Dimensions of motivation and approaches to learning in British and Hungarian secondary schools

This study compares two contrasting conceptualizations of motivation in relation to approaches to studying. The Hungarian conceptualization involves three domains of school motivation — affective, cognitive, and moral — which have been operationalized through a Likert-type inventory. A British and Swedish conceptualization has identified differing approaches to learning which are associated with contrasting forms of motivation — intrinsic, extrinsic, achievement, and fear of failure. Again these constructs were operationalized in terms of an inventory. Modified parallel versions of these inventories have been given to samples of secondary school pupils in Britain and Hungary. Factor analyses showed almost identical factor structures, in line with the two initial conceptualizations, but with little overlap between them.     

Affordances of teacher professional learning in secondary schools

It is commonly understood that teachers in secondary school should develop throughout their career in order to stay as an essential factor in student learning. Schools can offer opportunities to link teachers’ professional learning to their school practice with a positive impact on teachers’ motivation to learn and the effectiveness of their learning. In this field study, teachers, school leaders, policy-makers, educational consultants and educational scholars were asked for their perceptions of conditions for teacher learning in school and of interventions in school to enhance teacher professional learning. These conditions and interventions were understood as affordances in schools that enable and support teacher professional learning. The main affordance in school these stakeholders mentioned was an open, but critical way in which teachers share their practices, collaborate and reflect upon their teaching practice. Collaborative practices seem to stimulate many interventions of teacher professional learning in school. Two implications of this finding are discussed. First, we suggest that the maximum teaching time should be reduced, team teaching should be more implemented or classes should be scheduled in such a way that teachers can meet. Second, distributed leadership approaches match with our findings about the role of school leaders in teacher professional learning.     

Improving academic outcomes in poor urban schools through nature-based learning

This paper presents results from the evaluation of the Nurture thru Nature (NtN) programme, a natural science and environmental education intervention designed to help elementary school children from disadvantaged backgrounds increase their knowledge of science and strengthen overall academic performance. Using an experimental design the pilot NtN programme in New Brunswick, NJ was assessed in one elementary school for a period of four years. The evaluation revealed that NtN students (n = 18) consistently outperformed a group of controls (n = 34) in mathematics and science with the differences in science reaching statistical significance. The paper discusses the active learning philosophy that motivates NtN teaching, the programme components that operationalise this philosophy, and a natural history paradigm from which this philosophy derives.     

Educational outcomes,policy reform and cultural capital in Italian secondary schools

Italy’s poor performance in various indicators of educational achievement, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has featured strongly in analyses of Italian education policy, and its progress towards the Lisbon objectives has been slow. With weak outcomes often linked to a highly stratified system of upper secondary schooling, combining high levels of track differentiation with a comparatively young track selection age, Italy’s education system has been characterised as antiquated and rigid. Yet the evidence that poor educational outcomes are differentially distributed between different Italian regions suggests that the ‘tracked system’ itself, which does not vary among regions, may not fully explain the Italian indicators. This article examines recent policy responses to these weak educational outcomes and, drawing on a range of data which take account of the links between social selection, regional inequality and levels of family cultural capital, investigates whether the concept of cultural capital might provide a more nuanced and theoretically powerful explanation of differences in educational outcomes in Italy.     

Different ways that secondary schools orient to lifelong learning

This article describes and discusses research into lifelong learning in secondary schools that was undertaken at the Australian Council for Educational Research. The project explored ways of helping secondary school students develop an intrinsic interest in learning, in the belief that such an approach will encourage young people to keep learning throughout their lives. Skills and values that help young people to develop characteristics of lifelong learners are outlined. The article suggests that development of these characteristics may be impeded by the strong influence of competitive end-of-school assessment in many schools, and the difficulty of changing the practices and attitudes of some of the people who play a significant role in a young person's education: parents and teachers.     

