Rural Secondary School Teachers Research Articles

Experiences of Rural Secondary School Teachers in the Integration of Technology during Emergency Remote Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Namibia: An Exploratory Study

This study explored the experiences of rural secondary school teachers in Namibia during emergency remote teaching (ERT) owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The TPACK framework and sociocultural theory were used. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 26 rural teachers revealed that despite the availability of technological tools such as laptops, smartphones, and radio and television channels, integrating these into the teaching process posed significant challenges. A lack of technological knowledge among teachers coupled with infrastructure issues and inadequate institutional support hampered the smooth execution of ERT. Despite these challenges, teachers employed innovative methods to engage their students remotely. However, the findings underline the need for increased digital literacy, better ICT resource allocation, and adequate teacher training to successfully navigate a technology-driven teaching environment. This study provides insights into educational practice, policy initiatives, and future research toward a resilient and technology-enhanced educational system.

Innovative teaching strategies: A principal component analysis

The paper investigated the degree of innovative teaching practices by secondary school teachers in the Vhembe District, South Africa, using a principal component analysis approach. Innovative teaching strategies refer to creative and efficient actions and performances that teachers use in the selection of materials, techniques, and learner assessments to encourage and develop learner creativity (Yu et al., 2021). Innovative teachers are those whose teaching methods differ from the conventional patterns of knowledge-transfer teaching and teacher-centred teaching. They solve educational problems in novel ways using new technologies and theoretical frameworks while guiding learners in deep learning and creativity (Tan et al., 2022). The objective of the study was to examine the innovative teaching strategies implemented by teachers in rural secondary schools to improve learner performance. A descriptive case study was employed in the paper, which was based on a quantitative research design. Using probability sampling approaches, 338 secondary school teachers were sampled. Data was collected through questionnaires and was analysed using descriptive statistical methods. The variables were reduced from 30 to 9 clusters using principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Clusters were termed stakeholders’ engagement, school and classroom practices, learner support, collaboration, professionalism, technology, relationships, diversity, and expertise.

Changing pedagogy in rural secondary schools through the technology, pedagogy, content, and spaces (TPeCS) knowledge framework

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exposed insecurities and inequalities in schools. As such, there has been changing pedagogy in rural secondary schools in the uMkhanyakude district. Teachers adopted the technology, pedagogy, content, and spaces (TPeCS) knowledge framework, integrating planned behaviour. Teachers and learners engaged in discussion as a means of teaching and learning mathematics after school hours. This implicated cultural and sociological dimensions that were common among rural teachers and learners. Although the findings of this study could not be generalised, an all-encompassing framework for rural secondary school teachers and learners through online discussions is recommended. Novel technology-enhanced out-of-school teaching and learning activities were developed through progressive, participatory action-research. Furthermore, the findings support collaboration and a new contextualised theory called the technology, pedagogy, content, interaction, and spaces (TPeCIS) knowledge framework.

IMPACT OF MANAGING THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR SCARCE SKILL SUBJECT TEACHERS ON THE QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING IN RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The study addresses the pressing issue of needing more permanent teachers in critical skills subjects, particularly mathematics and physical science, within rural areas of South Africa's Vhembe District. This shortage of permanent teachers has been adversely affecting the quality of teaching and learning in these rural schools. The primary objective of the research is to investigate the effect of demand and supply management on these scarce skills subject teachers in rural secondary schools, specifically in the Mutale area. To achieve this, the study adopted a quantitative research methodology. This employed surveys through questionnaires for quantitative data. The study targeted a diverse population, including principals, teachers, heads of departments, and managers at district levels. The sampling technique utilised simple random sampling to select participants. Three hundred questionnaires were administered to gather this quantitative data, but 201 respondents returned the questionnaires. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study's findings reveal the critical effects of managing the supply and demand for teachers in Mathematics and Science, particularly in rural environments. Schools in rural areas struggle to attract Mathematics and Science teachers, and the study recommends restructuring teacher training programmes to motivate teachers to accept positions in rural areas. The study suggests further that offering attractive incentives is crucial to encouraging Mathematics and Science teachers in rural regions. At the same time, school principals should effectively manage the demand and supply of these teachers in rural areas.

