Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh are forced into labour both inside and outside the camps for a wide range of reasons. This article examines this situation in relation to the access to education for those children living in the camps in Cox’s Bazar. Being informed by several perspectives concerning child labour and access to schooling in developing country contexts, this research work has adopted a qualitative approach to study various factors working behind this pressing issue. After collecting (...) data by means of qualitative methods, including non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews, the researcher has analyzed the findings with these informed perspectives. Results show that lack of formal identity, limited access to the formal labour market, absence of social sanctions against child employment, lack of aspirations, household composition, and substandard living conditions are some of the key factors that drive children to engage in various forms of labour, especially outside the camps. They often work in small workshops as labourers and in the host community households as domestic workers. Undocumented children are also reported to become victims of bonded labour, sex trade, and trafficking in the region. The author argues that a lack of formal education has compounded this issue into a severe humanitarian crisis which calls for immediate support and actions from local and international agencies. (shrink)

Broadening access to both computational and educational resources is crit- ical to diffusing machine learning (ML) innovation. However, today, most ML resources and experts are siloed in a few countries and organizations. In this article, we describe our pedagogical approach to increasing access to applied ML through a massive open online course (MOOC) on Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML). We suggest that TinyML, applied ML on resource-constrained embedded devices, is an attractive means to widen access because TinyML leverages (...) low-cost and globally accessible hardware and encourages the development of complete, self-contained applications, from data collection to deployment. To this end, a collaboration between academia and industry produced a four part MOOC that provides application-oriented instruction on how to develop solutions using TinyML. The series is openly available on the edX MOOC platform, has no prerequisites beyond basic programming, and is designed for global learners from a variety of backgrounds. It introduces real-world applications, ML algorithms, data-set engineering, and the ethi- cal considerations of these technologies through hands-on programming and deployment of TinyML applications in both the cloud and on their own microcontrollers. To facili- tate continued learning, community building, and collaboration beyond the courses, we launched a standalone website, a forum, a chat, and an optional course-project com- petition. We also open-sourced the course materials, hoping they will inspire the next generation of ML practitioners and educators and further broaden access to cutting-edge ML technologies. (shrink)

Socioeconomic status refers to the family's social and economic standing in society. It is measured by combining an individual or group's economic and social position, which is often based on income, education, and occupation. It significantly affects academic performance and even one's health status. The pandemic changed the educational system, causing a huge transition from traditional learning methods to online learning. This shift resulted in confusion, burden, and difficulty among students from different walks of life. This study was conducted (...) to determine the academic stress on online learning among nursing students in relation to their economic status and their ability to access technology. The study utilized a quantitative-correlational method aided by a standard questionnaire. Two hundred thirty-six University of Bohol nursing students enrolled in the second semester of SY 2021–2022 were included in the study by random selection. Data revealed a significant correlation between economic status and the level of stress related to academic expectations and a significant correlation between economic status and access to technology after being subjected to the Spearman rho test of correlation. However, no significant correlation was found between access to technology and the respondents' level of academic stress. (shrink)

Street life is a challenge for survival, even for adults, and is yet more difficult for children. They live within the city but are unable to take advantage of the comforts of urban life. This study focused primarily on access to health and education in street children from 6 to 18 years old in the Indian metropolises of Mumbai and Kolkata. The study also aimed to assess the role of social work interventions in ensuring the rights of street (...) children. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies was used. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 100 children. Data were collected on a one-to-one basis through semi-structured interview schedules and by non-participant observation. Findings revealed that extreme poverty was the primary cause for the increasing numbers of street children. Lack of awareness among illiterate parents regarding educational opportunities kept most children away from school attendance. Factors such as lack of an educational ambience at home made it difficult for the children to work on their lessons outside the premises of the institution. It was evident that those living with their parents had better access to health care facilities than did those living on their own; however, nongovernmental organizations made significant efforts to redress this imbalance, setting up health check-up camps at regular intervals. Although exposure to harsh reality at an early age had resulted in a premature loss of innocence in most, making them sometimes difficult to work with, the nongovernmental organizations were striving to ensure child participation and the growth of individual identity. The interventionists therefore focused on developing a rights-based approach, rather than a charitable one. (shrink)

Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, has now for decades being increasingly taken into use for higher education, enabling distance learning, e-learning and online learning, mainly in parallel to mainstream educational practise. The concept Blended learning (BL) aims at the integration of ICTs with these existing educational practices. The term is frequently used, but there is no agreed-upon definition. The general aim of this dissertation is to identify new possible perspectives on ICTs and access to higher education, for (...) negotiating the dichotomy between campus-based and ICT-enabled education. The access options of BL are in focus for this dissertation, although BL is generally seen as a campus phenomenon, and shares a place perspective. The main research questions in the dissertation are 1) how BL can be understood in the context of increased access to education, moreover, (2) how time can be work as a more constructive perspective for designing ICTs in education, compared to place. The dissertation comprises five articles. The first is conceptual and concentrates on place and time in blended learning, and forms a time-based model and perspective, drawing on the tension between synchronous and asynchronous modalities instead of a place-based center-periphery model. The following article examines the differences between North American and European use of the term BL, in education and research, and finds that BL is not much used by European researchers, although the term is frequently used in educational environments. Two design and intervention studies, articles 3 and 4, make experiments using the BL time-based model. In article 3, a group of untraditional learners at a learning centre in Arvidsjaur attends a synchronous co-located study circle group and participates in an asynchronous and global Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). In article 4, nine students in a preparatory year for entering engineering studies volunteer and participate in a pilot distance course experiment, where prevention of procrastination is a high priority. For this, agile framework theory, constructivist learning theory and the time-based model are used in design and analysis. The last article (5) reconnects learning to place by discussing and adapting Triple- and Quadruple Helix theory for regional development in the knowledge society to four regional European cases. At the end of the synthesis, an outline of the access affordances with the time-based model is given, drawing on Adam’s timescape theory. The discussion of ICT integration into education is made drawing on Floridi’s Philosophy of Information, which provides many tools to view discourses of ICTs in education critically, and also envisions the concept of e-ducation in the infosphere, where other blend issues appear connected to weak artificial intelligence and the pervasive power of ICTs. (shrink)

