Improvement Of Educational Practice Research Articles

From Variables to Research Design: A Deep Dive into Educational Research Methodology

The systematic collection and analysis of data relevant to the field of education are referred to as educational research. Research writing is a laborious practice that methodically approaches the solution to a given research challenge. It differs from educational institutions and is typically led by a format. This study aims to analyze methodological explanation of variables, background to the study, literature review & research design as ways of promoting vigorous scholarship. This research uses the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method. The results of this research explain many types of in-depth research methodology. These resources' main goal is to assist young academics and education professionals in learning about the background of the study, literature review, research design, and methodological explanation of variables. Educational research plays a crucial role in the development and improvement of educational practices and policies. It enables educators and policymakers to make informed decisions based on evidence and data. These offer beneficial fundamental knowledge for those who wish to pursue careers as researchers.

IDENTIFYING THE DIMENSIONS OF THE SCHOOL CLIMATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

The school climate is a significant factor in the development of students’ cognitive, emotional and social competencies. Starting from the fact that the quality of educational work largely depends on the school climate, the aim of this research was to identify the factors influencing the development of a positive school climate, and to determine the differences in the perception of its dimensions in relation to gender and student success. The sample for this research consisted of 216 primary school students in the Republic of Serbia. An instrument composed of 43 items was used in the research. Factor analysis identified 6 factors that affect the school climate: support and consistency in the work of teachers, student autonomy, the academic support of teachers, negative peer relationships, disciplinary rigor and collaborative peer learning. The students’ perception of the dimensions of the school climate was influenced by school success and the gender of the students. This research offers a comprehensive theoretical perspective for all researchers for whom the field of school climate is at the center of interest, as well as potential solutions in terms of improvement in educational practice.

Impact of critical pedagogy on professional learning for post-16 education

PurposeProfessional learning has been highlighted as critical to improvement in educational practice for Autistic learners. Empirical evidence about what is effective for professional learning in education suggests it is a “bottom-up” process of intellectual, practical and emotional engagement and application of new knowledge to specific contexts. The purpose of this study was to gather information about postgraduate professional learning that sought to combine lived experience with reflection on practice in a critical pedagogy approach for practitioners working with Autistic learners in post-16 education.Design/methodology/approachParticipants in the study represented all further education (FE) colleges in Wales and included experienced teachers and leaders, most of whom have a role focused on inclusion and learning support within their setting. Two phases of data collection were carried out, namely, a baseline survey (n = 36) and follow-up interviews (n = 15) at the end of the year of study. Interviews explored personal experiences of learning, knowledge and beliefs about practice and change in this respect and professionals’ priorities for the development of practice.FindingsFindings present information gathered from the interviews and indicate that the course did not provide practitioners with new knowledge about autism but supported the development of more nuanced understandings of autism and more professional confidence about practice. However, familiarisation with lived experience and critical reflection on practice were described as supporting the questioning of basic assumptions and greater appreciation of the nature of difference for Autistic learners.Originality/valueStudy findings reframe what should be considered the focus of support practices for Autistic learners in FE.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EMPOWERMENT OF REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER TEACHERS DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC

Reflective practitioner teachers should critically review their own work and introduce innovations that should improve everyday educational practice. For this reason, the focus of the research is on the personal and professional empowerment of reflective practitioner teachers during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. 355 teachers from the Republic of Serbia participated. The empirical research used descriptive methods and techniques of scaling and surveying with an instrument specially constructed for the needs of this research - Questionnaire with assessment scale (RP-COV-19). The results show that the most common form of empowerment is attending online seminars, while teachers rarely attended online classes of colleagues from the school where they work and colleagues from other schools. Teachers' perceptions on the use of the Internet in the aspect of personal and professional empowerment are very positive. Teachers generally rate their training and engagement during the pandemic with the highest marks (four and five), while there were no negative marks at all. Reflexivity accompanied by personal and professional empowerment must be given priority by teachers, because in today's process of education, reflective practitioners are considered successful teachers. Keywords: teacher reflective practitioner, professional empowerment, the Covid-19 pandemic, empirical research, improvement of educational practice.

