Problems of Education in the 21st Century

5-7

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

The present humankind has to solve a number of serious problems. Under the threat of the ecology catastrophe, concern for physical and spiritual health care is felt. All our relations with nature turn out to be problematic. The establishment of a harmonious correlation between nature and society becomes an important task. We cannot exclusively rely on knowledge and mind in any activity as these are not overall dimensions. Enforcement of humanism, democracy and being a good citizen - these are common everyday issues in our schools today. The goal of the education reform is to make a school the place for creating a personality and not only the place to pump with knowledge.

15-23

Authors: María Alejandra Domínguez, María Silvia Stipcich

This article derives from a doctoral thesis work. The aim of it was to characterize the processes of negotiation of meaning in Physics classes at High School in the Energy topic. The investigation adopts ethnographic characteristics. In particular it is a multicases study. Each case was conformed by the set of all the classes in which the Energy topic was studied. The four cases studied are considered instruments to analyze the processes of negotiation of meaning. The corpus is made up, mainly, by the audio of the communicative interchanges that occurs in the classes. Interviews with teachers were made and notes of field from the presence of the investigators in all the classes were registered. For the transcription and the analysis of the interchanges some elements of the Conversational Analysis were used. In this paper the construction of indicators is discussed to represent the communicative interaction between the professor, the students and the content. Also, the criteria are put to consideration that has allowed to determine negotiation degrees.

37-49

Authors: Merle Kaldjärv

The present research is based on a study analysing the argumentative skills of Estonian gymnasium students in state examination compositions. The aim of the study is to establish the choices made by students while writing their state exam composition as an argumentative text type. The research considers the implementation of the stages of critical discussion of the pragma-dialectical theory by F. van Eemeren and R. Grootendorst on the basis of one state examination composition (2006, code 356047). In establishing the structure of argumentation in compositions, the macrostructures by T.A. van Dijk were employed as these allow highlighting the macro speech acts expressing more complex speech acts. The stages of critical discussion of the pragma-dialectical argumentation theory could be associated with the argumentation practice used in Estonia. The implementation of the pragma-dialectical theory enhances the comprehension process of argumentative texts from the pragmatical and dialectical point of view.

61-70

Authors: Evelise Maria Labatut Portilho, Kátia Beltrami

In order to identify the students’ Learning Style of Early Childhood Education, it has been prepared the Portilho / Beltrami Children’s Learning Styles Inventory which presents 12 learning situations, including the four styles: active, reflective, theoretical and pragmatic. The development of this instrument was based on Alonso’s theory (1994) on Learning Styles. The learning situations contain sentences and images with different ethnicities, cultures and genres. For the trust and validation process, the instrument was initially used on 28 children from a private school. The analysis method called test-retest was used and the collaboration from teachers and researchers experts in the learning field. The learning situations reproducibility was assessed with an estimated Kappa’s coefficient and observing its statistical significance at a 5% level. The second stage of the research comprised seventy-six students aged from five to six years old from a private school and a public city school in Curitiba/PR. The results obtained after the implementation of the Portilho/Beltrami Inventory found that the predominant Learning Style for children aged five and six years old is reflective, both in the private and public city schools. There is no significant difference between the students’ gender and age.

82-94

Authors: Dan Soen

The study is dealing with teachers' concept of accountability. It is based on a survey carried out among 50 elementary school teachers from Israel's Central District. The study covered three different domains – the academic domain, the behavioral domain, and the ethical domain. All in all, the study encompassed eleven different categories: Four in the first domain, three in the second domain, and another four in the third domain. The study's point of departure was the high complexity of Israeli society and the high pressures to which it is subjected. Bearing this in mind, the research question was to what extent would Israeli teachers embrace accountability in the three domains; to what extent would they be committed to instilling the values included in the eleven categories. The main research finding is the congruence between society's expectations and teachers' accountability and commitment.

