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Research Article
Reconceptualizing STEM-S Design Competence:
A Systematic Literature Review
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
194-205
Received:
2 June 2026
Accepted:
26 August 2026
Published:
4 September 2026
Abstract: This study examines how STEM education integrating social issues (STEM-S) has been conceptualized in relation to teacher competence and instructional design. Although integrated STEM education has increasingly been connected with sustainability, socioscientific issues, citizen science, and socially relevant learning, the competence required for teachers to design STEM-S learning units remains insufficiently clarified in the literature. Guided by the PRISMA framework and complemented by snowball sampling, this systematic literature review analyzed 32 empirical, conceptual, policy-oriented, and theoretical sources published between 2005 and March 2026. The selected sources were examined through thematic synthesis to identify research trends, relevant competency frameworks, the role of social issues, design-related elements, and implications for teacher education. The findings indicate that STEM-S reflects a shift from interdisciplinary STEM integration and technical problem solving toward learning that connects STEM knowledge with social context, sustainability values, and responsible action. However, three structural gaps were identified. First, design competence is often treated as one component of broader STEM teacher competence rather than as a central construct in STEM-S teacher education. Second, social issues are frequently used as learning contexts or themes but are not fully embedded as structural components of competence. Third, the pedagogical mechanism through which real-world social issues, learner experience, interdisciplinary STEM knowledge, and sustainability values are transformed into curriculum-aligned learning units remains underdeveloped. Based on these findings, the study proposes that STEM-S design competence can be understood as an integrative professional competence connecting social context analysis, interdisciplinary STEM integration, pedagogical transformation, learning unit design, assessment, and reflection. This review provides a theoretical basis for further developing behavioral indicators, assessment tools, and teacher education activities aimed at preparing teachers to design socially responsive and sustainability-oriented STEM-S learning units.
Abstract: This study examines how STEM education integrating social issues (STEM-S) has been conceptualized in relation to teacher competence and instructional design. Although integrated STEM education has increasingly been connected with sustainability, socioscientific issues, citizen science, and socially relevant learning, the competence required for tea...
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Research Article
Re-imagining Intercultural Education in Higher Education: Recalibrating Practices and Meanings
Rania Boustar*
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
206-215
Received:
20 August 2026
Accepted:
27 August 2026
Published:
5 September 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijecs.20261105.12
Downloads:
Views:
Abstract: This paper re-imagines intercultural education in higher education by examining Moroccan university professors’ epistemic understandings and pedagogical practices of intercultural language education. It explores how the meanings and practices attached to intercultural education may both challenge and reproduce asymmetrical relations of power among cultures, languages, and knowledge systems. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study investigates university professors’ perspectives on the purposes, rationales, and pedagogical enactments of intercultural language education. Data were collected through email interviews with 25 purposefully selected university professors. The findings indicate that participants’ understandings and practices largely draw on mainstream conceptualizations of intercultural education, particularly those emphasizing cultural diversity, mutual respect, tolerance, and dialogue in language classrooms. At the same time, participants demonstrate an increasing awareness of the power relations underlying intercultural encounters and of the inequalities that can be reproduced through the privileging of Western cultures, knowledges, and perspectives in non-Western educational contexts. These findings point to a tension between established intercultural pedagogies and emerging critical understandings of culture, knowledge, and power. The paper therefore calls for a recalibration of intercultural education in higher education—one that moves beyond celebratory and essentialist notions of cultural diversity towards more critical, reflexive, and context-responsive practices that interrogate whose cultures, languages, and knowledges are legitimized in the classroom.
Abstract: This paper re-imagines intercultural education in higher education by examining Moroccan university professors’ epistemic understandings and pedagogical practices of intercultural language education. It explores how the meanings and practices attached to intercultural education may both challenge and reproduce asymmetrical relations of power among ...
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Research Article
The Impact of Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) Collaboration on Root Causes of Delinquency and Disciplinary Measures in Secondary Schools in Benue State
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
216-223
Received:
9 August 2026
Accepted:
21 August 2026
Published:
9 September 2026
Abstract: The study evaluated the impact of Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) collaboration on identifying root causes of delinquency and reinforcing disciplinary measures in secondary schools in Apa and Agatu Local Government Areas of Benue State. The study was guided by one research question and one testable hypothesis. To examine the target population of 2,005 individuals, this research adopted a descriptive survey design. This population included 80 teachers, 45 principals, and 1,880 parents drawn from 45 schools and surrounding communities. A 25% sample of 488 participants was then selected, which included 15 principals, 45 teachers and 428 parents. The selection process combined purposive and stratified random sampling methods. Impact of Parent-Teachers Association Collaboration on Identifying Root Causes of Delinquency and Reinforcing Disciplinary Measures Questionnaire (IPTACIRDRMQ) served as the data collection instrument. The research findings were analysed using frequencies and percentages, alongside bar chart for visual clarity. To evaluate the hypothesis, an inferential analysis was performed using the chi-square test (α = 0.05). The study showed that Parent-Teachers Association contribution has a significant impact on learners’ discipline χ 2 cal = 397.713, χ 2 crit = 16.919, df = 9, P=0.05>0.000. In light of the findings, the study offers the following recommendations: The school management should ensure a smooth relationship with the Parent-Teachers Association to enhance further synergy in the area of learner behaviour. Teachers must take parental feedback seriously, as families view educators as better equipped to guide learner behaviour. While the Parent-Teachers Association plays a vital role in addressing learner behaviour, the school management should work with them within the parameters of their status.
