Secondary Schooling Research Articles

A strengths-based exploration of Māori student success at university using the Mana model

Māori (the Indigenous people of New Zealand) are commonly framed as priority learners, a term that implicitly problematises Māori and anticipates struggle rather than success in their academic trajectories. This study resists such a framing and instead uses a strengths-based theoretical framework—the Mana model—to explore four Māori undergraduate students’ experiences at a New Zealand university. We investigate the extent to which the five elements of the Mana model, originally developed in secondary schooling contexts, supported their success at university. Three of the five elements—mana ūkaipō (sense of place), mana tū (sense of resilience), and mana whānau (sense of family)—were prominent in the students’ accounts of what enabled their success, and the remaining two elements played smaller but still important roles. By bringing the Mana model into the higher education context, this study offers promising indications that this model can inform future research, policy, and practice to foster success at university for Māori students.

“We learn Latin, they learn to cook”: students', principals', and teachers' coproductions of exclusive public secondary schools

Abstract. Recent years have seen growing interest in the role of selective public secondary schools as places of state-funded privilege production. Students' experiences in and perceptions of these schools are still under-researched. Focusing on the transition to Gymnasium, highly selective public secondary schools in Zurich, this article analyses how students are addressed by principals, teachers, and education policies and how they perceive the Gymnasium and its students. Drawing on a 13-month ethnography with eight students, the article shows that students learn to see the Gymnasia as stellar schools for hard-working and intelligent students who have earned their privileges. Students play an important role in coproducing and legitimizing their privileged status in the educational field by drawing on the notion of merit. Most students distanced themselves from the non-Gymnasium “other”, labeling them as less hard-working and less intelligent. These processes ultimately contribute to a hierarchization and division of Zurich's secondary schooling landscape.

Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Women under Treatment at a Tertiary Care Center of Western Maharashtra

Background: ‘Breast cancer’ the most common cancer amongst females in India. Having good Quality of life (QoL) among the patients undergoing treatment is one of the vital and significant factors for ensuring holistic approach to treatment and well-being of cancer patients. The present study was conducted to assess the QoL and its determinants among breast cancer patients undergoing treatment at a tertiary care institute in western Maharashtra. Material and Methodology: 300 histopathologically confirmed breast cancer patients undergoing treatment at a tertiary care centre were divided into three groups to include 100 patients in each group. Group 1 (patients with duration of treatment 1 to 2 years) Group 2 (patients with duration of treatment 2 to 5 years) and Group 3 (more than 5 years). Validated tool Function Assessment of Cancer Therapy Breast specific (FACT-B) questionnaire was used to collect information on QoL and analysed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: Mean age of patients was 53.2 + 10.08 years, 136 (45.33%) were from age group 51 to 65 years. Majority of the patients 106 (35.33%) were educated till secondary schooling and 172 (57.33 %) were belonging to the middle-upper class. Lump in breast was most common presenting symptom in 235 (78.33%) cases followed by nipple retraction. 275 (91.67 %) cases had infiltrating ductal Carcinoma and 144 (48%) patents were in Stage II cancer. Over all mean FACT-B score for QoL was 104.02 + 18.65 out of 141. Mean FACT-B score for Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 was 88.18 +17.20, 105.89 + 11.78 and 118.28 + 12.45 respectively with (p< 0.05), suggests significant improvement in QoL with increase in time elapsed since treatment. Conclusion: Socio-demographic factors, type of surgery and duration of treatment had significant effect on QoL among breast cancer patients. Apropos physicians, paramedic staff and domestic care givers need to be sensitised on importance of QoL for collective and deliberate efforts to achieve holistic care. QoL can be made integral part of breast cancer treatment and management policy or programme.

Playful Dramatizations – Doing German the Nordic Way

Nordic perspectives on playful learning have been defined by values and preconceptions associated with play in schooling. However, playful learning also emerges in specific ways as part of the patterns of relations that form classroom teaching and learning. Patterns can be understood as sociomaterial relationships in practice that create rhythms which become constitutive for specific teaching and learning practices (Sørensen, 2009). In the paper, I identify and trace ways in which specific patterns are created by multiple relationships that enable and hold together playful learning activities. With a focus on patterns of relations, I draw on performative understandings of playful learning which are holistically defined by complex sociomaterial relationships. The paper explores how these patterns enact Nordic ways of doing playful learning that are defined by both specific materialities, moods, and rhythms of doing language learning in secondary schooling. The paper builds on observations and interview data from a project in which teachers and students from three Danish schools experimented with playful learning in the school subjects English and German. In the project, experimentation and didactic development were enabled through action learning processes involving the participating teachers and the researcher. Experiments were scaffolded through use of the platform Drama Studio, where students can create animated stories using avatars in multimodal drama production. The paper focuses on a specific case in which the teaching of German became part of doing hygge as a seasonal mood in the classroom during an unusually long, four-hour German session. In the dynamics of enacting German as hygge, multiple relationships emerged that both held together and transcended the apparently delineated activity of doing German through Drama Studio.