Access to education for undocumented migrant children in South Africa remains a significant challenge. While the difficulties related to their inability to access education within the country have been highlighted elsewhere, there remains a lack of clarity on an approach to how this basic human right can be achieved. In this conceptual paper, we draw on the distinction between equality and equity, and describe the various ways in which education has been conceptualised in the South (...) African Constitution – which in part contributes to the existing confusion on education for various groups, including undocumented migrant children. In this paper, we critically reflects on the need to develop an integrated approach for creating a platform that allows all undocumented migrant children access to education in South Africa. We argue that an integrated approach – which entails ways through which access to education can be delivered through the lens of equity – will enhance the right to education for undocumented migrant children in South Africa. We conclude that the South African government must urgently consider this integrated approach to enable access to education for undocumented migrant children, so that they can achieve their full educational potential. (shrink)

Comprehensive when it was published in 1990, this guide brought together information on the broad spectrum of education and research opportunities then available in the sciences of complexity. Its purpose was to make these kinds of investigations more accessible by providing information on programs, institutions, organizations, and literature where one can learn about their principles, methods, and applications. The guide was intended to help interested students and educators locate the various academic fields, departments, institutes, and programs that offer (...) class='Hi'>education in systems thinking and complex systems research. The guide also served professionals who are already involved in the systems sciences as a directory to general activity in what are otherwise widely separate fields. By browsing the guide one can get a snapshot of where education and research in systems science was happening at the time in both North America and Europe. The landscape has since massively changed so its value is mostly historical. (shrink)

The limited access to public secondary education in rural regions of Haiti has impacted children who want to pursue their education beyond the primary level. This generic qualitative study aimed to explore the perceptions of informed Haitian educators and other educators who were knowledgeable about the lack of access to public secondary education in rural Haiti, specifically through the framework of polarities of democracy theory. Data were gathered by conducting semistructured interviews with 20 educators who (...) were situated in both Haiti and the United States. NVivo 14 was used to organize, code, and analyze the data. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: (a) the government prioritizes political and personal interests over rural residents’ education, (b) disparities need to be reduced between urban and rural areas, and (c) a revolution in education is needed to build more public secondary schools for rural residents. Public policy recommendations included investing in training rural individuals to create a database of academics who can meet local students’ educational demands. Positive social change can occur by enhancing governmental services, implementing strategies to revitalize the agricultural sector in rural regions, and promoting active participation of rural residents in shaping the design of public schools to ensure effective secondary education for their children. (shrink)

Philosophy begins and ends in disagreement. Philosophers disagree among themselves in innumerable ways, and this pervasive and permanent dissent is a sign of their inability to solve philosophical problems and establish substantive truths. This raises the question: What should I do with my philosophical beliefs in light of philosophy's epistemic failure? In this open-access book, János Tozsér develops four possible answers into comprehensive metaphilosophical visions and argues that we cannot find peace either by committing ourselves to one of these (...) visions or by abandoning our philosophical beliefs. Tozsér calls this disheartening insight "the experience of breakdown", making the case that philosophy's truth-seeking and justificatory tools are unsuitable for establishing truths. Shedding light on the epistemic status of our philosophical beliefs, Tozsér adopts a broad approach to assess the metaphilosophical visions used by philosophers to interpret their own activity and determine their epistemic self-esteem. Open access was funded by the Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary. (shrink)

This article aims to conceptually delimit the term “epistemic subalternization”, from the approach offered by postcolonial theories. For this, it is oriented to examine the situation that occurs when the educational system does not contemplate the diverse epistemic-cultural knowledge belonging to the student body. In particular, it focuses on analyzing what happens with access to the right to education of the indigenous communities of Argenti-na, when the school naturalizes epistemic injustices. Finally, it is proposed to reflect on in-tercultural (...) education as a proposal of intrinsic relevance to think about cultural and epistemic co-construction. In the conclusion, it was considered that, from the approach of epistemic injustices, there is a form of subalternization that generally coexists with other factors (social, political, economic, cultural and territorial) that complicate the approach to the problem and installed as social determinants of education and the pedagogical situation of these communities. For this reason, it was proposed to think about the need to build intercultural, that is, decolonizing, pedagogies. Indeed, the centrality of the proposal lies in the relevance of local, geosituated narratives, typical of indigenous communities to performatively transform, from the foundations of common sense and in an intercultural key, pedagogical praxis. (shrink)

All humans share a universal, evolutionarily ancient approximate number system (ANS) that estimates and combines the numbers of objects in sets with ratio-limited precision. Interindividual variability in the acuity of the ANS correlates with mathematical achievement, but the causes of this correlation have never been established. We acquired psychophysical measures of ANS acuity in child and adult members of an indigene group in the Amazon, the Mundurucú, who have a very restricted numerical lexicon and highly variable access to mathematics (...) education. By comparing Mundurucú subjects with and without access to schooling, we found that education significantly enhances the acuity with which sets of concrete objects are estimated. These results indicate that culture and education have an important effect on basic number perception. We hypothesize that symbolic and nonsymbolic numerical thinking mutually enhance one another over the course of mathematics instruction. (shrink)

United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 4 Quality Education has highlighted major challenges for all nations to ensure inclusive and equitable quality access to education, facilities for children, and young adults. The SDG4 is even more important for developing nations as receiving proper education or vocational training, especially in science and technology, means a foundational step in improving other aspects of their citizens’ lives. However, the extant scientific literature about STEM education still lacks focus on developing (...) countries, even more so in the rural area. Using a dataset of 4967 observations of junior high school students from a rural area in a transition economy, the article employs the Bayesian approach to identify the interaction between gender, socioeconomic status, and students’ STEM academic achievements. The results report gender has little association with STEM academic achievements; however, female students (αa_Sex[2] = 2.83) appear to have achieved better results than their male counterparts (αa_Sex[1] = 2.68). Families with better economic status, parents with a high level of education (βb(EduMot) = 0.07), or non-manual jobs (αa_SexPJ[4] = 3.25) are found to be correlated with better study results. On the contrary, students with zero (βb(OnlyChi) = -0.14) or more than two siblings (βb(NumberofChi) = -0.01) are correlated with lower study results compared to those with only one sibling. These results imply the importance of providing women with opportunities for better education. Policymakers should also consider maintaining family size so the parents can provide their resources to each child equally. (shrink)

