Within the realm of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pedagogy, the cultivation of pragmatic competence is a fundamental prerequisite for successful interpersonal exchange. Students frequently encounter difficulties in mastering this domain, particularly regarding multifaceted speech acts such as requests, which often results in communicative failure. This research investigated the impact of explicit pedagogical interventions on the development of request-related pragmatic abilities among Algerian Master’s students at Sétif 2 University. Adopting an explanatory sequential mixed-methods framework, the study involved 45 participants selected via convenience sampling from a broader cohort of 225 students. These learners, characterised by comparable upper-intermediate proficiency, were split into an experimental group (EG, n = 24), which underwent a five-stage structured explicit instruction program on requests, and a control group (CG, n = 21), which received conventional instruction. Pragmatic growth was measured through identical pre- and post-intervention written discourse completion tasks (WDCTs), while qualitative data were derived from the EG’s self-reflection logs. Statistical evaluations (t-tests) demonstrated that while both cohorts showed post-test gains, the EG exhibited a statistically superior level of improvement compared to the CG (t(43) = 3.739, p < 0.001). These quantitative results were supported by qualitative evidence indicating heightened sociopragmatic awareness, increased learner confidence, and a positive reception of the explicit teaching model. The findings suggest that targeted explicit instruction is more efficacious than traditional methods in refining the pragmatic performance of Algerian EFL learners. Consequently, this study advocates for the integration of consciousness-raising activities and authentic resources into EFL curricula to better prepare students for professional success and effective intercultural communication.
In times of uncertainty, educational systems often seek stronger leadership, tighter alignment, centralized decision-making, and greater control. This response is understandable but dangerous. When the future of education is uncertain, especially in the age of artificial intelligence, the central task is not to implement a known reform more effectively but to discover educational possibilities that do not yet exist. This commentary argues that dominant approaches to educational leadership remain too closely tied to the logic of implementation: leaders are expected to define a vision, align the system, monitor fidelity, and scale solutions. Such leadership may improve the existing system, but it is poorly suited for paradigm-shifting times. Drawing on the idea of the courageous minority, this article proposes a different conception of leadership: leadership as disciplined restraint and protection of responsible experimentation. The article makes three related claims uncertainty intensifies the authoritarian temptation in educational leadership; implementation-oriented leadership is inadequate during paradigm shifts; and system and school leaders should practice disciplined restraint by protecting courageous minorities and multiple educational futures. The author calls this orientation liberating leadership. Its central claim is that the purpose of leadership in uncertain times is not to determine the future of education but to increase society’s capacity to discover it.
Ensuring non-discrimination in education is a central priority of contemporary state policy and scientific research, since the formal establishment of equality does not guarantee its actual implementation. The aim of this study is to comprehensively analyze the mechanisms for promoting non-discrimination in the education system of Kazakhstan at the regulatory, institutional and perceptual levels. Methodologically, the study is grounded in a multi-level analytical approach. The first stage involved a normative-dogmatic and comparative legal analysis of constitutional and sectoral acts, assessing their alignment with international standards. The second stage examined government initiatives and statistical data reflecting the institutional development of inclusive education. The third stage employed a survey of participants in the educational process (students, teachers, and administrative staff), with data analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings suggest the presence of a well-developed system of sectoral guarantees, though a comprehensive anti-discrimination law is absent, and protective mechanisms exhibit varying levels of detail across regulatory tiers. The results of the institutional analysis showed a significant expansion of inclusive education infrastructure, primarily oriented toward persons with disabilities. Empirical data indicated that disability remains the dominant category associated with inclusiveness, while respondents demonstrated limited awareness of legal protection mechanisms. Issues such as language support for migrants and other vulnerable groups were reported less frequently. The practical significance of the study lies in its evidence-based recommendations to broaden the conceptual understanding of inclusiveness and to enhance monitoring mechanisms and institutional coordination in education.
