandic regions, a labour market expansion with effects on all other regions and local towns in Norrland, in different ways. Small rural towns in the region, risk further relocation, now to nearby industrially expanding Norrlandic regions and cities. At the same time, there are examples of the industrial boom that applies to certain areas in the north having positive repercussions on local labour markets in smaller towns in the form of new establishment of companies, and existing companies that expand.

Against this background, we direct in this paper interest towards challenges and opportunities in the reception of new adolescent migrants from the perspective of local professionals. The research questions are:

• What did representatives of schools and municipal public services say about the influx of migrants during the great wave of refugees in 2015 and what do they say today?
• What hopes were/are tied to the reception of refugees for the future?
• What challenges were/are seen?
• How do descriptions from the past reflect in those of the present?

The overall question guiding the inquiry is:

• What kind/s of integration is/are emphasized in the professionals’ narrations - educational, social and/or labour integration?

The findings will be discussed through the broad lens of educational, social and labour integration, and in relation to the rural contexts. Inspired by the idea that integration consists of sets of overlapping processes that take place differently in various contexts and spheres of receiving societies (Castles, Korac, Vasta, & Vertovec, 2002), the analysis takes notice of presences in local discourse regarding educational, social and labour integration.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is becoming more common as the benefits of making connections across diverse perspectives are recognized. Working across disciplines in collaborative teams is believed to mobilise diverse knowledges to create new ways of approaching the big questions of our time (Mclaughlin & Lodge, 2019). Interdisciplinary work requires deep disciplinary knowledge as well as the ability to enter into the discourses and practices of other fields of knowledge. Moving across disciplinary boundaries opens up possibilities for transaction and dialogue as relationships are developed and new ways of seeing are encountered. This can create a generative space where different kinds of knowledge are combined and coordinated for particular purposes. The research underpinning this paper aimed to investigate the experience of interdisciplinary work though iterative reflective writing informed by co-generative dialogue during and after the project. The conceptual work was infuenced by key literature about interdisciplinary practices with a focus on ‘boundary crossing’ (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011), ‘boundary work’ (Newman et al., 2014) and ‘boundary encounters’ (Fitzgerald et al., 2020). The metaphor of the boundary provided a way of conceptualizing how disciplinary knowledge is black-boxed into familiar patterns and practices which must be transgressed in order to generate new knowledge. This paper came out of the project in which knowledges of illustrative design and English education was combined to lead students from two university courses in the collaborative design and production of narrative texts. We introduce the concept of ‘nodes of tension’ to describe the crucial points at which interdisciplinarity was encountered by the team as the practice of negotiation between the familiar and the unfamiliar. These nodes were identified through the method of co-generative dialogue in which we engaged over time during and after the project.

The “Research-Centre-on-Didactics-and-Technology-in-the-Education-of-Trainers” (CIDTFF, from Portuguese) is a research unit associated with the Department of Education and Psychology (DEP) at the University of Aveiro (UA, Portugal). The role of education being pivotal in preparing more qualified and critical citizens in knowledge-based and globalised societies, CIDTFF research/action is focused on educational processes in formal, non-formal and informal contexts, covering their (trans)national regulation conditions and communication spaces where they are developed. By embracing perspectives of lifelong learning, inclusive and integrated education, multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; Baumfield & Butterworth, 2007; Tress et al., 2005) within (inter)national networks are required, promoting research sustainability and citizen science.
Aligning with the goals of quality education (UNESCO, 2017), CIDTFF researchers seek to work articulately for the development of sustainable communities and societies and of multiliterate and critical citizens, and for a quality and evaluation of education, teacher training and research, the Open Science strategy being a priority. Furthermore, CIDTFF spaces for teaching and learning have been reconceptualised, strengthening collaboration practices and openness to society, through the conception/validation of programmes and educational resources within partnerships and networks, increasingly more sustainable and extended.

Deeper education research and teacher training synergies between university and society as well as higher visibility of research findings have, thus, been crucial CIDTFF goals, as clear in the two 2020-2024 transversal and interrelated projects (supported by National Funds through FCT – UIDB/00194/2020 and UIDP/00194/2020, CIDTFF): “Open-Education-Smart-Campus” (OESC, Laranjeiro, 2022) and “Smart-Knowledge-Garden” (SKG). SKG acts as an open and integrated research framework focused on education, teacher training and education outreach programmes (examples: https://educacaoaescuta.web.ua.pt/; https://www.ua.pt/pt/cidtff/page/24014), grounded in previous CIDTFF research (e.g., Rodrigues, 2016) and aimed at a holistic approach to education, training and research (cf. Pombo, 2008).

The development of such a “conceptual/methodological environment” involves the thematic CIDTFF Labs – which promote articulation between research, training and dissemination with(in) the Centre’s educational partners (https://www.ua.pt/en/cidtff/page/8720) – and the (undergraduate, master’s and PhD) courses offered in DEP-UA. It also includes the reconceptualisation of the Science Garden (Jardim-da-Ciência, JC) – an outdoor environment for non-formal science education activities – to become part of the broader project of a ‘Smart Knowledge Garden’ (Porto et al., 2023).
This reconceptualisation has been taking place through: 1. reconfiguration of existing JC modules with the main objective of lending a holistic character to the module-embedded physical phenomena within an interdisciplinary matrix of knowledge construction, engaging CIDTFF Labs and under/post-graduate students; 2. conceptualisation of new inter/trans-disciplinary modules (here, prefixes are used in relation to curricular subject topics rather than to research paradigms; Tress et al., 2005) with a “space experience design studio” as a partner.

Collaborative partnerships enable “delivering more with less […] by bringing together complementary services” (Baumfield & Butterworth, 2007, p. 414): design-thinking expertise from designers; learning theories and educational issues from education researchers. Moreover, since university-company partnerships involving education research areas seem limited (Nsanzumuhire & Groot, 2020), this partnership model is innovative. In acknowledgement of the complexity of the decision-making process and of the need to involve and benefit from different areas, a sub-team of CIDTFF researchers and educational partners (school teachers, monitors, etc.) has been working on the conceptualisation of new JC modules (SKG-JC team).
The presentation focuses on this partnership-directed process. The (research) question is how to design, through a co-creative and participatory approach, new inter/trans-disciplinary modules while also incorporating the existing JC ones into an aggregated narrative. The design and structure of the modules should be interactive, fostering experiences of knowledge discovery and involving school and university communities, and other (cultural) users/spaces in the city. The process/product can orient participatory approaches within discovery centres elsewhere in Portugal and Europe.

Topic: This paper reports the results of a research partnership project designed to investigate the specific school-based interventions that positively impacted indigenous Māori students’ academic motivation and in-school engagement within a community of schools in New Zealand. Student, family, school leader, and teacher perspectives were examined to understand which interventions were most successful for Māori students and why. The results revealed a desire by school leaders to develop and enhance a localised and relevant curriculum, utilising culturally responsive teaching approaches, which prioritised Māori language and cultural knowledge. Initiatives to address inequity and mitigate poverty were also prioritised by school leaders. The results of this study have implications for schools serving culturally diverse communities globally.

Objective: This project was designed with Māori, for Māori, and by Māori (Durie 2006) and provided an opportunity to address themes of strategic importance regarding raising educational success of Māori students within the New Zealand education system (Ministry of Education, 2022). This research project was aligned with a professional development initiative within 12 schools in a low-socio economic area of a regional city in New Zealand. The schools had appointed professional development leaders who worked collaboratively with a focus of raising Māori student engagement and motivation at school as Māori make up over 60% of the school population demographic in this community. The research design sought to examine Māori student success from the perspective of Māori students, their families, community members, and teachers from one iwi (tribal) region. Their research concluded that collaborations between academics and practitioners that draw upon indigenous perspectives with an inquiry-focused methodology have much to contribute, firstly in New Zealand and, secondly, in other culturally diverse research contexts. This project, conducted through a research–practice partnership (Coburn et al., 2013), involved school leaders and teachers as researcher–practitioners working alongside academic researchers to identify the interventions, teacher practices, and leadership decisions that supported Māori students to be successful on their own terms.

Theoretical Framework: The Kaupapa Māori approach utilised in this research project meant that ethical, methodological, and cultural matters were given precedence and influenced decisions regarding methods, technologies, participant preferences, communication strategies, and the dissemination of the research findings. The full research team was focused on ensuring that Māori perspectives and ideas were at the forefront of the initiative, and every effort was made to ensure Māori culture and language was foregrounded and respected while also being cognisant of the contemporary realities of the participants.

Culturally Sustaining Schooling (CSS), also known as culturally relevant pedagogy or culturally responsive teaching, is a collective approach to teaching that focuses on raising the achievement of diverse students who have, historically, been underserved by the education system (Castagno & Brayboy 2008). CSS assumes that a firm grounding in one’s language, culture and history is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of culturally healthy students and communities, and an essential ingredient for identifying the appropriate qualities and practices associated with culturally sustaining educators, curricula, and schools (Alaska Native Knowledge Network 1998). In the New Zealand context, CSS approaches use Māori students’ ethnic and cultural backgrounds as a context for learning, and attempts to connect “to and through [students’] personal and cultural strengths, their intellectual capabilities, and their prior accomplishments” (Gay 2010, p. 26). Paris’ (2012) definition of culturally sustaining pedagogy expands on these assertions by promoting learning opportunities where students and teachers deliberately perpetuate, foster and sustain cultural knowledge, practices and language.

Climate change is a critical challenge facing society, and understanding earth systems, like the carbon cycle, has become an essential component of educational curricula around the world. The Swedish compulsory school curriculum emphasises learning about the carbon cycle and its connection with various biological and environmental issues. Understanding the carbon cycle is complex and requires recognising the carbon reservoirs, how carbon atoms circulate between reservoirs, and various dynamic relationships that exist within the system. These characteristics align with systems thinking skills, a crucial aspect of learning and teaching science. Assaraf and Orion (2005) have summarised eight hierarchical characteristics of systems thinking in the context of earth systems and have proposed the Systems Thinking Hierarchical (STH) model to describe how students learn about complex earth systems. The hierarchical levels of this framework include system thinking abilities that comprise analysis (e.g. identifying components), synthesis (e.g. relating components), and implementation (e.g. understanding hidden dimensions).

The carbon cycle is often taught through simplified and static diagrams in school textbooks, which can make learning about this abstract cycle and its interrelating components very challenging for high school students in grades 7-9 (e.g. Düsing, Asshoff, & Hammann, 2019). An example of a common difficulty in this context is to understand how carbon atoms move between various organisational levels. To address such challenges, carefully developed interactive visualizations that guide pupils through the components of the carbon cycle can help scaffold their systems thinking skills. Contemporary research in this area includes work on interactive learning environments in STEM contexts and adaptive feedback for supporting the learning of complex natural systems (Linn et al., 2014; Vitale, McBride, & Linn, 2016). Although these environments have proved promising, there remains a need to explicitly involve teachers in the design process, as well as connect established theoretical frameworks to learning goals of school science curricula. In this regard, not much effort has been directed to pedagogically-informed design and implementation of adaptive interactive learning environments for developing learners’ systems thinking. In fact, very little work has reported systematic design processes as an empirical contribution in the development of science education interventions (e.g. see Bopardikar, Bernstein, & McKenney, 2021).

In response, as part of a larger research program, the purpose of this work is to provide a theoretically and teacher-informed design process of an adaptive interactive visual learning environment that supports the development of grade 7-9 learners’ systems thinking skills in the context of the carbon cycle.

To respond to this aim we describe our iterative and theory-based design process by highlighting the main design activities and the rationale behind them, including: 1) content conceptualisation, 2) pedagogical (teacher) input, and 3) adaptive characteristics. The outcome of this process has resulted in an adaptive interactive visual learning environment with multiple learning tasks and quizzes organised in three modules. Each module is designed with coherent learning objectives aligned with a hierarchy of systems thinking skills and the Swedish school curriculum. Pupils interact with the learning tasks through three core mechanics including: A) dragging and dropping cards to complete a diagram, B) drawing arrows to complete the partial and global cycles, and C) clicking on the icons to reveal more information. Pupils’ interaction with this learning environment is supported through various forms of immediate (e.g. automatically correcting a misdrawn arrow) and delayed feedback (e.g. visual and textual verification of a correct response following a task response). Focusing on the carbon cycle, our work aims to provide a personalised learning experience for learners in grade 7-9 in scaffolding different levels of systems thinking.

A fundamental prerequisite for developing environmental literacy for sustainability is understanding systems thinking (Kali et al., 2003). For example, developing the ability to interpret and understand the carbon cycle in terms of a system is necessary to grasp the monumental challenges posed by climate change (Shepardson et al., 2012). Although international school curricula, including countries like Sweden, promote the learning of the carbon cycle, science education research shows that understanding complex earth systems is challenging for pupils as it requires integrating knowledge from different levels of organisation and content areas (Düsing et al., 2019). Obstacles that pupils encounter include perceiving components of the system as separate “entities” rather than connecting them, or struggling to relate the system to everyday life (Assaraf & Orion, 2005). Systems thinking about earth systems requires mastering a range of skills, such as identifying the components of the cycle, through to thinking temporally about predictive implications of a system. Assaraf and Orion (2005) have articulated a framework of systems thinking abilities that consists of three hierarchical levels, namely Analysis (skills for identifying components of a system), Synthesis (skills for relating system components) and Implementation (skills for perceiving hidden system dimensions).

A large body of empirical evidence has confirmed the learning benefit of including pictorial elements in educational materials, and that careful design of multimedia resources that consider human cognitive processes has great influence on learning outcomes (Mayer, 2014). At the same time, Asshoff et al. (2010) claim that visually representing the complexity of natural processes such as the carbon cycle should provide more interactive and dynamic opportunities for learners. Therefore, it is rather surprising that the complexity of the carbon cycle is typically depicted and taught via static and often highly conventionalised diagrams. Little work has investigated how systems thinking can be supported through interactive, adaptive visualizations that also integrate aspects of canonical representations familiar to pupils and teachers.

This study forms part of a larger research program developing and testing an adaptive visual learning environment, termed Tracing Carbon, which supports pupils’ systems thinking skills in the context of the carbon cycle. Tracing Carbon comprises three modules, each integrated with interactive visual tasks and respective quiz questions aimed at probing abilities related to the three hierarchical levels (1-Analysis, 2-Synthesis, 3-Implementation). The current study purpose was to explore pupils’ interaction and performance with Tracing Carbon, guided by the following research questions. How do pupils:

• Interact with the Tracing Carbon learning environment when performing tasks?
• Perform on the quiz questions in terms of assigned hierarchy and difficulty levels?
• Assess the difficulty of quiz questions in terms of assigned hierarchy and difficulty levels?

Whether with concern or excitement, we, as educators, venture into the current millennium guided by a conceptual paradigm shift of changing student needs. Generation change and subsequent renewing of secondary education standards present the need for schools to expand their practices of differentiation and individualization of educational process. Traditional methodologies and traditional classroom settings are transforming, expanding beyond the four-walled cubes into the "virtual" amorphous cyberspace classrooms and reality sites outside of the typical ivy-covered towers of higher education. Because of technology-driven telecommunications and growing student diversity, we have a responsibility to be more innovative in our pedagogical approaches. Designing creative virtual classrooms developed within a theoretical framework while considering differentiation and individualization needs is the only answer. Research has attributed difficulties in doing so largely to problems and difficulties of differential approach in teaching, and has recently pinpointed the essential role of using of modern ICT tools in implementing that approach. An ethos of knowledge transfer, implementation and learning are needed for educational success.

Interactive electronic platforms are new and significant phenomena and are newly internationalizing. This study will employ longitudinal educational research to identify if and how these platforms reconcile with the problem of differentiation in education, and to advance understanding concerning the link between ICT and international education development.

Online courses are the latest technologically mediated form of distance asynchronous learning and today they are among the most popular non-formal education practices. The online courses use the internet (and all related technologies) to provide educational recourses to a wide audience whenever and however is convenient for them, breaking all institutional barriers to knowledge and information. Due to their user-friendly interface and user-oriented content, it is theorized that the online courses would play a key tool for lowering the educational inequalities and increasing inclusivity (Germain-Rutherford and Kerr, 2008). Judging from studies on inequalities in MOOCs, however, online courses appear to be less inclusive as expected.

Unfortunately, the literature on inequalities in participation and inclusivity in the online courses, outside of the MOOCs research, is poorly developed, mostly due to the lack of appropriate data.

Our study seeks to contribute to the literature on inequalities in participation in online courses in three main ways. First, we use unexplored data from the EU Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) usage by Households and Individuals for 2021. Second, our analysis provides a cross-national comparative perspective, using two-level regression analysis taking into account the level of the country's innovation. Third, we theorized the inequalities and the role of technologies in participation inequalities from the perspective of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital (Beckman et al., 2018).

Our analytical framework is based on Bourdieu's cultural capital theory but adapted to the online courses and digital context. We interpret the three states of cultural capital - embodied , objectified, and institutionalized statе (Bourdieu, 1986) - using them to create statistically analyzed variables.

We start with objectified cultural capital, arguing that technologies like laptops, internet access and smartphones have a major role in the inequalities in the online courses. Cultural capitals are noticeable through the device used by the students, which is recognised by pre-established algorithms, acting on behalf of their owners. These devices are not equally distributed among the learners, giving them unequal access to the educational content. Laptops and PCs are more adaptable to users’ educational needs but require more cultural capital in contrast to mobile devices, which are hard to adapt due to their original purposes but require less cultural capital.

Embodied cultural capitals are needed not only to use a device but also to navigate the web and to be able to find and recognise exactly what you need (van Dijk and van Deursen, 2014). Digital skills, linked to information seeking, are also distributed unevenly among the different social classes and especially with regard to the individual level of formal education, as studies of the social divide have shown (Hargittai, 2002).

The cultural capitals have ‘efficacy’ in relation to a specific field (Bourideu, 1984). How valuable the skills and knowledge learned in online courses are depends on the everyday struggles over price-forming locked around the strategies in the different fields. Comparing manual with non-manual occupation we study the effects of field efficacy. We also compute the differences between the countries, which Bourdieu considered as meta-fields (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992), taking their level of innovation.

Against this background research questions (RQs):

1) Which state (embodied, objectified, institutionalised) of cultural capital is a better predictor for participation in online courses?

2) Does the ‘efficacy’ of cultural capital on participation in online courses differ between specific fields?

3) Are there country differences in the influences of cultural capital in online courses?

4) Can a lack of cultural capital be mitigated by the country’s level of innovation in regard to participation in online courses?

The discourse that digitalization could fix educational problems, notably boosting educational opportunity equality and inclusion underpins many national and international policies and drives many initatives to integrating digitalization into schooling. Numerous research have been conducted on this topic, including policy analysis, case studies, and the factors that determine the consequences of employing digital tools, particularly on the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the political concerns behind incorporating digital technologies into education. However, there have not been many in-depth qualitative research on how various individuals view the (in)equality brought about by educational digitalization based on their daily usage experiences. In this study, we attempt to bridge the gap by using China as an example. In recent years, with the central government-oriented “new basic infrastructure construction”, and the "internet+" program, providing the same digital infrastructures for all within a province has been viewed as a fundamental responsibility of local government and articulated as the most effective tool for addressing long-standing concerns about educational inequality in China. China is stimultaneously presenting itself and being acknowledged by international organizations such as UNESCO as a country that excels in utilizing digitalization to ensure educational inclusion and equal access to high quality education for disadvantaged individuals.

This paper investigates, on the one hand, the visible and invisible digital infrastructure differences between rural and urban schools within a province and between provinces, and, on the other, how teachers, the individuals who use digital technologies for teaching on a daily basis, perceive the (in)equality against the backdrop of educational digitalization.

We ask following three questions:

1. What are the differences between each school's digital infrastructures and how did they arise?
2. Do teachers with access to the same digital infrastructures have access to the same teaching resources?
3. How does digitalization affect educators' perceptions of educational equality, and what does educational equality mean for teachers in the context of digitalization?

