School Work Research Articles

The effect of using emergency remote teaching on Greek Mathematic classes in secondary education from mathematicians’ perspective

From March 2020 until June 2021 secondary education in Greece experienced the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first measure taken was the general closure of face-to-face teaching at all levels of education and the provision of distance learning through the so-called emergency remote teaching. Mathematicians dealt with unprecedented and difficult situations. In the present paper we record the views of 218 mathematicians of secondary education working in Greek public schools about the obstacles they faced in their teaching during the pandemic in a quantitative survey. According to the survey connectivity problems (affecting teachers and students), lack of teaching material suitable for distance learning, unsatisfactory support of the state, poor previous training in distance learning were major issues. This is the first survey monitoring the problems that Greek mathematicians faced during this period, how they dealt with them and one of a few worldwide regarding mathematicians.

Influence of Social Media on Students' Academic Writing and Performance: A Study within Ghanaian Senior High Schools Setting

The study explored the effects of social media on students' academic writing in the Agona-West Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana. This study is a qualitative and is underpinned by interpretive philosophical thought. The data for this study were collected through a semi-structured interview and documents. Three (3) senior high schools were selected through purposive sampling techniques and the snowball sampling strategy was used to select thirty (30) students for the study. The findings indicated that the new trends in writing on social media sites affect students' spellings in their school work. It was also found out that social media sites distract students from effectively engaging in their academic works, thereby negatively affecting their academic performances/results. This study will be of value to both English language teachers/learners, language planners and curriculum developers by exposing them to students' sources of writing errors and providing useful suggestions to overcome them. It will also contribute to the body of knowledge by drawing the attention of educators/planners on the integration of technology, particularly the social media, in the English curriculum to facilitate the effective teaching/learning.

Relation between stressful life events and psychosis

IntroductionNumerous studies establish clear connections between traumatic childhood experiences and the risk of developing psychosis. According to the study carried out by Filippo Varese, childhood traumas, understanding by; physical, psychological or sexual abuse, abandonment, death of the parent and “bullying”, increase up to three times the risk of suffering from psychosis.Objectives-Determine the prevalence of traumatic events in the sample studied.-Determine which traumatic event has a greater relationship with the risk of presenting a psychotic episode.-To determine whether traumatic events may be more strongly associated or not with gender differences, age at onset and family story.MethodsA descriptive study is carried out in which the traumatic events are evaluated (through the CAVE questionnaire) of 98 patients who have been treated for a psychotic episode in the last two years in the Early Intervention Unit for Psychosis (ITPCan).The stressful life history questionnaire (CAVE) consists of 52 questions divided into blocks: school stage, work, partner, family, health and other stressful events. All of them focused on those stressful events prior to the onset of psychotic symptoms. Stressful events have been considered to be those events in which the patients studied have scored 10 (maximum score) on the anxiety scale.Inclusion criteria: -Older than 18 years-old-Having presented a first psychotic episode.Exclusion criteria:-Intellectual disabilitiesResultsFor now, the data studied in this sample are similar to those described in most of the studies reviewed: more than half of the patients present at least one traumatic event before the onset of psychotic symptoms and a third of these have had any traumatic experience before the age of 18.The percentage of the presence of at least one traumatic event within the categories of the CAVE questionnaire would be:14.2% in the school stage26.7% in the workplace26% in relationships24.3% in family relationships12.1% in events related to the patient’s own health problemsConclusionsWe continue to increase the sample to have a more significant result.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The effect of the non-financial stimulation system on psychological health of higher school workers

The purpose of the study is to analyze effect of system of non-material incentives on psychological well-being of teachers in pandemic conditions. The research method of questionnaire survey of employees sampling (N = 193) was applied. The information obtained was completed by results of focus group study that made it possible to identify psychologically vulnerable groups of teachers. The results demonstrated that only every fifth teacher is completely satisfied with system of non-material incentives. The survey established that traditional forms of non-material incentives (birthday greetings, challenge prize for best structural unit) are losing their significance in pandemic conditions. The high workload, organizational changes in educational institutions reduce relevance of such measures of non-material incentives as inclusion in administrative personnel reserve for teachers. It is established that significant influence of shortcomings of motivational profile provoke occurrence of such violations as violation of team value unity; persistent prevalence of negative emotions; alienation, hiding lack of confidence in their abilities; deformation of systemic nature of mutual assistance; increase of anxiety and proneness to conflict in university teachers. For teachers, job stability turns out to be more important than career prospects. The top lines of rating in assessing system of non-material incentives are occupied by extension of term of employment contract, and participation in innovative projects. The recognition of colleagues and inclusion into creative teams is considered as one of the most effective measures to ensure psychological well-being of teacher.

