Conference Agenda

The Newcomers' Welcome will serve as a warm welcome into the inclusive ERC community as well as an important gathering designed to ensure a fruitful conference experience for all attendees.

EERA and the local organisers in Tampete would like to welcome participants to the Emerging Researchers' Conference 2026.

As educational researchers our work often focuses on, and unveils, problems related to social inequalities in our curriculum and teaching practices, policies and funding, and working or learning conditions. While these play out varyingly across national and organisational contexts, the broader trends are still recognisable. We can generally see, for example, how academic selectivity operates in tension with inclusion, and that intellectual canons often exclude enriching, alternative perspectives. Similarly, drives towards efficiency may sideline deeper, slower forms of knowledge co-production, and excessive standardisation inhibits our capacity for the bespoke. In combination, this means that our educational systems are invariably somewhat dysfunctional, riven with entrenched structural barriers to acting and thinking as we might want to, even obscuring the exploration of better ways of doing things. The question within this is can we, as practitioners, reconcile these contradictions and in doing so promote greater equity and decency? If so, how?

This keynote first of all highlights the range of impediments to social justice that we face in education as a whole and in higher education in particular, recognising where these pressures stem from and how they are manifest. More importantly, though, it identifies where we can find and create gaps for making meaningful and positive differences in our teaching, research, and academic citizenship. Some of these can feel insignificant; on an individual basis they may be, but they can also have very real impact while cumulatively constituting – and contributing to – something far bigger. Others are more profound, and as we progress in our careers, the opportunities for making more space and fostering more fundamental changes will present themselves. In short, we start small and never stop, and through collaboration, reflection, and a little extra effort where possible, we get closer to the higher education we imagined was there.

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, is reshaping teaching and learning practices in higher education across Europe and internationally. Universities increasingly adopt AI-driven systems for assessment, feedback, tutoring, and content generation, often justified through discourses of efficiency, personalization, and innovation (Azhar et al., 2025; Vieira et al., 2025). Despite this rapid uptake, recent systematic reviews show that research on AI in higher education remains dominated by application oriented and technology-acceptance approaches, with limited attention to pedagogy, disciplinary knowledge practices, and epistemological implications (Bond et al., 2024; Yan et al., 2024). This PhD-in-progress addresses this gap by examining AI integration as a pedagogical and didactical issue rather than a purely technical one. The study is situated within a European higher education context, where AI adoption intersects with long-standing didactical traditions, disciplinary autonomy, and emerging debates on responsible and human-centered AI. It adopts the premise that higher education is not reducible to information transfer or skills acquisition but involves inducting students into disciplinary ways of knowing: how knowledge is constructed, validated, interpreted, and judged within academic fields. Teaching is therefore simultaneously pedagogical and epistemological, as instructional decisions embody assumptions about what counts as legitimate knowledge and understanding. Emerging research indicates that engagement with generative AI varies substantially across disciplines, reflecting differences in epistemological commitments and pedagogical traditions (Qu et al., 2024). In science-based and technical disciplines, AI use is often framed as supporting efficiency, optimization, and procedural correctness (Kotsis, 2025). Humanities, social sciences, and professional fields report stronger concerns regarding judgement, originality, and the epistemic status of AI-generated outputs. While some case-based studies suggest that generative AI can support higher-order thinking when embedded in carefully designed pedagogical strategies (Fan et al., 2025), other research highlights risk of overreliance, weakened pedagogical relationships, and diminished human judgement when AI substitutes rather than supports teaching and learning processes (Crawford et al., 2024). Recent conceptualizations of AI as a ‘collaborative co-agent’ in education (Katsenou et al., 2025) further intensify these concerns by challenging traditional notions of epistemic authority and responsibility. Similarly, studies of AI-supported relational learning point to alternative design logics that move beyond efficiency yet remain under-theorized from a didactical and epistemological perspective (Bornemann et al., 2025). Together, these developments underline the need for a discipline-sensitive investigation of how AI enters pedagogical relationships and reconfigures authority, validation, and participation in knowledge practices. Accordingly, the study addresses three research questions: 1. How does the adoption and integration of AI tools in higher education teaching practices shape disciplinary epistemologies and knowledge-making practices? 2. How are pedagogical relationships and epistemic authority reconfigured through human-machine interaction in teaching and learning contexts? 3. What ethical-epistemic principles can guide AI implementation while preserving pedagogical integrity, human agency, and disciplinary responsibility? The theoretical framework integrates socio-constructivist learning theory (Vygotsky & Cole, 1978) with classical didactics, particularly the didactic triangle (teacher-student-content), understood as an epistemic relationship through which students are initiated into disciplinary knowledge practices (Kansanen, 2009; Klafki, 2012). To analyze how educators negotiate AI integration across disciplines, the study also draws on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework as an organizing lens (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). AI adoption is thus conceptualized as a process of pedagogical and epistemological reconfiguration rather than simple technological uptake.

Autistic students in higher education (HE) frequently demonstrate strengths that are highly valuable for academic success - deep focus, attention to detail, creativity, persistence, and strong technological skills (e.g. Anderson et al., 2017). Yet, they also face distinct challenges related amongst others to social interaction, executive functioning, sensory processing and time management. These challenges can translate into lower grades, delayed progress, and dropout risk (e.g. Duerksen et. al, 2017; Cai & Richdale, 2016). Simultaneously, autism diagnoses in adulthood are rising (O’Nions et al., 2023), while the number of autistic students in HE institutes has likewise increased internationally (Higher Education Statistics Agency – HESA, 2024; White et al., 2011). Universities worldwide must therefore be prepared to respond to more diverse learner needs with effective, research-informed supports.

Existing HE supports for autistic students predominantly emphasize individualized accommodations. While important, these do not fully address social participation, sense of belonging, or community integration - factors tightly coupled with student engagement and retention (Korhonen et al., 2024). Peer support is a promising but underexplored modality in HE for autistic students. Studies so far mostly report “peers” as neurotypical mentors, which can overlook the core peer-support principle of shared lived experience. Exploring, developing and suggesting solutions might be challenging, if the supporting peer has problems empathizing and understanding the autistic experience, often calling for divergent learning and coping strategies (Bertilsdotter Rosqvist et al., 2019). Recent research furthermore indicates a communicative mismatch between autistic and non-autistic people (Milton, 2012; Crompton et al., 2020), which may lower efficiency of social interaction and weaken the experience of support. In contrast, autistic-to-autistic peer support may strengthen belonging, enable the exchange of experiential knowledge, and foster the development of autistic know-how and practices for learning.

This study forms one component of an exploratory qualitative PhD project investigating peer support groups for autistic students at Tampere University. It focuses on two key areas and asks: (1) what are autistic students’ experiences and perceptions of participating in these groups, and (2) in what ways has peer support influenced students’ overall engagement in their studies. The broader PhD project also includes two further studies, examining autistic social communication and interaction, as well as processes of knowledge and community building that emerge in peer support group settings. Together, the three parts provide a comprehensive account of the functioning of peer support groups for autistic students and of the outcomes and meanings they generate.

As this research will focus on group support in HE, a useful theoretical base for this study will consist of community of practice theory (Wenger, 1998), which emphasizes the meaning and importance of community and social involvement for learning. Developed from this theory is a model of student engagement in HE by Korhonen et al. (2024), tying together individual and collective level factors relevant for successful study progress and student wellbeing. Most autistic students’ challenges fall into the categories important for student engagement to happen, e.g. developing academic skills, finding and clarifying the meaning of their studies, participating safely in their peer communities and experiencing socially constructed practices for supporting them. This will evidently have an effect for their student identity and sense of belonging. This model will therefore offer a suitable framework for investigating the effects of peer support groups on autistic students’ engagement. The study furthermore follows an enactive approach to social cognition and interaction (De Jaegher & Di Paolo, 2007).

Following contemporary recommendations, this research takes a neurodiversity affirming and non-pathologizing approach, as well as the viewpoint of the social model of disability, which highlights society’s responsibility in creating disabling barriers for people with different kinds of impairments.

The international circulation of higher education reforms such as the Bologna Process and the Licence–Master–Doctorate (LMD) structure is often framed as a process of harmonisation and modernisation. However, critical scholarship in comparative education has shown that these reforms are embedded in implicit power relations and hierarchical academic orders, where some countries define standards while others are expected to conform in order to gain access to funding, mobility, and symbolic recognition (Charlier & Croché, 2012; Cowen, 2009; Ravinet, 2009).

The Algerian case illustrates these tensions. Rapidly adopted in 2004, the LMD reform was intended to align the national system with European higher education frameworks and signal international integration. Yet its concrete appropriation within institutions remains uneven and contested.

Research question and theoretical framework

This study examines how internationally circulating higher education reforms are translated and enacted within national university systems. Focusing on the adoption of the Licence–Master–Doctorate (LMD) reform in Algeria, it asks: How do university actors construct, negotiate, and contest the legitimacy of internationally promoted reform models, and how does this legitimacy work shape what institutions are actually able to implement in practice? Rather than treating reform as a linear process of policy transfer, the study seeks to understand why alignment with global standards does not necessarily lead to substantive organisational or pedagogical change.

The theoretical framework combines three complementary perspectives. First, scholarship on policy transfer and circulation (Musselin, Charlier & Croché, Ravinet) is used to analyse reforms as travelling policies shaped by asymmetrical power relations rather than neutral diffusion. Second, a sociology of legitimacy perspective helps explain how certain models become recognised as “valid” or “modern”, while others are marginalised, thereby structuring actors’ margins of action. Third, insights from the sociology of curriculum and institutional work allow the study to examine how reforms are translated, negotiated, and sometimes reinterpreted at the meso and micro levels of programmes and everyday practices.

The Algerian case provides a particularly relevant lens for understanding these dynamics at a European and international scale. The LMD reform explicitly derives from the Processus de Bologne and aims to align the national system with European higher education standards. Analysing its local translation therefore contributes to broader debates on how European policy models travel beyond Europe, how legitimacy is constructed in North–South academic relations, and how internationally promoted knowledge shapes the conditions for action in diverse higher education contexts.

Against the backdrop of an accelerating new wave of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, international competition is increasingly centered on national competitiveness in research talent, and world-class universities are responding by expanding organized research and interdisciplinary initiatives. In this context, interdisciplinary research institutes differ from traditional departments in governance structure, staffing arrangements, and modes of research organization. They have become key organizational carriers through which universities channel high-caliber researchers toward strategic fields and advantaged platforms. Yet in practice, these institutes commonly face persistent challenges. Research talent may circulate rapidly while long-term retention remains low, talent agglomeration is often sustained through loosely coupled “virtual” projects rather than consolidated and substantively institutionalized organizational structures, and career development pathways for early-career researchers are frequently ambiguous. Accordingly, this study focuses on how interdisciplinary research institutes, through formal institutional design and effective implementation, convert short-term attraction into long-term attachment. On this basis, it comparatively examines how different institutes form differentiated models of talent agglomeration. To enable systematic comparison, the study selects six recently established yet fast-growing interdisciplinary research institutes as cases. The cases include the MIT Media Lab, the Oxford Martin School, and the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University. Case selection is guided by the scope of their research influence and the primary missions they undertake. Collectively, these cases represent three salient functional orientations: frontier knowledge production, public governance, and research application with industry linkage. The theoretical framework integrates the Van Meter and Van Horn systems model of policy implementation with the Attraction–Selection–Attrition (ASA) model from person–organization fit theory. This integration connects individual–organizational matching dynamics with an organizational governance perspective and highlights how standards and objectives, resource conditions, inter-organizational relations, implementer dispositions, and the wider institutional environment shape the functioning and effectiveness of formal institutions. Within this integrated framework, the study first underscores that talent agglomeration exerts a pivotal influence on research institutes’ scholarly output and societal impact. Talent agglomeration is conceptualized as a dynamic process shaped by formal organizational institutions, rather than a simple matter of attraction and headcount concentration. This process unfolds across four interrelated stages: initial attraction, talent selection, sustained retention, and synergistic reinforcement. Through these stages, formal rules and organizational routines progressively stabilize affiliation, structure internal collaboration, and strengthen organizational competitiveness. Building on this analytical framework, the study seeks to identify which institutional instruments and implementation conditions are most decisive in determining whether initial inflows can be transformed into durable organizational attachment. It further aims, through systematic cross-case comparison, to examine whether recognizable types of talent agglomeration models can be identified among interdisciplinary research institutes at world-class universities, and to clarify the shared and differentiating features of these types in relation to institutional missions and structural positioning within broader higher education and research systems.

School autonomy with accountability (SAWA) has become a centerpiece of educational reforms in recent decades, promoted as a global policy model to increase effectiveness and equity in educational systems, and to encourage innovation (Verger et al., 2019). While numerous studies have analyzed SAWA reforms and effects, focusing mainly on sanction-driven accountability systems, research analyzing alternative approaches to SAWA is still scarce. Using the SAWA reform introduced in 2019 by the “Pact for Excellence in Teaching” in French-speaking Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Fr-BE) as an empirical case, particularly because it promotes a reflexive approach to accountability and because of the specifics of the Fr-BE education system (decentralized, fragmented, and segregated), the general aim of this paper presentation is to understand the policy enactment process.

In Fr-BE, the governance reform mandated by the Pact represents a clear turning point towards SAWA (Cattonar & Dupriez, 2019). Since 2019, every school in Fr-BE has been required to draw up a “steering plan” which, once approved by the educational authorities, becomes a “contract of objectives”. These plans and contracts define a set of objectives to be achieved by the schools and specify the means they will use to achieve them. The implementation of the contract, which covers a period of six years, is subject to two external evaluations conducted by the administration: the first after three years and the second at the end of the cycle. Throughout the process, from the development of plans based on a diagnosis to the implementation of actions to achieve the selected objectives, schools are expected to use their autonomy to develop collaborative dynamics in key areas such as teaching, pedagogical practices, and the management of material and human resources.

Rooted in the principles of new public management (Hood, 1991), the SAWA-type educational policy (Verger et al. 2019), recently introduced into the Fr-BE education system, strongly promotes school autonomy while simultaneously introducing accountability measures through management tools. These tools rely heavily on data-intensive mechanisms, such as the use of large-scale external and standardized assessments and performance monitoring to hold schools (and teachers) accountable for achieving predefined outcomes (Tröhler et al., 2014).

Recent studies on the enactment of SAWA in schools have underscored both the influence of contextual factors and the crucial role played by school teams, and particularly school leaders, in shaping how accountability pressures are perceived. Elements such as a school’s performance level or its relative position within the local education market significantly affect how actors interpret and respond to SAWA policy demands.

Accountability pressures can lead to variable implementation processes and diverse responses to policy requirements (Barbana et al., 2020; Braun et al., 2011; Pagès et al., 2023; Verger and Skedsmo, 2021). For example, while some teachers align their practices with accountability expectations, others ignore or resist policy requirements (Maroy and Pons, 2019; Verger et al., 2021). Other studies have emphasised the importance of stakeholder perceptions in shaping how policies are received and implemented (Coburn, 2005, Draelants, 2006; Braun et al., 2011; Verger et al., 2021).

This study aims to examine how school leaders perceive and interpret the SAWA reform in Fr-BE. More specifically, we will attempt to answer the following research question: How do school leaders perceive and interpret the SAWA reform in contexts characterized by varying levels of accountability pressure?

Higher education is increasingly expected to prepare students to contribute to societal change under conditions of poly-crisis, characterised by intersecting ecological, social, political, and technological disruptions. In such contexts, sustainability challenges are not only complex but also uncertain, contested, and time-pressured. Environmental and sustainability education (ESE) has responded to these expectations primarily through competence frameworks that emphasise cognitive capacities such as systems thinking and problem analysis (Wiek et al., 2011; Brundiers et al., 2021; Bianchi, 2022). While these capacities remain important, poly-crisis conditions foreground a complementary challenge: students’ willingness, confidence, and capacity to act, collaborate, and implement change in practice.

This contribution addresses this challenge by focusing on affective–behavioral change agency (ABCA), understood as students’ developing disposition and capacity to engage in change-oriented action. ABCA captures dimensions of agency that are particularly salient in poly-crisis contexts, where acting often involves navigating uncertainty, coordinating with diverse actors, and persisting despite limited control over outcomes. Although such dimensions are central to theoretical accounts of sustainability education and action competence (Jensen & Schnack, 1997; Redman & Wiek, 2021; Sass et al., 2020), they remain under-examined empirically in higher education research. Existing studies continue to privilege cognitive learning outcomes, in part because these are more readily operationalised and measured with established instruments (Rogaten et al., 2019; Probst, 2022).

The study presented in this proposal examines how experiential pedagogies relate to the development of ABCA across sustainability-oriented master’s programmes. Experiential pedagogies are conceptualised as educational approaches that emphasise authentic engagement with real-world issues, structured collaboration, and student agency within open-ended project contexts (Kolb, 2014; Breunig, 2005). Such pedagogies are frequently advocated as appropriate responses to the complexity of sustainability challenges, yet longitudinal evidence on how they shape students’ affective–behavioral agency over time remains scarce (Burch et al., 2019). Addressing this gap, the study is guided by the following research question: How do experiential pedagogies shape students’ affective–behavioral change agency during their master’s programmes?

The proposed Ignite Talk presents the study at the point of initial field deployment, when survey instruments have been piloted and ethical approval is being finalised. Rather than reporting outcomes, the contribution foregrounds two methodological challenges that are particularly relevant for ESE research engaging with poly-crisis conditions: recruiting students at programme entry and managing retention and attrition over time. The session invites reflection on how such challenges affect the study of affective-behavioral agency and how ESE research might better align its methodological practices with the complex realities of sustainability education in higher education.

Children and youth are experiencing higher levels of stress (Stapp & Lambers, 2020) and as mental health challenges continue to grow (Smith et al., 2024) children are more susceptible to stress and increased expectations to succeed in school (Stapp & Lambers, 2020). Compounding this problem is children’s elevated exposure to the internet, media, and communication technologies (Hagen & Nayar, 2014), as they continue to recover from disruptions to social isolations and learning routines in response to the global pandemic, which has had a significant impact on children’s mental health, including the Kids Help Phone receiving a 42% increase in calls related to stress during this time (Gadermann et al., 2021). More than one-third of youth experienced mental health challenges during the pandemic, with historically marginalized populations and youth living in poverty at greater risk for deleterious mental health outcomes (Smith et al., 2024). Research continues to demonstrate that yoga and mindfulness can be a helpful tool in negating mental health challenges that children and youth continue to face (Broderick & Metz, 2009; Butzer et al., 2016; MacPherson & Rockman, 2023) and increasing their well-being, a key indicator of their academic success (Holmes, 2024; Shanktland et al., 2024). A school-based yoga program ensures that all students have equal access to practices that support physical, mental, and emotional health, fostering holistic well-being. Knowing how to best integrate these practices supports teachers in cultivating a holistic pedagogy that fosters well-being and supports their students with tools to build resilience, manage stress, succeed in school, and thrive in the world.
The aim of this research, Creating Opportunities for Well-being in the Classroom: Understanding Teachers’ and Students’ Experiences of Yoga in Schools with Historically Marginalized Populations, is to explore the impact of a school-based yoga program for upper elementary school teachers and their students in schools with populations with historically marginalized groups and students experiencing economic exclusion and poverty. These populations traditionally experience opportunity barriers which are reflected in their academic achievement. A second aim is to understand how teachers working with these populations can be best supported in successfully integrating these practices of well-being into the classroom. Currently in Nova Scotia, yoga is offered as a physical education credit course in grade 11 (Yoga 11, a government-approved course in K–12 school systems).
This research responds to the call for yoga to be introduced to students at an earlier age (Robinson & Berezowski, 2016), so that they can access tools that may help them reduce stress, develop self-awareness, self-confidence, and balance throughout their development. Guided by critical narrative inquiry, the core focus of this research is shaped by teacher and student participants’ lived experiences and personal narratives, informed on how they have been informed by time, place, and sociality contexts.
The objectives of the study are to:

· Determine how a school-based yoga program may impact upper elementary school teachers’ and students’ physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being.

· Understand what background and training (if any) teachers need to successfully integrate yoga into their classroom.

The questions that will guide this research are:

1. What are the experiences of upper elementary school teachers teaching a school-based yoga program in a school with historically marginalized populations?

2. What are the experiences of upper elementary students participating in a school-based yoga program in a school with historically marginalized populations?

3. What do the participants (teachers and students) learn and understand about themselves (physical, mental, and social-emotional awareness) by participating in daily yoga lessons?

This article discusses the findings from a qualitative study, which forms part of a larger project, Apart and Apart? Education and Social Inclusion of Refugee Children and Youth in Iceland (ESRCI). Funded by the Icelandic Research Fund. The ESRCI project is the first large-scale study in Iceland to examine the education and social inclusion of Syrian and Iraqi children and youth with refugee backgrounds at pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary school levels. This article examines the experiences of two young women from Syria and Iraq as they learned Icelandic and maintained their heritage language, and the significance that these languages played in their personal and academic lives, particularly in identity formation and academic aspirations. The research question guiding this study is:

How do two young Syrian and Iraqi women describe using and learning Icelandic and heritage languages, and what roles do these languages play in their daily lives? 

Previous studies in Iceland indicate that a sense of physical safety after resettlement does not automatically lead to linguistic and social inclusion among young women with refugee backgrounds. Kristjánsdóttir and Skaptadóttir's (2018) qualitative study of Palestinian women living in a small Icelandic town indicates that, although the women valued the security and hospitality of the Icelandic nation, they experienced social exclusion and loneliness due to limited proficiency in Icelandic and limited daily contact with the Icelandic community. Nouh et al. (2022) report that illiteracy, unaddressed trauma, overwhelming caregiving responsibilities, and emotional exhaustion severely hindered their ability to attend classes and make meaningful progress in learning Icelandic. Across these studies, learning Icelandic emerges as an essential component that structurally constrains and shapes the intersection of disrupted education, caregiving responsibilities, trauma, and social isolation.

Similarly, European research indicates that young women with refugee backgrounds sit at the intersection of multilingualism, gender roles, and identity formation (Norton, 2009). Norton (2009) suggests that women with refugee backgrounds use the majority language to claim the right to speak, reposition themselves as students, workers, and citizens, and negotiate gender roles. In Sweden, New Zealand (Svensson, 2024), Scotland (Cox & Phipps, 2022), Greece (Kyrligkitsi & Mouti, 2023), and Australia (Choi et al., 2017), learning the majority language was a form of language capital that allowed Syrian women with rich multilingual repertoires and limited prior schooling to leverage these languages to challenge or reconfigure expectations of being homebound. Taken together, international studies of young women with refugee backgrounds emphasize that language skills and education are vital to achieving future goals, accessing the labor market, and becoming role models. However, their progress is hindered by gender norms, racism, and institutional obstacles that restrict the benefits of their language and educational efforts investments.

The framework guiding this study, therefore, draws on Norton’s (2015) model of investment and Bourdieu's (1991) theory of language capital as a lens to understanding Syrian and Iraqi young women’s Icelandic language learning and their heritage language maintenance as they form their identity and future social and academic aspirations in Iceland. Norton’s (2015) model of investment conceptualizes language learning as a socially situated process, shaped by learners’ visions of their future selves and the communities they wish to belong to. Bourdieu’s (1991) theory of language capital further illuminates how different languages hold different social value within specific institutional and social environments, positioning Icelandic as a powerful resource for educational access, social mobility, and long-term opportunity, while Syrian and Iraqi youth's heritage language is undervalued within social and educational language hierarchies. Together, these frameworks enable the study to examine how multilingual identity is negotiated within unequal power structures, highlighting the complex interplay among aspiration, sense of belonging, and the role of multilingual resources in participants' lives

Topic

Teacher questioning is a central didactic practice through which teaching-learning relations are organized, mediated, and rendered visible in instructional interactions (Uştuk & Hu, 2024). Within didactic research, questioning has been widely examined in face-to-face and whole-class contexts, often as a means of structuring participation, eliciting understanding, and guiding learning processes. However, comparatively little is known about how questioning operates in online one-on-one instruction, where interaction is highly individualized, temporally compressed, and technologically mediated (Eleazar & Straub, 2012; Hrastinski et al, 2021; Jopling, 2011).

This gap is particularly significant in the context of private supplementary tutoring (Bray, 2018; 2022), where one-on-one synchronous lessons have become a dominant format. In such settings, questioning is not merely a pedagogical technique but a primary means through which teaching unfolds, and learning opportunities are constructed. This study, therefore, investigates how online EFL tutors deploy questioning strategies in synchronous one-on-one sessions and how these strategies shape tutor–student interaction.

Research Questions

The study addresses the following research questions:

1. What are the distributional patterns of question openness, question types, and question cognitive depth in one-on-one synchronous online EFL tutoring sessions?
2. How are these questioning features associated with student response length, complexity, correctness, and cognitive level?
3. Why do different types and forms of tutor questions lead to different kinds of student responses?
4. Why do online EFL tutors adopt the questioning practices observed during the one-on-one session?

Objectives

The primary objective of this research is to provide a multi-layered understanding of questioning as a didactic practice in online one-on-one EFL teaching.

Specifically, this study aims to: (a) systematically document observable questioning practices in online one-on-one EFL instruction; (b) identify empirical tendencies linking questioning features to student response characteristics; and (c) explain how and why questioning operates in digitally mediated, individualized teaching contexts.

Rather than proposing an entirely new concept of questioning, the study seeks to refine existing didactic understandings by examining how established questioning constructs operate under one-on-one online conditions. In doing so, it extends didactic research on questioning beyond traditional classroom formats and contributes to a more context-sensitive theorization of instructional interaction.

Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

The study adopts Critical Realism (CR) as philosophical grounding, which enables a stratified analysis of pedagogical phenomena across the empirical, actual, and real domains (Mukumbang, 2023). Through this lens, observable tutor questioning practices constitute the empirical basis of analysis, while recurring interactional patterns identified across tutoring sessions indicate regularities at the actual level of instructional practice. The real layer is addressed through retroductive inference: from repeated interactional solutions to similar contingencies, the study infers practice-based mechanisms shaped by institutional arrangements, technological constraints, and didactic pacing demands. Critical Realism thus informs the study's progression from surface-level patterns to deeper structural explanations of tutor questioning strategies.

Analytically, the study draws on established classifications of teacher questioning, including distinctions in question openness (Blosser, 2000; Hargreaves, 1984), functional types (Farrell, 2009; Ellis, 1994; Long & Sato, 1983), and cognitive demand (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). These constructs are analyzed descriptively and statistically using established didactic frameworks, such as the initiation–response–follow–up (IRF) cycle. Critical Realism is then used at the explanatory stage to structure interpretation across three analytical levels: observable practices, recurring interactional tendencies, and inferred instructional mechanisms, through retroductive reasoning (Nichol et al, 2023). In this way, the study aligns with contemporary didactic theory while offering a contextual re-theorization of questioning in individualized online instruction.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly regarded as a transformative technology (Dwivedi et al., 2023; Kilian et al., 2023), prompting growing academic attention towards understanding how teachers integrate this technology into teaching and learning practices (Holmes et al., 2019). Research indicates that the successful integration of GenAI in school contexts depends not only on the affordances of the technology, but on how teachers perceive, adapt, and mediate its use in classroom contexts (Prestridge, 2024). The aim of this paper is to explore how teachers integrate GenAI into their teaching practices in mainstream classrooms to support students with English as an Additional Language (EAL) and to consider the evidence regarding its impact on these students’ learning outcomes.

Globally, education systems are increasingly implementing GenAI through policy, funding, and digital infrastructure reforms (OECD, 2023). In Australia, for example, one in five schools reports increased use of GenAI-related technologies (Williams, 2025). Such rapid growth reflects education systems’ recognition of GenAI’s potential to strengthen learning outcomes, while reinforcing its position as a transformative force within the education sector (Kilian et al., 2023). GenAI tools capable of generating text, images, explanations, and personalised feedback are becoming increasingly integrated into classroom teaching, particularly as schools explore their capacity to support differentiation, scaffolded learning, and student engagement (Chiu et al., 2023), yet their impact remains uneven across learner groups.

Within educational research, GenAI is not only regarded as a technological innovation, but also a pedagogical resource with particular relevance for EAL students (Kilian et al., 2023). Studies indicate that GenAI’s supports scaffolding (Hsiao & Chang, 2023; Woo et al., 2023), differentiation (Huang et al., 2023; Lin et al., 2025; Tai & Chen, 2024), and targeted language support (Nazari et al., 2021; Xia et al., 2022), enabling improved access to curriculum content and supporting language proficiency. However, the extent to which EAL students benefit from GenAI depends on teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, instructional approaches, digital competence, and confidence in using GenAI responsibly and accurately (Chiu et al., 2023; Fawns, 2022; Gibbons, 2014; Mancusi, 2024; Prestridge, 2024). Without these capabilities, GenAI risks reinforcing educational inequities, particularly for EAL students who require explicit, linguistically informed scaffolding.

In this paper, I draw on the analysis of 11 empirical studies to explore how teachers implement GenAI in mainstream classrooms that include EAL students, and how these practices shape learning and language outcomes. The systematic review of literature addressed two key questions: (1) How do secondary mainstream teachers integrate GenAI into their teaching practices to support EAL students?” and (2) “What empirical evidence evidence exists regarding GenAI’s impact on student learning?”. Across the literature, student outcomes were linked to teachers’ pedagogical decision-making, professional confidence, and ability to integrate GenAI within purposeful classroom practices (Chiu et al., 2023; Tai & Chen, 2024; Khan et al., 2024; Woo et al., 2024). Teachers, therefore, play a central role in shaping students’ engagement with GenAI, ensuring its use is safe, culturally responsive, and aligned with learning goals.

This study examines how school social justice policies and practices (SJPP) relate to teachers’ self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms (SEMC) and whether this relationship operates through collective diversity beliefs (CDB).

In essence, classrooms have never been culturally homogeneous spaces. Based on Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of capital, each student enters school carrying different forms of cultural capital shaped by family background, community contexts, and unequal social conditions. Therefore, interactions between teachers and students in the classroom reflect encounters among different “habitus”, which are durable systems of dispositions shaping how individuals learn, communicate, and make sense of the world. From this perspective, diversity is an inherent characteristic of teaching and learning across educational systems. In contemporary societies, this structural diversity of classrooms has been intensified by the global mobility and demographic change, raising policy and professional expectations for equitable and inclusive teaching.

Within this context, SEMC emerges as a critical dimension of teachers’ professional capacity. Grounded in Bandura’s (1997) social cognitive theory, self-efficacy is conceptualized as the product of dynamic reciprocal interactions among personal characteristics, behaviors, and environmental influences. Accordingly, teachers’ SEMC develops not only through individual experience, but also through sustained engagement with school environments.

In response to diversity and equity concerns, many education systems have introduced SJPP to establish normative expectations, legitimize inclusive practices, and structure professional experiences, which together may constitute key environmental conditions for the development of teachers’ SEMC. However, institutional theory highlights that formal policies frequently remain weakly connected to daily professional practices, a phenomenon commonly described as policy-practice decoupling (Scott, 2014). Schools, therefore, should be understood as interactive social systems in which leaders shape shared meanings, coordinate teacher interaction, and reinforce professional norms (Hoy & Miskel, 2013). Thus, SJPP function not only as policy texts but as leadership instruments through which equity priorities are communicated and normalized in school life.

From this perspective, we argue that SJPP influence teachers’ SEMC primarily through a collective mechanism: CDB, defined as the school’s shared convictions regarding how teachers collectively understand and respond to student differences. Following the logic of Goddard and Goddard (2001), the successful internalization of SJPP into teachers’ collective consciousness establishes group norms that legitimize inclusive practices. These norms provide the social validation and motivational force necessary to promote individual SEMC. Thus, CDB can serve as a critical link that translates SJPP into teachers’ SEMC and lived professional realities.

While this theoretical integration highlights the importance of CDB in linking school-level SJPP to teachers’ SEMC, empirical evidence examining this mechanism remains limited (Jang et al., 2026; Peterson & Jensen, 2025; Schwarzenthal et al., 2023). Using pooled data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 (OECD, 2025), this study addresses the following research questions:

(1) What are the relationships between school SJPP, teachers’ CDB, and teachers’ SEMC?

(2) Whether and to what extent does the teachers’ CDB mediate the association between school SJPP and teachers’ SEMC?

By testing a cross-national mechanism linking policy-practice environments to teacher efficacy through collective belief climate, the study contributes to international discussions on how schools can move beyond symbolic compliance toward meaningful equity in practice—informing both school leadership and policy design.

Hungary is home to 13 legally recognized national minorities, which are considered constituent elements of the state and whose collective and individual rights are guaranteed by cardinal laws. According to the 2022 census, 5.1% of the population (approximately 492,000 people) identified with a national minority based on mother tongue affiliation or language use in family or friendship contexts (KSH, 2023; parliament.hu). However, most minorities in Hungary are highly assimilated: intergenerational language transmission has often weakened or ceased, and the maintenance of minority identity has increasingly become the responsibility of public education institutions (Bindorffer, 2007). In this context, the role of minority teachers extends beyond instruction to include identity maintenance and community-building functions.

This pilot study focuses on the professional identity of teachers belonging to the Greek minority in Hungary. The Greek community is one of the smallest minorities in the country, with an institutional educational network limited to only two schools, which makes the role of teachers particularly crucial in sustaining the Greek language, cultural traditions, and community ties. Since the introduction of the Bologna system in 2006, there has been no dedicated Greek minority teacher education program in Hungary. As a result, teacher identity in this context is shaped at the intersection of multiple domains—family, school, community, and transnational experiences—where movement and mediation between contexts play a significant role in identity formation. This specific situation calls for an in-depth qualitative exploration of teacher identity.

The study is grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, specifically its PPCT (Person–Process–Context–Time) framework (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), which conceptualizes professional identity not as a static attribute but as the outcome of temporally unfolding, recurring proximal processes. These processes are realized through sustained, emotionally meaningful interactions between individuals and their environments and play a central role in the stabilization and reorganization of identity (Akkerman & Meijer, 2011).

The research applies Digital Storytelling (DST) (Lambert, 2002/2013) not only as a narrative data collection technique but as a complex learning and reflective practice (Pados & al., 2025, Lanszki & Kunos N., 2021). Life history exploration in qualitative research is often conducted through narrative interviews, in which an external researcher collects life history data and subsequently analyzes them (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000); beyond this approach, digital storytelling (DST) enables participants to process their life-course and learning experiences through multimodal narratives, supporting narrative sense-making and identity stabilization (Lanszki, 2022).

In the digital stories examined, three clearly distinguishable groups of teachers emerge based on their socio-historical background: (1) descendants of civil-war refugees, (2) those who came to Hungary as a result of migration to seek employment, and (3) philhellenes of Hungarian origin. These groups are not merely demographic categories; rather, they indicate different forms of ecological embeddedness (social networks, institutional access, linguistic and cultural capital, and patterns of legitimation), which, within the interpretive logic of the PPCT model, can be understood as distinct sets of conditions shaping proximal processes. The life-course narratives further pointed to two dominant identity configurations: one characterized by early pedagogical orientation and another by a later consolidation of teacher identity, both strongly shaped by familial, institutional, social and temporal factors.

The analysis revealed three mutually reinforcing patterns of proximal processes: (1) the role of relational legitimation and feedback in the emergence and stabilization of the teacher role; (2) cyclical processes of learning and reflection as mechanisms of identity maintenance; and (3) the mediation of language and culture as a lived lifeworld that provides moral and community-based legitimation for the teaching role. These patterns align with ecological and learning-centered interpretations of teacher identity (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006).

The increasing focus on interculturality is paramount and recognized as essential for teacher education (UNESCO, 2006; Byram, 2012; Dervin, 2016). Due to the intrinsic link between language and culture, this becomes particularly relevant for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Researching interculturality, however, can be challenging due to the nuances of this concept and how it is characterised (Kecskes, 2012). An overview of theoretical positions reveals that competence-based models explain intercultural competence as comprised of four main dimensions: awareness about what being ‘intercultural’ means, knowledge about one’s own and other cultural practices, skills relating to interpreting and adopting different cultural behaviors and attitudes towards discovering and acting under this understanding (Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009). Other approximations, however, call for comprehensive explorations of interculturality, arguing that culture represents a field in which power dynamics are at play (Dervin, 2016). Walsh (2009) calls for a contextualized lens through critical interculturality, proposed as an emancipatory means to the effects of colonisation, particularly in Latin America, which also extrapolates to similar EFL contexts. These different approximations to the study of interculturality reflect its complexity but also call for understanding how interculturality is conceptualised and exercised by individuals in light of these many theoretical positions. To achieve this, this review adopts an inductive approach applying the “Funds of Knowledge” (FoK) framework (González et al., 2005). FoK refers to the historical bodies of knowledge that individuals accumulate throughout their lives and thus allows the review to systematize the different factors that influence the development of intercultural knowledge in pre-service teachers. This systematic literature review explores empirical evidence on how EFL pre-service teachers develop their intercultural knowledge, as an effort to systematise the scarce evidence provided in this matter. The guiding question for this systematic literature review is the following: What factors has the literature reported that influence the intercultural development of English as Foreign Language pre-service English teachers?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. Autonomy is a core trait of professionalism -including its continental European development (Svensson & Evetts,2003)- referring to the capacity of an occupational group to control its own work, free from the interference of any external actor -be it the State, employers, or what the literature refers to as clients (Cribb & Gewirtz, 2015; Svensson & Evetts, 2003).

