Pre-university Education System Research Articles

Flourishing in Education: Psychometric Properties of the Flourishing Scale in a Sample of Romanian Teachers.

The Flourishing Scale (FS) is one of the most well-known tools for assessing psychological flourishing. However, its psychometric properties have been little analyzed in the case of teachers. This study aimed to examine the validity of the scale in the case of a sample of Romanian teachers and to analyze the latter's level of flourishing. In this regard, 323 Romanian teachers from the pre-university education system were recruited. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the construct validity of the scale, and Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω indices were used to assess internal consistency. The convergent validity was assessed by associating the FS with other instruments related to well-being: the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience. Network analysis was performed to examine the items that are particularly influential in the scale. As a result of the CFA, the one-factor structure of the scale was certified (χ2/df = 1.39; CFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.035). The internal consistency is excellent (both α and ω = 0.89). The FS correlates with both of the scales which operationalize components of well-being. The teachers' flourishing level is above average. The network approach showed that the items related to self-acceptance, optimism, and respect had the highest indicators of centrality, and the item related to supportive social relationships was the least informative in the network. For the male subsample, flourishing means optimism about the future and respect for others, and for the female respondents, it is related to self-acceptance and respect. The results provide support for using the scale in assessing flourishing among teachers.

Preliminary Study on Occupational Well-Being among Albanian Teachers in Lower Secondary School

This study aims to assess the level of occupational well-being and its three constructions, Organizational, Workload, and Pupil interaction well-being, among Albanian teachers working in lower secondary schools and the effect of demographic features and socioeconomic factors on occupational well-being. The analysis of information obtained from the interview of 198 teachers showed that teachers working in lower secondary schools reported a moderate level of occupational well-being. The levels of both organizational well-being and pupil interaction well-being were positive. Teachers have reported that workload well-being was slightly negative overall. The level of organizational WB, workload WB, and pupil interaction WB varies depending on the teachers' demographic features and social and economic factors. Female teachers, teachers with children, and teachers from families with low and medium incomes declare a higher level of well-being. Teaching experience affects the level of well-being. Teachers in public schools and teachers working in schools located in urban areas declare a higher level of occupational well-being. Based on these results, it is recommended that future reforms and programs in the pre-university education system aimed at increasing occupational well-being should be designed and implemented. This is because of the complexity of the factors responsible for occupational well-being and the characteristics of educational institutions related to their ownership status and location.

The Importance of Educational Institutions for the Employees’Professional Development

The continuous professional training of didactic personnel at the level of the pre-university education system is coordinated at the level of the Ministry of Education, in accordance with national strategies and policies. This includes professional development and career development according to art. 242, para. (1) the National Education Law no. 1/1011, with subsequent amendments and additions. Continuous training is both a RIGHT and an OBLIGATION, according to the legislation in force (https://www.edu.ro/formare-continua). Involving the school in providing professional development opportunities for teachers helps them develop their skills, improve their teaching practices and feel supported in their professional development. A collaborative school culture, based on mutual support, between teachers and between teachers and the school principal positively influences the teachers’ motivation, teaching quality and job satisfaction (Eurydice, 2015). The present paper presents the results of a quantitative study (a sociological survey based on a questionnaire), with the aim of identifying the perception of didactic personnel regarding the contribution of the educational institution to their career development. It starts from the following premise: the more the educational institution gets involved in the professional training activities of its didactic personnel, the more teachers will be motivated for career development.

Implications of digital risks on teachers' motivation and intention to use digital tools: a PLS-POS perspective in Romanian preuniversity education system

PurposeThe study aims to analyze the different types of risks related to the use of technology and determine their positive or negative influence on teachers' motivation and behavioral intention to use digital tools.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on survey data from 200 teachers in the Romanian preuniversity education system. The data analysis followed a four-step approach, using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) model for hypothesized relationships among research concepts and a PLS prediction-oriented segmentation (POS) procedure.FindingsThis study showed that increased risk awareness influences both motivation and, consequently, the intention to adopt digital tools in the preuniversity education system.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of research remains constrained with regard to the examined population, considering the substantial number of teachers within the preuniversity education system. Another limit lies in the basic classification of identified risk types.Practical implicationsSchool managers should design a strategy to increase the level of motivation for integrating digital tools in the educational process.Originality/valueLittle scholarly attention has been devoted to investigating the risks associated with digitalization in the preuniversity education system. In addition, no prior research has been conducted to assess the influence of risk perception on people's motivation and intention to use digital tools in preuniversity education.