The concept equality contains different levels of meaning. This study begins by defining equality as varying access to sophisticated technology, in light of the Chinese government's emphasis in policy papers and government-oriented practice, which are asserted, on providing everyone with the same infrastructures and high-quality educational materials. This article seeks to discover, by continual study of the data, what additional layers of (in)equality are generated by teachers.

Internationalism in the Soviet Union was not only a political doctrine and an idea that subordinated national interests to the common interests of nations or a social class, but it was also one of the basic principles of communist education. However, from the beginning, the term “internationalism” was unstable (Babiracki, Jersild, 2016). Proletarian internationalism based on Marxist ideology, with the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" calling for world revolution and the establishment of communism throughout the world, was eventually replaced by more moderate forms of internationalism. Particularly significant changes were observed after Stalin's death. According to Appelbaum, a significant change in the policy of USSR based on the ideology of internationalism had two goals: to create an autarkic, transnational, socialist community that would counter the West in the Cold War, and to bolster Soviet power in an increasingly turbulent Eastern Europe (2019, p.128). Inside the Soviet Union, these changes were associated, among other things, with increased russification and the ideologies of the "fusion of nations" and the "creation of a new Soviet man" (Ivanauskas, 2007, 2010; Grybauskas, 2013).

In this presentation, the aims, principles, and forms of internationalist education in the schools of the Lithuanian SSR will be analysed in the context of other countries of the Eastern Bloc (the German Democratic Republic, the People's Republic of Poland, the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia) and the Soviet republics. An attempt will also be made to answer the question whether these aspects contributed to the preservation of diversity or, on the contrary, led to unification.

*The slogan “Socialist internationalism with a human face” is used following the slogan “Socialism with a human face” and refers to the reformist and democratic socialist programme of the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Alexander Dubček in 1968 (Stoneman, 2015).

The paper deals - in the region between the Eastern Alps and the Northern Adriatic - with the issue of education of pupils in their native language as well as different national education policies regarding language and attitudes towards national minorities. Today's Slovenia and its neighbouring areas experienced changes in national borders, political systems, and school policies in four countries after World War I and World War II.

In views of the school situation - in the 1910s (Austro-Hungary) and 1920s (Italy / Kingdom of SHS - Yugoslavia / Austria / Hungary), the paper presents a change in attitudes towards language issues and (minority) education policy. The research focuses on the question of how Slovenian-German linguistic and school relations have changed since the times of Austria-Hungary, where German was the leading state language in the Austrian half of the country, and then became a minority language in the Kingdom of SHS / Yugoslavia at the end of 1918.

After the First World War, education policy in all countries advocated teaching in the state language, with little or no sensitivity for linguistic and ethnic differences in each country. How did national minorities in four countries (Kingdom of SHS - Yugoslavia, Italy, Austria, Hungary) exercise their right to diversity and education in their mother tongue? How can we make a comparison of the educational situation of language minorities along the eastern borders of Italy (Slovenian, Croatian, German) with the German minority education in the Kingdom of SHS - Yugoslavia and the education of the Slovenian minority in Austria?

Due to major changes in language and school conditions, the final part will briefly present how the changes during and after WW2 with the migration of the German population (1941, 1945) and of the Italian population (1954) influenced the linguistic and national image of the region and the minority education. Knowledge of the dilemmas of modern primary school education also influences historical research. Does the primary school curriculum of the modern era, with openness to English as a foreign language from the beginning of school lessons, pose different challenges to teaching in the mother tongue? In the case of immigration, what is the challenge of modern initial teaching of elementary school students whose language of instruction is not their mother tongue?

Our society is influencing schools and education in different ways and the school subject physical education is no exception (Welch et al., 2021). In the past decades has environmental sustainability appeared as an important part that influences most sectors in our society. Environmental sustainability is nothing new to education, environmental education builds on work and thoughts from known philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Dewey, and Maria Montessori, who have integrated environmental issues with school and education. More lately have organization’s such as UN´s and UNESCO contributed to made environmental sustainability obligatory in schools within European Union (Faville et al., 2014). How physical education is progressing towards environmental sustainability and what curriculums in physical education that include environmental sustainability might look like, have only started to be investigated (Dingle & Mallen, 2021). There is a lack of research with regards to environmental sustainability in pedagogy, especially within the school subject physical education and physical education teacher education (PETE) (Taylor et al., 2016, 2019; Welch et al., 2021; Dingle & Mallen, 2020).

Environmental sustainability is often included in general school curriculums and in the overarching educational statements for many different school subjects. However, this is rarely expressed in the curriculum for the subject of physical education. Based on a study of the Swedish educational context, therefore, we have investigated the impact formulations regarding environmental sustainability in general school curriculums can have for the implementation of teaching practice in physical education. More specifically, the purpose was to analyse the relationship between the representation of environmental sustainability in Swedish school policy documents and Swedish physical education teachers’ perceptions of the relevance of implementing environmental sustainability in a physical education context.

Data taken from a questionnaire conducted with 143 Swedish physical education teachers has been analysed. The quantitative and qualitative analysis we carried out on this data followed a version of a mixed method approach called the explanatory sequential approach (Creswell, 2003). And by using Bernstein’s (2000) concept of classification, the data was discussed in relation to how environmental sustainability is formulated and included in the Swedish school system, particularly in the physical education context. This will enable us to contribute to the discussion of how physical education teachers enact the requirements of governing school documents concerning environmental sustainability.

The result of this study shows that environmental sustainability has the potential to gain a stronger classification in physical education in the future. Of the different educational stakeholders who are involved in the process of reproducing knowledge in one way or another (Bertram, 2020), such as physical education teachers, policy writers, textbook writers, teacher educators, producers of research, and politicians, some have more power and interpretive precedence than others and are therefore more able to influence what environmental sustainability becomes when it is enacted in physical education.

Can we expect environmental sustainability to be taught in physical education if it does not exist in the students' PETE studies? Research shows that teacher education in environmental sustainability is often given in general courses or in independent courses without a direct connection to physical education (Isgren Karlsson & Backman, in press). PETE can therefore be seen as gatekeepers for what is being done and what should be done in physical education.

There is a growing internationally research interest in how Physical education (PE) and PE teacher education (PETE) may contribute to Education for Sustainability (EfSD), and the vision set out by the 2030 agenda and the SDGs (Fröberg & Lundvall, 2022; UN, 2015). In teacher education, EfSD is generally embedded as a component of a compulsory subject, or as an essential part of school policies, practices and activities (Stevenson et al., 2017). As positioned at the heart of the micro-level in education as those being responsible for educating future generations to address the global challenges that humanity is facing, teachers play a critical role to deliver EfSD (Boeren, 2019). If any changes are to take place in school, teacher education is one critical point of departure as it can contribute to the development of critical knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Abilities are needed for teachers to become active change agents. Recently, researchers suggested that PE may contribute to the 2030 agenda and some SDGs, such as “Good health and well-being”, “Quality education”, “Gender equality”, “Reduced inequalities”, and “Climate action” (Baena-Morales & González-Víllora, 2022; Lohmann et al., 2021).

If EfSD and orientation towards the 2030 agenda and the SDGs are to be realized, more attention should be given to professional development in PETE and especially what PE teacher training educators (PET-ed) perceive to be critical aspects. Professional development is one way of preparing PET-ed to encounter and embrace curriculum changes of different kinds (Lambert & Penney, 2020). A systematic professional development may allow for a re-thinking and re-orientation of courses within PETE in terms of how to understand what possibilities in theory and practice that a perspective of sustainability may offer. Even though it has been suggested that some of the contents of PE are related to sustainable development (SD), one critical question is that of prioritizing teaching and learning of content and challenge the way it is taught. More research is, however, needed, especially with focus on PETE.

The overall aim of this participatory action research (PAR) study is to explore what PET-ed perceive to be critical aspects on EfSD in PE and PETE. The specific research questions are:

•How do PETE educators perceive and conceptualize sustainability and how PE and PETE relate to, and impact on, the SDGs , and what arguments and support are put forward in relation to this?

•What aspects on EfSD do PETE educators perceive to be critical to implement in PETE courses, and what arguments and support are put forward in relation to this?

•What lessons can be drawn from using a PAR study to initiate discussions about processes of change and an implementation of EfSD in PETE courses?

SD involves several ontological and epistemological layers, such as what is to be sustained, how, for whom, and by whom, when and where? Challenges related to SD may be fluid and uncertain, and social constructivism is needed to capture the complexity of the phenomenon (Kalsoom, 2019). Therefore, this PAR study draw on the principles of collaborative learning (CL) representing a broad, integrated approach to facilitate group learning, and relates to social constructivism, assuming that knowledge is produced in social contexts. Furthermore we are inspired by pragmatism and transformative pedagogy as one way of analyzing and understanding transactions, meaning making and learning.

CL is positively related to engagement and personal development and may involve positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction, group processing, and social skills (Barkley, 2014; Bjørke et al., 2022). This will allow for the PET-ed to increase their knowledge, and share their experiences related to EfSD as a way of deepening their understanding and capability.

The global challenges that humanity faces including inequality and climate change, is the point of departure in the sustainable development (SD) agenda. Perhaps the most broad and ambitious action plan for SD is the 2030 agenda that comprises 17 intertwined SD goals (SDGs). These goals cover social, economic, and environmental dimensions of SD.

Education has the potential to empower people with SD competences to make responsible decisions in pursuit of a just society in the present and future generations, and to realise the 2030 agenda. School physical education and health (PEH) may not only be an important cornerstone to the holistic development of students but may also contribute to the SD agenda. Even though scholars such as Lake et al. (1) discussed issues around sustainability already at the beginning of the 2000s, this perspective has received limited attention in research about PEH.

Recently, however, there has been a growing interest in exploring links between PEH and the SD agenda, including links to the 2030 agenda and the SD goals. This may be important because the unique subject characteristics of PEH, such as movement education and health, can have distinct contributions to the SD agenda. In Sweden, PEH cover areas such as movement, health and lifestyle, and outdoor life and activities (outdoor visits). The core content includes movement activities, both indoors and outdoors, different aspects of health and training methods, and safety and consideration in connection with various activities. Although there are no explicit statements related to SD in the PEH syllabi (2), the Swedish National Agency for Education’s (SNAE) curriculum for the compulsory school include some explicit statements related to SD that is common to the school in general and all subjects. For example, “teaching should illuminate how the functions of society and our ways of living and working can best be adapted to create sustainable development” (p. 8) (3).

Some research to date suggests that PEH may already be implementing content to promote SD competences without making explicit references to the SD agenda (4, 5). In relation to the 2030 agenda and the SDGs, however, relatively little is currently known about the distinct role of PEH, and how SD can be understood, framed and integrated in PEH (6). Although not all may be relevant, targets from several SDGs could be addressed through PEH, including good health and well-being, gender equality, and reduced inequalities, together representing social, economic, and environmental dimensions of SD (4, 7, 8). Importantly, rather than additions of content to an already overcrowded curriculum, SD perspectives in the field of PEH should be interpreted as an overarching teaching approach and tie to core areas of the subject, such as physical activity, movement education, and health and well-being (4, 5). This may, however, necessitate novel teaching approaches, and professional development education (4).

Although PEH may have unique characteristics that can contribute to the SD agenda, most research to date has been theoretical and we lack empirical studies with focus on PEH teachers. Little is therefore currently known about SD from the perspectives of PEH teachers and students. The present study adds to the literature by exploring SD competencies among certified PEH teachers in Sweden.

Background

The term, play, is often used as a metaphor for all kinds of human activity (Karoff, 2013a). According to Sutton-Smith (1997), play is ambiguous and influenced by people's cultural ways of thinking. In the context of Physical Education (PE), play, games and sport are central content elements (Stoltz, 2014) and play is often set against games and sport. The relationship between these terms can be described as unclear and in need of clarification in order to better understand the intention and content of PE in school (Stolz, 2014).

Play is often associated with situations without extrinsic goals characterized by self-initiation and freedom (Van Oers, 2013). And while play is associated with innocent, spontaneous and creative children in kindergarten and primary school, these are characteristics that are seldom associated with students in secondary school (Blok Johansen, 2015). However, freedom and self-initiation does not need to stand in contrast to learning. Play can lead to learning in the broadest sense and have an impact on further play (Pramling Samuelson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008). In the context of Physical Education, Mosston (1966) describes different ways of teaching PE, which shows that concepts such as self-initiation and freedom can be linked to teaching and learning.

Compared to other European countries, Norway has a long tradition of curriculum-based Physical Education in schools with grading (Borgen et al., 2019). In Norwegian curriculum reform Kunnskapsløftet 2020 (LK20) (Udir, 2019a) play is presented as essential for students’` well-being and development, and a prerequisite for creativity and meaningful learning. Within the PE curriculum, it has been said that movement activities, play and practice should be emphasized to a greater extent than before (Udir, 2019b). However, we have little knowledge of how play has been understood in PE teachers’ previous professional practices.

A literature search with the keywords "play" and "Physical Education" in the databases "ERIC", "SPORTDiscus" and "Web of Science" yielded a total of 171 hits, but only 51 of the hits dealt with "play" in PE. The search showed that there are few international studies on play in PE, and we have little knowledge of how teachers understand and include play in their PE teaching in secondary and upper secondary school.

On the basis of this background, the research questions for this study are:

• How do secondary school and upper secondary school teachers in Norway understand play in the Physical Education curriculum?
• How do teachers in secondary school and upper secondary school include play in their teaching of Physical Education?

Theoretical framework:

In this study, we use Karoff’s (2013a; 2013b) theory of play that combines various theoretical and empirical perspectives on play. This theory provides an analytical framework for empirical studies of play practices, play moods and play tools. From this theoretical framework, we use the analytical concepts of “rules” and “formulas” of play. Whilst traditionally rules are associated with games, play can be linked to formulas to a greater extent. The formulas appear in situations where play is happening, which implies a form of improvisation where the formulas can play out in different ways (Karoff, 2013b). This means that participants in the play activity can play without there being "unanimity" about the content, but rather, a "consensus" (Karoff, 2013b). Accordingly, play has a certain form of freedom as formulas can be interpreted differently among the participants. Conversely, rules provide guidelines for the game, and often have a set goal (Karoff, 2013b). Play and games, however, must not be seen as two separate categories, but rather in motion between each other. We are particularly interested in how PE teachers understand and integrate play in teaching practices.

Decades of previous research has addressed the need for changes in physical education where embodied experiences and learning are emphasized (Wrench and Garrett 2015; Wright 2000). Accordingly, we align with the ongoing call for a ‘corporeal turn’ (Smith 2007, 66) in physical education, towards a more holistic understanding of learning and experience as embodied and emplaced (Pink 2011). The concept of embodiment has roots in phenomenological philosophy. As such, understanding the body as the ground of subjective experiences (Standal 2020) deconstructs the notion of a mind/body divide. The theory of emplaced learning involves considering embodied learning as always embedded in the world around us, which we always interact with (Pink 2011).

Pleasure, enjoyment, and meaningful experiences are significant for the individual’s relationship to their own body and for their desire for further participation in physical activity (Wellard 2012; Beni, Fletcher, and Ní Chróinín 2017). Siedentop considered playful activities as ‘important forms of inherently meaningful human experience’ (1972, 209). The fact that many pupils struggle in ‘gaining a love of movement’ (Pringle 2010, 130) is a reason why further research about what pupils experience as pleasurable and meaningful is needed. Exploring the pupils’ embodied and emplaced experiences may lead to insights around what they learn in physical education. Such insights may contribute to create pedagogies where meaningful and pleasurable learning experiences are educational goals (Lambert 2020; Pringle 2010; Wellard 2012). Building on this, we ask whether a pedagogy that gives room for playfulness may be a starting point for physical education being perceived as more meaningful and pleasurable.

In this presentation I present empirical findings from a sensory ethnography that aims to explore pupils’ playfulness and their pleasurable experiences in physical education. The research question is ‘How do pupils create possibilities for pleasure in physical education by being playful and responsive to their environment, and what opportunities for learning are afforded?’

To interpret how possibilities for pleasure are created, we draw upon phenomenological perspectives on playfulness (Hyland 1977) and affordances (Gibson 1986). Hyland proposes a phenomenological stance on play, which he operationalizes as responsive openness (Hyland 1977). Openness involves being aware of, and open to, the possibilities that arise in your environment. Responsiveness is explained as the ability to act on the possibilities that emerge through the activity. The concept of affordances (Gibson 1986) can be described as how characteristics of the physical environment encourage action. Affordances are understood as the possibilities that emerge from our interaction with our environment, responsive openness can be described as the way in which we respond to such affordances.

Body expression (BE) is thought to be the oldest form of communication, with humans using it to create, express, and communicate feelings, emotions, and ideas in a deliberate and aesthetic manner (Aparicio et. al., 2019). A recent study affirms that BE is a reliable method to understand the most natural meaning of a human’s expressiveness, and is it achieved by body awareness, self-knowledge, and educational transformation (Megias, 2020). It also represents the artistic, expressive component of physical activities that employ innovative methodological approaches aimed at promoting autonomous learning and social skills (Redondo, et al.,2019). Through BE, students can acquire attitudes, concepts, as well as procedures that they can apply to their daily physical activity. (Vega-Ramírez et al., 2022).

BE relies on a series of elements as musicality, students’ features, the visual environment (lighting, space) (Sánchez y Ordás, 2011), and together with social encounters and human connections (Leach & Stevens, 2020) are vital in the evolution of creative thinking.

The creative process involved in the artistic and athletic practice of students has recently begun to be studied (Valverde-Esteve, 2020). In terms of creative practitioners of BE were likely to obtain high values in aspects of creativity such as fluency, flexibility, and expressiveness (Iglesias et al., 2014). In this context, BE has begun to be considered a necessary tool in the school curriculum to promote creativity (Megias, 2020).

In terms of gender, some differences were observed in terms of creativity and are most likely influenced by the different opportunities available to men and women and kinds of experiences both genders are likely to have (Baer, 2008). Some studies had found that men prefer sports that are dominated by physical contact and strength while women present more interest and motivation to carry out artistic and language activities (dance, gymnastics, etc.) (Mašanović, 2019).

The current need to provide innovative knowledge in different contexts of action turns creativity into a fundamental component for the broader development of the human personality (Sanchez et al, 2017). Therefore, creativity takes on greater importance during university training, when students prepare for future tasks, they will have to perform as teachers/trainers, and many situations require novel options and solutions. These arguments are in line with the acquisition of key competence for university students, established by the European Higher Education Area (Sanchez et al, 2017). Due to the lack of a correct "true-false" answer and the motivational factor required in creative performance, the evaluation and assessment of creativity posed a significant challenge for specialists (Corbalán et. Al., 2015). The specialists focused on the development of motor creativity through BE (Iglesias et al., 2014) and the development of creative thinking or the creative intelligence was less studied.

The aim of this study was to analyze the role of Body Expression on the development of creative intelligence and the differences between genders by students in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. We hypothesized that creative intelligence is improved by participating in BE activities.

The main goal of this contribution is to present a methodological innovation that expands the analytical potential of ethnographic research. As we know, under certain conditions ethnographic research is able to provide "fuzzy generalizations" (Bassey, 1999; Hammersley, 2001), which lead to the transferability of knowledge from one environment or context to others (Gomm, Hammersley, & Foster, 2000). Nonetheless, it is not easy to bridge the gap between individual characteristics that are made visible by the ethnographic approach and the understanding of a whole situation (i.e. actors and actants interacting in and with the given environment), which is needed in order to provide the research with applicable generalization. That is why we combined ethnographic techniques of gathering data with situational analysis (SA).