Higher education assessment practices often treat parallel writing assignments graded with identical criteria as interchangeable evidence of student learning. This study examines whether structurally equivalent writing tasks in fact function as interchangeable indicators of performance and what cross-task variation reveals about learning heterogeneity and feedback uptake. The analysis draws on two structurally equivalent writing assessments administered in two parallel sections of an upper-division undergraduate international relations elective course (N = 47). To account for differences in grading stringency across tasks, performance was evaluated using within-assessment standardized z-scores. The analysis combines correlations, internal consistency measures, Bland–Altman agreement analysis, transitions across relative performance categories, and exploratory probit models assessing whether academic background characteristics predict improvement among initially low-performing students. Despite aligned rubric criteria and comparable cognitive demands, performance across the two assessments showed only modest associations, low internal consistency, wide limits of agreement, and substantial reclassification of students’ relative standing. Standardized performance changes revealed divergent learning trajectories, with some students improving markedly and others declining. Students with higher cumulative GPAs and more completed credits were directionally more likely to move from below-mean to above-mean performance, although estimates were imprecise due to sample size. Overall, the findings indicate that structurally equivalent writing assessments do not operate as interchangeable measures of learning. Instead, cross-task variability reflects meaningful differences in how students engage with successive writing opportunities, suggesting that repeated assessments can illuminate learning heterogeneity that single-task evaluations obscure and informing course-level assessment practices aimed at supporting feedback uptake and learning transfer.
Students’ disadvantaged social and economic situation (SES) is a predictor of low achievement. Teachers’ deeper understanding of what processes take place in the brain during learning and what factors can facilitate the learning process is necessary in order to effectively educate students from low SES. This study examined how the use of teaching strategies based on neuroscience is related to learning strategies applied by the student through perceived autonomy-supportive teacher’s behaviour and growth mindset. The participants from 24 general education schools with low SES contexts in Lithuania participated in a survey. A serial mediation model was created to test the relationship between teaching strategies based on neuroscience, perceived autonomy-supportive teacher’s behaviour, growth mindset and learning strategies applied by the student. The perceived autonomy-supportive teacher’s behaviour mediates the relationship between teaching strategies for understanding and consolidation and growth mindset, and growth mindset mediates the relationship between teaching strategies for consolidation and learning strategies applied by the student in both genders. Growth mindset mediates the relationship between teaching strategies for excitation and learning strategies but only in a boy’s sample. Also, both perceived autonomy-supportive teachers’ behaviour and growth mindset mediate the relationship between teaching strategies for understanding and consolidation and learning strategies in boys and girls. The proposed serial mediation model was supported, suggesting that perceivedautonomy-supportive teacher behaviour and growth mindset may help explain the associations between neuroscience-based teaching strategies and students’ use of learning strategies.
The present study is an empirical investigation aimed at examining Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ underlying purposes for employing classroom assessment, their perceptions of classroom assessment, and their actual practice of utilizing classroom assessment in their classes. To investigate the underlying purposes for employing classroom assessment, a questionnaire, developed by Alkharusi (2021), was administered to 61 EFL teachers randomly. The researchers then conducted interviews with five of these Iranian EFL teachers randomly to explore their perceptions of classroom assessment. Subsequently, two sessions of these five teachers’ classes were observed and audio-recorded to gain insights into their actual classroom assessment practices. The findings of the study revealed that classroom assessment is a very pivotal and indispensable concept that enables EFL teachers to effectively implement various assessment techniques in their classes. The primary purpose for utilizing classroom assessment by Iranian EFL teachers was to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses in learning the language. Moreover, the study indicated that verbal feedback and written comments were among the most commonly employed forms of feedback provided by Iranian EFL teachers in their classes. The teachers either employed divergent questions about the lesson or posed some general questions in their classes so that they could asses their students’ learning. The study may serve as a valuable resource benefitting EFL teachers by providing insights into effective classroom assessment practices that could ultimately improve teaching and learning processes.