Several authors have distanced from the tacit theoretical assumption that teacher professional autonomy is inherently positive while state control is inherently negative (Cribb & Gewirtz, 2007). In this vein, Wermke and colleagues (Wermke & Salokangas, 2021; Wermke et al., 2018) have posited that teacher professional autonomy has to be understood as a contextual phenomenon, embedded in local and national institutional contexts, in international educational trends, and shaped by the meanings teachers themselves ascribe to it. These authors have differentiated among three levels of control: classroom, school, and profession.

Scarce research has addressed ECE teachers' professional autonomy. Most works have showed that ECE teachers’ practice has been constrained by national policies in the last decades (Bamsey & Fogarty, 2025; Oosterhoff et al., 2020). Also seeking to apply a non-anthropocentric way of thinking about agency (Clarke et al., 2017), Oosterhoff (2020) has argued for an understanding of the situated nature of ECE teachers' professional autonomy, contending that it should not be viewed as purely human (i.e. individuals or groups whose agencies are intended), but rather as part of situational assemblages that also include non-human (i.e. material-semiotic actors like technologies, discourses, or institutions, whose agency is not intended) (Taggart, 2011; Fairchild, 2023). Other authors have also addressed ECE teachers' professional autonomy as situated through the "more-than-human" relational lens, analyzing it as entangled assemblages within situated experiences (Arndt, 2015; Fairchild, 2018; Oosterhoff et al., 2021).

No research has addressed the relationship between professional autonomy and the construction of professionalism in the ECE field, considering the specificity of ECE teachers' professional identity (Arndt et al., 2021), or the particular national ECE institutional architectures (Kagan et al., 2016).

RESEARCH QUESTION. Chile is a country with intrinsic interest to inquire into ECE teachers' professional autonomy. Here, ECE teachers have bachelors' degree, and work in a highly fragmented provision, with curricular prescriptiveness, and high stakes accountability mechanisms (Adlerstein & Pardo, 2020). It is plausible to expect different expressions and understandings of professional autonomy and professionalism among ECE teachers' situated experience. Hence, this paper addressed the following research aim: to identify and interrelate the elements that shape professional autonomy in the situated experience of ECE teachers in Chile, mapping situationally how it is part of the construction of professionalism in the field.

METHODOLOGY. It is described in the Methods section of this proposal.

FINDINGS. The maps show ECE teachers' professional autonomy as a complex more-than-human assemblage, including human and non-human elements. Specifically, most elements that ECE teachers relate with their professional autonomy are located at the classroom level of control -which they highly value-, while the school level is significantly less prominent, the profession level appears rarely. Furthermore, the situational mapping showed a wide array of human elements (e.g. ECE teachers' pedagogical knowledge and professional experience, the qualities of ECE settings' leaders, and children as right holders (human), and non-human elements (e.g. the kind of engagement of families, and the national curriculum), which were interlinked through more-than-human assemblages (e.g. managerial performativity, territorial professional networks). The maps also show that ECE teachers understand those elements as both enablers as well as hindrances of their professional autonomy, depending on the particularities of the situation; the only exception was the national curriculum, which was unanimously understood as an enabler of ECE teachers' professional autonomy.

The incorporation of interdisciplinary education into teacher education standards involves more than the formal inclusion of a pedagogical principle: it entails a set of epistemic and cultural decisions through which specific understandings of knowledge integration and professional preparation are normatively stabilised. Interdisciplinary education is increasingly positioned as a key orientation for preparing teachers to address complex educational problems that exceed disciplinary boundaries, raising questions about how such integration becomes legitimate within formal frameworks of teacher education. This paper examines how interdisciplinary education is constructed through teacher education standards and the tensions that arise from this normative configuration.

Teacher education standards play a constitutive role in defining what counts as legitimate knowledge, professional practice, and academic organisation within initial teacher education (Cochran-Smith et al., 2018; Ingvarson et al., 2006). They function as regulatory instruments that operate through normative stabilisation, shaping expectations about what future teachers should know, be able to do, and how their preparation should be organised under regimes of standardisation and accountability (Falabella, 2014, 2021; Bellei & Muñoz, 2023). When interdisciplinary education is articulated within such standards, its meaning is shaped through expert-driven deliberations that delimit its scope, relevance, and relationship to disciplinary traditions.

This study examines the Chilean case, where standards have become a central regulatory mechanism for secondary initial teacher education following the establishment of the Teacher Professional Development System (Chile, 2016). In this context, the Ministry of Education convened academic teams from universities to elaborate pedagogical and disciplinary standards through expert-led processes approved by the National Education Council. These standards function as official reference points for programme accreditation and national diagnostic assessment, reinforcing their constitutive influence on the alignment between initial teacher education, the school curriculum, and expectations of professional performance (Voisin & Fernández, 2025).

Conceptually, the analysis draws on the notion of policy objects (Sin, 2014) to approach interdisciplinary education not as a stable pedagogical innovation imported into teacher education, but as an object that is constructed, delimited, and rendered governable through normative work. From this perspective, standards-making constitutes a site where expert deliberations establish what interdisciplinary education is taken to mean, what forms of knowledge integration are considered legitimate, and which professional expectations are attached to future secondary teachers.

While existing research has identified the institutional domain as a key yet underexplored site for understanding interdisciplinary education, there has been limited analytical specification of how this domain can be examined when the empirical focus is on standards. Process-oriented approaches to institutionalising interdisciplinarity (Vienni-Baptista, 2024) enable this examination by foregrounding epistemic and cultural dimensions through which interdisciplinary education is normatively configured within institutional settings.

This study asks how interdisciplinary education is defined and prescribed within the official regulatory field of initial teacher education, which epistemic, pedagogical, and organisational assumptions underpin this prescription, and what tensions, ambivalences, and expectations emerge regarding its incorporation into teacher education programmes. Methodologically, this study is based on qualitative document analysis of a corpus of national teacher education standards and related regulatory texts, analysed through reflexive thematic analysis focusing on definitional statements and internal normative tensions. The findings indicate that interdisciplinary education is selectively and unevenly stabilised within teacher education standards, with disciplinary hierarchies and instrumental framings structuring differentiated expectations regarding integration, collaboration, and professional responsibility. By analysing standards as sites of normative decision-making, the paper contributes to teacher education research by clarifying how interdisciplinary education is institutionally configured through academic and organisational distinctions rather than through coherent pedagogical prescriptions.

Education systems world wide deal with persisting teacher shortages (UNESCO, 2024). The related teacher turnover has detrimental effects on students learning, especially in disadvantaged populations (Atteberry et al., 2017). To retain their teachers, school leaders and policy makers should know how teachers commit to their work (Lambersky, 2016). Commitment is a volitional bond with a part of one’s work (i.e., a target) that reflects on dedication and responsibility (Klein et al., 2012). Teacher who have higher commitment have less turnover intentions (Moodie, 2025), report higher well-being (McInerney et al., 2015), and their students have higher academic achievements (Li et al., 2022). Previous research on teacher commitment has primarily focused on commitment directed at their organisation or commitment in general. However, organisations are composed of multiple constituencies with their own values and goals (Reichers, 1985). Consequently, the current study considers a range of potential commitments that teacher may have to broaden the understanding of how teachers relate to the various aspects of their complex work. This will show how commitment towards various targets can be experienced differently. According to Klein et al.'s (2022) commitment systems theory, teachers have these multiple commitments simultaneously in varying degrees which are connected to each other as a network. Commitments that lay closer to the centre of this network influence the meaning and direction of teachers’ commitment in general (Klein et al., 2022). For instance, committed teachers’ primary focus in their work are their students (Fransson & Frelin, 2016), which indicates that commitment to students has a central place in teachers’ commitment systems. By employing this network perspective, understanding of teachers’ commitment is expanded from looking at individual commitments to a more general functioning of teachers commitment as a whole. Furthermore, previous research provided valuable insights into the reason why teachers leave to profession (e.g., Amitai & Van Houtte, 2022; Pressley et al., 2026). Building on these findings, this study addresses why teachers intend to remain in the profession. These insights can equip school leaders to provide teachers with meaningful work.

To investigate how teachers commit to their work, this study asks two questions: how to teachers express their commitment to certain workplace targets and how do central commitments influence teachers’ commitment? These research questions were investigated through semi-structured interviews, which will be further addressed in the method section of this proposal.

In order to get a sense of how teachers’ experience their work-place commitments, the main components of Klein et al.'s (2012) definition of commitment (i.e., volition, responsibility, and dedication) need to be separately recognised in teachers’ accounts. Responsibility suggests that teachers care for a target (Klein et al., 2014). The role they take has characteristics that make them accountable over the target, which means that their relationship with these targets carries a degree of caution (Martin, 2007). Dedication is a sense of enthusiasm, inspiration or challenge teachers feel for a target, they feel proud to work with it (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). As such, commitments are intended to be long-term bonds that drive teachers to perform in favourable actions regarding the target (Meyer et al., 2004). Commitment can be differentiated from other workplace bonds (i.e., acquiescence and instrumental bonds) through the presence of volition (Klein et al., 2012). This study follows approach Zhu's (2004) to volition, meaning that it bridges between teachers’ intentions, desires, beliefs or reasons and the enactment of the commitment. In this vein, not only the presence of positive attitudes, but also internalised intentions, desires, beliefs or reasons indicate some degree of volition in the bond with a target.

Contribution

In modern times, global and national policymakers have frequently relied on international assessments (LSAs), such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), to monitor instructional results and inform policy support (Li et al., 2025;Van Rijn et al.,2024). A major concern is that RL remains low at 386 points in PISA-2022 study in Kazakhstan, which is much lower than the OECD (2023) average (476 scores). In 2022 RL was revealed 40 scores drop a lack of digital skills related to the computer-based test. A gap in literacy, particularly in rural areas, was detected by the poor results in PISA (only 36% of students have scores above level 2)(Abildina et al.,2024). This indicator, in turn, requires to be improved use of digital resources, as traditional methods have proven ineffective in digital era. The development will allow us to adapt to the modern information society and strengthen students' analytical skills.

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of RL through digital learning

Reading literacy is conceptualized as functional skills beyond decoding words, including interpreting and utilizing the texts for one's own purposes , making inferences and critically evaluating, develop knowledge and potential (Sarmurzin et al.,2025).The researchers from Portugal like Patrícia Dinis da Costa, Patrícia Almeida and Luísa Araújo(2013)identify three main components of RL: situation (the purpose of reading), text (content), and aspect (interpretation). Additionally the European Union defines RL as emphasizing practical understanding and public implementation using international frameworks such as PISA and PIRLS (Sarmurzin et al.,2025). It is a key part of functional literacy and is assessed as a basic skill in the education system. Pre–service teachers’ perceptions of RL through digital learning play a vital role in understanding implementation practice which reasonably influence in the classroom interactions and effectiveness as educators(Sun,et.,2024).Realizing these implementation is important for designing effectively professional development programmes in educational policies and practices, and creating supportive school environments that improve student learning and can prevent lifelong barriers, while digital competence can open up opportunities.

Promoting RL through digital learning in schools

The government's promotion RL through digital learning in schools is essential requiring a encompassing, supported national effort to address shortcomings in PISA. Nowadays the priority of the national policy is ambitious reform agenda focused on digitalization which foster digital learning of citizens to secure Kazakhstan’s long-term stability(Tokayev,2025). These initiatives create school environments that improve students’ critical thinking and analytical skills in relation to digital complexities(OECD,2019;Dr.Amita 2025). Continuing professional development (CPD) and supportive policies enable pre-service teachers to integrate effectively reading instruction in the classroom, address gaps in learning materials and manage high teaching loads(Yelubayeva,2023).This holds particular relevance for Kazakhstan, where geographical disparities create significant barriers to traditional educational programs,especially for rural pre-service educators (Shamatov et al.,2023).

The aim of this study is to investigate (1) the perceptions and practices of pre-service teachers regarding RL through digital learning and (2) its implementation in the curriculum in developing countries, of which Kazakhstan is one. The education system faces significant resource inequalities between urban and rural schools, hindering the equitable development of reading skills through digital learning (Sarmurzin et al.,2021).The research questions targeting pre-service teachers help address these gaps, focusing on scalable digital solutions. Consequently, this study aims to address the following research questions:

How do pre-service teachers perceive the role of digital educational platforms for RL development and familiar with framework of PISA?

What digital reading instruction methods do pre-service teachers currently use, and how do they differ between urban and rural schools in Kazakhstan?

What barriers may hinder the implementation of digital reading instruction in Kazakhstan's national curricula in different types of schools?

Science learning goes beyond the limits of the formal education settings with the acknowledgment of informal learning settings, such as science museums, science centers, and botanical gardens. Research provided strong evidence that science learning in informal settings is supportive to increase interest, engagement, and conceptual understanding (Falk & Dierking, 2010). Among these comprehensive settings, science museums are critical cornerstones by providing contextually rich opportunities for lifelong science learning (Bamberger & Tal, 2007).

Science museums are unique in their structure, enabling them to offer diverse learning opportunities. Unlike formal settings, science museums’ flexibility allows science museum educators (SMEs) to adopt learner-centered approaches by considering the curiosity of children and exploration (Hein, 1998). These characteristics of science museums make them powerful places to develop conceptual understanding and positive attitudes toward science (National Research Council, 2009).

As science museums are central to science learning in informal settings, SMEs have an important role in designing and implementing educational activities, in visitor interactions, and supporting science learning (Falk, 2016). SMEs hold a critical stance with their pedagogical positions blending teaching, learning, facilitating, and communicating (Tran, 2007). SMEs, due to the inherent structure of science museums, are more prone to teach heterogeneous groups including diverse, unprecedented backgrounds and abilities.

Even though the literature examines children’s learning, attitudes, and various outcomes in science museums and other informal learning settings, SMEs have received comparatively less attention. As educators are critical in shaping the nature of teaching and learning in these settings (Tal & Morag, 2007), this gap becomes more notable.

In line with these, recent studies started to focus on content knowledge of informal educators in “Informal Science Education Pedagogical Content Knowledge” (ISE-PCK) with five distinct dimensions (Busch et al., 2023). However, in these complex and interactive learning settings, it is not sufficient to identify their content knowledge. To address extensive and motivational dimensions of teaching, Hammerness et al. (2005) introduced the term pedagogical vision. This term extends PCK by including values, hope for students’ futures, and emotions. For SMEs, who engage in multifaceted contexts and have broader aims in their teaching, such as raising awareness in science, understanding their pedagogical visions is crucial to get insight into their broader drivers of teaching.

Previous studies indicated that SMEs tend to prioritize raising awareness and curiosity by providing authentic experiences to the children, which are difficult to achieve in formal classrooms (Eshach, 2007). As science museums play a critical role in the public views and engagement in science and are considered effective tools for promoting science education (Jakobsson & Davidsson, 2012), studies considered some aspects of SMEs’ experiences. In a study conducted by Shaby et al. (2016), SMEs’ goals regarding science museums were examined. The results showed that museum educators identified science museum goals as changing public views regarding science, promoting science learning, and minimizing inequality in society. While there is focus on the goals and interactions of SMEs, these are not fully efficient and adequate to capture SMEs’ broader pedagogical visions.

Consequently, this study aims to focus on pedagogical visions of SMEs. In this way, this study contributes to a comprehension of SMEs’ science teaching in depth. Thus, it will offer insight into science teaching in informal settings, especially science museums. Understanding these visions is essential not only for advancing research on informal science education but also for improving the design of museum programs and activities, strengthening the educational role of science museums. In this vein, this study is guided by the following research question:

• What are the pedagogical visions of science museum educators on teaching in a science museum?

Scientific attitudes, comprising curiosity, open-mindedness, skepticism, objectivity, perseverance, and intellectual honesty, are central to the mission of Science High Schools (SHS) in Türkiye (Schibeci, 1983; Aiken, 1969). Yet beyond formal instruction, extracurricular scientific engagement through projects, competitions, and congresses constitutes a distinct pedagogical space where these dispositions may be cultivated differently than in traditional classrooms. This study adopts a didactic lens to investigate how project-based and event-based scientific experiences function as learning environments that mediate attitude formation, while simultaneously interrogating whether such opportunities are equitably accessible and institutionally supported, a question squarely rooted in educational quality assurance.

The research question guiding this inquiry is: What are science high school students' experiences with scientific projects and events in developing scientific attitudes? Rather than treating scientific attitudes as outcomes of classroom instruction alone, this question positions project and event participation as an independent didactic domain, one that involves self-directed inquiry, collaboration with peers and mentors, public dissemination of findings, and iterative problem-solving. These processes engage students in authentic scientific practices that formal curricula frequently cannot replicate (Bybee et al., 2006; Chinn & Malhotra, 2002).

The theoretical foundation draws on Schibeci's (1983) comprehensive framework, which distinguishes between attitudes toward science as a body of knowledge, attitudes toward scientific processes, and attitudes toward scientists as a social group. Complementing this, self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) provides a motivational lens through which autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key psychological needs, can be evaluated within project contexts. Together, these frameworks enable systematic analysis of how voluntary, interest-driven scientific engagement nurtures attitudinal dimensions that compulsory instruction may not reach.

The study examines how the pedagogical architecture of TUBITAK-supported programs, school-organized congresses, physics journals, and science clubs differs from conventional teaching-learning sequences. Each of these contexts demands distinct cognitive and affective engagement: TUBITAK projects require hypothesis formation and data analysis; Olympiads demand sustained independent study; congresses necessitate academic writing and public presentation; and science clubs facilitate peer-driven discourse and expert interaction. Understanding how each context shapes scientific attitudes contributes directly to didactic theory regarding the design of learning environments beyond the classroom.

From a quality assurance standpoint, critical questions emerge about institutional commitment. Do all students have equal access to project mentorship? Are competitions structured to foster intrinsic motivation or merely reward performance? Students themselves reported frustrations with limited expert guidance, insufficient recognition of effort, and time pressures imposed by concurrent academic demands, signals that project-based learning, while valued, may not be systematically embedded in institutional quality frameworks (Harlen, 2010; Aktaş, 2016).

The European dimension of this study lies in its relevance to broader debates about project-based and experiential learning across European educational systems. Programmes analogous to TUBITAK exist across Europe, from Germany's Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik to France's Concours Général, yet comparative scholarship on how such programmes cultivate scientific dispositions remains sparse. Findings regarding the motivational, identity-forming, and attitudinal effects of structured scientific competitions and congresses offer transferable insights for policy-makers and educators designing extracurricular science programs within diverse national contexts (Zohar & Dori, 2003; Jewett & Kuhn, 2015).

It is widely recognised that the early years of life lay the foundation for future development and learning abilities. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure a gradual and continuous transition between the different stages of the educational pathway in order to promote harmonious development and sustain the learning gains achieved in early childhood (OECD, 2017). The concept of transition is closely linked to “school readiness”, understood as children’s preparation for primary education. In the international debate, this concept has been increasingly questioned as a unidimensional construct focused solely on children’s skills. More recent studies adopt a holistic approach, emphasising that readiness concerns not only children, but also schools and families (Bruner, Floyd & Copeman, 2005). Readiness should not be limited to “ready children” but should also include “ready schools” and “ready families” (UNICEF, 2012). This highlights the need for continuity practices that address educational environments and relationships.

Educational continuity can be defined as the set of strategies and educational practices aimed at these goals, implemented through projects that promote dialogue and pedagogical mediation during transitions. It is considered a structural principle of the right to education at the European level, as stated in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (art. 14, 2000). Continuity is often discussed in relation to the concept of transition. The transition between ECEC and primary school is defined as a critical moment of change that requires collaborative pedagogical practices, aligned curricula, and attention to children’s experiences in order to sustain the benefits of early education (OECD, 2017). The term “transition” is not widely used in Italy and is often replaced by “continuity”. In Italy, continuity is assumed as a normative and foundational principle structuring the educational system, and it is mentioned in key educational policy documents (e.g., National Guidelines, Pedagogical Guidelines for the Integrated 0–6 System).

Despite the strong pedagogical principles established, continuity manifests itself in very different forms. The practical implementation of continuity varies across the Italian context. On the one hand, it depends on schools’ choices and resources, as well as on leadership decisions and teachers’ engagement. On the other hand, it faces the constant risk of sliding into a mere bureaucratic drift, transforming a moment of educational reflection into a sterile administrative task (Balduzzi, 2021). This variability reflects different interpretations of educational continuity, which remain underexplored. This raises the question of how continuity is actually understood and enacted in everyday school practices. The present study aims to explore teachers' conceptions and declared practices of educational continuity, examining whether and how these differ across educational contexts and school levels in Italy.

Currently, there are calls for approaches that honour student agency and support the development of 21st century skills to reflect the ever-changing society in which we live (Bron et al., 2022; Green, 2021; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD], 2019). Student agency is evident in education policies globally and is explicitly featured within the OECD Learning Compass 2030. The placement of student agency at the basis of this framework demonstrates its global and future-focused importance. The OECD describes agency as students “acting rather than being acted upon” as they “play an active role in deciding what and how they will learn” through “co-construction” of learning with their teachers (2019, p. 1). Despite this strong endorsement, education researchers assert that there are barriers to the enactment of student agency in schools and a paucity of empirical accounts on how co-construction of learning can be realised.

This presentation draws on the findings of a study conducted in Melbourne Australia, where student agency was investigated in the form of negotiating the curriculum. Boomer (1992) articulated negotiating the curriculum as a pedagogical process where teachers purposefully plan to co-construct the learning journey with students. The curriculum is then a “jointly enacted composition” (p. 32). In doing so, the traditional power that operates in a classroom is redistributed and the curriculum is undertaken as a process, termed as “curriculuming” (p.32). When curriculuming occurs, students are positioned as active co-creators of curriculum rather than passive recipients, aligning closely with current policy rhetoric and the OECD’s conceptualisation of student agency. While Boomer’s ideas provide a process for curriculum co-construction to occur, they have not been widely adopted in mainstream schooling. Despite this, education researchers continue to write about the importance of his theoretical principles on teaching and learning (eg. Brennan, 2022; Bron et al., 2022; Green, 2022; Mockler, 2018). Within the current educational policy landscape, curriculum negotiation provides a way to support teachers in co-constructing learning with students. However, these aspirational ideas currently sit within a broader global policy environment shaped by the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) (Sahlberg, 2023).

GERM is signified by neoliberal logics of standardisation, datafication and quasi-marketisation that have intensified accountability and narrowed conceptions of curriculum and pedagogy (Sahlberg, 2023). GERM’s effects in Australia have been widely documented (Lingard et al., 2017; Mockler & Groundwater-Smith, 2018; Mockler & Stacey, 2021) and the rise of instrumentalist discourses and reductionist approaches to teaching and learning because of these global trends can present significant challenges to curriculum negotiation. Within the context of this study, student agency is referenced in key curriculum and policy documents at state and national levels, signalling alignment with global priorities and potential opportunities for curriculum negotiation. However, these are mediated by assessment regimes, accountability frameworks, and public perception which can either enable or constrain opportunities for curriculuming with students.

Against this backdrop, this study investigated how a primary school enacted and sustained a negotiated curriculum for over 25 years, and what supported or challenged this important work. The presentation will summarise findings regarding the tensions teachers and leaders navigate in reconciling negotiated approaches with policy and accountability requirements, particularly in today’s policy landscape. Possible implications for supporting student agency in policy and practice will be illuminated. Given the international attention to student agency and the current global impact of GERM, this situation may resonate with education researchers in other contexts.

Higher education worldwide is undergoing significant transformation, driven by massification (Trow, 1970, 1972, 1973; Pabian, 2008) and increasing expectations regarding graduate practical skills. Higher education institutions face the challenge of balancing academic knowledge with professional preparation to produce work-ready graduates (Gardner & Perry, 2023). Across countries, government policies and labor market needs promote transferable skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication. Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), which has become a prominent feature of higher education over the past two decades (Ferns et al., 2025, p. 371), provides a pedagogical framework for integrating professional experience into curricula. In this context, it is essential to examine how different degree program profiles are reflected in curricula and how these choices influence graduates’ professional preparedness.

In several national contexts, including the Czech Republic, these debates have been institutionalized through formal distinctions between academically and professionally oriented degree programs. In the Czech case, this formal profiling (into academic and professional) was introduced by the 2016 amendment to the Higher Education Act. The legislation defines academically oriented programs as emphasizing theoretical knowledge and creative scholarly activity, while professionally oriented programs are expected to prioritize practical skills underpinned by essential theoretical foundations. Therefore, both profiles are defined as combining academic and professional components, differing primarily in their emphasis. This study examines whether the formal differentiation translates into substantively distinct curricula or remains largely symbolic, assessing the extent to which the system is conceptually coherent.

The present research; thus, addresses this issue by analyzing the intended curricula of selected bachelor’s degree programs to examine whether, and to what extent, declared program profiles are reflected in curriculum design. Intended curricula refer to the overt curricula articulated in policy statements as the goals that schools or other educational institutions aim to achieve (Kridel, 2010, p. 489). In this study, degree programs are understood in close relation to the concept of curriculum, which the scholarly literature often treats as a synonymous term (O’Neill, 2015, p. 8); however, the term degree program is used as an overarching label because it denotes a formally named and institutionally defined entity.

The following research questions are addressed:

RQ1: To what extent is the allocation of academic and professional components aligned with the formally declared academic or professional profile of bachelor’s degree programs?

RQ2: How do program guarantors perceive and interpret the differences between professional and academic degree programs based on their experience with program implementation?

The theoretical framework draws on Bernstein’s (1999) distinction between vertical discourse, characterized by abstract and hierarchically organized knowledge, and horizontal discourse, which is context-bound and oriented toward practical problem-solving. This distinction provides a basis for conceptualizing differences between academically and professionally oriented degree programs. These profiles are examined through the process of knowledge recontextualization (Bernstein, 2000), understood as the transformation of disciplinary knowledge into application- and profession-oriented forms. Professional orientation is further operationalized through the concept of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), a pedagogical approach based on authentic, work-related learning experiences that integrate theory and practice (Zegwaard et al., 2023, p. 39). The theoretical background provides a basis for coding curriculum elements along an academic–professional continuum and assessing how declared program profiles are reflected in curriculum design.

The relevance of this research extends beyond the Czech context. Across Europe (and beyond), higher education systems face similar challenges related to program differentiation, massification and the growing emphasis on employability. By offering an empirically grounded analysis, the study contributes to international discourse on curriculum governance, policy implementation and the conceptual clarity of academic and professional pathways in higher education.

Career decision-making is one of the most complex tasks for individuals, particularly in rapidly changing labor markets shaped by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Hirschi, 2018). While career choices have always been influenced by personal, social, and contextual factors (Lent et al., 1994) contemporary shifts—such as unstable employment, project-based work, and the growing demand for interdisciplinary competencies—have intensified the challenges faced by students in navigating their career paths (Hirschi, 2018). Career decisions differ from everyday choices due to their long-term impact, limited reversibility, and the emotional, social, and economic implications they carry (Gati & Kulscar, 2021) The process becomes even more challenging for gifted students (Kerr, 1990).

Gifted individuals, throughout history, have been recognized for their extraordinary contributions to science, politics, arts, and cultures (Jung, 2019). However, their developmental needs are often neglected in educational policies and career counseling practices, which tend to prioritize academic performance over socio-emotional and vocational guidance (Smith & Wood, 2020). Within this population, multipotential individuals represent a distinct subgroup. Their high abilities across multiple domains expand the range of career alternatives but simultaneously creates unique challenges in narrowing down choices. As research shows, multipotential youth often struggle with anxiety, existential concerns, and identity development issues, as any single decision implies the exclusion of other viable paths. For them, career choices are not only about selecting an occupation but also about reconciling their sense of self with multiple, and sometimes conflicting, possibilities (Silverman, 1993)

The situation deepens when multipotentiality intersects with socioeconomic disadvantage. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds often face limited access to social and cultural capital, fewer role models, and restricted opportunities such as internships, mentorship, and extracurricular enrichment (Olszewski-Kubilius, & Thomson, 2015). Families may provide emotional support but often lack the knowledge, resources, and networks required to guide career development effectively. Consequently, disadvantaged multipotential students encounter intensified barriers, including diminished self-efficacy, reduced outcome expectations, and limited exposure to professional pathways. Such challenges increase the risk of underemployment, early school leaving, and career mismatches, representing both individual and societal losses in terms of human capital (Hébert, 2018)

Scholarship has generally examined either multipotentiality or socioeconomic disadvantage seperately, overlooking their intersection. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) highlights the importance of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and contextual supports in shaping career development (Lent et al., 1994). Yet, empirical studies remain scarce in addressing how these mechanisms operate specifically among disadvantaged multipotential students, who face the paradox of possessing high abilities yet lacking access to adequate resources.

This study addresses this gap by exploring the career decision-making processes of multipotential students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds in Türkiye. While gifted education is formally recognized within the national education system, the specific construct of multipotentiality remains absent from official definitions and interventions. This research therefore offers theoretical and practical contributions: it reveales how internal factors (such as abilities, interests, and psychological struggles) and external factors (such as family socioeconomic status and cultural context) intersect in shaping students’ career trajectories. By examining a “subgroup within a subgroup,” this study extends SCCT to a novel context but also provides actionable insights for more inclusive and socially just career counseling practices.

Supporting the career development of disadvantaged multipotential students is essential not only for their personal well-being and self-realization but also for fostering social equity and sustainable development (Olszewski-Kubilius, & Thomson, 2015).

By identifying the barriers, contradictions, and coping strategies in their career decision-making processes, this research contributes to the design of tailored interventions that can empower these students to navigate complexity and actualize their diverse potentials.

Building a more inclusive education and school system has been one of the key objectives in the most recent reform of learning support in Finland. Old support system was seen too bureaucratic, and it focused merely on the three support steps. Now the scope should be in concrete support measures and early interventions. Although creating an inclusive school involves much more than the existence or non-existence of special classes or special schools, justifying the use of class-based special education lies at the heart of the inclusion debate. However, in Finland decisions about school placement are not made solely by teachers or officials responsible for allocating resources. Opinions on how support should be organised are also sought from the child or pupil themselves, from their guardians, and, when necessary, from healthcare professionals. The aim of this study is to examine how different actors justify placement in special education classes at the start of schooling.

Society, culture and the structure of the school system have an input in parents’ attitudes towards inclusion. Some studies have shown that parents might have a more positive attitude towards inclusion in general than they have to the specific beliefs to its benefits. If a parent themselves has a child who needs special support their inclusion attitude might be a more negative but there is evidence that this might be reaching a plateau at least in some countries. A big question for the parents seems to be the nature of the childs needs. Physical disabilities and learning difficulties are accepted by the parents but especially children with behavioural issues are considered the hardest ones to teach in normal size classrooms. Even if a parent has a positive attitude towards inclusion they might be worried about the schools resources and the abilities of the teacher together with the societal status of the student needing support.

Children’s own voices are often not brought out in early childhood education documents, nor are children’s own views on their support needs frequently investigated. Barriers to hearing the voices of children in need of support have been identified at both the child level and in professionals’ attitudes and the resources available. Little is known about young children’s own views about different schools, classes and support measures.

Previous studies have shown that healthcare experts are used as authorities and specialists in pedagogical documents, and their views and the diagnoses they provide influence pedagogical decisions and the planning of support. It is therefore important to examine the types of justifications used by healthcare professionals when recommending placement in a special education class for a child at the start of schooling.

The study is situated within the Finnish context. However, the development of inclusive schooling and the identification of beliefs and attitudes that hinder inclusion constitute key challenges more broadly across Europe. Accordingly, the central question of this study is: Why would a special education class be considered preferable to a so-called mainstream classroom?

This paper explores how inclusive education in early childhood instrumental music learning emerges through embodied, relational, and ecological processes. Positioned within the field of inclusive education (ECER Network 04), the study investigates movement-based instrumental pedagogy as a means of understanding how knowing and acting are co-constructed by young learners, caregivers, and teachers through shared musical activity. Rather than framing inclusion as an individual learner attribute or an accommodation strategy, inclusion is approached as an enacted practice that unfolds through participation, interaction, and bodily engagement (Bronfenbrenner, 2001; Studd & Cox, 2019).

Movement-based instrumental learning provides a particularly relevant site for examining inclusion, as it foregrounds multimodal engagement of kinesthetic, sensory, social, and emotional alongside musical development. The body functions as a primary medium through which children and caregivers communicate, explore, and make meaning together (Studd & Cox, 2019). From this perspective, embodied learning becomes both a form of knowing and a mode of action, shaping how inclusion is experienced in practice.

Although embodiment is increasingly recognised within music education research, less attention has been given to how embodied pedagogies contribute to inclusive learning environments by incorporating children’s and families’ voices, particularly in early instrumental contexts. This gap is significant within inclusive education research, where participation, voice, and relational learning are central concerns. Research in developmental psychology and music education demonstrates that early musical interaction supports attachment, attunement, and co-regulation between caregivers and children (Malloch, 1999; Stern, 1985; Trehub et al., 1997; Porges, 2011; Schore, 2001). However, these insights are less frequently integrated into instrumental learning contexts, where caregiver participation is often peripheral or implicitly assumed rather than pedagogically supported (Ilari, 2018; Zdzinski, 1996).

The study is guided by the following research questions:

1. How does centering embodied experiences in early instrumental education support inclusive participation for young children?
2. How do shared, movement-based musical experiences enable caregivers to act as co-participants within the learning environment?

The study adopts an ecological framework informed by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of development (Bronfenbrenner, 2001) and an inclusive design based on the principals of Universal Design for Learning (CAST. 2018. “Universal Design for Learning Guidelines” V. 2.2. htpp://udlguidelines.cast.org]), alongside theories of embodiment and inclusive pedagogy.

Pedagogical activities draw on Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Suzuki-informed instrumental learning, and the Laban-Bartenieff Movement System, all of which foreground exploration, coordination, relational interaction, and adaptability (Ilari, 2018; Studd & Cox, 2019). Inclusion is therefore understood not as a prescribed outcome but as something done through pedagogical action, emerging from interactions among bodies, relationships, and environments.

Empirically, the research focuses on three movement-integrated workshops, each 90 minutes in length, involving young flute learners (ages 6–8) and their caregivers. These workshops enact inclusive pedagogical conditions in which learning is negotiated collectively rather than transmitted unidirectionally. The workshop setting is treated as a bounded system, allowing examination of embodied joint engagement among caregiver–child dyads, peers, and the researcher-facilitator through multimodal means (Merriam, 1998; Vaiouli et al., 2015). The European and international relevance of the study lies in its contribution to ongoing debates around inclusive education, family engagement, and embodied learning across diverse educational contexts.

By examining how inclusive practices are generated through embodied action, the study aligns directly with ECER 2026’s theme, Knowing and Acting: The Changing Conditions and Potentials of Education Research. It offers empirically grounded insight into how inclusive education can be understood not only as a policy objective but as a lived, relational process shaped through everyday pedagogical interactions.

Discussions about sustainability are unfolding against the backdrop of increasingly alarming climate data. Recent observations indicate that global temperatures in the first quarter of 2025 were the second warmest on record (Hausfather, 2025). While such data suggest an urgent need for a unified response, phantasmagorical political rhetoric - such as the continued echo of “drill, baby, drill” (Trump, 2025) - highlights that sustainability discourse remains deeply divided. Education has long been identified as a key strategy for addressing the climate crisis; however, it has so far failed to provide a clear pathway out of it (Heggen et al., 2022). For educational systems to meaningfully respond, the focus needs to shift from the accumulation of competencies toward the cultivation of mindsets oriented toward transformation and change (Broo, 2022; Lees, 2021; Rimanoczy, 2020).

In sustainability education, emphasizing mindset rather than competencies connects personal beliefs with collective responsibility by integrating cognition, values, and emotions in ways that guide action (Kassel et al., 2018; Rimanoczy, 2020). The concept of a sustainability mindset (SM) has been introduced to encompass both external dimensions (knowledge, systems thinking, skills) and internal dimensions (values, purpose, reflection) (Rimanoczy, 2020). However, existing SM models remain largely anthropocentric. They privilege human introspection and agency, while the more-than-human world is positioned primarily as context, resource, or moral obligation. This framing risks reproducing the very human exceptionalism that underlies unsustainable practices. Consequently, sustainability education requires a reconceptualization of mindset that foregrounds relationality, plurality, and nonhuman agency.

Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) offers a promising theoretical pathway for such a reconceptualization. OOO advances a flat ontology in which all entities - human and more-than-human- exist on equal ontological footing, while retaining a degree of withdrawal beyond full human comprehension (Morton, 2016). When applied to sustainability education, OOO reorients SM toward humility, attentiveness, and ethical openness to more-than-human beings, expanding its ecological and moral dimensions beyond human-centred reasoning.

