Education Policy Issues Research Articles

They only hate the term: policy branding and the politics of critical race theory

Abstract How does the public form preferences on racialized policy issues that are both widely discussed and broadly misunderstood? This has been the question centering around the sudden attacks on academic terms like “critical race theory” (CRT). I argue that the politicization of, and opinion polarization around, critical race theory is evidence of what I call policy branding, where political parties or organizations brand an arbitrary concept that has national salience into a policy issue. Using a series of original survey experiments, this study shows that one of the primary sources of opposition to critical race theory is the literal use of the term. I juxtapose this with evidence that the education policy issue at the core, antiracist teaching, maintained strong public, bipartisan support. This study has implications for the consequences of political elite capture of academic concepts and ideas.

Pop Culture Media as Curricular Text: Designing an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Seminar Using Abbott Elementary

Abbott Elementary, the Emmy-award winning mockumentary-style comedy television show, chronicles the day-to-day efforts of a group of teachers in a Philadelphia public elementary school who, despite the odds stacked against them, are determined to help their students succeed. With humor and heart, the show also uncovers some of the larger policy issues at play in U.S. urban public education, such as teacher shortages, school funding, and school choice. This essay describes the development of an interdisciplinary Honors seminar for undergraduate students at a large, public university in the Midwest U.S. that used episodes of Abbott Elementary as a central curricular text to support students in analyzing current policy issues in urban education. Drawing on Giroux’s concept of media as public pedagogy, this essay details how the course design employed a critical intersectional multiculturalism cultural studies approach to create opportunities for students to engage in a multiperspectival analysis, including (1) an understanding of political culture, (2) textual analysis, and (3) audience reception. Implications and recommendations are made for selecting and integrating popular culture media as curricular text in interdisciplinary coursework.

Faglig forankra, fagovergripende – og med fotfeste i profesjonen

In this overview study, we analyse student teachers’ master’s theses in Norwegian L1 from the first cohort of the five-year integrated master’s program for primary and lower secondary school teachers. We investigate what characterises the theses in terms of subject topics, interdisciplinary perspectives, and data sources. The data, consisting of summaries of 199 master’s theses, was collected from all teacher education institutions in Norway. The data is analysed by means of both quantitative and qualitative categories. Our qualitive content analysis reveals that literature, reading, writing, and multilingualism are the main academic foci. Additionally, many students incorporate interdisciplinary themes such as public health and life skills or linguistic and cultural diversity. Very few theses address topics requiring knowledge of language as a system, or historical topics. Furthermore, most students collect data from schools, often through interviews. The analytical findings are discussed in light of academic and educational policy issues, such as the content and framework of the L1 subject and the tension between professional and academic orientations in teacher education. Thus, the study contributes to discussions about master’s theses in teacher education in general, and, more specifically, about the operationalisation of the Norwegian L1 subject in schools and teacher education.

Educational Policy: Analysis, Action, and Advocacy Across Contexts

This article is the introduction to a special issue of Educational Policy titled, “Educational Policy: Analysis, Action, and Advocacy Across Contexts.” The special issue presents contemporary education policy analyses from the United States, Canada, and Australia, which collectively represent methodological, contextual, and theoretical diversity. Individually, they offer detailed examinations of education policy processes and outcomes with a common focus on equity. The articles represent a spectrum of approaches to analysing education policymaking and enactment and point out various ways that educators, scholars, policymakers, and activists can take action. In this article, the co-editors identify key themes that distinguish the special issue’s contribution and explain the importance of education policy analysis that informs future advocacy toward more equitable policy processes and outcomes across contexts.