There is an immediate need for a facilitator to assume the role of a village designer, facilitating the co-design process in the advancement of designs rooted in local potential. Indonesia is predominantly composed of villages, which are presently confronted with significant social transformations that have adverse effects on traditional knowledge and the ability of the village community to maintain a sustainable way of life. Current government developments are mostly being carried out with a top-down approach, with indicators being seen from the absorption of the village budget to infrastructure, which is mostly uniform in outputs. On the flip side, every village is distinct and possesses a personal quality that could serve as a foundation for the local community’s economy. By implementing a one-size-fits-all approach to development, the government fails to recognize the unique strengths and resources that each village possesses. Hence, there is an immediate need for a facilitator to assume the role of a village designer, facilitating the co-design process in the advancement of designs rooted in local potential. As an effort to produce effective facilitators, Sebelas Maret University initiated a program called MBKM in Sabrang Village to educate students to become village facilitators. This activity was implemented with a co-design approach, which emphasises the observation of local potential and development processes by positioning local communities as experts, partners, and decision-makers.
This paper examines whether Large Language Models can reliably distinguish genuine insight from plausible confabulation. Through analysis of constraint hierarchies in textual generation, it demonstrates that pattern recognition without world-contact cannot generate its own criteria for truth. Drawing on Wiener’s cybernetic principles and contemporary epistemology, the paper establishes eight principles showing why algorithmic exploration requires grounding that only embodied cognition provides. A new philosophy of human-AI collaboration is proposed wherein neither party possesses sufficient resources alone, but their interaction enables knowledge generation impossible for either independently. The paper concludes that profound insights arise not when AI approximates human cognition or humans defer to algorithmic authority, but when both maintain their distinct limitations while learning to communicate across the boundary separating them.
In recent years, many researchers have explored emotion regulation (ER) and emotional labor (EL) in teaching. Yet, although some scholars reviewed the state of the art, they reviewed the research on each concept separately despite the similarity between them and focused on the nature of the research design more than the products of this research. This review aims is to systematically collect, document, scrutinize and critically analyze the current research on ER) and EL in the teacher’s role to unearth the major themes found in this research. Based on narrative synthesis approach, the current review identified three major themes in the literature about ER/EL in teaching: (a) Antecedents of ER/EL, (b) ER/EL strategies, and (c) and varied effects of teachers’ ER/EL. Consistent with professional disciplines, the knowledgebase about ER/EL in teaching is fragmented, inconsistent, and lacks systematic accumulation of knowledge. It focuses mainly on the impact of these emotion strategies and pays little attention to the factors affecting them and the practical aspects of these strategies in the reality. Several empirical insights for future research are provided.
This paper critically examines the Higher Education Policy (Policy) of Bangladesh introduced in 2010, exploring its formulation process and early implementation challenges. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Human Capital Theory and the Linear Policy Model, it analyzes the interplay among state, society, and international influences on policy development. The study highlights the transformative potential of associated initiatives like the Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) in reshaping research and education. Situating the analysis within global education policy discourse, it investigates how international organizations shape educational agendas and influence national decisions. Using Rawolle and Lingard's framework, the paper explores the cross-field effects of global education practices on national policies, emphasizing the role of standardized metrics in driving competitiveness. Furthermore, it evaluates the underlying motivations of the Policy, particularly its focus on economic growth and social mobility. By critically assessing the tensions between economic goals and societal equity, the study offers insights into the complexities of higher education policymaking in Bangladesh and its implications for global competitiveness.
Online learning has emerged as an important mode of delivery in higher education institutions, especially after the pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how computer and internet self-efficacy and various interactions (learner-learner, learner-instructor, and learner-content) influence Vietnamese student satisfaction with online learning. The study further examines which variables affect students’ satisfaction with online learning most strongly among internet self-efficacy and various types of interactions. The data was collected from 395 Vietnamese students using an online survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression were used to analyze the data for this study. The results of the study suggest that computer and internet self-efficacy initially demonstrates a positive relationship with students’ online learning satisfaction. However, its effect becomes weaker and only marginally significant in the final model once interaction variables are included in the regression models. It was further found that learner-instructor interaction and learner-learner interaction positively influenced the students satisfaction of students, while learner-content interaction does not show a statistically significant effect on satisfaction. Among the interaction dimensions, learner-instructor interaction showed a relatively stronger association with student satisfaction, followed by learner-learner interaction, within the hierarchical regression model. These findings suggest that interpersonal interactions, particularly those involving instructors and peers, may play a more prominent role in shaping students’ satisfaction with online learning environments compared to content interaction. This study contributes to the growing literature on online learning in Vietnam by examining the relative influence of different interaction types alongside computer and internet self-efficacy using a hierarchical regression approach. The study further offers theoretical and practical implications and avenues for future research.
