Conference Agenda

Research examining education systems and the communities they serve seeks to understand the past endeavours, current realities, and future hopes for inclusive education worldwide (Lyons et al., 2016; Van Mieghem et al., 2020; Yada et al.,2022). The United Nations has recognised the need for inclusive and equitable education opportunities for all (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 1994; United Nations, 2006). Most recently, in Transforming our World Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations General Assembly, 2015), the United Nations outlined 17 sustainable development goals for people, planet and prosperity. Goal four identifies inclusive education as necessary to meet the target for a sustainable and resilient world. Additionally, the vision of the European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) states that “All learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and peers.” (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2024). The Agency’s position statement – second edition (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2022) emphasises the importance of all ‘education actors’ to widen their understanding of inclusive education by including the voices of learners, increasing the capacity of schools and learners, developing partnerships with stakeholders, and by increasing societal awareness of the impact of segregation and social isolation. Understanding school leader’s experiences and perspectives across regions, therefore, is key to evaluating the past, assessing the present and identifying future goals for inclusive education in Europe and internationally.

This presentation investigates school leaders’ perspectives about the factors they identify as influential to their school staff’s collective efficacy for inclusive practices. While collective teacher efficacy is broadly acknowledged as an important factor contributing to school performance outcomes (Bandura, 1997; Donohoo et al., 2020; Goddard, 2001), collective teacher efficacy for inclusive education, is a less measured construct in the field of education (Lyons et al., 2016; Sharma et al., 2023). To date, a limited amount of research suggests that collective teacher efficacy is an important contributing factor in the delivery of inclusive practices across a school (Chong & Ong, 2016; Lyons et al., 2016; Sharma et al., 2023). In this presentation, the views of school leaders from Melbourne Australia will be shared. More specifically, in this research, their perspectives about the collective efficacy of their staff as they navigate their school’s inclusive journey were examined. The specific research questions that guided this study were.

1. What factors do school principals identify as the facilitators in enhancing collective efficacy and commitment to inclusive education in their school?

2. What factors do school principals identify as the barriers to enhancing collective efficacy and commitment to inclusive education in their school?

Individuals with disabilities are entitled to be recognized as experts in their own experiences, therefore they can be considered as the most appropriate research participants to provide reliable information regarding these experiences. Converging to their educational past, these experiences are of utmost importance, as they can reveal oppressive structures within school and society. Considering their descriptions and understandings of their educational past, not only are their voices emancipated, but at the same time proposals are being promoted that may lead to more inclusive educational settings (Vlachou & Papananou, 2015).

In this context, the aim of the research was to explore and reveal the quality of education of women with Deafblindness and the challenges they experienced throughout their school years. Through this study, awareness of Deafblindness as a distinct disability is clearly raised (WFDB, 2018). At the same time, the voice of this doubly marginalized group (both women and disabled) is emancipated, as feminist literature suggests that adult women with disabilities remain largely disregarded in the disability rights movement (Evans, 2019; Ferri & Gregg 1998). Qualitative research was conducted as it was well suited to explore the main research question (Flick, 2018), namely of how these women define and make sense of their school experiences. The main research tool was semi-structured interviews, which were conducted individually with each participant. The participants, who were chosen purposively, were two adult women with acquired Deafblindness, who received their education in Australia but then moved to Cyprus.

Thematic analysis of research data revealed that although the two women were in a mainstream school, alongside their peers, they were not meaningfully included in their school environment. Segregation was clearly evident, as Deaf students had to attend a different class. Moreover, the two participants were included in the so-called classroom of the Deaf, although they were Deafblind, and joined the classroom of hearing students only in certain subjects, such as physical education, art, and carpentry. The main challenge they both experienced was the rejection, not only of hearing students, but also of their Deaf classmates, as they had not fully accepted them due to their intersectionality (Zavos, 2021). Moreover, given that they migrated from Cyprus to South Australia and later on, moved back to Cyprus, they were also discriminated at because of their origin. It therefore becomes evident that this doubly marginalized group of women, actually became multi marginalized because of their gender, their Deafblindness, as well as their origin.

Through this study, it is revealed that different forms of oppression overlap to create complex forms of discrimination. Therefore, the importance of this study, which is still in progress and will evolve to include other doubly marginalized women as participants, lies in that it reveals the complex nature of intersectionality, as used in gender studies. This is, in our opinion, a crucial aspect that needs to be pointed at in multi-country research networks.

Finally, even though the participants of this study graduated from school four decades ago, segregation of children with disabilities is still practiced in schools. It is clear that there is a need to implement inclusive education in order to create diverse classrooms, fostering respect and acceptance. We hold that it is only through the study of the complex nature of segregation, that we can aim to develop a more inclusive society.

Inclusive education is a universal pedagogical trend, covering a broad range of research areas such as race, ethnicity, gender, culture, language, religion, and ability. An inclusive system concerns the rights, social justice, and equity within education for all, especially the marginalised groups (UNICEF, 2023). The idea of inclusive education in Lithuania is fairly new with its current focus being the official structural shift from a multi-track system to an inclusive one starting in the beginning of 2024. This implies moving away from the language of learners with developmental disorders to learners with special educational needs (SEN). With changing demographics such as a vastly increasing number of returned immigrant and refugee pupils, inclusion in learning settings requires more versatile skills and expertise based on a profound understanding of the ideology of inclusion (Määttä, Äärelä, and Uusiautti, 2018).

Yet, teachers have continued to report ongoing support of segregationist ideas (Ališauskas and Šimkienė, 2013); implementation difficulties in differentiating teaching methods, feeling a lack of readiness to foster student socialisation and dialogue with parents, and experiencing a gap in multiprofessional collaboration (Lakkala et al., 2019).Contextual urgency lies in the changing demographics of the student body and impacts resulting to the urgency to reconsider diversity and inclusion beyond SEN in Lithuanian schools, and how current teacher training prepares future teachers for this.

Here, the practical theory of inclusive teachers requires the ability to recognise and reflect on the factors that support or hinder the inclusion of all students (cf. Shani and Hebel, 2016), both the obvious and the hidden.This is especially true in the context of educational reforms in Lithuania since its re-independence in 1990- which has heavily impacted (initial) teacher training curriculum, especially while moving towards competencies-based education (Rutkienė and Ponomarenko, 2019). As the new teachers' competence frameworks look to refocus on teachers' didactical competencies (individual learning needs, differentiation of teaching instruction, and teachers' self-reflection) and general competencies (i.e. professional communication skills, cultural competence)- beyond merely subject-focused competencies. How teacher educators comprehend inclusion and diversity in education- within the new requirements- significantly influences their teaching and modelling of these principles to the prospective teachers.

Personalised learning, learner profiles, and diverse learning styles are integral to delivering inclusive education. Tailoring instruction to meet individual needs through personalised learning strategies enhances student engagement and achievement, essential for inclusive education (Tomlinson, 1999). Recognising and catering to various learning styles, such as visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic, ensures that instruction resonates with each student, thereby supporting inclusive practices (Fleming & Mills, 1992). In essence, combining personalised learning approaches, an understanding of diverse learning styles, and detailed learner profiles are key to developing an inclusive educational system that caters to the unique needs of every student (Kaminskiene & Khetsuriani, 2019). Comprehensive learner profiles, which include cognitive abilities, interests, and socio-cultural backgrounds, aid educators in creating effective and inclusive learning environments (Hattie, 2009). These profiles are crucial in inclusive classrooms, where the diversity of learning needs is more pronounced (Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011). The integration of technology also plays a significant role in personalising learning, offering tools to address varied learning needs and styles, pivotal in today's digital age (Prensky, 2001).

Responding to this, this study investigates how a prominent Lithuanian teacher training university is incorporating personalised learning practices and differentiated instruction within the broader framework of inclusive education. It focuses on understanding teacher training faculty members' strategies in preparing educators to meet the diverse learning profiles, styles, and needs of students. The main research question is: How is inclusive education being understood, addressed and approached in teacher training programmes in Lithuania?

Overview of Research Questions, Objectives, and Theoretical Framework:

Existing research suggests that anxiety can emerge in children as young as five years old, yet the exploration of childhood anxiety is limited due to its discreet manifestations. Aligned with the conference theme 'Education in an Age of Uncertainty: Memory and Hope for the Future,' this study emphasises every child's right to timely support within their natural environment. Building on a recent systematic literature review (Choy et al., under review) on effective interventions for anxiety in children aged 2-12 years, including those with co-morbid autism spectrum condition (ASC), we developed an innovative program integrating collaborative play and evidence-based strategies. The primary aim of the 14 to 33-week fieldwork was to examine methods for reducing anxiety in children, with and without ASC, and assess potential enhancements in social skills and executive functions. Additionally, the study aims to explore the role of the broader school environment in supporting children experiencing anxiety, whether it be generalized or social anxiety. The investigation also explored the short-, medium-, and long-term implications associated with anxiety events, encompassing psychological, emotional, behavioural, and social dimensions. The key research questions guiding the study were:

1. Did the implementation of a 14 to 33-week "build-to-play" approach lead to reduced anxiety, as reported by teachers, parents, and researcher-conducted observations among a sample of 12 children (aged 4-6 years) experiencing anxiety (n = 9) or anxiety and ASC (n = 3)?

