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The study aims to understand the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopts the PRISMA approach to screening the selection of journal articles and review papers according to the research aims and the inclusion criteria. The journal articles and review papers were extracted and stored in Microsoft Excel and Google Scholar, Academic. Microsoft, Semantic Scholar, Elsevier, and Emerald Insight databases searched relevant documents using formulated keywords. A statistical technique was applied using the M.S. Excel analysis tool (PivotTable and an independent t-Test) to analyze data and determine the differences between teachers and students. The review revealed the evidence that the majority of the studies were primarily focused on the individual developing countries and results from other developing countries were not considered. In addition, the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic were inadequate skills and training, inadequate Internet/Infrastructure, lack of supporting resources and lack of online student engagement and feedback. Finally, the independent t-test reveals there is no statistically significant difference in challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both teachers and students encounter similar challenges. The systematic review raised concerns that higher learning needs to effectively implement long term strategies and support teachers and students in getting into online teaching and learning.

Over the years attempts have been made to standardize sign languages. This form of language planning has been tackled by a variety of agents, most notably teachers of Deaf students, social workers, government agencies, and occasionally groups of Deaf people themselves. Their efforts have most often involved the development of sign language books with lists of signs in alphabetical order (as distinct from sign language principles) and more recently as CDROMs, DVDs, or websites. With regard to the all-important question about language standardization, Karin Hoyer asks, "Who is behind the effort?" and goes on to say that "standardization actions (often with the aim of reducing lexical variation) have frequently been undertaken with the strong support of the hearing-run education system--from outside, often without any support from the language users themselves" (2012, 32). Today, sign language planning is still carried out largely by hearing professionals; thus, that standardization still needs to be examined in relation to "language ownership" (Eichmann 2009).

This paper examines the use of vignettes as a research method in a comparative exploration of the provision for children with special educational needs across eleven countries. The investigation selected in-country researchers, who responded to questions with respect to children described in 14 vignettes. The questions related to school placement options; assessment processes; support arrangements; service provision; curriculum responses and those involved in placement decisions. The vignette findings were able to highlight differences in placement decisions between the countries; the general lack of pupil voice in decision making and the ubiquitous influence of medical categories within educational settings. The utility of using vignettes in this type of research is discussed in relation to reflecting the complex reality of educational practice in different countries.

This paper applies Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as well as data analysis to gain a better understanding of the existing perception on the education system. 45,278 tweets were downloaded and processed. Using a lexicon-based approach, examining the most frequently used words, and estimating similarities between terms, we detected that a predominantly negative perception of the education system exists in most of the analysed countries. A positive perception is identified in certain low-income nations. Men exhibit a more positive sentiment than women as well as a higher subjectivity in some countries. The countries that exhibit the most positive perceptions India, Canada, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and Kenya are also those that manifest the highest subjectivity.

This special issue expands the scope of a panel presentation at the Society for Research into Higher Education Annual Conference 2019 and makes two identified contributions to the field. First, drawing from existing literature, this introductory paper proposes three categorisations of employability as: outcomes approach, process approach and conceptual approaches. This moves beyond normative conceptualisation of employability from mostly the outcomes approach. The applicability of the categorisation is further enumerated by the diversity of contributions in this special issue that highlights (a) the complexity in the field and (b) the interrelatedness of the categories. Second, the special issue puts together a rarely combined collection of global perspectives on conceptualisations of employability, and insights from research on little studied groups in Western and non-Western contexts (the UK, Portugal, Australia, the Indo-Pacific Region, Germany, Kenya and Kazakhstan). The papers, therefore, illustrate the need to widen our scope of understanding employability beyond current dominant perspectives. The broadening that is required in employability discourses is further needed in view of unprecedented disruption brought on higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests the need to rethink our conceptualisations of employability amidst uncertainty and potential disruption to the future of work.

In this study, the variables having impact on the student motivation have been analyzed based on the articles, conference papers, master's theses and doctoral dissertations published in the years 2000-2017. A total of 165 research papers were selected for the research material and the data were collected through qualitative research techniques through document review and content analysis. According to the research results, the most important factors affecting student motivation are the fields of teacher, teachers' classroom management skills and their teaching methods. In this research, factors having less influence on the student motivation are parental communication, student characteristics and study fields. In addition, relational search type was used more than others, mostly students were selected as the study group and most researches were conducted in USA and Turkey.

