scholarly journals Enhancing Continuing Professional Teachers’ Development in High Schools through Support and Monitoring Offered to Communities of Practice by Stakeholders

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Adeola Folasade Akinyemi ◽  
Vuyisile Nkonki
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Regular Class

This study is located in pragmatic research paradigm and adopted mixed methods research approach to get in-depth information from participants on enhancing continuing professional teachers’ development in high schools through support and monitoring offered to communities of practice by stakeholders. Semi-structured questionnaires and semi-structured interview were used as the research instruments to solicit information from seventy-nine participants selected as samples. The participants were purposely selected because of their involvement in communities of practice activities in their schools. The data were analysed descriptively using simple percentage tables for quantitative data while qualitative data were analysed thematically based on the themes that emerged. The findings of the study show that teachers received lot of support from education district officials and facilitators of communities of practice. The type of support received include organising content gap workshop for teachers, encouraging team work, helping teachers in difficult areas of their subjects and assist in difficult areas of facilitation. The findings of the study also indicate that support and monitoring measures in communities of practice helped teachers get feedback that assist them to know areas of their subject matter they need to address and improve on. Recommendations were made that district officials should go on regular class visits to monitor teachers to check if they are implementing what they have learnt in the communities of practice and regular on-site support should be provided for teachers by subject advisors.

scholarly journals Trust and Positive Working Relationships among Teachers in Communities of Practice as an Avenue for Professional Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Adeola Folasade Akinyemi ◽  
Symphorosa Rembe ◽  
Vuyisile Nkonki
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Good Working

This study explores trust and positive working relationships among teachers in communities of practice as an avenue for professional development in high schools in South Africa. A mixed methods research approach was employed for this study with the use of a semi-structured interview and semi-structured questionnaires as data collection instruments. Ten schools were purposively selected for this study and seventy-nine participants were selected as samples. The findings of the study show that teachers had good working relationships with their colleagues. The good working relationships they had enabled them to assist their colleagues, share their classroom challenges with them, confide in their colleagues, and they were able to get assistance from them. It was established from the study that a great number of teachers feel safe to be part of the communities of practice activities in the sampled high schools, thus, they engage in diverse of discussions with their colleagues and they were able to relate to their colleagues the difficulties they have in terms of their work. The study recommends that teachers should spend an adequate time in their meetings, see themselves as colleagues, interact as teams, and build strong ties to have good relationships and a strong level of trust among themselves.

scholarly journals The young adult’s perception of religion and formal structures: A postmodern perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Herna Hall ◽  
C.S.L. Delport
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Moral Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
Group Interviewing

The postmodern era has an impact on different dimensions of the contemporary young adult’s social functioning which incorporates perceptions regarding religion and formal structures. This contemporary young adult refers to an individual between the ages of 18 and 25 years. Therefore the goal of this article was to report on research results regarding the perceptions of young adults on religion and formal structures. Within a mixed methods research approach, the exploratory mixed methods research design was utilised. Qualitative data was collected from 47 young adults by means of focus group interviewing. Quantitative data was collected from 1019 respondents utilising a questionnaire. Both groups were selected through the utilisation of purposive sampling. Qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis, whilst a range of descriptive and inferential statistical procedures was used to analyse quantitative data. The findings indicated that the postmodern young adult displays a tendency to value conventional religious norms and practices, but the element of choice is of importance, as young adults seem to choose the aspects of religion that suit them. An increased interest in and a need for spirituality or a form of transcendence was found. Guidance by formal structures was favoured, but did not necessarily refer to ‘church’ or religious structures. The results illustrated that the contemporary young adult explores and experiments in terms of identity and lifestyle. Views and values seem to be person-specific and based on emotions and experiences with a tendency towards ‘own authority’ and an emphasis on the self. The rise of individualism which characterises the postmodern era has led to the creation of meaning by drawing on personal resources and on own personal moral beliefs and values.

