This article analyzes the findings of the study aimed at determining pedagogical conditions of arranging a class in teaching that would contribute to developing important professional motives, qualities, expertise, and skills in secondary school students, which are necessary to master and promote the occupation of a teacher. The issue under study is relevant due to the necessity for acquiring teaching staff. Analysis of foreign studies has shown that acquiring motivated, dedicated, and committed young people as teachers may be determined by the issue of global politics. It was found out that, both in Russia and globally, there is a necessity to create an environment for identifying, maintaining, and developing the background qualities of an efficient teacher for senior secondary school students.
Analysis of networked action taken by the Secondary School No. 28 for the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast, and its social partners in order to arrange activities for the class in teaching is among the leading research methods. The following methods were used as well: analysis of student engagement, generalization of experience in working for educational institutions, monitoring of student development, questionnaires, focus groups, analysis of the student survey results, etc.
The study reveals the pedagogical conditions and ways to arrange the class in teaching that would contribute to the conscious decision of students choosing the occupation of a teacher. Relatively low costs of organizing the pre-university training, low number of additional staff engaged, and growing social activity in students prove its efficiency. The conclusion is made regarding the efficiency of implementing a training program shaped as a class in teaching conducted in a networked environment, which would provide the opportunity to use the resources of various organizations taking into account students’ interests.
Journal Articles
Measuring Motivation in Preschool Children: Validation of the Russian Version of the Child Behaviour Motivation Scale
The aim of this study was to validate of the Russian version of the Child Behaviour Motivation Scale (CBeMO). The tool is designed to assess learning motivation in preschool and primary school children. Fifty-nine educators participated in the study and completed the CBeMO scales individually for each child in the older groups with whom they had worked for at least 4 months. The total sample consisted of 754 children aged 5-6 years. An internal consistency analysis of the scales indicated a high level of unidimensionality across all scales of the instrument (“Task Orientation”, “Task Avoidance”, and “Social Orientation”). Confirmatory analysis confirmed the consistency of the empirical data with the theoretical model of the questionnaire. The actual structure of the data obtained on the Russian sample, as determined by factor analysis, except for one item, is identical to the original configuration of the scales. Therefore, no additional procedures are required to improve the Russian version of the questionnaire and no measures of cultural adaptation are required for the further use of the Russian version of the questionnaire. In addition to the assessment of psychometric properties, an analysis was carried out to determine the role of age, gender, intelligence and language environment in children’s learning motivation. The article presents the results of the analysis, suggestions for their interpretation, and promising directions for further research.
Emotional Intelligence of Digital Generation Students: Experience of Engineering University
Digitization of everyday life has a fundamental influence on communications, information perceiving and thinking styles of modern generation students. The study of issues of emotional well-being in the student body is particularly significant today, because of increasing desocialization of young people. The aim of the paper is to implement and evaluates the effectiveness of the educational module for the development of emotional intelligence of the 1st year students of engineering Universities. The authors developed the educational module “Emotional intelligence”. The assessment of an empirical research using diagnostic tools of N. Hall’s test of emotional intelligence and the scale of emotional intelligence by D.V. Lyusin conducted on a sample of students (N=174) of engineering majors of Tomsk Polytechnic University. The results showed that most part of them has low and medium (closer to the lower border) levels of EQ. Positive dynamics were observed after studying the educational module. The quantitative indicator reflecting the number of students with a low level decreased two times, and the proportion of students with a high level of EQ increased from 2.9% to 11.1%. The maximum growth was noted for “empathy”, “recognition and understanding of emotions of others” (Hall’s test) and “interpersonal emotional intelligence” (D.V. Lyusin’s scale) indicators. The practically significant result is that development of the level of EQ will contribute to better adaptation in the educational space of the engineering University. The findings will be used for further scientific research to improve the educational paths of digital generation students.
Formative Assessment as a Component of Internal Education Quality Assessment Systems
The article presents the results of research on the practices of formative assessment in modern conditions of development of internal systems for assessing the quality of education. The relevance of the article is related to the consideration of formative assessment in conjunction with the problem of subjectivity as a special result of learning.
