Context Of Public Schools Research Articles

Spirituality/Faith Integration and Career Sustainability: A Phenomenology of African-American Principals in U.S. Urban High-poverty Public Schools

A phenomenological lens was used to analyze themed patterns to understand how spirituality provides hope, a sense of purpose, and resiliency, enabling 12 Christian African- American principals of urban public schools in the United States to sustain their careers while facing marginalization, inequities, economic oppression, and stress. The terms spirituality and faith are used interchangeably. Both terms refer to what it means to be human and both incorporate self-transcendence to make sense of lived experiences by communicating with a higher source. Findings reveal that spirituality is an important resource that supports career sustainability for Christian African-American principals who lead U.S. urban public schools. In particular, this article provides critical voices of educational leaders, from urban high-poverty public school contexts, who integrate their spirituality/faith within their leadership role. The article helps to fill the literature gap in workplace spirituality, educational leadership, and career sustainability and offers implications for scholars and practitioners.

The Relationship Between Inclusive Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Inclusive Climate and Emotional Commitment

This research investigates the influence of inclusive leadership on innovative work behavior, emphasizing the mediating roles of emotional commitment and inclusive climate within the context of Turkish public schools. Utilizing a sample of 364 teachers from Kocaeli, the study employed various scales to measure inclusive leadership, emotional commitment, inclusive climate, and innovative work behavior, and analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that inclusive leadership positively affects innovative work behavior. However, the impact is significantly amplified when an inclusive climate and high levels of emotional commitment are present. The results suggest that while inclusive leadership is necessary for fostering innovation, it is the combination of an emotionally supportive and inclusively diverse environment that truly enhances innovative behaviors among teachers. This comprehensive approach not only bolsters the innovative capacity of individuals but also contributes to a more dynamic and creative educational atmosphere. This study highlights the importance of adopting a holistic leadership strategy in educational institutions. It underscores the need for school administrators to not only practice inclusive leadership but also actively cultivate an environment that values diversity and fosters emotional commitment. By doing so, schools can become fertile grounds for innovation, benefiting educators and students alike. The research provides valuable insights into the mechanisms through which leadership can influence organizational behavior and offers a framework for fostering innovation in educational settings.

Disproportionality monitoring for special education and stakeholder practices in a post-affirmative action landscape

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine and explore how the recent US Supreme Court case on affirmative action within higher education will shape and contextualize disproportionate minority representation and its monitoring within a K-12 public school context for students with disabilities. That is, as the litigation and ultimate judicial decision shape how institutions of higher education advance affirmative action policies for the admission of racialized and ethnic minority college students, another unanswered question remains. Namely, how will K-12 public school districts both adhere to federal policy that mandates proportionate racial representation of students with disabilities within special education categories and support teachers and school systems with compliance to federal policy? Using a legal compliance focal point theoretical perspective, this article contextualizes the affirmative action conversation as one that must include guidance to education systems and teachers working to ensure federal compliance and racial equity within special education.

Continuing to critically engage with DAP to foster democratic teaching and teacher education in neoliberal early education contexts

ABSTRACT As the fields of early childhood teaching and teacher education continue to evolve and diversify, policymakers’ neoliberal reforms further standardise and restrict these programmes of practice. Many have documented the impact of these policies on early childhood teaching and teacher education, and in this article, we add to these conversations by investigating how the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) fourth edition of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) might assist early childhood stakeholders in countering policymakers continued push towards neoliberal systems of early education and teacher education. Drawing from over 15 years of investigations in the United States, we highlight how preservice and in-service early educators in public school contexts have and continue to struggle with two primary issues: having to align their teaching with policymakers’ reforms and seeking professional knowledge and opportunities for change. We illuminate these challenges to identify opportunities for teacher educators to use DAP to support preservice and practicing teachers across the globe in speaking back to and moving beyond policymakers’ neoliberal policies. We also offer suggestions for NAEYC to continue to improve DAP so that the early childhood stakeholders can promote a policy and practical agenda that places democratic practices at the forefront.

