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The Executive Council of the International Advisory Board

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Dean, College of Human Sciences, Auburn University,
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Lord Lieutenant of Fife
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Lehigh University, USA
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Master of Teaching and Learning, Birkbeck, Universityof London, UK
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Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong Learning in
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The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
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Professor of Philosophy and Head of School of
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Psychology & Professor of Social Psychology
Graduate School of Education and Human
Development, Nagoya University, Japan
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The Asian Conference on Education & International Development – ACEID 2022

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Table of Contents
Do Psychology Students Enjoy The Lecture In Class?
Relationship With Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction(Competence, Relatedness, and Autonomy)
Hermin Nurbaity AsriIwan Wahyu Widayatpp. 1 - 9

Ready or Not? A Critical Policy Analysis on the Implementation of
Flexible Learning Policy and Its Effect on High School Learners
Ester B. Onag
April M. Suan

pp. 11 - 23

Examining Chinese Students' Motivations for Overseas Education and the
Implications of the Study Abroad Experiences on
Their Transitions to Adulthood
Chang Liu

pp. 25 - 35

Distance Learning: Its Challenges and Opportunities toAdolescents RelationshipJane Valete- Fenequito

pp. 37 - 49

Psychometric Properties of MRRF-Academic Resilience Scale(MRRF-ARS): A Multifaceted Measure of Resilience
Melvin D. Angeles
Roda Mae Z. Roadel
Raven C. SheaMarie Pauline Faye S. Sales

pp. 51 - 68

Involvement of Related Populations in Tourism Community Development:
DMOs in the World Heritage Horyuji District
Hiroki Tahara

pp. 69 - 82

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Its Incorporation Into
Formal Education in Japan: An Explanatory Case Study
Aric Denfield

pp. 83 - 104

How the Japanese Intelligentsia of the 19th Century Got EducatedBased on Books in the Dutch Language (Rangaku)
Masako Nishikawa-Van Eester

pp. 105 - 115

Parental Support, Cooperative Learning, and Peer Awareness inStudents’ Exposure to School Bullying: Predicting Bullying in China
Yiying Teng
Ying Zhu

pp. 117 - 127

Parent-Child Dialogic Reading: A Conversation Analytic Case Study
Shin-ying Huang

pp. 129 - 142

Enhancing ‘How to Learn’ Skills: Its Impacts on Academic Performanceand Students’ Motivation
Hana Sofiyana
Athifah Utami

pp. 143 - 155

Assessing Social Apathy Among Filipino Young Adults:
Construction and Validation of the Social Apathy Test (SOCAP)
Dianne P. Ricafranca
Mel Christian Celedonio
Patricia Estrella

pp. 157 - 169

Shared Leadership Education: The Experiences of Music Teachers in aMusic SchoolAgnė Daučianskaitė
Vilma Žydžiūnaitė

pp. 171 - 181

In-Depth Inquiry on the Reasons of the Students’ Academic Failures andTheir Coping Mechanism
Sabrina Albarina Ramos
Shaira Jane Salingbay

pp. 183 - 195

Model for Effective Peer Mentoring Program in Mongolian University
Context
Tungalagtuya Myagmarjav
Ganzul Gantuya

pp. 197 - 216

What It Means to be a Great Teacher?
The Life Experience of University Students in Thailand
Pataraporn Sangkapreecha

pp. 217 - 227

Canada’s 2I’s: Reconciling International Student Migration
and Indigenous Peoples
Sabreena MacElheron

pp. 229 - 241

ODD Self-Efficacy Test
Academic Self-Efficacy Among College Students
Dorothy Kay M. Clay
Odette E. Esteve
Deborah M. Relucio

pp. 243 - 257

The Exploration of Primary School Teachers' Self-Expectation Under
the 5+2 Education Model——Take Nan'an City as An Example
You RuSong
Sung FangChun

pp. 259 - 267

Interest and Awareness of Japanese University Students
Regarding Computer Programming
Harumi Kashiwagi
Min Kang
Kazuhiro Ohtsuki

pp. 269 - 280

A Study of Electroencephalography (EEG) and Lego Wedo 2.0 on the
Attention of First Grade Special Needs Students
Fu-Yuan Chiu
Szu-Min Chiu

pp. 281 - 287

Language Immersion in the USA: Characteristics, Challenges, andRecommendations Related to Teacher Education
Mengyao Chen
Jiahang Li

pp. 289 - 302

Understanding the Lived Experiences Towards Online Learning
During the Pandemic
Audric Curtis P. Dy

pp. 303 - 314

The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022

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Do Psychology Students Enjoy The Lecture In Class?
Relationship With Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction(Competence, Relatedness, and Autonomy)
Hermin Nurbaity Asri, Airlangga University, Indonesia
Iwan Wahyu Widayat, Airlangga University, Indonesia
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Flow is an experience of pleasure and enjoyment in doing an activity, characterized by total
absorption which entangles awareness and action. Flow is an important asset for college
students in carrying out their academic activities. When students experience a flow condition,
they will enjoy and get an optimal learning experience. Student motivation also increases andaffects better learning outcomes, and prevents students from boredom and academic stress. In
fact, not all learners can get a flow experience. An effort that can be made to build flow in theclassroom is to allow for autonomy, giving freedom and control to the learner. Autonomy is
one of three components of the Basic Psychological Needs (BPN's) that need to be satisfied
so individuals can function and grow optimally. This study aims to determine the relationshipbetween flow in the academic and satisfaction with BPN's (competence, relatedness, andautonomy) in college students. Subjects were 292 undergraduate students in the faculty ofPsychology, Airlangga University. The data was collected online right before the pandemic
using the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction at Work Scale and The Flow Inventory forStudents. Analysis using spearman's rho shows a positive relationship between satisfaction
with BPN's and flow in the academic, with an all significance level 0.000 (p<0.05). The
correlation coefficient of the three basic needs were 0.480 (competence), 0.310 (relatedness),
and 0.416 (autonomy). Thus, the higher student satisfaction with BPN's followed by higher
flow in the academic.
Keywords: Basic Psychological Needs, Undergraduate Students, Flowiafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Student attendance in a lecture which mostly done inside the class has been known to be themost important thing. Attendance in class has become the first predictor in accomplishing or
achieving in college, more than the time spent studying, learning skills, and exam scores(Montgomery, 2015). Following learning in class allows students to understand the material
in-depth, increasing knowledge and/or skills, also developing that knowledge and/or skills
which in turn will lead them to accomplish the expected academic achievement. But inreality, many students do not attend lectures in class due to various reasons. They feel that
their presence is not noticed by lecturer, feel that class is boring and useless, going out withfriends, and not in such a good mood (Galichon & Friedman, 1985; Dobkin, Gil, & Marion,
2007; Friedman et. al., 2014; Montgomery, 2015; Rijavec & Miljkovic, 2015).
According to Csikszentmihalyi (cited in Norman, 1996), when an individual not getting apleasant experience from the activity that they were doing, they would feel bored, notenjoying the ongoing activity, difficult to concentrate, and prefer to do other things that more
pleasant. On the other hand, individuals who experience pleasant from the activity andenjoying those activities would be willing to do these activities for a long time and also
involving themselves totally in those activities. They do this because they want to obtain andfeel pleasure and enjoyment. These enjoyment experiences were also known as flow
(Csikszentmihalyi, 2014a). Those experiences could be built by oneself or the environment,
including lecturer and parental support (Csikszentmihalyi, 1985, cited in Csikszentmihalyi,
2014a).
Flow referred to a subjective condition when a person is fully absorbed only in things thatwere done until they forget about time, fatigue, and other things (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014a).
The flow was considered as an important modal for a student in doing an academic activity
such as following lectures, studying, and doing assignments (Yuwanto et. al., 2013).
According to Yuwanto et. al. (2013), when students experienced flow condition, they will beenjoyed and obtained an optimal experience in the learning process, easier in understanding
material, receiving information, comprehending material in-depth, thinking clearly, and think
more smoothly and creative. Moreover, student motivation will increase which could lead tomore optimal learning results, better performance, more productive, produce regularity incarrying out activities, open possibility to develop their skills, and preventing students fromacademic burnout and stress in doing academic activities.
Bakker (2008) stated 3 main characteristics of flow, namely absorption, enjoyment, andintrinsic motivation. Absorption referred to the situation in which concentration was fully
absorbed to the ongoing activity. Individuals who experienced flow can then forget
everything that is around them and feel that time seems to pass quickly. Enjoyment denoted
to a condition in which an individual felt comfortable and happy with the activities that werecarried out. The pleasant feeling will make individuals have a positive assessment of theirperformance quality. Intrinsic motivation referred to motivation in doing activities based on
motivation from within oneself and for the sake of oneself. A person who experiences flow
would be motivated to experience pleasure and satisfaction inherent in the activities
undertaken (autotelic) instead of based on an external reward (Yuwanto et. al., 2013).
Csikszentmihalyi (2014a) stated that freedom and control by students were some of thealternatives that could be carried out by lecturer in order to build flow condition among
students in the class. Giving control and freedom means that lecturer provides challenges

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which in accordance with the abilities of each student. Related to this, autonomy constitutedof attitude toward the learning process, in which students felt ready to take and have theresponsibilities to make their own learning process (Dickinson, 1995). Autonomy has been
known as one of the basic psychological needs based on self-determination theory (SDT)(Ryan & Deci, 2017).
SDT explained the theory of behavior development and individual personality which focuseson the influence of social-contextual conditions that can support or hinder development
through satisfying basic psychological needs consisted of competence, relatedness, andautonomy. Competence needs in learning refer to the capabilities to learn the learning process
or course materials (Kusurkar, Ten Cate, Van Asperen, & Croiset, 2011). Moreover,relatedness needs to explain to the needs in feeling connected, supported, and take care withand by other people (Baumeister & Leary, 1995, cited in Johnston & Finney, 2010). This
relatedness also points the neediness of individual of care, help, and real existence of people
around them. Lastly, autonomy needs refer to the needs to feel that one's behavior and result
obtained are self-determined or caused by oneself, as opposed to being influenced orcontrolled by external forces (deCharms, 1968, cited in Johnston & Finney, 2010).
Satisfaction towards these needs related closely to vitality and intrinsic motivation, while on
the other hand need-frustration or feeling for removal or deprivation of basic need could
demotivate, resulting in someone to functioning passively and bring out other behavior ascompensation (Ryan & Deci, 2017). In SDT, students feeling and behavior closely depend onsocial factors such as lecturer's attitude (Reeve, 2009; Oga-Baldwin, 2015), how lecturers
behaving toward their students will affect students experience in fulfilling their basic
psychological needs.
The importance of lecturer support toward fulfilment of basic psychological needs and its
relation to increasing positive experience among students have encouraged the author to
conduct further research related to this matter.
MethodParticipants
The subject criteria are undergraduate students in semesters 1-8 of the Faculty of Psychology,
Airlangga University class of 2015-2018, male or female, and attended classes in the last 1
year.
Participants joined in this study consisted of 292 undergraduate students. There 80,5% ofparticipants were women (235 participants) and the rest of 19,5% were men (57 participants).
Moreover, 99% of participants were in age 18-23 years old.
Instruments
Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale used in this study is translated and adjusted
from Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work Scale published in Self-Determination
Theory official website (selfdeterminationtheory.org) which consisted of 20 items
representing 3 needs namely competence (6 items), relatedness (8 items), and autonomy (6items). Reliability of each needs were 0,796, 0,890, and 0,775 respectively.

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The Flow Inventory for Student (LIS) is used in this study to measure flow in the academic
field, the scale consisted of 10 items and compiled by Yuwanto, Siandhika, Budiman, andPrasetyo (2011). Trial results of this scale by Yuwanto et. al. (2011) on 306 students showed
KMO results for 0,844 (more than 0,5), Bartlett’s Test for 0,000 (lower than 0,05), andreliability for 0,765.
Data collection
Data collection was carried out on May 4-8, 2019. During the time of data collection,
researchers distributed questionnaires online through chat applications, Line and Whatsapp,as well as Instagram. Questionnaires were made with Google Form. Through the chatapplication, researchers distributed questionnaires, either personally or by distributing themto groups in which there were Active Students of the Faculty of Psychology, Airlangga
University class of 2015-2018, according to the specified criteria. The distribution and thereception of responses stopped after the number of samples exceeded the required minimum.
Data analysis
Analysis Data Technique used in the current study was non-parametrical statistic techniques
by Spearman's Rank (rho) using SPSS statistical program version 22.0 for Windows.
Results and Discussion
Results
Data analysis results showed a coefficient correlation between satisfaction on basic
psychological need competence and flow in the academic of 0,480. Coefficient correlation
score between satisfaction on basic psychological need relatedness and flow in the academicof 0,310. Lastly, a coefficient correlation between satisfaction on basic psychological needs
autonomy and flow in the academic of 0,416.
Table 1: Results of Correlation Test
Flow in the academicrₓᵧ
Sig. (2-tailed)Competence
0,480
0,000
Relatedness
0,310
0,000
Autonomy
0,416
0,000
Based on results, high satisfaction on basic psychological needs namely competence,
relatedness, and autonomy were followed by higher flow in the academic among students,and vice versa. According to Cohen categorization (1998, in Pallant, 2016), every basic
psychological need satisfaction such as competence, relatedness, and autonomy have amoderate positive correlation to flow in the academic.
Discussion
Although flow could occur in various activities, not everyone could achieve flow (Yuwanto
et. al., 2011) since flow experience tend to be dynamic (Schmidt, 2010). At a certain time, anactivity can no longer build flow because someone has improved their skills while thechallenges faced have not changed or a challenge is too difficult while one's skills have not

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increased (Afifah, 2018). These conditions could result an individual to experience boredomor anxiety (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014a).
Based on data analysis results, 3 basic psychological needs namely competence, relatedness,
and autonomy found to had a positive correlation with the flow in the academic. This result
showed that the higher students' satisfaction to their 3 basic psychological need will befollowed by the high flow in the academic and prevented students from anxiety and boredom.
In addition, this finding was in line with SDT believe that certain environmental factors were
responsible for influencing and maintaining students' motivation in the classroom. The
influence was known to be not directly but mediated by satisfaction towards basic
psychological needs and environmental factors have known to be the most influential to asupported situation in the classroom were lecturers (Ryan & Deci, 2017).
The current finding also supported by Jang, Reeve, Ryan, and Kim (2009) which stated that
fulfilment of 3 basic psychological needs could increase pleasant learning experience anddecreased anxiety. Niemiec and Ryan (2009) also found that class contexts which supported
satisfaction to competence, relatedness, and autonomy needs tend to encourage students to be
motivated intrinsically. Moreover, Jang et. al. (2009) revealed that three basic psychologicalneeds to be important and needed by Asian students, which in this study found thatsatisfaction toward basic psychological needs among students played an important role tosupported flow in the academic. According to Maulana, Helms-Lorenz, Irnidayanti, and van
de Grift (2016), support toward these three basic needs were just as important as supporting
students' motivation in Indonesia, and lecturers' support found to be the strongest factors
influencing pleasure, challenges, and happiness for students to be involved and interested in
the learning process.
Results from the current study also in accordance to flow key model characteristics tocontemporary theory namely interactionism (Magnusson & Statin, 1998, cited in
Csikszentmihalyi, 2014a), in which flow not only focused on human and abandoned contexts
but emphasized dynamics that were built between human with the environments (personenvironment interaction). Through activities that gave various opportunities to act andinteract to the environment, individuals could build and spread their flow experience(emergent motivation). On the other hand, an environment that prevents individuals fromincreasing their skills, understanding, and mastery of a task or activity could also prevent thefulfillment of competence needs (Ryan & Deci, 2017). In fact, feeling competent known to bea very important initial condition for intrinsic motivation and intrinsically motivated actions(Csikszentmihalyi, 2014b).
According to Ryan and Deci (2017), the needs of relatedness were not only made a person
physically accepted but also left them with a feeling of worth and meaningful for others.
When students felt that their lecturer cared and pay attention to them, they tend to show
higher academic effort (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006, cited in Maulana et. al., 2016).
Students will feel a sense of belonging and these feelings were a strong predictor to intrinsic
motivation among learners (Baumiester & Leary, 1995, cited in Maulana et. al., 2016). Ryan
and Deci (2011, cited in Ryan & Deci, 2017) stated that these needs were so important as partof an understanding individuals' tendency to internalized values and behaviors from culturesthat exist around them. By the feeling of connected, individuals would be interested ineverything that other person's belief, behavior, and what other person expected from themwhich resulted in individual to took a position to behave in a way that ensured acceptanceand involvement.

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When people around students provide support and encouragement as opposed to giving
distraction, it could encourage involvement for individuals to reached flow. Support toautonomy needs also known to motivate students intrinsically (Deci & Ryan, 1985, cited in
Maulana et al., 2016). Reeve and Jang (2006) found that support toward students' autonomy
related to students' enjoyment, involvement, and performance which resulted in students
functioning positively in learning activities. Black and Deci (2000) revealed that students
who rated their lecturer as supportive to autonomy showed to have autonomous selfregulation, interest, enjoyment, and decreased anxiety. Other than that, autonomy support
directly predicted higher students' performance. Andersen (2004 cited in Schmidt, 2010)
stated that flow in class caused by autonomy, interest, and balance between lecturer andstudents' role in the learning activity.
The current study also found that competence and autonomy needs have a stronger
relationship to flow in the academic rather than relatedness needs. These results were in linewith a study conducted in Western countries by (Caleon, Tan, Wui, Leen, & King, 2016).
Chirkov (2011, cited in Maulana et. al., 2016) revealed that most of the determinists consider
autonomy needs will not excel in Eastern cultural contests due to the high value of obedience
to authority, strict discipline, and hierarchy system (the existence of authoritarian model
between young and old age). Meanwhile, Chirkov found that based on their study, generally
speaking, support to autonomy needs not only important in numerous Western culturalcontexts (e.g. Belgium, England, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norwegia, and UnitedStates of America), but also in several non-Western cultural contexts (e.g. South Korea,
Singapore, Pakistan, and Taiwan).
Conclusion
Based on data analysis it could be concluded that there was a correlation between satisfaction
on basic psychological needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy) with the flow in theacademic. Students' higher satisfaction toward three basic psychological needs will befollowed by a higher flow in the academic. Therefore, the lecturer needs to support students'
satisfaction on their basic psychological needs to build their flow experience in class.
Lecturer could upgrade their role and involvement directly to students during learning
activity in class, provide the broadest opportunity for students to take advantage fromlearning activities in class as an effort to find knowledge and improved skills, minimalize
demands and pressure, provide support, help, and guidance during learning process in classwhile continuing to provide appropriate challenges to increased students skills and build goodinterpersonal relationship with them.
Limitations
Study data were retrieved by online which resulted in network disruption on several students
when filling out the questionnaire. Moreover, when filling out questionnaire students wereable to choose lecturer or course they would like to rate. Consequently, students mightchoose lecturers or course that they liked and memorable or that were not very liked
according to their choice.

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Rijavec, M., & Miljkovic, D. (2015). Reasons for missing classes in college: The role ofpersonality traits. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 205(May), 480–484.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.09.046
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psycholoical needs inmotivation, development, and wellness. New York: The Guilford Press.
Schmidt, J. A. (2010). Flow in education. Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning, 605–
611.
Yuwanto, L., Oei, N. W., Arif, K., Patricia, H., Dewi, R. V., Angelina, E., … Chandra, R. I.
(2013). The nature of flow (L. Yuwanto, Ed.). Sidoarjo: Dwiputra Pustaka Jaya.

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Yuwanto, L., Siandhika, L., Budiman, A. F., & Prasetyo, T. I. (2011). Academic stress andflow in the academik. Jakarta.
Contact email: hermin.nurbaity.asri-2020@psikologi.unair.ac.id

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Ready or Not? A Critical Policy Analysis on the Implementation of
Flexible Learning Policy and Its Effect on High School Learners
Ester B. Onag, Adamson University, Philippines
April M. Suan, Adamson University, Philippines
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Abstract
In 2019 Corona Virus Pandemic created a massive impact in the Philippines most especiallyin Education. All face-to-face classes from kindergarten to tertiary level were suspended
because, many provinces, municipalities, and cities in the country were in lockdown. Privateand Public School Teachers, Administrators, and Students were incarcerated inside theirhouses. And to respond to this educational crisis, the Department of Education andCommission on Higher Education implemented a flexible learning policy. However,grounded on the estimated figures of the Department of Education, enrollment inkindergarten to senior high school for the school year 2020-2021 was decreased by more than
25% from the previous year (DepEd). According to UNICEF (2020), Many of the world's
children, especially in the poorest households, do not have access to the Internet, personal
computers, television, or even radio, which amplifies the impact of existing learning
inequalities. As a result, many students may not go back to school. Therefore, the purpose ofthis paper is to critically evaluate the existing policy for flexible education, to narrate thedifferent strategies of the public-school teachers for them to ensure the learning of theirstudents, to describe the experiences of the students in dealing with the modular learning
approach and lastly to determine the support provided by the government to teachers andstudents.
Keywords: Modular Learning, Flexible Learning Policy, Junior High School, Public Schooliafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
In the Philippines, face-to-face learning engagement of students and instructors inside theschool has been suspended due to the COVID-19 widespread. And so, for the progression of
education and for each school to still accomplish its mission and vision to deliver quality andexcellent education to each Filipino learner, the Department of Education executed Modular
Distance Learning. In the study of Dangle et. al (2020) they discussed the process of modular
learning methods in the Philippines, according to them the learners can contact the teacher
through e-mail, phone, text message, or instant messaging, among other methods. If all is
feasible, the instructor can make home visits to students who require remediation or support.
Printed Modules will be distributed to children, parents, and guardians by instructors or local
government officials (Llego, 2020, Dangle et al., 2020). And through the policy implemented
by the Department of Education and participation from teachers and parents, the agency also
ensures that through the existing flexible policy the needs of each student are met.
Nonetheless, the great challenge now is to ensure the attention of every learner to grasp theirlessons from the module effectively. Many students especially in secondary education cannot
pay much of their attention to their studies because of the responsibilities they play in theirfamilies, most especially those students who belong to the poor sectors of the society(Dangle, et. al, 2020), as result there is an increased number of dropouts from primary to
secondary education.
With these challenges it is vital, therefore, to investigate the reality of this policy
implemented by the Department of Education and the manner that which it guarantees theneeds of students and teachers. The following therefore are the research questions of thestudy:
1.
What is the main feature of the flexible learning policy of the Department of
Education?
2.
What are the obstacles and difficulties faced by learners and teachers in adjusting to
the remote learning process during the Pandemic?
3.
What is the effect of flexible learning on the learning process of Junior High SchoolStudents?
4.
What are the supports of the Local Government in the implementation of the Flexible
Learning Policy?
Research Methods
The study used Sequential Mixed-Methods Explanatory Design because it features two
separate phases: quantitative and qualitative (Creswell et al. 2003). Moreover, thequantitative data of the study was administered thru surveys to students and teachers, toidentify the uncovered areas that affect the social interaction of the students, the difficulties
and obstacles faced by teachers and students, and the support of the local government on theimplementation of the policy. The selection of respondents was done through theconvenience sampling technique, and the total number of the target respondents wasdetermined thru Slovin’s formula with a 5% margin of error. On the other hand, thequalitative phase of the study utilized informal interviews with the key informants to giveaccurate validity to the result of the numeric data from the questionnaire. The total population
gathered in the study are 1,486 students and 169 teachers from two public school in Rizal
Province, Philippines, namely Bayugo National High School, and Morong National HighSchool.

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Results and Analysis
What are the obstacles and difficulties faced by learners and teachers in adjusting to theremote learning process during the Pandemic?
In the Philippines many students, associations, and groups are calling for an academic freeze,
they pointed out that most Filipino families have problems in terms of computer, internet, or
gadget accessibility.
Table 1: Represents the obstacles faced by students in dealing withmodular learning activities
VerbalStatements
Mean
SDInterpretation
My teachers are approachable and always have free 2.62
time for my academic concerns
The modular activities and lessons make me feel 2.46
motivated in my study
I have gadget/s that help me to answer my modules 2.60

0.99

Agree

0.92

Disagree

0.97

Agree

I have a strong internet connection
2.41
My school provided a mechanism where I easily 2.55
track my academic standing and progress

0.91
0.94

DisagreeAgree

I do not have an electricity problem so I can easily 2.60
study at home
I am supported and guided by my parents while 2.55
answering the module
I am monitored by my teachers in answering the 2.48
module through online classes

0.97

Agree

0.98

Agree

0.92

DisagreeTable 1 represents the obstacles faced by students in dealing with modular learning activities,
they can answer all the activities and exercises in the modules on their own, they can easily
talk to their teachers about the academic-related concerns, their teachers are approachable andalways have a free time for the academic concerns, the school provided a mechanism where
they can easily track their academic standing and progress, they also have gadget/s and haveno electricity problem so that they can study at home, they are also supported and guided bytheir parents while answering the module yet, most of them have problem with their internet
connection. As a result, most of them believed that their teachers failed to monitor them inanswering the module through online classes.
Table 1 A: Represents the percentage of the challenges faced by students
during their modular learning activities
Statements
Frequency Percentage (%)
Harder to learn the subjects
334
53.4%
Fewer explanations of teachers given during online classes
375
59.9%
Technical problems during internet connection
286
45.7%
Lack of practical applications
179
28.6%

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While in Table 1A shows the percentage of the disadvantage of modular learning in thelearning experiences of the students during the implementation of flexible learning policies.
The table reveals that 53.4% of the students said that the topics in the module are difficult tounderstand, 59.9% said that there are fewer explanations from teachers during the online
classes, 45.7% found that they cannot comply on time due to technical problems caused bypoor internet connection, and 28.6% said that the modules have been lacking on the practicalapplications of the topics. This implies that the reasons why they cannot submit the online
activities on time are due to poor internet connections, the modules do not have a detailed
explanation of the topic, and some of the teachers do not provide more explanations of some
topics that are difficult to understand. This further concludes that although the modules havetheir essential practical applications of the topics, the teacher should take into consideration
the proper explanation of how their students would easily understand them.
Table 1 B : Represents the percentage of the advantages of Modular Learning Delivery
to the Students
Statements
Frequency Percentage (%)
Health and safety
420
67.1%
Better structured classes
85
13.6%
There is no need to travel going to school
289
46.2%
Doing other activities at the same time
157
25.1%
Flexibility / Accessing course anytime
295
47.1%
Table 1B shows the percentage of the advantage of modular learning in the learning
experiences of the students during the implementation of flexible learning policies. The tablereveals that 67.1% benefit their health and safety, 13.6% benefit them since classes are better
structured, 46.2% benefit their cost of transportation, as they do not need to travel going toschool, 25.1% benefit the need to do other activities at the same time, and 47.1% benefit interms of time flexibility since they can access their courses anytime. This implies that thehealth and safety, transportation cost, and time flexibility to access learning anytime areconsidered the most advantageous during the implementation of flexible learning policies
since they have the highest percentage while simultaneously doing activities and thestructured classes got the lowest percentage which considered as the least beneficial.
Table 2: Represents the percentage of the challenges faced by the teachers
in dealing with Flexible Learning Modality
Statements
Frequency Percentage (%)
Lack of social interaction
73
67.6 %High chances of getting distracted because of my role in the41
38.0 %
householdComplicated technology
4238.9 %
Not all students do their module wholeheartedly
90
83.3 %
Some parents spoil their children and do the task instead of71
65.7 %
their children
Some students tend to copy the answer from others without
76
70.4 %
reading the module
Table 2 shows the percentage of the disadvantage of modular learning in their teachingexperiences during the implementation of flexible learning policies. The table reveals that
67.6% of the teachers said that modular learning lessens their class’s social interaction,
38.0% said that they are getting distracted because of their role in the household, 38.9 % find

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it hard to adapt to the usage of technology, 83.3% said that not all students do their module
wholeheartedly, 65.7% said some parents spoil their children by doing their modules, and70.4% of them said that some students tend to copy the answers of their other classmates.
This implies that copying the answers of their other classmates is considered the mostdetrimental during the implementation of flexible learning policies since it has the highest
percentage (70.4%) while distractions are caused by the household chores, the lowest
percentage (38.0%), are considered as the least detrimental. This further implies that the
distraction caused by doing household chores is a burden to students so most of them tend tocopy the answers of their classmates.
Table 2 A: Represents the percentage of the advantages of Modular Learning Delivery
to the Public School Teachers
Statements
Frequency Percentage (%)
Reduce social anxiety
21
19.4 %
Healthy and safety97
89.8 %
Flexible scheduling opportunity
49
45.4 %
Allow self-paced learning49
45.4 %
Less travel from home to school45
41.7 %
Less stressful
16
14.8 %
Reduce the overall cost of school24
22.2 %
Table 2A shows the percentage of the advantage of modular learning in their teachingexperiences during the implementation of flexible learning policies. The table reveals that
19.4% of the teachers said that modular learning reduced their social anxiety, 89.8% benefit
their health and safety, 45.4% benefited from their flexible scheduling opportunity, 45.4%
benefited from self-paced learning, 41.7% benefited from the need to travel from home toschool, 22.2% reduced the overall cost of school, and 14.8% of them find it less stressful.
This implies that the health and safety of the teachers are considered the most advantageous
during the implementation of flexible learning policy since it has the highest percentage(89.8%). This further implies that, although modular learning benefits their health and safety,
it cannot hide the fact that it affects their level of stress while coping with it
What is the effect of Flexible learning on the learning process of Junior High SchoolStudents?
The effect of the Flexible learning process on the Junior High School was analyzed in termsof modular learning, Teacher interaction with the learners, and students’ academic behavior.
Modular Learning
Table 3 shows the mean score of the level of students’ challenges with modular learning
during the implementation of flexible learning policies as assessed by their Junior HighSchool Teachers. The table reveals that the teachers moderately agree that students cancomprehend instruction and learn on their own through the help of their parents, haveincreased understanding of the lesson, has acquired the necessary knowledge from themodule, has engagement and interest, and understand completely the content of the module.
The overall result in terms of the teachers’ assessment of the level of students' challenges on
modular learning came up with the total average mean of 2.93 and was verbally interpreted asmoderately agree. This concludes that the students are not fully learning during the

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implementation of the flexible learning policy since they cannot comprehend completely the
instruction and cannot fully understand the content of the module.
Table 3: Represents the verbal interpretation of the effect of Flexible Learningon the learning process of the students in terms of Modular Learning
VerbalStatements
Mean
SDInterpretation
Students can comprehend instruction and learn on their 3.06
0.78
Moderately
own through the help of their parents
Agree
Students have increased understanding of the lesson
2.80
0.78
Moderately
Agree
Students acquired the necessary knowledge from the 3.03
0.79
Moderately
moduleAgreeStudents’ engagement and interest level remain as 2.89
0.89
Moderately
instructions from the modules are easy to grasp
Agree
Students understand completely the content of the 2.87
module
Total
2.93

0.81

Moderately
Agree
Moderately
AgreeInteractions with Learners
Table 4 shows the mean score of the level of teachers’ challenges in interacting with thestudents. The teachers agree that the students are hard to reach at any time when matters need
an immediate response even though they have an online platform like a messenger, which canbe used to directly contact their students and parents. Meanwhile, they moderately agree that
their students are easy to communicate with and the parents are the ones who provide
feedback and address concerns regarding experiences of answering the module.
The overall result in terms of the teachers’ assessment on the level of teachers’ challenges on
modular learning in terms of interaction with the learners came up with the total averagemean of 3.35 and verbally interpreted as moderately agree. This concludes that the teachers
find it difficult to interact with the learners, especially in answering the module.

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Table 4: Represents the verbal interpretation of the effect of Flexible Learning
to the learning process of the students in terms of Modular Learning
VerbalStatements
Mean
SDInterpretation
It is hard to reach the students with matters that need 3.54
an immediate response

0.88

Agree

It is easy to communicate with my student as I have 3.05
the means to communicate with them

0.86

Moderately
Agree

The Parents provide feedback to students’ experiences 3.11
in answering the module

0.79

Moderately
Agree

The Parents are the students’ representatives in 3.31
expressing their concern regarding the module

0.78

Moderately
Agree

Various online platform such as messenger provides 3.76
me direct possible interaction with my students andtheir parents

0.90

Agree

Total

3.35

Moderately
Agree

Academic Behavior
Table 5 shows the mean score of the level of students’ academic behavior during theimplementation of flexible learning policies. The table reveals that the teachers moderately
agree that students are interested to learn more and knowing more, have a good strategy andhigh study effort, are highly motivated to learn the topics presented in the modules, arepersistent to pursue learning even when faced with obstacles during the teaching-learning
process, and have the drive to reach out their learning goals.
The overall result in terms of the level of students’ academic behavior during theimplementation of flexible learning policies came up with the total average mean of 2.95 andwas verbally interpreted as moderately agree. This concludes that the teachers find it difficult
to boost the academic behavior of the students since they find their students not motivatedand interested to learn the topics presented in the module.

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Table 5: Represents the verbal interpretation of the effect of Flexible Learning
to the learning process of the students in terms of Modular Learning
VerbalStatements
Mean
SDInterpretation
Students are interested to learn more and know more

2.99

0.84

Moderately
Agree

Students have a good strategy and high study effort

2.94

0.76

Moderately
Agree

Students are highly motivated to learn the topics 2.88
presented in the modules

0.79

Moderately
Agree

Students are persistent to pursue learning even when 2.96
faced with obstacles during the teaching-learning
process
The students have the drive to reach out their learning 2.96
goals

0.77

Moderately
Agree

0.70

Moderately
Agree

2.95

Moderately
Agree

Total

Table 6 : Represents the verbal interpretation of the effect of flexible learning
on Junior High School Students
VerbalStatements
Mean
SDInterpretation
I have enough time to answer all the activities 2.59
in the modules

0.96

Agree

I can easily answer all the given activities and 2.35
exercises in the modules

0.85

Disagree

I can answer all the activities and exercises in 2.53
my modules on my own

0.95

Agree

To further explain, Table 6 reveals the mean score of the effect of the policy on the learning
process of the students. It can be seen in the table that the students agree that they haveenough time to answer all the activities in the modules,

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Table 7: Represents the percentage of how the students answer the task on their modules
Statements
Frequency Percentage (%)
My parent reminds me of the deadline, so I need to
343
54.8%
accomplish it
To be able to answer my module at home, my parents
228
36.4%
explain the part of the lesson that is not clear to me
My teacher gives enough time to be able to answer the
322
51.4%
whole learning task
My teacher guides me and help me if they can for me to
200
31.9%
improve my academic performance
My parents look at my lesson and if they can answer it, then
147
23.5%
they help me
Table 7 shows the percentage of students’ experiences on how they answer the modules
during the implementation of Flexible Learning Policy. The table reveals that 54.8% of thestudents said that their parents remind them of the deadline to accomplish the task in themodule, 36.4% said that their parents explain the part of the lesson that are not clear to them,
51.4% said that their teachers give enough time to be able to answer the whole learning task,
31.9% said the teacher guide them and help them answer the module, and 23.5% of themsaid that their parents are helping them answering the task if they cannot understand it. Thisimplies that their teachers are considerate enough to extend the deadline for submission of thetask in the module.
Moreover, most of the students agreed that their parents reminded them about the deadlinesof their tasks and help them with some parts of the module during times that they do notknow how to answer them. However, some parents cannot give their full support inanswering the task in the module because some of them are busy with their work while someof them did not finish their high school degrees.
Table 8: Represents the percentage of how the students motivate themselvesin answering their modules
Statements
Frequency Percentage (%)
I just think that I am graduating student so I tell myself that
284
45.4%
if others can do it so do I
I just think that it will end as well, and I can ask the help of
244
39.0%
my teachers
If I cannot answer the lesson, I read it again, I first answer
351
56.1%
the easy task then I go back to answer the difficult task
I just answer all the task I don’t take it as negative side
297
47.4%
I just think that it is only a trial and sometimes I ask myclassmates so that I have an idea on the lesson, or I am 200
31.9%
using the internet.
Table 8 shows the percentage of how the student motivates themselves to accomplish the task
in the module during the implementation of a flexible learning policy. The table reveals that
45.4% of the students said that they answer the module because they think that if others canaccomplish it, they can also do it on their own, 39.0% think that they have to continue theirstudies since this pandemic will end soon and their teachers are there to help them to answer
the task, 56.1% said that in order for them to answer the task, they begin to answer the easytasks then answer the difficult ones, 47.4% said that they answer the given task positively,

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and 31.9% of them rely on their answers from their classmates and through the educational
websites on the internet.
This further implies that in order for the students to answer the task in the module, they haveto browse and read the lessons repetitively until they completely comprehend the whole ideaof it. This concludes also that students are motivated through positive reframing and relying
upon themselves mostly on what others can do, so they can do it also.
What are the supports of the Local Government Unit/Department of Education in theimplementation of the Flexible Learning Policy?
Tables 9 and 10 reveal that the Department of Education sometimes supports the teachers andstudents by providing internet or mobile data allowance, while the Local government unit
especially the barangay aids the teachers to deliver the modules to the students.
On the other hand, the Department of Education often give teachers ample time to prepare themodules, they also provide an allowance for printing and delivering the copies of themodules, conduct online orientation, and seminars/training for their teachers.
Table 9: Represents the support of LGU and DepEd to Public School Teachers
VerbalStatements
Mean
SDInterpretation
The DepEd provides all the modules to be distributed to 3.79
the students.

0.96

Often

There are enough funds given by the government for 3.57
Modular Distance Learning

0.82

Often

The LGU provides internet or mobile data allowance

2.88

1.04

Sometimes

The DepEd or LGU provides aides to deliver the 3.17
modules to the student

1.05

Sometimes

There are online seminars, orientations, and training 3.87
provided by DEPED or LGU in the preparation ofmodular distance learning

0.99

Often

There is no problem with electricity in your area, so it is 4.00
easy to print the module

1.08

Often

The DepEd provides the internet data allowance

3.04

0.98

Sometimes

There is enough time in preparing course materials based 3.45
on the academic calendar provided by the DepEd

0.99

Often

It is easy to monitor the attendance of the student because 3.16
the DepEd provided platforms to effectively
communicate with the students

0.97

Sometimes

Total

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Table 10: Represents the support of LGU and DepEd to the Students
Statements
Mean
SD
VerbalInterpretation
The city government provided internet or a mobile 2.14
data allowance for me to contact my teachers
The city government provided internet data 2.10
allowance that can be used for my study
The city government provided help by giving us 2.26
gadgets so that I can submit my modules to myteachers

0.86

Disagree

0.84

Disagree

0.91

DisagreeConclusion
The research found that the major problems faced by the learners and teachers is the poorinternet connection in their areas. Due to this circumstance, teachers cannot fully monitor theacademic standing and progress of the student through an online meeting. Although themodule is an essential practical application of the topics that the student is assumed to learn,some students have a hard time learning the subjects due to the insufficiency of explanationand poor internet connection during their online classes.
However, the implementation of a Flexible learning policy through a modular approachprovided benefits to the students and teachers in terms of transportation expenses, health, andsafety. The students can also submit and access their module anytime they want yet most ofthem have a hard time managing their time properly due to unstructured classes which
eventually, adds burden to them since they must do other activities to all their enrolledcourses at the same time. Since the teachers cannot monitor their students anytime, somestudents do not answer their module wholeheartedly, they tend to copy their classmate's
works or even ask their parents to do it for them instead. On the other hand, the study also
discovered the effect of flexible learning policy on the learning process of the students interms of the following:
Modular Learning•
The students did not learn much during the implementation of flexible learning policy, theysometimes experience a hard time understanding the lesson in the module.
Interaction with Learners•
The teachers find it difficult to interact with their students, especially in a situation where
they need an immediate response from them.
Academic Behavior•
The teachers find it difficult to boost the academic behavior of their students since students
are not motivated and interested to learn the topics in the module.
Therefore, the discrepancies in terms of Modular Learning, the Teacher’s interaction with thelearners, and the academic behavior of the students during the implementation of the flexible
learning policy resulted in certain failure of some students to answer the activities andexercises in the module, despite the reminders of their parents and their teachers’
considerations.

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The study also discovered some problems faced by students and teachers in terms of dealing
with the modular distance learning approach and these are the following:oSome students admitted that their parents were the ones who answered somequestions in the module.
oSome students cannot answer their module because they are too busy doing theirhouse roles and their parents cannot help them since most of their parents are busy at work
while some of their parents are elementary graduates.
oSome students are comparing themselves mostly to what their classmates can do.
The Local Government and the Department of Education should support more teachers interms of giving them enough funds for the distribution of the learning materials, allowances
for the data and internet, and seminars/training about the skills that they needed for distanceeducation and the city government also should support the teachers by providing theinternet/mobile data allowance and give the students gadgets to be used for the online classes.
Acknowledgments
The researcher would like to thank the Center for Research and Development (CRD) of
Adamson University for trusting and funding the research, to Dr. Ma. Theresa Tungpalan of
the College of Social Work and Community Development of the University of thePhilippines – Diliman for helping and guiding the researchers in this endeavor, to Ms. Imelda
M. Asuncion, PSDS – Officer in Charge of Bayugo National High School, Dr. Lyndel R.
David, Principal of Morong National High School, Mr. Jerome San Juan and Ms. Princes Ivy
Ibañez, the key informants, for helping the researchers to gather the data needed for the
research.

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References
Reference to a journal publication
Dangle YR, Sumaoang J. (2020)., The Implementation of Modular Distance Learning in
Philippines Secondary Public Schools. 3rd International Conference on AdvanceResearch in Teaching Education
UNICEF Evaluation Office. 2020. Progress Evaluation of the UNICEF Education in
Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition Programme: The Philippines Case Study.
New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.
Reference to a journal publication
Creswell, J., (2013). Research Design; Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches, Second Edition, Sage Publication
DepEd (Department of Education). 2020. “Adoption of the Basic Education Learning
Continuity Plan for School Year 2020–2021 in Light of the COVID-19 Public Health
Emergency.” DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2020. June 19, 2020. Pasig City: Department of
Education.
Resources
Llego, MA. (n.d). DepEd Learning Delivery Modalities for School Year 2020-2021.
TeacherPh. https://www.teacherph.com/deped-learning-delivery-modalities/
Contact email: ester.onag@adamson.edu.phapril.sun@adamson.edu.ph

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Examining Chinese Students' Motivations for Overseas Education and the Implications of
the Study Abroad Experiences on Their Transitions to Adulthood
Chang Liu, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Studying overseas is a popular option for many young individuals to undertake as part oftheir educational journey. Since China has emerged as the world's largest source ofinternational students, Chinese students' motives of pursuing foreign education have gained
remarkable scholarly attention. Furthermore, as the cross-border sojourn often occurs in the
youthful period of one's life course, the implications of this journey on Chinese youths'transitions to adulthood have also been of interest to recent research. Situated in the field ofinternational education and youth studies, this paper discusses the motivations behind
Chinese students' decisions to study abroad and how this international sojourn shapes theirtransitions to adulthood. Through literature review, this paper found that the target group's
study-abroad decision making is influenced by various macro-level drivers, including
globalisation, neoliberalism, and China's economic and socio-cultural conditions. From a
micro-level perspective, this paper identified that studying overseas is not only a sought-afterroute to overcome individual academic failures and systemic deficits in China, but also to
accrue valuable resources and satisfy the desires to explore the world. Moreover, this paper
noticed that with respect to their transitions to adulthood, Chinese youths' study-abroad
experiences are fraught with struggles, tensions, and complexities. Specifically, the overseas
journeys can both accelerate and delay their adolescence-adulthood pathways in the aspectsof physical freedom, self-responsibility, economic independence, as well as marriage.
Broadly, this paper offers practical implications on international student recruitment in higher
education. It also serves as a basis for future research on international education and youth
studies to explore diverse study-abroad destinations and experiences.
Keywords: Overseas Education, Transitions to Adulthood, Globalisation, Young People

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Introduction
In 2014, Michelle Obama delivered a powerful speech at Peking University on theimportance of studying abroad for youths in the present era of global interdependence. She
highlighted the role of overseas education in enhancing young people's interculturalcompetencies and employment competitiveness. For reasons like these, studying abroad has
become a sought-after option for many young individuals to undertake as part of theiracademic journey. This is particularly true in China, where the number of domestic students
pursuing overseas education soared to around 662,100 in 2018 (Ministry of Education[MOE], 2019), indicating a more than three-fold increase compared to the figure (179,800) in2008 (MOE, 2009). As China has emerged as the world's largest student-sending nation(Textor, 2020), Chinese students' motives of pursuing foreign education have drawn
considerable academic attention (e.g., Bodycott, 2009; Zwart, 2013). Moreover, since thiscross-border sojourn usually takes place in the youthful period of the life path, how thisexperience shapes Chinese youths' pathways to adulthood has been of interest to recent
research (e.g., Chua, 2015; Martin, 2018). In this paper, I endeavour to discuss young
Chinese citizens' study-abroad motivations and the subsequent implications of overseas
education on their transitions to adulthood. This paper defines youth as a liminal stage whereindividuals are transitioning into adult lives, rather than a fixed chronological age range(Robertson et al., 2018). Furthermore, it confines the discussion to those who physicallyengage a portion of their tertiary education in a foreign country. This paper begins byconsidering the macro-level drivers in which contemporary Chinese student international
mobility is situated. Then it explores the micro-level drivers that play a role in their studyabroad decisions. This is followed by a discussion of the implications this cross-national
experience hold for Chinese youths' adolescence-adulthood transitions. The final section
draws some conclusions, acknowledges limitations, and provides directions for future
research.
Macro-level Drivers
Global Context: Globalisation and Neoliberalism
Increasing educational mobility is promoted by contemporary globalisation, a series of
ecopolitical and sociocultural transformations that intensify cross-national interactions (Li &Bray, 2007). Manifestations of globalisation, such as advancements in modern technology
and transportation, have significantly reduced the geographical constraints on cross-bordersociocultural arrangements (Brooks & Waters, 2011). These developments have enabledstudents to move across countries to pursue education (Rizvi & Lingard, 2000). Added tothese physical enablers are the rising prevalence in global communication and cultural
exchanges. According to Fong's (2011) ethnographic study on transnational Chinese students,
the globalised nature of mass media has spurred many young Chinese individuals to yearn tobecome part of an imagined cosmopolitan global community, and thus has stimulated their
desire to study abroad. Globalisation is, therefore, a crucial driver for facilitating andpromoting Chinese youths' cross-border educational mobility.
Despite distinct conceptualisations of globalisation, a neoliberal perspective is consideredmost salient to the topic being discussed. Neoliberal ideologies advocate free global markets
and individual accountability (Adams, 2014; Shields, 2013). Higher education institutions inmost industrialised countries have become part of these global markets by massively
expanding their enrolment of students, notably international students, to remain financially

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viable (France, 2016). This increase in places for international students means that
universities have become part of the global knowledge-based economy, which emphasises thetrade of knowledge and skills, rather than mere manufacturing commodities (Guruz, 2008).
As a consequence of this change in the global economic structure, societal needs for highly
educated personnel and concomitant mass demand for higher education have been naturalised(Altbach, 2004). Young individuals thus "gravitate toward educational investments that mostefficiently produce desired outcomes, including studying abroad" (Shields, 2013, p. 612). As
a fundamental group of this study-abroad phenomenon, many Chinese youths undertake thisjourney to improve their future prospects, which will be discussed more in-depth in a later
section.
Domestic Context: the Embedded Culture and Socioeconomic Transformations
Aside from these global drivers, China's cultural idiosyncrasies have also set the scene for the
study-abroad wave. In Confucian heritage societies such as China, families are seen as acollective being and play an integral role in individuals' life decisions, including education,
employment, and marriage (Bodycott, 2009; Martin, 2018). A strict hierarchical parent-childrelationship exists, which assigns parents the responsibility to guide children, who in turnshould practice filial piety by obeying parents' wishes (Wu, 1996). Concerning theirchildren's education, Chinese parents tend to play an active role by making enormous
investments (Bodycott, 2009; Chao & Sue, 1996), as they believe that education is a crucial
means of achieving personal development and familial social mobility (Chen & Uttal, 1988;
Gu, 2006). Undoubtedly, this entrenched cultural consciousness regarding parent-childrelationships and education plays a significant part in Chinese youths' study-abroad decisionmaking.
Furthermore, China's economic transformations during the past decades, including its
incorporation into the global neoliberal economy, have led to an expanding middle class withmore disposable income and professional knowledge (Chew, 2009). The ability and ambitionof these Chinese middle class to invest in their children's education is strengthened by the
decades-long one-child policy, which allows more parental resources to be diverted towards
nurturing the single child (Fong, 2004). As a result, reverse motivations, such as high tuition
fees and living expenses abroad, have been drastically reduced for many Chinese families(Hao et al., 2016). Therefore, due to these domestic socioeconomic changes, the option to
study abroad has become more affordable for growing numbers of Chinese parents, who arelikely to seek the best education available for their children.
While this section provides some contextual factors, it does not sufficiently explain Chineseyouths' varied motives of studying abroad. The following section will examine the drivers ofstudying abroad from a micro-level
Micro-level Drivers
University Entry Failures and the Deficient Domestic Education System
Failing to gain access to prestigious home universities pressures many Chinese families toseek education abroad. Statistics illustrate that the percentage of domestic candidates offereda place to the elite home universities, aka "985" universities, remains low: varying between
1.14% and 5.98% across different provinces in 2016 (Shang, 2018). In the Chinese
community, academic underperformance regarding university entry not only has

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repercussions to one's future career, but also brings shame to the entire family (Archer &Francis, 2006; Lee & Morrish, 2012). Thus, to avoid or compensate failures in the intenselycompetitive domestic education system, many aspiring Chinese families turn to overseas
institutions (Chao et al., 2017) so as to "seize that second chance" of studying in a top
university (Chua, 2015, p.55). Clearly, for the Chinese, studying abroad is perceived as an"honourable substitute" (Brooks & Waters, 2009, p. 1094) that provides an escape fromeducational failures in the domestic system.
Discourses of deficiency about the Chinese education system constitute another study-abroad
driver. Aside from being high-stakes and excessively competitive, the Chinese education
system has also been criticised widely for its teacher-centred pedagogy that offers few
opportunities for interactions and discussions among students (Bodycott, 2009; Hao et al.,2016). Moreover, in Chao et al.'s (2017) study, Chinese international students in the US
revealed the rigidity and lack of innovation in their home education system, where students
are required to spend long hours memorising socialist doctrines rather than attempting to beinventive. Additionally, vices such as bribery and cronyism are reported to be rampant in
Chinese education (ibid.). Due to these perceived deficiencies, Chinese students and theirparents may therefore be reluctant to engage with the home universities and seek overseas
alternatives.
The Pursuit of Capital, Social Mobility, and Exploration of the World
Beyond serving as a tactical move to circumvent educational failures and flaws at homeinstitutions, studying abroad is also tied to Chinese families' capital accumulation strategies.
Pursuing valuable cultural, social and, eventually, economic capital (Bourdieu, 1986) throughattending renowned overseas universities is in line with Chinese families' aspirations to
reproduce the middle-class identity or facilitate upward social mobility (Chua, 2015; Ong,
1999). Institutionalised cultural capital, in the form of educational qualifications (Bourdieu,1986), signals individuals' positive qualities, especially professional competencies (Spence,1978). Furthermore, embodied cultural capital, expressed typically as skills, knowledge, andattributes (Bourdieu, 1986), raises individuals productivity at work from the human capital
perspective (Becker, 1975). Undoubtedly, these forms of cultural capital attained throughstudying overseas, especially in western developed countries (Zwart, 2012), will be converted
into abundant economic capital in the future (Hao et al., 2016). Notably, Waters (2006) foundthat the economic rewards are maximised when young Chinese individuals return to theglobally integrated local labour market, where their traits of being cosmopolitan,
multilingual, and habitually transnational are distinctly valued.
A further impetus to undertake the overseas educational journey is to accrue social capital,
which refers to resources within social ties (Wu, 2014). Social capital can be obtained byforming an "exclusive club" of returnees with common educational and migratory
experiences (Waters, 2007, p.480). This network of important alumni contacts could serve as
reliable intellectual resources and offer various tangible economic privileges in one's career(Hao et al., 2016). Furthermore, the elite group identity of overseas-educated Chinese citizens
produces significant symbolic capital (i.e., social recognition and prestige) (Waters, 2007),
which is particularly valued in the Chinese culture. Therefore, pursuing an overseas degree
can be regarded as Chinese families' instrumental drive to maintain or advance social class byacquiring social, cultural, and economic capital.

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Emplaced in the transitional life period, the temporary migratory journey also intersects withyoung people's desire for adventure (Waters et al., 2011). This is pertinent in the Chinese
setting, where the exposure to foreign influence brought about by globalisation and China's
political reforms has resulted in young people's deep senses of inquisitiveness about theworld outside China (Cheng & Berman, 2012; Fong, 2011). Just as one of the participants in
Chua's (2015, p.40) study expressed "the moon is rounder on the other side", their images ofmore affluent and cosmopolitan foreign societies have made the global experience anattractive and desirable option to undertake. Nevertheless, this "youthful escape" forexcitement and entertainment (Waters et al., 2011, p.455) is not limited to the aspirations ofyoung Chinese people themselves; it is shared by their parents who hope to compensate forwhat was once impossible to their generation (Chua, 2015). Hence, studying overseas can beseen as an exploratory trip that satiates one's curiosity about the outside world.
Transitions to Adulthood: Acceleration or Delay"The meanings produced through student mobility ... are intricately linked with projects ofthe self and life transitions to adulthood" (Holdsworth, 2009, p.1857). This transition
corresponds to a period where one slowly leaves behind adolescence and takes on a range ofadult responsibilities (Gauthier, 2007), such as completing education, attaining financial
independence, leaving the parental house, and forming families on their own (Arnett, 1998).
While heterogeneity of transitions across social groups, times, and spaces has been observedin extant literature (e.g., Chase, 2020; Frändberg, 2015), this section focuses on the meaningsof the cross-national educational sojourn on Chinese youths' transitions to adulthood.
Studying abroad can be treated as a rite de passage into adulthood (Eade et al., 2007), as
young people have to navigate a completely new challenging life. They experience more selfautonomy and self-responsibility as spatial separation restricts parental control and othersupport networks (Tse & Waters, 2013). This translates to a plethora of new demands, suchas the need to solve quotidian problems and negotiate social communication issues
independently (Hao & Welch, 2012). Brown's (2009) study on Asian graduate sojourners(including Chinese students) in England highlights the transforming nature of overseas
education, where out of a necessity for survival, students developed the capacity to withstandlife stress and tolerate different practices. In terms of academic studies, Chua (2015) notices
that, without parental surveillance, many Chinese students fostered a greater sense of selfdiscipline concerning their own education. Plainly, due to prolonged absence from the homeenvironment, this individuation experience accelerates young Chinese people's transitions toadulthood, especially for those who previously "enjoyed the full care of their parents" (Hao etal., 2016, p.26).
Nevertheless, the overseas educational experience also allows some to prolong their youth by"living in the extended present" (Chua, 2015, p. 71), which coincides with the life phase of
emerging adulthood, characterised by possibilities, flexibility, and exploration (Arnett, 2014).
For example, Chua's (2015, p.71) study witnesses Chinese university students' appropriationof the freedom awarded by the overseas sojourn, where some "muddle[d] along without aconcrete goal" and others postponed the risk of their transition to employment by pursuingfurther studies immediately upon graduation. Apparently, due to higher tuition fees andvarious living expenses incurred abroad (Liu et al., 2018), these sojourners (less applicable tothose on bursaries or scholarships) continue or even exacerbate financial dependence on theirparents, and thus delaying their transitions to adulthood. On the other hand, Gareth (2005)
argues that overseas-educated young people generally have brighter employment prospects,

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be they opting to return to China or settling in the host country. Hence, from a cultural
perspective, such graduates will be better equipped to fulfil filial duties by providing more
solid future financial support for their parents (Bodycott, 2009). In this regard, while studying
abroad defer the progress to adulthood and extends the financial burden on families, a higher
possibility of success can be secured for their impending transitions.
Another oft-cited aspect of the transition is marriage, which carries a strong genderedelement in the Chinese culture (Yeung & Hu, 2013). Modern Chinese society is still under
the influence of traditional views that young people, primarily women, are expected tohonour their parents' request by getting married early and bearing children (To, 2013; Wang
& Abbot, 2013). In Chua's (2015, p.88) research, going to Singapore for further studies forms"a space of sanctuary" for female Chinese students, as it permits them to temporarily elude
from familial pressures for marriage and relatives' scrutiny of their marital status. This
concurs with Martin's (2018, p.689) construction of "a zone of suspension" for female
Chinese students in Melbourne, where new romantic relationships were developed and the
expectations of marriage and family obligations in relation to the life course was suspended.
However, he also notices that a "split value scheme" (p.699) between the restrictive Chinese
sex-gender norms and the western life patterns has created a significant sense ofcontradictions for these female Chinese youths. Therefore, the allegedly delayed transition tomarriage during their "time out" (Griffiths et al., 2013, p.6) is still fraught with hegemonicsocial pressures from China.
Conclusion
Situated in the field of international education and youth studies, this paper has discussed
Chinese youths' study-abroad motivations and implications of the overseas journey on theirtransitions to adulthood. By considering the macro-level drivers, it has found that
globalisation enables international educational mobility by reducing geographical barriers
and facilitating cultural flows. Relatedly, neoliberalism stimulates young people to invest in
education to enhance future prospects in the global knowledge-based economy, indirectly
contributing to their study-abroad decisions. Domestic factors, including China's cultural
peculiarities and socioeconomic transformations, have also been noticed to create conditions
for Chinese youths' overseas journey. From a micro-level perspective, this paper found thatstudying overseas is a popular alternative to counter domestic educational failures andsystemic deficits. The pursuit of capital to enhance life chances and the eye-opening desire
also motivate Chinese youths to embark on the international sojourn. Regarding transitions toadulthood, this paper has found that while sojourners experience more adult responsibilities
and freedom, it is the same freedom that creates opportunities for relaxation and play, thus
complicating the debate about transitions. Similarly, despite the seemingly prolonged
transitions to economic independence, the overseas experience is likely to lead to afinancially more stable future. Concerning marriage, time studying abroad reveals thecontradictions between home and overseas value systems, and thus making the delayedtransition to marriage fragile.
In the final analysis, this paper has identified multiple macro- and micro-level motivations
behind Chinese students' decisions to study abroad and the complexities involved in theirtransitions to adulthood. One noteworthy limitation is that the exploration is restricted to thestream of cross-border mobility from China to developed countries. Thus, various otherinternational mobility routes taken by Chinese youths await further scrutiny. Anotherlimitation of this paper worth exploring in future studies is regarding the weight of each

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driver and the extent of influence exerted by the family on the study-abroad decision-making
process. Lastly, a hidden assumption in this paper is the definite mobility of young Chinese
people. In reality, however, just like any other life choices, the mobilisation of agency isbounded by social structures, and thus many would be deterred from studying abroad in thefirst place. That said, this paper contributes to the understanding of the motivations behind
Chinese students' study-abroad decisions and their adulthood transitions, which areparticularly valuable for educators and policymakers in higher education to take into accountin recruiting international students.

