Search Results (12,273)

Violence in schools is an unfortunate reality that is facing not only South Africa but all countries across the globe. The prevalence, frequency and intensity of violence are comprehensively documented, and there is enough evidence to demonstrate that school-based violence is a major problem in South African schools. What is still not clear are the effects of this violence on learners and educators. As such, the study aimed to explore the effects of school-based violence on learners and educators in South Africa. It is important to fully understand the effects of this phenomenon to devise appropriate strategies for addressing it. Based on a qualitative study conducted at nine high schools in South Africa, data were collected from 47 learners and 30 educators using focus group discussions and analysed using thematic analysis. Measures were implemented to ensure the quality of the data. The study received ethical clearance and adhered to all ethical considerations. The findings indicate that violence has detrimental effects on the victim, the perpetrator, the bystander, the educators, and the teaching and learning environment. Learners who experience bullying reported heightened levels of fear, frustration, and emotional distress, which contribute to negative perceptions of schooling and diminished academic performance. Collectively, these factors shape an overall adverse school experience. The study also found that exposure to school violence undermines educators’ self-confidence and erodes their sense of professional dignity. Furthermore, essential instructional time is lost as teachers are compelled to manage disruptive and violent behaviour, limiting opportunities for effective teaching and learning. The paper concludes that the short-term and long-term effects of school-based violence call for strategies and programmes to be put in place to address the problem of school-based violence. Full article

Against the backdrop of the continuing “museum boom” and increasingly diversified cultural demands, many small and medium-sized museums in China face rigid constraints, including insufficient funding, limited collections, and a shortage of professional personnel. Under such conditions, traditional exhibition models often suffer from weak narratives and limited public appeal. Focusing on the Ancient Ferry Site Museum affiliated with Xianyang Museum as the core case, this study adopts a case-study approach supplemented by comparative analysis. Drawing on exhibition texts, social education activities, visitor statistics, and operational data from recent years, it explores the narrative transformation pathways of resource-constrained museums. The findings show that the museum has gradually transformed from object-centered display to cultural storytelling, and from one-way presentation to two-way interaction, through strategies such as highlighting regional culture, refining a core narrative IP, integrating accessible technologies to create immersive experiences, expanding social education functions, and improving management systems. Based on the case analysis, this paper further proposes a “four-dimensional driving” model for narrative innovation in small and medium-sized museums, emphasizing the synergy among narrative positioning, technological experience, social connection, and management innovation. The core purpose of this model is to transform resource limitations into opportunities for distinctive development through in-depth local cultural narratives and creative transformation. Studies indicate that small and medium-sized museums can develop distinctive development models amid resource constraints via localized cultural narration, resource integration and differentiated positioning, thereby expanding their functions of cultural communication and public service. On this basis, this study argues that limited resources do not necessarily hinder museum development; rather, differentiated development can be achieved through local storytelling and resource integration. The research provides theoretical reference and practical implications for the narrative transformation of resource-constrained museums and the enhancement of public cultural services. Full article

Ethical conflicts are an inherent—yet often invisible—dimension of occupational therapy practice. Most available evidence remains qualitative or conceptual, and the empirical articulation of ethical conflicts in Spain is still limited. This study examines the nature, distribution, co-occurrence patterns, and meanings of ethical conflicts reported by occupational therapists in Spain. A concurrent convergent mixed-methods design was used. From a broader national sample of 596 valid responses, the analytical sample consisted of 160 practitioners (84.4% women, reflecting the gender composition of the profession in Spain) who reported having experienced ethical conflicts and provided open-text information. Data were collected via an online questionnaire combining closed items and open-ended narratives. Quantitative analyses included descriptive statistics and Jaccard-based co-occurrence estimates derived from a non-mutually exclusive thematic coding matrix. Narratives were analyzed inductively with a descriptive phenomenological orientation (Giorgi), using thematic procedures as an analytic scaffold (Braun and Clarke). Findings were integrated through joint displays and meta-inference. The most frequently selected primary conflict categories concerned professional competence and practice (19.4%), relationships with family members/caregivers (14.4%), and the user–therapist relationship (12.5%). Co-occurrence analysis indicated that conflicts rarely occurred in isolation and tended to cluster across relational, structural, and professional domains. Integration of quantitative patterns and narrative meanings supported a preliminary interpretive three-dimensional framework (relational, structural, professional) for understanding ethical tensions in practice. Across narratives, participants described experiences interpreted as consistent with moral distress, economic and workload pressures, limited professional recognition, and normative gaps. Ethical conflicts in occupational therapy practice in Spain are best understood as recurrent, situated tensions shaped by relational dynamics and organizational conditions, rather than isolated dilemmas. Supporting moral agency requires organizational supports, spaces for collective ethical deliberation, and context-sensitive ethics education. Full article

