IIUM Journal of Educational Studies
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Exploring Six Muslim Teachers’ Coping Strategies in Overcoming Mental Illness
Get PDFThe main purpose of this qualitative research was to explore Muslim Malaysian teachers’ perspective of both mental illness and well-being. The study aimed to understand the teachers’ coping strategies in overcoming mental illness and the relationship between spiritual practices and mental well-being. Six Muslim Malaysian teachers were involved in this study. All of them were teachers at the government public schools and they had experienced mental illnesses during their career. The six teachers were interviewed using semi-structure interview protocol. The interviews took place at different times and settings. Content and inductive analysis was used to interpret data for all participants. Findings of this study showed four themes, namely medical treatment, religion, family and societal support, and positivity were dominant. The four subthemes emerged from the religion theme were prayers, reading the Qur’an, protective factor, and diseases of the heart. These subthemes showed the relationship between spiritual practices and mental well-being. Finally, the study revealed the importance of seeking professional help, getting appropriate medical treatment, and engaging in various spiritual practices such as performing the five daily prayers, zikr, salawat shifa,’ and reading the Qu’ran in bringing the feeling of peace and calmness in these Muslim teachers’ lives, hence helping them to cope and become productive teachers
Evaluation of an Educational Planning Training Course for Supervisors of Educational Planning in the Ministry of Education
Get PDFThe study aims to determine the quality of the Educational Planning training course for the planning supervisors in the Ministry of Education. This course is provided by the Leadership Training Center in the College of Education at King Saud University. The study also aims to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the Educational Planning course, and the trainees’ views and suggestions for the course’s development. The study identifies the impact of the trainees’ characteristics (academic level, previous experience in planning, age) in their evaluation of the Educational Planning course. The community (and sample) of the study consists of 75 trainees, of which 50 trainees responded to the study questionnaire. A questionnaire was developed to explore the trainees' point of views on their experience of the training course in terms of its objectives, content, scheduling, the training environment, trainers and course management. The study used the “SEVQUAL” approach to measure the gap between what the trainees’ expectations of the institution and their perceptions of the institution’s actual performance. The differences between the trainees’ perceptions and expectations can be described mathematically as follows:Quality of training (Q) = actual performance (P) - expected performance (E). The study’s results show negative gaps in all dimensions and phases with an average gap of -2.67, indicating that the trainees were not satisfied with the training course they experienced. The maximum negative gap is in the “training materials” dimension (an average of -2.8), followed by “assessment of trainers” (a negative gap of -2.6). Next, the dimension of “training activities” has a negative gap (-2.53), and finally the “course schedule” and “training environment” dimensions which have less negative gaps (-2 and -1.3 respectively). The trainees listed many pros and cons of the training course and a set of suggestions for the development of the training course
The Practices of Human Resource Management Among Headmasters in Primary Schools: A Case Study of Selected National and Private Schools in Malaysia
Get PDFThis study focuses on the practices of human resource management among headmasters in primary schools across Malaysia. It concentrates on how headmasters perceive the concept of human resource management and translate it into practice. The qualitative research design is applied on six headmasters, four males and two females who serve in selected national and private primary schools. The qualitative data from the interviews are organized into themes and sub-themes. The major findings of this study reveal that a majority of the headmasters perceive human resource management as a shared responsibility among teachers and school administrators while the headmaster is the key manager. It also reveals that headmasters in national schools believe that human resource management is important to reach the educational goal. In contrast, a majority of headmasters in private schools believe that it is important for sustainability. In addition, this study also reveals that the headmasters of national schools have less autonomy in decision-making process as compared to headmasters of private schools. The results have implications on two major aspects; the leadership in human resource management and the system. The leadership implication will help headmasters identify the best practices of human resource management including support and professional development for the teachers. System refers to teacher placement and other policy implementation. Finally, this study recommends more authority to be given to headmasters in managing human resource in schools, especially in the national schools
The Relationship between Mastery Experience and Teacher Self-Efficacy: A Meta-Analytic Review
Get PDFThe objective of the meta-analysis was to examine the likelihood and magnitude of the effect of the mastery experience and teacher self-efficacy relationship. The meta-analysis also aimed to identify the moderators of the relationship. A total of 39 original studies, involving 9,560 teachers was included in the meta-analysis. To identify the moderators, the study applied meta-regression procedure. The results supported the expectation that mastery experience positively influences teacher self-efficacy. In addition, differences in research design, school level, and culture impacted the variability of the relationship
The Effectiveness of a Proposed Enrichment Program in Developing Geographical Concepts and Cosmic Awareness among High School Students in Saudi Arabia
Get PDFThe current study is an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of a proposed enrichment program to develop geographical and cosmic concepts and knowledge among high school 2nd grade female students in KSA. The population consisted of high school 2nd grade female students, Humanities stream, for the academic year 2016/2017. The sample of the study consisted of (50) female students, randomly selected. The participants were divided into two groups, experimental (25) and control (25). The quasi-experimental method has been adopted in this study. The statistical treatments conducted such as (arithmetic mean and standard deviation) and Man Whitney Test used to confirm equivalence between the two groups, T-Test to find differences between the two groups. ETA Square used to measure the effect size for the adopted enrichment program. The study resulted in a great effect of the proposed enrichment program on the female students’ achievement of geographical and cosmic concepts. The results also indicated an effect of the proposed program in developing cosmic awareness. The most significant recommendations represented in having interest in developing enrichment programs, on which training courses should be conducted for pre and in-service teachers in order to change Geography curriculum from achievement curriculum into enrichment one, and reconsidering Geography curricula to enrich them with activities that develop geographical and cosmic concepts and cosmic awareness. 