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Distance Learning: Its Challenges and Opportunities to Adolescents RelationshipJane Valete- Fenequito, Urdaneta City University, Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Pandemic became one of the most feared unseen enemy where people are forced to stay athome. The pandemic forced everybody to stay at home. Hence, the study focused onadolescents who are under the distance learning modality. The study delved on the perceived
challenges and opportunities of distance learning to their family relationship. This study will
add dearth to parent- child relationship specifically on adolescents as they are in the stage ofstorm and stress. The study utilized the use of qualitative research design using an online
version of pen and paper type of interview through google form. The qualitative research
design explores the different effects of pandemic specifically in the education system andfamily relationship where majority of schools offered distance learning modality in thePhilippines. Purposive sampling was employed to the 60 adolescents from senior high school
to second year college students under distance learning modality since they are at the stage
where social interaction is vital. Content analysis was also utilized to interpret the result of
the study. The results of the study showed a relationship shift in the adolescents’development where adolescents shift to closeness rather than conflict, dependence rather thanindependence and spending more time with their family than friends in social media. The
distance learning became an avenue for adolescents to seek help from their parents andparents be closer to their children.
Keywords: Adolescents, Challenges, Distance Learning, Opportunities

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Introduction
Distance learning through online or virtual classes became the educational trend when
COVID-19 had suddenly forced everyone to stay at home in order to prevent the widespreadof the virus (Baticulon et al., 2021; Yu, 2021; Garbe et al.,2020; Joaquin et al., 2020; Avila etal., 2020;). Researches around the world focused more on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic
in educational setting such as distance learning outcomes, parents’ coping mechanism such asdifficulties in coping with the distance learning and as learning facilitators (Sonnenschein etal., 2021; Yu, 2021; Garbe et al., 2020), and family and school relationship (Martinez et al.,2021). Other researches focused on children and adolescent’s mental health (Imran et al.,2020), family dynamics such as economic, social and psychological aspects (Shah et al.,2021), and the impact of COVID-19 on families is currently unknown (Vertalaus et al.,2021). Hence, this study will add dearth to parent- child relationship specifically onadolescents as they are in the stage of storm and stress. This will also add to the body ofknowledge on the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent relationship with their family
members.
In the Philippines, researches focused more on the effects of COVID-19 to students andeducational system (Baticulon et al.,2021; Belgica et al.,2020), parent’s experiences inpandemic (Agaton & Cueto, 2021; Chapay, 2021) as parents are forced to take the role ofteachers and learning facilitators. Hence, the study seeks to fill the gap in the literature bylooking at the challenges and opportunities of distance learning in adolescent relationshipthrough the lens of adolescents.
The sudden lockdown caused by COVID-19 in 2020 resulted to pedagogical and instructional
shift from traditional to online, modular, and flexible distance learning (Belgica et.al, 2020;
Avila et.al, 2020). Parents became instant teachers of their children especially the young ones
to combat the need for continuous education. In terms of human development, the naturalenvironment for developmental opportunities for children and adolescents such as school andcommunity suddenly became virtual. The face-to-face social interaction is part of humanbasic need and for specific age group, peer interaction is a vital aspect of human development(Orben et al., 2020) but because of pandemic, the interaction became virtual. Everybody was
physically cut off from face-to-face interaction which gave way to social media interaction
and virtual communication. However, the absence of interaction in school and presence ofsocial gathering disrupted the children’s social support and networks (Vanderhout et al.,2020). Sikali (2020) claimed that physical interaction is part of our daily social interaction
and in the face of pandemic, social media such as facebook became the venue for our dailysocial interaction. Hence, the need for face-to-face social interaction forced every family
member to talk to each other whether for mental health purposes or human development. Erik
Erikson’s theory on psychosocial development (Orenstein et al, 2021), social relationship is
important especially in establishing their identity. This is where adolescents also start todevelopment friendships and according to Erikson failure to develop identity and intimacy
will lead to isolation. The presence of the family members in this developmental stage of theadolescents during pandemic provides a great help for adolescents to develop their selfesteem as they know more about themselves, face physical changes and experience peers in
the presence of their family members.
This pandemic allowed the adolescents to spend more time with their family and less timewith their friends (Lake et al., 2022) despite the need for peer interaction (Orben et al., 2020).
Similarly, Vanderhout et al. (2020) The house became the only venue for human

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development as compared before that the school and community helped in the different
developmental opportunities for children and adolescents. The theory of Brofenbrenner’s
Ecological System Theory shows the sociocultural influence of the environment in the family
relationship or interaction (Evans (2020). The theory stated that child development is acomplex system of relationship affected by their surroundings or environment from theirfamily environment to broader environment outside their home such as school andcommunity. The lack of interaction of children in the school and community setting inpandemic provides the family an opportunity to become the sole source of face-to-faceinteraction despite the presence of social media for virtual interaction. Also, Urie
Brofenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory under microsystem helps explain the influence ofthe environment in adolescent’s interaction to the member of his/her family. The change inadolescent’s environment allows them to realize the presence of their family members as theyinteract with them at home.
The Philippines is known for having close family knit (Asis, 1994), however Gonzales andVargas (2021) claimed that modern Filipino family under pre-pandemic spend more timewith their gadgets than spending time interacting with their family members. This prepandemic scenario of Filipino family situation provides us a clear picture of the absence ofinteraction among family members. In March 2020, pandemic took away everyone from theirwork, school, colleagues, friends, and other activities. People were forced to stay at home andfamily members are forced to spend more time together. The adolescents who spend moretime with their friends are given no choice but to interact with their family members.
Adolescence is the stage of storm and stress according to G. Stanley Hall (Buchanan &Hughes, 2014). Furthermore, storm and stress are also the time where trouble with behavior,emotions, and relationships with parents is high. This is due to internal factor such as changes
in hormones and external factor such as life stresses. Adolescence is similar to the United
Nations concept of Youth, the transition period from dependence of childhood to adulthood’s
independence. In terms of age, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) stated that it is from age 15-24 years old. In the Philippines,
Filipino children are perceived to have no mind of their own and lack of understanding(Alampay, 2014) that is why even when they become adolescents the parents still treat themas children that still need guidance. However, with changes in the environment parents
gradually shift their parenting style to dependency to independence and restrictiveness topermissiveness (Medina, 2001). Hence, the study focused on the adolescent relationship asadolescent deal with distance learning where peer interaction is absent and the only source of
face-to-face interaction is found in the company of their family members.
Statement of the Problem
The study aimed to determine the effect of distance learning to parent-child relationshipamong adolescents. It specifically answers the following:
1. What are the perceived challenges in distance learning when it comes to family
relationship?
2. What are the perceived opportunities in distance learning when it comes to family
relationship?

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Methodology
The study used Qualitative Research Design suing online version of pen and paper type ofinterview. Purposive sampling was employed to the 60 respondents. The respondents arefrom senior high school and college students specifically from first to second year college
who experienced the sudden shift of educational system. The table below shows that majorityof the respondents are college students (53%) which reflects the more exposure of college
students to online since majority of tertiary institutions are in online distance learningwhereas senior high school especially the public schools shifted to modular distance learning.
Table 1 Respondents
Respondents
Frequency
Senior High School28
College Students
32
Total
60

Percentage
47
53
100

In the conduct of data gathering, the researcher asked permission to the respondents throughthe letter included in the google form. To ensure confidentiality, the researcher included alsoa statement regarding Republic Act No. 10173 known as Data Privacy Act to protect all
forms information. The Google form was utilized to gather data in order to determine theexperience of adolescents in distance learning, as they also experience changes in family
relationship. The form was utilized since all the respondents are under distance learning. The
form consisted of two parts. The first part is the profile of the respondents whether they aresenior high or college students. The second part composed of two open ended questions,“What are the challenges you encountered while having distance learning?” and “In terms offamily relationship, what are the perceived opportunities of distance learning in your family
relationship?” In terms of interpreting and analyzing the result, Manual Thematic Analysis
was first utilized to be able to have themes to help organize the gathered data. Frequency andpercentage were utilized to have a clear picture of responses. After that, content analysis wasused to determine the meaning of responses of the respondents.
Results
Challenges in Adolescent Relationship in the Context of Distance Learning
Tale 2 shows that distance learning provides challenges in adolescent’s relationship in termsof environmental factors (35%), focus in their studies (26.67%), lack of communication(15%), house responsibility (6.67%), frequent use of gadget (5%), dependence in making
decision (5%), independence as parents cannot help their children in their studies (5%) andmissing their friends (1.66%). The results show that adolescents perceived that their timespent to their family also affects their studies in terms of paying attention to classes and indoing their academic requirements.
Environmental factors such as noise and distractions from family members are perceived tonegatively affect their relationship with their family members. This implies that adolescentsfind their family members as factors affecting their concentration in classes as they are noisy
and sometimes disturbed them by talking to them and asking them to run errands. The
challenges in adolescent relationship can be rooted in the sudden change of classroom venue,
where the house becomes the classroom. The noise and distractions that come from thefamily members results also to misunderstanding and sometimes adolescents to separate

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themselves from their family members so that they can concentrate on their studies. Also,
parents often argue with their children specially when they are using their phones because
they perceived their children to be on their phones doing activities unrelated to their studies
which sometimes resulted to conflict.
This is reflected in the statement “Often argue with parents specially when I am into
technology the whole day”. This can be associated with their pre-pandemic experience thatfamily members spend more time with their gadgets as mentioned by Gonzales and Vargas(2021). Also, Öngören (2021) affirmed that domestic conflict and mobile phone addiction are
the negative aspects of parent-child relationship during pandemic. The adolescents enrolled
in College mentioned that they experienced more this environmental factor as they are always
in their gadget because of their online classes unlike the Senior High schoolers that they are
more on modules.
The adolescents also claimed that they focused more on their studies than in interacting with
their family members. The result implies that adolescents tend to focus more on their studies
which sometimes hinder them to talk to their family members. It also implies that despite thedifficulty in concentrating with their studies, the adolescents still strive to focus on theirstudies. There are more adolescents in senior high school who stated that they focus more on
their studies and this is due to their modules that they need to finish. However, adolescents incollege are also focused on their studies and since they are online they spend more time with
their gadgets than talking to their family members. This is reflected in their statements“Always in my online class so I do not have time to talk to my family” and “If I have a class I
cannot go out of my room.”
The results also show that lack of communication is perceived by the adolescents to be achallenge while in distance learning mode of instructional delivery. There is a lack ofcommunication because the adolescents are concentrating with their studies be it online or
modular which is affirmed by the result that they focus on their studies than communicatingwith their family members.
The house responsibility also hinders the adolescents to concentrate in their studies andsometimes results to conflict with their family members. This is because parents specially themother expects their children to help in household chores but due to adolescent’s academic
requirement they failed to help. This is reflected in the statements “There are too many
activities to be submitted so I can’t help them with the chores, couldn’t do some of thehousehold chores due to early online class” and “Mother gets angry and calls me lazy
because I am not doing household chores even if I’m currently studying.” Öngören (2021)
confirmed that conflict is experienced due to being at home and it is because of obeying
rules. In the Philippines, the unwritten rule that children must help in household chores andbalance their studies and their responsibility at home. Helping and balancing studies andhousehold chores are believed to be effective training development for children to become
responsible individual. Since children stayed at home, they are expected to finish and takepart in doing household chores.
Adolescents perceived decision making, being independent and missing their friends as
challenges while under distance learning. This can be because there are no peers to influence
their decision so they seek help from their family members. This is reflected in the statements“Became dependent on my family in terms of my decision making.”, “Ask may family before
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adolescents are also challenged by becoming independent reflected in the statement “They
can’t help me in my lesson because they don’t know about it.” and “Children no longer seek
the help of parents, they google everything.” This is because adolescents cannot ask theirfamily members to help them with their studies. This allows the adolescents to learn tobecome independent since there is no classmate or friends to help them with their studies
especially in individual activities in school such as essay writing. This is the reason also why
they miss their friends despite the presence of technology.
The challenges encountered in adolescent relationship affirms the claim of Öngören (2021)
that negative parent-child relationship is attributed to domestic conflicts and phone addiction.
Table 2: Challenges in Distance Learning
What are the challenges you encountered under distance SH College Total%
learning when it comes to family relationship?
fF
f
Environmental Factor
9
12
21
35.00
Fighting because they are noisy, they are noisy, Naiinis minsan kasi maingay sila habang
nagklaklase (sometimes irritated because they are noisy while I am having my class),
maingay at hindi masyadong marinig ang sinasabi ng teacher (Noisy and cannot hear theteacher), hindi makapagfocus sa study kasi minsan may kumakausap sa akin (Cannot focus
because sometimes they talk to me), Madalas kaming nagkakaroon ng hindi
pagkakaintindihan ng mga kapatid ko lalo na kapag nag aaral ako tapos sila nag iingay (Often
have misunderstanding with my siblings specially when I am studying because they are
noisy), Can’t focus properly, distract me and say whatever they want, they are noisy, I am
distracted with their presence, noisy and sometimes my parents thought I do not have a classso they disturbed me, noisy, my siblings are noisy, I get into arguments everytime they tellme to do something when Im doing school requirements, madalas kaming magtalo ng parents
ko lalo na kapag maghapon akong nakatutok sa technology (Often argue with parents
specially when I am into technology the whole day), Often insensitive when they are talking
to me specially when I’m online, Physically present but mentally absent in my class becauseof too many distractions, Nakakatamad gumawa ng assignments lalo kapag maraming ganapsa pamilya (When there is family event I am lazy to do my assignments), I and my brotherplay all night instead of studying, Minsan sa sobrang bonding namin nakakalimutan ko ng
sumagot ng modules (Sometimes because of family bonding I forgot to answer my modules),Fogot to study because I want to spend more time with my family, noisy and distractive
environment sometimes
Focus More on my Studies than my Family
10 6
16
26.67
Always think of my study, Di sila masyado nakakausap gawa ng marami pang modules na
kailangan tapusin (cannot talk much because of so many modules to finish), Always in myonline class so I do not have time to talk to my family, Became focus with my study that is
why I do not have time to bond with my family, focus more on my study than communicate
to them, I use almost all my time in my academic task, kapag may klase hindi ako
nakakalabas ng room (If I have a class I cannot go out of my room), Even in bonding time
gumagawa pa rin ng activities (Even in bonding time I still do activities), So many modules
to finish so no time to talk with them, Sometimes I am loaded with activities in my modules, I
almost forgot talking to them because of modules, Nasa kwarto na lang lagi dahil gumagawa
ng module kasi tahimik (I am always in my room doing my modules because it is quiet), I
rarely get out of my room and see their situation outside, No time to bond because I need tofinish my modules, Instead na ang topic ay about family, nauuwi pa rin ang pag uusap aboutsa mga activitie (Instead that the topic is about family, it still end up talking to activities),
Sometimes asked them to help me in my modules so we talk about the modules, Because of

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modules, I do not have time to bond with my family
Lack Communication
2
7
9
15.00
Lack communication because I am focus on my studies, Hindi makausap dahil nakatutok sa
online class (They cannot talk to me because I am focus in my online class), Communicate
less when studying, May time na kapag kinakausap nila ako at naka earphone ako kasi may
klase (There is a time that they talk to me but I have earphone because I have a class) ,magagalit sila kasi hindi daw ako sumasagot (They got mad because I am not answering),
Become more listener because I cannot pay attention to themHouse Responsibility
2
2
4
6.67
Sometimes, there are too many activities to be submitted so I can’t help them with the chores,
couldn’t do some of the household chores due to early online class, Mother gets angry andcalls me lazy because I am not doing household chores even if I’m currently studying,
Feeling nila kapag nakaupo ako at nagce-celphone wala na akong ginagawa kaya inuutusan
nila ako pero ang totoo may ginagawa ako (they feel that when I am sitting and using myphone, I am not doing anything but in truth I am working)Frequent Use of Gadget
2
1
3
5.00
Always in gadget, spend more time on gadgets, always browsing the internet
Dependence in Decision Making
0
3
3
5.00
Became dependent on my family in terms of my decision making, ask may family before I
make decision, seek the advice of my family when making decision
Independence
2
1
3
5.00
They can’t help me in my lesson because they don’t know about it, Children no longer seek
the help of parents, they google everything
Missing Their Friends
11
1.66
Even though I am with my family I still tell them I miss my friends
Total
28 32
60
100.00*f= frequency
Opportunities in Adolescent Relationship in the Context of Distance Learning
Table 3 shows that distance learning provides opportunity for adolescents to become closer totheir family members, get more time to bond (50%), communicate (10%), be closer to eachother (10%), develop strong relationship (6.67%), know more about the family members(6.67%), provide support (6.67%), help each other do household chores (5.00%), feeling ofsafe and productive (3.33%), and eating together (1.67%). The results show that parents andtheir children had more quality time and opportunities to watch movies together and activities
together. Also, having more time with their family, makes their relationship stronger. The
family members also become more appreciative of the family’s support in making decisions.
This according to Morelli et al. (2020) due to the fact that parents suddenly became their only
point of reference. This implies that adolescents are forced to lean on to their family members
in helping them in their decision making.
The results show that adolescents find distance learning as an opportunity to know more theirfamily members by doing activities together. This according to Bhamani et al. (2020) allows
parents to become source of comfort and remove their worries. In terms of communication
and become closer to each other, both adolescents from senior high and college perceived it
as an opportunity to become closer to their family members as because they can open up tothem. This helps them build strong relationship as Asis (1994) claimed that Filipino has aclose family knit. The results in knowing more my family members, and support affirmed theprevious results. This implies that the time spent by family members results to a positive

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relationship. Family members were able to strengthen more their family ties by enjoying thecompany of each other, doing activities together, becoming more open and avoiding
misunderstanding, settling and understanding individual differences, and showing theirsupport in their academic requirements. Also, this allows the adolescents to become safety
cautious and financially help by becoming productive. Some adolescents build small online
business usually selling items in the internet to help in their family’s daily expenses.
Adolescents perceived distance learning as an opportunity to help in household chores. In
pre-pandemic, students spend most of their time in school that is why they cannot help muchin household chores. Similarly, eating together becomes again a normal scenario in every
household.
The opportunities perceived by the adolescents contributed to the positive relationship whichaffirms the findings of Öngören (2021) that the positive parent-child relationship during the
pandemic period is found to be spending more time together, sharing, doing activities andcommunicating to each other.
Table 3: Opportunities in Distance Learning
What are the opportunities you encountered under SH College Total%
distance learning when it comes to family relationship?
fffMore Time To Bond
11 19
30
50
More time to bond with my family, more time to bond, Bonding with my family, Can spendsome time with my siblings without quarreling, more time to share jokes and stories, to seize
and enjoy the moment”, Laugh with my lolo and lola, More time to visit relatives,“nakakasama ko ng matagal ang aking kapatid” (Spend more time with my siblings), Spendtime with love ones, more time to help and less conflict, Bonding lagi sa pamilya (always
bonding with family), More time to bond in our house, More time for serious talk,nakakapagbonding araw araw (can bond everyday), More time for serious talk, watch movies
together, Create wonderful memories that last a lifetime, bonding helps our family become
more strong, Can see me every day, Can be with them while studying, Nakakasama ang buong
pamilya ( Be with the whole family), Always with them, More time to talk together, Always
bonding time with the family when I am not busy with my studies, eating and cooking
together, more time to bond, Nagkaroon ng oras para makilala and makipagbonding sapamilya (have time to know and bond with the family), Masmarami ng oras para masmakilala
ang ugali ng isa’t isa (have more time to know more the attitude of each other), More time toshare stories and play together, Often have time for each other except when busy sa classes,
More time for bonding with my family, Spend more time to talk, play, do household chores
and to do things together with my family
Communication
3
3
6
10
Communicate with them anytime and it becomes easier to talk to them and open up what isgoing on with my studies and my life, Can talk to each other without misunderstanding, Moretime to talk with my family members like talk about problems, Have someone to talk to when I
am alone, Develops my verbal communication by sharing ideas at nakakapag usap ng mabuti (and can talk seriously) , Able to be open and tell to them about my struggles in studies andsometimes may mapagtatanungan ka (you have someone to ask)
Become Closer to Each Other42
6
10
Lalong nagiging close sa isa’t-isa (Becomes closer to each other), Get closer and open to myfamily, Had closer and stronger relationship because we also spend time reading bible andpraying together, Got to understand each other, Mas involve na sila ngayon sa aking buhay
kesa noon( They are more involved in my life now), Become more open to my parents and

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siblings
Develop Strong Relationship
2
2
4
6.67
Napatibay pa nito ang samahan namin sa pamilya (It strengthen our family relationship),
Masna-bui-build iyong malalim na samahan (It build deeper relationship), Nagiging deep andfirm pa ang aming samahan (Our relationship becomes deep and firm), Strengthenedand build
up our relationship
Know More my Family Members
2
2
4
6.67
Know my family members more, Still in the process of knowing each other behavior, Know
more their interest, Become faithful to their family as I come to know them better
Support3
1
4
6.67
I feel appreciated at some point lalo na kapag sinsabi nila “kaya mo iyan” (especially when
they say “You can do it) but not always, Mas naaapreciate ko sila kasi masnakikita ko kunggaano sila kasupportive sa akin (I appreciate them more especially when I see how supportive
they are to me), Naging available kami sa isa’t isa (We become available to each other) lalo na
kapag humingi ako ng advice sa parents ko bago magdesisyon (especially when I ask foradvice to my parents before I make decision), Help my younger sibling and my nieces answer
and finish their module
Help in Household Chores
2
1
3
5.00
Help doing household chores, Help mother in household chores, unity in doing householdchoresOthers- Safety and Productiveness
1
1
2
3.33
Lots of realization about my family, when member is isolated the parents need to take bettercare of their children, can’t go out to bond in order to be safe and others be safe from us; Moremoney to save because I don’t need to go to school that is why I help earn money
Eat Together
11
1.67
sabay-sabay na kumain tuwing kainan and nagkwekwentuhan (Eat together every meal timeand sharing stories)
Total
28 32
60
100.00Conclusions
The study concludes that challenges face by the adolescents while in distance learning are theenvironmental factors that disturbed them in their classes. In terms of opportunities, theadolescents have more time to bond with their family members, become closer to their family
members, become dependent to them in making decisions and enjoy their meal with theirfamily members.
Recommendations
For further study, include parents’ view on the effect of distance learning to their relationshipwith their children in terms of communication. Also, the researcher recommends to conduct a
study on the difference of male and female adolescents’ perception on the effect of pandemic
to their family relationship. The result will provide vital information that will help parents todeal with their children in terms of communicating with them.

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Acknowledgement
Glory be to God. I thank my husband, my parents, siblings, family and friends in helping mewith this endeavor. Your support (financially and emotionally) greatly help me to finish thisresearch.

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Sciences 2021,11,501.https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11090501.
Vanderhout, S.M., Birken, C.S., Wong, P., Kelleher, S., Weir, S. & Maguire, J.L. (2020).
Family perspectives of COVID-19 research. Res Involv Engagem 6, 69 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1186/240900-020-00242-1.

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Vertalaus, J.M., Shaffer, T. Patten,E.V. &Spruance, L.A. (2021). Parent- Child Relationships
and the COVID-19 Pandemic: An exploratory qualitative study with parents in early,
middle and late adulthood. Journal of Adult Development (2021) 28:251263.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-021-09381-5.
Yu, Z. (2021). The effects of gender, educational level and personality on online learning
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Technology in Higher Education (2021)18:14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-02100252-3.
Book
Medina, B. (2001). The Filipino Family (2nd edition). Quezon City: University of thePhilippines Press.
Contact email: fenequitojane@gmail.com
janefenequito@ucu.edu.ph

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Psychometric Properties of MRRF-Academic Resilience Scale (MRRF-ARS):
A Multifaceted Measure of Resilience
Melvin D. Angeles, Camarines Norte State College, Philippines
Roda Mae Z. Roadel, University of Nueva Caceres, Philippines
Raven C. Shea, Local Government Unit, Philippines
Marie Pauline Faye S. Sales, Ateneo de Naga University, Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
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Abstract
Resilience views as a multifaceted construct anchored on the strength of the human being towithstand and bounce back despite adversity. MRRF- Academic Resilience Scale (MRRFARS) is a newly developed instrument that will help measure the academic resilience ofSenior High School Students. Hence, this paper aims to establish the psychometric propertiesof the MRRF- Academic Resilience Scale in terms of factor structures, reliability, andvalidity. The sample consisted of senior high school students (N=340) from different
educational institutions. Preliminaries in test construction were anchored on factors identified
based on existing literature. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to evaluate the factor
structure of the initial 108-items of MRRF-ARS. Using Varimax Extraction Method, theinitial 108-item questionnaire was reduced to 68 items with only two factors, while otherfactors were excluded due to the low commonalities. The factors that emerged after the
extraction are (1) Positive coping and regulation and; (2) Negative coping and Perception ofacademics. The result proved high internal reliability and constructed validity for the final 68
items inventory. It suggests that the MRRF-Academic Resilience Scale has a good
implication in measuring academic resilience and the emerging identified factors represent
standard features evident in existing research investigating resilience. Thus, this research canbe used both academic and counseling intervention.
Keywords: Academic Resilience Scale, Resilience, Academic Resilience, Coping, Adversity

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The implementation of the Senior High school programs throughout the Philippines was
instigated to cater to and address the pressing trend of education. However, the transition
from the old to the new curriculum and its academic guidelines has further adjusted Filipino
students. These affect the students' cognition, affect, and behavior in terms of dealing
with/handling their academic demands. In connection with this, some Filipino researchers
observed that the implementation of Senior High School affects the student's academic
standing and psychological wellness predominantly. With this, the present study aims todevelop an instrument that can measure the Academic Resiliency of Senior High School
students in the Philippines.
Since resilience was used to measure the functioning of an individual in a general context,
there is limited research that focuses on measuring resilience in the school context. Although
literature proved the strong association of resilience and academic performance, further
research is essential to identify other factors and measures that will help strengthen andestablish the association of resilience and academic performance (Arif & Mirza, 2018). With
this, Resilience is defined as the ability of an individual to bounce back and cope despite
adversity and hindrances (Sarwar et al., 2010). Therefore, resilience indicates that individuals
have stable and healthy functioning after experiencing adverse events (Bonanno, 2004).
According to Pietrzak and Southwick (2011), argued that researchers must clearly defineresilience since resilience is a construct with a multi-dimensional aspect that can be viewed asa trait, process, or outcome. Also, it can be considered to be the mechanism that aids
individuals in coping with different adversity that keeps them going and moving towards thepresent. In this study, resilience is treated as a process of coping with academic adversities
that bring them to academic success.
As defined in this instrument, academic resilience is the ability to adapt and withstandacademic diversity, challenges, and stress from academic requirements and experiences; it
can also recover and maintain wellbeing and effective coping strategies to attain academic
success in Senior High School. According to Cassidy (2015), it was observed and discussed
that the students in the high Success Group were found to have reported higher resiliency
skills than students in the Low Success Group. It implied that students' reported level ofconstruct and resiliency skills would predict future high school success. With this, resilience
entails that the student's level of academic resilience creates an impact on their academic
success.
Resilience, along with positive psychology, comes with a typical dynamic. Both are, indeed,showing a humanistic view of Perception. In the observation of Rao and Krishnamurthy(2017), the resilient individual is those person who demonstrate "the ability to remain well,recuperate, or even succeed in the face of adversity." Although most individuals are coping,they are ordinary people dealing with the challenges and tragedies of everyday life (Masten,2001). In these two statements, the dynamics of being resilient and positive psychology playa beneficial role for the individual given the same situation. Pietrzak and Southwick (2011)
also support these two dynamics. He emphasized the process and described resilience as a
psychological activity that energizes goal-directed behavior, cognition, and emotions. Goaldirected behavior is congruent to finding our meaning and purpose in the positive psychology
discipline. This was also supported by Harvey and Delfabbro (2004); and De Haan et al.
(2002) that resilience is a factor that may function as a risk factor or protective factor
depending on the circumstance. For instance, running away from home might fall into

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protective factors if the home environment is more dangerous than the streets. Still, theopposite is true if not, which creates scoring problems for such items on the questionnaires.
Different studies pointed out the various components that affect academic resilience,
including social influences, cognitive, emotional, and behavior. For instance, it is not only
the student alone who contributes to his academic success but also the environment. A recent
study concluded that a powerful predictor of the academic outcome for children might be thequality of the immediate caregiving environment (Adriance & Shaw, 2009). A caregiving
environment is equivalent to the supportive environment that the student is subjected to.
These include the immediate family members, school authorities, peers, and other individuals
the student recognizes as a significant other. According to Chung et al. (2017), “despite theburden of parental, family concerns, or chronic poverty, most children identified as resilient
have had the ability and opportunity to form a close bond with at least one person [notnecessarily the mother or father] who provided them with stable care” (p. 46). A family
member takes a role in building the student's resilience through their effort and constantcontact with their children.
Along with the social influence is the cognitive or students’ academic competence. Kuyper(2014) that “above average and above” students had a sense of belonging to the school, which
was a predictor of academic resilience. They also concluded that high-achieving students
reported reading more pages per week, doing more homework, and having higher grades than
low-achieving students. The students' intrinsic motivation and its value to the importance ofstudying feeds the resiliency, respectively. On the other hand, the "below average' students,
Fernandez et al. (2018) concluded that human relationships are the most critical factor instudent resiliency which at some point falls to be a factor contributed by social influences.
This study includes assessing the student's emotional capacity to complete the dynamics ofacademic resilience and success. Masten (2011) concluded that a person who adapts well tostress encountered in the academic setting might fail to adapt well in terms of their personal
life and relationships. Stress is one of the academic adversity. It is majorly categorized as theacademic requirements, meeting deadlines, and achieving expectations. But stress for ahighly resilient student could be another thing. Pietrzak and Southwick (2011) observed thatthe more we can learn about resilience, the more potential there is for integrating salient
concepts of resilience into the field of medicine, mental health, and science.
Masten (2014) reported that resilience is composed of the ability and capacity of a dynamic
system to cope successfully with hindrances that threaten system function, viability, ordevelopment. Literature also supported that resilience carries a connotation of positive or
typical developmental adaptations despite exposure to explicit threats or adversity. With thisconcern, there is a high need to explore the psychological aspects of the students. Thus, it
supports the findings of Pietrzak and Southwick (2011) that determinants of resilience
include a host of biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors that interact with one
another to determine how one will respond to stressful experiences. However, Masten (2014)
and Mwangi et al. (2015) supported the claim that resilience is multidimensional
encompasses different domains such as academic, social, and emotional resilience. In
connection with this, the present study determined and addressed academic resilience in theschool context, which is crucial in education.
In the Philippines, there are no established norm/psychological tests that will measure
students' resilience in terms of academics/school context. It will also explore the

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manifestation of external and internal factors affecting the academic resilience of thestudents. Therefore, this test utilized the use of resilience in academics and adapted thetheoretical framework of resilience in education. This test may offer keys to improved schoolorganization, instructional delivery, data analysis, and teacher training that will enhance andimproved student outcomes in Senior High School (Grade 11 & 12).
With this, the present research aims to answer the following research questions to the newly
develop Melvin Roda Rave Faye-Academic Resilience Scale (MRRF-ARS):
1.
What are the psychometric properties of the MRRF- Academic Resilience Scale interms of factor structures?
2.
What is the Reliability and validity Analysis of the MRRF- Academic Resilience
Scale?
METHODS
Participants and Design
MRRF- Academic Resilience scale is a newly developed academic resilience scale. MRRF
was derived from the name initial of each author. The present study utilized Exploratory
Factor Analysis to investigate the factor structure of the newly constructed questionnaire, the
MRRF- Academic Resilience Scale. Also, the present study explored Psychometric
Properties using Inter-item Reliability Analysis and Validity Analysis.
The sample consisted of 340 Senior High School Students with an age range of 14-21 years
old. Senior High School (SHS) refers to Grade 11 (n=176) and Grade 12 (n=164) in bothprivate and public educational institutions in Camarines Sur, Philippines. DepEd has
implemented the K-12 program since 2012. The researchers completed the MRRF-Academic
resilience Scale measure during a single data collection point, at which time participants'
gender, age, and grade-level data were also recorded.
Materials
First, the present study utilized the Academic Resilience Scale-30 (ARS-30), which wasdeveloped by Cassidy (2016). It is a recently developed measure used to assess resilience in aparticular context, specifically, academic success. The items in scale fall into one of threefactors: “Perseverance, Reflective and Adaptive Help-Seeking, and Negative Affect andEmotional Response” (Cassidy, 2016, p.7). High scores on component (factors) 1 and 2 andlow scores on factor 3 indicate high resilience. The scale mentioned above was found to behighly internally reliable, and scores correlated significantly with the measures of selfefficacy. The ARS-30 is also used in various academic contexts; however, the MRRF-ARS
also specializes in academics. The researcher adds some factors that will measure thecognitive, affective, and behavior of the student.
Second, the MRRF-ARS scale was used to measure the academic resilience and academic
success of Senior High School Students. Participants responded to 108 statements relating totheir level of resiliency in terms of academic context using a 4-point Likert scale (1-Highly
Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Agree, and 4-Highly Agree). Example items include: “I monitor andevaluate my achievements and effort in my academics”; “I am able to apply my academic
learning when I am facing conflict with my friends.”; “I always finish my school task despite
my personal issues.” The scale has three (3) main components during the pilot testing:

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Academic Components, Emotional Well-being, Motivation, and Adaptive Social/HelpSeeking. Under academic components, there are three (3) sub-areas: Academic Performance,
Social Competence, and Personal Competence. There are four (4) sub-areas on emotional
wellbeing: Acceptance of Change/Perseverance, Self-Esteem, Ability to handle stress, andSense of Well-being. Lastly, motivation and adaptive social/help-Seeking are also three (3)sub-areas known as the ability to set goals, Strong Connections or Relationships with Adults
and Peers, and Seek for help when needed.
The authors of the scale report high reliability with .888 using Cronbach Alpha in all 108item. The MRRF-ARS scale has a theoretical range of 108-432, with higher scores indicating
more excellent academic resiliency. There are a total of 320 participants who completed the
MRRF-ARS measure.
Test Development Procedure
The initial goal was to develop a single set of items that could be administered to Senior HighSchool Students to provide objective measures of their academic resiliency. Related studies
found changed our theoretical conception and assumptions about the variable; thus, the goals
and procedures were modified. Now, measures of subcomponent items on factors affecting
academic resiliency were included. Hence, the researchers are also opening the possibility ofthe emergence of the new components that might emerge in the data despite the pre-existingpieces of literature used for questionnaire development. Before the data gathering, allparticipants wrote an informed consent and all institutions involved were adequately
informed about the nature of the study. The researchers followed and complied with all
ethical guidelines in conducting research.
When the test construction began, the initial pool of items was compiled. The items
demonstrated a relationship to factors that affects a student’s academic resiliency. Suchfactors were based on previous literature pieces: student's Academic Competence, Emotional
Wellbeing and Motivation, and Adaptive/ Help-Seeking Behaviors were included in 110
items.
The scale presented was then submitted to three content validators with Ph.D. degrees forcontent validation. Some changes and revisions were made to measure the academic
resiliency of Senior High School Students accurately. After content validation, the test with
110 items was revised and reduced to 108 items.
Then, the test developers run the test for Pilot testing in four Universities and schools. The
test booklet was composed of two sets of tests, the MRRF-ARS and ARS-30. Then, twogroups of examinations were administered to 340 students. After the pilot testing, the testdeveloper encoded all the Items in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for data
analysis.
Exploratory factor analysis was employed to measure the factor structure that might emerge
in the preliminary data gathering. After factor analysis, only 68 items were accepted out of
108 items occurs using Principal Component Analysis. After removing the factors with low
commonalities, which did not contribute much with representing components, only two (2)components (Factor Loading) emerged in the data set using Varimax as rotation method.
Thus, a Reliability test was used to re-assess the internal consistency of all items. The
researcher uses Pearson r correlation to MRRF ASR4 and ARS-30 to establish concurrent

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validity. ARS-30 is an established resilience scale that served as a standardized test for
concurrent validation.
RESULTS
Factor Structure
Exploratory factor analysis was employed to measure the factor structure essential to the 108item Academic Resilience Scale for Senior High School Students. Results of the sampling
adequacy measure of this instrument reported a high KMO of 0.812, and Bartlett’s test of
sphericity ( 2 = 16044.973, degrees of freedom = 5578) yielded a statistically significant p =0.000, which suggests that variables are associated and therefore appropriate for extraction.

Figure 1. Scree Plot for the MRRF-ARS showing the amount of variance described for eachfactor loading (SPSS Output).
Figure 1 shows the scree plot, which presents items with a minimum of .40 factor magnitude,
which accounted for the amount of variance described for each factor loading. Thirty-two
components emerge from 108 items. The initial 108-item questionnaire was reduced to 68
items through the Varimax Extraction Method, with two factors accounting for 21.662 % ofvariances. At the same time, other components were excluded due to the low communalities
or unaccepted factor loadings. After the extraction method, only 68 items qualified in the
final inventory. Components 1 and 2 consist of items that are included in the last inventory.
However, components 6, 8-17, 19-32 do not have any item included on the final list, while
components 5 & 4 each have one item included on the last inventory. Although, there areitems that have negative factor loading from components 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 18.

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Table 1. Factor Loadings, Eigenvalues, Percentages of Variance, Mean and Standard Deviationsof the 68-item Academic Resilience Scale (First factor)

Academic Resilience

FL

M

SD

Factor 1: Positive Coping and regulation on Academics
Eigenvalues: 16.245; Percentage of Variance: 15.041%
1. I monitor and evaluate my achievements and effort in my.564 3.1471 .72186
academics.
2. I study my lessons and topics before coming into class.

.432 2.6559 .72205

3. I always read the instructional materials that my teachers
have assigned.

.573 3.1941 .74309

4. I do my assignments and my projects ahead of time.

.541 3.0147 .74653

5. I put a high standard on the projects and assignments that I
need to comply with.

.539 2.9971 .73069

6. I am able to utilize my learning when I am interacting withpeople.

.581 3.0824 .68635

7. I am able to apply my academic learning when I am facing
conflict with my friends.

.451 2.9559 .79885

8. I am able to interact with friends when we are doing
related academic activities.

.553 3.1324 .77772

9. I am open-minded when other people explain new ideas.

.511 3.3971 .72339

10. I am able to empower myself when I am helping otherpeople with their schoolwork.

.603 3.0412 .74355

11. I give high value in achieving challenging schoolwork
and achievement.

.552 3.1324 .71032

12. I always finish my school task despite my personal
issues.

.499 3.1971 .75218

13. I tend to analyze my problem in school and come up withwise decisions.

.532 3.0824 .69489

14. I commit to putting effort into my task despite mypriorities.

.511 3.0735 .72291

15. I am confident in my effort and performance, even underchallenging subjects.

.408 2.8559 .74060

21. I am assured that I will be able to accomplish theperformance tasks given by our teacher.

.605 3.2029 .70187

22. I can fully understand the lesson, ideas, and skills taught
in school.

.406 2.9059 .61684

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30. Keeping track of my stressors helps me manage themefficiently.

.528 2.7735 .72373

31. Exercising helps clear my mind and allows me to absorb
the ideas and skills taught at school.

.468 2.9412 .81074

33. I allow myself a treat whenever I finish my academic
requirements.

.508 3.0676 .84043

34. 34. Having quality time with my friends inspires me to havebetter grades.

.502 3.1206 .78717

35. 35. I breathe and rest for a while whenever I feel tired frommy academic tasks.

.606 3.3088 .79929

36. Surrounding myself with loving and supporting family
and friends drives me to achieve more and have high grades.

.547 3.4706 .72606

37. My motivation in my studies is essential to reach myacademic goals.

.621 3.3618 .74964

38. The belief that I can do whatever I put my mind topushes me towards my academic goals.

.584 3.1412 .72711

42. My academic goals keep me inspired to continue
studying.

.652 3.2412 .76852

43. It seems interesting to set academic goals.

.555 3.1059 .79487

52. I could admit that I need help from others.

.454 3.1912 .78814

53. My room for improvements could be supplemented byothers.

.408 2.8500 .71509

56. I always submit my class output/requirements on time.

.476 3.0765 .77955

59. I always check my notebooks, pen, projects, and school
materials ready.

.505 2.8676 .87077

60. When I have difficulty with a particular topic, I take noteof it and study in the evening.

.447 2.6853 .80801

79. Having the ability to cope with academic stress helps me
know how I should perform at school.
80. I am able to respond to academic challenges quickly.

.635 3.0647 .69251

82. I am able to cope up with my stress every time I
encounter it in school.

.449 2.8500 .71096

84. I breathe and rest for a while whenever I feel stressed
about the performance tasks given by our teachers.

.520 3.1441 .78319

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90. Eating the right foods is important for me to understandthe things taught in school fully.

.479

2.9412 .82873

91. I accept challenges given to me by others.
94. The encouragement I receive from my friends helps me
to do better.

.554 3.2471 .76279

95. I am motivated when I am doing my school tasks.

.514 3.0912 .66557

96. I would be completely in charge of my academic goals.

.531 2.9941 .76035

97. Challenges make me firm with my academic goals.

.468 3.0118 .76415

98. I could stay focused on my academic goals despite
struggles.

.457 2.9206 .68884

105. I would feel motivated if I could share all of mythoughts.

.476 3.0912 .74107

106. I could comfortably accept suggestions from others.

.492 3.1618 .72483

Table 1 above illustrates the final 68 items after the 108 items Academic Resilience Scalefactor analysis. Table 1 shows Factor Loadings, Eigenvalues, Percentages of Variance, Meanand Standard Deviations of the 68-item Academic Resilience Scale. There were a total of two
factors for the final 68-item Academic Resilience Scale, such as (1) Positive Coping andregulation on Academics, (2) Negative coping, and Perception on academics.
Moreover, the table above shows the first factor, Positive Coping and regulation on
Academics, which consisted of items 1-15, 21-22, 30-31, 33-38, 42-43, 45, 47, 52-53, 56, 5960, 79-80, 82-84, 90-92, 94-98, and 105-106. Statements from all of the items indicate thepositive Coping and regulation on Academics. These include the student's academic
competence and ability to withstand academic pressures and demands. In this factor, positive
regulation of wellbeing and the ability to seek support when needed are also highlighted.
Table 2. Factor Loadings, Eigenvalues, Percentages of Variance, Mean and Standard Deviationsof the 68-item Academic Resilience Scale ( Second factor)

Academic ResilienceFL

M

Factor 2: Negative coping and Perception on Academics
Eigenvalues: 7.151; Percentage of Variance: 6.621%
24.I am not as good as my classmates.
.452
2.6206SD.8056926. My routine in-home and school would change every
time I am pressured in academics.

.464

2.2000.8864828. I outwardly express my stress in school in the form ofanger and/or sadness.

.526

2.6382.87661

39. A slight criticism of how I do my projects
discourages me.

.431

2.4000.84070

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40. Having low grades on major exams dismays my spirit
to work towards my academic goals.

.437

2.3176.86166

41. I find it burdensome to set academic goals.

.413

2.6324.8074955. The tendency of being rejected holds me back fromasking for help.

.471

2.2588.7967961. I am not competent enough when I am doing projects
with my group mates.

.422

2.5206.8108062. I tend to withdraw from any responsibility when
exposed to a bad situation.

.488

2.7500.8087864. I have difficulty understanding others’ opinions.

.516

2.8882.7977765. When I am expressing my idea, I feel that myclassmates always disagree with my idea.

.580

2.6382.86646

66. I have difficulty in identifying my personal strengths
that help me in my academics.

.643

2.3735.82291

67. I have difficulty in recognizing how my feelings
affect my performance.

.627

2.3735.8406468.I am not good at identifying my perspective/viewpoint
about myself whenever I faced challenges in myacademics.

.526

2.4471.85884

69. Sometimes, I am not quick at decision making
particularly in uncertain and pressurized academic
circumstances.

.533

2.2324.7807570. I always tend to lost control of my academic
priorities.

.645

2.6059.77037

71. It makes me uncomfortable when the professor gives
surprise tests and quizzes.

.483

2.3029.8480475. I often avoid changes.

.408

2.4118.7914685. I cry and isolate myself every time I feel stress out.

.452

2.3500.98865100. I could hardly know what I really "want.".433

2.1088.80002

Table 2 above shows the second factor, Negative coping and Perception of academics, which
consisted of items 24, 26, 28, 39-41, 55, 61-62, 64-71, 75, 85, and 100. Statements from allof the items indicate how a senior high school student's negative traits or behavior could
influence a student's academic resilience. These include the students coping and Perception ofacademic demands like stress, negative views about self-esteem, and harmful practices that
affect a person's wellbeing.

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Reliability Analysis
Table 3. Reliability of 68 items of academic Resilience
Corrected Item-Total
Cronbach's Alpha if Item
Items
Correlation
Deleted
Item1
.475
.909

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Item2

.403

.909

item3

.495

.908

item4

.485

.909

item5

.421

.909

item6

.526

.908

item7

.420

.909

item8

.516

.908

item9

.437

.909

item10.523.908

item11.479.909

item12.431.909

item13.517.908

item14.428.909

item15.380.909

item21.520.908

item22.406.909

item24.247.911

item26.024.913

item28.204.911

item30.459.909

item31.403.909

item33.424.909

item34

.407

.909

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item35.522.908

item36.421.909

item37.527.908

item38.524.908

item39.061.912

item40.021.913

item41.190.911

item42.559.908

item43.437.909

item45.439.909

item47.345.910

item52.330.910

item53.271.910

item55.094.912

item56.385.909

item59.472.909

item60.387.909

item61.138.911

item62.189.911

item64.179.911

item65.202.911

item66.216.911

item67.095.912

item68.239.911

item69.128.911

item70.272.910

item71

-.024

.913

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item75.099.912

item79.536.908

item80.476.909

item82.392.909

item84.471.909

item85.147.912

item90.414.909

item91.437.909

item92.540.908

item94.461.909

item95.437.909

item96.472.909

item97.353.910

item98.412.909

item100

.074

.912

item105

.331

.910

item106

.404

.909

Internal Consistency of the MRRFARS
α 0.91
MRRF-ARS
N= 340The item-scale analysis is presented in table 3 for the MRRF- ARS. Cronbach's α of 0.91
indicates high internal consistency reliability for the full scale (i.e., summation of the 68
items). All item-total correlations were above 0.1 except items 39 (0.061), 40 (0.021), 55(0.094), 67 (0.95), 68 (0.239, 71 (-0.024), 75 (0.099), and 100 (0.074); as omitting of these
items does not increase the overall Cronbach’s α, it is recommended that all items positively
contribute to the scale’s reliability, supporting the case for retaining these items. ‘Alpha if
item deleted’ revealed and indicate that deleting items 16-20, 23, 25, 27,29, 32, 44, 46, 4851, 54, 57, 58, 63, 72-74, 76- 78, 81, 83, 86-89, 93, 99, 101-104, and 107-108 would
increase—marginally—the reliability of the test.

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Table 4. Correlation of the MRRF-ARS and ARS-30.
ARS-30MRRF-ARS.468**

N

340

Note: N= 340, *p<0.05

Validity Analysis
Table 4 presents the Correlation of the MRRF-ARS and ARS-30. The present test, MRRFARS, correlated it to ARS-30 to identify and find the theoretical connection between theexisting standardized instruments. The significant positive correlation between MRRF-ARS
scores and ARS-30 (r=0.49) reported in the present study demonstrated the scale's concurrent
validity. Therefore, the component in ARS-30 shows the similarity and theoreticalfoundations are relevant.
DISCUSSION
The present study used Academic Resilience to measure and identify the various constructused in the assessment. This study includes assessing the student's emotional capacity tocomplete the dynamics of academic resilience and success. The present study aims toconstruct a test that will measure the Academic Resilience of the Senior High School student.
MRRF-ARS measures academic resilience and ability to withstand academic diversity,
challenges, and stress from academic requirements and experiences as senior high school
students. Factor analysis was used to analyze the data from 340 senior high school students.
Exploratory factor analysis was used to investigate the factor structure of the MRRF-ARS.
Two factors emerged: factor 1 is interpreted as Positive Coping and regulation on Academics,
while factor 2, analyzed as Negative Perception in coping with academics. The emerging
factors reported for a total of 21.62 % of the variance in academic resilience scores and bear aresemblance to factors previously reported in studies focusing on the assessment of resilience
construct and reflecting aspects of self-regulation and self-efficacy. The most crucial factor
was Positive Coping and regulation on Academics, accounting for 15.04 % of the variance. A
Negative perception followed this in coping with academics, accounting for 6.62 % of thevariance. Thus, the emerging factors reflect previously identified and meaningful aspects ofresilience.
The first factor, Positive Coping and regulation on Academics, includes items featuring
academic performance, social and personal competence, highlights the implication of selfesteem, coping to stress, and ability to promote a sense of wellbeing. Some of the items also
include students; motivation to set goals, have strong connections/relationships with peers,and seek help when needed. This research also has a parallel construct with Lereya et al.
(2016) researched that self-regulation and effective coping to handle academic demands inthe school setting are determinants of the student's resilience.
On the other hand, the second factor, Negative Coping and Perception of academics, includes
the items with negative Perception in self-esteem, personal and social competence inacademics, difficulty accepting change, and difficulty handling stress. Some items include

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low motivation to succeed, negative Perception of setting goals, and difficulty in asking forhelp when needed. The factors identified were parallel to Masten’s (2011) findings that
concluded that a person who adapts well to stress encountered in the academic setting might
fail to adapt well in terms of personal life and relationships. Since maintaining balance with
wellbeing and withstanding academic pressures is challenging.
On the other hand, Item analysis presents a strong indication for internal consistency
reliability of the items, with the reported Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91 exceeding levels
customarily considered acceptable. Low item-total correlations did raise uncertainties
regarding the functioning of forty items (items 39, 40, 55, 67, 68, 71, 75, and 100).
Meanwhile, the researcher retained items that contributed positively to the internal reliabilityof the scale since its deletion did not raise the overall reliability of the global scale and did soonly minimal at the factor level.
In terms of validity, Senior High School Academic Performance scores were associated withincreased academic resilience. MRRF- ARS, its concurrent validity, scores are related toother scores on other measurements, ARS-30, that have already been established as valid.
Related literatures both of MRRF- ARS, and ARS-30 reported significant associations
between Academic performance and academic resilience. The essential scores between ARS30 and MRRF- ARS and its considerable positive correlation had demonstrated good
concurrent validity of the scale. These two tests have a significant relationship that would
assess the same constructs.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The psychometric properties of the MRRF-ARS were reported as convincing and as aconstructed measure of resilience in academics and the ability to withstand from academic
diversity of 340 Senior High School Students. It proved that MRRF- Academic Resilience
Scale has good psychometric properties and can measure its academic resilience. The two
factors/components identified, such as Positive Coping and regulation on Academics and
Negative Coping and Perception on academics, measured and served as a predictor of
Academic Resilience. Therefore, a high score on this scale revealed that positive coping andself-regulation in academics. A high score can also suggest that a student can cope andwithstand the stress and adversities that he or she encountered. Therefore, the present study
clarified that the previous emerging factors identified served as a meaningful aspect ofresilience.
Generally, this test measures academic resilience with two factors that identify the students'
ability to adapt and withstand academic stress and demand. Each of the emerging factors
represents standard features evident in existing research that investigate resilience. Although
there is limited research on academic resilience in the Philippines, the resilience concepts andconstructs identified were contextualized in the Philippines’ setting. Thus, the emerging
factor structure, and the degree to which it relates to accepted theoretical definitions andrelevant constituents of resilience, support the construct validity of the MRRF-ARS as aresilience construct. Therefore, further research is encouraged to increase its generalizability
and scope. Hence, an improvement on several areas and components was needed, particularly
involving further assessment to establish the concurrent validity and reliability of the scale.
Administering the test result to different school/grade levels, such as college students, canstrengthen and widen the scope of this instrument. Administering the MRRF-ARS scale toother nationalities or cross-cultural norming can also enhance its psychometric properties.

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On the other hand, this instrument can also measure the academic resilience of the student intimes of the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic might affect the resilience of students
while coping in times of pandemics. Future program developers and school institutions canuse this test to strengthen their policy, programs, and curriculum that can aid the students toenhance their resilience to cope in their difficult situation and stress encountered on theiracademics.
Acknowledgement
We want to express our gratitude to Dr. Lynette Mendoza for teaching and guiding us
throughout the development of this paper. Moreover, we want to give thanks to our family forthe inspiration and to God for His wisdom that help us write this paper.

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References
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Education, 18 (1), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417693493
Fernandez, A. R., Diaz, E. R & Saez, I. A (2018). The role of resilience and PsychologicalWell- Being in School Engagement and Perceived Academic performance: An
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Lereya, S. T, Humphrey, N., Patalay, P., Wolpert, M., Bohnke, J. R., Macdougal, A &Deighton, J. (2016). The students Resilience survey: Psychometric Validation andassociations with Mental health. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health,10:44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0132-5

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Masten A. S. (2011). Resilience in children threatened by extreme adversity: frameworks forresearch, practice, and translational synergy. Development and psychopathology, 23(2), 493–506. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579411000198
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Psychologist, 56(3), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.227
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Contact email: melvinangeles20@gmail.com

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Involvement of Related Populations in Tourism Community Development:
DMOs in the World Heritage Horyuji District
Hiroki Tahara, Meisei University, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
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Abstract
This paper aims to focus on related population, recently the object of expectation with regard
to a new regional revitalization policy in Japan, and to elucidate its actual activities. The
study first defines and categorizes related population. Next, from among the four types
categorized, it examines the case study of Destination Marketing/Management Organizations(DMOs) in the World Heritage Horyuji district. The analysis results enable observation of theactual status of the knowledge creation spiral centered on DMOs, the existence of coreleaders promoting this spiral, and knowledge transfer from tourism community development
to everyday work.
Keywords: Related Population, Tourism Community Development, Service Ecosystem,
Knowledge Creation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Related population, a concept newly established in 2016, does not yet have an organizeddefinition or categorization. Therefore, this study begins by redefining and categorizing
related population—currently subject to diverse interpretations—as a precondition to theresearch objective of clarifying its actual activities.
Next, a case study is addressed in the form of Destination Marketing/Management
Organizations (DMOs) promoting tourism community development in the World Heritage
Horyuji district. Through this case, the study elucidates the transformation of “related
population in the region,” conventionally lacking motivation for community development,
into “active related population.” Specifically, the analysis adopts three perspectives:
motivation for participation in tourism community development, actual status of knowledge
creation within the region, and transfer of knowledge acquired through activities.
This study presents implications for countries around the world that, like Japan, are facedwith issues arising from declining and aging populations, as a new population policy andregional revitalization model.
Background
According to the United Nations World Population Prospects [2019], although Japan’s rate ofaging was as low as 7% in 1970, it reached 20% in 2005 and is now the highest in the world,
including in predicted values for 2060. Aging populations are expected to become an issue in
multiple areas of the world, starting with East Asian countries including China and South
Korea. As a global era of declining and aging populations comes to pass, Japan, one of thefirst counties to confront these issues, is a focus of attention as to how the problem should be
addressed.
In this context, Japan has produced various policies intended to do away with the unilateralconcentration of the population in urban centers. Typical among these is the “regional
revitalization” central to the policies of the Second Abe Cabinet of 2014. Based on the
Masuda Report, this policy raised alarm over the “disappearance of local communities” andtriggered competition for population gain among the regions. Conversely, it also led to thecriticism of quantitative population increase policies aimed at correcting concentration in
urban centers.
From 2016, arguments have been made in attempts to convert the regional population decline
issue from a quantitative to a qualitative concept, giving rise to the keyword “related
population.” This new concept differs from the division of non-resident population—people
visiting a region for short periods of time—and resident population—the subjects oflong-term migration. Similar studies overseas include Schlyter [2003] on multi-habitation(multiple families sharing a living space), Benson [2009] on lifestyle migration (migration
intended to improve quality of life), Becker [2008] on outsiders, and Hannonen [2020] on
digital nomads (a new style of work that has recently attracted attention) among others.

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Definitions and Categorizations of Related Population
Definitions of Related Population
This section reviews previous research and organizes the existing definitions of related
population. Takahashi [2016] defines related population as “people latent between resident
and non-resident populations who regularly visit the provinces from the city.” Sashide [2016]
likewise uses the definition of “people who become involved with a region for purposes notincluding migration or tourism.” The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
defined the concept in 2018 as “those involved in diverse ways with a region and its people
who are neither long-term residents nor short-term non-residents.” The commonality among
these definitions is their context of people involved in diverse ways with the region basedneither on conventional migration and residence policies nor exchange and tourism policies.
Odagiri [2018] divides this “diverse involvement” into the elements of “interest” (awareness)and “involvement” (action), defining related population as “urban residents who areinterested and involved in provincial areas.”
Common to the above four definitions is the approach to related population using theframework of urban versus rural communities.
Tanaka [2021] points out that urban areas also include “regions facing declining population
issues,” defining “related population” as “outsiders continuously interested and involved in a
specific region.” Tanaka’s definition is characterized by its use of the word “continuously” toexpress the frequency of involvement rather than taking a chronological approach and as thefirst to employ a clear identification of the subjects involved in the region as “outsiders”(Table 1).
Table 1: Definitions of related population

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With regard to the inclusion of “outsiders” in the definition, Tanaka [2021] adopts a“sociological positioning based on the concept of the subject outside the region.” However,according to Shikida [2005], a proponent of the “outsider effect” in community development,“not all outsiders come from outside; outsiders may also emerge from within the region.”
Conversely, the conventional outsider theory in regional development tends toward the“theory of outsiders as resources,” in which the region makes use of the outsiders [Noda,
2000; Shikida, 2009]. In this sense, related population further develops the conventional
outsider theory as premised on the transformation of awareness and attitudes from the “object”
to the “subject” of regional development, expected to lead to the realization of cooperation
with the region and value co-creation.
Based on the above, this study presents two new definitions of related population: broadand narrow. The former is “people from inside or outside a region who are (actually or
potentially) continuously interested in and involved with the region.” This broader definition
includes the concept of “outsiders within the region” [Shikida, 2005] as well as those with the“potential” for development into future related population. This point was made with an eye
to “those involved in diverse ways” as defined by MIC.
However, if as the government hopes, related population is defined as “those potentially
responsible for the region” [MIC, 2018], the regions must segment their related population
more precisely and come up with targeted policies. To this end, the narrower definition
proposed is “people from inside or outside a region who belong temporarily to the region or
its organizations and participate in regional development in cooperation with local actors.”
This definition positions related populations as those who, even if on a temporary basis, haveentered the region and become actively involved as the subjects of regional development.
Categorizations of Related Population
Next, let us consider the categorizations of related population. MIC [2018] uses the axes of
involvement with the region and feelings toward the region to create the categories of “nearresidents” (living nearby, with roots in the region), “faraway residents” (living far away),“wanderers” (who come and go within regions), and “those who have worked in, lived in, orvisited the region in the past.” Odagiri [2018] uses the axes of interest and involvement tocreate the categories of regional goods purchasers, taxpayers (under the artificial “hometown”
tax system), frequent visitors, and residents of two regions. Sakuno [2019] uses the axes ofurban/rural perspective and emphasis on value creation/lifestyle maintenance to create thecategories of regional support orientation, “slow life” orientation, regional contribution
orientation, and non-resident regional maintenance. With regard to the categorization ofoutsiders, Shikida et al. [2019] and Morishige et al. [2021] use the axes of resource
ownership and service consumption/creation to create the categories of resident, service
creator, customer, and resource owner.
As seen here, categorizations currently cover as diverse a range as definitions. In accordancewith the broad and narrow definitions indicated above, this study presents a new
categorization. The axes used are positions inside/outside the region (vertical) andrelationship, that is, the degree of interest and involvement in the region (horizontal) (Figure1).

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First, those inside the region with high interest and involvement in the region are categorized
as the “active” group. This applies to groups collaborating with regional revitalization
through resolving regional issues over a limited period of time, region–academia
collaborations in which university students work with community residents to resolve issues,
local innovators developing regional businesses based on the resolution of local issues, and soon. This group uses “related population” in its narrower sense, including “outsiders” making
temporary visits to the region from outside as well as the MIC [2018] category of“wanderers.”

Figure 1: Categorization of related population
Next is the “support” group or those residing outside the region with high interest andinvolvement in the region. This includes residents of two regions who return to theirhometowns on weekends to care for elderly parents, volunteers providing support indisaster-afflicted areas, “hometown” taxpayers, and so on. This group is composed of those
who want to support the region in some shape or form, similar to the concepts of “dual-region
residents,” “taxpayers” [Odagiri, 2018], “regional contribution” [Sakuno, 2019], and“multi-habitation” [Schlyter, 2003].
Likewise, those residing outside the region with low interest and involvement are categorized
as the “latent” group. This includes city residents hailing originally from the region,purchasers of regional goods, tourists, those on working vacations, digital nomads [Hannonen,2020], and so on. Compared to the other three groups, this group is only loosely connected to
the region.
Last is the “passive” group of those residing inside the region with low interest andinvolvement therein. This group includes local residents, businesspeople based in the region,
students at local universities, and so on. Although they do not participate in community
development activities intended to resolve regional issues, their existence within the region
enables them to be positioned as “related population in the region.”

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Above, this study has established four categories of related population. With the exception of
the active group, all can be considered potential members of the study’s narrower definitionof related population. In the future, regions will be in need of a strategy aimed at increasing
the active related population in order to cultivate a related population capable of taking
responsibility for the region in the future.
Case Study Research
Overview and Background of the Target Region
The region addressed in this case study is Ikaruga Town in northwest Nara Prefecture. With apopulation of approximately 27,000, this town is a major Japanese tourist site owing to its
historical and cultural heritage, including the Fujinoki tumulus and Horyuji Temple, theworld’s oldest wooden building, said to have been built 1400 years ago by Prince Shotoku
and registered in 1993 as Japan’s first World Heritage site.
While the presence of Horyuji as a major tourism resource has been a blessing for Ikaruga,
the town has also been dependent on it for many years, resulting in a passive approach to thedevelopment of new tourism resources. The number of tourists visiting the town to see
Horyuji peaked at 1.28 million in 2010 and has been on the decline ever since, as a result of
the decrease in school trips caused by the decline in child population, the shift in tourism
trends from group to individual travel, the change in preferences from sightseeing toexperiential, etc. Alarmed by the situation, the town produced its first tourism strategy in2011, aiming to find and develop new tourism resources rather than remain dependent on
Horyuji alone.
Research Targets
Involved in the business project perspective in Ikaruga Town’s tourism strategy was
Masahito Inoue. Originally the proprietor of his family’s real estate business, he developed aninterest in community building and created a Community Development Division in his
company in 2013. In 2017, he registered as a DMO and began full-scale tourism community
development work. In this study, interviews were conducted with Inoue, Koichiro Yanai, acivil servant who worked with Inoue through his position at Ikaruga Town Hall, and Aya
Tsutsumi, a florist also involved in tourism community development with Inoue (Table 2).
Both Inoue and Tsutsumi, born in Ikaruga, are non-outsider “related population within theregion.” In this case, their involvement in regional tourism community-building whilerunning their real estate and florist businesses enabled them to transform from “passive” to“active” related population.
Table 2: Interview targets

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Research Methods
The data collected included results of interviews held via an online remote conference system
in March 2021, as well as two semi-structured interviews conducted on site in July 2021. The
analysis used Otani’s SCAT method (2011).
Analysis Perspective
The analysis uses Tahara’s [2021] framework, integrating the service ecosystem of Vargo
and Lusch [2014] and the knowledge creation cycle of Nonaka et al. [1995, 1998] (Figure 2).
This framework integrates the three-level spatial perspective of the service ecosystem and thefour “places,” tacit knowledge, and explicit knowledge of the knowledge creation process.
This enables the elucidation, on the one hand, of tourism community development activities
within knowledge co-creation and the service ecosystem and the status of movement between
these activities and the daily work (practice) of the main businesses, which cannot be fully
grasped by levels of the service ecosystem alone, and, on the other, of the aggregation ofactors at each level of the service ecosystem and characteristics of the systematic logic
therein, which cannot be fully grasped within the knowledge creation process.

