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.
Introduction Climate change impacts are not gender-neutral, yet standard reporting relies on aggregate household indicators that obscure intra-household power dynamics and diverse individual vulnerabilities. This review assesses gender-differentiated climate resilience in rural farming households and evaluates the extent to which empirical evidence aligns with the gender-responsive, participatory and transparent mandates of the Paris Agreement. Methods Peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025 were retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, AJOL and Google Scholar following PRISMA guidelines. A total of 117 eligible studies were screened and analysed thematically using a hybrid inductive–deductive approach in R. Methodological quality was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), and evidence coverage was characterised using GRADE-CERQual adequacy criteria. Policy alignment was mapped against Articles 2.1b, 7.1, 7.5, 11 and 13. Results Eight interrelated resilience domains were identified: livelihood, water, food, ecological, social, community, agricultural and economic. The review reveals a significant implementation gap between the Paris Agreement and ground-level reality. While Articles 7.5, 11 and 13 emphasise equity and participation, resilience is often achieved through paradoxes of depletion. We propose the Gendered Resilience Paradox Framework (GRPF), a novel theoretical model encompassing resilience as a distributive process rather than a neutral capacity. The framework identifies five interlocking mechanisms—workload-resilience, biological buffer, mobility-stability, restoration-marginalisation and hydrological time-poverty—through which household resilience is achieved via the systematic transfer of adaptation costs onto women’s bodies, time and agency. These paradoxes form a self-reinforcing Depletion Cycle, creating a resilience debt that may compound intergenerationally. A co-occurrence network (n = 117) shows that workload-resilience is the most frequently documented paradox (53.0%) and reveals that embodied paradoxes remain the least studied. Articles 2.1b and 7.1 show partial alignment; Articles 7.5, 11 and 13 show misalignment. Men also face climate-related hardships, including psychosocial stress, migration-induced vulnerabilities and systemic exclusion from aid. Discussion Resilience achieved through depletion is not resilience but a debt. Closing the implementation gap requires distributional indicators, time-releasing infrastructure, secure land tenure, and bundled interventions that address multiple paradoxes simultaneously. Systematic review registration Open Science Framework (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WFR7Q ).
Executive functions (EF) predict school readiness and later adjustment. The cultural-historical tradition gives play a central place in preschool education, yet it remains unclear which types of play, under what conditions, and through which pathways support EF between the ages of 3 and 6. This article aims to critically analyze the evidence on play and EF in this age range, distinguishing between efficacy, association, and mechanism. The method was a systematic review with narrative synthesis, reported according to PRISMA 2020. Of 88 records (2000–2026), 21 primary studies provided direct evidence and 26 works provided complementary evidence. Rule-based games and pretend play showed favorable effects in studies with active control conditions, particularly on inhibitory control. However, the largest-scale curricular study found no effects, and block play showed no main effects. Benefits tend to be concentrated among children with initial disadvantages, and evidence on working memory, cognitive flexibility, and transfer to the classroom is scarce. In conclusion, play appears to be a promising context rather than an effective intervention in itself; its effects depend on executive demand, adult mediation, progression, and implementation fidelity.
Transformations in contemporary higher education require a reconsideration of the theoretical and practical foundations of student socialization management. Digital transformation, hybrid learning environments, growing student diversity, changing labour-market expectations, and participatory governance have made socialization a strategic issue in university management. The article aims to systematize contemporary models of student socialization management, identify their managerial potential and limitations, and propose an integrated structural–functional model based on theoretical synthesis. The study employs theoretical and comparative analysis, systematization, generalization, and pedagogical modelling. It argues that effective socialization management cannot be reduced to students’ adaptation to the university environment; rather, it should encompass academic and social integration, a sense of belonging, social and professional competences, professional identity, digital citizenship, self-regulation, and social agency. The proposed model integrates systemic, ecological, student-centred, competence-based, participatory, and digital-ecosystem approaches, thereby providing a more holistic, measurable, and manageable framework for student socialization.
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.
Our study examines the mechanisms of retention for non-mechanized and unpaid teachers (NU/NP) in public schools or institutions under the Protestant conventionized system, not as an act of volunteerism, but as a dialectical phenomenon shaped by the tension between commitment and constraint. Based on a mixed survey conducted with NU/NP teachers, school principals, and Protestant coordinators, we showed that the permanence of these teachers cannot be explained solely by vocation, nor by the painful coexistence of these two logics. The dialectical thematic analysis of the respondents’ statements reveals pairs of opposing forces: vocation/exploitation, hope/slowness, divine service/survival. Thus, 74.8% of respondents simultaneously express a missionary attachment to the school and a feeling of experienced distributive injustice. This contradiction, far from causing a break, actually drives retention itself: the expectation, Legitimate faith, fear of losing accumulated seniority, but also the lack of job opportunities elsewhere; all prevent people from leaving. On the institutional side, managers maintain this paradox through a multi-valued discourse, mixing structural helplessness with the instrumentalization of faith. The study concludes that keeping NU/NP loyal is dialectical because it doesn’t rely on satisfaction, but on the impossibility of choosing between staying out of conviction and leaving out of dignity. It makes recommendations to the State: increase the number of schools, ensure retirement and mechanization for NU and NP; to the Church, to avoid reassuring NU and NP that their future mechanization is the State’s responsibility through religious discourse and unkept promises.
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.
