scholarly journals From Personal Experiences of Transformative Learning on Educational Challenges and Reforms in Secondary School in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Tetyana Koshmanova

Educational policy generating 21st-century skills is accelerating, but Chinese education still employs traditional teaching such as memorizing and test-based instructional practices. The pencil and paper tests, no matter how sophisticated, are hard-pressed to measure interpersonal, intrapersonal skills, and the penetration of educational core values into secondary schools internationally, which is weak. This article aims to navigate the secondary school challenges and proposed reforms through analyzing the over 20 years of the author's experience. Findings show that high stakes cause teachers, school principals, parents, and students to disincentivize deeper learning. The exam-oriented teaching and learning approach causes students who might obtain a high score but lower functional performance. Parents' high hopes cause educational inequality and restrict students to develop their skills. Worse, the school principal utilized the power and authority in leading school development and evaluated teachers' performance based on students' test scores that force teachers to demand students to complete the mock practices and test. Because of test-based accountability, the study suggested that secondary school in China necessitates to abolish the "Gaokao" system instead of using a whole-personal assessment. The school leadership needs to shift from bureaucratic management to transformational, Junzi, and adaptive leadership. School principals advocate parents' commitment and deliver a quality of education to secondary school students. Therefore, future research explores how the "Gaokao" system causes inequality and impacts 21st-century skills for secondary school students' academic, emotional, and behavioral development through a comparative mixed research design.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 69-87
Author(s):  
Abdulghani Ahmed Ali Alhawri ◽  
Abduiwasea Ali Naji Alqudsi

This research study aimed to identify the twenty-first century skills needed by secondary school students in the Republic of Yemen as well as the teacher's role in developing these skills among students. The study used the descriptive method, and administered  a questionnaire to a random sample of (367) students.  The research came out with a list of the 21st century skills needed for high school students. The study findings revealed that there is a disparity in the teacher's role played in developing those skills.  While teacher's role in developing the skill of cooperation and effective communication received the highest mean, developing the skill of critical thinking, and the skill of the digital age scored the lowest mean. In addition, the results revealed that there were statistically significant differences in students' responses attributed to the gender variable on the skill of critical thinking in favor of males, and on leadership skills and decision making skills in favor of females. In light of these results, it was recommended that colleges of education and teacher preparation institutes should pay more attention to preparing their teachers in a manner consistent with the skills of the 21st  century, particularly critical thinking skills and digital skills. Schools should also be provided with technological facilities, and the curriculum should include 21st skills as well as teachers' roles in developing such skills. Keywords: role, teacher, skills, 21st century.


2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majella J. Albion ◽  
Gerard J. Fogarty

A comparison is made between the career decision making of secondary school students who are also elite athletes and a sample of non-athlete students. The 226 athletes (111 females, 115 males) in the study were on sporting scholarships with the Australian Institute of Sport or state/territory institutions. Measures used included the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire and the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale. The non-athlete data were obtained from 272 secondary school students (149 females, 123 males). Only three athletes indicated a singular focus on a career in professional sport. There were significant relationships between athletic identity and career decision difficulties, especially in relation to dysfunctional myths, and there was only one difference between the difficulties reported by athletes and non-athletes. Tentative conclusions are drawn about the factors that impact on career decision making among elite athletes and possible directions for future research.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibnath Deb ◽  
Esben Strodl ◽  
Jiandong Sun

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of academic stress and exam anxiety among private secondary school students in India as well as the associations with socio-economic and study-related factors. Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 400 adolescent students (52 percent male) from five private secondary schools in Kolkata who were studying in grades 10 and 12. Participants were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique and were assessed using a study-specific questionnaire. Findings – Findings revealed that 35 and 37 percent reported high or very high levels of academic stress and exam anxiety respectively. All students reported high levels of academic stress, but those who had lower grades reported higher levels of stress than those with higher grades. Students who engaged in extra-curricula activities were more likely to report exam anxiety than those who did not engage in extra-curricula activities. Practical implications – Private high school students in India report high levels of academic stress and exam anxiety. As such there is a need to develop effective interventions to help these students better manage their stress and anxiety. Originality/value – This is the first study the authors are aware of that explores the academic stress levels of private secondary school students in India. The study identifies factors that may be associated with the experience of high levels of stress that need to be explored further in future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 09-18
Author(s):  
Zarima Zakaria ◽  
Tuan Husna Aisya Tuan Hussin

21st Century Education is a student-centered learning process. There are several elements applied, namely communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and the application of pure and ethical values. These elements are also referred to as the standard in PAK-21. But this PAK-21 is something new and ludicrous to apply. The study was conducted to find out the problems faced by the Arabic language teachers during the teaching practice at school. Further, this study was also conducted to analyze the 21st Century Education method and its effects on secondary school students' interest in learning Arabic in there. The respondents of this study were that two trainee teachers have been selected from the Bachelor of Arabic Language with Education at Sultan Idris Education University 2018/2019. This study is qualitative, and data collected through interviews. The results show that UPSI trainee teachers use 21st Century Education electronically and tools learning during teaching practice. In addition, the achievement and interest of secondary school students in Arabic subjects also increased after the trainee teacher applied 21st Century Education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Rattikorn Chanchumni ◽  
Charin Mangkhang

The purposes of this research are: 1) to study the creative learning in social studies to promote productive citizenship of secondary school students; and 2) to design the guidelines for such learning. This research implements the methodology of action research, consisting of 8 samples: 1) 1 school principal and 2 social studies teachers; and 2) 5 learning management experts. The samples are chosen by the purposive sampling method. Research tools consist of 1) unstructured interview form; and 2) appropriateness assessment form for the guidelines of creative learning in social studies to promote productive citizenship of secondary school students. Methods of data analysis consists of content analysis, and descriptive analysis, in addition to calculation of the means and standard deviation. Study results revealed that: 1. Creative learning in social studies to promote productive citizenship of secondary school students consists of the development of 4 minds, including: 1) critical mind; 2) creative mind; 3) productive mind; and 4) responsible mind. And 2. The guidelines of creative learning in social studies to promote productive citizenship of secondary school students consist of 4 subjects and 8 learning management plans. The effectiveness of the guidelines in terms of the learning management was evaluated as excellent.


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