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State language and foreign language competence in minority schools: Social and institutional determinants of Ukrainian and English proficiency in Transcarpathia
17–27Views:113This study examines Ukrainian (state language) and English language performance among students attending Hungarian-medium schools in Transcarpathia within the context of post-2017 language-use restrictions. The empirical assessment conducted in spring 2024 involved 1,082 students in Grades 6 and 8 from 39 Hungarian-medium schools. English language competence was measured using standardized tests, while Ukrainian language proficiency was assessed through locally developed instruments. A background questionnaire collected data on students’ family background, socio-economic conditions, and linguistic environment. Regression analyses indicate that Ukrainian language performance is most strongly predicted by socio-economic status and type of settlement, highlighting the role of structural and environmental factors. In contrast, English language achievement is primarily shaped by individual academic indicators and institutional characteristics, with students attending church-maintained schools demonstrating significantly higher performance. In both languages, a strong association was found between subject grades and test results. The findings underscore that Ukrainian language competence is substantially influenced by structural disadvantages, whereas foreign language learning outcomes are more strongly supported by institutional culture and pedagogical coherence. The research highlights that Ukrainian language competence is influenced by structural disadvantages, while the effectiveness of foreign language learning can be strengthened by institutional culture and pedagogical coherence.
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Teachers’ Practices in Fostering Children’s Critical Thinking at Pre-Primary Level in Kongwa District
1-9Views:373Critical thinking skills is one of the most important 21st century skills and one of the most vital indicators of the quality of education children are receiving. In enhancing these important skills, it is very important to unfold teachers’ practices in fostering children’s critical thinking skills. Therefore, this study investigated teachers’ practices in fostering children’s critical thinking skills in pre-primary level in the Kongwa District of the Dodoma Region, Tanzania. The study employed a qualitative research approach with a phenomenography research design. The total sample of the study was 35 respondents, selected through the criterion purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and classroom observation. Data analyses were done through the thematic analysis framework of Braun and Clarke (2021). The findings revealed that teachers’ practices which include teachers’ preparations, the use of instructional strategies, social activities, teaching and learning materials, and creating classroom learning environment helps children to think critically. The study recommends the quality assurers should maintain monitoring and supervision of teachers’ classroom practices in promoting the critical thinking skills of children.
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The Relations between Student Foreign Language Anxiety and Social Variables
87-100Views:343Due to the labour market expectations, universities are responsible for preparing their students for competitive employment in Hungary or abroad. However, language anxiety is an insurmountable problem for many people, making it difficult to learn foreign languages, even though a confident command of them is a key factor in any job interview and essential in the world of work. This complex is one of the main factors hindering language learning, affecting all people to either a greater or lesser extent. In 2023, the University of Debrecen's researchers studied the impact of language anxiety on foreign language learning, surveying approximately 400 students of the university's commerce, marketing, and business management courses. After having a questionnaire filled in, descriptive statistical and cross-tabulation analyses were conducted, and the focus was on analysing the impact of social variables on language anxiety. Our research shows that women are significantly more anxious than men. Students who work while studying and use their foreign language skills at work experience significantly more anxiety than students who do not use a foreign language. Parents' language skills significantly affect their children's language anxiety. The research topic is relevant, as it highlights the importance of teaching strategies to reduce language anxiety in university foreign language teaching. The present study facilitates the teaching of those students who would not be able to overcome the anxiety barrier.
