Exploring the impact of a middle level school therapy dog on students and staff and connections to best practices in middle school education

The Chinese traditional cultures promote the national progress and the social development, and provide spirit nourishment and intelligence support for our middle and primary school students. As a basic subject in the middle and primary schools, Chinese plays an important role in inheriting the ethnic culture and guiding the future development of students. Today, the educational circles have fully realized the important role of dominant curriculum in Chinese teaching in middle and primary schools in inheriting traditional cultures, but they shall better understand that, as a constituent part of the subject, the hidden curriculum in Chinese teaching has its own characteristics and irreplaceable functions in the transmission of traditional culture in Chinese teaching in middle and primary schools. For the problems of rigid teaching contents, forms and means for the transmission of traditional culture in the hidden curriculum of Chinese, lack of consciousness and quality for the development of the hidden curriculum of traditional cultures in the teaching staff, etc., the paper presents the ways for the development of hidden curriculum of traditional culture in Chinese teaching in middle and primary schools: multi-level development of the resources of the hidden curriculum of traditional cultures in Chinese teaching in the middle school, multi-form enhancement of the transmission of traditional culture in Chinese teaching, and multiplex promotion of the levels and capabilities of schools and teachers in the development of hidden curriculum.

This paper reports on challenges that teacher training departments of economic universities in Romania have to face nowadays, at time of changes in national school curriculum. As it is expected, economic education will be extended at national level as consequence of introducing economic education programs in middle schools, in addition to exiting programs at high school level. Among challenges that this process will generate we identified the need for teachers especially trained to teach economics at middle school level. The paper is structured in two parts. The first one is focused on the need for qualified teachers to effectively deliver economic education in Romanian middle schools and on the role of universities in supporting pre-university economic education. Information collected from students and teachers in respect with their competencies to teach middle school students are presented in order to advocate for new pre- and in-service teacher training programs focused on teaching middle school economics. The second part of the paper presents information regarding a program for middle school developed by Romanian Center for Economic Education - CREE that gives orientation on what economic education at middle school level could be and about the competences needed to be developed to middle school teachers. The important conclusion of this paper is that the change in economic education has to go together with a change in pre- and in-service teacher training and educational organizations such as schools, universities, or NGO-s can work together to successfully develop and implement new educational programs for middle school.

이 연구는 초․중등학교 안전교육 교원연수를 위한 안전교육 영역을 도출하고 영역별 난이도, 중요도, 빈도를 조사 분석하여 영역별 수준(상, 중, 하)을 분석하였다. 이를 위해 선행연구 고찰과 초등학교와 중·고등학교 교원 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였고, 연구 결과 및 결론은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 선행연구를 통한 초․중등 교원의 안전교육 영역은 생활안전, 교통안전, 약물 및 사이버 중독 예방(직업안전), 재난안전, 시설안전 5대 영역이다. 둘째, 초․중등 교원 안전교육 영역의 난이도, 중요도, 빈도 분석 결과, 교원들은 학교에서 안전사고가 자주 발생하고 있으며 이를 대처하는 학교안전 관련 업무가 대체로 어렵지만 중요하다고 인식한 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 초·중등 교원 안전교육 영역의 수준 분석 결과에 따른 연수과정(안)은 ①교통/시설안전 강화형 연수(1-3년차), ②재난안전 강화형 연수(4~6년차), ③생활안전(응급처치) 강화형 연수(7~9년차), ④생활안전(폭력예방) 강화형 연수(10~12년차) 4개 과정이며, 과정명의 교직 경력이 높을수록 높은 난이도의 연수과정을 의미한다. 마지막으로 이 연구에서 영역별·수준별로 체계화한 연수과정은 초중등 교원표준연수모델을 개발하는 기초 자료를 제공하게 된다. 이는 초중등 교원이 재직하는 동안에 각 연수과정을 주기적으로 이수하여 학교안전 전문성을 함양하는 데에 기여하게 될 것이다.This research deduced a safety education domain for the elementary and middle school safety education teacher training, and made an investigation and analysis of domain difficulty level, importance level and frequency, and analyzed the domain level(superior, medium and inferior). To do this, we considered the advanced research and executed the questionnaire for the elementary, middle and high school teachers, having the following research result and conclusion. First, the elementary and middle school teacher’s safety education domains through the advanced research are 5 domains of life safety, traffic safety, drug and cyber addiction prevention(occupational safety), disaster safety and facility safety. Second, as the result of analyzing the difficulty level and importance level and frequency of elementary and middle school teacher’s safety education domain, the teachers recognized that the safety accident is frequently happening at school, and that the school safety related work to cope with it is generally difficult but important. Third, according to the elementary and middle school teacher’s safety education domain level analysis result, the training process(plan) is of 4 processes of ① traffic/facility safety reinforcement type training(1-3 years), ②disaster safety reinforcement type training(4~6 years), ③life safety(first aids)reinforcement type training(7~9 years) and ④life safety (violence prevention) reinforcement type training(10~12 years), and it means that the higher process teacher career the higher difficulty level training process. Finally, the systematized training process by domain and level of this research provided the basic data that develops the elementary and middle school teacher’s standard training model. And this will contribute for the elementary and middle school teacher to complete systematically each process during his tenure of office and to promote his specialities of school safety.

