Humor Me This: Humor and Playfulness as Postpandemic Teaching Tools

Creative arts education has emerged as a global tool for promoting social cohesion among children, particularly in semi-peripheral and peripheral countries. However, South African schools, like those in other emerging nations, continue to face challenges in implementing creative arts education programmes. Limited resources, including funding, facilities, and materials, present significant obstacles to the effective delivery of these programmes, underscoring the urgent need for attention and support in this area. The purpose of this article was to explore harmonising diversity: a descriptive analysis of connecting children in South Africa through creative arts education using social identity theory (SIT) and contact theory. A qualitative research methodology was employed to analyse the role of creative arts education in connecting children in South Africa. This theoretical article used a systematic, descriptive review design to examine the influence of creative arts education on fostering social cohesion and cultural understanding among children from diverse backgrounds. The findings revealed that to unlock the full potential of creative arts education, there is a pressing need for increased investment in resources, teacher training, and curriculum development. Addressing these systemic challenges and embracing the insights from this study would enable South Africa to harness the transformative power of arts education in promoting cultural understanding, social cohesion, and positive societal change. The article concludes that creative arts education has the potential to serve as a powerful force for unity, inclusion, and nation-building in South Africa.

PurposeIn the following theoretical article, the author generates a theory of Leadership Pedagogy and its connection to Creative Arts Education.Design/methodology/approachThe article analyzes Leadership Theory across three pillars: Socio-relational, Cognitive and Creative, and how these areas underscore thoughtful and caring pedagogy and inclusive teaching in undergraduate education.FindingsDrawing on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), the article advocates for a flexible, multifaceted approach to curricular design rooted in theoretical pluralism, prioritizing interdisciplinary methods to bridge theory and practice in Creative Arts Education.Originality/valueThe article concludes with implications for future research and collaboration connecting Leadership Studies and the Arts.

This study explores the challenges and coping strategies associated with implementing the Standard-Based Creative Arts Curriculum (SBC) in Ghanaian primary schools. Guided by an interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative case study approach was used to capture the lived experiences of teachers and headteachers from selected public and private schools. Data were collected from two headteachers and six classroom teachers through structured interviews. While the small sample size limits generalizability, it enabled an in-depth examination of practitioner perspectives. Findings reveal a range of institutional, pedagogical, and resource-related barriers to effective curriculum implementation, including inadequate training, lack of materials, insufficient instructional time, and limited policy prioritization of Creative Arts. Despite these constraints, teachers demonstrated resilience by improvising with local resources, adapting culturally relevant content, and engaging in peer collaboration. The study calls for systemic reforms in teacher training, curricular support, school leadership, and resource allocation. It advocates for greater inclusion of teacher voices in policy development, promotion of culturally responsive pedagogy, and future longitudinal, multi-stakeholder research to maintain quality and equality in Creative Arts education both now and in the future.

This article documents the current classroom practice of creative arts education of respondent classroom teachers in the New South Wales Greater Western Region, Australia. The study provides a descriptive account of classroom practice in creative arts education through the employment of a quantitative methodology. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to teachers as the sole data collection instrument and analysed to identify innovative classroom practices that anticipate the needs and challenges of creative arts education and the young people it serves. A significant gap in the literature regarding the nature of creative arts education classroom practice was identified. The criticality that such a description of current practice be produced is asserted, with a view towards illuminating current classroom practices and working towards improved models and practices of creative arts education in K-6 classrooms.

An early childhood music academic is the focus of this chapter. The academic in question, has musical training, early childhood teacher training and is actively involved in promoting early childhood music through professional engagement in international and national associations as well as her own personal projects. This academic’s particular areas of interest are music and creative arts education, children’s literature, inclusive education and disability studies. As a musician, teacher, researcher and composer she has been involved, for a number of years, with music in an inclusion support program. In her interview she explained that she aims to “deepen” educators’ understanding of young children’s musical journeys and thinks that educators sharing their musical cultural identities with children can become a journey towards reciprocal empowerment”. She is interested in the use of digital technology to enhance her work. As well as producing online modules for teachers of young children she employs technology to assist in children’s musical compositions and performances. In this chapter the academic has shared her musical and educational background as the foundation of her present work and current research projects. Music as a communicative language and a way to give children a voice are the themes of this chapter.

The paper deals with the conditions of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was realized in the digital environment due to the measures. The online training of future art teachers has brought many negative as well as positive changes. The paper contains an analysis and interpretation of students’ opinions of the Department of Creative Arts and Art Education, Faculty of Education, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra in connection with the process of online education in the academic year 2020/2021.

