In recent decades, the work of teachers has been carried out in classrooms characterised by a high degree of diversity, necessitating the provision of pedagogical responses that promote the inclusion of students. This article is derived from the research, development and innovation (R+D+I) project 'Intergenerational Professional Development in Education Implications for the Professional Initiation of Teachers (DePrInED) and aims to analyse how teachers at compulsory education recognise, characterise and conceptualise the diversity and needs of students. A mixed methodological approach was employed, with information collected through focus groups and interviews with a total sample of 147 teachers from different educational levels (young, senior and retired). Thematic analysis, combined with a comparative analysis, was employed to analyse the data using ATLAS.ti software. The main categories analysed dealt with students' needs and their own diversity. The study's primary findings suggest that, in comparison to their retired counterparts, both young and veteran teachers make greater reference to the diversity and needs of students, and emphasise the scarcity of resources and support to effectively address the diversity of students in the classroom. Experienced teachers are found to make more frequent references to diversity and students' needs, while retired teachers make these references less often. This finding assumes particular significance in light of the paucity of studies that adopt a generational perspective to analyse how teachers perceive diversity.

Family routines and practices are recognized as critical determinants of child development. Despite extensive research on the socio-emotional benefits of family routines for school readiness in various contexts, there remains limited empirical evidence directly linking these routines to academic performance. This is because a lot of existing literature has focused on younger children below 8 years. This study sought to address this gap by examining the role of family routines on academic performance among middle school students in informal settlements. The study involved 351 middle school students and their parents from informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Family routines were assessed using a structured questionnaire adapted from the Family Routine Inventory (FRI) scale. Academic performance data were obtained from the most recent school examinations of each participating student across five subjects (English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies) as percentage scores. Results show that routines related to basic needs provision were the strongest predictors of academic performance, followed by academic monitoring routines. Emotional support routines moderately contributed to academic outcomes, while routines related to family outings and bonding had a limited impact. The study recommends further exploration of context-specific family routines using longitudinal designs to identify long-term impacts.

Purpose: This study examined the influence of metacognitive awareness, epistemological beliefs, and mathematical resilience on university students’ perceived mathematical problem-solving ability and explored the cognitive and affective processes students employ when solving mathematical problems. Design/methodology/approach: An explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 350 undergraduate Mathematics Education students at a public university in Ghana using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Qualitative data were obtained from 10 purposively selected students and analysed thematically to provide further insight into students’ problem-solving processes. Findings: Metacognitive awareness (β = .247, p < .001) and epistemological beliefs (β = .273, p < .001) significantly predicted perceived mathematical problem-solving ability, whereas mathematical resilience did not significantly predict perceived mathematical problem-solving ability (β = .105, p = .163). The qualitative findings indicated that students engaged in problem interpretation and strategy planning, monitoring and evaluation, persistence and strategy adjustment, and experienced varied emotional responses during problem solving. Practical implications: Mathematics instruction should incorporate activities that strengthen students’ metacognitive regulation and productive epistemological beliefs while developing resilience alongside mathematical knowledge and problem-solving strategies. Originality/value: The study combines structural evidence on cognitive and epistemological predictors of mathematical problem-solving with qualitative accounts of students’ cognitive and affective experiences, providing a more comprehensive account of problem-solving among university mathematics education students.