Who is taking dance electives, when, and for how long? Adolescents’ dance participation and persistence in middle and high school

ABSTRACT Inclusive and equitable dance education practices remain an important issue in United States public school settings. We explore adolescents’ participation in public school dance electives through the examination of an ethnically diverse, longitudinal sample of students living in Miami, Florida (N = 24,368), as they progress through secondary school between the 2009–2010 and 2015–2016 academic years. We describe participation rates in dance electives and give results from linear probability regression models showing the characteristics (demographics, school readiness skills, prior school suspension, attendance, and academic achievement) of adolescents who enroll and persist in dance electives between middle and high school. We found that 14% of students enrolled in a dance elective during middle school and only 2% of students did so in high school. The highest levels of uptake in dance electives occurred in 7th and 9th grade. Most adolescents enrolled in a dance elective for only one academic year. Ethnicity, gender, disability status, and prior academic performance were significant predictors of initially selecting into a dance elective in middle school, and for persisting in a dance elective in high school. These results prompt further discussion of the integration of inclusive dance pedagogy in public school contexts.

School Leaders’ Autonomy in Public and Private School Contexts: Blurring Policy Requirements

This study responds to calls for more nuanced research on school actors’ autonomy in contexts characterized by multiple governance configurations. It investigates school leaders’ autonomy when enacting policy requirements in public and private school contexts, with Norway as an example. The study draws on qualitative data from eight leaders in diverse school contexts, revealing how the increased standardization of competence and assessment requirements challenges school leaders’ autonomy in private and public schools. Using the idea of gap management (Knapp & Hopmann, 2017), we find that there is little overall difference between state-funded private schools and traditional public schools. However, we did find variation in how standardization challenges school leaders’ autonomy. The variation in school leaders’ autonomy seems to lie within the visions of the schools and school leaders.

Epistemological beliefs and classroom practices of experienced physics teachers: are they related?

There is a need in teacher education to explore experienced physics teachers' domain-general epistemological beliefs and classroom practices. The study reports 30 experienced physics teachers' epistemological beliefs and classroom practices in Turkish public high school context. The data was collected through interviews and classroom observations. During the analysis, qualitative data was analyzed through constant comparative method. Level and frequency of participants' epistemological beliefs and classroom practices were quantified for descriptive statistics. The results indicated that most teachers held transitional epistemological beliefs, but they taught in traditional ways. Their epistemological beliefs and classroom practices were not in alignment. These results showed that experienced teachers might have sophisticated epistemological beliefs, but they were not able to reflect their beliefs into practice according to their perception of students' expectations. The study provides implications for research for teacher learning and development through large-scale longitudinal studies and to understand the factors of misalignment between their beliefs and practices.

Il “ragionevole accomodamento” nella giurisprudenza italiana in materia ecclesiastica*

The “reasonable accommodation” in Italian jurisprudence in ecclesiastical matters
 ABSTRACT: With judgment n. 24414/2021, the United Sections of the Supreme Court suggested “reasonable accommodation” as a key to resolving conflicts over religious symbols in public school classrooms. This approach, which is typically used to promote equality for workers with disabilities, has been applied to this dispute in a novel way. This paper intends to reconstruct the Court’s proposal of a “reasonable accommodation” model after analyzing the original features of this approach. From the investigation of nature and the application of “reasonable accommodation” in the decision of the Court, this work seeks to verify whether this model can be effectively and legally relevantly applied in the public school context.
 SOMMARIO: 1. Il crocifisso e l’inedita chiave di risoluzione dei conflitti dopo la sentenza n. 24414 delle Sezioni Unite della Corte di cassazione - 2. La natura del principio del “ragionevole accomodamento” - 3. Il “ragionevole accomodamento” come metodo “mite” - 4. Limiti e prospettive - 5. Brevi osservazioni conclusive.

