Educational Insights: Theory and Practice

UKRAINIAN TEACHER: ANALYSIS OF UKRAINIAN EDUCATION PROBLEMS (BY TALIS METHODOLOGY)

2020-11-18T13:40:21+02:00

The article deals with the study of the results of the All-Ukrainian Monitoring Survey of Secondary School Teachers and Principals (by the TALIS methodology) and their underlying causes. The research Is guided by the following questions: Does the size of locality influence the distribution of teachers? What prevents Ukrainian teachers from applying constructivist teaching methods? The author answers these questions after testing the following hypotheses: (1) There is a direct causal link between the indicators of the distribution of teachers by gender, age, level of education, experience and the size of a particular locality; (2) The development of a constructivist approach to learning and teaching, namely the use of ICT by students, depends on the school conditions and the level of teacher training (teacher education level, academic mobility, lack of computer facilities). The purpose of the study is to test the research hypotheses, through the results of the Ukrainian survey of teachers by the TALIS methodology, and to identify the main factors that influenced the obtained results. The research objectives are: to explore the dependence of the teacher distribution on the size of locality; to study the underlying causes of dependence; to analyze the obstacles of applying effective teaching methods in Ukraine; to formulate assumptions about the nature of these hindrances.

Through correlation analysis, the author explores links between the distribution of teachers by gender, age, level of education, experience and the size of a particular locality. The regression analysis enables to research the dependence of the application of ICT and constructivist approach on the academic mobility, teacher's level of education, lack of technical facilities and to design a formula to identify the level of use of e ffective teaching methods by an individual teacher.

Through the results of the Ukrainian survey of teachers by the TALIS methodology, the author managed to prove the hypothesis on a direct causal relationship between the distribution of teachers by sex, age, level of education, experience and the size of a particular locality. The most significant interdependence (coefficient – 0.99) was identified with an indicator that reflects the gender imbalances in the teaching profession primarily resulted from low prestige of this occupation and the population distribution by gender characterized by the predominance of women over men (53.7%).

The hypothesis on the dependence of the development of a constructivist approach to learning and teaching, namely the use of ICT by students, on the school conditions and the level of teacher training (teacher education level, academic mobility, lack of computer facilities) was only partially proved, since, due to the low level of academic mobility, this indicator turned out to be insignificant for the Ukrainian education system.

SOCIAL DIVERSITY AND EQUITY IN UKRAINIAN EDUCATION THROUGH THE PRISM OF PISA 2018 PERFORMANCE OF UKRAINIAN STUDENTS

2020-11-18T13:40:26+02:00

Education system policies of any country have among their priorities not only improving students’ academic performance and reducing the proportion of students who have low levels of reading, mathematics and science literacy, but also creating equity in education that will allow children with different backgrounds and from families with different socio-economic status to get a quality education. Today, different countries often implement quite different strategies to ensure that children have fair access to a quality education. The results of PISA, a well-known international survey on the quality of students' education, make it possible to get an incomplete, but fairly objective picture of the functioning of education systems in different countries and economies and to evaluate their impact on students’ performance. In 2018, Ukraine participated for the first time in this study. Ukrainian students have shown average achievement in major areas of PISA. Of course, many factors influence students’ performance but the role of Ukraine’s school system is still to be explored. This paper provides an analysis of some of the indicators obtained by PISA 2018 on the segregation of students across schools, that is, the analysis of how evenly (or unevenly) pupils are distributed across schools regardless of their individual characteristics. Ukraine's results are compared with the OECD average, which makes it possible to draw some conclusions about the implementation of the principle of "fairness" in the Ukrainian education system.

MENTAL HEALTH AT SCHOOLS: BETWEEN SAFETY AND RISK

2020-11-18T13:40:30+02:00

The authors study the school environment and its impact on youth mental health. The authors also analyze different aspects of mental health, namely: lack of symptoms of mental disorders, mental or psychological well-being; the process of seeking and maintaining the balance. As the result of the discussion, the authors consider the youth mental health as a system of externalizing and internalizing disorders.

As a theoretical base, authors use the following theories: the problem-behavior theory (PBT) by R. Jessor, Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, and the conception of resilience by K. Ostaszewski. Though these theories, the authors empirically identified manifestations of risky behavior in school. The main forms of risky behaviour are violence and fights in or near the school, cyberbullying at school, skipping classes.

The empirical basis of the study includes the results obtained from the Ukrainian-Polish survey under the title "Mental Health and Risky Behaviour of Adolescents" conducted in October – December 2016 among adolescents from Ukraine and Poland. It was based on the methodology of an authoritative study on adolescents’ mental health in Poland that is more commonly known as the Mokotow Study and has been regularly conducted since the late 1980s.

In the research, a random stratified-cluster selection of samples of nine grade middle school students were used. The cluster was a grade, stratification designated by the type of living area: the large city (regional center) – Lviv, the average city – Drohobych, the villages of Drohobych district. In Ukraine, 2001 pupils were surveyed, of whom 1246 were from Lviv (69%), 307 from Drohobych (17%) and 288 from villages of Drohobych district (14%). In the Ukrainian sample, the percentage of girls was 48,2% and boys – 51,8%.

The results of logistic regression analysis show that the school is among the crucial factors that influence all manifestations of the youth risky behaviour. The authors argue that school and family are protective factors in mental health, and peers are a risk factor.

Correlation analysis of the relationship between school attachment and mental health was done. The result shows the existence of a significant correlation between the school environment and the externalizing and internalizing disorders of student youth. Manifestations of externalizing disorders are behaviour manifestations associated with aggression, violence, violation of social behaviour, criminal behaviour, use of psychoactive substances. The positive school environment reduces the manifestations of externalizing disorders. As in the previous case, a positive school environment reduces the manifestations of internalizing disorders such as emotional disorders, especially depression, drug addiction, excessive stress, and so on.

The research of students was designed to develop the prevention of youth risk behaviour. The results of the study show the presence of risk factors, both outside and inside the school. The evidence-based prevention work at school based on a system of risk and protective factors could have a positive effect. In the authors' opinion, measures involving work with teachers, students, and their parents will be useful in reducing the manifestations of risky behaviour of student youth. It is essential to form a model of positive behaviour through the formation of the key life and social competencies.