This article discusses the process of universalization of education in Brazil the count from a specific spatiality - the places on the edge of the Transmazonica highway. There being no need toquestion the scope and effectiveness of expanding access to basic education, given its wide acceptance in the country - we start from the principle of geographical connectivity/connection to problematize such educational universalization. We aim to reflect on the scope of basic education, its conditions and ability (...) to potentiate or not the diversity of the territory. Methodologically grounded in a dialogue between phenomenology and existentialism, we conduct a literature review taking as starting point the preliminary empirical research data. We conclude that the universalization of education is configured as extermination argument that effective the urbanocentric vision and one connectedness between places and territory, produces disconnection of the places themselves, removing their ability to communicative action that jeopardizes not only education the local, but regional and national. (shrink)

CLIMATE EDUCATION FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH Around the world, people still lack basic awareness and understanding of the drivers and impact of climate change, as well as options for reducing carbon emissions and adapting to the climate change impacts. In addition, climate change impacts are not equally distributed. Gender inequalities and development gaps increase the impacts of climate change for women and young people. Driving climate action through educating and empowering women and youth could lead to building resilience within (...) communities. Thus, education and training are crucial to building capacity and enhance their ability to tackle climate change, especially as most of them have no access to information and resources related to climate action. Despite the evidence that education has a strong role to play in both climate adaptation and mitigation, the global education community has done little to advance wide-scale education efforts. Solid, coherent policies and plans are the bedrock on which to build sustainable education systems, achieve educational development goals and contribute effectively to lifelong learning. At a time of growing inequality, closing the gaps in access to quality education requires a long-term vision, engagement, and effective collaboration between various stakeholders. To do that, it’s critical to develop climate educational guides for developing countries that include the most important elements about formal and informal education for women and young people, as well as relevant learning materials and tools. Establishing a climate education coalition provides a forum for expert discussion and unlocks the potential of collaborative work. Embedding climate topics into formal and non-formal education is another priority area for action that could contribute to increasing climate awareness among youth. Community-level climate education projects and initiatives could be a powerful tool for educating and empowering women. Thus, governments and local authorities should ensure funds and provide resources for these projects and initiatives. (shrink)

In the educational context, the necessity of recognizing the structure of relations among social and educational institutions by examining how individuals’ different social and cultural experiences affect the educational learning outcomes towards global digital communication. The current study examined the interplay of Social and Cultural Capital orientation, cognitive learning ability, and family background. The descriptive correlational research design was employed. It adopted two research instruments, namely the Social and Cultural Capital Questionnaire (SCCQ) and the Otis-Lennon Scholastic Ability tests (OLSAT), to (...) a total of 377 undergraduate college students of select universities in Indonesia. The results of the study showed that the respondents manifest a high level of social and cultural capital orientation, with literacy having the highest factor. Likewise, the respondents have an average cognitive level of ability. Test of difference showed that respondents whose parents with high educational achievement exhibit high social competence, social solidarity, cultural competence, and extraversion, social solidity, and extraversion. Similarly, fathers’ education is the single variable which spelled difference on the student’s cognitive ability implying students whose fathers have high academic qualification exhibit high cognitive ability. Test of relationship showed that literacy practices and global-cultural competence are correlated to students’ cognitive ability. Finally, family income is a predictor of students’ high level of cognitive ability and social and cultural capital orientation. The implications of the results were discussed within, and suggestions were made for future research. (shrink)

For Martin, the right to free higher education may be claimed only by those ready and willing pursue autonomy supporting higher education. The unready and unwilling, among whom may be counted carers, disabled, and devout, are excluded. This is unjust. I argue that this injustice follows from a tension between three elements of Martin’s argument: (1) a universal right to autonomy supporting higher education; (2) qualifications on entitlements to access this right in order to preserve the (...) value of higher educational goods; (3) luck egalitarian motivations in Martin’s distributive ethics. I consider options for avoiding such injustices and their implications for Martin’s argument. (shrink)

The polarities of democracy framework is founded on critical theory ideas that seek to achieve social change by overcoming oppression and violence, which both endanger humanity's survival. Benet expanded the theory by utilizing Johnson’s concept of polarity management as a conceptual framework. Viewing the polarities of democracy model as a unifying paradigm can help in organizing, leading, and evaluating democratic social change activities aimed at creating healthy, sustainable, and just communities. According to the argument, Democracy is seen as a remedy (...) for oppression rather than a mere dichotomy. In order to reach that point, it's important to recognize the presence of 10 values, with each being crucial on its own yet not enough individually, forming five polarity pairs. The study aimed to explore the perspectives of Haitian educators and other instructors familiar with public education in rural areas on the challenges and opportunities for enhancing access to quality public secondary education in places such as Pointe L’Abacou, Haiti. Throughout the study, all five pairs were considered, but three pairings of the polarities of democracy theory were used to address this gap. (shrink)

The late Clark Kerr, one of the great leaders and thinkers of American higher education in the 20th century, shaped the landscape of higher education in the United States, starting with California, where he lived and worked. When he was the President of the University of California (UC) (1958–1967), he formulated and led the implementation of the California Master Plan of Higher Education (California State Department of Education, 1960) in response to an urgent need for higher (...) education reforms in the 1960s. The Plan aimed at providing universal access to higher education and diversity in the choices of institutions available to all Californians. This was achieved by defining the methods for allocating funding and missions to colleges and universities. He moved on to head the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education (1967–1973) and the Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education (1973–1979). There, he was fundamental in developing sophisticated new tools and concepts for the study of higher education policy, which made a great impact on higher education and education policy in the United States and beyond. (shrink)

Amalia Holst (1758-1829) has had a rather conflicted reception within the history of feminism. Her Über die Bestimmung des Weibes zur höhern Geistesbildung (On the Vocation of Woman to the Higher Education of the Mind, 1802) is a strident defense of women’s right of access to education; however her case relies on the presuppostion of woman's traditional threefold role as "mother, spouse, and housewife." In this essay, in addition to disclosing new details about Holst's life, I contend (...) that a closer reading of her text reveals a rather more radical project motivating her discussion, and that this helps alleviate concerns about her alleged unoriginality, conservatism, and elitism. (shrink)

What are consequential world problems? As “grand societal challenges”, one might define them as problems that affect a large number of people, perhaps even the entire planet, including problems such as climate change, distributive justice, world peace, world nutrition, clean air and clean water, access to education, and many more. The “Sustainable Development Goals”, compiled by the United Nations, represent a collection of such global problems. From my point of view, these problems can be seen as complex. Such (...) complex problems are characterized by the complexity, connectivity, dynamics, intransparency, and polytely of their underlying systems. These attributes require special competencies for dealing with the uncertainties of the given domains, e.g., critical thinking. My position is that it is not IQ, but complex problem-solving competencies for dealing with complex and dynamic situations, that is important for handling consequential global problems. These problems require system competencies, i.e., competencies that go beyond analytical intelligence, and comprise systems understanding as well as systems control. Complex problem-solving is more than analytic intelligence. (shrink)

