Problems of Education in The 21st Century, Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019

Problems of Education in the 21st Century, Vol. 77, No.
1, 2019
ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online)
PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION
IN THE 21st CENTURY
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Dr., Prof. Vladimir S. Karapetyan, Armenian State Pedagogical University named after
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Dr. Milan Kubiatko, University of Zilina, Slovakia
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Dr. Todar T. Lakhvich, Belarusian State Medical University, Republic of Belarus
Dr. Eleonora Melnik, Petrozavodsk State University, Republic of Karelia, Russia
Dr., Prof. Danuše Nezvalova, Palacky University, Czech Republic
Dr. Osman Pekel, Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey
Dr., Prof. Yuriy Pelekh, Rivne State University of Humanities, Ukraine
Dr., Prof. Raffaele Pisano, Lille 3 University, France
Dr. Costin Pribeanu, Academy of Romanian Scientists, Romania
Dr. Agneta Simeonsdotter Svensson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Dr. Uladzimir K. Slabin, University of Oregon, USA
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Dr., Prof. Borislav V. Toshev, Sofia University, Bulgaria
Dr., Prof. Milan Turčani, Constantine the Philosopher University, Slovakia
Dr., Prof. Nicos Valanides, Educational Robotics and Science Organization, Cyprus
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PROBLEMS
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Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
Contents 3
Editorial
MISCONCEPTIONS AND “LEARNING DOCTORS”

Feyzi Osman Pekel .................................................................................................. 5
Articles
SYNERGETIC EFFECTS MANIFESTATION BY FOUNDING COMPLEXES DEPLOYMENT

OF MATHEMATICAL TASKS ON THE CHESSBOARD
Svetlana N. Dvoryatkina, Vladimir S. Karapetyan, Alla M. Dallakyan, Svetlana A. Rozanova,
Eugeny I. Smirnov .................................................................................................... 8
VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS TOWARDS ICT

FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION: INDONESIAN CONTEXT
Amirul Mukminin, Akhmad Habibi, Muhaimin, Asrial, Eddy Haryanto, Panut Setiono, Sofyan ..........22
MAJOR PERSONALITY TRAITS INFLUENCING ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE:

A CASE OF URBAN LEARNING ECOLOGIES
Olugbenga Adedayo Ige, Loyiso C. Jita, Thuthukile Jita ......................................................... 39
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GEOGEBRA WHEN TEACHING LINEAR FUNCTIONS

USING THE IPAD
Vimolan Mudaly, Tamryn Fletcher ..................................................................................55
AN EXPLORATION OF HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF GEOMETRIC

CONCEPTS
Harrison Ngirishi, Sarah Bansilal ................................................................................... 82
THE RELIABILITY OF STUDENTS’ EVALUATION OF TEACHING

AT SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL
Ugorji I. Ogbonnaya .................................................................................................. 97
ENHANCING LIBYAN STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE THROUGH

LANGUAGE GAME AND INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES
Eman Abdussalam Owen, Abu Bakar Razali, Arshad Abd Samad, Nooreen Noordin ...................... 110
THE STATUS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION IN LATVIA: VIEWS OF THE TEACHERS

Līga Paula, Ilze Priževoite ...........................................................................................126
THE FIELD OF WORK OF THE SCHOOL ART THERAPIST AND ITS UNIQUE
POTENTIAL FOR THE SCHOOL’S SUPPORT TEAM
Marika Ratnik, Eha Rüütel ..........................................................................................142
COMPARISON OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL PROGRAM AND

INCLUSIVE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM FOR MATH ACHIEVEMENT
Marija Slavkovic, Haris Memisevic ................................................................................ 156

PROBLEMS
OF EDUCATION
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
4 Information
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS ............................................................................. 165

PROBLEMS
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Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
MISCONCEPTIONS AND “LEARNING 5
DOCTORS”
Feyzi Osman Pekel
Süleyman Demirel University, Turkey
E-mail: osmanpekel@yahoo.com
We all talk about scientific issues such as plants, genetically modified organisms, air-
water-environmental pollution, and education etc. in everyday life. But such small talks are
not as simple job as it was thought, because, it is necessary to have a scientific qualification in
order to state true opinions about the discussed topics. However, in order to fully understand
the problem here, we must answer the following questions. Do we understand these issues in a
way that does not conflict with scientific facts, and can we say we fully taught the students what
we understand? Are we able to use scientific concepts correctly? What matter is our answer to
these questions.
The answers to these questions reveal the damages of misconceptions and the importance
of the conceptual learning. As concepts are building blocks of the learning, they are the names
of the grouped similarities, events and thoughts. Mankind learns and uses these concepts, which
are considered as units of thought, at every age. In this way, information networks, information
clusters occur by understanding the relations between concepts. Learning the concept is a
foundation for other learning and the first learning will form the ground for subsequent learning.
Starting from childhood, we learn concepts and terms that are concepts’ names, classify
concepts, and discover the relationships between them. Thus, we rearrange our knowledge
and even create new concepts and new information. This process of learning and restructuring
in our minds continues throughout our lives. However, factors such as students’ daily lives,
experiences, belief systems, learning environments, and their underdeveloped mental skills,
and their efforts to make sense of concepts contradict the nature of science and the process of
the emergence of scientific knowledge, and students misunderstand scientific knowledge in this
process.
This non-scientific interpretation process has been named by researchers in different
terms, in terms of “misconception” or “alternative concepts”. The fact that learned concepts are
not sufficiently shaped in the mind of the individual, failure in constructing correct relationships
with the learners’ existing schemas and the use of learned concepts out of the scientific meaning
causes students’ developing misconceptions in their minds. This occurs when student was
left alone in the learning process, since the teacher does not guide, the student misinterprets
when he/she couldn’t comprehend a subject that he/she never knew before, and this leads to
misconceptions. Misconceptions are not only to be observed in today’s children or students
– even scientists and philosophers developed and lived with many misconceptions in the
past (Barke, Hazari, & Yitbarek 2009). For example, most of the students around the world
imagine that the sun rises in the morning from the east, at the noon it will be at the highest
point and in the evening, it will be set in the west. They imagine as if the sun cycles around
the earth. Misconceptions are such obstacles at all levels of education to comprehend scientific
phenomena (Oberoi, 2017). Researches show that individuals have many misconceptions that
are resistant to change in many subjects we think they have successfully learned.
What is important for teachers is to minimize the number of students’ misconceptions
without the opportunity to create new misconceptions throughout the teaching process,
because correcting the wrong information is more difficult than teaching new knowledge.
Although misconceptions have a wide variety of sources, the most damaging ones today are
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Feyzi Osman PEKEL. Misconceptions and “Learning doctors”
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Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
6 misconceptions transmitted from textbooks (Barrass, 1984, Cho, Kahle, & Norland, 1985;
Pearson & Hughes, 1988; Sanger, 1996) or teachers (Barrass, 1984; Lin, Yen, Liang, Chiu, &
Guo, 2016; Ilyas & Saeed, 2018, Wandersee, Mintzes, & Novak, 1994). Such misconceptions
are not only transmitted but also hinder meaningful learning altogether. When the teacher tries
to correct the misconceptions in the textbook, the students may object to the teacher because
the textbook says the opposite. The textbooks for the students are an error-free source and the
books are more reliable than parents and teachers.
Determined misconceptions in textbooks can be eliminated in the light of the results
of research conducted by field training experts. However, it is not enough for teachers not to
have misconceptions in order to prevent misconceptions transfer from teachers to students.
It is very important for teachers to be aware of the misconceptions their students might hold
about the subject they are going to teach and to be aware of how these misconceptions can be
eliminated. But if a teacher assumes his/her students enter the classroom without preconceptions
or misconceptions, this will be a crucial mistake.
Sadler and Sonnert, (2016) revealed that teachers who were able to identify possible
misconceptions of their students had higher student achievement gains than teachers who could
know only the correct answers. They also report that teachers who plan their lessons in order
to eliminate the misconceptions of their students had achieved a higher level of achievement
than teachers who did not take into account the misconceptions. Moreover, an intriguing finding
of their study was that teachers who knew their students’ most common misconceptions were
more likely to increase their students’ science knowledge than teachers who did not. These
findings suggest that a teacher’s ability to identify students’ most common misconceptions on
multiple-choice items, a form of pedagogical content knowledge, is an additional measure of
science teacher effectiveness.
Taber, 2002 suggested the metaphor of “Learning Doctors” for teachers who struggle to
eliminate their students’ misconceptions (Barke et al., (2009). The comparison of the teacher
with medical doctors is accurate in two respects. First, just like a medical doctor, the learning
doctor should use diagnostic tests as tools to guide action. Secondly, just like medical doctors,
teachers are ‘professionals’ in the genuine sense of the term. Like medical doctors, learning
doctors are in practice (the ‘clinic’ is the classroom or teaching laboratory). Just as medical
doctors find that many patients are not textbook cases, and do not respond to treatment in the
way the books suggest, so many learners have idiosyncrasies that require different individual
treatments (Barke et al., (2009).
Teachers as “Learning Doctors” play a major role in the learning of the students. On
the other hand, most of the teachers are not familiar with the misconceptions, which is a
crucial alarming situation. Hence, teachers should be aware of the nature of misconceptions
and possible remedies to mediate the misconceptions (Ilyas & Saeed, 2018). In order to have
convincing lessons, it is important that young people have enough opportunities to express and
compare their ideas of the nature. Only after children feel uncomfortable with their ideas, the
new and current worldview should be introduced (Barke et al., 2009). It is recommended to
incorporate the teaching techniques required for eliminating misconceptions in the curriculum
for teacher educators. It is necessary to equip teachers with essential capabilities of continuously
identifying their students’ misconceptions and implementing remedial instructional strategies
(Ilyas & Saeed, 2018).
Educators should be aware that newly acquired concepts are not sustainable forever and
can be easily affected when the lesson is over. It is therefore necessary to repeat and intensify
these newly ‘‘acquired’’ concepts in order to anchae them in the minds of students (Barke et
al., 2009). Science education should be a bridge between students’ misconceptions and current
scientific concepts. This bridge can be constructed through classroom discourse which plays
a critical role in not also enhancing students’ comprehension and learning but also foster and
facilitate students’ critical-analytic thinking.
doi: https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/19.77.05 ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online)

Feyzi Osman PEKEL. Misconceptions and “Learning doctors”
PROBLEMS
OF EDUCATION
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
Consequently, misconceptions are not only the problem of educational community, 7

because the education level of individual is indicative of the educational level of the society in
which he / she lives.
References
Barke, H. D., Hazari, A, & Yitbarek, S. (2009). Misconceptions in chemistry, XI, 294p, Retrieved from
http://www.springer.com/978-3-540-70988-6.
Barrass, R. (1984). Some misconceptions and misunderstandings perpetuated by teachers and textbooks
of biology. Journal of Biological Education, 18(3), 201-206.
Cho, H. H., Kahle, J. B., & Norland, F. H. (1985). An investigation of high school biology text books as
sources of misconceptions and difficulties in genetics and some suggestions for teaching genetics.
Science Education, 69 (5), 707-719.
Ilyas, A., & Saeed, M. (2018). Exploring teachers’ understanding about misconceptions of secondary
grade chemistry students. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education,
9(1), 3323-3328.
Lin, J. W., Yen, M. H., Liang, J. C., Chiu, M. H., & Guo, C. J. (2016). Examining the factors that influence
students’ science learning processes and their learning outcomes: 30 years of conceptual change
research. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(9), 2617-2646.
Oberoi, M. (2017). Review of the literature on student’s misconceptions in science. International Journal
of Scientific Research and Education, 5(3), 6274-6280.
Pearson, J. T., & Hughes, W. J. (1988). Problems with the use of terminology in genetics education: 1,
A Literature review and classification scheme. Journal of Biological Education, 22 (3), 178-182.
Sadler, P. M., & Sonnert, G. (2016). Understanding misconceptions, teaching and learning in middle
school physical science. American Educator, Spring, 26-32.
Sanger, M. J. (1996). Identifying, attributing, and dispelling student misconceptions in electrochemistry.
Retrospective Theses and Dissertations, 11399.
Wandersee, J. H., Mintzes, J. J., & Novak, J. D., (1994). Handbook of research on science teaching and
learning. New York: Macmillan.
Received: January 10, 2019 Accepted: February 10, 2019
Feyzi Osman Pekel PhD., Assistant Professor, Süleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Education,
Isparta, Turkey.
E-mail: osmanpekel@yahoo.com
Website: http://w3.sdu.edu.tr/personel/05623/yrd-doc-dr-feyzi-osman-pekel
ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online) doi: https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/19.77.05

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Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
8
SYNERGETIC EFFECTS MANIFESTATION
BY FOUNDING COMPLEXES DEPLOYMENT
OF MATHEMATICAL TASKS ON THE
CHESSBOARD
Svetlana N. Dvoryatkina
Bunin Yelets State University, Russia
E-mail: sobdvor@yelets.lipetsk.ru
Vladimir S. Karapetyan, Alla M. Dallakyan

Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Kh. Abovyan, Armenian
E-mail: vskarapetyan@mail.ru, alla.dallakyan@gmail.com
Svetlana A. Rozanova
MIREA- Russian Technological University, Russia
E-mail: srozanova@mail.ru
Eugeny I. Smirnov
Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushinsky, Russia
E-mail: smiei@mail.ru
Abstract
The urgency of the problem is due to the insufficient development of theoretical, content-technological
and methodological aspects of the integration of mathematical knowledge and chess skills. The
manifestations of synergistic effects arising in the course of the integration of mathematical and game
chess activity, while resolving uncertainties on the chessboard due to the activation of key components
of creativity, have not been sufficiently studied. The synergistic effect of the integration of mathematical
knowledge and chess skills is considered from the perspective of the components of theoretical thinking
and is evaluated by the student’s creative choice in the search for alternative solutions. The purpose
of the study is to describe and evaluate the manifestations of the structural components of the creative
effect in the context of the introduction of funded complexes of mathematical problems on a chessboard.
The hypothesis of the research: theoretical analysis of educational material, reflection and an internal
plan of action as comparable processes for solving mathematical problems in terms of implementation
substantiate complexes will lead to manifestations of arguments-heuristic, intellectual and logical and
motivational components of creative activity.
The research assumed the measurement of the manifestations of the structural components of creativity in
the context of the introduction of funding complexes of mathematical problems on a chessboard. In the
process of identifying the structural components of creativity, psychodiagnostic diagnostics tools were
developed for intellectual-heuristic, intellectual-logical, motivational and reflexive aspects, comparative
diagnostics were carried out for all structural components, the average level and integral indicators in
the control and experimental groups were calculated.
The formation of creativity was carried out by developing the ability to argue in the process of solving
multi-stage mathematical problems on the chessboard. The choice of cause-and-effect relationships
stimulated creative independence and reflexivity, enhancing the manifestations of the synergistic effect.
On the basis of internal cognitive consonance, non-standard original ideas were identified; by overcoming
emotional instability, the logical component of argumentation was strengthened.
https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/19.77.08 ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online)

Svetlana N. DVORYATKINA, Vladimir S. KARAPETYAN, Alla M. DALLAKYAN, Svetlana A. ROZANOVA, Eugeny I. SMIRNOV.
Synergetic effects manifestation by founding complexes deployment of mathematical tasks on the chessboard
PROBLEMS
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Vol. 77, No. 1, 2019
The results of the research revealed a positive trend in the key components of creativity in the context of 9
the introduction of a chess game in the process of learning mathematics. In the future, it is possible to
upgrade the methodological educational material for the system of inclusive mathematical education.
Keywords: synergistic effect, creativity, fundamental problem complexes, uncertainty resolution,
mathematical problems on a chessboard.
Introduction
Issues related to the research of a complex phenomena of “creativity” are given

considerable attention in scientific literature. There is a constant search for new methods, means
and forms of training that make it possible to actualize the creative potential of students. A new
and effective mechanism in this direction is “chess mathematics”. The “chess effect” hypothesis
has stimulated numerous research projects around the world. Most researches focused on the
impact of chess on academic success in mathematics. The integration of chess training with
mathematical education was studied in order to develop logical thinking and intellectual abilities
of students (Brestel, 2011; Geek, 2009, 2010; Dvoryatkina & Loskutov, 2016; Karapetyan,
2014; Polоudin, 2017; Sukhin, 2012). In the works (Karapetyan, Mirzakhanyan & Gevorgyan,
2016; Karapetyan & Gevorgyan, 2017) the interrelation between the determination of the
expediency of the choice of chess moves with typical manifestations of cognitive dissonance
and consonance, which naturally arise in the process of argumentation. The psychological
phenomenon of cognitive dissonance and consonance in the field of argumentation during the
game of chess is transformed into the appropriate orientation situations. The results of emotional-
logical comparison with logical and internal conflicts are considered. This is evidenced by
the subsequent choice, adequately or inadequately expressed in the emotional and behavioral
manifestations of the players. European researchers (Burgoyne & Sala, 2016; Sala & Gobet,
2016; Sala, Foley & Gobet, 2017) found that chess training improves mathematical abilities in
primary and basic general education students.
However, many years of professional practice of teachers and coaches in chess shows
that a chess game, in addition to its impact on intellectual development, promotes creative
activity and the development of students’ reflexive abilities. The chess fantasy expands the
player’s understanding of their capabilities in the course of gaming activities and contributes to
the choice of the correct move in the position. In psychology, creative activity in this context
is not sufficiently studied. Mathematical problems on the chessboard belong to the class of
unsolvable algorithms, an algorithm that consists in the complete search of all variants, that
is, to the class of “NP-complete problems” (non-deterministic polynomials) in the theory of
algorithms (McConnell, 2001)
Thus, mathematical problems on the chessboard are traditional creative problems,
because, firstly, the search for their solutions is carried out in an infinite, unlimited extent;
secondly, a variety of goals leads to an unlimited number of possible decisions. So, the skill of
setting goals or targets in the process of solving mathematical problems on a chessboard can
contribute to the development of creative thinking of a student and to the reflection of their
own choice. Description of the manifestations of synergetic effects and purposeful activity of
students helps to determine the essence of synergy in the context of creative activity and to
estimate the value of synergetic effects from the integration of mathematical knowledge and the
ability to choose a solution in a variety of alternatives.
All that was noted above determined the following:
- the problem of the research, which consists of the search for theoretical and
methodological provisions and didactic mechanisms of integration of mathematical knowledge
and chess skills to choose a solution in a plurality of alternatives to chess game to update the
creativity of students.
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10 - the aim of the research, that is to describe and assess the manifestations of the structural
components of the creative effect in the introduction of ponderous complexes of mathematical
problems on a chessboard;
- the hypothesis of the research: the theoretical analysis of the educational material,
reflection and internal action plan as comparable processes of solving mathematical problems
in the conditions of implementation of foundation complexes will lead to the manifestations of
reasoned-heuristic, intellectual-logical and motivational components of creative activity.
Methodology of Research
General Background
The research of the problem was carried out in three stages:

- at the first stage, a theoretical analysis of synergetic approach and founding methodology,
dissertation works on the problem, as well as theory and methodology of pedagogical research;
the problem, purpose, and research methods are set out. So, the experimental research plan is
worked out;
- at the second stage, a draft four-stage funding complex of tasks on a chessboard was
presented, with the updating of synergy attributes (multiplicity of goal setting, resolution of
uncertainty) and manifestation of the creative effect; An integrated methodological complex
has been developed, including diagnostics of the components of creativity (argued-heuristic,
intellectual-logical, motivational, reflexive). An experimental work has been carried out; the
conclusions obtained during the experimental work have been analyzed, tested and clarified;
- in the third stage, the experimental work has been completed, theoretical and practical
conclusions have been refined, statistical processing of the data has been carried out, obtained
results have been summarized and systematized.
Experimental base of the research has been the Scientific Research Institute of Chess of
Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Khachatur Abovyan, Chess Academy of
Armenia, Schools No. 57, 194, 33 in Yerevan, secondary school No.5 in Yelets, Lipetsk Region.
Students at the age of 9 to 16 years took part in the formative experiment. For the students
of the experimental group (n1 = 180), the methodology of teaching mathematics was based on
the introduction of chess in the educational process. In the control group (n2 = 180), the teaching
of mathematics was taught using traditional teaching methods.
When selecting control and experimental groups, the principle of creating
representative groups was dominant, which is important for statistical processing of the
research results. In particular:
1. For each age or class, an equal number of boys and girls were
selected with an average level of achievement in mathematics and chess discipline;
2. Considered the same motivational figure, expressed an interest in

mathematics and chess;
3. The choice of teachers in these disciplines was carried out on the

principle of the same rating (pedagogical knowledge and skills);
4. The factor of emotional stability and extroversion of the student was

taken into account (according to G. Eysenck).
Instrument and Procedures
The quantitative assessment of the synergistic effect of a trainees’ creative activity in

the context of the integration of chess education into mathematical education includes the

PROBLEMS
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development of a complex methodological complex including the diagnosis of the following 11

components of creativity: a reasoned heuristic, intellectual and logical, motivational and
reflexive. It is noteworthy that psychologists use various chess problems with non-standard
figures on non-standard boards to diagnose creativity (Bogoyavlenskaya & Nizovtsova, 2017).
The unusual situation, according to the researchers, should smooth out the differences between
experienced players and those who could not play chess before.
The development of personality is impossible to imagine without the presence of situations
of intellectual tension in the conditions of uncertainty and lack of future activities prediction,
opportunities to overcome the problem areas that arise in integration of mathematical education
and chess playing. The presence of such problem areas and situations of overcoming is directly
related to the development of complex knowledge and is an important attribute of qualitative
changes in the development of personality.
The choice of criteria for creativity is justified by the connection of theoretical thinking
with the development of an internal plan of action, especially in divergent thinking, which is
typical in the process of solving mathematical problems on a chessboard. At the same time,
with the resolution of uncertainty on a chessboard in the conditions of a plurality of alternatives,
creativity appears, serving as the result of comparing different ways of solving problems in the
internal plan of action. The synergistic effect is considered in the context of the development
of a theoretical type of thinking according to V.V. Davydov (1995), taking into account the
activation of the components of theoretical analysis, reflection and internal action plan. In this
context, the psychological basis for the implementation of funding complexes of mathematical
tasks on a chessboard are:
1. Theory of the development of theoretical thinking by V.V. Davydov;
2. Psychological basis for the development of the ability of an internal action plan.
On the basis of theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific research in the studied
direction, the following criteria for the manifestation of creative effect have been identified:
intellectual-heuristic (Karapetyan, Gevorgyan, 2017); intellectual-logical (Sala, Foley, Gobet,
2017; Dvoryatkina, Loskutov, 2016); motivational (Rozanova, Karapetyan, Smirnov and others,
2015); reflexive (Hartkens, 2017), and also search of corresponding diagnostics techniques
allowing to fix this quality was carried out (Table 1).
Table 1. Components, criteria of creativity and diagnostic means.
Structure of crea-
Diagnostic characteristics of creativity
tivity, Diagnostic Means
(criteria for synergy manifestation)
key components
- ability to produce a large number of ideas based on
methodology of PARLA with the purpose
internal cognitive consonance;
of determining the validity of the course of
- ability to overcome emotional instability (disso-
Argumentative-heu- problems solving on the following chain:
nance) with the strengthening of the logical compo-
ristic problem-action-result-teaching/learning
nent of argumentation;
the usage of experience in solving of
- ability to produce unusual, non-standard ideas
similar tasks
(originality)
- ability to analyze and synthesize;
test of the structure of intelligence of R.
Intellectual-logical - divergence and associativity of thinking;
Amtkhauer;
- flexibility and fluency of mental operations;
- self-determination and self-improvement, creative
methodology of Ch. D. Spielberger (the
Motivational self-realization;
modification of A. D. Andreev for Russia)
- cognitive activity, motivation to achievement.
methodology for research of self-evalua-
-self-evaluation of the person; tion of the person by S. A. Budassey;
Reflexive
-reflexion. methodology for diagnosing the level of
reflexivity by A. B. Karpov

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12 The results of the interview with PARLA method and the analysis of the game of chess
revealed that the usefulness of the learned move does not correspond to its future implementation.
The PARLA method was also used in the process of argumentation with the aim of:
a) Combining or correlating the data of the trainer and the school psychologist with the
results obtained with PARLA method;
b) Consideration of chess game from the beginning to the end in chain context: “problem
- action - result - training - implementation”;
c) Clarification of those personal qualities of chess players, which are manifested
especially in the chain of “teaching- implementation”.
In addition to the above-mentioned, during the interview we were interested in how
the students learned to approve their own moves and how to implement them. It turned out
that application of PARLA method is more expedient in the course of the interview, after the
joint work of the trainer and the school psychologist, as the number of new actions, which are
previously unfamiliar to the child (training and implementation), increases.
Many-stage mathematical assignments for the purpose of forming creative activity of
students were previously used by the Polish mathematician schools with in-depth study of
mathematics (Klyakla, 2003), Russian researchers (Smirnov, Secovanov & Mironkin, 2014)
in the teaching of fractal geometry etc. According to the mentioned authors, the introduction
of innovative teaching means in the form of multi-stage mathematical assignments as part of
the substantiating complexes ensures the formation of creativity, including: the development
of intellectual operations and reflexive abilities, convergent and divergent thinking, tolerance
to innovation, the development of skills to predict the results of mathematical activity. Each
cycle is a logical chain of tasks connected with a single supporting idea, with the gradual
accumulation and complication of information on the implementation of that idea. It will be
illustrated the technological chain of solving mathematical tasks on the chessboard with the
actualization of synergy attributes (the variety of goal setting, the generalized construct of the
“problem zone” of mathematics, the dialogue of the mathematical, information, humanitarian
and natural science cultures) and the manifestation of creative synergetic effect.
The motivational stage is manifested in the expression of the value and personal
characteristics of cognitive and creative activity of the learners in mastering the standards and
models of phenomenology of visual-intuitive modeling of applied mathematical tasks. In this
stage, it will be expedient to offer students by solving the most common geometric tasks - the
tasks of cutting a chessboard, allowing to obtain geometric forms of different complexity and
accordingly, consciously (by choice, rather than pattern) solve geometric tasks for symmetry,
parallel lines, coordinate system, equality of figures, the properties of a square, a triangle etc.
The main method for solving tasks of this class will be a problem situation or a problematic
dialogue that establishes the possibility of formulating the ultimate goal for finding the potential
for the choice of solutions.
1. The legend about four diamonds. One oriental lord was a very good chess player, that
in his entire life he lost only four games. In honor of his winners, he ordered four pieces of
diamond to be inserted in the board, one for each field, where he was put mat (Figure 1, where
knights are depicted instead of diamonds). After the death of the lord, his son, a weak player
and cruel despot, decided to take revenge on them. He ordered the players to cut the board into
identical pieces, so that in each of them there was one diamond. It is assumed that the cuts pass
only along the boundaries between the verticals and horizontal contours of the board.
Decision. One of the correct solutions is shown in Figure 1.
Having four knights in different fields of the board, we can get many tasks connected
with cutting. The interest is not only finding one necessary cut, but also counting the number
of all methods to cut the board into four identical parts containing one knight each. It is noted
that the greatest number of solutions (800) is the problem with the arrangement of the knights
in the corners of the board.

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13
Figure 1. The legend about four diamonds.
2. The paradox of cutting the chessboard. Cut the chessboard into four parts, as shown in
Picture 3, and draw a rectangle from them (Figure 2). The chessboard consists of 64 cells, but
the resulting rectangle is made up of 65. Question: where was one extra field from?
Figure 2. The paradox of cutting the chessboard.
The solution of paradox lies in the drawing fact is not entirely accurate. If you make it
more accurate, you can see a barely noticeable parallelogram. Its area is equal to the area of the
extra cell.
3. The Proof of Pythagoras theorem on the chessboard. Cut the board as shown in Figure
3. The board is divided into a square and four equal right-angled triangles. In both cases, the
areas of the triangles are equal, which means that the areas of the remaining figures are also
equal. Since a large square is built on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, and small ones
are on its cathete, hence the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the
cathete.
Figure 3. Theorem of Pythagoras on the chessboard.

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14 4. How many cuts are needed on the board to cross all of its fields?
The stage of process-activity is manifested in the design and organization of procedures
for mastering innovative manifestations of the essence of a mathematical construct on the basis
of actualizing the techniques of creative cognitive self-activity. To improve the effectiveness of
goal-setting at the stage of learning activity of students organizing it is necessary to develop
the creativity of thinking to optimally overcome the situation of uncertainty in the conditions of
alternatives variety. It forms such information contexts where the development of goal-setting
is carried out in the logic, posing and solving both mathematical and chess problems.
At this stage, tasks can be recommended that illustrate the unusual geometry of the board
and the unexpected properties of the figures. For example, according to Euclidean geometry, the
shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, in chess this is not always the
same. On this property, such techniques as “repulsion by the shoulder” and others are based.
One of the most famous chess e’tudes by R. Reti can illustrate this property (Figure 4).
Figure 4. E’tude by Rikhard Reti.
It seems absolutely incredible that in this position the white king is able to cope with a
black pawn. However, this becomes possible if he follows her not by the usual straight line,
but by the “royal” one. To the field of h2, the white king can reach in different ways. The route
of h8-g7-f6-e5-f4-g3-h2 is equal in length, i.e. in number of turns to the route of h8-h7-h6-h5-
h4-h3-h2. On the chessboard, the two cathete turned out to be equal to the hypotenuse. The
method of solution proposed by Ye. Ignatiev (2018), will be innovative and unexpected, for
the derivation of algebraic formulas with the help of the chessboard. For example, to prove the
equality:
n(n + 1)
a); 1 + 2 + ... + n = ; b). 8(1 + 2 + ... + n) + 1 = (2n + 1) 2 .
2
The proof of equality a): let’s find the sum of the n of the first natural numbers “by the
method of the chessboard”. To do this, we black out all the fields of the first vertical on the
board (n + 1) × n (Pic. 5, where n = 8), all the fields of the second vertical (except for the top),
the third vertical (except for the two tops), etc., finally - the bottom field of the n-th vertical. As
a result, white and black fields on the board will be equally divided, especially 1 + 2 + ... + n.
Since the board area is n (n + 1), we get 2 (1 + 2 + ... + n) = n (n + 1).
The control-corrective stage is manifested in monitoring and diagnostics of procedures
for measuring the state and expansion of experience, in manifesting of synergetic effects and
characteristics of learners’ personal qualities, in determining and optimizing technological
procedures and the content of mathematical education.
At this stage, it is possible to recommend assignments with different variations of the
conditions and data of the tasks, an estimate of the choice of optimal method for solving the
problem, tasks with incomplete data etc.

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Task. How many ways are there to place 8 rooks on the chessboard so that neither of 15
them can take the other?
Figure 5. To place 8 rooks on the chessboard.
In “mathematical” presentation the task can be formulated in several ways : “Fill the 8
× 8 matrix with zeros and ones so that the sum of all elements of the matrix is 8 × 8 , the sum of
elements in any column , row or diagonal array did not exceed one “; or to obtain other
variants of its solution by means of following transformations: by turning the chessboard by 90,
180, 270 degrees , respectively; axial symmetry with respect to main diagonals: horizontal and
vertical axes of symmetry of the chessboard. As a result, we obtain equivalence classes of
possible arrangements that pass into each other, that is, combinatorial orbits. The ultimate goal
set before determining this task can also be formulated in several variants:
1. Construct one solution of the task;
2. Analytically prove that the solution exists;
3. Determine the possible number of solutions;
4. Construct all possible solutions.
To solve a similar problem, learners can use the following types of solutions:
combinatorial method, graph theory, the method of mathematical induction, and also the
arithmetic progression, which was successfully used by the French mathematician E. Luke.
Mastering a wide arsenal of methods for solving the mathematical tasks, students are flexible
in the formulation and selection of goals, maximum self-independence and, as a result, the
ability of self-realization. The most productive at this stage will be combinatorial tasks on the
chessboard (Marcuson, 1989).
The general-transformative stage is characterized by the content and characteristics of
innovations transfer into the mass practice of school mathematics mastering, the integration of
the individual and the social in the design of innovative mathematical constructs, exchange of
information and verification of the innovative activity of students. In this stage, it is also possible
to form several goals. The main efforts of the learners are concentrated on a multipurpose
approach. There is a strong correlation between the capacity for goal-setting and reflection,
which provides a productive analysis of the goal-setting process; creative thinking, which
allows the effective usage of creative goal-setting strategies; motivation, which activates and
regulates the self-development of the learners as an individual of goal-setting.
It is possible to offer research tasks to junior schoolchildren on modern scientific
problems, for example, on combinatorics: architectural combinatorics (studying the problems
of architectural shaping on the basis of various combinations), combinatorics in programming
(research and study of various combinatorial algorithms for EBM), combinatorics of orbits
(obtaining new solutions of combinatorial tasks by converting and separating classes of
equivalence), etc.

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16 Data Analysis
For the convenience of the comparative analysis, all diagnostic data were distributed
according to levels - low, average, high. On the basis of the frequency distribution of the
experimented subjects by levels, the average level indicator (ALI) of each quality was calculated
on a three-level scale by the formula: ALI =
a + 2b + 3c where a, b, c is the percentage of the number
100
of experimented subjects with low (a), average (b), high (c) levels of developmental
characteristics, according to the used diagnostic methodologies.
Results of Research
The hypothesis of a study on the promotion of funding complexes of mathematical

problems on a chessboard to the manifestations of heuristic, intellectual, logical and motivational
components of creative activity was experimentally confirmed.
Table 2 presents the comparative diagnostic data for all structural components and their
characteristic properties, including the indicator of average level and the integral indicator in
the control and experimental groups.
Table 2. The diagnostics for creative effect.
Components
of diagnos- Levels of the development of creative activities ALI
tics
L A H
CG EG CG EG CG EG CG EG
< 93 ≥ 100 15 - 33
Problem (argumentation of
80 52 95 103 5 25 1.58 1.85
own moves)
Action
92 54 73 93 15 33 1.57 1.88
(ability to argumented actions)
Argumenta- Result
tive-heuristic (the number of new creative 79 44 101 111 0 25 1.56 1.89
actions)
Implementation
(the number of usage of origi- 125 83 55 74 0 17 1.30 1.60
nally learned moves)
Intellectual-logical <80 80-100 >100
82 1.61 1.84
54 86 100 12 26
Motivational <28 29-44 45-60

78 1.61 1.88
44 94 113 8 23
Self-eval- -1<r<-0,39 -0,38<r<0,37 0,38<r<1

uation
of the 1.58 1.85
Reflexive person 57 82 93 12 30
Reflexion 86
80-122 123-147 148-172
1.53 1.80
86 57 92 101 3 22
Integral coefficient 1.54 1.82

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A statistics using Pearson’s criterion has been established of the level of creative 17
activity development of students for all components in the control and experimental groups (for
the absolute frequencies of the trait). The main tested hypothesis, which is that there is no
difference in the level of the development of the cognitive sphere for individual components
between the control and experimental groups, was rejected ( χ 2 = 7 .26 , p< .05 for the
7.26
intellectual-heuristic component, χ 2 = 6.82
2 , p<0.05 for the intellectual-logical component,
6.8
.2 , p< .05 for the motivational component, χ 2 = 6

χ 2 = 111.22 7 ; χ 2 = 66.30
.5
6.57 .30 , p< .05 for the
reflexive component).
Positive dynamics in the change in the ALI of trainees, characterizing the level of
cognitive processes development for the selected components (Figure 6), as well as significant
changes in the integral indicator (positive dynamics by 28%) have been revealed. All this made
it possible to reliably assert that the introduction of chess in teaching mathematics had a positive
impact on the level of development of all diagnosed indicators.
The correlation analysis of the obtained indicators of the control and experimental groups
for all levels of development of creative activity (low, medium, high) revealed the presence of
a certain dependence, in particular:
- with a low level of development of creative activity - the correlation coefficient between
the control and experimental groups is 0.9550;
- with an average level of development of creative activity - the correlation coefficient
between the control and experimental groups is 0.9505;
- with a high level of development of creative activity - the correlation coefficient
between the control and experimental groups is equal to 0.8122.
A comparative analysis of correlations shows:
- the effectiveness of the selection of representative groups based on the principle of
homogeneity;
- the effectiveness of the implementation of funding complexes of mathematical problems
on a chessboard. The introduction of substantive constructs contributes to the development of
components of theoretical thinking: 1) the ability to theoretical analysis of the problem, tasks;
2) reflection; 3) internal action plan. Each component of theoretical thinking contains certain
elements of creativity. Thus, the relationship between theoretical thinking and creativity has
been experimentally proven.

