Past Educational Experiences Research Articles

“Throw Dat Hat!”: Educational Experiences, Attainment, and Aspirations of Adolescent Female Trafficking Survivors in a Residential Facility

This study addresses the gap in research on the educational experiences of adolescent human trafficking survivors, with a focus on their past, present, and future educational experiences and goals. Its objective is to inform the best practices for educational programming within female adolescent residential care centers in the United States. Drawing on a subset of data from a broader mixed-methods case study conducted at the Allasso House residential facility, this research involved 11 current residents. The data sources included case files detailing their past educational experiences, assessments of their current educational achievements, and interviews exploring their future aspirations. The findings reveal key themes related to the residents past risk factors, current educational successes and barriers, and tensions in setting future goals. Most of the residents expressed a desire to attain high school equivalency, identifying financial stability as a primary motivation. They also aspired to form healthy families, while placing significant value on material success. Unlike studies that define success primarily through survival, sobriety, and the avoidance of re-trafficking, this research highlights the broader aspirations of these adolescents, emphasizing the critical role of education in general wellbeing, risk mitigation, and future success. This study underscores the importance of prioritizing educational attainment and long-term aspirations in future research and in the design of residential programs for adolescent survivors of trafficking.

Educational Experiences and Teacher Faith Integration Self-Efficacy in PreK–12 Mennonite Schools in North America

Educators at religious preK–12 schools attempt to integrate their faith into their teaching. Yet there is limited empirical study about how faith integration self-efficacy may develop. This study examines the relationships between the faith integration self-efficacy of educators at Mennonite preK–12 schools and their past educational experiences and initial teacher education. Regression analysis of survey responses indicates that the quality of initial teacher education is associated with educators’ faith integration self-efficacy. However, having attended a Mennonite preK–12 school or a Christian undergraduate institution were not predictive of faith integration self-efficacy. Discussion of results highlights implications for educators and future research.

Artificial intelligence in medical education - perception among medical students

BackgroundAs Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes pervasive in healthcare, including applications like robotic surgery and image analysis, the World Medical Association emphasises integrating AI education into medical curricula. This study evaluates medical students’ perceptions of ‘AI in medicine’, their preferences for AI training in education, and their grasp of AI’s ethical implications in healthcare.Materials & methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 325 medical students in Kerala using a pre-validated, semi structured questionnaire. The survey collected demographic data, any past educational experience about AI, participants’ self-evaluation of their knowledge and evaluated self-perceived understanding of applications of AI in medicine. Participants responded to twelve Likert-scale questions targeting perceptions and ethical aspects and their opinions on suggested topics on AI to be included in their curriculum.Results & discussionAI was viewed as an assistive technology for reducing medical errors by 57.2% students and 54.2% believed AI could enhance medical decision accuracy. About 49% agreed that AI could potentially improve accessibility to healthcare. Concerns about AI replacing physicians were reported by 37.6% and 69.2% feared a reduction in the humanistic aspect of medicine. Students were worried about challenges to trust (52.9%), patient-physician relationships (54.5%) and breach of professional confidentiality (53.5%). Only 3.7% felttotally competent in informing patients about features and risks associated with AI applications. Strong demand for structured AI training was expressed, particularly on reducing medical errors (76.9%) and ethical issues (79.4%).ConclusionThis study highlights medical students’ demand for structured AI training in undergraduate curricula, emphasising its importance in addressing evolving healthcare needs and ethical considerations. Despite widespread ethical concerns, the majority perceive AI as an assistive technology in healthcare. These findings provide valuable insights for curriculum development and defining learning outcomes in AI education for medical students.

Border crossing perspectives of prospective teachers’ first-time science microteaching experiences

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was on understanding and interpreting five minoritised pre-service teachers’ past educational experiences that impacted their first-time science microteaching experiences in a science teaching methods course. The study is unique because it illuminates and contributes to the literature on the importance of minoritised prospective teachers’ educational experiences in their pre-service preparation and how these experiences challenge or contradict the urgency of equitable science instruction in traditional teacher education instructional discourse. The study draws on the literature on border crossing as a guiding theoretical framework, and phenomenology as a guiding methodological framework to analyse first time science teaching experiences. Data included videos and written narratives of first-time science teaching experiences. Analysis indicated that past educational experience of being left out in doing science underscored minoritised pre-service teachers’ first-time science teaching experiences. Furthermore, they had created navigation strategies to counter the past educational experiences by challenging and modifying science teaching routines and devising equitable ways to use science teaching resources to cultivate a sense of belonging. The study suggests that future science education research would benefit from attention to minoritised pre-service teachers’ experiences used to challenge or contradict past educational inequities.

