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Although schools with a high concentration of ethnic minorities often underperform, not much is known about the factors that predict high and even excellent achievement of pupils within these schools. Therefore, we examined which concrete diversity practices and key psychological processes increase or decrease the likelihood/odds for high and excellent performance on a standardized mathematics test, thereby utilizing multivariable logistic regressions among 855 10–12-year-olds in 18 majority-minority schools in Flanders, Belgium. While the odds for high and excellent mathematics scores were unaffected by language spoken at home or religiosity, they were negatively related to deficit-based assimilationist school practices, inconsistently related to meritocratic neutrality-based practices, and positively related to a strengths-based anti-racist school curriculum. Furthermore, while higher school belonging and a growth mindset increased the odds of high and excellent achievement, students' experiences of peer or teacher discrimination decreased these odds dramatically. Implications for school effectiveness policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inequity in education is a worldwide concern and there is a growing need to investigate educational achievement inequality in a nuanced and contextual manner. This study aims to elucidate the growing educational achievement inequality within Pakistan by addressing two key questions: What can be revealed about the influence of family socioeconomic condition and household characteristics on children's disparate educational achievement in Pakistan? And what role do private schools and paid tuition play in exacerbating disparity in learning outcomes? In this study, we applied the concept of Equity in Education, particularly the impartiality approach, to consider disadvantaged conditions among children. We have analyzed the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan household-based survey data (N = 247,978) conducted in 2021. Our analysis involved both descriptive and logistic regression techniques. Students' achievement in the local language, arithmetic, and English language served as a dependent variable, while household factors remained a predictable variable. The results revealed that family socioeconomic factors including parents' education and income, household facilities, and school types have a significant influence on children's learning achievement and contribute to educational inequality. This study provides further insights for researchers and policymakers to better understand and address educational inequality in its specific context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realisation of the common wealth of all people has become the theme of the new era, and how to promote the process of realising common wealth in a solid and effective manner has become an important issue that needs to be resolved urgently. Combined with the essential connotation of common wealth, it is believed that education plays an important role in improving the quality of nationals to promote the common wealth in a solid manner. Therefore, this paper focuses on the realisation path of education for common prosperity. In order to explore this issue, this paper has constructed the index of education development level and the coefficient of common wealth, which characterise the independent variable and the dependent variable respectively. At the same time, it empirically analyses the mechanism of education development level on common prosperity by using two-way fixed effect model. It is found that, firstly, from 2012 to 2020, the coefficient of common wealth in China shows an increasing trend, and it is higher in the eastern region than in other regions, and lowest in the western region; secondly, educational inequality hinders common wealth to a certain extent; thirdly, the average years of education of China's current employed population is low, which may have a negative impact on the common wealth; and fourthly, improving the level of education can significantly contribute to the realisation of common wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a Critical Race framework, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews to explore how educational leaders across Texas have made meaning of the impact of George Floyd on their practices. Findings from this study add to the literature by examining administrators' reflections on race, racism, and their impact on their approaches to leadership. The four of the most prominent themes that emerged from this qualitative study, including Increased Critical Self Awareness and Reflection, Critical Awareness Influencing Decision Making, Disconnect Between What is Known, What is said, and What is practiced, and Racial Battle Fatigue. Despite the resolute and rampant backlash against Critical Race Theory, the findings from this study underscore its relevance to education. Implications of these findings beseech educational leaders and policymakers to consider implementing professional development and accountability measures that center race in educational equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a detailed exploration of UNESCO's ambitious 2030 education agenda, which is designed to foster an environment of inclusive and equitable education and to cultivate the principles of lifelong learning across the globe. By applying a meticulous documentary analysis approach within the broader spectrum of qualitative research methodologies, this study aims to uncover the depths of UNESCO's vision and the strategic objectives it seeks to achieve. At the heart of UNESCO's educational blueprint is the imperative to nurture an educational ecosystem that is not only inclusive and equitable but