Secondary School Sector Research Articles

Implementing distributed leadership in Irish voluntary secondary schools from the principals’ perspective

ABSTRACT In 2018, the Irish Department of Education and Skills (DES) officially recommended a distributed leadership model as a new approach to leadership and management in post-primary schools. Policy implementation guidance was circulated to school management via DES circular CL003/2018. This study investigates the perspective of voluntary secondary school principals implementing CL003/2018 within the voluntary secondary school sector, where the role of the school principal is pivotal in its implementation. A pragmatic approach to the research methodology led to the adoption of a case study methodology within a mixed-method sequential quantitative > qualitative research design. The quantitative research instrument was an online survey distributed to a census population of voluntary secondary school principals in Ireland. Using Zoom, semi-structured interviews with ten voluntary secondary school principals informed the qualitative research. The findings are examined and interpreted within the literature on distributed leadership, with the concepts of power, accountability, and sustainability emerging from the research. The research identifies recommendations on professional learning for principals to develop sustainable leadership capacity within the voluntary secondary school sector, and the essential time to hold strategic leadership team meetings.

Effects of Social Education on Students Performance at Stage of Secondary Standard in District Mianwali: A Quantitative Analysis Study

Education gives the opportunity to develop their social skills and improve their socio-economic status. (Hendrik, 2019). The research study's goals were to: (1) determine how social education affected pupils; (2) ascertain teachers' attitudes toward social education; and (3) pinpoint the elements that contribute to the social development of students. Moreover, it was descriptive in nature. The target population of the study was all the public sector secondary school teachers of District Mianwali. Simple random sampling technique 4200 teachers of secondary schools were chosen for the population of the research. The simple random technique was used to select the sample; around 200 teachers were selected for the present research. The tool of research was used to collect the data; it was a self- developed tool. The percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test were among the descriptive and inferential statistics employed by the researcher. Through analysis, it found that the participants are more need to aware of social education.

Impact of Transformational Leadership Style of School Heads on Altruism Organizational Citizenship Behavior of Teachers.

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of principals' transformational headship style on teachers' Altruism organizational citizenship behavior (AOCB). This specific research fills the existing gap in the relationship between these variables. The study included entire Heads and Teachers of Public Sector Secondary Schools in 4 Southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the population. By using L.R Gay's (2003) sample size ratio formula, 8% of the population was selected as samples for the study. For data collection,the first instrument was the Short Form Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) 1995 developed by Bass and Avolio to test the transformational leadership behavior of Heads and the second instrument was the organizational-citizenship-behavior scale (OCBS), produced by Podsakoff & colleagues (1990) to assess the rank of the Altruism citizenship behavior of teachers in Southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The data were organized and the responses to each item were analyzed using relevant statistics. The findings of the study exposed that there is a significant relationship between the Transformational Leadership behavior of Heads and the Altruism Organizational-Citizenship Behavior(AOCB) of Teachers of Secondary Schools in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province

Navigating Through Disruption: How are School Principals Leading Digital Learning in Secondary Schools in Ireland

The COVID-19 pandemic forced school leaders to rapidly adopt digital technologies, sparking new awareness and discussions about digital education and its transformation. Despite significant advances, these changes may be minor compared to the potential impact of artificial intelligence and immersive technologies in education. This paper explores digital learning leadership in Ireland’s secondary school sector using the ISTE Standards for Educational Leaders as a guiding conceptual framework. Qualitative interviews with school principals from various secondary school types provide insights into their existing leadership practices and anticipate their future needs. Key findings revealed digital learning visions integrally woven into the school’s broader learning and educational vision and fresh assessments of student digital competence. They highlighted the salience of the school context in decision-making and the drive for more strategic deployment of formal leadership positions and relationships within and between schools. The implication of these findings underscores the imperative of professional learning models for school leaders that are sensitive to the unique context of each school, their bespoke opportunities and challenges, and the rapid advancements in digital technologies.