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18
Experimental group
Figure 6. Visual representation of empirical data.
Discussion
The problem of the formation of creativity in the process of mathematical education

was solved by researchers before. However, its decision was based on the development of
intellectual operations and reflexive abilities, the formation of tolerance for innovation and the
ability to predict the results of mathematical activity. The didactic mechanism, or the algorithm
of actions leading to the creativity of thinking and reflection of one’s own decisions, was absent
in the scientific and methodological literature. The present research not only proposes a new
didactic mechanism for the actualization of creativity, but also involves the measurement
of the manifestations of the structural components of creativity through the introduction
of funded sets of mathematical problems on a chessboard. In the process of identifying the
structural components of creativity, psychodiagnostic diagnostics tools of intellectual-heuristic,
intellectual-logical, motivational and reflexive aspects were developed, comparative diagnostics
were carried out for all structural components.
The formation of creativity was carried out by developing the ability to argue in the
process of solving multi-stage mathematical problems on the chessboard.
Argumentation of solutions to mathematical tasks or moves on the chessboard stimulates
not only creative independence, but also the activity of structural and functional components of
synergy. In particular, non-standard original ideas are revealed based on the internal cognitive
consonance; by overcoming emotional instability (cognitive dissonance), the logical component
of the argumentation is strengthened.
A deeper study of the psychological mechanisms of argumentation in the process of
integrating chess in mathematical education will allow to expand the possibilities for the
development of personal and creative potential, self-organization and self-regulation. Due
to overcoming cognitive dissonance in solving mathematical problems on the chessboard,
the divergence of thinking is formed, the reflexion of own judgments is manifested and the
argumentational actions are selected.
Theoretically justified and experimentally investigated is also the assistance of funding
complexes of mathematical problems on a chessboard to solving these same problems in

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the context of the concept of developmental education, which is comparable to the logic of 19
manifestations of synergistic effects. The established relationship of creativity with the ability
to perform actions in the internal plan opens up broad prospects for further understanding the
concept of personal development, the study of issues related to the development of theoretical
thinking.
Conclusions
The modern concept of a student’s personality development is based on the actualization

of such personal qualities and abilities as self-organization and self-expression, self-esteem and
reflection. The integration of the elements of theoretical thinking and creativity, emotional and
volitional manifestations, characteristic of a chess game, the harmonious design of this synergy
can be a psychological mechanism not only of the intellectual, social and personal, but also the
creative development of the child.
The effective development of creativity is possible with the consistent organization of
the educational process by including multi-stage mathematical assignments on the chessboard
as part of founding complexes. Each cycle is a logical chain of tasks connected with a single
supporting idea, with the gradual accumulation and complication of information on the
implementation of the idea.
In order to test the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, multidimensional
qualimetric tools were developed, including diagnostics of the main components of the creative
sphere (argued-heuristic, intellectual-logical, motivational and reflexive). The obtained
statistical results allow us to conclude about the effectiveness of the presented didactic tools.
In the future, it is possible to modernize the methodological teaching material for a
system of inclusive mathematical education based on a chess game. The potential of chess,
as an intellectual sport with small motor activity of individuals, combined with digital and
mathematical education, will provide favorable conditions for improving the inclusive
process. The synergy of inclusive mathematical, digital teaching and chess as an innovative
multifactorial tool in the complex system of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities in
Russia can bring significant changes. In particular, it will increase the degree of formation
of educational-cognitive, informative, communicative competencies of learners, actualize the
intellectual activity and creative potential of students with disabilities, and give an opportunity
to get a high-quality education in accordance with modern federal state educational standards.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project No.16–18–10304).
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21
Received: October 18, 2018 Accepted: January 10, 2019
Svetlana N. Dvoryatkina Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Mathe-
matics and Methods of Teaching, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution
of Higher Education “Bunin Yelets State University”, Yelets, Russia.
E-mail: sobdvor@yelets.lipetsk.ru
Vladimir S. Karapetyan Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Pre-
school Pedagogy and Methods, Armenian State Pedagogical University named
after Khachatur Abovyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia.
E-mail: vskarapetyan@mail.ru
Alla M. Dallakyan РhD, Assistant Professor of the Department of Pre-school Pedagogy and Meth-
ods, Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Khachatur Abovyan,
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia.
E-mail: alla.dallakyan@gmail.com
Svetlana A. Rozanova Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Higher Math-
ematics, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education
“Russian Technological University”, Moscow, Russia.
E-mail: srozanova@mail.ru
Eugeny I. Smirnov Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Mathe-
matical Analysis, Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University K.D. Ushinsky, Yaroslavl,
Russia.
E-mail: smiei@mail.ru

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22
VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHERS’ BELIEFS TOWARDS ICT
FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION:
INDONESIAN CONTEXT
Amirul Mukminin, Akhmad Habibi, Muhaimin, Asrial,
Eddy Haryanto, Panut Setiono
Jambi University, Indonesia
E-mail: amirul.mukminin@unja.ac.id, akhmad.habibi@unja.ac.id,
muhaimin.fkip@unja.ac.id, asrial.fkip@unja.ac.id,
eddy.haryanto@unja.ac.id, maspanutsetiono@gmail.com
Sofyan
Jambi Department of Education and Culture, Indonesia
sofyan_zaibaski@yahoo.co.id
Abstract
To facilitate educational staff, especially teachers with adequate information and communication
technology (ICT) tools and its integration, has been one of the main agendas in vocational high schools
around the world. One of the key factors of the ICT integration success in education is teachers’ beliefs.
To understand the phenomenon, this mix method study aimed at elaborating Vocational Technical High
School (VTHS) teachers’ beliefs on the ICT and its integration in education and differences of the teachers’
beliefs between demographic information. Quantitatively, a survey was addressed to 765 respondents; the
analysis was descriptive using mean, percentage, and standard deviation, as well as t-test and analysis
of variance (ANOVA) for a difference between the demographic information namely genders, ages, and
teaching experiences. Following the quantitative phase, interview was conducted with 10 teachers to
get in-depth information through a thematic process. Findings suggest that the VTHS teacher’s beliefs
on ICT and its integration in education mainly focused on 1) student engagement and effective learning,
varied use of ICT regarding grades and content (behavioral beliefs); 2) needs of digital-age students and
expectations of authorities, administrators, and colleagues (normative beliefs); 3) varied self-efficacy
for using ICT in VTHSs, access to learning, access to ICT and human resource support (control beliefs).
Keywords: beliefs, ICT, mix method, vocational technical education.
Introduction
Information and communication technology (ICT) transforms the artery of the global
system including in the field of education which transfers information, knowledge, and
communication in various fields of education. One of the educational fields is vocational
education. In line with the rapid change of ICTs development in education, Vocational Technical
High School (VTHS) corps; schools’ administrators, administration staff, teachers, and students
should be well-prepared to face the new culture of teaching and learning skill’s requirements for
the 21st century education (Chai, Tan, Deng, & Koh, 2017; Göksün & Kurt, 2017) to produce
and develop numbers of knowledgeable and skilled vocational school graduates.
In Indonesia, Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) is in charge for vocational

Amirul MUKMININ, Akhmad HABIBI, MUHAIMIN, ASRIAL, Eddy HARYANTO, Panut SETIONO, SOFYAN. Vocational technical high
school teachers’ beliefs towards ICT for the 21st century education: Indonesian context
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institutions or schools (MoEC, 2013). Teachers in these schools often experience the increase of 23
pressures to integrate ICT in instruction due to the high-end development of technology, initial
steps of institutional educational innovation, and transformative students’ expectations, as well
as other social demands (Bliuc, Casey, Bachfischer, Goodyear, & Ellis, 2012). Regarding these
pressures, the potential advantages of ICT-enhanced instruction such as e-learning, mobile
learning, and massive open online course are tried to be implemented in MoEC institutions
including in the vocational schools (MoEC, 2013). Therefore, many of the institutions have
been equipped with ICT tools for education and ICT-based training for teachers’ professional
development (MoEC 2013).
Recently, there has been much research conducted in the field of educational technology
published by top-tier journals around the world but most of the research mainly focused on
general education systems; high schools or higher institutions (e.g. Arukaroon & Krairit, 2017;
Li, H., Gobert, Graesser, & Dickler, 2018; Tuapawa, 2017). In Indonesian context, similar
phenomenon also happened where most ICT integration studies focused on general education
institutions (e.g. Habibi, Mukminin, Riyanto, Prasojo, Sulistiyo, Sofwan, & Saudagar, 2018;
Lim & Pannen, 2012; Prasojo, Mukminin, Habibi, Marzulina, Muhammad, & Harto, 2018;
Tsai & Chai, 2012). Few studies have been conducted in relation to the integration of ICT in
vocational institutions (e.g. Deaconu, Dedu, Igreț, & Radu, 2018; Khan & Markauskaite, 2017).
Even fewer studies were done in Indonesia (Marwan & Sweeney, 2010; Retnawati, Hadi, &
Nugraha, 2016). To fill the gap, this research, therefore, focused on the ICT integration in
vocational education. Specifically, this research mainly aimed to elaborate Indonesian VTHS
teacher’s beliefs on ICT and its integration through mix method study; survey and interview.
Literature Review
ICT in Education; VTHS Context
The roles of ICT in all kinds of schools is now massive and excessive. At some points,
it reaches most school accessed areas in either developed or developing countries (Deng, Chai,
Chin-Chung, & Min-Hsien, 2014; Kimmons, Miller, Amador, Desjardins, & Hall, 2015). Due
to this phenomenon, all teachers including VTHS teachers are expected to utilize ICT in their
instructional activities (Khan & Markauskaite, 2017). ICT integration during instructional
activities has been a very essential requirement for current teachers (Kimmons et al., 2015).
Therefore, studies for technology integration should be sustainable and up to date. However,
integrating technology into instruction is sometimes perceived as additional tasks for teachers
in education because they tend to focus more on their daily tasks; managing lesson plans,
delivering teaching, doing evaluations, and organizing classrooms (Armstrong, Hensen, &
Savage 2009). As a result, technology integration is perceived as an exhausting activity for
some teachers (Kilinc, Tarman, & Aydin, 2018) and in many ways makes teachers persistent to
use technology in their teaching activities (Ogurlu & Sevim 2017). Due to this reason, studies
on teachers’ beliefs are important to hold for the betterment of the ICT integration in education.
In addition, access to technology for both teachers and students are also a strong concern for
ICT integration (Brown & Green, 2015; Gemin, Pape, Vashaw, & Watson, 2015; MoEC, 2013).
In minimizing the problems, many schools are considering, one-to-one technology for teachers
and students (Brown & Green, 2015). In the level of policymakers, many kinds of technological
establishment and projects are offered for education (Brown & Green, 2015; Gemin, et al.,
2015), for example in Indonesia where the current national policy promotes and supports the
development of ICT through national projects. The projects also include technical and vocational
education and training (MoEC, 2013). Additionally, the Indonesian national curriculum center
under MoEC in coordination with related ministries e.g. Ministry of Finance and Ministry of

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24 Higher Education, Research and Technology initiated a technology-based curriculum in 2013

(MoEC, 2013).
ICT represents the main theme which can support the way the educational systems work
around the world to improve students’ learning performance (Abdulrasool & Mishra, 2009;
Alseddiqi, Mishra, & Abdulrasool, 2010; Kilinc et al., 2018; Peeraer & Van Petegem, 2011;
Ramadan et al., 2018; Shamim & Raihan, 2016; Yang, 2014). For example, (Kilinc et al., 2018)
explained that teachers will improve information if the environments of the classes have been
established for integrating ICT. Factors leading to the success of ICT integration in education
are technological infrastructure development, accessible equipment, institution vision, technical
support, human resource skills and users’ beliefs on ICT integration benefits (Tsai & Chai,
2012). In accordance with these benefits, Peeraer and Van Petegem (2011) informed that it is
important to manage teachers and students’ cutting-edge knowledge and information in order to
upgrade the system of school management. In vocational schools, ICT could be used to activate
teaching and learning, facilitate fun learning, save time, and promote student-centered learning
when compared with traditional teaching (Ramadan et al., 2018; Shamim & Raihan, 2016; Yang,
2014). To achieve the benefits of the ICT integration, ICT should be infused to VTHS system, by
engaging instructional activities in using a multi-disciplinary approach and combining various
skill sets (Abdulrasool & Mishra, 2009; Alseddiqi, Mishra, & Abdulrasool, 2010). In other
words, ICT integration could support teachers to provide students with instruction of complex
skill when there are adequate beliefs towards the ICT and its integration in VTHS education.
Teachers’ Skills and Beliefs of ICT and Its Integration
Teachers should have adequate skills in order to integrate ICT into their educational
activities. Some studies showed that junior teachers consider themselves as the representation
of digital natives or millennials who cannot be separated with the use of ICT on daily basis
including in their learning activities (Aslan & Zhu, 2016; Bennett, Maton, & Kervin, 2008;
Elstad & Christophersen, 2017; Habibi et al., 2018; Hatlevik, Scherer, & Christophersen,
2017; Valtonenet al., 2015). As teachers teach millennial students, they are required to have
knowledge and skills of ICT and its integration in classrooms; however, many students in high
school levels believe that the activities are not appropriately carried out (Bennett et al., 2008).
Besides, senior teachers have been also reported to have lack of skill for the Internet use in their
instruction (Hatlevik et al., 2017). As other studies (Aslan & Zhu, 2016; Habibi, et al., 2018)
reported that the teachers, junior and senior, need to collaborate to create meaningful teaching
and learning activities which many teachers don’t have the sufficient skills and knowledge.
Alazam et al. (2012) informed that the skills of the teachers in their studies were low due to
age, meaning that there was a positive relationship between teachers’ ages and teachers’ skills
in respect to ICT. The similar findings also informed that teachers had low skills and ability in
integrating ICT into their instructional activities due to the demographic background (Valtonen
et al., 2015). There were few studies (Alazam, Bakar, Hamzah, & Asmiran, 2012; Khan,
2017; Lam & Hassan, 2018; Yang 2014) informing teachers’ skills of ICT and its integration
in VTHSs that demonstrated the significant affiliation between ICT use and teachers’ skills.
Besides knowledge and skills for ICT and ICT integration, beliefs also play important roles in
the success of ICT integration including in VTHSs.
The importance of teachers’ beliefs in the implementation of any educational initiative
has been emphasized due to its function to determine activities in the classrooms (Tobin, Tippins,
& Gallard, 1994). Teachers’ beliefs were one of the key factors influencing ICT integration
in education (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, Rockoff, & Wyckoff, 2008; Elstad & Christophersen,
2017; Prasojo et al., 2018; Sadaf, Newby, & Ertmer, 2016; Tsai & Chai, 2012). When teachers
have positive beliefs on the ICT and its integration in improving students’ performance in the

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learning process, the success of ICT integration will be more guaranteed. However, if teachers 25
have a low level of beliefs toward the use of ICT in instruction, it may fail the ICT implemented
in a classroom (Prasojo et al., 2018). Li, Yamaguchi, and Takada (2018) informed that teacher’s
perceived benefits on the ICT integration are significantly affecting teachers’ perceptions on
ICT for student-centered education tool. Teacher beliefs were significant determinants on why
teachers adopt ICT in the classroom as a positive effect of constructivist beliefs on the use of
ICT in the classroom (Herman, Tondeur, van Braak & Valcke, 2008).
The Research
This research adapted Ajzen’s (1985) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as an academic
framework to comprehend VTHS teachers’ beliefs in relation to ICT and its integration in
education. TPB is a widely used and validated theory to inform comprehensive descriptions
required to understand people’s intentions and actions to engage in a given behavior (Ajzen,1991).
The TPB is an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) introduced by Ajzen (1985)
which assumes teachers’ intention and action to integrate instructional technology in a decision
based on personal and social factors. The personal factor, attitude toward the behavior, is defined
as teachers’ positive or negative personal beliefs regarding the use of technology. The social
variable, subjective norms, are defined as teachers’ perception of the significance of others’
beliefs influencing their intentions and action using technology in instruction (Ajzen, 1985). In
this research, three salient beliefs constitute the actions using ICT in the teaching and learning
process; behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs (see Figure 1). Each outcome
was measured by teachers’ personal evaluations of the effectiveness of ICT integration.
Figure 1. Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991).
Many studies have explored teachers’ beliefs on intentions and actions related to different
technologies in general term (Herman et al., 2008; Leem & Sung, 2018; Li, Yamaguchi, &
Takada, 2018). However, studies related to the use of ICT in the context of VTHSs are still
limited, even more limited in the context of developing countries like Indonesia. Therefore, this
research was conducted to answer three research questions:
1. To what extent are VTHS teachers’ beliefs on ICT and its integration?
2. Is there any significant difference of VTHS teachers’ beliefs between demographic
information: age, gender, and teaching experience?
3. How did VTHS teachers perceive beliefs in relation to the use of ICT?

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26 Methodology of Research
General Background
This mix-method study with sequential explanatory design (Creswell, 2014) aimed to
elaborate VTHS teachers’ beliefs on ICT and its integration in education. Besides, the purpose
of the research also informed the difference of the teachers’ beliefs between demographic
information namely genders, ages and teaching experiences. The research was conducted
through two phases, quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview). While the quantitative
was the main data source, qualitative aimed to support it. The research that was supported by
Indonesian ministry of education, provincial capital Jambi was conducted in 13 Indonesian
VTHSs. It was funded by Indonesia endowment fund for education (Lembaga Pengelola Dana
Pendidikan, LPDP Indonesia). The research took almost one year to complete from January to
November 2018. As it is an educational technology research conducted in Indonesia as one of
many developing countries, the research is expected to fill the gap among many educational
technology researches in developed countries that have similar issues, ICT in vocational high
school education.
Quantitative Phase
The survey questionnaires for this research were developed based on some previous
studies (Sadaf et al., 2016; Valtonen et al., 2015). The validity of the instruments was examined
through content validity involving seven experts of educational technology and face validity
to see the respondents’ understanding of the content of the instruments. The survey consisted
of three main parts; behavioral belief, controlled belief, and normative belief (4-point Likert-
scales form strongly disagree- strongly agree). In addition, demographic information questions
were also included (see Table 1). The statements in the survey were adapted and developed
to a more specific context in order to answer the research questions for example, “The use
of ICT in education is integral to today’s society” to “The use of computer and the Internet
in education is integral in today’s VTHSs”. The final survey comprised of 20 questions.
The overall average reliability of the survey was .87 where a reliability coefficient of .70 or
higher is considered “acceptable” (Boyle, 1985; Cortina, 1993; Kline 1979). Online and
printed questionnaires were utilized in this research. The data were saved into a computer.
Being calculated and measured for the frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation
(descriptive statistics), the data were then resented for the difference between demographic
information using t-test (gender) and ANOVA (age and teaching experience).
Table 1. Questionnaire variable.
Categories Descriptions Numbers of items

Q1-Q3 (Demographic information) Gender, age, and teaching experience 3
Q5–Q19 (Behavioral beliefs) Outcomes of using ICT in VTHSs 7
Q19-Q28 (Normative beliefs) People who expect the use of ICT in VTHSs 6
Q29–Q38 (Control beliefs) Internal and external enablers/constraints 4
The questionnaire was distributed to 1051 VTHSs teachers. However, only 765
respondents completed the survey. Meanwhile, 65 respondents did not return the survey and
221 questionnaires were not fully completed and cannot be measured. From 765 respondents,

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278 respondents were males (36.34 %) while 487 were females (63.66%). In addition, 234 27
respondents (30.59%) were 25-40 years old, 298 respondents (38.95%) were 41-55 years old,
and 233 respondents (30.46%) were >55 years old. The respondents’ teaching experiences
varied; 1-15 years (241 respondents or 31.50%), 15-30 years (314 respondents or 41.05%), and
>30 years (210 respondents or 27.45%).
Qualitative Phase
To support the quantitative findings, semi-structured interviews were conducted. A

semi-structured interview was used to elaborate on how interventions work and how they are
improved making easy the interviewers to discuss topics that might not be reached through a
survey (Creswell, 2014). The interview questions were established in line with the analysis
results of the survey data. This procedure was one of the essential characteristics of sequential
explanatory; the collection and analysis of qualitative data should be referred to the analysis of
quantitative data.
The confirmation with the survey respondents’ agreement to participate in the interview
sessions was obtained. Seventy-six informants agreed to get involved; however, ten informants
were chosen from different demographic backgrounds (gender, age, and teaching experience).
All informants’ original names in the interview were masked; only information about gender,
age, and teaching experience was revealed (see Table 2). There are ten informants involved in
the qualitative phase. There are 6 females and 4 males whose age is from 29 years old to 53
years old. Their teaching experience varied from 5 years to 32 years.
Table 2. Informants in the interview.
Teaching experience
Names (pseudonyms) Gender Age (years)
(years)
Elli F 29 5
Andy M 39 15
Susan F 28 3
Jenny F 44 20
Katherine F 35 11
Cloe F 50 25
Terry M 37 14
Erick M 45 22
Tony M 47 25
Sally F 53 28
The interviews were done in Bahasa Indonesia, the informants’ native language, which
aimed to gain in-depth information about the research aims. Using a native language in an
interview of qualitative research is considered the best way to gain information because social
influence experienced by someone is unique through his/her native language (Chapman,
2006) in order to gain natural fluency and deliver in-depth information. Each interview took
between 70 minutes to 80 minutes to complete recorded with smartphones. The recordings were

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28 transcribed through Google doc transcriber. The data were coded and compared for thematic
analysis. The process was conducted for all informants, one by one from the first informant to
the last informant. Coding and translation followed the process of the data transcription. Data
collection and analysis in qualitative inquiry is not a parallel activity rather than a concurrent
process since the two have mutual influences (Creswell, 2014).
For the data trustworthiness (Creswell, 2014), member checking and reflective
commentary were done. The transcribed data were returned to all ten informants for a thorough
read for evaluation; each informant was allowed to address feedback and confirmation as well
as agreement on the transcribed data. Together, all researchers discussed the findings in two
sessions of discussion aiming for comment reflection. All informants’ names and other personal
identities were masked for the data elaboration as part of ethical clearance in this research,
protecting informants’ interests and rights. However, the information about informants’
genders, ages, and teaching experiences were revealed for readers to understand deeply about
the difference among research variables.
Result of Research
VTHS Teachers’ Beliefs on ICT and its Integration
Description of this study has an indication that the respondents had high-level positive
mean for behavioral beliefs (M = 4.21; SD = 0.85). The highest mean (4.51) gained from “ICT
is relevant with the 21st century teaching in VTHSs” which is followed by “ICT provides
possibilities for enhancing the quality of learning” with (M= 4.31; SD= 0.86). The lowest
M= 3.87 of this behavioral belief was “ICT improves students’ performance”. In addition,
the statements “ICT Enriches learning experience through innovative tools” and “ICT Helps
facilitate understanding of material/concepts” were agreed by the respondents (M= 4.21; SD=
0.85). “ICT improves engagement with content and students” was agreed by most participants
with (M= 4.23; SD= 0.87). The coefficient alpha or Cronbach alpha for behavioral beliefs is .87
(see Table 3).
On the other hand, respondents had their lowest mean for control beliefs (M=3.08; SD=
1.02). The statement “I have high self-efficacy in personal use in teaching using ICT” has
mean of 3.15 (SD= 0.95) following the highest-mean statement “Access to learning outside the
classroom supports the ICT use in VTHSs” (M=3.17; SD=1.08). “Supporting human resources
is not an issue” gain the lowest (M=2.98; SD 1.02). “Restricted access to computers and the
Internet is not a problem in ICT integration” was not approved by the respondents with M=
3.00. The control beliefs’ Cronbach alpha is .88. For normative beliefs, the average mean was
3.46 (SD= 0.96). Most respondents believed that ICT use in VTHSs was school administrators’
expectation (M=3.73; SD= 0.97). Meanwhile, they did not agree that the authorities fully
supported the use of ICT in VTHSs (M=3.17; SD= 1.01). Further, statement “Students’ good
influence determines the quality of ICT integration” gains mean of 3.65 with SD= 0.97. “All
related parties motivate the use of ICT in education” was agreed by some respondents (M=3.30;
SD= 0.93). The statement, “Parents support the use of ICT in VTHSs” gains mean of 3.36 with
SD= 0.96. The Cronbach alpha (α) is 0.86.

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Table 3. Beliefs on ICT. 29
Standard Cronbach
No Mean
deviation Alpha
Behavioral beliefs 4.21 .85 0.87
ICT provides possibilities for enhancing the quality of
1 4.31 .86
learning
2 ICT improves engagement with content and students 4.23 .87
3 ICT is relevant with the 21st century teaching in VTHSs 4.51 .85
4 ICT enriches learning experience through innovative tools 4.21 .84
5 ICT helps facilitate understanding of material/concepts 4.21 .85
6 ICT caters to the needs of different learning styles 4.12 .86
7 ICT improves students’ performance 3.87 .84
Normative belief 3.46 .96 0.86
Students’ good influence determines the quality of ICT
1 3.65 .97
integration
2 ICT use in VTHSs is administrator’s expectation 3.73 .97
3 Authorities support the use of ICT 3.17 1.01
Colleagues use ICT for teaching and learning improve-
4 3.55 .95
ment
5 Parents supports the use of ICT in VTHSs 3.36 .94
6 All related parties motivate the use of ICT in education 3.30 .93
Control beliefs 3.08 1.02 0.88
I have high self-efficacy in personal use in teaching using
1 3.15 .95
ICT
Access to learning outside the classroom supports the
2 3.17 1.08
ICT use in VTHSs
Restricted access to computers and the Internet is not a

3 3.00 1.03
problem in ICT integration
4 Supporting human resources is not an issue 2.98 1.02
VTHS Teachers’ Beliefs Difference between Demographic Information
The research also informed whether the male and female teachers differed in their
beliefs to ICT and its integration in VTHSs (see Table 4). The findings of the t-test noted that
there is no significant difference between male and female teachers concerning their beliefs;
behavioral (p.220), normative (p=.321) and control (p=167) at p<.005 on ICT and its integration
in education.
Table 4. t-test results for difference between genders.
Demographic Information Behavioral Normative Control

Gender
Female 4.21 3.57 3.11
Male 4.25 3.52 3.12
p 0.220 0.321 0.167

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30 In addition, the findings of a one-way ANOVA of the teachers from various ages,
regarding beliefs on ICT and its integration in education, have an indication that there is
significant difference among the informants’ ages for behavioral belief (p=0.04) where average
means are 4.46 (25-40), 3.89 (41-55), and 3.51 (>55). However, there are no differences for
normative and control beliefs. From teaching experiences, there is also significant difference
for behavioral beliefs (p= 0.02 at p<.005). Meanwhile, no significant differences for normative
and control beliefs were found in this research (see Table 5)
Table 5. ANOVA results for difference among ages and teaching experience.
Demographic Information Behavioral Normative Control

Age
25-40 4.46 3.56 3.10
41-55 3.89 3.42 3.07
>55 3.51 3.43 2.03
ρ. 0.04* 0.163 0.152
Teaching experience
1-15 4.48 3. 48 3.09
16-30 3.99 3.47 3.10
>30 3.50 3.33 3.02
ρ. 0.03* 0.186 0.138
*significant difference at the level .05
VTHS Teachers Perceived Beliefs in Relation to the Use of ICT
The analysis of the qualitative phase revealed perceived beliefs of the informants in the
interview set into three categories of beliefs; behavioral, normative and control beliefs. Six
sub-themes emerged from these three thematic categories in order to support the findings of the
survey (see Figure 2).
Perceived beliefs
Behavioral Normative Control
• Student engagement and • Varied self-efficacy for using

effective learning • Needs of digital age student ICT in VTHSs, access to learning
• Varied use of ICT regarding • Expectations of school • Interaction, and access to
grades and content administrators and colleagues technological tools.
•
•
Figure 2. Themes and sub-themes of the qualitative findings.

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Student Engagement and Effective Learning 31
The interview revealed that improvement of students’ learning was the most frequently
cited reason to use ICT in VTHSs classrooms. All ten informants informed that they used ICT in
their teaching due to its benefits on student engagement and student learning. They revealed that
the use of ICT tools plays an important role in establishing communication and getting students
to be more actively involved through variation of learning experiences. It is also informed
that students did activities outside the classroom when given assignment using the Internet or
extended learning time. One of the informants informed,
“I think that ICT is a great way to improve students learning and engagement. The Internet
and smartphones could enhance the way students to communicate make students more
interacting to peers and teachers. I also think that with the digital age, a computer can
simulate various activities in VTHSs. It is a way to improve every aspect of instruction in
the 21st-century education” (Terry)
VTHSs teachers also noted that ICT are good tools to help explain concepts of VTHSs
course contents to gain the fulfillment of various styles of learning possessed by VTHSs
students, especially video and audio features. For example, one of the informants (Susan) stated
in the interview that the feature on the Internet such as Youtube could explain clearer and more
understandable for students to learn various courses since it provides millions of useful videos
for VTHSs students. Another teacher revealed a similar idea,
I would use a computer and its features including the Internet because it facilitates various
ways for students to learn. Many students are audiovisual learners; they can use Video
channels like Youtube and Facebook video sharing in the school computer to learn about
technics, automobile, motorcycles and so on”. (Tony)
In addition, seven of the 10 VTHSs teachers stated that the use of technologies encourages
students to enhance their experiences in learning through related innovative technology tools.
One of the informants expressed his opinion,
“Technologies keep students’ interests improved and have them focused on the course you
are teaching. Utilizing them can help transform how a lesson delivered to be more fun and
interesting because students in this era are used to the computers, smartphones and the
Internet. Relate the technologies into learning activities rather than pen, books, and paper”.
(Katherine)
Most of the VTHSs teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of ICT included improving
student learning. They perceived that the use of ICT in classrooms is a great way to facilitate
motivation for students by enriching their learning experiences through innovative relevant
tools and promote comprehension of content through varieties of tools.
Varied Use of ICT Regarding Grades and Content

Many informants perceived that the benefits of ICT in VTHSs are dependent on the
content of the courses being taught as well as the grade levels. The usefulness can be different
between courses and content. One of the informants, Susan who is an English teacher stated that
she used social media such as Facebook and Twitter teaching the students to improve students’
writing and reading. Another informant who is a teacher of Motorbike machine informed,

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32 “I used video simulation in teaching my students; the videos I got from Youtube. The
visual is really beneficial for my course. Students can easily get the information about the
lessons being taught in the courses” (Tony)
Besides the courses and content, grade levels are also informed as factors that can
determine the success of ICT integration in VTHSs schools as perceived by these two teachers,
“Technologies help differently with some grade levels. For senior students, I used video
simulation. However, for junior students, I just used my computers and projector as
supporting tools to explain basic lesson”, (Elli)
“VTHSs students are technology savvy. They have much experience with ICT and live
on smartphones, the Internet, and computers. However, grade levels differ for the use of
ICT in classrooms. For the senior one, more specific use of technology may be applied in
accordance with their field training”. (Jenny)
Although VTHSs teachers understood the benefits of ICT use in instruction, their
intended integration differed depending on the content areas and grade levels.
Needs of Digital Age Student
During the interviews, the influence exerted by VTHSs students emerged as an important
consideration among the teachers when describing their technology integration into their
instruction. All teachers opined that their students would influence their ICT integration during
teaching and learning processes. Two of the informants had their saying,
“If students are telling me that they want more integration of ICT such as the Internet
and smartphones, I always try to integrate ICT in order to keep the students engaged even
though I am not good at technology,” (Andy)
“Students in VTHSs are now accustomed to using technology and it influences the way
teachers use it into teaching.” (Katherine)
In addition, most teachers considered that using ICT enabled them to have a more closed
connection to the students.
“That’s what students are used to, you know, it’s more comfortable for them to use
those technologies [ICT]. Should teachers use ICT, they will be more connected to their
students”. (Erick)
Teachers believed that ICT is relevant to millennial students because they use
smartphones, computer, and the Internet for daily basis. One informant added that she felt
connected when using ICT. If people could not see ICT’s development all around, they should
be blind or living in their own life.
Expectations of Authorities, Administrators, and Colleagues
In addition to students needs of technology, VTHSs teachers revealed that the use of ICT
in their instruction was influenced by the expectation of many parties; authorities, administrators,
and other teachers. Eight of the ten informants believed that educational authorities and school
administrators would have their expectation towards the use of ICT to be carried out. One
informant informed,

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“I think that my school administrators and related educational authorities are issuing a 33
policy to push us including senior teachers like me to use ICT into teaching.” (Sally)
In addition to the expectation of school administrators and related educational authorities,

peers’ influence was also perceived as a factor affecting the use of ICT into instruction. As one
of the teachers stated in her interview that If her school required her to use technology in her
classroom, she would try hard to incorporate it more than she would intend to, as well as if her
peers or co-workers gave a good example on how to use ICT into teaching.
Varied Self-efficacy for Using ICT in VTHSs
The interview data revealed that all young teachers felt comfortable using ICT in VTHSs
classrooms. For example, one of the informants (Andi, 39) stated that, in general, ICT tools in
most of their functions were easy to use and integrate into his classroom. In addition, another
young female teacher (Elli) had her opinion,
“I supposed that I do have the skills to use ICT for my students. I can use smartphone
applications, social media, video applications, computers, and other ICT forms. However,
if I am given a chance to attend workshops, I’d like to register.”
However, some others especially the senior ones informed their low self-efficacy due to
the lack of experience and skills in teaching through ICT integration. Two of the teachers stated,
“I am a senior teacher with lack experience and skills in using ICT. I still encounter technical
holdbacks like operating computers. We do realize the importance of ICT in the 21st century
but we have weaknesses in this system and tool,” (Sally)
“I am too old to use technology in my teaching. I just cannot do it.” (Cloe)
A pessimistic statement by the two teachers explains that ICT use in a classroom
might be very hard to do for teachers with no experience and ICT skills even though most
of them recognized ICT benefits in instruction.
Access to Learning
Interview data revealed that some VTHSs teachers perceived ICT especially the Internet
is very useful due to easy and quick access inside as well as outside the classroom. Many
informants believed that ICT use would provide more access, opportunities, and resources for
students in VTHSs to develop learning inside or outside classrooms. One of the salient quotes
revealed by Tony,
“I am not good in ICT. However, I could say that ICT allows students for knowledge,
information, and lesson access anywhere and anytime, inside or outside classrooms,
for example, if I want them to search information about car machine spare parts on the
Internet, the information is very complete and available.”
Moreover, VTHSs teachers believed that because of the accessibility of ICT especially
smartphones and the Internet, students will have information to broaden their knowledge and
gain interaction through idea sharing,

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34 “ICT especially the Internet can help students with interaction outside the classroom to
look for information in relation to the course assignment. It eases communication and
interaction between VTHSs students as well as teachers and students,” (Jenny)
Generally, the teachers were motivated to use ICT in their VTHSs classrooms
due to its potentiality in increasing interaction, information, and resources for students
learning.
Access to ICT and Human Resource Support
Even though it was perceived that ICT broadened the access to learning. Some of the
teachers in the interview were concerned about the access to ICT and technician support from
the authorities or school administrator. The problems regarding the access to ICT and human
resource support having emerged from the interview such as connection error, broken tools, and
software update should be overcome by facilitating access to ICT and human resource support.
Six of the ten informants had almost similar opinions in this matter, as one of them informed,
“I think the most important thing to be considered in the use of ICT in VTHSs is the
facility and human resource support. Well-maintained facilities will be supporting the
success of teaching and learning process through the use of ICT,” (Terry)
In addition, students’ budget for ICT use outside classrooms was also revealed in the
interview. Erick said that he was concerned about the ability of the students to buy tools and
access. One of the interviewees said that not all students had smartphones and the Internet access,
it is too much if in every class we use ICT. They perceived that not possessing a computer, a
smartphone, as well as the Internet access at home, might impede their use of ICT in VTHSs.
Discussion
The aim of this research was to elaborate VTHS teachers’ beliefs on ICT and its integration
in education and difference of the teachers’ beliefs between demographic information (gender,
age, and teaching experience). A total of 765 VTHSs teachers participated in the survey. There
were 278 (36.34%) males and 487 (63.66%) females. From the quantitative data analysis,
the description of the research indicated that the respondents had a high level of the positive
mean for behavioral beliefs (M= 4.21). On the other hand, respondents had their lowest mean
for control beliefs (M=3.08). For normative beliefs, the average mean is 3.46 which is lower
than behavioral beliefs but higher than control beliefs. The findings noted that even though
the teachers have low scores of perceptions of control beliefs (internal and external enablers),
the behavioral beliefs (perceptions on the outcomes of using ICTs in VTHSs) are high. The
findings are in sync with previous related surveys which were conducted where behavioral
beliefs perceived gained the highest scores of means (Aslan & Zhu, 2016; Sadaf et al., 2016)
The quantitative results also inform that there is no significant difference between male
and female teachers concerning their beliefs; behavioral, normative, and control. However,
the findings of a one-way ANOVA of the teachers of various ages and teaching experience,
regarding “beliefs on ICT”, have an indication that there are significant differences among.
This research reported that the younger teachers and less experienced teachers were reported to
have higher scores of beliefs on ICT and its integration which agreed what has been reported
in some studies (Alazam et al., 2012; Bennett et al., 2008; Elstad & Christophersen, 2017;
McNamara & O’Hara, 2008). Therefore, younger teachers with less experience in teaching
were more associative with ICT use in VTHSs. These findings may be a reason why there

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should be more programs for ICT integration especially for senior teachers whose beliefs on 35
ICT and its integration are lower than the young teachers of VTHSs.
In line with the quantitative results, the teachers also revealed in the interview through
qualitative data elaboration that the improvement of students’ learning was the main reason
for ICT integration in VTHSs which is in accordance with the study by Herman et al. (2008).
Further, benefits on student engagement and student learning, establishing communication
and getting students more actively involved with variation of learning, and engaging activities
outside the classroom as well as extended learning time are also informed in the qualitative
findings which are related to behavioral beliefs for ICT use in VTHSs (Leem & Sung, 2018;
Li, Yamaguchi & Takada, 2018). Qualitative data results also revealed that VTHS teachers
believed that their students, administrators, and colleagues were the people who will most
likely influence their normative beliefs. However, the teachers were relatively more motivated
to address their students’ expectations regarding the use of ICT, compared to the expectations
of their administrators and colleagues.
In addition to behavioral and normative beliefs, the findings of qualitative data also
supported the quantitative findings in terms of control beliefs, Internal and external enablers/
constraints; Varied self-efficacy for using ICT in VTHSs (junior teachers reported their high self-
efficacy while senior teachers reported differently), access to learning (most teachers informed
easy access of the Internet inside and outside the classrooms facilitates students’ learning) and
access to ICT and human resource support (some teachers concern about the access to ICT and
technical support from the authorities or school administrator. The results on the self-efficacy
and access to learning are in line with the previous study by Khan and Markauskaite (2017)
where the two factors established the use of ICT in vocational schools. Problems from the
interview were revealed such as connection error, broken tools, and software update should be
overcome by facilitating access to ICT and human resource support as also suggested from other
previous research findings (Chen & Hudson, 2018; Khan & Markauskaite, 2016). There have
been many researches reporting beliefs toward ICT and its integration in education (Herman
et al., 2008; Leem & Sung, 2018; Li, Yamaguchi & Takada, 2018). However, little have been
conducted in the context of vocational education. Therefore, this research adds the literature,
teachers’ beliefs of ICT integration in vocational schools of a developing country, by reporting
the beliefs through mix method study, survey and interview.
Conclusions and Implications
The results indicate that VTHSs teachers’ beliefs toward ICT and its integration were
high in terms of behavioral belief while they were low for control beliefs. In addition, for
normative beliefs, the average score of the means was medium. The quantitative findings
were also supported by the qualitative findings; behavioral beliefs (varied self-efficacy for
using ICT in VTHSs, access to learning and interaction, and access to technological tools),
normative beliefs (needs of digital age students and expectations of school administrators and
colleagues), and control beliefs (varied self-efficacy for using ICT in VTHSs, access to learning
and interaction, and access to technological tools).
The results of the research are significant to be a reference for developing countries’
educational regulators to issue policies for a betterment of technology integration, suggest that
VTHSS should promote these beliefs to better the integration for ICT in vocational schools.
VTHSs should target the teachers’ beliefs toward the value of ICT for improving student
learning and engagement. It is critical that VTHSs focus their efforts on aiding the teachers to
learn strategies to integrate ICT in line with their grade level interests and specific subject areas.
Providing the teachers more opportunities to reflect on the pedagogical uses and implications of
ICT and its integration can result on a positive effect towards their action to use these same tools

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36 in the classroom. Success in this regard may need the implementation of several progressive
steps such as to facilitate schools with better ICT equipment and provide human resources
on technological maintenance as well as hold technological seminars and workshops. VTHSs
further should consider seeking collaborative projects in improving ICT integration in VTHSs
and providing relevant feedback on how the technology actually works in a VTHSs classroom
and how it can meet the needs of students. Providing the teachers’ opportunities to utilize their
own technology should be facilitated by the authorities. Further research is suggested to focus
on specific interventions that align with VTHSs teachers’ behavioral, normative, and control
beliefs that may help VTHSs develop a model and better preparation for their ICT integration
into teaching.

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Ph.D, Associate Professor, Jambi University, Jambi, Indonesia.

E-mail: amirul.mukminin@unja.ac.id
Amirul Mukminin
Website: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55850809900
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6806-1315
Ph.D (cand), Lecturer, Jambi University, Jambi, Indonesia.

Akhmad Habibi E-mail: akhmad.habibi@unja.ac.id
Dr. rer. nat., Associate Professor, Jambi University, Jambi, Indonesia.

Muhaimin Website: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57194016573
E-mail: muhaimin.fkip@unja.ac.id
Prof. Dr. rer. nat., Professor, Jambi University, Jambi, Indonesia.

Asrial
E-mail: asrial.fkip@unja.ac.id
Ph.D, Associate Professor, Jambi University, Jambi, Indonesia.

Eddy Haryanto E-mail: eddy.haryanto@unja.ac.id
M.Ed, Assistant Lecturer, Jambi University, Jambi, Indonesia.

Panut Setion
Email: maspanutsetiono@gmail.com
Sofyan Dr., Jambi Department of Education and Culture, Indonesia.