This study aimed to assess the impact of the Physical Education–Integrated Disaster Preparedness and Response Program on the disaster readiness of tertiary students. The program, implemented within the PATHFIT course at Jose Rizal University, combined physical disaster drills with reflective activities to improve students’ emergency response capabilities. Using a one-group pre-test and post-test design, the study evaluated students’ performance in disaster response drills before and after the program. The results showed significant improvements in students’ physical and cognitive preparedness, with post-test mean scores ranging from 4.33 to 4.45, compared to pre-test scores of 2.77 to 3.00, indicating substantial enhancement across all stages of experiential learning. Survey results on the program’s effectiveness showed that students rated the program highly for its clarity, realism, and contribution to their disaster readiness. The findings suggested that the program enhanced students’ physical readiness, decision-making, teamwork, and overall disaster response capabilities. Based on these results, it is recommended that the program be further integrated into the curriculum to strengthen disaster preparedness across academic institutions.

The article examines the impact of training sessions on the combat army system (BARS) on the formation of physical readiness of future officers for professional combat activities in the process of training in a military institute of higher education. Cadets of 2-3 courses (n=62) of S.P. Koroliov Zhytomyr Military Institute took part in the research. Two groups were formed: experimental (EG, n=32), whose cadets studied in the section of the institute on the combat army system, and control (CG, n=30), whose cadets studied under the current system of physical training in military institute. It was found that the level of development of physical qualities and the formation of military-applied skills in cadets who studied in the section BARS, at the end of the study is significantly higher than those who were engaged in physical training during sports and mass work. The most pronounced effect of BARS classes was found on the development of strength qualities, strength (static) endurance, as well as on the formation of professional military-applied skills in overcoming obstacles.

To bridge academic instruction with real-world engagement, the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) implemented an experiential learning module that placed second-year students in selected rural communities within the Eastern Region of Ghana. This initiative aimed to deepen students’ understanding of environmental and sustainability challenges, strengthen community engagement skills, and expose them to the socio-cultural dynamics influencing grassroots development. This paper explored the transformative journey of UESD students through experiential learning. A qualitative design was adopted, involving purposive sampling of 30 students who had participated in Community Based Experiential Learning (CoBEL). These students were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide designed to capture their personal narratives and reflections on CoBEL activities. The qualitative data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four main themes were identified with their corresponding sub-themes: Understanding and Preparation for CoBEL (application of theory to practice, exposure to cultural and interpersonal diversity; peer-informed mental and physical preparation; anticipated project and academic opportunities); Field Experiences and Community Engagement (reality vs. expectations, community interaction and support, access to basic amenities, cultural adaptation and immersion); Personal and Academic Development (participation and teamwork, interpersonal growth and peer bonding, increased awareness of health disparities); and Challenges on the field (lack of community sensitization, health and safety risks, psychological and emotional strain, accommodation and living conditions). The outcomes of this experience reaffirm the importance of integrating community-based experiential learning into higher education curricula. Their reflections underscore the importance of adequate preparation, both mentally and physically, and emphasize the necessity of institutional support mechanisms to ensure student well-being and program effectiveness.

This paper offers an interrogation of dance training methodologies used as a basis for dance education, training, and pedagogy by Flatfoot Dance as it operates in the African contemporary context of South Africa. Focus is placed on interrogating the dance education work, which uses dance as a methodology for life skills training around health, HIV/AIDS, and sexuality, and the more focused training of young dancers for a performance career. All of this is navigated in the postcolonial context of looking for a dance pedagogy that speaks to the context of the South rather than appropriating a very problematic “globalised” process of defining dance training and pedagogy.

Academic integrity in creative arts education remains an underexplored domain, particularly concerning contract cheating in applied arts, where traditional assessment frameworks prioritise textual knowledge over experiential, process-driven artistic practice. This study critically examines the epistemological bias inherent in institutional integrity policies, which often fail to account for the complexities of non-text-based disciplines, which poses significant challenges to authenticity and ethical practice in artistic disciplines. Drawing on their expertise as art educators, the researchers employ an art-based phenomenological approach within a hybridised descriptive-interpretive paradigm to examine academic disengagement in applied arts education, with specific attention to contract cheating. Findings reveal that cheating behaviours among creative arts students are shaped by a generational shift from valuing self to prioritising a performance-oriented self, a lack of authentic self-expression and the unethical use of technology in educational contexts. Findings further reveal a disconnect between institutional policies and the lived realities of artistic education, exacerbated by broad, text-centric definitions of misconduct. This study highlights the critical gap in academic integrity research, where discussions on contract cheating predominantly focus on conventional text-based disciplines, overlooking the complexities inherent in creative arts education.This paper advocates for a discipline-sensitive, pedagogically responsive, and institutionally adaptive approach to academic integrity,promoting assessment methodologies that align with the experiential and creative processes central to artistic scholarship.

