scholarly journals Subject domain differences in secondary school teachers' attitudes towards grouping pupils by ability

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-387
Author(s):  
Susan Hallam ◽  
Judith Ireson

Previous research has revealed that teachers' attitudes to ability grouping are influenced by the type of ability grouping adopted in the school where they teach. This research aimed to compare the attitudes of teachers of different subjects teaching low, high or mixed ability classes in years 7 to 9 in 45 secondary schools. Over 1500 teachers from 45 secondary schools, with a range of subject specialisms completed a questionnaire which elicited their responses to statements of beliefs about ability grouping and its effects. Teachers of mathematics and modern foreign languages were more in favour of structured ability grouping than those teaching English and humanities. Science, arts and PE, and ICT, design and business studies teachers expressed intermediate attitudes. Attitudes were determined in part by conceptions of the nature of the subject but also by the type of ability groupings adopted by the school in which they taught. In taking decisions about the type of ability grouping to adopt consideration needs to be given to the nature of the subject matter to be taught and the attitudes of the teachers who teach that subject.

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Ihsane Kouchou ◽  
Fatiha Kaddari ◽  
Nezha Bennis ◽  
Rida Hajji Hour ◽  
Asmae Bouayad

The investigative approach (DI) demonstrates more and more its potential in teaching. Indeed, it enables students to develop skills, attitudes and interests, which are necessary to live in a society increasingly dependent on the applications of science. This study falls within the framework of research studies questioning the application of the investigative approach in the teaching of science in Morocco. In this work, we aim to highlight the representations of secondary school teachers about the concept of investigative approach, see whether this approach is adopted or not in the teaching of experimental sciences disciplines (Science of life and earth, Science of physics and chemistry) and determine the constraints and the obstacles to its implementation. In order to achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was drawn up and was the subject of an exploratory study among 45 teachers of experimental sciences practicing in different secondary schools in Fez city. The results of this survey reveal, firstly, that the teachers questioned seem to have confusions about the investigation process and secondly, they highlight the presence of a set of constraints and difficulties which prevent its application in the classroom.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ján Záhorec ◽  
Adriana Nagyová ◽  
Alena Hašková

The paper presents some of the empirical results of the research focused on iden-tification of the ways the primary and secondary school teachers use interactive educational activities and digital means in their teaching practice in dependence on the subjects they teach. The main research question was whether the ways of the use of interactive educational activities and digital means are the same for all teachers, independently on the character of the subject they teach, or whether it depends on the taught subject. As the results have showed, the purposes signifi-cantly differ in dependence on the character of the taught subjects. In the paper, in more detail results for teaching natural science subjects and foreign languages are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692199290
Author(s):  
Paulo Padilla-Petry ◽  
Fernando Hernández-Hernández ◽  
Joan-Anton Sánchez-Valero

This article explores the relations between teachers’ visual cartographies and oral narratives to better understand the spatial and temporal relations on teacher learning. It builds on a research project whose main questions were: 1) How and where do secondary school teachers learn to teach? 2) What are the consequences of this learning in their pedagogical relations and their students’ learning processes and results? Since narrative research has been a common way of approaching the subject and have led to an emphasis on learning as a journey across contexts and over time, some of its contributions to explore teachers’ learning paths are theoretically discussed, and visual methods, particularly cartographies, are also examined. Furthermore, the article presents the analysis of cartographies and video recordings of 29 secondary school teachers focusing on the interactions in different spaces and moments in time described by them. Findings suggest that learning to be a teacher may happen in interactions with objects, people and spaces beyond the boundaries of school, university and formal places of training and learning. They also show that the rhizomatic character of the cartographies may not prevent teleological thinking or the idea that any kind of learning is purposeful. Finally, this paper concludes that teachers’ learning does not fit the representational frame that distinguishes between formal contents and leisure activities, classrooms and private spaces, lessons and bodies, emotions and knowledge.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12324
Author(s):  
Atif Saleem ◽  
Ling Wu ◽  
Sarfraz Aslam ◽  
Tianxue Zhang

Sustainable development is a process occurring on several levels, which placed the expectations on educational institutions, especially secondary schools, change radically. Schools, therefore, are gradually likely to emphasize enhanced and sustainable teaching practices under the agenda of the United Nations 2030, sustainable future. Hence, the job-oriented development of teachers is a critical factor of the school leadership mechanism. Considering this, the present empirical research was designed to study the mechanism of path-goal theory (PGT) to sustain teachers’ job-oriented development in private secondary schools in Pakistan. The viewpoint of teachers, whose job performance is ultimately affected by the school leadership behavior and who perform the job at the front line in schools, was taken on board for the investigation. A total of 2469 secondary school teachers from 785 private secondary schools participated in the present study. Confirmatory factor analysis, t-test, Pearson correlation, and path analysis structural equation modeling analytics were mainly involved in the data analysis. Overall, the findings substantiated the constructive PGT mechanism, especially indicating that directive leadership is the most influential and effective leadership behavior in complex tasks, including when teachers are inexperienced. Moreover, the helpful role of supportive leadership and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors backs up the directive behavior. Although participative leadership behavior was problematic in the studied schools, it should be constructively adopted, as it was found to be a statistically significant predictor. Therefore, training programs for school leaders with good experience in participatory leadership functions can be productive for long-term teachers’ motivation. The literature shows that several secondary school teachers still perform poorly because of inadequate leadership, and the viewpoint of teachers on PGT was ignored in earlier studies. Hence, there was a dire need to conduct this research to address these concerns, especially in the non-Western, Asian context. In addition to pioneering academic research on leadership PGT in the secondary school context, the PGT elements were investigated, including teachers’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for the first time, adding new understanding about the theory.


Author(s):  
Olurotimi Marcus BOLARINWA

This research work investigated the attitude of Secondary School Teachers in the Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria towards Physical fitness for sports. The research design used for the study was the descriptive type of research. A simple random sampling technique was used to select two hundred (200) secondary school teachers selected from all the secondary schools in Secondary Schools in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. The instrument for data collection for the study was a self-structured questionnaire. The instrument was subjected to a validity and reliability mechanism and it was found to be appropriate for the study. Four (4) research questions were raised and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analysed using Chi-Square (X2) statistical analysis package. The findings of the study revealed that the disposition of secondary school teachers’ influences their attitude towards physical fitness programme and sports activities, the interest of secondary school teachers’ influences their attitude towards physical fitness programme and sports activities, availability of sports facilities influence the attitude of secondary school teachers’ toward physical fitness programme and sports activities and, secondary school teachers’ perception of health benefits of physical fitness influences their attitude towards physical fitness participation and sports activities in secondary schools in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, appropriate conclusions and recommendations were made.


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