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Objective: College students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or a learning disorder (LD) are at higher risk for not attaining a bachelor's degree. The purpose is to identify the predictors of academic success in college for students with ADHD and/or LD using a systematic review of the literature. Method: Academic Search Premier, Education Full Text, Education Source, Education Resources Information Center, Teacher Reference Center, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, and Primary Search and relevant journals were searched using PRISMA guidelines. Studies were screened based on the following inclusion criteria: college students with ADHD and/or LD, student characteristics as predictors, and GPA and/or retention as outcomes. Results: Twenty-one studies were included (20 quantitative studies and 1 randomized control trial). Academic regulation, academic self-efficacy, emotional regulation, ADHD symptoms, and academic and social integration predicted college success. Conclusion: Incorporating these components into interventions with students with ADHD and/or LD may enhance their success in college.

Background: Adults with disabilities in low-income communities of colour are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: We interviewed 14 self-advocates with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to learn more about their experiences during the peak of infections, hospitalisations, and deaths in Los Angeles, between December 2020 and March 2021. Results: A modified grounded theory analysis revealed major themes of family, making choices & going places, formal services, and employment, which are discussed in relation to the participants' sense of autonomy and access to goods and services. Conclusions: Implications for practice include increased access and training for adults with IDD in computer skills to maintain social engagement with video conferencing, and to utilise grocery delivery services.

This article analyzes the cultural explosion of "28A," the largest national strike in Colombia's recent times. It aims to further understand the protest from the point of view of young artists that went out to protest. Following analytical tools borrowed from the performance studies, I bring a decolonial approach to the performance studies debate, analyzing social protests as "epistemological struggles" in relation to alternative pedagogies of resistance and solidarity. I join the decolonial commitment of this special issue by thinking from and with Indigenous, Black, Mestizxs, and Youth discourses and praxes, while opening Indigeneity, Blackness, and decoloniality to other spaces like the performing arts, circus, and the "mestizo" nation. I draw attention to Afro and Indigenous philosophies and practices that influence circus practice in Colombia. As those praxes transcend specific Afro and Indigenous communities, the cultural explosion not only challenges the idea of the mestizo nation but also reveals the prevalence of inter-epistemic dialogues and pedagogies of solidarity among young artists in Colombia. In the aftermath of 28A and its cultural explosion, those dialogues have been joined by other sectors of society as revealed in the current presidential elections, where Afro and Indigenous philosophies are finally being considered as valid alternative forms of governance within the mestizo nation.

Research suggests that social networking sites may provide a viable context for promoting student involvement. We examined the relations between social and academic Facebook use and undergraduates' social and academic involvement. We found that social Facebook use was positively linked to social involvement, particularly among non-shy students. Conversely, among shy students, social Facebook use was positively associated with academic involvement. More academic Facebook use was associated with greater social and academic involvement, irrespective of shyness.

This paper focuses on widening participation in relation to under-represented student negotiations of and trajectories through university by drawing attention to students' informal digital practices for studying and social interactions associated with undergraduate student life. Drawing on a two-year UK study and Holland et al.'s [1998. "Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press] framing of agency, culture and identity making across 'figured worlds', we consider the importance of informal studying and socio-academic practices and the role of digital technologies in fostering agency and identity making. The significance of this study lies in revealing the particular importance of improvisation and collective agency for under-represented students participating in university. Whilst acknowledging that the technologies can also reproduce social inequalities, we conclude that, through the increasing interconnectedness of academic and social interactions, the digital improvisations offer creative opportunities for students to negotiate spatial, social and academic inequalities and lead to new/alternative identities and develop stronger social, cultural and educational capital.

Mealtimes have rarely been considered outside a healthy eating agenda yet may be important social contexts for children's social, emotional and moral development. Little research has examined the social value of time spent in the school lunch room. This study examined the nature of children's interactions, activities and experiences of mealtimes and their perceptions of the value of social experiences during these times. A total of 316 9-10-year-old pupils (53% girls) from 11 classes in 4 schools completed closed response questionnaires and 16 children were subsequently interviewed to provide detailed information about the nature of their mealtime experiences, interactions and activities with peers and how these relate to feelings about school. Findings indicate that most children enjoy mealtimes because of the opportunity they provide to be with and converse with friends and other peers about the issues that are significant to them. These social occasions overlap with playground life but are distinctive and afford children different social opportunities and activities. The relative freedom offered in these settings make them important sites for peer relations processes and co-construction of peer culture. Findings are discussed in the light of suggestions that mealtimes should be managed for social and educational purposes.

Studies on hard of hearing (HH) individuals have focused mostly on children's experiences in school. However, their lives as young adults have not received much attention. The present study therefore examined HH young adults' experiences of social identity and group membership. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 individuals (10 males, 6 females) with severe to profound hearing loss. They were from diverse cultural backgrounds. A qualitative content analysis was performed with a manifest analysis. Two categories emerged: Belonging to a Social Environment and Engaging in Important Communication. The results indicate that the HH individuals, either deliberately or unconsciously, chose to be with other HH individuals because of their longing for group membership and desire to avoid being misunderstood. The participants longed for inclusion, acceptance, and opportunities to create an inclusive social environment and to communicate with others.

