Differences in Teachers’ Professional Action Competence in Education for Sustainable Development: The Importance of Teacher Co-Learning

This study builds on a research-practitioner partnership embedded within an education for sustainable development (ESD) project and aims to explore the major potential challenges (i.e., disciplinary boundaries set by subject specialization, especially in secondary education) and success factors (i.e., teacher co-learning experiences in ESD) associated with differences in teachers’ professional action competence (PACesd) in a sample of 557 in-service teachers in primary and secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium. The study employed a recently validated PACesd measurement instrument and involved quantitative data analysis in a structural equation modelling framework. The results show that primary education teachers tend to report higher PACesd levels compared to their peers in secondary education. Moreover, regardless of educational level, gender and teaching experience, all teachers participating in a working group or a learning community in ESD are more likely to show higher levels of PACesd. Implications of the findings, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Trends of Students' Enrollment in Dhankuta Multiple Campus

This paper attempts to explore the students' enrolment trends in Dhankuta Multiple Campus. The discipline of geography has offered in Bachelor's degree level at the Faculties of Education (FoE), and Humanities, and Social Sciences (FoHSS) since 1970. This paper is based on the review of relevant materials collected from the official records of the Dhankuta Multiple Campus. The data covers 25 years (1996-2020) of student enrolment in the Bachelor's first year of both faculties. Students' enrolment data reveals that the student enrolment rate in the FoHSS seems to be the same while fluctuations observed in the FoE. The enrolment rate in the FoE reached its climax in 2005, and it has gradually declined after 2010. The FoE offered a single-subject specialization policy in the Bachelors of Degree Program, phasing out the proficiency certificate level from the university; the declining number of feeder schools offering geography and the state economic policies are responsible factors to deterioration the student enrolment. Therefore, the concerned authorities need to take appropriate steps to increase student enrolment.

SOFT SKILLS FORMATION IN FUTURE TEACHERS IN THE PROCESS OF TEACHING THE COURSE “COACHING TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION”

the article reveals the meaning of the concept of soft skills, their role and significance for professional development and career growth. Based on the analysis of the Professional Standard for the professions “Primary school teacher”, “General secondary school teacher”, “Primary school teacher” (with a diploma of junior specialist) (identified a list of flexible skills that must have a modern teacher. Emphasis is placed on the importance of developing soft skills in applicants for higher pedagogical education at the stage of their professional training. Based on the study of educational programs for higher education at the bachelor’s level in specialties 013 Primary education, 014 Secondary education (by subject specialization) the ways of their formation in the educational process are determined. The curriculum of the elective discipline of the general cycle of training “Coaching technologies in education” has been developed and tested as an additional resource for the formation of future teachers’ communication skills, leadership competencies, self-management skills, intellectual skills.

E-Learning of STEM in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions: Status and challenges

The 4th Industrial Revolution and COVID-19 pandemic have globally impacted the economy, livelihood and organizations. With digitalization, many programs including STEM-based courses that require hands-on approach have gone online. This research was carried out to analyze the status of STEM Education in Malaysian higher education institutions and to explore challenges of e-learning integration with STEM subjects. A concurrent triangulation mixed-methods design was employed whereby quantitative and qualitative approaches took place simultaneously. The qualitative data were gathered via questionnaire while qualitative approach used semi-structured interviews. Respondents were STEM educators who teach and/or manage STEM programs in HEIs within the Klang Valley. Junior lecturers are found comparatively better using different software programs, exploring websites and handling multimedia tools for e-learning purposes. 83% survey respondents claimed their institution has no STEM e-learning policy, contributing to further challenge in STEM Education development. Respondents agreed sound e-learning implementation of STEM requires lecturers with subject specialization, able to approach application of knowledge, skills and values to problem solving, can collaborate with others and adept at integrating technology. Meanwhile, the HEIs must engage stakeholders to counter resistance plan to change, and to measure the effectiveness of integrating e-learning in meeting the strategic goals in STEM education. Keywords: E-learning, Higher education, STEM Education

The Relationships between Experience, Qualification and Subject Specialization and Content Knowledge Mastery of Economic and Management Sciences Teachers: A Case of Accounting Teaching

