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For the Sake of the Cause – Persistence of Romanian Higher Education Students in Finishing their Studies
22-30Views:237As a consequence of the expansion in higher education, the number of students has increased and the academic population has diversified but at the same time the university dropout has become a general problem since the last century (Trow, 2005; Kozma, 2010; Barro & Jong, 2013; Stanciu, 2014; Berei, 2018). In this paper, I proposed to analyze the persistence of students from 5 universities from Romania. We examine at institutional and individual level the perspective of their willingness to finish their studies. In partnership with the Center for Higher Education Research and Development - Hungary, named CHERD – H, from the University of Debrecen, was collected dates among students in 2012 (N=1323) and in 2014 - 2015 (N=323). Through a quantitative analysis, on a longitudinal perspective, I used SPSS statistical program to analyze data. The question of the research was: is there any difference between students` intentions to graduate on private and state institutions? Who is intending to finish and who is preparing to abandon his study? I concluded that students with unfavorable family background have nearly two times lower chance to enroll at state university and in private institutions students intention to enter into possesion of diploma was significant lower. With logistic regression I found also, that low financial status or low schooling of parents is not a significant obstacle on student academic path if they make every effort to participate in educational programs, submit assignments on time and are able to prepare for exams.
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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation to Learn as Factors of Resilience in Students' Pedagogical Disciplines - Pilot Study
17-23Views:242Motivation determines the dynamics of behaviour and helps in overcoming obstacles. A related concept is resilience, which also relates to overcoming stressful situations and speaks to an individual’s ability to adapt to challenging circumstances in life. The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between resilience and motivation to learn in students studying in the field of education. One hundred and thirty students participated in the research (100 bachelor students and 30 master students). The research instrument used to measure resilience was The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10) and to detemine motivation The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS-C 28) tool was used. The Mann-Whitney test found no significant difference between the two groups of students in each of the variables measured. The results show a significant association between resilience and types of intrinsic motivation in particular, but the strongest relationship was found between resilience and the lack of motivation. Students with low resilience scored higher on amotivation. For students at university, motivation to learn based on intrinsic drives is assumed to be self-evident. However, the ability to overcome obstacles is also necessary for the attainment of learning goals. Its degree can also be developed through educational intervention, which provides an opportunity for university teachers to expand their area of operation.
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Horizontal Segregation as a Consequence of Hidden Curriculum in Primary School
112-119Views:232Much of the special literature deals with examining textbooks, and during their analyses the underrepresentation of women in the world of teaching aids always comes out. The National Curricula (1995, 2003, 2007, 2012, and the new draft of the NC) serve as the basis for writing textbooks, thus it would be worth starting the examination of horizontal segregation according to gender here. In the current study, the goal is to identify and to map theoretical dimensions. This research introduces female education and stereotypes of women in Hungary, their theoretical background as regards horizontal segregation according to gender, and also introduces „hidden curriculum”. Horizontal segregation according to gender in higher education is easily seen, the goal of this study, however, is to examine its presence in primary school education through the teaching of three subjects: music, history, and physics. This dissertation is the first step in the research which furthers the mapping of the theoretical background.
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Encouraging Musical Creativity in Montenegrin Primary Education – A Case Study
27-35Views:223The need to change the paradigm of music education, which primarily relies on performing and listening to music, implies a more systematic introduction of activities that would enable the direct involvement of children in the exploration of sounds and the creation of their own music. By analysing the curricula and textbooks for music education in Montenegrin primary schools, as well as examining the attitudes of teachers about the realisation of musical creativity in teaching practice, it was found that these activities are not given enough attention. In order to introduce innovations in practice, an action research study was conducted, during 2017/2018 school year with 30 fifth grade pupils in one primary school, belonging to the Southern region of Montenegro. The obtained results, based on the qualitative findings, showed the connection between the categories that make up musical creativity in the classroom: acquiring musical knowledge, developing musical skills, encouraging problem solving, developing critical thinking, supporting collaborative creativity, motivation and integrative teaching. Hopefully, the conducted research will contribute to a wide range of understanding of musical creativity in the classroom context, as one of the leading topics of contemporary music pedagogy.
