آموزش

This study examined the reading skills of Grade 3 learners and their relationship with academic performance in English in selected public elementary schools in the Bantayan District, Schools Division of Cebu Province, during School Year 2026–2027. Specifically, it assessed learners’ proficiency in phonemic awareness, phonics, text recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension; described the profiles of the teacher and learner respondents; and determined whether a significant relationship existed between reading skills and academic performance in English. The study employed a descriptive-correlational research design involving 100 respondents, comprising 96 Grade 3 learners, with 24 learners from each of four schools, and four teachers from Pooc, Sta. Fe Central, Vito, and Baigad Elementary Schools. Data were gathered through a modified survey questionnaire and informal interviews. Frequency counts, percentages, weighted means, standard deviations, and Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient were used to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed that 70 of the 96 Grade 3 learners (72.92%) demonstrated effective foundational reading skills, while the remaining 26 learners (27.08%) were identified as potentially requiring additional reading support, depending on the established assessment criteria. These results underscore the importance of sustaining effective reading instruction while addressing the needs of learners experiencing difficulties in foundational literacy. The study proposes augmented reading skills learning activities designed to strengthen learners’ reading proficiency, improve comprehension, and support the development of essential literacy competencies. The proposed activities may serve as a basis for differentiated instruction, targeted reading interventions, and continuous monitoring of learner progress. Furthermore, the study emphasizes collaboration among teachers, school administrators, and parents in creating supportive learning environments that promote reading development and improved academic performance in English.

The professionalism of guidance and counseling (BK) teachers plays an important role in services that support students’ personal, social, academic, and career development. However, research on professional challenges, competencies, and development strategies for BK teachers tends to examine these three aspects separately without integrating ethical responsibilities. This article aimed to analyze BK teachers’ professionalism in the digital era, encompassing competencies, challenges and opportunities associated with technology use, and continuing competency development. The study employed a literature review method with a descriptive qualitative approach. Articles and documents published between 2020 and 2025 were retrieved through Google Scholar and Portal Garuda and analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that BK teachers’ professionalism rests on mastery of pedagogical, personal, social, and professional competencies, alongside continuing competency development. However, training and supervision remain limited in terms of duration, evaluation indicators, and monitoring, with a greater focus on professional competence. Digital technologies extend the reach of services but require digital competence and protection of client data confidentiality. The reviewed literature also indicates limited availability of standardized guidelines for online counseling in Indonesia. These findings provide an integrated perspective on BK teachers’ professionalism in the digital era, linking competency mastery, ethical responsibilities, and the ability to use technology. In practical terms, competency development for BK teachers needs to integrate digital competence and online counseling ethics through continuing training, supervision, and evaluation based on measurable indicators. Support from professional associations in developing online counseling guidelines is also needed to strengthen professional and responsible service delivery.

This study examines how the socio-psychological climate in higher education influences the formation of students’ civic positions across motivational, cognitive, and behavioural components. To address predominantly low-to-medium baseline civic engagement, the study developed and implemented the “Harmony and Citizenship” programme aimed at fostering a supportive educational environment. Effectiveness was evaluated using documentation analysis, pedagogical observation, expert evaluations, and self-assessments. Post-implementation results confirmed the programme’s efficacy, particularly in the experimental group. Behaviourally, the experimental group achieved a higher proportion of high civic engagement (42.7% vs. 41.2% in the control group) and a significant reduction in low-level engagement (13.8% vs. 21.5%). The experimental group also showed gains in high-level motivational (34.1%) and cognitive (33.9%) dimensions. By substantiating key concepts such as civic education, patriotism, and citizenship, this research provides a practical, adaptable methodology for enhancing students’ civic development through institutional climate optimization.

This study aims to analyze the model of ecotheological value internalization through bil-hal da’wah in school co-curricular programs at SD Al-Ishlah Tulungagung. The research employed a qualitative approach with a field research design to examine how ecotheological values are introduced, practiced, and integrated into students’ daily habits. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation focusing on the implementation of the Urban Farming program. The findings reveal that ecotheological values are internalized through practical environmental activities, including plant cultivation, environmental care habits, and religious reflections connecting environmental preservation with human responsibility as Khalifah fil Ardh. These activities provide opportunities for students to relate religious values to concrete actions in caring for their surroundings. The internalization model consists of four interconnected components: value transformation, value transaction, value transinternalization, and ecological-spiritual habituation. Its implementation positively contributes to students’ environmental awareness, responsibility, patience, compassion, and spiritual consciousness. This study concludes that bil-hal da’wah through environmental co-curricular activities effectively promotes ecotheological education and character development by integrating practical environmental engagement with religious understanding among elementary school students.

