Rural Secondary School Teachers Research Articles

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.

Rural Secondary School Teachers’ Capacity to Respond to Hiv and Aids: The Case of Shurugwi District in Zimbabwe

Young people often turn to their teachers for information on sexuality and HIV and Aids. Consequently teachers need to be not only knowledgeable about these issues but also able to integrate them into their teaching. As part of an umbrella study to investigate and promote HIV and Aids education and support in schools, this article reports on a qualitative study conducted among a purposively selected sample of teachers in Shurugwi schools to ascertain their response to the challenges resulting from the pandemic. The findings suggest that the participating teachers held complex and contradictory views about HIV and Aids education; that they were constrained by the prevailing social and cultural background; and that their responses were inhibited by the lack of adequate social welfare support systems. These factors combined to make it difficult for them to interpret and implement policy that calls for a coherent and collaborative response. This study will hopefully inform professional development interventions to ensure that future HIV and AIDS teaching and learning is relevant and effective, given the social and educational context.

Assessment Practices: Empowering Mathematics and Science Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools to Enhance Student Learning

Aligned with recent changes to syllabuses in Australia is an assessment regime requiring teachers to identify what their students ‘know’ and ‘can do’ in terms of the quality of understanding demonstrated. This paper describes the experiences of 25 secondary science and mathematics teachers in rural schools in New South Wales as they explore the changing nature of assessment and its implications on their classroom practice. To help reconceptualise these changes, teachers were introduced to a cognitive structural model as a theoretical framework. Throughout the 2-year study, teachers attended a series of professional development sessions and received ongoing consultative support. Each session was taped and transcribed while interviews were conducted with each teacher at the end of both years. Analysis of these data using a grounded theory approach identified seven major components of teacher practice impacted by the study. The core component was questioning while the six contributing components were teachers’ pedagogical practices, attention to cognition, teaching strategies, assessment linked to pedagogy, classroom advantages for students, and classroom advantages for teachers. These findings represent a major shift in teachers’ perceptions of assessment from a focus on the accumulation of students’ marks to one of diagnosis as a means of directing teaching to enhance students’ scientific and mathematical understandings.

Computer Anxiety and Attitudes toward Computers among Rural Secondary School Teachers

This study investigated the computer anxiety levels and attitudes of rural secondary school teachers toward computers, the relationship between anxiety and attitudes toward computers, and differences in anxiety levels and attitudes based on demographic characteristics. The sample consisted of 200 secondary teachers from rural schools in Malaysia. The findings showed that rural secondary school teachers in Malaysia have low computer anxiety levels and positive attitudes toward computers. There was a negative linear relationship between computer anxiety and attitudes toward computers. Teachers who owned computers and had more computing experience were found to have lower anxiety and more positive attitudes than teachers who had less computer experience. Female teachers were found to be more anxious than male teachers toward computer hardware.