The effective implementation of experiential learning in higher education has been seen as a transformative alternative to its curriculum for teaching and learning dynamics and as responsive to the complexities of 21st-century education. However, the implementation of experiential learning presents various barriers, including the lack of adaptation to learning styles, unclear technological roles, infrastructure limitations, challenges in integrating learning with teaching practices, and concerns about the impact on face-to-face education. This analytical article explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can address these barriers and unlock the transformative potential of experiential learning. It examines how AI systems can personalize curricular experiences, define clear roles, provide virtual infrastructure, facilitate integration with teaching practices, and mitigate risks in safe virtual environments. By addressing these obstacles, AI enables institutions to offer more engaging, effective programs aligned with labor market demands, thus better preparing students with essential 21st-century skills.
This article examines the 1960s as a pivotal decade in shaping global education governance. Drawing on archival sources and historical analysis, it explores the role of international conferences and organizations in fostering collaboration, negotiation, and contestation within the education policy landscape. The study takes an empirical starting point in the annual International Conferences on Public Education (ICPE), which by 1962 had expanded to include other intergovernmental organizations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These conferences played a crucial role in shaping educational discourse while also reflecting broader geopolitical struggles. During this period, tensions emerged between the International Bureau of Education (IBE)’s interdisciplinary and universalist ideals and external pressures, culminating in its integration into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1969. Simultaneously, the OECD strengthened its role in education policy, introducing new methodologies, such as systems theory and educational planning. These developments marked both continuity and transformation, as emerging tools and technologies reconfigured the governance of global education. By examining the role of knowledge exchange and how intergovernmental organizations position themselves strategically, this article contributes to our understanding of how the 1960s shaped contemporary global education governance, highlighting the enduring influence of this formative decade. Through a historical and sociological approach, it offers insights into the origins of current challenges in global education governance and underscores the relevance of this period for contemporary debates on the future of education globally.
The article aims to validate and scale the Inclusive Education Implementation Questionnaire (Cuestionario sobre la implementación de la educación inclusiva, CIEI) on teacher professional performance in terms of knowledge, beliefs, and actions in their daily work. There were 7,178 in-service teachers from 19 different countries who participated in this study. The questionnaire consisted of 48 self-assessment items on the implementation of inclusive education, organized into eleven factors and three dimensions. For validation and scaling, we used confirmatory and robust unweighted least squares factor analysis techniques. The results show optimal scientific guarantees under the criterion of parsimony, and we create rating scales that indicate the relevance of the common variables and parameters identified in different educational scenarios for future research, such as age, gender, teaching experience, educational level where the teacher works, number of pupils in the classroom, and socioeconomic backgrounds of the pupils. In addition, the study includes a general rating scale for non-specified teachers.
UNESCO recently issued a new global report in which it considered a new social contract that updates the organization’s discourse on the teaching profession. This research study therefore pursues two goals: on the one hand, analysis of the discourse in the UNESCO’s two latest reports (1996, 2021), and on the other hand, identification of the role played in them by the main characteristics of teaching. This involved two complementary methodologies: content analysis and critical discourse analysis. The two reports were analyzed using MAXQDA Analytics Pro2022 software, with reference to the study by Donaire Gallardo et al. (2022), which described the main characteristics of teaching policies. This revealed a change in discourse in the latest UNESCO report, with a humanist approach prevailing over a functionalist one, and with teachers considered to be the key stakeholders in policies for developing the new social contract in question.
This article examines how education has been used as a tool for social cohesion during periods of national identity transformation and the conceptualization of international identity. It investigates the evolution of educational discourses and policies aimed at nation-building, patriotism, and peace education for international understanding, focusing on their translation into reforms over time. Drawing on government reports on educational reforms published in the International Yearbook of Education by the International Bureau of Education (1933–1969), the study reveals a post-World War II rise in peace education policies accompanied by a decline in nation-building policies. However, while peace education policies were often normative and lacked concrete structural reforms, nation-building policies frequently translated into substantial educational reforms.