Background: Teacher agency is essential to educational transformation, yet teacher development in Nepal often relies on standardized training approaches that emphasize prescribed methods rather than critical reflection, contextual experimentation, and collaborative learning. Objectives: This study explores how teachers develop and exercise agency through Critical–Creative Pedagogy (CCP) and participatory action research in two Nepali public-school contexts. Methods: Using a participatory action research approach, the study examined two contexts: a cross-school initiative involving 11 teachers from eight public schools in Helambu and a school-based initiative involving 30 teachers at Janata Secondary School in Bardibas. Data were generated over nine months through workshop interactions, teacher reflections, lesson plans, classroom observations, reflective dialogues, and informal conversations with students. The analysis examined how reflection, dialogue, classroom experimentation, and collective professional learning contributed to the development of teacher agency. Results: The findings indicate that teacher agency developed through iterative cycles of reflection, action, observation, dialogue, and re-reflection rather than through standardized training alone. Teachers began questioning textbook-centred and examination-driven practices and experimenting with learning activities grounded in students’ experiences and local contexts. Contextual adaptation and engagement with the wider school community, including school management committees and parents, emerged as important dimensions of pedagogical change. The Bardibas initiative appeared to foster stronger shared reflection, mutual support, and continuity of pedagogical change than the cross-school arrangement in Helambu. Conclusion: Teacher agency is a relational and context-dependent process that develops through critical reflection, pedagogical experimentation, and collaborative learning. Sustaining educational transformation requires professional learning opportunities that connect teachers’ agency with local knowledge, school-level collaboration, and community engagement. Novelty: By examining participatory action research across two distinct school contexts, this study highlights how the institutional setting of teacher collaboration may shape opportunities for collective reflection, mutual support, and sustained pedagogical change. It also foregrounds the importance of connecting teacher learning with school and community contexts in efforts to transform classroom practice.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a participatory greening program in implementing a Green Campus and achieving SDG 12 among Biology students. A quantitative pre-experimental, one-group pre-test post-test design was employed with 80 undergraduate student selected by purposive sampling. Instruments included expert-validated knowledge tests, environmental questionnaires, and observation checklist (instrumental validity score of 100%). The four-month program involved activities such as planting, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and monitoring, specially designed to promote sustainable consumption and production practice-including organic fertilization efficient water usage, composting, and responsible resources management. Student participation averaged 84.15%. Statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated a significant increase in environmental knowledge (Z = -7.786, p < 0.001) with a high N-gain score of 0.83. Additionally, students’ environmental care attitude improved significantly, with the mean score rising from 51.37 to 91.81, categorized as “very positive”. These findings demonstrate that the greening program is empirically effective in improving ecological literacy and foresting proenvironmental attitude while reinforcing sustainable production principles. Therefore, this program can be adopted as a scalable and sustainable model for Green Campus initiative in higher education.

Traditional games enter school programmes as cultural resources, yet the processes connecting participation with collective values remain underexplored. This study examines how schools organize egrang, a traditional stilt-walking game, as cultural pedagogy in Scouting. An interpretive multiple-case design involved four public junior secondary schools in Semarang, Indonesia. Participants included student Scouts, Scout leaders, teachers, principals, and deputy principals. Participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions, and document analysis informed reflexive thematic analysis and cross-case synthesis. Four arrangements emerged: patrol challenges, exploration stations, cultural-preservation activities, and camping programmes. Shared objectives organized peer assistance, responsibility, solidarity, and leadership, while adult facilitation linked experience with cultural meaning. The comparison shows that cooperation depended on task organization and reflection rather than the traditional status of the game alone. An interpretive model connects cultural practice, patrol interaction, and reflection with the possible continued enactment and negotiation of values. Bourdieu’s habitus provides an analytical lens, but the findings do not demonstrate enduring dispositions. Schools should combine shared objectives, inclusive roles, and structured reflection; longitudinal research should examine whether these practices persist beyond Scouting.

