First Year Of Secondary Education Research Articles

Mental health, bullying and school connectedness: A comparative analysis of school transition at age 11 from within the Welsh education system

AbstractWhile transition from primary to secondary school is a positive experience for many young people, for others, it may be a difficult period of adjustment. Socioeconomic status (SES) may influence the likelihood of a positive or negative transition experience owing to differences in psychosocial (self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, social support) and flexible (cultural capital, financial support, power) resources to respond to the challenges presented by a new school environment. Welsh all‐age schools do not have a typical primary to secondary school transition and offer an opportunity for comparative analysis to explore the impact of transition on young people. This analysis used multilevel and structural equation modelling to assess differences in mental health and bullying outcomes in year 7 (first year of secondary education) in young people in all‐age schools compared with those in secondary schools. It also considered whether school connectedness might explain these differences. It found that school type did not significantly predict outcomes at a population level; however, there was evidence of an interaction between SES and school attended for some outcomes. Peer problems, conduct problems and bullying victimisation were lower for children with low SES when attending all‐age schools. For children with high SES, the same outcomes tended to be more positive if the children attended secondary schools. There was no evidence that school connectedness mediated the relationship between school type and mental health or bullying outcomes. Findings provide tentative evidence that all‐age schools may act to reduce health inequalities caused by SES.

Dyslexic students and their early experiences of support in the first years of secondary education in England

ABSTRACT This paper aims to highlight and critique experiences of support for dyslexic learners in secondary education. The research had a special interest in the period after transition to secondary education, which can be difficult for learners with SEND. Interviews with 20 English participants revealed that the support that schools offered had a dramatic effect on learners’ academic experience. Findings suggest the types of support offered are not only important for academic achievement; they affect the identity development and even wellbeing of the pupils. Support, or the lack of it, provoked intense emotions to the participants, which are important to highlight so that teachers can consider them in their practice. The aim is to highlight and discuss this issue, to understand emotions caused by institutional support designed to support pupils. Teachers could consider these narratives when planning support strategies, so the overall experience can be made easier and more welcome.

A Network Analysis of Control–Value Appraisals and Classroom-Related Enjoyment, Boredom, and Pride

Control–value theory (CVT) proposes that discrete emotions arise from combinations of control–value appraisals of learning activities and outcomes. Studies have supported this proposition using factor analytic and latent profile, analyses. Network analysis (NA), however, has not been widely used within the field of educational psychology or to investigate the propositions of CVT. In the present study we set out to examine how control–value appraisals related to three commonly experienced classroom emotions, enjoyment, boredom, and pride, using network analysis. In addition, we included positive and negative facets of value. The sample comprised 170 students (53.5% female) in their first year of secondary education who responded to survey items in a cross-sectional design. NA shows a two-dimensional graphical network of items (edges) and the relations between them (edges). In addition, statistical indices can be used to identify those nodes that show numerous or strong links to others or bridge clusters (communities) of nodes. The NA demonstrated that emotions and value (positive and negative) but not control cohered into distinct communities. Many, but not all, edges were in support of CVT; there were positive links between control/positive value and enjoyment and pride, and negative links for boredom, as well as negative links between negative value and enjoyment and pride, and positive links for boredom. Three control–value nodes were particularly influential: that lessons were important/valuable (positively) and that work required too much time (negatively). Interventions and classroom instructional strategies that build value/importance and reduce perceptions of time cost may be particularly effective in facilitating positive emotions and reducing negative emotions.

Presenting the educational policy model of skill learning for first year high school students: with a mixed approach

Background and Aim: Students can better understand what they have learned and prepare to build a better future. The present research was conducted to provide a model of educational policy for skill learning of first-year high school students. Methods: In terms of the applied goal, this research was exploratory mixed (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of data, and in terms of nature, in the qualitative dimension, it was a systemic (paradigm) foundation data, and in the quantitative dimension, it was a cross-sectional survey. The statistical population of the qualitative part included university professors and experts who had papers in the field of skill training, and in the quantitative part, it included all the teachers of the first year of secondary education in the central province who had a master's degree and above in the field of educational sciences, numbering 500 people. The sampling method in the qualitative part is purposeful and theoretical, and with the number of 15 experts, the theoretical saturation was reached. In the quantitative part of the sample size, 217 people were selected based on Morgan's volume determination formula. In the current research, after the open and axial coding of the measurement tool, it was sent in the form of a set form and sent to experts for selective coding and validation. Based on this, a researcher-made questionnaire was designed and distributed among the randomly selected statistical sample. Then the collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: As a result, 5 dimensions, 20 components and 118 indicators were finalized for the educational policy model of students' skill learning. Conclusion: After the final approval and prioritization of the experts, the dimensions, components and indicators of the model were drawn, and the experts again validated the said model.

