Which direction for bachelor and master programmes? A stocktaking of the Bologna process

The introduction of a tiered structure of study programmes and degrees is a core aspect of the Bologna Process. Based on recent empirical studies on the implementation of bachelor and master programmes in a number of European countries, an assessment is made of whether the Bologna Process has progressed in this area. However, given the multitude of expectations and different national reform contexts, it is argued that the impacts of measures taken in the framework of the Bologna Process are difficult to assess. Hence, in the conclusion the article points to a number of unsolved problems still existing to achieve the objectives of the Bologna Process.     

An introduction to education research methods: exploring the learning journey of pre-service teachers in a transnational programme

Internationally there is interest in developing the research skills of pre-service teachers as a means of ongoing professional renewal with a distinct need for systematic and longitudinal investigation of student learning. The current study takes a unique perspective by exploring the research learning journey of pre-service teachers participating in a transnational degree programme. Using a case-study design that includes both a self-reported and direct measure of research knowledge, the results indicate a progression in learning, as well as evidence that this research knowledge is continued or maintained when the pre-service teachers return to their home university. The findings of this study have implications for both pre-service teacher research training and transnational programmes.     

Benefits of personality characteristics and self‐efficacy in the perceived academic achievement of medical students

This study investigates the joint impact of personality characteristics and self‐efficacy on the perceived academic achievement of medical students on top of their prior high school performance. The sample consisted of medical students in their pre‐clinical years. The students’ grade point average scores at high school were included as control variable in our explanatory models. Based on previous findings in the literature, we selected self‐discipline, social activity and emotional stability from the Five Factor Model of Personality as predictor variables. Furthermore, following the social cognitive theory of Bandura, we added self‐efficacy (students’ belief in their academic skills) as an additional predictor. The logistic regression analyses confirmed the importance of self‐discipline (positively related) and social activity (negatively related) for these students’ perceived academic achievement. Additionally, we found a positive contribution of self‐efficacy. The results of this study (as discussed in the final sections) have implications for support programmes in the practical field.     

Internationalisation of higher education: A critical analysis of the intercultural dimension of a visiting scholar programme

This article reports the findings of a study on the intercultural dimension of internationalisation at two universities, located in China and Canada, as evidenced through their visiting scholar (VS) programme. Andreotti and her research team identified three articulations of internationalisation in higher education that are located in a modern/colonial imaginary. They propose a fourth articulation, relational trans-localism, that is located outside the modern/colonial imaginary. As participants in the VS programme, we used critical ethnography and critical discourse analysis to investigate the influences of the modern/colonial articulations on the intercultural dimension of the program, and our attempts to develop practices outside the modern/colonial imaginary. Our findings show that although the programme was profoundly affected by neoliberal and liberal discourses, we achieved some success in creating spaces of relational trans-localism. We conclude by identifying the factors that were enabling of these alternative spaces.     

Hypnosis-induced mental training programmes as a strategy to improve the self-concept of students

The creation and implementation of strategies that could improve student development is receiving new research interest. The main objective of the research was to establish whether hypnosis-induced mental training programmes as a strategy could alter the self-concept of students which in turn could improve their overall academic functioning. Two experimental and two control groups were randomly selected from a population of undergraduate psychology students at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. The analysis of variance showed that the two hypnosis-induced mental training programmes had a significant positive effect on the self-concept of the participants.     

Moral spaces,the struggle for an intergenerational environmental ethics and the social ecology of families: an ‘other’ form of environmental education

‘Green families’ in Australia were studied so as to shed light on how a more durable, everyday environmental ethic and ecopolitic might slowly be enacted in the intimacy of the home ‘place’ over an extended period of time in rapidly changing socio‐cultural‐ecological conditions. Of particular interest to this study of the green household, or postmodern oikos, was how its proximal ‘moral spaces’ have been nurtured intergenerationally by family members from within the broader global climate of what Zygmunt Bauman refers to as the ‘moral lag’ of postmodernity. Three layers of interpretive findings about the social ecology and family dynamics of this oikos are presented in an effort to provide detailed understandings about families’ eco being, dwelling and becoming. Implications for education for the environment can be gleaned from the ‘best’ ecopedagogical practices found in the home that are ‘other’ than those occurring in the formal education sector. This study adds to the theorizations of ‘social ecology’, ‘experiential education’, ‘ecopedagogy’ and, more generally, the notion of an everyday ‘ecocentrism’, while providing some clues for how environmental education in schools might mirror pedagogical aspects of the postmodern oikos.     

