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Introduction: Individuals with ADHD continue to face stigma, which can negatively impact their access to, adherence to, and quality of mental health services, as well as their overall wellbeing. Perspectives of various stakeholders regarding priorities for stigma reduction remain underexplored. This study explores young adult, parent, teacher, and mental health care professional perspectives on unmet needs of children and young adults with ADHD in the Netherlands, in the context of stigma reduction. Method: A total of 24 respondents participated in seven small focus group discussions (FGDs). The FGDs facilitated in-depth discussions exploring stakeholder group perspectives on unmet needs of children and young adults with ADHD in educational, professional, and social settings. Data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Three thematic categories of unmet needs were identified: (1) a lack of awareness, knowledge, and understanding of ADHD; (2) insufficient personalized approaches in education and health care; and (3) limited accessibility of information and support services. Within theme 1, respondents primarily highlighted the importance of improving education for primary school teachers and mental health care professionals. Theme 2 underscored the need for increased capacity for personalization and attention to the sociopsychological factors of ADHD, alongside recognizing strengths. Theme 3 emphasized the need for easy access to reliable information and mental health care, including peer networks, as well as proper follow-up and continuity of care. Discussion and Conclusion: Findings highlight the need for improving our understanding of ADHD as a complex biopsychosocial condition, which requires specific adjustments in education and mental health care. Interventions to improve support and disrupt stigmatization should meet diverse needs, incorporate multi-level strategies, and involve key stakeholders.

In this paper, based on the established Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF), we introduce a new framework, tailor-made specifically for Vietnamese educational researchers, namely, Vietnam's Framework for Educational Researchers (VFER). VFER is expected to serve as a tool for Vietnamese educational researchers to self-evaluate their skills and support them in developing their career qualities from junior to senior career ladders. The framework includes four domains with ten subdomains and 28 indicators. To date, VFER has been implemented in some Vietnamese universities of pedagogical education. We expect that other research fields will look to VFER as a reference to build their own research capacity framework.

Public policies targeting individuals based on need often impose disproportionate burden on communities that lack the resources to implement these policies effectively. In an elementary school setting, I examine whether community-level interventions focusing on similar needs and providing resources to build capacity in these communities could improve outcomes by improving the effectiveness of individual-level interventions. I find that the extended school day policy that targets lowest-performing schools in reading in Florida significantly improved the effectiveness of the third-grade retention policy in these schools. These complementarities were large enough to close the gap in retention effects between targeted and higher-performing schools.

Purpose: This study aims to address the critical subject of building capacity for the circular economy in the global south. It complements the literature by providing information on the role of higher education institutions in developing skills for the circular plastic economy. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a mixed method approach drawing on reflective analysis on qualitative data from 5 focus groups and 12 semi-structured interviews, and structural equation modelling of quantitative data from 151 students across 4 Nigerian Universities. Findings: The results indicate that Nigerian university students are more likely to participate in the circular plastic economy through a high prominence of soft power features such as increased awareness, inspiration, idea generation, encouragement and capacity building. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is with the sample. A larger data set, including other tertiary institutions such as private universities, polytechnics and schools of vocational studies, would strengthen the results. Practical implications: The study underlines the importance of targeted policy interventions and pedagogic innovations to drive awareness and knowledge building among Nigeria's youth population. Originality/value: This study makes a novel contribution by using empirical evidence to determine the predictors of student participation in the circular plastic economy. This understanding is important for the development and implementation of appropriate policies that promote participation in the circular plastic economy. Furthermore, given the typical youthful age bracket of university students, any plans to achieve a systemic shift in the plastic value chain must involve the young generation.

Although environmental education (EE) scholars celebrate the diversity of organizations that engage in this work, the challenge remains how to bring these organizations together. Over the last decade, scholars have called for building bridges, but we still know very little about organizational networking and integration processes in EE. In this paper, I analyzed a case study of the first local education office (LEO) to manage an EE network in California. Drawing on institutional theory, I found that the LEO cultivated a local EE organizational field through three complementary strategies of relational work: enabling connections, aligning the field, and holding space. These three strategic tools enabled EE organizations to connect, develop a shared meaning system, and grow their capacity to serve schools. Based on my findings, I propose a model for managing local EE networks, as well as theoretical constructs for understanding organizational processes within the evolving EE landscape.