The purpose of the article is to present formative assessment in terms of its impact on the cognitive competence of students and the promotion of educational content to interdisciplinary technologies.
The author’s scientific and theoretical conclusions are confirmed by the results of observation of a group of high school students in Moscow schools, for whom the principles and techniques of formative assessment were tested. The empirical experience of involving students in the educational discourse of formative assessment is represented by quantitative values processed using the statistical model χ2.
The novelty of the research consists in clarifying the concept of formative assessment and substantiating the corresponding component of internal systems for assessing the quality of General education as a priority direction in the implementation of General education programs.
The practical significance of the study is related to the confirmation of the effectiveness of formative assessment for the cognitive development of students.
Zoom, Skype or Photos of Paper Sheets: Adolescents about the Transition to Distance Learning During the Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic led to a massive transition to distance learning at schools. All participants in the educational process adapt their lifestyle, workplace, communication methods and leisure forms to the new circumstances. Nowadays the consequences of this phenomenon begin to be studied. This article is devoted to the study of the experience of learning, communication and leisure of teenagers in conditions of social isolation and school closure and approbation of the risk and protective factors model in the context of adaptation to the distance learning. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with adolescents aged 13-17 from Moscow, Ryazan, Tomsk, Moscow and Sverdlovsk regions allows us to characterize five thematic categories in terms of the main factors that make it more difficult or easier for schoolchildren to adapt to the distance learning. The categories include: school and teacher relations; supplementary education and hobbies; relationships with peers; family context; individual and personal characteristics of schoolchildren. The pilot nature of this study and a small sample limit the possibilities of extrapolating the conclusions to all groups of Russian schoolchildren, but allow us to problematize the complex nature of the difficulties faced by adolescents and demonstrate a wide range of resources that allow them to cope with them. Based on the results, we developed short recommendations that can be used by the management of educational organizations, teachers, and parents to reduce stress and simplify the adaptation of students during distance learning.
The Method of “Object Exclusion”: Age Standards and Diagnostic Value for Neuropsychological Assessment of Children aged 4-17 years
The method of “Object Exclusion” is often used to assess a person’s ability to generalize and forms part of the pathopsychological and neuropsychological examination of children and adults. Nevertheless, there is no definite consensus as to which ratio of responses, which would reflect different generalization levels, is considered normative for children of different ages. Published data on the neuropsychological validity of this technique is quite inconsistent. The results of the investigation of 482 tentatively healthy children aged between 52 and 215 months (119 ± 43), of whom 316 were boys and 166 were girls, provided the standards of various categories of responses for different ages. Cross-analysis with neuropsychological diagnosis results revealed that the test performance indicators have to do with cognitive development, but the proportion of explained variance is no greater than 10%. Moreover, the neuropsychological validity of the method varies for each age group. Collating the responses from various categories allows predicting no more than 7% of neurocognitive development variability.
Students and Aggression: Perception and Strategies of Behavior
The problem of aggressiveness of adolescents and young people is currently acquiring new aspects in connection with the expansion of their social contacts. The purpose of our study was to identify the characteristics of students’ aggressiveness, their attitude to aggressiveness (perception and evaluation of aggressiveness, behavior strategies when faced with aggression, ways to overcome their own aggressiveness). We also wanted to explore, whether the nature and level of aggressiveness changes from the first to the final year of study at the Institute. The study involved 253 students (149 first-year students and 104 fourth-year students). The study was conducted in an anonymous form using the questionnaire “Attitude to aggression” developed by us and the methodology for diagnosing aggressiveness by Buss–Darka’s test. The results of the study showed that in the student environment (in the age range from 17 to 22 years) there is no reliable relationship between age and levels of aggression and hostility. First-year students perceive aggression more in the emotional and energy aspect, they tend to continue communicating with an aggressive person, try to calm him or ignore his condition. Fourth-year students view aggression as a social behavior rather than an emotional outburst, and prefer a withdrawal strategy, begin to behave more carefully, try not to provoke. Their behavior is more appropriate from the point of view of safety. Fourth-year students are more likely than first-year students to “see” aggressive people in communication situations, more often note the positive role of aggression in defending their position in society, and more often openly show their own aggression towards people.
