Conference Agenda

This workshop is aimed at all members of the academy so they may gain confidence in developing more accessible practices in carrying out and disseminating research.

Over the past few years, academia has become more consciously aware of the need for fairer approaches to delivering research and conferences (e.g. Irish, 2020; Walters, 2019; Brown et al., 2018) and its own role in fostering equality, diversity, and inclusion, with EDI strategies and initiatives springing up continually. However, academics, researchers, as well as conference and events organisers often feel overwhelmed when it comes to implementing such strategies (Brown, 2021) and putting into practice activist demands.

This hands-on, interactive workshop offers delegates the opportunity to practically engage with ways and measures to make their own research practices more inclusive and accessible for all.

Considering all phases of the research, and drawing on our own experiences in and with research, we will examine what it means to foster Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in data collection, analysis and dissemination. Delegates will experiment with alternative forms of data collection and analysis, whilst also considering their own circumstances as researchers needing to guarantee their own safety and wellbeing. When exploring accessible research dissemination, delegates will have the opportunity to put their learning into practice immediately during the ECER Nicosia conference by considering good microphone etiquette, and/or colour schemes for slides, for example.

In line with the pedagogical principles of social constructivism the course is delivered as a mixture of interactive group tasks, discussions and mini-lectures to enable active and experiential learning.

This workshop is designed for researchers and practitioners willing to learn about computer assisted qualitative and mixed-methods research. This hands-on session will comprise the presentation of the main options available for coding and extracting meaning from data using MAXQDA. Workshop participants will grant the possibility of testing different options, ranging from the more traditional approaches to automation using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

The workshop will consist of a quick guided practice tour through the opening stages of a research data project. Main features and tasks will be practiced in detail, including importing data, creating and applying codes, performing searches and queries, writing memos, retrieving selected coded data segments, analyzing data, and reporting results using some of the special features available (e.g. summaries, QTT, reports, AI Assist). The main goal of this workshop is to provide an overview of the data analysis process relying on MAXQDA assistance, a state-of-the-art software package for qualitative and mixed-methods research. Upon completing the session, workshop participants will identify important options available for tackling their qualitative research data.

Verbi GmbH (2023), MAXQDA User Manual (https://www.maxqda.com/help-mx22/welcome)

The induction phase is crucial for teachers' professional growth. A key approach to help support new teachers to enter the profession is mentoring, which supports teachers to cope with the complexity of their work. Today, mentoring is seen not just as a transfer of knowledge but as a dynamic process of peer learning and dialogue. This open workshop aims to reframe how mentoring is used and explored in contemporary teacher professional learning and development. The workshop is based on the "Ecosystems of Teacher Induction and Mentoring in Europe (TIME)" project, launched in 2021 under the EERA Network 1 activities (Professional Learning and Development).

The workshop is a get-together for European educationalists interested in induction and mentoring, promoting networking and collaboration between researchers, and paving the way for future projects. This includes joint publications, symposia, meetings and the application for research funding for collaborative projects across Europe.

If professional learning and development for teachers is of particular interest to you, especially at the beginning of your career, you are warmly welcome to join us!

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With the emergence of a multitude of new educational technology (EdTech) and the simultaneous opacity of the capabilities, limitations, and methods used by a digital tool or platform, it is becoming increasingly challenging for teachers, school administrators, and education policy makers to make sufficiently informed decisions about the use of technology in schooling. As EdTech remains a ‘black box’ (Hartong, 2021) in terms of both its functionality and emergence, sociotechnical imaginaries and algorithmic logics are inadvertently being implemented into the technology´s educational concept (Decuypere, 2019; Macgilchrist, 2019; Troeger et al., 2023).

Due to their methodology, previous studies on the development of educational media technologies have only been able to hypothesize about the discrepancy between the pedagogical conception and the actual implementation of an EdTech product (e.g., Weich et al., 2021). Meanwhile, ethnographies of the EdTech sector have either been rather event-based (Player-Koro et al., 2022) or have not yet focused on the development processes of technology (Ames, 2019; Macgilchrist, 2019; Ramiel, 2021). I would like to close this gap with my thesis by critically observing developers as they work in a relatively young venture, using a media ethnography approach. Over a time span of at least six months, I would like to investigate which, how, and why fundamental design decisions are made when translating pedagogical concepts into algorithmic environments.

The planned project is situated in two contexts. On the one hand, it is characterized by the assumption that educational media technologies emerge in an interplay of socio-technically negotiated ideas and social construction (Bijker et al., 1987), coming into being through “situated action” (Suchman, 2006, p. 70) and practices (Pink et al., 2016). A technology is therefore an expression of a certain image of educational and learning processes, of pedagogical theories and didactic concepts on the part of its developers. How exactly this image is translated into algorithmic or digital environments, how it is programmed and implemented, is the subject of a variety of negotiation processes. These are embedded in a social working context, characterized by translation practices between different internal and external actors and professions that need to be captured.

On the other hand, my dissertation project assumes that the European educational media production is undergoing a decisive digital transformation, with new players entering the market and fundamentally changing it. While established educational media publishers have to reinvent themselves in order to meet the social and political pressure of digitalization, platform-based technologies and products dominate the school EdTech market, especially from supposedly 'disruptive' start-ups (Ramiel, 2021). These new private-sector actors introduce a wide array of new sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff, 2015) of education, not only to the European EdTech market, but also to more general educational discourses (Eynon & Young, 2021; Nivanaho et al., 2023). However, young EdTech organizations are also interesting for my research in that it is precisely the negotiation processes in the early founding and development phase of a venture that shape fundamental socio-technically influenced concept decisions. Therefore, this moment seems suitable for researching the medial construction of educational concepts ‘in the making’, so to speak.

Over the past 20-30 years, international comparative school achievement studies have established themselves as a key influence for designing educational processes in European schools and beyond (Martens et al., 2016). They have led to the immense prominence of educational standards and thus to a paradigm shift at almost all levels of education in schools (Vogt & Neuhaus, 2021). In this sense, the logics of international educational standards have become deeply inscribed in the logic of European educational research and practice. Accordingly, what is considered 'education' today is largely configured by the international circulation of educational standards through international comparative studies. Following the success of the PISA study, it is therefore not surprising that the way students use digital media technologies in schools is also being surveyed according to these logics and recorded with the help of standardisation and international comparison. The international comparative school performance study ICILS (International Computer and Information Literacy Study) plays a central role in this by attempting to assess the so-called computer and information literacy of eighth-graders in 2018, as it did in 2013. As expected, there was a great deal of media attention in Germany when the study was published, as its results seemingly suggested that students "learnt nothing" (Schmoll, 2019; transl.) with regard to their digital skill and a large number of them are "left behind" (Unterberg, 2019; transl.). What didn’t find its way into this reception were the techniques, methods and apparatus with which such comparable standards and forms of knowledge are fabricated and organised in the first place.

This Ignite Talk takes a critical look at the ICILS 2018 study and these standardisation dynamics. A particular focus is put on the categories and items that are included or not included in the fabrication of comparable school performance data. To exemplify, this contribution questions the items 'technology' and 'social background' as well as their relationship. Although both categories are central and controversially discussed in European educational research, their constructions in international comparative studies such as PISA or ICILS are not self-explanatory. What constitutes a 'technology' or a 'social background' must first be operationalised in the study designs – it has to be constructed in a certain way in order to be surveyed. These operationalisations are contingent and depend, among other things, on disciplinary logics, research pragmatics and institutional power dynamics (Eckhard & Mattmüller, 2017). Accordingly, the research questions of this talk are: How are 'technology' and 'social background' fabricated as categories for computer and information literacy in the international comparative study ICILS 2018? And what implications do these fabrications have for the understanding of and the encounter with digital inequality in European classrooms?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, the integration of AI, particularly Chatbots, presents a fundamental area of exploration. My research is centered around the critical question: "How does the integration of AI, particularly Chatbots, affect the professional activities of teachers, and how do educators envision their roles with these AI tools?" This inquiry delves into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on educational practices. The theoretical framework of this research is multi-faceted, intertwining educational philosophy paradigms with contemporary socio-technological theories.

At its core, the research utilizes a constructivist paradigm, inspired by the works of Papert (1971), Kay (2011), Ilic et al. (2021) viewing AI as a dynamic tool enhancing the learning process. It actively transforms education and motivates teachers to prepare students for the future. These tools simplify complex concepts by relating them to familiar ones within the environment and have the potential to create their models of the world. Complementing this, the postmodern perspective, particularly Foucault's and other Foucauldian scholars contributing to this discourse's insights on power dynamics and knowledge creation, offers a lens to examine the interaction between technology and educators. It probes into how these interactions influence societal structures and control within the educational realm.

Furthermore, the application of Actor-Network Theory (ANT), as conceptualized by Latour (2005), provides a nuanced understanding of AI in education. ANT posits that both technology and humans, in this case, educators, are co-actors in the social world, shaping and being shaped by each other. This theory is particularly relevant in exploring how educators interact with AI tools like Chatbots, forming a symbiotic relationship that redefines the educational landscape.

The research also draws attention to the broader European and international dimensions, reflecting on the insights from UNESCO which underscore the importance of technology in future educational models. The response of European countries, as noted by the OECD and the European Parliament, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlights the strength and adaptability of implementing AI in various sectors, including education.

This research aims not only to provide a theoretical understanding of these dynamics but also to offer practical insights for educators and policymakers. The increasing necessity for teacher professional development in line with technological advancements is a crucial aspect of this study. It addresses the potential risks of a future where educators might be unprepared for the integration of modern AI tools in their teaching practices.

In conclusion, this research analyzing the motivations, implications, and future prospects of AI integration in teacher professional activities, it aims to contribute significantly to the discourse on technology and education, ensuring that educators are well-equipped to harness the benefits of AI in their professional lives.

In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, proficiency in numeracy skills provides students essential cognitive tools to interpret evidence, evaluate risk and rewards, and make informed decisions. Thus, effective numeracy instruction offers students hope by empowering them with capacities for reasoning and problem solving vital for personal agency and civic participation. This highlights an imperative within teacher education programs worldwide. However, teaching numeracy poses significant challenges for many preservice teachers. Specifically, conceptual ambiguity regarding numeracy presents difficulties for both teacher educators and future teachers across many countries. These difficulties are further compounded by growing attention given to numeracy in educational policies and standards in places like the UK, US, Canada and Australia. These policies increasingly mandate that all subject area teachers take responsibility for teaching numeracy concepts relevant to their disciplines. For example, in the UK, the National Numeracy Strategy instituted a requirement that numeracy be explicitly addressed across all subjects in primary and secondary schools. Similarly, countries like Australia and Canada have introduced standardized literacy and numeracy tests for entrance into many teacher preparation programs. However, international research indicates personal numeracy competence does not necessarily equate to pedagogical expertise in teaching numeracy. Furthermore, pedagogical knowledge alone does not necessarily translate into positive teacher beliefs about their own motivation and self-efficacy to teach numeracy. Extensive previous research reinforces that these affective variables exert significant influence on student numeracy outcomes. This highlights an imperative within teacher education programs worldwide to intertwine building content expertise with efforts to cultivate positive teacher beliefs. Presently, limited data has emerged regarding pre-service teachers’ own motivation and self-efficacy to teach numeracy across different subjects and age groups. Additional perspectives are needed to evaluate teacher educators’ views on best practices for developing pre-service teachers’ beliefs and competencies. Further comparative investigation of the roots of pre-service teachers’ self-beliefs and motivations towards teaching numeracy is therefore vital and could illuminate improvements to initial teacher education involving numeracy curriculum and pedagogy internationally.

The present research examines preservice teachers’ levels of motivation and self-efficacy for teaching numeracy using a mixed methods design. Quantitative findings derived from a newly developed survey instrument demonstrated variability in levels of motivation and self-efficacy beliefs among 729 teacher candidates. Factor analysis indicated that both motivation and self-efficacy to teach numeracy represented valid and reliable factors reflective of Goos’ rich interpretation of numeracy. Subsequent interviews with nine teacher educators yielded qualitative themes such as the significance of previous mathematical education and experience, and the role of teacher educators in fostering critical thinking of pre-service teachers. Integrating the quantitative and qualitative results highlights the need for sustained efforts to understand and improve teacher motivation and self-efficacy to teach numeracy within teacher education. Further research is needed to continue to improve the reliability and validity of the newly developed measure in conjunction with longitudinal and intervention studies. Overall, findings provide additional knowledge to inform ongoing program development and empirical inquiry regarding the field of numeracy teaching within initial teacher education.

Contribution

Education serves as a key to independence and personal development. In Sweden, children with intellectual disabilities attend a Compulsory School for Pupils with Intellectual disabilities. The education is adapted to the needs of each pupil and aims to provide knowledge, personal development and well-being. There is high staff density with special education teachers and paraprofessionals. Much of the educational practice is conducted by teaching assistants without any formal academic training and there is evidence that communication regarding these teaching and learning processes between teachers and paraprofessionals to be a hurdle. There is limited research that has engaged with the everyday practices within these school settings.

Incorporated within a broader research initiative, this study is conducted within the framework of a larger research project carried out in collaboration between a specialised compulsory school and university: "The path towards collaboration for education in a Compulsory School for Pupils with Intellectual disabilities: in the tension between teaching, care, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy."

The study is grounded in the Sociocognitive theory formation (Bandura, 1977), which emphasizes how learning and knowledge development are influenced by interactions among individuals, their environment, and their own cognitive processes. In the context of Compulsory School for Pupils with severe Intellectual disabilities, the focus will be how teaching and care are shaped and impacted by social and cognitive factors.

The research investigates how teaching and care in Compulsory School for Pupils with severe Intellectual disabilities take shape within the framework of sociocognitive theory. The study will shed light on how teachers and students can interact to create a conducive learning environment and how sociocognitive processes can influence students' well-being and knowledge development.

Within Sociocognitive theory, self-efficacy, also known as confidence or self-capability (Bandura, 1997), is a central concept. Self-efficacy refers to an individual's perceived ability to successfully perform a task within a specific context. In this study, the sociocognitive theory with a focus on self-efficacy will be utilised as the theoretical framework for interpreting the results.

In this study, sociocognitive theory with a focus on self-efficacy will be used as the theoretical framework to interpret the results and describe how self-efficacy, according to sociocognitive theory, can impact teaching and care in Compulsory school for Pupils with severe Intellectual disabilities.

The analysis explores how self-efficacy manifests itself in students and how it affects their engagement, goal setting, and perseverance in the learning process, as well as how teachers' beliefs in students' abilities influence instruction.

The individual's belief in their ability to perform a specific task, according to Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, influences the goals they set and their confidence in achieving them. The level of self-confidence affects how much effort the individual invests in reaching these goals and the degree of persistence when facing challenges (Caprara, G.V., Barbaranelli, C., Steca, P. & Malone, P.S., 2006).

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between teaching and care in a Compulsory School for Pupils with Intellectual disabilities. The study describes how teaching and care take place and how these factors can interact to benefit students' knowledge development.

The purpose is further specified in the following research questions:

• How does teaching occur in Compulsory School for Pupils with severe Intellectual disabilities?

• How does care take place in Compulsory School for Pupils with severe Intellectual disabilities?

• How can teaching and care interact to promote students' knowledge development in Compulsory School for Pupils with severe Intellectual disabilities?

While contemporary research affirms we will soon arrive at the point of irreconcilable ecological breakdown, new technologies are advancing rapidly, imbricating themselves into every facet of our lives. Yet today’s mainstream Environmental Education (EE) research lacks thorough exploration of the onto-epistemological origins surrounding how education could/should exist within current entanglements of technology with/in nature. In fact, EE, as positioned in its neoliberal context, driven by a Eurocentric research community, has defaulted to anthropocentric perspectives which force a nature/culture binary (Aikens et al., 2016). What’s more, potentially promising alternative (or ‘transformative’) approaches remain fragmented across EE and are oftentimes inaccessible to teachers.

This paper is thus positioned within the critical current of posthumanism, which brings together critiques of exclusionary, hierarchical, and anthropocentric humanisms from, for example, feminist, decolonial, queer, ecofeminist, STS, and environmental studies (Braidotti, Jones, & Klumbytė, 2022). Critical posthumanism includes decolonial perspectives, which challenge narratives that promote unbridled technological progress by unravelling human/tech, human/nature, and nature/tech binaries and can centre EE within the ever-plural, entangled nature that includes all environments (biological, social, technological), viewing these environments as ontologically and epistemologically entangled (Bozalek & Zembylas, 2017). Critical posthuman onto-epistemologies are particularly relevant to this aim of reconceptualising EE in an ecologically and technologically uncertain world as they stress the hybrid, intersectional, and relational aspects of existence where humans are irreducibly entangled with technology and the environment, co-evolving alongside one another. (Barad, 2007; Braidotti, Jones, & Klumbytė, 2022)

As a result, in my ongoing research as a doctoral scholar, I argue that EE should engage more critically and deeply with envisioning and enacting new ways of being in the world. I propose a reconceptualisation of education that disrupts the constraints of an anthropocentric education system in the Global North, and engages with transformative approaches that do not perpetuate epistemic, social, ecological or technological violence, so we might collectively and effectively help our students navigate the realities of their future and our changing world. I ask: what does living, thriving and dying well on a damaged planet ask from Environmental Education? I draw from the ‘real utopia’ movement within social sciences and humanities research, which formulate concrete proposals to address systemic injustices designed to challenge and transform existing paradigms (Wright, 2010). To do so, this research takes a decolonial approach to Levitas’ (2013) three-staged methodological-philosophical framework ‘Utopia-as-Method’ (UAM) to not only critically analyse the current discourse in EE but also to imagine and construct alternative habits of knowing and being which take into account the technological realities of today’s world.

In this project, UAM’s first stage, Archaeology, involves a critical exploration of current trends, underlying assumptions and metanarratives in EE through a critical hermeneutic literature review, serving as a basis for envisioning transformative alternatives. Stage 2, Ontology, is grounded on an exploration of alternative ways of being and possibilities for the future through decolonial diffractive readings, while Stage 3, Architecture, is where I seek to build alternative EE futures drawing on a research-creation method. This paper will briefly discuss the trends emerging from Stage 1, including, for example, the aforementioned anthropocentric, Western-centric research community, resulting in various instances of colonial modernity and techno-optimism.

The methodological approach of Stage 2 (decolonial diffractive readings) will then be discussed in detail. Having critically considered and unearthed many underlying assumptions and conditions in EE, Stage 2, the Ontology stage of UAM, is grounded on an exploration of alternative ways of being and possibilities for the future, challenging existing ideas and boundaries. Finally, this paper will discuss the implications of these findings on the final UAM Stage within the broader research project.

Roma, Europe’s biggest ethnic minority, continue to face prejudice and social exclusion (European Commission, 2020). European Agency for Fundamental Human Rights (FRA, 2023) reports ongoing deprivation and discrimination in all the key areas, cautioning about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation. While global challenges amplify the struggle Roma face in Europe, it could be argued that Roma continue to live in uncertainty irrespective of them. Similar to other European countries, research in Serbia indicates stigmatization, lower levels of employment, participation in preschool, school and higher education, lower academic achievements, higher absenteeism and risk of early school leaving, and segregation in education (Civil Rights Defenders, 2018; FRA, 2023; Jovanović et al., 2013; Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia & UNICEF, 2019). One of the priority areas of the Strategic Action Plan on Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025) is “supporting access to inclusive quality education and training” (European Commission, 2020). Britton (2014) emphasizes that quality education is crucial for oppressed minorities: without quality education, Roma are unable to change the circumstances they live in, fight discrimination and obtain other basic human rights.

Grounded in the theoretical framework of social justice education, this study emphasizes teachers as key actors in enhancing Roma students' learning opportunities and life chances. Inclusive education is related to “challenging the ways in which educational systems reproduce and perpetuate social inequalities” (Liasidou, 2012, p. 168). Aims to eliminate the oppression and marginalization of some groups of students are rooted in critical pedagogy (Giroux 1992; McLaren 1998, as cited in Liasidou, 2012). Teachers can have a crucial role in fostering trust between Roma students and schools and motivating them to participate (Bhopal, 2011, 468, as cited in Zachos, 2017). By choosing teaching and classroom management methods teachers either support or hinder students’ performances (Zachos, 2017). While critical pedagogy and social justice discourse are criticized for being abstract and neglecting learning goals, this study focuses on their practical aspects such as integrating students' personal experience into teaching, fostering critical thinking (Katz, 2014), empathy, activism (Burke & Collier, 2017), multiple perspectives and discussions, valuing diversity, and challenging the curriculum (Cochran‐Smith et al., 2009). Moreover, Cochran-Smith et al. (2009) argue that social justice teaching focuses on high achievements as a basis for challenging inequalities. This study also relies on the concept of teacher agency for social justice as defined by Pantić and Florian (2015). They combine the model of teacher agency (Pantić, 2015) with the framework for evidencing inclusive pedagogy in action (Florian & Spratt 2013), referring to teachers’ agency as their sense of purpose, competence, autonomy and reflexivity (Pantić & Florian, 2015, pp. 344–346). Teacher’s agency depends on micro, meso and macro level factors such as institutional structures and assumptions or teachers’ implicit beliefs (Pantić, 2021). Therefore, this study focuses on the role of the teacher in reducing inequalities for Roma pupils. The research questions are:

1) How do teachers view their role in promoting high achievements and social justice for Roma students?

2) How do teachers promote high achievements and social justice for Roma students through teaching, supporting relationships between students and collaboration with families?

3) How do other actors of the school community view the teacher’s role in promoting high achievements and social justice for Roma students?

4) What are the challenges and support mechanisms that teachers recognize in promoting high achievements and social justice for Roma children in Serbia?

As Lingard & Mills (2007, p. 234) warn, it is important not to be “too optimistic” nor “too pessimistic” about teachers' influence on social justice, but exploring different perspectives can help provide important insights into this potential.

Recently, Kazakhstan established a policy on inclusive education. By making adjustments to existing policies and introducing new ones, the country aims make the educational system inclusive with the goal of having 70% of all schools enrolled by the end of 2025 (Makoelle, 2020). The most recent developments in Kazakhstan indicate that inclusive education is still associated with special needs students and, as a result, only sometimes accommodates all forms of diversity. According to Zholtayeva et al. (2013, as cited in Makoelle, 2020), inclusive education in the Kazakh context entails integrating all students with special needs into the classroom, placing a focus on the use of a variety of methodologies and learning resources, as well as having school staff choose from a variety of approaches to the learning process.

Research on inclusive policies and practices implies that inclusive leadership poses a distinct challenge. In line with Ryan's (2006) perspective, inclusive leadership involves collaborative procedures that broaden the scope of leadership to address matters such as teacher involvement, the presence of administrators at different organizational levels, and engagement with the school community. Therefore, this research aims to explore the following questions:

• What leadership practices does the principal employ to promote inclusive education within the school?

• What obstacles does the principal encounter while fostering and guiding inclusive education initiatives?

• How does the principal support school staff and educators in adopting inclusive education principles in their classrooms?

This research seeks to study the actions of a school leader in Taldykorgan that promote inclusive education. Their views could provide insights into how the school administration, staff, teachers, and parents establish inclusive practices in their contexts. This study will examine school leader's overall views and understanding of inclusion, their specific strategies and the problems they experience while implementing inclusive education.

The study underscores the significance of inclusive education as a crucial factor for school improvement, with a school leader playing a pivotal role in expanding learning opportunities for all students. The research holds importance in multiple ways: Firstly, it advances inclusive education in Kazakhstan by highlighting successful practices that can be adopted by other school leaders to foster more inclusive school cultures, resulting in better student outcomes. Secondly, the study identifies leadership skills and strategies that can facilitate the development of effective leadership practices, benefiting policymakers and school leaders seeking to enhance their leadership capabilities. Lastly, the research offers evidence-based recommendations to inform policy decisions to enhance inclusive education in Kazakhstan, promoting inclusive schools' growth and practical leadership approaches. Given the limited research on leaders' perspectives in this domain, the study substantially contributes to the existing literature on inclusive education.

Even though 750 millions classify as vulnerable, vulnerable workers with generally lower levels of human capital, are scientifically understudied As a result of a literature review, vulnerability has been widely used in VET as a synonym for being disadvantaged, stereotyped, marginalized, or theorized and conceptualized loosely or not at all. The theoretical concept of vulnerability allows the link between VET and social justice, here conceptualized as educational equity, to be captured. The term vulnerability represents that oppression is structurally present in all systems, including workplace education. (Lopez-Fogues, 2016).

Vulnerability is not understood as only physically, but as relational vulnerable in the context of its social situatedness (Burghardt et al., 2019). This tries to capture individuals as well as groups as being part of bigger systems of power and hierarchies, which are being re-produced, re-negotiated and re-discussed in interpersonal relationships which leads to differing levels of vulnerability. Organizations and practices, such as VET, play a double role in a) constituting and b) depending on social infrastructure (Scheibmayr, 2023).

Limitations of certain groups, such as vulnerable workforce, are usually not considered when designing training (Carvajal Muñoz, 2022). If recognised as a concept in VET, it can be used as an anthropological category which inevitably brings the pedagogical obligation to avoid violation (Burghardt et al., 2019).

In order to conceptualize vulnerability in vocational education and training (VET) at both the individual and the organizational level, the question arises as to whether existing theories, focusing on work-based learning (WBL) theories, are applicable. The idea is to identify common conceptualizations and theorizations of vulnerability in VET in order to reconceptualize it's value as a tool for exploring the underlying social structure of organizational practice in VET, with a focus on WBL. Following the example of Corlett et al. (2019), vulnerability should be used here as an alternative, more humane idea of the individual learner in VET. This can offer an alternative way of seeing human limits and provide alternative discourses to the dominant neoliberal ones.

Student mobility has been constantly growing across the globe (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010). More and more students participate in short-term mobility programmes such as the ERASMUS+ exchange study programme, and the provision of English-taught programmes has been expanding. Following this global trend, Finland has also increased the number of English-taught programmes and courses across universities (Wächter & Maiworm, 2014) which led to a steadily increase of international degree students. Indicatively, in 2001 the number of international students in Finland was 6,877 and in two decades it tripled to 20,868 in 2020 (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2018, 2022a). These developments increased the cultural diversity inside higher education classrooms which subsequently raised the need to use flexible and culturally diverse teaching methods (Leask, 2009), as well as to implement inclusive approaches and responsive strategies (Larke, 2013). Furthermore, teachers are expected to consider students’ experiences and knowledge to construct new knowledge (Biggs & Tang, 2011) while students familiarise themselves with the new learning environment, have their own expectations (Stier, 2003) and points of reference (Hahl, 2016).

Forming culturally diverse groups has been shown to have a positive impact on students’ academic and sociocultural adaptation (Wang, 2012). Yet, group work between culturally diverse students does not ensure intercultural interaction (Moore & Hampton, 2015) as it can be affected by different communication styles, values, and approaches (Reid & Garson, 2017). Following the work of Reid and Garson (2017) this paper discusses how students’ experience group work in a culturally diverse environment in higher education. The research questions are: 1) What aspects of group work contribute most positively to students’ learning experiences in an intercultural setting? 2) What are the most common challenges faced by students in an intercultural group setting? 3) What strategies were most effective in overcoming those challenges?

The participants of this course were mainly exchange students in their bachelor’s level studies and a few students from the master’s degree programmes (international and Finnish students) who attended a course on Multicultural Education. The course’s participants were mainly from European countries (n=20) followed by Asian (n=16), African (n=1), and Central American countries (n=1). As a compulsory task for the course, the students were instructed to spend approximately 8 hours to read a case study (provided by the teacher), discuss it withing their group and then prepare a 20-minute presentation about it. Instructions about the focus of the presentation were also provided. The case studies were authored by the course book and were based on interviews with high school students. These case studies included the reflections of these high school students on their academic life, personal experiences, and their ties with their cultural background and family. In addition, each case study focuses on a significant theme relevant to the high school student profile such as immigration matters, language and cultural dynamics, stereotypes, identity etc. The goal of this activity was to engage in a critical analysis and discussion of the case study, exchange perspectives, develop teamwork abilities, create a presentation, and highlight effective strategies for teachers who teach in culturally diverse classrooms.

Data as well as policy evaluation results indicate that the ratification of the CRPD – by Austria in 2007 and Germany in 2009 – can rarely make an impact on the implementation of the right to inclusive education in central European countries (EASNIE, 2020; KMK, 2022; Statistik Austria, 2022). A glance at the numbers shows that Germany represents the European average (7.02%) with 7.2% of students with SEN while Austria is below the average at 5.3%. This ranks both countries in the middle of the field regarding the percentage of students with SEN.

Like all European countries, Austria and Germany operate with assessment strategies to categorize students according to their abilities. The local school authorities organize the procedure to examine and assign eight to nine different SEN labels. A consistent and coherent examination strategy, nevertheless, is missing, but international classification systems like ICD-10 guide the diagnostic procedure (Buchner & Proyer, 2020; Gasterstädt et al., 2021). Thus, the organization of education and learning is shaped by traditional disability categories rather than an inclusive understanding guided by fostering participation, empowerment, and self-determination (Florian, 2014; Prengel, 2022). Based on an inclusive understanding, scholars and practitioners proclaim the organization of assessments that consider environmental factors, are conducted by multi-professional teams, and include inclusive classifications like ICF (Moretti et al., 2012; Sanches-Ferreira et al., 2014). This requires shifting the focus from diagnostics to pedagogics and thus administration with bottom-up rather than top-down approaches.

It results in the trilemmatic situation of administrating (inclusive) education regarding (1) the impact of (inter)national policies, (2) the bureaucratically top-down SEN assessment systems, and (3) attempts for inclusive bottom-up practices on the ground. This leads to the following question: What aspects constitute the research field of educational administration and inclusion in school education?

The paper contributes to the scientific debate on policy-making to implement inclusion in school education with a special focus on the role of educational administration in fostering social inclusion and diversity.

In Sweden compulsory education means that children must participate in education from the age of six, which includes one mandatory preschool year followed by nine years of compulsory school (The Education Act (2010:800) chapter 7 section 4). Children are also entitled, but not obligated, to take part in education, in for example preschool from ages 1-5 and upper secondary school.

Children who do not attend school is an increasing concern, both in Sweden and in other countries (Gren-Landell et al, 2015; Kreitz-Sandberg and Fredriksson, 2023; prop. 2017/18:182). There is a lot of focus on how to get children back to school but there is a lack of research about school´s legal responsibility in this area. In the general debate the school is highlighted as an important actor for children’s well-being. Research has shown that children with a history of problematic school attendance are at risk of early school leaving and run increased risks of weak connections to the labor market and poor health (Sundelin et al, 2023). To leave school with incomplete grades can also lead to social vulnerability and exclusion (prop. 2017/18:182). The project takes its starting point in these societal issues and investigates and analyses the legal responsibility for various actors regarding children´s fulfillment of compulsory schooling.

The right to education is a fundamental right which is protected by the Swedish constitution (The Swedish Instrument of Government), the European Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There is a potential conflict when children with a right to education do not participate in school. In most cases it is not possible to opt out of the right to education when the child is also subject to compulsory schooling and therefore has an obligation to attend school. On the other hand, there is a risk that the right to education will not be upheld if the child does not participate in school.

The legal responsibility for children’s non-attendance at school is shared across several actors. For example, teachers, principals, the education providers, and municipalities. Except for the actors’ mentioned, student health also has a central role in the work with school absences. my goal is to elucidate the legal responsibilities of each party, examining both preventive and reactive measures. I will also investigate the legal regulations and analyse if the legal responsibility is clear as to when it starts and how extensive it is.