SA provides us with cartographic tools (Clarke, 2003; 2005) that allow the viewing of the researched environment together with its actors and actants as a dynamic system (Rockwell, 2005; Thelen & Smith, 1998). This is in accord with situational epistemology set by Dewey and developed by his followers (Dewey, 1992, lw.12; Johnson, 2007). SA thus enables researchers to describe a system in which there are no simple linear causal relationships, and yet it is possible to capture the laws and regularities given by the so-called "pragmatic cause" (Rockwell, 2005). This makes it possible to describe such a system and predict its future development without overly idealizing and reducing the initial analytical units of the entire system (quantitative methodology) or focusing on individual non-generalizable cases (qualitative methodology).

A dynamic system is characterized by: 1) the ongoing interactions of actors and actants with each other and with its environment, 2) the complexity of the interactions, and 3) feedback loops that permanently change the "essence" of relationships, and thus the "essence" of the very system elements (Thompson, 2007). The concurrence of the characteristics gives rise to the emergence of new system properties. However, the two-dimensional nature of the cartographic tools of SA does not allow the visualization and subsequent analysis of these emergent processes.

Relational maps allow researchers to find relationships between the basic units of analysis (the so-called "elements"). These relationships (so-called "mechanisms") explain how individual elements contribute to the character of the central element and how they, in this way, influence the whole situation (Clarke, 2005; 2014; Clarke & Montini, 2014). During the construction of the relational map, researchers are led to identify one element as central and in relation to it determine the mechanisms on the basis of which the researched situation is characterized.

This fact, however, leads to methodologically significant questions: How to properly determine the central element? Why this and not that element should be depicted as the central element? When we started to think about the very methodological principle on the basis of which SA is constructed, we realized that by using SA we cannot display the relationships among mechanisms. These relations are manifestations of emergent processes that play a key role in understanding any dynamic system. Thus, we realized that we are limited by the very two-dimensional principle of representation of SA. Inspired by Bachelard's insight into tool-knowledge continuity (1998), the theory of conceptual metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; 1999), and the texts about other related themes (see below), we proposed an extension of SA with a three-dimensional representation. In our research, this allowed us to detect processes of de/synchronization.

Without this innovation, the process of de/synchronization would not be detected and no usable generalization could be presented. The proposed methodological innovation helps researchers doing ethnographic research to construct fuzzy generalizations that strengthen the credibility and applicability of their theories.

In this paper, I explore the benefits and challenges offered to education research by a short-term ethnographic approach. Short-term ethnography is being increasingly used in the fields of education and medical education, emerging under a variety of labels, such as ‘rapid ethnography’, ‘micro-ethnography’ (Pink and Morgan, 2013) or ‘focused ethnography’ (Andreassen et al, 2020). Drawing on a body of international short-term ethnographic studies, as well as on my own experiences and data from the field, I explore this approach and its value for the researcher of education. I first detail the key epistemological assumptions and ethnographic methods at the core of short-term ethnography, explicating certain differences the approach entails in relation to longer ethnographies, partciularly around the selection of a focus of study and common differences in researcher positionality. After explicating the approach, I consider the benefits and challenges that a short-term ethnographic approach offers to education research. I describe a perspective of education as a conglomerate of practices which are multi-faceted and episodic (Nespor, 1987; Kind, 2016). I draw on this perpscetive to argue the value of studying 'episodes' through short-term rich ethnographic explorations. Finally, I explore issues pertaining to researcher positionality in short-term ethnographic studies. I consider the common consequences of tendencies, in taking a short-term approach, for researchers to be familiar with the field (Andreassen et al, 2020), and the simultaneous drawbacks and benefits this entails. It is hoped that this paper will offer food for thought for researcher of education in the usage of short-term ethnographic methods, raising awareness of the value and challenges offered by this increasingly popular approach.

As we have become more experienced ethnographers, we have come to understand being genuinely curious and interested in how the ‘other’ perceives the world, what we call the ‘ethnographic stance’, has begun to permeate our everyday interactions with people in all areas of our lives. This sensitivity towards other humans has not only made us humbler about their (and our) different perceptions of the world, but it has helped us to understand that the ethnographic stance also provides an opening towards understanding how problems arise, what they involve, and perhaps even how to solve them.

When we started out as HE teachers, we sought to engage our students with what we were passionate about. As we became more experienced, we realized that it is better to engage students with what they are passionate about. When they become aware of their passion, what was important to them and what they would like to change, they engaged with learning as a (transformative) process.

The process of being both researchers and teachers has led to us becoming more experienced learners. As we became more experienced learners, we realized that our ethnographic stance has equipped us to not only be more open to other’s perceptions of the world and of important burning issues, but that this has often led to insights that allow for transformation and changes in authentic practices.

Over a number of years, one of the authors developed an innovative learning design, called the change-maker model (Robinson, 2020) that, rather than beginning with knowledge, begins with the student. A central method in the change-maker model is the ethnographic stance. This involves igniting curiosity about the world, equipping students to critically reflect with others and analyze both the practices they encounter and connect with the practitioners they meet along the way. Through this learning design, students are empowered towards transformative learning and change-making. Students become central to the practices they engage with while at the same time developing sensitivity towards those they interact with.

Like many institutions in contemporary society, higher education has become more focused on instrumental reason (Taylor, 1991). For so many policy makers and higher education administrators in Europe, and other parts of the world, their vision of the university is creating a workforce for the economy and creating new innovative products and services (Wright et al. 2020). But the original Humboldt vision, was a much broader vision of what the university could be, with its emphasis on the relationship between open and free exploration and communication and the processes of creating new knowledge. That original Humboldtian vision was central to many of the advancements in the modern world. Ironically, we now have a much more restricted vision, that the elites of the world hope will usher in a new phase of growth in knowledge and the creation of new and expanding forms of value that are good for people and society. This instrumental market vision is the very thing that will rob universities of their creative potential. Rather we pursue a more literal return to a Humboldtian vision through the change maker model. We argue that the ethnographic stance can help students, and faculty, become change-makers.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has drawn Western European attention to the interrelationship between Eastern, Central, and Western Europe and raised questions about realignments within Europe that might see a shift of geopolitical concerns more towards Central and Eastern European (CEE) states. Even before the war Emil Brix and Erhard Busek proposed that the future of Europe lies in the dynamics of policy and practice in Central Europe. This argument can be extended to include Eastern Europe. The war and various debates around it ask us all to consider the question of Europe not from its traditional centres in Western and Northwest Europe, but from Central and Eastern Europe and reflect on the questions and central concerns this presents.

The challenge posed by the symposium is, what might European higher education policy options look like when conceptualised through the historical experiences of CEE. This reverses the usual flow of policy trajectories and forces us to consider that the future of European higher education might be organised around different policy logics or scholarly concerns.

Research performativity (rankings, citation indexes, etc.) have been critiqued for producing distorting effects in academic practice and knowledge including the underrepresentation of the arts, humanities and some areas of the social sciences, and the relative invisibility of non-English language publications, in rankings and publication metrics , the encouragement of instrumental behaviours whereby scoring high against research performance indicators becomes an objective in its own right, influencing choice of research topic, what to write, and where to publish , and the impact on modes of knowledge, theories, and intellectual traditions in the non-core regions of Europe . These contribute to asymmetries in terms of academic collaboration, recognition, circulation of ideas as well as the economic and linguistic hindrances for non-core researchers and their institutions to gain greater visibility and acknowledgement internationally.

Normative higher education policy and policy scholarship frames the development of CEE in terms of policy emanating from the centres of global higher education and CEE aligning with these. In this framing CEE higher education is seen as modernising through an alignment with the centres of global higher education. This suggests an asymmetrical relationship between the two regions. For instance, scholars from CEE have argued that when viewed from Central and Eastern Europe the process of system harmonization driven by the Bologna process looks different. In CEE states Bologna was more than a process of system standardisation, being part of a broader economic and political transformation in the region, interacting with new ideas of national identity and the creation/recreation of nation-states, and highlighted the economic and infrastructural disparity between CEE and Western Europe. Therefore, looking at the project of system harmonization as it is experienced from Europe’s eastern boundaries provides a different way of understanding what harmonization might mean.

The symposium therefore discusses,

• The way CEE became a particular kind of object of inquiry for higher education policy research, flattening the differences between the systems of higher education in the varied political contexts of Central and Eastern Europe (Monika Orechova)
• How ‘European’ internationalisation of research confronts the particular conditions of higher education institutions in CEE states and how they vary due to different foci, policy approaches and historical legacies (Liudvika Leisyte), and
• What a different kind of higher education policy research approach can offer that responds positively to listening to CEE experiences (Simon Warren).

A cursory glance over education scholarship over the past 30 years, reveals a peculiar distinction. Out of all the articles available in the ERIC (Education Resource Information Center) database, published between 1990 and 2020, 562 articles bear some variation of the moniker ‘Central and Eastern Europe’ in the title. Curiously, ‘Western Europe’ appears in 71 articles, most of them (37) dating back to the period from 1990 to 2000. This means that the former is used almost 8 times as often as the latter. Such exceptional grouping together of a significant part of continental Europe is rarely questioned, though it merits a deeper discussion (Nygård & Strang, 2017). While on the surface it may seem a geographical distinction, the precise countries and their groups which are referred to as such in publications differ greatly. Moreover, nearly none of such grouping is observed for other parts of Europe. Whenever the title of an article refers to ‘Europe’, it is reasonable to expect that the research presented comes from the western part of the continent, however, if it comes from the central or eastern part (geographically speaking), ‘Europe’ usually needs a qualifier. There are several practical reasons for this practice, for example, in light of international publishing requirements, it is now often used by scholars based in the region as it helps to expand readership and improve one’s chances of publication, especially when research in smaller countries of the region is concerned. Yet, we believe that it tends to epistemically lump together vastly different countries with different social contexts, histories and approaches to education (Dakowska, 2017). Moreover, it also poses Central and Eastern Europe as an ‘other’ inside of Europe wherein (Western) Europe is considered the norm and (Central and Eastern) Europe remains relevant to the extent it strives to reach that norm as it was expected to do during the transition period (Cerych, 1995). This paper endeavours to interrogate the early conception of the notion of Central and Eastern Europe by analysing the international scholarship in higher education research from 1990 to 2000. We aim to elucidate the emergence of Central and Eastern Europe as a research unit and critically interrogate its discursive construction as the ‘other’ in opposition with the dominant concept of ‘Europe’.

Cerych, L. (1995). Educational reforms in Central and Eastern Europe. European Journal of Education, 30(4), 423–435. Dakowska, D. (2017). Competitive universities? The impact of international and European trends on academic institutions in the ‘New Europe.’ European Educational Research Journal, 16(5), 588–604. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904116688024 Nygård, S., & Strang, J. (2017). Conceptual universalization and the role of the peripheries. Contributions to the History of Concepts, 12(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.3167/choc.2017.120105

Internationalisation is perceived as crucial by policy makers and university managers, especially in small higher education systems, as it helps gain legitimacy and encourages policy learning as well as capacity building for these systems and their higher education institutions. At the same time, studies have shown that implementation of internationalisation is not a straightforward process in different systems due to different academic disciplinary cultures and traditions, closure of academic communities and their resistance to internationalisation when it is perceived as a threat (Leišytė, Želvys, 2022; Leišytė, Želvys, Zenkienė, 2009). This contribution focuses on the academics’ views on their institutional focus on research excellence and internationalisation and to what extent they are involved in international research activities in three small higher education systems – Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia (Flander et al. 2022). Based on the international APIKS survey data (2022), we draw on the surveyed academics at research universities in the three Central and Central Europe systems. The findings show that even though internationalisation of research and research excellence rhetoric is high on the policy agenda across the studied higher education systems, the implications for institutions and individual academics vary due to different foci, policy approaches and historical legacies. We especially discuss differences and similarities among academic views by gender, academic rank and discipline.

Leišytė, L. & Želvys, R. (2021). International perspectives on transforming management of higher education [Sonderheft]. Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia, 46. https://www.journals.vu.lt/acta-paedagogica-vilnensia/article/view/24847/24058 Leišytė, L., Želvys, R. & Zenkienė, L. (2015). Re-contextualization of the Bologna process in Lithuania. European Journal of Higher Education, 5(1), Special Issue: Europeanization, Internationalization and Higher Education Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, 49–67. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2014.951669 Flander, A., Kočar, S., Ćulum Ilić, B., Leišytė, L., Pekşen, S. & Rončević, N. (2022). Impact of internationalisation strategies on academics' international research activities: Case study of the three HE peripheries: Slovenia, Croatia and Lithuania. In M. Klemenčič (Ed.), From actors to reforms in European higher education: A Festschrift for Pavel Zgaga (S. 313–336). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09400-2_22

The contribution argues that policy oriented higher education studies (HES) would benefit from a transnational historical approach that decentres or parochializes the idea of Europe. HES largely reflects the global structure of knowledge production in that it is dominated by the research concerns and analytical interests of Western European and North American academia. CEE scholars often feel required to publish in internationally prestigious journals, and therefore publish in English, to frame analysis in line with dominant Euro/American theories and find that local or regional concerns are constructed as parochial and marginal. HES can often work with form of Eurocentrism that construes Western Europe as the pinnacle of modernisation in contrast to the backward and tradition-constrained East. Policy scholarship can therefore suggest that CEE higher education needs to ‘modernise’ by aligning with models that reflect the global centres of knowledge production. The modern scientific system does not simply emanate from the centres of global knowledge production in the UK, Western Europe, or America and diffuse voluntaristically to the rest of the world simply because of its inherent superiority, but is linked to historically constituted structures of power, empire, and epistemological dominance that produce spatial distributions of knowledge production and consumption globally and within Europe. The paper explores a number of strategies for reconfiguring HES that can alter the epistemic relationship between Western Europe and CEE. Transnational theme: Use transnational themes from global higher education discourses such as student mobility, internationalization, university rankings; Situate these in transnational themes drawn from transnational historical or social scientific scholarship such as processes of nation or empire building. Transnational space: Situate the research in regional constellations; Geopolitical spaces such as empires or the Cold War. Parochializing Europe: Foregrounding issues of power, empire/colonialism, and geopolitics; Defining transnational spaces, units of analysis, or periodization to enable new perspectives on phenomenon. Periodization: Defining the temporal span to explore the generation of policy ideas, strategies, and rationales as well as rejected alternatives; Working with multiple or layered temporalities and examine how they converge at certain historical moments to create the conditions for specific policy options. Unit of analysis and methodological nationalism: Recognize that spatial/political categories (nation/state) are categories of practice that sustain particular power relations The presentation will illustrate this framework with examples drawn from peripheralized zones of Europe, specifically system harmonisation related to Eastern Europe and student mobility in Southern Europe.

Brubaker, R. (2013). Categories of analysis and categories of practice: a note on the study of Muslims in European countries of immigration. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(1), 1–8. Hansen, P. (2002). European Integration, European Identity and the Colonial Connection. European Journal of Social Theory, 5(4), 483–498. Kozma, T., Rébay, M., Óhidy, A., & Szolár, É. (2014). The Bologna Process in Central and Eastern Europe. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. Patel, K. K. (2013). Provincialising European union: Co-operation and Integration in Europe in a Historical Perspective. Contemporary European History, 22(4), 649–673. Warren, S. (2022) A Transnational Historical Approach to Researching Global Higher Education Policy. In M.Tight and J.Huisman (Eds.) Theory and Method in Higher Education Research, Volume 8, 41–60, Bingley, England: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Wimmer, A., & Glick Schiller, N. (2002). Methodological nationalism and beyond: nation-state building, migration and the social sciences. Global Networks, 2(4), 301–334. Zarycki, T. (2014) Ideologies of Eastness in Central and Eastern Europe. Vol. 96. London: Routledge.

That ‘diversity’ lends itself to different interpretations, and that there is a mismatch between pronouncements on diversity and its applications, are well documented in the literature (Ahmed, 2012; Wekker et al, 2016; Bhopal and Henderson, 2019). What such critiques centre are the ways in which diversity may be rendered “tangible and operational” (Essanhaji and van Reekum, 2022, p. 883). While such efforts are laudable in their aim to unearth injustices, exclusions and the ways in which these manifest themselves in educational practices and discourses, their analytical potential is somewhat limited. What is called for is a deeper understanding of the ways in which discourses and practices of diversity engage with questions of sameness and difference, nationalism and the futurity of whiteness.

Against the background of the mainstreaming of a set of “xenologies” for “differentiating between human collectivities” (Wolf, 2016, p. 7), in various domains, notably but not exclusively the recent pronouncements on immigration and asylum in the UK, and epistemologies of “white ignorance” (Mills, 2007) as evidenced in the attacks on Critical Race theory by the former UK equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch, and the call to include in the curriculum the “benefits” of the British empire, the question of diversity is rendered subservient, politically, to the purported needs of the nation. Conceived of as a homogeneous space, the return of ‘the national’ entails an assimilationist logic that constructs ‘the different’ as defective, one that must be subject to surveillance, disciplined and removed. This symposium draws together and frames interrelated discussions around these themes, while engaging with how whiteness is sustained and invested with the “right to exclude” (Harris, 1993) as well as practices of extraction evidenced by the experiences of “scholars of colour who are called upon to ‘diversify’ the curriculum and workforce” (Sriprakash et al, 2022, p. 45)

This symposium addresses some of ways in which diversity in the Irish, Scottish and English education contexts works to render differences invisible. Khoo’s paper seeks to review the recent institutional emphasis on race and ethnic equality in Irish HE through the lens of critical sociology of race in Ireland. Such analysis throws into sharp relief the ways in which whiteness as an assemblage of strategies, policies and practices constitutes and sustains Irish higher education. Swanson and Gamal’s paper argue that mandating the promoting of “fundamental British values” (FBV) in England’s school recasts the notion of diversity as “the failure of state multiculturalism” (Crawford, 2017) to be replaced by ‘rigid notions of internal uniformity” (Conversi, 2017, p.25). Concomitantly, diversity as a “thin and capacious” construct (Uberoi and McLean 2007, 46) is invested with demonic signifiers that threaten the cohesion of the nation. Coursing through these two papers is a concern with troubling the “exhibition of diversity” which works to center and invibilise differences (Wekker et al, 2016, p. 71). Lord and Oforji’s paper takes as a starting point the ways in which diversity itself has been conceived of in the European educational space. The inherent purported ‘goodness’ of diversity and its instrumentalisation in institutional targets and outcomes hides extractive practices. Lord and Oforji draw on their experiences of working in Scotland, of paying high international student fees and immigration to highlight the extractive intentions of the valorisation of diversity.

Concerns with race and ethnic equality have ramped up recently in Irish higher education, with the introduction of high-level policies and initiatives to address racial and ethnic disparities and inequalities. New strategic institutional programmes for race equality in HEIs are connected with the strategic work programmes of the national human rights and equality institution, the Higher Education Authority (Kempny and Michaels 2021), and a newly-created Ministry, the Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DfHERIS, 2021). Higher education equality initiatives are emerging from under a long shadow, following over a decade of crisis and austerity policies that followed the major financial and economic crisis of 2008. This paper looks at the wider historical, social, political and intellectual context for the development of race equality policies in Irish higher education. It tries to contextualise the rise of institutionalised equality and diversity work in a broader manner, connecting specific Irish developments with global legacies and trends. The paper draws upon several key Irish contributions on the theorising of race and ethnicity and interrogates their relationship (or not) to key questions about equity, diversity and equality in higher education. Notably, considerations of equitable access, participation and success were initially broadly concerned with questions of class (‘socio-economic status’), disadvantage and social mobility, but also came to take on work on the specificities of Irish racism (eg McVeigh, 1992; Garner 2003), with Irish Travellers (Mincéiri) gaining official status as an ethnic minority in 2017 (Pavee Point 2017). How does the advent of institutional race and ethnicity categorisation and monitoring reproduce, repress or redress equality, equity and diversity concerns via a racial or ethnic schema? What does an increased focus on race and ethnicity highlight, promote or stigmatise and what does it occlude? This paper hopes to draw insights from the fields of ignorance studies and questions of undone science (Richardson 2018), as well as theories of race and racialisation, to understand the constitutive role of visibilisation and invisibilisation. It revisits and reviews the new institutional emphasis on race for equality and human rights and as an institutional transformation project through the lens of a critical sociology of race in Ireland (Joseph 2017, cf Bonilla-Silva 1997). In doing so, this paper attempts to visibilise, reflect upon, contextualise and explicate some of the specificities of whiteness that are constitutive of Irish higher education institutions, their strategies, policies and activities.

