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This study examines the social organizational structure of one early childhood education (ECE) center in Finland and the relationship between this structure and the roles and the responsibilities of the members of the organization.

The research is a qualitative case study with ethnographic features. Its variables for content analysis are based on Henry Mintzberg's theory of organizational design.

The study's results show that the organizational structure of the ECE center follows the organizational configuration of a Professional bureaucracy and that the multiprofessional teams follow the configuration of a Simple structure. The structures for centralization and decentralization are suitable for a professional bureaucracy, but the roles of the members of the organization and the processes for shared decision-making lack clarification. The shortage of qualified ECE teachers disrupts the function of the organization and the work of ECE leaders.

The educational background of subjects may have affected the findings.

The study uses Henry Mintzberg's organizational structure theory to evaluate how and why power is distributed and activities are coordinated at the ECE center. The results also show what parts of the organization pose challenges that most commonly disrupt the organization's operations. With these findings, it is possible to expand the understanding of roles and responsibilities in the currently reforming ECE environment and what ECE centers need to function effectively. The study is part of a larger research project and will be continued to examine the leadership culture of the ECE center.

Incorporating flipped learning (FL) into teaching English as a foreign language may improve student learning outcomes. This study gathered information on Saudi EFL teachers' readiness and willingness to apply FL. So, it aims to describe Saudi EFL teachers' readiness and willingness to apply FL in language classrooms and to find suitable guidelines for Saudi EFL professional development (PD) designers to follow.

This descriptive study involved 153 male and female Saudi EFL teachers as participants, investigating the perspectives and perceptions of these teachers within the context of foreign language teaching in Saudi Arabia. Surveys in Qualtrics were employed as the primary data collection tool for the study.

Results showed that teachers' self-efficacy of their current teaching was high. Most participants had positive attitudes and abilities related to FL, although they also identified potential challenges related to its engagement and assessment. Teachers expressed a strong willingness to participate in PD in this area, with a preference for online videos and group workshops.

The study emphasizes the importance of PD for Saudi EFL teachers. In addition, it offers guidelines for planning effective PD.

The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the influence of individual learning styles on the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR)-based learning in structural engineering. There has been a lack of research examining the correlation between learning efficiency and learning style, particularly in the context of quantitatively assessing the efficacy of AR in structural engineering education.

Using Kolb’s experiential learning theory (ELT), a model that emphasizes learning through experience, students from the construction management department are assigned four learning styles (converging, assimilating, diverging and accommodating). Performance data were gathered, appraised, and compared through the three dimensions from the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) survey model across four categories of Kolb’s learning styles in both text-graph (TG)-based and AR-based learning settings.

The findings indicate that AR-based materials positively impact structural engineering education by enhancing overall learning performance more than TG-based materials. It is also found that the learning style has a profound influence on learning effectiveness, with AR technology markedly improving the information retrieval processes, particularly for converging and assimilating learners, then diverging learners, with a less significant impact on accommodating learners.

These results corroborate prior research analyzing learners' outcomes with hypermedia and informational learning systems. It was found that learners with an “abstract” approach (convergers and assimilators) outperform those with a “concrete” approach (divergers and accommodators). This research emphasizes the importance of considering learning styles before integrating technologies into civil engineering education, thereby assisting software developers and educational institutions in creating more effective teaching materials tailored to specific learning styles.

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of engaging tutors in designing and using ICT integrated lesson activities in strengthening their pedagogical use of ICT competences.

Survey data from an intervention group of 70 tutors from two teachers colleges (TCs) were used to compare their level of ICT competences and domains of professional practice before and after the intervention. Document analysis, lesson observations and feedback from the learning management system (LMS) were used to describe tutors’ experiences from the intervention.

There was a statistically significant increase in tutors’ level of pedagogical use of ICT competences and domains of professional practice associated with hands-on practice in designing and implementing the intervention.

The intervention focus on hands-on practice, actual teaching and learning needs, and the use of active learning strategies like flipped classroom and the LMS, were useful means for tutors to make sense of pedagogical use of ICT competences.

The results offer useful insights to teacher education institutions and policymakers on how to prepare professional learning and supportive policies to enhance teaching and learning with ICT for addressing the learning needs of the subject matter.