One part of the study is the focus in recent years on cooperation between schools and other authorities (prop. 2017/18:182; förordning (2023:179) om statsbidrag för personalkostnader för skolsociala team). When a child has problems with school absenteeism many authorities can be involved, not only internal cooperation with teachers, principals, municipalities, and students’ health. External cooperation with for example healthcare, social service and the police can also be relevant. There might also be a conflict between different actors concerning the purpose of preventive and reactive actions; Is the purpose for example, to focus on children’s long-term well-being or knowledge development? (Strandler and Harling, 2023). Depending on what role the actor has, it might affect the type of responsibility they have. The legal conditions for cooperation will therefore be investigated.

topic：

International schools in policy discussions face complexity within the network of globalization and national development strategy interests (Ball, 2012). Global South (GS) countries engage in the international education market to enhance international competitiveness with globalization, aligning with the 'competition state' concept that emphasizes economic performance and increased marketization within national borders (Cerny, 1997).

However, GS governments find themselves at a crossroads, as global capital's ascendancy challenges sovereign states' authority (Held & McGrew, 2007). Also, citizenship and national identity issues complicate the formulation of internationalized education policies (Hansen, 2012). Moreover, international school policies’ implementation simultaneously faces a democratic deficit, as noted by Brown (2000), where citizens are excluded from decisions on credential competition rules when international schools operate outside national systems.

Regulations on international schools delineate national education system boundaries (Komljenovic & Robertson, 2017), determining who can opt out of mainstream education for a market-oriented educational environment. One current international school policies’ primary objective is to manage market participation. Allowing local students access to international schools enables departure from the conventional education system and circumventing socialization’s significant aspects. This access may constitute a covert form of educational marketization, facilitating a quiet process that directly influences critical issues such as citizenship, inequality, national identity, and the country's strategy and position on talent in economic globalization context.

The convergence of economic globalization, Southern economic development, and middle-class growth, coupled with IB’s increasing popularity, marks a significant epoch. Through international school policies, GS nations strive to reconcile citizenship and stratification concerns with competitiveness. This confluence of economic forces and educational trends demands careful scholarly examination to comprehend global education’s evolving dynamics and its far-reaching societal implications.

Research questions & objectives：

Using evidence from four GS countries (China, India, Mexico, South Africa)，the research will compare and analyse their international school policy from following aspects:

Evolution of International School Policies Over Time:

• How have GS states' international school policies evolved over time in response to changing economic, social, and political contexts, and what patterns or trends can be identified in their development?

Strategic Positioning and Talent Development:

• How do GS countries strategically position themselves for talent development through international schools amid economic globalization, and what policies support or regulate this alignment?
• How do policies advocating international education align with or influence broader economic development strategies in GS countries?
• How do GS governments address challenges posed by the rise of global capital, especially in formulating and implementing internationalized education policies?

Impact on Education Systems and National Identity:

• How do international schools regulations impact national education system boundaries and determine mainstream education opt-out eligibility?
• To what extent does public intervention shape education marketization, impacting citizenship, inequality, and national identity?
• In what ways do international school policies in the GS reflect or challenge national identity facing increasing globalization? How does international education promotion align with or challenge national cultural values?

Theoretical Framework：

Policy Process Model (Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1993) provides a robust theoretical framework for effective policy analysis of this research. This model is suitable for exploring policy evolution’s multifaceted dimensions, formulation, and implementation. Emphasizing the dynamic and complex nature of policy development, the Policy Process Model considers stages like agenda setting, policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation.

Several scholars argue for the Policy Process Model’s applicability in education policy analysis (Ball, 1994; McLaughlin, 1987). Sabatier (2007) emphasizes the model's capacity to adapt to changing economic, social, and political contexts influencing policy development. Using this model, researchers can systematically investigate the historical trajectory of international school policies in the GS, identifying patterns, trends, and influential factors at each stage of the policy process.

This paper explores the rise of anticipatory governance by international organizations (IOs) and global technology corporations through the deployment of global agendas to govern education futures (Berten & Kranke, 2022; Miller, 2018; Poli, 2018). In recent years, international organizations have taken up the role of ‘guardians of the future’ through their work on education visions (Robertson, 2022). Simultaneously, the Covid-19 crisis not just accelerated global technology corporations to embed educational technology (EdTech) in the classroom but also to bypass national laws and security concerns (Williamson & Hogan, 2020). Thus, taken together, education visions and EdTech are global agendas that play an influential role in contemporary education policies and practice, particularly in the governing of futures in education. Global agendas are a broad term, and I follow the definition of Elfert and Ydesen (2023) that global agendas act “as a key instrument of the global governance of education and are global targets that aim at uniting all relevant actors – national governments, IOs, non-governmental organizations, and other non-state actors behind a supposedly universal agenda of critical significance” (p. 200). Therefore, in such scenario, global agendas in education can include agenda-setting initiatives such as Education for All (EFA), international large-scale assessments, Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Bandola-Gill et al., 2022), accountability mechanisms and other relevant agendas that function through the ‘politics of convergence’ (Elfert & Ydesen, 2023, p. 103).

In a time of uncertainty, IOs as well as technology corporations have resorted to imbue anticipatory mechanisms within their global agendas to exert their authority and gain dominance in the complex architecture of the global education landscape. In the spirit of the conference theme, this paper will investigate Google For Education (an EdTech service from global technology giant – Google) and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international large scale assessment launched by the Organization of the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to understand how anticipation methods and tools are utilized in order to steer education futures. Therefore, this paper seeks to understand how anticipatory governance in global agendas in education attempt to influence contemporary education policies and practice (Flyverbom & Garsten, 2022). In order to understand this, I employ a combination of qualitative content analysis and technography, to capture the anticipatory practices imbued in both Google For Education (Solomon, 2023) and PISA. I also deploy the key concepts of ‘sustainable futures’ and ‘techno-solutionism’ as conceptual frameworks to further tease out how PISA and Google For Education leverage on these two key concepts to steer education policies and practices. Initial findings suggest that the anticipatory practices in both Google For Education and PISA have considerable influence in the reorganization of education policies and practices (Gulson et al., 2021). For example, Google For Education relies on micro-credentialing professional development courses rooted in the discourse ‘preparing teachers for the future of learning’ to perpetually expand itself within teacher organisations. As for PISA, the ranking of nation-states in a vertical table creates anticipation for future rankings. Therefore, this research concludes that anticipatory governance in global agendas is on the rise as international organizations and global technology corporations seek for authority in the global education space.

In Europe, the assessment of language proficiency in the Second Language (SL) of migrants once they arrive in the country of immigration, if not even prior to this moment, is crucial for permanence in the destination territory of migration. Consequently language can tip the scale that decides against the fate of migrants in the migratory context, based on the assessment of linguistic and grammatical skills, founded on the criteria defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Beyond these regulatory and normative connotations, SL has a central role in the path of social inclusion in the host society and, for this reason, the right to language education is fundamental to the migrant's effective and active participation and, indeed, can be defined precisely as the most important skill to be acquired with a view to medium- or long-term stay in the host country (OECD, 2021).

The linguistic dimension, however, is much more heterogeneous, biographical and, at the same time, cultural. For these reasons, in addition to the acquisition of grammatical and lexical skills alone, it is unthinkable not to consider identity and social aspects as well in the construction of pathways of education, hosting and inclusion. Such consideration ensures that the formative and educational experience is not characterized by the assimilationist paradigm, but, rather, by a curious, supportive and humanizing attitude toward otherness.

The intercultural perspective in SL learning allows for the recognition of all the cultural and identity aspects that characterize the linguistic biography of the subject who, in migration, finds himself interacting with other languages and other identities. In the communicative relationship with otherness, dialogue is fundamental and cannot be excluded from pedagogical and cultural reflection, which is essential in order to effectively direct educational interventions toward an intercultural and socially inclusive society. In this perspective, plurilingualism arising, also, from migration encourages and promotes forms of participation of "otherness" that, among other things, predisposes the overcoming of power dynamics inherent also to the linguistic dimension. Indeed, it is recognized that forms of cultural racism also find in language a mode of expression of relations of domination and that Fanon (1952), specifically, identifies the promotion of the colonizer's language as a civilizing language, defining a relational hierarchy dependent on cultural and identity factors. The risk inherent in the imposition of the acquisition of the language of the country of immigration at the expense of the linguistic and cultural background of which the migrant person is the bearer would, in fact, entail the adoption of the assimilationist paradigm by the country of immigration, favoring passive coexistence instead of social interaction resulting from inclusive processes.

For these reasons, the realities of non-formal language training for migrants were investigated, paying attention to the inclusion practices applied in these contexts and noting the criticalities of this sector and the unmet needs of users. At the theoretical level, the project is guided by the analysis of migration, the encounter between cultures and the processes of inclusion captured through an intercultural, post-colonial and intersectional perspective of the phenomenon under investigation. The three research questions that guided the investigation of the phenomenon are: 1. What are the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of non-formal language training practices for migrants? 2. What are the educational, cultural and social needs of migrants?3. In particular, what training tools are effective in empowering migrants attending SL courses (also in the recent pandemic situation)?

English as a global language has predominated over languages other than English (LOTEs) in language education studies for ages. This trend has been emphasised in non-Anglophone countries' higher education systems, which resulted in a decline in LOTE education worldwide (Gao & Zheng, 2019; Lanvers, 2018). On the other hand, the Chinese government has initiated a programme of multilingual reform in education as a concomitant of the “Belt and Road Initiative” (B&R) in 2013. As a substantial China-led infrastructure project, the B&R initiative focuses on transnational construction, railways, and highways which has connected East Asia and Europe and extended to Africa, Oceania, and Latin America within a decade. To date, 147 countries are participating or showing interest in the B&R initiative which involves more than 50 official languages other than English. Since the scope of the bilateral economic relations between China and other non-Anglophone countries has been expanded, the significance of LOTEs has drawn the attention of the government of China mainland, which promotes the development of LOTE education in Chinese tertiary education (Chen et al., 2021). The promotion of LOTE programmes in national language policies in China will diversify the multilingual journey of stakeholders at the local level, such as language teachers and college students. However, there is a general paucity of empirical research describing how the national language policy is being understood by meso-level (institutional) actors in higher education in China. Meanwhile, few studies have examined the potential contribution of institutional agency work to the language policy and planning (LPP) concerning LOTEs (Hamid et al., 2018) and the consequences of current LPP for the learner agency of LOTE students in Chinese universities.
Generally, agency is the ability to make decisions, on which people act to change their lives. A widely circulated definition of agency was proposed by Ahearn (2001, p. 112) as ‘a socio-culturally mediated capacity to act’, which includes socio-affective factors like motivation, attitudes, and actions (Hatoss, 2018). Lantolf and Thorne (2006) further explain agency as ‘socioculturally mediated and dialectically enacted’ (p. 238), which can be in relation to the reciprocal influence of language teaching and learning (Glasgow & Bouchard, 2019).
To address the above-mentioned research gap, this study aims to investigate the agency meso-level LPP actors in a prestigious university in China underpinned by Glasgow and Bouchard (2019)’s Model for studying agency in LPP. Overall, the objective of this research is to explore how individual actors including educators and students exercise their agency in shaping different LOTE programs and investigate the interaction of individual agency between actors across different social layers.

This qualitative case-study research explores the role of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers in the language in education policy context.

In the modern society it is very common to promote bilingual or even trilingual educational policies, where learners will be able to acquire languages which are recognised by the government as essential for its development (Ferguson, 2006; McKay, 2010, Spolsky, 2003; Mehisto, Kambatyrova and Nurseitova, 2012). Considering economically, socially, and politically important goals for the development of Kazakhstan in future, English became the strategic language of international relations in the trilingual policy on a par with Kazakh (the State language) and Russian (the inter-ethnic language) in Kazakhstan. However, the task was about how to make the implementation of English successful since it was not used widely in the country. The EFL teachers are not only those who promote foreign language knowledge and skills, but as well they play one of the essential roles in imparting educational values which are the basis of education in the language policy context. In this study the role of English language teachers in Kazakhstani mainstream schools in urban and rural contexts in trilingual policy in education enactment process is explored through the analysis of multiple case-studies conducted in secondary school system in Kazakhstan. As noted by Radha (2016) teachers’ role is vital in nation building since they build every single student’s character. We might even assume that future generations depend on teachers, as teachers shape them to prepare to the world. This study presents the preliminary findings of a wider research (PhD) which is been conducted during 2020-2024.

The main research objective is to offer insights how the policy is understood and enacted in specific teaching context.

The main theoretical framework for this research is the Spolsky's triad of language policy and language planning, where professor Bernard Spolsky (2022) suggested the theory on how to analyse language policy through the perspective of both top-down and bottom-up decisions, practices, and beliefs of education policy makers and language teachers (2004). This triad is important to this study, as the trilingual policy in Kazakhstani mainstream schools is being viewed through the perspective of teacher beliefs (ideology), teacher practice (power), and teacher agency. In this study I was following the critical realist case study approach. Critical realism philosophical paradigm can be defined as there are two dimensions of the world where one is observed, and the other is real (not observed). Ontologically speaking, in this project I have observed whether teachers’ ideologies are reflected in their practice, as critical realists claim knowledge is partial and context dependent (Creamer, 2018). It means that if teachers have any beliefs or attitudes related to teaching and learning process considering educational values as one of the ways of effective trilingual policy enactment, then do they use their teacher agency and power to implement the elements of value-led education in their practice. From the epistemological view of critical realism, I want to know how teachers perceive their role in relation to imparting educational values as one of the main directions of trilingual education policy in Kazakhstan aslso viewed as curriculum-based values. As it is described, critical realists admit the possibility of multiple valid interpretations of the same phenomenon (Maxwell and Mittapalli, 2010). That is why the phenomenon of trilingual education policy and its constituencies might differentiate in teachers’ viewpoints which might hypothetically be caused by their personal viewpoints, ideologies, agency, and power they either possess and exercise or do not.

The present quantitative study is a secondary data analysis of lower secondary foreign language school teachers’ professional development from 30 OECD countries who participated in the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS). The analysis focuses on the OECD countries as they subscribe to shared educational aims of promoting policies that will improve the economic and social wellbeing of people in the member states (OECD, 2013).

The data analysis aims to cross-nationally estimate foreign language (FL) teachers’ self-efficacy and how it is related to continuous professional development (CPD) across the countries as perceived by the participants of the survey in terms of its content, form, impact on teaching practices and to review what types of CPD are crucial for teachers in order to promote, sustain teachers' CPD and keep them up to date as “teachers are called upon not only to acquire new knowledge and skills but also to develop them continuously” (Teachers’ professional development 2010:12).

This study uses three research questions to investigate the correlation between the CPD and teacher self-efficacy. These research questions include the following:

1.How much of the variation in FL teachers’ self-efficacy can be explained by differences between school and teachers’ characteristics across the OECD countries?

2. Which teacher and school characteristics explain variations in lower secondary school teachers of FL self-efficacy?

3. What types of professional development activities explain variations in teacher self-efficacy?

The secondary data analysis not only endeavors to extend evidence about relationship between CPD and FL teachers’ self-efficacy but also presents compelling support for the cross-national investigation as only a small number of studies cross nationally examine these issues in the field of foreign language teaching. A greater understanding of the relation between different areas included into CPD and teacher efficacy beliefs may be valuable to those who develop, deliver, and evaluate foreign language teachers’ preparation, accreditation, and certification programs.

In order to provide a solid conceptual foundation for this secondary analysis, different research on the relationship between CPD and FL teachers’ self-efficacy have been reviewed. A range of previous research has highlighted the contribution of CPD towards teacher self-efficacy. According to Darling-Hammond et.al (2017), professional development aims to expand teacher knowledge and might impact teachers' practices, self-efficacy and, as a result, student learning outcomes. Although self-efficacy has been extensively researched, comparatively few studies have directly examined self-efficacy within the field of language learning and teaching. In investigating teacher efficacy in this area, research examined teacher self-efficacy in a number of cross-cultural contexts exploring the correlation between FL teachers’ self-efficacy and their CPD, demographic variables (qualification, years of experience, gender) and second language proficiency (Atay, 2007; Chacon, 2005; Göker, 2006; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007; Swanson, 2010a; Tsui & Kennedy, 2009; Choi & Lee, 2016, Thompson, 2020).

The conceptual framework for this secondary data analysis draws on Thomson’s (2020) conceptual framework of the Japanese FL teacher efficacy beliefs. Modified from Borg’s conceptual framework of teacher cognition for FL teacher self-efficacy beliefs (Borg. 2006) and integrated triadic reciprocal causation from Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1977, 1986), Thomson’s (2020) conceptual framework is a solid foundation for the current research as it enables the researcher to explore the correlations between personal factors (self-beliefs), environmental factors (teaching context) and behaviours (teaching activities). The present research also adopts Bray & Thomas’s (1995) model of multilevel analysis which enables the researcher to compare the relations between constructs engaging different dimensions. Two dimensions have been employed in the current research: personal factors of teachers (individual level) and environmental factors (school level and country level).

Teachers in Cyprus have been traditionally appointed to public schools through the appointment system of ‘Epetirida’ (Yearbook), which put candidates in a chronological waiting list ordering the mainly on their year of graduation. However, since the 1980s, there have been several discussions around the qualification of teachers appointed to public schools. Also the number of teacher candidates in the Yearbook was large in relation to the appointment needs of the state, resulting in most of them waiting for many years (even decades) until their appointment. In this context, and after a series of negotiations between different stakeholders, the appointment system changed. More particularly, the New Appointment System in Education (NASE), was legislated in 2015 and has been implemented from 2017 onwards. In this study the NASE is theorized as a governmental technology through which the state regulates and controls the teachers who want to work in public schools. This paper argues that the NASE is a governmental technology mobilized by the state to choose a particular kind of teachers as professionals for public education. In this way, the state can govern education and its teachers, since as Foucault (2012) points out governance, for a certain historic period, was aimed exclusively at the prosperity of the state, subjecting teachers to the ideas of the state about education. Moreover, in this paper the body is theorized as a surface on which events are recorded and the subject is created by sacrificing the body (Butler, 2009). It is argued that NASE governs teachers to shape them as ideal subjects by transforming them into submissive bodies. More specifically, the teachers who expect to be appointed to the public education have to conform to the requirements of NASE. The purpose of this paper is to trace the emergence of a new type of an ‘ideal’ professional subject: the primary school teacher who can succeed in this specific recruitment system, including its written examinations. NASE changed the way teachers were appointed in the public sector, introducing additional criteria and written examination processes of teacher selection by the state. These criteria and processes mark an increase in the regulation and control by the state of the knowledge, qualification, and nature of professionalism anticipated by the ‘ideal’ teachers.

Within this governmental technology, the written examination formulates a specific technique, since NASE requires passing a written examination by candidate teachers (who need to be university graduates to be eligible for the exam) before they can be considered for appointment to public schools. Primary teachers are tested on the official school curriculum of two subject-areas (Greek Language and Mathematics); on General Didactic Skills; and on their Knowledge of the Greek Language; the last two components are required for all candidates). Those candidates who pass the exam, can enter a new waiting list (per level of education), in which they are ranked along other criteria: their first Degree’s GPA (8%), additional qualification (e.g. Master degree/Phd 9%), professional experience in education (20%), graduation year (10%) and military service (3%). The written examination is conducted every two years and any teacher planning to take it has to declare their interest and later pay a fee. Four examination procedures have been conducted since the introduction of the NASE in 2015. Before each examination, the examinable content is provided, for every level of education, subject-area and educational specialty and provides general information to the candidates regarding anything new about the legislation, or the procedure they have to follow, through a web-site dedicated to NASE. In a similar way, after every examination procedure the solutions to the tests and the results are shared.

Education is a fundamental element of our society and accompanies every person

from the very beginning and spans the entire lifespan. It is a potential opportunity for integration for all levels of society with all its diversity. It aims to promote participation in society, the development of individual potential, democratization, the development of human capital and human ontogenesis. However, educational processes also harbor the potential for selection and the prevention of developments. Education therefore has a decisive influence on society.

Empirical educational research now provides reliable evidence that individual developments and transitions in the education system as well as in the employment system are significantly and sustainably influenced by the actions and decisions of teachers and thus have an impact on individual life courses as well as on the realization of tasks for society as a whole (Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia et al., 2009).

Teachers are therefore one of the greatest influencing factors on the quality and the corresponding 'outcomes' of the education system (ibid.; Hattie, 2013). For this reason, their professionalism is increasingly being publicly discussed and scientifically investigated. On this basis, validated competence models have been developed (e.g. Baumert & Kunter, 2006), which can depict professional competences in teaching contexts in a structured way.

In times of uncertainty and transformation, however, the question also arises in this context (see current debates in professional society) as to which changes must be considered and which adjustments are considered adequate, which processes this requires and which results (like future skills) should be achieved (e.g. Ehlers, 2020; Stifterverband & McKinsey, 2021; OECD, 2021).

The current crises and transformations in our society (globalization, digitalization, individualization and the climate crisis, among others) are changing educational processes as well as social processes. Specifically, this affects educational participants, all stakeholder groups, the starting conditions and educational goals. If education continues to serve the participation in the (also future) society of its education participants, this goal is also constituted from the crises or transformations of society and the corresponding uncertainty. This fundamental assumption results in a new professional and competence profile for teachers and thus also the need to adapt previously established and validated competence models.

Based on this, three process steps were developed in this doctoral project:

The 1st process step research question is: 'What is sustainable teaching professionalism? For this purpose, previously validated competence models for teaching contexts were expanded with the results of current future skills research (ibid.) and the facets of the structural core of professional action (e.g. Helsper et al. 2000). The result is a profession-oriented competence model for sustainable teaching (Möller, 2023), which is to be tested as a theory-based thesis in a research process.

The 2nd process step research questions are: 'How do groups involved in educational processes describe sustainable teaching professionalism? Which facets are prioritized by which group? What indications can be derived from this for teacher (further) training?

This serves to record the currently perceived competence requirements in the various groups, to compare these on the basis of the competence model (validated by experts), to examine a theory-practice-gap and as a basis for deriving group-specific recommendations for teacher (further) training.

The 3rd process step research question is: 'Which reflection processes contribute to the future-oriented professionalization of teachers?‘

The thesis developed here is based on the assumption that the model developed, with its presentation and description, provides a broader view of the complex structure of a professional ability to act in the teaching context and a deeper understanding of these competence facets and thus stimulates a comprehensive reflection on one's own future-oriented teaching.

This study explores the underrepresentation of women academics of colour (WAC) in British STEM academia, building upon a substantial body of literature highlighting the glaring and seemingly intractable lack of diversity within UK STEM faculties and across global STEM academia (WISE, 2019). Beyond numerical inequities, existing evidence points to a higher likelihood of WAC being disproportionately concentrated in junior academic positions, indicative of unequal power relations (APPG, 2021). This is compounded by nuanced issues relating to idealised and masculinised cultures prevalent across STEM disciplines (Carlone and Johnson, 2007) as well as issues of knowledge otherness – referring to how WAC are epistemologically marginalised/silenced (Ong et al., 2018). Even more is the prevailing tendency to prioritise gender as the primary focus in inequity discussions, often overshadowing race (Bhopal and Henderson, 2021), and other categories such as class, age, sexuality, and disability within initiatives and policy actions aimed at promoting equity in STEM. This tendency may, in part, stem from the discomfort surrounding discourses of sexism, racism, and experiences of marginalisation as well as the challenges associated with addressing these issues at institutional levels (Ahmed, 2012).

It is therefore not surprising that while there are substantial scholarly works on the underrepresentation of women in STEM as well as a disproportionate underrepresentation of WAC in British higher education, there remains a dearth of research studies exploring gender-race intersectionality in STEM, particularly within the UK context (e.g., Casad et al., 2021; Ong et al., 2018; most of which are studies conducted in the US). This is a gap this study seeks to support in literature, contributing to pressing calls to decolonise British STEM academia while extending research on the underrepresentation of WAC in STEM beyond gender and race-based discrimination to complex issues relating to epistemological hegemony, cultural conformity, and counter-technologies, all of which are interlinked with the underrepresentation of WAC in STEM. Against this backdrop, the study seeks to address the overarching question of how orientalist power dynamics serve to perpetuate and/or exacerbate inequitable patterns of representation for these women in STEM faculties. More specifically, it explores ways in which WAC’s gender and racial/ethnic identities intersect to constrain their progression, retention, and equitable representation more broadly in STEM. This includes how these women subvert the power of dominant discourses through micro-practices of resistance and techniques of power (Ahmed, 2012; Ong et al., 2018).

In search for answers around the intersectional barriers and the underlying processes that pose obstacles towards equitable representation for these women, I adopt a post-colonial perspective, drawing on Said’s (1978) epistemological conception of orientalism. Said defines this as a discursively constructed power relation between two constructed regions - the ‘Orient’ and ‘Occident’. Underpinning this power relation are discourses that work to explicitly or implicitly present the knowledge and ideas of the West/Occident as ‘developed’ and superior while the Orient/East is essentialised as ‘underdeveloped’ and inferior. In addition to postcolonial scholars, as well as post-colonialist feminists such as Spivak (1988) and Subedi and Daza (2008), I draw on complementary work from Foucauldian poststructuralist feminism. This approach views power relations – including gender - as discursively constructed and fluid (Foucault, 1988; Butler, 1990; Hall, 1996), shifting the study's focus from discursive narratives based on participants’ sense of subjectivity to a structural understanding of how STEM cultures and practices perpetuate inequities on gender and ‘race’ lines.

Topic:

Under-representation of female doctoral students has been identified as a gender-specific injustice of higher education restricting women from academic careers (UNESCO UIS, 2017). In China, this phenomenon is the case. Female participation has exceeded 50% in both Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes since 2011, but is significantly lower in doctoral programmes. Take the latest data as an example, in 2022, female students accounted for 52.90% in Bachelor’s programmes, 52.89% in master's programmes, but only 41.91% in doctoral programmes (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2023). However, since educational choice is seen as personal, this issue is ignored and under-researched, or explained away as opt-out through a group decision preference. It is imperative to understand the actual ‘choices’ prospective female doctoral students have and how they make the decision of either pursuing or giving up doctoral studies.

Research Objectives:

The project is designed to 1) identify the choice dilemmas in the personal decision-making experience of these female students; 2) understand, in a Chinese cultural context, how they identify options available to them and make their decisions; 3) identify root causes of female students opting out of doctoral studies after considered decision-making.

Research Questions:

Research question 1: What choice dilemmas do prospective female doctoral students face when making the decision on pursuing doctoral studies?

Research question 2: When faced with choice dilemmas, how do they make their own choices or how do they delegate their autonomy of choice to others? What choice skills and relevant identification or reflection involved, respectively?

Research question 3: In the process of decision-making, how do the constituents in these dilemmas interact with cultural discourses and then limit their agency of decision-making?

Theoretical framework:

The paper uses the theoretical framework of Schwarz's cultural sociology of choice centered on culture, choice and agency. Schwarz (2018) has argued for a cultural theory of choice and decision-making as a more valid account of actual social behaviour than the interpretations and predictions offered by rational choice-inspired theory. Choices are cultural and choice processes are culture-specific ways of doing based on normativity, which rely on both cultural-specific choice techniques and culturally knowledge of the options.

Significance:

This study contributes to the understanding of choice and its process as ever-changing social phenomena and the examination of gender equality in Chinese doctoral education based on cultural sociology of choice.

This paper presents preliminary findings from the research project, A Part and Apart? Education and social inclusion of refugee children and youth in Iceland (ESRCI)

After generations of upbringing in migration destinations, children and young people grow up within communities with strong transnational ties to countries of origin (Olwig, 2011, 2013). Children’s identification and sense of belonging also refer to local places in the countries of residence (Olwig, 2003) such as school, a place children identify strongly with. Children thus operate with multiple, shifting identities, developing multiple relationships and a sense of belonging (Motti-Stefanidi & Masten, 2017; Ragnarsdóttir & Hama, 2018a; Tran & Lefever, 2018). Belonging has been argued to be multidimensional involving four distinct dimensions, such as a fundamental need to belong; a need to be connected to people and places and sharing memberships; belonging to a distinct social group; and a process of power and politics on micro and macro levels where children become excluded and included (Johansen & Puroila, 2021). Research shows that young Syrian refugees use social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Snapchat to strengthen ties and connect across cultural divides (Veronis, Tabler, & Ahmed, 2018) and globally, unaccompanied refugees use Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, and Skype for emotional bonding despite geographical distance (Gillespie et al., 2016; Kutscher and Kress, 2018). Social media platforms also play a role in symbolic acculturation, reflecting identity expression and a desire for successful integration (Thorpe and Wheaton, 2021).

Communication technologies play a crucial role in negotiating changes during migration and resettlement (Thorpe and Wheaton, 2021). The virtual world facilitates emotional connections across borders, preserving a sense of unity for families experiencing forced migration (Robertson et al., 2016; Kutscher and Kress, 2018). Social media has become a tool for communication, information sharing, and resource exchange among geographically distant individuals, influencing local resettlement experiences (Marlowe, 2020). The process of sharing information in mobilized virtual communities impacts rapid dissemination within online filter bubbles and echo chambers (Urry, 2016; Pariser, 2011). Virtual technologies enable transnational socio-virtual groups, fostering common interests irrespective of cultural differences (Marlowe, 2020).

The ESRCI project aims to critically explore the education and social inclusion of Syrian and Iraqi refugee children and youth at pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary levels and the structures created for their learning and wellbeing in their social and educational settings. Pillar 3 specifically engages with social inclusion and aims to explore wellbeing, social relationships and positions of refugee children and youth, identity, and intersections. It aims to comprehend the ways in which young refugees adapt to unfamiliar social and cultural surroundings, with a particular focus on the influence of social media in promoting transcultural experiences. The research also examines the ideas of hybridity and superdiversity, investigating the interaction between physical and virtual platforms in the context of transcultural communities. The ultimate objective is to provide valuable insights into the complex social environments encountered by young refugees in Iceland.

Research questions

1. In what ways do young refugees in Iceland perceive and navigate new social and cultural environments, encountering different ideas and lifestyles? Additionally, does the use of social media platforms facilitate transculturality through communication and networking in these unfamiliar physical environments for young refugees?

1. To what extent do the concepts of hybridity and superdiversity contribute to our understanding of the experiences of young refugees in Iceland, particularly considering the interplay between physical and virtual platforms and their connections to transcultural societies.

Problem-solving is an important part of the primary school mathematics curriculum. The purpose of problem-solving activities in the classroom is to apply abstract mathematical concepts to real-world situations. (Verschaffel et. al, 2000; Mellone, et. al, 2014) Riley et. al (1983) described the conceptual knowledge required to solve simple addition or subtraction word problems in terms of semantic relations residing between quantitative information existing in problem text: compare, combine and change.

For primary school pupils, comprehending word problems at the early stages of learning to read, is a difficult task. Despite their lack of understanding, some pupils still engage in the solving process, employing arbitrary strategies, such as randomly combining numbers existing in the problem into mathematical operations suggested by specific keywords in the problem i.e. “more” for addition and “less” for subtraction (Schoenfeld, 1991).

Research on mathematical reasoning evidenced that mental representations of abstract mathematical concepts appear to be visual, originating in one's visually sensed experiences. (Bishop, 1989) Arcavi (2003) described visualization as the ability, process and product of creation, interpretation, use and reflection upon pictures, images, and diagrams in our minds or paper or with other technological means to describe and communicate information, develop thinking, and advance understanding of new ideas. Dreyfus (1991) described visual reasoning in mathematics as a process of expressing verbal information in concrete visual representations that illustrate the relationships between mathematical expressions and concepts. By advancing the use of visual reasoning in mathematics learning, comprehension is translated into one's ability to use the given information to solve problems. (Mayer, 1989)

To improve pupils' problem-solving abilities, recent studies explored different methods of facilitating the understanding of mathematical relations in word problems. In his research, Glenberg et al. (2012) improved elementary school pupils' problem-solving performance by having them physically manipulate objects that recreated the problem situation, which supported forming accurate mental representations of the relations between quantitative information in the problem. Dewolf et. al (2017) investigated the effect of representational illustrations that accompanied problematic word problems in solving process, expecting to help pupils mentally imagine the situation and solve the problems more realistically by employing everyday life knowledge. The findings evidenced no positive effect on realistic problem-solving.