The collection of papers presented in this issue of Critical Studies in Education adds to the expansive body of work on teachers and teaching. Collectively, the papers draw our attention to new ways the field is problematising the emerging and evolving conditions that shape the work, lives and identities of teachers. With this editorial introduction to the issue, I not only summarise the various themes of the collection, but also offer a provocation that I hope will inspire new questions moving forward. As critical researchers, we have an obligation to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions -- not only by looking outwards at the policymakers, edu-businesses, and intergovernmental agencies (e.g., the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation Development [OECD]), but also by looking inwards and challenging our own assumptions about power, discourse and subjectivity. The authors in the special issue take up both challenges in their geographically diverse accounts of 'the teacher' and 'teaching', demonstrating what it means to do critical research well.

This paper analyses the current state of postcolonial and decolonial science teaching, based on a systematic review of the literature, with a special focus on the European context. It shows that currently, a very narrow view on postcolonial science teaching prevails, limiting its scope to former colonies. A total of 227 articles published 2013-2022 were identified using meta-interpretation combined with systematic searches. 43 of these articles were selected for the sample and analysed. Included were only articles reporting on teaching practice in regular science classes in secondary school. The analysis identified as the main theme the question of how to coordinate Indigenous knowledge systems and Western science in the classroom. Further, translanguaging and pedagogy of justice are used as approaches toward decolonising science education. One striking finding in the analysis is the absence of de-/postcolonial approaches from European countries. This indicates that teaching practice in Europe might currently not undergo decolonisation. This contradicts Aimé Césaire's observation that both the colonised "and" the colonisers were decivilised during colonialism and need decolonisation [Césaire, A. (1955). "Discours sur le colonialisme" [Discourse on colonialism] (6th ed.). Présence Africaine]. In this article, the different approaches toward decolonisation and an outline of decolonial science teaching for the European context are presented.

This paper reports on a study aimed at exploring the benefits of an international service-learning experience for teachers employed in a rural primary school in Africa. The primary school, where these teachers are employed was the focal point of an international visit in December 2012 by twenty-four undergraduate primary education students from the University of Notre Dame, Australia. Teachers were interviewed and their responses analysed qualitatively. Explorations of teacher benefits of this visit were articulated in themes that emerged including benefits to the children at the school and the impact the visit had on teacher pedagogy. Teacher responses revealed that the teachers valued the visit immensely as it provided a balance to the school curriculum which teachers articulated as having its primary focus on the country's national standardised testing regime. The article serves as an initial investigation into the gap that exists in current service learning literature, namely the impact of international service learning experiences for members of the host community. Limitations of this study and future implications of this specific visit are also explored.

This systematic review is built on the seminal work by the New London Group in 1996. Few endeavours have synthesized findings of empirical studies pertaining to the effects and challenges of multiliteracies practices in various schooling and geographical contexts. Through a five-point Likert scale and a deductive and inductive thematic analysis, we conducted a systematic review of 66 multiliteracies articles from the ProQuest® database. These studies were empirical, qualitative/mixed-method, and ranged from 2006 to 2015. Findings show a burgeoning number of multiliteracies studies occurring in 15 countries, with Canada being the most prominently involved. Our evaluation of the reviewed studies was generally favourable with strengths identified in researchers' articulation of pertinent theoretical frameworks and connections to existent literature. Our findings refer to insufficient information of data collection and data analysis in a certain number of papers. We also elaborate on major affordances, challenges, and oversights of the multiliteracies practices as reported by the reviewed studies and discuss implications for future multiliteracies research, policies on literacy education, and teacher education in diverse contexts.

Critical Sexuality Studies is an emerging field of academic enquiry linked to an international network of advocacy agencies, activists, and political issues. This paper reports on the development of an advanced short course in sexuality theory and research, drawing on Critical Sexuality Studies and aiming directly at academics in developing countries working in sexuality issues. Over a three-year period, a new curriculum was developed by an international team. The course was piloted in two continents, refined, revised, and released globally under a Creative Commons licence in 2010 on a dedicated website. This paper documents the project and its progress to date. (Contains 5 figures and 8 notes.)

Observing that place may be understood in a range of sometimes conflicting ways, the paper picks up on recent work within literacy studies on notions of place-making and locational disadvantage to argue for increasingly sophisticated and reflexive uses of place in the field, as a counterpoint to both increasing educational standardisation and widespread environmental concern. A key concept introduced is the notion of relative location, referring to a relational, dynamic view of where one is located in the world, whether within particular countries or at a geo-global scale. Links are made with Connell's notion of "southern theory", within global fields of cultural and knowledge production. The paper comments on various aspects of the other papers presented here, in responding to and concluding the Special Issue. (Contains 1 note.)

