Addressing the STEM gender gap has been a long-standing priority in Ireland and internationally. This study presents an evaluation of an industry-partnered WiSTEM2D program in higher education, exploring how mentorship, site visits, networking, and team projects influence female participation, confidence, career knowledge, and STEM role model aspirations. In this paper, we used Bronfenbrenner's (1992) ccological systems theory to explore the impact, if any, on students participating in the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D program (Johnson & Johnson, n.d.). The paper presents data from 41 students through four phases of data collection, collected at both short-and longterm intervals. In the short-term, focus groups (N = 13) and pre-and post-surveys (N = 30) were conducted with participants. In the long-term, telephone interviews were conducted with participants who had previously completed the program. Findings revealed two key challenges for STEM students: low confidence and limited awareness of STEM career opportunities. Participants in the Johnson and Johnson WiSTEM2D program increased in confidence and also increased their knowledge of STEM careers at both short-term and the long-term intervals. Participants also indicated a desire to be a role model and promote STEM. Based on the findings, higher education institutions should consider industry partnerships to support female students in STEM.
This mixed-methods study explored how self-assessment reveals early childhood teachers' strengths and weaknesses across the pedagogical stages of planning, implementation, and evaluation. Quantitative data were collected from 152 purposively selected teachers in Central Lampung, Indonesia (June to December 2024) using a fourpoint Likert-scale questionnaire administered via Google Forms and analysed descriptively (frequencies and means). Qualitative data were generated through semistructured interviews with nine interviewees (two supervisors, three principals, and four teachers) and analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis, with triangulation across survey results, interviews, and relevant policy documents. Survey findings indicated stronger perceived competence in planning (M = 2.48; 49% "understand") and implementation (M = 2.67; 52%), but weaker competence in evaluation (M = 2.34; 56% "not understood/very unclear"). Interview data endorsed these patterns, underscoring structured lesson planning and adaptive media use as strengths, while limited autonomy, inconsistent pedagogical enactment, and low assessment literacy emerged as persistent barriers. Overall, self-assessment supported reflective diagnosis; however, sustained and targeted mentoring is needed, prioritising assessment and instructional follow-up, technology integration, and holistic play-based practice.
This study investigated the value of poetry-based exercises for tertiary level EFL students' vocabulary learning. To this end, 100 general English students majoring in different disciplines at an institute of higher education participated in the study. They were assigned into experimental and control groups of 50. The experimental group received teaching through poem and the control group through prose exercises. The two groups were given a pre-test and a post-test, with results analysed using Levene's test and one-way ANCOVA. In addition, the experimental (poem) group members were interviewed to examine their attitudes toward the program. There was a significant difference in terms of vocabulary learning between those learners who were treated with poetry-based teaching material and those who were not. Interview findings also indicated a positive attitude toward poetry-based vocabulary learning.
This study explores how novice English teachers in a remote island region of Indonesia navigate the challenges of geographical and professional isolation. Building upon previous investigation into teacher identity growth and professional formation (Taopan et al., 2024, 2025), we focus on the lived experiences of six novice English teachers in the Alor District to understand how they survive and thrive in underserved communities. Using a narrative inquiry, we analyse life stories collected since 2020 through personal journals, in-depth interviews, observations and direct field visits to participants in their respective villages. Findings reveal that despite severe limitations in technological and pedagogical resources, participants leverage the TPACK framework as a vital lifeline to overcome the barriers of remoteness. This process is central to the construction of resilient professional, personal and institutional identities. We propose the TPACK and Teacher Identity integration framework to illustrate the dynamic, ongoing process of becoming an empowered educator in a nation's most challenging environments.
Engaging students in research is essential for preparing them for evidence-informed academic and professional practice. In response to the need for a comprehensive diagnostic tool, our study reports the development and validation of the Student Research Engagement Readiness (SRER) scale, grounded in a multidimensional framework of research readiness encompassing cognitive, affective, and behavioural components. Data were collected from 334 undergraduate and graduate students at Ukrainian universities. The instrument underwent expert validation and piloting, followed by psychometric evaluation through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor structure-research self-efficacy, research motivation, barriers to research engagement, and research participation-further supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The scale's internal consistency reliability was strong across all subscales. Students' overall readiness scores were categorised into four levels (low, moderate, good, and excellent), with the majority falling within the moderate to good range. The SRER scale offers higher education institutions a reliable means for diagnosing student readiness for research engagement and tailoring support to foster their academic development and research involvement.
