In the present study, perceptions of Turkish school administrators and teachers towards Syrian refugee children were examined through metaphors. 71 school administrators and 242 teachers from 27 different provinces of Turkey participated in the study. As a result of the study, the metaphors produced by school administrators were grouped into four categories: “child with cultural adaptation and belonging problems”, “fragile and needy child”, “child who is no different from other children” and “problematic child”. The metaphors produced by teachers were grouped into six categories: “child with cultural adaptation and belonging problems”, “child who is no different from other children”, “fragile and needy child”, “problematic child”, “child who can reveal her/his potential with interest” and “compatible child”. Participants' perceptions of refugee children were not related to gender but there was a significant relationship between professional seniority and the number of refugee children at school. Although school administrators and teachers have positive perceptions about refugee children, their negative perceptions are largely due to the lack of professional experience and the high number of students at school. Providing vocational support to teachers and administrators, planning the number of students in schools, and providing resources to schools will improve positive perceptions about refugee children.

This study aimed at analyzing the implementation of authentic assessments and constraints faced by junior high schools' teachers in mathematics teaching. A qualitative approach was applied in the study. The data on the implementation of authentic assessments and constraints were obtained from 50 mathematics teachers in several public junior high schools in Malang City, East Java Province-Indonesia, trained by the 2013 curriculum. Documentation, questionnaires, observations, and interviews were used to collect the data. The study results showed that most teachers implemented authentic assessments in mathematics teaching as designed in the learning plan. The obstacles faced by the teachers in the implementation of the authentic assessment included the time limit and accuracy. The efforts made by the teachers varied, but the teachers tried to administer the authentic assessment properly following the demands of the curriculum.

In our current society, Digital Competence is an essential and basic competence for teachers. The students need trained teachers who know how to use Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and develop them into pedagogy. However, some of them do not know how. This phenomena is called “The generational digital divide”, which occurs when teachers do not have sufficient digital or technological skills or do not adapt to them. This article aims to determine whether the age of teachers has an influence on their knowledge about Information and Communication Technologies. The objective is to detect if there really exists a digital gap between generations, specifically in Dual Vocational Education Training, a kind of education which has been growing in the recent years. To do so, a study with a quantitative and descriptive method has been carried out, with the participation of 1.568 teachers of this training modality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. The data were extracted by means of a questionnaire to measure the level of digital teaching competence in Dual Vocational Education and Training schools. The results showed that the level of digital competence shown was medium to low across all dimensions. With regard to the age factor, only the problem-solving dimension was found to be age-dependent.

This longitudinal study focuses on evaluating grade 7-9 school students’ perceptions of intervention modules intended to be relevant, as well as promoting learning attributes to raise awareness of science-related careers. Students are taught through six purposely developed and designed career-related teaching–learning modules (C-TLMs). Each module is initiated by means of a career-related scenario, followed up by promoting conceptual science learning plus drawing attention to careers to which each module intends to relate. Student perceptions are obtained by means of a questionnaire after each module with respect to its relevance and also the mean by which the learning environment raise interest, enjoyment and motivation associated with career awareness. Outcomes show that, in general, students participating in this study agree that the developed C-TLMs are relevant and students value the learning experienced through the different module contexts. Nevertheless, student appreciation of the specific inclusion of career awareness components in the modules is mixed.

This research aimed at analyzing the influence of ‘Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning’ model assisted by realia media, in which it was to improve the scientific literacy and critical thinking skill of primary school students, especially for the material of energy. This quasi-experiment research used single factor independent groups design. The research sample of this research were fourth grade students of SD Inpres Oeba 2 Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara Province, of which students were in the academic year of 2019/2020. The technique of sample collection was carried out purposive sampling for 2 classes. The IVA class was used as the experimental class (POGIL model assisted by the realia media), in which it consisted of 30 students and the IVB class was used as the control class (expository learning) that consisted of 28 students. The learning was carried out in four meetings. The data of scientific literacy and the results test of critical thinking were collected by means of objective test on the energy material. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the data using significance level of 0.05. The results indicate that (1) There is a significant difference between the students’ scientific literacy who gain the POGIL learning assisted by the realia media and the students’ scientific literacy who get the expository learning; and (2) There is a significant difference between the critical thinking of students who get POGIL learning assisted by realia media and the students who get the expository learning. It can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the scientific literacy and the students’ critical thinking taught by the POGIL learning that assisted by realia media to the students who use expository learning. Since there is a significant difference, it means that the POGIL learning assisted by realia media has an influence on the students' scientific literacy and critical thinking.