Abstract Education, and mandatory schooling in particular, is a central mechanism for governments to improve life outcomes and prevent the accumulation of disadvantage across generations. Yet educational sociology research suggests that education can also entrench patterns of inequality, with children from immigrant backgrounds facing barriers to equal opportunity. Policy reforms to reverse such disadvantage include delaying the tracking age and offering free or subsidised daycare places to immigrant children. However, we know little about public support for such policies. In this article, we argue that one’s own experience of educational equality impacts micro-level preferences for equality-enhancing policies (EEPs). Using a survey experiment fielded in 2024 in Switzerland, our findings suggest that support for EEPs is a function of the one’s satisfaction with equal opportunities at school: Those who did not perceive their schooling to be fair and who attended school in less egalitarian cantons show the strongest support for reforming the system to become more egalitarian. We conclude that negative experience of schooling may have an, albeit indirect, effect on support for policies that reduce educational inequality. .

Humanistic–religious education integrates spiritual values, social relationships, and character development in primary education. However, its conceptual dimensions, implementation mechanisms, and outcome evidence remain inconsistently documented, particularly in Satuan Pendidikan Kerjasama (SPK) schools. This study presents a systematic review protocol with preliminary synthesis to examine conceptualisation, implementation practices, potential best practices, and contextual conditions. The planned review covers publications from 2014 to 2026 across Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, DOAJ, Google Scholar, and Indonesian academic sources. The preliminary corpus comprises ten studies identified through targeted searches, including qualitative case studies, quantitative and mixed-methods research, and conceptual analysis. Formal database searching, PRISMA screening, and critical appraisal remain incomplete. Preliminary patterns indicate that vertical–spiritual and horizontal–social dimensions predominate, while habituation and school culture feature prominently in implementation. Explicit curriculum mapping and family–community engagement are less consistently documented, and comparable pupil-outcome evidence remains limited. Evidence concerning SPK schools is particularly sparse, precluding definitive best-practice claims. A proposed four-layer framework may guide further synthesis of conceptual dimensions, implementation mechanisms, outcomes, and contextual conditions. These preliminary observations require verification through completion of the systematic review before supporting evidence-based recommendations.

Gender inequality in higher education remains a concern in rural Pakistan, where women’s education opportunities are shaped by social expectations concerning mobility, family responsibilities, and appropriate gender roles. This study examined how social stigmatization associated with staying at home and performing domestic roles is experienced by rural females and how public and self-stigma relate to their participation in higher education. A qualitative descriptive phenomenological design was employed. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews from 30 participants in rural Pakistan, including eight female students and nine female family members, and 13 male family and community members. Thematic analysis identified four interrelated themes: restricted mobility and chaperonage, conditional educational and career aspirations, internalized domestic identity, and protectionist concerns surrounding coeducation. The findings indicate that female education was generally valued, but support was often conditional on family approval, proximity to home, supervision, and conformity with socially accepted roles as daughters, wives, and mothers. Public stigma was reflected in shared expectations that restricted women’s mobility, educational location, and career choices. While self-stigma through self-censorship became apparent when some female students anticipated these judgments and adjusted their educational aspirations accordingly. These findings suggest that educational inequality in the setting examined is associated not only with material and institutional barriers but also with social judgments and their internalization. By applying a stigma perspective, the study provides a context-specific account of how public stigma, self-stigma, and self-censorship may interact with gendered expectations to narrow higher education opportunities for rural females.

The Merdeka Curriculum is Indonesia's most significant curricular reform in a decade, granting schools and teachers wider autonomy over learning design, assessment, and the use of digital resources. Its success, however, depends on whether teachers are prepared to exercise that autonomy and whether technological support is available to sustain it. This article reviews 24 studies published between 2023 and 2026 to examine how teacher readiness and technological support have been addressed in research on the curriculum's implementation. A qualitative systematic review was conducted following PRISMA 2020 reporting principles. Records were drawn from two bibliographic exports and supplementary searches, screened against explicit criteria, and analysed through thematic synthesis. Five themes emerged: conceptual understanding of curriculum components, professional development and training, pedagogical and assessment adaptation, institutional and management support, and technological competence and infrastructure. The synthesis shows that readiness is uneven across regions, school types, and subjects, and that the Merdeka Mengajar Platform has become a central support tool whose benefits depend on teachers' digital competence, time, and school-level facilitation. The article proposes a Readiness-Technology Alignment perspective, arguing that readiness and technological support should be planned together rather than treated as separate policy tracks. Implications for training, leadership, and policy are discussed.