2. Did a whole class approach to educating children about anxiety, utilising 'bibliotherapy' within the classrooms of the 12 children, result in a better understanding of anxiety, coping mechanisms, and assisting others in managing anxiety?

3. Throughout the fieldwork, what co-constructed strategies were identified through interviews (n = 12) with parents (N = 11 single, 1 dyads) and teachers that supported the reduction of anxiety?

Theoretical Background

The theoretical framework includes four foundational theories essential for shaping the methodology and research design. These theories not only establish a theoretical framework but also direct the application of crucial methodological tools, such as data triangulation and the utilisation of multiple informants, ensuring a thorough interpretation of results. To commence, this paper presents theories concerning the comprehensive development of a child, encompassing dimensions of physical, emotional, cognitive, social, language, and communication. Building upon this foundational understanding, the subsequent section concentrates on situating a child within a broader contextual framework. Following this, an in-depth exploration of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model (1979, 1989) unfolds, presenting both the original model's micro, meso, exo, macro, chrono systems and the person-process-context-time framework.

Subsequently, the Universal Design (UD) framework unfolds, strategically adopted from the study's inception to ensure inclusivity. Specifically, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (Rose & Meyer, 2002) is elucidated, underscoring its role in promoting inclusion from the project's inception.

Following this, the developmental-transactional model (Rubin et al., 2009) is presented, examining the nuanced development of anxiety and the identification of associated risk factors.

Finally, the Empathising-Systemising Theory (Baron-Cohen, 2009) is explored to elucidate the strength-based paradigm for children with anxiety conditions and Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC), providing valuable insights to inform interventions for this distinctive population. In summary, this paper not only synthesises and contextualises these four theories but also underscores their direct application in the prevention and early intervention strategies within the scope of our ongoing study. This integrative approach emphasizes the pivotal role these theories play in shaping the practical facets of the research, ensuring a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of anxiety in children.

Abstract

From a young age, disabled people experience oppression and exclusion in their school environment, due to barriers set by society and the educational system (Waldschmidt et al., 2017). Converging to individuals on the autism spectrum, literature indicates that their voice is often absent from disability discourse (Febriantini, Fitriati & Oktaviani, 2021). Moreover, women (with or without disabilities) also experience social exclusion and oppression (Mamas et al., 2021), which indicates that a disabled woman is subject to double oppression.

The aim of this research is to explore and reveal the quality of education of autistic women in Cyprus, giving emphasis to the challenges and oppression they experienced throughout their school years. The main researcher of this study is an empowered disabled woman herself, therefore the ideological stance from which this research was approached is related to valuing the participants’ descriptions and understandings; we hold that this can lead to their empowerment and perhaps even the ignition of further activism in the disability rights movement. Indeed, a basic underpinning of the evolving field of Disability Studies in Education, is that understandings of the experiences of education for people with disabilities is central, both for developing critiques of the ableist structures in educational settings, as well as suggestions of how education might be otherwise (Slee, Corcoran & Best, 2021).

The main research tool for this qualitative research was semi-structured interviews. Qualitative research was conducted as it was well suited to explore the main research questions, namely of how these women describe and give meaning to their experiences of school life and what suggestions they recommend to future or current teachers for developing more inclusive educational settings. The participants, who were chosen purposively, were two adult women on the autism spectrum, one with verbal and the other with non-verbal communication skills. The research is still in progress and will evolve to include other disabled women.

Through thematic analysis of research data (Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, 2014), four main conclusions emerged. The first conclusion is related to the women’s negative experiences in the school environment and the discrimination they have faced, especially from their teachers. The second is related to their passive participation in the school community. This is quite concerning, as the participants, now in their early twenties, have only recently graduated from school, which points to the fact that there is an ongoing discrimination within the Cypriot educational system. Indeed, relevant local research points to this (Mamas, 2013). Many teachers, due to lack of knowledge on issues related to disability and inclusion, wrongly consider that they include their students in the learning process, when in fact they are simply observed to spatially place them in the general classroom (Majoko, 2019).

The third conclusion is related to the different ways each participant makes sense and defines terms such as special education and inclusion. Results indicate that this may be related both to their school experiences, as well as to their field of graduate studies, as one of the participants studies Psychology, whereas the other Primary Education. Within these two fields of study, there seems to be a different balance of students’ involvement with the medical model and/or the social model of disability.

Lastly, the fourth conclusion relates to what is, in our opinion, a crucial aspect that needs to be discussed in depth within international conferences, namely the complex nature of intersectionality, as used in gender studies. Indeed, results of this research indicate the development of multiple identities/oppressions within school settings, beyond being disabled, which in turn points to the fact that different forms of oppression overlap, to create complex forms of discrimination.

This paper concerns the research results related to a case study about the implementation of inclusion of children with disabilities in Cyprus, with a focus on the issue of reasonable accommodations and specifically the provision of assistant to children with disabilities. The research under study was qualitative and for the collection of data two interviews were carried out. The participants were the mother of a child with cerebral palsy, quadriplegia and hearing loss and the child's assistant and interpreter of sign language. The aim of the research was to clarify how parents of disabled children and their assistants define and make sense of the procedures followed in the local educational system, concerning the issue of reasonable accommodation for their children. Moreover, another aim was to clarify their opinions on how these procedures affect students with disabilities and what impact they may have on their lives. The research was held within the framework of the PhD Course EPA542: "Special and Inclusive Education in Cyprus", under the supervision of Dr. Maria Iacovou, during Winter Semester 2022, at the University of Cyprus. It is still an undergoing research and it will evolve to include other parents and assistants as participants.

The Presentation titled “Teacher agency as enabler of inclusive education in Nepal” is based on the study which aims at exploring how teacher agency has been shaped and contributing as enabler of inclusive education in resource scarce environment. In order to investigate aspects of inclusive teacher agency, the model developed by (Pantić & Florian, 2015) and elaborated by (Li & Ruppar, 2021) will be used. Inclusive teacher identity, Professional competence, Inclusive professional philosophy, Autonomy and Reflexivity will frame the aspects of inclusive teacher agency. To look into factors shaping teachers agency, the ecological model incorporated by Priestley et al. (2016) will be used. Iterational, Practical-evaluative and Projective elements will provide a theoretical framework to investigate what has shaped teacher agency in mainstream school. This study will look into which envisions frames inclusive education among teachers so they can provide opportunities to students with disabilities in nearby mainstream schools. Placing this study in Nepal, the study aims to expand teacher agency shaped in a given cultural context to challenge ableism in education and to create anti ableist pedagogies(Nieminen & Pesonen, 2022).

Scientific research has pointed to the importance of understanding the relation between curricular autonomy, work engagement and teachers’ well-being. To our knowledge few efforts have been made from a theoretical framework, and no systematic evidence has been provided regarding the interrelation between these three concepts. This study concerns an initial phase of a larger project entitled “Times of change and changing times: a study of the relationships between curricular autonomy and teacher engagement and well-being of teachers” which aims to: understand the relationship between the development of autonomy policies and curricular flexibility in educational contexts and the professional involvement and well-being of teachers to analyse the ways in which autonomy and curricular flexibility policies have been received, interpreted, appropriated and put into practice by teachers. The aim of this study is to collect and analyse scientific articles, identify gaps in the literature, and provide research trends and suggestions for future studies.The starting question for this study was: What is the relationship among curricular autonomy, professional involvement and teacher well-being between 2015 and 2023? This time period was chosen given the start of legislation on curricular autonomy in Portugal, begun in 2016, following the Pilot Projects for Pedagogical Innovation (PPIP), which preceded a modification of the curriculum in Decree-Law 55/2018.

Curriculum management is recognised as a complex and dynamic process that takes place at various levels, as stated by Roldão and Almeida (2018), from the macro level (decisions made by the supervisory body regarding common learning at national level), the meso level, which includes the institutional context (school and its educational and curricular projects) and the group level (through the projects that each educational team draws up for a class) to the micro level (concerning each teacher, on a daily basis in the classroom). On the other hand, during the period in which this study is being conducted, the world has also come up against a change in times: the times of digitalisation, distance learning and the pandemic.

In these changing times, schools and teachers have also introduced new terms, concepts, working times and spaces to their professional work, taking into account the priority of addressing the increasing inequalities between pupils. As a result of new problems and ongoing needs, the performance of the teaching role is likely to promote both burnout and professional engagement. In line with more recent approaches to positive psychology, teacher well-being is a growing field of study, with a steady increase in literature in recent years (Dreer, 2023; McCallum, 2021; Salmela-Aro, Hietajärvi, & Lonka, 2019). Subjective well-being, as described by Keyes (2002), can be seen as a measure of mental health, made up of three dimensions: emotional, social and psychological.

The benefits of well-being seem to go beyond psychological advantages for individuals and employee retention for institutions, as evidenced by studies in different organisations. well-being fosters the development and maintenance of positive relationships between teachers and students, as well as the establishment of a supportive learning climate and learning (Barroso et.al. 2019). On the other hand, work engagement is a relatively new concept when applied to teachers, in regard to work expectations and commitment to their performance. Some authors define work engagement as an enthusiastic state of involvement of the individual in crucial and personal activities, which is diametrically opposed to burnout (Dreer, 2023).

