ABSTRACT This article examines how sustainability is operationalised in curricula at Inland Norway University (INN). Like many other public institutions in Norway, the university has formulated goals in its overall strategy, which states that its research and teaching work shall support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this article, we study if and how SDGs are expressed in educational programmes at the university. We work at three different faculties at the university, and we have examined a selection of the curricula and course descriptions from our respective faculties to see if, and to what extent, the SDGs are represented. We found only one explicit reference to sustainability but many implicit ones. We discuss why and how the university can work to lift sustainability as a topic and find ways to operationalise it in teaching.

ABSTRACT This systematic scoping review examines the available research on cooperation against cyberbullying in the school community. Based on a comprehensive literature search, 22 studies were selected. The types of cooperation identified in the research were mapped on the basis of stakeholders involved, the stage at which cooperation occurred (prevention or intervention) and (in)effective aspects of cooperation. This study highlights the need to involve the most prominent stakeholders (parents, teachers, and students) in systematic efforts of dual focus (prevention and intervention), with expertise from various fields. The diversity and complexity of cooperative approaches have been revealed, with the active involvement of various stakeholders across educational communities necessary for overcoming cyberbullying. Our results suggest that prerequisites from macro- and exo-systems, including legal frameworks, clear jurisdictions, and curriculum-based education on digital citizenship, must be met to ensure supportive mesosystemic interactions. The findings are discussed, drawing on the previous research and theoretical framework.

ABSTRACT This study examined profiles of teachers’ resilience and work burnout using a sample of 331 Finnish elementary school teachers (79% female) who filled out an online questionnaire in the spring of 2022. Using latent profile analysis, the four-profile solution was identified: (1) High Resilience and Low Burnout (31.7%), (2) Moderate Resilience and Low-Average Burnout (29.9%), (3) Low Resilience and High-Average Burnout (31.1%), and (4) Low Resilience and High Burnout (7.3%). Furthermore, the differences between the profiles were examined in terms of individual (work meaningfulness and overcommitment with work) and contextual (supportive organizational climate and leader–follower relationship) factors.

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores pedagogical practices of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers in Norway, focusing on promoting participation among 4–6-year-old children. Through semi-structured interviews with four ECEC teachers, we conducted a thematic analysis to understand their practices inspired by the work of Lundy. Findings suggest that the four ECEC teachers prioritize various pedagogical approaches, emphasizing children’s initiatives through observation and interpretation of their verbal and non-verbal expressions during daily activities. Pedagogical practices involve active engagement to ensure different types of participation. Decision-making includes helping children to take positions and influence majority-voting children. Indoors, ECEC teachers use observation to plan activities aligning with children’s interests while also facilitating free play among peers; play equipment is promoted outdoors. Findings indicate the challenges inherent in balancing pedagogical plans and responsibility with children’s participation and emotions. Pedagogical practices supporting children’s critical thinking and reflection are not identified but ECEC practitioners are increasingly aware of them.

ABSTRACT This study has two main objectives: (i) to create a framework for analysing and improving the effectiveness of learning from practice, and (ii) to examine the effectiveness of learning from practice based on this framework. Experiences of the students of Norway’s first bachelor programme in Customs and Border Management are used as a basis for the study. The novelty of the study is a framework founded on theories on knowledge, learning and sense of vocation. The framework is applied to the analysis of 22 diaries from the first practice period of the bachelor programme. The method of analysis is thematic analysis. The findings show that students and supervisors need a meta-level understanding of the core elements of learning proposed by the framework. In addition, improving learning requires reflections on safe learning environments and the pros and cons of expectations related to dispositional knowledge and sense of vocation.

ABSTRACT The objective was to examine trends in low school satisfaction between 1994 and 2022 among 11–15-year-old students in Denmark according to sex, grade, and socioeconomic status. We focused on trends before and after a major school reform in 2014, and before and after COVID-19-related school closures 2020-2021. Data stem from the Danish arm of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study (N = 38,858). Expressions of low school satisfaction declined from 21.2% in 1994 to 17.2% in 2022 (p < 0.0001). Low school satisfaction also declined during the pre-reform period, 1994–2014 (p < 0.0001), but increased slightly in the post-reform period, 2014–2022 (p = 0.0006). Low school satisfaction was more common among boys than girls. It increased by grade and was highest among students from low socioeconomic background. The COVID-19-related school closures may have impacted school satisfaction negatively and school reform may have been insufficient to improve school satisfaction after 2014.

ABSTRACT This study examines the relative age effect (RAE) on reading achievement in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and explores the relationships between delayed school start and specific risk factors. Data from Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 and 2021, which include nearly 40,000 students, document that the proportions of late school starters vary. Denmark stands out with the highest level of delayed school starters (8%), whereas Norway at the opposite end has practically zero, making the latter a relevant reference point for RAE comparisons. Regression analyses suggest a systematic pattern: the greater the proportion of delayed students is, the more distorted the age–achievement link, highlighting the need to carefully consider the basis for RAE estimates in comparative research. Importantly, late school starters generally tend to be weaker readers at age 10 and have fewer home resources. This study discusses the methodological and practical implications of the main findings.

ABSTRACT Teacher support is an essential resource for students learning and well-being at school. This study examines whether teachers’ resources (i.e., perceived social resources in the professional community, work-related stress, and teaching experience) and contextual factors (i.e., class size, school size, and neighborhood socioeconomic status) relate to between class differences in levels and development of students’ teacher support experiences. A two-level latent growth curve analysis is used to study the three-wave longitudinal survey data from fourth to sixth graders (n = 1,879) from 114 classes and their teachers (n = 114). The results indicate that the teacher’s perceived professional recognition and support from colleagues and work-related stress related to the class differences in the support students perceive from the teacher.

ABSTRACT Teachers’ formative feedback provides motivational and cognitive support for student engagement in learning and raises their achievement. Because feedback arises from assessment, teacher conceptions of both assessment and feedback matter to how feedback is practised. This study determines how teacher conceptions of assessment and feedback are linked to each other and to self-reported practices in a repeated measures survey 18 months apart. All factors in the Swedish Teachers Conceptions of Assessment inventory predicted all six Conceptions of Feedback, which fully mediated influence of assessment conceptions on teachers’ self-reported formative feedback practices. Two conceptions of feedback (i.e., feedback improves learning, and students ignore feedback) were important predictors of teachers’ practice, and these feedback conceptions were predicted by the corresponding conceptions of assessment (i.e., it improves learning and it is ignored by students). The results imply that teacher formative feedback practices depend on an improvement-oriented conception of assessment as a prior belief.

ABSTRACT Pedagogical training often aims to solicit changes in teachers’ pedagogical behaviour. However, previous studies have demonstrated that these endeavours are time-consuming and challenging. In the present study, we used the opportunity created by the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate how comprehensive schoolteachers’ approaches to teaching change in response to rapid contextual changes and how these changes in teaching behaviour are connected to teachers’ teaching-related well-being. Quantitative data were collected from schoolteachers in one Finnish municipality (N = 116). The results indicate that changes in pedagogical behaviour challenge teaching-related well-being, implying that teacher well-being is an important aspect to consider in teacher education and pedagogical training. Furthermore, the results demonstrate a high level of intrapersonal contextual variation in approaches to teaching, highlighting the importance of contextual perspectives in future investigations of teachers’ pedagogical behaviour.