Community dance has been used as an arts-based approach in healthcare, key for expression in populations who may not typically have access to dance. This study sought to conduct an empirical exploration of family caregivers' perceived psychosocial wellbeing when regularly participating in community dance classes. Community dance can be defined as an activity that can enable creative, expressive, and inclusive experiences for those that take part, and, for this study, both caregivers and people living with dementia were able to participate in community dance classes of this nature. Using a qualitative research design, three family caregivers for people living with dementia diagnoses participated in semi-structured interviews. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the findings suggest that the spousal and adult-child caregivers perceive emotional and psychological benefits from dancing. The caregivers in this study emphasised that their community dance participation provided them with respite, reaffirmed relationship connectivity between caregiver and care-receiver, social engagement, and a rediscovered sense of identity. Findings offer insight into the appropriateness of dance as a method for alleviating potential psychological and social stressors experienced by family caregivers, advocating for greater availability of community dance classes for those experiencing dementia and their caregivers.

This qualitative investigation explored the social and academic experiences of socially anxious adolescents and young adults in Portugal and the US as they lived through the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 10 Portuguese adolescents (mean age = 16.9 years; 50% female) and 7 young adults in the US (mean age = 19.67 years; 71% female; racially/ethnically diverse). Participants completed a semi-structured interview evaluating how the pandemic and social restrictions impacted social anxiety symptoms and associated functional impairment in social and academic domains. Thematic analysis was used to categorize responses across developmental stages and countries. Findings show consistent patterns across cultures, with symptoms of SAD extending to virtual contexts. Participants reported avoidance behaviors that were reinforced by social distancing mandates and declines in academic engagement during remote learning. Anticipatory anxiety about the return to normal social routines was also evident. Schools should be aware of the impact of social confinement on socially anxious students as they return to in person school schedules and social demands.

All over the world, there are schools that represent a different educational system and a different curriculum than the country these schools are situated in. Swedish Schools in turn are located in different parts of the world. The main purpose of this study is to describe and analyse some aspects of the social life at one of these schools, as well as some aspects of the relationship between the cultural life at the school and surrounding African environment. The school serves as a protected oasis where children can feel at home and cultivate new acquaintances in a small and safe environment. But the Swedish school also becomes the cultural hub for containing the Swedish teachers' and parents' value-system and identities, leaving them pretty much unaltered. Despite the end of formal colonial structures, the West still dominates and controls its former colonies discursively as well as economically and politically.

Teaching a foreign language aims at not only teaching the language and language skills, but transferring the culture of the target language. The main reason for that is people learn the target language as a standby in addition to learning the language. It is important that the more individuals learn the cultural features of the country the more they understand the language better. It is an undeniable fact that language and culture are inseparable parts, so culture should be learned simultaneously while learning that language. Because of that relationship between language and culture, language teaching also means teaching culture. Foreign language textbooks reflect the characteristics of the language-speaking community and make it a cultural product of that language. This study is to identify the place and importance of the textbooks used in teaching Turkish to foreigners in the target language teaching and to research which cultural items these books convey. Thus, A1-A2 level textbooks of the Turkish teaching set for Gazi Foreigners were selected as a sample and done document analysis to identify what these sources include in terms of "daily life, interpersonal relations, values and education, literature-arts and music, traditions and folklore, social life, geography and space, foreign (universal) cultural elements". It was observed that the elements of Turkish culture concentrated on the relation between daily life and interpersonal relations, and there was no balanced distribution among other cultural elements. Therefore, these books need to be reviewed so that they can raise cultural awareness of the students.

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of using Mobile Social Network Applications (MSNAs) on students' social life (social relations, family relations and social awareness). The study was designed as a survey study using a five-point Likert-type scale to collect data from the students. A sample of 211 students' response was analyzed. The results indicated that: the overall impact of MSNAs was found to be at moderate degree (M = 3.23). Also, social relation, family relation and awareness of current issues were found to be of the same degree (Means = 3.41, 3.23, 3.61) respectively. Compression of the means of the three dimensions with the theoretical means revealed significant differences in favour of each dimension. T-tests compressions for the gender and for education level revealed no significant differences in both variables whereas significant differences were found for the time spend variable. ANOVA for purposes of using (MSNAs) showed significant difference in favour of educational purposes, while ANOVA for type of applications used revealed no significant differences. The study concluded that the use of (MSNAs) at a moderate degree on students' social life and recommended the use of a large sample and scale of more variables of social life.

