ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Exploring Academic Promotion Practices within Higher Education Institutions: Enablers and Constraints in the Physical Space
Author: Mampane, Sharon Thabo
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teacher Promotion,College Faculty,Equal Opportunities (Jobs),Democracy,Power Structure,Politics of Education,Teacher Responsibility,Teacher Characteristics,Teacher Researchers

This paper explores academic promotion practices in higher education institutions. Promotion of faculty members of universities is one of the major mechanisms in maintaining and improving the quality and efficiency of higher education and research activities in the country. Appointment processes are therefore critical to institutional development; therefore, the study argues for the identification of successful practices by exploring the enablers and disablers within the institutional promotion process in South Africa. This qualitative conceptual paper used literature, not limited to books, articles and chapters written on higher education institutions' promotion practices. There is, however, limited research on institutional promotion practices for academic employees within the South African higher education institutions. The study argues for the identification of successful practices to ensure fair and equitable institutional promotion practices by exploring the enablers and disablers within the institutional promotion process in the South African higher education. The paper serves as a foundational piece in understanding that appointment practices can be regulated to ensure fairness and equity. The appointment practices highlight the importance of shifting academic staff profiles in ways that are more representative of a diverse democracy. The inclusion of South Africa demonstrates a gap that exists in the academic promotions within higher education institutions. Findings reveal power-play and micro-politicking within promotion practices in HEIs. The paper serves as a foundational piece in understanding the regulation of fairness and equity in academic appointment practices.
Female School Principals in Canada and South Africa: An Overview
Author: van Jaarsveld, Leentjie
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Women Administrators,Principals,Foreign Countries,Comparative Education,Administrator Attitudes,Leadership,Gender Issues,Leadership Effectiveness

Worldwide, the issue of women in school principal positions is being discussed. Discussions on this matter include, among other things, the underrepresentation and promotion opportunities of female principals, stereotyping, culture and education and competencies of women. Several studies have shown that women do not have to stand back for their male counterparts. This paper deals with the perspectives of female school principals in Canada and South Africa. The study was employed in the interpretivist paradigm, and as it aimed to explore different aspects of the leadership of female school principals, a qualitative approach was used as a vehicle to come to understand the central phenomenon shared by the 12 participating female school principals in the two countries. They were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews through which aspects with regard to their position as school principals were revealed. The case studies showed that female principals can be regarded as effective principals.
Accountability as a Mechanism towards Professionalizing Teaching in Higher Education
Author: Bothma, Franciska
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Accountability,Professionalism,Higher Education,College Faculty,Research,Correlation,Teacher Effectiveness,Teaching Methods,Teacher Characteristics

In the sphere of higher education (HE) globally the tensions between academic autonomy and accountability, and the research vs teaching debate have been ongoing for decades. Zumeta (2011, p. 133) notes one of the reasons for such tensions to be the view of accountability as a social construct, resulting in its definition varying from context to context and time to time. While professionalism in the higher education context is closely associated to research status of academics, the question addressed in this paper is whether accountability in teaching-related work, if clearly defined and practiced, can be used as mechanism towards professionalizing higher education teaching. The findings of the qualitative study clearly indicate a correlation between the characteristics of teaching-related accountability and professionalism in higher education, underscoring the notion that an accountable and excellent higher education teacher should be able to rise to the coveted position of a professor.
An Innovative Reform of Secondary Education for Immigrant Students in Southeastern USA
Author: Biraimah, Karen
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Educational Innovation,Secondary School Students,Immigrants,Magnet Schools,Urban Schools,Technology Education,Academic Achievement,Educational Opportunities,Sense of Community,Work Ethic,Minority Group Students,Educational Environment

Migrant and immigrant education are both problematic and impactful in the U.S., which often identifies itself as &quot;a nation of immigrants&quot;, though these concepts are currently criticized by a conservative government intent on building walls rather than bridges. Nevertheless, schools throughout the country have demonstrated an ability to provide immigrant students with quality instruction and a supportive environment designed to ensure their contributions to the nation. This paper will review a government-funded secondary magnet school for information technology in Southeastern U.S. that enrolls a significant number of first and secondgeneration voluntary immigrant students. Through an analysis of data obtained from questionnaires and extended focus group discussions, the authors will describe the challenges and achievements of these students, and the role their school's environment played in helping to create both a sense of belonging and opportunities for success.
Approaches to Inclusive Education in Slovenia from a Comparative Angle
Author: Ermenc, Klara Skubic
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Inclusion,Educational Policy,Civil Rights,Students with Disabilities,Special Needs Students,Teacher Attitudes,Student Rights,Teacher Educators

