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Increasing community awareness and knowledge about environmental problems is the primary goal of environmental education. This study explores the best practices of the Youth for Environment in Schools--Organization (YES-O) in selected schools in the National Capital Region, Philippines. A qualitative study involving interviews and focus group discussions directed the collection and analysis of data. The study discovered that the implementation of the YES-O program was successful due to the following best practices: (a) personal advocacy, (b) resource availability, (c) flexibility, (d) integrated school efforts, (e) participatory approach, and (f) monitoring and evaluation strategies, which were all supported by the emerging themes. Meanwhile, capacity building and strong networks emerged as important themes supporting the YES-O program implementation in secondary schools. The schools can continue their practices to sustain the implementation of the program. However, schools should take into account certain indicators that require improvement to enhance their performance. These may include strengthening their networking, linkages, and partnership strategies to better engage and synergize environmental education given the mandated programs, projects, and activities of the YES-O program implementation.

Development for empowerment focuses on leveraging education via digital technologies and micro-credentials for training and education as part of the integration, social inclusion and capacity building for displaced persons. Development for empowerment builds upon the previous concepts of development including Amartya Sen's 'development as freedom,' the core concept of education and learning as development, and the use of digital technologies for building human capacity so people can make their own choices and pursue the lives they wish to lead. Development for empowerment for refugees broadens the construct of development and is integral to promoting and nurturing 'equity, access and success' amongst refugee populations. The authors highlight critical resources that support the basic tenets of human empowerment such as the UN's "Declaration of Human Rights," the UN's "Basic Needs Approach to Refugees," Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs," and the key strategies of online delivery and micro-credentials development. Moreover, the authors emphasise that the integration, social inclusion and integration of refugees is a highly complex construct to implement and sustain, thus reflecting the constant tension of refugees' emotional desire to return home versus rebuilding a new life in a new country. In the final analysis, 'development for empowerment' + open and distance learning + digital microcredentials create a powerful synergy for serving refugees and fulfilling the spirit of preserving human rights through education and the pursuit of one's chosen life as a precious human ideal.

Learning in higher education while being at war is the topic of this paper. The investigation on the management of one's own learning processes by students living war conditions has been addressed through a survey that was conducted on a sample of 1,685 students at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Kiev during February-March 2023, one year after the Russian invasion. The aim is to understand the strategies adopted by students to oppose and counteract the informal learning processes that are produced by the war. Findings of the study show that, although people are immersed in adverse conditions, they can autonomously direct their own learning processes and defend themselves against the learning valencies of the war to counteract its effects. This is a possibility that might depend on the educational quality of social relations and the networks each student has and was able to build. The possibility to be trained represents the most common concern among students. It is more widespread than the precariousness of material living conditions. However, this attitude is not generalised. According to the authors, the different positions expressed by the students could be attributed to the different level of the capacity each student developed to control the learning processes they are exposed to in their daily life. Based on this capacity of control of their own informal learning processes it is possible to activate autonomous self-directed learning and tackle the challenges the war poses.

Education researchers regularly seek to evaluate and define what encompasses successful professional development (PD) for teachers. Numerous items and lists that are considered the characteristics of "effective PD have emerged from this research." However, follow-up with teachers on their perceived views of these characteristics is lacking from the literature. Teachers can help determine which aspects should be considered in the design of high-quality professional learning in the future. For this study, Q methodology was utilized to examine the subjective views of the teachers. Q sorts were correlated and factor analyzed (PCA with cluster rotation) to extract four significant factors on which all 17 participants loaded significantly (McKeown &Thomas, 2013; Newman & Ramlo, 2010; Watts & Stenner, 2012). These factors were examined through the lens of andragogy (adult learning theory) to determine the connections between the characteristics of effective PD and the core adult learning principles. Teachers in this study perceived effective PD as those opportunities that establish cooperative learning amongst participants, focus on improved student learning outcomes, provide opportunities for feedback, and allow for ongoing support. Future research is needed to see if the results obtained apply to other teacher populations.