Formação continuada de professores para as escolas em unidades de privação de liberdade

O presente artigo apresenta resultados de pesquisa que teve como objetivo investigar as necessidades formativas de professores da EJA que atuam em salas de aula de unidades de privação de liberdade. Insere-se no entrecruzamento das temáticas de formação continuada, docência e educação, fundamentada na Pedagogia Libertadora de Paulo Freire. Trata-se de pesquisa de natureza qualitativa na perspectiva dialógica da observação participante em reuniões formativas com os professores e de entrevistas narrativas. Após a coleta e organização dos dados em notas de campo, recorreu-se à análise de conteúdo, utilizando-se dos passos sugeridos por Bardin (2016): pré-análise; exploração do material; tratamento dos resultados, inferência e interpretação. Emergiram com base nos indicadores de frequência dois focos de análise do estudo: os dizeres dos professores sobre a formação continuada e as expectativas de aprendizagem dos docentes. Elegeram-se para as reflexões deste artigo os dizeres dos professores para a busca da formação continuada e que indicam a melhoria da prática educativa, novos conhecimentos e a permanência ou ascensão no mercado de trabalho. Os professores sinalizam como referenciais específicos para a docência nas salas de aula de unidades prisionais o amor e o sonho, que, compartilhados nos encontros formativos, potencializam o compromisso e engajamento para dar continuidade, apesar dos desafios e condições objetivas e subjetivas do trabalho, à atividade docente com pessoas momentaneamente afastadas do convívio social.

Research on the Innovative Approaches to the Teaching Mode of Dance "Aesthetic Education" in Colleges and Universities under the New Era Aesthetic Education Thought

In the context of the new era, aesthetic education is an important issue in the reform and development of national education, and its status and role have been elevated to a high level. The development of aesthetic education has also become an urgent issue and a major construction link for various colleges and universities. Dance education, which can highlight the nature, characteristics and purpose of aesthetic education has also developed into a key discipline for the development of education and talent cultivation in various colleges and universities. How to promote the physical and mental health, beautify the minds of students, enrich the hearts and spirits, and improve the ideology and morality of aesthetic education in colleges and universities is a practical and innovative measure of dance education in teaching. Therefore, this article focuses on the analysis of aesthetic education in colleges and universities, and launches the connotative research on the teaching of dance aesthetic education in colleges and universities. In this way, the dance aesthetic education in colleges and universities can meet the requirements of the aesthetic education thought of the new era with the improvement of educational practice and education theory, that is, the aesthetic education thought of "educating people with aesthetics, beautifying the soul with aesthetics, and nurturing talents with aesthetics".

Experienced teachers’ identity based on their I-positions: an analysis in the catalan context

ABSTRACT Dialogical self theory is applied to describe the identity of a group of experienced Catalan teachers. Participants (N = 58) were asked about their positions and I-positions via a written survey, and the data were analysed using qualitative and quantitative procedures. The findings show a comprehensive description of nine types of positions (to educate children, to plan instruction, to support and assess learning, to promote a positive learning environment, to improve educational practice, to collaborate with colleagues, to build a relationship with families, to manage the school, and to collaborate with external professionals) as well as thirty types of I-positions. In addition, four clusters of teachers were identified, each of which emphasised different positions: instruction and school management; instruction and improvement of educational practice; education of children and teaching students; and education of children and improvement of educational practice. Comparative research on teachers’ I-positions could be conducted in different contexts.

Mejorando la Respuesta a la Diversidad en el Aula a través del Estudio de Clases en Escuelas Chilenas

This research aims to understand the meanings that teachers attribute to Lesson Study as a professional development strategy to improve de response to diversity in the classroom. From a descriptive interpretative approach of qualitative research and a case study design, the data was collected through semi-structured interviews in an intentional sample of teachers working in two Chilean public schools. In addition, analysis of documents prepared by the participants was performed. The findings reveal that Lesson Study is a strategy with a great potential to promote reflection and improvement of educational practices from an inclusive approach, to strengthen collaboration and learning among teachers, to develop new strategies to respond to diversity. The research also identified some critical factors necessary to take into account for the success of future applications of this methodology in training contexts. Finally, this study allows us to reaffirm the relevance of Lesson Study as an innovative and effective proposal in the field of continuous training, in order to promote changes and move towards inclusive practices in the classroom.