教师自我教育理论在中小学教育科研实践中的作用

教师专业成长的重要路径是能够扎实的从事教育科研活动,而专业成长的一个重要环节就是形成教师的自我教育理论,这两者之间相辅相成,互为支撑。当今中小学教育科研实践中存在着的质量不高,选题不准,研究不规范等不足,基本上都与教师自我教育理论建设和形成的欠缺有关。在教师专业成长的实践中,要关注教师自我教育理论形成,同时更要关注其在中小学教育科研实践的应用,明确其作用的范围和重点,反过来再丰富和发展教师自我教育理论。     

对中职生学习状况的调查与分析

为了解目前中职生的学习状况,探索中职生学习规律,为教学改革提供依据,我们采取问卷调查和开座谈会形式对我校2001级和2002级学生进行了调查。共发放调查问卷1096份,回收有效问卷926份。座谈会采取召开各班学习委员会议和下班采访的形式进行。调查结果表明:中职生的学习方法亟待改进,学习效率有待提高,学习质量不容乐观。     

中职学生的语言学习策略研究

研究采用美国语言学家R.Oxford所设计的语言学习策略分类问卷调查表,对汕头市卫生学校2009级学生的语言学习策略进行调查,目的是研究和探索他们是怎样运用语言学习策略的,为转型中的中职英语课教学设计提供反馈信息,提高英语教学效率及学生的学习效果.     

The nature of Chinese Language classroom learning environments in Singapore secondary schools

This article reports findings from a classroom environment study which was designed to investigate the nature of Chinese Language classroom environments in Singapore secondary schools. We used a perceptual instrument, the Chinese Language Classroom Environment Inventory, to investigate teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards their Chinese Language classroom learning environments using six dimensions, namely, Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Cooperation, Task Orientation and Equity. The investigation was carried out using a sample of 1,460 secondary three (Grade 9) students from 50 Chinese Language classes in 25 Singapore government secondary schools. The nature of the Chinese Language classroom learning environments was interpreted from analyses of the perception scores obtained, as well as from various comparisons of the perception scores between different groups. Although both the Chinese Language teachers and students perceived their present classroom learning environments positively, they would like improvements in all the six dimensions of the classroom learning environments under investigation. Also teachers perceived a more positive classroom learning environment than their students in the same class. In addition, female students perceived their actual and preferred classroom environments more positively than their male counterparts.     

M‐learning adequacy and perceptions of students and teachers in secondary schools

In recent years, the use of mobile technologies has increased in a number of fields such as banking, economy, tourism, entertainment, library research, etc. These developments have also led to the use of mobile technologies for educational purposes. The successful integration of mobile learning (m‐learning) technologies in education primarily demands that teachers' and students' adequacy and perceptions of such technology should be determined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare teachers' and students' abilities and perceptions concerning m‐learning. Research data for the analysis were obtained from a sample of 467 teachers and 1556 students from 32 schools that were surveyed in Northern Cyprus. Based on our results, we conclude that teachers and students want to use m‐learning in education. Their perceptions are positive but their m‐learning adequacy levels are not sufficient.     

The principal's role in restoring a learning culture in township secondary schools

Abstract

The establishment of a learning culture in schools is important for education to take place. The erosion of the learning culture which often culminated in the poor academic performance of Grade 12 learners in township secondary schools has been a cause for concern for many years. The Department of Education's countless efforts to rectify the situation have been to no avail. This article endeavours to establish the contribution that school principals can make towards resolving the problem. As manager and instructional leader of the school, the principal is in a suitable position to address this problem, and it is also his or her primary responsibility to lead and guide the school towards the attainment of good academic performance. The article discusses the principals' role in restoring a learning culture in township secondary schools. It discusses the management strategies or functions that principals can employ to restore a positive school culture. The management strategies were obtained by means of an interview from the principals of effective secondary schools. The literature study and the views of the principals obtained by means of a questionnaire confirm the effectiveness of the strategies in restoring a learning culture.     

Subject leaders in secondary schools and informal learning: towards a conceptual framework

Much of the emphasis on the learning of subject leaders in secondary schools is placed on what Eraut (2000) terms ‘organised formal learning events’. This article attempts to redress the balance by focusing on the somewhat neglected area of their informal learning about the role, which is predominantly based in the workplace. It is argued that informal learning consists of three components: implicit learning, learning through experience and non-taught or deliberative learning (following Eraut, 2004). Such forms of learning can be underpinned by theoretical notions of cognitive, affective and behavioural developments. A model of work-based informal learning is proposed that also tries to incorporate the memories of relevant past and current events. It is hoped that this model might be useful as a framework for the future analysis of the learning of subject leaders.     

