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This study aimed to enquire about the English foreign language (EFL) doctoral students' perspective, especially in the non-English department, concerning the Indonesian government policy, which obliges an article published in a reputable international journal as a requirement to receive a doctoral degree. Their challenges in publishing their papers in Scopus or Web of Science (WOS)-indexed journals and their resolutions were also analyzed. A mixed-methods technique was used to obtain quantitative and qualitative information. The study consisted of 57 respondents, comprising 25 males and 32 females, who were EFL doctoral students of education departments from five universities. The purposive sampling method with several criteria was used to determine the study participants. Data were then collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Subsequently, the findings showed that the policy of publishing a paper in Scopus or WOS-indexed journals to obtain an EFL doctoral degree was burdensome to the majority of the students. Other findings showed that the students faced several challenges in publishing their papers in these journals, including language problems, cost of publication, journal selection, lack of experience, duration to publish, writing difficulties, revising, and stress. The actions to resolve these challenges were also provided in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2022 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Review in England has proposed changes to the way in which SENCos are trained before working in English schools. Although the DfE collects data relating to the demographics of all teachers, the 2022 SEND Review Green Paper does not draw on this to support or inform the changes being proposed. A Freedom of Information request was made to the DfE, from which actual data could be acquired, with breakdowns by age, gender, qualifications and leadership status. The data describe a teacher who is still more likely to be female and approaching the middle of their career. Most SENCos are still on the class teacher pay scale rather than the leadership scale, with a minority holding a Master's‐level qualification. The DfE does not have an accurate overview of how many teachers hold the current SENCo qualification. The article provides a number of recommendations to policymakers based on the data provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Skills for Jobs White Paper and Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) have been anticipating changes in UK policy. Participation in adult education and work-based opportunities has been in decline for over 15 years, but without a clear information, advice and guidance (IAG) strategy and framework, there is reasonable doubt if the intended outcomes will be met. Using a narrative literature review relating to IAG, mature students and lifelong learning, this article finds the key to the success in supporting the adult education agenda involves collaboration. This should involve regional-level partnerships to map out provision with education providers, employers and local government, ensuring representation of the group through targeted initiatives, personal support and guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2011, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education issued a policy on the internationalisation of schooling. The policy assumes that being 'international' has become necessary in order to maintain economic competitiveness in a globalising world. It was published in two languages: Mandarin, the official language in Taiwan, and English, presupposed as a lingua franca. Treating 'policy as discourse', the article analyses internationalism and its performativity through the publication and specific textual construction of this policy. The analysis considers the layout, target readerships, conceptual translation, and spatial representation and construction of 'Chineseness' in the two policy texts. This attempt at internationalisation is related to the very specific historical and geopolitical conditions of Taiwan and its liminal position in the globe. The significance of the article rests in expanding ideas of 'translation' in education policy studies and in the analysis of the specific geopolitics of East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a key feature of modern, democratic policy making, namely the relation between stakeholder input and policy output. In the Nordic countries, there are long traditions for and democratic values attached to the dialogue between the government and civil society when developing policies for the educational sector. The case presented here is the hearing process held by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research in 2017 prior to the launch of a white paper on quality culture in higher education. The potential coherence between input by stakeholder groups and the quality measures proposed in the white paper is investigated. The theoretical framework comprises the concept of 'uploading' borrowed from research on EU policy making and discursive institutionalism to analyse the representation of input by stakeholder groups when they attempt to 'upload' their priorities into the white paper. The methodological approach is content analysis of the hearing responses and the white paper. The findings show that stakeholders from the higher education sector and employer groups had a higher degree of coherence with the proposed measures in the white paper, and universities and colleges had a lower degree of input that was represented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the reference societies of Norway and Sweden embedded in their education policy documents. We examined 4,260 bibliographic references in 19 white papers and green papers prepared for the 2016/2020 renewal of the Knowledge Promotion Reform in Norway and the 2015/2018 Knowledge Achievement Reform in Sweden. In addition, we interviewed 10 policy experts who participated in the preparation of the analyzed policy documents. The results show that the reference societies overall reflect the existing knowledge production and dissemination mechanisms in education policy; however, they significantly differed between Norway and Sweden regarding whether and to what extent they reference knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Specifically, while