A tuition-free teacher candidate is an undergraduate who receives tuition-free teacher education and must work as a teacher in a middle school after their graduation. Tuition-free candidates are of the focus of many researchers; however, no study reports how tuition-free teacher candidates think about teachers. The present study explored stereotypes about middle school and university teachers held by teacher candidates. Specifically, we looked for the differences between the stereotypes held by the teacher candidates and general undergraduates. This study attempted to provide a potential tool to predict the actual willingness of teacher candidates to work as middle school teachers. University and middle school teachers were evaluated using descriptive phrases or words on a five-point Likert scale by 116 tuition-free teacher candidates and 155 general undergraduates. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a three-factor stereotype model including occupational cognition, occupational personality, and occupational emotion. Compared with general undergraduates, teacher candidates held more positive occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers; they held more negative occupational emotions toward university teachers. Further, the undergraduates' willingness to be middle school teachers positively correlated with positive occupational emotions and negatively correlated with negative occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers. This supported previous studies that individuals' professional willingness were influenced by their stereotypes about professions.

The concept of middle level schooling has existed in the United States since the early 1900s. During the early 1960s, middle level schools were organized to meet the unique developmental needs of early adolescents. Yet, special training, preparation and/or certification for aspiring teachers who wish to work at this level are not available in the majority of states. Many state licensing agencies provide either elementary or secondary certification, which historically was believed to be adequate for middle level teaching. This study investigates the special preparation and training needs of middle level teachers as perceived by teachers and administrators in a suburban school district which was involved for several years in the implementation of innovative practices for middle schools. Middle level educators in this district had received in-service training and were engaged in considerable discussions on research related to effective middle schools. Thirty teachers and 10 administrators were surveyed about their own levels of preparation and their concepts of the elements of model preparation programs for middle school teachers. In a follow-up interview process, including a sample of the survey respondents, interviewees discussed in-depth their district's middle school programs; the impact of a state grant focusing on middle school organizational and instructional issues; and their perceptions about staff development needs of middle school personnel that were not being addressed. The data obtained through survey responses, interviews, and examination of district documents showed that the majority of the sample personnel received their training in middle school concept areas through formal in-service opportunities and/or on the job experience. Furthermore, a majority of the participants endorsed and expressed a need for the following: a special preparation program for middle school teachers containing field experience at the middle level; training in the unique developmental needs of the early adolescent; and, special training in a variety of instructional strategies. Results also indicated that the sample personnel were not aware of the school district's own studies on middle level schooling and were dissatisfied with the current programs, which they felt had suffered as a result of a lack of effective leadership at the district and building levels.

The teaching profession is highly stressful. Stress is a negative phenomenon that develops under conditions of uncontrollable, prolonged and increased pressure. In this study, our goal is (a) to investigate teachers' perception of the sources of stress in school in light of the neoliberal reforms and (b) to compare these sources of stress in primary school, middle school and high school teachers. We hypothesize that the demands and the workload to improve scores in standardized tests, increase the need of teachers to take work home. Therefore, home demands may conflict with school demands. Furthermore, the greatest pressure is on elementary and middle school teachers: Early efforts to improve student achievements in the lower grades would result in better-prepared students in high schools. Data about the sources of stress is based on a previous study of Buskila, Buskila, Giris and Ablin (2019) that investigated the connection between the effects of stress on teachers on somatic syndromes. Three hundred and twenty-one public school teachers working in the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Israel participated in the study. Findings of the mean of the entire samples revealed that the highest level of stress was caused by intense teaching schedule with insufficient breaks. The second cause was related to the composition of the students in the class, and the third was home demands conflicting with school demands. In the middle schools, the highest levels of stress are caused by school principals (M=5.98, SD=3.09) and second is in high school (M=5.00, SD=3.33). The highest level of stress caused by the superintendent is on primary school teachers (M=3.97, SD=3.33) and the second are the middle school teachers (M=3.79, SD = 2.95). The lowest stress level was in high school (M=2.68, SD=2.83). Three significance differences of stress were found among primary, middle, and high schools: The school principal is the highest source of pressure in the middle schools (P=.034), and the superintendent causes the highest level of stress in primary schools (P=.006). The third cause was in high school, related to physical school conditions (p=.002). These results are relevant to teachers, educators, and policy makers involved in planning and managing educational strategies and teachers’ schedules. Identifying and preventing the sources of stress can facilitate better teaching conditions, and a more effective and efficient atmosphere in school. Keywords: Stress at school, teachers' stress, causes of stress in school