This study investigates how a novice EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher enacts professional identity within the context of reading instruction. While prior research has established the dynamic and multifaceted nature of teacher identity, limited attention has been given to how professional identity is constructed and enacted through subject-specific pedagogical practices, particularly in reading instruction. This qualitative case study draws on interview and classroom observation data to explore how a novice EFL teacher enacts professional identities in reading instruction. The findings suggest that the teacher’s professional identity is not a fixed set of roles but is expressed through situated teaching practices and professional reflections. Specifically, three interrelated identity positions were identified—facilitator of meaning-making, cultural and textual guide, and reflective learner. These positions were reflected in instructional practices such as scaffolding, interpretive questioning, and the provision of cultural and textual background knowledge, as well as in the teacher’s willingness to learn from students and engage in professional development. Furthermore, the findings highlight the relationship between the teacher’s professional identity, individual agency, and the working conditions of her teaching context. By situating teacher identity within the practices of reading instruction, this study extends existing research by foregrounding the practice-based and context-sensitive nature of novice teacher identity. An Activity Theory perspective further informs the interpretation of how professional identity relates to pedagogical practices, instructional tools, and contextual conditions.

Developing civic skills and dispositions in elementary school is essential to preparing students to participate, collaborate, and act responsibly in a democratic society. However, students’ involvement in expressing opinions, participating in discussions, making collective decisions, and fulfilling responsibilities requires further improvement. This study aimed to improve students’ civic skills and civic disposition through the Project Citizen learning model in Pancasila Education for Grade V-B students at SDN 165/IV Kota Jambi. The study employed classroom action research based on the Kemmis and McTaggart model and was conducted in three cycles, each comprising planning, action, observation, and reflection. The participants were 18 students. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Preliminary calculations indicated that the percentage of civic skills increased from 59.03% in the pre-cycle to 90.89% in Cycle III. Meanwhile, civic disposition increased from 59.72% to 91.76%. These findings indicate that implementing Project Citizen has the potential to improve students’ civic skills and dispositions through discussion, collaboration, expressing opinions, and collective decision-making. Therefore, this model may serve as an alternative approach to developing civic competencies among elementary school students. ABSTRAK Pengembangan keterampilan dan sikap kewarganegaraan sejak sekolah dasar penting untuk membentuk peserta didik yang mampu berpartisipasi, bekerja sama, dan bertanggung jawab dalam kehidupan demokratis. Namun, keterlibatan peserta didik dalam menyampaikan pendapat, berdiskusi, mengambil keputusan bersama, dan melaksanakan tanggung jawab masih perlu ditingkatkan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan civic skills dan civic disposition melalui model pembelajaran Project Citizen pada mata pelajaran Pendidikan Pancasila di kelas VB SDN 165/IV Kota Jambi. Penelitian menggunakan metode penelitian tindakan kelas dengan model Kemmis dan McTaggart yang dilaksanakan dalam tiga siklus, meliputi perencanaan, tindakan, observasi, dan refleksi. Subjek penelitian berjumlah 18 peserta didik. Data dikumpulkan melalui observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi, kemudian dianalisis secara kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Hasil perhitungan sementara menunjukkan bahwa persentase civic skills meningkat dari 59,03% pada prasiklus menjadi 90,89% pada Siklus III. Sementara itu, civic disposition meningkat dari 59,72% menjadi 91,76%. Hasil ini menunjukkan bahwa penerapan Project Citizen berpotensi meningkatkan keterampilan dan sikap kewarganegaraan melalui diskusi, kerja sama, penyampaian pendapat, dan pengambilan keputusan bersama. Dengan demikian, model ini dapat menjadi alternatif pembelajaran untuk mengembangkan kompetensi kewarganegaraan peserta didik sekolah dasar.

This article develops a professional development approach that uses digital management projects to strengthen the managerial competence of vocational education leaders. The aim is to design a mechanism for transferring learning from a short training module into everyday management practice. The article employed documentary analysis of theoretical and methodological materials and compared them with primary sources on constructive alignment, the transfer of acquired knowledge to professional practice, and digital competence frameworks. The units of analysis are curriculum topics, allocated learning time, management actions and verifiable practical outputs. The documented module comprises twelve hours, equally divided between theoretical and practical sessions; its table does not specify independent study hours. A sequence of problem identification, solution modelling, bounded implementation and reflective analysis is proposed. The classroom module is linked to twenty-four hours of workplace project activity, producing a proposed thirty-six-hour pathway. Expected outputs include a decision rationale, a data dictionary, a monitoring table and an improvement plan. The contribution is an explicit instructional connection between learning a digital tool and substantiating a management decision. The proposed pathway has not undergone a new experimental evaluation. Conditions for subsequent testing and limitations of the design are specified

