Computing reform: the exodus of ICT teachers

Teacher identity can serve as an important lens to examine the way teachers traverse the various demands made of them by policymakers and stakeholders in the school system, with their own perspectives of self and their work. Official narratives and curriculum documents lead to the construction of a public identity and what it means to be a ‘good teacher’ in a broad and generic sense. However, much less attention is paid to teachers’ biographical accounts of their professional identity, from a stance as practitioners of a specific subject, and their lived experiences, thereof. This article reports on a qualitative study undertaken as a pilot project for a doctoral dissertation, where six social science teachers from Mumbai and Bangalore, participated in three online focus group discussions. The framework used to analyse the data is Goffman’s dramaturgical theory of impression management. Findings reveal that social science teachers present their professional identity using reified expressions of competence, idealise social science as a subject, and seek validation of their status as teachers of a nonutility subject. These are discussed in the context of recently proposed educational reforms in India, with the recommendation that policymakers must take cognizance of this fragile sense of subject identity and an acute sense of disempowerment facing social science teachers, who are not averse to accountability measures per se, to enhance their standing.

Adolescents who have a language impairment may experience a number of difficulties. A language impairment may interfere with their social interactions, emotional expression, academic achievements, and vocational choices. Given the impact of a language impairment, there is a need to provide support to these students. Adolescents experiencing language difficulties may be the concern of many different professionals, but teachers and speech-language pathologists are often the most significant professionals for these students (Wright, 1992). This study investigated the provision of speech-language pathology support in Queensland, Australia to adolescents experiencing oral language difficulties. It also explored secondary school students’ and teachers’ understanding of language impairment and their perceptions of speech- language pathology support. The study comprised two investigations. First, a Queensland-wide survey was undertaken of 219 speech-language pathologists and 134 secondary school support teachers. The survey provided information from speech-language pathologists working in education, health, community and private practice settings, and from subject teachers and support teachers working in secondary schools. The survey aimed to provide a broad overview of speech-language pathology support to adolescents using a questionnaire adapted for the various groups surveyed. Second, an in-depth study of how adolescents with language impairments are supported in schools was undertaken by creating case studies of the work of 5 speech-language pathologists. Data for the case studies was gathered through direct observation, interviews, and document collection. In addition to interviewing the 5 speech-language pathologists, in-depth interviews were undertaken with 40 secondary school teachers, and 20 students (who were recipients of support from the 5 speech- language pathologists). Findings from the two investigations indicated that speech-language pathologists across all workplaces offered support to adolescents, but in all settings they were predominantly providing assessment-only services to this age group. Assessments were predominantly limited to standardised testing, which restricted the type of information gathered and influenced the SLPs’ ability to link the student’s language abilities to the classroom curricula. Where intervention was provided, a traditional pull-out approach was favoured. Intervention was provided independently of the classroom curriculum and predominantly focused on teaching specific language skills or strategies identified during testing. Findings from both the survey and the case studies revealed a number of factors that contributed to the way in which the speech-language pathologists worked. These included the demand for assessments to determine students’ eligibility for ascertainment funding, speech- language pathologists’ lack of confidence in working with adolescents and with secondary school teachers, teachers’ misperceptions about the role of speech-language pathologists and speech- language pathology support, speech-language pathologists’ relationships with support teachers, speech-language pathologists’ perceived threats to their professional identity, paradigm differences between the speech-language pathology and teaching professions, and practice issues such as itinerancy, time, and the physical environment in which the speech-language pathologists worked. The school-based speech-language pathologists liaised with support teachers in order to coordinate appointments for assessments and intervention, gather background information about a student, and to report back assessment findings to the school. They had minimal contact with subject teachers about the support they were providing to students. Support and subject teachers expressed a desire to work more collaboratively with speech-language pathologists. Specifically, they requested direct liaison with subject teachers about assessment and expressed an interest in the provision of in-class support by speech-language pathologists to students, assistance with modifying the curriculum for specific students, the provision of practical classroom strategies, and the provision of professional development from SLPs about language impairment. Students’ views and preferences about the support they received varied. Most students expressed a desire for learning support, but some expressed an interest in in-class support whereas others preferred to be withdrawn for support. There was a preference for small group support over individual support outside the classroom. Overall, students did not want to be given a label in relation to their language difficulties. While some students wanted to participate in their case meetings, other did not. The study identified a need for a more focused educational approach to supporting adolescents who have language impairments through an emphasis on functional language outcomes for students, greater collaboration between speech-language pathologists and support teachers, subject teachers and principals, consultation with the students and individualisation of the support, a broadening of the assessment methods used in order to incorporate more functional assessments, and greater diversity of intervention approaches. In addition, the need for more training for speech- language pathologists and teachers was indicated. Such training would lead to a greater understanding of each other’s role and needs in relation to providing supporting to students experiencing language impairments.