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The role of digital background factors in academic achievement. A comparative study of students from three countries based on the PISA 2022 database
115–128Views:129This study investigates the impact of students’ digital background factors on mathematical achievement using data from the 2022 PISA assessment. The analysis focuses on 15-year-old students from Austria, Estonia, and Hungary with particular attention given to the interplay between home financial conditions, ICT availability and usage, digital attitudes, and mathematics performance. Drawing on student questionnaire responses, we constructed composite indices and factor scores representing digital access, usage frequency, and digital competence at both home and school settings. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and linear regression models were applied to explore the relationships between digital background variables and students' mathematics proficiency scores. The results reveal that home financial status consistently predicts higher achievement across all three countries, whereas the frequency of school-based ICT use shows a negative correlation with performance. Conversely, home-based ICT usage and positive attitudes towards online platforms correlate with higher mathematics outcomes. The Estonian data challenge the initial hypothesis of a country-specific positive effect of ICT usage in schools, suggesting instead that the quality and context of digital integration matter more than frequency. The findings also highlight the importance of learning orientation and student motivation in shaping mathematics performance. Despite some methodological limitations – such as the cross-sectional nature of the data and reliance on self-reported measures – the study offers reliable insights into how digital background factors influence academic outcomes. The results underscore the need for more effective integration of ICT tools in classrooms, informed by students' learning habits and preferences.
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Differences in Foreign Language Choice of Students from Different Social Backgrounds
78-86Views:396According to previous research (e.g. Bernstein, 1971; Gogolin, 2014; Hegedűs et al., 2019), family background plays a decisive role in an individual's mother tongue acquisition and in learning foreign languages. In another study, parents with a high social background (54.0%) chose German for their children, and parents with a low social background (56.9%) chose English in primary school (Sebestyén, 2021). Based on this, in the study I examine what difference can be detected in the foreign language choice of high school students from different social backgrounds. In the study, I analyze the student data (890 people) of my database entitled “German learning and teaching in Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties” prepared in the 2018/2019 school year, during which I perform cross-tabulation and cluster analysis with the help of SPSS program. The database contains data on 11th grade high school and vocational high school students who studied German and / or English in high school. As the results, there are differences between the learned foreign languages among secondary school students according to family background. Among the clusters related to high school choice, those belonging to the “Higher Education Oriented Local” cluster are most interested in foreign languages, most German-speaking (74.0%) and English (89,0%) students tend to be in this cluster. Overall, the majority of respondents learn English, while students from higher social backgrounds (also) learn German.
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Participation in Shadow Education in Church- and State-Maintained Schools: The Role of Cultural and Social Capital
60-75Views:286Research on shadow education is often justified based on Bourdieu’s theory of capital as it is assumed to contribute to social inequalities. This paper focuses on the role of cultural and social capital and on the differences between state- and church-maintained schools in the North-Eastern parts of Hungary. Using a convenience sample and our own constructed measurement tool, a quantitative survey of secondary school language learners (N=711) was conducted to explore the relationship between the effectiveness of supplementary private language tutoring as well as the cultural and social capital of language learners in cross-sectoral comparisons. Our results highlight the positive correlation between the highest educational attainment of the mother, the participation rate in shadow education and language learners’ achievement. In our study, language learners whose mothers had a higher education level demonstrated greater efficiency, in terms of academic achievements. Despite being less successful in passing language examinations as a result of a lower social composition in denominational grammar schools, language learners could count on a higher level of support both from their language teachers - who were better able to support their students to progress at their own pace - and from their classmates and families, demonstrating that social capital had a compensating effect on their learning trajectories.
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Presence of Open Science Skills in Learning Outcomes at the Lis Study Programs in Croatia
8-17Views:333Open science is an ever-evolving phenomenon. Open science deals with the availability of data and publications, which includes an open approach with which publicly funded research is sought to be made available to all members of society and the public. It is an umbrella term that includes a multitude of assumptions about the future of knowledge creation and dissemination (Fecher & Friesike, 2014). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) emphasizes libraries as a key player and fundamental drivers of open science because they have adapted their role to today’s age and are now active in preserving, publishing, and disseminating digital scientific material in the form of publications, data, and other research-relate content. During their studies, LIS (Library and information science(s)) students acquire knowledge and develop a set of skills that will prepare them for work in today’s information environment. In 2020. LIBER’s (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries) Digital Skills for Library Staff and Researchers Working Group published a visual presentation of the necessary competencies for librarians and researchers. Information science studies, including those in Croatia, are exposed to constant changes in the field, including the development of open science. For this reason, it is necessary to constantly think about the adaptation of study programs through which students will acquire basic knowledge related to the promotion and advocacy of open science. The term “open science”, and everything it encompasses, should be an integral part of study programs in the field of information sciences. The aim of this paper is to explore the representation of skills and competencies for open science in study programs at the LIS studies in Croatia: Department of Information and Communication Sciences (Zagreb), Department of information sciences (Osijek) and Department of information science (Zadar). This research indicated the need for greater inclusion of the concepts of scientific communication and open science in the learning outcomes at the level of programs in the study of information sciences in Zadar, Zagreb, and Osijek.
