Types of errors made by Papua New Guinean students

This exploratory study used an interview technique to find the frequency of different types of errors which a group of year 6, Papua New Guinean students made on a mathematics test. A further investigation was made into reading, comprehension and careless errors. Although the general trend for errors was the same for western students, some striking differences were found. In particular Papua New Guinean students made far fewer careless errors.     

Organisational perspectives on the local management of schools: Papua New Guinean case studies

Associated with the economic adjustments of recent years, there is a trend in many countries for governments to devolve responsibility for logistical support to schools. This paper is a study of factors that can influence the local management necessary for the provision of this support. Drawing from two, largely rural, studies in Papua New Guinea (a national survey and a detailed analysis of community management of 13 schools in a single area), the paper describes the school, its Board of Management and the community as a trio of organisations with theoretically complementary objectives. It points to the inadequacy of general cultural explanations for Board inability to sustain operations over time. It claims that Board members, people in the communities they represent and teachers all have private expectations of their association with schools, which if not met, will undermine commitment. Ensuring these are met, with secondary regulatory action, can reduce the frequency of organisational troughs of apathy. As it is, in Papua New Guinea and elsewhere, the prospect of expectation fulfilment associated with socio-economic advantage means that those with least to gain may refuse to become involved with education systems.     

Stress manifestation in high school students: An Australian sample

Stress symptoms associated with main daily hassles were assessed among grades 7, 9 and 11 students in all‐female, all‐male, and coeducational Catholic high schools in Western Sydney, Australia. Factor analysis identified the stress manifestation domains of anxiety, anger, and physiological arousal. Differences in these are examined and a conceptual model of stress manifestation is proposed. Implications of the findings for school‐based stress management programs are addressed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 391–402, 2003.     

Australian Lesbian Teachers-a reflection of homophobic harassment of high school teachers in New South Wales government schools

This article examines the homophobic harassment of lesbian teachers working in government high schools in Sydney, Australia. Six women were interviewed about their experiences of student homophobia, including how they dealt with that harassment on both a personal and practical level and their philosophies on youth homophobia and anti-homophobic education in New South Wales government schools. The article demonstrates the fact that harassment based on sexual orientation is often an invisible issue in schools, as is homosexuality in general. It also demonstrates that there is inadequate training of staff and too few resources available to enhance tolerance of homosexuality. It shows that teaching about homosexual tolerance needs to be an 'en masse' strategy, where the issue of homosexuality and anti-homophobia strategies are not categorised under any broad umbrella term, but where they are prioritised to become visible, overtly discussed and hence, addressed issues.     

Reconceptualising equity: Pedagogy for Chinese students in Australian schools

Education Queensland’s New Basics project has extended conceptions of ‘equity’ to incorporate dimensions such as higher order thinking and student control of classroom activity. This requires a critique of the outcomes attained by even high achieving students. It is therefore useful to interrogate professional discourses that shape pedagogies for particular groups of students. In this paper, discourses on ‘the Chinese learner’ are reviewed. The review raises new issues of equity because Chinese students are often high achievers in Australian schools, but are frequently criticised for learning in ways that seem to fit uneasily with the types of pedagogy now valorised in Queensland. The paper concludes with a note of caution about the definition of high quality academic outcomes in the new policy, and the effects of a gap between understandings of equity and professional discourses and practice.     

Unpacking the career aspirations of Australian school students: towards an evidence base for university equity initiatives in schools

Demand for higher education in Australia has doubled since 1989, increasing the number of students from diverse social, economic and academic backgrounds. Equity targets have seen a proliferation of programs and interventions aimed at encouraging school students, particularly those from low socio-economic status backgrounds, to participate in higher education. However, little is known about the specific occupational interests of school students upon which targeted strategies might effectively be designed and implemented. This paper examines school students’ aspirations for specific careers that require a university education, in relation to student background and school-related variables. The analysis draws from a study of 6492 students from Years 3 to 12 in 64 New South Wales public schools. We found a complex array of factors relating to interest in different careers. Year level at school, gender and prior achievement were stronger predictors across many careers than factors such as SES, Indigenous status and school location. We argue that rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to encouraging participation in higher education, outreach activities should be targeted to take account of student diversity and inequalities that foster differing aspirations.     