Comparative analysis between a STEM-based learning process and traditional teaching

The use of technology in education has modified teaching and learning processes. New concepts such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are changing traditional learning. The purpose of STEM education is to prepare students for university engineering courses and higher technical education. The main aim of the study reported on here was to understand the influence of a STEM-based teaching process in different socio-educational dimensions. This was done by comparing the results achieved with a traditional expository teaching process with different groups of students. A quasi-experimental design was applied. A sample of 231 Spanish students from the first year of secondary education (ESO) was chosen. The results show that the STEM approach was significant in all the dimensions of study and, according to teachers, was more influential for student motivation and grades. The results also show that the STEM teaching approach was significant in all the dimensions of study. These dimensions are motivation; teacher-student, student-content and student-student interactions; autonomy; collaboration; depth of content; resolution of problems; class time, student ratings; and teacher ratings. According to teachers, the strongest influence was on the students’ motivation and qualifications.

Music as an enhacer of EFL spelling skills in diverse secondary classrooms

This research has as a main aim to check the benefits of using music in the FL classrooms, specifically with students who present lower proficiency levels in the target language. In order to carry out this project, the design of a pedagogical intervention has been necessary. In particular, two groups of the first year of secondary education took part. One group belonged to a bilingual program, the other one was a group formed by students with some difficulties in their learning process, due to diverse circumstances. The intervention focused on teaching the spelling of the sounds /aI/, /eI/, /i:/ and of regular and irregular verbs in the past simple tense having music an essential role during the sessions. The intervention lasted three sessions, data was collected through two dictation passages made at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Classroom observation also offered qualitative data. Data gathered show interesting results which are highly positive. However, some students would need more time to acquire the knowledge expected. Finally, some pedagogical implications for future teaching interventions are provided.

Academic self- concept, self-esteem and school attitudes in pre and mid adolescents: gender, SES and parenting

ABSTRACT Children undergo significant changes as they enter secondary school, a time during which their social and academic self-concept is fluid and the pressures to adjust and show positive attitudes and behaviours are intense. Utilising data from the MCS (Waves 4 and 5) the purpose of this study was two-fold: to examine longitudinal changes in academic self-concept, self-esteem and school attitudes in pre and mid adolescents through the lenses of gender and SES; and to trace the unique and cumulative effects of SES, gender and parenting on academic self-concept, self-esteem and school attitudes in 14- year-olds. The findings showed that academic self-concept, self-esteem and positive school attitudes decreased considerably between the ages of 11 and 14, and that girls rated themselves lower in self-esteem and school attitudes than did boys. The observed drop in academic self-concept was sharper in 14-year-olds from economically less well-off families. Parent behaviour and practices and the home learning environment contributed significantly to 14-year-olds’ school attitudes, self-esteem and self-concept. These findings have implications for developing school policies that support self-esteem especially during the first years of secondary education.

Developments in early adolescents' self-regulation: The importance of teachers' supportive vs. undermining behavior.

Research has established that the ability to self-regulate is an important factor in adolescents' learning, and cognitive and social functioning. Several theories on self-regulation and classroom studies suggest effects of the social learning environment on students' self-regulation. However, most studies investigating these relations have a cross-sectional correlational design and do not relate to adolescents, resulting in little knowledge about causal directions and adolescents. This study extends existing research by examining effects of a selection of supportive and undermining teacher behavior dimensions on early adolescents' development of self-regulation (self-regulated learning). The teacher behavior dimensions are based on ideas of the self-determination theory in which a distinction is made between dimensions that support vs. thwart three basic psychological needs (need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) which are assumed to be important for human growth and (psychological) well-functioning. Supporting autonomy, delivering structure, and being involved with the students are assumed to be important for the fulfillment of students' basic psychological needs, while exhibiting controlling instructional behavior, having chaos, uncertainty and inconsistency in the classroom, and rejection and neglect of students, are supposed to be a treat. Questionnaires were used for measuring students' perceptions of their teachers' behavior and their own self-regulation at several points in time during their first year of secondary education. Participants in the study were 566 students belonging to 20 Mathematics/English grade-7 secondary education classes in The Netherlands. Multilevel analyses point to the importance of all three teacher need-supportive dimensions (with highest effects of structure and involvement) and indicated that teachers' need-thwarting behavior negatively affected students' self-regulation. However, when corresponding supportive and thwarting teacher behavior dimensions were included together in the same multilevel model, only the effect of the undermining dimension of controlling teacher behavior remained significant in addition to the corresponding autonomy-support dimension. Findings are in line with existing research and highlight the importance of both teachers' need-supportive and teachers' need-thwarting behavior in daily secondary-education classrooms and contribute to deepen our insight in and understanding of factors (related to external regulation by teachers) leading to positive and negative developments of early adolescents' self-regulation, and, in particular, their self-regulated learning.