This study explores the effectiveness of an educational intervention designed to enhance empathy in secondary school teachers in three Vietnamese cities. A total of 412 secondary school teachers participated in a survey assessing their general level of empathy by completing three empathy scales: The Basic Empathy Scale (BES), the with low and moderate levels of empathy were invited to participate in a 10-week educational experiment focusing on a psychoeducational program about the role of empathy in pedagogical activities and the practice of perspective-taking skills and active listening through role-playing and emotion recognition. The results showed that secondary school teachers in the research sample exhibited better affective empathy than cognitive empathy. The educational intervention for teachers was effective in enhancing their empathy. Discussions on the results, directions for future research, and limitations of this study are also presented.
Student data is central to educational evaluation and decision-making within school systems across the globe. Teacher perspectives of data utility for pedagogy as well as their beliefs in their data competence are critical to the effective use of data in these settings. Results from this study, conducted with 39 public school teachers in the U.S., indicate that teacher attitudes toward data are relatively positive; however, more experienced teachers report greater data competence than novice teachers. Qualitative findings reveal teachers' preference for formative assessments to guide instructional decision-making, and teachers report a need for ongoing professional development (PD) to support their data use. We provide recommendations for teacher PD to support more meaningful use of data.
The education sector in Lebanon was severely disrupted by the 2024 Israeli-Lebanese war, making the situation even worse after the economic collapse, political instability, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Our cross-sectional study examines the war's impact on students in the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the Lebanese International University, focusing on academic engagement, study habits, and psychological well-being. The study surveyed a total of 965 students, showing a significant reduction in study time during the war, compared to the period before. A majority of students suffered emotional stress (81.6%, n=787), household distractions (62.7%, n=605), and infrastructure disruptions (50.7% n=489), while less than half reported being affected by family responsibilities and direct conflict disruptions. The resulting academic performance of the students reveals some level of resilience despite all existing challenges. The study highlights the immediate necessity for emergency educational policies responsive to crises, including actions on flexible learning platforms, mental health support, and pre-distribution of study material, to minimise the effects of future conflicts and maintain stability in higher education.
This article explores the perspectives of two female students regarding suitable attire on a university campus. Students' dress codes on university campuses have consistently generated debate due to varying views influenced by societal norms, institutional policies, morality, cultural beliefs, religious practices, and sometimes mental health considerations. Determining appropriate or inappropriate attire is based on personal interpretation and is shaped by the identity or social status being expressed. Our research is centred around the question: What are the views of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) female students regarding appropriate dress on a university campus? Data were gathered through reflective writing exercises and semi-structured interviews with the two female students over a period of four years. Using a narrative methodology, the study investigated the participants' views on clothing choices. Blumer`s (1969) theory of symbolic interactionism was utilised as a theoretical framework. An inductive thematic analysis was applied to identify recurring themes within the data. The results indicate that values and upbringing shape notions of an acceptable dress code, that inappropriate dress may attract unwanted sexual harassment, that views on dress codes are subjective, and that the expectations for student attire evolve throughout different phases of university life.
This study explores the experiences of religious minority teachers in Pakistani public and private schools, emphasising the complex interaction of identity, workplace dynamics, classroom interactions, and institutional policies. The literature review highlights how Pakistan's education system, shaped by national policies that stress Islamic values, uses textbooks to influence students' identities, often reflecting political compromises and potentially marginalising non-Muslims. Using a qualitative research approach and a case study method, this study concentrates on Christian teachers in five major cities in Pakistan. Data were gathered through focus group discussions, with participants divided into groups from government (state) and Christian schools. The results show that religious identity is vital for these teachers, who frequently face subtle and overt discrimination, especially in government schools where they encounter social exclusion, promotion obstacles, and pressure to adopt Islamic cultural expressions. In classrooms, teachers self-censor to avoid blasphemy accusations, which limits dialogue beyond Islamic topics and hampers students' critical thinking and social development. Institutional policies and societal fears of blasphemy add new restraints to their teaching freedom and lead to biased assessment practices that disadvantage non-Muslim students. The study suggests updating textbooks to include positive stories of minorities, providing anti-discrimination training for school staff, creating merit-based promotion systems, and offering legal protections against blasphemy accusations to build a more inclusive education system.
In recent decades, the Muslim population has become one of the largest groups in Western European countries and, thus, in schools. In Spain, particularly, these Muslim students are of Moroccan origin. Education becomes central in fostering inclusion for Muslim migrant students and their families. However, they usually face certain barriers to inclusion regarding their migrant status and their religious identity. This study aims to identify the barriers to inclusion that Moroccan Muslim migrant students and their parents face in their formal educational contexts, from their mother's perspectives. It also explores mothers' proposals to foster this inclusion. Critical qualitative research with a Critical Race Theory approach was adopted. In-depth interviews and a focus group with a total of 14 participants were conducted. There are several barriers to inclusion of Moroccan Muslim migrant students, such as linguistic, socialisation, discrimination, identity and religious obstacles. Mothers also made proposals for improving language support and inclusion. These proposals and the barriers identified are key to develop measures that foster their inclusion, such as policy-making, teacher training, etc. These actions can help these students and their families overcome these obstacles and improve their reality in educational contexts and in the broader Spanish society.
