GiLE Journal of Skills Development
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School-university Partnerships in Teacher Education: Tension Between Partners and How They Handle It
Full text linkMyanmar, a country of developing status, is facing many challenges in reforming its education system. This article investigates the current practices of school-university partnerships from the perspective of student teachers and mentor teachers in Myanmar, where there is an ongoing process of teacher education reform. The aim of this article is to investigate the practices of school-university partnerships and the tension between partners in the training of pre-service teachers within the context of teacher education. A qualitative research method is applied in this study where six candidates were interviewed individually. Participants include three student teachers from educational universities and three mentor teachers from basic education high schools in Myanmar. The results showed that, except for student teachers’ practice teaching, there is no intensive collaboration between schools and universities. Trust is a major problem between student teachers and mentor teachers. Different opinions and perspectives towards teaching and learning are also causing tension between partners. Although there is tension between mentor teachers and student teachers, they handle this through alternative collaboration activities and negotiation between partners
There\u27s a Flip Side: the Mystery of the Human Being and Puzzle of Homo Economicus
Full text linkSteven Pinker wrote in the introduction to one of his books that every idea in the book may turn out to be wrong, but that would be progress, because our old ideas were too vapid to be wrong. In this essay we are also trying to understand which the right question is. We are looking for a question for which we do not have to look for a single correct answer. We are looking for a question that makes those who prone thinking to be actually start thinking. Here is the question: what does a child learn? We remember that all of us, our children and our grandchildren played with things that were made available to them. Some of us played with dolls, balls, Barbie dolls, Lego blocks, or 5G smart gadgets. The child kicked the ball, comforted the doll the same way as nowadays he or she plays with 5G smart gadgets without any prior training. The tools have simply become more sophisticated. However, something did not change. Ancient Greek tales were read to all. Is it possible the other way round, namely to read or watch contemporary tales on ancient Greek gadgets? We tend to claim that this is impossible, as gadgets are becoming ever more modern day by day, and ancient Greek tales and their ethical norms do not change. In this essay we argue that the ‘Septem Artes Liberales’ are permanent, but the ‘Septem Artes Vulgares’ change. As we stated earlier, the emphasis is on asking the right question. Noam Chomsky suggests the terms ‘problem’ and ‘mystery’. Here and now, we are using the terms ‘puzzle’ and ‘mystery’ to depict unknown phenomena. This is how we view it: the unknown phenomena of the world are mistakenly classified as puzzles, to which someone either already knows the solution or else the solution will become known sometime in the future. Let us instead accept a world where the ‘Septem Artes Liberales’ have mysteries, while the ‘Septem Artes Vulgares’ have puzzles. This explains why the solutions for puzzles have become more sophisticated over time. The mysteries have endured, and it is good that they have done so
Well-being and Engagement in Hybrid Work Environments : Coaching as a Resource and Skill for Leaders to Develop
Full text linkThis paper explores how working from home has impacted leaders and the workforce in corporate environments during the pandemic, how these experiences might influence the workplace of the future, and what role coaching could play to foster skill development in the 21st century workplace. Before the pandemic, plenty of research had already been done on what factors influence well-being and engagement in the workplace. Models explaining the elements of well-being and engagement, as well as, tools to measure their existence or the lack of have been reviewed, tested, and validated. We know little at this point about what combinations of factors caused the decline in well-being and engagement during the pandemic, and what skills in leaders, or requirements for the workplace would be necessary to hone and implement, to improve the situation of well-being and engagement in future work environments. This paper explores how coaching could support leaders in the 21st century workplace. The business world is facing challenges while moving into post-pandemic workplace scenarios. The plurality of interests increases the complexity of the topic. The literature on well-being and engagement has been reviewed. Data that was collected during the pandemic by different organisations and conclusions drawn from these were compared with what the literature says and it was combined with experiences the author made in the field while coaching leaders and their teams in corporate environments during the pandemic. This paper concludes with a recommendation on how to enhance coaching skills among leaders and to build their knowledge and literacy in the field of coaching, to result in positive effects on workplace well-being and engagement in contemporary work environments
Curriculum development as a tool for professional development: Teacher learning through collaboration and communication
