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Agency in deliberate professional learning: A mixed-methods evidence from Cambodian faculty members’ technology integration during Covid-19 emergency
Eam PHYROM & Son SOPHEAK
Abstract
Like teachers in other parts of the world, Cambodian faculty members are not systematically prepared for Covid-19. Yet, several rapid assessment studies have observed that they could use technologies in some ways to cope with the pandemic to ensure that teaching and learning activities do not halt, despite reported inefficiency and remaining challenges in such practices. This study seeks to understand (1) how and why they can integrate technologies in response to Covid-19 and (2) whether and why they think it is necessary for their HEIs and themselves to continue integrating technologies after the pandemic. To address these questions, we used a survey dataset of 280 faculty members and a semi-structured interview dataset of 20 key informants. Our path analyses indicate that individual technology-related capability (i.e., perceived ICT competence and technology-supported teaching experience) and institutional support (in terms of institutional policy, leadership, finance, and infrastructure) have positive influences on faculty members’ technology application behaviour during Covid-19, and such application behaviour during the pandemic further positively influences their perceived future technology integration. Our thematic analyses additionally underline the importance of personal agency of faculty members in deliberately learning how to use and draw benefits from various technologies before and during the pandemic. There is also strong qualitative evidence of collective agency among leaders, faculty members, and relevant support teams within HEIs in embracing technologies to cope with the crisis. Considering rapid and complex advancements of technologies, our study calls for more attention and investment in building deliberate professional learning culture at Cambodian HEIs, especially in the form of technology-focused academic development programs, both in response to future emergency needs and as a continuous, lifelong professional practice. Like the language of research and science that all academics have to speak to walk the path, the language of and skills associated with technology is going to significantly rule the academia for years to come.
Mapping the impacts of climate change on children’s education in the Global South
Kai FENG & Sukie XIUQI
Abstract
Climate change significantly impacts education in Sub-Saharan Africa, causing disruptions in access to education, teaching, and learning. These disruptions potentially cause reductions in educational attainment and exacerbate educational inequalities. This paper investigates the impact of climate anomalies on primary education in ten Sub-Saharan African countries using the latest phase of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and temperature and precipitation data from the Climatic Research Unit-time series (CRU-TS). Our findings show that cumulative exposure to climate anomalies, especially in early childhood, has a significant negative effect on primary school completion and that the effect varies depending on socioeconomic status. Children of better-educated mothers are less affected by climate anomalies, even in economically disadvantaged households. These results emphasize the need to monitor the human capital implications of climate change, especially for young children, and to continue improving education for women to prevent a cycle of educational disadvantage exacerbated by climate hazards.
Embracing teachers’ role in promoting equity in the classroom: Global patterns and evidence of academic resilience from 58 countries
Nani TEIG
Abstract
Children living in poverty often just have one chance in life to reach their full potential; that is, through a good school that provides them with the opportunity to succeed. This study examines the academic resilience of disadvantaged students from low-income families who succeed in mathematics and science classrooms despite the odds against them.
The study draws on multilevel data from students and teachers across 58 education systems, including in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, to achieve the following objectives (1) to examine the share of academically resilient students in mathematics and science across and within the 58 education systems, and (2) to identify the characteristics of teacher quality and teaching quality that distinguish resilient and non-resilient students. This study analysed assessment and survey data from the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 in Grade 4.
The findings indicate that the share of resilient students varies across education systems and subjects, as well as when different performance thresholds are used. The characteristics of teacher and teaching quality also differ across education systems. However, the study found that some characteristics of teacher quality, especially teacher specialization in mathematics or science and hours of professional development, did not differ between resilient and non-resilient students. In contrast, the characteristics of teaching quality, including disorderly behaviour, cognitive activation, teacher support and instructional clarity, showed significant differences between resilient and non-resilient students.