E-mail: sofyan_zaibaski@yahoo.co.id

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MAJOR PERSONALITY TRAITS 39
INFLUENCING ENVIRONMENTAL
KNOWLEDGE: A CASE OF URBAN
LEARNING ECOLOGIES
Olugbenga Adedayo Ige, Loyiso C. Jita, Thuthukile Jita
University of the Free State, South Africa
Email: IgeOA@ufs.ac.za, JitaLC@ufs.ac.za, JitaT@ufs.ac.za
Abstract
The grim actualities of modern societies have shifted the attention of human beings from civil wars and
beggary to environmental issues such as pollution and climate change. The subtle shifts in environmental
balance that are observable from global warming, water scarcity, and poor harvest resulting from erratic
rainfall distributions across different countries of the world has led to global campaigns in order to
promote positive environment behavioural change. Several change agents have advocated the use
of mitigation practices such as using emerging western and indigenous technologies and renewable
energies, they have overlooked the major personality traits that will implement the proposed changes.
Hence, this research explores the influence of major personality traits on students’ environmental
knowledge in urban learning spaces. The social cognitive theory was used to untangle the conforming
and non-conforming environmental behaviours of students in urban learning spaces. The research adopts
a ‘field-based’ MO to gather data from four hundred and sixty-two students that were randomly selected
from thirteen secondary schools in urban centres in Nigeria. Research instruments such as the NEO
Five-Factor Inventory and Environmental Knowledge Test were adapted to collect data from the selected
students. The quantitative data were subjected to multiple regression analysis. Results showed that there
was a significant influence of the major personality factors on students’ environmental knowledge (R=
0.297). The research recommends that teachers should include these major personality traits in the
environmental education programme of their schools.
Keywords: environmental education, environmental knowledge, field-based research, major personality
traits, students, urban learning spaces.
Introduction
Researchers are working assiduously to find scientific solutions to the myriads of

environmental problems confronting man in his immediate environment. Most environmental
problems that human beings are grappling with at present have connections with the personality
characteristics of human beings inhabiting such environments. Personality traits and personal
values are integral psychological characteristics that could potentially influence many outcomes
(Parks-Leduc, Feldman, & Bardi, 2014). One of such outcomes in education is students’
environmental knowledge. The dawn of the twenty-first century erupted with academic
research that investigated the connections between personality traits and numerous outcomes in
education and politics, and other related disciplines. For instance, Ha and Lau (2015) expanded
on previous research and examined the effect of personality on correct voting which encompasses
the level at which personal preference and values determined the voting behaviours of citizens.
Ha and Lau (2015) analysed the common content Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project

Olugbenga Adedayo IGE, Loyiso C. JITA, Thuthukile JITA. Major personality traits influencing environmental knowledge: A case
of urban learning ecologies
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40 sample collected from 2007 to 2008 in relation to the major personality characteristics of the
participants. These scholars included in their models of analysis, personalized determinants of
correct voting such as political motivation, cognitive capacity, and heuristics availability which
were taken from the work of Lau, Anderson and Redlawsk (2008). The study provides evidences
that the ‘Big Five’ personality traits classified as ‘major personality traits’ in this study exerted
a direct influence on correct voting and moderated the effect of party identification which has
a long history of determining ‘vote choice’. Tidwell and Sias (2005) stated that openness and
conscientiousness independently predicted environmentally friendly behaviours, while the
effects of these independent variables were conciliated by pro-environmental attitudes.
Scholars who have researched on the link between personality and educational outcomes
are: Tidwell and Sias (2005) who investigated how personality traits influenced information-
seeking behaviours of one hundred and eighty-seven new employees at a large 4-year university.
Brick and Lewis (2014) also sought answers to how core traits can predict ecologically friendly
behaviours. Brick and Lewis (2014) used a sample of three hundred and forty-five adults in the
United States that completed an online survey on Amazon MTurk. These three hundred and
forty-five participants were residents in forty-seven states in the United States. The analyses
of the data collected from these participants revealed that openness and conscientiousness
independently predicted environmentally friendly behaviours, while the effects of these
independent variables were conciliated by pro-environmental attitudes. This research was
different from previous studies because it focuses on secondary school students in a developing
context. Unlike previous studies by Ha and Lau (2014) that used adult participants, this current
research used young secondary school children in urban schools whose parental educational
background ranged from standard VI to doctorate degrees. This research described the nexus
between personality traits and environmental knowledge of students in urban schools. The
researchers drew on the findings to suggest how teachers in urban learning spaces can create
learning experiences to raise the personality traits that can improve students’ knowledge about
their immediate environment.
Major Personality Traits
The big five personality traits are classified as ‘major personality traits’ in this research.
McCrae and John (1992) describe the five-factor model of personality as a hierarchically
assemblage of five basic dimensions of personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. Linden, Dunkel, Figueredo,
Garven, Rueden, and Woodley (2018) asserted that the big five dimensions constitute the most
meaningful personality factors that are conceptually independent of one another. Linden et al.
(2018) pointed out that recent research has shown that the big five factors are not statistically
independent but have consistent and relevant intercorrelations which account for a larger shared
variance tagged ‘the general factor of personality’. Laher (2013) who completed a study on
‘understanding the five-factor model and five-factor theory through a South African cultural
lens’ affirmed the suitability of the major personality traits such as openness to new experience
intellect, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, altruism and neuroticism tagged ‘O,
C, E, A, N’ by Linden et. al. (2018) were employed in this study. Laher (2013) discovered that
the five-factor traits evaluated in this study are theoretically and empirically friendlier to other
cultural perspectives on personality.
Openness to New Experience or Intellect
Openness to new experience is one of the traits that are classified as the ‘major personality’
traits in this study. Vuyk, Krieshok, and Kerr (2016) defined this construct from the perspective

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of Costa and McCrae (1992) that it described individuals who are open to new experiences, 41
enjoy both outer and inner worlds, are curious, and hold creative ideas. This factor becomes
relevant in this study because students who will be knowledgeable about the environment
should enjoy both their outer and inner immediate environments. With Schilpzand, Herod, and
Shalley’s (2011) declaration that personality is best described well in terms of the five broad
generality traits called the ‘big five’, it becomes appropriate to assess the influence of openness
to new experience on students’ environmental knowledge in urban learning spaces.
Conscientiousness
Another major component of the major personality factors examined in the current study
is conscientiousness. Heaven and Ciarrochi (2008) stated that ‘conscientiousness’ which is
a part of the five-factor taxonomy of personality genus is confirmed to have robust links to
academic achievement, which is closely related to ‘environmental knowledge’ assessed in this
study. ‘Conscientiousness’, otherwise called ‘dependability’ and ‘will to achieve’ by Heaven,
Ciarrochi, Leeson, and Barkus (2012). Heaven et al. (2012) agree with Costa and McCrae’s
(1998) assertion that highly conscientious people are hardworking, goal oriented, have
potentials to follow tasks through to completion, and require little supervision. Other scholars
stated that conscientiousness reflects diligence, organization, and achievement orientation
(see McCrae & John, 1992; Zaman, Anis-ul-Haque & Nawaz, 2014). Watson, Nus and Wu
(2017, p.4) extensively review relevant literature and identified twelve conceptual domains
in conscientiousness which are: achievement, caution, deliberation, dependability, dutifulness,
goal orientation, hard work, dependability, organization, responsibility, risk aversion, and self-
discipline. These conceptual domains identified by Watson et al. (2017) are of relevance to the
environment of students investigated in the current study.
Extraversion
One of the dimensions of the big five models of personality is extraversion. It is featured
in popular personality questionnaires such as Eysenck personality questionnaire and Neo
Five-Factor Inventory-3 (Kim & Nassaji, 2017, p.7). Malhotra, Reus, Zhu, and Roelofsen
(2018:372) acknowledge that extraversion is a fundamental personality trait whose construct
and meanings have evolved over time. Malhotra et al. (2018) declare that extraversion is the
strongest and most consistent personality predictor of effective and transformational leadership.
It is possible to state from the findings of Malhotra et al. (2018) that extraversion could have
an influence or relationship with students’ environmental knowledge in urban learning spaces.
Seidman (2018:5) declares that extraversion involves sociability, activity, excitement seeking
and creating energy through outside means.
Agreeableness
Scholars admit that agreeableness is basically concerned with interpersonal relationships

with the underlying desire to maintain positive relations with others (Greene & Robertson,
2017; Grazio & Eisenberg, 1997). Barrick and Mount (1991) pointed out that traits associated
with agreeableness are: being courteous, flexible, trusting, good natured, cooperative, forgiving,
soft-hearted and tolerant. Benoliel and Schechter (2017) stated that agreeableness is concerned
with the intention to seek the good of the community (see also Liao, Joshi, & Chuang, 2004).
It could be inferred from the assertion of Liao et al. (2004) that agreeable students who are
environmentally knowledgeable will cultivate beneficial relationships with their immediate
environment.

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42 Neuroticism
Neuroticism is an integral broad high-order trait in the big five model of personality
(Laceulle, Ormel, Aggen, Neale, & Kendler, 2013, p.1780). McCann (2018:157) declared that
individuals who are high on the neuroticism dimension have marked behavioural features such
as vulnerability, anxiety, angry hostility, self-consciousness, depression and impulsiveness.
McCann (2018) further reveals that ‘neuroticists’ tend to be moody, discontented, insecure,
emotional, unstable, envious, guilt-ridden, nervous and tense. Despite scholars’ assertion that
these general tendencies are the core of the neurotic domain, Benoliel and Schechter (2017)
confirmed that highly neurotic individuals seldom engage in social interactions or knowledge
sharing which can limit the frequencies of interactions that such students may have with their
colleagues, a possibility which can impair knowledge sharing opportunities on environmental
conservation issues.
Connections between Personality Traits and Environmental Knowledge
The campaigns to protect and preserve environmental resources have gained momentum
in different nations of the world. This awareness on environmentally friendly behaviours
has even spread to different disciplines in humanities, science, social sciences and education.
For instance, in Canada, Kennedy, Hyde and Karney (2002) stated that most professional
engineering bodies demand practicing engineers’ commitment to the environment to the level
of acting as environment advocates. The urgency to start assessing the relationship between
personality traits and the knowledge of human beings about the environment is predicated
by scholars’ (Bleys, Defloor, Ootegen, & Verhofstadt, 2018; Steffen, Richardson, Rockstrom,
Cornell, Fetzer, Bennett, & Sorlion, 2015) assertion that human beings have transgressed key
factors such as climate change, transmitted biogeochemical cycles, privation of the integrity of
biosphere, climate variability, and changes in land system. It is consequent on these environment
alterations that Bleys et al. (2018) advocated that government should devise means of promoting
environmentally friendly behaviours.
In Wuertz’s (2015) study on personality traits associated with environmental concern;
Wuertz (2015) evaluated the correlation between the big five personality traits and pro-
environmental attitudes or pro-environmental behaviours. Wuertz (2015) discovered that
agreeableness and openness significantly predicted pro-environmental behaviours, while
openness was positively correlated with general ecological behaviour and environmental
concern. Several researchers have sought explanations on the relationship between the major
personality traits (i.e. Big Five) and different social outcomes with interesting findings. Thus,
this research seeks to evaluate the connections between major personality traits and students’
environmental knowledge. This research seeks answers to these research questions:
1. What is the combined influence of the major personality traits on secondary school
students’ environmental knowledge?
2. What is the relative influence of the major personality traits on secondary school
students’ environmental knowledge?
Most attempts at fostering students’ knowledge about the environment have focused on complex
scientific experiments that do not take cognisance of the behavioural make-up of people residing
in an environment. The solutions provided by such scientific experiments to environmental
problems are subsequently short-lived because the personality characteristics of people in the
immediate environment that are end users are overlooked in its implementation. It is anticipated
that the findings of this research would provide information to teachers on the links between
students’ major personality traits and their knowledge about their immediate environment.

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Urban Learning Spaces 43
Urban learning spaces are ecologies (schools) in which learning occurs in urban
geographical locations (Ige, 2017, p. 311). The definition of learning ecologies by Ige (2017)
only focuses on learning spaces in the urban context with a specific focus on schools. Ige (2017)
left out other important components of urban learning ecologies such as virtual communities
and peer communities that have emerged as features of urban living that enable school children
to mutually share ideas with each other.
Barron (2004, p. 6) describes a learning ecology as the accessed set contexts that consist
of configurations of activities, material resources and relationships found in co-located physical
or virtual spaces that provide opportunities for learning. Barron (2004) explained further that
the physical contexts connote where students live which are considered crucial sources of
learning. In this study, urban ecologies comprise the physical and virtual resources that support
students learning experiences. It should be noted that secondary school students are the primary
node in the system.
Social Cognitive Theory
A theory that has received attention from scholars in predicting and explaining social
behaviours is the social cognitive theory propounded by Albert Bandura (Lee, Park, Lee, Kim,
& Park, 2018, p. 974). Bandura (2018, p. 30) affirms that the social cognitive theory bestows a
paramount role on agentic properties in psychosocial functioning. Bandura (2018) additionally
explains that forethought, self-reactiveness and self-reflectiveness are the main properties of the
agentic portion of the social cognitive theory. Lee et al. (2018) elaborate that social cognitive
theory postulates that human behaviour is determined by the environmental influences.
Bandura (1989) admits that, contrary to the general one-sided determinism in explaining human
behaviour, social cognitive theory favours a triadic reciprocal determinism in providing the
basis for human behaviour, and cognition. Other personal factors and environmental influence
are the interacting determinants of the ‘triadic reciprocal determinism model’. The social
cognitive theory emphasizes the capabilities of human beings to communicate the meanings
of behaviour, their ability to forecast the product of a certain behavioural patterns, acquire
knowledge by observing other people, to self-regulate behaviour, and to review and scrutinize
whether a behaviour will materialize in a specific condition (Amaya & Petosa, 2011, p. 134).
Bandura (2018) in explaining the main properties of agentic aspects of the social
cognitive theory pointed out that forethought involves self-motivation and self-guidance to
create action plans, adopt goals and visualize the effect of individual behavioural management
using self-sanctions in a self-governing system. Self-reflectiveness on individual’s ability to
reflect on his/her efficacy to actualize given challenges using metacognitive capabilities. The
social cognitive theory is applicable to this research because it could be inferred from the
agentic portion of this theory that inadequate consideration of what may happen in the future is
the primary causation of Bleys et al’s. (2015) observation of human transgression of four of the
nine planetary boundaries which has culminated in visible environmental problems linked to
human behaviours. The researchers believe that the second and third agentic properties of ‘self-
reactiveness and ‘self-reflectiveness’ that strongly account for environmental sustainability are
best promoted through students that are knowledgeable about the environment.

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44 Research Methodology
Research Design
The ‘field-based’ MO was adopted by the researchers to collect information on the

influence of major personality traits on secondary school students’ environmental knowledge.
This method was considered appropriate because it enables the researchers to collect data
without manipulating any variable of interest in the study (Ige, Amosun & Ogunleye, 2012,
p. 73; Ige & Orungbemi, 2013; Ige, 2016). The major personality traits examined in this study
are limited to extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to
experience.
Participant Selection and Sample
The participants were 243 male and 219 female senior students selected from thirteen
secondary schools in urban centres in Ondo State, Nigeria. The thirteen secondary schools were
purposefully selected for the study because they were ready to participate in this research. 430
of the selected students were Christians, 30 were Muslims, 2 of the subjects did not indicate their
religion on the questionnaire distributed to the participants. 311 subjects indicated their fathers
had basic education, 160 subjects indicated their fathers had university degrees and polytechnic
diplomas, 56 subjects stated their fathers had postgraduate degrees, 7 indicated their fathers
had other types of education, while 28 did not indicate their fathers’ educational qualifications.
132 subjects indicated that their mothers had basic education, 115 subjects indicated that their
mothers had secondary school education, 75 subjects stated that their mothers had National
Teaching Certificates, 19 indicated their mothers are Higher National Diploma holders, 38
stated their mothers had university degrees, while 29 indicated their mothers had postgraduate
degrees, 49 did not indicate their mothers’ educational qualifications. The 462 students selected
from intact classes in the thirteen secondary schools that partook in this research constituted
the sample.
Questionnaire and Measures
The broad personality traits were assessed with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory designed
by Costa and McCrae (1991), while the Environmental knowledge Test developed by Ajiboye
and Ajitoni (2008) was used to assess the selected student’s environmental knowledge. The
NEO Personality Inventory is a questionnaire measure of a comprehensive model of general
personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 2012). The version of NEO Five-Factor Inventory used
in this study consisted of 44-item designed on a 5-point Likert scale of disagree strongly to
agree strongly by John and Srivastava (1999). The architects of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory
declared that the instrument has been validated extensively (see Costa & McCrae, 1992; 2012).
The instrument comprises neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience, agreeableness
and conscientiousness, which were taken as major personality traits in this research. Some of
the items on 44-item NEO Five Factor Inventory were Neuroticism: I see myself as someone
who remains calm in tense situations, Extraversion: I see myself as someone who is outgoing
and sociable.
Openness Experience: I see myself as someone who makes plans and follows through with them.
Agreeableness: I see myself as someone who likes to cooperate with others. Conscientiousness:
I see myself as someone who makes plans and follows through with them.
The reliability coefficient of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory using a split-half method was .77
(Aremu, 2009).

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The ‘Environmental Knowledge Test’ comprises two sections. Section I elicited response 45
on age, sex, religion, parents’ educational background and name of school. Section II evaluated
the selected students’ knowledge of essential environmental concept such as environment,
erosion, deforestation and pollution. The reliability coefficient of the 30-item multiple choice
test by the developers using Kuder-Richardson 21 was .92.
Ethical Conditions
Permission was sought from the management of the thirteen secondary schools selected
for the study. The Principal/Vice Principal of the selected schools visited each intact class
selected in the thirteen secondary schools and explained the mission of the researchers to the
students. The researchers explained the purpose of the study to the selected students in each
intact class and assured them they were free to disengage at any point of their response to the
questionnaire without fear of victimization. Only students in each intact class that agreed to
participate in the study were handed the questionnaire.
Data Analysis
The data was subjected to multiple repression analysis to determine the effect of major
personality traits on the selected student’s environmental knowledge. The independent variables
were regressed on the environmental knowledge of the selected students in urban learning
ecologies.
Research Results
Table 1 shows that there is a combined influence of major personality factors such
as neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness
on students’ environmental knowledge (R= 0.297). The predictors had an adjusted R² of
.078 which means neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience, agreeableness
and conscientiousness accounted for 7.8% contribution of the total variance in students’
environmental knowledge. The analysis of the combined influence generated F of 8.795 at .01
level of significance.
Table 1. The combined influence of major personality traits on students’

environmental knowledge.
F p
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square
Regression 705.755 5 141.151 8.795 .001a
Residual 7318.594 456 16.050
Total 8024.348 461
R=.297, R Square=.088, Adjusted R Square= .078, Std. Error of the Estimate= 4.00619
a. Predictors: (Constant), conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion
b. Dependent Variable: environmental knowledge
Notes. * p< .01

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46 Table 2 highlights the relative contribution of the independent variables to the

environmental knowledge of the selected students. The standardized Bs and T-test of the
predictors are presented:
Consciousness significantly positively influence students’ environmental knowledge (β
= 0.31, t-5.33, p> .01). The significant influence of conscientiousness on what the students
know about the environment in this study implies that environmentally knowledgeable students
are highly conscientious students that are hardworking, goal oriented, require little supervision
and have potentials to follow environmental sustainability task through to completion.
Openness to new experience or intellect have no significant positive influence on
students’ environmental knowledge (β = 0.14, t = 2.38, p> .01) neuroticism had no significant
influence on students’ environmental knowledge (β = -0.14, t= -2.37, p< .01). Agreeableness
had no significant influence on students’ environmental knowledge (β = -0.11, t=-1.93, p< .01).
Extraversion had no significant influence on students’ environmental knowledge (β = -0.11, t=
-2.07, p< .01).
Table 2. The relative influence of major personality traits on students’

environmental knowledge.
Unstandardized Standardized
Model Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t p
(Constant) 8.390 1.338 6.271 .001
conscientiousness .239 .045 .308 5.333 .001

openness .091 .038 .144 2.376 .018
neuroticism -.123 .052 -.137 -2.371 .018
agreeableness -.097 .050 -.113 -1.928 .055
extraversion -.106 .051 -.112 -2.072 .039
a. Dependent Variable: environmental knowledge

Notes. * p< .01
Discussion
The novelty in the current research is that it is one of the pioneering efforts in evaluating
the relationship between personality traits and students’ environmental knowledge. The
answer to the first research question shows that consciousness, openness to new experience,
neuroticism, agreeableness and extraversion have an established influence of the environmental
knowledge on the selected contribution of the total variance in students’ environmental
knowledge. This signals that other variables that are not investigated in this research accounted
for 92.2 percent of factors that are capable of influencing students’ environmental knowledge.
The second research question probes the categorical contribution of the five major personality
traits on what the selected students know about their environment. The results show that only
conscientiousness significantly positive contributed to student’s environmental knowledge.
This finding confirms Tidwell and Sias’s (2005) discovery that openness and conscientiousness
independently predicted environmentally friendly behaviours, notwithstanding the conciliatory
effects of pro-environmental attitudes.
It should be noted that this judgment was made at .01 level of significance consequent
on the researchers’ quest to establish relationship between students’ major personality traits and
what they know about the environment. The environmental hazards that sprang up in the twenty-
first century demand that students must be 99 percent knowledgeable about human activities that

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could alter environmental balance. It was noted that predictors such as openness to experience, 47
neuroticism and extraversion had significant positive influence on students’ environmental
knowledge at 0.05 level of significance but were discountenanced in this study. The researchers
discountenanced these predictors that were significant at .05 level because it would do more
harm than good to the environment if a student with personality traits affirming, he/she has a
95 percent knowledge about the environment is taken as environmentally knowledgeable with
the current spate of environmental problems emanating from human activities. The researchers
are wary of the harm the 95 percent confidence interval will do to the students’ immediate
environment due to this environmental knowledge deficit. It should be noted that inference
drawn from these results are not currently supported by empirical studies, but the elemental fact
that the current research has established is that there is a relationship between what a student
knows about the environment and his/her major personality traits.
The current debates on environmental sustainability warrant that educational researchers
beam their searchlights on the use of 0.05 level of significance as a benchmark for taking
judgments on research focusing on the environment consequent scholars cries that humans have
transgressed climate change, loss of biosphere integrity, land-system changes and permutated
biogeochemical cycles (Steffen et al., 2015; Bleys et al., 2018), which are critical of the nine
boundaries of the planet.
Conclusion and Implications for Environmental Education
The outcomes of this research have implications from teaching environmental education
and educational psychology in general. The findings of this study make a strong case for
teachers’ use of constructive teaching strategies such as inquiry teaching strategy, predict-
observe-explain instrumental strategy and action learning strategy to foster the students’
conscientiousness in environmental education lessons. This research has shown that the
inculcation of the ‘conscientiousness’ personality trait in students seems to be the key that can
unlock students’ environmental knowledge. It should be noted that the findings of this study
are limited to four hundred and sixty-two students selected from thirteen secondary schools in
a developing country. Researchers should be cautious in generalizing the findings of this study
to secondary school students in other developing nations. Despite this limitation, this study has
contributed to knowledge by unveiling the links between major personality traits and students’
environmental knowledge. It is anticipated that the limitations in this study will be surmounted
by persistent research in future educational projects.
Acknowledgements
The authors sincerely appreciate the efforts of Sodeeq Faremi who typed this manuscript
at no cost, and Oluwaseun Amusa (Nee Akinbola) who performed the language editing tasks
at no cost.
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Olugbenga Adedayo Ige Postdoctoral Research Fellow, SANRAL Chair in Science and
(Corresponding author) Mathematics Education, Faculty of Education, University of the Free
State, P.O Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, Republic of South Africa.
Email: IgeOA@ufs.ac.za
Loyiso C. Jita Dean and SANRAL Chair in Science and Mathematics Education,
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, P.O Box 339,
Bloemfontein 9300, Republic of South Africa.
E-mail: JitaLC@ufs.ac.za
Thuthukile Jita Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, P.O Box
339, Bloemfontein 9300, Republic of South Africa.
E-mail: JitaT@ufs.ac.za

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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GEOGEBRA 55
WHEN TEACHING LINEAR FUNCTIONS

USING THE IPAD
Vimolan Mudaly, Tamryn Fletcher
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
E-mail: mudalyv@ukzn.ac.za, tamfletch.1@gmail.com
Abstract
There is concern about mathematics success and its related pedagogy. Society has seen rapid changes
in the economy and technology with a call for these changes to be reflected within the classroom. New
methods of teaching mathematics are being sought with the purpose to improve teaching and learning
while making mathematics relatable to the new generation of learners. The incorporation of technology
within the classroom has been seen an option to make this change. The purpose of this research was to
determine how effective the use of the GeoGebra app is in allowing learners to successfully discover the
properties of straight line graphs. Furthermore, the research looked at learner responses to using the
app. A qualitative research design was used with data generated through a task-based investigation,
as well as individual interviews. Results of the research showed that the use of GeoGebra aided
learners successfully in discovering the properties of straight-line graphs with the majority of learners
understanding both concepts. The results also showed that learners had a positive outlook to the use of
the app and enjoyed the experience.
Keywords: GeoGebra, iPad technology, mathematics teaching, linear functions, software
manipulation.
Introduction
Rapid technological advancement is creating a fundamental change in most peoples’

lives, especially influencing the way children learn. Anecdotal evidence is showing that
learners are becoming highly skilled in technology (cell phones, IPad, Computers). Despite the
existence of suitable technology that can be used in mathematics classrooms, learners are still
expected to sit behind desks and listen to their teachers. Schools must therefore reform in order
to accommodate these changes, adapting teaching methods to evolve with the technological
revolution. Mathematics achievement within South Africa is poor and international tests
(such as the TIMMS) show that we lie at the bottom of the table. As a result, alternative forms
of teaching and learning have to be used to improve learners’ conceptual understanding in
mathematics.
The research focussed on the effectiveness of using technology in a Grade 9 mathematics
classroom within a constructivist, collaborative pedagogical approach. Furthermore, the
study looked at the reactions and perspectives of learners after working with the integrated
technology. GeoGebra was used for this research. Interactions with practicing teachers
indicated that technology is hardly used in South African schools because most schools do not
have the infrastructure nor the financial capabilities for the purchase of such technology. There
are other reasons for the absence of technology in the classroom, and these include amongst
others, teachers’ inability to use such technology and the lack of training in the incorporation of
technology in mathematics lessons.

Vimolan MUDALY, Tamryn FLETCHER. The effectiveness of Geogebra when teaching linear functions using the iPad
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56 Other researchers (Bester & Brand, 2013; Stols et al, 2015; Padayachee, 2017) have
researched the use of technology in South African classrooms and have concluded that the
correct application of the technology results in a better understanding of concepts. In this
research, the app version of GeoGebra was chosen because the majority of learners within
schools possess smart phones or a mobile device that could be used to run the freely available
GeoGebra app.
GeoGebra is an open source software, available to users for geometry and algebra.
GeoGebra is easily downloadable into most computers or other technology that has a java
enabled platform. In general, GeoGebra can be used for practically exploring concepts in
geometry and algebra.
The purpose of this research was to determine whether the GeoGebra app could be used
to get learners to successfully discover the properties of straight line graphs. This research was
conducted in high school, based in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The school
has approximately 1325 national and international learners. Digital learning is a relatively new
and developing concept with the school’s first initiative being introduced in 2014 with the
introduction of IPad classes starting in grade nine. Since then, further upgrades in the online
network have been seen together with the introduction of a learner system, namely Moodle, and
a YouTube page.
The class used, comprised 27 mixed ability learners. Learners in this class were usually
taught using a traditional approach where the teacher explained the content to the learners for
half to three quarters of the lesson and the learner’s role was to passively imbibe the information.
Literature Review
The intention of mathematics teaching and learning in South Africa, according to the
Department of Basic Education (2011, p. 8), is to establish confident, proficient learners who
have “deep conceptual understanding” of mathematics. In addition, the curriculum (Department
of Basic Education, 2011, pp. 8-9), seeks to develop crucial mathematical skills within learners,
including application skills, investigation skills, interpretation skills and problem solving skills
to name just a few. Unfortunately, South African learners have shown substandard mathematics
achievement clearly presenting a break down between the goals of the curriculum and its
attainment (Spaull, 2014).
Conceptual and procedural knowledge and understanding are widely researched
currently. Deep conceptual understanding can be described as the process which allows the
person to form links with other concepts and to apply the concept in different contexts. A learner
with conceptual understanding will know how to interpret and complete a question and more
specifically, why they have used that particular method, naturally with an understanding of the
interconnectedness of concepts. On the other hand, procedural knowledge and understanding
is detailed by Rittle-Johnson and Alibali (2009, p. 175) as the “knowledge of action sequence
for solving problems”. Procedural knowledge is seen in learners when they demonstrate the
sequence and rules to follow when completing a mathematical question. While the ultimate
goal is to provide learners with the opportunity to have deep conceptual understanding, both
forms of knowledge are important. Within the South African context, conceptual knowledge is
tested in all formal assessment tasks based on the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement.
Mathematics has long been seen as a subject taught by the teacher to learners who often
sit quietly and passively receive the knowledge being transferred (Morgado, 2010, p. 4; Swan,
2005, p. 3). This view is however changing and Zakaria, Solfitri, Daud, and Abidin (2013, p.
98) detail that in order for the understanding in mathematics to be strengthened, learners need
to become active constructors of knowledge through the interaction with the teacher, their peers
and the content. The reality is that learners struggle with mathematics and Murphy (2016, p.

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295) argued that the methods employed by teachers within the classroom will ultimately have 57
consequences on a learner’s level of understanding.
There was a focus on Functions in a grade nine mathematics class, and it was concentrated
on the basic properties of straight-line graphs. This topic in mathematics is essential as it forms
the basis for learning in the subsequent years. Within the South African curriculum, a large
amount of time is dedicated to the teaching of Functions. Furthermore, the importance of
Functions is ascertained by looking at the weighting of content areas in the end of year final
exams written in schools in KwaZulu-Natal and set by the provincial Department of Basic
Education as well as those set by individual schools. Approximately 30% of the first paper for
grade ten and grade eleven contains questions related to Functions, with this figure increasing
in the matric year. Anecdotal evidence shows that learners struggle with Functions and find
concepts difficult to understand.
Birgin (2012, p. 141) described straight-line graphs as a multi-dimensional topic where
conceptual understanding of the topic is essential for the success of learners. Birgin (2012)
found that learners struggled with and had a very limited understanding of straight-line graphs
as well as the concept of slope.
There is a global call for an improvement and modification in the way school mathematics
is taught (Birgin, 2012, p. 140). It is widely known that we are in a digital era where technology
has a large influence on society, and this has resulted in a change in the way education is viewed.
Teachers and learners have greater access to technology, the internet and media. These can all
be used for presenting lessons, enhancing understanding and for verifying results. Teachers
need to reflect this change within their classrooms to align and meet the needs of the changing
society and the needs of the learner. According to Zengin and Tatar (2017, p. 75) technology
within the classroom is not a tool to transfer knowledge but rather a tool that provides the
learner with an opportunity to engage and construct his or her own knowledge . An important
concept, often misconstrued, is the fear that the introduction of technology within the classroom
is used to replace the teacher but the incorporation of technology should rather be seen as
a supporting tool that will aid learners in the visualization of concepts (Keskin, 2016, p. 2).
Whilst technology supports teaching and learning in many ways, visualisation is an important
concept which aids in successful teaching as it provides an opportunity for learners to visualise
and engage with abstract concepts. Mathematics is a subject that requires a multifaceted
approach and technology provides an opportunity for the teacher to teach maths in a variety of
different ways. The software is convenient to use, and this provides an opportunity to create
a multitude of different representations within the daily restrictive school time. Technology
provides the opportunity to present a variety of representations and multiple opportunities to
learn for the different learners, ensuring that many learners are provided for. These multiple
representations can add depth to learners understanding of the concept which is important as
we have seen that learners struggle with functions because there is often an emphasis on a
procedural understanding rather than a conceptual one.
Recent years have seen numerous studies relating to technology in the classroom,
with results showing the various benefits to teaching and learning. Bozkurt and Ruthven
(2017, p. 317) found that “the accuracy and speed of GeoGebra facilitated the construction,
modification, manipulation and measurement of figures by students”. Similarly, Tatar and
Zengin (2016), showed that dynamic software enabled retention and promoted conceptual
understanding through visualization which ultimately improved the mathematics results. The
study further found that the dynamic software aided in evolving the learners creative thinking
skills by allowing them to manipulate the diagrams on the screen and simultaneously looking
at the results presented. Supplementary to their previous study Zengin and Tatar (2017), found
that dynamic software created a fun and delightful learning environment. With regards to
learners and their interactions and responses to the dynamic software, Keskin’s (2016) study

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58 showed that this facilitated learner interest. Zengin (2018, p. 2) also found that GeoGebra offers
“students an opportunity to create their own dynamic geometry constructions in an interactive
and visual learning environment. Moreover, dynamic geometry software provides learners with
an opportunity to examine mathematics and geometry concepts from a new perspective and
offers learners motivational contexts”.
In lieu of the above, this research sought to explore two research questions.
1. How effective is the use of the Geogebra app in allowing students to discover the
properties of straight line graphs?
2. What were the students’ views about using the app?
Research Methodology
General Background
In order to understand how effective GeoGebra was in enabling learners to discover

the properties of straight-line graphs, namely gradient and y-intercept, the research sought
learners’ opinions and reactions about using the app. A qualitative research design was used.
This type of design allows the researchers to attempt to derive a deeper understanding of the
participants’ actions, views and explanations through observations and interviews. The research
was conducted in a grade 9 classroom in a public school in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal in
South Africa, during the first quarter of the 2017 school term. The school is located in a medium
to upper income social area, but learners choose to attend from lower income groups as well.
Sample Selection
The school had 4 classes of grade 9 learners but only two of them used IPads. A
convenient, purposive sample was selected due to the involvement of a teacher from the school.
So, one of the two grade nine IPad classes, containing 27 learners, was chosen as participants
for the study based on convenience sampling, because this was the only class taught by one of
the researchers and it was the only class where all students had an IPad.
Permission for the research was sought and granted. All ethical protocols were followed.
Participants were assured that the results of their participation in the study would not influence
their teacher’s opinions nor their marks at school in any way.
Conceptual Framework
There are three important points to consider when using technology in mathematics
classrooms (refer to Figure 1). What does the formal curriculum advocate? How easy is it to
learn and use available and appropriate technology? How do learners perform in standardised
tests and examinations?
Machnaik (2002, p. 7) claims that “working on computer-based projects, students
became active learners collaborating with peers and teacher”. She further drew from her own
experience when she stated that “in my own teaching experience, I struggled with meeting the
diverse needs of my students as we began integrating technology into different areas of study.
Direct instruction was holding us back; a shift was needed. I began planning more independent,
cooperative and project-based learning opportunities, allowing students to be active rather than
passive learners” (Machnaik, 2002, p. 7)
Gilakjani, Sabouri and Zabihniaemran (2015, p. 213) also express the view that “the

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learning environment in a classroom can be changed by the computer technology. It is an 59

important instrument for learning in the classroom and helps learners to succeed”.
Impact of
technology
Expectations from Learner collaboration Efficacy of the

the curriculum and achievement technology
Does the How do learners Is the

curriculum perform in standardised technology easy
advocate tests? Do learners to understand
technology understand better when and use, for the
use? working teacher and
collaboratively? learner?
Figure 1. Conceptual framework.
The first part of the procedure allowed the participants to use the app to explore the
different aspects of straight line graphs. Thereafter, they had to complete a task, without using
the app, in order to assess their understanding of the concepts. The straight-line graph and
its associated concepts were completely new to the participants. Prior to this research, their
knowledge was limited to plotting points in the Cartesian plane.
Twenty-seven learners, in the class completed the exploration and task. The objectives of
the exploration itself were that the learner would eventually be able to
• Describe the general equation of a straight-line graph.
• Read off the values of and when given the equation of a straight-line graph.
• Describe and its function in a straight-line graph.
• Describe and its function in a straight-line graph.
• Apply the properties of and in answering questions about straight-line graphs.
The straight line equation is represented in the general form y = mx + c, where y represents
the range (the values on the y axis) and x represents the domain (the values on the x-axis). The
m value is the gradient or slope and is the change in the y-value divided by the change in the x
value. The c value is the y value at which the line cuts the y-axis. Refer to Figure 2 for a visual
depiction. The m value also represents an angle when written in the form m = tan θ.

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60
θ c
Change in x-value
Figure 2. A visual representation of the straight line graph.
For the exploration, participants (in groups of four) were seated facing each other in order
to allow for ease of communication and the creation of a collaborative learning environment.
This ought to have encouraged learners to work together as a group where they could help each
other with the content and concept. While learners were working together to complete the tasks,
each learner used his/her own IPad to practically investigate and visualize the changes.
The app required for the investigation was downloaded by each participant from Moodle.
The investigation had two parts where participants explored the function of first m and then
c within the general equation of a straight-line graph. Participants first worked individually
to manipulate the app using the sliders provided. Sliders are tools that are used to change
variables without physically changing the values. This allows participants the opportunity to
see instantaneously how the change in the slider affects the graph and provides the participants
with a visual feedback which influenced their learning and understanding.
Two concepts were explored using the app. Participants changed the value of the m and
c separately, recorded their findings on the investigation sheet, and developed generalisations
about m and c.
The task sheet was completed by the participants individually and was used to assess
learners’ understanding of the properties of linear functions using the GeoGebra app. The task
was comprised of twelve questions.
Thereafter, five individual participants were selected randomly (the first five who
volunteered) and interviewed. Standardized, open ended interviews were conducted with the
intention of obtaining deep and insightful data (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011, p. 411).
Interviews provided an opportunity to move beyond the question of whether or not the app
worked but allowed for the deeper examination of the learners’ feelings about the use of
the app. At the beginning of each interview learners were reassured of their anonymity and
confidentiality. The interview questions were designed to obtain information firstly about the
properties of the straight-line graphs and secondly to interrogate learners’ opinions regarding
their perceptions and challenges related to working with the app, investigations, task, group
work in a collaborative setting and whether or not they would like more technology to be
incorporated into lessons.