Research question/ hypothesis

The current study investigates the effect of visual reasoning on the solving process of a mathematical word problem which involves part-whole relations between sets of elements. To test our hypothesis, we worked on word problems commonly encountered in the first-grade mathematics curriculum, which required addition and subtraction operations to determine the problem solution. We also aimed to investigate and describe the correlation between students' reading comprehension abilities and their visual and mathematical reasoning performances.

We expect that visual reasoning will help pupils form accurate mental representations of the mathematical relations in the problem, improving their comprehension of the problem situation and increasing the number of correct problem solutions afterwards.

1. Is it possible to improve first-graders' word problem comprehension by asking them to create visual representations of the problem situation by drawing?

1. Will the number of correct problem solutions increase if pupils create correct visual representations of the problem situation, by drawing?
2. Will pupils with average reading comprehension abilities create accurate visual representations of the problem situation, by drawing and determining the correct problem solution afterwards?

We hypothesized that asking first-grade pupils to create visual representations of the problem situation by drawing will improve comprehension, determining an increased number of correct problem solutions.

We also predicted that pupils with average reading comprehension abilities would create correct visual representations of the problem situation leading them to perform the appropriate operations to determine the correct problem solution.

The question of how an optimal learning environment should be designed is probably as old as the building task itself. It has always been and continues to be a reflection of constantly changing educational, social, and technological conditions. Despite the small field of research, the scientific debate on the subject has gained attention since its beginnings in the 1920s, especially in the past decade. The fact that physical space can influence learning has already been proven several times (e.g. Rance et al., 2023; Baloch et al. 2021; Barrett et al., 2015; Walden, 2008). However, there is still no theoretical model that takes a holistic view of the architectural aspects of a learning environment and at the same time addresses current research and school development.

Today, we are faced with a fundamentally changed pedagogical understanding, even if some demands in this respect were already made at the beginning of the 20th century by the New Education Movement (Renz, 2016). Findings from educational research have influenced teaching methods and goals of education in the last decades: Lessons should include different social forms, be skills-oriented, and take individualised learning into account (Saalfrank, 2017; Corno, 2008; Helmke, 2007; Weinert, 2001). In addition, the role of schools has changed since the Emotional Turn in the 1990s, meaning the topic of well-being is receiving increasing attention (Hascher & Balloid, 2000). This also raises the question of social responsibility: to what extent can schools respond to the challenges of our time, such as inclusion, division of society, strengthening democracy, and the climate crisis? In addition to these pedagogical and social demands, however, there are also changing technological and construction-specific conditions (digitalization, climate-neutral buildings, resource conservation, etc.), which on the one hand call for increased responsibility, but also open up opportunities to find answers for the school building question.

In construction practice, this is usually based on the orientation of positive examples and building guidelines, but also increasingly through participation processes in which, for example, teachers and pupils are involved in the concept planning (Montag Stiftungen Jugend und Gesellschaft, 2017). Although this is fundamentally a positive development, it is also associated with the problem that this approach is tailored to the personal needs of individual groups at a specific point in time and therefore does not represent the whole. To date, an orientation towards Evidenced Based Design in (school) construction is hardly common (Hamilton & Watskin, 2009), which is due on the one hand to the common professional practice of architects, but also to the small field of research. Even here, the presentation of positive examples takes up a large space, and empirical research methods are still only used sporadically. What is more, the knowledge that has already been gained is seldom bundled and prepared for practical use – as a result, there is hardly any scientific communication. In addition to the problem of the very limited number of studies, there is also little cooperation between the various scientific disciplines, which means that architecture, educational science, and architectural psychology (which is generally underrepresented) usually act separately from each other.

This results in the need for an interdisciplinary approach that, on the one hand, maps the different aspects of a learning environment as comprehensively as possible and, at the same time, takes current pedagogical, social, and technological developments into account. It raises the question of how architectural-psychological and pedagogical requirements of the school learning environment can be mapped in a theoretical model – and thus serves as a basis for empirical research, as a planning aid, and for the evaluation of school buildings.

The development of creative skills (UNESCO, 2006) appears to be one of the most urgent challenges in today's complex (Morin, 2017) and 'fluid' (Bauman, 2007) society, characterized by uncertainty and instability. This is because creativity is not an adaptive response to needs and difficulties but an exactive (Vrba & Gould, 1982) opportunity to be in relation to the context. In fact, the concept of creativity has multiple definitions: it is a performative skill, a transformative process (Edwards, Grandini & Forman, 2017; Munari, 2017; Rodari, 2010), an improvisational attitude (Zorzi, 2020), a generative capacity (Tiozzo Brasiola, 2020), a political condition and a dimension of complex thinking (Lipman, 2005). Moreover, creativity is a higher psychic function present in all human beings since childhood (Vygotsky, 2010) and a process historically and culturally mediated. Creativity is a necessary educational condition to imagine otherness, to think in terms of differences, and to welcome the thought of the other (Santi, 2006a) to nurture open and democratic societies. Hence, schools are in charge of cultivating it, so that it becomes a different opportunity to relate with others and with the world.

If and how can creativity be taught? In the Italian language, the word "teach" comes from the Latin word "insignare" and means to put things into signs, to leave a mark. According to Peirce (1980), sign is a dialogical relationship between three semiotic entities: object, representamen and interpreter. The transition between them occurs through a creative mediation, which is possible only when the sign participates in the nature of thought. For this reason, creative mediation allows signs to always have other interpretations thus inserting them into a process of unlimited semiosis. What results is the generativity of the sign through thought. In this sense, sign, like creativity, is also uncertain, indefinite, never completely clear. As a result, teaching creativity understood as putting creativity into signs can only involve the dimension of thought.

According to Lipman (1988, 2005), creativity is one of the dimensions of complex thinking that can be finds expression in Philosophy for Children (P4C), an educational practice characterized by the dialogic-argumentative method and the didactic model of the research community (Santi, 2005). In the literature, there are many researches aimed at investigating creative thinking through P4C (De Puig, 2003; Sátiro, 2006, 2019; Santi, 2007), but no studies highlighting the possible link between generativity and creative thinking through signs in the perspective of complex thinking. Therefore, mobilizing generativity as an interpretative model to read an empirical investigation of creativity promoted through P4C can open a new pedagogical and didactic view of what has already been explored. The research aspires to give a generative reading of creativity, as an object of teaching, by investigating the horizon of generative didactics of creativity through PhilosophArt.

PhilosophArt is an educational-didactic practice that aims to generate creativity through art and dialogue in the community, taking into account the complexity of thought. It combines the dialogical-discursive method and the research community of P4C with the realization of community works of art through graphic signs (Kandinsky, 1968, 2005). P4C develops creative, critical and free minds in community members so that they can live in today's complex, unstable and uncertain society.

Teacher quality and quality teaching are crucial when we talk about quality matters in education. It has been exemplified by policy developments in many countries, including Australia and the US, through the adoption of standards-based reforms relating to teachers and teaching (Lewis et al., 2019). A variety of university-based teacher training and professional development initiatives are emerging worldwide in response to the policy vision. While the attempt at standardization can never be fully realized in practice, as they can never use the easy-to-measure characteristics to assess complex, ever-changing classrooms with unavoidable uncertainty (Biesta, 2014). This explains a turn toward practice-based teacher education (Zeichner, 2012) and a shift from passive and intermittent professional development to that which is “active, consistent, based on the teaching environment, supported by peers in a professional learning community” (Stewart, 2014, p. 28).

Educational Design Research (EDR) is a genre of research that fits the substantive aspects outlined above, for its being situated in real educational contexts, focusing on the design and testing of interventions, using mixed methods, involving multiple iterations, stemming from a partnership between researchers and practitioners, yielding design principles; and concerned with an impact on practice (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012). With these characteristics, EDR can involve teachers and researchers collaborating throughout the process of studying teaching and learning in a specific subject area, to improve both teaching practices and theoretical understandings through cycles of testing and refining (McKenney & Reeves, 2019). Accordingly, we can assume that EDR can be a form of teacher professional learning during this process (Juuti, et al., 2017). It has been proven in some studies (e.g., Dunn et al., 2019; Lim, 2022) but there is no paper that reviews the studies on this topic.

It is not easy to improve teacher quality and teaching quality. According to the review, using EDR as a viable alternative can change teachers and their practices over a long-term, deliberately designed process. As a counterbalance to the performance-based professional development in the past that is evidence-based, manageable, and sustainable, this research advocates more integrated, job-embedded professional learning, demonstrating “the power of protest” as seen in teacher education discourse. In this study, we suggest design heuristics or learning principles for EDR or other EDR-like professional learning initiatives that can be used by policymakers, teacher educators, and school leaders. A further contribution of this research is to examine the existing knowledge base of EDR and build up knowledge of EDR as a form of teacher professional learning. This can inform future research to systematically explore teachers’ learning in the context of EDR or to notice teachers' learning as a vital aspect alongside their EDR studies.

Modern curriculum making can be perceived as a social practice undertaken in different sites across the education system (Priestley et al., 2021). Research has shown that teachers are defined as key actors in education reform, and they are expected to participate in curriculum work and to act as agents of change (Priestley et al., 2012). Thus, participatory approaches to macro curriculum making and involvement of teachers in reform work is becoming increasingly common internationally (Almeida & Viana, 2023; Soini et al., 2021). Yet, a well-known issue in participatory approaches is that they can give the illusion of symmetrical relationships. The process can create the appearance of equal influence among the participating actors, when the reality is that government institutions have more power, which gives them more influence over the outcome (Vaillancourt, 2009). Thus, such processes can conceal hierarchies and power structures that are inherent in them. The current study focuses on a central part of macro curriculum making, namely government-appointed curriculum committees consisting of teachers and subject experts who work alongside government officials in the development of a new curriculum. The article zooms in on a recent curriculum making process in Norway. In 2020, Norway introduced a new national curriculum, called the Knowledge Promotion Reform 2020 (LK20), where co-construction and partnerships with the education sector were important policy elements of the development process. From the literature, we know that national curriculum development processes are highly governed and controlled by central authorities (Humes, 2022; Levin, 2008; Westbury et al., 2016), and teachers’ role in such processes is not always clear. We also know that even when teachers are involved in macro curriculum making, they do not necessarily have any significant influence over the outcome of the process (Finnanger & Prøitz, forthcoming; Theodorou et al., 2017). Thus, the aim of the study is to investigate how documents present the teachers’ mandate, and to explore how these findings resonate with the teachers’ understanding of the mandate and their perceived contribution to the final national curriculum. The research questions that have guided the investigation are:

How is teachers’ mandate as national curriculum makers described in documents? How does this resonate with teachers’ understanding of the mandate and their perception of contribution to the final national curriculum?

Theoretically, the study is guided by the understanding that curriculum making is a social practice. Modern curriculum theorists argue that curriculum making is a complex, interactive, non-linear, social practice that occurs and flows across various contexts (Alvunger et al., 2021; Priestley et al., 2021). It is a dynamic and transactional process of interpretation, mediation, negotiation, and translation, involving different actors, activities and sites across the education system (Alvunger et al., 2021). Central to this heuristic is that curriculum making happens in sites, and that it is the type of activity and not the involved actors, that determines the site. This way of conceptualizing curriculum making infers that actors can move between sites. The process is shaped by the beliefs, values, and professional knowledge of the involved actors, as well as by their room to manoeuvre and the interplay between actors, contested spaces, contextual factors, and power relations (Alvunger et al., 2021).

Have AI tools found their way into schools using the freely accessible ChatGPT tool as an example? How eagerly do students use the new tools for their school work? How uncertain are teachers about their role as initiators and facilitators of the learning process?

AI tools have not only existed since February 2023, when the ChatGPT tool was made available to the public. Zhang & Begum Aslang (2021) and Feng & Law (2021) summarized several years researching the use of AI applications in schools and universities and their implications for education. Zhang & Begum (2021) report having reviewed 40 empirical studies on AI in education published between 1993 and 2020. Feng & Law (2021) reviewed more than 1800 articles on artificial intelligence in education from 2010 and 2019.

However, since the release of the ChatGPT tool, the topic has reached a wider audience and gained a new emotional intensity. People of different professions, ages, and educational backgrounds have felt compelled to engage with it more intensively. Artificial intelligence has become part of our everyday lives. It has changed them, and it will most likely continue to change them. VanLehn (2011) was able to show that personalised, digital 1:1 support and fine-grained feedback lead to similar learning outcomes as human support. The change that has already begun has aroused emotions such as curiosity, enthusiasm for the new possibilities, but also fears about whether and how to keep up with the change. In many cases, schools have also responded with concerns about the role of the teacher and the learning effectiveness of school homework in the future. The uncertainty seems justified. After all, the ChatGPT chatbot is a technology that can process natural human language and generate a response, and it can be used for tasks such as content generation in both native and foreign languages, explanation, translation, and much more. Even if the tasks are not part of everyday school life, it is assumed here that the AI tools are used in a school context at home. This has an influence on the institutionalised educational processes, which are not independent of the processes that take place outside. The question of how their benefits affect learning outcomes remains under-researched (de Witt, 2023).

In this contribution I will first present the theoretical background. Then I will present the first results of the survey I conducted for my PhD thesis. The aim of the survey is to take a closer look at the use of ChatGPT among students.

The constructivist grounded theory (CGT) study upon which this paper draws explores the career aspirations of senior (aged 10-13) primary school pupils from different social class backgrounds, including in relation to teaching as a career, in two school environments, one a designated disadvantaged school (hereafter, Chester school) and one non-disadvantaged school (hereafter, Duke school) in the west of Ireland. Our focus is an exploration and comparison of Irish pupils’ perspectives about their futures, with particular reference to their views about progressing to higher education (HE), considering various careers, including teaching, and their views about diversity, or the lack thereof, amongst the teaching profession. An underlying objective is to ascertain the role of social class, and any other relevant socio-demographic factors, in influencing their aspirations.

Research in the UK points to the over-representation of higher social classes in more ‘prestigious’ professions, including law, medicine, and veterinary studies (Macmillan, Tyler and Vignoles 2015), even when controlling for university qualifications (cf. Freidman and Laurison 2019). Research in Canada (Andres and Adamuti-Trache 2008) and the USA (Fang and Tilsik 2022) demonstrate strong links between social class background and degrees of occupational prestige. In Ireland, class (and other) disparities in relation to HE access, and, to an extent, different professions, are tracked by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). Despite the work related to National Access Plans (cf. HEA 2015) and institutions’ widening participation activities, those from lower socio-economic groups remain under-represented in HE (HEA 2022) and in teaching (Keane and Heinz 2015; Heinz and Keane 2018). The rationale for diversifying the teaching profession has been premised on two grounds, a) an equity of access perspective, in that opportunities are provided to those who wish to become teachers but who may otherwise encounter barriers, and b) the significant benefits that accrue to both minority and majority groups of having a more diverse teaching population (cf. Childs et al. 2011; Goodwin and Keane 2023).

What is missing from the literature is the voices of children about future aspirations, particularly it is in childhood and adolescence that occupational aspirations develop (Helwig 2001, 2021; Schultheiss 2005). We know relatively little about children’s reasons for considering (or not) various careers, specifically teaching, or how such reasons compare for those from different social class backgrounds. Of the small amount of research conducted, it has been found that children in less disadvantaged schools are more likely to consider more prestigious professions (Chambers et al. 2018; Connolly and Healy 2004), with those from more disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to identify aspirations for careers such as hairdressing, retail, or nursing (Chambers et al. 2018; Fuller 2009), including in Ireland (cf. Olsthoorn 2019), and to highlight the role of locality in mediating career perspectives, with those from lower socio-economic groups preferring ‘working class’ positions near home (Connolly and Healy 2004). While such research suggests a link between children’s career aspirations and social class, we do not know children’s reasons for considering or not considering certain careers, specifically teaching, or how these reasons compare for those from different class backgrounds. In this context, the study upon which this paper draws, utilising constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2000, 2006, 2014) (CGT), aims to examine and develop a substantive theory about the perspectives and experiences of senior primary school pupils about their future aspirations in terms of progressing to HE and various careers, including teaching.

This empirical research critically examines the instrumental role of direct action within the landscape of education, with a specific emphasis on education coalitions and their corresponding strategies for advocating the right to education. It provides an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms through which education coalitions harness the power of direct action to instigate meaningful reform and foster education systems that embody the principles of inclusivity and equity. The research centers on the Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE), a primary advocate for accessible education in a turbulent landscape. As Pakistan's leading education coalition, PCE collaborates with the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), striving to uphold education as a fundamental human right. Employing Whole Network Analysis, the study offers a comprehensive illustration of the intricate dynamics within education coalitions. The study's focus on PCE underscores its pivotal role at international, national, and local levels, combating neoliberal tendencies towards privatization and championing the cause of free, high-quality public education for all.

Theoretical Framework: The research is guided by a holistic theoretical framework, drawing from seminal works in education advocacy. It incorporates Cortina & Lafuente's (2018) insights on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and their cooperative frameworks, essential for understanding the collaborative dynamics in Pakistan's education coalitions. Verger and Novelli's (2010) exploration of education coalition action repertoires provides a spectrum of strategies crucial for this study, ranging from direct engagements with decision-makers to large-scale public awareness campaigns. Arvidson et al.'s (2018) work on the evolving nature of insider and outsider advocacy strategies, especially in the digital age, informs the study's exploration of modern advocacy tactics, including the role of social media. This framework aims to capture the breadth and depth of activities undertaken by education coalitions in Pakistan, discerning strategies that are most effective in this unique socio-political context.

By integrating insights from these research works with Pakistani realities, the study develops a comprehensive understanding of the role of education coalitions. The overarching aim is to set a solid theoretical foundation for a detailed empirical examination of these coalitions, ensuring relevance and applicability to the Pakistani milieu. The narratives of coalition members, policymakers, and civil society leaders are expected to bring theoretical constructs to life, making this study a reflection of the aspirations and challenges in promoting education rights in Pakistan.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of revenue diversification at the universities of Kazakhstan what challenges they are facing, and how they are dealing with them. It seeks to explore the understanding, practices, and results of revenue diversification from the perspective of university leadership and faculty and to propose solutions supported by an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses found in the existing literature.

Given this purpose, this study aims to address the following question: How do two (public and private) universities in Kazakhstan implement revenue diversification to enhance their financial sustainability?

To address the research question and achieve the study’s objectives, two theoretical frameworks are employed: cost-sharing theory (Johnstone, 2002) and resource dependence theory (RDT) (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003). According to cost-sharing in higher education costs are divided among four parties: students, parents, industry, and government. The costs paid by these parties contribute to HEIs as income. There are both internal and external factors that motivate universities to generate income from various sources. RDT asserts that the ability of organizations to survive is contingent upon acquiring and sustaining resources (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003). However, this task is challenging due to environmental conditions marked by scarcity and uncertainty. Organizations must adapt to the requirements of key resource providers, and an open-systems perspective underscores the necessity for organizations to interact with those who control resources (Katz & Kahn, 1966). The degree of autonomy an organization experiences is influenced by the significance and concentration of its resource sources. This theory explains external forces faced by HEIs which encompass both global and national contexts. Furthermore, RDT analyzes the results of revenue diversification. As discussed in the previous section, there are some risks to the core mission of HEIs, which involves teaching and research, when they increase the amount of income generated from diverse sources.

Using these theories as a foundation and based on the literature reviewed, a conceptual framework for analyzing revenue diversification and the impact of diversification on student satisfaction was developed. The given theories and concepts discussed in the following sections will be synthesized to construct a framework for capturing a complex structure of revenue diversification. The internal setting of HEIs plays a crucial role in the process of revenue diversification. Factors such as a university’s mission, status, strategic development, organizational structure, history, size, location, teaching and research activities, and other related aspects contribute to the quality of revenue diversification. The internal parameters of the universities selected as research sites will be discussed in future chapters. By combining cost-sharing theory and RDT, the motivations, incentives, barriers, and possible outcomes of revenue diversification in HEIs are explored. In the context of HE in Kazakhstan and beyond, this research will contribute to our understanding of how institutions manage the challenges of resource dependencies and institutional goals.

Students are navigating an ambiguous post-graduate landscape, marked by global crises, shifting societal demands, and dynamic careers (Redecker et al., 2011). This uncertainty poses challenges for graduates, as they often feel ill-prepared when transitioning from the stable confines of higher education to the dynamic and often unfamiliar professional realm (De Schepper et al., 2023). Recognising this, higher education institutions are adjusting their focus, moving from job-specific skills to cultivating a broader set of competences that are transferable across diverse contexts (Trinidad et al., 2021). As such, the importance of ‘generic skills’ has grown increasingly evident within higher education and related research.

The term ‘generic skills’, synonymous with soft skills, transferable skills, 21st-century skills, and employability competences, encompasses critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and ethical skills (Tuononen et al., 2022). Broadly defined, these skills constitute a “dynamic combination of cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, interpersonal, intellectual and practical skills” that empower individuals to navigate challenges effectively, within both professional and personal realms (Haselberger et al., 2012, p. 67). It is important to note that this call for ‘21st-century-skills’ is not necessarily novel, as these competences, such as critical thinking, have been components of education throughout history. However, as highlighted by Rotherham and Willingham (2010), “[w]hat’s actually new is the extent to which changes in our economy and the world mean that collective and individual success depends on having such skills” (p. 17).

This growing emphasis on generic skills has prompted various initiatives, ranging from comprehensive programmes and standalone workshops, to seamlessly integrating skills training into content courses. Notably, within this landscape, specific skill-development practices have gained prominence. For instance, some institutions have integrated competence-based coaching approaches into their curricula, emphasising a supportive and reciprocal coach-coachee relationship as means to cultivate skill development (Nuis & Beausaert, 2020). Alternatively, other institutions have adopted problem-based learning methods, concentrating on facilitating skill development through the resolution of complex, authentic problems (Carvalho, 2015), or portfolio systems, wherein students compile diverse documents to illustrate their learning goals and competence development (Heymann et al., 2021). These efforts have also been echoed within research, as scholars aim to understand what skills are needed (e.g., García-Álvarez, 2022), as well as how to effectively cultivate these types of competences in educational settings (e.g., Tuononen et al., 2020).

However, despite well-intentioned endeavours, these efforts often yield mixed results. Extensive research has explored diverse skill-development methods, such as those mentioned above, spanning various contexts, including medical and business domains. This diversity makes it challenging to discern the effective mechanisms in different settings, highlighting the need to consolidate these efforts and cultivate a more systematic understanding of their practical functioning and efficacy (Abelha et al., 2020; Cranmer, 2006). Moreover, the optimal strategy for implementing skill development into higher education remains debated, whether through curriculum integration, optional courses, or work-related experiences (Abelha et al., 2020). Crucially, Tuononen et al. (2022) reveal that factors influencing skill development are contextual, related to teaching and learning environments, rather than individual student factors. In other words, higher education institutions and educators have a degree of control in the success of skill development programmes, particularly if there is effective understanding and implementation of evidence-informed principles.

As such, this study recognises existing efforts and aims to address the above uncertainty by providing a comprehensive overview of effective skill development practices and their contextual conditions, addressing the research question: What pedagogical principles underlie effective generic skill development in higher education? By delving into this complexity, this study aims to contribute to the theoretical understanding of effective skill development, as well as provide insights for the practical implementation of evidence-informed frameworks in educational settings.

This paper explores why, despite inclusion in national strategy and position papers, the practice of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) remains at low levels in Irish higher education.

The study focuses, in particular, on the recognition of informal and non-formal learning and seeks to elucidate the elements which have most influence on practice. In Irish higher education, RPL can include formal, informal, and non-formal learning. The recognition process seeks to validate the learning in the context of a specified destination award from level one to ten on the national framework of qualifications (European Commission; Cedefop; ICF International, 2014, p. 3). The research conducted focused on exploring academics understanding of RPL, its position within their institutional context, and identifying opportunities and perceived challenges to practice and implementation.

The study addresses a knowledge gap in Irish RPL literature regarding the reasons for diminished support and practice of RPL despite evident backing in national published sources and initiatives. The study is focused on exploring the beliefs of academics in relation to why implementation of RPL remains low. It also seeks to determine if there is a correlation between staff beliefs and RPL in practice with the intention of informing future systems and structures for RPL within higher education.

Studies on early-career researchers (ECRs) as an emerging field of higher education research has gained an increasing attention in the past 20 years (McAlpine & Amundsen, 2018). Traditionally, cross-border mobility is commonly believed to promote academic success and is regarded as an unconditional good. However, with the underlying neoliberal influence and the changing landscape in the internationalisation of HE, literature has revealed a more complex picture of international mobility with conflicting outcomes. Literature highlights a diverse range of motivations driving ECRs to engage in international mobility. Career advancement, access to cutting-edge research facilities, and collaboration opportunities emerge as prominent factors (Teichler, 2004; Horta, Jung, & Santos, 2020; Poole & Xu, 2022); while fierce competitions juxtapose with the positive discourse lead to normalized or even coerced practices of international mobility among ECRs that may lead to risks such as increased precarity and the loss of social capital (Ackers, 2005; Bauder, 2020). Despite the flow of ECRs from Global South to Global North, which still remains as a major mobility pattern, a growing inclination of returning mobility to their home countries in the Global South has been noticed. Studies have discussed the benefits and challenges brought by the mobility experience for the returning ECRs, however limited research has been done to reveal how they negotiate with macro structures through exercising agency. Therefore, a nuanced understanding of rationales and experiences behind the different mobility patterns of staying or returning is needed. As context matters for comparative analysis, China and UK are chosen as the two research sites for this study. UK is the top destination in Europe while China being the largest sending country in the non-EU region not only for students but also for international staffs at HEIs (OECD, 2022; HESA, 2022). This study aims to understand the stay/return rationales and experiences among Chinese ECRs in the UK and those who have returned to China, specifically, the author asks:

RQ1. In the context of China and UK, what roles do structural factors play in attracting, recruiting, retaining, and developing of international ECRs?

RQ2. For Chinese ECRs with a UK PhD degree, what factors influence their stay/return decisions of international mobility?

RQ3. For internationally trained Chinese ECRs in UK and returned to China, how do they navigate through their academic career and personal life trajectories?

a) What are the similarities and differences in their exercise of agency?

b) How do the different contextual structures shape their exercise of agency?

This study adopts Glonacal Agency Heuristic as the conceptual framework (Marginson & Rhoades, 2002). Glonacal stands for global, national and local, the three interconnected levels in the process of globalization of higher education. This heuristic pinpoints six nods on each level, including people individually or collectively as agencies in 1) polities, 2) economies, and 3) higher education, and 4) organizations and entities in/of governmental and non-governmental agencies, 5) economics agencies and markets, and 6) educational and professional agencies. The nods form a set of three hexagons, indicating the direct or indirect reciprocal interplay between forces of different levels. It is adopted in this study particularly for its power in conceptualizing agency representing both entities and organizations at global, national and local level, and people’s ability to exercise agency. National level and individual agency will be the main focus for this study, with only some necessary discussions on the practice of institutions based on data analysis, since in the context of both UK and China, national policies play a much prominent role in attracting and recruiting internationally trained ECRs.

This workshop is a follow-up to the work started during ECER 2023 in Glasgow, on clinical methods for research in education and particularly on monographic writing.

This workshop focuses on a clinical research method centred on the analysis of professional practices in education and training. The monographic method will be briefly presented, in comparison with other research methods involving group writing (Stamenova and Hinshelwood, 2018; Orsenigo and Ulivieri-Stiozzi, 2018; Rustin, 2019).

The method we will use is inspired by works conducted in the ‘Institutional Pedagogy’ current (Vasquez & Oury, 1967), that authors of the proposal both practice since a few decades. The leaders of the device proposed during the workshop have been conducting this type of working group for more than twenty years with different publics in the field of education and training.

In this field, to write and to read monographs in group situations is a way to analyze the unconscious psychic processes potentially at work in professional situations and in educational relationships. The aim of those analysis is both to train professionals to take into account what is happening on a subjective level during educational situations and also to provide data for research focusing on psychical processes in the same field of education and training.

• In the first step, after a brief introduction to the workshop, the leaders will submit a monograph to the participants. This text will be read aloud and followed by a short time for understanding questions only, without comments at that stage.

• In the second step, each participant will be invited to write her/his reflections and/or associative thoughts, from her/his reception of the monograph with any possible links with her/his own experience as researcher and/or teacher.

• In the third step, the individual writings produced at step 2 will be openly discussed in one or two group(s). Wherever possible, we will arrange two groups of no more than eight participants each.

• In the fourth step, the participants will be invited to write short comments in small groups. The comments will be written up together in a common document which will be shared with the participants after the workshop.

The workshop will end with a closing session during which each participant will be able to say a few words about their experience.

Our analyses will focus mainly on the transferential issues at work in this kind of working group. The group is a place of transference, both onto the group leaders and between the participants. We consider the monographic writing group as a mediated device (Brun et alii, 2013) where the monograph – a written narrative of a lived professional experience – is a mediator object. This mediating object, in its concrete materiality, is also the object of transfers. A discussion period will be dedicated for evoking these transfers in the group with the participants.

The primary objective of this workshop is to explore how data from international assessments can be used for research regarding outcomes and contexts of civic and citizenship education. The workshop will put emphasis on how data from studies conducted by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) could provide further insights for policy and practice.

As a leading organization in the field of educational research for more than 60 years, the IEA promotes capacity building and knowledge sharing to facilitate innovation and foster quality in education. IEA studies approach the reality of educational learning outcomes in its complexity by collecting a huge variety of background information that can be related to students’ achievement, knowledge, and attitudes.

This workshop will introduce participants to the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2022. The ICCS 2022 database was published in February 2024 and provides a fresh and rich source for secondary research of outcomes related to civic and citizenship education (CCE) across the world, and in particular in Europe with more than 21 European countries and education systems participating. ICCS 2022 is the 3rd cycle of IEA’s study on CCE, following the administrations in 2009 and 2016.

The workshop will include an overview of ICCS, covering its background, conceptual framework and design. It will present some key findings from the 2022 data collection. Participants will be introduced to the survey instruments and database, and be provided with access paths to data sources, technical documentation, analysis guides and software tools. There will also be a presentation about available variables such as students’ civic knowledge, their attitudes towards civic principles and democratic values, characteristics of teachers of that student cohort, and class- and school-level learning contexts.

With this information, participants will formulate and discuss research questions that can be addressed with ICCS 2022 data. The instructors will be available to mentor the development of research ideas and design as well as to answer data related and technical questions. Research questions from individual attendants will be presented to all participants in order to provide opportunities to share ideas.

No prior knowledge about large-scale international studies is required. Basic knowledge about statistical analysis is not required but is an advantage.

Ethics is a historical process by which we reflect upon the impact of new ideas and technologies on our lives. In terms of its practice, ethics is a discipline that has evolved from a classic philosophy, centred on humanistic values, to a post-human approach that goes beyond our individuality, integrating other epistemologies and sources of knowledge.

What has been labelled as undesirable attitudes changes across cultures and throughout time. Even if there is a general consensus that murder and child abuse are nefarious, there are other forms of structural violence which have not yet reached the same degree of broad consensus, as ongoing social struggles and disputes show. Many times these challenges are labelled “controversial” because social movements or individuals challenge the status quo that maintains privileges for certain fringes of society or individuals.

Our aim with this workshop is to build an environmental future scenario where participants can reflect, from an intersectional perspective, on their own subjectivity and “place of speech”, envisioning possible scenarios where privilege is used against structural forms of violence.