The importance of integration of music education with social sciences in elementary school

TThis study analyzes the importance of cross-subject (cross-curricular) integration of the music education subject with social sciences in elementary school, from the perspective of primary school teachers. This research is important for the teachers of the relevant fields and aims to improve the cross-subject connection practices of music education and social sciences in schools, and it also aims to raise the awareness of the relevant educational institutions at the municipal and state level. The aspect of cross-curricular integration is very important for the development of students’ competencies. These competencies are related to the very goals of the pre-university education system of Kosovo clearly defined in the new Kosovo Curriculum Framework, as the main document in the hierarchy of official education documents in Kosovo. In order to identify the current situation, in this study a qualitative approach was used and by purposeful sampling different teachers have been chosen who work with grades 3, 4 and 5 (in the second curricular level), because this combination offers a diversity of educational units and greater opportunities for ways of integrating music education with social sciences. To address this topic, we collected research data through a semi-structured interview with a total of 15 primary school teachers which highlight the real situation regarding the importance, applicability and the challenges teachers face during the integration of music education with the subjects representing social sciences.

The Personal Development of Managers in the Pre-University Education System as an Imperative of Changing Education

The Personal Development of Managers in the Pre-University Education System as an Imperative of Changing Education

The State of the Pre-University Education System in Romania. Is Educational Management Professional and Based on Responsibility?

The State of the Pre-University Education System in Romania. Is Educational Management Professional and Based on Responsibility?

RESEARCH ON THE PERCEPTION OF ROMANIAN PRE-UNIVERSITY TEACHERS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN E-LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION

E-leadership research has evolved significantly in recent times, influencing the development of the education system, which has been affected by the effects of the pandemic. In order to keep up with the changes, teachers have had to adapt to the ever-changing requirements and opportunities. The topic of the paper refers to the perspective of Romanian pre-university teachers regarding the connection between e-leadership and motivation. The reason I chose to do this research is because e-leadership is a current topic. On the other hand, I am a teacher in the pre-university education system and I started my teaching activity in the middle of the pandemic and I can say that it was a real challenge for me to integrate remotely into a new team. Therefore, I found it opportune to study this subject, the paper being based on the identification of the main advantages and barriers of e-leadership in motivating employees. For this, I will look for the answer to the research question “What is the perception of pre-university teachers regarding e-leadership?”, by sending a questionnaire among teachers. To answer this question, I carried out a quantitative research of a structured survey type, based on a questionnaire with 16 items, addressed to pre-university teachers, regarding the link between e-leadership and employee motivation. This survey was conducted online, in 1st-4th November 2022, through Google Forms, and I processed and interpreted the obtained data, using Microsoft Excel and SPSS statistical software. I hope this paper will be useful to all those interested in this topic, especially PhD students and leaders who want to deepen this topic.

The Effect of Funding on the Results of the Pre-University Education System

In the context of the new paradigms of the knowledge-based economy, education and the quality of the educational system is becoming one of the strongest factors of influence. Decisions regarding the financing of education have a particular impact on the level of expenditure in the pre-university system and on the organization of the system of study courses. Furthermore, they are closely linked to the economics and accounting of pre-university education institutions. The existence or lack of material resources can greatly influence the teaching activity process and implicitly the results achieved by the system. This paper aims to examine the consequences of certain decisions regarding funding in education, student achievement in pre-university education using data on government spending in the world relative to a single student, the level of salaries in secondary education and the number of students per teacher and the student's test scores. The authors chose the quantitative research methodology using the multiple linear regression model with dependent and independent variables to test the extent to which certain parameters of the funding process can influence the results achieved by students in standardized tests. The research results show that decisions regarding the financing of education in terms of salaries and the level of funding based on the standard cost per student have a direct impact on the achievements of the students and also, on the scores achieved by students.

The efficiency of using the Google forms tool at the stage of a lesson focusing on directing the teaching-learning process for Geography discipline - an online model

The pre-university educational system should be based on an educational approach in which the teaching, learning and evaluation methods aim to turn the student into an active agent in the learning process. This study is an attempt to evaluate the use of a personal learning environment based on the Google application - the Forms tool to support teaching and learning in the teaching-learning direction sequence, identifying the effects by calculating the magnitude of tests. The results showed that students who benefited from the teaching-learning model with the Google Forms tool registered better results in evaluation.