Professional practice standards have become central policy instruments in contemporary education systems, yet comparative scholarship has largely examined teacher standards, leadership standards, and system leadership standards as role-specific domains rather than as structured policy architectures. This commentary argues that Alberta’s three professional practice standards, the Teaching Quality Standard (TQS), the Leadership Quality Standard (LQS), and the Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard (SLQS), constitute a coherence framework rather than three parallel instruments for separate professional groups. Drawing on policy analysis and empirical evidence from the four-year Optimum Learning for All Students study, the commentary demonstrates that the standards are deliberately nested: each successive level encompasses and extends the competencies of the previous level while assigning differentiated responsibilities for creating the enabling conditions through which the next level can fulfill its professional obligations. Coherence, in this framework, is not an implementation outcome achieved after policy is introduced but is designed into the relational architecture of the standards themselves. Findings from the Optimum Learning study indicate that this structural coherence was enacted in practice through a shared professional vocabulary, common interpretive frameworks, and the integration of the standards into professional learning, hiring, supervision, evaluation, and evidence-informed decision-making processes. The commentary concludes that Alberta’s nested standards offer a distinctive contribution to the international standards literature by reframing professional standards from instruments of role definition to instruments of systemic coherence, and that this design principle holds significant implications for scholarship, policy, and practice.
The growing cultural diversity in Spanish classrooms requires teachers who are prepared for the inclusion and academic success of all students. Based on the importance of understanding the characteristics of teachers in this context, this study analyses the relationship between intercultural sensitivity and the acculturation expectations of active teachers in Spain (n = 431). Profiles and influencing factors associated with these two key variables have been identified. A quantitative, non-experimental, ex post facto approach was used, employing surveys administered to teachers. The short version of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and a questionnaire on acculturation expectations were used. The results show that intercultural sensitivity is positively associated with open attitudes towards diversity and previous experiences in multicultural contexts. Different profiles were identified: integrative and multicultural attitudes predominate, although assimilationist tendencies persist in certain subgroups. It is important to strengthen intercultural training adapted to the multicultural reality of Spanish classrooms.
This study presents a bibliometric analysis of 114 publications at the intersection of gamification and computational thinking from 2015 to May 2025, using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer to evaluate bibliometric performance and map the structural and thematic evolution of the field. The annual publication growth rate over 2015–2025 is 19.62
Meeting students’ diverse learning needs and skills in contemporary classrooms has become a central concern in education today. Consequently, the current study aimed to identify secondary school English language teachers’ perceptions of and instructional strategies in mixed-ability classes (MACs). We adopted a concurrent mixed-method design to address the objectives of the study. We selected 67 teachers for the questionnaire survey and six teachers for classroom observations via systematic random sampling. We also selected five teachers for unstructured interviews. We employed a Single-Sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Tukey post hoc analysis, and one-sample binomial test to analyze the quantitative data. In addition, we used an inductive approach to organize and analyze the unstructured interview data. The teachers in the sample schools demonstrated conceptual and procedural awareness of MACs, although they had partially implemented MAC instructional strategies. The study highlighted the need for education departments of the local government to provide awareness-raising training on the conceptual and procedural aspects of MACs and to provide hands-on training on the pedagogical skills of teaching MACs for English language teachers in the sample schools.
First-generation students in higher education experience a multitude of challenges that place them at risk for low academic performance and attrition. This two-part research investigated the factors associated with lower academic achievement in first-generation students and a program to inform the problem of practice. Following the integrated review of the literature related to the lower academic achievement of first-generation students, multiple factors emerged that highlighted the need for a targeted needs assessment. A needs assessment using a mixed methods approach showed that first-generation students in an occupational therapy higher education program had reduced academic engagement, social connectedness, and confidence in their academic abilities related to their academic self-regulation. The intervention program aimed to increase the academic self-regulation skills and self-efficacy in implementing those skills for first-generation occupational therapy students. A mixed-methods analysis, incorporating a qualitative open-ended questionnaire and a quantitative survey, examined process and outcome evaluations and revealed that the program increased students’ use of academic self-regulation skills and their self-efficacy in using those skills. Findings from this study offer insight into the benefits of an academic self-regulation program for student learning in higher education. One way to support first-generation students academically would be to help improve their self-regulated learning.