Norway drew extensively on knowledge from its neighbors, particularly Sweden, Sweden seldom referenced knowledge produced in other Nordic countries. Policy actors identified similarity, relevance, accessibility, reform contexts, and institutional arrangements as reasons for (not) referencing neighbors. This study calls for further consideration of the political, social, and cultural embeddedness of the 'socio-logic' to understand implicit reference societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rich literature has argued that so-called aspiration-raising policies tend to individualize structural conditions and thereby reproduce forms of inequality through young people's aspirations. This paper explores how aspiration-raising policy discourses are lived in ways that both accentuate but that might also contest their terms. Drawing on Lauren Berlant, we theorize aspiration as ongoing performances that can be altered and remade in affective scenes of interruption. We put our theorization to work in a longitudinal study that followed a young woman, Marie, throughout her upper secondary education. Whilst Marie's performances of aspiration predominantly chimed with such individualistic policy discourses, she would also describe moments where these performances were seemingly interrupted. These were moments where Marie vividly experienced concerns related to planetary crises. The analysis carefully unpacks these moments, and we argue that they bring Marie into contact with the political stakes in her life and lead her to search for alternative, more sustainable, and collective modalities of aspiration. Hence, supplementing previous studies that have shown how inequality is reproduced through aspirations, the paper contributes with new understandings of how alternative modalities of aspiration may emerge that potentially exceed structural limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether enough highly qualified STEM workers are being educated and trained in the UK is an important question. The answer has implications not only for educators, employers and policymakers but also for individuals who are currently engaged in, or are considering entering, education or training in this area. Set against a policy backdrop that prioritises students studying more science for longer, this paper considers long-term patterns of participation in STEM education – from school science through to graduate entry into the highly skilled STEM labour market. Using a unique dataset that extends across seven decades and comprises many hundreds of thousands of students, the paper finds that patterns of participation in most STEM subjects have varied little over the period considered; suggesting that efforts to increase the numbers of students studying science in school has had limited impact on the throughput of students who study STEM, including the pure sciences, at university level and, subsequently, on the number of graduates who would be available to undertake highly skilled work in areas for which degree-level skills are a pre-requisite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We, the Editor and Publisher of Arts Education Policy Review, have retracted the following book review: Kudrat-E- Khuda(Babu) (2021) Hunter, M. A., Aprill, A., Hill, A., and Emery, S. 2018. Education, Arts and Sustainability: Emerging Practice for a Changing World, Arts Education Policy Review, DOI: 10.1080/10632913.2021.1904074. The Editor of Arts Education Policy Review and Taylor & Francis note that the policy of the journal is to consider only original material. It has become known that this book review contains substantial overlap with the book Education, Arts and Sustainability: Emerging Practice for a Changing World by M.A. Hunter, A. Aprill, A. Hill, and S. Emery (ISBN 978-981-10-7710-4), which is in violation of the journal's . As this conflicts with the stated policy on originality and plagiarism, the book review is hereby retracted and should not be cited. The retracted book review will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as "Retracted". We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2014 paper "Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood" examines the effectiveness of grade 3-8 teachers and their students' future income. It shows that 30 percent of the achievement gap between high and low- poverty schools is due to school closures and 50 percent is explained by the differential effect of remote/hybrid learning on poor and rich schools. School closures and switches to hybrid/virtual learning due to the pandemic adversely affected student achievement through several channels, including a decline in skill accumulation and a disruption of peer effects and peer-group formation. The 2021 study "Large Socio-Economic, Geographic and Demographic Disparities Exist in Exposure to School Closures" shows that school closures occurring from September 2020 to December 2020 were more common in schools with lower third-grade math scores and with higher shares of students who are racial and ethnic minorities, who experience homelessness, who have limited English proficiency and who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches. [Extracted from the article]

This paper critiques recent developments in educational discourse through an analysis of two UK Government White Papers and three specific problems. We argue that the latter herald forms of 'biocreep'. Echoing the analysis of such phenomena in the work of Michel Foucault, this gradual extension of 'biopolitics' into the field of education is a tendency which has accelerated with the Coronavirus pandemic and raises many questions for policy analysis. First, we show how the White Papers' approach to life and its related assumptions embody an attempt to further entrench the techniques of biopolitical population management in secondary and further education settings. Second, our analysis of the two Papers shows not just a deepening discursive shift towards ways of instrumentalising educational processes, but also identifies a triple problem of political assemblage: primo, this shift relies on the assemblage of a 'problematic subject'; secondo, it simultaneously assembles the problem of value extraction; and tertio, it obscures the problem of desire or unruliness of the assemblages created. Just as discursive practices of instrumentation, administration and evacuation try to manage these