Policy and Practice Challenges for Equality in Education

Well-educated populations are important aspects of any contemporary society, as education increases national and global development and the positive expansion of communities to participate actively in civil matters also increases. Educational equality is based on the principles of administrative competence and fairness of access and distribution of resources, opportunities, and treatment, which ensures success for every person. Ensuring equal access to quality education requires addressing a wide range of persistent inequalities in society and includes a stronger focus on how different forms of inequalities intersect to produce unequal opportunities or outcomes that affect marginalized and vulnerable groups. Policy and Practice Challenges for Equality in Education takes a multifaceted look at issues of equality and inequality in education as related to policy, practice, resource access, and distribution. As such, this book explores the potential practices in education that serve to mitigate and transform unproductive practices which have left societies scarred by social and educational inequalities. The chapters provide a critical analysis of the manifestations of inequalities in various educational contexts and discerns how broader social inequalities are informed by education-related matters. This book is ideal for sociologists, administrators, instructors, policymakers, data scientists, community leaders, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in educational equality and the unique challenges being faced worldwide.

Theresa Neimann , Ph.D. in Adult Education from Oregon State University; MA in Theology from Trinity Saint David’s University, Wales UK; BS in Political Science and History from Eastern Oregon University; Certificate in Local Governance from Oregon Local Leadership Institute, was Associate Editor for International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology (IJAVET). She has many published chapters for Encyclopedia Strategic Leadership and Management, Adult Education and Vocational Training in the Digital Age, Theory and Practice of Adult and Higher Education (IJAVET). She has worked as a Freelance Writer; Editor at Zhejiang University Press, China; consultant and instructor at Tongling No. 1 High School: International School Dept., Anhui, China; She has taught early childhood education classes at Shanghai Normal University, China, and college writing at Xuchang Technical University, Xuchang, China. She has taught education courses at Oregon State University, Oregon. She has published several books. She was ESL Coordinator/GED, at Tillamook Bay Community College; she was a Private School Executive Administrator and Instructor; she was a public school K-12 Educator; Associate Editor at Apostolic Press; She has been a conference speaker.

Jonathan J. Felix is a transdisciplinary academic at the intersection of several fields including Higher Education, Sociology, Media and Communications, and Cultural Studies. He is a faculty member within the School of Communication and Design at RMIT University Vietnam. Jonathan is also a Visiting Fellow of the International and Comparative Education Research Group with the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (ICE-UBD), and an Associate Fellow with Advance HE (AFHEA). His core research interests lie within the Sociology of Education and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in relation to education policy and human capital formation in global south contexts. His teaching and research philosophy is informed by the Poststructuralist tradition, also having 16+ years of experience in transnational higher education.

Elena Shliakhovchuk defines herself as an edtech enthusiast, pracademic by education, interculturalist by passion, and author by results. She received her Master’s degree in Ukraine, TEFL certification in the UK, Interculturalist’s certification in Italy, and Ph.D. in Spain. She visited 30+ countries trying to understand other cultures’ perspectives. For the past 10 years, she has worked independently and collaboratively in a range of roles related to teaching and research in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain, and France and virtually worldwide. Currently, Dr. Shliakhovchuk is a Visiting Professor at several universities, a speaker at international conferences, a peer-reviewer in several prestigious journals, and an editor of books on the topic of edtech and DGBL. She contributed as an author to interactive tools diversophy®, CulturalDetective®, and CultureConnector® that teach intercultural competence. Her obsession with creating new ways of teaching that is absurdly useful and effective led her to publish several books on how to teach using video games. She is on a mission to help teachers and students to find outside-the-box approaches to education that would help to fulfill their potential in a rapidly changing world. Dr. Shliakhovhuk is a great sea lover, she has a coastal skipper certificate of competence, and when she is not teaching or writing, she can be found on the boats in the sea sailing.

Lynne L. Hindman is a First-Generation, First-American student who beat the statistical odds and earned four degrees within the field of education (B.S., M.Ed., Ed. Specialist, & Ph.D.). She holds credentials as a secondary teacher and PK-12 school principal. As a certified Master Reviewer with Quality Matters, she assists faculty around the globe apply researched best practices for online/blended course design. Her research has helped to identify 11 Highly Effective Hybrid/Blended Teaching Practices and also helped to substantiate the OSU Degree Partnership Program (DPP) as a highly effective pathway program. Her research revealed that not only does the DPP help students gain confidence in their ability to thrive in college, but those who participate in it are also more than twice as likely to complete their bachelorette degree. She currently serves a Learning Experience Designer for OSU's College of Education and teaches a variety of professional development courses for their Instructional Design and Advanced Learning Experience Design (LXD) certificate programs.