Secondary Schools In Bangladesh Research Articles

Integrating ICT in English Language Teaching in Bangladesh: Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges

The integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education especially, in English Language Teaching (ELT) in secondary schools of Bangladesh has been existing for a decade now. However, the status of actual implementation is quite different from the adoption and initiatives taken to integrate ICT in ELT. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the secondary level English language teachers’ attitude towards integration of ICT in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and the factors inhibiting the use of it. Further, the paper attempts to examine the challenges faced by the secondary level English teachers of Bangladesh in using ICT in language teaching effectively. In an attempt to examine the attitude of teachers in using ICT in ELT, a quantitative research is designed with a close ended questionnaire to collect the data from a sample of 100 secondary English language teachers of various schools of Bangladesh. The data of the responses is quantified and is analyzed by SPSS 20 program. The obtained data from the questionnaire is examined in order to investigate the perceptions of the secondary level English language teachers towards ICT integrated language teaching and the challenges of the implementation of ICT in ELT. In conclusion, the outcome of the research would provide significant information about the attitude of the teachers towards ICT integration in ELT and the challenges faced by them and hence, the study would help the policy makers and the teachers to enhance the effectiveness of using ICT in ELT.

ICT Based Mathematics Skill Development Program: An Initiative to Overcome Mathematics Anxiety

The present study has introduced a complete ICT based Mathematics Skill Development Program (MSDP) web service that aims to enhance the positive attitudes of students towards Maths. The entire system is designed and implemented in such ways that students can learn Maths with fun and practical experiences in the classroom rather than only theoretical exercises. For the last 2 years (2018-2019), we have applied MSDP in 4 distinct primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh and followed up the students ' (N = 200) attitudes towards Maths. Findings revealed that through the MSDP program, students have developed a significant positive attitude towards Maths that helps them to overcome mathematics anxiety.

Teaching English to the Test: Why Does Negative Washback Exist within Secondary Education in Bangladesh?

ABSTRACTThis article reports on a study that was carried out to explore the factors that contribute to a negative washback effect on English language teaching (ELT) in secondary schools in Bangladesh. Twelve secondary school teachers were interviewed to understand their perspectives on which factors influenced their pedagogical choices. The interview data were supplemented with secondary material, including official documents, media resources, and NGO (non-government organisation) reports. Drawing on a body of washback research and the empirical data, we constructed the basis for the argument that test-external socio-political and contextual factors may play a substantial role in shaping the nature of washback. It is suggested that emphasising a testing-teaching causal relationship may be overly simplistic, as language teaching may be affected not only by assessment factors but also by a complex of social-psychological, political, economic, and data-driven accountability factors in which testing and teaching are embedded. These insights have implications for scholars in language testing and assessment, policy makers, program designers, and managers in contexts where language tests are believed to affect language instruction negatively.

Experiencing shame: An affective reading of the sexual and reproductive health and rights classroom in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT This paper looks at how shame functions in the teaching of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the classrooms for 13–19 year-olds in secondary schools in Bangladesh. Using the theoretical framework of affect, the paper looks at shame and other experiences of discomfort and hesitation among teachers while teaching these topics to young people. Drawing insights from 25 in-depth interviews with teachers in secondary schools in urban, semi-urban and rural settings, the paper explores how teachers deemed teaching certain topics as ‘excessive’, unnecessary and inappropriate in school settings. Teachers experience reluctance and discomfort in discussing culturally sensitive sexual and reproductive health and rights topics, and a persistent fear of being ridiculed and excluded from their community. By exploring how affect can be understood to initiate critical reflection about classroom norms, pedagogy and the role of teachers, the paper highlights the challenges for teachers who are seen as gatekeepers of sexual and reproductive health and rights knowledge, and brings forth a more nuanced reflection on the knowledge production process in classrooms.