Problems and Opportunities for Training Specialists for Working with Children with Mental Retardation in the Higher Education System
In the modern rapidly changing world, there is a change in value orientations and educational paradigms, socio-economic, political, liberal-social and scientific conditions. These processes also affect the training system for working with different categories of children, including those with mental retardation. The purpose of this work is to study, analyze and objectively compare the structure of training bachelors who are capable of creating special conditions for education and upbringing for children with mental retardation, to identify common elements of this training. The study of the domestic practice of training specialists for working with persons with mental retardation is important for concretizing the content of specialized education.
The study used a comparative analysis of training profiles in the framework of defectological, psychological-pedagogical and pedagogical training areas. At the same time, the authors also analyzed the main professional educational programs and work programs of specialized disciplines aimed at preparing defectologists, teachers and psychologists to work with children with impaired mental function.
The study expanded the understanding of the dependence of the structure and content of personnel training for working with children with mental retardation on future areas of professional activity; the influence of research results, concepts of leading scientists who advocate the priority of defectologists in teaching and upbringing of children with mental retardation. Based on the results of the study, a versatile description of the structure of training psychological, pedagogical and defectological personnel was obtained by identifying factors that can affect the organization of optimal profile training for bachelors.
The authors declare the idea of a specialized professional defectological education of teachers who are ready to work with children with mental retardation. The obtained research results can be used to design training modules in the structure of courses, the content of which maximally effectively ensures the formation of core competencies for working with children with mental retardation.
Data Competence of Subjects of Pedagogical and Managerial Analytics for Evidence-based Development of Education
The relevance of the study is associated with the need to analyze the changing labor actions of education leaders and teachers in connection with the organization of the analysis of educational data accumulated by students in the digital educational environment. This, in turn, actualizes the need for the development of competencies in the analysis of educational data for a reasonable organization of human development and education. In the context of the digital transformation of education, the development of digital educational platforms, the development of digital services for assessing the quality of education, monitoring education, the issues of the methodology of data analysis and their competent application in pedagogical and managerial practice are being actualized. The article examines how educational analytics is used in the practice of schools, what problems educational leaders experience in pedagogy when working with data, what data sources they use. It was studied: what competencies are necessary for a teacher and the head of an educational organization in order to organize evidence-based development of education based on data. Leading research methods: structural and functional analysis, interviewing, polling, systematization, ranking, statistical analysis. The article summarizes the results of a study of the changing labor functions of teachers in the context of the digitalization of education, the competencies of teachers and managers in the application of data analysis in educational practice: digital competencies (digital competencies), data analysis competencies (data competencies), competencies for organizing development based on data (competence of a data-driven development organization). The problem is revealed: how the methodology and labor functions of teachers in the organization of education change based on the analysis of data: educational results, motivational choices of training profiles, levels of difficulty of educational tasks, topics of design and research work of schoolchildren, etc. Expansion of labor actions of teachers and heads of educational organizations and competences that ensure the implementation of labor actions are investigated. The development of data-competencies of teachers and education leaders for the evidence-based development of education and a person is analyzed. The research results presented in the article contribute to the theory and practice of teacher education, education management, as well as to the methodology of data science and the practice of its application in the field of education.
Educational and Professional Choice of Working Youth in Service Industries
The relationship between education, profession and social status in the modern global world is not obvious. A high level of education does not guarantee a professional career. The discrepancy between professional education and occupation is especially acute in the field of customer service. On the one hand, it reduces the quality of services provided and, on the other hand, causes tension among workers of this industry. The aim of the research is to study educational values, the choice of an educational trajectory and professional self-determination of modern working-class youth in the service industry.
The article is based on the materials of an empirical study using quantitative and qualitative sociological methods: a mass survey of working-class youth in the Ural Federal District and a biographical interview, the informants of which are employed in the real sector of the economy and the service sector.
The contradictory attitude of young service workers to education was revealed: not seeing the connection between the level and quality of education and the characteristics of their own life, young people are confident in the value of education and maintain a respectful attitude towards educated people. The personal significance of education for the new generation of working-class youth is small; the social prestige of education does not in any way affect personal life plans, including the professional choice.