School Leaders’ Practice of the Ethics of Educational Leadership to Make Decisions

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-34
Author(s):  
Mohammed Assiri
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Common Factors ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
School Year ◽  
Ethical Decisions

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the extent to which school leaders practice the ethics of educational leadership to make decisions. A mixed-methods research design was used in this study. The quantitative data of this study were obtained from the participation of 260 teachers, and the qualitative data of this study were collected from nine school leaders. The questionnaire and the semi-structured interview were used to collect the data. The study was conducted during the school year of 2017-2018. The study found that the overall extent to which school leaders practice the ethics of educational leadership to make decisions was classified as “always occurs". The findings showed that there were statistically significant differences between participants with different gender and school levels on the overall and all dimensions of the extent to which school leaders practice the ethics of educational leadership to make decisions, while there were not statistically significant differences between the groups of the participants with different teaching experience. The qualitative findings provided some common factors that influence school leaders’ practice to making ethical decisions. These factors were explained based on two concepts including management knowledge and leadership skills as well as the context of school's culture.

scholarly journals Exploring Head Teachers’ Instructional Supervisory Role: The Case of Public Junior High Schools in Jirapa Municipality of Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-75
Author(s):  
Robert Andrews Ghanney ◽  
Jeremiah Nuobalee
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Junior High Schools ◽  
Sequential Approach ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Training Time ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Engaged Teachers

The study explored Head teachers’ instructional supervisory role among public Junior High Schools in the Jirapa Municipality of the Upper West Region of Ghana. It adopted psychological and system theory of supervision propounded by Planturrroot (2006) and Bertalanffy (2015) respectively. The mixed method sequential approach was followed in the conduct of the study where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed. A sample size of 200 respondents made up of 40 head teachers, 80 teachers and 80 pupils were used for the quantitative data, whilst 10 head teachers were selected for the qualitative data. The Statistical Product for Service Solutions (SPSS) version 23 was used to analyse the quantitative data while thematic approach was used for the qualitative data. The findings of the study revealed in-frequent orientation for newly engaged teachers. It further showed lower ratings in the provision of in-service training, time tabling design and setting of performance target for pupils and teachers. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES) should regularly organize workshops, seminars and in-service trainings on supervisory roles of head teachers and assistant head teachers to equip them with the needed knowledge and skills in the municipality. Lastly, Heads of schools and other supervisors should re-design schools` time tables to suit the use of instructional time in the lesson of teachers to enhance their monitoring.

scholarly journals What supports Females in Higher Education Progression? A Pakistani Public University Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-106
Author(s):  
Muhammad Amin ◽  
Muhammad Islam ◽  
Humera Amin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Islamic Perspective ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Societal Context ◽  
Pragmatic Paradigm ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

The paper is focused on exploring the factors that support females’ progression in higher education. The mixed methods approach is taken to conduct the research, consequently the study falls in pragmatic paradigm. The structured questionnaire is used to collect quantitative data from 200 university female students, and semi-structured interview protocol is used to generate qualitative data from 15 female students of the same university. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) has been used to analyse quantitative data, whereas content analysis has been used to analyse qualitative data. The data highlight that literate parents, global trend of females’ acquisition of higher education, media, availability of jobs and scholarships are supportive factors in females’ progression in higher education. An interesting finding revealed from the data is that ‘Islamic Perspective’ of education is also considered as encouraging factor; generally in Pakistani societal context, especially in remote areas, people use ‘Islamic Perspective’ in a distorted way to restrict their girls from getting higher education.

scholarly journals Career Opportunity for Ghanaian Youth: An Evaluation of Jewellery Subject under Visual Art Programme in Senior High Schools in Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 168-184
Author(s):  
Mohammed Kwaku Baidoo
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Career Opportunity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Motivating Factor

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the Jewellery subject in Senior High Schools in Ghana to ascertain the career opportunity in jewellery for Ghanaian youth. The study adopted the Mixed Methods Research approach with descriptive and document analysis as the research method used. The findings of the study show that jewellery students are not able to practise as jewellers after their studies, because the content of the jewellery subjects and its associated exercises does not correspond to the skills one is required to become a jeweller. Coupled with the fact that the teachers who teach the jewellery are mostly not professional jewellers, which therefore limit the kind of practical jewellery that they can teach the students. Although the motivating factor for introducing jewellery is good, however, the rhetorics of the government that she wants students to acquire skills in jewellery making does not support the reality on the ground.