Female education in Afghanistan has witnessed a number of ups and downs throughout the history of Afghanistan. In the history of Afghanistan, the people who suffered the most in the part of education were females. From the very beginning, female education was not that satisfactory prior to the civil war in Afghanistan but the three-decade civil war and conflicts made the situation worse for female learners. It was the government of the Taliban (1996-2001) when female education (...) fell to 0%. Hopes came to life with the establishment of the new government and the support of the international community in 2001. However, after sixteen long years, female education is still substandard. The focus of this study is on the unequal access to females and males in primary, secondary and particularly higher education. The study will also explore the major obstacles that hamper females’ education. This study is based on the collection of data available in different research papers, educational articles, reports and numerous other related sources. (shrink)

The contemporary combination of information infrastructure with the commonly experienced transformation of knowledge created, in relation to education especially for older adults, an entirely new area of activeness. In accordance with the social awareness, education became an accessible good regardless of age. In this context, the maximal extending of the potential group of education receivers means, on the one hand, meeting the real social expectations towards so-called educational services. On the other hand, it is another challenge which (...) the contemporary education faces. Unfortunately, the system of permanent education was not created in Poland since what is missing is both the strategy and some practical resolutions enabling old people the access to education with regards to their educational. Presently, the University of the Third Age is the only solution in the educational offer. In order to change the present status quo, what is needed is the re-definition of education and the modern perception of education and then perhaps, there will appear, the expected, by the senior citizens, module educational solutions providing them not only with the competencies but also the acknowledged certificate confirming their knowledge. (shrink)

The pandemic brought new norms and techniques of pedagogical strategies in formal education. The synchronous/ asynchronous video streaming brought an emphasis on virtual and augmented realities, which are rapidly replacing textbooks as the main medium for learning and teaching. This transformation requires more extensive online and interactive content with simpler user interfaces. The aim of this study is to report on the design, implementation, and testing of a game based on low-cost and user-friendly content for digital cultural heritage. In (...) this project, a game aimed at inclusive and equitable education was developed using 360° images of the targeted architectural heritage geographically distributed in a pilot site. We promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, following the SDG4, aiming for quality education with the easy-to-use online platform and easy access to immersive education through mobile platforms. Towards a post-carbon future without the need for travel, computational design methods such as using 360° videos and images in combination with virtual reality (VR) headsets allow a low-cost approach to remotely experiencing cultural heritage. We propose developing and testing a GIS-based educational game using a low-cost 360° virtual tour of architectural heritage, more specifically, caravanserais of Anatolia. (shrink)

Today, the Internet is a rich source of study materials, and Google Scholar offers free access to a large number of scientific articles. There are excellent research publications available in many more databases. Students have the option of easily copying the material. Reusing, paraphrasing, patchwriting, and ghostwriting without citing the original documents are plagiarism. Plagiarism is increasing in academics, particularly in research. This study aims to study the awareness of plagiarism and to analyze the reasons for plagiarism. The study (...) samples are the student teachers in India. For this study, we used a survey method, and the author prepared a questionnaire to collect data from the student teachers. Study respondents are the student teachers of the Regional Institute of Education Mysore; Purposive sampling was used to select samples. The total number of study respondents is 207. The findings of the study revealed that over 70 per cent of respondents mentioned reasons for plagiarism as lack of relevant literature studying, lack of preparation and time, difficulty checking every piece of work, do not know the manual citation style, lack of knowledge about bibliographic management software and also they stated that getting easily available materials on the internet is also a reason for plagiarism. The study recommends that teachers teach or conduct awareness programs on plagiarism, avoiding plagiarism, citation style, and software. (shrink)

Public secondary schools are scarcely available to children in rural Haiti who want to continue their education beyond primary school. While some remote communities may offer private schools, poor families simply cannot afford to send their children to private schools or even move to a city where they have options to attend public secondary schools. The research examined the perspectives of well-informed Haitian educators and other educators who were familiar with the issue of limited access to public secondary (...) education in rural areas of Haiti. The research further determined that the problem can't be solved unless we look at how the country's educational system was affected by Dominance and Abuse of Power by the Elites and other oppressive factors. 20 educators in Haiti and the United States participated in semi-structured interviews to compile data that were analyzed through the prism of Benet's Polarities of democracy theory. The findings indicated that Education for rural residents is undervalued by the government. Political and personal agendas are given more priority. Closing the gap between urban and country life is critical. More public secondary schools for rural areas need to be established, which will need a paradigm shift in the education system of the country. (shrink)

The development of conversational artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about new opportunities for improving the learning experience in education. ChatGPT, a large language model trained on a vast corpus of text, has the potential to revolutionize education by enhancing learning through personalized and interactive conversations. This paper explores the benefits of integrating ChatGPT in education in Thailand. The research strategy employed in this study was qualitative, utilizing in-depth interviews with eight key informants who were selected using purposive (...) sampling. The collected data was analyzed using content analysis and the software NVivo. The study's results indicated that ChatGPT can provide personalized learning experiences by adapting to individual student needs and preferences. Its ability to understand natural language and context can also facilitate more meaningful interactions between students and the system. Additionally, ChatGPT can assist with administrative tasks such as grading and feedback, allowing educators to focus on more personalized and meaningful interactions with students. Furthermore, ChatGPT can serve as a valuable tool for remote learning, providing students with the ability to access educational resources and support outside of traditional classroom settings. The paper also discusses potential ethical considerations in utilizing AI in education, such as data privacy and bias. Overall, this paper argues that the integration of ChatGPT in education has the potential to enhance the learning experience for students by providing personalized, interactive, and efficient support. (shrink)