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Research Results 61
The data from the responses to the twelve questions in the task sheet were examined
with a descriptive rubric, where each question was scored as either correct, moderately correct,
incorrect or not answered. Questions that were in the standard form were answered easily. The
participants did find some difficulty with the non-standard forms of the equation. This was
expected because these types of questions did need some manipulation first.
Participants were correctly able to match the equation with its corresponding graph
drawn in a table. The participants’ knowledge of gradients was further reinforced when they
correctly distinguished between lines with a positive, negative and zero gradients. Sixty seven
percent of the participants were able to correctly distinguish between the three graphs.
Participants were able to identify how the shape of the straight line would change when
the value of the gradient gets bigger or smaller. Seventy four percent of the participants provided
correct responses. Eighty one percent of the participants identified the y-intercept given the
equation. Participants were able to also distinguish between lines with a positive y-intercept
from a line with a negative y-intercept. The participants’ knowledge of the shape of the graph
as the y-intercept changed was well answered with 93% of the participants obtaining the correct
answer.
In the application questions participants were required to apply their knowledge of both
gradient and straight line simultaneously. The results showed that the participants did better
in the question where they had to draw a line with a positive gradient when compared to the
question where the participants had to draw a line with a negative gradient. Results also showed
that some participants struggled with the inequality signs and had the incorrect equation based
on the question specification but could then draw the correct graph for the incorrect equation.
It is important to note that the participants had no pre-knowledge of straight-line graphs
and had only seen a straight-line graph at the beginning of the investigation. As a result of
the investigation and working with the app, all participants could read off m and c from an
equation. They knew what m and c represented in the equation of a straight line, they could
identify positive, negative and 0 gradients. They also knew what would happen when the c
value changed. Participants also showed that they could draw a sketch of the straight-line graph
given particular information. It can be hypothesised that the app is effective for the successful
discovery of the properties of straight-line graphs with the majority of learners being able to
apply the concepts.
Collaborative Learning Environment
Analysing the participants’ responses in the individual interviews provided useful

qualitative data, which describes the participants’ experiences and opinions of working with the
app through a new teaching and learning method.
All five interviewed participants indicated that they enjoyed working with the app.
Learners were further probed, by asking them what they enjoyed about working with the
app with three of the five participants saying that the app makes learning interactive. They
further elaborated by saying that this interaction allowed them the opportunity to do the work
themselves which in turn made the work easier to understand. The responses by the other two
learners saw them describing the experience as enjoyable because the app made doing the work
simpler and was a different way of learning which made understanding easier. When participants
were probed about challenges they encountered while working with the technology, there was
a common response from participants. Initially, they struggled with working with the app.
This could be a result of the learners adapting to the app as an innovation. They would have
preferred to receive a ‘crash course’ on the basics of using the app. One participant described
his experience when working with the app at first as a ‘struggle’. He was initially confused
because when he “touched a button and suddenly you have dots drawn all over the place”.

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62 When participants were asked if they enjoyed doing the investigation and task, all five
participants said that they did. When probed why, different responses were obtained which
included the idea that it was fun as compared to their normal classwork and that this method
helped them to understand the work better. When they asked if they encountered any challenges
when working with the investigation and task, their responses included that there were no
challenges.
Participants were asked about working in a group and whether or not they enjoyed
the experience. Four of the participants said they enjoyed the experience. When one learner
was asked why he did not enjoy the experience he explained that working in a group “is not
everyone’s forte”. He further explained that he preferred being alone. When learners were asked
if they thought working in a group helped in understanding the concept and completing the
work, all of the participants felt that this did help because “you could get help from other
group members if you did not understand something”. One participant further explained that
the group work helped if you were not sure and further elaborated that “sometimes it’s better
learning it from another learner than a teacher as you can understand it better”.
Participants were asked if they enjoyed the innovative method of learning, namely
working in a group in conjunction with the investigation while using the app. There were mixed
reactions from the participants. Three of the five participants said they enjoyed this method of
learning but showed hesitance by adding that this was a method they would need to get used to.
When probed if this should be incorporated more into their class lessons, all of the participants
agreed that it should with one participant stating that “you basically get to see what you are
doing, and it is something you can refer to if you are not sure”.
Lastly, participant responses were analysed based on the question of whether or not
they think using the app was successful or not with all five participants saying the app was
successful. A range of reasons were provided with one participant saying that it was “successful
as it taught us in a different way”. Another participant said that it was successful as it “allowed
interactivity where you could see the lines physically move when you changed the values”.
Other reasons provided were, that it was successful because “it was a lesson we could actually
understand”, as well as the “app provided the opportunity for us to ‘see’ the change” and
something to which they could refer.
The interviews reveal a positive outlook by participants towards the use of the GeoGebra
app in a collaborative learning environment. Participants enjoyed working with the technology
(app) and working in a group with participants, highlighting the benefits as being an interactive
lesson, both with the app and with group members. Furthermore, participants felt that the work
is easier to understand, with group members on hand to help those who may be struggling with
the work. Participants showed in their interviews that they enjoyed this method of teaching,
collaborative learning through group work, and suggested that this be incorporated more
frequently into all mathematics lessons.
Discussion
Mathematics teaching and learning is often a complex activity. There must be a good
relationship between the teacher, the learner, the activities and the artefacts used for teaching
and learning. This research, whilst not producing new knowledge relating to the use of the iPad,
it did show that teachers can creatively organise learning environments in order to use artefacts
that learners are already familiar with.
The results showed that participants had a positive outlook towards investigations
when working with the app. The participants revealed in the interviews that they enjoyed
working with the app and this aligns with Zakaria et al’s. (2013) and Zengin and Tatar’s (2017)
study which showed that technology created a positive and fun learning environment for

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participants. Even Hilton (2018, p. 145) obtained similar results when he stated that “survey 63
results suggested that iPad use in mathematics has the potential to impact positively on
students’ attitudes to mathematics. The interview responses confirmed that iPads had a positive
influence on students’ engagement and attitudes to mathematics, and that the pedagogical
approaches utilized by teachers for embedding iPads in their mathematics lessons contributed
positively to these outcomes”. The participants reported in their interviews that technology and,
working in a group, created an interactive and engaging lesson and this finding aligns with
the Tatar and Zengin (2016) study. Learners enjoyed working in their groups as this provided
an opportunity for learners to help each other. Murphy’s (2016) study shows that technology
improved communication and interaction both between learners as well as between the learners
and teacher and this outcome can be seen in this study where learners enjoyed working with
other people and speaking and being helped by other group members. The participants, on
more than one occasion in their interviews, stated that the technology made the work easier
to understand. They elaborated further by saying that an added benefit of the app was the
opportunity it provided for visualisation of the concept. This result aligns with Keskin (2016)
and Tatar and Zengin (2016) findings which showed that dynamic software aided visualization
which in turn helped learners with conceptual understanding.
Perhaps it is important to state that the iPad was not just used here for information
gathering but rather for the purpose of creating understanding when dynamic software was used
and manipulated by the learners themselves.
Conclusions
There were a number of significant findings from this research. In general, learners tend
not to like mathematics. This is not just a South African phenomenon; it is true for mathematics
learners throughout the world. These participants enjoyed working with the technology. Also,
with the classroom innovation being different, it created enthusiasm amongst the learners. This
is important for learners to understand mathematical concepts.
Secondly, the participants were happy to do the mathematics rather than be passive
observers. This deviation from teacher centred strategies, allowed the learners to experience
the mathematics themselves and this provided the ideal platform for them to learn concepts
through trial and error.
Thirdly, most learners felt that they preferred to work in groups because it enabled them
to consult with each other when in doubt or when they could not understand a particular concept.
This type of group activity allowed for peer interaction and subsequent peer collaboration.
Finally, the learners engaged with the activities entirely on their own because the teacher
simply served as a facilitator. At no point did the teacher intervene in the lesson itself, except
for the provision of the task and the initial instructions. Although they could not successfully
complete all the tasks, it is possible that had the teacher become more involved, through
guidance, the learners might have experienced greater success with the app.
Looking at the results, it is evident that the app is successful in allowing participants
to discover the properties of straight-line graphs. The participants moved from having no
conceptualisation of the properties of straight-line graphs to being able to apply the knowledge
in mixed application questions, all based on what they learnt during their explorations.
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Appendix 1
Grade 9 Investigation: Properties of Straight line graphs
Name: Grade: Group members:

Objectives of the Investigation and Task:
1. Student is able to describe the general equation of a straight line graph.
2. Student is able to read off the values of and when given the equation of a straight line
graph.
3. Student is able to describe what the property stands for and its function in a straight line
graph.
4. Student is able to describe what the property stands for and its function in a straight line
graph.
5. Student is able to apply the properties of and in answering questions about straight line
graphs.
The Straight line Graph

The straight line graph is a linear graph which is formed by joining, with a ruler, two or more
points together on the Cartesian plane.
Example of a straight line graph: is drawn below.
ALL straight line graphs will always have

BOTH a x-intercept as well as a y-intercept.
Important points: x-intercept: where the graph cuts the x-axis.

y-intercept: where the graph cuts the y-axis.
arrows: shows that the graph will keep on going to infinity in both directions
The general equation (formula) of a straight line graph is where and are values that are
dependent on the straight line graph that is drawn. This general equation, (), is also called the
standard form and when the equation is in this format, it allows the reader the opportunity to
automatically read off the value for and . Examples are shown below:

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Equation
y 2x − 4
= y=−5 x + 2 x 2y =−4 x + 10
y= −5
2
Value
m = 2 ; c = −4 m =
−5 ; c =
2 1 −2 ; c =
m= 5
m= ; c = −5
2
It is important to note that and each stand for a specific property within the equation and each
have a specific function. You will now investigate each property independently with the use of
the Geogebra App.
Open up the file, found on Moodle, called (Form 3 Investigation- properties of straight
line graphs) on your Geogebra App. You are to follow the instructions (below) together
with working on the App to answer the following questions. Write your answers in the space
provided.
Instructions Investigating m
a) Move the m slider (red one) to 1 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on the
Cartesian plane provided below labelled Diagram A.
b) Move the m slider to 2 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram A.
c) Move the m slider to 3 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram A.
d) Move the m slider to 4 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram A.
e)
Diagram A

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Instructions 67
1.1 What happens to the graph as the value of m increases?
f) Move the m slider (red one) to -1 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on the Cartesian
plane provided below labelled Diagram B.
g) Move the m slider to -2 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram B.
h) Move the m slider to -3 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram B.
i) Move the m slider to -4 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram B.
Diagram B

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68 Questions
1.1 What happens to the graph as the value of m becomes negative? How is this different
to a positive m value?
1.2 What happens to the graph as the value of m, being negative, gets smaller? i.e. m =
-1, m = - 2.

Instructions
a) Move the m slider (red one) to 0. Draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram C.
b) Keep the m slider at 0 and now change the c slider (blue one) to 1 and draw a rough
sketch of the graph on Diagram C.
c) Again, keep the m slider at 0 and nw change the c slider to -1 and draw a rough sketch
of the graph on Diagram C.
Diagram C

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69
Questions
1.1 What happens to the graph when you changed m to 0?
Conclusion:
1. What do you think m stands for in the equation of a straight line graph? ( ie. name)
2. What happens when m is positive compared to when m is negative compared to when

m is 0?
Investigating c
a) Move the m slider (red one) to 1 and change the c slider (blue one) to 0 and draw a
rough sketch of the graph on the Cartesian plane provided below labelled Diagram
D
a) Move the c slider to 1 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram D.
b) Move the c slider to 2 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram D.
c) Move the c slider to 3 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram D.

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Diagram D
1.1 What happens to the graph as the value of c increases?
Instructions
d) Move the c slider (blue one) to 0 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram E.
e) Move the c slider to -1 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram E.
f) Move the c slider to -2 and draw a rough sketch of the graph on Diagram E.

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Diagram E
Questions
1.1 What happens to the graph as the value of c becomes negative?
Conclusion:
1. What do you think c stands for in the equation of a straight line graph? i.e. name

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72 2. What happens when c is positive compared to when c is negative compared to when

c is 0?
Appendix 2
Grade 9 Properties of Straight Line Graphs Task
Name: Class: Mark:
1. Determine the value of and in the following straight line graphs:
1.1 m= c=
y 2x + 4
= (2)
1.2 m= c=
y =− x + 8 (2)
1.3 m= c=
y 3x − 2
= (2)
1.4 m= c=
y= x + 2 (2)
1.5 m= c=
2 y − 4x =
−6 (2)
2. What does represent in the general equation of a straight line graph?

(1)
3. What does represent in the general equation of a straight line graph?

(1)
4. Match the properties described in Column A with the correct (corresponding) graph
in Column B.

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Column A Column B 73
y mx + c with A)
1. Equation =
m>0
*ignore effects of c*
y mx + c B)
2. Equation with =
m=0
C)
y mx + c with
3. Equation =
m<0

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74 Fill in your answer in the table below:

(Fill in A, B and C)
Column A 1 2 3
Column B

(3)

in Column B.
Column A Column B
y mx + c with A)
1. Equation =
1
m=
2
y mx + c with B)
2. Equation =
m=4
Fill in your answer in the table below:

(Fill in A and B)

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75
Column A 1 2
Column B

(2)
6. Match the properties described in Column A with the correct (corresponding) graph in
Column B.
Column A Column B
y mx + c with A)
1. Equation =
m = −1
y mx + c with B)
2. Equation =
m = −3

(Fill in A and B)

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76
Column A 1 2
Column B

(2)
in Column B.
Column A Column B
y mx + c with A)
1. Equation =
c<0
*ignore effects of m*
y mx + c with B)
2. Equation =

(Fill in A and B)

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Column A 1 2 77
Column B

(2)
8. Match the properties described in Column A with the correct (corresponding) graph in
Column B.
Column A Column B
y mx + c with A)
1. Equation =
c=2
y mx + c with B)
2. Equation =
c=6

(Fill in A and B)
Column A 1 2
Column B


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78 (2)
in Column B.
Column A Column B
y mx + c with A)
1. Equation =
c = −1
y mx + c with B)
2. Equation =
c = −4

(Fill in A and B)
Column A 1 2
Column B

(2)

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79
10. a) Provide an example of an equation of a straight line graph with m > 0 and
c<0.

(1)
b) Make a rough sketch of the above graph on the axes provided below.

(2)
11. a) Provide an example of a straight line graph with and .

(1)
b) Make a rough sketch of the above graph on the axes provided below.

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80

(2)
12. Match the graph in the Cartesian plane with its corresponding equation given in the
table.
Equation Graph
y=−2 x + 8
y= x + 2

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81
y = 4x
y =− x − 1
(4)
Received: November 19, 2018 Accepted: January 16, 2019
Vimolan Mudaly PhD, Associate Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 67 Harinagar Drive, Shall-
cross, Durban, South Africa.
E-mail: mudalyv@ukzn.ac.za
Tamryn Fletcher Student, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000 South
Africa.
E-mail: tamfletch.1@gmail.com

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82
AN EXPLORATION OF HIGH SCHOOL
LEARNERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF
GEOMETRIC CONCEPTS
Harrison Ngirishi, Sarah Bansilal
University of KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa
E-mail: ngirishih@gmail.com, Bansilals@ukzn.ac.za
Abstract
There is much concern in South Africa about the poor performance of learners in mathematics,
particularly in geometry. The aim of this research was to explore the understanding of basic geometry
concepts by grade 10 and grade 11 learners in terms of the van Hiele’s levels of geometry thinking.
The participants of the research were 147 learners from three high schools in a rural area in the south
of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The results showed that the learners had difficulties with problems
involving definitions of geometric terms, interrelations of properties and shapes, class inclusion and
changing semiotic representations. It was also found that most of the learners were operating at the visual
and the analysis levels of the van Hiele levels of geometric thinking. It is recommended that teachers
should provide learners with tasks that require movements between semiotic representations, and to also
focus attention on improving learners’ skills in proving aspects of mathematical relations.
Keywords: geometry, high school, van Hiele theory, class inclusion, mathematical proof, necessary and
sufficient conditions.
Introduction
Mathematics learning outcomes in South Africa are very low which has led many
researchers to express concerns about the poor performance in mathematics, especially in
geometry (Lee & Ginsburg, 2009; Mthembu, 2007; Singh, 2006). According to Patkin and
Lavenberg (2012), Geometry is seen as the most complicated strand of the mathematics
curriculum and learners mistakenly assume that the subject is irrelevant to their daily lives.
In South Africa, education authorities themselves were uncertain about the importance of
geometry. In 2006, the curriculum was revised so that geometry was no longer compulsory
for learners in Grades 10 -12 (DoE, 2006). A few years later, in 2011, geometry was made
compulsory again for these grades (DoBE, 2011). When geometry was made optional, many
learners chose not to study the section and hence did not gain access to the particular type of
geometric reasoning encountered in geometry. When the geometry strand was brought back
into the core mathematics curriculum, teachers did not feel as confident about the strand since it
had not been taught for such a long time. These issues illustrate the need to find out more about
the particular areas of geometry that pose challenges to the learners.
Research Focus
The focus of this research was high school mathematics learners’ understanding of
geometry in terms of van Hiele’s levels of geometry thinking. The learners were in Grades
10 and 11 which is part of the Further Education and Training (FET) band of schooling. The
research sought to answer the following questions:

Harrison NGIRISHI, Sarah BANSILAL. An exploration of high school learners’ understanding of geometric concepts
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1. What can be deduced about the van Hiele levels of geometric thought that the 83
learners are working within?
2. What are some factors which impede the development of their geometric
understanding?
Literature Review
Geometry is a strand of mathematics that involves analysing the properties of shapes

and exploring the relationships between and within figures (Bassarear, 2012). Geometry has
different applications in science and technology in industries such as construction, design,
architecture and engineering, amongst others (Knight, 2006). These real life applications of
geometry give the teacher opportunities to make the subject mathematics more relevant to the
learners (Chambers, 2008). Usiskin (2002) proposed two reasons why geometry is important to
teach; it provides opportunities for mathematics modelling and also allows people to visualise
concepts which may be related to other areas of mathematics. It has links with culture, history,
art and design and it is the interaction with these vital human activities that provide opportunities
to make geometry lessons interesting and stimulating (Chambers, 2008).
An integral part of the study of geometry is the use of proof when establishing properties
and relations within and amongst figures. A proof involves the creation of a narrative which
starts from some known fact and proceeds in a step by step manner where each step is deduced
from the result of the previous one until the unknown fact is justified. Each of the sequential
statements, comprising the proof, should be supported by valid reasons (Serra, 1997). De Villiers
(2004) viewed a proof as a formal written argument of the complete thinking procedures that
are used to reach a valid conclusion; the steps of these procedures are supported by theorems,
postulates or definitions verifying the validity of each step and explaining why these steps are
achievable. The inclusion of the study of formal proof as part of the study of geometry provides
a means for the development of deductive reasoning skills (Mudaly & de Villiers, 2004). The
use of proof in geometry also provides learners with the experience of a formal axiomatic
system for the first time (Mudaly & De Villiers, 2004).
The study of geometric shapes requires a mix of visual and analytical strategies and
juggling between these two perspectives may result in misconceptions because learners’
perceptions may be different to that of their teacher. Misconceptions are conceptual or reasoning
difficulties that hinder learners’ from constructing a concept in a sound or mathematically
endorsed manner. A misconception often arises when a rule is applied incorrectly, or when a
learner over-generalises a rule, under- generalises a rule or presents an alternative conception
of the situation (Hansen, Drews, Dudgeon, Lawton, & Surtees, 2017). Swan (2001) views
the development of misconceptions as a natural part of conceptual development. As students
learn more about a concept, the students may develop a misconception which may naturally
be overcome as their concept image extends to consider other settings in which the concept is
encountered. Sometimes however misconceptions may persist and interfere with later learning.
Students’ backgrounds, the context within which learning takes place as well as the teaching
styles may contribute to the formation of misconceptions. One of the common reasons for
misconceptions is because “students have difficulties in understanding the instructional
strategies adopted by the teacher” Luneta (2015, p.2).
The van Hiele Model of Geometric Thought
This research was underpinned by the van Hiele model of geometric thought that explains
how children develop spatial geometry concepts (Crowley, 1987). The van Hiele model (1999,

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84 1986) proposes five levels of geometric thinking, which students progress through as part of
their development of geometric reasoning. These are the visual, analysis, informal deduction,
formal deduction and the rigour levels respectively. There are particular terms and phrases
used to detail the differences in the reasoning that learners use in each of the levels. According
to the theory, learners move step by step from the first level (visual), through each of others,
when constructing different concepts. The role of the teacher is crucial because it is the teacher
who decides what experience is suitable at each level, and for which learner that experience is
suitable.
Learners who are at a visual level have a very simple concept of space. They see geometric
shapes or figures as a complete whole. They recognize geometric figures by their appearance
not by their properties. Learners are able to identify the given shape because they associate the
shape with what they know. Learners see these figures as a whole, without being able to analyse
their properties (Burger & Shaughnessy, 1986)
Those learners who are able to analyse shapes in terms of their parts and properties, have
progressed to the analysis level, although they may not be able to make connections between
different shapes (Mason, 2010). A learner at the analysis level should be able to recognize that
a square is a figure which has 4 equal sides and 4 equal angles. The diagonals of a square are
equal and perpendicular bisectors of each other. However, the learners placed at this level may
have an incomplete understanding of how properties of shapes are related to each other.
Learners who are at the informal deduction level can analyse the properties of the figures
and understand relationships between the properties of a figure and relationships between
figures. Learners are able to follow all the logical arguments using the properties of the figures,
but they may not be able to create a new proof from scratch. At this stage they are able to reason
about the properties of class inclusion.
The learners who are able to understand and use the ideas of formal geometry show that
they have progressed to the formal deduction level. They understand how important deduction
is, and can use it to build up a geometric theory based upon axioms and proofs, in the same way
as Euclid did. Learners now learn to do formal proofs. They now understand the role played by
terminology, definitions, axioms and theorems in Euclidean geometry.
Learners who are at the rigour level can work within a variety of axiomatic systems, non-
Euclidean geometries and different systems can be compared, thus geometry is seen as abstract.
Background
This research was qualitative in nature with the aim of finding out the van Hiele level of
geometric thinking of the learners and also identifying factors which impeded the development
of the learners’ geometric understanding. The research was conducted with learners from three
schools which were all located in rural area in Southern KwaZulu-Natal. The research was
conducted towards the end of the year when the learners had already completed the topics in
the geometry curriculum.

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Sample 85
The participants of the study were made up of 147 Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners from
three schools. The sample was that of convenience because of the proximity of the schools to
the first author. The details of the participants are presented in Table 1 below.
Table1. Distribution of learners according to grades and schools
Number of Learners
School Grade 10 Grade 11 Total
School A 31 learners 31 learners 62 learners
School B 32 learners 23 learners 55 learners
School C 11 learners 19 learners 30 learners
Total 74 learners 73 learners 147 learners
The learners were informed about the details of the study at a meeting. Each learner
signed an informed consent form granting us permission to use their responses in the research.
All protocols, in line with the ethical clearance procedures prescribed by the University of
KwaZulu-Natal, were observed.
Instruments and Procedures
The research instruments consisted of a questionnaire with 15 multiple choice questions

adapted from Usiskin (1982), a worksheet with six open-ended questions and an interview
schedule. The multiple choice questions were targeted at the various levels of the van Hiele’s
model, while the worksheet probed the understanding of the learners of questions based on
parallel lines, triangles and quadrilaterals. Semi-structured interviews were carried out on a
purposive sample of 18 learners, who were selected on the basis of how they responded in the
questionnaire and worksheet. During the interviews the participants were given the opportunity
to express their perceptions and understanding of the geometry concepts of parallel lines,
triangles and quadrilaterals. They were furthermore probed about their written responses to the
items.
Data Analysis
The learners’ written responses were first assessed and the average percentage of correct
responses for questions targeted at each of the van Hiele levels was calculated. This was done
by adding the percentage of correct responses per item at that level and dividing the sum by the
number of items at that particular level.
Average Percentage of Correct Responses =
The learners were then linked to the different van Hiele levels based on their responses
to particular items. This was dependent on the number of questions they were able to answer
correctly at that particular level. In terms of identifying the challenges faced by the learners, the
written responses were analysed in detail. Common patterns were identified across the scripts.
During the interviews, learners’ responses were used to provide a deeper understanding of the
emerging patterns and these were then developed into themes. Codes were used for the learners
to preserve their anonymity, for example LSA1 refers to learner number 1 from school A, LSB3
for learner number 3 from school B.

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86 Results of the Research
Learners’ Performance in terms of the van Hiele Levels
The questions from the questionnaire were grouped according to the van Hiele levels of
geometry thinking that the questions required, and the average percentage of correct responses
were then determined and recorded as in the table below.
Table2. Learners’ performance at each Van Hiele Level for Questionnaire A.
Average percentage of
Van Hiele level of geomet-
Items Short description correct response per
ric thought
Level
Identifying shapes by their

Level 1:Visual Level 1 and 2 100
appearance
Recognising shapes by
Level Two: Analysis Level 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 42
their properties
Analyse properties of
Level Three: Informal figures and understand
5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 30
Deduction Level the relations between the
properties
Develop a series of
statements and start to
Level Four: Formal Deduc- understand the importance
15 4
tion level of deduction and vital role
of axioms, theorems and
proofs.
Reason formally about

No items were set at this mathematical systems
Level : Rigour N/A
level and understand geometric
figures which are abstract
There was a decline in the number of correct responses at given Van Hiele levels moving
from the most basic level, the visual level to the formal deduction level. 42% of the learners’
responses were correct for items at the analysis level. 30% of the learners’ responses were
correct for items set at the informal deduction level whereas 4% of the learners’ responses were
correct for items set at the formal deduction level. No items were set at the rigour level which
requires learners to reason formally about different mathematical systems, which is beyond the
work that is done at school level. It is important to note that as the item level increases, the
success rate decreases.
Learners were placed on the different van Hiele levels depending on the items they were
able to answer correctly at that particular level. For a learner to be placed at a higher van Hiele
level he/she should first meet all the requirements for the lower levels. However out of the 147
learners there were about five cases where a learner met the requirements for a higher level
having failed to meet the requirements for the lower levels, but these cases were too few to be
significant and these cases were then attributed to either guessing or copying. So these learners

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were placed at a lower level where they meet the requirements. Only item 15 was set at the 87
formal deduction level. Learners were said to be operating within the formal deduction level if
they were able to meet all the requirements for levels 1, 2 and 3 and also to get item 15 correct.
Getting item 15 correct, without meeting the requirements for levels 1, 2 and 3, was not enough
for a learner to be placed at the formal deduction level as the learners could have copied.
There were only two learners who were classified at this level with respect to their responses in
Questionnaire A, and both these learners were interestingly, Grade 10 learners.
Seven items were targeted at the informal deduction level. Learners were said to be
operating at the informal deduction level if they were able to get more than three items correct
at this level, but they should also have met the requirements for levels 1 and 2, but not being
able to meet the requirements for level 4. There were two reported cases where 2 learners did
not meet the requirements for level 2 placement but they met the minimum requirements for the
placement into level 3. These two learners were placed into level 1, as these 2 cases were too
few to be significant. There are a wide range of skills associated with particular van Hiele levels.
For example, with the informal deduction level, a learner may be beginning to understand and
being able to work with problems, while another learner may be at an advanced stage and thus
will be able to work with more complicated problems at that particular van Hiele level.
Five items were targeted at the analysis level of the van Hiele levels of geometry thinking.
A learner was placed at the analysis level (level 2) if he/she was able to meet the requirements
for level 1, was able to get more than two items correct at level 2, and was not able to meet the
requirements for placement into the informal deduction level. All the learners who failed to meet
the requirements for placement into levels 2, 3 and 4 were then placed into the visual level. The total
number of learners at each van Hiele level was then summarised and is presented in the table below.
Table3. Summary of the van Hiele levels of the FET learners.
Number (percentage) of learners operating within a particu-

Van Hiele Level
lar Level
Visual Level
23 (16)
[Level 1]
Analysis Level
77 (52)
[Level 2]
Informal Deduction Level
45 (31)
[Level 3]
Formal Deduction
2 (1)
[Level 4]
Rigour Level
0
[Level 5]
Table 3 shows that 16% of the learners involved in the study did not progress beyond
the visual level of the van Hiele levels of geometry thinking. Even though the van Hiele levels
are not age dependent, one would expect learners at the FET level to be operating at level 3
and 4, as they have been exposed to many opportunities of working with geometric figures
and thus are expected to show advanced knowledge of geometry. These learners have a very
simple concept of space and have not moved beyond the stage of identifying shapes by their
appearances only.
Slightly more than half of the FET learners involved in the research (52%), were operating
within the analysis level of the van Hiele’s of geometry thinking. These learners’ responses to
the items showed understanding of the properties of geometric figures and they could classify

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88 properties of some different shapes but they could not make any connections between shapes
and their properties. The learners at the analysis level were able to investigate, understand,
deduce and make generalisations from the properties of figures.
Thirty one per cent (31%) of the learners involved in the study were operating within
the informal deduction level according to the Questionnaire results. These learners showed
some evidence of being able to analyse and understand the relationships between properties of
figures. It is at this level that the learners can start putting the properties of the figures in the
correct order and be in a position to follow logical arguments. Only 1% of the learners showed
signs of engagement within the formal deduction level.
Challenges Experienced by Learners.
Students were also given six questions in a worksheet to respond to, and 18 learners
were interviewed on their responses to certain tasks to find out more about some of factors that
impeded their success in in solving geometry tasks. Some challenges that were identified were
misconceptions; concept of class inclusion; dealing with necessary and sufficient conditions;
and, changing between semiotic registers.
There were many misconceptions that were revealed in the responses to the questionnaire.
For example, from the response to Item 6 of the questionnaire, 18 learners believe that parallel
lines are the lines which never lie in the same plane and never meet. It is evident that some FET
learners still struggle to understand properties of parallel lines.
There were further misconceptions related to parallel lines that were revealed in the
responses to Question 1 from the worksheet appearing in Figure 2, with the response of Learner
LSC3.
Figure1. Response by Learner LSC3.
The learner wrote F3 , and wrote that they are co-interior angles between parallel lines.
He correctly identified the pair as forming co-interior angles but had a misconception about the
relationship between co-interior angles formed between two parallel lines. Co-interior angles
between parallel lines are supplementary (they add up to 180º). The learner recognised the co-
interior angles but was not so clear about the relationship between co-interior angles between
parallel lines. The learner’s lack of understanding of co-interior angles was revealed in the
interview below:

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Researcher: In both questions 1.1 and 1.2, you gave one correct answer and one wrong answer. In 89
the wrong responses you gave the same reason of co-interior angles. Can you explain to me why
you chose this and if possible the meaning of co-interior angles.”
LSC3: To be honest I just thought since alternating angles between parallel lines are equal then co-
interior angles will also be the same. I am still able to recognise that angle F3 and x are co-interior
but I can’t remember what will be the relationship between them. When we were taught geometry,
the terms were never explained to us, we were just told the angles were equal because they are
alternating or because they are vertically opposite and that was that.
The learners’ response indicates that when he was introduced to the concept, he was
not given much time to consolidate these relationships. It is also evident that they did not get a
chance to investigate and discover the properties but were just told these facts by the teacher.
Another common misconception identified was that if two angles lie on the same straight
line, then they add up to 1800 even if they are not adjacent to each other. One learner’s work
illustrating this misconception is presented below.
Figure 2. Learner LSC1 response to open ended question 2.
The learners with this type of misconception believed that angle and angle lie on a
straight line and the sum of angles on straight line gives 180 degrees. Out of the 77 learners who
did not get this question correct, nearly 50 of them had the same misconception as learner LSC1.
An interview with learner LSC1 regarding question 2 resulted in the following observations.
Researcher: When you added and, you said they must give 180 degrees. Can you please explain
the reason why you responded in that way?
Learner LSC1: When we were learning properties of geometric shapes, I still remember one
property which says the sum of angles on a straight line add up to 180º. If we check angles and,
they are both lying on the straight line ED, so if we add them they must give us 180º
The learner applied the well-known fact to angles which are situated on the same line, but had
a misconception about the meaning of “angles on a straight line”. The result is only true if the
angles are adjacent to each other and they lie on the same line. Adjacent angles share a common
ray.
The analysis also revealed that learners struggled with items involving class inclusion
problems. Class inclusion is a property of geometric figures whereby one set, or class of
figures is included in the set of another larger set. For example, a rectangle is a special type of
parallelogram, because it is a parallelogram which has the additional property of having angles
all equal to 90°. Hence the set of rectangles is a subset of the set of parallelograms. Two items

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90 from the questionnaire (12 and 13) probed learners’ understanding of the interrelationships
between the properties of figures, specifically the issue of class inclusion. Question 12 asked
about the interrelationship between squares and rectangles, while Item 13 focused on the
interrelations between parallelograms and rectangles. For Item 12, only 25 learners (17%) were
able to tell that all properties of rectangles are properties of all squares. 25 learners did not
attempt to answer the item, whereas 69 learners believed that all properties of squares are
properties of parallelograms. This was a misconception as there are some parallelograms which
are not squares. A rectangle is a parallelogram but it is not a square. For Item 13, learners were
expected to identify one property that all rectangles have, that some parallelograms do not
have (which is, that diagonals are equal). Only 40 learners responded correctly (27%). It was
a concern to note that 54 learners believed that in all rectangles opposite sides are parallel,
whereas some parallelograms do not have parallel sides. This shows that these learners struggle
with the notion of class inclusion.
A related issue to class inclusion is that of distinguishing between necessary and sufficient
conditions. Question 5 from the worksheet required the learner to prove that the quadrilateral
was a square elicited by many responses where students just showed that one property of
squares was met by the given figure. The question appears in Figure 3.
Below is a quadrilateral BRAT. Use the quadrilateral to answer the following

questions.
5.1 Write down the coordinates of R.
5.2. Is BRAT a square? Why or why not?
Figure 3. Question 5.
The results for Question 5 showed that only two learners were able to prove that
the shape was a square. Most of the learners’ responses showed that learners were unable to
distinguish between the necessary and sufficient conditions for a quadrilateral to be a square. So
99% of the learners were unable to establish sufficient conditions, with many proving that the
quadrilateral satisfied the property of four equal sides. However, a quadrilateral with all sides
equal can be a rhombus, but not a square, where angles may not be 90°. This then implies that
the property that all sides are equal is a necessary but it is not a sufficient condition for a shape
to be a square. An example of such an argument was given by learner LSC11 who only proved
that the sides are equal and then concluded that the shape is a square.

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91
Figure 4. Learner LSC11’s response to question 5.
The response by learner LSC11 showed that the learner understood the properties of
a square in isolation as he failed to make connections between the properties so as to prove
that the shape BRAT is a square. He believed that if the sides are all equal, then it means that
the shape is a square. The extract below was taken from the interview conducted with Learner
LSC11.
Researcher: Can you describe to me what you understand by a square and some of its properties.
Learner LSC11: When I was growing up I knew that a square has equal sides, so I did not think
about other properties, the first thing that came to my mind was to show that all sides are equal
and that’s what I did.
Researcher: Can you look at these two rhombuses that I am drawing on this graph and tell me
what you think, whether you still agree with your definition or needs some refining.
The researcher then drew a square and a rhombus whose angles are not 90 degrees.
Learner LSC11: Mmmm (long pause). It seems like the one with angles 90° is the square, the
other rhombus cannot be a square because the angles are not right angles even though the sides
are equal.
The interview responses showed that he initially believed that if a figure had equal sides,
then that figure was a square. However, after being challenged by the researcher, he was able to
see that the property of equal sides was not sufficient to qualify a figure to be a square.
The results from the questionnaire showed that some learners struggled with the items
given in the natural language, in the form of explanations and definitions of certain geometric
concepts. From the interviews conducted with the learners, it became clear that the learners
struggled with those items because it focused on the properties of geometric figures but
the diagrams of the geometric figures were not provided. This suggested that the learners
found it difficult to move between the natural language representation and the diagrammatic
representations. Some of the interview extracts provided some insight about why they struggled
with the items.
LSC2: I know parallelograms but I failed to link them to the question, so I had to guess the answer
from the given options.
LSB1: We have done parallelograms before but the way the question was asked was challenging
to me. I even drew my own parallelogram but I failed to create the triangles which they are talking

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92 about in the item, then there was this term equiangular which I don’t even know its meaning.
LSA1: At first I struggled to answer the question, but then I decided to draw the parallelogram and
after naming the sides and angles it became easy for me to answer it.
Learner LSC2 explained that he could not link the question to the properties of a
parallelogram, showing that his concept image (a mental picture or image) was not connected
to the concept definition (a specific definition of a shape or its properties) hence he struggled to
move from one representation to the other. Learner LSB1 explained that he could not identify the
triangles that the question referred to, showing that he had difficulties in translating the verbal
(written) representation into the diagrammatic representation, while LSA1 found the question
easier because he was able to move between the two representations and the diagrammatic form
helped him find the answer. These learners’ responses indicated that visualisation of the figures
is important when trying to identify the relationships within a figure. The issue of visualisation
was emphasised by learner LSC11 in the interview (following Figure 4) when the responses
to question 5 from the worksheet were discussed. The learner was being probed about whether
all quadrilaterals with equal sides were squares and was then presented with two figures with
equal sides: one square with equal angles and the other one a rhombus with only opposite
equal angles. The learner quickly explained why the one with unequal angles was not a square,
something he did not see when the diagrams were not provided.
The learners’ responses to items requiring formal and logical reasoning suggest that
learners struggle with using formal deductive reasoning and creating proofs. Only seven
learners answered item 15 (based on logical reasoning and deductions) Questionnaire correctly,
while only five learners scored 2 or more marks out of the possible 8 marks in the open-ended
questions in the worksheet from the 147 learners who took part in the study. Many learners
did not even attempt to answer question 6 of the worksheet which required a proof that a given
figure was a parallelogram.
Discussion
Levels of Geometric Thinking
The research revealed that many of the learners were still operating at the visual level,
even though they had spent at least ten years working with geometric figures in the time that
they were at school. These learners have not moved beyond the recognition of shapes and
mentioning of properties and showed no evidence of knowing how the properties are connected.
The research showed that more than 1/3 of the group were limited to reasoning skills at the
Visual level of van Hiele’s model, while less than 40% were reasoning within the informal
deduction levels. This is a concern because van Hiele theory emphasises that if learners are at
a lower level and the teaching is targeted for learners whose reasoning is at a higher level, then
the learner at the lower level is not likely to progress further. This is because the language and
discourse associated with higher levels is different from that at the lower levels. De Villiers
(2004) argued that teachers’ presentation of material ought to be within a certain level that is
close to where the learners are at, so that the learner will understand what is being taught and
progression to the next level will be facilitated.
These findings concur with the findings of the studies by Siyepu (2005), and Atebe
& Schafer (2011), whose studies indicated that the majority of the learners were found to
be operating at the pre-recognition level and that a very small number of the students had
progressed to the second van Hiele level. Mateya (2008) found similar results in a study that
was conducted with Grade 12 students. Of the 50 students who participated in the study, 19
(38%) were at the pre-cognition level, 11 (22%) were at the first van Hiele level, 13 (26%) had

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progressed to the second van Hiele level, while only 4 (8%) were at the third van Hiele level 93
3. Similarly Usiskin (1982), found that many secondary school learners are on the visual or
analysis levels of the van Hiele levels.
The results showed that most of the learners were operating at the visual and analysis
levels. This finding implies that most of the learners’ levels of geometry reasoning are lower
than that required by the mathematics curriculum. The curriculum is quite specific that learners
should be able to engage in deductive reasoning and to construct simple proofs (DoBE, 2011).
In this research, it was clear that most learners could not cope with questions, which involved
proofs or needed more than two steps. The majority of learners found it difficult to use deductive
reasoning to prove that angles were equal, that triangles were congruent and that a shape was
a parallelogram.
The analysis of the results also revealed that sometimes learners made progress towards
developing informal deduction skills but it was limited in scope. For example, a learner was
able to show that the shape in question 4 of the worksheet was a parallelogram but could not
prove that the shape in question 5 was a square. Yet both questions required thinking at the
same van Hiele level. This shows that reasoning at a van Hiele level is not static but constantly
developing; hence a learner can show some competence at a level but still struggle with other
aspects at the same level.
Patkin & Lavenberg (2012) made suggestions for using examples of tried and tested
activities designed to promote and develop geometric thinking. The pedagogical and didactic
functions of these activities are to offer interesting and unusual mathematical experiences,
encourage mathematical engagement through experience and inquisitiveness, develop the
learner’s ability to cope with the problems taken from their daily environments, reduce anxiety
of the subject and create opportunities for geometric activities for pupils who often find
geometry difficulty (Patkin & Lavenberg, 2012).
Misconceptions of Learners
The research uncovered many misconceptions in geometry held by the learners. As

asserted by Swan (2001), misconceptions are an integral part of learning a concept. As learners
develop a more robust understanding of the concept, the misconceptions will be replaced by
more sound and appropriate conception in line with the curriculum requirements. However it is
important for teachers to help learners become aware of their misconceptions so that these can
be confronted and resolved.
Visualisation Skills
The fact that learners struggled to answer items without the diagrammatic representation,
emphasizes the role played by visualization in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Most
geometric concepts are learnt using diagrams and shapes. Visualisation is the ability to interpret
and reflect upon pictures, images and diagrams in minds, with the purpose of depicting information
(Arcavi, 2003). It is an aid to an understanding or means towards an end. Visualisation refers to
mental images of a problem, and to visualise a problem means to understand a problem in terms
of a diagram or visual image (Presmeg, 2006). According to Presmeg (2006), the visualisation
process is one which involves visual imagery with or without a diagram, as an essential part of
the solution. Teaching mathematics especially geometry, should include the use of diagrams or
visual images to help develop an understanding of conceptual knowledge.