CHARACTERIZING PUBLIC CLASSICAL SCHOOLS: PROMOTIONAL LANGUAGE IN MISSION AND VISION STATEMENTS

Little is known about primary and secondary public classical schooling in the United States despite a history of over 30 years and the increasing influence of classical organizations on individual states’ curriculum. The lack of information is ascribed to the lack of salient literature on the implementation of the classical approach in public school contexts. To begin to characterize classical public schooling, the researcher conducts a comparative content analysis of mission and vision statements from 47 classical and 50 non-classical public schools. Pointwise mutual information (PMI), an association metric, is used to meaningfully differentiate the promotional language employed by the classical and non-classical school groups to appeal to prospective families in a competitive public education market. Results indicate that classical public schools advertise curricular emphases on challenging academics and character formation, demonstrating an intriguing connection to the available literature on classical education despite the focus of that literature on private and religious contexts for learning.

Headteachers’ Instructional Leadership Practices as Predictors of Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development in Ghanaian Public Basic Schools: Structural Equation Modelling Approach

The study sought to examine the causal effect of headteachers’ instructional leadership practices on teachers’ continuous professional development in Ghanaian public basic school context. The study employed the causal-comparative research design within the positivist quantitative framework, involving 127 headteachers and 643 teachers who were selected through census and proportionate stratified random sampling techniques respectively. Questionnaires were used to collect data, which was analysed through the covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). Analysis of the path coefficients revealed that instructional leadership practices predicted a statistically significant 41.3% to teacher continuous professional development. Further examination of the path coefficients established that instructional leadership practices accounted for a statistically significant 41.7% to teacher knowledge, 45.4% to teacher professional values and attitudes as well as 42.2% to teacher professional practice respectively. Consistent with these findings, it was concluded that the headteachers’ instructional leadership practices were good predictors of teachers’ continuous professional development in the public basic schools in Ghana. Therefore, the study recommended that the headteachers should be supported and oriented to intensify their instructional leadership practices so as to enhance the continuous professional development of the teachers in public basic schools in Ghana.

Comparative Study of the Impact of Authentic Leadership on Organizational Commitment of Public and Private Secondary School Teachers

This comparative study was conducted to investigate the influence of authentic leadership on the organizational commitment of secondary school teachers. The study focuses on both public and private secondary schools, recognizing the distinct contextual factors that may shape the relationship between authentic leadership and organizational commitment in these two sectors. This study aimed to bridge the gap by exploring the potential impact of authentic leadership behaviors exhibited by school principals on the organizational commitment of teachers, while considering potential variations between the public and private school contexts. A mixed method was employed. Data collection involved surveys, interviews, and document analysis. The findings suggest that authentic leadership plays a crucial role in influencing teachers' affective and normative commitment levels in both public and private secondary schools in the KP region. The implications of these findings are significant for educational policymakers, school administrators, and leadership development programs. Strengthening authentic leadership behaviors among school principals could foster higher levels of organizational commitment among teachers, contributing to improved educational outcomes and teacher well-being. The study underscores the need for tailored approaches in enhancing authentic leadership practices based on the specific sector; thereby promoting a more committed and engaged teaching workforce in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Further research avenues and recommendations are discussed in light of the study's outcomes.

Unlocking teacher potential: The integrated influence of empowering leadership and authentic leadership on teacher self-efficacy and agency in Turkey

Teacher agency has attracted growing attention in the field of educational management and leadership due to its positive outcomes for schools. This study investigated how and under what conditions school principals empowering leadership beneficial to teacher agency using data collected from 756 public secondary school teachers in Turkey. This study tested a moderated mediation model of how authentic leadership influences the effects of empowering leadership on teacher self-efficacy and teacher agency. The results supported the partial mediation model in which principal empowering leadership was associated with direct and indirect effects through teacher self-efficacy on teacher agency. Moreover, higher levels of principal authentic leadership were associated with stronger effects of empowering leadership on both teacher self-efficacy and teacher agency. Our results indicate a more profound comprehension of how empowering leadership influences teacher agency within the context of Turkish public schools. Furthermore, we provide practical recommendations for promoting teacher agency within school settings.