Based on a collective journey in the FUTUROSCOPIO, this scenario will be built by integrating the feelings and perceptions of multiple crews across their journey and turned into an on-site installation to invite EERA attendees and passersby to experience a shared future vision.

The workshop will be of interest to early career researchers. The session will be interactive and focus on the importance of critical reflection to enable researchers to develop insights into the importance of who they are to shaping their research findings. The workshop explores how this is not a case of bias, but an inevitable, important and valuable aspect of doing research and building knowledge. To do this aspect of research rigorously and well, all researchers need to regularly subject themselves, their research practices, findings and theorisations to reflection and scrutiny. The audience will be invited to challenge their beliefs as we explore well-known phenomena through the fresh lens of unacknowledged and hidden forms of sexism, racism and other forms of prejudice.

Workshop Objectives

• To explore how a researcher’s perspective shapes their research focus and the analysis of data.
• To raise awareness of the risk of bias in the interpretation of findings, taking account of the impact of lived experience.
• To sensitise reseachers to the complexity of intersectionality and the many layers of positionality which have the potential to distort research results.

By the end of this session, participants will be better able to:

Identify and eliminate the propensity for personal perspectives to influence the interpretation of research data.

To choose or not to choose consultation-conversational methodologies, that is the question!

In terms of the structure, the session will start with a gathering moment by means of the 'my place' exercise. A Focus Group Discussion will follow on 'the conditions surrounding my research'; leading to dialogical exploration of the theoretical and procedural foundations of FGD and conversational learning, expressed ”in our own voice(s)”.

The session departs from the assumption of the essential role of communication/ consultation/ conversation as a research method that allows for deepening personal and joint production of data which goes beyond ’common-sense’. Deriving from the first assumption, we argue that the recourse to a communicational paradigm makes sense only and if only it stands on both the recognition of the value of human relations and of the asymmetries of power among researchers and the participant ”researchees” (and in between participant ”researchees”) and there is a conscious intent to find ways to reduce such verticality. This implies authentic and humanized communication(s) in which all the voices feel they have space to express, be heard and make a difference. Moreover, consultation-conversational methodologies may be of great use if you want to make the best of the interrelations between participants and focus on the cultures produced by means of their unique interaction within a unique research situation. The place attributed/recognized to participants as coauthors of the data produced and of the research as a whole has implications in the way(s) in which you lead your research with the due respect to your research agenda. Last but not least, we argue that the recognition of voices(s) has implications not only on the way(s) in which you collect and produce data but also in the way(s) we build your analysis so that all voices are accounted for and the currently silenced voices emerge and assert their place in the world. ”Conflict of interpretation”, dissense and the exploration of disagreement are at the core and in the horizon of consultation-conversational methodologies, such as focus group discussion, which will be explored.

Some points to be discussed are: How to resist the prejudice of the divisive dichotomy quantitative vs qualitative? What is the role of the researcher? What is the role of the participants? What is the place given to different voices? How to register and manage subjectivities and the intersubjective vision and cultures constructed through multiple dialogue? How to make sense of different levels of research and methodological options? What decisions need to be made in terms of the potential methodological complementarities and clashes? How to move from the theory as a thought trough method to the method as theory in action respecting the principles and values of a ’good’ and multiple expressive marriage?

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A workshop tailored for post-doctoral from all networks and communities.

Postdoctoral scholars face the demanding task of crafting an impactful academic portfolio within a limited timeframe. Achieving success during this pivotal stage frequently hinges on securing financial resources for research endeavors. However, many researchers encounter challenges when it comes to fundraising.

To assist researchers in navigating this phase, EERA Network 28 invites you to participate in a three-hours workshop focusing on the essentials of fundraising as a means of personal leverage in academic careers. The workshop, especially addressed to post-doc researchers, aims to present and discuss the essential elements for growth inherent in the postdoctoral/early career research phase and life.

Workshop program:

9:45-10:30
Opening, introduction, getting to know each other, sharing in groups

10:30-11:00
Academic career: from postdoctoral student to researcher, how to build an optimal portfolio for academic advancement and how to deal with years without publications.
Guest speaker: Professor Gad Yair, who will talk about the "lean years" in his career and tips for coping.

11:00-11:45
Fundraising as a tool for personal leverage in academic careers.
Guest speaker: Professor Miri Yamini, who won ERC 2024.

Join us for a deeper understanding of how fundraising can not only finance your research but also enhance your professional standing and unlock new opportunities.

The search and selection of research literature are fundamental aspects of academic work, with researchers being experts in finding necessary studies, ranging from short lookup through exploratory searches to systematic literature reviews. Systematic reviews and other forms of research synthesis have drawn attention to the need for transparent approaches to research, directing focus towards infrastructures supporting research. There is a variety of literature databases of heterogenious quality, different publication types, and inclusion of publications in different languages. Many literature services are not explicit about the scope of their databases. Educational research often requires a transdisciplinary knowledge base, dispersed across multiple platforms. However, the choice of literature databases for a search influences the results (Wanyama et al., 2022; Heck et al., 2023).

To navigate the search process effectively, a combination of knowledge about different databases, retrieval methods, and search strategies is essential. Since there is no universal solution in information seeking, the selection of databases, search engines, and academic social networks remains an individual decision tied to research objectives.

The workshop will provide an overview of existing literature services, considering the publishing norms in educational science and focusing on specialized databases in the field, along with their advantages and disadvantages regarding media coverage, access methods, and disciplinary focus. Next, the workshop will encourage discussions allowing participants to exchange their experiences regarding bibliographic work in educational research and within national contexts.

The objectives of the workshop are:

• To raise awareness among participants regarding various paths and methods in bibliographic searches, outlining the pros and cons of selected literature services and search strategies.

• To foster discussion on experiences and needs.

Invitation to see all posters which have been presented in the ERC sessions in the coffee break.

Provocations from: Aravella Zacchariou, Arjen Wals, Nicola Walshe, Sobhi Tawil, Kate Greer, and Keri Facer Facilitators: Elsa Lee, Ole Andreas Kvamme, Stefan Bengtsson Presentations will provide concrete examples of policy frameworks that have implications for ESE research and practice across Europe and beyond. The frameworks include UNECE, ACE from UNFCCC, and the UNESCO Futures of Education report. Some of the presentations will be live and streamed, while others will be provided as video materials a week before the event. On the day, the workshop will open with four 10 minute presentations, followed by some questions to the panel and then a whole group discussion, using padlet to feedback ideas for a plenary.
This is a hybrid event and we encourage online participation from the whole network very much including people who are not attending the conference this year in person. You do not need to have paid the conference fee to join us! The online conversation will be managed through breakout rooms. Here are some questions to think about to frame those conversations: What has been your own experience in your own settings with what policy? What does thinking about policy reveal, and what does it occlude? What is made visible and what is made invisible when we think though the implications of policy. NOTE: there may be some slight changes to the panel

Motivation plays a crucial role in adult learning and education. In view of the rapid development of society and the transformation of the world in which we live, the concept of lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important (Ilie, 2019). Although motivation for adult learning is one of the classic research topics in the field of adult education, it has received relatively little empirical attention in the last decade (Boeren 2012a, 2012b; Kalenda & Kočvarová, 2021).

Considering the importance of lifelong learning, which is central to personal and professional development, it is essential to understand what motivates adults to engage in learning (Sogunro, 2014) and apply this knowledge in practice. Understanding the factors that drive adults to pursue further education is critical for educators, policymakers, and employers (Gardner et al., 2021).

The topic of adult motivation for learning is important for several reasons. First, motivated adults are more likely to actively engage in the learning process and persist through challenges (Sogunro, 2014). This increases the chances that adults will complete their education in both formal and non-formal settings.

Second, adult learners are often driven by practical considerations such as applying newfound knowledge or skills to their work or daily responsibilities. This makes it possible to discern what direction the current revision of the curricula should take to reflect the current needs and demands of adults (Creighton & Hudson, 2002).

Third, adults could improve their chances of success in the labour market through further organised learning (Boeren et al., 2012a).

Finally, successful completion of training programmes can motivate adults to participate in further education even more, increase their self-esteem and self-confidence, improve working conditions and increase belief in their own abilities (Mara, Cascón-Pereira, & Brunet Icart, 2022)

This presentation will bring the systematic review aimed at exploring the motivations of adults for education, considering both the individual and environmental factors that influence their decision to participate in educational programs. The main objective of this review study is to describe the relationship between motivation and adult learning through an analysis of published empirical studies since the 1960s. A secondary aim is to provide an overview of the directions and trends that these two interrelated concepts have taken.

In this presentation, we address the following research questions:

• Which topics within adult motivation and learning were discussed in the studies?
• Which theories were applied in the studies?
• Which methodologies were used in the studies?
• In which geographical/cultural setting research was done?

In this systematic review, we will examine the existing literature on adult education motivation to identify key themes, trends, and gaps in the current understanding of this topic. By synthesizing the findings from a range of studies, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the motivational factors that influence adults' decisions to engage in educational activities. Our review will contribute to a deeper understanding of adult education motivation and provide valuable insights for practitioners and researchers in the field.

Foreign language teachers’ digital competencies have undoubtedly become significant for effective teaching practices not only due to the rapid advancement in technology. Recently, the importance of teachers’ AI competencies has been highlighted as a result of the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, which provoked a huge number of discussions over the effects of Generative AI (GAI) on language instruction. There is no doubt that foreign language teacher training programmes should ensure the enhancement of future language teachers’ AI digital competencies in order to avoid old-fashioned teaching and learning practices, promote innovative methodologies, and prepare student teachers for an effective teaching in the future. However, there are certain difficulties and challenges that still hinder the integration of GAI in teacher training programmes. Thus, it is significant to carry out a systematic analysis of international practices of GAI integration in teacher education for enhancing foreign language teachers’ competencies. This paper describes the practical bases of GAI integration in language teacher education around the world from 2022 to 2024. The purpose of this review is to identify research trends and potential directions that would help to establish knowledge about empirical research on GAI integration in foreign language teacher training. It does not only examine the most novel practices of applying its models, but also describes these practices, evaluates challenges, emphasizes the most interesting experiences, and contributes with an overview for researchers, teacher educators, educational authorities on how foreign language teacher education can develop student teachers’ AI digital competencies necessary for the future use in classroom instruction.

There has been an exponential growth in Transnational Education (TNE) by UK universities in the last two decades (Healey, 2017). This has provided UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a method to export high quality education and brand to diversify their international activities and income streams, and to enhance their reputation (Hatakenaka, 2004).

TNE, as opposed to international student recruitment, is commonly understood in the UK to mean the delivery of education from a university in the UK, to students in a different country (JISC, 2020). Rather than the students coming to the UK for their education, the university will deliver education via collaboration with another partner, at an international branch campus (IBC), or via some form of online method.

In 2012 the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reported 70 UK HEIs were involved in TNE activities specifically with China (QAA, 2013). According to the 2022 British Council research piece into TNE, nearly all UK HEIs are engaged in some type of TNE activity, with 133 respondents declaring some form of collaborative arrangement with a Chinese partner, demonstrating a 50% increase in a decade (British Council, 2022). Similarly, during this time China has been looking to improve its tertiary education by importing the best of the West, as can be seen from updates to the Chinese - Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools (CFCRS) policies which date from 2003, (State Council, 2003).

As a major contributor to the UK international student market, China has been seen as a key target for the export of UK higher education. Over the last 30 years, China’s tertiary education has been evolving rapidly (QAA, 2013) during which time there has been a growing interest in UK Universities entering partnership agreements in China.

The first TNE partnerships in China involving UK HEIs can be seen in the joint campus arrangements of University of Nottingham Ningbo (UNNC), which opened in 2004, and Xi’An Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU), established in 2006. Creating such campus models is incredibly complex and expensive (Feng, 2013). As a result, most UK HEIs have preferred to look towards the Joint Institute (JI) or Joint Education Programme (JEP). These models require the foreign partner to contribute one third of the staff, hours, modules, and credits of the degree, based on the Chinese award requirements. The main difference between them is that the former contains two or more programmes while the latter is a single programme. The number of students which can be recruited to each is also capped at 300 for a JI or 120 for a JEP. At present there are 44 JI collaborations between UK and Chinese Universities.

In this paper I will explore the literature around the challenges faced in managing staff working within TNE, and will address the following questions:

1. What can we learn from existing pedagogy about the challenges staff may experience working in TNE Joint Institute activity in China?
2. Where are there gaps in the literature which need addressing?

Research conducted in previous studies, limited by a very small sample of participants, has primarily focused on those teaching at International Branch Campuses (Healey, 2017; Richardson & McKenna, 2002; Tran, Le, Phan, & Pham, 2021). This focus means that evidence is limited and somewhat anecdotal in nature and has not taken account of the challenges of working in partnership with another organisation. This research will look to apply prior knowledge and develop the pedagogy around these new types of complex collaborations.

This paper delves into the discourse surrounding the crisis of care, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, and seeks alternative perspectives that expose the shortcomings of neoliberal capitalism. The focus on the inhumanity and criminality of such a system (Saad-Filho, 2020) is heightened in the context of the pandemic, considered "the worst global crisis since World War II" (ILO, 2020: p. 2). The paper argues that amidst crises such as wars, conflicts, climate change, and economic downturns, there is an opportunity to envision a society that serves the majority and avoids repeating suffering and disgraceful outcomes.

The primary objective is to explore feminist, political economy, and post-human theoretical approaches to the 21st-century crisis and its connection to the crisis of care. Care, as emphasized by Fisher and Tronto (1990), is portrayed as a fundamental aspect of our lives, essential for maintaining, continuing, and repairing our world. Given the current global crisis characterized by pandemics, climate crises, social inequality, and economic troubles, the significance of care becomes more pronounced, leading to a specific focus on the crisis of care.

From feminist discussions about contradictions related to care within social reproduction, Nancy Fraser, a prominent social reproduction theorist, contends that while social reproduction is essential for sustained capital accumulation, capitalism's relentless pursuit of unlimited growth has the potential to destabilize the very processes of social reproduction on which it relies (Fraser, 2016, p.100). In the realm of social reproduction, significant contributions have been made by feminist scholars such as Bhattacharya (2015; 2017) and Fraser (2016). It is argued that social reproduction, involving the production of life, plays a central role in the accumulation of capital. Moreover, by incorporating feminist critiques, some scholars also criticize the gendered aspect of care in organizing and advocate for a 'care revolution' (Winker, 2015; 2020; Habermann, 2009; 2016) that confronts the crisis of social reproduction.

In light of the devaluation and extensive commodification of care, there has been a consequential emergence of fractured care cycles, leading to distinct separations among caring-about, taking-care-of, care-giving, care-receiving, and even caring-with (Tronto, 1993, 2009). This fragmentation underscores the complex nature of contemporary care dynamics. Recently, there has been a surge in feminist researchers and social movements advocating for a "Care Revolution" (Winker 2015; 2021; Habermann 2009; 2016). Regional networks have formed, bringing together groups and individuals from diverse fields of care, collectively confronting the crisis of social reproduction. The vision behind the "care revolution" is to steer society away from profit-driven orientations towards a focus on genuine needs. Advocating for fundamental changes, the movement calls for a deeper exploration of political economy and formulates a utopian vision emphasizing the participation of all and (self)care for all (Brückner 2016). Communities engaged in these efforts envision, reimagine, and reorganize care issues through joint initiatives. The concept of commons is integral to this transformation, expanding the understanding of care beyond traditional caregiving services for specific demographics. Care is viewed broadly as caring for each other, demonstrating concern and interest in the community as a whole. The issue of care is deliberately positioned at the heart of commons and commoning (Helfrich & Bollier 2020; Habermann 2009; 2016). By starting from people's own needs and envisioning care beyond the confines of the neoliberal capitalist system, commoning serves as a means to showcase "other possible" care practices. This approach recognizes that needs are the starting points for reproduction commoning, fostering community building not based on identity or status but on shared material and life conditions (Zechner, 2021, p.35).

This study aims to explore the dynamics of academic identity negotiation and (re)construction among Chinese students in the UK and the factors that affected the identity negotiation and (re)construction during this process. The pandemic era introduces additional complexities and challenges, making this research particularly timely and relevant. As globalisation forges ahead, an increasing number of Chinese students choose to study abroad, with those in the UK representing a significant proportion. In this context, comprehending how these students navigate and reshape their academic identities amidst the unique challenges of the pandemic and post-pandemic periods becomes crucial.

While there are previous studies related to identity negotiation and (re)construction of Chinese international students abroad, it often narrowly focused on doctoral students, thus overlooking the substantial cohort of master’s students. Furthermore, much of the existing literature presented fragmented insights and lacks a comprehensive, longitudinal perspective on the students’ identity development trajectory.

Drawing from post-structuralist stance of identity and incorporating theories of agency along with Norton’s notion of investment, this study analysed how Chinese students dynamically negotiated and (re)constructed their identities during their studies in the UK, especially under the extraordinary circumstances brought about by the pandemic. The post-structuralist perspective on identity acknowledges its dynamic, fluid, and sometimes contradictory nature. The theoretical framework of agency and investment is suitable for analysing students’ identity in my study as it emphasises the active role students play in their language learning and identity formation. Agency highlights learners’ intentional actions to shape their learning experiences and identity, emphasising the dynamic and proactive nature of identity construction. Investment, on the other hand, links learners' commitment to language learning with their identity and social context, showing how learners invest in their language skills as part of their identity and social membership. This framework is applicable to my study as it can provide insights into how Chinese students studying abroad actively engage in and shape their academic and social experiences, negotiating and constructing their identities in a new linguistic and cultural environment.

The study's significance is manifold: it aims not only to facilitate Chinese students’ adaptation to new academic environments in these unprecedented times but also to equip educators and policymakers with a profound understanding of the students' academic identity (re)construction and negotiation processes. This, in turn, will improve the support systems available to these students during and after the pandemic.

The presentation topic is located in the intersection of internationalization in higher education and formal and non-formal educational activities. Learning abroad, especially in higher education, but also in the non-formal education field, receives a lot of attention in the last decades. Emerging neoliberal pressures have affected the domain of learning abroad and keep pushing towards the direction of sending future professionals overseas in order for them to acquire valuable skills and competencies for their education and future career (Moscovitz & Zahavi, 2019; Rizvi, 2011; Thimmel, 2013; Waldow, 2018; Yang, 2020). These developments have fueled the further diversification of the available programs for learning abroad and, as a result, an increasing number of individuals has visited multiple countries today by getting involved in several types of learning experiences (e.g., study abroad, volunteering, language courses, au-pair, work & travel).

The objective of this research is to collect experiences of current higher education students as well as recent graduates who have participated in at least two different types of international learning experiences. Individuals with multiple experiences abroad were chosen as the most suitable group to determine what people find meaningful across different types of international learning experiences because of their ability to compare their experiences overseas. This presentation focuses on one aspect of the wider research project that is being conducted, and attempts to discover to what extent participants of formal and non-formal international learning experiences find meaningfulness in personal development aspects and/or aspects regarding their contribution to/influence on the world.

Regarding the conceptual framework, I examine meaningfulness mainly in subjective terms (Yeoman, 2019). This means that the assessment of worthiness and the subsequent feelings cultivated by the interviewees should imply that the action is perceived by the individual as meaningful, irrespectively of whether the results could be characterized as ‘objectively meaningful’. The interviewees’ assessment is taken into account first and foremost. Further, to determine and categorize where individuals find meaningfulness and if this is primarily associated with the self or the world, I take into account two theories regarding the sources of meaning (Aguinis & Glavas, 2019; Rosso et al., 2010 in Yeoman, 2014: 18). These theories mention the self, others, the context (skill variety, task identity, task significance), and spiritual life as major sources of meaningfulness.

The analysis under the above-mentioned lens offers a better understanding of what individuals aspire to gain when choosing to go abroad for learning purposes. Following Baumeister (2018), a differentiation is made between happiness and meaningfulness in international learning experiences. This means that positive feelings of happiness during an experience abroad do not necessarily guarantee meaningful results and vice versa. Approaching international experiences from a lifelong perspective, meaningfulness is examined under a lifelong lens in order to help future students and current professionals in the field of internationalization to choose their international learning experiences more consciously.

Children of immigrants navigate the complex terrain of multiple ethnic identities and spaces of belonging, a process shaped by diverse contextual influences that can foster assimilation into the host culture or nurture connections to their parents' homeland. Schools, as primary institutions of the host country, wield considerable influence in this negotiation, with interactions among peers and adults contributing significantly to the development of ideas about ethnic self and others. The current global climate, steeped in anti-immigrant rhetoric and exclusionary immigration policies, exacerbates the challenges faced by these children. The United Kingdom's (UK) Brexit referendum stands as a poignant example, reflecting a culmination of hostility towards migrant and ethnic minorities in Britain (Benson and Lewis, 2019; Burrell and Schweyher, 2019). This paper positions itself within the neo-assimilationist context illuminated by Zontini and Peró (2020), seeking to explore how migrant children, particularly the largest community of Polish pupils in the UK, perceive and experience their school climate.

The Brexit context adds a layer of significance to the experiences of Polish children, who rapidly established themselves in the UK following the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. Despite initial expectations of seamless integration due to their whiteness and shared cultural background, the shifting socio-political landscape has exposed vulnerabilities and challenges for this migrant group (Lumsden et al., 2019). In this dynamic context, the paper explores the web of social interactions with peers and adults, investigating how these interactions contribute to Polish pupils' sense of belonging within the school environment. Additionally, the exploration of the overall school atmosphere provides insights into how these children navigate the neo-assimilationist climate and the broader implications for their well-being.

The theoretical framework grounding this research draws from the concept of school climate (Thapa et al., 2013), offering a nuanced lens to understand social relationships, safety perceptions, and the institutional environment for learning. Beyond the conventional focus on teaching and learning and academic achievements, this study uncovers the multifaceted ways in which Polish children navigate their school environment, shedding light on the socio-cultural dynamics that shape their educational experiences. By examining the socio-political landscape and the experiences of Polish children in UK schools, this research contributes to the broader conversation surrounding migration, education, and social cohesion in a post-Brexit era.

The study's focus on Polish children aligns with the European/international dimension, as Brexit is not an isolated phenomenon but a microcosm of the challenges faced by migrant communities within the larger exclusionary European context. The experiences of Polish pupils in the UK reflect broader trends of increasing anti-immigration sentiments across Europe and globally, making this research relevant to educational practitioners, policymakers, and researchers working within an international framework.

Furthermore, this research serves as a platform to amplify the voices of marginalised children, providing them with an opportunity to be heard in a landscape where their perspectives are often overlooked. This study contributes to developing an understanding of the school experiences of Polish children in England post-Brexit, offering insights into the intricate dynamics of their social interactions, sense of belonging, and overall school climate. By focusing on the largest community of migrant pupils in the UK, the research illuminates broader trends of anti-immigration sentiments, making a compelling case for the importance of fostering inclusive and culturally sensitive educational environments.

This study presents a quantitative analysis of empirical research on the objectivity of evaluation throughout the term's summative assessment in specialized schools.

In the field of education, evaluation is the process of determining the efficacy, caliber, or performance of curriculum, instructors, pupils, or organizations. The purpose of evaluation is to collect data that will enable decision-makers to make well-informed choices on the efficacy and enhancement of educational initiatives. Evaluation criteria may include time, purpose, evaluator, focus, criteria, kind of data, and level. The assessment based on timing is the main topic of the work.

In Kazakhstan's educational system, examinations are always very important. While each academic has given their own explanation of the importance of assessment, it is important to note the observations of S. Mirseitova, who supplied three definitions of assessment:

Evaluation: To make well-informed judgments, evidence must be gathered, analyzed, and interpreted. A wider range of tasks are included in evaluation with the goal of determining how well educational procedures and results work.

Assessment (Monitoring): This phrase refers to the ongoing monitoring and assessment of students' academic performance as they move through the learning process. Evaluation aids in monitoring modifications and modifying instructional tactics for improved outcomes.

Grade (Mark or Grade): This is the phrase used to describe the final assessment of a student's academic performance. A grade is an evaluation, either numerical or letter-based, that shows the student's degree of knowledge and proficiency in a certain area.

For the purpose of comprehending and evaluating the efficacy of Kazakhstan's educational system, each of these concepts is crucial. (2004)

In the event of examining the data and literature of researchers who have already defined and conducted studies regarding objective assessment of learners, it’s clear to observe that their conclusions match. “Although academics, instructors, and students are interested in this issue, the current method for measuring knowledge is far from flawless.” stated G. Romashkina (2005) and A. Slobodin (2002). “There is no absolutely objective evaluation.” concluded B. Walvoord (1998). When it came to defining objectivity as fairness or honesty, Robin Dee Tierney provided an expanded definition that was considered a crucial finding of the study. Fairness in educational evaluation is required by several imperatives, including pedagogical, technological, and democratic imperatives. Since fairness is neither binary nor a characteristic of an evaluation task or instrument, it is comparable to the measurement attributes of validity and reliability. (2013)

Two years ago, a new school in Kazakhstan opened its doors for the purpose of conducting the research. Overestimating the present school evaluation was a concern during the first academic year. In this sense, the current academic year saw the coding of summative works. We may make the following deductions after examining the acquired average indicators of quality and learning accomplishment throughout a two-year period of study: Learning success is at 100%. The degree of knowledge lies between excellent and acceptable. However, in the second academic year, the caliber of knowledge declines. In the first quarter the quality of knowledge amounted to 42.03%, in the second quarter it amounted to 62.55%. While in the last academic year it amounted to 70.19%.

The study's significance is defined by the necessity to enhance the present evaluation technique for students' knowledge and to identify students' current knowledge and abilities in dynamics.

Due to the large range of assessment methods, the research problem—the absence of impartiality in the evaluation of students' summative work—is pervasive.

The objective of this research is to quantify the development of evaluation objectivity and academic outcomes to the previous year after introducing and implementing new assessment methods, in particular “coding”, that can increase impartiality.

The demographics of students in schools are more diverse than ever in today’s globalized world due to the growing cultural, linguistic, and developmental diversity in classrooms (Florian, 2017).1994 Salamanca Statement and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has started international movement for inclusion to be norm and promoting all students to have equal rights to access to education. Within growing advocacy and policy reforms, inclusive education has been recommended as the most practical way to educate students with needs (Chow et al.). Teachers are seen as key figures/ agents to implement inclusive education and determine the success of inclusion in mainstream schools (de Boer et al., 2011; Feng, 2012; Moberg et al., 2020; Robo, 2014; Shevchenko et al., 2020). In other words, the success of inclusive education heavily relies on teachers using appropriate methods to be able to address to different needs of learners. Yet, teachers reporting lack of competence, insufficient knowledge and not being supported raise an issue (Seo, 2020).

In view of the fact and considering that higher education institutions are offering Teacher Education (TE) programmes for pre-service teachers to be qualified to teach in mainstream classes which in turn raise concerns about how adequate teacher education programmes are and how pre-service teachers should be prepared sufficiently respond to students with diverse needs. TE is divided into two main stages: Initial teacher education and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in which this research will based on ITE for Inclusion in two divergent contexts: Republic of Azerbaijan and Scotland.

This comparative research will discuss the teachers’ role in shaping inclusive education in two contrasting cultural settings: Republic of Azerbaijan and Scotland with a focus on ITE for Inclusion. The research aims to present latest situation of inclusive education, introducing ITE programmes and how inclusion is embedded in the programs. Furthermore, information on how/ what pre-service teachers are being taught to be prepared to teach students with needs in both given contexts will be provided.

The research will employ two theoretical framework: Amarta Sen's capacity approach to explore how ITE programs contribute to building capabilities in pre-service teachers for inclusive practices, and a cross-cultural comparative analysis approach to illuminate factors that foster similarities and differences in ITE programs for inclusion between two countries characterized by divergent educational and cultural norms.

The research question and sub-questions guiding the study are:

1. How does initial teacher education (ITE) programmes prepare pre-service teachers for inclusive practices in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Scotland?

1.1 What differences and similarities exist between Azerbaijani and Scottish’s ITE programmes for inclusion?

1.2 What are experiences of senior pre-service teachers in their involvement with ITE programmes for Inclusion?

1.3 What are the experiences of teacher educators in the context of ITE programs for inclusion?

In the past 10 years, the Further Education and Training (FET) sector in Ireland has undergone fundamental reform (Rami & O’Leary, 2017). FET in Ireland is now an umbrella term to describe all post-compulsory education and training outside of Higher Education. SOLAS (An tSeirbhis Oideachais Leanunaigh agus Scileanna which translates as Further Education and Skills Service) was formed in 2013 as the state organisation responsible for funding, planning and coordinating FET in Ireland.

This study is driven by the question, ‘What impact has sectoral reform has had on the professional identity and practice of teachers in Ireland’s FET sector?’ As the first phase of wider multi-phase study, this systematic literature review will provide the initial groundwork for mapping the activity system (Engeström, 2016) of teachers in FET. This mapping will inform conceptual and theoretical frameworks for subsequent study phases.

Ireland’s national FET strategy (SOLAS, 2020) proposes an evolution of the FET sector in Ireland, prioritising agility and responsiveness to changing societal and economic needs. Owing to the separate evolution of ‘Further Education’ and ‘Training’ sectoral components, reform has raised ideological tensions within FET. Criticism from those within adult and further education traditions have claimed reforms represent a neo-liberal paradigm-shift (Glanton, 2023) with a bias towards training traditions. A top-down re-organisation of the sector and the acceleration to align education with employability is noted by O'Neill and Fitzsimons (2020) as contributing to a "contested profession" of FET teacher.

The current Irish FET sector will be explored through the Three-Perspectives Model of VET (Cedefop, 2023), representing overlapping and competing perspectives of Socioeconomic/Labour Market, Education System and Pedagogical/Epistemological. This lens allows comparative analysis of the Irish FET system reforms and other relevant national VET systems in Europe.

A Socioeconomic/Labour Market perspective focuses on FET’s place in Irish society. The SOLAS sectoral reforms have prioritised an outcome-based approach to FET and prioritised jobs creation. This has led to a perceived commoditisation and marketisation of education, leading to FET being subservient to the interests of the economy rather than being driven by emancipatory educational goals (O'Brien, 2018).

From an Educational System perspective, we will examine the infrastructure that has developed under sectoral reform. The role of FET within the wider education system will be reviewed. A performative funding model has been criticism as contributing to a shift from a flexible learner-centred approach to a simplified funder-centred system-driven model (O'Brien, 2018), similar to the new public management approach to further education in England (Smith & O’Leary, 2013).

The role of the FET teacher will be examined from a Pedagogical/Epistemological perspective. Terms such as ‘adult education’ have disappeared from the FET narrative, while others such as ‘inclusion’ and ‘lifelong learning’ have been redefined within an FET driven by a neo-liberal training agenda (Glanton, 2023). The reframing of ‘Teachers’ in FET as ‘Learning Practitioners’ (SOLAS & ETBI, 2017; SOLAS & ETBI, 2020) further demonstrates the contested professional status of teachers (O'Neill & Fitzsimons, 2020) within a reformed sector.

Finally, building from the Pedagogical/Epistemological perspective findings, the Activity System (Engeström, 2016) of FET teachers will be mapped. This unit of analysis helps to frame the professional identity and practice of teachers in FET, and identify inner contradictions and tensions stemming from sectoral reform.

In today's world, pervasive alienation and detachment from democratic processes underscore the urgency of addressing political challenges, particularly the rise of populist rhetoric (Ruitenberg, 2009; Tryggvason, 2018). The potential decline in civic engagement and trust in democracy among students is linked to their limited exposure to lived democracy, often absent in decision-making processes at school; for instance, over 70% of Lithuanian students don’t believe that their voice can make a difference in decision-making (NVO Švietimo tinklas, 2017). This disillusionment often leads students to relinquish decision-making to authorities and detachment from institutions.

