An enquiry into the factors affecting the child's preference for school subjects

During a teaching career extending over twenty years in which the Writer has taught as a sole teacher, assistant in large town schools, headteacher of Maori school, as an itinerant instructor in Agriculture, and as an Education Officer with the Armed Forces, he has been struck by the frequency with which sweeping generalisations are made by many members of the teaching profession. Among these most frequently made are such as, "Boys like handwork better than do girls"; "Clever children prefer arithmetic to handwork." Such statements have aroused his interest in the matter of the child's alleged likes and dislikes for school subjects. If such likes and dislikes do ,in fact, exist, then it is felt that as teachers we should know what these are.

An enquiry into the factors affecting the child's preference for school subjects

During a teaching career extending over twenty years in which the Writer has taught as a sole teacher, assistant in large town schools, headteacher of Maori school, as an itinerant instructor in Agriculture, and as an Education Officer with the Armed Forces, he has been struck by the frequency with which sweeping generalisations are made by many members of the teaching profession. Among these most frequently made are such as, "Boys like handwork better than do girls"; "Clever children prefer arithmetic to handwork." Such statements have aroused his interest in the matter of the child's alleged likes and dislikes for school subjects. If such likes and dislikes do ,in fact, exist, then it is felt that as teachers we should know what these are.

Formation of Professional Competence of Assistant Teacher of Inclusive Education in Secondary Education Institutions

The research is devoted to the theoretical and experimental study of forming the professional competence of a would-be teacher assistant of inclusive education through pedagogic modeling. The authors specify the notions of “a tutor” (teacher assistant), “inclusive education”, “persons with special needs”, “individual development program”, and “modeling”. The essence of “pedagogical modeling” is defined, as well as the groups of its objects within the professional competence of the would-be teacher assistants in the inclusive education; the implementation of the psychological-pedagogic modeling of an individual development program for persons with special needs is substantiated. It is proved that any model has a sign nature, thus, the psychological bases of the research are the theory of content-based summarization and the “sign” concept of the educational process. The study reflects the methodological system of forming the professional competence of the would-be teacher assistants of inclusive education through pedagogic modeling and substantiates the content component of the model, implemented in the individual development program of persons with special needs and through applying the relevant methods, forms and means of education. It is proved that the efficiency of forming the professional competence of the teacher assistants of inclusive education by the means of pedagogic modeling depends on introduction of an experimental technique, which provides support and increase of the qualitative indicators of both the teaching and the personal properties of the persons with special needs receiving educational services. Due to the synergetic impact of professional knowledge, the would-be teacher assistants of inclusive education develop an increased motivation to forming the professional skills and competences when working with persons with special needs.

Unexpected Opportunities

In the spring of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation's schools closed. Students and families were asked to shelter-in-place and the nation's schools were charged with the challenge of educating students through online modalities. Novice and veteran teachers alike needed to quickly assimilate to virtual teaching and online learning modalities. Students were asked to adjust from face-to-face lessons to screenshots of material from within the confines of their homes. Parents were asked to assume the roles of teacher assistant, tutor, and learning support, all while juggling other personal or work challenges. Leading and coordinating all of these efforts in towns and cities across our nation were school leaders, many of whom may have felt lacking in their own skill set related to online teaching. This research study will explore the perceptions of these leaders. Almost 50 North Carolina leaders shared their perspectives on their own experiences. Conclusions from this research will be pertinent in recommending steps and considerations for future events of this magnitude.

Mediating Quizzes as Assessment Tool through WhatsApp Auto-response in ELT Online Class

Although extensive studies have been conducted on the use of WhatsApp in language teaching and learning, little empirical research has been conducted to explore the use of WhatsApp modified with artificial intelligence called auto-responder as a media for assessment. To fill this void, this research aims to explore the use of WhatsApp Auto-response developed by the teacher to mediate quizzes as the assessment tool in an online English class. This research was carried out in a Vocational High School in Banyumas Regency, Indonesia, with an English teacher and his 36 students. The researchers used documentation, structured interviews, and open-ended questionnaires to collect the data. The researchers found that modifying WhatsApp with auto-responder made the online assessment more objective, accountable, transparent, easy-to-access, and easy-to-operate for both teacher and students. WhatsApp Auto-response could encourage students’ autonomous learning because they could directly know their scores and the discussion of each question. Thus, students had more interest and motivation to get a higher score. However, unstable internet connection and slow response from the application should be resolved to make it better for learning. The findings imply that supporting teaching with the technological advancements of artificial intelligence in WhatsApp can provide students with realistic self-guided learning. With WhatsApp's popularity as a learning tool nowadays, its features can be embedded with chatbots that can give many advantages as a teacher assistant, especially for facilitating assessments.