In Practice: The Importance of Practitioner Research in Vocational Education

This article presents the background to and rationale for a practice-focused model of educational change and improvement. In contrast to autocratic top-down models, this democratic and pragmatic approach begins with the educational concerns of teachers. In this model, responsibility and accountability for educational improvement is shared between policy professionals, the university team and sector practitioners. Contributions from the literature explore the question of the nature and purpose of educational practice; how concepts of educational practice influence curriculum design and content in programmes for the initial and continuing professional development for teachers of vocational education; and how these can enhance or inhibit the improvement of educational practice. Drawing upon case study examples from a national programme of university-supported practitioner research in England, results illustrate how this model offers insights into ways of increasing research capacity and achieving sustainable improvements in educational practice. It concludes that programmes of university-supported practitioner research, which encourage and enable teachers to engage in the systematic investigation of educational practice, can realize educational improvements which other approaches to educational evaluation and improvement (including external inspection regimes) struggle to do. It invites politicians and policy professionals to consider potential applications of this approach in other national systems of vocational education.

Niveles de desarrollo de la Competencia Digital Docente: una mirada a marcos recientes del ámbito internacional

El desarrollo de la competencia digital docente es una meta educativa que ha sido reconocida en el ámbito de la política educativa a partir de marcos y modelos de alcance internacional. La presente comunicación aborda tres marcos de competencia digital docente (CDD) que fueron publicados entre 2016 y 2017. El objetivo es analizar los aportes de dichos marcos a la comprensión del desarrollo de la CDD, como parte del debate conceptual sobre esta competencia. El método seguido constó de una primera fase de revisión documental, y después se prosiguió con el análisis de contenido de enfoque cualitativo, descriptivo y comparativo. Dos fueron las variables de estudio: niveles de competencia y aspectos para favorecer su desarrollo. En cuanto a los hallazgos de la primera variable, los marcos presentaron tres sentidos de profundización de la CDD: la creación de ambientes de aprendizaje, la mejora de la práctica educativa, y la difusión de experiencias de aprovechamiento de las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC). Los aspectos que favorecen la profundización de la CDD son: la reflexión, la experiencia continuada, la colaboración y la participación del profesorado en el ámbito de la educación y las TIC. Finalmente, se indican varios desafíos del enfoque de los marcos y de su puesta en práctica, así como cuestiones críticas del apoyo institucional a los docentes a fin de promover el desarrollo de la CDD.

De Cultuurhistorische Onderwijspedagogiek als narratief

Abstract Cultural historical pedagogy as a narrative about good education: a reflection on 50 years theory-guided innovation in educational practiceIn this article, we reflect on the contribution of cultural historical theory for the innovation and improvement of educational practice in the Netherlands. As a first step, we will show how different narratives about good education are constructed and passed on in educational discourse. Next, we will discuss the characteristics of a cultural historical narrative about good education. To illustrate this narrative, we will present one particular story that has been developed over the past decades: Developmental Education. Developmental Education is a specific approach to education that is based on and rooted in cultural historical theory. A special feature of this narrative is the close and inseparable relation between theory and practice. We will show how this vision on the theory-practice relation leads to a specific interpretation of teachers’ professional development. Using two examples, we will illustrate how teachers, teacher trainers, educational developers, and researchers within the Developmental Education community collaboratively innovate and improve educational practice in a theory-driven manner.

Preschool education students' attitudes about the possible impact of music on children's speech development

Music and language are means of human communication, whose common medium is the sound occurring in a unit of time. Numerous relevant studies show that the constant implementation of various forms of musical activities influence the development of a child’s speech and motivates the development of pre-reading skills. A survey formed for the purpose of the study explored the positions of the students of the part-time studies of Early and Pre-school Education on the use of musical, creative musical, and multi-modal activities in their immediate methodical practice, as well as their possible impact on children’s speech development. The results of the study show that the participants believe that the development of a child’s speech is most influenced by musical activities containing multiple verbal elements (children’s singing games, songs and counting rhymes) which are more frequently carried out in practice. Although the participants believe that the activities of rhythmical speech and creating a text to an existing melody influence the development of a child’s speech the most, it is more common in practice to conduct creative musical activities, such as listening to music while dancing and/or painting, as well as those activities related to sound sensitivity, which may be due to the competences of the participants in the listed areas. The respondents who believe that multi-modal activities contribute to the development of a child’s speech, often carry them out more frequently in their methodical practice. The results of the study represent a significant contribution to the further improvement of educational practices.