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Foreign Language Interpretation in Teaching Soloist Singing
75-89Views:126The problems of singing in the original language have become a special feature of the soloist training in the Central and Eastern Europe. The linguistic aspects of soloist training is put to the test by international expectation that regards authentic singing in the original language as a natural part of professional efficiency. In this present paper we are looking for the answers to two questions. First, we examined what factors determine the choice of the language for vocal interpretation. Our second goal is to give an overview of a specific segment of today’s Hungarian students’ population in higher education. We examined institutional, personal and curricular components for perfecting singing in the original language. The empirical study field of our research was Hungary’s higher education institutions of music in the 2016/17 term. Our researches were based on two methodological techniques. Among the higher education instructors of solo singers we conducted structured interviews and students from six higher educational institutions with this profile were the respondents of our questionnaire. The quantitative analysis of the research unequivocally represented the stronger demand of students for the training of linguistic interpretation. Our empirical research showed that the language efficiency of the solo singer students does not meet professional expectations. Pronunciation, comprehension, vocabulary, command of language and intonation are not utilized while singing and using the mirror effect of singing in a foreign language does not help perfect language knowledge either.
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The Influencing Factors of Dropout and Persistence of Central European Hungarian Minorities in Higher Educational Institutions
90-98Views:194The statistics show that minority Hungarians’ education and participation in higher education, lags far behind the majority of society in Central Europe. Furthermore, we also know that the smaller the community, the more educated they are. The explanation for this could be, those who are less educated are more prone to assimilate. As a result, the existential question from these minority groups comes down to the growth of their level of education, a condition of which is university students’ acquisition of diplomas. Those factors deserve more scrutiny, in their identification, that increase the chances of getting a diploma. The goal of our study is (1) to identify the students who are persistent and at risk of dropping out, (2) to define the risk factors, and (3) at the same time to uncover the protective/ supporting factors as well. The theoretical background for our research was constituted by the institutional integrational model. The database used for this study contains data collected during a survey of Hungarian students from four different countries in Central Europe (IESA 2015, N= 2017). We found from our research that though the effect of intergenerational connections among students at Central European minority schools proved significant, the effect of place of residence, of settlement type, and of relationships within the family was even stronger.
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The Connection between Extracurricular, Leisure Time Activities, Religiosity and the Reasons for Drop-out
55-67Views:316The interruption of tertiary education and the reduction in the dropout rate have been a central issue in educational sociology and education research. Exploring the possible reasons for dropping out can significantly contribute to reducing the trend. Our aim is to map the links between students dropping out and individual factors. Consequently, we investigate the connection between extracurricular and leisure-time activities, health behaviour and religiosity in relation to dropout. This is explained by the fact that one of the axioms of the literature on dropout is that belonging to civil networks usually strengthens the commitment to the successful completion of studies. In our analysis, we used the database created during the research carried out in 2018 by the Center for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD-H) in the framework of project No. 123847 of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund of Hungary, entitled The Role of Social and Organisational Factors in Student Dropout (DEPART 2018, N=605). Our results show that the neglect of study obligations among those who are disappointed in the course and further education is closely related to the shift in value preferences and an increase in the time spent with entertainment activities and partying. It can also be stated that students take part indifferent types of extracurricular activities only to a limited extent, and the different forms of participation in activities and religiosity are not related to the causes of dropout.
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Children’s Literature in Transcarpathian Schools for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
108-120Views:307Since the origins of formal foreign language teaching, literature has always played an important role. Currently, modern language teaching trends suggest starting foreign language learning as early as possible; thus, the use of children’s literature in foreign language teaching is undergoing a revolution. This situation encouraged us to examine the use of children’s literature and the attitude of foreign language teachers to it. This article focuses on primary and secondary school English language teachers in a western county of Ukraine (N = 118). The results of the qualitative research revealed that the teachers’ general attitude to the use of children’s literature is positive; they are aware of their advantages but still avoid using these materials. Most teachers do not apply children’s literature in their foreign language teaching because the school curriculum is too congested and fast-paced, they do not have access to appropriate authentic children’s literature, or they were not taught how to utilize authentic children’s literature during their university years. Results suggest that teachers should be encouraged to use children’s literature, though there is no universal solution. The first suggestion is for schools themselves to support teachers, but it would be a significant step forward if this approach were also to be taken in in-service training.