Food safety training is a cornerstone of foodborne disease prevention in collective catering, particularly in settings serving vulnerable populations. This study aimed to assess baseline food safety knowledge and evaluate the effectiveness of a food safety training session among food handlers employed in school cafeterias and residential care facilities (RSAs) collective catering. A pre–post design was applied to 168 participants who completed a structured knowledge questionnaire before and after training. At baseline, only 31% of participants achieved a passing score. Knowledge levels were significantly associated with primary job role (p < 0.001): food preparers and managers were more likely to pass compared with food service workers involved mainly in meal distribution. In multivariate analysis, both job role and catering setting remained independently associated with test performance. Following the training session, the proportion of participants passing the test increased to 74% (p < 0.001), and differences between professional categories were reduced. These findings indicate that food safety knowledge in collective catering could vary according to occupational role and organizational context, but can be improved through training. Role-tailored, HACCP-based educational programs could be essential to strengthen compliance and protect vulnerable populations in institutional catering settings. Full article

Background: Uncorrected visual impairment, primarily due to refractive errors, is a persistent public health concern in low- and middle-income countries. In Malawi, national data on the prevalence of visual difficulty and uptake of optical correction remain scarce, hindering targeted health interventions. This study examines the prevalence of self-reported visual difficulties, the uptake of refractive correction, and the sociodemographic determinants of optical correction in Malawi using 2024 national survey data. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the 2024 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS), a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey encompassing 23,095 participants across urban and rural regions. Self-reported visual difficulties and optical correction (spectacle/contact lens use) were assessed alongside key sociodemographic factors. Associations were examined using chi-square tests and multinomial logistic regression. Results: Among 23,095 participants, visual difficulty was significantly associated with age, education, marital status, region, and residence (all p < 0.001). The prevalence of visual difficulty increased markedly with age, from 2.3% in the youngest group to 15.5% in those over 74 years. Women, individuals with lower education, widowed participants, and residents of the Northern region experienced higher rates of visual difficulty. Spectacle or contact lens use was low overall (6.4%), with uptake increasing with age, education, and urban residence but remaining below 20% even among the most educated. Most individuals reporting visual difficulty were not using optical correction, including 70% of those with “some difficulty” and 67% of those with “a lot of difficulty” indicating substantial unmet need. Multivariable analysis identified advancing age, higher education, urban residence, and Northern region as key independent predictors of both visual difficulty and refractive correction uptake. Conclusions: The unmet need for refractive correction in Malawi is substantial, disproportionately affecting older, less educated, rural, and widowed individuals. Expanding access to affordable and equitable refractive services is essential to reducing avoidable visual impairment and addressing social and geographic health disparities. Full article

