Local Education Departments Research Articles

Pelatihan Penyusunan Modul Ajar sebagai Persiapan Implementasi Kurikulum Merdeka bagi Guru Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini

A curriculum comprises objectives, materials, and content that are required to be studied in an academic institution in order to accomplish educational aims. As of now, the Merdeka Curriculum stands as the most recent educational framework with the potential to enhance the standard of instruction for children across the nation in Indonesia. However, optimal implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum has not yet occurred, particularly in early childhood education. The objective of this community service endeavor is to furnish early childhood teachers in Gunungpring, Magelang, with Merdeka Curriculum Training and its Practical Implementation. This activity was implemented through observation, implementation which consisted of training and mentorship, and evaluation. There were around 20 teachers from 10 schools who participated in this activity. It was done in the village hall of Gunungpring. The result of this activity was that the teachers’ skills and knowledge were enhanced in the Merdeka Curriculum for early childhood education. They claimed that the training and mentoring was successfully done to help them in increasing their knowledge of how the Merdeka Curriculum should be implemented. In addition, the teacher successfully developed Merdeka Curriculum-based Teaching Modules as the utilization of the results. They could manage to create modules which still focused on children playing and learning based on Merdeka Curriculum. The next step is to work with the local Education Department to offer additional training, particularly focusing on early childhood level. Additionally, the team intends to offer training in multimodal literacy. In the future, teachers will have additional references to improve their learning preparation.

Studying teachers` readiness for implementing the problem of military-patriotic education among high school students: organization and results of the all-ukrainian survey

The article aims to present the results of an All-Ukrainian survey of teachers from institutions of general secondary education on the problem of military-patriotic education among high school students.
 The All-Ukrainian survey of teachers was conducted nationwide from October to November 2023 (during the ascertainment stage of the research) with the support of regional administrations and local education departments.
 The All-Ukrainian survey was carried out within the framework of the applied research topic “Organizational-Pedagogical Conditions and Technologies for Ensuring the Unity of Physical and Military-Patriotic Education of Students of Institutions of General Secondary Education” based on the Laboratory of National-Patriotic Education of the Institute of Problems on Education of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine (the head is L.V. Kanishevska, Doctor of Sciences in Education, Professor). The organizers of the All-Ukrainian survey of teachers were L. V. Kanishevska – Doctor of Sciences in Education, Professor; V.V. Ragozina – Ph.D., Senior Researcher.
 21665 teachers from 19 regions of Ukraine participated in the All-Ukrainian survey. Such a sample ensures the reliability of the survey results on the problem of military-patriotic education. Teachers participated in the survey voluntarily.
 The diagnostic toolkit was developed in Google Forms and presented in digital format (on Google Drive). Access to the questionnaires was provided to respondents by sending appropriate invitations.
 The questionnaire for teachers was aimed to determine the educators’ readiness to implement the problem of military- patriotic education among high school students. For this purpose, the questionnaire included questions regarding the forms and methods used for implementing military-patriotic education in lessons and extracurricular activities, as well as students’ interest in military-patriotic content.
 The research only covers some aspects of addressing the multifaceted issue of high school students’ military-patriotic education in martial law conditions. We see the perspective of further research in developing and testing organizational and pedagogical conditions to ensure the unity of physical and military-patriotic education of high school students in martial law conditions.

Просопографічний портрет Антона Кухти (1923–1994)

