Perceptions Of School Research Articles

Students’ Perceptions of Factors Contributing to a Happy School Environment in Iran

Abstract Background School is not only a place for acquiring academic skills but also a social environment where students develop emotional abilities and awareness. Prioritizing well-being in schools can foster confidence, satisfaction, and emotional awareness among students, contributing to their lifelong success and mental health. Objective This research hypothesizes that students will emphasize the importance of individual choice, autonomy, and enjoyment in school, along with a desire for more meaningful activities beyond academics. The study aims to investigate adolescents' perceptions of a happy school and the strategies they believe are effective for fostering this environment. Method Employing a purposive sampling approach, the researchers conducted indepth, semi-structured qualitative interviews involving 41 middle and high school students in Iran to explore their perspectives on the factors contributing to their happiness within an educational setting. Through phenomenological data analysis, four principal themes and thirteen subcategories emerged. Result The main themes included: (1) Enhancing overall health; (2) Creating schools with collaborative decisionmaking; (3) Fostering a love of learning; (4) Supporting joy and well-being in school. Conclusions The identified themes provide new, valuable insights for improving school climate, particularly in relation to student happiness and promoting positive mental health and optimal performance among students.

Parental Perceptions of Bilingual Education: A Study of Parental Views on Schools and Teachers

ABSTRACT This study investigates parents’ perceptions of bilingual education in a metropolitan independent school district and examines how parents’ perceptions vary depending on their length of stay in the U.S., educational and income levels. Nine-hundred fifty nine parents’ survey responses were collected, whose children participate in bilingual programs. The Rasch analyses found that parents generally believe schools respect all students and provide safe environments. However, the parents expressed less agreement with statements indicating that schools and teachers offer challenging instruction. Overall, there is a tendency for parents to hold more positive perceptions of schools and teachers, the longer they stay in the United States.

The texture of parental experiences with online learning: the interplay of norms, relationships, and emotions

This article reports findings from a mixed-method study investigating parents’ perspectives and experiences in navigating their children’s online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved surveys of parents (n = 775) and interviews (n = 32) conducted in eight primary schools in Hong Kong. Statistical analyses revealed that parents’ perceptions of online learning (PPOL) were positively affected by their self-efficacy in providing online learning support, their expectations for parent-teacher communication, and their satisfaction with schools’ support. Conversely, increased levels of parental engagement and stress, and the need for regular school updates negatively affected PPOL. Qualitative findings showed that parents’ perspectives were influenced by experiences tied to their normative role expectations and their perceptions of teachers and schools, which subsequently shaped their emotional responses to online learning. These findings offer nuanced insights for developing policies and practices aimed at better supporting parents’ engagement in the digital era.

The Effect of Innovative Schools and Schools' Openness to Change on Teachers' Adaptive Performance

In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of teachers' perceptions of innovative schools and schools' openness to change on their perceptions of adaptive performance. Predictive correlational design was used in the study. Simple random sampling method was utilized to determine the sample. The sample consisted of 258 teachers. Personal Information Form, Innovative School Scale, Schools' Openness to Change Scale and Teachers' Perceived Adaptive Performance Scale were applied to collect the data. In data analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression analysis were used. In the study, teachers' perceptions of innovative schools and adaptive performance were found to be high, and their perceptions of schools’ openness to change were found to be moderate. It was determined that innovative school and schools' openness to change together significantly predicted adaptive performance. It was determined that the dimensions of organizational impediments, teachers' openness to change and school environment's press for change were significant predictors of adaptive performance while innovative schools and schools' openness to change were together. It was concluded that in order to increase the adaptive performance of teachers, it is necessary to realize innovative practices in schools and to increase the openness of schools to change. Suggestions were made to prevent the factors that hinder innovations in schools and to increase the openness to change of teachers and the school environment.

Analysis of the idioms of (head) in Kurdish language, from the perspective of cognitive linguistics

This study is entitled (Analysis of the idioms of (head) in Kurdish language, from the perspective of cognitive linguistics). Language is one of the most important human achievements and occupies a large space in human life. Therefore, since the ancient times, humans have paid attention to it and tried to understand its secrets. Idioms are an important part of any language, and studying them helps us to understand the relationship between idioms and metaphors. The school of cognitive linguistics looks at idioms differently from all other linguistic schools. Other linguistic schools have studied the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects of idioms and viewed them as fixed and inseparable structures and expressions. However, the cognitive linguists have a completely different view; they see idioms as conceptual metaphors and interpret every conceptual metaphor in terms of the conceptual matching and interaction between the source and target fields. Our study is an interpretation of the idioms of (head) from the school of cognitive linguistics’ perspective, in light of the theory of conceptual metaphor, the interpretation of idioms has been conducted. In general, the study consists of the introduction, two chapters, the results and the list of references. The first chapter discusses the perception of both schools of ancient and cognitive linguistics for idioms as well as the theory of conceptual metaphor, types of conceptual metaphors and metaphorical interaction between the source and target fields. In the second chapter, the idioms of (head) have been analyzed according to the theory of conceptual metaphor, followed by the results and a list of references.

