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The teacher-researcher is a prevailing concept in the post-professionalism age of teacher education. The development of teacher-researchers is discussed alongside reforming initial teacher education programmes as research-based. At this time, there is no consensus regarding the understanding and methodologies of teacher-researcher development. The purpose of this study is to examine student teachers' and teacher educators' understandings of and approaches to teacher-researcher development in initial teacher education in Kosovo within the research-based teacher education movement. The study used a qualitative research design. The data were collected through open questionnaires (n = 270 student teachers), interviews (n = 15 teacher educators), and programme content (n = 5) at two initial teacher education institutions in Kosovo. Using Healey and Jenkins's research curriculum categories as a guiding framework, the study identified four clusters of contradictory understandings and approaches relating to teacher educator practice and programme values and goals, fragmenting the context of teacher-researcher development in Kosovo. In order to build consensus in teacher-researcher development, coordinated efforts are recommended to address the current isolated and differing understandings and practices within the broader context of initial teacher education.

Improving quality in initial teacher education in the framework of European initiatives entails a rather complex process as compared to that of higher education as a general study field. What adds to this complexity is the fact that teacher education continues to be treated as a national concern in all of Europe. This study provides evidence on features and tensions of translating European initiatives for improving quality in initial teacher education by examining the case of Kosovo. Findings from Kosovo, a small and 'peripheral' European context, can be of interest to contexts undergoing a similar transition. The study opted for qualitative research. The data was collected over three phases by conducting 15 interviews with six management staff and 28 interviews with 15 teacher educators. Findings build on debates concerning the future of European teacher education, demonstrating that tensions ensue between (external) European initiatives and (internal) local conditions that result in the mistranslation of transferred ideas into institutional practice. The loss in translation is attributed to contextual dynamics reflected at the macro-level (lack of ownership), the meso-level (fragmented organisational culture) and the micro-level (isolated individual and group cultures). The study concludes by endorsing context-oriented stakeholder-wide socialisation as a way forward for tackling and scaffolding local stakeholder tensions, contradictions and one-side approaches. Hence, context-oriented socialisation could address tensions by promoting local ownership, extending organisational culture and stimulating the development of collective values and cultures for a contextualised translation of European initiatives towards improving quality in initial teacher education.

Inclusive higher education policy has been central to global educational debates for many years. National and international higher education institutions face challenges related to providing equal access and guaranteeing active participation of all students in higher education. Although greater efforts have been dedicated to the issue of inclusion in pre-university education, issues related to inclusion in higher education remain in the margins. The main purpose of this study is to examine the broad discourses of inclusion in Kosovo's higher education policies. This is a discourse study that uses lexicometric analysis as a quantitative heuristic methodology and discourse analysis as a qualitative hermeneutic method. More than thirty national and institutional policy documents were analysed to uncover the meaning of inclusion discourse in Kosovo's higher education system as represented in policy documents. Findings indicate that inclusive policies can contribute towards improved outcomes for the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education. The study concludes that there is a need to develop realistic, effective, and clear inclusive higher education policy that is supported by strategic and plan-based documents that can better ensure the enforcement of legally binding provisions for an inclusive higher education system.

Students with special needs experience various barriers to higher education inclusion that are highly diverse. However, studies examining the challenges of students with special needs in higher education are scattered and fail to address context-based problems. The purpose of this study, thus, was to investigate the challenges and prospects that students' with special needs experience in Kosovo's higher education. The study used an analytical framework for understanding inclusive higher education as a (i) policy problem, (ii) management problem, and (iii) teaching and learning problem. The study conducted 10 interviews with institutional management and academic staff, 2 in-depth interviews with students with special needs within higher education, and analysed numerous policy and programing documents at the national and institutional level. The goal of ensuring the full inclusion of students with special needs in higher education requires a multifaceted and long-term approach. This study contributes to the lack of literature by showing that values behind an inclusive higher education and formal efforts towards an inclusive higher education interact as push and pull factors that hinder the inclusive transformations in higher education. Hence, findings recommend strong collaborative efforts between policy, institutional management, and teaching and learning variables, coupled with positive values and attitudes cultivation, to ensure the successful inclusion of students with special needs towards an inclusive higher education environment.

