Emotional Intelligence and Education: A critical review

In recent years there has been an increased interest in the role of emotional intelligence in both the academic success of students and their emotional adjustment in school. However, promotion of emotional intelligence in schools has proven a controversial pursuit, challenging as it does traditional “rationalist” views of education. Furthermore, research findings in this area have been inconsistent at best. In this article we discuss the following key questions relating to this important debate. What do we mean by emotional “intelligence”? What impact would improved emotional intelligence have on learners’ emotional health and well‐being, academic achievement, and other adaptive outcomes? Can emotional intelligence be taught? It is felt that these are the key issues for consideration in developing policy, practice, and further research in this area.     

The Significance of Physical Education Content: “Sending the Message” in Physical Education Teacher Education

Mind-body dualism has likely influenced how many view human beings and their behavior—mind (i.e., thinking) is elevated over body (i.e., performing)—even in Physical Education Teacher Education. The problem is that such a perspective makes physical education content (i.e., dance, games, play, and sport) subsidiary to more “intellectual” or “academic” content. This article invites Physical Education Teacher Education faculty to consider how to effectively “send the message” to future physical educators that physical education content is valuable and respectable and in many ways epitomizes intelligent human behavior. Specifically, Physical Education Teacher Education faculty are invited to (a) challenge traditional definitions of intelligence and introduce alternative definitions, (b) participate regularly in their own playgrounds, (c) provide a sufficient dose of activity courses in their curricula, (d) teach activity courses, (e) establish a performance-oriented culture, and (f) administer performance and/or game play evaluations.     

Collective Effects of Individual,Behavioral, and Contextual Factors on High School Students’ Future STEM Career Plans

This study explored the structural relationships among secondary school students’ conceptions, self-regulation, and strategies of learning science in mainland China. Three questionnaires, namely conceptions of learning science (COLS), self-regulation of learning science (SROLS), and strategies of learning science (SLS) were developed for investigating 333 Chinese high school learners’ conceptions, metacognitive self-regulation, and strategies in science. The confirmatory factor analysis results verified the validity of the three surveys. Moreover, the path analyses revealed a series of interesting findings. Learners with lower-level COLS, namely “memorizing,” “testing,” and “practicing and calculating,” tended to use surface learning strategies such as “minimizing scope of the study” and “rote learning.” However, learners’ higher-level COLS, namely “increase of knowledge,” “applying,” “understanding,” and “seeing in a new way,” had complicated connections with their SROLS and SLS. On the one hand, learners’ higher-level COLS had negative relations to “minimizing scope of the study” and “rote learning.” On the other hand, their higher-level COLS were powerful predicators for their metacognitive self-regulation and further affected their use of “deep strategy” and “rote learning.” Though Chinese secondary students with higher-level COLS usually have a negative view of “rote learning,” the functioning of their metacognitive self-regulation may change their initial attitudes towards the surface strategy. Learners with higher-level COLS still used “rote learning” as a prior step for achieving deep learning. Therefore, we concluded that the SROLS played an important mediating role between the COLS and SLS and may change learners’ original intention to utilize learning strategies.     

The effectiveness of a transitional prekindergarten program on later academic achievement

Transitional, or extra year, classes have become a widely implemented intervention in many schools. This study investigated the academic effectiveness of a prekindergarten program in a suburban, predominantly Caucasian upper middle class school system. Ninety matched pairs of children were selected for the study based on a “developmentally immature” score on the Gesell School Readiness Test. Children who spent an extra year in prekindergarten were matched with youngsters who proceeded directly to regular kindergarten based on gender, date of birth, and Gesell score. No significant differences were found between the two groups of students on the basis of Stanford Achievement Test scores (second grade), Pupil Evaluation of Progress scores (third grade), placement in a first grade remedial reading program, review by the building level Pupil Service team, or classification by the Committee on Special Education. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Auf dem Weg zur Kulturschule – Schulentwicklung und Ästhetisches Lernen

The introduction of all-day schooling was one of the political consequences arising from Germany’s poor performance in the PISA study. One of the key ideas here was to boost cooperation between all-day schools and partners offering extra-curricular activities. To this end, the concept of the Culture School was developed. These are schools devoted not only to academic subjects, but also to cultural and artistic pursuits. Special tools and methods have been devised to help schools develop in the direction of a “culture school”, a process known as “cultural school development”. Such development processes are currently under way in many individual schools and above all within the scope of the large-scale project “Cultural agents for creative schools” (with around 150 schools in 5 German states participating).     