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Parental Assistance with Assignments – Types of Parental Involvement in Homework
25-36.Views:705The present study analyses – using qualitative methods – parental involvement in children’s homework, the forms of parental involvement and the types of parents in the studied area, emphasizing the decisive role of parents in the educational life of their children, using the sample of several rural settlements in Szeklerland. By focusing on the rural context, this research contributes to the existing literature by offering a more nuanced understanding of parental involvement, potentially uncovering challenges and strategies that are unique to rural communities. The literature lacks a parent typology based on qualitative research. The most common types of parents are: “aversive”, “ ambitious “, “partner”, “accountable”, “networking”. The benefits of parental support for children’s learning at home have been widely emphasized by experts in recent research. Active parental involvement has a positive impact on student achievement and learning. It also gives parents a better insight into school life and enables them to develop a partnership with the teachers.
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International Trends of Remote Teaching Ordered in Light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its Most Popular Video Conferencing Applications that Implement Communication
84-92Views:2895The global coronavirus pandemic that emerged at the end of 2019 and will reach its peak in 2020 has affected education systems worldwide and led to widespread, complete closure of schools, universities, and colleges. UNESCO estimates that a total of nearly 1.6 billion students worldwide have been affected by the closures of educational institutions. The indicator was the highest in the period from April 1 to April 5, when exactly 1,598,099,008 students were affected by the measures. This accounted for 91.3% of the world’s total learning community, with a total of 193 countries providing full nationwide remote teaching. In response to school clo-sures, UNESCO has proposed distance learning programs as well as open educational applications and platforms that have ena-bled schools and teachers to reach their students remotely and make online education easier (UNESCO, 2020). In addition to reviewing the recent literature and monitoring lockdown measures, the study also suggests a number of specific solutions.
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Digital Creativity Development in an E-learning Environment – A 3D Design Project
49-54Views:491During the pandemic, arts disciplines had to seek new paths for creation to continue visual skills development outside the studio. ICTs offer a natural tool set for individual and collaborative work and sharing online. 3D design and the development of digital creativity can represent new directions for Hungarian art education and its major discipline called Visual Culture. With this tool, visual art education can proceed on the bumpy road to teach the visual language of the 21st century. Certainly, technological focus is not the only option for progress in art education. Nevertheless, if we look for possible directions for renewal, we cannot ignore the use of software products that support visual creativity,and are becoming more and more easily available, simpler and free of charge. This paper focuses on the pedagogical possibilities of 3D printing. We present an experimental program with secondary school students aged 16 years, that started and ended face-to-face and was partly realised online. As the project manifests a creative synergy of Visual Culture and Information Technology disciplines that may be of interest for art and ICT educators as well.