Rural school principals in Tennessee face serious challenges in leading their schools, including isolation, high turnover, and a lack of instructional leadership skills. Facilitated by a state university, the Tennessee Rural Principals Network (TRPN) was developed to provide professional learning opportunities for rural school principals. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of principals in rural schools who participated in the TRPN during the years 2019-2021 (n = 133). The study used a basic qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews of 12 participants. Through our data analysis, key learning strengths and challenges were identified and organized under the codes of learning needs, coaching, mentoring, and networking. From these categories, we developed three themes: (a) sharing and collaborating through networks; (b) building capacity through mentoring and coaching; and (c) addressing the learning needs of principals in a rural context. Findings revealed that principals were pleased with the network and felt it helped them better navigate their roles as rural principals by providing the tools to develop best practices and a network to share ideas and resources.

This paper analyses the role of libraries in the development of Open Educational Resources (OER) and, more specifically, the impact and level of implementation of UNESCO's (2019) OER Recommendation in Higher Education libraries. This study, the result of a joint undertaking between a national R&D project and SPARC Europe, is based on an online survey, disseminated amongst the European Network of Open Education Librarians (ENOEL) and uses a descriptive research methodology. The results highlight the implementation actions being taken by university libraries (n = 136) in each of the five areas of action of UNESCO's Recommendation. We find that the main contributions are being made in the areas of capacity building and Open Education policies, but that considerable work has yet to be done in terms of promoting inclusiveness and the sustainability of OER. Thus, the full implementation of UNESCO's recommendation requires a greater commitment on the part of librarians to joint actions undertaken via international networks and projects, as well as greater institutional commitment and the building of interdepartmental alliances.

This article captures lessons learned while coaching a team of writing teachers across a poetry writing unit of study. Because of the heightened pressure of successful implementation of curricular programs, coaching can become focused solely on implementation of resources with fidelity, which can neglect the art of teaching. This article captures coaching techniques used to shift away from conformity and towards transformation in teaching.

This study examined the perceptions of participants regarding the use of embedded video demonstration lessons during literacy professional development sessions. The videos were captured in an urban elementary classroom and modeled two new literacy strategies. Based on survey responses from 160 kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school teachers and 117 school or district administrators and instructional specialists, the findings revealed positive participant perceptions and effective instructional use of the videos that modeled the implementation of the strategies in a relevant classroom setting. The analysis of the use of videos during the professional development (PD) sessions was found to positively affect the instructional capacity of teachers to implement the strategies in their classroom settings. The findings also suggest that school administrators more positively understood the process of using the strategies to support the standards, resulting in increased leadership capacity. Implications of using specifically created videos to enhance clarity and credibility of PD for participants are discussed.

Given the substantial impact school leaders have on school improvement, the imperative for continuous professional learning for leaders is evident. In this two-year action research study, researchers collaborated with a school division, forming a research-practice partnership, to design and explore a collaborative professional learning and coaching program. The primary objective of this program was to align with local leadership standards and foster leadership development. The central research question was: How does implementation of a collaborative professional learning and coaching program contribute to leadership development? Data were collected from district and school leaders and included pre and post surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The findings of this study indicate that district leadership practices show promising potential in fostering inservice opportunities for leadership development. These practices include the following: (a) ensure programs are sustained with a consistent focus, (b) utilize collaborative learning approaches, (c) assess growth through reflection and feedback, and (d) use action research to support continual improvement. This study aims to provide valuable insights to school districts and researchers regarding the implementation of sustained and job-embedded professional development for school leaders, with a specific focus on leadership development.

The role of the local government within the context of engagement and collaboration with universities has largely been understudied. Employing a cross-sectional design, this study of 67 universities and 78 municipalities from 29 states examines how collaborative capacity impacts university and local government perceptions of engagement and collaboration with each other. The findings indicate that local government trust is the primary catalyst for both engagement and collaboration between the parties.