The changes in education systems brought about, among other reasons, by digitalization and the societal transformations, have been imposed in all countries.
In 2016, in the form of "pilot projects", Portugal began to make curricular and organizational changes aimed at encouraging school autonomy to better respond to different audiences in different contexts. The recent legislative changes have highlighted, especially through the evaluative study of this policy (Cosme, Ferreira, Lima & Barros, 2021), the need to "monitor, as systematically as possible, some of the critical points of a process as demanding as this one" (p.106).

This communication addresses the relationship between the development of autonomy and curricular flexibility policies and the professional engagement and well-being of teachers in educational contexts. The research underpinning this paper is part of a cross-cutting, interdisciplinary, collaborative project that brings together researchers from different areas - education, sociology, and psychology - and different generations, as well as teachers from schools with different pedagogical-didactic situations, with an emphasis on reflection and direct action. The concepts involved in this project have been studied by themselves, but never all together by the same instrument. Therefore this approach allows an analysis of the different levels of involvement applied in a specific professional situation.

This study regards the period from 2016 to 2023, considering that the world has also faced a change in times: the time of digital, the remote teaching, and the pandemic. In these new times, it is also schools and teachers who have introduced new terms, concepts, times, and workspaces to their professionalism, taking into account the priority of combating the growing inequalities between students. The complex nature of teachers' work is a challenge to teacher well-being and teacher burnout has been recognized as a problem worldwide (Salmela-Aro, Hietajärvi, & Lonka, 2019).
The benefits of well-being seem to go beyond psychological advantages for individuals and employee retention for institutions, as evidenced by studies in different organizations. These are diverse not only because well-being favors the development and maintenance of relationships between teachers and students, but also because it stimulates the establishment of a positive learning climate and teacher well-being, which, in the words of Jennings and Greenberg (2009), plays a central role in both the school environment and learning.

According to the literature, well-being influences the quality of the teacher-student relationship, classroom management and the effective application of social-emotional education (Carvalho et al., 2021). In addition, teacher well-being is linked to a variety of desirable elements and outcomes, including teacher retention, positive teacher-student interactions, and student performance (Dreer, 2023).
Professional engagement is a relatively new concept when applied to teachers, in terms of work expectations and commitment to tasks. Some authors define professional engagement as an enthusiastic state of involvement of the individual in crucial and personal activities, which is diametrically opposed to burnout.

Understanding the complex dynamics between curricular autonomy, teacher well-being and teaching engagement will help to characterize educational policies within the scope of Curricular Autonomy and Flexibility in Portugal, in the period 2016 - 2023; to identify professional engagement and well-being of teachers in the context of curricular autonomy and flexibility policies; and to prepare a comparative analysis to be applied in the future in the various intervention contexts.

Introduction: The benefit of socio-emotional learning (SEL) to student behaviour and academic attainment is widely known. Teachers are nowadays expected to deliver packaged programmes on socioemotional learning (SEL) interventions that they find hard to agree, seeing them be beyond the remit of their responsibilities and completely alienated from their subject knowledge.

Research Questions:

• Is there space for SEL-oriented teaching in PE lessons?
• To what extent is LS an effective approach to integrate SEL in the national subject of PE?

High quality teacher educators are necessary for providing high quality education to teachers (European Commission, 2013). However, there is little agreement as to how teacher educators’ professionalism should be conceptualized and what it entails. The neo-liberal approach views teacher educators’ role as training student teachers to reproduce successful teaching methods. It suggests evaluating teacher educators’ professionalism by assessing their adherence to strict curricula and teaching standards, or through their students’ performance and perseverance as teachers. In contrast, the ‘academic’ approach claims that teacher educators have multiple roles in addition to second order teaching (teaching about teaching and learning and teaching how to teach). They mentor student teachers, act as gatekeepers of the profession, develop teacher education curricula, broker between higher education institutions, schools and other stakeholders, and conduct research (Lunenberg et al., 2014). These roles share broad practical and theoretical knowledge bases. They require a critical reflection upon practice and policies and a commitment to social justice and equity (Cochran-Smith et al., 2018). Although individual teacher educators do not need to perform all of these roles, they are typical of teacher educators’ work. Their professionalism is revealed through the reflective and committed manner of their work that is highly sensitive to context. In order to understand how teacher educators’ professionalism unfolds, it is crucial to conduct studies that examine teacher educators’ reasoning and actions within different work contexts (Cochran-Smith, 2021; Mayer, 2021; Vanassche, 2023).

This study is aligned with the academic approach to teacher educators’ professionalism. It aims to understand how teacher educators enact their professionalism by examining senior teacher educators’ considerations as they design an initial teacher education programme, and how the contexts of their work affect their decisions. The findings could provide policymakers with information about policies that promote and impede the provision of high quality teacher education to student teachers.

The study took place in Israel, where all initial teacher education programmes take place in academic institutions. This aligns Israel with the ‘academic’ conceptualization of the profession. Nonetheless, some of the education system’s characteristics are strongly associated with the neo-liberal approach. First, Israel’s investment in education, including teachers’ wages, is low in comparison to OECD countries (OECD, 2023a). As a result, it suffers from an acute teacher shortage, particularly in STEM subjects due to the lucrative alternatives that are available to bachelor degree holders in those areas (Weissblai 2023; Wiggan et al., 2021). Teacher education institutions compete against each other over student registrations, since the number of applicants is dropping (ICBS, 2023). Finally, the academic freedom of teacher education is somewhat constrained by the requirement to adhere to the Ministry of Education’s national curriculum frameworks.

The study focuses on programme leaders that work in a project called ‘From High Tech to Teaching’. The project retrains high tech academic professionals as high school STEM teachers. It takes place in several academic institutions, each offering programmes in some or all of the project’s subjects (math, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science). By choosing to focus on this project’s programmes, we tried to find the ‘middle way’ between an in-depth study of a single programme that may be too idiosyncratic, and a broad examination of a large group of programmes, that may be too heterogeneous and, thus, gloss over significant distinctions (Cochran-Smith & Villegas, 2015; Vanassche & Kelchtermans, 2015).

The research question are: 1. What are the professional reasoning processes of programme leaders while designing re-training programmes for academic former high-tech employees as high school STEM teachers? 2. How are their decisions affected by their work contexts?

In Sweden Teacher Education (TE) programmes are regulated by the national by the Higher Education Ordinance (SFS 1993:100) and additional national examination goals for TE that are more specific and detailed than most other Swedish higher education goals. In addition, each university or university collage must have a programme curriculum for each teacher education programme. These curricula must include the national education goals but also allows for a local focus. In addition to this each course within TE must have a course syllabus. Theses in TE are a significant component of the program. Thesis work allows aspiring teachers to delve deeper into their chosen topic of study, provides an opportunity to explore and contribute to the existing body of knowledge in education (Holmberg, 2006). Throughout the process of completing the thesis, students engage in extensive research, data collection, analysis, and critical thinking to address relevant issues in the field (Råde, 2016; Zackariassson, 2019). By conducting empirical studies or literature reviews students gain valuable insights into teaching profession and practices, curriculum development, educational policies, or other areas of their interest. The thesis work in teacher education not only enhances students' research and analytical skills, it also prepares them to become reflective practitioners who can contribute to the improvement of educational practices and student learning outcomes (Erixon & Erixon Arreman, 2018). Even though thesis work is found advantageous, there has been a discussion among policy makers and researchers in Sweden about the focus and purpose of theses in TE. One orientation has been that theses and thesis work should immerse student teachers with knowledge in education sciences as a basis for the teacher profession (Beach & Bagley, 2013). Another orientation has been that theses should have a connection to teaching and i.e. the vocational dimension of the teaching profession (Karlsudd et al., 2017; Mattsson, 2008; Wernersson & Hansen Orwehag, 2016), while some researchers have highlighted the benefits of integrating these two orientations in relation to thesis work (Erixon & Erixon Arreman, 2018; Råde, 2019). In the 2000s, the quality of theses were seen as a main indicator of the quality of higher education in the governmental evaluations (Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, 2006; Svärd, 2014), which in combination with the increasing prominence of thesis work in TE, contributed to an interest in TE theses in educational research. In recent years the final thesis is not the only quality indicator in these evaluations, as they are combined with self-evaluations by universities; but it is still the case that if final theses have low quality, and if it is not improved in a satisfactory manner the university can lose the right to operate the programme. This gave incentives to TE departments to focus on scientific literacy and research skills in TE during the 2010s, while the vocational dimensions of teacher work were less highlighted in relation to thesis courses (Råde, 2016).

The purpose of this study is to identify orientations of thesis courses in Swedish primary teacher education by an analysis of programme curricula and course syllabi documents.

• What orientations can be identified in 2023 programme curricula and course syllabi in the thesis courses in 18 Swedish primary teacher education programmes track K–3 and 4–6?