Among the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Hungary consistently ranks in the bottom 10 per cent in terms of the correlation between sociocultural background and school performance. Not only do cumulatively disadvantaged students perform below average, but their academic lag worsens with age, contributing to higher drop-out rates and trapping them in a low social and economic status. There is a strong correlation between disadvantage and belonging to the Roma minority in Hungary. Despite attempts to reduce the marginalization of Roma youth, a third of Roma students receive education in a highly segregated environment. In regions where most students’ knowledge falls below the minimum age-appropriate level, specialized catch-up methods are required. In September 2021, we initiated a comprehensive catch-up programme at a high school predominantly attended by Roma students. This study analyses the experiences of the first two years, focusing on the progress of ninth graders in mathematics and informatics. We developed an unsupervised practice method utilizing the Edubase online educational platform. The platform generates parameterized tests from a given subtopic, provides immediate feedback, and allows the student to retake newly generated tests as they see fit. It was found that using this method fostered interaction and emerging teaching situations among the students. It also developed their computer skills and improved their ability to focus for longer. The article provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of these effects, based on the data from the test and interviews with students and teachers.
Equity is crucial for education; it ensures all children have equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of their background. This article examines the inequality of educational outcomes using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) from 2000 through 2018. We analyzed long-term trends in educational inequality to assess changes experienced by participant countries. The study used the inter-decile range and the standard deviation (SD) of PISA scores to measure inequality for 62 countries (37 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] and 25 non-OECD). It provides a comprehensive view of each country’s situation and its dynamics over time, highlighting cases where changes are statistically significant. While some countries showed improvements in equity, not all these trends were statistically significant, indicating the difficulty of maintaining consistent progress. Negative trends were more pronounced and consistent in many cases. This study is relevant for policymakers and academics seeking to understand educational inequality and evaluate the long-term impact of interventions.
Critical thinking is crucial in the twenty-first century, fundamental to cultivating capable, adaptive, and socially responsible individuals, particularly in the context of rapid advancement in artificial intelligence and the global imperative to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It is widely incorporated into curriculum frameworks globally, leading to a significant increase in experimental studies on teaching and learning strategies for promoting critical thinking. However, an overview of the research landscape on cultivating critical thinking in K–12 schools remains underdeveloped. This scoping review examined experimental studies on teaching and learning interventions aimed at cultivating critical thinking among K–12 students. Our review included 378 studies conducted in 51 countries over the past decade. Nearly half of these studies were conducted in four grade levels and primarily in science-related learning areas. Seventy per cent of the studies were conducted in Asia with a significant proportion in Indonesia, followed by the Middle East. Three critical thinking frameworks were commonly used and nearly 70 tools were used to measure critical thinking. The findings highlight the need for rigorous studies from diverse countries, learning areas, and grade levels. This review provides a comprehensive overview of critical thinking research in K–12 schools and identifies areas for future research to support teachers in cultivating critical thinking in school-aged children.
Global crises that range from conflicts to natural disasters and that are influenced by complex economic, political, and cultural factors displace populations and significantly impact education. A pressing issue has arisen in efforts to provide comprehensive refugee education in the Global North: the need to ensure inclusive development for noncitizens wishing to become citizens, while also fostering educational and community connections for them within their host cultures. Although the UN has emphasized the vital role of education in social and economic integration, post-resettlement challenges limit refugees’ potential. Limited awareness and information exclusivity worsen disparities, thereby obstructing refugees’ integration and exposing inequities. This article examines the challenges of refugee integration beyond the classroom, including gender barriers, unfamiliar education systems, financial stress, family responsibilities, housing issues, and adaptation to foreign cultures and languages. This extensive literature review explores the extracurricular struggles faced by refugee learners, using a traditional narrative methodology sourced from international articles accessed through Google Scholar, ERIC (EBSCO), ERIC (ProQuest), and ResearchGate. This article aims to identify gaps and to support equitable refugee education policies and practices.
