Exposure to bullying,reactions and psychological adjustment of secondary school students

A sample of 575 secondary school students aged 11–15 years was administered a checklist on experiences of bullying, then divided into groups of victims, witnesses and not exposed, and by gender. Participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire on psychosocial adjustment. Victims and witnesses completed another questionnaire on the extent to which they would endorse retaliation/vengeance and avoidance towards the perpetrator. Girls reported being victimised significantly more than boys. Amongst victims, boys scored higher than girls on desire for retaliation/vengeance and on externalising behaviours; girls scored higher on internalising behaviour. Experience of bullying victimisation, rather than merely witnessing it or not being exposed to it, was associated with internalising behaviours for both boys and girls. These measures of psychosocial adjustment were associated with the desire for retaliation/vengeance. Implications are discussed of the links between gender, exposure to bullying, reactions and psychosocial adjustment of secondary school children.     

The repercussions of reporting bullying: some experiences of students at an independent secondary school

This article reports on the complex web experienced by young people when making decisions to report bullying in school. The study was conducted in the secondary school of an independent day and boarding school in the east of England. A Participatory Action Research approach was used with student voice and perspective at its core. This study involved five students as co-researchers with the first author to explore the concept of ‘snitching’ about bullying. Data were collected from the wider student group through a variety of methods including questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. The findings suggest that the process of reporting bullying is more complex than adults once thought. Students have to negotiate a complex web in firstly deciding if the bullying is serious enough to report. The concept of ‘serious’ bullying is contentious, particularly between boarders and day students, but physical abuse and/or repetition tended to be characteristic of ‘serious’ bullying. Once considered ‘serious’ enough, students have to weigh up the potential repercussions from the bully or the wider friendship group if they ‘snitch’. Students were therefore in conflict between loyalty to the bully and wider friendship group in deciding if unfairness had taken place and should be reported. Finally students needed to decide who they trusted to report the bullying to. The students in this study often reported to teachers who they perceived as supportive and authoritative.     

试论中学生"非正式群体"

非正式群体存在于正式的班集体中，构成班集体的二元结构。非正式群体存在的必然性，使得对非正式群体的管理成为班集体管理的重要组成部分，本将就非正式群体的形成，特点，分类进行研讨，并对非正式群体的消极影响进行分析，提出了有关消除非正式群体不良影响的对策。     

Gender stereotypes and gendered vocational aspirations among Swiss secondary school students

Background: Horizontal gender inequalities appear to be rather stable, with girls more often choosing ‘female’ service professions, and boys choosing career paths related to science, technology, engineering or Mathematics.

Purpose: Non-egalitarian patriarchal gender-role orientations and gender associations (perceived femininity) of the school subjects German Language Arts and Mathematics are theorised – triangulating different theoretical backgrounds – and empirically analysed as a major predictor of gender-typical vocational aspirations, considering interest in these school subjects as a mediating factor. Furthermore, we focus on a patriarchal relation of father’s and mother’s workforce participation as a root of gender-role orientations, and teacher gender in regard to its impact on gendered images of subjects.

Sample: Empirical analyses are based on survey data from eighth-graders (around the ages of 14 and 15 at the time of data gathering) in the Swiss canton of Bern. The sample only encompasses children from two-parent families, as patriarchality in terms of differences in workforce participation between father and mother is taken into account.

Design and methods: The research issues are analysed employing structural equation models. The statistical package Mplus allows for an analysis of the two dependent dichotomous variables ‘gender-typical vocational aspiration’ and ‘gender-atypical vocational aspiration’. The hierarchic structure of the sample (school class clusters) is taken into account.

Results: Findings reveal different patterns for boys and girls; for boys, gender-typical (male) vocational aspiration could be explained to a small extent via gender-role orientations, interest in Mathematics and gender associations of school subjects; for girls, the factors under consideration could be empirically linked to ‘atypical vocational aspiration’. Teacher gender only has an impact among girls: if girls are taught by a female Mathematics teacher, they perceive the subject as a bit more female and show a higher interest in this subject. Their likelihood of having a gender-atypical vocational aspiration is a bit higher than among girls with a male Mathematics teacher who perceive the subject as a bit less female and, thus, show somewhat lower interest in this subject.

