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Purpose: Vocational educators in many countries enter teaching as a second career and authentic occupational expertise is seen as essential to good quality VET. The changing contexts of VET and the growing diversity of its learning populations also demand the development of teaching expertise. This dual professionalism is related to a unique combination of an occupational and a teacher identity, however, prior, and mainly qualitative research from a limited number of VET contexts suggests that often one side of this duality prevails. Our study aimed to explore the professional identity of vocational educators in Hungary and to identify some of the factors that might influence its formation. Methods: We applied a mixed method design, conducting a teacher survey (N=138) and semi-structured interviews (N=12). The quantitative and qualitative strands followed a parallel design, exploring the same topics but identity views and the organisational context were studied more deeply in the interviews. In the survey, we measured professional identity through a direct question about its type as well as questions about the importance of specific goals and teacher competence areas in vocational teaching. We used statistical and thematic analyses to study our quantitative and qualitative data. Results: Most vocational educators in our study identified as both a teacher and a professional, though the type of identity varied by gender and length of occupational work experience. Perceptions about the main goals in teaching revealed vocation/outcome-focused and student/education-focused goal orientations influenced by gender, qualifications and work experience, while our qualitative data also showed the impact of school culture and the wider socio-economic context. The goal orientations identified in the survey were more balanced for those with a dual identity, and they correlated with perceptions about the importance of different teacher competence areas, which were most influenced by whether or not the educator had obtained a pedagogical qualification. Conclusion: Our findings showed that although most vocational educators also in Hungary claim to have a dual identity, they often prioritise the development of occupational expertise as they believe it is what gives them credibility that is seen as essential to "good VET". Considering the significant impact we have found of teacher education and continued work in the occupation on identity views, it seems of utmost importance that policy and schools recognise and support the development of both occupational and teacher expertise, to ensure a balanced dual identity that seems best suited for vocational teaching.

In some European countries, the educational attainment of the Roma population is very low compared to the majority society. This study focuses on what supports the higher education pathways of Roma youth by using empirical data. Thirty-one Roma students, whose academic advancement was supported by a Roma Student Society, and ninety-three students who did not receive support participated in the study. The students in the control group got further subdivided into three groups based on their socioeconomic backgrounds, so four groups in total were included in our analysis. The research was conducted using mixed methodology: we analyzed the texts of reflective essays and data derived from a questionnaire. The results show that the students in the support group have significant external and internal capital in all areas, except for financial capital, which is offset by the social capital provided by their schools and university. It is important to highlight the supportive role of family, in which there is no difference between the Roma Student Society members and the students in the control groups with higher socioeconomic status. In the control group, a minority group emerged with a similar social background as the supported focus group, and they noticeably remain invisible to the institution. Our research also draws attention to the importance of creating and developing an inclusive learning environment that results in significant social capital, not only to retain low socioeconomic groups but also to retain groups with higher social status.

Purpose: One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and Ireland, focusing on its role in fostering social acceptance through education. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research applying discourse analysis was conducted to identify key multiculturalism concepts within the curricula. The analysis concentrated on understanding how multiculturalism is portrayed through various perspectives, emphasizing situational meanings and frameworks. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the findings was carried out. Findings: The research found that all three curricula contain the concept of multicultural education, although the extent of emphasis varies. The Hungarian National Core Curriculum (NCC) primarily emphasizes national values and sporadically addresses multicultural issues, often from a local perspective. In contrast, the Irish NCC is tolerance-oriented, stressing not only the understanding of different cultures but also the importance of accepting them. The Finnish NCC reflects a global perspective and emphasizes respect for different cultures and minority groups, with a pluralistic approach. Originality/value: This study enhances our understanding of the discourse of multiculturalism within the curricula of three European countries, emphasizing both their similarities and differences. Additionally, it underscores the crucial role that curricula can play in effectively implementing multicultural education.