Full text linkThis study investigates teacher participation in national curriculum development in Myanmar. The purpose of this study is to explore teacher learning and reflection during the process of curriculum development through collaboration and communication. A qualitative research method has been applied in this study. Six participants participated in the study through individual interviews. The participants include six school teachers from Basic Education High Schools, specifically, two curriculum developers, two teachers who delivered the subject content of the new curriculum to their colleagues and two school teachers who were trainees for the content. The results showed that teachers experienced significant development in their professional knowledge, especially in their understanding and connection to the subject matter content across different grades and pedagogical content knowledge when they learnt from their colleagues. Moreover, the results also highlighted improvement in their reflective thinking and analytical skills. Because of the challenging tasks during the curriculum development process, teachers became more motivated in their teaching and learning which led to enhance their work performance
Beliefs and Attitudes that Influence Learning: A Mind, Brain, and Education Literature Review
Full text linkMind, Brain, and Education (MBE) is a transdisciplinary area that joins neuroscience, psychology, and education to inform teaching practice and educational policy with research that can be translated into applicable and reflective tenets and principles of how students learn more effectively. It is well established in the MBE literature that what leads students to success are not only cognitive abilities but also beliefs and attitudes towards learning, which forms a complex and multifaceted universe with different levels of influence. This study has conducted a literature review on the contributions of MBE concerning these beliefs and attitudes and attempted to summarize them into a useful guide that might help students reflect on their academic achievement throughout life. Four essential elements were analysed and discussed, namely: growth mindset, metacognition, self-efficacy, and neuroplasticity. It is argued that these concepts are of paramount importance to anyone who wishes to accomplish both academic and career goals and they are aligned with the notion of lifelong learning
Teaching Digitally-Ready Soft Skills for Employability: A review of the COVID-semester online-teaching strategies
Full text linkThe coronavirus pandemic triggered an abrupt change to emergency e-teaching and has accelerated the adoption of digital teaching practices in higher education. This transition from in-person instruction to online-only teaching took place globally and disrupted the conventional lecture format. While the catalyst, namely COVID, was the same throughout the world, a growing body of research confirms that instructors across the educational spectrum are experimenting with, and implementing, a plethora of methodologies based on their digital abilities and experiences.
This paper will critically analyse several online-based methodologies and digital tools developed and introduced at the University of Europe for Applied Sciences within an undergraduate module called Employability. The authors will use the six areas of the European Commission’s DigCompEdu framework as a reference to analyse and summarise digital tool implementations and enhance students\u27 digital collaboration skills, online experience, and learning outcomes.
The methodological focus is on teaching soft digital skills for employability, namely, digital communication, problem-solving, collaboration skills, as well as, digital content creation and media literacy in tandem with the main content of the course. Possible issues when teaching the Employability module in post-COVID offline or hybrid classrooms will be discussed, particularly with regards to ensuring that teaching formats are fit-for-purpose in increasingly digital, and remote, work environments
The Development of Competencies for Employability Digital Competencies : Influence of the Industry 4.0 concept to the digital competencies
Full text linkThe term called Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is an umbrella-concept, which encompasses several elements from the latest technological trends influencing the human workforce and education. But the questions arise: Does the industry 4.0 concept itself change workforce competencies? What is the impact on education? Thus far, only the technological aspects have been investigated thoroughly, despite their well-known, and strong, influence on the economy and society. This study addresses the interactions, dependencies, and correlations between certain areas of social existence, as expectations change regarding human competencies and their continued role in economic sectors and technological innovation. The role of the human factor within society is unquestionable as we start to understand why industrial revolutions have appeared. Fundamentally, it is always human concerns that stimulate change and it is human/social aspects that are heavily influenced by the same changes. As the I4.0 concept has an influence not just on how products are manufactured but also on the practices of consuming “products”, governments, research institutes, education systems, and organisations all have a crucial role to play in managing the massive wave of change. We believe that the concept should be more deeply analysed and understood, as it might give rise to a new complex terminology for techno-social change, which eventually would feed into achieving economic goals more efficiently
Getting Closer to the Needs of the Labour Market: a System Measuring Soft Skills at a Hungarian Rural University
Full text linkA key measure of higher education’s success is the extent to which it can provide the labour market with graduates that excel not only in terms of their professional training but also in terms of their soft skills. To that end, the competences of students entering university must first be diagnosed. This paper presents a pilot study of such a measurement system, together with first-year results obtained by a rural university faculty. Equipped with better information about its freshman students, such a university can begin to address the revealed competence deficiencies actively, and, over the course of an entire training cycle, further improve the labour market value of the young people when they come to graduate. Provisional recommendations are made at the end of this paper; however, further data analysis, once undertaken, may lend further support to the practical approach outlined here