This article examines the intricate process of educational change in the transition from national to international curricula, with a particular focus on preparatory programs for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) in Polish schools. Adopting a multi-case study approach across 15 schools, the research employed visual ethnography and interviews with students, teachers, and program coordinators to investigate the educational functions and change management strategies of these preparatory programs. The findings reveal that preparatory programs, particularly the pre-IB and the Middle Years Programme (MYP), serve as essential bridges in facilitating the shift from a scientific-technical national curriculum to a constructivist-oriented international one. These programs support change by addressing curricular gaps, fostering student leadership in learning, and enabling a gradual adaptation to academic rigor. Key insights highlight how these preparatory programs navigate resistance to change, accommodate the diverse experiences of change among different stakeholders, and balance the benefits of transition with a critical evaluation of its challenges. Furthermore, this article explores the socio-cultural and political forces driving this educational transformation within the Polish context. It contributes to the understanding of educational change management in international education, offering insights into how schools can effectively prepare students for rigorous international curricula while maintaining flexibility and addressing individual needs. It provides valuable perspectives for school leaders, teachers, and policymakers involved in implementing and managing educational change in increasingly globalized educational landscapes.
Today’s conception of justice and fairness in education, articulated in the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) as inclusion and equity, is the product of decades of intergovernmental cooperation. This paper explores how this account of justice and fairness in education has been shaped and integrated into the set of global education values put forth by the United Nations. It uses archives from one of the longest-lasting instances of intergovernmental cooperation in education, the International Conference on Public Education (1934–2008), to develop a lexical and semantic analysis of 75 years of international recommendations. It shows how the SDG 4 agenda inherited a legacy of features from past instances of intergovernmental cooperation, dating as far back as the interwar period, while moving away from politically difficult understandings; progressively privileging relative over absolute justice and developing an imperfect procedural justice narrative that emphasizes issues of achievement gaps over dimensions such as pedagogy and lived experiences. Furthermore, it is shown that this historical trajectory cannot be detached from the institutional changes that the International Bureau of Education (IBE) had to face to ensure its survival. The gradual dilution of substance and actionability of recommendations adopted at the Conference 1934–2015 parallels the bid for heightened political legitimacy at the expense of scientific authority, and eventually led to the sidelining of the IBE despite its foundational contributions to fostering justice and fairness in education.
Among the figures who led or were associated with the International Bureau of Education (IBE), mention must be made of Pedro Rosselló (1897–1970), who held management positions from the Bureau’s inception until it became part of UNESCO in 1969. Rosselló not only carried out the diplomatic and administrative tasks corresponding to his position but also launched a series of reports on the state of education systems covering an ever-growing number of countries. These seemingly bureaucratic tasks were the beginnings of statistical series that are now of great importance in international organizations and formed the basis for his Theory of Educational Currents. To analyze Rosselló’s contribution to the IBE, this article draws on scientific publications and documentation held in the IBE archives regarding his relevant activities in three areas that have endured over time: International Conferences on Public Education, the production of the International Yearbooks of Education, and the Exhibitions.
Educators and students face significant challenges in addressing global issues in education. Although concepts such as Education for Sustainable Development or Global Citizenship Education have gained prominence, their strong emphasis on methodological considerations has left the conceptual foundations of global issues underdeveloped. This paper advances a consolidated conceptual framework that foregrounds the pragmatic, ethical, and moral dimensions of complexity inherent in global issues. By integrating Habermas’ discourse ethics with elements of ethical complexity theory developed by Paul Cilliers and Harry Kunneman, we elaborate these dimensions. Building on this perspective, we argue for the establishment of a robust conceptual foundation that enables a more systematic organization of teaching and learning in this field.
The education field has generally embraced artificial intelligence (AI) systems for their (undocumented) potential to reduce teacher workload, address inequalities, and enhance learning through personalization. However, issues such as algorithmic bias, monoculturalism, discrimination, use of private data, and access to AI systems raise concerns about exacerbating learning inequalities, especially for minority students. We argue that researchers in education have largely failed to critically address the limitations of AI systems, and that a critical stance framed within critical AI literacies is urgently needed to ensure responsible use, if any, of AI systems in the classroom. We first examine how AI systems have been conceptualized for educational purposes. Through engagement with related literature, we discuss what has been overlooked by the mystifying of AI and the failure to engage more thoroughly and critically with existing literature on the social nature of learning. Following that, we provide an overview of contemporary AI literacy frameworks through a comparative approach and discuss their potential and limitations. We conclude with a set of recommendations for future research, teacher education, and curriculum design, framed within a critical stance to foster fair, ethical, and responsible use, where appropriate, of AI systems in education.