Educational leadership preparation programs are tasked with advancing the development of future educational leaders' instructional capacities, including the ability to engage teachers in instructional conversations through instructional coaching. The educational leadership program studied here includes a mixed reality experience designed to develop future educational leaders' instructional coaching conversation skills. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to examine future educational leaders' perceptions of the development of instructional coaching conversation skills because of participation in the mixed reality experience. Findings indicated that, overall, participants held positive views of the mixed reality experience in supporting their development of instructional coaching conversation skills. Additionally, participants indicated development of other skills including, on-the-spot thinking, confidence, and reflection, among other skills. Results suggest that mixed reality experiences provide authentic, realistic learning opportunities to develop instructional leadership capacities.

From personalized advertising to economic forecasting, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly important element of our daily lives. These advancements raise concerns regarding the transhumanist perspective and associated discussions in the context of technology-human interaction, as well as the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on education and critical pedagogy. In this regard, the purpose of this research paper was to investigate the intersection of AI and critical pedagogy by critically assessing the potential of AI to promote or hamper critical pedagogical practices in the context of transhumanism. The article provides an overview of the concepts of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and critical pedagogy. In order to seek answers to research questions, qualitative research design was adopted, and GPT-3 was used as a data collection resource. Noteworthy findings include the similarity of the dialogue with the GPT-3 davinci model to a conversation between two human beings, as well as its difficulty in understanding some of the questions presented from a critical pedagogy perspective. GPT-3 draws attention to the importance of the relationship between humans in education and emphasizes that AI applications can be an opportunity to ensure equality in education. The research provides suggestions indicating the relationship between AI applications and critical pedagogy.

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020 disrupted and changed higher education across the world, and into the future. Campuses were shut down, almost overnight. International and State borders were closed and business models that relied heavily on high-paying international students collapsed. University leaders and academics were forced to find new ways of attracting, engaging with, and retaining students. This paper describes a project that was undertaken in Australia in 2021 which investigated the implications of, and scope for online assessment in this "new virtual world" of learning and teaching in higher education. After extensive research and consultation, the project developed a Digital Assessment Framework dubbed DASH C21, which stands for Digital Assessment Stretching Horizons for the 21st Century. The Framework is based on a set of underpinning principles and values; the Inputs. The Inputs feed into four Dimensions. These Dimensions are Practices and Pedagogies, Strategies, Emerging Technologies and Stretching Horizons. The Outputs are a series of authentic, innovative, experiential and forward looking, digital assessments, reinforced by academic integrity values. This paper will be of particular interest to higher education senior managers, academics, learning and teaching specialists, staff professional developers and curriculum designers.

The global pandemic highlighted the need for diverse faculty development partners to ensure student and faculty learning was supported, particularly in intensive modes of educational delivery. Our paper presents an institutional case study of how educational technology, in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning and subject matter experts, served as untapped providers of faculty development. We detail the decision to shift to an intensive 7-week module system rather than our traditional 15-week semester in response to COVID-19. Although challenging for both faculty and students, this shift in educational delivery facilitated innovative approaches to faculty and student learning that are present on our campus today. This institutional case study highlights the role that capacity-building plays in capability development and professional learning for faculty and students alike to support effective teaching practice across diverse delivery modes.

