Trust in Pandemic-Induced Online Learning: Competitive Advantage of Closure and Reputation

As a response to the Philippine government’s prolonged community quarantine measure to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, educational institutions have shifted their mode of teaching and learning towards distance education despite resistance from various sectors. This paper examines the ways an educational provider taps elements of its social capital such as closure and reputation, to establish enforceable trust from clients and their network to enroll in online learning; in addition, it explores the factors that clients consider in deciding to enroll their children in online distance learning. This study is informed by James Coleman’s and Ronald Burt’s conceptions of closure, trust, and reputation. It employs a case study approach, focusing on a Philippine Catholic parochial high school. Results show that closure is demonstrated through the school’s dense social network with parents, students, and the community through the Catholic church. Closure and the school’s intergenerational and social reputation facilitate the creation of trust, which increased senior high school enrolment, contrary to the pattern of private schools closing down due to insufficient enrolment. This study contributes to the literature in online distance education, by focusing on aspects of the social structure that function as resources for people and organizations to achieve their interests.

Involvement of Parents in Remote Learning of Children amid COVID-19 Crisis in the Philippines: A Transcendental Phenomenology

This paper aimed to explore how parents give meaning to their involvement in the remote learning of their children amid the COVID-19 crisis. Based on Husserlian transcendental approach in phenomenology, the researcher sought to explore the world of 12 parents, specifically mothers, from Mindanao, Philippines through online interviews. The result revealed 36 significant statements forming four emergent themes. These themes underscore the experience of parental involvement in the remote learning of their children amid crisis as 1.) journeying through a myriad of changes; 2.) connecting with the child physically and emotionally; 3.) experiencing multifaceted difficulties in the process; and 4.) responding to the call of new challenges of parenting. These themes are further elaborated through textural and structural descriptions. A statement of the essence of the lived experience of parents as a result of intuitive integration is offered. Aside from theoretical contributions, the outcomes gained in this paper offer several future practical insights for crisis planning in education.

The Evolution of Educational Expectations in Spain (2003-2018): An Analysis of Social Inequality Using PISA

This paper examines the educational expectations of the Spanish student body at the end of compulsory education. Using the 2003 and 2018 waves of PISA, I report a remarkable increase in the educational ambition of the Spanish student body. Two aspects are worth noting. Firstly, virtually all 15-years-old students expect to enroll in Upper Secondary Education by 2018. Secondly, Higher Vocational Education has become a very appealing alternative at tertiary level. Furthermore, significant inequalities have been documented in the configuration of educational expectations. However, inequality has been reduced in the expectations of enrolment in Upper Secondary and Tertiary Education due to the higher educational ambition among socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In turn, inequality has increased in the horizontal expectation of enrolment in the academic track in both levels because a larger share of socioeconomically disadvantaged students preferred the vocational track in 2018 (diversion thesis). Using counterfactual analysis, I have observed that this increase in horizontal inequality would have been larger had it not been for the change in the social structure between 2003 and 2018

Factors Affecting Cambodian Upper Secondary School Students’ Choice of Science Track

Upper secondary school years have been considered as a critical period for attracting students into future science-related majors and careers; yet, Cambodia is facing a worrisome decline trend in the students’ choice of science track. Through the lens of the making of engineers and scientists conceptual framework, the study aims to investigate the factors affecting Cambodian upper secondary school students’ choice of science track. With self-rating questionnaire survey, which randomly covered 751 11th graders in nine upper secondary schools in three provinces of Cambodia, the researcher collected data on three significant factors namely individual ability and personality, family background and encouragement, and upper secondary school experience and support. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that performance in science and mathematics subjects, attitude towards science, plan to major in STEM, time spent self-studying in science and mathematics subjects, family encouragement, mother’s education, and school location significantly predicted students’ choice of science track. Some important implications for pedagogical orientation were also discussed.