Impact of School Dropout on Human Development in Bangladesh

The Human Development Index (HDI) is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions: Education Index, Life expectancy at birth and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. As per Human Development Report of UNDP, Bangladesh was in 136th position among 189 countries in 2017. Education index is one of the important components of HDI of a country. The lack of education, forces the poor household to engage in less productive activities which results in lower GNI. Thus we can see that education has both direct and indirect influence on HDI of a country. Education index is the function of mean year of schooling and expected year of schooling. In 2015, dropout rates of secondary and primary schools were 40.29 percent, and 22.70 percent respectively. By reducing school dropout, the mean year of schooling of any country can be increased which results in a positive change in education index and thus human development index. The present research is an attempt to examine the influence of school dropout on Human Development Index. This study is based on both primary data and secondary data. Primary data have been collected through convenience sampling technique from 200 children who dropped out at different levels of primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh. Results show that the important reasons for school dropout are poor economic conditions, poor performance in school, less interest of parents, less interest of education, lack of school facilities, broken family, orphanage & migration of parents. The study recommends some ways to reduce school dropout. The study also suggests that the mean year of schooling can be increased through the establishment of residential schools, night schools, and through implementing learn and earn scheme by the Government of Bangladesh or other organizations.

Fusion of BWM and AHP MCDM Methods to Choose the Most Suitable Secondary School for an Individual in the Context of Bangladesh

Choosing the best schools from a group of schools is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In this paper, we have represented a method that uses the fusion of two multi-criteria decision-making methods, Best–Worst Method (BWM) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to rank some of the user preferred alternatives. The system considers the choice of the user and the quality of the alternatives to rank them. User preferences on the criteria are taken as inputs in the form of best–worst comparison vectors to measure the choice of the user. These values are applied to calculate the numeric weights of each of the criteria. These weights reflect the preference of the user. A dataset of secondary schools in Bangladesh has been compiled and used for automatic quantitative pairwise comparison on the alternatives to calculate the score of each alternative in every criterion, which reflects its quality in that criterion. These scores are calculated using AHP. The weights of the criteria as well as the scores of these alternatives in those criteria are then used to calculate the final score of the alternatives and to rank them accordingly. An extensive experimental analysis and comparative study is reported at the end of this paper.

Use of ICT by Biology Teachers in the Secondary Schools: Bangladesh Perspective

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have changed the pedagogy in education offering more student-centered learning incidents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of ICT by the biology teachers in teaching-learning process of secondary schools in Bangladesh. A total of 50 biology teachers from several secondary schools of Bangladesh participated in the study. It was found that teachers have better access to computer than the average populace of Bangladesh. They have working knowledge on Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Power Point, and different web browsers. A good number of the teachers use computer for preparing their lectures, use internet for accessing educational materials, takes classes with multimedia with the support of ICT. However, about 17% to 25% were found to be not using these ICT means. Many teachers opined that they have less number of computers in the school to prepare for class work. They also assessed that hardware troubleshooting, software malfunction and unexpected power failure as challenges for using ICT. This paper recommends to provide continuous in-servicing training on ICT, interest free loan to teachers for purchasing laptop computer and to ensure technical support to overcome software and hardware problems in the schools. Keywords: ICT in education, teaching learning process, biology teachers, secondary school. DOI : 10.7176/JCSD/45-05

Impact of School Dropout on Human Development in Bangladesh

The Human Development Index (HDI) is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions: Education Index, Life expectancy at birth and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. As per Human Development Report of UNDP, Bangladesh was in 136th position among 189 countries in 2017. Education index is one of the important components of HDI of a country. The lack of education, forces the poor household to engage in less productive activities which results in lower GNI. Thus we can see that education has both direct and indirect influence on HDI of a country. Education index is the function of mean year of schooling and expected year of schooling. In 2015, dropout rates of secondary and primary schools were 40.29 percent, and 22.70 percent respectively. By reducing school dropout, the mean year of schooling of any country can be increased which results in a positive change in education index and thus human development index. The present research is an attempt to examine the influence of school dropout on Human Development Index. This study is based on both primary data and secondary data. Primary data have been collected through convenience sampling technique from 200 children who dropped out at different levels of primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh. Results show that the important reasons for school dropout are poor economic conditions, poor performance in school, less interest of parents, less interest of education, lack of school facilities, broken family, orphanage & migration of parents. The study recommends some ways to reduce school dropout. The study also suggests that the mean year of schooling can be increased through the establishment of residential schools, night schools, and through implementing learn and earn scheme by the Government of Bangladesh or other organizations.

