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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]

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]

The OECD is an inevitable force in contemporary education. This paper illustrates how the OECD affects recent education policy-making in Iceland with a particular focus on recent documents establishing the new Education Policy 2030 in Iceland and on OECD reports that directly relate to this policy. We illustrate the relationship between these documents both topically and chronologically and use Marilyn Strathern's (2006) reasoning about policy making by bullet-points to understand these policy products. Our conclusions are that education policy 2030 is a clear step into a more Nordic tradition of policymaking, in terms of basing policy in previous works and official reports as well as increasing involvement by stakeholders. However, they are characterized by politically admirable, albeit lofty, formulations of ambitions and focus areas, rather than measurable, actionable and implementable policies. The OECD is given a great influence not only as a referential point and a tool to legitimate particular policies, but also a post-hoc policy-implementation adviser and auditor of the policy. Even though the OECD is asked for evaluation of the visionary policy and seems to be the solution to the perceived lack of professional procedure in Icelandic governance, the time-frame seems not to have allowed a thorough use of their advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Another relevant research question that follows with the pandemic, is if teacher education in the Nordic countries had prepared the new teachers well enough to be able to work in this highly digitalised and crisis-prompted educational practice? A third conclusion is that leaders at the organisational level within this teacher education institution should acknowledge and place higher value on teacher educators' work to digitalise educational practices. Among others, one conclusion is the need for critical thinking and an understanding of how technology makes sense in a teacher's professional pedagogical work, which is not addressed in the Norwegian and Danish national teacher education policy documents included in the study. In the fifth and final paper, I Conditions for professional digital competence: The teacher educators' view i emanating from the symposium I Teaching and Teacher Education in the Light of the Digitalised K-12 school - a Nordic Perspective i Lindfors, Pettersson and Olofsson explore how Swedish teacher educators view the individual, collegial and organisational conditions framing their dual didactical task. [Extracted from the article]

Internationally, research comparing education systems across countries and jurisdictions is valuable and can elicit nuanced insights into how particular systems operate. This paper's interest lies in considering the scope and content of research comparing education systems across the four UK nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). This study sought to determine the coverage of UK cross-national comparative education research ('home international' research) between 2000 and 2022. We chose this time period as 1999 marks the devolution of education policy to each UK nation. We aimed to investigate what educational issues had been discussed in the literature and identify any gaps in the content covered by the research. An exploratory, high-level review of 'home international' education research was conducted, based on the review of abstracts. We searched several research databases using a variety of keyword combinations to identify relevant literature published since 2000. Our search identified 53 studies that met our selection criteria. Using a meta-synthesis approach, we coded the content of each abstract to build a picture of the range and thematic coverage of research involving comparisons between at least two of the four UK nations. The analysis of abstracts identified that, over the last two decades, UK 'home international' research has tended to include comparisons of all four nations, coverage of multiple educational phases and a focus on national education policy reviews. Furthermore, we pinpointed a number of gaps in coverage that might not have been anticipated (e.g. relatively little cross-national research focusing on assessment). This high-level review uncovers the landscape of recent 'home international' research, allowing us to view issues that are driving the cross-national research agenda in the UK and recognise implications relevant to education systems that may resonate with jurisdictions beyond these four UK nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine private supplementary tutoring within the context of Finnish general upper secondary education. Specifically, we focus on profit-driven private preparatory course providers who cater to individual students and their families, aiming to improve applicants' prospects of gaining access to higher education. We examine this during a time when a recent education policy reform has renewed seeking admission to higher education in Finland, consequently impacting the private supplementary tutoring market associated with it. We draw on Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital, and habitus as a starting point for discussing the complex dynamics between public and private actors in the field of Finnish general upper secondary education and the role of economic capital. The ethnographic data analyzed for this paper consist of field notes and interviews (n = 58) from three general upper secondary schools, produced in 2019-2020. The study aims to investigate