BackgroundSpiritual care is a vital component of holistic nursing and midwifery. This study aimed to assess nursing and midwifery students’ perceived competence in spiritual care and to examine the predictive roles of two key constructs: professional self-efficacy (encompassing care, support, and professional situations) and professional identity (self-image, social modeling, retention benefits and turnover risks, social comparison and self-reflection, and independence of career choice).MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2024 to January 2025 among 201 undergraduate nursing and midwifery students who had completed at least two semesters and had begun clinical internships, ensuring exposure to both theoretical education and practical training. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire that included personal and educational characteristics, as well as selected items such as clinical work experience and previous training in spiritual care. They also completed the Iranian Scale for Assessment of Nurses’ Competencies in Spiritual Care, the Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Professional Identity Scale for Nursing Students. Data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression.ResultsA significant positive correlation was observed between spiritual care competence and both self-efficacy (r = 0.547, p < 0.001) and professional identity (r = 0.369, p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that professional self-efficacy (β = 0.475, p < 0.001), professional identity (β = 0.148, p = 0.022), prior training in spiritual care (β = 0.145, p = 0.017), and independence of career choice (β = 0.124, p = 0.037) were key predictors, explaining 37% of the variance.ConclusionThe findings suggest that students’ self-perceived ability to provide spiritual care is associated with their confidence, professional identity, and prior training. Incorporating comprehensive spiritual care training into curricula can enhance students’ confidence and skills, thereby better preparing them for holistic clinical practice.Clinical trial numberNot applicable.

This study investigated science teachers’ beliefs and practice of ICT integration in teaching and learning in Zanzibar. Its objectives were: to assess science teachers' beliefs about the role of ICT integration in teaching and learning and to explore how science teachers integrate ICT in classroom teaching. The study involved 60 science teachers purposively selected from 5 public secondary schools in the Town District of Zanzibar. The schools were selected by using convenience sampling procedures. The study employed a mixed-methods approach and a concurrent nested design. Data were collected by using survey questionnaires, interviews and classroom observation. The quantitative data were analysed using the descriptive analysis technique while the qualitative data were analysed thematically. The findings indicated that the science teachers had varied beliefs about ICT integration in teaching and learning. While some had positive beliefs about ICT integration in teaching and learning, others held negative beliefs. The findings also revealed that the teachers’ actual practice of ICT integration in teaching was inefficient. Insufficient skills and knowledge as well as a lack of confidence in ICT integration were identified as significant obstacles to ICT integration, which caused science teachers to inefficiently integrate ICT in teaching. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the Zanzibar Government through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the Zanzibar Institute of Education, and other educational stakeholders, take comprehensive professional development initiatives to raise teachers’ confidence, skills, and knowledge on integration of ICT in teaching and learning. Studies are needed to address the self-efficacy in ICT integration and the challenges faced by science teachers to integrate ICT in teaching and learning context.

This research sought to investigate Chinese rural teachers’ professional identity in the context of “double reduction”, analyze deficiencies and causes, and explore reasonable training countermeasures to enhance rural teachers’ professional identity in order to contribute to promote rural education. A sample of 306 Chinese rural teachers voluntarily participated in this study. To explore the the status quo, questionnaire survey and interview were used. Results revealed that the overall level of professional identity of rural teachers in Chinese primary and secondary schools was relatively high. In addition, it was important to notice that the level of role values is the lowest among the four factors. Besides, research showed that teacher professional identity was related to a number of individual factors, including gender, length of teaching experience, and subject taught, and the double reduction policy brought rural teachers work and psychological pressure. Therefore, we can take some measures to deal with it.