Education and Training: Professional

In the United States, there is an acute shortage of health service psychologists of color. In this paper, we examined this shortage in the context of the American Psychological Association’s apology to people of color for psychology’s role in perpetuating racism and human hierarchy. Drawing from literature on the sociohistorical context of race in America, we argue that the treatment meted out to Native Americans (e.g., exploitation and eviction from their homelands), Blacks (e.g., slavery), and other ethnic-racial groups resulted in the development of racist attitudes about human hierarchy and White superiority, and these initial behaviors and attitudes began a vicious cycle of discriminatory behaviors, racist attitudes, and societal inequities that are still affecting society in the present day. We also contend that the shortage of professional psychologists—both health service and applied—cannot be solved at the graduate school level where these individuals are trained. The solution has to start with increasing the numbers of students of color who succeed in elementary and secondary schooling, ultimately matriculating into college and graduate school. Thus, the solution requires interventions aimed at the entire educational trajectory. We conclude with recommendations for actions and advocacy from psychological associations such as the American Psychological Association as well as individual psychologists.

Quality of life among community health workers in the districts of Koppal, Raichur and Mysore, Karnataka State, India

AimTo explore the Quality of life among the community health workers and its association with the socio-demographic variables. Subject and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 739 Community Health Workers (CHWs), where a multistage random sampling technique was used and three districts were selected based on the proportion of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in the districts of Karnataka. “WHOQOL-BREF” was used along with a Sociodemographic profile to determine the Quality of Life (QoL) among the CHWs. Multivariate regression models, T-test and ANOVA tests were used for the analysis. ResultsThe overall Quality of life mean ± SD was 3.4 ± 0.95. Domain-wise social relationship was found to be highest with a mean ± SD of 66.5 ± 21.7 and Environmental domain was found to be the least with a mean ± SD of 48.6 ± 16.6. The Multivariate regression models reveal that education up to primary level, an individual income of INR 5000 and more, and family income of INR 15000 to 40000 contribute to the higher score, whereas total family members of 5–8, age 25 to 44, and education of secondary schooling, PUC/diploma contribute to the lower scores of QoL. ConclusionThe results of the study showed that CHWs had neither good nor bad quality of life. And there is a need to improve physical and environmental factors such as job satisfaction, population coverage, better income, physical safety, good working environment, better transportation facilities which can improve the QoL among CHWs.

Turning the page on energy poverty? Quasi-experimental evidence on education and energy poverty in Zimbabwe

We investigate the long-term causal effects of education on energy poverty among households headed by men and women, leveraging the 1980 Zimbabwe school reform as a quasi-experiment. This reform, which significantly expanded educational opportunities for all children, serves as an ideal setting for assessing the impact of education on energy poverty within a regression discontinuity design, with age at reform determining exposure. Exposure to the reform resulted in a 2.08-year average increase in schooling and a 28.3 percentage point (pp) increase in the probability of completing secondary schooling. The reform's impact was more pronounced for women, increasing their schooling by 2.35 years (compared to 1.68 years for men) and for rural residents, with a 2.53-year increase (compared to 1.00 year for urban residents). A one-year increase in education reduces the risk of energy poverty by an estimated 8.56%, more pronounced among male-head families (5 pp) than among female-headed households (4.6 pp). This increased education enhances labour market outcomes, household economic status, infrastructure quality, and access to information and promotes progressive societal norms. These findings underscore education's crucial role in sustainable and gender-inclusive economic development, highlighting the potential of educational policy in reducing energy poverty and advancing gender equality in low-income countries.

Childhood migration and educational attainment: Evidence from Indonesia

Millions of families migrate every year in search of better opportunities. Whether these opportunities materialize for the children brought with them depends on the quality of the destination that their parents selected. Exploiting variation in the age of migration, I analyze the impact of destination quality on the educational outcomes of childhood internal migrants in Indonesia. Using Population Census microdata from 2000 and 2010, I show that children who spend more time growing up in districts characterized by higher average educational attainment among permanent residents tend to exhibit greater probabilities of completing primary and secondary schooling. Moreover, educational outcomes of migrants converge with those of permanent residents at an average rate of 1.7 to 2.2 percent annually, with children from less educated households benefiting more from additional exposure. My findings suggest substantial heterogeneity of returns to childhood migration with respect to destination.

