Context Of School Education Research Articles

Sexuality education for disabled children and youth in Ontario, Canada: Addressing epistemic injustice through school‐based sexuality education

AbstractWhile conversations pertaining to school‐based sexuality education are becoming more prominent, the experiences of disabled children and youth are still under‐discussed in research. Despite disabled childhood studies emerging as a field of inquiry, there is still a lack of critical conversation pertaining to disabled students' sexuality education within their respective schooling. This article draws from Fricker's theory of epistemic injustice to describe some of the ethical questions that arise in the denial of disabled children and youth's access to sexuality education in school contexts. By engaging with relevant literature on sexuality education and disabled students in schooling, this article puts forward that the continual exclusion of disabled students from accessing school‐based sexuality education promotes a form of epistemic injustice and silencing of the voices, perspectives and experiences of disabled students.

Dismantling barriers to access: The necessity of cripping sexuality education in Canadian schools

Despite sexuality education in school contexts being a highly politicized and ideologically fueled conversation, discussions of the specific needs of disabled students are often silenced, in particular for those who might be accessing special education programming. In this paper, we provide a call to action to explicate the crucial importance of addressing both ableist attitudes and constructions embedded within conversations of childhood sexuality and sexuality education, as well as policy and curriculum change to create more inclusive sexuality education approaches for disabled students and learners in Canadian provinces and territories. Many Canadian provinces do not mention disability or accommodations for disabled learners in their sexuality education curricula and all provincial curricula do not currently meet requirements set by internationally governing human rights policies. As such, this paper aims to bring to attention the different ways in which current school-based sexuality education is failing the human rights of disabled learners in Canadian schools and how sexuality education can be rethought through a social justice framework to ensure that the needs of all learners and that systems of inequality, such as ableism and heterosexism, are addressed in school contexts. Specific recommendations for policy and professional practice are provided to direct educators, policy-makers, and curriculum developers towards providing more inclusive sexuality education.

TQM model based on Deming prize for schools

PurposeThis paper aims to develop a total quality management (TQM) model based on the Deming prize criteria extracted from the Deming Prize. The proposed model is aligned with the school education context and deployed with the goal of achieving school excellence.Design/methodology/approachThe model is developed based on a literature review in which key concepts for formulating the criteria and sub-criteria were identified. A qualitative research approach is applied to validate the model’s effectiveness. Interviews and feedback from an international school in Japan which adopted the model are used to determine its impact.FindingsThe model emphasises the achievement of school objectives (A) by implementing TQM activities (B) and assessing their impact (C). Its implementation offers enhanced organisational ability and the achievement of society-oriented school objectives. The findings show that the model gives clarity to TQM application and offers benefits for schools’ future sustainability.Originality/valueThis research proposes the adoption of a TQM model for educational institutions based on Deming criteria. Based on a comparison with prescriptive models such as Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and ISO 9001, this study shows how the developed model ensures organisational ability in current practice and future growth towards school excellence. Through the formulation of society-oriented school objectives and their linkage with results, it enables schools to create a balanced recognition of important stakeholders and gain consensus in realising the school’s objectives.

A Didactical Reflection on Competency-Based Liberal Arts Education

This study reflects on the educational validity of competency-based liberal arts education, and aims to enhance its feasibility and secure its sustainability. It also aims to clarify the educational conditions and circumstances of competency-based liberal arts education in a didactical manner, which ultimately attempts to encourage the recovery of educational authenticity in the context of actual practice. Even though the concept of competency emerged within the vocational training context, it has been re-conceptualized within the context of school education through the evolution of <i>introduction-diffusion-transformation</i>. Thus, it is time to overcome the conceptual confusion of competency discourse and to collect educational wisdom. The concept of competency should permeate into the pedagogical realm in terms of aims, content, methods and evaluation of liberal arts education. As to the educational aim, competency should guide the overall liberal arts education as the real power that drives ‘well-being’. Regarding its content, subjects in the liberal arts education should be restructured into a dynamic whole in which knowledge, skills, attitude and values are all blended together in a trans-boundary way. In terms of methods, the essential meaning of learning should be based more on student agency, allowing for learners to think more for themselves and to act autonomously. Regarding evaluation, the conventional formal diagnosis, with its instrumental and measurement-focused approach, should be converted into a more narrative evaluation in order to draw each student’s existential reflection. Based on the past 2500 years of history, liberal arts education might be summed up with one word: reinterpretation. In the same spirit, the post-human and post-Covid era requests a brand-new liberal arts education. Competency-based liberal arts education should be reborn as educational transformation that widens the prospect of liberal education in the 21<sup>st</sup> century.

