Asia Pacific Education Review最新文献

The dearth of large-scale profile studies in the context of the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) has limited the understanding of classroom praxis and factors that predict instructional practices. To fill this gap, we employed the data from the 2018 Teaching and learning international survey to identify instructional profiles of Korean schoolteachers in relation to cognitive activation, the clarity of instruction, classroom management, and the use of enhanced activities. We then examined how teachers’ perceived self-efficacy, satisfaction with classroom autonomy, engagement in teacher collaboration, and school climate differed across each profile. A latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles: Laissez-faire, Controlling, Typical, and Versatile, primarily distinguished by the use of classroom management practices. First, Laissez-faire and Controlling teachers reported strong levels of self-efficacy in classroom management. Second, as satisfaction with classroom autonomy increased, the likelihood of belonging to the Controlling and Versatile profiles increased. Third, collaboration was the key to Versatile profile membership. Fourth, innovative instructional practices and a positive school climate were related. Finally, controlling membership was associated with a negative school climate and a low sense of efficacy in engaging students. These findings have important implications for professional development programs and policies in the Korean educational system.

The relationship between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and academic performance is a controversial issue that has attracted increasing attention from administrators, policymakers, and researchers. The relationship between perceived ICT competence and the academic performance of rural students deserves particular attention. Although a small but growing body of research has examined the relationship between perceived ICT competence and student academic performance, few studies have viewed perceived ICT competence as a multilevel construct. This study aimed to fill this gap by examining the relationship between multilevel perceived ICT competence (i.e., student- and school-level perceived ICT competence) and student academic performance using a sample of 5530 students from 156 schools in rural China. Two-level hierarchical linear modeling results indicated that student- and school-level perceived ICT competence could predict academic performance. Furthermore, school-level perceived ICT competence could moderate the relationship between student-level ICT competence and academic outcomes. Specifically, the role of student-level perceived ICT competence showed heterogeneity across schools. Academic performance was strongly correlated with student-level perceived ICT competence in schools with a low level of perceived ICT competence; in contrast, this outcome was not observed in schools with a high level of perceived ICT competence. The findings suggest that administrators and policymakers in China should pay special attention to rural schools where perceived ICT competence is low and consider providing services for students in these schools to promote educational equity.

Cultivating wenhua dacai (great cultural talent) is a central goal of the ongoing dujing (classics reading) education movement, which is an integral part of the broad Confucian revival in contemporary China. Focusing on the concept of wenhua dacai, this article explores three interrelated issues. First, as a term used in the context of dujing education, wenhua dacai refers to an idealized Confucian subject shaped by an interweaving of nationalism and cosmopolitanism. Moreover, it is expected not only to revive Confucian/Chinese culture but also to contribute to human cultural exchange. Second, the tendency of students to embrace individualistic virtues in their experience of classics reading poses a challenge to the lofty and sacred ideal of wenhua dacai, which reinforces the need for rigid discipline in learners. Finally, contextualizing the idea of wenhua dacai into the general transformation of education in China can contribute to a more thorough understanding of it. This article concludes that the cultivation of wenhua dacai dreamed of by Confucian dujing education activists is constituted by paradoxical discourses and practices embedded in the ideological complexities of Chinese education.

In recent years, the Asia–Pacific region has experienced unprecedented expansion in the adoption of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The IB Middle Years Program (MYP) features interdisciplinary curriculum design, concept-based curriculum development, and multiple assessments, which significantly differ from the traditional structures of junior high school curriculum in Taiwan. This study investigates the experiential and challenging aspects of the transformation of a traditional public junior high school in Taiwan into an IB school. The study employs multiple data collection methods, including document analysis, participant observation, and interviews. The study findings are as follows. The agency of bottom-up school transformation stems from the awareness of teachers of the exigency of the school for survival, adherence to the educational philosophy of IB, and the politically correct demand for educational equity. Moreover, the challenges encountered during the transformation process include changing the mindset of teachers about educational philosophy, aligning the IBMYP with the national education system, restructuring the organization, and redistributing tasks with limited faculty. At last, by implementing the IBMYP, teachers can apply innovative pedagogies and actively adapt to the two distinct education systems regarding educational progression, curriculum organization, teaching approaches, and assessment methods. These changes foster continuous professional development and catalyze a transformative momentum for teachers. These findings pose implications for other public schools that are considering the implementation of IBMYP.

This study investigates the effect of interactive games on improving reading comprehension skills and attitudes toward games among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language. In this quantitative study, the participants in the control group received reading comprehension instruction through traditional models of teaching reading while the participants in the experimental group developed their reading skills through participating in interactive games. A reading comprehension test was administered as a posttest. The mean performance of the two groups was compared by performing an independent-samples t-test and a paired-samples t-test. The analysis revealed that participants in the experimental group (N = 30, M = 26.33, SD = 2.80) significantly outperformed those in the control group (N = 30, M = 16.80, SD = 3.71) in the posttest. Moreover, an examination of the participants’ perceptions showed they have a positive attitude toward games. The findings of this study suggest that interactive games are powerful tools for improving student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes in the classroom. The study also provides some practical suggestions for further research.

This paper presents evidence from an innovative teacher professional development (TPD) project tackling school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) in primary and lower-secondary schools in Cambodia. The core activities of the TPD project are discussed, focusing on teachers’ changes in attitudes and beliefs toward emotional abuse and physical violence against boys and girls, as well as gender equity. The TPD was evaluated using a pre- and postintervention study, and a treatment and control group in Battambang and Svay Rieng provinces, respectively. A total of 151 teachers responded to the questionnaire at baseline (October 2018) and there were 149 teachers in the postintervention period (October 2020). To improve the comparability between the treatment and control groups, we estimated a difference-in-differences analysis in combination with propensity score matching. Only two treated teachers were not matched to the control group, with the final sample consisting of 298 observations. Findings indicate moderate to small effects on changing attitudes and beliefs about SRGBV in both primary and lower-secondary schools. Furthermore, teachers from primary schools benefit the most from the TPD; that is, they engage in less SRGBV. In secondary schools, the effects on engaging in emotional or physical abuse are not significant.