A variety of teacher training system was implemented in Turkey until today. One of these systems is pedagogical formation training. The aim of this study was to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the pedagogical formation training according to the opinions of pre-service teachers and the experiences during the pedagogical formation training, to gather information about whether these experiences contributed to their teaching, and to evaluate the place of the pedagogical formation training in teacher employment in the light of this information. The research was carried out using an interview technique of qualitative analysis methods. The study group comprised of 20 pre-service teachers from different undergraduate programs, and they participated in a 14-weekinternship program at a high school in Ankara during the 2017-2018 academic year as a requirement for a training course.  Content analysis method was used for data analysis. As a result of the research, the pre-service teachers stated that they found the internship training in practice schools as useful for future teaching lives, but they did not find the theoretical training given in the classes useful for various reasons. They considered that there are some weak points of the program: the duration of the formation course is short, lessons are late in the evening, classes are crowded, and the teaching staff have negative effects on the students: they are indifferent, and there are almost the same topics in each lesson. This means that they were mostly not satisfied with its overall quality, and so its operability was enough. Like some of the suggestions, it is recommended that duration of the program should be extended to a long period, and the instructors should be selected from those who can give energy to the class, have communication skills, can create discipline in the classroom, and have experience in traditional classroom teaching.

Despite its well-documented benefits for training a wide range of professionals, including teacher candidates in almost all content areas, the incorporation of service-learning into foreign language teacher education is relatively new, and most research only dealt with narrative accounts of non-work-related charitable activities. Consequently, this study sought to investigate the impact of the 20-hour peer-tutoring project on the teaching beliefs, community service attitudes, personal and professional development of 14 Turkish EFL teacher candidates. A comparison between their pre- and post-service metaphors revealed a conceptual shift not only in their teaching perspectives from the behaviorist to constructivist paradigm for knowledge acquisition, but also in their community partnership approaches from the unidirectional to reciprocal pattern of altruism towards their tutees. The classification of their written reflections into six types of significant learning demonstrated that despite a relatively greater focus on expressing their foundational knowledge and application practices, a more balanced distribution of learning gains was achieved between the two overarching spheres of academic learning and personal growth, when coursework engagement and multimodal reflections were co-implemented. They reported developing effective teacher dispositions, interpersonal skills and social responsibility, valued intrinsic rewards for their contributions to the youth well-being, and also appreciated the informal professional learning opportunities the peer-tutoring service offered, though without establishing their own learning agendas.

This article explores the integration of physics knowledge and science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education in high schools through a unique project that connects traditional Vietnamese culture with the production of moon-shaped lutes. The moon-shaped lute, known as “Đàn Nguyệt” in Vietnamese, holds great cultural significance in Vietnam. By incorporating physics principles into the lute production process, students develop a deeper understanding of its construction, sound production, and structural stability. They explore concepts like material selection, sound propagation, and ergonomic design to enhance the instrument’s craftsmanship and playability. This interdisciplinary approach not only fosters scientific and technical skills but also preserves and promotes traditional Vietnamese culture. Engaging students in projects that combine art, science, and culture highlights the power of STEAM education in nurturing well-rounded individuals who have a strong connection to their heritage. The integration of physics knowledge and cultural elements in this project demonstrates the value of interdisciplinary learning and its impact on students’ appreciation for their cultural identity.

There has been a clear shift in higher education to prepare and empower the current students for a future quite different and more complex than that faced by previous generations. In particular, it is expected that they will possess comprehensive abilities to deal with challenges arising from new employment demands and beyond. While liberal arts education has a long history in the West, it has been increasingly implemented more recently in East Asia as one response to the need for educational reform. The research reported here is an empirical study of how liberal arts education has affected individuals from two institutions with distinctive interpretations of “liberal arts education” - University N, the first Sino-foreign joint university in mainland China, and University L, the only public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. Drawing on Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, this study illustrates the interplay and balance among students’ practical concerns, their sense of social obligation fostered through liberal arts education elements and the wider social structure. Semi-structured interviews with senior students, fresh graduates, and educators were conducted to gather in-depth primary data. These reveal that, by providing interdisciplinary knowledge and transferable skill sets, a liberal arts education experience does enhance individuals’ personal agency and intellectual competencies in a professional context - they are trained to become independent thinkers and learners. Moreover, the “humanistic” aspect of liberal arts is also relevant: having engaged in various activities and programs, students in both universities are encouraged to care, cooperate, and make positive differences in their increasingly interconnected communities.

In recent years, particularly over the last 10–15 years, the scientific value of oral history in relation to historical and social knowledge has been increasingly recognized. Since the 1980s, oral history researchers have pioneered new approaches to interpreting human experience, highlighting oral biographical narratives and recounted experiences as valuable material for social research. According to Tsiolis, the biographical narrative approach has become an established scientific methodology for studying how social actors interact with their environment and respond to social changes, as these are reflected through their subjectivity. Based on the above, this study involved four academic lecturers who narrated their academic and professional journeys, the factors that influenced them, the challenges they faced, and the positive impact of their engagement with teaching in the context of Greek higher education. The research employed the methodology of narrative biography, allowing the participants to recount their academic trajectories spontaneously, recalling personal experiences and memories. Through these narratives, qualitative data emerged, which were analyzed and coded into common themes, leading to conclusions about the conditions, aspirations, and disappointments experienced by academics in higher education institutions. The paper concludes some limitations of the current study and offers suggestions for future research.