Not just ‘sunny days’: Aboriginal students connect out‐of‐school literacy resources with school literacy practices

In this paper, I report on a school‐university collaborative research project that investigated which practices and knowledges of Canadian Aboriginal students not acknowledged in school may provide these students with access to school literacy practices. The study, which took place in a small city in Western Canada, examined ways to merge the out‐of‐school literacy resources with school literacy practices for minority language learners who struggle with academic literacies. Drawing on the third space theory, in conjunction with the concept of “funds of knowledge,” I explain how students' linguistic and cultural resources from home and community networks were utilised to reshape school literacy practices through their involvement in the Heritage Fair programme. I analyse a representative case study of Darius, a 10‐year‐old boy who explored his familial hunting practices for his Heritage Fair project. This illustrative exemplar, “Not just sunny days,” highlights the ways in which children's out‐of‐school lives can be used as a scaffold for literacy learning. In conclusion, I discuss implications for educators and researchers working to improve literacy learning for minority students by connecting school learning to children's out‐of‐school learning.     

An Experiment Attempting to Determine the Effectiveness of Frequent Testing as an Aid to Learning in Beginning College Courses in American Government

Abstract

While for many years a part of the student body of American university summer sessions, the “special” or credit-non-degree student has rarely been studied in terms of background, courses taken, and academic achievement while in summer school. A random sample of 289 such students enrolled in University of Wisconsin-Madison summer sessions in 1965, 1966, and 1967 was studied. Data were drawn from the admission applications submitted by the “specials” and from their end-of-summer grade reports.

The majority of students were found to be regular year students at other colleges and universities. A smaller number were teachers or school administrators during the rest of the year. Enrollment was concentrated almost exclusively in the College of Letters and Science and School of Education. Academic performance during the summer term was generally good.     

The Women's Educational Equity Act Resources for Ongoing Efforts

This article discusses how an experimental social science curriculum has influenced Latina/o students' perspectives of their potential to graduate high school and attend college. The curriculum, which is called the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP), requires students to adopt a serious academic subjectivity to analyze and address social conditions that may undermine their future opportunities. The curriculum reflects graduate-level seminars in critical theory and participatory action research. Many students in the first cohort to participate in the program were labeled “at risk” of dropping out. These students not only graduated but also excelled with the advanced-level course work. Their exposure to advanced-level work was the best measure for preventing their premature departure from high school as well as preparation for college. The article concludes with recommendations for how universities can work with local schools to foster the type of academic climate that is conducive to success.     

从数字画像到数字孪生体:数智融合驱动下数字孪生学习者构建新探

随着AI、5G、物联网、大数据、传感与全息等新兴技术的快速发展,尤其是虚拟现实技术从VR、AR、MR到XR的不断演进,促使数字孪生技术开始走向应用并备受学者关注。其正从制造业、城市管理、医疗服务向社会其他领域不断衍生拓展,并在教育领域呈现出广阔的应用前景。在数智融合驱动下,从“AI+大数据+学习分析”加持下的学习者数字画像,向“AI+5G+XR”与全息技术支撑下的数字孪生学习者的迭代更新,将成为AI赋能教育的一个演进趋势。数字孪生学习者基于“四个关键要素”和“五个基本原则”这一现实前提,遵循刻画学习者画像、仿真学习过程、预测学习发展、生成学习结果和共享学习智慧的生成过程,具有高度仿真、动态映射、虚实共生、迭代进化和智能应用的特征,可为“AI+学习者”呈现更精确的学习过程分析、更精准的学习内容推送、更科学的学习评价与无边界的学习生态;并助力学习者进行学习资源共享、学习行为调整、学习兴趣提高、学习体验改善、学习效率提升。因此,对数字孪生学习者进行前瞻性研究,可为数智融合驱动下的学习变革提供全新的视角与思路。     

The Nature of Social Practice Among School Professionals: Consequences of the Academic Pressure Exerted by Teachers in Their Teaching

The purpose of this study was to measure teachers' views about trust between teachers, trust between the principal and teachers, peer collaboration, positive attitudes towards the school and how these antecedents influence the academic pressure teachers put on pupils with respect to learning and learning intensity and performance. The methodology involved was a cross-sectional survey of 234 teachers from 11 Norwegian schools. The structural equation analysis indicated that principal-teacher trust has a moderately high impact on such constructs as “teacher-teacher trust” and “academic pressure” and that “teacher-teacher trust” has a moderately high impact on teachers' “peer collaboration”. “Peer collaboration” has a lower impact on “academic pressure”, while the impact of “positive attitudes towards the school” was moderately high. The article concludes with a discussion of the knowledge basis for understanding how social practice among teachers and school leaders in school communities is mobilised for a sustained focus on pupil learning. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

School Smarts: A Reflection of Pedagogical and Personal Insights

Recent studies show that many college instructors still believe that Latino students lack the “school smarts” for academic success. This essay challenges the notion of school smarts in order to highlight Latino students’ numerous strengths. I share my model for a mentorship program that facilitates better student–faculty communication and deepens a student-centered learning environment in a large general education course. Establishing the program led me to reflect on how the enduring belief in school smarts affected my own academic training. Directly challenging deficit thinking, I argue that Latino students contribute to a transformative educational process in which faculty are also learners.     