Instructional Leadership and School Effectiveness: A Correlational Study at Secondary Level Institutions in the Context of District Bannu

This study examines the correlation between instructional leadership and school effectiveness at secondary-level institutions in the context of district Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This study aimed to find out this relationship through a correlational research design. All 1511 teachers from 100 public sector secondary level schools constituted the population of this study. A close-ended 7-point Likert scale questionnaire comprising of 45 items was utilized by the researcher to obtain data from 306 teachers of 80 secondary-level institutions through a stratified random technique. The data that was obtained was analyzed through SPSS using Pearson’s R statistics. The findings reveal a strong, significant correlation between instructional leadership and school effectiveness. The study clearly confirmed that the explicit role of an instructional leader leads to successful school effectiveness.

Assessing the relationship between information overload, role stress, and teachers’ job performance: Exploring the moderating effect of self-efficacy

The integrated technologies’ role has increased at educational institutes, and multiple information resources have increased the phenomenon of information overload and role stress among teachers. This study investigated the relationship between information overload, role stress, and teachers’ job performance. Additionally, explored the moderating effect of teachers’ self-efficacy. This study employed a quantitative research design and used a survey approach. Data was collected from 284 teachers working in the public –sector primary, middle and secondary schools. IBM SPSS and SmartPLS 3.0 were used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that information overload has a negative direct effect on teachers’ job performance. Further, information overload has a positive and significant impact on role stress that decreases job performance. Moreover, the mediator ‘role ambiguity’ has significantly mediated the effect of information overload on the job performance. However, the impact of information overload was not passing through the mediator role conflict. Self-efficacy has a moderating effect on the relationship between information overload, role stress, and job performance. Additionally, this study has also discussed theoretical and practical implications.

Exploring Teachers' Perspectives on Effective Leadership Styles at Secondary Level in Karachi, Pakistan

This research explored the teachers' perspective on the effective leadership style of public secondary school head-teachers of District Korangi Karachi. Leadership is important in every aspect of life, including in schools. This was a simple descriptive survey research. The target population consists of all District Korangi, Karachi, Pakistan secondary school teachers. The quantitative method was used in this study to collect data from teachers. A leadership-style questionnaire for teachers was used to collect data. The responses of teachers were quantified as Strongly Agree =5, Agree=4, Have no opinion=3, Disagree=2 and strongly disagree=1. Using stratifies random sampling, 140 secondary school teachers were selected, including 77 male and 63 female teachers from public sector secondary schools. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA in SPSS version 22. According to the results, the teachers showed that the democratic leadership style was the most effective style of leadership, which enhanced the motivation of teachers' motivation, suggested that more attention should be focused on enhancing awareness about different leadership styles to enhance their motivation and student performance at the secondary level.
 Keywords: , , ,

Exploring Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching English as a Second Language in Public Sector Secondary Schools

This study was conducted to explore Teachers’ difficulties in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) in Public Sector Secondary Schools. The objectives of the study were; to find out the difficulties faced by English language teachers in TESL, to analyze factors that are causing difficulties, and to find the solutions to overcome the difficulties that English teachers face in teaching English. The population of the study consists of 6350 students from 12 Govt. Boys Secondary Schools of District Rahim Yar Khan. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample. A 30-item self-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data and 2540 questionnaires were distributed among the participants. The researcher used descriptive statistics techniques to analyze the collected data by using SPSS. The findings of this study highlighted many difficulties faced by secondary school teachers in English teaching especially these main challenges: lack of students’ motivation (fear of making mistakes, lack of interest in learning), lack of sufficient time; and shortage of construction materials. Teachers should make an effort to motivate students to use English as a language of communication outside of the classroom, too. Activities that are geared towards children must be employed in the classroom.

