Search Results (13)

Individuals with developmental disabilities often experience physical and mental chronic conditions from early childhood, which can negatively affect their education, employment, and social participation without appropriate interventions. These impairments frequently limit the acquisition of essential daily living skills, including personal hygiene skills. This study examined a multicomponent intervention package—comprising video prompting, step-by-step instruction based on task analysis, systematic error correction, and reinforcement—to support the acquisition of handwashing skills for two adolescents with developmental disabilities (Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability) and toothbrushing skills for one adolescent. A nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across participants and skills was employed, including baseline, intervention, maintenance, and generalization phases. The intervention was conducted over eight weeks. The results indicated low and stable baseline performance for both participants, followed by a systematic increase in performance after the introduction of the intervention, reaching accuracy levels between 80% and 91%. Participants demonstrated meaningful improvements in hygiene skill performance following intervention. These gains were maintained over time and generalized to new settings, although a few task steps continued to require prompting. Furthermore, teachers and parents rated the intervention as highly feasible, practical, and useful for supporting hygiene skills, while students reported enjoyment, perceived improvement, and willingness to participate again. Overall, the findings suggest that structured, evidence-based instructional approaches may support increased functional participation in essential daily living skills, particularly when complete independence may not be attainable for all individuals. Full article

This article discusses the policy of Bussed Education in Türkiye in the context of the fourth Sustainable Development Goal, “quality education”. The contributions made by the policy of Bussed Education, which aims to facilitate the access of students living in disadvantaged areas to education under equal conditions, to quality education were examined. The sample of the study, which was carried out using a qualitative research method, consisted of 38 teachers and 39 school principals (77 participants in total) selected via purposeful sampling. The participants were working at schools in different regions of Türkiye where education by busing was being implemented. Data were collected in interviews carried out using a semi-structured interview form. The results revealed four themes in the context of which the policy of Bussed Education supported Sustainable Development Goal 4. It was concluded that the policy of Busing in Education was a policy that facilitated the access of students living in disadvantaged areas to schools and supported access to quality education in terms of equal opportunities, sustainability, inclusivity, and employment. Recommendations made for policymakers included the acknowledgment of the shortcomings of busing in education and the resolution of arising challenges by the consideration of contextual conditions. Full article

This study aimed to analyze which work-related factors may influence the quality of life (QOL) and quality of work life (QWL) of academic teachers from different fields of knowledge, as well as to verify the correlation between QOL and QWL. It is a cross-sectional study in which data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire containing work-related questions, the WHOQOL-BREF, and the TQWL-42 instruments. The sample consisted of 284 academic teachers from various disciplines. The total population at the higher education institution (HEI) comprised 386 faculty members, and the sample size was determined using OpenEpi^®, with a 95% confidence level. The results showed no significant differences in QOL and QWL between the different fields of knowledge. However, both QOL and QWL were influenced by several work-related factors, including higher remuneration, holding a statutory employment position, not needing to relocate from one’s home city to work as a professor, adequate lighting, comfortable room temperature, lower noise levels, sufficient material resources, and smaller class sizes. Additionally, a positive correlation between QOL and QWL was observed. In conclusion, both QOL and QWL are influenced by organizational and work-related conditions associated with the academic profession, rather than by disciplinary areas. These findings suggest that the work environment and personal life of academic staff are interdependent, and efforts to improve one may positively impact the other. Full article

English writing proficiency is pivotal to sustainable academic success and employability. In Chinese higher education, however, conventional instruction often constrains students’ self-regulation and access to individualized feedback. Drawing on self-regulated learning (SRL) and co-regulated learning (CoRL), this study investigates whether a CoRL-guided generative AI virtual teacher (CoRL-VT), designed as a “more capable other,” is associated with enhanced undergraduate writing outcomes relative to standard AI support. Using a 12-week quasi-experimental design with two intact classes (N = 61) in Anhui, China, we compared a control condition (standard AI) with an intervention (CoRL-VT). Writing proficiency was assessed via IELTS Writing Task 2 at pre- and post-test; three certified examiners scored all scripts with strong agreement (ICC = 0.87). Analyses adjusting for baseline yielded an estimated group difference favoring CoRL-VT. Teacher interview testimony aligned with the quantitative pattern, noting clearer macro-organization, richer lexical choices, and more teacherly formative feedback among CoRL-VT students. Taken together, these findings offer exploratory, descriptive evidence consistent with the potential of structured, CoRL-informed AI scaffolding in sustainable writing pedagogy and outline design principles for replicable CoRL-VT implementations in resource-conscious contexts. Full article

