Visually Enhanced Mental Simulation (VEMS) in teacher candidates' emergency response to epileptic seizures and attitudes toward epilepsy.

Fostering critical multilingual language awareness with teacher candidates in Türkiye through linguistic landscape projects

Teacher education and the European education area: A scale development study.

The aim of this paper is to identify specific digital competencies that preschool teachers require, compared with schoolteachers, to extend the Austrian digital competence model for teachers, digi.kompP. Methodologically, the study is based on interviews with Austrian experts in early childhood education, media pedagogy, computer science, and preschool teacher education. The expert interviews addressed the digital competencies required by preschool teachers, differences compared with schoolteachers, the timing and nature of competence development, and the institutions involved. As a result of this study, sixteen new can-do statements were developed for the expansion of the existing digi.kompP model, which maps the specific competencies required by teachers in Austria. The findings of this study also provide valuable insights for the development of training and further education programs, emphasizing the critical need to integrate digital education into the curricula of vocational training and further education programs for preschool teachers. Furthermore, this study presents compelling arguments for the promotion of digital education in early childhood education and demonstrates the necessity for a collaborative strategy for digital education at the preschool level.

ABSTRACT Background: Teachers’ reflective practices can support professional growth and are pivotal to the successful adoption of innovative curricula in physical education (PE). Collaborative reflection, or co-reflection, warrants exploration as it may be a more powerful method than individual reflection to foster critical engagement and deeper insight into the teaching act. The purpose of this study was to examine two PE teachers’ co-reflections on the Successful Kinesthetic Instruction for Preschoolers (SKIP) curriculum. Specifically, this study drew upon the Reflective Framework for Teaching in Physical Education (RFTPE) to explore the focus and depth of the teachers’ reflections while implementing SKIP and consider how reflective practices contribute to teacher learning and adaptation to new instructional approaches. Method: A convergent mixed-methods design was employed. The two participants were doctoral students who had previously taught PE full time and had never used SKIP. Over a seven-week period, the teachers co-taught SKIP at a public preschool in the southeastern United States, conducting 40-minute lessons twice per week. Primary data sources included post-lesson audiorecorded individual and co-reflection sessions and post-lesson individual written reflections. Supplementary data included the teachers’ lesson plans and videos of the teachers’ lessons. Quantitative analysis involved coding the reflections using the RFTPE to determine the frequency and distribution of reflection types. Qualitative analysis was conducted to identify themes in the data. Results: Quantitative analysis indicated individual reflections were predominantly situational (50%) and technical (31%), while co-reflections exhibited higher situational focus (66%) and critical depth. These patterns were explained by three qualitative themes: (1) Individual Reflection as Structured Accounts, where teachers documented logistics and management; (2) Co-reflection as Dialogic Sense-Making, where collaborative dialogue facilitated detailed inquiry and critical insights; and (3) Sensitizing Reflection as Contextual Awareness, which captured reactive attention to social dynamics and inclusion. Conclusion: Findings indicate that individual reflection supports logistical planning and management, while co-reflection is essential for dialogic sense-making and addressing social inclusion. Thus, teacher education programs should prioritize structured collaborative models to support the complex pedagogical demands of implementing prescriptive motor-skill curricula. Impact statement: The present study centers on SKIP curricula implementation in order to best explore the variances of reflection modality. Results from this study indicate that collaborative reflection supports more profound and critical engagement than individual reflection for PE teachers learning to teach new curricula for preschool students. We stress the importance of consistently implementing a structured reflective approach to generate meaningful insights and inform future practice.