Against this theoretical backdrop, the central research question guiding this study is:

How can applied drama-based methods support the development of a sustainability mindset among primary school students by enabling engagement with complex, uncomfortable, and more-than-human sustainability issues?

The study pursues four interrelated aims:

1. to redefine sustainability mindset through the lens of OOO, moving beyond anthropocentric assumptions;

2. to introduce and integrate three pedagogical approaches—Critical Pedagogy (CP), Dark Pedagogy (DP), and Applied Drama-Based Pedagogy (ADBP)—as pathways for cultivating such a mindset;

3. to develop a didactical model that supports the introduction of a redefined SM in primary education through drama-based practices; and

4. to explore adapted forum theatre as a concrete pedagogical pathway for SM development in primary school contexts.

Each pedagogical strand contributes distinctly to the proposed framework. CP provides a transformative orientation, offering conceptual tools to interrogate oppression, power, and unsustainability (Freire et al., 2014). DP functions as an affective lens that legitimizes discomfort, grief, and uncertainty as integral dimensions of sustainability learning (Head, 2016; Author et al., 2019). ADBP serves as a methodological and pedagogical vehicle, enabling embodied, participatory, and collective engagement with sustainability dilemmas (Nicholson, 2005; Österlind & Hallgren, 2025; Sinha & Schmitz, 2024). Together, these approaches create conditions for cultivating an OOO-informed sustainability mindset that is simultaneously critical, affective, and experiential.

Building on this framework, a didactical model inspired by forum theatre is developed and adapted for primary education. The model introduces a three-dramatic-mode system that supports teachers in engaging students with complex sustainability issues through drama-based classroom interventions. These interventions are implemented and examined to explore how theatre-based practices may contribute to the development of a sustainability mindset among primary school students.

Biodiversity loss and the accelerating degradation of ecosystems pose profound ecological, ethical and pedagogical challenges for contemporary societies. Despite its foundational role in sustaining life, biodiversity remains insufficiently addressed in educational structures that are expected to support sustainable futures. Within Finnish basic education, the current sustainability framework outlined in the National Core Curriculum (POPS 2014) does not fully prepare children to engage with the complex socio‑ecological realities that characterize the sustainability transition, particularly regarding environmental justice, multispecies interdependence, and the re‑evaluation of human–nature relations. This proposal develops critical biodiversity education as a transformative pedagogical approach that challenges anthropocentric assumptions, cultivates more‑than‑human awareness, and supports the formation of ethical responsibility at planetary scale.

The study is grounded in transformative learning—learning as a deep change in one’s relation to world and nature (Mezirow; Sterling; Wals). It combines ecological pragmatist humanism (Honnacker) to critique anthropocentric humanism while maintaining moral responsibility, and mobilises education otherwise (Stein et al.) and unlearning (Zembylas) to question habitual, growth‑centric imaginaries. Together, these frames orient pedagogy toward building “macro‑ethics” for planetary citizenship (da Silva).

Substantively, the project responds to the Finnish Nature Panel’s and related reviews’ calls to strengthen biodiversity content, move beyond a purely natural‑science focus, and develop pedagogies that address attitudes, values, and action for environmental citizenship. It critiques how neoliberal and growth‑oriented logics in education displace ecological values and narrow sustainability to instrumental goals.

1. How does a transformative biodiversity education, grounded in ecological pragmatism, prepare children for a society oriented to planetary citizenship and “macro‑ethics”?
2. In what ways can combined arts-, science-, and technology-based pedagogical methods enable a shift from natural‑science-oriented nature education and anthropocentric sustainability education toward transformative biodiversity education and planetary environmental citizenship education?
   
3. Which conceptual advances arising from this work are applicable to Finnish education policy—moving from value‑neutral nature education toward critical, transformative biodiversity education?
   

Objectives:

• Design and study a transdisciplinary pedagogical model that integrates outdoor learning in forest sites, arts‑based inquiry, and citizen‑science‑supported technology to deepen understanding of biodiversity, interdependence, and human impacts.
  
• Support children’s emotional processing (e.g., eco‑anxiety) through arts‑based practices that cultivate constructive hope without utopian technofixes, while acknowledging uncertainty and complexity.
  
• Produce actionable insights for curriculum and policy development that strengthen biodiversity education and environmental citizenship in the Finnish basic education system.

Conceptually, the project advances a meliorist stance: resisting both nihilism and naive progressivism by committing to long‑term (un)learning that constructs new affective infrastructures for alternative modes of thinking, feeling, and acting amid ecological crises.

The average global temperature has increased very rapidly over the last 50 years due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Generally, this increase in human-caused greenhouse gas emissions continues to rise along with the consumption habits of today’s world. Climate change, resulting from global warming caused by this increase, is a global problem threatening future generations (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2023). According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2015), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to act in many areas such as poverty, inequality, health, justice, and planetary protection, were created to make the world habitable in the future. In line with these developments, the importance of climate change education has been emphasized under Sustainable Development Goal number thirteen, Climate Action (United Nations [UN], 2015) The aim is to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to and combat climate change through the awareness that is planned to be gained by utilizing the vital role of education in change and impact. United Nations (UN, 2015) Sustainable Development Goal 13 states that the integration of climate change education into national education policies, curricula, teacher training, and student assessments is a key objective. Research on climate change education has revealed insufficient integration in teacher knowledge, teacher training techniques, curriculum, and curriculum applicability (Anyolo et al., 2018). As in the rest of the world, the Turkish national education system also requires new, innovative, and contemporary practices that are appropriate to the changing climate change agenda and technologies, in line with the needs and problems related to adapting to and combating the increasing effects of climate change. In Türkiye, technical, social, and socio-scientific projects on adaptation and combating climate change have been and are being developed under the leadership and support of TÜBİTAK (Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Institution). These projects, which have very important and valuable content on combating and adapting to climate change, do not include educational parts at the primary, secondary, high school, or even university levels due to the advanced levels of their content. However, proposed solutions to climate change can be transformed into educational materials for students at all levels through collaborative work between educators and researchers. Adapting these projects to educational materials that school children can understand easily has a great potential to become important resources for them to understand reasons, results, and recent technologies for combating climate change. Therefore, we believe that evaluating and adapting the scientific and technological content of the completed projects related to climate change as educational materials will enhance the vision of young generations in the fields of global issues, science and technology and support their 21st-century skills. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop the criteria and the framework for finding best suitable projects to be transferred to education materials and to develop project – to – educational material framework. Based on this perspective, the research question of the study is

1) “How science projects related to climate change can be transformed to educational materials?”

1. What are the characteristics of science projects to be transferred as educational materials?
2. What are the items of the framework to be used to transform science projects into education materials?

So, our target for the long term is to inspire Climate Change Education researchers for a new trend and the project funding agencies to consider an “From Project to Education – Pandora’s Project Box -” section to call for proposals.

The rapid industrial expansion of the 21st century has fostered “sacrifice zones”: areas where ecological integrity is compromised for economic growth, and pollution risks are disproportionately borne by local communities (Lerner, 2010). The Ergene Basin in northwestern Turkey, a textile and chemical industry hub, represents a striking example. While the region is notorious for Class IV water pollution (Tokatlı, 2020), industrial emissions and factory chimneys constitute a visible, everyday reality for residents, particularly in urban centers like Çorlu.

Situated within this context, this study explores how middle school students in this high-risk environment perceive and represent environmental problems through drawings and narratives. Rather than simple illustrations, drawings are conceptualized as meaningful indicators of how children cognitively and symbolically construct environmental issues (Kozma, 2003). The objective is to identify how living in a “sacrifice zone” shapes children’s environmental mental models and to contribute to a localized framework for environmental education.

The central research questions are:

1. How do students in an industrial “sacrifice zone” represent environmental problems, and what do these reveal about their cognitive and affective mental models?
2. How do students’ direct place-based encounters with industrial pollution shape their mental models of global environmental phenomena, such as climate change and the greenhouse effect?

The study is grounded in Mental Models Theory (MMT), the Draw-An-Environment Test (DAET) methodology, and Place-Based Education (PBE). MMT provides a foundation for interpreting drawings as externalizations of internal cognitive structures, allowing insight into how learners organize complex environmental phenomena experienced through sensory exposure (Johnson-Laird, 1983; Greca & Moreira, 2000). The DAET-R (Rubric) serves as the primary analytical framework to elicit dimensions of environmental mental models, including concern, responsibility, and agency (Moseley et al., 2010). Analyzing drawings alongside written narratives supports a grounded interpretation of symbolic choices. This triangulation reduces researcher bias and increases analytical validity (Strauss 1987; Patton 2002). Finally, PBE emphasizes that environmental literacy is most effective when rooted in learners’ immediate surroundings (Sobel, 2004). In the Ergene Basin, students’ representations are inevitably shaped by direct encounters with degradation, enabling connections between local experience and broader ecological transitions.

Although situated in Turkey, the study addresses shared European challenges related to the ecological transition of industrial heartlands. Pollution in the Ergene Basin is a transboundary issue; it carries industrial waste into the North Aegean Sea via the Maritsa (Meriç) River, affecting waters shared with Greece and Bulgaria. This connects the study directly to the European Green Deal’s ‘Zero Pollution’ ambition (European Commission, 2021). Understanding how children in this shared basin perceive such risks is crucial for Europe’s collective ecological transition. Furthermore, while European research underscores how school-based policies and contact with nature shape student outcomes (Boeve-de Pauw & Van Petegem, 2018), this research explores the inverse: how intense industrial degradation in 'sacrifice zones' influences the formation of environmental mental models. This comparative perspective contributes to a broader European understanding of how industrial landscapes shape children’s environmental understanding.

Assessment feedback is widely recognised as central to learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998; Nicol and Macfarlane‐Dick, 2006; Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008). Yet students do not always engage with feedback (Dawson, Carless, and Lee, 2020) or take action on it (Evans, 2013; Postmes et al., 2024; Winstone et al., 2017), rendering teachers’ time investment obsolete. Consequently, a key challenge in feedback research concerns not only what feedback says, but how dialogic feedback moments are intentionally designed to support meaningful engagement.

Traditionally, assessment research has conceptualised feedback as information transmitted from teacher to student, an intervention some describe as monological and transactional (Winstone and Boud, 2019). Popularised by Hattie and Timperley (2007), this framing positions feedback as a message whose effectiveness depends on how it is crafted. With the advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), feedback risks becoming further reduced to an input-output model, reinforcing transmission logics in which feedback is treated as data assumed to produce learning gains when consumed (Corbin, Tai and Flenady, 2025; Flenady and Sparrow, 2025).

More recently, feedback has been reconceptualised as a process (Winstone and Carless, 2020), informed by humanist epistemologies and focused on students’ perspectives, self-regulation, and feedback recipience. This shift has foregrounded the design of dialogic feedback moments and led to practical recommendations around feedback literacy for students and teachers (Sutton, 2012; Carless and Boud, 2018; Molloy, Boud and Henderson, 2019). However, this approach has also been critiqued for following a logic of equipment (Biesta, 2007; 2010; 2016), reinforcing individualism (Nieminen and Carless, 2022; Gravett and Carless, 2023), and insufficiently accounting for context (Biesta, 2007).

As Carless (2020) notes, feedback remains “a contested terrain” (p. 426). Despite their differences, both feedback-as-information and feedback-as-process risk reinforcing performative notions of learning focused on outcomes, often at the expense of broader educational purposes such as socialisation and subjectification (Biesta, 2020; 2022). Within these paradigms, feedback is rarely questioned; disengagement or rejection is framed as maladaptive (Boud and Molloy, 2013), reinforcing measurement cultures and the entanglement of feedback with grades (Winstone and Boud, 2022).

While feedback can be transformative, engaging with it is neither neutral nor context-free. Drawing on the stories of eight first-year students, my doctoral research shows that feedback inter- and intra-actions (Barad, 2003) are woven into surrounding assessment cultures and must be understood as socially and materially situated (Gravett, 2022). One guiding research question was: “How do assessment cultures influence students’ engagement with feedback?” This study examines how interrelated layers of assessment culture (from macro and chrono levels to micro and nano levels) shape students’ lived experiences of feedback.

Using a sociomaterial lens, the study connects everyday student-teacher interactions with the broader forces that configure what feedback is, how it is enacted, and how it is received. Sociomateriality reframes educational practices as relational encounters shaped by human and non-human actors, including time, space, artefacts, power, and personal ecologies (Fenwick, Edwards and Sawchuk, 2011). In this view, feedback engagement unfolds within assemblages rather than residing solely within individual students (Gourlay, 2015).

The findings illustrate how assessment cultures shift attention away from individualised explanations of disengagement and toward the conditions under which feedback encounters occur. Students’ engagement is shaped by access to resources such as time, by competing responsibilities, and by whether feedback is experienced as supportive or identity-threatening. Understanding feedback as sociomaterial and culturally situated offers a richer account of how students navigate feedback within complex assessment environments, and why disengagement may sometimes be a rational, situated response rather than a deficit.

Assessment plays a significant role in contemporary life, permeating all aspects of society. Peter Dahler-Larsen (2012) charactetizes this ubiquity by describing modern society as an ”evaluation society”. This increasing prominence of assessment is evident across various policy domains, including education. Within the field of education, this trend is exemplified by the rise of standardized assessments, which are widely regarded as key indicators of educational effectiveness and quality (Camphuijsen, Møller & Skedsmo, 2021; Verger, Parcerisa & Fontdevila, 2019). The growing emphasis on assessment also extends to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) influencing both national and global policies and affecting the experiences of individual children and educators (Siippainen & Pitkänen, 2024).

In Finnish ECEC assessment has traditionally emphasized play rather than children’s educational performance and formal assessment (Karila, 2012). However, recent studies have identified the increasingly prominent role of learning-oriented assessment in Finnish ECEC (Keski-Panula & Niemelä, 2022; Siippainen, Toivonen & Paakkari, 2023). While the emergence of learning-oriented assessment has been acknowledged, its underlying drivers have not been thoroughly examined. To be able to understand the changes the earlier research (e.g. Paananen, Länsmans & Räikkönen, 2025; Paananen & Siippainen, 2025) has identified in the assessment of Finnish ECEC, this study integrates the fields of childhood studies and policy research.

From a policy research perspective, this study will first focus on the Multiple Streams approach (MSA). MSA primarily seeks to identify the conditions that allow a policy idea, such as the use of child assessment, to emerge at the right moment, however, over the past two decades, this approach has been modified and applied in a variety of contexts (Moulton & Silverwood, 2018; Santos & Kauko, 2022). The policy-making process consists of three streams: problems, policies and politics, and when these three streams converge, a policy window opens allowing for change (Moulton & Silverwood, 2018). This study aims to understand how the three streams (problems, politics and policies) of MSA have converged to create a policy window for changes in assessment policies and practices within Finnish ECEC.

The second part of this study employs the doppelganger approach, a methodological tool for understanding assessment and datause in educational contexts (Pierlejewski, 2024). Earlier research points out that data production is often prioritized over other teaching responsibilities, reshaping professional priorities and contributing to the emergence of data-driven subjectivities among both children and educators (Pierlejewski, 2024). It alters pedagogy by shifting attention from engaging with children to collecting data (Bradbury, 2021). This approach considers child assessment practices as technologies of power that alter subjectivity and change pedagogy. It directs the focus on ”data doubles”, the images of children produced in data, and their performative force, the way in which these partial images of children change ECEC practices.

The first research question is based on multiple streams approach with three sub-questions. The second and third questions are informed by doppelganger approach. The research questions are as follows:

1. Which factors influence the adoption of learning-oriented assessment practices?

1A What kinds of constructions of challenges or deficiencies have been used for justifying the need for learning-oriented assessment?

1B What kinds of epistemic authorities shape the development of learning-oriented assessment practices?

1C How have political dynamics and institutional agendas influenced the adoption of learning-oriented assessment policies?

2. What kinds of “data doubles” emerge in current local child assessment practices in early childhood education?

3. To what extend and how does the “data double” function as a technology of power that shapes subjectivity and transforms pedagogy?

Over the past decades, countries across the world including Asia have undergone profound social and political transformations. Education systems have been central to these transitions, with large-scale curriculum reforms aiming to redefine "official knowledge" and align schooling with national development (Apple, 2014; Gopinathan, 2007). While traditionally top-down, contemporary reforms increasingly emphasize inclusive stakeholder engagement and teachers' pivotal role in enacting change (Gouëdard et al., 2020).

Within this context, curriculum reform has been a persistent feature of Indonesia’s education system. However, student learning outcomes remain a challenge. PISA results consistently place Indonesia below the OECD average (ranking 70/78 in 2018 and 69/80 in 2022). International reports indicate these issues extend beyond curriculum design, pointing to systemic weaknesses in instruction, teacher development, and support for inclusive learning (UNESCO, 2022; World Bank, 2020).

In a significant departure, Indonesia has implemented Kurikulum 2013 (K13) and Kurikulum Merdeka (KM) in parallel between 2021 and 2025. K13 emphasizes structured competency development, while KM promotes flexibility, learner agency, and character education through the Pancasila Student Profile Strengthening Project. Empirical evidence comparing their effects on core learning outcomes remains critically limited. Drawing on theories of educational change that frame reform as a multi-level process (Fullan, 2007), this study analyses Indonesia's reform through the phases of initiation, implementation, and institutionalization.

Initiation

Reform was initiated through Ministry-led policy reviews under the 2020–2024 Education Strategic Plan (Kemdikbud [MoEC], 2020). Evaluations of K13 revealed persistent challenges: declining PISA performance, an overly dense curriculum, rigid sequencing, and limited instructional flexibility (BSKAP Kemdikbudristek [MoECRT], 2024). Teachers often equated mastery with content completion over conceptual understanding. Notably, the Emergency Curriculum used during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing essential learning, yielded better literacy and numeracy outcomes (numeracy: 517; literacy: 570) than K13 (numeracy: 482; literacy: 532). This success provided a strong rationale for KM, launched in 2021 to simplify the learning load and center on the six dimensions of the Pancasila Student Profile.

Implementation (2021–2025)

Consistent with Fullan and Park's (1981) conception of change as shifts in materials, methods, and beliefs, KM differs substantially from K13. While K13 was centrally prescribed, content-heavy, and assessed through high-stakes national examinations to determine the entrance to the higher level of education, KM emphasizes flexible, student-centered learning, project-based pedagogy, differentiated instruction, and low-stakes system-level assessment through the National Assessment (AN) for diagnostic and formative purposes. Administratively, K13 relied on a highly centralized, top-down structure in which schools acted mainly as curriculum implementers. In contrast, KM adopted a more decentralized support model through pilot schools, teacher coaches, and digital infrastructure via the Merdeka Mengajar digital Platform, enabling greater instructional support and flexibility at the school level.

Institutionalization

The recent administrative restructuring of the Ministry of Education has reinforced implementation continuity, allowing schools flexibility between K13 and KM. Concurrently, it discontinued the pilot school and pilot teacher programs and reconfigured the national assessment. This assessment is now integrated with the Academic Test Ability for grades 6, 9, and 12, with grade 12 results impacting eligibility for high-achiever university tracks.

Research Gap and Questions

Despite this extensive reform process, a critical evidence gap persists. There is no rigorous, national-level analysis comparing the effectiveness of the parallel K13 and KM in achieving literacy and numeracy outcomes. This study directly addresses this gap to inform future policy by answering:

1. What key characteristics distinguish schools implementing K13 from those adopting KM?
2. How effective does the curriculum reform affect students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes over time, after accounting for school-level and time-varying factors?
3. How do stakeholders (policymakers, administrators, teachers) make sense of the effectiveness of the curriculum reform in affecting student learning outcomes?

A major development in Kazakhstani education was the implementation of an updated curriculum for secondary education. This initiative began with a program for gifted students in 2008, leading to the creation of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) in 2009. These schools pioneered modern management to test innovative programs before spreading practices to mainstream schools (Yakavets, 2014). In 2016, the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) introduced nationwide reforms encompassing curriculum, teaching methods, and assessment. A key component was replacing the traditional five-point grading system with criteria-based assessment (CBA). By the 2021-2022 academic year, the reform affected all grade levels. This research aims to uncover secondary school students’ views on CBA and how it influences their motivation.

The introduction of CBA marks a significant shift from traditional systems. It aimed to modernize practices through a transparent and developmental approach. Despite ambitious goals, implementation has faced challenges. Students transitioned from five-point grades to a system emphasizing specific criteria and continuous feedback. This shift was intended to foster an engaging environment. However, early observations suggest mixed reactions, with some experiencing a decline in motivation due to the lack of conventional grades. There is limited empirical research on how CBA affects student motivation in the Kazakhstani context. This study fills that gap by investigating students' views on CBA's effectiveness. The guiding question is: What are mainstream secondary school students’ perspectives on and experiences with criteria-based assessment?

CBA evaluates students based on specific criteria provided beforehand, allowing for a focused process. Clear criteria move focus from a teacher-led system to a student-centered approach (Otter, 1995). CBA fosters development through constructive feedback (Carlson et al., 2000). Feedback is crucial, helping students improve and assess academic levels. Assessment serves three purposes: for, as, and of learning. Summative assessment (SA) captures knowledge at a point in time. Formative assessment (FA) identifies needs and gaps to adjust teaching. FA is highly effective in raising standards. Key forms include peer and self-assessment, where students judge their work quality using explicit criteria (Andrade et al., 2010).

Motivation is a dynamic process propelling individuals toward action (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996; Dörnyei, 1998a). This study is grounded in Ryan and Deci’s (2000a) Self-Determination Theory (SDT). SDT distinguishes between autonomous (intrinsic) motivation and controlled (extrinsic) motivation. Intrinsic motivation is supported when three basic psychological needs are met: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy involves feeling in control of decisions. Relatedness involves a sense of belonging (Martens et al., 2004). Competence involves mastering tasks. Motivation exists on a continuum. External regulation occurs when students are driven by rewards or fear. Introjected regulation involves internal pressures like guilt.

FA is a tool for boosting motivation (Cauley & McMillan, 2010). Effective FA helps students internalize mastery goals—focusing on understanding rather than outperforming others. Involving students in goal-setting makes them active participants. Teachers play a key role in choosing assessments that inspire effort and reduce anxiety. FA helps students understand strengths and weaknesses. In Kazakhstan, existing studies focus on theoretical foundations. Little research examines CBA's direct impact on student motivation. Findings indicate students' motivation to prepare has declined. Teachers and parents attribute this to the absence of traditional grades. Some students stopped completing homework without failing grades ("2") or top grades ("5") (Ixanova, 2018). Students also struggled to understand the purpose of FA. Some resorted to dishonest practices for SA, which led teachers to lower scores, often backfiring and diminishing motivation (Turganalina, 2020).

Metacognition, an ability to reflect on one’s thinking, stemmed as an early area of research interest in the 90s (Zimmerman, 1995, Hamman et al., 1996, Metcalfe and Shimamura, 1996), as a development to Flavell’s (1979) definition of metacognition as ‘one’s stored knowledge or beliefs about oneself and others as cognitive agents, about tasks, about actions or strategies’ (Flavell, 1979, p.906).

Metacognition and the application of metacognitive knowledge, skills, and strategies is one of the “ultimate goals of all learning” (Hattie, 2012, p.102, McElwee, 2009). The educational benefits of metacognition are recognised globally: from America (Murphy and Castel, 2022), to Malaysia (Kummin and Rahman, 2010), and to The Netherlands and Belgium (Meijer et al., 2013). In England, this focus has been recently enhanced due to the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF’s) renewed focus on metacognition (EEF, 2021).

One’s ability to apply metacognitive study strategies to their own learning, unsupervised, has long been recognised as important in education (Sperling et al., 2004, Hidayah et al., 2016, Marulis and Nelson, 2021). Research conclusions encourage educators to revitalise their instruction by embedding metacognitive practices (Sadykova et al., 2024). However, many studies do not seek the perspective of students, and some disregard their value (Kornell and Bjork, 2007, Skerritt, 2022). It is acknowledged that for a whole-school initiative to be successful it needs to be well implemented and maintained (Desimone, 2002, Freeman et al., 2014, Hudson et al., 2020), meaning that every member of the school community – students, support staff, classroom teachers, and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) - need to be working unanimously on the same goal with the same purpose, as outlined consistently in various examples of school policy and practice guidance (Stirling and Emery, 2016, Cowne et al., 2018). This case study research brings together the opinions regarding metacognitive study strategies from multiple perspectives within the school community to strengthen the various sources of evidence and address this gap in the literature (Rowley, 2002).

Student perceptions of metacognition are addressed, but only in international research with mature learners. Conclusions suggest that metacognitive study strategies are both useful in assisting those attending lecturers in a different language to their own, and that they feel the value and benefit of these strategies too (Selamat and Sidhu, 2011). Strategies addressed in Selamat and Sidhu’s study do not form an exhaustive list of those used within English secondary education: including only summarising, planning, and testing (Selamat and Sidhu, 2011). Additionally, the age of the students means that their perceptions of metacognitive study strategies cannot be used as a comparison or indication for how the students of this study – aged 11-16 years old – perceive the use of metacognitive study strategies to be at the detriment of benefit of their educational progress. Wall and Higgins’ creation of Pupil Views Templates (PVTs) consolidates that gap, as they provide evidence for students’ metacognitive understanding and skilfulness, rather than exploring and detailing the student view of metacognition and the process (Wall et al., 2005, Wall and Higgins, 2006).

Therefore, the research questions for this doctoral study are:

1. What does the introduction of metacognitive strategies within the English department look like in current practice?
   1. How do students use metacognitive strategies within their English lessons?
   2. How does students’ metacognitive awareness relate to their self-reported metacognitive behaviours?
2. In what ways do members of the school community perceive metacognitive study strategy activities as promoting and/or hindering students’ learning in the secondary English class?
3. How do classroom teachers perceive the impact of this implementation on their practice?
4. How do members of SLT perceive the school’s implementation of metacognitive study strategy activities?

Understanding how pre-service teachers learn remains a central objective of research-based academic teacher education (Swennen, 2025). Reflection and metacognition are important aspects of pre-service teachers’ learning (Korthagen, 2016; Matsumoto-Royo et al., 2022), yet many pre-service teachers graduate without sufficiently developed capacities of reflection and metacognition, which form part of the skills needed to succeed in increasingly diverse and complex educational contexts (Michalsky, 2024; Suphasri & Chinokul, 2021). The variation in pre-service teachers’ initial reflective and metacognitive capacities highlights the need for teacher education programs that support higher-order thinking while addressing individual differences, an enduring challenge in European and global educational contexts.

Well-developed reflection and metacognition are associated with multiple positive outcomes in pre-service teacher education. Reflection supports learning and professional development (Korthagen, 2016; Li, 2025), the ability to take multiple perspectives (Toom et al., 2015), and deeper understanding of the teaching profession (Li, 2025). Metacognition enhances pre-service teachers’ own learning (Bedel, 2012), academic performance (Hong et al., 2020) and teaching practices (Matsumoto-Royo et al., 2022). These findings highlight the importance of examining how reflection and metacognition contribute to pre-service teachers’ learning characteristics, informing both the design of teacher education programs and research on individual differences in higher-order thinking.

Both reflection and metacognition are broadly regarded as forms of higher-order thinking (Ritchhart & Perkins, 2005) with theoretical intersections (Tarricone, 2011). Dewey (1933) describes reflection as the “active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge,” a process further elaborated in transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1991). Metacognition refers to thinking about one’s own cognitive processes (Flavell, 1979), while metacognitive awareness specifically denotes individuals’ knowledge of their cognition and ability to regulate it through planning, monitoring, and evaluation (Schraw & Dennison, 1994). The present study focuses on pre-service teachers perceived reflective thinking (RT) and metacognitive awareness (MA), which capture measurable dimensions of these constructs, allowing investigation of higher-order thinking.

Pre-service teachers differ in RT and MA due to variation in readiness (Kitchener, King & DeLuca, 2006), developmental trajectories (Kleka et al., 2019) and prior cognitive resources (Larmar & Lodge, 2014). These capacities are influenced by internal factors, including prior knowledge, motivation, and cognitive resources, as well as by contextual conditions that can facilitate or constrain their learning (Sargent 2015; Abrouq, 2024). Research shows variability in university students’ MA (Hong, 2020), and in pre-service teachers’ development of MA (Mendoza & Elepano, 2023; Radulović et al., 2024). Similarly, RT develops individually, with varying contextual dependency and differences across programmes (Allas, Leijen & Toom, 2020; Gahlsdorf Terrell & Sherman, 2022; Tiainen et al., 2018).

Prior research is largely qualitative or cross-sectional, with few studies examining associations between RT and MA (e.g. Adadan & Oner, 2018; Alt & Raichel, 2020; Ho & Lau, 2025; Pousi et al., 2025). To our knowledge, no prior study has investigated these capacities together using a person-centred approach in pre-service teacher education. The present study therefore empirically examines the joint structural patterns of RT and MA to understand pre-service teachers’ learning characteristics. Using latent profile analysis on repeated-measurement data, the study seeks to identify distinct subgroups and describes homogeneous profiles, providing insight into the variation and structure of higher-order thinking. Although the data are longitudinal, the present analysis is cross-sectional, emphasizing profile structures at three time points.

Accordingly, this study addresses the following research questions:

1. What kind of distinct profiles of reflective thinking and metacognitive awareness can be identified among pre-service teachers at different stages of teacher education?
2. How do the identified profiles differ in their overall patterns of reflective thinking and metacognitive awareness?

1. Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping educational practice by offering tools for lesson planning, content generation, assessment, and feedback. In chemistry education, AI-supported applications are used to explain complex concepts, generate instructional materials, and support differentiated learning. While existing research has begun to explore the implications of AI for student learning, much less attention has been paid to how AI influences teachers’ professional learning processes.

Teachers are not only facilitators of learning but also learners who continuously adapt their instructional practices. Self-regulated learning (SRL) provides a useful framework for understanding how teachers plan, monitor, and evaluate their professional actions. In contexts involving technological innovation, such as AI integration, teachers’ capacity for self-regulation becomes particularly important, as they must navigate new tools, evaluate their pedagogical value, and adjust their practices accordingly.

Despite the relevance of SRL for understanding teacher learning, empirical research examining teachers’ SRL processes remains limited, especially within subject-specific domains such as chemistry education. Moreover, studies that explicitly link AI use to teachers’ self-regulated learning are scarce. Addressing this gap, the present study explores how chemistry teachers who already use AI in their teaching regulate their learning and instructional decision-making processes.

This study contributes to research on self-regulated learning by extending SRL theory to teachers’ professional learning in AI-supported teaching contexts. By focusing on chemistry teachers, the study offers subject-specific insights into AI integration in science education. The findings are expected to inform teacher education and professional development initiatives aimed at supporting reflective and self-regulated teaching practices.

2. Theoretical Framework

2.1 Self-Regulated Learning

Self-regulated learning refers to learners’ active processes of goal setting, strategic action, monitoring, and self-reflection (Zimmerman, 2000, 2002). Zimmerman’s cyclical model conceptualizes SRL across three interrelated phases: forethought, performance, and self-reflection. These phases encompass key processes such as planning, task strategy use, help seeking, and self-evaluation.

While SRL research has traditionally focused on students, teachers also engage in self-regulated learning as they design instruction, respond to classroom challenges, and reflect on their practice (Butler, 2002). Teachers’ SRL has been shown to play a critical role in instructional quality and professional development, particularly in complex teaching environments.

2.2 Teachers’ SRL in Technology-Rich Contexts

Technology integration presents both opportunities and challenges for teachers’ self-regulation. Digital tools may support planning and reflection, yet they also increase cognitive demands and require continuous adaptation (Dignath & Büttner, 2018). AI tools, in particular, introduce new forms of support by generating instructional content and feedback, potentially influencing how teachers plan lessons, seek assistance, and evaluate instructional outcomes.

From an SRL perspective, AI may function as a strategic resource that reshapes teachers’ regulatory processes. However, empirical evidence examining these processes remains limited, especially in science education contexts. This study addresses this gap by examining chemistry teachers’ SRL processes in AI-supported teaching.

3. Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study is to investigate how the use of AI in chemistry teaching influences teachers’ self-regulated learning processes.

The study addresses the following research questions:

1. How do chemistry teachers describe their planning processes when integrating AI into their teaching?
2. How does AI use shape teachers’ task strategies during instructional design and implementation?
3. How do teachers engage in help-seeking behaviors while using AI for chemistry teaching?
4. How do teachers evaluate and reflect on their AI-supported teaching practices?

There are several approaches which are mentoring, coaching, and supervision to support pre-service teachers (PSTs) during the field experience (Lawson et al., 2015). Alternately, the literature has utilized the terms mentoring, coaching, and supervision (Ambrosetti et al., 2014). The approaches to mentoring and coaching for PSTs differ in terms of their objectives and the specific areas of support they aim to provide (Orland-Barak, 2014). Coaching usually focuses more on goals and less on sharing personal experiences or offering advice. Subsequently, in certain areas of the educational context, the adoption of an enhanced coaching framework has significantly increased (O'Bree, 2008). Several coaching techniques have been developed to provide PSTs with instructional help throughout their school-based practicum experience (Becker et al., 2019). Coaching draws upon sociocultural theory by framing learning as a socially mediated and interaction-driven process. In this theory, Vygotsky (1978) acknowledged that learning is mostly the outcome of the novice's interactions with the social and cultural background in addition to what the more experienced person contributes to them. According to this theory, individuals can create knowledge by interacting with one another. Collaborative conversations help people build their own viewpoints and serve as role models for others within the context of coaching (Dale, 1994).

In the 1990s, a review of studies on coaching revealed that there were two primary types of coaching such as, expert peer coaching and reciprocal peer coaching (Ackland, 1991; Lu, 2010). In reciprocal peer coaching (RPC), peers develop non-hierarchical relationships by disclosing their professional strengths and shortcomings (Cox, 2012). RPC allows coaches to adopt a more cooperative approach in contrast to receiving feedback from an authoritative figure (Ladyshewsky & Ryan, 2002). Bailey (2006) asserts that feedback enhances teacher awareness, hence promoting positive adjustments in their instructional behaviour. According to Britton and Anderson (2010), one of the most important aspects of peer coaching is the facilitation of professional dialogues among peers. These dialogues generate opportunities for reflection, that subsequently aids peers in reconsidering their experiences from a variety of perspectives. Similarly, coaching has shown beneficial effects in encouraging teachers to embrace new viewpoints, develop insights through shared experiences and engage in self-reflective learning (Zwart et al., 2009). As a result, it has been used in pre-service teacher education since the early 1980s after researchers became intrigued by the benefits it provided for in-service professional growth (Lu, 2009; McAllister & Neubert, 1995).

This study contributes to improving the teacher education literature by clarifying how teacher candidates interpret their teaching experiences within reciprocal peer coaching approaches and how reflective teacher learning is dynamically fostered. The purpose of this study is to examine the emerging patterns of coaching dialogues within reciprocal peer coaching cycles carried out by teacher candidates during faculty-based microteaching and to reveal how peer coaching interactions contribute to reflective teacher learning. Consequently, the study aims to qualitatively analyze PSTs focus on during pre- conference and post-conference, how they provided feedback to each other, and what kinds of changes were observed in reflective patterns throughout coaching cycles. The following research questions are examined:

(1) What types of feedback moves do pre-service teachers use during pre-conference and post-conference dialogues in RPC cycles?

(2) How do these dialogues facilitate pre-service teachers’ reflective sense-making across coaching cycles?

1.Research Question

In recent years, the burden on Chinese teachers has become increasingly severe, with a deepening crisis of job burnout(Wang&Ning,2018;Liu&Bian,2024;Xue&Zhang,2024). Teachers are exhausted by a multitude of non-teaching tasks. Although the Chinese government has introduced a series of policies aimed at alleviating teachers' burden, the effectiveness has been limited. To move beyond an external observation of teachers as mere objects of measurement, this study argues for the necessity of entering their authentic life-world to understand their real lived experience.Based on this shift in perspective, this study is guided by three core research questions: “Why is the burden on Chinese teachers so severe?” “What are the specific manifestations of this burden?” and “How do Chinese teachers exercise their agency, and what coping strategies do they employ in response?” Addressing these questions aims to provide a deeper understanding of teachers' authentic life-world, offer evidence-based insights for alleviating their burden, and contribute meaningful references for the development of teacher education.
2.Theoretical Framework

The research is grounded in Jürgen Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action, specifically employing the dual conceptual framework of "System and Life-world." (Wang, 2024) Habermas posits that the life-world is the source of social order and the arena where consensus is reached through communicative action, with communicative rationality at its core. Communicative rationality constructs an "ideal speech situation," requiring that interactions among subjects satisfy the three validity claims of truth, sincerity, and normative rightness. It offers a theoretical pathway, through rationally motivated communicative action, to restore teacher autonomy and creativity, thereby providing a foundation for alleviating teacher burden and enhancing educational quality. The erosion by the system leads to the colonization of the life-world, which refers to the encroachment and control of the life-world by the system—a phenomenon particularly evident in modern society. The expansion of instrumental rationality results in the atrophy of value rationality. Economic and administrative systems, via the non-linguistic media of money and power, colonize the originally non-marketized and non-commodified private and public spheres, leading to a loss of meaning and value.

