Professional development of principals: A path to effective secondary school administration in Nigeria

Abstract

The article examines the professional development of secondary school principals in Nigeria. Drawing from vast review of literature on professional development and appointment of school principals in other countries, the article canvasses the position that secondary schools in Nigeria should be administered by skilled personnel who have the appropriate training and competencies for school management and leadership, rather than the present practice of using years of teaching experience as a major yardstick for the appointment of principals. It advocates systematic professional development programmes for prospective and practicing school principals, and concludes that professional development of principals is a means to maintain and enhance the effectiveness of secondary school administration in Nigeria.     

Emotional intelligence profiles and learning strategies in secondary school students

The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship among emotional intelligence (EI) and learning strategies, identifying different emotional intelligence profiles and determining possible statistically significant differences in learning strategies through the identified profiles. Thousand and seventy one Spaniards secondary school students aged 14–17 participated in the study, completing the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) and the Cuestionario de Estrategias de Aprendizaje [Learning Strategies Questionnaire] (LSQ). Cluster analysis identified four differentiated EI profiles: a group of adolescents with a low EI profile, a group with high scores in attention and low scores in repair, a high EI profile group, and a group of adolescents with predominance of low attention and high repair. The results also revealed statistically significant differences among the profiles in most of the learning strategies, in which students with high general EI and those with predominance of low attention and high repair use more learning strategies than the other groups, suggesting the importance of developing programmes of emotional skills to study in greater depth EI and its influence on students’ learning strategies.     

中学生学习方式分析及教学对策

本文对奈欣斯和雷诺等人关于学生学习方式 (或风格 )进行总结和概述。结合不同学习风格在教学和学习中的表现来阐述学习中应注意的问题及教学对策 ;从认知方式上进行分析 :( 1)场独立和场依存 ;( 2 )整体性策略和系列性策略 ;( 3)求异思维和求同思维 ;( 4 )冲动性思维和反省性思维 ;( 5)内倾和外倾。本文最后指出 ,教育应该是一种帮助 ;并从当今社会对人的学习的要求和学习方式的转变出发、提出教师更新教育观念 ,改革教育方法 ,以及提高自身素质的迫切性和重要性     

Stress,coping strategies and academic achievement in teacher education students

University students experience stress, and how they cope with this stress affects their academic achievement. This study examined stress in teacher education students and had three objectives: to describe different degrees of stress and coping styles; to study the relationship between stress, coping strategies and academic achievement; and to examine whether increased age can moderate the effects of stress on academic achievement in 334 university-students. There were three main findings: many students experienced stress and used avoidance coping strategies; the students who were under less stress and engaged less in cognitive avoidance and more in problem-focused coping were also the students who made more academic achievement; and students under more stress performed worse, but with age stress affected performance less. In teacher education students, it is important to recognize and address the harmful effects of stress on well-being and academic achievement, to avoid long-term problems in professional and personal life.     

迪斯尼公司的经营策略探究

沃尔特迪斯尼是世界娱乐业的巨头,经过80多年的发展,公司从一个家庭作坊式的小公司,发展成为屹立于世界娱乐行业之颠的跨国公司。公司2006年的营业收入达到343亿美元,在世界500强企业中排名第180名。本文就迪斯尼公司的发展历程、经营特色、管理理念进行讨论。     

城乡中小学教师继续教育培训档案管理之我见

城乡中小学教师继续教育培训档案管理是一项保障教师继续教育进程和质量的工作,是评析教学管理水平和检验教学管理力度的重要标志。做好这项工作对推进城乡中小学教学管理工作的制度化、规范化和科学化、缩小城乡教育水平差距具有十分重要的意义。但是现行的城乡中小学教师继续教育培训档案管理工作存在诸多问题和弊端。因而,在建立健全符合实际情况的档案管理制度的基础上,引进具有专业水准的档案管理工作人员,运用现代化档案管理手段势在必行。     

