International Journal of Asian Social Science

The role of school gardens in supporting teachers’ psychological well-being and landscape development in special education schools: A systematic literature review

2026-01-20T14:21:53-06:00

Teachers in special education schools face complex emotional and occupational challenges that can compromise their well-being and the quality of teaching. Growing evidence suggests that exposure to green environments, particularly school gardens, may support psychological restoration and promote healthier educational settings. This systematic literature review aimed to synthesize existing studies on three main aspects: (1) the sources and types of psychological stress experienced by special education teachers, (2) the documented functions and restorative value of school gardens, and (3) the current research progress on landscapes in special education schools. Following the PRISMA 2020 framework, studies published between 2005 and 2025 in English and Chinese were identified from databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, ProQuest, and Google Scholar. A total of thirty-three studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed through thematic synthesis. The results indicated that emotional labor, behavioral management, parental communication, and role ambiguity were the primary sources of stress among special education teachers. School gardens were found to serve educational, restorative, and therapeutic functions that foster experiential learning, reduce stress, and strengthen teacher–student relationships. Recent research trends revealed an increasing integration of psychological and spatial perspectives; however, there remains a lack of validated frameworks for restorative design in special education campuses. This review concludes that well-designed school gardens can play a critical role in supporting teacher well-being and inclusive education. Future research should focus on combining psychological, spatial, and ecological indicators to develop evidence-based restorative landscape frameworks tailored specifically for special education schools.

Understanding the challenges to paddy production and marketing in Bangladesh: A relative importance index approach

2026-01-24T08:14:14-06:00

Bangladesh is self-sufficient in rice production; however, paddy farmers continue to face substantial challenges in both production and marketing. This study investigated the key constraints affecting farmers using primary data collected from 500 respondents across four districts through a multistage random sampling technique. The Relative Importance Index (RII) was employed to assess the severity of the challenges, while correlation analysis examined their associations with farmers’ characteristics. The results showed that the high cost of inputs was the most severe production challenge, followed by pest and disease infestations, climate change effects, labor shortages, and limited access to credit. Major marketing challenges included low paddy prices during harvest, inadequate government procurement, price instability, limited storage facilities, and weak market monitoring. Six of the twenty identified challenges were rated as highly severe, with the remainder being moderately to highly severe, indicating persistent structural issues in the paddy sector. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between the severity of challenges and farmers’ age, farm size, credit access, and distance to markets. Given rice’s central role in Bangladesh’s food security strategy, this study recommends improving access to affordable inputs, strengthening extension services, promoting climate-resilient technologies, and enhancing government procurement and market-monitoring systems to support farmers’ incomes and livelihoods.

Infrastructure, accessibility, and regional challenges in sustainable tourism: Evidence from Ha'il, Saudi Arabia

2026-01-24T08:19:22-06:00

This study examines how infrastructure and accessibility quality (IAQ) and regional challenges (RC) influence sustainable tourism development (STD) in Ha'il, Saudi Arabia, a heritage-rich but peripheral region under Vision 2030. Drawing on sustainable tourism and governance frameworks, we test whether IAQ supports sustainability and whether RC constrains it. A cross-sectional survey of 282 tourists conducted in 2024 was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Results show IAQ has a strong positive association with STD (β = 0.538, p < 0.001), while RC has a significant negative association (β = -0.424, p < 0.001). The model explains 66.6% of the variance in STD (R² = 0.666), indicating substantial explanatory power. Findings suggest infrastructure is necessary but insufficient; governance and environmental stewardship are essential for long-term viability. Policymakers should align infrastructure investment with integrated governance and participatory planning, with conservation principles guiding development. This study provides empirical evidence for sustainable tourism in arid peripheral regions.

Stakeholder involvement and the application of knowledge transfer tools in special educational needs learning: An empirical investigation using multiple regression

2026-01-24T08:22:17-06:00

Despite the global proliferation of special education systems and inclusive education policies, students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) still face challenges in obtaining quality educational experiences. An Occupational Therapist's (OT) role is to support SEN students and help them overcome their limitations. To do so, they require the support of other stakeholders and the use of Knowledge Transfer (KT) tools, which have been segmented into three main domains: devices, image-based, and play KT tools. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of stakeholder involvement and KT tools used by OTs on SEN students in Mauritius. The research questions addressed are as follows: (1) Does stakeholder involvement impact the effectiveness of KT tools? (2) Do devices and KT tools influence effectiveness? (3) Do image-based KT tools influence effectiveness? (4) Do play KT tools influence effectiveness? and (5) Which of these factors is the most influential predictor of KT tool effectiveness? Data were collected using a closed-ended questionnaire from 55 OTs and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 and Microsoft Excel 2019. Correlation analysis revealed that all four independent constructs significantly correlated with the effectiveness of KT tools. Further analysis through multiple regression indicated that stakeholder involvement and image-based KT tools significantly and positively impacted the effectiveness of KT tools, with image-based KT tools being the more influential predictor in determining effectiveness.