also deeply interwoven with the principles of sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, peace, non-violence, global citizenship, and a profound appreciation for cultural diversity. This initiative is supported by the collaborative expertise of over 50 specialists from a diverse array of respected institutions, including but not limited to UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women, and UNHCR, reflecting a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach to global education reform. The report underscores the transformative power of education as a cornerstone for sustainable development, urging nations to embrace policies that pivot towards knowledge-driven economies, minimize reliance on raw materials, and confront the pressing challenges of climate change and energy security. It emphasizes education's pivotal role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), advocating for extended compulsory education up to 12 years, the inclusion of preschool within the compulsory education system, and spotlighting the indispensable nature of gender equality in securing educational rights for all individuals. In an era marked by the unforeseen challenges of a global pandemic, the report poignantly highlights the indispensable role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ensuring equitable access to education, thereby bridging the digital divide and fostering equal opportunities for learners worldwide. It calls for the development and meticulous implementation of comprehensive national monitoring and evaluation frameworks that are geared towards producing solid evidence for informed policymaking and reinforcing accountability mechanisms within the educational sector. Through this in-depth analysis, the paper aims to illuminate the strategic pathways outlined by UNESCO's 2030 education agenda, showcasing the organization's commitment to reshaping the educational landscape to meet the demands of the 21st century and beyond. It serves as a clarion call to global stakeholders to unite in the pursuit of a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future for education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the second article in an ongoing series, published annually, highlighting a selection of English-language dissertations from the previous calendar year related to Montessori philosophy and education. Thirteen doctoral dissertations completed and approved during the 2023 calendar year were identified. The authors selected three dissertations to spotlight because they represent high-quality research in an area that is relevant to the current educational landscape: antibias and anti-racist (ABAR) educational practices.

This article focuses on how Finnish CLIL teachers and students orient to and experience diversity in CLIL. The data consist of teacher and student interviews that were analysed using qualitative content analysis to identify recurrent themes with regard to diversity. The findings indicate that the theme of equality in the sense of 'the same for all' in both teaching, assessing and homework was readily brought up by both groups, reflecting the ethos of equality prevalent in Finnish education. Equity, however, was not similarly highlighted even though it is a guiding principle alongside equality in the Finnish Core Curriculum for Basic Education. Teachers were found reluctant to topicalise diversity, at least in the form of explicit differentiation. This applied especially to academic skills, with students' different linguistic skills more readily addressed. Both teacher and student interviews construct CLIL students as high-achievers in comparison to peers in regular classrooms. The students, however, also criticised being treated as a homogenous group and expressed wishes for personalised support. In sum, the findings show tensions between maintaining equality and securing equity in that adherence to the same type of education for all may render invisible the varying competences, ways of learning and needs for support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The problem of teacher shortages in rural areas are intractable, as schools lack adequate qualified teachers, which inevitably exerts a negative impact on student learning and school development. In Taiwan, the government has implemented relevant policies, but the high teacher turnover rate and the high proportion of nonqualified teachers are issues that are still unsolved. This research investigated the relative importance of the determinants influencing teacher school selection and compared the teachers from rural districts with those from urban. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was adopted to analyze the proportion and ranking of the determinants, and a self-developed questionnaire was distributed to teachers from 25 rural and 25 urban schools in Taiwan. Initially, 10 urban and 5 rural schools were selected through the researcher’s social connections, and the remaining schools were recommended by the selected schools. The final 500 samples comprised 50 schools, each contributing 10 teachers to the research. The research results indicate that decent quality of life and professional autonomy are the most valued criteria by the participants, while monetary incentives, including both salary and subsidy, are moderately valued. Moreover, among the comparison between schools from different districts, teachers from rural areas are relatively pessimistic about the working conditions despite holding advantages in the areas of several determinants, which contradicts the stereotype of the unattractive hard-to-staff school. The findings provide suggestions for policymakers regarding the implementation of incentives catered to teachers’ needs to lessen the negative impact of teacher shortages in rural areas.