This article discusses how subject knowledge development should be conceptualised in the preparation of new secondary school teachers. It is written at a moment of national curriculum revision in England and a ‘knowledge turn’ in education, bringing questions of subject knowledge development to the fore. The authors argue that the educational purpose of ‘subject knowledge’ has been oversimplified and separated from teachers’ concerns with pedagogy, performance and the child’s experience. A new disciplinarity is needed in which the subject discipline becomes an overarching structure informing the teacher’s curriculum thinking. However, the current, well-established model of the ‘good teacher’ as skilled (and accountable) classroom technician fails to support such curriculum work. The authors propose that teacher preparation courses should develop a notion of the ‘good teacher’ as engaged with the discipline as an educational resource. This article is conceptual, but draws from the authors’ substantial experience of teacher preparation courses in secondary schools in England.

Understanding professional goals and identities of undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students is critical for curriculum decisions, workforce development, and retention programs. This paper aims to explore the ways in which undergraduate CS students describe their professional goals and identities, and gauge how these goals and identities vary across gender and academic standing. This paper is part of a larger study aimed at understanding how students form their professional goals and identities. In the study presented in this paper, we surveyed 109 CS undergraduate students and interviewed 14 CS undergraduate students across gender and academic standing. The data were qualitatively analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that most students identify themselves professionally as software development professionals, various specialized CS professionals, and by their majors. We also found that both male and female students were interested in becoming entrepreneurs, and females were more likely to have professional goals to move into management. This paper contributes to the fields' growing knowledge of undergraduate students' professional goals and professional identities. This knowledge can help CS departments to better align their degree programs, curriculum, and specialization tracks with student goals. Such an alignment has the potential to increase retention in the major as well as prepare students to be competitive in the workforce.

The government of Punjab Pakistan is taking steps to keep up the quality of education particularly at school level. There are three steps in school education in Punjab. First is Primary second is elementary and third is high school education of secondary level education. Initially government has taken steps for provision of information communication technology to its secondary level education. Almost all high schools of the government of Punjab have now been ornamented with IT labs. Most of which have smart board facility and Tabs for transmission of information. The government is working on regular basis on the task to provide numerous schemes of information communication technologies to schools particularly at secondary level. However proper teaching of every subject specially mathematics through information communication technologies is still lacking in the country especially in Punjab. Through this paper we have indicated some aspects through which we are able to decrease rote habits through Information Communication Technology. The IT Labs in the schools of Punjab is not being used by the teachers of the other subjects. So, there is very least use of IT Labs in teaching process of the other subjects in the secondary school. This paper presents the need of using ICT in other subjects especially in mathematics to build up the confidence in the teachers using ICT in teaching of mathematics. Some sort of lacking of time to the teachers in the classroom is also a base of poor teaching. Giving access to IT labs and their use to the non-IT teachers as well can be helpful in achieving the quality education at High school level. The conclusion of this paper drawn from collected data and after statistical analysis of it, suggestions have been indicated to keep up the concept building approach of mathematics students through ICT in Punjab through district Gujranwala.

For several years now, not only in the Czech Republic, we have been witnessing various discussions related to the issue of secondary vocational education, especially the shortage and decline of erudite and qualified teachers of vocational subjects. Another issue that increases the demand for new teachers is the ageing of the teaching staff of secondary vocational schools. The government and education policy are responding to this situation in various ways—by increasing salaries, mitigating qualification requirements, promoting qualification training, etc. The objective of this paper is to present a course aimed at qualifying teachers of vocational subjects for secondary schools and to report the results of a survey conducted among its participants. The results were compared according to selected socio-demographic characteristics. The new three-semester course has been implemented since 2020 at a public university in the Czech Republic, which has almost 60 years of experience in various forms of secondary school teachers of vocational subjects training within their fields of specialization. The survey was conducted via an electronic questionnaire and received responses from 100 respondents. The most interesting results include, for example, that about 60% of the respondents attended the course in order to obtain a qualification as a teacher of vocational subjects for secondary schools for possible future use—to strengthen their employability opportunities on the labour market, not because they are already working at a secondary school or because they currently need this qualification.