This framework allows for an analysis that transcends a simple subjective-objective dichotomy, instead viewing teacher burden as the result of the systemic (instrumental) colonization of the teachers' lived, experiential world (life-world).With the theory,the study investigates the phenomenon of excessive burden among Chinese teachers. Moving beyond conventional descriptions of burden as merely administrative or quantitative(OECD, 2014;Wang&Ning,2018), this research conceptualizes teacher burden as a process of systemic colonization of the teacher's life-world. The life-world, comprising the cultural, social, and personal dimensions of teachers' lived experience and professional interactions, is increasingly eroded by the instrumental logic of external systems ,such as administrative and economic systems(Habermas, 2004; Wang, 2024; Xia, 2024).
3.Conceptual Framework

Teacher burden:Teacher burden refers to the multidimensional pressures educators face in their professional roles, stemming from systemic colonization of the life-world (Habermas, 2004). It encompasses pedagogical demands, role conflicts, administrative tasks, and adaptive challenges from policy changes, impacting well-being and job satisfaction.

Teacher life-word:Rooted in Husserl’s critique of scientific abstraction, the life-world is the pre-reflective, experientially given realm of everyday life (Husserl, 2005). Schütz later sociologized it as a context for meaningful action. Habermas (2004) conceptualizes it as the background horizon of cultural knowledge, social norms, and personal identity. In this study, the teacher life-world denotes the integrated sphere where educators’ professional, cultural, and personal dimensions interact. It is where systemic burden are felt and where communicative rationality enables meaningful resistance and agency.

4.Contribution

This study contributes a critical theory perspective（Communicative Rationality） to analyze the genesis of Chinese teacher burden and their coping strategies, offering a new framework to inform policy and enhance teacher well-being.

Bilingual Education (BE) is a globally established educational approach implemented in both strong and weak forms (Baker, 2006). In Sri Lanka, the Bilingual Education Programme (BEP) was introduced in 2001 with the dual aim of fostering bilingualism and biliteracy, while promoting social cohesion and ethnolinguistic harmony in a multilingual and multi-ethnic community. The terms Bilingual Education and English Medium Instruction (EMI) are typically used interchangeably, reflecting the privileged status assigned to English in a post colonial education system. However, even after two decades, Sri Lanka has no explicit national BE policy, which has led to inconsistent implementation, inequities in access, and persistent gaps in teacher education and pedagogies (Wijesekera, 2018). Although Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) was prescribed as the recommended pedagogical approach in 2016, less than 20% of BE teachers and teacher educators apply CLIL in practice while CLIL is largely absent from the teacher education curricula (National Education Commission, 2024).

In this context, the importance of teacher agency in navigating the pedagogical and institutional tensions inherent in BE classrooms, and the urgent need for empirical, evidence-based insights into teachers’ professional experiences have been highlighted (National Education Commission, 2024). However, empirical research examining how BE teachers in Sri Lanka perceive, negotiate, and enact their agency remains scarce and has created a critical gap in understanding the lived realities of the bilingual classrooms, especially in relation to how teachers navigate daily challenges, and make critical pedagogical choices amidst contextual constraints and affordances.

This ongoing doctoral study addresses this gap by exploring the tensions, choices and experiences of BE teachers in junior secondary classrooms (Grades 6–9) in relation to their agency enactment. The aim of this study is to explore agency from the perspective of BE teachers’ pedagogical practices and choices, as well as affordances and constraints that shape their agency.The overarching research question is “How do Sri Lankan bilingual teachers navigate tensions and make choices in their agency enactment”, supplemented by the following:

1. In what ways do bilingual teachers in Sri Lanka perceive and enact their agency at work?

2. What are the pedagogical practices teachers apply to demonstrate teacher agency in BE classrooms?

3. What contextual factors enable or constrain the enactment of teacher agency in bilingual education?

Theoretical framework

Human agency has been conceptualized in multiple ways by researchers from diverse disciplines. For Emirbayer and Mische (1998) agency was a temporal construct while Bandura (2001) viewed it as an individual’s intentional actions. In relation to teachers , Zembylas ( 2003) explained agency as an essential element of teacher identity construction and highlighted the role of emotions.

This study is grounded in a two- layered theoretical framework including the ecological framework of agency (Priestley et al., 2015) and the socio-cultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978). The ecological model of agency proposed by Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson in 2015 is used as the primary framework as its core dimensions are mapped to this investigation. The ecological model conceptualizes agency as an emergent phenomenon that is the outcome of the interplay of individual capacities, environmental conditions, cultural and material contexts over time.

The three dimensions of ecological agency i.e. Iterational, Practical-evaluative and Projective agency capture multiple aspects of BE teachers’ agency enactment process. These dimensions provide the holistic framework to understand how BE teachers perceive and enact agency in their classrooms.This framework is complemented by the sociocultural approach that foregrounds social interaction, negotiations, and cultural contexts that can shape the agency of BE teachers. These two perspectives provide a complimentary framework to explore how bilingual teacher agency is shaped , enacted or constrained in this Global South context.

This study investigates the discursive construction of teacher professionalism within the Estonian media, comparing two distinct socio-political eras: the interwar period of the 1930s and the contemporary neoliberal landscape of the 2020s. Teacher professionalism is not a static concept but an ideological and historically situated construct, constantly reshaped by societal, political, and cultural transformations. By critically analyzing media representations across these epochs, the research seeks to illuminate how different ideological frameworks—specifically the ideal of teachers as custodians of national culture versus the modern emphasis on accountability and performance—refract in professional identity. This research addresses a significant gap in Estonian educational history by providing a historical-comparative analysis of media discourses, contributing to broader international debates on how public narratives mediate professional identities during times of societal rupture.

The theoretical foundation of this research draws upon the understanding of professionalism as a dynamic ideological construct (Stevenson et al., 2007). The framework incorporates Hoyle’s (1974) distinction between the status and value of teaching and Ozga’s (1995) conceptualization of professionalism as a mechanism of state control. Central to this study is the tension between different models of professionality: the "moral community leader" and the "service provider."

The interwar period is examined through the lens of nation-building, where teachers acted as "cultural custodians", fostering social cohesion and national identity. Conversely, the contemporary analysis is framed by neoliberalism and New Public Management, which align education with market logics such as competition, parental choice, and target-driven performativity. This shift redefines professionalism around measurability and accountability, often at the expense of moral leadership. Furthermore, the study utilizes the concept of "refraction" (Rudd & Goodson, 2016), acknowledging that while teacher professionalism is shaped by global trends like digital transformation and neoliberal governance, these forces are locally reinterpreted within specific national contexts. Freidson’s (2001) emphasis on knowledge-based autonomy and the service of the "public good" provides an additional layer for evaluating how social trust in the profession is constructed or eroded.

The study is guided by three primary research questions and several sub-questions designed to capture discursive shifts:

1. How is teacher professionalism discursively constructed and represented in the media?

* Which discourses of teacher professionalism in the media have been represented in international academic education journals since the 2000s?

2. Which conceptions of professionalism are dominant in different types of Estonian media and policy documents?

* Are there differences in the discourses of teacher professionalism across various media formats (e.g., specialized teacher newspapers versus general daily newspapers)?

* What qualities do the policy documents of the 1930s and 2020s attribute to teacher professionalism, and what ideologies do they reflect?

3. How does media discourse reflect societal changes and construct the image of teacher professionalism accordingly?

By integrating Estonian findings with international scholarship, this research plans to highlight how global phenomena—such as the intensification of public scrutiny, the impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation, and the rise of performance management—manifest in a specific European context. The study explores how the teaching profession, often characterized by low status or state-limited autonomy (Perkin, 1983), seeks to redefine its value in an era where learning processes are increasingly prioritized over the holistic social roles previously expected of educators. Ultimately, the research hopes to offer a comprehensive look at how political, cultural, and technological changes have shaped the very meaning of what it means to be a "professional" teacher in the modern world. This research attempts to move beyond sequenceing of historical facts to offer a critical interpretation of how education and society mutually influence one another, emphasizing that developments in education drive social and political change as much as they reflect it.

This paper draws on an extensive thesis-based study and explores education for civic morality within Kamal Junblatt’s philosophical framework. Junblatt was a key Druze figure and a highly influential actor in Arab political and intellectual life. As a politician, philosopher, and visionary leader, he promoted Pan-Arabism and ethical principles that transcended sectarian boundaries. His beliefs and public actions were closely intertwined with his educational philosophy and his commitment to cultivating civic virtues in Lebanese society, as reflected in his books, speeches, and philosophical writings.

The study examines Junblatt’s educational philosophy, emphasizing his understanding of civic morality, spiritual development, and social responsibility as essential foundations for individual and societal advancement. Although Junblatt was not formally an educational theorist, he was a socialist political thinker whose writings reveal a coherent educational vision. Accordingly, the study adopts an interpretive and theoretical approach, extracting educational insights from his broader philosophical and political texts.

Through close textual and theoretical analysis of Junblatt’s major works, the study identifies the core elements of his educational philosophy. These include a holistic worldview integrating spirituality, ethics, and politics; a strong emphasis on civic virtues such as justice, responsibility, solidarity, and moral courage; an understanding of education as a transformative process aimed at personal freedom and ethical self-liberation; and a conception of the ideal citizen as an active, morally committed participant in social and political life. In Junblatt’s perspective, education extends beyond formal schooling and is intrinsically connected to civic action, community engagement, and moral struggle.

Educational philosophy provides a crucial framework for examining how such virtues are cultivated. It addresses key questions concerning the aims of education, the formation of citizenship, and the moral responsibilities of educational institutions. This study employs this framework to analyze Junblatt’s conception of education as a formative moral practice shaping civic identity and ethical judgment. A central analytical lens is the philosophical tension between “is” and “ought” - the gap between moral ideals and lived social realities. The study explores how Junblatt positions education as a mediating practice through which individuals and communities navigate this tension via ethical reflection and civic participation.

The study also highlights Junblatt’s engagement with the cultural and social values of the Druze community. His educational philosophy emphasizes civic identity, social cohesion, and ethical leadership while remaining grounded in spiritual and cultural traditions. Although rooted in the Druze context, his thought offers insights relevant to broader Arab societies and minority communities confronting contemporary political and social challenges.

Engaging with philosophical debates on civic virtue, moral education, and citizenship central to European educational discourse, this study positions Junblatt’s thought in dialogue with wider international traditions of civic and democratic education. It thus introduces a non-Western yet universally relevant perspective into debates that have been shaped mainly by Eurocentric frameworks.

The study addresses the following research questions:

1. What role do civic virtues play within Junblatt’s educational philosophy, and how are these virtues defined and mobilized in relation to his broader political objectives?
2. What are the core tenets of Junblatt’s educational philosophy, and how do they integrate with his overarching political and ideological commitments?
3. What implications can be drawn from Junblatt’s educational philosophy for civic education, particularly within the Druze community and comparable minority contexts?

Finally, the study calls for future research on how Junblatt’s educational ideas are interpreted and applied in contemporary academic settings, particularly within Druze communities in Arab countries and in Israel. By foregrounding Junblatt’s educational philosophy, the study offers a normative and comparative contribution that repositions education as a moral and civic project within international debates on citizenship, democratic renewal, and social responsibility in pluralistic societies.

The intricate interplay between reasoning, emotional experience, and behavior remains one of the central challenges in contemporary social and educational research. Decades of empirical evidence show that knowing what one considers morally right does not reliably translate into acting accordingly (Licon, 2025). This difficulty—commonly referred to as the knowledge–action gap and discussed through related conceptual labels (e.g. Darnell et al., 2019)—captures a shared challenge of translating moral insight into action. As such, it poses an urgent concern for moral, civic, and character education across Europe, with consequences for democratic coexistence and well-being (Brake & Nauta, 2022).
Despite this evidence, educational practice has traditionally privileged cognitive and performative outcomes, often assuming that moral reasoning will naturally guide behavior (Kohlberg, 1984). Such approaches underestimate the affective conditions shaping moral agency and rely on an overly intellectualized conception of it (Li, 2023). From an action-oriented perspective, character is not defined by what individuals know or endorse abstractly, but by what they are able to enact in concrete, emotionally charged, and relationally complex real-life contexts (Aristotle, 2014; Nguyen & Crossan, 2022).
While moral psychology has identified multiple correlates of moral action (Lake et al., 2025), far less attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which moral insight is implemented—or fails to be realised—under emotional and situational pressure. Many correlational accounts explain moral action, but do not sufficiently address how moral commitments are sustained or undermined in practice. Accordingly, this paper asks how ER can be theoretically understood as a moral capacity that supports value-consistent action under emotional and situational pressure.
Addressing this implementation gap, the present theoretical–analytic paper advances an integrative account of ER not merely as an influence on behaviour, but as a key mechanism through which the gap between knowing and acting can be addressed. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in moral psychology, affective science, and educational theory, the paper argues that ER is not simply a mechanism of psychological adjustment, but a a condition of coherent moral agency, character formation, and well-being. ER is thus conceptualised as a mediating process shaping whether moral commitments are sustained or eroded under affective and situational strain (Darnell et al., 2019; Kristjánsson & Fowers, 2024; Martínez-Priego & Romero-Iribas, 2024).
The analysis synthesises two influential psychological frameworks: Gross’s (1998, 2015) process model of emotion regulation (ER)—which specifies how emotions are regulated—, and Tamir’s (2016) motivational framework—which explains why particular emotional states are pursued. While both models provide robust descriptive accounts, they remain normatively indeterminate with respect to the moral orientation of regulation and its role in value-consistent action, reflecting the unavoidable philosophical assumptions embedded in emotion science itself (De Sousa, 2022).
To address this limitation, the paper introduces a neo-Aristotelian teleological framework—prominent in European moral education—which adopts a virtue-ethical understanding of moral agency grounded in practical wisdom (phronesis) and human flourishing (eudaimonia). Within this framework, ER forms part of the coordinated enactment of reason, emotion, and action (Aristotle, 2014; Darnell et al., 2019; Kristjánsson & Fowers, 2024; Martínez-Priego & Romero-Iribas, 2024).
By reconceptualising ER as a mechanism of moral implementation, this paper provides a conceptual bridge between psychological models of ER and normative educational aims. It situates its contribution in dialogue with key European reference frameworks, including those of the Council of Europe (2021) and the OECD (2021, 2025), while addressing conceptual gaps that remain under-theorised within these agendas. In doing so, it contributes to European educational dialogue on how education research and practice can move beyond performative skill acquisition toward a more integrated understanding of knowing, feeling, and acting in contexts marked by moral polarization, digital disinhibition, and emotional dysregulation.

Becoming a parent is a significant life milestone that can bring both positive experiences and substantial challenges. Although research has long recognized the crucial role parents play in shaping their own development, their children’s development, and overall family well‑being, most studies have focused on how parents influence children rather than on parents themselves (See review by Yan et al., 2021). In recent decades, parenting expectations in many European countries have shifted toward a more child‑centered orientation, placing additional pressures on parents and affecting their mental health (Roskam et al., 2021). Consequently, child development and inclusive family well-being will be affected because parents function as interdependent subsystems within the broader family unit, where emotional well‑being, identity processes, personality traits, and relational patterns mutually influence one another, based on Family Systems Theory (Minuchin, 1974; Cox & Paley, 1997). This framework aligns with the idea that parental identity interacts with well‑being and personality to form integrated patterns of functioning, derived from the Identity Theory which conceptualizes identity as a multifaceted system of meanings, emotions, and behavioral commitments that shape how individuals interpret and respond to their roles (Stryker & Burke, 2000). Complementing this view, Jay Belsky’s process of parenting model (1984) and the updated process of parenting model (Taraban & Shaw, 2018) situates parents within nested environmental contexts that shape and are shaped by their internal characteristics. Additionally, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological and later bioecological models argue that development emerges from interactions among personal attributes, proximal processes, and contextual conditions across multiple system levels (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). This ecological lens reinforces the need to conceptualize parents as whole persons‑in‑context, whose identity, well‑being, and personality are inseparable from their environments. Therefore, it is important to understand parental subsystem as whole in promoting all family members’ development and well-being.

Moreover, gender differences permeate the relational mechanisms among family members, shaping both the magnitude and nature of parent-child interactions. Specifically, men and women experience different feelings towards being parents (Rönkä et al., 2003). Also, parental gender plays a critical role in parent-child interactions: mothers often report greater stress and emotional reactivity to adolescent internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, sadness), likely due to societal expectations positioning mothers as primary emotional caregivers (Chaplin et al., 2020). Fathers, by contrast, exhibit stronger reactions to externalizing behaviors (e.g., rule-breaking, impulsivity), potentially reflecting cultural norms linking paternal roles to discipline and authority (Endendijk et al., 2017). Despite these insights, prior research often overlooked paternal perspectives or conflates maternal and paternal experiences, obscuring nuanced gendered pathways. Finally, person‑oriented approaches argue that individuals should be studied as coherent configurations of interacting attributes rather than as independent variables (Bergman & Magnusson, 1997). This methodological perspective provides direct justification for modeling parents using multidimensional profiles that capture real‑world complexity.

Together, these highly cited frameworks offer a robust theoretical foundation for examining parental subsystem as whole, integrated individuals, supporting the use of inclusive, multidimensional profiles to understand parental psychosocial functioning.

Research questions:

1. What kind of parental subsystem profiles (parenting styles, parental belief and well-being etc.,) can be identified among fathers and mothers?
2. How stable are these profiles across time?
3. Are stability and change in terms of profile memberships associated with some covariates, such as contextual factors, child factors (academic self-concept, motivations, well-being)?

1. Introduction

In international literature, many parents, regardless of their nationality, socio-economic status, and cultural background, are reported to embrace high educational aspirations for their children’s academic performance. Especially in the “credential societies” wherein credentials functioned as a stepstone to middle-class occupation, parents attach great importance to children’s academic achievement.

While existing research consistently documents high educational aspirations per se among parents, far less is known about how such aspirations are communicated, negotiated, and embodied in everyday family life under conditions of structural disadvantage.

This study examines how educational aspirations are transmitted within rural-to-urban migrant working-class families in China, a group that has been widely reported in the literature to hold high educational expectations for their children. Particular attention is paid to the affective mechanisms through which such aspirations are conveyed and negotiated within the family.

Whereas middle-class families typically articulate high educational aspirations to enable their children to become like themselves, working-class families often express high educational aspirations with the explicit intention that their children should not become like them. Compared with middle-class families, the transmission of educational aspirations (TEA hereafter) in working-class families therefore appears to be more complex. Middle-class children grow up within a middle-class habitus, possessing everyday familiarity with middle-class occupations, lifestyles, and educational pathways, which allows them to more readily interpret and negotiate parental expectations. In contrast, for children in working-class migrant families, middle-class life often exists as a vague and abstract imagination rather than a lived and experientially grounded reality.

Specifically, the study wants to explore what kinds of educational aspirations migrant parents transmit to their children. And how are these aspirations communicated, negotiated, and sustained through everyday parent–child interactions?

2. Theorizing educational aspiration transmission

Theoretically, the study builds on Pierre Bourdieu’s theories to reconceptualize educational aspiration as a classed and embodied practice, rather than a stable cognitive belief or verbalized goal. From this perspective, educational aspirations are not simply transmitted through explicit encouragement or rational planning, but are gradually inculcated through routinized practices, moral narratives, and affective cues embedded in everyday family life.

Existing psychological and educational models of intergenerational value transmission—such as value internalization frameworks—tend to assume that parental expectations are clearly articulated, accurately perceived, and meaningfully negotiated within relatively resource-secure family contexts. This study argues that such assumptions are inadequate for understanding aspiration transmission in structurally disadvantaged families. Among migrant working-class parents, aspirations are often characterized by ambiguity, hesitation, and experiential gaps: parents strongly desire upward mobility for their children but lack first-hand experience of middle-class educational trajectories and occupations.

To capture this dynamic, the study conceptualizes aspiration transmission as a process of de-embodiment and re-embodiment. Parents seek to detach children from identification with manual labor—often through exposing them to the physical hardship, instability, and stigma associated with working-class work—while simultaneously encouraging an orientation toward education as the sole legitimate escape route. Crucially, this process operates less through positive vision-building than through negative affective mobilization, particularly the cultivation of fear of failure and fear of becoming “like us.”

Analytically, the study identifies three recurrent modes of aspiration transmission—verbal saturation, bodily exposure to labor, and staged occupational experiences—which function not as deliberate strategies but as practical schemes shaped by parents’ own classed life histories. These practices generate what the study terms a “negation–fear–discontinuity” mechanism: while effective in distancing children from manual labor, they often fail to provide concrete images of a good life or usable tools for navigating educational obstacles, potentially producing anxiety, self-doubt, and fragile motivation.

This study examined the roles of parental emotion regulation strategies and child temperament in children’s socioemotional functioning. In this study, children’s socioemotional functioning is defined through five key dimensions: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems, and prosocial behavior (Goodman, 1997). Adaptive socioemotional functioning enables children to understand and regulate their emotions, build positive relationships, adopt socially appropriate behaviors, and cultivate empathy, all of which enhance their ability to engage effectively in social interactions (Hirvonen et al., 2018). Parents play an important role in this developmental process (Denham et al., 2009). Previous research has indicated that difficulties in parental emotion regulation and alexithymia associated with higher levels of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and hyperactivity/inattention in children (Davodi-Boroujerd et al., 2021; Scarzello, 2023; Wang et al., 2025).

According to the emotion socialization theory (Eisenberg et al., 1998), the way parents regulate their emotions influences their parenting behaviors, which in turn affects their children’s emotional arousal. Furthermore, within the framework of the role of parental emotion regulation in emotional socialization, the strategies parents employ, which include differentiating between adaptive and maladaptive approaches, impact children’s internalization and externalization issues (Havighurst & Kehoe, 2017). Despite this knowledge, there remains a gap in understanding how different parental emotion regulation strategies relate to specific aspects of children’s socioemotional functioning. Notably, strategies such as cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, rumination, problem-solving, seeking social support, overall emotion regulation difficulties, and alexithymia (Preece et al., 2022) have not been examined collectively in relation to children’s socioemotional outcomes.

Children’s individual characteristics may further influence these associations. According to the child-environment model of adaptation, the type of environmental support best suited to children, as well as the types of environmental risks to which they are particularly vulnerable, depends on their individual characteristics (Nigg, 2006). The goodness-of-fit theory (Thomas & Chess, 1977) suggests that the relationship between children’s temperament and their socioemotional functioning is affected by the compatibility between their temperament and their developmental environment. although child temperament has been shown to moderate the relationship between personal or caregiving aspects of parenting and children’s socioemotional functioning (Çelebi & Acar, 2024; Hirvonen et al., 2018), little is known about how different temperament traits influence the associations between parental emotion regulation strategies and children’s socioemotional functioning. To address the limitations of previous research, this study aimed to explore how various parental emotion regulation strategies relate to the socioemotional functioning of children aged 4–17 years and how temperament may moderate these relationships.

This study’s research questions are:

1. How do parental emotional regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, rumination, problem-solving, social support seeking, overall emotion regulation difficulties, and alexithymia) relate to their children’s socioemotional functioning?
2. How does a child’s temperament relate to socioemotional functioning?
3. To what extent does a child’s temperament moderate the associations between parental emotion regulation and children’s socioemotional functioning?

This narrative study aims to describe how Finnish parents construct their agency during school mornings when their children face emotion-related school attendance challenges (ER-SAC).

For many families, school mornings are already a site of schedules, negotiation and conflict, and ER-SAC often make them even more demanding. Attending school regularly and finishing upper secondary education provide a strong basis for a good life (Kearney, 2021) whereas school absenteeism has been linked to a range of factors that undermine well-being (Gubbels et al., 2019). SAC often leaves parents unsure as to how best support their child or which resources are the available for them to do so (Chockalingam et al., 2023; Havik et al., 2014; Smout et al., 2023). Still, the parents’ perspective is scarcely visible in research on school attendance challenges (Hamadi et al., 2024; Havik et al., 2014). To strengthen parents’ confidence to act as active agents when facing their child’s ER-SAC, and to support their sense of parental agency, we need to understand how parents make sense of their children's ER-SAC and construct their agency. In this research we focus on how this is told in morning context by asking: How do parents construct their parental agency when narrating morning transitions with children facing emotion-related school attendance challenges?

Within this research, parental agency is conceptualized as narrative agency. Narrative parental agency can be seen as the ability to use, (re)interpret, and engage with narratives that are culturally available (e.g. master narratives of good parent), as well as to be able to analyse and challenge them (Meretoja, 2023). Thus, when constructing their narrative agency, parents give shape to their past experiences and their own position in them, integrate them into their life stories as well as contextualize past habits and imagine alternative possibilities (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998; Ochs & Capps, 1996; Riessman, 2008).

The research data consisted of narrative interviews with 19 Finnish parents. The parents told mornings of 22 children with ER-SAC during interviews. In this research, the term child is used to refer to the relationship between a parent and their child, not to an age category. Children were betweeen 8 and 18 years old.

The interview data was analysed through Bamberg’s (1997) narrative positioning theory and meanings given to mornings by focusing on small stories in which parents narrated their children’s ER-SAC mornings. The findings showed that the parents constructed the following four meanings to their parental agency in the morning narratives: 1) Reactive Parental Agency, 2) Compelled Parental Agency, 3) Eroding Parental Agency and 4) Withdrawing Parental Agency. In the research article, these parental agency interpretations are presented through word images synthesized from quotes (Clandinin et al., 2006; Ely et al., 1997).

Reactive parental agency was constructed through narration of frantic repeated attempts to support children’s school attendance. Compelled parental agency contained a lot of first-person narrative and modal verbs to highlight the parents’ narrated obligation to facilitate the school attendance. Eroding parental agency was a combination of narratives of unpredictable mornings and parents hoping for their children’s school attendance. Withdrawing parental agency brought out poignantly ER-SAC’s threat to parents’ mental health (see McGahan et al., 2025) with narrations that framed the need for stepping aside for the sake of parents’ or family’s well-being.

The parents’ narratives revealed that parenting was compared both to the personal ideal of good parenting and to social and cultural expectations of what constitutes good parenting. On ER-SAC mornings parental agency did not always align with parents own ideals of parenting. These ideals seemed to be influenced also by social and cultural normative discourses.

The state of work-related wellbeing of early childhood educators is alarming both internationally and in European context, a concern that has been extensively examined within early childhood education research (Li et al., 2024). One promising approach to address the issue is to strengthen work engagement (Schaufeli et al., 2002) by providing educators with working conditions that align with their needs (Yang et al., 2025). This study explores the work engagement experienced by educators who spend a substantial portion of their working hours outdoors in nature. In the other Nordic countries, comparable practices are often described as nature kindergartens (Alme & Reime, 2021). In Finland, however, usually only one or a few child groups within a daycare centre spend most of their daily activities outdoors, while the remaining groups operate in traditional settings indoors. Also, nature groups and indoor groups apply the same curriculum that is required in all Finnish ECE. For these reasons, the Finnish model is more accurately referred to in this text as nature groups rather than nature kindergartens. As educators in nature groups have often actively chosen these working conditions, this context provides a compelling example of a well-fitting work environment that may foster work engagement. Previous research suggests that outdoor activities can increase work engagement (Salonen et al., 2018), yet the underlying factors that explain the connection between working outdoors and work engagement remain unclear. This study aims to analyze educators' perceptions of their work engagement and to examine the phenomenon of outdoor teaching in relation to the experiences it provides. The research questions (RQ) guiding this study are: 

RQ1. What is the level of work engagement among early childhood educators in nature groups? (quantitative) 

RQ2. What characterizes high work engagement among early childhood educators in nature groups? (qualitative) 

In this research, early childhood educators’ wellbeing is conceptualized as a changing state influenced by individual and relational factors, the work environment, and socio-cultural-political contexts (Cumming & Wong, 2019). Work-related wellbeing is understood as part of the overall context in which it is experienced, and a holistic model is used to illustrate this, describing different environments and their connection to individual wellbeing. Factors related to work engagement are examined through the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, which seeks to explain the job resources and demands that influence wellbeing (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). Work engagement refers to a persistent, positive emotional state related to work (Maslach et al., 2001), characterized by a generally positive attitude toward all aspects of work rather than specific tasks (Schaufeli et al., 2002). The study examines which factors associated with outdoor teaching contribute to work engagement, operationalized through three dimensions: vigor, dedication and absorption (Maslach et al., 2001). Vigor reflects high energy, resilience and willingness to invest effort in work, even under challenging conditions. Dedication involves perceiving work as meaningful and inspiring, feeling pride, and embracing challenges. Absorption refers to deep concentration and immersion in work, often accompanied by a sense of time passing quickly. Work engagement manifests as sustained work motivation and a positive attitude toward all aspects of work (Schaufeli et al., 2002).

This study investigates whether time spent in nature is associated with higher levels of work engagement among early childhood educators. In addition, we will investigate what exactly it is about the outdoor work environment that increases work engagement. By exploring this connection, the study aims to contribute to the scientific discussion by proposing that providing educators with work environments aligned with their preferences may enhance work engagement, thereby improving the attractiveness and retention within the field.

In the context of a global polycrisis characterised by armed conflicts, democratic crises, structural inequalities, and profound digital transformations, educational scholarship is increasingly called upon to critically interrogate its epistemic conditions and its public role. From this perspective, the present contribution argues that peace education constitutes a privileged field for examining the tension between the production of knowledge and the possibility of responsible educational action.

Peace is understood here not as a negative state defined by the absence of war, but as a positive, relational, and political process, oriented towards the transformation of forms of structural and cultural violence that permeate educational and social contexts (Galtung, 1969; 2014). This perspective is rooted in the tradition of critical and democratic pedagogy, which conceives education as a dialogical and cooperative practice (Dewey, 1916; Freire, 1970), and finds its normative foundation in the nexus between rights, democracy, and peace, as theorised by Kant and further developed by Bobbio. Without the recognition and protection of fundamental rights there can be no democracy, and without democracy the minimal conditions for the peaceful resolution of conflicts are undermined (Kant, 1795/2013; Bobbio, 1990).

Within this framework, peace is not merely a curricular content, but an orienting horizon for educational action, directly addressing the public responsibility of pedagogical knowledge. Arendt’s reflections on action, speech, and plurality allow educational contexts to be understood as public spaces in which peace is constructed through practices of mutual recognition, initiative, and nonviolent conflict management, thereby resisting a purely technical or procedural reduction of educational experience (Arendt, 1958/2002). Peace education thus becomes a space in which knowing and acting cannot be separated: educational knowledge is always situated, normative, and intrinsically action-oriented, as it takes shape within relationships among subjects who share a common world and are publicly accountable for it.

It is precisely from this inseparability between knowledge and action that peace education enables a critical interrogation of contemporary transformations in knowledge ecosystems. In a scenario marked by informational acceleration, discursive simplification, polarisation, and the spread of disinformation, peace education foregrounds the centrality of the public use of reason and of educational responsibility in sustaining practices of critical judgement, deliberation, and democratic coexistence (UNESCO, 2023). In this sense, peace education does not merely respond to ongoing transformations, but functions as an epistemic space in which the quality of educational knowledge itself, and its capacity to orient action in complex and conflictual contexts, is called into question.

Understanding ecosystems as complex systems requires learners to explain ecological phenomena by reasoning about indirect relationships and multi-step causal connections rather than relying solely on direct cause–effect explanations (Mehren et al., 2018; Mambrey et al., 2022). Research on science education has consistently demonstrated that middle school students tend to interpret food webs through monocausal or linear reasoning patterns, which limits their ability to recognize indirect effects and feedback-based population dynamics (Hogan, 2000; Grotzer & Basca, 2003; Hokayem & Gotwals, 2016). Such reasoning patterns often result in static and hierarchical conceptions of ecosystems, where interactions are reduced to isolated predator–prey relationships instead of dynamic system-level processes (Webb & Boltt, 1990; Griffiths & Grant, 1985). Reasoning about indirect ecological relationships, is closely associated with system modeling skills, as learners are expected to trace causal influences across multiple system components and trophic levels (Mehren et al., 2018; Ben-Zvi Assaraf & Orion, 2010). Mehren (2018) and Mambrey et al.(2020 ) state that system modeling probe students’ ability to reason about indirect, multi-step, and cross-level relationships, such as how a change in one species could affect another species that is not directly connected in the same food chain.Previous studies have emphasized that the ability to model indirect effects represents a critical threshold in the development of advanced systems thinking, marking a transition from localized explanations toward holistic understandings of ecosystem dynamics (Grotzer & Solis, 2015; Mambrey et al., 2020). Empirical evidence, however, suggests that many students struggle to construct such multi-step causal models, particularly when feedback mechanisms and non-adjacent interactions are involved (Hogan, 2000; Hokayem & Gotwals, 2016; Hokayem, Ma, & Jin 2015; Mambrey et al., 2022).

Based on this theoretical background, the present study focuses on students’ reasoning about indirect relationships within a single ecological system, namely a meadow food web, as a context for examining system modeling skills (Mehren et al., 2018; Mambrey et al., 2020; 2022; Sweeny & Sterman, 2007 ). In line with this focus, the study addresses the following research question: To what extent are students able to reason about indirect relationships within a single individual system (the meadow food web) and model multi-step causal connections?

It should be underlined here that the meadow food web diagram used in the study includes daisies as producers, caterpillars and snails as primary consumers, birds and mice as secondary consumers, and foxes as the top predator, with energy input provided by the sun. Although a directed feeding arrow from snails to birds is represented in the diagram, this depiction requires students not merely to identify a single-step relationship but to model indirect causal connections by considering multiple trophic pathways and system-level interactions within the food web (Mambrey et al., 2020).

Multiple international policy frameworks relating to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development advocate for protecting the natural environment to build future resilience from individual to societal levels. These include the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (United Nations, 2015), which promotes education as a mechanism for engendering ‘agency’ in young people with regards to building resilience in their communities. Despite this policy recognition of the role of education, recent insights from the field of practice by Benavot et al. (2024) reveal that new approaches are needed to capture the multiplicity of education for resilience initiatives’ (p.1). Another problem is that educational research on the topic of resilience to natural hazards tends to favour an instrumentalisation of education (Säfström, 2022)—i.e. focusing on ‘what’ should be learnt—as opposed to understanding the socialised processes and considerations of ‘how’ (Kitagawa, 2021) and ‘why’ (Biesta, 2025) education should be purposed.

Given the scale and unprecedented nature of recent technological, political, and socio-ecological change, there is a heightened ‘urgency for radical reimaginings of education’ (Yliniva et al., 2024) to inform policy and practice in Europe and beyond. In relation to natural hazards and associated disasters, education will inevitably involve facing new practical challenges of daily life resulting from the alteration of the individualised self relation to socialised forms of self that capture complex social, cultural, affective and cognitive processes (Illeris, 2018). The purpose of this study is to move the debate forwards through fresh understandings of what could constitute as moving towards more meaningful (and possibly transformative) educational approaches for this topic by considering the ‘how ‘and ‘why’ of education, particularly with regards to how socialised forms of education can inspire agency in learners with regards to recent considerations about how to think about community resilience (Stein et al., 2022). In considering these issues and gaps, we hope to promote an expanded educational purpose for this topic beyond standard instrumentalised, knowledge transmission approaches.

As a way to conceptualise other forms of education for this topic the study applies Biesta’s (2013) three distinctions between the functions of education: 1) ‘qualification’ (acquisition of skills and knowledge), 2) ‘socialisation’ (the process of integrating into societal, political and cultural norms and practices), and 3) ‘subjectification’ (appreciation of the subjectivity of the learner. In particular, an emphasis is placed on the ‘socialisation’ and ‘subjectification’ functions to progress ideas of what constitutes as ‘meaningful education.’ We also apply a relationality for educational encounters in the context of social paradigms of disaster through Paul Ricœur’s (1992) ethical philosophy of Oneself as Another as an ontological scaffold for Biesta’s conceptualisation of ‘socialised’ and ‘subjectification’ education domains. Oneself as Another invites an understanding of an ethically oriented and “participatory experience of a Self” when we become other than ourselves (Pellauer & Dauenhauer, 2022), which occurs epistemologically through enacting Ricoeur’s dialectical identity concept of sameness (ipse) and changeability or responsiveness (ipseity).

To summarise, the research seeks to reframe education on this topic through a deeper understanding of an ethically derived contribution to education that can be made by applying a Biesta’s three educational domains and Ricoeur’s Oneself as Another as a relational interpretive heuristic. Informed by Carol Bacchii’s (2016) ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be? approach, our research questions in relation to disaster resilience education consist of:

1. How can socialised and relational education theory and practice contribute to transformative styles of DRE?
2. How can educational design and practice for DRE be oriented through social and ethical frameworks?
3. How is DRE translated for socially transformative resilience across diverse socio-cultural contexts?