This paper investigates the relationship between teaching experience, qualification, and subject specialization on the content mastery of teachers of financial literacy to Grade 9 learners. The sample consisted of 89 Grade 9 teachers of financial literacy in the Thabo Mofutsanyana education district of South Africa. Data was collected using a questionnaire that elicited biographical data and required teachers of financial literacy to answer questions on a variety of accounting topics, to diagnose the effect of teaching experience, qualification, and subject specialization on the content knowledge mastery of the teachers. The data revealed three distinct themes, namely, solving the accounting equation, understanding accounting concepts, and the connection between topics and application of accounting principles. The items of the questionnaire were clustered into three constructs: accounting equation, accounting concepts, and accounting principles and subsidiary journals. The results show that having experience of teaching the subject, having relevant qualifications, and having a minor or major subject specialization in financial literacy enhances teachers’ content knowledge and competence. This result suggests that teachers of financial literacy should have a minimum of three years of teaching experience before they teach senior classes, possess a relevant diploma or degree, and have had accounting as a subject until at least the second to the third year of their studies. In general, teachers should not be expected to teach subjects they did not specialize in, and their level of experience should be a determining factor in workload/subject allocation for teachers, especially for accounting (also known as financial literacy).

Efficiency in university-industry collaboration: an analysis of UK higher education institutions

We examine the determinants of university involvement in knowledge transfer activities, focusing on the value of external services provided by higher education institutions. Data come from 164 universities in the UK and are drawn from the HE Business and Community Interaction Survey (HE-BCI), with a variety of university- and region- specific explanatory variables grafted onto the data from other official sources. The production function for such external services is estimated using the appropriate stochastic frontier methods, and unobserved heterogeneity across institutions of higher education is accommodated by adopting a latent class framework for the modelling. We find strong effects of scale and of research orientation on the level of knowledge transfer. There are, however, two distinct latent classes of higher education institutions, and these differ especially in terms of how external service provision responds to subject specialization of universities and to economic conditions in the region. Research-intensive universities are concentrated in one of the latent classes and, in these institutions, the provision of external services appears to be highly efficient, while in the second latent class there is greater variation in the efficiency of universities.

motivation of students to the professional-pedagogical activity

Remuneration plays a special role in the context of choosing a profession, so students, choosing the profession of a teacher, in some way pay attention to the level of payment for this profession and its growth rate. The article aims to study the impact of motivation on the prospect of students choosing a teacher's profession on the example of EU member states. Methods: theoretical and conceptual analysis, description, generalization, induction, deduction, observation, comparison, tabular and graphical representation, quantitative analysis, and grouping. Results: it is determined that in the general structure of professional education of students in higher education institutions of the European Union member states a high share is occupied by students in the field of teacher training without subject specialization in Denmark, Malta, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium and Cyprus and students in the field of teacher training with subject specialization - in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and Sweden.

Self-Assessment of Teachers’ Communication Style and Its Impact on Their Communication Effectiveness: A Study of Indian Higher Educational Institutions

The excellence of educational institutions can be developed and improved by the teachers’ consistent and effective communication in classrooms. This study embarks to investigate the effect of teachers’ communication style (CS) on their communication effectiveness (CE), based on self-assessment, during classroom teaching. The results indicate that CS has significant influence on CE, with “Expressiveness” and “Preciseness” emerging as best styles of communication, whereas “Verbal Aggressiveness” has negative impact on faculties’ CE. It also investigates the differences in CE of the faculty based on their gender and subject specialization. Findings indicate gender differences on the basis of two CE variables—“Listening” and “Ability to get the Message Across.” But there is no difference in instructors’ CE when compared on basis of subject specialization. The findings of the study have implications for the faculty members to enhance their CE, by understanding their CS, which will further have an impact on students’ satisfaction and learning.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PAUSE IN MONOLOGUE

The article described the semantic meaning of “a psychological pause”; analysed the types of pauses, such as pauses in memory, silence, tension, etc.; investigated the preparatory work of the performer of the monologue. Types of psychological pause are considered. An effective basis for pauses, which contributes to the disclosure of the human essence of the image, was determined. We hope that the material of the article will be useful for professional teachers, regardless of their subject specialization, and not only for future actors.