This study examined elementary and middle school teachers’ self-reported use of behavioral supports for students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from a national sample of teachers. This information is important given increased attention and emphasis on universal and targeted strategies within problem-solving models in schools. Participants were teachers surveyed from 26 states across North America about their use of behavioral supports for their students with ADHD. Results are grouped by primary (K–2), intermediate (3–5), and middle (6–8) school levels. Results from this survey demonstrate that teachers report using significantly more universal and targeted strategies in the primary and intermediate school levels than teachers in the middle school level, revealing a reduction of behavioral supports for students with ADHD as they move into the middle school years. These findings have have implications for targeting school-based interventions for students with ADHD as they transition into middle school.

At present, with the rapid development of biology, the national basic education also pays more and more attention to the biology curriculum, updates the educational concept, and implements the curriculum reform, which has significantly improved the quality of biology teaching in middle school. However, due to the uneven distribution of educational resources between urban and rural areas, there is still a big gap in biology teaching between rural and urban areas. This paper mainly analyzes the main problems of biology teaching in rural middle schools through literature research and combined with the current teaching situation of several rural middle schools in Henan Province. The results show that the problems existing in biology teaching in rural middle schools mainly focus on three aspects: teachers, biology experiment teaching, and the development and utilization of biology curriculum resources. This paper aims to investigate and study the main problems existing in biology teaching in rural middle schools, and then put forward targeted development countermeasures to improve the quality of biology teaching in rural middle schools and narrow the teaching gap between urban and rural areas. Such as strengthening the construction of biology teachers and promoting teachers’ professional development, changing the concept of biological experiments,s and strengthening the construction of laboratories, on the basis of making full use of school resources, vigorously developing natural resources, and network resources. The number of rural middle schools in China is huge and the teaching situation is complex. Therefore, this study is not comprehensive. It is the problem of most rural schools, not all schools. Rural education is the weak point of Chinese education, and biology teaching is the weak point of rural education. Analyzing the existing main problems of biology teaching in rural middle schools and putting forward development countermeasures can not only enrich the theoretical research of rural education, but also provide reference for the teaching practice of rural teachers.

Research on the Physical Education Network of Middle School Education

Purpose: In this study, the research has been conducted on the health teachers and general teachers who are in charge of sexual education in the middle schools to find out their understanding on the degree of importance and degree of performance on key concept of the sex education and then compare their differences in the recognition of sex education which leads to find out the contents and range of capabilities required for the teachers in charge of sex education. Methods: A descriptive research on 77 health teachers and 71 general teachers using IPA and SPSS/WIN was practiced. Results: The result of research showed that there are significant differences in the annual hours for sex education of their schools, the contents of the sex education which was given in the lecture type lesson, and their performance degree. It was also found the distribution of key concepts by differences in IPA matrix. Conclusion: As there are the differences in the performance degree in sex education between health teachers and general teachers in middle school, more specific education for each of them is needed. And the way to reinforce the key concepts, which are found high in perceived importance degree for both health teachers and general teachers, but low in the performance degree should be considered.