These findings have direct implications for educational policy and practice aimed at enhancing equity and quality in education. They highlight the crucial role that teacher and teaching quality play in mitigating educational inequality. By creating a supportive learning environment, teachers can help disadvantaged students overcome the challenges they face and succeed in mathematics and science classrooms. Reducing achievement gaps between students from high- and low-income families benefits not only individuals but also advances equity, sustainability, and social justice in the larger society. Given the right support, any country can provide all children with a fair chance to succeed in life, regardless of their background.
Learning inequality and the attainment of global education goals: What household surveys and children's local environement tell us about Ghana's basic school system.
Rodney Buadi NKRUMAH
Abstract
The deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4.1.1) of ensuring access to quality basic education and learning skills for all children (by 2030) is only seven years away. Yet, it is unclear whether countries like Ghana and many others in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region will meet this objective, owing to inequalities that still characterise educational opportunities, notably access to learning. In Ghana’s context, disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes between the predominantly rural communities in the north and the largely urbanized south, remain one of the main challenges the country must tackle if it is to achieve its education goals. But there is a key research gap at the center of a comprehensive understanding necessary to develop evidence-driven policies to reach the most marginalized. Emphasis on quantitative indicator approaches as the dominant benchmark for measuring access to learning means that the schooling and livelihood experiences that potentially tell us more about factors that shape a child’s learning in different geographical settings are often unaccounted for in existing indicators on educational outcomes.
To address this gap, a sequential mixed method design was used, drawing on data from the MICS 6 foundational learning model and qualitative interviews and focus groups in rural Northern Ghana to explore inequalities in access to learning. Additionally, a framework that centers children’s local environment in understanding educational equity was used to identify mechanisms that drive the formation of learning inequalities in Ghana’s basic school system, focusing on rural northern Ghana. The results show that the majority of learners from Ghana’s basic school system, notably lower and upper primary levels, lack access to foundational literacy skills expected at grade 2 level. There is also a deep regional dimension to learning skills access, with learners from the Northern regions having the least access. Subsequently, the study found that in the Northern regions, mechanisms that drive learning inequality are inherently borne out of the schooling and livelihood experiences (MLEs) children face in their local communities. Yet, these experiences are often not captured in the datasets that inform educational policy and strategy, to support effective policies that target the sources of inequality. The study suggests that future household survey datasets and policies to improve learning should prioritize MLEs, not only to improve existing data on educational equity, but also to allow for effective, and evidence-driven policy recommendations to address Ghana’s learning challenges.
Institutional conditions for equitable access to higher education in Ecuador: A novel linked administrative data analysis.
Magali Ramos JARRIN
Abstract
The expansion of tertiary education has been unprecedented, but accompanied by persistent vertical and horizontal inequity.” (UNESCO, 2020). Higher education policies play a crucial role within this, with school and higher education financing potentially affecting equitable outcomes via institutional resourcing and staffing. This paper contributes to the understanding of the institutional conditions (at school and higher education level) associated with students’ access to public universities in Ecuador. The study focuses on two units of analysis: students: their trajectories into public higher education; and institutional: schools and universities. The research explores how the distribution of financial resources to schools and higher education institutions affects their material and human resources (in terms of academic profiles) and how this may be related to equitable higher education access for students and schools serving diverse student populations. The secondary data analysis research design uses of large-scale administrative data, linked together for the first time. The findings of the study illuminate where and how progress in equitable higher education access has been achieved in Ecuador and this serves as a blueprint for the monitoring of progress in other contexts.
Exploring available educational data at UNESCO Institute for Statistics for educational researchers
Oliver LABÉ
About this presentation
This presentation aims to provide an overview of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) major contributions to education as a global public good, with a focus on the production of education statistics, which is the most important and visible product of the Institute.The participants will learn about the UIS education data production, comparability across countries and how to access education data published by the UIS. Other information that will be communicated during the presentation includes the latest Sustainable DevelopmentGoal (SDG) 4 indicators framework, the national SDG 4 benchmark indicators, and UIS recent publications.
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