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1 – 10 of over 2000Dawn Theresa Nicholson, Valeria Ruiz Vargas and Gail Skelly
Higher education institutions have a significant role in preparing future generations for the world of work and sustainable development. This paper aims to present a curriculum…
Abstract
Purpose
Higher education institutions have a significant role in preparing future generations for the world of work and sustainable development. This paper aims to present a curriculum model of an enquiry-based learning pedagogy and a sustainable development conceptual context as a mechanism for teaching skills in a geography module. Potential influences of this model on organisational change towards integrating sustainable development are explored.
Design/methodology/approach
Following the design and implementation of the curriculum model, semi-structured interviews of the module teaching team were conducted. Thematic analysis was undertaken against a priori objectives determined from existing theoretical frameworks.
Findings
Thematic analysis suggests powerful synergies exist between enquiry-based learning, education for sustainable development and skills teaching. Potential impacts are as follows: conceptual perspectives enhance cognitive potential around systems thinking, learning methods promote behavioural potential around professional capability and agency and cultural encounters raise affective potential around inclusive curricula.
Practical implications
Findings indicate potential for bottom-up curriculum intervention to enhance individual learner capability and outcomes, to promote the role of Geography in responsible futures, to build teaching team capacity for active learning pedagogies, to influence individual and institutional behaviour change towards sustainability practices, diversity and inclusion, and to catalyse organisational change around sector priorities including integrating education for sustainable development, active learning, inclusive education and enhanced graduate outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper identifies multiple benefits from a curriculum model combining skills teaching in a synergistic pedagogical and conceptual framework and its bottom-up potential to catalyse organisational change in higher education.
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Alberto Guillén Perales, Francisco Liébana-Cabanillas, Juan Sánchez-Fernández and Luis Javier Herrera
The aim of this research is to assess the influence of the underlying service quality variable, usually related to university students' perception of the educational experience…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to assess the influence of the underlying service quality variable, usually related to university students' perception of the educational experience. Another aspect analysed in this work is the development of a procedure to determine which variables are more significant to assess students' satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to achieve both goals, a twofold methodology was approached. In the first phase of research, an assessment of the service quality was performed with data gathered from 580 students in a process involving the adaptation of the SERVQUAL scale through a multi-objective optimization methodology. In the second phase of research, results obtained from students were compared with those obtained from the teaching staff at the university.
Findings
Results from the analysis revealed the most significant service quality dimensions from the students' viewpoint according to the scores that they provided. Comparison of the results with the teaching staff showed noticeable differences when assessing academic quality.
Originality/value
Significant conclusions can be drawn from the theoretical review of the empirical evidences obtained through this study helping with the practical design and implementation of quality strategies in higher education especially in regard to university education.
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Özlem Canaran and İlknur Bayram
This study makes an enquiry of the existing sustainable development goals (SDGs) knowledge of English language teacher trainers (ELTTs), who remain an overlooked stakeholder in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study makes an enquiry of the existing sustainable development goals (SDGs) knowledge of English language teacher trainers (ELTTs), who remain an overlooked stakeholder in education for sustainable development. Despite the literature on SDG integration into traditional teacher education curriculum, how massive open online courses (MOOCs) can help with capacity building of ELTTs is unclear. This study aims to further explore how the knowledge and capacities of ELTTs on SDGs could be promoted through MOOCs.
Design/methodology/approach
For the study’s action research approach, data of 28 ELTTs from higher education institutions in Ankara, Türkiye, were collected for six weeks using a survey, reflective reports and focus group interviews.
Findings
ELTTs with no previous training experience have a partially fragmented understanding of SDGs. MOOCs proved to be highly practical and cost-effective in building ELTTs’ capacity for building knowledge of and improving motivation to address SDGs in training programs. Further findings are drawn from ELTTs’ reflections on the lack of pedagogical content knowledge and collegial interactions in MOOCs.
Originality/value
There is little to no literature on ELTTs’ existing knowledge of SDGs and whether MOOCs can be used for their capacity building to achieve SDGs. The present findings may encourage higher education institutions to launch professional development programs that will equip ELTTs with the competencies to apply education for sustainable development in in-service English language teaching and teacher training programs.
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Joonkil Ahn and Alex J. Bowers
Leadership for learning emerged as an integrated leadership framework; however, attempts to establish an empirical measurement model have been limited. Critically, not much is…
Abstract
Purpose
Leadership for learning emerged as an integrated leadership framework; however, attempts to establish an empirical measurement model have been limited. Critically, not much is known about how much teachers' beliefs (e.g. self-efficacy) can mediate leadership for learning impact on teacher behaviors. This study establishes a leadership for learning measurement model and examines whether teacher self-efficacy mediates the effect of leadership for learning tasks on teacher collaboration, instructional quality, intention to leave current schools and their confidence in equitable teaching practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the most recent 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), the study employed a structural equation modeling mediation approach.
