Formal Education Experience Research Articles

Preparing Future Change Agents: A Commitment to Social Justice

The 2024 American Kinesiology Association Undergraduate Education Network session included a keynote address titled “Preparing Future Change Agents: A Commitment to Social Justice.” From my lived experience, I learned much from being marginalized as a female athlete. Through reflecting on these experiences and my formal education, the question asked was, What were those pivotal experiences that developed attitudes and values toward all-consuming social justice? Besides having parents who reinforced that one can do anything they set their mind to do, living across the country and learning the value of diversity and having educationally impactful experiences in the “world classroom” had a huge impact on my valuing diversity. From my formal educational experiences, I remember few lecture-type classes. Content knowledge is important, but the more impactful classes and experiences were experiential and hands-on. The following are my reflections and recommendations for preparing future change agents.

The White privilege of self-determination in entrepreneurship: how educational supports pipeline White students into business ownership

Worker cooperative entrepreneur spaces are predominantly White despite these companies building the foundation of their business model on equity and sustainability. While some studies have investigated racism in entrepreneurship development, no in-depth study has investigated White privilege in this space. Therefore, this study used a qualitative critical narrative analysis approach to explore White privilege in the entrepreneurship journeys of six White individuals who formed a worker cooperative business. Findings suggest that formal and informal educational experiences fostered four themes of White privilege in entrepreneurship: belongingness and competence in privileged entrepreneurship identity, resource-rich support systems, anti-meritocracy perceptions of competence, and privileged psychology of wealth. Findings suggest that educational spaces foster basic psychological needs of intrinsic motivation required for entrepreneurship, however, racialized gatekept access to these spaces perpetuates racial disproportionality in entrepreneurship. This article concludes with situating findings within self-determination theory and discussions of study limitations, implications, and future directions.

Fostering Character Education in Elementary Schools: The Impact of Extracurricular Activities

This study explores the role of effective extracurricular management in cultivating students who are creative, imaginative, and well-mannered. The primary aim of extracurricular activities is to complement the formal educational experience by offering opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge and practical skills gained in the classroom. The objective of this research is to enhance character education in elementary school students through participation in extracurricular activities. Utilizing a qualitative approach, the study seeks to present a comprehensive overview of the current situation and to provide an in-depth description of the factors at play, offering the reader highly accurate insights. The research is conducted at SDI Lukmanul Hakim Sumenep, a school consistently recognized among the top in the region since 2013 by the Sumenep Regency administration. Data sources include key informants such as the school principal, deputy head of curriculum, teachers, and students. Findings suggest that extracurricular activities contribute significantly to the improvement of character education, instilling values such as religious observance, honesty, tolerance, discipline, and responsibility. These outcomes are achieved through regular activities like teacher and student picket duty and flag ceremonies, as well as spontaneous initiatives such as advising, correcting behavior, and providing assistance with incidental tasks. Furthermore, examples and conditioning activities, including environmental cleanliness and character education taglines, reinforce these values. The positive impacts of these activities include the development of social skills and communication abilities, with the school environment playing a crucial role in shaping students' character.

Exploring the Impact of Math Anxiety and Task Difficulty on Pupil Dilation in Adults and Young Children.

We investigated the relations between self-reported math anxiety, task difficulty, and pupil dilation in adults and very young children during math tasks of varying difficulty levels. While task difficulty significantly influenced pupillary responses in both groups, the association between self-reported math anxiety and pupil dilation differed across age cohorts. The children exhibited resilience to the effects of math anxiety, hinting at additional influential factors such as formal math education experiences shaping their relations to mathematics and their impact on cognitive processes over time. Contrary to expectations, no significant association between self-reported math anxiety and pupil dilation during task anticipation was found in either group. In adults, math anxiety influenced pupil dilation exclusively during the initial phase of task processing indicating heightened cognitive load, but this influence diminished during sustained task processing. Theoretical implications emphasize the need for exploring individual differences, cognitive strategies, and the developmental trajectory of math anxiety in very young children.