This study, anchored in contemporary intercultural challenges, seeks to understand the historical-social consciousness expressed in the historical narratives of History teachers and students in Portuguese schools. The debate on respect for human dignity within intercultural dialogue has been reshaped in light of emerging concerns, discussed from a didactic perspective and articulated with the need for a “new humanism” (Rüsen, 2021) that may be strengthened through Historical Education. The study aims to examine how the discipline of History has contributed to the development of historical consciousness. It is therefore essential to map and critically discuss educational and social ideas and practices related to the concepts of Human Dignity, New Humanism, Interculturality, Historical Consciousness and Teacher Education, in order to identify pathways for enhancing critical and independent thinking in curricular and pedagogical decision-making and for promoting educational practices aligned with research and with the shared conceptual framework of Historical Education.

This paper presents preliminary results from the first phase of the research, focused on the initial characterisation of teachers’ and students’ conceptions of human dignity, interculturality and historical-social consciousness, as well as on the identification of interpretative tendencies emerging from their historical narratives. This exploratory phase makes it possible to recognise meaning-making patterns and hermeneutical tensions that shape how both groups mobilise historical ideas in contexts of plural coexistence and decision-making. Within this scope, the study seeks to address questions such as: what conceptions History teachers and students in Portugal hold regarding respect for human dignity, interculturality and historical-social consciousness; how teachers promote these principles in their pedagogical practices; how students mobilise their ideas in decision-making processes; and how teacher education in Portugal may reinforce pedagogical practices that support human dignity, interculturality and historical-social consciousness.

The objectives of this initial phase are to map teachers’ and students’ conceptions concerning human dignity, interculturality and historical-social consciousness; to understand how teachers integrate these principles into their educational practices; to conduct a preliminary analysis of how students use these ideas to substantiate decisions; and to outline directions that may strengthen subsequent stages of the research and inform proposals for teacher education. Expected contributions include the future development of training initiatives in collaboration with the Portuguese History Teachers Association (APH), aimed at promoting respect for human dignity, interculturality and historical-social consciousness, as well as the co-construction, in later phases, of an educational resource repository that may support teaching practices grounded in these principles.

Civic and citizenship education has long been a field of political and moral contestation in Spain (Vázquez Ramil & Porto Ucha, 2020; Groves & Navarrete-Sánchez, 2025). Building on previous research on the historical evolution of citizenship models in Spanish education policy, this paper argues that these controversies cannot be portrayed as a clash of ideologies over values and moral content alone. Rather, they are recurrently articulated as struggles over the legitimacy of knowledge: who is entitled to define civic aims for schooling, on what epistemic grounds, and through which forms of expertise political choices appear acceptable, neutral, or inevitable (Burnham, 2001; Porter, 1995; Biesta, 2007; Tröhler, 2023).
The paper takes the confrontation between two different conceptions of citizenship embedded in the education reforms enacted by a progressive government in 2006 (LOE) and a conservative government in 2013 (LOMCE) as its analytical core, situating this peak episode within a longer historical trajectory that includes the comprehensive education reforms of 1970, 1985 and 1990 (Espigardo Tocino & Cabrera Montoya, 2016). This genealogical perspective allows the study to trace shifts in the regimes of epistemic authority through which civic education has been justified over time (Tröhler, 2006). These shifts include (González-Moreno, 2021) developmentalist and technocratic rationales linked to modernisation (1970), democratic participation and rights (1985), pedagogical professionalism and comprehensive schooling (1990), and, increasingly, evaluative, competence-based and performance-oriented frameworks from the 2000s onwards (Ydesen & Andreasen, 2019).
Engaging directly with the conference theme, the paper treats education as an arena where past, present and future are entangled rather than sequential (Cowen, 2002). Historical reforms are approached not as closed episodes, but as repositories of justificatory strategies, categories and unresolved uncertainties that continue to shape contemporary debates (McCulloch, 2016). In this sense, the study responds to calls within the history of education to interrogate how knowledge of the past is mobilised—or selectively forgotten—in the governance of educational futures (Westberg, 2021).
The European and international dimension is central to this analysis. Consistent with earlier findings on the internationalisation of Spanish education policy discourse, the paper examines how transnational references (OECD recommendations, PISA results, EU coordination frameworks) are mobilised as sources of epistemic legitimacy in national reforms (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010; Grek & Ozga, 2010). These references function as technologies of synchronisation, aligning national policy with globally circulating narratives of quality, effectiveness and evidence (Porter, 1995). At the same time, they open new spaces of contestation, as political actors challenge the neutrality, applicability or democratic legitimacy of international benchmarks in the civic domain.
This contextualisation allows us to explore the extent to which contestations over citizenship education in Spain address not only specific curricular contents, but also the epistemic frameworks through which certain orientations are presented as objective, neutral or evidence-based, particularly via appeals to expertise, evaluation and international comparison (Tröhler, 2023). Accordingly, the objectives are threefold: to map historically the dominant regimes of epistemic authority invoked to legitimise civic education across key reforms; to analyse how LOE (2006) and LOMCE (2013) deploy technical vocabularies and transnational references to justify divergent normative projects; and to identify forms of resistance that target not only civic contents, but also the claims of neutrality and objectivity underpinning curriculum design (Biesta, 2007).
The theoretical framework combines scholarship on depoliticisation and technical governance, studies of numbers and audit cultures as sources of authority, and research on globalising education policy (Burnham, 2001; Rizvi & Lingard, 2010). Together, these perspectives enable an analysis of citizenship education as a historically situated field in which normative conflict is repeatedly reconfigured—rather than resolved—through technical forms of legitimation (Ball, 2003; Tröhler, 2006).

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly reshaped educational practices, particularly in technology-enhanced learning environments. Across European education systems, learner autonomy, engagement, and lifelong learning have been identified as central educational goals, reflected in frameworks such as the European Education Area and the EU Digital Education Action Plan (2021–2027), which emphasize personalized learning, digital competence, and self-directed learning capacities (European Commission, 2025). Within this context, self-regulated learning (SRL) has gained renewed attention as a foundational competence enabling learners to manage their learning processes effectively across formal and informal settings.

SRL refers to learners’ active control over cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral aspects of learning (Zimmerman, 2000). While SRL has traditionally been studied as an individual psychological process, recent developments in educational technology, particularly AI-driven systems, have opened new possibilities for supporting SRL dynamically and at scale (Järvelä et al., 2023). AI applications such as adaptive learning systems, intelligent tutoring systems, learning analytics, and predictive modeling can provide personalized feedback, scaffold learning strategies, and support monitoring and reflection processes. Despite growing interest, the rapidly expanding body of research on AI and SRL remains fragmented, with varying theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and educational targets.

The purpose of this narrative review is to synthesize and critically examine empirical research published between 2020 and 2025 on the relationship between AI and SRL, a period marked by accelerated digitalization and intensified use of AI in education. Drawing on 98 peer-reviewed articles retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC/EBSCOhost, and JSTOR, the review identifies dominant research patterns, theoretical frameworks, and gaps, while situating findings within broader European educational priorities.

The review is guided by the following research questions:

1. How is AI conceptualized and implemented to support self-regulated learning in recent empirical educational research?
2. Which SRL components namely cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, behavioral are primarily addressed through AI-based interventions?
3. Which learner populations and educational levels are most frequently targeted?
4. Which theoretical models of SRL are used in the current AI-SRL research?
5. What pedagogical and psychological considerations emerge regarding learners’ experiences with AI-supported SRL?

The theoretical framing of the review is informed by Zimmerman’s model of self-regulated learning, which remains the most frequently adopted framework in the literature. At the same time, the review critically reflects on the dominance of this model and considers the need to broaden theoretical perspectives by engaging with alternative SRL frameworks that emphasize motivation, emotion, and social regulation which can be described as perspectives that strongly associate with European socio-cultural and learner-centered educational traditions.

By synthesizing recent empirical evidence, this study seeks to contribute to European educational dialogue on how AI can be used not merely as a technological solution, but as a pedagogically grounded tool to foster autonomous, engaged, and lifelong learners across diverse educational contexts.

A growing body of research positions executive functioning (EF); including inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, as closely linked to children’s readiness to engage with classroom learning, in interaction with early academic skills (Blair & Raver, 2015; Diamond, 2013). Within early education, learning-related skills are commonly defined as the capacity to control, direct, and plan actions in academic contexts and are conceptualised as interrelated with social-emotional competence and classroom factors (McClelland et al., 2007). Across this readiness literature, EF and behavioural self-regulation are discussed in relation to attention control (often framed as executive attention), inhibitory control, and working memory, and are positioned within conceptual models linking learning-related skills to academic achievement, including reading and vocabulary.

From a literacy-specific perspective, models of writing development emphasise that transcription and self-regulation place substantial demands on limited cognitive resources in younger writers, constraining higher-order composition processes when handwriting and spelling are not yet sufficiently fluent (Graham & Harris, 2000). Research also highlights the connections between writing and reading systems (“language by hand” and “language by eye”), supporting a view of literacy learning as multi-component and interdependent rather than a single skill domain (Berninger et al., 2002).

This paper presents a classroom-based practitioner inquiry examining how attention to EF demands shapes pupils’ engagement with literacy learning in an early primary classroom. Rather than evaluating an intervention or measuring pupil outcomes, the inquiry foregrounds teacher learning and instructional reasoning through the following questions:

1. How do executive functioning demands become visible during everyday literacy instruction in an early primary classroom?
2. How does increased teacher attentiveness to executive functioning demands shape instructional decision-making in literacy lessons?

The inquiry is grounded in developmental and psychobiological models of self-regulation, which conceptualise EF as an integrated system shaped by biological, emotional, and contextual factors (Blair & Diamond, 2008; Blair & Raver, 2015). The analytic focus is the teaching-learning relation: how task design and instructional moves mediate learners’ participation under varying EF demands. Drawing on this literature, the study adopts the stance that executive functioning should be understood not as a learner deficit but as a classroom condition that shapes how literacy tasks are experienced and enacted, particularly where task complexity, transcription demands, and attentional shifts intersect with developing self-regulation. The contribution is a practice-proximal didactic lens for identifying and redesigning EF demand points in early literacy tasks, especially where multiple cognitive demands converge.

Chemistry learning poses persistent challenges in the 21st-century educational landscape due to its abstract nature and the inherent need to integrate symbolic, macroscopic, and microscopic representations. In such cognitively demanding domains, students’ ability to proactively manage their learning processes—rather than relying on passive reception—becomes a critical determinant of academic success. Grounded in the social-cognitive perspective of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), this study investigates how the interplay between motivational beliefs and self-regulatory strategies influences chemistry achievement within highly competitive, high-stakes testing environments.

The theoretical framework is primarily anchored in Pintrich’s (2000) multidimensional model of SRL, which provides a comprehensive structural basis for understanding the cognitive and motivational pillars of learning. Pintrich’s model is unique in its integration of expectancy-value components with cognitive and metacognitive strategies, allowing for a nuanced exploration of why students choose to engage (motivation) and how they execute that engagement (strategies). To complement the structural depth of Pintrich’s framework, this study incorporates Zimmerman’s (2000) cyclical phase model. Zimmerman’s model elucidates the iterative process of learning through three distinct phases: forethought (goal setting and strategic planning), performance (self-control and self-observation), and self-reflection (self-judgment and causal attribution).

In the rigorous context of chemistry education, where the complexity of content often leads to cognitive overload, students' success depends not only on the quantity of study time but on the quality of their regulation (Schunk & Greene, 2018). This study focuses on the tension between surface-level processing and deep-level regulation. For instance, while high-stakes assessment environments often push students toward rehearsal strategies (rote memorization), Pintrich’s framework suggests that deeper engagement through elaboration and effective resource management (e.g., time and study environment management) is essential for conceptual mastery. By integrating these two dominant SRL models, the study explores whether autonomous, self-regulated behaviors can serve as a buffer against the detrimental effects of standardized, exam-oriented pressure.

From a European and international perspective, this research addresses a vital concern: the "rehearsal paradox" observed in many modern educational systems where high performance in standardized tests does not necessarily equate to scientific literacy or conceptual understanding (Zohar & Dori, 2003). As Europe moves toward fostering "competence-based" science education, understanding the self-regulatory profiles of students in competitive contexts like Turkey offers a valuable comparative lens for international researchers and policymakers aiming to develop resilient, 21st-century learners (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000).

Accordingly, this study addresses the following research questions:

1. To what extent do twelfth-grade students’ motivational beliefs predict chemistry achievement?
2. To what extent do their self-regulated learning strategies predict chemistry achievement?

The research question of this doctoral dissertation is: which evidence-based policy recommendations should be established for preparing the transnational basic education politics for future pandemics? This study builds on the traditions of comparative education and sociology of education, although it is not limited to educational or social sciences.

In contemporary history, the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of a kind. It is “the first disease event since the 1918–20 H1N1 Spanish influenza (flu) pandemic to demand an urgent global healthcare response, propagated by the speed and likelihood of potential transmission” (Patterson & McIntyre & Clough et al. 2021, 1). However, the existing scientific literature of transnational pandemic management in basic education is predominantly young, shallow, and disjointed – offering primarily partial views rather than systemic and systematic understanding of the broader implications. The transnational approaches are geographically, thematically, and methodologically limited and fragmented, especially considering the Global South (Wisenöcker & Helm & Große et al. 2025; Alkhnbashi & Mohammad & Bamasoud 2024, 16; Betthäuser & Bach-Mortensen & Engzell 2023, 375). Still, there is an abundance of acute and fundamental research gaps that should be addressed pedantically. This study fills a part of these gaps with transnationally comprehensive, evidence-based insights in pandemic management.

The acuteness of the research question may be described in two ways: Firstly, education is a right of the child (UNICEF 1989, article 28), whose human value is beyond replacement also during severe crises, such as pandemics. Secondly, it has been estimated that a global school shutdown of five months may “generate learning losses that have a present value of $10 trillion” (Azevedo & Hasan & Goldemberg et al. 2021, 29). Therefore, solving the research question of this study in a sustainable manner is a trillion-dollar question.

This dissertation argues that key to understand global pandemic management in education, is analysing 1) the connection between pandemic management and transnational flows of information; and 2) the potential use of pandemic management in governance by diverse political actors as a way to transform education (cf. Kauko & Takala, & Rinne 2018, 5).

The dissertation is conducted within the dynamics framework. The definition of dynamics is the following: the complexity of interactions between political institutions and actors as well as other systemic discursive formations (Kauko & Simola & Varjo et al. 2012, 214; Simola & Kauko & Varjo et al. 2017, 16). The analysis of dynamics is traditionally divided into three descriptive dimensions: the political situation, the political possibilities, and the use of political space (Kauko & Centeno & Piattoeva et al. 2018, 21). The political situation describes the structures and positions as well as changes of different political actors. The political possibilities define how the relevant actors see the potential opportunities and threats. The use of political space illustrates how the actors transform ideas stemming from the first two dimensions into action. Effectively, to understand these three descriptive dimensions, five core research themes are formed: the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, future pandemics, actors, change dynamics, and other potential issues.

On the whole, the emphasis of this study is on holistic, normative questions of future pandemic policy recommendations. Nevertheless, socio-historical contextualisation is key in forming the policy recommendations as applicable and universalisable as possible in the real world.

Philosophically, a logically deductive path from descriptive to normative statements is all but self-evident. The is–ought problem claims that normative judgements cannot straightforwardly be deduced from descriptive statements (Hume 2019, 518–519). Therefore, the logical deduction of this study bridges a descriptive premise with normative judgements for being able to deduce a normative conclusion (cf. Singer 2015, 23; Kodelja 2013, 15–16).

In recent decades, a robust body of scholarship has examined the influence of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in shaping the global educational landscape (Chabbot 2002; Fontdevila 2023; Elfert and Ydesen 2023). Within this literature, research inspired by Social Network Analysis (SNA) and the so-called “network turn” (Hafner et al. 2009) has highlighted UNESCO’s unique capacity to structure diverse networks oriented toward the fulfillment of international educational agendas. Notable examples include the Education for All initiative (Read 2019), Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Bandola-Gill et al. 2022), and the Global Education Coalition during the COVID-19 pandemic (Saura 2020). Recently, Zapp et al. (2024, 21) characterized UNESCO as the “queen bee” around which international educational activity is organized—a position that “demonstrates UNESCO’s legitimacy and its appeal to a large number of members in the field.” In sum, academic research has identified networks as a primary mechanism through which UNESCO produces, legitimizes, and consolidates its agenda (Fuentes et al. 2025; Addey 2021).
Despite these advances, knowledge regarding UNESCO’s role as a promoter of networks within specific national systems—particularly in Global South contexts—remains notably limited (Alarcón 2015; De Raedt 2014). This gap is further deepened by a general scarcity of data on non-state actors in the Global South, a field of study largely dominated by analyses of “North/West” actors (Erfurth and Ridge 2021). This lack of attention is especially significant given that the Global South has historically been a priority area for UNESCO’s development efforts (Jones and Coleman 2005), and that, for many of these countries, the organization represents a vital “repository of knowledge and expertise for capacity building” (Sayed et al. 2022, 523).
Building on this literature, this paper analyzes the collaborative and discursive networks promoted by the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO/OREALC) within the Chilean school system. Specifically, it examines the organizational dynamics of UNESCO/OREALC’s partnerships and the discursive transformations these collaborations have fostered in the Chilean education sector between 1990 and 2025. The Chilean case is particularly relevant for two reasons. First, since the return to democracy in 1989, the education system has maintained high levels of both endogenous and exogenous privatization, with only limited variation in its organizational model (Villalobos et al. 2025; Bellei and Muñoz 2023). Second, UNESCO has historically regarded Chile as a central hub for the production and dissemination of educational knowledge in Latin America (Alarcón 2015; Cutroni 2018). Consequently, analyzing these networks offers valuable insights into how an international organization of major relevance in the Global South shapes educational policy at the national level (Verger and Fontdevila 2024).
Conceptually, the article is situated within contemporary debates on epistemic communities in global governance. It draws on the concepts of symbolic, instrumental, and political community developed within constructivist approaches in international relations (Bueger 2015; Lacatus 2025; Seabrooke and Tsingou 2021). This perspective contends that international organizations create networks of varying scales and degrees of cohesion to promote ideas that enhance their legitimacy and political standing within specific decision-making arenas. However, in doing so, particular actors and their educational products—discourses, ideas, and solutions—can gain legitimacy and influence political trajectories (Demortain 2017).
The research questions guiding the study are: (i) What are the main characteristics of the network structure and the actors convened by UNESCO/OREALC in Chile, and how has this network evolved between 1990 and 2025? (ii) What educational discourses circulate within these networks, and how have they changed over the last 25 years? By addressing these questions, the study contributes to a more granular understanding of how global agendas are translated and institutionalized in national contexts through techno-political mediation.

Teachers’ professional development increasingly takes place within diverse professional networks that go beyond individual schools, organizational charts, and national borders. At the same time, teachers are expected not only to implement educational reforms but also to actively shape pedagogical methods, especially amid the ongoing digital transformation (Roumbanis Viberg et al., 2021; Van Der Heijden et al., 2015). These demands highlight the crucial role of teachers’ agency, which is their ability to initiate, justify, and collaboratively promote changes in educational practices (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998; Schatzki, 2002). Although professional networks are widely seen as key sources for professional growth and innovation, there is less understanding of how teachers perceive these multi-level networks as resources for fostering their transformative professional agency.

This research examines how teachers perceive their professional networks shaping their transformative professional agency in the context of digitalization. It is grounded in the concept of transformative professional agency (Korhonen et al., 2024; Markauskaite & Goodyear, 2017; Reinius et al., 2022; Stetsenko, 2016), which views agency as future-focused, collective, and aimed at changing practices rather than merely adapting to existing ones. The study also draws on sociocultural perspectives (Eteläpelto et al., 2013) on professional learning, knowledge creation, and communities of practice (Wenger, 1999), highlighting that social interactions, tools, and organizational contexts shape professional agency. In this view, professional networks serve as dynamic spaces for collective sense-making, identity work, and knowledge development, which can either facilitate or limit teachers’ ability to innovate and develop their practices.

The study utilizes a qualitative, multi-modal research approach within the Finnish context of the Learning and Teaching in Digital Environments Professional Specialization Program (DigiErko). It involves 12 teachers who have completed the program and are actively involved in digital pedagogical development. Data collection includes semi-structured interviews and ego-centered professional network maps focused on teachers’ digital pedagogical activities. The maps served as elicitation tools during the interviews, helping participants reflect on their professional networks and their roles within them.

The data analysis combines qualitative content analysis of interview data with a systematic visual examination of network maps. By merging interview stories with visual data, the study offers a detailed understanding of how teachers view their professional networks and how these networks influence their sense of transformative professional agency.

The findings indicate that teachers’ professional networks consist of multi-level, overlapping ecosystems rather than isolated or linear structures. Teachers describe these networks as ranging from close, school-based collaborations to broader national, digital, and international professional communities. In these various contexts, professional networks enhance transformative professional agency in multiple interconnected ways. They reduce the barriers to experimentation and pedagogical risk-taking by providing safe spaces for dialogue, shared problem-solving, and mutual learning from experiences. Additionally, networks serve as sources of inspiration and innovation, providing access to new ideas, tools, and practices that can be tailored to local settings. Participation in these networks also helps legitimize teachers’ roles in professional development, boosting their professional identity and credibility when leading pedagogical change in schools. Lastly, networks facilitate collective knowledge creation and dissemination, positioning teachers as brokers, mentors, and facilitators whose influence reaches beyond their classrooms.

The study advances research on teacher agency by framing transformative professional agency as relational and distributed within networked contexts. In practice, the results indicate that professional networks need to be intentionally designed, acknowledged, and supported as essential infrastructure for sustained, teacher-led educational change in increasingly digital learning environments.

Education is regarded as a central instrument for promoting social participation. However, the German education system functions as a mechanism for the reproduction of social inequalities through normalizing processes of selection (El-Mafaalani, 2021; Heinemann & Mecheril, 2023). Schools are not only institutions of knowledge transmission, but also spaces of interaction in which societal power relations and structural conditions become effective and are (re)produced through processes of difference-making (West & Fenstermaker, 1995). Teachers therefore bear responsibility for actively counteracting discrimination based on constructions of difference (Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes, 2018). Reflexive knowledge of societal power relations as well as of processes of privileging and discrimination constitutes a prerequisite (Rendtorff, 2021). In the absence of such knowledge, school-based selection practices may particularly affect students with a migration background or from low-income families (Sirin, 2005; El-Mafaalani, 2012). Teacher-led performance-based differentiation does not occur exclusively along the meritocratic principle, but also on the basis of intersectional categories of difference such as gender, race, class, and disability (Giesinger, 2007). Structural inequalities are further intensified through unequal treatment based on inequalities (El-Mafaalani, 2021). Educational inequalities are also reproduced in a digitalized society, even though reflexive and problematizing knowledge of the underlying structural injustices is increasing (Heinz, 2023). For Germany, results from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 show that social background influences unequal prerequisites for digital competence. Students from families with low cultural capital exhibit lower levels of computer- and information-related competencies than those from families with high cultural capital (Eickelmann et al., 2019). Van de Werfhorst et al. (2022), also analyzing ICILS 2018 data, add that the divide in students’ digital competencies is additionally shaped by gender and migration background. According to Lüring et al. (2022), school-based learning opportunities are used less extensively by children from families with a migration background and from low-income households, among other factors. These patterns are associated with stereotypical and deficit-oriented attitudes by teachers (ibid.). In a case study conducted in three Californian middle schools, Rafalow (2020) identified differing evaluations of and approaches to students’ digital skills depending on ethnicity and social class. Only teachers at a school with a predominantly white, high-income student population transformed digital competencies into educational capital. Rafalow conceptualizes teachers as gatekeepers of students’ potential in dealing with technologies (ibid.). For Europe, especially Germany, systematic reconstructive investigations of these interrelations are still lacking. The present project addresses this desideratum. Its epistemic interest is directed toward inequality-relevant knowledge held by teachers in the context of digitalized teaching. Specifically, the study investigates how such knowledge is shaped by, embedded in, and expressed through teachers’ professional orientations in digitally mediated classroom practices. Inequality-relevant knowledge comprises both knowledge of inequality and inequality-critical knowledge. Knowledge of inequality refers to socially acquired and embodied knowledge that can be explicated in norms (Güllü, 2025). Inequality-critical knowledge may take the form of acquired knowledge and consolidate into problematizing this embodied societal knowledge. On an implicit level, both forms of knowledge may structure practices of action and speech (ibid.). In the tradition of praxeological sociology of knowledge, this distinction does not hinge on the factual correctness or normative desirability of the knowledge in question. Rather, the focus lies on reconstructing how it is produced in practice (Bohnsack, 2021). The study is guided by the following research questions: (1) Which inequality-relevant knowledge do teachers display when speaking about their digitalized teaching practices? (2) Which categories of difference are rendered relevant by teachers in this context? Taken together, these questions reflect an open and exploratory approach to the forms of knowledge under investigation.The project contributes to basic research in the field of inequality-sensitive professionalization.

Executive functions (EFs) are a set of higher-order cognitive processes, that include working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and sustained attention, that play a crucial role in self-regulation, learning, and adaptive behaviour from early childhood onward (Bascandziev et al., 2016). Research highlights early childhood as a sensitive period for the development of EF, with long-term implications for academic achievement, social competence, and emotional well-being (Blakey & Carroll, 2015; Fitzpatrick et al., 2014; Sasser, Bierman & Heinrichs, 2015). For this reason, early childhood education settings represent a key context for fostering the development of these skills through pedagogical practices.

Within this broader research framework, the present paper constitutes a focused theoretical and pedagogical deepening of a wider project aimed at promoting EF development in early childhood. This contribution is designed as an in-depth reflection addressed to the professional training of early childhood educators, with the goal of supporting their ability to intentionally foster executive functions in everyday educational practices and play-based contexts.

Drawing on a socio-constructivist and cultural-historical perspective, this paper conceptualizes EF not as isolated individual abilities, but as skills that develop through social interaction, shared activity, and emotionally meaningful experiences (Bronfenbrenner, Morris, 2006). Within this framework, Vygotsky’s concept of perezhivanie is used as a theoretical lens to understand how children actively experience, interpret, and are transformed by their interactions with the environment. EF development is therefore shaped by the dynamic relationship between the child’s individual characteristics and the educational context in which experiences occur (Vygotskij, 2022).

Play, especially symbolic and imaginative, is identified as a privileged context for the activation and development of EF in early childhood. Imaginative play allows children to move between reality and fiction, attribute new meanings to objects, and construct shared narratives, fostering the development of increasingly complex forms of thinking (Bembich, Sorzio, 2020). From this perspective, the role of the educator is central. Educators act as cultural mediators and facilitators of play, intentionally designing learning environments that promote EF development while respecting children’s agency and interests (Veresov, et al., 2021). Through scaffolding strategies, educators support children in maintaining the coherence of play narratives, remembering rules, managing turn-taking, and regulating emotions during moments of frustration or conflict. Rather than directing play in a rigid manner, educators guide and enrich it by introducing meaningful challenges, posing reflective questions, and adding narrative or problem-solving elements that stimulate executive processes.

Intentional pedagogical planning is particularly important in play-based activities that integrate storytelling, role-play, and symbolic use of materials. By selecting stories, educators create familiar and engaging contexts in which children can explore new roles and perspectives. The introduction of problem situations within play narratives encourages children to collaboratively generate solutions, adapt strategies, and negotiate meanings, thereby strengthening EF in a social and emotionally supportive setting (Veresov, et al., 2021). Adult support does not limit children’s autonomy; rather, it enhances the quality of play by sustaining engagement, deepening conceptual understanding, and supporting self-regulation. These practices are particularly beneficial for children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, for whom early support of EF can serve as a protective factor against later academic difficulties (Meixner, Laubrock, 2024).

In conclusion, this paper offers a targeted contribution within a broader research and educational project by addressing the role of educator training in supporting EF development in early childhood settings. Educators play a vital role in creating intentional, play-based learning environments that support children’s cognitive and emotional development (Veresov, et al., 2021). By valuing play as a central pedagogical tool and by adopting reflective and responsive teaching strategies, early childhood educators can meaningfully contribute to the development of EF, promoting long-term educational success and overall well-being.

This study looks at how secondary school learners can improve their argumentative skills by analyzing information from different subjects. In today’s education, argumentation is seen as an important skill needed for academic success, involvement, and critical thinking. However, research and classroom experiences show that many learners have difficulty creating evidence-based arguments, especially when dealing with complex texts that require identifying main ideas, evaluating evidence, and using logical reasoning. This study tackles this issue through an interdisciplinary Lesson Study carried out by teachers of English, Kazakh language, and World History in a Grade 10 (learners aged 15 to 16) in Kazakhstan.

The main research question is: How can structured analytical tools help secondary school learners build evidence-based arguments through text analysis in various subjects? The major aim of the research was to see if using structured tables as analytical helpers could improve learners’ ability to extract key information from texts, organize ideas logically, and create clear, well-supported arguments. Another goal was to look into how these tools work for learners with different academic skills and how support can gradually be lessened to encourage independent thinking.

The study is based on sociocultural and cognitive theories. From a sociocultural viewpoint, it uses Vygotsky’s idea of the Zone of Proximal Development, which focuses on how scaffolding and guided support assist learners in tackling complex tasks they can't yet do on their own. Structured tables served as tools to help learners shift from supported to independent argument creation. From a cognitive standpoint, the study incorporates cognitive load theory, which stresses the need to minimize unnecessary cognitive load when students handle complex tasks like text analysis and argumentation. By breaking down the argumentative process into manageable parts (key ideas, evidence, counterarguments, conclusions), the structured tables helped learners organize information better and concentrate their cognitive efforts on reasoning instead of managing the task.

The research also references literature on higher-order thinking skills and argumentation. According to revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, constructing an argument requires learners to progress from understanding to analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. Previous studies on graphic organizers and structured analytical tools suggest that visual and organizational supports can help this process, especially for learners who find abstract reasoning or written expression challenging. Methodologically, the study used a qualitative Lesson Study design that included three research lessons. Data was gathered through classroom observations, pre-study learner surveys, semi-structured student interviews, analysis of learner work, and focused case studies of three students with different achievement levels. The iterative nature of Lesson Study allowed for ongoing adjustments of teaching strategies based on observed learner needs.

The findings show that structured analytical tables led to noticeable improvement in students’ argumentative skills across subjects. Most learners were better able to identify key ideas, choose relevant evidence, and build more coherent arguments. Notably, this approach reduced the number of learners who needed extra help, while allowing high-achieving learners to become more independent as support was gradually removed. The European and international significance of this study lies in its focus on practical teaching strategies that promote argumentation as a skill used across subjects. In various educational contexts facing issues like information overload, media literacy, and critical thinking, structured support combined with collaborative teacher inquiry provides an effective and flexible solution. The study adds to international conversations on curriculum development, interdisciplinary teaching, and teacher learning, showing how Lesson Study can systematically enhance learners’ argumentative skills across different subjects.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a defining capability of the twenty-first century, increasingly shaping contemporary teacher education through ongoing digitalisation. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers’ engagement with digital technologies has intensified, and professional proficiency in deploying digital tools has expanded considerably. At the same time, persistent teacher shortages place additional pressure on teacher education programmes to prepare future teachers under conditions of accelerated change. Together, these developments raise critical questions about the nature of teaching and what it means to learn to teach in the AI era (OECD, 2026).

Digital technologies do not only reshape instructional practices; they also influence how teachers understand their role, expertise, and the relational and affective dimensions of their work (Sutherland et al., 2010; Markauskaite et al., 2022; Strom, 2015). Existing research on teaching in digitally mediated contexts has largely focused on defining digital competencies, examining the adoption of specific tools, or evaluating learning outcomes (Tan et al., 2025). Far less attention has been paid to how pre-service teachers actually experience learning to teach within these changing conditions.

Pre-service teacher education constitutes a significant site of inquiry because it is not merely preparatory but constitutive. It is within initial preparation programmes that future teachers first encounter the discourses, technologies, policies, and relational dynamics that shape their emerging understandings of teaching (Strom, 2015; Strom & Viesca, 2022; Sidebottom, 2021; Sutherland et al., 2010). These programmes are also spaces in which candidate teachers are expected to learn how to navigate tensions between standardised expectations of teaching and the unpredictable, relational realities of contemporary classrooms (Russell & Martin, 2016). As AI and digital infrastructures become more prominent in higher education, these tensions are intensified, making pre-service teacher education a critical site for examining how future teachers learn to navigate complexity and uncertainty in professional practice (Markauskaite et al., 2022).

Despite growing interest in AI and education, there remains limited empirical research that examines how learning to teach is experienced from the perspective of pre-service teachers themselves. Moreover, teacher education scholarship remains marked by geographical and epistemic unevenness (Ovens et al., 2016; Zembylas, 2024). Much of the existing literature is concentrated in English-speaking and Western contexts, raising concerns about cultural ethnocentricity.

The present study addresses this gap through an ethnographic exploration of pre-service foreign language teacher education in two under-examined contexts: Lithuania and Kenya. Rather than treating these contexts as directly comparable national systems, the study approaches them as distinct educational environments shaped by different historical trajectories, institutional arrangements, and digital conditions (Government of Kenya, 2007; Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, 2013), treating Lithuania and Kenya as epistemically equal sites of knowledge production rather than positioning one as central and the other as peripheral, which aligns with calls for decolonising and geographically just approaches to educational research (Kruger & Zembylas, 2026).

Foreign language teacher education provides a particularly revealing site of inquiry: language teaching is inherently relational, and AI mediation directly challenges this by reconfiguring communication, authorship, and human interaction in language learning (Yang & Markauskaite, 2025), making foreign language teacher preparation an especially critical context for this study.

The present study seeks to understand how learning to teach is experienced across different educational contexts in teacher education within higher education.
The research is guided by the following questions:

1. How do pre-service foreign language teachers experience and make sense of learning to teach within higher education environments?

2. How do pedagogical practices, institutional arrangements, and digital technologies, including AI, shape these experiences?

3. What tensions and uncertainties do pre-service teachers encounter when learning to teach in higher education environments, and how do they respond to them?

Teachers operate under conditions of increasing professional demands, including intensified workloads and the need to respond to diverse learner needs. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) is frequently discussed as a potential means of supporting instructional practice. This is congruent with the growing number of teachers who are reporting an increased utilization of AI in the preparation of their lessons (Herm & Hagen, 2025). Nevertheless, the German School Barometer revealed that 62% of respondents expressed feelings of uncertainty or extreme uncertainty regarding the utilization of AI, and 31% reported not using AI at all (Herm & Hagen, 2025). These findings indicate a substantial lack of professional preparedness, underscoring the need to systematically address AI-related competencies in teacher training. Consequently, AI must become an integral component of teacher training, accompanied by empirical research on pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) AI use and the effectiveness of related pedagogical measures.

However, research on the use of AI for subject-specific materials development remains limited, and clear connections between AI literacy and concrete teaching practice are rarely made (Xin, 2024, p. 4). Moreover, studies focusing explicitly on PSTs remain scarce, as research often centers on students or in-service teachers (Huang et al., 2025, p. 2).

Against this backdrop, this dissertation project aims to investigate the usage of AI among PSTs for English as a foreign language in secondary schools. The project's central theme is the design and analysis of a university seminar (comprising 11 sessions of 90 minutes each) in which generative AI is systematically employed for materials development. The present project examines how PSTs utilize AI in this context, the evaluation criteria they apply, and the changes observed in their practices and evaluative perspectives over the course of the seminar. The analysis examines patterns of interaction and adaptation that emerge in dealing with AI and focuses on how the critical justification of AI-based material revisions develops.

The following research questions are investigated:

• RQ1: How can a theory- and practice-based seminar be designed didactically, in which AI-supported materials development serves as a learning opportunity for the development of AI literacy?
• RQ2: In what ways do PSTs use AI before, during, and after the seminar?
  • RQ2a: What patterns of interaction and adaptation emerge?
  • RQ2b: How does the seminar change the critical assessment of the (pedagogical, linguistic, and ethical) quality of AI outputs, and what criteria determine the revisions?

The seminar, therefore, combines existing didactic and materials-related theories with AI-specific content. For instance, the program includes sessions on AI algorithms, ethical considerations, and prompt engineering, and their implications for materials development. The theoretical underpinnings of the seminar are provided by the UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Teachers (2024) because it provides clear guidance for the AI content that is to be implemented in teacher training (Bai, 2025, p. 50). Materials development was chosen as the focal area, as it constitutes a recurring and authentic pedagogical practice in which AI-specific learning objectives and curricular guidelines can be operationalized. According to Edmett et al. (2024, p. 31), it is the most popular use of AI among teachers, with 57% of the surveyed teachers reporting that they use AI for this purpose. However, in the same study, more than half of those teachers disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement 'I have received enough training to incorporate AI into my teaching' (Edmett et al., 2024, p. 36), which points to a clear misalignment between the frequent use of AI in teaching and teachers’ self-reported training experiences.