Lessons on Satoyama environmental education were held for undergraduate students who are training to be educators. The lessons blend inquiry-based learning through research using ICT tools and experiential learning in a complementary manner. Students learn about the underlying concepts about the environment from a global perspective through inquiry-based learning; experiential learning can encourage students to get involved with the environment at the local level and also develop abilities and skills to conduct classes in environmental education. This paper investigated how the lessons influenced the students in these areas: knowledge of technical terms related to Satoyama environmental education, students’ confidence and desire to engage in environmental education, and how awareness of their own abilities were improved through the lessons. To understand the impact of the lessons quantitatively, survey contents of the subjective awareness etc. were printed on A4 paper medium and were distributed. The medium were collected after filling them during class. The data are analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and cluster analysis. As a result, overall recognition of technical terms increases on post-survey. There is an increase in the mean score for all items on confidence and desire to engage in environmental education. For the awareness on abilities, students feel that their abilities increased overall across all items.

This quantitative research aims to analyze the effects of the principal's decision-making, organizational commitment and school climate on teacher performance in vocational high school. The research sample was 160 vocational school teachers in North Minahasa Regency with simple random sampling method. The data were collected using a Likert scale questionnaire 25 with statements. The data analysis was performed using simple linear regression and multiple linear regression. The results showed that the principal's decision-making, organizational commitment and school climate had a positive and significant effect on the performance of vocational school teachers, both partially and simultaneously. The results of this research can be an important reference for educational administrators at vocational high school level to design school strategies and policies that can encourage increased teacher performance to achieve better school productivity.

This research aims to determine the relationship between the seven components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge possessed by kindergarten teachers. The animal theme was chosen to determine the pedagogical content knowledge component profile of 30 kindergarten teachers, with data obtained through classroom observation, interviews, learning plan documentation. This study employed a mixed-method design, a type of sequential explanatory research with the structural equation modeling-partial least squares and descriptive tests used to quantitative and qualitatively analyze the data obtained. The result showed that: the relationship between the components is specified in the context of using themes to learn in the kindergarten; analysis of the relationships between the components is carried out separately, such as the relationship of all 7 (seven) components to 1 (one) pedagogical content knowledge component of kindergarten teachers; Orientation of teaching has the strongest relationship with Knowledge of Instructional Strategies for Teaching; Knowledge of assessment of early childhood education has the weakest relationship with knowledge of early childhood education subject matter; pedagogical content knowledge components for kindergarten teachers that are often found and associated with other components in a learning episode are orientation of teaching, knowledge of early childhood education curriculum, and knowledge of instructional strategies; there are pedagogical content knowledge component for kindergarten teacher that often found and connection with other component in a learning episode.

This research aims to describe the expectations of prospective teachers for students' mathematical thinking processes in solving problem-based on the Polya model. This model is perceived by the theory of mathematical thought processes proposed by Mason. A descriptive method with a qualitative approach was used in this research. The research subjects were 25 students from the Department of Mathematics Education, Ibrahimy University. The test was given to collect data related to mathematical thinking processes expected by prospective teachers to students. Collected data including observations, tests, and interviews were tested in the aspect of their validity by triangulation. The qualitative descriptive was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that: (1) The average GPA (Grade Point Average) of the high, medium, and low group prospective teachers' were 93.25; 89.89; and 83.63 with a standard deviation of 1.754 each; 1.054; and 5.370, respectively (2) The prospective teachers expected that the students' mathematical thinking processes were able to carry out all of four mathematical thinking processes based on Mason Theory; (3) The prospective teachers expected that students were able to use Mason Theory on every stage of the Polya model problem solving; and (4) The expectation of prospective teachers were specializing (89%), generalizing (75%), conjecturing (62%), and convincing (59%). The results suggest for following up in a teachers or lecturer’s meeting in order to find out the expectations of their students' mathematical thinking processes, both in mathematics or other disciplines.

Despite being a popular research subject internationally, self-regulated learning is relatively under-investigated in the Indonesian context. This article examined student learning motivation and its use as an indicator to predict student learning strategies in an Indonesian school context. This article applied quantitative research design, with Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) used to collect the data. This questionnaire was completed by 408 public high secondary students randomly selected from the population in Lampung Province schools, and multiple regression was used to analyze the obtained data. Results show that student motivation and learning strategies were positively and significantly correlated; three predictor variables of student motivation could significantly predict learning strategies; and value components of student motivation best predicted learning strategies. In conclusion, these findings indicate that, when teachers apply learning strategies, such variables as motivation including value, expectancy, and affective components should be strongly considered to be in place. It is hoped finally that the students will be self-regulated learners for their success.