Bonilla-Silva E (1997) Rethinking Racism: Toward a structural interpretation. American Sociological Review 62(3): 465–480. DfHERIS (2021) Annual Report 2021 - Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DfHERIS) https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/76993-annual-report-2021-department-of-further-and-higher-education-research-innovation-and-science/ Garner, S (2003) Racism in the Irish Experience, London: Pluto Press Joseph, E (2020) Critical Race Theory and Inequality in the Labour Market: Racial Stratification in Ireland, Manchester, Manchester University Press Joseph, E (2017) Whiteness and racism: Examining the racial order in Ireland, Irish Journal of Sociology 26,1 Kempny, M; Michaels, L (2021) Race Equality in the Higher Education Sector https://hea.ie/assets/uploads/2021/10/HEA-Race-Equality-in-the-Higher-Education-Sector-Analysis-commissioned-by-the-Higher-Education-Authority-1.pdf McVeigh, R (1992) The Specificity of Irish Racism, Race and Class 33,4 31-45 Meer, N (2022) The Cruel Optimism of Racial Justice, Bristol: Bristol University Press. Pavee Point (2017) Recognising Traveller Ethnicity https://www.paveepoint.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/EthnicityLeaflet.pdf Richardson, J (2018) Understanding Eurocentrism as a Problem of Undone Science, in G Bhambra, D Gebrial and K Nisancioglu (eds) Decolonising the University, London: Pluto Press, pp 231-248

Recently, a myriad of ‘difficult’ issues have gained prominence both in popular and policy discourses: concerns about immigration, the belief that diverse values threaten national identity and damage ‘social cohesion’, and ‘radicalisation’ in UK society. In the UK, successive governments have embarked on a “civic rebalancing” project (Keddie, 2014, p.540) aimed at creating “a cohesive citizenry” to counter these purported threats. This has entailed two strategies: Firstly, a liberal-nationalist approach to develop “a sense of belonging to and identification with the nation-state” (Vincent, 2018, p. 12) based on the assumption that the fractiousness witnessed in society is caused by a breakdown in patriotic loyalties to the state. To ‘solve’ this ‘problem’, the teaching in schools of “fundamental British values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs” (DfE 2014) has been institutionally mandated. Secondly, a strategy of the “securitisation of education” was promulgated (Farrell, 2016, p.282). The introduction of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) placed a duty on teachers to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. A significant corpus of literature has criticised the assumptions that underpin these ‘Fundamental British Values’ (FBV) (Farrell, 2016). Some have questioned why the values are defined as ‘British’ rather than universal (Elton-Chalcraft, 2017). This paper extends some of these critiques by arguing that the notion of “Britishness” advocated for in these values is exclusionary as it is underpinned by an assimilationist logic that declares that loyalty and belonging to the nation is ‘singular’, notably for ‘the common good’. Concomitantly, ‘diversity’ is recast in the discourse of FBV as “failed corrupting plurality” (Gilroy, 2012 p. 384). The promotion of FBV in the curriculum is an “attempt to promote the salience of national boundaries” (Starkey, 2018, p. 159). The reductive effect in the abstracted notion of Britishness implied in significations such as freedom, democracy and equality always anticipates the arrival of the unnamed other as dangerous and ‘a trouble’ to the nation state that is morally beyond reproach, and thus such unnamed other needs to be contained, pacified and assimilated. This speaks to the double entendre in the title of the paper, ‘troubling diversity’. Here, diversity is a concept that is troubling to the state, but it also hints to the idea that this version of reality in respect of ‘diversity’ needs troubling.

Elton-Chalcraft, S., Lander, V., Revell, L., Warner, D. and Whitworth, L. (2017). To promote, or not to promote fundamental British values? Teachers’ standards, diversity and teacher education: British Educational Research Journal, 43, 29-48. Farrell, F. (2016). ‘Why all of a sudden do we need to teach fundamental British values?’ A critical investigation of religious education student teacher positioning within a policy discourse of discipline and control: Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(3), 280-297. Gilroy, P. (2012). ‘My Britain is fuck all’: zombie multiculturalism and the race politics of citizenship: Identities, 19(4), 380-397. Keddie, A. (2014). The politics of Britishness: multiculturalism, schooling and social cohesion: British Educational Research Journal, 40, 539-554. Starkey, H. (2018). Fundamental British Values and citizenship education: tensions between national and global perspectives: Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 100(2). Vincent, C. (2019). Cohesion, citizenship and coherence: schools’ responses to the British values policy: British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40(1), 17-32.

The value of social and cultural diversity in education, as conceptualized by EERA in its 2023 Conference Theme, is described in terms of its ethical and academic value. It is taken as a writ that social and cultural diversity is inherently good, and something for which education and education research must strive. As former Scottish international students become immigrants become Scottish and public sector employees, we agree that ‘the richness of who we are and who we are becoming becomes a source and resource’ but argue against this being in service of ourselves, ‘for what we do and why we do it across the education continuum’ but in service of the education continuum. Ball (2012) argued that education policy was a profit opportunity, with education sold as profitable global and national commodity. His work has since shown how ‘the market, business and commercial sensibilities are colonising and re-forming the meaning and practices of education’ (Ball, 2018, p. 588). We argue this is made explicit by the policy initiatives supported by governments, research institutes, funding bodies, and higher education providers, that advocate for the increasing internationalisation of higher education (Shahjahan, 2016). These initiatives operate through neocolonial practices that celebrate ‘diversity’ while supporting a pattern of global migration from the global south, which ultimately feeds a global workforce that benefits the global north (Spring, 2014). Therefore, we argue the ‘richness’ of who we are has been exploited by Scottish universities, working within a European education sector, that has capitalised on our international student fees and our hopes of immigration into Scotland and England, while continuing to capitalise on our roles as public sector employees responsible for caring for and educating Scots, Brits, and Europeans writ large. We contend it is our economic utility, and the economic value of our social and cultural diversity, that is ultimately sought by the notion and promotion of ‘diversity in education’ within Scottish universities and the wider European education sector. To this end, we challenge the situating of our diversity as an ethical and academic good for European education, arguing social and cultural diversity is sought by Scottish, as well as the wider European higher educations sector, because it financially supports a system that commodifies diversity. We explore the reality of this through autoethnographic accounts of our journeys into, through, and beyond, Scottish universities, informed by critical and creative methodologies discussed by Pruyn and Huerta-Charles (2018).

Ball, S.J. (2012) Global Ed. Inc.: New policy networks and the neoliberal imaginary. London: Routledge. Ball, S.J. (2018) Commericalising education: profiting from reform!, Journal of Education Policy, 33 (5), 587-589. De Lissovoy, N. (2015). Coloniality, Capital, and Critical Education. In De Lissovoy, N. (Ed.). Education and Emancipation in the Neoliberal Era. (pp. 99 – 129).Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Pruyn, M., Cary, L., Huerta-Charles, L. (2018). Performing Teaching, Citizenship and Criticality. In Holman Jones, S., Pruyn, M. (Eds.) Creative Selves / Creative Cultures. Creativity, Education and the Arts. (pp. 37 – 54). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Shahjahan, R. A. (2016). International Organizations (IOs), Epistemic Tools of Influence, and the Colonial Geopolitics of Knowledge Production in Higher Education Policy. Journal of Education Policy, 31(6), 694–710. Spring, J. (2014). A global workforce: migration and the talent Auction. In Spring, J (Ed.), Globalization of Education: An Introduction (2nd ed.). (pp.188 - 211). Routledge.

In this paper I share the results of the analysis of a case study of a Social Education student through a qualitative enquiry with a narrative approach (Clandinin and Connelly, 1994, 2000; Van Manen, 2003, 1990). It delves into her experience and formative trajectory within the Practicum course of the Bachelor's Degree in Social Education at the University of Malaga (Spain); a course that took place during three consecutive years, oriented to the realisation of training practices in profesional contexts.

The focus of this study, which is part of a larger thesis project, is to approach the development of professional knowledge in the initial training of social educators in the context of this subject. Being a social educator requires more than just knowing what to do and how to do it. Social education professionals develop their profession in situations and problems that cannot be solved by applying knowledge, but by developing practical knowledge that allows them to make situational judgements about what is appropriate and desirable (Biesta, 2013, 2017) at each moment and with each person.

Initial training plays an important role in the development of professional identity and critical thinking that allows students to construct their own knowledge, which is indispensable for the educational profession exercise: determining who they want to be and how they want to do their profession. That is, learning to act on the basis of who they are, becoming aware of their own pedagogical being and taking responsibility for their actions (Blanco and Sierra, 2013).

In this sense, this context of theoretical-practical and professional training is one of the most important and highly valued subjects within the Degree in Social Education, mainly due to its proximity to professional practice. During these practical periods, students attend socio-educational centres attached to the university, for several days a week, and are accompanied by an academic tutor. This tutor may have a group of several students at a time who are accompanied in their training path: (i) individually and periodically through the reading, revision and return of different reflective writing devices (diaries, stories, internship reports) and in tutorials; and (ii) in a group and organised way, in seminars that are given throughout the internship process.

Given that the shaping of knowledge about the educational profession is always a singular relational experience, here we present the case of Zoe, a student who did her internship in various socio-educational contexts with minors and women. We try to show her experience of the educational relationship lived during these practical periods and, also, the type of mediation offered by her academic tutor.

We start from the idea that educating, says Milagros Rivera (2012), is "something that is done in relation and is also the fruit of the relationship" (p.36). Therefore it is in the experience of the relationship practice where what happens in that very moment of the relationship phenomenon and what happens in the individual perception, takes on a new meaning and becomes symbolic. The human being learns to socialise in continuous interaction with others. At this time, they learn the behaviours that are considered appropriate in the context, as well as the set of norms and values that govern them. In other words, in educational processes there is always a socialisation process, as it always has an impact on the student as a subject, either enhancing or restricting his or her capacities (Biesta, 2021). Educating is, in this sense, "to bring out what each student has hidden inside" (Montoya, 2011, p. 211), the singular, "the new that each human creature that is born brings to the common world" (Rivera, 2012, p. 64).

In the social sciences, universities increasingly evaluate the output of their researchers by counting the researchers' journal articles in indexed journals. Publications other than journal articles in English are devalued by these practices. However, anthologies and monographs, also in local languages, remain important to many scholars (Edwards 2012). Especially researchers working with non-mainstream methods, such as post-qualitative or art-based research, might seek different venues beyond indexed journals for their research. Consequently, the diversity of scholarly dissemination pathways is rising in some fields, despite the focus on journal publications.

Our four year project on publication processes in the social sciences (FWF- P 35575) shows that researchers are anticipating specific publication venues when they design their research project. Social scientists are required to build a diverse publication portfolio, which may include publications in English-language journals, monographs, anthologies in a non-English language, or visual presentations. Do researchers plan their projects with these requirements in mind? Do they analyze their data in different directions in order to create multiple outcomes that fit multiple pathways of publication?

Simultaneously, some researchers, or scientific institutions as well as policy makers suggest to reduce the diversity of publishing pathways in favor of English-language journals to make scientists and their outputs comparable by bibliometrics. However, the targeted journals do not include the full diversity of (locally specific) methods and research interests. However, there are scientific methods that are less often published in the targeted journals. Do researchers use other methods in this case?

Further, different forms of dissemination seem to produce (slightly) different findings and a broader variety in dissemination strategies increases scientific knowledge. Epistemological models of research consist of three major components: the research subject, the research object and the method. These three components shall produce a result, which is then disseminated (and is not compromised by this process). Our preliminary findings suggest a different model of research, where the dissemination process is already a part of the production of results. We employ a new materialist perspective (Barad, 2007; Braidotti, 2002; Haraway, 2010) to support our model. A theory, which assumes that parts of the research process do not exist separately from each other and that research processes do not follow a linear path (from A data collection to B analysis to C publication), but that all these processes run simultaneously and are broken down and rationalized into successive steps after the process happened. If we follow this theory, step C, publishing, would be no longer just the last consequence or appendage of the research, but part of the research process entangled with A and B. Following this theoretical concept we do not consider publication processes as the result of a decision of the researcher, but as a product of the research assemblage, which also includes publication processes. We, therefore, look for specific assemblages, which include individual circumstances, personal preferences, institutional requirements, specific physical environments, specific university policies and environments, economic structures and norms and values of a specific research field. Our findings show how publication practices are embedded into these assemblages.

This paper addresses the methodological socialization of qualitative and quantitative empirical social sciences and humanities (SSH) scholars. By the concept of methodological socialization, we refer to the processes by which SSH scholars learn and adopt research methods and methodologies, norms and values that are appropriate and acceptable within their preferred research paradigms and broader disciplines. Despite a number of empirical studies on work in the SSH and research careers, there are few studies on empirical social researchers’ methodological socialization and professional knowledge generation. Overall, we know little about the body of professional knowledge and competencies that empirical researchers acquire, their role in methodological socialization and how methodological socialization shapes the careers of empirical social researchers.

Some studies addressed methodological socialization’s role in doctoral education (Cilesiz & Greckhamer, 2022; Rhoads et al., 2017). While the doctoral stage is vital for the initiation into research paradigms, we suggest that – like in other professions, where continuous development processes and stages during a professional career can be found (see e.g., Benner, 1982) – methodological socialization extends over the whole research career and deserves closer examination. We are therefore interested in the examination of methodological socialization within different kinds of empirical social research.

We understand methodological socialization in multidimensional terms as (1) professional knowledge, that accumulates with expertise and is bound to specific biographies as well as (2) formal and informal socialization and individual and collective socialization (Van Maanen & Schein, 1977). We draw on differential association theory to conceptualize methodological socialization into specific research paradigms (Johnson, 2020). Differential association theory stresses the importance of small group interaction for being drawn into a particular research paradigm by learning and adopting favorable rationalizations and attitudes. For those reasons, we investigate how researchers became the empirical social scientists they are and how methodological socialization differs between different quantitative and qualitative methods and methodologies.

Specifically, the following three questions arise: what professional knowledge and competencies do they acquire (1), what role does their scientific environment as well as different settings of socialization play in this process (2), and what influence do the respective research paradigm, methodology, and method(s) have (3)?

We assume that question (3) influences questions (1) and (2), and that methodological socialization is shaped by the respective method. However, it is also conceivable that commonalities exist between both quantitative and qualitative methods and methodologies, as well as between different qualitative methods and methodologies. Therefore, this paper explores the extent to which methodological diversity is reflected in different forms of knowledge and contexts of socialization, or whether commonalities across methodologies can be found in methodological biographies, thus to what extent methodological socialization differs between methods and methodologies.

There are several different descriptions of academic dishonesty. Yet, they can all be summarized as any unethical means to achieve better results in learning assessments (Miller et al., 2017). The prevalence of academic dishonesty in higher education institutions is supported by research worldwide (Murdock et al., 2006). When cheating becomes common, it results in consequences for students and higher education institutions. The so-called victimless crime prevents students from attaining the necessary knowledge and capabilities that are being transferred by their programs and disturbs the equity of assessment (Miller et al., 2017). In addition, when students observe their peers cheating and not getting punished, they cheat to level the playing field, creating a campus culture that involves cheating (McCabe et al., 1993). Higher education institutions are also damaged by cheating scandals, which reduces the public’s confidence in every qualification (Harding et al., 2004). It is evident that academic dishonesty has victims; therefore, building an understanding is crucial in developing prevention strategies.

Extensive research has been done to find out why students cheat. Brimble et al. (2005) discovered that students might have different perceptions of which behaviors are considered academic cheating than university staff. To prevent cheating and to reduce incidences where cheating occurs because of confusion, academic dishonesty regulations are put in motion. Even so, research suggests that students’ understanding of academic dishonesty policies is low (Bretag et al., 2014). Furthermore, studies reveal that university staff tends to ignore student cheating (Coren, 2011). Students give various reasons for why they cheat. Among these reasons believing that others are cheating gains prevalence (Awdry et al., 2021). Relation between assessment type and cheating has limited research, yet Harper et al. (2019) found that it is a contributing factor. Moreover, the use of the internet gave another channel for students to cheat. For instance, whereas buying essays is not new, the internet is a very convenient medium for such behavior.

The current study investigated cheating among undergraduate students to describe their points of view. Also, as this study took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, and as emerging studies pointed out an increase in the prevalence of academic dishonesty during the lockdown period (Comas-Forgas et al., 2021), student opinions related to cheating trends during the Covid-19 pandemic emergency remote teaching (ERT) were gathered (Comas-Forgas et al., 2021). Furthermore, students’ observations about contract cheating were examined. More specifically, the research questions were: What are undergraduate students’ perceptions and opinions on academic dishonesty? What are undergraduate students’ beliefs on dishonesty frequency during emergency remote education compared to in-person education, and how do students explain the reasons for this difference? What are undergraduate students’ observations of contract cheating?

This study is framed in a research project that analyses how higher education students deploy self-assessment (SA) strategies and considers different factors affecting it. With the term SA we refer to “a wide variety of mechanisms and techniques through which students describe (i.e., assess) and possibly assign merit or worth to (i.e., evaluate) the qualities of their own learning processes and products” (Panadero et al., 2016, p. 804). Research in the area of formative assessment has shown that SA is a strategy that can positively affect self-regulation (Yan, 2019) and achievement (Brown & Harris, 2013).

In this communication we present part of the results of a randomized experiment carried out in higher education. Specifically, we analyze how different types of feedback affect the strategies and criteria deployed by higher education students during a SA task.

We selected the type of feedback as a key component of the experiment because it is a powerful instructional practice that intertwines with self-regulation (Butler & Winne, 2016) and it has an important effect on academic achievement (Wisniewski et al., 2020). Understanding the effects of external feedback on students’ SA could help us understand how to better integrate both for instructional purposes. For this reason, we compared how higher education students self-assessed before and after receiving different types of feedback (rubric vs. instructor’s feedback vs. combination of rubric and instructor’s feedback), and we analysed how these two manipulations (moment and types of feedback) could affect the quality and quantity of the strategies and criteria used by students while they self-assessed their work.

Regarding feedback, the different conditions included two types. While the use of instructor’s feedback is very common, rubrics have gained a prominent role as feedback tools in the last years due to its positive effects for students, teachers, and programs (Dawson, 2017). Although the use of rubrics seems to be more effective without combining it with exemplars (Lipnevich et al., 2014), we do not know how the combination of instructors’ feedback with rubric can affect SA.

The contrast of how students perform self-assessment before and after receiving feedback could inform us on the time we should provide feedback in relation to SA.

Therefore, this communication aims to explore 2 research questions:

- RQ1: What are the self-assessment strategies and criteria that higher education students implement before and after feedback?

H1: Self-assessment strategies and criteria will decrease when feedback is provided.

- RQ2. What are the effects of feedback type and feedback occasion on self-assessment behaviors (i.e., number and type of strategy and criteria)?

H2: Rubric feedback will provide better self-assessment practices than other feedback types.

Topic, objective and analytical framework

This study follows the trajectories of student evaluations in a research university in the Netherlands. It analyses how they are adjusted and used at different instances by different actors involved, how they relate with understandings of higher education quality, and which values, purposes and social consequences are thereby taken into account.

Higher education quality is a multiple, elusive not always clearly articulated concept. Student evaluations of education and teaching are related to different purposes of higher education quality and the assessment of aspects like student learning, program quality, teacher effectiveness and faculty performance (Harvey & Green, 1993; Tam, 2001; Weenink et al., 2022). While they are used to improve teaching and learning, they have also become a disciplinary device to shape academic conduct (Barrow & Grant, 2016; Hornstein, 2017). It is not clear when, where and what student evaluations are formally and informally used for by different academic actors and how quality is thereby measured and understood.

