Relationship вetween Secondary and Higher Education as a Problem of Foreign Language Teaching in Bulgaria

In recent years, the concept of “career education” has gained increasing prominence within China’s educational framework, particularly in higher education, where it functions as a pivotal element in talent cultivation and as a crucial mechanism for promoting high-quality, comprehensive employment among graduates. A relatively comprehensive career education system has begun to take shape. Against the backdrop of the new college entrance examination reforms, career education has gradually extended from higher education into primary and secondary education. It has become more widely implemented at these foundational levels and has achieved certain successes. However, discrepancies in evaluation systems between higher and foundational education remain. In primary and secondary education, the focus is directed towards improving “admission rates”, with career education emphasizing subject selection and guidance for college applications. In contrast, higher education prioritizes enhancing “employment rates”, with career education concentrating on career awareness, vocational choices, and skills training. This results in a lack of coherence in career education across different educational stages. Additionally, issues persist in higher education, including repetitive teaching content, uniform teaching methods, a lack of targeted instructional design, and a disconnect between career education and major-specific education. To address these challenges, this paper proposes the development of an integrated career education system-spanning primary, secondary, and higher education, alongside a precise and coordinated career education framework. Strengthening the coordinated promotion of career education from multiple levels, including national, societal, and institutional, will further optimize China’s career education system. This will reinforce the significance of career education, driving high-quality, full employment for graduates and promoting the high-quality development of China’s educational landscape.

The article objective is to define the basis of educational program continuity of higher pedagogical education and general secondary education in conditions of the secondary education renewal.Research Methodology. The authors carry out analytical and comparative study, analysis of philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, scientific and methodological literature, normative legal documents, forecasting, and synthesis.Results. The paper defines methodological approaches determining the basis of continuity of educational programs in the school-higher educational institution system; structural and substantive features of educational curricula of secondary education and higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan; methodological basis of educational program design. To preserve and improve continuity in training teachers in natural science, higher educational institutions are offered recommendations to develop educational programmes and modular curricula based on the existing program study and analysis. The aurhors reveal didactic principles of ensuring continuity of educational programs of secondary and higher pedagogical education, and draw up a matrix for determining the content of education. Scientific novelty. The study is the first systematic work to ensure continuity of natural and scientific pedagogical education in the school-university system in frames of updating the content of secondary education. Practical importance. To improve the quality of training future teachers in natural science, recommendations are developed to improve the content of educational programmes based on continuity, which are the foundation to develop theoretical and methodological bases for ensuring the continuity of natural science education.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing young people. As well as the physical implications of a changing climate, young people will enter a labour market in flux as global economies transform and the world decarbonises. Geography is a key subject for climate education in the UK, synthesising both the physical and human causes, consequences and implications of climate change. However, there remain several issues on delivering climate education in geography. Within this article, we reflect on our own experiences of teaching climate change in both secondary and higher education settings and on our collaborative project to develop new climate education materials for year 9 students. First, we discuss the challenges Second, we explore the opportunities of collaborating across secondary and higher education with a focus on incorporating contemporary research into the curriculum. Third, we outline the challenges of collaboration. Finally, we advocate for new platforms and opportunities to facilitate knowledge exchange between different educators.

ABSTRACTThe discourse on English-medium teaching in higher education uses several terms and concepts to describe practices, very often synonymously. This contribution aims to fill the research gap of a conceptualisation of English-medium teaching in higher education. It will identify relevant approaches and their corresponding terminology, as well as clarify which approaches are most suitable for higher education. Given that the past decades have seen a substantial rise in the use of English as a teaching language in European compulsory schooling [Dalton-Puffer, C. 2011. “Content and Language Integrated Learning: From Practice to Principles?” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31: 182–183], the paper will also draw parallels between the secondary and the tertiary levels of education. At the same time, it will also be shown why insights drawn from research conducted in secondary education cannot simply be transferred to the tertiary level of education.The main focus of the paper is on the ‘English-medium Paradigm,’ a framework created to identify prevalent instructional types in English-taught programmes at universities in non-Anglophone countries [Unterberger, B. 2014. “English-medium Degree Programmes in Austrian Tertiary Business Studies: Policies and Programme Design.” Dissertation, University of Vienna, 45–52]. The paradigm is based on terminological and conceptual considerations gained from the critical discussion of English for specific purposes, English for academic purposes, Content and language integrated learning and English-medium instruction literature [e.g. Bhatia, V. K. 1993. Analysing Genre: Language use in Professional Settings. London: Longman; Hyland, K. 2006. English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge; Dalton-Puffer, C. 2007. “Academic Language Functions in a CLIL Environment.” In Diverse Contexts - Converging Goals: CLIL in Europe, edited by D. Marsh, 201–209. Mehrsprachigkeit in Schule und Unterricht 6. Frankfurt am Main: Lang; Dafouz, E., and U. Smit. 2014. “Towards a Dynamic Conceptual Framework for English-medium Education in Multilingual University Settings.” Applied Linguistics. doi:10.1093/applin/amu034]. The paper therefore provides a timely conceptualisation of the varieties of English-medium teaching in higher education which also takes into account pedagogical considerations as well as implications for curriculum design.