We share lessons gained through supporting an institution-wide curriculum innovation via a post-graduate professional learning program. At the inception of the innovation, an intensive Block Model (BM) was unfamiliar to both the institution and its professional learning facilitators. The Graduate Certificate of Tertiary Education was re-modelled with BM as the heart of professional learning so academics would encounter BM as students. The program modelled BM principles, reinforced by meta-conversations to provide students with a reflective, immersive experience. Through a participatory evaluation, professional learning facilitators' individual reflections were distilled to generate collaborative insights into academics' capacity building for BM. Their lessons inform strategies to cultivate institution-wide capability-building including their own professional growth. Lessons shape the study recommendations. Recommendations originate from effectively engaging time-poor, diverse cohorts. (1) In recognition of the ease with which students can fall behind, embedding strategies to manage their time and stress helps to maintain a realistic study pace. (2) Authentic assessments provide students with useful products for their teaching. (3) Peer-feedback and examples of students' work exposes them to how their colleagues present their work and illustrates good BM practices. (4) Modelling BM principles must be reinforced by meta-conversations to provide students with a reflective, immersive experience of the pedagogical principals. We observed that well planned efficiencies for students often provide consequent efficiencies for staff. These insights are captured in a model for scalable institutional-based professional learning practice. Capability growth flourishes at the intersection of action, reflection and evaluation. Professional collegial conversations are the catalyst for developing context-relevant professional learning.

Community-university partnerships are a critical vehicle for promoting sustainability, and the partnerships themselves can be sustained by ensuring that participants achieve mutual benefits in terms of their respective goals and missions. Although the literature emphasizes mutuality and reciprocity, fewer studies investigate community partners' motivations for participating in community-university partnerships in their own terms. Drawing on semistructured interviews and Q methodology, we identify four distinct perspectives among our community partners, each prioritizing a different set of goals and working from different interpretations of community-university partnerships. One perspective stresses solving practical problems, another focuses on building organizational capacity, a third advocates for recognition of their community's lived experience, and a fourth aims to articulate visions of a sustainable future. These four perspectives suggest a spectrum where some partners prefer a more transactional partnership whereas others work toward a fundamental transformation of how society conceptualizes knowledge and expertise.

The digital pivot of 2020-21, which moved teacher education online, created a catalyst for teacher educators to develop their digital literacies. This paper reports on a Collaborative Inquiry which sought to examine the factors which influenced teacher educators' digital skills during this time. Additionally, this paper aims to address the need for research on digital technology in teacher education, as previous studies have reported that some student-teachers feel ill prepared to engage with digital technology in their practice. In seeking to examine the factors which influence the development of teacher educators' engagement with digital technology, this research adds to knowledge and understanding in this area, informing professional learning provision for teacher educators with digital technologies. The Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model was used to examine the ways in which teacher educators were influenced in their practice and what impact this had on their experience. Analysis highlighted how the positioning of teacher educators within the framework influenced their experience of teaching online. The lived experiences of teacher educators when using technology for teaching online moved beyond their understanding of content, pedagogy, and technology, and highlighted the importance of context. Relationships, wellbeing, and emotional factors influenced engagement with digital technology as it mediated social practices. The findings add to knowledge and understanding of teacher educators' engagement with digital technology and have implications for professional development.

The inconsistencies between agents of the educational system, where it reigns tensions and disjointed mechanisms that express failures of multidisciplinary action, make schools behave like pseudomorphic systems. This article examines interactions between autonomy and control, resorting to a qualitative study with a quantitative approach to schools' strategic documents and inspectorate reports using NVivo. It provides a multiperspective cross-analysis of school narratives regarding (i) principals' vision, (ii) school strategic orientation, and (iii) internal and external evaluation reports. This article exposes how schools demand an organised, intentional, and planned way of using self-knowledge to enhance teaching and learning. It uncovers that innovation is an undervalued facet in the school organisation and a marginal element of the school evaluation. Additionally, it reveals system inconsistencies regarding external evaluation and school organisation. The difficulty of school change asserts that educational systems need to deepen interconnections to prevent schools from keeping a traditional functional structure masked by modern educational discourses, meaning pseudomorphic guidance.