Conclusions: There are still links – although weak – between gender stereotypes and vocational aspirations. Gender-role orientations are rooted in the family. A sensitisation towards gender stereotypes and their impact on aspirations and career would appear to be meaningful in broadening the vocational perspectives of men and women.     

Remediating misconception on climate change among secondary school students in Malaysia

Existing studies report on secondary school students’ misconceptions related to climate change; they also report on the methods of teaching as reinforcing misconceptions. This quasi-experimental study was designed to test the null hypothesis that a curriculum based on constructivist principles does not lead to greater understanding and fewer misconceptions on acid rain, global warming, greenhouse effect, and ozone layer depletion than the traditional Malaysian curriculum. For this purpose, two classes from two different schools were randomly assigned to experimental (N?=?35) and control condition (N?=?38). Following the intervention, an ANCOVA with pre-test as the covariate showed statistically significant differences in understanding for all four topics; additional interviews with randomly selected students from experimental and control group further underscore the findings. Implications are discussed.     

Thinking styles and academic stress coping among Chinese secondary school students

Abstract

This study investigated the predictive power of thinking styles for academic stress coping. Participants were 563 (280 males, 275 females, 8 gender unspecified) secondary school students in grades 7 through 12 from mainland China. Thinking styles were measured using the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II which was based on the theory of mental self-government. Coping strategies were measured by the COPE-Revised, which was derived from Carver’s COPE (1989). Results showed that thinking styles had statistically significant predictive power for academic stress-coping strategies beyond age and gender, largely in the expected directions. Theoretical implications for research on intellectual styles and coping are discussed; and some practical implications for school teachers and students are proposed.     

Career coping styles: differences in career attitudes among secondary school students

The types of difficulties associated with career attitudes were studied using Super’s model of career maturity (1990) in a group of 620 Portuguese students from grades 9 and 12. A cluster analysis identified four styles with different patterns of association between time perspective, attributional beliefs, self-esteem and career attitudes. The adaptive style showed more committed career attitudes, and the other three styles—superficial, insecure and pessimistic—showed lower levels of career maturity. Implications for career counselling are further discussed.     

Gender differences in instrumental learning among secondary school students in Hong Kong

This paper examines the extent of gender differences, and discusses the role of gender in musical instrument learning. It focuses on the collective instrumental experiences of 1493 Chinese students (774 boys and 719 girls attending grades 7–13) within Western and non‐Western musical traditions in Hong Kong. The discussion draws attention to gender differences in the learning of Chinese and Western musical instruments, in musical interest and instrumental learning, and in the reasons why students learn or do not learn musical instruments. The paper argues that, while female and male students exhibit different attitudes towards the types of instruments learnt, significant correlations exist between their interest in music and parental support for their instrumental learning. Gender is brought to the fore by the pedagogical actions of the teacher, the mass media and by parental efforts to reduce gender bias and stereotypes through school, public and family education.     

Diversifying the secondary school curriculum: The African experience

The paper discusses some African experiences in the diversification of secondary education, which is taken to mean curriculum change in a practical or vocational direction. This approach is intended to provide a wider set of future career options than is offered in the more uniform academic curriculum. The diversification policy has generally been seen as a solution to a number of economic and social problems facing the independent African countries, notably the increasing youth unemployment and the escalating costs of formal education.Studies which have so far been carried out have, however, revealed that diversification programmes have not met the intended objectives, although there is sustained interest in vocationalising formal education. Problems which commonly face these programmes include high unit costs, an absence of clarity in aims and objectives, a shortage of qualified teachers and the low status of vocational subjects as viewed by the students and the community.For future development, it is suggested that diversification programmes be reorganised to relate to more realistic goals through wider community participation and through the work-orientation of post-school training programmes.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel werden einige afrikanische Erfahrungen mit der Diversifikation der Sekundarbildung behandelt, wodurch eine Änderung des Curriculums zu einem praktischen oder beruflichen Schwerpunkt bewirkt werden sollte. Dieser Ansatz soll eine größere Auswahl bei der späteren Berufswahl ermöglichen als sie das einheitlichere akademische Curriculum bietet. Die Politik einer Diversifikation wurde allgemein als Lösung für eine ganze Reihe wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Probleme der unabhängigen Länder Afrikas gesehen, besonders hinsichtlich steigender Jugendarbeitslosigkeit und eskalierender Kosten formaler Bildung.Bis heute durchgeführte Studien zeigten jedoch, daß die Diversifikationsprogramme die angestrebten Ziele nicht erreichen konnten, obwohl ein anhaltendes Interesse an einem mehr beruflichen Schwerpunkt formaler Bildung besteht. Probleme, mit denen diese Programme gemeinhin zu kämpfen haben beinhalten hohe Kosten für jeden einzelnen Posten, das Fehlen klar umrissener Ziele, ein Mangel an qualifizierten Lehrern und die geringe Anerkennung beruflicher Fächer durch Schüler und Gesellschaft.Zur Weiterentwicklung wird der Vorschlag einer Umstellung der Diversifikations-programme gemacht, damit realistischere Ziele durch eine erweiterte Beteiligung der Gesellschaft und durch die berufliche Orientierung der Fortbildungsprogramme nach Beendigung der Schule erreicht werden können.