assemblages, they remain unable to contain the three problems they enshrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a major international conference hosted by the Centre for International Research in Supplementary Tutoring (CIRIST) at East China Normal University (ECNU) on the theme of "Comparing Curriculum and Instruction Inside and Outside Schools: Policies and Practices." The conference focused on private supplementary tutoring in China and other parts of the world. The collection of papers in the article explores the concept of shadow education, which refers to various forms of private tutoring, and examines its parameters and global implications. The papers also discuss the historical development and current state of shadow education in countries such as the Republic of Korea, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, India, and Belarus. The article highlights the cultural and political factors that shape attitudes towards education and the private tutoring industry in different contexts. It also mentions the recent national-government policy in China that aims to reduce the size of the tutoring sector. [Extracted from the article]

In the vigorous trend of international publication as a crucial research performance indicator, English claims the status of the uncontested global language of academic publishing. In this study, after providing a sketch of the policies of writing and publishing in English in Iran (reflected in national policy documents and university bylaws), we probe the perspectives of nine Iranian higher education policy experts about these policies through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that while policy documents indicate strong orientations in favor of publishing in English, the main justifications behind these policies appear to be vague ideas of demonstrating local academic capabilities and winning international reputation. However, the participants admit that ignoring the peculiarities of different academic fields and neglecting real-life research concerns while overemphasizing the number of research products are the main pitfalls of the policies. Their view of these problems and their suggested solutions indicate little consideration of the concern over the dominance of English in the world today. We discuss some aspects of this concern in relation to the neocolonial status of English in non-Anglophone countries where other languages and cultures can be overshadowed by a dominant so-called global academic lingua franca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

James Callaghan's speech at Ruskin College, Oxford in October 1976 is widely considered a pivotal moment in modern English educational policy. Whilst it is not our intention to challenge this fundamental point, the paper will critically interrogate some long‐held assumptions about the motivation that led Callaghan to deliver his speech at Ruskin College. Specifically, the paper will argue that the Ruskin Speech, which spawned a subsequent great debate on education, was motivated by a desire to protect and support comprehensive education, rather than generate more fundamental and radical educational reform away from those principles. Where successive governments have referred back to the ideals espoused by the speech as justification for subsequent educational transformation away from comprehensive ideals, this has only served to imbue the Ruskin Speech and Great Debate with motivations that were not shared at the time by Callaghan and his Labour government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major admissions reform was carried out in Finnish higher education at the end of the last decade. This paper focuses on three main policy papers connected to the reform and examines the use and production of evidence therein. Drawing on bibliometric research and research on educational policy, we aim to provide insight into how to utilize citation analysis when examining evidence in educational policymaking. In the three policy papers, domestic legislature was cited the most frequently, and research from higher education institutions was cited the least. Affirmational citations were the most prominent; perfunctory, assumptive, conceptual, persuasive, contrastive, and negational citations were found to a lesser extent. When cross-examined in relation to citation types, sources were mostly cited as affirmational, with the exception of research from higher education institutions, which was cited as conceptual information. We also found that the writers cited their own previously written ministry-affiliated policy brief as central information in one of the policy papers connected to the reform. Our study is in line with the earlier literature showing that certain sources, such as domestic publications, are favoured over others. It also illustrates the different citation strategies experts employ to substantiate and legitimize educational policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education is a sector that can be slow to change, yet there are significant pressures on universities and other providers to change. Learning and teaching are central to what higher education does, and pressures, such as the switch to remote learning during the pandemic and the increasing use of generative AI, are causing a reconsideration about good learning and teaching. This essay provides a futures framework to explore best and next practices in learning and teaching in higher education. Four important and influential papers and reviews are used to consider past and current views of good teaching and learning in higher education. From these, six evidence-informed teaching practices are described as examples of current best-practice views, and then these are developed into possible, plausible, probable, and preferred next practices. This essay provides a stimulus for practitioners and researchers to adopt a futures mindset for thinking about the development of teaching and learning in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technical and vocational education and training (TVET) continue to occupy a prominent position in Africa's development, addressing the growing concerns about young women's under-participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related TVET has become urgent. This paper draws on the critical capability approach of vocational education and training (CCA-VET) to critique the TVET policy discourse on