This study investigates how students’ cultural capital, social capital, and nationality relate to academic achievement in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As a relatively young and culturally diverse country, the UAE has experienced rapid expansion in its education system. Despite this growth, there is a lack of research on the social and cultural factors affecting academic performance in the region. This study utilizes Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (a dynamic set of dispositions crucial for acquiring and interpreting capital) to examine these factors. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study finds that certain nationalities within the UAE underperform relative to others, specifically Emirati students who tend to have lower attainment scores than their expatriate counterparts. These findings could have significant implications for the Emiratization initiative and UAE society. Additionally, the study reveals that both cultural and social capital positively influence academic achievement, which may exacerbate existing disparities between those with and without access to these forms of capital. The article extends existing knowledge by shedding light on the social and cultural roots of differences in educational achievement within the UAE. Moreover, it challenges and extends Bourdieu’s theory, originally developed in Western contexts, by applying it to a different cultural and educational setting.
The present research analyzes to what degree ‘learning by doing’ approaches are applied in the didactic planning of student teachers. Based on a constructivist-experiential paradigm, the study emphasizes that lesson planning is a reflective and evaluative action which displays pedagogical comprehension. A research-based qualitative documentary method was used to study five lesson plans with two reliable observation instruments. For quantitative scoring, attention was directed to items involving experiential structure and methodological coherence, whereas qualitative analysis identified themes of conceptual triangulation in which activities, resources and evaluation approaches were mutually associated. Results suggest that some lesson plans are well aligned with the experience, reflection, conceptualization, application framework, while others indicate a lack of bridging of theory to practice. Plans that scored highest used integrated themes and cohesive sequencing, while those that scored lowest were minimally evaluated and resource minimally aligned. The research fills important gaps in the literature for providing empirical findings on the implementation of experiential learning in the context of the Latin-American teacher education scene, as well as for discussing observation guides as an indication of meta-evaluation and staff training. This study provides an expandable and thought-provoking structure for enhancing the quality of didactic planning in teacher education, drawing attention to the ethical role of deliberate instructional design in supporting meaningful and effective learning.
This article describes the archivalization practice that prevailed in the world. As a case study, I examine how it prevailed in Kerala, specifically in Travancore, from the first half of the fourteenth century to the nineteenth century. The article focuses on the palm leaf documents of Travancore, which are a storehouse of knowledge. There are about three million palm leaf documents, which constitute the biggest hoard in India. The complex and elaborate procedures of archivalization processes of the late medieval period are delineated. The documents from the past were not written merely to account for matters. These documents were recalled time and again in later periods when doubts and disputes about the customs and traditions of the temple and Swaroopam occurred. Sometimes, centuries-old documents were recalled to settle disputes. These documents consist of knowledge for future; therefore, they are important for the historians and educationists.
The internationalization of higher education (IoHE) is an indispensable force driving educational evolution and policy reform across the globe. This phenomenon, gaining paramount importance, prompts a myriad of nations, especially in the developing spectrum, to adopt diverse strategies amidst facing significant challenges. This article delves into the IoHE within the context of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region that embodies a unique educational dynamic yet shares commonalities in challenges and strategies with its counterparts. Through a methodologically rigorous review, this study harnesses the power of meta-ethnography to synthesize qualitative insights from 12 pertinent studies sourced from acclaimed databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO-host and ERIC, spanning a decade from 2014 to 2024. Our findings unveil five pivotal themes central to the discourse on the internationalization strategies in SSA’s higher education sector. Parallelly, the study illuminates the spectrum of challenges faced in these endeavours and suggests avenues for further exploration.
This review of the key concepts of classical and quantum physics explores the contribution that quantum mechanics and its insights into the nature of reality can make to our understanding of good teaching and learning. In addition to an explanation of the classical scientific concepts of matter, gravity, space, time, light, cause and effect, and motion, this article will also investigate quantum features such as randomness, uncertainty and entanglement with a view to exploring the extent to which these concepts can be used to inform education. The implications of quantum physics for teaching and learning are threefold. First, the creation of an optimum learning environment depends upon the pivotal role and nature of an observer, in this case, a teacher; second, the quantum leap from possibility to actuality is determined by certain properties of that observer, principally metacognition. Third, such thinking about thinking can be analyzed according to the Buddhist practice of mindfulness. By nurturing the development of these three dimensions, an educator can create a wholesome teaching and learning environment that manifests the ideal learning outcomes in their students. This article will end with a call for an education in mindfulness for both teachers and students.
