Entry of children to primary schools in India marks a sudden shift in the pedagogical approach as play-based pedagogy gives way to formal instruction. This paper argues that children's play motives do not subside when they enter school, rather play takes a more mature form and represents a strong linkage between their thought and reality. The…

Purpose: In the wake of interlocking pandemics, educational systems are resetting in important ways, pursuing aims that are not exclusively instructional (e.g., social justice, well-being). As systems (re)build, they may vary in how they manage their institutional and policy environments, which may or may not be reorienting toward these same…

The historical roots of what is now a modern Swedish school-age educare (SAEC) were formed from a social pedagogical starting point in which children's social development, freedom and well-being were prioritized. SAEC has now become more focused on an educational pedagogical assignment and has been incorporated into the Swedish curriculum. SAECs…

In an attempt to resolve some of the lingering tensions involved in understanding play as learning in practice, a group of Irish student teachers in the final years of their degree programme participated in an intervention known as 'PLAI' (Playful Learning Across Ireland). This paper reports on the impact of such an intervention on student…

Standardised cross-national learning assessments may help drive education policy change and system improvements across Africa but support is required to overcome operational and technical challenges. This recognition has led to sustained technical and geographical development of regional assessments like those from PASEC, the Program for the…

This research aims to explore the implementation of deep learning as a pedagogical approach in supporting meaningful learning and realizing the four pillars of UNESCO education in the context of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah. Using a case study design at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah in Kudus, this study focuses attention on the integration of meaningful and fun…

Following the qualitative research mode commonly known as content analysis unfolded while exploring the current Ontario provincial government positions arising from the recent 2019 Ontario Health and Physical Education curricular document which includes directives supporting the teaching of ethics. Several questions provoked and framed this…

Strong reading and literacy skills are essential for students' success in K-12 and beyond by providing the foundation for understanding the world and communicating effectively. This Spotlight will help readers learn how classroom conversations can boost reading proficiency; identify research on how to get students absorbed in reading; examine…

This is the opening paper in a "Scottish Educational Review" collection on "Making Space for Play in Scottish Education." It is acknowledged that, historically, a perception of divergent purpose enabled education both to enlist play and to curb play to achieve desired educational outcomes. However, a new understanding of play…

The present study explored a small-scale English medium instruction (EMI) initiative in Moroccan secondary schools, which is part of a top-down multilingual policy based on teaching science subjects through foreign languages, namely French, English, and Spanish. 18 secondary EMI teachers of math, physics and life and earth sciences were…

The European Green Deal and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight that education, including re-/up-skilling, is crucial in order to transition to environmental sustainability. Education has an essential role to play by supporting citizens in developing the competences needed to live responsibly, change consumption models, design…

Situated at the intersection of education policy, teacher professional learning, and K-5 literacy teaching and learning, this dissertation study examined how a group of educators working in one of the largest school districts in the U.S. Mountain West sought to improve the quality and coherence of their schoolwide approach to literacy instruction.…

Theater arts encompass unique art forms comprising highly developed pedagogical applications apart from theater as performance. Specifically, the use of drama as a learning medium, referred to in the field as "process drama", is most emphatically applicable to the education of young children. Young children actively gain skills in…

In 2019, the authors had the opportunity to ask a few questions about climate and sustainability in the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) national survey of primary and intermediate schools. NZCER began regular surveys of primary schools in 1989 and has run a national survey of English-medium schools every 3 years since then,…

Hong Kong has been implementing a policy of assessment for learning to counter-balance the strong, high-stakes, summative, and examination-oriented practices of the territory. While the purposes teachers have for various classroom assessment tasks are devoted to this learning premise, their views are bounded by the social expectations of…