the negotiations between the public and private spheres of education within the everyday practices of Finnish public upper secondary education during an educational policy reform. We conclude that the fields of public and private education are not separate but rather intertwined, and they can become blurred in the everyday life of schools through both temporal and spatial overlaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrapreneurs are needed in the sport sector due to its competitive nature. However, little attention has been paid to this topic within sport entrepreneurship literature. This paper aims to examine the cross-cultural applicability of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior for predicting the intrapreneurial intentions (II) of sport science students from two European countries and to discover if there is a moderating effect of country's culture on the antecedents of II. A questionnaire to collect the data was used. The sample is composed by 736 final year sports sciences students from Spain and Lithuania. The combination of a symmetric (Structural Equations Modelling) and asymmetric (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) approach was used to examine the students' country culture as a potential moderator. Results indicate Ajzens's theory of planned behavior as a suitable framework to predict intrapreneurial intentions (II). Moreover, it is highlighted that the country's culture can have a moderating effect on the university students' II. Educational policy makers should consider the impact of county culture when promoting intrapreneurial behavior. In Spain, it should be developed a positive attitude towards intrapreneurial behavior, while in Lithuania it is more important to foster that they perceive as having the necessary skills to be an intrapreneur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid reviews involve a streamlined approach to knowledge synthesis. They are used to identify high-quality evidence for the purpose of informing decisions and initiatives, completed over relatively short timeframes, and have been found to reach conclusions that do not differ extensively from full systematic reviews. Although common in the health sector, rapid reviews are not as widespread in education. This paper reflects on the experiences of conducting a rapid review that applied review guidance from the health sector to a topic situated within education: effective Professional Learning (PL) for school-based educators. Our purpose is not to share the rapid review's findings: rather, our interest lies in exploring the process of undertaking the review. We sought to investigate the methodological decisions we made for the education context as we carried out the review. As part of a large-scale investigation focusing on practitioner use of research evidence in education, we undertook a rapid review to understand what is known about effective PL. Drawing on methodological literature from the health and education sectors, we documented the procedure involved in conducting our rapid review in education. At each step, we reflected on methodological issues encountered, decisions taken and the procedural adjustments we made to align the process to the education context. Our reflections identify the key adaptations we made to ensure that review guidance was carefully attuned to the context of the education field and the wider purpose of the review: in our case, to inform an initiative in education. Considerations highlighted by our procedure also included the role of reviewer judgement in quality appraisal and attending to collaborative review team processes. These reflections support the notion that the use of research to inform decisions in education needs to be a dynamic, contextualised, and collaborative process. Rapid reviews have a crucial part to play in efforts to strengthen evidence-informed practice in the education sector. Our methodological exploration offers insights for those conducting, using, and commissioning rapid reviews to provide systematic and transparent evidence-based guidance for initiatives in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collaborative work between authors, reviewers and editors during the different phases of publication process has epistemic consequences for several reasons. Therefore, discussing the nature and principles of the publication process, including peer review and editorial work, is vital for the whole field of education policy research. Editors are familiar with both the importance of the swift publication process, for example, for the advancement of PhD processes, but also the time constraints with which the reviewers struggle. This issue consists of four peer-reviewed articles, and two nonreviewed texts: a book review and a discussion paper. [Extracted from the article]

The modest impact of national policy efforts on school digitalisation relates to a gap between views among policy-makers and practitioners, giving rise to complexity in translating policy into action. Acknowledging changes in governing through alternative policy formation-processes, and Ward and Parr's (2011) arguing for the importance of strategic- and operational policy coherence, the focus of this paper is the forming of a national plan of action for the digitalisation of schools in Sweden (#skolDigiplan). Within this interview study, the views on policy work and challenges of digitalisation of schools are explored among an exclusive management group of non-traditional Swedish policy-makers appointed to produce the #skolDigiplan. Based on the findings, I conclude that national policy making regarding the digitalisation of schools may be conducted through