Actitudes y percepciones de docentes y estudiantes en relación a las TIC. Revisión de la literatura

En este trabajo se relevan estudios que analizan la integración de tecnologías de información y comunicación (TIC) en la enseñanza y aprendizaje en instituciones de nivel superior. Se pone foco -entre otras variables- en la exploración de actitudes y percepciones de profesores/as y estudiantes. De acuerdo a esta motivación, en este artículo confluyen distintas investigaciones realizadas en diversos países, y cuya selección se efectúa a partir de una revisión bibliográfica sistemática.Las producciones científicas halladas abren reflexiones en torno a posiciones individuales e intersubjetivas respecto del uso de tecnologías digitales en la práctica educativa. Se discuten beneficios y problemáticas que se asocian a estas experiencias, acorde a posibilidades institucionales y habilidades que se ponen en juego para su dominio.Se expone una síntesis del estado del arte, destacándose recurrencias y divergencias entre las distintas publicaciones, y sistematizándose discusiones que podrían profundizarse en instancias futuras. Este análisis resulta en un aporte para los actores educativos que requieran contemplar aspectos influyentes frente a la utilización de las TIC en educación, y/o bien, deban definir acciones estratégicas al respecto. El conjunto de las problematizaciones tributa a la investigación/acción para el fortalecimiento de las prácticas educativas.

A atenção à experiência interna da criança e estilo do adulto - contributo das escalas de empenhamento para a melhoria das práticas pedagógicas em educação de infância

In early childhood education, the quality of adult-child relationships is a key element in terms of building a sense of security, self-esteem, curiosity and desire to learn, willingness and ability to communicate with others. The child and adult engagement scales are instruments that, as a whole, support the understanding of the child's inner experience and the relational adjustment of the adult to the situation experienced by the child. In this article, considering situations described by practitioners, it is intended to highlight the importance of these instruments in supporting reflection and improvement of educational practices.

Aprendizaje-servicio y práctica docente: una relación para el cambio educativo

Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación centrada en el análisis de la influencia que tienen los proyectos de Aprendizaje-Servicio en el desarrollo y mejora de la práctica escolar. El estudio tomó como eje de indagación un aula de primaria, y los efectos que se iban desencadenando durante la implementación del proyecto en el que participaron: maestra y alumnado de primaria, profesora y alumnado de la universidad y representantes de distintas instituciones. Para ello se utilizó el estudio de caso como metodología de la investigación y la observación participante, entrevistas semiestructuradas y análisis de documentos como estrategias para la recogida de información. Los resultados obtenidos permiten constatar los efectos producidos en relación a las concepciones pedagógicas de la docente, la programación curricular de aula y el desarrollo profesional. A partir de los hallazgos alcanzados se concluye que el Aprendizaje-Servicio abre nuevos horizontes para el diseño de prácticas innovadoras de utilidad social.

Improving education through research? From effectiveness, causality and technology to purpose, complexity and culture

This paper focuses on the role of research in the improvement of educational practice. I use the 10 Principles for Effective Pedagogy, which were formulated on the basis of research conducted in the UK's Teacher and Learning Research Programme as an example to highlight some common problems in the discussion about research and educational improvement. In the paper I explore three issues. The first concerns the idea that the improvement of education is identical to increasing the effectiveness of educational action. Here I suggest that in education the question is never whether something is effective or not, but what something is supposed to be effective for, which is the question of educational purpose. The second issue concerns the prevalence of quasi-causal thinking about educational practice and its improvement. Here I suggest that complexity theory and the idea of complexity reduction provides a much more meaningful educational ontology that makes it possible to think very differently about the drivers for educational change and improvement. Third, I make a distinction between two ways in which research knowledge can be meaningful and useful for educational practice – a technical way where research is supposed to generate knowledge about how to do things and a cultural way which has to do with generating different ways to make sense of education. Seeing that research can engage with educational practice in these two different registers, opens up a different way to think about what research might aim to achieve in order to contribute to educational improvement.