Acceptance of learning management system: The case of secondary school teachers

There are many ICT tools that teachers can use to support teaching and learning. In recent years, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have been present in most higher education institutions. However, the availability of LMSs in K-12 is more recent. Furthermore, we believe that LMSs are promising even for K-12 teachers in face-to-face learning contexts because they have many educational features that can support learning with students. The goal of this study is 1) to identify the factors that influence the acceptability of the LMS by teachers, 2) to see if teachers’ ICT use influences their intention to use the LMS, and finally 3) to see if teachers’ ICT use influences their perception of the affordances of LMS educational features. The LMS in our study was introduced in a school board of more than 35,000 students and approximately 2400 teachers. To study the acceptability of the LMS, we used the Technology Acceptance Model. The results obtained from the show that the perception of usefulness is a good predictor of the intent to use the LMS. As for ICT use and the affordances of LMS educational features, the results show that they are not a good predictor of the intention to use.     

Measuring general and specific stress causes and stress responses among beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands

The main aim of this study was to adjust the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work (QEEW) in order to measure stress causes and stress responses of beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands. First, the suitability of the original QEEW stress scales for use in the beginning teachers (BTs) context was investigated using a sample of 356 beginning teachers from 52 different secondary school locations in the Netherlands. Confirmatory Factor Analyses, Principal Component Analyses and Mokken scaling item reduction was applied to create high concise and precise scales. Hereafter, based on the teacher stress literature, additional teacher specific stress items were added, resulting in the adjusted version of the measure, the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work – Beginning Teachers (QEEW-BT, study 1). To cross-validate the results and to examine the internal consistency and validity of the adjusted instrument a different sample of 143 beginning teachers from 61 different secondary school locations in the Netherlands was used (study 2). The present findings provide adequate support that the QEEW-BT is a reliable and valid instrument to measure stress causes and responses for beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands.     

中小学教师继续教育面临的困境及对策研究

在终身教育背景下,中小学教师继续教育逐渐发展成为一种趋势。受多种客观因素的制约,目前国内中小学教师继续教育的质量仍难以保障,面临观念落后、经费投入不足、培训效果不佳及管理体制不完善等困境,为走出教育困境,需要从更新继续教育观念、加大经费投入、科学构建培训体系以及完善教育管理体制等方面努力。     

Job satisfaction among secondary school teachers: the role of gender and experience

This paper examines the importance of understanding different organisational and professional cultures for leaders in extended service settings. It begins with a critical review of key concepts and debates in the organisational culture literature and then shows how different professional groups (education, health and social services) have adopted aspects of this literature to reflect their respective professional concerns. We argue that such insights can help leaders in these settings understand and work with different professional groups more effectively. Key to this process is the ‘culture conversation’ where different professionals are encouraged to explore the taken for granted assumptions that drive their everyday practice.     

我国高校学术管理存在的问题与对策

作为高校管理核心的学术管理,有学术民主管理与学术行政管理两种方式。我国多数高校学术行政管理的过度强化,与高校组织科层化及专业化的双重属性,高度集权的政治体制和管理模式,思维方式和亚文化差异造成的沟通障碍等因素直接相关。因此,要建立协作学习共同体,相互支持,共同领导;加强组织学习,完善沟通渠道;促进组织变革,不断建立和完善客观公正的学术评价机制。     

浅谈云南旅游市场营销创新策略

文章分析了旅游业市场发展的新态势及云南省旅游市场营销的现状,总结了云南旅游市场营销方面存在的不足。根据云南旅游发展的需要,从旅游市场营销创新的视角,提出了管理体制和机制创新、品牌设计和推广创新、强化区域整合营销创新等创新策略。     

构建有效的中职学校财务管理体制

新形势下中等职业学校的财务管理工作面临很多新情况,学校要转变理财观念,深化改革,加强理财队伍建设,使财务管理工作更好地为学校建设和发展服务。     

提高农村中小学教师继续教育效果的深度思考

我国农村中小学教师继续教育中面临的主要问题在于,培训机构教师的素质不高,观念陈旧,培训的内容过于理论化,严重脱离农村中小学教育教学的实际;培训的方式过于强调课堂灌输,不利于调动农村中小学教师参与继续教育的积极主动性。要提高农村中小学教师继续教育的效果,教育主管部门和教师继续教育机构就要尽快转变教育观念,用科学发展观指导农村中小学教师继续教育工作,根据新课改的要求和农村学校的实际大力更新继续教育的内容,改进继续教育模式,促使继续教育质量不断提高。     