Student Interest and Engagement in Mathematics After the First Year of Secondary Education

The end of first year in secondary mathematics education is an important yet neglected milestone in the literature. It represents a crucial period in a students’ mathematical lifetime when they have negotiated the physical, academic and emotional bridges between primary and secondary education, bridges which have been shown to impact considerably on students’ performance and attitudes to mathematics. This study, which investigated students’ motivation in mathematics and their willingness to engage in it including attitudes, emotions and self-related beliefs at the end of students’ first year of secondary education in Ireland, formed part of a larger study on student transition in mathematics from primary to secondary education in Ireland. It is the first study of its kind since the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum in Ireland in 2010. Using a large sample of 304 students, the data was analyzed for all students and also for students grouped by gender. The results of this study show high levels of student engagement, motivation and positive self-belief in mathematics, despite recorded declines in mathematical performance after a full year’s instruction. This study also highlights a gender disparity in mathematics self-beliefs, particularly in relation to self-efficacy, self-concept, and anxiety.

Una autoetnografía de un profesor de español en Brasil: contribuciones de una pedagogía translíngüe

The objective of this article is to propose interpretations of local social life. For this, the assumptions of self-ethnography, Applied Linguistics (FABRÍCIO, 2006; MOITA LOPES, 2006) and transilingual studies (GARCÍA, 2009; CANAGARAJAH, 2013; GARCÍA; LI, 2014; FERNANDES; SALGADO, 2020) are assumed to make a brief incursion into a scene of a Spanish class in a group of first year of secondary education, in a public school in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. In this movement of resuscitating memories, reliving dizziness, and awakening ghosts in the experience of narrating and saying oneself (CRISTÓVÃO, 2018), it is argued that transilingual practices, which emerge through local interaction, are part of a dynamic, authorial and dialogical process. Thus, from this a perspective, it is argued that assuming transilingual lenses in the teaching of Spanish in Brazil is essential so that we can get out of our comfort zone and put aside old beliefs that reproduce, in the 21st century, social injustices with groups. Likewise, it is argued that a translingual pedagogy (GARCÍA, 2014) is a productive path for the promotion of social justice, since its lenses imply recognizing, accommodating, and negotiating meanings typical of idiosyncratic repertoires.

Integrating Technologies Into Teaching and Learning Mathematics at the Beginning of Secondary Education in Austria

Modern technologies have become an integral part in our society and are increasingly shaping the teaching of mathematics at every level of education. In Austria, the academic school year 2021/22 will undergo an extensive digitalisation; all students who start secondary school will be equipped with a digital device. Our paper reports on anticipated concerns and benefits of mathematics teachers who are required to integrate technologies into teaching mathematics at the first year of secondary education. We conducted an exploratory interview study with secondary mathematics teachers before schools received their digital devices. The data was analysed with techniques based on grounded theory approaches. We discovered that for teachers the anticipated concerns and benefits were: (A) discrimination of students by technologies, (B) by using technologies, students may lose basic mathematical knowledge and skills, (C) individual and playful acquisition of new technological competencies by teachers, and (D) using technologies to enhance differentiation and individualisation in mathematics teaching. One of the key findings of our study is that mathematics teachers in Austria feel capable enough to integrate technologies into the teaching and learning of mathematics at the beginning of secondary education and do not express the need for further technical training. This finding contradicts previous studies and provides a starting point for future investigations.

A study of academic achievement in mathematics after the transition from primary to secondary education

A successful transition from primary to secondary school is central to student confidence and the sustainment of student interest and passion for learning. The literature indicates that difficult transitions can result in decreased levels of motivation, negative attitudes towards school, decreased levels of confidence and disengagement particularly in relation to mathematics. This study investigated student performance in mathematics after the transition from primary to secondary education in Ireland. It comes in the aftermath of major educational reform in mathematics in Ireland at both primary and secondary level and is the first Irish study to examine the effect of the transition on mathematical achievement. Academic achievement in mathematics was measured using a standardised test at the end of the final year of primary school and the end of first year of secondary education. Progress in mathematics was measured over the transition by comparing these two test results for 249 students. On average, students’ raw scores decreased by 7% from sixth class (final year of primary school) to the end of first year of secondary education despite an additional year of instruction and extensive overlap of both syllabi. The results showed statistically significant losses in each strand area and in each process skill. This academic transition is not unique to Ireland and the findings from this research study will be of interest to the mathematics education community internationally since it extends the evidence base for studies in school transition.