Figure 2: Analysis perspective[Tahara, 2021]
Research Results
Storyline Generation
Inoue’s Storyline
The background for Inoue’s involvement in tourism community development is, he says, anindirect influence from the previous generation, whom he watched working in community
development while running their real estate business. While Inoue himself has likewise been
involved in community development through city hall work, the PTA, and volunteering, thedirect opportunity for participation in tourism community development was his membership

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Official Conference Proceedingsin the Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Division. Coming into contact through his Chamber ofCommerce activities with businesses closing down and those with no successors, Inoue came
to consider what kind of business would make the most of Ikaruga’s strengths. He focused on
tourism, which has a low barrier to entrance from other business categories. The only
distinguishing factor of a tourism business is whether it targets tourists or not, enabling“tourism businesses to be created by a shift in attitude alone.” He began to see the issue thus:“A lot of tourists visit Horyuji and then jump right back on the bus and leave. Is there some
way we can keep these pass-through tourists in the town longer?” In 2013, he established a
Community Development Division in his company, and in 2017, he registered as a candidate
DMO and began full-scale participation in tourism community development. Inoue worked toconvince his local businesses that “[they] too could become tourist businesses.” Shortly after
he entered the field of tourism community development, five restaurants opened in the
Horyuji area. While the direct economic effects have not yet been fully realized, many local
residents use the restaurants along with tourists. In 2019, the WAQOO Horyuji hotel opened
in town; even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it hosted 5,985 people in FY2020,
approximately 8 times the number of the previous year, beginning to show steady results. In
addition, when Inoue drives his tourist-experience buggy around town, local farmers wave athim, showing an unprecedented effect of creating communication with local residents. In
April 2021, the West Nara Wide Area Tourism Promotion Council, a wide-area collaborative
project among six local municipalities, including Ikaruga Town, was launched with Inoue as
its secretary general. Its goal is to bring in tourists from neighboring prefectures, such as
Osaka and Hyogo, reaching six million tourists in the area within five years.
Yanai’s Storyline
In 2011, when the town embarked on tourism community development in earnest, with apolicy focusing on tourism in the general town plan, Yanai was transferred to the tourism
division. The context included a drop by half in the number of visitors to Horyuji, over a
million at its peak, and thus, the need to plan a move away from dependence on Horyuji.
Thus began Yanai’s partnership with Inoue. At the time, however, they were both “tourism
amateurs,” “throwing out opinions at random.” With their 2017 registration as a DMO,
extensive external information became available. Yanai and Inoue became part of a network
extending outside the region, including not only local groups such as the Chamber ofCommerce and tourism associations but also other municipalities and their tourism
organizations. Taking cues from the information gleaned through this network, the “Pokémon
Manhole Project” began in January 2021. Its aim is the extraction of a new target groupdifferent from visitors to Horyuji.
Tsutsumi’s Storyline
Tsutsumi says she became involved with the tourism community development plan when
asked to do so by Inoue, who was then (2012) serving as chair of the prefectural associationof the Chamber of Commerce. At the time, she was frustrated with the florist shop she had
opened as a sideline to the welfare facility originally established by her grandfather. Hoping
to find a way through, she joined the association as requested by Inoue, a trusted childhood
friend. Recently, on introductions through the DMO, she has been taking part in large events
held by Osaka businesses as well. In addition, she has found a new line of work as a flower
arrangement instructor through tourists who posted on social media about their experience
trying flower arrangement. She also has a sense of an expanding network as she reaches new
tourists by changing the store’s background music, etc., based on the advice of tourists.

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Tsutsumi herself has achieved knowledge transfer to practice by drawing on the colors andarrangements selected by tourists in their flower arrangement experience in her business.
Theoretical Discussion
Theories were created based on the structural concepts generated from each storyline (Table
3).
Table 3: List of theoretical discussion through SCAT

Discussion
The implications obtained from the interviews are as summarized below.
Opportunities Leading to Participation in Tourism Community Development
Each of the three interview targets was a tourism amateur. Inoue, who focused on the tourism
resource of Horyuji, a World Heritage site and the town’s symbol, became interested in
tourism community development; the town’s strategic policy, aiming for the development of
new tourism resources in order to move away from dependence on Horyuji, was in line with
Inoue’s thinking, enabling Inoue and Yanai to begin their tourism community development
initiative. In contrast, Tsutsumi, the florist, was well aware of the tourists visiting Horyuji but
was not sure how to connect tourism to business. Invited by Inoue, who happened to be achildhood friend, to join the Chamber of Commerce Youth Division, she decided to take partin tourism community development. From the perspective of knowledge creation, this is a
shift from the place of practice to that of empathy. Through the shift from their places ofpractice (daily work at a real estate company, florist shop, or town hall) to a place of empathy
in the form of tourism community development, they deepened their connections to theregion. In other words, they were transformed from comprising the passive related population
to the active related population within the region. However, at this point, they were sharing

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only tacit knowledge, bouncing ideas off one another; in terms of the service ecosystem, theiractivities took place within a limited group of actors at the microlevel.
The Role of the DMO as an Aggregator for People and Information
Upon the establishment of the DMO in town in 2017, the DMO itself came to function as agathering point for information and people: it brought together the Chamber of Commerce,
the tourism association, businesspeople, producers, and other related people andorganizations within the town, developing organized tourism area management. New tourism
resources such as restaurants, souvenir shops, hands-on experience facilities, andaccommodation facilities began to appear. A space for dialogue was generated with focus on
Inoue and Yanai, based on the concept of moving away from dependence on Horyuji, thus
making tacit knowledge explicit. With the DMO registered as a candidate corporation, its
service ecosystem level can be considered to have moved up from the microlevel to themesolevel.
The West Nara Wide Area Tourism Promotion Council, launched jointly by six
municipalities including Ikaruga Town amid the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2021, is
expected to function as an online space with still more people and organizations involved.
They are already forming a macrolevel service ecosystem including not only major domestic
companies such as JR and JAL but also United Nations World Tourism Organization. Thismay be considered the stage at which the explicit knowledge developed in the town is linked
with the likewise explicit knowledge provided by external actors. Here as well, the DMO
centered on Inoue is functioning as a secretariat.
Knowledge Transfer From Tourism Community Development to Places of PracticeBoth Inoue and Tsutsumi are making use of the knowledge obtained through tourism
community development in their daily work. This stage may be called the internalization of
explicit knowledge as well as the process of making it tacit once again. Inoue noted that thecommunication activities with diverse partners that take place during tourism community
development provide pointers for training younger employees. Next spring, Ikaruga
Industries will accept new graduates from national universities outside the prefecture; they
are the upcoming generation responsible for the region, as well as an example of theacquisition of active related population. Tsutsumi has also succeeded in increasing hercustomer base through the help of advice from tourists. This has also led to the acquisition oflatent related population in the form of tourists. In this way, going back and forth between
tourism community development and the place of practice of their own daily work, they
repeatedly create knowledge and draw in new related population, constituting a virtuous
circle. The entire service ecosystem is shown below (Figure 3).

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Fig. 3: The Ikaruga Town service ecosystem
Summary and Remaining Issues
This paper concludes with a summary of its content and issues for future research. The study
defined and categorized related population and examined how one of its categories, passive
related population within the region, can be transformed into active related population.
Through their presence in the region, residents were able to sense attraction in the potential
presented by Horyuji as a tourist resource. However, the use of “tourism” content to pursue
tourism community development was unknown. In this context, the DMO functioned as anorganization aggregating people and information, leading to a knowledge creation spiralamong actors within and outside the region. The DMO has also relied heavily on its corehuman resources, one-time tourism amateurs like Inoue and Yanai who have developed into
tourism community development leaders.
Although Japan’s declining birth rate and aging society have led to a notable drop in
population and its concentration in urban areas, the shift in population policy from theconventional “quantity” to “quality” represented by related population can help resolve theshortage of regional leaders in Japan. Related population within the region, as addressed inthis study, may serve as a policy to propose new models for region-led practices, reversing
the conventional concept of bringing people in from outside.
The Japanese government has announced a goal of creating 1000 regional public entities
involved in creating or expanding related population by FY2024, amounting to nearly 60% ofsuch entities nationwide. However, various issues remain unsolved in order to develop
Japan’s related population policy as a global model, given Japan’s position as the vanguard of
declining birth rate and aging population. For example, undue haste in acquiring active
related population to form potential regional leaders may result in driving away related
population who prefer looser connections, thus defeating the purpose of the initiative. To
avoid repeating the mistakes of past policies on resident and non-resident populations, it isimportant not to be distracted by numerical indicators.
Finally, tasks for the continuation of this study include the need to focus on categories otherthan the “passive related population” addressed here. In particular, a promising topic for

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continued research is an investigation of how “support” and “latent” related populations
outside the region enter the region and transform into active related population.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the three people who cooperated in theinterview for this research.

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Shikida, A., Morishige, M. and Ikenoue, S. (2019). Yosomono no chiiki teijusha e no hen’yo
ni kansuru kosatsu (Consideration of the transformation of outsiders into regional
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Contact email: htahara@officetahara.com

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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Its Incorporation Into Formal
Education in Japan: An Explanatory Case Study
Aric Denfield, Nichidai Sakuragaoka High School, Japan
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Abstract
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is vital to create sustainable societies.
Successive governments in Japan have advocated the incorporation of ESD into its education
system. This paper investigates teachers’ understandings of Sustainable Development (SD)and ESD and the extent to which ESD has been incorporated into lessons. The current work
is an explanatory case study, conducted in a private senior high school. Data collection
involved a literature review, looking at international iterations of ESD and its interpretation
by relevant Japanese ministries; an interview with the school’s curriculum coordinator; andfinally the collection of quantitative data. The instrument was designed by the author. The
results indicate teachers view SD primarily through an environmental lens. They consider itof vital importance; however, the majority of respondents find ESD difficult to understand.
ESD-related themes are integrated into lessons, although this varies by department and its
inclusion is determined by the content of textbooks. Inter-disciplinary learning is largely
absent. Respondents supported the development of ESD’s core competences and values;
however, many of the pedagogies used do not aid that development, even though greater use
is being made of Active Learning. To implement ESD more effectively, the school needs toadopt a holistic approach. Teachers must be better acquainted with ESD literature and greateruse must be made of active learning methods.
Keywords: Sustainable Development, Education for Sustainable Development, Environment,
Values, Pedagogies, Transformation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Acronyms and abbreviations
DESD

The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

DeSeCoDefinition and Selection of Competencies

EE

Environmental Education

ESD

Education for Sustainable Development

GAP

Global Action Programme

MEXT

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology

NIER

National Institute of Education ResearchOECD

Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development

SD

Sustainable Development

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

UN

United Nations

UNECE

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

UNESCO

United Nations
Organization

Educational,

Scientific,

andCulturalIntroduction
Chapter 36, Agenda 21 (1992) set out the central role of education in the creation ofsustainable societies. This was reaffirmed in the Johannesburg Declaration, at the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002 (UN, 2002: 64), where education was describedas ‘critical’ in the attainment of SD.
Successive governments in Japan have provided for the incorporation of ESD into thecountry’s formal education system. Its introduction was set out in the Basic Plan for the
Promotion of Education, 2008 and again in the Second Basic Plan for the Promotion of
Education, 2013 (MEXT, undated). ESD is also a core component of the Courses of Study,
2008 and 2009 (MEXT, 2016).
The objective of this work is to investigate teachers’ understandings of SD and ESD and to
consider the extent to which the principles of ESD have been incorporated into the seniorhigh school where they work. It is hoped that this study will add to the literature on ESD in
Japan and it will help ESD to be more effectively implemented in other educational
institutions.
Significance of the study
ESD occupies an important place in the government’s current and future plans on education(Kodama, 2017 and MEXT, 2016). Yoshiyuki (2017) writes, however, there has been a lack

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Additionally, many of the studies conducted (see, for example, Cotton et al, 2007 andThomas, 2014) have focused on ESD in higher education, overlooking its implementation ineither junior or senior high schools. This study will help to address that deficit.
Structure of the study
There shall first be a literature review which will look at the relationship between SD and
ESD, the nature of ESD and the incorporation of ESD in Japan. The work will then move onto the case study and a presentation of the data. This shall be followed by conclusions andrecommendations. The paper will finish by looking at some of the limitations of the study.
Literature Review
The literature review will consider, first, the contribution of ESD in the attainment of SD;
second, key features of ESD, specifically in terms of competence development and the needfor pedagogies with a focus on Active Learning (AL); third, the incorporation andinterpretation of ESD in Japan, including: ESD as transformational education, competencies
and concepts within ESD, the use of Active Learning, suggested ESD content, and finally abrief description of ‘Zest for Life’ and its connection to ESD
ESD and the attainment of Sustainable Development
It is envisaged that ESD will facilitate the attainment of SD in a number of ways. First, it will
ensure that, ‘all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote Sustainable
Development’ (UNESCO, 2020: 14). Learners, having acquired the required knowledge andskills, will then be empowered to, ‘take informed decisions and responsible actions forenvironmental integrity, economic viability and a just society for present and future
generations’ (UNESCO, 2020: 8). The significance of ESD lies in its goal of fostering change
agents, who can help society to transition away from unsustainability.
ESD: key features
The key features of ESD are that it is holistic, value driven and transformative. (UNESCO,2014). It requires the use of Active Learning pedagogies rather than more traditional teaching
methods (Howell, 2021). There is a focus on the need to develop a set of core competencies(Leicht et al, 2018) and the content of ESD must be related to the 17 SDGs (UN, 2015) and it
must be relevant to the context in which teaching and learning is taking place (Leicht, 2018).
The literature review conducted for this study focused on two of these features: competencedevelopment and the use of Active Learning pedagogies.
From the second half of the DESD, competences occupied an increasingly prominent place in
ESD (Mochizuki and Fadeeva, 2010; Rieckmann, in Leicht, Heiss and Byun, 2018；UNECE,
2011). Caravita and Clement (2014) write, however, that definitions of competence remain
controversial. According to the authors, however, it is the OECD’s definition of competency
that has succeeded in achieving some consensus. According to the OECD, a competency
involves, ‘the ability to meet complex demands, by drawing on and mobilizing psychosocial
resources (including skills and attitudes) in a particular context’ (OECD, 2005: 4).

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Different sets of competences have been set out for teachers and educators (ESDcompetences) and students (sustainability competences) (Cebrian et al, 2020). The focus of
this work is on sustainability competences. UNESCO (2017b) sets out eight key competencesthat need to be developed, and these are presented below.

UNESCO: Sustainability Competences
1.

Systems thinking competency

2.

Anticipatory competency

3.

Normative competency

4.

Strategic competency

5.

Collaboration competency

6.

Critical thinking competency

7.

Self-awareness competency

8.
Integrated problem-solving
competency

Source: UNESCO, 2017b: 10
Cebrian et al (2020) write that developing sustainability competences among all levels of
education is critical to the development of sustainability literacy, which is a precondition forpeople to become positive change agents. Stibbe and Luna (2009: 11) define sustainability
literacy as, ‘… a wide range of practices people are empowered to participate in, throughhaving skills in using language in particular ways.’ The authors further state that by acquiring
sustainability literacy skills people will be ‘…empowered to read society critically,
discovering insights into the unsustainable trajectory that the society is on and the social
structures that underpin this trajectory’ (2009: 11).
The development of sustainability competences is facilitated through the use of appropriate
pedagogies. The International Implementation Scheme (UN, 2006: 31) stipulates that ESD
must be interdisciplinary and that ‘…a range of pedagogical techniques that promoteparticipatory learning and higher-order thinking skills’ must be used.
Lozano et al (2017) note, however, that little research has been conducted on the connection
between pedagogies and the development of sustainability competences. To address this gap,
the authors conducted a meta-analysis mapping pedagogical approaches to the competencesthat they might develop. The majority of the pedagogies identified by Lozano et al (2017)(Appendix 1) as being likely to foster sustainability competences can be classified as a part ofan active learning methodology.
ESD and JapanThe Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 2016) sets out
three goals for ESD:lto provide everybody with the benefits of a high quality educationlto, ‘incorporate the principles, values and behaviours necessary for sustainable
development …
lto transform, ‘…values and behaviours in order to bring about a sustainable future…
Moving on to its key features, first ESD is supposed to be transformative. According to

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MEXT, the purpose of ESD is to enable everyone to affect a, ‘positive societal transformation’(IGES, 2009: 55). Yoshiyuki (2017) writes ESD as transformational education is at the heartof ESD in Japan.
Second, there is a focus on the development of competencies. MEXT (2016) identifies sevencompetences and attitudes that need to be fostered (see table 1). According to MEXT (2016),
however, schools must have the autonomy to define new competences and attitudes as well as
to select and tailor the different competences so that they are relevant to local circumstances
and the developmental stage of students.
Table 1: Competencies and attitudes to be emphasised in ESD
1. Ability to think critically

2. Ability to plan with anticipation ofa future scenario

3. Multidimensional and integrative
thinking

4. Communication skills

5. Ability to cooperate with others

6. Respectful of relations andconnections

7. Proactive participation
Source: MEXT, 2016: 7
Additionally, according to MEXT (IGES, 2009), attention had to be paid to developing
learners who are able to think globally and act locally; who respect their connection to otherpeople, society and the environment; and who are able to both visualize a future society andthen act upon those plans. In Japan’s ESD Implementation Plan, 2006 (cited in MEXT, 2016)
thinking globally and acting locally was presented as a form of learning that would enable
learners to develop new values and behaviours that would pave the way for more sustainable
futures.
In addition to competences, MEXT (2016) sets out six concepts (see table 2), which it
describes as being important when ESD is being integrated into lessons. It is the
responsibility of teachers, when planning lessons, to consider which of the concepts will
guide the lesson’s socio-emotional dimensions.

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Table 2: Concepts of Sustainable Society Building
1. Diversity (variety exists)

2. Interdependence (relating to eachother)

3. Limitation (limits exist)

4. Fairness (valuing everybody)

5. Cooperation (cooperating withothers)

6. Responsibility (taking
responsibility)

Source: MEXT 2016: 6
Regarding pedagogies, MEXT (2016) states that traditional teaching techniques will not
prepare students for the challenges that they will face. In accord with the position espoused in
the Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable
Development (UNESCO, 2014), MEXT advocates the adoption of active learning
methodologies. Active learning was, in fact, described as being the ‘main pillar’ of the 2018
revision of the Course of Study (McMurray, 2018). Giving specific advice on how toincorporate ESD into classrooms, MEXT (2016: 14) calls for teachers to ‘Apply aparticipatory approach that emphasizes experience and feelings’, and teachers ought to‘Develop a participatory attitude and problem-solving skills’. These pedagogies echo those
identified by Lozano et al (2017) as being conducive to the development of core competences
within ESD.
The themes that are to be addressed within ESD, are presented by MEXT in a concept map(figure 1) and there are areas of both convergence and divergence with international iterationsof ESD. Further direction was given by MEXT (IGES, 2009), according to which amongdeveloped countries, programs had to be promoted in which there was an emphasis onenvironmental conservation, which, concurrently addressed the integrated
development of the environment, economy

Figure 1: Content areas for ESD
Source: Japan National Commission for UNESCO, 2012: 1

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Finally, in terms of Zest for Life, y Nakayasu (2016) writes this is one of the basic goals of
current educational practice. The author states there is significant overlap between zest forlife and the key competencies defined in the OECD’s DeSeCo project. Kimura and Tatsuno(2017) detail the main elements of zest for life as: having solid academic prowess, to be richin humanity and to be healthy and fit in order to lead a vigorous life.
Case Study
Included in this section are: the three research questions; an explanation of the methodology
used for data collection; a description of the site and its ESD policy; and finally the findings.
Research Questions
Three Research Questions were set out to address the question posed in the title:
1. How do teachers conceptualize sustainable development?
2. What is teachers’ understanding of ESD?
3. To what extent does teachers’ classroom practice support the stated goals of ESD?
Methodology
The data collection methods are a literature review and a questionnaire.
Literature Review
The literature review was conducted to, ‘establish a rationale for the research questions or
hypotheses’ (Creswell, 2014: 62) and to identify the central issues in the field. The literaturethat has been presented draws heavily on UN, UNESCO and Japanese government policies sothat the results of the case study can be located within broader discussions of national andinternational ESD policy, which can then be understood within broader debates on the natureof sustainable development.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was developed by the current author. Concepts of SD and ESD, asdescribed in the literature, were rephrased as statements, thus ensuring a high degree ofcontent validity, described by Cohen, Manion and Morrison as the extent to which the
instrument, ‘comprehensively covers the domain or items that it purports to cover’ (2015).
The questionnaire contains 62 questions in total (60 closed and 2 open). When thequestionnaire was piloted, it took respondents, on average, 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The
items were measured using a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was in Japanese toensure that it was readily understandable. Finally, in terms of its implementation, theinstrument was administered in hard copy. While it was the intention of the author to use a
Computerized Self-administered Questionnaire (CSAQ), this method was rejected by theschool.

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Sampling Method
The unit of analysis chosen for the current study is the school at which the researcher works.
The rationale upon which the case was selected was its intrinsic interest, a choice supportedby Creswell (2007).
Moving on to the sampling methods for the units of observation, the current author did not
attempt to delimit a portion of the population (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016), i.e. theteachers employed at the site. Because ESD is supposed to be both interdisciplinary andholistic it was the intention of the author to gain as wide a range of views as possible.
Description of the Site
The study was conducted in a private senior high school, close to the center of Tokyo. There
are 100 teachers: 56 full time, 40, part time and four Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs).
There are roughly 1,500 students currently enrolled, ranging in age from 15-18.
Like many other private schools in Japan, the institution is part of an escalator system. In theescalator system ‘a school corporation’ provides education often from pre-school all the way
through to university, with primary and lower secondary schools being affiliated to seniorhigh schools and universities.
ESD Policy
The position of the school with regards to ESD was presented by the curriculum coordinatorin a recorded interview. He describes ESD as being ‘very important’. However, he went on tostate that the school does not have either a formal ESD policy or calendar.
According to the curriculum coordinator, the school’s priorities in relation to ESD are tofocus on global issues, such as poverty and environmental problems. It is hoped that thisapproach will enable students to develop a global mind, which, as has been described above,is one MEXT’s ESD objectives.
Regarding pedagogies, two years ago the school started to encourage teachers to transition
away from lecturing to a more active approach, which is more likely to develop ESD’s corecompetencies. The ratio of lecturing to more active approaches stands at roughly 80:20. The
school, for instance, encourages increased use of project and problem-based learning,
identified by Lozano et al (2017) as developing the competences required for ESD.
Looking at the competencies that the school is trying to develop among students, these can belocated within the set of competencies identified by MEXT. The competencies identified by
the school’s management were:lcritical thinking,lcollaboration,lcommunication,lthe ability to plan with the anticipation of a future situationland proactive participation.

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The ability to plan with the anticipation of a future situation and to independently identify
and solve problems was described as a key competence, which will enable students to survive
in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world.
Finally, in terms of transformative learning, the interviewee asserted that the school isfocused on meta-cognition and second order change. This approach was described by Sterling(2010) as being reformative rather than transformative. It seeks to examine and change
assumptions rather than to affect a paradigm change. Balsiger et al (2017), however state
what is required for transformative learning is third order learning, described by Sterling(2010: 23) as being learning that affords learners ‘the experience of seeing [their] worldview
rather than seeing with [their] worldview’ and that will lead to a paradigm change.
Findings
The findings will be presented, moving from teachers’ attitudes to Sustainable Development
to their understandings and implementation of Education for Sustainable Development, withregards to the inclusion of ESD-related content and the use of Active Learning pedagogies.
Attitudes to Sustainable Development

Figure 2: SD is essential for the future of the planet(n = 20, Std. = .687, µ = 4.45)
A significant majority of respondents see sustainable development as being essential for the
future of the planet (figure 2). This view was entirely expected, as few people are likely to
say that they want development that is not sustainable!
Consequently, teachers’ views had to be explored in more detail, as there are conflicting
views on how SD can be achieved and what degree of change is required to facilitate it.
Figures 3-6 look at teachers’ views on SD in more detail.

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Figure 3: Preserving natural habits asImportant as ensuring economic growth(n = 20, Std. = .513, µ = 1.5)

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Figure 4: People should change theirconsumption habits(n = 20, Std. = .489, µ = 4.35)

Figure 5: SD cannot be achieved until
People’s priorities and perspectives
have changed(n = 20, Std. = .887 µ = 3.60)

Figure 6: Environmental problems canbe solved through more efficient use ofresources(n = 20, Std. = .813 µ = 3.15)

The data presented above suggest that respondents attach considerable importance to theprotection of the environment and they are prepared to accept some reduction of economic
activity in order to attain it (see figures 3 and 4). However, figure 5 indicates that, in general,
respondents do not believe that a paradigm change is necessary. Further, the majority of
respondents who expressed a definite opinion stated that environmental issues can be solved
through more efficient use of resources.
Attitudes to ESD
A significant majority of teachers describe ESD has having a central role in current Japanese
educational policy (figure 7) and yet, at the same time, the overwhelming majority of
respondents find it a very difficult concept to understand (figure 8). Further, there isconsiderable confusion regarding the difference between Environmental Education and
Education for Sustainable Development (figure 9)

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Figure 7: ESD plays a key role in shaping
Japan’s Education policy(n = 20, Std. = .649 µ = 4.00)

Figure 8: Is difficult to know exactly
what ESD is(= 20, Std. = .671 µ = 3.65)

Figure 9: There is very little difference
between EE(n = 20, Std. = .641 µ = 3.9)

The implementation of ESD in the classroom
To assess the degree to which ESD has been implemented in classes, two factors wereanalyzed. First, consideration was given to the content of lessons and the extent to whichthemes associated with ESD have been incorporated. Second, whether the pedagogies
respondents use support the development of sustainability competencies.
The Incorporation of ESD-related Content
A significant majority of respondents, who voiced a definite opinion, agreed that the threepillars of SD – economy, society and environment – should be addressed equally in ESD(figure 10) Crosstabs analyses (figures 11 and 12) indicate that ESD’s core themes areincluded in lessons to some extent, with some variation depending on the teacher’s
department. However, in terms of including content on poverty reduction – Goal 1 of Agenda
2030 – only 15% of respondents could agree with the statement that students will learn about
how poverty can be reduced (figure13)

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Figure 10: ESD must pay equal attention
to the economy, environment and society(n = 20, Std. = .820, µ = 3.60)

Figure 11: In the classes that I teach, my students will learn about the environment(n = 20, Std. = 1.16, µ = 3.25)

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Figure 12: In the classes that I teach, my students will learn abouthuman rights and respect(n = 20, Std. = 1.08, µ = 3.00)

Figure 13: In the classes that I teach, my students
will learn about how poverty can be reduced(n = 20, Std. = .889, µ = 2.5)
Changing Pedagogies
A significant majority of teachers agreed that how students learn is more important than what
they learn (figure 14). The following figures (figures 15, 16 and 17) reveal, however, that, ingeneral more traditional pedagogies are favoured rather than those that have been identified
as being most likely to develop sustainability competences.

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Figure 14: How students learn is more
Important than what students learn(n = 20, Std. = 820, µ = 3.68)

Figure 15: Case Studies(n = 20, Std. = 1.04, µ = 2.68)

Figure 16: Lecturing(n = 20, Std. = 1.02, µ= 3.52)

Figure 17: Project or problem-based learning(n = 20, Std. = .951, µ = 2.26)
Conclusions & Recommendations
In this section, the three research questions are addressed. Next, recommendations will bemade on how ESD can be better implemented at the school and for future research in thefield.

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R.Q.1: How do teachers conceptualize SD?
A significant majority of respondents see SD as being essential for the future of the planet. In
order to transition to a more sustainable form of development, in which the environment isbetter protected, most respondents accepted that people’s consumption habits would have tochange. All of the respondents placed a strong emphasis on preserving natural habitats. On
the other hand, most respondents did not believe that people’s priorities and perspectives had
to change to achieve SD. Further a slight majority of respondents agreed with the statementthat environmental problems can be solved through a more efficient use of resources
These responses can be interpreted through the lens of Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien’s(2005) mapping technology (Appendix 2). Using this approach, it is possible to assert thatteachers follow a techno centered reform approach, where often profound changes in policy
and lifestyle are needed but these can be achieved incrementally and within existing socialand economic systems.
R.Q.2: What is teachers’ understanding of Education for Sustainable Development?
A striking feature of the data is that although ESD was described by the vast majority of
respondents (75%) as playing ‘a key role in shaping Japan’s education policy’, at the sametime, 75% of respondents described ESD as being a difficult concept to define. Moreover,many of the respondents to the questionnaire were uncertain as to whether there was any
difference between EE and ESD. The view was also expressed in the instrument’s
open-ended questions that teachers were, in general, insufficiently informed of the subject oreven that they had no knowledge of it, in spite of the fact that MEXT has produced so muchliterature on the subject and the Japanese government played a lead role in launching DESD
and GAP.
R.Q.3: To what extent does teachers’ classroom practice support the stated goals of
ESD?
To answer this question, two points shall be considered. First, to what extent have
ESD-related themes been integrated into lessons and second, how far do teaching practices
support the development of the core competences described in the literature on ESD and zest
for life?
ESD-related themes are included to some extent. A significant majority of teachers stated thatstudents will learn about both the environment and international understanding in theirlessons, and a slight majority said that students will learn about biodiversity. However, key
themes related to Sustainable Development are still insufficiently addressed, as can be seen
with the very low percentage of teachers who include content on poverty reduction in theirlessons (SDG 1) and the slight majority of respondents who do not include content on gender
discrimination (SDG 5).
Further, it can be surmised that ESD-related themes are not addressed in a holistic way, inspite of this being described as a key feature of ESD by both MEXT and UNESCO. To givean example, in Social Subjects, content on the environment is not included, which suggeststhat the connections between the environment, society and the economy, which is a key partof ESD, are not being made.

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Finally, that ESD content is not taught across the different subject areas is also indicative of
the school not having developed an inter-disciplinary approach, although its importance wasset out by UNESCO. As an example, while gender discrimination is addressed in WorldHistory, it is not addressed in either biology or science.
In terms of pedagogies, it will be remembered that the adoption of active learning methods
has been described as essential to develop core competences within ESD (MEXT, 2016 and
UNESCO, 2006). The data obtained suggests that increasing use is being made of AL.
According to the curriculum coordinator, the school is committed to transitioning away from
more traditional pedagogies.
However, the extent of the progress made towards AL should not be overstated. The data
points to the continued use that teachers are making of lecturing, with very few of the
respondents indicating that they used any of the AL pedagogies that were included in thequestionnaire. In terms of competence development, referring back to Lozano et al’s (2017:10) study, it will be remembered that lecturing, at best, ‘may address’ some of thecompetences identified as important within the framework of ESD.
Further, the value of knowledge transmission with regards to content on the environment –defined within ESD as an instrumental approach (Balls, 2016) – has been questioned by
Boeve-de Pauw (2015). Citing studies by Krnel and Naglic, and Hallfredsdottir, the author
posited that having knowledge of environmental problems will not automatically lead to morepositive attitudes to the environment.
Recommendations
In this section, recommendations are made for the better implementation of ESD at the school
and for areas of further research.
Implementing ESD
First, the school needs to introduce an ESD calendar. According to MEXT (2016: 17), thiswill enable lessons to be designed around key concepts identified within ESD. In a case study
conducted by MEXT (2016), it was found that having an ESD calendar ensured that teachingactivities could be continued even when a teacher left or was moved to a new grade.
Second, the school needs to continue transitioning away from traditional pedagogies,
specifically lecturing, to the pedagogies associated with the development of ESD corecompetences. There needs to be a more varied approach in the use of pedagogies and thisshould also have a positive impact on the level of student involvement.
Finally, following the literature on ESD, the three pillars of SD need to be addressed in amore balanced manner. By omitting the social and economic dimensions of SD, it will be
extremely difficult for students to develop the systems thinking that will enable them toconceive of solutions to the problems that the world faces and this, after all, is the essence of
ESD.

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Areas for further researchFirst, the nature of teaching on ESD related themes should be scrutinized to see what issues
are being addressed. Where content on poverty reduction is being taught, for example, is thisdone purely in reference to other countries or are local issues also addressed?
Second, in order to assess the impact that ESD is having, it would be useful to conduct alongitudinal study among students, in ESD oriented schools, in order to establish the degree
to which ESD shapes their values and behaviours. Such a study would need to be conductedin a number of sites so that comparisons could be drawn on the efficacy of different
approaches and in this way best practice could be established.
Limitations
Following Verschuren (2003), as a case study, this work can be said to have limited external
validity because only one research unit was included. According to Yin, however, the goal ofcase study research is to, ‘expand and generalize theories (analytic generalization) and not toenumerate frequencies (statistical generalization) (Denscombe, 2014: 61). Further, according
to Simons (2012), validity is grounded in, ‘professional agreement as to the usefulness ofparticular insights, and in the trust and confidence that may be placed in colleagues offeringthem’ (2012: 6).
The quality of the findings can also been questioned on the basis of bias or the subjectivity of
the researcher (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2015). In defense of this study, Simons (2012)
writes that rather than trying to eliminate subjectivity, a more fruitful approach is toacknowledge the subjectivity of the account and to detail the steps which have been taken to
identify and correct the bias.
The subjectivity of the researcher involves a focus on the environmental dimension of SD.
Further, because of the author’s teaching experience in Japan, he is skeptical regarding theextent to which ESD has been or will be incorporated into teaching and learning.
How the study was implemented will also have had an impact on the findings. Of concern isthe non-response bias of 80%. This contrasts poorly with Fincham’s (2008) assertion that
researchers should strive to attain a response rate of 60% for questionnaires. Following
Tourangeau and Plewes (2013), the low response rate in this study ‘creates the potential forbias in estimates, in turn affecting survey design, data collection, estimation, and analysis’(2013: 40). The authors note, however, that a high non-response rate does not necessarily
equate to a high level of bias.
Applying these considerations to the current study, it was the intention of the author to gather
data that would reflect the attitudes of the generality of teachers at the site. Breaking down
the respondents, it is evident that the English department was over-represented (n = 5), while
teachers in the science departments were considerably under-represented. Female respondents
are slightly over-represented. In terms of the ages of respondents, there was little difference
between respondents and the average for the teacher population. Finally, the number offull-time teachers was slightly over-represented (n = 12).

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Appendices
Appendix 1: A meta-analysis of pedagogies to support ESD competences

Source: Lozano, Sammalisto, Ceulemans, and Lozano (2017: 10)

Source: Lozano, Sammalisto, Ceulemans, and Lozano (2017: 10)
Appendix 2: Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien’s SD mapping technology

Source: Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien (2005: 41)

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Howell, R., A., (2021) Engaging Students in Education for Sustainable Development: The
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Simons, H., (2012) Case Study Research in Practice Los Angeles; London: Sage DOI:
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Verschuren, P, (2003) Case study as a research strategy: Some ambiguities and opportunities
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How the Japanese Intelligentsia of the 19th Century Got Educated Based on Books in the
Dutch Language (Rangaku)
Masako Nishikawa-Van Eester, Nishogakusha University, Japan
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Abstract
This study aims to rectify the perception that the Shogunate (the Japanese government of the
19th century) mainly received know-how about medical sciences through their informationacquisition via the Dutch presence in Nagasaki. Studies of that time, based on the informationacquired from the Dutch are referred to ‘Rangaku’ or Dutch Studies. When discussing‘Rangaku,’ the advance of western medical sciences immediately comes to mind as this is thefield that is nowadays remembered best for its big advance at that time. Based on theinventory of a cache of more than 1,000 books (discovered in 1954) purchased by the
Shogunate and following up on the earlier related studies, this study reports on a simple
statistical analysis demonstrating that medical related books and reading materials weremerely ranked sixth among the genres while the top ranking was about military sciences. The
study introduces three examples that are respectively from three different genres, all of which
are significant in the development of the modern Japanese nation.
Keywords: Dutch Studies, Dutch Learning, Rangaku, 19th Century, Japan, Medical Sciences,
Education

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Japan is a country which has been eagerly trying to adopt new knowledge and informationfrom abroad throughout its history (Nishikawa-Van Eester, 2014). Before the Edo era (1603 –1868), Chinese1 (Classical Chinese, or Kan-bun) was the main language through which theJapanese used to acquire novel cultures and technologies (Shimizu, 2010). It was thelanguage Japan needed as a tool for academic people to access fresh information.
Up till the arrival of the Dutch language in the 17th century, Chinese was still the dominantforeign language for the intellectual and aristocracy (Montgomery, 2000), and Gottliebe
reported that “educated” meant, for a long time, being able to read Classical Chinese (kanbun) and write numerous Chinese characters (kan-ji) (2005). In the 18th and 19th century,
wealthy merchants joined the intelligentsia, enjoying cultural and academic activities(Nishikawa-Van Eester, 2014). This is also related to the historical and social background,being a time in which Japan had its longest period of relative peace across the nation, mainly
because of the governmental polices by the Tokugawa Shogunate in the mid-eighteenth
century (Jackson, 2016).
In 1600, a Dutch ship named “Liefde” (meaning “love” in English) reached Japan. The Dutch
arrived at the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573 – 1603), when the Spanish and thePortuguese had already established relationships with Japan. However, at the beginning of
the Edo era (period), the Spanish and the Portuguese were banned because of their ties with
the Christian mission, regarded by the central government as a liability to their rule. After its
independence of Spain in 1648, the Netherlands became powerful and it became the only
European power that got permission to trade with Japan (Nishikawa-Van Eester, 2019).
Except for traditional Chinese Studies (kan-bun), Dutch became the first and essential contact
language for Japan to engage with the rest of the world.
Rangaku, or Dutch Studies (Dutch Learning) in the 18th – 19th century, and its generalperception today
The Netherlands was the only western country that was allowed to operate in Japan during
the period of Sakoku (isolation policy, literally meaning ‘Closure of Country’ by thegovernment in the Edo era2.) The relationship further grew, from simple importing andexporting goods into exchanging knowledge, and ‘Dutch Studies’ began under the reign ofthe eighth Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, who relaxed the Book Ban in 1720 andencouraged to import Dutch books as information source, still excluding the ones related toChristianity (Japan-Netherlands Exchange in the Edo period, National Diet Library) .
1

According to Shimizu, the Classical Chinese writing system had been already conveyed to Japan by the 4th –5th century.
2
Sakoku means ‘national isolation’ (1639 – 1853). “The 1630s also marked an important dividing line in foreign
relations with the issuance of a series of directives enforcing a policy of national seclusion, latercalled sakoku (literally, “closed country”). The seeds of this policy had been sown in trade control and inmeasures against Christianity by the Nobunaga and Hideyoshi regimes. Hideyoshi, although strongly attracted
to trade as a source of national wealth and military strength, had issued an order for the exclusion of themissionaries. Ieyasu, even more strongly attracted by profits, made efforts to trade not only with the Portuguese
Roman Catholics but also with Protestant Holland and England, protecting trade with the southern regions bygranting special licenses, or shuin-jō (“red-seal license”), to oceangoing merchant ships. But Ieyasu’s
encouragement of trade was aimed at establishing a bakufu trade monopoly… The Dutch and the Chinese wereallowed to trade as before, although this trade was restricted and confined to the island of Dejima at Nagasaki”.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/sakoku

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Today, the word ‘Rangaku’ is strongly associated with the arrival of a totally new type of
medicinal sciences, which is regarded as the starting point of modern western medicine inJapan. This is because of the publication of ‘Kaitai-Shinsho’ translated from Dutch into
Japanese by Ryotaku Maeno and Gan-paku Sugita in 1774 (See Appendix A). This was
originally written in German as ‘Anatomische Tabellen’ by Kulmus (1689 – 1745), and latertranslated into Dutch as ‘Ontleedkundige Tafelen’ by Dicten in 1722 and 17323.
Sakai reported, in ‘Journal of the Japanese Society of Medical History’ in 2010, as below:
The great impact of European medicine was furthered by the publication of “Kaitai
Shinsho” (1774), meaning “new book of anatomy”, which was a translation of the
Dutch book on anatomy “Ontleekundige tafelen” (1734), originally written in German
by Johann Adam Kulmus (1689–1745) with title of “Anatomische Tabellen” in 1722.
The project of translation had been undertaken by Gempaku Sugita (1733–1817) andRyōtaku Maeno (1723– 1803), when they observed dissection of a female body after
execution in 1771 at Kotsugahara in Edo (today called Tokyo). After “Kaitai Shinsho”,
Japanese doctors frequently attended dissections of executed bodies, and observed
precisely the interiors of the cadavers.
We can read a series of episodes concerning the birth of ‘Kaitai-Shinsho’ as an epoch-making
incident in official high school textbooks for the class of Japanese history. (See the figure
below.) As seen on the page, this picture in the right middle gives high school students a
tremendous visual impact regarding ‘Kaitai-Shinsho’.

Figure 1: Japanese History B (Senior High) by Yamakawa Shuppansha Ltd (Publisher), 20173

Maeno and Sugita translated the 1732 version. https://www.kohjinkai.or.jp/kurakata/txt/01.html

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Although Rangaku brought a large volume and of quality knowledge to Japan in diverse
fields, we tend to remember just this picture and the name ‘Kaitai-Shinsho’ to go with it, andmemory of the rest of Rangaku fades away.
Real Rangaku
In 1954, a number of old books, mostly written in Dutch, were coincidentally discovered at alibrary in Tokyo. It was revealed that those piles of books were purchased by the Shogunate(The Tokugawa administration) in the 19th century, or earlier. A project was launched toclassify the books and compile a report. The work resulted in a listing of the collection (SeeFigure 2).

Figure 2: List of foreign books collected under the Shogunate Regime (1957).
This list shows how diverse the fields of the books are, which is far beyond just medical
knowledge. In this study, we examined the said list by categorizing mentioned books as muchas possible (see Figure 3):

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Figure 3: List of foreign books collected under the Shogunate Regime (1957), pp. 8 – 9.
Simple statistical analysis
First of all, the languages used in the collection were sorted out. Among 1,062 books, 846
were written in Dutch, and 134, translated into Dutch from other languages. All the results
are as below:
Language used
number of books%

language

846

80

Dutch

134

13

Dutch (translated into Dutch)

44

4

English23

2

French71German

2

0

Latin

6

1

Could not be decided from the title

Table 1: Languages used in ‘List of foreign books collected under the Shogunate Regime’

We read in Ogata’s remarks that most of the discovered books were in Dutch, and indeed,
93% (80 + 13) of the whole collection was in the Dutch language.
Then, in a second phase, it was checked what types of books and documents were in thecollection (See Table 2 below).

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Type of publication
number of books

%

kind

776

73

book

72

7

dictionary

62

6

report / set of rules

56

5schoolbook (to be used in class)31

3

almanac22

2

magazine

16

2

paper

12

1

chart / graph

10

1

list

4

0

map

1

0

diary

Table 2: Types of publication in ‘List of foreign books collected under the Shogunate
Regime’As seen in the table, most of the publications were categorized in the section of books anddictionaries, which makes 80% together. After that, reports, rulebooks , regulations, andtextbooks for class follow.

Finally, categorization of topics was conducted. (See Table 3 below).
TOPIC

TOPIC

157
military sciences
23
astronomy
127
language learning
19
botany / agriculture116
geography / travel19
didactics
114
engineering
14
economics / commerce63
mathematics
10
crafts60
medical sciences9people (biographies)
58 maritime sciences (incl. ship building)
7
administration
47
nature / natural sciences
6
physics46
history6
society / sociology
35
chemistry5other topics
29
topic could not be decided
5
religion / morality
28
reader / literature4
biology25
law
4
philosophy
24
general2
cooking / housekeeping
Table 3: Topics dealt with in ‘List of foreign books collected under the Shogunate Regime’

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In first place, we see 157 books on military sciences and 127 on language learning. It isnoteworthy that the categorization of medical sciences (n = 60) appears only after thesections of engineering and mathematics.
Three examples
In the previous section, we saw that1.
Dutch is used in most publications
2.
most publications are books
3.
‘military sciences,’ ‘language learning,’ and ‘geography/travel’ are the most dealt
with topics
4.
‘medical sciences’ comes only in the sixth place.
Then, what is actually described in those books? What are those books about? Here three
examples are presented, one in the field of military sciences, one in the field of geography,
and one in the field of didactics.
Example 1: ‘Oorlogs-Vuurpijlen’ (1829) from the field of military sciences (Appendix B).
This is written by a Dutch military engineering officer describing the history and use of‘oorlogs-vuurpijlen’.
There is no modern word that is the exact equivalent: ‘oorlog’ = ‘war’, ‘s’ = genitiveindicator, ‘vuur’ = ‘fire’, ‘pijl’ = ‘arrow’, ‘en’ = plural-indicator.
This is a treatise about the early use of rockets (as in Rocket-Propelled Grenade), including
calculations regarding the speed and the targeted location based on the elevation-angle of thelauncher etc.
Example 2: ‘Algemeene Geographie of Beschryving des Geheelen Aardryks’ (1769) from thefield of geography (Appendix C).
This book is volume 2 of a 6-volume series on geography. This volume deals with GreatBritain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The meaning of the title: ‘Algemeene’ = ‘General’, ‘Geographie’ = ‘Geography’, ‘of’ = ‘or’,‘Beschryving’ = ‘Description’, ‘des’ = genitive-case version of definite article, ‘Aardryk’ =‘Earth’, ‘s’ = genitive-indicator
Example 3: ‘Handleiding bij het Zangonderwijs in de Lagere Scholen’ (1854) from the fieldof didactics (Appendix D).
This book is describing theory and teaching methods for the use of music teachers inelementary schools.
The meaning of the title: ‘Handleiding’ = ‘Manual’, ‘bij’ = ‘for’, ‘het Zangonderwijs’ = ‘theTeaching of Singing’, “de Lagere Scholen” = “the Elementary Schools”
Discussion
As observed and analyzed, the ‘Three examples’ demonstrate that the books cover very
interesting and unique fields, not only ‘medical sciences.’ For instance, the first case is a veryclear example of a typical document that is very different from the ‘medical sciences’ books
that are assumed by the general public to be the main topic of Rangaku.
The other two are unique as well. the second book offered Japan at the time, a closed country,
significant geographical, and furthermore, geopolitical information regarding Great Britain,

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Ireland, and the Netherlands in Europe. The other books in the series covered other areas ofimportance. Japan was in the state of so-called ‘Sturm und Drang’ toward the end of the Edoera, which made the government seriously consider reconstructing or changing the entire
national system.
The third one was obviously intended for music teachers of European (western) music which
is fundamentally different from that of Japan. In 1872, the Ministry of Education of the new(Meiji) government (after the Edo era) announced to implement ‘singing songs’ as an official
school subject nationwide because of its supposed effectiveness in raising Japanese people’s
awareness for patriotism as taught in a German pedagogical theory (Ishida, 2007).
The common denominators shared by those three books are that they offered Japan of the
19th century valuable information, and that the information was practical and immediately
useful. Japan went through one of the major changes as a nation in its history during theperiod of the end of the Edo era and the beginning of the Meiji. When a nation tries to change
itself, it wants and needs some measures that are immediately effective. Rangaku was, in thatsense, what they used as a major tool to later open the country.
Conclusion
It is interesting to see that the Shogunate purchased such a huge collection of Rangaku books
covering a wide range of fields offering Japan cutting-edge information, knowledge, culture,and technologies of that time. It is not just about medicine (as most of us remember as theresult of Rangaku), but we can find many more profound insights.
The study of the mentioned list showed us the variety of books that were imported. The
current worldwide drive to digitize old books (partially thanks to Google’s efforts) helps us
as researchers to also access the contents of these books without traveling to remote or
secluded libraries.

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Appendices
Appendix A‘Kaitai-shinsho’ by Maeno and Sugita, published in 1774 (National Diet Library)

Appendix B (Digitized by Google)
Oorlogs-Vuurpijlen (Military)

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Appendix C (Digitized by Google)
Geographie (Geography)

Appendix D (Digitized by Google)
Didactics (Music - Singing)

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References
Gottlieb, M. (2005). Language and Society in Japan. NY, New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Ishida, Y. (2007). Shoka kyoiku to doyo fukko undo ni miru shoto-ka ongaku kyoiku e noteigen ni kansuru ichikosatsu. [Primary music education in singing education andrevivalism of children’s songs to primary education]. Journal of International
Buddhist University. 44.193 – 205. Osaka: International Buddhist University.
Jackson, T. (2016). Network of Knowledge. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Japan-Netherlands Exchange in the Edo period. National Diet Library. Retrieved on February
1, 2022, from: https://www.ndl.go.jp/nichiran/e/index.html
Montgomery, S. L. (2000). Science in Translation. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press.
Nishikawa-Van Eester (2014). “Rangaku (Dutch learning)” and “Oranda-tsuji (Dutch
Interpreters/translators)” in the Japanese History of Foreign Language Education. The
Cross-Cultural Review. 10. 33 - 48.
Nishikawa-Van Eester (2019). How the Dutch Language Got Disseminated into the World.
Journal of International Politics and Economics. 25. 33 – 54. Tokyo: Nishogakusha
University.
Ogata, T. (1957). Lijst van boeken in buitenlandse talen verzameld door het Shogunaat/Listof foreign books collection under the Shogunate Regime. Tokyo: The Institute for the
Study of the Netherlands Books.
Sakai, T. (2010). Historical Development of Modern Anatomy Education in Japan. Journal of
the Japanese Society of Medical History. 56(1). 3 – 23.
Shimizu, M. (2010). Gairai-bunka no rekishi-kara mita nihon no gaikokugo-gakushu tokyoiku nit suite [On foreign language education in Japan from the historical viewpointof the acceptance of foreign cultures]. Bukkyo Daigaku Bungakubu Ronshu, 94. 1-14.
Contact email: masako.nishikawa@gol.com

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Parental Support, Cooperative Learning, and Peer Awareness in Students’ Exposure to
School Bullying: Predicting Bullying in China
Yiying Teng, Chapman University, United States
Ying Zhu, Chapman University, United States
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Abstract
School bullying negatively affects adolescents at both cognitive and psychological levels. In
China, a relatively high prevalence of school bullying has been observed with researchers andeducators beginning to identify bullying-related factors in order to foster a healthy school
environment. However, parental support, cooperative learning, and peer awareness as forms
of intervention support, are still under-researched predictors when portrayed holistically forbullying prevention and control. This study aims to explore how the three forementioned
forms of intervention support affect Chinese students’ indirect, psychological, and physicalexposure to and their overall experience with school bullying using data from the 2018
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Utilizing binary logistic regression
analyses while controlling for demographics, this research confirms previous literature thatboys are nearly twice more likely to be exposed to bullying than girls while students
repeating grades experience bullying at a relatively high rate. The study also indicates thatboth parental support and cooperative learning are effective intervention factors for loweringbullying frequency. Simultaneously, peer awareness augments students’ reporting of bullying
involvement. The integration of different mediating factors in this study depicts a clear
picture for Chinese educational practitioners to take action to minimize bullying involvementin the pre-pandemic era, providing patterns of intervention measures to achieve equity andinclusivity for all schoolchildren during and after COVID-19.
Keywords: School Bullying, Parental Support, Cooperative Learning, Peer Awareness

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Bullying has long been identified as a serious form of school violence and is closely
associated with aggressive behaviors that are really intentional, highly repetitive, and basedon imbalanced power (Olweus, 2013; Smith, Morita, Junger-Tas, Olweus, Catalano, & Slee,1999). Statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) have revealed a growing prevalence of self-reported bullying cases across theglobe (UNESCO, 2017, 2019). School bullying, in particular, negatively affects children andadolescents at both cognitive and psychological levels, including academic incapability andsocial inadaptability (Woods & Wolke, 2004), depression and anxiety (Kaltiala-heino,
Rimpel, Rantanen, & Rimpel, 2000), as well as loneliness and suicidal tendencies (Delprato,
Akyeampong, & Dunne, 2017). However, school bullying comes in different forms andcategories. Olweus (1991) divided the term into direct and indirect bullying: the former refers
to open, obvious attacks against a person in public places while the latter is characterized bysocial isolation and deliberate exclusion from a group. Direct bullying can further beinterpreted both physically (involving violent behaviors) and psychologically (concerning
harm to one’s emotions and social standing).
China is no exception to the common occurrence of bullying incidents and school violencewith 2,600 cases heard by people’s courts at all levels from 2015 to 2017 (Global Times,2021). Given the high incidence of school bullying and its severe social impacts, Guidanceon the Prevention and Treatment of Bullying and School Violence, a nationwide anti-bullying
policy, was adopted by Chinese Ministry of Education in 2016, calling on schools across thecountry to take an active part in bullying control and prevention efforts. Hence, it is of vital
importance for Chinese researchers and educational practitioners to identify the intervention
factors pertaining to school bullying and introduce regulations that support and protect at-risk
students (Huang & Zhao, 2018).
Of the influencing factors for bullying intervention in China, parental support (PS) and peerawareness (PA) are recognized as important predictors in the reduction of bullying behaviors(Huang & Zhao, 2018; Zhang, 2020). Prior empirical studies in the west have also pointed tocooperative learning (CL) as a significant contributor to anti-bullying measures (Ryzin &Roseth, 2019) while grade repetition, or the practice of having students remain in the same
grade without promoting them to the next grade, is more likely to press students for exposure
to physical and verbal bullying (Crothers, Schreiber, Schmitt, Bell, Blasik, Comstock,
Greisler, Keener, King, & Lipinski, 2010; Lian, Yu, Tu, Deng, Wang, Su, & Zuo, 2021;
Ozada Nazim & Duyan, 2019). However, when jointly added, the bullying predictors of PS,
PA, and CL are still under-researched. Thus, it is essential to integrate the three factors in one
single research to portray a more thorough anti-bullying landscape and further assist schools
to work out plans in bullying control and prevention.
Based on the above consideration, this empirical study aims to explore the association
between three forementioned forms of intervention support and frequencies of experiencing
physical, psychological, or indirect bullying (Olweus, 1991) mediated by such demographics
as gender, age, and grade repetition. Two overarching research questions have guided this
exploration: (a) what intervention factors predict the likelihood that students would indirectly,
physically, or psychologically experience high or low frequencies of school bullying? And (b)what mediating factors predict the likelihood of students’ exposure to high or low levels ofbullying in these three bullying categories?

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The social-ecological framework (CDC, 2004) has guided us in addressing the complex
interplay between individual, family, school, and societal factors in relation to school
bullying and violence as well as facilitated our understanding of bullying prevention efforts
over time and beyond human-level impact. As Figure 1 shows, at the individual level,
prevention strategies may involve personal attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors that prevent or stop
violence. At relationship and community levels, a person’s close connection to family
members and active interaction with schools/workplaces/neighborhoods may provide apathway for risk reduction and violence prevention, including parent-child communication,
positive peer relations, and reliable school/work environments. The final level (societal
factors) features social and cultural norms that encourage or hamper violence. The
overlapping circles in the model indicate how one level of factors influences another and how
different levels of factors coexist to work on the entire model. In linking the social-ecologicalframework for prevention and anti-bullying efforts on campus, we hypothesize that (H1) PS(at the relationship level) as an intervention factor can lower the frequencies of being
indirectly, physically, or psychologically bullied, (H2) CL (at the community level) as anintervention factor can lower exposure to indirect, physical, or psychological bullying, and(H3) PA (at the relationship level) as an anti-bullying predictor helps to reduce indirect,
physical, or psychological bullying.

Figure 1: Social-ecological model—a framework for prevention(Adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004, p. 5)
Methods
The quantitative study employed the available data from the 2018 Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA 2018) conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD). A two-stage stratified sampling method was adopted to assess
adolescents’ knowledge and skills essential for real-world challenges. In the end, 12,058
15-year-olds from 362 schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces in
China were selected. Meanwhile, informed consent forms were prepared and required fromschools, teachers, and students.
Dependent Variables
The four dependent variables (revealing the frequency of students’ exposure to school
bullying) in the PISA data were depicted from the perspective of the victims (OECD, 2019)and measured with one total bullying scale and three sub-categories including indirect,
psychological, and physical bullying. In PISA 2018, participants were invited to rate their

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exposure to school bullying in the past 12 months on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from
1 = never or almost never, 2 = a few times a year, 3 = a few times a month, to 4 = once aweek or more. For the total bullying scale, all six types of bullying items evaluatedparticipants’ overall experiences with bullying at school. For indirect, psychological, andphysical bullying scales, there were respectively two, three and one items to measure each ofthem. Specifically, we adopted Item 1 (“Other students left me out of things on purpose.”)and Item 4 (“Other students took away or destroyed the things that belonged to me.”) to
represent the indirect bullying scale; we used Item 2 (“Other students made fun of me.”),Item 3 (“I was threatened by other students.”), and Item 6 (“Other students spread nasty
rumors about me.”) to describe the psychological bullying scale. The only item to measure
the physical bullying scale was listed as “I got hit or pushed around by other students.” Thedetailed information of bullying scales and categories is presented in Table 1. In addition, inorder to calculate the score of each bullying scale, we added up the answers for each item andsplit them into dummy variables to check high or low frequencies of being bullied in
response to the research questions. Low frequency indicated that participants were never oralmost never exposed to all or some of the bullying forms while high frequency reflectedstudents’ experiences with the bullying events on the basis of a few times a year or more.
Prior to that procedure, the internal consistency or reliability for each scale was tested.
However, Cronbach’s Alpha for the two items in the indirect bullying scale did not exceed.70 and the only item in the category of physical bullying was not considered as a scale.
Hence, the dependent variables of indirect and physical bullying were excluded from ouranalysis.
Table 1: Bullying scales and categories
Scales/Categories
TotalbullyingIndirectbullying
Psychologicalbullying
Physicalbullying

Bullying items
Other students left me out of things on purpose.
Other students made fun of me.
I was threatened by other students.
Other students took away or destroyed things that belonged to me.
I got hit or pushed around by other students.
Other students spread nasty rumors about me.
Other students left me out of things on purpose.
Other students took away or destroyed things that belonged to me.
Other students made fun of me.
I was threatened by other students.
Other students spread nasty rumors about me.
I got hit or pushed around by other students.

Independent Variables
The independent variables utilized in this study include PS scale, CL scale, and PA scale. PS
points to any “parental behaviors toward the child, such as praising, encouraging and giving
physical affection, which indicate to the child that he or she is accepted and loved” (Barnes,
Reifman, Farrell, & Dintcheff, 2000, p. 179). In this study, PS scale was assessed by three
items in PISA 2018 (“My parents support my educational efforts and achievements.”, “Myparents support me when I am facing difficulties at school.”, and “My parents encourage me
to be confident.”). A four-point Likert scale was applied to the items ranging from 1 =strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. As for CL scale and PA scale in the dataset, theISSN: 2189-101X

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former refers to a small group of students working together to accomplish shared learning
goals (four items, e.g., “It seems that students are cooperating with each other.”) while thelatter can be peer presence at or peer consciousness of bullying scenes (five items, e.g., “Itirritates me when nobody defends bullied students.”). Students were asked to respond to
CL-related items on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = not at all true to 4 =extremely true and to answer PA-related questions again on a four-point Likert scale ranging
from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. We added up the items for each of the threescales with internal consistency respectively tested (all Cronbach’s alphas > .86) and divided
them into high or low degrees to represent intervention factors at different levels.
Control Variables
Previous studies have revealed the impacts of demographic information upon students’
exposure to bullying (e.g., Ba, Han, Gong, Li, Zhang, & Zhang, 2019; Smith et al., 1999).
Applying the social-ecological framework to find out potential confounders, we selected suchbasic demographics (gender and age) as control variables. Age was viewed as a continuous
variable while gender was used as a dummy variable with 1 for boys and 0 for girls. Also
added to the control variables, grade repetition was obtained from students’ responses to thequestions “Have you ever repeated a grade (at ISECD l/2/3)?” The International Standard
Classification of Education (ISCED) is a framework for collecting participants’ statistics of
education organized by UNESCO. Students were asked to respond on a three-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 = no, never and 2 = yes, once to 3 = yes, twice or more.
Data analysis
A binary logit model was constructed (Pallant, 2017) using SPSS software Version 26 after
we identified the variables and realized the abnormal distribution of the remaining threedependent variables (excluding the indirect bullying model). However, preliminary
assumption tests indicated that for psychological and physical bullying scales, the Hosmer
and Lemeshow Goodness of Fit Tests were not passed (significance values all below .05),
thus suggesting no support for these two models. Therefore, this study only concentrated on
the total bullying model.
We conducted the research in two steps: (a) the descriptive statistics for the dependent,
independent, and control variables were first produced, and (b) binary logistic regression wasthen performed to explore the likelihood that Chinese students were exposed to high or low
frequencies of being bullied in general. All six predictors (i.e., PS, CL, PA, age, gender,
grade repetition) were included in the total bullying model. Table 2 shows the descriptive
statistics (including means and standard deviations) for the total bullying model and Table 3
reveals the results of logistic regression for the model.