English as Medium of Instruction at Primary Level: Problems Faced by Teachers and Students

This study was conducted to investigate problems faced by teachers and students in the teaching-learning process using English as the medium of instruction at the primary level. The study explored the teachers’ competencies and students' abilities needed regarding the use of English as a medium of instruction. A survey research design was used to conduct the study. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 380 randomly selected teachers of 350 primary schools of HazaraChi-Square Chi Square Goodness of Fit Test was used for the data analysis. Findings revealed that most primary school teachers found it difficult to teach different subjects using English as medium of instruction. Teachers did not seem to be able to provide a suitable learning environment for students in the EMI context. In comparison to students who did not seem to face substantial issues in understanding their lessons through EMI, teachers faced more difficulties in the effective use of EMI for their teaching. This could be linked to their lack of teachers’ training for an EMI teaching environment. The study has important implications as the medium of instruction conundrum does not seem to go away in the Pakistani school education context in general and at the primary level of education in particular.

An Interview with Antti Juvonen: Creativity, Talent and Giftedness in Finland

- In your opinion, how well does Finland teach, mentor, coach and help gifted and talented and creative students? I suppose you mean the school education context. I am afraid that gifted, talented and creative students have been almost forgotten in our Finnish school system. I believe that the only thing that is currently being done for gifted, talented and creative pupils is differentiating upwards, which means in practice, offering them some extra exercises. This is mostly because in Finland we have a system where pupils with special needs are put in normal classes with other pupils. It is called inclusion. Pupils with special needs have been supported with a so called “three step support” since 2011. The first step is general support which the teacher offers with individual pedagogical solutions. The second step is aimed for pupils with long-lasting wider needs for support. It is called intensified support. If this does not help the pupil, the system offers specific support which can be offered after quite comprehensive studies are made by psychologists and other specialists. The idea of this model was to help all pupils to get as good and comprehensive an education as possible. What went wrong was that the cities and especially small towns, did not hire enough helping personnel to support the pupils with special needs. This causes big challenges to class teachers who are put in a position of a special education teacher: they have to take care of pupils with special needs, but at the same time they should be able to teach the rest of the class with normal level pupils and the gifted, talented and creative pupils. Of course, the pupils with special needs take most of their time, which means that the others must try to learn at least the minimum of the curriculum’s requirements. The most gifted often become frustrated and start inventing activities which also disturb the classroom action and atmosphere. This happens because they are bored and do not get any response or activation or response for their innovativeness or special gifts. So, as a whole I see the situation quite poor from the point of view of those groups mentioned.

Teaching and Learning Writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) School Education Contexts: A Thematic Review

ABSTRACT While abundant research has investigated the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing in college contexts, there has been little examination of writing in primary and secondary school settings. It is important to understand the writing literacy development of young EFL learners and to explore instruction that supports their growth as writers. For research and pedagogical purposes, we conducted a review of 136 studies of EFL writing in primary and secondary school contexts from 2012 to 2019 concerning three themes: (1) contexts and participants, (2) research foci and theoretical orientations, and (3) research methodology and data sources. The findings offer a broad picture of the scholarship on EFL writing in school contexts over the last eight years and suggest future directions for researching and teaching EFL writing in primary and secondary school contexts.

