Progress in Education : Volume 60

The research examined in the opening chapter of Progress in Education. Volume 60 aims at uncovering and examining pre-service teachers'' concepts of teaching activity relating to student coeducation and educational practice in school classrooms. The authors describe the problems faced by schools system-wide use of evidence-based teaching approaches with evidence-based teaching practice, followed by a technology-based theory to practice design solution for building the capacity of practicing teachers with teacher led and cooperative instruction. The effect of a two-way immersion school project on the second language proficiency and mathematics competences of 10-12-year-old children is investigated with an intent to open new avenues for teachers, researchers and policy makers, by encouraging new immersion projects based on local conditions. Next, this compilation focuses on the particularity of communication as a key factor in creating, developing and improving interpersonal relationships between parents and their pre-school age children. Some thoughts, comments and suggestions on this topic based on the literature and on the author''s educational / academic experience, consists the content of this chapter in a brief way for a vast field of study. Currently, mental well-being among healthcare students and practicing professionals is a major worldwide concern. Studies have described alarmingly high levels of anxiety and stress among students of dentistry, nursing and medicine. As such, the authors discuss the two main stressors for mature students while in higher education. Drawing on empirical research using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as the predimoninant method of enquiry, the authors focus our attention on two important aspects of the student transitional journey: student experiences as they move from secondary school to a branch campus medical school in the Middle East, as well as the medical graduates'' challenges as they move from a Middle Eastern-based university delivering a Western curriculum to begin practice as junior doctors. The penultimate chapter demonstrates the importance of school, rehabilitation and mental health counselor education programs in the United States and Georgia. With a significant number of the United States population having substance abuse problems, all counselors will encounter clients struggling with substance abuse. Therefore, counselor education programs should requite knowledge or skill development in this area. The final chapter looks at the root causes of problems with the current education system in Western societies, using Australia as an example, and how the systemic core of the issues arising are stem from the system being stuck in an historic paradigm.