105-121

Authors: Arkadiusz Urbanek

This article tackles the issue of reconstructing the circumstances of suicides committed among adolescents aged 14,15 and 17, on the basis of analysis of good-bye letters and the discourse of life stories of individual cases. The presented research procedure focuses on capturing linguistic categories conveyed within the statements of young suicides’ good-bye letters. Abstracting adequate linguistic categories from the entire content has been combined with analysis of their meaningfulness and context in entire statement, hence enabling reconstruction of the interpretation applied by the young suicides while perceiving themselves and the reality around. The methodology implied model of hermeneutic analysis of statements with additional usage of categorizing affiliation method. Conclusions from the research are of practical value, contributing to the issues of early prevention under circumstances of suicidal behaviour, constituting relevant source of practical knowledge for teachers and tutors. The research into young suicide’s statements provides material which may in its practical dimension establish aspects crucial for school discussions facilitating expressions of own interpretation and judgments, as well as making teachers aware of various signals sent out by the pupils. The research results embrace linguistic categories expressed in letters, with presentation of their description and the context. Concurrently those constitute clear information about inadequate ways of interpreting the reality, additionally revealing number of similarities in communication patterns among the suicides.

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Authors: Editorial Board

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, ISSN 1822-7864 VOLUME 37, 2011

5-8

Authors: Agnaldo Arroio

Considering that Science and Technology are in the present day the greatest factors in changing the way we live. They have also made the world very small so that we are no longer living in the confined world of our town, region or country isolated from what is happening in the rest of the globe (Härnqvist & Burgen, 1997). Every change around the world could be connected with change that really affects everyone. As we can see on the last days how the economic discussions in different countries are affecting the entire globe.

18-28

Authors: Agnaldo Arroio, Diana M. Farías

It is presented some considerations related to the role of cinema to introduce and contextualize issues as the image of science and scientists and how science works. Cinema can be used as an important tool in science teacher training or education because it lets to establish connections between two relevant aspects in natural science classrooms: the emotional component that allows the audience to establish a relation with the characters of scientific stories (Arroio, 2010) and the historical-philosophical-sociological component which contributes to show a more real image of science in school. Cinema can help to show the presence of different influences in science as the importance of contexts, and to discuss about the presence of some stereotypes, and an idealized image of individual-male scientific work, a neutral science, the meaning of discovery among others. Some movies were analized to establish this possible contribution. In further, according to these results it is possible to compare some important elements of scientific discourse presented in cinema and this one in science school textbooks.

38-47

Authors: Janez Bregant, Boris Aberšek

To highlight the differences between conventional educational systems and CBLS - computer based learning systems. It is useful to consider CBLS, as the class of a system most closely related to artificial intelligence - AI. In such a system, the ultimate goal is to create a virtual duplicate of reality for learning, analysis, training, experimentation, or other purposes. Simulating reality is an approach that may or may not be useful at creating experience. This distinction yield several consequences. In CBLS, behaviour should be as realistic as possible, the representation of environment tends to be uniform and consistent and allowing users to act freely within that environment. To teach users through realistic experience CBLS design techniques can make the experience much more memorable. In such an environment the context and control afforded by design techniques allow the integration of technologies and evaluation of the overall experience. Perhaps it is time to take lessons of CBLS and AI in a learning design and teaching tools seriously. At the beginning we will point out one simple question: could the ideas, methodology and techniques of AI also be applied to a development of relatively serious mind applications and can they substitute human teachers? And the answer will be continued in our paper.

59-69

Authors: Angela A. James

In 1994 the South African democratic government was sworn into power. A new education curriculum was implemented to replace the redundant, racialised apartheid education curriculum. The Department of Education was concerned with developing a skilled and computer literate workforce for the progressive development of the country to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The research question asked in this research is – How can student teachers engage with ICT for the empowerment of disadvantaged (socially and economically deprived) communities? The theoretical framework that underpins this research is empowerment and authentic learning. The participants in this research were two groups of Biological Sciences student teachers who were registered for a research and service-learning module. The data collection methods included a document analysis of the Biological Science programme, the student work (PowerPoint and research report), semi-structured interviews with students and observation of their interaction with the community. The students used ICT in developing and using their knowledge and skills of research and service-learning at the particular placement sites to engage in empowering themselves with the communities. They also used ICT to communicate their findings for the development of themselves and the community. The personal and community empowerment aspects were expressed and discussed.