PERCEPTIONS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC AND ITS IMPACT IN SCHOOL

This article examines the impact of music-making activities on children's development. It considers the musical perceptions of pupils in mainstream schools and the effect of classical music on their momentary emotional state. It also presents strategic models for integrating classical music samples into the learning process, which are tailored to the age range of students and the music curriculum to serve the music educator.

The Lau decision and the San Diego National Origin Desegregation Assistance Center

ABSTRACT This article documents the San Diego National Origin Desegregation Assistance Center (NODAC), one of the nine national centers established by the U.S. Office of Education to provide technical assistance to school districts cited under Section 601 of Title VI, from the Office for Civil Rights, to meet the Lau compliance requirement based on the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision (Title VI. 42 U. S. C). Additionally, it provides insights into the ideological and political challenges and triumphs of implementing federal mandates for educational equity. The focus of this article is on the San Diego NODAC which provided technical assistance to the Southern California area consisting of 10 counties with the highest concentration of national origin students in the nation. This evaluation case study documents the work, process, and impact, of the San Diego NODAC and reflects on the enforcement of the Lau Task Force Remedies under the Region IX U.S. Office of Civil Rights, the process used by the NODAC, and the organizational receptivity and perceptions of school districts personnel responsible for coordinating compliance at or beyond minimal compliance. This article concludes with an evaluation process using lessons learned by the NODAC based on more than a decade of work and advocacy for students’ equal access to opportunity, quality bilingual education, and democratic schooling.

Changing images of favorite schools after the student admission system reform in Indonesia

The study aims to unearth public perceptions of the label of favorite schools after the implementation of student admission reform in Indonesia, namely the zoning system, and to explore the underlying causes. Adopting a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach, this study involved participants from nine provincial education services, nine regency education services, 72 teachers, and 72 parents. Data collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups reveal three distinctive perceptions of favorite schools. The first view posits that after the implementation of the zoning system, the quality among schools is relatively similar, indicating that the new policy is effective in reducing educational disparity. The second sees that some favorite schools persist, but there is a narrowing educational disparity among schools. The third view, the majority, maintains the belief of the importance of favorite schools and maintains the idea that sending their children to these schools is important to secure a better future. Erasing the label of favorite schools is not an easy endeavor since these schools have created long-lasting positive images in the public landscape. The result of the study will add to the discussion of the impact of the new applied school zone system on public perception of favorite schools and inform policymakers regarding the impact of educational policy enacted.

Multifaceted perception of school climate: association between students’ and teachers’ perceptions and other teacher factors

IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate whether there is a significant association between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of school climate, and if not, whether teacher factors are associated with the respective perceptions.MethodsThe participants included 1,831 students and 59 homeroom teachers from 11 public elementary and junior high schools in Japan. Multilevel models were used to examine the association between students’ and teachers’ perceptions of school climate.ResultsOf the three teacher-rated school climate scales, only teacher-perceived disciplinary climate was associated with students’ perceptions of school climate. Teachers’ working conditions, such as self-efficacy and stress, were associated with teachers’ perceptions but not students’ perceptions of school climate. Disciplinary climate was associated with students’ perceptions of school climate, even after accounting for the teachers’ working conditions.DiscussionItems questioning specific student behaviors, such as those included in the disciplinary climate scale, may be effective in avoiding incongruence with student evaluations. Moreover, maintaining disciplinary climate itself is important for students’ positive perceptions of the school climate. A disciplinary climate in which teachers and students share responsibility for learning and classroom organization, and strategies that support positive student behavior are preferable to exclusionary discipline strategies. Incorporating feedback data gathered through classroom observations or student perceptions is also important in resolving the incongruence between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the school climate.

A Closer Look at Students' School Climate Perception: A Case Study of Urban and Rural Ukraine during COVID-19

Aim. This study analyses the impact of adaptive quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of school’s social climate by students in more or less urbanised areas. Methods. The data was collected in 2016 (before the pandemic, n=1801) and in 2020 (during the pandemic, n=2038) among randomly selected 9th-grade classes (mean age=14) in a large city (Lviv), a small town (Drohobych), and rural areas (Drohobych raion). Generalised linear regression mixed modelling was applied to assess the impact of gender, location, year of the survey, and for the 2020 - for the quality of coping with the pandemic situation – and the interactive effect of these factors on the variability of school climate perception. Results. Before the pandemic, the acceptability of school climate was the highest in rural areas and the lowest in the city. During the pandemic, it decreased among students from rural areas and increased in towns. Students who perceived COVID-19 pandemic restrictions as more burdensome evaluated their school climate more positively than students who coped well with the pandemic. Conclusion. The impact of the tense pandemic situation on the attitude of adolescents to school was complex and probably reflected the inequality in the education system in urban and rural areas.