Global organisations linked to education and academia argue that university students need to be agents of change and that, to do so, they need to acquire skills linked to systems thinking; that is, for example, they need to be able to connect ideas, contradictory or incompatible positions, approach problems holistically (OECD, 2018; Ben-Zvi-Assaraf & Knippels, 2022), establish cause-effect networks and identify non-linear relationships and feedback loops (Uskola & Pug, 2023; Hipkins, 2021). This has increased interest in the scientific community, especially in Europe, to investigate and understand systems thinking, especially in chemistry (Reyunders et al., 2023) and engineering (Monat et al., 2022; York et al., 2019). In contrast, there needs to be more research on developing systems thinking skills in the social sciences, specifically in training future teachers. Among the latter, some studies have investigated systems thinking in Primary Education (Feriver et al., 2022; Mambrey et al., 2022), in Secondary Education (Rachmatullah & Wiebe et al., 2022), as well as in postgraduate students in Business Studies, Health Sciences, Education and Natural Sciences (Alm et al., 2022).

In short, systems thinking is increasingly essential for all people and professions because it provides a new way of understanding and managing complex problems (Choudhury, 2022). However, its research is disparate across different fields of natural and medical sciences and exact sciences such as biology, sustainability, medicine, and engineering. While it has yet to be a central theme in any of these fields, discussions are recently being stimulated as systems thinking is being investigated in depth.

Systems thinking is interpreted differently and according to the discipline; however, it is certainly understood as the ability to deal with a complex set of dynamically interacting elements. Moreover, it is almost always counter-intuitive thinking (Green et al., 2022). Based on the above, systems thinking can be understood as a set of skills and a way of thinking that enables people to understand dynamic complexity. People strive to understand and reason about complex systems (Streiling et al., 2021) and to understand how they might solve complex problems as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Future teachers play a fundamental role in students' systems thinking learning as they train the generations of today and tomorrow. Therefore, integrating this competence into university curricula in coordination with other disciplines is urgent. The growing complexity of education and the elements involved in learning requires trainers of trainers to develop the ability to think in systems so that they can pass this on to future teachers. In this way, teachers of children and adolescents could, in turn, develop, in their future professional development, this thinking, which they learnt previously. This study seeks to answer the following research question: What skills related to systems thinking do future teachers have? On this basis, the study aimed to identify and analyse the skills linked to systems thinking in undergraduate and postgraduate university students of education.

Around the globe, schools are facing growing teacher shortages (Ingersoll & Tran, 2023). Approximately 40% of teachers in the European Union will retire within the next few years, opening up numerous vacancies for qualified teaching staff that will urgently need to be filled (European Commission, 2015). To meet the need for teachers capable of providing high-quality instruction, schools are increasingly turning to student teachers—that is, teacher candidates who have not yet completed their teacher training programs and are not yet licensed—as part-time in-service teachers (Scheidig & Holmeier, 2022).

The multitude of demands inherent to the teaching profession—from dealing with classroom disruptions, inadequate teaching materials, and heterogeneous student populations to navigating relationships with parents and accomplishing administrative tasks—can be challenging for teachers and especially for student teachers (Brevik et al., 2018). In this respect, the phase of learning school practices can be considered decisive for the individual teaching career. During this phase, (novice) teachers may experience failures due to challenging situations in the classroom that can lead to decreased job satisfaction and a higher intention to leave the profession (Admiraal & Kittelsen Røberg, 2023).

According to the Job Demands-Ressources model, the challenges of the teaching profession, such as classroom disruptions, represent demands that are inherent to the job context (Hakanen et al., 2006). Job demands are positively associated with higher emotional exhaustion, job-related anxiety, and health complaints in teachers (see Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). The more demanding teachers perceive their workload to be, the more they need mental and physical resources to cope with these demands. These resources can be differentiated in job-related resources (e.g., social support from colleagues) and personal resources (e.g., high self-efficacy beliefs; Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). Job-related resources refer to “psychological or material resources that are provided to a focal individual by partners in some form of social relationship” and include social support from peers and colleagues (Jolly et al., 2021, p. 229). In this regard, mentor teachers play a crucial role in providing social support to novice teachers, who usually lack professional skills to cope with stressors (Richter et al., 2013). Personal resources, however, include individual self-efficacy beliefs (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). Teachers with higher levels of self-efficacy feel more confident in their ability to deal with challenging situations in the classroom, which may protect them from feeling overwhelmed by the high demands of the teaching profession (Klassen & Durksen, 2014).

To date, there has been no empirical research on the activities that student teachers carry out in schools. In particular, there is no evidence on how student teachers perceive the demands of their job, whether they receive social support from colleagues, or how they rate their self-efficacy beliefs. For this reason, the present study investigated the instructional activities of student teachers in schools and the relationship between instructional activities and work-related stress. Moreover, we examined the moderating effect of social support from colleagues and student teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in this relationship drawing on theoretical rationales from the JD-R model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017):

RQ1: Can student teachers be grouped according to their instructional activities in school?

RQ2: How do student teachers assess their social support, self-efficacy, and work-related stress?

RQ3: What is the relationship between student teachers’ instructional activities in schools and their work-related stress? Do self-efficacy and social support moderate this relationship?

The benefits of supporting new teachers through an induction phase are documented in decades of research literature and policy documents. There is a broad consensus that a period of induction is a necessary bridge between Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and employment in schools. In most European education systems, early career teachers (ECTs) that are new to the profession have access to a structured induction that usually lasts one year and it is mandatory in almost all of them (Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency., 2021). However, teacher recruitment and retention is a major concern for many education policy makers, to the extent of being labelled a ‘crisis’ and ‘policy problem’ (Mifsud, 2023), and the prevailing narrative is that supporting teachers during the early stages of their career is crucial not only to enhance the quality of teaching but also to reduce exit from the profession (European Commission, 2017) (Kelchtermans, 2019) (Flores, 2019) (Kutsyuruba et al., 2022).

The dynamic forming and shifting of a teacher’s professional identity - their pedagogy, positionality in relation to others, and broader or longer aims for education in their career - is also a topic that researchers are currently paying close attention to (Smetana & Kushki, 2023). Socialisation (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002) and teacher identification are known as key influencing factors in the early years of teaching and beyond. Hence, ideas about these are shaping induction programmes and research on induction.

Researchers have also found a policy shift towards a commitment of school heads (principals) to become more directly involved in driving teachers’ practices and teaching processes in some systems, but this is not consistent across and within these systems (Costa et al., 2019). Studies demonstrate the interplay between direct and indirect support from the school head and teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction (Thomas et al., 2019, 2020).

A new pan-European project is determining how to effectively build the capacity of education employers, including, crucially, school heads, in order to improve and develop induction programmes within the varying complexities of different education systems and their teacher education provision. In order to identify what capacity-building might entail, the project is exploring the role of education employers in different systems in depth, asking the question, How can employers foster a new teacher’s meaningful sense of ‘being’ through pedagogical practice and ‘belonging’ to the school and wider professional community? The project is also considering the implications of new teachers entering schools from diverse teacher education and professional experiences, including migrating from other countries, and how third-party support and partnerships might usefully support new teacher induction as part of a complex ecosystem of teacher professional learning and development.

This paper will present initial findings and further problematic questions from the project, specifically drawing from a pan-European survey and complemented by discussion points from a project peer learning workshop that brought together stakeholders from 11 countries. Given the focus on teacher growth and on school and wider professional communities, we take an ecological theoretical perspective in response to the research problem and questions.

The proposed paper aims to analyse the current policies on teacher shortages in Austria by presenting and discussing its history, possible causes, and current policy measures. While the first part of the paper focusses on a policy analysis based on a media analysis and statistical data, the second part uses recent survey data to examine one of the measures to remedy the teacher shortage, namely the early teaching of not yet fully qualified student-teachers.

As in many European countries (Eurydice, 2021), acute teacher shortage is not a new, but an increasingly urgent challenge for the Austrian education system. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the teacher shortage was a topic of discussion in the media, however, no long-term strategy was developed (Lassnigg, 2022). In 2022, the pandemic and subsequent general labour shortage had exacerbated the situation (Huber & Lusnig, 2022), and the Austrian Ministry of Education launched a package of policies to counter teacher shortage. In its self-definition, this initiative is the ‘largest teacher offensive of the Second Republic’ and aims to redefine the teacher’s professional role and to shorten the bachelor’s phase of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) from eight to six semesters with increasing practical course content (BMBWF n.d.). While measures that were previously employed to compensate for fluctuating teacher supply—e.g. overtime work, restrictions on part-time employment, and re-employment of retired teachers—are being continued, an important aspect of this initiative is the attempt to attract ‘new target groups for the teaching profession’ (BMBWF n.d.). As a result, there are three groups of not fully qualified teachers working in Austrian schools:

(1) Special contracts allow vacancies to be filled by people for whom no prior qualifications are defined through special contracts limited to one year. As long as there is need, these contracts can be extended for one year at a time. While ‘special contracts’ have been a long-established legal option for reacting flexibly to teacher shortages, the obligation to fulfil a specified number of ECTS in professional development courses has recently been introduced, opening up the possibility of longer-term employment.

(2) ‘Career changer’ (Quereinsteiger): In the 2022 legislation, this term is used for programmes that enable graduates of a university degree course (with at least three years of professional experience) to qualify as teachers in a corresponding secondary school subject. As soon as their employment by a school has been settled, ‘career changers’ receive some professional training through a part-time course alongside their work.