a collective process, with several educational stakeholders contributing. Furthermore, I suggest that non-traditional national policy-makers, arguing a lack of digital competence knowledge concerning schools at the governing or authority level, may consider taking a step back in the policy-formation process as a supportive action. Teacher training programmes, despite being portrayed as important for the policy outcome, were declared distant in this policy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the contexts, structures and administrations of early childhood education (ECE) may differ internationally, effective pedagogical leadership remains an essential component in supporting young children's development and learning. This paper reports on a comparative study which considered ECE in two different settings, Finland and Florida, providing insight into teachers' perspectives on the characteristics of pedagogical leadership. This study sought to investigate and compare the perspectives of ECE teachers and directors in Finland and Florida via their discourses about teachers' pedagogical leadership. The goal was to provide an overview of the ECE teachers' and directors' discourses in each location, in order to allow comparison and a better understanding of the influence of aspects including locational contexts, curricular guidelines and teacher preparation on the ECE teachers' and directors' perspectives. A comparative case study design was used. The data consisted of semi-structured focus group interviews and individual interviews with ECE teachers and centre directors in Finland and in Florida. Data from the two locations were first analysed separately to identify the main discourses; secondly, discourses were compared collectively to reveal major themes. The analysis indicated a similar conceptualisation of distributed pedagogical leadership. However, differences were identified in teachers' expectations of independence in instructional decisions, and the extension of pedagogical leadership practices within and beyond the ECE centres. The analysis of discourses led to the identification of three major themes, which generated implications for teacher preparation, curriculum development and implementation, and ECE programme directions. The study enables a more comprehensible conceptualisation of teachers' pedagogical leadership as it emerged from teachers' and directors' discourses across two locations. Pedagogical leadership is recognised as an indicator of high-quality pedagogy in early childhood education and the findings highlight the need to continuously support and strengthen teachers' pedagogical leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of digital technology in national guidelines and regulations in Norwegian and Danish teacher education over the course of 28 years (1992–2020). These policy documents are used to examine policy perspectives on digital technology through an analytical framework based on Wartofsky's artifact categories. The analytical categories developed for this study are tool artifacts, teacher professional artifacts and discursive artifacts. The results show that the different categories dominate at different times. The Norwegian policy documents indicate an increase in teacher professional artifacts and a decrease in tool artifacts over time, whereas the Danish policy documents show the opposite tendency. Discursive artifacts are absent in Danish policy documents while their presence diminishes over time in the Norwegian policy documents. As teachers, and ITE in particular, are still struggling to realise educational policy aims, there is still a need for direction, this absence seems to run counter to the goal of increasing PDC in ITE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Understanding the nature of wellbeing as multidimensional and complex provides a policy window to generate a strengths-based policy orientation to promote wellbeing in education settings. The purpose of this exploratory paper is to map how wellbeing is interpreted across public education policy documents in Aotearoa New Zealand. Method: To explore the narrative that this group of documents weave, we draw on models of holistic wellbeing, ecological systems and appreciative inquiry. Policy documents were analysed using text mining software to track notions of wellbeing; their occurrence and co-occurrence with related concepts. Results: Key findings include the predominance of wellbeing, the interrelatedness of wellbeing with relationships, and the predominance of student wellbeing over the wellbeing of other stakeholders, highlighting that current education policy does not interpret wellbeing as relational, complex or contextual. Conclusion: We argue that interpreting such documents through a wellbeing lens demonstrates the complexity and disparity of the conceptualization and contextualization. We assert that it is critical to explore possibilities for deliberate and ecological wellbeing connections within educational policy and practice for the good of all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Te reo Māori, the Māori language is a taonga (something highly valued by Māori) that should have been protected under Article Two of the 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the treaty that gave Britain the right to settlement of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Article Two guaranteed Māori absolute chieftainship over their lands, homes, resources, and everything of value. Thirty-five years ago the Waitangi Tribunal found te reo Māori is indeed a 'taonga' which the Crown is obliged to protect. In this paper we consider how the dominance of English language practices