the participation of girls and women in STEM-related TVET. The paper employed the practical argumentation approach, a critical discourse analysis approach to achieve the paper's aims. The paper's central thesis is that for education policies to transform young women's under-participation in STEM-related TVET, it is urgent to move beyond human rights-based, and human capital approaches to adopt a comprehensive theoretical approach, such as the critical capabilities approach. The paper concludes that breaking this hegemony of human rights and human capital approaches to TVET policy can be achieved by re-conceptualising TVET policy discourses. The re-conceptualisation of TVET policy discourses can be achieved by admitting the critiques of these dominant theories that underpin most TVET policies and then adopting the CCA-VET as a better alternative approach to framing TVET policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on research conducted in four state schools with sixth forms to problematise two flagship 'disadvantage' policy agendas in the English context: the Pupil Premium (focusing on the narrowing of attainment gaps) and widening participation (focusing on fairer university access). While such 'priority' policies necessarily incorporate the promise of change, it argues that multiple forms of incoherence militate against this, including: their relative agenda-setting power in a highly marketised system; the contested, constitutive power of different proxy indicators; competing policy preferences that under-attend to the intersections between educational opportunities and material disadvantage. In contrast, interviews with school staff highlighted the transformative potential of lived experiences of disadvantage and reinforced the importance of adopting a wider lens than that of the school. The paper concludes that the absence of an over-arching theory of change is part of 'the problem' and it suggests where the mapping of one might begin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a quantitative study that focuses on the language education policy of distance learning classes with particular attention to the policies regarding the use of the first language in teaching the second language. Previous studies show that the viewpoint of teachers and students, who are involved in distance learning, towards policies of the English language departments of Saudi universities has not been explored before. The main objective of this paper is investigating teachers’ and students’ awareness of the English department’s policy regarding L1 in distance learning classes and the participants’ attitudes towards using L1 in the distance learning classes of L2. Teachers of English as a foreign language with various academic ranks and undergraduate students from different colleges took part in this study. The main research tool of this study is an online questionnaire. The same questionnaire was given to the two types of participants. Data analysis shows that the majority of the participants were not familiar with the policy of the English language department regarding the use of L1 in distance learning classes. Data analysis indicates that both teachers and students acknowledged that they use L1 in the distance learning classes. On the other hand, half of the teachers contended that L1 enhances students’ comprehension in the distance learning classes whereas the vast majority of the students supported this argument. Policy-makers in the English language department are invited to implement an “English-mainly” policy that perceives students as bilinguals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, rural revitalization has been a topic of concern. After it was put forward in the form of a policy in 2017, it has further received research feedback in many fields, and the education field is no exception. This article is based on the quantitative analysis of the reports in the CNKI database, with rural revitalization as the theme of educational research from 2000 to 2021. We summarized its development trends and research priorities. We found that after 2017, there has been a surge in education research related to rural revitalization, focusing on three aspects: vocational education, teacher plight, and education construction. At present, the rural revitalization strategy is still in its infancy. Grasping the research focus in time and referring to international experience can provide a more comprehensive theoretical basis for the realization of rural revitalization, promote the flexible change of research focus, and facilitate the effective implementation of policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of policy documents and interviews with three Norwegian politicians revealed differences in how school leaders were described, positioned and ascribed responsibility in Norwegian education policy between 1990 and 2017. While how politicians positioned school leaders changed substantially during the period, a stable trait was vague descriptions of school leaders' responsibility. In 1990, school leaders were envisioned in a managerial position, above teachers, as employers. A more recent White Paper, from 2017, positioned school leaders closer to the teaching profession. The interviews showed that after the PISA-shock in 2001, politicians united across party lines in a 'new regime of understanding', downplaying traditional conflicts between Norwegian politicians. While Parliamentary politicians rhetorically disagreed, there was, underneath the policy discourse, a growing realpolitik consensus in questions of education policy. The study investigates policy descriptions of school leaders after 1990, when Management by Objectives was introduced in education. To position Norway in the international policy context, we draw on Stephen Ball's concepts fabrication, managerialism, magical solutions and neoliberal performativity. Three periods, with simultaneously appearing residual and emerging tendencies were identified. In conclusion, we question an apparent lack of ambitions for school leadership in Norwegian education policy. The article contributes with new insights into education policy fluctations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on the topics including theme of evaluation, but explores distance learning and education institutional policy; and policy for mandatory attendance influence learners' engagement with course learning materials.