(3) Teacher education students: While bachelor’s graduates of ITE courses are employed under normal contracts (but they have to complete their qualification through a teacher education master course within eight years), teacher education students are increasingly employed as teachers before completing their bachelor’s degree. While, in principle, authorities and teacher education institutions agree that employment should take place after completing four semesters at the earliest and with a reduced teaching commitment (max. 50%), in practice, these principles are not met in an increasing number of cases due to the pressing teacher shortage.

However, the latter measure carries the risk of addressing the challenge of the teacher shortage at the expense of the student–teachers’ well-being and future career, as doing classroom teaching and studying simultaneously may come with serious challenges. Thus, we use recent survey data to analyse more thoroughly possible consequences that may accompany a premature start in the teaching career. In particular, we will discuss the specific demands student–teachers encounter both in the job and in their studies as well as the resources they may draw on and the potential repercussions on their well-being and their professionalism.

Digital media can provide support in adapting lessons to heterogeneous students. For example, they can be used to show learning progress, provide individual support and suggest future learning steps (Fichtner et al., 2023, Schulz, 2018). However, new barriers can also arise that make it more difficult for everyone to participate in lessons. Higher education faces the challenge of preparing teacher trainees for the requirements of diclusive (digital-inclusive) school education and at the same time taking into account the prerequisites of the students in order to enable joint learning for all. It is therefore important to prepare teachers for diclusive eaching (Böttinger & Schulz, 2023). The neologism "diclusion" or "diclusive", which has arisen from the combination of "digital media" and "inclusion", emphasizes the importance of linking these two areas (Schulz & Reber, 2023). In particular, it points to the potential that arises when digital media is used in the context of inclusive teaching. In the context of the previously discussed need for heterogeneity-sensitive use of digital media in the (inclusive) educational environment, it is especially relevant to draw on a comprehensive understanding of inclusion. This understanding is not exclusively aimed at pupils with disabilities, but includes all pupils with their individual starting points, talents, backgrounds and needs (German Commission for UNESCO, 2021, p.1). The use of digital media proves to be an important resource for adequately addressing the different requirements of pupils in the classroom: digital applications can be used, for example, to visualize current learning progress, implement individualized support measures and suggest preventive steps for future learning (Fichtner et al., 2023, Schulz, 2018, Schaumburg, 2021). The five-level model for inclusive teaching (Schulz 2018) represents a methodologically structured approach to the use of digital media in inclusive teaching. The primary goal of this model is to promote inclusive education in order to ensure a comprehensive and equitable educational experience for all pupils so that they can realize their potential. Teachers need the diclusive knowledge for their future work with pupils. So the overarching question is: What skills do (prospective) teachers need to have and how can they be taught as individually as possible? The project "inklusiv.digital" develops OER (Open Educational Resources) materials for students and teachers of various subject didactics as well as central topics for learning and teaching with digital media in inclusive settings. In an interdisciplinary team, experts from the fields of subject didactics, special education, inclusion education and media education develop the modules didactically and prepare them for inclusive teaching settings. The aim is to support initial, further and continuing training in the context of qualifying teachers for inclusive teaching. The modular structure of the learning materials, combined with the flexibility of an open CC-BY license, enables them to be used in various learning formats, such as self-study courses and guided blended learning. The content of the modules provides specific knowledge for dynamic teaching, which is essential for prospective teachers. In addition, they are designed in a way that even people without specific knowledge can understand the content and implement it in their own lessons. The integration of these modules into a nationwide OER platform is planned in order to enable broad and easy access.

Mentoring with the aim of the professional development of preservice teachers in teacher education represents complex practices. The use of tools for mentoring has the potential to enhance mentoring practices; however, research on using tools in mentoring is often focused on applying a single tool or is conducted on a piecemeal basis in teacher education (Nesje & Lejonberg, 2022). By investigating mentors and preservice teachers using research-based tools in an eight-week practicum period, this study analyses structured and holistic mentoring. The applied tools were developed to elicit preservice teachers’ diverse needs at different times throughout the practicum; the three tool-packages build on a a) simulator-based tool, b) response-based tool, and c) video-based tool. Further, the theory of practice architecture (TPA) provided a frame to understand mentoring practices with the holistic use of tools as an interplay among cultural–discursive, material–economic, and social–political arrangements (Kemmis, 2022). This paper presents new insight on how tools can enhance quality in mentoring illuminating the following research question guided: What characterises mentoring practices with the use of tools in a holistic approach to mentoring in practicum in teacher education?

All data provided by the tools are in the PTs’ possession and PTs decide to whom, what, and how they want to share this data, and PTs complete a course in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the decision simulator, based on Arvola, Samuelsson, Nordvall, and Ragnemalm (2018), the PT is presented with different challenging scenarios that are likely to occur in a classroom; the PTs are required to make choices whose alternative answers are connected to teacher role traits that correspond to authoritarian, authoritative, democratic, and compliant approaches, based on Baumrind (1971/1991). The choices made by the PT eventually generate an overview of the selected approaches to the teacher role that are to be elaborated upon in mentoring.

The response tool combines self-reports from the PTs and pupils’ responses through an electronic survey entered online on topics assumed to denote effective teaching. Based on Tripod’s 7Cs framework (Ferguson & Danielson, 2015; Kuhfeld, 2017; Wallace, Kelcey, & Ruzek, 2016), the PTs and pupils both report on teacher competencies: caring, conferring, captivating, clarifying, consolidating, challenging, and classroom management. Responses are aligned, visualised, and followed up on with guides for elaboration and reflection, and exploration of the tool’s outcome grounds PTs’ choice of the development goal in their teaching practice to be elaborated upon with the video tool.

The video tool consists of a video recording application that the PTs can download to ensure GDPR, as well as guides for preparing, conducting, and elaborating on practice videos individually, with peers, and with the mentor (Kang & van Es, 2019; UiO, 2020). The PTs are encouraged to use insights from the response tool to choose a development goal to enhance their teaching competencies. Guides assists PTs selection of a clip representative to their development goal to be elaborated on in mentoring.

The two investigated dyads are both characterised by the extensive use of tools. However, dyad 1 differed from dyad 2 in terms of the approach towards the usage being more in line with the suggested structure (elaborated on in the presentation of doings) and wording (elaborated on in the presentation of sayings) of the tools. In dyad 2, the suggested structure was approached more creatively and the tools appeared to inspire both structure and content; however, the components of the tools (guides for reflection and conversation) are generally adjusted and wordings rephrased. Findings is presented in accordance with the analytical categories, based on Kemmis (2022) to elaborate on the holistic approach to mentoring with tools.

The use of technology in education has been seen as having great potential to change the process of teaching and learning. Today with the increase of computers and applications in schools, one of the issues worldwide is how to design the courses for preservice teachers to teach with technology. However, research evidence shows that even though teacher educators have developed the courses on the pedagogical use of technology, teachers still lack the skills to successfully teach with technology (Koehler, Mishra and Yahya 2007).

Previous studies have shown that the failure to prepare teachers to teach with technology can be attributed to the following factors. First, some courses were narrowly focused on the use of technology. According to Angeli and Valanides (2016), courses on teaching methods and content are usually taught in complete isolation from the teaching of technology courses, which promotes the development of a highly fragmented body of teacher knowledge. As Koehler and Mishra(2008) proposed the term technological pedagogical content knowledge(TPACK) as a "Total PACKage", teacher educators need to teach technology integration to preservice teachers in a thoughtful and deliberate way. Second, the technologies used in most courses were focused on technologies for teaching (e.g. video, PowerPoint, interactive whiteboard) that could be used as an extension of traditional teaching methods. Mouza (2016) identified four types of emerging technologies that support (a) learning to understand and create; (b)learning by collaborating; (c)anytime, anyplace learning; and (d)learning by gaming and suggested that these have potential to significantly impact teaching and learning processes and outcomes. Now that the focus of educational technology is shifting from tools for how we teach to how students learn, teacher educators need to design the course to help preservice teachers teach effectively with emerging technologies. Third, there is not enough time for preservice teachers to practice teaching with ICT. Most of teacher educators in Japan only engage preservice teachers in micro-teaching, team-teaching, or practice teaching by a team representative within a course due to the large number of enrolled preservice teachers. According to Terashima et al. (2016), preservice teachers who did the micro-teaching gained more confidence in using ICT and improved their lesson plan more than those who did not.

In this study, we design a course for preservice teachers to teach with emerging technologies, analyze how they learn, and get feedback on what supports are helpful for them.

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Wales has undergone substantial reform in recent years, reflecting a similar trend internationally (Menter, 2019). These reforms have been driven by concerns around the ranking of individual countries in international tests such as the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the argument that any improvement is dependent on enhancing teacher quality. This in turn depends on improving the effectiveness of teacher education programmes and schools’ capacity to provide the learning environments new teachers need (Milton et al. 2020). The result has often been reform focussed on different interpretations of neoliberal policies and practices (Tatto, 2015), but in Wales there has been an attempt to address this somewhat differently (Mutton & Burn, 2020).