Affordances of in-School Video Production for a Plurilingual Adolescent with Interrupted Formal Education and Refugee Experiences: A (Hopeful) Case Study

As Canada is increasingly committing to refugee resettlement, there is a critical need to understand how youth from refugee backgrounds can be supported to achieve their full potential in Canadian schools. This multi-year qualitative ethnographic case study explores the affordances of in-school video production for one plurilingual adolescent learner with significantly interrupted formal education and refugee experiences. Youth from refugee backgrounds have been shown to utilize digital multimodal composing (DMC), defined as the use of digital tools to make meaning in multiple modes (e.g., languages, images, sounds, gestures), including video production, to express their identities and strengthen relationships. However, few studies have explored the affordances of DMC specifically for youth from refugee backgrounds with interrupted formal education, at school in their settlement contexts. Guided by sociocultural and multimodal approaches to literacy, as well as an identity investment perspective on participation in learning, the study identifies three thematic patterns of video-production affordances: (1) overcoming the language barrier; (2) showcasing fluency; and (3) countering deficit perceptions. The study helps educators and teacher-educators better understand the affordances of in-school video production for youth from refugee backgrounds with significantly interrupted formal education.

Farmer regeneration crisis in villages: Case study of youth in Sragen, Indonesia

Background: The rice fields in Sumberlawang District are 1,902 hectares, which are dominated by food crops, therefore the community's main livelihood is as farmers. Farming work has received a poor response from some village youths, young people tend to choose jobs in urban areas by means of urbanization in the hope of earning a high income. The aim of this research is to determine the factors and perceptions of young people in Sumberlawang District following in the footsteps of their parents to become farmers or work in the non-agricultural sector, by analyzing the internal and external factors that influence this. Methods: The method used to obtain and analyze data is a quantitative method supported by qualitative data. Finding: The results of the research show that factors that have a significant relationship with youth regarding farmer work are access to information. Conclusion: Factors that are significantly related to young people's perceptions of farmer work are: formal education and personal experience, while those that are not significantly related are non-formal education, cosmopolitan, and socio-cultural. Novelty/Originality of this Study: Its focus is on understanding the perceptions of rural youth in Sumberlawang District towards agricultural work, with a detailed analysis of the internal and external factors influencing these perceptions. This research provides a comprehensive examination of the significant relationships between formal education, personal experience, and access to information, and how these factors shape youth attitudes towards farming. The study aims to address the declining interest among youth in agricultural professions.

IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE ON VENTURE PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION

This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial competence on venture performance, with a particular focus on the moderating role of entrepreneurial education. Despite extensive research on factors influencing venture success, the interplay between entrepreneurial skills and education remains underexplored. This empirical study aims to fill this gap by examining how entrepreneurial education enhances the relationship between entrepreneurial competence and venture performance. Using a quantitative research design, data was collected from 212 entrepreneurs across various MSMEs industries across J&K UT. Entrepreneurial competence was measured using a comprehensive set of indicators, including innovation, risk-taking, and strategic planning abilities. Venture performance was assessed through financial metrics, market share, and growth rates. Entrepreneurial education was evaluated based on the depth and breadth of formal and informal educational experiences related to entrepreneurship. The findings of the research opened a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurial competence and venture performance (p < 0.01). Further, the analysis demonstrates that entrepreneurial education significantly moderates this relationship, amplifying the positive effects of entrepreneurial competence on venture performance (p < 0.05). Entrepreneurs with higher levels of education exhibited superior venture performance compared to those with lower levels of education, highlighting the critical role of entrepreneurial education in fostering successful ventures. These results underscore the importance of integrating entrepreneurial education into training programs to enhance the competencies of aspiring entrepreneurs. By doing so, educators and policymakers can better support the development of ventures, ultimately contributing to economic growth and innovation. This study given valuable insights for educational people, policymakers, and practitioners to promote entrepreneurial success through targeted educational interventions.

