Secondary School Context Research Articles

Secondary School in the Russian Federation and Russian Orthodox Church at the Beginning of the 21st Century

In this article we review major points of view of supporters and opponents of church presence into Russian secondary school in the modern context. Those who support church presence in the secondary school claim that it is necessary and argue that people are willing to have Orthodox education, relations between the church and the government have been improved, it is necessary to introduce the pluralistic model of public-church relations, it is in line with the historical identity of the tradition, and that there is a necessity to eliminate systemic imbalances between secondary and faith school. The opponents of the Orthodox education introduction into the context of modern secondary school include atheist parents of students, followers of other religions, supporters of liberal modernization models for Russia, and the group of Russian “intelligentsia” who traditionally do not trust Orthodox Church as a social institution. Major periods of interaction between Russian Orthodox Church and Russian secondary school are specified. We have analyzed the situation in several regions where Orthodox education encountered resistance from the representatives of other religions. Major tendencies of Orthodox education development in the context of new government approaches to the problem are estimated. We explored the role of the course “Fundamentals of Orthodox culture and ethic”, as a compromise of a kind, due to which the problem of Orthodox education promotion in the republics with non-Orthodox population was resolved.

Implicit knowledge of general upper secondary school in a bridge-building project

ABSTRACTBridge-building activities are practiced widely in the education systems of Europe. They are meant to bridge transitions between lower and upper secondary school and form a mandatory part of the youth guidance system in Denmark. By giving pupils the opportunity to experience the different educational context of upper secondary school, bridge-building activities are meant to facilitate their decision-making on educational paths, but also to attract more and new groups of pupils. However, the premises of the inherent differences of educational contexts and of pupils’ lacking knowledge of upper secondary education can be questioned. In this ethnographic case study of a bridge-building project in a rural area in Denmark, we analyse the implicit knowledge of the general upper secondary school, as it is practiced in a bridge-building project, and how it is experienced by the pupils on the background of their prior knowledge. The analysis is theoretically informed by especially the code concepts of Basil Bernstein.

A Comparison of L2 and L3 Learners’ Strategy Use in School Settings

Research on third-language learning (L3) has documented that plurilingualism is an asset in many respects. Particularly relevant for this study is research showing that L3 learners use more strategies more frequently and efficiently than L2 learners. However, previous studies have mainly concentrated on L3 learners’ strategy use at the university level, whereas little attention has been given to L3 learners in a secondary school context. This study investigated reports of strategy use by 127 L2-English and 104 L3-German learners who studied these two languages in Norwegian secondary schools. The results showed that L3-German school learners reported using significantly fewer strategies and applying them less frequently than L2-English school learners. It is hypothesized (a) that L3 learners may be insufficiently aware of how to transfer knowledge from previous language-learning experiences and (b) that L3 learners use fewer strategies than L2 learners due to lower motivation for learning L3 German than for learning L2 English.

Context, culture and critical thinking: Scottish secondary school teachers’ and pupils’ experiences of outdoor learning

Limited research exists that considers the usefulness of outdoor learning as a legitimate pedagogical approach for the delivery of a mainstream secondary school curriculum. To address this shortcoming, we investigated the ways in which mathematics and geography teachers and students from three secondary schools in Scotland responded to theOutdoor Journeysprogramme, which is a school‐based teaching approach that enables pupils to learn about the people and place in which they live. Data collection included participant observation, short questionnaires and interviews with approximately 150 students (11–14 years old) and 10 teachers. In most cases, pupils enjoyed the opportunity to guide their own learning experientially and beyond the familiar classroom context. Teachers acknowledged that such an approach presented an opportunity to develop pupils’ critical thinking skills and that these skills can, in some cases, be overlooked in early secondary education. Following these findings, we discuss the pedagogical implications arising from the inclusion of critical thinking as a key outcome of outdoor learning, and as part of the Outdoor Journeys programme, within a secondary school context. We continue by adding our voice to the nascent literature addressing outdoor learning approaches that seek to gain traction within the broader social ecology of established school cultures.