Increasing community awareness and knowledge about environmental problems is the primary goal of environmental education. This study explores the best practices of the Youth for Environment in Schools--Organization (YES-O) in selected schools in the National Capital Region, Philippines. A qualitative study involving interviews and focus group discussions directed the collection and analysis of data. The study discovered that the implementation of the YES-O program was successful due to the following best practices: (a) personal advocacy, (b) resource availability, (c) flexibility, (d) integrated school efforts, (e) participatory approach, and (f) monitoring and evaluation strategies, which were all supported by the emerging themes. Meanwhile, capacity building and strong networks emerged as important themes supporting the YES-O program implementation in secondary schools. The schools can continue their practices to sustain the implementation of the program. However, schools should take into account certain indicators that require improvement to enhance their performance. These may include strengthening their networking, linkages, and partnership strategies to better engage and synergize environmental education given the mandated programs, projects, and activities of the YES-O program implementation.

Recently, leadership education researchers and practitioners have raised significant concerns about the gap between the expectations of, and professional training for, leadership educators in student affairs. These professionals are frequently required to facilitate leadership learning, especially in co-curricular training spaces for student leaders. However, they are often not adequately prepared or resourced by their professional development to deliver these training experiences. Moreover, the growing professional development opportunities in leadership education suggest practitioners need education earlier to be effective in their jobs. This article focuses on these gaps in preparing student affairs professionals as leadership educators in leadership training capacities and suggestions for future research to meet these unaddressed needs.

The accelerating impacts of climate change present significant challenges to sustainable urban development, testing the resilience of current governance frameworks and stakeholder responsibilities. In alignment with the EU's Green Deal, robust adaptation strategies and proactive climate risk anticipation are essential. Traditional discussions emphasize overcoming technological, financial and institutional barriers; however, social and individual factors also significantly hinder adaptation. This study explores the pivotal role of citizen engagement in climate risk management and adaptation, focusing on the Lithuanian context and comparing the results with a survey in Sweden. The research evaluates both external influences, such as experiences with climate-related hazards and adaptation actions, and internal factors, including beliefs, values and individual adaptive capacity. Key findings reveal that adaptation behaviour in Lithuania and in Sweden is deeply influenced by past experiences with extreme weather events and economic considerations, with a significant portion of the population having faced such events recently. Factors such as economic considerations (low costs, financial benefits) are identified as critical motivators for future adaptation actions in Lithuania. On the other hand, in Sweden, respondents first preferred ecological factors (such as contributing to climate change mitigation) when considering future adaptation actions. The study underscores the need for targeted educational interventions to enhance community resilience, highlighting the importance of socio-cultural contexts in shaping adaptation strategies. It emphasizes the necessity for comprehensive, inclusive educational programmes that address local climate impacts and promote proactive community involvement. The findings advocate for further comparative studies across diverse socio-cultural settings to deepen insights into effective adaptation measures and to support the development of resilient communities worldwide.

Quality partnerships are imperative for successful project implementation. The partnership between project personnel and independent evaluators is often overlooked. In effective partnerships, both the evaluators and the education project management team collectively ensure that educational initiatives are well-planned, executed, and assessed. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, ultimately leading to better educational outcomes for English learner students, educators, and the community. This conceptual article highlights eight elements of an effective project management and evaluator partnership: (1) clear communication and collaboration, (2) goal alignment, (3) early planning for evaluation, (4) multi-purpose evaluation activities, (5) shared responsibility, (6) feedback loops, (7) transparency, and (8) evaluation capacity building. The authors present these elements through the design, deployment, analysis, and use of the Better English Learners Instruction and Education in Varied Environments (BELIEVE) classroom observation tool. The tool was collaboratively created and deployed across two National Professional Development grants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the need for a tool that could be used in varying learning modes and capture how effectively classroom teachers were teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle schools. The article illustrates how this tool has been used by program personnel to inform the teacher-coach relationship and educate teachers and administrators about best practices, and by the evaluation team to assess the progress of teachers' use of research-based practices to teach English learners.