中小学生择校管理的伦理分析

中国城乡、重点与非重点的中小学校软硬件配置存在巨大差异,各校间教育质量差距悬殊,由于教育质量的差距难以消除,故而择校行为不绝如缕。择校行为因其违背社会公平的伦理道德而倍受社会各界所诟病,择校成为中国当前基础教育领域有关公平正义争论的焦点。解决择校问题,有必要对择校内在原因及其管理中的伦理问题进行探析。     

The effects of classroom and school environments on student engagement: the case of high school students in Abu Dhabi public schools

Drawing on data from a merged data set from a student survey and a parent survey that were conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2013, this article uses a multilevel framework to investigate the effects of individual characteristics and the classroom and school environments on high school students’ school engagement in a modernising education system that is different from Western ones. The results of the three-level model revealed that while students’ attributes remained strong predictors of their school engagement, the social and organisational environment of classrooms and school also greatly shaped the extent to which students emotionally and cognitively engaged with their school and learning. This study provided evidence to support the interactive nature of the impact of multilevel environments on student engagement. The policy and research implications were also discussed in the empirical context of Abu Dhabi.     

Fish out of water: refugee and international students in mainstream Australian schools

In this paper, the authors combine Pierre Bourdieu's concept of hysteresis (the ‘fish out of water’ experience) with the discourse historical approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theoretical and analytical framework through which they examine specific moments in the schooling experiences of one refugee student and one international student, both enrolled in post-compulsory education in Australian mainstream secondary schools. We examine specific moments – as narrated by these students during interviews – in which these students can be described as ‘fish out of water’. As such, this paper takes up the concerns of researchers who call for an examination of the lived geographies and the everyday lives of individual students in mainstream schools. We find that our students' habitus, conditioned by their previous schooling experiences in their home countries, did not match their new Australian schools, resulting in frustration with, and alienation from, their mainstream schools. However, we also note that schools, too, need to adapt and adjust their habitus to the new multicultural world, in which there are international and refugee students among their usual cohort of mainstream students.     

National identity in moral education textbooks for high school students in the Philippines: A content analysis

The past two consecutive administrations in the Philippines saw the need for developing a greater sense of national identity among Filipinos. In response, the Education Sector strengthened the teaching of values on national ideals and Filipino heritage. One reform was the offering of Moral Education as an independent subject in the secondary education curriculum. In support of this, publishing companies developed textbooks on Moral Education, which teachers used, aside from the prescribed textbooks. To determine the extent and nature of the inclusion of national identity in these textbooks, this study analyzed the content of 12 sample textbooks. Findings suggest the need to improve the content of textbooks in terms of the values relevant in developing citizens with a strong sense of national identity needed for national development.     

Conceptions of learning science among high school students in Taiwan: a phenomenographic analysis

Educators and psychologists have evidence that students’ conceptions of learning have a profound influence on the learning process, and thus are related to learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper was to explore the conceptions of learning science held by 120 Taiwanese high school students. The interview data gathered from these students, analysed by a phenomenographic method, revealed seven categories of conceptions of learning science, including: learning science as memorizing, preparing for tests, calculating and practising tutorial problems, the increase of knowledge, applying, understanding, and seeing in a new way. The educational contexts or curricular programmes in which these high school students enrolled also played a role in their conceptions of learning science. This study finally proposed a framework to describe the variations of the conceptions of learning science, consisting of the following features: the forms of knowledge acquisition, motivational orientations, and standards of evaluating learning outcomes. How to change students’ unfruitful conceptions of learning science was also discussed.     