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How Do University Students Get Relevant Information?
67-79Views:215The web and learning have evolved parallel as technological changes have influenced teaching and learning processes. In this study, I intend to extend this parallel with two other dimensions, namely, human 1.0-3.0 and influencer 1.0-3.0. The concepts are closely related to how the online world became popular abroad and what their impact is on learning and education. Thus, the question, “what is the significance of social media, and of its latest, most popular actors, of the “work” of influencers (which can be interpreted as fake news) in the lives of students in higher education?”, is also a very pertinent issue to touch on. Its involvement in our lives is ever growing and very often influences our media literacy. This gives us even more reason to look into social media’s impact.
However, our main goal is to find answers to the following questions:
• What opportunities does the digital toolkit give to students? What kind of digital literacy do students think they need to thrive in the job market?
• To what extent does the ICT literacy of pedagogical students differ from that of other students (lawyer, economics, doctor, technical)? What form of cognitive development is used for lifelong learning?
• To what extent are students’ IT literacy influenced by cultural, material, and family capital?
• How is information acquisition implemented in education? How conscious is the use of media among university students, and what is their critical attitude?
• To what extent does online media penetrate the medium of formal-informal and non-formal learning? How does the influencer activity of professional opinion leaders help students to think critically and thoughtfully?The sample of the survey is made up of students from the University of Debrecen. From the results we can see, that university students behave differently in the online space, on social media platforms and on messengers than they would elsewhere, thus this affects how they get information. The current situation, the pandemic, clearly demonstrates that advanced digital competence is essential for a confident presence in the online space and advanced critical thinking. Problems of digital inequality and division have surfaced, and the constructed reality mediated by the media is becoming increasingly distorted. During this period, the relationship between the media and media consumers has changed greatly, and the interaction has intensified.
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First Generation Students in the Hungarian Higher Educational System
53-65Views:231The first part of the study attempts to summarise the most frequently used and cited theories and empirical findings in the field of first generation students. The specialist literature has identified those factors (cultural background of family, parents’ special attitude toward learning, the features of the time-budget etc.) which can generate a disadvantageous situation within the higher education system for these students. However, the presence of this group is a significant indicator of the openness of a society and social mobility, and a more careful analysis of this population may reduce the drop-out rate, as well. During the empirical analysis two databases were used (Eurostudent VI, Hungarian Youth Research 2012 and 2016). Our results draw attention to the process of social closure and the decreasing chance of attending higher education for young people from lower social groups. This unfavourable shift can mirror the relatively closed features of Hungarian society, but at the same time it can make the distances among social groups more rigid.
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The Development of the Number of Pupils in Secondary Institutions in Light of Political and School Structure Changes
70-81Views:159There are a number of factors around the world that influence the evolution of school structure such as historical, cultural tradition, nature of the economy, demographics, etc. After-primary school further education is a highlight of the Hungarian school system, as it also defines the entire school career and future of the pupils. The choice between the three types of training, the secondary school, vocational academic school and standard vocational school, is backed by different strategies spanning the entire school career of the students, the educational qualifications being the goal. While choosing high school leads to a degree, the choice of vocational school is one of the fastest and easiest ways of the acquisition of qualifications. However, vocational secondary school also offers a chance to study in higher education (Hermann, 2005) In our study, we look at the evolution of secondary school types in light of policy changes from the 1940s to the present day.
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Dropped-out Students and the Decision to Drop-out in Hungary
31-40Views:730The interpretation of the phenomenon of student dropout, which represents a waste of a relatively large proportion of human and material capital in the social, individual and institutional domain, is impossible without examining dropout students. In this study, we analysed the DEPART 2018 database, which contains data from 605 Hungarian dropout students. We tried to identify higher education dropout scenarios and pointed out that higher educational dropout is a complex phenomenon. Based on the students' reports on their interpretation and evaluation of their dropouts, four student clusters were created. We compared the groups with their socio-cultural background and their decision to drop out from higher education, and their assessment of that decision. The most important result of the study is that it identifies a new group in addition to the international dropout types, and provides a detailed picture that calls our attention to the diversity of dropout groups, thereby moving beyond the over-generalised image of the dropout student.