Findings
Results suggested that teacher self-efficacy statistically significantly mediated 16 out of 20 of the relationships between leadership for learning task domains and teacher outcomes. Especially, in explaining the variance in instructional quality and teacher confidence in implementing equitable teaching practices, considerable proportions of the predictive power of leadership for learning tasks were accounted for (i.e. mediated) by teacher self-efficacy.
Research limitations/implications
School-wide efforts to craft the school vision for learning must be coupled with enhancing teacher self-efficacy. Critically, leadership efforts may fall short of implementing equitable teaching practice and quality instruction without addressing teacher confidence in their ability in instruction, classroom management and student engagement.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kind to evidence teacher self-efficacy mediates leadership for learning practice impact on teacher behaviors.
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Chan Hum, Tae-Hee Choi, Sing-Kai Lo, Say Sok and Wai Mui Christina Yu
This study examines the management practices and alignment features needed to develop academic staff’s careers, mainly focusing on teaching competencies in the evolving landscape…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the management practices and alignment features needed to develop academic staff’s careers, mainly focusing on teaching competencies in the evolving landscape of Cambodian public universities.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case research design was adopted to collect data from interviews with 11 academic leaders and focus-group discussions (FGDs) with 13 academic teachers at two public universities in provincial Cambodia. A thematic approach was performed to code and analyse data to address the research questions.
Findings
This study found that the management of academic careers in the selected universities was hybrid, deregulating state control to relative institutional autonomy for contracted employees but rather centralised management for civil servants. However, weak institutional leadership and negligence in formulating comprehensive institutional guidelines for strategic human resource management (HRM) have caused misalignments of management practices to develop academic careers in the studied contexts.
Research limitations/implications
This case study limits its findings to two universities in provincial Cambodia. Nevertheless, this study adds to the scarce literature on the research topic in Cambodian public universities and opens a path for cross-institutional and national comparative studies on similar foci.
Originality/value
This is a ground-breaking study set in the evolving space of Cambodian public higher education, where attention to the research area remains limited.
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John Trixstan Santos Ignacio, Charlotte Kendra Gotangco Gonzales and Queena Lee-Chua
A mixed-method study was performed to determine the impact of integrating systems thinking (ST) into an electronic learning module for junior high school teachers in the…
Abstract
Purpose
A mixed-method study was performed to determine the impact of integrating systems thinking (ST) into an electronic learning module for junior high school teachers in the Philippines. The study aims to assess how an ST approach to pedagogy compared against a conventional approach in terms of contribution to the participants’ global climate change content knowledge, holistic thinking and depth and accuracy of knowledge and reasoning.
Design/methodology/approach
The study implemented e-learning modules using an ST approach versus a conventional approach in teaching climate science to junior high school teachers. The paper presents quantitative data obtained from pre and posttests results of the 20 teacher-participants and qualitative data obtained during the focus-group discussion (FGD) after the implementation of the study.
Findings
The results from the statistical analysis indicated that the ST group obtained a significant increase in their assessment scores compared to the non-ST group, according to predetermined criteria. Content knowledge, depth and accuracy of knowledge and reasoning increased the most. The participants mentioned during the FGD that the module helped deepen their understanding of climate change.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to 20 teacher-participants, but it has relevance for public school teachers in the country given that participants had raised concerns regarding the lack of training in their schools for teaching climate science. They admitted that they lacked critical information to include in climate change topics in their classes.
Originality/value
This paper shows how the ST approach can be used to teach climate change to junior high students. The e-learning module can provide teachers with better understanding, knowledge and reasoning to teach climate change to high school students more effectively.
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Fatemeh Abbaspour, Rezvan Hosseingholizadeh and Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş
Current school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap…
Abstract
Purpose
Current school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap in understanding how principals facilitate professional learning, especially in centralized educational settings. This study aims to address this gap by examining the role of school leadership in enhancing teacher professional learning within a highly centralized education system.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study delves into the lived experiences of 15 teachers and eight school leaders in eight primary schools in Mashhad, Iran. Through semistructured interviews, researchers employed open and axial coding to systematically explore and categorize qualitative data. The study focuses on understanding the role of principal leadership in facilitating teacher professional learning by connecting themes and sub-themes across transcripts.
Findings
Effective principals worked on the cultivation of a culture that champions perpetual personal growth and development, the nurturing of a collaborative learning community, and the provision of essential resources and support. Findings showed the pivotal role of principals in promoting teachers' self-development, facilitating idea exchange and acknowledging their efforts. Principals appeared as key to encouraging information sharing, fostering collective learning, promoting professional development, overseeing teaching practices and ensuring the availability of resources to cultivate a supportive climate in a centralized education context.