The paradox of leading amidst uncertainty: maintaining balance on an unstable beam

PurposeThis paper proposes a new conception of school systems arising out of the collision of three forces: (1) a longstanding press to rationalize the technical work of schools in the service of educational excellence; (2) a growing democratic press to equitably engage community members in the process of defining educational excellence; which together are (3) heightening legacy uncertainties that pervade educational organizations. It then draws on paradox theory to explore how leaders might navigate the growing uncertainties that are central to the work of organizing for excellence and equity.Design/methodology/approachIntegrating scholarship related to organizational institutionalism, paradox theory, learning sciences, social justice leadership and educational system building, this paper examines the changing organization of schools, the growing uncertainty facing educators and the implications for leaders and preparation programs.FindingsThis paper introduces two perspectives on how to navigate the growing uncertainty facing educators and educational leaders: one that centers on mitigating uncertainty, the other that prioritizes leveraging uncertainty. Both perspectives have affordances and limitations when considering the twin goals of educational excellence and equitable involvement in decision-making, and leaders should thus view uncertainty as a paradox—an interdependent, persistent, contradiction—that can never be fully resolved, but can be managed. A paradox perspective makes visible the complex work of effectively moving between mitigating and leveraging uncertainty, especially in a field where the latter garners more support and legitimacy.Originality/valueThis paper synthesizes recent educational and organizational scholarship to develop a new conception of educational organizations and a corresponding approach to educational leadership capable of navigating the growing complexity and uncertainty that pervades school systems.

Parents’ digital Labor and disrupted parent-teacher relationships: theorizing Chinese parents’ voices from the home-based online learning

ABSTRACT The digital age has fundamentally altered the distribution of work and responsibilities in schools. Parents, as important stakeholders in schooling, are taking on more digital labour and facing changing roles. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, parents’ digital labour often remained overlooked as they were not able to observe or participate in the whole process of schooling in the school. However, home-based online learning during the pandemic lockdown has created a rare situation of integrating technology into schooling, expanding parental involvement, and providing an opportunity to systematically explore the digital labour of parents and the influence of parent-teacher power relations in this regard. Using qualitative data from an open-ended parent survey in China, this study finds that parents take on the dual roles of regular parent and “surrogate teacher” in home-based online learning during the pandemic. Behind these two roles is a spectrum of digital labour ranging from technical support, notification delivery, and homework submission to monitoring and guiding school learning, learning content and time management, and learning-related communications with teachers. While technology strengthens existing unequal power relations, it also breaks teachers’ monopoly over teaching affairs. Parents thus experience mixed emotions and develop a sense of shared responsibility and empathy with teachers.

Anti-Spike Antibodies Present in the Milk of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccinated Mothers Are Complement-Activating.

Although only 0.8-1% of SARS-CoV-2 infections are in the 0-9 age-group, pneumonia is still the leading cause of infant mortality globally. Antibodies specifically directed against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) are produced during severe COVID-19 manifestations. Following vaccination, specific antibodies are also detected in the milk of breastfeeding mothers. Since antibody binding to viral antigens can trigger activation of the complement classical - pathway, we investigated antibody-dependent complement activation by anti-S immunoglobulins (Igs) present in breast milk following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. This was in view of the fact that complement could play a fundamentally protective role against SARS-CoV-2 infection in newborns. Thus, 22 vaccinated, lactating healthcare and school workers were enrolled, and a sample of serum and milk was collected from each woman. We first tested for the presence of anti-S IgG and IgA in serum and milk of breastfeeding women by ELISA. We then measured the concentration of the first subcomponents of the three complement pathways (i.e., C1q, MBL, and C3) and the ability of anti-S Igs detected in milk to activate the complement in vitro. The current study demonstrated that vaccinated mothers have anti-S IgG in serum as well as in breast milk, which is capable of activating complement and may confer a protective benefit to breastfed newborns.

Stress, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis activity and autonomic nervous system function in adolescents with insomnia