The effect of the activity-based environmental education course on the attitudes and behavior levels of the students of child development program concerning environmental problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 762-773
Author(s):  
Serkan Pullu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior

This study aimed to determine the effect of the activity-based environmental education course on the attitudes and behavior levels of the students of the child development program concerning environmental problems. The study was prepared by using the explanatory sequential design, one of the mixed method patterns in which qualitative and quantitative data are used together. While one-group pretest-posttest experimental design was used in the quantitative dimension of the study, phenomenology was employed in its qualitative dimension. The sample group of the study was composed of 60 first-year students attending Kayseri University Hüseyin Şahin Vocational High School Child Development Program in the 2019-2020 academic year (spring semester). Within the scope of the environmental education course, activity-based practices were performed with the students for 6 weeks. The students were divided into groups and one group applied the related activities they prepared with their friends in the classroom each week. Before and after the application, 'The Environmental Problems AttitudeScale' developed by Güven (2013) and 'The Environmental Problems Behavior Scale' developed by Güven and Aydoğdu (2012) were applied for the students. After collecting the quantitative data, 10 students were interviewed via a semi-structured interview form and their opinions on the activities were collected. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to analyze the qualitative data of the study. The qualitative data of the study were analyzed based on descriptive analysis. As a result of the study, it was determined that after the activity-based practices performed in the environmental education course, the scores of the attitude and behavior of the students concerning environmental problems increased. As a result of the interviews made with the students, it was found that the students had both positive and negative opinions on the activities conducted in the course. By these activities, the students emphasized that they had cognitive and affective acquisitions in the environmental education course. Finally, the students stated that they acquired awareness, consciousness, and responsibility about the environmental problems along with these activities.

scholarly journals The Effect of Formative Assessment on the Academic Achievement Levels of Prospective Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Davut Hotaman
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Formative Assessment ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Achievement Test ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Achievement Levels

This study aims to examine the effect of “Formative Assessment (FA)” practices in “Assessment and Evaluation in Education” class on the academic achievement levels of prospective teachers. It uses a mixed research design. Quantitative data were collected by using double pretest-posttest design, which is one of the complete experimental design structures; while a semi-structured Interview Form was used to collect the qualitative data. The study group consists of a total of 220 prospective teachers who participated in a “Teacher Training Course” in Faculty of Education in Yildiz Technical University, Turkey during the 2017-2018 academic year. The data collection instruments included a 40-item multiple-choice achievement test (AT) chosen from a question bank in accordance with the course objectives and a semi-structured interview form. For the achievement test, reliability was achieved by the test-retest method (r=.95), and validity was secured by the “analytical” method based on expert opinion. Following the nine-week FA practices using the complete experimental double pretest-posttest research design, it was found that these practices (what do I recall? and what have I learned?) resulted in a significant difference in favor of the experiment groups. The responses of prospective teachers to the semi-structured interview form developed to collect qualitative data for the study were categorized into common themes, which demonstrate that the quantitative data are confirmed by the qualitative data regarding the FA practices. This harmony between the quantitative and qualitative data showed that FA practices (independent variable) are strong enough to affect the achievements of prospective teachers (dependent variable).

scholarly journals Gamification as a Strategy for Enhancing Participation in e-Learning Environments

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Khalid Almalhy
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
School Community ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Average Impact ◽  
The Impact

The study aimed to explore the effects of a proposed gamification strategy in eLearning environments through integrating roles of school community members (school principal, educational supervisor, teacher, student, and parent) in order to improve their levels of participation in eLearning. A mixed methods research approach was used: Quantitative data were collected by means of a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 41 faculty members specializing in educational technology in Saudi public universities, while qualitative data were collected through interviews with eight experts in the same field. The results showed that all factors had a medium impact, except for the impact of student performance on teacher performance, which showed the highest average impact, and the impact of student performance on the performance of the school principal, which showed the lowest average impact. Additionally, the results of the interviews were discussed as interpretation of the quantitative data, which confirmed—from the points of view of both the experts and the questionnaire recipients—the effectiveness of the proposed gamification strategy in improving the level of participation of all school community members. Based on the results, the study recommended the use of the proposed gamification strategy.

scholarly journals AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CYPRUS AND CYPRUS TURKISH HISTORY COURSE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES IN SCHOOL PRACTICES

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
Ipek Danju
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
School Practices ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Keywords Education

The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the Cyprus and Cyprus Turkish History course curriculum’s objectiveness and the teachers’ implementation of the curriculum in schools. The research was conducted using a qualitative research approach and a descriptive research model. The researcher prepared semi-structured interview form to reveal the teachers’ views. Content analysis method was applied through using Nvivo 10 software in the analysis of qualitative data. The analysis of the survey data was conducted by encoding the results, as well as dividing and categorizing the teacher’s feedback and opinions; furthermore, direct opinions have also been noted. According to the findings, not only is there a disparity between the application of the program and its original objectives, but the effectiveness of the curriculum is also questioned.   Keywords: Education, Curriculum, Cyprus and Cyprus Turkish History, Qualitative

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