Professional orientations of secondary school teachers towards their work

Against a background of current reforms which involve a diversity of strong expectations with regard to how teachers should work, this study explores how teachers themselves view their professionality. Four hundred and fifty two secondary school teachers were asked about their professional orientations. Teachers were found to differ in their orientations and in the combinations of their orientations towards instruction, educational goals, and their role in the school organization. These findings are relevant to consider in the light of successful reform of schools and education. The article ends with a reflection on those combinations of orientations, and suggestions for future research into professional orientations are made.     

What college chemistry instructors and high school chemistry teachers perceive as important for incoming college students

Professors of college chemistry were asked to rank various examples of traditional chemistry knowledge and skills as to their importance for incoming students to possess. A pilot study revealed that the items—all selected from one edition of the American Chemical Society-National Science Teachers Association (ACS-NSTA) Chemistry Achievement Examination—represented attributes viewed as relatively unimportant. The professors then identified 29 personal traits they considered more important for incoming students to possess. Subsequently, these items, knowledge, skill, and personal attributes, were included in a three-part assessment instrument. The instrument was administered to 69 college chemistry professors selected at random and to 37 high school chemistry teachers. The results reveal that the college professors universally identified student personal attributes as significantly more important for incoming students to possess over specific knowledge and skills included in the ACS-NSTA Achievement Examination. Chemistry professors do not find items commonly used to assess success in high school chemistry as important attributes for incoming students to possess. Conversely, high school chemistry teachers regard the knowledge and skill items to be more important for college preparation than personal attributes.     

Goals in physics and chemistry education as seen by teachers and high school students

A contribution is made to the discussion of how science in general, and physics in particular, can be made more interesting and attractive to girls. Members of the PLON‐project have been working for five years on a new curriculum for higher forms of havo (intermediate secondary education) consisting of 10 units. On the basis of evaluation results, girls’ appreciation of the new curriculum can be related to specific subject areas and contexts. Since girls’ reactions have been encouraging we can now draw some general conclusions and relate these to features of the havo curriculum. These features suggest some ways in which girls’ interest in and liking for physics can be stimulated and we compare them with proposals made in the literature about the subject.     

创建中职体育特色教育学校研究

中职教育是当前教育发展中一个重要方面,本文主要就创建中职体育特色教育学校的意义及策略进行研究,希望通过本文的研究为中职体育教学的改革提供一些参考。     

A tracer study of Lebanese upper secondary school students

This paper presents data arising from a tracer study of 90 terminating Beirut upper secondary school students. Nearly all the students intended to transit to university, about half of them to science and technology programmes, and subsequently did so. Median anticipated earnings upon graduation were realistic, but a lack of information or guidance about higher education and career options was noted by a considerable proportion. The results of the study are discussed with reference to the as yet poorly elucidated dynamics of schooling with regard to attrition and transition to higher education and employment in Lebanon.     

论职校生健全人格的塑造与完善

人格完善是指个体有自觉的自我认识，维持身心相对平衡的状态，促使自己向着能充分发挥自身潜能的方向发展，为人类作出一定贡献的过程，是伴随一个人终身的过程。我国的职业教育不仅应重视学生职业知识与技能的学习训练，而且更应重视其健康职业心理与职业伦理道德的形成，重视健全人格的塑造与完善，最终把他们培养成为21世纪成功的劳动或创业。     

A follow-up study of students using portable computers at a secondary school

This paper reports on the findings of a 1999 study that set out to investigate the current perceptions of students and teachers towards the use of portable computers at a secondary school. The aim was to compare these with the findings of a 1995 study carried out by the researcher at the same school. Data were collected from 102 Year Twelve students (17 year old), 104 Year Eight students (13 year old) and 40 teachers. The results indicated that for the Year Twelve students the computers had been of limited value while the Year Eight students appeared to be divided with about a quarter indicating negative attitudes. For the younger students the computers appeared to be used more often and for a greater range of tasks. Many teachers indicated concerns about the management of computers in the classroom and linking computer use to learning outcomes. These perceptions underline the need for targeted professional development, systematic support for the development of student computer-related skills, and changes in the curriculum towards more learner-centred approaches.     

Examination-type preferences of secondary school students and their teachers in the science disciplines

A specially developed questionnaire was used: Types of Preferred Examinations (TOPE) to assess examination-type preferences of secondary school students in the Science disciplines according to school type affiliate and gender.Structured interviews were employed to assess both the rationale of students towards these preferences as well as teacher awareness about the preferences – in contrast to their actual examination practice.Our findings suggest that (a) secondary school students prefer written, unlimited time examinations which, according to their perception, stress learning with understanding rather than mechanical rote learning, and in which the use of supporting material (open book exams) is permitted; and (b) secondary school Science teachers are aware of student examination-type preferences, yet they continue to use the traditional written, time-limited – class examination which is definitely not preferred (disliked) by their students.In view of the special emphasis in current science education research on students' development of higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) and the need for consonance between the new curriculum goals and examination types used, it is proposed that provisions be made to facilitate teachers' compliance with students' examination-type preferences provided the latter are congruent with learning objectives and our educational aspirations.     

