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Midlife, beginning at 40 years and extending to 65 years, a range that encompasses the late reproductive to late menopausal stages, is a unique time in women's lives, when hormonal and physical changes are often accompanied by psychological and social evolution. Access to sexual health and sexual well-being (SHSW) services, which include the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, contraception and the support of sexual function, pleasure and safety, is important for the health of midlife women, their relationships and community cohesion. The objective was to use the socio-ecological model to synthesise the barriers and enablers to SHSW services for midlife women in high-income countries. A systematic review of the enablers and barriers to women (including trans-gender and non-binary people) aged 40–65 years accessing SHSW services in high-income countries was undertaken. Four databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Google Scholar) were searched for peer-reviewed publications. Findings were thematically extracted and reported in a narrative synthesis. Eighty-one studies were included; a minority specifically set out to study SHSW care for midlife women. The key barriers that emerged were the intersecting disadvantage of under-served groups, poor knowledge, about SHSW, and SHSW services, among women and their healthcare professionals (HCPs), and the over-arching effect of stigma, social connections and psychological factors on access to care. Enablers included intergenerational learning, interdisciplinary and one-stop women-only services, integration of SHSW into other services, peer support programmes, representation of minoritised midlife women working in SHSW, local and free facilities and financial incentives to access services for under-served groups. Efforts are needed to enhance education about SHSW and related services among midlife women and their healthcare providers. This increased education should be leveraged to improve research, public health messaging, interventions, policy development and access to comprehensive services, especially for midlife women from underserved groups. Plain language summary: Sexual health and sexual wellbeing services for midlife women in high income countries Midlife, beginning at 40 years and extending to 65 years, a range that encompasses the late reproductive to late menopausal stages, is a unique time in women's lives. Access to Sexual Health and Sexual Wellbeing (SHSW) services, which include the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, contraception and the support of sexual function, pleasure and safety, is important for the health of midlife women, their relationships and community cohesion. The objective of this systematic review was to use the socio-ecological model to synthesise the barriers and enablers to SHSW services for midlife women in high income countries. Eighty-one studies were included; a minority specifically set out to study SHSW care for midlife women. The key barriers that emerged were the intersecting disadvantage of under-served groups, poor knowledge, about SHSW, and SHSW services, among women and their HealthCare Professionals (HCPs), and the over-arching effect of stigma, social connections, and psychological factors on access to care. Enablers included intergenerational learning, interdisciplinary and one-stop women-only services, integration of SHSW into other services, peer support programmes, representation of minoritised midlife women working in SHSW, local and free facilities, and financial incentives for under-served groups to access services. The appetite for education about SHSW and SHSW services among midlife women and their HCPs should be capitalised upon, and utilised to improve research, public health messaging, interventions and access to holistic services, particularly for midlife women from under-served groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the variables having impact on the student motivation have been analyzed based on the articles, conference papers, master's theses and doctoral dissertations published in the years 2000-2017. A total of 165 research papers were selected for the research material and the data were collected through qualitative research techniques through document review and content analysis. According to the research results, the most important factors affecting student motivation are the fields of teacher, teachers' classroom management skills and their teaching methods. In this research, factors having less influence on the student motivation are parental communication, student characteristics and study fields. In addition, relational search type was used more than others, mostly students were selected as the study group and most researches were conducted in USA and Turkey.