LANGUAGE POLICY AND SCHOOL EDUCATION AS MAIN FACTORS OF UKRAINE STATE CREATION

The authors present their views on the formation of the Language Policy and the role of general secondary school education as important factors in the Ukraine state creation shortly before and in the first years of Ukraine’s independence. The main drivers of changes in the Language Policy of the Soviet government regarding the state of the Ukrainian language in the USSR are identified. These drivers of changes include (1) activities of nationally oriented public organisations, primarily Ukrainian writers, historians, human rights defenders, and the Ukrainian language admirers; (2) public desire to develop nationally oriented education, which forced the authorities to start implementing very specific measures, first of all – in the field of general secondary school education; (3) the gradual formation of a scientific and pedagogical basis for the versatile Ukrainisation and humanisation of education and upbringing of children and youth giving priority to their native language as a language of instruction; (4) the need to introduce measures for external and internal differentiation of general secondary school education;(5) the psychologisation of the educational process. Based on documentary sources, it is argued that general secondary school education played the role of an important factor in the Ukraine state creation which was facilitated by the specific measures developed by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine to implement the Ukrainian idea in school practice in the first years of independence. The novelty of the present research is that authors extrapolate the past educational experience to the current language situation in general secondary school education in Ukraine. Moreover, the authors represent the opinions of contemporary Ukrainian sociolinguists on the state Language Policy in the field of general secondary school education. The research proves that the strategic ideas laid down at the turn of the last decades of the last century regarding the Educational Policy of independent Ukraine in the field of general secondary school education played an important role in improving the position of the Ukrainian language and in shaping Ukrainian self-identity among children and young people which explicitly and implicitly reinforced the key strategic idea – the idea of the Ukrainian State creation.

Students' responses to Maria Grzegorzewska's Letters to a Young Teacher

The problem of the article is situated in the field of pedeutology and concerns specific resources of pedagogical knowledge, generating personal pedagogical theories of students preparing to perform the profession of early education teacher. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Maria Grzegorzewska University and the celebration of the year 2022 as the Year of Maria Grzegorzewska were considered by the authors as unique opportunities to confront the thought of the patroness, her pedagogical credo contained in Letters to a Young Teacher with the reflection of contemporary young adults inspired to speak by the content of the correspondence. The direct stimulus prompting first-year preschool and early childhood pedagogy students in the 2019 and 2020 academic years to reflect on the role of the teacher was the reading of a selected Letters ...by Maria Grzegorzewska. After reading its, students wrote responses to the patroness of their university in the form of quasi-formal essays, the content of which was then analyzed to reconstruct the dominant themes. This paper presents selected results of the qualitative content analysis. The students' statements are organized according to the temporal criterion, as they report their past educational experiences, refer to the present, and also outline a vision of the anticipated role of a teacher in the future, after the stage of academic education has been completed. The main conclusions confirm the lasting vitality of pedagogical thought of the University's founder among contemporary young people. Outlined student collective portrait of the teaching profession is not overly idealized and devoid of features, hope arouses critical reflection of students on the role of the teacher in modern times

Legitimisation of non-participation in adult education and training: the situational logic of decision-making

ABSTRACT The study deals with strategies for legitimising non-participation in adult education and training (AET) in groups of people with the lowest levels of participation: low-educated workers, retired individuals and people on parental leave. It aims to identify and describe strategies for legitimising non-participation. Results are based on extensive qualitative research focused on mapping the situational determinants of non-participation in AET. For this purpose, a total of 53 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed. Through generic coding procedure, four key strategies were identified: (1) commitment to lifelong learning; (2) preference of experience over theoretical knowledge; (3) preference of complete dedication and (4) mobilisation of past educational experience. Each group of adults has a distinct way of using the strategies to justify their non-participation. The findings contribute to our knowledge of situational rationality that is used in decision-making regarding participation in AET.

The Constructivist Teaching Approach and Academic Achievement in English: An Empirical Evidence of Secondary School Students

Constructivism is a vibrant and self-motivated coaching paradigm that implies the establishment of the latest academic conceptions relying on the pupil’s past educational experiences. Constructive teaching approach (CAT) accompanied with PQRST method (Preview, Question, Read, Summarize and Test) considered as an efficient way for progression of the students’ comprehension regarding skills of English subject matter. This study aimed to find the effect of constructive teaching approach (PQRST) on 9th graders academic achievement in the provided subject of English. Quasi experimental Pre-test-posttest research design had employed to fulfill the fundamentals of the current study. Two intact groups were randomly selected, and teacher made achievement test used to take the score. Control group was instructed English conventionally whereas treatment group was instructed through PQRST under the shade of CAT. Pre-test scores demonstrated an insignificant statistical difference between both groups but after getting treatment for 12 weeks experimental group exposed a momentous positive statistical discrepancy in scores via getting instruction through PQRST. The current research recommends constructivist teaching approach along with PQRST may be used for the improvement of students’ reading and comprehension skills in the subject matter of English which can enhance their achievement overall.