This classroom action research was motivated by the low learning outcomes in Natural and Social Sciences (IPAS) among fourth-grade students at SD Negeri 11 Pauh, Padang City, where only 31.03% of students (10 of 29) achieved the learning objective achievement criterion (KKTP) of 80. This study aimed to describe the lesson planning, the implementation, and the improvement of IPAS learning outcomes through the Problem Based Learning (PBL) model. The research involved 28 and was conducted in two cycles (two meetings in cycle I and one meeting in cycle II), each consisting of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting, using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected through lesson plan assessment sheets, teacher and student activity observation sheets, and written tests, then analyzed using percentages, mean scores, and classical mastery. The lesson plan score increased from 77.78% to 86.11% in cycle I and reached 91.67% in cycle II. Teacher activity increased from 66.67% to 75.00% and 87.50%, while student activity increased from 62.50% to 75.00% and 87.50%. The mean knowledge score rose from 65.89 to 77.14 and 86.42, and classical mastery increased from 31.03% at baseline to 92.86% in cycle II, exceeding the 80% target. Attitude and skills scores reached 92.85 and 84.37. It is concluded that, in the context of this single-class action research, the implementation of PBL was associated with improved IPAS learning outcomes of fourth-grade students, although the findings cannot be generalised without a comparison group.

Vocabulary (mufrodat) mastery underpins speaking skills (maharah kalam), yet elementary Islamic school students may struggle to use vocabulary in speech and retain memorized words after instruction. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of El-Syarif-based vocabulary instruction in improving speaking skills and memorization retention among students at MI Najahiyah Palembang. A quantitative approach was employed using a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design. The sample comprised 35 fifth-grade students selected through total sampling. Data were collected through oral speaking tests, an immediate memorization test, and a delayed memorization test. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a paired-samples t-test, the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and N-Gain. The results showed that the mean speaking score increased from 57.37 to 81.63, with an N-Gain of 0.58, categorized as moderate, and a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). The mean memorization score decreased from 83.37 to 79.31, while retention reached 95.1%. These findings indicate that El-Syarif-based instruction can improve students’ speaking skills and help maintain most memorized vocabulary. However, the decline in delayed-test scores indicates that some vocabulary was still forgotten over time. ABSTRAK Penguasaan mufrodat menjadi dasar keterampilan berbicara (maharah kalam), tetapi siswa madrasah ibtidaiyah masih menghadapi kesulitan menggunakan kosakata dalam ujaran dan mempertahankan hafalan setelah pembelajaran. Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis efektivitas pembelajaran mufrodat berbasis metode El-Syarif dalam meningkatkan maharah kalam dan retensi hafalan siswa di MI Najahiyah Palembang. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode eksperimen semu (quasi-experimental) berdesain one-group pretest-posttest. Sampel terdiri atas 35 siswa kelas V yang dipilih melalui teknik total sampling. Data dikumpulkan melalui tes lisan, tes hafalan segera, dan tes hafalan tunda, kemudian dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif, uji paired-samples t-test, uji Wilcoxon Signed Rank, dan N-Gain. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa rata-rata maharah kalam meningkat dari 57,37 menjadi 81,63, dengan N-Gain 0,58 dalam kategori sedang dan perbedaan signifikan (p < 0,001). Rata-rata hafalan menurun dari 83,37 menjadi 79,31, tetapi retensi mencapai 95,1%. Disimpulkan bahwa metode El-Syarif berpotensi meningkatkan keterampilan berbicara sekaligus mempertahankan sebagian besar hafalan siswa, meskipun penurunan hafalan tetap terjadi.

Introduction Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has emerged as a prominent framework for promoting inclusive education by addressing learner variability through flexible curriculum design, instruction, and assessment. Although interest in UDL has expanded globally, evidence regarding its implementation in primary mathematics education remains fragmented across diverse educational contexts. This systematic review synthesized empirical evidence on UDL implementation in primary mathematics education and developed an evidence-informed integrative framework to guide research and practice. Methods The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. Searches conducted in Scopus and Web of Science identified 168 records, from which 14 studies met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT, Version 2018), and data were synthesized through thematic analysis. Results Three substantive themes emerged: instructional practices supporting UDL implementation, educational outcomes associated with UDL implementation, and contextual challenges and enabling factors. The findings revealed that effective UDL implementation was characterized by differentiated instruction, multiple means of representation, engagement, and action and expression, supported by accessible learning resources and digital technologies. These practices were associated with improved mathematics achievement, conceptual understanding, learner engagement, participation, and accessibility. However, successful implementation depended on sustained teacher professional development, institutional support, and equitable access to instructional resources. Discussion The review informed the development of an evidence-informed integrative framework that contextualizes UDL implementation within primary mathematics education. By linking enabling conditions, instructional practices, contextual influences, and learner outcomes, the framework extends existing UDL applications and offers a comprehensive model for advancing inclusive mathematics education. The findings underscore the importance of systemic support structures in ensuring effective and sustainable UDL implementation.

