Search results

This study aims to explore ways of developing, implementing and validating a new framework and criteria for self-evaluation of programme curricula, with specific reference to the quality assurance certification process in a particular case.

The framework is developed using a case study research methodology and implemented based on criteria extraction through the triangulation of indicators achieved from internal goals and external directives.

The findings reveal that this is an improvement-led framework that can be adapted to other contexts during the quality assurance processes to facilitate periodical programme evaluations with a focus on the curriculum.

The proposed practical tool is developed for the programme evaluation process with a curricular focus during the quality assurance certification process of an interior architectural programme while enlightening the processes for the periodical self-evaluations of other institutions. The framework depends on both institution-specific internal and external directives and fulfilling curriculum-related criteria of the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance.

Within quality assurance processes, despite external quality assurance mechanisms, there is a shortage of self-evaluation tools for internal quality assurance procedures, which allow the dissociation of programme-specific qualities. The proposed framework is developed as an example of a self-tailored internal quality assurance tool and process for educational institutions to reveal their unique qualities.

This chapter highlights the characteristics of Asia through the analysis of policy-related documents by five donor countries, namely Japan, South Korea, China, India and Thailand. It will also examine the roles played by regional bodies such as the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and ASPBAE (the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education) as the horizontal channels influencing aid policies in respective countries. Together with the analysis of the national and organizational policies, the regional process of building consensus on the post-2015 agenda is examined, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific Regional Education Conference (APREC) held in August 2014.

The analysis reveals that the region has two faces: one is imaginary and the other is functional. There is a common trend across Asian donors to refer to their historical ties with regions and countries to which they provide assistance and their traditional notions of education and development. They highlight Asian features in contrast to conventional aid principles and approaches based on the Western value system, either apparently or in a muted manner. In this sense, the imagined community of Asia with common cultural roots is perceived by the policymakers across the board.

At the same time, administratively, the importance of the region as a stage between the national and global levels is recognized increasingly in the multilateral global governance structure. With this broadened participatory structure, as discussed in the chapter ‘Post-EFA Global Discourse: The Process of Shaping the Shared View of the ‘Education Community’’, the expected function of the region to transmit the norms and requests from the global level and to collect and summarize national voices has increased.

Quality educational leadership preparation has positive influences on practices of graduates. In the Finnish decentralized education system, little is yet known about the sources of principals’ practices. This research explores the sources of principals’ self- assessed leadership practices in Central Finland and identifies areas for more emphasis. Respondents were selected by purposive sampling. This multiple case study employed eight semi-structured individual interviews as means of data collection. Inductive content analysis was performed. From the findings, besides personal experiences, knowledge from course, and field work, leadership and networking are also major sources of principals' practices. Training positively enhances the practices of principals as they engage in more collaboration and trust. Notwithstanding, professional development is essential for principals to stay relevant to the contemporary world of today and to be confident to face future challenges. Methods of course delivery, management of human and financial resources, as well as creating and sustaining local and international collaborations with other training institutions should be prioritized to improve on training.

The purpose of this paper is to design an experimentally‐oriented program for the training of a new generation of educational a administrators. The rationale for the program is based on selected concepts and propositions of occupational sociology, organization theory, and systems theory. Some of the salient features of the program are as follows: (i) The design is guided by the logic of Campbell's quasi‐experiment. (ii) A principal goal is to stimulate the professionalization of educational administration by increasing (a) the body of systematic knowledge: and (b) the commitment to an ideal of service in education. (iii) Another major goal is to sensitize educational administrators to the dilemmas of organizational change and to strategies for inducing change. (iv) A systems analysis is set forth of five sequentially interrelated processes: goal formation, recruitment of faculty and students, specification of the content of the curriculum, placement of graduates, and an evaluation of the program. (v) A sample curriculum for a three‐year period, guided by six pedagogical conceptions. (vi) A design for an experimental program for four cohorts of students is outlined.

The authors describe the challenges and opportunities associated with developing an interdisciplinary sustainability programme in an emerging economy and illustrate how these are addressed through the approach taken for the development of the first postgraduate programme (MSc and PhD) in sustainability science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The purpose of this paper is to outline an approach that has a potential for application in other parts of Latin America and perhaps more broadly in other world regions sharing some of the same challenges and opportunities as found in Mexico.

The implemented collaborative framework enabled a transformation of disciplinary research and teaching at UNAM into a postgraduate programme designed to generate cutting-edge educational and research capabilities. The approach to curriculum and programme design emphasized the process and methodological framework for curriculum development as much as the outcome itself. It entailed three primary elements: theory on collaborative processes; the curriculum design approach; and a formative and summative evaluation.

Several of the challenges faced were related to the nature of the institution (mainly because of the complexity of its organization and the emphasis in maintaining disciplinary boundaries), as well as to the curriculum development and design approach (acceptance of a competency-based programme appropriate for the MSc but considered restrictive for the PhD). The experience the authors relate in this paper exemplifies how to cope with such challenges. The approach enabled the emergence of a shared vision that was appropriated by all the participants. This ultimately empowered them in the presentation of the curriculum to their disciplinary peers. Furthermore, the approach facilitated the creation of a programme that remained salient along the process, while increasingly gained legitimacy and credibility among the academic community.