A Continuity in Logical Development: Domain-General Disjunctive Inference by Toddlers.

Children grow up surrounded by opportunities to learn (the language of their community, the movements of their body, other people's preferences and mental lives, games, social norms, etc.). Here, we find that toddlers (N = 36; age range 2.3-3.2 years) rely on a logical reasoning strategy, Disjunctive Inference (i.e., A OR B, A is ruled out, THEREFORE, B), across a variety of situations, all before they have any formal education or extensive experience with words for expressing logical meanings. In learning new words, learning new facts about a person, and finding the winner of a race, toddlers systematically consider and reject competitors before deciding who must be the winner. This suggests that toddlers may have a general-purpose logical reasoning tool that they can use in any situation.

Learning to identify fake news and digital misinformation: lessons for educators

ABSTRACT This UK-based study examines how people learned to identify digital misinformation. This included what experiences enabled this development, and the skills that were acquired in the process. This is a small-scale qualitative study of participants who self-reported as being confident in spotting digital misinformation and the data was analysed using a thematic network model. The three main themes identified were: “Formal Learning”, “Informal Learning”, and “Sense of Self”. Participants reported that their formal educational experiences at primary and secondary school were largely unhelpful in their development of digital media literacy. Although a university education was identified as enabling the acquisition of some useful skills such as cross-referencing and critical thinking, participants acquired most of their abilities to identify digital misinformation from what is best characterised as their informal learning experiences, most notable of which was the establishment of a strong sense of self-awareness. This was pivotal to the monitoring of emotional triggers which are often the crux of digital misinformation. This paper also highlights the importance of critical pedagogy which promotes an awareness of wider power structures underpinning what is now being widely referred to as “surveillance capitalism”. In conclusion, it is suggested that formal education could learn much from these informal educational processes which have been identified as being helpful in building criticality, which is in turn integral to producing more digital media-literate citizens, and a population more resilient to digital misinformation.

Differences in Achievement in Physical Education Learning Outcomes for High School Students Based on Parental Occupation: Analysis of Differences in Parental Social Status in Providing Learning Motivation

This research aims to determine the achievement of Physical Education (PE) learning outcomes based on parents' work and its relationship to differences in parents' social status in providing learning motivation to students. The sample in this research was high school students in DI Province. Yogyakarta Indonesia. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and inferential factorial one-way ANOVA. One-way anova test results Sig. 0.000 < 0.05 so there is a significant difference in the average of the three PE learning outcomes between students whose parents are civil servants, farmers and entrepreneurs. First Post Hoc follow-up test Sig. 0.000 < 0.05, so that there is a difference in the PE learning achievement of students with their parents' jobs as civil servants and farmers. Post Hoc follow-up test for both Sig. 0.375 > 0.05 so that there is no difference in the PE learning achievement of students with their parents' jobs as civil servants and entrepreneurs. Post Hoc follow-up test for the three Sig. 0.001 < 0.05 so that there is a difference in the PE learning achievement of students whose parents are farmers and entrepreneurs. The conclusion of this research is that there is a significant difference in the average achievement of PE learning outcomes for high school students based on the social status of parents' jobs as civil servants, farmers and entrepreneurs. The social status of parents' work has an influence on the PE learning achievements of high school students in relation to providing learning motivation for students. Working as a civil servant requires a person to have a formal education of at least a bachelor's degree, while for farmer and self-employed jobs it is not required to have a formal bachelor's degree. Parents who work as civil servants and have formal educational experience of at least a bachelor's degree, at least have a tendency to motivate their children to achieve good learning outcomes in compulsory subjects such as PE or other compulsory subjects. However, the farming profession could be stronger and higher in providing learning motivation to their children, with the hope that their children who are still studying at high school level will not become farmers like their parents and can continue at a higher level of formal education. Keywords: Learning Outcomes, Physical Education, Social Status, Parental Employment, Learning Motivation.