Many countries change their education systems in order to make them more inclusive. Yet, the way inclusion is understood and implemented, varies greatly. This paper describes key elements of inclusive policy in Slovenia. The policy is evaluated against Haug's three stages of the development of the concept of inclusion and Opertti, Walker and Zhang's four core approaches that prevail in the international arena. Research method adopted is document analysis. The analysis builds on Olivera's concept of the second-degree use of the comparative data. The findings indicate that Slovenian policy primarily reflects a human rights-based understanding of inclusion, focused on students with special needs. The author aims to provide a foundation for further comparative research on inclusion.
Putting the Cart before the Horse: Curriculum Reform Policy and Teachers&apos; Pedagogical Preferences
Author: Chimbi, Godsend T.
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Curriculum Development,Teaching Methods,Educational Change,Instructional Innovation,Educational Policy,Teacher Attitudes,Case Studies,History Instruction,Faculty Development,Educational Resources,Educational Philosophy,Compliance (Legal),Foreign Countries

When presented with a new curriculum very few teachers teach in accordance with the prescribed pedagogies. This study reports on how teachers in Zimbabwe selected their teaching methods in response to a new curriculum reform policy. Using a qualitative multiple case study design and the theoretical lens of sense-making, the study interrogated teachers' understanding of a new history curriculum and their compliance to its pedagogical prescriptions. Although teachers were aware of the methodological demands of the new history curriculum, they complained that they were not adequately prepared and resourced to implement the new pedagogical policy. Teachers' pedagogical preferences appeared to be in line with their personal philosophy to history instruction, rather than what reform policy prescribed. It appears policy makers placed pedagogical reform policy in front of the teacher; like the proverbial case of putting the cart in front of the horse. To augment compliance with reform policy, it is necessary to in-service teachers on how to use innovative teaching approaches before asking them to change pedagogical practice. Teacher capacity building on innovative instructional strategies and creating learning communities may reduce the gap between policy demands and classroom practice.
Relationship between Optimism-Pessimism, Learning Style and Teaching Style among Medical Students
Author: Stankovska, Gordana
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Correlation,Positive Attitudes,Negative Attitudes,Cognitive Style,Teaching Styles,Teacher Role,Medical Students,Preferences,Gender Differences,Foreign Countries,Psychological Patterns

Each person is born with a certain ability towards particular learning styles, which demonstrates that people learn in different ways. Styles influence the way students learn, the way teachers teach, and the way they interact. Thus, the main aim of our paper was to introduce the relationship between optimism-pessimism and teaching and learning styles among medical students. The Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Styles Scale (GR-SLSS), Grasha's Teaching Style Inventory (TSI) and Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ) were administered to a sample of 160 medical university students. The results demonstrated that among the teaching styles, facilitator, delegator and expert were the teaching styles most preferred by students. Based on the results, the dominant learning style of students in general was the collaborative, competitive and participatory style. At the same time, there was a significant positive relationship between optimism and student-centered teaching styles (facilitator and delegator), while pessimism was highly correlated with teacher-centered styles (expert, formal authority and personal model). Also, we found a significant positive relationship between optimism and the collaborative, competitive, independent and participatory learning style. On the other hand, pessimistic students tend to choose the dependent and avoidant learning style. More than half of male and female students preferred the collaborative, competitive and participatory learning style and the delegator, facilitator and expert teaching style. Overall, the research findings have successfully shown the relationship between a learning style, a teaching style and optimism-pessimism among medical students. The learning and teaching style together with the dichotomy optimism-pessimism are a significant factor for the teaching-learning process.
School Counseling: A Comparative Study in 12 Countries
Author: Popov, Nikolay
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: School Counseling,School Counselors,Counselor Role,Counselor Qualifications,Educational Administration,Interaction,Counselor Client Ratio,Foreign Countries