In Mexico, the number of sustainability practitioners and scientists is still insufficient, and there is a clear lack of capacities in key themes and tools. UNAM combines a strong scientific tradition and a foundational mandate to serve both the country and humanity and is, thus, a natural platform for developing a higher education programme in sustainability science. The approach taken in the development of UNAM’s programme has useful lessons for the development of similar programmes in other developing nations facing similar educational and institutional challenges.

This model not only resulted in an innovative and novel programme in sustainability education but also, in the process, strengthened the competencies of diverse stakeholders through a systematic collaborative framework that fosters sustainability as a social learning process. Such experience illustrates the advantages of implementing a collaborative approach to enable the emergence of a critical mass capable to handle the diversity presupposed by a curriculum in sustainability science. It also shows how such a collaborative process can be implemented to overcome the limited resources, lack of experience in sustainability education and strong disciplinary focus that hampers the advancement of higher education in institutions similar to UNAM.

This chapter reports on how funding is used in general education schools around the world to facilitate inclusive education. While research has established the importance of inclusive education and investigated the diverse funding models employed in different global regions, this narrative review reports on how funding is operationalized at the school and classroom level to achieve the goals of inclusive education. Results indicate funding is commonly allocated to in-service professional learning programmes, resource acquisition, and purposefully tailored supplementary programmes for students with specific educational needs. This chapter outlines recommendations for researchers and policymakers in developing new ways of funding inclusive practices.

A model is presented for the preparation of educational administrators that is in keeping with the needs and demands of a changing society. Beginning with a discussion of recruitment and selection, the structures, curriculum and instructional modes desirable in a programme that is compatible with the needs of the twenty‐first century are described. The model emphasises a field‐based programme in which theory and practice are integrated through a hierarchically structured problem‐solving approach to learning. Paid internships and sabbaticals for professional renewal are recommended. Commitment by universities, schools and individuals entering into and practising the profession of educational administration is called for.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that emotions characterise organisations and, therefore, emotional labour and performance is central to the work of school administration. Thus, the study of emotions needs careful attention in educational administration programmes. The author also considers whether school leadership preparation programmes in Canada and elsewhere provide theoretical knowledge to support this. Finally, the author posits three theoretical perspectives on emotion in administrative work and organisational settings, including education, that might be included in school leadership courses to better support principals in the emotional work that is core to their effectiveness.

The author draws on two research studies to inform the analysis offered: one on the effects of restructuring on the work of school administrators and the other a consideration of principal preparation programmes in Canada. Both employ qualitative methods, including document searches. A broad literature review in relation to the research focus is also offered.

The paper finds that principals talk a great deal about the emotional aspects of their work yet there is no explicit exploration of theories of emotion in principal preparation programmes. The author provides brief examples of the efficacy of psychoanalytic, socio‐cultural, and feminist post‐structural analysis of emotional labour as useful for emotional praxis in administrative work.

The analysis offered will be useful in reviewing principal preparation programmes with regard to their effectiveness in addressing central concerns of emotional praxis in the work of school administrators.

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the invisible incarcerated women population who are convicted of a crime and serving a sentence in a residential correctional facility in the United States (US). Even though correctional populations have been declining in the past years, the extent of mass incarceration has been a significant public health concern even before the pandemic. Moreover, the global spread of COVID-19 continues to have devastating effects in all the world's societies, and it has exacerbated existing social inequalities within the US carceral complex.

We base our findings on data collection from two comparative clinical sociological garden interventions in a large Southeastern women's prison and a Midwestern residential community correctional facility for women. Both are residential correctional facilities for residents convicted of a crime. In contrast, in prison, women are serving longer-term sentences, and in the community corrections facility, women typically are housed for six months. We have developed and carried out educational garden programming and related research on both sites over the past two years and observe more closely the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated women and their communities, which has aggravated the invisibility and marginalization of incarcerated women who suffered a lack of programming and insufficient research attention already before the pandemic.

We argue that prison gardens' educational programming has provided some respite from the hardships of the pandemic and is a promising avenue of correctional rehabilitation and programming that fosters sustainability, healthier nutrition, and mental health among participants.

Residential correctional facilities are distinctively sited to advance health equity and community health within a framework of sustainability, especially during a pandemic. We focus on two residential settings for convicted women serving a sentence in a prison or a residential community corrections facility that offers rehabilitation and educational programming. Women are an underserved population within the US carceral system, and it is thus essential to develop more programming and research for their benefit.

The purpose of this article is to describe the aims, rationale and design of a principal preparation programme that draws, partially, on career stage perspectives, and to provide an assessment report of it gleaned from two cohort groups of participants.

The programme was evaluated using two modes of inquiry: an open‐ended questionnaire aimed at examining the participants' perceived benefits of every course, and a semi‐structured interview with six participants intended to gain more understanding of the interpretations of the programme's unique contents.

Despite some criticism, most participants found the field‐based courses and those based on career‐stage theories to be of much benefit to their professional development, in terms of managerial awareness and identity. In contrast, courses that centred on broad knowledge or focused, to a large extent, on theories and academic knowledge were perceived to be of lesser importance.

It is suggested that those planning future principal preparation programmes should devise courses that handle issues of career transitions, early career stage, stress, burnout, mid‐career, self‐renewal and the like, to enable principal candidates to internalize the high complexity of the principal's role and the many barriers they are likely to encounter during their career cycle.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the paper presents an initial attempt to incorporate knowledge from the area of career development in the form of specific courses that are intended to evoke an awareness of future internal career experiences of principals.