Who makes it to secondary school? Determinants of transition to secondary schools in rural India

Despite considerable progress made, a significant proportion of children continue to drop out before reaching secondary school in India. This study investigates factors influencing parental decision-making with regard to children's secondary schooling in the context of a rural area of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that cost, distance to the nearest secondary school, membership in traditionally marginalised social groups, and being a girl child have a significant effect on a child's chance of transition. It also finds that factors influencing participation at the primary level may influence the transition decision, having key implications for education policy formulation across education levels.     

Supporting students’ literacy development in the secondary school

Abstract

This paper highlights the importance of teaching all students in inclusive settings multiple literacies through their subject disciplines in the secondary school. After briefly discussing the responsibilities of the major stakeholders in the literacy process, the author provides examples of how strategies can be used to improve students’ literacy skills in the different subject disciplines.     

Internationalisation in practice in Australian independent secondary schools: a global-local nexus?

The phenomenon of internationalisation of education in the twenty-first century has developed more rapidly and has been the subject of more research in higher education than in the schooling sector. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the perspectives of school leaders, teachers and students about ‘internationalisation in practice’ in two case-study Australian independent secondary schools that adopted different approaches to internationalisation. Theoretical lenses of both interpretivism and critical theory were used to guide the research at different stages. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Findings indicate that whilst globalisation is having a powerful impact on schools, local contextual factors such as school ethos, school resources, teacher values and parent demographics and expectations play a significant part in shaping how schools engage with internationalisation. Wider implications for equity, teacher education and further research and theory development are also discussed.     

Novice in secondary school – the coin has two sides

The aim of this study is to gain an insight into novice teachers’ diverse experiences. The study is conducted among nine beginning teachers in upper secondary school in Norway, and the research instrument was semi structured interviews. The main findings indicate that there are two sides of the coin of being a new teacher, positive as well as less positive aspects. The beginning teachers want to be recognised as who they are, new to the job, and on the other hand, they want to be accepted as fully qualified teachers. The two contradictory perceptions of themselves as professionals represent two sides of the same coin.     

Teachers’ stress intensifies violent disciplining in Tanzanian secondary schools

Violent forms of discipline in schools continue to be widespread across the globe despite their damaging effects. Since little is known about factors influencing the extent of violence applied by teachers, this study aimed to investigate the influence of teachers’ stress, work satisfaction, and personal characteristics on their disciplining style. Using structural equation modeling, associations between violent discipline, burnout symptoms, and job perceptions (pressure and difficulties in class) reported by 222 teachers from 11 secondary schools in Tanzania in 2015 were analyzed. Results indicated a direct association between perceived stress and emotional violent discipline (β = .18, p < .05) as well as physical violent discipline (β = .37, p < .001). Perceived stress also mediated the association between job perceptions and both forms of violent disciplining. The model showed good model fit (χ² [44, n = 222] = 67.47 (p = .013), CFI = .94, TLI = .91, IFI = .94, RMSEA = .049 [90%-CI = .02–.07, PCLOSE = .50], SRMR = .06). Our findings suggest that teachers’ personal perceptions of their work as well as their stress burden play a role in their disciplining styles. Our findings underline the importance of integrating topics, such as stress and coping as well as positive, nonviolent discipline measures into the regular teacher’s training and in addition to develop and evaluate school-based preventative interventions for teachers.     

Developing secondary students’ epistemic agency in a knowledge-building community

A key educational objective for the twenty-first century is developing students’ epistemic agency. Epistemic agency is the active process of choosing when, what, where one learns and how one knows, as well as the capacity to create knowledge in a community. The knowledge-building communities model developed by Scardamalia and Bereiter was used in a New Zealand Year 13 distance art history class to support the development of students’ epistemic agency in 2013. In this study, students were given more control in the learning process, and were able to exercise epistemic agency through identifying their knowledge gaps, sharing information and ideas, developing ideas and creating communal knowledge. A number of factors that increased students’ development of epistemic agency are also discussed in this article.     