Despite the endorsement of children's participation by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, translating this ideal into practice poses challenges. Despite the school's routine featuring non-formal civic education situations related to conflicts, student voices, and school governance, negative attitudes persist (Lo, 2017). Mere adoption of a democratic formal system is insufficient; authentic democratic institutions flourish when rooted in a democratic culture with values, attitudes, and practices (Council of Europe, 2016). Consistently upholding these values within the school community is vital for fortifying democracy, embracing pluralism, and transcending mere imitation (Thornberg; 2009). This significantly shapes how students develop democratic competence, particularly as the younger generation, disillusioned with traditional political processes, seeks alternative ways to engage in and reshape democracy (Thomas & Percy-Smith, 2023).

Their evolving approach to school participation may align with agonistic democracy, as proposed by Chantal Mouffe. Arising as a reaction to global polarization and in contrast to deliberative democracy, agonistic democracy sees conflict not as a hazard but as a driving force for democracy (Mouffe, 2000, 2013). Shifting attitudes toward conflict and viewing them as opportunities for educating democratic citizenship in schools could bring transformative changes in student participation and learning processes (Lo, 2017; Ruitenberg, 2009). Understanding how students learn about democracy and develop attitudes toward democratic values in today's world requires exploring pupil participation from an agonistic perspective, with an emphasis on the positive role of conflict to foster a dynamic and participatory school environment.

Within the historical context of Lithuania, where democratic citizenship education emerged three decades ago following the restoration of independence, marking a departure from almost half a century of totalitarian rule, there exists a noticeable gap in the study of student participation in daily school life. Consequently, this research aims to address this gap by evaluating students' current participation in daily school life and, through participatory action research, identifying and exploring ways to instigate change, potentially by implementing approaches rooted in agonistic democracy.

Research questions:

• How do students express their participation in daily school life, and in what contexts and settings does this manifestation occur? What types of students actively engage in these participatory experiences?
• How do various stakeholders perceive agonistic participation in relation to fostering democratic education? What insights do students gain from this participation, and how do they reflect on their learning experiences?
• How do teachers either enhance or impede the seamless integration of agonistic perspectives into students' democratic learning experiences, and what measures could be implemented to improve this integration?

The presented study is based on the observation of the implementation of an intercultural project offered in secondary schools in Germany. Intercultural competence has been deemed as one of the possibilities to tackle the forces that broaden the gap between migrated and established members of society in a time of political and societal uncertainty all over Europe.The primary argument of the paper is however, that the intercultural education currently offered in schools is not an exercise in reducing individual stereotypes in order to strengthen societal unity; rather, it involves the active engagement with, utilization of, and reflection on social situations from the perspective of the societal diversity discourse which carries the danger of strengthening mechanisms of exclusion by reproducing not only differentiating categories but the idea of dividing difference which is embedded in a social imaginary no longer attuned to societal reality (Schmidt/Wächter 2023). Though the study is working with a program designed for a national context, conclusions for the improvement of intercultural education in a European context will be drawn.

The research was triggered when it became clear that teachers and instructors of the program reinterpreted situations of conflict brought up by students during discussions by applying the predominant categories of differentiation such as “migrational background” or “nationality” even when these categories were not initially invoked by the participants. This divide between the participants' narrated experiences and the interpretations by instructors and teachers suggests that the courses can be viewed as reinforcing the existing discourse and socializing students into it.

The central argument of this paper is that intercultural education in schools, at times, falls short of its stated objectives. Instead of achieving a deeper understanding as theorized by Bredendiek (2015) and Deardoff (2009), it often serves as an initiation of learners into the discoursive system that perpetuates societal differentiation. More specifically, the program engages in the addressing and discussion of categories commonly employed in public discourse to interpret social problems, thus training participants to argue along those lines. Consequently, participants become socialized into the discourse and the associated narratives, as well as the societal roles imposed upon them through the lense of social identities.

Throughout the program, participants attended three distinct sessions, wherein group dynamic exercises and discussions aimed to enhance understanding and acceptance among students of diverse backgrounds and identities. Despite the program's claim to be grounded in current research on intersectionality and the constructed nature of societal categories, it adhered to traditional methods and beliefs of intercultural education which are widely criticized by Mecheril/Rangger (2022) and Gogolin/Krüger-Potratz (2020). They characterize current intercultural education as it is performed in schools as accepting a seemingly ontological differentiation between "us and them," focusing solely on acceptance rather than understanding or deconstruction of differences. Despite its claimed departure from problematic traditions and Eurocentrism, the program seemingly faces the same pitfalls as similar predecessors. The observations reveal that participants, enrolled due to conflicts within the group as perceived by the teachers, seldom attributed the conflicts to the categories discussed by the program. Instead, it was the explicit discussion of categories such as nationality or culture that incorporated them into the participants' argumentative patterns. Often, it was the teachers or instructors who actively reinterpreted participants' discussions through the lense of discursive categories such as "culture" or "belonging."

In her book 'Belonging: a culture of space', bel hooks writes 'living away from my native place I become more consciously Kentuckian than I was when I lived at home' (hooks 2009/2019, p. 13). This quote shows the significance of places in relation to one's own feelings of belonging. This is exactly where my doctoral project comes in, in which I ask how students with a refugee background experience everyday life in secondary schools in Berlin (Germany). Based on a relational understanding of space, I differentiate between place and space (Löw 2001/2019).

The focus on space in this case becomes interesting when we understand space as a product of physical, mental and social elements where the physical cannot be seen in isolation from the social and relational (Lefebvre). Space therefore can be described as a combination of what is physically present and what is imagined (Soja). The relation between school and out-of-school spaces will be explored, as will the self-positioning of the students within everyday life at school - beyond the classroom. In this context, moments of agency and well-being that arise in the students' everyday life are of particular research interest.

Focusing on a young refugees' perspective can be understood as a form of 'strategic essentialism' (Spivak 1981), that serves to contribute to a systematic thematization of migration, which is still a young phenomenon in the academic landscape. At the same time it is intended to counteract the dominant discourse in which the connection between education and migration is discussed primarily in the context of successful integration (into the existing system) (Mecheril 2013).

In this paper I want to put a special focus on methodological topics around participatory and creative research with students with a refugee background in schools: Which personas do play a key role?, In which way is the research influenced by the structures of the school itself?, and one of the most important questions, how can the participants be recruited in a participatory manner?

There is a consensus about lifelong learning (LLL) being at the centre of a rapidly changing world. The idea is that change happens in “such a frantic pace that […] we all need to be lifelong learners. We need to continually keep our skills sharp and up to date so that we have an edge in all we do” (Laal & Salamati, 2012, p. 1). Luckily, “of course, we all have a natural desire to learn for adapting to change, enriching and fulfilling our lives” (ibid.). European policy has embraced this zeitgeist and developed several strategies towards LLL. However, the concepts of LLL and the associated concepts knowledge economy/society lack clear analytical distinctions, contributing to a conceptual ambiguity (Peters, 2001). This is not merely definitional but shapes and legitimates knowledge (Hughes, 2002). Brine (2006) differentiates between high knowledge-skilled (HKS) individuals, typically graduates, and low knowledge-skilled (LKS) individuals. Brine (2006)also reveals a persistent association between LLL and employability, especially for LKS learners and despite the shift of employment from the first to the fourth aim of LLL, the European Commission continued to prioritise the relationship between LLL and employability in its White Papers (CEC, 2000). The White Papers construct the LKS learner as at risk and the threat, to the knowledge society. The White Papers outline the individualised, pathologised, LKS learner who, unlike the HKS learner, has personal identifiable needs: basic skills (numeracy, literacy, information technology), entrepreneurship and social skills. Those who have not been able, for whatever reason, to acquire the relevant basic skills threshold must be offered continuing opportunities to do so. However often they may have failed to succeed to take up what has been offered so far (CEC, 2000, p. 11). In this sense, Field (2006, p. 114) states that “[l]ifelong learning is actively reproducing inequality.” Field (2006, p. 116) raises four reasons for that: 1) the closure of options for those deemed unskilled; 2) rising general expectations; 3) new politics of poverty and welfare; 4) absence from new learning culture can become a mechanism for legitimating existing inequalities. And so, inequalities in education carry on throughout life even if those who suffer the most from it are often the least aware of it (Becker, 2013; Hadjar, 2008). Because those who have benefited least from educational opportunities in the past are also far the most likely to express little or no wish to return to education in the future (Aldridge, 2005, pp. 15-17). And so, another important aspect of LLL to consider is resistance. Some adults simply have no interest in taking up the so-called opportunities that are on offer (Field, 2006, p. 131). For them, not being a school type can be a positive form of self-identity.

Working out the perception and subsequent coping strategies of this form of inequality and/or resistance is the aim of this research. The focus of this project is on the relationship between educational and job-related experiences and the resulting attitudes towards LLL. This relationship describes the exercise, production, and accumulation of knowledge and cannot be dissociated from the power mechanisms with which they maintain complex relations (Foucault, 1994, p. 291). This work will therefore analyse how the LLL discourse, including societal expectations and exclusion, affect people whose lives are shaped by educational inequality. The research question is:

What patterns of perception, interpretation and potential coping strategies are evident in people who suffer from educational inequality regarding the perceived pressure coming from LLL discourse?

There is a growing interest in conducting Systematic Reviews in education for both research purposes and evidence-based policy making. Education research is a critical domain that grants us valuable insights into the intricate processes of learning and teaching. Within this dynamic field, researchers employ a diverse array of methods and approaches to investigate a wide spectrum of educational facets, ranging from the dynamics of classroom environments and teacher-student interactions to the far-reaching consequences of education policies and practices on student outcomes (Creswell & Poth, 2019).

Typically, education research is categorized into two overarching paradigms: qualitative and quantitative research. However, it's worth noting that mixed-method research occupies a distinctive paradigm of its own. This comprehensive approach brings with it unique foundational perspectives on social reality and research, distinct ontological and epistemological viewpoints, and a set of axiologies and methodologies exclusive to its domain.

However, Systematic Reviews synthesising qualitative research evidence still pose theoretical and methodological challenges at all stages of the process (from the formulation of research questions to the evidence claim made by the authors).

In the field of education, the synthesis of qualitative studies within systematic reviews has long been a shared challenge. Education, inherently qualitative in nature, presents a complexity of variables that complicates the calculation of a straightforward combining effect size in meta-analysis (Borenstein, 2009). Moreover, the profound insights into educational settings and perceptions derived from the synthesis of qualitative studies hold immense value. Understanding not just whether a practice was successful, but why it was, offers a deeper perspective. However, the diversity in how qualitative research is conducted and reported poses significant challenges in synthesizing these findings (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2006).

While there's a prevailing belief that qualitative research can be systematically reviewed and synthesized, distinguishing methodically conducted qualitative research from those lacking rigor remains a necessity. Furthermore, a consensus on various aspects of the research process and its reporting still eludes the field (Garside, 2014).

Qualitative systematic reviews in Education provide valuable insights into the characteristics of knowledge claims made within the field. These reviews are designed to synthesize and analyse qualitative research studies to generate comprehensive and nuanced understandings of educational phenomena. The characteristics of knowledge claims in qualitative systematic reviews are distinct and supported by the review authors through rigorous methodology and transparent reporting. Critical reflection on facts and the interpretation of evidence lies at the core of all research, particularly when using research findings to guide policies and practices. Within the context of a systematic review, this process takes on added significance. Here, it is not only essential to deliberate upon the review methodology but also scrutinize the studies that have been incorporated into the review and dissect the resultant findings (Gough et al., 2017). This interconnected triplet – the research question, research methods, and research data – forms the linchpin of constructing knowledge claims within the purview of qualitative systematic reviews in the field of Education. Against this backdrop, this review aims at answering the following research question:

What are the characteristics of the knowledge claims made in qualitative systematic reviews in the field of education and how are they supported by the authors of the reviews?

a) conducting a systematic review of existing systematic reviews of qualitative studies in the education field with a focus on student, teacher and parents’ subjective experiences, beliefs, opinions and attitudes;

b) developing a comprehensive theoretical framework by integrating Toulmin's Argumentation Model and Gough's Claim Appraisal Framework (Gough, 2022; Toulmin, 1958) to identify methodological characteristics and reporting practices of qualitative systematic reviews in the education field.

Topic and theoretical framework

Previous research across the Irish (SFI, 2021), European (Archer et al., 2020; El Takach & Yacoubian, 2020) and international (Dickson et al., 2021) context has illustrated that young people generally have positive views of and are interested in science while in school. Despite this, many, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, struggle to envision themselves as scientists (Archer, 2020). Some restrictive and possibly exclusionary perceptions about science and scientists persist within Ireland, the UK and other European countries (Brumovska et al., 2022; Christidou et al., 2019; Shimwell et al., 2023). These perceptions can act as a barrier to positive engagement with science, within the educational ‘pipeline’ or outside of it. Science capital, based on Bourdieu’s social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1990), is a construct that encapsulates all science-related knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and social contacts that a person may have (Archer et al., 2015). Since its conception, the theoretical lens of science capital has been applied to better understand science engagement in other countries such as Spain (Salvadó et al., 2021) and China (Du & Wong, 2019). The social justice-oriented pedagogy embedded in the Primary Science Capital Teaching Approach (PSCTA) focuses on changing the field of science education to become more equitable and personalised (Godec et al., 2017; Nag Chowdhuri et al., 2021). Currently there is little published research on how the PSCTA might be applied in a once-off, scientist-facilitated intervention and any potential impacts on young people’s perceptions of scientists.

Intervention description

The aim of the “Meet The Cell Explorer’s (CE) Scientist” intervention is to widen young people’s perceptions of what it means to be a scientist, challenge stereotypes associated with science and being a scientist, and therefore widen the reach of science to more students. The session also aims to contribute towards students’ social science capital by introducing them to a diverse range of local scientist role models, many with hobbies, interests, and backgrounds similar to themselves.

In the intervention, groups of 4-6 CE scientists visit 10-13 year old pupils in their school classrooms. During the hour-long session, scientists introduce themselves and engage in Q&A discussions in small groups of 3-6 young people per scientist, focusing on topics such as the scientist’s hobbies and interests, where they are from, their journey to becoming a scientist and their daily lives as scientists. Young people are given topic names to aid in focusing the discussion but are free to ask any questions they wish to the scientist in their small group, with an additional “ask anything” section at the end of the intervention. These topics aim to integrate the science capital dimensions of knowing someone in a science-related role, knowledge about the transferability of science, and science-related attitudes, values, and dispositions.

Cell Explorer's scientists comprise of volunteer undergraduate and postgraduate science students, and staff based at the university. The scientists receive specialized training to enhance their support for young people’s science capital and using the PSCTA. Through an online module and a 1.5 hour in-person training workshop, the scientists are trained in how to help young people identify their own funds of knowledge that may be useful as a scientist, to make links between the young people’s interests and science, and to address restrictive misconceptions about science and scientists.

Research objective

This study aims to explore the potential short-term effects of a once-off, scientist-facilitated intervention implementing the PSCTA on young people’s perceptions of science and scientists.

Research question

How, if at all, does a once-off, scientist-facilitated classroom intervention implementing elements of the PSCTA contribute towards supporting young people's science capital, specifically their perceptions of scientists?

The aim of this study is to examine upper secondary school students’ perceptions about careers on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields, and to understand factors influencing their career choices. Despite the global need for STEM professionals, there is a persistent decline in students' interest in STEM studies and careers, especially in Europe (OECD, 2016; Osborne & Dillon, 2008; Potvin & Hasni, 2014). Various factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, contribute to this decline, including socio-economic status, learning opportunities, attitude towards science, and limited knowledge of STEM careers (e.g., Holmegaard et al., 2014). Recognizing the multifaceted nature of these challenges, efforts to address declining interest include specially designed instructional interventions with integrated career-based perspectives to enhance students' understanding of STEM careers and boost interest in science (Drymiotou et al., 2021; Gago et al., 2005; OECD, 2016). lisää drymioutou

Social cognitive career theory (Lent et al., 1999) provides a framework for understanding how cognitive, social, and environmental factors interact to shape career choices and development over time. The theory emphasizes, for example, the role of self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, interests and goals, environmental influences, performance and choice expectancies, and contextual supports and barriers in shaping an individual's career choices and actions. Furthermore, previous research has shown that for example other people’s recognition and STEM identity (Ladachart et al., 2023; Nugent et al., 2015; Simpson & Bouhafa, 2020), receiving career information (Kaleva et al., 2023), preconceptions about STEM careers (Holmegaard et al., 2014) and instructional activities in school (Drymiotou et al., 2021) can influence adolescents’ STEM related career choices.

Upper secondary school experiences can significantly influence students' career aspirations, impacting their motivation and choices of science subjects and subsequent academic and career paths (Simpkins et al., 2006). Understanding students’ conceptions about science and STEM related careers is important. It can help teachers and other professionals to develop and implement better learning opportunities that enhance students' beliefs and understanding of STEM related fields. In the present study, the factors influencing upper secondary school students’ STEM career choices are examined through semi-structured interviews. The research questions are:

RQ1: What factors do students described as being influential for their career choices?

RQ2: What kind of conceptions do students have about science and STEM related fields?

Over the previous three decades, social justice in education has become increasingly relevant to debates on globalisation, capitalism, and inequalities around the world (Rawls, 1971; Young, 1990; Fraser, 1997; Zajda, 2006; Rizvi, 2009; Taylor et al, 1997). In the Latin American context, neoliberalism has become hegemonic in the last 30 years with Peru adopting this model in 1990. However, neoliberalism has affected communities in distinct ways, creating further disparities between a minority who have benefitted from this model and more than one third of the population still living in poverty and exclusion in countries like Peru. For example, the latest national assessments on quality education reveal that 66.4% of children in Huancavelica (rural Peru) do not achieve the expected level of literacy for Year 2 (primary level). By contrast, in regions like Tacna (a predominantly urban region) 55.7% of children achieved the expected level (MINEDU, 2022). Moreover, the neoliberal model has served to marginalise the voices of rural teachers and their practices of social justice in Peru.

As teachers play a central role in educational process, the Peruvian scenario shows that rural teachers’ voices who are engaged in the praxis of social justice have not been sufficiently heard at the level of national debates or been part of large studies. The previous research have been largely focused on the analysis of Peruvian teachers’ policy including aspects of remuneration, quality, performance, among others (Cuenca & Stojnic, 2008; UNESCO, 2017; Montero & Uccelli, 2023). For instance, Cuenca (2020), has published a book of six Peruvian teachers’ stories by analysing aspects of teachers’ identities in the last ten years in the country. The author focuses on teachers' concept of work, the value they place on vocation and the way in which they recognise and are recognised as professionals (Cuenca, 2020). Although the author mentions aspects of critical pedagogies in one of the teaching typologies, the study does not will delve into these aspects through the teachers’ stories from a social justice perspective. And this is a gap in Peruvian educational research that this study seeks to fill in.

Thus, the main research question is: How do a group of schoolteachers in rural Peru conceptualise and practice their commitment to social justice through critical pedagogies within the constraints of the neoliberal policy landscape? As secondary questions:

What do a group of rural teachers in Peru understand by social justice and critical pedagogies?

How do they implement critical pedagogies through their practices as rural teachers?

In what ways could the praxis of social justice through critical pedagogies from these group of rural teachers run into tension within the neoliberal policies?

To discuss the above questions, the theoretical framework focuses on critical pedagogies by reviewing key Freirean concepts such as critical consciousness, problem posing and dialogue. For Freire, critical consciousness is integrated with reality where things and facts exist empirically in their causal and circumstantial correlations (Freire, 1974: 39). While problem-posing education is revolutionary in its futurity and its prophetic and hopeful ethos mediated by dialogue as an act of creation (Freire, 1970).

Although the study discusses the Peruvian case, this research sheds light on broader issues connected to discriminatory processes and injustices that affect educational spaces in European contexts. In particular, this study focuses on the role of teachers as key actors in promoting social justice transformations in highly diverse contexts such as Europe. This is an approach to transforming teaching practices, the construction of knowledge(s), the institutional structure and the material relations of wider society (Pica-Smith, 2018; Breunig, 2005).

Students in Indigenous societies worldwide often lack enthusiasm for traditional schooling, mainly due to the cultural clash between colonizers and Indigenous people (Battiste, 2002). In alignment with Indigenous communities in other countries, the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan have endured a history marked by both physical and symbolic violence, manifested through military subjugation, the dismantling of social structures, cultural suppression, and forceful assimilation (Sun, 2000; Pawan, 2009). This has left a legacy of colonization that fails to acknowledge or value Indigenous culture and knowledge in public education (Kawagley et al., 1998). With Taiwan's democratic transition and recent advocacy for Indigenous historical justice and transitional justice, the government has enacted several education policies such as Education Act for Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Languages Development Act, and Development of National Languages Act, safeguarding the education, language, and cultural rights of Indigenous communities. In 2019, amendments to the Education Act for Indigenous Peoples expanded its scope from Indigenous students to encompass all teachers, students, and citizens, marking the formal commencement of an “Indigenous Education for All” era.

While educational policies and regulations play a crucial role in preserving Indigenous languages and cultures and fostering reconciliation between Indigenous and Han Chinese communities, the success of policy implementation and curriculum transformation hinges on teaching and learning, as well as interactions between teachers and students. However, with the migration of Indigenous peoples from Homeland to urban and the significant increase in urban Indigenous students (Huang & Liu, 2016), coupled with the inclusion of Indigenous-related topics in the Curriculum Guidelines of 12-year Basic Education, which implemented in 2019 (Taiwan Ministry of Education, 2019), Han Chinese teachers often find Indigenous-related issues challenging to teach in classrooms with both Indigenous and Han Chinese students, posing challenges to building relationships and interactions with Indigenous students.

A substantial literature indicates that teachers’ perceptions of students influence their expectations, teacher-student interactions, and teaching method (Fang, 1996; Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1993), thus understanding teachers’ perceptions of Indigenous students and how these perceptions may change is crucial in responding to the challenges they face. Like every human being, teachers harbor preconceived notions about members of different ethnicities, genders, social classes, etc., which are often stable and resistant to change (Tatto, 1996). While qualitative research on Han Chinese teachers’ perceptions of Indigenous students suggests that they may hold stereotypical impressions, adopt a cultural deficit perspective, and even exhibit cultural blindness(Chou, 2005, 2007), recent quantitative survey research on Han Chinese teachers’ knowledge about Indigenous students has identified discrepancies between teachers’ self-reported positive, open, and encouraging attitudes toward Indigenous students and their perceived cultural deficiencies in the students (Couch, Nesterova, & Nguyen, 2023). The authors of both researches argue that such phenomena exist due to teachers’ perceptions being shaped by the contextual environment in which they exist, and these perceptions often align with the mainstream societal views of Indigenous peoples. However, they could not explain the mechanisms through which the context influences teachers’ beliefs of Indigenous students.

Expanding on earlier studies, this research delves deeper into the influence of context on teachers' views of Indigenous students. The purpose of this study is:

1. To understand teachers' perspectives, expectations, and awareness of the needs of Indigenous students from different ethnic groups
2. To explore how structural contexts influence teachers’ perceptions of Indigenous students

Our study aims to enhance the practice of teachers in creating a safe learning environment and providing suitable opportunities for Indigenous students. Additionally, the research aspires to contribute to discussions on the construction of shared cultural interweaving spaces among different cultural groups.

Due to the high number of young vulnerable people in need, residential care still occupies an important place in the Czech social care system, even though it is often criticised by all. The adoption of Act No. 189/2016 Coll. has renewed the discussion on the current form of institutional re-educational care, which has been ongoing in the Czech Republic for several decades. The widest possible range of educational resources is being sought, and forms of appropriate institutional action are constantly being discussed.

The paper presents my dissertation that contributes to the above-mentioned discussion by turning to the past, as it examines older models and looks for the possible application of some of their elements in the contemporary context of re-education practice. The dissertation presents projects from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries that were successful in their time. This historical period was chosen as it was a time of all kinds of experiments. A close examination of the older projects shows that their founders often had to face the same challenges that accompany today's institutional re-educational care of a child. The same issues were present and had to be addressed so studying the operation of historical projects can provide examples of good practice in re-education even for today. The dissertation, in the form of qualitative historical research, follows the development of institutional care for at-risk children. The focus is on a detailed description of eight innovative projects created at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The paper focuses on Junior Republic (USA), Ford Republic (USA), Little Commonwealth (UK), Baumgarten (Austria), Boys Town (USA), House of Orphans (Poland), Gorky Colony (Soviet Union), and Summerhill (Great Britain) – as these models are only briefly described in Czech scholarly literature.

Looking back and describing successful solutions to care issues in the past can contribute to the current discussion on the effective form of institutional care for at-risk youth in the Czech Republic. To achieve its goals the research relies on the combination of a direct method and a multiple case study. For triangulation, various primary data sources are used. Topics that have emerged in the past relate to the present situation via Standards of Quality of Care (2015), with 17 inspection reports from residential institutions caring for at-risk children, and 17 annual educational plans.

When exploring the history of care for vulnerable young people with focus on selected residential care projects from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries I ask these questions:

• On what pedagogical concepts were the projects based?
• What elements of successful re-education emerged in the projects?
• What elements of successful re-education were specific to a particular project? Why?
• What elements of successful re-education can work in contemporary residential care education in our country?

To meet these objectives:

• To describe the history of care for vulnerable young people up to the mid-1920s.
• To describe inspiring projects from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries dealing with the re-education of children and young people.
• To identify common features that made the projects successful.
• To find possible links between inspirational projects from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and current practice in education in residential care

The role of history of education as an organizational framework for educational knowledge has been pivotal in the creation and diffusion of educational knowledge. However, there remains a gap in empirical research concerning the semantic structure of history of education knowledge and its transnational transmission. This study addresses this gap by employing complex network science and natural language processing techniques to construct semantic networks for history of education textbooks in German and Chinese. The goal is to explore the early development of the discourse system within the field of "history of education" and investigate the aspects of stability and variability in the process of transnational transmission.

This abstract is based on a a PhD project to be conducted by three researchers from the KU Leuven. The PhD Project is interdisciplinary, bringing together the fields of Pedagogy, Arts and the Sciences. In doing so it hopes to make connections that go beyond just an enriched curriculum, and that are to be found in the very fiber of the different disciplines. It is this what a pragmatic view on STEAM entails, to avoid a bifurcation between the Sciences and the Arts and see them both as sensory ways of being in and getting to know the World.

The starting point of this research project is not to investigate the efficiency and effectiveness of STEAM education as a vehicle for the acquisition of predefined learning outcomes. Rather this project aims to investigate how STEAM, as a composition of science and arts, carries the potential to reconsider it through the lens of an Education of the Senses (EoS). Approaching STEAM as an educational design that activates students' imaginative engagement with the world and with the future, and that allows the student and the teacher to get away from a predefined understanding of it. Theoretically, this project builds further onto the sociological approach of Bruno Latour (2018), starting from the claim that today’s environmental and social problems are a consequence of the irreversible destruction we ourselves have brought to the world we inhabit through our post-enlightenment endeavours. Hence, what we take away from Latour is that we will have to learn to relate to the world differently. Investigating this new form of learning is precisely what we want to perpetuate with our refashioning of STEAM.

As Dutch educationalist Gert Biesta (2006) asserts, to find sustainable pedagogical answers to these ecological and social issues, it is thus needed to look at educational practices through a different lens. To do so, we want to distance ourselves from education as being singularly associated with 'learning', as often happens, by rethinking ‘the school’ as a place where one is allowed to start relating to the world and society in the face of daring challenges. The school is then an intermediary space where efficiency logics are held at a (relative) distance to make way for questions such as "what is the subject under study trying to say to me?" (Vansieleghem, 2021). In this way students may develop a caring sensitivity to said world.

To realise such a world-oriented approach of education, this research project wants to look at a more general educational reconceptualization of pedagogy that goes beyond the limits of instrumentalist logic, on the basis of pragmatic ideas such as those of the educationalist scholar John Dewey and the importance he places on practice-bound learning through experiencing.

Drawing on pragmatic frameworks linked to experiential learning, particularly influenced by John Dewey, our focus extends beyond conventional socialization, emphasizing an education centered on familiarity with and sensitivity to significant matters. Building on this, our second objective [RO2] takes a practical turn, aiming to conceptualize education as an 'Education of the Senses' (EoS). This involves developing protocols and maxims, integrating the efficacy of lab and studio practices through an ArtScience co-creation. Such a convergence of scientific and artistic methods contributes to the formulation of a comprehensive EoS thinking framework. In pursuit of our third objective [RO3], we aim to devise a concrete curricular design for a radical reimagining of STEAM education rooted in EoS. This design, crafted collaboratively with field practitioners, aims to offer a practical and applicable STEAM solution for Flemish schools, with broader implications for addressing global environmental and social challenges.

Societal change calls for thorough readjustment of human agency to align with sustainability visions. Individual and collective actions that promote sustainability are required at many levels, including in the private lives of people and in the public sphere. Actions are needed to lower the environmental footprint of individuals and, at the same time, to catalyze a system-level adoption of sustainability. In recent years, young people have been at the forefront of collective sustainability efforts. Since its inception, the Fridays For Future -events have mobilized hundreds of thousands of predominantly young participants worldwide each year (“Strike Statistics”, 2024). In addition to strikes and demonstrations young people express their agency and drive sustainability in diverse ways (Oinonen & Paloniemi, 2023; Trott, 2021; Tayne, 2022).

To engage in action towards sustainability may require a variety of skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Frameworks that capture these sustainability competencies have been under intensive development during the last decade (e.g., Bianchi et al., 2022; UNESCO, 2017). Of particular interest has been action competence for sustainability, which has been defined as the overall will, confidence, and knowhow to bring about sustainability transformations (Sass et al., 2020). Action competence has been understood as an educational approach (Mogensen & Schnack, 2010) as well as an educational outcome, an underlying latent capacity of individuals and groups (Olsson et al., 2020). However, these is a lack of knowledge of how action competence and its subconstructs are related to different kinds of actions and behaviors that promote sustainability. Especially the role of knowledge of action possibilities in determining sustainability efforts is in a need for clarification. As complexity and uncertainty are fundamental parts of sustainability challenges (e.g., Lönngren & van Poeck, 2021), it is hard to know which efforts will produce the desired effects. Instead, actions emerge from a knowledge base that is always incomplete (Almers, 2013). The notion of pluralism in action-oriented knowledge emphasizes that multiple kinds of knowledge and different ways of knowing are involved in actions for sustainability (Caniglia et al., 2021; Wals, 2010). Therefore, reaching an end-goal of enough knowledge is not feasible when tackling wicked sustainability problems. This concerns particularly collective actions that are directed on system-level change, since tracing their legacies is a tedious task even for experts (Amenta et al., 2010).

To investigate the relationship between action competence and sustainability actions, we conducted a national survey of 15 to 29-year-olds (N = 940) in Finland. We asked how action competence for sustainability is related to both private sphere behavior and collective action that drive change. Results of structural equation modeling show that the overall measure of self-perceived action competence for sustainability strongly predicts private sphere behavior, but the association is nonexistent with system-oriented sustainability action. Further analysis on the components of action competence reveals that high perceived knowledge and low outcome expectations predict low engagement in sustainability action. Knowledge and outcome expectations also affect behavior indirectly via willingness to act. Based on our results we argue that actions and behaviors have different antecedents, and that the ability to recognize outcome uncertainty affects how young people’s sustainability agency is manifested.

In the 21st century, it is surprising to witness that alongside climate change and technological advancements, a dearth of empathy and compassion has emerged. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the unrest in Israel, and the inhumane treatment of fellow global inhabitants serve as poignant reminders that the fundamental question of our humanity, "What constitutes the essence of being human?", remains unanswered.