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Categoricaldependent
variable(s)Continuous
independent
variable(s)Table 2: Descriptive statistics for variables
Variables
Frequency%
Total Bullying Low
6,463
47.9
Scale
High
5,390
52.1
Minimum
15.33

Maximum
16.25

Mean
15.77

Variables
Female
Male
Grade
No
Repetition
Yes
Parental
Low
Support (PS)High
Cooperative
Low
Learning (CL) High
Peer Awareness Low
(PA)
High

Frequency
5775
6283
11237
753
6864
5088
8810
3088
7289
4576

%
47.9
52.1
93.2
6.2
57.4
42.6
73.1
25.6
64.1
38.6

Age (years)
GenderCategoricalindependent
variables

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SD
.29

N
12,058The statistical significance of the total bullying model (χ2 (6, N = 11690) = 474.266, p < .001)
implied that the model was able to distinguish between respondents’ high or low exposure toschool bullying. Besides, the model as a whole explained 4.0% (Cox & Snell R square) and5.3% (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in total bullying groups, and correctly classified
58.8% of the cases with a small improvement of 4.2% in predictions. As presented in Table 2,
five of the six independent variables made unique statistically significant contributions to thetotal bullying model except for age (p > .05). The strongest predictor of being in thehigh-level bullying groups was gender, recording an odds ratio of 1.704 (p < .001). Likewise,
the odds of being in the high-level bullying groups was positively associated with grade
repetition and peers’ anti-bullying awareness (p < .01). For each additional increase inrepeating a grade or anti-bullying awareness, there were respectively 1.315 and 1.284
likelihood increases to be found in the high-level bullying groups. Conversely, students withmore parental support and skills of cooperation were .751 and .545 times less likely to befound in the high-level bullying groups as negative associations were found between the PS
predictor and exposure to bullying as well as between the CL factor and overall experienceswith bullying (p < .001).
Conclusion
Aimed at investigating multiple intervention factors influencing students’ exposure to
bullying, this research has added to the empirical experience by applying binary logit
regression analyses. Consistent with some previous literature (e.g., Ba et al., 2019;
Scheithauer, Hayer, & Petermann, 2006; Smith, López-Castro, Robinson, & Görzig, 2019),
the study has confirmed that boys are nearly twice more likely to be victims of bullying than
girls. Second, students repeating grades, regardless of their genders, are generally exposed tobullying at a relatively high rate. This adds further to the extant literature in pointing to theincreased risks of school bullying brought to grade repeaters compared with their promoted
peers (Crothers et al., 2010; Lian et al., 2021; Ozada Nazim & Duyan, 2019). Third, sincenegative correlations were observed between the PS predictor and bullying involvement as

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well as between the CL predictor and bullying experiences, this means supportive ties
between parents and children as well as skills of cooperation in school settings are conducive
to students’ well-being, anti-bullying efforts, and the building of a harmonious, sustainable
school culture. Hence, the first two hypotheses were supported (H1: PS as an intervention
factor can lower the frequencies of being indirectly, physically, or psychologically bullied; H2:
CL as an intervention factor can lower exposure to indirect, physical, or psychologicalbullying.) Fourth, contrary to what we have hypothesized (H3: PA as an anti-bullying
predictor helps to reduce indirect, physical, or psychological bullying.), the positive
relationship between PA and high-level exposure to bullying implies that PA as anintervention factor can make a statistically significant contribution to students’ reporting ofbullying involvement (p < .001), or more precisely, augment students’ overall experienceswith it. Thus, Hypothesis 3 was not fully supported.
Table 3: Logistic regression analysis of total bullying model
Total Bullying Model
S.E.
Exp(B)
.065
.966
.038
1.704
.079
1.315
.042
.751
.049
.545
.043
1.284

Variables
B
Age
-.034
Gender.533***
Grade Repetition.274**
Parental Support-.287***
Cooperative Learning-.607***
Peer Awareness.250***
Notes. ** p < .01, *** p < .001

However, a slight improvement of 4.2% in predictions for the total bullying model suggeststhat it is feasible but not ideal enough to predict high or low frequencies of bullying
experiences. Besides, failure in the assumption tests of physical and psychological bullying
models may probably prevent us from approaching and analyzing the interaction ofintervention predictors and specific bullying categories. Third, although we could intuitively
attribute PA’s reverse effects upon anti-bullying endeavors to students’ proactive behaviors
towards more self-report cases that are not necessarily in great numbers, this is an area thatstill lacks both theoretical and empirical support and hence deserves researcher’s attention forfurther studies. Fourth, we have not yet taken into account cyberbullying, a form of bullyingthat has risen to prominence with some overlaps in and differences from traditional bullying.
Future studies can be realized in introducing more predictors at individual, relationship,community, and societal levels (e.g., ethnicity diversity, teacher support, neighborhood
influences, and cultural norms in China) to see their combined impacts acting on school
bullying involvement as well as in considering predictors of both traditional bullying andcyberbullying that will be integrated into detailed planning of China’s anti-bullying programs(Ba et al., 2019).
Despite the above limitations, this study provides a route to the understanding of correlation
between multiple intervention predictors and anti-bullying consciousness guided by thesocial-ecological framework for violence prevention: parents’ encouragement and emotional
support as well as skills of learning to collaborate with peers avoid high-level bullying
exposure while male students and grade repeaters are reduced to bullying victims. The
integration of these mediating factors in this study depicts a clear picture for Chinese
educational practitioners to take action to minimize bullying involvement in the
pre-pandemic era, providing patterns of intervention measures to achieve equity andinclusivity for all schoolchildren during and after COVID-19. In particular, the transition

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from the pre-pandemic to the pandemic periods in addressing the issue of bullying requires
all of those at various levels of the social system—policymakers, principals, teachers, parents,neighborhoods (or communities), and students themselves—to jointly take proactive
measures to ensure safe learning environments for all in both online and in-person classes(Vaillancourt, Brittain, Krygsman, Farrell, Landon, & Pepler, 2021). If generalizable to otherage groups (not only 15-year-old adolescents at school), this study may contribute to thewellbeing of schoolchildren in China and adolescents worldwide and induce workable
solutions to the bullying problem that increasingly favor evidence-based interventions(UNICEF, 2020).
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Ryan Allen for his professional assistanceand constructive suggestions during our research and upon the completion of this academic
paper. His willingness to spare his time and energy so generously has been very muchappreciated. Our grateful thanks are also extended to our family members and colleagues fortheir firm support and valuable insight in our research process. Finally, we would like tothank OECD for making the PISA database publicly available for researchers and theiranalyses.

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Olweus, D. (2013). School bullying: Development and some important challenges. Annual
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Zhang, Q. (2020). The attitude of teenagers in China towards bullying on campus: Status,
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Parent-Child Dialogic Reading: A Conversation Analytic Case Study
Shin-ying Huang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
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Abstract
A large body of work has addressed the positive impact of parent-child interactive reading(also referred to as dialogic reading or shared reading) for children’s language and literacy
development. What has been lacking in research is how interaction takes place in aparent-child read-aloud. How interaction takes place is the domain of conversation analysis(CA), an approach which studies turn-taking in naturally-occurring conversations for the
moment-by-moment organization of interaction as oriented to by the interlocutors. Using a
CA lens, this article centers on a focused analysis of a dialogic read-aloud of one picturebook
between a mother and her 7-year-old daughter, both of whom are speakers of English as aforeign language. In the stretch of dialogue examined in this article, the discussion is about
the title of the picturebook and how it might relate to the cover picture. The analysis
highlights the sequential organization of the dialogue, and the findings reveal that knowledge
is co-constructed through interaction between the two interlocutors. Most interestingly, theanalysis showed that the child is able to playfully resist the mother’s insistence on how tointerpret the story portrayed on the cover picture, and also closely monitored the sequential
progression of the dialogue as gleaned from her turn design. The study argues for the detailed
analysis of parent-child read-aloud interactive practices to come to a better understanding of
how dialogues can contribute to the construction of meaning, particularly as children learn
about image-text relations as a part of their expanding literacy practices.
Keywords: Dialogue Reading, Interactive Reading, Shared Reading, Conversation Analysis,
Picturebook Read-Aloudiafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Interactive read-aloud, frequently referred to as shared reading (e.g., Zhang, Djonov, & Torr,2016) and dialogic reading (e.g., Cohrssen, Niklas, & Tayler, 2016), is “an approach in which
the story itself is used as a springboard for adult-child dialogue and extended thinking”(Lennox, 2013, p. 363). The large body of work in this field has invariably confirmed thepositive impact of adult-child shared reading on children’s language and literacy learning(e.g., Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985; Morgan & Meier, 2008). To date,research on adult-child reading has mainly developed in two distinct but related strands, i.e.,interactive read-alouds between a teacher and her students in the classroom and dialogic
reading between a parent and her child at home.
Teacher-Student Shared Reading
Literature on teacher-student interaction during whole-class shared reading encompasses two
main areas. Studies either seek to extract the types of things that teachers do to elicit
meaningful responses, i.e., focusing on teacher practices (e.g., Maine & Hofmann, 2016;
Pappas, Varelas, Patton, Ye, & Ortiz, 2012), or they examine the correlation between teacher
questions and student answers (e.g., Collins, 2016; Dunst, Williams, Trivette, Simkus, &Hamby, 2012). Together, these two lines of research on teacher-student interactive reading
illuminate not only what kinds of teacher practices can best promote student contribution but
also the impact of specific ways of teacher questioning on the likely type of student
responses.
Many studies have sought to examine interactive read-alouds from the perspective of teacher
practices. For example, Wiseman (2011) focused on what makes a discussion interactive, andfound four effective practices on the part of the teacher, including confirming student
responses, modeling ways to engage with texts, extending ideas shared by students, andbuilding meaning around the text and its discussion to students’ lives. Other studies havebeen mainly concerned with the types of teacher questions, either literal or inferential. As van
Kleeck (2006) explained, literal content refers to “information that is perceptually present in
the pictures of a book or directly stated in the text” while inferential content refers to“information about objects, actions, or events that are not directly available from theperceptual sense of the picture or in the text of a book” (p. 282). Zucker, Justice, Piasta, andKaderavek (2010) examined preschool teacher-student read-aloud interaction and found thatchildren are more likely to give inferential responses when teachers asked inferential rather
than literal questions.
Parent-Child Dialogic Reading
As Haggstrom (2020) observed, research on parent-child read-aloud has seldom examined theinteractional aspects of the shared reading, but rather, have unvaryingly concentrated on how
such practices impact upon children’s language and reading development. These studies haveconsistently confirmed the positive impact of dialogic reading on different aspects ofchildren’s cognitive development.
Studies have also documented parent reading behaviors in an effort to identify best practices(e.g., Neuman, 1996; Whitehurst et al., 1988). Bojczyk, Davis, and Rana (2016), for example,
differentiated between reading strategies (such as labeling or asking wh-questions as
examples falling on either end of the spectrum) that promoted low, medium, or high levels of

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child participation. Kuchirko, Tamis-LeMonda, Luo, and Liang (2016) focused on the
different cognitive demand of the questions that mothers ask (i.e., whether these questions arereferential, story-specific or open-ended questions) and their influence children’scontributions in book discussions. Unfailingly, these studies found that questions requiring
interpretation of the story and extended answers from children are superior in their capacity
to stimulate children’s engagement in text discussion and should serve as the guiding
principle for parents during shared reading.
Despite obvious contextual differences between teacher-student (in the classroom) andparent-child (outside of school) shared reading, there are numerous parallels in the interaction
between these two types of adult roles. For instance, research on parent-child reading havealso examined parental use of inferential versus literal language (e.g. Tompkins et al., 2017)and have reported similar and comparable results to studies of teachers and students
discussed earlier. Another way in which parent-child and teacher-student interactions are
similar concerns the discourse types that occur between both in and out of school ofadult-child dialogues. For example, as with Lennox’s (2013) observation that classroom
interaction during read-alouds often follow the “initiation, response, and then evaluation”
pattern (p. 384), Zhang el al. (2016) also found that mothers’ interaction with children during
reading habitually involve “the Initiation/Question-Response-Feedback/Evaluation structure
typical of classroom discourse” (p. 440). They explained this to be because, like teachers,
parents are also better-informed and more knowledgeable than their young children, andtherefore are inevitably in a position to “actively initiat[e] conversations with the children andoffe[r] feedback to children’s contributions” (p. 440).
A Conversation Analytic Perspective
As stated earlier, research on interactive read-aloud has developed in two distinct but related
strands, i.e., shared reading between teacher and students in the classroom and dialogic
reading between parent and child. What the aforementioned discussion has revealed is thatthese two strands of research are not only overlapping in their concern but have also yield
similar findings in these areas: best practices for promoting child contribution, the beneficial
effect of inferential questions on the complexity of child response, and adult-led
initiation-response-evaluation pattern of interaction. What has consistently been missing inboth these strands is the focus on the moment-by-moment details of interaction, that is, aconversation analysis (henceforth CA) perspective that zeros in on how adult-child dialogues
proceed sequentially. This is the focus of the current study.
Very few studies of adult-child shared reading (either between teacher-student or parent-child)
have been conducted following CA principles. One rare example is Freebody and Freiberg(2001), whose research investigated adult-child interaction both in and out of school.
Through a conversation analytic approach which emphasized “unmotivated looking”(Davidson, 2012, p. 36) without imposing a priori categories on the data, they found“distinctive set[s] of interactional rights and responsibilities enacted” (p. 230) by theteacher-students and the parent-child whose shared reading practices they examined.
Specifically, the former oriented to the teacher’s “text-interpretive authority” while the latteroriented to the parent’s “word-saying authority” (p. 229). In other words, the students
followed the teacher’s lead in an attempt to discover the one correct way to understand thepictures and words in the picturebook as interpreted by the teacher while the child soundedout letters and words in an attempt to arrive at a correct pronunciation as guided by the parent.
(Note that this study follows Nikolajeva and Scott’s (2001) conceptualization of

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Official Conference Proceedings“picturebooks” as a distinct type of iconotext with particular sets of image-text relations, andtherefore, spells picturebooks as one word rather than two words.) What is significant about
Freebody and Freiberg’s (2001) findings is that all the adult and children they studied, inways unique to their contexts, “co-ordinated interactional rights and responsibilities” tojointly produce the social practice of shared reading.
While there has been much more interest in recent years in the conversation analytic view ofclassroom interaction (e.g., Gardner, 2019; Mehan1979; Tanner, 2017), these works haverarely focused on interactive read-aloud practices per se. Even less attention has been paid to
the interactional practices of parent-child dialogic reading from a CA perspective. The
current study fills the gap in this area of research by studying the “interactional rights andresponsibilities” (Freebody & Freiberg, 2001, p. 228) enacted by a parent and her childduring their shared reading, with the goal of illuminating the “characteristic ways thatparticipants orient to and display the interaction” (Buttny, 1998, p. 47) as doing dialogic
reading. The results of this research add to the documentation of the range of practices inconversations in a rarely studied context. This research is guided by the following questions:l What interactional rights and responsibilities are oriented to and displayed by the parent
and child co-participants in their shared reading of picturebooks?
l Relatedly, how are the co-participants’ rights and responsibilities realized in thesequential context of the talk-in-interaction?
MethodThe current research is a conversation analytic study of talk-in-interaction in the context of aparent-child shared reading, focusing on the sequential unfolding of the conversation and theroles and responsibilities oriented to by the parent and child, respectively. Data comes from alarger study of video-recordings of the shared reading between a mother-child dyad (myself
and my daughter, who was seven years old at the start of data collection) over a period of 14
months from June 2019 to August 2020. During this period, a total of 125 books were read.
Generally, each shared reading lasted between 30 to 90 minutes, averaging around 1 hour
each time/day a recording was made. The data consists of an estimated 131 hours ofvideo-recorded picturebook discussions, making up a large corpus of longitudinal
video-recordings of naturally occurring conversations in a parent-child shared reading
situation. The shared reading discussions were conducted in English. While English is aforeign language for my daughter, she is able to comprehend and express herself in thelanguage, as can be seen from the two excerpts below.
In the analysis of the data, the recordings were viewed multiple times and transcripts weremade following CA conventions (see Appendix). The recordings were viewed along with thetranscripts following the next-turn proof procedure (Sacks et a., 1974) in order to examine
how each interlocutor understood what the other said (in the prior turn) as displayed in how
they responded (in the next turn). In other words, any claim the CA analyst makes should
always find evidence not in “theoretically-driven assumptions” or “pre-determined features ofcontext” (Hutchby, 2019, p. 3), but rather, in the “observable structures and features of theparticipants’ talk and other conduct, through which the analysts may be able to infer theparticipants’ own understanding” (Mori and Zuengler, 2008, p. 17). Following this principle,
the recordings were viewed with an open mind in order to look for particular phenomena ofinterest. After the phenomenon has been identified, the recordings were viewed again in order
to collect all the instances of the particular phenomenon. The analysis identified thezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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importance of the sequential context of interaction in realizing the rights and responsibilitiesof each participant of the talk.
Results and Discussion
In what follows, I will discuss one dialogue between the mother and her child concerning thepossible story portrayed on the front cover (and also the back cover) of the picturebook My
Friend Rabbit by author and illustrator Eric Rohmann. (In the two excerpts below, M stands
for “mother” and C stands for “child.” They will be referred to as Mom and Sophie, which isthe child’s name.)

The analytical focus here begins at line 67 (see Excerpt 1), before which Sophie, with Mom’s
prompting, was sharing her thoughts about the possible plot of the story based on the front
cover. Sophie suggested that the rabbit and the mouse were playing catching the ball, with the
rabbit throwing the plane, and then throwing the ball, and the mouse piloting the plane to

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catch the ball. Mom then asked, in line 67, “the mouse catches the ball and then what?” In
line 69, Sophie continued with her story, saying “but then suddenly the plane fell and then themouse died.” She then looked at Mom and smiled, suggesting that she is being playful withthe storytelling.
Line 71 is an interlocking organization, i.e., a turn that includes “two (or sometimes three)components, combining in the same turn the last part (the second pair part of an adjacency
pair or a sequence-closing third) of one sequence and the first part of a next sequence”(Schegloff, 1986, p. 131). Here, mom first responded to the plot suggested by Sophie before
she pursued a justification by asking “who is the narrator?” After Sophie responded that thenarrator is “the mouse” (line 72), Mom confirmed the answer, with prolonged stress, before
then moving on to elaborate on her question by spelling out the gap in the logic that she saw:
“How can the mouse narrate if he died in the plane crash?” (line 73). Subsequently, in line 74,
continued into line 76, Sophie filled her slot, made conditionally relevant by Mom’s questionin line 73, first with laughter, and then with a response. However, interestingly, Sophie’s
response did not address Mom’s question, but ignored the question completely, and pursued
her own telling of the story. Specifically, she began her answer (in line 76 after the laughter)with the connective “and,” which showed that she is not answering the question Mom posedin her preceding turn, but rather, is continuing her own previous talk. In essence, Sophie’s
turn in line 76 followed her own previous turn in lines 69-70, displaying that the intervening
talk by Mom may have interrupted her narration of the plot.
Mom continued to pursue an answer to her question by responding (in lines 78 and 80):
“Yeah, but who would be telling the story? My Friend Rabbit.” Niemi (2014) explained that
there are two types of “yeah but” utterances based on the prosodic relationship between the“yeah” and “but”: the integrated and the non-integrated, depending on whether the two parts
are verbalized as the same or separate intonation phrases. When pronounced as “the same
intonation phrase with the disagreeing utterance”, i.e., the integrated usage, the “yeah” has aweaker acknowledging force and “can merely signal recipiency” (p. 55). This is the case withthe “yeah but” in Mom’s pursuit in line 78, which first signalled the receipt of Sophie’s
previous turn before going on to counter it with her own question, a reformulation of line 71.
This is actually the third time Mom issued such a pursuit, first in line 71, then again in line 73,
and finally yet again in line 78. In each, the question is phrased differently, as contingent on
its first pair part. In response to Mom’s pursuit in line 78, Sophie only laughed (line 79),
without providing any verbal reply. Mom then prefaced her next turn (line 81) with “so” (i.e.,“So that cannot be it”) to signal that her turn is the upshot of what she oriented to as Sophie’s
agreement (i.e., the laughter in line 79). As Raymond (2004) has found, so-prefaced
utterances can “articulate the upshot of prior talk” and functions to “pursue a limited range ofactions from their recipients” (p. 186). In this case, Mom does not even invite further
discussion from Sophie but immediately followed with evidence for her own assertion byreferring to the back cover that shows that “they did not die” (lines 83-84), to which Sophie
promptly agreed (in line 85). Their dialogue then digressed into a discussion about cartoons,
wherein the type of picture shown on the back cover is often found. Due to limited space, thisdigression in the dialogue is not discussed here, as it does not immediately pertain to thefocus of the current analysis.
In line 138 (see Excerpt 2), Mom attempted to bring the conversation back to their previous
discussion in lines 81-84 (regarding what the picture on the back cover showed about the fateof the two protagonists). The so-preface can be understood to signal that what is said in thisturn emerged from incipiency (Bolden, 2009). That is, “‘so’ is one solution available to the

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interlocutors for dealing with a common interactional problem: how to show that the current
utterance is occasioned by something other than the immediately preceding talk” (p. 996),
which in this case was about how cartoons sometimes end with a circle getting smaller andsmaller. Sophie, however, treated this so-prefaced question as “the upshot of prior talk”(Raymond, 2004, p. 186), answering that this type of picture means “it’s a cartoon.” Momthen used a “yeah but” utterance to indicate her disagreement with Sophie’s interpretationand then to revised her question.
Mom’s turn in lines 146-148 and 150 were both so-prefaced, indicating the “upshot of priortalk” (Raymond, 2004, p. 186). This was also the case in her turn in line 158 (“so what do
you think happened,” using the so-preface to suggest to Sophie that she should come up witha different plot about what happened in the story based on their immediately prior agreement(in lines 146-149 and especially lines 150-155) that no one died. Interestingly, even though
Sophie agreed (in line 155) that both characters are still alive at the end of the story, she
repeated her answer, in line 159, that “the plane crashed.” Moreover, this was prefaced with“I said,” which stressed that she was sticking to her original proposed plot that the planecrashed. The “I said” shows that Sophie was insisting on her original proposed plot rather
than her inability to understand their previous discussion (summed up by Mom in line 154).
This is evidenced by the fact that when Mom again pursued a different answer from Sophie
by issuing a challenge in her response in lines 160-161, Sophie revised her answer to one that
fitted with the result from their previous discussion (summed up by Mom in line 150-154 andagain in line 160-161), saying “and then the plane landed and they both went home” (line162).

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Note the turn design (Drew, 2013) in Sophie’s response in line 162. Line 162 is a revision ofSophie’s answer to Mom’s question in line 158 (“So what do you think happened”). She
revised her answer from “I said the plane crashed” (line 159) to “and then the plane landed
and they both went home” (line 162). There is no reason, in the sequence from line 158 toline 162, for Sophie to have designed her answer in line 162 to have been prefaced with “andthen.” The significance of the design of this turn can only be understood sequentially, taking
into account of the conversation from the beginning of the transcript. In line 73, when

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questioned by Mom about “how can the mouse narrate if he died in the plane crash,” Sophie
prefaced her answer in line 76 with “and then” to ignore Mom’s challenge and oriented heranswer as following immediately from her narration in lines 69-70. In line 162, by prefacing
her answer with “and then,” Sophie is linking her revision not only to Mom’s prompt in lines
160-161, but also, retrospectively, to Mom’s prompt in lines 73-75 and also line 68 (in thelast part “and then what”), essentially revising her own answer in lines 76-77 and also in lines
69-70. This sequential choreography on Sophie’s part shows her intense engagement with theprogression of the discussion throughout this whole stretch of dialogue, displaying herawareness and acknowledgment that the whole stretch of talk has been to solve the “problem”
identified by Mom in line 73 (“How can the mouse narrate if he died in the plane crash”) andyet again in lines 160-161 (“apparently it did not crash”) as a result of her answer (in lines
69-70) to the question that Mom originally posed in line 68 (“and then what”). In other words,
Sophie’s answer in line 162 not only is a revision of her answer in line 159 but is also a
revision of her answer in lines 69-70. Thus, the sequential organization connects the wholestretch of talk as systematic and orderly throughout the many smaller sequences in which thediscussion unfolded.
Sophie’s response (accompanied by laughter) in line 159 also suggests, retrospectively, that
her laughter in line 79 could have been doing the same thing as what she did/said in line 159,
i.e., insisting “I said the mouse” as her answer to the question posed in line 78, which was areformulation of the question posed in line 71. This laughter signalled her insistence, albeit injest, on her own plot development even though it may not be the one proposed by Mom (inher challenges posed in lines 71, 73, and 78 about who can be telling the story if the mouse
died, especially when the title of the book is “My Friend Rabbit”). In line 159, Sophie
upgraded her insistence by more explicitly spelling out her resistance to Mom’s focus on
story and picture logic as warranted by the back cover. In other words, even though one could
already have interpreted, at the moment when the conversation proceeded to line 79, what
Sophie implied by using only laughter to fill in her slot, it is in the sequential account (i.e.,many sequences later in line 159) that one finds verbal evidence to further support theinterpretation.
Conclusion and Implications
In the parent-child reading interaction examined above, the mother oriented to her rights andresponsibilities to manage the direction of the discussion and to hold her child accountable toher interpretation of the front cover. The child, correspondingly, oriented to her responsibility
to follow the mother’s line of questioning as the locus of discussion, but at the same time,
also her rights to interpret the picture and insist on her own ideas. Thus, text-interpretive
authority in this parent-child dyad was negotiated and co-constructed by the co-participants.
The child’s text-interpretive authority was challenged by the mother when it defied the logic
set out in the title and in the back cover. Thus, the sequential unfolding of the discussion was
realized in the mother’s pursuit of accountability in the child’s text-interpretive authority asthat which should be warranted by the clues provided by in the pictures on the front and backcovers.
In particular, the child’s “interactive options” (Freebody & Freiberg, 2001, p. 228) were notlimited to only that of a follower. The child repeatedly insisted on her own plot creation evenwhen she agreed that there were holes in the logic of her plot. This occurred in three instancesin three different ways: First, she filled in her slot, which was supposed to be an answer, bycontinuing with her narration as if she had not been interrupted by her mother. Second, when

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challenged again by the mother, she only filled in her slot with laughter. Finally, towards theend, the child clearly resisted the mother’s request to revise her proposed plot. Thus, it would
be interesting to look for how much this characteristic of conversation (i.e., resistance as oneof a child’s interactive options) occurs in the rest of the data as a possible feature of thisparent-child shared reading.
These findings demonstrate that a lot goes on in a parent-child dialogic reading than language
and literacy skills being developed when viewed through a CA perspective. The findings also
show that examining interactional practices through the CA method of looking at sequential
unfolding of conversations is a worthwhile focus in parent-child reading research. Moreover,
how children go about insisting on their own text-interpretive authority under the generalboundary of the parents’ text-interpretive control should be explored further in future
research.
Acknowledgements
This research received funding support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of
Taiwan (MOST 110-2410-H-002-110).

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Contact email: syhg@ntu.edu.tw

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Enhancing ‘How to Learn’ Skills: Its Impacts on Academic Performance andStudents’ Motivation
Hana Sofiyana, HighScope School, Indonesia
Athifah Utami, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
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Abstract
In the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, remote learning requires students to learn
independently to find information and understand the concept of subject matter. However,
distractions like scrolling on social media have been a common issue faced by students
during remote learning. This challenge leads to procrastination and affects the quality of theirlearning experience. Students must have “learning how to learn” skills to help them enhance
the quality of their learning (Oakley, 2018). This study examines how “learning how to learn”
skills promote significant results in students’ academic performance and motivation.
Classroom Action Research (CAR) design (Sagor, 2004), involving participants from multiage classes (grade 8 and 9) as one age group; there were three (3) classes with 53 students intotal. Participants were categorized as high achievers and only low achievers who received
the intervention to see if the techniques could improve their performance. The intervention
took place for 6 (six) months with 2 (two) days of initial sessions and 2 (two) days ofevaluation sessions. The result shows that ‘how to learn skills’ improves students’ academic
performance in mathematics. Their self-reflection regarding their learning techniques being
used was shown to a high percentage of being ‘fully understood’ when they applied the
Pomodoro technique, and the Chunking technique was shown to be less preferable forstudents. Overall, the ‘how to learn skills’ has helped improve students’ academic
performance and accommodated students’ ability in time and ideas management.
Keywords: How to Learn Skills, Academic Performance, Student’s Motivation, Directed
Learning

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
During the Covid-19 pandemic, students were required to study remotely. Most schools
conduct the learning by combining both synchronously and asynchronously through several
learning media. Synchronous learning provides sessions where teachers and students meetvirtually in real-time. The main advantage of the asynchronous session is students can receive
immediate feedback and use natural language (Blau et al., 2017) meanwhile, asynchronous
session allows students to learn at their own pace (van der Keylen et al., 2020), unfortunately
not all students use this opportunity to get the maximum benefit of their learning due to lackof learning skills. In asynchronous sessions, students are required to have self-study skills tostay on track and achieve the learning goals by having enough motivation throughout thelearning (cf. Hartnett, 2015). Besides, students encounter several issues during asynchronous
learning such as social media distraction and gaming temptation. Those activities are chosen
by the students as a way out of their stress and confusion in learning the topic without teacher
assistance. The number of students who procrastinate has improved and it leads to learning
loss.
Asynchronous sessions will be effective if the students are responsible for their learning andpossess adequate learning skills. To escalate the quality of the learning experience, how tolearn skills are essential to be equipped by the students. Learning 'how to learn skills is theability to pursue and persist in learning, to organize one's learning, including througheffective management of time and information, both individually and in groups. Learning
how to learn skills is beneficial for students to gain a deeper understanding of the content andbe more empowered to take risks in learning. The skill will lead the students to establish
goals, determine essential information, find patterns, chunk the information, prioritize theirwork and seek help when is necessary. As a result of this skill, students will be self-directed
learners.
Based on Oakley and Sejnowski (2018), to improve students’ memory and learning quality,
students can use the Pomodoro technique, chunking, and many more learning skills. The
Pomodoro is a technique where the students set a timer to 25 minutes, turn off allinterruptions or distractions, and focus. After that, they are allowed to give themselves a selfreward for 5-10 minutes break, such as watching a video, playing games, or listening to theirfavorite song. The reward is the important part of the whole Pomodoro process because when
an individual is looking forward to a reward, the brain helps the person focus better. This
technique is effective to solve procrastination as well. Moreover, the other learning skill usedis the chunking method. Chunking is the mental leap that helps students unite bits of
information together through meaning. This method makes the information that is chunked tobe easier to remember and also helps the brain run more efficiently.
Therefore, most of the research focuses on the general approach of learning skills
improvement, and few of them examine specific learning skills implemented by the learner inmathematics. The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the learning skills
implemented by the learner during asynchronous sessions in Mathematics lessons and the
Pomodoro technique and Chunking technique and their impact on students' motivation andacademic performance. Lastly, the variable of students’ achievements and motivations arelimited to Mathematics subjects at a certain level of secondary education, hence the results ofthis study are not meant to generalize the correlation of students’ achievements andmotivations concerning learning skills.

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Theoretical Framework

1.1 Remote learning
Remote learning that occurs during the Covid-19 pandemic can be identified as emergency
remote learning as it is not usual for distance learning but happens in an unusual situation.
Some emergencies can happen at the local, national, and global levels, such as natural
disasters (such as floods, earthquakes, eruptions, and hurricanes), war (terrorist attacks, local,
national, or global war), and pandemics (HIV, Malaria, Tuberculosis, and Covid-19). There
are main differences between mainstream remote learning and the emergency one, like a
massive situation where sudden changes in some aspects of the learning format have affectedstudents and teachers throughout the process. A massive change due to emergencies isdefined as emergency remote learning (Hodges et al., 2022). Different contexts and countries
implement different policies to manage the emergency remote teaching to make sure thelearning experience continues and better accommodate students’ needs and situations.
As societies are made up of layers and diverse socio-economic and geospatial features, inmost cases, governments prepare various platforms to reach as large a group as possible,
ensuring the deliverability of all aspects of society. In an emergency, remote teaching,electrical supplies, and internet connection are the main ways to be able to access the service(education and learning session). The internet connection may be one of the cases that even ina prosperous country like the United State, over 3 million children are reported to be nonInternet linked at home or the Service is unsuitable for engaging in online learning forums(Hodges et al., 2020). Hence, in most cases, the government also provides services throughRadio, Television, and smartphones for young children’s learning and other public media
initiatives for parents and caregivers.
1.2 Learning Skills Theories
Students’ facing difficult challenges during remote learning where distraction or interruptions
are uncontrollable. There are two types of interruption that need to be addressed:a)Internal: These interruptions are triggered by the students e.g. “I want to play games”
or “I need to check my social media”.
b)External: Triggered by other entities. E.g., “request from friends
To address the distraction issue, learning how to learn skill is necessary to equip the students.
Learning how to learn is essential when teachers are no longer a main source of informationand knowledge.
Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro technique is a learning skill that helps students break their procrastination
habit that is caused by distraction. This technique will help the students be more focused on
their learning. Pomodoro Technique was found by an Italian student Francesco Cirillo who
faced difficulties such as managing distractions during the learning process (Ahmed,
Chambers, Frontz, & Voida, 2014)

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According to Oakley (2018) here are the steps to implement the Pomodoro technique:1.
Shut off all distractions such as your phone, the TV, your music or anything that getsin the way of your ability to focus. Find a quiet place to study where you will not beinterrupted or consider noise-canceling earphones to remove all distraction.
2.
Set the timer for 25 minutes.
3.
Get going and focus on the task as well as you can for 25 minutes.
4.
After 25 minutes, reward yourself. Watch a dance video or listen to your favorite songor chat with friends for five or ten minutes.
Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain works in two different ways called the focusedmode and the diffuse mode. Both modes are essential in helping the students to learn. When
students’ brain is in focus mode, students put specific parts of the brain to work. Which partsof the brain that are working depend on what students’ doing. When students are trying tolearn something new, they must first focus intently on it to “turn on” those parts of the brain
and get the learning process started. Break time after the focused mode is called a diffusedmode. Diffuse mode is when students’ minds are relaxed and free. Students think aboutnothing in particular. It turns out that the brain must go back and forth between focused anddiffuse modes to learn effectively.
The goal of the Pomodoro technique is to encourage consciousness, concentration, and clarityof thought through effective time management (Wang et.al, 2010). The Pomodoro technique
can improve the productivity of individuals including students’ productivity to complete theirwork or learn independently.
Chunking technique
Chunking is a strategy to break down information into bite-sized pieces so the brain can moreeasily digest new information (Malamed, 2015). Gobet et al. (2001) differentiate between two
main meanings of chunking concerning memory: deliberate chunking and automaticchunking. Deliberate chunking is conscious, explicit, intermittent, goal-directed, andstrategically intended to structure the material to memorize. Therefore, automatic chunking is
unconscious, implicit, and continuous. Chunking has been found as one of the crucial
elements of human cognition mechanism and plays a significant role in how internalcognitive processes are linked to the external environment (Gobet and Lane, 2012).
Chunking up is looking for a more generalized understanding. For instance: a car is a form oftransportation, transportation is a movement, and movement is part of existence. Chunking
down is getting more detail about high-level information that the students already have. The
goal is to move the information from general to specific. For example, Probability is thegeneral topic and can be chunked down into likely, less likely, and more likely that the event
might happen. However, chunking sideways involves finding other examples at the samelevel of information. When the students chunk sideways, the students are going to mention orremember one member of a class to another member of the same class, for example, cars toplanes trains to boats. Chunking helps students identify keywords and ideas, develops theirability to paraphrase, and makes it easier for them to organize and synthesize information(Maharani, 2021).

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1.3 Students’ Motivation
When students feel more motivated to learn, they perform better academically, show
improved classroom behavior, and gain a higher sense of self-esteem (Hattie, 2011, P. 252;
Usher et al., 2021 p.1). Data shows that many students lack motivation which increases every
year from middle school to high school. It can be seen from the number of absenteeism as
they get older. It seems that a motivation crisis is happening and real.
Based on Ryan and Deci (2000), there are 4 elements to nurture intrinsic motivation:a)Self-autonomy: Having a degree of control over what needs to happen and how it canbe doneb)Competence: feeling that one has the ability to be successful in doing itc)Relatedness: doing the activity helps the students feel more connected to others, andthe feel cared about by people who they respectd)
Relevance to their present lives and/or to their future
Jones (2018) proposed instructional design that aims to nurture students’ intrinsic motivation
using the MUSIC model.

Table. 1 Students’ Intrinsic Motivation using the MUSIC Model
It is contrary to Morgan’s (1984) that intrinsic motivation was not lessened or enhanced byconditions such as praise, positive connections, freedom of choice and rewards associatedwith competent performance.
2.

Methodology

2.1 Research Design
This study employs a Classroom Action Research (CAR) design with participants from multiage classes (grades 8 and 9) as one age group with total of 3 classes in this age group.
Participants were categorized as high achievers and low achievers, as this research aims tohelp students who have a low academic performance enhance their academic skills. A total of
27 students participated in this study. CAR is a systematic process, and relevant classroom
context, and it focuses on teaching practices (O’Connor et.al., 2006). The research was done

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through these main steps; planning, implementing, developing, and reflecting (Mertler andCharles, 2005 in O’Connor et.al., 2006). The planning stage included the literature review
and preparing the materials (pre-test, self-reflection, learning guide module, students’motivation survey, and post-test). The implementing stage consisted of; a pre-test session,
introduction to learning techniques sessions, and practicing learning techniques inmathematics (Data Analysis and Probability topics) for the duration of 6 (six) week lessons.
In the developing stage, it took place the development of self-reflection and students’motivation survey, post-test, and re-evaluating of the current materials from theimplementation stage. Lastly, in the reflecting stage, the correlation and elaboration of results
were made to find specific reasons and further steps to create better teaching practices. Belowis the research’s flow:

Figure 1: Research Flow
(Source: own elaboration)
2.2 Sample: Participants and Setting
The population of this study is 53 students from 3 different classes in grades 8 and 9. The
samples were chosen based on a purposive sampling technique with specific criteria to
specifically address the issues in mathematics class. Students with overall low performance insome topics were chosen to participate in this study. The context of this research ismathematics class on the topic of Data Analysis and Probability.
2.3 Instruments: Survey and Materials
Self-reflection was formulated to help students to track their learning journey when
implementing Pomodoro and Chunking. It contains a self-assessment of their understanding(fully and partially) of specific topics with specific learning techniques in a checklist format.
This self-reflection was adopted from a study on personalized learning: growing self-directed
learners (Zmuda & Kallick, 2017, 2021).

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The learning motivation survey consists of 18 (eighteen) items with 6 (six) on the Likert
scale, covering students’ self-assessment of their extrinsic and intrinsic motivation towardspecific learning topics. The numeral six indicated ‘strongly agree’, a five indicated ‘agree’, afour indicated ‘somewhat agree’, a three indicated ‘somewhat disagree’, two indicated'disagree’ and one indicated ‘strongly disagree’. The survey was adopted from research on
motivating students by design (Jones, 2018). All the statements require students to fill in what
they believe in for some learning contexts.
The learning guide contained both Pomodoro and Chunking learning techniques whichshowed specific steps to follow and practice during their independence studies.
2.4 Data Collection and Data Analysis
The pre-test was given before the formulation of intervention and implementation to help theresearcher categorize students who needed improving their performance in Mathematics(specifically for the topic of Data Analysis and Probability). Afterward, the collected data
which include pre-test results, self-monitoring of learning skills implementation, selfassessment survey on motivation, and post-test were analysed using qualitative (narrativecoding) and quantitative (Pearson correlation) approaches.
3.

Results

3.1 Students’ self-reflection of Learning Skills (Pomodoro and Chunking techniques)
used during asynchronous session
Learning skill

Self-reflection

Percent

Pomodoro techniquePartially understand26%

Fully understand67%

Partially understand33%

Fully understand

11%

Chunking

Table 2. Students’ self-reflection(a direct benefit of implementing Pomodoro and Chunking technique)
The self-reflection form aims to raise students’ awareness of their progress in implementing
the technique. The table shows that most students implement the Pomodoro technique morethan the chunking method. The Pomodoro technique benefits the students to focus on a task
and comprehend the information thoroughly, comprising 67 percent of students, and few ofthe students claimed that it helps them partially understand the topic. In contrast, less thanhalf the proportion of students assumed that chunking methods slightly impacted theirunderstanding of math lessons either fully or partially.

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3.2 Students’ academic performance
In the first data collection, the pretest was conducted using a written instrument. The resultof the pretest is evaluated using a rubric which is categorized into high performance,
proficient and not yet (those who did not meet the minimum criteria).
PretestCriteria

Posttest

Grade
F

Percentage

F

Percentage

A

0

0%

2

7.4%

B

0

0%

16

59.3%

Proficient

C

19

70.4%

9

33.3%

Not Yet

NY

8

29.6%

0

0%

27

100%

27

100%

High Performance

TOTAL

Table 3. Students’ performance Pre-Test and Post-Test
According to the pre-test result, about 70 percent of the students are proficient, and around
one-third of the students underperformed. The lower achievers are selected as a group who
have implemented the learning technique.
The post-test result shows significant enhancement in students' academic performance. About
one-third of the students achieved the minimum criteria in Mathematics which is proficiency,
and a tiny proportion got an A. The majority of the students performed better, previously
those who were at a proficient level, substantially improved to a higher grade, which is grade
B or A. Approximately 3 percent of lower achievers did not make any significant
improvement in their academic performance. This result proved that the “how to learn “ skill
is beneficial for enhancing students’ achievement. The students who were not fulfilling theminimum criteria in the pre-test show better performance at the minimum criteria
3.3 Frequency of trials and students motivation

Table 4. Pearson correlation between number of trials in the learning skills
towards students motivations

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The Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength anddirection of association that exists between two variables. A Pearson’s correlation attempts todraw a line of best fit through the data of two variables, and the Pearson’s correlation
coefficient, r, indicates how far away all these data points are from this line of best fit. The
frequency of implementing the learning skills is recorded by the students. This data is used tofind its correlation with the students' motivation scores. It is predicted that the more
frequently the students used the learning technique, the higher their motivation. Pearson
correlation is measured to analyse whether one variable affects another variable. The
correlation between the number of trials in using the Pomodoro technique to motivation
percentage is negative. The r-value is -0.46, indicates that the correlation between the numberof trials using the Pomodoro technique is weak and negatively correlated. It is worth noting
the number of trials in chunking methods positively correlated with students’ motivation withthe r-value of 0.19, indicates that there is a weak positive correlation between the variables.
4.

Discussion

The result indicates that the Pomodoro and Chunking techniques had a significant effect on
students’ achievement. It can be seen from the pre-test result that 30 percent of the students
underperformed in the prior stage before the intervention was implemented, and thosestudents showed better performance at minimum on proficient criteria and no students failedreferring to the post test result. In addition, a group of students who were achieving proficient
criteria showed noticeable progress on their academic performance where the majority ofthem fulfilled high performance criteria (grade B) and a tiny proportion got an A grade. The
improvement on students’ performance showed that both learning skills effectively help
students to maximize their asynchronous session to learn and it is impacted to their quality of
the learning. This result is aligned with students' self-reflection where the students’ claim thatthey obtain the benefit of applying the “how to learn skill” (Pomodoro and chunking
techniques) which results in improving their understanding of math subjects when they learn
about statistics and probability topics and apply it during asynchronous session. Thesefindings are supported by a previous study correlate to the benefits of executive function levelin regard to the use of Pomodoro technique. An overall effect of students’ learning
experience using time management, self-regulation, creating goals, and recording the data,
have shown prove to the improvement of executive function, hence, it greatly impacts tostudents’ academic performance (Singer & Bashir, 1999 in Akers, 2015).
According to the learning skills monitoring record, the Pomodoro technique is more likely to
be used by the students to help them overcome distraction during asynchronous sessions.
During the weekly discussion, students convey that this learning skill is easy to implement
and foster them to focus on a task rather than multitasking and improve productivity. Also,
the break that they have after focusing for 25 minutes allows them to relax and be less tense.
This statement proved that Pomodoro technique could make tasks feel more manageable(Tabackman, 2021). How the brain works during the implementation of Pomodoro technique,
Oakley (2016) mentioned that for 25 minutes student’ brain is in a focus mode. During the
focus mode, the brain concentrates intently on something that the students are trying to learn
or to understand. Then, during the break, student’ brain is more diffused. Diffuse mode
allows the students to generate new ideas or approaches that they need. Also, the diffuse
mode makes new neural connections traveling along new pathways. It can be said that
pomodoro technique enhances students’ time management that contributes to productivity
during independent learning.

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To improve the effectiveness of the Pomodoro technique, there are some activities thatstudents can do such as set upcoming activities or goal (planning), tracking and record bylisting the daily performance, identify distractors and find a way to cope with it, and visualize
the improvement of the Pomodoro technique (Shinoda, 2020). In this study, the tracking,recording, and visualizing the progress when using the Pomodoro technique has been done
completely. Likewise, having a goal setting, identifying distractors as well as finding a way
to cope with them, for example, unexamined.
Meanwhile, the students less preferably implemented the chunking technique. It was due tothe implementation of the chunking technique required an analysis to break down theinformation into bite-sized pieces. Some students who implement it claim that they
understand the information easily. This analysis supports the theory that the chunking
technique can help students direct attention to the important features of the material, and inturn help the acquisition of perceptual chunks that are appropriate, given the task at hand
(Gobet, 2005). The students who implement this learning skill consistently show significant
improvement in understanding the math topic. As shown by the result of the post test, about
7.4% of the students got an A grade. The results of this study are similar to the previous
research of Hardiana (2019) that the chunking method is undoubtedly beneficial for students
to improve students’ reading comprehension in 8th grade. This learning technique helps
students for ideas management.
This study also demonstrates a correlation between the number of trials the students took in
implementing the “how to learn” skills and students’ motivation. As for the Pomodoro
technique, the scatterplot shows a weak negative correlation between the number ofPomodoro techniques and students’ motivation. Pomodoro technique corresponds withstudents' time management and improves focus which also affects the quality of theirlearning; however, it does not positively correlate with their intrinsic motivation. In contrast,
the number of trials in the chunking method shows positive correlation with students’motivation. According to Ryan and Deci (2000), there are 4 elements as factors of improving
students' intrinsic motivation: self-autonomy, competence, relatedness, and relevance. The
Pomodoro technique and chunking apparently improves their competence but still needs
further intervention that also enhances students’ self-autonomy, relatedness, and relevancetowards the learning to enhance their intrinsic motivation. According to Gottfried (1990) In
longitudinal study of children, motivation and achievement in learning math was found to beaffected by prior math achievement or math motivation. It means that the students’ priormotivation and achievement contributes to the current motivations.
Conclusion and Recommendation
By testing the effect of “how to learn” skills: Pomodoro and Chunking methods on students,
this study established that the implementation of these learning skills does indeed have asignificant effect on students’ academic performance. Accordingly, chunking methods have apositive correlation between the frequency in implementing the methods towards students'
motivation. Yet, the Pomodoro technique was less likely to improve students’ motivation,and more to help students promote their time management.
Further research is needed to establish teachers' planning in nurturing students’ intrinsic
motivation by considering relatedness, relevance and self-determination in the learning. If the
intrinsic motivation is well cultivated, it will have a lasting effect and drive the students to be
self-directed learners. Also, in the future research, a longer period of teaching the chunking

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method to students is recommended and graphic organizers might be helpful to help thembreak down ideas that are easier to digest. Moreover, teaching students to list down the
distractors and cope with it is also an important step in the implementation of the Pomodoro
technique as well as setting a specific goal prior to the Pomodoro technique.

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Kisno, S. (2020). Pomodoro Technique for Improving Students' Reading Ability during
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Teacher Quality and Classroom Practice. Presentation, San Fransisco.
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Assessing Social Apathy Among Filipino Young Adults:
Construction and Validation of the Social Apathy Test (SOCAP)
Dianne P. Ricafranca, Ateneo de Naga University Graduate School, Philippines
Mel Christian Celedonio, Ateneo de Naga University Graduate School, Philippines
Patricia Estrella, Ateneo de Naga University Graduate School, Philippines
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Abstract
Filipino young adults are often observed to lack social consciousness or interest of theirsocio-political environment, thus, being regarded as socially apathetic. Social apathy refers to
the disorientation of the processes of society. It is a cause of insecurity and powerlessness
that lead to the incapacity to build and value social life. To date, there are many tools in theliterature used to measure apathy in general, but not taking into account other specific aspectsof it such as social apathy. Therefore, our objective is the construction and validation of atool for assessing the social apathy of Filipino young adults. We carried out a content
validation of the originally 40-item Likert scale with a panel of licensed psychologists andpsychometrician and proceeded to a pilot testing to 320 respondents aged 17 to 26 years old.
The tool was reduced into 38 items within two subscales (Political Apathy and Moral
Apathy) and were further analyzed through exploratory factor analysis to test its constructvalidity, which was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). Moreover, all six
components (Interest, Voter, Bystander, Influence, Moral Indifference and Moral
Callousness) were found to have good to excellent reliability. Correlational analysis
determined that all the components were found to have a significant relationship with themain construct which is Social Apathy. Social Apathy Test (SOCAP) has overall good
psychometric qualities and can be used to devise a statistical data about the levels of social
apathy.
Keywords: Social Apathy, Construction, Validation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
In the present time when social issues are everywhere, it is quite interesting to observe
how people, especially young adults, respond and react to such events. Young adults areoften regarded as uninterested in political activities, are less likely to vote than older adults,
and are pessimistic when it comes to important societal issues (Milan, 2005; Ojala, 2012).
However, there are also several pieces of evidence to show that young people are notapathetic and that they just have a different way of viewing and engaging in social matters(Sloam, J., 2014). With these, the authors would like to come up with an instrument to test
the Social Apathy of young adults.
Social apathy pertains to the lack of desire and eagerness to any social forms orevents (Newman, 2017). A socially apathetic person may feel that they cannot do anything to
make a change because they feel that they are not influential enough, and when things gowrong the person tends to look away from the responsibility or go blind to what is happening
to the surroundings, instead, they focus more on themselves or their self-interest (Chang,2017).
Researches conducted by Yamamoto, Kushin, & Dalisay (2017) and Milan (2005)
showed that young adults’ personal motivation and the relevance of the social issue to them
are factors that intervene in the direction of their apathy. Young adults who are less awarethat a politician’s decisions affect them directly may not see the relevance of an election totheir personal lives.
On a different note, young adults are seen to be active users of social media. In thelast decade, the young adult internet population has been consistently growing, starting from2008, in which 93% of young adults ages 18-29 years old go online. The percentage of adults
who use online social networks varies dramatically by age, so has the percentage of social
networking site users who maintain a profile on multiple sites. Aside from using social media
as a communications hub, it was also found that teens and adults use it for vital informationnecessary for life management, health, and civic engagement (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, &Zickuhr, 2010). While 71% of adult internet users reported getting news online, only 35% of
online adults were getting political news online. Opposite to the said study, Bode, Zuniga andSkoric (2014) stated that social media use for political information seems to intervene in theprocess of disaffection whereby cynical citizens may become either more or less apathetic.
Consequently, the media are often blamed for the political disengagement of young persons(Capella & Jamieson, 1997), but other literature says that news media use for political
purposes is an important source of political participation (Gil de Zuniga, et.al., 2012).
In connection to this, a recent survey reveals that Generation Z or those ages 17 to 24 years
old are “politically apathetic” despite having wide access to information (Malasig, 2019).
Given that young adults are caught spending more time on social media than any othergeneration, they have greater opportunities to access sufficient data and updates about social
happenings. However, as the literature has presented, it may either decrease or increase ones’
willingness to react and respond to these events. Thus, the authors would like to construct an
instrument to test the level of social apathy of young adults.

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Test Design and Construction
The Social Apathy (SOCAP) Test was originally composed of a 40-item scale that the threeauthors determined following the definitions of the subscales. Positive syntax was employedwhen writing the original items. These were designed to be self- rated using the 4-point
Likert scale (Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree) depending on how it
best describes the target respondents. After duplicating items were removed, the test was thenreviewed for content and clarity of item construction by a panel of three consisting of
educational psychologists and a psychometrician. Based on their responses, items wererevised accordingly.
After the pilot testing to 320 respondents who completed the test online, items were analyzed
and reduced using Factor Analysis to calculate the correlations among the set of components
and look for patterns which suggests that the items “go together.”
The items were reduced to 38 items and are grouped based on the variances created. Below is
the table of specification for the test items:
Area

SocialApathySub ScalesComponents

Political
ApathyInterest Apathy

12

1 - 1232%

Voter Apathy

7

13 - 19

18%

Bystander Apathy

5

21 – 24

13%

Influence Apathy

5

25 – 29

13%

Moral Indifference

4

30 – 33

11%

Moral Callousness

5

34 – 38

13%

Moral
ApathyNo. of Items Placement Percentage

The table of specifications of the Social Apathy Test (SOCAP Test) shows that there are 38
questions regarding some situations that are happening to society. There are two subscales
chosen by the test developers. The subscales are Political Apathy and Moral Apathy, in thefirst subscale there are two components which is Interest Apathy with twelve (12) questions
having a percentage of 32%, and Voter Apathy having seven (7) questions with a percentage
of 18%.
On the other hand, the second subscale of the test is Moral Apathy which is composed of four
components, which are Bystander Apathy, Influence Apathy, Moral Indifference and Moral
Callousness having five (5) questions for each component with a percentage of 13%, except
for Moral Indifference which has four (4) questions with a percentage of 11%. The
distribution of every question is in order by components.
Validity and Reliability Testing
Validity is an important psychometric characteristic of a test which mainly asks whether thetest actually measures what it is intended to be measured. A pilot testing was done to gather
sufficient data to be used in the statistical analysis of the test itself.

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The authors conducted the initial testing to a total of 320 respondents. Given that age is the
only parameter set for this test, it was only limited to young adults whose age is ranging from17 to 26 years old.
To achieve construct validity, the application of statistical techniques using the Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and JAMOVI were used to determine whether thetest really measures the construct presented.
Exploratory factor analysis was utilized to assess the factor structure essential to the 40- item
Social Apathy Test. Results of the sampling adequacy measure of this instrument reported ahigh KMO of 0.937 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity (χ2 = 7213, degrees of freedom = 780)
yielded a statistically significant p < 0.001, this indicates that the variables are associated andtherefore appropriate for extraction.
Table 1: Strong-Loading Items after Factor Rotation
FACTOR
ITEM

1

Pa1

2
.859

Pa2

.873

Pa3

.836

Pa4

.586

Pa5

.699

Pa6

.799

Pa7

.434

Pa8

3

4

6

.427

.445

Pa9

.537

Pa10

.413

Pa11

.753

Pa12

.647

Pa13

.510

Pa14

.788

Pa15

.771

Pa16

.746

Pa17

.688

Pa18

.651

Pa19

.527

Pa20

.597

.405

.415

ma1

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ma2

.564

ma3

.694

ma4

.675

ma5

.661

ma6

.401

.592

ma7

.553

ma8

.693

ma9

.712

ma10

.534

.440

ma11

.696

ma12

.498

ma13

.702

ma14

.640

ma15

-.638

ma16

.667

ma17

.608

ma18

.412

.542

ma19
ma20

.746
.415

.514

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations.
Table 2 presents the items with a minimum of .40 factor magnitude. The table consisted of 7components with 40 items, but due to item ma15 not meeting the >0.350 factor loading cutoff, Component 7 was excluded, so there are only 38 which are included in the final
inventory. PA8 was removed later on because it was not subsequent to the theme of the item
loading. Components 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 are consisted of items which are included in the final
38-item inventory.
The final 38 items after factor analysis of the 40 item Social Apathy (SOCAP) Test are
illustrated in the following Table 3. Together with the statements from the test, the table alsopresents the factor loading, mean, and standard deviation of each item. There was a total of
six factors for the final 38-item Social Apathy Test – (1) Interest Apathy, (2) Voter Apathy,

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Callousness.
Table 2: Factor Loadings, Eigenvalues, Percentages of Variance,
Mean and Standard Deviations of the 38-item Social Apathy Test
Social Apathy Test

FL

M

SD

.859

1.23

0.597

.413

1.58

0.634

.753

1.64

0.684

.647

1.57

0.620

.510

1.51

0.560

.788

1.71

0.698

.771

1.91

0.760

.746

2.08

0.792

.688

2.13

0.786

.651

2.07

0.793

.527

1.67

0.627

.597

1.62

0.656

Factor 1: Interest Apathy
Eigenvalues: 13.114; Percentage of Variance: 32.76%
1. It is important for me to participate in the next/coming
elections.
10. I am vigilant in the counting process of election.
11. I am interested in having conversation with otherpeople when it comes to politics.
12. I share reliable political sources to spread knowledge
so that people will learn more about the current issues.
13. I read and watch news to be aware of the current socialand political issues.
14. I voice out my opinions in terms of political issues.
15. It makes me excited and motivated to talk about
politics, law, and governance.
16. I participate in any social programs that talk about
current affairs.
17. I attend some gatherings or seminars that talks aboutsocial issues.
18. It is easy for me to share my political views to otherpeople.
19. I am fully aware of different kinds of political mattersthat are happening right now in our country.
20. I am highly interested to learn about political,
governance, and law.

The first factor, Interest Apathy, consisted of 12 items, all similarly describe an individual’s
perspective on electoral processes and their participation on political discourse. As this has
the same definition as that of Yakubu (2012), that it can be measured by either having orlacking of concern and interest in both processes, the factor label was therefore retained.

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Table 2: (continuation)
Social Apathy Test

FL

M

SD

Factor 2: Voter Apathy
Eigenvalues: 3.599; Percentage of Variance: 9%
2. I believe that voting is important for societal change

.873

1.23

0.580

3. I make sure that I vote wisely in the coming election.

.859

1.16

0.499

.586

1.37

0.615

.699

1.13

0.390

.799

1.42

0.676

.434

1.59

0.651

.537

1.41

0.626

4. I am interested in the political platforms that will bepresented by the candidate during the upcoming election.
5. It is my right to vote in every election.
6. I believe that when I participate in voting change ispossible
7. I educate other people about proper voting.
9. I encourage other people to choose a proper candidate
and vote wisely.

The same factor label Voter Apathy was retained for the second iteration. There are sevenfactor loadings with 11.10% cumulative variance. These items focus on an individual’s action
and attitude towards voting of participating in the actual election.
Table 2: (continuation)
Social Apathy Test

FL

M

SD

.592

1.73

0.661

27. I take risks for others' welfare.

.553

1.95

0.675

28. I always make initiative in helping other people.

.693

1.67

0.631

29. I assert myself in new things for my daily activities.

.712

1.89

0.676

.534

1.48

0.582

Factor 3: Bystander Apathy
Eigenvalues: 1.662; Percentage of Variance: 4.15%
26. I engage in community programs in order to help otherpeople.

30. I always motivate and encourage other people thatthey can also reach their goals.

A new factor label Bystander Apathy was created for five factor loadings. All items converge
a situation in which their helping behavior is affected by the social situation that they observe

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from other people, which is parallel to the definition of Hortensius and de Gelder (2018) for
the said component.
Table 2: (continuation)
Social Apathy Test

FL

M

SD

.667

1.82

0.582

.608

1.60

0.589

.542

1.81

0.605

.746

1.76

0.643

.514

1.96

0.744

Factor 4: Influence Apathy
Eigenvalues: 1.476; Percentage of Variance: 3.70%
36. I try to correct people who do wrong doings.
37. I try to be a good influence and a role model to otherpeople.
38. I make sure to make a change or solution whenever I
see something wrong with our society.
39. I teach other people what is right and wrong.
40. I always share my sentiments in any matters towards
other people.

Another new factor is Influence Apathy where five items were loaded. Thematically, theitems assess an individual’s effort, initiative or preference to influence other people and/or
create a change in them for the better. Since all items are reversely scored, these items werealso written on a positive syntax opposing Dean’s (1956) definition of Influence Apathy
which means the lack of interest in influencing others.

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Table 2: (continuation)
Social Apathy Test

FL

M

SD

.696

1.31

0.496

.498

1.40

0.551

33. I am bothered when things get worse in society.

.702

1.32

0.510

34. I do care if the world is falling apart.

.640

1.33

0.569

.628

1.29

0.499

.564

1.51

0.587

.694

1.38

0.563

.675

1.65

0.679

.661

1.37

0.533

Factor 5: Moral Indifference
Eigenvalues: .812; Percentage of Variance: 2.03%
31. I care about what is happening to our world.
32. I have an interest in listening to the sentiments or ideasof other people.

Factor 6: Moral Callousness
Eigenvalues: .627; Percentage of Variance: 1.57%
21. It is important to me to reach my own goals in life aswell as to those people who are close to me.
22. I think of future plans for the improvement of thesociety.
23. I think about my decisions in life more than once so it
would benefit not only myself but other people as well.
24. I always show interest unto what others may feel or
say about what I am doing.
25. The well-being of others and my own is always
important for me.

The fifth and sixth factors retained the factor labels as majority of the statements weregrouped according to their original component, which is Moral Callousness and Moral
Indifference. The five items under Moral Callousness focuses to an individual’s concern to
the well-being of others, which is the positive syntax of O’Connor’s (2014) definition of theconstruct.
Moral Indifference four-item factor loadings, on the other hand, present statements about aperson’s perspective towards a wider scope of things such as his/her society or the world,
where he/she may choose to see or not see a certain event or circumstance.
The final 38 items show that there were more items concerning Voter’s apathy to Social
Apathy. Approximately half (50%) of the final items were about Political apathy and theother half (50%) is for Moral Apathy. Table 3 summarizes the items comprising the six
factors. The total variance accounted by the six factors was 53.21%. the first factor (Voter
Apathy) constitutes 32.79%, second factor (Interest Apathy) makes up 9%, third factor(Bystander Apathy) comprises 4.15%, fourth factor (Influence Apathy) is 3.70%, fifth factor(Moral Indifference) is 2.03% and the last factor (Moral Callousness) is 1.57%.

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The second part of the analysis is the reliability testing. The reliability of a test is often
defined as the extent to which the scores on the test are free from error. The final 38 items
were tested for internal consistency reliability.
All components are found to have a good to excellent reliability. Voter Apathy has thehighest reliability (N=320; ɑ=.90) while Moral Indifference has the lowest reliability(N=320; ɑ=0.76) among the six components. The reliability of the whole instrument was also
tested and found with excellent reliability (N=320; ɑ=0.947). This implies that the individual
differences in the test scores are attributable to “true” differences in the characteristics underconsideration and the extent to which they are attributable to chance errors (Fogarty, ND).
The third stage of analysis in this paper is the Correlation testing between the components.
The statistical result is shown at the table below:
Table 3: Correlation of social apathy, interest apathy, voter apathy, bystander apathy,
influence apathy, moral indifference and moral callousness

Variable

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Social Apathy

1

0.689

0.892

0.782

0.800

0.684

0.755

2 Interest Apathy

0.689

1

0.469

0.390

0.428

0.436

0.507

3 Voter Apathy

0.892

0.469

1

0.652

0.559

0.547

4 Bystander Apathy

0.782

0.390

0.615

1

0.698

0.430

0.577

5 Influence Apathy

0.800

0.428

0.652

0.698

1

0.444

0.529

6 Moral Indifference

0.684

0.436

0.559

0.430

0.444

1

0.544

7 Moral Callousness

0.755

0.507

0.547

0.577

0.529

0.544

1

N

320

Note: N = sample size, ** p < 0.001

The relationship between the components was investigated through correlational analysis. All
the components are found to have a significant relationship with the main construct which isSocial Apathy. The Voter Apathy was found to be most strongly correlated with Social
Apathy (r=0.892, p<0.001), while the Moral Indifference component is the least correlated(r=0.684, p<0.001). All component total scores from the 320 respondents held a moderate tohigh correlations with Social Apathy.
Conclusion
A socio-psychological phenomenon called social apathy illustrates the social self-feeling andsocial behavior of one person, it shows the emotional color of oneself that characterized
the mental life of a person. Moreover, social action and behavior show the emotional state,and self-feeling is the characteristic of human assistance with society (Viaznikova, et al.,2019). It is manifested as a lack of initiative and effort to perform everyday-life activities.