中职少数民族学生学习能力特点及对策研究

针对新疆中职学校少数民族学生在听课能力方面有着学习认真刻苦但灵活性不足,信息量小,理解能力有限,对老师的信任度和依赖性并存,独立思考能力和创新能力较弱等特点。采取相应的教育对策:如改革评价体系,把学习能力作为评价的重要内容;强化汉语教学,提高理解能力,打牢学习能力提高的基础;改革教学方法(小组学习、项目教学等)提高学生自主学习能力;拓展课外和网络资源,培养学生信息获取的能力。     

The positions of primary and secondary schools in the English school field: a case of durable inequality

In interviews as part of a research study of structural reform in England, some tension between primary head teachers and their secondary peers was evident. This was symptomatic of a long-standing difference in status between the two phases. At a time when relations between stakeholders in local systems are subject to change, we seek to understand anew why that might be the case and how the tension we found was evidence of a current difference of power within interactions between representatives of the phases. We analyse differences of size, resources, workforce, pedagogy and history, and how they have resulted in different, and differently valued, practices and professional identities. We explore how attributes of the two phases have been counterposed and how, in complex interaction with wider discourses of politics, gender and age, this process has invested the differences with meanings and values that tend to relegate attributes associated with primary school. By focusing on the activation of cumulative inequality in interactions, we contribute a complementary perspective to studies of perceived relative status and highlight the implications for understanding school positioning in local arenas as the role of local authorities is reduced.     

中等职业技术学校开展研究性学习的探索

一、研究性学习的内涵 研究性学习的含义有狭义和广义两种理解。广义的研究性学习指的是一种通过模拟“科学研究”的立意、思路、策略、路径、手段、方法等而进行的学习方式,可以适用于多种领域的学习。狭义的研究性学习特指“学生在教师指导下,从自然、社会和生活中选择和确定专题进行研究,并在研究过程中主动地获取知识、应用知识、解决问题的学习活动”。我们所说的“研究性学习”,一般是指后者。     

Flipped learning and parent engagement in secondary schools: A South Australian case study

Parent involvement in and engagement with children’s learning has been shown to strongly influence student achievement, engagement, motivation and school completion. However, parent involvement decreases once students reach middle school, as subject content gets harder, the number of teachers increases, and students are less likely to share their homework and learning with parents. To this end, the flipped learning (FL) approach has received growing attention, with evidence of improved higher order thinking and collaborative skills and increased transparency for parents. This paper explores school leader, parent, student and teacher perceptions of the FL approach, through the lens of a 1-year case study of two rural South Australian schools, in order to uncover how the approach affects parent engagement. Findings reveal that, whilst stakeholders feel that the flipped approach is beneficial for absent students, to reinforce content and increase student responsibility, it has not yet improved transparency for parents, with a disconnect between what schools think parents know and are engaging in, and the actual level of parent engagement in student learning. Recommendations for schools implementing the FL approach are provided against a bioecological model, adapted for this study.     

中小学信息技术教育与学生终身学习能力的培养

本文提出了终身学习能力这一概念，阐述了利用信息技术教育培养中小学生终身学习能力的必要性和关键因素，并对中小学信息技术教育的改革提出了自己的建议。     

Guidelines to assist the implementation of differentiated learning activities in South African secondary schools

Despite previous research and recommendations in South Africa, secondary-school teachers still encounter economic, social and cultural challenges in implementing differentiated learning activities in the classroom. The diversity of learners with learning barriers inevitably leads to an increase in workload for the teachers. This article draws on data generated from the research conducted in South Africa and from questionnaires completed by secondary-school teachers who identified existing challenges to implementing differentiated learning activities, as well as on student teachers who implemented three differentiated learning activities (for the slow, average and gifted learners), and reflects on their experiences of good and bad practices. The literature review and specialists' views were integrated to determine how to overcome the challenges that the implementation of differentiated learning faces. Several challenges to the implementation of differentiated learning were highlighted by the research. The research indicated that a total of 97% of teachers never or seldom use a flexible curriculum and extra time to accommodate the diverse learning needs of learners. This article provides guidelines on how to implement differentiated learning activities in secondary-school classes and offers ideas on how to start with differentiated teaching.