According to a report published by UNESCO (2023), the discourse on post-COVID education revolves around the incorporation of technologists and artificial intelligence to establish a personalized and inclusive learning environment for all. However, the report highlights that the integration of technology in education is often driven by the profit-oriented agendas of technology companies, rather than being aligned with the specific needs of both students and teachers. In the present era, marked by post-humanist and anthropocentric ideologies, and confronted with pressing challenges like climate change, inequality, and conflict, it becomes essential to redirect our focus towards holistic education. Additionally, it is important to reexamine the very notion of "being human" in this rapidly evolving, technology-driven world.
The United Nations, in their 'Report on the 2022 Transforming Education Summit' (2023), emphasizes the significance of understanding education as a comprehensive learning process. The report asserts that education should empower individuals to acquire lifelong learning skills, navigate the complexities of a dynamic world, foster harmonious coexistence with respect for one another and the environment, and ultimately enable individuals to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives (p. 1).

Over twenty-five years ago, UNESCO-APNIEVE (1998) raised a thought-provoking inquiry about the essence of learning to coexist and thrive together:
"The process of learning to live harmoniously and peacefully together is a dynamic, comprehensive, and lifelong journey through which individuals internalize and put into practice shared values... This process initiates with cultivating inner peace within the hearts and minds of individuals who strive for truth, knowledge, and understanding..." (APNIEVE, 1998, p. 4).
Even after the passage of more than a quarter-century, we continue to reflect upon the fundamental question of what it truly means to "live together" and how we can maintain harmony with our surroundings. This entails being in tune with both living and non-living elements of nature, our fellow human beings, the rapid advancements in technology, and with our own selves, encompassing our bodies, minds, and spirits. Consequently, UNESCO (2015) affirms that:
"While education cannot single-handedly resolve all development challenges, an approach to education rooted in humanism and holistic ideals has the potential to contribute towards realizing a new paradigm of development" (p. 10).

The significance of holistic education and its potential role in addressing worldwide challenges begs the question of its essence and its capacity to offer solutions. Essentially, the paradigm of holistic education is rooted in the notion that fully educating a child necessitates addressing their intellectual, social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and artistic needs in a balanced manner (Bhatta, 2009; Hare, 2010; Preston, 2012; Rudge, 2016; Miller, 2010, 2019; Pong, 2021; Miseliunaite et al., 2022). Considered a transformative educational approach, Hare (2010) asserts that holistic education equips students with lifelong learning skills, emphasizing life skills, attitudes, and personal awareness necessary for navigating an increasingly intricate world (p. 6).
This research posits that holistic education holds the potential to contribute to resolving global problems by cultivating individuals who assume accountability for their actions and evolve into global citizens. Specifically exploring the application of holistic education within Lithuania's primary education system, the study investigates how it prepares younger generations to navigate an uncertain future. Employing a philosophical and pragmatic investigation, the research identifies key characteristics of holistic education within this particular context.

This research brings an overview of the characteristics and impacts of “sustainability on campus” as living laboratories for sustainable development initiatives of Europe, in comparison to other geographical, cultural, social and environmental contexts (continents).

Higher education for sustainable development has been a global trend on recent years. Among the most relevant addressed issues are the challenge to transfer sustainable development approaches to universities (Adomssent et.al., 2007), the integration of sustainability in education through changes in higher education (Barth, 2011), the student´s points of view on higher education as an innovative approach to provoke changes (Barth et. al., 2011) and the analysis of key competencies for sustainable development (Rieckmann, 2012). With regards to campus sustainability in higher education evaluation measures, Townsend and Barrett (2015) in Jain, S., et. al. (2017), states that limited information is available, highlighting the need to develop specific tools or frameworks that may be used for assessing the sustainability initiatives on university campuses.

Starting on a theoretical basis, sustainability science has been defined as a discipline that addresses the understanding of the dynamics of human-environment systems and facilitates the design, implementation, and evaluation of practical interventions (Clark & Dickson (2003) in Zen, I. S. (2017)). On this regard, Zizka, L., et. al. (2021) emphasizes the potential and relevance that academic institutions have to promote change and therefore contribute directly in the implementation of sustainable development priorities. The same author continues to argue that besides the political willing at the international and national levels to address the role of higher education institutions on sustainable development, there is still the need of deepening and expanding studies related to concepts like “green university” or “sustainability on campus”.

Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar (2008) in Martek, I. et. al. (2022), with reference to sustainability initiatives in universities, states that traditional practices and regulations related to environmental issues are mainly implemented in a reactive manner, with a high degree of inefficiency and low guarantee of being sustainable on a long term.

Another topic that has recently emerged is the analysis of operating the university campus as a living laboratory for sustainability problem-solving institution. McMillin and Dyball (2009) in Cohen, B. (2018) refer to the connections that are made visible to students and campus community between theory and practice. Shawe, R., et. al., (2019) have also found evidence in the literature predominantly concentrating on campus actions and changes, without addressing university outreach activities. 


Following these findings, the current research aims to identify what are the common variables that characterizes the current trends of “sustainability on campus” initiatives as a living laboratory for sustainable development. A holistic multiple case study will be conducted on five selected universities. Therefore, the general objective is to identify common variables that characterize current trends in “sustainability on campus” initiatives as “living laboratories” for sustainable development.

Three specific research objectives are formulated as follows: (1) define a theoretical and conceptual framework of the university campus as a living laboratory for sustainable development; (2) identify commonalities and differences among selected variables of current “sustainability on campus” practices on different environmental contexts; and, (3) design a systematic scheme of variables that represents a university campus as a living laboratory for sustainable development.

The research questions related to the data to be collected are: How are the common variables of the “Sustainability on Campus” initiatives functioning as a living laboratory for sustainable development? and, how is the natural environment impacting on the built environment sustainability initiatives of each university campus?

The pressing global challenges necessitate a paradigm shift in how humanity lives, prompting education systems to adapt and incorporate learning objectives aligned with sustainability principles (UNESCO, 2017). Acknowledging this imperative, acquiring new mindsets becomes crucial (Broo, 2022; Lees, 2021; Rimanoczy, 2020). This shift involves a profound transformation of individuals' inner worlds, encompassing radical changes in values, thoughts, and lifestyles (Jančius et al., 2022). Recognizing that primary education shapes the future, integrating sustainability values into curricula becomes essential, influencing children's lifelong perspectives (Chawla, 2007; Lloyd & Gray, 2014).

While it is vital for curricula to reflect global issues, there is a risk of schools merely disseminating information without fostering critical engagement (Bourn et al., 2016). It becomes paramount to guide children in establishing harmonious relationships with the Earth and others, addressing issues like climate change, global poverty, and gender equality (Herbert, 2008). However, research indicates a scarcity of sustainability-related content in primary education, with existing studies indirectly linked to sustainability (Andersen, 2018). Despite holistic aspects of sustainability education in primary schools, the lack of effective didactic approaches hampers influencing students' attitudes and behaviors (Taylor et al., 2019; Nepraš et al., 2022).

Moreover, teachers' discomfort in discussing uncomfortable or controversial topics with primary students adds a layer of complexity (Mundy & Manion, 2008; Oberman et al., 2012; Robinson & Sebba, 2010). This unease is exacerbated by the fact that sustainability competences have traditionally been studied in higher education, leaving a dearth of knowledge about their development in primary education (Brundiers et al., 2020; Redman & Wiek, 2021; Vesterinen & Ratinen, 2023).

To address this gap and uncover the potential of developing a sustainable mindset in primary education, the research question posed is: How are the characteristics of a sustainable mindset reflected in the Lithuanian primary curriculum? The study's aim is to reveal the expression of sustainable mindsets in the primary curriculum.

Research Objectives:

1. Analyze the concept and features of the construct of a sustainable mindset.
2. Justify the methodology for researching the traits of a sustainable mindset in the primary education curriculum.
3. Identify the peculiarities of the development of sustainable mindset traits in the primary education curriculum.

The theoretical conceptual frameworks guiding this study include:

• The concept of sustainable education, emphasizing the acquisition and application of skills, competences, attitudes, and values necessary for sustainable development (Sterling, 2001).
• The concept of a sustainability mindset, emphasizing a way of thinking and living rooted in ecosystem understanding, social sensitivity, and introspective awareness of personal values (Kassel et al., 2018).
• The model of sustainable mindset traits, covering areas such as ecological worldview, ecological mindset, emotional and spiritual intelligence, and fostering development through ecological literacy, personal contribution, long-term thinking, and other elements (Rimanoczy, 2020). This model aims to bridge the historical gap between sustainable thinking, mindset, and being.

The innovations proposed by educational organisation staff are a specific case of so-called "bottom-up" or grassroots innovations, which arise from the initiative of individuals, as opposed to the "top-down" reform of the educational system.. An important characteristic of grassroots innovations is their orientation towards local needs and context [Gupta, 2020]. According to previous research, compared to "top-down" innovations, grassroots innovations are less constrained by institutional frameworks, are more responsive to emerging demands and opportunities, thus enabling the system to incorporate fresher and more creative solutions to existing problems [Koroleva and Khavenson, 2015; Seyfang and Smith, 2007]. In this context, innovations are understood to encompass both radically new approaches and methods, as well as existing practices adapted to the specific school context [Vincent-Lancrin et al., 2019].

The emergence of grassroots innovations has been described in previous studies as a complex and risky process [Glor, 2002]. Innovations, even if they have proven their effectiveness, encounter numerous obstacles during their implementation and dissemination, especially in conservative systems such as the education system [Halasz, 2018]. Barriers associated with the dissemination of innovations and modernisation of the school environment have been addressed in previous research [Sucha et al., 2021; Koroleva and Naushirvanov, 2020]. Key barriers include funding shortages, staffing needs, and a low willingness to adopt innovations, absence of motivation among teachers, administrators, families, and society. The next logical step would involve considering ways to overcome the identified barriers, as they are currently described only fragmentarily in the literature.

In some studies focusing on barriers and drivers within organisations similar to schools, levels at which certain barriers and drivers operate have been emphasised. For example, Sucha et al. [2021] examine the barriers and drivers of innovations in Czech libraries at four different levels: personal, local, organisational, and structural. We hypothesise that such an approach could be beneficial for studying the emergence and diffusion of innovations in the field of education. Furthermore, an in-depth understanding of these results would involve a transition from a linear correspondence between barriers and levels (according to the methodology of the Czech study, a barrier cannot occur at different levels simultaneously, which seems to be an oversimplification) to an exploration of the connections between barriers and opportunities at different levels. Thus, our research questions are:

How do innovators navigate between opportunities and barriers at different levels? What happens if a barrier arises at one level while opportunities exist at other levels?

We study these issues based on the case of one region. It allows for a detailed understanding of the barriers and strategies to overcome them. Although the local specificity is important, we believe that the result might be relevant to other regions and countries as meta-analyses show that teachers from different countries face similar challenges that might affect innovation processes in schools: high workload, insufficient funding, well-being and burnout, conservative views on the education system, and so on.

Mentoring is implemented in several educational contexts as a tool for equitable intervention. The presentation focuses on university students who as mentors, participate in a mentor program situated in Hungary, that provides mentoring as an equitable service for mostly rural primary school pupils in Hungary in which pupils of low socioeconomic status (SES) and the largest Hungarian minority, the Roma minority is also overrepresented (Andl et al., 2020) leading people in the area to have intersectional difficulties (Varga, 2017). Mentoring began in the Autumn 2019 with the inclusion of Hungarian universities. All university students are free to join the mentor-training course and after its completion, they can become mentors of pupils aged c. 12-15 (Godó, 2021, Horváth, 2022). Pupils in the program are mostly at-risk youth as they face obstacles due to their SES, and racial prejudices, thus they are in an intersectional position (Varga, 2017). Mentoring aims at the manifestation of career guidance that pupils of low SES generally lack (Bereményi, 2020). Mentoring can be understood as prevention as it is to prevent early-school leaving (Bocsi, Varga & Fehérvári, 2023; Fehérvári & Varga, 2023). The presentation focuses on mentors, who also benefit from joining mentoring programs (Beltman, Herker & Fischer, 2019). Based on the literature, mentors’ success and development are based on various factors, for instance professional background (Berei, 2020), personality (Lakind, Eddy & Zell, 2014), experience in mentoring (Beltman, Herker & Fischer, 2019; Jones & Blankenship, 2020) and psycho-sociological background (Nagy, 2014). In this presentation the latest is given special attention: as primary school pupils’ primary socialization differs from the institutional secondary school socialization sphere; they are thought to undergo bicultural socialization (LaFromboise, Coleman & Gerton, 1993; Nguyen & Benet-Martínez, 2013; Stogianni et al, 2021). Mentors, who are of similar socialization patterns as mentees are expected to be found in the program – even though they are underrepresented at universities (Varga et al., 2021). Thus, inquiring about participating mentors’ SES is essential as it allows us to reveal the benefits of their bicultural selves in the process of mentoring pupils of similar backgrounds. Considering SES as an independent variable, the research aimed to answer the following three research questions. What are mentors’ motivations to join and their expectations about themselves? What do mentors highlight as successes and obstacles in their work? How do mentors evaluate their emotional, social, and professional development? The introduced data collection involved mentors at a Hungarian university (P=180; S=50). The applied questionnaire inquired about mentors’ perceptions and assumptions about mentoring and their success as mentors. Items included in the research have followed the patterns of the process-based model of inclusivity (Varga & Trendl, 2022), respondents have reflected (retrospectively) on their joining to the program (input), their participation (process) and expected outcomes (output). Based on SES data two subsamples have been created: 1) students of similar SES as the pupils (S^LowSES=15) and 2) students of higher SES than the other group (S^HigherSES=35). Data from the research shows tendencies that are to describe the sample and its subcategories. Socio-economic status influenced mentors’ demands towards their work and the evaluation of their results as mentors. Respondents in both sample groups have set out high expectations towards themselves as mentors that they could not achieve as planned in their mentoring outcomes. Participants of low SES have been more determined than their peers and set even higher mentoring goals. Data show that mentors perceived their participation in the program as beneficial, yet summarized hardships. Results of the research send lessons to learn in mentor training, as they reveal the main advantages and challenges of participation in the program.

Most Chilean teachers in public schools teach in marginalised contexts. Social segregation, racism, drug trafficking and gender violence are some of the problems they face every day in their communities (Matus et al., 2019). The situation is even more complex when the curriculum prescribes teaching these problems, which become difficult knowledge (MINEDUC, 2019). Teachers must confront the difficult issues in the school subjects (e.g., social studies, citizenship education, science, philosophy). This request interacts with their personal experiences with different forms of violence (Kim, 2021; Sonu, 2023). In short, teaching decisions are inserted in a complex assemblage that interests the field of citizenship education (CE), which is the focus of this research.

In the last decades, teaching difficult and controversial issues at school has represented a relevant topic for researchers in CE (Barton & Ho, 2021; Pace, 2021). Most studies have addressed teachers' beliefs, student's cognitive skills, and teaching methodologies (Journell, 2022). Recently, some scholars have been interested in studying the relationship between teachers' personal experiences and pedagogical practices (e.g., Sonu, 2023; Zembylas & Loukadis, 2021). The research agenda in the area has been developed under a humanistic and modern paradigm (Zembylas, 2022). As a result, the affective and embodied dimensions of teaching difficult knowledge have been unrepresented.

This study aims to analyse the affects produced by the encounter between teachers' experiences with violence and teaching difficult knowledge; from the new materialism theory (Barad, 2007) and the posthumanism (Braidotti, 2019). I understand the affects from Deleuze and Guattari's (1988) definition, as forces or energies produced by the encounter between human (e.g., students, teachers, families) and non-human bodies (e.g., social discourses, materialities, nature), changing the ability to act. These changes can manifest in different intensities and directions. Thus, these theoretical frameworks allow to understand the teaching of difficult knowledge, considering the embodied and affective dimensions that need more exploration.

This research contributes to the field of citizenship education, and particularly for those interested in teaching difficult and controversial issues in school contexts. In particular, at least three contributions could be named: first, teaching decisions depends on teachers' personal and affective relationships with curricular content; second, it contributes to understanding teaching difficult knowledge from a complex and holistic theoretical perspective; and third, it allows us to recognise the value of affects and corporeality on creating alternative teaching methodologies to face these issues in challenging contexts.

Processes of globalisation have drawn us into an increasingly interconnected world, yet stark divisions continue to exist in conflict and post-conflict societies, where minority and majority populations are involved in deep-seated ethnonational and religious conflicts. Among such divided communities engaged in violent conflict, schooling is often characterised by the existence of separate, parallel education systems divided along ethnoreligious lines. Although such segregated schooling often perpetuates conflict by maintaining separate ethnonational identities (e.g., Davies 2010; Fontana 2016), we must not overlook possibilities for religious education to promote peace and develop cosmopolitan identities and citizenships within societies facing protracted political conflict (Loukaidis & Zembylas 2017; Papastephanou 2005). This potential is particularly relevant when we consider multicultural and/or international curricula in faith-based schools serving religious minorities, such as Israel’s colonial-international Church schools (e.g., Levy & Monterescu 2022). This comparative ethnographic study of colonial-international Church schools in two of Israel’s contested cities (the Armenian School in Jerusalem and the Scottish School in Jaffa, both of which use the British-based International GCSE) unpacks how international education shapes the citizenship practices of local ethnoreligious minority youth against the background of protracted conflict and institutionalised discrimination against non-Jewish minorities.

In Israel, a sector-based education system keeps most students religiously and linguistically segregated, with the Jewish majority and non-Jewish minorities attending separate schools. Israeli government policies maintain large inequities between Jewish and Arab systems to control and subordinate the Palestinian minority. Schools within the Arab sector are underfunded, overcrowded, short-staffed, and subject to surveillance, with the curriculum controlled and censored to delegitimize and exclude minority narratives and youth identities. Consequently, large achievement gaps exist between Jewish and non-Jewish students (e.g., Nasser & Abu-Nimer 2022). To circumvent the inequitable Arab state school system, many ethnoreligious minorities have turned to private Christian schools, several of which utilise international curricula.

The greatest expansion of international education is now occurring in local markets, where families aim to provide their children with perceived economic advantage (e.g., Hayden 2013) through the accrual of international (Resnik 2018) and cosmopolitan capital (Igarashi & Saito 2014). Besides providing enhanced access to academic and economic opportunities within global markets, internationalisation in education strives towards education for global citizenship (Ortloff et al. 2012), which materialises in multiple forms, including cosmopolitan and advocacy models (Oxley & Morris 2013). Given the exclusion of Arab-Palestinian identity in the Israeli curriculum, as Arab-Palestinian youth seek alternative ways of collective belonging (Pinson 2008), global citizenship education has the potential to offer attachments to a global society which may compensate for the lack of recognition within the Israeli national narrative (Goren, Maxwell & Yemeni 2019). In recent decades, globalisation processes have encouraged youth to (re)imagine and (re)produce such post-national identities challenging traditional conceptions of nationhood and national identity (e.g., David, Dolby & Rizvi 2010).

Although the relationship between the internationalisation of education and global citizenship is the subject of much contemporary scholarship, how such global citizenship discourses unfold within international schools serving marginalised ethnoreligious groups remains an under-researched aspect of international education’s increasingly widespread reach. The present study addresses this lacuna, as it grapples with the multiple subjectivities circulating within the Armenian and Scottish schools. Examining how minority youth in these colonial-international Church schools negotiate citizenships on local, global, and transnational scales, I consider the novel forms of global citizenship which emerge within a contentious sociopolitical environment. The research draws on and contributes to the anthropology of education, postcolonial sociology, comparative education, and conflict studies, calling attention to contemporary questions surrounding identity and citizenship in an era when divisions within cities may be wider and more perilous than those across oceans.

Liberal democracy is in crisis (Sant, 2021). The deepening of structural inequalities, ideological polarization, and advancing neo-fascist discourses are concrete manifestations of this scenario (Askanius & Mylonas, 2015). In the educational field, efforts have been made to address this panorama through education for democratic citizenship (EDC) (Eurydice, 2018; UNESCO, 2016). An ECD pedagogical response is the discussion of controversial issues (DCI) (Cassar, 2023; Ho et al., 2017), where teachers and students exchange perspectives based on empathetic listening and deliberation on matters of difficult consensus. Migration policies, hate speech in social media, and the State´s role in facing wealth concentration are examples of controversial issues that spark hated debates in the public space.

Researchers in EDC argue that DCI among school students has high educational potential (Ho et al., 2017). In addition, they maintain that DCI promotes the acquisition of civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes for democratic life (Kohlmeier & Saye, 2014; Misco, 2016). They also suggest that schools are ideal contexts for discussing controversial issues since there is more social and ideological diversity than students usually find in their social circle of belonging (Parker, 2010).

Based on the above, DCI in the school classroom has represented a relevant area of research for citizenship education (e.g., Hess & McAvoy, 2015; Journell, 2022; Wansink et al., 2023). Recently, Theory & Research in Social Education, one of the most important journals in the area, has published that "Why teachers address unplanned controversial issues in the classroom" (Cassar et al. 2023) was the most downloaded article of 2023. This data shows the considerable interest in this topic.

Unfortunately, studies report that DCI in a school context is rare and is concentrated in social studies. The teachers' lack of knowledge and training experiences and the fear of the reactions of students, families, and administrators are among the main reasons for their low presence (Cassar et al., 2023). However, recent literature has shown that discussion of public controversies arises spontaneously in the classroom. Discussing controversial issues at school occurs as unplanned and unforeseen experiences to which the literature needs to pay more attention (Cassar et al., 2023; Pace, 2021).

Considering this background, we set out to systematically review empirical studies that have deployed DCI among primary and secondary students in different school areas (e.g., sciences, arts, social studies). The questions that guided our review were: What findings about students learning in discussing controversial issues at schools are reported on empirical research? What unforeseen situations during the discussion are informed by the literature?

Our review contributes to the field of EDC and to academics interested in DCI in the school space first because it maps the production of knowledge in the area and recognizes research gaps second because it identifies research and findings from different school areas, not just social studies. Third, because informs teacher educators and teachers in preparation and practice about the characteristics and challenges of teaching strategies for DCI and contributes to their institutional and didactic decisions.

The Human Development Index shows that almost 60% of countries ranked 'low' on the HDI have experienced conflict since the 1990s (The World Bank, 2005). It is argued that education and conflict influence each other and that this relationship is considered to be complex and multifaceted (The World Bank, 2005). It is also explained that education plays an essential role in post-conflict reconstruction, as conflicts often flare up again (The World Bank. 2005). This is why Fiedler et al. (2016) refer to the importance of a multidimensional peacebuilding approach. Approaches to education in emergency and conflict settings and post-conflict reconstruction are widely discussed in the literature. Particular attention is paid to specific challenges (UNESCO, 2011), such as humanitarian risks, infrastructural conditions (Jones & Naylor, 2014), self-sufficiency issues (Sommers, 2002) and forced migration (UNHCR, 2014). Pedagogical challenges, such as building student-teacher relationships, classroom management, creating safe spaces, large and consistent groups, and dealing with heterogeneity in terms of achievement, are often mentioned but not explored further (Symeonidis et al., 2023). Our paper aims to further unfold the multiple complexities of post-war educational challenges in the first five years after severe violent conflict. Our study is set in Mosul, Iraq, a city that has been affected by conflict for many years and is just recovering from the occupation of the city by the terrorist militia ISIS from 2014 to 2017. In this paper, therefore, we analyse the different pedagogical challenges that teachers face in the context of conflict in Iraq and the pedagogical approaches that teachers use in schools. Therefore, we asked the following research question: "What pedagogical challenges do teachers describe in conflict contexts?" and "What pedagogical concepts do teachers describe as essential in conflict contexts?".

EERA and the Local Organizers of ECER 2024 would like to formally welcome you to ECER 2024, Nicosia “Education in an Age of Uncertainty: memory and hope for the future”.

This year's ECER is a joint collaboration, organised by the University of Cyprus and EERA.

Lunch Break with Local Academics

Professional development for educators in higher education is a field with a growing international awareness (Irby & O'Sullivan, 2017; Vanderlinde et al., 2016). However, organizational initiatives for such development in higher education are complex when the intention is to involve all faculty members, covering various aspects such as technology, organizational development and teaching (Camblin & Steger, 2000). In general, the term 'onboarding' is used for initiatives focusing on new employees (Bauer, 2015). The onboarding is important for the assimilation of new staff and their well-being (Ellis et. al., 2015).

The focus of this study is the onboarding and the further process for new assistant professors at a large university college. The framework conditions have changed due to a new strategic initiative (2022) establishing a central organizational unit, the Educational Academy, tasked with leading and hosting professional development for all educators across the college's campuses in seven cities. The college, with approximately 2000 employees and 40,000 students, offers professional bachelor programs in fields such as nursing, teacher education, business administration, engineering, and computer graphics.

Due to stakeholder-interests, e.g. among those who previously managed the mandatory program on teaching skills for assistant professors, the initiative introduces both potentials and tensions within the organization (Duch & Nielsen, 2023). In 2023 the Educational Academy among other things initiated a completely redesigned program for assistant professors. This paper focuses on the initial development as professional educator from the perspective of the assistant professors within this program. The aim is to track the professional development of assistant professors transitioning towards being associate professors, exploring the shift from their previous identity, and understanding of teaching, which is influenced by diverse educational backgrounds and job experiences. The research seeks to answer the following questions: 1) How do new assistant professors perceive their role as an educator at a university college? 2) How do assistant professors with diverse educational backgrounds and work experiences understand the profession they are educating for? 3) How do they perceive to be supported in their development in the program for assistant professors at the Educational Academy?

Theoretical inspiration is drawn from Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner (2015), who utilize the metaphor of learning in a landscape and the concept of boundary crossing. Wenger (1999) previously introduced the term 'broker' to comprehend the relationship between different contexts, each hosting distinct communities of practice. He discusses 'boundary objects' as "artifacts, documents, terms, concepts, and other forms of reification around which communities of practice can organize their interconnections" (Wenger, 1999, p. 105). The process of becoming a professional educator in higher education can be viewed as a journey from legitimate peripheral participation to achieving full membership. This journey unfolds in a new landscape with multiple boundaries to traverse. By observing assistant professors throughout the transition period, we can witness the development of meaningfulness, identity, and collaboration with colleagues within the program where they are teaching and in the context of the activities designed by the Educational Academy.

Research indicates that content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation are crucial elements in professional development (Desimone, 2009). However, for a program designed for diverse educators in higher education and not limited to teacher educators, where we know most from previous research (MacPhail et al., 2018; Vanderlinde et al., 2016), the transition from being social worker, engineer, nurse, etc., based on varied educational backgrounds, is equally significant. Additionally, the ongoing changes in vocational education (Smeby, 2013) play a crucial role. These changes may influence identity development on micro and macro levels, encompassing personal identity, professional identity, and identity within the profession (Wackerhausen, 2009; Heggen, 2013; Nielsen et al., 2023).

Teacher educators, responsible for educating both prospective and in-service teachers, have been the subject of research, especially regarding their professional development. Teacher educators have a strong desire for continuous professional learning influenced by the context they work in (Czerniawski et al., 2017). However, teacher educators are only moderately satisfied with professional development opportunities, while teacher educators find opportunities in collaborative professional development and research important (McPhail et al., 2021; Van der Klink et al., 2017). Studies indicate that professional development for teacher educators is often self-initiated and induction in the profession is frequently absent.

Research has drawn particular attention to the importance of network learning and learning communities. Both in teaching and teacher education numerous studies have shown the importance of (professional) learning communities (Hadar & Brody, 2010; Prenger et al., 2019) as a way for professional development, innovation, the quality of professional practice, and for breaking isolation within the profession. Some studies have indicated positive outcomes of participation in a (professional or networked) learning community in terms of satisfaction and impact on professional practice (Prenger et al. 2019). International comparative needs analyses of higher education-based teacher educators and school-based teacher educators (Czerniawski et al., 2017; Czerniawski et al., 2023) has built on this literature by emphasising the ways in which teacher educators, as both teachers and researchers, want to be part of a collaborative community where they can feel supported, listened to, and share their practices and experiences.

Both networks and communities of practice offer learning opportunities, but assessing the value of this learning is a complex issue. The concept of value creation is central to understanding the benefits derived from participation in such groups. De Laat et al. (2014) identify five cycles of value creation: immediate value, potential value (knowledge capital), applied value, realized value, and reframing value. To gauge the overall value added by network participation, individuals are encouraged to share their "value narratives." These narratives involve participants articulating the overall benefits of their involvement in a network or community and detailing specific instances of value creation, such as contributions to networks or improvements in professional practice.

In this study, teacher educators participating in an international professional development one-week programme, the so-called InFo-TED Summer Academy, are asked to describe their personal value narratives. The Summer academy is organized by InFo-Ted, an international forum working to promote professional development of teacher educators. This involves reflecting on the overall added value of their participation in the programme and identifying specific instances of value creation that they experienced during the programme.

The main aim of our study was to gain insight in the perceived impact of an international professional development initiative on teacher educators professional learning. In this study, we explore to what extent professional learning of teacher educators is influenced by such factors as their own values, those of their institutional context and national and international policy contexts for teacher education (Czerniawski, 2018; Lunenberg & Dengerink, 2021). Focusing on participants of the Summer Academy, the study examines how this experience broadens their value perspectives, introducing them to new roles, professional contacts, and institutional expectations, thereby enriching their professional development.

Mentoring practice is a widely established practice in preparing students for professional practice in various professions (Peiser et al., 2018). This is translated into extended placements in the field setting with formal mentorship opportunities; providing the integration of theory and practice (Orland-Barak, 2010). Mentoring practice typically has set roles: the mentor as the experienced expert whose role is to support the student’s development, and the student as inexperienced professional who needs to build her/his professional and personal skills (Kram, 1985). Mentoring practice is therefore inherently hierarchical, with the mentor as powerful and the student as less powerful.

In uncertain times with changing roles, the roles of mentor and student, respectively, are also at a tipping point. It is true that the mentor exercises power, but, what is often overlooked is that the student also can exercise power: that in and by his/her speaking and acting s/he also directs the conversation and thereby influences the learning. In line with recent work (e.g., Ben-Harush & Orland-Barak, 2018; Mullen & Klimaitis, 2021) that urges to redefine mentoring, focusing on a more dynamic relationship and bidirectional learning; the purpose of this study is to uncover if and how students can (also) be powerful in mentoring practices and influence the focus of their learning.

To explore this, power was discursively conceptualized. This means that power is viewed as the effect of how actors interact with each other (Martín Rojo, 2001). Actors do power, resulting in a continuous flux of power in interactions (Hayward, 1998). Power is thus not conceptualized as something that an individual possesses (or lacks), but rather as something that is performed relationally. It is about 'power to' rather than 'power over' someone (Hayward, 1998).

Such a discursive approach to power is operationalized further using a combination of positioning theory (PT) (van Langenhove & Harré, 1999) and frame analysis (FA) (Dumay, 2014). Central to PT is the idea that actors continuously position themselves and others in interaction (van Langenhove & Harré, 1999). ‘Positioning’ entails a continuous dynamic, relational process wherein the actors assign specific rights and duties to themselves and others (van Langenhove & Harré, 1999). These positionings are then interpreted from the frame on which they are looking at the placement. Frames are defined as cognitive structures that actors bring to a situation but always evolve and develop in interaction with others (Dumay, 2014). Actors’ frames are linked to their prior experiences, informed by their beliefs and expectations for (mentoring) practice, and help them to explain and make sense of the situation they find themselves in. FA provides the tools to see how frames over time emerge, gain meaning, adapt, merge or clash. As such, the combination of PT and FA results in a better understanding of the flow of power dynamics.

This resulted in following research question: (How) Do students exercise power based on the confluence of positionings and frames, and how does this influence the focus of their learning?