This study aimed at investigating the English language needs of teaching assistants at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. The study focused on identifying the teaching assistants' purposes for learning English, and discovering the most important skills, language areas, and academic sub-skills they needed. The study also attempted to determine the teaching assistants' proficiency in the English language. To this end a quantitative approach was adopted. Data were collected through a questionnaire and a test. The results revealed that the teaching assistants needed English for their social life and academic purposes: to communicate with the outside world and to teach their students. The skills regarded as most important were writing and speaking. Finally, the level of proficiency of the participants in the English language was below the average in all the skills.

This paper reports on food insecurity among students attending a university in rural Nova Scotia. In 2015, 1,030 students completed an online, 38-item cross-sectional survey. The results report that 38.1% of students experienced food insecurity during the previous 12 months. Food insecurity was statistically associated with living arrangements, source of funds for schooling, meal plans, and year of study. Poor overall health, poor mental health, high stress, and poor academic performance were significantly higher for food-insecure students. Students employed multiple coping strategies, with implications for academic success and long-term debt. Qualitative analysis revealed four themes related to insufficient money for food: inability to cover basic needs, health-related outcomes of persistent worry, loss of time from learning, and impacts on social life. This research demonstrates the need to re-evaluate funding policies for post-secondary education in Canada to ensure students can afford the costs of basic needs and educational costs.

Young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are more likely than their peers to engage in risk-taking behaviors, including harmful alcohol use, consumption of illicit drugs, and risky sexual behaviors. These behaviors become more common in the general population of young adults as they enter college, particularly for those who join social groups such as Greek life and athletics. It is unclear whether the presence of significant ADHD symptoms is related to engagement in risky behaviors particularly among students who participate in various social activities. We examined: (a) the degree to which inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms predict risk-taking behavior for a sample of 395 college students, and (b) whether the relationship between ADHD symptoms and risk-taking behavior is moderated by participation in social activities. Results indicated that more significant ADHD symptoms are associated with increased risk-taking behaviors, including harmful alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, and risky sexual behavior. Additionally, social group membership was predictive of increased risk-taking in some cases, particularly for students affiliated with Greek organizations. Findings demonstrate the need for universities to implement preventive programs for students with ADHD symptoms and those in social groups, especially Greek life, to minimize the likelihood of negative outcomes associated with risk-taking.

Youth who experience child abuse and family violence have a greater likelihood of being a victim or perpetrator of teen dating violence (Foshee et al., 2008; Wolfe et al., 2009). This article discusses the impact of dating violence on foster youth's behavior, academics, and social life. Currently, there are very few resources and evidence-based practices for school counselors who work with this population. Recommendations are provided for (a) implementing and improving district policies, and (b) developing and implementing programs to prevent, identify, and intervene in violent relationships (Wekerle et al., 2009).

This study aimed at assessing the quality of life of Qatar University students with disability and its relation to their academic adjustment and performance. Seventy (70) students, 31 males, and 39 females participated in the study during the spring of 2017. Participants with sensory (visual or hearing impairments) numbered 25, with physical impairment 32, and with learning disability 13 were assessed on six aspects of Quality of life, including, health, social and family, education, emotional life, mental health, and time management skills. Participants also reported their GPA and completed the academic adjustment assessment tool. Results showed medium to high levels of quality of life among students. Results showed that males' level of quality of life was higher than that of females on health, emotions, and mental health. The type of disability did not affect their level of quality of life. Further, significant relationships were found between quality of life aspects and academic adjustment. Furthermore, the quality of life and academic adjustment predicted academic performance. Results were discussed using the contextual and cultural factors affecting students' quality of life and their academic adjustment.

Health and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic required many face-to-face United States schools to suddenly shut their doors, moving classes to virtual learning environments. Amidst concerns of technology overuse, adolescents across the country saw dramatic increases in both personal screen time use and social isolation as they learned to navigate online schooling. Understanding the impact of the pandemic-related shutdowns upon adolescent well-being, learning, and social life is critical for designing effective online learning experiences, but research provides few insights from the adolescent perspective. This mixed methods study works to fill this gap by investigating adolescent needs and perceptions during the pandemic. The main questions asked are: (1) To what extent does adolescent well-being during the pandemic differ from pre-pandemic well-being?; (2) What factors do adolescents view as influences upon their learning during the imposed shift to online schooling?; and (3) What social changes and concerns do adolescents report during the pandemic? Twenty-one adolescents completed Likert scale surveys and participated in semi-structured one-to-one interviews. Results showed a significant decrease in positive affect and a significant increase in negative affect during the pandemic, suggesting a decline in well-being. The majority of participants reported high distractibility and noted the lure of entertaining technology, but also described their smartphones as "connecting" and "necessary". Social interactions were a priority for all participants, but participants agreed that opportunities for social connectedness in online education were limited. The challenges of online learning, the importance of identifying and responding to student needs, and suggested strategies for online education are discussed.