Japanese University Students’ Perceptions of Foreign English Teachers

This study aims to understand Japanese university students’ perceptions of foreign English teachers (FETs) through a two-phased exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. During the initial phase, a quantitative survey was performed with first and second-year Japanese university students (n=377). Despite a lack of precision and a high dispersion measure, the Quantitative data analysis revealed certain outliers. A significant number of participants viewed their FETs as more of an entertainer, preferred FETs of American/European heritage, and believed FETs of Asian descent may not be able to teach the language and culture as effectively as FETs of American/European heritage. Thus, a qualitative inquiry was performed to explain and build upon the quantitative findings. Two focus groups with students from the quantitative survey were given interviews. The responses confirmed the existence of phenotypical, gender, and personality FET stereotypes in Japanese university EFL classes. In addition, past educational experiences, socio-cultural factors, and mass media were also found influential in students’ perceptions of FETs. Based on the findings from the focus group interviews, the researchers propose intercultural activities as an effective pedagogical strategy to promote reflective teaching practices and intercultural competence in Japanese university EFL classes.

Teacher Professional Learning Whilst in Quarantine: A Case Study from China

Transforming two early education centres in China to incorporate the educational philosophy of Maria Montessori is a huge task. To induct teaching staff into Montessori’s philosophy, pedagogy, and curriculum when their past educational experiences have been formed by a rigid, traditional model added to the challenge. To further complicate matters the transformation took place during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the staff participated in a completely voluntary capacity whilst in isolation. For this research project the authors collected data through direct observations, surveys, questionnaires, individual teacher interviews, and focus group interviews. How online professional learning for 35 staff members was planned, organised, modified, and undertaken is outlined. Practical and technical issues involved in moving from face-to-face to online teaching are also included. Teachers reported that the professional learning program had prepared them well for when the centres reopened and the children returned.

A vindication of transnational democratic education – replies to Michael Festl, Martin Beckstein and Michael Geiss

ABSTRACT In Democratic Education in a Globalized World (Routledge, 2019) I defend a discourse theory of global justice as the appropriate normative 1 1 I would like to thank the guest editors of the book symposium, Klaus Dingwerth and Simon Pistor, as well as David Tresilian and Sharman Levinson for valuable exchanges on this article. ground for conceiving educational justice and citizenship education under conditions of economic and political globalization. In addition, I articulate democratic conceptions of global educational justice and citizenship education that recognize a moral-political right to democratically adequate education and call for the creation of transnational democratic consciousness. Based on these conceptions I spell out school practices such as historically informed, cross-cultural learning within socially diverse settings that would contribute to realizing these conceptions. In this article I reply to liberal perfectionist, communitarian-conservative and empiricist-historical critiques of Democratic Education in a Globalized World from Michael Festl, Martin Beckstein and Michael Geiss, respectively. I emphasize the feasibility of injustice-reducing educational practices, I explain how a discourse theory of justice accommodates considerations of both the good and the right, and I justify why the grim record of past educational experience does not render pointless the pursuit of progressive aims through education.

Navigating multiple worlds of Ghanaina-born immigrant adolescent girls in US urban schools

African immigrant populations are among the fastest growing immigrant populations in the United States, yet they are understudied and are invisible immigrant group in the educational literature, particularly, in the context of educational discourses in the United States urban schools. Drawing on Phelan et al.’s multiple worlds model, we analyzed individual and focus group interviews of forty students, thirty-six parents, and twelve teachers from two schools. Findings showed that Ghanaian-born immigrant students undergo several complex transitional paradigms combining two worlds (school and home) of Ghanaian culture, past educational experiences, family values, and adapting to new school environments to achieve success in American educational systems. In addition, they faced racial and ethnic discrimination and stereotypes from peers, which negatively impacted their academic progress and social adjustments in school. The authors recommend that teachers should establish new ways of understanding the multiple worlds of African-born adolescent immigrant girls by accounting for their culturally diverse ways of navigating their worlds of school, peers, and families to achieve academic success in US schools.