Creating 16 ICT integrated lesson activities helped tutors to learn pedagogical use of ICT competences by doing. Use of such intervention could be a useful strategy in teacher education institutions to reposition ICT competence development from reproducing technological competences toward developing knowledge creators who could innovate their pedagogical practice with support from mentors, digital learning resources and networks.

Entrepreneurship education (EE) is critical for developing the skills of tomorrow's entrepreneurs and leaders. While significant research examines the content, student learning processes and outcomes, less studied are the entrepreneurship educators and their pedagogical preferences. Following a cognitive process model of decision-making, this study explores how self-efficacy, philosophy of teaching, entrepreneurship training and teaching experience influence entrepreneurship educator preferences to follow either a teacher-centric or a student-centric approach. This study also includes gender in a secondary analysis of the relationships.

The data were collected from 289 entrepreneurship educators in 2021, and fuzzy-set comparative qualitative analysis (fsQCA) was used to obtain configurations of conditions (causal recipes) that lead to teacher-centric or student-centric model. A secondary analysis explores whether there are different configurations of conditions when gender is added to the analysis.

The results of our fsQCA analysis reveal multiple configurations of conditions (causal recipes) that result in a preference for either a teacher-centric or student-centric approach to teaching entrepreneurship. The authors find that teaching experience is the main condition for the teacher-centric model, while self-efficacy and entrepreneurship training are the main conditions for the pathways leading to student-centric model. The fsQCA results also show that the configurations are affected when gender is taken into account in the analysis.

This study, one of the first of its kind, uses a configurational approach to examine pathways that contribute to the teaching preferences of entrepreneurship educators. This paper uses self-efficacy, teaching philosophy, teaching experience and entrepreneurship training as conditions to identify multiple unique pathways that result in either a teacher-centric or student-centric pedagogical model in EE. Notably, differences by gender are also found in this study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of digital infrastructure in higher education surged. This study aims to analyze how a country’s digital capabilities influence pedagogical transitions in business schools and compare the impacts between digitally advanced and advancing countries.

The authors applied the job demands–resources model and the IMD World Digital Competition Ranking 2021 to analyze the impact of nations’ digital capabilities on the pedagogical transitions experienced by 121 business faculty members from 20 nations. The countries were categorized into digitally advanced countries and advancing countries. The snowball sampling method was used to gather data through an online survey consisting of 24 items. SPSS was used to statistically analyze the data in two stages using paired t-test and group comparison.

Significant shifts between face-to-face and online lectures occurred in both groups. Advanced countries witnessed positive shifts in discussions, presentations, oral assessment, independent learning opportunities, online teaching methods, technical support and faculties’ readiness, whereas advancing countries mainly noted alterations in professional development and communication technologies.

This study offers insights into optimizing digital capabilities and enhancing business schools’ readiness for effective pedagogical shifts during crises. Both the theoretical contribution and the findings will benefit national education policies, higher education institution leaders, scholars and educators.

This article draws upon evidence from a contemporary study of all-through schools (ATS) in three countries. ATS combine at least two stages of a child's education in a single establishment. Many admit children aged 3–19. Most children join the school at nursery or kindergarten level and continue there for their entire education before moving on to further or higher education. ATS are also called all-age, in some contexts, because they bring children of all ages together into the same school environment. Models of ATS vary internationally; hence, there is not one definition of an ATS. This article takes a comparative look at ATS in Iceland, Spain and Wales. The purpose of this article is to explore innovative pedagogies in ATS and to explore how far deeper learning occurs because of the integrated and inclusive model of schooling. The study focused on pedagogical practices in ATS and examined how far these innovative practices are considered by teachers to foster deeper learning outcomes.

The article draws upon a three-year comparative research project that explored pedagogy, leadership and well-being in ATS. The article investigates pedagogy with a cross-cutting focus on enquiry and deeper learning from the perspective of leaders and teachers. Using focus groups and lesson observations, a qualitative case-study approach was utilised to gather evidence about the teaching and learning processes adopted in ATS. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with school leaders. The analytical approach adopted was one of constant comparison with the prime aim of eliciting common themes across the data sets. In relation to the pedagogy theme and an exploration of pedagogical innovation, research questions included (1) How far do ATS foster innovative pedagogies?, (2) What are the leadership conditions that support innovative pedagogies? and (3) To what extent do innovative pedagogies promote deeper learning?