The article substantiates the need to purposefully develop bachelor of education students’ (teachers’) skills for managing the e-learning educational process. The relevance of the study is determined by the expansion of teachers’ professional functions caused by the widespread use of digital platforms, synchronous and asynchronous learning formats, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence. A teacher is expected not only to use digital tools but also to design the learning structure, organize interactions, coordinate learners’ activities, monitor their progress, and adjust the educational process in a timely manner. The purpose of the article is to provide a theoretical justification for the development of these skills, clarify the meaning of educational process management in e-learning, and determine their structure. The study is theoretical and employs the analysis of scholarly literature, comparison, generalization, systematization, and abstraction. Educational process management in e-learning is a purposeful teacher activity aimed at designing, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, and adjusting learners’ activities in a digital environment. It is argued that this activity is not limited to the administration of a digital platform. It requires aligning learning objectives, content, digital resources, forms of interaction, assessment, and learner support. The structure of future teachers’ skills has been identified. It includes design and organizational skills, communication and coordination skills, monitoring and analytical skills, assessment and regulation skills, ethical and safety-related skills, and reflective skills. The interrelationship between these groups and their cyclical manifestation in teachers’ professional activity has been substantiated. The findings indicate that digital competence is a necessary but insufficient condition for effective e-learning management. The results may be used to update bachelor-level teacher education programs, develop diagnostic tools, and conduct further empirical research on the formation of the identified skills.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the mediating roles of hope and empathy in the relationship between attitudes toward the teaching profession and psychological well-being among pre-service teachers. The study participants consisted of 431 pre-service teachers selected through a convenience sampling method. The data analysis revealed a significant and positive relationship between the predicted variables. The effect of attitudes toward the teaching profession on psychological well-being was attenuated by the inclusion of the mediating variables empathy, trait hope, and state hope in the model. Thus, empathy, trait hope, and state hope were found to partially mediate the relationship between attitudes toward the teaching profession and psychological well-being. The findings demonstrate the importance of incorporating positive psychology-based interventions focusing on hope and empathy practices into the education of pre-service teachers. Integrating positive psychology practices into teacher education for developing teachers will contribute to the universal enrichment of education policies.

ABSTRACT This study addresses a critical gap in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teacher education: the need for structured training in critical affective civic literacy (CACL) to equip future educators to navigate the challenges of heightened immigration and political polarisation. Focusing on a cohort of 49 pre-service EFL teachers in Madrid, this research assesses their baseline empathy (both general and specific towards irregular immigrants and refugees) and evaluates their attitudes towards adopting video-based CACL practices. The study examines the readiness of these future educators to foster intercultural understanding and act as agents of change within their classrooms. Findings reveal that participants possess high levels of empathy, particularly regarding immigration, and overwhelmingly support integrating these practices into their future teaching. They identify video-based CACL methods as vital for enhancing learners’ empathy by fostering critical thinking, affective engagement, and intercultural awareness.

Assessment in teacher education has become increasingly learner-centred, and it is now dedicated to reflection and autonomy of preservice teachers. This study investigated the process of self-assessment among preservice teachers of English education in South Korea in the framework of requirements of academic courses and preparations to take the national teacher certification exam. The study employed qualitative thematic analysis based on reflection notes and semi-structured interviews with nine participants. The findings revealed that self-assessment functions in three mutually dependent dimensions in a way that: 1) facilitates professional competence in exam preparation, 2) facilitates metacognitive monitoring of learning, and 3) contributes to the construction of teacher identity. These dimensions identify self-assessment as one of the tools of academic preparedness and a professional development and identity construction process. This study suggests that teacher education programmes should integrate structured self-assessment activities into coursework and teacher certification preparation programmes to promote preservice teachers’ metacognitive awareness, reflective practice, and professional identity formation. The findings also imply that teacher education curricula in South Korea should balance examination-oriented preparation with reflective and identity-based pedagogical training so that preservice teachers can develop academic competence and sustainable professional self-awareness.

ABSTRACT This curriculum-focused paper details the Critical Arts-Science-Advocacy Framework (CASAF), a three-part, multidisciplinary learning sequence for K-12 teacher education and geography education in the Anthropocene. Rooted in the author’s professional praxis from the 2023–2025 school years at a public university, CASAF emphasizes the need to move beyond the “green status quo” and “green business as usual” to take meaningful action for environmental teaching and learning. As environmental issues are not just a single-subject “science issue,” taking meaningful action for Earth justice requires a multidisciplinary approach that cultivates environmental science agency and uses arts-based educational research methods and pedagogy. In CASAF, students are guided through the following phases of the learning sequence: 1) Experiential learning and mapping emotional geographies; 2) Engaging in community science to explore campus biodiversity; 3) Zines for environmental storytelling and public pedagogy. This actionable framework will help prepare future environmental change agents and Earth justice practitioners.