Abstract Background Research has shown that students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have lower academic performance compared to children from better-off families. However, the way that socioeconomic status (SES) influences student learning outcomes has not yet been fully examined. Thus, this study explores the indirect effects of students’ SES on reading achievement through academic motivation. Specifically, the mediating role of the following three motivation elements is investigated: mastery-approach orientation of achievement goals, enjoyment of reading, and expected occupational status. Methods Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized mediation model in each European country (n = 38) that took part in the PISA 2018 cycle. Specifically, data was obtained from 237,366 15-year-old students. Common measures for SES, academic motivation, and reading achievement were employed to examine whether the selected academic motivation elements have similar effects in each country. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to validate the factorial structure of mediators and test their measurement invariance across the samples. Results Within-country SEM analysis revealed that expected occupational status partially mediates the relationship between SES and reading achievement in all countries. Enjoyment of reading fitted well as a mediator in almost all countries (n = 37), whereas mastery-approach orientation of achievement goals only appeared as a mediator in 11 countries. The direct effect of SES on academic achievement was significantly reduced in all models. Conclusions This study provides evidence that enjoyment of reading and expected occupational status can be treated as mediators in the relationship between SES and reading achievement in European countries. Implications for research and theory for promoting equity in education are drawn. It is argued that schools and teachers should encourage students to participate in activities that foster their intrinsic motivation towards reading and raise their educational and occupational expectations, especially for those coming from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

The problem of teacher shortages in rural areas are intractable, as schools lack adequate qualified teachers, which inevitably exerts a negative impact on student learning and school development. In Taiwan, the government has implemented relevant policies, but the high teacher turnover rate and the high proportion of nonqualified teachers are issues that are still unsolved. This research investigated the relative importance of the determinants influencing teacher school selection and compared the teachers from rural districts with those from urban. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was adopted to analyze the proportion and ranking of the determinants, and a self-developed questionnaire was distributed to teachers from 25 rural and 25 urban schools in Taiwan. Initially, 10 urban and 5 rural schools were selected through the researcher's social connections, and the remaining schools were recommended by the selected schools. The final 500 samples comprised 50 schools, each contributing 10 teachers to the research. The research results indicate that decent quality of life and professional autonomy are the most valued criteria by the participants, while monetary incentives, including both salary and subsidy, are moderately valued. Moreover, among the comparison between schools from different districts, teachers from rural areas are relatively pessimistic about the working conditions despite holding advantages in the areas of several determinants, which contradicts the stereotype of the unattractive hard-to-staff school. The findings provide suggestions for policymakers regarding the implementation of incentives catered to teachers' needs to lessen the negative impact of teacher shortages in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research has shown that students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have lower academic performance compared to children from better-off families. However, the way that socioeconomic status (SES) influences student learning outcomes has not yet been fully examined. Thus, this study explores the indirect effects of students' SES on reading achievement through academic motivation. Specifically, the mediating role of the following three motivation elements is investigated: mastery-approach orientation of achievement goals,enjoyment of reading, and expected occupational status. Methods: Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized mediation model in each European country (n = 38) that took part in the PISA 2018 cycle. Specifically, data was obtained from 237,366 15-year-old students. Common measures for SES, academic motivation, and reading achievement were employed to examine whether the selected academic motivation elements have similar effects in each country. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to validate the factorial structure of mediators and test their measurement invariance across the samples. Results: Within-country SEM analysis revealed that expected occupational status partially mediates the relationship between SES and reading achievement in all countries. Enjoyment of reading fitted well as a mediator in almost all countries (n = 37), whereas mastery-approach orientation of achievement goals only appeared as a mediator in 11 countries. The direct effect of SES on academic achievement was significantly reduced in all models. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that enjoyment of reading and expected occupational status can be treated as mediators in the relationship between SES and reading achievement in European countries. Implications for research and theory for promoting equity in education are drawn. It is argued that schools and teachers should encourage students to participate in activities that foster their intrinsic motivation towards reading and raise their educational and occupational expectations, especially for those coming from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID‐19 has exposed and widened the disparity in education. The paper reviews the efforts made by educational institutions and organizations to offer services to the disadvantaged in an effort to eliminate the educational gap. Based on the literature, the primary issues which led to increasing in the gap of educational inequality were identified as the need for books, internet connection, study gadgets/devices, extra tutoring, food and study