Teacher leadership is a critical aspect of school change while there is lack of a consistent definition for it. This examines teacher leadership conceptualization and its associated outcomes. The review of 33 articles published 2018–2023 focused on teacher leadership in K-12 setting, found that many authors relied on established definitions, with few offering their own interpretations. These articles depict teacher leadership as an informal and individual form of leadership. The analysis revealed outcomes of teacher leadership at school development level; teacher-level benefits including professional growth; and student-level impacts such as increased achievement and motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the unique case of Kosovo alongside the broad context of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) development. Kosovo started implementing the Bologna Process in 2001, although to date, it has not been formally admitted as a member. This paper provides evidence on the impact of the Bologna-influenced reforms on developing quality assurance and enhancement in Kosovo's higher education during 2001-2019. The study opted for a qualitative method design combining content analysis and semi-structured interviews to investigate both the normative and operational aspects of institutional learning and change that followed these reforms. The study builds on other Bologna-related studies, demonstrating that higher education institutions have placed accountability at the forefront of their ambitions. Findings recommend that a balance between quality control and improvement is imperative towards developing a quality culture. Therefore, there is a need to redistribute quality assessment 'power' equally among all stakeholders in higher education.

Reflection is an educative form that encourages thinking and self-analysis, promotes an inquiry-based process, and enables problem-solving. This article focuses on the influence of students' tacit cultural assumptions and understandings in reflection learning. This study developed a context-tailored intervention to guide students' reflection competence development. The development of context-guided framework was supported by different learning models based on the literature. To examine the extent to which context-guided reflection influenced students to critically reflect and addressing tacit context assumptions during their transformative learning, this study used action research approach. The main research question that guided this study was: What is the impact of a tailored context-guided reflection model in students' transformative learning? In addition, this study also used three subquestions that derived from the main question: (1) What are the main characteristics of students' initial reflections?; (2) To what extent have the context-guided reflections influenced students to critically reflect?; and (3) How can context-guided reflection challenge tacit cultural assumptions in students' reflection learning? The study was conducted with a total of 288 reflective writings of Master students enrolled in the 2-year school counseling Master program of the Faculty of Education at the University of Prishtina in Kosovo, during 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years. The results show that, largely, context-guided reflection improved students' reflective writings. The relevance of teaching and learning reflection based on contextual variables (tacit cultural assumptions, context-guided reflection, and program culture) is imperative to improve the quality of education professionals' transformation.

BACKGROUND: The whole educational system from pre-university to university level has been challenged with the immediate pressure to transform during the lockdown period of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The question of how to ensure digital transformation in universities become topical at policy, institutional, and classroom practice dimensions. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study is to examine and explore how digital transformation in higher education in Kosovo is conceptualised in a changing context. The study focuses on teacher education as a pathway that links pre-university education with higher education system to ensure future teacher preparation. METHODS: The study used a qualitative research design. The data were collected through interviews with management staff (n = 3) and teacher educators (n = 7), and group interviews with student teachers (n = 15), at the University in Kosovo and teacher education institution. Following the principles of the hermeneutical circle, conceptualisations of digital transformation in teacher education were clustered into the following dimensions: (i) policy, (ii) organisation culture and management, and (iii) teaching and learning. RESULTS: The paper analyses the Western Balkans, specifically Kosovo, as the country faced the transition challenges including institutional building, limited administrative capabilities, and other challenges regarding educational process and digitalization. The paper contributes to the discussions with the emerging conceptualisations of digital transformation in teacher education by drawing from thematic areas concerning policy response mechanisms, teacher education policy as isolated from higher education framework, change management process, missing organisational culture, rigidity and resistance in teaching. CONCLUSIONS: The paper concludes that teacher education context should be reconceptualised within the higher education framework to better manage a transition and change settings for a shared conceptualisation and sustainable digital transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive higher education policy has been central to global educational debates for many years. National and international higher education institutions face challenges related to providing equal access and guaranteeing active participation of all students in higher education. Although greater efforts have been dedicated to the issue of inclusion in pre-university education, issues related to inclusion in higher education remain in the margins. The main purpose of this study is to examine the broad discourses of inclusion in Kosovo's higher education policies. This is a discourse study that uses lexicometric analysis as a quantitative heuristic methodology and discourse analysis as a qualitative hermeneutic method. More than thirty national and institutional policy documents were analysed to uncover the meaning of inclusion discourse in Kosovo's higher education system as represented in policy documents. Findings indicate that inclusive policies can contribute towards improved outcomes for the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education. The study concludes that there is a need to develop realistic, effective, and clear inclusive higher education policy that is supported by strategic and plan-based documents that can better ensure the enforcement of legally binding provisions for an inclusive higher education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]