Stories from school: dyslexia and learners' voices on factors impacting on achievement

Students with dyslexia often experience low self‐esteem and, linked with this, low academic achievement. Our research, commissioned by the Higher Education Academy, was carried out by academics in two universities, one in the south‐west of England and one in the north‐west, over 2009–2010. It set out to address ‘transitions and questions of “access” to higher education for students with identified disabilities’. While we accessed interesting material in this area we were also impressed by the wealth of material provided by our respondents with dyslexia on their school experiences, in particular factors that had impacted on their self‐esteem and academic achievement. Thus this article, while not an intended outcome from our work on matters of transition to higher education, emerges as a story telling a rich and illuminating tale of student success and failure and lifting the curtain on factors impacting on self‐esteem and academic achievement for students with dyslexia at school.     

Profiles of Chilean students according to academic performance in mathematics: An exploratory study using classification trees and random forests

Attempting to deepen the understanding of factors that explain student performance, this study seeks to identify and characterize profiles of Chilean students based on academic performance in mathematics. As analytical method, statistical techniques known as random forest (RF) and classification and regression tree (CART) were used to identify groups of eighth-grade elementary students according to their performance in 2011 test, using features related to individual and family behavior. The analysis was performed with a database provided by the Education Quality Measurement System of Chile. Results show that “parents’ educational expectations” (42.7%) is key factor to obtain the best children's performances. Additionally, the analysis showed that the “type of school” (26.6%) and the “index of mathematical abilities” (26.1%) influence good performance.     

School management and the struggle for effective schools

Abstract

This article explicates the viewpoints of school managers from various dysfunctional, historically black African schools. The 56 school managers from four Eastern Cape districts addressed several questions pertaining to what is really causing the lapse of management and leadership in various “failing schools”. Both these aspects apparently have a bearing on the performance of learners and educators. This was an explorative, qualitative study. Data was collected through focus group sessions with eight participants per session. All the schools represented are, by admission of the participants, “beset with varying managerial and academic problems” and are also labelled ineffective by the immediate communities. The participants highlighted a number of challenges that plagued their schools. The majority also attributed their schools’ under-performance to a number of aspects, including the lack of vision, absence of emphasis on teacher development, poverty in communities and apparent invisibility of district officials.     

“Alignment-Plus”: alignment with schooling requirements and cultural-bridging among indigenous middle-class parents

Abstract

Education research demonstrates that positive and trusting family/school relationships support academic achievement but for many Indigenous parents in Canada legacies of residential schooling have made it difficult to develop strong bonds with schools and teachers. Drawing on interviews with 69 Indigenous parents and eight non-Indigenous parents of children who identify as Indigenous from two Canadian provinces, this study explores the intersection between family/school relationships and social class, and highlights distinct ways that middle-class Indigenous parents are involved in schooling. Shifting from a “deficit” approach to a “strength based” approach highlights existing resources and capacities among those who are comfortable and familiar with navigating the education system while also creating prospects to build on that capacity to empower others who are less familiar/comfortable.     

The factors influencing the outcome of solving story problems in a web-based learning environment

The aim of the present study was to investigate those factors influencing performance in solving story problems in a web-based environment. A situational simulation, “Hiking across Estonia,” was explored by two samples of voluntary groups of students, comprising 65 and 50 groups, respectively. They solved 25 ecological and environmental story problems and filled in a pre-test and post-test that evaluated problem-solving skills. The groups were clustered according to their characteristics and performance into five clusters: “slow learners,”“quick learners,”“successful learners,”“smart learners,” and “ineffective learners.” The clusters were provided with different types of supportive notes and the sequence of problems was rearranged according to the students' initial results in the first four problem-solving tasks. These treatments demonstrated statistically significant improvements in the outcome in solving story problems in small groups. The main factors determining the effectiveness of problem solving were: (i) time spent on learning; (ii) initial skills in problem-solving; (iii) the presence of support in enhancing situation awareness; (iv) graduated problem tasks sequenced on the basis of complexity and difficulty; (v) ratio of genders in a learning group. However, the importance of these factors depended on the cluster and, therefore, it can be concluded that the design of problem-solving instruction has to be adapted according to the clusters' characteristics.     

The Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework for understanding parental experiences with homework

Research into parental homework-related experiences has predominantly focused on parental attitudes to homework. This research has shown that parental attitudes can affect the formation of attitudes in children and subsequently their academic success. Most research has focused on a secondary school context, but there is still a lack of knowledge within primary school contexts. The present study qualitatively investigated parental homework-related experiences in a Scottish primary school context and the factors influencing these experiences, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 Scottish parents (12 mothers, mean age [M] = 35, standard deviation [SD] = 2.7; and one father, age = 38 years) and were analysed using a hybrid approach to Thematic Analysis. The three themes identified were: “theory of planned behaviour”, “factors influencing parental control” and “coping mechanisms”. Parents provided help with homework regardless of their attitude to homework but their homework experience was influenced by factors encountered during homework and the coping mechanisms adopted.