The nature of colleague relations among middle school teachers is an important consideration in understanding their situation and comprehending the limits and possibilities of middle school education. Given that colleagues relations among middle school teachers may serve as valuable resource for establishing and maintaining high levels of professional effectiveness in (Doyle & Olszewski, 1975: 278), it seems useful to explore the nature of such relations (see also Hargreaves, 1972: 402). The pattern of interaction among teachers tends to be characterized by the emergence of subgroups (Eddy, 1969; Levy, 1970; Lortie, 1975; McPherson, 1972; Metz, 1978; Warren, 1970). The bases upon which subgroups form among middle school teachers should indicate how teachers are responding to the challenge of forging a new form of schooling. This paper focuses on four issues concerning the bases of teacher subgroups which are relevant to ongoing discussions about middle schools. (For a more complete report of the research findings drawn upon herein, including a discussion of other bases of teacher subgroups, see Ginsburg, 1979.) These issues can be summarized in terms of the extent to which each of the following factors constitutes a significant basis for teacher subgroups, i.e., the extent to which each factor identifies a boundary for staff interaction patterns, in middle schools: 1. Whether previous teaching experience was mostly at the secondary, primary, or middle school level; 2. Formally organized year group team membership; 3. Whether current teaching assignment is with students above or below the 11 + division, which in the case of 9-13 institutions translates, respectively, into the top versus the bottom two years; and 4. Position within the formal status hierarchy of the school.

Objectives: In an attempt to reduce tobacco use among adolescents in the USA, some health educators have created school-based tobacco education programmes. However, none currently exist for middle and high school educators. The current study sought to determine if middle and high school educators’ knowledge about combustible cigarettes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) improved following an educational session about youth tobacco use. Design: Pre-/post-assessment was employed to measure change in knowledge. Setting: Educators ( N = 41) from a rural, southern middle and high school were invited to take part in the study during an educational workshop held during an in-service training event. Method: In addition to seven knowledge questions, participants also provided demographic information and details of current and previous use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Chi-square analyses examined changes in responses to individual items, and total pre-/post-knowledge score change was compared using a dependent t-test. Independent t-tests examined differences between knowledge change and participants’ personal and behavioural characteristics. Results: Participants’ overall knowledge improved from pre- to the post-test ( p < .05); however, there was no relationship between pre-/post-test responses for individual items. In addition, there were no differences between participants’ knowledge change when compared by age, sex, grades taught and past use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes. Discussion: Increasing middle school and high school educators’ knowledge about tobacco products, particularly novel devices, is important due to the increasing rates of use among youth. More research is needed to determine how educators’ knowledge can help decrease tobacco initiation and use among school-aged children.

Curriculum Design of “National Training Plan” in View of Professional Development

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, including JUUL, has risen to epidemic levels among high school and middle school students in the United States. Schools serve as a key environment for prevention and intervention efforts to address e-cigarette use, yet little is known about the awareness of and response to e-cigarettes in schools. This national survey of middle and high school teachers and administrators (n = 1,420) measured JUUL awareness, e-cigarette policies, and barriers to enforcement in schools. While two thirds of respondents had heard of a product called JUUL (67.6%), less than half accurately identified a photo of a JUUL as a vaping device/e-cigarette (47.3%). Awareness of JUUL (80.9%) was higher among high school teachers (83.3%) than among middle school teachers (78.3%). A large majority of respondents reported that their school had an e-cigarette policy (82.9%), but less than half of the sample worked in a school with a policy that specifically included JUUL (43.4%). Those working in a school with an e-cigarette policy in place noted that e-cigarettes' discreet appearance (65.6%) and difficulties in identifying origin of vapor or scent (46.1%) made the policy difficult to enforce. Efforts to increase middle and high school staff awareness of the ever-evolving e-cigarette market are essential to help prevent youth use. Adoption and enforcement of policies will be critical to ensure that schools remain tobacco-free spaces.

Ideological and political education is indispensable as an important link in clarifying the direction and position of education in China. Middle school ideological and political education is especially important as a key stage to establish students'correct thinking earlier and to ensure the smooth development of ideological and political education in the later stage. The ideological and political education in middle school usually takes the teacher's education as the main body, and the students are in a passive state of education. The ideological and political education of middle school students is always a little difficult to teach because of the relatively boring knowledge system. Enriching educational methods and introducing music education is a better choice for improving ideological and political education in middle school. Although music education and ideological and political education are two different majors, they are both indispensable parts in the development process of middle school ideological and political education, assuming different roles and playing their unique roles. Because of the consistency of the two in the educational purpose and the method has a certain degree of integration, so that the combination of the two possible. At present, the research on the application of music education to ideological and political education in middle schools is relatively lacking, and it is a very useful way to apply music education methods to ideological and political education to improve students'various qualities. It is necessary to further analyze the role of music education on middle school ideological and political education in order to enrich the theory of middle school ideological and political education, provide a new method of middle school ideological and political education, and expand the new road of middle school ideological and political education.