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Furthermore, there is a lack of intellectual interest and initiative regarding personal or social
issues and indifference or flattening of affect (Marin, 1991).
In this test, it is operationally defined as the disorientation of one person to process
the society, which causes insecurity, powerlessness, the unwillingness to participate in social
life or even building a life, and having difficulty valuing the system of an individual or thesociety. It is divided into two subscales namely: Political Apathy and Moral Apathy.
Political apathy is the absence of political activity and participation in public affairs and civic
obligations (Agaigbe, 2015). It was generally defined by Dean (1956) as simply as voting
or non-voting. It is operationally used here in this test as the passivity towards politicalinvolvement, engagement, and attachment. This subscale is distributed into two components.
The first one is the Interest apathy. According to Dean (1956), it is the lack ofpersonal involvement. Meanwhile, the authors refer to it as the absence of personalparticipation or interest in political matters or concerns. Another is Voter apathy, which is thelack of concern and interest in the process of electoral and voting (Yakubu, 2012). Here, it isdefined as the passivity towards public elections.
Another subscale of Social Apathy is Moral Apathy. It is generally defined as the lack ofmotivation to realize certain goals. It manifests as being apathetic about one set of goals or
circumstances while being quite dedicated to others. It tends to be localized and confined but
it can also affect other areas of life (O’Connor. 2014). The author defines it as the selective
form of social apathy. It manifests in specific situations such as being apathetic to things thatare not acceptable for them or do not reflect their standard of behavior or belief. There are
four components of Moral Apathy in this test—Bystander Apathy, Influence Apathy, Moral
Indifference and Moral Callousness.
Bystander Apathy, which according to Hortensius and de Gelder (2018), it manifests when asocial situation influences the decision making of a person in terms of helping other people
who are in need of help, as well as it is the decrease of helping behavior of a person. The
authors defined it as a decrease helping behavior or being passive of a person when people
ask them for help, also it is a person’s tendency to avoid other people in terms of helping
them especially on social situations.
The second component is Influence Apathy which is the lack of interest in influencing others(Dean, 1956). Operationally, it is the passivity towards influencing others regarding politicalmatters or concerns.
This is followed by the Moral Indifference. It is the potent and devastating combination of
the worst forms of moral apathy and moral callousness, which belongs in its own category
because unlike the others, it does not admit of degrees (O’Connor, P., 2014). In this test, it
refers to the absence of interest or enthusiasm towards a situation. This is apparent when an
individual is on the neutral side of things; there is no positive or negative response to an
occurring event or circumstance.
The last component is Moral Callousness refers to an individual’s insensitivity to the care,
concern, needs, or wellbeing of others. It often manifests in a strong sense of selfishness; oneputs his/her self-interest ahead of the interests of others (O’Connor, P., 2014). This is being
used in this test as the absence of regard for things or situation that does not concern

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themselves. It may be observable when an individual is insensitive to the difficulties ofothers, especially when they are not experiencing that difficulty themselves.
The present test will measure the social apathy of a person differently from all other existing
Apathy Test. It has a 40-items scale regarding social apathy, and two subscales, politicalapathy, and moral apathy. It contains a four-point Likert scale which ranges from Strongly
Agree to Strongly Disagree.
The Social Apathy (SOCAP) Test might help in giving reliable observations on how young
adults would respond to certain social situations or events. It may also give awareness toindividuals that there are factors related to social apathy. Furthermore, this envisions young
adults to have a better understanding and in assessing themselves on how they arecontributing to their communities in terms of their responses and actions when it comes tosocietal concerns.

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and Clinical Neurosciences, 3, 243-254.
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The Sage Journal. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
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People in the United States and Europe. Comparative Political Studies, 47(5), 663
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van Reekum, R., Stuss, D. T., & Ostrander, L. (2005). Apathy: why care? The Journal of
Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 17, 7-19.
Viaznikova, L., Osiyanova, O., Saltseva, S., Fabrikov, M., Belskaya, O., Stretsova, A.,
Sivova, I. & Baklanova, T. (2019). Reasons of student social apathy. Humanities &Social Sciences Reviews. ISSNL 2395-6518, Vol. 7, No
4.doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.17.1.7
Contact email: dricafranca@gbox.adnu.edu.ph

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Shared Leadership Education: The Experiences of Music Teachers in a Music SchoolAgnė Daučianskaitė, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
Vilma Žydžiūnaitė, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
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Abstract
In all levels of professional music education – music school, conservatory/art gymnasium,music academy, shared leadership is a new and little researched concept. Most of what is
known in music education are that a teacher is the leader of education, who leads theeducation – prepares a program, marks fingers above notes, puts together dynamic symbols
and cords of the piece, teaches posture and sitting while playing with an instrument, analyses
the style and structure of a musical work as well as teaches music to the pupil. Amongst allelse, consults, assists, listens, and takes care of the general well-being of learning. However
in professional music education of today while preparing musicians it is a bit different. The
teacher is the main person from whom the pupil learns and is like an assistant, the conveyor
of knowledge, supporter and leading person towards the end-goal, which is performed bymusician in learning and advanced musician. This publication reviews the concept of sharedleadership, its dissemination in the education, the experience of music teachers in sharedleadership development. The purpose of this publication is to find out how shared leadershipbased education predominates in professional music education in the work and experience ofmusic school teachers. The results of the qualitative research, conducted by the authors,
revealed that the shared leadership in professional music education is comprised of good
relationship between the teacher and the pupil, good and favourable learning environment
and the teacher’s comprehensive support for the student. The shared leadership education
concept is applied in the preparation of professional musicians.
Keywords: Shared Leadership, Professional Music Education, Music School, Music Teacher,
Teacher, Pupil

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Music education at all times has been valued as one of the most intellectual activities for thedevelopment of a child. Professional music education is coherent and long pedagogical work
process. This type of education starts in the early childhood and continue in several stages
until a mature personality for music is formed. Firstly, everything starts at the music school,
when the teacher notices a student who has excellent abilities – musical hearing, rhythm,
concentration and will power. If the child, encouraged by a teacher, becomes interested, lateron he continues his road in conservatory or art gymnasium. After graduating fromconservatory, the student usually picks music academy, in which he continues his career.
When the performer can already lay out the musical aspects that are important to him, hebecomes a professional and mature personality. There are many important factors in thedevelopment of a professional music performer that can lead to great results. One of them isthe relationship between the teacher and the student. In educating a professional musician, theteacher’s job is with one student. This means, that the relationship between the teacher andthe student is very important when working with a single child. Such relationship puts theteacher’s authority in the first place as person who leads and raises a professional musician.
As can already be seen, the teacher’s position in today’s education has changed considerably.
Taking into account the teaching of the past times, when the teacher was an authoritative
personality, whose mere opinion was undisputed, the personalities of the today’s teachers aredifferent.
There has been a plethora of conducted research regarding the shared leadership - Gronn(2000), Harris et al. (2003), Harris (2005), Spillane (2005), Bolden et al. (2009), Harris(2008), Georgii-Hemming & Westvall, 2010; Napoles, 2006; Patston & Waters, 2015;
Creech & Hallam, 2003; Johansen, 2008; Teachout 2001. Spillane et al. (2004), Hargreaves,& Fink (2008), Pont et al. (2008), Northouse (2009), Harris (2010), Marzan et al. (2011),
Lambert (2011). Meanwhile, the concept of shared leadership in educational institutions or
education has been studied by only a few Lithuanian researchers - Deinienė (2009),
Kazlionkaitė, (2009), Cibulskas & Žydžiūnaitė (2011), Rupšienė & Skarbalienė (2010),
Targamadzė (2000), Želvys (2003), Žvirdauskas (2006), Mečkauskienė (2008), Navickaitė
(2012), Budreckienė (2014). Researchers found that applying of shared leadership in
education it is possible to reach the desired results more effectively. However, there is a lackof studies of shared leadership in music education. This study aims to show the leadership
relationship between teacher and student in the professional training of musicians.
Shared leadership in professional music education while preparing musicians
Shared leadership is based on voluntary cooperation and interaction, competencies and asense of responsibility of all parties. The important part of shared leadership is not theposition of individuals or role, but their knowledge and competencies in accordance with acertain theme or task. Shared leadership reflects a culture of shared and common work that isshared by all parties (Adas & Bakir, 2013). Liang et al. (2015) claim, that shared leadershipin a way coincides with democratic and participatory leadership. Both of the aforementioned
concepts (democratic and participatory) describe the results of shared leadership – any formof a team or shared leadership that, in one way or another, means leading (Liang &Sandmann, 2015). Hulpia et al. (2012) claim that shared leadership is the link between
leaders, followers, and situations. Shared leadership involves multiple groups of individuals.
“Most of the time, shared leadership idea is related with: 1) sharing; 2) cooperation; 3)democracy; and 4) universal participation. Shared leadership is a phenomenon of multitude of

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interactions, constantly changing, an energetic unit of the organization, involving universal
participation based on interrelationships within the organization (Dukynaitė, 2015). A sharedleadership team can he characterized as a close-knit group that openly expresses opinions togroup members on mutual trust, communication, and collaboration (Hulpia and others.,2012). Shared leadership is commonly described as horizontal leadership or group leadership(Kocolowski, 2010).
Usually those who pick music schools, do so because they have already seen a performer andwish to play like him. Hoping that s/he can play like he had heard a performer play in aconcert or perform how his classmate did in a class. The teacher is discussing and explaining
to the student, that first it is paramount to learn the main technical principles of an instrument
and then it is possible to play, what the student wants. In accordance with the requirements ofa program, the teacher always coordinates the repertoire, however today a teacher pays more
attention to the student and in attempt to interest him, allows him to play at least a single
composition of his wish. This way, without obscuring student’s wishes, s/he is motivated toplay or sing even more. As a result, in shared leadership the so-called cooperation occurs,
when the teacher listens to the student, consults with him. Then, accordingly, the student
receives a positive response from the teacher and the student’s wish to play or make music
grows. Hard work at class or home for the student is an encouragement to appear in front of
the others – friends, parents, teachers. Teachers and students become like friends and withoutcrossing the line, the students preserve their respect towards the teacher and value her / him.
Because the teacher in a leading person. To the student s/he is an authority. Therefore, suchshared leadership development promotes student motivation and good learning outcomes.
This is even mentioned in several scientific sources (Napoles, 2006; Patston & Waters, 2015;
Creech & Hallam, 2003; Johansen, 2008; Teachout 2001), in which it is stated that sharedleadership is based on connection and relationship between the teacher and the student is thereason for good results in the musician’s career.
Teacher’s role in shared leadership
The changed paradigm of learning leads to fundamental changes in the activities of both theteacher and the student. The bright conservatism in traditional learning can no longer satisfy
the student. Inevitably the number of teachers, whom one way or another in their activities
apply shared leadership principles, which are orientated towards the student’s personality, areincreasing. The role of the teacher is understood as that of a helper, who must take care of thelearner’s knowledge creation process. The teacher is no longer the controller, as was the casebefore, he moved into the position of the provider of knowledge, the organizer, the promoterof the expression of students. The main task of the teacher is to create an environment thatpose challenges for the student, and by creatively solving these challenges to promotestudent’s freedom, giving students the opportunity to decide the direction that the lesson
should develop towards, encourages students' instinctive motivation (Blagg, 2000).
Teachers-leaders are those who have a dream to change something and are able to achieve itor rekindle their enthusiasm by working with colleagues in accordance with the principles ofprofessional culture (Lambert, 2011). Teachers which share leadership, must always renew
their knowledge, must be flexible and creative. The results of each student's achievements
depend on it, as well as the quality and success of the school itself (Schratz & Petzold, 2007).
The shared leadership is a dynamic cooperation process, happening between the members of
the community, who aim for a common goal (Kocolowski, 2010). Community members, inthe process of shared leadership, have a common goal and a unified voice, which is

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strengthened through social interaction and includes shared responsibility, trust, cooperationand personal competence. The teacher is the leader and has a huge potential, because the true
leadership of the teacher is also revealed in the dissemination of good practice, the sharing ofideas, thoughts, methodological gatherings and school management activities (Spillane et al.
2004).
Methodology
Research type
In order to reveal the ideas of shared leadership in the preparation of professional musiciansin a music school, a qualitative research design was selected. This type of research aims totest existing theory about shared leadership and its applicability in preparing students in amusic school.
Data collection
The selected data gathering method is semi-structured interview. Authors selected this type ofdata gathering method, because it is flexible and universal (Kallio et al., 2016).
Data analysis
Interpretative phenomenology, a qualitative data analysis method was selected in thisresearch. For the phenomenologist the world is the world stated by consciousness. By
conducting data analysis, it is assumed that the “living world” and experiences of eachresearch participant are individual, and that reality is perceived subjectively. This is anunderstanding of the life experiences of the study participants (Žydžiūnaitė, 2008). Fourstages were selected for the analysis of research data, in accordance with Willig (2001)
interpretative phenomenology analysis concept:
1.
Repeated reading of the text - the researcher noted relevant places, which
include various associations, questions, comments, summary statements.
2.
Formulation of topics and assignment of labels - the researcher formulated
topics that characterize each part of the text, giving them titles that were taken from theparticipants' quotes during the interview.
3.
Preparation of the structure of the analysis - the researcher forms clusters ofconcepts, giving them labels that reflect the essence of those topics in everyday language
terms, taken from the text of the original informant's interview.
4.
Compilation of a summary table – The summary table is compiled by using thecluster labels and the topic labels. These labels reflect the researcher’s experience and are
related to the phenomenon that is being researched. Moreover, the table is filled up withquotations, where the excerpts of specific interviews can be found.

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Research sample
Ten music school teachers from different Lithuanian cities participated in this research. The
main criterions for the music school teachers were the following:•
no less than five years of pedagogical experience working in a music school;•
higher education;•
the average age of students, taught by the music teachers, is from 7 to 16 years;•
participation in republic and international competitions with students;•
good connection with students’ parents;•
continuous improvement in the field of their specialty.
Results
Teacher’s help during the education
The music teachers were surprised that teacher’s help was a debatable issue, because to theirmind, it is a matter of course in today’s teaching paradigm and teacher’s work. They claimed
that the essence of their work and work itself consists of helping the students. Help in
education, to both students and parents, is very important from the very first day, because theteacher has a strong connection with the student in individual lessons:
Help is very important, from the first class in every way, for both parents and the child.
Because the teacher is like a friend of the family. Every child is individual, but the teacher
must try to get to know him from the very first day. All of us try to help. During adolescence,
parents in particular ask us to help, because [in their own] family, they have a hard timetalking to the child. We have a strong connection with the children. (No. 2)
Assistance in a music school is necessary:
What is a teacher good for if he does not advice or help. To my mind help and advices arenecessary. Even in a conservatory you probably cannot leave a student alone and give him
freedom. Help is necessary, because without it, it is not clear what will happen and how will
the child play. In a music school, to my mind, help is necessary. (No. 3)
Teacher‘s assistance does not affect the student's personality:
In reality, every teacher greatly impacts the child. But I do not like this. Because I think thatthat every child is individual and different. Therefore I try to influence [the child] as little aspossible, but then again, if it is a classic [composition] there are certain canons or
romanticism and you still impact the child. But every child of mine has certain different
things. For example, sitting styles, I try not to repeat the program to make it as large anddiverse as possible. (No. 4)
Assistance at the beginning of education, but later on, only the performer has to be left onstage:
I will say it like this, at the very beginning, the basis of everything is a teacher. Yes.
Absolutely everything. He has to explain all of the material, learn [together], but at the very
beginning all of the initiative is from me. When the child finally learns – text, technique,improvisation, colours, fantasies, when this process begins, the teacher must step back alittle, and all of this has to transfer over to a child. The final result is this: when the [day of]
the concert or competition is coming closer, together with the children we go to the hall.
Then, at the hall, I tell the child that he has to forget absolutely everything that I had told
him, and he must play the way he lives this music, the way he feels it. When you play on the

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stage, nothing that was taught to you by the teacher should be seen. Everyone has to hear themusic, the way you play it, thy way you hear it. (No. 5)
Psychological assistance, as an encouragement before performances is of great importance:
I always encourage, praise the children before concerts or competitions. Sometimes the text
does not come out as it was supposed to, but I still tell them that they know the text very welland now, when they will step on the stage, they will show what they can the best. It is truly apsychological thing (No. 10).
Assistance is the work of two people:
To my mind it is a work of both. It is not only a teacher’s work. And if you both work
consistently, there is no such thing as perfection in music, where it is the end because you
have to be prepared [for] everything. It is not like that because our goal is to prepare a workand to show it to the listener. Therefore, if only a single person will work, he will not learn on
his own, he will be an adult, a performer. To my mind it is the work of both (No. 1).
Distributed education
Research participants had various opinions regarding distribution of duties in the education
process, but they claimed, that this type of teaching is mandatory in the education of aprofessional musician:
To my mind, it can be allowed for a child to take part in the process of education. If a student
comes and claims that he wishes to learn a certain composition, it is a celebration. And there
is nothing better than that… the goal of ours, teachers, is for a person to want by himself tolearn a certain composition. So that after he finishes a school he would not stop playing. It isvery good when a person comes and claims that he wants to play this [composition]. It meansthat he finally found what he wants and that is wonderful. Of course, I help. And that does notmean it is some kind of a sin and that he will not learn anything. After all, we all want forchildren to desire [by themselves] and try to find ways how to make it happen, so that thechild would desire [by himself], and when he finally expresses that desire, the question stillarises as to whether or not to give him what he wants. It is music, after all. (No. 8)
Student who follows the path of a professional must show the initiative:
If the child thinks of following the path of a professional, it is very important he would show
the initiative. For children that claim that they want to study in music academy, I always tellthem that they must show initiative, offer tasks, repertoires. In general, when talking [about]
events, etc., I always talk over with the children and never do what they do not want. (No. 2).
Sharing between a teacher and a student happens even during the selection of repertoire:
When it comes to musical composition, we always consult, try to play them. We try to check
whether the musical composition is beautiful, whether [the student] likes it or not. If [he] does
not like it, we try to change something. When it comes to weaker children, I advise them tolook over melodies on “Youtube” and search [for a melody] that is beautiful for them. I
search as well. And alongside [the composition that they pick], I add some kind ofcomposition from the program. (No. 10).

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Learning environment
The state of the learning environment depends on the student's mood and preparation for thelesson:
The way I see it, a student, prior to coming to a teacher, has already to be determined andready. In any case, the teacher must be demanding enough. If the child feels that the teacher
is relaxed and does not pay enough attention to him, there will be no result. For the teacher,demand is very important, because it is related to the question of respect. The student must be
prepared for the lesson, expecting to be required to perform the task, whether he did it
correctly or not. (No. 2)
The learning environment has to be the same for students of all aptitudes:
Of course, the environment has to always be pleasant, whether the child is a professional oran amateur. If it is unpleasant or there is fear to come [to a lesson], then of course it candiscourage the will to play. I think that a good atmosphere is truly required. (No. 6)
Learning environment does not depend on the skills of a child. The only difference, is that amore skilled student can do more during a lesson:
Whether I am preparing a very skilled or a less skilled child, the learning environment stays
the same. It is just, these are people, with whom you can do more during a lesson. With
talented children I do a lot during a lesson. And there are children, with whom you do very
little. But the environment, mood, attitude towards a human. They cannot differ, everything is
the same. It is just that for those who walk towards the path of a professional it is moreinteresting during the lesson and the work itself is on a different level. (No. 3)
The learning environment in music schools has to be academic, in which tension sometimes
prevails:
Of course, this type of atmosphere [has to prevail] among older students, such as seventeenyear-old <…>. Of course, if it is not working out for a child, there is tension during a lesson
as well. It happens to everyone. If the child is honest, sensitive and is hard on himself when it
is not working out for him, the teacher, of course, calms him down. That is a tension. In acase like this, that is for real. You calm him down, [saying] that it will work out and that is it.
There are a lot of children who, when they start learning how to play with their right hand,start worrying that it is not working out for them. Then you have to psychologically starttalking with them in an attempt to calm them down. (No. 5)
Learning environment depends on teacher’s character and mood:
A lot of it depends on the character of the teacher. I never lead a lesson in a very matter-offact way. Sometimes I even wonder how teachers are able to have such intonations,[indicating] that they are the teachers and you are a student. Students come to me as if they
were at home. For them, it is pleasant, warm and free. (No. 9)Good connection between the teacher and the student
Good connection is not only between a teacher and a student, but with the parents of thestudent as well:
In any case, this is determined not only by the child’s relationship with the teacher, but also
by the parents. They are an especially important link. At all times it is mandatory tocommunicate not only with a child, but with the parents as well. If I see that there is a

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problem with a child, I always contact with the parents, [in order to find out] what, why andfor what reason, because not all of the children open up or talk about themselves. (No. 7)
A good connection is in the responsibility of a student:
If the connection is with the teacher, then it is the responsibility of the student. If there is notconnection, that student does not feel the responsibility. He can come and say that he did notplay, did not have enough time and will not play. The teacher can shout, but the student will
not care. Scolding at home will also pass through his ears. (No. 6)
A good interrelationship is mandatory:
I always try to maintain good connection with everyone. Because otherwise it is impossible towork, since you work one on one. Therefore if you start getting into a fight with a child, thistype of process will continue. It is impossible this way. (No. 3)
Good connection is important during the initial stage:
If we maintain a good relationship in the initial stage, it is a good start. They remember thatteacher and they greatly idealize that whole musical path and all that. (No. 4)
Supporting the teacher’s initiative builds a good interrelationship:
We talk about a lot of things. I tell them how I was when I was a child, how I played [with an
instrument] and they tell me everything as well. Sometimes they ask me to keep a secret, wehave secrets of our own. And by chatting this way, we come up to the necessary topics andmusical things. Somehow, we communicate freely. We communicate warmly. (No. 9)
Conclusion
Teachers claimed that in music education finding a good connection, creating a comfortablelearning environment and providing various support to the student in the learning process isthe most important. As a result, the education between the teacher and the students takes
place on a sharing basis.
Firstly, assistance during the learning process. It manifests in several ways: assistance withlearning a text, assistance with text’s interpretation, assistance with walking onto a scene,
assistance to prepare psychologically for playing and instrument, assistance for parents inunderstanding their own children. In their opinion, the teacher has to help the student, but not
do it for him.
Secondly, the creation of a good learning environment, in which the student would feel great.
The learning environment depends on the character of the teacher, student’s preparation anddetermination for the lesson.
Moreover, the learning environment has to be equally good for children of various aptitudes.
Thirdly, when learning and preparing a musician, a good connection is mandatory. A goodconnection between a teacher and the student manifests in various ways – from the initiativeof a teacher and the responsibility of a student. A good connection has to be with thestudent’s parents as well. This connection has to be friendly, demanding and collegial.

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Willig, C. (2001). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory andmethod. Open University Press. Philadelphia: PA 19106, USA.
Želvys, R. (2003). Švietimo organizacijų vadyba. Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla.
Žvirdauskas, D. (2006). Mokyklos vadovo lyderystės ypatumai švietimo subjektų interesų ir
mokyklos efektyvumo raiškos aspektu. Kaunas: Technologija.
Žydžiūnaitė, V. 2008. Tyrimo dizainas: struktūra ir strategijos. Mokomoji knyga. Kaunas:
Technologija.
Contact email: daucianskaite.agne@gmail.com
vilma.zydziunaite@vdu.lt

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In-Depth Inquiry on the Reasons of the Students’ Academic Failures andTheir Coping Mechanism
Sabrina Albarina Ramos, University of Baguio, Philippines
Shaira Jane Salingbay, University of Baguio, Philippines
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Abstract
Using qualitative method of research, this study focused on the reasons of the students’
academic failure (specifically those who failed more than 50% of the enrolled subjects) andtheir coping mechanism. Ten (10) participants under contract of Agreement (COA) wereinterviewed personally and virtually. Attitudes (laziness), computer gaming addiction, work,
people, and personal issues were the primary reasons of academic failures. All sevenparticipants also had different coping mechanisms: namely, diversion, redirection, andinspiration. Among the reasons, external factors were evident while among the coping
mechanisms, those that would bring positive results were apparent. The results show thatwhen it comes to academic failures, students are more vulnerable to external factors and that
despite their failure, they still would like to go back on track.
Keywords: Academic Failures, Contract of Agreement, Coping Mechanism, Thematic
Analysis, Probing

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Students who go to higher education have stepped into the University with their minds set on
success – to graduate on time. However, at the onset of their university life, some, if notmany of them, already face the reality of academic failures. Some of these students who failin the first semester of their first year in the university may not continue studying but others
will just live with their failures and start all over again. Thus, academic failure, which isdefined in this study as the inability of the student to get a passing mark of at least 75% asstipulated in the student handbook of the University of Baguio, results to a waste of time,money and may even have familial, social and mental-psychological impact (Najimi, et al.,2013).
The University’s role is to mold and prepare students to become successful in the field thatthey have chosen. The curriculum in every course is set to train the students for the
professional world. Ideally, a college student is expected to finish a bachelor’s degree withinfour or five years depending on the chosen program. However, there are students whooverstay in the university because of their academic failures referred to by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the repetition of grade level
and low quality of education received by the students (UNESCO, 1996 in Mortimore, 1998).
Moreover, Khan et al. (2013) stated that failing academically has turned out to be a major
concern in the higher area of learning. Equally alarming is also the fact that this academic
failure has several consequences on the students. In fact, Mortimore (1998) named otherfactors resulting from academic failures like absenteeism, dropping out, low quality ofeducation, and overstaying in the university.
Although the problem on academic failure is alarming, Blizard (2016) emphasized that thereason why students fail and the solutions to it are complicated but not given muchunderstanding. Universities do not really dig deeper as to why these students failacademically and as to how this problem should be properly addressed. In addition, Anto etal. (2015) underlined the complexity of the causes of academic failures. In fact, in 2016,
Villagonzalo found evidence that the students’ ability to perform academically issignificantly correlated with I.Q. However, Anto, et al. (2015), found out that there was no
significant correlation between I.Q. and academic failure. This finding shows that academic
failures can be caused by other factors. In 2013, Najimi et al. uncovered in their study thatcurriculum, factors related to educator, learning environment, family factors, andsocioeconomic factors play a significant part in the students’ academic failures. In addition,
Diaz (2019) discovered that difficulty of subjects and tests, high passing score, financial
problems, difficulty of understanding teacher's explanation, course not their choice, and noisy
boarding house were among the reasons why students experience failure academically. Also,
Junio and Liwag (2016) discovered that socio-economic status, students’ aptitude, learningfacilities and teacher characteristics affect the performance of the students of the Physical
Education class in Lyceum of the Philippines University-Laguna.
In the studies of Najimi et al (2013), Diaz (2019), and Junio and Liwag (2016), theresearchers used self-made or researcher-made questionnaires; thus, the factors affecting theacademic performance of the students were pre-determined. In this study, however, theparticipants were given the chance to freely talk about the reasons of their academic failuresaccording to what they had experienced. Moreover, in Najimi et al’s (2013) study, theparticipants were exclusively students from the medical sciences department notwithstanding
as to whether they failed or not. Similarly, Junio and Liwag 2016) conducted their study to

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441 students regardless of the status of their academic performance. In this study,
nonetheless, only those students who had been under the Contract of Agreement (COA) wereconsidered. Students under COA are those who incurred failures in half of the number ofsubjects they enrolled. In Diaz’s (2019) study, although the respondents were students who
failed in one or more subjects, they were only exclusively students of Bachelor of Elementary
Education (BEEd) and Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd), and those who failed inonly one subject was included.
The student-respondents’ reasons of their academic failures were categorized according to
Heider’s Attribution Theory which refers to how behaviors of others should be understood(Rice, 2016). In addition, Hopper (2018) mentioned that Heider’s Theory of Attribution talks
about determining as to whether the cause of another person’s behavior is internal or external.
She further explains that the theory underlines the fact that the behavior of a person can becaused by internal factors (dispositional attribute) like personality, beliefs and the like or byexternal factors (situational attribute) like situations or circumstances and the like. Causes
like I.Q., (Blizard, 2016), and Junio and Liwag’s (2016) students’ aptitude can be classified
under dispositional attribute. On the other hand, curriculum, factors related to educator,
learning environment, family factors, socioeconomic factors (Najimi et al. (2013), difficultyof the subjects and tests, high passing score, financial problems, difficulty of understanding
teachers’ explanation, course not their choice, noisy boarding house (Diaz, 2019), socioeconomic status, learning facilities and teacher characteristics (Junio & Liwag, 2016) are
categorized under situational attribute. Causes like I.Q., (Blizard, 2016), and Junio and
Liwag’s (2016) students’ aptitude can be classified under dispositional attribute. In addition,
curriculum, factors related to educator, learning environment, family factors, socioeconomic
factors (Najimi et al. (2013), difficulty of the subjects and tests, high passing score, financial
problems, difficulty of understanding teachers’ explanation, course not their choice, noisy
boarding house (Diaz, 2019), socio-economic status, learning facilities and teacher
characteristics (Junio & Liwag, 2016) are categorized under situational attribute.
Failing academically can be a source of stress (Widyastuti et al., 2017). Segal (2020) stressed
the fact that when a person experiences stress, his body is alerted to cope either by fighting or
running away from it. Thus, coping is a natural tendency for a person under any kind ofstress. Cleveland Clinic (2020) reinforced the statement of Segal (2020) saying that coping
normally involves adapting to or enduring undesirable experiences while trying to maintain apositive image and balance. Coping is the ability to respond to stressful situation caused bynegative experiences (Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 2021) like
failing academically. Thus, in addition to knowing the reasons why the student-respondents
failed in 50% percent or more of their enrolled subjects, the ways they coped with were alsostudied.
Lazarus and Folkman’s Macro-analytic State-Oriented Theory, which classifies emotional
functions into self-controlling, confrontative coping, seeking social support, distancing,
escape-avoidance, accepting responsibility, positive reappraisal and planful problem-solving(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 in Chowdbury, 2020), was used to classify the coping
mechanisms of the student-respondents.
Awareness of the reasons of students’ academic failure and of their coping mechanism will
help the school management design programs to help students who are experiencing
academic failures especially those who are put under COA. The findings will also help theteachers understand these students and enable them to design strategies that can help in the

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students’ pursuit for academic success. In addition, students struggling against the pressure ofacademic failures will be guided on how to cope with it.
This study aimed to have an in-depth understanding on why students in the University
experience academic failures. Specifically, this study sought:
1.
To understand the various reasons of students’ academic failures; and2.
To identify their ways of coping with academic failures.
Methodology
This study employed a qualitative design specifically the phenomenological aspects of thedata presented in a narrative form.
This study made use of purposeful sampling where ten (10) participants under the Contract ofAgreement (COA) Program (a program intended to help students who failed in 50% or moreof their enrolled subjects for the semester) of the Center for Center for Counseling andStudent Development (CCSD) of the University of Baguio were subjected to face-to-face andvirtual interview. The selected number of respondents met the standard of 5 to 25 participants
set by Creswell (1998 in Deponio, 2018) and 6 for phenomenological studies recommended
by Morse (1994, in Deponio, 2018). Due to the challenges posed by the pandemic such as thedifficulty to communicate with the concerned students and to meet them personally, those
who did not want to have the face-to-face interview, whether personally or virtually, agreed
to answer the questions sent to them through email.
The questions were anchored on why they failed and what they did to overcome theconsequences of their failure. Questions were sent to the respondents through email.
Their availability for the interview (whether face-to-face or virtual) was also taken into
consideration. Three of the respondents did it face-to-face while the rest did it by answering
the interview questions sent to them through email. The researcher from CCSD was in close
contact with each of them for clarification and additional questions.
Prior to the interview which took place in the Center for Guidance and Counseling Office (forthose who preferred face-to-face) or online (for those who chose virtual), the respondents
were asked to voluntarily sign an informed consent whose contents were explained to themprior to their signing. For virtual interview participants, informed consent was sent to them
via email or messenger.
The proponents used inductive analysis and creative synthesis as analysis strategy in which
important themes were explored and confirmed through analyzing the responses of theparticipants after categorization. Engagement in the important points of the information todetermine important patterns, themes, and interrelationships was done by studying, thensubstantiating based on analytical principles resulting to creative synthesis. Since the study
was qualitative, the validity of data can only be assured through truth value, consistency, andapplicability (Noble & Smith, 2015). To assure that data were true, consistent, and applicable,
the results were shown to the respondents before the paper was finalized.
To protect the privacy of the respondents, only the researcher who is a staff from CCSD
conducted the face-to-face or virtual interview. However, prior to the interview, theconcerned participants’ willingness to participate was secured. Each was given an informed

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consent form. The participant was allowed to withdraw participation in instances in which
emotional discomforts were triggered. Only those who were willing were asked to sign theinformed consent and were asked for the convenient time they could appear for the face-toface or virtual interview. Moreover, the participants were informed that their names would
not appear in the research as codes would be used to represent the respondents. Furthermore,they were also informed that the results of the study would be presented or published and that
results would be shown to them prior to presentation or publication.
Results and Discussions
This section presents results, discussions, analysis, and interpretations of the findings on thereasons of the students’ academic failures and their coping mechanism.
Reasons of Academic Failures
Academic failure is nothing new. Although not everyone experiences it, it is a fact that there
are students who go through it while they are in the university. The ten (10) participants ofthis study went through academic failures in 50% or more of their subjects, enough for themto sign a COA. However, each of them had reason/s why he/she failed academically. The
reasons were categorized into the following themes: attitude (laziness), computer gaming
addiction, work, people, and personal issues.
AttitudeAccording to McLeod (2018), attitude refers to a person’s approval or disapproval, his
pessimistic or optimistic assessment of the persons or anything he is exposed to. Attitude canbe bad or good. The responses of the participants in this research, however, were categorizedunder bad attitude as they were on laziness, negligence, and procrastination.
Laziness, according Merriam-Webster dictionary (n.d.), is the unwillingness to do things. In
relation to this, three students directly admitted that one of the reasons of their academic
failures was laziness.
Student B was happy-go-lucky, saying, “feeling ko basic lang ang Business Ad.” (I thought
Business Ad was just easy.)
Student C admitted that he was “irresponsible and lazy”.
Student D acknowledged the fact that he was lazy, saying, “I become [became] lazy, so I
failed to pass the requirements.”
Student E had the same reason with students C and D stating, “I was lazy to review.”
Moreover, although student F did not directly say that he was lazy, it was clear in his
statement, “I failed my subjects because of not submitting requirements”, that he also failed
because of laziness.
Similarly, student I also admitted that he “was not passing activities.

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Another negative attitude seen in the responses was being lax defined by Cambridge
dictionary (2021) as lacking care, attention, or control or not severe or strong enough. Beinglax caused students B, C, and H time, efforts, money in their academics.
Students B admitted that he was lax because he felt the course was easy that he did not needto put antra care and attention to the subjects. He said, “feeling ko basic lang ang BusinessAd” (I thought Business Ad was just easy.)
Similarly, student C underestimated the difficulty of the subjects saying he was “toocomfortable” that he did not pay much attention to them. In addition, when he failed, he wasstill very comfortable saying, “Kaya yan sa susunod” (I can do it the next time).
Student H declared, “I failed my subjects before because I am [was]a happy go lucky person
sometimes.I procrastinate.”
Computer Gaming Addiction
Hoeg (2021) defined computer addiction or computer gaming addiction as excessive use ofcomputer resulting to decrease in productivity. Computer gaming addiction is related tointernet addiction which, according to Shaw & Black (2008), is described extreme desires to
use the computer leading to damage or trouble. Evidently students A, D and E had become
obsessed with computer gaming that resulted to them failing in several of their subjects.
Student A claimed, “I was addicted to computer gaming since it was a part of my
upbringing”. He further stated, “It took 56 hours spent in computer games in a week (I spent
56 hours in computer games in a week). It must be noted that student A was also working
while he was studying. However, even his days off would be spent for computer gaming as
well.
Student D suffered the same fate as student A as he was also addicted to computer gaming.
He said, “I become [became] addicted to Mobile Legends (online game).”Student E’s academic failure was a result of his spending his whole nights on the computer.
He revealed, “I was playing computer the while night.” His playing computer the wholenight led him to be sleepy and inactive during the day.
Work
Students A, F, and I were working students. They claimed that working while studying wasdifficult as they had to meet the pressures for both situations. Students find it stressful tomanage both work and study and the stress may sometimes lead them to leave school without
finishing the semester (Tinto, 1975 in Curambao (2015). Students A, F and I did not leaveschool without finishing their subjects. However, working while studying took a toll on theirgrades.
Student A explained that his study was affected because of “ideological issues at work,” buthe did not want to explain further about these ideological issues in his work. However, this is
not the only reason why he failed as mentioned earlier, he was also addicted to computer
gaming.

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Student F said that “work and pressure” caused him to fail.
Also, student F said, “I was working to earn money to pay for my tuitions [tuition].”PeopleEducators and family are found to be factors leading to students’ academic failure in the
study of Najimi, et al. (2013). Also, Junio and Liwag (2016) discovered teacher
characteristics as also one factor that led students to academic failure. However, data
gathered in this study revealed that friends, instructor, family, and other people around themwere factors contributing to the respondents’ academic failures.
Student B claimed, “I failed to comply in my new course because of being irritated to [of] theenvironment or people around [me] until [I] decided to drop.”
Student C also said, “I got demotivated because of people asking about my grades.” In
addition, he said that his “severe disconnection to [form] family members at home” also
contributed to his not performing well academically.
Student G put the blame of his academic failures on his instructor, saying, “I usually do not
like the instructor specially when I cannot understand what he / she is talking about.”
Friends, though most of the time, help an individual become productive, they were notacademically helpful to student H as he stated, “In the past, I was distracted by friends.”
Personal Issues
McKay (2019) attached personal issues to family problems, life-changing situations,emotional difficulties, illness, and even one's sexual orientation that affects one’s ability toperform well. Two of the students mentioned personal issues as factor resulting to theiracademic failure. However, they did not want to reveal the specific personal issue they had.
Student J explicitly said, “…my personal problems that I cannot share with anybody” as thefactor affecting his academic performance.
Student E, in addition to his laziness and computer gaming addiction, said that anothercontributory factor to his academic failure is “personal issues”, but he did not expound
further.
Grading System
Encyclopedia of Education (2019) defined grading as the teacher’s way to professionallyevaluate the learning of the students. It includes gathering and assessing proofs of student’s
performance over a specified period. In the University of Baguio, the grading system iscumulative in which the cut-off score is seventy percent (70%) (University of Baguio Student
Handbook, 2020). Among the nine (9) respondents, only student C mentioned grading system
as one of the factors of his academic failures in addition to laziness and people.
The themes on attitudes, and personal issues are considered internal factors (Dispositional
Attributes of Heider’s Attribution Theory). On the other hand, computer gaming addiction,

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work, people, and grading system are external factors (Situational Attribute) (Hopper, 2018).
It can be significantly noted from the result that academic failure cannot be attributed to theintellectual ability of the students. This supports Anto, et al.’s (2015) claim about the absenceof significant correlation between academic failure and I.Q.
Coping Mechanism
Every individual who faces some difficulties in life always has a coping mechanism. Lazarus
and Folkman (1984, as cited in Chowdhury, 2021) defined coping as continuous change inmental and behavioral attempts to handle extremely difficult external and internal challenges
faced by an individual. The ten participants had their own coping mechanisms, and these arecategorized according to the following themes: diversion, redirection, and inspiration.
Diversion
Cambridge Dictionary (2021) defines diversion as something that takes one’s attention awayfrom something else. Five of the ten respondents coped with the consequences of theiracademic failure by diverting their attention away from the issue.
Students A, B, E, G and H coped with their academic failures by diverting their attention
from the failures to other things that made them busy and busier. Student A said,“Sightseeing, occasional liquor drinking and music became my new hobbies,… adn
ASMR...prayer”.
Student B tried to divert his attention into smoking. He revealed, “I tried smoking but stops[stopped].
Student E, on the other hand, diverted his attention more on the cause of his academic failure– computer addiction. He said, “I do more computer games.” However, this time, he added,“playing chess” as additional diversion.
Student G, on the other hand, said, “Yeah, I have lots of hobbies, exploring the computerworld, and surfing the internet. I like dancing, painting, building new things”.
Student H tried to cope with by playing games and reading manga. He said, “The hobby that
I do [did] is [was] playing some games on my phone [and] reading manga.”
Student I coped with the situation, saying, “I do sketching [sketched] while listening [Ilistened] to music.”
Redirection
Holland (2019) calls this coping mechanism as intellectualization, a strategy in which theperson experiencing a difficult circumstance may decide to react disregarding the emotional
impact of the situation and focus instead on measurable facts. This coping strategy was also
used by nine of the participants. Students A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I came to therealizationrealized that they needed to finish the course, so they had to redirect their actions
into something that would bring them out of their failures. They said,

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A: “[I became more conscious to deadlines,” and “I review[ed] [the] day before classes as
preparation.” These are in addition to his coping with through sightseeing, drinking liquor alittle, listening to music, and praying.
B: “I made plans and goals.”
C: “I take an action by memorizing formulas for subjects, admired usage of the library,reviewers where it can help me in practicing solving problems, congregating each other:sharing notes and online chatting, persistence and resilience, and underestimate the subject
lesser.” (I memorized formula, used the library, used reviewers that helped me solved
problems, communicated with others online for notes, became persistent and resilient, andunderestimated the subject less.)
D: “I said to myself that it will not happen again, and I will focus more on academic not on
online games.”
E: “I study [studied] and read a lot about the subject I fail [failed].”
F: “I chat [chatted] with the teachers to have completion activity.”
G: “I just re enrolled them and try again until I pass.”
H: “just let aside my failed subject and learn from my mistakes. I learn from my mistakes andmove forward. (I accepted I failed, learned from my mistakes, and moved forward.)
I: “Learn from my mistake, falling subject feel like a huge setback, especially when you work
hard all the semester. I will study hard and postpone working so I can cope up with theothers.” (I learned from my mistakes. To fail was a huge setback especially that I worked
hard that semester.)
Inspiration
According to Wooditch (2017), inspiration is something that motivates a person to achieve
what seems unachievable. It can be anything impacting the feeling of a person and triggers
him to do what seems cannot be done. Five of the participants coped with through inspiration.
Students B, E, G, H, and J coped with by drawing inspirations from other sources. Student B
drew his inspiration from his friends and strangers. She said, “My friends and other strangers
pushed me to continue.”
Student E said, “Yes, I talked with a lot of people.”
Student G confirmed that he also got inspiration and motivation from his friends, but most of
the time, he wanted to be alone. He said, “I have many friends whom I can talk to, but most of
the time I like to be alone.”
Student H got his inspiration from his mother and his sister, saying, “I talk[ed] to my sisterand my mother.”Student J remorsefully said, “Since most of my failing remarks are [were]caused by
distractions, after having a wakeup call, I immediately compose[d] myself and think

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Official Conference Proceedings[thought]of my family for they are [have been] the ones who keep [have kept] me going andhelp[ed] me fight through all of [those] things.”
The theme on diversion can be classified under the emotional function of Self-control andEscape and Avoidance of Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of coping with (Chowdbury, 2020)
since the students tried to control their emotions or to deny the same towards the situation by
diverting their attention to other activities. The theme on redirection falls under Strategic
Problem-solving emotional function of coping with because the students found ways andimplemented solution-focused strategies to survive the situation and used their plans toachieve success. The theme on inspiration belongs to the emotional function of Social
Support since the respondents sought strength from people around them to help them copewith the emotional impact of their academic failures.
The result denotes that most of the participants chose coping mechanisms that would bringthem out of the difficult situation although there were a few of them who ventured on coping
mechanisms that could bring them more harm than good.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
This study was conducted to discover the reasons of the college students’ academic failure
and their coping mechanisms. Findings showed that the reasons the ten participants placed
under COA failed 50% or more of their enrolled subject for the semester were their attitude(laziness), personal issues (Dispositional Attribute), computer gaming addiction, work,
people, and grading system (Situational Attribute). Data also showed that the participants
resorted to diversion through leisure, meditation and relaxation activities (Self-control andEscape and Avoidance), redirection (Strategic Problem-solving), and inspiration (Social
Support) as their coping mechanisms.
Although the findings show that the reasons of the students’ academic failures cannot be
generalized, it can be significantly noted that external factors played a greater role comparedto the internal factors. Also, it is evident that the participants resorted to one or more coping
mechanisms which might have led them to more downfall or helped them rise from theircurrent situation.
Recommendations
Through these findings, the researchers would like to recommend the following:1.
School administrators are encouraged to come up with a remedial program addressing
the students’ academic failures taking into considerations the varied reasons presented
in this study.
2.
Teachers are encouraged to dig deeper into the reasons of the students failing in theirclasses to help them cope with.
3.
Conduct of a qualitative and quantitative study on the same topic which involves abigger and diverse population should be done.
4.
Quantitative-qualitative research of this topic should be conducted to empiricallyexplain the reasons of the students’ failures.

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Rice, K. (2016). Attribution theory. Rice’s Integrated SocioPsychology Blog & Pages.
http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/theory/meta-states-and-the-cognitivetriad/attribution-theory/ on November 6, 2019.
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Widyastuti, T., Kurniawan, A. & Candra, N. (2017). Coping strategies on students after
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Model for Effective Peer Mentoring Program in Mongolian University Context
Tungalagtuya Myagmarjav, University of Finance and Economics, Mongolia
Ganzul Gantuya, University of Finance and Economics, Mongolia
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Mentoring is one of the primary programs schools are implementing in teacher development.
Educators use mentoring skills and programs to support novice teachers, improve classroom
management, and develop their teaching practice and skills. Numerous studies have been
conducted to explain the importance and essentials of mentoring programs to the mentees.
Researchers suggest that mentor training should enhance mentor teachers' skills, such asbuilding the mentee's trust, improving classroom management, and developing instructional
practice, followed by comprehensive program evaluation. The purpose of the article focuseson how peer mentoring can enhance teachers' personal and professional skills to be successful
in their roles and find out what constitutes the effectiveness of mentoring processes inacademic settings and what improves university teaching and ongoing training for the
mentors. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect the data and observe
teachers’ work experiences and skills. The result is that peer mentoring is accepted as anefficient program in teacher development and benefits those engaged in this program.
However, as our research result showed, peer-mentoring programs should be designed,
developed, evaluated and renewed constantly. In addition, institutions and educators should
define mentors' roles and responsibilities in mentoring programs and evaluate them regularly.
Keywords: Peer-Mentoring Program, Effective Mentoring, Peer Mentoring Evaluation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Teaching is quite challenging and complex work requiring teachers to have high professional
skills and knowledge and continuous learning. The workplace is one of the opportunities
where teachers can develop their professional skills and learn continually. Therefore,
educational institutions consider their teacher development issue and implement various
mentoring and teacher development programs to support their staff learning and development.
However, not all teacher development programs can be successful and beneficial. Mentoring
has long been seen as not only one of the critical approaches to teacher learning and skill
development but also one of the essential roles of experienced and successful teachers.
Laverick (2016) emphasizes that mentoring is a professional development opportunity andshould be included in the educational institute's professional development plan. In thisresearch, we will introduce a peer mentoring program to be one of the effective programs forteacher learning within our university context and suggest ways how universities could
implement this program.
Regardless of their experience in teaching, mentor teachers should have various skills to beeffective in their mentoring roles, such as guide, supervisor, counselor, encourager, motivator,
learner, and colleague. Therefore, teachers who have been working for many years at auniversity are assigned to be mentor teachers. However, they should be aware that they are
involved in the process and understand their roles.
A recent survey shows less experience of having official peer mentoring programs formentors and mentees regarding their individual needs and goals, followed by well-organizedongoing and end-of-evaluation in Mongolian universities. In this study, we will discuss theeffectiveness of the peer-mentoring program and its implementation and propose somevaluable ideas to design the program. Our research questions are: How peer mentoring canenhance teachers' personal and professional skills to be successful in their roles, and what
constitutes the effectiveness of mentoring processes in academic settings when implementing
the program.
Literature review
The theoretical framework of this study includes the context of higher education in Mongolia,
and literature on peer mentoring programs in education. It also has vital learning theories
related to peer mentoring strategies, not just with mentees but also with the mentors. It
concludes with the study objectives that the survey tries to address.
Besides being mentored, teachers also can develop their skills by attending professional
training, workshops, conferences, and meetings. By completing the courses and events,
teachers can deliver more effective teaching based on their experience in continues learning.
However, we do not have much productive teacher supporting programs based on individual
teachers' learning goals and creating a more positive and confident learning environment.
Teachers tend to be reluctant to share their ideas, share experiences, and ask for help,
especially new teachers.
Researchers have highlighted the importance of peer mentoring programs for professional
learning and teacher development. According to Laura et al., there is less work on thebenefits to faculty members in mid and late careers, which is a future avenue researcher
might explore (Laura, Gloria, & Brad, 2017). Learning, according to a self-regulatory model,

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involves an interplay between three learning-process components: cognitive (what to learn),affective (why to learn), and meta-cognitive (how to learn). Support mechanisms for learningand development must address all three components. Both practical and regulative learning
activities lead indirectly to learning outcomes due to the influence on processing subjectspecific learning material (Abrahamson, Puzzar, Ferro, & Bailey, 2019). What differentiates
mentoring relationship from supervisory is that it is voluntary on both the mentor andmentee's side, has a precise time limit, and specifies goals together. In other words, thisrelationship is collaborative, not top-down (Virginia Commonwealth University, 2019).
Vygotsky (1978, as cited in Nguyen, 2017) highlighted that learning is not obtained inisolation but rather through building interaction with others in a socially embedded
environment. Implementing peer-mentoring programs allows teachers to learn from peers anddevelop their skills together. Our Institute of Foreign Languages does have consistent andregular mentoring programs and teacher development activities that improve teachers' skills;
we can design and implement a well-organized peer-mentoring program that promotes
collaborative learning and skill development. Effective mentoring requires mentors to be inmultiple roles, such as a teacher, a guide, role models, a sponsor, a counselor, a motivator,
and a colleague (Jonson, 2008; Smith, 2015). Pitton (2016) noted that all individuals involvedin the mentoring process should know and understand their roles. Having a clear picture of
their roles in mentor-mentee relationships would help mentors be more responsible andeffective (Pitton, 2016). It has been viewed as the responsibility of senior faculty to mentor
new faculty members (Laura et al., 2017). Peer-group mentoring is an activity that consists ofa group of teachers who share and reflect on their experiences, discuss issues and challenges
in their work, engage and motivate each other as well as learn together (Heikkinen et al.,2012). Mentoring programs are not just confined to higher education; within professional
practice, mentoring schemes are used to provide staff with support and assistance andencourage professional development within a workforce (Abrahamson et al., 2019).
Literature also indicates that effective mentoring in school settings can improve menteeteachers' teaching practice and teacher retention (Smith, 2011; Sowell, 2017). Influential
mentors show respect to their mentees and create a positive environment where they can feel
more comfortable expressing themselves or discussing their issues (Virginia Commonwealth
University, 2019). Hudson (2010) considers that to be successful in mentoring, mentors needto continuously enhance not only their practice in mentoring and teaching but also develop
their mentees' teaching practices. Hudson (2010) determines five effective mentoring models
based on mentors' reports who reflected on their practice. According to him, the five modelsof potential mentors are (1) personal attributes, which include encouraging the mentee's
reflection on practices by supporting continuously, communicating freely, and listening
actively, (2) system requirement, which involves mentor's goal, policies and curriculum formeeting education system (3) pedagogical knowledge for effective teaching, (4) modelingand (5) oral and written feedback on mentee's teaching and learning environment.
Observation and feedback (Giebelhaus & Bowman, 2002), a clear understanding of mentor
and mentee roles and expectations (Anderson, 2012; Smith, 2011) are also critical featuresthat influence the effectiveness of mentoring processes. An essential skill associated withmentorship benefits is the ability of the mentor to develop confidence in their communication
with a mentee and assume a leadership role within the mentor/mentee relationship(Abrahamson et al., 2019). Building a positive relationship with the mentee is one of theessential skills for the mentors. In addition to this, some researchers consider that excellent
teaching skills are not enough for potential mentors.

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Many researchers agreed that skills to build trust in their mentor-mentee relationship is one of
the most crucial skills (Pitton, 2016; Hicks, Glasgow, & McNary, 2005; Jonson, 2008;
Johnson, 2016; Langdon, 2017; Sowell, 2017). Jonson (2008) emphasizes that trust in
relationships with beginning teachers makes a mentor's relationship different from otherhelpers and lets the mentee know that their communications will be kept confidential.
This peer mentoring program will address the issues and consider crucial aspects of peer
mentoring for teachers' successful learning.
Methodology
Purpose of the researchThis study aims to determine the needs of an effective mentoring program and identify thecharacteristics that make it successful through a questionnaire, followed by developing amodel for a mentorship program in the university setting. The questionnaire for the survey on‘Review of Teacher Model in the Workplace’ consists of nineteen questions, including age,
work, mentor experience, position, skills, relationships, challenges, opinions, goals,
objectives, benefits, etc. This study explored teachers’ skills that they desire to improve byworking collaboratively. As a result of the survey, we aim to develop an action plan toimplement a new mentorship program in a university setting depending on educators’ needs.
Due to a pandemic, the survey was conducted on Google form in May 2021.
Data collection
There are eighty-eight universities in Mongolia, and 6,102 teachers who work at the tertiarylevel, according to the National Statistics Office of Mongolia (NSO, 2021)1. Thirty random
educators and scholars from different eight universities were involved in the questionnaire,for example, the National University of Mongolia, Mongolian University of Science andTechnology, Mongolian National University of Education, Mongolian National Defence
University, University of Finance and Economics, Ulaanbaatar University, Mongolian
National University of Medical Sciences, University of Labour and Social Relations on May
2021. In the framework of this research, we used quantitative and qualitative methods tocollect the data. Data were analyzed and categorized regarding the teachers’ age ranges, work
experiences, and skills.
Data analysis
Review and evaluation of professional learning in our context show that mentoring processes
for young teachers were mainly informal and did not sufficiently address the mentee’s
learning goals and make them feel more self-reliant in their profession.
Table 1 illustrates the number of participants who participated in the survey.

1

The information was adopted from the official website of NSO issued on 15 January, 2022 (www.nso.mn)

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Table 1: Number of participants and universities№

Universities

Participants1

National University of Mongolia

52

Mongolian University of Science and Technology

4

3

Mongolian National University of Education

2

4

Mongolian National Defence University

3

5

University of Finance and Economics

8

6

Ulaanbaatar University

2

7

Mongolian National Universities of Medical Sciences

38

University of Labour and Social Relations

3

9Overall30

A review of the experience of teacher development practice in our institution suggests thatboth mentors and mentees should have carefully designed learning goals and expected
outcomes. Moreover, even though teachers have to experience mentoring novice teachers,
they also need to promote more collaborative learning (see Appendix 1, Table 2). It is also
clear that we need to design a straightforward mentoring program. From the table above, it's
clear that mentors and mentees do not collaborate well enough to foster their knowledge andskills. Even though there are some skilled mentors in our institute, they don't set clear goals,
meet their expectations, and have specific learning outcomes because there is no peermentoring program. To promote an effective mentoring program model, there will bequestions such as:
1.
What effective mentoring is.
2.
What are teachers' needs.
3.
Why mentoring programs, especially peer mentoring, should be implemented in our
institutional context.
Last few years, the number of new teachers has increased in our institution. This increased
number of new teachers requires us to implement peer mentoring programs that allow theteachers to learn from each other and promote collaborative learning. It will help us to solve
issues of lacking a sufficient number of experienced mentors, matters of an unequal balanceof professional and novice teachers, and prepare future mentor teachers. The following are
why peer mentoring programs should be implemented in our institutional context.
Even though teachers in our institute participate in training, workshops, and conferences,
those training sessions cannot cover individual learning needs. Having a learning goal andparticipating in peer mentoring programs enable teachers to learn constantly based on theirplan for learning.

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Discussion
As a part of higher education institutions, our Institute of Foreign Languages at the
University of Finance and Economics of Mongolia has long seen teachers' professional
learning and development as its primary issue. Teachers who are new or less experienced inteaching have opportunities to develop their skills and learning by guiding or working withsenior teachers who are more experienced and willing to share their experiences.
Peer mentoring programs allow us to make changes in our traditional mentoring program.
Mentoring relationships in the institute are mainly hierarchical and more instructional
regarding classroom management, material development, and feedback on classroom
observation. Peer mentoring programs will be more developmental and support teacher
learning based on their learning needs. Peer mentoring differs from traditional mentoring as
equality replaces hierarchy in the mentoring process (Nguyen, 2017; Collier, 2017). The
program should be focused on both the institution's and the teacher's own goals. Achieving
personal growth and improving departmental performance can go together closely. Besides
developing teachers' skills, peer mentoring also promotes collegial relationships among
teachers. Professional friendship with peers and colleagues is one of the essentials in schools
to create professional friends and share attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge (Whitton, Barker,
Humphries, Nosworthy & Sinclair, 2016). Furthermore, paying attention to teamwork andteam cohesion is a practical approach to making teamwork innovative and remain up to date,developing professional knowledge and skills, and collective building responsibility among
teachers (Poell & Woerkom, 2011).
From above, we define that effective mentoring is not only for improving teachers' teachingskills and practices but also for giving mentors and mentee teachers opportunities tocommunicate, collaborate, and enhance their skills together, which influences university
achievement.
Studying in developed countries such as Canada, Australia, America, Russia, and China is
one of the advantages teachers benefit from in their professional learning. However,information sharing with other teachers about their experiences is insufficient. Wellestablished collegial relationships within the workplace will improve teachers' desire to share
information and support each other (Abrahamson et al., 2019). Pounder (1999, as cited in van
Woerkom, 2011) assured that teachers who work in a collaborative environment are more
likely to be committed to their job, interact with their colleagues, and have broader
knowledge. These advantages of peer mentoring programs motivate educational institutes toorganize peer-mentoring programs as part of their teacher development programs and support
learning.
To make a good peer mentoring program, researchers suggest the following model andelements: the purpose of the peer mentoring program, target audience, implementation plan,and evaluation. We also support this model. The explanation of the aspects of the model ismentioned below.
a. Purpose of the peer mentoring program
The peer mentoring program aims to initiate and improve peer mentoring to support teacher
learning and create an environment where teachers can learn collaboratively, share their ideas,

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engage other teachers to participate in professional discussions, and meet individual teacher
learning goals.
b. Target audience
The target is those who are not only new in the teaching profession but also those who arewilling to develop their professional skills and learning through effective peer mentoring
programs. Teachers are engaged in a peer mentoring program that will start from the
beginning of the academic year and be implemented for 3-6 months.
c. Implementation plan
Before implementing the peer-group mentoring program, the group members will agree on
the following principles. According to Heikkinen et al., principles of peer-group mentoring,
the group needs only to address issues relevant to teaching, and issues discussed in the groupmust be confidential. Each group member will address a professional matter that suits theirpersonality. Members will also identify the topic of an issue that will be addressed during thenext meeting. If a conflict arises, it will be handled by the team before the session ends.
Finally, group members must respect each other and create a positive atmosphere (Heikkinen
et al., 2012).
d. Evaluation
Evaluation of the mentoring program is an essential part for the participants to determine
whether the purpose of the mentoring program is being met and identify further development.
According to Anderson, Silet, and Fleming (2011), the primary purposes of evaluation of
mentoring programs are (1) to support learning, (2) to lead to success, and (3) to guide further
development activities. These three elements cannot be separated and exist without one ofthem. Both program and evaluation must be precise enough for the mentees and mentors.
When designing the program, both novice teachers and mentors need to see what goals they
will set, how they will succeed, and what they will do further to cultivate themselves.
We will evaluate the peer mentoring program in three stages; early, formative and summative
assessment. We think that a survey or questionnaire can work during the early stage of thereview to identify early needs at the beginning of the program. Then, both mentee and mentor
can see whether they have developed their skills or reached their goals mutually during theshort or long-term program by completing the formative evaluation.
Formative evaluation will be completed by both participant teachers and the program
coordinator. It will help identify if the program is on track and meets both schedule andmentors' goals.
In our study, 30 teachers from various universities were asked to determine their needs andevaluate current peer mentoring experiences. We have invited five teachers from ourdepartment to implement and benefit from our developed model based on the questionnaire.
The participants, who have over five years of teaching experience, participated in our
program to achieve their goals to develop their research, digital, and other soft skills which
are essential in their academic careers. The teachers actively participated in our peer
mentoring procedure, ongoing study for three months, and evaluated our program.

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Appendix 2 (Table 3) shows the formative evaluation tool for peer-mentoring. The evaluation
should be conducted in the middle of the program to improve its effectiveness. In our case,
we worked on a three-month peer-mentoring program from September to December 2021 andcompleted the formative evaluation in October.
Appendix 3 (Table 4) illustrates summative evaluation, and it should be conducted at the endof the program. The mentor/supervisor should assess data to identify the program's
effectiveness and further improvement.
Depending on the early stage of the evaluation process, we consider that an action plan canbe developed as follows. Before peer mentoring programs begin, participant teachers are
required to attend peer mentoring training, which allows teachers to be familiar with the peermentoring process and gain mentoring skills. All individuals involved in mentoring programs
should have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities (Pitton, 2016). The
purpose of the session is to offer support and develop teachers' skills as a mentor and amentee and let them become familiar with the peer-mentoring process (see Appendix 4, Table
5). Peer matching is one of the essential elements of peer mentoring. Nguyen (2017)
suggested that peer mentoring programs should emphasize peer matching as most of theissues in peer mentoring can arise from mismatching and reduce the program's effectiveness.
In order to prevent issues among peers, the following aspects will be taken regarding
personality, working styles and perspectives, the difference in age, teaching experience, andthe difference in purpose and interest.
The next stage of the peer mentoring program is the procedure which requires both a mentee
and mentor to have a clear picture of what they desire to foster and in what ways or how they
can achieve it. As shown in Appendix 5 (Table 6), processes and purposes are given. In otherwords, teachers must participate in mentoring sessions to become familiar with their purposes,
ideas, and interests, set cooperative learning plans, and specify outcomes to have a common
goal based on their learning needs.
In teaching, mentors are heroes who never stop learning, reflecting, investigating, anddeveloping in their field (Hicks, Glasgow & McNary, 2005), though, like novice teachers,
beginning mentors also need ongoing support from a program coordinator and mentor
training (Jonson, 2008). Building a trusting relationship, receiving ongoing training, anddeveloping their instructional practice are crucial in mentor training (Sowell, 2017; Langdon,
2017; Hudson, 2010). Targeting mentor teachers' professional development can enhance theirskills and engage them to contribute to education reform by developing their mentoring skills(Hudson, 2010; Henning, Gut, & Beam, 2015). Hudson's study also suggested that to makethe mentoring process more effective, educational reform should emphasize educating
mentors to be proactive and effective in mentoring practices and ready to address issues(Hudson, 2010). Moreover, the literature also confirms that even though experienced teachers
commonly become mentor teachers (Langdon, 2017; Smith, 2015), they can have limited
experience mentoring adults, which causes them to feel unqualified (Langdon, 2017). Smith(2015) argues that even though mentoring is a profession within the teaching profession, thepurpose, roles, and methods of mentoring and teaching are distinctively different. Experience
is not sufficient for the mentors. Therefore, formal education for mentor qualifications needs
to be considered (Smith, 2015). Sowell (2017) highlights that lack of mentor training incurrent practices would make mentors deliver outdated and ineffective practices.