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The Effectiveness of Indigenous African Values in Building the Resilience of Out-Of-School Suspended Learners
Views:201This study explores the effectiveness of indigenous African values in building the resilience of suspended learners in South African township schools. Schools often impose suspensions in response to a wide range of behaviour challenges established by legislators and officials to address problems related to school interruptions. Nevertheless, despite the established disciplinary procedures, students still exhibit difficult behaviour. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of African Indigenous values in building the resilience of suspended learners. The study comes from larger research that focuses on the experiences of suspended learners in the context of township secondary schools. This research study is qualitative in nature to provide a rich description of the parents' experiences in their natural setting. I used a purposive sample of parents of suspended learners based on the characteristics of the population and the objective of the study. I collected data using face-to-face interviews, field notes, and documents. The collected data was organised, organized, prepared systematically, and classified into themes and categories. The findings showed that given the increasing number of suspended learners in township schools, parents and the school community recognised the need to understand the risk factors that contribute to behaviour problems as a stepping stone to building the resilience of adolescents.
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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation to Learn as Factors of Resilience in Students' Pedagogical Disciplines - Pilot Study
17-23Views:745Motivation 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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First Generation Students in the Hungarian Higher Educational System
53-65Views:405The 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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AI as a digital assistant in a multi-ethnic VET system: Evidence from the VETAssIst project in Serbia
28–36Views:70Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly framed as a lever for teaching efficiency in vocational education and training (VET), yet adoption is mediated by teachers’ linguistic and cultural contexts. This study, conducted within the VETAssIst project, compares AI‑related readiness and needs among VET teachers in Serbia across two cohorts working under the same national framework: Hungarian‑minority teachers in Vojvodina and Serbian‑majority teachers. Using a structured questionnaire, we examine perceived usefulness of AI as a ‘digital assistant’ for lesson planning, assessment, and administrative work, self‑reported digital competence, perceived institutional support, and readiness for integration. The evidence indicates broadly similar baseline competence across cohorts, strong intentions to expand classroom use, and uneven institutional backing. Recurrent requirements include VET‑specific AI tools, clearer school‑level policies, targeted professional development, and language‑accessible resources. We argue that sustainable digital transformation in multi‑ethnic VET systems depends on aligning tool ecosystems and professional learning with the linguistic diversity of the workforce, thereby preventing intra‑system digital divides.
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Language, school and society: The status of German in Hungarian public education
159–163Views:62Bibliography of the reviewed book: Sebestyén, K. (2023). Kik és miért tanulnak németet az érettségit adó képzésekben? [Who and why do the study German in the programs with secondary school leaving exam?]. Debrecen University Press.
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Digital Diet and Relevant Minority Aspects during Home Preschool Education
121-130Views:253The aim of the present research is to provide an outline of the home education situation of Hungarian children enrolled in educational institutions in Romania. The research focuses on the perspective of early childhood teachers and education experts. Our objective is to identify the factors influencing the digital diet in minority preschool education and investigate whether this phenomenon, along with practices in home education, have specific distinguishing features as compared to trends in mainstream education. Approaches to digital diet and preschoolers’ use of digital tools are basic components of our interpretative framework. We set out to investigate this pedagogical phenomenon in the light of minority education, considering the educational situation in dispersed and block regions. Our descriptive study, built on a questionnaire (own design), presents the good practices in home education focusing specifically on minority aspects. Our sample consisted of 403 early childhood teachers and 14 minority education experts resulting from convenience sampling. The investigation reveals a more liberal home education style. According to experts, the national regulatory framework for home education gives rise to conflicting interpretations and specific minority provisions and recommendations are less straightforward. During home education, the proportion of the areas of development and that of learning content is distorted, and the language of instruction as a factor influencing the digital diet becomes especially prominent. Research results did not focus primarily on the minority features of home education and the digital diet but rather on regional and local distinguishing features.
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The Situation and Chances of Roma students in Secondary and Tertiary Education in Hungary
26-35Views:466Addressing student drop-out or early school leaving has long been a major challenge for education policy makers at both national and international levels. This phenomenon affects all levels of education and has a profound impact on those classes of society that are economically and socio-culturally disadvantaged. This is particularly the case of the largest minority group in Hungary, the Roma, and its roots go back to primary education. Since the 1990s, so from the change of the regime, a positive tendency could have been observed in the completion of primary education, but in secondary school graduation and in obtaining a higher education degree they are still far behind the non-Roma population. In the current study, we identify causes of their learning failures, and we also present a selection of study grants that are available to young Roma students and support them to achieve higher levels of education. We also highlight the difficulties faced by those Roma youth, who have origins in traditional communities but obtain higher educational degrees.