Gender differences in literacy in PIAAC: do assessment features matter?

BackgroundPrevious research based on large-scale studies consistently suggests that on average, male students tend to have lower literacy compared to their female students during secondary schooling. However, this gender gap in literacy seems to “disappear” during adulthood. Up until today, only a few studies investigated the role of assessment features in gender differences in literacy performance in adulthood. This study aims to understand the relationship between assessment features and gender differences in literacy skills.MethodsUsing the German 2012 PIAAC data (N = 4,512), we applied item-level analyses using linear probability models to examine gender differences in the probability of solving a literacy item correctly with six assessment features including (1) text format, (2) text topics, (3) text length, (4) cognitive strategies, (5) numerical content of the text/questions, and (6) gender typicality of content.ResultsWe found that men had a 13.4% higher probability of solving items with a noncontinuous text format correctly than women. Men also had a 9.4% higher probability of solving short text items correctly and a 4.6% higher probability of solving items with a medium/high numerical content in the question correctly than women. There were small to negligible gender differences in literacy performance in terms of text topics, cognitive strategies, and gender typicality of content.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the role of text format, text length, and numerical content in gender differences in literacy skills, suggesting that further refining these practices can enhance the fairness and accuracy of literacy assessments. Specifically, we advocate for ongoing research aimed at understanding and minimizing the potential bias introduced by these assessment features. Such efforts are not only crucial for developing instruments that accurately measure literacy skills, but they also yield insights that hold significant implications for educational researchers and practitioners dedicated to creating more equitable assessment environments.

Revamping the Secondary Education in India: A Journey from Independence to National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

In the dynamic landscape of developing nations, secondary school education emerges as a pivotal policy focus after being the most neglected segment of school education for a long, marking a significant juncture in the educational trajectory. With primary education achieving widespread accessibility and nearly 100% enrollment, attention gradually shifted to the adolescent demographic, focusing on secondary school education. This paper undertakes a comprehensive examination and critical evaluation of the evolution of secondary school education in India since its independence. Commencing with the seminal Board of Secondary Education report of 1948, traversing through significant milestones like Mudaliar Commission, Kothari Commission, NPE-1986, CABE Committee Report, National Knowledge Commission, RMSA and finally culminating in the landmark National Education Policy 2020, it traverses through the numerous initiatives shaping the present landscape of secondary schooling in the nation. Emphasizing key milestones and recommendations put forth by various commissions, the article offers an insightful analysis of the implementation and efficacy of these measures. The paper attempts to meticulously scrutinize and thoroughly analyze the major commissions and their recommendations, illuminating the successes and shortcomings in attaining the prescribed objectives within the secondary education sphere.

Unequal uptake of skilled maternal health care services in Ethiopia: cross-sectional data analyses informed by the intersectionality theory

ObjectiveTo investigate intersectional inequality encompassing socioeconomic, geographical and demographic variables in the use of competent birth and postnatal care services in Ethiopia.DesignData for the study came from a series of...

Rohingya Refugee Education in Malaysia: An Analysis of Current Standards and Challenges

The Rohingyas, the longest-standing stateless refugees in Malaysia, are continuously denied access to formal education. The UN Refugee Agency and local non-government organizations run learning centers that offer non-formal education to Rohingya children. Existing literature highlights that, in the absence of formal openings, alternative educational programmes remain the main provider of refugee education in Malaysia. This study, using the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies' five-domain framework, examines the educational standards provided to Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. The findings suggest that most learning centers lack financial, human, and infrastructural resources. Lack of opportunity for secondary schooling makes primary education less worth it. Moreover, prevailing cultural and religious norms make it challenging for Rohingya children (especially girls) to access educational opportunities outside the community. National examinations and academic accreditation for learning are inaccessible to refugees, including Rohingyas. This paper deliberates on some immediate and long-term measures that can potentially address these issues. However, all actors, including UNHCR and the Malaysian government, must collaborate towards formulating a sustainable solution to this critical problem.