This study examined the effect of the use of information and communication technology on the instruction of physics in secondary schools in Awka Education Zone of Anambra state. The study was guided by the three research questions and three hypotheses. The population for the study was 19, 153 SS3 physics students in all the secondary schools in the study area. A sample size of 110 SS3 physics students were selected (59 males and 51females). The research instrument used for the study was a Physics Achievement Test (PAT). PAT was validated by three experts, one lecturer from science education department, one from educational foundations department and one from computer science department, all from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. A reliability coefficient of 0.86 was gotten using Kudar- Richarson’s reliability formula. The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that students taught physics with ICT performed higher than their counterparts that were taught physics without ICT. Gender interaction effect showed that the male students taught with ICT performed higher than their female counterparts. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that physics teachers should be encouraged to use ICT in teaching physics, since the method is more effective in learning physics compared to the conventional lecture method Also the federal ministry of education should organize workshops and seminars for science teachers to strengthen their knowledge of the use of ICT in teaching.

This study investigated secondary school teachers’ beliefs about ICT use and their espoused use of ICT in teaching science and mathematics. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between teachers’ beliefs about ICT use and their espoused use of ICT in teaching science and mathematics. It further assessed the effect of teachers’ beliefs about ICT use in teaching science and mathematics. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, involving 172 randomly selected science and mathematics teachers from Kibaha District in Pwani Region, Tanzania. The findings revealed that teachers held predominantly negative beliefs about ICT use, which corresponds with their limited adoption of ICT in teaching. Furthermore, a strong relationship was observed between teachers’ beliefs about ICT use and their espoused ICT adoption in science and mathematics teaching. The study concludes that teachers’ beliefs about ICT use significantly influence their espoused adoption of ICT in science and mathematics teaching. It is recommended that initiatives to enhance ICT adoption should focus not only on training and resource provision but also on transforming teachers’ beliefs about ICT use, which appear to limit their likelihood of integrating ICT into science and mathematics instruction.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the use of ICT in teaching Kiswahili plays in secondary schools as a way of cultivating interest and positive attitude towards drama at an early age. The objectives of the study were: To ascertain whether teachers of Kiswahili play have ICT skills for teaching Kiswahili plays and to examine attitude of teachers of Kiswahili towards integration of ICT in teaching Kiswahili plays The study used social learning theory by Bandura and the functionalism theory by John Dewey. The study employed a descriptive survey design to answer the research questions. Stratified sampling was used to categorize schools in to boys, girls, mixed schools, day and boarding schools. Simple random sampling was applied to select 275 students from a total of 918 students. The study used focus group discussion, questionnaires for teachers and students to collect data and interviews to provide further information on the teacher’s attitude on the use of ICT in teaching Kiswahili play and observation. The study showed limited use of ICT in teaching and learning of Kiswahili play and it adds up into the pool of existing knowledge and is beneficial to teachers since it gives suggestion on the best combination to motivate and arouse interest of teaching and also to the teacher training institutions in preparing teachers to adequately use ICT in instruction in classroom level and also to the curriculum developers.