This article explores external facilitation for school improvement; more specifically, it examines the practical work of external facilitators. It is based on a Swedish case in which facilitators at the Swedish National Agency for Education support low-performing schools. The article aims to develop knowledge about how external facilitators in their practical work both promote and prevent developed understanding and improvement capacity. Based on observations and documents, facilitators' endeavours and critical situations in their work to support school improvement are identified. The findings show five different endeavours to promote development of understanding and improvement capacity. However, they also show how taking ownership, simplification, and model focus, three of five identified recurring critical situations, prevent such development. The conclusion is that there are several aspects for external facilitators to balance to promote school improvement and turn around low-performing schools. When planning for external facilitation, it is important to consider how the facilitators' practical work can be adapted to the local contexts of those who are facilitated in order to promote their ownership of the processes. Without balance and adaptation, external facilitation can lead to deprofessionalisation instead of development of improvement capacity.

Teachers are the most important resource in any school system. However, operating at the intersection of knowledge, skills, and the transmission capacity of values through reflective practice can be challenging. This study focuses on the experience and challenges of teachers in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ethiopian public universities when it comes to reflective practice. To achieve our objective, we used a descriptive survey research design with a mixed research approach to collect primary data from 140 HEIs teachers (127 male and 13 female) at four public universities in Ethiopia. We employed a random sampling technique and utilized questionnaires, and interviews. We used two types of questions to gather data: one to assess the teachers' experience with reflective practice and levels of instruction, and the other to identify problems and instruction levels. Qualitative data were analyzed through subject description, while quantitative data were tested using descriptive, Pearson correlation, and univariate analysis of ANOVA statistics. The results indicate that the experience of HEIs teachers reveals significant associations in all favorable aspects of reflective practice components (i.e., reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, reflection-with-action, and self-appraisal). However, some teachers agreed or disagreed that they faced challenges in their teaching experience. Some problems encountered were agreed upon, while others were not. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for improvement.

The role of education staff in supporting social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) difficulties is critical, however access to specialist mental health input can be difficult. Digitally-mediated service delivery was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and may be integrated in a post-COVID-19 world to support education staff. Using a systems change evaluation framework, this study explored staff perceptions of a digitally-mediated, multidisciplinary model for SEMH needs in primary school settings. Participants were education staff (n = 6) from five participating schools in a rural county in the UK and the multidisciplinary team (n = 7). Focus groups were conducted at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months during a 2-year pilot project. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Education staff and the multidisciplinary team perceived progress over time in relation to increased capacity (for early intervention) and improved coordination (between relevant children's services). Digitally-mediated service delivery facilitated changes in practice that were empowering for education staff and supportive in meeting communication needs. This study provides preliminary support for acceptability of digitally-mediated team communication as an enhanced model of SEMH service provision in primary school settings in the UK.

Purpose: Prior research shows wide variation in student learning across contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic, but less is known about "why" such variation occurred or how particular response approaches may help districts navigate future crises. Research methods: Drawing on crisis leadership and organizational theory, we conducted a multiple case study of pandemic response across five school districts in Michigan that performed better-than-predicted on benchmark assessments during the 2020-21 school year. We interviewed 46 district, school, and teacher leaders across district cases and analyzed data using comparative case study methods. Findings: We find that local leaders relied on existing resources such as staff-student relationships, school-family relationships, and curricula and instructional models to address foundational needs stemming from the pandemic. These resources were part of each district's distinct approach to supporting student learning prior to the pandemic and provided a reliable path forward amidst ongoing uncertainty and disruption. When previous approaches were not aligned to external demands, local leaders leveraged staff expertise, staff collaboration, and school-family relationships to develop new teaching and learning approaches. In-person and hybrid districts adapted to create safe in-person learning environments, while remote and hybrid districts adapted to use technology to engage students in distanced learning and personalized academic support. Implications: Our findings shed light on pandemic response approaches that other districts can adopt in future crises and resources that need to be cultivated and distributed across districts to support crisis response. We contribute new insights on the interplay between leadership and organizational capacity during crisis response.

Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) have long collaborated with academic librarians, especially around the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, but full, reciprocal partnerships are relatively rare. This exploratory, interview-based study seeks to gain insight into how participants (n=4) experienced one such partnership, focused on building institutional capacity for engagement with scoping reviews in SoTL. Our findings reveal that these types of partnerships can have distinctive influences on participating faculty members that extend beyond a single program, service, or project. These insights illuminate the challenges and opportunities long-term partnerships present to both the institutionalization of SoTL and the evolving positionality of both educational developers and librarians (and their respective units).

This research delves into the global understanding of smart education from various perspectives, including expert viewpoints, policy dimensions, public datasets, and visions of equity and inclusion. Multiple webinars have revealed that the concept of smart education with a shared vision of quality education in the age of AI is being understood by different countries through diverse cultural, technological, and pedagogical lenses. We collected 48 topical digital education policies from Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe and conducted coding analysis on inspective digital education policies for smart education to find that creating a high-quality, inclusive, and sustainable digital education ecosystem is the main concern in digital education policy vision and plan. Infrastructure development and human capacity building are also integral to digital education policies. Analysis of public datasets identified a global framework for tracking smart education encompassing 10 indicators and 30 sub-indicators was identified which coincide well with the GSE datasets covering 58 observing data points. Additionally, we organized a series of webinars with participants from 13 countries and explored specific cases to find pathways to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Measuring the level of institutional capacity for grantsmanship within higher education informs administrators about the needs of their organization and where resources and institutional supports can be implemented to support faculty and staff. Receiving grant funding can lead to implementing cutting-edge programming and research support, which could improve the quality of education provided and, ultimately, student retention. While conducting an institutional capacity needs assessment is crucial for making data-informed decisions, there is a significant gap in institutional capacity research; specifically, there is no valid and reliable assessment tool designed to measure institutional capacity for grantsmanship. The present study aims to develop an assessment tool for higher education institutions to evaluate support systems and identify the needs of their faculty and administrators for grant writing efforts. The current study used a mixed-method approach over three phases to understand the indicators behind measuring institutional capacity for grantsmanship. We developed six reliable scales--promoting grant proposal writing, proposal writing (for faculty), proposal writing (for administrators), proposal writing (all respondents), submitting grant proposals, implementing grant activities, and managing awards. This study contributes to our understanding of institutional capacity and produced a reliable assessment tool to support grantsmanship.

Troubled by the inequities in competitive grantmaking, we use critical quantitative methods to analyze the FY2023 federal academic earmarks as a potential mechanism for racialized change work. Specifically, we ask: To what extent does Congress distribute academic earmarks in ways that reinforce or weaken the racialized stratification of resources across organizations in the field? Accordingly, we identify distribution patterns of academic earmarks, considering the allocation of dollars and types of earmarks (i.e., general capacity-building versus specialized grants) across colleges and universities, between White-serving institutions and minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and among MSIs. Based on our analysis, Congress favored a racially reproductive funding portfolio, driven by smaller and more restrictive allocations, not fewer earmarks. However, the distribution of earmarks among MSIs defied normed expectations, as Congress did not privilege whiter, more prestigious MSIs, signaling the potential of pork-barrel politics for racially reparative work.

