scholarly journals Is dealing with errors in the classroom specific for school subjects? A study of the error climate in mathematics, German, and English

Author(s):  
Gabriele Steuer ◽  
Maria Tulis ◽  
Markus Dresel

AbstractA frequent observation in the school context is that opportunities to learn from errors are often missed. However, a positive error climate may support learning from errors. For the school subject of mathematics, some findings about characteristics of the error climate already exist. But, a comparison of the error climate between different school subjects is still pending. In the present study, it is analyzed whether the error climate differs in different school subjects and whether the same interrelations between the ways in which individuals deal with errors can be found in these different school subjects. In a study with 937 students from 48 classrooms from grades 5 to 7, in different secondary schools in Germany and Austria, we assessed the error climate and individual reactions following errors in mathematics, German, and English. Small mean differences between mathematics and the two language subjects were yielded. In addition, we found medium-sized correlations between the error climate measures in the three school subjects. However, the same pattern of interrelations between error climate and the way individuals deal with errors for all three school subjects could be shown. The results suggest that the perception of the error climate is rather similar in different school subjects. This has implications, for instance, for interventions that aim at fostering the error climate.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12324
Author(s):  
Atif Saleem ◽  
Ling Wu ◽  
Sarfraz Aslam ◽  
Tianxue Zhang

Sustainable development is a process occurring on several levels, which placed the expectations on educational institutions, especially secondary schools, change radically. Schools, therefore, are gradually likely to emphasize enhanced and sustainable teaching practices under the agenda of the United Nations 2030, sustainable future. Hence, the job-oriented development of teachers is a critical factor of the school leadership mechanism. Considering this, the present empirical research was designed to study the mechanism of path-goal theory (PGT) to sustain teachers’ job-oriented development in private secondary schools in Pakistan. The viewpoint of teachers, whose job performance is ultimately affected by the school leadership behavior and who perform the job at the front line in schools, was taken on board for the investigation. A total of 2469 secondary school teachers from 785 private secondary schools participated in the present study. Confirmatory factor analysis, t-test, Pearson correlation, and path analysis structural equation modeling analytics were mainly involved in the data analysis. Overall, the findings substantiated the constructive PGT mechanism, especially indicating that directive leadership is the most influential and effective leadership behavior in complex tasks, including when teachers are inexperienced. Moreover, the helpful role of supportive leadership and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors backs up the directive behavior. Although participative leadership behavior was problematic in the studied schools, it should be constructively adopted, as it was found to be a statistically significant predictor. Therefore, training programs for school leaders with good experience in participatory leadership functions can be productive for long-term teachers’ motivation. The literature shows that several secondary school teachers still perform poorly because of inadequate leadership, and the viewpoint of teachers on PGT was ignored in earlier studies. Hence, there was a dire need to conduct this research to address these concerns, especially in the non-Western, Asian context. In addition to pioneering academic research on leadership PGT in the secondary school context, the PGT elements were investigated, including teachers’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for the first time, adding new understanding about the theory.


2020 ◽  
pp. 255-267
Author(s):  
Sonya Yakimova ◽  
◽  
Célia Maintenant ◽  
Anne Taillandier-Schmitt ◽  
◽  
...  

Few studies have examined the impact of emotions on cognitive (not only academic) performance among adolescents and this is the objective of our research. After ethic committee agreement andparents’ authorization, we asked 158 adolescents in secondary schools to respond to the French version of Differential Emotion Scale adapted for school context and to nineteensyllogisms which evaluated cognitive nonacademic performances. As results, we expected that negative emotions related to academic achievement would reduce performance in reasoning and positive emotions would improve it. Our hypotheses were partially validated. The impacts of the results as well as perspectives of future researches in relation with self-esteem, psychological disengagement, dropping out of school were discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirma Sadamali Jayawardena