A comprehensive educational framework is provided by the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) which is particularly relevant to engineering and applied sciences. This paper investigates the application of the CDIO approach in the field of chemistry pedagogy in Vietnam focusing on its adaptability to the current educational demands and its potential to enhance the competency of future teachers. The CDIO approach develops training curricula and outputstandards based on input from teachers,students, alumni and recruitment firms. This study uses the CDIO approach extensively with professional knowledge, social awareness and creative tendencies. The study involved a survey of 240 chemistry teachers and 242 students from various universities across Vietnam. Data were collected through online surveys using Google Forms and processed using SPSS software for statistical analysis. The research analyzed the alignment of practical teaching activities with CDIO standards and developed a framework for experimental practice competency. Findings indicated a robust implementation of the CDIO approach in chemistry pedagogy. In laboratory safety, experimental planning, execution and competence were high. The study shows that the CDIO strategy enhances professional competence and practical abilities in Vietnamese chemistry pedagogy students. It promotes collaboration and personal growth to meet changing educational needs. The CDIO approach could transform chemistry pedagogy in Vietnam suggesting science education reforms and capacity building.

Purpose: The study investigated the possibility of establishing concurrent vocational education and training through microlearning platforms by assessing whether universities in Garowe had the minimum basic facilities to establish such programmes, whether academic staff were aware of the state of vocational education, its importance, the rate of unemployment in Garowe and Puntland in general, and whether university professionals were willing to establish these training programmes as concurrent options. Method: It was a survey study of a qualitative approach and data was collected using an inventory checklist of institutions capacity, a close ended questionnaire to academic staff on their general perception of vocational education and training, and detailed interviews of both academic and administrative staff purposively selected at higher education institutions in Garowe to find out their willingness as stakeholders to adopt vocational training at higher education using microlearning approaches. Findings: Universities in Garowe Puntland have the basic minimum facilities to establish microlearning oriented platforms although respondents emphasise that it should be supplemented with some physical practical sessions and modules. It is evident that introducing vocational education at higher education is one of the solutions to the unending graduate unemployment. However just like some respondents recommend, micro-learning for vocational education should be supplemented with some physical practical sessions and modules, hence a kind of blended approach. The study also found that there is hardly any career guidance done at the secondary school level and this affects choice of professional careers as students transition from secondary to tertiary education. Conclusions: It is evident from findings that the attitude towards vocational education in Puntland has not been good, although with awareness and given the increased rate of graduate unemployment, the attitude can also be changed gradually. The study recommends a needs assessment before establishing certain training programmes to avoid the recurring challenges of mismatch between training programmes and the labour needs plus a need to intensify their international and regional collaborations with more experienced organisations and institutions. There is need for a curriculum review process of the existing university curriculum to accommodate the vocational concurrent programmes. [Note: The publication year (2022) shown in the citation on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication year is 2024.]

This qualitative study explores the early implementation of a university school leadership preparation program and school district collaborative effort to develop school leaders and sustain leadership capacity in nine rural school districts. Emerging findings drawn from survey, focus-group, and participant observation data include (a) the development of a strong leadership network of professional relationships that included peers and district mentors, (b) a sense of individual leadership growth and targeted professional development preparing participants for their next leadership role, and (c) an emerging statewide rural school leadership development network.

School-based research centres are growing in number and have potential to amplify school students' voices in research through activities within the school. This paper explores how one research centre in an independent school in Australia, in a financially and socially privileged context, is using tertiary-type structures (namely, an ethics committee, research journal and conference) to engage students in research activities and give them voice about research in their school. Writing as centre director and practitioner researcher in the school, I explore these activities which position research as a skill with potential to further students' academic capital, as well as their ability to challenge their understanding of privilege in the world. A core motivation for this paper is consideration of the transposition of structures designed for adults into the school context and exploring how students engage with these structures in order to have a voice as researchers and in research.