Can School Principals Manage Recruitment and Retention of Maths and Science Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools? A Case Study in the Vhembe District, South Africa

Mathematics and science subjects are critical subjects in high schools across South Africa. This study explored how principals managed the recruitment of scarce skills subjects’ teachers, based on demand and supply in Vhembe District. Myriad studies assert that Mathematics and science teachers are in short supply across South African rural schools, which creates a concern for the education system. This problem is prominent in rural Vhembe District, Limpopo. This study examined how rural secondary schools in the Mutale area recruited and retained permanent mathematics and science teachers. An interpretive paradigm was employed to understand the phenomenon under study. This study used a face-to-face qualitative methodology, where targeted principals, teachers, heads of departments, and circuit and district managers were interviewed. Participants were selected via purposive and simple random sampling for the one-on-one structured interviews. All the interviews were audio-recorded with the permission of the 10 participants and were thematically analysed. Various crucial factors have an impact on principals' ability to control the supply and demand of subjects with important, rare skills. Environmental and societal variables participate in the recruitment and retention of rural schools’ struggle to hire and retain maths and science teachers. Findings further revealed that these teachers need incentives to be employed and retained in rural schools. The study, therefore, recommends that teacher training programmes be supported with adequate bursaries or funding for pre-service teachers, while Maths and science teachers should be well remunerated to attract and retain them in rural schools.

Teachers’ Perceptions and Appropriation of EFL Educational Reforms: Insights from Generalist Teachers Teaching English in Mexican Rural Schools

Educational reforms and educational policy changes have favored the learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) in public education. Empirical research has examined how EFL specialist teachers in urban public schools perceive these changes or the extent to which they adopt a new curriculum. Nonetheless, the new EFL policies have also had an impact on rural schools where generalist teachers are forced to teach English along with other areas of the curriculum. In this context, little research has explored teachers’ perceptions and appropriation of ongoing curricular changes. The present study explored this issue among generalist rural secondary school teachers in the southeast of Mexico. To this end, an explanatory sequential mixed method was adopted with a sample of 216 generalist teachers. During the quantitative phase, the participants completed two Likert scale questionnaires. Then, a semi-structured interview was conducted with a sub-sample of participants who obtained high (n = 7) or low (n = 7) results in the perceptions and appropriation questionnaires. The statistical analyses showed a weak but positive correlation between perceptions and appropriation. The qualitative data provide some insights that explain the weakness of the correlation.

Challenges, Workload and Views of Secondary School Teachers on the Implementation of Home Base Teaching and Learning (HBTL) During the Covid-19 Pandemic Era

The hit Covid-19 has had various impacts on teachers ’workloads such as teaching and learning shifting from conventional to online, more challenging and complex HBTL preparation, school side assignments and so on. Therefore, this study aims to identify the challenges of teachers, workload and views of teachers in the implementation of HBTL in the era of covid-19 pandemic. This study uses a mixed design and involved 52 urban and rural secondary school teachers in Temerloh, Pahang. Data collection was done using questionnaires and structured interviews. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively statistically using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26 and qualitative data analysis methods. The findings of the study showed that the level of teachers' challenges and teachers' workload were at a high level and teachers' views were positive on HBTL. The findings of this study also show that there are differences between the level of teacher challenge in HBTL, the level of teacher workload and teachers' views with urban and rural school locations. This study shows that the Ministry of Education Malaysia and schools need to provide various approaches and methods of teaching and learning in a structured and planned to teachers optimally to help teachers increase the use of ICT in HBTL and reduce the workload of teachers. In addition, ministries and schools need to ensure adequate internet access and digital devices to reduce the gap between urban and rural schools related to the challenges, teacher workload and teachers' views in HBTL.

Utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Among Basic Rural Secondary School Teachers in Katsina Silization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Among Basic Rural Secondary School Teachers in Katsina State, Nigeria

The study was conducted in Katsina State with the aim of finding out the extent of utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among basic rural secondary school teachers. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to sample 260 teachers; structured interview schedule was employed to capture their thoughts on socio-economic characteristics, sources of information, awareness, access, ICTs utilization and constraints. Descriptive (frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Chi square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation PPMC) were instruments of data analysis. Teachers were mostly males (85.8%), NCE/BED (97.7%) holders with mean age of 34years and 9 years of working experience. Television ( = 2.35) and internet ( = 2.31) were major sources of information with 60.85% having high level of ICTs awareness. Mobile phone ( = 2.08) and internet ( = 1.76) were most accessed ICTs with 53.8% having low level of access to ICTs. Mobile phone ( = 1.71), newspaper ( 1.52) and radio ( = 1.50) as ICTs were mostly utilized. Most (52.3%) teachers had low level of ICTs utilization. Benefits derived were mostly motivation of students ( = 2.45) and facilitating knowledge sharing with colleagues ( = 2.42). Levels of benefits derived (60.4%) and constraints were high and low respectively. Information (r = 0.330), awareness (r = 0.357), benefits (r = 0.162), access (r = 0.770) significantly correlated with respondents’ level of ICTs utilization. Level (52.3%) of ICTs utilization was low notwithstanding that mobile phone; internet, newspaper and radio were mostly utilized.