Exploring Perspectives of Private Sector Secondary School Teachers Towards Project-based Learning

The current environment of education requires a new skill set and instructional practices for teachers to be effective in the classrooms. With the introduction of project-based learning (PBL), the foci of teaching turn to a student-centered approach. Studies reported that secondary school teachers in Sukkur, Sindh are struggling to adopt PBL as required by the national education policy. To address this gap, a qualitative study was conducted to analyze the perspectives of secondary school teachers of the private sector towards PBL. The perspectives considered teachers' perceptions, motivations, and experiences in PBL. The study took epistemologically constructivist and ontologically interpretivist philosophical worldviews. The qualitative research design was adopted to inquire about the perspectives of the participants. The participants' selection was mutually decided by the researcher and the school principal based on previous performance records, training received relevant qualifications, and experience. The semi-structured interviews were conducted to glean data and the thematic analysis technique was used to draw themes after coding and doing within and cross-case analyses. was used to classify the data under the pertinent research questions. A valid interview guide was used for eliciting data. The findings highlight the central role of the teacher alongside regulations of the school management to implement the PBL. Moreover, curriculum, course scheme, and exam patterns set out as influencing factors for practicing the PBL. Understanding these perspectives will aid in making proper adjustments to the PBL implementation by the stakeholders. Future research can undertake the role of school rules and regulations in the implementation of the PBL. Likewise, the effects of PBL to determine is significance from the perspective of student outcomes can be another direction of future research.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IMPACT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIVATE SECTOR EDUCATION

Private-sector educational entities require strong corporate strategies. To be effective in a globally competitive world, the Corporate Social Responsibility Approach must be embraced. This research examined corporate social responsibility in the district of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and its effect on secondary schools in the private sector. Primary nature research and data were collected through a five-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed to private sector high school teachers to get the data about the impact of corporate social responsibility on organizations’ performance. The questionnaire was fielded to private sector secondary school teachers in order to get data about the impact of corporate social responsibility on the performance of secondary schools. The population of the study was 184 registered private sector secondary schools (140 boys and 44 girls) which included 900 teachers (who taught to class 10th students during the session 2017-18) in district Peshawar. A sample of 280 teachers (140 male and 140 female) in 70 private sector secondary schools (35 for boys and 35 for girls) were selected through equal allocation sampling formula. Mean, Standard Deviation and t-test were applied for analyzing the data. The Pearson’s correlation r was used to evaluate the variable effects. The result from the data indicated that all the four aspects of CSR have positive significant impact on the performance of secondary schools.

Driving Excellence: The Role of Parental Engagement in Shaping Student Success in Secondary Schools

The current research pursuit's key objective was to analyze parental involvement’s impact on students' academic performance at the secondary level. The descriptive and quantitative research approach was employed to conduct this study. A total of 12987 students made up the population from the public sector secondary schools located in Khanewal, District Multan, South Punjab, Pakistan. The study’s sample was composed of 324 students, including both male and female, selected through a stratified random sampling technique. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation, and utilizing inferential statistics, Pearson coefficient correlation. The research results discovered that the parents’ involvement in their child's academics, assignments, attendance, and monitoring exhibited good grades and higher educational attainment in the schools. This investigation recommended that educational institutions ought to focus on developing parental involvement to understand the academic challenges and to build a more comfortable environment for better academic success of students in schools.

Need of Guidance and Counselling Framework for Improvement of Students' Learning Outcomes

The study aimed to identify the need of guidance and counselling framework for achieving improved learning outcomes in public sector secondary schools in Larkana. The teachers use corporal punishment to students for achieving academic results. This study determines how learners in public secondary schools in Larkana conceptualized the function of GC in academic achievement. We recruited 167 learners in this paper. The qualitative as well as quantitative method was adopted. The findings showed that most of the students were unaware of the counselling services' availability, they hardly ever used them. The study concluded that secondary schools in Larkana division faced a dearth of proper guidance and counselling framework. According to conclusions, the School Education and Literacy Department Sindh should implement a proper framework of Guidance and Counselling framework.

A Correlational Study of the Principals' Instructional Leadership and School Improvement at Secondary School Level in District Mardan

The study investigates the relationship between principals' instructional leadership and school improvement at the secondary school level in district Mardan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. This study aimed to investigate this relationship through a correlational survey (quantitative) research design. All 2644 teachers (male/female) of 167 public sector secondary schools constituted the population of this study. A close-ended questionnaire comprising 39 items was used personally by the researcher to collect data from 335 teachers of 118 secondary schools through a stratified random sampling technique. The collected data was interpreted through SPSS by using the Pearson r test. The findings reveal a positive-significant relationship between principals' instructional leadership and school improvement. The study evidently verified that the better utilization of the instructional role leads to visionary school improvement.