Across Australia, early years learning frameworks recommend digital technologies be integrated into early years centres. Introduced in 2009, the Early Years Learning Framework, requires educators to foster children's use of technologies for accessing information, investigating ideas, and representing their thinking. The National Quality Framework also encourages children to engage with digital technology for experimentation. Using a researcher created Digital Technology Activity Framework for early years centres, this study examined broad digital technology integration in a sample of Australian early years centres. Using desktop audits, interviews and observations, the study found that while digital technologies were widely embedded, there were significant opportunities evident for further promoting children's agency with devices. These findings suggest that to support children's achievement of learning outcomes with digital technologies, greater sector-wide professional learning and aligned resources in effective digital pedagogy and policy development would be valuable for both early years centre directors and educators.

There is an increasing need to train and retrain personnel that would be saddled with the capabilities, professional and skill developmental requirement that meets societal needs. In this case, there is need for adequately trained personnel that will bridge the gap between societal needs; industrial needs with classroom instructions and vice versa. Therefore, this study examines the influence of building aspiring teachers' capabilities, professional and skill development as an auspice to quality teaching activities in technical vocational education and training institutions. Samples were selected using a multistage sampling technique. The collected data from 945 aspiring teachers was analysed using empirical analysis with AMOS SPSS v.23. Hayes PROCESS macro was used for mediation analyses. The result of the study indicated that self-efficacy and professional skills with knowledge of instructional delivery and personal capabilities have strong significant linkage. There is also a mediating interaction of attention to relationship on the relationship between constructive teaching and personal capabilities. TVET institutions should ensure continuous professional development by concentrating on the requirements concerning teaching and learning, individual resources and social support for coping with various requirements.

The extant literature aimed at characterizing attentional capability in autistics has presented inconsistent findings. This inconsistency and uncertainty may be the product of different theoretical and methodological approaches used to define attention in autism. In the current study, we investigate whether the allocation of attentional resources to task demands, and attention resource capacity, differs between autistics with no comorbid attention-deficit diagnosis (n = 55) and age-matched neurotypicals (n = 55). We compared differences in capacity and the allocation of resources by manipulating attentional load in a Multiple Object-Tracking (MOT) task, a robust, versatile, and ecological measure of selective, sustained, and distributed attention. While autistics demonstrated lower MOT performance, this difference disappeared when we accounted for fluid reasoning intelligence. Additionally, the similarity in the trend of MOT performance at increasing levels of attentional load between autistics and neurotypicals suggests no differences in the allocation of attentional resources to task demands. Taken together, our study suggests that higher-order cognitive abilities, such as intelligence, should be considered when characterizing attention across the autistic population in research. Similarly, our findings highlight the importance of considering cognitive competence when assessing attentional capabilities in autistic individuals, which could have significant implications for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and support.

Caregiver coaching in early intervention (EI) can lead to positive outcomes for young children with delays and disabilities and their families. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some EI providers reported coaching caregivers more frequently. However, EI providers' use of caregiver coaching is inconsistent, and there is a need for more effective personnel preparation in this area. In this qualitative study we explored EI providers' beliefs about what factors contributed to their increased use of caregiver coaching during the pandemic. Participants reported two areas that contributed to their use of caregiver coaching: service delivery (e.g., telepractice, role changes, and caregiver expectations for services) and learning opportunities (e.g., personal growth and reflection, educational resources, and collaboration). Implications include the need for policies that allow and promote access to telepractice services and the importance of using a variety of adult learning strategies when delivering in-service and pre-service preparation related to caregiver coaching.

According to extensive research, problem-based learning (PBL) in STEM education improves student learning outcomes and supports them in gaining practical skills necessary for upward future careers. Despite current efforts to promote PBL-STEM activities in education, their uptake in life science remains low. Several types of research involving college instructors indicate that instructor guidance of PBL-STEM activities is one of the crucial aspects for its successful usage in educational settings. However, to our knowledge, little research has been undertaken on the effectiveness of participants' PBL-STEM learning in coping with problems and dilemmas encountered during the STEM learning process. This research intends to investigate the efficacy and provide experiential references to demonstrate the existing gaps by a transdisciplinary approach. The effect on participants' professional learning interest, comprehension capacity, problem-solving ability, self-efficacy, and cooperation abilities is related to five dependent variables. Our findings from paired t-test analysis demonstrate that STEM participants had a significant difference before and after experiencing PBL-STEM learning objectives. In the light of a one-way ANOVA, STEM learner participation in this course was more important than gender and age in improving STEM literacy through classroom activities. In line with feedback interviews, students who engaged in experiential learning favored reciprocal advantages and mutual benefits within their groups through teamwork, practical application, and information acquisition. Given that the participants in this study were early adopters of PBL-STEM, any future research should aggressively encourage these students to create and implement solutions in the classroom based on their ideas.