A Bibliometric Study of Issues in Educational Policy

Education policies help to improve society by decreasing inequities and establishing effective learning environments. Periodic assessments can help researchers and policymakers uncover new obstacles and ensure progress on these ever-changing education policy concerns using critical theory. Bibliometric studies, a type of periodic study, emphasize the importance of data-driven approaches in the formulation and implementation of education policies. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of education policy issues from 2000 to 2023. Based on keywords, we initially selected 931 articles from the Web of Science (WoS) database. Only articles in English were included, and we used PRISMA guidelines to reduce the number of articles to 363. We focused on citations, publication frequency, topics, trends, and issues. Two independent researchers analyzed the documents for reliability. For validity, we used transferability. We also used a content analysis of frequently cited articles. Our analysis revealed three prominent trends. The first trend pertained to controversial environmental issues and sustainability concepts in education policy. The second theme was professional development, special education, and school choice. The third one was science, vocational education, special education, and ICT. The content analysis results indicated that teaching and learning, professional development, science education, subject matter teaching, and mobile learning were the topics of the content analyzed articles. We found that relying solely on bibliometric review resulted in broad conceptualizations of educational policy issues, focusing primarily on efficiency and effectiveness. Additionally, we applied critical theoretical frameworks to conduct a more comprehensive analysis of the emergent issues identified through bibliometric analysis.

Policy brief: Polish LGBTQIA+ students at risk: How can schools protect them?

Recognising and meeting the social and emotional wellbeing needs of LGBTQIA+ students is an essential education policy issue globally. Yet, research suggests that this vulnerable group continues to face challenges to their ability to feel culturally safe at school. Negative experiences include verbal and physical abuse, and this often results in poor outcomes for students. Certain European countries such as Malta and The Netherlands have demonstrated positive progress towards enacting inclusive policy, while others, including Poland, are known to have made little or no development in this area. This paper provides a policy issue analysis on the current situation in Polish schools while considering the added threat of LGBT+ free zones that have plagued the political landscape and exist as a further barrier to tolerance and empowerment. Following this discourse, recommendations for school communities have been provided for the purpose of establishing safe learning environments for LGBTQIA+ students.

The Influence of Gender and Training Sector on the ICT Competency of Pre-Service Teachers in Vietnam: Using the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a powerful educational change and reform tool. Teachers are a direct subject in promoting the application of information technology (IT), and the ability to integrate technology into teaching affects the application of IT in teaching. Integrating ICT into education requires teachers to be competent in using ICT. In other words, teachers are required to have sufficient ICT competence to use ICT for education. Faced with this requirement, teacher training schools have made positive changes to improve the ICT capacity of pedagogy students and prepare graduates to perform their duties in the context of digital transformation in education today. This study collected information on pre-service teachers’ competency in using ICT as future teachers in Vietnam. Using the ICT competency framework of UNESCO, the research surveyed 1698 fourth year teaching students (pre-service teachers) from 10 provinces in 3 regions of Vietnam. The results indicate that although pre-service teachers in Vietnam are well educated on ICT policy issues in education, for the issue of ICT exploitation to support curriculum implementation and assessment, they still need ICT skills to support effective teaching and learning methods. In addition, there are significant differences in gender and training specialization in some aspects, such as the application of digital skills and the use of ICT in organization and administration. These results are the basis for in-depth research into establishing influencing factors and measures to improve the ICT application competency of pre-service teachers, contributing to ensuring the quality of education in Vietnam.

Towards a new approach for understanding educational inequality: The Sen– Bourdieu-Bernstein theoretical framework

Understanding the mechanisms underpinning the transmission of educational inequalities is fundamental for fighting social injustice and promoting social mobility. Towards this aim, the paper proposes an extension of the synthetic theoretical framework of Sen-Bourdieu, incorporating the key sociological concepts of classification and framing and the corresponding rules of recognition and realization, as elucidated by Basil Bernstein. By elaborating on the complementarities of the adopted theoretical frameworks, the purpose of the paper is the development of a conceptual model capable of better unravelling the complex processes that influence educational choices and outcomes within contemporary educational systems. Τhe practical possibilities of the suggested theoretical model are demonstrated through its application to a topical issue of educational policy, namely the nexus between school choice and inequality. In this context, the role of educational policy is construed as facilitating individuals’ educational paths by eradicating restrictive factors and establishing emancipating ones..

