Differences in Adolescents’ Alcohol Use and Smoking Behavior between Educational Tracks: Do Popularity Norms Matter?

Explanations about differences in drinking and smoking rates between educational tracks have so far mainly focused on factors outside the classroom. The extent to which these behaviors are rewarded with popularity within a classroom—so called popularity norms—and their interaction with individual characteristics could explain the observed differences in risk behavior. 1860 adolescents (Mage = 13.04; 50% girls) from 81 different classrooms reported three times during one academic year about their own and their classmates behavior. Overall, in vocational tracks popularity norms for alcohol and smoking were more positive and predicted classroom differences in alcohol and smoking. Knowledge about classroom processes can advance the field in unraveling the functional aspects of risk behavior in adolescence. Preregistration: The hypotheses and the analytical plan of this study were preregistered under number #39136 (https://aspredicted.org/blind.php?x=gx77p6).

Islam-based peace education: values, program, reflection and implication

There is a gap between ideal Islam and real Islam. Ideal Islam means peace, greeting, safety, salvation, and conceptually means absolute submission to God`s Will. Real Islam resembles unresolved conflicts in some communities and unpleasant meanings to some non-Muslims. To minimize the gap, it is important to socialize peaceful Islamic values in the community through education. This study aims to explain Pendidikan Perdamaian Berbasis Islam (PPBI, the Islam-based Peace Education) program initiated by Pusat Studi Budaya dan Perubahan Sosial (PSB-PS, the Center for the Study of Culture and Social Change) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS). This participatory action research is especially to reveal Islamic values identified in the PPBI program in terms of its uniqueness, implementation, reflection, and implication. Based on the Sirah of the Prophet and the Al-Qur’an, the PPBI program has identified 15 Islamic values which contribute to peacebuilding. Those values were used as core contents of PPBI’s handbook and classroom program. The program has been implemented through series of activities ranging from seminars, FGDs, workshops, training of teachers, publication of books, and classroom implementation. PPBI program based on nonviolence and peacebuilding assumptions, i.e. to build a culture of peace, is designed as the formal peace education through learning materials and classroom processes either in any existing course or co-curricular activities.

A practical look at the why and how of supporting international students: A checklist of teaching tips

This paper looks at a pilot of a strategy designed to help academic staff better respond to the inclusive teaching needs of its international students. The strategy was implemented by a School in a Western Australian University and offered academic staff evidence-based information on specific techniques for internationalising curriculum content and delivery. The extent to which international students perceived lecturers had implemented the suggested strategies was subsequently evaluated. While the evaluation found the School had performed adequately in the eyes of its international students across key areas of teaching practice, it also suggested that achieving greater inclusiveness required attention to things beyond classroom processes. These broader aspects included the University’s climate of belongingness and the extent to which the curriculum content took account of international perspectives.

Creating Joyful Learning within a Democratic Classroom

Learning is enhanced when it occurs within a positive environment where the learners feel a sense of passion and excitement about what they are learning. A joyful learning experience creates new neural pathways in the brain and enhances the acceptance of content. Learners learn more quickly and more deeply when their emotions are touched and the learning experience is accompanied by the positive feelings and reactions of their teacher and other fellow learners. This paper considers the factors and classroom processes that lead to positive learning sentiment and explores the way a teacher can create a suitable collaborative and democratic learning space.

Agentive Apprenticeship of Observation and English Teacher Identity: A Pakistani Case of Learning to Teach English

An exploration of literature on second/foreign language (L2/FL) teaching suggests that the phenomenon in question has been investigated either by examining classroom processes or by exploring teachers’ lived experiences. Situated in the latter area, this paper reports a qualitative study that understands how Pakistani primary school teachers learn to teach English—the subject mandated in recent curricular reforms—and develop their English teacher identity. The findings problematize the apprenticeship of observation concept and demonstrate that the teachers agentively draw upon their favorite English learning experiences. They teach English not the way they were taught, rather, they teach the way they loved learning English. Thus, they develop the English teacher identities they adored while they were students. The paper presents pertinent implications.

Gender Bias in Technical Vocational Livelihood Program: A Qualitative Study on the Experience of Male Students in Home Economics Strand

This study examined whether male students dominated classroom interaction in home economics lessons and whether other classroom processes sustained gender divisions in this subject in schools. The sample included 4 males home economics students in the two classes. Data were collected during five minute observation sessions in each class and semi-structured interviews with all the students. Results were examine using thematic content analysis. This method of data analysis as a process of analyzing data by systematize in into categories based on themes, concepts or similar features. The researchers have come to know that Gender Bias or Gender inequality refers to unfair rights between male and female based on different gender roles which leads to unequal treatment in life.

Using global observation protocols to inform research on teaching effectiveness and school improvement: Strengths and emerging limitations

An essential feature of many modern teacher observation protocols is their “global” approach to measuring instruction. Global protocols provide a summary evaluation of multiple domains of instruction from observers’ overall review of classroom processes. Although these protocols have demonstrated strengths, including their comprehensiveness and advanced state of development, in this analysis we argue that global protocols also have inherent limitations affecting both research use and applied school improvement efforts. Analyzing the Measures of Effective Teaching study data, we interrogate a set of five potential limitations of global protocols. We conclude by discussing fine-grained measures of instruction, including tools that rely on automated methods of observation, as an alternative with the potential to overcome many of the fundamental limitations of global protocols.

In defence of a modular curriculum for tasks

In this article, I start by distinguishing two approaches to the design of a language curriculum: the structural approach and the task-based approach. I then present my views relating to three key question: Is one approach superior to the other? When implemented, do these approaches result in different classroom processes? Are there advantages in combining the two approaches? I argue that the evidence points to the superiority of a task-based approach, that prior explicit instruction can have a deleterious effect on the performance of tasks and that a curriculum that combines the two approaches is preferable. I conclude by pointing out the flexibility of a modular curriculum that makes it well suited to a variety of instructional contexts.

Challenges of the application of linguistic knowledge in the speech practice of the english language

The article attempts to outline the main characteristics and topics of English language teaching in the most recent historical period in the development of Bulgaria. It envisages the last two decades when intensive English language learning has become a priority, both social and institutional. Taking into account the nature of the language learning, the focus of interest is on the students' attitude to the subject, as well as the main difficulties experienced in the teacher-student interaction. The analysis of the data shows a balance between the teacher's intention and the learner's interpretation, which influences the end result – the actual mastery of the foreign language. The conclusion emphasizes the responsibility of the teacher to judge correctly what the student's expectations are, the freedom of variation that the curriculum gives them, as well as the practical implications of classroom processes for preparing the students for the outside world.