Students' perceptions of the learning environment play an important role in their academic achievement and social lives. While most measures of school environment have been developed for middle- and high-school students, they also have been used for younger students, such as 4th and 5th graders. What is unclear is whether these measures are actually valid enough for younger student populations. We investigated whether the measurement invariance of one such measure, the popular 5Essentials of School Culture and Climate Survey, holds for younger learners and middle-school students. Results showed that not all measurement invariances hold across younger (4th and 5th grade) and older learners (7th grade). Moreover, half of the survey questions show differential item functioning (DIF). Findings from this study suggest that younger and older students could perceive school learning environments differently. Accordingly, cautions should be exercised when comparing younger and older students' perceptions.

Assistive Technology is playing an enabler role in the life of Down Syndrome. Assistive Technology can allow Down Syndrome to engage in the normal life activities and be more social and independent. The Arab countries are providing vital effort on facilitating the life of Down Syndrome and encouraging their engagement in normal social life. However, there is a lack in utilizing Assistive Technology in supporting such segment of people in these countries. The main aim of the current research is to investigate the current situation regarding the adoption of AT in the teaching and learning processes of Down Syndrome students in inclusion schools and rehabilitation centers in Kingdom of Bahrain. In addition, the impacts of AT in enhancing the independence, performance and social interaction of Down Syndrome students were examined. To achieve these objectives, two different questionnaires were administered to a non-random sample of teachers or specialists and families of Down Syndrome at Kingdom of Bahrain. In general the results show that the adoption of AT in teaching and learning of Down Syndrome students can enable them to be more social and independent person. AT can enhance the Down Syndrome communication which in turn can improve their independence, social interaction, and performance. However, to perceived the greatest and sustainable advantage on using AT, there is still a need for enhancing the capabilities and skills of the teachers/specialists and families to be able to adopt the AT for getting the best results. The research outcomes address several recommendations to enhance the educational process for the Down Syndrome students and other disabled people in Kingdom of Bahrain. Moreover, the study has a vital contribution to the theoretical literature and knowledge by building new model for examining the impact of AT on the Down Syndrome which is rarely develop by previous literature. In addition, it has developed new measurements which can be adopted in further studies in the same field.

From the earliest modern academic literature of industrial organization, supervision education and training, managerial considerations involve leveraging to improve the work of the supervisor and supervisee, and accentuating the value added opportunities for work improvement (Dawson, 1926, pp. 293-295). Reflecting the incorporation of the "pastoral" within the industrial, Kadushin's model of supervision has short and long-range objectives. The short-range objective is "to improve the [knowledge] worker's capacity to do [his or her] job more effectively." The long-range objective is to instill the capacity to perform a "particular service" that the organization is mandated to offer (Kadushin & Harkness, 2002, p. 20). This article discusses the concepts of mindfulness and pastoral care in teaching practices. By defining both pastoral care and mindfulness and situating them in a context of relational teaching practice it is argues that self-esteem, confidence and student focused support may be enhanced by the application of concepts from auxiliary health fields.

Teaching of social studies has basis of education dynamism that governments maintain to raise qualified and efficient citizens. That's why; being examined programs in question has importance for the global citizen concept which comes up with globalization. Therefore, how to be raised efficient citizens who build both governments' and world's future is going to be determined. Turkey has chosen some countries as guides in education to keep up with globalization world standards. One of these countries is Finland. "Core Program" which is in force in the country is has been taken as basis in this study in which secondary education Social Studies curriculum occupying an important place in Finland education system is reviewed. Geographical and historical features and education system of the country are described (have been depicted shortly so as to ensure to be understood better the program in question. When we look at Finland education system in general, it can be said the tradition of sublimating the common objectives in Finland culture slows down the reflection of liability to bring individuality forward on implementation. School programs aims to equip the youth with knowledge and skills they will need in the social life naturally as well as aiming to transmit the basic values of Finland culture to the students. Equality of entire community is taken into consideration while doing this. Concerning available general program, it has been confirmed that general goals of "secondary education Social Studies curriculum" are to equip learners with talent to analyze current events efficiently and critically and prepare them to join social activities.

This study was carried out with the goal of investigation of perceptions and views which are related to children's rights of forth grade primary school students. The research was designed properly to qualitative research approach. This research was made with 156 4th grade students. In determining of the research group, criterion sampling technique was used. In the process of getting research data, survey form, written documents and semi-structured interview form were used. The research data were analyzed with content analysis method. As a result of research, it was determined that children indicated that they have some rights such as have adequate nutrition, be respected by everyone, play games, feel being loved and attract attention, have fun and get qualified education. On the other hand, some rights such as make decisions and choices independently on issues related to self, live, shelter, protect themselves from all kinds of danger and get information are expressed by participants more less than other rights. In addition to this, it was determined that some responsibilities are perceived as rights by children. Consequently, it was determined that the children have not adequate awareness about own rights. Depending on the research results it was suggested that awareness and perceptions of students related to own rights should improved with qualified and entertaining children's rights education.