A Study on the Problems and Paths of Post-Service Education for Rural Secondary School Physical Education Teachers in China in the New Era——Based on a Survey in LY, HN

In order to promote the realization of the "four-in-one" goal of school physical education in the new era, promote the professional development of rural secondary school physical education teachers, and improve the quality of rural secondary school physical education teachers, the state promulgated the Opinions of Teacher Team Construction in the New Era and the Action Plan for Revitalizing Teacher Education (2018-2022) to guide the development of rural secondary school physical education teachers. -2022) to guide the development of physical education teachers in rural secondary schools. Through the literature method, questionnaire survey method and mathematical statistics method, the post-service education of rural secondary school physical education teachers in China was studied, and the results found that the problems of post-service education of rural secondary school physical education teachers were manifested as follows: rural secondary school physical education teachers lack awareness of post-service education, the content of post-service education of rural secondary school physical education teachers lags behind and is not updated in time, the lack of diversified training methods for post-service education of rural secondary school physical education teachers The path of post-vocational education for rural secondary school physical education teachers is proposed: physical education teachers change their concepts and have a comprehensive understanding of post-vocational education in the new era, update the content of post-vocational education for rural secondary school physical education teachers, integrate traditional Chinese sports, implement diversified post-vocational education training methods, optimize the evaluation of post-vocational education, and establish a credit bank for post-vocational education training.

Understanding rural secondary school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the use of ICT for teaching and learning

Understanding rural secondary school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the use of ICT for teaching and learning

Retaining scarce skills teachers in a South African rural community: an exploration of associated issues

ABSTRACT The concept, ‘scarce skills’ and learners’ performance in scarce skills subjects has been a subject of scholarly and political discussion, for more than three decades, especially in South Africa. Unfortunately, despite efforts to increase the population of qualified individuals with scarce skills, South Africa is yet to achieve the desired result. While the focus on development of scarce skills in South Africa has largely centered on citizens within the urban areas, less research has concentrated on the development of scarce skills in South African rural areas. Therefore, using choice theory as a framework, this study explored associated issues of retaining SST in the Mutale area, located in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa. This study employed a qualitative research design comprising eight purposively selected participants. Data was gathered using a semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The following themes resulted from the analysis: Availability; emigration; motivation; and limited production and supply of scarce skill teachers. Based on the findings, the study recommends an improvement in the production and deployment of qualified scarce skill teachers to rural secondary schools. Scarce skill teachers in rural secondary schools should be highly motivated and encouraged to stay as teachers in rural secondary schools.

A study of teacher effectiveness of secondary school teachers in relation to their gender, location and type of school

The purpose of this research paper is to obtain access to the teacher effectiveness of secondary school teachers in relation to their gender, location and type of school. For the conduct of the research, the survey approach was used. The Teacher Effectiveness Scale (2010) was created by Dr. Shallu Puri and Prof. S.C. Ghakhar to gather data from teachers in secondary schools. Samples of 130 secondary school teachers from the Jalandhar district of Punjab were randomly chosen for this research. To analyze the results, statistical techniques such as Mean, SD, and t-test were used. The result showed that at both stages of importance, there is no significant difference between female and male high school teachers. There is a significant difference between the effectiveness of urban and rural secondary school teachers at both levels, and there is a significant difference between the effectiveness of teachers among secondary school teachers with regard to the form of institution.

The Effectiveness of the Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Rural Secondary Schools in Malaysia

The Ministry of Education has established viable educational ecosystems in order to ensure the equality of rural education. There are three aspects that have been outlined, namely value-based education, quality improvement, and autonomy and accountability of schools and universities. Hence, a study in the form of a survey was conducted to identify the issues surrounding information technology faced by students and teachers in rural secondary schools, and to provide an overview of the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as students’ knowledge and teachers’ skills in the teaching and learning process. A total of 49 respondents were involved, comprising 21 students and 28 teachers from nine secondary schools located in one rural area of Kelantan. The findings revealed that a majority of the respondents perceived the use of ICT positively, despite the lack of facilities and expertise. Thus, a need for relevant ICT training was raised by the teachers. Recommendations are also discussed to guide the authorities in planning and preparing appropriate equipment and facilities for the schools, as well as adequate training for teachers and facilitators, before a new policy is introduced to the students. Further research is also recommended to examine the rural students' acceptance of the use of technology.

Challenges of Retaining Qualified Scarce Skills Subject Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools: Lens of Stakeholders in Mutale District, Limpopo

Challenges of Retaining Qualified Scarce Skills Subject Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools: Lens of Stakeholders in Mutale District, Limpopo

Burnout among Secondary School Teachers in Malaysia Sabah

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between burnout among urban and rural secondary school teachers in Sabah. The study involved 114 teachers currently working in five urban secondary schools in Kota Kinabalu district and five rural secondary schools in Kota Belud district, Sabah. This is a quantitative study in the form of a survey with two (2) questionnaires. Part A contains demographic data while the second part B contains 22 Burnout measurement items using the second version of the Burnout Maslach Inventory (MBI) used to collect instrument data. They were then analyzed using descriptive and t-test to compare two groups. The results of this study indicate that aspects of teacher personalization need to be taken into account as this study clearly shows that there are significant differences between teachers in urban and rural areas. The survey data also showed that rural teachers experienced moderate personalization.