Whilst this might seem a relatively parochial piece of policy implementation it has much wider significance beyond Wales. First, because the reforms in Wales are part of a much wider international context in which teacher education reform is seen as being essential in delivering better quality teaching and, by implication, better quality outcomes for pupils in schools. Governments across the world often cite poor performance in international tests as providing the imperative for proposed teacher education reform and look to the solutions offered by intergovernmental organisations (Rautalin et al., 2019). What has happened in Wales needs to be contextualised within these wider global trends. Second, the reform in Wales is worthy of international attention because of the complexity of the ambition for research and enquiry informed teacher education alongside a backdrop of the attempt to implement extensive educational reform across all levels of the system.

The influential report Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers (Furlong, 2015), focused extensively on the new Welsh model for ITE informed by this vision. It embodies not only consideration of the way in which beginning teachers are given the opportunity to draw on and interrogate different forms of professional knowledge, but also the aspiration for them to develop ‘research literacy’ that can inform and improve classroom practice (BERA-RSA, 2014).

The paper draws on a theoretical framework of how teachers learn informed particularly by the model of research-informed clinical practice in teacher education (Burn & Mutton, 2015) the development of teachers as adaptive expertise (Berliner, 2004). The Cardiff Partnership for ITE is used as a case study and explores the opportunities, experiences, complexities and challenges inherent in enacting this model, with a particular focus on the development of professional expertise and judgement. This is essential because so many key decisions in teaching are impossible to predict or make routine. We will examine the extent to which the model of research-informed clinical-practice adopted by the Partnership shapes the way in which the beginning teachers within the programme develop as professionals, and develop the habits of mind by which they become more ‘expert’ in terms of the clinical judgements that they are required to make (Kriewaldt & Turnidge, 2013). Drawing on empirical data, we will build a picture of the factors that are perceived to influence the development of this expertise. It will also explore the complex challenges of equipping beginning teachers to manage both the day-to-day routines of the classroom and simultaneously to think deeply and critically about their practice.

In recent years, social change processes have exerted significant pressure on schools and education systems worldwide. Factors such as increasing digitalization, demands for inclusive education, and global challenges like inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, migration, and global conflicts have created new challenges for educational institutions. These transformations are often accompanied by legal amendments at various levels, ranging from international law (e. g. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), constitutional regulations (e. g. constitutional right to education in the individual states), to internal administrative policies (e.g. reform of curricula). Teachers and schools must navigate this complex legal landscape, adapting to changes and ensuring compliance with evolving standards. The increasing relevance of legal considerations in education is acknowledged, emphasizing the need for professionalization in this domain (Avenarius, 2019a, 2019b).

With regard to teacher professionalization (Clandinin & Husu, 2017a, 2017b), legal education assumes a critical role: Teachers must not only be well-versed in pedagogical strategies but also possess a profound understanding of the legal frameworks governing education. The term “legal professionalization” encapsulates this imperative need for educators to continuously enhance their legal knowledge and skills. It involves the cultivation of a professional identity that recognizes the role of law in shaping educational practices and policies.

However, despite the growing importance of legal aspects in the teaching profession, law still represents a “blind spot” (Füssel, 2020) in university teacher training. There is also hardly any theoretical or empirical work on the legal professionalization of teachers. While there are some practical guides for school implementation (e.g., Stedrak & Mezzina, 2022), there is a lack of substantial empirical foundational research on teachers' legal literacy and its antecedent, legal professionalization.

Against this background, this paper aims to understand the extent to which legal topics are integrated into the curriculum of the university phase of teacher training and asks with focus on Germany: Which legal topics are covered by the intended and implemented curriculum of the university phase of teacher training in Germany?

By undertaking a comparative analysis, we seek to systematize the legal education provided and unravel how curriculum development responds to the prevailing social challenges mentioned earlier.

Public discourse surrounding the quality of teachers and teaching globally frequently draws distinctions between the modern era and memories of the ‘good old day’ when there was trust in teachers and teaching as a profession. Donelson (2000) contests our rosy memory of the past, suggesting that the ‘Golden Teaching Days of Yore’ are more of a remembered dream. In the context of English teachers, he suggests we dream of an era when teachers had the respect of both students and parents, and students wrote formal essays on the classics as the curriculum. But did such an era exist or are these mere fond memories of hope? We suggest our memory of then and now connects to changes in education that Wilkins et al., (2021) identify as systems and processes such as the global neoliberal reforms that have shifted school cultures towards governance led by entrepreneurial leadership with an equity agenda of ‘achievement for all’. These phenomena shift teaching to a paradoxical ‘responsiblised profession’, generating, neoperformative teachers and school leaders, who are given autonomy yet judged in multi-layered systems of surveillance with high-stakes consequences (Wilkins et al. 2021). Embedded in this shift was the message that teachers are both the problem and the solution (Mockler, 2018). Driven in part by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and their league tables of international student testing, the phenomenon of reporting on and claiming a disproportionate connection between student test outcomes and teacher quality (Bradford et al. 2021) resulted in significant policy fascination with this cause-and-effect scenario (Skourdoumbis, 2017). In the context of these global shifts, we are curious about how researchers are drawing on teacher quality so we can be reflexive about whether we are reinforcing the hopes and dreams of the past in our research work. What we want to avoid is the constraints of standardisation on professionalism that Mockler (2022) identified in the context of teacher professional learning and development documents in New South Wales, Australia.

We explore the dominant discourses of quality teaching using a systematic meta-synthesis of empirical research addressing the quality of teachers and teaching in Australia from 2011- 2021 and consider how the public discourses of teacher quality are reflected in the academic discourses of research. Providing an opportunity for reflexivity on our collective memory of this period so as not to recreate the past. The paper contributes to an understanding of why high-quality, contemporary research in teacher education so often does not live up to the expected impact on teacher education policy. The purpose of examining quality in teacher education is to contribute to reconfiguring the public sphere (Thomas, 2004). Our work explores the discursive constructions of “teacher quality” evident in education research about initial teacher education in Australia over the last decade. It presents findings of the systematic meta-synthesis using automated content analysis (ACA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) of empirical research literature about teacher quality, from 2011 – 2021 to identify how the discourses activated by researchers represent quality teaching.

Our findings help to illuminate how certain discourses of quality help position initial teacher education as a convenient policy response by Ministers seeking to identify quality improvements. As teacher educators we need to ensure that the complexity of teaching is identified and highlight that determining ‘quality’ is highly contentious (Mockler, 2018; Hoyte et al., 2020; Rowe and Skourdoumbis, 2017). As Cochran Smith and colleagues (2014; Ell et al., 2017) put forward, the complexity of the education system means that the relationship between the quality of ITE and the teaching quality of beginning teachers is not entirely linear.

Curriculum reforms are demanding in terms of implementation since they require changes in many aspects that might challenge the existing beliefs and subjective realities deeply embedded in an individual and organizational context (Fullan, 2015; Tikkanen et al., 2020).

Teachers are the foremost implementers of curriculum reform and their direct engagement with and enactment of the curriculum significantly shapes the outcomes of reform. According to Fullan (2015), curriculum implementation is the vehicle through which desired objectives are achieved, and for the new curriculum to yield results, it must be effectively translated into classroom practices. Furthermore, Fullan (2015) emphasizes that for the successful implementation of educational reform, a minimum of three dimensions of change should be addressed: materials, teaching approaches, and beliefs. Teachers' experiences with curriculum implementation can affect their efficacy beliefs during the implementation stage (Agormedah et al., 2022; Bennet, 2007). On the other side, the teachers' perceived self-efficacy can influence the way teachers will interact with the new curriculum (Barni, Danioni & Benevene, 2019; Gouëdard et al., 2020; Putwain & Embse, 2019). These studies emphasize the need for a holistic approach to understanding and supporting teachers during educational reforms. Teachers often make critical decisions regarding change early in the implementation process, potentially relying on limited information. Given that teachers can have notable concerns about curriculum reforms, failure to address these concerns could potentially influence how the change is implemented, thereby impacting the self-efficacy of teachers. According to Gordon et al. (2023), the successful execution of educational reforms significantly relies on the teacher's self-efficacy. Bandura's self-efficacy theory (1977), highlights that self-efficacy is crucial for teachers and has a direct impact on the quality of education. Teachers with high self-efficacy contribute positively to the educational environment, fostering resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Aim of the study

This study investigates the intricate relationship between teachers' perceived challenges in the implementation of curriculum reform and their self-efficacy in teaching. Centered on uncovering the intricate dynamics of variables, the research seeks to identify specific challenges posed by curriculum reform and understand the connection of these challenges with teachers' beliefs and demographic factors such as gender, educational background, and teaching experience. Furthermore, this study investigates teachers' perspectives on the most effective approaches for enhancing motivation and fostering commitment to the new curriculum, as well as for promoting their self-efficacy beliefs.

Research questions that guide this study are:

- To what extent do teachers perceive the success of implementing the new curriculum in their school context?

- Is there a statistically significant relationship between teacher self-efficacy and the perception of teachers regarding the implementation of curriculum reforms?

- To what extent do individual characteristics, such as gender, teaching experience and educational background, mediate the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and their perception regarding the implementation of curriculum reforms?

- What insights can teachers provide regarding the strategies and practices they find most effective in enhancing motivation, cultivating commitment to the new curriculum, and fostering their own self-efficacy beliefs?