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94 Difficulties in Changing from One Semiotic Representation to Another
It was found that when the learners were given properties and definitions in the natural
language, most of them were unable to relate it to the iconic representation (geometric figures).
So, they were not able to work with the properties of figures when the diagram was not in front
of them. Geometric figures arise in a register of multifunctional representation; in this case the
learners were given properties and definitions in the natural language (discursive representation)
and were required to relate it to the non-discursive representation (geometric figures). The
learners struggled to interpret the information in the natural language in terms of the properties
of geometric figures. Duval (2006) argues that the characteristic feature of mathematical activity
is the simultaneous mobilisation of at least two registers of representation, or the possibility of
changing from one register to another at any moment. If one wishes to analyse the difficulties in
learning mathematics, it is of paramount importance to study the conversion of representation
(Duval, 2006). Hence, teachers need to ensure that their learners are exposed to tasks which
require them to work within different registers of representation.
Problems with Proving

As revealed in the learners’ written responses to the multiple choice items and the questions
form the worksheet, the learners had not developed sufficient skills in proof. Students also
revealed difficulties with reasoning about class inclusion and differentiating between properties
which are necessarily satisfied by a special figure and properties which are sufficient for a
general figure to exhibit in order to be part of the class of the special figures. Many researchers
have found that learners have difficulties with solving proof problems (de Villiers, 2004; Healy,
& Hoyles, 2000; Moore, 1994; Weber, 2004). If a learner lacks knowledge of definitions, he is
likely to face challenges with proof questions (Moore, 1994). These results support the findings
of Clements and Battista (1992), who found that in the United States, elementary and middle
school learners fail to learn basic geometry concepts and geometry problem solving techniques,
making them woefully under-prepared for the study of more sophisticated geometric concepts
and proofs. One of the reasons why learners experience problems in proof questions is because
proofs are mainly given as finished products in textbooks and this does not challenge learners
to think deductively (de Villiers, 2004).
Conclusions
The research found that the most learners’ geometric understanding was limited to the
first and second van Hiele level, because they had not developed formal or even informal
deduction skills. It was shown that more than 1/3 of the group were limited to reasoning skills
at the Visual level of van Hiele’s model. This means that they can only see shapes as wholes
and cannot discern the properties within a figure and interrelations between figures. The results
also revealed serious problems with proving skills. These results help explain why geometry
is perceived as a difficult section of mathematics. The learners have not been given sufficient
opportunities to develop the necessary reasoning skills at the higher van Hiele levels. The
participants also revealed difficulties with reasoning about class inclusion and differentiating
between properties which are necessarily satisfied by a special figure and properties which are
sufficient for a general figure to exhibit in order to be part of the class of the special figures. The
role of the teacher is crucial in this process since it is the teacher who needs to identify which
levels of reasoning the learners have access to. The teacher can then design suitable activities
for the learners that can help them progress through the levels of geometric thinking. Without
the appropriate interventions, the learners will not be able to cope with tasks that require higher
levels of understanding.

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The research also identified that students had particular problems with making 95
connections between the verbal and the visual representations. It is also important that teachers
use a diversity of representations when teaching geometry, instead of showing an over-reliance
on verbal explanations or definitions only. This can help learners to switch easily from one
representation to another and to make connections between the representations.
References
Arcavi, A. (2003). The role of visual representations in the learning of mathematics. Educational Studies
in Mathematics, 52, 215-241
Atebe, H., & Schafer, M. (2011). The nature of geometric instruction and observed learning outcomes
opportunities in Nigerian and South African High Schools. African journal of Research in
Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (AJRMSTE), 15 (2), 191-204.
Burger, W. F., & Shaughnessy, J. M. (1986). Characterizing the van Hiele levels of development in
geometry. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 17 (1), 31-48.
Chambers, P. (2008). Teaching mathematics. London: Sage Press.
Clement, D., & Battista, M. (1992). Geometry and spatial reasoning. In D. Grouws (Ed.). Handbook on
research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 420–464), New York: Macmillan Publishing.
Crowley, M.L. (1987). The van Hiele model of geometric thought. In M.M. Lindquist & A.P Shulte
(Eds.), Learning and Teaching Geometry, K-12. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:
Reston, Virginia.
De Villiers, M. D. (2004). Using dynamic geometry to expand mathematics teachers’ understanding of
proof. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 35 (5), 703-
724.
Department of Education (DoE) (2006). The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and
Development in South Africa. “More teachers; Better teachers”. Pretoria: Department of
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Department of Basic Education (DoBE). (2011). Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
Mathematics Grades 10-12. Pretoria: Department of Basic Education
Duval, R. (2006). A cognitive analysis of problems of comprehension in a learning of mathematics.
Educational Studies in Mathematics, 61, 103-131
Hansen, A., Drews, D., Dudgeon, J., Lawton, F., & Surtees, L. (2017). Children’s errors in mathematics.
Learning Matters: British library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
Healy, L. & Hoyles, C. (2000). A study of proof conceptions in algebra. Journal for Research in
Mathematics Education, 31 (4), 396-428.
Lee, J. S., & Ginsburg, H. P. (2009). Early childhood teachers’ misconceptions about mathematics
education for young children in the United States. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34
(4), 37-45.
Luneta, K. (2015). Understanding students’ misconceptions: An analysis of final Grade 12 examination
questions in geometry. Pythagoras, 36 (1), Art. #261, 11 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/
pythagoras.v36i1.261
Mason, M. (2010). The Van Hiele Levels of geometric understanding: Professional Handbook for
Teachers. Geometry: Explorations and Applications. Charlottesville, Virginia: McDougal Little
Mateya, M. (2008). Using the van Hiele theory to analyse geometrical conceptualisation in grade 12
students: a Namibian perspective. Master’s thesis. Grahamstown, South Africa: Rhodes University.
Moore, R.C. (1994). Making the transition to formal proof. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 27,
249-266.
Mthembu, S. G. (2007). Instructional approaches in the teaching of Euclidean geometry in grade 11.
Doctoral dissertation. Durban, South Africa: University of KwaZulu Natal.
Mudaly, V., & de Villiers, M. (2004) Mathematical modelling and proof. Paper presented at the 10th
AMESA Congress, 30 June- 4 July, Potchefstroom.
Patkin, D. & Levenberg, I. (2012). Geometry from the world around us. Learning and Teaching
Mathematics, 13, 22-32.

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96 Presmeg, N. (2006). Research on visualization in learning and teaching of mathematics. In A. Gutierrez

& P. Boero (Eds). Handbook of Research on the Psychology of Mathematics Education: Past,
Present and Future, pp.205-235, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Serra, M. (1997). Discovering geometry: An inductive approach (2nd ed.). California. Key Curriculum
Press.
Singh, R. I. (2006). An investigation into learner understanding of the properties of selected quadrilaterals
using manipulatives in a grade eight mathematics classes. Masters’ thesis. Durban, South Africa:
University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Siyepu, S.W. (2005). The use of van Hiele theory to explore problems encountered in circle geometry: A
grade 11 case study. Master’s thesis. Grahamstown, South Africa: Rhodes University.
Swan, M. (2001). Dealing with misconceptions in mathematics. In P. Gates (Ed.), In Issues in Mathematics
Teaching, (pp. 147-165) London: Routledge Falmer.
Usiskin, Z. (2002). Teachers need a special type of content knowledge. ENC Focus, 9 (3), 14-15.
Van Hiele, P. M. (1986). Structure and insight: A theory of mathematics education. Orlando, FL: Academic
Press.
Van Hiele, P. M. (1999). Developing geometric thinking through activities that begin with play. Teaching
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Received: September 20, 2018 Accepted: January 08, 2019
Harrison Ngirishi MS, Education Specialist, University of KwaZulu- Natal, Durban, South
Africa.
E-mail: ngirishih@gmail.com
Sarah Bansilal PhD, Professor, Head of Department of Mathematics Education, School

of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa.
E-mail: BansilalS@ukzn.ac.za

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THE RELIABILITY OF STUDENTS’ 97
EVALUATION OF TEACHING AT
SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL
Ugorji I. Ogbonnaya
University of Pretoria, South Africa
E-mail: ugorji.ogbonnaya@up.ac.za
Abstract
The Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET), although controversial, is a common practice at the higher
education level for faculty appraisals and promotions, but seldom at secondary school level. Concerns
have been raised as to whether students are informed and experienced enough to evaluate teachers’
teaching practices in a reliable way and arrive at valid outcomes. The purpose of this research was to
explore the reliability of students’ evaluations of mathematics teaching at secondary school level. This
research involved eight teachers, and 194 Grade 11 students from eight secondary schools in Bojanala
District, North West province in South Africa. A SET questionnaire was developed, validated and used
for data collection. The data were analysed by calculating the average deviation index of the students’
evaluations of each teacher per item and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) with SPSS. This
was done using one-way random effects, absolute agreement and a multiple raters/measurements model.
Both the ADI and ICC values showed a high degree of reliability of the SET. Hence, SET at secondary
school level may provide a reliable indication of teachers’ educational practices that might be used
for the formative assessment of teachers’ instruction. It can also assist in designing teacher training
programmes for pre-service teachers and professional development programmes for in-service teachers.
Keywords: Average Deviation Index, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, reliability of SET, secondary
school, student evaluation of teaching (SET).
Introduction
Ensuring that students are offered quality education is a priority for every government
and institution. One way of achieving this priority is by evaluating teachers’ educational
practices. The evaluation of teachers’ educational practices could be achieved through Student
Evaluation of Teaching (SET). SET is often used at the higher education level to appraise
lecturers’ instruction practices and for faculty appraisals and promotions (Mandouit, 2018;
Zabaleta, 2007). According to Penny and Coe (2004), the use of SET “as an indicator of teaching
quality is now a common feature in universities around the world” (p. 215) and the results from
SETs have been used to make critical judgements in higher education (Beran & Rokosh, 2009).
In the United States, for example, SET is used as a major source of teaching evaluation by the
majority (94.2%) of fourth-year liberal arts colleges (Miller & Seldin, 2014).
The evaluation of the education system in general faces the challenge of assessing the
system in a valid and reliable manner (Taut & Rakoczy, 2016). In particular, the validity and
reliability of SET is a contentious matter (Hattie, 2009; Hornstein, 2017). Some researchers
believe that the way in which students perceive effective teaching may be unrelated to good
teaching (Ko, Sammons, & Bakkum, 2013). For example, Beecham (2009) observes that SET
can become a measure of “customer [student] satisfaction” instead of a measure of educational
quality (p. 135).

Ugorji I. OGBONNAYA. The reliability of students’ evaluation of teaching at secondary school level
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98 Even though some researchers have raised concerns over the biases that may affect the
results of SET, other researchers who support SET adjudge it as the most acceptable criterion
for measuring the effectiveness of teaching. As noted by Theall and Franklin (2001), students
are the most qualified source to rate the extent to which teaching is productive, informative,
satisfying or worthwhile. According to Theall and Franklin, studies have shown that students’
assessments of the amount learned in a subject and their overall evaluations of teachers are
consistently highly correlated. Felder and Brent (2004) opined that SET should be an essential
component of teaching evaluation because “students are in a better position than anyone else
to judge certain aspects of teaching, such as how clear, interesting, respectful, and fair a course
instructor is, and they’re the only ones who can say how an instructor has influenced their
attitude towards the course subject, their motivation to learn it, and their self-confidence” (p.
200). Similarly, Prebble et al. (2004) argued that SET is among the most reliable and accessible
indicators of teachers’ teaching effectiveness. This is due to the fact that SET might give a more
holistic rating of the teachers’ educational practices than other methods of teaching evaluation,
like peer evaluation or teachers’ self-evaluation. According to Quaglia and Corso (2014), SET
can provide relevant information relating to teachers’ instructional practices because students
spend more time with the teacher in the classroom. Thus, their evaluations are more likely to
adequately give an indication of the teacher’s educational practices.
Many studies at higher education level have provided empirical evidence of the reliability
and validity of SET (Arreola, 2007; Benton & Ryalls, 2016). However, the use of SET at
secondary school level is rare (MET project, 2010) and studies on SET at secondary school
level are sparse. The rare use of SET at secondary school level and the paucity of research
of SET at that level of education may be due to concerns that students at school level might
not be informed and experienced enough to give reliable and valid evaluations of teachers’
instructional practices and the educational systems supporting them. Nevertheless, some
studies have shown that secondary school students, and even primary school pupils, can give
reliable evaluations of teachers’ educational practices. For example, Peterson, Wahlquist, and
Bone (2000) conducted 9,765 student surveys at elementary, middle and high school levels and
found that SET was a reliable measure of teacher educational practices. Similarly, Kyriakides
(2005) has found that surveying primary school students’ is a reliable measure of their teachers’
educational practices in Cyprus. In international research conducted in six European countries,
Kyriakides et al. (2014) found that primary school students’ evaluation of teaching was reliable
and valid. Other research (Irving, 2004; Wilkerson, Manatt, Rogers, & Maughan, 2000) has
shown that secondary school students are capable of giving reliable and valid evaluation of
teachers’ educational practices.
In South Africa, SET has not been practiced at secondary school level and hence has not
been the focus of any research. However, the evaluation of the quality of educational practices
provided by teachers was part of the broader objectives of the Integrated Quality Management
System (IQMS) of public schools in South Africa (Education Labour Relations Council, 2003).
However, as observed by Mji (2011) and Mpungose (2014), the system has not achieved its
intended purpose and has been the subject of much criticism regarding the objectivity of the
evaluation of the quality of teachers’ educational practices. In the IQMS system, teachers’ self-
evaluations and peer evaluations are used to appraise the teachers’ educational practices.
SET results can be used as an input for the government and other stakeholders to create
policies regarding teachers’ promotion and retention. SET might give insight into teachers’
educational practices and the quality of education that teachers provide to students. In addition,
SET may be convenient in many educational settings and is also cost-effective. However, for
SET to be used at secondary school level, its reliability and validity will have to be scrutinised
in order for it to be appropriately supported and carried out. There is a paucity of literature on
the use of SET at secondary school level (Peterson, Wahlquist, & Bone, 2000). Hence, to fill

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the research gap, this research explored the reliability of SET at secondary school level using 99
an average deviation measure and an intra-rater reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient
[ICC]).
Background
Reliability refers to the consistency, stability, and generalisability of measurements or

assessments (Hobson & Talbot, 2001). The reliability of a procedure or measure is the degree
to which the procedure or measure yields consistent results (Benton & Li, 2017). Reliability
describes how far a particular procedure, such as SET, will produce similar results in different
circumstances, assuming nothing else has changed (Roberts, Priest, & Traynor, 2006). According
to Bruton, Conway and Holgate (2000), reliability reflects not just the degree of correlation, but
also an agreement between measurements. A procedure is said to be reliable when its results are
not dependent on chance or unknown circumstances. The reliability of a procedure is usually
tested by having many people perform the procedure on identical data and comparing their
results. Through statistical measure, if the variation in the results exceeds a certain threshold,
the procedure is judged to be unreliable (Vriezekolk, 2014).
The problem of this research was to explore the reliability of SET at secondary school
level. The reliability of SET may be evaluated by considering the consistency of the ratings of
the students in a class. If there is little variability in the students’ overall ratings of the teacher, it
implies that the students tend to perceive the teacher’s instruction in the same way and therefore
their evaluations may be considered reliable. However, if the students vary substantially in their
overall ratings of the teacher, it means that their evaluations are not reliable and thus less helpful
in giving a general impression of the teacher’s teaching (Benton & Li, 2017).
The consistency of SET can be measured by computing the average deviation index
(ADI) (Burke, Finkelstein, & Dusig, 1999), the within-group interrater reliability coefficient
(James, Damaree, & Wolf, 1984), and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) (Koo & Li,
2016) of students’ ratings of teaching, among other measures.
Research Design
This research used quantitative descriptive research method and survey research design
to explore the reliability of SET. According to Maree and Pietersen (2016), quantitative research
is a systematic and objective process of using numerical data from only a selected sub-group of
a population to generalise the findings to the population. Surveys are used to gather large scale
data that can be statistically manipulated in order to make generalisations (Creswell, 2015).
In this research, a questionnaire was used to gather grade 11 students’ evaluations of their
mathematics teachers’ educational practices across eight classes and the data were statistically
analysed to make inferences regarding the SET in question. This research is part of an ongoing
research project, which commenced in 2010 with the development of instruments. However,
the data for this research were collected in September 2017.
Participants
The research was conducted in secondary schools in a North West Province, South
Africa. Eight Grade 11 mathematics classes from different secondary schools were involved in
this research. The province and schools were conveniently selected to participate in the research
because of their proximity to the researcher. Also, the mathematics teachers in the schools

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100 consented to their classes being used for the research. There were 194 students (ages 16 – 19
years old) from the mathematics classes in the eight secondary schools who participated in the
research. The distribution of the participants per teacher (per class) is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Participants per teacher.
Teacher Number of participants

T1 20
T2 39
T3 20
T4 26
T5 19
T6 19
T7 17
T8 34
Total 194
Ethical Considerations
As part of the ethical procedure of the University of South Africa, permission to conduct
the research was obtained from the university’s ethics committee and from the provincial
Department of Basic Education in the province where the research was conducted. Permission
was also obtained from the principals and teachers whose students participated in the research.
In addition, before the commencement of the research, the participants were informed in writing
about the purpose of the research, that their participation in the research was voluntary and that
they could withdraw from the research at will without prejudice. They were also told that the
information they provided would be treated as confidential and the report of the research would
keep them and their schools anonymous. They signed consent forms before participating in the
research.
The data for this research were collected by means of a SET questionnaire. The
questionnaire was a six-point Likert type rating scale. It consisted of 27 items that represent
positive descriptors of teacher behaviour in which the students specified their levels of agreement
or disagreement with the item statements on the scale: 6 = strongly agree, 5 = agree, 4 = slightly
agree, 3 = slightly disagree, 2 = disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree. The questionnaire was
developed by the researcher.
To develop the instrument, the researcher started with a literature search relating to
the characteristics of effective teachers and teaching. Specifically, the researcher searched
for studies that surveyed students’ and teachers’ views of effective teachers, such as that of
Irving (2004). The researcher then perused official documents such as the South African Norms
and Standards for Educators documents (DoE, 2000), the National Curriculum Statement for
mathematics (DoE, 2003) and any other related literature. Finally, the researcher interviewed a
non-random sample of Grade 8 to Grade 12 mathematics students and teachers. These teachers
and students were asked to indicate their views of effective teachers. From those sources, a pool
of 186 items was created. For the 186 items, the researcher started a vetting process involving

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teachers, students and university-based mathematics and science education researchers. The 101
vetting process was carried out to ensure that the items were clear, had no ambiguity in meaning
and that they would be easily understood by the students as recommended by Mogari (2004).
Furthermore, the researcher did not want an extremely long instrument that could end up
being unwieldy and taking too long to complete. Initially, the 186 items were scrutinised by
six teachers (four mathematics teachers and two English language teachers) and 10 secondary
school students. They recommended some grammatical changes and the removal of some
items. For instance, it was suggested that the researchers use ‘learners’ instead of ‘students’ as
this is standard practice in the high school system in South Africa. Following their suggestions,
the researcher trimmed down the items to 135.
The researcher then requested four university-based mathematics and science education
researchers to examine the 135 items. They felt that a number of items were repetitive and
that the instrument was too long, so some of the items were eliminated, resulting in an 84-
item instrument. The four researchers were then asked to rate each of the items in relation to
assessing teacher educational practices using a 5 to 1 rating scale where 5 = strongly favourable;
4 = favourable; 3 = undecided; 2 = unfavourable and 1= strongly unfavourable.
From their rating of the items, the correlation coefficients between the average rating
for each item and the total (summed) score across all items in each subscale (Trochim, 2006)
were computed, and all of the items that had correlation coefficients that were less than .7 (r
<.7) were eliminated. This process resulted in 39 items, which were further reduced to 30
items by eliminating the 9 items with the least correlation coefficients among the 39 items.
This was done in order to reduce the number of items to 30 so that it would not be too long
for the participants to complete because potential respondents may have been less inclined to
participate in a long survey (Galesic & Bosnjak, 2009).
A factor analysis was used to further determine if the items in the instrument measured
the theorised constructs and thus strengthened the validity of the instrument. A principal
component factor analysis on SPSS was used to determine the factor loadings of the items of
the instrument. The first step was to carry out a preliminary analysis using the output of the
R-matrix. The result revealed that three items had one-tailed significant values greater than .05.
Hence, it was judged better to eliminate the three items to avoid singularity (Field, 2005). The
final instrument was a 27-item instrument. According to Kaiser’s criterion (Field, 2005), five
factors with eigenvalues greater than one were extracted from the 27 items. The five factors
were: teachers’ subject knowledge, lesson preparation, lesson presentation, student assessment,
and student motivation.
The reliability of the instrument was established by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha
value (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011), using data gathered in a pilot study of the instruments
from 109 students in four secondary schools. A coefficient alpha value of .95 was obtained.
Based on the rule of thumb, this alpha value was deemed “excellent” (George & Mallery 2003,
p. 231). Hence, the questionnaire was judged to be reliable.
Data were collected from the students involved in the research at the schools’ premises
between one and five days after the topic used for the research had been taught. Trigonometry
was used as the topic because it is a very important aspect of the school mathematics curriculum
and was perceived as one of the topics that students find challenging (Chauke, 2013; De Villiers
& Jugmohan, 2012).
Data Analysis
The data were analysed by computing the average deviation index (ADI) of the students’
evaluations of each teacher per item and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of all the
evaluations in SPSS. The ADI is the average absolute deviation from a mean or median. It is a

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102 measure of interrater agreement for evaluators’ ratings of a single target on a single occasion
(Burke, Finkelstein, & Dusig, 1999). The students’ evaluations of the teachers in each of the
schools were used for the ADI analysis.
ICC is a measure of the reliability of measurements or ratings. It is the ratio of variance
among subjects (subject variability) over the total variance (Koo & Li, 2016). An ICC is a
widely used reliability index in inter-rater reliability analyses (Koo & Li, 2016), and ranges
from zero (no reliability) to one (perfect reliability). The ICC was computed using a one-way-
random effects, absolute agreement, multiple measurements model at a 95% confidence interval.
According to Koo and Li (2016), the one-way random effects, absolute agreement, multiple
measurements model is used when each subject is rated by a different set of randomly chosen
evaluators. According to Kirkwood and Sterne (2003), the reliability is considered excellent if
the ICC > 0.75, it is considered fair to good if 0.4 < ICC < 0.75, and poor if ICC < 0.4.
Research Results

The data analyses results were categorised and presented in two parts: ADI of the
students’ evaluations of each teacher per item and the average measure ICC.
Mean and Average Deviation Index
The mean (M) and the Average Deviation (AD) index of the students’ evaluations of
each teacher per item are presented in Table 2. The table shows that the average deviation of the
students’ evaluations of the teachers on almost all of the 27 items of the questionnaire was less
than or equal to one. In addition, the mean of the average deviation values for the evaluations of
each teacher across all of the items was less than one. According to Burke’s (2002) guidelines
for establishing ranges, the upper-limit cut-off for AD indices for 6-point Likert-type items
is one. Therefore, the results showed a near perfect interrater agreement among the students
in their evaluations of each of the teacher’s teaching. This finding implies that the students’
evaluations may be judged to be reliable.

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Table 2a. Means and average deviation index of the students’ evaluations per 103
item of the questionnaire (T1 – T4)
T1 (n=20) T2 (n=39) T3 T4
My mathematics teacher … M ADI M ADI M ADI M ADI
Introduced trigonometric functions in a way that captured
1 5.4 0.7 5.3 0.5 5.4 0.5 4.5 0.9
learners’ attention.
Gave definitions of terms/vocabularies that appeared to be
2 4.9 0.7 4.4 1.1 5.0 1.1 4.9 0.4
unfamiliar to learners.
3 Gave satisfactory answers to learners’ questions. 4.8 0.9 5.3 0.6 5.7 0.5 4.7 0.8
4 Made lessons relevant and meaningful for learners. 5.4 0.5 5.2 0.8 5.5 0.6 5.1 0.5
5 Simplified the subject matter for learners. 4.9 0.7 5.2 0.7 5.7 0.4 4.5 0.8
6 Showed sound knowledge of the subject matter. 5.6 0.5 4.9 0.9 5.5 0.6 4.5 0.9
Showed learners interesting and useful ways of solving
7 5.5 0.5 5.3 0.7 5.7 0.5 4.9 0.7
problems.
Started lessons by connecting the content to previous les-
8 5.0 1.0 5.3 1.0 5.7 0.4 4.6 1.0
sons.
9 Ended lessons by connecting the content to future lessons. 4.5 0.8 5.1 1.1 5.3 0.6 4.2 0.8
10 Presented sections of the topic in a logical sequence. 4.9 0.8 5.1 0.7 5.3 0.7 4.9 0.5
11 Related content to real life examples. 4.6 0.8 4.6 1.2 5.3 0.6 3.5 0.9
12 Was always well-prepared for class. 5.8 0.3 5.8 0.3 5.9 0.1 5.7 0.4
13 Summarised the main points by the end of lesson. 3.8 1.3 4.9 0.9 4.9 0.8 3.6 0.6
Was always in class with all of the necessary materials for
14 5.4 0.7 5.3 0.7 5.6 0.8 5.1 0.8
teaching the topic.
15 Related ideas to learners’ prior knowledge. 4.7 0.7 5.0 1.0 5.6 0.5 4.5 0.9
16 Supported lessons with useful class work. 5.7 0.4 5.4 0.7 5.7 0.4 5.4 0.6
17 Made use of different teaching techniques. 4.9 1.1 5.3 0.8 5.4 0.9 4.2 0.8
18 Motivated learners to pay attention to the lesson. 5.9 0.2 5.6 0.5 5.7 0.4 5.0 0.9
19 Helped learners where they didn’t understand. 5.3 0.9 5.8 0.3 5.8 0.4 4.5 0.9
20 Encouraged learners to learn. 5.8 0.3 5.7 0.4 5.8 0.4 5.2 0.7
21 Gave individual support to learners when needed. 4.7 1.2 5.4 0.7 5.8 0.6 4.2 0.8
Adjusted the lessons when learners experienced difficulties
22 4.5 1.0 5.3 0.7 5.6 0.8 3.9 0.9
in learning.
23 Used assessment results to provide extra help to learners. 4.8 0.7 5.4 0.7 5.8 0.8 4.4 1.1
Explained concepts in different ways to help learners
24 5.3 0.7 5.7 0.4 5.7 0.9 4.3 1.0
understand.
Took extra steps to help all learners learn and achieve suc-
25 5.0 0.8 5.5 0.6 5.5 0.8 4.5 1.0
cess in maths.
26 Supported lessons with useful classroom discussions 4.4 1.0 5.2 0.8 5.6 0.7 3.2 1.2
27 Communicated the topic clearly 5.5 0.6 5 1.0 5.6 0.7 4.8 0.7
Mean 5.1 0.7 5.3 0.7 5.5 0.6 4.5 0.8

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104 Table 2b. Means and average deviation index of students’ evaluations per item
of the questionnaire (T5 – T8)
T5 T6 T7 T8
My mathematics teacher … M ADI M ADI M ADI M ADI

Introduced trigonometric functions in a way that captured
1 4.9 1.1 5.3 0.4 5.1 0.6 4.5 0.7
learners’ attention.
Gave definitions of terms/vocabularies that appeared to be
2 5.4 0.6 5.2 0.3 4.8 0.7 4.0 0.9
unfamiliar to learners.
3 Gave satisfactory answers to learners’ questions. 5.6 0.6 5.3 0.4 5.1 0.6 4.4 1.0
4 Made lessons relevant and meaningful for learners. 5.3 0.7 5.3 0.4 5.1 0.6 4.4 0.9
5 Simplified the subject matter for learners. 5.3 0.7 5.3 0.4 4.4 1.1 4.5 1.2
6 Showed sound knowledge of the subject matter. 5.4 0.5 5.3 0.4 4.6 1.0 4.0 1.1
Showed learners interesting and useful ways of solving
7 5.4 0.6 5.1 0.2 5.2 0.8 4.9 0.6
problems.
Started lessons by connecting the content to previous les-
8 5.3 0.6 5.2 0.3 4.6 0.9 4.1 1.2
sons.
9 Ended lessons by connecting the content to future lessons. 5.2 0.9 5.0 0.3 4.3 1.3 3.8 1.1
10 Presented sections of the topic in a logical sequence. 5.0 0.8 5.0 0.2 4.7 0.9 4.3 1.2
11 Related content to real life examples. 5.7 0.5 4.9 0.3 4.6 1.4 5.2 0.9
12 Was always well-prepared for class. 5.4 0.7 5.3 0.4 5.1 0.6 5.3 0.9
13 Summarised the main points by the end of the lesson. 5.2 0.7 5.0 0.2 4.7 1.0 4.1 1.2
Was always in class with all of the necessary materials to
14 5.4 0.6 4.9 0.3 4.9 0.6 4.3 1.4
teach the topic.
15 Related ideas to learners’ prior knowledge. 5.0 0.6 5.0 0.1 4.7 1.0 4.1 0.7
16 Supported lessons with useful class work. 5.1 1.0 5.2 0.3 5.2 0.8 5.2 0.7
17 Made use of different teaching techniques. 5.4 0.7 4.9 0.2 4.9 0.8 4.5 0.9
18 Motivated learners to pay attention to the lesson. 5.8 0.2 5.0 0.1 5.1 0.7 5.1 0.9
19 Helped learners where they didn’t understand. 5.6 0.5 5.2 0.3 5.2 0.6 5.1 0.7
20 Encouraged learners to learn. 5.8 0.3 5.0 0.2 5.1 0.8 5.2 0.9
21 Gave individual support to learners when needed. 5.7 0.5 5.2 0.3 5.3 0.8 5.0 0.8
Adjusted the lessons when learners experienced difficulties
22 5.2 0.9 5.2 0.3 5.0 0.6 4.5 1.1
in learning.
23 Used assessment results to provide extra help to learners. 5.7 0.5 5.1 0.1 5.2 0.7 4.3 0.9
Explained concepts in different ways to help learners under-
24 5.6 0.5 5.1 0.3 5.5 0.6 4.8 0.6
stand.
Took extra steps to help all learners learn and achieve suc-
25 5.6 0.6 5.0 0.2 5.5 0.5 4.9 0.8
cess in maths.
26 Supported lessons with useful classroom discussions. 5.3 1.2 5.0 0.1 4.8 0.9 4.0 1.3
27 Communicated the topic clearly. 5.6 0.5 5.1 0.1 4.9 0.8 4.6 1.0
Mean 5.4 0.7 5.1 0.2 5.0 0.8 4.6 0.9

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Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) 105
The result of the average measure ICC using a one-way random effects, absolute
agreement, and multiple raters/measurements model at a 95% confidence interval is shown in
Table 3.
Table 3. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of the students’ evaluations of the 8

teachers.
95% Confidence Interval F Test with True Value 0

Intraclass
Correlation Lower Bound Upper Bound Value df1 df2 p
Average Measures .865 .689 .961 7.396 9 70 <.001

One-way random effects model where people effects are random.
The average measures ICC is an index for the reliability of different raters averaged
together. A high degree of agreement was found among the students’ evaluations; the average
measured ICC was .865 at a 95% confidence interval (F(9,70) = 7.396, p<.001). This ICC
value is excellent (Kirkwood & Sterne, 2003), which implies both a high degree of correlation
and agreement among the students’ evaluations of the teachers’ teachings. Hence, the students’
evaluations of the teachers were regarded as reliable.
Discussion
This research explored the reliability of students’ evaluation of teaching at secondary

school level in South Africa using the average deviations and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient
as measures. The results showed that the average deviation of the students’ evaluations of the
teachers on each of the 27 items of the questionnaire was less than or equal to one, and that the
average deviation values were less than one for each teacher across all of the items. In addition,
the average Intraclass Correlation Coefficient value of .865 at a 95% confidence interval was
obtained. The results showed that there was consistency among the students’ evaluations of the
teachers’ instructions on each item of the instrument and in general using the average deviation
index (ADI) and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Overall, the results indicate that
the students’ evaluations of the teachers’ teaching were reliable. This is consistent with the
findings of Peterson, Wahlquist, and Bone (2000), who have shown that secondary school
students could give reliable evaluations of their teachers’ educational practices. The finding of
this study is also in agreement with the result of Irving (2004), who finds that secondary school
students’ evaluation of teachers was reliable in a study conducted in 13 states in the USA.
This research showed that the students seemed to have a parallel and uniform view of
what makes teaching meaningful. All of the students seemed to share the same experiences.
Hence, the perceptions and appreciation of the teachers’ educational practices was evidenced
by the near perfect interrater agreement (low ADI) in the students’ evaluations of the teachers
in all items of the questionnaire. For example, on item 4: “my mathematics teacher made
lessons relevant and meaningful to learners”, the means of the students’ evaluations of the
teachers ranged from 4.4 for Teacher 8 (T8) to 5.5 for Teacher 3 (T3), indicating a significant
difference in the students’ perceptions of T8 and T3 with respect to making lessons relevant and
meaningful for learners. However, the low average deviation values (.6 for T3 and .9 for T8)
indicate that the students’ perception of each teacher was consistent, and they were capable of
discerning the differences between the teachers. Similarly, the mean of the student evaluations
of the teachers across all the items of the questionnaire ranged from 4.5 for Teacher 4 (T4) to 5.5

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106 for Teacher 3 (T3), indicating a significant difference in the students’ perceptions of the overall
educational practices of T4 and T3. In addition, the mean of the average deviation values across
all of the items (.6 for T3 and .8 for T4) indicate that the students’ perception of each teacher
was consistent. These findings are in line with the findings of the MET Project (2010) that
secondary school students’ perceptions of a given teacher’s classroom practices are consistent
across the different groups of students that they teach.
The result of this research corroborates the results of Irving (2004), who has found that
SET at secondary school level is reliable when based on (a) The teachers’ commitment to
students and their learning, (b) Mathematical pedagogy, (c) Engagement with the curriculum,
and (d) Relating mathematics to the real world. The results of this research further concur
with those of Kyriakides et al. (2014), who have found that SET, which is based on eight
factors relating to teacher behaviour: orientation, structuring, questioning, teaching modelling,
application, management of time, teacher’s role in making the classroom a learning environment,
and assessment, is reliable at primary school level.
All in all, the SET in this research can be said to be an honest reflection of the students’
perceptions of the teachers’ educational practices. This research has contributed to the body
of knowledge on the reliability of SET at secondary school level, especially in the context of
South Africa. This finding brings to bear important issues relating to the professional work of
teachers. It gives an indication that the students who participated in this research seemed to have
a shared view regarding the nuances of teachers’ professional practice and what is expected of
a teacher. The nuances relate to the teachers’ knowledge of the subject, lesson preparation and
presentation, student assessment, and student motivation, as elicited by the SET questionnaire.
Conclusions
This research explored the reliability of the SET at secondary school level using the
average deviation measure and intra-rater reliability of data collected from 194 students in eight
mathematics classes. The results show that there was consistency and almost perfect agreement
among the students’ evaluations of the teachers in all of the items of the instrument. Hence, the
research has revealed that secondary school students are able to provide reliable evaluation of
their teachers’ educational behaviour.
The result of this research lends support to the use of SET as a valuable tool to appraise
teachers’ educational practices at secondary school level. The findings suggest that, at secondary
school level, SET might be a reliable tool for the evaluation of the quality of education that
teachers provide to students. It can also be used to provide feedback to teachers on their
professional practices. SET results may be used by teachers to understand their students’
expectations and perceptions of their instructional practices, and consequently to improve on
their educational practices. Hence, SET results can serve as an effective formative assessment
tool for teacher professional development in order to improve student learning.
Furthermore, SET results can be used by school administrators and the government
to complement the self and peer evaluations of the Integrated Quality Management System
(IQMS). SET can further be used to identify teachers’ strengths and weaknesses regarding their
educational practices based on which policies on teacher training, professional development
and promotion criteria can be made.
As noted in the introduction, SET has not previously been used to evaluate teachers’
educational practices in South Africa and in many other countries, leading to a dearth of
literature on SET at school level. This research therefore makes a contribution to the literature
on the use of SET at secondary school level.
Finally, it should be noted that this research was carried out with mathematics students
regarding their teachers and was based on trigonometry as a topic; thus, the results may be

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different in other school subjects or topics and with students in different grade levels. Hence, the 107
result should be interpreted as such. In addition, there is a need for the research to be replicated
using other school subjects and topics, and with students in different grades.
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Received: December 07, 2018 Accepted: January 18, 2019
Ugorji I. Ogbonnaya PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Edu-
cation, Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, George Storrar & Leyds Street,
Groenkloof, Pretoria South Africa.
E-mail: ugorji.ogbonnaya@up.ac.za

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110
ENHANCING LIBYAN STUDENTS’ ENGLISH
SPEAKING PERFORMANCE THROUGH
LANGUAGE GAME AND INFORMATION
GAP ACTIVITIES
Eman Abdussalam Owen
Sabratha University, Libya
E-mail: emanaowen@yahoo.com
Abu Bakar Razali, Arshad Abd Samad, Nooreen Noordin