83-89

Authors: František Látal

This article describes five remotely controlled experiments, which were created at the Department of Experimental Physics in Olomouc (Volt-ampere characteristics of six different light sources, Determination of gravity from the period of oscillation of the mathematical pendulum, Study of water flow in the system of closed tubes, Weather station at Palacky University in Olomouc and Monitoring of radioactive background in Olomouc). These experiments are accessible from the web address http://ictphysics.upol.cz/remotelab. The paper describes a new approach to creating remotely controlled experiments using Web Services from the company National Instrumnets. The paper also deals with questionnaire survey, which examined attitudes of students and teachers to the remotely controlled experiments. This questionnaire survey was attended by 74 students of Physics from Faculty of Science in Olomouc and 48 teachers of Physics from secondary schools. This paper outlines our current research and reflection of remotely controlled experiments and it describes the educational point of view of the remotely controlled system.

98-108

Authors: Miro Puhek, Matej Perše, Andrej Šorgo

The outdoor education is a method of learning with the exposure to (not exclusively) the natural environment that combines all human senses. Students tend to acknowledge a very positive effect of this kind of learning. It is easier and more memorable to connect the theory with practice, when they see things in nature, rather than to just hear about them in the classroom. Despite its popularity, teachers face various obstacles when they take their students outdoors. Although the outdoor education is included in the Slovenian primary and lower secondary school curriculum, the percentage is not high enough, which depends on various reasons. Teachers defined lack of time, suitability of area around the school, not enough instruments for field work and to expanded curriculum as the main reasons for not including field work in the classes. Some of these obstacles could be solved by implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) into the biology and ecology classes. In this research the results of 192 students’ point of view on the importance of field work, obstacles of that kind of work and the ICT as a solution to support or replace the real field works are presented. All questioned students were prospective teachers, so sooner or later majority of them will face issues connected to the field work and possibilities to solve them with the help of ICT.

119-128

Authors: Ján Záhorec, Alena Hašková, Adriana Nagyová

A key aspect for evaluation of a school subject teaching, which is applied in the majority of EU countries, is filling the school curricula with the content subject mater, the extent of their connection with practice and its needs and impulses, compatibility and comparability in the European education area. The paper is based on a widely conceived international research oriented on the comparative evaluation of the current state of teaching the school subject informatics from the point of view of specific factors at the upper secondary level of education (ISCED 3A) in three EU countries - Slovak Republic, Czech Republic and Belgium. The authors describe statistical processing of the collected data and present quantitative and qualitative analyses of the obtained research results.

1-2

Authors: Editorial Board

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, ISSN 1822-7864 Volume 36, 2011

5-9

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

Natural science competence of primary school teachers is one of the constituent parts of general professional competence. It is obvious that the students, would-be teachers (future teachers) of primary school, should receive considerably high education in the field of natural science education in the process of studies. A holistic concept (Holism is an attitude that requires to perceive a phenomenon as a particular single wholeness that is not equal to the total amount of its constituents; it is the evolution theory declaring that the unknowable wholeness of the world determines its creative evolution) of natural phenomena is supposed to be highly important to primary natural science competence of the teacher. Finally, it is important to stress that natural science teaching in primary school be powerful and purposeful. It is obligatory to avoid the marginalization of natural science education (teaching and learning) at the primary school level. Natural science education in primary schools, by contrast, must be consistent and efficient, because it is the basis for deeper study of the natural sciences in secondary and higher education.

17-27

Authors: Elena Fabiola Ruiz Ledesma

In this paper are showed on the results of research whose aim was to document and analyze the manner in which students relate different representations when solving problems. A total of 20 students took part in the study, students attending their first year of university studies. In order to design the problem, the underlying information in each representation was deemed to be the starting point of different inferences and of different cognitive processes. The findings obtained make it possible to assert that the underlying information in each representation is not visible to all students and that a problem can foster handling of different representations, the making and verifying of various conjectures and the transfer of knowledge acquired in previous courses.

37-50

Authors: Eeva-Liisa Peltokorpi, Kaarina Määttä, Satu Uusiautti

The aim of this research is to increase understanding about children’s emotional coping and to support teachers’ work on enhancing children’s readiness to handle challenging social situations at school. Emotional coping skills are important to human beings’ success and wellbeing and the basis for these skills is built already in early childhood. In this research, various interactive learning activities were planned and carried out in the classroom and the measures of emotional coping were created. Nine pupils aged between seven and eight who had problems with their emotional coping were selected as the research participants. Their forms of emotional coping, development and teaching were observed and the pupils’ self-evaluations were collected during the study year 2006-2007 in interactional classroom situations that involved mathematical problem-solving tasks. As a result, six various forms of emotional coping were found, which exemplified either constructivist, operational, or emotional coping. Results showed that pupils’ individual emotional coping can be illustrated through various mathematical reasoning and problem-solving tasks in stages. Familiarizing oneself with the various forms of emotional coping contributes to the teacher’s abilities to enhance students’ emotional coping to survive and direct their emotions when the goal is to develop toward emotional directedness.