The established relationships between the educational and professional choice of working-class youth – the basic layer of the social structure of any society – can be used to organize vocational guidance work in secondary school, and can be in demand by the state and regional authorities of vocational education.
Distance Teaching of Professional Intergroup Communication to Non-Linguistic Students
The relevance of this research is due to significant changes in the labor market caused by the transformation of the modern world, when the demand for professionals who can study in a digital environment, as well as carry out cross-cultural communication and interaction with remote business partners, has sharply increased. This article identifies the main difficulties arising in the process of teaching intergroup dialogue and professionally-oriented interaction to non-linguistic students and also proposes new organizational and methodological approaches aimed at overcoming these difficulties. The aim of the research is to test the experimental methods of distance teaching of dialogic speech as a means of adaptation of non-linguistic students to intergroup communication in the digital environment. Such research methods as the experiment, observation, and the method of open and closed-ended questionnaires were used. The statistical significance of the obtained data was tested with the help of the student’s paired t-test and the Fisher test. The article describes the experimental distance teaching of communication in a virtual environment simulating professional intercultural interaction. The organizational and methodological approaches elaborated by the authors give an opportunity to form an educational foreign language environment, which trains non-linguistic students in intergroup communication with remote partners. The pedagogical tools tested in practice contribute to the effectiveness of teaching students with a low level of foreign language proficiency. The materials presented in the article allow us to create new technologies of foreign language distance teaching and will be in demand by specialists in the field of higher education pedagogies.
Didactic Peculiarities of the Use of Learning Systems in Technical Universities
The topicality of the matter considered is conditioned by low didactic efficiency of existing technical learning software and hardware tools in technical universities. In this regard, the purpose of this article is the creation and practical application of new methods for increasing the didactic efficiency of automated components of the educational process. The methodological basis of the research is the complex application of mutually complementary approaches, the main ones of which are systemic, personality-oriented, axiological and anthropological.
The work describes the performance of the designed learning system and, on its example, considers the methods for increasing the didactic efficiency of learning systems subject to psychofactors of the participants of the educational process. In the proposed learning system, the results of psychodiagnostics of students’ personal characteristics and qualities are represented which are used to form new elements of system analysis – “cognitive elements of psychofactors”, which introducing made it possible to improve the system analysis. The perfection of system analysis expanded its functionality and qualitatively changed its capabilities, which in turn made it possible to increase the degree of reasonableness of decisions made by a teacher and learning system when analyzing pedagogical situations. In the presented research, a special emphasis is put on the use of psycho-corrective educational technologies of the educational process, which use gave a new pedagogical effect – students practicing psycho-corrective methods of work with their personal qualities began to successfully complete higher complexity educational tasks, which proves an increase in their cognitive motivation and cognitive abilities.
A Model of Subjective Well-Being of a Teacher in the Context of the Safety of Educational Environment
Relevance of the problem. The study of well-being in education is an important area of scientific research and practical interventions. WHO declare the human right to well-being. The aspect of the students’ well-being was added to the OECD PISA profiles and in the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the Edu2030, which confirm the significance of this theme (UNESCO, 2016). The key role of teacher well-being for the well-being of students and the educational environment in whole has become the focus of scientific publications, in particular confirming the significant relationship between school safety and teacher well-being (Sürücü Atila, & Ünal, 2015). However, teachers’ well-being remains low, which is revealed in the problem of the mass dismissal of teachers from schools. This problem is especially relevant among young teachers (OECD, 2020). This situation leads to a social contradiction that updates the study of the problem of teachers’ well-being in the context of socio-professional conditions and the ethics of the profession. Current research of well-being is focused on an ecological approach as relevant to the modern requirements of science (Mercer, 2021). Thus, the purpose of this study is to define the concept of “subjective well-being of a teacher” and develop a model of the subjective well-being of a teacher in the context of the safety of educational environment using relevant scientific and methodological tools. Research methods: search and confirmatory factor analysis, comparative, correlation analysis. Technique: WHOQOL-100 Questionnaire, B. Tuckman Procrastination Scale”, Melbourne Decision Inventory, AVEM Questionnaire. The study sample consisted of N=600 teachers of secondary schools of the Republic of Tatarstan, noted by the type of settlement and their socio-economic zone.