Curriculum reform in Irish secondary schools – a focus on algebra

Algebra has long been identified as an area of difficulty in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Evidence of this difficulty can be found in Irish secondary-level classrooms. Chief Examiner Reports have consistently identified algebra as an area of student weakness in State examinations. In light of poor student performance, and as part of a nationwide reform of secondary mathematics curricula, a functions-based approach to teaching algebra has been adopted in Irish schools. It was introduced in September 2011 in place of the transformational (rule and procedure)-based approach which was previously used. Through comparing the diagnostic test scores of incoming students in an Irish university in the years before and after the reform, this study finds that the reformed approach has coincided with a decline in students’ technical algebraic skills. However, interviews with practising mathematics teachers reveal that this decline is not a direct result of the functions-based approach, but rather of a mixture of approaches being implemented in classrooms. Such divergence of approaches can be linked to the common mismatch between the intended curriculum prescribed by policy-makers and the implemented curriculum that is actually carried out by teachers in their classrooms.     

Educational professionals’ values: voices from secondary schools in England

Background:?Values continue to play an integral part in education across the globe, but the importance of teachers’ personal values is often overlooked (Klein, M.B., New teaching and teacher issues, Nova Science Publishers Inc., 2006; Aspin, D.N., and J.D. Chapman, eds, Values education and lifelong learning: Principles, policies, programmes, Springer, 2007). It has been argued that teachers need explicit opportunities to reflect on their own personal and professional values to enable them to model what they ask of their students with integrity (Palmer, P.J., The courage to teach, Jossey Bass, 1998; Atkinson, T., and G. Claxton, The intuitive practitioner, Open University Press, 2000). Professional development is still often narrowly defined within the bounds of skills and competencies. However, discussion of values could help contribute to professional development by building teacher commitment and resilience.

Objective:?The purpose of this research was to explore the intrinsic values of secondary school professionals and the publicly espoused values of the educational systems in which they work. This research is the result of a two-year funded empirical study carried out by the authors in secondary schools in England.

Research design:?Research was undertaken in five schools in a range of educational contexts. In each school, individual conversations were undertaken with six key professionals with different roles to elicit personal constructs or values. These values were discussed within schools and formed a school's ‘values footprint’. An interschool workshop completed the data collection. Data were analysed qualitatively.

Main outcomes:?Qualitative analysis suggested relationships between the professional roles of the participants and predominant values themes. There were also connections between school types and predominating values. Four key themes emerged from the individual and group conversations: importance of dialogue; recognition of the importance of self-awareness; the priority of learning for life and the influence of professional roles on an individual's values focus.

Conclusion:?This small-scale study supports the importance of dialogue and self-awareness in professional life and ongoing professional development.     

Educating voters: political education in Norwegian upper‐secondary schools

Research on political education in schools suggests that an emphasis on formal structure, constitutional principles, formal citizen rights, and debates on current issues is common. The Norwegian national curriculum on political education envisions a different political education emphasizing that students should be critical of political life and social structures, that they should be familiar with democratic ideals, learn how they may influence by means of various forms of political participation, and be motivated to do so. I examine whether these ambitions are realized at the classroom level. Based on qualitative interviews and classroom observations I conclude that Norwegian political education is centred on political parties and on an attempt to help students find out which party is closest to their preferences. Political education takes the form of voter training for competitive élite democracy.     

Investigating the factors influencing teachers’ use of ICT in teaching in Bruneian secondary schools

The primary focus of the research study described in this paper was to assess the status quo of teachers’ use of Information and Communication Technology in teaching in terms of the factors that influence their use. Using a survey questionnaire, data was collected from a total of 1,891 secondary school teachers in all government schools in Negara Brunei Darussalam. Structural equation modelling, using AMOS 5.0 software, was employed as the major statistical analytic technique for a series of data analyses and assessment of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the theoretical model that underpinned the study. Findings presented in this paper indicate that Bruneian teachers’ use of ICT in teaching was influenced by their personal (attitude), social (subjective norms), and control (perceived behavioural control) factors.     