Originality/value
We concluded that in centralized education, leadership practices for promoting teacher learning share similarities and differences with decentralized settings. The findings offer guidance for principals in centralized systems, supporting them in facilitating teacher professional learning in their schools.
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Nazir Ahmed Jogezai and Fozia Ahmed Baloch
The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to posing challenges, has also created opportunities for greater digital integration than ever. However, the scale and efficacy of digital…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to posing challenges, has also created opportunities for greater digital integration than ever. However, the scale and efficacy of digital integration are contingent on the digital competence (DC) of teachers. In the same way, how well teachers learn and teach online may depend on how willing they are to try new ways of digitizing learning or being innovative. This study aimed to ascertain if teachers' digital nativeness, digital addiction and innovative work behavior had an impact on their DC.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a quantitative research method, whereby data were collected from 276 schools, colleges and university teachers. The researchers employed structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS to analyze the data.
Findings
The results illuminate the literature regarding DC and the predictive capability of teachers' digital nativeness, digital addiction and innovative work behavior, which can contribute to paving the way for digitizing teaching and learning in the post-COVID-19 era.
Research limitations/implications
The study has significant implications for meaningful learner engagement by explaining the importance of teachers' digital competencies and how they could be approached conceptually to better understand the factors associated with teachers' DC. The differences in DC between digital natives and digital emigrants remain one of the limitations that future research may address.
Practical implications
The results have policy level and practical implications for organizations to consider the value of young teachers in the integration of digital resources. It is also critical to encourage teachers' innovative behavior in the digitization of teaching by creating a supportive organizational environment.
Originality/value
The study remains valuable in the post-COVID-19 era, where educational institutes are revisiting the prospect of online learning as a parallel to in-person teaching. The results remain innovative and genuine and have not been explored in previous research, in particular in the post-COVID-19 era. The involvement of teachers from schools, colleges and universities makes the results more general, which all of them can equally benefit from.
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Tracy X.P. Zou, Dai Hounsell, Quentin A. Parker and Ben Y.B. Chan
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of four cross-institutional teaching enhancement projects (TEPs), a relatively new form of professional collaboration. The focus is on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of four cross-institutional teaching enhancement projects (TEPs), a relatively new form of professional collaboration. The focus is on the impact at departmental, institutional and cross-institutional levels because such impact is the main reason for establishing cross-institutional TEPs.
Design/methodology/approach
A professional capital framework guided the examination of decisional and social capitals at departmental, institutional and cross-institutional levels. A theory-of-change method was adopted to collect data from 35 sets of documents, 22 project members and 65 stakeholders.
Findings
The authors found five forms of impact, showing the development of decisional and social capitals mostly at institutional and cross-institutional levels, whilst signaling the relatively weak impact at departmental levels. Therefore, the values of cross-institutional TEPs have not been fully realized and future endeavors need to better utilize the capitals in programs.
Originality/value
Few studies evaluated the impact of large-scale, cross-institutional TEPs. The authors offered new contributions by gauging the impact of these under-explored forms of complex professional collaborations.
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Arash Arianpoor and Ahmad Abdollahi
The purpose of this study is to propose a framework for the convergence of maturity model and education and evaluation in accounting.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose a framework for the convergence of maturity model and education and evaluation in accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
The present research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, to determine the indicators of convergence of the maturity model and education and evaluation in accounting, a Meta-Synthesis method was used. The conceptual model includes two dimensions of “Teaching and learning processes” and “Evaluation methods"; five levels of initial, repeatable, defined, managed and optimized; and a total number of 35 indicators. In the second phase, a questionnaire was developed, and academics as accounting faculty members in Iranian public universities were employed to fill out the questionnaire electronically and present a final framework. Having received the questionnaires, 66 questionnaires were analyzed statistically.
Findings
The results showed that the two dimensions of “Teaching and learning processes” and “Evaluation methods” considering initial, repeatable, defined, managed and optimized levels include 35 indicators, which form a framework for the convergence of maturity model and education and evaluation in accounting. The results show that both dimensions have positive and significant regression path coefficients in the convergence model. Moreover, the dimension of teaching and learning processes has the highest regression path coefficient indicating a greater impact on the convergence model. Besides, all five levels have positive and significant regression path coefficients with dimensions. Finally, in this study, all indicators were prioritized according to five levels.
Originality/value
Due to the success of maturity models and the urgent developments that require transformative improvements in accounting education, maturity models can respond to the challenges associated with education and learning in accounting. Thus, conceiving an image of the convergence of maturity model, education and evaluation in accounting seems imperative which has been scarcely investigated previously.
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