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Findings
The findings reveal that the participants were successful and satisfied to be involved in thispeer mentoring program. Even though there were some challenges, such as not having faceto-face meetings, mentors had online meetings. Mahsa (2017) suggests that personalities andopinions may clash during mentoring. What contributes to this problem is the lack of open
negotiations of ideas and expectations. Mentor teachers can create more positive mentoring
experiences for teachers by initiating open discussions in the early stages of mentoring tolearn about their mentee’s wants and needs and make explicit their views and expectations. It
is recommended that mentors invest enough time with their mentees not only to ascertain
their academic and professional needs but also to develop a collegial relationship with them,characterized by constant care and undivided attention to inspire and motivate them to remaintrue to their aims along the way (Mahsa, 2017). Based on the questionnaire and survey, we
found out that our peer mentoring program was successful because we considered peer
matching, a trusting relationship between mentees and mentors, their purposes, interests, andmade an action plan regarding our participants’ digital research soft skills. Below is the resultof our program:
It was a successful and valuable program for me as a mentee.
I identified my needs and weaknesses and defined my goals very carefully during myfirst meeting with mentors in person.
My mentor and I developed the action plan at the beginning of the program todetermine what to focus on further.
I learned some new things, specifically how to conduct online teaching, and developed
my research skills.
I was confident to communicate with my mentor when I had issues.
The program participants answered as follows, indicating that the participants benefited fromthe program.
Implementation of the program worked well. It was according to the plan.
Peer matching was good, so I was confident to make contact and communicating withmy mentor.
My interest and purpose matched. So, I could easily understand my mentor.
Following the action plan was easy for me because I developed a plan with my mentor.
As shown below, the teacher participants learned some critical lessons from the program andwhat they would do differently next time.
I learned that building a close and trusting relationship with my mentor is essential
during the peer mentoring program.
Next time, I would like to see my mentor every week as specified in the action plan inperson.
Next time, I will be more initiative and active in participating in the program.
I acquired some leadership skills from my mentor.
I understood what mentoring relationship should be.
Mentees faced some challenges throughout the program due to the pandemic, as specified in
the feedback.
There was a lack of chance to meet my mentor in person because of the covid19. All of
the meetings were held online.
I didn’t have enough time to see my mentor regularly because of my busy schedule.
I had classes from the morning until evening. I think this affected my efficiency inimproving my research skills. I needed more support and understanding from myadministrators and managing directors.

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Regarding the peer mentoring program results, the teacher participants defined the program
outcomes as follows.
I wish there were many social and official events between mentee and mentor todevelop our network.
In general, mentoring programs should be carefully designed to encourage further andcultivate the participants’ needs and skills.
To develop participants’ research skills, both mentee and mentor need to specify
specific research interests and collaborate in joint research.
In the middle of the process, formative evaluation helped me track my progress andproceed in my action.
From the above, we assume that training is a must work and can be a part of a continuous
development program. Although teachers at universities are busy teaching and doing someresearch work, administrators and human resources should support the pieces of training,
workshops, and seminars which means they need to be flexible, supportive, and responsible
for monitoring, assessing, and evaluating the outcomes. Due to this, we see that there will begreat opportunities to mentor each other. Evaluation of mentoring programs allows theparticipants to ensure if the purpose of the mentoring processes is being met and to determine
what aspects need to be considered for further development. Jonson (2008) affirms that alltechniques for gathering information, such as structured interviews, surveys, and observations,can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring programs. The primary purposes ofmentoring program evaluation are (1) providing learning opportunities, (2) helping mentors
to be more successful, and (3) guiding further training activities (Anderson, Silet & Fleming,2011).
As mentioned before, building a positive relationship with the mentee is one of the essential
skills for the mentors. Our study shows that both mentee and mentor have a strong, good,
trustful, and close relationship, which promotes activity, initiative, and collaboration. In
addition to this, it is necessary to organize more social and official events to encourage
networking and reduce tension between them. Our research result also identified that it isvital to clearly describe the further processes, roles, and actions based on the mentees’
demands. It is clear that if teachers are involved in the program, both must have a timetablefor devoting their time to a meeting to foster mentees’ professional and personal skills. The
study also reveals that teachers are busy with their work and private life and have no time tomeet their mentors, although they are involved in the program. Also, mentor teachers should
be more open and negotiable with mentees to design the collaborative program, match
mentees’ schedules, and develop a reliable, positive collegial relationship. We found out that
if one of them has a busy schedule in their workplace, it is not efficient and collaborative
work through the program. Both must dedicate some specific time to perform given tasks
besides their work to make it effective. In addition, human resources and managing directors
need to support the peer mentoring program to have good results for mentees’ development.
Recommendation and further researchThis study was conducted only in the framework of our university. More research should be
conducted on the program we designed as a model to improve mentoring skills. Further,benefits for the mentor should be investigated and determined through the peer mentoring
program. It is also recommended to study what types of approaches should be used toenhance mentors’ skills. Furthermore, efficient peer mentor training sessions should be
explored in order to strengthen mentors' abilities. Finally, the program should be

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implemented in more universities, if possible, it could be executed in the educational sector.
Also, the program could be designed for staff development.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the peer mentoring program is essential when considering teacher development
and school achievement. However, not all mentoring programs can be successful if
universities and institutions cannot design comprehensive and standardized models followedby regular monitoring and evaluation at the end of the program and during theimplementation process. Even though most mentors in the education field are experienced,
experience alone is not enough in mentoring. Besides good teaching skills and experience, a
successful peer mentoring program requires good relationships, explicit purposes, pictures,and specified roles and responsibilities throughout the program. In order to make the peer
mentoring process more effective, mentors’ skills need to be enhanced continuously by
involving in continuous professional development, mentoring, and leadership programs.
Therefore, we can conclude that the peer mentoring program will be beneficial for teacher
development and promote a positive environment in a university and institute.

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Appendix 1
Table 2: Review of the teacher development model in Mongolian universities
№

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Questions

Options

18-25
26-35
What is your age?
36-45
45-60
Lecturer
Are you a lecturer or a staff
member?
Staff
1-5
6-10
How long have you beenworking at this university?
11-15
More than 15 years
Do you have any experience Yesof having a mentor or being a No
mentee?
There weren't any chances
If you answered YES to theLess than 3 months
above question, how longMore than 3 months
would the mentoring
Othersrelationship last?
Strongly agree
It is important to pay
Agree somehow
attention to the matching ofDisagreementor and mentee carefully.
Do not know
Do you agree that a carefully Strongly agree
designed and organized peer Agree somehow
mentoring program can help Disagree
both mentor and menteeteachers to develop their
Do not know
professional and other soft
skills?
OthersTechnical skills
Collaborating with others in any
To identify participants’ soft situations/ conditions
Self-confidence
skills when they work in ateam, we asked the following Attitude towards learning andworkingquestion: what skills do you
think you have when you
Critical/analytical skills
work in a team?
Professional skills
Career development
Social skills
Communication skills

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Percentage
0
20
66.7
13.3
10
90
16.7
6.7
43.3
33.3
40
36.7
23.3
20
16.7
63.3
16.7
63.3
6.7
13.3
30
60
6
4
3.3
50
40
30
63.3
53.3
36.7
53.3
36.7
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9

10

The skills I feel that I candevelop through peer
mentoring program is/are:Please, specify the skills youneed to develop for yourpersonal development.

11

Which of the following skills
should both mentors/mentees
have?

12

If you face any challenges atyour workplace, how would

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Get used to the right way of life
Technical skills
Collaborating with others in any
situations/ conditions
Self-confidence
Attitude towards learning andworking
Critical/ analytical skills
Professional skills
Career development
Social skills
Teamwork
Communication skills
New technology
Rhetoric skills
Critical thinking
Nothing
Listening
Writing a research work in aforeign language
The right way of life
Analysis of resources
Professional
SocialCommunication in a diverse
cultureDoing research
Emotional Intelligence
Learning continuously
Time management
New teaching methods
Dedicating time to yourself
Social skills
Language skills
Dedication towards his/her
profession
Use of new technology
Career advice
Well organizedTime management skills
Get used to the right way of life
Others16.7
33.3

Communicate with others

40

Get some advice from others

30

209

40
26.7
16.7
36.7
26.7
53.3
16.7
30
43.3
23.1
19.8
3.3
6.6
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
6.6
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
73.3
50
50
50
56.7
60
63.3
33.3
3.3

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you deal with them?

13

It is necessary to set goals
before starting the mentoring
relationship.

14

Your mentoring relationshipshould meet your objectives,
needs, and expectations.

15

It is important to have amentorship program at ouruniversity.

16

If so, in your opinion, how
can a peer mentoring
program be effective? You
can select more than one
answer.

17

How do mentors andmentees benefit from amentoring relationship?

18

How does the organization
benefit from the peer
mentoring program?

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Work in teams
Have a mentor
Strongly agree
Agree
DisagreeStrongly agree
Agree
DisagreeStrongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Provide mentoring training
Build a mentoring support
systemHelp employees build a good
mentoring relationship
Assess mentoring program
regularly
Clarify program outline

23.3
6.7
33.3
63.3
0.4
30
60
10
33.3
66.7
0
53.3

Set clear goals

43.3

OthersDevelop skills
Work efficiently
Share experiences
Career development
Learn from each other
Improve organizational culture
Networking
Achieve organizational vision
Staff development
Increase work efficiency
Understand each other well
Create positive environment
Staff work satisfaction
Creative and analytical solution

3.3
10
20
16.7
16.7
10
23.3
3.3
16.7
16.7
23.3
6.6
16.7
10
10

210

30
33.3
40
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Appendix 2
Table 3: Formative Evaluation Tool for Peer-Mentoring№ Questions

Rate your answers

1

Underline whether you are a mentor or mentee.

2

How would you rate the program?

1 2 3 4 5

3

Do you think you matched with your mentor or mentee?

1 2 3 4 5

4Do you agree that a peer-mentoring program is carefully
designed and organized?

1 2 3 4 5

5

Do you agree that this program helped both of you to develop
your professional and other soft skills?

1 2 3 4 5

6

My mentor/mentee is accessible.

1 2 3 4 5

7

My mentor/mentee is an active listener.

1 2 3 4 58

As a peer, we provide a useful comment on our work.

1 2 3 4 59

As a peer, we demonstrate mutual professional skills.

1 2 3 4 5

10 As a peer, we motivate each other to improve our work
experience.

1 2 3 4 5

11 Both of us are helpful in providing direction and guidance on
professional issues.

1 2 3 4 5

12 Both of us acknowledge our contribution appropriately.

1 2 3 4 5

13 My mentor/mentee takes a sincere interest in my goal/ plan.

1 2 3 4 5

14 As a peer, we facilitate building our professional network.

1 2 3 4 5

15 We provide essential advice on our scholarly/ research work.

1 2 3 4 5

16 Both of us are supportive of each other.

1 2 3 4 5

17 Overall, I am satisfied with my mentor/mentee.

1 2 3 4 5

Explanation of the ratings: 5-Excellent, 4- Good, 3 - Average, 2 – Bad, 1- Poor

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Appendix 3
Table 4: Peer Mentoring Program Evaluation Form№
Evaluation criteria
Scale
1
The peer mentoring program had clear goals and 12345
addressed the intended outcome
2
The peer mentoring program promoted collegial 12
3
45
relationship3
The peer mentoring program improved participants’ 1
2
3
4
5
mentoring skills
4
The peer mentor meetings were supportive and 12345
encouraged participants to make decisions
5
The peer mentoring program addressed participants' 1
2
3
4
5
issues and concerns
6
The peer mentoring program created a positive
atmosphere that support teacher learning
1
2
3
4
5
7
The program contributed to the development of teacher 12
3
45
individual needs
8
The program met the purpose of the institutional 1
2
3
4
5
teacher development plan
9
The program included all necessary materials and 12345
equipment
10
The program included all participants in professional 12345
learning activities
For the statements above, please select a number. 5 is excellent, 4 is good, 3 is average,
2 is bad, 1 is poor.

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Appendix 4
Table 5: Peer Mentor Training Sessions
Sessions

PurposeOrientation

Engage participants in peer mentoring program
Introduce overview of the program

Familiarizing peer-mentoringPeer observation andfeedback

Mentoring skills
Peer matching

Conclusion

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Understand peer-mentoring● Benefits● Functions● Key principles
Introduce participants the nature of peer observationand feedback
Introduce benefits
Orient the participants about how to use observation
sheet
Introduce required mentoring skills and quality
Help teachers understand peer mentoring attributes
Ø Match mentors and mentees with their interests andlearning goals
Introduce requirements, task and responsibilities
Motivate participants to address key issues
Engage them to develop action plan

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Appendix 5
Table 6: Peer Group Mentoring Program Procedure
Process

PurposeInvite teachers initial
mentoring session

To make both mentors and mentees to be familiar
with their purposes, interest and idea
Let the participants understand each other’s attitudes
and perspectives

Facilitate a dialogue andexchange ideas andexperiences in a confidential
environment

To engage mentee teachers in dialogue with thementors and peers to reflect and discuss teachingissues and contents that will be addressed throughout
the program

Set cooperative learning planand specify outcomes

Both mentors and mentees will have a common goalbased on their learning needs

Classroom observation andpeer feedback

Through observation, mentees will receive effective
feedback on their performance and identify their areaof development
Make a plan for further learning based on feedback

Implement cooperative
activities based on learning
needs

Build team cohesion through collaborative work
Develop skills
Promote experience sharing

Evaluation

Both mentors and mentees will receive valuable
feedback
Identify learning needs
Identify if they meet their learning goal

Appendix 7
The questionnaire items:
1. Was the Peer mentoring program successful? Please provide details.
2. What worked well with the peer mentoring program? implementation?
3. What were the key lessons learned? What would you do differently next time?
4. What were the major challenges/problems?
5. What changes happened as a result of your Peer mentoring program? and why? What
have been the outcomes of these changes?

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References
Abrahamson, E. D., Claire, P., Melissa, S., & Sarah, B. (2019). Peer mentors' experiences andperceptions of mentoring in undergraduate health and sports science programs:
Journal of Pedagogical Research. Vol.3, Issue 2. Turkey. 21-37.
Anderson, L., Silet, K., & Fleming, M. (2011). Evaluating and giving feedback to mentors:
New evidence-based approaches. Clinical and transitional science, 5(1), 71-77. doi:
10.111/j.1752-8062.2011.00361.x
Anderson, C.W. (2012). Development of master mentor teacher program: From inception to
implementation. In Dimensions in mentoring: A continuum of practice from beginningteachers to teachers leaders, edited by S.D. Myers and C.W. Anderson, 127-139. The
Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Collier, P. (2017). Why peer mentoring is an effective approach for promoting college
student success. Metropolitan Universities, 28(3).
Giebelhaus, C. R., & Bowman, C.L. (2002). Teaching mentors: Is it worth the effort? Journalof educational research, 95(4), 246-254
Henning, J. E., Gut, D., & Beam, P. (2015). Designing and implementing a mentoring
program to support clinically-based teacher education. The teacher educator, 50 (2),145-162. doi:10.1080/08878730.2015.1011046
Hicks, C. D., Glasgow, N. A., & McNary, S. J. (2005). What successful mentors do: 81
research-based strategies for new teacher induction, training, and support. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hudson, P. (2010). Mentors report on their own mentoring practices. Australian journal ofteacher education, 35(7), 30-42
Jonson, K. F. (2008). Being an Effective Mentor (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks., CA: SAGE
Publishing.
Johnson, W. B. (2016). On being a mentor: a guide for higher education faculty. New York:
Routledge.
Langdon, F. J. (2017). Learning to mentor: Unravelling routine practice to develop adaptive
mentoring expertise. Teacher Development, 21(4), 528-546.
doi:10.1080/13664530.2016.1267036
Laura, L., Gloria, C., & Brad, W. (2017). The Sage handbook of Mentoring: Mentoring inhighereducation. Thousand Oaks., CA: SAGE., 316-334.
Mahsa, I. (2017). From Swan t om Swan to Ugly Duckling? Mentoring Dynamics andPreservice Teachers’ Readiness to Teach: Australian Journal of Teacher Education.
Vol. 42, 7. Edith Cowan University. 66-83

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Pitton, D. E. (2016). Supporting teacher development. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Poell, R. F., & Woerkom, M. V. (2011). Introduction: Supporting workplace learning. In
Supporting Workplace Learning (pp. 1-7). Springer, Dordrecht.
Smith, E.R. (2011). Faculty mentors in teacher induction: Developing a cross- institutional
identity. The journal of educational research 104(5), 316-329
Smith, K. (2015). Mentoring: Profession within a profession. In mentoring for learning:
Climbing the mountain (pp. 284-296) Rotterdam: Sense Publisher
Sowell, M. (2017). Effective practices for mentoring beginning middle school teachers:
Mentor’s perspectives: A Journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 90(4),129-134, DOI: 10.1080/00098655.2017.1321905
Strangeways, A. (2016). From assistant teacher to teacher: challenges and pathways insituated pre-service teacher education. Asia-Pacific journal of teacher education,45(1),71-85. doi:10.1080/1359866x.2016.1140123
Tim, L. D. (2019). Faculty Peer Mentoring Guide for Participants. Virginia Commonwealth
University. Whitton, D., Barker, K. L., Nosworthy, M., Humphries, J., & Sinclair, C.
(2016). Learning for teaching: Teaching for learning.
Contact email: ganzul.g@ufe.edu.mn

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What It Means to be a Great Teacher?
The Life Experience of University Students in Thailand
Pataraporn Sangkapreecha, Bangkok University, Thailand
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Educational research on teacher-student relationships recognizes their impact on students.
However, it typically emphasizes on physical outcomes, such as students’ learningachievement, with less attention to psychological ones, such as students’ feelings. While
everyone acknowledges the significance of the professional teacher, little acknowledgment ofcaring and loving teacher as an issue exists in the meaning of a great teacher. Employing aqualitative-interpretative analysis with university students in Thailand, this research paper
presents the student narratives and stories which describe the meaning of a great teacher inpractice and argues for recognition of what it means to be a great teacher from theperspective of Thai culture. Furthermore, the student’s narratives describe what they
relational experience from teaching, caring, loving, and being in a relationship with theirteacher and how this meaningful relationship affects and alters their own lives.
Keywords: Great Teacher, Education, University Student, Thailand

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Teachers have a greater impact on student achievement than any other resource. In theprevious study, research on teacher impacts (Opper, 2019) has consistently found that a goodteacher can make all the difference in student outcomes, even when other resources arelacking or unavailable. Historically, educational theory and research suggest that teachers
who are learners make a difference for student learning (Dewey, 1916). This notion dates toearly philosophy of education that describes the shared relationship with the construction ofknowledge.
This social constructivist view of learning and the teacher’s role has not readily been thedefinitive meaning of effective teaching or the interpretation of teacher as learner. Recent
educational reform efforts to identify high quality teachers have led to the measurement oflearning characteristics, including degrees, course work, test scores, and years of experience.
Much research exists describing the relationships among university degrees, content area
course work, professional exam scores, years of experience, and their relationship to student
achievement. While these studies are valuable in providing insight into personal teacher
characteristics that have a moderate influence on student learning, they provide little in theway of informing areas for development of practice. In Sum, studies of the impact of teacher
professional learning on student achievement tend to approach teacher professional learning
employing a fixed trait approach. Educational research on teacher-student relationships
recognizes their impact on students. However, it typically emphasizes on physical outcomes,
such as students’ learning achievement, with less attention to psychological ones, such as
students’ feelings. While everyone acknowledges the significance of the professional teacher,little acknowledgment of caring and loving teacher as an issue exists in the meaning of agreat teacher.
Previous studies on teacher’s image have shown that student’s perspectives toward teachers
play a critical role in education and function in various ways (Botha, 2009; Jitpranee, 2017).
It helps teachers to develop their roles that contribute to the improvement of students’learning skills and any other outcomes (Bas & Bal-Gezegin, 2015; Ishiki, 2011). Bas and
Bal-Gezegin (2015) noted that understanding students’ perspectives enables teachers toindicate students’ attitudes toward learning and learning success. This means that teachers
can access the mental images of their students’ perceptions and reflections of theeffectiveness of being a great teacher for their students.
Employing a qualitative-interpretative analysis with university students in Thailand, thisresearch paper presents the student narratives and stories which describe the meaning of agreat teacher in practice and argues for recognition of what it means to be a great teacher
from the perspective of Thai culture. Furthermore, the student’s narratives describe what they
relational experience from teaching, caring, loving, and being in a relationship with theirteacher and how this meaningful relationship affects and alters their own lives.
Literature Review
Regulation of the Teachers Council of Thailand on Professional Standards and Ethics

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Standards of Professional Knowledge and Experience
1.

2.

Standards of Knowledge with the knowledge in the areas of language and technology
for teachers, curriculum development, learning management, psychology for teachers,
educational measurement and evaluation, classroom management, educational
research, educational innovation and information technology and teachership.
Standards of Professional Experience, by passing the criteria of training on
professional practice during study and practical training in educational institutions on
specific subjects.

Standards of Performance
Those who practice the Profession of Teachers shall perform their duties in accordance with
the Standards of Performance as follows:1.
Regularly practice academic activities relating to development of the Profession ofTeachers
2.
Make decisions to practice various activities taking into account consequences onlearners
3.
Be committed to developing learners to reach their full potentiality
4.
Develop teaching plans for effective implementation
5.
Regularly develop instructional media to be effective
6.
Organize instructional activities focusing on permanent results for learners
7.
Systematically report on results of learners’ quality development
8.
Conduct themselves as a good role model for learners
9.
Constructive cooperate with others in educational institutions
10.
Constructively cooperate with others in community
11.
Seek and use information for development
12.
Create opportunities for learners to learn under all circumstances
For the Professional Ethics, educational professional practitioners shall have love, faith,
integrity and responsibility for the profession and act as a good member of professionalorganizations. For the Client Centered Ethics, educational professional practitioners shallcare for and be merciful, pay attention to, assist and encourage their students and clients onan equal treatment basis, in accordance with their roles and duties. Educational professional
practitioners also shall encourage their students and clients to achieve learning, skills, goodand proper conduct, in accordance with their roles and duties, to the full capability andgenerosity. Furthermore, the educational professional practitioners shall not act in any
manner which in against the physical, intellectual, mental, emotional and social developmentof their students and clients and shall provide services honestly and equally without asking
for, accepting or acquiring any interests which would be considered abuses of their authority(Wisalaporn, 2005).
Characteristics of a Great Teacher
Orlando (2013) proposed the nine characteristics of a great teacher.
1.

A great teacher respects students. In a great teacher’s classroom, each person’s ideas
and opinions are valued. Students feel safe to express their feelings and learn torespect and listen to others. This teacher creates a welcoming learning environment
for all students.

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2.

3.

4.
5.

6.

7.
8.

9.

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A great teacher creates a sense of community and belonging in the classroom. The
mutual respect in this teacher’s classroom provides a supportive, collaborativeenvironment. In this small community, there are rules to follow and jobs to be done
and each student is aware that he or she is an important, integral part of the group. A
great teacher lets students know that they can depend not only on her, but also on theentire class.
A great teacher is warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. This person isapproachable, not only to students, but to everyone on campus. This is the teacher towhom students know they can go with any problems or concerns or even to share afunny story. Great teachers possess good listening skills and take time out of their
way-too-busy schedules for anyone who needs them. If this teacher is having a badday, no one ever knows—the teacher leaves personal baggage outside the school
doors.
A great teacher sets high expectations for all students. This teacher realizes that the
expectations she has for her students greatly affect their achievement; she knows thatstudents generally give to teachers as much or as little as is expected of them.
A great teacher has his own love of learning and inspires students with his passion for
education and for the course material. He constantly renews himself as a professionalon his quest to provide students with the highest quality of education possible. This
teacher has no fear of learning new teaching strategies or incorporating newtechnologies into lessons, and always seems to be the one who is willing to sharewhat he’s learned with colleagues.
A great teacher is a skilled leader. Different from administrative leaders, effective
teachers focus on shared decision-making and teamwork, as well as on community
building. This great teacher conveys this sense of leadership to students by providing
opportunities for each of them to assume leadership roles.
A great teacher can “shift-gears” and is flexible when a lesson isn’t working. This
teacher assesses his teaching throughout the lessons and finds new ways to present
material to make sure that every student understands the key concepts.
A great teacher collaborates with colleagues on an ongoing basis. Rather than
thinking of herself as weak because she asks for suggestions or help, this teacher
views collaboration as a way to learn from a fellow professional. A great teacher uses
constructive criticism and advice as an opportunity to grow as an educator.
A great teacher maintains professionalism in all areas—from personal appearance toorganizational skills and preparedness for each day. Her communication skills are
exemplary, whether she is speaking with an administrator, one of her students or acolleague. The respect that the great teacher receives because of her professionalmanner is obvious to those around her.

Avram (2013) also make a propose of several qualities a great teacher should possess.
1.

2.

A balanced personality. A teacher must be able to interact with any student, withextroverts and introverts, with hard working and lazy students, motivated and non motivated students. He must keep his balance and calmness in any situation, no matter
what happens.
The sense of justice. In the eyes of a teacher all the students have the same rights. A
teacher must not create personal differences between his / her students. A greatteacher must have an equidistant attitude in the educational process between himself /herself and the students.

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3.

4.

5.
6.

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General knowledge. Students can always ask any sort of question. Of course, theteacher is not a living encyclopedia and he cannot immediately provide any
information for his students. But, ideally speaking, a teacher must know a bit ofeverything.
Devotion. In order to surpass all the bad moments in the classroom, a great teacher
must love his / her job and the students. Even if the students are rude or not somotivated, a great teacher knows his / her objectives and what he can do for the
students.
Good manager. A great teacher may organize easily activities in and outside theschool with his students or with other teachers, without being afraid of failure.
A strong but not too strong emotional attachment to the students. First of all, a teacher
is a normal person, like any other people. He eats, drinks like all the other people andstudents have to know that a teacher is not a half man-half God creature, but rather anormal person, well educated and trained in his field.

Teachers’ and students’ relationship experiences in class have profound consequences fortheir performance and well-being (Mega, Ronconi, & De Beni, 2014). It has been proposedthat teachers’ interpersonal behavior in the interaction with their students is an important
antecedent of teacher roles. Donker, et.al (2021) study behavior of 80 teachers from threeperspectives (observers, students, and teachers) in terms of Agency (i.e., social influence) andCommunion (i.e., friendliness). The three perspectives overlapped more strongly for teacher
agency than for communion. Especially for students, teacher communion was a stronger
predictor of affections than agency. Teachers’ interpersonal behavior in class, thus isimportant for both teacher and student lives.
Methodology
A core investigation of this research study was “What it means to be a great teacher?” Theexplanation itself is a challenge, given individual’s varied life meanings and experiences,along with its knowledge exposure practices. Given this individuality, this study employed aqualitative-interpretative approach, where the central mode of data gathering was fifty-sevenindividual online interviews. The questions were designed to allow participants to share theirunique meanings and relationship with their teacher and reflect on how their educational-life
experiences affects and alters their own lives.
This research had the target participants– natives of Thailand who are either currently
students at Bangkok University or alumni. The researcher’s Facebook page, thus was selected
as a media platform to access these participants. The participants comprised of 31 females, 19
males and 7 LGBT Thai residents ages ranged from 21 to over 50 years. Fifty-threeparticipants identified themselves as undergraduate and graduate students and four
participants were called themselves as alumni who already abstained their educational degreefrom Bangkok University.
In order to enhance the trustworthiness or credibility of the study, the researcher draw on
Lofland and Lofland’s model (2006) to “test” the reliability and validity of the qualitative
results. This is especially important in this study as many scholars understand Thai people as“face saving”, arguing Thai people tend to take others’ interest to heart (Redmond, 1998).
Applying Lofland and Lofland’s criteria, the qualitative data is reliable. First, because thestyle of reporting is direct, responses are passionate, and diverse. The participants werespeaking from first-hand accounts from their personal experiences. This resulted in genuine

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responses. Second, internal consistency- the participants’ accounts do not contradict
themselves.
Open and axial coding techniques (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) were adopted for data analysis.
The open coding technique was used to analyze the data of students’ descriptions of themeaning of great teachers at the first stage. It was used to dissect the ideas found in thestudents’ texts into pieces, identify and group them into themes based on their similarities anddifferences. Later, axial coding technique was used to analyze and put the data found in thefirst stage into categories according to their relationship, label them, and report them forresults.
Results and Discussion
The meanings used to describe a great teacher can be divided into six themes. The findings
for students’ descriptions were largely based on their individual perceptions and feeling fortheir teachers as these descriptions were related to their learning experiences with Thaiteachers at school and university, both inside and outside the classroom.
The findings illustrated that there were six meanings used in describing a great teacher. Data
in Table 1 shows that the most frequent meaning used to describe a great teacher were thesecond parent (24.6%), a life coach (22.8%), a big sister/brother (17.5%), a knowledge
provider (15.8%), a role model (14.0%) and a justice (5.3%), respectively. They were foundto consist of five types of viewpoints. Students’ descriptions of a great teacher were analyzed
and associated to five types of viewpoints, including emotion, guardian, motivation,
academic and power dynamics. Emotion refers to teacher’s awareness to students’ needs.
Guardian refers to the teacher’s monitoring and suggestions provided for students.
Motivation refers to the teacher’s encouragement of their students to accomplish the goals.
Academic refers to the teacher’s knowledge, ways of teaching, directions and goals. Power
dynamics refers to whether a classroom is democratic, inclusive, or participatory.
No.

Meaning

1.

The Second
ParentTable 1. The meanings of a great teacher
Description
Example Quotes
loves, cares and has
all devotion for theirchildren well-being

Teachers who see us as theirchild in their family
Be like another dad and mom
Teachers who treat us the sameas our parents
Teachers who love us like theirchild
Being more than just a teacher,
but like our parent
Take care of us like our dad
and mom(continued)

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%

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Teacher who is everything forstudents. A person who gives
advice, listens, teaches, and nomatter how bad things are
done, teacher is ready toforgive. like the second mother2.

Life Coach-helps and gives
useful knowledge to
people-offers choices andgives directions-tells necessary
procedures

Teachers attentively listen
students and help to solve theproblem

13

22.8

10

17.5

Always help to solve any
problems, not only learning
lessons
Teach us how to live
Listen to our own reasons
Gives us knowledge andexperiences. Tell us new thingsand being supportive
Have a good vision
Teachers who give us life
experience even good or badand pass it on us as a life lesson
Not only not blame us when we
do wrong, but offers choices
for solutions
Support us to have a better live

3.

Big
-helps in trouble
Sister/Brother -sincerely cares andunderstanding-is friendly, kind,and appreciative

Play attention to student’s
feeling more than learning
performance. Realize on
individuals’ value and be able
to explain difficult things into
something easily to understandFriendly and understanding
Understand us and always
helpfulBelieve in us(continued)

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Understand us and get throughthe problem together
4.

Knowledge
Provider-has knowledge andgives newinformation-pay attention inteaching

Teachers teach and giveinformation and knowledge tostudents

9

15.8

8

14.0

3

5.3

Attentively teach us and havecompassionate
Pay attention in teaching suchas preparing teaching material
well so that students can get asmuch knowledge as possible
and students can ask without
being angry to repeat theanswer.

5.

Role Model-looks as a good
example who isworthy of imitation-represents aninspirational ideal-inspires others toimitate his or her
good behavior

Show us how to do it more thanjust tell us
Being a good example
Being a model of good person
who love and give
Have a good heart, very kind
Give us knowledge and virtue

6.

Justice-concerns forjustice, peace andgenuine respect forpeople-fair treatment

No bias and no discrimination
for students who have different
classes or appearances
Not choose to love or hatesomeone

As illustrated in Table 1, Thai students’ meaning for a great teacher consisted of six
viewpoints as indicated by their different point of views of their teachers based on theirindividual perceptions, learning experiences, and cultures. One of the interesting meanings
related to Thai culture was that a great teacher was like “the second parent”. This meaning
appeared in the old Thai saying mentioned by a Thai teacher: “my students are mysons/daughters”. It reflects Thai students’ culturally-unique way of thinking that exhibits
their belief for a great teacher by describing them like a parent who always love, help,
support and take care of them.
Concerning Thai teachers’ instructional practices, students reflected that a great teacher isknowledgeable, competent, well-planned, helpful, and motivated teachers. They could also
predict students’ learning difficulties and needs and provided effective solutions, strategies,

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and feedback on their learning. Furthermore, a great teacher is able to make the class fun,enjoyable, and motiving. It is also indicated that a great teacher should be emphatic andsensitive to students’ learning needs and feelings. They always provide advice and offer
solutions for students’ problems and disappointment. They should be a role model and inspire
students to be a better person.
The results of this research study revealed the perspective of a great teacher of Thai
university students in accordance with the Professional Ethics and behavior model under theProfessional Ethics (Wisalaporn, 2005) with various respects. These include a great teacher
care for and be merciful, pay attention to students’ needs. A great teacher conducts oneself asa good role model for students and provide services honestly and equally without asking for.
The results also in accordance with the characteristics of a great teacher proposed by Orlando(2013) in the characteristics of respecting, caring and inspiring students. In accordance with
the qualities of a great teacher proposed by Avram (2013) in the sense of justice anddevotion. However, the results of this study provide the greater knowledge that a greatteacher needs to draw a very thin border between the personal life and professional life. A
great teacher needs to play the role of a big sister/brother in front of their students. At thesame time, a great teacher cares for the students not just as a teacher, but also as a second
parent. The students expect their students to be their second parent who love, care, and thinkthey are the teacher’s family member.
Conclusion and Suggestion
Being a great teacher is not impossible. Through the results of this study, the creation of ameaningful practical description of what it means to be a great teacher is evident. A greatteacher needs to care about the needs of his / her students and listen carefully to their voices.
A great teacher lives forever not just in the students’ minds, but also in their hearts.
The research study concludes that this way of collecting perspective from Thai students
towards the meaning of a great teacher should be considered as a valuable way for getting
deeper insights into students’ concerns and should be used along with the more common
practice of teacher related feedback from students. Moreover, the study identified the major
six attributes of a great teacher. The attributes included being the second parent, a life coach,a knowledge provider, a big sister/brother, a role model and a justice. Therefore, this researchadds new knowledge for Thai teachers to consider when doing their duty for students at theirschools or universities. With this in mind, Thai teachers and administrators should beconcerned about and listen empathically to students’ needs for better understanding, and thenuse that understanding to develop more appropriate and likeable classroom activities in orderto improve the qualities of life learning and teaching in the Thai student curriculum.

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References
Avram, I. (2013). The secrets of a great teacher. Journal of Innovation in Psychology,
Education and Didactics, 17(2), 97-104.
Baş, M., & Bal-Gezegin, B. (2015). Teachers as patience stones: A metaphor analysis of
students’ conceptualizations of EFL teachers in Turkey. Journal of Foreign Language
Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 1–9.
Botha, E. (2009). Why metaphor matters in education. South African Journal of Education,
29, 431-444.
Dewey, J (1916). Democracy and education an introduction to the philosophy of education.
New York, NY: MacMillan.
Donker, M.H., Vemde, L,V., Hessen, D.J., Gog, T.V. and Mainhard, T. (2021)
Observational, student, and teacher perspectives on interpersonal teacher behavior:
Shared and unique associations with teacher and student emotions. Learning andInstruction, 73, 1-14.
Ishiki, N. (2011). Trajectories of English learning: Through the use and analysis of EFL
students’ metaphors. Proceedings-English Studies in Various Contexts: The 3rdInternational conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Prince of Songkla University, 1 – 11.
Jitpranee, J. (2017). Metaphor analysis: Students’ metaphorical conceptualizations of English
teachers at a university in Thailand. The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1),48 – 57.
Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. H. (2006). Analysing social settings: A guide to qualitative
observation and analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Mega, C., Ronconi, L., & De Beni, R. (2014). What makes a good student? How emotions,self-regulated learning, and motivation contribute to academic achievement. Journalof Educational Psychology, 106, 121–131.
Opper, I. (2019). Teachers matter: understanding teachers impacts on student achievement,from https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4312.html, February 15, 2020.
Orlando, M. (2013). Nine characteristics of a great teacher. Retrieved December 12, 2020,
from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/ninecharacteristics-of-a-great-teacher/Redmond, M. (1998). Wondering into Thai culture, or, Thai whys, and otherwise. Bangkok:
Redmondian Insight Enterprises.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures
and techniques. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

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Wisalaporn, S. (2005). Regulation of the Teachers Council of Thailand on Professional
Standards and Ethics Retrieved December 12, 2020, fromhttp://teachercodes.iiep.unesco.org/ teachercodes/codes/Asia/Thailand.pdf

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Canada’s 2I’s: Reconciling International Student Migration
and Indigenous Peoples
Sabreena MacElheron, Lakehead University, Canada
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
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Abstract
Reconciliation rests at the nexus of relationships between immigrants and Indigenous peoplesof Canada. Setting out this literature review was focused on providing an environmental
landscape on what has been researched on the reconciliation between international students,
Canadian higher education, and Indigenous peoples. However, as this comprehensive
literature review will demonstrate there is considerable extant literature regarding related
topics, new immigrant transitioning, socio-cultural and historical contexts, contestations, anddecolonizing initiatives within universities and communities, which while related and offer
opportunities of engagement, do not delph deep into Canadian higher education’s role (as an
economic immigration pathway) in the reconciliation of international students (as potential
new immigrants and settlers) and Indigenous Peoples’ Whilst this literature review explores
key concepts and contestations its’ overall purpose has been to reveal gaps, and crevices,which demonstrate the need for research into Canadian higher education’s ethical and fraughtrole into reconciling international students and their relations with Indigenous peoples. This
literature review is followed by research recommendations focused on addressing the gaps
identified and formed around two key questions: 1. how do international students’
perceptions about Indigenous peoples change and 2. how might this contribute toreconciliation, if at all?
Keywords: Internationalization, Indigenization, Racism

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Eye to Eye: Indigenous and International Relations
Higher Education’s Role in Settler-Hood
The purpose of this study was to produce a scoped literature review of the Canadian higher
education and overall landscape on how international students (new future immigrants) form
their opinions, thoughts, and beliefs and understanding about Indigenous Peoples of Canada.
This topic of begins in Foucauldian “genealogical” style as it unpacks the “history of thepresent” of Canadian higher education and its’ reliance on international student tuition
revenue and its’ balance of Indigenous decolonization (Foucault, 1991, p. 53-54). Canadianhigher education has found itself as the primary economic federal migration pathway forinternational students seeking eligibility to meet permanent residency requirements in
Canada. As such Calder et al. (2016) asserts that Canadian higher education has increasingly
higher “stakes in the success of [international] students”. Additionally, Canadian higher
education is in an ethically fraught position as while it has been charged with thedecolonization of higher education in support of Indigenous students (TRC, 2015), it is being
funded to do this primarily through internationalization recruitment, retention, and attrition ofinternational students. According to Statistics Canada (2020a), “Over a ten year-periodinternational students’ education in formal programs [have] more than tripled while Canadianstudent enrolments increased at a slower pace…[this] represents 57.2% of total growth in…
[post-secondary] program enrolments” (p. 1). More than federal IRCC pressure, postsecondary has become increasingly, “relian[t]…on [international student] tuition as a revenue
source [which] has grown over the past decade to an estimated 40% of all tuition fee[revenues] and [now] accounted for almost $4 billion in annual revenues for Canadianuniversities in 2018/2019” (Statistics Canada, 2020b, p.1).
The economic investments by international students in Ontario alone are evidenced by“international students [directly contribute[ing] $7.8 billion to the Ontario economy in 2016”(Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, 2019, p. 5). The Immigration,
Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, 2020) Annual Report to Parliament on
Immigration indicated that in 2020 alone, over “5,774, 342 travel documents [were] issued tovisitors, workers, and students, [including an additional] 404,369 temporary work permits, [ofwhich] 74,586 individuals transitioned from temporary foreign worker and international
mobility programs, [and] 341,180 permanent residents [were]admitted to Canada. [As such]permanent and non-permanent immigration [now]account[s] for 80% of Canada’ s population
growth” (p. 1). These figures align with the Statistics Canada (2020a) report that reported,“international students account for all the growth in postsecondary enrolments in 2018/2019”,[and in the] 2018/2019 academic year, over 2.1 million students were enrolled in Canadianpublic universities and colleges, up 1.8% from the previous year” (p. 1).
The Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (OMAESD, 2018)indicated that “Long-term international students directly contributed $7.8 billion to the
Ontario economy in 2016, supporting thousands of jobs across the province. Institutional
revenues alone from international postsecondary students totaled $1.8 billion in 2015-2016”(p. 5). Further OMAESD (2018) indicated that “Education is an important Canadian export.
Education-related services are among the country’s top 10-service exports, accounting for$5.8 billion in 2015” (ibid, p. 3)”. Further, “The ministry estimates that by 2022, If current
trends continue, international enrolments will account for roughly 20 percent of all
postsecondary enrolments in the province” (ibid, p. 5).

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Although OMAESD (2018) indicated they hoped to “enhance Ontario’s settlement services”
in coordination with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration with the hope of“expanding the International Student Connect program pilot across more campuses andmunicipalities, connecting international students to settlement organizations” (p. 5), this has
not happened as of 2021, and current immigrant settlement services include international
student support in the form of funded workshops on resumes, tax assistance, which has left
higher education institutions across Canada in a tenuous position to provide settlement
services which extend beyond their institutional mandates of supporting international students
academically and personally in their successful credential completion.
The focus of IRCC’s immigration pathway via Canadian higher education for international
student transition to permanent residency places increasing pressure on Canadian higher
education to prepare international students as the next generation of Canadian settlers. As
such higher education is the primary conduit and incubator for emerging immigrant settlerhood issues between international students and Indigenous Peoples. As Jodi Byrd (2011)
asserts, “settlers, arrivants [immigrants], and natives” [are] not separate but “bleed[ing] into
one another…[and] the task is to discern how the noise of competing claims, recognitions andremediations function to naturalize possession at the site of post-racial inclusion,transformative multiculturalism, and cruel optimism” (p. 40). This is described by Tuck &Yang (2012) as “colonial equivocation” (p. 7), which according to Chatterjee (2018a), is the“minimizing or collapsing [of] the Indigenous and immigrant experience” (p 6).
As Chatterjee (2018b) asserts citing Byrd, it is this “’cacophony…a critical term diagnosing
the persistence of racialization, subjugation, and hierarchized subject positionalities within
and among those targeted and oppressed by the processes of imperialism and colonialism,
war, and genocide, [where] alliances [forge]across historical and cultural experiences in
opposition to the competition upon which colonialism relies’”. Chatterjee (2018b) claims it isthis, “’cacophony’ of the competing projects of diasporic immigrants and Indigenous peoples
that allow the settler state to continue its business as usual” (p. 6). Despite higher education
being ‘ground zero’ for Byrd’s (2011) “cacophony” of international student settlement andIndigenous Peoples reconciliation, there has been no research conducted on these
relationships (specifically) and on how TRC’s (2015) Calls to Action for educational
decolonization are working to reconcile these potential new immigrants with Indigenous
Peoples work on sovereignty. Historical context is provided followed by themes in the extant
literature which provide an environmental landscape on key discussions and work yet to bedone for higher education to play an important role in guiding international students (asfuture settlers) and Indigenous Peoples in reconciliation.
Historical Context of Immigration and Indigenous Peoples
Bohaker and Iacovetta (2009) provide a historical and political account of how Indigenous
peoples, policies, and civic education have been not only run out of the same government
offices as immigration but used to assimilate and integrate Indigenous peoples akin to new
immigrants to Canada. Bohaker and Iacovetta (2009) argue that since the beginning of
immigration policy, the government has sought to treat both Indigenous Peoples andimmigrants the same (outsiders that must be assimilated and integrated). Both Bohaker andIocovetta (2009) assert that the combination of the post-world war and the passing of the1947 Citizenship Act followed by governing the Department of Citizenship and Immigration(DCI), and Indian Affairs by one central ministry "from 1950 until 1966" was done as a
strategic move as "ministry officials aimed to create a "one size fits all category of societal

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citizenship". DCI’s activities were heavily modelled after the citizenship campaigns being
developed for immigrants within the DCI’s Canadian Citizenship branch” (p. 427).
Defining a Canadian National Unity
These campaigns assert Bohaker and Iocovetta (2009) focused “ministry officials and their
network of public and private groups, and agencies [in the creation of] a one-size-fits-all
category of societal Canadian citizenship” (p. 427). As Bohaker and Iocovetta (2009) note,when Canadian prime minister Louis St. Laurent was asked in 1950 why he housed IndianAffairs with Citizenship and Immigration he said, “to make Canadian citizens of those whocome here as immigrants, and to make Canadian citizens of as many as possible of thedescendants of the original inhabitants of this country” (p. 429). DCI went on “to develop
integration programs for both newcomers and Aboriginals until 1966, when Indian Affairs
moved to a new ministry” (Bohaker & Iocovetta, 2009, p. 429).
As Bohaker and Iocovetta (2009) point out, the Canadian government’s work to create a“national unity” that enveloped settlers, new immigrants, and Indigenous peoples was "’tomake Aboriginals immigrants too’ through repetitive assimilation tactics however, evenpresent day the concept of “national unity provided by ‘Canadian citizenship’[which] is‘contested ground’ for Indigenous peoples vying for sovereignty” (p. 427). Moreover,Bohaker and Iacovetta (2009) assert the best way for a “dominant group” to clean up its’
political image is to create an image (as Canada has done) of being an innovative
multicultural “peacebuilding nation to the world, which includes a purge (whitewashing) of
past systemic racism and colonization of Indigenous Peoples” (p. 427). Whereas Wallis et al.
(2010) claim that recognition of both groups as distinct and separate is an important step
towards finding paths to reconciliation, as both "exist in Canada's history and present an
unacknowledged continuity that defines its dominant and structural social, economic,
political and cultural orders" (p, 1).
ThemesTerra Nullis
In discussing Canadian colonization, settlers, and Indigenous peoples, both Buchan (2005)
and Wallis et al., (2010) discuss the foundational use of the European indoctrination term
‘Terra Nullis’, and according to Buchan (2005), Europeans used this legal term to claim that
Canadian "land was occupied but unowned' and "therefore vacant" (p. 1). Windschuttle in
Buchan (2005) makes the case that British settlers "brought the gift of civilization and newtechniques for living, however their claim to define who is ‘civilized’ and why some are‘uncivilized’ or ‘savages’ should be questioned” (p.3). Buchan (2005) asserts that "ideas ofcivilization helped to shape colonial attitudes towards Indigenous peoples" and “thesestereotypes are still at play in modern contexts” (p. 4). This idea is furthered by Wallis et al.
(2010) who argue that additional "structural hierarchies of racial inequality…attempt to erase
its Indigenous reality" (p. 1), and the use of ‘Terra Nullis’ by original settlers to Canada has
encouraged the present day concepts of "globalization, where there is a constant ebb and flowof newcomers that are colonizers or victims of colonization, which makes ‘colonization’ and‘racialization’ the foundation to begin the conversation between newcomers and Indigenous
Peoples” (p. 3). Both Wallis et al. (2010) stress that ‘coalition building’ between racialized
newcomers and Indigenous Peoples is a strategy to counter political rhetoric used as a ‘divideand conquer’ attempt to keep these groups alienated” (p. 5).

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Reconciliation Where to Begin?
How does Canada reconcile new immigrants and Indigenous Peoples in a respectful
relationship? As Akhmetova (2019) points outs in her research into newcomers andimmigrant settlement services in Manitoba that most “newcomers” or “immigrants” toCanada are unaware of how to approach their relationship with Indigenous Peoples, as “theycould [not] articulate their understanding of reconciliation…[and]it seemed that was a generallack of understanding or agreement among non-Indigenous peoples that they [even]…shared[a]responsibility to reconcile" and all participants in Akhmetova’s research agreed that theyneed more education on Indigenous Peoples and reconciliation (p. 44).
Akhmetova's (2019) research determined three rationales provided by newcomers regarding
their responsibility or non-responsibility for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. The firstwas that newcomers did not feel responsible or supportive of original settler decisions
regarding residential schools and felt since they were not direct hereditary descendants ofthese people, they were innocent. Secondly, some immigrants felt because their homecountries are also impacted by colonization, they could not envision themselves as both the"colonizer" and the "colonized" therefore they were also innocent. Thirdly, new immigrants
have other pressing priorities when they arrive from shelter and employment, which leaves
little time to consider Indigenous Peoples and the "injustices of their past”, so survival also
made them innocent (p. 64).
New Settler Separation from Original Settler Colonial Identity?
Information shared on or by Indigenous Peoples to newcomers either from settlement or othergovernment or non-government agencies informs and provides new immigrants knowledge
and representation on the dominant’s group view of Indigenous Peoples. Also, information
shared sets expectations of what the relationship should or should not be between newcomer
immigrants and Indigenous peoples. This information (or non-information) sets the tone of“appropriation of Indigenous land and exploitation of Indigenous labour”, and these are,“foundation in settler nation formation” sustainability (Chatterjee, 2018, p. 5).
As Fanon (1963) describes this passing of Colonizer perspective on Indigenous Peoples tonewcomers could be paramount to a “kind of perverted logic”, as he asserts that “colonialism
is not satisfied merely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native’s brain of all
form and content…it turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures, anddestroys it. This work of devaluing pre-colonial history takes on a dialectical significancetoday” (p. 210).
New Settler Intent & Complicity
The relationship between new immigrants and Indigenous Peoples is not just based on
historical or current information provided or not provided to newcomers at the time ofsettlement. As Jaffri (2012) indicates migrant intent is a concept needing examination, as
perceived migrant "complicity" towards Indigenous Peoples in the recolonization of Canada
needs to be considered as the "thinking in terms of complicity shifts attention away from theself and onto strategies and relations that reproduce social and institutional hierarchies" (p.
55). Many migrants are unaware of Canada's political and historical past with Indigenous
Peoples despite that they may also be benefitting from the stolen land following arrival(Jaffri, 2012; Dua & Lawrence, 2005). In contrast as Jaffri (2012) points out, this “shift in

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thinking places greater emphasis on migrant accountability for beliefs and actions instead of
migrant culpability on their thoughts, beliefs, and actions of Indigenous Peoples” (p. 55).
However, as Akhmetova (2019) and Lawrence and Dua (2005) note, newcomers may not see
themselves as complicit as there is a distinction noted between settler and white privilege.
Akhmetova (2019) notes new immigrant "settler privilege…gives an opportunity to associatewith the benefits of living on stolen lands," but that this benefit comes with their recognition
that they may also experience racialization and discrimination (Akhmetova, 2019, p. 54).
Nevertheless, Akhmetova (2019) notes when “complicity” pertaining to settler colonialism
occurs, it is through no fault of their own, as new immigrants can be "vulnerable to adopting
inaccurate information about Indigenous peoples" due to the lack of "Indigenous educationand orientation [they receive following] arrival to Canada" (p. 67) (this will be flushed out
later in this examination).
Newcomer Accountability for Ongoing Settler Colonialism
Although Lawrence and Dua (2005) argue, that racialized people through their “citizenshipand voting rights contribute to the government's policy and processes on reconciliation anddecolonization, with and for Indigenous Peoples”, they do not fully acknowledge themarginalized position that many of these people may be in that contribute to their inability tohave a voice from financial and health insecurities, language deficits, and not understanding
government policy, process, and history (p 162). Albeit Lawrence and Dua (2005) give someconsideration of racialized peoples need to assimilate and integrate, their cultural and lived
experience in other countries, including increased pressure to assimilate and fit in with thedominant group (not to be accused of taking some of the original settlers pie), and how thisall plays into a perceived “complacency”, they challenge the idea that “only white andEuropean settlers can be guilty or solely responsible for colonization when racialized peoples
are also benefitting from what has been stolen from Indigenous Peoples” (p. 132).
Despite Lawrence and Dua’s (2005) assertion that immigrants "at particular historicalmoments…may have been complicit with ongoing land theft and colonial domination ofAboriginal peoples" (p. 132), they go on to build their argument that other pre-existing
factors (government policy and processes including the Indian Act of 1876), have had more
impact on the current relationship between Indigenous Peoples and new immigrants (p. 3).
Overall, Lawrence and Dua (2005) assert that immigrant complicity exists due to immigrants'
refusal to recognize that reconciliation is not just a white settler issue, and newcomers must ask
themselves, "if people of colour are settlers, then are they settlers in the same way that the French
and British were originally the settlers in Canada? And what does be a settler mean?” (p. 4). In
contrast to this argument Akhmetova (2019) (an immigrant herself) makes the case that
because new immigrants do not reap the same ‘privilege” as previous or white settlers thatthey should not be "considered settlers" (p. 60). Although, Akhmetova (2019) distinguishes aperceived difference between "white and settler privilege" there needs to be a stronger basefor her argument to be able to make a compelling claim that newcomers do not receive
sufficient bells and whistles to be labelled as settler, as both groups (new and old) are settlers,and both groups have varied degrees of “privilege” bestowed to them despite the process orprocedures in place for landing, and both are occupying stolen land (p. 54).

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New “Settler Mindset”
Akhmetova (2019) explains immigrants adopt a "settler mindset" after arrival regarding
Indigenous peoples which seems to mirror past “settler mindset”. “Newcomers are afraid to
disrupt the status quo and… risk [being]labeled as troublemakers… [as they] begin a new life
in a safer country. [Immigrants find] it easier and safer to blend in and to adopt the colonial
rhetoric and attitudes rather than to resist them" (p. 62). As McCalla and Satzewich (2002)
note the ongoing capitalist colonization of Canada is fueled by ‘constructing immigrants and‘Indians’ as racialized others” (p. 25). Ling Chung (2009) notes that reconciliation between
newcomers and Indigenous peoples must be done from a "non-pluralist framework"
beginning with acknowledgement that the lands newcomers arrive on are "stolen" and thatthey are participating in an ongoing "colonial project" (p. 54). Regardless Ling Chung (2009),
Lawrence and Dua (2005), and Chatterjee (2018), all posit the role of newcomers in Canada
without the gravitas needed in examining this from the lens of Indigenous peoples and thenotion of Indigenous sovereignty.
Impacts of the Ongoing Colonial Project Furthered by Globalization & Immigration
As Alfred points out in Lawrence and Dua (2005), it is difficult to move forward toconstructing a new relationship between Indigenous Peoples, settlers, and new immigrants,
when the “government continues to divest responsibility for the effects of colonialism on
Aboriginal peoples, while holding onto their land base and resources, redefining without
reforming, and further entrenching in law and practice the real basis of its power” (p. 125).
Regardless of “anti-racism theory and practice” Lawrence and Dua (2005) assert that new
immigrants and settlers must be made of aware of “the deeper, older stories and knowledge
connected to the landscape around us” to be able “to acknowledge that we all share the sameland base and yet [we need] to[collectively] question the differential terms on which it isoccupied…to become aware of the colonial project that is taking place around us” (p. 126).
Chatterjee (2019) argues about the dangers of implicating "immigrant settlement" into the
dynamic discussion of "Indigenous decolonial justice" and the advancement of the "Settler
colonial project" because in doing so, Chatterjee (2019) warns that we are losing focus of the"capitalist colonial project" underplay to further remove Indigenous peoples from their landand stack with new and improved immigrant reinforcements (p. 644).
Instead, Chatterjee (2019) urges that an amnesty is applied to new immigrants of "no border
politics," which is an 'anti-racist" method to approach both the "recruitment/resettlement (ofimmigrants) and dispossession (of Indigenous peoples) on the land (p. 644). Chatterjee(2019) concludes that it is important to "move past the settler-Indigenous binary" and to
consider how "labor-capital-nation-nexus factors into this dialogue” (p. 655).
Municipalities Sites of Contestation
Clearly municipalities emerge as key sites of contestation and where misunderstandings
between newcomer migrants and Indigenous Peoples most often occur. As such it isimportant to historically understand “municipal colonialism,” Stanger-Ross (2008) outlines
this concept by examining the historical steps taken by the City of Vancouver (taken by manyother cities in Canada) as a way of, “dispossessing” Indigenous peoples of their urban
Indigenous reserve land as Indigenous peoples in the urban downtown core was considered
undesirable for empire building (p. 541). As Stranger-Ross (2008) reflects historical titans ofindustry “saw the Indian reserves as a particular challenge for urban development”, and in

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Vancouver, B.C., this was reflected in the local newspaper editors publishing, “the city issuffering, as it has suffered these forty years or more, from a useless, undeveloped, untaxable
piece of waste land [the reserves] impinging on the populous area”. “An Indian Reserve inthe middle of a big city is an anachronism…a city is no place for the primitive wards of thegovernment” (P. 542). As Stanger-Ross (2008) points out the municipality was building its
argument as to why Indigenous people were “savage” which further “validated theappropriation of Aboriginal land” located in urban centres (p. 542).
Indigenous and International Municipal and Provincial Economics
Whereas municipalities and provinces view new immigrants as economic benefits and theycreate plans to attract and retain this population, Indigenous Peoples in municipalities are
viewed as liabilities. Collins et al. (2017) report which compares Newfoundland andLabrador's education on both international and Indigenous provides an example of theperception of growing immigration settlement for economic vibrance. International students
are presented as advantageous, "immigration allows Canada's population to grow andthrive...the province recognizes the importance of encouraging immigrant families to stay andcontribute to the cultural diversity and economic prosperity of the province "(ibid, p. 89-90).
Immigrant settlement is aspired to as something to work and retain in the region. Whereas
Indigenous students’ education is positioned as "important for both Indigenous people andnon-Indigenous people”, followed with a small list of Indigenous schools and whether they
were open or how they were funded (ibid, p. 81).
As Ong in Godlewska et al., 2017 asserts, “FNMI people are largely absent in discussions of
the economy. With today’s emphasis on economic success, this silence is significant (p. 446447). In the development of municipal newcomer settlement toolkits particular attention mustbe paid into the framing of the narrative of Indigenous peoples and their economic value tothe larger society. The idea that newcomers and even international students should beprioritized as they pose significant opportunity to municipalities, provinces, and higher
education institutions as “economic migrants” is pervasive (Gates-Gasse in Cox, 2014, p. 49).
Moreover, Busbridge (2018) lists off several immigrant civic education integration projects
funded by the government, of which “none provide newcomers with Indigenous people
knowledge or programs to forge connection and reconciliation with these groups" (p. 52-53).
Busbridge (2018) concludes her overview and evaluation of integration services provided tonewcomers entering Canada by noting, "not surprisingly, the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Citizenship and Immigration concluded in a recent report that 'that there is aneed for a better coordination strategy vis-à-vis the various federal and provincial
departments involved in the delivery of settlement services" for economic gain (p. 68).
Higher Education’s Role in International Student Settlement Services
As Cox (2014) points out the increased impetus of Canadian higher education to be an
economic migration pathway for international students calls for increased, “higher education,
policy, and programming in providing settlement service provisions to international students
through a neoliberal lens” (p. 5). Cox (2014) argues that Canada's Immigration Strategy seeks
to exponentially expand international student migration pathways to fill immigration quotas,
and does not take into consideration how this growth and how these decisions impact andsupport the exclusion of international students. Cox (2014) builds her argument through heranalysis of IRCC policies related to immigration, international student targets, andgovernment strategies to build her case that "social inclusion of international students in

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Canada," is not considered essential (p. 5). Further Roach cited in Cox (2014) argues thatinternational students who are excluded from settlement agency supports have increased
barriers (p. 34).
As Albiom in Cox (2014) attests, Canadian higher education service supports forinternational students are not standardized across Canada, which leaves ongoing gaps
contributing to their exclusion (p. 34). Whilst Cox (2014) touches on the importance forinternational students to be supported to build both "social capital" and "bridged social
capital" connections with the local communities, Cox’s (ibid) argument falls short as it does
not include any reference to another important part of international student inclusion in
Canadian society, which is the need for higher education institutions across Canada toprovide localized and standardized education on Indigenous Peoples (p. 43). Cox's (ibid)
review of student programming and services at UBC, U of Calgary, Ryerson University, andMemorial make no mention of Indigenous reconciliation programming provided orundertaken on Indigenous Peoples for international student benefit (p. 52-54).
Despite international students being noted peripherally as one of the "temporary" migrant
populations in the research their situation about settlement and Indigenous reconciliation is not
explored. Instead, the central arguments focus more on the states of "temporariness" prolonged tocreate "permanent temporariness" and the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments
to review policy, processes, and outcomes in relation. (Busbridge, 2018).
Newcomer Integration Settlement Programs & Tool Kits
Some of the literature and research focused on newcomer immigrant settler services andwhether these services were teaching or disseminating information on Indigenous Peoples.
There has been no research done on the standardization, quality, or accuracy of information
provided to newcomers from third party government settlement associations on Indigenous
Peoples and reconciliation (to date) other than a few studies which determined that little ornothing was being done in direct programming due to funding and lack of Indigenous
knowledge and expertise by the settlement agency. Further, Yoshida’s (2014) examination
explores how newcomer settlement agencies use the toolkits and information theydisseminate such as "newcomer guidebooks" as citizenship "settler making tools", which
serve the primary purpose of reinforcing the dominant colonized power structures (p. 8).
Yoshida (2014) goes on to assert that “the guidebooks rewrite the current CanadianIndigenous relationship to have been reconciled, which is illustrated in some of their text" (p.
12) which provides, “inaccurate and misleading information to newcomers on the state ofIndigenous reconciliation and the government state” (p. 61). Yoshida (2014) fears theseguides “also position ‘multiculturalism’ as central to the nations citizenship and identity
thereby eliminating the Indigenous identity” (p. 90). In conclusion, Yoshida (2014) decides“newcomer integration and transitioning material provided by newcomer settlement agencies
works as citizenship rhetoric, to ensure that new immigrants position Indigenous peoples as
separate and not part of the Canadian collective identity which serves to exclude Indigenous
participation” (p. 23).
Gaps/Limitations/Implications
This literature review revealed significant gaps on efforts and initiatives to encouragereconciliation between international students and Indigenous Peoples within higher education
or by other stakeholders. This literature points to further investigation needed, which is

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critical and important, as Canadian higher education has been charged with implementing
TRC’s (2015) Call to Actions in reconciling Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian state. As
the literature has demonstrated there has been a metered focus on domestic student
reconciliation and knowledge building through Indigenization of the curriculum and someefforts to ‘recognize Indigenous ways of knowing and being’ but there has been no specificfocus in Canadian higher education on international student reconciliation and relationshipbuilding with Indigenous Peoples. International students, whose primary goal is to resettle
Canada using higher education as a migration pathway, continue to have little knowledge orinteraction with Indigenous Peoples during their education. This places higher education at
the nexus of reconciliation for both Indigenous Peoples and international students (newsettlers) and acknowledges the pivotal role that Canadian Higher education may play insetting foundational beliefs and values contingent for respectful relationships between
Indigenous Peoples and international students- the future generations of Canada.
Higher education’s duality in reconciling Indigenous Peoples and the resettlement of Canada
through the provision of credentials to international students is a privileged, and an ethicallyfraught position. Included in these dynamics of this tenuousness is that international
departments within higher education are not mandated to provide Indigenous education nor
have they been expected to play a part in reconciliation between these groups.
Conclusion
This literature review ends with unanswered questions and implications for my future
research later this year including limitations on knowledge known today about international
students (future settlers of Canada) and their understanding of Indigenous Peoples. Questions
such as how do international students’ perceptions about Indigenous Peoples change afterparticipating in an Indigenous activity or constructed engagement? How can Canadian higher
education contribute to meaningful reconciliation between international students andIndigenous Peoples? What opportunities are available to international students to learn about
and interact with Indigenous Peoples? Do international students arrive with racist ideologies
about Indigenous Peoples or are these formed through their interaction with other settlers,
media, interactions in their school, workplace, or social lives? How do international students
form ideas, opinions, and beliefs about Indigenous Peoples pre-and-post arrival to Canada?
What is Canadian higher education’s responsibility in educating potential new immigrants, aspart of their commitment to assuming an economic migration pathway for the federal
government? Does Canadian higher education have a role and responsibility in international
student and Indigenous Peoples reconciliation? Difficult questions indeed.