60-75

Authors: Tiia Rüütmann, Hants Kipper

In teaching engineering it is important to select the proper instructional strategy for a specific learning outcome. There are two broad types of learning outcomes: facts, rules and action sequences (on lower levels of complexity in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains), and concepts, patterns and abstractions (on higher level of complexity in the above named domains). Facts, rules and action sequences are taught using instructional strategies emphasizing knowledge acquisition (direct instruction). Concepts, patterns and abstractions are taught using strategies emphasizing inquiry or problem solving (indirect instruction). Knowledge acquisition and inquiry are different types of learning outcomes and they must be taught using specific strategies producing the desired outcome. Both types of learning may be combined, providing a menu of teaching strategies that help students solve problems, think critically and work cooperatively. This article presents teaching strategies suitable for direct and indirect instruction used in teaching engineering at Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy at Tallinn University of Technology.

90-98

Authors: Albana Shijaku

Gender equity has always been a broadly discussed issue. The number of studies and publications nowadays shows that this issue will prevail for a long period of time. There are controversies on gender equity in the Albanian society as well. The perception that males do better than females in many fields, persists even in our academic environments. Sometimes teachers unconsciously encourage male domination in the classroom by giving them more attention than females. This research explores teacher-student and student-student interaction, focusing on gender and teacher communication style regarding it. The analysis is based on data collected from the observation of the classroom interaction in two university classes, slightly dominated by males. They are monitored over a period of 15 weeks. The aim is to show how the language used in interactions contributes to gender inequity. It is also observed whether the teachers are aware of their interaction regarding gender bias. The results indicate conclusions fairly different from what theory suggests. Although teachers are educated to promote gender equity they rarely do it.

106-115

Authors: Artur Sula, Irena Ndoci Lama, Mimoza Gjokutaj

Didactic concept on the questioning is a process which is closely linked to student learning, provides interactivity during the process of teaching, enables deeper levels of learning, creates infinite space for the development of critical thinking and many other mental and psychological processes. The dimensions of questioning lie on many levels: the level of the text, the level of student relations and student teachers relations during student group work and other educational activities. The object of this study is the questioning process that relates to the inclusion of respondents used as pedagogical devices within the content of each lesson topic. For the purpose of this study two groups of texts were taken inconsideration: texts of social sciences and natural sciences used in the Albanian school in order to see how questioning represents different levels of the taxonomy of learning and the types of questions designed according to different dimensions. In line with this observation the level of student learning was reviewed. This study gives some research findings based on the above analyses aiming at helping the authors of textbooks and teachers with writing and asking questions which enhance critical thinking and learning.

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Authors: Editorial Board

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, ISSN 1822-7864 Volume 36, 2011

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Authors: Editorial Board

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, ISSN 1822-7864 Volume 35, 2011

5-10

Authors: Raffaele Pisano

In history of science we have significant examples of textbooks written by professional scholars, researchers during their teachings job. Thus the research (on foundations of science) and pedagogical aspects are presented, but not at all of them in the same way. Many and various factors are included. Without going too much back, one can consider the newborn theories of heat and thermodynamics and related textbooks used at the end of the 19th century: Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier’s (1768–1830) Théorie analytique de la chaleur ) and the positivist Gabriel Lamé’s (1795–1870) Leçons sur la théorie analytique de la chaleur focusing the physical–mathematical relationship in the theory of heat and without considering experimental aspects of the scientific process of knowledge.