Impediments to Quality Research in Business Education in Nigeria Tertiary Institutions

Research is a systematic investigation towards increasing the sum of human knowledge. Research in businesseducation is aimed at increasing knowledge in the discipline and providing solutions to problems relating tocurriculum, program evaluation and overall improvement in the teaching and learning process. There is no doubt thatvery high quality research in business education would lead to improvement in educational practice which Nigerianeeds direly in order to break into the bracket of the twenty most developed economies in the year 2020. This studyexplored the impediments to the quality of business education research in Nigeria tertiary institutions. The researcherconstructed 32 questionnaire items from research reports relevant to the study. The questionnaires were validatedusing Product Moment Coefficient which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.81. A total of 159 questionnaire itemswere administered on 96, 38 and 25 business educators from Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and universities inNigeria respectively and all the questionnaires were completed and retrieved. The Research Question “what are theimpediments to the quality of business education research in Nigeria tertiary institutions?” was answered using meanrating and standard deviation. The Hypothesis of no significant difference in the mean responses of businesseducators from Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities regarding the impediments to the quality ofbusiness education research was tested using Analysis of Variance. The study revealed that all the constructs studiedconstituted impediments to the quality of business education research in Nigeria tertiary institutions. It wasrecommended, among others, that researchers in the field of business education should ensure that only qualityinformation is used in the research process so that research results would significantly influence changes in thedirections desired.

Towards Primary School Physics Teaching and Learning: Design Research Approach

This thesis describes a project to design a primary school physics learning environment which takes into account teachers’ needs, design procedures, properties of the learnig environment, and pupil learning outcomes. The project’s design team has wide experience in research and development work in relation to science education, the use of ICT in education, the way students think about physics, curriculum and teaching method development, and the design of instructional materials. This knowledge base was the starting point for design. The project engaged in design research. Design research is here considered to be a form of educational research, and offers opportunities to study unique educational phenomena. It produces artefacts to be applied directly in an educational setting, and thereby engages the researcher in the direct improvement of educational practice. Design research can even offer a strategy for the development and refinement of educational theory. The first main research result was a design procedure. The procedure contained four phases: 1) needs assessment; 2) definition of the objectives for a design solution; 3) design and production of the material; and 4) evaluation of the material. The phases apply research literature and empirical research. Phases three and four are iterative and include three stages: limited use of the prototype, a pilot test and a field test. The second main result was a designed learning environment as an example of a learning environment. The research showed that an environment should be: 1) concrete and illustrative, offering examples for the classroom; 2) mentally stimulating, for both study and practical work; 3) physically and pedagogically meaningful 4) usable; 5) offer peer and expert support for teachers. In addition, the research uncovered many contextual features that are important concerning the usability of the learning environment. The third main result was that qualitative level models delivered by way of stories offer much potential for learning primary school physics. From the Finnish perspective, the designed learning environment offers a novel phenomenon to investigate primary physics teaching and learning in a new situation where, from the point of view of this research, rather ambitious new National Framework Curriculum for physics education has been introduced.

What effective classroom? Towards a paradigm shift

The initiatives for educational effectiveness experienced 3 waves of movements. Each wave had its own paradigm in conceptualizing the nature of education and its effectiveness and formulating related initiatives for improvement of educational practice in the classroom. This article aims to discuss how the conceptualization and characteristics of the effective classroom are changed with the paradigm shift from the traditional site-bounded paradigm toward the new Contextualized Multiple Intelligences (CMI)-triplization paradigm. With the support of empirical data, the profiles of effective and ineffective classrooms in the 1st and 3rd waves are mapped and discussed, and some implications are drawn for research and development of a new type of classroom effectiveness.

Foucauldian scientificity: rethinking the nexus of qualitative research and educational policy analysis

This essay calls for qualitative policy analysis that can engage strategically with the increased calls for the usefulness of social policy toward the improvement of educational practice. Michel Foucault’s concept of scientificity is used as a tool against the ‘repositivization’ at work in neo‐liberal times and its ‘rage for accountability’ where refusing to concede science to scientism appears to be a central task for those invested in qualitative inquiry. The essay concludes with a sketch of a social science that stays close to the complexities of the social world in fostering understanding, reflection and action instead of a narrow translation of research into practice.