Allocation of students in public schools: Theory and new evidence

The allocation of educational resources to students of different socio-economic backgrounds has important policy implications since it affects individual educational outcomes as well as the future distribution of human capital. In this paper, we present a theoretical model showing that local school administrators have an incentive to allocate weaker students to smaller classes. Then, using a rich individual-level dataset on secondary public schools in Israel, we provide evidence that weaker students are, indeed, systematically placed in smaller classes, thus exhibiting a compensatory allocation scheme. Moreover, schools with enrollment levels just over cut-off points induced by a maximum class size rule are systematically weaker than schools with enrollment levels just under those cut-offs. This finding indicates that not only do local school administrators allocate students into classes in a compensatory manner, but they also manipulate the class-size rule to achieve such an allocation. Potential implications of these results are discussed.     

Supporting students with disability in schools in Bhutan: perspectives from school principals

ABSTRACT

Bhutanese educators are facing the challenge of implementing inclusive education for students with disability throughout their schooling system. Selected schools have started to implement inclusive policies and practices, and it is timely to investigate the progress of inclusive education in these schools. In this qualitative study, 14 Bhutanese principals responded to questions regarding inclusive practices in their schools. Responses were divided into two broad categories: the current status of inclusion in their school; and, inclusion in the future. Principals described barriers such as a lack of specialised teachers, inadequate resources and facilities, and a lack of holistic inclusion. However, they also noted that students were accepted by their peers, that the schools were working well with what they have, and that there was a positive attitude for the future. Changes that are required to progress inclusive education in Bhutan from the perspective of the principals are discussed. The findings of this research will be of interest to researchers and leaders in schools and ministries of education who are working to promote more inclusive schools in less developed countries.     

Development of a school building model for educating students with handicaps and at-risk students in general education classrooms

This study, conducted in the context of a 4-year project to redesign special and remedial services in an elementary school, examined the effects of cooperative learning, cross-age tutoring, and in-class services for students with handicaps and remedial students. All students (524) in Grades 1 through 6 in two medium-sized elementary schools took part in the study. All three treatments were introduced into one of the schools, with the second school serving as a control. The cooperative learning treatment was delivered to all sixth-grade students, cross-age tutoring to special and remedial students in Grades 1 through 3, and the in-class services to all grade levels. Results indicated that, although the character of the instructional services changed markedly, none of the three treatments had much impact on achievement. Reasons for the findings are explored.     

Mathematics motivation and engagement: an independent evaluation of a complex model with Australian rural high school students

Most traditional models of academic motivation focus on a small number of specific factors. However, the Student Motivation and Engagement Scale (MES) (Martin, 2007b Martin, A.J. 2007b. The motivation and engagement scale, Sydney, , Australia: Lifelong Achievement Group.  [Google Scholar]) includes a fairly comprehensive range of perspectives on general student motivation. The current study set out (a) to provide an independent test of the proposed 11-factor structure of the MES for boys and girls when (b) applied to high school mathematics in Australia (N = 1014; Years 7 to 11). It also examined (c) the covariation of different facets of motivation and engagement with gender, year level, and scholastic achievement. The hypothesised 11-factor model fit reasonably well across gender, and there was clear evidence of specificity to maths compared to English achievement. Some gender and grade effects were observed as well. The study provides support for the value of the Martin model and its instrument. It also extends our knowledge of student motivation to mathematics in Australian rural high schools.     

Together yet Apart: perceptions of communication in the cross‐cultural context of a Papua New Guinean tertiary institution

A genuine debate on the Melanesian Way ... is a debate that requires a systematic, reflective and intellectual rigour. It is a task which Melanesian scholars must live with .... The vital contribution that is yet to be made toward rational discussion of Melanesian world‐view in all its aspects, is being delayed by the almost non‐existence of the rigour of an academic forum which would conceptualise Melanesian values. (Olea in Narokobi, 1988, p. 185)     

高中学生学习物理障碍浅析

高中物理，若干年来教师反映难教、学生反映难学、考试难、考分相对其它学科要低，使学生在心理上、情绪上、方法上、能力提高上等方面遇到的障碍相对就要多一些。探索和研究高中学生学习物理的障碍，寻求一些有效的消除障碍的方法是我们物理教师需要长期研究的问题。下面是笔者在教学中的一些体会，在此以求抛砖引玉。