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Health Awareness and Study Performance in Public Educational Type Sports Schools
134-136Views:257Book review on Kovács, K.E. (2020). Health and Learning in Public Educational Type Sports Schools. University of Debrecen: CHERD-Hungary. ISBN 978-615-6012-03-6
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A quantitative study of teacher trainees' experiences of board game pedagogy
129–142Views:67Nowadays, educating the young generation is a challenge for educators, as traditional teaching methods are no longer sufficient (Khalaf & Zin, 2018), so teaching methods that build not only on the cognitive but also on the social and emotional dimensions of learning must be used (Illeris, 2010; Lim et al, 2019.) Board game pedagogy is proving to be a useful method for solving the problems of 21st century education: board games can be used to introduce new topics or to teach specific parts of the curriculum (Damsa & Fromann, 2016; Antonaci et al, 2015). In our quantitative, pilot study (n=103), we seek to answer the question of the extent to which teacher trainees are familiarised with board game pedagogy during their training, and to assess the frequency of didactic methods and working methods used by university teachers. Of the students surveyed, only 54 had heard of board game pedagogy, a large proportion of them consider it to be a motivating and effective teaching tool and would like it to be part of their training. Regarding the variety of working methods and forms of work of university teachers, the more traditional methods of lecture and explanation, as well as individual and frontal forms of work, predominate. Despite these limitations, we have data that could serve as a basis for future research and could also contribute to the development of teacher education.
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The performance of Hungarian minority students in PISA assessments (2003–2022)
1–16Views:105The analysis tries to describe the academic competencies of Hungarian minority students in the Carpathian Basin based on international PISA assessments. To this end, the author first addressed some methodological aspects of the PISA assessments and then presented some international data. Although the school competencies of Hungarian youth in Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia, as revealed by PISA data, show a fluctuating picture over time, a few patterns clearly emerge. First, one can see that while in Transylvania it appears that Hungarian students perform better than the majority students, in Slovakia the opposite is true, and in Vojvodina the homogeneity of the school-system is evident, as there is no significant difference here between Hungarian minority and majority youth. Despite the small sample sizes, one can still gain some insight into learning in a non-native language: in Romania and Serbia, this generally results in a disadvantage, but Slovakia stands out as an exception in this regard as well: here, it appears that choosing the majority language carries neither an advantage nor a disadvantage in terms of academic competencies. When interpreting academic performance, however, it is essential to take various background factors into account, primarily family background. The analysis highlights that the index of the socio-economic background of majority and minority Hungarian youth shows significant differences. To measure the net effect of the test language a linear regression model was elaborated. Using this, the author argues that the test language exerts a significant effect in the areas of mathematics and sciences.
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CLIL: Bridging the Gap Between Language and Content
94-97.Views:266Bibliography of the reviewed book: Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D (2010). CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge University Press.
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Digital Tools of Universal Music Education
60-66Views:1237The purpose of this article is to present various solutions concerning music education aided by computer technologies. The article applies public music education. The author attempts to provide an answer to questions concerning the role of music teachers working with new media , which requires them to constantly improve and expand their skills. How are they able to utilise new technological achievements while at the same time blending them with well-proven, traditional methods of music teaching/learning, without falling prey to the dangers of modern media ? Any attempts at using innovative solutions are bound to cause numerous challenges for students, teachers, and the entire education system. However, the effects of such actions could contribute to the improvement of the quality of music education in society, which justifies the efforts. The intention of the author is attempt to look into the future on the basis of the existing data sources, analyses and global pedagogical trends and to search for theoretical and practical solutions, which may influence the formulation of the paradigms in modern music teaching.