This study examined the influence of personal factors, school factors and practices performed on job stress and satisfaction. Quantitative research design and purposive sampling method were employed to sample school heads from senior high schools. Data was collected using a self-reported survey questionnaire and was analysed using exploratory, confirmatory and regression analysis to explore the relationships. In the results a high proportion of school heads are satisfied but feel stressed about their job and age, type of school, experience, position and practices performed, had a varied influence on job stress and job satisfaction. The authors advised on building the capacity of school heads in improving their health and performance.

A positive learning environment can be achieved if all the school members follow the principal's learning process. The paper aims to study and analyze the principal's implementation of innovation and entrepreneurial leadership in creating a learning environment. The research is conducted qualitatively through a case study. The research subjects were determined using purposive sampling, while the data were collected through interviews, observation, and documentation study. The data were then analyzed descriptively qualitatively using the Atlas.ti software. The results show that the principal has implemented the entrepreneurial leadership employing two main principles to create a learning environment. First, the principal regulates organizational growth through optimization, communication, motivation, monitoring, controlling, role model, and empowerment. The principal makes some innovation through several steps: vision building, staff development, and restructuring. This kind of leadership can create a comfortable and fun learning environment. As a result, all school members can follow the learning process and create innovative products, as well as making some progress in academic and non-academic achievements. The research findings imply a recommendation for the school's program in that a principal's entrepreneurial and innovative leadership is one of the critical factors in learning.

Metacognition in science teaching involves processes that include self-awareness and self-regulation. Metacognition enables the teachers to facilitate student learning and to reflect on their teaching in order to enable themselves to improve or to make any changes to their teaching. In particular, teaching activities, especially in the 21st century, do not merely involve the transfer of knowledge and then applying that knowledge into daily life, but teachers need to reflect, plan and evaluate learning outcomes to enhance further in teaching. This study attempts to gain the perspective and implementation of metacognition skills in teaching science in the primary school classroom. The data was collected through a qualitative research method based on interviews with six science teachers in primary school using semi-structured interview protocol. The interview data were analysed for emerging themes, guided by the research questions. Teachers have a similar perspective of the understanding of metacognition in science teaching. Further discussion focuses on the implementation of metacognition in science teaching. This discussion is divided into three aspects, which are constraints faced, overcoming the constraints, and efforts made to implement metacognition in science teaching. Hence, the understanding of science teachers in regards to metacognition in science teaching is important and gives a positive impact towards teaching and learning in primary science teaching.

The present study aimed to provide a digital story development experience for pre-service science teachers in the “instructional technologies and material development” course and to determine the impact of these experiences on their views on digital storytelling. Simultaneous parallel design, one of the mixed methods in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, was used in the study. Quantitative and qualitative findings are presented in different sections and both were interpreted in the discussion section. The quantitative study data were collected from 50 pre-service teachers, while the qualitative data were collected from 16 pre-service teachers. Quantitative data were collected by a survey and the qualitative data were collected in interviews. Descriptive/inferential statistics were employed in the analysis of the survey data. The steps of the analysis, coding, and categorization were adopted in the study for qualitative data. The positive effect of digital storytelling on the 21st-century skills of pre-service teachers was revealed by both quantitative and qualitative data. Furthermore, it was determined that pre-service teachers considered digital storytelling as advantageous since it provided meaningful and permanent learning, was fun and motivational; however, it also had disadvantages since it was time-consuming and required technological knowledge. It was revealed that they experienced certain difficulties in scriptwriting, finding the related images/videos and photographs, and finalizing the recording, and they considered that most, if not all, topics in the science course were suitable for digital storytelling. For pre-service teachers to acquire 21st-century skills, digital storytelling should be employed in several courses including the teaching practice course, and pre-service teachers should gain experience in preparing the students for digital storytelling.

This study aimed to investigate the degree to which teachers in Qatar implement differentiated instruction as well as the impact of years of experience, qualifications, grade, school subjects and training on teachers’ use of differentiated instruction. Also the study tried to explore the obstacles impeding the application of differentiate instruction. The study targeted all early childhood teachers (1,836) in 99 Qatar public schools spreading across the country. A random sample of 236 teachers, accounting for 12.9% of the population participated in the study. Following the mixed approach, the researchers used questionnaires and interviews to collect the data. The results showed no statistically significant differences among the respondents in the degree of application of differentiated instruction due to training and qualifications; however, statistically significant differences were detected in relevance to years of experience, grade, and the subject being taught. The study also found an agreement among teachers on the obstacles they face during their application of differentiated instruction, most notably the teaching load, class size, and time. The study concluded with recommendations for education providers, teachers and researchers.

