Learner profiles in secondary education: Occurrence and relationship with performance and student characteristics

The authors explore the occurrence of different learner profiles in secondary education, as well as their relationship with test performance and student characteristics. Based on a cluster analysis of 1,931 secondary school students’ self-reported text-learning strategy use and study traces, the authors identified and validated four distinct learner profiles: integrated strategy users, information organizers, mental learners, and limited strategy users. Integrated strategy users engaged in different text-learning strategies and obtained the highest scores on the performance test. Limited strategy users generally used only a limited number of text-learning strategies and scored the lowest. In addition, a significant difference was established in gender and reading ability distribution across learner profiles, but home language distribution was not found to be significant.     

Education for democratic citizenship in Malawian secondary schools: balancing student voice and adult privilege

In countries that embraced democracy after the fall of communism, education became a particular focus for policy change, particularly within their citizenship programmes. Schools that had been used to inculcate obedience to and unfailing support for authoritarian regimes were now being required to adopt citizenship programmes incorporating democratic values. This paper reports a study in Malawi that explored the school as a location where democratic citizenship is practiced. Using a multiple case study approach in three different kinds of secondary schools to explore students’ participation in school affairs, the study found that different forms of participation were being encouraged, with each school apparently socialising students to distinctive kinds of citizenship roles. The paper highlights a conflict between democratic values and traditional roles of schools leading to new and hybrid school cultures. Providing scope for student voice to be heard can lead to tensions and paradoxical practices.     

Role of secondary schools in the face of student absenteeism: a study of schools in socially underprivileged areas

This paper analyses the reactions to absenteeism in public secondary schools in underprivileged areas of the city of Barcelona, Spain. The data presented are part of a doctoral thesis undertaken after the implementation of the Spanish comprehensive education reform (LOGSE) and they draw attention to important differences between schools. The study examines schools’ practices in the face of absenteeism and assesses their proactive or reactive responses to the requirements of student inclusion, studying their working methods and teacher cultures.     

Acting,accidents and performativity: challenging the hegemonic good student in secondary schools

Current educational practice tends to ascribe a limiting vision of the good student as one who is well behaved, performs well in assessments and demonstrates values in keeping with dominant expectations. This paper argues that this vision of the good student is antithetical to the lived experience of students as they negotiate their positionality within complex power games in secondary schools. Student voices in focus group research nominate six rationales of the good student that inform their ‘performances’ of the good student. Understanding the multiplicity and dynamism of the good student is an educational imperative as schools seek to meet the changing needs of society in the new millennium.     

关于农村中学开展以生态农业为主题的环境教育活动的思考

发展生态农业 ,改善农业环境 ,是农村环境治理的根本途径。农村中学开展以生态农业为主题的环境教育活动意义重大。本文针对目前农村中学环境教育中存在的问题 ,提出了在教学中以多种形式渗透生态农业教育的建议。     

试论高中阶段职普教育关系及其协调发展策略

高中阶段教育包含普高和中职两类 ;职普教育各自在数量、结构、特征及模式等方面有异有同 ;职普教育协调发展是未来高中阶段教育的必然走势。本文提出职普相互沟通和协调发展的五个对策     

Tracing the development of poor student motivation and performance in township secondary schools

Abstract

Unsatisfactory motivation levels related to learning and studying among students is a universal problem. Students represent a diverse collection of abilities, talents, personalities and aspirations and come from different social and political backgrounds which may affect their motivation to learn and study. Some students are taught in schools where there is an abundance of resources and facilities, whereas others are taught in schools with inadequate resources and facilities. Student motivation, however, is a prerequisite for academic performance. Consequently, students’ potential, qualified teachers and school resources and facilities count very little if students are not motivated. This article examines the development of the lack of student motivation and academic performance in township secondary schools. The study has found that the motivation of students in these schools has been eroded by the students’ and teachers’ protracted involvement in anti-academic activities which have disrupted the education process. Due to the poor motivation of students, academic performance has deteriorated markedly and this situation should be resolved.     