Classroom disciplinary climate in secondary schools in England: What is the real picture?

This paper uses international data from a range of sources, principally the 2013 round of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2013), to provide new information on classroom disciplinary climate in secondary schools in England. The paper advances the literature in three distinct ways. Firstly, the data show that teachers in England perceive that there is considerable disruption in their classrooms. While some reports, especially from official sources, have suggested that classroom disruption is minimal in schools in England that does not seem plausible given these results from TALIS. Secondly, since TALIS contains comparable data for over 30 countries, the results for England can be set in a wider context. Reports in the media frequently highlight pupil disruption and suggest that classroom climate tends to be worse in England than in many other countries. In fact what emerges from the international comparison is that, on each of the items measuring classroom climate in TALIS 2013, the results for England were somewhat better than both the all‐country average and the average for a group of European comparators. Thirdly, the survey also includes a range of information about the school in which the teacher worked, the pupils which they taught, and the teachers themselves. We draw on this data to investigate which school‐level characteristics, teacher attributes, and characteristics of pupils in the classroom, were associated with favourable classroom climate in England. While some commentators have focused exclusively on school‐level factors, we emphasise the importance of within‐school variation.     

Examination of factors predicting secondary students’ interest in tertiary STEM education

Based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), the study aims to investigate factors that predict students’ interest in pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in tertiary education both in general and in relation to their gender and socio-economic background. The results of the analysis of survey responses of 2458 secondary public school students in the fifth-largest Israeli city indicate that STEM learning experience positively associates with students’ interest in pursuing STEM fields in tertiary education as opposed to non-STEM fields. Moreover, studying advanced science courses at the secondary school level decreases (but does not eliminate) the gender gap and eliminates the effect of family background on students’ interest in pursuing STEM fields in the future. Findings regarding outcome expectations and self-efficacy beliefs only partially support the SCCT model. Outcome expectations and self-efficacy beliefs positively correlate with students’ entering tertiary education but did not differentiate between their interests in the fields of study.     

‘Sociability before individuality’: lesson structure in lower secondary classrooms

This paper contributes to the research field of classroom research by offering an empirical analysis of classroom instruction on the level of lesson structure. The research questions are: What are the typical combinations of instructional activities in the lessons of eight teachers in four Norwegian Secondary schools? And how can the content-treatment of these structures be explained considering relevant pedagogical traditions? The method of the study is qualitative non-participatory observation in four Norwegian Secondary schools, with a total dataset of 79 lessons. We found that the most typical combination of instructional activities in the data was the plenary conversation-seatwork-structure. When the content-treatment was analyzed, an ‘expository-practice’-structure was revealed. This lesson structure is explained by the influence of progressive-constructivist pedagogical theories in Scandinavia, foremost Bildung-centred general didactics and Vygotsky-inspired socio-cultural theory. From the perspective of the hidden curriculum, we call this discourse ‘sociability before individuality’.     

The interplay of learning approaches and self-efficacy in secondary school students’ academic achievement in science

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present investigation was to analyse the role of academic self-efficacy and approaches to learning in general and in Physics and Chemistry academic achievements. The sample comprised 507 secondary school students of two Spanish schools and the study was conducted in the context of a Physics and Chemistry subject. Structural equation models showed that surface motive was the only type of learning approach directly related to performance. Besides, our models revealed that self-efficacy plays an important role as a mediating variable between the surface strategy and the deep motive learning approaches and academic achievement. Gender effects were also studied as girls showed higher levels of achievement both in general performance and in Physics and Chemistry. Implications for science education and suggestions for future research of these findings are also discussed.     

