Academic freedom in primary and secondary school teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Bruce Maxwell ◽  
David I. Waddington ◽  
Kevin McDonough
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Secondary Teachers ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Primary And Secondary School

Why do society and the courts so readily recognize university and college teachers’ academic freedom but just as readily deny primary and secondary school teachers the same right? To investigate this question, this article considers teachers’ work in light of the standard justifications for granting academic freedom in higher education: that academic freedom is essential to promoting the capacity for critical reflection and the reliable transfer of disciplinary knowledge. Considering that society calls on teachers to play a key role in advancing both of these educational and social goods, the article argues that granting academic freedom in higher education, while denying it for primary and secondary teachers, appears to be a double standard. The claims to academic freedom typically reserved for university professors, we show, also apply to the work of primary and secondary teachers. There are significant differences between teaching in the higher education sector as opposed to the compulsory education sector. School teachers work with a conscripted clientele of minors and are therefore rightly subject to more stringent norms of public accountability. These differences notwithstanding, the concept of academic freedom, the article concludes, is a potentially powerful source of leverage for addressing concerns about the erosion of teachers’ professional autonomy and for increased teacher involvement in the elaboration and management of the regulatory frameworks that govern their work.

Factorial Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Principal Leadership Questionnaire in Greek Educational Context

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110091
Author(s):  
Aikaterini Gkolia ◽  
Nikolaos Tsigilis ◽  
Maria Evangelou ◽  
Athanasios Koustelios
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Validity Data ◽  
Primary And Secondary School

The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of the Principal Leadership Questionnaire (PLQ) to Greek educational context and to present the most important aspects describing educational leadership in a centralized educational context. It was sought to examine; a) the factorial structure of PLQ b) its invariance across teachers’ levels of education and c) its concurrent validity. Data were collected from 730 Greek primary and secondary school teachers of 77 schools. Teachers were asked to fill in the PLQ and Teacher’s Satisfaction Inventory (TSI). A bi-factor model was selected as the most tenable among five completive PLQ structures to describe teachers’ responses. Moreover, PLQ was found to be invariant across primary and secondary school teachers. Multiple-group analysis results indicate that primary, compared to secondary school teachers, reported more often that their principals behave as a transformational leader. On the contrary, secondary school teachers’ perceptions revealed that their principal implemented practices related to factor “intellectual; stimulation” more often than primary school teachers. Structural equation modeling showed that the general factor of the PLQ significantly and substantially predicted the “principal” facet of teachers’ job satisfaction, providing evidence of concurrent validity of the Greek version of the PLQ. Implications and suggestions for future research and policy are discussed.

scholarly journals DISTANCE LEARNING IN A PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 144-152
Author(s):  
Olga Granichina ◽  
Svetlana Surikova
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Data Processing ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Years Of Experience ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Distance Learning Technologies ◽  
Primary And Secondary School

The article discusses the possibilities, problems and prospects of using distance learning in the process of training primary and secondary school teachers. The presented results are based on a survey of students and undergraduates of one of the largest pedagogical universities in Russia. The identified problems that was based on data processing, are presented in an ordered form. The authors suggest possible solutions to problems based on many years of experience in using distance learning technologies in training of future teachers.

scholarly journals The Reasons of the Reluctance of Secondary School Teachers in the Province of Houtat Bani Tamim Of Leadership Positions in The Schools of The Province

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nourah Mohammed Al- Tamimi
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Secondary Teachers ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
General Average ◽  
Academic Qualifications

This research aimed to recognize the reasons made the high school teachers (female) in Houtat Bani Tamim province abstains from the leadership's positions at the institutions that they are working in. And to achieve the goals of the research the descriptive analytical approach was used, while the study tool was an electronic questionnaire distributed among a random simple sample which consisted of (93) secondary teachers. The study revealed that the arithmetic averages of the responses of the study sample on the axis of reasons for abstention from leadership positions ranged between (2.62) and (3.94) with a general average of (3.46) (3.45) and (4.31) with a general average of (3.92). The results of the study on the analysis of mono- variance showed that there were no statistically significant differences due to differences in academic qualifications and years of experience. This reflects the agreement of the sample members of the secondary school teachers on the reasons of abstention of leadership positions.

scholarly journals Teachers' implicit beliefs about (mathematical) intelligence

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170
Author(s):  
Luna Radević ◽  
Ivona Jerković ◽  
Ilija Milovanović
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Implicit Theories ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Implicit Theories Of Intelligence ◽  
Intelligence Scale ◽  
Incremental Theory ◽  
Entity Theory ◽  
Theories Of Intelligence ◽  
Primary And Secondary School

Implicit theories of intelligence are individual beliefs about the nature of intelligence, which are used on a daily basis as part of self-assessment and assessment of others, and are a significant factor shaping attitudes and behaviors. Research to date suggests that teachers can influence their students' beliefs about intelligence, which in turn affect motivation and achievement. According to Dweck's model, implicit theories of intelligence are a bipolar construct, with two theories at its extremes - the entity theory, which stresses the immutability of intelligence, and the incremental theory, which holds that intelligence can be improved through training and learning. Recent research, however, indicates that these two theories represent distinct, uncorrelated dimensions. The aim of this study was to carry out a psychometric evaluation of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITIS) and the Mathematics-Oriented Implicit Theory of Intelligence Scale (MOITIS). 228 primary and secondary school teachers in Serbia (87.7% female; average age 42.79 years) took part in the study. The results of factor analysis suggest the existence of two factors on both scales: incremental theory and entity theory. Further analysis showed that both factors of the ITIS and MOITIS scales have satisfactory psychometric properties. Significant differences were detected between primary and secondary school teachers on the ITIS scale. More specifically, among teachers of science subjects, mathematics and medical subjects the attitude that intelligence is a fixed trait is more pronounced than among teachers of the arts, humanities and social sciences.

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