High English Literacy among Students from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds: Exploring the Challenges
Get PDFAs people agree that socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the contributing factors that hinders one’s literacy development, there are still students who come from low socioeconomic background yet are able to acquire high English literacy despite the presence of life stressors. This study examines the challenges faced by low SES students in acquiring high English literacy and the factors that help them to overcome those challenges. Three students aged fourteen to sixteen years old were chosen as the sample for this study through purposive sampling technique. A qualitative semi-structured interview was conducted to obtain in-depth information about the topic discussed. Three themes emerged which include individual, family and school that demonstrated the challenges faced by low SES students in acquiring high English literacy and the factors that helped them to overcome those challenges. In brief, the participants agreed that their internal motivation and hard work were the most important factors that kept them positive to fight against challenges and become highly literate in the English language.
Keywords: Semi-structured interview, qualitative, socioeconomic status (SES), English literacy, motivatio
The Effects of Storytelling on Primary Students' Arabic Vocabulary Acquisition and Interest
Get PDFThis article reports on a quasi-experimental study conducted to determine the effectiveness of storytelling in enhancing students’ Arabic vocabulary acquisition and interest in the technique. The experiment was carried out with 24 Primary 6 students over a period of one and a half weeks at a well-established madrasah in Singapore. Two instruments were used to collect data on Arabic vocabulary acquisition and student interest in storytelling, namely Wesche and Paribakht's (1996) Vocabulary Knowledge Scale and an Interest-in-Storytelling questionnaire. To address the research questions, the study used descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test. The main observations were: i) the control group obtained a higher mastery of Arabic vocabulary after the experiment was conducted, which was due to their relatively higher academic ability; ii) the two groups had unequal ability from the very onset of the study; iii) based on Cohen’s d effect size of 3.68, the storytelling technique had a tremendous effect on the treatment group's Arabic vocabulary acquisition; and (iv) students expressed a general interest in storytelling as a means of learning Arabic vocabulary where a majority (83%) liked storytelling as a method to discover new words. The study made some recommendations on how teachers can improve their practices of storytelling to increase students' learning of Arabic vocabulary
Integrating computer-related technology into instructional practice at a higher learning institution in Malaysia
No full textMalaysian Higher Learning institutions have embraced the 21st century skills in teaching and learning to ensure career readiness among learners. Information Communication Technology tools provide the opportunity for educators to address problem-solving and project-based learning in both face-to-face and blended learning. However, there have been issues of educators’ awareness and skills in utilizing the technology tools in the instructional processes. This study attempts to explore the experience and awareness among lecturers to integrate computer-related technologies in undergraduate classrooms. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with two lecturers who are experts in foreign language and one from Instructional Technology field. In-depth semi structured interviews and observations became the main qualitative instruments for this study. The purpose of the study sought to reveal the pedagogical approach and types of Information technology adopted in the classrooms. This study addressed their awareness and issues related to the use of technology in the classroom. The results were thematized based on Web 2.0 tools integration, pedagogical approach in addressing higher order thinking skills and student career readiness. Lecturers were found to be aware of the relevance of Web 2.0 tools for instructional purposes. However, they highlighted low internet speed as the main challenge in their efforts to integrate technology into their instructional activities. This research contributes to the area of TPACK (Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge) by highlighting the application of computer-related technologies into classroom instruction and how such technologies are matched with learner-centered instructional strategies to enhance learners’ 21st century skills that are essential for career readiness
Exploring English Language Teachers’ Challenges and Coping Strategies in Teaching Slow Learners in Inclusive Education Programmes
Get PDFIt has been reported that English as second language (ESL) teachers are not well-trained to teach slow learners in inclusive education. The aim of this study is to explore the challenges that Malaysian English language teachers faced when teaching slow learners in the inclusive educational program as well as to determine their coping strategies. The present study employed a qualitative research method with case study design through face-to-face interviews with three English language teachers from three secondary schools in Malaysia. Five major themes were found through thematic analysis: external factors and internal factors represented the challenges that Malaysian teachers faced when teaching slow learners in the inclusive education, while teaching resources, remedial activities and teachers’ skills represented the coping strategies used by the English language teachers