Trends that Shaping Education in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a highly complicated education system with a wide variety of institutions in both primary and secondary levels. The total number of students in primary and secondary level is higher than 25 million. This huge system need to forecast the future for the sake of all stakeholders' students, parents, teachers alike. This study aims to inquire trends that shaping the future of education in Bangladesh. For this aim trends analysis was used. Trend analysis is a technique to scan drivers of change and supports as a baseline to create new ideas or policymaking for the future. This s a qualitative study therefore, natural observations (N=3) and interviews (N=16) are major tools for data gathering. As a result, this study provides information for major trends that shaping the future of primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh. According to the results of the study, there are two main trends. These are (1) Poverty and (2) Knowledge-intensive economy. Poverty theme has three subthemes: (1.1) Population, (1.2) urban poverty and (1.3) child poverty, respectively. Lastly, Skills for the future of work is subtheme of Knowledge-intensive economy.

Teachers' peer support: difference between perception and practice

ABSTRACTThis paper is aimed at exploring teachers’ perceptions and practices of peer support in Bangladeshi primary schools. It also looks into the contrast between the perceptions and practices, and the underlying reasons behind such deviations. The study collects data from teachers who are undergoing a large-scale teacher development project called English in Action. The project provides face-to-face and distance learning support to the teachers, as well as promotes the idea of context-based learning through peer support in both primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh. This study adopted a mixed method approach. The quantitative part looks into teachers’ perceptions and practices in regards to peer support. A close-ended questionnaire was used to understand the extent teachers feel peer support is important and their actual engagement with colleagues for the support activities. Qualitative methods including observations, focus group discussions, and interviews are used to identify the activities that teachers do together with their colleagues in a school and the barriers to such activities. The results show that, teachers define peer support in a specific way and consider it as very important for their professional development. However, their engagement in such activities is restricted by several factors.

Smokeless tobacco use: pattern of use, knowledge and perceptions among rural Bangladeshi adolescents.

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to investigate the practice and pattern of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use as well as the knowledge and perception about its ill effects among rural Bangladeshi adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among students aged 13–18 years in two rural secondary schools in Bangladesh in August 2015. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire which consists of topics derived from the Social Cognitive Theory and Health Belief Model (personal characteristics, environmental factors, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action). Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 24. A descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the current pattern of SLT use and knowledge about its ill effects. A chi-square test and Fisher exact test were conducted to explore associations between variables. Lastly, a logistic regression model was used to locate the predictors for current SLT use.ResultsA total of 790 students participated in the study. Among them, 9.5% (75) had used SLT at least once and 3.7% (29) were current SLT users. Males had a higher incidence of SLT use compared with females. The majority of students (77.3%) initiated SLT use between 10–13 years of age. ‘Zarda’ was the most common type of SLT used and most of the current users (86%) were able to buy SLT without age restrictions. Most of the current users (90%) wanted to quit SLT immediately; however, professional help was not available in schools. Overall, students had a good knowledge about the harmful effects of SLT with 54.8% (428) of respondents scoring in the good knowledge category. However, the majority of never SLT users (55.4%; 396) had a good knowledge compared to ever SLT users (42.7%; 32). Significant predictors of current SLT use included being a student aged 14 years and above (OR = 6.58, 95% CI [2.23–28.31]) as well as the variables of self-efficacy (OR = 5.78, 95% CI [1.46–19.65]), perceived barriers (OR = 0.30, 95% CI [0.10–0.74]), perceived benefit (OR = 0.21, 95% CI [0.05–1.03]) and perceived severity (OR = 0.36, 95% CI [0.16–0.91]).DiscussionThis study demonstrates the need for comprehensive prevention and control programme in rural schools targeting young adolescents. Effective measure should be taken to reshape the attitude of rural adolescents towards self-confidence and competence, as to prevent SLT use.