Includes "Introduction" (Chitty); "Political Parties, Ideology, and National Curriculum" (Lawton); "First Three National Curricula and Millenium" (Graham); "Politics of Curriculum in European Perspective" (McLean); "Curriculum Scene in the United States" (Holt); "Similar but Different" (Hughes); "Curriculum Development in New Zealand" (Philips); and "Education for Development and Democracy in Kenya" (Osler). (JOW)

There is wide agreement that teacher professional development (TPD) is a necessary element in educational change, especially for the more effective application of technology to enhance learning. The research literature reports many examples of successful TPD but there remain many challenges to wider and deeper success in the variety of different contexts. Discussion by the thematic working group on TPD at EDUsummIT 2015 in Bangkok identified several challenges to successful TPD. This paper discusses those challenges, describes four cases of successful TPD from varied contexts, and derives a model for TPD based on observed commonalities in the cases.

Yunkaporta's (2009) pedagogical "eight ways" conceptual framework, inspired by Nakata's (2007) cultural interface theory, provided the platform for interpretation of the data in the current study. Here we considered the transferability of the framework to a current initiative in Kenya and its usefulness in preparation for an expansion of that initiative to other developing world countries. The current study considered to what extent the work of these Australian authors, concerned with enhancing the engagement and educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners in the Australian context, would be applicable in contexts far removed from Australia. This paper describes the context of the current study: groups of teacher education students from the University of Notre Dame Australia undertaking some weeks of teaching in the Aberdare Ranges School in Kenya. As the University seeks to expand service learning opportunities to countries other than Kenya, the research question was: to what extent is Yunkaporta's eight ways conceptual model useful for Australian pre-service teacher education students preparing to work for the first time in a cross-cultural context at the cultural interface? A case study methodology was utilised and data were gathered from students' reflective diaries and individual interviews. Thematic coding was utilised for interpretation of the data.

This meta-analysis summarizes research on the effects of a comprehensive, interactive web-based software (AXXX) on the development of reading competencies among kindergarteners and elementary students. Findings from seven randomized control trials and quasi-experimental studies undertaken in a variety of contexts across Canada, Australia and Kenya were reviewed and analyzed. Comparing the experimental groups that used AXXX to the control groups exposed to regular literacy instruction, the studies produced sixty-five independent effect sizes in six outcome categories, as defined by the National Reading Panel (NRP, 2000). The average effects were: (1) Phonics: g+ = 0.150, (k = 17, N = 914), p < 0.05; (2) Phonemic Awareness: g+ = 0.323, (k = 19, N = 1550), p < 0.001; (3) Reading Fluency: g+ = 0.082, (k = 5, N = 1522), p > 0.05 (ns); (4) Reading Comprehension: g+ = 0.087, (k = 5, N = 923), p > 0.05 (ns); •Listening Comprehension: g+ = 0.430, (k = 5, N = 846), p < 0.001; and (5) Vocabulary Knowledge: g+ = 0.031, (k = 14, N = 964), p > 0.05 (ns). The random effects model non-independent weighted overall average effect was g+ = 0.191 (k = 65). All but one of the average effect size distributions were homogeneous, suggesting that the observed effects are generally representative of the impact that AXXX may have on novice readers. The paper concludes with a discussion of AXXX classroom uses including implementation fidelity and offers the implications of the findings for future research and development.

This paper seeks to explore the extent of definite article usage variation in several varieties of English based on a classification of its usage types. An annotation scheme based on Hawkins and Prince was developed for this purpose. Using matching corpus data representing Inner Circle varieties and Outer Circle varieties, analysis was made on approximately 14,000 tokens of "the" in private dialogue, academic writing and reportage. It was found that the different percentages of usage types in the three registers across the varieties were statistically significant. However there was no clear trend that could be observed in either group. The trends of the varieties, collectively or individually, were so unpredictable that in the end there was no evidence of an overall trend. Register, consistent with Biber et al.'s claim, was instead found to be a better predictor of the usage types of "the" in the varieties. The classification of the varieties as either Inner or Outer Circle was therefore shown to be less influential in the quantitative variation of the morpheme than previously thought. Nevertheless, a subsequent qualitative analysis showed that the structural and situational categories in the Outer Circle did contain a number of marked usages of "the", presenting themselves as the clearest cases of variation in the data. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures and 9 notes.)

This project aimed to create a descriptive map of international research which explores the notion of the continuum of educational provision for children with special educational needs. It also aimed to determine and examine the nature of how the continuum of provision is conceptualised, operationalised and enacted in a sample of selected countries. Commissioned by the National Council for Special Education, it also identified implications for the development of provision within the Irish context. The research involved a systematic identification and thematic review of theory, identifying and examining literature associated with the conceptualisation of the continuum; it examined the policy and provision across 55 administrations as publically reported, primarily to international agencies; it carried out more detailed examination of policy and practice in 10 countries using a survey and vignette study; and it involved a series of interviews with a range of individuals in a range of settings in four countries with differing approaches to supporting children with special educational needs. This paper outlines the overall findings of the research. It focuses in particular upon the need to change how we think about provision associated with continua, recognising the lack of international coherence in approaches to support for pupils with special educational needs. It identifies in particular the opportunities presented by a reconceptualisation of the class and the management of class resources, and the role key personnel can play in creating links between diverse services.