Addressing gender equality: enactments of gender and hegemony in the educational textbooks used in Swedish sports coaching and educational programmes

Sport is often described as a field containing competitive and hierarchy shaping activities. However, in Sweden and elsewhere, this field is also permeated by democratic principles where, for example, everybody has the right to participate in children’s and youth sports regardless of gender, ethnicity or physical ability. In Sweden, there are distinct objectives for gender equality, where women/girls and men/boys should ideally be treated and recognised equally. The aim of this paper is twofold: to examine how gender is enacted in the textbooks used in Swedish sports coaching and educational programmes and to identify whether any of the enactments reflect a hegemonic masculinity. The textbooks used in two of the most extensive courses arranged by the Swedish Sports Confederation, ‘The Platform’ [Plattformen] and ‘Basic Coach Education’ [Grundtränarutbildning] are in focus. The theoretical framework and methodological approach are inspired by research on sport, gender and the hegemonic masculinity thesis. In the process of analysis, the hegemonic perspective is central. During the analysis, four themes are identified as expressions of a hegemonic masculinity and, thus, as obstacles to gender equality. Firstly, the binary sex norm poses a real challenge for the implementation of gender equality because it helps to shape a hierarchy that privileges men and masculinities. Secondly and thirdly, the themes ‘puberty’ and ‘the coach’ appear to be important, in that they support and contest a gendered hierarchy. Finally, there are examples of men, like sport coaches, appearing as genderless, which is interpreted as a hegemonic acceptance of the category of men (as universal and genderless subjects). By critically illuminating these themes, the paper adds to the wider research field of sport, coaching and education programmes and the complexity of gender mainstreaming in sport.     

Transitioning in higher education: an exploration of psychological and contextual factors affecting student satisfaction

In view of recent changes in the higher education sector, such as increased tuition fees, a greater focus has been placed on widening participation initiatives and monitoring student satisfaction. The aims of the current study were twofold: (1) to explore whether pre-entry programmes foster successful transition to higher education, and (2) to examine longitudinally the factors associated with course satisfaction. Eighty-eight first-year psychology students completed a questionnaire measuring academic self-efficacy, social identity and student satisfaction at the start (Time 1, November 2015) and end (Time 2, March 2016) of the academic year. Findings indicated that students who participated in a pre-entry programme reported higher academic self-efficacy and satisfaction compared to typical route students. Moreover, academic self-efficacy predicted student satisfaction at the start of the academic year, whereas in-group affect (a facet of social identity) predicted this at the end of the academic year. The current findings indicate that pre-entry programmes may have a positive impact on students’ sense of academic self-efficacy. On a more general level, the findings also suggest that academic self-efficacy and social identity may be key indicators of student satisfaction. This highlights the complexities of the concept of ‘student satisfaction’, and demonstrates the utility of examining multiple factors relating to student satisfaction across different time points.     

Excavating cultural imperialism in student mobility programmes

The New Colombo Plan and similar student mobility initiatives in Aotearoa/New Zealand have been pitched as reversing the culturally imperialist focus of the original Colombo Plan (CP) because they involve sending Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand students to the Indo-Pacific region instead of funding Asian students to study overseas. However, changes in this direction of student mobility mask ongoing geopolitical inequities. In order to interrogate these subtle power relations, this article adopts a Foucauldian genealogical approach. It briefly outlines the competing goals of the original CP before undertaking an analysis of the discourses evident in the Australian government’s New Colombo Plan and in the Education New Zealand’s Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia. This discourse analysis illustrates the extent to which the new student mobility programmes established in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand involve consuming the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and ‘Asian’ Other and often serves to reinforce rather than address global geopolitical inequities.