This review examines how storytelling has been applied in EFL teaching in secondary and higher education to enhance students’ oral proficiency. It aims to offer some insight into using storytelling as an effective tool for designing speaking classes in EFL contexts. The review found that as a teaching strategy, storytelling can be effective in promoting oral proficiency in students of English in both secondary and higher education contexts. The main difference lies with teachers as the main storytelling designers in secondary education and students in higher education. Similarly, in secondary education the application of storytelling tends to happen in the classroom, while in higher education, storytelling is more likely to be used outside the classroom by creating digital stories. Based on the analysis of the implementation of storytelling in both contexts, the review closes with some guidelines for the application of storytelling in EFL teaching. Article visualizations:

As a continent with 54 independent states Africa’s diversity is often highlighted but frequently forgotten when fertility is discussed. Fifty and more years ago to consider that all African countries and societies had a single fertility pattern (large numbers of children) and single trend (unchanging over time) was a valid characterization. Since the 1960s however that uniformity has disappeared replaced by substantial inter- and intra-country differences in fertility patterns and trends that render previous perceptions of continent-wide homogeneity obsolete. In this chapter we consider two African countries—Ghana and Kenya—whose fertility patterns and trends and their determinants have been well documented (Bongaarts 2008; Garenne 2008; Machiyama 2010; Shapiro and Gebreselassie 2008; Sneeringer 2009). Both countries have benefited from regularWorld Fertility Surveys (WFS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) that record trends in fertility family planning (FP) and other relevant indicators. The recently introduced Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) surveys monitor progress since 2012 for the FP2020 initiative and occasional Situation Analysis and Service Provision Assessment surveys have also detailed the readiness of the health system in both countries to make quality FP services available. Ghana and Kenya share some common history: both have relatively strong health system legacies from the period of British colonialization; both were among the earliest countries to achieve independence; they were the first two African countries that developed policies to address population growth in the 1960s; and both have received substantial and sustained resources over several decades from many external donors and technical assistance organizations explicitly intended to increase the availability and quality of family planning services. However they are composed of cultures that are both diverse within each country and markedly different in many ways between the two countries. The two countries demonstrate remarkably different pathways in fertility and family planning patterns and trends from the 1970s to the present. We highlight some of the key differences and similarities explain why they have occurred and identify insights that could inform a wider understanding of fertility transitions and the role of family planning in other African countries. (excerpt)

The article aims to emphasize the role of foreign language teaching in fostering sustainable development competence in higher education. Foreign language classes enable students to analyze actual topics about sustainable development, to discuss problems, to share personal emotions and experiences. English as a foreign language curriculum aims to build students’ basic language communicative skills with the focus on sustainability, communication for the enhancement of sustainable development competence. The present paper aims to analyze the correlation of sustainable development competence between English as a foreign language studies in the system of higher education. The article overviews the importance of the sustainable development competence development on the theoretical level as well as introduces the practices of the importance of sustainable development competence elements in foreign language classes on the empirical level. The research was planned and performed in 5 universities of Lithuania, in which the respondents studying English (average age of participants was 22 years old) expressed their opinions on the sustainable development topics and usefulness of sustainable development competence. The results of the research demonstrate that students are more engaged in topics and materials on sustainable development and it is challenging for pedagogues to constantly update their materials, to apply innovative English as a foreign language teaching strategies related to sustainable development in foreign language classroom. Therefore, the research findings with the embedded elements for sustainable development competence development encourage educators to search for innovative ways of English as a foreign language teaching in higher education.