The purpose of this research project, a three-year study funded by the Swedish Research Council (2022-2024), is to investigate how the mentoring of student teachers can contribute to the professional development of the mentor teachers themselves. Professional development in this study refers to teachers´ perceived experiences of growth in professional knowledge, skills and dispositions in connection to the mentorship activities they carry out with student teachers.

We conducted a large-scale survey study, through a questionnaire design based on the previous literature on mentoring, explorative interviews with mentors, and the thematic areas proposed in Activity Theory (Engeström, 1999). The participants include a nationwide sample of teachers who mentor student teachers enrolled in teacher education programs at the primary school level (Grades 4-6) in Sweden. Through the analysis of the data, we have built a model that demonstrates how mentoring activities and mentor teachers´ characteristics can be potential predictors of their professional development.

We conducted a number of analyses of the survey data:

1. We investigated the individual and contextual factors determining mentor teachers´ self-efficacy (SE) beliefs in their role mentoring role. Self-efficacy as a concept is derived from Social Cognitive Theory and is defined as “beliefs in one´s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura, 1997). There is much research on teacher SE, yet SE in mentoring is little researched. High SE is found to be predictive for educators’ increased sense of identity, shared perspectives and job satisfaction (Andreasen et. al., 2019). However, because the determinants that contribute to higher mentoring self-efficacy beliefs remain unclear the data could provide us with some insights specifically about the SE of those who take on the role of mentoring.
2. Drawing on concepts from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT- Maton, 2014) which is concerned with how mentor teachers respond to the relations between who one is (being a mentor) and what one knows (having certain knowledge). LCT has provided insights into the dichotomy of tacit and explicit knowledge (or knowledge for-in-on practice).
3. We have identified mentors that have received formal training in mentoring and compared different variables to see how and what aspects of training has enhanced mentor perceptions of their own professional development.
4. Model development and testing – Our model was built drawing upon aspects of activity theory which enabled us to test our hypotheses in the data. Our model includes: independent variables such as mentoring activities, mentoring resources (i.e., tools such as curriculum documents, observation forms, discussion with university teachers); and, dependent variables such as professional development, school improvement and student development. Correlational and regression analysis were carried out to test the size and significance of the relations among these variables.

We are planning a session on VET on the island of Cyprus and its specific challenges.

This information will be updated later. All participants who submitted to VETNET will receive further information in due time by email. Participants who submitted to other networks, interested in attending this session, will find further information in the conference app, later.

The topic of pedagogy has long been a contested one in education. While there is a level of agreement in terms of the importance of factors such as feedback and interaction, there are nevertheless fundamental disagreements between proponents of more constructivist and discovery-oriented approaches and those that lean on direct instruction and teacher-led approaches (Taber, 2011 ; Hirsch, 2016). In recent decades, there has also been increased dissonance around curriculum, with a skills- and competencies-based approach increasingly contrasted with knowledge-rich curricula (Guile, Lambert & Reiss, 2018). The two debates are often linked, in that a knowledge-rich curriculum is often seen as best delivered through direct instruction, while competency and skills-based curricula are associated with more constructivist approaches to pedagogy (see e.g. Hirsh's advocacy of direct instruction).

An ongoing question, however, is to what extent these perceived differences actually translate into differential practice in the classroom. In this study we make use of a ‘natural experiment’ to compare two jurisdictions that are culturally relatively similar, but have taken a radically different approach to curriculum over the past decade, England and Northern Ireland, with the former transitioning to a strongly knowledge-based curriculum since 2010, while the latter has since 2007 followed a strongly skills- and competency-based approach. The relative cultural similarity between these two English-speaking jurisdictions, which are both part of the UK, allows us to overcome some of the issues present when doing international comparisons.

In this study we use data from PIRLS 2021 to compare the two education systems.

Theoretically we draw from a number of frameworks. Firstly, we draw on the distinction between the intended and enacted curriculum (Pak et al, 2020). This relates to the question to what extent we can expect national curriculum frameworks to actually be present in schools and classrooms. The second theoretical lens we will be employing is that of complexity theory in public policy, which will shine a light on the complexity of policy enactment, especially in multi-layered systems such as education (Cairney, 2012).

To look at the relationship between curriculum and pedagogy we will ask the following questions:

1. To what extent do official and espoused pedagogies and curriculum differ between England and Northern Ireland?

2. To what extent do enacted curriculum and pedagogy accord with official curriculum in England and Northern Ireland, and to what extent do they vary within country?

3. To what extent do enacted curriculum and pedagogy differ between England and Northern Ireland?

4. What is the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy, and student attainment?

Aligned with the reorientation of the arts and culture in the educational field in the EU and the US(Commission, 2019; Heilig, Cole, & Aguilar, 2010), China’s government has been working on enhancing schools' arts and aesthetic education in recent decades. On 20 December 2023, China's Ministry of Education issued a new educational policy titled ‘Notice on Comprehensive Implementation of School Arts Education Immersion Initiatives’(2023). This policy serves as a further amendment since a series of state-level policy came out in the last decade related to school arts education(2015; 2020; 2014). As stated in this policy, arts education is supposed to foster a mentally and physically wholesome personality in students and to involve arts immersion among students, teachers, and schools(2023). These aspects, to some extent, reflect the ambition of the government to emphasize arts education in school settings. However, there exists a tension between the expectation and the reality as the current reality of arts education remains problematic (e.g., ) in schools(Sun & Fan, 2018; Yu, 2016). There are some studies about policy and practice(Wang & Zhao, 2022; Xu, 2018), especially none of the previous literature examined the gap and the transition process between the policy and its implementations or, in other words, the reality in China’s school practice.

Apart from the ideal concepts and guidelines present in the policy, we consider the artistic textbooks and the national standards as important perspectives to understand and investigate the aims and the practice of school arts education in China. They are official and ‘persuasive texts’, representing a series of dominant knowledge(s) and governmental expectations(Wang, 2019). More importantly, they are directly received by the diverse participants in schools, arguably act as the ‘bridge’ between the institutional assumptions and the practice(Issitt, 2004). In this case, we formed research question: ‘What functions are reflected(framed) in artistic textbooks, and how are they perceived and interpreted by teachers?’ .

The research relates to a teacher education programme (TEP) and pedagogical concepts in teacher education, but has already been highlighted at national conferences for transfer to other degree programmes in the context of digitalisation initiatives at universities, e.g. for implementation in all degree programmes at the university. Key research questions: How can a compulsory additional programme for all students to foster digital and 21st century skills be anchored in the curriculum? What prerequisites for success have been identified? The paper discusses the necessity of a change management process in the context of digitalisation initiatives at universities and presents a designing process for advancing digital transformation. Especially the promotion of digitisation-related competences among teachers is an educational policy concern in the context of the digital transformation. Therefore, the question of how prospective teachers can be better prepared for the effective and productive use of digital technologies in their lessons has been under investigation for some time. Media-related and cross-cutting competences should be specifically promoted (e.g. KMK 2012; 2017; Baumert & Kunter 2006; Koehler & Mishra 2009). A key challenge of teacher education is to develop learning opportunities and learning paths that enable teachers to acquire the required competences.

Teacher education is a core area of degree programmes at the University of Education Weingarten, Germany (UEW), as around 2/3 of its students are currently enrolled on TEP. UEW has chosen a comprehensive approach in the context of the project "Teacher Education goes Digital" (TEgoDi), to the sensitive modification of its TEP on the basis of an interdisciplinary concept in teacher education grounded in educational theory (Müller et al., 2021). Modification result: All teacher students complete two mandatory media projects, aimed at promoting digital competences within subject-specific topics. Media pedagogical and media (subject) didactic competences are strengthened within the TEP. A pedagogical makerspace, CoLiLab, equipped with digital tools, provides the necessary learning and production environment. Results, anchored in subject didactics and educational science curricula, are documented and reflected on via an e-portfolio.

University's decision-making processes, especially with regard to changes in the university’s TEP, are not organised top-down, but take their course through the university’s faculties and departments (Graf-Schlattmann et al. 2020). For this reason, TEgoDi included dedicated change agents attached to the faculties acting as experts for e-learning. They promote and mediate communication and cooperation between lecturers, university management, faculties and project staff (Stratmann et al., 2021).

Our paper presents approaches and means for the successful integration of this programme at UEW. For this purpose, the obligatory curricular elements in connection with the digital skills and competences required of teachers and the implementation of various support structures are briefly presented. In addition, the various instruments used in the project under discussion are described in order to systematically and appropriately involve all stakeholders at the university in the change process. As a central element, we consider an actor-specific perspective with action variables to increase the willingness to change. (Grassinger et al., 2022; Stratmann et al. 2021). In addition, the challenges of curricular anchoring are addressed by discussing the difficulties we have encountered in dealing with research and interventions. The curricular integration with all subjects participating in the TEP facilitated the most effective form of implementation. No add-on was introduced, which is often chosen as a solution for implementation. Instead, the existing course offerings were expanded to incorporate the aspect of enhancing digital-related skills, and the workload was relieved from subject disciplines through the support structures. Aims: 2024 formally linked to the existing study and examination regulations by a transitional statute, from 2025 on, compulsory part for all teacher students.

The Preamble to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities underlines the importance of equal access to education for all. To this end, according to Articles 8b and 24, states should encourage respect for the rights of children with disabilities, because of their right to equal opportunities in education without discrimination (United Nations, 2008). The education systems in Europe then should be inclusive at all levels and all the time. This means that children with learning difficulties should not be excluded because of having difficulties to learn in the same way or at the same pace as children without learning difficulties (Charitaki, Marasidi & Soulis, 2018). In contrast, they should be supported to learn on an equal basis together with their peers. To this end, there should be provision of reasonable accommodation and individualized support, which should be ensured by the state (Damianidou & Phtiaka, 2018). The promotion of inclusive education is also one of the priority areas set up by the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, which is supported by the Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED) (European Commission, 2020).
However, despite the growing interest of European countries regarding the promotion of inclusive education as the hope for a better future in the era of uncertainty, the implementation of international conventions and national legislation at the school level does not always guarantee inclusion (Symeonidou & Mavrou, 2020). For example, the support classes that function in many European schools (e.g. in Greece and Cyprus) and the assessment process with which children are classified as students needing special provision in such classes may actually reproduce discrimination and raise barriers to inclusion (Charitaki, Marasidi & Soulis, 2018). According to Bourdieu (1984), social action takes place in a field, which represents the dominating system of power relations. Social positions in the field are not randomly allocated; in contrast their availability depends on constraints and rules imposed by the most powerful. To this end, the displacement of students with learning difficulties, as not fitting the prevalent ‘normality’ may be easily achieved through the misinterpretations, delays and malpractices that are often observed in the function of support classes (Lindner & Schwab, 2020).
In Greece, for example, the apparent aim of support classes is to promote inclusion by offering personalized support to students that deviate from the norm, such as children with learning difficulties (Charitaki, Marasidi & Soulis, 2018). Since, though, support classes actually represent the two-tier system, by taking students out of their original class, sometimes for the whole day, significant challenges and barriers remain, which may result to the children’s exclusion from social networks of peers and participation in the same learning opportunities as children without learning difficulties (Pappas, Papoutsi & Drigas, 2018). Based on the above, the aim of this study was to explore the system of assessment of children with learning difficulties, the implementation of the support class and the consequences on equal learning opportunities and inclusion of children with learning difficulties. Moreover, the study aimed to formulate recommendations to overcome the barriers to inclusion, offering a useful guide for practitioners and parents.
The main research questions were the following: a) What is the apparent and the underlying purposes of the assessment process regarding children with learning difficulties? b) What is the impact of support classes on learning and inclusion of children with learning difficulties? c) How the displacement of children with learning difficulties that are enrolled in support classes may be prevented?

As has already been discussed in various publications (e.g., Gasterstädt, 2021, Artiles & Dyson 2005) and in the context of panels at ECER 2023 (e.g., 04 SES 02 D), the fuzzy nature of terms sometimes is an obstacle to the discourse about inclusive education as well as their realisation. On the one hand, the adaptation of inclusion-related concepts, as those set out in international conventions, across different levels of national/ regional education systems leads to (re)contextualisations such as the creation of specific terms in school practice. On the other hand, we experience the same phenomenon in scientific contexts in the form of separate strands of development linked to language-specific terms.

With the so-called meta-projects, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Germany has introduced a so far internationally little-known organisation type between project sponsors and funded third-party projects, which is intended to promote the networking of the projects assigned to them in a non-hierarchical manner as well as promoting the utilisation of their results. One of the aims of the ‘Meta-project inclusive education’ (MInkBi), based at Goethe University Frankfurt from 2017-2026, is to analyse the state of research in the academic discourse on an international level in order to situate the results of the 66 funded projects within it. In the form of a systematic review, the meta-project is working on relating the concept of “förderbezogene Diagnostik“ (support-related diagnostics), which is specific to the German-speaking community, to the English-speaking dominating debates internationally. By trying to (re)connect terminology and concepts behind it we aim to open up research efforts from all over Germany to the global community. The difficulty here is that these terms cannot simply be translated literally into English, nor can they be understood detached from their specific local and language-bound context.

In the DACH countries of the 1960s, originally medical diagnostic procedures were linked to learning processes, and the term "pädagogische Diagnostik” (pedagogical diagnostics) was coined by Ingenkamp (Ingenkamp & Lissmann, 2008). Over the course of time, a large number of different categorisations and subcategories emerged, for example, the distinction between educational diagnostics in the narrow vs. broad sense, assignment, learning process, status, and support diagnostics (Beck 2023). The currently evolving review is an attempt to place the phenomenon of “förderbezogene Diagnostik“ (support-related diagnostics) in an international context and to identify what is known about comparable issues. To this end, an endeavour is made to answer the following questions:

• What empirical research results and conceptual or theoretical approaches are available internationally as an equivalent to the subject of ‘support-related diagnostics’ in the German-speaking discourse?
• How are comparable approaches researched and defined internationally?

It can be assumed that similar challenges arise anywhere when it comes to developing more inclusive education systems and practices as well as when conducting research on this topic, which is why the discourse about international parallels and differences promises valuable synergies. With this paper, we would like to provide an insight into the method and conceptual design of the systematic review. We hope that our contribution will lead to an exchange on potentials and limitations of the approach presented and that we will receive valuable feedback by opening up the discussion within network four.

In Austria, children with disabilities are assigned with the label “special educational needs (SEN)” in order to provide appropriate educational support for them. The guidelines for the organization and implementation of SEN in Austria are summarized in Circular No. 7/2019 of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBF [Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung]) and are valid nationwide. Students should be assigned with SEN if they are unable to follow lessons without special educational support due to a disability. The application for the assignment of SEN is usually submitted by the parents/guardians. During the SEN assessment process the parents/guardians have several rights. Among others they have the right to select the school for their child which means they should be able to choose between a general and a special school (BMBWF, 2019). Although this right exists, the decision between different schools often is very difficult for parents/guardians. On the one hand, families usually prefer a general school for their child. But they often have to fight for it (Hausmanns & Wingerter, 2013; Lalvani & Hale, 2015; Pinetz, 2019).

Many families opt for a special school because they are better adapted and offer more flexibility and more possibilities for their child (Kalcher & Gasteiger-Klicpera, 2021; Kobelt Neuhaus, 2017). Some families have no other choice (Thoms, 2023). However, rather privileged parents/guardians with academic qualifications and a higher-class affiliation (Lalvani & Hale, 2015; Sasse, 2004) or parents/guardians who are more assertive (Klicpera, 2005) can be credited with getting through this "fight" (Lalvani & Hale, 2015). This results in significant disadvantages for families with social disadvantages and/or a migration background. In addition, existing language barriers makes it difficult to obtain the necessary information. However, this is essential to be able to assert the rights of parents/guardians and children (Pinetz, 2019).

In order to support all parents/guardians in their decision, adequate counseling is required (Kalcher & Gasteiger-Klicpera, 2021; Klicpera, 2005, 2007). However, Kalcher and Wohlhart (2021) found that the majority of respondents had no or only limited professional counseling. Furthermore, the decision for a particular school was often not based on a choice from several options (Gasteiger-Klicpera, Klicpera, Gebhardt & Schwab, 2013; Klicpera, 2005, 2007; Pinetz, 2019; Thoms, 2023). The advice was often focused on the existing resources (Hausmanns & Wingerter, 2013) or interests of the counseling persons (Klicpera, 2005). Although this problem is well known and the legal regulations prescribe the obligation to offer counselling for parents/guadians, this still is not sufficiently implemented. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the counselling processes and align it more closely to the needs of the parents/guardians.

The aim of this study was to examine the counselling and support of parents/guardians during the SEN assessment process from different perspectives, that of the parents/guardians, teachers, head teachers and diversity managers. The study aimed to identify challenges and critical aspects and to discover opportunities for improvement and consequences for further development of this process of accompanying the parents during this difficult decision process.

The following research question should be answered:

• How are parents/guardians informed and supported from the different involved groups during the SEN assesment process?

The steps in the process consist of (1) justification and application, i.e. informing the parents/guardians about the importance of the SEN, explaining why SEN is necessary and explaining what this means for the child's future career, (2) choosing the right school, deciding on curriculum allocation and support measures and (3) decision and communication about the outcome of the SEN assessment process.

This conference paper will offer a literature review on the most recent findings of the current Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion research in the context of higher education students with disability, especially with a focus on students with neurodiversity in Hungary. This presentation will summarize the basic principles of neurodiversity, explaining why diversity and equity indeed contribute to the academic excellence of all universities. Despite the affirmative action received by those whose special education diagnosis was documented, due to the stigma on IEPs in our orthodox education system (Gallagher Et Al., 2003), our hypothesis is that many of our students with learning differences come without diagnosis and attend university without accommodation and support services, which may result in tangible disadvantages that could be tracked with the help of our database. Neurodiversity as an approach challenges ableism (Armstrong, 2011) by boldly asserting, that in a learning community, individuals are not solely limited by their own physical, sensory, or speech disabilities nor by their mental or cognitive developmental states, but they are in fact primarily disabled by their environment, and the lack of university-wide inclusion policies which do not accept and/or not able to adapt to unique learning needs (NTOMBELA-MAHMANGU, 2019). The social model of disability has allowed a structural analysis of the social exclusion of people with disabilities and demand for accessibility and reasonable accommodations from all HE institutions (HASLER, 1993; SHAKESPEARE & WATSON, 2001). The results of academic research support the paradigm shift: instead of pathologizing our university citizens who think differently, learn differently, and access learning differently we should focus on the acceptance of biodiversity, the benefits and relative strength of brain variation, and outstanding sub-skills and the creation of opportunities for inclusive learning development in communities of inquiry and practice (SKIDMORE, 2004; RANKIN, 2021). To what extent has this academic shift in approach become translated into practice in Hungarian HE? Has the inclusive environment been able to 'break out of the bubble of individual problem solving' (FAZEKAS ET AL., 2020) towards starting to build institutional strategies that follow European standards? What are the next steps according to Support Service staff and program participants? What are the experiences of students with disabilities arriving at universities? Is “preferential treatment” enough to retain neurodivergent individuals and help them successfully graduate, and transition to meaningful jobs after experiencing inclusion in HE (Bjarnason, 2004)? We sought answers to these questions in a mixed methods research.

In an exploratory & descriptive research our Inclusive Excellence Reseaarch Group at University of Pécs analyzed data over a period of 10 years and described the state of inclusion in status reports (Varga et al., 2021). Looking for correlations between data figures led me to take interest in a group of disabled students with very high latency, called students with specific learning differences (Elmer at al., 2021) or in other word, neurodivergent individuals (Singer, 1999; Armstrong, 2011).

Theme/topic:
This paper addresses the critical theme of implementing universal design in digital learning resources within higher education in Norway. It explores how lecturers perceive and enact accessibility in their teaching materials and the extent to which their methods are inclusive for all students, particularly those with disabilities.

Research Questions:

1. How do lecturers in higher education implement accessibility in their learning resources?
2. Are their teaching methods inclusive, and if not, what measures need to be implemented to achieve inclusivity?

Theoretical Framework:
Previous studies (Sanderson, Kessel & Chen, 2018; Svendby, 2020) have shown that lecturers in higher education have a positive attitude towards universal design of ICT, but that they lack the necessary competence and workings conditions.
The study is anchored in Lipsky's concept of street-level bureaucracy (1980, 2010), which serves as a foundational framework. This theory is central in examining the challenges that lecturers in higher education face when they function as front-line implementers of policies related to universal design. It provides insight into how educators, as street-level bureaucrats, navigate and interpret educational policy, and how this policy is translated into practical application in the context of universal design
A hermeneutic phenomenological approach, deeply rooted in Gadamer's philosophy, is employed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the lecturers' experiences and perspectives, focusing on the theme of accessibility.
Method: (see next field)

Intended Purpose: The paper aims to:

• Highlight the discrepancies between the positive attitudes towards universal design and its practical implementation in higher education.
• Emphasize the need for comprehensive training and development programs for lecturers in universal design principles.
• Advocate for institutional policy and practice reassessment to support the effective implementation of universal design.
• Provide actionable recommendations for enhancing the accessibility of digital learning materials in higher education.

In 2022 a complex research project was organized to investigate the inclusiveness of a student society where mostly Roma low SES students are the participants. Their aim was to gain a new perspective on the role of this organization through the experiences of former members of the student society. A fundamental characteristic of the topic is that the situation of the Roma population in higher education is rarely discussed, with few international publications dealing with it. There are, of course, historical, social, economic reasons for this, which are not discussed in detail in this paper, but which can serve as an important contribution to the discussion of the situation of the target groups of inclusion.

Theoretical background related to the need for higher education for marginalized groups, such as Roma children and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, is often questioned. However, the socio-economic advantages of obtaining higher education are widely acknowledged. The expansion of higher education has resulted in a more diverse student population in Hungarian universities, which has been a focus of research both internationally and in Hungary.

Inclusive Excellence movements, such as the one in the U.S., have emphasized the importance of creating a diverse learning environment in higher education institutions. Research has shown that diverse student environments contribute to academic excellence. The concept of inclusiveness in higher education is defined as a process-based approach that encompasses the conditions supporting entry into an inclusive organization, the components of the time spent in the community, and indicators of achievement.

Research around the world has identified new groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education and is exploring ways to make institutions more inclusive. In Hungary, social groups such as people with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, parents of young children, Hungarians living outside the borders, and foreign students are recognized in legislation as groups to be supported. Although Roma individuals are not specifically mentioned in legislation, research is focusing on their inclusion in higher education. Intersectionality, which examines the intersection of multiple categories of inequality, is also an important aspect of research in this field.

Studies have highlighted the underrepresentation of Roma individuals in higher education across European countries. The proportion of Roma individuals with tertiary education ranges from 1% to 4%, making them one of the most underrepresented groups. Research has shown that Roma individuals with successful educational outcomes often have a supportive family background and strong community capital. The presence of ties to the majority society also plays a significant role in their education.

Hidden costs and the capital accumulation and conversion processes of socially mobile individuals are factors that impact the educational outcomes of underrepresented individuals. Support programs and community networks can significantly reduce or compensate for these costs. While schooling is increasingly valued in Roma communities, inequalities in education continue to persist. Involvement, recognition, and a network of contacts can help open pathways to mobility for Roma families and students.

Support systems for Roma children and students throughout their entire school careers are limited in Europe. In Hungary, support for Roma youth in higher education has been initiated in recent years, from early childhood interventions to primary and secondary schooling. The Roma Student Society Network, established in 2011 with EU funding and now state-funded, provides support for Roma students across the country.

In summary, the theoretical background related to higher education for marginalized groups emphasizes the need for inclusiveness and support mechanisms to ensure equal opportunities for all individuals, irrespective of their socio-economic background or ethnic identity.

Research on teachers’ soft skills is an interesting and important field of research that has attracted the interest of experts in recent years (Vasanthakumari, 2019). An important soft skill that teachers should have been collaboration, which is one of the social skills. Collaboration refers to the action that is jointly planned (Vangrieken et al., 2015). A more recent definition of collaboration refers to the process of exchange in which individuals share information, material, or knowledge (Bush & Grotjohann, 2020). Through collaboration, teachers can observe and rethink everything that is done, change strategies, and aim to improve themselves, the students, and the school in general (Giakoumi & Theofilidis, 2012).

In the international arena, surveys focus on secondary school teachers and students (Onabamiro et al., 2014). In Greece, studies on social skills are limited. The present research investigates the skill of collaboration adopted by general and special education teachers, its contribution to the educational process, but also in the development of their own, as well as the ways of cultivating it. The research questions posed were:

- How do general and special education teachers conceptualize the soft skill of collaboration?

- In what ways does a general and special education teacher develop the skill of collaboration?

- How is the contribution of collaboration skills to the educational process assessed?

- How is the contribution of collaboration skills to the development and progression of general and special education teachers assessed?

The education of children with severe multiple disabilities represents a significant challenge in inclusive education across many countries (cf. Agran et al., 2020; Kleinert, 2020; Cologon, 2022). Despite the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, these children are often educated separately. The general school system frequently faces various obstacles, prompting Slee's question, "Who is in and who is out?" (Slee, 2013, 905).

While inclusive education is a central goal of Swedish school legislation, several pupils are outside the general education system. Currently, approximately 0.5 percent of all Swedish children attend compulsory school for pupils with severe intellectual disabilities. They follow a separate curriculum covering five areas: aesthetics, communication, physical coordination, everyday activities, and perception of reality. Many of these children rely on comprehensive aids, particularly in communication and mobility. Nursing assistance and care are essential in this context, often with a perceived tension in their relationship to curricular content. Overcoming the dichotomy between care and education is crucial in this regard (Östlund, 2015). The existence of different professions in educational practice must also be considered, such as special education teachers and teaching assistants in the classroom, the latter characterized by an intermediate position between the teacher and the pupils (Östlund et al., 2021). Additionally, the children are supported by habilitation and therapeutic professionals such as occupational and speech therapists.

The purpose of the presented project is to ensure the right to education for students with severe intellectual disabilities, often combined with neurodevelopmental and physical disabilities. The goal is to enhance students' opportunities for education, personality development, participation, and autonomy. The overarching research question is how the various professional groups involved can develop collaboration that benefits the students' education. This question has not been addressed in a Swedish context before, and the project may also provide new impulses for collaboration regarding other target groups in education, mainly within Sweden. Given the focus on the specific target group of children with severe intellectual disabilities, this research is also relevant to an international audience, highlighting the need for collaboration in an interdisciplinary educational context.

The study's theoretical foundation is based on a collaboration model that integrates horizontal and vertical forms of cooperation (Axelsson & Bihari Axelsson, 2013). All forms of collaboration occur within a social context where various domains interact and mutually influence one another. This can be elucidated through Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological approach, where the individual – in our case, the pupil – is placed at the center. Surrounding the pupil is a microsystem comprising, among other elements, family, and school, which, in turn, interacts within a mesosystem and is connected to a broader exosystem (social services, legislation, etc.) and an overarching macrosystem (attitudes, culture, etc.). This theoretical approach can be correlated with neo-institutional perspectives involving the four analysis levels of the political domain, professional domain, administrative domain, and the users' domain (Danermark & Kullberg, 1999). In our research, a clear understanding of the collaborative nature and collaboration factors and integration of systems-theoretical and neo-institutional perspectives contribute to a deeper understanding of the processes in education. These theoretical approaches assist in comprehending the interaction among various professionals and their relationship with pupils.

The presentation explores the education of multilingual students with special educational needs in Norway. It questions how the teaching is characterized and organised, considering the Education Act’s requirement for individually adapted teaching. The presentation highlights the importance of culturally responsive perspectives, recognizing students’ languages and backgrounds as resources, and discuss further the challenges in identifying factors that define good special education and the need for coherence between special and regular education for positive learning outcomes (Festøy & Haug, 2017). In a complementary understanding of teaching, the quality of the regular teaching procedures greatly influences both the need for extra measures, and also the value of these same accommodations (Haug, 2017, p. 386). The theoretical perspectives are drawn from multicultural pedagogy and special education. The research question I seek to answer is: “How does the organisation of multilingual students in special education affect the inclusion process?”

Identifying factors for effective special education remains challenging, leading to exploration of its pedagogic signature. Disagreements persist in literature regarding distinctions between special and regular education. The signature comprises three levels: surface structure, deep structure, and implicit structure (Haug, 2015). A culturally responsive perspective, recognizing students’ languages and cultures as resources, is central across all levels (Remøy & Skrefsrud, 2024).

Despite some adaptations, much of the teaching lacks sufficient adjustment, particularly in regular classes where their linguistic and cultural backgrounds are often overlooked. The premises for adapted teaching are minimally fulfilled, suggesting schools may lack awareness of the potential scope for action within their organisation. There is minimal difference between the content of adapted teaching, special education, and regular provisions. Special education methods often mirror regular teaching, leading to fragmented routines and lack of cohesion for students. Segregation from regular teaching for special education and language instruction can hinder both academic and social inclusion. Students can be excluded on several levels through active exclusion from the teaching in the regular class, but also through exclusion in the teaching that is part of the education offered (Nes, 2017).

The findings show that the school leaders care about the education as a whole and wish to build on the linguistic and cultural experiences that the students bring with them. Thus they base the school’s practice on a culturally sensitive pedagogy, in which adapted teaching also involves being aware of and using the linguistic and cultural accomplishments of the pupils (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Remøy & Skrefsrud, 2024). Although, however, the pupils’ experiences are highly valued, the language does not appear to function as a tool in the teaching, but instead is reduced to a transition ritual with a compensatory value. This is reflected in the various ways of organizing the education.Even though the administrations at the case-schools were mindful of the role of the first language in their education and claimed that they were very concerned about taking into account the culture and language the pupils brought with them to school, we see the gap between good intentions and what is actually possible to do on a daily basis at school (Remøy & Skrefsrud, 2024).
The lacking realisation in practice of the intentions weakens the long-term perspective that Paris (2012) speaks of as being necessary to anchor the culturally sensitive pedagogy in the school’s systems. This implementation depends on continuity and integration in the way school is conceived (Gay, 2013; Paris, 2012). However, when these intentions are not translated into practice, and the L1 is only used sporadically, the education of these pupils becomes random and can hardly be thought of as qualifying the multilingual pupils to participate in society (Remøy & Skrefsrud, 2024).

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals prioritise the elimination of poverty and inequalities, and position education as key to civic and cultural participation (UN, 2015). At a European level, it is claimed that social diversity and equality in higher education (HE) are conditions of European competitiveness in the context of Europe’s changing demographic profile (Claeys-Kulik, Jørgensen, & Stöber, 2019). Yet, despite the Paris Declaration of EU member states that promoted citizenship, freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education (European Education and Culture Executive Agency, 2016), at an institutional level, research undertaken by the European University Association has identified barriers to the realisation of strategic objectives specifically related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), particularly, lack of both resources and awareness (Claeys-Kulik, Jørgensen, & Stöber, 2019).

In contrast to the pervasive liberal humanist discourse of equality of opportunity, EDI initiatives in higher education imply awareness that students from socially marginalised demographics are likely to require additional resource and support in order to achieve equal outcomes, thereby complementing the use of participation rates as accountability-related institutional demonstrations of the inclusion of specific demographics. However, the aforementioned report notes variability in the extent to which intersectionality is addressed, where intersectionality describes student identification with ‘various dimensions of diversity’ (Claeys-Kulik, Jørgensen, & Stöber, 2019, p.24) such as gender, socio-economic disadvantage, disability. In Deleuze’s (1995) configuration of the ‘control’ society, reconfigured by Rouvroy (2013, p.157) as ‘algorithmic governmentality’, participation rate data comprises ‘infra-individual digital traces of impersonal, disparate, heterogeneous, dividualized facets of daily life and interactions’, meaning that, for instance, the embodied intersection of dis-ability and disadvantage or lower socio-economic status is neglected. The reported small-scale study focuses on higher education students’ experience of this specific intersection but problematises an additive configuration of intersectionality (the accumulation of oppressions) in favour of a working hypothesis that intersectionality denotes variable and qualitatively distinctive experiences.