The article highlights the educational, scientific, public, and educational activities of Anton Kukhta (1923–1994), a well-known educator in the Lviv region in the second half of the twentieth century. It outlines the main stages of the educator’s professional advancement, namely his studying at Sambir Teachers’ Seminary and at the Faculty of History of Lviv University, his teaching and management activities in secondary education institutions, educational authorities of Lviv region, and at Lviv University. Anton Kukhta worked for many years as a teacher, a vice-principle, and a principal in several secondary schools. He was also elected a head of the local education department in Lviv region, where his talents as an innovative teacher, a skillful manager, and a leader of the educational environment were clearly revealed. His creative personality was manifested and developed while working in the positions of the director of Lviv Scientific and Pedagogical Library, and later as the head of Lviv Regional Institute for Advanced Teacher Training. The author of the article examines A. Kukhta’s contribution to the development of the theory and practice of pedagogical science, and emphasizes his scientific interest in the issues of students’ teaching and training, which reflected the general trend and increasing attention of contemporary scholars to the issues of higher education pedagogy and its identification as a separate field of pedagogical science. A special attention is paid to Kukhta’s research work in the field of moral education of student youth and the need for continuity in the formation of moral traits and qualities of a young person, his ideas on the professional training of future teaching staff with the emphasized need for consistent and purposeful search and selection of talented young people with the appropriate potential to master the teaching profession. Noteworthy is A. Kukhta’s research on the historical role of Lviv University in the development of education and science alongside its famous scientists and graduates who worked in various educational centers of Eastern Europe in the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The prosopographical portrait of A. Kukhta is enriched by his social, cultural, and educational work among educators and students. Keywords: Anton Kukhta, historical and pedagogical research, regional perspective, education of Lviv region, secondary school, Lviv University, Pedagogy of Higher Education, students’ moral education, teacher training.

PROTECTION OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT RIGHT FOR CONVICTED CRIMINALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF CLASS IIA CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF BENGKULU

The correctional institutions developing nowadays adopts a penal system that is more educating and fostering. Formerly, correctional institutions adhered to a prison system that was more of a punishment for crimes committed by the criminals. In general, fostering the prisoners aims to make prisoners to be fully human through the strengthening of faith (mental endurance) as well as to foster the prisoners to be able to integrate naturally in prison and in a wider life (community) after serving their convictions. This study on the protection of self-development right for convicted criminals in the environment of class IIA correctional institutions of Bengkulu was an empirical legal research that aimed to find out and to analyze the implementation of protection of self-development right for prisoners as well as to find out and to analyze the obstacles faced in implementing the protection of self-development right for prisoners in the environment of class IIA correctional institutions of Bengkulu. Data sources of this research were primary and secondary data. Data collection methods applied in this study were interviews and documentation. The data processing method used was descriptive qualitative. From the results of the study, it was revealed that: 1) the implementation of the fulfillment of juvenile prisoners’ right to obtain education at the class IIA correctional institutions of Bengkulu had not been fully fulfilled. To fulfill the educational process, there are Program Kejar (Kelompok Belajar/Study Group) of Package A (equivalent to elementary school), Package B (equivalent to junior high school), and Package C (equivalent to high school) as a series of processes for fulfilling the right for education for juvenile prisoners. But the program had not run optimally according to standards set by the government. Most of the juvenile prisoners make self-taught learning; 2) in the implementation of the education process in prisons, there were several factors that become obstacles in its implementation. These factors included the lack of partners to carry out the process of fulfilling the right for education, the facilities available in correctional institutions were inadequate, the limited teaching staffs provided by the local Education Department, lack of supervision on juvenile prisoners if they were pursuing education outside correctional institutions, as well as minimal budget allocations for educational purpose in correctional institutions.

Innovative approaches to improving qualifications of the primary school teachers in the Great Britain

