scholarly journals Implementation of the 2012 upper secondary school curriculum in Mexico: a 21st-century framework enquiry

2022 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jimena Hernández-Fernández

Objective. This study aims to analyze how the new upper secondary school curriculum in Mexico captures 21st-century skills and teachers’ perceptions of success. Method. The design of the study complies a comparison analysis between the Mexican upper secondary school curriculum and a 21st-century skills framework. Additionally, qualitative data on teachers’ perceptions of success is collected through eight focus groups with 72 participants in 4 States of Mexico. Results. The findings show that the curriculum is short in strategies for the development of 21st-century skills. Moreover, although teachers welcome them, they perceive a lack of support and doubt about students’ learning capabilities. Conclusions. Although Mexico has progressed in providing a 21st-century skills learning environment through the new curriculum, the educational system remains with the opportunity to offer a more suitable and adequate framework as well as support and training for teachers.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Sirpa Tani ◽  
Markus Hilander ◽  
Julia Leivo

Oppikirjan merkitys suomalaisessa koulussa on perinteisesti ollut – ja yhä edelleen usein on – suuri: se, millaisia sisältöjä ja millaisia painotuksia oppikirjoissa esitetään, vaikuttaa vahvasti opetuksen etenemiseen. Tästä huolimatta oppikirjojen asiasisältöjä on tutkittu verrattain vähän. Ilmastonmuutoksen vakavuus on tunnustettu viime vuosina kansainvälisesti, ja tämä huoli on välittynyt myös koulutuksen ja kasvatuksen kentälle. On pohdittu sitä, mitä ilmastonmuutoksesta tulisi tietää, ja kenen vastuulla ilmastonmuutokseen liittyvien aiheiden opettaminen on. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelemme, miten ilmastonmuutosta käsitellään kahdessa suomalaisessa lukion pakollisen maantieteen kurssin oppikirjassa (GEOS ja Manner). Tulosten mukaan oppikirjat eroavat selvästi siinä, millaista tietoa ilmastonmuutoksesta ne sisältävät, millaisia havainnollistamisen keinoja niissä käytetään ja millaisen painoarvon ne antavat yksilölle ja yhteiskunnalle ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnässä ja sopeutumisessa. Oppikirjojen yksi suurimmista puutteista on se, että ne eivät esittele riittävästi helposti toteutettavia ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemisen keinoja. Tulevissa lukion opetussuunnitelman perusteissa (2019) ilmastonmuutos mainitaan lähes kuusinkertaisesti aiempaan opetussuunnitelmaan (2015) verrattuna. Tämä voi vaikuttaa lukion maantieteen pakollisen kurssin oppikirjojen sisältöihin lähitulevaisuudessa.   Climate change in upper secondary school curricula and geography textbooks Abstract The role of textbooks has traditionally been – and still very often is – very important in the Finnish education system: the content of textbooks and the emphasis put on them strongly influence the progress of teaching. Nonetheless, relatively little research has been conducted about the content of Finnish textbooks and especially about how climate change is presented in textbooks. In recent years, the seriousness of climate change has been recognized internationally and this concern has also been transmitted to the field of education. Questions such as what is needed to know about climate change and who is responsible for teaching the topics of climate change have already been asked. In this article, we therefore examine how climate change is presented in two Finnish upper secondary school geography textbooks (GEOS and Manner). According to the results, the textbooks clearly differ in the types of information they contain on climate change, the ways that are used to illustrate climate change, and the importance they place on individuals and society in mitigating and adapting to climate change. One of the major shortcomings of the textbooks is that they do not provide enough easy-to-implement ways of mitigating climate change. On the other hand, climate change is mentioned six times more in the forthcoming upper secondary school curriculum (2019) compared to the previous curriculum (2015). This may affect the content of textbooks for the mandatory upper secondary school geography in the near future. Keywords: climate change, upper secondary school geography, curriculum, textbook  


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-557
Author(s):  
Eman A. AlMuraie ◽  
Norah A. Algarni ◽  
Nidhal Sh. Alahmad

This study aimed to recognize upper-secondary school science teachers’ perceptions of the meaning, importance, and integrating mechanisms of science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) education, taking in to account the differences between the science teachers’ perceptions according to their specialties, years of experience, and degrees. A closed-ended questionnaire was distributed among 700 science teachers (biology, physics, and chemistry) in Riyadh, and 255 teachers responded. The results showed a strong alignment in the upper-secondary school science teachers’ perceptions of the meaning and the importance of STEM education, although there was less of a consensus regarding the integrating mechanisms. There were statistically significant differences in the physics teachers’ perceptions of STEM meaning, although there were otherwise no significant differences by specialty in the science teachers’ perceptions of the importance of STEM education and its integration mechanisms. Furthermore, the teachers showed no statistically significant differences in STEM’s meaning, importance, or integrating mechanisms according to their years of experience. Based on the results, recommendations included intensifying professional development programs on utilizing technology, engineering, and mathematics in learning science concepts and application. Keywords: integration mechanisms, science teachers, STEM education, teachers’ perceptions, upper secondary school


