The issue surrounding unschooling revolves around the tension between established educational norms and the desire of some parents to provide their children with a more flexible and individualized learning experience that diverges from traditional school structures and curricula. This study primarily aimed to explore parents’ motivations and perceptions about unschooling as an alternative educational approach for their children, contributing to a better understanding of this alternative teaching methodology. The study utilized a multiple case study design involving semi-structured interviews with cases of unschooling. This study was conducted in Bayawan City, Philippines. The study participants were two parents who choose unschooling as the preferred path for their children. The researchers applied the six phases for reflexive thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke. The researchers generated four themes: parents’ perceived benefits of unschooling, personalized learning and parental involvement together create pathways to self-actualization, concerns and critiques of traditional education, and cultivating envisioned living through alternative education. The study reveals that parents embrace unschooling to nurture their children’s innate curiosity and motivation, prioritizing a joyful, pressure-free, and individualized learning journey that fosters autonomy and lifelong learning, all aimed at enriching the child’s overall quality of life.
Learning post-qualitative inquiry emerged as a new activity in education. The aim of this article is to reveal the learning peculiarities of post-qualitative inquiry among education researchers, adapting PRISMA 2020 (Page et al., 2021a, 2021b, 2021c), the main principles and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The scientific articles were searched in EBSCO, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS) databases. A total of 854 were found: 444 in the EBSCO database, 391 in the Scopus database, and 19 in the WoS database. Catchii, the systematic literature review screener, helped to implement PRISMA 2020 stages: identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion, and depict the PRISMA flow diagram. 34 articles were suitable for in-depth analysis. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis was used to disclose learning post-qualitative inquiry among education researchers. Maxqda 24 software helped to identify themes and subthemes. The analysis showed that education researchers learn post-qualitative inquiry: a) through nomadic rethinking, b) through reading and writing, c) through empirical learning (material-based learning, etc.), and d) through art (visual art and performative art). This research shows that learning post-qualitative inquiry involves unconventional learning activities that foster divergent thinking and provide learners with greater creativity and freedom. – In addition, this study is significant for education theory and practice as it reveals the learning of post-qualitative inquiry, which is a rare and sensitive methodological approach. The learning of post-qualitative inquiry enables changes in the understanding of research methodologies, curriculum design, and the professional development of education researchers.
The objective of this narrative review was to systematize different mentors’ roles and responsibilities regarding ethical aspects of student research with human participants. The qualitative analysis of eight identified studies published since 2015 depicts the mentors in the roles of guiding, teaching, coaching, protecting, anticipating, modelling, and supporting while standing in direct relations with the mentees, the IRB, and their institution, and indirectly with research participants. Each relation results in different responsibilities for the mentors. The results portray the complex issue of power vs. responsibility distribution in the pedagogical relation between various subjects in the research process, as well as the issues of interpreting research ethics as a technocratic instrument of individual responsibilization or as a fundamentally relational, micropedagogical endeavour. The concluding part offers a comprehensive reflective framework for institutions currently facing challenges in mentoring student research with human participants, which can also serve mentors in guiding students in conducting such research.
Social acceptance is an important aspect of interactions in young learners and may influence children’s emotional and cognitive development. Inhibitory control, which is a partial function of executive functioning, is essential for effective impulse control and self-regulation. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between social acceptance and inhibitory control in primary school children. In this study, the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functions System (D-KEFS) subscales for measuring inhibitory control (Delis et al., 2001) and the Self-perception Profile for Children (SPPC) subscale of the Social Acceptance Questionnaire (Babinčák et al., 2012) were used to measure the values of the variables. The sample consisted of randomly selected 141 children in their fourth year of primary school with a mean age of 9.4 years. Results showed a significant positive correlation between the level of social acceptance and inhibitory control. Specifically, children who felt more accepted by their peers showed higher impulse control and behavioral regulation. The findings revealed that the development of inhibitory control may contribute to better social acceptance and thus to positive cognitive and emotional development in students.
The transition between kindergarten and school life has long been an international focus. In Denmark, political attention is given to the idea of community as a key element to children’s wellbeing in general and during times of transition in particular. Inspired by sociological theories we set out to explore the ambivalence of community. We analyse how kindergarten teachers and children navigate dilemmas between sameness and difference in a Danish experimental project that aims to ease the transition between kindergarten and school by encompassing the need for a cohesive class community whilst accommodating the uniqueness and individual needs of the children.