Preschool teachers' perceptions of preschool education during Covid-19 in Greece: a diary-interview study

Preschools all around the world had recently been forced to adopt Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) as a means to encounter the Covid-19 pandemic. While online teaching and learning has already been employed in higher education for many years, this was the first time it had been implemented in preschool classrooms. The current study aimed to investigate preschool teachers’ experiences of formal education during the transition between ERT and face-to-face education in Greece. Teacher diaries were collected over a four-month period, followed by online interviews with the teachers. Both data sets were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings indicated that ERT had a short-term negative influence on children’s behaviour and eagerness to engage in interpersonal social interactions upon their return to preschool. Teachers further reported that the measures adopted by the Greek Government as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on children’s learning, belonging, development and participation and failed to meet young children’s needs. The appropriateness of remote teaching as a mode of learning for preschoolers is discussed.

The Influence of Psychosocial Factors on the Successful Formal Education Trajectories of Young Spanish People in Vulnerable Situations.

Young people in vulnerable situations tend to have more difficulties realizing successful formal education trajectories. It is extremely important to conduct studies that explore the key dimensions that can help young people overcome the conditioning of vulnerable situations, assisting in the achievement of academic success. According to the existing literature, one of these key dimensions is psychosocial well-being. Thus, this qualitative research aims to identify and analyze psychosocial factors that favor successful school pathways among young people in vulnerable situations. Through a case study approach, 12 in-depth interviews were carried out with 12 young Spanish people who not only have a vulnerable background but also successful formal education trajectories. The data were explored through qualitative content analysis-NVivo11. The results revealed that young people generally associate their successful educational trajectory with the positive impact of psychosocial factors, such as the following: positive caregivers' valuation of formal education and positive school experiences and support networks. Young people also point to many negative school experiences that have been overcome via positive attitudes and individual protective factors. The youngsters suggest changes in the educational system and teachers' skills in order to improve the levels of psychosocial support in formal education contexts. The study's implications and limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Using an intersectional life course perspective to understand familial environment and its impact on sexuality development among Asian American sexual minority college students

There is a dearth of research understanding the sexual health of Asian American adolescents, and even more so for those who identify as sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual, and other sexual orientations). This study is a secondary qualitative analysis focused on young adults’ recollections of their formal and informal sex education experiences in childhood and adolescence using a sub-sample of in-depth interviews from students who self-identified as both Asian and sexual minorities living in the USA (n = 9). Results were organised into three sections: (1) latent cultural factors (e.g. stigma surrounding sex, self-sufficiency, filial piety); (2) the downstream effects of latent cultural factors (e.g. sex-related discussions, rules disallowing dating, role of lateral family members); and (3) the impact of deficient familial sex-related discussions (e.g. Internet, resentment). Study findings underscore the links between identity concealment and relationship concealment that are unique to Asian sexual minority individuals. We suggest that interventions involving Asian American US youth and their families should be culturally informed and promote cross-generational sex-related discussion. Future research should further explore the role of chosen family and non-parental family members as a point of intervention as they can be helpful sources of informal sex education.

Adaptation of Research Project Requirement at Pharmacy Undergraduate Studies: Students' Perception, Attitude, and Experiences.

To determine the final year pharmacy undergraduate students' attitudes toward research after completing a research project. A research project was introduced in the final year of the PharmD program in January 2022. After a period of one year, in Janurary 2023, students submitted their final research to the faculty members. The survey was conducted from 1st March to 30st April 2023 using a study tool that contained items asking students' demographic, their research perceptions, attitude and experience, and also motivation/barriers faced during the research project. Descriptive and t-test statistics were utilized to compare the means of subgroups at a level of significance, i.e., p < 0.05. The data were also analyzed using Goodman and Kruskal's gamma and Mann-Whitney U test. Majority of the students (93.8%) agreed regarding the significance of research in the pharmacy profession. Students were found to have their projects a worthwhile learning opportunity (94.2%). Students' motivation to execute research project stems from mandatory curriculum courses, improving clinical or hospital pharmacist training and fulfilling research skills (90%). Barriers hindered include lack of training, time, and patient follow-up (approximately 70%). The current study's finding was concluded with the fact that research is a valuable component of a well-rounded education and can enhance a pharmacist's skills. However, they need a combination of formal education and practical experience to pursue a profession in pharmacy.