This systematic literature review investigates critical factors influencing the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning environments. Drawing upon existing research, the study examines key themes including teacher attitudes and beliefs, professional development, infrastructure, and pedagogical integration. Findings indicate that positive teacher attitudes towards ICT and effective professional development programs are essential for successful technology integration. Moreover, the availability of reliable infrastructure, such as internet connectivity and hardware, plays a vital role in facilitating equitable access (...) to ICT resources. Pedagogical integration emerges as a crucial aspect, with aligning technology use with instructional objectives and fostering active, student-centered learning experiences identified as key strategies. Innovative pedagogical approaches, including inquiry-based learning and flipped classrooms, leverage ICT to enhance engagement and learning outcomes. The study highlights the interconnectedness of these factors and underscores the importance of addressing them holistically to optimize the educational benefits of ICT integration. By informing evidence-based practices and policy recommendations, this research aims to support educators, policymakers, and stakeholders in enhancing teaching and learning outcomes in the digital age. (shrink)

Several studies have examined the challenges affecting the smooth implementation of inclusive education; focusing on resource inadequacies. However, these studies primarily relied on descriptive statistics: describing resource availability but not assessing their impact on policy implementation. The current study addresses this gap by analysing the extent of critical resource supply for implementing inclusive education and its influence on policy implementation. A descriptive survey design was adopted, targeting 281 principals from public secondary schools across three educational zones in Cross (...) River State. Stratified proportionate sampling was used in selecting 120 principals as the sample. Data collection involved a structured questionnaire with an acceptable validity and a reliability indices. Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions, and Simple and multiple linear regression were used to test the hypotheses at the .05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed low supply levels of physical, human, and financial resources for implementing inclusive education in secondary schools. The extent of inclusive education implementation was also found to be low. The study further indicated that the supply of physical, human, and financial resources collectively affected policy implementation, with physical resources having a greater impact. These results have practical implications for the government and stakeholders; emphasising the need for adequate physical, human, and financial resources to implement inclusive education in secondary schools. Keywords:. (shrink)

Education is crucial to the overall development of all communities. Since the early days of Greek philosophy, philosophers have made significant contributions to the advancement of education for both individuals and the states. Greek philosophers, notably Plato, emphasized the importance and relevance of education for his conceptual ideal state. His educational ideas were rooted in his philosophy, notably idealism, and it continues to have a great effect, particularly on education. Idealism focuses on ideas and believes that (...) genuine knowledge can be found in the ideas' world. His age-based educational system advocates both public education and equal access. The purpose of this paper is to revisit his educational ideas in depth and have a better understanding of them in terms of contemporary education. This paper adopts an analytical strategy to achieve its purposes, and it maintains, based on secondary evidence, that the features of the educational ideas of Plato are truly pertinent and might be applied to contemporary education after appropriate integration. (shrink)

Higher Education is a very important sector for the growth and development of human resource which can take responsibility for social, economic and scientific development of the country.1 While, higher education gives India an edge in the world economy as evident from the availability of the skilled manpower, and research scholars working abroad, unemployment, illiteracy and relative poverty continue to be the major deterrents to realize her potential in human resources. The higher education system in India has (...) grown in a remarkable way, particularly in the post-independence period, to become one of the largest system of its kind in the world. However, the system has many issues of concern at present, like financing and management including access, equity and relevance, reorientation of programmes by laying emphasis on health consciousness, values and ethics and quality of higher education together with the assessment of institutions and their accreditation. These issues are important for the country, as it is now engaged in the use of higher education as a powerful tool to build a knowledge-based information society of the 21st Century. (shrink)

Beginning with an examination of the deep history of making things and thinking about making things made-up in our minds, I argue that the resultant declarative understanding of the procedural knowledge of abstracting theories and building models—the essence(s) of the practice of science—embodied in Conceptual Mathematics is worth learning beginning with high school, along with grammar and calculus. One of the many profound scientific insights introduced—in a manner accessible to total beginners—in Lawvere and Schanuel's Conceptual Mathematics textbook is: the way (...) we ought to think about things varies with the nature of things. In light of the universal yearning for understanding, it may be pedagogically unethical not to teach the eminently learnable Conceptual Mathematics. Summing it all, we need to champion the cause of taking Conceptual Mathematics to classrooms. (shrink)

The purpose of the existing examination has changed to gain access to the "Ethiopian Higher Education Students' Status of Physical Education". The current study was conducted on 800 students (500 males and 300 females) between the ages of 20 and 26 years. The subjects were Ethiopian Higher Education Students, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa. Topics were Ethiopian Higher Education Students, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa. The responses collected from the given studies were converted into raw (...) data with the help of a frequency distribution method. The data were then sorted as a result of a percentage study method. (shrink)

Accessing reliable and accurate information is essential to the proliferation of information through various channels. This can help individuals make informed decisions and avoid misinformation or disinformation. In such a case, creating an online information system should be prioritized to provide available data and information for planning, budgeting, and allocating resources and operational targets. This study assessed the level of satisfaction with the usability of EBEIS/LIS data and school management by the Department of Education among public secondary schools of (...) the Division of Bohol during 2019-2020. This research employed a quantitative method using the revised perception questionnaire, which underwent pilot testing using Cronbach's coefficient alpha to check the reliability level. Findings revealed that administrators, classroom teachers, and coordinators were satisfied with using data in school management. Findings revealed that administrators, classroom teachers, and coordinators were satisfied with using data in school management, satisfied with the personnel involved in facilitating the data, the information literacy given, and the ICT facilities to be used in online access data. However, some schools need more internet connectivity and more availability of posted/printed manuals and guidelines on accessing the online system. A need arises to provide a streamlined copy of the manual, which can be used as guidelines for online access, and strengthen its support in acquiring internet connectivity for all its learning facilities by partnering with internet service providers to optimize the signal. (shrink)

In the last decade there has been a movement towards facilitating Open Access to academic outputs via the World Wide Web. This movement has been characterised as one that embodies corporate citizenship because such sharing has the potential to benefit all stakeholders: academics, policy makers, charitable sectors and the wider public. In the UK, the Economic and Social Research Council are implementing Open Access compliance guidelines for research that they fund, which is interpreted by individual institutions in their (...) school regulations. In the case of doctoral theses, there is now a requirement for students to provide an electronic format of their final work to be included in their school's online digital repository. In a number of UK institutions, University Awards and Progress Committees will only consider awarding the doctoral degree once these requirements have been satisfied. Although this move to Open Access can be considered as an egalitarian endeavour, this paper argues that an important stakeholder may have been overlooked in the march towards progressive dissemination. The temporal space between gaining informed consent from research participants and the changing nature of the accessibility of outputs can both engender a breach of ethics in terms of the initial agreements negotiated with participants and raise issues around representation in the ongoing dissemination and reformulation of the original work, particularly where visual images are central to research outputs. The paper utilises autoethnography and poetry to reflect on my own encounter with the requirement for Open Access and the ways in which this brings up concerns around ethics, obligations and integrity. (shrink)