The present paper explores approaches to the classification of ethnic identity. In the framework of research on comparative classifications, we analyse the contextual factors that influence classification in Hungarian education. We compared the number of students who self-reported as Roma with the respective number reported by the school heads (as experts) and examined the discrepancies between the two indicators. We also examined whether there was a correlation between the estimation by the head of the school and the views and attitudes of the teaching staff and school heads. One important finding to emerge was the more than the twofold difference between the external classifications reported by individuals belonging to the majority population, and the students' self-identification. In other words, the school heads tended to overestimate the proportion of Roma students in their schools compared to the students' own self-identification, which was related to their pedagogical practices, beliefs, and commitment. In particular, school heads overestimated the proportion of Roma students in schools where teachers perceived that there were lower expectations and where teachers attributed school failure to cultural differences.

Cultural diversity is an important feature of today's classrooms, where learners come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. In order to teach every individual in an appropriate and motivating way, teachers need a wealth of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and teacher training plays a major role in their acquisition. The present research was undertaken in order to gain a better understanding of how teacher training contributes to the development of pre-service teachers' culturally responsive competencies. Overall, the findings indicate that there are differences in the components of CRP-related competencies that teacher education programs deliver to prepare teachers for key aspects of multicultural education. Most of the courses are stand-alone courses, one semester long and only focus on one of the competence elements (eg attitude). We found only a limited number of courses that incorporated culturally responsive pedagogy as a long-term, comprehensive approach into their curriculum, and were thus able to develop the majority of competence elements related to CRP.

During the research entitled "Teaching Creative Music," the focus is on getting to know creative music, which is becoming more and more widespread in Hungary, however using it, but still takes up little space in our music education, and its impact in high school and university environments is limited. The Kodaly Concept contains a number of well-established practices also Laszlo Sary's collection of "Creative Music Exercises" (Sary, 1999), mainly evoking Christian Wolff and John Cage, evoking the work of Stockhausen, also works well, but there is no teaching aid for the secondary school classes (9-12) based on different combinations of systematic vocal and rhythmic tasks -- although in the 2017 NAT ["National Curriculum"], creative music activity as a reproduction is included as a requirement among the development tasks. There is also less experience among those pursuing higher music studies in terms of methodological preparation at the national level. We believe that much more student-based assignments should be used in high school singing and music education so that their classroom motivation and musical creativity can develop further, and their subject-related knowledge deepen. We are interested in the "rehabilitation" of this field, as there are a lot of opportunities in the creative music exercises, during which repetitive activity and musical creativity are essential, and Odena and Welch have already studied the latter (Odena-Welch, 2007). Music pedagogical research supports the need to study the field, as high school students are undermotivated in their lessons and their musical creativity is not sufficiently exploited (Deliege-Wiggins, 2006). In this article, we would like to explore an analysis of some of the practices of a creative music course over a semester in terms of how student activity and creativity changed during the 9 hours of the practice (measured with 3 groups per week). For all of this, we also use elements of Teachout and McKoy's model, who examined music teacher attributes in terms of teacher success and failure.

Purpose: Inclusive education of Roma students is a priority goal of the European Union. However, synthesising analyses reveal precious little progress scored in this area. This study aims to explore the factors that have affect Roma students' academic achievement, specifically, whether the views of their teachers have an impact on the performance besides individual and family background factors. Design/methodology/approach: A large-sample questionnaire-based research study was conducted in the 2019/2020 academic year involving 4,674 seventh-grade students and 2,656 teachers from 194 Hungarian schools. On a self-admission basis, 374 of the students were Roma. Findings: In the schools examined, the performance of Roma students is poorer, their commitment to learning is weaker, yet they have a higher opinion of their school and their teachers than their non-Roma peers. The involvement of majority students in extracurricular private tutoring, particularly foreign language learning, is greater. Roma students' academic achievement is mainly affected by individual background factors, in particular by their school history. Originality/value: The findings suggest that although the role of the school and pedagogical views is important, they are not predominant factors determining Roma students' performance. The explanatory power of individual characteristics is stronger than that of school factors. The comparison between Roma and non-Roma students also shows that cooperation between different sectors (education, social and health) would be essential within and outside school in terms of home learning conditions, digital access and student well-being.