The article examines the approaches to improving the skills of primary school teachers in the UK. Criteria for upgrading and retraining UK teaching staff are highlighted. Teacher training courses are held at different educational institutions: at institutes of pedagogy of higher educational institutions, with independent advisory groups, with the Department of Education and Science, at teacher centers, with local educational authorities, at school. Short-term advanced training courses are divided into: one-day; three days; five to six day courses; vacation courses. Long-term courses include three-year advanced training courses. During the courses of advanced training teachers are engaged in research activities under the direction of university tutors. The main advisory and analytical body for teacher qualifications is the Royal Inspection Service. It has a widespread network across the country, comprised of local education departments. The inspectorate service is intended, based on the analysis of the quality of educational programs, to identify trends in the development of the system of advanced training, to predict the effects of planned projects, and to prepare recommendations for the Ministry of Education and Science to determine the most relevant and forward looking directions for improving the system of professional standards for teachers. The teacher education system serves a prominent system of public education. Understanding the need for organizing mass retraining of teachers in Britain has been growing in pedagogical circles since the last century, when intensive primary education was developing. Since then and to this day, discussions about the most rational ways of updating the teacher education system are not dying. The main advisory and analytical body for teacher qualifications is the Royal Inspection Service. It has a widespread network across the country, comprised of local education departments. Both local and national authorities of this service are actively involved in the analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of all work aimed at supporting and developing the professional skills of school teachers. The inspectorate service is intended, based on the analysis of the quality of educational programs, to identify trends in the development of the system of advanced training, to predict the effects of planned projects, and to prepare recommendations for the Ministry of Education and Science to determine the most relevant and forward looking directions for improving the system of professional standards for teachers.

The implementation of school-literacy-movement: Integrating scientific literacy, characters, and HOTS in science learning

This study aimed to examine the implementation of the School Literacy Movement (SLM) by observing its impacts toward the scientific literacy, characters, and HOTS of Grade VII Junior High School (JHS) students in Pekanbaru within the context of K-13. The survey was conducted with 45 natural science teachers on the basis that they have integrated K-13 into their teaching and learning. The data of SLM implementation was obtained from the teacher by means of questionnaires and observation which was conducted in science classes in three JHS in pollution and global warming topics. The results showed that 49.13% of activities were successfully implemented by SLM. The results showed that students’ scientific literacy in the three schools were 69.5%, 76.3%, and 75.2%. Meanwhile, the character values have reached 80.6%, 76.4%, 72.9%, and students’ HOTS values were 73.0%, 72.5%, and 73.3%. Based on the survey, it can be concluded that although the school has pioneered SLM, the strengthening of scientific literacy, characters, and HOTS has not been executed by all teachers who implement K-13 due to various obstacles need new policies to assess the execution of the SLM program by the local education department.

New localism or fuzzy centralism: policymakers’ perceptions of public education and involvement in education

ABSTRACTThis research examines local authority involvement in education as a function of local policymakers’ perceptions of education as a public service – namely, whether public education is for the benefit of society as a whole, or for individual students and parents. Perceptions of education and involvement in education were assessed through 107 questionnaires returned by mayors and heads of local education departments in Israel. The results show that (1) local policymakers tend to perceive public education as a general public service, and (2) the relationship between this perception and involvement in education varies with the locality’s centre-periphery status. In peripheral localities, perceiving education as a general public service and an understanding of ‘society’ as the local community leads to greater involvement in education. In central localities, involvement rose with a more individualised perception. Implications of the findings are discussed in line with viewing education in the spirit of new localism.

Medical Students’ Child Health Experience in Primary Schools

This study was designed to explore medical students’ and primary school teachers’ experiences of a new community teaching project. Academic staff and students from the School of Medicine Dundee, National Health Service partners, local education department, and primary school teachers engaged in a collaborative project which has embedded community engagement in the curriculum while encouraging interprofessional education through multiagency working. Influenced by evaluative inquiry, this qualitative study used an online questionnaire, designed to give participants the freedom to respond, and give their own opinions, via free text responses. The results show the value of a real primary school–based situation, and the merit of experiential learning gained throughout the program, in which students interacted with children about health promotion in a meaningful way. The interprofessional and collaborative nature of the project enhanced the value of the experience for all participants in relation to the benefits of teamwork, dispelling the doctor authority and recognition of the roles of others. The experience was an interactive, enjoyable, and expressive way to facilitate learning, and has helped prepare the health care students for future practice.