Roma (about eight percent of Slovakia's population) face systematic discrimination, with over 90% living in poverty and social exclusion. Despite policies aimed at integrating Roma children into mainstream education, progress remains limited. While some NGOs and dedicated teachers provide quality education, challenges persist-low motivation and engagement, difficulties in learning in a non-native language, and the added strain of learning a foreign language as a third language. Our qualitative action research addresses the largely unexplored area of foreign language education for children from socially disadvantaged communities. We investigate how didactic games can increase inclusion and engagement in learning English. Four types of games were implemented across 16 English lessons, supported by a pre-intervention survey, classroom observations, and group interviews. The interventions proved highly effective, as pupils participated enthusiastically and used required English vocabulary and structures, often without conscious awareness. The findings highlight the potential of game-based learning to improve educational outcomes for socially disadvantaged Roma pupils, offering valuable guidance for educators and policymakers. Furthermore, the findings offer insights transferable to other contexts where learners from refugee, migrant or indigenous communities face comparable linguistic, cultural and motivational barriers.
While research has the potential to improve teaching practices and instructional decision-making, the shift from classroom practitioner to researcher remains underexplored in academia, particularly within secondary school contexts. Guided by Sch & ouml;n's (1983) reflective practice and Yazan's (2024) language teacher identity frameworks, this study addresses the gap by examining the personal and contextual experiences of Indonesian EFL teachers involved in research activities. The data were obtained through in-depth interviews with three Indonesian EFL teachers who are currently enrolled in a masters program in English language education at a private university in Indonesia. The findings indicate that teachers, especially those with a literature-oriented background, underwent substantial conceptual and practical adjustments when moving from teaching roles to educational research. Many participants initially faced challenges stemming from limited familiarity with research methodologies, academic reading, and scholarly writing. Major constraints included time pressures, insufficient institutional support, and difficulties in adhering to academic writing conventions. Nevertheless, participation in research activities contributed to a more profound understanding of classroom practices, enhanced critical reflection, and sustained professional development. Moreover, research engagement allowed teachers to remain up to date with contemporary pedagogical developments, facilitating a transformation in professional identity from routine instructors to reflective, research-engaged educators. The findings suggest the transformative role of research in reshaping EFL teachers' professional identities and self-understandings within educational settings.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) education has expanded across Vietnam to satisfy various academic and social needs; however, many IELTS learners have failed to achieve their desired writing results due to various influencing factors. (ChatGPT) enhanced learners' IELTS writing skills at English training centres in Vietnam. It also explored benefits and barriers of using ChatGPT as perceived by EFL teachers in IELTS writing instruction, particularly in IELTS Writing Task 2. Two instruments were employed to collect data, including a questionnaire administered to 45 EFL teachers, and semi-structured interviews conducted with five experienced ones. The results revealed that ChatGPT contributed to improvements in learners' IELTS writing proficiency. Moreover, the participants identified many advantages of this artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, including 12 benefits for IELTS learners and nine benefits for teachers. Numerous challenges in using this tool were also perceived, including ten technology-related barriers, nine teacher-related barriers, and nine learner-related barriers. Although ChatGPT was recognised as a useful tool in English writing education, its drawbacks were perceived to outweigh its benefits. Finally, several recommendations are proposed to enhance the effectiveness of integrating ChatGPT into IELTS writing instruction in Vietnamese contexts.
To boost pre-service teachers' (PSTs) classroom readiness and equip them with necessary tools to thrive on practicum, it is vital to supplement traditional theoretical training with innovative pedagogical approaches (Brandenburg et al., 2016). Exploring the impacts of video-based learning (VBL) to prepare PSTs for their first school placement, our study surveyed 102 PSTs' perceptions of the usefulness of microteaching videos delivered by high-performing peers. The findings indicated that the videos were particularly beneficial for online students and those from regional and remote communities who had limited opportunities to participate in face-to-face teaching demonstrations. The respondents reported learning new teaching ideas from their peers and improving their ability to notice engagement techniques, their awareness of verbal and non-verbal language and their capacity to reflect on effective and ineffective pedagogical choices. Most importantly, the participants felt it was beneficial to see "other newbies' strengths and weaknesses", which confirms observations that PSTs tend to be intimidated by videos featuring experienced teachers but are keen to view case studies of practice presented by their peers.
