Education & Training

University workplace health promotion programmes: Getting the balance right

Workplaces have a role to play in their employees’ health and mental wellbeing. Health promotion programmes are supposedly designed with this in mind, admittedly with other priorities. But how effective are they, and do they measure up to accepted guidelines? Dr Hayden McDonald of Australia’s Torrens University and colleagues examined workplace health promotion programmes at leading Australian universities – diverse […]

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Education & Training

Children’s cognitive development: The impact of the pandemic

The World Economic Forum estimates that globally, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1.5 billion pupils were unable to attend school due to lockdowns designed to stop the spread of the disease. Government containment policies were essential to help save lives, but the wider impact of those policies is now the focus of academic research. A new Austrian […]

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Education & Training

Shifting aspirations: Young Syrian refugees’ experience in Canada

Countries that grant permanent asylum to young refugees should ensure education programmes meet their specific needs, or risk the effects of their alienation. That’s the warning from leading educationalist Ratna Ghosh of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In groundbreaking research, Dr Ghosh looks at young Syrian refugees’ experience of Quebec’s adult education system. Despite the Quebec government’s efforts to integrate […]

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Education & Training

Family dog bites are preventable

Family dogs are our best friends but can bite when feeling imposed upon, threatened, or afraid. By learning and respecting what dogs do and do not like and how they communicate their concerns, we can avoid triggering a reactionary bite. Led by world-renowned veterinarian Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, Professor Emeritus, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, USA, Be BiteSmart aims […]

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Education & Training

Teacher embeddedness: Turning the tables for turnover contagion

Much is known about the impact of teacher turnover on schools and students – but how does it affect teachers themselves? In his research, Dr Matthew McCluskey at the University of Vermont, USA, has found that turnover causes considerable strain on teachers’ work lives and has a contagion effect. In short, turnover begets turnover. McCluskey has identified key factors that […]

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Education & Training

Leading with integrity: How principals influence teacher effectiveness without derailing morale

It was JF Kennedy who said that leadership and learning are indispensable to one another, but what makes for good leadership in educational settings? In a new study, David Grant of the University of Redlands in the United States integrates practices from diverse leadership models which have been debated for many years. His research determined which practices have the greatest […]

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Education & Training

Misunderstanding translanguaging in preschoolers

Preschool children have a remarkable ability to embrace and express the dimensions of different languages beyond their socially and politically defined boundaries – this is called translanguaging. It’s especially encouraging for immigrant children in a foreign country and at a time when Europe’s racial and ethnic profile is shifting. Dr Gabrijela Aleksić at the University of Luxembourg and her colleagues […]

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Education & Training

How can mathematics research increase effective instruction and student success?

Elementary and middle school students in the US are underachieving in mathematics. Those without adequate understanding of basic mathematical concepts and skills after completing kindergarten go on to struggle throughout their maths education. So how can teaching maths be improved to enable children to learn best? Dr Jonathan Brendefur and colleagues at the Developing Mathematical Thinking Institute (DMTI) have developed […]

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Education & Training

Change agents: Professional development for adult educators

How can the professional development of staff be used to bring about lasting change in adult and continuing education (A&CE)? That’s the question behind new research from Canada led by Dr Alexandra Youmans of Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, and Dr Lorraine Godden of Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. They look at how school boards in eastern Ontario have come together to […]

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