Eye tracking analysis of EAP Students' regions of interest in computer-based feedback on grammar, usage, mechanics, style and organization and development

Much research has been carried out on the effect of feedback on written work, although, as an individual, private, process, how a student actually engages with feedback messages is hard to investigate. Eye-tracking technology can provide useful access to that process, and is used in the current study to examine how students on a 6 week English language and study skills programme at a UK University engage with feedback provided by an Automated Writing Evaluation program. As part of their writing class they spent 2 h each week in a computer laboratory submitting essay drafts to Criterion, receiving automated feedback, and submitting second drafts. Eye-tracking was used with four students to examine which errors they focused on, what feedback comments they appeared to read, in which order and for how long, and explanations for the patterns observed were sought using stimulated recall together with a questionnaire. The results suggest that regardless of the number of errors made in each language area, there was a marked tendency to focus on comments on grammar, and on organization and development rather than usage, mechanics and style. This focus appeared to be influenced by past educational experience, motivation and writing purpose.

Interpretive case studies of inclusive physical education: shared experiences from diverse school settings

ABSTRACT To the authors’ knowledge, the research reported in inclusive physical education (IPE) literature is limited to exploring teachers’ and educational assistants’ (EAs) experiences working together in a joint classroom environment. Teachers’ and EAs’ experiences can be misunderstood when their stories are not heard in context, together, or compared to other stories and situations. This hermeneutical and interpretive research involved learning about IPE experiences from three diverse cases, which involved three in-service teachers and three EAs. Data gathered included class observations, interviews, focus groups, and reflective journals. The information learned through these processes was analysed to develop themes. The findings highlight three issues: how teachers’ and EAs’ training and background education, along with their practical experiences and support from EAs, contribute to the implementation of IPE; how teachers’ and EAs’ past physical education experiences and current engagement with physical activity impact their teaching/assisting in IPE; and how the planning and choice of activities influences student participation in IPE. Overall, experiences of IPE are dependent on past experiences, education/training, and IPE situations. To improve IPE implementation, teachers and EAs need practical and contextual professional development (PD) that considers activities that are appropriate for their prior knowledge and experience and for their students.

Seeing flowers through the mist: how social workers in disability services retrospectively view their educational experiences related to case management in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This article is principally designed to examine social workers’ retrospective views on their past educational experiences with case management in disability services to supply a deficiency that very little literature attention has been paid to how prior professional education shape their case management practice. Using qualitative methods, 13 social workers selected by purposive sampling were invited to participate in in-depth interviews. The qualitative data were analysed to generate some themes. Three themes found are “from ‘rarely heard of it’ to ‘remember it being referred to’”; “buy a lottery ticket before starting a field placement”; and “Ambiguity”. These themes indicate that social work education related to case management was lagging behind, which may exacerbate social work’s polarisation and lead to social workers’ confusion about their professionality. As a result, an urgent need for greater knowledge of case management in university education and in-service training should be addressed in Hong Kong.

The Multiple Worlds of Ghanaian-Born Immigrant Students and Academic Success

Background/ContextThe multiple worlds model is defined as the ability of students to connect, manage, and negotiate to cross the borders of their two worlds to successfully transition through different everyday worlds of school, family, and peers. Prior research has linked multiple worlds such as school, teacher, family, and peers to the academic success of immigrant students. However, there is a dearth of research about how Ghanaian-born immigrant youth (African-born immigrant youth) integrate the experiences surrounding their multiple worlds of families, schools, peers, and teachers in their daily lives to affect academic achievement.Purpose/Objectives/ Research/Focus of StudyThis qualitative study explores the factors associated with immigrant students from Ghana to strategize how to combine their multiple worlds of families, schools, peers, and teachers to affect academic engagement within contexts of school and classroom situations. Another aim was to was to explore teachers’ perception and understanding of the sociocultural and past educational experiences of immigrant students from Ghana. I analyzed two interviews (face-to-face and focus group) transcripts (students and teachers).Population/Participants/SubjectsForty Ghanaian-born immigrant students and 10 certified teachers in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area were recruited and interviewed. I interviewed 40 students (n = 23 male and n = 17 female) in 10th grade (8 students), 11th grade (20 students) and 12th grade (12 students) and 10 teachers including 4 Whites, 2 African Americans, 3 Latino/as, and 1 Biracial.Research DesignThe study used a qualitative research design by using open-ended semi-structured and focus group interviews in which the participants were comfortable in the interviews. With the assistance of the Ghanaian Immigrant Association in Atlanta and the school district, I sampled for Ghanaian-born immigrant students (students who were born in Ghana with one or two African-born parents and who migrated to the U.S.) and teachers to participate in the study. All data from semistructured and focus group interviews were transcribed and analyzed to address the research questions of the study.Findings/ResultsThe study findings revealed seven emergent themes: desire to succeed in school, managing two worlds and relationships with teachers and peers in the classroom, crossing boundaries with educational opportunities, managing transitions in school, and the role of parents.Conclusions and RecommendationsThe findings suggest that Ghanaian-born immigrant students undergo several complex transitional paradigms combining two worlds of African culture, education, family values, learning new cultures, and adapting to new school settings to achieve success in American educational systems. Overall, Ghanaian-born immigrant students developed strategies to manage two worlds in school, which shaped their perspectives and helped them to cross boundaries as stipulated in the students’ multiple worlds model. Therefore, it is important that teachers, educators, and school administrators understand the social, cultural, and educational backgrounds of these immigrant students as not much is written about them with regards to their transition to schools in the United States educational system.