Building school connectedness through shared lunches

Purpose– School connectedness is a well-established protective factor for young people’s physical, mental, and social health. The purpose of this paper is to explore the promotion of school connectedness through the practice of shared lunches within a secondary school context in New Zealand.Design/methodology/approach– An ethnographic methodology was used to explore in-depth the mechanisms by which food practices included indicators of school connectedness, and used interviews and observations with teachers and 16-18-year-old students in a New Zealand secondary school.Findings– The results describe six key mechanisms by which shared lunches fostered school connectedness: showing common humanity, creating an informal setting, encouraging sharing, enabling inclusive participation, demonstrating sacrifice for the communal good, and facilitating experiences of diversity. These mechanisms contributed to increased social interactions in which people got to know each other better and were able to gain insight into others’ personalities. This allowed for opportunities to establish and strengthen social relationships, and contributed to indicators of connectedness.Research limitations/implications– The study is exploratory with findings reported from one school. Further research in other contexts on the value of shared lunches for building school connectedness is required.Originality/value– Shared lunches, as part of an overall strategy to develop a well-connected school community, are adaptable and can fit into a multitude of situations to meet different needs. The findings of this study contribute to understanding the mechanisms by which shared lunches can affect indicators of school connectedness.

Motivating teachers’ commitment to change through transformational school leadership in Chinese urban upper secondary schools

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers’ commitment to change and the effects of organizational and teachers’ factors on teachers’ perception of transformational school leadership in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context.Design/methodology/approach– The paper mainly uses quantitative methods to explore the relationships between different constructs. The author asks: to what extent can transformational school leadership practices in the urban upper secondary schools of a particular Chinese city explain the variation in teachers’ commitment to change during curriculum reform? What are the effects of organizational and teachers’ factors on teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership?Findings– The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the effect of transformational school leadership was moderate when transformational school leadership and teachers’ commitment to change were treated as single variables. Four dimensions of transformational leadership practice together explained the moderate effects on four dimensions of teachers’ commitment to change, among which the effect of managing the instructional program was the most prominent. The results of multiple regression analysis also revealed that variables like culture, strategy, environment, and teachers’ age had significant relationships with teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership. Culture, environment, strategy, structure, and teachers’ factors such as age and grade taught had moderate effects on different dimensions of teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership.Originality/value– This study is one of the first to explore the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers’ commitment to change in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context. The findings contribute to educational management in China and similar contexts, and this study advances knowledge and furthers the understandings of the transferability of theories to different contexts.

Overcoming barriers: engaging younger students in an online intercultural exchange

This paper reports on a small-scale project involving an online school exchange between two classes of 12-/13-year olds located in the North of England and the Ruhr area of Germany. The overarching aim of the project was to develop intercultural understanding in foreign language learning through communication in an online environment. Analysing data from website posts, lesson observations, student questionnaires and interviews, the paper investigates the extent to which the project realised this goal, and examines emerging practical and pedagogical issues. Comparing the processes and outcomes of this project in secondary education to similar projects in Higher Education (HE), the research found that the young people learnt more than older students about cultural similarities than differences. They were thus less likely to be party to cultural misunderstandings, developing friendly relationships and openness towards a people of a different culture. However, their failure to notice differences may have been due to a lack of in-depth discussion and absence of more demanding student tasks. The paper concludes that in order to develop more sophisticated intercultural learning, expertise derived from telecollaboration in HE needs to be adapted to the lower secondary school context, drawing particularly on auto-ethnography and ethnographic interviewing.

The Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework for understanding parental experiences with homework

Research into parental homework-related experiences has predominantly focused on parental attitudes to homework. This research has shown that parental attitudes can affect the formation of attitudes in children and subsequently their academic success. Most research has focused on a secondary school context, but there is still a lack of knowledge within primary school contexts. The present study qualitatively investigated parental homework-related experiences in a Scottish primary school context and the factors influencing these experiences, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 Scottish parents (12 mothers, mean age [M] = 35, standard deviation [SD] = 2.7; and one father, age = 38 years) and were analysed using a hybrid approach to Thematic Analysis. The three themes identified were: “theory of planned behaviour”, “factors influencing parental control” and “coping mechanisms”. Parents provided help with homework regardless of their attitude to homework but their homework experience was influenced by factors encountered during homework and the coping mechanisms adopted.

Didactics, dance and teacher knowing in an upper secondary school context

This article deals with didactics, dance and teacher knowing in an upper secondary school context in Sweden. Dance is referred to as a western theatrical art form as well as to a subject mainly defined through its curriculum. A qualitative interview study with experienced dance teachers constitutes the base on which two overarching theoretical approaches are used. The first highlights the meaning and use of didactics as concept such as space, time and subject, while the second elucidates dance teachers professional knowledge in relation to Shulman’s seven categories of knowledge. Curriculum knowledge and the process of transforming dance as a field of knowledge into a school subject appear to be a problematic category in need for attention, while categories such as pedagogical content knowledge and knowledge of learners seem to be self-evident.

An enduring lens for a continuing problem: Close analysis of conceptually scored cloze items

Abstract This paper provides an example of close analysis of student attempts to fill the gaps that comprise a cloze test. Such analysis may assist diagnosis of the difficulties that groups of students experience with specific text in particular contexts and illustrate the impact of those difficulties. The paper briefly touches on the international, academic role of English, outlines its contemporary role in universities in the People’s Republic of China and then describes a small quantitative study of student difficulty with specialist English that illustrates the impact of those difficulties on text accessibility. One hundred and fourteen Chinese undergraduate students completed a 50 item cloze test which was conceptually scored before close analysis of patterns in clear student error. The impact of the pattern of difficulty that emerged from the Chinese results is illustrated in a number of ways. The rank and proportional difficulty of the identified language features is presented in numerical form and compared with that emerging from previous use of the test in secondary school contexts. The proportional difficulty is then used to guide insertion of words from an unfamiliar language into the base text to provide an indication of the difficulty being experienced by the ‘average’ Chinese undergraduate in reading this passage prepared for a mid-level secondary school audience. The present case provides the opportunity of ‘proof of concept’ for extension of cloze techniques from holistic estimation of readability to identification of specific features of specialist writing styles that may cause difficulty for particular groups of readers. The results of this study suggest that such close analysis of error patterns may provide an illuminative lens on student difficulty with specific language styles within English and that, in this particular case, focus on general academic English may not be sufficient preparation for upper level discipline courses that make use of more specific styles.

‘Not all gumnuts and outback’: Exploring the attitudes of creative writing students towards Australian literature

In Australia, laments for the dearth of Australian literature in both secondary school and university contexts have frequently surfaced in public debate, yet there has been less attention paid to student perspectives. This article discusses a small–scale survey undertaken with creative writing students enrolled in Contemporary Australian Writing at RMIT University to capture their views about Australian literature. The results of this survey indicate that a hybrid approach based on techniques derived from both creative writing and literary studies appears to have a positive effect on the attitudes of students towards Australian literature.

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Considering the Complexities of Professional Learning and Development in the Secondary School Context

This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework for scoping, provisioning and reporting the complexities of in-service Professional Learning and Development (PLD) in the New Zealand secondary school sector with a focus on middle leaders. Government-funded PLD in the New Zealand context is a research and evidence-based service provided to schools in response to high-level government policy. These PLD contracts aim to address inequalities for young people by enhancing the quality and effectiveness of leadership and teaching practices which result in increased student achievement, especially for priority students and those from minority backgrounds. The rationale for developing a conceptual framework for understanding government-funded, externally provided professional learning and development will be discussed. Recommendations for policy makers and researchers on the complex ways research evidence and policy come together in the delivery of in-service PLD for leaders and teachers in schools will be highlighted and opportunities for improvement examined.

