Aim:

Even though pedagogical practices are intertwined with the larger society and community (Alexander, 2008), there seems to be a lack of engagement in understanding the cultural context and the pedagogical practices in which schools operate in Nepal. The study aimed to explore and understand the experiences of teachers and learners in Nepali primary schools. It seeks to understand how their contexts shape the experiences and practices of both teachers and learners while engaging in the teaching-learning processes on a day-to-day basis. It looks to locate or identify contextually appropriate pedagogical practices that may or may not be aligned with Learner-Centred Education (LCE) minimum standards (Schweisfurth, 2013).

Methods:

The study used a Comparative Case Study (CCS) (Vavrus and Bartlett, 2017) as a research design. The study took place in three different primary schools across Nepal. I spent eight to ten weeks in each of the schools and ‘immersed’ myself in the context. I collaborated with a total of 25 primary school teachers across the three schools and children from ages six to thirteen in these schools. Data was generated through semi-structured and unstructured interviews both with teachers and students (individually and in groups), and participant observation during lessons and in school. Conversations with children through creative approaches such as storytelling and drawings.

Preliminary Results and Conclusion:

Through the presentation, I will highlight some of the key findings of the study. These include how teachers' values drove and influenced their conduct and practices, some innovative pedagogical practices in resource-constrained contexts, the teacher-student relationships., and the deep friendship shared by learners with each other. I aim to highlight how these practices are culturally grounded in their specific contexts

This presentation sits well with the conference theme in general. It particularly fits with the sub-theme, Characteristics of Quality Teaching.

As a domestic top journal in the field of teacher education, the journal of Teacher Education Research published articles to witness the modernization process of teacher education in China since it founded in 1989. In order to scan the realistic image and future vision of this journal in three-dimensional and omni-directional, this paper uses software to carry on the measurement visualization analysis and summarizes seven topics ，including theory and history, policy and system, pre-service training, post-service training, teacher professional development, rural teacher training, and international comparison of teacher education. More attention should be paid to preschool teachers, special education teachers, vocational education teachers and higher education teachers in the future. And the research on policies and institutions with empirical value orientation should be strengthened.

There are major policy and programme drives in education to encourage education to be more socially just – but where is the voice of the teacher in all of these initiatives and curriculum directives? This PhD research explores the perceptions, views and instructional practices of secondary teachers engaging with social justice issues in their daily teaching practice, implementing the HEADSUP framework as an intervention to shape and deepen experiences in an Australian secondary school. Using Critical Participatory Action Research as the methodological approach, this study uses recursive cycles of investigation in collaboration with participants to gather qualitative data through focus groups, field observations, semi- structured interviews and document analysis over the course of one academic year. Conclusions drawn from this research may point to: a process for exploring social justice in praxis that could be useful to schools in similar contexts; developing and encouraging teacher agency in promoting the teaching of social justice issues within the existing curriculum; providing a potentially useful resource that does not add to existing curriculum content to address complex and potentially controversial issues for teachers across many secondary subject areas. This research specifically addresses the conference theme and sub-theme of “Research on Equitable Teaching Practices” by examining the connection between quality teaching and social justice issues and providing a small, but powerful, insight into what equitable teaching looks like in praxis.

This two-part usability study investigated undergraduate students’ and writing tutors’ perceptions and use of WCOnline, a widely used writing tutoring interface, at a large research university in the Midwest. We consider the following question: How do students and tutors experience elements of participatory hospitality within a WCOnline writing tutoring platform?

Our study analyzes this question through Eodice’s (2019) participatory hospitality. A framework viewing hospitality as collaborative participation between students and practitioners, focusing on equity and accessibility rather than material comfort.

For the study's first phase, we interviewed undergraduate students enrolled in a writing-intensive course at the university. In Zoom online interviews, students were asked to log on to WCOnline, interact with multiple pages, and provide feedback on the process. The study’s second phase recruited undergraduate and graduate peer tutors at the writing center. Four participants chose to participate in the open-ended in-person interviews (Miles et al., 2020), which invited tutors to share their use and evaluation of the WCOnline platform.