Research results. A model of the teacher’s subjective well-being has been developed in the context of the ethics of the profession “The triangle of professional well-being of a teacher”, which includes ownership, professional aspirations and quality of life as system-forming peaks. Practical significance. The results of the study can be applied for the educational programs for teachers’ training and retraining, for the supervising and psychological and pedagogical support of a teacher as well as to ensure the psychological safety of the learning environment of the school.
Social, Psychological and Organizational Factors Affecting the Psychological Safety of the Educational Environment
According to data of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, various forms of violations of human behavior are seen in the education and youth environment, including through immersion in destructive ideologies on the Internet. These data write down the need to study the factors affecting the psychological safety of the environment, especially the educational and youth environment (students and schoolchildren). In this regard, the purpose of the study is to identify the influence of social, psychological and organizational factors on the psychological safety of the educational environment.
The study was conducted based on big data analysis of 164 schools. They include data from schools on the following indicators: “suicides”, “suicide attempts”, “crimes”, “psychological competencies of managers”, “staff turnover”, etc.
The statistical method of big data analysis is the leading one in describing the results of the study. Factor analysis was used to describe a multidimensional model of psychological safety of the educational environment. A two-sample F-test was used to compare the sample populations.
The results of the study allowed us to identify factors influencing the psychological safety of the educational environment: high turnover of teaching staff, lack of psychological competencies in the administration of educational organizations, the number of suicidal attempts, a large number of representations of the prosecutor’s office, etc.
The results of the study made it possible to form instructions to the executive authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan signed by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan – Chairman of the Anti-Terrorist Commission in the Republic of Tatarstan. The instructions are aimed at improving the effectiveness of the psychological service in education; the formation of psychological competencies of key managers responsible for the organization of psychological, social and educational activities; the inclusion in the job descriptions of key managers responsible for the organization of psychological, social and educational activities of new labor functions for the formation of psychological security of the educational environment, as well as the identification and support of students in need of socio-psychological support.
E&SD 17(3) September 2022
Shamil F. Sheymardanov, Aydar M. Kalimullin
Editorial: Getting New Horizons of Partnerships in Education Research 6
Andi Arif Rifa’i, Winarno Winarno, Ari Wibowo, Ahmad Fadholi, Priyanggo Karunia Rahman
The Students’ Responses toward Implementation of Quality Management Principles and Service Quality in Higher Education 14
Musa Nushi, Ali Momeni
A Comparative Study of University and Private Language Institute EFL Teachers’ Familiarity with and Classroom Practicality Perceptions of Dynamic Assessment 25
Hadi Hamidi, Danial Babajani Azizi, Mohammad Kazemian
The Effect of Direct Oral Corrective Feedback on Motivation to Speak and Speaking Accuracy of EFL Learners 50
Svetlana E. Gaidukevich
Methodological Training of Special Education Teachers in Belarus: State and Development Strategies 64
Elena A. Lemekh
The State of Professional Development Programme of Specialists in Correction and Development Training Centres regarding the Assessment of Quality Education among Pupils with Severe Multiple Disorders in the Republic of Belarus 72
Violeta Rosanda, Tina Kavčič, Andreja Istenič
Digital Devices in Early Childhood Play: Digital Technology in the First Two Years of Slovene Toddlers’ Lives 83
Oksana V. Vashetina, Elena V. Asafova, Balwinder Kaur, Balwant Singh, Parveen Sharma, Martha Maria Prata-Linhares, Vania Maria de Oliveira Vieira, Maria Alzira de Almeida Pimenta, Marilene Ribeiro Resende, Tatiana V. Sibgatullina