Objective: Alcohol misuse prevention often fails to account for or replace the pleasurable benefits of drinking such as relaxing and socialising with friends. Increasingly, alcohol-free dance music events are emerging, allowing people to gain the positive outcomes of dancing without recourse to alcohol. This study sought to explore whether conscious-clubbing would be rated as an acceptable alternative to traditional alcohol-focused events. Design/Setting: An online cross-sectional survey was completed by 281 young respondents (80.4% female; mean age = 22). Method: Health-related cognitions (attitudes, intentions), perceived acceptability towards alcohol-free dance events and the extent to which these were predicted by demographics and individual differences were assessed in the survey. Results: "T"-tests indicated overall positive attitudes, acceptability, support towards and intention to attend alcohol-free clubbing events regardless of drinking status, with the exception of drinkers' intentions to attend an event. Exploratory multiple regression analyses indicated that young women and individuals who had previously attended these events held more positive attitudes. These attitudes were associated with acceptability and support, but more favourable attitudes towards alcohol consumption were inversely related to acceptability. More positive attitudes, previous attendance and lower life satisfaction associated with higher intentions to attend an event. Conclusion: Results indicate that alcohol free events may provide an alternative socialising experience, with greater potential utility for young women, non-drinkers and individuals who have previously attended these events. This is of particular importance given that recent literature highlights the need for (non-alcohol) alternatives to socialise among a growing number of individuals.

President Joe Biden has made reopening a majority of K-8 schools for in-person instruction a priority for his administration's first 100 days, with the goal of getting more American students safely back into the classroom. Yet neither information gathered so far by researchers, nor data reported by the federal government and the states, can say where the nation stands with respect to that goal. Nearly halfway through the 2020-21 school year, it is unknown how American schools have adapted amid the pandemic--and what American families are experiencing as a result. In November and December 2020, the authors surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,155 American parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade, including oversamples of parents who identify as Hispanic and parents who identify as Black. They also oversampled parents with children in private and charter schools, making it possible to compare their experiences with those making use of the traditional district sector. Each parent surveyed answered questions about the schooling experiences of each of their children in kindergarten through 12th grade, including 3,762 children in total. They also asked them a set of questions about schools and school policies in the United States in order to see if those experiences have altered parents' views (see sidebar Gauging the Pandemic's Effects on Parental Opinion). The data reveals that more than half of U.S. students are receiving instruction entirely remotely this school year, while 28% of students receive instruction that is fully in person. Of the 19% of students in hybrid models, in-person instruction varies from one to five days a week. The parents of most students remain broadly satisfied with the instruction and activities available from their children's schools, yet the parents of 60% of students report that their child is learning less than would be the case absent the pandemic. Satisfaction levels are highest--and reports of learning loss least common--for students attending school in person. The hybrid model appears to offer no advantage over fully remote instruction. The authors document large differences across sectors in the frequency of in-person instruction. Well over half of students enrolled in district and charter schools receive all their instruction fully remotely, while less than one quarter receive all of their instruction in person. The percentages are nearly reversed for children attending private schools: 60% receive instruction in person and just 18% receive their instruction remotely. They also provide the first evidence on the relationship between in-person instruction and the incidence of COVID. The availability and usage of in-person instruction is unrelated to COVID incidence at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, when most districts made their reopening plans. By November, however, students were most likely to be attending school fully in person in counties where the virus was spreading most rapidly.

Background: "Convivial encounter" provides a new lens for understanding social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, characterised by shared activity and friendly interactions with strangers without intellectual disabilities. Places, props and support practices facilitate incidental convivial encounters. This study explored processes for deliberately creating opportunities for such encounters. Methods: A case study design used mixed methods to collect data from two disability organisations about convivial encounters the people they supported experienced and staff practices that created these. Results: Most commonly convivial encounters created involved repeated moments of shared activity through which people became known by name by others without disabilities. Eight approaches and five processes were used to create these opportunities for encounter. Conclusions: The study provides a blueprint for scaling up or creating interventions to create opportunities for convivial encounters, and opens lines of enquiry about staff competences needed and parameters for costing this type of intervention.

Background: Though the concept of encounter promises to move the field of social inclusion beyond the dichotomy of presence and participation, new work in political theory pushes encounter in a different direction, making freedom -- not inclusion -- the central value at stake. Methods: Interpretative video analysis was conducted on an online learning program "Supporting Inclusion" developed to help support workers recognise and facilitate encounters between people with intellectual disabilities and community members. Findings: Using the lens of freedom in the encounter offers an alternative framing of the significance and meaning of the online learning program's social interactions. Conclusions: Feminist theory can help show how "unfreedom" is a central problem facing people with intellectual disabilities, recasting encounter through the lens of freedom can help spark fresh insight into what makes encounter important.

