When a crisis is talked about for six decades, it begs the questions: How is the educational crisis being defined? If a crisis continues for sixty years, is it still a crisis; or are some inherent ...characteristics of the education system and process being misrepresented? In other words, are we asking the right questions? The writer, from five decades of involvement in efforts to enhance the relevance of education to fighting poverty, inequality and exclusion, suggests some likely missteps in conceptualizing and defining education system problems. The experience of Yidan education prize aim of ‘creating a better world through education’ is brought up to illustrate the complexities of navigating through some of the missteps raised in the article. The discussion of the challenges and efforts to address them lead to a two-fold conclusion -- that the narrative of persistent crisis arises from a mismatch of expectations from education and the system’s capacity to deliver in the larger socio-political context; and that political settlement determines chosen activities and priorities, what is implemented or not implemented – not necessarily the technical merits of a solution. Influencing the political dynamics of decision-making is critical for educational transformation, which education scholars and advocates of reform tend to neglect. The pragmatic way ahead lies in major stakeholders in education uniting to build a supportive social compact that changes the political dynamics for realizing the expectations from education.
•Global education crisis.•Education system problems.•Yidan Prize Foundation initiative for education traansformation.•Political economy of education decision-making.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived effectiveness of a virtual community of practice (vCoP) designed to support knowledge and expertise sharing between K-12 teachers during ...Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, it aimed at exploring the potential of such vCoPs in delivering effective professional development, in general, and during crisis in particular. The vCoP was developed by the researcher herself as part of a consultancy to the UNESCO. The sample included 696 participants who were members of the vCoP. The research methodology adopted was mixed methods. Quantitative data was collected through surveying; and qualitative data was collected through 8 focus group interviews each involving 6 participants. Statistical analysis was used to analyze survey data, while interviews data was analyzed using theme-based analysis. Findings showed that participants viewed vCoPs as effective tools for e-professional development in general and during crisis in particular. Facilitators and blockers confronting vCoP nourishment are presented and discussed. Discussions and conclusions are offered at the end of the study.
The present study aims to identify the role of a Ministry of Education in meeting the challenges faced due to distance education as emergency education. The study participants were nine officials ...working at the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. We used interviews to collect data and inductive content analysis to analyze these data. The study result indicates that the ministry carried out action related to the different educational aspects to meet distance education challenges. It is recommended that ministries of education strengthen their collaboration with the local community. The aim of this collaboration is two-fold: encouraging parents' support of technology integration in education and encouraging their role in positively influencing their students' perceptions of the use of ICT in learning. Teachers also need to engage in the change of students' perception towards a more positive one regarding the influence of ICT on learning.
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