ABSTRACT Pre-service teacher practicums constitute critical developmental contexts for professional skill application and ethical reasoning development. This systematic literature review examines the ethical dilemmas encountered by pre-service teachers during practicum experiences, with particular focus on understanding why these dilemmas are uniquely challenging for novice educators. Following PRISMA guidelines, 14 publications (2012–2022) from peer-reviewed, English-language journals were systematically analysed through Rest’s four-component model of moral development. The analysis reveals that ethical dilemmas primarily stem from tensions between personal ethical frameworks and professional expectations, rather than from insufficient knowledge of professional codes. Three primary manifestations emerged: theory-practice disconnections reflecting value conflicts, supervising teacher expectations conflicting with personal beliefs, and institutional culture misalignments. These tensions implicate all four components of Rest’s model, namely moral sensitivity, judgement, motivation, and character, particularly when personal values conflict with institutional demands. The study advances understanding of why ethical challenges contribute to early-career teacher attrition by demonstrating how unresolved personal-professional ethical tensions generate moral distress. Teacher education programmes must explicitly address personal-professional ethical integration rather than treating professional ethics as separable from personal values, with direct implications for targeted interventions strengthening teacher retention outcomes.

This study aims to analyze the strategies and constraints faced by Biology teachers who are alumni of the Leading Teacher Education Program in implementing Project-Based Learning (PjBL) in Biology learning at Senior High Schools in Jambi City. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with a case study design. The main informants consisted of two Biology teachers who are alumni of the Leading Teacher Education Program at Senior High Schools 7 and 8 in Jambi City. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, learning observations, and documentation studies, then analyzed thematically using NVivo 12 Pro. The results showed that the PjBL implementation strategy includes project planning, project management and implementation, learning evaluation and reporting, and experience-based strategies of the Leading Teacher Education Program. The constraints found include student characteristics, school infrastructure and regulations, preparation time, implementation time, conceptual understanding, material suitability and changes in learning patterns, and learning evaluation. The implementation of PjBL is carried out in a planned, adaptive, and student-centered manner, but still requires support for student readiness, facilities, time, material selection, and more systematic evaluation. Future studies are recommended to examine the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning in improving students' learning outcomes, critical thinking skills, and STEM competencies in Biology learning.

ABSTRACT Studies suggest positive associations between cooperative learning, academic self-efficacy, learning approaches, and cognitive flexibility. However, research analysing these variables in one system remains scarce. This study examined the relationship between cooperative learning, academic self-efficacy, learning approaches, and cognitive flexibility among 365 Cambodian pre-service teachers from two teacher education colleges, and further tested the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and learning approaches. Structural equation analyses revealed direct and indirect effects of cooperative learning on cognitive flexibility through academic self-efficacy and deep learning approaches, operating both independently and sequentially. Mediating effects through surface learning approaches were not statistically significant. This research advances existing literature by uncovering how cooperative learning develops pre-service teachers’ cognitive flexibility via academic self-efficacy and deep learning approaches.

ABSTRACT Social justice is now a central yet contested horizon in education. The challenge is not recognizing inequality but translating equity commitments into pedagogical and institutional decisions that change students’ experiences. This article offers a contextual analysis of social justice in Physical Education (PE), linking syntheses on leadership and justice-oriented teacher education with scholarship in PE and Health and Physical Education (HPE). It examines recurring tensions (equality vs. equity, care vs. confrontation, inclusion vs. transformation) and organizes contributions across three axes: (1) classroom pedagogies that operationalize social justice; (2) institutional and material conditions that enable or constrain implementation; and (3) teacher education mechanisms that sustain conflict and critical dialogue. We propose a multi-level map spanning classroom, curriculum, school, system, conflict culture, and space, and derive implications for practice, leadership, and teacher education. Advancing social justice in PE requires cross-level coherence and a research agenda centered on student experience and institutional transformation.

