Towards an Anti-Racist, Culturally Responsive, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education

This chapter summarizes the ongoing efforts of faculty to develop a program of study embedded in an educational doctorate (EdD) program intended to develop critically conscious educational leaders and change agents. It discusses how courses were collaboratively developed as well as how faculty decided on and began to employ an experimental self-study action research Dissertation in Practice. This chapter then outlines what was learned as a team of collaborators about the best ways to establish coherence and cultivate deep learning to support students' ability to work with adults in the context of instruction and curriculum to address historically entrenched inequities that differentially disadvantage some students while granting privileges to others.

Challenges in Gender Mainstreaming in the Department of Education: Basis for Proposed Intervention Program for Secondary Teachers in the Division of Zambales

The study aimed to determine the challenges in gender mainstreaming in the Department of Education. The study made use of descriptive research design with the aid of questionnaires the main instrument in gathering the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The study revealed that a typical respondent was in their middle adulthood aged thirty-one to forty, majority were female, most have rendered zero to four years in service, more than half of the public secondary teachers are Teacher I, and most of the public secondary teachers attended three to five numbers of relevant training on gender mainstreaming. The public secondary teachers identified that the security, health and other student services was moderately serious problem while facilities, administration, instruction and curriculum was not a problem. There was a statistically significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of administration and curriculum when grouped according to age and number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. There was a statistically significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of instruction when grouped according to number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. There was a significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of facilities when grouped according to sex, length of service and number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. There was a significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of security, health and other student services when grouped according to sex and number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. The proposed intervention program addresses the gender mainstreaming implementation for public secondary teachers in the Division of Zambales

Technology Integration of Turkish Elementary School: Teaching Literacy Skills in the Post-COVID-19 Era

This research aimed to explore the elementary school classroom teachers’ perceptions of technology integration into teaching literacy skills. A total of 122 elementary school classroom teachers working at different elementary schools from the middle socioeconomic status setting, enrolled in the study voluntarily. In this study, a self-report questionnaire developed by the researchers was used. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to get descriptive statistics (frequencies) corresponding the research questions. The research findings indicated that most of the elementary school teachers employ different perspectives, including whole language, literature-based and balanced instruction, and curriculum and related textbooks to teach literacy skills. In addition, the findings showed that teachers use technology to increase the effectiveness of teaching literacy skills and their goals of technology integration to teach literacy skills differentiate. The teachers also benefit from the social media applications and professional organizations in increasing their awareness of technology integration into teaching literacy skills. These results expand our understanding of Turkish elementary school classroom teachers’ technology integration into teaching literacy skills by revealing their perceptions.

Curriculum Evaluation: Inputs for Principal’s Instructional Leadership

One of the most important components in education is the curriculum. It undergoes evaluation and development to be responsive to the needs of the times. It adapts to the kind of teachers and learners because teaching and learning are dynamic. The main drivers of the curriculum are the education leaders primarily the principals who are the instructional leaders. The main task of the principal is instructional leadership which means overseeing the teaching and learning process starting with the curriculum. However, the administrative tasks of the principals deprive them of becoming effective instructional leaders. This study aims to present the experiences of the researcher in curriculum evaluation under different principals in a private sectarian school in Manila and seeks to identify how principals can take a strong leadership presence in the challenges in instruction and curriculum evaluation. A critical reflection which is an extension of “critical thinking” and asks us to think about our practice and ideas and then it challenges us to step back and examine our thinking by asking probing questions was used as the method in this study. The researcher looks back into his experiences and identifies the key points in curriculum evaluation vis-à-vis the tasks of instructional leadership. It found out that curriculum evaluation, primarily an integral part of instructional leadership. The principals have to do curriculum evaluation as a collaborative task and process. Moreover, curriculum evaluation with instructional leadership should be giving importance to professional development and mentoring of academic heads and teachers.