Educating Black Girls Enduring Microaggressions in an Oreo World

The purpose of this article is to explore suburban Black Christian girls’ experiences of microaggressions in the public high school context. Through an ethnographic study, personal narratives were collected from six suburban Black Christian girls who all attended the same African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church where I served as the youth minister. These narratives offer insight into ways microaggression encounters in suburban schools can impact the personal identity, racial identity, and spiritual formation of Black adolescent girls. The Black sanctuary is the context where the girls in the study felt most accepted, represented, and safe. This implies re-imagining religious education practices with Black girls is important if pastors want to cultivate formative spaces that help Black youth thrive in an Oreo World.

From practice-to-research-to-practice: leveraging reciprocal partnerships to advance racial justice in education across contexts and ecological levels

ABSTRACT African American families face significant racial barriers to their educational attainment. Within the experience of schooling specifically, anti-Black oppressive forces manifest in both structural and interpersonal forms, and existing challenges have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Black families have consistently developed strategies for navigating racialized educational barriers. Moreover, their own agency has been enhanced through engagement with justice-oriented community partnerships. The current study captures how a reciprocal university-community partnership advanced African American parent agency before and during the pandemic. The history of the partnership is first detailed, followed by a qualitative study of data from six parent focus groups regarding parents’ perceptions of barriers to educational success across public and private school contexts, their own efforts to overcome those barriers, and the role of the community university partnership in advancing the families’ educational aims. Findings reveal ecologically distinct racialized barriers in public and private school settings, with economic barriers transcending educational contexts. Black parents navigated these barriers with adaptative strategies across parent involvement domains. Implications for research, practice, and university-community partnerships are discussed.

Intersectionality contesting privilege; fostering inclusion

ABSTRACT Identity categories have the potential to become salient factors for unequal treatment within a public school setting in Ethiopia. Public school teachers can experience administrative procedures and processes differently based on the identity categories they belong. Hence, this situation can become a condition for the problem of horizontal inequality within public schools with teachers of diverse social identities. Horizontal inequality was investigated at the state level using unitary identity category difference. However, horizontal inequality within school diversity using an intersectional perspective is ignored, particularly in the Ethiopian public school context. Accordingly, this study investigated horizontal inequality within school diversity using an intersectionality lens. We investigated out-group member teachers’ horizontal inequality experience within a public school setting through ideas conceived of equal treatment for public school teachers. Using qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology design the data were collected from 10 former teachers sampled with both snowball and maximum variation techniques. Content analysis of the data not only revealed that the intersection of ethnic, race, religion and political affiliation identity categories determine teachers’ access to privileged space within public school diversity but also the manner of horizontal inequality establishment and othering instruments. Horizontal inequality within public schools’ diversity may be eliminated by first admitting it exists and then taking additional measures to ensure equality policies and legislation are implemented to serve their intended purposes.

Application of ChatGPT for an English Learning Platform

This paper aims to explore the potential of ChatGPT to serve as a comprehensive English learning platform for public school context by analyzing previous literature and current AI-based chatbots. To this end, the study investigated the potential of ChatGPT through four research questions: First, what are the educational possibilities of English learning chatbots?; Second, what are the possibilities and limitations of English learning chatbots when applied in classroom lessons?; Third, how can ChatGPT be utilized in classroom lessons?; Fourth, how can ChatGPT be utilized when applied to an intelligent adaptive learning model? The main conclusions of this discussion are as follows: First, the capabilities of AI-based English learning chatbots rely on natural language processing abilities, conversation modeling, providing dynamic feedback to learners, and offering personalized learning experiences which are lack in existing AI chatbots. Second, conventional English learning chatbots have been utilized in school education as free conversation apps, debate-specific bots, and integrated learning platforms. Third, ChatGPT has the potential to be integrated into a language learning platform and applied in formal learning environments. Finally, this paper proposes a plan to utilize ChatGPT in the context of an intelligent adaptive learning model.