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References
Akhmetova, R. (2019). The role of recent newcomers to Canada in reconciliation with
Indigenous Peoples. [Master's thesis, University of Manitoba]. pp. 1-123.
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ana.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yAlfred, T., & Corntassel, J. (2005). Being Indigenous: Resurgences against contemporary
colonialism. Government and opposition, 40(4), pp. 597-614.
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Bohaker, H., & Iacovetta, F. (2009). Making original people' Immigrants Too': A comparisonof citizenship programs for newcomers and Indigenous Peoples in Postwar Canada,
1940s-1960s. Canadian Historical Review, 90(3). pp. 427-461.
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Buchan, B. (2005). The empire of political thought: Civilization, savagery, and perceptions of
Indigenous government. History of the Human Sciences, 18(2), pp. 1-22.
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Busbridge, R. (2018). Multicultural politics of recognition and postcolonial citizenship:
rethinking the nation. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
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Byrd, J. (2011). The transit of empire: Indigenous critiques of postcolonialism. Minneapolis,
MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Calder, M.J., Richter, S., Mao, Y., Kovacs Burns, K., Mogale, R.S., & Danko, M. (2016).
International students attending Canadian Universities: Their experiences withhousing, finances, and other issues. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46(2), pp.
92-110. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1113439
Chatterjee, S. (2018a). Immigration, anti-racism, and Indigenous self-determination: Toward
a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary settler colonial. Social Identities: A
Journal of Race, Nation & Culture. Doi: 10.1080/13504630.2018.1473154
Chatterjee, S. (2018b). Teaching immigration for reconciliation: A pedagogical commitment
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Research, Policy, and Practice, 6(1). pp. 1-15.
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Chatterjee, S. (2019). Immigration, anti-racism, and Indigenous self-determination towards acomprehensive analysis of the contemporary settler-colonial. Social Identities.25(5),pp. 644-661. https//doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2018.14373154
Dua, E. & Lawrence, B. (2005). Decolonizing antiracism. Social Justice, 32(4), p. 120-143.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/29768340

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Fanon, F. (1963). The Wretched of the Earth. New York, NY: Grove Press.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) (2020). Statement-oath of citizenshipbill introduced in parliament. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugeescitizenship/news/2020/10/oath-of-citizenship-bill-introduced-in-parliament.html
Lawrence, B., & Dua, E. (2005). Decolonizing anti-racism. Social Justice, 32(4), pp. 120142. https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/bonita-lawrence-decolonizinganti-racism.pdf
Ling Chung, M.M. (2013). The relationships between racialized immigrants and Indigenous
Peoples in Canada. [Master's thesis, Ryerson University]. pp. 1-68.
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wnload/The_Relationships_Between_Racialized_Immigrants_And_Indigenous_Peopl
es_In_Canada__A_Literature_Review.pdf
McCalla, A., & Satzewich, V. (2002). Settler capitalism and the construction of immigrantsand ‘Indians’ as racialized others. In W. Chan & K. Mirchandani (Eds.), Crimes ofcolour: Racialization and the criminal justice system in Canada (pp. 25-44). Toronto,
ON: University of Toronto Press.
Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (OMAESD), (2018).
Ontario’s International Postsecondary Education Strategy. Educating Global Citizens.
Realizing the Benefits of International Post-Secondary Education, pp. 1-20.
http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/pepg/consultations/international-education-strategy-2018en.html
Statistics Canada. (2020a). An exploration of work, learning, and work-integrated learning in
Canada using the longitudinal and international study of adults. (No. 89-648-X).
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Statistics Canada. (2020b). International students accounted for all the growth inpostsecondary enrolments in 2018/2019. The Daily.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/daily-quotidien/201125/dq201125eeng.pdf?st=2ZeT_hs6
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada [TRC]. (2015). Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, Winnipeg, MB: Author. Retrieved fromwww.trc.ca
Wallis, M., Sunseri, L., & Galabuzi, G. E. (Eds.). (2010). Colonialism and racism in Canada:
Historical traces and contemporary issues. Toronto, Canada: Nelson Education Ltd.

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Yoshida, I. (2014). Dis-cover Canada: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Canada's Citizenship
Guidebook for Immigrants and the Making of Settler Colonial Subjects (Master's
Thesis, UniversityofToronto),pp.1-21.
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/67959/1/Yoshida_Ikumi_201411_M
A_thesis.pdf
Contact email: smacelhe@lakeheadu.ca

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ODD Self-Efficacy Test
Academic Self-Efficacy Among College Students
Dorothy Kay M. Clay, Ateneo de Naga University, Philippines
Odette E. Esteve, Ateneo de Naga University, Philippines
Deborah M. Relucio, Ateneo de Naga University, Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
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Abstract
It has long been considered that persons with a high level of self-efficacy can tackle even themost difficult tasks. As a result, the harder the activity, the more self-confidence and selfcontrol they have, and the more successful they will be. The ODD Self-Efficacy Test is a100-item survey designed to test college students' self-efficacy. With a 4-point Likert scale,this test has three subscales: time management, efficiency/productivity, and disposition.
These subscales are concerned with how students respond to difficult academic settings, suchas school pressures and the stresses of all study-related activities. Furthermore, this was pilot
tested among 360 college students from chosen universities in Camarines Sur and Albay, andcontent validated by three psychology professionals. The test's factor structure was analyzed
using confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in a questionnaire that was reduced from a 100item to a 48-item questionnaire with nine components. When the final 48 items were
tested for internal consistency using Cronbach's Alpha, it was established that components’Time Management, Efficiency, Drive, Consistency, Productivity, and Confidence had
adequate to good reliability. While Optimism, Disposition, and Prudence, on the other hand,
may have limited applicability, but they are not reasons to discard the test based solely on its
size or reliability coefficient. Disposition has the lowest reliability (N = 3; =.483), whereas
Time Management has the highest reliability (N = 12; =.83). This means that
individual differences in test scores are due to "real" differences in the attributes under
examination, with chance errors accounting for the remainder.
Keywords: Self-Efficacy, Academics, College Students, Time Management, Efficiency,
Drive, Consistency, Productivity, Confidence, Optimism, Disposition, Prudence

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The ODD Self-Efficacy Test is a 48-item survey designed to measure the level of selfefficacy among college students in Camarines Sur and Albay. The name of this test is derived
from the authors' initials: Odet, Dorothy, and Debbie. According to Bandura & Freeman(1999), Self-efficacy refers to the person's particular set of beliefs that determine how well
one can execute a plan of actions in prospective situations. It pertains to one's capabilities toorganize and execute these courses of actions required to manage such perspective situations.
Moreover, self-efficacy refers to the beliefs about one's capabilities to learn or perform
behaviors at designated levels (Bandura, 1986). It refers then to a person's belief in his/herability to succeed in a particular situation.
In this 21st century, learning has been the strongest pillar of an individual achieving their
desired goals. It is now apparent that everything is running on a modernized term, making amillennial do various things and ways to cope with the present. One of these coping strategies
can be seen in a student's academic life. As the changes can be apparent, self-efficacy isreadied to aid the students to be more encouraged, thus taking up new challenges in life
through constant learning. It does not merely mean to be a motivational concept, but itsupports an individual, like students, in achieving goals and their desired targets with the best
if not the superior performance.
The objectives of this test are to:1.
Determine whether the college students (17 and above) in Camarines Sur and Albay
have a generally good self-efficacy in life or not.
2.
Help the schools know and monitor the student's efficaciousness and productivity
amidst the college work demands.
3.
Assist the schools' officials to resolve issues or find ways to help those students with alow level of self-efficacy in general, and that they may become what society wants them tobe, responsible and motivated individuals.
Below is the table of specification. Included are the items measuring self-efficacy.
Area

Self-Efficacy

Item Placement
Components
w/ Reversed
ScoresTime Management
1-9
Efficiency
10 - 16
Drive
17 - 22
Consistency*23 - *31
Productivity
32 - 35
Optimism*36 - *38
Confidence
39 - 41
Disposition*42 - *44
Prudence
45 - 48
Table 1. Table of Specification

No. of
Items

Percent of
the Items

9
7
6
9
4
3
3
3
4

19%
15%
13%
19%
8%
6%
6%
6%
8%

The table of specifications of the ODD Self-Efficacy Test shows that there are 48 questions
regarding some situations that are being encountered by college students. The test developers
choose nine subscales which are Time Management, Efficiency, Drive, Consistency,
Productivity, Optimism, Confidence, Disposition, and Prudence.

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Validation
The ODD Self-Efficacy test was initially composed of a 100-item scale that the authors
determined following the definition of subscales. These were designed to be self-rated using
the 4-point Likert scale (I Strongly Agree that this is me, I Agree that this is me, I Disagree
that this is me, and I Strongly Disagree that this is me) depending on how it best describes the
respondents. The test was then reviewed for content validity of item construction by a panelof three consisting of two Psychologists and a Psychometrician. Based on their content
validity, items were revised accordingly.
The authors conducted a pilot testing on 360 respondents who are college students fromselected Colleges/Universities in Camarines Sur and Albay. These respondents completed thetest online through google forms. The profile of the respondents is summarized using
descriptive statistics. Results showed that there was a total of 63.1% Female, 30.8% Male,and 6.1% LGBTQ+, whose ages range are notable for 17 to 20 years old with 53.3%.
Furthermore, these respondents were divided from colleges and universities from theprovinces of Albay (33.6%) and Camarines Sur (66.4%), with Universidad de Sta. Isabel as
the university with the greatest number of respondents for the pilot testing, with 31.7% of 360
respondents.
To achieve the construct validity of the ODD Self-Efficacy Test, Confirmatory Factor
analysis was utilized to assess the factor structure essential to the 100-item ODD Selfefficacy test. Results of the sampling adequacy measure of this instrument reported a high
KMO of 0.887, and Barlett’s test sphericity (χ2 = 7906, degrees of freedom = 1653) yielded astatistically significant p = 0.000, which suggests that variables are associated and therefore
appropriate for extraction.

ITEM
1
2
8
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
22
23
25
32
33
34

1
0.408

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2

3

4

Components
5
6

7

8

9

0.480
0.426
0.618
0.432
0.614
0.580
0.654
0.427
0.748
0.795
0.651
0.544
0.567
0.520
0.478
0.480
0.540

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37
41
0.520
42
0.638
43
0.676
44
0.708
46
47
0.449
51
52
55
57
0.678
58
0.732
59
0.456
0.435
62
0.484
63
67
0.550
69
0.545
70
0.579
72
0.504
76
0.525
78
80
0.733
83
85
0.676
86
88
0.427
89
0.521
90
0.524
92
0.647
95
0.669
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalizationa.
Rotation converged in 19 iterations
Table 2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis

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0.469

0.407
0.487
0.570

0.488
0.700
0.660
0.426

Using Confirmatory Principal Component Factor analysis with Varimax Extraction and
Kaiser Normalization Rotation was conducted. 52-items reduced the initial 100-item
questionnaire to become a 48-item questionnaire with nine factors/components.
The table presents the items with a minimum .40 factor magnitude. Initially, the tableconsisted of 19 components. However, some items did not meet the > 0.350-factor loading
cut-off, and after deleting components with only one to two items, components were reduced
to 9 components with 48 items. Also, item 90 in component 8 was later on removed because
it was not after the theme of the item loading. Components 1 to 9 consist of items that areincluded in the final 48-item inventory.

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The final 48 items after the factor analysis of the 100 items ODD Self-Efficacy Test isillustrated below. Together with the statements from the test, the table also presents the factor
loadings, Percentage of Variance, Mean and Standard Deviations of each item. There was a
total of 9 subscales of the final 48-item ODD Self-Efficacy test.
Factor Loadings, Eigenvalues, Percentages of Variance, Mean and Standard Deviationsof the 48-item Self-Efficacy Test
Self- Efficacy
Component 1 Time Management
Eigenvalues: 12.15; Percentage of Variance: 19.2%
1 I can allot enough time in a day to study
2 I can prioritize and work on my requirements even without deadlines
3 I see to it that I can study every week.
4 I see to it that I read my notes every now and then.
5 I make sure to use my time productively.
6 I can still be productive even on weekends, holidays or vacations.
7 I can manage my time wisely.
8 I am certain that I will not waste my time doing unproductive stuff.
9 I am able to use my vacant time to study or work on my requirements.
Table 3. Time Management

FL

M

SD

0.408 2.84 .709
0.520 2.95 .774
0.638 2.81 .725
0.676 2.61 .720
0.708 2.93 .691
0.456 2.79 .848
0.484 2.74 .756
0.579 2.57 .735
0.504 2.77 .726

The first component, Time Management, is consisted of items 1 to 9. Statements from all of
the items indicate how an individual organize his/her time between various activities
concerning productivity, accomplishment of necessary tasks, and the ability to multitask.
Self- Efficacy
Component 2 Efficiency
FL M SD
Eigenvalues: 4.75; Percentage of Variance: 9.37%
10 I believe that my skills will enable me to accomplish many things.
0.449 3.19 .626
11 I can remain calm when facing difficulties because I can rely on my0.550 3.04 .713
coping abilities.
12 When I plan, I want to go over the smallest details
0.525 3.17 .648
13 During challenging and critical situations, I can usually think of a0.733 2.98 .646
solution.
14 I can plan ahead about the things I should work on.
0.524 3.07 .672
15 I find it easy to make alternative plans if my previous plan failed.
0.647 2.93 .656
16 When confronted with a problem, I can immediately think of a solution. 0.669 2.89 .679
Table 4. Efficiency
The second component, Efficiency, is composed of items 10 to 16. These items state theability of an individual to do tasks well, with minimum quantity of wasted time, effort,
finances, and materials. These items concerned are distractions and unpreparedness.

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Self- Efficacy
Component 3 DriveFL
M SD
Eigenvalues: 2.56; Percentage of Variance: 9%
17 Regardless of school demands and problems, I foresee that I will0.427 3.38 .744
graduate on time.
18 I can finish a task alone before the set deadline.
0.748 3.29 .655
19 I find means to finish a task/project before the deadline.
0.795 3.25 .646
20 I can balance academic and social life.
0.651 3.04 .673
21 I am confident that I can attend to every academic priority.
0.478 2.85 .752
22 I am able to submit requirements on time.
0.676 3.09 .756
Table 5. Drive
The third component, Drive is composed of items 17 to 22. These items state the need of anindividual to satisfy or complete a school task or assignment regardless of demands andproblems that arise. These items concerned is success-oriented.
Self- Efficacy
Component 4 Consistency
FL
Eigenvalues: 2.27; Percentage of Variance: 20.5%
23 When I sleep late working with my requirements, I become lazy the0.432
next day to accomplish other school-related tasks.
24 I cannot focus on a test at hand when I have problems.
0.544
25 I am having difficulty managing my time allotment for school-related0.567
tasks.
26 I cram most of the time.
0.480
27 I find it difficult to feel motivated to work on my requirements when0.678
people don’t support me.
28 I am not capable of doing my assignments along with my chores at0.732
home.
29 I am easily discouraged by changes in plans, deadlines, etc.
0.545
30 When faced with a dilemma, I find it tough to decide.
0.427
31 I lose track of my social life because of academic demands.
0.521
Table 6. Consistency

MSD

1.99 .872
1.93 .779
2.01 .777
2.18 .902
2.02 .881
2.24 .854
2.08 .826
1.92 .702
2.21 .849

The fourth component, Consistency is composed of items 23 to 31. These items refer to how
the students keep positive attitudes and habits despite facing a lot of demands and otherconcerns in life. These items concerned about how consistent an individual in accomplishing
things even if there are changes in plans or deadlines, and can do decision-making in a
conflicting situation.
Self- Efficacy
Component 5 Productivity
FL
Eigenvalues: 1.65; Percentage of Variance: 5.50%
32 When working on my academic responsibilities, I can ignore0.614
distractions.
33 I am able to be productive most of the time.
0.580
34 I can do school-related things enthusiastically.
0.520
35 I can still be productive even on weekends, holidays or vacations.
0.435
Table 7. Productivity

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M

SD

2.69 .794
2.66 .748
2.75 .706
2.79 .848

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The fifth component, Productivity is composed of items 32 to 35. These items refer on theability of individuals to produce results, while also being responsible and enthusiastic insituations where there are distractions.
Self- Efficacy
Component 6 Optimism
Eigenvalues: 1.47; Percentage of Variance: 2.85%
36 I procrastinate a lot.
37 I over think about minor things.
38 I find it difficult to work when I feel lazy.
Table 8. Optimism

FLM

0.480 1.96
0.618 1.79
0.654 1.57

SD
.798
.844
.676

The sixth component, Optimism is composed of items 36 to 38. These items state how anindividual can do tasks while viewing things from the general perspective, being attentive
even to minute details despite the struggles and challenges in situations. These items
concerned how an individual can recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments fromcertain situations.
Self- Efficacy
Component 7 Confidence
Eigenvalues: 1.4; Percentage of Variance: 3.42%
39 I am confident that I can pass most of my exams.
40 Compared to other people, I can perform outstandingly
41 I am confident that I can excel in my exams this semester.
Table 9. Confidence

FL

M

SD

0.5702.98 .739
0.4882.56 .784
0.7003.02 .775

The seventh component, Confidence is composed of items 39 to 41. These items refer to anindividual’s sense of self-belief that he/she is capable of doing an outstanding performance.
These concerns how they tend not to give up quickly because they believe that they arecapable of achieving something.
Self- Efficacy
Component 8 Disposition
Eigenvalues: 1.21; Percentage of Variance: 2.87%
42 It is impossible for me to work on my requirements with distractions.
43 I feel guilty when I know that I can get higher scores.
44 When faced with a dilemma, I find it tough to decide.
Table 10. Disposition

FL

M

SD

0.407 2.13 .810
0.660 1.99 .892
0.426 1.92 .702

The eighth component, Disposition is composed of items 42 to 44. These items state theindividual’s readiness or tendency to act in a certain way, even if there are distractions tomake decisions, even in challenging situations.

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Self- Efficacy
Component 9 Prudence
Eigenvalues: 1.18; Percentage of Variance: 3.40%
45 I am able to recite or answer my teacher whenever I am asked.
46 I am inherently able to find solutions to my problems.
47 I can make alternative plan, if Plan A fails.
48 I can always get back on my feet whenever I encounter problems.
Table 11. PrudenceFLM

0.426 3.00
0.540 2.98
0.469 3.18
0.487 3.08

SD
.706
.622
.680
.678

And with the last component, Prudence is composed of items 45 to 48. These items refer tothe concerns of an individual for the consequences of his/her actions and decisions. The items
concerned is about having practical reasoning.
Reliability
The second part of the analysis is the reliability testing. The Reliability of a test is often
defined as the extent to which the scores on the test are free from error. The final 48-items
were tested for internal consistency using Cronbach’s Alpha. It was found that, TimeManagement (N = 12; α = .833), Efficiency (N = 7; α = .783), Drive (N = 6; α = .801),
Consistency (N = 9; α = .785), Productivity (N = 4; α = .750), and Confidence (N = 3; α =.727) are the components with adequate to good reliability. On the other hand, Components’
Optimism (N = 3; α = .550), Disposition (N = 3; α = .483), and Prudence (N = 4; α = .624)
may have limited applicability, but they are not the basis for solely rejecting the test based on
their size or reliability coefficient (these components were reversed scored). Component 1,
Time Management has the highest reliability (N = 9; α = .83), while Component 8,
Disposition has the lowest reliability (N = 3; α = .483). This implies that the individual
differences in the test scores are attributable to “true” differences in characteristics underconsideration and the extent to which they are attributable to chance errors. Furthermore, alow value for alpha may mean that there are not enough items in the component.
Correlation
The third stage of analysis in this test construct is the Correlation testing between thecomponents. The statistical result is shown below:
Variable
1
2
3
4
5
1Time
1
0.470 0.506 0.169 0.726
Management
2 Efficiency
0.470 10.464 0.029 0.447
3 Drive
0.506 0.464 1
0.211 0.485
4 Consistency
0.169 0.029 0.211 1
0.232
5 Productivity
0.726 0.447 0.485 0.232 1
6 Optimism
0.212 0.041 0.064 0.543 0.198
7 Confidence
0.562 0.544 0.502 0.161 0.512
8 Disposition-0.053 -0.133 -0.057 0.560 -0.029
9 Prudence
0.481 0.591 0.435 0.027 0.433
N360
Note. *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001
Table 12. Correlation Matrix

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6

7

8

9

0.212

0.562

-0.053

0.481

0.041
0.064
0.543
0.198
1
0.159
0.364
0.029

0.544
0.502
0.161
0.512
0.159
1
-0.0150.468-0.133-0.0570.560-0.0290.364-0.015
1-0.093

0.591
0.435
0.027
0.433
0.029
0.468
-0.093
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The relationship between the components was explored through correlation analysis.
Components 1 Time Management, 2 Efficiency (r=0.470, p<0.001), 3 Drive (r=0.506,
p<0.001), 4 Consistency (r=0.562, p<0.001), 5 Productivity (r=0.726, p<0.001), 6 Optimism(r=0.212, p<0.001), 7 Confidence (r=0.470, p<0.001), and 9 Prudence (r=0.481, p<0.001) arefound to have a significant relationship with the central construct, Self-Efficacy, while
Component 8, Disposition (r=-0.053, p=0.316), was found to be a negative/inverse
correlation. Component 5, Productivity, was found to be most strongly correlated with SelfEfficacy (r=0.726, p<0.001), while Component 8, Disposition, was the least correlated (r=0.053, p=0.316). All total component scores (r=0.785, p=<0.001) from the 360 respondents
held moderate to high correlations with Self-Efficacy.
Scoring
This test will utilize a 4-Point Likert Scale that will measure college students' self-efficacy inselected schools in Camarines Sur and Albay. This will be designed and administered in
Google Forms, which will be sent in virtual means to the target participants of the test.
The items found in each subscale will be respectively rated, while others in negative
statements will be scored in reverse. Each item is given a weighted score from one (1) tofour (4). Hence, the ODD Self-Efficacy Test will be scored using the 4 - Point Likert Scale
where: 4 = I Strongly Agree that this is me; 3 = I Agree that this is me; 2 = I Disagree that
this is me, and 1 = I Strongly Disagree that this is me.
In specific, four as "I strongly agree that this is me" having a value of 4 points means that theindividual can fully and completely relate to the statement or situation given; 3 as "I agree
that this is me" has a value of 3 points, where the individual can relate to the statement
provided; 2 as "I disagree that this is me" means that the individual does not agree with thestatement; that he/she cannot relate with the given situation, it has a value of 2 points; while,
one as "I strongly disagree that this is me," with a value of 1 point means that the individual
cannot at all relate to the given situation.
In reverse scoring, it is the same as the scoring of the regular items/constructs, and the only
difference is that they are stated in reverse and are presented in negative statements.
To gain the self-efficacy level of the students, the average of all the weighted scores will be
determined. One hundred forty-seven (147) points will be the maximum scores, whileninety-three (93) points become the minimum.
The Mean of the participant's rating will be interpreted according to the followinginterpretation: 3-4 – High Self-Efficacy; 1-2 – Low Self-Efficacy.
The scoring will be done using SPSS and JAMOVI. This is a scientific platform that makes
computation easier using the latest development in statistical measurements.
INTERPRETATION
To identify the scores to be interpreted, means scores of the students are determined byadding the numerical value of their respective answers. The lower mean score iscommensurate with the lower level of self-efficacy of the students.

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MAIN CONSTRUCT
Self-Efficacy
High (121 to 147): A person with a high self-efficacy level is capable of overcoming schoolrelated tasks and challenges where they are able to address them with efficiency. They areable to think positively in spite of the difficulties encountered.
Low (93 to 120): A person with low self-efficacy level tends to be of lesser or no confidence
at all in overcoming the school-related challenges, having difficulty in addressing thesituation at hand. There is a reflection of weaker commitment to accomplish a task, difficultyin making decisions or failure to get back after setbacks. There is a lack of determination toaccomplish tasks and assignments.
SUBSCALE
Self-Efficacy through Time Management
High (121 to 147): A person with a high self-efficacy level can overcome school-related tasks
and challenges where they can address them with efficiency. They can think positively
despite the difficulties encountered.
Low (93 to 120): A person with a low self-efficacy level tends to be of lesser or no
confidence at all in overcoming the school-related challenges, having difficulty in addressing
the situation at hand. There is a reflection of weaker commitment to accomplish a task,difficulty making decisions, or failure to get back after setbacks. There is a lack ofdetermination to accomplish tasks and assignments.
Self-Efficacy through Efficiency
High (31.6 to 28): The person can accomplish many tasks in a given period. Despite
limitations and interruption, the person can be productive and finish his tasks on time andadequately.
Low (7 to 31.5): The person finishes little or no work at all.
Self-Efficacy through Drive
High (16 to 24): The individual has a more profound interest in the activities they participate
in. They can satisfy themselves by completing school tasks regardless of unexpected
situations that arise. The individual can finish their task on or before its due date while also
maintaining a good balance of work and life priorities.
Low (6 to 15): The person quickly loses the spirit in personal abilities to do well in theirschool-related tasks.
Self-Efficacy through Consistency
High (28 to 36): The person tends to form a more substantial commitment to their interestsand school-related activities.

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Low (9 to 27): The person tends to avoid dealing with challenging tasks; he/she tends topostpone tasks and homework, which results in procrastination. Have low levels ofcommitment to things/situations.
Self-Efficacy through Productivity
High (11 to 16): The person can produce great results with his/her school responsibilities
and be enthusiastic in situations where there are distractions, or even can work duringholidays, weekends or vacation.
Low (4 to 10): The person tends to fail in living up to the academic expectations; low on
accomplishment results. There is the consequent unwillingness of the individual to exert
effort.
Self-Efficacy through Optimism
High (7.6 to 12): The individual can recover quickly from academic setbacks anddisappointments. They can accept that some things are out of their control, but they can still
focus on the things that matter - the person views challenging situations or problems as
something/tasks to be mastered.
Low (3 to 7.5): The person tends to focus on personal failings and adverse outcomes.
Self-Efficacy through ConfidenceHigh (7.6 to 12): The individual has a great sense of self-belief that he/she can do an
outstanding performance in school, such as passing an examination.
Low (3 to 7.5): The individual doubts his / her capacity and skills to achieve his / her desired
academic/personal goals. He/she believes that complex tasks and situations are beyond his /her capability.
Self-Efficacy through Disposition
High (7.6 to 12): The person can have a positive frame of mind and adjust to changes inschool-related tasks and assignments, is organized, makes appropriate decisions to achieve
what is set to process, and is encouraged to do so.
Low (3 to 7.5): The person tends to be disorganized, disoriented, and tends to makeineffective decisions, especially when confronted with challenging and complex decisionmaking related to school tasks and assignments.
Self-Efficacy through PrudenceHigh (11 to 16): The individual forms practical reasoning that help him/her resist the impulse
to satisfy short-term pleasures at the expense of long-term goals.
Low (4 to 10): The person tends to be narrow-sighted, lacks concern for the consequences of
one’s action and decisions.

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Conclusion
To summarize, people with a high level of self-efficacy have long been seen to be capable ofcompleting even the most difficult tasks. As a result, the more difficult the activity, the more
self-assurance and self-control the individual has, and the more effective they are.
The researchers hope this test will be used in future studies, and that it will help empower
students' academic self-efficacy by assisting in determining how successfully one can carryout a strategy in a situation, as well as identifying an individual's ability to plan and carry out
steps necessary to deal with their situations. Furthermore, to assist others in becoming moreaware of the obstacles that students experience, allowing them to be understood andencouraged rather than being driven to make judgements in order to achieve their desired
goals and targets with the greatest, if not the best, performance.

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drelucio@gbox.adnu.edu.ph

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The Exploration of Primary School Teachers' Self-Expectation
Under the 5+2 Education Model——Take Nan'an City as An Example
You RuSong, Nanning Normal University, China
Sung FangChun, Nanning Normal University, China
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Abstract
China is implementing a series of" Further Reduce the Burden of Homework andAfter-School Tutoring on Students in Compulsory Education" ("Double Reduction") policy,
the aim of the double reduction policy is to ensure the quality of students' learning and torequire schools to improve after-school services to reduce the burden on families. This
research mainly uses the method of questionnaire surveys to explore the 5+2 education modelof primary school teachers (N=156) in Nan'an City, Quanzhou City, Eastern Fujian Province(5+2 education model, that is, after-school service is carried out 5 days a week, and the timeof after-school service is not less than 2 hours a day). The results show that the work and rest
adjustment of primary school teachers can affect their self-expectation under the 5+2
education model, which affects their coordination with policies. Through the survey results,
this paper puts forward targeted solutions in order to improve teachers' cooperation with thenew policy, guide teachers to focus on education and improve teaching quality.
Keywords: 5+2 Education Model, After-School Service, Primary School Teachers, Time
Anxiety, Self-Expectation

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Since September, with the implementation of the "Double Reduction" policy in China,
various places have been effectively reducing the burden of homework and off-campus
training for students in the compulsory education phase in a variety of ways, the 5+2
education model is one of the most typical measures. 5+2 education model, that is, the school
every week 5 days to carry out after-school services, after-school services not less than 2hours a day. After-school services may seem like new initiatives, but they have long been
popular in many countries. For example, in the Switzerland, after-school services provide
after-school counseling for school students, interest development for students, and cultural
adaptation services for immigrants (Christina Felfe, Michael Lechner, and Petra
Thiemann,2016). The UK provides policy support for after-school program (Klumpner S.K.,
and Woolley M.E.,2021), and the Dutch scholars also discuss the emphasis of after-school
services (Ruben Fukkink, and Marianne Boogaard.,2020). In China, especially in primaryschool, effective after-school service can reduce the educational pressure of parents and thestudy pressure of students. But at the same time, after-school service also brings someteachers time trouble (Mérida-López S., Extremera N., Rey L.,2017). The arrival of 5+2
education mode makes the work and rest of primary school teachers change, and the total
working hours generally increase.
Therefore, this article will discuss: under the 5+2 education model, primary school teachers
on their own current behavior and future development direction of the perception and
expectations, and when the working hours and self-expectations do not match the extent ofteachers' compliance with the policy (Christine M. Rubie-Davies, Elizabeth R. Peterson, andChris G. Sibley et al.,2015). Based on this, this study investigates the overall situation ofprimary school teachers' after-school services in Nan' an city, finds out the status quo ofteachers' work under the participation 5+2 education model, and explores the relationshipbetween the working hours of primary school teachers and their self-expectations, to provide
feasible suggestions for teachers to develop after-school service more actively (Ostad S.A.,
Ghanizadeh A., and Ghanizadeh M.,2019).
Current situation and investigation
The implementation of the 5+2 education model reflects the public opinion and is recognizedby parents and the society, while the after-school service of the school focuses on reducing
the burden and the effectiveness, and teachers become the main force (Milton A.C., Stewart
E., and Ospina-Pinillos L.,2021). How to better implement the after-school service, the key
lies in teachers (Dehghayedi M., and Bagheri M.S.,2019). In the autumn semester of 2021,
Nan' an city will fully launch the after-school service plan for primary and secondary school
students. Schools will provide after-school services five days a week, at least two hours a day.
Although the plan is mainly voluntary for teachers in principle, it is found in the actual
investigation that almost all teachers must participate in after-school service, which meansthat teachers need to invest more working hours than before after-school service. Based on
Rosenthal effect, the author proposes a hypothesis: the 5+2 educational model influenceteachers' self-expectation, to some extent, and then adversely affect their work (Hu B.Y., Li
Y., and Wang C. et al.,2021)? In view of this problem, the author takes Nan 'an city as an
example to carry out research.
Following the principle of random sampling, a total of 156 questionnaires are distributed toprimary school teachers in Nan' an city. The questionnaire is divided into two parts: the first

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part is a general survey, the main subjects of the length of teaching and working hours and soon; the second part is a psychological state survey, the main subjects of work expectations
and self-perception (Day C., Elliot B., Kington A.,2005). The questionnaire uses Excel fordata entry and SPSS26.0 for data processing. The analysis method mainly uses varianceanalysis and correlation analysis.
Analysis and discussion
First, by cross-analyzing the teachers' daily working hours and their willingness to improve
themselves (Matsepe D., Maluleke M., Cross M.,2019), we find that most teachers'
willingness to improve themselves is stronger when their working hours are shorter, whereas,
if the teachers' working hours are longer, teachers' willingness to improve themselves will be
weakened.
Table 1 is made by researchers shows the cross analysis of teachers' willingness to
self-promote:
X\YStrengthen

Weaken

None

Count

3-5 hours
5-8 hours

2(100%)
16(41.03%)0(0.00%)15(38.46%)0(0.00%)8(20.51%)2
39

8-10 hours

17(23.61%)

34(47.22%)

21(29.17%)

72

12(27.91%)
21(48.84%)
10(23.26%)
Table 1: Teachers' willingness to self-promote

43

Over 10 hours

But the study also finds that a small number of teachers work more than 8 hours and are more
willing to self-promote (Kordaki M.,2013). A cross-analysis of the working hours,
willingness to self-promote and willingness to participate in after-school services isconducted for this group, the results show that they are more inclined to not participate inafter-school services.
Table 2 is made by researchers shows the cross analysis of some teachers' subjective
willingness to participate in after-school services:X\Y
8-10hours/
StrengthenOver 10 hours /Strengthen

Will

Unwill

None

Count

2(11.76%)

11(64.71%)

4(23.53%)174(33.33%)6(50%)

2(16.67%)

12

Table 2: Some teachers' subjective willingness
Secondly, by cross-analyzing the working hours and working efficiency of teachers, we findthat the number of groups whose working hours are 8-10 hours is the largest, moreover, 62.5%of the teachers in this group thought that their work efficiency declines after the
implementation of 5+2 education model. Chi-square test is conducted on teachers' work
efficiency and expected teaching effect (p = 0.000<0.05). The results show that teachers'
work efficiency will greatly affect teachers' expected teaching effect, when teachers' work
efficiency rises, they feel good about their expected teaching effect. If their work efficiency

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decreases, they think their teaching effect is not as good as before the policy is implemented(Regi.er B. J.,2021).
Table 3 is made by researchers shows the cross analysis of teachers' expected teaching effect:
X\Y
Increased
Decreased
None

Not as good as
None
before the policy
5(35.71%)3(21.43%)6(42.86%)3(3.33%)68(75.56%)
19(21.11%)3(5.77%)15(28.85%)
34(65.38%)
Table 3: Teachers' expected teaching effectBetter

Count
14
90
52

Finally, we conduct a Chi-square test on teachers' expected teaching effect and their
willingness to participate in after-class service (p=0.000<0.05) (R.J.de Jong, J.van Tartwijk,
and N. Verloop et al.,2012). The results show that there are significant differences between
different teachers' teaching effect and their willingness to participate in after-class service,
therefore, we cross-analyze these two variables and find that when teachers' expectedteaching effect is decreased, teachers' subjective willingness to participate in after-school
service is also decreased, on the contrary, when teachers expect their own teaching effect tobe better, they are more inclined to participate in after-school service.
Table 4 shows the influence of teachers expected teaching effect on their participation inafter-school service:
X\YWill
UnwillNone
Count
Better6(54.55%)
4(36.36%)1(9.09%)11
Not as good as
5(5.81%)66(76.74%)
15(17.44%)86
before the policyNone
8(13.56%)
27(45.76%)
24(40.68%)
59
Table 4: Teachers' willingness to participation in after-school service
Through the analysis of variance between different psychological factors and the willingness
to participate in after-school service (Junker Robin, Donker Monika H., and Mainhard
Tim,2021). The results showed that there were significant differences in psychologicalfactors and subjective willingness of different teachers to participate in after-school service atthe significance level of α=0.05. Therefore, regression analysis of the data bases on Pearson
product-moment Correlation Coefficient data showed that, R2=0.144,teachers'Work
efficiency(p=0.008), Self-improvement(p=0.000), Expected teaching effect(p=0.000),
Perceived ease of learning(p=0.001) and teachers' subjective willingness to participate inafter-school service were significantly correlated, the higher the teachers' efficiency, thestronger their willingness to improve themselves, the better the expected teaching effect, andthe stronger the students' willingness to participate in after-school service (Vidal E.M.,
Galvão W.N.M., Vieira S.L., Chaves J.B.,2019).
Table 5 shows when dependent variable is "subjective willingness to participate inafter-school service", predictive variables (constant) are teaching effect, self-improvement,
work efficiency, ease degree, the anova of teachers' participation in after-school service:

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Item

SS

v

MS

F

P

SSR

8.112

4

2.028

6.372

.000b

SSE

48.061

151

0.318

Total
56.173
155
Table 5: Anova of teachers' participation in after-school service
Figure 1 shows the fitting degree of the distribution of different psychological factors andteachers' subjective willingness to participate in after-school service:

Figure 1: Teachers' subjective willingness to participate
Based on the above analysis, we find that under the current 5+2 education model, the increaseof teachers' working hours will affect the teachers' expectation of their own work efficiency,
teaching effect and self-improvement willingness, as well as to the student study easy degree
forecast, then affects to the individual participation after-school service subjective
willingness.

Conclusions and recommendations
Through the investigation and analysis, we can draw the following conclusion of theinvestigation of primary school teachers' self-expectation under the 5+2 education model:1.
Excessive working hours will reduce teachers' work efficiency, reduce the expected teaching

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effect, reduce the willingness to self-improvement; 2. Some teachers will enhance their
willingness to self-improvement because of the increase of working hours;3. The weakeningof teachers' self-expectation will reduce the degree of cooperation with the policy.
There are some suggestions on self-expectation of primary school teachers under the 5+2
education model:
1.The school optimizes the pattern and the reasonable arrangement time. Under the
background of the double reduction policy, the 5+2 education model can reduce students'
burden, parents' burden, and teachers' burden. In the after-school service work, because theworking time is prolonged, the teacher easy to produce the negative mood, thus affects theteaching quality. Therefore, in schools where this model is implemented, the total working
hours of teachers can be reduced through a shift system, and when teachers are involved inafter-school services, other jobs such as administrative chores and extra-curricular training
can be reduced, with different teachers alternating among themselves, individual teachersenhance their own work efficiency, in order to achieve the overall balanced development ofteachers. Schools lacking teachers should provide appropriate human resources, hire auxiliary
staff, retired teachers, or introduce excellent teachers, share the teachers' time pressure, andarrange the time of after-school service reasonably. We can also explore a 'Home-school
co-operation' style to encourage good parents with free time to participate in after-school
services on a voluntary, to further enhance the harmony between school education and childdiscipline.
2.Set expectations and keep a positive attitude. The most important part of the 5+2 education
model is teachers themselves. Teachers should first correct their own mentality, establish theimportant concept of caring for students and lifelong learning, and devote themselves toafter-school service with a positive attitude. In teaching activities, teachers should learn toknow themselves correctly, accept themselves psychologically, be kind to themselves
physically, set appropriate goals based on their own expectations, seek professional identity
in their daily work, and strive to improve their own quality and professional accomplishment.
Psychology research shows that, the higher the knowledge level of teachers, the more canstand on higher levels to see society with insight into life, they will also grasp the law ofdevelopment of things, the more accurate, and therefore less prone to psychological barriers,
even if meet the poor psychological state, they will also take corresponding measures in time,
consciously adjust. Therefore, when teachers' working hours exceed the limit they can bear,
they should learn to take a timely rest, adjust their mentality, and constantly tap theirpotential, to deal with pressure better and reduce bad emotions.
3.Deepening educational reform and earnestly safeguard teachers' s rights and interests. The
5+2 education model is related to the livelihood and well-being of each family, and local
policies should better ensure the implementation of after-school services. From the material
point of view, the local government can give teachers preferential treatment in terms of salaryor other welfare for their labor services, to promote teachers' cooperation with the policy.
From the spiritual aspect, we can combine after-school service modes of different schools to
select excellent teachers and examples, give full play to the exemplary role of excellent
teachers, and promote the development of education with better after-school service modes
and spiritual radiation. In addition, the local authorities still can make a special training forclass service, sourcing, planning better service after class curriculum, school-based courses
can be combined with local characteristics, specific training of teachers. It can also use theexisting professional teachers to carry out the service after class, arrange a variety of courses

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for students, to safeguard the rights and interests of teachers and students, improve teachers'
participation in after-school service policies.

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References
Christina Felfe, Michael Lechner, and Petra Thiemann. (2016). After-school care and parents'
labor supply. Labour Economics, vol 42, pp64-75.
Christine M. Rubie-Davies, Elizabeth R. Peterson, and Chris G. Sibley et al. (2015). A
teacher expectation intervention: Modelling the practices of high expectation teachers.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, vol 40, pp72-85.
Day C., Elliot B., Kington A. (2005). Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges ofsustaining commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education, vol 21, no5, pp563-577.
Dehghayedi M., and Bagheri M.S. (2019). An exploratory interplay of efl teachers' reflection
and their teaching and learning beliefs. International Journal of Language Education,
vol 03, no2, pp78-90.
Hu B.Y., Li Y., and Wang C. et al. (2021). Preschool teachers' self-efficacy, classroom
process quality, and children's social skills: A multilevel mediation analysis. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, vol 55, pp242-251.
Junker Robin, Donker Monika H., and Mainhard Tim. (2021). Potential classroom stressorsof teachers: An audiovisual and physiological approach. Learning and Instruction, vol75.
Klumpner S.K., and Woolley M.E. (2021). Expanding after School Program Access for
Vulnerable Students: Examining the Efficacy of Federal Policy and Funding.
Education and Urban Society, vol 53, no9, pp987-1000.
Kordaki M. (2013). High school computing teachers' beliefs and practices: A case study.
Computers and Education, vol 63, pp141-152.
Milton A.C., Stewart E., and Ospina-Pinillos L. (2021). Participatory design of anactivities-based collective mentoring program in after-school care settings: Connect,
promote, and protect program. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, vol 04, no2.
Matsepe D., Maluleke M., Cross M. (2019). Understanding teacher identity within
subjectivity and agency: Implications for an African pedagogical advancement.
African Renaissance, vol 16, pp121-132.
Mérida-López S., Extremera N., Rey L. (2017). Emotion-regulation ability, role stress andteachers' mental health. Occupational Medicine, vol 67, no7, pp540-545.
Ostad S.A., Ghanizadeh A., and Ghanizadeh M. (2019). The dynamism of EFL teachers'
professional identity with respect to their teaching commitment and job satisfaction.
Cogent Education, vol 06, no1.
Regi.er B. J. (2021). Preservice music teachers' self-efficacy and concerns before and during
student teaching. International Journal of Music Education, vol 39, no3, pp340-352.

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R.J.de Jong, J.van Tartwijk, and N. Verloop et al. (2012). Teachers' expectations of teacher–
student interaction: Complementary and distinctive expectancy patterns. Teaching
and Teacher Education, vol 07, pp948-956.
Ruben Fukkink, and Marianne Boogaard. (2020). Pedagogical quality of after-school care:
Relaxation and/or enrichment? Children and Youth Services Review, vol 112.
Vidal E.M., Galvão W.N.M., Vieira S.L., Chaves J.B. (2019). Teacher expectations andlearning: Exploring data from prova Brasil 2015 questionnaire. Educacao e Pesquisa,
vol 45.
Contact email: 854660904@qq.com
2188671276@qq.com

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Official Conference ProceedingsInterest and Awareness of Japanese University Students
Regarding Computer Programming
Harumi Kashiwagi, Kobe University, JapanMin Kang, Kobe University, Japan
Kazuhiro Ohtsuki, Kobe University, Japan
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Although developing computer programming skills is essential, students’ levels of readinessto learn programming are different. This study thus investigates the interest and awarenessthat Japanese university students possess regarding computer programming. A questionnaire
study using a five-point Likert scale was conducted for 90 students from three classes: one inscience and two in humanities. The findings suggest three main points. (1) Regarding therequirement of programming skills in students’ future careers, the average scores for all threeclasses were four or higher, and no statistical differences were found among the three classes.
These findings suggest that both humanities and science students believe that programmingskills are extremely valuable for their future careers. (2) Regarding interest in computer
programming, the average scores for the three classes ranged from 2.9 to 3.4, and nostatistical differences were found among the three classes. Further, statistical differences wereobserved among the three classes for students’ responses to programming interest and to therequirement for programming skills in their future careers. These results suggest that all
students were fully aware of the importance of programming skills; however, their interest in
programming was low in all classes. (3) To raise students’ interest in programming, it isimportant to design syllabi or prepare teaching materials that closely correlate to students’future careers and that foster their logical thinking. Additionally, the curriculum flow should
be designed so that students learn information literacy before they learn computer
programming.
Keywords: Programming Education, Programming Skills for Future Career Plans, Student
Interest in Computer Programming, Information Technology Literacy

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Developing computer programming skills is demanded globally. In response to this demand,
Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT, 2018) is
promoting computer programming education nationwide.
Despite these efforts, learners are known to have different experiences in programming, andtheir interests and awareness of programming learning are known to differ depending on theindividual learners. To promote programming education, relevant stakeholders should firstunderstand the current situation of individual learners’ interest, awareness, necessity, andexperience, then plan and implement programming education based on that understanding.
This study investigates the interest and awareness that Japanese university students possess
regarding computer programming to ultimately explore their current situation and identify
countermeasures to the problems that emerged in the investigation. The researchers
conducted a questionnaire study with 90 Japanese university students to answer the following
research questions:1.
Do students perceive that they need computer programming skills for their future
careers? Are there any differences in how needs are perceived according to faculty?
2.
Are students interested in computer programming? Are there any differences
according to faculty?
3.
Is students’ interest in computer programming related to their logical thinking
attitudes, software experiences, or perceived requirement of programming skills for their
future careers? Are there any differences according to faculty?
In the following sections, this paper first examines related studies, then provides the methods
used for the present study, delivers the results, and discusses the findings. Finally, theresearchers present their conclusions and recommendations for further studies.
Literature Review
Following the global demand for programming education, MEXT decided to strongly
promote computer programming education, which has commenced in Japan’s elementary
schools in 2020 (MEXT, 2020). Further, the subject of “Information” will be introduced into
the Common Test for University Admissions in 2025 (The National Center for University
Entrance Examinations, 2021).
As a part of the promotion policy of programming education (MEXT, 2018), computer
programming education is currently being promoted from the elementary school level(MEXT, 2019) to the university level. Various efforts have been demonstrated regarding how
programming education is considered a type of general information education at theuniversity level. For example, Ishiguro, Sasaki, and Sassa (2017) discussed how“Introduction to programming” was a liberal arts subject in common education. Anotherstudy investigated first-grade students’ experiences in their college computer literacy classes
regarding the subject of Assembly Language Programming (Kuno et al., 2018).
However, according to the survey by Fuse and Okabe (2016), less than 20% of their students
received programming education by the time they entered university. Fewer programmingclasses than expected are currently observed in high schools (Fuse, 2018). Students exhibit
different levels of experiences and interests in, and awareness of, programming; so designing

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programming classes that are catered for beginners is required—even in the general educationlevel at universities (Fuse, 2018).
Considering university students’ current situation, the curriculum, arguably, should accountfor students’ backgrounds and awareness of computer programming. Our previous study(Kashiwagi, Kang, & Ohtsuki, 2021) thus explored the relationships between Japanese
university students’ interest in computer programming, their logical thinking, and their IT
literacy. Our previous study also suggested that students’ fields of study and future careerplans must be considered when designing and implementing computer education. Therefore,
we further attempted to investigate the relationships that existed between students’ interest incomputer programming and their future career plans.
Methods
ParticipantsThis study’s participants comprised 90 first-year students from three classes at a university inJapan—35 students from the Faculty of Engineering, 26 from the Faculty of Global Human
Sciences, and 29 from the Faculty of Letters (see Table 1). These classes are the classes
assigned when taking liberal arts and science subjects.
Class
A
B
C

Grade
Faculty
Number of Students
First year
Engineering
35
First year
Global Human Sciences
26
First year
Letters29
Table 1: Number and Faculty of Participants

Data Collection and Analysis
A questionnaire was distributed to the participants to gather their subjective responses toitems relating to their requirement of programming skills for future careers, their interest incomputer programming, their logical thinking, and their experiences of software use (seeTable 2 for the questionnaire items). The participants’ responses were scored on a five-point
Likert scale, in which 1 point correlated to “Strongly Disagree,” 2 points to “Moderately
Disagree,” 3 points to “Neutral,” 4 points to “Moderately Agree,” and 5 points to “Strongly
Agree.”
Items Relating to Students’ Requirement of Programming Skills for Future
Careers, Interest in Computer Programming, Logical Thinking, and IT Literacy
Q1. I need programming skills for my future career.
Q2. I am interested in computer programming.
Q3. I am good at thinking about things in order.
Q4. I am good at thinking about things logically.
Q5. I often use software applications (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
Table 2: Questionnaire Items

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In this study’s analysis, a Kruskal-Wallis test was used to investigate any statisticaldifferences found among the difficulty ratings of the three classes. Further, a Wilcoxon
signed-rank test and correlational analysis were also used to investigate how the items related
to one another and whether any statistical differences were found between the difficulty
ratings of the questionnaire items.
Results and Discussion
This study analyzed the questionnaire results to answer the research questions regarding
students’ requirements of programming skills for their future careers, their interest incomputer programming, and the relationship between their interest in programming and otheritems. This section describes the overall questionnaire results and any data trends observed.
The questionnaire response results are listed in Figures 1–5, as well as the percentages ofparticipants who selected answers for each respective item. Figure 1 correlates to item Q1,
which concerns students’ requirement of programming skills for their future careers; Figure 2
correlates to item Q2, which concerns students’ interest in computer programming; Figures 3
and 4 correlate to items Q3 and Q4 respectively, which concern students’ logical thinking;and Figure 5 correlates to item Q5, which concerns students’ computer software experiences.
First, this study examined how the participants indicated their agreement with Q1 (i.e., theirrequirement of programming skills for their future careers). According to the results for item
Q1 (see Figure 1), 88.5% of the participants in class A (Engineering) indicated theiragreement—that is, they replied positively to “I need programming skills for my future
career.” In class B (Global Human Sciences), 88.45% of participants indicated theiragreement with Q1. In both classes, almost 90% overall indicated a positive agreement with
Q1. Additionally, 76% of participants in class C (Letters) indicated their agreement with Q1.
Regarding students’ requirement of programming skills for their future careers, 80% to 90%of the participants in all classes indicated positive responses.

Figure 1: Percentage of participants’ responses to item Q1.
Second, this study analyzed how the participants indicated their agreement with item Q2 (i.e.,their interest in computer programming). According to the Q2 results (see Figure 2), 52% of
the participants in class A (Engineering) indicated their agreement with item Q2—that is,they responded positively to “I am interested in computer programming.” Similarly, class C(Letters) demonstrated that 48% of the participants indicated their agreement with item Q2.
Additionally, 34.6% of participants in class B (Global Human Sciences) indicated theiragreement. Regarding students’ interest in computer programming, it was observed thatslightly more participants in the Engineering and Letters classes than those in Global Human
Sciences responded positively to the item. It can also be noted that fewer positive responses
were given to Q2 when compared to Q1.

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Figure 2: Percentage of participants’ responses to item Q2.
Third, this study investigated how the participants indicated their agreement with items Q3
and Q4 (i.e., their logical thinking attitudes). According to the Q3 results (see Figure 3), 40%of the participants in class A (Engineering) indicated their agreement—they responded
positively to “I am good at thinking about things in order.” Similarly, class C (Letters)
demonstrated that 41% of participants indicated their agreement with item Q3. Notably,
fewer participants (23%) in class B (Global Human Sciences) indicated that they agreed withitem Q3.

Figure 3: Percentage of participants’ responses to item Q3.
According to the Q4 results (see Figure 4), 66% of the participants in class A (Engineering)indicated their agreement—that is, they responded positively to “I am good at thinking about
things logically.” Slighter fewer participants (48.4%) in class C (Letters) agreed with Q4, andeven fewer participants (35%) in class B (Global Human Sciences) indicated their agreementwith Q4. Notably, no participants selected the option of “Strongly Agree” for this item.
Regarding student logical thinking attitudes, it can be noted that overall fewer participants inclass B (Global Human Sciences) indicated positive responses for items Q3 and Q4.

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Figure 4: Percentage of participants’ responses to item Q4.
Finally, this study analyzed how the student participants indicated their agreement with Q5(i.e., their computer software experiences). According to the Q5 results (see Figure 5), 48%
of participants in class C (Letters) agreed with the item—they responded positively to “Ioften use software applications, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.” Notably,
fewer participants (20%) in class A (Engineering) indicated their agreement, while evenfewer participants (27%) in class B (Global Human Sciences) agreed with item Q5.
Regarding computer software experiences, the results suggest that participants’ responses did
not depend on whether they were in the science or humanities classes.

Figure 5: Percentage of participants’ responses to item Q5.
Research question 1: Do students perceive that they need computer programming skills fortheir future careers? Are there any differences in how needs are perceived according tofaculty?
To address the first research question, this section analyzes how the participants
demonstrated their agreement with Q1 (i.e., their requirement of programming skills for their
future careers). The Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted on the Q1 data to determine whether
the three classes differed from one another in a statistically significant manner at the 0.05
level.
The average scores of their responses were calculated using a five-point Likert scale for each
respective class to investigate overall student perceptions. The average scores were 4.3 forclass A (Engineering), 4.2 for class B (Global Human Sciences), and 4.1 for class C (Letters).
Regarding the percentages of participants who agreed with Q1, 88.5% of class A(Engineering), 88.45% of class B (Global Human Sciences), and 76% of class C (Letters)
indicated that they agreed. Given these high percentages, it can be surmised that many

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students across all classes perceived that they require computer programming skills for their
future careers.
The Kruskal-Wallis test was then used on the Q1 data to analyze whether the participant
responses from the three classes were statistically different. However, the results revealed nosignificant differences among the three classes (p = 0.8752).
These results ultimately suggest that the student participants from all classes strongly
perceived that they needed computer programming skills for their future careers.
Research question 2: Are students interested in computer programming? Are there any
differences according to faculty?
To address the second research question, this section analyzes how the participants
demonstrated their agreement with item Q2 (i.e., their interest in computer programming).
The average scores for the three classes were 3.4 for class A (Engineering), 2.9 for class B(Global Human Sciences), and 3.0 for class C (Letters). From the percentage results
indicating agreement with item Q2, it was observed that approximately 50% of students fromthe Engineering and Letters classes agreed with the item, while only 34.6% from the Global
Human Sciences class agreed.
Using the Kruskal-Wallis test on the Q2 data, the researchers then analyzed whether theparticipant responses from the three classes were statistically different. However, the results
revealed no significant differences among the three classes (p = 0.2986). Given this final
result, the students exhibit a low interest in computer programming—which is notable,considering they strongly perceived that they needed computer programming skills in their
future careers.
Further, a Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted on the Q1 and Q2 data at the 0.05 levelto analyze whether any statistical differences were present in the responses regarding
students’ interest in computer programming and those regarding the perceived requirement ofprogramming skills for each respective class. The results revealed significant differences
between the Q1 and Q2 data for all three classes (Engineering, p = 0.0007; Global Human
Sciences, p = 0.0007; Letters, p = 0.0004).
These results reveal that students are fully aware of the importance of programming skills,
regardless of whether they study science or humanities. However, it should be noted that theirinterest in computer programming was low for all three classes. Given this finding, it isnecessary to consider a curriculum for computer programming that effectively interests
students.
Research question 3: Is students’ interest in computer programming related to their logicalthinking attitudes, software experiences, or perceived requirement of programming skills
for their future careers? Are there any differences according to faculty?
From the results obtained for the second research question, this study needed to investigate
what facilitates programming learning. To explore the elements that raise students’ interest,
this study investigated how students’ interest in computer programming was related to theirlogical thinking attitudes, computer software experiences, or their perceived requirement ofprogramming skills for their future careers.

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To analyze the data related to the third research question, this study calculated Spearman’srank-order correlation coefficients between items Q2 and Q1, Q2 and Q3, Q2 and Q4, and Q2and Q5 from the questionnaire (see Table 3).

Table 3: Correlations Among Questionnaire Items.
The results of the correlation coefficients between Q1 and Q2 in the three classes as outlinedin Table 3 demonstrated that a significantly weak positive relationship exists between
students’ interest in computer programming and their perceived requirement of programmingskills for their future careers only in class A (rQ1Q2 = 0.39). However, the correlation
coefficients between Q1 and Q2 were not statistically significant for both class B(rQ1Q2 = 0.14) and class C (rQ1Q2 = 0.35).
Regarding the perceived requirement of programming skills for future careers, a weakrelationship was observed between students’ interest in computer programming and theirperceived requirement for programming skills only in class A (Engineering). This might be
partly because of the students’ major fields. The results and analysis ultimately suggest thatthe students’ perceived requirement of programming skills for their future careers mightslightly influence their interest in computer programming.
Further, this study also calculated the correlation coefficients between items Q2 and Q3, andQ2 and Q4 to examine how students’ interest in computer programming related to theirlogical thinking attitudes.
The results of the correlation coefficients between Q2 and Q3 in the three classes as
illustrated in Table 3 (class A, rQ2Q3 = –0.13; class B, rQ2Q3 = –0.06; class C, rQ2Q3 = 0.21)
demonstrate that no significant relationship exists between students’ interest in computer

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programming and their logical thinking attitudes. Further, the results of the correlation
coefficients between Q2 and Q4 reveal that a significantly weak positive relationship exists
between students’ interest in computer programming and their logical thinking attitudes only
in class C (rQ2Q4 = 0.42). However, the correlation coefficients between Q2 and Q4 were notstatistically significant for both class A (rQ2Q4 = –0.03) and class B (rQ2Q4 = 0.15).
These findings pertaining to students’ logical thinking attitudes reveal that only in the Lettersclass was a weak relationship found between students’ interest in computer programming andtheir logical thinking attitudes. This suggests that students’ logical thinking attitudes might
only slightly influence their interest in computer programming.
Finally, this study also calculated the correlation coefficients between Q2 and Q5 toinvestigate how students’ interest in computer programming related to their computer
software experiences.
The correlation coefficient results between Q2 and Q5 revealed a significantly weak positive
relationship between students’ interest in computer programming and their computer softwareexperiences only in class B (rQ2Q5 = 0.42). However, the correlation coefficients between Q2and Q5 were not statistically significant for both class A (rQ2Q5 = 0.02) and class C(rQ2Q5 = 0.15). Overall, regarding computer software experiences, a weak relationshipbetween students’ interest in computer programming and their computer software experiences
was observed only in the Global Human Sciences class.
These results also suggest that students’ computer software experiences might slightly
influence their interest in computer programming.
Findings
Although this study can be further improved, its results reveal critical findings regarding theinterest and awareness that Japanese university students possess regarding computer
programming. This study’s questionnaire results revealed that students were fully aware of
how vital programming skills were for their future careers, regardless of whether they studied
science or humanities. However, their interest level for programming was low in all classes.
Considering a computer programming curriculum that deliberately interests students is thus
necessary. This study’s results suggest that students’ interest in programming should be
increased by designing syllabi and preparing teaching materials that directly relate tostudents’ future careers and that foster their logical thinking attitudes—with the ultimate
intention of promoting their readiness for, and awareness of, computer programming.
Additionally, designing a curriculum flow in which students learn general information
literacy before they learn computer programming will most likely reduce their psychologicalresistance to programming and instead encourage them to become more interested.
Limitations and Recommendations
The present study was a preliminary investigation into the interest and awareness thatJapanese university students possess regarding computer programming. Considering theresults obtained, more detailed relationships between students’ fields of study and future
career plans must be considered. Additionally, a survey must be taken after conducting actual
programming classes. Finally, further studies should gather and analyze objective data toevaluate students’ computer programming abilities, along with their subjective responses.