The seminar’s positioning at the intersection of didactics and AI education introduces a new dimension of professionalization, grounded in the systematic reflection on pedagogically justified AI use.

Increasing international immigration across Europe has created new challenges and opportunities for education systems, highlighting the need for teachers to develop intercultural competencies (IC) to work effectively in culturally diverse classrooms. However, research suggests that initial teacher education (ITE) may not always be sufficiently adapting to these changing contexts (e.g., Herzog Punzenberger et al., 2022). Drawing on two closely intertwined doctoral research projects within the EDUCA-Doc pilot programme, this poster presents key findings and implications from six studies on cultural diversity in education from a Finnish context, with a particular focus on relationship building (RB), IC, and cultural beliefs. Although we primarily refer to working with students with migrant backgrounds, we acknowledge that cultural diversity does and should not solely refer to migrants and that migrant students constitute a heterogenous group marked by diverse identities and experiences (Conti, 2025).

Conceptually, RB is defined as the fostering of positive reciprocated social bonds between two or more individuals or groups, informed by the social capital theory of Bourdieu (1996) and the Teaching Through Interaction framework of Hamre et al. (2013). Cultural beliefs (in Study 5 referred to as lay theories of culture, see Rosenthal & Levy, 2010) refer to an individual’s orientation towards cultural diversity, ranging from multicultural and egalitarian beliefs to assimilationist beliefs (e.g., Hachfeld et al., 2011; 2015). Cultural beliefs affect both how pre-service teachers engage with teaching material aimed at cultural diversity, but also in-service teachers’ self-efficacy and adaptability when working in culturally diverse environments (e.g., Hachfeld et al., 2015; Rissanen et al., 2023). IC has commonly been conceptualised as encompassing the dimensions of attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviour (Perry & Southwell, 2011). While criticised by some for its inflexibility and underplaying structural power relations (e.g., Dervin et al., 2020), IC offers a theoretical basis for evaluating and strengthening the professionalism teachers require to ensure inclusive and high-quality education for learners from all cultural backgrounds (e.g. Theeuwes et al., 2025).

The overarching topic of pre-service teachers’ preparation for cultural diversity in the context of RB, cultural beliefs and IC was addressed through a total of six sub-studies. A scoping review on RB in culturally diverse educational contexts across Europe highlighted the need to more actively develop pre-service teachers’ capacity to facilitate meaningful relationships already within ITE (Study 1). This relates to Study 2, which will investigate how newly arrived migrant students portray the ways in which their social networks (e.g. teachers) support their learning and sense of belonging. Supporting students’ RB especially with peers was also found important in a study on Finnish preparatory education teachers’ views on supporting newly arrived migrant students (Study 3). The study also discussed teachers’ understanding of students’ sociopolitical landscape and diversity as an element of their own IC.

Furthermore, a quantitative study on pre-service teachers’ cultural beliefs in the first and third year of their ITE (Study 4) noted that while many hold positive views towards cultural diversity, those with egalitarian views do not necessarily develop their cultural beliefs throughout their education. This underlines results of Study 5, finding that about a fifth of in-service teachers reports egalitarian (in the study referred to as colourblind) cultural beliefs, with 11% of participants framing cultural diversity as problematic. Together, these two studies highlight the need to address pre-service teachers’ cultural beliefs within ITE, and to prepare them adequately to teach in culturally diverse environments. However, a study on teacher educators’ perceptions and approaches to facilitate this preparation (Study 6) found that not all teacher educators feel prepared themselves, as well as a wide variety in theoretical understanding and a lack of professional development opportunities.

The topic of parenting a child with Down syndrome (DS) has not received much attention from scholars in Kazakhstan, where understanding of the needs, support systems, and lived experiences of these families remains minimal. To address this gap, this qualitative phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of parents, with a focus on the educational paths of their children and the barriers encountered along the way.

This study, derived from Master's research conducted from fall 2023 to spring 2024, was guided by the main research question: “What are the lived experiences of parents of children with Down syndrome as they relate to education related endeavors?” There were three sub questions:

1) As parents of children with DS, what is their role in the educational journey of their
children?
2) As parents of children with DS, what are the main challenges they face in rearing
and supporting the education pursuits of their children?
3) As parents of children with DS, what areas of improvement do they suggest?

The study draws on data from interviews with eight parents of children with DS from various regions of Kazakhstan, guided by the Conceptual Model of Family Factors Relating to the Early Development of Children with Down syndrome (Van Hooste and Maes 2003). The model emphasizes the central role of parent-child interactions, positing that the quality of these interactions defines the developmental outcomes of children with Down syndrome. Various factors can influence these interactions, including family characteristics (e.g., parental attitudes and expectations, stimulating environments), available support resources (e.g., social support networks, early intervention services), and stressors (e.g., information needs, provision of support services known as resource needs, interpersonal and family distress, and confidence threats). The present study focuses on formal support systems, such as early intervention services and educational settings, and explores the associated stressors.

Although situated in Kazakhstan, the findings speak to broader concept of inclusive education, offering insights that are transferable to other contexts where families similarly navigate gaps between policy and practice.

This project investigates how students with affective disorders (ICD-10, 2019; WHO, 2024) navigate higher education, focusing on the interplay between body, physical environment, and emotions. The increasing number of students with mental disorders highlights the need to rethink the design of learning environments that foster both inclusion and academic development.

Global estimates from the World Health Organization (2022) and the United Nations (2025) indicate that over 1.3 billion people - 16% of the world’s population - experience significant disability, resulting from interactions between individuals and environmental factors (WHO, 2022; WHO, 2026). Despite being the world’s largest minority, this population faces persistent barriers and exclusion, particularly in education and broader societal participation (CRPD, 2006). Studies have emphasized that educational environments are primarily developed for students with “neurotypical” development, potentially excluding students with mental disorders (Horlin et al., 2024).

In Denmark, one in five students (19%) report having a disability, over half (56%) indicate that their disability is related to mental health (EVA, 2023). By examining how students with affective disorders -from two Danish universities - navigate the physical and social spaces of higher education through embodied and embedded strategies, this project illuminates’ students’ tacit, embodied knowledge and adaptive practices, offering insights for promoting inclusive learning environments.

Tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1967) is understood as knowledge carried in the body and in actions (Adloff et al., 2015). Embodied strategies are conceptualized phenomenologically, following Merleau-Ponty (1945/2012), as the ways this knowledge is lived, felt, and enacted through the body’s intentional engagement with the world. Embedded strategies, analyzed through a space-and-place lens (Tuan, 1977), describe how tacit and bodily knowledge is shaped by and enacted within specific social and material environments (Schrijver, 2021), where characteristics of spaces, places, and institutional settings influence possibilities for action, experience, and emotional engagement. To explore essential forms of tacit knowledge among students with affective disorders in higher education, this study raises three analytical questions:

1) What embodied and embedded strategies do students with affective disorders use to navigate higher education?

2) What role does the body play in the inclusion of these students?

3) How does the physical environment affect their inclusion?

Subjective experiences must be carefully considered to understand the neural bases of human behavior (Fuchs & Schlimme, 2009). Studies highlight the importance of understanding individuals through their lived experiences and bodily constructions, suggesting that “embodiment” is emerging as a major paradigm in psychopathology (Ratcliffe, 2008, 2023; Stanghellini, 2004). Embodied approaches emphasize the circular interaction of altered subjective experiences (Ratcliffe, 2015). Guided by phenomenology (Fuchs, 2021, 2023; Fuchs & Koch, 2014; Fuchs et al., 2009; Merleau-Ponty, 1945/2012) and spatial theory (Tuan, 1974, 1977), this project aims to:

Investigate the role of the body in shaping strategies for managing academic, social, and emotional challenges.

Analyze how bodily, emotional, and spatial interactions can exacerbate or alleviate the effects of affective disorders on learning and participation.

Generate insights to inform more inclusive educational practices and the design of learning environments supporting students with affective disorders. (512 words)

High-performing secondary schools, particularly selective schools for gifted students, have become a prominent feature of education systems across Europe and beyond. These institutions are designed to maximise academic potential and produce high achievement. However, growing research suggests that high ability and academic success do not automatically guarantee sustained student motivation, engagement, or well-being (Hornstra et al., 2023). In competitive environments, talented students may experience pressure, social comparison, and emotional strain, which can undermine their motivation over time (Luthar et al., 2020).

This study is situated in the context of Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS), a nationwide network of selective high-performing schools established to educate gifted students and prepare future national leaders (Yakavets, 2014). While NIS schools demonstrate strong academic outcomes, less is known about how students themselves experience motivation within these demanding environments. This research addresses this gap by exploring students’ lived experiences of motivation and demotivation, focusing on the idea that being talented is not enough to sustain engagement without appropriate pedagogical and emotional support.

Existing literature on gifted education highlights that motivation among gifted learners is shaped by both individual dispositions and school-level factors. Studies have shown that teacher practices, learning environment, and emotional support play a critical role in sustaining motivation among gifted students (Phillips & Lindsay, 2006). Longitudinal research further suggests that gifted students may initially display high intrinsic motivation, but this advantage can diminish when learning environments fail to meet their psychological needs (Hornstra et al., 2023).

Social comparison processes are particularly relevant in high-performing schools. According to the Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effect, students with similar ability levels may develop lower academic self-concepts when placed in highly competitive peer groups (Marsh & Parker, 1984). As a result, students who were previously high achievers may feel “average,” which can negatively affect confidence and motivation. Recent international research has even identified students in elite schools as an at-risk group for stress and maladjustment due to high expectations and performance pressure (Luthar et al., 2020).

The study is theoretically grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000), which conceptualises motivation as dependent on the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. When educational environments support these needs, students are more likely to develop intrinsic motivation and sustained engagement. Conversely, environments that emphasise control, excessive competition, or rigid differentiation may undermine motivation, even among high-achieving students (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

Research Question:

• How do students in a high-performing secondary school experience motivation, and what factors do they perceive as supporting or undermining it?

Objectives:

• To explore students’ perceptions of motivation and demotivation in a selective high-performing school.
• To examine how differentiation, competition, and school culture influence student motivation.
• To contribute to international discussions on student motivation, gifted education, and equitable learning environments.

In contemporary educational contexts, schools face numerous challenges associated with increasing psycho-emotional demands on students and ongoing social changes. Consequently, schools are increasingly viewed not only as spaces for academic instruction but also as significant environments for the formation and support of students’ mental health and wellbeing [1], [2]. The creation of a psychologically safe educational space has become a key condition for sustainable personal development, social adaptation, and positive interaction among participants in the educational process. International educational frameworks emphasise the importance of developing such conditions in schools to support the mental health of children and adolescents [1].

The large-scale psychological game “Kaleidoscope” is considered one way of organising such an educational space. It is designed to create conditions of psychological safety, foster emotional and social connections, and promote positive group experiences among students. The game constitutes a holistic environment with its own structure, rules, and symbolism, within which participants engage in joint activities, experience emotionally meaningful situations, and reflect on their personal experiences. This format aligns with contemporary perspectives on social and emotional learning and whole-school approaches to promoting wellbeing in educational settings [2], [3].

The purpose of the proposal is to present and conceptually examine the large-scale psychological game “Kaleidoscope” as a tool for creating a psychologically safe educational environment and for fostering social-emotional interaction among students, as well as to explore its preventive and supportive potential within school-based systems of psychological and pedagogical support [1], [2].

The core idea of the proposal is to conceptualise the “Kaleidoscope” game as an instrument for creating a psychologically safe space and enhancing social-emotional interaction among students. The game also demonstrates potential for the prevention of psycho-emotional difficulties and for supporting students’ mental health within the school context more broadly. Conceptually, it is grounded in ideas of holistic personal development and an understanding of school as a key context for social and emotional formation, in which wellbeing emerges through the interaction of individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and features of the educational environment [2], [4].

The “Kaleidoscope” game is not intended for diagnostic or narrowly defined corrective purposes. Rather, it functions as a supportive space in which students are able to safely explore their emotions, patterns of interaction with others, and their place within the group. Particular emphasis is placed on creating an atmosphere of voluntary participation, acceptance, respect for personal boundaries, and recognition of the value of each participant’s individual experience. Under these conditions, students can express emotions, discuss experiences, and experiment with new behavioural models without fear of evaluation or sanctions, contributing to reduced anxiety levels, strengthened feelings of belonging, and the development of trust within the group [1], [3].

Such an organisation of the игровое space contributes to reduced anxiety, enhanced feelings of belonging, and the development of trust within the group. Overall, the “Kaleidoscope” game demonstrates significant potential for creating a psychologically safe environment and can be integrated into school-based systems of psychological and pedagogical support as a preventive practice aimed at reducing psycho-emotional risks in educational settings [1], [2], [4].

The study seeks to explore the factors that influence the decision-making process of eleventh-grade students in mainstream public schools in Western Kazakhstan when choosing international education. This is a timely topic of importance, as the number of eleventh-grade students leaving overseas is growing yearly. Moreover, having gained national independence, Kazakhstan has undertaken some significant educational reforms that have led to an increase in the number of higher education students going abroad to study.

The study utulizes Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System Theory as theoretical framework for the research.Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (EST) provides a robust framework for understanding how environmental layers shape human development, particularly students' decisions to study abroad. Developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner in the 1970s and refined into the bioecological model, EST views development as bidirectional interactions between individuals and five nested systems, with proximal influences exerting the strongest effects.​

The microsystem encompasses immediate settings like family, peers, school, and clubs, where direct relationships form the core of influence. For high schoolers, parental encouragement or peer discussions about international education drive study abroad intent most powerfully, as seen in studies from Japan and West Virginia. ​

The mesosystem links microsystems, such as parent-teacher interactions or school-peer dynamics, amplifying effects through interconnectedness. For instance, counselor-parent communications can reinforce or deter abroad aspirations. Further out, the exosystem involves indirect external factors like parents' workplaces, media, or local policies, subtly shaping opportunities without direct involvement. The macrosystem captures cultural "blueprints"—laws, economy, values, and politics—that overlay all systems. Geopolitical tensions or economic stability can reduce intent to study in certain countries.Finally, the chronosystem addresses time-based changes, including life transitions, historical events, or generational shifts, like economic crises lowering aspirations across cohorts.

The research utilizes a mixed-methods approach, incorporating online surveys and individual interviews to gather comprehensive data. The findings will contribute to enhancing the educational opportunities and support systems available to students in Western Kazakhstan. In the quantitative part, data from a survey with 94 participants, including demographic information and questions related to factors influencing decision-making, is presented. The survey focused on aspects such as the influence of family, community, culture, and society on students' decisions. The qualitative analysis involved interviews with four participants selected voluntarily from those whose parents agreed to participate. These interviews explored participants' motivations, aspirations, socio-economic backgrounds, cultural influences, and language considerations in their pursuit of international education.

Overall, the findings underscore the complex interplay of personal, familial, socio-economic, cultural, and linguistic factors in shaping students' decisions to pursue international education. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the above-mentioned factors influence collectively students' motivations, aspirations, and ability to overcome challenges in accessing educational opportunities abroad, and for college counselors, it is important to consider them when helping students to choose their future path.

This study examines how situationality, consciousness, and embodiment manifest in young adults’ experiences of social exclusion, as well as the coping strategies they describe. The research is framed within Lauri Rauhala’s (2005, 2014) theory of the regulative situational circuit, which provides a conceptual framework for examining how life situations and individual meaning-making shape lived experience.

Social exclusion among youth is a significant phenomenon across Europe, and understanding it from a comparative, international perspective is essential for informing education policies, youth support services, and mental health interventions. By focusing on peer-reviewed studies from both Finnish and international contexts, this research highlights cross-cultural similarities and differences in how young adults experience and respond to social exclusion.

The study addresses two central questions:

1. How do situationality, consciousness, and embodiment appear in young adults’ lived experiences of social exclusion?

2. What coping strategies do young adults use?

By combining a phenomenological lens with a European/international perspective, the study contributes to a broader understanding of youth social experiences in multiple societal contexts. The holistic approach allows for an integrated view of psychological, social, and situational factors influencing young adults’ engagement and well-being.

Research question:

This proposal covers a part of my PhD project titled “Human rights-based approach to critical media literacy: Youth perspectives on human rights in the digital environment.” For the poster proposal, the focus will be on one of the sub-research questions investigated in this dissertation project: “How do youth in Europe consider critical media literacy while engaging with human rights (issues) in the digital environment?”

Existing body of research tends to focus on the skills of youth in the digital environment and to draw conclusions regarding the perceived or actual risks and threats youth face, such as issues related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI), challenges with disinformation, concerns about mental health, issues regarding data privacy among others. From such an angle, youth, to a large extent, are not seen as active and competent individuals, but as “more at risk of the assumed dangers of media exposure and use” (Higdon et al., 2024). This perspective results in a narrow and “alarmist” (Buckingham, 2020) narrative about youth participation and youth’s capabilities in the digital environment and has been criticised by scholars investigating empowering approaches to media education (Third et al., 2014; Livingstone, 2017). This poster proposal, therefore, acknowledges youth as experts (Fleming and Boeck, 2012) and aims to address this gap by actively seeking youth perspectives on critical media literacy (CML) and building the link between human rights and CML from their lived realities.

European dimension:

The target group of this research is youth from a European youth organisation, aged between 18-29, who are actively engaged in youth work as volunteers in 10 European countries. The selection is based on criteria such as interest in youth rights issues across Europe as well as familiarity with media and media literacy to allow them to act as experts in the field for this research. The rationale for selecting this target group is explained by the fact that youth in Europe appear as among the most connected in comparison to other age groups and regions, making them a particular demographic group, who are among the most affected as well as among the groups that benefit from the digital environment the most.

Theoretical framework:

The research is informed by three theories that speak to each other and considered as complementary in conceptualising human rights in the digital environment. These theories are: 1) Critical media literacy (CML) theory (specifically the conceptual understandings) by Kellner and Share (2019); 2) Ideal requirements for public sphere framework by Dahlberg (2001), which bases its foundation on Jürgen Habermas’ theory (1962; 2023); and 3) digital citizenship framework by Choi (2016).

CML theory guides the research in exploring human rights by focusing on critical consciousness and the agency of individuals in recognising, analysing, engaging and creating media and thus the ‘actions’ of youth. Secondly, the focus on digital environment as a public sphere provides a foundation to discuss youth’s perception on and understanding of democracy and democratic values online. Finally, digital citizenship framework offers a “multidimensional” (Choi, 2016) approach in analysing youth participation online, by focusing on the aspects of ethics, media literacy, critical resistance and participation/engagement (ibid).

What ethnic racialized perceptions do student teachers hold about ethnic minoritized pupils in schools? Where do these perceptions originate from? And how does teacher education (re)produce and/or challenge these perceptions throughout the education? These are the central questions I explore from an anthropological approach in a PhD project at the Danish School of Education. Despite political intentions to create a Danish public school grounded in values such as “freedom of thought, equality, and democracy” (Retsinfo, §3), research on ethnicity in education shows that pupils categorized as ethnic minorities continue to face unequal opportunities for participation in school. A key explanation is that many teachers –despite often good intentions – encounter this group of pupils through ethnically racialized perceptions (e.g., Staunæs 2004/2022; Gorski 2008; Gilliam 2009). The established research field thus points to a paradox: on the one hand, racialized perceptions appear to be deeply embedded in teachers, in teaching, and in school practices (e.g., Sleeter 2017; Jaffe‑Walter 2016), yet on the other hand, they often remain invisible and unspoken (e.g., Gillborn 2008; Capello 2012).

While previous studies have predominantly examined the practices of established teachers, this project foregrounds teacher education as the main analytical field. The aim is to move attention away from the question of whether teachers hold ethnically racialized perceptions of pupils, towards how such perceptions are constructed as part of student teachers’ professional becoming. International research on ethnicity and racialization identifies teacher education as a key actor in developing more equity‑oriented practices in schools for pupils across ethnic backgrounds (e.g., Sleeter 2013; Vachon 2022; Fylkesnes et al. 2025). At the same time, studies have shown that teacher education plays a decisive role in shaping children’s educational trajectories through the perceptions that student teachers develop during their education (e.g., Lander 2011; Abdullahi et al. 2024). In a Danish context, however, the role of teacher education in relation to social inequality and marginalization in schools remains largely unexplored. Drawing on an understanding of teacher education as a central site of cultural change within schooling (Vachon 2022), this project examines how teacher education functions as a distinct pedagogical space that actively constructs specific perceptions of ethnic minoritized pupils (McLeod & Yates 2003; Youdell 2003).

I approach racialization as a social process of categorisation in which bodily, cultural, and linguistic differences are ascribed with meaning and used to identify, interpret, and subordinate the Other (Hervik 2015). In my analysis, controlling images (Ferguson 2020) serve as the central analytical lens for examining how such (imagined) differences are actively produced and naturalised through stereotypical representations circulating within institutional contexts. This perspective shifts attention away from intentional racism and towards the ways in which professionals’ understandings of “race” and ethnicity are shaped by culturally embedded images that structure prospective teachers’ perceptions of pupils. By linking ethnicity and racialization, I examine how controlling images both legitimise and attach processes of racialization to specific ethnic groups. The aim is to capture and make visible the complexity and nuances that characterise these forms of social categorisation.

Drawing on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted at two teacher education programmes, this poster presents my initial analytical findings. The analysis indicates how teachers’ internal relations, social dynamics, and cultural logics contribute to maintaining exclusionary practices and negative perceptions of ethnic minoritized pupils. The analysis shows how school placements and student teachers’ encounters with experienced teachers and teacher educators are shaped by hierarchies of experience that, through processes of power, function as controlling images. These controlling images shape what is perceived as legitimate knowledge and truth within the educational context, thereby contributing to the reproduction of negative ethnic racialized perceptions about pupils

This study explores how teachers in rural schools in Kazakhstan design and lead Positive Peace Education (PPE) initiatives, and how these initiatives contribute to addressing direct, structural, and cultural forms of violence in their school communities. The study forms part of a wider 2.5-year international research project on PPE in Kazakhstan, and this particular paper presents one in-depth strand of analysis developed from that larger programme of research. While educational reforms in many contexts are often implemented through top-down policies and standardized programmes, this study focuses on teacher-led, bottom-up transformation through action research.

The main research question guiding this paper is: How do rural teachers enact agency through Positive Peace Education to identify and address direct, structural, and cultural violence in their school contexts?

This question is further explored through the following sub-questions:

1. How do rural teachers conceptualize and experience different forms of violence in their everyday school practices?
2. In what ways does PPE influence teachers’ pedagogical approaches, particularly in shifting from punitive to relational practices?
3. How does participation in PPE action research reshape teachers’ understandings of their professional role and agency?

By focusing on rural teachers’ lived experiences, the paper challenges deficit narratives that often position rural schools as lacking capacity and instead highlights teachers as key agents of peace-oriented change.

The study is grounded in Johan Galtung’s (1969) theory of positive and negative peace, which distinguishes between the absence of direct violence (negative peace) and the presence of social justice, equity, and supportive relationships (positive peace). Galtung’s conceptualization of direct, structural, and cultural violence provides the main analytical lens for understanding educational inequalities and everyday school practices.

Structural violence refers to systemic inequalities embedded in social, political, and economic structures that limit individuals’ opportunities. In education, this includes disparities in school resources, teacher distribution, infrastructure, and access to quality learning, particularly evident in rural contexts. Cultural violence involves cultural norms, language, ideologies, and practices that legitimize or normalize inequality, exclusion, and symbolic harm, such as stigmatization of students or devaluation of rural knowledge.

Building on Galtung, the paper draws on the work of Cremin and Bevington (2017) and Cremin and Leighton (2022), who conceptualize Positive Peace Education as an educational approach that promotes empathy, care, inclusion, critical reflection, and active citizenship across multiple levels: inner peace (wellbeing), relational peace (interpersonal relationships), community peace (social participation), and ecological peace.

This framework allows the study to move beyond a narrow focus on conflict resolution and instead examine how teachers engage with deeper, often normalized forms of violence embedded in school cultures and structures. PPE is therefore understood not as a fixed programme, but as a relational and reflective process that enables teachers to recognize violence, question taken-for-granted practices, and enact context-sensitive change.

Although the empirical context is Kazakhstan, the study speaks to broader European and international debates on educational inequality, rural education, teacher agency, and peace education. Rural-urban disparities, deficit discourses around rural schools, and pressures of standardization are common challenges across many European education systems. The findings contribute to international scholarship by demonstrating how teacher-led, low-cost, and relational approaches can foster meaningful change in under-resourced contexts.

By foregrounding teacher agency and action research, this paper aligns with European priorities around democratic education, professional autonomy, wellbeing, inclusion, and social justice. It offers PPE as a transferable framework for educators and policymakers seeking sustainable, context-sensitive alternatives to technocratic or compliance-driven reforms, particularly in marginalized or rural settings.

What meaning do minority ethnic parents’ generational status, socioeconomic and ethnic background, and gender have for their parenting practices and home–school relationships? This question frames a newly initiated PhD project, which this poster presentation introduces.

Situated within a Danish educational context, the project aims to generate knowledge about how minority ethnic parents across generational position, social and ethnic background, and gender experience their relationships with the Danish public school. The project explores similarities and differences between first- and second-generation minority ethnic parents’ approaches to parenting, schooling, and their relationships with the school. According to the national objectives for the Danish public school, schools are expected to challenge all pupils to reach their full potential and to reduce the impact of social background on academic achievement. These objectives reflect politically defined visions of equal opportunities and participation for all pupils. However, qualitative research on minority ethnic pupils demonstrates that they experience unequal opportunities for participation, and that an important reason for this is that teachers—often contrary to their intentions—approach minority ethnic pupils through racialised understandings and low expectations.

The Danish Public School Act states that the school’s mandate must be fulfilled in cooperation with parents. Research on minority ethnic pupils’ school experiences can therefore not stand alone but must also include an examination of minority parents’ relationships with the school. There is broad agreement among researchers that strong home–school relationships are important for pupils’ schooling, development, and well-being. Accordingly, the project has a dual research focus: first, to examine home–school relationships across first- and second-generation minority ethnic parents; and second, to investigate whether similar racialising processes shape teachers’ relationships with parents.

Previous research on home–school relationships has primarily focused on first-generation minority ethnic parents and has often framed these relationships as problematic from the school’s perspective. Challenges have frequently been explained by reference to parents’ cultural background or assumed lack of resources and language skills. A growing group of minority ethnic parents in the Danish public school consists of second-generation parents—individuals who were born in Denmark or have lived most of their lives there. These parents are generally assumed to have stronger linguistic and cultural prerequisites for engaging with the school than the first generation. Nevertheless, there is a significant need for deeper insight into home–school relationships across both first- and second-generation minority ethnic parents if schools are to live up to democratic ideals of equal opportunities for all pupils and parents, regardless of background.

The project is theoretically grounded in Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of education and his concepts of field, habitus, and capital. These concepts are used to analyse the conditions that first- and second-generation minority ethnic parents bring into the school, as well as the taken-for-granted assumptions and unwritten norms embedded in the school as an institution that may shape unequal opportunities for parental participation. Intersectional perspectives are integrated into Bourdieu’s framework to account for how multiple categories—such as gender, socioeconomic background, and ethnicity—intersect in shaping parents’ conditions for participation in home–school relationships.

1. Relevance of the Topic: Inclusion and Participation in Cooperative Learning

The Global Sustainability Goals call for inclusive, equitable, and high-quality education for all (Reich, 2018). Inclusion is “an unending process of increasing learning and participation for all students” (Booth & Ainscow, 2002, p. 2). Yet it is still a long way to go: Empirical research not only shows that learning results depend on students’ social background (e.g., OECD, 2023), but also that classroom participation is often unequal: Students with low peer status or cultural capital participate less frequently (Black, 2004; Cohen et al., 1999). Cooperative learning methods are considered promising for reducing these inequalities (Thäle, 2019). Yet, empirical studies on how and under what conditions cooperative learning actually involves all students in cognitive activity and engagement with the subject matter are lacking. Our research project addresses this gap by analyzing the micro-level of co-constructive interaction processes in classroom discussions.

2. Defining Participation: A Didactic and Instructional Perspective on Cooperative Group Research

Participation is understood here as necessary involvement and opportunities for co-creation within classroom interaction processes (Frohn et al., 2019). As a reference, the “Didactic Model for Inclusive Teaching and Learning (DiMiLL)” emphasizes two dimensions:

Subject-didactic: Enabling societal participation through learning content concerning societal key issues (Buck & Breidbach, 2019; Klafki, 2007).

Instructional Perspective: Active involvement of all students in co-constructive interactions, e.g., through cooperative learning methods (Buck & Breidbach, 2019; Klafki, 2007).

Our study examines student participation in a cooperative group investigation setting (Sharan & Sharan, 1990) focusing on sustainability in a social studies class at a German comprehensive school (lower secondary education).

3. Research Questions: Exploring Participation in Co-Constructive Interaction Processes

The poster will present the background and study design as well as findings from the first step of our analysis of the video data and focus on the following key research question:

• Who participates how, when, and why (not) during classroom discussions in an 8th grade social science class?

Thus, we aim to uncover not only the patterns of participation in classroom discourse, but also the deeper mechanisms and contextual factors that shape students' engagement in collaborative learning environments.

Gender education in higher education is often confined to specialized courses or treated as an abstract social issue detached from students’ everyday experiences. In contrast, tourism and travel are widely perceived as leisure activities, rarely recognized as pedagogical resources for critical reflection. This study explores an interdisciplinary general education course that brings gender education and cultural tourism into dialogue, positioning tourism experiences as meaningful learning materials for gender awareness and social reflection.

The research is situated in a team-taught general education course that integrates gender studies and tourism studies. The course was designed around a photo-narrative pedagogy, encouraging students to engage with gender issues through their own tourism-related experiences. Students were invited to document cultural tourism sites through photography and to construct narrative reflections that articulate their observations of gender roles, stereotypes, power relations, and social inequalities encountered in tourism contexts. These photo narratives were further discussed through structured classroom dialogue and peer interaction, allowing students to collectively reflect on how gender is socially constructed and performed within cultural and touristic spaces.

The study addresses the following research questions:
(1) How does an interdisciplinary “gender × tourism” general education course contribute to students’ gender awareness and reflective capacity?
(2) How do students construct and articulate gender-related meanings through photo-narrative learning activities based on tourism experiences?
(3) What pedagogical possibilities and constraints emerge when photo-narrative methods are integrated into gender education within general education curricula?

Conceptually, the study draws on theories of informal and experiential learning, viewing learning as an interpretive process emerging from lived experience, dialogue, and reflection rather than from content transmission alone. Gender is understood as socially constructed and continuously negotiated through everyday practices, including tourism and leisure activities. By situating gender learning within tourism contexts, the course seeks to bridge students’ personal experiences with broader social structures, enabling gender education to move beyond abstract concepts toward embodied and situated understanding.

You are warmly invited to attend this informal lunch session with experienced academics and the ERG co-convenors. We will help you chart your way through the conference program, understand the structure of EERA and how you can participate in the activities. It will be also a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow ‘emerging’ researchers.

During the event, you will have the opportunity to explore some of the themes below and network with other members of EERA teams at your table in order to learn more about ERG activities and EERA networks. Informal discussions with the experienced academics and co-convenors will ensure crucial insights.

The concept of educational continuity is key with reference to educational consistency and coherence within single institutions and in transitions across early childhood education and care (ECEC) and compulsory school education (CSE). Educational continuity has come to the fore in the current pedagogical debate, benefiting from theoretical endorsement and empirical evidence concerning child development and early learning both nationally and worldwide (Balduzzi, 2021). At the institutional level, several national and international documents underscore its social and pedagogical relevance (Italian Ministerial Circular 339/92; OECD, 2017; Council of Europe, 2019).

Research shows that in transitions within ECEC and between ECEC and CSE vertical educational continuity is a shared responsibility of education practitioners, who should negotiate common approaches and act jointly adopting a reflective stance (Lazzari et al., 2020; Ackesjö, 2014). What single professionals contribute to the dialogue on the curriculum, educational coherence, transitions and discontinuities within and among institutions is central to the design and implementation of coherent and effective practices of vertical continuity. Consistently, a significant number of European studies focus on professionals’ narratives, experiences, beliefs, and representations (Rantavuori et al., 2017), but few have been carried out in the Italian context (Balduzzi et al., 2019).

Italy is endeavouring to gradually move away from a split system towards a recently established integrated system for ages 0-6 (Decree Law 65/17), which is followed by a first cycle of education for ages 6-14. In region Emilia-Romagna, as in other areas, there is a vast majority of state-run primary schools (ages 6-11); two or more of these are typically combined with one state-run lower secondary school and a variable number of state-run preschools (ages 3-6) into comprehensive institutes with a view to vertical continuity from ages 3-14 (Ministerial Decree 176/97). These unified institutes are now the most common form of first-cycle educational institution in Italy, but they also welcome students from non-state preschools, which are numerically significant (e.g., approximately 50% of all preschools in Emilia-Romagna). In several areas, the system is thus marked by equally sizeable but fundamentally different parallel tracks for ages 3-6. In addition, all the children entering preschool after attending nursery school come from non-state institutes with diverse governance models (i.e. local authorities and the private sector), adding to the overall complexity.

This multi-perspectival IPA study (Smith et al., 2009) focuses on the professional experiences narrated by educators (age group 0-3) and teachers (age groups 3-6 and 6+) who conceive of, design, and implement vertical educational continuity in a specific District of the Emilia-Romagna region. Which are the actors and actants in their narratives, and what role do they play? What meanings, emotions and beliefs are associated with the idea, practices, and institutional recommendations/provisions pertaining to vertical continuity? What can be learned by analysing the life stories (Bertaux, 2005) of professionals who work at different levels of the system, in diverse settings, but are nevertheless locally required to purposefully interact to design and implement vertical educational continuity?

Underscoring the significance of individual experiences and interpretations, findings aim to delve into the role played by personal views and epistemic beliefs in shaping professional stances and relationships that are key to effective educational continuity. The in-depth analysis of life stories will contribute insights from the Italian context to the ongoing international academic dialogue and provide valuable knowledge that can inform educational and training practices, as well as institutional decision-making processes. From a transformative perspective, this study also aims to give voice to professionals, supporting reflection (Schön, 1987) and fostering a deeper dialogue on continuity among the educational community at large.

This research focuses on professional learning of experienced Mid-Career teachers, conducting long-term study leave for their professional growth. The need for professional learning is being emphasized internationally: “… the world of education and training is changing, and so is the occupation of teachers and trainers, with increasing demands, responsibilities and expectations” (Official Journal of the European Union, 2020) We are facing various global challenges which young generations must confront in the future and find solutions for them. As a result, the content of school education is expanding beyond typical capacities of teachers.

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 2012 p.2) emphasizes: “To respond to the rapidly changing demands of society …, teachers must possess a spirit of inquiry and remain continuous learners.” and “It is necessary to construct institutional mechanisms that enable teachers to maintain a commitment to ongoing learning across the span of their professional lives.” Also, The Act on Special Measures concerning Education Personnel (Japan, Act No.1 of 1949) clearly articulates the necessity for teachers to engage in continuous professional development in Japan.

However, this begets a fundamental question: Is more learning what is actually needed for teachers now? If so, how can teachers, especially experienced-teachers, learn more positively? Demonstrable willingness and intrinsic motivation to engage in learning is crucial for the success of professional development programs (cf. Liu, Li & Zou, 2016). My personal experience as a teacher in Japan supports this too. Creagh and colleagues(2023) have shown that teachers’ work has become increasingly demanding due to both heavy workload and intensified work practices. Something may need to be done before they engage in professional learning. They are often compelled—through policy directives—to participate in mandated professional development and often treated like ‘dry sponges’ and expected to quickly absorb new knowledge and skills. However, this mindset is questionable when promoting or planning professional learning programs. UNESCO(2024) reports that excessive workload and expanding role expectations limit teachers’ access to professional learning opportunities. We should regard them as ‘sponges filled with water’. Teachers, especially mid-career teachers, have much experience, skills and knowledge. Clearly, the first thing they must do is to squeeze water out of the sponge.

　A teacher’s length of service is not necessarily proportional to their level of pedagogical skill or knowledge. It is worth considering the characteristics of teachers' work from the perspective of overlearning. While overlearning enhances retention, accuracy and automaticity by continued practice, it may hinder flexible transfer or deeper conceptual understanding.(Schön,1983) When applied to the teaching profession, these insights suggest that years of accumulated classroom routines may solidify into automatic practices that teachers rarely question, even when these routines no longer correspond to the diverse, complex demands of contemporary schooling. (Berliner, 2001) In this sense, professional experience can paradoxically become a barrier to growth. Huberman (1993) demonstrates that experienced teachers frequently reach a crossroads in their careers, where accumulated experience may lead either to professional renewal or to increased caution, stagnation, and distancing from further growth.