space, and psychological counseling. This paper proposes an online system using the microservices architecture to provide a holistic system that addresses the key concerns that contributed to the educational discrepancy. The application proposes a variety of business services that are logically separated from each other, and that can be deployed and scaled independently. Each of the provided services is autonomous and can communicate with other services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational opportunities and access vary according to location. In rural areas, the cultural, social and material consequences for local communities depend on the nature and degree of support for rural schools. There is a need to understand more about how the organisation of vocational education and training (VET), and the activities within it, relate to equity. The research sought to explore how the organisation of VET in a rural area of Norway, involving collaboration between school, training agency and local businesses/institutions, constructed notions of equity in VET. A case study methodology was utilised. In-depth interviews were undertaken with personnel within a rural community (staff representing the school, training agency and businesses/institutions) who were supporting a VET education programme. Data were analysed qualitatively, using a narrative synthesis procedure. Detailed analysis of rich interview data indicated that strong institutional and pedagogical approaches were employed to support students throughout their VET education. According to the participants' perceptions, the school, training agency and businesses/institutions focused on stabilising each other in the process of supporting equity in VET. Continuing ongoing work and reconstruction of traditions and routines appeared to contribute to the integration of the different actors' work in organising equity in VET. Our study highlights how, in a rural community, opportunities for all in VET may be constructed and reconstructed through ongoing work which is connected to the foundations of the local context. The reconstruction needs to be maintained through networks and connections within and between the school, training agency and the businesses/institutions. This, in turn, can contribute to support for culture and welfare in the community to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to quality career advice is important for economic, personal and equity reasons, yet, in many countries around the world, career-education provision is of varying quality and quantity within school settings. Given the inconsistencies in career-education resourcing and provision, what is not clearly understood is how students from low socioeconomic status (low SES) backgrounds experience career-education provision and the extent to which it shapes their post-school futures. Drawing on Australian research, this paper explores the career-education experiences of high-school students from low SES backgrounds. Bourdieu's tools of field, habitus and capital are used as a theoretical framework to understand how career education can influence students' imagining and achieving their career goals. The findings reported in this paper contribute nuanced understandings of career education to students from low SES backgrounds and recommends how all students can benefit from an embedded approach to career education in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egypt is one of the countries in a state of social and economic transformation affected by global changes, and then the educational system was affected by these variables, including the emergence of shadow education, which has become coexistent and influential in the educational system, and private lessons through private centers and online educational platforms have become a necessity that students resort to, They are activated by teachers, and because of the development of technology, these centers and platforms have become more and more popular for both private teachers and families of students; However, this type of shadow education did not receive sufficient attention in most studies, especially in the Egyptian environment. In light of this, this research seeks - through theoretical grounding and field study - to try to reveal how private tutoring centers and educational platforms acquire social legitimacy, and the strategies adopted by teachers in private educational centers and educational platforms to gain the public trust of students and parents, and to What is the extent to which this pattern achieves equity in education through an analysis that takes into account the motives of all stakeholders in the educational system, including teachers, students, parents, officials, experts and educators, depending on more than one tool for data collection, including qualitative and quantitative tools, focused discussion circles (focus groups) were used to collect data from parents and teachers, while a sample of students collected data using a questionnaire. The results of the field study reflect the blessing of the state, students, and their parents for shadow education and their interest in it. On the part of parents - and in the absence of a school role - their acceptance and interest in shadow education has become a right that they practice, and a symbol of resistance towards confusion in ministerial decisions, and a haven for their children to obtain education after the absence of a role. The results of the field study also reflect the differences between students in cities and urban places and students in centers and villages in terms of their weak resistance to the status quo as a result of their economic and social conditions. And the tendency of their peers in major cities and urban areas to participate in educational platforms because of their ability to afford material costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resources in primary schools can be classified into three types: campus, teaching, and community resources. Urban-rural differences in the resources of Chinese county schools, which are triggered by population migration and residents' preference for high-quality schools, are a common phenomenon emerging in the context of rapid urbanization. Despite the negative effects of these resource differences on social sustainability and the increasing need to comprehensively analyze urban-rural differences in school resources, to date there has not been an effective analytical framework for resolving these issues. To address this research gap, this study develops a method using the