This article analyzes the challenges and possibilities of incorporating socio-emotional competencies into teacher education, aiming to contribute to the development of an integrative and humanizing pedagogy. Based on a qualitative bibliographic review, recent studies (2020–2025) were examined, highlighting the impact of socio-emotional competencies on teacher well-being, student engagement, and the quality of pedagogical relationships. The findings indicate that, although theoretical and practical advances have been made, significant gaps remain in initial and continuing education curricula, which are still largely centered on technical and content-based models. The article argues for the urgent need for public policies, curricular guidelines, and formative practices that foster teachers' emotional development, recognizing its essential role in creating healthy school environments and promoting meaningful learning. It concludes that educating emotionally competent teachers is crucial for a more sensitive, ethical, and effective education.
این مقاله چالش‌ها و امکانات ادغام شایستگی‌های اجتماعی-هیجانی در آموزش معلمان را تحلیل می‌کند و هدف آن کمک به توسعه یک پداگوژی یکپارچه و انسان‌دوستانه است. بر اساس یک مرور کتابشناختی کیفی، مطالعات اخیر (۲۰۲۰–۲۰۲۵) مورد بررسی قرار گرفتند که بر تأثیر شایستگی‌های اجتماعی-هیجانی بر بهزیستی معلمان، مشارکت دانش‌آموزان و کیفیت روابط پداگوژیک تأکید دارند. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهند که اگرچه پیشرفت‌های نظری و عملی حاصل شده است، شکاف‌های قابل‌توجهی در برنامه‌های درسی آموزش اولیه و مستمر باقی مانده است که همچنان عمدتاً بر مدل‌های فنی و محتوامحور متمرکز هستند. این مقاله بر ضرورت فوری سیاست‌های عمومی، راهنماهای برنامه درسی و عملکردهای تربیتی که توسعه هیجانی معلمان را تقویت می‌کنند، تأکید می‌ورزد و نقش اساسی آن‌ها را در ایجاد محیط‌های مدرسه سالم و ترویج یادگیری معنادار به رسمیت می‌شناسد. این مقاله نتیجه می‌گیرد که تربیت معلمان دارای شایستگی هیجانی برای آموزشی حساس‌تر، اخلاقی‌تر و کارآمدتر حیاتی است.
Background: Job instability within teachers in Nepal's private schools is a persistent matter, however its combined impacts on teaching performance and organizational trust remain under investigated. In this research, "permanent" denotes benefit-eligible status (teachers who get a provident fund, social security fund, insurance allowance, and government-standard paid leave after a certain qualifying period) whereas "temporary or contract-based" denotes teachers are deprived of one or more of these advantages. Objectives: This research investigates (i) the impact of job stability type on teaching performance and workplace effectiveness, (ii) the relationship between organizational job-security assist and organizational trust, and (iii) the joint predictive effect of both independent variables, along with quality of communication and collaboration tested as a possible moderator. Methods: A quantitative comparative-correlational approach was applied. Data were gathered from 219 teachers in private schools of Kathmandu Valley via a structured questionnaire utilizing a 5-point Likert scale. Item-level descriptives applied median and IQR; construct-level composites were examined applying independent-samples *t*-test, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS. Job status was defined by availability of organizational benefits: permanent (benefit-eligible) teachers get provident fund, social security fund contributions, insurance allowance, and government-standard paid leave after a qualifying period, whereas contract-based teachers are deprived of. Results: Permanent teachers reported substantially higher teaching performance (M difference = 0.254, *p* = .036) and organizational trust (M difference = 0.269, *p* = .027) than temporary teachers. Multiple regression displayed that perceived employment stability (β = .560, *p* < .001) and institutional job-security support (β = .352, *p* < .001) combinely predicted teaching performance, R² = .793, F(2, 216) = 414.87, *p* < .001. For organizational trust, both predictors were additionally significant (β = .443 and .510, both *p* < .001), R² = .863, F(2, 216) = 677.95, *p* < .001. Moderation by communication quality was not assisted (all four interactions non-significant; *p* > .05). EFA extracted two factors justifying 73.75% of variance; Harman's test exhibited 54.64% on the first factor, just above the 50% threshold. Conclusion: Both perceived employment stability and institutional job-security assist independently and collectively predict teaching performance and organizational trust. Permanent employment is connected with higher results. Moderation by communication quality was not assisted. Novelty: This is within the first research to integrate employment stability type and institutional job-security assist in collectively predicting both teaching performance and organizational trust in Nepal's private school field, applying ordinal-appropriate item-level descriptives and composite-level parametric analysis.