The world’s largest education system stems from millennia-old traditions that place great value and emphasis on learning, teaching, and the central role that institutions of learning at all levels should and do play in the education process. Parents and grandparents teach children from very early ages to cherish opportunities to learn. Chinese children in rural and urban settings dream of completing their basic and secondary education and performing well on the national higher education entrance exam (Gaokao, 高考). As it was in ancient times, economic opportunities in China tend to increase with the more education individuals attain (Jiang 2014). In China, basic education comprises pre-school education, primary educa-tion and junior secondary education (nine-year compulsory education), senior secondary education, and special education. To remain consistent with the historical data, secondary education in this chapter refers to specialized secondary education, regular secondary education, and secondary vocational education (see Table 1.1). Given the state of the education system that the PRC inherited in a postwar context in 1949, the government has made tremendous progress in terms of reducing its national illiteracy rate and providing basic education opportunities to the masses. Yet even with all of this progress, several social justice issues remain (Jacob 2006; Jacob et al. 2015). A large percentage of eligible cohort students are unable to continue on with secondary and higher education schooling. Roughly 42% of all eligible students move on to attend secondary education, and only 30% of secondary students move on to pursue a higher education degree (Ministry of Education 2015). Ethnic minority students struggle with issues of language, culture, andidentity. Local, national, and increasingly global environmental push and pull factors create a perfect storm context that often prevents ethnic minority students from wanting to learn and use their indigenous languages and cultures in daily life, let alone in school and employment settings (Jacob 2015; Jacob et al. 2015). Gender disparities still remain, with females having fewer mean years ofschooling than males (UNDP 2014). There are also regional disparities, where the vast majority of the top schools and HEIs are located in the eastern region, and especially in major urban centers like Beijing, Guangzhou, andShanghai. Since education is largely funded at the local level, wealthy cities and provinces tend to offer greater education opportunities than what is offered in rural and remote locations. Students of all ages from rural and remote regions of the country are at an added disadvantage due to geography (Fleischer et al. 2011; Hansen 2013; Heckman & Yi 2012; Jacob 2004). Other trends include an increase in the number of migrant children attending school in locations where their parents are working.1 Schools have the potential to provide safe havens for these migrant children (Gao et al. 2015). But seasonal jobs and other life-changing events make it difficult for migrant children to maintain steady enrollment over long periods of time in any one school (Liu & Jacob 2013). While some urban centers open up public schools to migrant children, others do not. Migrant students are often forced to enrol late and endure frequent moves that are often in the middle of the school year, which puts them at a significant disadvantage compared to their local peer counterparts. Curricula also vary from province to province, so changing schools is often difficult for many migrant children in terms of being able to remain current with differing curricular requirements and teaching styles. Chen Yuanyuan and Shuaizhang Feng (2013) also note how many migrant children are prohibited from attending public schools because they do not have local household registration status. Many migrant children are forced to enrol in schools established specifically for migrant children (Lu & Zhou 2013). Being able to meet the continuing needs of migrant children with regard to basic, secondary, and higher education will be an ongoing challenge the country will face for many years to come. While it is impossible to determine how the entire country would fare onthe global stage on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in the areas of math, science, and reading, we do have a snapshot from two of China’s largest cities – Hong Kong and Shanghai. Both consistently score among the top five participating countries and economies, and in 2012 Shanghai led all countries and economies in all three categories (see Table 1.2).2

The Course Of The Development On Vocational And Technical Education In Britain And Reference To China

The article outlines the scientists’ achievements in creating the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and specifies the stages of its development: 2001-2018, 2018-2020, 2020-2023 and beyond. The contents of each stage are described. The relevance of investigating the problem of the updated CERF application at the current stage of training foreign languages (FL) in Ukraine has been proven. It has been ascertained that the CEFR 2020 consideration is insufficient. This thesis is confirmed by the analysis of state documents in language teaching; state standards of secondary and high education; FL curriculа for institutions of secondary and high education; FL syllabi, textbooks and manuals in FL and methods of its training; FL national tests; scientific researches and publications on methods for teaching FL. The need to update all major documents by following the changes introduced to CEFR 2020 has been done: conceptual provisions; updated trends to the use of active approach in training FL; improved descriptors; refined trends in the use of this publication in teaching FL; clarified interpretation of concepts “interaction” and “mediation”; extended interpretations of approaches “multilingual” and “multicultural”; in-depth methodical views on the modes of communication and the significance of mediation in teaching andlearning FL; rethought approaches to assessing the achievement in mastery FL; specified role of control and assessment in the FL educational process; revised recommendations from language testing in universities and others. In the future, it is necessary to implement the following basic scientific explorations at the CERF 2020 foundations in Ukraine: clarification of the language proficiency levels from primary school to postgraduate studies;calculation the required number of study classroom hours for mastering FL on each level of education; specification of the goals of developing language communicative competence at various stages of tuition at different levels of secondary education (SA) and high education (HA); detailing the set of competencies for development and perfecting at various levels of SA and HA (levels of primary, basic secondary and specialized secondary education;levels of bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate degrees); creation of the system specification for all types of national tests (NMT, UPEE, UEE); adapting the technology of an active approach to the learning conditions in Ukraine.