The psychosocial adaptation of international scholars is a growing area of inquiry in social sciences. Currently, almost 47,164 Pakistani international scholars are enrolled in various universities worldwide but there is a dearth of literature concerning their psychosocial adjustment. This qualitative inquiry focuses on Pakistani graduate and postgraduate international scholars' insights concerning their adaptation practices in Dutch culture and society. The study is grounded in a sociocultural adaptation model. The primary data was collected through in-depth interviews with ten Pakistani international students who are currently registered in three Dutch universities. The seven central themes that emerged out of in-depth interviews were the perception of cultural disparity, linguistic challenges, limited interaction with host nationals, discrimination, difficulties practicing religious obligations, acculturation attitudes, and participants' coping strategies applied during the adjustment process. The findings of the current study highlight both barriers and protective factors within the scope of theoretical assumptions and literature. The current study contributes to the gap in the available literature concerning Pakistani international scholars' experiences. A limited number of studies have discussed acculturation practices of Muslim students and from a specific region. The present findings would be useful for Pakistani international scholars who intend to study abroad and the administration of the host universities receiving Pakistani international scholars to facilitate their adjustment to the new context.

This conceptual article critiques a popular account of education grounded in Bourdieu's social theories. Specifically, the article shows how Bourdieu overplays competition and underplays ethics, or people's diverse ways of imagining, debating, and living out the good. On a Bourdieusian view of education, it is difficult to see how educators and students sometimes seek not just to advance in social fields, but to discern and pursue the good. To address this problem in Bourdieusian theory, the article draws upon ideas developed recently in the anthropology of ethics. The article presents a way of accounting for ethical dynamics in education and illustrates the usefulness of this approach by using it to generate a more comprehensive analysis of the author's Bourdieusian study of high schools' career portfolio programmes.

This article focuses on the roles of students in creating opportunities to practise their learning in class and out of class. This case study with four successful tertiary English as a foreign language (EFL) learners was conducted in a blended language learning environment to investigate these students' beliefs and practice of learner autonomy in the Vietnamese EFL context. For in-class learning, students mostly played a passive role in their learning practice. They preferred teacher-led learning and evaluation, or test-oriented practice. Practice activities in class were often exam-driven, tailored by the teacher to suit test contents and formats. For out-of-class learning, students actively and creatively generated practice opportunities through part-time jobs, social activities, and hobbies more targeted at developing language skills than at high test scores. The study provides new insight into learner practice of autonomy within and beyond the classroom, and offers suggestions on how to bridge the two settings.

Aim and Objective: This study aimed to explore how caregivers of persons with Down syndrome (DS) believe caring had an impact on their own lives. A secondary objective was to understand their experience of seeking educational, social, and health care services for the persons with DS. Methods: This qualitative exploratory study was conducted with 21 caregivers of persons with DS in Kuwait. Results: Caregivers struggled to accept the diagnosis initially that led them to search for answers to many of their concerns about raising a person with DS. For the caregivers, who mostly comprised of mothers, dealing with health conditions that persons with DS suffered from was initially difficult. Caring for these individuals led to heavy impact upon their caregivers' own lives who took extraordinary efforts to cope with the burden. Seeking quality education for the persons with DS and participation in social activities was also challenging, and the caregivers believed that better services, facilities, and benefits for the families of persons with DS may help them better cope with the socioeconomic and psychological burden. Conclusions: Improving the availability of specialized services, the delivery of guidance and counselling, and social integration may help overcome challenges of raising a person with Down syndrome.

Background: Social participation is a complex construct, thus different factors may facilitate or restrict engagement. Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and their mothers often experience barriers in social participation. Therefore, they are frequently facing challenges in order to engage in meaningful activities, in different contexts. Objective: We aimed at exploring the perspectives of mothers and adolescents with CP on their social participation. Method: This is a cross-sectional and exploratory study, with a qualitative design. Seven adolescents with CP, aged from 11 to 17 years old and their mothers, participated in a semi-structured interview, in São Paulo, Brazil. Data from interviews were analyzed with the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) technique. Results: Mothers believed that their parenting practices contribute to the social participation of their children. Mothers revealed concerns about how to support the autonomy of their children and how to help them to establish meaningful and mature relationships. Adolescents with CP reported to engage in a range of social activities, with friends in different contexts, such as restaurants, cinema, concerts, parks and school. They also reported to appreciate social participation and to look for strategies in order to engage. Conclusions: This work can contribute to the understanding of social participation of adolescents with CP, under the perspective of these people and their mothers by allowing them to express their thoughts and voice their fears and limitations. Healthcare providers should adopt a lifespan approach to disabilities and recognize the unique challenges of adolescence in the life of both child and parents.