This study examined the relationship between pupils’ involvement in school-initiated absenteeism interventions and their academic achievement in Araling Panlipunan in Kadingilan II District, Bukidnon (SY 2019–2020). A descriptive-correlational design was employed involving 101 Grade 4 pupils identified as at risk of dropping out. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire (CVI = 0.89; Cronbach’s α = 0.91) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson product–moment correlation. Respondents were predominantly male (65.3%), aged 10–11 years (61.4%), from low-income households (85.1% earning ₱1,000–₱10,999), with parents largely self-employed (92.1%) and with elementary education (80.2%). Pupils reported high involvement in interventions: close-door counseling (M = 4.06), home visits (M = 3.80), CFSS (M = 3.74), and school feeding (M = 4.03), while dormitory involvement was low (M = 1.47). Academic achievement was generally low, with 63% fairly satisfactory (75–79) and 36% satisfactory (80–84). No significant differences were observed across most demographic variables (p > .05), except for dormitory involvement by gender and income (p < .05). Correlation analysis showed no significant relationship between intervention involvement and academic achievement (r = -0.186 to 0.149, p > .05). Findings indicate that while interventions enhance participation, they do not directly predict academic outcomes.
The study aimed to find whether differences exist in the perspective of teachers towards online learning when grouped according to profile. Specifically, the study endeavored to describe the profile of the respondents in terms of age, gender, civil status, and educational attainment; determine the extent of teachers’ perspective towards online learning in the areas of access, interaction, response, and results; ascertain the level of teachers’ preparedness towards online learning in teaching social studies; and find out whether a significant difference exists in the preparedness of teachers towards online learning when grouped according to age, gender, civil status, and educational attainment. The study was conducted among the national high schools in the Division of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon for the School Year 2020-2021. A total of 96 Social Studies teachers were drawn from (6) national schools through purposive sampling. To gather relevant information needed for the study, the researcher adopted the questionnaire developed by Larsen (2012) and Lichoro (2015). Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and analysis of variance were used to treat the data. The majority of the teachers were in middle adulthood and were predominantly female. It is further revealed that most of them were single and bachelor’s degree holders. Access and interaction were observed in great extent, while responses and results were demonstrated in moderate extent, suggesting that the teachers’ perspective towards online learning showed certainty in the way they take online learning as a learning platform in this pandemic period. Similarly, teachers’ preparedness towards online learning yielded positive results in all indicators, implying that teachers consider online learning as a powerful tool for them to teach and support the learning of the students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a significant difference in the preparedness of teachers when they were grouped according to age, where younger teachers are construed to be ready for this kind of learning delivery, while sex, civil status, and educational attainment did not show significant differences. This means that regardless of their characteristics in these three variables, their preparedness for online learning is the same. Thus, school administrators have to consider teachers to acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, perform better, increase productivity and be better teachers in this new way of approaching learning.
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.
Abstract Summer melt describes the phenomenon of graduates who appear ready for college opting not to enroll after high school, often because of challenges arising during the summer. Using the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study situates summer melt within the broader college-choice process by comparing summer melters with students who follow through on their intentions, those who never intend to enroll, and those who enroll without prior intent. Socioeconomic differences in summer melt are closely tied to earlier disparities in progressing toward college intent. Summer melters also share some academic and behavioral characteristics with students who do not intend to enroll and are less likely than college-intending enrollees to maintain consistently high educational expectations during high school. They also exhibit differences in their model-predicted probabilities of enrollment between the 10th and 12th grades, with larger differences more common among lower-SES students. These results highlight the value of viewing summer melt as one point among several at which students reconsider their postsecondary plans, as well as the need for conceptual models that incorporate ongoing, rather than discrete, decision-making in the transition to college.
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.
Low Social Studies (IPS) learning outcomes among Grade VIII.1 students at SMP Negeri 1 Bulango Utara motivated this study. In the initial observation, only 8 of 25 students (32%) reached the learning objective attainment criterion (KKTP) of 75, because instruction was dominated by lectures and individual assignments. This study aimed to improve student learning outcomes by implementing the Numbered Head Together (NHT) learning method in IPS. This classroom action research was conducted in two cycles, each consisting of two meetings and comprising the stages of planning, action, observation, and reflection. The subjects were 25 students of Grade VIII.1. Data were collected through teacher and student activity observation sheets, a multiple-choice test, and documentation, and were analyzed using descriptive quantitative analysis with a classical mastery indicator of 80%. The results showed that learning mastery increased from 32% in the pre-cycle to 60% in Cycle I and 88% in Cycle II, with class mean scores of 75.6 in Cycle I and 86.8 in Cycle II. Teacher and student activities also improved, particularly in group collaboration, willingness to express opinions, and individual responsibility. It can be concluded that the NHT method is effective in improving IPS learning outcomes and can serve as an alternative student-centered cooperative learning strategy.