Making universal education a priority for sustainable development: The EU, Vietnam and education

AbstractThis article highlights the need to bring education to the forefront of EU policies to promote sustainable development in Vietnam. The EU is increasingly concerned with promoting sustainable development worldwide. It does this in its aid policies, and since 2010, it has included in its trade agreements provisions on labour, environmental and gender rights. But what about education rights? This article analyses the role of the EU and the Vietnamese government in the field of education. It argues that both actors could pay more attention to education, and in particular to the problem of unequal access to education for poor and minority children in Vietnam. To improve educational opportunity, both direct funding for the system and contextual support for students are needed. In remote and poor areas, Vietnam and the EU should provide increased salaries for teachers to reduce corruption, funding to support families, local social enterprises and improved local infrastructure. The article ‘double‐decenters’ the study of European foreign policy by (1) focusing first on education policy issues in the targeted state and then on EU policy and (2) listening not only to the government but also the citizens of Vietnam.

Education Equality in China: Economic, Geographical, Gender and Education Policies

As one of the largest developing countries in the world, education in China has made great achievements over the past decades and has contributed greatly to Chinas scientific and technological development, economic development and poverty reduction and social prosperity. However, it is inevitable that many problems have arisen in the development of education. Many studies have been done on this subject by Chinese scholars and many international scholars. Among the studies on the subject, equality in education is a major concern for many scholars. Based on existing international research, this paper discusses equality in education through the issues of economics, geography, gender and education policy. In this paper, it is found that economy and geography greatly influence educational equality, with regional economic development being positively associated with educational equality. Gender, although also influencing educational inequality to some extent, is not significant. Some of the policies that have been developed to promote equality in education have been less than satisfactory. Through the analysis and discussion of these issues, future research and development directions are proposed to further promote educational equality and enable the further development of education in China.

Sport schools in Europe: a scoping study of research articles (1999–2022)

Sport schools have increased in popularity over the past three decades, and research in the area has proliferated. This study presents an overview of sport school literature, by investigating peer-reviewed articles, summarising the findings of relevant articles, and identifying possible gaps in this research area. In total, 55 articles are included. The descriptive summary reports publication year, study location, research design, methods, theoretical perspectives, population, and sport(s) studied. The thematic overview comprises two primary sections – research about sport schools and research in sport schools. The former cover ‘outside’ perspectives, such as socio-political and educational policy issues while the latter cover ‘inside’ perspectives focusing on the actors – student athletes and coaches. In the discussion it is acknowledged that pedagogical perspectives in sport school literature are limited, that research on sport schools’ admissions processes is overlooked, and concerns raised as to if sport schools are or should be socially inclusive.

Are Syrian children integrated into our education?: Turkish teachers’ perspectives on the inclusive education project

ABSTRACT Integrating Syrian children into the Turkish national educational system has been one of the most recent and significant discussion issues in educational research and policy making areas. With a primary objective of alleviating Syrian refugees’ linguistic difficulties, a nationwide inclusive education project; Promoting Integration of Syrian Kids into Turkish Education System (PIKTES), has been implemented since 2016 in 26 cities all over Turkey. The current study was designed with the aim of listening to the voices of Turkish teachers, participating in the integration program of Syrian students into the Turkish education system and community life. Seven teachers at primary level schools shared their experiences during the project, and the thematic analysis of the data revealed the challenges of implementation due to school-related factors such as language barrier, social adaptation, teachers’ attitudes, and teaching materials; family-related factors as violence, financial problems and social integration; and teacher development.

Study of teachers’ readiness for tutoring support of pre-professional programs for students of psychological and pedagogical classes

