Fragmented Geographies of Education: Institutions, Policies, and the Neighborhood

Educational settings, both in and out of the school environment, not only affect one’s educational opportunities, but may also result in structural disadvantages and barriers. In this chapter, we explore political programs and initiatives aimed at improving educational opportunities and related settings on a local scale in Freiburg, Germany. Drawing upon educational statistics and biographical interviews conducted with adolescent students who are confronted with severe educational barriers, we sketch out a local pattern of fragmented geographies. Moreover, we critically assess how the local initiative “Lernen Erleben in Freiburg” (LEIF) implemented the national program “Lernen vor Ort” (Local Learning). With this example, we show that educational programs and initiatives—framed according to the New Public Management paradigm and neoliberal logics of competition, rankings, and best practices—have a limited potential to transform educational landscapes and work against educational inequalities and prevailing fragmented geographies of education.

How Entrepreneurship Sustains Barriers in the Entrepreneurial Process—A Lesson from a Developing Nation

The aim of this study is to explore how entrepreneurship sustains the barriers in the entrepreneurial process in a developing country like Pakistan. To reach these findings, a qualitative approach was used in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with young entrepreneurs in the region of Hyderabad, Pakistan. After collecting data, thematic analysis was conducted. The findings of the study in the form of final themes suggest that trust issues, family barriers, financial issues, gender issues, educational barriers, corruption, and legal barriers are among the challenges which trigger changes in the entrepreneurial process and its sustainability. This study provides implications for the regional government, academic institutes, financial institutes, entrepreneurs, and society at large when developing a support system and promoting a sustainable entrepreneurial environment by minimizing these challenges and suggestions for an entrepreneurial focus on sustainable entrepreneurship.

Past, Present, and Future Potentialities of the Nova Scotian Education System

By tracing the long history of the institutionalized racism experienced by Black Nova Scotians within the education system a connection can be drawn to contemporary educational barriers that seek to hold back marginalized students. This article builds its foundation on the substantial history of Nova Scotia’s statewide denial of full citizenship for its Black inhabitants. Whether through informal or formal mechanisms, contemporary Black students continue to face the ramifications of such history, experiencing high rates of suspension, low academic scoring, and disproportionate enrollment into non-university preparatory courses.

People living with diabetes are unaware of their foot risk status or why they are referred to a multidisciplinary foot team

Aim: People with active diabetic foot disease should be rapidly referred by health professionals along a pathway of care to a multidisciplinary foot team. The aim was to investigate patients' self-reported understanding of their foot risk status and reasons for their referral to a multidisciplinary foot team. Method: This seven-month service evaluation included consecutive newly referred patients. Participants completed a questionnaire which asked firstly about their understanding of their foot risk status, secondly about their pathway of care before presentation to the multidisciplinary foot team, and thirdly about their interest in diabetes-related foot education and preferred learning style. Results: There were 202 participants; 65% were male, mean age was 64±15 years (mean±standard deviation (SD)), 86% had type 2 diabetes, and mean HbA1c was 65±23mmol/mol (8.3±3.7%). Only 4% of participants knew their current foot risk status and 52% did not know why their care had been escalated to a multidisciplinary foot clinic. Participants with type 2 diabetes more readily expressed an interest in further foot education compared with participants with type 1 diabetes, (70% versus 29%, p=0.001). Conclusions: These findings show that people with diabetes and foot disease are less aware of their foot risk status or why they are referred to a multidisciplinary team. Participants indicated a variable interest in further learning about foot complications. These findings indicate possible communication and educational barriers between patients and health professionals which may contribute to delayed presentation or suboptimal engagement.

Échale Neurona and contextual barriers to sex and sexuality education in Mexico

Background: Developing sex and sexuality education programmes for adolescents has proved challenging in many parts of the world, especially in contexts where the importance of these programmes is not valued. In such settings, educating about sex and sexuality may also require dealing with detractors who are active in spreading misinformation. Objective: This article identifies contextual barriers encountered by those involved in developing the Échale Neurona programme in Mexico. Team members associated with the programme have been teaching about sex and sexuality in public secondary and high schools since 2016. Methods and design: Grounded theory approach using semi-structured interviews. Interviews took place with 10 participants including health promotion experts and programme officials. The main focus of the interviews was on the contextual limitations encountered when implementing sex and sexuality education workshops. Results: Findings reveal at least three types of barriers hindering the comprehensive sex and sexuality education developed by the programme: institutional, cultural and socio-educational barriers. Conclusion: Contextual barriers associated with family and school environments posed a significant challenge to implementation. Such barriers may facilitate or hinder sex and sexuality education programmes affecting the way young people develop their sex lives and live their sexuality.

he Mediating Role of Gender in ICT Acceptance & Its Impacts on Students’ Academic Performance during Covid-19

The global pandemic raised several social and economic challenges worldwide. Executing lockdown and closure of educational institutions became only options to mitigate these challenges, leading to educational barriers for billions of students worldwide. In such a situation, the acceptance, adoption and integration of ICT informally supported the learning process. However, policymakers, instructors and critics anticipated adverse consequences due to a fast shift from conventional to eLearning system. In this regard, the current research scrutinized the intervening role of gender in eLearning acceptance during Covid-19 outbreak. Additionally, this study also examines the impact of eLearning acceptance on students’ academic performance under Media System Dependency Theory. Data was gathered from n= 300 participants currently enrolled in n= 3 public sector universities in Islamabad, Pakistan. Results from quantitative data analysis indicated moderately significant gender differences concerning eLearning acceptance during the Covid-19. Similarly, findings also revealed a significant positive correlation between female students and conventional learning, male students and eLearning acceptance. Here the inferential statistics also highlighted the positive impacts of eLearning on students’ academic performance during Covid-19. The study concludes that gender is moderately hindering eLearning acceptance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though eLearning positively influences educational performance, stakeholders need to reconsider the current policies and ensure web-based as equally acceptable for all.

Developing Preservice Teachers’ Equity Consciousness and Equity Literacy

Teachers need the knowledge and dispositions to identify and dismantle barriers contributing to persistent educational inequity. This work begins by centering equity in teacher education with a focus on developing teachers’ critical consciousness of the systems of power and privilege in educational institutions. Utilizing equity-focused instruction and coaching, this study explored the development of preservice teachers’ Equity Consciousness and Equity Literacy knowledge and dispositions during a teaching-coaching-reflection transformative learning experience. Participants demonstrated increased Equity Consciousness and Equity Literacy, recognizing their assumptions about learners’ lived experiences and the funds of knowledge students bring to the learning environment. Findings from this empirical study indicate this approach contributes to the development of the equity-based dispositions essential to dismantling current educational barriers and replacing them with inclusive and empowering instructional practices.

The status of neurology fellowships in the United States: clinical needs, educational barriers, and future outlooks

The need for subspecialty-trained neurologists is growing in parallel with increasing disease burden. However, despite the immense burden of neurological diseases, like headache and neurodegenerative disorders, recruitment into these subspecialties remains insufficient in the United States. In this manuscript, a group of educators from the American Academy of Neurology’s A.B. Baker Section on Neurological Education sought to review and discuss the current landscape of neurology fellowships in the United States, the factors driving fellowship recruitment and the educational barriers. Moreover, suggestions to potentially improve recruitment for under-selected fellowships, which can contribute towards an alignment between neurological education and neurological needs, and future educational scenarios are discussed.