This study contributes to the ongoing debate about the use of foreign languages as a medium of instruction. It explores engineering students' attitudes towards studying mathematics and science through French in Moroccan private higher education. A questionnaire was administered to 128 students enrolled in a private higher education institution in Northern Morocco in the 2024-2025 academic year. The findings revealed that half of the students (55.5%) had a medium French language proficiency. With regards to their motives for FMI, French as the main medium of instruction being used in their institution (21.7%), improving their language proficiency (12.8%) and having more job opportunities nationally (11.8%) and internationally (11.3%) were the top motives. Furthermore, both FMI receptive and productive tasks were mostly easier for students which made them feel satisfied with their FMI experiences. Nevertheless, 69.5% wanted to switch to English in the following academic year for a number of reasons, including English being the language of science and technology and their desire to internationally secure a position in the job market which highly sought employees with an advanced English language proficiency.
The Australian P-12 education system is underpinned by a set of market-oriented policies, frameworks, and incentives that seek to provide parents with a choice of schools. One choice parents can make is the sector of schooling they send their children to, with two common options being State schools or non-Government schools. In the schools. Over the past several decades the proportion of students attending State schools has steadily decreased, while the proportion of students attending non-Government schools has been increasing. Since 2020, this trend has accelerated (ABS, 2025). The demographic data on this phenomenon is clear; however it is unclear why parents are increasingly choosing to send their children to non-Government schools, as contemporary, peer-reviewed Australian research on this topic is scarce (Larsen, 2024). This article examines the historical and political context that has contributed to this phenomenon, presenting the available literature on this important topic as a contextual framework for an ongoing research project.
This study investigates the implementation of a Blended Collaborative Peer Review of Teaching (B-CPRoT) strategy to foster Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) among English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teachers during microteaching. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on lecturer feedback and isolated use of technology, this study positions pre-service teachers as active reviewers in a blended learning environment that integrates face-to-face sessions with an e-learning platform. This study involved one EFL lecturer and twenty pre-service teachers in an undergraduate English teacher education program. Data were collected through classroom observations, semistructured interviews, video recordings, and open-ended questionnaires. Findings indicate that B-CPRoT fostered reflective teaching, peer collaboration, and deeper engagement with pedagogical, content, and technological knowledge. Participants demonstrated growth across TPACK domains, particularly in integrating digital tools for instructional design. Peer feedback cycles improved their ability to evaluate and revise teaching practices. However, the study also identifies challenges, including inconsistent participation and the limited presence of expert guidance. These results suggest that BCPRoT is a promising, though not unproblematic, strategy for supporting teacher professional development in blended learning contexts. The study contributes valuable insights into how blended peer review can enhance EFL pre-service teachers' TPACK development during teacher training.
This study explores the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in higher education from the perspective of lecturers in Armenia. While AI is increasingly recognised as transformative force in teaching and learning, its adoption in developing country academic contexts remains underexplored. Using a qualitative approach based on indepth semi-structured interviews with university lecturers, this research investigates how educators perceive the benefits, challenges, and future prospects of AI in academic settings. The findings reveal that lecturers acknowledge AI's potential to enhance efficiency, enrich student learning experiences, and support innovative teaching practices. At the same time, concerns were raised regarding issues of digital inequality, lack of institutional support, ethical considerations, and insufficient training opportunities. My study highlights the dual role of AI as both an enabler and a disruptor in higher education, pointing to the necessity for balanced strategies that combine technological advancement with pedagogical integrity. The results carry important implications for universities, policymakers, and lecturers by emphasising the need for clear guidelines, professional development, and inclusive policies to maximise AI's benefits while addressing its limitations.
This paper reports on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study that aimed at bringing to light the social constructions of a woman leader through the eyes and minds of seven teachers in a secondary school in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Following a qualitative case study design, embedded within an interpretivist paradigm, the study used individual interviews to generate data. The researchers used thematic data analysis. The findings suggest that the followers' constructions or conceptions of a woman leader were characterised by an intricate interplay of complexities and contradictions, linked to social stereotypes. Such complexities and contradictions of women leadership are influenced by the followers' beliefs and values of what a woman leader is. The findings portrayed a woman principal's leadership as a coin having two contradictory sides. On one side-the women leader is portrayed as adopting a mothering leadership style. Flipping to the other side of the coin, the same leader is portrayed as following the 'Iron Lady' leadership style. Our article contributes to the emerging debate in South Africa around followers' perceptions and constructions of women's leadership.