The study is devoted to the issue of methodology and organization of professional research and academic integrity (AI) in the formation of a foreign language and literature teacher. The purpose of the article is to characterize the role of the educational component «Methodology and organization of professional research and academic integrity» in the formation of the personality of a foreign language and literature teacher and his/her compliance with the principles of AІ, to offer methodological advice for studying the course, to reveal the policy of academic integrity in higher education institutions on the example of Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav. Methods. To achieve the goal, the author used the following methods: theoretical (analysis, synthesis of normative and scientific-pedagogical sources) and empirical (observation of the educational process). Results. The author considers that the study of the educational component «Methodology and organization of professional research and academic integrity» by students of the second (master's) level of higher education under the Еducational programs «Secondary education (English language and literature)» and «Secondary education (German language and literature)» to be an important element of their professional training as highly competent teachers of foreign language and literature and a necessary tool for countering violations of AІ principles. The main elements of the course were considered (goal, tasks, general and professional competences that are formed during study, program learning results, content components of the course, a list of indicative topics and tasks for independent work, etc.), the certain methodical tips for studying the course are offered, the policy of academic integrity in Higher Education Institutions on the example of Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav are defined. Then article states that Higher Education Institutions have a number of documents that highlight the policy, standards and procedures for compliance with academic integrity, certain tools are in place to counter AІ violations, and a set of preventive measures is used. Conclusions. The educational component «Methodology and organization of professional research and academic integrity» for applicants of the second (master's) level of higher education under the Educational programs «Secondary education (English language and literature)» and «Secondary education (German language and literature)» is an important element of their professional training, which together with other components of the Educational programs and certain tools of the higher education institution to counter violations of academic integrity, with the support of non-formal education and self-control regarding compliance with the principles of AІ, will be able to ensure the formation of the future foreign language and literature teacher as a highly competent scientist, professional and virtuous pedagogue. A detailed study of online services for assistance in processing the results of professional research of future foreign languages and literature teachers is defined as the perspective of further investigations.

Our rapidly changing society needs highly-qualified STEM professionals (experts in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to develop solutions to the problems it is facing. Many of the students who graduate from a STEM programme in secondary education, however, opt out of STEM when enrolling in higher education, often due to a loss of interest. To ensure sufficiently high and qualified enrolment in higher STEM education, we need to bridge this gap between secondary and higher STEM education by showing our youngsters the relevance of science and technology to their personal life and environment. To this end, the project STEM@school promoted and studied the idea of integrated STEM in secondary education in Flanders, Belgium. In integrated STEM education, learning contents from the separate STEM courses are linked in an authentic way, as they often are in our environmental challenges. This approach encourages students as well as their teachers to acquire a robust understanding of STEM concepts, and a creative, inquisitive, and collaborative mindset. For the design of integrated STEM curricula, STEM@school united secondary-school STEM teachers and university researchers. This article elaborates on the principles, opportunities and challenges of the design and implementation of these curricula and discusses their promising effects on students’ conceptual understanding and attitudes towards STEM subjects. The article concludes with tips and tricks to get started with integrated STEM education in secondary schools.

