Aims and Scope

1. Journal Aims

The International Journal of Essential Competencies in Education (IJECE) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal published by Lembaga Penelitian dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat (LITPAM), Indonesia. The journal provides an academic platform for disseminating original research, critical reviews, scholarly commentaries, and theoretical or conceptual contributions concerning the development, implementation, assessment, and sustainable advancement of essential competencies in education.

IJECE aims to advance theoretical understanding, empirical evidence, methodological innovation, and educational practices that support the development of essential competencies required in contemporary and future learning environments. Particular attention is given to competencies that enable learners, educators, and educational institutions to respond critically, creatively, collaboratively, and adaptively to evolving educational, technological, social, and professional challenges.

The journal seeks to promote scholarly dialogue across educational disciplines, encourage research-informed educational innovation, and contribute to the development of effective and inclusive learning environments. IJECE welcomes studies conducted in diverse educational, cultural, institutional, and geographical contexts, provided that they offer clear scholarly contributions and implications extending beyond the immediate research setting.

2. Scope of the Journal

IJECE publishes scholarly contributions addressing the development, application, assessment, and improvement of essential competencies in educational settings. The journal particularly welcomes research related to the following areas:

  • Learning Models and Instructional Strategies: Development, implementation, evaluation, and improvement of pedagogical models, teaching approaches, and instructional strategies designed to enhance essential competencies.
  • Critical Thinking and Analytical Reasoning: Educational approaches, learning processes, instructional interventions, and assessment practices that foster critical thinking, analytical reasoning, evidence-based judgment, and reflective inquiry.
  • Creative Thinking and Innovation: Development and assessment of creativity, creative problem-solving, innovative thinking, and the capacity to generate and evaluate original ideas in educational contexts.
  • Collaboration and Communication Skills: Research on collaborative learning, teamwork, interpersonal communication, academic communication, and the development of effective communication competencies.
  • Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: Investigation of learners' abilities to identify, analyze, and resolve problems, evaluate alternatives, and make informed decisions in educational and real-world learning contexts.
  • Design Thinking and Learning Innovation: Application of design thinking, human-centered problem-solving, interdisciplinary learning, and innovative educational practices to enhance essential competencies.
  • Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning: Research examining metacognitive awareness, planning, monitoring, reflection, learning regulation, and strategies supporting independent and lifelong learning.
  • Scientific Curiosity and Inquiry Competencies: Development and assessment of scientific curiosity, questioning, inquiry, exploration, evidence-based investigation, and scientific reasoning in educational environments.
  • Information, Media, Digital, and Technology Literacy: Research on information literacy, media literacy, digital competencies, responsible technology use, and the educational application of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, where these contribute to essential competency development.
  • Competency-Based Learning and Assessment: Development, validation, and evaluation of competency-based curricula, educational assessment instruments, performance assessments, learning outcomes, and evidence-based approaches to measuring essential competencies.
  • Teacher Competencies and Professional Development: Research on pedagogical competencies, teacher professional learning, instructional decision-making, and educator development that supports the cultivation of essential competencies among learners.
  • Educational Innovation and Sustainable Competency Development: Investigation of educational innovations, interdisciplinary approaches, inclusive learning practices, and strategies for maintaining and strengthening essential competencies across changing educational environments.

3. Educational Contexts and Research Approaches

IJECE welcomes research conducted across different educational levels and learning environments, including primary and secondary education, higher education, teacher education, vocational and professional education, and relevant non-formal or technology-supported learning contexts.

The journal accommodates diverse scholarly approaches, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research; experimental and quasi-experimental studies; design-based research; educational research and development; assessment and instrument validation studies; systematic and other rigorous literature reviews; and theoretical or conceptual analyses.

Interdisciplinary research is encouraged when it establishes a clear connection between the disciplinary context and the development, implementation, assessment, or theoretical understanding of essential competencies in education.

IJECE accepts the following manuscript categories:

  • Original Research Articles
  • Review Articles
  • Commentaries
  • Theoretical or Conceptual Articles

Further information concerning the characteristics and requirements of each manuscript category is available in the Author Guidelines.

4. Scholarly Contribution and Relevance

Manuscripts submitted to IJECE are expected to demonstrate clear relevance to essential competencies in education and make meaningful contributions to educational theory, research methodology, assessment, policy, or practice.

Research addressing local or context-specific educational issues is welcome when the findings are critically situated within relevant scholarly literature and provide insights, implications, or conceptual contributions that may inform broader educational research or practice.

Studies focusing exclusively on disciplinary content, technical development, institutional administration, or general educational outcomes without a clearly established relationship to essential competencies fall outside the journal's primary scope.

Through these priorities, IJECE seeks to support rigorous scholarly inquiry and advance evidence-informed educational practices that strengthen the competencies needed for learning, professional development, and meaningful participation in contemporary society.