Teaching In School Settings Research Articles

Sociodemographic and work-related differences in teachers’ attitude towards and perceived stress from emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

The aim was to investigate the attitude towards and perceived stress from emergency remote teaching (ERT) among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Germany-wide online survey was conducted among teachers from all school types in March 2021. Data from 31,089 teachers entered analysis. ANOVAs or Welch’s t-tests with post-hoc analyses were performed to determine sociodemographic and work-related group differences in teachers’ attitude towards and perceived stress from ERT. The mean attitude towards ERT was 3.47 (± .84) out of 5 and the mean perceived stress was 5.03 (± .62) out of 6. Regarding the attitude towards ERT, we revealed significant differences for gender, age groups, number of children, occupational group, school management membership, and employment status (p < .05). Regarding perceived stress, significant differences were obtained for gender, age groups, and employment status (p < .05). A more positive attitude towards ERT seems to be associated with lower stress levels. Being female, a higher age, a higher number of children living in the own household as well as working full-time might hinder an effective implementation of remote teaching in school settings in Germany. Policy-makers and schools should think of strategies to improve the attitude towards and decrease perceived stress from remote teaching. This could include subgroup-specific training on the use of digital media, adapted to the work environment.

Indonesian EFL Pre-service Teachers' Experiences: Revealing English Instructional Challenges during Teaching Practice

EFL pre-service teachers who desire to become qualified must practice teaching in school settings to apply classroom-learned skills. Consequently, adequate preparation at the numerous schools and their readiness where they would teach is essential. This qualitative research investigates the challenges Indonesian EFL pre-service teachers encounter in English instruction during teaching practice. This study utilized a phenomenological case study approach, as it offers significant benefits in comprehending the intricate dynamics involved in becoming an English teacher. To ensure impartiality and fairness in the research, a purposive sampling technique was employed to select 10 out of 40 pre-service teachers as critical informants who could provide valuable insights into the subject matter and facilitate the identification of information-rich cases. The collection of data was conducted through the utilization of semi-structured interviews, teaching diaries, and teaching videos. The findings indicate that EFL pre-service teachers encounter challenges in effectively communicating instructions, which can be attributed to various factors such as insufficient resources, limited access to media, inadequate preparation, disruptive behavior of learners, and insufficient proficiency in English and pedagogical knowledge. Nevertheless, this study has identified three significant challenges: inadequacy of teaching resources, the absence of respect, and insufficient content knowledge. The findings suggest that school administrators, policymakers, and other stakeholders must develop productive, systematic, and structured induction experiences for novice teachers, particularly those still in the process of completing their teacher training, to address the challenges they encounter.

The development of corpus-based language pedagogy for TESOL teachers: a two-step training approach facilitated by online collaboration

Despite the growing popularity of corpus linguistics among researchers in recent decades, a corpus-based approach remains largely unknown to most teachers in primary and secondary schools. Drawing on Shulman’s concept of pedagogical content knowledge, this study differentiated between two key terms – corpus literacy and corpus-based language pedagogy – and investigated how a group of TESOL teacher trainees developed their corpus literacy and corpus-based language pedagogy in a two-step training scheme. The first step, focussing on using corpus data as a learning tool, was conducted in a physical classroom; the second step, focussing on using corpus data as a teaching tool, took place in a virtual online classroom. A mixed methods design, including surveys, interviews and analyses of lesson plans, was used to collect and analyse the data. The findings revealed that most participants gained a good level of corpus literacy as measured by the self-designed survey. They also obtained a good level of initial competence in using corpus-based language pedagogy, as revealed by the rating of their lesson design and the content analyses of the lessons and interview data. The results support a differentiation between corpus literacy and corpus-based language pedagogy, attesting to the effectiveness of the two-step corpus-based teacher training. The study provides several insights regarding how to scaffold teachers in corpus-based training and teach students with corpus resources to address their vocabulary needs and difficulties. Finally, a few issues are raised regarding what teachers may consider when implementing effective corpus-based teaching in school settings.

Teaching practices for developing oral language skills in Catalan schools

This paper describes teachers’ practices and their perceptions regarding the teaching and learning of oral language in Catalan schools. We used the Assessment Scale for Oral Language Teaching in School Settings (EVALOE) instrument, created and validated with the aim of assessing teachers’ practices for promoting the development of language skills (speaking and listening) in their classrooms, as well as their own perceptions of their classroom practices through an interview. Research participants are 111 teachers and their student’s groups from 36 schools around Catalonia. The study shows that the teachers themselves direct the communication in the classroom, that they often fail to clearly state the content of the oral language being studied, and that they do not systematically assess the learning outcomes of this content. In addition, they use few of the teaching strategies that have proved most useful in language learning. This paper stresses that these practices need to be revised so that teachers and students be aware of language teaching and to create environments that promote the development of students’ language skills.

Voices From the Field: Full-day Kindergarten Teams in Ontario Share Their Wisdom

Canadian educators and policy makers are in the midst of implementing an innovative approach to education for 4- and 5-year olds. This study examined the perspectives of the teaching teams who are making this new full-day school-based model work: registered early childhood educators and Ontario certified teachers. These two groups have different professional backgrounds, status, salary, and professional development opportunities. Survey and interview results highlighted the complexity of the new teaching model and identified conditions that support interprofessional team building and effective team teaching in school settings. Themes arising from the data include the importance of relationship building, rethinking practice, sharing knowledge/specialization, and reestablishing roles. Implications and recommendations for teaching teams and system administrators are provided.

Children's learning processes using unsupervised "hole in the wall" computers in shared public spaces

&lt;span&gt;Earlier research by Mitra and colleagues on the use of computers by young children revealed that children are able to learn basic computing skills irrespective of their social, cultural, intellectual and religious backgrounds (Mitra &amp;amp; Rana, 2001). The present paper is an attempt to identify the varied aspects of a learning environment that impact upon the learning process enabled by "hole in the wall" computers. The study covers 250 children in the age group 8 to 14 years using qualitative and anecdotal evidence given by children and research consultants in the field. The evidence indicates that the environment in which the child learns is of importance for it brings together a host of different yet interrelated aspects of learning. The findings suggest a pedagogic tool for alternative methods to teaching in school settings, and strengthen the view that students should be engaged in a thinking curriculum, wherein everyone learns from everyone else, and no student is deprived of the opportunity for making contributions and appreciating the contributions of others.&lt;/span&gt;