The treatment of lexical collocations in EFL coursebooks in the Estonian secondary school context

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa11.18 The article investigates lexical collocations encountered in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction in Estonian upper secondary schools. This is achieved through a statistical analysis of collocations featuring in three coursebooks where the collocations found are analysed in terms of their type, frequency and usefulness index by studying them through an online language corpus (Collins Wordbanks Online). The coursebooks are systematically compared and contrasted relying upon the data gathered. The results of the study reveal that the frequency and range of lexical collocations in a language corpus have not been regarded as an essential criterion for their selection and practice by any of the coursebook authors under discussion.

Minority Ethnic Students and Science Participation: a Qualitative Mapping of Achievement, Aspiration, Interest and Capital

In the UK, the ‘leaky pipeline’ metaphor has been used to describe the relationship between ethnicity and science participation. Fewer minority ethnic students continue with science in post-compulsory education, and little is known about the ways in which they participate and identify with science, particularly in the secondary school context. Drawing on an exploratory study of 46 interviews and 22 h of classroom observations with British students (aged 11–14) from Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian and Chinese ethnic backgrounds, this paper identified five ‘types’ of science participation among minority ethnic students. The five types of science participation emerged from an analysis of students’ science achievement, science aspiration, science interest and science capital. The characteristics of the five types are as follows: Science adverse students have no aspirations towards science and lacked interest, achievement and capital in science. Science intrinsic students have high science aspirations, interest and capital but low science attainment. Students who are science intermediate have some aspirations, interest and capital in science, with average science grades. Science extrinsic students achieve highly in science, have some science capital but lacked science aspirations and/or interest. Science prominent students are high science achievers with science aspirations, high levels of interest and capital in science. The findings highlight that minority ethnic students participate in science in diverse ways. Policy implications are suggested for each type as this paper provides empirical evidence to counter against public (and even some academic) discourses of minority ethnic students as a homogeneous group.

An international perspective: supporting adolescents with speech, language, and communication needs in the United Kingdom.

This article provides an overview of the education system in the United Kingdom, with a particular focus on the secondary school context and supporting older children and young people with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCNs). Despite the pervasive nature of speech, language, and communication difficulties and their long-term impact on academic performance, mental health, and well-being, evidence suggests that there is limited support to older children and young people with SLCNs in the United Kingdom, relative to what is available in the early years. Focus in secondary schools is predominantly on literacy, with little attention to supporting oral language. The article provides a synopsis of the working practices of pediatric speech and language therapists working with adolescents in the United Kingdom and the type and level of speech and language therapy support provided for older children and young people with SLCNs in secondary and further education. Implications for the nature and type of specialist support to adolescents and adults with SLCNs are discussed.

Influences of the Mandated Presence of ICT in Saudi Arabia Secondary Schools

 Abstract—In the Saudi Arabia secondary school context, ICT integration is simultaneously the product of a mandate to ICT adoption and the ultimate goal of the education reform. This study utilizes an implementation, Concerns-Based Adoption Model, evaluation, and grounded theory approach together with a thematic analysis to explore the ways of making ICT integration in Saudi schools strategic by identifying stages of concern and levels of use, determining technical, political, and cultural implementation factors, and studying the ways of balancing technology with Islamic values in three specific subject domains (mathematics, science, and Arabic).The findings indicate that mandatory uses of ICT integration impede the transition from ICT adoption to ICT implementation within the overall education reform.

Direct and indirect educational relationships: Developing a typology for the contribution of different categories of school staff in relation to students’ educational experiences