This study aims to examine the formal integration of scientific research within teacher preparation programs at universities in Kazakhstan, aiming to enhance the research capacity of pre-service teachers. It introduces a research-based learning (RBL) model for delivering research components in postgraduate programs, tailored to address individual research interests through defined modules and directed research projects. The study's objective is to examine the effectiveness of implementing the RBL model in building pre-service teachers' research capacity. Using a quasiexperimental pretest-posttest design, the study employs a questionnaire survey to evaluate participants' self-perceived research skills and knowledge before and after the intervention, assessing the development of their research capability dimensions. Expert assessment is utilized to examine research performance and writing skills among pre-service teachers. The study involved students from language teacher education departments, specifically 120 postgraduate (master's level) students from K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University and Baishev University in Aktobe, Kazakhstan. The research findings highlight the effectiveness of the RBL model in training preservice teachers across various stages of the research process. This includes formulating research questions, reviewing literature, planning research activities, clarifying methodologies, conducting investigations, analyzing data, and presenting results. The study shows that the RBL model enhances students' understanding of research, their ability to plan and design research projects, knowledge of research methodology, data analysis skills, research writing abilities, and capabilities in publishing and presenting research. These findings offer valuable insights for university instructors and suggest avenues for further investigation. The study also examines potential implications for how teacher education research is conducted and how programs are designed.

Limited organizational capacity has hindered Extension's ability to address substance misuse in communities. To inform capacity-building efforts, we obtained Extension educator and health educator feedback on opportunities, challenges and resource needs using the Delphi technique. Opportunities included collaboration and partnerships with local entities. Stigma, inadequate resources, and limited knowledge and skills of educators were challenges. Top resource needs were updated youth curricula, funding, and clear guidance on what educators can do and what should be referred externally. Findings provide insights to educator perceptions and suggest additional training and resources needed to implement evidence-based approaches to address substance misuse.

The Tri-Learner model of Extension Collaboration offers an innovative approach to address community needs and advance research by convening faculty from academic research, statewide Extension, and community-embedded Extension. This article describes development of a new Tri-Learner Model through an early childhood resilience project, with data from 32 participants. We present four key factors for the model's success: First, ensure that research and application are responsive to community needs rather than University-driven. Second, establish trusting, reciprocal relationships. Third, equally value each team member's knowledge and skills. Finally, leverage collaborative University structures and/or funding to foster reciprocal partnerships to maximize research impacts.

Extension Professionals have varying expectations of academic publication depending on tenure and promotion. And, the field of Extension needs the contributions of professionals across the system to support the translation and dissemination of the impacts of and findings from their Extension programming for academic and practitioner audiences. A writing retreat was held to support 4-H Youth Development professionals in academic writing. Because of this writing retreat five teams started working on an academic writing project which resulted in three journal articles being published. Teams also published conference presentations and Extension publications as a result of the initial academic writing project. Intentionally providing writing retreats that prepare professionals to write can support effective capacity building for academic publishing.

Education researchers regularly seek to evaluate and define what encompasses successful professional development (PD) for teachers. Numerous items and lists that are considered the characteristics of "effective PD have emerged from this research." However, follow-up with teachers on their perceived views of these characteristics is lacking from the literature. Teachers can help determine which aspects should be considered in the design of high-quality professional learning in the future. For this study, Q methodology was utilized to examine the subjective views of the teachers. Q sorts were correlated and factor analyzed (PCA with cluster rotation) to extract four significant factors on which all 17 participants loaded significantly (McKeown &Thomas, 2013; Newman & Ramlo, 2010; Watts & Stenner, 2012). These factors were examined through the lens of andragogy (adult learning theory) to determine the connections between the characteristics of effective PD and the core adult learning principles. Teachers in this study perceived effective PD as those opportunities that establish cooperative learning amongst participants, focus on improved student learning outcomes, provide opportunities for feedback, and allow for ongoing support. Future research is needed to see if the results obtained apply to other teacher populations.

Rural school principals in Tennessee face serious challenges in leading their schools, including isolation, high turnover, and a lack of instructional leadership skills. Facilitated by a state university, the Tennessee Rural Principals Network (TRPN) was developed to provide professional learning opportunities for rural school principals. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of principals in rural schools who participated in the TRPN during the years 2019-2021 (n = 133). The study used a basic qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews of 12 participants. Through our data analysis, key learning strengths and challenges were identified and organized under the codes of learning needs, coaching, mentoring, and networking. From these categories, we developed three themes: (a) sharing and collaborating through networks; (b) building capacity through mentoring and coaching; and (c) addressing the learning needs of principals in a rural context. Findings revealed that principals were pleased with the network and felt it helped them better navigate their roles as rural principals by providing the tools to develop best practices and a network to share ideas and resources.