ABSTRACT Computational thinking (CT) is becoming an important topic in teacher education as these skills are introduced into school curricula. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) need to learn CT, how to teach it, and how to lead a classroom where pupils are developing CT skills. In such settings, debugging is an important skill to both master and teach. To date, few studies on PSTs’ learning of pedagogical approaches for CT and debugging exist. Here, we present findings from interviews with PSTs on a design-based research project involving mathematics, science and technology comprehension in Norway and Denmark. The interviews contributed to the PSTs’ learning by stimulating reflections on professional practice. The PSTs focused on the new supervisory role of the teacher and on the positive characteristics of learning environments where debugging and fallibility are welcome. The PSTs recalled their own debugging strategies as involving considerable testing and re-adjusting code.

ABSTRACT Scientific reasoning (SR) is a major goal in science education and, hence, science teachers at various levels (i.e. elementary, secondary, and higher education) need pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of how to promote students’ SR competencies (i.e. PCKSR). However, because these teacher groups usually differ, e.g. regarding the curricula and learning goals the teachers pursue, it can be assumed that their PCKSR also differs from each other. To test this assumption, we used a multiple-choice instrument to assess the PCKSR of science teachers at elementary (n = 113) and secondary schools (n = 201), as well as teacher educators (n = 41). In addition, we conducted a regression analysis to investigate to what extent teachers’ PCKSR can be predicted by their epistemological beliefs about transmission, their openness to innovation, and their teaching experience. It was found that the groups differed significantly regarding their PCKSR. In addition, the considered variables predicted the PCKSR for each group differently. The results not only provide fundamental insights into how the PCKSR of different groups of teachers differs and how it can be predicted by related variables, but also on the development of PCKSR for practicing teachers as well as the assessment of PCK in general.

ABSTRACT Background Service-Learning (SL) is a pedagogical approach that combines academic learning with community engagement. In Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE), research on SL often focuses on preservice teachers’ technical skills and social responsibility, while affective experiences and the perspectives of other participants remain largely unexplored. This study examines these aspects, to show how approaching SL through a pedagogy of love, emphasizing care and affective engagement, can support socially inclusive and emotionally attuned educational practices. Purpose The study explored the lived experiences and affective responses of participants in a Critical Service-Learning (CSL) course-based programme within initial PETE in collaboration with a Special Education Center (SEC). By involving preservice Physical Education (PE) teachers, children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), SEC staff, and the children’s families, the programme sought to promote social inclusion. Methods Visual ethnography was employed to align with the study’s objectives, collecting data through photographs, field journals, group reflections, and focus groups. The analysis integrated narrative and visual within a holistic, non-linear framework. The researchers’ positionality was addressed. The lead researcher combined an etic academic viewpoint with an emic perspective as a parent, managed through ongoing reflexivity, while the rest of the research team contributed their expertise in qualitative research. Findings A descriptive presentation of eight sets of photographs and participants’ accounts is shared in the Findings section, enabling an integrated understanding of visual and narrative data. These findings are then explored in the Discussion section, where they are interpreted through the theoretical framework of a pedagogy of love, organized around four thematic dimensions: preservice teachers’ pedagogical and relational learning, their emotional challenges, their growth through care, and community members’ experiences of joy and discovery. SL enhanced empathy, ethical awareness, and professional commitment among the preservice teachers. Children showed increased motivation, while staff and families recognized strategies that challenged traditional learner-teacher roles. PE became a space for inclusion, shared affective learning, and social justice, all guided by a pedagogy of love that fostered transformative emotional, ethical, and relational development across the community. Impact statement This study highlights how SL in PETE can support preservice teachers’ relational sensitivity, ethical awareness, and professional growth, while fostering inclusion, engagement, and meaningful learning for children with SEN, aligned with a pedagogy of love. By attending to affective dimensions and the experiences of the different groups, the findings extend understanding of the relational and emotional dimensions of SL, often overlooked in previous research.