entropy-based Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), spatial analysis, and statistical analysis for assessing resource equity in primary schools by means of the relative proximities of resources. The resource differences between urban and rural primary schools are quantitatively investigated through taking Yuncheng County as a case study. The urban-rural differences in the three types of resources are discovered and presented according to geographical location. The research findings make contributions to understanding the unbalanced distribution of school resources, promoting equity in education, and improving the social sustainability of counties. Additionally, the analytical framework has the potential to be extended to analyzing urban-rural resource differences in secondary or high schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culturally relevant education (CRE) approaches use minoritized populations' cultural capital to break the perennial cycle of these groups' underperformance. Yet, mathematics and science teachers do not feel confident in using CRE approaches. This literature review explores the practices and challenges that accompany CRE implementations in math and science classrooms aiming to inform mathematics and science teachers' preparation for equitable education. Practices were clustered in alignment with the CRE outcomes, namely cultural competence, academic achievement, and critical consciousness; further categories were inductively identified. Challenges were clustered in teachers' beliefs, lack of inclusive tools, and influence of institutional norms. Insights from the findings inform implications for preparing math and science teachers for equitable education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-transformational neoliberal reforms in the Czech Republic have established a competitive quasi-market, in which – at the lower-secondary level – academic-track schools (grammar schools or gymnasia) compete for students in the regular-track schools. These reforms have also brought a rise of shadow education (private supplementary tutoring) provided by individuals and private companies. Even public schools are sometimes providers of shadow education. The study explores gymnasia principals' motivations to provide paid courses to prepare students for entrance examinations to their study programmes and the challenges they experience in doing so. The findings are drawn mainly from semi-structured interviews with principals and other school management members in eleven gymnasia. The study conceptualises such courses as a 'double-edged sword'. First, because it serves as a 'weapon' that academic schools use in the quasi-market competition to attract more (high-achieving) students from regular track schools, and second, because it may have both positive and negative consequences (e.g., for equity in education), depending on the conditions of its provision. The paper contributes to a wider scholarly literature by expanding the understanding of ways schools behave in the competitive educational quasi-markets and by opening a new branch of shadow education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of Covid-19 worldwide has presented an unprecedented challenge for the equity-in-education agenda, especially in developing countries of the Global South (e.g., the English-speaking Caribbean). This article examines the impact school closures have had in Jamaica and Barbados, and highlights the emerging disparities the global pandemic has had on education. The central organizing questions are as follows: Who was affected by school closures in Barbados and Jamaica? How did the Ministries of Education (MOEs) support curriculum and instruction during the pandemic? What challenges does Covid-19 present for MOEs? What are the implications for education after Covid-19? School closure data suggest a gender disparity, with more males than females out of school due to Covid-19 from preprimary to secondary school in Barbados and Jamaica. MOEs in the region responded to school closures primarily by increasing access to technology to facilitate remote learning. Some of the challenges with continuing education for students during Covid-19 were due to a lack of infrastructure and amenities to support remote learning. Implications for education post-Covid-19 are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) with fidelity demonstrate a wealth of student and school benefits. At the same time, there exists limited research from an inclusive innovation perspective: examining whether schools and communities have equitable access to PBIS based on sociodemographic school and community variables. This article presents the results of an ex post facto research design examining PBIS implementation and access across sociodemographic school and community variables from an inclusive innovation lens, examining data from schools (N = 489) in the state of Georgia. The significant interaction effects revealed that between both PBIS and non-PBIS schools, those located in suburban areas had significantly higher median household incomes compared with rural and urban schools. Additional findings included the following: PBIS rural schools had higher household incomes and lower percentages of free/reduced-price lunch than non-PBIS schools in rural communities, and PBIS schools included significantly higher proportions of students who identified as White compared with non-PBIS schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perturbed by a racially motivated homicide in his homeland and a more recent murder (under investigation at the time of writing) in the United States, the author makes a strong case in favour of Social Justice Educational Leadership. The exploratory investigation examined the following questions: (1) What leadership processes are school leaders adopting to ensure equity and social justice in multicultural schools? (2) What strategies are school leaders providing their staff to continue supporting quality education for all students, irrespective of cultural background? The research sought to extend the debate between educational leadership processes and the ongoing quest towards social justice as embodied in schools in Malta. A qualitative approach emanating from literature review on critical multicultural education was used in the study. Three school leaders known for their stance on issues of race, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, and marginalisation offer their valuable insights on leadership practices inundated with successful processes leading towards more socially