in education in Aotearoa and unequal access to Māori of power and resources has caused te reo to decline. We outline how the Waitangi Tribunal has identified treaty breaches, before considering recent education policy with a specific focus on the early childhood sector. We conclude by identifying the teacher education sector as a prime site for reinvigorating te reo Māori as both the repository of Māori knowledge and a national taonga. We highlight that whilst recent policy changes signal a governmental commitment to transforming the racist and linguicist legacy of educational policies, ongoing resourcing of support to the teaching profession will be required to ensure the success of these aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to explore the interrelationships between a national government and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of the power and legitimization of education reforms, here based on the reciprocal dependence of the two actors. Although the current case study only analyses the shifting relationships between Sweden and the OECD, the assumption is that the case is quite representative of the ambiguities of power in the relationships between the OECD and its smaller member countries and the Nordic countries in particular. To explore the relationship between the Swedish national government and OECD, we make use of discursive institutionalism as a general framework. For a closer understanding of the standpoints of the OECD and Sweden on different matters and at different times, two explanation logics are used. The discourses we found characterizing the different kinds of relationships over time are a discourse of opposition, a discourse of mentorship and a discourse of subordination. We argue that there are both ideational and institutional reasons affecting the conditions for cooperation on educational policy. Although institutional reasons strengthen the maintenance of the cooperation, ideational reasons both challenge and develop the nature of the collaboration between the OECD and Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are growing expectations internationally that schools and systems will use research evidence to inform their improvement efforts. Such developments raise important questions about what it means to use research evidence well in education. To date, there has been wide-ranging debate about what counts as quality evidence, but very little dialogue about what counts as quality use. In response, this article presents a conceptual framework to define and elaborate what quality use of research evidence might mean in relation to education. The framework is informed by a cross-sector systematic review and narrative synthesis of 112 relevant publications from four sectors: health, social care, education and policy. The review explored if, and how, quality of evidence use had been defined and described within each of these sectors in order to inform a quality use framework for education. Based on the cross-sector review, quality use of research evidence is framed in terms of two core components: (1) appropriate research evidence and (2) thoughtful engagement and implementation, supported by three individual enabling components (skillsets, mindsets and relationships) and three organisational enabling components (leadership, culture and infrastructure), as well as system-level influences. There is potential for this framework to inform current approaches to the use of research in education. There is also an important need to test and refine its components through further empirical investigation, theoretical inquiry and intervention development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the drivers of students' success in a first-year university statistics course. Using a unique sample from Westminster International University in Tashkent, we discover that student engagement with their studies is reflected in their class attendance and in the use of online resources, which continue to play an important role in their academic performance. Moreover, we discovered that socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, employment, and language of instruction of prior schooling are significant in explaining student academic outcomes. These factors have important policy implications for both the university and the broader national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: Research concerning student-centered learning (SCL) recommends a comprehensive assessment of medical students' competencies including their personal and professional characters. Accordingly, nurturing future doctors should be in a continuous mentorship program. However, in a hierarchical culture, communication is oneway with limited feedback and reflection. We aimed to explore challenges and opportunities for SCL implementation in medical schools in this cultural setting necessary for a globally interdependent world. Methods: Two cycles of participatory action research (PAR) were conducted, involving medical students and teachers in Indonesia. A national conference on SCL principles was conducted between the cycles, also the SCL modules were developed for each institution and feedback was shared. Twelve focus group discussions were conducted (before and after the module development), with 37 medical teachers and 48 medical students from 7 faculties of medicine across Indonesia at various levels accreditation. Following verbatim transcriptions, a thematic analysis was conducted. Results and Discussions: In cycle 1 PAR, some challenges in implementing SCL were identified: lack of constructive feedback, overloaded content, summative-based assessment, hierarchical culture environment, and