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Religious Socialisation of Children and Youth in Eastern Orthodox Christian Church as Educational and Pastoral Challenge of Sharing of Cultural Practices
1-16Views:307As a result of three decades of social-cultural transformation, Bulgarian literature and practice of religious education though still rare is increasing and improving. As the Church recovers, local parishes, monasteries, and convents become visibly re-socialised and motivated again to provide more adequate pastoral care for all ages. This study explores the importance of informal improvisation and innovation as an approach, in the best interest of children and youth, at a time when an effective, regulated mass public religious education system in Bulgaria is not likely to appear soon. At the same time, revitalised eparchial, parish, convent, and monastery centres start meeting actual needs of renewed church ethos, and begin to provide opportunities for religious socialisation of children and youth that is more functional. Based on direct and indirect experience, on observation, and on partial access to limited local empirical data (that is historically and/or anthropologically only partially explored and categorised), this paper contributes to the analysis of the following unresolved issue: how to direct research toward and keep account of well-known educational and pastoral practices, whether traditional or contemporary, that aid the effective and sustainable religious socialisation of children and youth.
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A Comparison of the Educational Methods of Zoltán Kodály and his Student, Klára Kokas
47-52Views:406After the presentation of Klára Kokas’ pedagogical methods and her own invented musical activities with children, I shall try to compare these methods with Zoltán Kodály’s music educational practices and innovations to emphasize the continuity and discontinuity of Hungarian music educational practice. Kokas centered her pedagogical concept on children’s creativity, human relations, acceptance of and complete attention paid to others. This world view and ideology was constructed around a child-centered sensitivity, music being her primary pedagogical resource. The goal of this paper is to explore the main elements and characteristics of Klára Kokas’s pedagogy, which were revolutionary and new in the fields of personality development, music and complex art education. I will draw out those elements, which show similarity between his work and Kokas’s, then I will point out those components in which Kokas offered excess for personality development. The main elements of this concept is music, dance improvisation, motions, imaginative stories, visual arts, painting and drawing, but it’s most important component is that very specific and intimate relation, which connected her to the children. My purpose is to highlight the contours of the Kokas’ pedagogy. In my comparative research I mention the reform pedagogical elements of the Zoltán Kodály’s concept, and I seek the common and different elements of their music educational ideas and innovations. The importance of her beliefs and moral convictions in the art of education will be outlined then.
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The Evolving Concept of (Language) Assessment Literacy. Implications for Teacher Education
120-130Views:452Language teachers’ assessment knowledge and skills have received considerable attention from language assessment researchers over the past few decades (Davison & Leung, 2009; Hill & McNamara, 2012; Rea-Dickins, 2001; Taylor, 2013). This seems to be linked to the increased professionalism expected of them in classroom-based assessments. However, teachers seem to face a number of challenges, including how large-scale standardized language exams influence their classroom assessment practices. Teachers’ assessment literacy, therefore, needs to be examined in order to explain their assessment decisions. In this paper, we review the concept of (language) assessment literacy, how it has evolved and how it is conceptualized currently. Recent interpretations seem to reflect a multidimensional, dynamic and situated view of (language) assessment literacy. Implications for teacher education are also highlighted by presenting research findings from studies that explored teachers’ and teacher candidates’ assessment literacy in various educational contexts. As a result, we can identify some common patterns in classroom assessment practices as well as context-specific training needs. Finally, we make a recommendation for tackling some of the challenges language teachers are facing in relation to classroom-based assessment in the Hungarian context.
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The Mentoring’s Role among Alumni Students of István Wáli Roma College for Advanced Studies of the Reformed Church
36-52Views:245Colleges for Advanced Studies (CASs) are the oldest institutionalized talent development initiatives of higher education in Hungary (since 1895). The Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education initiated the creation of a national network of denominational Roma CASs. In a CAS, students live in a dormitory, build a strong community, get scholarships and support from tutors and mentors. Important elements of Roma CASs are the following: religious education, social responsibility for society, and Roma identity empowerment (Godó et al., 2019; Kardos, 2013; Charta, 2011). In this study, we examined alumni (ex-university students) of a Roma CAS in Debrecen. Among other things, we were interested in how they relate to the mentoring process, how they feel about it, and how mentoring is perceived in their own lives. We are also interested in what types of mentors are mentioned and whether there is any form of mentoring in their current activities. Method of our research: qualitative interview analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2018 with 17 alumni selected by snowball method. According to our results, the former students named 2 types of mentors who were next to them: layman and professional mentors, or they themselves can be typed as mentors on the basis of the following: layman mentors (layman persons involved in mentoring activities) and professional mentors. We consider it important to emphasize the role of the pastor in a Reformed institution, who has also been promoted to the professional mentoring category. In addition, our goal is to investigate the characteristics of networking patterns that emerge around specialist college students.