IntroductionAbnormal stress responses have been linked to the etiology of insomnia. We investigated the relationship between insomnia, stress, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, and autonomic nervous system (ANS) function in adolescence. MethodsForty-seven post-pubertal adolescents (16–20 years old, 28 female) with (N = 16; insomnia group) and without (N = 31; control group) DSM-5 insomnia symptoms were assessed for stress levels and stress reactivity and underwent a standardized stress protocol (Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)), after an overnight laboratory stay. Cortisol was measured upon awakening and 30-minutes later to calculate the cortisol awakening response (CAR). During the TSST, perceived stress, salivary cortisol (HPA activity), heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) measures were collected. ResultsParticipants in the insomnia group reported more stress from school performance and work overload, with insomnia girls experiencing more stress from peer pressure and future uncertainty than control girls (p < 0.05). No group differences were detected in the CAR and pre-TSST stress levels. All participants showed significant increases in perceived stress (~19 %), HR (~33 %), systolic (~13 %), and diastolic (~15 %) BP in response to the TSST (p < 0.05). Overall HR stress response did not differ between groups, but was lower in boys with insomnia than in girls with insomnia (p < 0.05). Cortisol stress responses were inconclusive, possibly due to a masking effect of CAR, as the task was performed shortly after awakening and larger CARs were associated with blunted cortisol stress responses. DiscussionResults mostly show no group difference in physiological stress responses, although some interaction effects suggest a potential sex by insomnia interaction. Larger samples are needed to understand the physiological disturbances of insomnia in adolescence.

Unlocking Teacher Job Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Multi-criteria Satisfaction Analysis

Research has so far made a rather limited advancement in identifying the contribution of the aspects of the working environment that matter to teachers’ overall job satisfaction (TJS), as well as in providing evidence-based guidelines for improving their working experience. Addressing these deficiencies, the current work uses data related to school working environment facets, i.e., opportunities for self-fulfillment, work intensity/load, salary/income, leadership and collegial relations, and overall TJS, from a sample of 438 public primary school teachers in Greece and applies a multi-criteria decision analysis method (the multi-criteria satisfaction analysis (MUSA)) to identify the contribution of these facets to overall TJS, underline the strong and weak points of TJS based on their importance for teachers and the school’s performance on them, and provide direct action implications for improving primary TJS. The results reveal that all the examined facets are crucial for TJS. Yet, self-fulfillment is the most important contributor to overall TJS and work intensity/load the least significant one. Also, self-fulfillment is the strongest point of TJS that school leaders and policymakers should continue investing on, whilst salary/income is a risk factor that could easily turn into a threat for TJS into the future.

Challenging Experiences of Senior High School Working Students in Selected Public Schools in Polangui North District

Challenging Experiences of Senior High School Working Students in Selected Public Schools in Polangui North District

Multiple schedules with response interruption and redirection to reduce stereotypy in children with autism spectrum disorder: Generalization and social validity

Although response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and multiple schedule arrangements have sometimes been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypy for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), important questions remain about optimal methods for facilitating generalization and social validity. In the current study, we sought to extend the literature on stereotypy treatment and MSAs in several ways. First, we programmed for generalization by conducting sessions with two exemplars of two different categories of activities (i.e., school work, toy play) and assessing generalization with novel exemplars and activities and during the participant's typical instructional program. Second, we used RIRD instructions that were contextual models of appropriate behavior relevant to each activity. Third, during the free access component of the multiple schedule, we used a child's play tent as a first step toward teaching participants to engage in stereotypy during private free time. For all three participants with ASD, stereotypy decreased quickly and substantially, with reductions generalizing to novel activities and contexts. An extensive social validity assessment with board-certified behavior analysts indicated high social acceptability of the goals, procedures, and outcomes.

The Factors Influencing Teachers' Willingness to Remain in Rural Areas After the Expiration of Their Compulsory Service Contract: A Case Study in Enshi Prefecture, Hubei Province, China

Quality education can only be achieved with the assistance of experienced and qualified teachers. In order to ensure quality education in disadvantaged areas in China, it is necessary to keep experienced teachers in rural areas. This paper investigates factors that could influence rural teachers’ decision to stay or not on teaching at the expiry of their service contract. As a part of project, “Research on rural Teacher Training Mode in Minority Areas of Hubei Province in post-poverty Era “data from 1193 rural teachers who had qualified from a government teacher training programme from selected villages under the jurisdiction of the Enshi Prefecture, Hubei province was collected. As part of the survey, a number of factors are examined that influence a teacher's willingness to stay or leave, as well as remedial measures that are deemed necessary to prevent teachers from leaving. For the analysis of the data, SPSS 25 and AMOS 24 were used. The study found that the teachers have a high willingness to stay on the job after the contract expires. Among the factors contributing to their willingness are the local cultural environment, the local infrastructure attachment to the area, and the school's working environment. Wage income, professional identity, professional development, and school working conditions also play an important role as maintenance factors. There is a direct relationship between the rural infrastructure and a person's willingness to continue working after the expiration of a contract, and there is also direct relationship between the local attachment and the cultural atmosphere of the local community. Local attachment is the dominant factor, the local infrastructure is a secondary improvement area, and salary, promotion of opportunities, respect for teachers and education are in the priority improvement area. Finally, the paper proposes that the retention of rural teachers should be based on the cultivation of local attachment, rural revitalization, improvement of health factors and construction of “UGSR–P” cultivation of community.