This paper presents a case study of experimenting an interactive collaborative environment for distance teaching and learning activities. It begins with reviewing the existing multiple-users collaborative environment including the Open Wonderland platform, and then outlines the requirements of using a collaborative environment to assist distance teaching and learning, and how these requirements could be met with the Open Wonderland platform. We investigated the system in our local network settings, with a particular emphasis on embedding pedagogy content into of the system. We found that such environment could allow students to have full support throughout their studies with a tutor to guide, advise and offer direct comprehensive guidance. Finally, we summarized the results from the formative and summative evaluations, and presented the lessons learned that can guide future usage of this immersive education space within Higher Education.

As students advance in their learning of physics over the course of their education, the requirement of mathematical applications in physics-related tasks increases, especially so in upper secondary school and in higher education. Yet there is little empirical work (particularly large-scale or longitudinal) on the application of mathematics in physics education compared with the research related to the conceptual knowledge of physics. In order to clarify the nature of mathematics in physics education, we developed a theoretical framework for mathematical competencies pertinent to various physics tasks based on theoretical frameworks from mathematics and physics education. We used this synthesis of frameworks as a basis to create a model for physics competence. The framework also served as a tool for analyzing and categorizing trend items from the international large-scale survey, TIMSS Advanced 1995 and 2008. TIMSS Advanced assessed students in upper secondary school with special preparation in advanced physics and mathematics. We then investigated the changes in achievements on these categorized items across time for nations who participated in both surveys. The results from our analysis indicate that students whose overall physics achievement declined struggled the most with items requiring mathematics, especially items requiring them to handle symbols, such as manipulating equations. This finding suggests the importance of collaboration between mathematics and physics education as well as the importance of traditional algebra for physics education.

PurposeThe objective of this study is to investigate the factors of two sub-processes – knowledge donating and knowledge collecting – of knowledge sharing in Hong Kong higher education context. This study examines the individual factors, organizational factors and technology factor of knowledge sharing. Individual factors include enjoyment in helping others and knowledge self-efficacy while organizational factors refer to the top management support, organizational rewards and organizational culture. The use of technology system is proposed to be the technology factor.Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature review, this study develops a structural model representing the impact of six latent variables on knowledge donating and knowledge collecting processes Data from a questionnaire survey of 166 respondents from academics from Hong Kong higher education sector was used to analyze the model. PLS-SEM was adopted in this study.FindingsThe result of the data analysis suggests enjoyment in helping others has a positive impact on both knowledge donating and knowledge collecting. For organizational factors, a trust and collaborative culture enhance both the sub-processes. The technology factor only contributes to the knowledge donating process. Several practical implications are provided to high education leaders, for instance, by establishing a trust and collaborative environment, academics are more eager to donate and collect knowledge.Originality/valueThis paper provides insights for researchers to further understand how individual, organizational and technology factors affect two sub-processes of knowledge sharing. On the practical side, this study validated several critical factors to successful knowledge donation and knowledge collection.

The underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and computer science is a sociological challenge that demands incentive strategies from basic education onwards. This article presents the extension project "Robotic Girls: Creative Learning to Attract Girls to Robotics at IFRO". The project arose from the observation that 57.1% of students in the Technical Course in Informatics Concurrent with High School (CTICEM) did not identify with the field of computing, citing as obstacles a lack of confidence in their own abilities, limited access to resources, and financial challenges. The methodology adopted is based on Creative Learning and Problem-Based Learning (PBL), using Educational Robotics (ER) as a tool to connect theory and practice. The activities involved the use of block programming (Scratch), Lego Mindstorms EV3 kits, as well as support via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and YouTube tutorials. The results demonstrate that the initiative promoted a significant increase in engagement: the number of participants rose from a low initial participation to the formation of all-girls teams for the Brazilian Robotics Olympiad (OBR). Beyond technical performance in competitions, the project stimulated female leadership, transforming students into knowledge multipliers through community workshops and visits to public schools. It is concluded that the RE (Research and Education), supported by mentoring programs and a collaborative environment, is an effective means to overcome gender barriers, strengthen self-confidence, and promote the empowerment of women in technology.