Introduction. Pre-professional pedagogical training of schoolchildren is a relevant issue of international educational policy, since it ensures students’ early professional self-determination based on the principle of individualization and stepwise inclusion in the profession. Obviously, it is necessary to develop a mechanism of support for high school students’ professional self-determination and to organize their psychological and pedagogical training with the use of tutoring and mentoring technologies when implementing individual preprofessional programs. The paper aims to present the results of the study of teachers’ readiness for tutoring support of pre-professional programs for students of psychological and pedagogical classes, as well as to reveal promising ideas and directions for professional training. Materials and methods. The study, aimed at assessing the level of teachers’ readiness for tutoring support of pre-professional programs for students of psychological and pedagogical classes, involved 74 teachers from educational organizations of higher and general education in Chelyabinsk (Russian Federation). The generalization and reflection of their own pedagogical experience made it possible to identify diagnostic tools for revealing the components of teachers’ readiness. Results. Using the developed diagnostic toolkit for determining the level of teachers' readiness for tutoring support of pre-professional programs, it was revealed that only 16.6% of teachers were ready for this activity. A low level of the cognitive-practical component of readiness was revealed in 56.7% of teachers, which is related to insufficient theoretical knowledge and practical skills of tutoring support. The motivation-value component was formed only in 18.9% of teachers who consistently showed interest in tutoring support and understood the importance of tutoring activity in the pre-professional training of schoolchildren. The analysis of the results of the reflexive component showed the basic level of teachers’ readiness (47.3%) and, as a consequence, sufficient skills of organizing reflexive activity in different situations of communication with students of profile classes in the process of mastering the future profession. Conclusion. The results of the empirical study show the relevance of the need to optimize the content and forms of retraining and advanced training of teachers implementing tutoring support for pre-professional programs and individual routes for students of psychological and pedagogical classes. It is required to shift the focus from formal organizational functions to targeted tutoring functions, assuming individualization and personalization of high school students’ professional self-determination.

Inclusionary Policies for Migrant and Refugee Students in Greek Education

The present study aims to explore the views of lower secondary education teachers on the inclusion policies of immigrant and refugee students in Greek education. Fourteen secondary school teachers, six men and eight women, participated in the survey. The research was conducted using the semi-structured interview method. The results showed that the Greek language is a crucial factor supporting their adaptation to education. At the same time, in educational policy issues, most of them highlighted the problems in the material and technical infrastructure and the training of teachers.

Greek Minority Language Instruction in Albania: Education Policy Issues and Prospects

<p style="text-align: justify;">The purpose of the present study was to identify current issues related to Greek Minority Education in Albania and its potential as considered from the part of the teachers’ and principals’ perspective. The current situation of Greek language education was recorded, problems encountered by the educational institutions and the teachers were highlighted and the prospects for teaching the Greek language in Albania were considered. 45 Teachers of Greek language and eight school principals participated in the study. For the purpose of the present study, a combination of qualitative and quantitative approach was employed. The data from the target groups were collected through two basic research instruments: (a) teacher questionnaires and (b) principal interviews. The findings raised a number of issues related to the Greek language education: the student language level, the need for providing systematic training to teachers who work in bilingual environments, as well as the deficiency of strong incentives for the teacher secondment from Greece to Albania. The data indicated the teachers’ concern about the effectiveness of the existing curricula and language textbooks in accomplishing the goals of teaching the Greek language in bilingual contexts.</p>

N.M. Yadrintsev and the Academic-Literary Journal "Delo": Narratives of Journalism in the 1870s

The article is devoted to the analysis of the narratives of journalism of the founder of Siberian regionalism N.M. Yadrintsev, presented in the journal "Delo" in the 1870s. Guided by the methodology of "new cultural and intellectual history", the authors showed that the cooperation of N.M. Yadrintsev with the democratic journal "Delo" resulted in the development and systematization of several narratives: abolition of exile as punishment, prison studies and educational policy of tsarism.
 The authors established that the problems of exile and prison were not at all the only topics that the Siberian public figure developed in the pages of "Delo" journal. The authors revealed that in the second half of the 1870s N.M. Yadrintsev also developed the issue of educational policy as part of his collaboration with the central periodical. The provincial thinker, within the framework of these publications, convincingly showed that the desire for education in Siberia was constantly growing, and as the number of secondary educational institutions increased, so did the number of Siberians striving for a university education. In the concept of regionalists, the university in general was perceived as a rallying body for the forces of the region, the development of civil liberty in it and the formation of the local intelligentsia. Keywords: Siberian regionalism, history of journalism, exile, prison, educational policy of tsarism, N.M. Yadrint-sev, academic-literary journal "Delo".