(Esarey & Valdes, 2020) note that the scholarly debate on student evaluations focused on teacher effectiveness and aspects like reliability, validity and bias. They identify mixed perspectives concerning the reliability and validity of measuring teaching effectiveness and argue that student evaluations are at best moderately correlated with student learning and/or instructional best practices. Recent studies shift attention to issues concerning fairness and social effects in using them. (Heffernan, 2022) draws attention to the negative consequences of bias for specific groups such as women and minority groups, which are increasingly subject to abusive comments. Focus groups with academics suggest furthermore that student evaluations are most critical for early career scholars’ careers [authors, under review]. Unbiased, reliable and valid evaluations can be unfair and fail to identify the best teacher (Esarey & Valdes, 2020).

Several studies argue for combining student evaluations with other dissimilar measurements of teaching like self-assessment and peer review of courses in personnel decisions, and for statistical adjustments before using them for any purpose (Esarey & Valdes, 2020; Hornstein, 2017). This ‘broad quality perspective’ can include more than student attainment and also assess the role and performance of lecturers in the educational process (Onderwijsraad, 2016; Tam, 2001; Weenink et al., 2022). One could even include the social consequences of the uses of student evaluations. It is however not known which values are brought forward in using and constructing student evaluations within academia. While the student evaluations are critiqued, there is actually a lack of knowledge on what they are used for and how they relate with quality understandings, and there are different degrees of freedom to adjust them to situated practices and purposes.

This study analyses the trajectories of student evaluations for different social sciences in a Dutch university. Various academic actors like institutional- and faculty management, educational committees, directors, course coordinators, lecturers and students can engage with them for different purposes and adjust them, for example by adding questions. These actors thereby articulate what they find valuable. (Heuts & Mol, 2013) conducted such an analysis of values for tomatoes from an Actor-Network Theory perspective, and followed them from developers and growers to so-called consumers. They identified different registers of worth which are draw upon and sometimes clash when making a ‘good tomato’. We add Norbert Elias’ notion of human figurations (Elias, 1968, 1978) to this perspective to further assess how they engage with their environment in using and adjusting student evaluations.

Research question

What are the trajectories of student evaluations in a Dutch research university, and how are different notions of quality taken into account in its uses and adaptations?

The Danish educational system is associated with equal access to education and a high educational mobility, and all students are entitled to receive state grants during their education. As a part of the Danish educational system, the educational program for a Bachelor Degree in Social Education is characterized by a very high educational mobility which is reflected in the fact that the majority of the students come from lower economic background and have parents with low educational degrees. Despite the equality discourse circulating in the educational program for a Bachelor Degree in Social education, we are witnessing an uneven distribution of belonging and participation among the students. In the paper, we approach diversity as a question of belonging for all students. Following this, the longitudinal study is based on the research question: How to initiate more diverse educational settings and a more even distribution of belonging and participation?

The longitudinal study of students´ participation and belonging draws on studies that conceptualize students’ participation and processes of in/exclusion in educational settings as a matter of belonging. From other studies we know that educational and pedagogical practices that enhance students ´sense of belonging and ´connection´ are crucial for the diversity dimension within the educational setting (Thomas 2015). In youth studies, belonging refer to young peoples´ social and emotional work in relation to connect to people, places and issues that matters to them (Cuervo & Wyn 2014). The concept of belonging is a personal and intimate feeling as well as an orientation toward the surrounding places and social settings (Antonsich 2010). In relation to educational settings Gravett & Ajjawi (2021) emphasize belonging as a phenomenon intertwined with processes of identities and learning and as a phenomenon unfolding in relation to the academic content, the social relations in classroom and the places of campus.

The study is also grounded in poststructuralist and feminist gender and intersectionality studies (Butler 1993, Davies 2006, Staunæs 2003, Kofoed 2004, Wetherell 2008) that pay attention to how the construction of gendered, racialized, ethnicized, and classed differences and identities are being regulated and negotiated in the everyday life in different social settings – i.e., educational settings. Drawing on this theoretical perspective we think of students´ sense of belonging and participation as intertwined with social cultural categories - such as gender, ethnicity, and social background - and the way social categories intersect and affect each other in the educational setting and classroom culture. The interplay between different social categories and the impact on students´ belonging and participation is related to the cultural practices in classroom. Social categories work as ´tools´ by which students (and teachers) are dis/connecting to - and in- and excluding - other students and produces the criteria for what is recognized as ´appropriate student´ and ´inappropriate student´. In that sense social categories and the intersection between social categories affect differentiation and difference-producing practices in the classroom culture and the possibility for belonging and participation.

The presentation will present some preliminary findings based on the qualitative parts of the study conducted during the students first year at the Social Education Programme. The presentation is based on three themes: 1) group work, 2) student participation, 2) the framework and structures of the education.

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a small-scale qualitative study examining racialised faculty and student experiences of internalised racism within Higher Education (HE) within UK. The paper specifically sheds light on experiences of internalised racism enacted by one BPoC member towards another member of the racialised community and how racialised staff and students make sense of such incidents. Whilst there is established and growing scholarship highlighting how racism in higher education is sustained within higher education through racist attitudes, policies, unwritten codes, and formal and informal practices that promote racial silence among faculty and students of colour (Bhopal, 2015), less is known about internalised racism within racialised groups. Race scholars researching higher education have examined the narratives of faculty and students of colour around microaggression (Pittman, 2010), bullying, citation politics (Ahmed, 2017), gatekeeping practices in knowledge production (Johnson and Joseph-Salisbury, 2018), implicit and explicit bias in course evaluations (Saul, 2013) and deliberately reducing employability and career progression by White management, faculty and/or students (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017). However, there is an absence of narratives around internalised racism, frustration and anger affecting relationships between people of colour, whether between senior management and faculty, senior and junior faculty, faculty and students, or between students themselves.

Black feminists such as bell hooks (1995) and Lorde (1984) have highlighted that there has been a reluctance to research internalised racism within academia for fear of airing dirty laundry in public, which limits us in finding meaningful solutions. They suggest that we need to uncover more narratives from faculty and students of colour about how they experience internalised racism at various intersections, to gain a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which it feeds into the racist structures of neoliberal universities. Whilst Kohli (2014) has examined the narratives of Black, Latina and Asian American women students in teacher training programmes in the USA, and Harper (2007) has researched the accounts of African American students in US universities, there is a dearth of research within a British context. This research draws on critical feminist perspectives of intersectionality (Hill Collins and Bilge, 2017) to shed light on individual narratives of internalised racism between people of colour at various intersections within UK HE is setting. Hill Collins and Bilge (2017) posited that, combating the social injustice faced by women with hybrid identities was only possible if we understand their experiences of social inequality, which were constructed by an intersection of race, gender and class. The current research explores the experiences of racialised staff and students at the intersection of racism, AntiBlackness, patriarchy, ableism, and Islamophobia.

Following the death of George Floyd in the USA, the movement driven by the pressing question ‘why is my curriculum white’ was reignited. Student and public protests followed around the world and in the UK, Universities responded with a recognition of the need for further work in social justice, diversity and inclusion (Advance HE, 2021). The University of Leeds, similar to other universities (e.g. UCL and SOAS in London) initiated a programme to decolonise education. This project is a journey which demands that educators willingly question the origins of the knowledge they teach and identify the colonial legacies that are replicated within curriculum and pedagogy, as well as wider university structures and practices (https://studenteddev.leeds.ac.uk/developing-practice/decolonising/). Student and staff co-production of education as well as student voice are central to this journey. Educational research is one way we can collect this student voice and engage students in devising strategies and solutions for reform where this is needed. More specifically, research that illuminates the lived experiences and critical insights exemplified by those who have been silenced or ‘othered’ by these colonial legacies can support be understood as compassionate research. Here I am using ‘compassionate’ as described by Gabor Mate (2022) as ‘the compassion of curiosity and understanding’ which is based on the belief that there is a reason behind the ways people behave. It is driven by a desire to understand someone’s context and source of pain that could be behind the outcomes observed. Compassionate research, I argue, would engage in questions of curiosity and understanding. While this does not necessitate qualitative methods, such methods are well-suited to interpretivist and subjectivist paradigms (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). The argument presented in this paper is that a) the decolonising project involves educators having opportunities to critical analyse and reflect on their discipline, and b) one way to prompt this critical analysis is presenting data which explores the reasons behind some observed inequality.

The observed inequality considered in this project is the under-representation of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) graduates in academic posts which tend to require post-graduate study (see https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/375735/ERI_Ethnic-Representation-Index.pdf). This Ignite presentation will share the coding framework used to analyse data collected through focus groups with recent undergraduate graduates from one University in the North of England. The framework is used to explore the potential for applying colonial theories in a critical analysis of the factors influencing BAME graduates’ academic career considerations.

Reasons for this racial and ethnic disparity may relate to practical reasons that the academic track is not appealing. Or one might simply argue that the pathway is not of interest and other options presented themselves. This project, however, explores specifically the ways in which racial ideology may be considered a mechanism behind these patterns (van dijk, 1998). This ideology emerged as a tool of colonial powers, separating ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Bhabha, 1984) and has implicitly shaped various structures, policies and practices within higher education and the various disciplines represented therein. The project therefore explores BAME student perceptions and experiences of various structures, policies and practices in HE and explores ways this could implicitly inform post-graduation education and career decision-making. As post-graduate study typically involves research, this project will ask critical questions about how knowledge is constructed and the explore traces left by colonial legacies on the meaning and practice of research. The project proposes that such colonial legacies may be implicit barriers to the pursuit of an academic path.

The symposium aims to extend upon research of policy networks, mobilities and governance, contributing theoretically but also methodologically, for researching policy networks in education. The papers engage with the national and global perspective, considering how policy is mobilised via polycentric and heterarchical networks cutting across both state and market. The symposium draws on papers that were invited to be part of a Special Issue, ‘Policy Networks’ by Professor Stephen Ball.

In their presentation, Adhikary and Lingard will draw upon research conducted in Bangladesh, emphasising the performative role that “imagination” played in the emergence and workings of multiple policy networks that continue to pursue social entrepreneurial reforms within primary education and the broader NGO landscape of the country.

As influenced by actor-network theory (Law, 1992), Rowe’s paper draws upon a metaphor of a dingo-proof fence for theorising policy networks, examining the establishment of a national evidence broker in education, referred to as the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO). The establishment of this national evidence broker in 2021, which sets out to determine the national agenda in educational research, has set an important precedent for mobilising collaboration with venture philanthropy. As modelled on the UK’s Education Endowment Foundation and linked with global corporate foundations, this paper explores how policy networks pursue homogeneity in education research.

Lewis examines the rise of Apple Teacher – the free online digital learning platform of the US technology giant, Apple, Inc. (hereafter, ‘Apple’), considering how Apple Teacher forges new market- and platform-based relations between otherwise unconnected schooling spaces and actors, and in ways that spill over the prefigured territorial boundaries of the nation-state.

McKenzie and Stahelin examine the hows and whys of the inter-network policy governance of two UN intergovernmental organizations with a focus on climate change education. The paper draws on interviews with 32 policy actors from a study of the network governance of UNESCO and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) policy programs on climate change education.

In sum, the papers carry a central aim of theorising policy networks in education reform, with an interest in policy mobilities and systems of network governance. The papers draw on a range of theoretical lens and methodological tools to explore policy networks as positioned within the global-local.

Paper had to be withdrawn.

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This paper draws on Ball et al.’s (2017) network ethnography, to investigate policy mobility and the assemblage of inanimate objects in educational research, in the form of an ‘evidence broker’. It focuses on a national education research institute funded by the Australian Government, named the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO). Positioned as essentially bipartisan and apolitical, AERO was incorporated in 2021 to accelerate the use of research evidence and set a ‘national agenda’. As modelled on the UK’s Education Endowment Foundation and the What Works Centre, it establishes important legislative precedents to collaborate with venture philanthropy. The paper sets out to examine how the policy network fundamentally reshapes the ecosystem including functionality of capital and power, translating things and ideas into policies that retain material affects. Arguably, drawing upon a metaphor for conceptualising a policy network (Knox et al., 2006) may be useful in conceptualising a policy network as put together, held together, assembled and strategically constructed. It works to translate research evidence in education as homogeneous, impartial and singular, performed and embodied within a range of durable materials, such as evidence rubrics, RCTs, and government legislation. Governance via selective networks and the assemblage of stable structures, that endeavour to render education evidence into a ‘neutral’ or inanimate object, is concerning for matters of democracy, transparency and accountability.

Ball, S. J., Junemann, C., & Santori, D. (2017). Edu.net: globalisation and education policy mobility. Abingdon,Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge. Knox, H., Savage, M., & Harvey, P. (2006). Social networks and the study of relations: networks as method, metaphor and form. Economy and Society, 35(1 (February 2006)), 113-140. Law, J. (1992). Notes on the theory of the actor-network: Ordering, strategy, and heterogeneity. Systems Practice, 5(4), 379-393. doi:10.1007/BF01059830

Paper had to be withdrawn.

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This paper examines the hows and whys of the global inter-network governance of two United Nations intergovernmental organizations with a policy focus on climate change education. Study data include web-audits, social media analyses, and interviews with 32 policy actors involved in the network governance of these policy programs. The research suggests how each organization is functioning via UN-specific forms of semi-structured network governance, in which non-state actors have increasingly played key roles, but alongside the continued influences of state actors and the hierarchical structures of the intergovernmental organizations (Bäckstrand & Kuyper, 2017; Ball et al., 2017; Barnett & Finnemore, 2004). We also found that the two organizations under study are engaged in forms of ‘inter-network governance,’ including via joint reports, meeting collaboration, and intermediary policy actors. The drivers of this inter-network governance are also discussed, including historical siloing of education and environment in different national ministries, macro and micro forms of institutionalization of the collaboration between the two organizations, and the greater mainstreaming enabled by the prominence of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The study suggests the positive outcomes of the network and inter-network governance at play in the UN organizations, and how that has been key to the global development and mobilities of climate change in education policy (McKenzie, 2021). The study has implications for international organizational theory, network governance studies, and understanding the global governance of climate change in education policy (Verger et al., 2018).

Bäckstrand, K., & Kuyper, J. W. (2017). The democratic legitimacy of orchestration: the UNFCCC, non-state actors, and transnational climate governance. Environmental Politics, 26 (4), 764-788. Ball, S. J., Junemann, C., & Santori, D. (2017). Edu.net: Globalisation and education policy mobility. Routledge. Barnett, M., & Finnemore, M. (2004). Rules for the world: International organizations in global politics. Cornell University Press. McKenzie, M. (2021). Climate change education and communication in global review: Tracking progress through national submissions to the UNFCCC Secretariat. Environmental Education Research, 27 (5), 631-651. Verger, A., Altinyelken, H. K., & Novelli, M. (Eds.). (2018). Global education policy and international development: New agendas, issues and policies. Bloomsbury Publishing.

The transnational movement of ideas and practices in education is well documented (Junemann, Ball and Santori, 2018). Policy scholarship has addressed the influence of supranational agencies, non-state advocacy networks, edu-businesses and social venture philanthropy on global education policy and practice (Savage et al., 2021). Attention has focused on corporate school reform (charter schools, free schools and academy chains), teacher education and the school curriculum (Ball, 2012; Olmedo, 2013; Hogan 2016; Rowe, 2023). In contrast, the mediation of transnational professional learning networks is under-researched.

This presentation uses the tools of network ethnography to follow a professional learning network that markets the ‘laboratory school’ (Dewey, 1907) as a traded support service for schools. The aim of the study is to trace, position and better understand how the lab school concept is disembedded, ‘re-contextualised’ (Schweisfurth and Elliot, 2019) and re-embedded in diverse settings in an emerging global market for school improvement services. The research extends earlier work on cross-national attraction (Clapham and Vickers, 2018), outsourcing (Sperka, 2020) and the commercialisation of education services (Hogan and Thompson, 2017, Lingard et al., 2017).

The research is guided by the following questions: What motivates network entry, maintenance and departure (intentions)? How are knowledge and practices mobilised within the network? And relatedly, what knowledge and practices are displaced or extended by lab school networking activity?

The study draws on the theoretical resources of relational sociology and policy ethnography to consider ‘mobilities’, ‘moorings’ and knowledge flows in a loosely coupled dynamic network (Ball, 2016). The methodological approach combines the reach of social network analysis and depth of ethnography to follow network activity over time (temporal), and between settings (institutional) and contexts (national/regional). The analysis attends to the spaces, exchanges and artefacts that provide opportunities for translation and ‘mutations’ (Junemann, Ball and Santori, 2018, p.607).

Educational innovation has been considered for decades the keystone for leading the adaptation of education systems to 21st century societies and economies (Greany, 2016; Hallgarten & Beresford, 2015; Hargreaves, 2003). It has been the answer to diverse school systems and societies needs such as providing training to guarantee countries economic competitiveness; diversifying the standardized model of schooling characteristic of bureaucratic educational systems; bringing teaching-learning processes near to traditionally excluded populations or improving students’ academic performance (Lubienski, 2009). Both as a mean to achieve other goals such as school effectiveness or students’ performance improvement or as an end in itself, innovation has become a large-scale reform (Fullan, 2009; Glazer & Peurach, 2013; Sotiriou et al., 2016), that has been closely connected with school autonomy and accountability policies, becoming a global movement (Greany, 2022; Lubienski, 2009).

The key role assigned to innovation within the global education agenda has been supported and promoted by the OECD, which has announced “the innovation imperative” (2005). The use of innovation as an imperative displays the mechanisms of governing through concepts (Mausethagen, 2013); understanding innovation as an imperative serves for structuring educational policies according to the rationale of continuous change, shaping schools as units of constant improvement (Peurach, 2015) and placing its main goal on a concept of students’ performance shaped by marketized understandings of education and educational systems. That use of governing concepts allows a process of framing in which a particular meaning is built (Lakoff, 2006), selecting a specific definition of a problem as well as its solution.

Despite the widespread of educational systems reform policies that have promoted innovation, research on its adoption and effects in the context of national educational systems is scarce and poor. Although some research has explored the impact of educational systems reforms on school innovation (Greany 2022, 2016; Lubienski, 2009), most of the literature on school change is produced from within the discursive framework of innovation with the goal of supporting the development and adoption of changes (Fullan, 2017; Hargreaves, 2003), but without carrying out a deep analysis of the innovation imperative discourse and its policy adoption and schools implementation.

In that context, the present paper seeks to identify the adoption of the innovation imperative within the Spanish education system, the meaning that the concept adopts and the rationale that its use helps to build. To that end, an analysis of the main national educational laws approved since the 90s is carried out, in order to identify the increased presence of the term and the frame from which it is defined.

Contemporary education policymaking, especially the one revolving around education technology, is no longer confined within national borders but expands to new policy channels, which challenges the traditional notions of education governance. In recent years, computer programming has been introduced into school curricula in several national education systems across the world making it a key issue on the education policy agenda. In March 2017, the Swedish Government announced their decision to introduce programming as a mandatory teaching element as of the first grade of primary school. This study traces the policy networks and processes that contributed to the introduction of computer programming into the Swedish curriculum and its promotion in schools. The primary focus lies on the actors and actions that brought about this change, nationally and internationally.