The rise of internships as a form of work experience that students pursue during their degree or after graduation has been accompanied by an upsurge of discussions, critical and favourable, on the role of internships for interns' employment opportunities. There is a need, however, to understand the learning that goes in internship as for many students internship is a setting where work practices are encountered for the first time. Recently it has been suggested that unaccredited internship can be seen as constituting a separate work activity that needs to be examined in its own right. The aim of this article is to contribute to this literature by focusing on the learning challenges that arise in unaccredited internship and identifying the capacities that interns develop as a result of tackling these challenges. To that end, I identify a set of analytical concepts from vocational learning literature developed to understand the challenges and opportunities associated with learning across contexts (i.e. education and work): horizontal expertise, boundary-crossing, recontextualisation and identity-renegotiation. Then I analyse data on learning in unaccredited internships collected from five focus groups and two interviews (18 interns). A dialogic discourse analysis of focus group and interview discourses revealed that the interns in unaccredited internship developed an emerging capacity to learn and work competently across multiple contexts and to initiate and coordinate subsequent cycles of boundary-crossing between education and work. The paper proposes the notion of "interns' horizontal expertise" to describe this emerging capacity that arises from learning in unaccredited internship and continues after the internship and explains how this concept differs from other expressions of horizontal expertise in the literature such as the horizontal expertise of seasoned professionals in inter-professional activities and boundary-crossing in work placements.

Teachers and clinicians report feeling underprepared to implement evidence-based behavior supports. As such, effective models of professional development that lead to improved outcomes for all individuals are required. Critical components of high-quality professional development include explicit instruction, modeling, practice, direct feedback, and, potentially, individual coaching. However, delivering all components may be resource intensive. Professional development approaches that extend the tiered logic of multi-tiered systems of support to adult learning may address these challenges. In such models, universal professional development is provided to whole-staff groups on specific skills using explicit instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback. Data are then collected and used to inform targeted, individualized supports. The current systematic literature review addressed a gap in the literature by identifying, summarizing, and appraising 20 published studies that examined tiered, responsive professional development models. While consistent practices were identified (e.g., group didactic training at Tier 1 and coaching at Tiers 2 and 3), the form and shape of specific interventions at each tier differed across studies. The same was observed in the data-based decision-making processes employed to determine the need for additional trainee support. Practical implications to inform the ongoing examination of tiered responsive professional development models are discussed.

Various district-level factors contribute to the successful implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in schools, a widely implemented evidence-based framework supporting students' social, emotional, and behavioral development. Prior research has identified the district PBIS coordinator as a critical factor supporting school-level PBIS implementation. However, further research is needed to clarify the functions of the district PBIS coordinator role throughout the implementation process. This pilot study developed and validated a survey instrument to clarify (a) the common functions of the district PBIS coordinator role and (b) how the common functions of district PBIS coordinators changed across the distinct implementation stages. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test was used to determine whether significant differences existed in the amount of time district PBIS coordinators spent on functions of their role by implementation stage. Results from the pilot administration conducted in the U.S. state of Michigan indicated that district PBIS coordinators initially focused time on leadership and organization functions while competency functions developed as implementation matured. The survey findings offer preliminary insights into the district PBIS coordinator role, which may help inform professional development planning at the local and state levels, technical assistance offerings, and personnel decision-making. This study also serves as a blueprint for future research.

