Implementation of Distance Learning Based on Problem-Based Learning to Increase Critical Thinking Skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learning model that requires the active participation of each individual, who in the learning process all help to determine the subject matter. The PBL model can foster students’ critical thinking skills through solving various real-world problems found in the environment where they live. This research aimed to improve students’ critical thinking skills through PBL-based online learning. Quantitative experimental methods were used. A one group pretest-posttest design was employed: a preliminary test (pretest) was carried out, followed by the treatment, and finally the final test (posttest). There were two experimental groups: A and B. The results showed that students’ critical thinking skills increased in both group A and group B and this change was significant, as measured through a t-test (p < 0.05 in both groups). Keywords: distance learning; problem-based learning; critical thinking skills; sociology of education.

Intensive Teaching: Examining Teachers’ Professional Pressures and Pedagogical Practices at an Elite School

This article asks the following questions: What pressures do teachers face from parents and senior administrators? How do the pressures teachers face from parents and senior administrators affect how they teach students? Specifically, how does this affect the methods they engage in to generate ‘good’ student outcomes? It answers these questions by analysing interviews with 24 high school teachers at an elite international school in Bangalore, a city in southwest India. This article argues that the pressures teachers face from senior administrators and parents to produce high-achieving students result in them engaging in intensive teaching practices. These practices represent teachers’ attempts to produce students capable of earning high grades and entrance into competitive colleges and universities. This article extends our understanding of the factors that shape teachers’ pedagogical practices by making explicit connections between affluent parenting practices and the professional roles of teachers at elite schools. As such, this article makes important contributions to the literature on the sociology of education and teaching.

Sosiologi Pendidikan Dalam Pemikiran Ibnu Khaldun

The thinkers assume that the 'Father of Sociology' must be Auguste Comte (France). Whereas about 4 centuries ago, before Comte was born, the behavior of the people had been discussed by Ibn Khaldun (Islamic Sociologist). At that time the term sociology was not yet known, let alone talking about the sociology of education. Sociology of education is deliberately displayed and tries to be explored and sought in the main points of Ibn Khaldun's thoughts when he is talking about people's behavior in his work entitled Mukaddinah. In the book, indeed, Ibn Khaldun does not talk specifically about the sociology of education, but we ourselves are trying to find the scattered fragments according to our field of knowledge in his work. The advantages of Ibn Kahdun when talking about the behavior of society as a whole, then where do we look for the sociology of education? Also, what should not be forgotten is that Ibn Khaldun also includes his teaching methods. Why is that? Ibn Khaldun is a thinker as well as someone who compares with the reality on the ground. This can happen because he is a thinker who is behind the desk as well as being in the government (demands field work). He theorizes as well as application. Keywords: sociology of education, main ideas, community behavior

Impact of Knowledge of Natural Sciences on ENEM Performance: Considerations about Scientific and Technological Inequality to Social Justice

This paper sets out from the perspective sociology of education and sociology of science, aiming: analyze the performance of students in nature sciences compared to other areas of knowledge in the National High School Exam; analyze the performance of candidates from public schools and private schools; present preliminary considerations that indicate how the presence of scientific laboratories in schools show some evidence of improvement in performance. The debate goes through by mobilizing the concept of scientific inequality and cultural goodwill to propose an interpretation of data that allows a comparison between the performance in natural sciences of students from several school systems by comparative analysis among public and private schools. The data selection it reports on the microdata of the National High School Exam (ENEM) — 2017 edition — which was investigated the results of students from the final year (senior year) who scores between 600 and 1000 points in natural sciences in order to compare these results with other areas of knowledge. The data show that students from public schools have proportionally more significant performance (between fields of knowledge) in hard sciences (and writing) than students from private schools. In addition, it is found in this range of score of the analysis a disproportion of representativeness of students from public schools on objection of private ones that can be interpreted as a marked characteristic of social and educational inequality in the country.

Transfer of Students’ Human Capital in the Russian Education System

The article is dedicated to the sociological interpretation of such a phenomenon as human capital transfer in educational communities. The first part reveals the content of the concept of «transfer of students’ human capital», while justifying its application in the study of the educational failure/success of schoolchildren and students. The second part presents a theoretical model of the considered phenomenon through such structural elements as goals, subjects, processes and mechanisms. The third part is devoted to the contradictions in the transfer of human capital within educational communities in Russia. The contradictions between goals and interests of the subjects of education are regarded as the key ones. The final part expands on how significant the concept under consideration is to sociology of education. The results of an interdisciplinary study conducted in 2019–2021 in Sverdlovsk region’s educational facilities (schools, colleges, universities) serve as the empirical foundation for the article. It is shown that transfer of students’ human capital is a kind of capital movement, with its features determined by the social nature of educational activities and interaction. The process under study is associated with such a phenomenon as academic success/failure of students, given that while it unfolds the human capital of schoolchildren and students can either be developed or depleted. The transfer of human capital involves three groups of education subjects — actors, agents and participants who perform certain social roles and possess varying opportunities for regulating this process. The empirical data is interpreted based on the proposed theoretical model, with the results indicating the contradictions of the goals, vectors and results of the transfer of human capital among Russian students.

Worlds apart? On Niklas Luhmann and the sociology of education

In an effort to address the relationship between globalisation, education and Niklas Luhmann’s branch of systems theory, we present his essay, published here for the first time in English translation, ‘Education: Forming the life course’, next to the nine contributions that compose this special issue and build on this and his other writings to take up the theme of education in world society. To conclude, we underline that systems theory’s emphasis on functional differentiation helps to address two lacunae in the today prevailing sociological practice. By positing the development of self-referential domains as modernity’s central mode of differentiation, it provides sociology with a comprehensive theory of world society. By the same token, it also allows one to observe education as a global affair with, so to speak, a life of its own.

The plight of China’s journalism education - From the perspective of the sociology of education

China’s journalism education has been changing all the time to meet new demands brought by the political and economic reforms over the last two decades in the 21st century. However, the covert wars between ideology and practice, between classrooms and newsrooms have caused the “split personality” and general confusion among China’s journalism educators and students. Several educational and practical problems thus arise as a result of the tug-of-war between economic and ideological demands. The problems of China’s journalism education are not only from its complex social and economic environments, but also from its weight of history and culture. Although both journalism educators and some media organizations in China are making great effort to heighten awareness of problems and actively attempting to take remedial measures, the transition from the classroom to the newsroom is made more difficult by the complicatedness of the business operation of schools and media organizations, and the systematicity of journalism education remains problematic.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POLICIES TO FIGHT ILLITERACY AND SCHOOL DROPOUT IN RURAL MOROCCO

Why, despite enormous efforts to reduce illiteracy and dropout rates in Morocco, are rural populations the most affected by these two scourges? The dominant explanation is the limited provision of education and literacy in rural areas. Previous studies in the fields of sociology of education and educational policy management have analyzed the problems of illiteracy and school dropout separately. These studies have not been comprehensive enough to explain the complex relationships between illiteracy, school dropout and the new dynamics of rural areas. Thus, this article aims to analyze the national strategies for education and literacy in rural areas in Morocco, and to show their limitations, in terms of quantitative and qualitative achievements. We believe that actions to combat illiteracy and school dropout, particularly in rural areas, must be comprehensive and more integrated. This is why we propose some improvements for the success of the national framework of intervention in education and literacy.