In many countries, the public school is increasingly intertwined with the market that give rise to a struggle over the values that underlie education. Quasi-marketisation of public education blurs the distinction between public and private and bring about a competition of egalitarian values and market values. To explore conflicting values in education and the market, this paper takes the Swedish case of quasi-marketisation as an example. The introduction of a voucher as part of the Swedish school choice system in 1991/1992, contributed to both competition, price-setting in education and the establishment of for-profit educational firms (Lundahl et al, 2013). Today, a few large educational firms dominate the upper secondary school-market in Sweden and they recently adopt an expansion strategy to export their schools internationally (Rönnberg et al, 2022). AcadeMedia, the example in our study, is among the largest educational firms that export education.
Privatisation in public education are societally contested (Ball, 2012). A recent national survey in Sweden, the majority of Swedes believe that for-profit schools should be banned (Lindblad et al, 2021). Despite that, the parliamentary finance committee voted against a proposal in 2018 of limiting profit-making in the welfare sector (Finance committee report, 2017/2018) and large corporations' share of newly started schools is growing. Furthermore, 30 percent of pupils chose independent upper-secondary schools, which is a sector dominated by large educational corporations (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2022).
Marketizations of formerly non-marketized areas generate tensions between antagonistic values in business and education. In contrast to market values and conventions, egalitarian education is based on moral values and norms and this contradiction prompts contests, compromises, and justifications over the issue of worth in a context of the school market. Through the behavior of actors in markets and the use of practices, conventions arise within the system. When actors encounter criticisms or competing justifications for the market’s products, they use tests and justifications to determine what is valuable and by which measure (Boltanski and Thévenot, 2006).
The aim of this study is to examine through which discourses and coordinative devices educational firms gain and maintain legitimacy within the arrangement of the Swedish education system. The empirical example is the large educational firm AcadeMedia. We interpret and analyse AcadeMedia’s annual reports that contain disclosed information, mandatory by law and descriptions of the firm's viewpoints and actions concerning crucial educational matters. Annual reports communicate fulfillment of societal and business expectations and in that sense, they can be regarded as devices of control of legitimacy.
We pose the questions: Which conventions does AcadeMedia mobilise to justify its actions in the education system? Which discourses and devices does the firm mobilise to manage and influence education policy?
Focus in the analysis is on the rationalisation the firm uses for their actions through which they manage the arrangement of the education system and influence the decision making of educational policy. The theoretical approach is inspired by the French pragmatic sociologists Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot (2006) and their theoretical framework of plural ‘orders of worth’ in different worlds of reality. Boltanski and Thévenot offer a model for analyzing different ways of combining competing orders of worth to justify actions in the education system. An analysis of actions demonstrates the gathering of devices and discursive resources and show how compromises are situated in specific arrangements of the educational system.

Scholars such as Grek (2009), Ozga (2008), and Ball (2018) have focused on the international organisations’ (IOs) greater propensity to employ soft law or ‘governance by numbers’ to exercise their governance at a distance. Central to these soft mechanisms has been the recognition of the IOs’ technocratic expertise and their role as knowledge producers (Zapp 2017). It is, however, not just the numbers that give the IOs the legitimacy to push forward particular agendas into and across the boundaries of nation-states but also how an agenda gets framed and then goes unchallenged should it gains political popularity. The frames that the IOs use to promote their mission involve the process of defining and calling attention to certain problems while obscuring others (Coleman, Thorson, & Wilkins, 2011; Entman, 1993). A plausible construction of a ‘causal story’, in particular, serves as a strong leverage for proposing a ‘good diagnosis’ and different alternative futures (Alaily-Mattar, Thierstein, & Förster, 2014; Verger, 2012). This paper focuses on how the IOs – in particular the OECD – discursively shifted away from their long-held logics of human capital approach by embracing a humanist vision of education and unpacks the different political rationale(s) behind the OECD’s recent ‘humanitarian turn’ in education (Li & Auld, 2020).

To date, an increasing interest has been observed in the OECD’s progressive shift towards (seemingly) ‘humanistic’ and less instrumental visions and initiatives of education, most notably the introduction of the ‘Creative Thinking’ assessment in PISA 2022 (Grey & Morris, 2022), the expansion of PISA to low- and middle-income countries through PISA for Development (Auld, Li, & Morris, 2022), and its efforts to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (Cobb & Couch, 2022). There is, however, a serious dearth of studies that situate the OECD’s happiness and, more generally, well-being initiatives within the framework of ‘humanitarian turn’, and this is where this paper aims to make its contribution. This paper fills in the void by tracing and examining how the concepts of happiness and well-being emerged and stood out as one of the key policy signifiers of the OECD’s education agenda over the past decade and for what purpose.

The guiding questions addressed in this paper include: (i) what were the core educational beliefs and priorities of the OECD, and how have they changed since its inception in the 1960s?; (ii) how do these changing beliefs and priorities explain the emergence of the happiness and well-being agendas both in the general works and in the education agenda of the OECD?; and, lastly, (iii) how, since their first emergence, did the meanings attributed to happiness and well-being change, and for what purpose?

Education policy research has for some time emphasised the increasing importance of intergovernmental organisations (IOs) in global education governance, not only through forms of ‘hard governance’ (e.g., instruments of funding), but also and especially through ‘soft governance’ (e.g., provision of epistemic knowledge or agenda setting) (Jakobi 2009; Zapp & Dahmen 2017). Scholars have shown that IOs exert great influence on national education policies by defining norms in various educational fields, such as Education for All (Chabbott 2003), lifelong learning (Jakobi 2009) or higher education (Zapp 2019; Zapp & Ramirez 2019). IOs use different media for agenda setting and dissemination of educational discourses, including more traditional forms such as reports, but also social media platforms such as Twitter for real-time communication (Bjola & Zaiotti 2021). While IO research often focuses on ex post forms of influence, that is, changes in education systems resulting from IO agendas, little attention has been paid on the emergence of education norms within IOs (Zapp 2019). In particular, previous research lacks information on the way in which norms and discourses move across different IOs. This study addresses this gap by examining education discourses in IOs based on Twitter data, and answers the following research question: How do educational discourses in IOs change over time and move across IOs?

The study draws on the concept of isomorphism, more specifically discursive isomorphism (Powell & DiMaggio 1983; Smith & Wiest 2012). According to the general idea of isomorphism, nation states tend to assimilate their educational discourses, policies, and structures over time (Meyer & Frank 2007). One reason for this process is the increasing influence of IOs: IOs disseminate specific educational norms and thereby lead nation states to adapt their education systems to these norms, at least in parts. This has been observed, for instance, in a stronger output orientation of German curricula due to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Zapp & Powell 2016). However, these ideas neglect the inter-organisational relations between different IOs. IOs tend to align their discourses over time, especially in times of great challenges, as has been observed in recent years. I therefore argue that certain forms of isomorphism can be observed across education IOs as well. Smith & Wiest (2012) define this process as “discursive isomorphism” and describe the tendency for political actors to adopt similar discourses and norms. One way of representing the discursive similarity between political actors is discourse networks, that is, graphical representations of actors and their discourses (Leifeld 2016).

The aim of this study is to map the discursive relations between education IOs over a fifteen-year period and to highlight significant changes that lead to the alignment and adaptation of discourses. The study shows how these shifting education discourses within IOs reflect a growing recognition of the complex and interconnected nature of the challenges facing education systems around the world. As such, they underscore the need for a holistic and multi-faceted approach to these challenges that goes beyond simply improving access to education to focus on issues such as quality, equity, and lifelong learning.

In 2015, just over 163,000 people sought refuge in Sweden, most of them within a few months when more than 1 million people crossed the Mediterranean See to seek asylum in Europe. A comparison between the Nordic countries, calculated per 10,000 inhabitants, shows that during the years 2015-2016, Sweden approved 70 asylum applications, Norway 25, and Denmark and Finland about 12 (Örstadius, 2021). This situation became relevant again in connection with the report of the Swedish results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey in 2018 which was published by the end of 2019 (NAE, 2019). At the same day as the results were published in Sweden, national newspapers and the then largest opposition party, the Moderates, noted that 11% of students were excluded from participation in the survey—the highest figure among the participating countries in the PISA survey—due to deficiencies in the Swedish language. The debate that followed revealed a deep gap between those who trusted the reliability of the PISA test for Sweden and those who distrusted the results. This paper focuses on how a transnational cooperation initiates national 'communicative discourses' in line with Schmidt’s (2008, 2015) understanding of the concept, with implications for national education policy efforts. The paper explores what ‘normative background ideas, ‘cognitive foreground ideas’ and main actors that becomes important in this communicative discourse, as well as the implications of the arguments that divided the actors into two groups: those who trusted the OECD and the Swedish National Agency for Education (NAE) and those who did not.

The purpose of this study is to explore the different actors, interests, and perspectives represented on different arenas in the debate on the implementation of the 2018 PISA survey and on the assessment of the result of the test. The guiding research questions are: ‘What normative ideas are at stake in the public deliberations on the 2018 PISA results? and ‘Who were the main actors involved in the communicative discourses on the 2018 PISA results and why did the question of percentage who were given permission to refrain from participating in the test became political charged in Sweden?’

The importance of numbers for policy discussions related to PISA has previously been emphasized by Grek (2009). The great importance that the OECD, as a transnational organization, has had for the education policy debate in Sweden has been noted by, for example, Grek (2017), Author (2020), and Author and Non-Author (2020). The transnational pressure of policy transfer from the PISA results has also been examined by Dobbins and Martens (2011) from a French perspective and from Chung (2019) from a Finnish perspective. Rautalin (2018) showed how critics of the Finnish school system used Finland’s lower ranking in 2012 to argue for the need for education policy changes. International large-scale assessments like PISA are used by national policy actors both for policy borrowing from “league winners” and for distancing themselves from “league losers (Steiner-Khamsi and Waldow, 2018). Countries that perform worse than expected often speak of the phenomenon of national “PISA shocks” as a result of their low position in the international rankings (Haugsbakk, 2013; Pons, 2012; Waldow, 2009). However, this paper shows that also improved PISA results may lead to polarizing debates, since the number-based PISA results fit well within a public debate.

This contribution shows an inquiry-based learning approach to mathematical modelling, and provides a first insight into its effectiveness for prospective primary teachers. There is a consensus among different authors in mathematics education that the mathematical knowledge that should be expected from a primary school teacher goes beyond the knowledge of the content to be taught (Hill et al., 2008; Carrillo et al., 2013). However, research reports the difficulties that prospective teachers have with regard to skills such as reasoning (Kaasila et al., 2010), problem-solving (Verschaffel et al., 2005) or the application of mathematics to real contexts (Sáenz, 2009). Working with mathematical modelling tasks creates opportunities to alleviate these difficulties.

Over the last decades, modelling has become a crucial area in mathematics education (Barquero, 2019). In fact, curricula in different countries have gradually incorporated modelling competencies, and modelling is generating a growing interest in teacher education, specially in prospective Primary Teachers (Guerrero-Ortiz & Borromeo-Ferri, 2022). Likewise, there has been a proliferation of international projects aimed at designing resources that can support the learning of modelling, such as LEMA, MASCIL or MERIA (2016). In this European project whose main objective was to promote the teaching of mathematics applicable to real life. It combined the principles of Realistic Mathematics Education (Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen & Drijvers, 2014), the ideas of Inquiry-Based Learning (Maaß & Doorman, 2013; Dorier & Garcı́a, 2013) and the pedagogical approach of Didactic Situations Theory (Brousseau, 1997). The key idea developed in MERIA is to implement the principles of inquiry-based learning. In this context, teaching should provide students with just the right amount of help to support mathematical learning. These ideas can be harnessed to stimulate the autonomous development of modelling activity by pre-service teachers, thus it give rise to our research question: Does the inquiry-based learning influence the models developed by prospective teachers?

Modules and scenarios for an inquiry-based learning of modelling

For the sake of providing the “right” amount of direction to inquiry, teaching approach developed in in the MERIA project were based on two key tools: Modules and scenarios. A module is the union of a scenario with all the material needed to implement this scenario in the classroom. Likewise, a scenario is a full description of a lesson in terms of the Theory of Didactical Situations (TDS, Brousseau, 1997). Under the TDS approach, students are intended to construct new knowledge when they solve a task while adapting to what is called a didactical milieu. It consists of the task, students’ previous knowledge, and the artifacts to solve the task. The role of educators is to design such milieu and to help student to adapt to it. In this process, two kind of situations appear. The first one is composed of adidactical situations, which are those where the students are engaged in the task and explore the milieu without the teacher’s interference. The second kind of situations are the didactical ones, where students and educators explicitly interact. A balanced combination between didactical and adidactical situations leads to the inquiry process and the students' construction of new knowledge. Therefore, a proper scenario should contain such combination of situations along different phases. (i) Devolution: the educator introduces the task and explains the rules to solve it (didactical situation). (ii) Action: students are engaged with solving the task and actively work on it (adidactical). (iii) Formulation: students explicitly formulate outcomes of the action phase (adidactical). (iv) Validation: students test their hypotheses and strategies against the milieu (adidactical). (v) Institutionalisation: educator declares the institutional knowledge (didactical). In this phase, teacher may put ideas together, compares viewpoints and explains optimal strategies.

Over the past few years, Asian students, especially students from Shanghai, China, always obtain extremely excellent performance in mathematics competitions (e.g., PISA, TIMSS, etc.) in comparison with their peers from other countries. A growing number of scholars hope to discover what can be learned from these high-scoring Asian education systems. In particular, the Department for Education (DfE) of the UK is adopting the Shanghai Mastery Pedagogy to improve the mathematics achievement of their students (Boylan et al., 2019).

Distinguished from the English and other mathematic education practices, Shanghai whole-class interactive teaching aims to develop conceptual understanding and procedural fluency of students. Some big ideas, such as coherence, variation, representation, and structure, are promoted by mastery specialists (NCETM, 2017). Teaching is famous for its mathematically meaningful and coherent activities with well-designed models and examples systematically using variations. Actually, the characteristics mentioned above, especially the effective use of “variation”, are also noticeably emphasized in the exploration of Chinese mathematics teaching (Gu et al., 2004). Teaching with variation has almost become a common teaching routine for many Chinese mathematics teachers (Marton et al., 2004) and has been applied either consciously or intuitively for a long time in China (Li et al., 2011).

The main research question of the study is: How do Chinese mathematics teachers make use of variation to foster student learning in their teaching? While there have been extensive studies on the effective use of variation in mathematics teaching, some gaps still exist in the following aspects. Firstly, most of the studies utilized one of the variation theories as the lens to analyze mathematics teaching in China (e.g., Qi et al., 2017; Mok, 2017; Häggström, 2008). However, insufficient attempts have been made to employ an integrated variation perspective based on several variation theories. Secondly, most of the existing studies adopted the approach of quasi-experimental or lesson study with intervention (e.g., Pang et al., 2017; Al-Murani, 2007; Kullberg, 2010). Nevertheless, very few studies adopted the naturalistic perspective to explore what actually happens in more authentic and diverse situations. Thirdly, due to the limited size of the research, some studies chose one or very few excellent public lessons or experimental lessons, even if a series of lessons were collected (e.g., Mok, 2017; Pang et al., 2016; Pang et al., 2017). The mathematics structures, relationships, and coherence within and between the sub-topics are not the major factor and draw little research attention, but they are actually the key ideas of Chinese pedagogy and the very essential platform for unfolding variation. Lastly, including the movement of the UK, most practices and studies were unfolded in a relatively primary or junior stage, while the senior-level mathematics knowledge and topics were less involved.

The basis of the theoretical framework is the Variation Theory (VT) of Ference Marton. With the help of variation and invariance, students could “discern” the “critical aspects” of an “object of learning” with certain “patterns of variation” (Marton, 2015). The “critical aspect” in VT is considered identical with a dimension of variation (Pang & Ki, 2016). Watson and Mason (2005) further developed this concept with the term “dimension of possible variation”, associated with the notion of “range of permissible change” on the extension of Marton’s originally general notion. This extension captures the qualities of variation arising in mathematics (Mason et al., 2009) and better fits the nature of mathematics. Meanwhile, their concepts of example and example space are also elaborated in a mathematical manner. In addition, the analysis is also inspired by the Chinese theory “Bianshi Jiaoxue” (teaching with variation), which is developed by Chinese mathematics expert Gu Lingyuan (Gu et al., 2004).

The errors and imprecisions in teaching mathematics are part of mathematics classrooms and might negatively influence student learning (Ball & McDiarmid, 1990; LMT, 2011). The errors and imprecision dimension is one of five in Mathematical Quality of Instruction (MQI). The other domains are the classroom work is connected to mathematics, the richness of mathematics, working with students and mathematics, and common core-aligned student practices. MQI (2014) defined the errors and imprecision dimension as "teacher errors or imprecision in language and notation, or the lack of clarity/precision in the teacher's presentation of the content" (p.19). Most studies in the literature are interested in possible errors, misconceptions, or difficulties in learning statistics (e.g., Batanero et al., 1994; Capraro et al., 2005). To illustrate, certain studies conducted on revealing possible errors or difficulties made by students during interpretations of graphs (e.g., Aydın-Güç et al., 2022 for scatterplots; Capraro et al., 2005 for bar, line, and circle graphs; Edwards et al., 2017 for boxplots). On the other hand, there are also studies showing pre-service teachers’ errors or imprecisions on graphs as well (e.g., Işık et al., 2012 for line graphs; Ulusoy & Çakıroğlu, 2013 for histogram). However, there is a lack of research on what kinds of teacher errors and imprecision are present in teaching statistics. It is essential to explore teacher errors and imprecision to learn from them for not to transfer inaccurate information teachers possess to the students (Ball & McDiarmid, 1990). By exploring teacher errors and imprecisions in teaching practices, it is possible to identify areas of improvement, leading to more effective and engaging instruction and better student outcomes. Ultimately, understanding teacher errors and imprecisions is crucial in promoting high-quality mathematics education (LMT, 2011). In light of this gap in the literature, the purpose of this case study is to explore two 7th-grade mathematics teachers' statistics teaching with regard to errors and imprecision. The central research question guiding this study is: What types of teacher errors and imprecisions are present in 7th-grade mathematics teachers' statistics teaching?

Contemporary principals lead schools for success amidst rapidly changing and complex national, state, district/municipality and community contexts with success defined by wellbeing and equity as well as academic outcomes. Complexities in a rapidly changing society require a multi-layered perspective (Author, 2020a) where schools are complex adaptive systems and societal institutions (Author, 2020b; Morrison, 2010). The conceptualization by the International Successful School Principalship Project is underpinned by complexity theory and ecological systems theory.

Complexity theory (e.g., Byrne & Callaghan, 2013) recognizes that organizations operate in a rapidly changing, globalized world. Closely related, ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) posits that individuals (children) typically find themselves in various interconnected ecosystems from the most intimate (home) system to the larger school system and then to the most expansive system which includes society and culture. Together, our Project conceptualization considers schools as adaptive organizations that work within contexts of multiple changes and nested influences that are culturally and historically situated. It has enabled us to construct an analytical framework which has informed new research questions and a comparative, mixed methods case study methodology. This methodology employs a systems-oriented approach in investigating successful leadership. Key areas of focus include contexts of change that influence leadership values, efficacy and practices, how they mediate organizational change and ultimately, school improvement outcomes and sustained success

Research Questions

RQ1: To what extent, and in what ways, is ‘success’ in schools perceived and measured [similarly and/or differently within and across different countries]?

RQ2: What are the key enablers and constraints for achieving school ‘success’ in different contexts?

RQ3: To what extent, and in what ways, do diverse socioeconomic, cultural, political, and professional contexts at different levels of the education system influence systems in which schools operate?

RQ4: Are there similar and/or different personal dispositions and professional knowledge, qualities and capabilities needed in enabling leaders to be(come) successful in different contexts [within and across different countries]?

RQ5: What similarities and differences can be identified in the values, beliefs, and behaviors of successful school principals across different schools in the same country, [and across national cultures and policy contexts]?

RQ6: How do different key stakeholders within and outside the school community and at different levels of the education system define successful school leadership practices [within and across different countries]?

RQ7: Is each leadership practice identified by different key stakeholders within and outside the school community and at different levels of the education system truly essential for achieving and sustaining ‘success’ [across different schools within each country and across different countries; and over time]? In what ways?

RQ8: [How do different education systems support school principals to learn to become successful, and to sustain their success over time?]

RQ9: To what extent, and in what ways, do school principals contribute to the ‘success’ of their schools (and/or groups of schools) similarly or differently [ within and across different countries]?