17-24

Authors: Valentin Cosmin Blândul

According to the European Commission, e-learning can be defined as the use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of the learning process, access to resources and services, as well as remote exchanges and collaboration. Therefore, e-learning can be understood as an innovative, interactive and student-centred approach to the educational process. Although the advantages of e-learning are obvious, in Romania the e-learning system is only in its initial stage, and the process of teachers’ continued training is almost nonexistent. This research is an important activity within the project entitled "Inter-regional network of e-learning training for teachers in pre-academic education", which aims to provide teachers with the opportunity to browse on-line courses for life-long /continued education. The objective of this study was to explore teachers' opinions on the usefulness of information technologies, as well as on the difficulties and the opportunities that arise from using these new technologies for continued training. The sample consisted of 200 teachers who teach in preschools and in primary schools in Bihor County, Romania. As research method a 14 item questionnaire was used, out of which only 4 were analysed within this research. The results of the study show that most teachers use computers for accessing and processing information, their main difficulties being related to the absence of direct and immediate feedback, while the main advantages are given by the special opportunities for personal and professional development. In such circumstances, regardless of chronological age, training teachers using e-learning is a huge challenge, since 79% of the respondents answered that they wanted to participate in such educational programs.

36-45

Authors: Nitza Davidovich, Gregory Agranovich, Yuri Ribakov, Ido Halperin

A laboratory for teaching computer programming and engineering concepts related to control applications was recently established in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics at the Ariel University Center of Samaria. The new laboratory provides hands-on experience in the design of control systems used in different fields of engineering. The lab offers an excellent introduction to programming concepts and research concepts that are often troublesome for the undergraduates. This paper describes the general approach and practical application of MATLAB and Simulink in the frame of a laboratory for teaching control. The main aim of the laboratory is to help students gain a deep understanding of typical problems in control applications. Students prepare codes in MATLAB and Simulink, based on knowledge acquired in a preliminary course on the theory of control. These codes are further used to investigate and design various control systems. In this way, control lab assignments with models of various physical processes are performed.

58-69

Authors: Thomas Falkenberg

Traditionally mathematical subject matter knowledge for teachers was defined with reference to the academic discipline of mathematics. Since the 1990s, however, a reconceptualization of what Shulman has called content knowledge for teachers has been suggested. In mathematics education, it has been conceptualized by some researchers through the notion of mathematics-for-teaching: the mathematics teachers need to know derives from the practice of teaching mathematics at the school level. The study reported upon in this article inquired into the mathematics-for-teaching used by elementary school teachers during joint lesson planning sessions. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

85-96

Authors: Richard P. Kimiti, Samuel N. Waweru, David M. Mulwa, Elizabeth N. Muema, Titus M. Kituka

Economic status of students, gender and family size have been found to affect students’ achievement in mathematics. However, there seems to be limited research on the effects of knowledge and affective skills acquired from other subjects on students’ achievement in mathematics. The research objectives of the study were to determine whether the cognitive and practical skills acquired in woodwork affects students’ achievement in mathematics. The study also sought to find out whether the learning of similar topics in woodwork affected students’ achievement in mathematics. The research methodology applied was ex-post facto design. The study was carried out in four secondary schools which offered woodwork in Machakos County, Kenya and involved a student sample of 158. Data was collected by use of three mathematics tests and a questionnaire for woodwork students. The results revealed that cognitive and practical skills acquired in woodwork have a positive effect on students’ achievement in mathematics. The learning of similar topics in woodwork and mathematics has a positive effect on students’ achievement in mathematics.

104-118

Authors: Danuše Nezvalová

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been embraced as a way of describing the knowledge possessed by teachers and developing models of science teacher education. We try to analyse the possibility of improving quality of science teacher training on the basis of PCK development. The Taxonomy of PCK Attributes addresses the distinctions within and between the knowledge bases of various disciplines, science subjects and science topics. The concept of PCK conceived by Shulman (1986) embraces the idea that successful teachers have a special understanding of content knowledge and pedagogy which they draw on in teaching that content. Over the past two years we researched the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of pre-service and experienced Czech science teachers. The aim has been to capture, document and share teachers' PCK about specific science topics in ways that may be accessible to teachers and researchers involved in science education. One of the tasks of the science teacher is to help students to understand some of the content knowledge of science. In doing so, Shulman (1986; 1987) posited that teachers make use of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), a special kind of knowledge that teachers have about how to teach particular content to particular students in ways that promote understanding.We are more interested in finding ways of helping pre- and in-service teachers to improve their practice.