Abstract: The study evaluated the impact of Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) collaboration on identifying root causes of delinquency and reinforcing disciplinary measures in secondary schools in Apa and Agatu Local Government Areas of Benue State. The study was guided by one research question and one testable hypothesis. To examine the target population of ...
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Research Article
Preparing Teachers in Freedom Struggles for and with Disabled Youth
Paulo Tan*,
Erica N. Mason
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
224-230
Received:
10 June 2026
Accepted:
1 September 2026
Published:
14 September 2026
Abstract: While many disabled youth spend most of their school day in education settings with non-disabled peers, research indicates that teachers report feeling underprepared to support disabled youth. Teacher education is an area of improving teacher preparedness to better support the full range of human expressions that exists in classrooms In this essay, we argue that preparing teachers in solidarity struggles with disabled youth requires that teacher educators approach this work as part of the broader struggle toward freedom while underscoring the central role of freedom dreaming. We propose radically rethinking general education teacher preparation by unpacking two overlapping issues: (a) teacher education’s role in promoting the status quo; and (b) general education teachers’ centrality in maintaining the status quo. In response, we synthesize disability solidarity concepts as well as tenets of rightful presence to propose a conceptual framework for teacher education, particularly in the area of preparing general education teachers to engage in imaginative labor with disabled youth to transform future classrooms, schools, and communities. Such synthesis is rooted on key values of pandisability, interdependence, authentic care, reciprocity, and anti-oppression. We intend such a conceptual framework to inform to justice-oriented teacher education programs within and beyond the U.S., thereby contributing to global conversations.
Abstract: While many disabled youth spend most of their school day in education settings with non-disabled peers, research indicates that teachers report feeling underprepared to support disabled youth. Teacher education is an area of improving teacher preparedness to better support the full range of human expressions that exists in classrooms In this essay,...
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Research Article
Unity of Heaven and Humanity: Ecological Philosophy in the Pre-Qin Period
Kang Huifang*
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
231-244
Received:
13 June 2026
Accepted:
27 July 2026
Published:
14 September 2026
Abstract: The concept of Unity of Heaven and Humanity (Tian Ren He Yi) constitutes one of the foundational worldviews of Chinese civilization. Emerging from a long agrarian tradition, it reflects an enduring vision of the interconnectedness between human beings and the natural world. This paper examines the Pre-Qin understanding of Tian Ren He Yi as an early ecological worldview that is neither merely mythological nor purely philosophical, but a moral-cosmological framework integrating reverence for nature, sensitivity to seasonal rhythms, and ethical restraint. It argues that this concept functioned simultaneously as a metaphysical principle and a normative guide for human-nature relations, while offering valuable insights for contemporary debates on sustainability and environmental ethics. Drawing on close textual analysis of major classical works—including the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), Liji (Book of Rites), and Zhuangzi—the study explores three interrelated dimensions: (1) conceptions of natural order and seasonal cycles; (2) ritual practices of gratitude, worship, and sacrifice to Heaven; and (3) approaches to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Building on the interpretive frameworks of Roger T. Ames, John Grim, and Mary Evelyn Tucker, the paper interprets Pre-Qin cosmology not as myth or religion in the conventional sense, but as a relational ethical system in which metaphysics, ritual practice, and ecological responsibility are inseparably intertwined. The paper contends that Pre-Qin ecological thought presents a relational and non-anthropocentric alternative to environmental philosophy. Rather than positioning humans as masters of nature, it emphasizes harmony, reciprocity, and moral responsibility within the broader cosmic order. By highlighting the ethical and political implications of Unity of Heaven and Humanity, this study contributes to contemporary environmental philosophy by introducing a distinctive Eastern perspective for rethinking sustainability, ecological governance, and the relationship between humanity and the natural world.
Abstract: The concept of Unity of Heaven and Humanity (Tian Ren He Yi) constitutes one of the foundational worldviews of Chinese civilization. Emerging from a long agrarian tradition, it reflects an enduring vision of the interconnectedness between human beings and the natural world. This paper examines the Pre-Qin understanding of Tian Ren He Yi as an early...
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