Professional Development of Teachers and Future Teachers: Factors and Challenges 100
Bozhidara Kriviradeva, Yonka Parvanova
Intersections between Education and Social Work in Working with Children at Risk: The Perspective of Pedagogical Specialists 119
Ildar R. Abitov, Inna M. Gorodetskaya, Alexey M. Dvoinin
Interrelation of Predictors of Irrational Behavior, Individual-Typological and Personal Characteristics 131
Svetlana N. Bashinova, Oksana I. Kokoreva, Natalya A. Peshkova, Venera A. Khamdamova
Determination of the Development of Social Behavior of Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by the Type of Parental Attitude 141
Gulnara F. Biktagirova, Gulnara B. Tazhenova, Aray A. Konyrova, Meruert S. Utegenova, Anargul Zh. Abdikarimova, Maria A. Dvinskikh
Formation of Professionalism of Future Social Teachers in the System of Training in Russia and Kazakhstan (Comparative Aspect) 157
Roza A. Valeeva, Gulfiya G. Parfilova, Irina D. Demakova, Elena I. Adamyan, Faina M. Kremen, Sergey A. Kremen, Vadim N. Lesev, Olga I. Mikhailenko, Rimma Kh. Bagova, Lyubov G. Pak, Nadezhda A. Ivanishcheva, Lyubov A. Kochemasova, Anastasiya P. Eremina, Nadiya G. Yusupova, Galina N. Skudareva
Motivation of Student Teachers’ Professional Career 169
Vera K. Vlasova, Ranija R. Khamatvalieva, Venera G. Zakirova, Aziya E. Zhumabayeva, Albina V. Sadikova
The Development of Integrative Qualities of Primary School Teachers in the Context of Distance Learning 187
Inna I. Golovanova, Aleksei Yu. Alipichev, Timur A. Ayupov, Tatiana V. Baltina, Tatiana Yu. Gorskaya, Olga I. Donetskaya, Maria A. Lapina, Elmira N. Uteeva, Florida A. Fazlyeva, Enge N. Khasanova
Digital Educational Environment and Online Learning Format Through the Lens of Students: Pros and Cons 202
Albina R. Drozdikova-Zaripova, Nadezhda Yu. Kostyunina, Liliia A. Latypova, Anastasiya O. Luchinina, Aleksei P. Zolotykh
Personal Determinants of Selfie Addiction in High-School Students 222
Lera А. Kamalova, Raushania Gaifullina, Makhabbat Zh. Umbetova, Irina V. Novgorodtseva
Telehealth Communication Strategies of Medical Students in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic 242
Nina A. Koval, Venera G. Zakirova, Nikolay A. Utochkin, Stanislav N. Savinkov, Leysan R. Kayumova, Elena Zlateva, Nataliia S. Surenskaya, Boris I. Tenyushev, Anna E. Zavalina, Marina A. Lobach, Jordan Gjorchev
The Study of Socio-Psychological Factors Contributing to and Hindering the Retention of Teachers in the Profession 264
Nataliya Lebedeva, Victoria Ismatullina, Shamil Sheymardanov, Talgat Zhussipbek
The Teacher is a Guide or Barrier to Mathematics: Case Studies in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan 278
Irina A. Nigmatullina, Elvira A. Sadretdinova, Aisha R. Dolotkazina, Elizaveta Y. Davydova, Artur V. Khaustov, Ulyana A. Mamokhina, Elena A. Chereneva, Evgenia V. Dergacheva, Natalia A. Medova, Anna V. Vinevskaya
Comprehensive Support System for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Regional Experience 296
Vera Khotinets, Evgeniya Shishova, Enge Zinnurova, Oksana Kozhevnikova, Daria Medvedeva, Yulia Novgorodova, Rimma Kumysheva
The Development of Cognitive Regulation in Connection with the Communicative Competence of Monolingual and Balanced Bilingual Children 317
Editorial: Getting New Horizons of Partnerships in Education Research
The events of recent years have produced unique circumstances for the development of the Russian scientific and educational community, requiring significant changes in the topics, subjects, and methods of study. Numerous issues persisted in this field despite the rapidly rising number of educational studies, most of which were caused by their inconsistency with the demands of current educational practice. The excessive theorizing, passion for Russian pedagogy’s history, compilation, and other negative aspects of research are signs of its declining quality. Contrarily, when educational conditions changed quickly, there was a corresponding rise in the demand for pertinent research, the materials and outcomes of which have become crucial to the current educational process. This is especially important when it comes to the need to make decisions and adjustments regarding educational policy based on data obtained from scientific study.