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Aivelo ◽  
Anna Uitto

AbstractThe skills required to understand genetic phenomena and transfer knowledge to real world situations are an important part of 21st century scientific literacy. While socio-scientific issues (SSI) are increasingly emphasised in science curricula, teachers have low interest in adopting SSI in teaching. Little is known about how teachers choose content for their teaching, although this process translates curricula to teaching practice. We explored how teachers choose content and contexts for biology courses on cells, heredity, and biotechnology by interviewing ten Finnish upper-secondary school teachers. We studied how the teachers described teaching on genetically modified organisms, hereditary disorders, and human traits. Teachers’ perceptions on genetics teaching were classified to Developmental, Structural and Hereditary approaches. The approaches were connected not only to the teachers’ perceptions of the more important content, but also teacher inclinations towards teaching genetics in the human context and perceptions of students’ interest in different topics. Teachers’ justified their choices by national, local school, and teacher’s personal-level factors. While teachers mentioned that SSI are important, they were never mentioned among the important contexts. Nevertheless, some teachers embraced teaching genetics in the human context while others avoided them. Teachers justified their avoidance for personal and pedagogical factors, such as their competence in dealing with these contexts. Experience played a part in the approach that teachers had, and contrary to the results of previous research, the less experienced teachers were more open to discussing human genetics. We conclude that curriculum development is important to encourage teachers to adopt more SSI-oriented teaching.Disclosure statementTuomas Aivelo has participated in writing biology textbooks for upper-secondary school biology for eOppi Oy. None of the teachers involved in this study used biology textbooks from eOppi Oy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Jijo Varghese ◽  
M N Mohamedunni Alias Musthafa

The present century demands transformative competencies in all spheres of human life and this necessitated the evolution of a new civil right in the modern era. Inevitably, this demands for new sets of skills and competencies in the learners to meet the challenges and competitions of the knowledge economy, labor market and information settings. To build the 21st century skills and competencies in the learners, teachers need to have awareness and knowledge about these skills and apply them in their daily classroom activities. In order to execute the strategies for promoting 21st century skills among learners, a clear perception on the same is highly essential. It is interesting to analyze the perception of the teachers and the missing gaps. This study was conducted to examine the gap between the actual and ideal perception of 21st century skills among secondary school teachers of Kerala. It also examined to what extent their age, teaching experience and subjects have been related to perception level. Data has been collected from secondary school teachers (N=350) through survey method. The result of the study showed that there was gap between actual and ideal perceptions of 21st century skills among the secondary school teachers and also positive correlation between age, teaching experience and the actual perception of 21st century skills.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Helleve ◽  
Marit Ulvik ◽  
Kari Smith

Målet med denne studien er å undersøke hvordan lærere forstår og tolker sitt profesjonelle handlingsrom og hvordan de, basert på denne erfaringen, har opplevd å nå sine egne mål over tid. Studien, som er del av en internasjonal studie, bygger på observasjoner, intervjuer og story-lines fra seks lærere ved tre videregående skoler. Lærerne er av ledelsen utpekt til å være lærere som utnytter det handlingsrommet de har og som selv tar styring på hvordan de praktiserer lærerjobben. Funnene viser at lærerne langt på vei tolker og endrer rammer og regelverk i tråd med egne mål – også lærere innenfor samme kontekst. De fleste lærerne opplever at de utnytter og har utnyttet et større handlingsrom enn de erfarer å ha med bakgrunn i rammer og pålegg. Dette resultatet skiller seg fra de to andre landene som deltar i den internasjonale studien. Konklusjonen er at kunnskap om læreres forståelse av sitt profesjonelle handlingsrom kan bidra til refleksjon over egen lærerrolle og til ny innsikt i skoleutvikling.Nøkkelord: profesjonelt handlingsrom, videregående skole, lærereTeachers’ professional space – How it is experienced and utilizedAbstractThe aim of the study is to examine teachers’ understanding and interpretation of their professional space, and how they experience having possibilities to practice their pedagogical beliefs throughout their careers. The study, which is part of an international study, is built on observations, interviews and story-lines from six teachers in three Norwegian upper secondary schools. These are teachers viewed by their principals as independent teachers exploiting their professional space when practicing teaching. Findings show that to a large extent teachers interpret and change frames and rules according to their own pedagogical beliefs. Teachers working in the same schools respond differently to school regulations. Most of the teachers claim to have more space than what they perceive external rules and frameworks allow for. This finding differs from the two other participating countries in the international study, in which obedience to external regulations was strong. The conclusion reached in this paper is that additional knowledge about teachers’ perceptions of their professional space will contribute to ways in which reflection of practice and professional role can be enhanced, and thereby support school development.Keywords: professional space, upper secondary school, teachers


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Orwat ◽  
Paweł Bernard ◽  
Anna Migdał-Mikuli

Reactions in aqueous solutions are an important part of chemistry education. As experience shows, they are particularly difficult for students to understand. Hydrolysis is one such reaction. It occurs in organic and inorganic compounds with either covalent and ionic structures, but salt hydrolysis is a special example. Salt hydrolysis is complex, and to understand it, students must consider the reaction equilibrium, dissociation process, and acid-base properties of reactants and products. Additionally, in the upper-secondary-school curriculum, hydrolysis is described only qualitatively, which can lead students to misinterpret hydrolysis and solution equilibrium. In this study, 235 upper-secondary-school students answered questions about the acidity of common salt solutions and tried to justify their responses by writing appropriate chemical equations. An analysis of the answers revealed the students’ alternative conceptions and misconceptions. The character of the misconceptions showed that they are school-based and largely caused by excessive simplification of the process as well as the usage of inappropriate analogies. Key words: salt hydrolysis, acids and bases, alternative and misconceptions, chemical education research.


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