This research aims to examine long-term study leave as a form of professional development. Taking a long-term professional learning course and having an extended period allows them to thoroughly reflect on their teaching experience (Darling-Hammond et al. 2017). Additionally, by conducting research that links this experiential knowledge with theory and critically examines it, teachers can discover both their past selves and who they should become. Furthermore, this research seeks to generate insights into the development of more effective professional learning frameworks for teachers by conducting an analysis with the current in-service teacher learning systems in Japan.

This study is part of a doctoral research project on school practices in vocational education and training (VET) in Iceland. The aim of the overall project is to explore school practices in VET in Iceland, with particular attention to recent shifts in student demographics.
The specific part of the project, presented hereafter, aims to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of three school practices for addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse student body, with particular focus on the role and autonomy of teachers. This is a work in progress.
Traditionally, vocational students in Iceland have been older than other upper secondary school students, with an average age of 25, compared with 19 for other students (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 2014). Still, the number of 16–19-year-old vocational students has increased over the last few years. At the same time, the number of students aged 26 and older has remained high, while the number of students aged 20-25 has declined (Statistics Iceland, 2025), resulting in even greater diversity in students' ages and prior experiences. This is especially important in Iceland, where younger and older students in VET are often taught together.
Also, school practices have recently been changing in many VET programs in Iceland towards: (a) More project-oriented learning, even on an individual basis, and (b) Shorter length of study units, for example, with each unit lasting half a semester (with students taking 3 units at a time) or each unit lasting 3 weeks (with students taking 1 unit at a time).
Bernstein's (2000) code theory underpins the study's theoretical approach. It provides a means to examine the relationships between power and knowledge. This theory is suitable for this study because it offers the researcher a lens for examining and describing power relations within the social environment.
Morais and Neves’s (2004, 2010) pedagogic practice model is used to interpret the findings in this study. The model focuses on how teachers can optimize learning using Bernstein’s concepts of classification and framing. Morais and Neves identified the characteristics of teaching methods used by teachers who create the best conditions for compulsory school students from diverse social backgrounds to acquire science knowledge and skills. Their studies demonstrated that effective school practices can mitigate or eliminate the impact of social background on academic performance. They emphasize the importance of clear boundaries and explicit instructional practices to support student engagement and achievement.
The main research question of this study is: How do different school practices affect the role and autonomy of teachers to address the needs of students?

Background / Context

LGBTQ+ inclusive education in Irish primary schools is developing at a moment of curricular change and rising socio-political tension. While the redeveloped SPHE curriculum foregrounds, for the first time, explicit learning related to LGBTQ+ inclusion, these policy developments are not without significant tensions. Teachers work within cultural and school environments shaped by newly emerging heteroactivist discourses that mobilise child protection, parental rights and social stability to oppose LGBTQ+ education (Nash & Browne, 2020). Such narratives intersect with longstanding discourses of childhood innocence, which frame LGBTQ+ content as inherently sensitive or inappropriate for primary-aged children (Neary & Rasmussen, 2020), and with reactionary uses of secularism and pluralism that recast resistance in ostensibly neutral, rights-based terms (Kitching, 2024). These dynamics shape teachers’ preparedness which is tentatively conceptualised as a multidimensional capacity that brings together teachers’ knowledge, pedagogical judgment, emotional readiness and navigation of institutional conditions so they can engage confidently and critically with LGBTQ+-inclusive teaching. However, in this broader context, teacher preparedness emerges not as an individual trait but as a socially situated process shaped by competing political, cultural and social discourses.

Aim / Objectives / Purpose

This study aims to explore the personal, structural and discursive factors that influence Irish primary teachers’ preparedness for LGBTQ+-inclusive education. Drawing on Queer Theory and a critical interpretivist approach, the project explores how teachers interpret LGBTQ+ education, navigate tensions between policy and practice, and make professional decisions within contemporary socio-political conditions. Primary Research Question: How do Irish primary teachers experience and interpret LGBTQ+ education within the current curricular, social and political landscape?

The philosophy of immanence of Deleuze and Guattari and Barad’s new materialism temporarily gather in a togethering play. Thinking with the concepts and diffracting, I believe that life is material and discursive, social and natural at the same time, as therefore is career learning. There are no “foundational texts” (Murris and Bozalek, 2019a), which would presuppose hierarchical arborescent order, therefore philosophical works, interviews with the students and career development theoryandpractice are read through one another, which can be referred to as diffraction (Barad, 2014). Though this article focuses on human activity, it is an attempt to shift the attention to the process of career learning, constant becoming, connections and intra-action, to the rhizomatic nature of career learning, entanglements with human and non-human entities. Affected by post-structuralist and the new materialist concepts I find myself in a creative journey of thinking differently, driven by desire and curiosity. Could life be the rhizome, a network of connections without hierarchy, without centre? Then, can career learning be a plateau that constitutes and continues the life-rhizome? Also, I engage in thinking with Barad’s relational ontology, concepts of entanglement and intra-action. The reading is an encounter with what MacLure (2017) calls data’s “bad behaviour” – any pre-thought suppositions blur, forcing emergent thought through intra-action. I become allured by the “glow” (MacLure, 2017).

The idea of pre-given tools, pure methods and prescribed stages is incommensurable with post-qualitative research. Instead, it is viewed as experimentation (Murris and Bozalek, 2019b), engagement in a creative process (St. Pierre, 2021), wonderings (Sheehan, 2022) “reimagining what a method may do” (St. Pierre, 2016), where “we know the world because we are of the world” (Barad, 2007). Diffractive analysis aims at new different knowledge creation (Mazzei, 2014), generating fresh insights as well as rich speculations (Fox and Alldred, 2023); rearranging, playing, disturbing, generating new questions (Murris and Zhao, 2022) instead of describing, categorizing the world. Therefore, the purpose is to produce different knowledge about students’ career learning through diffractive analysis and thinking with theory. This includes questioning, rearranging and perturbation of traditional thinking about career learning through reading texts together with and through one another. These are the questions that drive the work in different directions:

➢ How do post-structuralist and new materialist concepts work for career learning?

➢ What difference may be produced through diffraction?

Along with the questions that move thinking in different directions, I cut-in with doubts/emerging questions/encounters in the process and re-turn to them later on.

This research project examines how young children perceive and experience kindergarten spaces. The aim is to make children’s voices central to understanding and redesigning early learning environments. While traditional educational research often prioritises adult perspectives when defining the quality and function of educational spaces, this project highlights children as active social agents and 'experts in their own lives', whose spatial experiences provide valuable insights into the quality, meaning and use of kindergarten environments. The project adopts the Mosaic research approach, a participatory, multi-method methodology developed by Alison Clark and Peter Moss that systematically integrates children’s voices into qualitative research.
This project is theoretically grounded in interpretivist and participatory paradigms, which assert that children can meaningfully contribute to the research process and that their subjective experiences are essential for understanding social phenomena such as space and place. This perspective aligns with Clark’s position that children should be recognised as competent meaning-makers whose perspectives can and should influence research outcomes and subsequent practice.
A central concept guiding the research is the Mosaic approach: an innovative methodology designed to engage young children in research in ways that respect their modes of expression and communication. Developed by Alison Clark and Peter Moss, the Mosaic approach uses multiple participatory tools, including photographs taken by the children, child-led tours, drawing and map-making, interviews and observations, to compile a 'mosaic' of data pieces that together reflect the polyvocal and multimodal nature of children’s experiences. Rather than relying solely on verbal reporting, this approach integrates visual, spatial, narrative and action-based data, enabling children to express their perspectives in ways that are authentic to their developmental capacities.That strongly corresponds with ECER’s theme - Knowing and Acting: The changing conditions and potentials of education research.
The Mosaic framework is underpinned by a commitment to ethical listening and respectful engagement, ensuring that participation is voluntary and that children’s contributions are taken seriously in both data generation and interpretation. This is conceptually anchored in broader debates in childhood studies about children’s participation, agency, and rights, and draws on constructivist understandings of knowledge as co-constructed between researchers and participants.
The framework is further informed by relational theories of space and place, which conceptualise educational environments as dynamic assemblages of material, social, and symbolic dimensions. This perspective resonates with internationally influential pedagogical traditions such as Reggio Emilia, where space is described as a “third teacher,” and supports comparative analysis across European contexts.
By integrating participatory methodology with spatial and childhood theory, the research offers a theoretically robust and internationally relevant approach to understanding kindergarten spaces. It contributes to European debates on democratic education, inclusive design, and child participation, while generating knowledge that is transferable across national and cultural boundaries.

Feedback in higher education is often framed as either as information (transmission model) or a process (dialogic or learning model), both falling into performative notions of learning as qualification (improving learning outcomes). In both cases, feedback risks becoming detached from the relational, ethical, and affective dimensions of education. This ignite talk reimagines feedback as a relational practice: not something done to students, but something co-created with them through dialogic encounters that are situated, embodied, and authentic.

Drawing on critiques of the (neo-)“banking model” of education (Freire, 1970) and of the self-regulated neoliberal individual (Gourlay, 2015), this ignite talk challenges dominant feedback discourses that focus on equipment logics (feedback literacy as skills). Instead, it positions feedback as lived “happenings” that are socially and materially situated, and which act as beginnings for students to take up or reject, creating an opening for students’ response-ability. From this perspective, feedback is neither neutral nor purely cognitive; it is shaped by power, positionality, emotions, histories, and forces surrounding these feedback encounters.

This ignite talk is theoretically grounded in relational pedagogies (Gravett, 2022 ; Gravett and Carless, 2023) and empirically supported by my completed doctoral research (Passeport, 2025). It attends to the ways in which human and non-human elements (bodies, positionalities, assessment artefacts, digital platforms, physical spaces, timescapes) become entangled in feedback practices. These assemblages influence how feedback is encountered, interpreted, taken up, or resisted. Following this, the session foregrounds the ethical and political work of feedback, including whose voices are legitimised, whose emotions are managed or silenced, and how responsibility is distributed between students, educators, and institutions.

The study was carried out in the Netherlands and is relevant to international Higher Education Institutions. The participants were a mis of domestic and international students, showing differences in experiences.

In the Czech context, school grammar has traditionally held a relatively strong position and is taught systematically, often in greater detail than in many Anglophone educational contexts (Hudson, 2016). At the same time, curriculum and pedagogy have been moving towards a more functional view of language teaching, in which grammatical knowledge is expected to support meaning-making, communication, and work with texts rather than being an end in itself. This aligns with current debates in L1 grammar education, which increasingly focus less on whether grammar should be taught and more on how it should be explained, organised, and pedagogically sequenced (Hudson, 2016; Camps & Fontich, 2019; Myhill & Watson, 2014).

However, curricula often formulate competence-oriented aims without an explicit conceptual structure or clear guidance on learning progression. This increases the importance of textbooks and raises demands on teachers when translating the intended curriculum into classroom practice (Myhill & Watson, 2014). In Czech Language and Literature, expected outcomes are phrased in relatively general terms and the sequencing of grammatical concepts across grades is only weakly specified; textbooks therefore co-determine which model of “school grammar” reaches pupils and what teachers rely on in instruction. Together with selected didactic publications for teachers, textbooks act as key knowledge resources, connecting knowing (teachers’ conceptual tools) with teaching (how these tools become explanations and tasks).

This is particularly visible in the teaching of verbal tense. Tense is typically introduced early because it is assumed to be intuitively accessible; however, misconceptions may develop. Pupils often learn “tense” as a set of forms, but then encounter cases in which temporal meaning cannot be inferred directly from form, especially in expressing future time. Without an early grasp of the verbal aspect (Czech slovesný vid) as a contrast between ongoing or unfinished events and completed or bounded events, explanations of tense may remain abstract and internally inconsistent.

Pupils commonly use verbal-aspect distinctions in communication before they can name them explicitly. Verbal aspect can therefore serve as a bridge between implicit linguistic competence and explicit grammatical knowledge. At the same time, it places demands on teachers’ professional knowledge as it requires translating a meaning contrast into accessible explanations and tasks. Nevertheless, primary-level textbooks often explain future time in vague terms, such as “some verbs form the future using present-tense forms”, and postpone a more systematic treatment of verbal aspect.

The presentation examines how Czech language textbooks for Grades 4–6 conceptualise verbal categories, with particular attention to explanations of future time and an implicit (unnamed) verbal-aspect principle. It explores what consequences this may have for pupils’ concept formation and teachers’ capacity to provide coherent explanations within a competence-oriented curriculum.

Research questions (RQ)
RQ1: How do textbooks for Grades 4–6 introduce and sequence key verbal categories (tense, mood, and related concepts), and what picture of the verbal system do they convey to pupils?
RQ2: How do textbooks explain future time, and to what extent do they use or replace verbal aspect (ongoing vs. completed event meaning) to account for different ways of expressing the future?
RQ3: What didactic implications does this conceptualisation have for pupils’ understanding and for teachers’ capacity to provide coherent explanations in the context of curricular change?

This study analyses the social interactions between schoolchildren in their mother tongue, known as A Fala, and a dominant European language, such as Spanish. The sample includes all the pupils at the public school in Valverde del Fresno, specifically 39 participants from pre-school education and 101 informants from primary education, which provides a representative sample of all educational stages. The approach used in this study is qualitative, applying an ethnographic method and obtaining information from participant observation in the field of study. The results reveal that language is influenced by power dynamics and school standardisation, which limits its ability to meet the challenges it currently faces. Likewise, the resistance of certain educational actors to the mechanisms of control and social oppression established in educational institutions is observed. This leads to the deterioration of multilingual education, which has consequences for students' full access to the linguistic repertoire.

On the other hand, research reveals that schools facilitate processes of acculturation and linguistic standardisation, as well as guiding students' behaviour towards the acquisition of the dominant culture. This practice reflects the position adopted by modern schools throughout the 19th century and until the last third of the 20th century, as they established and consolidated themselves as assimilationist and homogenising institutions. In other words, it became a centralist instrument of nation building that diminished the visibility of minorities and almost always marginalised many regional voices, languages and cultures (Beniscelli et al., 2019; García-García and Rina Simón, 2023; Gellner, 1983; Guo & Maitra, 2017; Hobsbawm, 1992; Tröhler, 2020, 2023). Thus, the centralised and standardising school of the modern era has been largely responsible for fostering linguistic and identity conflicts, especially where two different language repertoires coexisted.

In a context of multilingualism and multiculturalism such as the one described above, there is a need to explore the changes in linguistic register that students make between a vernacular variety, A Fala, and a hegemonic language, Spanish. The aim is to analyse how students in schools are taught a second language to be used in a completely separate way from what is known as their mother tongue (García & Otheguy, 2020). Therefore, this study seeks to analyse how learners establish different levels of interaction between two linguistic varieties with unequal consideration, arising from processes of linguistic discrimination. In other words, it seeks to understand how children activate their choice of language and its linguistic features according to the contextual factors, both formal and informal, to which they are subjected.

The framework from which to proceed addresses, the coexistence of two languages in the north of the province of Cáceres (Extremadura), on the border with Portugal (Xálima region), where there is a shared repertoire among the members of a community, both linguistic and extralinguistic in nature, which is the cumulative result of their negotiations (Meyerhoff & Strycharz, 2013). This pretext refers to the Fala de Xálima, a variety used by fewer than 3,700 speakers in three villages: San Martín de Trevejo, Eljas and Valverde del Fresno (Dondelewski, 2024). It is therefore a very small and compact linguistic community (Valeš, 2017), characterised by the use of three main varieties: mañego in San Martín de Trevejo, valverdeñu in Valverde and lagarteiro in Eljas. Differences between the three varieties still persist today.

In this study, I examine how the role of written language is reflected in early foreign language education. Foreign languages have been taught in all Finnish schools since spring 2020, starting in the first grade. Based on previous studies (e.g., Hahl et al., 2020), some teachers have been uncertain about the appropriate working methods for early foreign language teaching. Some have expressed concern that not all 1st and 2nd grade students can read and write yet – previously, foreign language teaching mainly began in 3rd grade, when most students were already literate. On the other hand, some teachers have stated that written language is not necessary in early language education.

The Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (EDUFI, 2016) gives teachers room for interpretation. In early language teaching, the description of the curriculum content and objectives covers grades 1–2. According to the curriculum, early language teaching should emphasize oral interaction and diverse, functional learning. Opportunities to become familiar with the written language should also be provided, and pupils should be gradually encouraged to read and write in the foreign language. However, pupils are not required to have reading or writing skills at the beginning of foreign language education.

This study is part of the second article of my doctoral dissertation, which continues the theme of my first article on the role of written language in early language education. My dissertation is part of a larger research project that examines teachers' perceptions of multiliteracies and how these perceptions are reflected in teaching practices in early foreign language education.

In my first article (Hakola, draft), I studied teachers' views on written language in first-grade foreign language teaching based on teacher interviews. The teachers interpreted and implemented the "gradual introduction to written language" aspect of the curriculum in different ways, which were divided into three groups: 1) written language is a natural part of diverse language teaching, 2) written language is visible, but reading and writing are not emphasized, and 3) written language does not belong in foreign language teaching in the first grade. The study also highlighted the role of written language as a calming activity or alternative when functionality fails.

Teachers' views on teaching, language teaching, and learning have a significant impact on what their teaching looks like in practice (Krogager & Andersen 2021). In this study, I focus on classroom observation data to examine how the role of written language is reflected in foreign language teaching practice. To achieve this, I will answer the following research questions:

1. How and to what extent does written target language appear in foreign language lessons in grade 1?

1. How are teachers' perceptions of the role of written target language reflected in their teaching practices?

In the context of accelerating digital transformation, digital competence has become a core requirement for higher education teachers, particularly for teacher educators responsible for preparing future teachers. European research has provided conceptual foundations for influential frameworks addressing teachers’ digital competence, such as TPACK and DigCompEdu. More recently, the HeDiCom framework has been proposed to capture the specific digital competence requirements of higher education teachers (Tondeur et al., 2023). Despite their widespread use in European contexts, qualitative evidence remains limited regarding how these conceptualisations are enacted in professional practice beyond Europe, particularly within policy-driven higher education systems. This study addresses this gap by adopting HeDiCom as an analytical lens to examine how teacher educators enact digital competence as professional practice in Vietnamese higher education. Digital competence is conceptualised not as a static set of individual skills but as a situated professional practice enacted through pedagogical judgement, decision-making, and action (Krumsvik, 2014; Uerz et al., 2018; Tondeur et al., 2023). This perspective is complemented by professional agency, defined as teacher educators’ capacity to enact HeDiCom competencies while navigating institutional expectations, policy demands, and material conditions.

The study builds on preliminary survey evidence indicating recurring challenges related to infrastructure, workload, and pedagogical integration among teacher educators across Vietnamese universities. However, these findings did not elucidate how teacher educators experience, interpret, and respond to such conditions in everyday practice. Accordingly, a qualitative, multi-site design centred on in-depth interviews was employed. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with fifteen teacher educators (five per institution) from three major Vietnamese universities of teacher education: Hanoi National University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, and the University of Danang – University of Science and Education. These institutions were selected as analytically contrasting sites within a shared national policy framework for digital transformation, rather than for regional comparison. Participants were purposively selected to capture diversity in academic qualifications, length of professional service, teaching experience, and engagement with digital teaching. Interview questions were aligned with the four HeDiCom domains—teaching practice, empowering students for a digital society, teachers’ digital literacy, and teachers’ professional development—alongside prompts on professional agency and institutional conditions. Data were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2012), combining deductive coding informed by HeDiCom with inductive coding to identify emergent patterns of agency and constraint.

The findings indicate that teacher educators demonstrate awareness of the pedagogical potential of digital technologies and a sense of professional responsibility for developing students’ digital competence. However, the enactment of HeDiCom competencies is shaped by institutional conditions, including intensified workloads, limited time for professional learning, fragmented digital infrastructure, and ambiguous organisational expectations regarding digital innovation. Under these conditions, professional agency is frequently expressed in adaptive or compliance-oriented forms, with teacher educators selectively integrating digital technologies at a manageable level rather than engaging in more transformative practice. Digital competence thus emerges not as an individual skills deficit but as a negotiated professional practice embedded in everyday academic work.

By applying a European digital competence framework to a non-European higher education context, the study advances a practice-oriented understanding of digital competence and strengthens dialogue between European digital competence research and global higher education contexts. The findings also contribute to methodological discussions by demonstrating how a multi-site qualitative design can capture the interplay between policy, institutional conditions, and professional agency.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought in irreversible changes in learning and teaching processes, prompting a re-evaluation of teacher education globally. While this technological advancement is also celebrated for its potential to innovate teacher education, effective integration requires addressing the heterogeneity of the teaching workforce, which shapes how AI is adopted. Such a gap is significant for induction-phase teachers, who occupy a uniquely precarious position: they are expected to act as primary agents in translating AI-related policy ambitions into classroom practice due to their assumed technical familiarity, while simultaneously negotiating the ongoing formation and transforming their professional identity. As Tondeur et al. (2017) contend, perceived complexity and inadequate preparation present persistent hurdles among beginning teachers, and AI integration undoubtedly adds another layer of technological complexity to an already demanding transition.

Adaptive expertise, as the ability to flexibly respond to problems in novel, complex and changing contexts, is key to induction-phase teachers’ development (Rohwedder & Le Fevre, 2025). It helps teachers maintain consistent performance in new situations, such as flexibility, innovation, and creativity, which requires activities beyond the established routines (Cai et al., 2023; Ward et al., 2019). In the context of AI, where the technological landscape changes fundamentally, the complexity of classroom situations is in constant flux. In response, teachers with high adaptiveness will have knowledge that continuously grows and invent new procedures when necessary (Bohle-Carbonell et al., 2014; Hatano and Oura, 2003).

Previous studies using TAE as a framework in AI-integrated contexts have not yet paid due attention to how induction-phase teachers construct adaptive expertise. Furthermore, most AI research tends to depict teacher development as a linear and top-down process, thereby overlooking the heterogeneity of teachers’ backgrounds, experiences, and professional trajectories (Liu & Shang, 2025). This study addresses these gaps by conceptualising TE as a process that requires contextualised and individualised customisation to teachers’ diverse needs. To this end, the research adopts a qualitative case study approach, guided by the following three research questions:

(1) How do induction-phase teachers currently use AI in curriculum and schooling in China?

(2) What new competencies does AI integration into education require of induction-phase teachers?

(3) How can teacher training address the newly developing needs for induction-phase teachers?

Drawing on a multiple case study conducted in China, this chapter investigates induction-phase teachers’ experience of AI integration into teaching, factors shaping their practice, and these teachers’ developmental needs. Primarily using the interview data, triangulated with self-report questionnaires and stimulated recalls, the study finds that, while beginning teachers initially demonstrate a relatively cautious and pragmatic orientation towards AI adoption, their attitudes shift positively with increased exposure. Furthermore, the study identifies teacher autonomy, emotion regulation, pedagogical enactment, and deliberate practice as critical individual competencies contributing to teachers’ adaptive expertise. Additionally, collaborative and relational factors are essential for fostering required expertise. The chapter concludes with implications and recommendations for developing tech-enhanced language pedagogy and AI-focused teacher training in China and beyond.

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into education also in primary schools is fundamentally reshaping the skills required for future participation in work and society. Forecasts indicate that AI-dominated environments will significantly increase the demand for socio-emotional skills. Global labour market analyses predict that skills such as empathy, teamwork, emotional intelligence, creativity, and self-management will become increasingly essential across all industries. In response, educational systems face an urgent need to identify effective, scalable, and developmentally appropriate approaches for fostering socio-emotional learning (SEL) especially from early childhood.
A growing body of researchers and policymakers underscores the importance of SEL for individual well-being, educational achievement, and long-term career readiness. Prominent frameworks, including the OECD Social and Emotional Skills Framework and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework, conceptualize SEL as a multidimensional construct encompassing self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making, emotional regulation, collaboration, and open-mindedness. Empirical studies further highlight that foundational socio-emotional competencies are especially critical during early primary school years.
Existing research has predominantly focused on school-based SEL programs implemented in pre-kindergarten to secondary education, including well-established interventions such as PATHS, MindUp, Open Circle, and Competent Kids, Caring Communities. While these programs demonstrate positive effects on children’s socio-emotional development, findings also emphasize the critical role of parental involvement in reinforcing SEL learning beyond the classroom. However, many parents report feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of learning materials and uncertain about which approaches are evidence-based, engaging, and appropriate for their children. This gap highlights the need for innovative SEL tools that are not only research-based, but also personlized and individual.
This study explores an innovative approach to socio-emotional learning by examining parents’ perceptions of hospitality-related children’s book stories adapted into interactive learning videos for children aged 5 to 7 years. Drawing on the service-oriented nature of the hospitality sector—where empathy, cooperation, respect, and care are central—the study positions hospitality-based narratives as a promising and underexplored context for fostering socio-emotional skills. The research’s objective is based on the following research questions:
RQ: How do parents evaluate and perceive innovative, interactive videos which have been developed based on research-based children book stories within an hospitality content environment, regarding its impact on learning socio-emotional skills of their 5-7 year old children.
The research is grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), which emphasizes the role of self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and personal goals in learning and development. Although traditionally applied to career development, SCCT is adapted in this study to examine how parents perceive their children’s socio-emotional learning.
A quantitative pre–post research design is employed using an online survey administered to parents both before and after viewing an interactive pilot video developed from the research-based picture book 'Dee and Flee in the Theme Park'. The questionnaire, consisting of ten items derived from SCCT constructs, measures parental perceptions of children’s socio-emotional self-efficacy, expected outcomes of SEL learning, and goal-oriented engagement. The study targets parents working in the hospitality and tourism sector as well as parents outside the sector, allowing for comparative analysis across professional contexts. Data collection is planned via Qualtrics, with a target sample size of 1,000 parents recruited through Prolific.
The findings are expected to provide insights into the perceived effectiveness of interactive, story-based learning tools for socio-emotional skill development and to assess the potential of hospitality-oriented narratives as a meaningful and scalable SEL approach. By integrating traditional picture books with immersive digital media, this research contributes to the advancement of innovative, parent-supported SEL interventions. The study offers implications for educators, parents, and policymakers seeking to prepare young learners for future careers and societal participation in an increasingly AI-driven world.

The research question is:
How and under what conditions do processes of resonance emerge as lived moments in classroom teaching, and how are they perceived, interpreted, and shaped in teachers’ pedagogical practice?

Introduction, Relevance, Research Gap, and State of Research

School is increasingly shaped by processes of acceleration, standardization, and performance orientation that characterize educational systems across Europe. Against this background, pedagogical approaches that foreground relational quality, meaning-making, and lived experience are gaining renewed relevance. Resonance pedagogy, grounded in the resonance theory of Hartmut Rosa (2016, 2019), conceptualizes education as a relational process characterized by mutual responsiveness, openness, and meaningful engagement between teachers, students, and the world.

This study investigates how resonance relationships are created, experienced, and disrupted in everyday classroom practice in primary schools. Focusing on teachers’ perspectives, it explores how resonance pedagogy becomes visible in pedagogical action and how teachers interpret and shape moments of resonance in their professional practice. Rather than examining specific instructional techniques, the study emphasizes relational dynamics, experiential dimensions of teaching, and conditions that enable or hinder resonant educational encounters.

The relevance of this topic lies in a growing body of European and international research demonstrating the importance of teacher–student relationships for learning, motivation, and well-being, particularly in contexts marked by institutional pressure and cultural heterogeneity. Resonance pedagogy offers a theoretically grounded counter-perspective to instrumental and outcome-driven models of education by emphasizing relational depth, responsiveness, and experiences of meaning. While resonance theory has gained considerable attention in educational discourse across Europe, empirical studies examining resonance pedagogy in classroom practice remain limited.

Existing contributions are predominantly theoretical or normative and provide little insight into how resonance is lived, negotiated, and interpreted by teachers in everyday school contexts. Consequently, resonance pedagogy lacks sufficient empirical grounding to inform teacher education and professional development at a European level. Addressing this gap, the present study employs qualitative interviews, research diaries, and participatory classroom observations to reconstruct teachers’ implicit orientations toward resonance and their pedagogical practices. By doing so, the study contributes empirically to current European debates on pedagogical professionalism, relational teaching, and meaningful education under conditions of social acceleration.

Theoretical Origins of Resonance Pedagogy

Resonance pedagogy is theoretically rooted in the resonance theory developed by Hartmut Rosa (2016, 2019), which conceptualizes resonance as a counter-concept to late-modern experiences of acceleration, alienation, and social exhaustion. Resonance refers to a “successful relationship to the world” characterized by mutual openness, responsiveness, and transformation. It is not understood as harmony or permanent positivity, but as a fragile and dynamic process that includes moments of disruption.

Applied to education, this perspective reframes teaching and learning not as processes of knowledge transmission but as relational and experiential events. Teaching becomes resonant when teachers and students respond authentically to one another and when subject matter mediates meaningful world relations. European scholars such as Beljan, Endres, and Winkler conceptualize schools as “spaces of resonance” and emphasize the relational quality of educational processes.

Although Rosa’s theory is sociological in origin, its foundations are deeply embedded in European philosophical and educational traditions. Relational conceptions of education can be traced back to Plato’s notion of pedagogical eros as well as to the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Otto Friedrich Bollnow, who emphasize emotional attunement, responsiveness, and enthusiasm in educational relationships. Phenomenological perspectives, particularly those of Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, further inform resonance pedagogy by highlighting embodied and affective dimensions of subject–world relations. Hermeneutic traditions and critical theories of alienation, especially Karl Marx’s concept of alienation, complement this framework by contrasting resonant with reified modes of relating to the world.

This proposal aims to deepen the theoretical understanding of subjectivity in education and explore how educational experiences shape its emergence. Subject, as commonly understood in the educational discourse, often focuses on the “self” and “I”, emphasizing how one might exist as the agent of one’s own life. Yet, less attention has been given to how subjectivity emerges and what it ought to be (Todd, 2023). In this regard, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s work could perhaps offers some important inspirations for discussion. For them, subjectivity is continually being produced, transformed, and assembled within capitalism (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983). Subjectivity thus is not a unified Self but “a product of individuals, groups, and institutions” (Guattari, 2000, p. 1), with a polyphonic, multicentred, heterogeneous character (Guattari, 1995). Subjectivity thus includes non- and pre-personal dimensions, shaped by flows of desire that exceed individual consciousness. The task, then, is not to reclaim an authentic self, but to understand the dynamic processes through which subjectivity takes form. As Guattari writes:

Thus, on the one hand there is the infantilization of the production of subjectivity, with the intense binarization of messages, uniformization and unidimensionization of relations to the world and, on the other, expansion of other non-denotative functions of language: the composition of rhythms and the unprecedented production of relations to the world. (Guattari, 2009, p. 74)

As the literature on educationalization suggests, education functions as a vital process in the formation of modern subjects, where social issues once framed as economic, political, or ethical are rearticulated in the educational discursive framework (Depaepe, 1997; Fendler, 2018). The subject thus becomes a battleground between the homogenizing power of capitalism and heterogeneity, mediated through mechanisms of social subjection and machinic enslavement (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983; Lazzarato, 2014). Countering these mechanisms, Deleuze and Guattari developed concepts that respond to and exceed dominant regimes of subjectivation. This proposal will also particularly focus on notions from Guattari’s work, such as metamodelization and the ethico-aesthetic paradigm, to articulate a more nuanced understanding of subjectivity’s capacity to invent new assemblages of meaning and modes of existence. Against this backdrop, this proposal asks: What does education uniquely possess that renders it reducible to the capitalist machine? What does it mean to be “educated”, instead of “educationalized”? What does education offer in the (re-)invention and (re-)singularization of subjectivity?

On the other hand, this proposal incorporates the theoretical perspective of curriculum as a crucial conceptual link between education and subjectivity. Curriculum theory, having undergone multiple transformation, most notably through the Reconceptualist movement in the U.S. context (Pinar, 1975, 2011, 2022), continues to evolve in its understanding of education. Curriculum theorizing entails “a form of practical-theoretical reason” (Pinar, 2004, p. 25) that rethinks experience and representation, treating curriculum as “texts, events, encounters, and experiences” that provoke pause, second thoughts, and the unlearning of memories that entangle us (Phelan, 2015, p. 5). In this sense, curriculum becomes a “complicated conversation,” an interdisciplinary ethical, political, and aesthetic undertaking that engages the entanglements of human agency, responsibility, society, and historical moments in relation to subjectivity. From this standpoint, curriculum theory is particularly suited to addressing the emergence of the “educated,” rather than the merely “educationalized,” subject. Integrating curriculum theory will thus be invaluable for illuminating the distinctive values that education holds for the shaping of subjectivity.

To summarize, this proposal will be guided by the following two research questions:

1. What is distinctive about education in the production of subjectivity today?

2. In the Hong Kong context, how does schooling creates conditions for the invention and singularization of students’ subjectivities?

My work examines love as a way of knowing, framed by epistemological considerations from a diversity and inclusion standpoint. It applies the findings in pedagogic contexts to support a revitalization of knowledge-making practices that address issues of epistemic injustice in classrooms and beyond.

The traditional western classroom operates on epistemological traditions that prioritize certain forms of knowledge over others, namely Descartes’s mind/body split (Paris & Winn, 2014) in a “banking” model of education that Freire critiques as "characteristic of the ideology of oppression” (Freire, 2017). Pedagogies that stem from these limited models of knowledge-making often alienate students who come from different epistemological backgrounds; as Junot Diaz wrote about the creative writing classroom in particular, “I was a person of color in a workshop whose theory of reality did not include my most fundamental experiences” (Chavez, 2021). This gestures to the need for not only radically inclusive practices that shift dynamics of privilege and marginalization but also distinct ways of knowing that honour other ways to be.

I use theoretical frameworks outlined by feminist pedagogues such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Ursula K. Le Guin to argue that love is crucial to dismantling colonial understandings of “legitimate knowledge” in favour of “knowledge in the making” intersecting with “selves in the making” (Ellsworth, 2005). I also engage with decolonial methodologies like storytelling, connecting, and sharing (Smith, 2012) to honour the many forms in which learning has existed across cultures for centuries. Seeing knowledge as embodied, relational process foregrounds praxis that caters to diverse lived experiences and identities. While pedagogues including Freire have written about the role of love in pedagogy, I focus especially on the epistemological implications of love, based on definitions of revolutionary love outlined by queer Black feminists, including Alexis Pauline Gumbs, bell hooks, and adrienne maree brown.

I came to this topic while working with Indigenous youth in Canada, and with the federal government as a Policy Analyst in the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, where questions of what counts as legitimate knowledge and data are highly relevant. Different communities had different definitions of how to learn, how to transmit that learning, and even what counts as learning or knowledge itself; these concerns are not limited to the Canadian context but essential to engage with everywhere. As part of my project, I developed anti-racist and decolonial writing workshops to further accessible ways of supporting students historically excluded from institutions of learning due to the delegitimization of their lived realities. Based on my teaching experience, I will share examples of exercises that provoke attention to emergence, holding emotions, and embracing love as ways of making sense in community, in opposition to a Cartesian mind/body split.

With the increasing prevalence of AI in education, developing different ways to learn and know has become extremely relevant not only to marginalized students but to everyone. I argue that love is a deeply critical skill and a means to counter current challenges to engage students in critical thinking, as LLM models can bring about a "knowledge collapse" (Peterson, 2025): a gradual narrowing of the information humans can access, along with a declining awareness of other viewpoints and other ways of knowing, the more that we treat that knowledge as singular or static. As such, though my work has clear outcomes in classroom spaces, these epistemological considerations can act as a guiding framework across a range of settings and disciplines as we redefine what knowledge means and how to share it in this crucial time.

This study aims to contribute to the theoretical refinement of discretion in responses as it is used in a trust-based regime, which emphasizes cooperation and dialogue. Norwegian school inspection was picked as a case because of its particularly mild and trusting approach to regulatees (Levatino et al, 2024: 269-270; Painter & Guy Peters, 2010: 23). As such, this case is suited for reflections on discretionary dilemmas which might occur when inspectors are faced with undesirable practice while the commitment to cooperation and dialogue is pushed to its limits. In addition, the study aims to contribute to empirical knowledge about inspector discretion in the field of education, which currently only a modest number of studies do (like Dedering & Sowada, 2017; Hall, 2017).

The research question for this study is: how do Norwegian school inspectors use their professional discretion when they respond to undesirable school provider practice and what could be sources for their discretionary dilemmas? This question directs the gaze towards what inspectors in reality do in addition to what they formally are allowed to do, and also offers insights into how discretionary dilemmas may come about. By doing so, this study underlines the essential role of discretion in inspection: inspection is more than a tool to reach either technical or idealistic aims, but an institution which is continuously created in the interactions between social actors, including inspectors, who give meaning to policies and laws through the decisions they make (Meyer et al, 2021).