University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia
E-mail: abmr_bakar@upm.edu.my, arshad@upm.edu.my, Nooreen@upm.edu.my
Abstract
The importance of English as a foreign language EFL in Libya has increased significantly throughout the
years and the language has become essential in all disciplines. However, one of the essential challenges
that needs to be explored is the lack of speaking competence of the Libyan students. There has been
little research, which adopts an experimental design to determine the causal effects of certain teaching
methods, particularly the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach on Libyan students’
English speaking performance. Against this backdrop, this research sets out to assess the effects of
selected Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) activities (i.e., Information gap and Language games)
on Libyan first-year secondary school students’ English speaking performance. Using a sample of 124
students from a public secondary school in Sabratha, Libya, and adopting the quasi-experimental pre-
test, post-test non-equivalent groups design (NEGD), first year classes were randomly assigned as three
experimental groups (i.e., Experimental Language Game group (G1), Experimental Language Game and
Information Gap group (G2), and Experimental Information Gap group (G3)) and one Control group
(G4). Treatments were given to the experimental groups and paired sample t-test results reveal significant
differences between the groups’ in the post-test English language speaking scores. While an ANOVA
test, comparing the scores between the four groups reveals a substantial difference between Information
Gap group and the control group through a post-hoc test. It is therefore concluded that implementing
communicative activities based on the principles of CLT in the Libyan English language classroom helps
to enhance students’ English speaking performance.
Keywords: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), English as a foreign language (EFL); information
gap and language games activities; quasi-experiment speaking performance.
Introduction
Learning the English language is crucial in the rapid developing world we live in, as
it has become part of all fields. Libya is no exception, as the English language is necessary
in the country in areas such as education, business health, media, etc. The significance of
learning the English language for Libyan students was underscored by Libyan researchers (e.g.
Bin Hamid, 2010; Hmaid, 2014; Mohamed, 2014; Orafi; 2008; Shihiba, 2011) in the field of
English language education. These researchers suggested that one of the essential challenges
that needs to be investigated urgently is the lack of communicative competence of the Libyan

Eman Abdussalam OWEN, Abu Bakar RAZALI, Arshad ABD SAMAD, Nooreen NOORDIN. Enhancing Libyan students’ English speak-
ing performance through language game and information gap activities
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students. Communicative competence is important because we need to communicate to express 111

and convey thoughts, ideas, wants and needs through the language we are learning. Hence,
there was a need to focus on communicative competence while learning the second language
(or in the case of Libya the foreign language) through the implementation of Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) in schools. However, there has been little empirical research, such as
those, which adopt the experimental design, to determine the effectiveness of certain teaching
methods, particularly the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach on Libyan
students’ English speaking skills (Hmaid, 2014). Research as such is important because students
in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context face many difficulties in learning English and
using it for communication. Grabaj (2005) and Khater (1997) corroborated that EFL students
are either shy, incapable, or they just do not make an effort to try to speak in the English
language, and hence suffer incompetence in speaking. On the other hand, this issue is also due
to the lack of suitable teaching techniques, methods and activities exercised by Libyan English
teachers. These obstacles have been linked to what and how the language is being taught in the
classrooms, and by teachers’ and schools’ persistence on the use of traditional approaches such
as the Grammar translation method (GTM), even though the current curriculum is based on the
CLT approach (Altaieb, 2013; Bin Hamid, 2010; Orafi & Borg, 2009). An important issue also
is that many teachers are not fully convinced that the communicative activities and generally
the CLT approach are effective (Orafi, 2008).
Bin Hamid (2010) reported that the emphasis on traditional methods in the classroom
is a substantial reason for low proficiency levels in the English language speaking skill among
students because invariably the speaking skill has not been focused on in the Libyan classroom.
Libyan students do not pay attention to English language speaking or just neglect it and
concentrate on the other English language skills and also because speaking skills are generally
not usually tested in schools (Shihiba, 2011). Abukhattala (2014), posited that CLT is a Western
approach, which should be further investigated to explore its effectiveness, the implementation
of the different activities, and its general principles are applicable in the Libyan context. Spawa
and Hassan (2013) explained that language teachers believe that the most important skill in
language learning is speaking because it prepares students for the real world. However, in
the Libyan English education context, these beliefs could not be put into practice because
of the neglect of English speaking skills in the Libyan national examinations. Therefore, it
is necessary to explore if and how effective are the activities based on the CLT approach in
enhancing Libyan students’ English language speaking abilities.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Approach: Information

Gap and Language Games Activities
Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach, in which the process of classroom

learning starts with a theory of language as communication, and its goal is ‘communicative
competence’. The communicative activities in CLT can be unlimited, however, they should
stress using language within a communicative context and where authentic information is
exchanged (Richards, 2006). Communicative activities consist of role-plays, drills, games,
small-group information-gap exercises, etc., (Brown, 2001). This research focused on two
types: information gap and language games activities.
Asrobi, Seken, and Suarnajaya (2013) and Ismaili and Bajrami (2016) by using
experimental designs, explained that information gap activities are more efficient than the
traditional techniques of teaching such as rote learning, drilling and memorization. Ismaili
Baijrami (2016) studied 56 university students who learned the English language using
information gap activities, which are based on real-life situations through pair and group work,
concluded that the treatment enhanced students’ speaking levels. Information gap activities

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112 provide students with more flexibility to practice speaking in the English language. Utomo
(2016) also pointed out that information gap activities can raise the comprehension levels of the
spoken language as well as increase student’s vocabulary.
In their research, Watamni and Gholami (2012) found that after elementary students
had adopted information gap activities in the class, their interaction with the language teacher
and their peers improved and the activities provided the opportunity to speak in the English
language. Meanwhile, another study was by Jondeya’s (2011), which used different information
gap activities (i.e., role-play, jigsaw, describe and draw, ask and answer, fill the gap, and
puzzles) as a treatment for the experimental group. The researcher’s findings depict that after
the treatment, students’ oral speaking scores in a post-test for the experimental group were
significantly higher from that of the control group.
Language games are an effective tool for teaching a foreign language, and they promote
student’s oral competence for children to speak and interact with their classmates (Carabajo
Vellejo, 2011). They are compatible with the CLT approach and help teachers create contexts
where students can engage in useful English language. Savignon (1976) illustrated that games
and discussion topics do provide emotional interest in a subject and captivate attention for
an authentic interaction in the English language classroom. Wang (2010) added that children
naturally enjoy playing games and they help learners to improve the ability in the target language
through a fun and an enjoyable process. The researcher stated that in English language teaching,
the advantages of using communicative language games motivate students’ learning with fun,
enjoyment, and enthusiasm, while through playing students learn the language unconsciously.
Dewi, Kultsumi, and Armadi’s (2016) also found that in using communicative games as a
means of instruction, students’ performance results improved in the speaking skill. They also
found that students were interested in learning using communicative games approach and that
they were confident while responding in the target language.
Chanseawrassamee (2012) used eight language game activities; English reading-aloud
contest, lesson presentation, Dictation, Timing grammar test, Publishable essays, English song
contest, cloze test and vocabulary book. The researcher used these activities as games in his
teaching of the English language, and to make things more interesting, occasionally winners of
some of the games may receive some presents. He concluded that language games motivated
learners to learn the target language. It was found that communicative activities help enhance
student’s speaking ability.
It is evident that from the studies cited above, language games and information gap
activities are helpful for English language learners. However, it needs to be mentioned that
the studies cited above focused mostly on one group and one type of communicative activity.
As such, there is very limited research in the combination of more than one type of CLT-based
activities in one research in the Arab world, and in particular, on Libyan secondary school
students. As such, the researchers of this research suggest assessing the effect of selected
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) activities (i.e., information gap and language games)
on Libyan first-year secondary school students’ speaking performance. Second, the researchers
also intend to compare between the effectiveness of language games and information gap and
a combination of these two activities to find out which of them is more helpful in terms of
students’ speaking performance. Therefore, in the present research, the researchers investigated
further into the subject by incorporating three groups; 1) information gap activities; 2) language
games activities, and 3), information gap and language games.
Information Gap Activities
Liao (1997) explains the activities as the essence of communication that occur when
the student receiver does not know in advance the information in the message of the sender.

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Information gap activities in the present research are those, which require the students to 113
obtain the information they do not have from another/other students that have it. This research
used Directed Dialogue, Picture strips, Pictures with Differences and Ordering Pictures for
information. Information gap activities serve many purposes such as gathering information
and solving problems, and they are important in the classroom because all students have
the opportunity to use the target language. Language learning happens through cognitive
development that gives emphasis on the role of culture, which is crucial in contemporary
research. Pica, Klang, and Sauro (2006) indicated that information gap activities promote
interaction and orient students’ attention to form, function, and meaning.
Language Game Activities
Hadfield (1990, p.5) views games as “activity with rules, a goal, and an element of
fun”. In this research, the term refers to any language activity that requires communication,
participation and interaction to accomplish a set goal, which is initially restricted by a set of
rules, and participants usually take part for pleasure and are likely to receive a reward. The
language games activities applied in the present research are Board Games, Guessing Game,
Passing on Information, and Describing and Drawing. The principal reason for choosing
these types is that they serve some of the language functions of the course book and stress
the curriculum used for first-year secondary students, and at the same time they could serve
the principles and characteristics that CLT approach promotes. All these activities display an
important characteristic of classroom tasks in CLT that are designed to be implemented in pairs
or in small groups. This, in turn, can benefit learners by listening and using language from
other members of the groups, increasing motivational levels and developing fluency (Richards,
2006).
Research Questions
The following questions guided the research:

1. How effective are communicative language games in enhancing students’ speaking
scores?
2. How effective are communicative information gap activities in enhancing students’
speaking scores?
3. How effective are the combination of communicative information gap and language
game activities in enhancing students’ speaking scores?
Theoretical Framework
The postulations of the sociocultural theory underpin the objective of this research.
Proposed by Vygotsky (1978), the theory considers learners as respondents in activities that
need cognitive and communicative functions. Vygotsky emphasized the social activity of speech
or speaking, in which the notion of ‘speech’ comprises aspects of communication, which is not
limited only to language systems. The theory proposes that language learning, just as other
learning activities, should be dealt with as procedure where learners participate in communities
of practice.
According to Vygotsky, learning a language involves the capability to interact with
an interlocutor. This illustrates that interaction with others surrounding the learners, such as
with peers or teachers in the classroom, they can learn beyond as compared to when they are
alone. According to Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is where the learner is
helped through interaction or guidance of the surrounding people and as a result, their mental

Eman Abdussalam OWEN, Abu Bakar RAZALI, Arshad ABD SAMAD, Nooreen NOORDIN. Enhancing Libyan students’ English
speaking performance through language game and information gap activities
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114 development level can be extended and argues that the interaction between the sociocultural
and cognitive factors plays a crucial role in learners’ development.
The transition from other regulation to self-regulation consists of four levels i.e., how
to move to independent problem-solving ability in a task. This strategy is called ‘Scaffolding’.
The first level is during certain task or activity a child may not understand the adult’s utterances.
In the second level, the child may respond to the adult’s words or speech and may know it is
concerning a specific task but may still encounter difficulties in utilizing the commands as
required. The third level is when the child will be able to participate and the process of shift
from other-regulation to self-regulation will start to take place. The fourth level: The problem-
solving activity takes place and shifts from inter-psychological to the intra-psychological
position. That means the child performs the task with the help of the adult or peer.
Bruner (1960) agrees with Vygotsky that language helps to mediate between
environmental stimuli and the person’s response. They both focus on the social nature of
learning that occurs through the help of other, through the process of scaffolding (Wood et al.,
1976). The purpose of education is to facilitate a child’s or a learner’s problem –solving skills
which may be transmitted to a variety of situations (Burner, 1960). According to Gilles and
Pierce (2003), it is difficult to separate language from learning and at the same time, it is not
easy to separate them both from interaction. Social constructivism focuses on the role of culture
in the development of learning while, other theories such as the sociocultural theory focuses on
interaction as well as the role of the environment.

General Background
The researchers adopted the quasi-experiment pre-test, post-test non-equivalent group

design (NEGD) for the current research. Campbell and Stanley (1963) clarified that quasi-
experimental approaches share with other experiments the testing of the descriptive results,
hypothesis and manipulating causes. Whereas, they add that a fundamental difference in the
quasi-experimental design is the optimal control, but this type is worth carrying out where other
designs are impossible and when interpreting the findings of such experiments, focus on validity
factors becomes crucial. The quasi-experiment method was selected because random sampling
is not suitable in the school settings where the classrooms are intact. The key assumption of
employing this method is that in using the non-random sampling, the independent variables
or the IVs (i.e., language game and information gap activities) can also be manipulated to
adequately address the objectives of the research. The treatment in the present research was
the implementation of the CLT approach, particularly language games and information gap
activities, which are explained in the following sections. By using the quasi-experimental
approach, this research assessed whether or not the communicative interactive activities can
influence Libyan students’ speaking outcomes and performances.
Sample Selection
The sample for the current research was a total of 124 students drawn from four
classrooms of the first-year secondary students (i.e., 15-16 years old) from one public secondary
school in Sabratha, Libya. To achieve the required number to implement the research, first-
year secondary students (registered for the academic year 2016- 2017) were chosen because
the number of classrooms per school is larger than the other grades. The number of first-year
classrooms per school is usually from 2-6 and the number of students ranges from 28-40

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students in each classroom. The sample of the research was selected non-randomly because it 115
was not possible for either classroom division or engaging in random assignment of subjects
to take place, due to the position of the respondents of the research location, setting, timetable,
and administration procedures. However, it is important to note that the school administration
informed the researcher that all their students were allocated to the classrooms at the start of the
academic year according to their overall grades. This ensures that all classrooms have a similar
number of students with similar overall academic grades distributed across the different classes.
Instruments and Procedures
In the initial stage of the research, the researcher conducted a pre-test (speaking test)
on the students’ English spoken skills. The speaking test was carried out for the four groups
of respondents, which are three experimental groups and the control group (i.e., Experimental
Language Game group (G1), Experimental Language Game and Information Gap group (G2),
and Experimental Information Gap group (G3) and a Control group (G4)). The oral speaking
test was conducted for all groups on the same day. The test involved a conversational exchange,
as illustrated by Kitao and Kitao (1996), in which each student is given a situation, but no
guidance is given on how to respond. Therefore, the student can respond without restrictions.
The speaking test was adapted from questions on topics from the textbook that were given to
the students by their English language teacher. This was because when preparing any test in the
Libyan schools, it is compulsory that all questions are based on the syllabus and topics of the
textbook.
Underhill (1987) states “the single most effective way of getting around the central
problem of lack or reliability is to use more than one assessor” (p. 89). In this research, in
order to get inter-rater reliability, both the researcher and the subject teacher conducted the
pre-test. The topics are general, and students must have come across them during their studies
(e.g. school, social media, friends and family) The English language teacher as well as the
researcher informed students that there were no passing or failing grades, and it is not part of
their academic grade. The same test was done for both the control and experimental groups. The
students also had the right to withdraw from the lessons and they were not obliged to answer
any of the questions if they do not want to, but at the same time, they were encouraged to take
part in the research. This was so students might feel less anxious about the speaking tasks.
The speaking post-test was also given to both the control group and the experimental
groups to measure their speaking performance levels, and to examine if there was a significant
difference as compared to the pre-tests that all groups took. The test was conducted at the end
of the semester, where they were asked the same questions, but not in the same order. To ensure
the results are not biased, the test was the same for both the control and experimental groups,
and the scoring of the oral post-test similarly combined work of the teacher and the researcher
as they both discussed the scoring, then two scores were given separately, and the average was
recorded.
Students’ Speaking Performance Assessment
Thornbury (2005) submitted that there are two main types of scoring of speaking
assessments, i.e., holistic and analytic scoring. The holistic scoring is by giving a score for an
overall grade. This is quite adequate for informal progress testing, but there should be more than
one person to assess the grades. Whereas, the analytic scoring is by giving separate scores for
different aspects of the task. It takes a longer time, but it is considered fairer and more reliable
than the first type of scoring. According to Kitao and Kitao (1996), when scoring speaking the
aspects to be considered in assessing the skill are grammar, pronunciation, fluency, content,

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116 and vocabulary. In this regard, the present research employed an analytic scoring that includes
5 criteria (i.e., grammar, pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension of content),
and each criterion consists of two levels based on the English language inspectors’ division in
Sabratha, Ministry of Education, 2014. This criterion is also adapted from Harris (1969) testing
rubric with slight modifications, in which instead of having all levels, only the first two levels
were used.
Treatments (Information Gap and Language Game Activities)
The Information Gap and Language Game activities were based on the principles of
CLT, which include the use of authentic materials, indirect presentation of grammar rules,
infrequent correction of errors, limited use of L1, and realistic interaction in a student-centred
classroom (Richards, 2006). Students were given five lessons per week and each lesson was
conducted for 45 minutes. The students, belonging to different experimental groups were
exposed to their particular kind of treatment in their respective groups (i.e., Experimental
Language Game group (G1), Experimental Language Game and Information Gap group (G2),
and Experimental Information Gap group (G3)). They were exposed throughout the month of
April 2017, in which the researcher taught them five lessons per week, a total of 20 sessions.
The time permitted by the Ministry of Education in Sabratha for carrying out the research was
one month due to the political situation in Libya, in which schools were on and off due to safety
issues. The experimental groups used different activities according to the treatments given to
each group, in which the first group used language games; the second group used both language
games and information gap activities, while the third used only information gap activities. Table
1 shows examples of the different types of activities that were used in the research for the three
experimental groups.
Table 1. The communicative activities used in the treatment.
Information Gap activities Language Game activities

1 Pictures with Differences Guess my Profession / Country
2 Ordering Pictures to Give Information Describing and Drawing
3 Directed Dialogue Instruction Cards / Board Games
4 A Strip of Pictures Passing on Information
Data Analysis Techniques
The data collected from the pre-tests and post-tests were scored according to the scoring
criteria by the examination sector of the Ministry of Education of Sabratha, Libya. The skewness
and kurtosis of data were checked to determine the normality of data distribution. For all the four
experimental groups, skewness ranged from 0.40 - 1.73, and kurtosis from -0.42 to -0.73 in the
pre-test. In post-tests across all the groups, the skewness ranged from 0.15 - 1.18 and kurtosis
from -0.64 to -1.21. According to George and Mallery (2003), data is considered normally
distributed when the values fall between ± 2, thus the condition for parametric analysis in the
research was met.
Paired sample t-test parametric analytical technique was used to verify the statistical
significance of the differences between two mean scores for pre and post-test. Subsequently, a
one-way ANOVA was run to assess the significance of the differences of the effect of language
game and information gap activities learning in improving speaking performance between the
different groups.

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Results of Research 117
Reliability of Test Scores
The reliability of the speaking test scores was determined with the use of Cronbach’s
alpha internal consistency reliability test, which is the reliability of the test components.
Cronbach’s alpha for the participants scores on components was 0.916, which is quite a highly
acceptable value as it is greater than 0.7, which is considered very reliable (George & Mallery,
2003). The inter-rater reliability of the two raters was computed using Cohen’s. The results
showed that the strength of agreement Cohen’s Kappa for the pre-test was k = 0.784 and for the
post-test, k = .650, p < .0001.
Effects of Communicative Activities on Students’ English Speaking Performance
To assess the effect of information gap and language games on students’ speaking scores,
a paired sample t-test was used for testing the significance of differences between two mean
scores (pre-test and post-test). Hence, for the groups, the following were posed to test the
hypothesis:
Ha1: There is a significant difference between students’ mean speaking scores before and after
treatment among the four groups in the study.
The results revealed that the students performed better in the post-test, M = 44.88, SD =
16.527 as compared with the pre-tests M = 34.31, SD = 15.885, with a mean difference of
M= 10.573. Based on the results of paired samples t-test, t (123) = 18.679, p = .0001, 95% CI
[-11.693, -9.452], since the significance value was smaller than alpha .05, the Ha1 hypothesis
is confirmed. It is concluded that the treatments had a significant effect on students’ speaking
performance for the overall score for all the groups as shown in Table 2.
Ha2: There is a significant difference between the five speaking criteria’s mean scores before
and after treatment among the four groups of the study.
From the paired sample t-test on the five test sub-categories, as depicted in Table 2, it is
observed that the mean and standard deviation scores for fluency in the post-test (M = 6.82, SD=
3.616) was better as compared to the pre-test score (M = 4.94, SD= 3.339). The respondents’
mean and standard deviation scores in vocabulary use in pre-test mean was M = 7.26, SD =
3.381, which highly increased in the post-test to M = 10.21, SD= 3.398. The mean and standard
deviation scores of the respondents in the third sub-category, comprehension, in the pre-test
(M = 7.33, SD =3.554), which were significantly different from the respondents’ scores in the
post-test (M = 9.75, SD =3.662). The mean and standard deviation scores for the respondents’
grammar aspect also improved in the post-test to M =9.10, SD = 3.484 from the initial scores M
= 7.21, SD =3.355 in the pre-test. Whereas, the fifth sub-category, the respondents’ mean and
standard deviation scores for pronunciation in the pre-test were M=7.57, SD = 3.410, whereas
in the post-test were M = 8.88, SD = 3.814. It shows that all sub-sections of the speaking scores
increased, therefore, the Ha2 hypothesis is confirmed and the researchers conclude that when
indicating the overall score for all the groups there is a significant difference between the five
speaking criteria’s mean scores before and after treatment.

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118 Table 2. Paired Sample t -test differences between pre-test and post-test among
all the groups of the research.
Paired Differences
Std. 95% Confidence
Variable Mean SD Error Interval of the Differ- t df p
Mean ence
Pair Lower Upper
Fluency Pre-test –
-1.887 1.599 .144 -2.171 -1.603 -13.143 123 .0001
Fluency Post-test Score
Vocabulary Pre-test Score - Vo-
-2.952 2.197 .197 -3.342 -2.561 -14.960 123 .0001
cabulary Post-test
Comprehension Pre-test Score -
-2.419 1.781 .160 -2,736 -2.103 -15.26 123 .0001
Comprehension Post-test Score
Grammar Pre-test –
-1.887 1.968 .177 -2.237 -1.537 -10.677 123 .0001
Grammar Post-test
Pronunciation Pre-test - Pronun-
-1.306 1.844 .166 -1.634 -.979 -7.888 123 .0001
ciation Post-test
Scores for the pre-test –
-10.573 6.303 .566 -11.693 -9.452 -18.679 123 .0001
Scores for the Post-test
The researchers also ran Levene’s statistic to determine the homogeneity of variance, in
which they found the results were not significant for both the pre-test (.746) (p =.527), and for
the post-test (.622), (p = .602). Hence, the assumption was met for running a one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA).
Ha3: There is a significant difference between Experimental group (1) (Language Game group)
and Experimental group (2) (Language Game and Information Gap) speaking mean scores.
Ha4: There is a significant difference between experimental group (1) (Language Game) and
Experimental group (3) (Information Gap) speaking mean scores.
Ha5: There is a significant difference between Experimental group (1) (Language Game) and
Control group (4) speaking mean scores.
Ha6: There is a significant difference between Experimental group (2) (Language Game and
Information Gap) and Experimental group (3) (Information Gap) speaking mean scores.
Ha7: There is a significant difference between Experimental group (2) (Language Game and
Information Gap) and Control group (4) speaking mean scores.
Ha8: There is a significant difference between experimental group (3) (Information Gap) and
control group (4) speaking mean scores.
In this section, the above hypotheses were raised to isolate the treatments’ effectiveness
across groups. The researchers ran a one-way ANOVA test to compare the variances between
the groups in the research so as to assess if there are significant differences in the mean
scores across all of the groups. (i.e., Experimental Language Game group (G1), Experimental
Information Gap and Language Games group (G2), Experimental Information Gap group (G3)
and Control group (G4)).

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Table 3. ANOVA to compare the variances between the different groups. 119
Mean
Sum of Squares df f p
Square
Between Groups 580.151 3 193.384 .762 .518
Scores for the

Within Groups 30456.204 120 253.802
Pre- test
Total 31036.355 123

Between Groups 2331.901 3 777.300 2.984 .034
Scores for
Within Groups 31263.284 120 260.527
Post-test
Total 33595.185 123
Table 3 shows F (3, 120) = 0.762, p = .518, which implies there is no significant
difference between the four different groups (i.e., Experimental Language Game group (G1),
Experimental Information Gap and Language Games group (G2), Experimental Information
Gap group (G3) and Control group (G4)) in the pre-test scores of the speaking performance (p=
0.518, p> .05). Whereas, in the post-test, the results indicated F (3, 120) = 2.984, p = .034, p
< .05. Concluding that there was a significant difference between the experimental group and
control group speaking scores. To further filter the significance of differences in the post-test
scores, a multiple comparison post hoc test between and within all the experimental and control
groups was run.
The post Hoc test results conducted a multiple comparison between the four groups,
G1, G2, G3, and G4. Table 4 shows significant difference only between the Control group (G4)
and the Experimental Information Gap group (G3) in the post-test scores, with a significance
value of p = .031, p < .05. Whereas, the rest of the results showed no significant differences
between the groups as p- values ranged from .506 to 1.000, p> .05. Therefore, all corresponding
hypotheses (Ha3, Ha4, Ha5, Ha6, and Ha7) failed to be met. It is thus concluded that there is
no significant difference between the post-test scores between the groups, except between the
Experimental Information Gap group (G3) and the Control group (G4. With a significant value
of (p= .031) between the two groups (G3 and G4) hypothesis (Ha8) is confirmed. Table 4
summarizes the results of the post hoc test.

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120 Table 4. Post – hoc test comparing the four groups.
Multiple comparisons
Tukey HSD
95% Confidence
Mean Interval
Dependent Std.
(I) Group (J) Group Difference p
Variable Error Lower Upper
(I-J)
Bound Bound
Experimental Lang
-.168 4.080 -10.80 10.46 1.000
Experimental games and info gap (2)
Language Control (4) -4.168 4.080 -14.80 6.46 .737
games (G1) Experimental informa-
-4.604 3.985 -14.99 5.78 .656
tion gap (3)
Experimental Language
Experimental .168 4.080 -10.46 10.80 1.000
games (1)
Lang games
Control (4) -4.000 4.113 -14.72 6.72 .765
and info gap
Experimental informa-
(G2) -4.436 4.019 -14.91 6.03 .688
Scores for tion gap (3)
the pre- Experimental Language
4.168 4.080 -6.46 14.80 .737
test games (1)
Experimental Lang
Control (G4) 4.000 4.113 -6.72 14.72 .765
games and info gap (2)
-.436 4.019 -10.91 10.03 1.000
tion gap (3)
4.604 3.985 -5.78 14.99 .656
Experimental games (1)
information Experimental Lang
gap (G3) 4.436 4.019 -6.03 14.91 .688
Control (4) .436 4.019 -10.03 10.91 1.000
Experimental Lang
-3.406 4.134 -14.18 7.36 .843
Experimental games and info gap (2)
Language Control 4) 2.294 4.134 -8.48 13.06 .945
games (G1) Experimental informa-
-9.079 4.037 -19.60 1.44 .116
tion gap 3)
Experimental 3.406 4.134 -7.36 14.18 .843
games (1)
Lang games
Control 4) 5.700 4.168 -5.16 16.56 .522
and info gap
(G2) -5.673 4.072 -16.28 4.94 .506
Scores for tion gap (3)
the Post- Experimental Language
-2.294 4.134 -13.06 8.48 .945
test games (1)
Experimental Lang
Control (G4) -5.700 4.168 -16.56 5.16 .522
-11.373* 4.072 -21.98 -.76 .031
tion gap (3)
9.079 4.037 -1.44 19.60 .116
Experimental games (1)
information Experimental Lang
gap (G3) 5.673 4.072 -4.94 16.28 .506
Control (4) 11.373* 4.072 .76 21.98 .031
*. The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

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In order to determine how much the independent variables (i.e., communicative 121
activities) had an effect on the dependent variable (i.e., speaking scores) or how much variance
was observed from the communicative activities, Cohen’s (1988) rule of thumb formula was
used. The results showed it has a medium effect at .069.
Estimated Marginal Mean result of pre-test and post- test as shown in Figure 1 indicates
that the post-test marginal mean is higher than the pre-test one across all the groups. The
Experimental Information Gap group (G3) observed the highest mean score increase from M=
36.64 in the pre-test, to M= 51.2 in the post-test, followed by the Experimental Information Gap
and Language Game group (G2), which increased from M=32.2 to M=45.6. The Experimental
Language Game group (G1) came in third, with increased mean scores from M=32.03 to M=
42.19. The least increase was for the Control group (G4) with the mean score for the pre-test
M=36.2, to post-test at M=39.9. The mean score differences for all groups were G1 (M =14.56),
G2 (M= 13.4), G3 (M= 10.16), and G4 (M=3.7), respectively. Figure 1 indicates an increase in
students’ speaking scores for the experimental groups after implementing the information gap
and language games communicative activities.
60
55
51,2
50
Mean speaking scores
45,6
45 42,1
39,9
40 36,64 36,2
35 32,03 32,2
30
25
20
Ex (G1) Ex (G2) Ex (G3) Control (G4)
Groups
Pre-test Post-test
Figure 1. Estimated marginal mean of pre-tests and post-tests.
The results indicate that the implementation of communicative activities in the classroom
developed the students’ speaking performance. In addition, when examining the five criteria of
the overall speaking grades (as discussed earlier in table2) the results from the paired sample-t
test showed highest improvement in vocabulary as compared to the other criteria of the oral
speaking tests (i.e., fluency, comprehension, grammar, and pronunciation). It can be concluded
that the use of communicative activities (i.e. information gap and language games) can play a
role not only increasing the speaking skill rather than pronunciation, grammar, comprehension,
fluency and particularly students’ vocabulary.

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122 Discussion
This research revealed the importance of implementing different communicative

activities in the language classroom and in particular the information gap activities. The results
from this research support and are consistent with the results from previous studies such as (Al-
Nawrasy, 2013; Carabajo Vallejo, 201; Ismaili & Barjrami, 2016; Oradee, 2012). While other
research indicate that language games based on pair work play an important role in improving
the target language (Bakhsh, 2016; Wingate, 2016).
Whereas, within the five different criteria it is crucial to indicate that all section increased
but the highest substantial improvement was in vocabulary. This is consistent with previous
studies, which indicate that CLT plays a significant role in increasing levels of vocabulary
(see Dewi et al, 2016; Efrizal, 2012; Jue, 2010; Utomo, 2016). On the other hand, the findings
are in contrast with the results by Difrioka (2017), which point out that the application of
information gap activities influences learners’ fluency more than vocabulary, while there was
no improvement in levels of pronunciation.
According to the previous research, it is clear that since the existence of CLT approach
it has played a crucial role in language learning and teaching and has provided learners and
teachers with a wide range of possibilities towards learning (Altaieb, 2013; Ismaili & Barjrami,
2016). Focusing on communicative activities that are based on CLT is important because they
help learners provide the opportunity to communicate in the target language. Research around
the world has shown that implementing different communicative activities in the classroom
has enhanced learners’ language performance and in particular, the speaking skill but it was
essential to understand if they were also useful in the Libyan context. According to the current
research, communicative activities were effective in the Libyan setting and students’ speaking
performance increased when information gap activities were implemented more than when
language games were used. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage their use in the language
classroom and focus on information gap activities more while language game activities can be
used as an alternative.
Conclusions
Based on the empirical evidence in the present research, it is illustrated that the
communicative activities approach is a strong viable alternative to teach English-speaking
skills, especially the communicative information gap method. Therefore, the researchers posit
that this research provides language teachers in Libya with some answers towards their doubt
of the effectiveness of the CLT approach that the Libyan Ministry of Education selected to be
applied in the Libyan classroom. The findings of the present research are significant to all the
stakeholders that are interested in this topic and those in the field of EFL English education in
Libya as they provide them with ideas for language learning and teaching for the future. It is
thus concluded that implementing communicative activities based on principles of CLT in the
Libyan English language classroom helps enhance students’ speaking performance.
There was initially fear that the idea of introducing communicative activities developed
in the Western society might not be assimilated well in the Libyan society. However, now, the
findings of this research rule out the anticipated difficulty by concluding that this was not the case
in the Libyan classroom, at least in the context and scope and limitation of this research. This
is because the communicative activities can improve Libyan EFL students’ English speaking
performance. Therefore, it is necessary to include the EFL student as well as the teacher in the
process of implementing any methodology and its principles due to their fundamental role in
the learning process.

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Findings of the present research also provide support potential for Vygotsky’s Social 123
Cultural and the constructivist theories that focus the role of culture and interaction during
the process of learning. EFLs’ performance levels can increase significantly language goals
achieved whenever learners perform tasks and activities in groups (with peers) rather than
individually. This contributes to the explanations of language learning theories by providing
examples of some of the techniques required for the English language classroom. When
knowledge is presented in an authentic context and setting, learning can occur unintentionally
rather than posed or deliberate because learners become involved in the process of learning.
The researchers believe that further research on the perceptions of the language games and
Information gap in future is needed to explore further the relevance of the activities from
students and teachers’ point of view in Libya.
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Received: October 23, 2018 Accepted: February 05, 2019
Eman Abdussalam Owen PhD Candidate, Lecturer, Sabratha University, Libya.

E-mail: emanaowen@yahoo.com
Abu Bakar Razali Senior Lecturer, University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia.
E-mail: abmr_bakar@upm.edu.my
Arshad Abd Samad PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Faculty of Educational Studies, Univer-
sity Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia.
E-mail: arshad@upm.edu.my
Nooreen Noordin PhD, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Faculty of Educational Studies, University
Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia.
E-mail: Nooreen@upm.edu.my

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126
THE STATUS OF THE TEACHING
PROFESSION IN LATVIA: VIEWS
OF THE TEACHERS
Līga Paula
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Latvia
E-mail: Liga.Paula@llu.lv
Ilze Priževoite
Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees, Latvia
E-mail: ilze.prizevoite@lizda.lv
Abstract
Professionals who are respected in the wider community can influence public opinion and shape societal
value system. While in a number of European countries teaching profession is popular and respected,
in many other including Latvia its prestige is rather low. There is an ongoing debate in Latvia how to
raise it; therefore, the aim of this research was to study teachers’ views about the status and prestige of
their occupation. The quantitative research design was developed. The web survey of teachers (n=1773)
confirmed that teachers perceived their occupational prestige in Latvia as low and believed that in other
European countries it is much higher. Teachers did not feel assessed adequately to their contribution.
In general, teachers were concerned about their professional autonomy and freedom as they felt
frustrated, overloaded and over-controlled from different sides. The respondents believed that teachers
are authorities and opinion leaders also outside school that indicated positive aspects of occupational
prestige. They admitted that teachers should have an ability to adapt in order to respond on contemporary
societal and technological changes. Some suggestions were developed on how to improve occupational
prestige: from a system perspective, more positive and supportive attitude towards education system and
teachers is expected from municipalities, policy makers and the line ministry. Meanwhile great part of the
respondents believed that teachers themselves should be responsible for the forming of positive image of
their profession and should communicate with society more effectively on the specificity of teaching and
challenges they face in contemporary conditions.
Keywords: occupational prestige, teaching profession, teaching status, trade union.
Introduction
Professionals who are respected and recognized in wider society can influence public
opinion and shape societal value system. In Latvia, currently there are public as well as political
discussions on teacher status and occupational prestige within the context of several ongoing
educational reforms focusing on problems of teacher shortage in schools, remuneration system,
too low general performance level of pupils especially in centralized exams (mathematics,
languages), curriculum and competency-based education, and the optimization of school
network in the country. Teachers and their organizations such as trade unions play a significant
pro-active social role in society as they “contribute to shape social attitudes and policies” and
“carry a major responsibility for forming the future society” (ETUCE, 2008, p. 53). In order to
meet these societal expectations, teachers must feel public appreciation at both individual and
societal levels. In reality, teachers in Latvia often feel frustrated, undervalued, overloaded and
overcontrolled; therefore, the aim of this research is to explore teachers’ views about the status

Līga PAULA, Ilze PRIŽEVOITE. The status of the teaching profession in Latvia: Views of the teachers
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and prestige of the teaching profession in Latvia. The aim of the survey was to find out how 127
teachers feel about their profession and its social recognition in wider society, what influences
occupational prestige and what should be done to raise it. The following research questions
were defined:
1) What are teachers’ opinions on their occupational prestige and status in Latvia?
2) What should be done to raise the occupational prestige of the teaching profession in
Latvia?
Quantitative research design was developed for the research, which was carried out in autumn,
2016.
Problem of Research
The concept of an occupational prestige is ambiguous and rather complex. This fact was
acknowledged in all studies seeking to analyse the status of professions (including teachers)
at national level as well as international comparisons (for example, European Union, 2013a;
European Union, 2013b; Hall & Langton, 2006; Hargreaves, Cunningham, Hansen, McIntyre,
& Oliver, 2007; Hargreaves, 2009; Ingersoll & Merrill, 2011; Misāne, Gurbo, Jemeljanova, &
Dedze, 2007). Although definitions and explanations differ, it can be assumed that the prestige
or status of a profession is a rank which particular occupation holds in hierarchy of professions
according to societal understanding and recognition. Occupational prestige is related to its
authority, respect and recognition, influence, power, control and other aspects. In classical
American sociological tradition it is argued that “occupational prestige is determined by the
system of values in a society and by the perceived functional importance of different occupations
in that society” (Abercrombie, Hill, & Turner, 2000, p. 277). In the European sociological
tradition Weber viewed the status as social honour and related it to social stratification and class
inequality, which “was based on unequal access to material rewards and different life-chances”
(Abercrombie et al., 2000, p. 277). Occupational prestige is a societal recognition, which is
formed by professionals of the particular occupation, clients, wider society and other professional
groups. In the case of the teaching profession these groups are teachers themselves, learners
and their parents as well as other stakeholders. This assessment involves adequate financial
remuneration and appreciation according to contribution, social recognition and respect, which
means recognition of an authority of the professionals and their impact on various processes in
a society. Occupational prestige is also related to control and supervision, which is exercised
over the workers. Important factors having impact on occupation are employees’ working
conditions and environment.
Although working conditions may vary among organizations and individually, analysis
of general situation, however, allows assessing what attention is paid to the sector and its
workers by the state, municipalities and particular institutions especially in the case of education
system. When a sector and its workers are highly valued and appreciated as important for
society, the sector receives adequate investments in its infrastructure thus improving physical,
material and psychological working conditions. This is important also at an institutional level,
and in this case – at a level of educational establishments. All these aspects have impact on an
attractiveness of the teaching profession.
Research Focus
International comparisons indicate that amongst European countries teaching profession

is the most popular vocation in Cyprus and very popular in Greece, whereas in Germany
this profession ranks in the third place, and in Finland is amongst the five most respected
professions (European Union, 2013b, p. 213). In some countries teachers have the civil service

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128 status. The data showed that in countries where the status of a teaching profession has recently
changed, there was a strong concern of weak institutional recognition. Teachers in Ireland,
Finland and the United Kingdom felt that they did much more than the teaching activity;
teachers felt ‘exploited’ and ‘disrespected’ in Hungary, Germany and France (European Union,
2013b, p. 213). In New Zealand, it was concluded that the teaching profession was regarded as
valuable and honourable at individual level rather than at the level of professional group (Hall
& Langton, 2006). Studies in the USA envisaged that the status of the teaching profession and
its prestige was not high, similarly to other occupations dominated by females (Ingersoll &
Merrill, 2011, p. 194). International comparisons (e.g. UNESCO, 2006, p.88) stressed that the
quality of education can be seriously impacted by wage differentials reducing also the prestige
of the teaching profession by attracting less qualified individuals in the profession. Hargreaves
pointed out that “the prestige of different groups of teachers within one country varies also”
(Hargreaves, 2009, p. 221). However, other studies showed that the status of the teaching
profession improved if the state implemented specific policies (e.g. Lankford, Loeb, McEachin,
Miller, & Wyckoff, 2014). Number of researches (e.g. Cameron, 2003; Frunzaru & Dumitriu,
2015; Hall & Langton, 2006) has proved that teachers themselves are more critical about their
profession and its prestige than other social groups.
As the teaching profession is related to socialization of children, teacher’s personality
and professional qualities are extremely important. Within a framework of discussions
on improvements in teacher education programmes, occupational prestige of the teaching
profession as well as societal expectations towards educators in general, it is worth to focus
also on issue, what teacher needs to be? There are quantitative and qualitative studies focusing
on topic of a good or ‘ideal’ teacher from the perspective of students (e.g. Arnon & Nirit, 2007;
Rusu, Şoitu, & Panaite, 2012) or both teachers and students (e.g. Telli, Brok, & Jale, 2008).
The researches revealed a number of personality traits and professional skills and competences,
which are important for both educators and students.
Turner (as cited in Hargreaves, 2009, p. 218) has pointed out subjective and objective
dimensions of the status: the first one refers to individual perceptions of prestige, whereas the
second one on “the socio-legal entitlements of an individual”. In their study, Frunzaru and
Dumitriu (2015) have focused on self-perceived teachers’ occupational prestige by analysing
several organisational explicative factors. Subjective aspects of the status of the teaching
profession were analysed on the basis of the teachers’ survey and the respondents’ views on
their occupation. What is the state of the teaching profession in Latvia? Some evidence from
previous studies (e.g. European Commission, 2015; Misāne et al., 2007; OECD, 2014) showed
that occupational prestige of the teaching profession is not very high; therefore, it is important
to understand if any changes in teachers’ self-assessment can be observed since a positive image
of the profession is one of the factors influencing teacher retention.

