This review article focuses on use of an escape room as a didactic tool in teaching and learning, as identified in empirical studies that have examined the use of escape rooms in educational contexts. The review studied the methods used to study escape rooms, what the focus of attention was, what the reported use was, and implications this has for the use of escape rooms for teaching and learning. Our analysis showed that most studies are concerned with the implementation and use of an escape room in relation to four fields of attention; scenario, curriculum, 21st-century skills, and motivation. Overall, the reviewed articles indicate that more studies are needed on the use of escape rooms for educational purposes. It seems that research on this topic has reached a new phase, and there is a need for structured research and transparency in the research design and methods for data collection and analysis. We see opportunities for the use of escape rooms as a didactic tool in primary and secondary education, and in teacher education.

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Dramatically increased population flows since at least the 1980s, primarily through economic migration and refugee resettlement, have brought considerable ethnic and linguistic diversity to classrooms around the world. This diversity has been amplified by the rising recognition of in-country indigenous and minority languages. In such plurilingual learning environments, teachers require sophisticated language education skills. They need to be able to teach the dominant language/s across the curriculum, support plurilingual learners, and often teach foreign or additional languages. One conceptual lens through which to analyse the presence of these competencies in current teacher education policy is that of language awareness. While this term originally referred to the raising of student awareness of features and functions of language, it now incorporates knowledge about flexible languaging practices. Through a comparative analysis of the two key teacher education policy documents in Norway and New Zealand, we have investigated how the concept of teacher language awareness is incorporated in high-level policy documents pertaining to ITE in these two countries and how these converge and diverge in their treatment of language awareness. Our in-depth comparison of these important educational policies urges both jurisdictions, as well as others, to be aware of local particularities and broader patterns in meeting the needs of teachers to be plurilingually aware and equipped for 21st-century classrooms.