Allocation of educational resources affects the learning environment and equality of opportunity for students. Frontline teachers' views on the urban-rural disparity in educational resources for Chinese primary and secondary schools are investigated in this study. An exploratory comparative design was used, and based on questionnaire responses from 26 teachers, six were from urban schools and twenty were from rural or township schools. Teacher staffing and qualifications, school facilities, digital resources, curriculum implementation, professional development, family cooperation, funding and policy execution were also analysed. Therefore, the deficiencies in urban and rural areas cannot be confined to primary and secondary school facilities. Rural teachers reported more restrictions in specialist staffing, professional development, curriculum provision, digital resources, family support and the actual implementation of educational balancing policies. Teachers in both groups also listed the recruitment, training and retention of teachers as problems. Therefore, in addition to the supply of resources, schools need to have the ability to use and maintain these resources effectively for educational equity. Due to the small and unequal sample and the reliance on self-reported data, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory. Future research should use larger samples and combine teacher perspectives with student, school, and longitudinal data to further examine how resource allocation affects educational opportunities.

Professional speech culture is an essential component of teacher preparation, yet university courses in this area often emphasize normative linguistic knowledge without sufficiently integrating its application to authentic pedagogical communication. This study aimed to preliminarily adapt and evaluate the Teacher's Speech Culture course for pre-service Kazakh language teachers by strengthening the integration of normative-linguistic, communicative-pragmatic, discursive, and interactive components of professional speech competence. A single-group pre-test–post-test design was used. Initially, 180 students were recruited from two higher education institutions in southern Kazakhstan; 156 completed all stages and were included in the final analysis. The adapted course combined theoretical instruction with professionally oriented communicative situations, independent construction of professional utterances, interactive tasks, and reflective analysis of speech behaviour. Professional speech competence was assessed before and after the course using diagnostic and performance-based measures. The assessment demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.86). Data were examined using pre-test -post-test comparisons and path analysis. Overall professional speech competence increased from M = 7.84 (SD = 1.62) to M = 9.72 (SD = 1.48), t (155) = 11.46, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.92. Significant improvements were also observed across the normative-linguistic, communicative-pragmatic, discursive, and interactive components. Path analysis indicated that the ability to analyse professional communicative situations had the strongest direct association with professional speech competence. Professional speech competence was also positively associated with speech self-control and flexibility of professional speech behaviour. The findings provide preliminary empirical support for a practice-oriented adaptation of the Teacher's Speech Culture course that connects knowledge of language norms with contextual analysis, independent speech production, and regulation of professional communication. Given the absence of a separate control group, the observed changes should be interpreted as pre-test–post-test differences associated with course participation rather than evidence of a causal intervention effect. Further controlled studies involving broader samples are required to evaluate the effectiveness and generalizability of the adapted course.

Proving is a fundamental skill that pre-service mathematics teachers are expected to develop and to support in their future students. This study aimed to examine the proving processes of pre-service middle school mathematics teachers. To this end, a total of 30 participants were selected through maximum variation sampling from among pre-service teachers who had just been admitted to a middle school mathematics teacher education program and pre-service mathematics teachers at all year levels of the program, with six participants from each level, and the data of this qualitative study were collected through clinical interviews. The data were collected in the context of the concepts of function and number. According to the results of the study, participants at the higher year levels generally showed greater success in constructing the formal-rhetorical part of a proof and in solving its problem-centered part, indicating a cross-year pattern rather than individual longitudinal change. It was also concluded that even when participants in the upper years possessed knowledge of proof methods, either their lack of sufficient conceptual knowledge to solve the problem-centered part or their deficiencies in the use of mathematical language hindered the proving process. Furthermore, it was observed that the participants were unable to use the full range of proof methods; whereas proof by counterexample showed the highest success in the proving process at every level, participants experienced difficulties in the direct proof and proof by contraposition processes. The findings suggest that the formal-rhetorical and problem-centered parts of proof should be addressed explicitly and systematically across all year levels of mathematics teacher education programs.