Every school needs an advocate leader who can influence others to address issues, concerns, and problems that affect education, its quality, access, and the welfare of the stakeholders, especially that of the learners. This leader needs to subscribe to the redefined roles and nature of leadership. Advocacy leadership challenges educational leaders to take a progressive stance on pressing educational issues and problems. The next in line leaders need to awaken in themselves a specific advocacy and tune-in to this (...) new trend. With this, a qualitative inquiry explored the educational advocacies of twenty graduate students involved in focus group discussions and interviews. Using the thematic network as an analytical framework, the inquiry identified 46 keywords, 51 basic themes, and 6 organizing themes. Thus, a new thematic network of educational advocacies was generated. Learners’ welfare was the most dominant educational advocacy of graduate students, while leadership and governance, professional development, culture and religion, safety and environmental protection, and community development were considered as developing and noteworthy advocacies. These educational advocacies were deemed interconnected and interdependent to each other. Also, the study comes up with relevant propositions, while it makes recommendations for further research and utilization of the new framework. The results have implications for revisiting the educational administration curriculum by mapping out the subjects that contribute to the development of educational advocacy. (shrink)

Education is a pillar of buen vivir, the guiding ideal of Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution. In this framework, Ecuador made significant shifts in its education system from 2006 to 2016, the decade of the Citizens’ Revolution. The key buen vivir concepts and processes that framed these shifts were considering education as a right, as a social debt, and as a driver of a more just, knowledge-intensive and clean economy. Resource allocation, general access, learning, and inclusion of structurally (...) marginalized groups showed significant improvement in this decade, along with other key political, economic and social changes, thus making significant advances in the emancipation of society toward buen vivir, and marking elements of how and why advancing this transformation is important. (shrink)

In this essay I ask what educational justice might require for children with autism in educational settings where “inclusion” entails not only meaningful access, but also where the educational setting is able to facilitate a sense of belonging and further is conducive to well-being. I argue when we attempt to answer the question “do inclusion policies deliver educational justice?” that we pay close attention to the specific dimensions of well-being for children with autism. Whatever the specifics of individual cases, (...) both an attitude and policy of inclusion must permit parents to choose pragmatic alternatives, i.e., different learning environments, if educational justice is to remain the overriding goal. (shrink)

The management of Higher Education Systems has continued to suffer from plethora of concerns and issues, cardinal amongst them, is the application of conventional administrative strategies and leadership patterns, sometimes without appropriate modifications so much so, that the management effectiveness of higher education systems is gradually being eroded. This is evident in the increasing distasteful gamut of multidimensional outcomes arising from the used of dogmatic and stereotype variants of managerial principles or nothing at all, in the circumstance. Given (...) this premise, there is an urgent desire to rejig and re-engineer learning experiences that will culminate into dynamic, goal oriented and robust management packages for higher education systems with results for global acclamations, thereby, chatting new directions to fill this existing gap in the management of higher education systems in Nigeria. With humility, I introduce to you this book titled: Management of Higher Education Systems, a collection of well-researched essays. The essays in this book promises to deliver on the deliverables of its raison d’tre of job specifications and management dynamics of higher education landscape, reflecting on the global realities. This is because scholarly evidences abound, to proof that looking into the National Universities Commission’s Bench Mark Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) of the curriculum for Educational Management as a discipline, it is obvious, that the BMAS has fallen short of global expectations and appears to be revolving within neo-colonial conventional administrative theorizing, with little or no emphasis on the practical demonstration of acquired skills, competences and capabilities for trained educational administrators, to deal with peculiarities of the moment, especially in the developing world. This felt need pushes for a paradigm shift in our curricula endeavours. It is even worse off, when experiences have continued to show, that there are deficiencies noticeable in the understanding of job requirements of educational managers of higher education systems in Nigeria. -/- It is this gap therefore, that the current effort is geared towards building this literature which seeks to address this lacuna by re-chiseling and retooling educational management practices through equipping this sophisticated discipline with up-to-date information and knowledge that will enhance the full optimaization of the job specifications, of higher educational managers, to bring into a perfect nexus of the man, job and social milieu. It is also in public domain, that managers of higher educational systems with such limitations are very often left with no option than to resort to on -the- job training by bureaucrats, who are in themselves their acolytes ab-initio and who sometimes take over leadership of the organization, owing to the existing gaps that manifest in the knowledge of educational managers, thereby reducing substantive higher education executive head to a titular head or at best ceremonial heads. -/- This book brings together articles and chapters to be published in these directions by researchers, policy makers and practitioners to re-inform, reeducate and reorient higher educational managers on their job expectations. The volume also offers a rich and relevant literature of the dynamic state of higher education in global perspective. While this publication will be freely available online, the essays in this volume are carefully selected and they will provide a basis for thematic and analytical perspectives on the concerns of management of contemporary higher education systems. -/- The book is divided into twelve thematic sections with each addressing the demands of its Kernel, as it is reflected in Historical development of higher education systems and its organs, Gloabilization of higher education, Internationalization and the labour market, Funding of higher education systems, Proliferations of higher education systems, Corruption in higher education systems and the deterioration of its estate, Internationalization and massification, Politics and leadership in higher educational systems, Academic freedom and access to higher education, Academic planning and affiliation relationship of higher education systems, Conflict management in higher education systems, Research and training in higher education systems and Inclusivity in higher education. -/- Another striking feature of this book is in its efforts at globalizing the curriculum of management of higher education and providing opportunity for scholars with different shades of opinion even on same issues but from different perspectives with the hope that it will guarantee overall effectiveness in the management of higher education systems. I recommemd this book to all with passion for the management of diferentiated higher education systems, and invite you to this intellectual feast prepared so deliciously like a meal for the gods. -/- Finally, let me reflect on what may appears to be an aberration in this context, by appreciating all authors who had found time to respond to this academic calling by their various chapter contributions. This singular act is in itself enough justification as show of interest and further demonstration of your continuous determination to address gaps in Nigerian educational landscape. Similarly, my gratitude is equally extended to all members of my editorial team for their thoughtfulness and very constructive criticisms which have shaped these scholarly presentations thereof. May the Almighty God continue to enrich the contents of your cerebrum most intellectually, for the benefit of man but to His glory. -/- The PDF contains just the preliminary pages of the book. You can order the full copy of the book by contacting the editor-in-chief, Professor John A. Undie, FNAEAP, KSM. (shrink)