A participatory school climate refers to the involvement of school administrators, teachers, and other school members in decision-making processes, their sharing of responsibility, and their collaborative work for school improvement. Since this climate can be related to individual, organizational, and contextual factors such as leadership, job satisfaction, diversity beliefs, workload, well-being, and national context, identifying the key variables that support a participatory school environment is important. This study used TALIS 2024 school administrator data to identify the main predictors of participatory school climate and examined the mediating role of school administrator job satisfaction in the relationship between school administrator leadership, used here in line with school principal leadership, and participatory school climate. The research is based on a two-stage analytical framework. In the first stage, explanatory machine learning analysis was conducted by comparing Elastic Net, Random Forest, and XGBoost models; the relative significance levels of the variables were evaluated using permutation importance and SHAP methods. In the second stage, mediation analysis was performed using multi-level linear mixed models, considering clustering at the national level; the indirect association was evaluated using bootstrap confidence intervals. The analyses were conducted using data from 16,335 school administrators. The findings showed that the highest prediction performance was produced by the XGBoost model and that model performance improved with the inclusion of the country variable. Explainability analyses indicated that school administrator leadership was the strongest predictor of participatory school climate, followed by job satisfaction and diversity beliefs. Multilevel models suggested that the association between school administrator leadership and participatory school climate was consistent, with an indirect pathway through school administrator job satisfaction; bootstrap findings also supported the statistical stability of this indirect association. These findings suggest that a participatory school climate is associated not only with individual perceptions but also with multifaceted conditions such as leadership, job satisfaction, inclusivity, and country context. By combining explanatory machine learning with multilevel statistical modeling, this study identifies variables associated with participatory school climate and examines an indirect association among leadership, job satisfaction, and participatory climate. Because TALIS survey weights and the full complex sampling design were not incorporated, the findings should be interpreted as associations observed in the pooled analytical sample rather than as population-representative estimates for participating education systems. Full article

The implementation of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system for monitoring, forecasting, and learner performance support has been intensified by the rapid expansion of online education systems. Existing online educational platforms completely rely on learning analytics and machine learning to customize content delivery. On the other hand, these platforms fundamentally focus on behavioral and cognitive indicators, whereas the integration of affective computing into learning analytics and adaptive decision-making processes is lacking. During the learning process, emotions like engagement, boredom, and confusion play a vital role. Nonetheless, the integration of adaptive online learning systems is still fragmented and underdeveloped. The latest progress in affective computing and multimodal sensing technologies allow for the inference of the affective state of learners in real-time, which creates a range of potential opportunities to create emotionally sensitive learning spaces. Despite technological innovations, the existing studies do not have a conceptual framework that is unified, design-oriented, and clearly incorporates affective computing with AI-based learning analytics to inform real-time pedagogical adaptation. To address this gap, this study introduces a design-oriented conceptual framework for AI-based online education systems that incorporate real-time affective computing. This conceptual framework combines the theoretical foundation of learning analytics, affective computing, and adaptive learning systems. The suggested framework offers a clear and scalable basis of online learning environments that are affective-aware by offering a clear framework of development, assessment, and consequent empirical validation. Full article

Reflective practice is central to contemporary teacher education, and pedagogical autobiographies are widely used as tools for reflection; yet the structural properties of these narratives, and their relationship to the reflective process they are meant to support, remain under-examined. This study applies computational text analysis to 361 autobiographical accounts written by prospective future Italian teachers across two consecutive cohorts (2024–25; 2025–26). The corpus covers eight pedagogical dimensions and is analysed through two rule-based indicators, Student Agency Ratio (SAR) and Sentiment Valence, both validated against human coding on a subsample, using methods that account for the nesting of dimensions within participants. Results show strong dimension-level differences in both SAR and valence, with agency and valence profiles that replicate across the two cohorts, whereas lexical richness shows a cohort-level shift. Assessment stands apart from the other dimensions: compared with them, it combines markedly more negative valence (a large within-participant effect, dz = 2.31), more frequent negative or unresolved endings, lower lexical richness, and predominant anchoring in upper secondary school. By contrast, STEM and support-related memories are more often anchored in primary school and are generally more positive. These findings suggest that prospective teachers enter initial training with domain-specific narrative schemas that may shape how they interpret key areas of pedagogical practice, especially assessment. As the data come from a single institution, the findings should be read as exploratory and warrant replication with larger, multi-institution samples. Full article