Enhancing literacy and curriculum using digitalized collections and approaches

Digitized collections offer a wealth of resources for improving a wide variety of literacies that promote critical thinking skills, instruction and curriculum enhancements. Digitized collections and processes are increasing rapidly in their development and availability and as such introduce issues such as public access, copyright laws, limitations on use, and the integration of both free and commercially available digitalized materials. Governments around the world offer an abundance of digitalized information, often with curriculum guidance. Together with these issues, questions concerning how to evaluate and integrate curriculum and literacy ideas into instruction using digitalization are considered. This paper provides examples of subject areas attuned to digitations including literature, history, current events, sociology, health and science, and local collections. Suitable policies and procedures are discussed promoting efficient programming including collection development, project management, technical needs, online dissemination, and reference and consultation services.

Young Adult Literature as a Means for Developing and Supporting Socio-Emotional Learning

Addressing the social and emotional needs of students is not only vital, but it should be a priority for all teachers. Teaching social and emotional skills directly influences students' academic ability. Yet, many schools and classrooms do not see the connection between their instruction and curriculum with SEL. Often, schools have set aside a portion of the school day, or a few minutes at the end of the class period, to check in with students or teach specific skills. One way that students can explore their own identities and build a sense of agency is through the use of young adult literature. There are many ways that teachers can incorporate YA in the classroom to build SEL. This chapter focuses on how three current in-service teachers use YAL to address SEL in their classrooms. They each provide a brief background of who they are, their beliefs about using YAL to address SEL in their classrooms, and authentic examples from their instruction. Using these descriptions, the authors hope this chapter will help promote using YAL to address SEL in classrooms.

Attitude of Teacher Trainees Towards Inclusive Education

Globally schools are becoming more inclusive in practice to provide meaningful learning experiences to students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Research has documented that teachers with positive attitudes toward inclusion are more likely to modify their instruction and curriculum to meet individual needs of students and have a more positive approach to inclusion. It is the responsibility of teacher training programmes to prepare teachers who can meet expectations of implementing inclusive education programme effectively. The present study was aimed to explore the views of teacher trainees undergoing two-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme about inclusion and their readiness to teach in inclusive classrooms. In this study, the Scale of Teachers' Attitudes Toward Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC) was used to collect data and 300 teacher trainees studying in their second year of the teacher training programme in two colleges of education in Jammu city were included in the study. The results indicated that generally, teacher trainees had a positive attitude toward inclusion in schools. The findings highlight that there was a significant difference in attitude towards inclusion between urban and rural teacher trainees. However, there was no significant difference in the attitude towards inclusion among the sub-groups of teacher trainees on the basis of qualification, previous awareness about inclusion or familiarity with the disability in the family. Some suggestions and recommendations for improvement of teacher education programmes vis-à-vis inclusion have also been given.

Vocational Business Students’ Conceptions and Misconceptions of Taxes as an Input for Instruction and Curriculum Development

Context: Tax evasion and tax compliance are important topics on a European level. Next to regulations and fines, the understanding of tax-related issues impacts a tax compliance decision. Vocational business students already pay taxes and are potential future entrepreneurs who will increasingly have to deal with tax-related issues in the future. Tax-related content is, therefore, integrated in the curriculum of business colleges in Austria. Information on business students’ conceptions and misconceptions concerning taxes can serve as valuable input for instruction and curriculum development. Approach: In order to explore the conceptions and misconceptions of taxes among potential future entrepreneurs, students aged between 17 and 18 from business colleges in Austria were interviewed. Therefore, the technique of problem-centred interviews was chosen. The material was then analysed by using Mayring’s content analytic method of structuring. Findings: The students’ conceptions and misconceptions of taxes, the difference to scientific knowledge as well as possible reasons for the misconceptions are analysed and discussed. The results show that misconceptions concerning basic principles of taxes exist, that students only have vague conceptions and little experience when it comes to income tax. They do not perceive themselves as taxpayers even though many of them have work experience and they regularly act as consumers and pay value added tax. Even though the students are more familiar with value added tax rates, misconceptions concerning the reasons behind the differences in rates exist. Finally, most of the students only fragmentally remember the last fundamental tax reform in Austria.Conclusion: The findings as well as an analysis of the curriculum suggest that the students are missing basic knowledge on taxes as for example the on the difference between fees and taxes. On a curricular level, knowledge important for the individual taxpayer should build the ground for further business-related content. Finally, background knowledge on why different forms of taxes exist and on tax reforms should foster a deeper understanding and complement the factual knowledge most students already possess.