Street-level bureaucracy research on how inspectors use their discretionary room is a flourishing field. Many studies focus on discretion in interpretation and judgement (see, for example, Carter, 2017; Dedering & Sowada, 2016), that is how inspectors decide what part of the legal framework is applicable in a particular situation and how this situation should be judged. But some attention has also been paid to discretion in intervention, that is the course of action inspectors choose when faced with an undesirable practice (see, for example, Mascini, 2013). The studies commonly treat discretion as the room for inspectors to maneuver within an existing formal framework. While some describe this room as a recognition of professional competence and power (see, for example, Moberg et al, 2023: 1044), others emphasize its intrinsic vulnerability and doubt (see, for example, Raaphorst, 2018: 485). Despite these valuable contributions, however, the understanding of inspector discretion is still underdeveloped when it comes to intervention.

Developing this understanding is particularly relevant because of the shift to more “responsive regulation” over the last decades (Loyens et al, 2019: 2; Raaphorst, 2018). The idea of responsive regulation was introduced by Ayres & Braithwaite in 1992, and it steadily gained ground as an attractive alternative to a strict control-based approach without becoming powerless in the face of undesirable practice. As a result, inspection work has become much more than “ticking of boxes”, many scholars emphasize (see, for example, Raaphorst, 2018; Loyens et al, 2018; Rutz et al, 2017; Dedering & Sowada, 2017). Responsive regulation requires a high dependency on the professional discretion of inspectors across systems and policy fields (Raaphorst et al, 2022: 107-108). The shift underlines the societal importance of looking into how inspectors use their discretionary space in their everyday work, and not in the least how they deal with reluctant or uninformed regulatees.

This study investigated the evolving role of middle-tier educational leadership
through a comparative lens, focusing on the Swedish superintendent and the Greek
Education Quality Supervisor. The research was grounded on institutional theory
(Scott, 2013) and the framework of professional capital (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2023).
It examined how these actors mediate the tension between national quality
mandates and school-level autonomy, acting as institutional entrepreneurs. While
educational systems face global pressures for convergence, this analysis explored
how institutional logic shapes the cultivation of human, social, and decisional capital
within divergent national contexts. In Sweden, recent policy shifts (2024-2025) task
leadership with stabilizing decisional capital to ensure equity amidst re-
centralization. Conversely, in Greece, the implementation of Law 4823/2021 and
subsequent ministerial directives institutionalize a layer focused on fostering social
capital through a systematic culture of evaluation, aiming to professionalize
pedagogical oversight.

Quality culture has emerged as a pivotal construct in understanding and enhancing educational effectiveness and quality assurance within higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet, scholarly and policy discourse reveals persistent conceptual fragmentation and methodological ambiguity in how quality culture is defined, operationalised, and assessed. Drawing on seminal frameworks in quality assurance and organisational maturity, this paper presents a conceptual maturity model designed to capture the multiple dimensions of quality culture within HEIs. The model synthesises insights from contemporary maturity frameworks including Crosby’s Quality Management Maturity Grid (1979), Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) (Carnegie Mellon University, 2018), Bollaert’s phases of quality development in European HE (2014), Harvey and Stensaker’s quality culture orientations (2008), and the matrix architecture proposed by Verschueren et al. (2023) to produce a coherent, developmental, and contextually sensitive framework that serves both diagnostic and developmental purposes.

Quality culture is conceptualised as a dual-aspect construct that interweaves formal systems (governance, policies, procedures, documentation) with symbolic cultural elements (values, trust, shared responsibility, engagement). This duality reflects the complex realities of educational institutions, where structural arrangements provide enabling architecture for quality work, and cultural dispositions shape how quality commitments are interpreted and enacted by organisational actors. The proposed model positions quality culture within a five-stage developmental continuum Initial/Ad Hoc, Emerging/Awakening, Defined/Systematic, Managed/Measured, and Optimising/Embedded — offering differentiated lenses through which institutions can understand their maturity across discrete dimensions central to quality assurance and improvement.

Unlike models that treat quality culture as a single, monolithic construct, the present framework adopts a matrix logic. Drawing on Verschueren et al. (2023), it identifies multiple intersecting dimensions of quality culture such as leadership and governance, stakeholder participation, communication and trust, and evidence use and situates these within normative, strategic, and operational layers of institutional activity. This layered architecture enables institutions to recognise not only where they are on a developmental trajectory but also how specific cultural and structural domains intersect, interact, and evolve.

Importantly, the model incorporates contextual contingencies that characterise educational settings: institutional context (history, mission, governance traditions), external pressures (accreditation requirements, policy environments, global rankings), and staff agency (autonomy, professional identity, collective engagement). These factors are integral to understanding how quality culture develops unevenly across domains and over time, reflecting the differentiated pressures and opportunities that HEIs encounter.

By presenting the maturity model, this paper contributes to ongoing debates within quality assurance research and practice. It provides a conceptual tool that bridges existing gaps between normative policy frameworks (e.g., European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance), organisational culture theory, and practical quality management.

Immigration brings about the matter of living harmoniously in places both for immigrants and for the host country’s citizens. Teachers are pivotal in creating safe spaces for immigrant and local students in classrooms. Moral cosmopolitanism (Appiah, 2006) offers a framework in which the experiences of immigrants and local people are contingent on one another to build a healthy community. Hansen (2017) identifies a task for teachers to be inquisitive about different cultures to accomplish their role. The experiences that immigrant students bring into the classroom create valuable input for teachers. While American teachers are criticised for being primarily monolingual and monoracial, local American teachers’ efforts to fulfil their tasks for teaching immigrant students are overlooked in the literature.

Cosmopolitan literature constituted a detailed and well-studied corpus in the scholarly literature. There are three trends in the cosmopolitan literature. First, book or movie clubs that people interact with other cultures at the representational level. The second is documenting immigrant individuals’ literacy practices as cosmopolitan agents, which places a burden on a small group, even a single person, to represent an entire culture. The third is connecting different groups of youth around the globe and exchanging media, which is very challenging to conduct. Hence, I problematized the literature from the point of view of the participants’ profiles. The participant profile in these three trends is skewed towards the individuals who participated in transnational travel (Canagarajah, 2011; Oikonomidoy, 2018). More importantly, local individuals and those with varying levels of travel experience (e.g., expatriates) are underrepresented in the literature. Thus, this study focuses on the teaching practice of a White American teacher who spoke three languages and lived in Yemen for six years. She presented a profile that both represented the overlooked population and challenged the common criticism of American language teachers.

As a Muslim student from Türkiye, working toward a doctoral degree in the US, I experienced being an immigrant. Although I agree with the critics of American teachers being predominantly white and monolingual, I was introduced to a teacher who lived in Yemen for a long time as a White American woman during my piloting studies. Hence, I departed on my experience to build an intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995) to draw on Erica’s (pseudonym) teaching practice. I spent one year with Erica and her assistant teacher in her sheltered ESOL classroom, church, and at social occasions. To build Erica's account, I collected three semi-structured interviews, two paired in-depth interviews, nine stimulated recall interviews, observational data, and personal artefacts. Additional interviews with her assistant were also collected. I will draw only on the artifactual analysis of two materials for this presentation. The leading research question of the study was:

How does a formerly expatriated ESL teacher locate artefacts as cosmopolitan materials?

Addressing the relationship between the built and the natural environment, Birkeland (2008) proposes the concept of "positive development". This concept includes the transition from current vicious cycles to future virtuous cycles through the design of the built environment. From the perspective of the built environment, sustainability is a design problem, since most negative impacts are caused by physical and institutional design practices. Some solutions to specific problems associated with sustainable development can also be reversed by design. Most institutional environmental management tools that seek to solve problems are part of systems planning, design and management that undermine or discourage good practice. These tools are still paying attention to the symptoms of the problems, such as pollution and waste, instead of addressing the causes of those problems and correcting them through appropriate design systems.

The redesign of the built environment needs decision tools to promote diversity, adaptability and reversibility (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) in Birkeland, 2008). According to the author, the built environment is responsible for the largest share of energy consumption, a large proportion of raw material extraction, toxic landfills, production of packaging waste and the emission of greenhouse gases. Also, the built environment contributes to the strengthening of problems such as deforestation, climate change, soil erosion, air pollution, water scarcity and biodiversity loss, all of them related to the quantity of resources, space and energy needed for today and for the future.

With this research, it is expected to bring an overview on the scopes and challenges that diferent “sustainability on campus” initiatives are facing and bring them as a comparative analysis to the current european context. The conceptual framework of the analysis circulates around the Education for Sustainable Development -ESD- approach, which aims to empower people with knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviors to live in a way that is good for the environment, the economy, and society (UNESCO, 2025).

To disaggregate this analysis into positive and negative impacts, the research question aims to address “What are the main scopes and challenges of higher education institutions in the implementation of sustainability on campus initiatives?”. A cross-case analysis has been designed taking into consideration that initiatives to implement “sustainability on campus” in higher education institutions have grown in recent years across the world but the structure and content of these initiatives (conceptualization, definitions, interpretations, and implementation strategies) vary from one university to another (Garrido-Yserte and Gallo-Rivera, 2020).

Deleye (2024), conducted a topic modelling-assisted discourse analysis on the “sustainable university” conceptualization that addressed the relationship between the university, higher education and sustainability. The author identified three dominant discourses and defined them as the “sustainable university discourses framework”: Firstly, the sustainable higher education institution, where sustainability is embedded all over the organizational structure layers and management and institutional strategies represents a relevant role. Secondly, the engaged community, where the university is not considered as an institution but as a community of people that are engaged with sustainability. And thirdly, the green-tech campus, which results as a combination of the previous two with emphasis on the university as creator of sustainable technological innovations. This research considers the third discourse as the starting point for the definition of university campus, which includes its operations and physical infrastructure, its focus on technology and the involvement of students as users of the campus (Deleye, 2024). However, the conceptual framework of the cross-case analysis is broadly immersed within the whole sustainable university discourses framework proposed by Deleye (2024).

The integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within higher education has been widely recognised as a key lever for promoting sustainability-oriented values, practices, and ways of thinking among future generations. Universities are increasingly expected to act not only as sites of knowledge transmission but also as learning environments in which sustainability is meaningfully embedded through institutional cultures, everyday practices, and educational experiences (UNESCO, 2005; Wals, 2009; United Nations, 2015; Barth et al., 2016; Wals & Benavot, 2017; Rieckmann, 2018). Within this context, initial teacher education occupies a particularly relevant position, as pre-service teachers encounter sustainability both as learners in higher education and as future professionals expected to contribute to sustainable societies (Albareda-Tiana et al., 2018; Álvarez-García et al., 2019; Vare et al., 2020).

While policy frameworks and international guidelines emphasise the importance of ESD across educational levels (UNESCO, 2005; Buckler & Creech, 2014), existing research suggests that its implementation in higher education often remains uneven and fragmented. Sustainability initiatives may be highly visible at the institutional level, yet experienced by students as superficial or disconnected from everyday academic practices (Barth et al., 2016; Wals & Benavot, 2017; Holst, 2023). This raises critical questions regarding the extent to which sustainability is not only present but also meaningful within university education, and how institutional discourses around sustainability are interpreted and negotiated by students in their daily experiences.

This paper is situated within a doctoral research project adopting a multiple-case study design across universities in Italy and Portugal, which examines how ESD and Civic and Citizenship Education (CCE) are embedded within pre-primary and primary initial teacher education. Focusing on two Italian universities, this paper explores pre-service teachers’ lived experiences of sustainability within their university education. It adopts a student-centred perspective and investigates how sustainability is perceived and experienced during university training, contributing to current debates on ESD in higher education by foregrounding students’ voices and critically examining the relationship between institutional intentions and everyday practices.

The study presented in this paper is guided by the following research questions:

RQ1. How do pre-service teachers experience and perceive sustainability within their university education?

RQ2. How do pre-service teachers perceive the coherence of institutional sustainability initiatives in relation to everyday university practices?

The overarching objective of the paper is to explore how sustainability is lived by pre-service teachers within higher education contexts, with particular attention to the tensions between visibility and meaningfulness, and between institutional sustainability discourses and students’ everyday academic experiences. More specifically, the study aims to identify how sustainability is communicated at the institutional level, how it is embedded in curricular and extracurricular contexts, and how students interpret inconsistencies between official narratives and daily practices.

Conceptually, the paper draws on literature on ESD in higher education, in particular, research emphasising whole-institution approach for sustainability in education (Barth et al., 2016; Öztürk, 2022; Holst et al., 2024). It also engages with perspectives that conceptualise curriculum and learning as lived and socially constructed processes, highlighting the importance of students’ interpretations of educational environments beyond formal curricular provisions (Casarejos et al., 2017). By combining these perspectives, the study approaches sustainability not merely as a set of declared institutional commitments or isolated initiatives, but as an experiential dimension of university life that is continuously negotiated through everyday practices.

By focusing on pre-service teachers’ lived experiences of sustainability within university education, this paper provides an empirically grounded contribution to discussions on how ESD is enacted in higher education, highlighting the importance of addressing the gap between institutional discourse and everyday practices and between the visibility and meaningfulness of sustainability initiatives for fostering sustainability-oriented learning environments in teacher education.

Transforming schools towards sustainability is widely recognised as a key lever for societal change. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aims to empower learners to actively engage with complex global challenges, yet its effective implementation requires structural, cultural, and pedagogical transformation at the school level. (UNESCO, 2021) Within this process, school leaders play a pivotal role (Holst, 2023) they shape organisational conditions, enable participation, and translate sustainability goals into long-term school development strategies. (Mogren and Gericke, 2017) Despite this central role, empirical research consistently indicates that many school leaders feel insufficiently prepared to lead ESD implementation in a holistic manner, particularly when framed through a Whole-School-Approach (WSA) (Brock & Holst, 2022).

This paper addresses a key gap in current research by foregrounding the importance of school leaders’ own perspectives on which competencies and other factors are needed to successfully implement ESD and how they conceptualise their leadership role in this context. While existing studies often focus on learners and teacher practices or curricular integration of ESD (Holst et al., 2024),comparatively little attention has been paid to school leaders’ subjective understandings, perceived enabling conditions, and role interpretations related to ESD-oriented school development and leadership (Mogren & Gericke, 2017).

The paper draws on empirical data from the LoLE (Leaders of Learner Empowerment) training, a six-month professional development initiative designed to empower school leaders to initiate and lead ESD-related change projects within their schools, which is grounded in principles of action research (Wood & Govender, 2013), peer learning (Vangrieken et al., 2017), and learner empowerment (Hart, 1992) and is being conducted in Germany as well as in seven partner countries (Costa Rica, Ethiopia, South Africa, Canada, the USA, Japan and Saudi Arabia). The empirical focus of this contribution lies on a qualitative survey conducted with participating school leaders from two German LoLE cohorts, addressing enabling conditions and role understandings of school leaders (Warwas, 2012), which is complemented by interviews on the needs of the school leaders regarding the LoLE training and selected qualitative materials from the training context, including written reflections and project descriptions, to contextualise and deepen the analysis.

Preliminary findings indicate that school leaders emphasise enabling conditions, that are not fulfilled yet, on multiple, interrelated levels. These include structural conditions (e.g. time resources, institutional support, and policy frameworks), relational and cultural conditions (e.g. trust, participation, and shared vision), and individual dimensions (e.g. leadership identity, confidence, and perceived legitimacy to initiate change). (Holst et al., 2025) Furthermore, the analysis reveals differing role conceptions, ranging from managerial coordination and strategic framing to facilitative, participatory, and learner-centred leadership practices. (Warwas, 2012) Notably, many school leaders describe a tension between hierarchical leadership expectations, the engagement and the motivation of the collegium and the participatory demands of learner empowerment within a WSA.

This paper contributes empirically grounded insights into how ESD-leadership is understood in the context of schools and enacted from the perspective of school leaders (Holst et al., 2025) The findings have implications for the design of leadership training programmes and the conceptualisation of ESD-oriented leadership competencies. The paper concludes by discussing how professional development formats can better align with school leaders’ perceived needs, including required competencies of the school leaders, and by inviting discussion on how school leadership can be supported better in the future.

Across Europe and internationally, education systems are under sustained pressure to demonstrate improvement in student outcomes, equity, and future-oriented competencies, while simultaneously responding to policy agendas shaped by OECD frameworks, international comparisons (e.g. PISA), and national accountability regimes. Despite this, school reform continues to be characterised by initiative overload, policy churn, and short-lived interventions, producing what has been described as “projectitis” (Adelman & Taylor, 2007) rather than durable systemic change.

Whole-school change (WSC) is frequently proposed in European and international policy discourse as a solution to this fragmentation. Yet, as Thomson (2010) argues, it remains a concept “used in various ways, by different people, for diverse purposes, and [with] distinct appearances and effects in schools and school systems” (p. 11). Empirical research across multiple national contexts suggests that many reforms fail to embed because they are treated as programmes to be implemented rather than as organisational transformations to be lived (Hargreaves, 2008; OECD, 2015; Roffey, 2016).

This paper contributes to European debates on sustainable school reform by examining whole-school change as a systemic, meaning-making process within a secondary school in the UK implementing the Thinking Schools (TS) framework. While TS is now used in multiple countries, it is not studied here to determine its effectiveness, but to provide the context as a locally enacted reform ecology operating under pressures familiar across European systems: accountability, curriculum constraint, staff workload, and performativity.

The study investigates how whole-school change can be conceptualised through the perceived experiences of both Staff and Student Drive Teams tasked with change, addressing three operational questions:

(1) how participants perceive whole school change itself; (2) how they experience their role within the change process; and (3) how they perceive the facilitators and challenges shaping their work.

The theoretical framework integrates systems theory, organisational learning, and autopoietic theory. Following Thomson (2010), schools are conceptualised through the metaphors of ecological systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and learning organisations (Senge, 1990), both of which are widely influential in European school improvement discourse. These are extended through Wheatley’s (1999) autopoietic interpretation of organisations as self-producing meaning systems (Luhmann, 2012; Maturana & Varela, 1980). Within this frame, reform is not implemented but perturbs the system, triggering internal processes of reinterpretation and reorganisation, aligned with Argyris and Schön’s (1978) concept of double-loop learning.

Based on the findings, the paper argues that whole-school change is best understood not as an ‘add-on’, but as ongoing systemic change and a multiple-loop, multi-layered learning process supported by risk-taking, reflection, teams interrelations, non-negotiable whole school change, common values and language, and continuous learning, developed into a ‘petal’ model that merits further attention with direct implications for European debates on school improvement, professional learning, and democratic participation in education.

Social media has become core infrastructure for accessing information, communicating, and participating in civic life. European policymakers have called for stronger media literacy to counter disinformation and support informed decision-making. Frameworks like DigComp 2.2 describe what competence looks like. But these frameworks cannot function as psychometrically validated measurement instruments—they describe competence but cannot locate individuals on a calibrated scale (Vuorikari et al., 2022). The lack of validated measurement creates difficulties. Evidence-informed curriculum development, assessment design, and cross-context proficiency comparison all require instruments that can establish where individuals stand.

Substantial work on social media literacy (SML) has accumulated, yet the field remains conceptually fragmented (Cho et al., 2024; Valle et al., 2025). Most instruments rely on self-report measures. These capture what users perceive they can do, rather than what they actually demonstrate (Tandoc et al., 2021). Some newer performance measures move beyond self-report using IRT-based approaches. This is progress. But these tools typically target specific populations and do not address standards-referenced interpretation across age groups (Drake et al., 2023). Making defensible proficiency judgements across educational systems is difficult.

We conducted a systematic scoping review and thematic synthesis of SML literature from 2015 to 2025. From this work, we propose a measurement framework applicable across ages and contexts. The framework operationalises SML through three components: Platform Awareness, Critical Evaluation, and Responsible Participation. These consolidate recurring domains in the literature. We describe proficiency using four levels. The four-level structure reflects theoretically distinct transitions in metacognitive regulation. L1 (Unaware) represents minimal recognition. L2 (Retrospective) involves post-hoc awareness—individuals identify relevant influences after engagement (Flavell, 1979). L3 (Real-time) marks a shift to in-process monitoring and deliberate adjustment during engagement (Schraw & Dennison, 1994). L4 (Habitual–Reflexive) describes internalised monitoring across contexts, including low-stakes use, where strategies transfer beyond single situations (Mezirow, 1997). Self-awareness runs through all levels as a difficulty factor rather than a separate component.

Three questions guide the study: What are the core components and indicators of SML for standards-referenced measurement? How do we operationalise and design a rubric-based framework for Rasch calibration? What validity evidence is needed to support the intended uses of the measures?

Our goal is translating competence language into a calibratable rubric that supports defensible proficiency judgements. The conference paper presents the three-component construct map, candidate indicators, draft performance level descriptors, and the validation workflow. We plan to validate the framework across cultural and educational contexts. Cross-cultural comparability will be addressed in later stages. The study contributes a validation logic for standards-referenced interpretation, supporting European efforts to assess SML comparably across populations and systems.

The Successful School Leadership framework (SSL) is a model of best practices for school leadership, as validated through multiple studies over a twenty-year period (Leithwood et al., 2010; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005; Sun & Leithwood, 2015). The Successful School Leadership survey was created as a measure of perceived school leadership quality under this framework. This survey is a 22-item Likert scale with 5-point response options ranging from “not at all confident” to “very confident”. This scale intends to measure four domains of leadership: (1) setting directions, (2) building relationships and developing people, (3) (re)designing the organization to support desired practices, and (4) improving the instructional program.

Leithwood et al. (2023) provided strong validity evidence for this scale, reporting high reliability, measurement invariance for various person characteristics, and good person and item fit. This study also confirmed the four-factor structure and showed predictive validity evidence of high leadership scores for student achievement, even after controlling for relevant confounding variables.

Leithwood et al. (2023) showed evidence of measurement invariance for gender and education level by using the Many Facet Rasch Model (MFRM) to measure the effect of these covariates at the group level, confirming that gender and education were not predictive of scale scores. However, this method of investigating measurement invariance does not consider differences in subgroup effects at the item level. This difference in item parameters across different groups of people when holding person abilities constant is known as differential item functioning (DIF) and is a common threat to measurement invariance and fairness in scale validation (Ackerman & Evans, 1994; Roussos & Stout, 1996).

This study investigates the presence of DIF in the SSLS items for three covariates: gender, experience, and education level. We use traditional DIF detection methods evaluate these three covariates separately. However, recent interest in intersectional approaches to quantitative research (e.g., Albano et al., 2024; Bauer et al., 2021) underscores the importance of not just treating covariates as independent factors, but as more complex interdependent person characteristics. In response to this recent rise in interest surrounding intersectional approaches to quantitative research, we also use some newer, more exploratory DIF detection methods to investigate intersectional DIF in the SSLS items.

The data used in this study were collected as part of the research conducted in Leithwood et al. (2023). All participants in this survey were teachers in two different neighboring school districts in the southeastern United States. After filtering participants based on missing data and willingness to participate, this dataset had a total of 136 respondents. Most of the sample population (83%) identified as women, and the rest of the population identified as men. 58% of the sample population held graduate degrees, and the rest held bachelor’s degrees. 38 participants had 1-3 years of experience, 29 participants had 4-10 years of experience, 20 had 11-15 years of experience, and 48 had 15 or more years of experience.

I am a teacher of the Kazakh language, and my research focuses on teaching Kazakh as a second language. The findings of this study are expected to be applicable beyond the Kazakh context and relevant to the teaching of other languages as second or foreign languages in international educational settings.

One of the major challenges in second-language instruction is developing higher-order analytical and reasoning skills. In particular, learners often experience difficulties in:

• identifying a problem within a text,

• analysing the causes underlying the problem,

• justifying the relevance of the problem through well-structured arguments,

• systematising possible solutions into coherent conclusions or inferences.

These skills are closely linked to contemporary educational demands, especially those related to critical thinking, argumentation culture, evidence-based reasoning, and academic communication. Therefore, this research is significant for developing students’ functional literacy and research competence.

In response to these challenges, this study employed Action Research (AR) as a methodological approach. The research presents the results of an action research project conducted in a real classroom setting. The research question was formulated based on a diagnostic entry questionnaire and structured around students' actual learning needs.

The central aim of the study was to develop students’ inference-making skills through the use of Toulmin’s Model of Argumentation. Prior to the implementation of the research, the following research question was formulated: How does analysing texts through Toulmin’s Model of Argumentation contribute to the development of students’ inference-making skills?

The study was conducted with sixth-grade students. Given the learners’ age and cognitive characteristics, it was necessary to identify the most effective argumentation model before selecting appropriate research instruments. Toulmin’s Model of Argumentation was chosen as the theoretical foundation of the study, as it provides a clear logical structure for constructing arguments based on the sequence of analysis, justification, and evaluation.

After reviewing and comparing various argumentation models, I concluded that Toulmin’s model is particularly effective in second-language learning contexts. To ensure age-appropriateness and pedagogical accessibility, the original six components of Toulmin’s model were simplified to a four-stage version and presented as a graphic-based organiser. This adaptation allowed students to engage in the argumentation process without cognitive overload, while maintaining logical coherence and analytical depth.

This research aligns with current international and European educational trends for several reasons. First, argumentation and evidence-based reasoning are core competencies in international educational frameworks, including assessment and teaching systems such as the International Baccalaureate (IB). Second, the ability to articulate well-supported arguments is essential for engaging with global issues such as global citizenship, environmental responsibility, and sustainable development. Third, the study's instructional content was linked to an environmental topic (“Environmental Pollution”), which is a globally relevant and internationally significant issue.

This project aims to explore the perceptions of teacher educators (TEs) working in a Chilean English as a Foreign Language teacher education program regarding the alignment between Practicum and Didactic courses. The study addresses two main theoretical areas: communities of knowledge in English Language Teaching (ELT) and the relationship between theory and practice in teacher education.

The importance of communities of knowledge in English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) lies in their determination of what constitutes worthwhile knowledge in ELT. Examining the perceptions of this specific group of teacher educators will allow for description of what counts as knowledge for this community and how this community thinks and works. This is particularly relevant because the description of what counts as knowledge for TEs is bound to influence their actions and discourse when teaching. Johnson and Golombek (2018) emphasize that attention to the knowledge-base in ELT is crucial to prepare pre-service teachers (PST) for an increasingly diverse and unequal globalized world. Drawing from Vygotskyan perspectives, ELT pedagogy must provide opportunities where PST can internalize academic concepts about ELT in day-to-day activities in classrooms so they can re-structure their understandings.

Regarding the relationship between theory and practice, Barahona et al. (2025) identify an important gap between what TEs report about their work and what they actually do. While Yuan (2017) suggests that modelling can become a useful strategy to bridge this gap, Korthagen (2010) argues that there is no single answer to solve this perennial dilemma, noting particularly the scarcity of evidence from insiders' perspectives. Therefore, this study contributes to the scarce existing research with valuable insiders' perspectives about the relationship between theory and practice.

The main focus of this study comprises insiders—teacher educators working in two specific areas: Practicum and Teaching and Learning courses (both Primary and Secondary). What remains insufficiently examined is how teacher educators in didactic courses perceive the alignment between their instructional expectations and what practicum tutors observe in pre-service teachers' actual classroom practice. This gap in the literature is particularly significant given the potential disconnect between what is taught in university settings and what is enacted in authentic classroom contexts.

Understanding these different perspectives—from didactic course instructors and practicum supervisors—can illuminate how teacher education programs can strengthen the connection between theoretical preparation and context-bound pedagogical decision-making. This understanding is essential because examining the perceptions of this specific group of teacher educators will allow for description of what counts as knowledge for this community—descriptions that are bound to influence their actions and discourse when teaching.

The general objective is to explore teacher educators' perceptions on the alignment between Practicum and Teaching and Learning courses in this EFL teacher education program. Three specific objectives guide this inquiry: (1) to describe the perceptions of teacher educators about their work and what they report about their practices and responsibilities; (2) to analyze the perceptions of teacher educators in practicum courses regarding the coherence between instructional expectations taught in university-based didactic courses and the pedagogical decisions enacted by pre-service teachers in school placements; and (3) to analyze the perceptions of teacher educators in didactic courses regarding this same coherence.

The outcomes of this project will provide useful insights that will allow primarily to describe what teachers report, examine their perceptions, and understand individual and collective practices that can illustrate the level of alignment in these two areas. An additional aspect to consider is the potential benefits of the findings in the redefinition or adjustments of these courses' programs. The primary contribution of this research bridges the academic preparation of future EFL teachers and the practical realities they face in the classroom, ultimately ensuring that TEs support the learning process of pre-service teachers by providing them with the necessary skillset to make informed pedagogical decisions directly responsive to their future students' learning needs in school settings.

Background

Ireland has become linguistically diverse in recent decades due to ongoing immigration. Between 2012 and 2022, nearly 400,000 people moved to Ireland, and by 2022, over 751,000 residents indicated that speaking a language other than English or Irish at home (Central Statistics Office, 2023). The arrival of Ukrainian families brings about 17,000 Ukrainian pupils into the system by 2023 (Department of Education, 2023). As a result, plurilingual learners are now a central part of everyday schooling.

Although programmes like Languages Connect, more foreign language assistants and Polish and Lithuanian curriculum options indicate people are becoming more aware of diversity (Department of Education and Skills, 2019), classroom practice remains influenced by an English- and Irish-only tradition. State examinations reinforce this practice, leaving little room for students to draw on their home languages in learning (Ó Duibhir, 2018). Research shows that teachers often feel underprepared in supporting newcomer students (Smyth et al., 2009), and many plurilingual learners feel their languages are undervalued in school (García & Li, 2014).

Research in Ireland highlights the complex consequences of these monolingual structures. Byrne (2010) shows that schools with many newcomer learners face pressures within a monolingual assessment system. Kirwan (2016) demonstrates the potential of plurilingual approaches supported by the European Language Portfolio and CEFR benchmarks.

Importantly, teacher education literature from other multilingual contexts also reinforces the need for explicit preparation. Hansen-Pauly (2014), writing from the Luxembourg context, argues that even highly proficient student teachers often lack the professional linguistic awareness needed to support students’ learning in multilingual classrooms. She emphasises that subject teachers must understand how language shapes knowledge construction, how learners draw on their full repertoires and how interaction, scaffolding and mediation influence learning processes.

Theoretical Framework

This study is grounded in Cummins’ Common Underlying Proficiency and Interdependence Hypothesis, which explains how skills transfer across languages and why learners require support to develop academic language (Cummins, 2000). His distinction between Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) is particularly relevant, as EAL learners’ conversational fluency is often misinterpreted as full academic proficiency (Cummins, 2008).

The Companion Volume to the CEFR (2020) views learners' languages as elements of a single, flexible repertoire and recognises translanguaging as a form of pedagogical scaffolding. This aligns with the view that plurilingual pedagogy requires using students’ linguistic resources in learning. Within the framework of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), translanguaging aligns with models such as the CLIL Triptych and the 4Cs framework (Coyle et al., 2005; 2010), which emphasise the integration of content, communication, cognition and culture. Hansen-Pauly’s (2014) concept of the “language-sensitive teacher” further informs the study, showing the need for teachers to notice, analyse and use language intentionally to support subject learning.

Research Questions

Addressing the limited research on translanguaging in Irish post-primary education (Ó Duibhir, 2018), this study focuses on second-year student teachers in the Professional Master of Education programme and asks:

1. How useful do student teachers perceive translanguaging strategies within the CLIL framework in subject content classrooms?

1. What are the barriers and enablers to using translanguaging in subject content classrooms?
2. What strategies do student teachers use to implement translanguaging, and what resources are needed to support this in initial teacher education?

International Relevance

Multilingual classrooms are becoming worldwide, and many education systems face the same tensions between traditional monolingual structures and diverse learner needs. Wales offers an example of national-level integration of translanguaging through the work of Thomas and colleagues (2022), showing how system-wide commitment can support classroom practice. Insights from the Irish context will therefore contribute to international discussions on multilingual learning and the preparation of future teachers.

Teaching is inherently goal-oriented, and teachers’ professional ethics emphasize the committed nature of the teaching profession. Teachers set professional purposes for their work; in this study, these refer to long-term and personally meaningful goals that teachers are committed to pursuing as part of their professional practice (Damon et al., 2003, p. 121; Tirri & Kuusisto 2019, p. 62). As educational systems face multiple societal challenges, there is a need for a better understanding of teachers’ professional civic purposes. Professional civic purposes can be defined as motivated and sustained intentions to contribute through work to the world beyond the self, engaging with civic issues in concrete and practical ways.

We examine the applicability of the Professional Purposes in Teaching -scale (PPT) for investigating pre- and in-service teachers’ professional purposes through three sub-studies. The scale was developed based on an analysis of qualitative survey data on student teachers’ professional purposes (Kuusisto & Rissanen, 2023). It measures student teacher’s professional purposes across three dimensions: pedagogical purposes (subscales: growth & learning; care & wellbeing), self-oriented purposes (subscales: self-actualization; stability & security), and civic purposes.

School is a central context for development (Heyne et al., 2019), and regular school attendance is a foundational competency for children and adolescents. School absenteeism has been linked to both short-term and long-term negative consequences. (Kearney et. al, 2019, p. 1). Absence from school jeopardises children’s and adolescents’ education, social and emotional development, age-appropriate socialisation, and peer relationships. (Melvin et. al, 2019; Thambirajah, Grandison, and De-Heyes, 2008). School attendance and completion are important benchmarks of successful development; unfortunately, school absenteeism and dropout remain prevalent and devastating among young people. (Kearney, C. and Graczyk, P., 2020, p.316).

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to education from Early Years settings to post-16 years of education (Bowyer-Crane, 2021). Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate that the COVID-19 crisis caused school closures in 188 countries and resulted in disruption to the learning process of more than 1.7 billion children and youth. (OECD, Education Working Papers, 2020). In terms of the Irish context, to safeguard human life and curb human casualties, the Irish government took swift action on the 13th of March 2020, to close all schools, amongst other things, and move to remote learning. Remote learning had not been part of the Irish education landscape. Schools were forced to close and remained closed until their reopening in September 2020.

Absenteeism from school is not a new phenomenon. The issue of absenteeism, however, is multifaceted and difficult to determine. Many factors may contribute to student absenteeism, necessitating interventions and approaches tailored to the specific needs of individual students.

This study is informed by critical realism as a primary framework, with a supporting framework of Ecological Systems Theory. This is a hierarchical pairing of frameworks, where critical realism will be used to analyse education professionals' accounts as situated knowledge, not as transparent truth. This study is concerned with how Irish post-primary educators interpret and respond professionally to student school avoidance. Given the multifaceted nature of school attendance difficulties, which are shaped by individual, relational, institutional, and policy-related factors, a theoretical framework was required that could account for the complexity of educators’ professional experiences and decision-making. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1979, 2005) serves as a supporting framework for critical realism, as it enables an exploration of educators’ responses to school avoidance within the broader systems that influence educational practice in Ireland.

Adolescent years are formative, and during the restrictive measures of the pandemic, adolescents missed out on social events crucial for building relationships, identity formation, and socialisation. These effects are still fully unknown, but the pandemic has brought into sharp focus a school attendance crisis in many countries. (Connolly, S., Constable, H., and Mullaly, S., 2023, p.1). Current research suggests that chronic absenteeism, and school avoidance, which “is frequently described as having trouble going to school, staying home with parents’ knowledge of nonattendance” (Yan, 2023, p.627) or school phobia refers to “a situation where there is a fearful inability to attend school” (Sinha, 2021, p.485), and partial attendance has increased among adolescents and has resulted in learning loss and widening attainments gaps among students.

On May 19^th, 2025, the Irish Minister for Education and Youth announced the escalating issue of school absenteeism in Ireland. The alarming statistics from the 2022/2023 academic year, where over 110,000 primary and 65,000 post-primary students missed 20 or more school days, indicate a rising issue with school attendance. A comprehensive suite of targeted and universal actions aimed at improving attendance in Irish Primary and Post-Primary schools was announced.

Teacher cognitive skills shifted notably over the last decade. Using PIAAC Cycles

1-–2 for 25 countries, we document how the level, dispersion, and relative standing of

teachers’ numeracy and literacy evolved within countries. The descriptive evidence

reveals large heterogeneity: some countries saw teacher-skill declines of about

one standard deviation, while others improved; and teachers’ position within the

tertiary-educated workforce moved by 15+ percentile ranks in several countries—

consistent with substantial changes in selection into teaching. We then ask which

policies and labor-market conditions (e.g., relative teacher wages, outside options

for high-skilled women, and teacher status) are associated with these shifts. In a

second step, we relate these country-level changes in teacher skills to changes in

student achievement using rich PISA microdata in mathematics and reading. For

identification, we exploit within-country variation across subjects and over time,

testing whether students in countries where teachers gained in numeracy relative to

literacy also improved more in math relative to reading. Data on subject-specific

skills in PIAAC for the overall population and for detailed occupations enables a

set of robustness checks and placebo tests that help separate changes in teacher

skills from broader skill changes within countries. Understanding how and why

teacher skills evolve internationally–—and whether these changes translate into

student achievement–—matters for policies aimed at strengthening teacher quality

and improving educational outcomes.