Methodology

We utilize a comparative mixed methods design with a variety of data sources in order to bring multiple perspectives to bear in the inquiry (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Patton, 2002). Sources include semi-structured qualitative interviews with the district/municipality, governors, principal, teachers, parents, students, and a whole school teacher survey. The comparative analysis of these data sources within and across different schools and countries (Authors, 2021) enables trustworthiness and enhances rigour (Denzin, 2012).

The first paper presents the new theoretical framing as well as the analytical framework and methodology. The next three papers present cases that draw upon the theoretical framing, analytical framework, and comparative mixed methods in England, Sweden, and the United States.

This paper presents the theoretical and analytical frameworks and comparative mixed methods research methodology for the new phase of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). In so doing, the paper provides a rationale for the use of ecological systems theory in research on successful school leadership, as they lead and manage the complex interactions within and between micro, meso, macro, exon and chrono level systems (Bronfenbrenner, 2009). This paper then unpacks the comparative design and multi-perspective, multi-level approach to conducting research that enables multiple causalities, multiple perspectives, and multiple effects to be charted (Cohen et. al., 2011). The new ISSPP comparative methodology is grounded in four conceptual and methodological considerations. First, context in education is multidimensional and fluid – encompassing not only multi-layered social ecological systems of education, but also how such systems influence each other to bring about change in values and behaviour over time. Second, how context matters finds its scholarly roots in educational researchers’ intellectual, disciplinary, and professional insights, as well as their positionality and reflexivity from sociocultural and sociopolitical insider/outsider perspectives. Third, assessing the comparability of educational systems, practices, processes, and outcomes both within and across countries matters. Fourth, our comparative approach not only recognizes differences in world views, forms of knowledge and practices between different cultures but also recognizes the reality that there are also important similarities in how children are motivated to learn, how committed and enthusiastic teachers teach, and how successful leaders create and sustain the contextually relevant conditions and cultures for the learning and growth of children and adults in their schools. Methodologically, the selection of the case sites uses a purposive sampling of schools that controls for differences in accountability standards and evidence of improved student performance during the tenure of the principal under study in each national context. Data sources include semi-structured qualitative interviews with the district/municipality, governors, principal, teachers, parents, and students and a validated teacher survey in order to provide a more elaborated understanding of the phenomena i.e., school success and the principal’s leadership contribution to that success. The comparative analytical process, theoretical positioning, and comparative mixed methods provide a coherent but contextually sensitive data analysis approach. Finally, this paper previews the other papers that present findings using the new ISSPP frameworks and methodology in England, Sweden, and USA .

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Manu, A. (2022). The Philosophy of Disruption. Bingley, Emerald Publishing. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374-393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage.

Schools in England have undergone considerable reform over the past two decades and their principals have had to learn to manage increased volumes of government educational-policy initiatives designed to raise standards of teaching, learning, and academic outcomes for all students. Although these initiatives are seen by governments as a means of building human, economic, and social capital in increasingly competitive and socially turbulent global environments, there are continuing concerns over how effectively they are being implemented by school leaders and teachers. The analysis of the English case study is informed by the philosophy of disruption which is deeply concerned with social changes that enhance and transform the practice and experience of everyday life of individuals and their institution (Manu, 2022). This philosophical and analytical approach sees the principal as a positive disruptor who is able to embrace external policy reforms as “opportunities” for change, aligning resources in ways that has enabled her to harness knowledge, skills and capacity of the staff and create educationally equitable, and values-based “landscapes of success” over time. In this inner-city primary school which serves a socioeconomically highly disadvantaged community, policy shifts are perceived as unavailable political realities of education. Success is not simply defined in relation to its sustained academic performance over a ten-year period – rising from one of the bottom 200 underperforming schools nationally to become a National Support School. Most importantly, it is about how the principal has incorporated and used externally generated policies to enact and reinforce her own educational agendas in the process of school improvement, and transform the mindset and culture of teachers and students who feel empowered and confident to embrace change and make the right decisions for the right reasons. Key in regard is how she has broadened and deepened the organisational, social, and intellectual capacities that for the improvement of quality and standards in teaching and learning, despite rather than because of externally generated reforms.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Manu, A. (2022). The Philosophy of Disruption. Bingley, Emerald Publishing. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374-393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage.

In Sweden as in many other countries, there is increasing segregation due to students' socio–economic background since most students go to the school closest to home. This study is done in a socioeconomic segregated area in a large city in Sweden to find out how they work towards success. The school has a history of low results and a high number of newly immigrated students. For several years there has been a high turnover of principals and teachers. The current principal is described as driven by a desire to be successful by the superintendent. Multiple aims and a fast-changing society require that we look at principals and school leadership from several perspectives (Shaked & Schechter, 2017; Johansson & Ärlestig, 2020) as schools are complex adaptive systems with prerequisites and change processes that are, nonlinear, unstable, and constantly changing (Morrison, 2002) at the same time as some of their culture and attitudes are stable and hard to change. What characterizes a successful principal in a low socio-economic area? The study seeks answers on how the principal promotes equity, equality, well-being, teacher quality, and academic optimism to create a successful school. Local actors must navigate in complexity, understand and measure improvement, to make change sustainable (Glickman, 2010). We used a mixed methods approach for interviews and a survey based on the revised ISSPP protocol. In total, one principal, five assistant principals, and six teachers were interviewed. An online survey following the revised ISSPP protocol was distributed to all to all 55 teachers with a response of 89 % (n=49) Preliminary results show that the principal communicates academic optimism (Hoy 2014) to convince her personnel of the over-arching aim for the school that every child in their school has the right to the best possible education (SOU 2010:800). This has evoked an emphasis on what is happening inside the classroom and on ways to improve teaching. The principal gives during the interview examples of multiple change processes, outlining that several small steps and processes can lead forward to better teaching and learning. Our measurements of success will be linked to changes in culture, structure, and every child’s learning optimism as well as principals' leadership.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Manu, A. (2022). The Philosophy of Disruption. Bingley, Emerald Publishing. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374-393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage. (112 words)

The United States, like many nation states, has recently experienced internal demographic shifts and global population migrations contributing to increased student diversity. Such increased diversity exists in perennial and new tensions with federal and state policies that legislate increased commonality or centralization. U.S. schools are culturally and historically situated and exist within a complex interplay among federal and state policies, schools, districts, and communities with increasingly diverse students. Additionally, all schools experienced health and social emotional concerns from the pandemic, rapid shift to online education and digitalization, and intensifying concerns about equity. The U.S. case studies in this paper utilize the new ISSPP research methodology which was recently revised to include a comparative mixed methods approach to construct mixed methods case studies of schools in diverse cultural regions of the U.S, including Alabama, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Texas. Some research teams focus on public schools while others include religious schools; some schools are situated in districts that have tighter coupling with support within accountability mandates and district systems while others have more loose coupling whereby schools seek out programs and innovations on their own initiative. Data sources include semi-structured qualitative interviews with the district leaders, principal, teachers, parents, and students in order to provide a more elaborated understanding of the phenomena i.e., school success and the principal’s leadership contribution to that success. Additionally, a survey was administered to all teachers in each of seven schools. Preliminary findings indicate schools were complex, adaptive systems and principals led change processes in ways that were non-linear and adaptive to constant changes (Morrision, 2010). Moreover, principals and other interviewees recognized that they needed to ground their work in understanding the humanistic needs of children (e.g. wellbeing, social emotional health) as well as academic needs. In other words, teachers and principals focused on pedagogical relationships as a constant but kept school improvement plans fluid in order to adapt to multiple complexities. In the final section of the paper, we consider school success in relation to complexity theory, the principal’s habitus, identity, and a language of education and pedagogy. Further, we consider more deeply educational theorizing in relation to the principal’s habitus, school, and community fields, as well as the broader complex systems in which schools and leaders educate for success. The paper concludes with implications for theorizing educational leadership, future research, leadership preparation, and development.

Authors, 2021. Author, 2020a Author, 2020b Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2013). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 80-88. Manu, A. (2022). The Philosophy of Disruption. Bingley, Emerald Publishing. Morrison, K. (2010). Complexity theory, school leadership and management: Questions for theory and practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 374-393. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage.

Professional learning is more than a linear process leading to pre-determined outcomes (Boylan et al, 2018, Strom and Viesca, 2021). There can be no single way that education leaders can determine the best or most effective approaches. McMillan and Jess (2021) argue that teachers need to move towards adaptive classroom practice, “…moving beyond the simplistic transmission of knowledge by developing the ability to respond to, and influence, the dynamic and ever-changing environment in which they work” (p276). In the same way, education leaders need to be developing strategies of complex adaptive leadership to address this ‘complex turn’ rather than restricting their actions to outcome-focused approaches (Daly et al, 2020).

The research which underpinned this presentation focused less on the nature of professional learning and more on the leadership of professional learning in schools in Wales. The ways in which leaders build supportive cultures of professional learning is central to ensuring continuing learning. Leaders of professional learning at all levels will stimulate active learning and enable enquiry, analysis, reflection and evaluation in a professionally critical and constantly changing environment. While the essence of professional learning rests with the individual, the interactive, collaborative nature of most professional learning needs to be effectively managed and led .

In complex education environments, much professional learning is implicit and highly personal (Evans, 2019). What works in one case may not be effective or relevant in another. However, many aspects of professional learning need to be managed and led to ensure equity and opportunity. Leaders build professional learning networks, enabling everyone to achieve. Leaders oversee professional working relationships; they intervene when necessary and always support the professional learning of others. They create and sustain cultures of critical enquiry. With others, they ensure that professional learning is active, collaborative, inclusive and not insular. So, multi-dimensional strategies are needed if leaders are to guide and support their professional colleagues most effectively (Jones, 2020), and these need to be enacted through a variety of approaches, referred to in Wales as ‘the professional learning blend’ (Jones et al, 2019).

The research evidence base on leading professional learning is wide and growing (Hallinger and Kulophas, 2020). Much of it has only marginal relevance to individual school contexts and, being international in its scope, it carries with it cultural characteristics which make direct transferability tricky. Just because it worked there, it may not work here. There is also a tendency to focus on ‘what works’, identifying examples of ‘most-effective practice’ and implying that leaders should aspire to emulate these ways of doing things successfully. Much of this research is very helpful, for example the paper by Cordingley et al (2020) on “Developing great leadership of CPDL”. Occasionally we see research which throws light on less-effective practice, and this may be just as helpful to education leaders when working with their teams to confront the realities of highly complex situations. McChesney and Aldridge (2019) identify “What gets in the way” and map obstacles facing education leaders in implementing strategies for professional learning.

This presentation will focus on the implications for school leaders in Wales of the new National Entitlement to Professional Learning. It will resonate with professionals in other European countries and internationally beyond Europe. As an example of professional learning policy and practice within Europe, it is intended to raise questions and stimulate discussion on the appropriate use of linear models in setting out strategies for leading professional learning.

The paper forms the basis of a chapter in Innovation in Teacher Professional Learning: Research, Policy and Practice accepted for publication by Routledge in 2023.

Over the past decades, principals have experienced an increased pressure emanating from the responsibility for managing change to improve students’ learning outcomes. Leadership learning programmes appear to emphasize the generic requirements of the job rather than leaders’ individual capabilities, moral purpose and need to take an active role in learning (McKinsey & Company, 2010), and there seems to be a challenge in finding the balance between system and reform needs and school and individual needs. A Nordic school leader profile involves performing leadership within long-established democratic societies which build on equal and collaborative relationships between leaders and staff and doing this in parallel to meeting system level accountability demands. In practice, this implies balancing the democratic idea of involvement and exerting influence with necessary decision-making (Author et al 2016 a). Despite these challenges, there is consensus in the literature that principals and school leaders need to develop knowledge and skills to understand their schools and leadership roles (Fullan, 2018; Author, 2017).

Coaching has been increasingly reported as the type of school leadership development intervention that is gaining energy and popularity (Forde, McMahon, Gronn, & Martin, 2012; Aas, 2020). In many countries, coaching is a part of national school leadership programmes (Lumby, Crow, & Pashiardis, 2008; Robertson & Earl, 2014). For example, was coaching introduced as one of the key approaches to leadership development evident in the National College in England (Bush, Glover, & Harris, 2007). So far, has the literature addressed coaching as a component of headship preparation (Earley, Weindling, Bubb, Evans, & Glenn, 2008), a tool for school development (Creasy & Patterson, 2005), succession planning (Hanbury, 2009) and the development of leadership across the school including middle leadership (Simkins, Coldwell, Caillau, Finlayson, & Morgan, 2006) and teacher leadership (Blackman, 2010).

This paper reports from a study of group coaching integrated into National Principal Training Programmes in Sweden and Norway, which aims to promote reflections on personal agency (role clarity and self-efficacy) that can lead to changes in leadership practices. In this paper, we set out to investigate the process that starts with an original coaching question that is reformulated during the group coaching session, and to investigate what support the school leader gets as a result of the coaching. The research questions are: What kind of leadership challenges do school leaders bring forth for coaching, and how can group coaching support them in developing their leadership practices?

In the study, the definition of coaching is inspired by of the GROW model – Goal setting, Reality check, Options available and Wrap up – produced by Whitmore (2004). Such an adaptation is seen in the coaching work with educational leaders by Robertson (2016). Brown and Grant (2010) developed the GROUP model – Goal; Reality; Options; Understanding others; and Perform – which takes into account that understanding others is the key factor of successful group coaching. The group coaching protocol used in the study emphasizes one participant in the group (the coachee) as the focus of the coaching process, whilst the other participants assist in the coaching role as co-coaches. The participants take turns to become the coachee. A group coach manages the process, using the protocol that ensures time is apportioned adequately and the process adheres to the agreed (Author et al b 2016).

Different educational research traditions have shown that the quality of school leadership is one of the factors with the greatest impact on student performance (Hattie, 2015). Therefore, for decades, school leadership has been one of the most flourishing lines in educational research, concluding that leaders who set common goals, promote teacher development and establish satisfactory relationships with their school community achieve better outcomes (Day et al., 2016). Diverse studies indicate that in high-performing and excellent schools, principals adapt their leadership practices according to specific needs and situations (Rehman, Khan & Waheed, 2019). Bastian and Henry (2015) described that some personal traits of the principals improve students’ achievement, as they influence teacher retention and development, as well as school’s working conditions. Pietsch and Tulowitzki (2017) estimated the effects different leadership models have on the instructional practices of teachers, finding the significance of being focused on the quality of teaching in classrooms. However, it is necessary to analyze from the evidence which are the practices developed by principals that have a more substantial impact on student's performance.

Likewise, Izquierdo (2016) emphasizes the need to increase school management autonomy and students' academic objectives monitoring. Recently, Huang et al. (2020) studied the relationships between principal leadership, teacher-related factors (job satisfaction, teaching self-efficacy, and collaboration), and student performance in science. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the practices of principals.

Thus, there are different models in the management career. In this study, four different models, from four different countries, were chosen. In the UK, previous experience is required to become a principal. But other merit like being senior managers or deputy managers are part of the competition. In addition, some professional development training, such as the National Professional Qualification for Management, accredited by the Department of Education, is desirable. Something similar happens in France, where headteachers are recruited by competition, aptitude list, or secondment. There is no compulsory training, but several years of experience are required. In Spain, in addition to the necessary skills and experience, principals must develop a school project that will be implemented. Likewise, another legal requirement is an aptitude evaluation for the position. This is like the States, principals must have a master's degree in educational leadership or educational administration, as well as several years of teaching experience.

Moreover, the roles and practices are different in these countries. In the U.K., headteachers will typically distribute leadership and management with their workforce, so all the roles are played, while they maintain a strategic supervision or monitoring (Day & Armstrong, 2016). In France, though, pedagogical decision making is carried out by school principals, as their responsibilities lie on management, evaluation and on teachers’ motivation (Ortega-Rodriguez, 2022). However, in practice, they share a static vision of leadership, culminating in the pure management of schools (Normand, 2016). Also, teachers benefit from great pedagogical autonomy, due to just accounting to their inspectors and not to their principals (Normand, 2016). Conversely, López-Rupérez et al. (2020) observed that a significant proportion of Spanish principals carry out leadership practices related exclusively to management. When asked about their roles and responsibilities, U.S. principals stated to give their priority to providing a safe and nurturing environment “for students to make effective academic, emotional and social progress” (Chang et al, 2019; pp 49), although their roles are more related to the instructional leadership.

This study aims to analyze the effect of certain principal practices on the academic performance of 15-year-old students in science, comparing four different models in four countries: United States, United Kingdom, France and Spain.

Every year, organizations spend considerable amounts of money to train their leaders. The training might take place through “the education of leaders" (settings where aspiring and practicing school leaders are enrolled in programs that confer formal qualifications) or through “school leadership development” in workshops, networks or partnerships that offer continuing development without bestowing formal qualifications. The present study examines ongoing school leadership development as a research-practice partnership (RPP) between schools and universities in a reform context.The emphasis on school reforms is considerable and increasing internationally (Røvik et al. 2014). The process of implementing reform intentions is both long and complicated (Cuban, 1988). Reforms initiated at the central level often face problems when interpreting and implementing these initiatives locally. It may take time before the reforms bring about changes in the school organization (Karseth & Møller, 2014). In order to guide transformational work at the school level, reform initiatives from above and local initiatives from below must be interpreted and executed as concrete actions (Røvik et al., 2014). There is a need to be more sensitive to how reforms are negotiated and how they play out in local contexts (Rasmussen & Ludvigsen, 2009). One problem with reform research is that limited attention has been paid to the interpretation of the intentions of reforms and the negotiation of priorities at different levels in the reform work (Olson, 2003). The present study focuses on reform work in RPP at a school level. Several methods have been tried to support developmental work in RPP such as action research, design research and critical friendship. The present study implies formative interventions in so-called Change Laboratories (CL) (Engeström, 2001). Researchers and practitioners meet in workshops to explore various issues arising in workplaces. Reviews on "formative interventions" in CL the last 25 years (Engeström & Sannino, 2010; Sannino & Engeström, 2018) states that the method has been used in health and industrial work, teacher education, nursing education, vocational education, as well as the postal system. However, CL has to a limited degree been introduced in educational settings.There are however some exceptions. One study (Author 1, 2014, 2022) examined leadership development in a team consisting of principals, municipal-level leaders, and researchers, while Jachellen & Postholm (2022) examined a university–school collaboration as an arena for community-building in teacher education. Whether explorative work on leadership issues in CL becomes conducive to any changes in daily leadership practices is an empirical and a methodological question which raises issues of causality in qualitative research. Causal relationships are traditionally examined in quantitative research, although some researchers (Miles and Huberman 1989; Miller and Fredericks 1987) have attempted to reestablish both the legitimacy and potential of causal and qualitative analyses of empirical data. The attention in the present study is the ongoing processes in CL. The assumption is that the result is achieved in the processes (Engeström 2011). Theoretically, we built on third generation of CHAT which makes it possible to study developmental work in boundary spaces across activity systems such as schools and universities by tracing what is being worked on here and now in terms of different problem-spaces (situation constructed objects) (Engetsröm, 1999). The empirical data in the present study is examined with the help of three layers of causation (Engeström (2011). The purpose of the paper is to contribute with methodological insights into how causational relationships can be studied qualitatively in RPP. The following research questions have guided the contribution:

1. How can causational relationships be traced in research-practices-partnership with a CHAT approach?
2. What is the potential of tracing causaltional relationships in school leadership development

This presentation draws on a study of school leaders' experiences of Christian education ethos development. The research provided insights into the complexities of headteacher leadership within schools with a Christian character. I discuss these complexities and make recommendations for school leaders seeking to develop a school Christian education ethos in a culturally and religiously diverse modern Europe. I outline a practical methodology that school leaders can adapt to investigate the influence of their vision and espoused values on pupils' school experiences in all schools, with or without Christian character. This methodology promotes the pupil voice and can provide valuable insights into their sense of belonging within their school communities.

The research comprised two studies in England. The first focused on the leadership experiences of a new secondary headteacher in a recently opened Christian Free School. The second focused on a long-serving primary Church Academy headteacher. Using creative data-collection methods, I elicited a small group of pupils' views of their education within the school's ethos. The research stemmed from my interest in leaders' development of education ethos as a former headteacher of two primary schools.