Adherence and persistence to novel glucose-lowering medications in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing routine care

AimsTo assess adherence and persistence to sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA), and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) in routine care. MethodsUsing retrospective healthcare data from the Stockholm region, Sweden, we evaluated new-users of these agents during 2015–2020. We investigated adherence (≥80 % of days covered by an active supply), persistence (no treatment gap ≥ 60 days), and predictors for non-adherence and non-persistence. ResultsWe identified 24,470 new-users of SGLT2i (10,743), GLP1-RA (10,315), and/or DPP4i (9,488). Over 2.8 years median follow-up, the proportion demonstrating adherence was higher for SGLT2i (57 %) than DPP4i (53 %, comparison p < 0.001), and for GLP1-RA than DPP4i (54 % vs 53 %, p < 0.001). Similarly, persistence was higher for both SGLT2i and GLP-RA than DPP4i (respectively, 50 % vs 44 %, p < 0.001; 49 % vs 44 %, p < 0.001). Overall adherence was better among users who were older, had a history of high blood pressure, used more non-diabetic medications, had lower Hba1c, had better kidney function, and had completed secondary schooling or university. Women had worse adherence to SGLT2i and GLP1-RA than DPP4i. ConclusionsWe report adherence and persistence to SGLT2i, GLP1-RA and DPP4i in routine care, and identify prognostic factors that could inform implementation interventions to improve uptake of these important therapies.

Impact of Parents’ Education on Social Adjustment of Girls Students at the Secondary Level

The study sought to determine the impact of parental education on the social adjustment of girls at secondary level schooling. The study will be significant for the stakeholders of education e.g. parents. The study will also be useful for secondary school teachers concerning social adjustment. The study's population consisted of all female students in their last year of secondary school certificate "SSC" in 91 girls' Government secondary schools in the district of Sargodha. The study's sample consisted of 400 students chosen at random from nine (10%). A self-created questionnaire was employed, and data was gathered by the researchers themselves. Cronbach Alpha, the dependability coefficient, was 0.72. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean scores, SD, etc.) and inferential statistics (t-test and Pearson r). The major findings were that as the students' mothers' and fathers' education levels increased, so did their social adjustment level also enhance. A positive but weak link was discovered between female students' adjustment and their parents' education. It is recommended that head teachers and teachers raise awareness among parents during parent-teacher meetings to help female students gain confidence and prepare for social adjustment.

Impact of Remittance on Educational Outcomes: Empirical Evidence from Nepal

The remittances are the treasure for irrigating Nepal's economy. Because emigration is increasing, per capita remittance is also increasing in Nepal. However, the question is signaling in its utilization for educational attainment. In this context, the study examines the impact of remittance on educational outcomes in Nepal. The study applied autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimations, Granger causality, forecast error variance decomposition (FEVD) technique, and impulse response functions (IRFs), with time-series data spanning from 1981 to 2021. The overall findings revealed that remittance had a positive impact on educational outcomes in Nepal. In the short run, remittance was found to be crucial for secondary schooling; in the long run, remittance had a significant effect on tertiary schooling in Nepal. The FEVD confirmed that remittance might be the inevitable predictor of educational outcomes in Nepal. The Granger causality also found a unidirectional causality from remittance to educational outcomes. The policymakers and stakeholders, therefore, should focus on funneling remittance toward financing education as well as a productive sector to accelerate per capita GDP and on cropping the demographic dividend in the Nepali economy.

Gender and Other Inequalities in Secondary Education in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone: Exploring the Experiences and Outcomes of Girls in Schools

This study extends limited research on understanding gender and education in post-conflict contexts. The study goes beyond the descriptive analysis of equality in terms of numbers but rather focuses on the gendered processes and conditions of learning (i.e., The content of what girls learn and how they learn). It gives an account of how schooling experiences produce and reproduce inequalities in secondary education. This critical analysis utilizes the intersectionality framework to illustrate how the intersection of multiple identities such as gender, social class, sexuality, culture, and location influences girls' learning experiences and outcomes in secondary school in post-conflict Sierra Leone. I particularly draw on girls’ explanations of these issues as they negotiate and are affected by them. Therefore, a detailed qualitative ethnographic study was conducted in a secondary school from the south region of Sierra Leone to explore gendered experiences and their intersecting inequalities in everyday schooling. This is to understand the gendered institutional life of the school and as far as possible do this through the voices and perspectives of those within the school, especially the girls. What this research does is to broaden the in-school research knowledge by focusing on investigating the gendered process of learning, everyday formal and informal in-school interactions, cultures and practices and the intersection of gender with other social identities like sexuality, Socioeconomic status (SES), Location and Traditions. I also tracked how these new directions of knowledge influence girls' performance, retention, and attainment. This study adopted a qualitative research method using an ethnographic approach to examine the pupils’ and teachers' detailed secondary schooling experiences. This was achieved by using in-depth interviews to explore students’ individual personal experiences of secondary schooling. The studied participants were purposively selected based on the established parameters for this study. The findings of this study revealed a highly gendered school environment, and that the intersection of multiple identities, such as gender, social class, sexuality, culture, and location, exacerbates inequalities in secondary education and influences girls' learning experiences. Additionally, the study highlighted the impact of societal factors, such as early marriage and teenage pregnancy, on girls' educational outcomes, especially in a post-conflict context like Sierra Leone.