just schools. Findings advocate for a wider discussion on the possibilities for effectively addressing the challenges of leading and managing the multicultural school, based on justice and equity principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education policy has long been analyzed as a cycle where various actors influence different stages. However, few such studies have focused on identifying and interrogating the specific moments that shape an education policy’s overall equity trajectory. This article uses Bowe, Ball, and Gold’s policy cycle as an exploratory theoretical framework, focusing on the historic Review of Funding for Schooling (2011) in Australia, which evaluated the nation’s school funding policy. The authors concentrate on the Context of Text Production phase of its policymaking process, and consider the implications for equity. From this work, the authors highlight two “critical moments” that they argue significantly influenced how the appointed panel approached equity. Their theorizing of a “critical moment” offers valuable insights for researchers and stakeholders seeking to understand or influence education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staffing rural and regional schools remains an intractable problem. This study identifies effective incentives for attracting teachers to difficult-to-staff rural and remote schools in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Compared to their urban counterparts, students in these schools are disadvantaged by teacher staff shortages, inexperience and attrition. The research investigated the ability for existing incentives of the NSW Department of Education, other education systems and other professions to attract professionals to rural and remote appointments using a discrete choice experiment methodology. The findings identify ways of attracting teachers of differing levels of experience and commitment to work in such areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Voluntaris: Journal of Volunteer Services & Civic Engagement / Zeitschrift für Freiwilligendienste und Zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Education is of great importance for the inclusion of persons in society. While education is so important, unfortunately, not all students can benefit from education opportunities offered equally. Problems experienced in reaching quality education that put students at a disadvantage situation can be listed as social differences, gender, language, ethnicity, family structure, socioeconomic status, and having special needs. This study aims to examine teachers' opinion to some students' situation about their disadvantageous in the classroom and how the primary school teachers minimize this disadvantage and furthermore what they do to about social justice in the classroom environment. For this aims, five schools with disadvantaged students were selected to determine the participants of the study, and 10 teachers who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study were selected from the teachers in these school. In this study, case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred and interview method was used for data collection via semi-structured form. This research was conducted in the academic year 2021-2022. As a result of the study was determined that the teachers' work for disadvantaged students focused on "peer collaboration", "forming heterogeneous groups" and "respecting different cultures". It was stated that when they made these practices, the problems of the students decreased and they improved academically and socially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I was introduced to anti-Black racism and robbed of my childhood innocence very early in my academic journey. From kindergarten through the completion of my doctorate degree, I have had to manage my responses to and navigate a system built to sustain White supremacy while seeking academic excellence. In this narrative, I share some of the barriers and triumphs of my educational journey. The lack of inclusion I constantly dealt with led me to question my abilities and self-worth. My current scholarship serves as an opportunity to intervene and disrupt these oppressive systems so others can potentially have more equitable experiences. Over several decades and a variety of professional and personal experiences impacted by anti-Black racism, I am working towards dismantling White supremacy within social work education. Finally, I proffer ways in which individuals and institutions can work to commit to anti-racism policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have demonstrated the positive impact of the Learning Assistant (LA) model on student learning across various disciplines, demographics, and course types. In order to investigate the effect of exposure to the LA program on student learning and success in a large Chemistry course, a pilot was launched in one of two sections of General Chemistry II at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in spring 2020, with the addition of LAs as the sole experimental variable. The researchers hypothesized that the LA model positively impacts equity in the classroom with increased learning gains across student demographics. A t-test was used to determine the significance in differences between student exam scores in the LA and non-LA section. The researchers found that student learning was significantly higher in the LA section versus the non-LA section (p<0.01). Students participating in the LA section (N=275) had stronger outcomes than students in the non-LA section (N=290). In addition, students in the LA section were more likely to pass the course, enroll in the subsequent (Organic Chemistry) course within one year, and were more likely to be retained at the institution. These success rates held for all students, particularly for students historically underrepresented in chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of teachers is half that of the student population in Australia. Despite government policies to support internationally trained teachers (ITTs), there remain major structural and institutional barriers working against access to the profession: an information gap, the lack of professional advice, the absence of programmes to help teachers gain accreditation and the lack of mentoring or support programmes. This paper focuses on ITTs undertaking volunteer teaching in community languages schools; these are community-run organisations where over 100,000 children across Australia learn their home language. These sites were selected