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Conclusions
To develop students’ computer programming skills, this study investigated the interest andawareness that Japanese university students possess regarding computer programming. A
questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale was conducted for 90 students, with the results
suggesting three main findings. (1) Regarding the perceived requirement of programmingskills for students’ future careers, the average scores that participants gave from all threeclasses were four or five out of five, with no statistical differences found among the threeclasses. It was suggested that students from both the humanities and science classes believedthat programming skills were extremely valuable for their future careers. (2) Regarding
student interest in computer programming, the average scores given for the three classes
ranged from 2.9 to 3.4, with no statistical differences found among the three classes.
However, statistical differences were found between the participants’ responses for each classregarding their interest in programming and their perceived requirement of programmingskills for their future careers. Overall, these results suggest that both humanities and science
students were fully aware of how critical programming skills were for their future careers,
even though their interest levels in programming were low in all classes. (3) This study also
determined that to raise students’ interest in programming, syllabi should be designed andteaching materials should be prepared that deliberately foster their logical thinking and relate
to their future careers. Finally, this study recommends that designing a curriculum flow inwhich students learn general information literacy before they learn computer programming
will encourage all students to become more familiar with programming.
As a continuation of this study, the researchers recommend that future research morethoroughly examine the relationships between students’ interest in computer programmingand their perceived requirement of programming skills for their future career plans, with a
specific emphasis on students’ fields of study.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. JP19K03030).

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National Center for University Entrance Examinations. (2021). Daigaku nyushi center yoran[2025 exam subjects for the common test for university admissions]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.dnc.ac.jp albums/ abm.php?f= abm00040331.
pdf&n=02_%E5%B9%B3%E6%88%9030%E5%B9%B4%E5%91%8A%E7%A4%B
A%E9%AB%98%E7%AD%89%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1%E5%AD%A6%E7%
BF%92%E6%8C%87%E5%B0%8E%E8%A6%81%E9%A0%98%E3%81%AB%E5%AF%BE%E5%BF%9C%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E4%BB%A4%E5%92%8C%
EF%BC%97%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%A6%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E5%85%
A5%E5%AD%A6%E5%85%B1%E9%80%9A%E3%83%86%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89%E3%81%AE%E5%87%BA%E9%A1%8C%E6%9
5%99%E7%A7%91%E3%83%BB%E7%A7%91%E7%9B%AE%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6.pdf
Contact email: kasiwagi@kobe-u.ac.jp

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A Study of Electroencephalography (EEG) and Lego Wedo 2.0 on the Attention ofFirst Grade Special Needs Students
Fu-Yuan Chiu, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Szu-Min Chiu, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to assess the Attention of first-grade special needs students byusing EEG and Lego Wedo 2.0. The research subjects are 3 special needs students of thefirst-grade resource class in an elementary school. There were ASD student, learning
disability student, and ADHD student. The researcher used the EEG system to uniformly
collect the data of Attention when these 3 students were classified LEGO Wedo 2.0. The
research results are shown as the followings: 1. These 3 students classified LEGO Wedo 2.0
have Attention eSense index of 67, it is slightly higher than the normal level. According totheir high score group of Attention, they have no significant difference. 2. These 3 students
classified LEGO Wedo 2.0 have Mediation eSense index of 67, it is slightly higher than thenormal level. According to their high score group of Mediation, ADHD student with a highlevel of Mediation ability accounted for up to 2 to 3 times that of students with ASD andlearning disabilities. 3. Students of different obstacle types have different Flow experience(high Attention and Mediation ). ASD student have most times of Flow experience during theIntervention Period, student with learning disabilities hava most times of Flow experienceduring the Maintenance Period, ADHD student hava most times of Flow experience during
the Baseline Period.
Keywords: Electroencephalogram (EEG), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Learning
Disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

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Introduction
In recent years, with the increasing maturity of human medical technology and signal
analysis technology, a large amount of research has been devoted to the operation of the brain
and mind, and brainwave technology has been widely used in medicine in other fields, among
which, the application of electroencephalogram (EEG) is an example. If teachers can moreaccurately and objectively understand students' learning motivations and analyze theirlearning behaviors through the assistance of technology, they can timely provide teaching
methods or teaching content that can promote learning efficiency, and improve students'
Attention and learning effectiveness. As many as 98.61% (43,038) of students with special
needs in Taiwan's primary education scene are educated in general schools. Among them,learning disabilities were the most at 38.19%, followed by intellectual disabilities at 20.19%,
autism at 17.23%, and emotional behavioral disorders at the fourth. Therefore, in theclassrooms of ordinary classes in primary schools, most students with physical and mental
disabilities have learning difficulties, which often lead to the inability to concentrate, inability
to concentrate, and low learning achievement, because the difficulties in literacy and reading
ability affect the low learning motivation and lack of self-confidence ; According to theinformation processing model proposed by Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968), grabbing the
Attention of students is the first level of all knowledge learning. Only when the Attention is
focused can the follow-up information registration and coding organization and learning be
carried out. Most students with special needs have poor performance in Attention, which is
the key to learning effectiveness, and teachers need to understand students' learning status. In
addition, the technology of EEG signal collection, measurement, and analysis has become
more and more advanced. Mature. Therefore, this study also used EEG to collect the
Attention and Mediation data of the three subjects with special needs when operating Wedo
2.0 Lego bricks for classified activities and further comprehensively analyzed the Flowexperience with the brainwave data of students' Attention and Mediation. The results of thestudy are expected to serve as a reference for future curriculum design and editing teachingmaterials.
Exploring Attention with EEG
In 1929, the German psychiatrist Hans Berger detected the same electrical activity as animals
on the human skull, which became the first published brain wave record in human history andwas named electroencephalogram (EEG). Different frequencies can be divided into four
categories: alpha (α), beta (β), theta (θ), and delta (δ). Different brainwave frequencies
represent human beings with or without consciousness and various mental states. In recent
years, many studies have found that the level of Attention is highly correlated with changes
in the characteristics of brain wave patterns. Brain waves are like a trigger. The increase inbrain wave data helps to maintain Attention (Asada et al, 1999). The better the Attention, thebetter the performance. (Good, & Brophy, 1995). Bransford (1979) mentioned that there is avery close correlation between Attention and learning effectiveness, Frederick (1977) foundthat high-achieving students spent 75% of the time in class focusing on learning, while lowachieving students only 51%. Attention also has a strong impact on students' learningjourney, as one of the key pieces of Attention in students' poor learning outcomes is a lack ofAttention. (Clark et al., 2006; Rush et al., 2010). Students with special needs, such as ASD,
Learning disabilities, and ADHD, suffer from inattention due to developmental disabilities,
affecting their overall learning outcomes.

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NeuroSky MindWave Mobile was used for EEG in this study. In a previous study,
Rebolledo-Mendez et al., (2009) found a positive correlation between Attention values
measured by NeuroSky MindWave Mobile and self-reported reflective Attention. Chen &Huang's (2014) study found that NeuroSky MindWave Mobile was used to measure students'
online reading Attention. Bos et al. (2019) also collected brainwave data through NeuroSky
MindWave to understand the changes in students' Attention when using Augmented Reality(AR) in teaching activities. The results of the above studies show that NeuroSky MindWave
Mobile is effective and reliable in identifying students' Attention in learning activities.
State of Flow
Csikszentmihalyi (1975) proposed the concept of "Flow" based on Maslow's peakexperience. This refers to the "best experience" that people experience when they are in full
Attention, called "Flow" or "Flow experience". Entering a state of high Attention in a relaxedand stress-free situation like this is the perfect time for learning, helping learners to enhanceand maintain student motivation and improve learning outcomes (Schweinle et al., 2008;
Tavares & Freire , 2016). At present, most of the studies on Flow experience have some
limitations, because most of the Flow experience is to use self-report, reflection, reflection,and other feedback questionnaires to evaluate the Flow experience of the subjects after theactivity. However, the Flow may appear suddenly without the subject's awareness, so suchmeasurement may hide and limit key information in the Flow experience (Pearce et al.,2005). Wang & Hsu's (2014) brainwave experimental research data analysis results show that
Flow experience is positively correlated with learners' Attention. The NeuroSky MindWave
used in this study can capture up to 512 original brainwave signals per second, throughfurther digital signal processing such as acquisition, amplification, conversion, filtering, andanalysis of the original brain wave signal by Nielsen software, the alpha and beta wave canbe presented through the eSenseTM algorithm to display the subject's Attention andMediation status in numbers from 1 to 100. Therefore, in this study, a state of "Flow" wasdefined if the EEG showed a state of simultaneous high Attention and high Mediation.
MethodThis study conducted an experiment with multiple baseline across-subjects and multipleprobe designs of a single-subject research approach. The selection part of the subjects is
purposeful sampling, three special needs students in the first grade of a primary school in
Taoyuan City, Taiwan, and all held a hospital-issued diagnosis certificate. The categories ofdisorders are ASD, Learning disabilities, and ADHD. Participating subjects wore an EEG andoperated WeDo 2.0 Lego blocks at the same time. The researchers will use the brain wave
system to collect the data on the Attention and meditation of the three students when they
operate the WeDo 2.0 Lego bricks for the classification activities. The classification activities
will be designed from easy to difficult three missions:
Mission 1: Students classify the corresponding LEGO bricks by referring to the tips of thepicture cards and stickers.
Mission 2: Remove the picture card prompts, students only refer to the sticker prompts tocarry out the corresponding LEGO blocks Classification.
Mission 3: Ask students to classify according to their personal reasoning ability and working
memory ability.
The observation can be divided into three phases Baseline Period, Intervention Period, andMaintenance Period. In the Baseline Period of the 1st week to 3rd week, the researchers did

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not intervene at all and allowed the subjects to complete missions 1 to 3 by themselves. Then,
during the Intervention Period in the 4th week to 6th week, the researchers guided andaccompanied the subjects to complete missions 1 to 3 during the Intervention Period. Finally,in the Maintenance Period in the 7th week to 9th week, the researchers did not intervene at all
and let the subjects complete missions 1 to 3 by themselves. The time limit for eachclassification Mission is 10 minutes, and the correct rate of classification within the limited
time is calculated.
In the follow-up, the collected data will be analyzed in the form of graphs to present thestudents' Attention and Meditation state when operating the WeDo 2.0 Lego blocks,
supplemented by qualitative semi-structured interview records to conduct the "Flow"analysis.
Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, this study draws the following conclusions.
1. The building block classification correct rate (show in Figure 1)
Subject A's disorder category is ASD, in addition to naming each building block, andindependently developed a set of classification rules. During the classification process,subject A laughed from time to time, deliberately imitated baby crying, rocked the chair tomake noise, rubbed the floor with his feet to make noise, suddenly sang, yawned, scratchedand other inattentive behaviors. During the Intervention Period of the researcher, the processof questioning and answering between subject A and the researcher helps to complete thebehavior of thinking and its corresponding classification through verbal Mediation, thereby
improving the correct rate of building blocks. The overall building block classification
accuracy rate was improved by 33.93%.
Subject B's disorder category is Learning disabilities, with no obvious emotional ups anddowns, a dull expression, and a slow and rigid way of grasping individual blocks with one
hand and placing them one by one during the classification process. During the classification
process, subject B often looked out of the window, looked at the table, looked at the floor,
touched the table legs, touched the sofa chair, yawned, scratched his head, opened his mouth,
closed his mouth, and played with his lips. During the Intervention Period of the researcher,subject B reduced various distracting behaviors. Through the classification suggestions
provided by the researcher, subject B could have a specific target basis for classification,
which improved the correct rate of building blocks. The overall building block classification
accuracy rate was improved by 76.43%.
Subject C's disorder is classified as ADHD. Before the experiment starts, he often cannot
restrain his urge to want to play Lego and urge to start the classification quickly. Subject C's
screaming or excited behavior during the classification process showed that he was very
interested in Lego bricks, During the Intervention Period of the researcher, subject C's
classification suggestion for the researcher did not conform to the rules in his mind, and hejust wanted to follow his own classification method, but in the end he could combine theclassification rules developed by himself with the researcher's suggestions. Therefore, subject
C once achieved 100% classification accuracy in the process. The overall building blockclassification accuracy rate was improved by 88.21%.

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Figure 1: The building block classification correct rate
2. EEG data analysis
Since the data for Attention and Mediation are from 1 to 100, the top 30% (greater than 67)
scores are used as high-performance scores in this study. And record the number of highperformance scores obtained in the Baseline Period, Intervention Period, and Maintenance
Period, respectively as well as the number of times that both Attention and Mediation
obtained high-performance scores at the same time, it means that the subject is both focused
and relaxed. When the brain is in a state of extreme Attention, efficiency and creativity canbe improved, but at the same time, the body and mind are stable and relaxed. This is the"Flow", or "Flow experience" proposed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1975). The statisticalresults are shown in Table 1.
Subject A's disorder category is ASD because children with ASD often have limited, fixedcharacteristics, and repeat strange movements or sounds, the presence of these characteristics
can distract Attention and prevent them from using their self-developed classification rules.
Therefore, during the Intervention Period, the researchers reminded subject A of the specifictarget when he was distracted, so that he could continue to maintain a clear target, and gave
ambiguous feedback when the correct classification was completed. Subject A can instantly
understand the correct classification of building blocks, and even though researchersintervene, he still controls his learning. Subject A perceives that the accuracy rate of hisclassification has improved, and he can feel the control of classification activities and exude a
sense of achievement. Subject A had the most frequent Flow state during the Intervention
Period and was also the best building block classification score, which can verify that the
Flow state can get good learning performance.
Subject B's disability category is learning disability because children with learning
disabilities have abnormalities in basic abilities such as concentration, memory, perception,
movement, and reasoning. Therefore, subject B was unable to independently establish rules
for building block classification during the Baseline Period. However, during the Intervention
Period, with the classification recommendations of the researchers, clear and specific

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guidelines were provided to help Subject B strengthen the order in memory and avoid themore difficulty to follow consecutive multiple instructions. Since Subject B has a clear goalbased on the learned principles, distracted behaviors are reduced during the Maintenance
Period, the movements are also smoother and more focused, the mood is more pleasant andrelaxed, and finally produces the most times Flow state.
Subject C's disability category is ADHD, children with ADHD usually have obvious
emotional ups and downs, dare to challenge unknown learning Missions in various fields, arefull of curiosity, and are keen to explore. When subject C classified the building blocks, oncethe classification rules were summarized or the building blocks were classified correctly, themood was happy, so subject C entered the Flow state most times during the Baseline Period
when they were able to develop their own building block classification rules. However,during the Intervention Period, subject C hoped to follow the classification method that hehad developed independently and did not want to follow the researcher's classificationsuggestion to affect his independent thinking, resulting in the lowest classification scores andFlow state times. Subject C's Flow rate increased slightly during the Maintenance Period, andnot only reached the highest personal block correct rate, but also completed the classificationof 280 blocks within the time limit, and the block correct rate reached 100%. Such a pleasantfeeling continues to increase Subject C's learning motivation, making him feel satisfied andconstantly want to continue to invest and continue to challenge. The researchers observedthat Subject C was under the condition of Mission 3 without any cue cards and stickers. , toachieve a 100% correct rate of building blocks. Subject C showed three very focused states ofaction-awareness merging, Attention on the Mission, loss of self-consciousness, and evenforgetting the tickling sensation of mosquito bites. Therefore, in terms of the overall numberof times entering the Flow state, the overall proportion of subject C Centering the Flowexperience is 2 to 3 times higher than that of subjects A and B.

Subject

Attention
Highscore ％
times

A

1,763

B

2,013

C

2,441

10.56
%
12.09
%
14.66
%

Table1. The statistical results of EEGMediation
Flow stateHigh
Baseline Intervention Maintenancescore ％
PeriodPeriodPeriod
times
2,245
3,013
3,607

13.45
%
18.09
%
21.67
%

Total

68

94

81

243

49

56

96

201

305

130

174

609

%
1.46
%
1.21
%
3.66
%

Acknowledgements
This study is grateful for the review by the Research Ethics Committee in National Tsing Hua
University, passage number: 11003HT025.

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References
Asada, H., Fududa, Y., Tsunoda, S., Yamaguchi, M., & Tonoike, M. (1999). Frontal midline
theta rhythms reflect alternative activation of prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulated
cortex in humans. Neuroscience Letters, 274, 29-32.
Bos, A. S., Herpich, F., Kuhn, I., Guarese, R. L. M., Tarouco, L. M. R., Zaro, M. A., Pizzato,M., & Wives, L. (2019). Educational Technology and Its Contributions in Students’
Focus and Attention Regarding Augmented Reality Environments and the Use of
Sensors. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 57(7), 1832–1848.
Bransford, J. D. （1979）. Human cognition: Learning, understanding, and rembering.
California: Wadsworth.
Chen, C. M., Huang, S. H. (2014). Web-based reading annotation system with an attentionbased self-regulated learning mechanism for promoting reading performance. British
Journal of Educational Technology, 45(5), 959–980.
Clark, R.C., Nguyen, F., Sweller, J., & Baddeley, M.C. (2006). Efficiency in Learning:
Evidence-Based Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load. Perform. Improv. Q, 45(9),46-47
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Good, T. L., & Brophy, J. E. (1995). Contemporary Educational Psychology. White Plains,
NY:
Pearce, J. M., Ainley, M., Howard, S. (2005). The ebb and flow of online learning.
Computers in Human Behavior, 21(5), 745–771.
Rebolledo-Mendez, G., Dunwell, I., Martínez-Mirón, E. A., Vargas-Cerdán, M., De Freitas,
S., Liarokapis, F., & García-Gaona, A. R. (2009). Assessing neurosky’s usability todetect attention levels in an assessment exercise. Human-Computer Interaction New
Trends, 5610, 149-158.
Schweinle, A., Turner, J. C., Meyer, D. K. (2008). Understanding young adolescents’ optimal
experiences in academic settings. The Journal of Experimental Education, 77（2）,
125–146.
Tavares, D., Freire, T. (2016). Flow experience, attentional control, and emotion regulation:
Contributions for a positive development in adolescents. Psicologia, 30(2), 77-94.
Wang, C., & Hsu, M. (2014). An exploratory study using inexpensive
electroencephalography (EEG) to understand flow experience in computer-based
instruction. Information & Management, 51（7）, 912–923.

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Language Immersion in the USA: Characteristics, Challenges, andRecommendations Related to Teacher Education
Mengyao Chen, St. Cloud State University, United States
Jiahang Li, Michigan State University, United States
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Abstract
Language immersion is a unique form of education as it combines content-based academic
instruction, inter-cultural communication, and second language education. During language
immersion education, students learn various subjects through the second language medium,thus are highly exposed to the second language and cultural environment. Compared withconventional second language education, language immersion has been proven to effectively
improve students’ language proficiency, academic performance, and cognitive development.
As a result, the number of K-12 language immersion programs in the United States (U.S.) has
been growing rapidly since the 21st century. However, language immersion programs in the
U.S. are facing many challenges caused by the lack of specialized teacher education
programs designed for language immersion teachers. This study focuses on investigatingthese challenges in the fields of teaching language and content, maintaining a target language
environment, and developing cross-cultural communication skills. Such challenges during
both pre-service teacher preparation and in-service teacher professional development are
reviewed and discussed. The results lead to various recommendations for improving theeffectiveness of language immersion teacher education, whose key aspects include
curriculum and instruction, field practicum experience, and inter-school collaboration.
Keywords: Language Immersion Education, Bilingual Education, Immersion Teacher
Preparation, Immersion Teacher Training

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Introduction
Many people believe that acquiring more than one language is an educational and social goalin many countries throughout the world and history (Kinberg, 2001). The proficiency inforeign languages and a deeper knowledge of other countries and cultures help people
participate in this new global economy and confront the twenty-first-century challenges(Committee for Economic Development, 2006). To improve foreign language skills and thecultural awareness of the students in the United States of America (USA), research
institutions, government agencies, educational organizations, and religious groups requested
educational programs that enable students to learn languages other than English (Jackson &Malone, 2009; Pufahl & Rhodes, 2011). The United States Department of Education
provided grants to promote foreign language proficiencies by developing the corresponding
language programs (Jackson & Malone, 2009; Pufahl & Rhodes, 2011).
Different from traditional foreign language learning programs, language immersion programs
use the target language as the medium to teach content knowledge, while students learn theirmajority subject matter through their second, foreign, heritage, or indigenous language(Johnson & Swain, 1997; Lyster, 2007). Immersion programs also conducted content-based
language instructions and taught the school curriculum in the foreign language, so thestudents would learn both the subject matter and the target language at the same time
(Johnson & Swain, 1997). The major goals for immersion programs were developing
students’ high levels of language proficiencies and academic performances in both native andtarget languages (Lindholm & Aclan, 1991).
Since the 1970s, immersion education has been proved as a successful tool for early language
learning (Genesee, 1978). The first foreign language immersion program was founded in1965 in Quebec, Canada (Genesee, 1985). Scholars like Genesee (1994), Johnson and Swain(1997) have stated that the initial immersion program aimed to equip English-speaking
Canadian children with French proficiency, as French was spoken by the majority ofQuebec’s population. Later a group of parents promoted this bilingual education, whichenabled English-speaking children to receive their entire instructions in French at the
beginning of kindergarten and learn their first-language literacy skills starting in Grade 2(Johnson & Swain, 1997). This model improved the target language proficiencies of theimmersion students successfully; thus, immersion programs started to be progressively
recognized.
From the experience of the first immersion program and other similar programs in Europe
and Asia, foreign language immersion programs became popular in the 1990s in the U.S.
(Johnson & Swain, 1997). The concept was extended to younger students, K-12, or even PreSchool-12 programs. In the 1990s and early 2000s, both the federal government and the U.S
private sectors began to financially support the development of new programs that used theseteaching methods (Reyhner, 2003). In 2011, 448 foreign language immersion programs wereregistered in the U.S. (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2011).
Literature Review
Language immersion programs have grown rapidly in the U.S. According to The American
Councils' Research Center, the United States have more than 3600 dual language immersion
programs in 44 states in 2021, among which about 80% percent are Spanish programs(Roberts, 2021). The top states that provide the greatest number of Dual language immersion

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programs were California, Texas, New York, Utah, and North Carolina (Roberts, 2021). Notethat this data contains only public schools, thus there are also a certain amount of private andcharter immersion programs in the U.S. as well.
The common immersion programs are one-way foreign language immersion and two-way
bilingual immersion. The one-way (foreign language/full/total) immersion programs enroll
the students with zero or minimum immersion language proficiency and aim to achieve
students’ academically bi/multilingualism and bi/multi-literacy proficiencies (Tedick et al.,2011). To achieve these goals, one-way immersion programs provide lower grades (K-2)
students with 100% of the target language instruction time; students are taught in the target
language for any given school day (De Courcy, 2002). In detail, teachers acted asmonolingual speakers and tend to respond to students in their target language (Campbell,1984).
Two-way immersion (TWI) programs are also known as bilingual immersion and two-way
bilingual programs (Christian et al., 1997). In the TWI programs, half of the class iscomposed of language-majority (English-dominant) speakers, while the other half comprises
language minority (target language dominant) speakers (Met & Livaccari, 2012; Stewart &Livaccari, 2010). TWI aims to help students achieve high levels of proficiency in both native
and target languages, high academic performance, as well as cross-cultural understanding by
providing the students with content area and language arts instructions in both languages(Christian, 1996; Christian et al., 1997). In the TWI programs, the two languages are usedequally for instructions and students learn their new language through natural social
interactions.
The Effectiveness of Language Immersion Programs
As indicated before, the language immersion programs aimed to develop students’ high levelsof proficiency in both native and target languages, academic performance, as well as crosscultural understandings. This section reviews whether these goals could be achieved, as wellas their limitations.
First, research has demonstrated that language majority of students in language immersion
programs developed native-like comprehension and fluency levels as well as increased
second language proficiency, and in the meantime increased second language proficiency
while maintaining and developing their native language (Choi et al., 2018; Fortune, 2012; C.
B. Howe, 2012; Met & Livaccari, 2012). Day and Shapson (1996a) found that this wasachieved by developing immersion education’s curriculum, which was designed to maintainlanguage-majority students’ native language academic achievement but using the second
language as a medium to conduct instruction. In this case, compared with other forms offoreign language programs, language immersion was identified as the most effective
approach for the students to achieve higher language proficiencies and gain more complexfunctional second language skills (Fortune & Tedick, 2003; Genesee, 1987, 1994; Met &Lorenz, 1997; Stewart & Livaccari, 2010).
Note that here, language skills included listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Swain,
1998). Within these skill areas, immersion students’ listening was the most competent skill,which achieved near-native proficiency. Their reading comprehension was almost equivalent
to that of native speakers (MacFarlane & Wesche, 1995; Pawley, 1985). Although the above
researchers believed immersion students became proficient in the target language, other

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studies also argued that immersion students did not achieve full proficiency in some language
skill areas. As Cohen (1996), Cummins (2000), and Pawley (1985) indicated previously,
immersion students developed near-native listening and reading skills. However, the samestudies also pointed out the gaps in their foreign language speaking and writing skills.
Specifically, immersion students’ speaking was the weakest in the four skills. Althoughimmersion students gained their language fluency and could communicate in the target
language effectively, their usage of the target language contained lexical errors, thus resulting
in a lack of grammatical accuracy (Day & Shapson, 1989; Kinberg, 2001; Lyster, 1987).
Beyond grammatical accuracy, immersion students’ target language lexicon and sentence
structure were both reduced and less complex (Cohen, 1996; Fortune, 2012; Pawley, 1985).
Moreover, immersion students tended to think and use the words/language structures in theirnative language by using the line-to-line translations (Cohen, 1996).
Secondly, a substantial amount of research has pointed out the increase in immersion students’
academic learning slope and their higher achievement scores compared to the students inregular school programs (Day & Shapson, 1996b; Lindholm-Leary & Howard, 2008). For
example, Lindholm-Leary (2011) stated that TWI students’ academic performances wereat/above grade level, and were also comparable/well-superior to their peers in non-TWI
programs. Language minority students could also achieve similar or better scholastic
achievement than the language majority students (Day & Shapson, 1996b). However,students’ abilities to transfer the subject content from language to language were dependent
on their subject matter language proficiencies (Lindholm & Aclan, 1991). Cohen (1996)
provided an example of this situation, some of the immersion students pondered in theirnative language to solve math word problems written in their target language. In this case,students needed satisfactory reading skills in their target language to complete the translationof the tasks (Cohen, 1996). In all, the immersion students must develop full academic
language proficiencies in both languages to accomplish the academic achievement that was
mentioned previously, as the students’ academic achievements were also limited by theirsubject-matter language proficiencies (Lindholm & Aclan, 1991).
Thirdly, immersion programs aimed to develop students’ high levels of psychosocial andintercultural competencies (Lindholm & Aclan, 1991; Met & Livaccari, 2012). Specifically,
immersion students developed their social competency and interactional skills in the processof learning the second language (Cekaite, 2017). In the meantime, they also acquired crosscultural competencies and global perspectives in the immersion setting (Day & Shapson,
1996b; C. Howe, 2012). The same research believed language immersion programs also
produced some cognitive benefits beyond fostering students’ psychosocial and interculturalcompetencies. For example, immersion students acquired better cognitive skills in areas ofmental flexibility, divergent thinking, inhibitory control, and problem-solving than thoseobtained by the monolingual students (Bamford & Mizokawa, 1990; Bialystok, 2001;
Lazaruk, 2007; Nicolay & Poncelet, 2013; Stewart & Livaccari, 2010; Zhou & Li, 2015).
Therefore, immersion programs could shape substantial cognitive foundations for immersion
students (C. Howe, 2012).
Challenges of Language Immersion Programs and Teachers
One of the most challenging issues faced by language immersion programs was staffing(Fortune, 2012; Hickey & de Mejía, 2014). It has been repeatedly stated in previous literaturethat due to the inadequate immersion teacher preparation programs, finding the teacher
candidates who were well-prepared for immersion teaching became a difficult task (Met &ISSN: 2189-101X

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Lorenz, 1997; Veilleux & Bournot-Trites, 2005). Therefore, according to these studies,
immersion schools were short of language, specialist, and substitute teachers that met thequalifications for immersion teaching. Note that the pre-requisites for qualified early
immersion teachers were elementary education background and native/near-native bilingual
proficiency in the target language (Bernhardt & Schrier, 1992; Met & Lorenz, 1997). Due tothe shortage of immersion teacher candidates who met the academic qualifications and had
additional preparations, the immersion programs modified their hiring criteria and gave thepriority to hiring teachers with strong language skills instead (Dolson, 1985; Veilleux &Bournot-Trites, 2005; Walker & Tedick, 2000). Admittedly, this compromise caused thestruggle of unqualified teachers in immersion teaching even though it temporarily relieved
the recruiting crisis.
The language immersion programs in the U.S. had two sources of immersion staff: foreign
language teachers trained for secondary schools and native speakers educated abroad (Met &Lorenz, 1997). The foreign language teachers were equipped with target language
proficiencies, skills, and cross-grades teaching/curricula knowledge. In the meantime, they
understood the students’ challenges while learning a new language. However, the foreign
language teachers lacked content-related pedagogy preparations to teach subject-matter
content (Liao et al., 2017). The teachers hired abroad were native speakers, who brought
authentic cultural communications, global perspectives, and various pedagogy practices to theschool, as they had experienced different pedagogical training abroad (Met & Lorenz, 1997;
Romig, 2009). However, Zhou and Li (2015) claimed that the foreign teachers’ distinct
pedagogical philosophies and expectations also introduced cultural conflicts in thecommunity.
To better understand language immersion teachers’ challenges, researchers believed it was
crucial to understand the role of language immersion teachers in their teaching duties.
Foreign language immersion teachers supported the notion of building rich target language
learning environments in addition to the pedagogy (Day & Shapson, 1996a). As the target
language was not accessible to most immersion students beyond the classrooms, immersion
teachers should create a target language learning environment and include social tasks/tests topromote the usage of social/academic language by the students (Met & Lorenz, 1998). In thisprocess, the teachers acted in monolingual roles and rarely spoke the students’ first language
to them in the immersion setting (Dolson, 1985). Immersion teachers were also identified ascontent and language teachers who were accountable to balance language and content
instructions (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012). Specifically, immersion teachers served as
constant target language models by integrating language with content. Thus, they can teach ina second language and design their content-based lessons to engage students in utilizing thecontent to achieve the second language development progress (Potowski, 2004; Stein &Schools, 1999). Note that language instructions included teaching language knowledge andskills, which pre-requested the bilingual immersion teachers to be equipped with native or
native-like fluency in the target language to ensure the natural flow in the classroom(Bernhardt & Schrier, 1992; Dolson, 1985; Johnson & Swain, 1997; Swain, 1998). As thestudents could naturally acquire the target language while being extensively exposed to thecontent learning, immersion education could emphasize developing students’ language andliteracy skills systematically during the process of teaching content through the target
language (Walker & Tedick, 2000). In this case, immersion teachers needed to design
thematic classes and use contextual clues, body language, and manipulatives to achieve the
new language acquisition progress (Met & Lorenz, 1998). In addition, they also needed to beequipped with the grammar knowledge to notice students’ grammatical errors and provide

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feedback (Veilleux & Bournot-Trites, 2005). On the other hand, content instruction consistedof teaching academic content such as mathematics and social studies (Swain, 1998).
Therefore, immersion teachers needed to be accountable for the content knowledge or serveas content experts, since they also needed to use the comprehensible input and negotiation of
meaning extensively to convey ideas for subject matters (Lyster, 1998).
During the process of balancing content and language, immersion teachers encountereddifferent challenges. The first challenge came from the second language acquisition process.
According to the teachers in the two-way immersion programs, immersion students
confronted linguistic challenges and frustrations when they failed to understand the target
language during the acquisition process (R Howard & I Loeb, 1998). Thus, immersion
teachers believed it was essential but challenging to match students’ language levels with
their cognitive development levels, along with the alignment of curriculum and materials(Walker & Tedick, 2000). The second challenge, according to Freeman-Nepay (2017), wasthat immersion teachers were accountable to develop students’ literacy skills and proficiency
levels in the target language. In the meantime, immersion teachers were also obligated toensure students’ success in standardized tests administrated in English within the same period
compared to other non-immersion programs (Freeman-Nepay, 2017). To achieve the goals
that were mentioned before, immersion teachers struggled with their teaching tasks anddemanded more instructional time, planning periods, as well as resources that were wellintegrated with the content and language. However, it was hard for the immersion teachers to
get available support for those struggles (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012; Freeman-Nepay, 2017;
Walker & Tedick, 2000). Due to the misunderstandings caused by culture gaps, language
immersion teachers identified that working with parents and American partners was anotherchallenge beyond teaching (Wiggins et al., 2007; Zhou & Li, 2015). For instance, the TWI
teachers reported their challenges in collaborating with parents, and at the same time, helping
the parents understand the progress of achieving the second language proficiencies andacademic goals (Howard & Loeb, 1998). The Chinese immersion teachers in the TWI
program revealed their disadvantages when communicating with their American partners dueto the cultural differences (Zhou & Li, 2015). Immersion teachers also addressed theirpressure of external challenges and the feeling of isolation, especially those in the middle orhigh school immersion programs (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012).
Discussions
After exploring immersion teachers’ characteristics and challenges, researchers further
revealed the preparation and professional development needs of immersion teachers; thesewere expected to be addressed in the current immersion teacher preparation and training
programs. Erben (2004) claimed that immersion teacher education should consist of (1) the
initial preparation programs that provide pre-service teachers professional education, and (2)the professional development programs where in-service teachers can gain competencies in
additional areas. Thus, based on the results, it is proposed that the above-mentioned
challenges could be addressed from two perspectives, which are teacher preparation and inservice teacher training and professional development targeted specifically to immersion
language education.
Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Programs
The growing amount of immersion programs and the demand for “highly qualified”
immersion teachers led to the increased need for pre-service immersion teaching programs;

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thus, some states required universities to provide this type of preparation for future
immersion teachers (Cody, 2009; Freeman et al., 2014; Salomone, 1992). However, eventhough universities started to develop different immersion preparation programs, theinadequate of these programs still represented a challenge for the field of immersion
education (Chen, 2022; Fortune, 2012; Fortune & Tedick, 2008). Note that, according toCammarata and Tedick (2012), the elementary or secondary subject-matter education
programs failed to prepare immersion teachers with critical/meaningful integration of
language and content instructions in immersion education. For example, some teachers who
were proficient in the target language with elementary teaching licenses started theirimmersion work with limited immersion pedagogy knowledge, thus making them unqualified(Cody, 2009; Lenker & Rhodes, 2007).
Immersion teacher education programs should provide coherent and distinct instructions to
prepare immersion teachers and should not be identified as the extension of foreign
language/general teacher education programs (e.g., adding some isolated and mandatory
courses) (Day & Shapson, 1993, 1996a; Erben, 2004). For instance, the pre-service
immersion teacher training could offer (1) the background and history knowledge ofimmersion schools, (2) the philosophy and concept of immersion teaching, and (3) the
pedagogy and techniques of teaching immersion classes (Collinson, 1989; Erben, 2004;
Koshiyama, 1995). Beyond the basic knowledge about immersion education, researchers
proposed several key components for the immersion teacher education based on theestablished immersion education programs in Canada and the prototype immersion teacher
training models in the U.S. (Bernhardt & Schrier, 1992; Day & Shapson, 1996b; Erben, 2001;
Erben, 2004; Koshiyama, 1995; Lapkin et al., 1990; Majhanovich & Fish, 1988). To
summarize, university-level immersion teacher preparation programs could help immersion
teachers develop their knowledge in the following three dimensions, 1) Design curriculums tohelp teacher candidates understand the curriculum and instruction in the immersion setting, 2)
Help teacher candidates understand and accommodate the immersion school environments, 3)
Offering teacher candidates more field practicum experience in the language immersion
settings.
In-service Teacher Training and Professional Developments
Due to the various requirements for immersion teachers and the lack of effective academic
pre-service programs, immersion teachers highly demanded the in-service professional
development as a form of immersion teacher education (Cody, 2009; De Courcy, 1997;
Hickey & de Mejía, 2014; Met & Lorenz, 1997). As immersion teachers received most of
their training after they started teaching in the immersion programs, the effective in-service
training and mentoring also provided immersion teachers with ongoing support (Hickey,
1997, 2007; Hickey & de Mejía, 2014; Met & Lorenz, 1998).
There was a survey that explored the professional development needs of immersion teachers
in Canada, which revealed that 57% of the respondents had considerable demands on the
training of teaching L2 language arts. In the meantime, the training in immersion pedagogy
was also identified as a requirement for professional development (Cody, 2009; Day &Shapson, 1996a; Erben, 2004). In this case, R Howard and I Loeb (1998) reported thatimmersion programs could provide more curriculum assistance for these new teachers whotaught in the minority. For example, the immersion teachers needed observations, discussions,demonstrations, and coaches for the content-based instructions (Crandall & Tucker, 1990;
Koshiyama, 1995). Fortune (2012) noted that the native and non-native immersion teachers

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demanded continuous immersion language supports beyond curriculum and pedagogy
training.
Hickey and de Mejía (2014) reported that immersion programs could also involve
experienced and effective practitioners to share their expertise and provide high-quality andsystematic ongoing training to the immersion teachers. For example, to build “well-preparedteaching professionals”, qualified in-service teachers could provide contracted coaching
services for the pre-service teachers on both classroom instructions and communication toparents (Bissell & Chang, 2012; Chesley & Jordan, 2012). Cammarata and Tedick (2012)claimed that immersion programs could also support teachers by involving expert curriculum
staff, such as the curriculum coordinators and instructional coaches, to develop curricular
frameworks and mentorship programs. Therefore, it could be concluded that both theimmersion teachers and the immersion programs could benefit from improved practice incommunication, discussion, and evaluation during peer coaching and team meetings, which
agreed with the previous literature (Met & Lorenz, 1998).
In a summary, the shortage of immersion teacher preparation and development programs for
qualified and effective teachers in immersion methodology would be a significant challenge
for language immersion education in the future (Hickey & de Mejía, 2014).
Conclusions
This review explored the current studies on immersion education, especially those conductedon the characteristic of language immersion education. Language immersion programs
encountered difficulties in recruiting qualified teachers who were trained and certified
specifically for immersion teaching. To address these challenges, empirical evidence wasused to review the key elements in the pre-service and in-service immersion teacher’s
preparation programs, according to the current immersion teachers’ challenges and needs. It
was found that most of the existing studies of immersion teachers focused on their challenges,
which explained some of the limitations that they faced during their immersion teachingassignments. Limited studies explored immersion teachers’ perspectives of their teacher
preparation and training programs. This lack of literature suggested that it was necessary toinvestigate the language immersion teachers’ preparedness for their immersion teaching.
Such investigation could provide a better understanding of language immersion teachers andhelp the universities and school administrations understand how to best help language
immersion teachers’ development in the future. Considering the limited amount of researchthat has been published on the topic of immersion teachers’ preparation and training
programs, further research is needed to explore the immersion teachers’ perspectives on theirteacher preparation and training programs. This will adequately provide further data on thechallenges of immersion teaching and will also encourage more discussions and support for
immersion teachers’ preparation and training programs.
Acknowledgments
The corresponding author would like to acknowledge Prof. John Eller for his inputs andsuggestions, as well as the support and help at the St. Cloud State University.

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Contact email: mchen1@go.stcloudstate.edu

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Understanding the Lived Experiences Towards Online Learning During the Pandemic
Audric Curtis P. Dy, Mataas Na Paaralang Neptali A. Gonzales, Philippines
The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
Since the COVID-19 outbreak has come leading the face-to-face classes to be suspended,online learning has started to become a learning modality for students to pursue theireducation. The study aims to understand the lived experiences of students and teachers fromprivate and public schools in Metro Manila. Students were able to adjust their schedules,
study lessons at their own pace, and perform tasks online with the help of the internet. Asidefrom it, they no longer needed to come to school to take assessments and submit requirements
to the teacher in a face-to-face setting. However, the common challenge they had encounteredconsisted of internet connection problems. With the help of online learning, students wereable to be more independent, flexible focused, and organized. They were also able to spend
more time with their families and at home since online learning could be done anywhere if
they have gadgets needed. Moreover, they were able to learn more technological skills via
various online platforms and applications. After the pandemic, hybrid learning can be
implemented instead of purely online learning to mold the perspectives of students inlearning modalities.
Keywords: Online Learning, Internet Connection, New Normal, COVID-19 Pandemic

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
This study deals with the lived experiences of learners residing in online learning. Online
learning is done through the Internet and its materials such as social media, blogs, andeducational platforms. Because of the outbreak of COVID-19, students can no longer be able
to report to schools to have classes, which leads the schools to shift from face-to-face toonline mode of delivery. Besides, people were suggested to follow the protocols regarding
social distancing as said by Uscer-Pines, et. al. (2018). Schools were also advised to beclosed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and because of that, online classes were given
more opportunities to be implemented (Basilaia & Kvavdze, 2020). It was assured thatstudents would continue learning lessons along with their teachers despite the suspension of
face-to-face classes. However, they would be into online classes in terms of schooling(Zhang, Wang, Y., Yang & Wang, C., 2020). Dhawan (2020) had seen that online classes had
served as the new norms in education due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Dhawan, 2020).
This also served as an alternative to traditional learning, which used to be done in classrooms
physically (Toquerio, 2020).
This study aims to identify the lived experiences in online learning. The researcher also aims
to investigate how learners manage their schooling life in online learning. Further, it purports
to answer these questions:i.)What are the benefits encountered in online learning during the pandemic?
ii.)
What are the challenges encountered in online learning during the pandemic?
iii.)
What are the learning opportunities encountered in online learning during the
pandemic?
Benefits of Online Learning Together With its Learning Opportunities
Online learning has enabled the students to interact with the teachers during synchronous andasynchronous sessions at their respective places and time. They had also implied that online
learning could promote convenience for the learners in terms of setting and time. Learners
could learn their lessons at their own pace and would not need to go to school at a fixedschedule because of online learning. They had also added that they could also access online
learning anywhere (Dong, Cao & Li, 2020). There were instances when learners who were
not allowed to finish their studies on time due to their various problems such as finances andfamily could be able to finish their schooling. They also emphasized that age and learning
capacity were disregarded in terms of being able to enroll in online schooling (Simamora,2020). Students and teachers had found out that there were no restrictions in terms ofschedule and could still use the online learning materials regardless of the duration of time
consumed. Moreover, students and teachers no longer need to encounter external issues (i.e.
traffic) commonly experienced in face-to-face settings (Gilbert, 2015).
Aside from these, online learning could help the students to enhance their motivation andself-confidence toward learning. It was mentioned that students and teachers could even use
learning materials they are in the online modality of learning. They had specified that thelearning materials could be found on the Internet and considered digital platforms such asvideos and music files as one of the materials in online learning. It was also observed thatstudents could learn through various strategies, like chatting, watching videos, and reading
online with the help of digital learning materials, which are parts of the information andcommunication technology (Bailey & Lee, 2020).

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In terms of communicating with people, many learners and teachers had started to use various
online platforms, like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet, during meetings, conferences, anddiscussions. Besides, they no longer needed to submit requirements and documents
physically because they could access collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams andGoogle Drive. Instead of placing papers at the desk, they could upload files to the respective
drives. Students can also receive feedback through online messages and chats from theirteachers (Byrnes, et. al. 2020).
Self-regulation and motivation were key concepts in attaining achievements in online
learning. The self-regulating skills of students focused on independence towards learning
lessons, completing tasks, and providing self-feedback. Besides, these also enabled thestudents on relying on themselves in studying lessons. She also added that intrinsic
motivation was needed to develop the self-regulating skills of the students since selfregulation could not be alone in helping the students in achieving the goals needed in online
learning. Hence, she mentioned that self-regulation and motivation, which could be done
intrinsically, were both needed by students and teachers in online learning. This modality
could enable the students to develop their self-regulation and motivation (Matuga, 2009)
Problems Encountered in Online Learning
In terms of technological barriers, difficulties in logging in to learning sites and learning
platforms and downloading files needed for the tasks were one of the common issues students
had encountered when accessing online platforms (Dhawan, 2020). Aside from these, somestudents had suffered an insufficient number of gadgets needed for online learning, internet
accessibility issues, and a lack of technological literacy skills during online learning.
According to one of the respondents in their findings, mobile data, a substitute for theinternet, was being used in online learning because they had found out the internet was
costly. There were complaints that the internet connection was weak in some of the areas
where students are residing and there were episodes that the online platform, they were usingcrashed (Baticulon, et. al., 2020).
Aside from technological barriers, students also faced domestic problems regarding online
learning. Some students were required by their parents to perform various household chores
such as cleaning the house, assisting them in cooking dishes, and taking care of the younger
members of their family. From the responses of the participants of the study done, these had
occupied their schedules with online learning (Henaku, 2020). Working in non-conducive
areas was also considered by the learners and teachers as one of the problems in online
learning. Apart from it, budgeting was also emphasized as an issue because the usage ofmobile data or the internet could affect their budget. One of the respondents had mentionedthat they had to sacrifice their budget so they could be able to subscribe to an internet service
provider for the sake of their needs in online learning (Baticulon, et. al., 2020). Since somestudents had budget issues, they were unable to buy any gadgets which can be used in online
learning and pay internet fees. The findings regarding financial issues in the study done byStrong internet connection was needed for the usage of online resources such as video
lectures and electronic books, however, to attain that, people had to spend their budget(Abuhammad, 2020).
Some students had experienced difficulties in understanding online lectures due to theirduration and immense coverage of lessons. Since the duration of studying the lessons waslong, some students had expressed that they had no time anymore in spending time with their

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families and friends. Aside from having difficulties in studying lessons online, they also had
issues adapting their learning styles to this modality. They had also mentioned that within thiskind of modality, they no longer had social interactions with the teachers and peers, where
they thought that they could collaborate (Khalil, et. al., 2020). Waiting for the messages fromthe teachers through chatting platforms (i.e. Facebook Messenger) and electronic mailing
platforms (i.e. Gmail) could consume more time for the learners and they were only allowed
to communicate with their teachers through these platforms during the learning periods. They
also discussed that self-learning was hard to achieve and some students had faced mental
health issues, particularly stress, and physical health issues, particularly headaches and eye
strains. Aside from these issues, they even emphasized unpreparedness towards shift as oneof the major concerns in online learning. They also found out that there were various gaps
between teachers and students in terms of communication. They had seen to it that there wereinconsistencies in giving feedback and assessments to the students (Abuhammad, 2020;
Baticulon, et. al., 2020).
Methods
The researcher used a phenomenological existential research design to understand each of the
lived experiences encountered by selected teachers and learners in the online learning during
the pandemic. The participants contained students and teachers who had already experienced
online learning during the COVID-19 outbreak. The number of participants in this study was
10 students and 4 teachers. The participants who came from the major cities in Metro Manila
were chosen through the purposive-convenience sampling technique. The number ofparticipants was limited due to accessibility issues. The data gathering was done through an
online interview via Messenger instead of having a face-to-face interview for convenience
purposes.
The tool to be used for the study consisted of questionnaires tackling the lived experiences of
21st-century learners in online learning and Facebook Messenger. The questions focused on
benefits, challenges, and learning opportunities. The researcher asked permission from eachparticipant if they could be able to answer interview questions by sending a message using
Facebook Messenger. Each participant would be provided an interview questionnaire before
answering each question during the interview process.
During the interview phase, each student was asked to share his/her experience in online
learning. He/she was encouraged to tell the benefits and challenges of online learning andgive suggestions on how to improve this system of learning. The researcher allowed thestudents to express their thoughts freely on their answers. The researcher encoded theanswers of the participants who had answered his questions through private messaging. He
also listened to the experiences of each student in online learning and understood how he/she
had felt in online learning. He used thematic analysis in interpreting the answers of theparticipants about their lived experiences in online learning and deriving themes from each ofthem.
Findings
Benefits Experienced in Online Learning
According to the responses done by the 10 student participants and 4 teacher participants, thebenefits of online learning consisted of the four derived themes:

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The benefit of Online Learning
Participant(s)Technological Skills and Exposure
SP2, SP4, SP9, TP1, TP2, TP4
Convenience
SP3, SP6, SP8, TP4
Time Management
SP4, SP5, SP7, SP8, SP10, TP2, TP3
Interpersonal Skills
SP1, SP3, SP4, SP7, TP3, TP4
Table 1. Benefits Experienced in Online Learning
Based on this table, three of the students and three of the teachers had cited technologicalskills and exposure as the benefit experienced in this modality. Here are some of their
responses:“The benefit that I had experienced in online learning was that I become more techie when it
comes to doing any academic programs online.” (SP2)“One of the benefits that I have experienced in online teaching is the ease of checking
assessments due to the automation of quizzes in our school’s LMS, Canvas. Another is themore efficient updating of the Gradebook through the Canvas feature.” (TP2)
These participants had mentioned that they were able to learn more skills in technology,
experience various online platforms, and become more techie. They had seen to it that they
were more exposed to online learning platforms and technology due to the rise of thismodality.
Three students and one teacher had indicated convenience as a benefit of online learning. Oneof the respondents had said:“I can say it’s low cost in terms of not spending money on transportation and the food, unlike
face to face we are required to spend money for those two.”
Based on their responses, the participants had indicated that they no longer need to ridevarious transportations for them to attend classes since their modality became online. Besides
they also mentioned that they could be able to save more money since they did not need tobuy food and pay for transportation. One of them had indicated that safety is their priority.
Five of the student participants and two teacher participants had indicated time management
as a benefit of online learning. Here are some of their responses:“The flexibility of schedule, for example, you have this assignment that is due this time well
you can now make it whenever you’re free, you can make your schoolwork based on the time
you’re comfortable with or most convenient for you same with same-paced learning, you canstudy whenever or wherever you want.”
Based on their responses, the teachers and students were able to manage their time in terms of
their activities. The students had indicated that online learning is self-paced, which madethem finish their tasks and study lessons at their own pace, as also said by the teacher
participants.
Four students and two teachers indicated interpersonal skills as a benefit of online learning.
One of the respondents had said:“The benefits I experienced in online learning are, first I was able to maximize my time
where I do not need to give additional time for travel, second is I can be able to look at mychildren and monitor them because I am in the house, and last is I have improvements interms of technical issues.”

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They had said that this modality had enabled them to spend more time with their family,
which developed their love for family. Aside from this, they were able to improve theirtechnological literacy and their time management skills. One of the respondents had indicatedthat this modality could be able to enhance one’s professional growth, which could developinterpersonal skills. Based on personal development, this also enabled them to develop their
responsibility skills.
Challenges Encountered in Online Learning
According to the responses done by the 10 student participants and 4 teacher participants, thebenefits of online learning consisted of the four derived themes:
Challenge of Online Learning
Health Issues
Learning Environment Issues
Technological Issues

Participant(s)SP1, SP4, SP8
SP2, SP5, SP7, SP8, SP10, TP1, TP2, TP3
SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6, SP8, SP9, TP1, TP2,
TP4
Table 2. Challenges Encountered in Online Learning

Based on this table, two students had encountered health issues as their challenges in online
learning. Student Participants 1 and 4 had cited that mental health served as their challenge
but they coped with it through taking care of themselves, while Student Participant 2 hadencountered stress, exhaustion, and mental breakdowns but she coped it through spending
quality time with friends and watching movies.
Five students and three teachers had indicated learning environment issues as their challenges
encountered. Their issues about it consist of the following: noisy environments, adaptability
issues, and difficulties in performing tasks as students and handling students as teachers. Hereare some of their responses:“For the noisy environment, I try to study or to attend class in the place where there is still
noise also but very minimal or if I can’t do that, I closed all the windows and doors just to
minimize the voice, we can’t pleas our neighbors to lower their voices or music.” (SP8)“It is harder to focus during class since the setting is our home. There is a higher possibilityof cramming since people feel lazier when they are at home.” (SP10)“Also, the attitude of the students, most of them are lazy and can not follow the schedule forthe activities and performance task, as a teacher, I still give them a chance to submit theirworks, nonetheless, I do not have grades to give for them” (TP1)“I am challenged by the students' attendance count during synchronous classes. The students'
lack of resources and time, especially in their not so comfortable environment at home.”(TP3)
Based on the responses, students had encountered difficult tasks and experienced noisy
environments which prohibited them from focusing on their studies. Aside from it, they also
had a hard time adjusting to the new environment of learning since they would be staying at
home attending online classes. While for teachers, teachers had hard times checking theattendance of the students and imposing deadlines for the requirements, however, they had
coped by considering them.

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Six students and three teachers had indicated internet connection as their main challenge
encountered. It was implied that internet connection was a common challenge for the
students. One of them had mentioned:“The challenges that I’ve faced during online class are mostly about internet connections,sometimes I cannot attend the class because of how slow the internet is.”For students, they had to purchase mobile data to access the Internet since some could notafford Wi-Fi. Since teachers were able to afford to have Wi-Fi, they had chosen tocommunicate with them via platforms that could consume less mobile data.
Learning Opportunities in Online Learning
According to the responses done by the 10 student participants and 4 teacher participants, thebenefits of online learning consisted of the four derived themes:
Learning
Opportunities
in
Online Participant(s)Learning
Personality Development
SP1, SP3, SP5, SP7
Technological Literacy
SP2, SP4, SP8, SP9, TP2
Flexibility
SP4, SP6, SP10, TP1, TP3, TP4
Table 3. Learning Opportunities in Online Learning
Based on the table below, four students had indicated personality development as theirlearning opportunity received in online learning. Here are some of their responses:“Online Learning provides self-learning. Doing things on my own without physicalinteraction with my classmates creates a realization to me that the only person that helps me
improve is myself.”“Based on my experience, online learning provides unknown skills to students. It will help
them to know what their hidden skills and talents are. As for me, it developed my multitasking
skills, and it helps me to be patient and think outside the box.” (SP5)They had mentioned that online learning had enabled them to become independent and selfreliant in terms of tasks and decision-making. Aside from it, it also allowed them to explore
their abilities and talents and developed their multitasking skills. They had also realized thatit also helped them to have critical thinking skills.
Four students and one teacher emphasized technological literacy as the learning opportunity
they had gained in this modality. Here are some of their responses:“Interactive quizzes and games (like Kahoot!) and watching videos” (SP8)“Online learning equips the students to be skilled and updated with the present technologicalchanges and trends.” (TP2)They had experiences taking quizzes and tests online instead of answering each question in atest through paper and pen means. This modality had also enabled them to study lessons
using various digital materials such as videos and e-books. They had believed that thismodality had enabled them to be aware of the issues and developments of every technology,
especially the Internet. With this modality, they were able to be more equipped in terms oftechnological skills.

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From the responses done by three teachers and three students citing flexibility as a learning
opportunity achieved in online learning during the pandemic, here are some of the responses:“Because of the pandemic, it is has shown that learning can continue through distanceeducation.” (SP4)“It provides more time for those who have trouble in fixing their schedule.” (SP10)“It opens the mindset of everyone that education can be done anytime at any possible ways.”(TP1)
They had believed that online learning would continue even if the pandemic were done sincepeople were keen on the new normal together with its changes. With online learning, theyalso had understood that any learner regardless of age and background can continue theireducation. In terms of dealing with schedules, they also emphasized that teachers andstudents could adjust more since online learning allows them to work at their own pace.
Aside from it, this modality had opened their horizons in learning.
Discussion
Online learning had become a trend in the educational systems in all countries, including thePhilippines. Due to the suspension of the face-to-face classes, the Department of Education
had decided to implement online modalities for the students to be able to continue theireducation despite the outbreak of COVID-19. However, students found it difficult since theway of interacting with their teachers and classmates is completely different from face-toface. Despite the current issues, there are many benefits to online learning. Students andteachers were able to make use of the internet along with its apps such as Google and Zoom.
In terms of technical skills, it was evident that the participants were able to increase theirtechnological literacy such as editing photos and videos, and even, get more used to using
various gadgets, particularly computers and tablets. In online learning, all students are
required to have gadgets for them to be able to attend classes, which had provided them more
exposure to these gadgets and since requirements are digital in online learning, they had
allowed themselves to explore their technological skills. In terms of flexibility, theparticipants were able to adjust their schedules and study lessons using gadgets anywhere andanytime. With online learning, the participants were also able to have more resources likerecorded videos, e-books, and online modules provided when studying lessons. These
resources mentioned serve as materials for them to use when studying lessons and doing tasks
assigned by their teachers. Besides, they felt less pressured since they could be able to submit
their assignments and other requirements without needing to come to school and face theirteachers. In terms of convenience, participants had felt a sigh of relief because they did not
require transportation for them to attend classes since all classes are online. In terms of
personal development, the participants made many realizations about themselves. They had
decided to prioritize safety since health is their topmost concern. Another thing they had also
realized is family is important to spend with.
However, there are numerous inevitable challenges that participants had experienced. In thePhilippines, internet connection is one of the top concerns people usually face. This does
apply to both public and private school students. Since internet connection requires payment,
many of the participants had chosen an affordable internet connection, where they could still
have internet connection problems such as weak signal and power interruption. This impliedthat budget is their enemy in terms of dealing with internet connection in online classes.
Another issue was some of them had difficulties in attending online classes due to internet
connection problems, which had added to their frustrations with online learning. To cope

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with this problem, the participants had decided to adjust to the flow of the internet
connection. Some of them had even bought more loads for them to have more mobile data,
which also served as their alternate medium for their online classes. It is not a surprise thatthe participants had expressed frustrations towards tasks due to the difficulty of the lessons
being covered since they were extremely new to this modality. They also had felt pressured
toward different subjects since they were not used to the online approaches done by theirteachers. With the home environmental problems, some of the participants had experienced
cramping in doing tasks and reviewing their lessons for their online assessments and felt
distracted when attending online classes. This implied that they needed a conducive and quiet
learning environment for them to develop their flow in dealing with online learning. Since
staying at home for the entire period could lessen their physical activities, participants had
felt lazier, which could lead them to cram in tasks and feel unmotivated in classes. To
respond to these challenges, the participants had decided to refrain from using social media
during online classes and spend leisure time with themselves and friends. They had seen theimportance of mental health, which is very important for every person. They had chosen to
reinforce themselves by watching movies through Netflix, spending time with friends, andplaying games to maintain their sanity. When it comes to online tasks, the teachers provided
opportunities for the students to ask questions when they do not understand the instructions
for their tasks to do according to the responses of the participants.
Participants might have encountered many challenges in the days of online learning;
however, they had received many learning opportunities. First, they were able to develop
independence since, in online learning, they had to be self-reliant since they were provided
many learning materials for them to be able to cope with the lessons. had implied based on
their responses that they learned to improve themselves by enabling themselves to explore
new ideas and things and not relying too much on other people when it comes to tasks. Thisis usually seen when they are given the internet to use. Aside from these, the participants had
started to appreciate this modality because they had found out that online learning is foreveryone, including people who are not able to go to school due to various commitments suchas work and family. Aside from it, it was also indicated students can access online learningwherever they are, which means that online learning is not a hindrance for them to going todifferent places and enjoying life. With online learning, the participants had agreed that they
can also focus on their talents and home-grown skills while studying. They enjoyed being
challenged since this modality had allowed them to expand their perspectives about learningand life. They also felt more motivated because they can organize and design their schedule,
which can help them balance their activities and to get rid of stress. Online learning enabled
the participants to emphasize quality time and mental health, which are the important terms toconsider in learning.
Conclusion and Recommendation
This study focuses on the benefits, challenges, and learning opportunities of online learning
during the pandemic. Online learning has pros and cons like face-to-face learning. Many
participants preferred face-to-face because they were used to that modality until the online
learning arrived in public and private schools. Online learning has provided many
opportunities for everyone to learn and grow, however like life, it is inevitable for them toencounter various challenges and difficulties. Since the participants are based in thePhilippines, it is normal for them to encounter problems with the internet and a shift in
education. Since the Philippines is a third-world country, it is inevitable for people toexperience poverty, which can be a hindrance to online learning. Without financial resources,

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it will be difficult for learners to cope with online learning since the internet requires
payment. However, despite the current issues Filipino learners are facing, they have learned alot of technical skills and have experienced a lot in using technologies when it comes toclasses. Based on the responses of the participants, the participants have gained a lot of
positive experiences and learning opportunities in online learning. With online learning, they
can be able to learn and study lessons anywhere and anytime and perform tasks using theirgadgets of choice. Apart from it, they do not need to buy books for them to be able to havelearning resources because there are already many resources such as electronic books andwebsites, which are provided for them. They also have earned many positive traits from thismodality. Unlike in face-to-face modalities, they do not have to meet their teachers for themto submit their requirements, but instead, they can just send their requirements via online
platforms. It is seen that online learning is self-directed learning because it has enabled them
to be independent in learning and more resourceful in using sources for the lessons they are
studying. Aside from it, they can also spend time with their families and enjoy leisure timesince they are staying at home while having classes.
This study promotes the benefits and opportunities provided by online learning. With online
learning, people can have more knowledge of technology and develop flexibility in terms ofteaching and learning strategies. The researcher has realized that learning is not only done
inside the classroom but it can also be done anywhere and anytime. With the help of theinternet, people can gain more information about the topic they want to learn and experience
more convenience when it comes to communication. It is recommended that online learning
should remain if face-to-face classes return through being integrated into schools, whether
public or private. It is suggested that hybrid learning, a combination of face-to-face andonline modalities, must be implemented once the pandemic is done.
Acknowledgements
First, I am forever grateful to God the Almighty for His unending love and guidance towards
me, especially during the trying times of facing the pandemic and doing this research. I also
thank my family, friends, colleagues, and students for their unconditional moral support tome. I also like to give special mention to Rica for guiding me in accomplishing this work, myformer colleague, Dary, for inspiring me to participate in this IAFOR conference, andcolleagues, Ryan and Jaypee, for motivating me to accomplish this paper.

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