General Background
Although a number of new specialists graduating universities and teacher education

programmes is sufficient to ensure schools with a teaching stuff in Latvia, the education
system faces another harsh reality: teacher ageing, feminization of education system, lack of
teachers in most of the subjects in both rural and urban schools. Some of these challenges
have been observed in many other countries as well (OECD, 2018). In 2013, it was concluded
that Latvia had no global shortage of qualified teachers, but its education system showed no
significant targeted policy measures aiming at enhancing the attractiveness of the teaching
profession (European Commission, 2013a). Unfortunately, it should be emphasized here that

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still no significant and systemic activities are being implemented at the state level to raise 129
the attractiveness of the teaching profession and recruit new teaching staff in schools. Recent
changes in teachers’ remuneration system, the optimization of school network and other reforms
of education system in Latvia partially aiming to solve also the problem of attractiveness of the
profession, are critically assessed from various stakeholders and specifically in the community
of teachers. The Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) as a social
partner in the process of educational policy-making is one of the organizations dealing with
the issues that teachers face. It is concerned not only about the rights of teachers but also about
other challenges that education system faces, for example, the lack of teachers in schools, the
retention of highly qualified and novice teachers, the prestige of the profession. In order to find
solutions and proposals for sectoral policy-making, the LIZDA research focused on teachers’
opinions about their status and occupational prestige in Latvia.
Sample
In the online survey, 1773 teachers representing all five planning regions of Latvia
(Zemgale, Vidzeme, Kurzeme, Latgale, and Riga) participated. Sample of the teachers reflected
general teacher population in Latvia according to various traits including age groups, gender,
length of teachers’ in-service, etc. (IZM statistika). 723 respondents (40.8 % of the sample)
resided in cities, whereas 1050 (59.2 %) were teachers from rural municipalities including small
towns. The sample well reflected the current situation of teachers’ ageing: more than 40% of all
teachers in Latvia are over 50 (IZM statistika). The sample represented following age groups:
below 30 years – 6.3%; 30-39 years – 12.9%; 40-49 years – 30.7%; 50-59 years – 38.4%; over
60 – 11.7%. Breakdown of the sample according to the length of teachers’ in-service was as
follows: 5% of the sample is novice teachers having in-service experience below 3 years; 9% of
the respondents work in school 4 to10 years; 20.4% have 11 to 20 years in-service experience,
and the greatest part of the sample (65.7%) have worked as teachers for over 20 years. Among
the respondents, 1671 are female (94.2% of the sample) and 102 - male (5.8% of the sample).
Secondary education teachers are most represented in the sample (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Breakdown of the sample according to the respondents’ positions in

school, n=1773.

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130 The answer “other” was chosen by the respondents who held more than one position
at school or identified themselves as school principals, deputy directors of school, school
psychologists, speech therapists, social pedagogues, educational methodologists, and librarians.
According to the research ethics (Joe, Raben, & Phillips, 2016; Toepoel, 2016),
participation in the survey was completely voluntary and anonymous. The respondents were
informed about the aim of the research, they were provided with contact information in case
they had queries. The results of the research were analysed only in an aggregated way.
The survey questionnaire was developed and posted on the webpage visidati.lv and
was available from September 7 till October 17, 2016. Information about the survey was
disseminated via LIZDA homepage, social media, website eklase.lv and trade union’s member
organizations in schools.
The questionnaire comprised questions of different types. The greatest part of the
questionnaire was composed of the statements, offered to the respondents for showing their level
of agreement by using symmetric 5-point Likert scale (strongly agree, slightly agree, neither
agree nor disagree, slightly disagree, strongly disagree). For some statements asymmetric
5-point Likert scale was used (for example, such as in Table 2). A few closed and open-ended
questions were also included in the survey. The statements and questions were formulated,
grouped and analysed according to the main aspects of occupational prestige theoretically
discussed in the literature review and empirically tested in previous studies: overall assessment
of the prestige of the teaching profession; reward and recognition; working conditions of the
teachers; professional freedom and autonomy; control and surveillance.
As it is suggested by other researchers, the measurement of occupational prestige can
be made by using prestige scales, for example, people are asked to rank occupations according
to their social standing or desirability and afterwards rankings are aggregated by taking the
average (Abercrombie, Hill, & Turner, 2000, p. 277). According to this principle, in LIZDA
survey, the respondents were asked to rank the teaching profession from ‘1’ to ‘10’ on the
imaginary ladder of professions where ‘10’ was the least prestigious occupation and ‘1’ was
the most desirable profession. Additionally to this, one of the open-ended questions offered
the respondents an opportunity to name any other profession which has similar occupational
prestige as teachers.
Another open-ended question sought to find the answers on what personal and professional
qualities an ideal teacher should have. Similar approach was used in other studies (e.g. Rusu et
al., 2012; Telli et al., 2008). Respondents had a chance to name as many traits as they wished.
As a result, many different qualities were mentioned which later were grouped and coded.
Data Analysis

For the descriptive analysis of quantitative data standard deviation (SD) and mean (M)
was calculated by using statistical program SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science v21).
Independent samples t-test was calculated to analyse differences in opinions of the respondents
representing different sample groups (gender, length of in-service, teachers from rural and
urban territories, respondents living in different Latvian regions).
Open ended questions were analysed according to the approach of qualitative content
analysis (Titscher, Meyer, Wodak, & Vetter, 2000). When the questionnaire was completed, the
units of analysis (categories) were coded and grouped to scrutinize the answers on the open-
ended questions about characteristics of an ideal teacher and professions having occupational
prestige similar to the teaching profession. To ensure the reliability of qualitative analysis,

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a special attention was paid to coding procedure during text analysis. Since the respondents 131
freely described characteristics of an ideal teacher and named as many traits as they could, the
researchers made sure that all traits with different semantic meaning are identified. Coding and
grouping of the units of analysis was discussed between researchers to ensure greater precision.

Results of Research
The first group of the statements and questions in the questionnaire focused on an overall
assessment of the prestige of the teaching profession in Latvia. Detailed analysis of the teachers’
views about these statements is presented in the Table 1.
Table 1. Teachers’ views on the prestige of a teaching profession in Latvia*,

n=1773.
Statements M SD
1. In general, society higly values work of the teachers 3.675 .902
2. In Latvia, teaching profession has high occupational prestige 4.045 .835
Teaching profession in other EU countries has higher occupational prestige than in

3. 1.714 .725
Latvia
Secondary school teachers have higher occupational prestige in comparion with primary
4. 2.829 .999
school teachers
Secondary school teachers have higher occupational prestige in comparion with

5. 2.788 1.057
elementary school teachers
6. Primary school teachers are valued higher than elementary school teachers 3.049 1.001
7. Pre-school teachers are highly valued in society 3.785 .947
8. Today teaching profession has lower occupational prestige in comparison with the past 1.658 1.014
Teaching profession would be more attractive if there were less problems with discipline
9. 2.177 1.063
in schools
Occupational prestige of teachers in private educational institutions is higher in compari-

10. 2.690 1.001
son with their colleagues from other schools
Teaching profession would be more attractive if teachers themselves formed more posi-
11. 2.875 1.109
tive opinion about it
*Note: the statements were assessed by using Likert scale from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ (1-
strongly agree; 2 - slightly agree; 3 - neither agree nor disagree; 4 - slightly disagree; 5 - strongly disagree)
The LIZDA survey demonstrated that 66.7 % of the respondents strongly disagreed or
slightly disagreed with the statement that in general society highly values teachers’ work. The
results showed statistically significant differences (p<.05) in views between the respondents
having different length of in-service and residing in different Latvian regions. The longest was
the respondents’ in-service experience, the more they disagreed with the statement (novice
teachers – M=3.51; in-service experience 4 to10 years – M=3.56; in-service experience 11 to 20
years – M=3.61; in-service experience over 20 years – M=3.74). The teachers from Riga region
were more critical in comparison to those from other regions.

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132 Most of the respondents believed that their occupational prestige is not high in Latvia.
Statistically significant differences (p<.05) were observed also regarding this statement:
respondents with longer in-service experience were more critical (novice teachers – M=3.77;
in-service experience 4 to10 years – M=3.85; in-service experience 11 to 20 years – M=3.98;
in-service experience over 20 years – M=4.12). The teachers supported the statement that
previously in Latvia the occupational prestige of their profession was higher (55.7 % strongly
agreed and 30.9% slightly agreed with this statement). The teachers were very positive about
the statement that in other EU countries occupational prestige of the teachers is higher than
in Latvia. Regarding this statement, no statistically significant differences were identified in
different sample groups.
More than half of the respondents believed that pre-school education teachers do
not receive high recognition in society, and 68% of the respondents admitted that teaching
profession would be more attractive if there were less discipline problems in schools (30.1%
strongly agreed and 38.1% slightly agreed with this statement).
As it was already described in the methodology part, the respondents were asked to rank
the teaching profession from ‘1’ to ‘10’ on the imaginary ladder of professions to show its status
in comparison to other occupations available in the labour market. Considering that ‘10’ was
a rank of the least prestigious occupation and ‘1’ was a rank of the most desirable profession,
rank numbers ‘7’ and ‘8’ dominated in the answers for the teaching profession. Apparently,
the teachers were very critical about the prestige of their occupation. Statistically significant
differences (p<.05) were observed between novice teachers (M=6.26) and the respondents
having in-service experience over 20 years (M=6.90).
Figure 2 represents opinions on the question which of the professions holds similar
occupational prestige as the teaching profession?
Figure 2. Teachers’ opinions on professions having similar occupational prestige

like teachers, n=1773.
Based on the data, it is obvious that profession of a social worker dominates, followed by
a nurse, a policeman, a doctor, and a shop-assistant. The following professions were indicated
as ‘other’: a cleaner (mentioned 10 times), a street sweeper (mentioned 6 times), a psychologist
(mentioned 3 times), a waiter (mentioned twice), an engineer, a frontier guard, a coach, an

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accountant, an actor, a carrier counsellor, a researcher, a fireman, a civil servant, a volunteer, 133
a writer, a prison guard and ‘any low paid worker’. One of the LIZDA survey respondents
commented:
„I think the amount and responsibility of a teacher’s work is similar to that of a doctor’s, a
lawyer’s or a deputy’s; however, society values teacher’s work similarly as a shop-assistant’s job…”.
The respondents were asked to evaluate the statements regarding an assessment of the
teacher’s work in society. The results of the survey showed that teachers did not feel adequately
evaluated according to their contribution. Statistically significant differences (p<.05) were
observed between the respondents from different regions: the teachers from Riga region
expressed greater disagreement (M=3.79) in comparison to the respondents from other regions
with exception of Zemgale region (M=3.70). 73.7% of the respondents strongly agreed and
20% slightly agreed that they were entitled to higher wage. Teachers were not positive that they
are well-paid in comparison with other professions. Most of the respondents either strongly
agreed (27.6.1%) or slightly agreed (42.5%) that excellent teacher’s work is not particularly
appreciated. More than 70% of teachers strongly agreed that teachers are entitled to long service
pension.
The working environment and conditions are an important aspect that affects employees’
satisfaction with their work, therefore in the survey, teachers were asked about their working
conditions and environment. Alarming was the teachers’ assessment of the internal tensions
and competition in relationships with their colleagues creating a tense psychological climate.
More than half of the teachers - 52.5% answered affirmatively that they have encountered this
problem, which in turn shows internal problems in the context of the working environment.
Statistically significant differences (p<.05) were observed in views between the respondents
from rural and urban territories. Teachers were asked to assess the statement that it is much
easier for teachers to work in rural schools than in urban schools. The respondents from the
rural schools disagreed to this statement more than the respondents from urban schools (rural
teachers – M=3.10; urban teachers – M=2.63). Statistically significant differences (p<.05) were
also in views between the rural and urban teachers with an in-service experience over 20 years
(rural teachers – M=3.16; urban teachers – M=2.66).
Very important aspects related to the prestige of the profession are professional freedom
or autonomy, the control over the work and supervision of the professionals. Respondents were
asked to assess the extent to which teachers’ work is being controlled by parents, society, and
the management of an educational institution. The analysis of the situation shows that teachers
in general in all European countries feel distrust towards them; they feel undervalued and
overly regulated (controlled) by governments (European Union, 2013b). Studies showed that
teachers were given creative freedom and autonomy on the one hand, and on the other hand,
they were subject to extremely high control and supervision by public and local authorities, the
management of educational institutions, as well as various societal groups (for example, parent
organizations), and this trend was increasing. The LIZDA survey showed that the teachers felt
this pressure very acutely. The percentage of answers in the assessments of various statements
was variable; however, there was a general tendency: the teachers felt that their professional
freedom and autonomy is threatened (13.2% strongly agreed and 44.1% slightly agreed to this
statement), they felt great societal pressure (31.7% strongly agreed and 48.8% slightly agreed
to this statement) and parents’ control (31.0% strongly agreed and 47% slightly agreed) as
well as increased pressure and control from the management of the educational institution
(14.8% strongly agreed and 33.2% slightly agreed). The teachers in urban schools agreed more
that they felt increased pressure from the management of the educational institution (M=2.46)
in comparison to those from the rural schools (M=2.69). At the same time, the majority of

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134 respondents (81.7%) acknowledged that teachers need to be more able to adapt to contemporary
conditions. There were statistically significant differences (p<.05) between the rural and urban
respondents: the rural teachers were more positive about necessity to be able to adapt (M=1.86)
in comparison to urban teachers (M=2.02).
The prestige of the profession can also be associated with its influence in society;
therefore, respondents were asked to assess the statements on trust in the professionalism of the
teachers, their influence and authority in the community outside the school. 81.4% of respondents
admitted that teachers should be socially active and publicly express their views on what is going
on in society. There was no unequivocal assessment of how much public opinion focuses on
the views expressed in the media by teachers. 50.9% disagreed with the statement that society
trusts teachers as professionals, which is why they would listen to their opinions. 31.3% of the
respondents were neutral about this and only 1.3% of the teachers strongly agreed with this
statement. Only 37.6% of the respondents agreed that teachers are authorities also outside the
school. Regarding this statement, more sceptical were urban teachers (M=3.05) in comparison
to the rural teachers (M=2.77); there were statistically significant differences (p<.05) between
these two sample groups. 72.3% were convinced that teachers and schools should promote
their work more actively. Most of the respondents (21.0% agreed and 40.0% slightly agreed)
were positive that teachers with their professional activities can have a significant influence
on the system of values and beliefs in society and that they are able to influence the system of
values and beliefs of youth (61.3%). At the same time, it was acknowledged that it is becoming
increasingly difficult for teachers to influence the new generation (27.3% strongly agreed and
51.9% slightly agreed). Regarding this statement, statistically significant differences (p<.05)
were between rural (M=1.96) and urban (M=2.11) respondents. The teachers were convinced
that the role of authorities, including teachers, in the lives of individuals in contemporary
society significantly diminishes (20.0% strongly agreed and 53.7% slightly agreed).
One of the problems in the education system in almost all countries of the world is low
proportion of males in the sector: the education sector is strongly feminized (OECD, 2014) and
this is also the case in Latvia (IZM statistics). The survey respondents were asked to answer, why
in their opinion men do not choose a teacher’s profession. Most of the respondents agreed with
the statement that men do not see career opportunities in school (62.7%). 63.3% of the teachers
believed that women more than men like to work with children; still, statistically significant
differences (p<.05) were observed in views between males (M=2.69) and females (M=2.35).
Regarding the statement that men do not view teaching profession as attractive, the views
of the respondents varied greatly. Statistically significant differences (p<.05) were between
opinions of males (M=3.26) and females (M=3.01). The teachers were strongly convinced that
the profession does not seem to be attractive to men due to low wages (91.4% were positive)
and low occupational prestige (83.8% were positive). No statistically significant differences
were identified about these statements between the sample groups.
The respondents were asked to assess, how strongly teachers face various difficulties in
their work by using the assessment scale from 1 to 5, where 1 meant ‘do not face’ and 5 – ‘face
very much’ (Table 2).

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Table 2. Difficulties that teachers face in their work*, n=1773. 135
Statements M SD
1. Lack of respect from the students 3.395 1.109

2. Lack of respect from the parents 3.239 1.069
3. Lack of respect from the education policy makers 3.906 1.176
4. Parental distrust in teachers’ professionalism 3.119 1.041
5. Children’s permisiveness 3.961 1.142
6. Overly high societal demands towards teachers 3.624 1.076
7. Increased media interest in negative events in school life 3.872 1.189

8. Difficulties to reconcile work with family life due to the specifics of a profession 3.459 1.222
9. Overly strict control and supervision over teachers’ work 3.398 1.080
10. Public perplexity about the specifics of the teacher’s work 4.036 1.100
11. Stress, professional burnout 4.336 1.076
*Note: assessment scale 1 to 5, where 1means ‘do not face’ and 5 – ‘face very much’
Public perplexity about the specifics of a teaching profession, lack of respect from the
education policy makers, children’s permissiveness as well as stress and professional burnout
were assessed as the greatest difficulties in teachers’ work (Table 2). Statistically significant
differences (p<.05) were observed in a number of statements between various sample groups.
The teachers with longer work experience faced fewer problems with a respect from the
students: novice teachers – M=3.94; in-service experience 4 to10 years – M=3.68; in-service
experience 11 to 20 years – M=3.54; in-service experience over 20 years – M=3.26). Aso
children’s permissiveness was a bigger problem for less experienced teachers (novice teachers
– M=4.22; in-service experience over 20 years – M=3.92). In comparison to female teachers, the
male respondents faced fewer difficulties with overly high societal demands towards teachers
(females – M=3.64; males – M=3.34), overly strict control and supervision over teachers’ work
(females – M=3.41; males – M=3.12), and public perplexity about the specifics of the teacher’s
work (females – M=4.05; males – M=3.74). Parental distrust in teachers’ professionalism was
faced more by urban teachers (M=3.20) in comparison to rural teachers (M=3.05). Difficulties
to reconcile work with family life due to the specifics of a profession urban teachers faced more
than rural colleagues (urban teachers – M=3.53; rural teachers – M=3.41).
The problem of stress and professional burnout is indeed alarming in Latvian schools
as 62.9% of the respondents assessed it with 5, which means that they face this problem very
often. Females faced this problem more than males (females – M=4.35; males – M=4.06).
Responses on the open-ended question on what personal and professional qualities
an ideal teacher should have indicated, that the teachers set high demands and standards for
themselves and teaching profession in general. The most frequently mentioned qualities of an
‘ideal teacher’ are summarized in the Table 3, which shows how many times particular qualities
were mentioned by the respondents.

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136 Table 3. Qualities of an ideal teacher: opinions of the respondents, n=1773.
Qualities Frequency Qualities Frequency

Cleverness (including also wisdom, erudi-
494 Justice, fairness 100
tion, competence, exhaustiveness)
Creativity 401 Intelligentsia (including emotional) 92
Love (to children, to mankind, to teaching) 303 Peace and self-possession 85
Patience 228 Modernity 75
Tolerance 220 Consistency, strictness 73
Ability to raise an interest about the subject 192 Emphaty 73
Good communication skills with children,

174 Inquisitiveness 71
their parents and other people
Ability to understand children and their
162 Willingness to improve persistently 63
needs
Beeing socially active in school and in
Cordiality, benevolence 157 57
the society
Sense of humor 156 Humanity 53
Self-esteem and respect of children 156 Charisma 51
Skills to work with modern technolo-
Honesty 148 39
gies
Considerateness 141 Optimism 29
Flexibility and ability to adapt 135 Joy of living 28
Being positive in general and with positive
122 Courage 14
attitude towards children
Professionalism 110 Loyalty 13
Enthusiasm 107 Patriotism 9
Responsibility 104 Selflessness 7
The following cites give some insight on what qualities the teachers should have:
“Ability to be competent in the ongoing processes in Latvia and in the world, to understand
the regularities, to talk about them with pupils. Creativity, attractiveness, ability to communicate
effectively and constructively in a wide range of situations. Tolerance, ability to understand
psychological problems, help to find a solution to them. “
“Ability to adapt, willingness to improve and acquire new knowledge. Interest in modern
technologies and all that young people are interested in. Professional competence. Ability to put
the child’s interests and abilities higher than the curriculum.”
Some respondents, however, pointed out that there is no need to look for a teacher’s
ideal as there are no ideals: every teacher has strengths and weaknesses, and all teachers must
strive for professional improvements. Some commentaries comprised even sarcastic and ironic
teachers’ attitude towards general social-economic situation in Latvia and topicalities of the
educational policy within a context of recent teachers’ remuneration model:

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“Ideal teacher is able to train a student for a life and not just for fulfilling requirements of 137
an education standard.”
“To my opinion, we have to remember, that a teacher first of all is a person and only then
a teacher. The traits which are useful for a teacher as a professional may be harmful for him or
her as a person. For example, outstanding patience is an advantage in the work with children but
becomes a shortcoming when teachers must stand for their rights. This is why teachers experience
pressure from different sides: authorities, employers, parents, and children. In a result, teachers
lose their positions in society one by one; and a teacher suffers as a person, and this also happens
with a teachers’ occupational prestige.”
Among particular qualities, few respondents emphasized that teachers should not have
a family as they have no time for their private life and children because of enormous workload
at school, for example:
“Outstanding cooperation with students, parents, and colleagues. Not married, without
children; sacrifices his or her life for school.”
Realizing that the occupational prestige of a teaching profession in Latvia is not high,
it is important to understand how to improve it; therefore, respondents were asked to express
their views on what would increase the prestige of the teaching profession. In general, all the
factors included in the survey to be assessed were recognized as likely important to increase the
prestige of the teaching profession. The following factors received the greatest support from
the respondents:
- more positive information on schools and teaching in the media;
- improved and higher remuneration for the teacher’s work;
- less control and supervision of the teacher’s work;
- less workload of the teacher;
- improved education system;
- higher social guarantees for teachers.
Based on the research results, the authors propose some recommendations to schools,
mass media, municipalities and education policy makers. First of all, society needs to be more
informed about the teacher’s responsibilities to understand the specificity of the profession
today. Also, more respectful attitude of politicians, parents, and children towards teachers should
be increased. This could be reached if, for example, mass media constructed positive narratives
and reflected positive examples of school life, instead of focusing mostly on problematic
topics. A celebration of the Teachers’ Day in the municipalities and the rejuvenation of the best
teachers should be encouraged. The respondents encourage municipalities to post information
highlighting achievements of teachers and learners, including challenges on their websites and
local newspapers. Schools in cooperation with municipalities should provide teaching staff
with the in-service courses on self-esteem, self-motivation, and leadership. The issue of pupils’
discipline has to be addressed. The school’s internal rules and cooperation with the family,
the adequacy of the support staff and professionalism, the work of the social service in the
municipality should be assessed and improved. All respective parties should be more aware and
involved in problem solving. This means improved communication with educators about the
rights and behaviour of children, and explanation the role and rights of a teacher.
Discussion
Regarding the prestige of the teaching profession, the results of the LIZDA survey in
2016 demonstrate some similarities with previous studies conducted both in Latvia and abroad.
For example, Geske and Ozola in their article refer to the international study TALIS 2013 in

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138 order to characterise satisfaction of the teachers with their work and opinions about occupational
prestige (Geske & Ozola, 2015). They concluded that teacher profession has low prestige in
Latvian society and data revealed that more than three fourths of teachers believed that their
profession is not respected in society (Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 193). In the LIZDA survey, most
of the respondents (80.3 %), which is more than in TALIS 2013 research, believed that their
occupational prestige is not high in Latvia. Similarly to the study conducted in 2007 by Misāne
and her colleagues, who concluded that the occupational prestige of teachers has decreased
(Misāne et al., 2007, p. 59), respondents also in LIZDA survey supported the statement that
previously in Latvia the occupational prestige of their profession was higher (55.7 % strongly
agreed and 30.9% slightly agreed with this statement).
In the LIZDA survey, the respondents believed that the status of teachers is the most
likely similar to that of a social worker, a nurse, a policeman, a doctor, or a shop-assistant. In
Latvia, these are professions that are relatively low-paid and with a high workload. Similar
results are presented in studies from other countries. Studies conducted in other countries (e.g.
Hall & Langton, 2006; Hargreaves, 2009) showed the trend that teachers are more critical in
their opinions about occupational prestige of their profession than other social groups. For
example, in public surveys conducted in England in 2003 and 2006, citizens were asked to
compare the teachers’ prestige with that of other 12 occupations (Hargreaves et al., 2007). The
comparison of the primary and secondary school teachers with the social worker was the most
favourable, and this choice was largely based on the argument that both professions work with
children and young people (Hargreaves et al., 2007, p. 4).
In Latvia, problem of low pupils’ performance is emphasized in current political
discussions in relation to educational reforms and optimization of school network especially in
rural areas. Geske and Ozola also emphasized an interrelation between students’ performance
and occupational prestige of the teachers in the country, and in Latvia students’ performance
is considered as corresponding to the occupational prestige of teachers: both parameters are
a little bit below an international average value (Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 194). The authors
concluded that in comparison with colleagues of other school types, teachers of professional
subjects in vocational schools are more positive about their occupational prestige in society
(Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 207). Some similarities with this conclusion can be observed also in
the LIZDA survey.
In Romania, Frunzaru and Dumitriu in their research concluded that the lower the
level of satisfaction of the teaching stuff with three types of organizational aspects (material
conditions, bureaucracy and relational), the lower the level of self-perceived occupational
prestige (Frunzaru & Dumitriu, 2015, p. 640-641). The TALIS 2013 study concluded that
teachers in Latvia were on average more satisfied with their work environment and profession
compared to the rest of the TALIS 2013 survey member states (Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 194).
Teachers’ satisfaction with work is most influenced by the positive and democratic school
culture - teacher-to-teacher relationships, teacher-pupil relationships, and teacher-school
principal relationships (Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 206). References from their school principal
and their reception enhance teachers’ satisfaction with the work environment. The teachers’
well-being is influenced by relationships with school leadership (Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 206).
In general, teachers’ satisfaction with work is largely determined by the activity of teachers
themselves at school. Teachers are generally satisfied with their work and admit that they like
to work in their workplace; however, about one in ten teachers regret their profession choices
(Geske & Ozola, 2015, p. 206).
Discussions on what teacher needs to be to respond on contemporary societal needs
and changes are crucial, even few respondents in the LIZDA survey rejected the idea of
seeking ‘ideal teacher’ and/or ideals. The roles of a teacher to some extent changes today,
society expects that teachers will be ‘modern’, they will fulfil different roles in smaller rural

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communities in comparison to big cities (e.g. Arnon & Nirit, 2007; Rusu et al., 2012; Smak & 139
Walczak, 2017; Telli et al., 2008). In 2007, in a study conducted in Latvia on the possibilities
to increase the prestige of the teaching profession, recommendations were already made that
could be implemented by various stakeholders (Misāne et al, 2007). It should be acknowledged
that the recommendations have not lost their relevance even ten years later, and many have
not been implemented so far or their implementation has been incomplete. Similarly to other
researches, for example, carried out in Poland (Smak & Walczak, 2017), also in Latvian case it
is important to develop positive image of teaching profession in wider community, mass media,
local municipalities.
Conclusions
The results of the LIZDA survey confirmed that teachers view their occupational
prestige in Latvia as low and believe that in other European countries it is much higher.
Teachers do not feel adequately assessed according to their contribution, and this is not only a
question of financial remuneration. In general, desired positive assessment of teachers’ work
involves also societal recognition and respect. From a system perspective, more positive and
supportive attitude towards education system and teachers is expected also from the politicians
and the line ministry. The respondents agreed that excellent teachers’ work is not adequately
rewarded. Meanwhile great part of the respondents believed that teachers themselves should
be responsible for forming positive image of their profession and should communicate with
society more actively in order to explain the specificity of a profession as well as challenges it
faces in present conditions.
In general, in their everyday school life teachers feel frustrated, overloaded and over-
controlled from different sides, which are perceived as serious threat to their professional
autonomy and freedom. On the one hand, they believe that teachers are authorities and opinion
leaders also outside school capable to shape societal value system (which indicates positive
aspects of occupational prestige), but on the other hand – the survey results display the lack of
professional self-confidence. Although the concept of an ‘ideal teacher’ was slightly criticised
by the respondents, still their answers envisage that teachers have high professional demands
and standards towards themselves. They admit that teachers should have ability to adapt, which
is often challenging, in order to respond to contemporary societal and technological changes.
Future research should be done to explore public opinion on teachers’ occupational
prestige. This would allow comparing opinions from different sides, as occupational prestige is
a societal recognition formed by teachers themselves, children they teach, parents, politicians
as well as other stakeholders.

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UNESCO (2006). Teachers and educational quality: Monitoring global needs for 2015. UNESCO 141
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Received: November 23, 2018 Accepted: January 22, 2019
Līga Paula Dr.sc.soc., Assistant Professor, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies,
Liela street 2, Jelgava, LV-3001 Latvia.
E-mail: Liga.Paula@llu.lv
Website: https://llu.lv
Ilze Priževoite Mg.oec., Vice-president, Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees,
Bruninieku street 29/31, Riga, LV-1001 Latvia.
E-mail: ilze.prizevoite@lizda.lv
Website: https://www.lizda.lv

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142
THE FIELD OF WORK OF THE SCHOOL
ART THERAPIST AND ITS UNIQUE
POTENTIAL FOR THE SCHOOL’S
SUPPORT TEAM
Marika Ratnik, Eha Rüütel
Tallinn University, Estonia
E-mail: marika.ratnik@mail.ee, eha@tlu.ee
Abstract
Qualitative research was carried out to examine the first experiences of the implementation of art therapy
in Estonian schools. The aim was to ascertain the facets of the activities of the school art therapists and
the potential of art therapy in the work of a school’s support team.
Within the framework of the research, art therapists and management staff from four general‑education
schools were interviewed. The work foci and specifics of the art therapist’s work were described on
this basis, and the potential of school art therapy in reaching educational goals was highlighted. The
interviewees characterised the work of a school art therapist in terms of the artistic and creative nature
of art therapy, the co-operation-based supportive therapeutic relationship; the variability of the forms of
work; and the mitigating, relaxing, and school-adaptation-supporting effect of art therapy. Management
staff indicated that the art therapist enriches the work of the school’s support system, as creativity-based
methods make the strengths and development potential of students more visible, it is possible to choose
from among various specialists to help children, and art therapy can be applied as a primary preventive
intervention.
Keywords: school art therapy, artistic expression, art therapeutic relationship, content of school art
therapy.
Introduction
The Estonian Education System and Art Therapy
Estonia’s Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act 2010 stipulates the principle
of inclusive education (§6, para. 1). The concept of learning endorsed in it emphasises learner-
centredness, respect for students’ autonomy, knowledge of the subjective world of the child,
support for healthy relationships and learning-related motivation, competence-based learning,
and a constructivist approach to teaching (Kikas, 2017; Timoštšuk, 2017). Since 2014, schools
have begun to employ art therapists, whom the Estonian Qualifications Authority (2014) defines
as specialists in psychotherapeutic treatment and rehabilitation. In their work, art therapists
purposefully use creative self-expression based on non-verbal and visual art. At the core of art
therapy is a triangular therapeutic relationship: therapist–client–art.
The figures and symbols of artwork help the children to formulate their thoughts and
feelings. Patterson and Hayne (2011) and Driessnack (2005) confirmed with their studies that
when children were able to draw while talking about their experience, more information came
to light. Woolford, Patterson, Macleod, Hobbs, and Hayne (2015) asked 33 children aged 5–12
years whether they would prefer only to talk about their mental-health problem or instead also

Marika RATNIK, Eha RÜÜTEL. The field of work of the school art therapist and its unique potential for the school’s support team
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draw at the same time. It turned out that 55% of the children favoured drawing while talking. 143
After speaking about their health problems in the manner they preferred, the children were
asked again about their preferences, and 47% of the ones who were drawing and talking and
62% of those who were just talking replied that they would choose drawing.
In the Estonian education system, the benefits of artistic activities are understood and
valued. The description of art subjects in the National Curriculum for Basic Schools (2011,
Annex 6) characterises art as an emotionally oriented and balancing activity. The curriculum
highlights the development of students’ emotional world, figurative thinking, and creative
problem-solving skills through artistic activities. The benefits of working through art are
particularly evident for children whose verbal self-expression is hindered or restricted for any
of various reasons. Self-expression via creation does not depend on verbal-expression abilities
or courage to exercise these; rather, it gives the child a second, alternative way and channel of
communication (Rubin, 2005).
In the academic literature, one finds numerous examples of the development of
learning skills of children with special needs and their involvement in learning by means of
artistic expression (Anderson, 2015; Stepney, 2010). Teaching methods based on visual arts
have been used to develop various cognitive skills, such as spatial layout, classification, and
ordering skills. Art-based activities can support children’s memory processes and conceptual
thinking (Ottarsdottir, 2018; Silver, 2007). Drawing and painting various lines and shapes and
incorporating letters and numbers into their work can support children’s fine motor skills and
penmanship. In addition, these activities have been used to develop children’s reading skills
and text comprehension (Ottarsdottir, 2010; Richards, 2003). This creates solid conditions for
integrating art therapy with a school’s support services and for implementing school art‑therapy
options to support students’ academic motivation and abilities.
In Estonia, students with special educational needs generally study at the school of their
place of residence, and their participation in learning is supported by various support measures.
Educational materials are made more adaptive through visualisation and a playful approach.
Learning aids, individualised curricula, and special classes are used as well. In a survey
conducted by the Estonian Centre for Applied Research, 25,800 children were determined
to have special education needs in 2014, whereas 137,236 primary-school students obtained
general education in the 2014–2015 academic year (“HaridusSilm,” n.d.). The most common
problems were numeracy, reading, and writing difficulties; activity and attention disorders;
and permanent psychological special needs (Räis, Kallaste, & Sandre, 2016). Students’
participation in learning must be supported by schools’ support specialists – a psychologist,
social pedagogue, special-education teacher, and speech therapist. They work with students and
also advise teachers and parents. Art therapists have not yet been added to this list, defined by
the Ministry of Education and Research, as theirs is a new and developing support service in
Estonia. However, the need for it is clear, as 40–60% of schools have problems with access to
school-based support services (Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia, 2017).
Studies of the Effects and Application of School Art Therapy
According to Moriya (2000), the most general objective of school art therapy is to support
students’ learning potential. Describing the results of the art-therapy programme she ran at New
York’s Wiltwyck School for Boys in 1949–1956, one the first art therapists in a school setting
highlighted the kinaesthetic element of art therapy as a value that helps to reduce students’
tension, relieve stress, and redirect energy that might otherwise be used in an unacceptable way
(Kramer, 1979). Other art therapists who have worked with children (Shore, 2013; Stepney,
2010) point out that the artistic expression process provides children with experience of self-
control and success. The playfulness of artistic activities supports psychological, emotional,

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144 and social development during childhood (Rubin, 2005). Also, in the process of creating art,
teenagers can experience independence in finding suitable creative solutions and using personal
or age-specific symbols and metaphors (Riley, 1999). Group art therapy can support students’
co-operation skills, their senses of unity and belonging, and various relationships in the
school environment (Cortina & Fazel, 2015; Nigmatullina & Gerasimenko, 2016; Sutherland,
Waldman, & Collins, 2010).
The application of art therapy in schools in numerous countries has yielded a good
practice-based overview. However, there remains a lack of high-quality research. McDonald
and Drey (2018) analysed the studies of school art therapy published in the United Kingdom,
the United States, Iran, and Israel in 1993–2013 and found that only four of them were qualified
in terms of research design. From these, it could nonetheless be concluded that the art therapy
implemented in the relevant schools was useful in alleviating behavioural problems, anxiety
disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and learning difficulties.
Proceeding from interviews with students, their parents, teachers, and art therapists,
Deboys, Holttum, and Wright (2016) have presented a model of school art therapy that
emphasises the systematic nature of art therapy. The objectives of the child, parents, and school
are taken into account jointly, and feedback is given to all parties on the findings from the
therapy process. These researchers saw the core of art therapy as resting in its individual‑based
approach and child-centredness. Interviews with students revealed that participation in art
therapy was deemed safe, making them happier and more confident. Also, the nature of art
therapy as a form that supports playfulness and expressing feelings was valued. Deboys et
al. pointed out in the recommendations based on their research findings that the therapeutic
experience must always be enjoyable for the child.
The impact of art therapy on students’ mental-health problems was highlighted in Cortina
and Fazel’s study (2015) in which about a thousand 5–16-year-old students participated in art
therapy to support remaining in school. Before and after the intervention, 169 of these students
were evaluated by the teachers in line with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
instrument. The teachers estimated that these students’ emotional, relationship, and behaviour
problems and their hyperactivity were reduced, and their behaviour became more prosocial:
60 students matched the description for the relevant clinical psychiatric diagnosis before the
intervention and 35 after the intervention. Also, before and after the intervention, 55 students
evaluated their mood and feelings via the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (sMFQ). Before
the intervention, 22% of students displayed the symptoms of depression, and 4% showed the
symptoms after the intervention.
In Israel, Keinan, Snir, and Regev (2016) conducted research on classroom teachers’
views on the benefits of art therapy. The 15 teachers participating in the research, all of whose
students had participated in long-term art therapy, considered this therapy to be necessary in the
school environment because the views of and co-operation with professionals in multiple fields
help one understand students, and offering the service in school renders it accessible to those
who would otherwise not be able to receive it. The teachers appreciated that art therapy allows
students to distance themselves from situations wherein the need for achievement comes first
and that it aids in revealing various abilities and talents of students that might not be evident in
the context of traditional teaching. The environment of art therapy was seen as a safe setting for
portraying and talking about feelings and for teaching life skills. It was specifically mentioned
that art therapists can advise teachers on the integration of art‑therapy techniques into classes.
Another group of Israeli researchers, Regev, Orlovich, and Snir (2015), involved 15
school art therapists in efforts to examine which aspects of the work of an art therapist needed
improvement. The therapists noted a need to increase the awareness of school staff about
the duties of the therapist and about the art-therapy process. In addition, issues with the co-
operation among the various parties (ensuring privacy for students, differences in perceptions