teachers' dilemma of committed time between patientcare and education. In cycle 2, several opportunities to approach the SCL were proposed: a faculty development program on mentorship, students' reflection guides and training, a more longitudinal assessment system, also a more supportive government policy on the human resources system. Conclusions: The main challenge of fostering student-centered learning revealed in this study was a teacher-centered learning tendency in the medical curriculum. The weighting towards summative assessment and the national educational policy drive the curriculum like a 'domino effect', away from the expected student-centered learning principles. However, using a participative method, students and teachers could identify opportunities and articulate their educational needs, i.e., a partnership-mentorship program, as a significant step toward student-centered learning in this cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general shift towards competency-based curricula has meant that, for quite some time, skills including critical thinking have been central considerations in educational policy reform internationally. However, what happens at the policy level is only one aspect of change: gaining a deep understanding of how new curricula are approached and interpreted in practice, at the classroom level, is crucial. This study sought to explore connections between policy, practice and professional learning in the context of a critical thinking policy. The aim was to investigate teachers' perspectives to address the following research questions: What are teachers' perceptions and knowledge base of critical thinking? And how, and to what extent, do teachers incorporate critical thinking into their classroom practices? The study employed a collective case study approach. Participants were a sample of six teachers (three beginning and three experienced teachers) in Singapore. Data collection involved teacher interviews, lesson observations and the gathering of students' work. The data were analysed qualitatively. Through in-depth analysis of data, four major themes emerged, which characterised the teachers' perceptions, knowledge and classroom practices of critical thinking in relation to the policy context: (i) gaps in teacher knowledge; (ii) contextual factors shaping teacher knowledge; (iii) teacher knowledge shaping practice; and (iv) contextual factors shaping practice. This study offers, from the perspectives of teachers, insight into the connections between policy, teacher practice and professional learning, and points to systemic and contextual factors that can represent barriers and enablers to the enactment of a critical thinking policy. More broadly, it deepens the understanding of factors that may shape policy enactment at the classroom level, highlighting the crucial role played by teacher knowledge in effecting educational change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions about the optimum age for young people to complete their compulsory education, and how this relates to issues of equity, are familiar topics of debate in many jurisdictions. The aim of educational equity has been fundamental in Finnish education, upheld through decades of reforms. A recent reform has extended compulsory education in Finland to the age of 18. As part of gaining insight into its implications, more needs to be understood about how it is perceived by young people in education settings. This study sought to explore young people's perceptions of extended compulsory education in the context of the recent reform in Finland. A total of 19 focus group interviews were carried out with 56 15-to-16-year-olds who were among the first cohort of young people experiencing the extension to compulsory education. Data were analysed qualitatively, using a discourse-analytical approach. Three main discourses emerged, which helped illuminate the young people's views: (i) grade discourse, (ii) potential equity discourse and (iii) part-of-the-system discourse. Goals and pressure to succeed were emphasised through grade discourse; the extension was also discussed in terms of equity around provision of accessible information and access to education. While most participants deemed completing secondary education self-evident, doubts arose about the system's flexibility and whether it might hinder choice. Different discourses slightly influenced agency; grade discourse reinforced young people's goal-oriented stance. This study highlights how certain 'ideal' positions may be favoured among young people considering various educational and career paths. While effective for those with clear goals, it could discourage deviation from peers' choices. The findings draw attention more broadly to the need for quality study guidance and wellbeing prioritisation for all young people as they negotiate transitional points in their individual learning journeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Education Act from 2010 states that education in Sweden ought to be based on scientific knowledge and proven experience. The aim of this study is to explore practice-near school research published by Swedish researchers in the wake of the Education Act with the focus on the participation of teachers in research. As a background, the international and national roots of practice-near school research in Sweden are described. The study is focused on research projects in compulsory and upper secondary school, school years 1–12. 