Citizen Satisfaction Index System (CSIS) was used to assess the delivery of support to education initiatives in the municipality of Banga, Aklan, Philippines. The samples were determined using multiple application of stratified random sampling approach. In accordance with the Philippine Statistical Authority's Data on Census Population and Housing for 2015, barangays having a bigger share of the population contributed more respondents to the 150 targeted participants. Following the inclusion criteria, the probability respondents were chosen using the Kish Grid. Pre-numbered (...) questionnaires were distributed, with odd numbers targeting male responders and even numbers targeting females. The following criteria were used to evaluate the respondents' assessments: awareness, availment of the program/service, satisfaction, and need for action. Furthermore, interviews were conducted to better understand and investigate the respondents' thoughts, behavior, and perspectives. The reasons for their reaction were also obtained. The data was provided in percentage as well as frequency distributions. The study inferred that awareness on alternative learning system and/or special education program should be improved since it is the only program that attained low rating for awareness. Most of the residents were not able to avail education programs because they have no household member who attends school. Majority of the respondents who availed the services were satisfied. However, scholarship and other assistance programs to students may be enhanced to improve service delivery. It is highly recommended by the citizens to improve accessibility to scholarship programs and other forms of financial assistance to students. (shrink)

Article 8 of the African Aspirations for 2063 stipulates that the African people are confident that their countries have the ability and competence to realize or accomplish their full potential in development, culture, and peace. The vast majority of countries in Africa have worked toward establishing flourishing, inclusive, successful and prosperous societies by eradicating any forms of violation of children’s rights (African Union Commission, 2015). Nevertheless, violation of children’s rights remains present in most developing countries including the country of Cameroon. (...) This research aims to explore the forms of violation of children’s rights having a dramatic incident in school attendance in the Kadey Division of Cameroon, East Region of Cameroon. This research work is inductive, values bias and uses the grounded theory of the qualitative method approach. 15 participants have been selected from 3 major focused groups of different stakeholders in the Kadey Division, East Region of Cameroon. The theoretical saturation code was used to explain the relevance of the sample size. Data were examined using the open, axial, and selective coding processes. The results were tested for internal and external validity based on credibility, dependability, conformability, and transferability consideration. The philosophical focused on subjectivism ontology and interpretivism perspective. The study is an investigative case study model. The study showed that the forms of violation of children’s rights in the Kadey division include the recruitment and use of children, the denial of humanitarian access, the sexual violence against children and the killing and hurting of children. This study encourages school leaders in the Kadey Division to acknowledge that schools are not meant to function apart from the local community. Promoting strong collaborative work ethics between the major educational stakeholders may help prevent and reduce violence against children within and outside the school milieu and therefore duplicate school attendance. (UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, 2016). (shrink)

The existing body of knowledge has witnessed gaps arising from the paucity of research literature on the quality of educational research output in higher education. This study shows how the management of data in higher education affects the quality of academic research conducted by university lecturers in South-South Nigeria. A sample of 602 lecturers were accessed during data collection and responded to two questionnaires (Data Management Practices Questionnaire – DMPQ and "Educational Research Effectiveness Questionnaire – EREQ). Multiple regression (...) was employed in the analysis of data. Findings revealed amongst others that; data storage, data security, data retrieval, data sharing, and data re-use jointly contributed to the total variance in educational research effectiveness of university lecturers in terms of proper citations by 56.25%, problem-solving by 22.14%, knowledge creation by 34.50%, and generation of testable data by 36.88%. The five data management practices compositely influences the educational research effectiveness of university lecturers in terms of proper citations (F=152.25,p<.05), problem-solving (F=33.90,p<.05), knowledge creation (F=62.78,p<.05), and the generation of testable data (F=69.65,p<.05), is statistically significant. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that data management practices (storage, security, retrieval, sharing, and re-use) jointly and relatively contributes to the total variance in educational research effectiveness in terms of proper citations, problem-solving, knowledge creation and generation of testable data at varying extents. It was recommended, among others that, lecturers should practice the habit of managing research data in their personal computers and through manual channels. These records could become vital in the future for further problem-solving. (shrink)

This research examined the academic enablers that help undergraduate students wi hearing impairment (SWHI) succeed in higher education, addressing their uniq obstacles. SWHI students have unique academic challenges that need tailored interventio and support services to improve their education. Promoting diversity and academic succe in higher education requires understanding these obstacles and supports. A census samp of 30 SWHI undergraduates from a private institution was used for a quantitative stud Surveys in sign language were analyzed using SPSS. (...) Descriptive and inferential statisti were used to analyze academic engagement, interpersonal skills, academic motivation, a study abilities. Academic Engagement demonstrated significant engagement with 56.1 asking test questions and 68.3% participating in classroom discussions. Interpersonal Ski showed active listening (78.0%) and good group work (75.6%). Academic motivati emphasized self-improvement (78.0%) and intrinsic curiosity (73.2%). 73.2% attended cla without doing homework, indicating study skills issues. Future studies should exami academic diversity and accessibility initiatives. (shrink)

A collection of articles on the the principles of social justice from an Australian Catholic perspective. Contents: Forward (Archbishop Philip Wilson), Introduction (James Franklin), The right to life (James Franklin), The right to serve and worship God in public and private (John Sharpe), The right to religious formation (Richard Rymarz), The right to personal liberty under just law (Michael Casey), The right to equal protection of just law regardless of sex, nationality, colour or creed (Sam Gregg), The right to freedom (...) of expression (Damian Grace), The right to choose and freely maintain a state of life, married or single, lay or religious (Marita Winters), The right to education (Anthony Cleary), The right to petition government for the redress of grievances (Paul Russell), The right to a nationality (Andrew Hamilton), The right to have access to the means of livelihood, by migration when necessary (Brenda Hubber), The right of association and peaceful assembly (Michael Hogan), The right to work and choose one's occupation (Ian Blandthorn), The right to personal ownership, use and disposal of property subject to the right of others (Brian Coman), The right to a living wage (Garrick Small), The right to collective bargaining (Keith Harvey), The right to associate by industries and professions to obtain economic justice (Henrik Jurisevic), The right to assistance from society, if necessary from the State, in distress of persons and family (Catherine Althaus), Afterword (James Franklin). (shrink)