… multicultural education does not necessarily have to imply the study of foreign second languages but the former without the later is limited and will have difficulty in producing the results it often claims to want to achieve, i.e. tolerance, peace and cross-cultural understanding (Crozet et al., 1999). This volume of Acta Linguistica Asiatica is dedicated to the area of teaching Asian languages in non-native surroundings. It is our great pleasure to announce 9 research papers on language teaching and articulation covering a wide-area of Central and Eastern Europe. The papers show us a map of Asian language teaching sites, including secondary and tertiary education, and their background systems.In her work “Poučevanje tujih jezikov v slovenskem šolskem sistemu: prostor tudi za japonščino?”, which opens the present volume, Bronka STRAUS outlines the picture of Slovene educational system. The paper reminds us that language teaching when taught as a curricular course, must be incorporated into the country’s system.The article »Chinese as a Foreign Language in Slovene Upper Secondary Education and Outline of Curriculum Renewal«by Mateja PETROVČIČ proposes a dynamic curriculum reform in secondary education mostly but targets tertiary education as well.The next article, authored by Nagisa MORITOKI ŠKOF and named »Learner Motivation and Teaching Aims of Japanese Language Instruction in Slovenia«, discusses main aims and objectives to teaching Japanese at secondary level education, and looks into the ways of how to find the place for Japanese language teaching in Slovene language curricula.Kristina HMELJAK SANGAWA in her paper “Japanese Language Teaching at Tertiary Level in Slovenia: Past Experiences, Future Perspectives” gives an introduction to the history and contents of Japanese language teaching in tertiary education in Slovenia.Following are the two articles concern teaching Asian languages in Serbia. Ana JOVANOVIĆ’s research, entitled »Teaching Chinese at the University Level – Examples of Good Practices and Possibilities for Further Developments«, presents several cases of Chinese language teaching and articulation from primary all the way to tertiary education.On the other hand, »Current State of Japanese Language Education in Serbia and Proposal for Future Solutions« by Divna TRIČKOVIĆ’s similarly discusses the Japanese language courses and their present situation in secondary education. The author points out the need for a well-thought pick up of both the teacher and the textbook, and offers an exemplar from University of Beograd.The next two articles on teaching Asian languages in Romania concern articulation mainly. Angela DRAGAN in her work »Teaching Japanese Language in Tertiary and Secondary Education: State and Private Institutions in Romania« offers a perspective on articulation at tertiary level mainly, while on the other hand, Mariana LUNGU discusses it from the view of secondary education. The Ion Creanga National college in Bucharest is the only institution in Romania which provides Japanese language education at secondary level ongoing every year.The final article by Karmen FEHER MALAČIČ “Teaching of the Japanese and Chinese Language in Extracurricular Courses for Children, Adolescents and Adults in Slovenia” brings the story back to Slovenia in a form of a survey on teaching Asian languages as extracurricular subjects. The author considers the problems and perspectives that arise within such extracurricular course and at the same time shape language education within curricular course. Nagisa Moritoki Škof

In this paper, the China Health and Nutrition Survey data are used to analyze the return rates of different educational stages in urban and rural areas in 2004 and 2006 respectively. The results show that the rate of return on primary and secondary education of urban laborers is significantly low, while higher education returns were significantly high, which means that the city labor force should accept more higher education. The rate of return on primary education for rural laborers has been significantly reduced, and the rate of return on secondary education has increased significantly, which means that rural labor force should receive more secondary education. Within the secondary education, the rate of return on vocational and technical education is higher than that of ordinary high school education in both the rural laborers and the urban laborers, so the government should guide the development of secondary vocational and technical schools and increase investment in secondary vocational education.

The higher education system is becoming more and more competitive every year. It faces ambitious tasks of training highly qualified personnel and ensuring technological sovereignty. A labor market analysis is an integral component of the early career guidance work with students and their navigation in the profession, which is especially important at the beginning of their employment.The aim of the work was to conduct a comparative analysis of supply and demand indicators in the labor market of pharmaceutical specialists in nine Russian regions in 2019–2022.Materials and methods. The research methodology included the collection, quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data on the SuperJob.ru website. The posted offers (vacancies) and CVs were analyzed on the portal SuperJob.ru (a large online service of CVs and vacancies from direct employers, agencies, employment centers) for 2019–2022 in nine regions and federal districts of Russia: Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, the Central Federal District (without the Moscow region), the Northwestern Federal District (without the Leningrad Region), the Volga Federal District, the Urals Federal District, the Siberian Federal District, the Far Eastern Federal District, the Southern and North Caucasus Federal Districts.Results. The analysis of the number of posted vacancies and CVs in the recruitment agency database for 2019–2022 shows a stable shortage of pharmacy professionals with both secondary (vacancies / CVs – 42112 / 41037) and higher professional education (vacancies / CVs – 36432 / 25149). The pointed out specialists are among the most required ones by employers, and pharmacy is one of the most popular areas for candidates. Cities with a high level of economy and population experience a greater deficit in specialists with pharmaceutical education. Salary levels of specialists with higher or secondary education are almost comparable on average from 50 to 75 thousand rubles, but employers generally prefer to hire specialists with higher education.Conclusion. On average in the regions, the demand for specialists with higher education is lower than the demand for specialists with secondary education and the salary expectations of pharmacists coincide with the employers’ offers, while the salary expectations of specialists with higher education are higher in the market. Specialists with secondary education are much more numerous, as they are trained by a much larger number of educational institutions. For pharmacy technicians, a pharmacy is often the only place of work in their specialty, while for pharmacists it is usually a starting point.