Investigating students’ critical thinking in weblogs: an exploratory study in a Singapore secondary school

Critical thinking is an essential competency in the new information age. But research shows that students commonly lack critical thinking skills and hence promoting students’ critical thinking becomes crucial. This exploratory study investigated the extent to which secondary school students’ critical thinking could be promoted by writing reflections in the weblog. Students’ critical thinking was measured by using the Newman’s model. Results showed that writing reflections in the weblog could help promote students’ critical thinking and according to the Newman’s model, three categories of critical thinking were promoted the most, they were bringing outside knowledge or experience (O+), relevance (R+), and justification (J+). In addition, the study also found that the types of interaction with peers and the teacher had a more positive effect on the extent of critical thinking. Implications for other research are discussed.     

Accessibility in post secondary education： Application of UDL to college curriculum

The inclusion of students with disabilities at the university is a relatively new occurrence in the field of special education. Although legislation in the United States has supported the acceptance of students with disabilities at the post-secondary level, it has only provided minimal support with the emphasis on the learner rather than the curriculum. Now we are looking for multiple ways for students to access learning and demonstrate mastery. Universal Design for Learning （UDL） is currently seen as a means to reconceptionalize curriculum. This study examines the experience of four professors and their effort to use a Classroom Performance System （CPS） as part of reformatting their courses using UDL. The Center for Applied Special Technology, CAST （2001） states that the goal of Universal Design for Learning is to develop teaching methods that enable all students with diverse learning needs, including those with disabilities and cultural differences, to have equal access to classroom curriculum. This paradigm shift echoes the move in special education from a deficit model to a minority rights model put forward by Hahn （1989）, and which is the basis of inclusive educational philosophy. Together inclusion and UDL create learning environments that strive to serve all students. This research describes the implementation of clickers as part of the CPS program in college courses in a special education teacher preparation program. The case study demonstrates how technology can provide access for all learners with positive outcomes such as increased participation and application of knowledge. It also illustrates some of the difficulties in making this pedagogical paradigm shift particularly in the use of technology, and the value of overcoming the existing barriers in place.     

Cheating or cheated? Surviving secondary exit exams in a neoliberal era

Cheating on exams is a rampant and highly developed practice among youth in the Arab world, often involving elaborate networks, advanced technology and adult authorities. Rather than viewing cheating as mere laziness or immorality, this article interrogates the social meanings of cheating by comparing the practices and discourses of cheating on high-stakes high school exit exams – the tawjihi in Jordan and the Baccalauréat in Morocco. Using informal networks to obtain higher grades, and thereby better futures, cheating is one way youth contest the putative meritocracy of the state to reclaim a sense of control over their lives. Ironically, cheaters develop twenty-first century skills of collaboration, networking and creativity outside the school in order to evade the nation’s formal system of educational sorting. We argue that cheating illuminates the declining effectiveness of the public school in the nation-building project and the simultaneous emergence of the outcomes-oriented ‘neoliberal student’.     

The relationship between classroom quality and students’ engagement in secondary school

Student engagement has been identified as an influential mediator between classroom interactional quality and adolescent learning outcomes. This study examined the relationship between classroom quality and student behavioural engagement in secondary school classrooms. Three dimensions of classroom quality (emotional, organisational and instructional support) and the dimension of student engagement were observed in nine classrooms using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Self-ratings of behavioural engagement were provided by 181 Finnish secondary school students along with their teachers’ ratings of classroom-level student engagement. The results showed, first, that there was variation in both classroom quality and student behavioural engagement between the classrooms. Second, classroom organisational support was associated with observed and with teacher- and student-rated engagement, and instructional support was associated with student-rated and observed engagement. Third, emotional support did not have a direct effect on student engagement but contributed to student engagement indirectly via organisational and instructional support. There were no gender differences with respect to self-reported engagement. Class size had a positive effect on teacher-rated engagement. The results demonstrated specific associations between the domains of classroom quality and student behavioural engagement in secondary school classrooms.