127-137

Authors: Valbona Softa

The aim of this study is to investigate scientifically the impact that the learning environment has in learning foreign languages, with the main focus English language. This study was based on both qualitative and quantitative techniques of research, by using as instruments of research the case study in a non public language institution and the application of a questionnaire for a number of 230 students. The results revealed that the learning environment in the form of language labs rather traditional classrooms affected the student cooperative skills, interpersonal attitudes of the respondents and also the level of motivation in learning English. The results revealed that for each of two scales measured in the motivation test, the average score is approximately 56 out 70, which stands for the fifth alternative in answer choices, a moderate agreement to the statements of importance for use of technology and motivation from learning environment (LE). The students reflected a more positive attitude and a feeling of relief while performing in a technologically advanced environment, like not getting emotional or anxious when expressing in English or making a question in English to the teacher. They would often look around the classroom to find hints for what they had to perform in class or check computers, play the CDs as practical means of operating in the English class.

149-158

Authors: Raquel Suriá Martínez

The Information and Communication Technologies are a decisive element to normalize the conditions of the students' life with special needs, and in some cases, one of the options for the access to a school curriculum. However, in the context academic, the development of the new technologies has favored the appearance in new ways of social exclusion. In presented study it was analysed the availability of the necessary resources to these students, checks the usage of the available technology and examines up to what point the students recognise the support of the teachers using information and communication technologies - ICT, to help them succeed in their studies. Thirty-seven students with special needs participated in this study, coming from a secondary school in Alicante and from the University of Alicante. Was prepared a questionnaire to investigate the use, experience and recognition of the support given by the teachers using ICT with these students. The results indicated that these students felt ready to use the technology resources in their studies. However, they did not receive support by the teachers and they noticed differences in approach, depending on the stage of the educational course and the type of disability. There still exist important obstacles in obtaining a total integration for disabled students; in particular making the role of the teacher a vital issue to provide an educational answer to such diversity.

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Authors: Editorial Board

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, ISSN 1822-7864 Volume 34, 2011

5-8

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

The pace of life forces us in getting everything quickly and preferably for free, i.e. the faster – the better. No matter that fast food from McDonald’s simply kills the human organism. The crucial point is that the action itself is fast and cheap. However, I see no sense in discussing the topic of junk food. A better idea is the transformation of the above introduced term into the field of education and debates on “appetite” for learning rather than for fast food. Thus, what are the shown indications? First, it should be noticed that when considering the phenomenon of “fast” training, education fails to retain its purpose, and therefore the systems of comprehensive and higher education appear to be just a blur (Lamanauskas, 2011).

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Authors: Olga Denac, Barbara Sicherl Kafol, Branka Čagran

Primary school teachers (342 in total) from all over Slovenia were questioned on their attitude towards arts and cultural education. The results of the study show that the teachers were most unanimous in regard to the importance of team planning in educational work in the field of the arts and the importance of cultural education for the life of an individual and society; this was followed by measures for raising the quality of arts and cultural education in primary school and the content of teacher training programs. Statistically significant differences in the teachers’ attitudes occurred with respect to their age and teaching position (class teacher and subject teacher). Unlike their younger colleagues and subject teachers, older teachers and class teachers expressed a more positive view of arts and cultural education.

50-63

Authors: Richard P. Kimiti, David M. Mulwa, Samuel N. Waweru, Stephen Nalelia, Mathew Muindi

The problem of this study was to investigate the teaching of the integrated topics on drug abuse in the secondary school curriculum as a strategy to wipe out the problem of drug abuse among students in Machakos District, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to: establish the prevalence of drug abuse at the secondary school level according to gender, locality (urban/rural), boarding or day and religious practice, and establish the effect of teaching integrated topics on prevalence rate of drug abuse. It was also meant to examine which topics on drug abuse are integrated in the secondary school curriculum. A survey study was carried out in Machakos District, Kenya. The subjects of the study were drawn from 24 randomly selected secondary schools. A sample of 774 respondents selected through stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used for the study. The sampling matrix comprised of 24 principals, 280 teachers and 470 students. The study utilized five research instruments: three questionnaires, interview schedule and observation schedule. The data collected was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean, mode and median. The main findings of the study were: the prevalence of drug abuse according to gender was Boys’ (11.19%), Girls’ (9.58%) and mixed sex (9.49%) schools. The urban schools had a prevalence of 10.73% whereas it was 9.66% in the rural ones. The prevalence according to status of the schools was: Day (13.84%), Mixed Day and Boarding (12.28%), and Boarding (11.54%). The teaching of the integrated topics on drug abuse had helped schools to reduce the drug menace. The topics on drug abuse were integrated in five subjects in the formal curriculum (English, Kiswahili, Chemistry, Biology and Christian Religious Education), the integrated topics were also taught through the non formal (Clubs and societies meetings) and in the informal (class, assembly and dormitory meetings) curriculum.