Over the past six decades, instructional leadership has evolved from a marginal scholarly concern into a central pillar of educational leadership and management research and practice. Although now widely accepted as a core responsibility of school leaders, its conceptual development has been neither linear nor uncontested. This article offers a personal, historically grounded reflection on the evolution of instructional leadership in both research and practice. The analysis traces this trajectory through six critical “pivot points,” each catalyzed by shifts in theory, empirical evidence, or the policy environment of schooling. These include Cuban’s (1988) challenge to the feasibility of instructional leadership, the influence of major research syntheses (e.g., Hallinger Heck, 1996; Robinson et al., 2008), the rise of competing leadership models such as transformational and distributed leadership, and recent efforts to connect instructional leadership enactment to its organizational and social context. Unlike the field-level transformation from “educational administration” to “educational leadership,” these pivot points reflect incremental yet consequential shifts in how instructional leadership has been conceptualized, studied, and enacted. The article concludes by examining the implications of how these tensions have been addressed and by identifying promising directions for future research.
This study analyzes Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) at Kabete National Polytechnic in Kenya. It is contextualized within global and African educational frameworks, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNESCO's Strategy for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Africa Union's Agenda 2063, Continental Education Strategy for Africa, and the Continental Strategy for TVET. Employing a single-case study methodology with 19 participants, 11 through interviews and 8 through surveys, the research examines the nuanced relationship between educational leadership, teacher preparedness, and institutional governance. Findings indicate critical gaps in the alignment of global CBET frameworks with local educational practices, highlighting the need for a culturally responsive approach. The paper advocates for a decolonized CBET framework informed by African philosophies like Ubuntu, Harambee, and Ujamaa, grounded in complexity theory. This approach is not only pedagogically effective but ethically essential, considering Kenya's unique socio-cultural and economic realities. The research underscores the importance of participatory educational reform rooted in sustainability and social equity. Kabete National Polytechnic serves as an ideal case, given its diversity and alignment with Kenya's national policy framework. The study contributes actionable, culturally relevant strategies for educational leaders and policymakers, effectively bridging global educational aspirations with local implementation realities.
Art has the potential not only to evoke emotions but also to stimulate critical thinking and foster experiential learning. This research explores how integrating art into education can enhance cognitive skills and thereby contribute to the personal development of students. The study focuses on identifying positive emotions and personal reflections elicited by an innovative art-based skill development experience among young students from various educational levels, creating an environment conducive to introspection and reflection on self-improvement. The methodology follows a mixed design, a qualitative data analysis, sentiment analysis, and a Likert survey for learning assessment. The results demonstrate that experiential communication through art facilitates the implementation of skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, learning strategies, creativity and resilience, thereby confirming the power of positive emotions as catalysts for personal growth. The paper recommends integrating art into education as a powerful formative tool and an efficient means for developing thinking skills.
The teaching and learning activities (TLAs), such as a written report in the form of a research assignment, an introductory lecture, presentations, and discussion, help students practice and engage with their projects while developing crucial skills, including teamwork and collaboration. These TLAs support students in reaching higher levels of learning, beyond the basic remember level in Bloom’s taxonomy or the uni-structural level in the SOLO taxonomy. The aim of this study is to develop the research components for the capstone project in computer science, engineering and data science courses, which are commonly offered in bachelor’s or master’s programs in computer science, engineering, and data science. It also seeks to promote a deep learning approach while taking into account the diversity of students’ backgrounds and their prior experiences in computer science, engineering or data science. The structure presented in this study can help instructors responsible for capstone projects or similar courses in computer science, engineering, or data science to implement a project-based learning approach. By doing so, students can gain preliminary research experience during the course, better preparing them for their bachelor’s or master’s thesis.