Selective permeability holds that people’s distinct capacities allow them to do different things in a space, making it unequally accessible. Though mainly applied to urban geography so far, we propose selective permeability as an affordance-based approach for understanding diversity in education. This has advantages. First, it avoids dismissing lower achievements as necessarily coming from “within” students, instead locating challenges in the environment. This implies that settings (not just people) need remedial attention, also raising questions about normative judgments in disability (...) nomenclature. Second, affordances can be negotiated in numerous ways to reach a goal, analogously to how people with missing arms have learned to drive with their feet, so restrictive problem-solving methods are often counterproductive. Third, our approach illuminates how cultural factors ranging from gait styles to language and hence group coordination modulate action possibilities, so that cultural groups may encounter objectively different affordances in the same classroom. But fourth, while fit with environment allows for skill refinement, non-fit can contribute to growth situations, which suggests a degree of selective closure can be desirable. Throughout, we argue social constructs—including educational ones—are literally built or enacted barriers or openings that have reality in environments in the same way that affordances do. (shrink)

When attempting to capture the concept of enlightenment that underlies and motivates philosophical (and political and scientific) developments in the 18th century, historians of philosophy frequently rely upon a needlessly but intentionally exclusive account. This, namely, is the conception of enlightenment first proposed by Kant in his famous essay of 1784, which takes enlightenment to consist in the “emergence from the self-imposed state of minority” and which is only possible for a “public” to attain as a result of the public (...) use of reason, a privilege enjoyed by citizens and exemplified in the activity of the scholar. That women, among other groups, did not hold the status of citizens and did not enjoy access to the institutions or training that might gain them recognition as scholars is apparently not a concern for Kant, as he notes that the enlightened condition is likely out of reach anyway for “by far the greatest part of humankind (including the entire fair sex)” (AA 8:35). This naturally leads one to wonder what a history of this period could look like when considered from the perspective of a different, more inclusive conception of enlightenment, and in this chapter I propose to conduct an experiment of sorts just along these lines. As opposed to Kant’s exclusionary conception, I will instead take that proposed by his distinguished contemporary, Moses Mendelssohn, as my starting point. In addition to offering a conception of enlightenment distinctive both for its wide scope and progressive character, Mendelssohn’s has the advantage, or so I will show, of bringing the manifold intellectual contributions of a diverse set of women into focus, though it does more than this in that it also reveals these women to actively and critically engage with key aspects of Mendelssohn’s and others’ philosophical views. (shrink)

Indigenous people (IP) have faced multiple difficulties in education. Indigenous students often do worse academically than non-indigenous student peers. These stated the low enrollment rates showed a dropout rate, absenteeism, repetition rates, literacy rate, and thus the educational outcomes, with retention and completion being two significant issues. Further, this study explores the lived experiences and challenges faced by indigenous high school students amidst the new normal education. Employing the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the findings of this study were: (1) (...) The reason why IP learners were not satisfied with their performance is that they cannot understand some of the lessons due to the language barrier. (2) IP learners are committed to finishing their studies, however, some of the students lack resources for studying, like gadgets for researching, and they do not have cell phones. And the other students may have gadgets or cellphones, but their internet connection is low or not accessible in some places at their location. (shrink)

Disparities in educational outcomes between Māori and non-Māori students remain a pressing concern in New Zealand. Recent policy documents framed through notions of 'effectiveness' champion culturally responsive pedagogies (CRPs) to address the achievement gap in mainstream secondary schools. Here, I interrogate this claim through close analysis of the Te Kotahitanga project led by Russell Bishop which, despite extensive government support, including a $42 million investment to restart the initiative, has limited conceptual and empirical grounding. I then consider broader understandings of (...) effectiveness that might better capture the benefits of CRPs but argue, drawing on social realist criticism, that some practices may paradoxically lead to poorer educational experiences for many Māori students by restricting access to disciplinary knowledge. I conclude that CRPs have variable effectiveness and are unlikely – on their own, at least – to greatly improve educational outcomes for Māori. (shrink)

Curriculum integration is frequently promoted as a means of enabling deeper and more authentic learning, with Mathematics often considered a suitable subject for doing so. This review investigates which elements contribute to the effectiveness of Mathematics integration in secondary education. Teacher factors include attitudes towards integrative practices and knowledge of both disciplinary content and curriculum integration theory. Pedagogy factors concern utilising activities that best synthesise concepts from multiple subjects to enhance learning, especially projects. Institutional factors relate to curriculum and (...) assessment requirements as well as school-level variables such as access to planning time and professional development. Limitations in the research literature include a narrow focus on connecting Mathematics with scientific disciplines, a reliance on qualitative methods and small sample sizes, and unknown generalisability to education systems other than those in which studies were conducted. Even so, attempting to navigate the factors involved in effective curriculum integration with Mathematics appears worthwhile. (shrink)

There have been numerous initiatives to increase access to higher education for those residing in marginalised locales in Wales. However, entrance in itself does not guarantee success and it is important for educators and policy makers to explore issues of retention. Classed and relational positionings often conflict with non-traditional students' education trajectories and sometimes contribute to their withdrawal from academia. In response to this challenge the current paper focuses on the accounts of non-traditional students in Communities First[1] (...) areas who took an undergraduate social science module with The Open University in Wales. Importantly, rather than reading these barriers to progression as students' individual difficulties, the paper considers how educational cultures can create and perpetuate disadvantage. Exploring students' accounts of pedagogy and administration, the paper focuses on online provision in distance learning and offers a range of strategies that could potentially improve the delivery of an Open University module and students' experiences in future presentations. (shrink)

This article proposes an approach to understanding life that overcomes reductionist and dualist approaches. Kant’s analysis of the conditions of knowing an organism shows that attempts to explain its teleology and autopoiesis from the interactions of its components is problematic. Based on an analysis by Van de Vijver and colleagues, a co-constitutive relationship between the cognitive activities of the observer and the living features of the organism is described. Using the example of a developmental series, it is shown that within (...) this active relational process, both autopoiesis and teleology of the organism manifest themselves on the mental level of the observer. The Kantian mode of objectification, which refers to the sensually perceptible appearance of an organism, can be supplemented by an active mode of relational objectification that encompasses the life of the organism. The analysis introduces a phenomenological first-person perspective on the study of life "from within", which enables an empirical investigation of the vital properties of an organism. (shrink)