Framework For Educational Development Research Articles

Prospective Study on Geosciences On-Line Education: UNESCO Global Geoparks in Spain and Portugal

UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) stand out as territories of excellence for the development of educational activities in the international arena. Their didactic potential, their multidisciplinarity and their importance for the development of non-formal and informal teaching activities have drawn the attention of institutions, organizations and governments of many countries. This, to such an extent, that the number of UGGps continues to increase year after year, having currently reached 177 territories spread over 46 countries. All of them work every day developing different activities and educational proposals aimed at the creation of the so-called “Quality Education”, the fourth objective of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. The diversity of didactic plans, their adaptability and their accessibility mean that each UGGp is unique and different from the rest, maintaining the key values that make up this group of territories. This study describes the different educational proposals and activities that the Spanish and Portuguese UGGps show on their official websites, with the aim of analyzing their level of visibility before visiting the territories and highlighting their relevance in the education development framework.

How Do we Measure Implementation of Inclusive Education in the Pacific Islands? A Process for Developing and Validating Disability-Inclusive Indicators

In recent years, countries of the Pacific have been moving strongly towards enhancing inclusive educational practices within a previously segregated education system. Through the Pacific Education Development Framework (PEDF) approved by 14 Pacific Island Education Ministers in 2009, the implementation of regional policies of inclusive education is a priority. To ensure that progress is measurable, these countries have been working collaboratively with several Australian institutions to develop a set of contextually appropriate indicators for measuring disability-inclusive education. This article describes the process adopted in developing these indicators and initial findings regarding the key outcomes. The research is guided by three key principles of collaboration, a need for systemic change and ‘nothing about us without us’. The process adopts a three-stage approach which is outlined and key issues and implications discussed.

The research on programming education in elementary schools from five countries

The purpose of this article is to review current developments focusing on the use of programming education in primary and secondary schools in various countries. The aim of the review is not only to introduce the different types of individual countries in promoting programming education, but also to help governments, enterprises, educational practitioners and researchers to understand the current developments of the programming education and to provide a reference for promoting programming education. The review is organised into four parts that cover different aspects of current research: (a) governments' attention, (b) enterprises' support, (c) colleges and universities' assistance; and (d) implementation in primary and secondary schools. We summarised four findings: (a) governments' attention is the foundation of developing programming education effectively, (b) the enterprises can make people touch and understand the programming education more easily, (c) colleges and universities play their roles in connecting schools and programming education, and (d) the schools are like bricks in the whole programming education development framework. The overall conclusions suggest that the governments, enterprises, colleges and universities and schools work together to promote programming education.

Using indicators as a catalyst for inclusive education in the Pacific Islands

ABSTRACTThe Pacific Island countries are committed to promoting disability-inclusive education through enactment of the Pacific Education Development Framework. To support this move, key stakeholders have identified the need for developing local and contextually appropriate indicators for measuring progress of disability-inclusive education. This paper reports on the usefulness of a newly developed tool (Pacific Indicators for Disability-Inclusive Education – Pacific-INDIE) as a catalyst in implementing inclusive education in the Pacific. Data were collected from a range of stakeholders who have used the Pacific-INDIE in three countries (Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands). Thematic analysis was used to identify the key themes relating to the usefulness of the tool. The key themes that emerged from the data included, positive outcomes, challenges, planned future directions, and process issues. The findings discussed are related to how the indicators can best support future policy development and implementation of disability-inclusive education across the region.

Identifying disability-inclusive indicators currently employed to monitor and evaluate education in the Pacific island countries

AbstractFourteen member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum have adopted The Pacific Education Development Framework as a means of improving quality of education across the region. Within this framework, special education and inclusive education are seen as priority areas that endorse a rights-based approach to education. Aligned with other Pacific regional advances for improving the measurement of the effectiveness of this Framework, is the development of a set of indicators to measure efforts towards disability-inclusive education specifically in the Pacific islands. The aim of this study is to identify existing measures that governments currently employ to report against education outcomes. Data were collected by written responses from relevant ministries in the 14 Pacific member countries to a set of questions specifically developed to address this aim. This paper provides an analysis of these surveys and discusses how these data are informing the development of the indicators to ensure the provisi...

Prophetic Pragmatism? Post-Conflict Educational Development in Aceh and Mindanao

This essay critically examines the relevance of Cornel West's (1989) conception of prophetic pragmatism as a theoretical framework for educational development in post-conflict settings torn by religious, socioeconomic, and cultural tensions. It examines the concept through the conflict and post-conflict experiences of the Indonesian province of Aceh and the Muslim provinces of the southern Philippines. These 2 regions struggle with educational development after emerging from decades of secessionist conflict with democratic or democratizing central governments. It suggests that prophetic pragmatism usefully accounts for the relevant dimensions of these 2 historical cases and concludes with a brief sketch of how the concept could inform relevant strategies for educational redevelopment in these 2 post-conflict settings.

Improving forestry education through participatory curriculum development: A case study from Vietnam

As agriculture and forestry practices change in different contexts, new requirements emerge for the development of education programmes. In forestry education there is a need for a shift of focus from technology towards an interdisciplinary approach based on a new range of knowledge, skills and attitudes, and drawing on new concepts of knowledge and learning. Increased participation of stakeholders in the forestry education process seems essential for this shift to take place, leading to greater empowerment, commitment, and more effective learning. This paper presents a case study of the Social Forestry Support Programme in Vietnam, in which participatory curriculum development (PCD) plays a fundamental part. Beginning with stakeholder identification and analysis, PCD provides an overall framework for educational development. Recognising constraints associated with the process, the paper describes strategies aimed at capacity building, management of stakeholder involvement, and planning and evaluation. As different stakeholders learn to learn together through discourse and interaction, the chances of sustainable outcomes from the PCD process should be improved. The dynamic and flexible nature of PCD suggests that there is considerable potential for its adaptation and application in a range of different contexts.

Action research: Towards an alternative framework for educational development

Many institutions producing distance education courses employ teaching‐learning specialists, who are most commonly known as instructional designers. The suitability of instructional design as a framework for educational development is questioned, since it is a prescriptive science and course design is an ill‐defined problem. The designer‐client relationship also implies a deficit assumption about academic staff. Action research is advanced as an alternative approach to educational development. It is argued that an important feature of course teams has been the critical discourse which is an integral part of action research. The Action Learning Project is used as an example of how the action research framework can be put into practice. The multi‐faceted role of the ‘critical friend’ in supporting projects is described.

The kite: An organizational framework for educational development in schools

(1995). The kite: An organizational framework for educational development in schools. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 34, Creating Learner Centered Schools, pp. 272-278.