Review of an experiment to develop new reading and writing practices in the first year of secondary education: how well have they lasted three years later?

Cet article s’intéresse à la durabilité des nouvelles pratiques d’enseignement suscitées par un outil didactique visant à développer la lecture des textes informatifs au début du secondaire. Pour étudier l’évolution de ces pratiques, nous nous appuyons sur les données collectées durant l’expérimentation de l’outil Lirécrire pour apprendre (de 2014 à 2016) et trois ans plus tard, en 2019. Outre la difficulté de maintenir la mobilisation des 49 enseignants sondés dans un processus de recherche à long terme, les résultats mettent en lumière l’importance du suivi des équipes dans la mise en œuvre de nouvelles pratiques. Plus précisément, on constate que, si certaines de ces pratiques se sont rapidement bien installées, d’autres disparaissent avec le temps. Deux facteurs expliquent la durabilité des premières : l’outillage d’une part, et la formation et l’accompagnement des enseignants d’autre part.

Providing Potential for Progress: Learning Support for Students with Special Educational Needs

This paper considers the purposes, methods, findings and significance of the British Library LESSEN (Learning Support for Special Educational Needs) Project. The focus was on Year 7 students, i.e., in their first year of secondary education (aged 11-12 years), in ten English secondary schools who were on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register because of their learning difficulties. Case studies were undertaken in 10 schools located in five Local Education Authorities (LEAs). Data were collected from documents, observation and an extensive interview program, both within schools and with LEA and schools library services staff. Work with individual children was also undertaken, supporting in subject lessons and in the SEN base, as well as assisting in the library, to provide an action research element to the investigation. Varying levels of library and staffing were found and recommendations were made as to future progress. The project report, Learning support for special educational needs is due for publication in 1997 by Taylor Graham.

Developmental Changes in ANS Precision Across Grades 1–9: Different Patterns of Accuracy and Reaction Time

The main aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of changes in Approximate Number Sense (ANS) precision from grade 1 (mean age: 7.84 years) to grade 9 (mean age: 15.82 years) in a sample of Russian schoolchildren. To fulfill this aim, the data from a longitudinal study of two cohorts of children were used. The first cohort was assessed at grades 1–5 (elementary school education plus the first year of secondary education), and the second cohort was assessed at grades 5–9 (secondary school education). ANS precision was assessed by accuracy and reaction time (RT) in a non-symbolic comparison test (“blue-yellow dots” test). The patterns of change were estimated via mixed-effect growth models. The results revealed that in the first cohort, the average accuracy increased from grade 1 to grade 5 following a non-linear pattern and that the rate of growth slowed after grade 3 (7–9 years old). The non-linear pattern of changes in the second cohort indicated that accuracy started to increase from grade 7 to grade 9 (13–15 years old), while there were no changes from grade 5 to grade 7. However, the RT in the non-symbolic comparison test decreased evenly from grade 1 to grade 7 (7–13 years old), and the rate of processing non-symbolic information tended to stabilize from grade 7 to grade 9. Moreover, the changes in the rate of processing non-symbolic information were not explained by the changes in general processing speed. The results also demonstrated that accuracy and RT were positively correlated across all grades. These results indicate that accuracy and the rate of non-symbolic processing reflect two different processes, namely, the maturation and development of a non-symbolic representation system.

Bullying and Victimization Trajectories in the First Years of Secondary Education: Implications for Status and Affection

Bullying is known to be associated with social status, but it remains unclear how bullying involvement over time relates to social position (status and affection), especially in the first years at a new school. The aim of this study was to investigate whether (the development of) bullying and victimization was related to the attainment of status (perceived popularity) and affection (friendships, acceptance, rejection) in the first years of secondary education (six waves). Using longitudinal data spanning the first- and second year of secondary education of 824 adolescents (51.5% girls; Mage T1 = 12.54, SD = 0.45) in the SNARE-study, joint bullying and victimization trajectories were estimated using parallel Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA). The four trajectories (decreasing bully, stable high bully, decreasing victim, uninvolved) were related to adolescents’ social position using multigroup analysis that examined differences in slope and intercepts (T1 and T6) of social positions, and indicated that the relative social position of the different joint trajectories was determined at the start of secondary education and did not change over time, with one exception: adolescents continuing bullying were besides being popular also increasingly rejected over time. Although bullying is functional behavior that serves to optimize adolescents’ social position, anti-bullying interventions may account for the increasing lack of affection that may hinder bullies’ long-term social development.