The relationship between departments as professional communities and student achievement in secondary schools

Secondary school teaching is organized in departments and effective departments functioning as collaborative teams have been associated with effective schools. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship of mathematics departments perceived as professional communities and student achievement in Dutch secondary schools. Cluster analysis and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) were used on a sample of around 3000 students, 130 schools, and 130 teachers that participated in this study (TIMSS-2003 data). The significant effects found (effect size >.20) show that those departments that focus on reflective dialogue, collaborative activity, shared vision and student achievement are associated with successful schools and higher student achievement.     

中职学校德育创新的策略

中职学校要提高德育工作的针对性、实效性和主动性，应在德育观念、德育目标、德育内容、德育原则、德育方法、德育机制等方面进行创新。     

The de-facto privatization of secondary education in Egypt: a study of private tutoring in technical and general schools

Most secondary school students in Egypt enrol in private tutoring in almost all subjects throughout the school year. A large proportion of students have stopped attending school altogether due to their reliance on tutoring. This study of how educational markets are perpetuated at school level finds that in the technical track catering to the working classes, the market is forced upon students through physical and verbal intimidation by teachers receiving below subsistence wages. In the more middle class general secondary track, pressure to enrol in tutoring is less direct and the market is promoted as a necessity for competitive exam readiness, despite its unclear dividends. The result has been a de-facto privatization of secondary education facilitated by a state that has determined the material conditions of teachers, failed to prevent related abuse and corruption, and reduced its investment in education to the point that the market has effectively emptied out and displaced public schooling.     

The scientific heritage of Portuguese secondary schools: a historical approach

Portuguese schools hold important collections, most organised in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This scientific heritage, however, is still to be discovered. This article focuses on the creation, development, and role of natural history collections in Portuguese secondary schools, between the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, that is, before and after the introduction of laboratory-based teaching in science education. Material culture is thus used to expand the current narrative of science teaching in Portugal, by tracking these kinds of collections. Contrary to the current view on science teaching in Portuguese secondary education, in this article I argue that by focusing on collections, and more generally on the material culture of secondary schools, a new picture emerges that contradicts the traditional discourse emphasising the scarcity of appropriate school buildings, infrastructure, and equipment. A brief overview of the current state of Portuguese natural history teaching collections is also provided, drawing attention to their vulnerability, given the absence of a general policy or guidelines orienting its conservation.     

Professional identity among student teachers of physical education: the role of physicality

In this study, we investigate the role of physicality in the professional identities of physical education (PE) student teachers. Twenty PE student teachers participated in semi-structured interviews during their final teaching practice. Data were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis and typologies. The results showed substantial diversity in the student teachers’ conceptions of physicality and the ways these conceptions were embedded in their developing professional identities. The results also brought to light criticism directed at traditional notions of the body and physicality in PE and PE teacher education (PETE). We suggest that conceptions of the body and physicality represent a central element of PE teachers’ professional identity. The results also indicate a relationship between conceptions of physicality and pedagogies implemented in the future. Time and place for student teachers to discuss body-related matters should be provided in PETE.     

十年来我国中职教师培训政策回顾与分析

近十年来,国家有关部门针对中等职业：教育教师培训出台了包括学历层次提升、校长及骨干教师培训、教师企业实践、培训基地建设等方面的系列文件,促进了中职学校师资培训体系的形成,使教师整体素质得以提高。但同时也存在着培训形式单一,教师积极性缺乏,培训的城乡差距大,企业参与度低等问题。对此,应健全师资培训机制;完善激励机制;加大资金投入,建立专项培训基金;加强对县乡村职业教育教师的培训。     

Parental involvement in secondary education schools: the views of parents in Greece

The present study explores Greek parents’ views on parental educational involvement and its impact on adolescent scholastic and social development. Specifically, aspects of parental involvement such as the achieved objectives of current parent–school communication, the psychological climate dominating teacher–parent interactions and parents’ suggestions for improvement of current policies and practices are examined. Four hundred and seventy‐five parents participated in the study. Findings showed that family–school communication is believed to be insufficient in Greece, despite the fact that parents tend to: (1) regard their cooperation with teachers as determinative of adolescent academic and psychosocial development; (2) consider teachers to be friendly and caring; and (3) believe that secondary school provides some opportunities for constructive parental involvement. These paradoxes are discussed and explained as a result of radical changes in current social and educational values, principles and objectives.     