With the rapid development in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies, their application in STEAM education offers new possibilities for promoting interdisciplinary integration of technology and the arts. This study employs a systematic literature review method. Six databases—Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, Taylor & Francis, Springer Link, and Scopus—were searched for publications from January 2021 to January 2026. After independent screening and review by two reviewers, 21 empirical studies out of 424 initial records were included. A comprehensive analysis was conducted using a combination of open and axial coding. The findings indicate that GenAI’s support for artistic creativity in STEAM education is primarily manifested in four dimensions: lowering the threshold for creation to enhance the accessibility of artistic creativity, stimulating interdisciplinary associations to strengthen subject integration, supporting critical artistic recreation to deepen cultural engagement, and building a human–GenAI collaborative creation ecosystem to foster reflexivity. Based on this, the study constructs a GCD (Guiding questioning–Co-refining–Deepening reflection) cyclic instructional framework, providing teachers with an actionable pedagogical pathway for using GenAI to cultivate students’ interdisciplinary artistic creativity across different educational stages. Furthermore, the study systematically analyzes ethical challenges such as technological dependency, cultural homogenization, educational equity, and originality, and proposes corresponding pedagogical strategies to address them. It should be noted that the current body of relevant empirical research is limited in quantity and exhibits substantial heterogeneity, and the GCD framework still requires further classroom-based practical validation. Future research could strengthen empirical longitudinal tracking of longterm effects, deepen the construction of support systems for teachers’ digital literacy, and continue to advance the exploration of ethical, equity, and cultural diversity issues in GenAI-based artistic creativity education. Full article

From the late 19th to the early 20th century, clock towers—as key physical manifestations of the modern urban public timekeeping system—gradually took on diverse forms within the urban development of Japan’s Meiji period. In 1903, Zhang Jian travelled to Japan to study its industrial and educational systems; upon his return, he promoted the construction of several public clock towers in Nantong, establishing them as a significant spatial typology in the local modernisation process. Drawing on Zhang Jian’s itinerary during his visit to Japan and case studies of clock towers in Nantong, and supported by existing literature and historical materials, this paper conducts a typological comparative analysis of clock tower types from Japan’s Meiji period and their possible counterparts in Nantong. Through a comparison of architectural forms, spatial organisation and functional attributes, this paper seeks to explore the pathways of translation and adaptive changes in the form of modern Japanese clock towers within local Chinese contexts. The research indicates that, in terms of overall form, the Nantong Clock Tower exhibits a certain degree of comparability with some types of public clock towers from Japan’s Meiji period, whilst simultaneously displaying distinct features of localised adaptation in terms of scale, materials and functional integration. The available evidence suggests that this should be understood as a process of adaptive reconstruction of a cross-cultural architectural typology within a local context, rather than a direct correspondence with a single source. Full article

Objectives: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are common musculoskeletal conditions in adults. The repetitive neuromusculoskeletal demands of operatic singing, together with suboptimal technique, intensive training, and psychological strain, may be associated with TMD-related symptoms. Knowledge of TMD and awareness of warning signs may support appropriate health-seeking behaviours. This study aimed to assess self-reported TMD-related symptoms and selected aspects of TMD-related knowledge among Polish opera singers. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2024 among 241 adult Polish classically trained singers, including professional opera singers and vocal students (90 men and 151 women; age range, 20–73 years). Data were collected using an author-developed questionnaire and the Fonseca Anamnestic Index (FAI), a self-report screening instrument for TMD-related symptoms and symptom severity. Results: FAI scores were within the lowest symptom category in 21.6% of participants, within the mild category in 50.6%, within the moderate category in 24.5%, and within the severe category in 3.3%. Overall, 87.1% rated their TMD-related knowledge as poor or sufficient, although 89.6% recognised that TMD may adversely affect vocal technique. Conclusions: Self-reported TMD-related symptoms were frequently observed in this study sample, and responses to individual questionnaire items indicated gaps in selected areas of TMD-related knowledge. A self-reported previous diagnosis of TMD was associated with greater FAI-assessed symptom severity, whereas self-assessed TMD knowledge was not. These findings may support further evaluation of targeted education and access to appropriate clinical assessment for classically trained singers. Full article