PurposeThe present study is a systematic review that identifies future research avenues on culture and discipline in secondary schools in a cross-cultural context.Design/methodology/approachThe literature, as published in top management, education and psychology journals, was reviewed around culture and discipline in secondary schools. This systematic literature review (SLR) used several preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and categorised the studies published during the period 2014–2020.FindingsThe author identified six major themes: (1) punishment, (2) restorative practices (RPs), (3) racial disparities, (4) competitiveness, (5) school climate and (6) secondary school student discipline in a cross-cultural context. Further, the author suggested several future research avenues under these emerging themes.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of this study is limited to culture and discipline in a secondary school context. The findings provide a solid foundation for researchers in the areas of culture and discipline in secondary schools.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this study can be considered as the first SLR conducted using PRISMA guidelines to identify several under-researched areas in the field of culture and discipline in secondary schools in a cross-cultural context. The study provides several future research insights.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 602-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
María J. Hernández-Amorós ◽  
María A. Martínez Ruiz

A prolific number of researchers have chosen to study metaphorical narratives, confirming their usefulness in educational research. The aim of this paper is to analyse the metaphorical expressions used by 68 principals from infant, primary and secondary schools in Alicante (Spain), concerning the way they see the figure of the principal and how it makes them feel. The data were processed using AQUAD 7. Results indicated a weak presence of characteristics related to social and contextual leader learning, as principals’ views tended more towards traditional models with duty predominating as a motivating force. Such views are usually associated with the experience of negative emotions. Findings highlighted the need to introduce an important cognitive and dispositional change in leadership education to ensure the development of professional skills aligned with current shared leadership models.


2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary E. McPherson ◽  
Susan A. O'Neill

This study draws on an expectancy-value theoretical framework to examine the motivation (competence beliefs, values and task difficulty) of 24,143 students (11,909 females and 10,066 males, aged 9 to 21 years) from eight countries (Brazil n = 1848; China n = 3049; Finland n = 1654; Hong Kong n = 6179; Israel n = 2257; Korea n = 2671; Mexico n = 3613; USA n = 3072). Music was studied in comparison to five other school subjects (art, mother tongue, physical education, mathematics, science) across three school grade levels that included the key transition from elementary to secondary school. Results indicated that music as a school subject was valued less and received lower task difficulty ratings than other school subjects with the exception of art. Students reported higher competence beliefs for physical education and mother tongue compared to music and lower competence beliefs for mathematics and art. There was an overall decline in students’ competence beliefs and values across the school grade levels for all countries except Brazil. Females reported higher competence beliefs and values and lower task difficulty ratings for music, art and mother tongue than males. Males reported higher competence beliefs and lower task difficulty ratings for physical education and mathematics. There were no gender differences for values in mathematics. Music learners reported higher competence beliefs and values and lower task difficulty across school subjects than non-music learners. Secondary analyses were used to further explore differences within each of the eight countries. Findings suggest that once students have experienced learning to play an instrument or voice, they become more motivated towards other school subjects. Implications of the findings suggest that advocacy aimed at increasing the values that students attach to music as a school subject may encourage more students to become music learners across a wide range of countries.


1947 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13
Author(s):  
C. C. Fabing

Most mathematics teachers have been aware that the non-college student has been neglected so far as getting his rightful share of mathematics has been concerned. In most instances the awareness was passed passed off with a shrug of the shoulders and the blame for not establishing these courses, passed onto some one else. The need has become so acute that the tail is wagging the dog and it would seem that some action may be taken to aid in solving the problem. If you will check the number of graduates in your high school and the number of these graduates who enter college, you will find that only about 15% of the group go on to college. It must be admitted then, that we have constructed our mathematics curriculum largely for the 15% and the remaining 85% have received little or no consideration in mathematics and most of that was a make shift, hit or miss proposition. In some high schools, it is possible for a pupil to graduate without being required to pursue any class in mathematics. If a search were made, I suspect that many more high schools are permitting this situation than we know. Mathematics teachers as a group are rather complacent and hold the dignity of their profession on a high plane. This is as it should be. Since we are supposed to know the meaning of facts as expressed in figures, then we must admit that 85% of a graduating class is a greater responsibility than 15% of the class. To reach 85% of the class, I hope that we will bestir ourselves from this smug complacency in academic mathematics and lend a helping hand to those who need, but seldom get any mathematics. We must become mathematical missionaries and carry the gospel truth to the majority who need aid in mathematics other than that prescribed for the selected few who go to college. We must show the way or continue to see school subjects with less concrete usefulness and more aggressive leaders reducing our mathematics time in the curriculum.


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