The Students’ Responses toward Implementation of Quality Management Principles and Service Quality in Higher Education
This study aims to examine the implementation of quality management principles and service quality in higher education institutions (HEI’s) based on student responses. This study involved 570 students from public and private universities in Bangka, the province of Bangka Belitung, Indonesia. This is a quantitative study with a correlational research design. The results showed that the implementation of quality management principles in universities had a very high correlation with service quality (r = 0.88). The results of this study prove that improving the implementation of quality management principles, such as development of cooperation, HR (human resources) focus, continuous development, process approach, leadership, process focus, and goal consistency of higher education will improve the quality of service rendered to students.
A Comparative Study of University and Private Language Institute EFL Teachers’ Familiarity with and Classroom Practicality Perceptions of Dynamic Assessment
The widespread prevalence of dynamic tools to assess English language achievement has led to burgeoning research on exploring different aspects of teachers’ beliefs toward Dynamic Assessment (DA). In the educational system of Iran, experts and researchers who have undergone second language education may verify that there is very little, if any, attention given to the perceptions held by instructors and teachers regarding Dynamic Assessment (DA). In an attempt to remedy this gap, the current study aimed to investigate the familiarity with DA of Iranian EFL teachers working in two educational settings (e.g., language institutes and universities). The study also set out to explore the teachers’ attitudes toward the practicality of DA in the two settings. To address the research questions, a sequential explanatory mixed methods design was employed. The instruments of this study comprised a questionnaire and an Email interview with 12 ELT assessment experts in order to have their interpretations of the research findings. The results of the t-tests showed no significant difference between the two groups of teachers in terms of their familiarity with DA and their attitudes toward the practicality of DA in the two contexts. In addition, content analysis of the Email interview data revealed that the ELT assessment experts’ primary arguments for the insignificant difference between the two groups in terms of the two variables related to the fact that DA has remained at the theoretical level, that there is a lack of teacher training in DA and the strict rules of Iran’s educational system which prohibit teachers from applying DA principles and procedures in their classes. The implications of the findings for teacher education, materials development as well as for program administrators, EFL teachers, and learners will be discussed.
The Effect of Direct Oral Corrective Feedback on Motivation to Speak and Speaking Accuracy of EFL Learners
Considering the significance of corrective feedback to improve language learners’ speaking performance, the current study aimed to examine the impact of direct oral corrective feedback on speaking accuracy and motivation to speak of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 46 EFL learners who were preparing themselves for the IELTS exam, both male and female, were invited to participate in this study. Having homogenized the participants through the Oxford Placement Test, the researchers divided them into one experimental and one control group. As to the pretest, a valid IELTS speaking test and a motivation to speak questionnaire were administered to both groups in order to measure the learners’ speaking ability and motivation to speak level. The experimental group received direct oral corrective feedback on their speaking performance for 15 sessions. The control group did not receive any special kind of corrective feedback. A posttest, equivalent to the pretest, was administered after the end of the treatment sessions to both groups to find whether direct oral corrective feedback affected the learners’ speaking accuracy and motivation to speak. The results of statistical data analysis indicated that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on both speaking accuracy, and motivation to speak. Pedagogical implications are suggested to language teachers and teacher trainers.
Methodological Training of Special Education Teachers in Belarus: State and Development Strategies
The widespread dissemination of humanitarian ideas, integration and inclusive processes create new challenges for the professional education of special education teachers. The focus is on methodological training, the ability to work with different children, organizational and methodological heterogeneity. A new social order is the methodological competence of a specialist who does not have just knowledge and skills, but experience in effectively solving the pedagogical problems of students with special education needs. The aim of the article is to identify the state of the methodological competence of Belarusian future special education teachers (graduates of higher educational institutions), to see the features of the existing methodological training, to determine the main strategies for increasing its effectiveness at the national level. The leading method is self-assessment of students’ state of methodological competence. The study involved 578 students from four Belarusian universities. The article describes the structure and content of future teachers’ methodological competence (4th year students) in the context of the ability to implement the educational process in the new conditions of variable educational practice. The research materials allow us to see the problem areas of the existing practice of methodological training in Belarusian universities and to assess the possible directions of its modernization.