This study examines changes from baseline to midline in ICT competency indicators during an ICT teacher training intervention in Cambodian lower secondary education. The intervention aligned with SDG 4.4.1 and included pre-service and in-service teachers from four Regional Teacher Training Centers and 20 pilot schools, along with Grade 8 students. Teachers completed a self-assessment and an objective ICT knowledge test covering 11 SDG 4.4.1 domains. Students completed objective assessments. Teacher competency pass counts increased from baseline to midline. The largest changes appeared in information verification and programming, while foundational domains changed less. Pre-service teachers had higher objective knowledge scores at midline. A nonparametric check showed the same direction. No significant differences were detected across the four provinces. The findings provide evidence from program monitoring that an ODA intervention combining curriculum reform, textbook development, ICT laboratory deployment, and sustained teacher training was associated with changes in teacher ICT competency. Full article

The article examines the protective role of the family and youth formative communities against substance and behavioral addictions in adolescence. Its aim is to synthesize knowledge of risk and protective factors and to indicate how family and community environments can lower the likelihood of risky behaviors. The first part of the paper presents a multifactorial paradigm for explaining young people’s use of psychoactive substances, drawing on data about the situation in Poland. The second part explores the social significance of the family and participation in formative groups, especially religious ones, by referring to the concepts of social capital, normative socialization, and communal rootedness. The third part depicts Scouting and the Light-Life Movement as examples of educational settings that promote a lifestyle grounded in self-discipline, abstinence, and communal responsibility. Overall, the conducted analyses conclude that the protective potential of these environments is not automatic but depends on the quality of relationships, the presence of significant adults, the credibility of norms, and the communities’ capacity to respond to young people’s experiences amid ongoing secularization and cultural individualization. Full article

This research examines the impact of multiple-choice question (MCQ) sequencing—forward (instructional order) versus randomized—on undergraduate student performance in education courses. Grounded in cognitive perspectives on memory organization and retrieval, the study investigates whether question order influences test outcomes. Using a 2 × 2 mixed repeated-measures design across four courses at an Arab Gulf university, data were collected from 212 students who completed two MCQ-based assessments administered under alternating sequencing conditions. Repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were employed to analyze performance differences while controlling for testing phase and academic achievement (GPA). Results indicated no statistically significant main effects of question order or testing phase, nor any significant interaction between sequencing and testing phase. GPA did not moderate the relationship between sequencing format and performance. However, descriptive trends suggested slightly higher performance under forward sequencing conditions, pointing to the possibility of small or context-dependent sequencing influences. Overall, the study findings indicate that undergraduate students perform similarly across forward and randomized MCQ formats under typical classroom conditions. By integrating within- and between-subject analyses and controlling for individual academic achievement, the study strengthens the methodological evidence base on MCQ sequencing. The findings provide cautious support for the use of randomized sequencing as a fairness-oriented assessment strategy, highlighting the importance of test design features and contextual factors. Future research should examine sequencing effects in high-stakes settings, assessments targeting higher-order cognitive skills, and diverse disciplinary contexts. Full article

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) resources and robotics tools in education is considered vital for interdisciplinary fields to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning process. It also helps transform assessment techniques and revolutionize the whole pedagogical setting of science teacher education, in particular, AI and robotics integration in the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects’ courses at the primary level. In this study, a scoping review was conducted involving seventeen peer-reviewed research papers published from 2021 to 2025. Efforts are being made to find the current perceptions and practices of preservice teachers (PSTs) at the primary level (Years 1–6; ages 6–12 in the Australian context) regarding the use of AI and robotics resources, for example, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), foundational robotics and AI-driven robotics in teaching STEM subjects. Findings indicate that there was a significant gap in primary PSTs’ perspectives regarding their pedagogical practices to integrate STEM. As such, this influences future teachers’ knowledge, understanding, AI acceptance, and attitude toward the integration of smart AI and robotics resources in STEM classrooms. Policymakers and teachers’ education providers should align advanced technological AI resources and robotics applications with STEM curriculum guidelines and preservice teachers’ professional training programs within primary school education. Full article