文化生态视野下的德育生态化路向

文化生态既是世界观,又是方法论。现今我国德育存在着低效性,一个重要原因是由于对文化生态的认同不够造成的,因此有必要加强文化生态与德育的关系,构建德育生态化之路。其基本路向应包括构建德育生态场、建立生态型师生关系、开展以生命德育、生活德育、生态德育为内容的“三生”德育活动、遵循理解型德育原则等,回归生活世界检验,形成德育生态化的系统。     

The extent of ability grouping in Swedish upper secondary schools: a national survey

Differentiation among students according to ability has been a topic of interest in educational systems all over the world for a long period of time. This study focuses on the extent of ability grouping in Swedish upper secondary schools, using a total population survey that covers all upper secondary schools. Previous research on the effects of ability grouping on students and groups of students gives a quite clear picture and the relation between ability grouping and issues of inequity and undemocratic values is an often-raised issue, where low-achieving students are especially adversely affected. Results from this study show that many (43%) upper secondary schools use ability grouping as a way to differentiate students in educational settings. It is found that it is more frequently used within the foundation subjects and especially in mathematics. No particular group of schools reports using ability grouping at a significantly higher rate, but the schools that reported using it to a very large extent differ on many school-level variables. These schools are focused on specifically. The extent of ability grouping is discussed in relation to previous research and issues of equity.     

The dynamics and intricacy of budgeting in secondary schools in Lesotho: Case studies of three high schools

Abstract

This paper reports on the qualitative study that used in-depth interviews and document reviews on financial management practices in their schools. The participants were school principals of the case study schools. The findings of the study highlighted problems regarding the implementation of the policy – despite the Manual for Principals of Secondary Schools on financial planning and organisation, there are still problems regarding the collection and recording of school fees, budgeting, as well as a lack of administrative support. Findings further suggest that during the process of budgeting, power relations surface where principals play a dominant role in decision making regarding both departmental budgets and the school's main budget. Findings also suggest that lack of policies on the use of fees affects issues of budgeting in these schools. Moreover, most school principals are not provided with sufficient capacity building on financial matters, which cripples them in performing the budgetary tasks. The implications of the study are that there should be adequate capacity building of the principals in regards to budgeting and systems should be put in place regarding policies on how the school fees are to be used.     

Comparison of teacher talk directed to boys and girls and its relationship to their behaviour in secondary and primary schools

There have been a number of earlier investigations, using differing methodologies, into the extent to which teachers in the secondary school interact with boys and girls and the results have suggested an imbalance in the teachers’ verbal behaviour towards the genders that is quite similar to the imbalance found in teachers’ behaviour in the primary school. The main aim of this study was to devise an investigation using the same methodology as that used in a recent primary school investigation in order to be able to make a fair comparison between the two levels. The results showed considerable differences in the teachers’ verbal behaviour towards the genders in the secondary school from that of teachers in the primary school. Where the primary school data showed teachers interacting more with the boys than the girls and the boys being less on‐task than the girls, the secondary school data showed no such differences.     

当代日本中、小学道德教育实践研究的特色

20世纪80年代以来,日本的中、小学道德教育实践研究呈现出良好的发展态势。当代日本中、小学道德教育实践研究的特色主要是“注重运用道德教学理论的新成果”、“注重根据道德教育改革的精神进行实践研究”和“注重探索道德教育的各种途径”等三个方面。