Urban Development, Governance and Education

A large, area-based metropolitan development initiative (MDI) was launched in Sweden in 1999 as part of a new metropolitan policy. The Swedish government and seven municipalities invested about 400 million Euros in 24 of the most deprived urban neighbourhoods in the Stockholm region, Gothenburg and Malmö. The overall aim was to promote integration and combat unemployment, low achievement in schools, poor health, criminality and low democratic participation. The idea of urban governance was highlighted as one of the distinguishing hallmarks of the policy. Elementary schools were, after various labour-market projects, the largest receivers of MDI funding. Drawing on empirical findings as well as on secondary literature, this article describes and analyses how local school stakeholders—most notably heads of local education departments, principals and teachers—implemented the MDI with particular focus on the policy’s urban government principle. It is argued that local school stakeholders, as a well-organised group with strong professional identity, captured the idea of urban governance and manipulated it to fit their own particular interests. Some effects of this process include schools becoming further isolated from their local communities, students and parents becoming further isolated from the decision-making processes within schools and money being spent on projects that are exclusively defined by the educators and the administrators, rather than by the communities they serve.

Capacity Building for Teaching and Learning in Environmental Education: The Role of Public/Private Partnerships in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa

A recently mandated focus on environmental education (EE) in the basic education curriculum of South Africa requires that all children in grades 1 to 9 be introduced to environmental concepts and related content. Not many schools and teachers have the necessary knowledge and experience to make this major shift workable. Similarly, the capacity of the provincial education departments to support schools in the expected integration of EE is limited. How then do schools and teachers cope with this dilemma and demand for change? In this paper, we use the concept of opportunities to learn (OTL) to understand the capacity building processes in two schools within the South African province of Mpumalanga. Specifically, we discuss the interactions between governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in building the capacity of schools (and specifically teachers) to provide quality learning in EE. Data for the study was collected through document analysis and interviews with teachers and officials in the province. Our findings suggest that, on their own, local education departments have limited intellectual and material resources to build the schools’ instructional capacity for EE. In conclusion to this paper we posit a possible approach to developing such capacity through interactions between public and private resources and programmes for EE.

A year’s trauma admissions and the effect of the weather

Purpose of the study: To study the admissions to a busy trauma unit on a day-by-day basis over a 1 year period, and to look for any correlation with local weather variation or temporal factors (day of the week, weekends/school holidays, etc.). Method: Admissions data for the Trauma Unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary was collected from an administrative database and ward records for the calendar year of 1998. Admissions were split into four groups: all admissions, adult admissions, admissions for proximal femoral fractures (neck of femur (NOF)) and paediatric admissions. Weather information for the local area was obtained from the Meteorological Office. Details of school holidays were obtained from the local Education Department. The above variables were examined using Poisson regression analysis for their potential importance in explaining day-to-day variation in admission rates for the four groups. Results: For adult and NOF admissions, none of the weather factors appeared to explain variation in incidence, only day of the week appears to be important, with the earlier part of the week yielding a highly statistically significant increase in the relative incidence of trauma admissions. For both paediatric and total admissions, a number of factors appear important, including maximum and minimum temperatures, hours of sunshine, day of the week and month of the year. Daily rainfall, significant weather and whether the day was a school day or school holiday did not appear to be important on univariate analysis. Conclusion: Trauma admissions are related to both weather and temporal factors. This may have implications both in terms of prevention and in planning of care provision in trauma units.

Educating Migrant Children: Negotiations between the State and Civil Society

The development of migrant children schools in Beijing in the 1990s is used here to illustrate the changing state-society relationship in China. These schools emerged as an attempt by individuals to resolve an educational problem resulting from the retreat of the state in enforcing its population policy and its reluctance to educate children of the floating population gathered in the capital. These individuals used their own resources, and harnessed support from other sectors in the civil society as well as from some government units. Even though the local education departments did not take up the responsibility to educate children with household registrations outside Beijing, they did not give the migrant children schools recognition or support. This report traces the manoeuvres, negotiations and other strategies used by these schools to survive, by the different government units at different levels to contain them, and by others to support them. This struggle illustrates the growing heterogeneity inside government and the increasing strength of civil society in China.