Media education is a cultural framework that can be applied in different contexts: schools, families, informal educational environments, along with pastoral work. With Pope Francis' championing, there is an increasing need to bridge pastoral care and the media, which can become new important forms of proximity and open opportunities to connect and…

The aim of this study is to investigate task design for differentiated instruction in mathematics in professional learning communities. Based on the cultural-historical activity theory, we conceptualize a professional learning community as an activity system and use the analytical construct of contradictions to give an account of structures that…

The public funding or even toleration of religious minority schools, particularly Muslim faith schools, is controversial in West European countries. Political theorists often posit that parents' right to choose these schools conflicts with the equally or more important societal concerns with child autonomy and civic integration or education to…

The article develops a model for how an academic discipline like Political Studies can embrace work-integrated learning (WIL) to the benefit of students, the discipline, and wider society by interpreting WIL in relation to discipline-specific forms of knowledge and knower. The model is of a new Master's in WIL in Political Studies (WIPS) at…

This paper describes and evaluates student teachers' virtual simulation training on teaching a controversial issue. In the fourth year of their program to become social science teachers at lower and upper secondary schools, 43 student teachers in Sweden conducted simulation teaching on conspiracy theories as an example of a controversial issue.…

Threshold concepts (TCs) are increasingly used in health professions education (HPE) research. TCs are claimed to be conceptual gateways which are often traversed with substantial difficulty. In this paper, we report on a scoping review investigating the following research question: What is the scope and nature of the currently available research…

This article focuses on how local institutions in three rural areas in Sweden organised education and work to assist adult immigrants' integration. We particularly analyse how local officials in educational institutions, employment offices and local governments attempted to support adult immigrants' education-to-work transitions, using a…

Educational Robotics (ER) has emerged as one of the tools to improve STEM learning in primary education if students are properly instructed. However, there is a lack of studies that guide teachers on which type of instruction should be used for ER in STEM between direct (DI) and indirect instruction (II). As a result, the present study aims to…

Quality preparation of school leaders is important for school success and improved student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of principal alumni and superintendents about the quality of a university's principal preparation program in relation to the NELP Standards. Utilizing survey methodology, anonymous…

Science teachers regard practical work as important and many claim that it helps students to learn science. Besides theoretical knowledge, such as concepts and formulas, practical work is considered to be an integral and basic part of science education. As practical work is perceived and understood in different ways, comparing the results between…

Science teachers have differing views about what students should learn. Their teaching experience often leads them to develop habitual answers to students' questions, such as--why should I learn this? Some teachers argue that students need to learn more "canonical" science knowledge so that they can become scientists, while others tell…

There is little research into the career trajectories and occupational aspirations of rural youth with immigrant backgrounds in Europe. This article presents new research based on field observations and interviews with five young immigrants of Persian descent in one rural town in Sweden. The findings highlighted gender differences in how the…

This paper argues that there are no generic methods in academic research that can be categorized in terms like quantitative or qualitative. Each different area of research uses a distinctive combination of methods, theories, and tools in which these methods, theories, and tools have been customized to work together. Grouping every area that uses…

Few studies examine the effects of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in secondary classrooms, and there is limited research examining the rate of BSP that is needed to improve classwide appropriately engaged behavior (AEB) and reduce disruptive behavior (DB). Using a multiple baseline design with an embedded A/B/C/A/C condition sequence…

The purpose of the present study was to examine Norwegian kindergarten children's knowledge about the origins of commonly consumed food items. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews of 56 children (aged five to six years old) from nine different kindergartens based on open-ended questions and with the use of pictures showing…