Effects of human capital on revenues: evidence from professional service organizations in Taiwan

This paper specifies a trans-log revenue function to estimate the relationship between service revenue outputs and three key human capital inputs, including formal education, work experience, and professional training. Using a Taiwanese pooled cross-sectional sample of 22,875 observations over the period 1992-2021, we divide the total sample into international and non-international audit firms based on their total audit revenues. We find that the average partial effects (APEs) on revenues are much higher for international than for non-international audit firms, suggesting that audit firm size affects audit firms’ financial performance. We also find that investments in both formal education and work experience significantly contribute to the growth of service revenues (but if such investments are beyond the optimal level, they may contribute to the reduction of revenues) and that such growth is much larger for international than for non-international audit firms. Although we find that, in our statistical analysis, professional training contributes to the reduction of service revenues, our graphical analysis justifies this intriguing finding, which is attributed to a lagged return on professional training investments. In theory, human capital suggests that professional training is a needed process to raise future service revenues. Overall, our findings shed light on the APEs of human capital inputs on revenue generation and have practical implications for regulators and practitioners to understand how and to what extent human capital can make a positive contribution to the growth of audit firms’ revenues.

Preparing behavioral health clinicians for success and retention in rural safety net practices.

This study assesses how, among behavioral health clinicians working in rural safety net practices, the amount of exposure to care in rural underserved communities received during training relates to confidence in skills important in their work settings, successes in jobs and communities, and anticipated retention. This study uses survey data from Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors, and Psychologists working in rural safety net practices in 21 states while receiving educational loan repayment support from the National Health Service Corps, from 2015 to April 2022. Of the 778 survey respondents working in rural counties, 486 (62.5%) reported they had formal education experiences with medically underserved populations during their professional training, for a median of 47 weeks. In analyses adjusting for potential confounders, the estimated amount of rural training exposure was positively associated with a variety of indicators of clinicians' integration and fit with their communities as well as with longer anticipated retention within their rural safety net practices. The amount of training in care for rural underserved populations was not associated with clinicians' confidence levels in various professional skills or successes in their work, including connection with patients and work satisfaction. Formal training in care for underserved populations is a large part of the education of behavioral health clinicians who later work in rural safety net practices. More training in rural underserved care for these clinicians is associated with greater integration and fit in their communities and longer anticipated retention in their practices, but not with skills confidence or practice outcomes.

Decent exposure: young women mixing schooling and sharpness in Lira City

ABSTRACT We examine ‘exposure’ as a new subjectivity among young women in Lira City in northern Uganda. Socialising with men in bars, ‘managing’ boyfriends, being a good Christian wife, are all ways of mixing experiences of formal education with the challenges of navigating a way forward in the complex and evolving context of Lira City. Young women strive to acquire skills of hustling, networking and navigating social situations, which they begin to develop during their time in school and university. They continue to cultivate these skills as they move into early adulthood. Lira City is a landscape where new government legislation, the advocacy work of NGOs, the mass expansion of Uganda’s education system, and unstable marriages, create new opportunities as well as challenges for young women.