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Résumé On examine dans le présent article quelques expériences africaines en matière de diversification de l'enseignement secondaire, dont l'objectif est de donner une orientation pratique ou professionnelle au curriculum. Cette approche cherche à offrir un plus grand choix d'options professionnelles que ne le font les programmes d'études théoriques plus uniformes. Cette politique de diversification est généralement considérée comme une solution à un certain nombre de problèmes économiques et sociaux auxquels font face les pays africains indépendants, notamment le chômage des jeunes et l'augmentation du coût de l'éducation formelle.Les études ayant été effectuées jusqu'ici ont, cependant, révélé que les programmes de diversification n'ont pas atteint les objectifs fixés, bien qu'on s'applique particulièrement à donner une orientation professionelle à l'éducation formelle. Les problèmes qu'on rencontre habituellement dans ces programmes incluent des coûts unitaires élevés, une absence de clarté dans les buts et les objectifs, un nombre insuffisant d'enseignants qualifiés et le bas statut des matières d'enseignement professionnel perçu par les élèves et la communauté.En vue de renforcer davantage le développement, on suggère de réorganiser les programmes de diversification afin qu'ils s'apparentent à des objectifs plus réalistes grâce à une participation accrue de la communauté et à des programmes de formation postscolaire orientés vers le travail.

     

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.     

中职医学生的能力培养

临床医学是一门严谨的学科,培养出的医学人才必须具备很强的理论和实践相结合的能力．只有加强医学生的思想教育和能力培养,全面提高医学生的素质水平,才能为今后造就合格的医学人才打下坚实的基础．     

Metacognitive awareness as measured by second-order judgements among university and secondary school students

Metacognition and Learning - When compared to high performers, low performers generally have more difficulty to accurately estimate their own performance. This has been explained by low performers...     

Classroom learning environment and motivation towards mathematics among secondary school students in Uganda

This article reports a study of secondary students’ perceptions of mathematics classroom learning environment and their associations with their motivation towards mathematics. A sample of 81 students (19 male and 62 female) in two schools were used. Student perceptions of the classroom environment were assessed using a modified What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. Associations between student perceptions of the learning environment and motivation towards mathematics were examined using simple correlation and multiple regression analyses. The results of the t tests for independent samples indicated a statistically significant difference in student perceptions between different school types. Student perceptions on some of the modified WIHIC scales were statistically significantly associated with student motivation. The results suggest that teachers wishing to improve student motivation towards mathematics, in general, should emphasise the learning environment dimensions that are assessed by the WIHIC. The findings have implications for teachers of mathematics and head teachers, particularly those in secondary schools.     

我国中小学校园欺负研究的文献计量分析

对收录在中国知网（CNKI）中的我国有关中小学校园欺负的160篇文献（1990-2013）进行文献计量分析,以揭示我国关于中小学校园欺负的研究特点和研究动态.结果发现：我国相关研究起步较晚,2000年以后呈现稳步增长的趋势,近5年来发展迅速;文献发表以教育学类期刊为主,医学类期刊收录的文献数量最少;现状研究所占比例最大,工具开发研究最少,预防研究欠缺;国家级项目的资助力度最大,省部级、厅级和校级项目资助力度需要加强;研究方式以独立研究为主,合作研究特别是各学科之间的合作研究需要加强.     

建立大、中专在校学生自我管理机制

随着全国大学本科及大专科考就读人数逐年增招,所以高素质大、中专生源日益凸显乏人,初中应招的高职大、中专学生多数是由于家庭困难或渺于前途而选择接受中专教育,以便捷于早日就业。