When teachers teach classes for which they are not licensed, they are teaching out of field (OOF) (du Plessis, 2015; Ingersoll, 1999; 2019). Out of field teaching is not a characteristic of the teacher but a description of the misalignment of a teacher’s qualifications and the subject they teach. It should be noted that out-of-field teaching is not due to a lack of academic degree or training on the part of teachers but instead represents a mismatch between teachers’ fields of training and their teaching assignments.

When students take classes from teachers OOF, they show less academic growth and are less successful (Clotfelter, Ladd & Vigdor, 2010; Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2002). This is an equity issue because the likelihood of being taught by a teacher OOF is higher for students of color and Emergent Bilinguals as well as those located in urban and rural schools (Beswick, Fraser, & Crowley, 2016; Nixon et al, 2017). In addition, teachers teaching OOF have been shown to have lower satisfaction rates and higher attrition rates (Donaldson & Johnson, 2010). There is growing concern about the negative effects of teachers teaching OOF across all subject areas and most parts of the globe (Hobbs & Porsch, 2022). In the USA, teaching OOF has been a challenge for decades, but rates have increased dramatically since the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) became law in 2015 (Author, 2020). While one goal of ESSA was to provide increased local control by providing more flexibility on teacher qualifications, the result has been more teachers teaching outside of their areas of expertise.

This phenomenon of teaching OOF is not new and impacts a wide range of students and subjects. Ingersoll found that one-fifth of all students in English, grades 7-12, were taught by a teacher who did not have at least a minor in English or English-related field (Ingersoll, 1998). While many think Math and Science are the fields primarily impacted by teachers who teach OOF, more English classes in Texas, USA, are taught by teachers assigned OOF than any other subject (Author, 2020). In addition, most prior studies have been limited because they used only one type of data (quant or qual), they used national assessment data that were not linked directly to the curriculum teachers were teaching, or they used state assessment data with small samples.

In this study, we overcame some of these limitations by using a mixed methods approach where step one utilized quantitative statewide English language arts (ELA) assessment data that were linked directly to the English curricula that teachers were required to teach to identify successful teachers assigned OOF in secondary English. Once these successful English teachers were identified, step two included qualitative methods where teachers were interviewed, and their pedagogical approaches analyzed in order to find more details contributing to their students’ success. In this study we seek to answer the question, “What factors contribute to secondary ELA teachers’ success when assigned to teach at least one course OOF?”

The purpose of this study is to investigate the emotional experience of student teachers in teaching practicum by means of qualitative research, to construct a theoretical model of student teachers' emotional labor during educational practicum by applying grounded theory, to clarify the motivation, process, influencing factors, and main effects of student teachers' emotional labor during educational practicum, to explore the significance of emotional labor for student teachers' career choices, and to put forward suggestions to promote the professional development of student teachers.

This study responds to four main questions:

(1) What are the motivations for student teachers’ emotional labor in teaching practicum?

(2) What are the manifestations and strategies of student teachers’ emotional labor in teaching practicum?

(3) What are the influencing factors of student teachers’ emotional labor in teaching practicum?

(4) How to enhance the professional development of student teachers in their emotional ability?

Objective

This study aims to constructs a theorical model, and provides a theoretical framework of student teachers in teaching practicum.

To propose suggestions for student teachers to use emotional labor and improve their emotional regulation ability;

To explore the emotional factors of student teachers’ sense of efficacy and promote their professional development.

Perspectives or theoretical framework

Emotional labor is a “third kind of labor” that is different from mental and physical labor, which requires one to induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others. And it is defined by Hochschild as the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display. Teachers have frequent interpersonal interactions with students, colleagues, parents, etc., and need to manage their feelings in order to display emotions that are consistent with public expectations and the educational system.

In China, student teachers, as future teachers, are required to take part in a three-month teaching practicum before they can be certified as teachers. Student teachers learn how to be a teacher through teaching practicum, of which emotional labor is a significant part.

In the sociological perspective, the general mechanism of emotional labor tends to extend Hochschild's argument for emotional labor. Grandey argues that the general mechanism of emotional labor is a model that encompasses the situational cues, the emotional regulation process, and the long-term consequences, and it is one of the theoretical frameworks that is currently being widely used. This study combines Hochschild's classification of the characteristics of emotional laborers and Grandey's proposed framework of general mechanisms of emotional labor, with the overall framework consisting of three parts: motivation, process, and consequence.

In the motivation part, Grandey's proposed model of emotional labor in which the motivation of emotional labor is considered to be composed of many emotional events with various emotional rules, is the situational cues of emotional labor. This study believes that emotional adjustment is a dynamic process. According to Hochschild's classification, there are three types of teachers' emotions: the emotion of need, the emotion of feeling, and the emotion of performance. The motivation of emotional labor comes from the conflict between the three types of emotions.

This study divides the emotion regulation process into two parts: performance and strategy. In terms of the performance, Hochschild argues that there are two main ways of performing emotional labor: surface acting and deep acting. According to Grandey, the strategies were divided into antecedent-focused emotion regulation and response-focused emotion regulation according to the time of emotion occurrence.

In terms of consequence, the short-term effects were explored because the short duration of the teaching practicum made it difficult to obtain long-term consequence.

This study examines the characteristics of pre-service teachers’ (PST) reflection logs throughout practice placement (PP) in year one and four of their initial teacher education. More specifically, we investigate the themes, topics, knowledge, and skills that PST focus on in their logs, and what language is used to describe these elements. The reflection logs are written at the end of each week of PP and contain PST’s reflections on their own development during that week, as well as areas to focus on during the following week(s). The focus points for reflection are given by the PST’s practice teacher, and are addressed in guidance sessions during PP.

The following research questions guide our investigation.

1) What language do pre-service teachers use to reflect over learning and development in practice placement?

2) What themes, topics, knowledge and skills do pre-service teachers focus on in their reflection logs?

• To what extent are general pedagogy and subject didactics represented in the reflections? What is the ratio between the two?
• To what extent do the logs bridge theory and practice? How is the campus-based learning incorporated in the practice placement reflections?

3) What are the similarities and differences between reflections at years one and four?

The Norwegian initial teacher education system for primary and lower secondary teacher education (compulsive education) promotes a holistic teaching and learning approach. This comprehensive system is structured into two distinct five-year master's programs, preparing teachers for either grades 1-7 (pupils’ ages 6-12) or grades 5-10 (pupils’ ages 10-16). Both study programs encompass a blend of subject knowledge, pedagogical skills, subject didactics, research literacy, and professional ethics. Our study focusses on the grade 5-10 training program. Teachers in this program are typically subject specialists, as the complexity of subjects increases at these grades. They are expected to possess a deeper understanding of a smaller selection of subjects (Skagen & Elstad, 2023).

An integral part of these programs is in-school PP under the supervision of experienced practice teachers, providing PSTs with practical experience (110 days divided into 5-6 weeks per year in the first 4 years of studies). The aim of such integration is to link in-school PP and campus-based learning, bridging the gap between theory and practice (Allen & Wright, 2014). PSTs write reflective logs during their practice placement, documenting their experiences, reflections and learning process. These logs, used by practice teachers for feedback, are also potential research resources. They provide insights into individual PSTs' growth, challenges, teaching methods, and the application of theoretical knowledge. Comparing logs across PSTs can identify patterns and differences in experiences and reflections and the development of their teacher identity and professional competencies.

The theoretical framework for analysing PST logs includes Teacher Cognition, Teacher Professional Knowledge, and Aristotle's phronesis, techne, and episteme:

• Teacher cognition explores the cognitive aspects of teaching, focusing on how teachers’ thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions shape their classroom actions (Borg, 2003).
• Teacher Professional Knowledge encompasses the essential knowledge for effective teaching, including content, pedagogical, and pedagogical content knowledge (Gess-Newsome, 2015).
• Aristotle’s phronesis (practical wisdom) guides moral and ethical action, techne relates to craft or skill, and episteme signifies evidence-based scientific knowledge. In teacher education, episteme represents the theoretical and factual knowledge acquired by PST (Lea, 2021).

The reflective logs provide a rich source of data for exploring these dimensions. This comprehensive approach allows for a deep understanding of the processes involved in becoming a teacher. The reflective logs can reveal how PSTs are applying their professional knowledge in real-world teaching situations, and how this knowledge evolves over time.

In this study, we think with theory and adopt a diffractive lens in engaging with student teachers' reflections. The focus is on exploring glowing moments in student teachers' reflective texts, recognising becoming as an ongoing, dynamic process that goes beyond static definition (Massumi, 1992; Rubin, 2022). By asking what might be produced if student teachers embrace the material dimension, particularly a bookcase and children's literature, the research seeks to reimagine teacher education as relational, material, and affective. The following questions took shape during the study: What can thinking-with diffraction and student teachers’ reflections on the bookcase produce and enable in teacher education? What difference did the literature make for the students’ teacher-becoming?