ABSTRACT Background Physical literacy (PL) has emerged as a key component of health promotion and physical education policies worldwide, recognised for fostering lifelong physical activity and holistic child development. Defined as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding to value and engage in physical activity for life, PL is increasingly integrated into school curricula across Europe. Poland has lacked validated tools and national data to assess PL among school-aged children. Purpose This study aimed to assess the physical literacy levels of Polish children aged 8–12 using the newly adapted Polish Assessment of Physical Literacy (PAPL), based on the internationally recognised Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, second edition (CAPL-2). The study also examined age and gender differences and correlations between PL domains. Methods A large, geographically diverse sample of 1,780 primary school children (51.3% boys, 48.7% girls; M = 9.83, SD = 1.34) from schools across Poland participated in the assessment. The PAPL protocol assessed four domains: Physical Competence (via CAMSA, PACER, and plank hold), Daily Behaviour (wrist-worn activity tracker-measured step counts and self-reported MVPA), Motivation and Confidence (self-report scale), and Knowledge and Understanding (multiple-choice questions). All participants had parental consent and no medical contraindications. Findings The overall PL score averaged 65.0/100. However, age-related progress was minimal – only a 5.74-point increase between ages 8 and 12 – despite regular participation in physical education (PE). Boys scored significantly higher than girls in Physical Competence and Daily Behaviour, while girls slightly outperformed boys in Knowledge and Understanding. Lower Motivation and Confidence scores were observed among older age groups. Notably, no significant correlation was found between knowledge and daily activity in children under 12, consistent with developmental theories suggesting that cognitive understanding does not automatically translate into behavioural action in younger children. Conclusions This is the first large-scale study of PL in Polish children using a validated framework. The results may suggest areas for further investigation regarding PE curricula and learning environments to enhance motivation, address gender disparities, and integrate health knowledge in meaningful ways. The PAPL tool offers a platform for national monitoring, educational interventions, and future research. Impact statement This study provides the first large-scale evidence on physical literacy among Polish children, offering a reference point for research and practice. The findings highlight the need for integrated, developmentally sensitive physical education addressing all domains of physical literacy. The results may inform curriculum development, teacher education, national monitoring, while supporting international comparisons.

ABSTRACT This paper responds to the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education editors’ call for research that engages with the politics of knowledge production in teacher education. Drawing on Chef Edward Lee’s reimagined bibimbap – a dish “already mixed inside” – I question what I call the certainty imperative: the assumption that uncertainty indicates inadequate preparation and that teachers should emerge from programmes with clear competencies and measurable readiness. Through Rivera Cusicanqui’s Ch’ixi thinking, Barad’s intra-action, Chen’s “Asia as Method,” and Stengers’ ecology of practices, I argue that the certainty imperative makes a fundamental onto-epistemic error – it assumes that what teachers know can be separated from who teachers are. The paper proceeds from the inverse assumption: that plurality precedes preparation. Pre-service teachers, like Lee, are already mixed inside with ways of knowing-being that the preparation model cannot see. Rather than offering new techniques or revised competencies, this paper reaches towards a reorientation from delivering certainty towards cultivating professional judgement that can dwell with uncertainty rather than resolve it.

ABSTRACT Within the current global reimagining of English language education through a decolonial lens, China represents a unique example of a top-down reform agenda. Unlike grassroots decolonial initiatives in many Global South contexts, China’s approach is embedded in state policy that reframes English to promote national culture and enhance international discourse power – captured in the ideological call to ‘tell China’s story well’. Adopting an ecological perspective, this study examines how secondary school English teachers in China perceive and negotiate this ideological repositioning in their classrooms. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers from diverse school contexts and one teacher educator, the analysis reveals a complex interplay between ideological alignment and practical constraint. Many participants viewed the policy as a meaningful reform to strengthen students’ cultural identity, reduce cultural barriers in language learning, and enhance China’s global voice. However, implementation was hindered by challenges including difficulties integrating cultural content into exam-driven curricula and teachers’ perceived gaps in cultural knowledge and pedagogical resources. These findings illuminate how decolonial goals can be simultaneously supported and constrained by intersecting ideologies – native-speakerism, neoliberalism, and neo-nationalism – within China’s educational ecology. While top-down policy creates enabling conditions, decolonisation ultimately remains pedagogical work requiring reflective, adaptive, and context-responsive practice.