This paper presents results of a comparative international study on some aspects of school counseling in the following 12 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, UK, and USA. The authors explain the multifunctional character of school counseling, give an idea of establishing a research field that could be called 'comparative school counseling studies', show the original terms in individual countries, and compare six aspects of school counseling: 1) legislative framework; 2) position requirements; 3) role of school counselors; 4) functions of school counselors; 5) interaction; and 6) ratio. The paper concludes with a long list of qualities school counselors are expected to possess. This is a document study chiefly based on examining, systematizing and comparing national documents (laws, reports, instructions, advices, position requirements, ministerial orders, recommendations, strategies, and statistics) on school counseling.
The Potential of ICTs in Education Worldwide: A Review of Several International Studies
Author: Kachakova, Vesselina
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Information Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Influence of Technology,Educational Benefits,Educational Change,Educational Quality,Educational Policy,Access to Education,Equal Education

The potential of ICTs in education is often seen as a panacea for almost all educational problems: ICTs would narrow the inequalities, give access to open resources and make the system fair for all who want to benefit from it, ICTs would make the education more attractive and effective for the students, ICTs would have the power to reform the way of teaching and the way of learning, and to bring for a huge social change. Different international organizations (OECD, IEA, World Bank, etc.) study the impact of ICTs on education worldwide and their conclusions do not confirm the high expectations. The politicians should not hyperbolize the positive effects that ICTs could have for improvement of quality or reducing the inequality in education, and to rely on ICTs to do their work as policymakers, responsible for the implementation of educational reforms and changes in the ways of learning and teaching through ICTs.
Gender-Based Analysis of English Grade 9 Instructional Material and Its Sensitivity to Sexist Language
Author: Javier, Rica Mae B.
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Grade 9,Gender Differences,Instructional Materials,Gender Bias,Language Usage,Socialization,Environmental Influences,Context Effect,Foreign Countries,Illustrations,Pictorial Stimuli,Textbook Content,High Schools,English Instruction,English Teachers

This study aimed to analyze the gender sensitivity of English grade 9 material through evaluation of texts and pictorial presentations. In addition, it modified the grade 9 material tasks through localization and contextualization of the investigated gender-insensitive texts and pictures. This assessed as well, the acceptability of the modified grade 9 English material as to content, relevance, authenticity, appeal to target users, and gender sensitivity. Gender analysis was employed through content evaluation. The descriptive method of research was utilized in this study that made use of the adapted survey-questionnaire and results undergone quantitative interpretation. Respondents were 30 English teachers from different public schools in Laguna. Teachers were chosen purposively to answer the questionnaire used to test the acceptability of the modified tasks. It was realized that the modified English Grade 9 material is highly acceptable with respect to its content (3.51), relevance (3.39), authenticity (3.49), appeal to target users (3.42), and gender and language sensitivity (3.89). Lastly, the need to investigate the instructional material in terms of its gender and language sensitivity is one way to ensure the equality of handing instructions to the learners.
Understanding and Application of the Institutional Performance Management System within Higher Education Institution Departments
Author: Mampane, Sharon Thabo
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Management Systems,Departments,Higher Education,Job Performance,Foreign Countries,College Faculty,Faculty Evaluation

This conceptual paper draws on the understanding and application of institutional performance management system (IPMS) by managers in a higher education institution's department. Managers in HEIs [higher education institutions] are tasked to develop and support staff at all job levels and are accountable for their performance. The implementation of the IPMS in higher education institutions could enhance the growth and development of the department and its staff. The paper highlights practices of IPMS as well as identifies the successes and challenges in understanding and applying IPMS within HEIs, to provide a consolidated practical advice for universities in South Africa. Staff development and support are central to ensuring that commitments made, are seriously translated into relevant actions in the department. Such actions by the institution lay a strong foundation for improved performance. The purpose of the paper is to unpack and contextualise the understanding and application of institutional performance management system (IPMS) of staff, by recognising its merits depending on the context and circumstances where it is applied. This qualitative paper analysed literature studies that include books and articles written on performance management systems in higher education, to establish how performance data is used to improve institutional staff performance. Findings reveal that HEIs' performance criteria in IPMS, do not always serve to monitor and evaluate the department's progress on planned goals, objectives, and initiatives. The paper, therefore, serves as a foundational piece that highlights gaps in higher education institution managers' understanding and application of IPMS, for supporting and improving staff performance.
Leadership Roles, Women and Higher Education: Lessons from the University of Buea, Cameroon
Author: Anim, Magdalin Nji
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Leadership Role,Women Administrators,Barriers,Higher Education,Universities,Gender Differences,Cultural Context,Foreign Countries,Economic Development,Social Change

There is no dearth of literature on the numerous challenges that women face in securing leadership roles in government, non-government and other societal and community organisations. Over the past five decades or so, researchers and concerned others have been reporting on the lack of women in leadership roles. This paper explores leadership roles of women in higher education (HE), with a special focus on the University of Buea, Cameroon. The paper is based on research work carried out in 2016 and was framed by the gender and development (GAD) model; but it is also supported by on-going research investigation, carried out for the purpose of future publications. This means that by and large, the paper makes use of literature review methodological approach to build the discussion. It makes clear that although on a global scale women's enrolment in HE exceeds that of men, this does not translate into women senior leadership positions in HE. It acknowledges what HE means in the Cameroonian context, and looks at the socio-cultural and structural factors that influence women's representation in HE positions in the University of Buea. The paper concludes that the paradigm shift in the global concepts of development has not shown a satisfactory level of decrease in the challenges that women face in relation to attaining senior leadership roles in HE institutions.
School Inspectors&apos; Role of Supporting Mathematics Educators in South African Township Schools
Author: Mampane, Tebogo Jillian
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Inspection,Mathematics Teachers,Foreign Countries,Teacher Supervision,Teacher Improvement,Faculty Development,Mentors,Coaching (Performance)

The purpose of the paper is to highlight ways in which mathematics educators are supported through school inspection. The aim of this paper is to establish whether mathematics educators are adequately supported through school inspection to address mathematics problems within South African classes. For this goal to be achieved, governments have tasked district officials, hereafter known as school inspectors to ensure and guarantee the delivery of quality education to learners. Despite the belief that school inspection may have a positive impact on the teaching of mathematics, little is known about how school inspectors support mathematics educators. A critical factor in capacitating mathematics educators is to ensure that they acquire effective teaching skills to address learners' mathematics problems. The study employs a qualitative conceptual approach using literature that includes books, articles and chapters written on mathematics, locally and internationally. Due to the limited discourse on how school inspectors capacitate and supervise educators in South Africa, the text serves as a significant piece in understanding how school inspection is implemented for developing mathematics educators in South Africa. The argument posed is whether school inspectors can succeed in adequately fulfilling this task. Findings reveal that supporting mathematics educators provides opportunities that make a real and lasting difference in learners' lives. Recommendations are that the government and educational stakeholders should ensure that school inspection is regulated to ensure mathematics educators are capacitated to address difficulties in mathematics learning.
The Impact of Teacher-Student Relationships in Public Schools, Private Schools, and Madrasahs in Bangladesh
Author: Mustary, Mashraky
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Teacher Student Relationship,Public Schools,Private Schools,Islam,Religious Education,Foreign Countries,Academic Achievement,Classroom Environment,Comparative Analysis,Teacher Influence

Education is a very important aspect of a person's life. In Bangladesh, several different types of institutions are available for youth's education, including private schools, public schools, and religious schools called madrasahs. For these institutions to continue to run properly, teachers, students, and a curriculum must be present. A major aspect of the education system in Bangladesh is Islam and religious learning. The main objective of this study is to identify the effect of the teacher-student relationship in public schools, private schools, and madrasahs in Bangladesh. The research methods, including document review, observation and survey, were used to collect information from the target respondents in public, private, and madrasah schools in Bangladesh. The results show that teachers have a different kind of relationship with their students, depending on the school in which they are teaching. This is strongly determined by the number of students in the school, the degree of accessibility to each school, and social perceptions of the teacher-student relationship. The main purpose of this study is to understand how teacher-student relationships impact student's grades since these relationships have a great effect on the learning environment in all three types of institutions. Positive relationships help students feel loved and acknowledged, consoled and secure. This research, concentrated on three schools to perceive how educators' relationships with students have impacted their school life and how it has affected their studies.