The empirical material for this study comprises reflections from early childhood education student teachers enrolled in the blended course "Children’s Literature and Drama" at a university in Finland. We approach the empirical material as diffractive engagements in practice (Murris, 2021) presented as companions for thinking, seeing, and feeling with rather than as representational examples (Vintimilla et al., 2021). The study employs non-representational and postqualitative methodologies to explore the transformative potential of reflections and relationality in teacher training. By approaching reflections diffractively, we discuss the impact of the course on students' reflective practices and explore speculative avenues such as diffractive didactics in teacher education.

The study delves into what might be produced when student teachers reflect on literature, including the theoretical course literature and children’s literature, and practice during a course. We became intrigued by how student teachers engaged with an assignment analysing children's books in the early childhood education centres where they worked. These reflections were part of a blended course designed to accommodate students working full or part-time as early childhood education teachers. As the student teachers interacted with the bookcase, they diffracted their previous professional experiences, highlighting elements in the course that influenced their becoming as teachers, such as literature and spaces for reading.

The inquiry began with a focus on the empirical material—student course reflections. We identified events that made a difference by actively prompting student teachers to consider changes in their practice. Often rooted in humanist assumptions, reflections are commonplace in teacher education, offering students opportunities to engage with personal and professional experiences. However, we argue that such reflections frequently neglect or underestimate the impact of material-discursive dimensions.

Further, this research calls for re-evaluating teacher education practices by incorporating diffractive perspectives and emphasising the material-discursive dimensions that significantly influence the transformative learning experiences of student teachers. The study encourages educators to consider the broader implications of diffractive didactics and to explore the potential of embracing material relations and entanglements in teacher education alongside human relations.

In European nations, the approaches to incorporating children with special needs into educational settings differ. Several countries, including Denmark, have adopted inclusive education to different extents. In this context, children with special needs participate in mainstream primary schools alongside their peers without similar requirements. Denmark stands out as a country where public schools accommodate children with special needs, and the option of attending a special school is reserved for situations demanding substantial support. Consequently, a considerable number of students with special needs are integrated into the mainstream environment of Danish public schools.

Nearly one in 10 students in Danish primary schools have special needs, which may manifest as autism, ADHD, depression, OCD, or anxiety (Children's Aid Foundation, 2022). Further, the proportion of students with psychiatric diagnoses has increased by 42% over the last 10 years (Kleding, 2023).

Many students with special needs require extra care or attention and participate less in physical education than their peers (Bentholm, 2017). Moreover, many physical education teachers report feeling that they lack the competencies needed to include these students in their classes (Andreasen et al., 2022). One-third of all students with special needs are exempt from one or more subjects in Danish school, and the subject most exempted is physical education (Disabled People’s Organisations Denmark, 2019). This is concerning, as research has also found that children on the autism spectrum are less physically active in school and leisure compared to children without diagnoses (Pan et al., 2016; Pilgaard et al., 2022). Additionally, children with special needs may face challenges with motor skills, attention, and social interaction, which could contribute to their lower levels of physical activity (Guthold et al., 2019; Pan et al., 2016). On the other hand, research also indicates that being physically active in school can contribute to strengthening students' self-esteem and well-being (Huang & Brittain, 2006).

The school is an ideal setting to work on strengthening and building students' relationships and communities through physical activities (Holt & Christiansen, 2017; Molbæk et al., 2015; Petersen, 2014). Furthermore, teachers in Danish primary schools are obligated to organize and conduct lessons where all students have the opportunity to thrive and develop within the social and academic communities of the school (Ministry of Children and Education, 2012).

The purpose of the present study is, to explore students' and physical education teachers' experiences in including students with special needs in physical education.

Pupils experiencing various degrees of disabilities or impairments (mental, social, or behavioral challenges), which pose a challenge for them in terms of participating in physical education on equal terms with their peers, are referred to as children with special needs.

Over the last ten years there has been increasing global interest in the evolution and re-conceptualisation of the role of teacher educators (Ben Peretz, 2012; Tatto and Menter, 2019; Mayer et al, 2021), although little has been captured on their developing role in Kazakhstan . This paper will present the use of an innovative research tool, the use of Lego Serious Play as a manipulative, to capture and represent the professional development experiences of teacher educators in a women's pedagogic university in Kazakhstan.

Much established research on teacher educators emphasises the complexity of the work and multiple skills needed, but equally also identifies a range of issues and tensions faced by teacher educators. For example the dual transition that teacher educators make into university life and lack of induction into new roles. Often teacher educators move into universities after teaching in schools, so they have to make the transition from school to university and a further transition from a predominantly teaching role to a wider academic role which includes research. Swennen et al. (2010) identify four main roles or sub-identities which teacher educators adopt: schoolteacher, teacher in higher education, teacher of teachers and researcher. They argue that, in many cases, teacher educators have to transform themselves in order to take on certain identities, especially the researcher role. Such transformations and landmarks undertaken by teacher educators are the focus of this study.

Research questions and objectives

This research builds on an earlier study in the UK (Griffiths and Thompson, 2010) which investigated the transition of early career teacher educators into higher education and research. This research investigates similar themes but in the context of Kazakh teacher preparation and examines a cohort of early to mid-career teacher educators using Lego Serious Play as a methdologial tool to stimulate reflection, discussion and exploration. Research questions included:

• What are the key landmarks in teacher educators’ professional and academic development?
• How effective are manipulatives as a methodological tool to illuminate teacher educators’ experiences and development?

The objectives of the study were to analyse and compare the career experiences of teacher educators; in particular, to identify stages of development, landmark events and critical incidents and contextual factors affecting professional learning and academic identities.

Theoretical framework

The overarching theoretical framework used in the study is socio-cultural learning, in recognition that the specific context in which teacher educators work and their relationships within this are of vital importance in the process of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Eraut’s (2007) research on contextual and learning factors in the workplace is used to identify key factors affecting teacher educators’ professional learning and any differences between the contexts. Lave and Wenger's (1991) model of legitimate peripheral participation was useful for studying teacher educators' induction and development over time. Whilst emerging studies on the use of Lego Serious Play (James 2013; Mc Cusker, 2020) as a research tool provide the foundation for its methodological use in this work.

Across many jurisdictions, educational policies have intensified the practicum component of initial teacher education (ITE), and school teachers are called to work with preservice teachers (PST) in a mentoring capacity. In that capacity, classroom teachers are asked to become teacher educators as they engage in institutionalized interactions with preservice teachers to contribute to their professional learning (Nesje and Lejonberg, 2022). The objective of this study is to examine the work of teachers in Chile who mentor preservice teachers (PST) who are placed in their classrooms as part of a practicum course. Using the conceptual framework describing seven domains of quality mentoring developed by Ellis and collaborators (2020), qualitative data analysis seeks to identify affordances, constraints, and tensions in mentoring work identified by 62 mentor elementary and secondary teachers distributed in 11 schools.

In Chile, accreditation requirements specify that initial teacher education (ITE) programs must develop partnerships with schools to implement a sequence of early and progressive practicum courses. A university-based faculty assigned to the practicum course is typically responsible for monitoring and supporting PSTs and their mentor teachers (Barahona, 2019). This faculty is expected to act as a boundary broker, introducing elements of the ITE program and the specific practicum requirements into the work of mentor teachers and their classrooms (Author, 2015).

Ellis et al. (2020) proposed a 7-domain typology of high-quality mentoring and mentors of preservice teachers. This typology was developed based on a literature review including 70 articles examining mentoring relationships. Domain 1 refers to the characteristics of a productive collaboration between the university and mentor teachers. Domain 2 refers to the motivational factors that mobilize mentor teachers' interactions with PSTs and their preparation and experiences to enact the role flexibly. Domain 3 refers to the relational dimension of mentoring that allows for reflective conversations. Domain 4 addresses the instrumental aspects or tools through which mentors support PSTs’ learning, such as providing feedback on lesson plans or observing PSTs delivering a lesson. Domain 5 involves modeling effective teaching, helping PSTs connect theory and practice, and developing a shared language and expectations by framing practice in the context of professional standards. Domain 6 relates to maintaining a welcoming socio-professional context and providing emotional support to PSTs. Mentors help PSTs negotiate conflicts and establish professional relations with other school personnel, supporting organizational socialization. Domain 7 refers to adopting a progressive mindset and mentor’s openness to new ideas concerning curricula, instruction, and assessment practices that PST might want to try out in the classroom.

The tasks of mentoring represent demands, and mentor teachers (as well as PST) recognize and respond to them by using “cultural (e.g., ideas, values, beliefs), structural (e.g., relationships, roles, power, trust), or material (e.g., resources, physical environment) conditions” (Schaap et al., 2019, p. 815). These affordances affect classroom teachers’ participation in mentoring activities as they perceive, interpret, and actively shape such affordances. When negotiating demands and constraints, tensions may arise due to unclear expectations, incomplete information, or conflicting roles and values. According to Schaap et al., these tensions are usually associated with negative emotions.

Research questions

1. What affordances (i.e., enablers) do mentor teachers report when enacting activities associated with the seven domains of quality mentoring proposed by Ellis et al. (2020)?
2. What constraints (i.e., barriers) do mentor teachers report when enacting activities associated with the seven domains of quality mentoring proposed by Ellis et al. (2020)?
3. What are the tensions reported when enacting activities associated with the seven domains of quality mentoring proposed by Ellis et al. (2020)?