as they represent a key pathway into further study and employment for ITTs. Findings are drawn from online survey (n =954) and interviews (n =62) exploring professional strengths, needs and experiences. The key finding is the exclusion and 'problematisation' of ITTs, rather than recognition of the social, educational and economic benefits represented by this group. The article explores recent government-funded provision of pathways to teacher accreditation and the extent to which these address the barriers identified. There is a discussion of how such a model may be embedded in mainstream teacher education pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for educational leaders to enact social and equitable schooling requires ongoing critical transformations that cannot be alienated from contemporary educational discourses and practices. Enacting social justice and equitable schooling poses an unparalleled challenge on the shoulders of risk-taking visionaries, who meticulously attempt to transmit their beliefs and values into the daily routine tasks at school, rather than plotting futuristic management scenarios. The study seeks to explore the multifaceted role of primary school leaders in the daily struggle to diffuse the principles of Multicultural Education for more just and equitable schooling. For this purpose, qualitative data measures were employed to determine the extent of which participants in the study mirrored the review of literature and research questions. The Critical Incident Technique was particularly useful as it allowed the collection for a large number of incidents occurring over a number of years, from a small number of people in a relatively short time. Analyses proceeded by identifying culturally responsive leadership practices and the application of critical race theory. Results identified seven core characteristics, present in school leaders who professed strong adherence to the principles of Multicultural Education. This suggests the need for emerging models of educational leadership to effectively respond to the increased diversity in our schools and to further establish the connections between multicultural educational leadership and equity schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faculty in practitioner-oriented EdD programs must continually defend the presence of rigor in their programs. The existence of rigor determines the preparedness of our educational leaders to disrupt and transform educational organizations to bring about equitable and socially just outcomes; however, perceptions of rigor by the larger community impact the overall success of these programs and their students. In this conceptual article, we discuss the ways in which the literature defines rigor within and beyond practitioner-oriented EdD programs. We integrate that the literature with the critical need for social justice leadership, and leadership preparation toward that end, to offer a conceptual framework for designing, assessing, improving, communicating, and defending the rigor of EdD programs centered upon social justice. We posit: EdD programs can claim to be rigorous and centered upon social justice if their faculty: (1) collectively envision and construct rigorous student learning outcomes (rigor as a challenge) connected to the learning of critical theory and the demonstration of critical praxis to improve the lives of marginalized/underserved students; and (2) use backward-design to develop and align curriculum and pedagogy with those outcomes, including scholarly learning experiences (rigor in research) and the elicitation of students' critical thinking (rigor as complexity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Lusofona de Educacao is the property of Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, CEIEF and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In view of the social changes that we are currently experiencing, there is a need to promote effective equality and gender equity in higher education studies. From this perspective, gambling as a methodology that bases its principles on the recreational components of games allows the promotion of gender equality in the processes of teaching and learning in university studies. The work presented is part of the research carried out from the development of a teaching innovation project for the implementation of active methodologies (gambling with badges) with the intention of promoting the acquisition of content by students in the Social Education Degree, as well as an improvement in their perception of gender equity. The methodology used was quantitative, with an ad hoc pre- and post-gammarization questionnaire. The results of the implementation of the gamification as an active methodology for teaching were evaluated as highly positive. Finally, the use of this methodology significantly increased the acquisition of the contents of the subject, in addition to observing a favourable trend in the perceptions and attitudes of the students regarding key aspects of equal opportunities between women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to evaluate educational equality in regional boarding secondary schools (YBO) in Turkey opened to meet the educational needs of children who live in rural areas and are in the age of compulsory education. The research was qualitative using the in-depth interview technique and was carried out with the participation of 39 teachers working in BSSs in Ankara, Bingöl and Bartın provinces. The data collected was analyzed with the content analysis technique. In the analysis, according to teachers working in these schools, the education given in YBOs was of sufficient quality and YBOs provide disadvantaged children with access to quality education. However, the children studying in these schools experienced family deprivation, which reflected negatively on their academic success. In Turkey, YBOs provide educational equity in terms of access to education for children living in rural areas, but children have some problems stemming from staying away from family. Additionally, since schools do not meet certain standards, the problem of inequality continues. Based on the results of the research, it is recommended that the differences in quality between boarding schools should be eliminated, teacher turnover rates in these schools should be reduced and permanent teachers should be employed. Also, boarding secondary schools should not be an obligation but an option for children considering that children long for a family which in the absence can have negative effects on academic success.