Stress and positive attitudes towards violent discipline are associated with school violence by Ugandan teachers

BackgroundGlobally, the use of violent discipline methods by teachers to manage child behavior is still highly prevalent despite enactment of laws that prohibit school violence. In the case of Uganda there is a dearth of accurate prevalence statistics on school violence and factors associated with the use of violence by teachers.ObjectivesTherefore, the current study examined the prevalence of and attitudes towards violence. The study also explored the association between teachers’ stress, positive attitudes towards violence and the use of violent discipline management methods.MethodsA representative sample of 291 teachers and 702 students from 12 public secondary schools in southwestern Uganda responded to anonymous self-administered questionnaires. Data were collected from April to November 2017.ResultsFindings indicated that 86.5% of the teachers reported having used violent disciplinary methods on students in the past month while 91.5% of the students reported experiencing violence by teachers. Teachers (88.3%, n = 256) endorsed positive attitudes towards violent discipline. Teachers’ stress was related to higher levels of violent discipline (β = 0.20). This relation was mediated by positive attitudes towards violence (0.06, SE: 0.01, 95%-CI: 0.035–0.092).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that teacher reported stress was associated with their use of violent behavior and positive attitudes and that positive attitudes reduced the association between teachers’ stress and violent behavior. Therefore, interventions aiming to reduce violence by teachers may need to integrate effective stress management skills, in addition to nonviolent discipline strategies, and fostering attitudinal change towards the use of violent methods.     

农村初中教育现状及其提高办学质量的对策

当前我国农村初中教育存在教育意识陈旧、师资力量薄弱、学生流失现象严重、课程结构不科学以及教学设施落后的情况，严重地制约了教育水平的提高不能适应为21世纪培养合格人才和劳动的需要，提出了提高农村初中办学质量的五点意见。     

Turnover Causation Amongst High School Teachers in Nigeria

Four theoretical frameworks were used to explore causations of turnover amongst high school teachers in Nigeria: (1) teachers’ personal health, (2) work–family life, (3) job satisfaction, and (4) actual turnover intention. Quantitative data were obtained from 925 public high school teachers in Ogun State, South-Western Nigeria. Cronbach's Alpha reliability procedure, regression modelling and t-test were used to analyse a total of 96 causations of turnover. Ad hoc analysis returned an Alpha value of 0.78. However, this improved to 0.93 when the causation factors were reduced to 64 – those with highest item-rest and itemtotal correlations. The findings showed that job (dis)satisfaction, personal health and work– family life conflict are prominent amongst the issues that trigger the intention of Nigerian high school teachers to quit their jobs voluntarily. Insights from the findings will help funding administrators in prioritising strategic decisions around mitigating turnover.     

走出广西中小学教师教育科研的困境

中小学教育科研与基础教育改革的成功与否休戚相关。在广西,还存在各地中小学教师教育科研条件很不平衡、中小学教师尤其是农村中小学教师对教育科研的观念比较落后、科研成效不明显等现实困境。那么,如何走出广西中小学教师教育科研的困境,则是一个不可回避的问题。     

Conceptions of literacy in primary and secondary school teachers

Recently, teachers have been described as lacking an organised and consistent understanding of how children acquire literacy. Arguments about falling standards have been aired in the media, and links drawn between methods currently in favour in UK schools, and an apparent failure of children to acquire ‘basic skills'. Proposals have now been made by the Department for Education which give greater prominence to more structured, skill-based primary teaching which, it is claimed, will raise standards and better prepare children to meet the demands they face as they move into secondary school. This study analyses teachers’ conceptual maps of literacy teaching as the preliminary phase of a research programme aimed at describing and enhancing pupils’ functional use of literacy across the curriculum. The analysis is based on a four-quadrant model of adult-child proximation. Using a questionnaire format, important similarities and contrasts were found between the views of primary and secondary teachers. However, the study does reveal that teachers have complex models of literacy which underpin their work and do not adhere to simplistic, uni-dimensional methods.