In 2017, China released its building list of First-class Universities and First-class Subjects (Double First classes), which should get great support for development for many years into the future. This paper examines the academic performance of eight universities that are currently listed as having First-class Subjects of economics, in international papers and domestic papers, and compares their academic performance with another eight non-listed universities. The comparison shows that in general only three listed universities have obvious advantages among the 16 sample universities, while four listed universities do not show advantages, with one of them unexpectedly lagging behind. In contrast, several non-listed universities perform obviously better among the sample universities. In addition, several other aspects of this Double First-class list are also found to be less objective, scientific, or rigorous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Using sentiment analysis (SA), this study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and virtual learning experiences among 1,125 students at a public Argentinean faculty. Design/methodology/approach: A study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, surveying 1,125 students to gather their opinions. The survey data was analysed using text mining tools and SA. SA was used to extract the students' emotions, views and feelings computationally and identify co-occurrences and patterns in related words. The study also examines educational policies implemented after the pandemic. Findings: The prevalent emotions expressed in the comments were trust, sadness, anticipation and fear. A combination of trust and fear resulted in submission. Negative comments often included the words "virtual", "virtual classroom", "virtual classes" and "professor". Two significant issues were identified: teachers' inexperience with virtual classes and inadequate server infrastructure, leading to frequent crashes. The most effective educational policies addressed vital issues related to the "virtual classroom". Practical implications: Text mining and SA are valuable tools for decision-making during uncertain times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. They can also provide insights to recover quality assurance processes at universities impacted by health concerns or external shocks. Originality/value: The paper makes two main contributions: it conducts a SA to gain insights from comments and analyses the relationship between emotions and sentiments to identify optimal educational policies. The study pioneers exploring the link between emotions, policies and the pandemic at a public university in Argentina. This area of research still needs to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The global landscape of higher education has witnessed a steady increase in the mobility of international students, as more individuals seek diverse academic experiences and cross-cultural learning opportunities. This paper conducts a systematic literature review to investigate trends, research directions and key themes in the literature. By utilising the push–pull factor model the aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing international students' choices to pursue higher education and future career opportunities abroad. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review approach was applied. The selection was made using PRISMA framework-based inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review includes 43 publications from 2010 to 2022. Findings: The review results revealed five themes of scholarly conversations labelled as (1) betterment of life, (2) policy of the host country, (3) role of institutions, (4) return to home country and (5) social, economic, environmental, individual and cultural factors. The findings emphasise on the significance of factors such as the quality of education, visa requirements, academic reputation, tuition fees, availability of scholarships, job opportunities, social, economic, environmental, individual and cultural factors. The paper also identifies language barriers, visa policies and social integration difficulties as major barriers to international students' stay in the host country after graduation. Originality/value: This research enhances the current body of literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the empirical evidence available in literature that investigates the mobility of international students. The outcomes of this study will make a valuable contribution towards developing a more profound comprehension of the primary factors that influence international students' decision to pursue their education abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With the introduction of the National Education Policy 2020, the academic dynamics have been undergoing a massive shift. The demands of present-day classrooms do not stop with knowledge and delivery. It calls for many more skills on the part of educators than these two. What are these skills that the modern educators must possess? How are the modern classes different from the traditional chalk-duster way of teaching? This paper attempts to answer these questions by listing out the essential soft skills that are required for modern-day teachers. It explores the qualities of good educators that can make the classes engaging and the learning process interesting. The paper also highlights the skills, such as digital literacy, emotional intelligence, collaboration, adaptability, communication skills, patience, critical thinking, unbiased cultural understanding and professionalism, needed to be a good