A review of the literature on 'ethos' indicated that 'ethos' was difficult to recognise, define and measure in the context of schools. I developed a working definition of 'ethos' building on McLaughlin's (2005) conception of education ethos as an identifiable entity which defines the school's climate or character. My definition of education ethos represented what members of the school community stood for, its value system, its practices, and the purposes of education. Ethos represented the nature of the interactions between community members. I distinguished between education ethos as an aspirational entity sought by leaders and an entity experienced by community members (McLaughlin, 2005). I was interested in the intended and experienced education ethos within Christian education.

In England, the economy, marketisation of schooling and international comparison of schools in England with those in other countries using international league tables placed school leaders under increased pressure to achieve excellence in all aspects of the school's work. Although there has been a global focus on standards for economic competitiveness, there has been agreement on the importance of leaders creating positive school ethos. Since 2010, successive Conservative governments have focused on furthering headteachers' leadership autonomy and enhancing parents' choice of schooling. Autonomy concerns the extent to which those at lower levels of the system can make decisions independently of those at higher levels.

Policy initiatives have emphasised the creation of academies and Free Schools. These schools can give leaders greater autonomy over education, facilitating ethos development and introducing innovative curriculum design and teaching approaches. However, there was a risk that the ongoing demands of statutory school inspections and public examinations stifled such innovation. An issue was how externally imposed accountability frameworks limited school leaders' autonomy (Forrester and Gunter, 2009; Fink, 2010). Leaders seeking to develop innovative educational practices in the research schools needed to feel they possessed the capacity, confidence, and freedom to exercise autonomy. Headteachers had to decide how much they should comply with externally enforced accountability criteria.

The Church of England and Catholic Churches articulated an agenda which defined what was meant by Christian distinctiveness. Changes to the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) reflected the Church of England's agenda for excellence in Christian education. A distinctively Christian ethos based on Christian values was important. Leaders faced challenges in conveying the meaning and importance of the school's Christian values to the school community. They should enable pupils' holistic development, including academic achievement.

Across the European context, the subject of religious education (RE) is seen increasingly as an important tool with which schools may enhance students’ sense of identity, promote intercultural understanding, and raise awareness of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (Jackson, 2014; Weisse, 2010). Acknowledging that religious beliefs and practices are essential dimensions of diversity in a pluralistic society, educators working with RE are given the responsibility to teach skills and knowledge that are vital for living together in diverse communities. In RE classrooms, students get to learn about a variety of religions and worldviews. As such, RE is seen to provide a space in which students are given the opportunity to reflect on existential and ontological questions and enhance their understanding of the beliefs and perspectives of people whose worldviews and values differ from their own (Bråten, 2015; Engen, 2018; Reiss, 2016). For that reason, although many countries still practice confessional RE in public schools (Kuyk et al., 2007), there is a trend and also recommendations towards inclusive and non-confessional RE in public schools in Europe, such as the Norwegian non-confessional RE subject (see also Jackson, 2014).

Simultaneously, many students in public schools attend non-formal faith education programs of religious minorities in their spare time, often run by local religious communities. Most participants in these programs are children and youth with immigrant backgrounds. So-called “Quran schools” (Moore, 2012) are probably the most well-known example of such education programs, although most minority faith communities have their equivalents, such as Catholic catechesis. Yet, this type of education has received modest attention in research, despite the politicization of migration-related diversity, particularly religious diversity, across Europe (Alba & Foner, 2017; Connor, 2014; Schweitzer et al., 2019). In particular, there is a gap in research and understanding about the interface between faith community and public school religious education, not least with regard to how schools accommodate for and address the phenomenon of students’ dual experience of RE.

On this background, the proposal at hand investigates how school leaders in urban and rural parts of Norway view the interconnections between formal RE in public schools, and non-formal religious education in local faith communities, mapping views on religious diversity, students’ leisure activities, exposure to and experiences with local religious communities. The paper aims to answer the following research question: How do school leaders in public schools in Norway understand religious diversity, and how do they reflect upon the phenomenon of non-formal faith education?

In Sweden, as in many other countries all over the world, the question of equality is one of the most critical concerns. In the international policy discourse, there is a dissatisfaction with unequal educational opportunities for students. As a global trend, educational policies aiming to address the inequality in education emphasise global competiveness with a focus on comparative studies, such as OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, and greater accountability (Schultz, 2019).

All students must have access to education to achieve the best results possible. In the Swedish Education Act, education must be equivalent regardless of where in the country it is organised (SFS 2010:800). In an equivalent education, students are compensated according to their background and conditions, which means that each student receives the support required to achieve the school’s goals. The equivalence mission rests on every stalkeholder who is responsible for education.

Monitoring results is an important task for educational managers at the local school level. Portrayed as loosely coupled (Weick, 1976) and multi-leveled (Uljens, 2015), the school organisation is supposed to be rationally managed to effectively operate, holding every level accountable for students’ learning outcomes. The various levels in the school system can be illustrated as ‘webs of contracts’ (Wohlstetter et al., 2008), where local school agents, for example teachers, undertake actions on behalf of a principal (Gailmard, 2014). According to Ferris (1992), “the principal ‘contracts’ with the agents to act on the principal’s behalf” (p. 333). The contract further involves the delegation of discretion and decision-making authority to the agents (Soudry, 2007). In turn, the principal may make decisions that affect the actions agents take.

Drawing on the principal-agent theoretical framework, the aim of this study is to empirically examine the functionality of the local school system, particularly with respect to the contract of equal opportunities for all students to improve school results. The following research question has guided the study: How does the local school system function to uphold the contract of giving all students equal conditions for increased merit values?

The study is part of a research project in a Swedish municipality. Previous results from the project (Rapp, 2021; Ståhlkrantz & Rapp, 2022) show that the superintendent, as principal, prioritises the continuous improvement of academic outcomes. The superintendent emphasises that the main priority is for students to achieve high merit values. However, this priority is not supported by all agents in the school organisation. For example, one teacher considers that the students are too young to have to worry about their grades (Rapp, 2021). There are also school principals who prioritise students’ well-being over their academic outcomes (Ståhlkrantz & Rapp, 2022). These are examples of different beliefs and values (Robinson, 2017) that can exist on various levels in the school organisation.

As a multi-leveled governed system, there is a distribution of power among different system levels but also a dynamic relationship and interaction among various actors and their interdependency in the school organisation (Wilkoszewski & Sundby, 2016). To handle expectations and requirements from the principal, local school agents use adaptive strategies, such as bridging and buffering (DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2005) and acting as gatekeepers (Ståhlkrantz & Rapp, 2022). When this occurs, the contract between principal and agents is broken, which makes it difficult or even impossible to realise the principal’s intentions. With the problems ecountered in a multi-leveled school organisation, the hypothesis of this study is that the picture of an ideal, well-functioning school organisation as a “governing chain” with “webs of contract” that aim to give students equal educational opportunities for optimal goalfullfilment may be better illustrated as a diversified, semi-functional school system.

We live in a globalised world where Information and Communication Technologies allow our communication to take place immediately. The vast majority of today's college students were born after the advent of the Internet. They have grown up connected to virtual environments and have access to more information than any other generation (Seemiller & Grace, 2017). Moreover, they live in an increasingly digital world that transforms people's lifestyles by reshaping personal, educational and professional environments. In this increasingly digital world, the human relationship with technology has changed considerably (Marín & Castañeda, 2022, p. 16). As stated by Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Cartagena-Rendón, Palacios-Moya, and Gallegos-Ruiz (2019), the introduction of digital technology in education has impacted the improvement of education quality. It has meant the opening of services, the personalisation and flexibilisation of conditions in training, given the creation of strategies to support learning. However, according to UNESCO (2020), the excessive use of digital technology is increasing the isolation of university students, becoming one of the main concerns.

At present, each person inhabits their learning ecosystem with multiple interactions. Thus, today's society's distinctive features cause changes in how new generations learn and access knowledge. They also influence how they relate and their personal and social interactions (Pérez-Escoda et al., 2016). For example, Castro et al. (2019) argue that this generation tends to communicate, relate, generate and share content through networks in real-time, but without boundaries between public and private. Currently, young people use multimodal forms of communication and information search (McCrlinde & Wolfinger, 2011), giving preference to non-textual content platforms (Geraci et al., 2017).

Universities must face challenges related to these new scenarios, heavily influenced by corporations, and consider the new students' profiles. Educators and researchers are key players in meeting these challenges, particularly in their relationship with a student body that grows and learns differently. (Castro et al., 2019). To address these challenges, it seems necessary to understand young people and hence the need to deepen and understand the changes taking place in the meaning they give to learning and knowledge, both at the University and outside it. That is why we set out to carry out research that would offer ways of understanding the question: how do young people learn inside and outside the University? What are their conceptions, strategies, technologies and contexts of learning? What is the role of relationships and interactions during their learning processes?

This paper builds on the research project [project name], whose main objective is to address the above challenges by exploring, through participatory and inclusive research, how, where, with what and when university students learn.

The gamers are a unique group of students who feel that their uniqueness comes from their self-identification with the phenomenon that represents them—i. e. digital games—and who prioritise digital game-based learning (DGBL) strategies. Research has shown the educational value of digital games as a motivational and learning aid and has revealed their significance in learning both general skills and various school subjects such as Physics, Biology, Mathematics, etc. (Tobias, Fletcher, Dai, Wind, 2011; Van Eck, 2006, 2015). DGBL has some features that are beneficial for teaching and learning: learning within a context relevant to the student (Van Eck, 2006), immersion in the activity (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Meyer, Sørensen, 2011), immediate feedback (Van Eck, 2006; Adams, 2009), enjoyment and motivation (Plass, Homer, Kinzer, 2015), personalisation (Kickmeier-Rust et al., 2011), and learning from each other (Egenfeldt‑Nielsen, Meyer, Sørensen, 2011). However, according to researchers, some parents and teachers still doubt the positive impact of DGBL and are questioning whether it is useful to students and whether it does not distract them from serious learning (Kirstavridou, Kousaris, Zafeiriou, Tzafilkou, 2020). In school, there is a clear dissonance between the learning approaches and methods desired by the students of the upcoming generation and the approaches and methods they are offered (Paul, Hansen, Taylor, 2005). A failure to satisfy the needs of students creates preconditions for the exclusion of certain student subgroups (e. g. the gamers) by not embracing and not applying learning methods that are acceptable to them. Studies show contrast between the growing number of students who play digital games and declining enthusiasm and motivation for school (Turkay, Hoffman, Kinzer, Chantes, Vicari, 2014). It could be assumed that the gamers represent the group of unmotivated students who spend more time playing digital games than formally studying in school. It is important to analyse what are the reasons that reduce the motivation of the gamer group to study in the formal education process, which of their learning needs are not being met and what kind of learning process would be acceptable to them.

Our study based on the classical Grounded Theory unexpectedly revealed certain processes that create preconditions for the exclusion of the gamers as a subgroup of students in school. The following processes emerged: Stereotyping of digital games and gamers, Power Without Authority, Domination, Hyper-Intellectualisation, Standardisation and Hyper-Care. These processes reveal how the exclusion of the gamers is cultivated in school. They demonstrate the learning needs of a specific group of students, their expectations for school and the mismatch between the said expectations and the characteristics of formal education. The study data also shows that these processes are related to the transfer of behaviours which are characteristic of the gamers (and considered undesirable in school) to digital games. The gamers use digital games to experiment with things that are taboos in school: they choose games with aggressive content (because it is frowned upon by teachers) and explore the consequences of more aggressive solutions and hostile actions (provoke conflicts, allow themselves to act aggressively, explore limit states, conduct social experiments, etc.) For them, it is a counterbalance to the processes cultivated in school such as Hyper-Care, over-emphasising of intellectual activities, or sterile educational content (not containing certain controversial topics).

During the pandemic of COVID-19 in-place lessons at museums were stopped and a remote, live-streamed lesson format was developed and launched.The learners, their teachers, the museum teacher, and the objects of learning are roomily separated, and the lesson takes place on a screen. With that in mind, I have surveyed how live-streaming shapes the instruction of animals at a natural history museum. The research questions were:

1. What experiences do learners, class teachers and museum teachers have with a live-streamed lesson?
2. What affordances of resources allow or constrain the teaching and learning of animals in a live-streamed museum lesson?
3. What, if any, impact does a class teacher have on the interactions between learners and the museum teacher?

The first research questions aimed to investigate participants' experience of the activity and learning outcome of a live-streamed lesson as a new lesson experience, with the second research question to see possibilities or constraints in remoteness and the use of didactical resoursec (affordances).The overarching aim of this study is to investigate how a live-streamed museum lesson formats through material and didactical affordances.

The objects were 76 learners in ages 9 to 12 years in grades 3 (n=27), grade 5 (n=27) and grade 6 (n=21) from five classes in three municipal schools in Sweden, their class teachers (n=3) and one museum teacher who led the lessons and two other museum teachers.

The lower age limit was at grade 3 to be sure the learners could read and write independently to answer the questions. The higher age limit was at grade 6 as the lesson content on animals aligned with the curriculum contents up to grade 6. I selected two lesson themes for my study: "A giraffe, an elephant and a rhino" and "Wild animals in Sweden ".

The theoretical framework is rooted in a sociocultural perspective (Vygotsky, 1978) and Designs for learning (Selander & Björklund Boistrup, 2021). The sociocultural approach comes with the concept of appropriation, making words into somebody's intellectual and cultural property. The sociocultural theory and designs for learning perspective point out that communication is mediated by semiotic modes of speech, gestures, objects, or environments. The theoretical background is complemented by the ecological approach to visual perception (Gibson, 2015) and the concept of affordances (Gibson & Pick, 2000) as resources in the learning environment. either allowing or constraining activity. ‘When no constraints are put on the visual system, people look around, walk up to something interesting and move around it so as to see it from all sides and from one vista to another.’ (Gibson, 2015, p. 2). Moreover, the use of senses, not only the audiovisual but also touch, is lacking in live-streamed lessons. Still, there is a need to actively engage learners in a live-streamed lesson, for example hands-on (Gaylord-Opalewski & O’Leary, 2019).

In this study presented here, the international feedback method "Learning Stories" was implemented in the project “WEICHENSTELLUNG” (setting of the course). The aim was to foster the (intrinsic) motivation and the self-esteem of the children from the project WEICHENSTELLUNG, both basic psychological constructs for the transition process from primary school to secondary school.

The target group of the German project WEICHENSTELLUNG are children from families who cannot sufficiently support their children in the transition to secondary school. These are supported in the project by students of teaching from the fourth to the sixth grade.

The Learning Stories were established in 1996 in early childhood education in New Zealand (Carr, May & Podmore, 1998). In Germany, the approach was adapted by the German Youth Institute (Leu, Flämig, Frankenstein, Koch, Pack, Schneider & Schweiger, 2007). In addition to New Zealand and Germany, the Learning Stories are used in Switzerland (Simoni & Wustmann Seiler, 2013) and in various other European countries such as Ireland (Early Childhood Ireland, undated), but not yet in primary education as in this study.

The approach of the Learning Stories takes a resource-oriented and dialogical perspective with a focus on the development of learning dispositions. In this way, the diversity of learners can be addressed and individual support can take place. All learning dispositions can be related to (intrinsic) motivation and self-esteem (Carr, 2001).

During the transition from primary to secondary school, several studies have shown that intrinsic motivation decreases (Raufelder, 2018). According to the self-determination theory of motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2017), intrinsic motivation is a form of motivation that is not controlled by external impulses. The three basic psychological needs, the need for competence, the need for relatedness and the need for autonomy, are fundamental components of the theory and through their satisfaction intrinsic motivation is fostered. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is a form of motivation that is controlled by external stimuli.

In addition to the theory of self-determination, research on self-esteem contingencies was used in this study on the construct of self-esteem. Self-esteem contingencies are factors that can influence self-esteem both externally and internally by individuals deriving their self-esteem from them (Morf & Koole, 2014). In this study, the model of Crocker and Wolfe (2001) was used. The development of self-esteem during the transition to secondary school is individual and therefore diverse. Overall, there is a risk of instability of self-esteem, as the model of Hopson and Adams (1976) shows.

This study focused on the feedback function of the Learning Stories. Overall, feedback is attested to a medium to high effect size for learning (from d=0.48 to d=0.79, Wisniewski, Zierer & Hattie, 2019). Feedback processes are influenced by the perception of the recipient (Krause, 2007), which can be applied to the “Angebot-Nutzungs” (offer-use)-model of educational research (Helmke, 2003). The Learning Stories can be understood as an offer that has a different effect on (intrinsic) motivation and self-esteem through mediating processes of perception and use, influenced by the respective learning requirements in the area of (intrinsic) motivation and self-esteem. In this way the emphasis on the individual and diverse learning prerequisites of children can be included in the feedback process.

The main question of the study is "To what extent can Learning Stories foster the (intrinsic) motivation and self-esteem of the children from the project WEICHENSTELLUNG at the transition from primary to secondary school from the point of view of the persons involved in the WEICHENSTELLUNG project?”

The purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning and make the learning process more effective. While adapting teaching to students’ learning styles may not bring the desired results, as the adopted strategies are not always the most efficient, teaching in accordance with students’ preferences may at least improve students’ well-being.

Existing studies have already extensively examined which teaching and learning strategies are effective. Ideally, the methods that have been scientifically proven to be effective would be those students prefer. Knowing the students’ preferences for specific learning and teaching strategies can help improve understanding of their behaviour and keep learners actively involved in the learning process. This in turn may lead to improved competency and better academic achievement.

The study examines students’ preferences towards learning strategies with varying degrees of effectiveness and explores preference heterogeneity patterns across subgroups defined by students’ observed characteristics (gender, academic result) as well as time left to final exams. We hypothesise that although evidence-based learning and teching strategies are often not practiced at schools, students have preferences towards them. Students' preferences towards learnn and teaching strategies may differ due to their proficiency as they may differ from the poor ones in type and regularity of practicing learning strategies (Shaffie et al. 2020), but also due to their age ( Magogwe & Oliver, 2007), and gender. Goh & Foong (1997) found that compensation and affective strategies were significantly more common among female than male students.Moreover, we aim to reveal how preerences may differ due to the conditions of education (pandemic and post-pandemic) and the moment in education (lower or final grade).

Preferences refer to a certain characteristics people like or want to have. Following common in economic theory assumption (Hausman, 2011; Nitzan, 2009), that there exists relationship between peoples’ preferences and their behavior, we can say that learning preferences relate to the tendency of students to choose the way they learn. Knowing preferences enables us to explain and predict behaviours including those related to the learning process. The preferences may differ between people due to their observable characteristics such as gender, age, type and level of education, learning goals, learning situation as well as not observable motives.

Learning strategies relate to a set of approaches and actions taken in the learning process to effectively obtain, process and retain information and skill for later use (Lublin, 2003). There are several classifications of learning strategies (Shi, 2017); they refer to both actions taken by the teacher, such as instructional delivery and the students, and may concern the organization of learning, methods of repetition, and assimilation of material and assessment. We consider the available evidence for the learning strategies widely advocated in recent years, starting with those implemented by students without assistance, including strategies analyzed by Dunlosky et al. (2013).

Literature in cognitive psychology has established learning strategies that are most effective at promoting long-term learning. The strategies with strongest empirical support are self-testing and distributing study activities over time (Black & Allen, 2019). Still, many students rely on ineffective strategies such as rereading or highlighting important points in the text (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011), which may result from the illusion of competence. Effective strategies may also be underutilized because teachers do not know them and hence also students do not implement them (Dunlosky et al. 2013) or due to numerous myths that exist about them.

In our study we consider strategies learning strategies such as mind maps, retreval practice, and traditional methods of studying. Based on the existing studies, we are able to order them according to their effectiveness Moreover we focus on the mode of class delivery (remoty, hybrid, stationary) and forms off assessment.