92 articles in 19 journals were detected through a literature search and purposive sampling. Based on the articles, a framework of aspects with categories was developed and the reported studies were analysed accordingly. The findings indicate a multifaceted research field; studies based on a variety of theories and methods and with different roles for teachers. The different categories for teacher's participation in research and how teacher roles were described in the articles did not give a clear picture on what teachers' roles could imply for the teachers involved. The article concludes with a discussion of the recent policy initiatives of practice-near school research in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From once being synonymous with reading and writing, literacy, as a concept has expanded in the last three decades to today being associated with multiple meaning making forms and competences. Impactful, in this shift, has been the research orientation of New Literacy Studies. Besides academia, the literacy concept has also had a major influence on the global assessment frameworks of Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). This study is interested in the epistemological potential of this perception of literacy, but also on how it affects educational policy. Material examined is a large Swedish governmentally-initiated professional development programme for teachers, launched in 2014. Two main variants of the literacy concept can be identified in the programme, one more closely aligned with New Literacy Studies, and the other more influenced by PISA and PIRLS. Findings show, strong impact from the global assessment version of the literacy concept, resulting in a mainly skills-based and instrumental educational discourse, far from the concept of Bildung, traditionally characteristic of the Nordic school systems. Further, of the two variants, New Literacy has a broader epistemological potential, and is, as such, more closely related to Bildung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational opportunities and access vary according to location. In rural areas, the cultural, social and material consequences for local communities depend on the nature and degree of support for rural schools. There is a need to understand more about how the organisation of vocational education and training (VET), and the activities within it, relate to equity. The research sought to explore how the organisation of VET in a rural area of Norway, involving collaboration between school, training agency and local businesses/institutions, constructed notions of equity in VET. A case study methodology was utilised. In-depth interviews were undertaken with personnel within a rural community (staff representing the school, training agency and businesses/institutions) who were supporting a VET education programme. Data were analysed qualitatively, using a narrative synthesis procedure. Detailed analysis of rich interview data indicated that strong institutional and pedagogical approaches were employed to support students throughout their VET education. According to the participants' perceptions, the school, training agency and businesses/institutions focused on stabilising each other in the process of supporting equity in VET. Continuing ongoing work and reconstruction of traditions and routines appeared to contribute to the integration of the different actors' work in organising equity in VET. Our study highlights how, in a rural community, opportunities for all in VET may be constructed and reconstructed through ongoing work which is connected to the foundations of the local context. The reconstruction needs to be maintained through networks and connections within and between the school, training agency and the businesses/institutions. This, in turn, can contribute to support for culture and welfare in the community to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-credentials are increasingly considered a key mechanism through which to empower learners by enabling flexible upskilling and reskilling. Despite their apparent importance for higher education institutions (HEIs) and learners, empirical research is limited. More needs to be understood, particularly about the ways in which micro-credentials can shape institutional practice and provide benefits to learners. Using a foresight approach, this study sets out to explore the potential for micro-credential adoption in relation to national and international policy initiatives and rapidly developing technologies. Its intention is to offer findings of interest internationally, particularly to those involved in strategic activities around micro-credentials. A four-step Delphi study approach was used to explore how micro-credentials may shape higher education (HE) in the next 5–10 years. Educational experts undertook a consensus-building activity utilising workshops and surveys: (1) initial identification of enabling factors (i.e. drivers) and beneficial outcomes (i.e. impacts) of micro-credentials; (2) prioritisation based on importance; (3) identification of enabling factors considered essential for each beneficial outcome and (4) analysis of the extent to which micro-credentials might be accepted in HE, with participants reflecting on the importance of the previously identified enablers and outcomes for alternative scenarios. The analysis sheds light on three alternative possible futures for micro-credentials. Expert consensus indicated that the potential of micro-credentials lies especially among educational institutions and the networks of institutions innovating beyond, and within, traditional study offerings and programmes. Future wide-scale adoption of micro-credentials was considered unpredictable, due to external factors at the ecosystem level, and beyond institutions' own strategies and control. The findings suggest that, for the successful uptake of