Exploring the factors that contribute to the development of systems awareness

ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences that contributed to the development of a systems thinking paradigm in instructors in a college of agriculture. Design/Methodology/Approach: A phenomenology design was used to understand the lived experiences of eleven instructors. Findings Three themes emerged regarding how they perceived their development of systems awareness, (a) they were primed to be systems aware, (b) they were in environments that nurtured systems awareness, and (c) the educational system impacted their development of systems awareness. Practical Implications Practical implications focus on creating opportunities for curiosity-driven thought and behavior for students throughout primary, secondary, and tertiary schooling. Theoretical Implications Our results also advance theory about the development of systems awareness which can be tested in other settings and with other people. Originality/Value This research addresses a gap in the literature on systems thinking.

The Internet Doesn't Exist in the Sky: Literacy, AI, and the Digital Middle Passage

AbstractThis article utilizes speculative and visual storytelling alongside interdisciplinary research on artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic oppression to engage in a thought experiment on how literacy studies might refuse the oppressionist logics currently undermining the possibilities of AI in literacy education. As technological advancements in education will only continue to increase and as society is yet to ascertain the parameters of an ethical AI system, it is paramount to analyze the past and present and contemplate potential futures, especially those that do not result in violence against Black and Brown peoples. To engage in speculation, we employ Endarkened Storywork (Toliver, 2022) to present an empirically driven, futuristic, science fiction narrative from two perspectives: (1) a US, Black girl who is forced to participate in AI‐structured secondary schooling and (2) a Black girl in Haiti who is forced to live in a country polluted by technological byproduct. This narrative, which is grounded in academic research and news editorials, is accompanied by comic art and followed by a companion analysis detailing the theoretical backdrop of the story. By utilizing multiple methods of scholarly distribution, we provide multiple entry points for readers to engage with this work. We offer a means for readers to see—via story, art, and scholarship—the potential impacts of AI on Black people globally. Additionally, by situating this article in the creative and scholarly realms, we strategically deconstruct traditional forms and methods of knowledge production that have constrained academic research and rendered invisible alternative forms of data representation.

Improving academic writing skill: Difficulties encountered by undergraduates of English studies in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi students of English programs encounter some barriers in their attempt to develop academic writing skill at undergraduate level. The majority of the students who study in English programs in Bangladesh receive their primary and secondary schooling in the instruction medium of Bangla, while a few percent in English medium and English version instructions. Testing and assessment in English studies predominantly focuses on academic writing skill and many students cut a sorry figure in formative and summative assessments in the very first semester due to poor writing competence. This study examined two issues: the difficulties that Bangladeshi undergraduates of English studies confront while developing academic writing skill, and the ways to develop L2 English writing skill. Participants of this study were 6 students studying English in different Bangladeshi universities and 3 English teachers who were teaching at tertiary level. Data collection tools were composition writing samples on a selected topic for undergraduates and a semi-structured interview schedule for teachers. Results indicated that poor grammatical competence and brainstorming skill, insufficient vocabulary, inadequate knowledge of mechanics and writing style, and mother tongue interference were the major barriers that Bangladeshi undergraduates of English studies frequently faced while writing in English.

"I felt like I was doing grown-up things": Young Adult Reflections on their Childhood Experiences of Online Searching and Brokering in Immigrant Families

Online search and brokering (OSB) is the phenomenon in which youth search for information for their immigrant families on the Internet. Few studies exist on reflecting on the past as youth conduct OSB from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood. We conducted a retrospective study using semi-structured interviews of 27 young adults (ages 19 - 24) to examine their experience and perceptions of OSB over time (primary schooling, secondary schooling, undergraduate). We found that although all the interviewees shared a common experience of being an online searcher and information broker for their immigrant families, their stories exist on various dimensions which are constantly shifting and changing over time, as ecological factors influence searching behaviors. We discuss how the results from our study can serve as future references for researchers doing work in search research and designers who are currently working on improving design tools for searching.