Peer tutoring in clinical communication teaching: the experience of 1st year students and their peer tutors.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. This study explored the impact of peer tutoring in Clinical Communication teaching as it was expressed in the views of Year 1 students and their Peer Tutors at Imperial College London. Methods: a mixed methods approach was used combining questionnaires and focus groups. Quantitative findings were analysed using SPSS v23 and qualitative findings were analysed using Framework Methodology. Results: the findings suggest a very positive experience for both Year 1 students and their Peer Tutors with the former reporting feeling supported to practice and improve on their Clinical Communication Skills in a collaborative environment, being taught and learning from peers who would share their past educational experiences. No significant differences were found between students taught by Peer Tutors and those taught by Course Tutors. Peer Tutors on the other hand, reported an equally positive experience, which gave them an insight into teaching, improved their leadership and feedback skills, enhanced their confidence and helped them reflect on their own Clinical Communication skills. Conclusion: peer tutoring has many advantages as an educational method in medical education and Clinical Communication teaching and should be promoted in medical curricula.

The challenges of changing teaching assistants’ grading practices: Requiring students to show evidence of understanding

Teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in introductory physics courses at large research universities. Their grading practices can shape students’ approaches to problem solving and learning. Physics education research recommends grading practices that encourage students to provide evidence of understanding via explication of the problem-solving process. However, TAs may not necessarily grade in a manner that encourages students to provide evidence of understanding in their solutions. Within the context of a semester-long TA professional development course, we investigated whether encouraging TAs to use a grading rubric that appropriately weights the problem-solving process and having them reflect upon the benefits of using such a rubric prompts TAs to require evidence of understanding in student solutions. We examined how the TAs graded realistic student solutions to introductory physics problems before they were provided a rubric, whether TAs used the rubric as intended, whether they were consistent in grading similar solutions, and how TAs’ grading criteria changed after discussing the benefits of a well-designed rubric. We find that many TAs typically applied the rubric consistently when grading similar student solutions, but did not require students to provide evidence of understanding. TAs’ written responses, class discussions, and individual interviews suggest that the instructional activities involving the grading rubrics in this study were not sufficient to change their grading practices. Interviews and class discussions suggest that helping TAs value a rubric that appropriately weights the problem-solving process may be challenging partly due to the TAs’ past educational experiences and the departmental context.

Caught between a rock and a hard place: disruptive boys’ views on mainstream and special schools in New South Wales, Australia

Students with disruptive behaviour in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) are increasingly being educated in separate ‘behaviour’ schools. There is however surprisingly little research on how students view these settings, or indeed the mainstream schools from which they were excluded. To better understand excluded students’ current and past educational experiences, we interviewed 33 boys, aged between 9 and 16 years of age, who were enrolled in separate special schools for students with disruptive behaviour. Analyses reveal that the majority of participants began disliking school in the early years due to difficulties with schoolwork and teacher conflict. Interestingly, while most indicated that they preferred the behaviour school, more than half still wanted to return to their old school. It is therefore clear that separate special educational settings are not a solution to disruptive behaviour in mainstream schools. Whilst these settings do fulfil a function for some students, the preferences of the majority of boys suggest that ‘mainstream’ school reform is of first-order importance.

Experiences of High-Ability High School Students

This study attempted to answer the question, “To what extent do 12th-grade high-ability students feel that their past educational experiences, particularly in high school, have challenged their academic abilities?” Much research has been conducted in the field of gifted education about the identification, social and emotional characteristics, and educational needs of gifted students. However, little research has focused on how students themselves feel about the rigor and value of their educational experiences. This case study involved three high school seniors identified as high ability and enrolled in an Advanced Placement Language and Composition course in Indiana. Learning how these students feel about their experiences should help inform educators’ decisions regarding programming options, instructional methods, and differentiation strategies for high-ability students in Indiana.