This research aims to investigate the effect of socio-scientific issues (SSI) based instruction on preservice science teachers’ soft skills and environmental awareness. By applying cluster random sampling, 83 preservice science teachers (PSTs) were selected from the Department of Science Education at a university in Indonesia. The participants were divided into two groups which comprised the experimental group who were taught using SSI-based instruction, while the control group received direct instruction. The quasi-experimental study was carried out through a pre- and posttest control group design. Data was gathered quantitatively using soft skills and environmental awareness questionnaires. The soft skills questionnaire comprised six sub-skills questions: communication, collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, teamwork, and social interaction. The environmental awareness questionnaire contained questions about the PSTs’ attitudes, behavior, and willingness to act. These sub-skills were developed based on literature studies and reviews of previous studies. Face validity was conducted by the experts, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.84 (for soft skills) and 0.86 (for environmental awareness) were obtained. The data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The result showed that SSI-based instruction had a significant effect on improving preservice science teachers’ soft skills and environmental awareness. After being taught using SSI-based instruction, all the sub-skills of the soft skills of the experimental group had increased compared to before. A similar trend was also found in their scores for environmental awareness. All the components of environmental awareness, after lecturing using SSI-based instruction, showed a significant increase compared to before. These results support the claim that SSI-based instruction fosters soft skills and promotes environmental awareness.

Education faces barriers all over the world, which sometimes makes it difficult to look after children’s rights and their individual development. Hence, society is clamoring for new practices, and different approaches are emerging, Montessori among them. Despite the fact that this approach was developed to attend to the poor strata, nowadays it is basically promoted by elitist sectors, though it can be perfectly applied as an education system for all children, regardless of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. This study analyzes the bases of Montessori pedagogy in a school from a low-to-middle-income country (LMIC), Burkina Faso, and another school in a high-income country (HIC), Spain. The study takes into account children, family, school environment and teacher training all of which contribute to children’s development.

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the IPA KIT teaching aids for earthquakes science KIT in improving students' collaboration skills and creative thinking. The design of this research is a quasi-experimental research with a stratified random sampling technique. This study involved two classes, namely the experimental class (n = 32) and the control class (n = 33) with a pretest-posttest control group design. This research was conducted at SMP Negeri 5 Depok. The statistical analysis used to test the research hypothesis based on the pretest and posttest scores is the normality test, linearity test, homogeneity test, correlation test, effect size, and MANOVA test. The results showed that the use of IPA KIT teaching aids for earthquakes was more effective in improving students' creative thinking skills and collaboration. Therefore, teachers are advised to use the earthquake science KIT teaching aids for earthquakes to improve the creative thinking skills and collaboration of junior high school students.

Challenges arising from the classroom behavioral management of students with social, emotional and behavioral difficulties are a concern for educational professionals. The purpose of this study is to review common elements of behavior interventions for the disruptive behaviors of children with social, emotional and behavioral difficulties. A systematic review was conducted through an electronic search of studies (from 2000 to 2017) on ERIC, Web of Science, FRANCIS, and MEDLINE databases. The inclusion criteria involved: (i) an intervention improving behaviors at school of children with disruptive behaviors; (ii) elementary school children with the majority of the sample or average age between 6-11 years old; (iii) at least one measurable outcome focusing on social/emotional/behavioral outcomes; (iv) single-case designs. Of the 5339 articles that were identified in the initial screening, 27 met the criteria to be included in the review. Common characteristics of successful interventions are discussed to make recommendations for future implementation.

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of virtual laboratory based on semi second life (s-SL) on higher order thinking skills of general senior secondary school in chemistry learning process. The research design was adopted posttest-only design approach to a quasi-experimental. This study was conducted in the one of public general senior secondary school in 3T regions – Bangkalan City – one of the cities in East Java Province, Indonesia. There were 81 students in the grade 11 of natural science who involved in this study. The participants were divided into three groups, namely the students who did practical work by demonstration methods in chemistry real laboratory, the students who did practical work by experiment methods in virtual laboratory based on s-SL, and the students who did practical work by combination both of them (demonstration methods in chemistry real laboratory and experiment methods in virtual laboratory based on s-SL). The students in each group was tested by posttest of higher order thinking skills. The data was analysed with one-way ANOVA. The results of data analysis shows that there is a significance difference of each groups. Virtual laboratory based on s-SL has enough effect on the students’ higher order thinking skills.