The paper reports from a comparative study on systems of quality assurance in 19 countries around the globe, and how these systems function as accountability mechanisms. Based on a theoretical framework for assessing how accountability mechanisms can contribute to build trust in the higher education sector, the analysis of the quality assurance systems underline the dominant role of quality assurance systems as the prime accountability mechanism in the sector, often accompanied by semi-autonomous agencies emphasising various forms of accreditation. Based on an assessment of the quality assurance systems it is still suggested that the current forms of accountability are not stimulating the up-building of trust in and of the sector. In the conclusion, some reflections are offered as alternatives to the current situation.

This paper reports on a comprehensive corpus-based study of regional and stylistic variation in the distribution of the English present perfect. The data represents ten English varieties of both the Inner Circle and Outer Circle, covering four major text types: conversation, news reportage, academic and fictional writing. The results are discussed in light of the finding that the present perfect has been losing ground to the preterit since Late Modern English, a tendency which is possibly influenced by a process of colloquialization and which is most prominent in American English. The study shows that the distribution of the present perfect (along with the preterit) in most of the English varieties investigated can be placed on a continuum with British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) lying at its two opposite ends. The findings are suggestive of the influence of a combination of various factors including substrate transfer, different degrees of colloquialization, historical input, and geographical and cultural proximity. (Contains 9 figures, 2 notes and 6 tables.)

In this paper, we use Critical Reflective Practice to give voice to the experience of a Kenyan teacher who travelled to Australia to undertake advanced coursework in leadership and inclusive education studies. It also reflects upon an Australian academic as she tries to be more culturally responsive in her andragogy when teaching, supervising and mentoring postgraduate international students. We use reflective practices over an extended period to lessen the power imbalance between them as academic supervisor and postgraduate student. This eventually allowed for the student to teach and the academic to learn; and together we here shed light on what it is like to study and teach within an Australian university that annually enrols 6000 students from more than 100 countries around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of short training in self-management skills on employees' efficacious beliefs and skills across cultures. Design/methodology/approach - A longitudinal pre-post field investigation repeated measures analysis is used to compare the effectiveness of the self-management training between employees from Australia (individualistic country) and Kenya (collectivistic country). Findings - The results suggest that there is a significant improvement in the learning of skiils and efficacious beliefs post-training (24 weeks). However, there are no significant differences in improvement between the two cultures and the training is similarly effective in both cultures. Research limitations/implications - Training focus is based on previous research that is primarily individual focused and further studies need to explore the training ethos. The assessments are developed for the study and need further examination to test their reliability and validity in other contexts. The individualistic and collectivistic criteria are drawn from Hofstede's work and may need further investigation as Hofstede's sample size of the Kenyan population is small. Finally, the results are unique to retail banking. Originality/value - The effectiveness of this low-cost training for enhancing employee efficacy has positive organisational outcomes, especially for those that have a multicultural workforce. It may be particularly useful for organisations in developing countries where cost is of concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Human-centric rules should be formulated for the Eastern Africa Market. • The Shared Activation of Ten-Minute Reserve should be utilized. • Real-Time Co-optimization is needed. Some of the Eastern Africa Power Pool countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda are heavily dependent on hydro resources. Further, the grid is becoming increasingly unstable because of the variability from renewable generation. If the baseload units such as hydro units (or geothermal units in case of Kenya) kept on standby to provide ancillary services like active/reactive reserves, the cost of energy would increase. To avoid this, grid engineers, operators, and regulators in Eastern Africa can implement the best practices from the rest of the world. This paper summarizes three critical lessons learned from North America and Australia that can be applied to the Eastern Africa grid. The list is not comprehensive. However, it is a starting point to spark the discussion and draw the attention of national/international funding organizations to explore this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study compares the experiences of Kenyan and Victorian secondary school Physical Education teachers with the aim of discovering what they can learn from each other. Through in-depth interviews with four experienced PE teachers; two each from Kenya and Victoria, and using phenomenological research methods, the study sought to gain an understanding of the teachers' experiences in relation to curriculum, pedagogy and administration of PE programmes in their secondary schools. From these experiences the study identified the challenges faced by teachers in both Kenya and Victoria. There is a lot that PE teachers can learn from each other in matters concerning curriculum time allocation, class sizes, teachers' professional affiliation, examination and assessment, school sport, and use of technology, among others. Knowledge and understanding of these experiences may be of great help not only to teachers but also to education officials, curriculum planners and school boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]