Teacher-Student Relationships and Students’ Learning Experiences: A Narrative Inquiry

This article explores the teacher-student relationship and its influence on students’ learning experiences and academic performance. The authors acknowledge the limited research conducted in this specific domain and emphasize the need to delve into the impact of this relationship on students’ learning activities. Employing interpretivism and narrative inquiry as the chosen research methodology, the authors explore the experiences of six participants, encompassing students from diverse educational institutions. By drawing upon cognitive constructivist theory, social constructivist theory, and attachment theory, the article systematically investigates whether the teacher-student relationship fosters the development of students’ curiosity and passion for learning. The research findings reveal the multifaceted nature of this relationship, identifying key dimensions that significantly enhance students’ learning experiences, including qualities such as love, care, responsibility, empowerment, and motivation. Conversely, negative aspects such as humiliation, irresponsibility, misbehavior, and punishment were found to detrimentally impact students’ learning outcomes and academic performance. Moreover, the study highlights the instrumental role of a positive teacher-student relationship as a motivational catalyst for students, fostering their genuine interest in learning and substantially improving their academic achievements. Overall, the research sheds light on the prevailing dynamics and practices of teacher-student relationships within the context of public schools, with the ultimate goal of enhancing student learning outcomes.

Perceptions of Education Stakeholders on Use of Code-Switching in English Foreign Language Classrooms in Primary Schools in Tanzania

Code switching is used as a strategy for teaching of English foreign language in Tanzania public primary school contexts. It is however not officially recognised as one of the strategies for teaching and learning the English subject. Little attention has been given to the use of code switching for teaching and learning English as a foreign language in relation to how it minimises the opportunity to use the target language. The paper is informed by various perspectives on use of code switching in the language teaching and learning classroom. In particular, the paper is pegged on the view that in the foreign language classroom exposure and use of the target language is prime and should be maximised. This paper presents findings from a study that investigated the use of code switching in English language teaching and learning process where a qualitative approach was used. The findings of the study showed code switching negatively affects language proficiency of learners, as it lowers students’ ability to master English language, hinders language learning and it contributes to challenges students face during exams. Code switching impedes English language learning and should be avoided so as to develop a tendency for practicing speaking English language during English sessions. It is recommended to persistently teach English through English in the foreign language context to maximise use and the linguistic space for effective learning of the language.

First-Year Teachers’ Challenges With Implementing Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Their Public School Classrooms

ABSTRACT The first year of teaching has and continues to be fraught with challenges for early educators in public school contexts across the United States. A persistent problem that has been documented across the globe is the ability of novice teachers to engage in developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) with their students. We examine this issue through a case study that investigated how the first-year teachers in our study described: a) their conceptions of DAP with their students and b) their engagement in such practices during their first year of teaching in public school contexts. Our findings reveal the challenges and opportunities for growth as professionals in implementing DAP that emerged for these teachers in their first year of teaching. Through this analysis, we illuminate the spaces that might exist for teachers to think about and engage in DAP within public elementary school contexts and offer the chance to consider how such stakeholders as teacher educators and principals can better support novice teachers in conceptualizing and implementing more appropriate and equitable practices in their teaching.

Leading During COVID-19 Crisis: The Influence of Principals' Leadership Styles on Teachers' Well-being in the United Arab Emirates Public Secondary Schools

<p style="text-align: justify;">Crises like COVID-19 affect organizations as well as employees' well-being. Leaders, in this sense, have a critical role to play in reducing the challenges and promoting a healthy workplace. With employees feeling overwhelmed and anxious to cope, leaders should provide the appropriate support and guidance. This quantitative study examined the relationship between different leadership styles, which are participative, directive, supportive, and Laissez-Faire, and teachers' well-being in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study adds insights into the UAE's public school context, where 101 teachers were surveyed following a snowball sampling technique. Findings revealed that Laissez-Faire and directive styles were the most dominant among the four leadership styles examined. In terms of the relationships between leadership styles and well-being, correlation and regression analyses were done through SPSS, and findings from the Generalized Linear Model analysis revealed that although the four styles correlated positively with well-being, the participative leadership style had the most decisive influence. The results showed that none of the demographics had any significant influence on well-being, and no differences in well-being in terms of demographics were reported.</p>