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Education and the Significance of Life by Jiddu Krishnamurti
166-169Views:293Bibliography of the reviewed book: Krishnamurti, J. (1974). Education and the Significance of Life. All India Press.
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The Effectiveness of the Let’s Teach for Hungary Mentoring Program
150-160Views:157The situation of disadvantaged students has been a problem in the field of education for decades, -so much so that several disadvantage-compensation programs have been set up in an effort to reduce its effect. This includes the mentoring process, the primary purpose of providing support and assistance to younger individuals. The subjects of the research are the 7th grade students participating in the Let’s teach for Hungary mentoring program. The questionnaire survey was conducted in the autumn of 2019 (n=585), during which I focused on the children’s expectations of the mentoring program, their learning difficulties, learning motivations, and their plans for further learning. Classifying students in clusters based on their motivations, highlights the fact that the range of participants is not homogeneous this aspect. The Coronavirus epidemic has posed a significant challenge to traditional education, and the opportunities offered by personal mentoring have been pushed into the background over the past year and a half. Educators and students alike have struggled through the transition to digital education (Kristóf, 2020). Attendance mentoring was forced to continue in the form of distance mentoring. In my current research, I examine the existence of distance mentoring, the exploration of experiences, and the preparedness of the participants in the Teach for Hungary program. Data collection began in December 2021, and the query process is still ongoing. I carry out the survey using a mixed-method. I collect quantitative data among students with the help of questionnaires, which focus on the experiences, opinions and readiness of the children. In addition, I use a qualitative, interview-based research method that provides an understanding of more comprehensive experiences. I conduct interviews with educators, mentors, and mentored students. The subjects of the research are primary school students (8th grade students), mentors and teachers of a small settlement in Hajdú-Bihar county and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county (n=60 people). The research results can serve as feedback to the participants on the success of work done during distance mentoring. The results obtained can also serve as feedback for the Let’s teach for Hungary program because the program can be developed in the future from interviews.
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Higher Education Research on the Issue of Dropout
90-94Views:206Book review on Pusztai, G., Szigeti, F. (eds.): Dropout and Persistence in Higher Education. Debrecen University Press, University of Debrecen, 2018.
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Reading Assessment for Diagnosing Acquired Reading Disorders in Adults: Theoretical and Practical Aspects of its Development
70-83Views:123The study of reading processes is of particular importance in the assessment of cognitive-linguistic functions in both atypical development and acquired disorders of the adult developmental skills system. A comprehensive assessment of cognitive processes allows the selection of the appropriate therapeutic techniques, which in turn contributes to the best possible quality of life following rehabilitation. A common leading symptom of cognitive dysfunction in adult acquired neurological impairment is a deficit in reading. Our aim was to develop a reading assessment procedure based on national and international theoretical and empirical research to allow a complex assessment of reading processes. In order to investigate the reliability of the test and to develop an assessment system for it, a large-scale survey was organised. During the analyses, an evaluation system was developed which would allow us to objectively describe not only the fact of impairment but also its extent. Based on our results, the design of the Adult Acquired Reading Assessment and the comprehensive assessment system associated to it have resulted in a complex test procedure that is not only well applicable in clinical diagnostics but also in exploratory empirical work.
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Wind Bands for Hungarian Community Music
90-97Views:168The scholarly study of community bands as music communities can be considered a relatively young trend even on an international level. Despite this fact, there is more and more research done on the potential effects they may have on society and music education. Our national literary records on wind bands, however, are mainly focused on their historical background and their legacy in the military. Thus, there is an insufficient amount of information provided on the aspects of sociology and pedagogy. Besides the literary comparison done in our research, we also study the resupply of our national bands in music schools, using available data from the the 2016/2017 Statistical Yearbook of Public Education. This paper serves mainly as a tool of problem identification, laying the groundwork for further researches done in this area.