educator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, higher education is a constitutionally enshrined basic human right and one of the cornerstones for accomplishing the ideals of offenders' rehabilitation and preparation for life beyond bars. However, acquiring higher education whilst serving a sentence in a correctional centre is compounded by many institutional challenges especially towards incarcerated female students. Framed by the transactional distance theory (TDT), the qualitative study from which this paper emanates, used purposive and snowball sampling to recruit twenty-nine female distance learning students incarcerated at four female correctional centres across three provinces in South Africa. Based on the thematic content analyses of the data, the findings indicate that there is restricted access to learning resources, and that online participation in both learning and assessment is affected by erratic internet connectivity caused by UNISA-DCS hubs (computer laboratories) due to the security-focused nature of the correctional centres. Furthermore, the lack of direct access to the internet, smartphones, or internet-enabled devices exacerbates the digital marginalisation and exclusion of incarcerated students which engenders feelings of despondency against a system that is meant to empower them. Thus, owing to these findings, the paper recommends that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers must endeavour to design not only inclusive, but correctional centre-friendly student support. This entails acknowledging that incarcerated students do not have 24/7 access to the internet, the technological gadgets that make online learning possible and some incarcerated students having limited digital literacy. There is a need to design learning policies and strategies that are flexible to enhance the learning experiences and graduateness of incarcerated students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, the emphasis on school reforms is increasing, and school leaders play a key role in realising reform initiatives for school development and change. Often, the formation of partnerships between researchers and practitioners for school improvement is promoted to facilitate professional development and enhance student learning. However, limited attention has been directed towards the underlying ideas, values and beliefs in government-initiated strategies for partnership in the policy context of educational reform. This paper examines how partnerships between schools and higher education institutions are conceptualised and legitimised in Norwegian reform policy documents. We analyse three government white papers, each coupled with an executive partnership strategy document. The analysis applies a discourse analytical approach to policy as text and transmission. Our findings show a shift in the official national discourse on partnerships in education, underscoring new tensions regarding the power to define focus areas in the local reform work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research on European education policy has aptly focused on the role of supranational and intergovernmental actors, less attention has been devoted to its analysis as a policy arena in which legitimacy can be created and power can be exerted in sophisticated ways. Specifically, the role of non-state actors as agenda-setters for European education and employment policies is still unexplored. By combining a neo-Gramscian approach of political economy with Jochim and May's boundary spanning policy regimes' perspective, which captures activity across policy subsystems that seek to manage 'wicked' policy problems, this paper looks at the role of private and business actors, and specifically the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), in European education during the 1980s and 1990s. The findings show how this period can be considered a foundational period for the emergence of a BSPR in education and employment, and in which specific goals and directions were set out in the European education agenda more fine-tuned with employment goals and industry's needs. Moreover, the paper illustrates why private and non-state actors shape boundary policy spanning regimes at the nexus of education and employment, which in this case reflected the economic interests and preferences of European transnational companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

e-Assessments have recently become a priority for effective education in South African higher education institutions, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the implementation and implications of e-assessments in the context of Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs) are still in a simple conceptualisation phase due to many unattended challenges. This position paper investigates e-assessment implementation and its implications for the success of HDIs in South Africa. A desktop approach, involving the analysis of secondary data from university policy documents, government policies and reports, descriptions of internal processes, and copies of employee magazine articles, was used in the methodology in addition to the use of the Internet. No formal protocol or procedure of inquiry was adopted, although set criteria were used; for example, “e-assessment” was used as a search term. The aim of this paper is to highlight the success of implementing e-assessments in HDIs and to illustrate its implications in a conceptual model that can be used by universities to map its benefits and challenges to the appropriate role players. The findings of the paper identified challenges related to the shortage of resources, leadership, government funding as