An ordinary moonlighting activity? Determinants of the provision of private tutoring by Czech schoolteachers

Teacher moonlighting (teachers working other jobs in addition to teaching) may have positive as well as negative implications. In the context of post-socialist countries, the provision of private tutoring is one of the common forms of teacher moonlighting. The aim of the paper is to analyse the prevalence and factors that are associated with a) having a paid job in addition to one’s regular teaching obligations; b) provision of private tutoring among teachers. Results are drawn from a representative sample of 494 Czech teachers of academic school subjects in lower secondary schools who responded to an online questionnaire survey. Male teachers working part-time, with shorter professional experience, higher household financial burden and lower satisfaction with teacher salaries were more likely to moonlight. The provision of private tutoring was only associated with shorter professional experience and the teaching of core subjects, suggesting that Czech teachers’ motivation to provide private tutoring is currently not primarily financial.     

Facilitating flexible learning by replacing classroom time with an online learning environment: A systematic review of blended learning in higher education

Higher education institutions are trying to provide more flexibility and individualization, which is mainly realized through the use of new technologies and implemented in online or blended learning designs. This systematic review aims to investigate the impact of replacing classroom time with an online learning environment. The meta-analysis (k = 21 effect sizes) applied strict inclusion criteria concerning research design, measurement of learning outcomes and implementation of blended learning. The estimated effect size (Hedge's g) was positive, although not significantly different from zero and the confidence interval [-0.13, 0.25], suggesting that overall differences between blended and conventional classroom learning are small, and, at best, very small negative or moderate positive effects are plausible. This means that despite a reduction in classroom time between 30 and 79 per cent, equivalent learning outcomes were found. Consequently, blended learning with reduced classroom time is not systematically more or less effective than conventional classroom learning.     

Teachers’ self-efficacy and intercultural classroom practices in diverse classroom contexts: A cross-national comparison

This cross-national study provides new insights in teacher efficacy in today’s culturally diverse classrooms using survey data of 269 early childhood and primary school teachers in England, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Teacher efficacy can be viewed as a two dimensional concept in which both general beliefs are measured alongside (diversity-related) domain-specific beliefs. These beliefs are related to the cultural classroom context and the use of intercultural classroom practices. Our results indicate that policies and professional development targeted at the reciprocal relation between diversity-related efficacy and practices are important when preparing teachers for working in diverse classroom contexts.     

‘Teaching’ the path towards university: understanding student access through storied-futures and meritocratic grand narratives

The notion that the stories of our lives shape dispositions towards imagined futures is another lens through which university underrepresentation should be viewed. A storied lens attends to how futures, like university attendance, are storied during childhood to the extent that some youth imagine, and therefore plan, these futures as natural progression. Such was the case for study participants, indicating that childhood stories contain answers for mitigating social reproduction connected to parental education and cultural forces within the home. Examining social mobility through the underexplored storied-futures grand narrative presents unique solutions that lay hidden within the dominant meritocratic grand narrative.     

Individual and cultural factors in teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion: A meta-analysis

The success of inclusive education is dependent upon classroom teachers implementing adaptations for children with disabilities. Given that willingness to make such adaptations is influenced by teacher attitudes, the current study examined teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education through a meta-analysis of 64 samples that were found via a systematic literature search. The results indicated that teachers hold a positive attitude towards inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools and that these attitudes are moderated by an interplay of cultural and demographical factors. The findings offer a renewed basis for intervention research into improving educational opportunities for children around the world.     

Evaluating the international dimension in an undergraduate curriculum by assessing students’ intercultural sensitivity

This formative, outcome-oriented, theory-based evaluation research study assessed the effectiveness of requiring an international (‘I’) course by measuring students’ intercultural sensitivity (IS) at the start and end of a semester. Findings revealed that students’ IS scores did not change regardless of the type of class in which the student was enrolled and were not significantly different based on gender, age, ethnicity, undergraduate classification, or number of ‘I’ courses taken. There were significant differences in IS based on religion, traveling outside the US, participating in a study abroad course, and the number of cultural events in which the student had participated. Regression analysis confirmed that religious affiliation and number of times traveled outside the US were significant predictors of IS. This study is an example of the use of theory-based evaluation in an educational system and provides important insights into what experiences affect college students’ IS.     

提升高职足球教学训练水平的路径研究

作为一项历史悠久的运动,足球运动深受全民喜爱,有着广泛的扩展范围和巨大的影响力。近些年来,高职院校的足球教学取得一定的进步和发展,对于学生身体素质的锻炼起到积极的促进作用。然而,进步并不等同于完美,高职院校的足球教学仍然存在诸多问题,要想提升足球训练水平,必须要解决这些问题,创新教学思想,改善训练方式,保证足球教学的规范性、科学性、系统性,使足球训练具备的提升学生身体协调性的作用充分发挥出来。基于此,本文就如何提升高职足球教学训练水平进行论述。     

青少年游泳训练方法探讨

游泳是提高青少年身体素质的一种训练方法,通过一定的训练时间及相应的训练强度,对提高身体素质有很大的帮助。在提高身体素质的同时,也可以促进游泳成绩的提高。所以,为了进一步加强运动员的训练水平,教练员需要了解他们的身体特点、心理特点,才能制定出科学的训练方法。本文归纳游泳训练特点,总结青少年游泳训练的方法,从而为提高运动员的成绩提供相应参考。     

探究大学生网球运动体能训练理念与方法

现代大学生普遍出现亚健康状态,为改善这一不良现象应加强业余运动,而短时间内进行高强度的网球运动可以很好地满足所需求的运动量,并且高层次的网球比赛可以让人心情愉悦,极大地丰富人民群众的闲暇时光。所有运动都离不开体能的支持,这也包括网球运动。本文主要从网球运动知识开始,讲述了网球运动的体能训练和相关的注意事项。     

中职体育教学中学生团队意识的培养探析

当前,我国社会市场对人才的要求越来越多,而在众多要求中团队精神已经成为学生学习、求职、从事行业工作必备的条件。中职生是一群特殊的群体,其专业学习具有很强的职业性与目的性,在为中职生开展的体育教学中培养学生的团队意识非常重要。本文结合笔者多年的工作实践,探讨中职体育教学培养学生团队意识的策略,以供参考。