79-87

Authors: Lydia Cheruto Kipkoech, Salome Chesire

Making decisions is one of the prime functions of educational management and in the current educational setup; more teachers are taking management roles in schools. This study therefore assessed the teachers’ involvement in managerial decision making in secondary schools within Keiyo district. The specific objectives were to: determine areas in which teachers are involved in decision making in secondary schools, establish levels of teachers’ involvements in decision making in secondary schools. The entire study was propounded on the basis of Vroom-Yetton-Jago Contingency Theory of participative decision making (1988). This study was conducted by cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from a sample of 17 head teachers, 17 deputy head teachers, 51 head of departments and 51 class teachers. The instruments of data collection were: questionnaires, and interviews. Findings indicate that teachers in secondary schools are involved in managerial decisions but at lower levels. The study recommends that head teachers evaluate and identify teachers’ needs on managerial decisions in order to facilitate further training on the same. This in turn would encourage teachers’ participation and enhance team spirit in decision making that would result in efficiency in management of secondary schools.

98-109

Authors: Aija Peršēvica

The aim of this research is to demonstrate the situation in teacher job satisfaction in the state and to study correlations between the job satisfaction of teachers and quality of education, thereby showing the importance of teachers’ emotional feelings in the process of assuring quality education. The research data were collected at 5 schools with high achievements of the pupils in the mandatory centralised national examinations and at 6 schools with low results demonstrated by the pupils. As a result of the research, it was concluded that teachers are mostly satisfied with the chosen profession. An analysis of the identified correlations between job satisfaction and quality of education showed that there is significant correlation between several levels of interpersonal relationships and various aspects of quality. The obtained results the significance of the pedagogical resource in provision of education as well as allows to identify the scales of teacher job satisfaction with lower ratings which should be improved to significantly improve the overall satisfaction of teachers with their job.

122-137

Authors: Semiha Şahin

The aim of this study was to better understand the instructional leadership styles adopted in Turkey and the USA. This is a quantitative study which used the “Instructional Leadership Inventory” for data collection. Study data was collected from a diverse sample of urban elementary school teachers: 157 in Turkey and 150 in the USA. The general statistical findings indicate that teachers tend to develop a positive perception towards instructional leadership styles adopted by school principals in Turkey and the USA. An analysis of study results in terms of the similarities and differences between the instructional leadership styles adopted in both countries indicated that American teachers scored higher than their Turkish counterparts in terms of subscales as well as the total score.

149-161

Authors: Paul Snape, Wendy Fox-Turnbull

The new Knowledge (or Conceptual) Age of this millennium is creating a globalised economy that requires a much more diverse range of skills and dispositions yet many countries’ education systems still promote an outdated Industrial Age model of teaching and learning. In New Zealand, as in many other countries, there has recently been an emphasis on raising the level of qualification and success of students in school. ‘No child left behind’ philosophies feature in many countries and much money has been spent on trying to raise the levels of achievement of underperforming groups and keeping students in schools longer. Industrial Age schools screened, sorted and disciplined students for work and life in society (Bolstad & Gilbert, 2008). This has been done through traditional learning disciplines where study has been largely content and assessment driven. A 21st century curriculum will develop in students a generic capacity and aspiration to learn (Claxton 2007). Recent research has identified the twenty-first century skills people will require for successful integration into a wider range of communities. The writers will introduce two perspectives developed to address twenty-first century learning and highlight how the Technology Education curriculum and Guided Inquiry are ideally suited for delivering this skill set. Technology Education and Guided Inquiry (Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari 2007) pedagogy engage students in meaningful and successful 21st century learning. The first perspective is the Framework for 21st Century Learning (Partnership for 21st Century Skills 2009) and the other, the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education 2007).

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