School Perceptions and Attendance for Children With Medical Complexity During COVID-19 Over Time.

Disparities in school attendance exist for children with medical complexity (CMC) due to COVID-19. Longitudinal changes in family-reported school safety perceptions and predictors of full-time, in-person school attendance are unknown. This was a prospective, longitudinal cohort study with 3 survey waves (June 2021-June 2022) among English- and Spanish-speaking families of CMC aged 5 to 17 years and pre-pandemic school attendance. Changes in Health Belief Model perceptions and full-time in-person school attendance were estimated using multivariate generalized linear modeling with repeated measures. Among 1601 respondents (52.9% of 3073 invited), 86.8% participated in all 3 surveys. School safety perceptions improved with time; however, perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 increased. Full-time in-person school attendance rose from 48.4% to 90.0% from wave 1 to 3 (p < .0001), and was associated with motivation, benefits, and cues. For example, families with low compared to high motivation for in-person attendance had 76% versus 98% predicted probability for child's school attendance, respectively at wave 3 (p < .0001). Probability of full-time in-person school attendance was associated with several health belief model perceptions. School health policy and programs may benefit from promoting family motivation, benefits, and cues during future respiratory illness epidemics including COVID-19. In-person school attendance improved for CMC over time. Opportunities exist to continue optimizing in-person attendance and family-perceived safety for CMC at school.

Advanced digital competency assessment of vocational teachers': A new approach based on fuzzy-analytical hierarcy process

&lt;p&gt;Teachers need digital competence to adapt easily to the current digital era. This study tries to discover the perceptions of vocational high school (VHS) teachers in Indonesia related to advanced digital competencies, which include information, communication, content creation, digital security, and problem-solving competencies. The multi-criteria Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) problem-solving method is used to rank the priority digital competencies that are most mastered by the respondents, and then their performance is validated by the fuzzy AHP artificial intelligence-based method. A poll was conducted with 392 respondents, with the research instrument adopting the digital competency measurement platform from DigComp. The study's results show that the fuzzy AHP method has proven that the classical AHP method is a very good way to prioritize VHS teachers' digital skills based on several factors. The two methods gave almost identical results in determining the priority order of VHS teacher digital competencies. The survey results reveal that VHS teachers in Indonesia must immediately develop their skills in terms of digital content creation and digital security. Teachers, teacher professional organizations, and decision-makers are expected to use the findings of this study as a reference in implementing VHS teacher digital competency improvement trainings.&lt;/p&gt;

Browsing: Further thoughts on this month’s theme

Additional resources and discussion questions related to the September 2024 Kappan theme, “Public perception of schools.”

The Editor’s Note: Connecting over cursive

Kappan editor-in-chief Teresa Preston discusses ideas related to public perceptions of schools presented in the September 2024 issue.

Public opinion and the teaching profession

Negative public perception of schools nationally impacts the teaching profession in direct and indirect ways. This perception has depressed the number of students in teacher preparation programs at universities. Indirectly, public perception affects teacher working conditions, compensation, and morale. Education advocates and researchers talk about the historical roots of perception of teachers, how and why negative perceptions persist, and how teachers can change the narrative.

Strategic Approaches to Islamic School Marketing in Predominantly Non-Muslim Regions

The research objectives in this study provide strategies in overcoming Islamic school marketing in a non-Muslim society. The object of this research is located at madrasah which operates in a non-Muslim community. The method used in this research is qualitative with a phenomenological approach. While collecting this data by means of observation, interviews and documentation. The data obtained were analyzed using an interactive model. This data analysis model consists of: data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing. The results of the discussion of this study are the Perceptions of Non-Muslim Communities towards Islamic Schools, namely that non-Muslim communities often have negative perceptions of Islamic schools due to fears of discrimination and lack of correct information, the influence of Social Media in Marketing Islamic Schools, namely social media plays an important role in providing relevant and reliable information for parents, as well as assisting schools in delivering their marketing messages more effectively and inclusively, and Collaboration between schools is very influential in increasing understanding and respect for differences, which shows the effectiveness of collaborative projects in reducing conflict and improving relationships between students.

Factors Contributing to Educational Failure Among Secondary School Students in Erbil City.