Verbal-Performance Activities for Optimizing Foreign Language Education

The modern world, characterized by dynamic changes, rapid development of ICT and globalization processes sets new challenges to present-day education. This research aims at investigating the influence of applying verbal-performance activities in foreign language education. A pedagogical experiment was conducted in authentic environment with the participation of 99 pupils aged 10 to 11 who formed an experimental and a control group. The study combined qualitative and quantitative approach. It measured pupils’ entry and exit levels of practical English knowledge and communicative skills and also traced the effect of the experimental education on the pupils from the experimental group. The interpretative analyses of the results revealed that applying verbal-performance activities in foreign language education led to higher achievements in terms of knowledge and communicative competence for the pupils from the experimental group compared to the progress of the children from the control group. A measurement of the attitude of the pupils from the experimental group towards applying verbal-performance activities in the educational process proved the potential of the method to increase children’s motivation for learning. The findings of this research confirm the need of further studies on the influence of applying verbal-performance activities in a broader context of school education.

English as a Medium of Instruction at the Early School Years: Problems Faced by Teachers and Students

This study explored the perceptions of schoolteachers about the problems faced by teachers and students in using English as medium of instruction at the early school years in Hazara division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The population of the study included primary schoolteachers in the 14 Tehsils and 6 districts of Hazara division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Stratified Random Cluster sampling method was used to choose sample for the survey. Findings indicated that most of the schoolteachers found it difficult to teach and use English as a medium of instruction in their teaching at the early school years. Teachers did not seem to be able to provide useful English as medium of instruction environment to the students. Teachers could not teach all the subjects in English and found it difficult to understand the subject content for teaching. Teachers faced more problems as compared to students in using English as a medium of instruction. The study has important implications, as the medium of instruction conundrum does not seem to go away in the Pakistani school education context in general and at the early school years education in particular.

Atravessamentos de histórias de vida e percursos formativos de professores (as) na Educação Ambiental escolar do Distrito Federal/Brasil

Este artigo apresenta um recorte de uma pesquisa de Doutorado que se encontra em andamento e visa compreender a inserção e desenvolvimento de Educação Ambiental na Educação Básica do Distrito Federal/Brasil, a partir de histórias de vida de sujeitos que influenciaram e influenciam nesse processo, e identificar, em seu percurso formativo, contribuições para a formação de outros (as) professores (as) que queiram atuar com EA em contexto escolar. Para desenvolver o trabalho escolhemos por referencial teórico-metodológico o método biográfico. Considerando os atravessamentos entre histórias de vida, percursos formativos desses sujeitos e o histórico da inserção e enraizamento da EA no Distrito Federal/Brasil foi possível perceber aspectos idiossincráticos e históricos da EA no contexto escolar, identificar momentos-charneira econstruir contribuições para a Formação de Professores para atuar com EA.

Design education in schools: an investigation of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies

Design education as a field is growing rapidly due to its potential to develop the capacity of students to become creative and imaginative thinkers. In addition to these key twenty-first century skills, design education can also equip students with problem solving skills and innovative capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to build an understanding of how design is represented within the Australian Curriculum: Technologies document and critically explore effects of these representations within and between Key Learning Areas. The paper makes a contribution to design education in school contexts through an empirical analysis of curriculum documents to illuminate the complexity of the concept of design and the pedagogical implications of its multiple representations in this curriculum document. The analysis includes identification of the Key Learning Area in which design is most frequently represented across the Australian Curriculum. Content analysis with concept mapping are used to interrogate how design is represented within and throughout curriculum documents. We also undertake a critical examination of how design is positioned in the curriculum and the implications of such positioning. The paper argues the need for strong, unambiguous representations of design to inform curriculum and pedagogy. Clarity of the representation of design will contribute to the development of innovative capabilities in students and help to prepare them for an uncertain future.