Norwegian secondary school teachers and ICT

ICT is meant to be integrated in all subjects in Norwegian schools; nevertheless many teachers are reluctant to use ICT in their own teaching. This paper explores to what extent teachers use ICT in their classroom teaching and what teacher‐level factors influence the use of ICT. It draws on an analysis of 10 focus‐group interviews with 10 teachers and a quantitative study of 59 teachers in three lower secondary schools in Hamar, Norway. The teachers showed commitment to ICT; however, may did not see the educational value, except for increased access to learning material and to stimulate learner motivation. Teachers also expressed lack of ICT confidence even though they have been taking part in ICT courses. A main finding is that to integrate ICT in one’s own teaching is a difficult and gradual process and teachers must be given time to find their own way to merge ICT with their own teaching style.     

A comparative study of learning patterns of secondary school,high school and college students

The main aim of the current research was to identify the similarities and differences in learning patterns used by secondary school, high school and college students. There were 8,072 participants and they responded to the Chinese version of Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) online. Findings show that the three groups of students were significantly different in their adoption of learning patterns; the dimensionalities of learning patterns observed in secondary school and high school students were similar, but were different from those of college students; these students’ learning patterns differed from each other in relation to personal characteristics (i.e. gender and age), but tended to have similar strong relationships with parents’ education level and parents’ jobs. This study contributes to the understanding of the learning patterns characterized by school and college students. By acknowledging this, educators can help to develop better support for students in adapting to new study environments.     

中学体育教师角色期望师生比较研究

采用文献资料法、访谈法、问卷调查法、数据统计法等研究方法,就中学体育教师角色期望对莆田市101位教师和962位学生进行调查,结果表明：师生时体育教师角色总体期望趋向一致,依次是职业道德、教学能力、综合素质、师生关系、个人形象.从不同的视角师生在各个具体内容的期望上存在显著性差异.     

家校冲突对中小学教师工作积极性的影响研究

为了提高中小学生的教育成效,学校会积极提倡家校合作。但在合作过程中,家长与学校之间的冲突不可避免。研究发现,家长与学校之间存在低水平的冲突,不仅对教师的教学积极性有直接的负向影响,还会通过情绪耗竭的作用对教学积极性产生间接的负向影响。不过,家校冲突对教师的研究积极性没有显著影响。另外教师编制会反向调节家校冲突对教学积极性和情绪耗竭的影响。     

试论中小学教师的学习

在现代知识社会,学习对中小学教师具有特殊重要的意义。学习效果在一定程度上取决于个体对学习的理解和学习方式。理论性学习可以培育教师的学科理论素养,提高理性思考能力。研究性学习属于以高阶思维为主要认知活动的高投入性学习。合作性学习可以促进个体知识经验的聚合和视界的融合,从而实现知识共享。社会化学习是个体学习社会知识,并不断内化和再创造的过程。教师应端正学习态度,提高学习内驱力,将工作和学习融为一体,相得益彰。     

The characteristics of effective english teachers as perceived by high school teachers and students in Korea

This study investigated the characteristics of effective English teachers as perceived by 169 teachers and 339 students in high school in Korea, with a self-report questionnaire consisting of three categories: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, and socio-affective skills. Overall, the teachers perceived significantly different characteristics than the students in all three categories with the teachers ranking English proficiency the highest in contrast to the students who ranked pedagogical knowledge the highest. The student subgroups also held different perceptions of effective teaching. High achieving students reported different characteristics than low achieving students in pedagogical knowledge and socio-affective skills, whereas the male students demonstrated different characteristics from the female students in socio-affective skills. The findings have implications for knowledge-based teacher education for current and prospective English teachers.     

Motivation beliefs of secondary school teachers in Canada and Singapore: A mixed methods study

A mixed methods approach was used to explore secondary teachers’ motivation beliefs in Canada and Singapore. Results from Study 1 revealed that socio-economic status (SES) was the strongest predictor of school climate in Canada, and that collective efficacy mediated the effect of SES on school climate in Singapore, but not in Canada. In Study 2, interviews were conducted with 10 teachers in Canada and 14 teachers in Singapore. Teachers in both settings discussed students’ social and behavior problems, but the range of the social problems was greater in Canada than in Singapore, and had a stronger impact on teachers’ motivation beliefs.     

河南回族中小学教师发展研究

河南省是回族人口散居大省,民族教育尤其是回族教育是河南省教育工作的重要组成部分,提升回族教育的质量和水平,是河南民族教育的重点和难点,是提高回族人口整体素质的重要途径,也是提升河南省民族工作的重要体现。回族教育的短板主要是师资力量配备不足尤其是缺乏熟悉本民族情况的回族教师。加强回族学校教师的研究,对于促进河南民族教育、提升河南少数民族整体素质、贯彻落实全国民族教育工作会议精神都有积极意义。