Background: Ethics committees typically apply the common principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice to research proposals but with variable weighting and interpretation. This paper reports a comparison of ethical requirements in an international cross-cultural study and discusses their implications. Discussion: The study was run concurrently in New Zealand, UK, Israel, Canada and USA and involved testing hypotheses about believability of testimonies regarding alleged child sexual abuse. Ethics committee requirements to conduct this study ranged from nil in Israel to considerable amendments designed to minimise participant harm in New Zealand. Assessment of minimal risk is a complex and unreliable estimation further compounded by insufficient information on probabilities of particular individuals suffering harm. Estimating potential benefits/ risks ratio and protecting participants' autonomy similarly are not straightforward exercises. Summary: Safeguarding moral/humane principles should be balanced with promotion of ethical research which does not impede research posing minimal risk to participants. In ensuring that ethical standards are met and research has scientific merit, ethics committees have obligations to participants (to meet their rights and protect them from harm); to society (to ensure good quality research is conducted); and to researchers (to treat their proposals with just consideration and respect). To facilitate meeting all these obligations, the preferable focus should be promotion of ethical research, rather than the prevention of unethical research, which inevitably results in the impediment of researchers from doing their work. How the ethical principles should be applied and balanced requires further consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into cyber-conflict, public opinion, and international security is burgeoning, yet the field suffers from an absence of conceptual agreement about key terms. For instance, every time a cyberattack takes place, a public debate erupts as to whether it constitutes cyberterrorism. This debate bears significant consequences, seeing as the ascription of a "terrorism" label enables the application of heavy-handed counterterrorism powers and heightens the level of perceived threat among the public. In light of widespread conceptual disagreement in cyberspace, we assert that public opinion plays a heightened role in understanding the nature of cyber threats. We construct a typological framework to illuminate the attributes that drive the public classification of an attack as cyberterrorism, which we test through a ratings-based conjoint experiment in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel (N = 21,238 observations). We find that the public (1) refrains from labeling attacks by unknown actors or hacker collectives as cyberterrorism; and (2) classifies attacks that disseminate sensitive data as terrorism to a greater extent even than physically explosive attacks. Importantly, the uniform public perspectives across the three countries challenge a foundational tenet of public opinion and international relations scholarship that divided views among elites on foreign policy matters will be reflected by a divided public. This study concludes by providing a definitive conceptual baseline to support future research on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patriotism is an important and well-accepted value in educational institutions. As a civic virtue, it has always been included in education/training programs. This study aims to compare research articles on teaching of patriotism that were conducted in the last 20 years. The document analysis method was employed in the study for this purpose. The data were collected through the international databases e.g. Wiley, Jstore, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis. 218 articles were found by searching the keywords "patriotism", "patriotic education", and "teaching of patriotism". Upon initial analysis, it was decided that 110 articles would serve the purpose of this study. Content analysis technique was employed to reveal patterns of the selected articles. The number of articles published on patriotic education in each countries, the publication dates of these articles and the comparison of these articles according to countries, purposes, is presented in this study. The paper at hand shows that only some articles have a critical perspective on patriotism. Implications are made based on results.

Education is the core of the factors that improved people for a better lifestyle and increases the level of society' development. Quality education is one of the most vital goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to actualizing these factors. Using relational network data envelopment analysis (DEA), which have three interrelated substages, this current paper computes the educational economy efficiency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries bearing in mind the characteristics related to SDGs. The contribution of our study is the use of a novel approach to computing the educational economy efficiency using relational network DEA with GAMS. Even though some interesting differences reveal in the efficiency of the countries, the findings show that countries with high-efficiency scores are clustered around countries like Latvia, Slovenia, and Korea.

This paper explores the idea of thinking skills approaches as tools for pedagogical inquiry and in so doing seeks to develop the link between the promotion of inquiry-based learning, which is a central tenet of thinking skills, and inquiry-based teaching as an approach to professional development and school improvement. The first part of the paper examines the impact of teaching thinking skills on teachers by drawing upon a systematic review of research evidence. The second part of the paper sets the characteristics identified in the context of research into teachers' development and considers the contribution of a pedagogy based on thinking skills approaches to continuing professional development.

The article examines current trends in the development of the national models of higher education in Russia and European countries. The paper reveals the key problems of their functioning in the context of the processes of globalization, standardization, and integration into the pan-European and global educational space. These processes are described through the prism of the national interests of the states. Emerging from the comparative description, content presentation and qualitative analysis, the article assesses the level of development of the national models of higher education, i.e., Russian, European and American. This allowed identifying key similarities, as well as the most important differences, which mainly stem from the difference in the state regulation of national educational systems. It is the role of the state that is leading in the formation of national educational systems and the creation of high-quality models of higher education. The state is also responsible for the transformation and adaptation of these models. The models target providing the national and world labor market with highly professional human resources. Based on the comparative aspects outlined in the article, as well as on the qualitative analysis data, the authors have come to the following main conclusions regarding the trends and prospects for the development of the Russian higher education sector: a) Firstly, the Russian model of higher education was built during an accelerated transition from a one-level to a multilevel education. The result of this shift is the labor market disbalance, which nowadays does not allow the formation of the adequate perception of specialists holding a "bachelor's degree" which is unfamiliar and obscure to many employers; b) Secondly, the Russian educational system, and the higher education model, replicate the Western European and American approaches without considering the realities of the national educational market and the labor market. Therefore, the high proportion of the population with higher education cannot provide the necessary socio-economic development potential of the country; c) Thirdly, the reform of the Russian model of higher education should continue but not in terms of accelerating the processes of its integration into the world educational system. There is much evidence that the correct direction lies within the domain of creating incentives and conditions that will ensure the training of highly skilled professionals correlating with the market demand.

Empirical evidence supports the notion of special education teachers receiving limited pre-service training in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This lack of training is not only evident in the United States but in other countries such as United Kingdom, India, and Israel. Yet the teaching demands for the use of AAC are increasing as more students with complex communication needs are entering the school systems. As a result, this paper outlines four special education teacher competencies needed to effectively address the communication needs of these students. The four competencies consist of the needs for training in the areas of (1) communication development and communicative competencies, (2) teamwork and collaborative practices, (3) role and functions of AAC systems, and (4) AAC assessment and instructional strategies. These competencies are aligned to the standards from the Council for Exceptional Children and the literature available on AAC training. Evidence suggests there is a lack of training for special education teachers and other professionals in this area and limited research to guide teacher preparation programs.