Exploring Teachers Practices of Classroom Assessment in Secondary Science Classes in Bangladesh

The study investigates teachers’ classroom assessment practices of secondary schools in Bangladesh. The study is mainly quantitative with some integration of qualitative approach. Secondary science teachers and their science classrooms were main data source of the study, which were selected randomly. Data sources were secondary science teachers and their science classrooms. The study used a lesson observation protocol to understand their classroom assessment practice, and pre-lesson and post-lesson observation interview protocols as main sources of data collection. Qualitative data from interview were used to triangulate the quantitative data from observation. A total of thirty teachers (twenty male and ten female) were chosen randomly from six secondary schools in Dhaka. The study explored that teachers’ current practice of classroom assessment was to only assess students learning achievement and they followed traditional methods to assess students. The dominated assessment activity was oral questioning and very few students take part in the assessment activities by answering the questions. The classroom questions are basically focused very specific responses and encouraged rote learning; even students’ didn’t get enough time for thinking and answering the questions. Therefore the study suggests changing current practices by using different assessment strategies like self and peer assessment and focus on assessment for learning to ensure effective teaching-learning and quality education. These findings can inform the classroom teachers as well as o relevant stakeholders in making necessary changes in the present classroom assessment practices in Bangladesh.

Exploring Science Teachers' Perception of Classroom Assessment in Secondary Schools of Bangladesh.

The study focused on exploring science teachers’ perception of classroom assessment in secondary schools of Bangladesh. A mixed method approach was used to explore science teachers’ perception of classroom assessment by identifying their concept about classroom assessment and how they conduct assessment activities in science classes. A total of thirty teachers (twenty male and ten female) were chosen randomly to collect quantitative data and twelve teachers were chosen purposively for qualitative data collection from six secondary schools in Dhaka. The study used a questionnaire and interview protocols as main sources of data collection. The study revealed that teachers are holding misconceptions about idea of classroom assessment. Majority of the teachers perceive classroom assessment as summative assessment and it should be through oral questioning. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data exhibited that teachers perceive students should be assessed both lower and higher order learning using different techniques (self-assessment, peer assessment) and modes (oral, written) of assessment and at the same time they believe that it’s difficult to use multiple techniques and modes of assessment in science classrooms. The overall findings of the study suggest that teachers don’t have clear idea about classroom assessment that results in holding conflicting perception about science classroom assessment. Article visualizations:

Factors Affecting Teachers’ Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching Curriculum in Secondary Schools in Bangladesh

This study focuses on the selected factors affecting teachers’ implementation of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum in secondary schools in Bangladesh. The study is explorative, interpretivist, and qualitative in nature. A phenomenology approach, under qualitative method, was adopted to explore how teachers experience the phenomenon of CLT based curriculum change. Four schools were chosen, two from Dhaka (Urban), the capital of the country, and two from the villages in Chandpur (Rural). Eight selected participants were chosen from these schools based on a purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis of curriculum, assessment, and teaching materials were the instruments of data collection. The finding of the study suggests that the shift from traditional Grammar Translation Method (GTM) to CLT was needed a positive outlook from all the selected factors in the context of change; however, this did not happen. Numerous factors such as, needs of classroom teachers, complexities regarding the mismatch of teaching syllabus and material with assessment, unequipped classrooms, and quality of teacher development facilities have challenged teachers to implement CLT as it was intended in the curriculum. The study suggests some recommendations to ensure the effective implementation of CLT curriculum. Future research is also recommended based on other factors and stakeholders.

Teacher Leadership Development in Secondary Schools of Bangladesh

Teacher Leadership Development in Secondary Schools of Bangladesh

Parents' Perception of Their Involvement in Schooling Activities: A Case Study from Rural Secondary Schools in Bangladesh

The primary purpose of this study was to explore parents’ perceptions of their involvement in their children’s education. This study was conducted in secondary schools in a rural area of Bangladesh. People from this area mostly have low literacy and income rates. A qualitative case study research design was used. Five parents from five different schools in the rural context were interviewed. The findings from this study show that parents are not comfortable approaching the school and many parents do not consider their role as encompassing parental involvement in their children’s education. The study concluded that parental attitudes and beliefs about involvement are the result of a lack of information about how they could be involved. This study recommends that policymakers and school administrators address parents’ perceptions and not only make them aware of how they can become involved in schooling, but also create opportunities for them to do so.

Social Capital and Educational Aspiration of Students: Does Family Social Capital Affect More Compared to School Social Capital?

