This article provides insight into the process and implementation of a professional development workshop that was created for and provided to educators who were interested in implementing more playful pedagogies in their educational settings. The workshop focused primarily on meeting the needs of all learners through meaningful and engaging practices which focused on playful learning within teaching, incorporating Universal Design principles and the integration of Nature-Based Learning (NBL). Two separate sessions were provided with approximately 20-25 participants in each session. Each workshop was one hour in length and included participants with a variety of teaching roles, including pre-kindergarten teachers, K-2 teachers and coaches, English as a New Language (ENL) teachers, special education (elementary and secondary) teachers, art educators, physical education teachers, speech and language pathologists, in addition to others. The authors recommend that due to the dearth of the intersection of play, UDL, and NBL, educators should continue to purposefully integrate these strategies into professional development opportunities and classroom pedagogy, while also providing additional professional development emphasizing inclusive methods.

Currently, our work in education is challenging in ways few anticipated. In such complex and contentious times, it is important to take stock of the situation as dispassionately as possible, take a step back, and breathe. We need to recognize the sincerely held beliefs and altruistic goals of the vast majority of actors seeking to drive change. There are pathways forward, if we sincerely seek common ground.

This study explores the role of critical pedagogy in developing 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication (active participation in the classroom) among students. Grounded in Paulo Freire’s concept of critical pedagogy, this qualitative research draws insights from four focus group discussions involving 20 Ghanaian French language teachers. The study examines teachers’ perceptions and lived experiences in implementing critical pedagogy in their French language classrooms. Findings show that while teachers recognise the value of critical pedagogy, they face challenges in effectively applying these principles due to limited support and structural constraints, necessitating additional assistance. The study recommends strategies such as the integration of creative, learner-centred and interactive exercises to address these challenges. These recommendations aim to enhance the teaching-learning process and promote a more transformative classroom experience.

This paper examines how Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) practices can help address educational inequalities, particularly those rooted in systemic racism. Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT), it argues that embedding DEIB into educational systems is essential for dismantling the barriers that perpetuate inequity. The paper highlights how DEIB practices, when applied systematically, can foster collaboration, challenge entrenched inequalities, and promote educational transformation. It calls on educators, policymakers, and scholars to adopt DEIB principles within school policies, curricula, and professional development to create more inclusive educational environments, ensuring all students—especially students of color—can achieve their full potential. This paper calls on educators, policymakers, and leaders to reframe current educational practices and prioritize DEIB in the pursuit of equity. This transformation requires addressing entrenched power structures and shifting from superficial diversity efforts to systemic reforms that ensure long-term, meaningful change. DEIB should be seen not as an "add-on" but as a central framework for reshaping educational practices, policies, and goals.

Editorial Board

The study investigates secondary school teachers in Osun State, Nigeria, regarding their sustainable pedagogical orientations. The study also examines primary sustainable pedagogical methods used by teachers while also analyzing their difficulties with sustainable teaching implementation. It also examines if gender creates any substantial difference regarding sustainable pedagogical orientations within the secondary school teaching workforce. A descriptive survey research design led to the selection of n=180 senior secondary school teachers from 30 schools located in three Local Government Areas (Olorunda, Oriade, and Ife Central) through a multi-stage sampling procedure. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents with 4-point Likert Scale, validated by a team of test experts, and test-retest procedure was used to conduct the reliability. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analysis the data. The findings reveal that educators understand sustainability effectively but fail to put these ideas into practice because training resources are inadequate and institutions provide weak support along with insufficient funding. The main obstacles teachers face in their planning processes stem from limited time for preparation and restricted access to modern educational resources as well as a poor match between sustainability units and standardized teaching materials. The research established a major disparity between male and female teachers regarding sustainability teaching methods which indicate gender might impact how sustainability functions in education. The research recommends that schools need better training systems together with additional funding and modernized teaching structure to help teachers embed sustainability education throughout their classroom practices.

Basic need insecurities (BNI) often impact the ability of community college students to persist and complete their goals. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated BNI for students, forcing administrators to address BNI. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the leadership strategies and competencies that contributed to how administrators responded to BNI during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the changes that were implemented to support community college students in Texas during this time. The study found that demonstrating compassion and care to students and employees; establishing open, clear, concise, and constant communication; collaborating and empowering employees with knowledge and tools were vital for addressing students' BNI during the pandemic. The most impactful implementation was the creation of a one-stop shop where wrap-around services were provided to address BNI, including mental health, food pantries, clothes closets, personal hygiene products, childcare, transportation, emergency aid, and housing assistance.

Editorial Board

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is becoming increasingly popular for designing instruction in the university setting. The use of the UDL framework ensures that online learning environments are inclusive and equitable for students with a variety of learning needs and preferences. This article focuses on the third UDL principle: multiple means of action and expression. One way to incorporate this UDL principle into an online classroom is to offer students choices in assignment format. This article presents a pilot research study in which students were asked their perceptions of choice-based assignments in an online graduate-level asynchronous Introduction to Special Education course. The study found five major themes in participant responses: a) reduced student stress when choices are offered, (b) enhanced learning when provided with choices, (c) knowledge can be demonstrated through student strengths, (d) selecting an assessment format can be challenging for some learners, and (e) the use of choice-based assessments encouraged respondents to use similar options in their own classrooms. Based on the results of this research, we recommend that additional research be conducted to better understand the use of choice-based assessments in teacher education.

The traditional points system and subsequent Grade Point Average (GPA) in education perpetuates an evaluation of academic performance which reflects arbitrary weighting of assignments and/or assessments. As such, GPAs which are calculated using a traditional points system are not unidimensional in their design. The baseball batting and slugging percentage, which serves as established metrics for performance evaluations among baseball players, better reflects unidimensionality. In essence, this paper puts forth an analysis and discussion which posits that baseball batting average and slugging percentage can serve as an example for how unidimensionality can become more prevalent in educational assessments, especially as it relates to the traditional points system and GPA.