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Dual Career through the Analysis of Policy Documents: A Case Study Focusing on Athletics
86-96Views:564Careers can be influenced by several factor groups: opportunities provided by (1) the environment, (2) ambition, and (3) personal aptitude (Juhász & Matiscsákné Lizák, 2014). In the case of a dual career in sports, an athlete’s career is not limited to sports only, but also can include education. It is worthwhile for sportsmen to learn alongside their athletic career. For, a sporting career can come to an end at any time due to any unexpected event (Baráth et al., 2014). This dual career’s success depends heavily on the people in the athlete’s immediate environment. In our research, we used a qualitative method to conduct a content analysis of policy documents and semi-structured interviews with Olympians of three countries, one from Slovenia, one from Germany, and one from Hungary. We divided up our investigation into questions related to funding, professional background and studies. Their opinions showed that all three athletes are satisfied with the support they receive for their current dual careers, with only the Slovenian athlete feeling a slight deficiency. They have successfully combined their studies and sport, and all three have attended or are currently attending higher education. It can be concluded that all sport policy efforts show the potential for dual career assistance with a focus on self-efficacy. No differences can be found in the expectations of these elite athletes, and all feel the need to continue their studies in addition to sporting, regardless of whether or not it coincides with their previous studies. As regards the need to continue studying, the Slovenian athlete felt the least need. This degree of “need” does not affect the performance of the athletes in their respective sports, as all of them love sports. All receive adequate funding as well. In all three countries studied, we found such a level of support for the athlete that ought to be held up as ‘good practice’. The German competitor in particular possesses such professional staff that we would highlight and recommend it as good practice to follow.
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Teacher-Driven Strategies for Enhancing Parental Involvement in Rural Education
Views:277Parental involvement is widely acknowledged as a vital contributor to learners’ academic achievement and overall school success. While much is known about the benefits of parental engagement, particularly in urban and well-resourced settings, the dynamics and challenges in rural schools remain underexplored. This study addresses that gap by investigating how teachers perceive and implement strategies to enhance parental involvement in rural contexts. Specifically, the study aimed to answer the following question: (1) What are teachers’ perceptions and experiences regarding parental involvement in rural schools? and (2) What teacher-driven strategies do they propose to improve collaboration with parents? This qualitative case study draws on Rotter’s Social Learning Theory to explain how behaviour is shaped by observation, reinforcement, and social interaction. The study was conducted at a rural high school in Mandlanzini Agri-village, KwaZulu-Natal, with ten purposively selected teachers as participants. Data were collected through a semi-structured online questionnaire and analysed thematically following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) coding process. The findings reveal a pressing need for structured, teacher-driven strategies that extend beyond standard parent-teacher meetings to include structured and culturally responsive interventions. The study highlights the practical value of teacher agency in facilitating parental involvement and offers context-specific insights that may guide future interventions in similar rural settings.
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A Mobile Suitcase for Informatic Teachers Related to the “Digital” Didactic Goals of the 21st Century
63-70Views:303This study deals with the optimal equipment of a mobile case for computer science teachers, which offers the possibility to teach the skills of the curricula from primary to high school of the 21st century. First, the Single Board Computers (SBCs) in question are filtered out from previous studies and the accessory parts required are determined through a quantitative market analysis. Then, by combining the results with a qualitative analysis according to Mayring, the degree of curricular coverage of individual accessories is determined and binarized. Afterwards, the optimal equipment of the mobile case is evaluated and established based on the cost overlap by horizontal summation and vertical inclusion of the necessary accessories after recording the prices and the budget. The results were clearly presented in network diagrams and lists. This study thus provides computer science teachers and computer science professors with a budget-dependent basis for making decisions about the contents of a mobile case for computer science lessons or a computer science laboratory for learning the skills of the curricula from primary to high school of the 21st century. The study closes with a summary and an outlook.