This article presents results from a research project exploring the relational interplay between school staff and students, its functions and complexity in the secondary school context. School relationships (between students and different kinds of staff) are more or less indirectly related to educational content: subject matter as well as norms and values. In the teacher–student relationship, the teaching and learning of subject matter largely defines the relationship, whereas for school support staff, the relationship to such content is fairly distant. However, they all have in common that these assigned functions are created for the purpose of enabling the education of our youth. In this article, a case study from a secondary school is used to develop a typology for understanding the relevance that content may have in these different types of relationships. We also explore the sometimes unpredictable ways in which content can emerge as relevant. A year-long case study was conducted during the 2012–2013 school year at a secondary school that had recently been renovated and in which work had been done to improve the educational environment. Multiple data sources were used, including document analysis, mapping, contextual observations and interviews. Official statistics, newspaper articles and school quality reports were used to contextualize the case. In this article, interviews with different categories of school staff and students formed the main source of data. The different assigned functions of the staff were categorized as: educators, education professionals (e.g. counsellors) and education support professionals (e.g. caretakers). Although the latter were often indirectly connected to content, they could also have relevance through the relationships that they developed with students. Here, there is a point in separating the staff’s assigned function as officially described and their relation to students as played out in practice. Two examples illustrate how members of staff diverge somewhat from their assigned functions in informal places and spaces to facilitate the educational experience of the students. It is argued that in a school for all students, this flexibility in school relationships can improve students’ relations to content and school success.

The Gandhi Project: Dialogos philosophical dialogues and the ethics and politics of intercultural and interfaith friendship

The overarching question addressed in this paper is the following: Can Dialogos dialogues conducted over time lead to the development of respect, mutual understanding and friendship among participants with diverse cultural and life stance backgrounds? Dialogos is a pedagogical approach to practical philosophy aimed at enhancing human maturity and wisdom, in this paper operationalized as intercultural and interreligious friendship. The empirical material stems from the Gandhi Project, a series of 10 philosophical dialogues facilitated by the author in an intercultural and interfaith upper secondary school context in Norway. Drawing on the ethics of Aristotle, a distinction between friendship based on utility, pleasure and virtue is made and further related to Derrida’s views on the political value of friendship. The empirical action research process is analyzed in light of these theories. The conclusion is that Dialogos philosophical dialogues conducted over time are a promising approach if the development of intercultural and interreligious respect, understanding and friendship is made an aim of education.

Principals' Developmental Leadership Behaviors: Validating a Scale with Structural Equation Modelling

Objective - The main objective of this empirical study was to validate a substantiated Principals' Developmental Leadership Behaviors Model (PDLBM) and an instrument to identify critical components of Principals' Developmental Leadership Behaviors (PDLB) in Malaysian secondary schoolcontext. Methodology/Technique - Structural Equation Modelling was employed to test the model. Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to identify the underlying factors, whereas Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to test the measurement models. Findings - The analysis yielded a three-factor PDLBM: (1) focused, (2) supportive and (3) developer which supported evidence for convergent validity, construct reliability and discriminant validity. Novelty - The PDLBM is a coherent premier tested model derived in a local Malaysian cultural educational setting which provides direction for practitioners in planning and designing specific training programs for developing leadership competency among teacher leaders, with the enhancement of PDLB in Malaysian secondary schools. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords : Principals' Developmental Leadership Behaviors; Structural Equation Modelling; Focused; Supportive; Developer; Teacher Leaders.

Historicizing Mathematics and Mathematizing Social Studies for Social Justice: A Call for Integration

Researchers and theorists in education have offered persuasive arguments and evidence documenting the need for, and benefits of, education for social justice. Despite these efforts the intersection of social justice with interdisciplinary curricular designs remains underexplored. This article argues that social justice education is enriched through interdisciplinary curricula, in that it holds the potential for students to develop deeper conceptions of social justice and experience deeper learning outcomes related to content knowledge across subject matter areas. Central to this argument is the notion that situating disciplinary relationships explicitly within social justice perspectives encourages an emphasis on broader and richer sociopolitical consciousness among learners. We draw on historical and contemporary narratives to position social justice in mathematics and social studies education. As researchers in these two fields, we envision greater possibilities for the advancement of knowledge, and we envision learning from inequalities and resisting oppression by nurturing deeper, more explicit connections between mathematics and social studies. We conclude this article with three overviews of learning segments as potential representations of interdisciplinary mathematics-social studies for social justice work in secondary school contexts.