Need Assessment for the Professional Development of Teachers in Content Knowledge of Instructional Planning and Strategies

In 2009 the National professional standards were introduced for teachersin Pakistan to determine a nationwide quality of teaching. Thesestandards focus on the quality of teacher preparation from this timeonwards; the present study was initiated to determine the needs of theworkforce who are already in the practical field and how they mayachieve the established standard. Therefore, in the light of the prescribedstandard “Instructional Planning and Strategies (IPS)”this articleinvestigated the levels of content knowledge of IPS possessed by theteachers in secondary schools; it further determined the difference in thecontent knowledge levels of urban & rural, male& female teachersregarding IPS. It was a survey type quantitative study with a populationspread of secondary school teachers (SSTs) working in the fourprovinces and Federal Capital. A multistage sampling procedure wasadopted to collect data from 400 SSTs belonging to the population area.The need of the in-service teachers for acquiring content knowledge ofIPS was gauged through a questionnaire based on seven indicators ofcontent knowledge given in the professional standards; the teachersfurther prioritized their training needs in these defined areas. Moreover,data triangulation was done to ensure the validity of the study. The indepthanalysis revealed that SSTs possessed different levels on eachindicator of content knowledge of IPS but a meager number wascompetent in it. Independent sample “t-test” was applied to calculate thedifference between content knowledge of IPS possessed by the male&female, urban& rural SSTs.

Policy interventions for attraction and retention of female teachers in rural secondary schools

The potential role of female teachers in achieving the Education for all (EFA) and the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all (Goal 4), achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls(Goal 5 ) is well documented. Available evidence, however, suggests that attraction and retention of female teachers in secondary schools located in rural areas remains a significant and on-going challenge. In response, policy makers in Kenya have recommended three key policy interventions namely decentralization of teacher recruitment, payment of hardship allowance and provision of housing. A literature search reveals a dearth of information on the perspectives of rural educators on the effectiveness of these interventions. The paper presents findings based on one objective of a broader study which was to: Establish the views of female teachers’ and other stakeholders’ regarding the effectiveness of strategies for attraction and retention of female teachers in Makueni County. This study adopted a mixed methods design. The paper presents findings from the qualitative component of the study. Interviews were used to gather data. Based on their interpretations, the authors provide useful insights and offer suggestions on how the implementation of these policies could be improved.

THE RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ USE OF I-THINK IN THEIR CLASSROOM

The Malaysian Ministry of Education has introduced the new Education Blueprint with the objective of elevating the Malaysian education standard to international level. The fourth industrial revolution prompts the urgent needs for transformation in the way teachers teach in class. The researcher believes that the use of I-THINK can be an effective approach to teach English in rural schools to promote students’ ability to think critically. However, despite the efforts executed, the level of practice on the use of i-THINK among English language teachers in rural secondary schools after the training and exposure is average. This paper aimed to investigate the attitude and practice level of English language teachers in rural secondary schools on the use of i-Think maps. Data was collected via a questionnaire survey of ESL school teachers in Merlimau Zone, Melaka. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings show that the teachers had positive attitudes towards I-THINK use in the classroom despite the average practice in their teaching. The implication of the study is the Ministry of Education through effective supervision of the District Education Office should ensure the teachers go for I-THINK courses to arm them with ample knowledge to successfully implement I-THINK maps in their practice.

The Nature of Professional Learning Needs of Rural Secondary School Teachers

Recruitment of professionally unqualified teachers into teaching appears to be internationally acclaimed to address shortages in rural schools. Nevertheless, teachers with limited knowledge are linked to lower quality education and student achievements. Relatively little attention has been given to professional needs of unqualified teachers in rural schools. Qualitative interview data were analyzed to explore professional needs of six teachers completing postgraduate certificate in education, to identify their needs as they traversed rural school contexts in becoming professionals. Data revealed needs around general pedagogy and pedagogic content knowledge, resourcing, and recognition and identity. The article illustrates that teacher learning and curriculum delivery among unqualified teachers may be enhanced if their needs are given attention.

Teaching Competency of Secondary School Teachers in Relation to Their Sense of Humour

The present study has been conducted on a sample of 180 secondary schools teachers of Rohtak city to study their teaching competency in relation to their sense of humour. Purposive sampling technique was used for selection of the sample. The data was analyzed statistically by using mean, S.D., t-test and correlation (r). Findings of the study revealed that significant difference exists in the sense of humour and teaching competency of urban and rural secondary school teachers. Significant and positive relationship was found between sense of humour and teaching competency of secondary school teachers.