This paper analyses the role of libraries in the development of Open Educational Resources (OER) and, more specifically, the impact and level of implementation of UNESCO's (2019) OER Recommendation in Higher Education libraries. This study, the result of a joint undertaking between a national R&D project and SPARC Europe, is based on an online survey, disseminated amongst the European Network of Open Education Librarians (ENOEL) and uses a descriptive research methodology. The results highlight the implementation actions being taken by university libraries (n = 136) in each of the five areas of action of UNESCO's Recommendation. We find that the main contributions are being made in the areas of capacity building and Open Education policies, but that considerable work has yet to be done in terms of promoting inclusiveness and the sustainability of OER. Thus, the full implementation of UNESCO's recommendation requires a greater commitment on the part of librarians to joint actions undertaken via international networks and projects, as well as greater institutional commitment and the building of interdepartmental alliances.

This article captures lessons learned while coaching a team of writing teachers across a poetry writing unit of study. Because of the heightened pressure of successful implementation of curricular programs, coaching can become focused solely on implementation of resources with fidelity, which can neglect the art of teaching. This article captures coaching techniques used to shift away from conformity and towards transformation in teaching.

This study examined the perceptions of participants regarding the use of embedded video demonstration lessons during literacy professional development sessions. The videos were captured in an urban elementary classroom and modeled two new literacy strategies. Based on survey responses from 160 kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school teachers and 117 school or district administrators and instructional specialists, the findings revealed positive participant perceptions and effective instructional use of the videos that modeled the implementation of the strategies in a relevant classroom setting. The analysis of the use of videos during the professional development (PD) sessions was found to positively affect the instructional capacity of teachers to implement the strategies in their classroom settings. The findings also suggest that school administrators more positively understood the process of using the strategies to support the standards, resulting in increased leadership capacity. Implications of using specifically created videos to enhance clarity and credibility of PD for participants are discussed.

Given the substantial impact school leaders have on school improvement, the imperative for continuous professional learning for leaders is evident. In this two-year action research study, researchers collaborated with a school division, forming a research-practice partnership, to design and explore a collaborative professional learning and coaching program. The primary objective of this program was to align with local leadership standards and foster leadership development. The central research question was: How does implementation of a collaborative professional learning and coaching program contribute to leadership development? Data were collected from district and school leaders and included pre and post surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The findings of this study indicate that district leadership practices show promising potential in fostering inservice opportunities for leadership development. These practices include the following: (a) ensure programs are sustained with a consistent focus, (b) utilize collaborative learning approaches, (c) assess growth through reflection and feedback, and (d) use action research to support continual improvement. This study aims to provide valuable insights to school districts and researchers regarding the implementation of sustained and job-embedded professional development for school leaders, with a specific focus on leadership development.

The role of the local government within the context of engagement and collaboration with universities has largely been understudied. Employing a cross-sectional design, this study of 67 universities and 78 municipalities from 29 states examines how collaborative capacity impacts university and local government perceptions of engagement and collaboration with each other. The findings indicate that local government trust is the primary catalyst for both engagement and collaboration between the parties.

Educational leadership preparation programs are tasked with advancing the development of future educational leaders' instructional capacities, including the ability to engage teachers in instructional conversations through instructional coaching. The educational leadership program studied here includes a mixed reality experience designed to develop future educational leaders' instructional coaching conversation skills. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to examine future educational leaders' perceptions of the development of instructional coaching conversation skills because of participation in the mixed reality experience. Findings indicated that, overall, participants held positive views of the mixed reality experience in supporting their development of instructional coaching conversation skills. Additionally, participants indicated development of other skills including, on-the-spot thinking, confidence, and reflection, among other skills. Results suggest that mixed reality experiences provide authentic, realistic learning opportunities to develop instructional leadership capacities.