WORKING UNDER PRESSURE: HOW ARE HEAD TEACHERS INHIBITED AND CHALLENGED WHILE PURSUING THE HEADSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS?

This study explored what experiences head teachers had while pursuing secondary school headship when they were inhibited by various pressure groups inside and outside of the school. The study aimed at understanding, describing, and interpreting how do secondary school head teachers manage their headship role, and what are the storied experiences that they had while working as head teachers. The participants of the present study were head teachers (n=13) with a minimum of five years’ headship experience in public sector secondary schools within Sahiwal Division, Province of Punjab, Pakistan. By using of a narrative qualitative inquiry approach, data were collected from participants through semi-structured interviews who were selected purposively. Two main themes were identified after the data were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The key findings pointed out that the head teachers of Public Secondary Schools continuously faced obstacles from pressure groups during their routine work. These pressure groups comprise of both internal and external pressure groups. The results of the study affirm the need to address these issues to enable the head teachers to work freely to foster quality education in the schools.

Relationship between Leadership and Management Training and Enhancement of Principal’s Skills at Public Sector Secondary School Level

This research paper aimed to investigate the relationship between leadership and management training and the enhancement of skills of principals at the secondary level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The study was motivated by the recognition of the crucial role that principals play in the success of secondary schools and the importance of their leadership and management skills. The research involved a comprehensive review of the role of principals at the secondary school level, the importance of training and professional development, and the specific challenges faced by principals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In addition, the study involved the collection of data through a questionnaire from the trained secondary school principals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to gain insights into their experiences with leadership and management training and how it has enhanced their skills and abilities. Their input and impression provided support to find the gaps and improve further the training, its process and procedure. The results of the study provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of leadership and management training programs in enhancing the skills of principals at the secondary level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The findings could also inform the development of policies and programs aimed at improving the quality of education in the region.

PREVALENCE OF EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN PAKISTAN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and severity of emotional and behavioral problems among adolescents. STUDY DESIGN Cross Sectional study PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY The study was conducted at private sector secondary schools of Karachi, from August, 2021- February, 2022. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Sample comprised o 1470 students between the age 11 to 17 years from different private sector secondary schools of Karachi.. The sample was collected through purposive sampling technique. Socio demographic Information Form, Asian Adolescents Depression Scale (AADS) and School Children Problem Scale (SCPS) were used. SPSS 26 was used to analyze the data. RESULTS The mean age of study respondents was 13.62 years (SD 1.39). Findings of present study reveal that emotional and behavioral problems were more common among female adolescents as compared to their male counterparts. Overall all 20% of study respondents were found to have very severe level of emotional and behavioral problems, and aggression was the most common problem among 14% of adolescents, followed by academic problems in 9.7% of adolescents. About 20% of the school going adolescents struggling with emotional and behavioral problems (i.e., anxiousness, aggression, social withdrawal, rejection, somatic problems, & depression), and academic problems. Further, there found to have statistically significant association between gender and emotional and behavioral problems. Mental health experts should focus on prevention and treatment interventions in school settings to reduce the risk of emotional and behavioral problems of Pakistani adolescents so that they could grow socially and emotionally healthy and excel in their academics and contribute to their family and community.