micro-credentials, the same benefits do not need to accrue for institutions and learners: a 'one-size-fits-all' approach is not necessary or optimal. In order for the wider-scale influence of micro-credentials to be felt, there is a need for considerable international and national strategy development and implementation to overcome a variety of policy- and technology-related barriers that HEIs cannot influence or tackle on their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various forms of public-private collaborative organizations have been emerging in the education sector, a development that has made managing public-private partnerships an unavoidable imperative for school managers today. Addressing interactions between the partnership manager of and partners in a public-private innovation partnership, this article explores the attachments public and private actors establish in the framework of such partnerships. While formal structures often bind partnerships together, open innovation partnerships have a more fluid organization in which the participants have to establish the ground for their common work. Specifically, the article presents a study of a Danish partnership project aimed at developing a new secondary school. Drawing on the sociology of engagements, the article sketches out the differing forms of mutual engagements at stake between the actors involved and the challenges they face. As the partnership studied lacked formal agreements, the manager's and partners' locally performed acts of proximity became a means of binding the partnership together. In these acts, a mutual explorative engagement intertwined with a familiar engagement, thus creating a distinct attachment of familiar strangers between the public and private actors – an attachment through which ideas on education and common educational visions could traverse the public and private sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active learning is the outcome of a series of higher education policy reforms conducted in the late 2000s and early 2010s in Japan. This approach gained momentum after it was prioritised in a comprehensive report produced by the Central Council of Education (an advisory board of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology). It was also emphasised in a project undertaken by this Ministry. Despite its popularity and the emergence of publications focusing on its definition and associated methods, some scholars have expressed concern that active learning is not well understood or appropriately applied by Japanese university instructors. However, to date, no large-scale empirical studies have been conducted to elicit their understanding and practice of active learning. The current study addressed this research gap through a nation-wide survey of university instructors. Its findings indicate that the scholars' concerns are largely justified. Whereas the majority of respondents reported the use of instructional methods for implementing active learning recommended by the Central Council (e.g. project- or problem-based learning and cooperative learning), they tended to equate active learning with the mere use of these methods. In conclusion, we offer suggestions on how active learning should be understood and practiced by instructors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, educational opportunities and choices may differ according to factors related to location. This may have a significant impact on young people's life chances and trajectories. The in-depth, ethnographic study reported here focuses attention on rural/non-rural variations in transition programmes for school students requiring additional support. The research sought to explore why, seemingly counterintuitively, students requiring additional support in rural Swedish areas might experience more successful transitions than students in some less rural locations. Data included field observations from selected municipalities and interviews with school staff and local officials. Using themes drawn from the data, the Local Learning Ecologies framework was adopted as an analysis tool to capture the detail of relevant macro-, micro- and intermediate-level factors and experiences. Fine-grained analysis of the rich data suggested that the national expansion of school choice and decentralisation in Sweden has affected the organisation of transition programmes. In particular, decentralisation has led to the concentration of national programme provision in city centres, meaning that some students in municipalities may have abundant options but require substantial commuting to access them. Overall, important factors for successful transitions may include short distances between school institutions (facilitating information flows); collaboration between teachers, other professionals and students, and clear options for students. The study highlights that although decentralisation may have, on the face of it, appeared to broaden options for young people in some (particularly commuter-belt) municipalities, their trajectories appear to have become more opaque and choices potentially more restricted. In contrast, short distances between institutions and better collaboration between staff, students and local entrepreneurs in rural municipalities seem to provide clearer options for students within transition programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how Swedish teacher educators view individual, collegial, and organisational conditions framing the fulfilment of their dual didactical task, which is to use digital technology in a way that ensures student teachers graduate from teacher education (TE) with the professional digital competence (PDC) needed for their future working lives in a digitalised school. Using a purposive sampling approach, we used thematic coding to analyse 13 semistructured interviews with teacher educators representing 21 mandatory courses in educational science at one teacher education institution in Sweden. The findings cover aspects of the teacher educators' PDC, how to act as a digital role model for the student teachers, support in educational policy and assignments, and the possibilities for participating in continuous professional development (CPD) in PDC. This study demonstrates an urgent need to improve conditions for successful fulfilment of teacher educators' dual didactical task. For example, TE policy requires a strong focus on digital technology and PDC. CPD activities should be easy to access in order for teacher educators to develop their PDC. Moreover, leaders at the organisational level in TE institutions should acknowledge and place higher value on teacher educators' work to digitalise educational practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience has been highlighted in educational policies internationally as one of the key elements that may prevent negative developmental trajectories, such as radicalization into violent extremism. To examine the factors that contribute to resilience at adolescence and to understand how resilience relates to wellbeing this study investigates the resilience resources of Finnish youth (n=2837). Furthermore, we examined the relationship between resilience and the youth's self-reported levels of empathy and beneficence (pro-social orientation), life satisfaction and meaning in life (contentment with life), and their intention for non-violent action (activism), and intention for violent actions (radicalism). The results of the latent profile analysis suggest that high resilience resources are related to higher levels of pro-social orientation and contentment with life, while the opposite is true for low resilience resources. However, the findings do not indicate any significant connection between low resilience resources and an increased intent for activism or radicalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Danish education context has seen an increased concern about underperforming students with migratory histories (particularly students perceived as non-Western descendants) in the political and pedagogical discourses. There seem to be some historical tensions between the societal expectation of class mobility through education on one hand and the neglect of issues of class in the curriculum of schooling for migrant students on the other. These groups of students were labelled 'foreign workers' children' in the 1970s' education policy, with stress on 'the foreign' rather than 'the worker' part. Based on oral history interviews with former migrant students, this article explores how the class process for migrant students operated through racialized practices in Danish schooling in the 1980s. Contributing to the literature on migrant education and class experiences, the study finds that the migrant students' lived class experiences are woven into the processes of racialization in such a way that even the migrant students from academic homes had racialized struggles sustaining their middle-classed positionality in the Danish school. The arrangement of the power structures of class is hence strongly interwoven with the power structure of race in the historical context of Danish schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers are increasingly emphasizing the importance of international actors' influence on defining education policy in different contexts. The article argues that referencing international organizations is a way of legitimizing changes to private school policy. Using Norway as an example, the article investigates how international references are used by the political divide: first, a centre-right government liberalized private school policy. This was reversed by the successive centre-left government, before the successive centre-right government again liberalized private school policy. The study draws on content analysis of policy documents from 2002 to 2018. The analysis displays the eclectic nature of how international references are used to (de)legitimize private school policies. Different governments have used similar international references either to legitimise the liberalization of private schooling policy, or to delegitimise such policy. However, the analysis also shows that concepts like free choice, diversity and competition are central in legitimising private school policy. The study of international referencing in the education field indicates several consequences for the Norwegian education welfare state ideal, such as emphasising a stronger market-orientation. This study shows that analysing how actors position political arguments is important when understanding how nation states, as proactive entities, negotiate meaning and evidence from international references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The powerful, opaque concepts presented in this issue are "competence" (Schaffar, 2021), "psychosocial" (Gro, 2021); "free choice" and "diversity" (Dieudé, 2021), and "the best interest of the child" (Ruutiainen et al., 2021). This issue returns to the question of whether the most powerful concepts in education are both "familiar and alien at the same time" (see Gro, 2021). The latter approaches competence as a calculable, measurable, and empirically assessable qualification, and it seems to overshadow the former use of competence, i.e. competence as "the value-laden aims of our endeavours in education". [Extracted from the article]