Students' conceptual understanding of force is challenged by persistent difficulties in interpreting interactions, resultant forces, and changes in motion. This study examined the classroom implementation of a five-phase Experiential-Based Deep Learning (EBDL) instructional model designed to connect firsthand observation with reflection, evidence-based explanation, and transfer. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent pretest–posttest design involved 40 eighth-grade students at one Indonesian junior secondary school, with 20 students receiving EBDL and 20 receiving Direct Instruction. Conceptual understanding was assessed using five essay items on force; expert content ratings yielded an overall Aiken's V of 0.870 after recalculation. Available group-level posttest results favored the EBDL group (M = 85.85, SD = 5.51) over the control group (M = 81.30, SD = 7.00). The reported Mann–Whitney test indicated a between-group difference (U = 124.00, Z = −2.06, p = 0.039, r = 0.326). The model's distinctive instructional contribution is its explicit progression from discrepant experiences through reflective meaning-making and force-based reasoning to contextual application and transfer. However, aggregate posttest results do not establish which cognitive process benefited most, whether individual misconceptions were corrected, or the magnitude of pretest-to-posttest change. These findings support further testing of EBDL as a structured, context-sensitive alternative for junior secondary force instruction, with stronger item-level and implementation evidence required before wider causal or generalizable claims are made.
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.
This study aims to analyze the alignment of the attained curriculum in Japanese elementary school arithmetic and junior high school mathematics, based on the results of the National Assessment of Academic Ability. To achieve this, data from the assessment were used to compare mean correct response rates across groups defined by the degree of implementation of each instructional practice, using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). These rates were considered both overall and by specific domains and evaluative perspectives. The analysis of alignment revealed several instructional practices that showed tendencies of alignment with attained learning outcomes. In elementary school arithmetic, alignment was observed in practices that encouraged students to write notes in ways that made the processes of problem solving and reasoning visible. In junior high school mathematics, alignment was evident in lessons that emphasized connections between mathematical concepts and real-life phenomena, as well as in instructional approaches that ensured students understood the rationale behind formulas and rules. These findings suggest that instructional practices explicitly fostering students’ comprehension of problem-solving processes, contextual relevance, and conceptual justification tend to show greater alignment with attained learning outcomes. However, as this study did not control for confounding variables, the observed associations should be interpreted as exploratory rather than causal. The study contributes to curriculum research by identifying associations between specific pedagogical practices and attained learning outcomes, thereby offering insights into effective instructional design in mathematics education.
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
Purpose: to explore the use of nature-based loose parts in supporting young children’s creativity through material exploration, independent choice, experimentation, and open-ended play at PAUD Kiddy Kid Center, Banda Aceh. Method: this study employed a qualitative descriptive approach at PAUD Kiddy Kid Center, Banda Aceh. Participants included four young children and their teacher, selected purposively. Data were collected through observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation, then analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, comprising data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. Findings: nature-based loose parts provided opportunities for children to express creativity through material exploration, independent selection, experimentation, material combination, imagination, and the development of diverse creations. All four observed children demonstrated the identified creative behaviors, although their participation pace varied. Teachers facilitated these processes through careful material preparation, safety supervision, and open-ended guidance. Despite challenges in material storage and hygiene, nature-based loose parts offered an accessible and flexible learning resource that supported creative engagement beyond the final product. Implications: PAUD educators can use accessible natural materials to create open-ended learning activities that encourage children’s creativity, independence, and exploration. Originality: lies in its process-oriented examination of how children explore, select, combine, and transform nature-based loose parts, emphasizing creative processes rather than finished products.
Academic Competency Test (TKA) is an assessment tool designed to measure the literacy, numeracy, and reasoning abilities of high school students as indicators of academic readiness for higher education. However, TKA results show that student achievement is still relatively low and varies between subjects. This study aims to comprehensively examine the determining factors that influence the low achievement of senior high school students in the Academic Competency Test (TKA). This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach with a literature study method, with data sources in the form of reputable national and international scientific articles and secondary data from TKA results published by the Education Assessment Center, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. The data were analyzed through the stages of reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of the study show that low TKA achievement is influenced by internal factors, including weak higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), low basic literacy and numeracy, high academic anxiety, and low student motivation to learn. In addition, external factors such as the gap between learning practices and national assessment requirements, the phenomenon of learning loss after the pandemic, limitations in teachers' pedagogical competencies, and socio-economic conditions also contribute to low TKA achievement. These findings show that TKA achievement is a reflection of the overall quality of the learning ecosystem and requires the strengthening of literacy, numeracy, and reasoning-based learning on an ongoing basis.