Exploring the cross-linguistic functioning of the Principles of WH-Movements: The case of Pakistani ESL learners

This is a cross-linguistic study conducted with Pakistani learners of English in the classroom setting. This study aimed to explore whether the UG Principles of WH-movement supported or restricted Urdu-speaking learners in forming direct WH-questions in English. For data collection, a sample of 260 students was selected using convenience sampling from ten (10) private and four (04) public sector secondary schools from Lahore. To address the research questions of this study, frequency data were collected through Grammaticality judgment Tasks with thirty-six (36) WH-questions in Urdu. Each Urdu sentence is followed by two English translations (T1 & T2). The statistical analysis showed that UG Principles of WH-movement were fully available to Pakistani ESL learners whose L1 was Urdu. The study has important implications for the UG researchers in that more cross-linguistic studies are needed to verify Chomsky’s Hypothesized UG regarding non-English languages. The study also suggests revisiting the Critical Period Hypothesis. Besides, the teachers and materials developers of English grammar in non-native settings like Pakistan should rethink the role of direct instruction of rules and carrier content in teaching WH-questions to learners of English as a second language.

A Comparative Study of Public and Private Secondary Schools Students on Academic Achievement, Engagement and Self-Regulation in Mathematics

Self-regulation is about getting ready to take challenges regarding education. Self-regulated learning removes disinterest and demotivation regarding academics. Objective of the study was to compare public and private sector secondary school students on academic achievement, mathematics’ engagement and self-regulation. The descriptive research design was used to find out difference in public and private sector secondary school students on academic achievement in mathematics, mathematics’ engagement and self-regulation in students learning. Three research instruments were used in present survey study. Students’ engagement in mathematics classroom, a questionnaire on self-regulated learning, mathematics achievement test were used to investigate the impact of self-regulated learning on students’ achievement and engagement in mathematics classroom in public and private sector secondary schools. By using proportionate random sampling technique, eighty schools were selected from the list of schools taken from internet sources.. Both descriptive (Mean Score) and inferential statistics (t-test) were employed. Findings of the study were obtained by comparing self-regulation, engagement and mathematics achievement that in private secondary school students were better than public sector secondary schools. This study might be helpful for school administrators.

Successfully Implementing Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programmes in Secondary Schools

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) plays a critical role in developing essential labour market skills. While the original goal of TVET, which is still prominent today, was to prepare youth to enter the workforce by training them to be work ready, the global technological revolution and innovations in science and technology demands higher levels of education and technological skills for the 21st century. TVET has evolved to meet the needs of industry and countries. Strengthening technical and vocational education at the secondary education level provides a wider transformational vision for students to have the opportunity to gain these skills. There are challenges, which are more prevalent in some countries than others. For example, perception and participation in TVET has traditionally been stigmatized in favour of white-collar jobs. Additional challenges include contemporary curriculum and facilities, training and development of staff, and financial strains, which many developing nations have. This article sets out to provide information and guidance on the implementation of TVET programmes and focuses on: strong or emerging global TVET practice, with a focus on the secondary school sector; key features of successful practice, in order to extract the most relevant lessons; and the most common global challenges in developing successful TVET programmes, and how these can be addressed. While the article focuses on secondary education it contextualises this within the wider TVET and vocational education systems.

Issues Surrounding Teachers’ Readiness in Implementing the Competency-Based ‘O’ Level Geography Syllabus 4022 in Zimbabwe

The qualitative study, which involved a multiple case study design, focused on the issues surrounding the readiness of teachers to implement the competency-based O-Level Geography Syllabus 4022 in the Zimbabwe secondary school system. In adopting a multiple case study design, the research sought to solicit the opinions of all Geography teachers in the Kwekwe district of Zimbabwe on their readiness to implement the competency-based O-Level Geography Syllabus 4022. A technique involving an analysis of primary documents published by MoPSE was done, and ten in-depth interviews with Geography teachers drawn from two secondary schools and two Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) from the same schools were adopted to generate data. The study established that the updated O-Level Geography Syllabus 4022 was introduced without enough consideration of the readiness of teachers for its implementation. It also emerged from the study that the breadth and depth of the issues surrounding teacher readiness to implement an updated syllabus require action to be taken from several fronts to ensure that the subject community is ready for its rapid delivery. Finally, the research paper recommends massive advocacy and sensitisation of O-Level Geography teachers who are at the helm of the user system to allow for effective delivery of the O-Level Geography Syllabus 4022 in the secondary school sector in Zimbabwe.