<p class="apa">Resources from multiple social contexts influence students’ educational aspiration. In the field of social capital a neglected issue is how students obtain social capital from varying contexts and which contexts benefit them more to shape their future educational plan which consequently affects their level of aspiration. In this study, we aim to examine whether the students’ social capital, which is created by their families, has an extensive effect in shaping their educational aspiration compared to the social capital which is created in schools. We use the information collected from 553 students, their parents and 225 teachers from 12 selected secondary schools in Bangladesh. We conduct a series of multiple linear regression analyses to estimate the influence of family social capital and school social capital on the dependent variable of educational aspiration. To compare the effect size of family social capital and school social capital we consider the standardized Beta (β) weights of these two variables. The results show that beyond the socio-economic status, both family social capital and school social capital positively affect students’ educational aspiration. In addition, when we compare the effect size of these two variables, results show that family social capital has more strength compared to school social capital to predict the educational aspiration outcome of students.</p>

Intergenerational Bonding in Family and School Contexts: Which Does Impact More on Degree Aspiration of Students?

<p>Among the factors which have trajectory roles on the academic attainment of students, intergenerational bonding is the foremost of them. Though intergenerational bonding has basically focused on parent-child relationship, contemporary studies further consider the teacher-student relationship as intergenerational bonding to identify its effect on the academic attainment of students. In this study, we first examine both types of bonding which are created by parent-child and teacher-student relationships and how these impact on the degree of aspiration of secondary school students. Then, we compare these effects to identify which factor affects more on the degree aspiration outcome of students. We use the data collected from 553 students of Grade IX from 12 secondary schools in Bangladesh. The effect size of parent-child bonding and teacher-student bonding are compared using standardized Beta (β) weights of these two variables. The results show that beyond the socioeconomic status, both parent-child bonding and teacher-student bonding significantly and positively impact on students' degree aspiration outcome. Furthermore, when we compared the effect size of these two variables, results show that parent-child bonding had more strength compared to teacher-student bonding to predict the degree aspiration outcome of students. </p>

The Effect of using Teams Games Tournaments (TGT) Cooperative Technique for Learning Mathematics in secondary schools of Bangladesh

Abstract Games-based learning has captured the interest of educationalists and industrialists who seek to reveal the characteristics of computer games as they are perceived by some to be a potentially effective approach for teaching and learning. Despite this interest in using games-based learning, there is a dearth of studies context of gaming and education in third world countries. This study investigated the effects of game playing on performance and attitudes of students towards mathematics of Grade VIII. The study was undergone by implementing TGT technique for the experimental group and typical lecture-based approach for the control group. A same achievement test was employed as in both pretest and posttest, an inventory of attitudes towards mathematics were applied for the pretest and posttest on TGT experimental and control group, an attitude scale on computer games was employed for the TGT experimental group, a semi-structured interview for teacher and an FGD guideline for students were applied to serving the purpose of research objectives. After three-weeks of intervention, it had been found out that TGT experimental group students had achieved a significant learning outcome than lecture based control group students. Attitude towards mathematics were differed to a certain positive extent on TGT experimental group. On the basis of findings of this study, some recommendations were made to overcome the barriers of integrating web-based game playing in a classroom.

Policy versus ground reality: secondary English language assessment system in Bangladesh

Any policy reform in education is highly effective when it is planned and implemented ‘holistically’ and yet, it is the most challenging way forward. Many countries in Asia have reformed their English language policies and syllabi in the last two decades due to the increasing value of the language worldwide. Motivated by a ‘communicative approach’ to English language teaching, Bangladesh was one of the countries that launched such a reform in the 1990s. However, this reform has been criticised for imposing the changes on teachers without preparing them sufficiently. More importantly, there is limited evidence as to how much the secondary English language assessment system is aligned with the changes introduced in the curriculum. In order to explore this gap, a medium‐scale study was conducted in 38 secondary schools in Bangladesh, following a mixed methods approach. The findings highlighted a ‘mismatch’ between the intended English language learning outcomes and current assessment practices, including the resulting challenges faced by the teachers. This paper argues that language education reform is likely to fail if the assessment system is not aligned with the curriculum.