A good teacher must develop a wide range of basic professional skills, such as designing learning activities; learning process management and monitoring; assessment for learning activities; ICT integration and use in education; knowledge of students' characteristics and learning styles, counseling and personalized teaching; classroom management; institutional development and school-community partnerships. ICT integration and use in education is a professional skill required in several areas of the teaching process: designing and implementing learning situations, assessing student learning, research, communication, etc. The use of ICT in educational activities stems from the early stages of ICT and Internet development. Processing information using computers was initially related to research and only later to the educational process. In recent years, ICT have become a key element that upholds a modern educational approach in an advanced society, whether it is classical education (which requires attending classes) or whether it is distance learning (both within the institutional educational system and the alternative systems of continuing professional development). Students attending the Academy of Economic Studies can opt for pedagogical and methodological training by enrolling in courses at the Department for Teacher Training in order to prepare for a teaching career. By attending this psycho-pedagogical module the students gain the professional knowledge and skills required for a teaching profession. In this paper the authors aim to address the topic of ICT in economic education from the perspective of collaborative learning and to present a study on ICT use by Economics students preparing for a teaching career in terms of ICT integration into the design and implementation of educational activities in teachers' daily practice. The study is based on a survey questionnaire addressed to third-year bachelor's students and second-year master's students who, in addition to specialized training, have opted for pedagogical training courses. Data collection, processing and analysis enables the authors (a) to determine the extent to which the respondents use ICT in the design and implementation of educational activities and their view on the significance of information technology as a tool for learning (b) to make a series of recommendations aimed at developing ICT skills in Economics students that are also training for a teaching career.

This study assessed multiple-choice construction competence among public junior secondary school teachers in Edo Central Senatorial District, Nigeria. Two research questions were raised and one hypothesis was formulated and tested. This study adopted the descriptive study design. The population of the study covers the six hundred and sixteen (616) Secondary School teachers in all the 69 public secondary schools in Edo Central Senatorial District. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 125 subject head teachers who were drawn as the representative sample to measure teachers’ competence. These subject head teachers cover language subject head teachers, Science subject head teachers, and Art subject head teachers in schools. These subject teachers were draw using purposive sampling because they are like supervising teachers who work hand in hand with the management and school principals on administrative and management related duties. The instrument used was a 20-item survey questionnaire adapted from the work of Kissi (2020). The instrument was used to measure multiple-choice construction competencies and items’ quality among teachers. The test-retest reliability coefficient produced an r-value of 0.74 which shows that the instrument is reliable. Research question 1 was analyzed using mean () while the independent t-test for two sample means was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that the level of multiple-choice construction competence among public junior secondary school teachers in Edo Central Senatorial District, Nigeria is low and female teachers had higher level of multiple-choice construction competencies than male teachers in secondary schools in the district. It was concluded that sex differences in favour of female teachers, exist in teachers’ multiple-choice construction competencies. It was recommended that the district education administrators from the Local Government Education Council Authorities should place more emphasis on exposing classroom teachers on more practical ways of constructing multiple-choice items especially on how to effectively handle items‟ alternatives. This can be achieved through workshops, or training in test construction.

Context In 2007, Austria ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, committing to the implementation of an inclusive education system, including at the secondary school level. A common model in Austria is the integration class which is composed of a subject teachers, regular students, up to five students with special educational needs (SEN) and a SEN teacher. It can be challenging for subject teachers to work in such a class, but it can also be an opportunity for professional development. In other words, teachers are confronted with developmental tasks when working in the integration class. Developmental tasks is a concept which comes from the American sociologist and educationalist Havighurst (1948) who devised the concept of developmental stages and tasks from infanthood to old age. As far as teachers are concerned, previous research (Hericks, 2006) has identified four developmental tasks which teachers in their first years of teaching are confronted with and work on in this order: (1) the development of competence, (2) the development of the ability to mediate or transfer acquired knowledge and competence to others, (3) the development of the ability to acknowledge the student’s otherness and (4) the development of the ability to interact within the school system. Other research about the developmental tasks of pre-service teachers show that developmental tasks are embedded in a context of practice and experiences, differ per student and cannot be predicted (Kraler, 2012; Ostermann, 2015; Author, 2020, 2021). Approach This study reconstructed the developmental tasks of three subject teachers working in integration classes in secondary academic schools and looked at how these developmental tasks relate to inclusive education. We used a qualitative design. The first author observed 18 hours of lessons and conducted interviews with twelve subject teachers. We selected three contrasting cases of subject teachers and used the documentary method to reconstruct their developmental tasks. Findings We reconstructed three developmental tasks: (1) coping with diversity at pedagogical and didactic level; (2) cooperating with others; (3) acknowledging and promoting inclusive education in schools. Conclusion Successful inclusive education requires a supportive school environment where reflexive, transformative and cooperative teachers actively engage in professional development, which focuses on the three developmental tasks.