What Do High-Performance Football Coaches Need to Know About the Coach–Athlete Relationship? Implications for Formal Coach Education

A high-quality coach–athlete (C–A) relationship improves athlete well-being and performance but has been underrepresented in formal coach education. Eleven football coaches, working in some of the highest profile positions in England, were interviewed. We investigate to what extent their formal coach education experiences influenced their understanding of the C–A relationship. We explore their perceptions of the knowledge, relating to the C–A relationship, that could be included in formal coach education courses. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 coaches. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis generated the following five themes: (a) an incongruence between the importance of the C–A relationship and its prominence in coach education, (b) interpersonal competencies and a progressive approach to the C–A relationship, (c) understand the unique needs of high-performance athletes, and (d) build a culture conducive to high-quality C–A relationships. Findings demonstrate the C–A relationship is underrepresented in the main English FA Coaching Pathway and provides insights into the knowledge that could be incorporated into courses to meet the needs of coaches. Future research should explore the athlete’s perspective, relating to the knowledge coaches require to develop high-quality C–A relationships within high-performance football settings.

‘To a certain extent it is a business decision’: exploring external providers’ perspectives of delivering outsourced primary school physical education

ABSTRACT The use of external providers to deliver primary school physical education (PE) shows no signs of slowing in England. Longstanding concerns into outsourcing primary school PE have highlighted the extent to which external providers often lack appropriate teaching qualifications and pedagogical knowledge. That said, when compared to primary school generalist teachers, external providers have been argued to be the ‘best fit’ to deliver primary school PE due to their greater knowledge base and experience of delivering curriculum activities, such as competitive team games. There is a paucity of research however surrounding external providers’ perspectives on their delivery of primary school PE, with their important insights and experiences underrepresented in the literature. This study, therefore, seeks to explore external providers’ perspectives and reflections on curriculum, pedagogy and assessment practices as delivered by them in outsourced primary school PE lessons. Semi-structured interviews were conducted over the telephone and Skype (video call) with 10 external providers, from four different outsourcing companies in the North of England. Penney et al.’s (2009, Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment: Three message systems of schooling and dimensions of quality physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 14(4), 421–442) three message systems of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment were used as a theoretical lens that aided the analysis of the data. The findings demonstrate that external providers: (1) developed and followed their own curriculum frameworks formed by their outsourcing companies to deliver in schools; (2) utilised various student-centred pedagogical approaches to deliver curriculum content that was driven by their formal and informal educational experiences to engage young people and (3) unlike some of the literature suggests, they provided assessment practices that were integrated into their curriculum frameworks. It was concluded that careful consideration must be taken by schools when contemplating whether to employ (or not) external providers to provide their curriculum content, deliver their primary school PE lessons, and to assess their pupils.

Investigating on How Maasai Parents’ Experiences on Secondary Education Influence Their Provision of Teaching and Learning Resources to Their Children in Longido and Monduli Districts-Tanzania

This study investigates the engagement of Maasai parents in providing teaching and learning resources to facilitate formal education in the Longido and Monduli districts. Guided by the participatory model of development, which emphasizes collaboration and open communication channels among stakeholders, the study adopts a phenomenological research design, aligning with qualitative research principles. This approach enables the exploration of Maasai parents' lived experiences of formal education within the context of their culture. The study focuses on Maasai parents in the two districts, employing a purposive sampling technique to select a sample of 72 parents. Twelve focused group discussions were conducted, with six groups from Longido and six from Monduli. Additionally, snowball sampling was utilized to identify and include 10 Maasai traditional leaders from both districts. Data collection involved the use of an interview guide, and the collected data were transcribed and analyzed to identify emerging themes, which were supported by verbatim quotations. The findings of the study indicate a gradual shift in Maasai parents' attitudes towards formal education. In recent years, there has been an increased awareness among Maasai parents regarding the importance of formal education. The provision of school necessities for their children is comparatively satisfactory, and there is a willingness to utilize household resources to support their children's education. Moreover, the study reveals a fair degree of gender sensitivity among Maasai parents in resource provision. Despite the challenges of poverty, cultural constraints, and a harsh environment, Maasai parents are cognizant of their responsibility to meet their children's educational needs. Based on the study's conclusions, it is recommended that the central government, local government authorities, education stakeholders, and the general public continue to sensitize Maasai parents about the significance of active participation in their children's education. By doing so, it is anticipated that the quality of education offered in Maasai schools can be enhanced.