Research on the role of international organizations (IOs) during the Second World War has traditionally emphasized their supposed insignificance and failure. However, during the global conflict, a number of IOs demonstrated a notable capacity for resilience and inventiveness, adapting their practices and methods to continue fulfilling their mandates. In this context, this study proposes to re-examine the role of IOs during the Second World War through the example of the International Bureau of Education (IBE). As a young and small organization, dedicated to international cooperation and research in education, the IBE found itself with limited resources and opportunities at the outbreak of war. Not only was education a politically divisive issue, but the IBE’s practical and institutional capacities were also constrained by the global conflict. In this situation, the IBE found a new raison d’être in providing intellectual assistance to prisoners of war (POWs), sending books, educational material, and organizing university courses. How did the IBE’s staff justify and carry out this humanitarian turn? What international and local political, educational, and humanitarian resources and networks did they mobilize to achieve these objectives? Particular emphasis will be placed on the IBE’s capacity to leverage a local and global network of political, educational, and humanitarian actors, some of whom ultimately overcame rivalries and coordinated their efforts through a joint mechanism.
This conceptual article identifies tensions and dilemmas that cut across global schooling and social justice, albeit in context-rooted and multifaceted ways. We pay particular attention to social justice dilemmas and tensions, and oscillations between them in school governance, curriculum, and identities. We argue that a global analytical tool for enhancing a socially just approach to schooling must include (1) a redistribution of resources, (2) principles of curriculum justice supporting powerful and locally relevant knowledge and avoiding labelling and marginalization, and (3) non-material aspects, such as support for empowerment, personal dignity, care, and representation. A global lens simultaneously highlights national and supranational cultures and dynamics. It implies a focused approach on continuities and discontinuities in governance arrangements from a historical perspective, as well as a spatial approach to variations in pedagogical cultures, encompassing societal, political, and personal values.
The term PISA shock was initially associated with Germany’s response to a disappointing performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This shockwave later spread beyond Europe, reaching Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan. Poor results in international assessments measuring students’ functional literacy (FL) achievements have sparked intense public debate in Kazakhstan and prompted significant government initiatives to modernize the education system. Despite policy ambitions, the performance of Kazakhstani students remains stagnant. This study employed a systematic literature review to examine the gap between FL initiatives and the preparedness of teacher education to address related challenges. The review also sought to explore how the gap affects students’ development of FL and their performance. The findings reveal that school reforms face obstacles due to inadequate preparation, short timelines, policy inconsistencies, and teacher readiness issues, resulting in limited impact. The article discusses potential reasons for these shortcomings and offers policy recommendations relevant to countries with low-to-middle PISA outcomes.
Countries have agreed on the necessity of teaching children about, through, and for their rights. Specifically, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011) requires that such education be integrated into school curricula. The question of how this integration should occur has sparked debate among scholars and practitioners. In Switzerland, which encompasses three different linguistic cultures, contexts, and curricula, children’s human rights education (CHRE) is linked to several subjects and is conceptualized as a cross-curricular and interdisciplinary topic. This article aims to elucidate the conceptual foundation of children’s rights education (CRE) provisions within Swiss schools, as a heterogeneous study leading to conclusions relevant for other contexts. The role of curricula and interdisciplinarity for CHRE is analyzed. Also, the drivers and barriers to CHRE identified by teachers and other educational actors are outlined. Based on this analysis, suggestions for supporting CHRE teaching are discussed.
This article reviews global evidence for the relationship between learning outcomes and earnings, focusing on the economic returns to cognitive skills. Drawing on 73 studies across 41 countries, it shows that a 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in test scores (used as a proxy for skills) was associated with earnings gains of about 15