Within and across the three education systems under investigation, the study found that all-through schooling engages students in a positive learning environment and provides innovative pedagogical processes associated with deeper learning. The article provides evidence about how deeper learning functions in ATS from different parts of the world and reflects on the way deeper learning is promoted by leaders and teachers, resulting in deeper learning for students. The evidence from this study reinforces that opportunities for pedagogical innovation and deeper learning within ATS occur because of flatter structures, more fluidity between different phases of learning and greater cross-over of teacher expertise. The study also highlights how leadership is a critical factor in creating the conditions for collective professional practices that foster pedagogical innovations to secure deeper learning. Findings suggest that leading for deeper learning is fundamentally concerned with creating the conditions for innovative learning environments that are equitable, inclusive, diverse and cross age ranges.

Contemporary empirical studies of the deeper learning environments within ATS remain relatively rare; hence, this study provides new comparative and contemporary evidence that illuminates the nature of the pedagogical innovation and the leadership practices that support pedagogical innovation in these schools. It also highlights how professional collaboration and cross-phase working are at the heart of innovative pedagogies that support deeper learning. The study outlined in this article provides critical, new insights about pedagogical innovation and deeper learning within ATS settings.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, teacher education in Qatar, similar to many countries around the world, witnessed a succession of disruptions to the way it operated. The disruption continued throughout much of 2020, and the need to adapt to arising changes and concerns permeated all aspects of teacher education, particularly the practicum experience. The chapter presents our attempt to investigate the influence of an adapted practicum experience which was based on the synthesis of qualitative evidence (SQD) model on the development of six student teachers’ technology knowledge and skills. Using a qualitative case study research design, we collected data from multiple data sources, including pre–post-interviews and weekly reflection logs. Quantitative data collected from a pre–post-administration of the SQD survey and TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge)-practical survey were used to triangulate the qualitative data. Findings from the thematic analysis and descriptive statistical analysis revealed evidence for participants’ increased TPACK-practical knowledge and skills, specifically in the domains of practical teaching and curriculum design. However, an emerging theme revealed that participants considered technology before pedagogy during instructional design. Findings also revealed two challenges to participants’ further development, namely working within a restricted learning environment and experiencing limited mentoring opportunities. We illustrated several implications for the design of the practicum experience and the required institutional support within the context of continued disruption to education and thereafter.

The purpose of this paper is to present the 2030 SDGs Game as a pedagogical tool for the promotion of interdisciplinary education. Based on the simulation of possible world outcomes for the year 2030, the game induces participants to reflect on the socioeconomic and environmental consequences of actions and facilitate the exploration of the interconnected nature of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Starting with a review of the main benefits and constraints of interdisciplinary learning approaches, this paper discusses how pedagogical attitudes have change over time and suggests the use of the 2030 SDGs Game as a powerful tool for sustainability education. Composed by a set of cards with different projects and goals, the game connects participants to the principles of the Agenda 2030 and is suitable for a wide range of educational settings. In the case study presented in this paper, the game was played by 20 students from five different faculties of the University of Liverpool (UK).

The participatory nature of the game, where players learn through the experience of play, is functional to support the co-creation of knowledge of the “active-learner-centred” approach, and facilitate the development of problem-solving attitudes, soft skills and team-working abilities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents, for the first time, the 2030 SDGs Game as a pedagogical tool for interdisciplinary sustainability education. The game is relatively easy to play and is suitable to be used in a wide range of educational settings.

This case study seeks to develop the analytical and critical thinking skills of the students so that they can not only understand and carry out a comprehensive diagnosis of the case in its facets of entrepreneurship but also see reflected the inherent difficulties of the process and how these can be overcome, based on available resources and capabilities. In the same way, it seeks to develop students’ capacity for critical analysis when making a decision in which, on the one hand, there is a very large market potential that they can try to exploit, taking into account the political transformation that modifies the rules of the game with which the business began, in addition, of course, to the case of a security breach specified in the case and, on the other hand, the possibility of resigning, avoiding greater losses.

This case study exposes the situation of the company Max Drone Venezuela, which had been dedicated to the service, repair and training of drones. This family-owned company had gone through a series of stages that clearly exemplified how environmental factors served to identify opportunities in the early stages of the business, promote strategic actions to maintain itself, guide the course to sustain itself and seek development in hostile environments.

Given the characteristics of this case study, it can be used for the teaching and learning of business or business administration, marketing, economics or related students, at higher or postgraduate levels (graduate school).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship.