Issues and Ideas in Education
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Applying Innovation to CLIL
Full text linkThis paper describes a successful experience of flipped classroom conducted at the University of Salento, Italy, with students of English of the Courses of Study in Science of Primary Education, for the past three years. The initiative arises from the realisation that the traditional lecture does not work anymore with the new generations of students who need different stimuli in order to get the appropriate skills and competences required for their future profession. In a traditional lecture, students just take notes and try to memorise notions so as to pass the final exams and, after that, they tend to forget most of what they studied during the course. Moreover, in spite of the awareness of the importance of speaking English today, and in spite of various reforms aimed at achieving better competence, Italian students graduating from secondary schools, generally enter University with a low-level competence in the language. The pedagogical model of the flipped classroom applied to CLIL, along with strategies of non-formal education, involving team-work and problemsolving, based on the principle of learning by doing, were used to introduce theoretical topics and to perform a number of activities aimed at inclusion and intercultural education. Through active participation in discussion, different tasks assigned which required critical thinking, creativity and the use of communication technologies in creating several products, the students were able to master the theoretical topics planned for the course as well as the teaching approaches, methodologies and strategies to put them into practice in their future jobs
Elementary Education Majors’ Stories About Math: An Analysis of Students’ Mathematics Autobiographies
Full text linkThis paper analyzes 52 preservice elementary education majors’ mathematical autobiographies. Participants wrote about their previous experiences with mathematics. Three themes emerged:
(1) My previous teachers have played a significant role in the formation of my mathematical identity.
(2) I want to help my future students understand, enjoy, and appreciate mathematics. And
(3) Mathematics has its ups and downs. Although directed to define mathematics, many participants did not do so. The remaining participants described mathematics as needed for everyday life, as problem solving, or as a study
Content Teachers' Written Comments on Their Life-long English Language Profiles
Full text linkCLIL in Italy has been compulsory by law since 2003 (Moratti’s Law) for the last year of all secondary schools. Subject-matter teachers were chosen to be the CLIL teachers, and only in 2012 did methodological and linguistic training begin (provided by universities all over the country). This study explores the profile of content teachers attending CLIL training not in terms of their linguistic competence but in terms of their relationship with English as an additional language. To do so, 115 trainees were asked to fill in a questionnaire composed of 10 open-ended questions and 2 close-ended ones. This questionnaire had both a research and training goal, since it was submitted at the beginning of the training course to investigate content teachers’ perceived linguistic profiles, which served as a psychological and pedagogical starting point for the course. Results show that content teachers have a specific linguistic identity and have had similar past experiences with the English language. These results could have repercussions and be exported to other training programmes, especially in terms of shifting teachers’ personae from subject-matter to fully-fledged CLIL teachers
Medium of Instruction in the Schools of Assam: a Dilemma between Self identity and Unification
Full text linkEducation is always considered as a medium of social transformation. Education transmits the cultural and social identity of an individual or group of individuals from one generation to another generation. In broad sense education is the sum total of knowledge of society. During the present era the formal education has a crucial role to be played in transforming the existing knowledge and exploring the new knowledge in the human society. The formal system which is also called school system is highly responsible in this context. Now the question is if the demographic distribution of a particular region is highly uneven and each demographic group wants to sponsor their own language as medium of instruction, what would be the best solution. How does the governing system accommodate it? This paper highlights the same scenario in the school system of Assam, which is culturally and demographically diverse state of North East India. As Assam is a Tribal dominated state, the new generation of tribal segments is mostly the first generation learners. The greater Assamese society covers the sub communities like Tie- Ahom, Tie- Phake, Bodo, Missing, Karbi, Rabha, Tiwa, Konch, Sonowal, Kachari, Kalita, Dimasa, Tea Tribes, Gorkhas, Maran, Mattak, Khamti, Koibatra, Bengali and many more. Most of these communities have their own language or dialect and cultural traditions. Now the critical aspect is whether these communities get educated through Assamese language as medium of instruction or their own language as medium of instruction. This brings the dilemma between self identity and unification. Again the growth of English medium schools in Assam has shown another dimension of the aspect
Language Complexity and Multilingual Education in India – A Policy Perspective
Full text linkDebate on the medium of instruction in the primary education in India has a long history. Initially it was between classical Indian languages and foreign language, English. Colonial rulers promoted English education with adequate fund and trained teachers with modern education background. In the advent of independence movement, the medium of instruction became a political issue. The issue of what should be the medium of instruction for mass education has received the attention in all the education commissions from 1853 onwards. Independent India delineated this issue within the context of national integration and brought out three tier language formula in 1968. Only a few Indian States implemented it, while majority ignored this policy proposal. Meanwhile, the demand for English as medium of instruction strengthened among the urban middle class, making way out for modern Indian languages also from the classrooms. The present paper is an enquiry into the strategy and the methodology delineated to handle the linguistic diversity of the nation as well as the socio-economic mobility of the people through classrooms by Indian State using policy history framework
Building World-Class Universities in Developing Systems: The Success Case of the Indian Institutes of Technology
Full text linkWith a global shift towards knowledge-based economy,universities are required to produce knowledge and cutting-edge technologies to support their respective country’s economy. In response, many countries around the world seek to build their own world-class universities. Altbach (2010, p.1) argues that world-class universities‘demonstrate world class thinking and policy development in the sense that they employ state of the art solutions to pressing challenges of the twenty first century’.However, world-class universities are found only in a few wealthy Western countries. For instance, if one takes a quick glance at Global University Rankings (GUR), nearly every top university is situated in a high-income country. There are exceptions, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), which are known to produce the world’s most creative engineers. The GUR of IIT steadily rose over the past few years, drawing much attention from the industry for its unprecedented success. This research aims to trace the successful path of IIT to identify its success factors which may serve as reference points for other developing systems that aim to build world-class universities of their own. The study takes the two most prominent IIT, namely IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay.It also hypothesises and investigates whether the considerable amount of international co-operation activities IIT engaged in at the establishments have played a significant role in its success. The findings of the study showed that IIT’s limited financial resources were complemented by a highly concentrated pool of talented and motivated students,as well as professors who have abundant experiences in top-tier research and technical firms aboard. Another major factor was the government’s dedication. The government focused on creating a favourable environment for the institution and also prioritised IIT in its allocation of financial resources. Meanwhile, the study was unsuccessful in illustrating the role of international cooperation as the two sets of the collected data were contradictive
Hindi Language Competency of KGBV Students in Bihar
Full text linkThe study identified reasons for poor performance (about 40%) in Hindi language of class VI students in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) of Bihar and also noticed loss in transition (about 6 to 24 %) at the upper primary level despite residential facilities being provided to them. There existed acute shortage of teachers (46%) as well as wardens (46%) in KGBV, resulting in poor management of residential facilities. Additionally, non-availability of language teacher for teaching Hindi and their limited understanding of pedagogical processes left the teaching-learning transaction unattended. Their insufficient training to language at the time of induction showed a gap in inputs concerning what the students desired and what the teachers had. In some KGBVs (e.g. Kishanganj) there existed minimal activities to overcome learning deficiencies in Hindi. They had virtually no idea about how to evaluate students and formulate plan for improving Hindi language. Non-literate mothers had strong desire to educate their daughter (40 per cent achievement in Hindi language). Attitudinal problem of the school teachers and headmasters were prominently observed. They attributed to the KGBV stakeholders for the managerial activities. The study suggested deployment of teachers and their intensive training for improving Hindi language among the students of KGBV
Implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning at Schools in Latvia
Full text linkThe European Union supports multilingualism and promotes the learning of foreign languages since their knowledge enhances understanding among peoples and increases employability. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of foreign language education in schools, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been promoted in Europe; this has influenced ways in which Latvia nowadays approaches bilingual education. A qualitative case study was undertaken to explore the implementation of CLIL at schools in Latvia, CLIL being seen as an element of bilingual education. This article outlines the development of CLIL in Latvia, which is largely embedded in national level policies which have a substantial effect on the development of bilingual education and CLIL. It also clarifies the aims of this educational approach in the context of the present education challenges and assesses its potential in Latvia. It can be observed that education policies in Latvia not only aim at strengthening the ethnic minority learners’ knowledge of Latvian, but also at changing from the focus on second and foreign language learning outcomes to the emphasis on an integrated view on the development of language and non-linguistic subject content
Exploring Teacher Absenteeism Dilemma in Public Secondary Schools in Delta State, Nigeria
Full text linkThis investigation explored teacher absenteeism in public secondary schools in Delta State, Nigeria. Three research questions were answered. The study is a survey, ex-post-facto in nature. The sample of the study comprised sixty teachers and twenty principals, selected through simple random technique from the entire population of public secondary schools in Ethiope East and Ethiope West local government areas of Delta Central senatorial districts of the state. Data collected through questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, qualification and experience were responsible for teacher absenteeism. Teacher related and school related variable were identified as possible causes of teacher absenteeism among public secondary schools in the two local government areas of Delta State. The study recommended that principals should improve in their leadership and implement school attendance policies to help check mate and reduce absenteeism among teachers
Achievement in Mathematics of Ninth Class Government School Students in Relation to Their Parental Involvement
Full text linkThis study examines the achievement in mathematics of ninth class government school students in relation to their parental involvement. The findings were based on the responses of 453 government school adolescents (223 males and 230 females) selected from ten government schools of Chandigarh. Parental Involvement Scale and Mathematics Achievement test developed and standardized by the investigator were used for data collection. Results show that achievement in mathematics of adolescents studying in government schools is significantly and positively related with general welfare, monitoring, leisure time activities, and academic growth dimensions as well as parental involvement (total), except psychological autonomy dimension of parental involvement. The study concluded that there is significant difference in achievement in mathematics of ninth class government school students in relation to their parental involvement