Teacher professional development (PD) programs ensure quality education, and quality education is the basis for sustainable development. However, the non-participation of mathematics teachers in PD still represents a tough challenge for several school systems and remains poorly understood. Using data from the 2011, 2015, and 2019 cycles of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we analyzed more than 200 national datasets to identify countries with relevant proportions of non-participation in PD and model cross-nationally the relationship between the odds of this outcome and a set of variables at the teacher and school level, including the interaction between job satisfaction and the attributes of the schools. Successive logistic regression models applied to each national dataset reveals that, in different countries, the teachers’ job satisfaction, sex, teaching experience, the completion of initial teaching training, and the schools’ attributes (i.e., location and socio-economic status (SES)) were significantly associated with the odds of non-participation in PD amongst mathematics teachers. Three cases (Lebanon and Japan in 2015, and Norway in 2019) describes opposite patterns of results for the interaction between the teachers’ job satisfaction and the type of school location (urban vs. remote rural). In Lebanon in 2019, female teachers, as well as more experienced teachers and those teachers working in deprived areas were significantly more likely to report non-participation in PD. This study underscores the importance of undertaking regular and reliable cross-national monitoring of teachers’ non-participation in PD to guide policy efforts aligned with indicator 4.c.7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals framework. Full article

Teacher life satisfaction is crucial for their well-being and the educational success of their students, both essential elements for sustainable development. This study identifies the most relevant predictors of life satisfaction among Peruvian teachers using machine learning. We analyzed data from the National Survey of Teachers of Public Basic Education Institutions (ENDO-2020) conducted by the Ministry of Education of Peru, using filtering methods (mutual information, analysis of variance, chi-square, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient) along with embedded methods (Classification and Regression Trees—CART; Random Forest; Gradient Boosting; XGBoost; LightGBM; and CatBoost). Subsequently, we generated machine learning models with Random Forest; XGBoost; Gradient Boosting; Decision Trees—CART; CatBoost; LightGBM; Support Vector Machine; and Multilayer Perceptron. The results reveal that the main predictors of life satisfaction are satisfaction with health, employment in an educational institution, the living conditions that can be provided for their family, and conditions for performing their teaching duties, as well as age, the degree of confidence in the Ministry of Education and the Local Management Unit (UGEL), participation in continuous training programs, reflection on the outcomes of their teaching practice, work–life balance, and the number of hours dedicated to lesson preparation and administrative tasks. Among the algorithms used, LightGBM and Random Forest achieved the best results in terms of accuracy (0.68), precision (0.55), F1-Score (0.55), Cohen’s kappa (0.42), and Jaccard Score (0.41) for LightGBM, and accuracy (0.67), precision (0.54), F1-Score (0.55), Cohen’s kappa (0.41), and Jaccard Score (0.41). These results have important implications for educational management and public policy implementation. By identifying dissatisfied teachers, strategies can be developed to improve their well-being and, consequently, the quality of education, contributing to the sustainability of the educational system. Algorithms such as LightGBM and Random Forest can be valuable tools for educational management, enabling the identification of areas for improvement and optimizing decision-making. Full article

Three institutions predominantly care for preschool children in Japan: kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers. Recently, the turnover rates of preschool workers in these institutions have been high, and Japan has been facing a shortage of kindergarten teachers. The study aimed to provide concrete counterplans to reduce preschool workers’ turnover rate. To determine the causes of turnover, we conducted a cross-sectional survey. We recruited preschool workers from several kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers in Japan to fill out a survey regarding counterplans for employment. Of the 1002 surveys, 551 (541 women; 10 men) complete surveys were received (response rate: 55%). A total of 295 participants answered that they were unwilling to continue working for longer than five years and completed the questionnaires. The Jiro Kawakita method was used to categorize and analyze the four sections of the counterplan questionnaires. The results showed that the main reasons for high turnover were overtime work, low salary, and difficult human relations. To solve these issues, the counterplan ideas such as workshop ideas and conditions conducive to continuing working longer were related to human relations, work conditions, and mental health. Full article

Institutions cannot ignore the need for the sustainable employability of people. This study aimed to investigate the sustainable employability of special education teachers from the perspective of employment precariousness, capabilities, and functioning (flourishing and intention to leave) of special education teachers in Namibia. Using a cross-sectional survey design, teachers (n = 200) across seven Namibia regions took part in this study. The Precarity Position Profile, Capability for Work Questionnaire, Flourishing at Work Questionnaire, and Intention to Leave Questionnaire were administered. The results showed that precarious employment was negatively associated with the capability set and with flourishing (emotional, psychological, and social well-being) and positively associated with intention to leave. Low job insecurity and the capability set were associated with emotional well-being. Moreover, low job insecurity, professional development, and the capability set were associated with psychological well-being. Furthermore, precarious work conditions, job insecurity, low professional development, and low scores on the capability set were associated with low social well-being. Precarious work conditions and low scores on the capability set were associated with teachers’ intentions to leave. Two dimensions of precarious employment, namely salary and precarious work conditions, indirectly affected teachers’ emotional, psychological, and social well-being via the capability set. Full article