Teaching Approaches to Learn Theoretical Contents in Physical Education: A Study about Contour Lines.

Purpose: Fostering student’s map reading skills, specifically understanding contour lines, is a challenging area of the Physical Education curriculum. Method: 238 students in their first year of secondary education (Mage = 13.1) were randomly assigned to one of these experimental conditions in physical education classes: (a) Teaching intervention 1 (TI-1): integrating the concept of contour lines into practical sessions of acrobatic gymnastics; (b) TI-2: theoretical sessions regarding contour lines; (c) Active control (AC): reading an introductory text about topographic maps; and two passive controls (PC) without any intervention, (d) PC-1 and (e) PC-2. Results: All students, except for PC-2, improved their knowledge of contour lines. Nevertheless, performing corporal figures (in TI-1) and employing pointing and tracing gestures (in TI-2) helped students to correctly resolve a broader range of tasks. Conclusions: The results highlighted the benefits of teaching proposals that favor movement and the experience of the body.

Grammar and text production in Secondary Education teaching materials of Basque, Spanish and English: Reflections on an integrated didactics of languages

El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer una reflexión sobre la didáctica integrada de lenguas en el contexto de la educación plurilingüe vasca, basada en un análisis de una muestra de materiales didácticos. En el presente trabajo se ha focalizado en algunos aspectos de la producción de géneros textuales expositivos, tal y como se proponen en unidades didácticas de euskera, español e inglés de primero de secundaria. Se ha analizado, desde un punto de vista textual, el tratamiento de un aspecto gramatical específico como los conectores u organizadores textuales. Los resultados señalan que las unidades analizadas se basan en diversos criterios comunes y coordinados, lo que supone un avance hacia la didáctica integrada de lenguas. Asimismo, el análisis revela que cada unidad didáctica refleja una tradición distinta de la enseñanza del texto y de la gramática. El artículo concluye subrayando los retos derivados del hecho de que existan diferencias conceptuales y metodológicas en el tratamiento de la gramática. Estas diferencias afectan a la explotación del género textual como recurso didáctico, así como a la implementación de una didáctica integrada de lenguas.

Enlace químico: representaciones en Textos Escolares Chilenos

<p>En este trabajo se analizan las imágenes sobre el enlace químico covalente, iónico y metálico presentes en libros de texto chilenos. Este trabajo hace un aporte en el análisis de libros de texto desde un enfoque descriptivo en función de las representaciones semióticas que proponen los textos escolares en Chile. Se analizan un total de 10 libros publicados entre los años 2010 a 2016, cinco libros del nivel de octavo año de enseñanza básica y cinco libros de primer año de enseñanza media. En el análisis se han utilizado cinco criterios de estudio. En relación a la función de la secuencia didáctica apreciamos que los textos continúan planteando un modelo de ciencia rígido y dogmático, además no se evidencia aspectos relacionados con la interpretación y problematización en las imágenes. En el grado de iconicidad la tendencia es incorporar símbolos normalizados. La funcionalidad de las imágenes es de carácter sintáctica y la relación entre el texto y la imagen es connotativa, quedando a interpretación del lector esa relación. Las etiquetas verbales son meramente nominativas, careciendo de aportes significativos para interpretar la imagen.</p>

Representations of the English as a Lingua Franca Framework: Identifying ELF-aware Activities in Portuguese and Turkish Coursebooks

The international role of English has made it the most taught foreign language in the world. As a result, standard native varieties have thrived as models within the field of English language teaching, particularly Standard British English and Standard American English, and alongside, the cultures associated with them. Although the majority of English language learners are part of Kachru’s Expanding Circle, teaching materials have continued to focus on native speaker models, neglecting many of the times other examples of successful communication among non-native speakers. Bearing this in mind, it is critical that teaching materials take on a more ELF-aware perspective, where intercultural communicative competence and intercultural awareness are fomented. In view of this, a comparative analysis was conducted between coursebooks in Portugal and Turkey. A locally published (LP) and an internationally published (IP) coursebook of the first year of secondary education from each country was analyzed. The aim of this analysis was twofold: to identify the similarities and differences between (1) Portuguese and Turkish EFL coursebooks and (2) LP and IP coursebooks in Portugal and Turkey, as far as an ELF-aware approach is concerned. After comparing the coursebooks and verifying that much can still be done for a more ELF-aware pedagogy, various implications are put forth for the sake of a more critical approach towards materials development.