Mechanisms of the Learning Impact of Teacher-Organized Online Schoolwork Sharing Among Primary School Students

Despite the increasing amount of literature on the educational potential of social media for learning, little is understood about how different functions of social media might affect learning in the K-12 context, the primary school education context in particular. This study examined the effect on learning of a key function of social media—online sharing. It examined how teacher-organized online schoolwork sharing on a social media-based platform, Seesaw, influenced a group of primary school students’ learning. Survey responses from 337 primary school students revealed that students had positive perceptions of the impact of schoolwork sharing on learning. Structural equation modeling analysis of the survey responses revealed that online schoolwork sharing influenced individual student learning primarily through enhanced perceptions of the value of online sharing for learning from peer review, which influenced learners’ efforts in schoolwork. Efforts in schoolwork then positively influenced students’ self-efficacy in learning. The findings suggest that primary school teachers should actively utilize the sharing function of social media to facilitate student learning. The findings also underscore the importance of enhancing peer review and students’ perceptions of its value in order to maximize the learning potential of online schoolwork sharing for primary school students.

Strategies for Developing 21st Century Skills in the Context of Modern English Language Teaching Approaches

The article focuses on integrating 21st century skills into the context of school education. It presents the generally accepted classification of skills; justifies the necessity of their formation in view of the socio-economic challenges of modern society; provides the strategies for their promotion in the framework of foreign language learning. The author carried out the analysis of current publications relevant to the topic of the research. Skills are traditionally grouped into four categories: 1) digital literacy (knowledge of science and technology; ability to receive, analyze, design, and visualize information; cultural awareness); 2) innovative thinking (adaptability, adequacy of response to the environment, self-organization, curiosity, creativity, ability to risk, analytical skills); 3) effective communication (team-building and leadership in a group, working in collaboration, interpersonal skills, social and civic responsibility, interactivity, e-learning and working through mutual development); 4) high productivity (ability to prioritize, programmatic planning and management, efficient use of resources, the ability to create the right quality product of their work). In practice, transformation in education system is expressed in changing learning models: 1) student-centered learning; 2) interactive teaching of "teacher-student" format; 3) the role of the teacher takes many forms: facilitator, curator, advisor, expert, who facilitates the task or project. To form cognitive and social skills while teaching English in secondary school, it is recommended to follow the didactic principle of students' consciousness development, to rely on a personalization and individual approach, to use problem-based learning technologies, to use interactive forms of learning. For the formation and development of personal competencies, it is recommended to carefully select authentic training materials facilitating the learners' curiousity and be problematic in nature. The results of the implementation of the proposed strategies provide for the creation of a success situation in the English language lesson, which allows the development of creative abilities, stimulates their expression, as well as promotes the expected learning outcomes.

Boundary brokering for cross‐cultural professional learning in international school contexts

Although much research has been done on the internalisation of education, issues related to intercultural professional learning, especially in the school education context, remain underexplored. This study examines the potential of boundary brokering in facilitating cross‐cultural professional learning in an international school context. This article reports the qualitative findings from an interview study with seven non‐ethnic Chinese language teachers who resided at the borders of Chinese and western communities of practice on their boundary brokering experience in bridging the different norms of being and practice in the Chinese teacher community and the western communities in international schools in Asia. Interview responses from the participants show that the participants’ cultural brokering generated critical and eclectic perspectives and practices, and reshaped the power landscape in the workplace. At the same time, their cultural brokering was shaped by the interactions among power relations within and across communities of practice, social suggestions on cultural brokering and the boundary brokers’ self‐positioning. The findings suggest that cultural brokering could serve as a potential teacher professional development tool to foster reciprocal learning across culture borders. The complex network of influencing factors at play suggests that, in order to facilitate positive cultural brokering, it is necessary to adopt a systemic approach that underscores resetting valued skills and expertise within and across communities, creating a positive school culture that encourages reciprocal learning and managing individual teachers’ brokering mentalities and capacities.