This paper evaluates a Hungarian gifted education programme aimed at providing equal opportunities for students with social and economic disadvantages. In the context of a retrospective study, the differences in academic success and learning pathways were examined in a cohort comprising a group that participated in the programme and a group that did not. The analysis used the data of grade 6 and grade 10 students in the Hungarian National Competence Assessment. The analysis found that the scholastic achievement of the students participating in the programme was higher than that of the control group. By grade 6, participants presented higher scholastic achievement, better results in the competence tests and better school grades, and the difference between the two groups increased again by grade 10. The programme contributed to compensating for the participants' educational inequalities and promoted their integrational social mobility. However, it was found that inclusion in the programme was greatly influenced by teachers' perception, which was not always consistent with the aptitude of students.

Our study presents the phenomena of inclusion and resilience through a Hungarian education programme (Arany János Programme) aimed at enhancing equity. The focus of the research conducted in 2017/2018 was to explore the family backgrounds and personal stories of disadvantaged Roma/Gypsy students and youth, as well as to examine the correlation between student success (resilience) and integration of support programmes (inclusive environment). This study focuses on two target groups: students currently enrolled in the programme and students who have already completed the programme. Questionnaire-based data were collected from all of the AJP students (N = 3279). Life path interviews were also conducted with young adults who had finished the programme (N = 28). The research study has identified a correlation between student success (resilience) and the support programmes (inclusive environment), the former manifesting itself despite disadvantaged family backgrounds and lack of initial capital.

Background: This study investigates teacher collaboration in Hungarian vocational education and training (VET) schools based on an online survey of teachers (n = 303). Collaboration of teachers has long been appreciated for its significant benefits including increased motivation, job satisfaction, self- and collective efficacy, as well as its role in teacher professional development and school improvement. Collaboration of teachers working in VET schools, especially in VET systems where initial VET is provided to young people and (in part) within compulsory education, appears as particularly desirable, given the special context, objectives and challenges of this sector and the spread of competence-based education. However, relatively little is known about VET teacher collaboration, especially in Hungary, where three different profiles of teachers--general subject and vocational teachers and vocational trainers--work in VET schools. The aim of our study was to provide data about how Hungarian VET teachers collaborate, which could validate prior research results on teacher collaboration as well as identify any special features of the VET context. Method: Our study design was exploratory, descriptive and correlational, applying quantitative statistical analysis. We measured teacher collaboration (practice and perception of impact) and explanatory individual and organisational factors selected for our research framework by adapting instruments of previous empirical studies (most importantly, OECD's TALIS). We analysed connections between collaboration and independent variables created by principal component analysis. Results: Our data show that sharing-type collaboration (professional discussions and exchange of materials) are widespread among Hungarian VET teachers. They are much less likely to participate in deeper collaborative activities that presuppose higher levels of interdependence, and they also appreciate the impact of deeper collaboration less. Female respondents participate in sharing-type activities more than their male colleagues, and middle-aged (40-55) are most active in both types of collaboration and perceive the most impact. Collaboration practices correlate most with perceptions of their impact. More frequent collaboration and perceptions of higher impact are related to teachers' sense of higher self-efficacy and relaxed, tolerant and encouraging collegial relationships. Structural barriers seem to influence only sharing and perceptions of impact. Small, but statistically significant differences in collaboration were found between the three teacher profiles. Vocational trainers (who instruct vocational school practice) showed the highest level of participation in deeper collaboration, while vocational teachers were least likely to participate and perceived the least impact. No significant associations were found between collaboration and prior or current work experience in the taught vocation. Conclusions: Our results largely confirm and validate previous research on teacher collaboration in lower level and general educational contexts by providing data on VET teacher collaboration. They also note the role of some VET-specific factors, such as structural barriers and small, but statistically significant differences between different VET teacher profiles.