On Intuition of the Concept of Limit: Real-life Examples Given by Secondary Mathematics Teachers

In Sri Lankan advanced level mathematics curriculum, teachers are required only to provide the intuitive idea of the concept of limit. The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies used by mathematics teachers to achieve this. Twelve in-service secondary mathematics teachers working in government and private schools participated in the study. Data was collected through lesson observations and field notes. Video recorded lessons were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed. Teaching-With-Analogy model was used as a guiding framework to evaluate how teachers integrate real-life examples in classrooms. The analysis revealed few appealing approaches as well as various flaws and misconceptions. In fact, seven teachers took deliberate efforts to link the concept to real-life and among them, four teachers gave an intuition on how x approaches a specific value, through real-life scenarios. However, many were not successful in mapping features of the real-life example to the features of the concept. Few teachers superficially and negligently applied irrelevant metaphors, analogies and colloquial terms. There were gaps in teacher knowledge when incorporating real-life connections to the limit concept. We emphasize the importance of teachers being mindful when using real-life examples in fostering intuition since inappropriate choices of examples could contribute to misconceptions.

Effect of teacher certification, school principle leadership, job satisfaction, and work ethos on teacher performance Islamic education in Badung Regency

The research objective was to determine the effect of certification, leadership, job satisfaction, and work ethic on the performance of Islamic Education teachers in Badung Regency. The research design is descriptive quantitative on 60 teachers. The data collection technique was a questionnaire and then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM). Research result; (1) Certification has a direct and significant effect on teacher performance with a coefficient of 0.449 and T-statistic 2.085 P-Values 0.040 (2) Leadership has a direct and significant effect on teacher performance with a coefficient of 0.210 and T-statistic 2.856 P-Values 0.030 (3 (5) Certification has an indirect effect on teacher performance through job satisfaction. (6) Leadership has an indirect effect on teacher performance through job satisfaction. The findings of this study are that Certification and Leadership have a very strong effect on teacher performance. The indirect effect of job satisfaction is a strong mediating variable, while the work ethic is not able to mediate the effect of Certification and Leadership on teacher performance. Recommendations for implementing Certification, Leadership, and Job Satisfaction to improve teacher performance.

Teachers’ action research as a case of social learning: exploring learning in between research and school practice

ABSTRACT Although action research has a history of bridging gaps between research and school practice, challenges emerge when aligning a scientific approach with development work in schools and in collaboration between research and school practice. In this article, we aim to deepen the knowledge on teachers’ action research as social learning in collaboration with a research-based PD leader. In this study, we follow two teachers conducting action research in a Swedish upper secondary school, in collaboration with a professional development (PD) leader who is also a doctoral student. Qualitative data have been used to write value-creation stories that illustrate the learning process throughout their collaboration. Our findings show how joint work between the teachers and the PD leader functions as a boundary process where two sets of practices – classroom and academic – are coordinated and contribute to the learning process.

Social Vulnerability of Brazilian Metropolitan Schools and Teachers' Absence from Work Due to Vocal and Psychological Symptoms: A Multilevel Analysis.

Teachers' voices and psychological symptoms are the main reasons for absence from work. The objectives of this study were: (i) to spatially represent, through a webGIS, the standardized rates of teachers' absences due to voice (outcome 1) and psychological symptoms (outcome 2) in each Brazilian Federative Unit (FU = 26 states plus Federal District) and (ii) to analyze the relationship between each national outcome rate and the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) of the municipality where urban schools are located, adjusted for sex, age, and working conditions. This cross-sectional study comprised 4979 randomly sampled teachers working in basic education urban schools, of which 83.3% are women. The national absence rates were 17.25% for voice symptoms and 14.93% for psychological symptoms. The rates, SVI, and school locations in the 27 FUs are dynamically visualized in webGIS. The multilevel multivariate logistic regression model showed a positive association between voice outcome and high/very high SVI (OR = 1.05 [1.03; 1.07]), whereas psychological symptoms were negatively associated with high/very high SVI (OR = 0.86 [0.85 0.88]) and positively associated with intermediate SVI (OR = 1.15 [1.13; 1.16]), in contrast with low/very low SVI. Being a woman (voice: OR = 1.36 [1.35; 1.38]; psychological: 1.22 [1.21; 1.24]) and working in schools with various precarious conditions (17 variables) increased the odds of being absent due to voice and psychological symptoms. The results confirm the need for investments to improve working conditions in schools.