Design-driven education in primary and secondary school contexts. A qualitative study on teachers’ conceptions on designing

Design in educational contexts is a relatively new topic. The basic idea of design and design-driven education is that students and teachers participate together in the planning, implementation and evaluation of learning projects. However, how design-driven education should be carried out in practice is yet to be established. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain insights into how such practice could be implemented. Through a qualitative study, the authors examined primary and secondary school teachers’ (N = 5) conceptions on various aspects of design in educational contexts. The results indicate that design-driven education emphasises the need for collaboration between students and teachers, and the teachers’ active roles as facilitators for learning. Furthermore, in order for such design-driven practices to be successful, the learning process requires students to be self-regulative learners. The use of technology was also experienced as a natural part of design-driven education. The results present the participating teachers’ understanding of how design-driven education in school contexts could be organised.

Perceptions of early childhood education professionals on teacher leadership in Finland

ABSTRACTThis study investigated perceptions of early childhood education (ECE) professionals employed at three ECE centres on teacher leadership enactment in Finland. These professionals comprised childcare nurses, teachers and ECE centre directors. Theoretically, the study was anchored on an analysis of teacher leadership and distributed leadership literature comprising research based in early childhood and school education contexts. Findings based on focus groups and interviews with participants suggest that teacher leadership was perceived as a responsibility of ECE pedagogy in Finland. Centre directors were considered remote from daily practice and leadership for pedagogy within the centres was shared with teachers. Teacher leadership was enacted through assessment, planning and ensuring that pedagogy was connected with each centre’s goals. Participants’ perceptions also indicated that centres differed on how support was being provided to teacher leaders.

SYSTEM OBLIGATORYJNEGO NAUCZANIA RELIGII KATOLICKIEJ W NIEMCZECH, AUSTRII I PORTUGALII

The subject of this article is an attempt to analyse the mandatory forms of teaching religionin public schools, guaranteed by the concordat agreements with the Federal Republic of Germany,Austria and Portugal. Analysed concordats set particular standards for the presence of religion inthe context of school education and determine the powers of church and state authorities, includingthe way of teaching, teachers’ qualifications and the position of religion teacher and pedagogicalsupervision over them.

Work Stress and its Influence on the Work Performance of Swaziland Teachers in the Swaziland School Education System

AbstractThis paper deals with work stress within the Swaziland school education context. The objectives are to examine, understand, identify causes of workplace stress and examine how influences wo...

Sexual education in school context: the efficience of a training intervention

BackgroundTeenagers are a priority intervention group in sexual education. ObjectivesTo promote a model of training intervention based on the debate and critical reflection about sexuality in the context of the classroom, to test its efficiency and characterize teenagers in the sexual context. MethodsIt is a field experimental study with a non probabilistic sample of 56 teenagers (28 in the control and experimental group, respectively) with an average of 15 years of age (sd = 1.191). The evaluation protocol is the questionnaire which allows characterizing social demographic and sexual. It includes the scale of attitudes concerning sexuality,1 attitudes concerning the birth control pill and condom,2 scale of knowledge about family planning,3 scale of knowledge about sexual transmitted infections4 and scale of motivation to have or not to have sex.5 ResultsTeenagers are an older experimental group, mostly of the male gender and live in a town. They have a dating relationship 39.3% mostly lasting between six months and one year, 35.7% has had sexual intercourse, 21.4% has sexual intercourse in their current dating relationship, 44.4% uses the birth control pill and 55.6% the condom, 67,9% has done emergency contraception and 92.9% considers to be important the use of condom. The training intervention was effective in the attitudes concerning the condom (p=0.045). ConclusionEducating to a conscious sexual life is the responsibility of everyone. The reflexive methodologies must be privileged, allowing the integration of knowledge and the change of attitudes, where the students’ part is of maximum importance, being up to them, under supervision of the trainer, to post their doubts and collaborate in the pursuit of answers.

Multicultural chemistry and the nature of science: but what about knowledge?

In response to Goff, Boesdorfer, and Hunter’s article on the use of a multicultural approach to teaching chemistry and the nature of science, I forward this critical reflective essay to discuss more general curriculum aspects of the relationship between the nature of science and science education in school contexts. Taking a social realist perspective, I argue for a more nuanced understanding of the role of epistemology and ontology in science classrooms, and for a reconsideration of the role of knowledge in science classrooms.