well as infrastructure. Misconceptions related to a lack of authenticity and credibility when an assessment is completed online without proctoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the interactions and cooperation between public-sector, business-sector, and civil-society stakeholders in developing British film policy for educational and cultural purposes. In particular, this paper adopts the Advocacy Coalition Framework to explain why and how public authorities, film industry organizations, and educationalists efficiently communicated and cooperated with each other in making the British Film Institute. By doing that, this paper explains (1) how commercial business and social workers, who were initially hostile, could build constructive partnerships; (2) how inactive, noninterventionist governments could be involved in the policymaking for cultural sectors; and (3) how private business could be persuaded into supporting cultural and educational policy for noncommercial purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Moral Intelligence (MI) as a concept has gained importance in recent years due to its wide applicability in individual, organizational, and clinical settings or even policy making. The present study employed Bibliometric analysis to understand the emerging topics associated with MI and its global research trend. This paper's primary aim was (i) to explore the temporal and geographic growth trends of the research publication on MI. (ii) to identify the most prolific countries, institutions, and authors, working on MI, (iii) to identify the most frequent terminologies, (iv) to explore research topics and to provide insight into potential collaborations and future directions, and (v) to explore the significance of the concept of moral intelligence. Method: Bibliometric analysis was used to understand the emerging topics associated with MI and its global research trend using the SCOPUS database. VOS viewer and R were employed to analyze the result. Through the analysis conducted, the development of the construct over time was analyzed. Results: Results have shown that Iran and the United States and these two combined account for 53.16% of the total country-wise publications. Switzerland has the highest number of Multi-county publications. Authors from Iran and Switzerland have the most number of publications. Emerging topics like decision-making, machine ethics, moral agents, artificial ethics, co-evolution of human and artificial moral agents, green purchase intention etc were identified. Discussion: The application of MI in organisational decision-making, education policy, artificial intelligence and measurement of moral intelligence are important areas of application as per the results. Research interest in MI is projected to increase according to the results delineated in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Pakistan Federal Foundational Learning Policy (FFLP) 2024 in light of holistic education. While enhancing the literacy abilities of children is a notable objective of this policy, this study examines policy in terms of its potential for the student’s education as a whole. In this paper, critical discourse analysis was employed by Mullet, focusing on language, the text structure, and the suggested measures of implementation of policy. This study shows that though FFLP 2024 ensures that gaps in foundational learning are filled, it might downplay other elements necessary for early childhood, namely socio-emotional development, creativity, and cultural competence. This policy gap may impose limitations on school’s curriculum and teaching strategies as it centers on quantifiable results & standardized tests. The findings drawn from the analysis of the policy have questioned its suitability for different regions and its effect on the teachers’ professionals’ autonomy. The study proposed that a balanced approach that incorporates basic skills and general goals is needed for inclusive student development. The study provides valuable suggestions for a broader strategy towards the foundational learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report a comprehensive analysis of the disparities in undergraduate degree achievements across different demographic groups in English universities. The focus is on the "degree achievement gap", which refers to the variation in the rates of students from diverse backgrounds obtaining First- or Upper Second-Class degrees. The significance of this gap lies in its profound impact on graduates' future opportunities, particularly in terms of access to advanced studies and professional trajectories. Recognising the critical nature of this issue, the Office for Students (OfS) has emphasised the need for higher education institutions to actively work towards bridging this gap to enhance equity and social mobility. To map how far the call for bridging this gap has been effective, our research examines trends and patterns by age, ethnicity, disability, and gender over a five-year period from 2017/2018 to 2021/2022. Methodologically, this paper employs a detailed descriptive analysis. Our findings highlight a persistent and significant gap for Black students, who are consistently less likely to achieve a First- or Upper Second-Class degree when compared to their White peers. Based on the analysis, literature review, and policy mapping exercise, we make recommendations for the implementation of targeted support, student engagement, revisiting curriculum designs, and the promotion of a more inclusive campus culture. The insights and proposed strategies will be of interest to educators and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]