Labour Market Shocks and Parental Investments during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This paper studies spill-over effects of parental labour market shocks at two time points in the Covid-19 crisis: right after its onset in April 2020, and in January 2021. We use rich data from the UK to look at the consequences of immediate and persistent shocks that hit parents’ economic livelihoods. These negative labour market shocks have substantially larger impacts when suffered by fathers than by mothers. Children of fathers that suffered the most severe shocks - earnings dropping to zero - are the ones that are consistently impacted. In April 2020, they were 10 percentage points less likely to have received additional paid learning resources, but their fathers were spending about 30 more minutes per day helping them with school work. However, by January 2021, this latter association switches sign, as the negative spill-over onto children’s education occurred for those fathers facing more persistent, negative labour market shocks as the crisis progressed. The paper discusses potential mechanisms driving these results, finding a sustained deterioration of household finances and a worsening of father’s mental health to be factors at play.

Principal Managerial Competence in Improving Teacher Performance at SMP PGII Bandung

The research objective is to find out (1). Planning for school principals in improving teacher performance at SMP PGII Bandung (2). Implementation of school principals in improving the performance of school teachers (3). Supervision of school principals in improving teacher performance in schools. The research method used is a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques: through interviews, observation, and document study. Data analysis classifies data, connects data, reduces data, displays data, and draws conclusions. Data validity by testing credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Findings (1). Planning for school principals to improve teacher performance in schools has carried out long, medium, and short-term planning by involving all stakeholders in preparing school work plans. (2). Implementation of school principals to improve teacher performance has been going according to plan. As in the leadership and motivation that has been carried out. The facilities are sufficient to run optimally. (3). Supervision is carried out by the principal following the supervisory procedures applied to all activities carried out in schools. Assessing program activities that are not implemented according to consideration, because of the assignment, position, and welfare received by the teacher.

Everything, everywhere, all at once: A study of polychronicity, work-school facilitation, and emotional exhaustion in working students.

This study investigates how a preference for multitasking serves as a resource toward mitigating emotional exhaustion through the mediating role of work-school facilitation. Utilizing conservation of resources (COR) theory, we utilized a sample of 153 working students in a time-lagged study to examine the relationship between these variables. Results suggest that polychronicity serves as a valuable resource toward balancing the simultaneous needs of work and school, and ultimately, decreasing academic emotional exhaustion. The findings presented in this study further advance scholarship in this domain by highlighting our understanding of polychronicity as an individual difference variable in facilitating role balance within the school-work domain. Practical implications and limitations are discussed.

Extra-auditory effects of noise exposure in school workers and preventive measures: a systematic review.

Noise is still today one of the main causes of occupational diseases; in fact, in Italy in the three-year period 2019-2022, hearing loss represented 15% of all occupational diseases recognized by the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work. The extra-auditory effects related to noise exposure also require particular attention, because they can interfere with mental activities that require concentration, memory and ability to deal with complex problems, causing sleep and learning disorders. For this reason, acoustic comfort is considered a fundamental requirement for obtaining an optimal degree of well-being in closed environments. In schools, a high degree of noise pollution not only makes it difficult for students to listen and learn, but also affects school workers. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review of international literature and analysis of the preventive measures of extra-auditory effects among school workers. The presentation of this systematic review is in accordance with the PRISMA statement. The methodological quality of the selected studies was assessed with specific rating tools (INSA, Newcastle Ottawa Scale, JADAD, JBI scale and AMSTAR). Only publications in English were selected. No restrictions were applied for the publication type. We excluded articles not concerned with the extra-auditory effects of noise exposure in school workers and preventive measures, findings of less academic significance, editorial articles, individual contributions, and purely descriptive studies published in scientific conferences. Online research indicated 4,363 references: PubMed (2,319), Scopus (1,615) and Cochrane Library (429) have been consulted; 30 studies were included in this review (5 narrative or systematic reviews and 25 original articles). Regarding the scores of narrative reviews, the INSA score showed an average and a median value of 6.5, thus indicating an intermediate/high quality of the studies. Regarding the scores of systematic reviews, the AMSTAR score showed an average of 6.7 and a median and a modal value of 6, thus indicating a high quality of the studies. The scores assigned to the original articles have an average and median value of 7and a modal value of 6 and this demonstrates an intermediate/high quality of the studies. We can assume that, as it is highlighted by this study, to date these consequences are not considered at the legislative level for the protection of exposed workers. The extra-auditory effects impacting health afterward environmental noise exposure are many and widespread. Therefore, there is a need for interventions to be carried out by institutions and that the physician of the schools, during health surveillance, investigates the effects and clinical manifestations, in order to prevent disorders and deficits highlighted by our study.