We identified three themes of participatory hospitality: community development, inclusive design, and effective communication. The interface provided positive community building through welcoming techniques and automatic translations. Inclusive design appeared through the interface’s universal symbol use and help features. The interface communicated effectively through clear, straightforward language, layout, and tutor guidance. We found opportunities to improve across all themes.

This study provides an innovative approach to analyzing visual rhetoric in virtual writing education by considering inherent biases, accessibility, and roadblocks to equity in the WCOnline interface. Our approach guides examining interface challenges and best practices for developing virtual hospitality.

Eodice, M. (2019). “Participatory hospitality and writing centers.” The rhetoric of participation- participatory hospitality and writing centers., Computers and Composition Digital Press, ccdigitalpress.org/book/rhetoric-of-participation/eodice/participatory-hospitality.html.

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2020). Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook (Fourth edition). SAGE.

This IRB-approved research study investigates possibilities that arise when a teacher education program provides opportunities for pre-service teachers to actively engage with a community organization. The university partnered with a community organization from the local area that aims to support k-12 multilingual students outside the public school system, helping to promote equity and inclusion through effective partnerships with schools and the community. Researchers collaborated with teacher educators from the higher education institution to pair pre-service teachers (PSTs) with this innovative community-based project. The symbiotic partnership met the needs of multiple stakeholders: the community organization, the children it serves, and the PSTs, for whom completing fieldwork hours during a traditional school day was challenging. One of the unique benefits of this opportunity was that it allowed PSTs to receive mentoring from a teacher on staff, which empowered PSTs to develop their capacity for lesson-planning and relationship building while seeing how students and teachers cultivate relationships outside traditional k-12 classrooms. This partnership was devised based on Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework, which asserts that communities hold vital value and knowledge. This project provides concrete opportunities for PSTs to learn from and work side-by-side with community members who are engaged with educating children. We have collected data from PSTs (n=4) who needed a fieldwork placement as a part of their teacher education program. Our lead researcher conducted two or more semi-structured interviews with each participant at the beginning and end of their fieldwork semester. Interviews sought feedback on the program, while encouraging participants to reflect on their experiences. Initial findings suggest that community placements offer PSTs critical understandings of learning in community and opportunities to build relationships with students, as well as the potential for pre-service teachers to learn how to personalize instructional practices to fit student needs.

Research Aim

This presentation will outline the findings of a recent dual case study (Larkin, 2024). This study suggests that cultural, policy and physical spaces continue to reflect the religious, cultural and educational interests of the majority ‘white, Irish’ student population; a situation that marginalises this vulnerable group.

Theoretical Framework and Methods

Qualitative data based on documentary analysis, a semi-structured walkthrough, photo elicitation and semi-structured interviews was interpreted using Gramscian and Bourdieusian conceptual frameworks to explore how students for whom EAL were construed and included and/or marginalised. Choosing two contrasting socio-economic school settings allowed a comparative exploitation that brought into greater relief how these students’ cultural identities were constructed in each setting and how policy and practice developed in each.

Findings

Findings suggest that the origin and circumstances of immigration and social class seemed to be a significant factor in how these learners were construed by their teachers. Moreover, school and teacher autonomy played a significant role in responses and innovations designed to respond to post-primary learners for whom EAL. Educators who may be in similar contexts may find relatable features from this study to their own settings. From a methodological perspective, researchers may find some of the theoretical underpinnings and data collection methods utilised beneficial to future research projects. Research pertaining to students for whom EAL is an under-explored educational space.

Relevance to the Conference Theme

In addition to challenging current discourses from a neo-liberal perspective, this paper aligns with the ISATT’s conference strand “Reconciling tensions for a new social contract in education” by looking at innovative ways of exploring the ever changing topography of Irish schools. This study innovates by incorporating visual methods within a qualitative approach to critically investigate how students learning EAL are construed and included within under-explored policy, cultural and physical spaces in secondary schools.