Service-learning, especially from a critical perspective, is a method of education that aims to bring students into relationships with community members to foster mutual understanding and give opportunity for shared learning and service. Universities that are compelled by their faith to seek justice may be the most effective at implementing service-learning programs when they are grounded in the justice and love of God. Herein, I report on a service-learning program that aims to advance the Christian mission by serving the least of these. I discuss lessons learned along the way and give examples from our partners.

Capacity building is ubiquitous in development and education discourse as a means of strengthening approaches to education, among other development goals. However, in crafting a new social contract for education founded in an ethic of care, reciprocity, and solidarity, we must not overlook the significant transformative potential of capacity building as education. This article makes a case for the rediscovery of the liberatory roots of capacity building and a renewed focus on its potential to transform, humanize, and actualize, as a vital aspect of lifelong and life-wide learning in organizational contexts. Taking civil society, and particularly nongovernmental organizations, as a point of focus, it expounds on the tendency towards a narrowing notion of capacity building in development and education practice and discourse, as well as ways forward to reimage capacity building as transformative and emancipatory education. The article poses that a new social contract for education provides a crucial and exciting opportunity to weave difference, dialogue, and justice into the fabric of capacity-building approaches, reframing capacity building not merely as a means to an end but as a vital and valuable form of education in itself, as practitioners, educators, policymakers, and organizations work and learn together to shape new shared futures.

This paper presents the results of qualitative research on academic inbreeding in Czech higher education, the first of its kind. Its focus is on exploring the significance of academic inbreeding, its types, practices, and possible solutions. The research for this paper was done among academic staff at eight institutions of higher education in the Czech Republic. It was conceptually informed by ideas about different types of inbred employees (immobile, mobile, silver-corded, and adherent) and available policy tools. The results show that academic inbreeding has long flown under the radar as an issue. Its impact is perceived ambivalently, as both positive and negative, by academics and experts alike. Generally, its avoidance has not been taken into account in staff recruitment, which has allowed it to become widespread among Czech higher education institutions. The policy tools for combatting academic inbreeding include nodality (open recruitment), reorganization of recruitment procedures, capacity-building (including stays abroad), and hortatory proclamations (paying attention to the issue). Overall, the evidence gathered in the course of research suggests that some progress has been made in limiting academic inbreeding at some workplaces, and that what we would call purely immobile inbred employees are giving way to mobile and "silver-corded" inbred academic staff. Finally, Czech higher education institutions register few cases of pseudo-inbreeding, combining work at the same institution where a PhD was taken with an academically relevant position in a state research institute or the Academy of Sciences.

This study describes the initial implementation of the writing component of the "Write to Read" ("W2R") literacy intervention in eight low-SES (socio-economically disadvantaged) elementary-level urban schools. Through customised onsite professional development provided by coaches, the writing component sought to build teachers' capacity to design and implement a writing workshop framework infused with research-informed practices for writing suitable for their school and classroom contexts, including attention to cognitive, social and affective dimensions. The paper draws on quantitative and qualitative questionnaire data gathered from classroom teachers in the eight schools in Year 1 (n = 66) and Year 3 (n = 62) of implementation, and semi-structured interviews with randomly selected teachers in each school in Year 4 (n = 18). In general, teachers succeeded in implementing a writing workshop approach to teaching writing, within the broader W2R literacy framework, including the allocation of more time to writing instruction. Professional development, including observation, feedback and demonstration by W2R literacy coaches, contributed to high levels of teacher confidence in such areas as planning and teaching fiction and non-fiction writing genres, and analysing writing samples to inform mini-lessons. By Year 3, teachers noted marked or good improvements in students' attitudes towards writing, volume of writing produced, knowledge of writing genres, and language of response to writing. Areas in need of further support included aspects of the craft of writing, including writing vocabulary, supporting pupils to set goals for writing, selecting mentor texts to teach writing genres, and using a rubric to assess writing development.