English in Libya and the Need for EAP

English as a school subject enjoys a very distinguished status within the Libyan education system both at the pre-university and the university level. This type of distinction stems from the role that said language plays at those levels. This paper addresses the need for a special type of English i.e. English for Academic Purposes ' EAP' that is felt to be needed to be inserted in the pre-university English language syllabi. Establishing this need is based on the researcher's own 35 years experience of university teaching as well as his Ph.D. thesis (2000) that used a field research regarding using English a s a medium of instruction in both faculties of medicine and faculties of engineering in the Libyan universities.This article comes in two sections: (1) Section one is a brief literature review of the origins of ESP as the main umbrella that accommodates EAP, the reasons for EAP emergence, and the types of EAP. (2) Section two reviews the importance of inserting EAP within the Libyan pre-university educational system.

A Finding Study of Teachers Perspectives about Self-Education

Self-education is defined as a conscious, intentional activity that an individual carries out for the formation or completion of his own person. The aims of self-education are set by the individual himself, and are in accordance with the requirements of society. As the individual progresses in age, self-education occupies an increasingly important place in his training process. In the case of teachers, self-education is the subject of education, but also its object. We developed this finding study to identify the degree of concern of 72 teachers in the pre-university education system regarding their own training, their participation in forms of lifelong learning organized by education systems, respectively the technique by which the self-education process is performed. In this regard, we completed a three-section questionnaire that was applied through the Google form. As a temporary reference space, these data were collected by reference to the last 3 years of teaching activity. Preliminary results of the study highlighted the fact that teachers agree more to asynchronous training courses.

Change in Neuroticism and Extraversion among Pre-University Education Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background and objectives: Since the first reports of SARS-CoV-2 infection cases in China, the virus has rapidly spread to many countries, including Romania. In Romania, schools were closed in March 2020 to prevent the virus from spreading; since then, they have been sporadically opened, but only for a short time. Teachers had to adopt online education methods, experiencing real difficulties in their attempts to maintain high-quality teaching, as a result of social distancing from students and colleagues. The current study aimed to evaluate the burden on the neuroticism states of employees in the pre-university education system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted, in which personality trait data from 138 employees were collected via a questionnaire (EPI, Eysenck Personality Inventory), which measured extraversion–introversion and neuroticism scores before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, 150 subjects were invited to participate in the study, although 12 of them refused to participate. Based on the questionnaire not being fully filled in a further three subjects were excluded from the study, leaving a total of 135, of which 115 were woman and 20 were men. Results: The results demonstrate that the subjects included in the study expressed higher neuroticism during the COVID-19 pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period. This change could promote more stress and depression symptoms. Subjects with high school education had significantly lower neuroticism scores over time than those with university education (p = 0.006). Furthermore, we found extraversion scores to be statistically significant in our population (p = 0.022). Conclusion: The gender and living environment of the teachers were not significantly associated with the reduction in the extraversion score, but were more frequently found among older persons and in subjects without higher education. Subjects of Hungarian ethnicity had lower extraversion scores than those of Romanian ethnicity.

THE LINK BETWEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND THE OVERALL EFFICIENCY OF THE ORGANIZATION IN THE CASE OF STAFF IN ROMANIAN PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

The activity of teachers implies a good professional training doubled by teaching skills, being necessary a continuous training that begins with the initial training carried out in universities and advances with the evolution in career marked by the gradual achievement of didactic degrees for Romanian pre-university education. The standard for the teaching profession includes: the level of knowledge necessary for the development of the teaching profession, skills specific to the teaching activity that can be improved with the actual teaching experience and with the evolution in the teaching career. The training and improvement of human resources influences the quality of the teaching process as well as the school results obtained by students at national exams, being an indicator in establishing the quality of the education system not only at school level but also globally, seen through the whole pre-university education system.

Identifying the Types of Diversity in the Romanian Pre-university Educational Institutions and the Appropriate Managerial Strategy

The current research aims identifying the level of knowledge the stakeholders in the pre-university education system have upon the concept of diversity as a social construct and as basis for both the cohesion degree of the employees’ group (teachers, auxiliary personnel, non-didactical) and the students’ group, as well as the satisfaction degree they have while participating in the didactical process. The research method is the investigation. The instrument is the questionnaire (Annex 1), which was applied to a number of 25 respondents, school inspectors for institutional management and human resources management in Romania. After its application in Google forms format, the answers were introduces in the NVivo content data analysis program, using the codes diversity type, management strategy, ethnicity, gender, religion, language, gaining information according to the table in Annex 2. As the main objective of our study was to identify the types of diversity the schools face, we therefore begin our analysis by simply asking the responders to enumerate the types of diversity they can identify in their counties. Altogether, once they are enlisted, the responders will further name the strategy they can find in the schools from their county where those types of diversity were found. Our data suggest that diversity is defined in a very unspecific, personal and subjective way, that the types of diversity are very distinct and quite difficult to manage and that an easily identifiable strategic approach is inexistent in most of the targeted counties.