Grade inflation is a global phenomenon that has garnered widespread condemnation among educators, researchers, and the public. Yet, few have deliberated over the ethics of grading, let alone the ethics of grade inflation. The purpose of this paper is to map out and examine the ethics of grade inflation. By way of beginning, we clarify why grade inflation is a problem of practical ethics embedded in contemporary social practice. Then, we illuminate three different aspects of grade inflation--longitudinal, compressed, and comparative--and explore the ethical dilemmas that each one raises. We demonstrate how these three aspects may be seen as corresponding to three different victims of grade inflation--individuals, institutions, and society--and hence also to three potential agents of harm--teachers, schools, and educational systems. Next, we reflect upon various compelling reasons that these agents inflate grades, whether from an ethic of care, fiduciary responsibility, or simple self-preservation. Subsequently, we consider a variety of means of combatting grade inflation, and invite more educators and philosophers to delve into the complex practical ethics of grade inflation.

It is a decade since the last review of the geographical understandings of pre-service primary teachers. Examining the range of research about novice primary teachers' geographical and environmental knowledge and understanding, it is clear there have been limited follow up studies, and there remain important gaps in the research. Research relevant to this topic was identified through journal, research book and conference proceedings searches, where these were accessible. It is evident that more research now exists into pre-service primary teachers' senses of geography, geographical and environmental knowledge and environmental attitudes. For instance, it appears that they have an information oriented view of geography but are not clear about the meaning of the term "environment", that there are misunderstandings in such aspects of their geographical knowledge as climate change, that they may not adapt their behaviors though they appreciate a need for care for the environment, and that they have limited experience in planning for and teaching geography in primary schools. Furthermore, studies are lacking into their understanding of such aspects of geographical learning as fieldwork, map work, geographical enquiry and a wide range of topics in physical and human geography. While there is some information, little is known really about their teaching of geography to younger children. In view of the increased focus globally on geographical knowledge in the school curriculum, this raises serious questions about geography teacher educators' understanding of their trainee primary teachers, in part because tutors seem rarely to undertake such research. This appears to be an embedded situation, resulting in negligible evidence to challenge the status quo and improve pre-service primary teachers' geographical knowledge. Is it really a concern? Four responses are presented, but the paper concludes that more needs to be known.

The article examines the ways in which three common law countries--the United Kingdom, the United States, and Israel--have introduced new rules for the revocation of citizenship that diverge from the traditional common law model. The main thrust of the article is to demonstrate how these new regulations are based on three distinct models of citizenship: citizenship as security, citizenship as a social contract, and citizenship as an ethnonational bond. Instead of critically evaluating each model, the article offers a fourth model for revocation based on the civic notion of citizenship. This model offers a new formulation of the traditional common law duty of allegiance, of its breach, and of the revocation of citizenship as punishment. The article will conclude with the suggestion that this model may be able simultaneously to guarantee the protection of political rights and to safeguard the political community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, no one questions that criminals, minors, or those seeking to shirk their civic duties may be restricted or even barred from leaving their respective countries. However, during the 1950s, several democratic countries, including Israel, restricted foreign travel by their citizens on other grounds. This article examines the right of departure policies of Israel in comparison with three models—Soviet, British, and American—which served Israeli policy makers as criteria in this regard. The policy promulgated by a country sheds light on its character, its society, and its perception of citizenship. The article not only describes the right to travel abroad as exercised in Israel, but also opens a window onto the conceptual world of those who set such policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the professional preferences of students at the beginning of the social work training process in the U.S., Great Britain and Israel. Main features of social work within the three countries; Controversies associated with the development of social work as a profession; Trends in social work in the U.S. as of July 2002.

Research has found differences in students' abilities, attitudes, and family and community background to be the largest source of variation in student learning, but these are difficult for policymakers to influence, at least in the short run. However, the single most significant school variable affecting student achievement is "teacher quality", and this is potentially open to policy influence. After giving an overview of teacher qualification requirements in the UK, the USA, France, New Zealand and a few other countries, this paper addresses the rationale of licensing examinations. It then considers the possible consequences of implementing them in a country such as Israel, which has recently been contemplating teacher training and licensing as part of a wider educational reform.

The article presents an analysis on the U.S. policy on the political conditions of the West Bank of the Jordan in 1948 basing on the "Foreign Relations Documents of the U.S." It points out several factors affecting the policy of the U.S. concerning the West Bank which includes the desire for the non-involvement and its unwillingness to commit resources and military troops for the imposition of giving solution in the conflict between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It also examines the policy of the U.S. government towards countries in the Middle East in 1948. The article presents a summary of the position of the British and Americans involving the future of the Arab Palestine.