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New Paths to Online Teaching – How Can We Manage Knowledge Transfer and Make the Learning More Enjoyable?
55-62Views:218This study is based on the results from a national project initiative on digitalization, supported by methodology evidence from e-learning materials at the level of teachers’ training for vocational education institutes. Looking for the new paths to online learning We have been formulating the question for almost a decade: How can we manage the transfer of knowledge and make learning more enjoyable? For the steps forwards, the first impulses for understanding the recontextualization of vocational didactics and re-defining roles and responsibilities of the actors. Our paper deals with seeking a new method for content development and its application in vocational education and training (VET). This study recommends a kind of open framework[1] is provided by the fact that the innovation, which takes open source content development as one of the approaches of reforming teacher training for VET, is connected to a technical university of long-existing traditions. In line with the peculiarities of Hungarian VET, our research group undertook to develop methodological training in terms of complex school subjects. By applying their new concept, their concrete objective was: the methodological renewal of vocational teacher training and practical training by creating and applying complex learning content units online.
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Gender Differences Among Teacher Education Students in Light of a Pilot Study
80-93.Views:75This paper aims to present the measurement tool designed to examine gender differences among teacher education students and the results obtained during the research. The theoretical section of the paper describes teachers’ and parents’ influence on children’s gender role attitudes, gender socialization and career orientation. To prepare the questionnaire, we analyzed the Hungarian and international literature and built on the results of our previous qualitative research. We grouped our questions into three dimensions: (1) gender socialization in the family, (2) parental involvement, (3) gender socialization at school and career orientation. According to our results, gender-neutral toys were more often chosen by male students’ parents, and mothers were more involved in their children’s school activities than fathers, setting higher expectations as well. Teachers and parents, especially mothers, played an important role in students’ career choice. In addition, students perceived that teachers handled them differently depending on their gender in terms of the evaluation of their academic progress and behavior as well as the frequency of compliments and punishment.
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At the Crossroad of Cultures: Education and Identity of Hungarian Deaf Learners in Romania
68-78Views:196Deaf people living in ethnic-national minority situation form a social group whose members have multiple cultural backgrounds. Starting from interpretations which are viewing the deaf child as a member of a distinct cultural and linguistic minority, I studied the education of Hungarian deaf pupils in Romania graduating from the Hungarian Special School in Cluj/Kolozsvár/Klausenburg, with particular regard to the relationship between formal and informal language use in school, communication culture and identity. Methodologically the research is based on life path interviews with Hungarian Deaf Special School graduates, family case studies of two or three generation deaf families and structured interviews with experienced educators. The research results reveal that the educational practice of the concerned educational institution strengthens the pupils' identity awareness and sense of belonging to the Hungarian nation in two distinct, still interconnected ways: on the one hand, through oral language acquisition, nursing the oral Hungarian language skills, and on the other hand through cultivating the Hungarian Sign Language embedded in the deaf culture within the learner community. Nowadays, the conditions and modalities of exercising this role are changing in several respects. The positive educational effects achieved so far can be reinforced and strengthened by educational policies based on the recognition and cultivation of cultural diversity, in all its complex and multifaceted manifestations, including the peculiar needs of ethnic minority deaf learners.
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Favouring Middle-and Upper-Class Students? The Structure and Process of Attending China’s Selective Universities
1-16Views:300Research suggests the increasing influence of family socioeconomic status, as measured by parents’ income and occupations, in access to Chinese higher education. Yet, the literature remains inconclusive about the extent to which the social background of rural and urban students is associated with academic and social performance at elite universities. We address this limitation by looking at the academic and social success of representative samples of first- and second-year students enrolled at four Chinese elite universities. Our aim is to understand the characteristics that students from both urban and rural environments bring with them and how those characteristics bear on academic and social performance in university. We found an overrepresentation of students from middle- and upper-class backgrounds in both urban and rural student groups. The fact that the process indicator of cultural capital has a direct association with social success suggests students from urban areas exhibit traits valued in the selective university environment.