This article discusses the value of affirming methodologies through two studies of African diasporas that reveal how affirmation enhances autonomy, ownership, solidarity, and cultural assertiveness in the research process. Against the background of an indigenous epistemology, the first study presents insights into the cultural practice of liming and ole talk as a research methodology for researching and sharing knowledge with Caribbean Islanders living in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. The second study uses culturally informed practices of sharing to explore the resettlement experiences of women from different African backgrounds in Western Sydney, Australia. Together, the authors suggest that a culturally informed and practice-based approach foregrounds the social worlds of African diasporic communities and paints a more nuanced picture of their everyday lived experiences. The call for the decolonization of methodologies has drawn attention to the detrimental impact of mainstream research approaches on the representations of and responses to indigenous and Black people and people of color. This article asserts the importance of going beyond a decolonizing approach to an affirming position where researchers' learnings are informed by more culturally relevant methodologies. These methodologies should be considered important in and of themselves and not simply in opposition to dominant modes of data collection, analysis, and dissemination.

Despite efforts in Ireland to increase the number of part-time students in Higher Education, there was limited growth over twenty years 1997-2017. Part-time featured in widening participation strategies; however, this mode of learning has orientated towards employability. Retention of part-time students remains a problem for Higher Education. This paper draws on findings from an empirical study and explores factors that encouraged integration amongst on-campus part-time, flexible students in Higher Education Institutions. Findings indicated that students persisted in their studies despite encountering challenges. Students reported a sense of belonging at programme and department level; however, this did not equate with inclusion within the Higher Education Institutions. Students continue to experience difficulty in accessing supports and facilities. The limits of an interactionist model were explored from the perspective of non-traditional students. Tinto's model of integration does not translate straightforwardly to part-time flexible students who were not socialising on campus but were committed to completing the programme.

England is currently facing a crisis in the recruitment and retention of teachers, with one-in-three newly qualified staff leaving the profession within five years of completing their training. This paper investigates several different aspects of the lives of recently qualified teachers in England, including their life satisfaction, mental health, working hours and their social lives. Recently qualified teachers are found to have higher-levels of life-satisfaction than their peers working in other professional/graduate jobs, despite working longer hours for little extra pay. They are also less likely to believe that Britain is a place where hard work gets rewarded. Yet there is no evidence that recently qualified teachers have worse mental health outcomes, or have a less active social life, than young people working in other jobs.

Purpose: As there are many Arab students seek to earn an international degree, this research article aims to explore the factors that influence Arab students' adaptation to the foreign cross-culture of the USA and how it is related to their academic achievement. Exploring these factors will introduce different insights into the effectiveness of adaptation and studying in a foreign country and earning an international degree. Besides, this study contributes to the body of knowledge of international higher education by including Arab students as a less-researched group. Arab students' adaptation process is explained in terms of the Cross-cultural Adaptation Theory (Kim, 2001). Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative research study was conducted using a focus group discussion (FGD). Multiple face-to-face interviews were conducted to obtain data from the participants. Participants were divided into four groups, each female group contained nine participants and each male group contained seven participants. The researcher explained to each group independently about their perception, beliefs and attitude toward earning international degrees, the adaptation to the host culture and their academic achievement. The researcher carried out five FGDs for each group. Each interview continued for 60 minutes in length. All participants received a consent form. The discussions were audio-recorded and then transcribed. Findings: Arab students are a group of enthusiastic learners; however, their feelings of homesickness enable them to develop overwhelming sorrowful emotions, howbeit their communication with their ethnic group facilitates the adaption and acceptance of the host cultures, which requires quite some time to adjust to new surroundings. Arab students are recognized with high academic achievements; nevertheless, they require prolonged periods to complete course assignments. American society gives international students a warm welcome; this may encourage other Arab students to consider earning an American degree and prepare themselves for this intercultural transition. Research limitations/implications: This is subjective qualitative data; some limitations need to be addressed when interpreting the findings. Participants are English as a Second Language (ESL)learners, which may influence their word choice during the discussion. Interesting future research could be related to designing an assessment model to evaluate the academic achievement of ESL in different methods that focus on their achievement motivations and communication skills. Practical implications: Based on the findings, professors can integrate the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to help multi-cultural students to learn and earn an international higher education degree. Social implications: Higher education institutions can offer more social multi-cultural opportunities to include multi-cultural students and develop their social skills to facilitate the adaptation process to the new host culture. Originality/value: This qualitative research study represents an original work of the researcher, and it has not submitted elsewhere. All research ethical codes were followed by the researcher and participants. There is no fund for this research project.

In this study, I focused on international Chinese doctoral students and sought to better understand their lived experience in transition to U.S. higher education. I also aimed to explore strategies that can be employed to improve these students' academic and sociocultural experiences on American campuses. Guided by the adult transition theory (Goodman, Schlossberg & Anderson, 2006), this study used an interpretive phenomenological method. Qualitative data were collected from in-depth focus group interviews. The findings of this study informed higher education educators and practitioners about unique challenges faced by international Chinese graduates in transition and provided insightful knowledge for new practice, programs, and policies that can be created to improve international students' transition and success.