Development for empowerment focuses on leveraging education via digital technologies and micro-credentials for training and education as part of the integration, social inclusion and capacity building for displaced persons. Development for empowerment builds upon the previous concepts of development including Amartya Sen's 'development as freedom,' the core concept of education and learning as development, and the use of digital technologies for building human capacity so people can make their own choices and pursue the lives they wish to lead. Development for empowerment for refugees broadens the construct of development and is integral to promoting and nurturing 'equity, access and success' amongst refugee populations. The authors highlight critical resources that support the basic tenets of human empowerment such as the UN's "Declaration of Human Rights," the UN's "Basic Needs Approach to Refugees," Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs," and the key strategies of online delivery and micro-credentials development. Moreover, the authors emphasise that the integration, social inclusion and integration of refugees is a highly complex construct to implement and sustain, thus reflecting the constant tension of refugees' emotional desire to return home versus rebuilding a new life in a new country. In the final analysis, 'development for empowerment' + open and distance learning + digital microcredentials create a powerful synergy for serving refugees and fulfilling the spirit of preserving human rights through education and the pursuit of one's chosen life as a precious human ideal.

Learning in higher education while being at war is the topic of this paper. The investigation on the management of one's own learning processes by students living war conditions has been addressed through a survey that was conducted on a sample of 1,685 students at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Kiev during February-March 2023, one year after the Russian invasion. The aim is to understand the strategies adopted by students to oppose and counteract the informal learning processes that are produced by the war. Findings of the study show that, although people are immersed in adverse conditions, they can autonomously direct their own learning processes and defend themselves against the learning valencies of the war to counteract its effects. This is a possibility that might depend on the educational quality of social relations and the networks each student has and was able to build. The possibility to be trained represents the most common concern among students. It is more widespread than the precariousness of material living conditions. However, this attitude is not generalised. According to the authors, the different positions expressed by the students could be attributed to the different level of the capacity each student developed to control the learning processes they are exposed to in their daily life. Based on this capacity of control of their own informal learning processes it is possible to activate autonomous self-directed learning and tackle the challenges the war poses.

Systems thinking (ST) is an essential skill for understanding complex issues, making predictions and informed decisions. This research explores how students applied ST in complex health contexts using the 'One Health' (OH) approach. OH highlights the interdependence relationship between animal, human and ecosystemic health (including plants). Eighteen upper secondary school students were involved in activities that aimed to foster their capacity to apply ST to explain the causes of the COVID-19 pandemic, to anticipate future pandemics and to propose actions for preventing them. Individual written tasks were examined using content analysis methods. Four dimensions of ST were considered, and levels were established based on the literature and in interaction with data. Most participants articulated various aspects of ST in their responses, but they did not do so consistently. Students had difficulties both in anticipating future pandemics and in proposing actions to prevent them. After the completion of the activities, most students showed an improved understanding of the OH notion. They identified the components, relationships and provided examples of causal interrelationships, such as those involved in zoonotic diseases. The findings point to the potential of the OH approach in Biology education, as it promotes students' understanding of complex health issues from a systemic view.

This study addresses competences of the Open Scholar. It draws on a theoretical framework reaching out to sustainability education, responsibility and activity theory to describe competences. Competences of the Open Scholar are understood within the context of Higher Education institutions' three missions: teaching, research and service to the community. The systematic literature review of three key concepts, Open Educator, Open Researcher and Open Scholar performed on a total of 811 articles between 2011 and 2023 as well as the content analysis performed on 10 competence frameworks highlight a dearth in epistemic competences. To fill this gap, the study raises awareness of the importance of initiating the development of scholars' capabilities in areas that can enable them to ask questions at the level of purpose and paradigm. Capabilities to address these deeper levels are presented as a way of enhancing the responsibility of scholars. Responsibility is framed in-line with its Latin root, "respondere," i.e., providing a response and drawing on a semantics of care, respect and concern (instead of the foregrounded framing of responsibility in terms of subjectivity, power and causality). Furthermore, identifying "not-yetness" and addressing uncertainty are presented as key competences of the Open Scholar.