Background and aim Educational failure among secondary school students in Erbil City is influenced by a complex interplay of factors. This study is crucial as it aims to conduct an in-depth investigation into the various factors contributing to educational failure among secondary school students in Erbil City. Specifically, the study seeks to explore how students' attitudes toward school and learning influence their academic performance, including their levels of engagement, motivation, and perceptions of school. Additionally, it aims to examine the impact of teacher-related factors, such as teaching quality, classroom management, and teacher-student relationships, on students' academic success. Furthermore, the study will assess the role of school resources, including the availability of educational materials and facilities, and the influence of extracurricular activities on students' overall academic outcomes. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 15, 2023, to June 5, 2024, in nine secondary high schools in Erbil City. A total of 280 students participated in the study, using purposive sampling. The questionnaire comprised demographic information and a self-structured questionnaire with 30 items assessing attitude factors, school teacher factors, and school potential and extracurricular activity factors. Statistical analysis was performed using IBMSPSSStatistics for Windows, Version 28 (Released 2021; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States), with frequency and percentage used for qualitative variables and mean and standard deviation for quantitative variables. Results A total of 280 students participated in the study. The overall mean scores were 1.57 ± 0.37 for school potential and extracurricular activity factors, 1.42 ± 0.43 for attitude factors, and 1.18 ± 0.35 for school teacher factors, indicating that school potential and extracurricular activity factors had the most significant impact on academic performance. Among these, support for students with special needs (262 (93.6%)), strict internal school rules (250 (89.3%)), and availability of career counseling services (239 (85.4%)) were reported as major factors. Attitude factors such as attending school being a pleasure (224 (80.0%)) and seeking assistance from teachers (217 (77.5%)) were significant, while school teacher factors had a lesser impact, with maintaining order in classrooms (252 (90.0%)) and marking absent students' names (262 (93.6%)) being reported as minor factors. Conclusions The study showed that school potential and extracurricular activities were the main causes of educational failure, followed by attitude factors. School teacher factors had the least impact. Policymakers and healthcare providers should prioritize targeted interventions to improve school infrastructure, support students with special needs, and enhance career counseling services. Furthermore, efforts should be made to promote positive attitudes towardschool and learning and to bolster teacher support and training to better address educational challenges.

PERCEPTION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ABOUT PARENTAL SUPPORT IN STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

This study investigated the perception of primary school teachers about parental support and its impact on students' academic performance. Study was quantitative in nature and descriptive design was used. Primary school teachers in district Lahore were the population of study. Cluster Random sampling technique was used to collect data and sample drawn from the population consisted of 110 teachers from 4 public schools and 3 private schools in Lahore. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. Data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and inferential statistics by using SPSS. T-Test was used to find the relationship between private and public schools’ teachers. The result of the study showed that there is a significant difference between teachers’ perception of the private school and teachers’ perception of public school. The results showed that teachers perceived parental support as vital for students' academic success. Findings focused on importance of parent-teacher collaboration, effective communication, and parental education to foster the supportive learning environment. The results of this study can inform educational practices and policy initiatives aimed at nurturing the students’ motivation, overwhelmed at the improved academic performance.

Parents' Perceptions of Schools' COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies: A Phenomenological Study.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools closed across the United States. Given the impact of virtual learning and lost access to school resources, schools eventually reopened with COVID-19 mitigation protocols in place. This qualitative study sought to understand parental perceptions of school-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Using a phenomenology approach, nine focus groups were completed with 40 parents of children in grades K-8 representing eight Maryland counties. Based on acceptance of masking policies (as indicated on a survey), parents were sorted into 2 groups-lower and higher masking acceptance. A thematic analysis was conducted for each group and themes were compared between the 2 groups. The main themes were related to parents' general sentiments regarding COVID-19, compliance, pandemic-related changes over time, changes in personal opinions, and in-person learning. Both groups described challenges related to inconsistent COVID-19 mitigation policies and practices, the challenges of rapid and frequent changes in guidelines during the pandemic, and the benefits of in-person learning. Parents of elementary and middle school children, regardless of general acceptance of masking policies, shared concerns about implementation and guidance regarding school-based mitigation strategies.

Student voices: a longitudinal study of students’ perceptions of their schooling and special education lessons in Iceland

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored the school perceptions of Icelandic students with learning difficulties, factors affecting their academic progress and well-being, and how their views developed over time. The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge to assess the school experience of children with learning difficulties in Iceland. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with five students repeatedly over a period of three school years. A qualitative, reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop themes from students’ answers over time. The interviews revealed that participants’ general well-being in school appeared to be connected to peer acceptance and friendships. While participants generally held positive attitudes towards school, they developed a negative attitude towards homework as they grew older. The students’ perceptions of their schooling underscored the importance of listening to students’ preferences regarding their studies and identifying what can support their well-being.