Correlations between the Alternative Assessment Methods and the Pupil Counseling Process

In this paper we present the role of using active-participatory teaching-learning-assessment methods by teachers in order to streamline the educational process in the pre-university education system and the possible correlations between these and the process of school counseling and vocational guidance of pupils. The micro-research conducted on a group of pupils from a pre-university educational unit representative for the system showed that pupils are attracted to activities in which teachers use modern teaching and assessment methods and they have a significant contribution in the training /development/deepening/practicing personal skills necessary for the educational development of pupils and their social evolution. Also, the pupils appreciate the activities of school counseling and vocational guidance as paramount for the elaboration of their own educational development plan and for their subsequent socio-professional evolution.

The effects of funding on student performance: Findings from PISA 2018

Research Question: Is there a link between the investment in human capital, measured by the average gross salary in the pre-university education system and the student-teacher ratio together with the results obtained by students in tests? Motivation: In any society, the work done by man to obtain results is always present. Human capital in the economic and accounting context cannot be dissociated from its cost, and in the public system, it acquires an even greater influence. The role of human capital and implicitly its cost in the public expenditure system represents the largest part, and its significance is accentuated in education. Idea: The authors of this paper tried to see if investing in human capital has positive consequences on the outcome of the pre-university education system. Data: Research data were collected from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) website Tools: The research was performed by quantitative methods using the least squares regression equation. The hypotheses tested by the authors were the existence of a relevant positive or negative correlation between the indicators presented. Findings: Following the analysis, found that there was a positive correlation between the salary level indicators and the average score obtained in tests, and a negative correlation between the number of students per teacher and test results. Contribution: This paper contributes to research in the field on the effects of decisions regarding funding and pay policy for pre-university education using the results obtained by students in standardized tests. Therefore, this research is part of a larger research project that shows that the level of funding is correlated with the results of students measured by tests in pre-university education.

PORTFOLIO-COMPONENT PART OF THE COGNITIVE COMPETENCES ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR PUPILS AND STUDENTS

Portfolio for all subjects in the pre-university and university education system plays an important role in the educational process, being justified by the need to measure the efficiency of the training process, to obtain relevant information on pupils and student outcomes. The portfolio provides the necessary feedback to all those involved in education. Portfolio is a set of actions and operations that create good mood, awakens motivation to explore, discover and independently acquire new content or in co-operation. The portfolio is made in a certain context, which depends a lot on the age of the one who draws it up, on the specificity of the discipline, taxonomic level of the factors that determine the choice of the teaching strategy by the teacher. The portfolio confirms what the pupils/students know and what they are capable of mastering.

Comparative Analyze on the Legal Solution Relevant to Status of Teachers in Albania

Legislative reforms in the pre-university education system in Albania have paid special attention to addressing issues related to teacher status. In law no.69 / 2012, "On the pre-university education system in the Republic of Albania", these issues are treated in accordance with the requirements of International Labor Conventions, the Labor Code of the Republic of Albania and law No. 10171, dated 22.10. 2009 "On regulated professions in the Republic of Albania" amended. The law defines the teacher as the central figure of the school. In accordance with the recommendations of the ILO and UNESCO for the status of teachers, the Albanian law guarantees contemporary standards at every stage of the process for gaining and practicing the profession, for continuous professional preparation, scientific qualification, and career. The treatment of labor relations, relations with the social partners, with the associations and the community of parents and students, the definition of their rights and duties, salaries and rewards are components of the status of a teacher.
 The status of teachers reflects the social and economic conditions of the country, work culture and community traditions. The law treats teacher status as a key factor in developing the profile of a teacher capable of preparing the future citizens of an open and global society. The professional and academic freedom of the teacher is considered as an essential element of his status. Creating conditions for the exercise of civil rights related to the teaching profession, the right to participate in social and public life and to organize in trade unions are legislative achievements in line with EU standards and the requirements of international documents.

The influence of financing on results in the pre-university education system

"Expenditure on the education system plays a significant role in the economy of the public system. In the accounting of educational institutions, special emphasis is placed on the budgeting process, in which the revenues and expenditures of the entities are found. Despite a large amount of research, specialists do not agree on the role the level of funding plays in the education system and its effect on the results of the final beneficiaries of the system. In this research we tried to observe how the level of funding or average costs per pupil in European education systems influences the results of students in standardized tests. Making an estimate with the help of the linear regression model by the method of the least squares of the correlation between these two variables, we found that there was a positive correlation between them; not exceptionally strong but not negligible either."