From personalized advertising to economic forecasting, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly important element of our daily lives. These advancements raise concerns regarding the transhumanist perspective and associated discussions in the context of technology-human interaction, as well as the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on education and critical pedagogy. In this regard, the purpose of this research paper was to investigate the intersection of AI and critical pedagogy by critically assessing the potential of AI to promote or hamper critical pedagogical practices in the context of transhumanism. The article provides an overview of the concepts of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and critical pedagogy. In order to seek answers to research questions, qualitative research design was adopted, and GPT-3 was used as a data collection resource. Noteworthy findings include the similarity of the dialogue with the GPT-3 davinci model to a conversation between two human beings, as well as its difficulty in understanding some of the questions presented from a critical pedagogy perspective. GPT-3 draws attention to the importance of the relationship between humans in education and emphasizes that AI applications can be an opportunity to ensure equality in education. The research provides suggestions indicating the relationship between AI applications and critical pedagogy.

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020 disrupted and changed higher education across the world, and into the future. Campuses were shut down, almost overnight. International and State borders were closed and business models that relied heavily on high-paying international students collapsed. University leaders and academics were forced to find new ways of attracting, engaging with, and retaining students. This paper describes a project that was undertaken in Australia in 2021 which investigated the implications of, and scope for online assessment in this "new virtual world" of learning and teaching in higher education. After extensive research and consultation, the project developed a Digital Assessment Framework dubbed DASH C21, which stands for Digital Assessment Stretching Horizons for the 21st Century. The Framework is based on a set of underpinning principles and values; the Inputs. The Inputs feed into four Dimensions. These Dimensions are Practices and Pedagogies, Strategies, Emerging Technologies and Stretching Horizons. The Outputs are a series of authentic, innovative, experiential and forward looking, digital assessments, reinforced by academic integrity values. This paper will be of particular interest to higher education senior managers, academics, learning and teaching specialists, staff professional developers and curriculum designers.

The global pandemic highlighted the need for diverse faculty development partners to ensure student and faculty learning was supported, particularly in intensive modes of educational delivery. Our paper presents an institutional case study of how educational technology, in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning and subject matter experts, served as untapped providers of faculty development. We detail the decision to shift to an intensive 7-week module system rather than our traditional 15-week semester in response to COVID-19. Although challenging for both faculty and students, this shift in educational delivery facilitated innovative approaches to faculty and student learning that are present on our campus today. This institutional case study highlights the role that capacity-building plays in capability development and professional learning for faculty and students alike to support effective teaching practice across diverse delivery modes.

We share lessons gained through supporting an institution-wide curriculum innovation via a post-graduate professional learning program. At the inception of the innovation, an intensive Block Model (BM) was unfamiliar to both the institution and its professional learning facilitators. The Graduate Certificate of Tertiary Education was re-modelled with BM as the heart of professional learning so academics would encounter BM as students. The program modelled BM principles, reinforced by meta-conversations to provide students with a reflective, immersive experience. Through a participatory evaluation, professional learning facilitators' individual reflections were distilled to generate collaborative insights into academics' capacity building for BM. Their lessons inform strategies to cultivate institution-wide capability-building including their own professional growth. Lessons shape the study recommendations. Recommendations originate from effectively engaging time-poor, diverse cohorts. (1) In recognition of the ease with which students can fall behind, embedding strategies to manage their time and stress helps to maintain a realistic study pace. (2) Authentic assessments provide students with useful products for their teaching. (3) Peer-feedback and examples of students' work exposes them to how their colleagues present their work and illustrates good BM practices. (4) Modelling BM principles must be reinforced by meta-conversations to provide students with a reflective, immersive experience of the pedagogical principals. We observed that well planned efficiencies for students often provide consequent efficiencies for staff. These insights are captured in a model for scalable institutional-based professional learning practice. Capability growth flourishes at the intersection of action, reflection and evaluation. Professional collegial conversations are the catalyst for developing context-relevant professional learning.