Living Learning Communities (LLCs) have been shown to increase student retention rates and academic performance (Hotchkiss, Moore, & Pitts, 2006), as well as increase overall satisfaction with college (Baker & Pomerantz, 2000) and increase cognitive skills (Walker, 2003). These benefits have been demonstrated in a variety of institutions with diverse students (Andrade, 2007). However, these studies have relied on quantitative measures of assessment. As suggested by Taylor, Moore, MacGregor, and Lindblad (2003) and Ward and Commander (2011), more qualitative data is needed to really understand why LLCs are linked to positive outcomes. This qualitative study collected focus group data from both LLC students and non-LLC students to determine what possible social and psychological benefits students reported about their LLC or university experiences. Themes emerged from the qualitative data to reveal that LLC students do experience some of the same university life experiences that non-LLC students experience. However, LLC students reported richer connections to faculty and students, as well as additional social and academic opportunities.

Play areas of entertainment and development are new recourses for modern city children, but at the same time, they produce risks of road traffic accidents, deviation, social inequality and social exclusion. Playgrounds in city/town yards are free zones of children's pastime, where children communicate and play together. The aim of this article is to consider children's playgrounds as semantic centers of town children's everyday life and to analyze their role in the social life of children of different age groups. Our research has made it possible to compare children's and adults' views on playgrounds. The position of parents is characterized by assessment of safety, variety of play equipment and developmental orientation. The importance of playgrounds for children is defined by possibilities of free communication and playing with other children.

This essay describes the collaboration of the author with a community-based organization of women serving a predominantly, but not exclusively, immigrant and diasporic Filipino community in the county of Hawai'i to co-create an education project. It offers an analysis of two seemingly divergent communities and their presumably distinct practices and linguistic registers: social foundations expertise and the production of academic knowledge and practitioner expertise and community base organizing. With a focus on the processes, challenges, and risks of this collaboration, the author shows the formation of an experimental community in which a group of women with different professional backgrounds, skills, interests, and political outlooks came together to create an actionable project: a community education conference that addresses a pressing community issue and discuss the social knowledge that unfolded as a result. There are two aims of this essay. The first is to illustrate how theoretic-practice is enacted in a space that is deemed "non-academic." The second is to bring that non-academic space of learning into the network of pedagogical discursive practices. The author does this to encourage a broader view of education. This broader view proceeds from the belief that education cannot be confined to what happens in schools and classrooms but is a situated human activity embedded in everyday social life.

Bilingualism changes how people relate to others, and lead their lives. This is particularly relevant in autism, where social interaction presents challenges. Understanding the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support autistic people. This research aims to understand the language learning and social experiences of mono-, bi- and multilingual autistic people. A total of 297 autistic adults (mean age = 32.4 years) completed an online questionnaire including general demographic, language history and social life quality self-rating items. The sample included 89 monolingual English speakers, 98 bilinguals, and 110 multilinguals, with a wide range of language profiles. Regression models were used to analyse how bilingualism variables predicted social life quality ratings. In the full sample, age negatively predicted social life quality scores while the number of languages known positively predicted social life quality scores. In the multilingual subset, age negatively predicted social life quality scores, while third language proficiency positively predicted social life quality scores. This is the first study describing the language history and social experiences of a substantial sample of bilingual and multilingual autistic adults. It provides valuable insight into how autistic people can learn and use a new language, and how their bilingualism experiences shape their social life.

Recent work in education research and policy studies has been critical of the view that sees education as a fix for social problems. This perspective invites a reconsideration of the relationship between education and society that breaks from the long held instrumental assumptions informing most education theory and policy, wherein education is a means to a fully reconciled society. Drawing on Ernesto Laclau's argument for the impossibility of society, this article considers the ontology of education in light of society's impossibility. Referring to previous work on rhetorics and tropes in education policy and theory, we discuss how 'ontological rhetorics' in the discourse of education create the objects on and through which it operates. By focusing on the ontology of education, we are able to theorize education as more than and different from its role as a means to an end. Expanding the way Laclau and Mouffe use Althusser's notion of overdetermination, we speak of education as beyond and excessive to the demands of the social, making education a tropological register of the social through which we continually encounter the impossibility of society. Rather than being effective means to current forms of political power, education contributes to the production of discursive resources necessary for the construction of any political entity, for configurations of the political understood as the ontological process of creating the frameworks of social life.

Background: As part of a larger study exploring the transition to retirement for people with intellectual disability from a working life in mainstream employment, this paper reports on retirement from the perspective of those who have already retired. Method: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with five Australian retirees with intellectual disability. Data were analysed using grounded theory methodology. Employment service records provided background information on participants' employment and supports. Results: Retirement occurred as the solution to ongoing problems primarily related to health. Retirement decisions were made in conjunction with family and support staff, with participants reporting varying levels of self-determination in the process, and mixed feelings about their retirement. None of the participants were participating in mainstream community groups in retirement. Conclusions: There is a need for retirement preparation for this emerging population to support self-determination in retirement-related decisions including individualized training to facilitate independent participation in mainstream social activities in retirement.