The mission of higher education institutions (HEI) includes fostering conditions that enable student participation, and a commitment to their professional success. Pedagogical strategies which combine learning that goes beyond the university and involves a service-learning (SL) course carried out in the context of a pedagogical innovation programme of the University of Porto were examined. This examination included interviews with teachers, a focus group discussion with students and the analysis of logbooks and final reports to realize the potential of SL for improving employability. The results put into perspective the weaknesses and potentialities of SL courses at HEI and show that when academic learning is integrated with community experience, students gain both personal/social and academic skills. They also develop leadership and communication skills and critical awareness on the one hand and time and resources management and the ability to adapt and respond to challenges of the real world on the other, all seen as beneficial for the transition into the labour market. Full article

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, ICT has been urgently introduced in education systems in a generalised manner. In this context, it is essential for teachers to master a spectrum of basic digital competencies and manifest digital leadership in the classroom. In addition, it is necessary to consider the relationship between digital competence development and social sustainability, that is, social and cultural heritage, and to what extent they contribute to improving social cohesion and living conditions in a community. This study presents a systematic review of research on teacher digital competence and social sustainability based on the PRISMA model and a review of 22 studies indexed in SCOPUS. The review reveals that most are intended to measure the digital competence level of teachers, usually in compulsory stages of the educational system and through quantitative studies based on virtual questionnaires comprised of closed-ended questions. However, the studies tend to ignore questions related to social sustainability (access to resources, heritage culture, intergenerational transmission, employability, or gender equality). It is therefore urgent to develop research committed to a sustainable society that is oriented towards social justice. Full article

Sustainable education does not yet have a widely accepted definition in the literature. In this work, we start from the Sustainable Development Goal of Quality Education for All (SDG4) and interpret sustainable education as increasing the quality of learning whilst conserving the resources required to produce and deliver it. From this interpretation, we argue that one path towards realising sustainable education is through the identification of teaching practices that satisfy these conditions of increased quality whilst conserving resources. We present an overview of four case studies, where the conditions for sustainable education are demonstrated through the effective use of people, processes and technologies. Each case represents an intervention that was made to improve the quality of education within an intensive three-month project, which trained immigrants to be employable in the IT industry as junior software developers. Whilst the interventions are independent and unique, they are connected by the themes of quality improvement and resource conservation. In isolation, each specific case produced improvements for both teachers and students; however, it is by combining such approaches that we can start to realise the path towards sustainable education that will help lead to a better quality of education for all. The findings of this work suggest that quality education does not come at the cost of increased resource demands; rather, approaches exist that can be considered to satisfy the conditions for sustainable education. Full article

Burnout is an increasingly prevalent syndrome mainly involving those working in human services. Although it is categorized as an occupational phenomenon and not as a medical condition, it seems to be strongly associated with several diseases such as pain syndromes. However, no studies examined the association between neuropathic low back pain and burnout. This questionnaire-based study was carried out between April 2019 and March 2020 in three main sites among teachers, social workers and healthcare workers. Demographic criteria included age, gender, marital status, number of children, type of work, years spent with work, work schedule, legal relation, secondary employment. Included diseases were diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, generalized pain (pain involving more than one area of the body) and depression. Low back pain was assessed by the painDETECT questionnaire, burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Dysfunctional attitudes were also recorded. Overall, 1500 questionnaires were successfully delivered and 1141 responses received (response rate of 76%). Three hundred social workers, 399 teachers, 339 paramedics, 35 doctors and 68 medical attendants have completed our survey. In a multivariate analysis including of all factors (demographic criteria, burnout, depression, dysfunctional attitudes, comorbidity etc.) neuropathic low back pain was associated with age > 62 (OR = 3.981, p = 0.01), number of children ≥ 2 (OR = 2.638, p = 0.003), job type (being a social worker) (OR = 6.654, p < 0.001), burnout (OR = 2.577, p < 0.001), current depression (OR = 2.397, p < 0.001), and suffering from generalized pain (OR= 4.076, p < 0.001). This is the first study showing the association of burnout and neuropathic low back pain, which is the most common cause of disability. Based on our results neuropathic low back pain and burnout have similar risk factors and consequences which raises the possibility of similar pathophysiology. Full article

Using data from a national sample of parent and family educators in the US (n = 697), this comparative study examines professionals’ practices and technology-related attitudes, skill and workplace conditions. Overall, professionals report positive attitudes about the value of using technology in practice and view themselves as proficient. They most frequently use technologies like the email and document preparation software, and less frequently social media and even virtual reality. Workplace resources vary significantly, educators are not motivated by employer expectations and most report self-training as more valuable than formal sources. Mean comparisons by family educator type validate differences by context. Parenting educators, occasional family educators (e.g., teachers, counselors) and Family Life Educators vary from those in Higher Education/Administration. Those in Higher Education/Administration have more technology resources, report more positive attitudes, are more confident about their skills, and view formal technology training as useful. Conclusions suggest the need for the field of parent and family education to join other educational professions (e.g., licensed classroom teachers) to embrace technology use as a critical competency and advocate for the necessary resources in the preparation and ongoing service training of professionals. Full article