Refleksyjność w kontekście podmiotowości i sprawczości nauczyciela. Wnioski dla kształcenia nauczycieli

The article’s aim is to describe and analyse reflectivity as a desirable dimension of the professionalism of a contemporary teacher and the space of his becoming and development. It’s described on basis of author’s own research works and analyses, in reference to the so-called “reflective cognitive approach” in the social sciences, presented by Giddens, Sztompka, Bourdieu and studies and analyses on the basis of pedeutology (Czerepaniak-Walczak, Kwiatkowska, Mizerek, Klus-Stańska, Gołębniak). In this text, in addition to referring to the aforementioned trends and concepts, the approach of Margaret S. Archer is introduced, in which the three components of subjectivity, reflexivity and agency are closely related and determine the essence of man as a person. In this way, author exposes the issue of the teacher as a person. This perspective, along with the social approach, in the current conditions (due to their technological complications and global tensions), is particularly desirable. Meanwhile, these are neglected issues in Polish education policy; the teacher’s (technical) competence model (limited professionalism) does not seem to be enough while facing constant changes in the socio-political arena and in the media. They affect the axiological condition of teachers, cause their identity confusion, uncertainty, low sense of subjectivity, lack of strong legitimacy and trust in society. The article also addresses the issue of education to reflectivity as the basic subjective competence of the teacher, the quality of his person, education as a task of modern education and the education and professional development of teachers.

Obfuscating systemic racism: A critical policy discourse analysis on the operation of neoliberal ideas in media representation of a school district state takeover

Education reform in the United States has unwisely focused attention on standards and accountability to the state as determined by standardized testing (Berliner & Biddle, 1995; Mehta, 2013). Stemming from the emphasis on standards-based accountability are the ideas of rapid school turnaround and the state’s role in this process (Peck & Reitzug, 2014; VanGronigen & Meyers, 2019). The current study employed critical policy discourse analysis to examine the media’s portrayal of the 2019 determination to continue or terminate state control of the Little Rock School District. The analysis highlights two argumentative frames—one that emphasized neoliberal values in support of continued state control of the district and another that focused on systemic racism as the basis for advocating for local control of the district. These frames, along with their implications for future actions within the educational policy making process, guide the discussion. Our findings suggest sustained community and media participation is needed to bring attention to education policy issues while underscoring the importance of taking a critical stance to assess media coverage.

A Systematic Review of Critical Systems Thinking (CST) in the Education Field: Gaps and Opportunities for Systemic Change Toward Racial Equity

Amid persistent systemic racism, society is interested in changing education systems toward racial equity. Education law and policy play a critical role in these efforts. Given this context, we conducted a systematic review to examine the use of critical systems thinking (CST) in education, a tradition that can aid researchers studying education law and policy issues that implicate racial equity in education. We found CST has been scarcely used in the field of education but, when used, it has been used to advance social justice concerns. We identify the applicability of CST in education and the opportunities that still exist for researchers to integrate CST in their critical work examining systemic racial inequity.

CATHOLICISM AND EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES: FROM RELIGIOUS CORPORATISM TO THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY

The University is a European institution par excellence. Having emerged in the era of the mature Middle Ages, it remains to this day the most important type of educational institution that sets the patterns of western higher education development. Over the past centuries, the university, whose fate at the formation stage was closely related to the Christian tradition, has undergone significant transformations. In the context of the institutionalization of nation states, the role of the Catholic Church in university life has decreased. The European educational space began to acquire secular features. If in the Middle Ages Catholic universalism created favorable conditions for international cooperation of educational institutions, then in the XVIII-XIX centuries, universities were subject to nationalization. It was only after the Second World War that the idea of European reunification, embodied in the European integration project, marked the need for cooperation between both secular and religious educational institutions. At the same time, it actualized the problems of harmonious interaction between the church and the state, including educational policy issues. The article examines the main milestones in the history and current status of relations between European universities and Catholicism. The article analyzes the documents of the Holy See and modern classifications reflecting the variability of Catholic universities. Particular attention is paid to secularization as a long-term and predominantly European process of separation of religious and political spheres, which was accompanied by the removal of religion from the public space, and theology from the curriculum. The authors conclude that secularization is a key factor in changing the university identity from a religious corporatism to an academic community.