Following (Charteris & Smardon, 2019, p.6), the notion of voicework is problematic, risking tokenism and unaltered hegemonic institutional power relations. Nevertheless, this research can be read as contributing to ‘discourses of refusal’ that ‘trouble structures of neoliberal accountability and responsibilisation through setting up new spaces of refusal and reflexivity’, in contrast to discourses of governmentality and accountability which position students as, respectively, passive consumer informants (Demetriou, 2001) or as assurers of the quality of institutional provision (Keddie, 2015). We refer to the interview as intra-viewing, drawing on Foucault’s (1980, 2012) configuration of power as relational, and Deleuze’s (1994, p.29) refusal to view difference solely in terms of contradiction or opposition and positing of an underlying radical relationality. When applied to the interview, researcher and researched remain imbricated in the discourses associated with institutionally codified ethical practice, which assume a power relation and the vulnerability of socially marginalised participants (British Educational Research Association, BERA, 2018); yet, concurrent with and beneath such socially constructed individuated identities, they are also ‘larval subjects’ (Deleuze, 1994, p.78) - subjects-in-process in a relational space characterised by fluidity not fixed categories of identity.

Project aims:

1) To investigate the lived experience of students classified as dis-abled and of lower socio-economic status.

2) To reconfigure the interview process as a generative process (not only as a power differential between researcher-researched), affording more control to participants.

3) To reconsider the concept of intersectionality (rejecting additive conceptualisations) and identifying any distinctive features associated with the intersection of socio-economic status and dis-ability.

4) To contribute to the literature on HE student 'voice' (examining discourses around 'voice' in the context of our findings).

Research question:

What is the embodied experience of the intersection of dis-ability and lower socio-economic status for HE students in an English university?

While the discourse on the rights and participation of disabled people is hardly focusing on children, the discourse on children's rights is hardly ever considering children with disabilities. The proposal aims to analyse the largely separate discourses on childhood and disability, children's rights and the rights of disabled people and their participation. In doing so, it intends to emphasise the potential of discourse entanglement for the implementation of the rights of children and young people with disabilities.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN-CRC, UN 1989) calls for the realization of 'protection', 'provision' and 'participation'. One of the four guiding principles of the UN CRC stipulates that 'the best interests of the child' (Art. 3, para. 1) should be taken into account in the best possible way in all measures that affect them. However, in Germany, as in many other countries, the innovative potential of the UN CRC is underestimated. All Children but especially children who contradict norms of a presumed ‘normal childhood’, such as children with disabilities, are treated in a patronising way, with children's rights being reduced to the legal groups of protection rights and rights to care and services and participatory rights being neglected. Such a practice contradicts UN CRC, which recognises children as independent legal subjects from birth, doing so in a binding form under international law for the first time (Lindmeier 2023). The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD, UN 2006) which aims to ensure the rights of disabled people of all ages, also implies a comprehensive recognition of the interests, participation rights and subject status of children in Art. 7 para. 3 (Rossa, 2014). This assures the right of disabled children to be heard (Art. 12 UN CRC) in a double manner.

Nevertheless, there are serious deficits in the establishment of sustainable and effective participation opportunities for children and young people with disabilities and their agency(Lindmeier, 2023; Mac Arthur et al. 2007). In practice, the participation of children with disabilities does not sufficiently fulfil the requirements of both conventions. In particular, participants do not have sufficient clarity about their roles and functions and the resulting power to influence. There is also a lack of transparency and accessible communication, and the interests of children with disabilities are hardly represented, "not to mention by children and young people themselves" (Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte, 2015, 10).

The proposal analyses the concepts of disability and childhood, agency and vulnerability, using critical discourse analysis. In doing so, it aims at changing the view of children with disabilities by paying more attention to children's agency (Ehrenberg 2023; Priestley, 2020), informed by an understanding of children as active social actors. A general attribution of children with disabilities as vulnerable bears the risk of stigmatizing them instead of building upon their resources, and the risk of distracting from social inequality and emerging power relations instead of critically discussing and breaking them down (Schmitt, 2019). In order establish an inclusive childhood education, it is necessary, on the one hand, to focus more strongly on children's interests and, on the other hand, not to neglect group-specific vulnerability. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the communicative conditions under which disabled children can assert their right to be heard. The final question is therefore how disabled children realize agency under these conditions and what significance the perspective on children's rights and interests has. This will be discussed in conclusion with reference to the authors' initial empirical work and will result in suggestions on participatory research methods suitable to involve disabled children in a meaningful way.

This study falls within the feminist approach of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education. It also draws upon the concept of intersectionality which is addressed by Critical Disability Studies and other disciplines.

Personal experiences of disability are considered important by disability feminists, since they lead to unique experiences which vary even for persons who live in the same cultural contexts (Morris, 1996; Thomas, 1999). Disability feminists highlight the fact that women with disabilities are oppressed on the basis of disability and gender. They also argue that they may also experience multiple oppression because of their gender, race, and disability giving a more comprehensive understanding of personal experiences (Vernon, 1996, 1998). More recently, Critical Disability Studies scholars draw upon the concept of intersectionality to further highlight that the identities of women with disabilities intersect and define their experiences in different areas of life (Goodley, 2017). This concept was developed by Crenshaw (1989, 1991) and has been informing different disciplines. Furthermore, Goodley, Lawthom, and Runswick-Cole (2014) refer to the DisHuman, and they focus on the ways in which people with disabilities tend to be considered "less human" and dehumanized.

The narratives shared by people with disabilities regarding their experiences within the educational system, taking into account their intersecting identities and how these aspects influence their educational or social integration or exclusion, highlight the significance of implementing fair pedagogical approaches that are deeply connected to the diverse identities and experiences of students (Janzen, 2019; Schwitzman, 2019). Therefore, the adoption of an intersectional perspective in education is not just beneficial but essential for fostering inclusion and ensuring equitable opportunities for all students. Most of the literature focusses on the barriers posed by segregating or mainstream settings and call for inclusive education. Personal experiences during school life may enhance this argument and shed light on how the identified barriers impact children’s lives. At the same time, personal experiences may illuminate new parameters that define school experiences. These experiences may be relevant to children’s different identities and their intersections and the relevance of these identities to other factors such as the family and the cultural context. Thus, it is important to consider personal experiences in education if we are to adopt a social justice perspective in policy and practice, infused by inclusive education ideology (Liasidou, 2013).

This study aims to examine how the experiences of women with disabilities at school and their intersectional identities can help us conceptualize how the education system and other factors oppresses or empowers them. The research question is: How do the intersectional identities of women with disabilities and other factors influence their life trajectory through their experiences in the education system?

The Portuguese school buildings were built during the 20th century promoted by educational policies based on four main political regimes – monarchy until 1910, republic from 1910 to 1926, dictatorship from 1926 to 1974, and democracy since 1974 (Moniz & Cordeiro, 2019). These regimes used the schools not only to educate the population but also to represent their power relations. In most cases, the students were not the center of the education process, as John Dewey claimed already in 1916 in his book “Education and Democracy”, where students should “learn by doing”.

Beyond some interesting experiences in the 1960s and 1970s, in the late days of the dictatorship and the early days of democracy, school buildings were designed by architects without any interaction with the school community. The governmental institution prepared an architectural brief based on technical and programmatic regulations, and architects developed proposals supported by their contemporary architecture culture – neoclassic, modern, pavilions, brutalist, minimalist, etc. Beautiful school buildings were designed and built, but without the engagement of the school community - although the rector or the school director was involved in some cases (Moniz, 2018).

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Portuguese government started a programme to renovate secondary school buildings, named Parque Escolar, that worked between 2007 and 2017, where 100 buildings were refurbished. Although the programme aimed for community participation, in most cases that was not possible due to the short time to develop the architectural project and to a lack of participation culture.

Today, the government is transferring the management of the secondary school buildings to the municipalities and an opportunity is created to do things differently, due to the proximity between the municipalities and the schools (Cordeiro et al, 2023). The question is how can the school community be engaged in the redesign of their school buildings and what are the goals that may be achieved with this participation process?

The case of the José Falcão Secondary School, the former Lyceum of Coimbra (Moniz, 2004, 2008; Coelho, 2018a), can offer answers and guidance to achieve a more inclusive education supported by an architectural and pedagogical design process developed with the school community.

The building was designed in 1930 and built in 1936 in the frame of the national competition for modern lyceums, promoted by the dictatorship, in the early years of the so-called New State. The renovation of this school building was not included in the Parque Escolar programme because the teachers were not involved in the decision, and they refused the transformation of the school into a music school – the conservatory of Coimbra. Due to this lack of consensus, the school was excluded from the programme and the renovation is today very urgent and delicate because the building is a national monument, and it has a strong sense of belonging for Coimbra society.

The Municipality of Coimbra understood the exceptional character of this building and started a competition for a research-in-action project opened to universities with research centers in architecture, education and engineering. The University of Coimbra presented a proposal, led by the Department of Architecture, in partnership with the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and the Department of Civil and Mechanics Engineering, and several research centers.

This paper aims to discuss the proposal submitted by the University of Coimbra and to present the first results of the participatory process that was developed between November 2023 and January 2024.

Although, UNESCO (2019) calls for schools to become “welcoming spaces … where respect and appreciation for the diversity of all students prevail” (pp. 11, 15), educators and educational systems continue to stive to promote all students’ right to presence, participation and achievement in their education. For inclusive education to be realised, an intersectionality of architecture and inclusive education is emerging in the policy context (UNESCO, 2019, 2020), calling “State parties”/governments to take measures for “removing architectural … barriers to mainstream education” (UN, 2016, p. 15). This paper contributes to the emerging field of the role of architecture in supporting the translation of inclusive policy into practice for all students.

Affirming a collective responsibility to promote inclusive education, the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) – Education 2030 in the “Incheon Declaration and SDG4 – Education 2030 Framework for Action” established the need for the enactment of inclusive education to be “country-led”, requiring a “whole of government” approach. The Framework for Action was informed by three principles: education as a “fundamental human right and an enabling right”, ensuring equal access to inclusive education “free and compulsory, leaving no one behind”; education as a “public good” and a “shared societal endeavour”; and gender equality ensuring access, completion and empowerment for “girls and boys”, “women and men” (UNESCO, 2016, p. 28). Within the “whole of government” approach, the Framework for Action recognised that governments “will need the support of all stakeholders”, that is, “civil society, teachers and educators, the private sector, communities, families, youth and children” and understanding that they “all have important roles in realizing the right to quality education” (UNESCO, 2016, pp. 28, 60). However, this raises the question of how the right to quality education can be fully realised. According to UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 (2019) “school infrastructure must be improved, creating safe, accessible spaces” (p. 11). Therefore, allowing the affordances of architecture to emerge, ensuring safety in the architectural design of a school responds to students’ needs, while meeting policy requirements.

Richard Meier (1984) at the 1984 Pritzker Architecture Prize Ceremony described architecture as “vital and enduring because it contains us; it describes space, space we move through, exist in and use” (p. 1). School spaces have been reported in the literature for their role in the education of students with disabilities (Buchner, 2021; Jin et al., 2018), students with English as an additional language (Everatt et al., 2019; Wrench et al., 2018), and all students (Kallio, 2018; Ytterhus & Åmot, 2021). Space has been recommended as one of the resources affecting student learning (OECD, 2013, p. 24) with research providing evidence that school architecture that meets the qualities of being “accessible, suitable and appropriate” is deemed to “benefit all learners” (Ackah-Jnr & Danso, 2019 p. 205). It is now widely accepted globally that inclusive education refers to “an optimum learning environment [that] benefits all students” (Boyle & Anderson, 2020, p. 208). However, this raises the question of what an optimum learning environment for all looks like. Informing the intersectionality of architecture with inclusive education, this case study in a primary school setting in metropolitan South Australia reports on student and educator experiences of ‘suitable’ and ‘designed specifically for children’ material-economic arrangements enabling students’ inclusive education.

The research questions that underpinned the study were:

• What role does architecture play in students’ inclusive education?
• What do school community members perceive to be the enabling and/or challenging arrangements to students’ inclusive education?

The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about teachers’ experiences of implementing and using visual support with the graphic symbol program “Widgit Online” (WO) in a Swedish primary school to promote an accessible learning environment. As the overarching theoretical framework the study used inclusive pedagogy, which involves a pedagogical practice that compensates for individual student differences during whole-class teaching and activities (Brennan et al., 2021; Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011). The pedagogical practice should focus on creating rich learning opportunities accessible to all students enabling participation for everyone (Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011). Within the Swedish discourse, however, the term employed is "accessible learning environment" instead of "inclusive pedagogy." Essentially, the essence of this concept corresponds with that of inclusive pedagogy. The Swedish National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools (SpecialPedagogiska SkolMyndigheten; SPSM, 2023b) states that “accessibility encompasses the conditions necessary for all children and students to participate in an inclusive school environment”. According to “The Accessibility Model” developed by SPSM, creating accessible learning environments involves adapting the pedagogical, social, and physical environment to support the learning of all students (SPSM, 2023a). The model is widely referred to in Swedish schools and aligns with the Swedish education act (SFS 2010:800) stating that in education, it is essential to address the diverse needs of students, providing support and stimulation to maximize their development while striving to equalize student differences. Accessible learning environment was therefore used as a second theoretical framework in the current study.

The use of visual supports of different kinds are one way of creating an accessible learning environment in schools. Previous studies have shown that visual supports in the school context may be beneficial to students with disabilities, such as language disorders, autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability (Lequia et al., 2012; McDougal et al., 2022; Van Dijk & Gage, 2019; Wellington & Stackhouse, 2011) as well as second language learners (e.g., Dixon et al., 2020). Importantly, however, visual supports have also demonstrated broad benefits for all students in a classroom setting, contributing to vocabulary development, supporting listening skills, enhancing social communication skills, aiding literacy, and improving higher-order thinking and language skills (Crosskey & Vance, 2011; Gil-Glazer et al., 2019; John & Vance, 2014; Mavrou et al., 2013; Pampoulou & Detheridge, 2007). The notion of using visual supports as part of the everyday pedagogical practice to support the learning of all students in the classroom thus aligns with both the accessible learning environment as well as the inclusion pedagogy theoretical frameworks.

One type of visual support is graphic symbol sets, systematically designed to symbolize all types of words in a language, such as Widgit symbols (Kambouri et al., 2016). Widgit symbols in Swedish schools have become more prevalent with the widespread adoption of the web-based program WO, which also comprises a variety of templates, such as mind-maps and schedules. WO is accessible in many classrooms across Sweden, often with individual teacher access. Widgit symbols and the specific WO program are also available in several countries in Europe and beyond. Yet, there is a paucity in research investigating the implementation and utilization of visual support with graphic symbols and programs such as WO in mainstream classrooms. Through an interview study with nine primary school teachers we thus aimed to explore the following research questions: 1. How do the teachers describe implementation and use of WO as a tool for promoting an accessible learning environment? 2. What impact does use of WO have on the students’ learning, development, and participation, according to the teachers? 3. What important organizational factors are described in implementing and using visual support with WO?

This research aims to explore how Musical Digital Assets can enhance inclusive processes through listening, bringing people closer to the rich cultural heritage that characterized ancient peoples, particularly the Mediterranean populations. In this sense, Musical Digital Asset represents a frontier that improves the educational context (Turchet, 2023). In this regard, digital technologies have transformed how music educators convey knowledge, offering a wide range of resources and learning opportunities (Sibilio et al., 2023). Digital libraries, streaming platforms, and sound production tools provide an inexhaustible source of educational materials, enabling educators to customize teaching to meet the needs of users, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, which has recently been the subject of numerous studies about music and its application in education and inclusivity (Miranda, 2021; Caramiaux & Donnarumma, 2021; Di Paolo et al., 2022).In this context, transmitting cultural heritage based on digital assets enriches users’ repertoire and promotes interactivity and active participation. Through modern technologies, users can explore and experience theoretical concepts that can be learned in a virtual museum. Digitally assisted production allows them to apply theoretical skills, stimulating creativity and problem-solving. Furthermore, integrating digital resources prepares users for the challenges of the contemporary landscape, where technological competence is often essential for professional success (McPherson & Tahıroğlu, 2020).In a practical context, the integration of digital musical heritage can occur using streaming platforms to access historical and contemporary recordings, allowing users to compare interpretive styles and analyze performance dynamics. In particular, the Mediterranean populations, have left various cultural testimonies that should be paid attention to under the artistic-musical profile. For the user, therefore, approaching, and exploring music that in some way echoes the history of that population allows for greater reflection on immaterial cultural heritage, opening new perspectives for interpretation (Li & Sun, 2023).Specialized software offers the user the opportunity to listen attentively and repeatedly to a given composition, enhancing understanding of its harmonic structures and historical features. Open-access multimedia resources that are always available to the user, not but in a virtual context, allow flexible access to materials and in-depth study of complex topics that belong not only to historiography or museology but to musicology and its possible relationship to other disciplines.In this context, Transmitting cultural heritage based on digital assets enriches users’ repertoire and promotes interactivity and active participation. Through modern technologies, users can explore and experience theoretical concepts that can be learned in a virtual museum. Digitally assisted production allows them to apply theoretical skills, stimulating creativity and problem-solving. Furthermore, the integration of digital resources prepares users for the challenges of the contemporary landscape, where technological competence is often essential for professional success (McPherson & Tahıroğlu, 2020).In a practical context, the integration of digital musical heritage can occur using streaming platforms to access historical and contemporary recordings, allowing users to compare interpretive styles and analyze performance dynamics. In particular, the Mediterranean populations, have left various cultural testimonies that should be paid attention to under the artistic-musical profile. For the user, therefore, approaching, and exploring music that in some way echoes the history of that population allows for greater reflection on immaterial cultural heritage, opening new perspectives for interpretation (Li & Sun, 2023).Specialized software offers the user the opportunity to listen attentively and repeatedly to a given composition, enhancing understanding of its harmonic structures and historical features. Open-access multimedia resources that are always available to the user, not but in a virtual context, allow flexible access to materials and in-depth study of complex topics that belong not only to historiography or museology but to musicology and its possible relationship to other disciplines.

With the aim to equip young people with skills, knowledge and competences for dealing with the challenges and uncertainties of the 21st century, educational experts have come to the realisation that this cannot be accomplished by school alone and should not be reduced to subject-specific learning. To understand and enhance students’ ability to navigate a digitally connected world and to steer this world to new futures, studies have adopted broader approaches which involve schooling and educational media and look beyond the school at further relations, practices and systems in which young people live. A decade of research from the Connected Learning Alliance (CLA) has shown that students learn most when educators give them the opportunity to follow their interests, to embed their learning in social relationships, and to connect their learning to real-world opportunities beyond the classroom (Ito et al., 2020).

Many emerging initiatives around the world have taken an ‘ecological’ approach to learning ecosystems (cf. Otto/Kerres 2023), which have been described as ‘a potential game-changer for today’s learners’ (Al-Fadala, WISE, in Hannon et al. 2019, p. i). In connecting different in and out of school learning spaces like schools, museums, libraries, youth centers under the umbrella of “educational ecosystems”, providers aim to offer young people more open and expanded learning opportunities. However, despite the thorough engagement with ecosystem research, projects mostly retain the individualist epistemology underlying mainstream educational research or focus on the communication and governance between the institutions involved (Huber et al. 2020). This stands in tension with a thorough conception of an ecosystem which emphasizes the interconnectedness and inter-relationships among biological, physical and chemical actors. In building on previous research in education we aim to adopt the conception of an ecosystem as ‘a fundamental organizational unit of the biosphere in which biological communities interact with their non-biological environment through energy flows and material cycles’ (Yu et al., 2021, p. 151). In this way, ‘ecosystem science is the study of patterns, processes, and services of ecosystems’ (ibid.).

In our presentation we will present the findings of a study of three such educational ecosystem projects in Germany which are funded by a company foundation. With a common slogan these networks offer STEAM based learning through gaming, robotic, digital production in makerspaces and youth centers or research-based learning in museum and school. Key underlying questions are how digital media technologies are embedded in these ecosystems, how they relate to traditional media and what kind of practices evolve within their contexts. One of the underlying theses of our research is that educational ecosystems can be considered as media ecosystems in which the interplay between different ‘media constellations’ (Weich 2020; 2023) is crucial. Media constellations can be conceptualized as a co-constitutive entanglement of materialities, knowledge/practices, content and subject positions. Between institutions within a given ecosystem, there might be continuities and compatibilities as well as frictions and tensions between their media constellations which can stabilise the ecosystem, helping it to thrive, but could also destabilise the ecosystem, potentially leading to rupture.

The presentation compares these three educational ecosystems with the following questions: Which goals are being pursued by the different actors in the network? Which media constellations do they create to reach their goals? What expectations, fulfillments and disappointments do the actors experience? And which frictions and tensions can be observed in these spaces?

Based on ethnographic research we aim to provide deep insights into how these educational ecosystems are developed, what they offer for participating youth and most importantly what young people make of these opportunities.

Intercultural education has been an issue of importance in Greek education since the 1990s, when Greece became a receiving country for immigrants; this was the time, when educational policy and research started to focus more on the country’s historical and cultural minorities, as a whole. 1997 constitutes a milestone, since four major Programmes were initiated by the Greek Ministry of Education and implemented by Greek universities with regard to the Education of Immigrant and Repatriate Students, the Muslim Minority Children in Thrace, Roma Children, as well as Children of the Greek Diaspora. After the onset of the Greek economic and social crisis in 2009, it became evident that the idea of intercultural education had to be reconsidered and linked more closely with the concepts of democracy, human rights and intercultural citizenship. Since 2015, the refugee crisis, the pandemic and more recently the Ukraine war, have created new demands for inclusion, quality education and education for social justice.

Cyprus also constitutes a particularly multicultural landscape with its main historical communities (Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Latins and Armenians); additionally, the economic immigrant inflow, especially after Cyprus became a EU member in 2004, has created new challenges for education, from which relevant policies and practices have arisen.

The presentation will focus on the specifics of the Greek discourse on migration and education (areas of discussion and research, controversies and their assumed potential for future developments), taking both educational policy and practice into consideration; it will also pursue the aim to shed light on selected aspects of the Cypriot discourse.

About the presenter

Dr Anastasia Kesidou
is Assistant Professor in Comparative and Intercultural Education at the School of Philosophy and Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is a member of the Board of Directors/Scientific Board of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Human Rights, Democracy and Peace of the same university and has been Chair of the Board of the Hellenic Observatory for Intercultural Education, which she co-founded in 2008 (three terms). She has participated as coordinator or researcher in various national and European projects funded by the Greek Ministry of Education and the European Union and publishes (in Greek, German and English) in the areas of comparative and intercultural education, education for human rights and democracy, curriculum and textbook research.

SUN-CHAT is a study funded by Swansea University’s Morgan Advanced Studies Institute (MASI), that engages with children, parents/carers, and primary school educators to scope current tanning perceptions and the perceived effect tanning has on health. The study addresses some of these challenges with a vision of enabling children’s voice and listening to their views (Shier 2001). This paper is focused on an area of activity of this research, that is, the work with children to understand their perceptions and experiences. We make the connection between a healthy environment (school) and better health and wellbeing for all generations in Wales, by exploring perceptions of tanning and how healthier attitudes and behaviours can be encouraged and adopted from a young age to build a resilient and hopeful future. This project addresses a health public issue with ongoing education strengths in Wales by building on the holistic education process proposed in Curriculum for Wales (Welsh Government 2023). We take the known problem of skin cancer and address it by engaging with children through co-constructed activities, to facilitate and prioritise their participation (Dadlani and Orlow 2008; Blaisdell et al. 2018).

Skin cancer, including melanoma and non-melanoma (keratinocyte) now comprises half of all cancers in England and Wales (GIRFT 2021; Public Health Wales 2023). Yet 86% of melanomas can be prevented with safer sun exposure and scientists agree there is no such thing as a ‘safe tan’. As over exposure as a child greatly increases future skin cancer risk, childhood is a critical time for promoting health behaviours such as sun protection. However, both parents (Thoonen et al. 2021) and children (McAvoy et al. 2020) generally have positive perceptions of tanned skin and work is urgently needed to understand and address the misconceptions of the perceived health benefits of tanning. SUN-CHAT aligns with the agenda of the Welsh Government set out in ‘A Healthier Wales’ (Welsh Government 2018) by prioritising prevention and helping people remain healthier. The project is also aligned with the focus of Well-being of Future Generations (WFG) Act (Welsh Government 2015) which aims to ensure that everyone understands how their health behaviours (such as managing their desire for a tan in a healthy way) can benefit their future health. The Curriculum for Wales (Welsh Government 2023) with its designated area for Health and Well-being and autonomy for schools in designing curriculum content, presents an ideal way to facilitate this exploration. One way in which this is being undertaken is via child-led ‘healthy schools’ clubs. Focusing on understanding how different health dimensions, e.g., physical, emotional, and social well-being play a role in children’s lives.

Aims:

• Gather data regarding perceptions towards tanning to explore the perceived effects of a tan on health.
• Inform the development and testing of a pilot toolkit for integration within the Curriculum for Wales to encourage positive health behaviours and attitudes of school children towards tanning and sun exposure.

Study Objectives:

• To understand perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of school-aged children (5-8 years of age) in primary schools in Wales, specifically in relation to sun tanning and sun exposure.

• To gather viewpoints on best ways of engaging with school-aged children (5-8 years of age) and their parents/carers about health.

• To understand perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of parents/carers of primary school children in Wales regarding tanning, both for themselves and their children.

• To explore challenges that primary school educators face in engaging with the school community around the Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience in Curriculum for Wales, specifically about healthy attitudes to tanning.

• Consolidate evidence to support the development of an educational toolkit for integration within the Curriculum for Wales.

There is substantial empirical evidence linking social-emotional learning (SEL) to improved well-being, positive teacher-child relationships, and greater academic success (Denham & Brown, 2010; Stefan et al., 2022). According to a sociocultural conception of narrative, children engage in various domains of SEL while elaborating their experiences in the form of stories (Bruner, 2004). Thus, storytelling activities provide natural opportunities for social-emotional learning in the classroom.

Recent studies have specifically explored the connection between digital storytelling and SEL. Some emphasize how collaborative digital storytelling creates a conducive environment for SEL (del Moral Pérez et al., 2016; Del-Moral-Pérez et al., 2018; Uslu & Uslu, 2021). Children exercise peer support, adapt to different situations and develop cognitive flexibility and adaptivity as fundamental social abilities (del Moral Pérez et al., 2016, p. 34).

However, there is limited research on how digitally enhanced storytelling activities can be specifically crafted to foster specific dimensions of social-emotional learning, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (Denham & Brown, 2010; Hecht & Shin, 2015; Payton et al., 2000). Here, SEL encompasses "knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions” (Weissberg, 2019).

This research investigates how a guided storytelling tool, which has been developed as part of a wider design-based research project (McKenney & Reeves, 2018), can be adapted and applied for the specific goal of advancing SEL through storytelling. In specific, the aim of the study was to develop a set of guidelines on how to prepare and scaffold collaborative storytelling activities in which children engage with social emotional learning.

The importance of peers for academic motivation is a crucial issue in educational psychology. According to the General Motivation Model (Heckhausen & Rheinberg, 1980), motivation affects concentration, enjoyment, and subjective experience during learning. The model emphasizes that motivation is influenced by personal characteristics, such as general motivation and interests, but also by situational and variable factors, such as the level of demands or the learning environment with its social norms. This leads to the conclusion that academic motivation is, on the one hand, highly variable and context-dependent (e.g., Pekrun & Marsh, 2022) and, on the other hand, highly sensitive to the social context (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2012), which is strongly determined by peers. Peer relationships provide children with companionship and entertainment, help with problem solving, personal and emotional support, and a foundation for identity development throughout childhood and adolescence.

Self-determination theory also highlights the importance of a sense of belonging as a basic psychological need, alongside the need for autonomy and the experience of competence (Ryan & Deci, 2000). According to this theory, students perceive themselves as more self-determined and motivated in their actions when they feel that they belong to, and are accepted and supported by, their peer group. Empirical evidence supports the importance of peers for emotional experiences, that are closely related to students’ motivational and behavioural outcomes: Students are more motivated and engaged when working with peers (high positive activation), but also less stressed or nervous (low negative activation) than in individual situations (e.g., Knickenberg et al., 2020; Zurbriggen & Venetz, 2016). Although the relevance of peers for academic motivation is well established, individuals’ perceptions of peer support, e.g. in terms of social classroom climate, have (still) received little attention in current research. Social classroom climate can be characterized by mutual respect or a willingness to cooperate. Such a climate makes it easier for young people to establish and maintain positive contacts with each other. There is little evidence of a differentiated relationship between a more prosocial classroom climate and an increase in individual students’ social skills (Hoglund & Leadbeater, 2004). Another study showed that the social and emotional behavioural norms within a classroom community can serve as a reference norm for emotional experience and behaviour at the individual level, to which students can orient themselves (Barth et al., 2004). Specifically in relation to academic motivation, research suggests that student motivation can be enhanced by a positive social classroom climate (e.g., Wang et al., 2020), particularly the perception of supportive peers and teachers (e.g., Raufelder et al., 2013).

Against this theoretical and empirical background, we aim to examine the relationships between aspects of current motivation and peer-related predictors at both the situational (L1) and person levels (L2), in order to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of peer dynamics.

This workshop discusses the methodological framework of recent empirical studies (Marsh et al., 2009; Televantou et al., 2015) that have addressed the impact of correcting for measurement error in student-level measures (i.e., student achievement) on compositional effects’ estimates. A compositional effect is revealed when students’ outcomes are associated with the aggregated characteristics of their peers in the school or the classroom, after controlling for pre-existing differences at the student level. Research findings often support what is taken to be the conventional wisdom, suggesting a positive, but weak effect of class- or school-aggregated achievement on students’ academic outcomes. Thus, for example, they suggest a positive association between the peers’ average achievement and a student’s academic achievement. Still, there is remarkably little agreement on this matter.
The present workshop begins by explaining how failing to account for measurement error at level 1 distorts derived estimates of school/class compositional effects. On the basis of illustrative analysis using large-scale data from education, it demonstrates how the use of doubly latent models can help overcome this problem. The demonstration shows in an empirical way how measurement error bias systematically leads to a positive bias in the school-/class. composition effect estimates. This suggests that non-existent, or even negative, school composition effects may misleadingly be estimated as positive and statistically significant—an artifact of the inadequacy in the underlying statistical methodology.

Further, the workshop considers academic self-concept toward mathematics as an educational outcome (Dicke et al., 2018; Televantou et al., 2021; 2023), showing how doubly latent models can be used to investigate the so-called big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). The BFLPE suggests that average achievement at the classroom level or the school negatively predicts academic self-concept, despite the positive effect of achievement on self-concept at the individual level, and it is a robust finding concerning controls for measurement in compositional analysis (Dicke et al., 2018; Televantou et al., 2021).
The workshop concludes with a discussion of related theoretical, substantive, and methodological issues and with some guidelines for future research.
The methodology proposed by Marsh et al. (2009) can be relevant for any researcher concerned about how individuals may be affected by their interaction with other individuals within similar settings and whenever the variables involved in the analysis are subject to unreliability (e.g., in econometrics and health, in organizational psychology, social psychology, etc.). Specifically, in relation to school (and teacher) effectiveness studies, these models can be applied whenever the substantive interest lies in the investigation of the impact that the characteristics of the fellow students in a school (or a class) have on an individual’s outcomes.