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between therapists and teachers about the situations and students, etc.), unrealistic expectations 145
of teachers for the effectiveness of art therapy, and problems with the provision of suitable
spaces and resources at the school were highlighted as bottlenecks for school art therapy.
Duties of the School Art Therapist
Describing and studying the content of the work of school art therapists has been a focus
of interest at various points in time. The following descriptions of the work done by a school
art therapist are based on the ‘work levels’ of the art therapist as presented by Bush (1997),
supplemented by materials from Randick and Dermer (2013), Glassman and Prasad (2013), and
Gonzalez-Dolginko (2008) on the facets of a school art therapist’s work.
Intervention:
• One-on-one and group interventions to support the participation of students in
learning processes (to alleviate academic difficulties and mental-health problems)
and to solve students’ learning- and adaptation-related problems (Bush, 1997;
Glassman & Prasad, 2013; Gonzalez-Dolginko, 2008; Randick & Dermer, 2013)
• Preventive art-therapy programmes targeted for all students, to support a positive
school climate and participation in learning processes (Randick & Dermer, 2013),
alongside students’ cognitive, emotional, and professional development (Glassman
& Prasad, 2013)
• Social-skills lessons – related to the curriculum or based on student-specific
factors – that support social and personal development, positive attitudes to school,
self‑management, and career development (Bush, 1997; Randick & Dermer, 2013)
• Integration of art-based activities into subject-focused lessons, along with
participation in individualised curriculum development (Glassman & Prasad, 2013;
Gonzalez‑Dolginko, 2008)
• Collaboration with parents; teachers; and, where appropriate, institutions outside the
school (Glassman & Prasad, 2013; Gonzalez-Dolginko, 2008; Randick & Dermer,
2013)
Evaluation and research:
• Evaluation of the performance of art therapy in relation to individual-level and
group‑based interventions and to personal- and social-skills development in lessons
(Glassman & Prasad, 2013; Randick & Dermer, 2013)
• Use of reliable art-based assessment techniques in co-operation with parents and
teachers, in order to assess the cognitive and personal development and academic
strengths and weaknesses of students for ensuring the best support for educational
interventions, coupled with participation in evaluation of the reaching of the goals
specified in individual-specific curricula (Bush, 1997; Glassman & Prasad, 2013;
Gonzalez-Dolginko, 2008; Randick & Dermer, 2013)
• Carrying out of studies to evaluate the effectiveness of school programmes and
services in terms of students’ academic success and behaviour, for enhancing the
creation of new knowledge to support students’ learning and good behaviour (Bush,
1997)
Consultation:
• Advising of parents, teachers, and other support specialists on issues related to
students’ development, learning, social skills, and behaviour, combined with
implementation of art-based activities (Bush, 1997; Glassman & Prasad, 2013;
Randick & Dermer, 2013)

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146 Training:
• Organisation of training for teachers and school staff to teach art-based activities as
part of the learning process of students with special needs, for informal assessment,
and for understanding the relationship between the cognitive and emotional
development of students and artistic expression (Bush, 1997; Glassman & Prasad,
2013)
• Arrangement of workshops for teachers and school staff to support team cohesiveness
and positive self-expression of teachers (Randick & Dermer, 2013)
• Clarification of the work specifics of an art therapist, including how this occupation
differs from that of a school counsellor or an art teacher, others who use art in their
work (Randick & Dermer, 2013)
• Supervision of art-therapy university students who do their internship in a school
(Glassman & Prasad, 2013; Gonzalez-Dolginko, 2008)
Although studies attest to the appropriateness and benefits of art therapy in supporting
the development and mental health of children, of different age groups, bringing art therapy
to the school environment requires consistency in the setting of educational and therapeutic
goals. Wengrower (2001) has described this as finding a common ground between two cultures
– educational and therapeutic – on the basis of the needs of the student. The research reported
upon here was focused on school art therapists, who shape and create the content of this new
support service. The aim for the research was to find out how school art therapists support the
reaching of educational goals through therapeutic activities.
On this basis, two research questions were formulated:

1) What are the specifics of the work of art therapists?
2) What is the potential of art therapy in achieving educational goals?
General Background
There are still few art therapists working in Estonian schools, and art therapy is a new
support service for schools. Therefore, a qualitative approach was chosen to explore school art
therapy in Estonia, to afford more detailed description and in-depth understanding of school
art therapy through the lens of the experiences of art therapists and school managerial staff.
For collecting information about the work of the art therapists, work analysis (Landis, Fogli, &
Goldberg, 1998) was carried out in January–March 2018. This method is one of the most widely
used instruments that characterise occupations, and it is well suited to describing the tasks,
work conditions, work specifics, key work results, and areas for improvement.
The Sample and Its Selection
The research included every art therapist working in a school setting in Estonia: five art
therapists, at four schools, with 1–4 years of work experience in a school setting. The therapists
were between 26 and 44 years of age.
There were four types of schools at which the art therapists worked: 1) ordinary school,
where simplified and coping- and care-related teaching are provided; 2) school for children
with learning difficulties; 3) school for children with affective and behavioural disorders;
and 4) school for children with education-related special needs, at which simplified teaching
is provided. For the most part, the art therapists worked with children aged 7–12. All of the
therapists belonged to the support teams of schools, the composition of which depended on
the school’s peculiarities and needs. At the schools, other specialists on the support team were

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school psychologists, social pedagogues, special pedagogues, speech therapists, and social 147
workers. All art therapists had a dedicated room and the opportunity to use various methods of
art in the work. At the time of the research, the therapists were submitting reports about their
work 1–2 times per academic year.
The research also included managers at the schools (n = 7): three heads of studies, two
directors, one head of social services / social pedagogue, and one lead social worker.
The Research Procedure and Ethics Aspects
The work analysis for the art therapists was divided into two parts, to address 1) the
specifics of the school art therapists’ work and 2) the potential of art therapy for reaching
educational goals.
At the outset, five art therapists were sent a questionnaire via e-mail, which allowed
gathering information about their work tasks, work loads, reporting, the target groups, and work
arrangements. The information obtained in the survey was used to develop a protocol for semi-
structured interviews. Personal interviews were conducted with three of the therapists, and a
small-group interview was carried out with the two therapists who worked at the same school.
The interview duration was 1–1.5 hours. The analysis presented here addresses the interview
topics specifically related to the school setting: the art therapist’s target group and work tasks
at the school, along with the experiential evaluation of work performance – benefits for the
children and teachers.
To ensure the reliability of data analysis and assure that the contents of the interviews
were interpreted correctly, feedback was sought from the art therapists. Then, a focus-group
interview was conducted, in which four of the art therapists participated. The objective for
the focus-group interview was to specify the distinct aspects of the work of art therapists and
the difference from other support specialists’ work. Participants in this interview shared their
experiences and discussed their perspectives. This aided in reaching consensus, which could not
have been achieved with one-on-one interviews (Wilkinson, 2004). The focus-group interview
was recorded and transcribed. In line with the information collected, the art therapist’s work
description was specified, and an expanded version was sent out for further feedback. All five
therapists sent their comments via e-mail.
In unstructured interviews with the managerial staff of the schools, the interviewee was
asked to describe in free form how the relevant school had implemented art therapy and what
results had been observed.
Participation in the research was voluntary. Oral consent was received for recording the
interviews. Best-practice principles of confidentiality have been followed in the processing
and presentation of the data. The interviewees were assigned code tags, in which ‘T’ signifies a
therapist and ‘J’ a person who belongs to a school’s management staff. In the extracts presented
below, the language has been streamlined slightly and mildly adjusted for clarity, without
changes to the content or key characteristics.
Data Analysis
All interviews were recorded with a voice recorder, and the recordings were transcribed.
The text was analysed by means of qualitative content analysis (Laherand, 2008), wherein the
text was first broken into meaningful units (such as paragraphs) via open coding, which led to a
better understanding of the empirical material. The codes that meshed with each other in terms
of content were grouped into categories, which were then organised into main themes by means
of axial coding. Also, quantitative analysis was conducted for the categories, to determine
the number of art therapists and the number of school managerial staff who had mentioned a
particular category in their interview.

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148 Research Results
All art therapists who participated in the survey are part of support teams at schools.
A child is usually assigned to art therapy via decisions made jointly by teachers and support
specialists. The target groups with whom the therapists work depend on the specifics of the
schools: schoolchildren with learning difficulties in mainstream and small classes, children with
affective and behavioural disorders, children with adaptation difficulties, and children taking
part in a simplified study programme.
The Facets of the School Art Therapists’ Work
Six items were found to characterise the specifics of the work of an art therapist in
an Estonian school. These are discussed below, as highlighted in the interviews with the art
therapists and managers, and Table 1 presents the numeric breakdown for art therapists and
school managerial staff who mentioned them in their interviews.
Table 1. Interviewee-specified aspects of an art therapist’s activities.
Art therapists Management staff

Aspects of art therapy All interviewees
(n = 5) (n = 7)
Activity and creation-based work 5 7 12
Various forms of work 4 7 11
Therapeutic lessons 4 5 9
A grounding and calming effect 5 4 9
The therapeutic relationship 5 2 7
Supporting adaptation 7 7
To characterise the categories, the opinions of art therapists have been grouped together
to form general descriptions, while subject-related quotes have been taken from the interviews
with managerial staff.
The most important category turned out to be focusing on action. Illustrative comments
by two managers at the schools are presented below:
I think that it is significantly different from the work of a school psychologist. Art therapy is a
practical job; it helps to develop social skills. A psychologist talks, listens, and does not too many
practical things, maybe tests, games. In art therapy, the children give more of themselves through
actions. (J4)
Our children have [erected] many protective barriers. Sometimes I cannot approach them myself,
but in a creative situation they forget about these barriers and [so] a child is more visible. (J3)
The second activity element highlighted by both art therapists and managers, of almost
equal importance to the first, is the so-called therapeutic lessons. These are therapeutic activities
integrated into the timetable. Specific practices differed by school: art-therapy activities once
a week for children with a simplified study programme; art-therapeutic social‑skills lessons
in small classes (for instance, once a week in place of an art class) or in year 1 to develop
communication and behaviour skills; and/or support lessons that are part of the set timetable,
the objective of which is to enable a grounding and calming environment for the children in
the form of a creative activity during the school day. The managerial staff saw the benefits of

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therapeutic lessons as lying in integrating the children into the school, teaching them skills, and 149
providing activities that ground and regulate the stress of the school day.
The teachers say that the children’s belief in their own abilities increases if they see that they can
cope in this lesson. This also gives them greater self-confidence: maybe they could also cope with
mathematics. Supports the children a lot. The teachers are satisfied. (J4)
It helps to normalise the relationships a lot. An art therapist uses these activities to teach children
how to cope with relationships between themselves. It seems to me that children like to attend
these lessons. (J5)
Art therapists highlighted two features more than the managerial staff did. Firstly, they
cited the grounding and calming effect of art therapy, which the art therapist finds to be
created by the students taking the active role in decisions on which tools and activities to use
and being allowed to rely on their strengths. This gives them a sense of control and safety when
expressing their feelings. A manager made the following comment:
My expectation for an art therapist has definitely been – and the therapist has met this expectation
– that the child becomes free of tension. In addition, they learn how to fix relationships and
acquire social roles and can ground their anxiety themselves. And art therapy is very useful as
such a regulator. (J5)
The second feature was the therapeutic relationship inherent to art therapy. This often
remains the personal experience of the participants in the therapy and goes unnoticed by others,
so it was mentioned mainly in the interviews with the art therapists. The therapists mentioned
that the basis of a therapeutic relationship is a focus on the child’s needs and strengths. Taking
those needs into consideration is supported by an activity-based approach and assigning the
students the expert role when targeting the therapy and when choosing its means and activities.
The variability of art therapy enables highlighting each child’s strengths. One of the managers
characterised art therapy thus:
It is still based on deep human contact. If anything helps at all, then it would be understanding,
good, warm human contact with another person. Usually, a child who ends up in therapy has not
experienced this a lot. (J1)
The various forms of work were given great weight by both art therapists and the
managers. The art therapists highlighted that their work allows great variability thanks to
their versatile tools and methods of work. Usually art therapy is conducted one-to-one,
but art therapists are trained to work with groups (such as a class), dyads (two children or
teacher+child), or an open-studio-format group (an open creative group) as well. Group work is
used principally with a proactive orientation, to support the well-being of the children and their
adaptation to school and to learning skills.
All of the managers highlighted the personalised approach, which is essential for these
students, the helping of whom requires therapy (e.g., for attachment disorder, dysfunctional
family relationships, traumas, depression, anxiety, or adaptation difficulties) and who would
otherwise not be admitted to psychotherapy at all.
Somewhere from year 7, when children’s self-image sharpens significantly, it is especially

necessary that someone hold their hand and not talk about homework; that is not primary. Then
we shall provide art therapy. Some of the students have taken medicine for years and say that it
does not get better – they cannot control their impulses. Art therapy offers them the possibility of
being successful. (J1)
One member of school managerial staff noted that an art therapist can work with
many kinds of children:

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150 These are children who think differently. Small children or children with low intellectual capacity,
who cannot analyse their problems with a psychologist and for whom that would not help. Then
we have agreed with the parents that we would assign the child to art therapy. The children can
express themselves and then talk as long as they need to. They can talk in the way they feel, think,
understand. (J7)
It is interesting that only the managerial staff of the schools mentioned supporting
adaptation to school as a specific feature of art therapy in schools. Art therapy in the school
setting was cited as helping children who had learning difficulties and behavioural and affective
disorders but also first-year students in mainstream schools. It was stated that the target group
of art therapy consists mostly of students whose motivation to attend school is low and who
require motivational success experiences to be part of their studies and of children who, because
of their mental-health issues, require gradual adaptation to school.
Art therapy is important as a motivator for going to school. There is a huge difference [between]
when you are in a maths class or a practice lesson and nothing goes right [and when] you are with
an art therapist, do something creative, and receive positive feedback. It is a good motivator. For
many children who do not want to attend school, we use art therapy as a motivator. (J5)
Helping children who need special support is complicated. Sometimes when you don’t know how
to help them, art therapy is one possibility for finding the child something to do. If they cannot
participate in the learning because of their problems and health condition, then maybe they
connect with art therapy and thus be more connected to school. (J4)
If a new child comes to school, it is better if they are first empowered with soft measures. For
instance, recently two children came who first started going to art therapy and once this worked,
we taught them how to go for lunch, etc. (J1)
The Potential of Art Therapy for Reaching Educational Goals
All the managerial staff found that the specifics of the work of an art therapist
enrich the work of the support system by allowing one to obtain additional information.
Through exploiting creativity-based activities, it is possible to detect certain learning- and
behaviour‑related strengths of children and aspects that need development, which may not be
apparent with verbal work methods or tests.
If a classroom teacher needs support for some children, then an art therapist is a useful co-worker
for a school psychologist. They can share information, discuss things, think about some things
together. (J1)
As the art therapist is a member of our team, their therapy sessions are instructive and give us
good information on how to cope with the child. The art therapist can instruct the rest of us. (J2)
Five managerial staff members prioritised being able to choose from among several
types of specialists (on the personal level, on the basis of their methods, and/or in accordance
with the child’s specific problems).
We have sensitive girls whose families have had problems [and] if they do not want to discuss
them with a psychologist, we use art therapy. (J7)
Four of the managers stated that art therapy should be implemented as the primary
preventive approach. For instance, in one school an art therapist monitored the lessons in the
first-year classes to find out whether there were any children with adaptation issues or other
difficulties. Art therapy was used to support coping with difficulties, and, if this was required,
the child was later sent to the psychologist.
In another school, the first-year timetable included a lesson wherein skills stemming
from art therapy were taught. These skills were chosen on the basis of the observations made
by the teachers and the therapist.

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The early intervention. If you notice that something is wrong, then the art therapist shall first 151
intervene to relieve tension, find out the student’s problem, and only then is it possible to start
helping purposefully. (J2)
The art therapist has organised very nice family mornings for the first-years. It connects them. The
classroom teacher does it differently, and the art therapist too uses a unique approach. I have high
expectations for art therapy. (J4)
In the interviews, the art therapists’ enthusiasm for their work and their desire to contribute
to supporting the school’s well-being and the coping of the children shone through, as did the
openness of the school’s managerial staff to the work methods employed in art therapy.
This research highlighted the following areas of development potential for art therapy in
schools: enquiry from children’s and parents’ perspective alike; complementing the evaluation
methods in co-operation with a school psychologist; the introduction of art therapy in schools
and in the local community; the actualisation of art therapists’ potential in the training of
teachers, to raise awareness of how to use simple art-based inclusion, teaching, and emotion-
management activities in classes and within individual curricula; and study of the effects of art
therapy in schools.
Discussion
The research focused on the specifics of the work, role, and facets of the activities of an
art therapist in a school. The art therapist differs from the other support specialist at a school
by using work methods that are based on creative activities. Under the therapist’s guidance,
activities with interesting artistic tools create a therapeutic space – a predictable and safe
environment – for the children, which reduces students’ anxiety, improves their internal and
external ability to organise and control themselves, and supports their adaptation to school.
In its essence, art therapy can be considered a constructivist approach to learning because
of its experiential, hands-on way of working with art materials – new knowledge is acquired
by engaging in art and giving a personal meaning to the creative process and the art product.
Art therapy also supports the student’s autonomy and competence-based teaching. These are
the educational features that are at the focus of the emerging concept of learning (Kikas, 2017).
The creative process is based on the children’s initiative and strengths with regard to the art
materials and techniques that they wish to use. The creative process evokes self-reflection
in which the child describes his or her thoughts, feelings, experiences, and new knowledge
related to the artwork and the links to day-to-day or school life. The variability of art therapy
lets one take into account the children’s individual peculiarities. Moreover, art therapists can
help teachers with art-based work methods that enable using an active approach that would
better motivate students both in mainstream classes and in the individualised approach used for
students with special needs.
In light of the research presented here, it seems important to stress that art therapists
working in schools but also school managerial staff prioritised the possibilities and efficiency of
art therapy, which have been cited in earlier articles on school art therapy and the performance of
children’s art therapy. For instance, the potential of art therapy to alleviate children’s emotional
tensions and to support positive behaviour and school relationships has been described by
Cortina and Fazel (2015), Kramer (1979), and Sutherland et al. (2010).
All the art therapists and managers stated that the creation- and action-based essence of art
therapy in schools is vital because of the artistic self-expression. As Rubin (2005) has stressed,
it depends neither on the child’s verbal self-expression ability nor on the child’s readiness.
The therapist sees the child’s needs, peculiarities, and strengths at the level of communicative,
behavioural, and cognitive functions when working with art tools. When this information is
shared confidentially with teachers and other support specialists, it is possible to together plan
the (support) activities needed to achieve the educational objectives for the children.
Both art therapists and managerial staff highlighted therapeutic lessons’ potential to teach
social skills, support a positive classroom environment, and relieve the tensions of the school

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152 day. The value of therapeutic lessons conducted by school art therapists has been highlighted
already by Gonzalez-Dolginko (2008) and by Randick and Dermer (2013). In traditional
teaching, the focus is on an approach that, while it does consider the children’s needs, is also tied
to rules and instructions laid down by the teacher. In an art-therapy session, the therapist is more
like a companion acting in co-operation with the children, someone who provides opportunities
to make choices safely in creative self-exploration processes and in the process of creating
meanings and knowledge. Both the teacher and the school art therapist, with their profession-
specific methods, contribute to supporting the students’ development and their well-being in
line with their needs (Wengrower, 2001).
All of the management members prioritised art therapy as a means to support adaptation
to school. The positive impact of group art therapy on this adaptation has been described in
research by Sutherland et al. (2010) and Nigmatullina and Gerasimenko (2016). In the research
reported upon here, the main form of intervention used by the art therapists interviewed was
one-on-one art therapy, so it is worth noting that implementing group activities may yield
additional benefits that support adaptation to school.
Figure 1 illustrates the various facets of work and forms of intervention of an art therapist
in a school. The figure draws on the model introduced in the theory-oriented part of the paper,
reflecting the descriptions of a school art therapist’s activities offered by Bush (1997), Glassman
and Prasad (2013), Gonzalez-Dolginko (2008), and Randick and Dermer (2013).
Figure 1. The facets of the work of art therapists in schools.
While the research included quite different schools, the content of the school art
therapists’ work enabled compilation of a generalising model of the facets of the work and the
forms of intervention. Through the core work activities of school art therapists – intervention,
assessment, consulting, and training – these professionals contribute to the teaching processes
by taking into account the health, perceptual and thought processes, interests, and accumulated
experiences of the children involved, which are stressed by Estonia’s Basic Schools and Upper
Secondary Schools Act 2010. The managerial staff interviewed saw bringing an art therapist
into the school’s support team as an additional opportunity for finding the most appropriate
specialist for each child in keeping with that child’s particular needs. This emphasis is echoed
in the modern concept of learning, in which it is deemed crucial to implement multiple in-

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school methods of supporting students’ autonomy, school relationships, and learning-related 153
motivation (Timoštšuk, 2017). Furthermore, ascertaining the children’s skills and competencies,
emphasised by Kikas (2017), is aided by the art therapist’s assessment and monitoring of the
therapy process.
When one compares school art-therapy development tasks with what was found in Israel
(Regev et al., 2015), where art therapists had been working in schools for about eight years
at the time of assessment, similar aspects emerge – there is still a need for raising awareness
among school personnel and for increasing co-operation within schools. Since Estonia has
accumulated no more than four years of school art-therapy practice, it is clearly vital to study
the point of view of the students and the parents, so as to reveal where they see the benefits and
possibilities of art therapy at schools as being.
Conclusions
The support systems of Estonian schools have not included art therapists until recently.
The early implementation experience indicates that educational and therapeutic culture can
coexist in the education system. This benefits primarily the students, by supporting their mental
health and social skills, but also the teachers, other support specialists, and parents, for whom
consulting with an art therapist at the school provides additional information about the relevant
children’s coping situation and needs. The research showed through the interviews with the
managerial staff that art therapy is equally valued for the opportunities it offers to prevent
emotional, adaptation, and behaviour problems and to tackle existing symptoms. The more
varied the support activities implemented in the school environment (recreation-oriented,
psychoeducational, preventive, and treating), the greater the number of children at the school
who can be helped to reach the educational objectives.
It must be noted that the sample, of four schools, was small because not many schools
in Estonia have yet established the position of art therapist. However, the study still included
public and municipal schools of different types. To increase validity, we applied multiple
research methods to the dataset (the questionnaire and the interviews) and took an iterative
approach to gradual specification from the data collected. Furthermore, the summaries were
submitted to the art therapists for their input, to minimise interpretation errors.
Certainly, the future is going to require purpose-built informational activities targeted for
the managerial staff of schools and other support specialists, to clarify the essence of art therapy
and its potential in the school setting.
Acknowledgement
The research presented here is linked to Erasmus + KA203 Strategic Collaboration on

Higher Education: TRU17124 ‘STALWARTS – Sustain Teachers and Learners with the Arts:
Relational Health in European Schools’.
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Received: November 28, 2018 Accepted: February 05, 2019
Marika Ratnik Lecturer, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt
25, 10120, Tallinn, Estonia.
E-mail: marika.ratnik@mail.ee
Website: https://www.tlu.ee/en/lti
Eha Rüütel Professor, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt
25, 10120, Tallinn, Estonia.
E-mail: eha@tlu.ee
Website: https://www.tlu.ee/en/lti

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156
COMPARISON OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM AND INCLUSIVE
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM FOR MATH
ACHIEVEMENT
Marija Slavkovic
Elementary School “Sava Jovanović Sirogojno”, Serbia
E-mail: marija.mmd@gmail.com
Haris Memisevic
University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
E-mail: hmemisevic@gmail.com
Abstract
Transition period from preschool years to school years is a time of rapid changes in children’s development.
Children with intellectual disability lag behind their peers without disabilities in their school readiness
skills, especially in math skills. Thus, there is a great importance of school preparation programs for
children with intellectual disability in improving their math abilities. The aim of the present research was
to compare the effectiveness of two preschool programs in improving math abilities of children prior to
their enrollment in elementary schools. The sample for this research comprised 90 children aged 60-72
months. Of those, there were 60 children with intellectual disability and 30 typically developing children.
Math abilities were assessed with a subscale from Peabody Individual Achievement Test. The results of
this research indicated that children with intellectual disability attending special education preschool
program achieved significantly better math results than children with intellectual disability attending
inclusive preschool program. Some suggestions to preschool teachers on how to improve the effectiveness
of their work with children with intellectual disability were given.
Keywords: children with intellectual disability, inclusive education preschool programs, math abilities,
quasi-experimental design, school readiness, special education preschool programs.
Introduction
Prior to enrollment in elementary schools, children in Serbia need to attend a mandatory

preschool preparation program. Duration of this program is 9 months. The mandatory preschool
program is for children aged 5 to 6.5 years old, a year prior to their enrollment into elementary
school. Although the program is mandatory and free, not all children attend it. The statistical
data from 2010 indicated that 88% of 6-year-old children attended the preschool preparation
program (Bankovic, 2014). The goal of the program is to increase children’s readiness for
school and to facilitate child’s transition from preschool to school environment. However,
defining school readiness is not an easy task due to different conceptualizations on what skills
and dimensions readiness consists of (Crnic & Lamberty, 1994). There are several domains of
children’s development important for the school success and they include motor development,
social and emotional development, language development, and cognition (Kagan, Moore,
& Bredekamp, 1998). One part of school readiness is the academic prowess or specific
child’s abilities. The preschool preparation programs are especially useful to children from
disadvantaged families of low socio-economic status (Heckman, 2006) and for children with

Marija SLAVKOVIC, Haris MEMISEVIC. Comparison of special education preschool program and inclusive preschool program for
math achievement
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disabilities or at-risk for disabilities (Dettre, 1983). There is a wide scientific consensus that 157
investing in high quality early education programs will lead to better child’s outcomes in health,
human capital, and wellbeing throughout the life (Richter et al., 2017).
Transition period from preschool to school years is a time of rapid changes in children’s
life and thus the need for their adequate preparation (Margetts, 2000). A successful adaptation
to schools depends on many factors including academic, social, cognitive, emotional and
behavioral abilities (McIntyre, Blacher, & Baker, 2006). In the first four years of life, most
children make significant progress in learning language (Conti-Ramsden & Durkin, 2012).
In addition to language skills, preschool period is important for the development of basic
mathematical concepts. Preschool children vary greatly in their math abilities and it appears
that individual differences in math knowledge appear early in the development (Klibanoff et
al., 2006).
The topic of early math achievement has received much scientific attention recently
and one of the reasons for that is that early math skills are highly predictive of later academic
achievement (Hardy & Hemmeter, 2019; Sarama & Clements, 2009). Early math competencies
are also highly predictive of later math achievement (Jordan, Kaplan, Ramineni, & Locuniak,
2009). Many factors during the early childhood affect child’s mathematic performance. One of
the major demographic factors contributing greatly to math achievement is the socioeconomic
status (Heckman, 2006). A plethora of research indicated the strong link between working
memory and math achievement (Alloway & Alloway, 2010; Ashcraft & Krause, 2007; Raghubar,
Barnes, & Hecht, 2010). Other factors predicting math achievement include verbal fluency,
selective attention, visual motor integration, and inhibitory control (Memisevic, Biscevic, &
Pasalic, 2018).
By definition, children with developmental disabilities lag behind their peers on
school entry, especially in the area of academic competences (Morgan, Farkas, & Wu, 2011).
Children with intellectual disability have much poorer math performance than children without
disabilities. In fact, in comparison with all other disability categories, children with intellectual
disability are at the highest risk of having math difficulties (Wei, Lenz, & Blackorby, 2013).
Thus, early childhood and preschool programs aimed at increasing math abilities are of special
importance to children with intellectual disability.
Given the importance of the knowledge of math concepts and skills, the effectiveness
of two different preschool preparation programs on math achievement was examined. One is
a special education preschool preparation program aimed at providing educational services
to children with intellectual disability. The other one is inclusive (or regular) preschool
preparation program serving all children, typically developing children as well as children with
developmental disabilities. Preschool program assessments might provide useful indicators of
their effectiveness for school preparation (Maxwell & Clifford, 2004) and can thus serve as a
useful guide in improving the programs. Research on the comparison of different preschool
programs has not received much scientific attention in Serbia. However, this information is of
critical importance in order to select best programs for children with intellectual disability.
At the outset, three working hypotheses were set:
1. Children in all three groups improve on the math skills tasks;
2. There are no differences in math improvement between three groups of children;
3. There are no gender differences in math improvement.

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158 Methodology of Research
General Background
This research employed a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design with three groups

of children. Children were not randomly assigned to the groups. This type of design is very
useful in evaluating the effects of a preschool program on math achievement. Children were
tested on a math task at the beginning of the school year (pre-test), then after 8 months, they
were tested again (post-test). This design has practical advantages because it deals with intact
groups and does not disrupt the existing research setting. One caution about this design is if
there are post-test differences between groups, they may not be clearly and without doubt be
attributed to the intervention setting (Dimitrov & Rumrill, 2003).
Participants
The sample for this research was a convenient one and consisted 90 children (54 boys
and 36 girls) aged 60 to 72 months old (mean age at pre-test = 67.0; SD = 4.6 years) who
were attending mandatory preschool program. Children were classified in three groups: 1.
Children with intellectual disability attending special education preschool program (n=30);
2. Children with intellectual disability attending inclusive preschool program (n=30); and 3.
Children without disabilities attending inclusive preschool program (n=30). Inclusion criteria
for selecting children with intellectual disability were: standardized IQ scores in the range of
mild intellectual disability (IQ range 50-69); chronological age of 5 to 6.5 years at the time of
pre-test and absence of any other sensory and/or neurological conditions.
Procedure and Instrument

Children were recruited from the 18 convenient kindergartens in five cities in Serbia
(Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Sombor and Subotica). This large number of kindergartens
was necessary in order to recruit children with mild intellectual disability who were attending
inclusive program. For the assessment of math skills, a revised version of Peabody Individual
Achievement Test was used (PIAT-R; Markwardt, 1997). PIAT-R consists of 6 subscales:
General information, Reading Recognition, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, Spelling,
and Written Expression. Mathematics subscale is aimed at assessing basic math knowledge
and application of mathematical concepts. According to the manual, the PIAT-R has excellent
psychometric properties. Split-half reliability was between .95-.98. Test-retest reliability
ranged from .84 - .96. Construct validity was established through its correlation with Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Scale, and the correlation was .72. The main purpose of the test was to
evaluate scholastic achievement in educational setting. The test was intended for children and
adolescents aged 5-0 to 18-11 years. Children were individually administered the test in the
morning hours at the available space in their kindergartens. Preschool administrators approved
the research and testing was done in accordance to Helsinki declaration. Only children with
written parental consents were tested.
Special Education Preschool Preparation Program
Special education preschool preparation programs serve children with developmental

disabilities, including children with intellectual disability and children with autism spectrum
disorder. This program (implemented in 3 kindergartens, 7 groups) was attended by 30 children
with intellectual disability in our sample. The professional working at these kindergartens are

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special education teachers (formerly known as defectologists), who received specialized training 159
on the evidence-based practices and methods of working with children with developmental
disabilities, such as differentiated instruction, applied behavior analysis, systematic instruction,
repeated practices, etc. Also, in comparison with inclusive preschool education program, the
ratio teacher- children is usually smaller and is not typically exceeding 5 children per 1 teacher.
Children attended this preschool program for at least 4 hours daily for 8 months.
Inclusive Preschool Education Program
Inclusive preschool education program serves all children, regardless of disability status,
prior to enrolling in elementary school. However, majority of children attending these programs
were children without disabilities. This program was attended by 60 children in our sample
(30 without disabilities and 30 children with intellectual disability). Children with intellectual
disability were recruited from 15 kindergartens (30 groups), and children without disabilities
were recruited from 2 kindergartens (3 groups). It is important to note that not all inclusive
groups had children with intellectual disability. If there was a child with intellectual disability
in the group, then the child – teacher ratio in these groups was approximately 10 children per
1 preschool teacher. Otherwise, the child – teacher ratio was up to 20 children per one teacher.
Children attended this preschool program for at least 4 hours daily for 8 months. The personnel
working in these kindergartens are preschool teachers who were not trained, in their pre-service
training, on how to implement specific special education methods in their everyday work. It
is important to note that both programs, special and inclusive, work under the state-regulated
school preparation curricula.
Statistical Analysis
For all data, descriptive statistics with means and standard deviations were presented.
The first hypothesis was tested by using a paired sample t-test. Along the t-test and level of
significance, a Cohen’s d measure of an effect size was presented. For the second hypothesis a
one-way ANOVA followed by Games-Howell post hoc test was performed. The third hypothesis
was tested with an independent samples t test. An alpha level of .05 was used for all the tests.
The analysis was performed with the computer program SPSS v.13 for Windows.
Results of Research
The first task was to test whether math scores differed significantly from pre-test to post-
test assessment. The results of paired t test are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Pre-test post-test mean differences in math achievement.
Group Pre-test math scores Post-test math scores

t (df) Cohen’s d
M SD M SD
Intellectual disability (special
preschool) 6.6 1.8 12.0 4.1 10.0 (29)* 1.7
Intellectual disability
(regular preschool) 6.0 2.0 8.3 3.4 5.3 (29)* 0.8
Control group (without intel-

17.1 3.2 22.7 4.4 15.8 (29)* 1.4
lectual disability)
Note. * p<.001

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160 As can be seen from the table 1, all groups achieved significantly better results in math
scores on post-test. However, according to the Cohen’s d measure of the effect size, the largest
improvement was for the group of children with intellectual disability attending special program,
followed by the control group and group of children with ID attending regular program.
A one-way ANOVA was performed to determine the mean differences in pre-test and
post-test math scores between groups. These results are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. One-way ANOVA for pre-test and post-test math scores according to
child’s group.
Variable df SS MS F
Math pre-test scores
Between groups 2 2346.0 1173.0 203.1*
Within groups 87 502.4 5.8
Math post-test scores
Between groups 2 3362.9 1681.4 106.5*
Within groups 87 1373.1 15.8
Note. * p<.001
The results of one-way ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in mean pre-
test and post-test math scores between groups. A post-hoc test was performed to determine what
groups were significantly different. Games-Howell post hoc test was chosen as the variances
were not homogeneous across groups. These results are shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Mean pre-test and post-test math differences between the groups.
MATH Pre-test MATH post-test

Group
Mean SE Mean SE
ID (sped) vs control group -10.5*** 0.67 -10.7*** 1.1

ID (reged) vs control group -11.1*** 0.68 -14.4*** 1.0
ID (sped) vs ID (reged) 0.63* 0.49 3.8** 0.97
Note. ***p<.001; **p<.01; *p=.41. sped- special education group, reged- regular education group, SE-
standard error.
Control group of children without ID performed significantly better on both pre-

test and post-test math scores in comparison with both groups of students with intellectual
disability. However, on post-test, the mean difference remained almost the same between
them and children with intellectual disability attending special education program. On the
other hand, the mean difference increased between children without ID and children with ID
attending regular preschool program. As for the difference between children with ID attending
special and regular preschool program, the mean difference in math achievement increased
significantly in favor of children attending special education program. Next, an ANOVA was
performed to examine whether the mean improvement score (post-test math scores – pre-test
math scores) varied between the groups. There were statistically significant differences between
the groups F(2,87)=17.3, p<.001. Posthoc Games-Howell test indicated no difference in math
improvement between children with intellectual disability attending special education program
and children without disabilities (p=.96). However, both these groups improved their math
scores significantly higher than the group of children with intellectual disability attending
regular preschool program (both p’s<.001).

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Lastly, the potential gender effect was examined in the mean improvement in math 161
scores. There were no significant differences in relation to gender on improvement in scores
from pre-test scores to post-test scores; t(88)= 0.21; p= .84.
Discussion
The aim of the present research was to determine the effectiveness of two different
preschool preparation programs on math achievement in children with intellectual disability
and children without intellectual disability. The results of this research clearly indicate that
both preschool preparation programs, special education preschool program and inclusive
preschool program, were very effective in improving the math abilities in children prior to their
enrollment in elementary school. However, the largest improvement was in the special education
preschool program, in which children with intellectual disability improved their math scores for
approximately 1.7 standard deviations. It is also evident that inclusive preschool program had
a larger effect on children without disabilities than on children with intellectual disability, with
both of these groups improving significantly. There are several potential explanations for the
obtained results. First, special education preschool groups are led by special education teachers
who are specialized in providing evidence-based methods for improving children’s academic
skills. Special education teachers need to have a wide knowledge base and need to master a
complex repertoire of instructional methods (Brownell, Sindelar, Kiely, & Danielson, 2010).
Another potential explanation regards the group sizes in these programs. Special education
preschool groups are smaller in size and have a more favorable child – teacher ratio and thus the
better math achievement. It is widely established that smaller group sizes have a positive effect
on learning math, at least in older students (Springer, Stanne, & Donovan, 1999). The findings
in this research are in line with a conclusion that small classes in early grades have many
benefits (Nye, Hedges, & Konstantopoulos, 1999). A possible, but unlikely explanation is that
special education preschool programs are better equipped to support students with intellectual
disability. It is important to note that special education preschool program was not superior to
the regular education program for children without disabilities. However, this finding is still in
favor of the quality of special education preschool program as the earlier studies have found
different developmental trajectories in math achievement between children with and without
disabilities, with children without disabilities having higher gains over the course of six months
(Hojnoski, Caskie, & Miller Young, 2018). Regular preschool programs, although somewhat
inferior to the special education program for children with intellectual disability, have also
resulted in large and significant improvements. Given the size of the improvement, it is evident
that preschool programs play a huge role in increasing children’s academic competencies.
Preschool benefits have been widely reported in the scientific literature and there should be
wider public campaigns to enroll more children in Serbia in preschool institutions. The age of
start of mandatory program should probably be lowered so even children as young as 4 years
could attend free preschool programs, as the evidence suggests that starting preschool at that
age can produce benefits decades later (Melhuish, 2011).
In this research the gender differences in the math improvement were not found, meaning
that girls and boys math abilities followed the similar trajectory. This finding is in line with
other research in which there were no gender differences at an early school age (Memisevic,
Biscevic, & Pasalic, 2018).
A thing one needs to bear in mind is that math scores are not all that counts regarding
the success and adjustment of children with intellectual disability. As other areas of child’s
development such as emotional and social development were not assessed, it is hard to tell
whether regular/inclusive preschool programs might be more useful to children with intellectual
disability in the area of social skills.

math achievement
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162 This research has some limitations worth mentioning. First, there was no control for
the duration of the preschool program. Although the minimum daily time is 4 hours, maybe
children in special education group spent, on average, more time in the kindergartens. In
line with this, it was not examined whether the children attended the kindergartens prior to
mandatory preschool program. However, this is of lesser importance, as the children with
intellectual disability achieved similar math results on the pre-test. Another limitation regards
the recruitment procedure (convenient sample) which might have led to a potential bias in
these results. It might be that children of parents who gave the consent to participate were in
some way different from children for whom there was no parental consent. Lastly, it is possible
that some extraneous variable might have contributed to the obtained results, for example that
children with intellectual disability in special education preschool program attended some
extracurricular education programs to a larger extent than children with intellectual disability
in regular preschool program.
It is important that all teachers working with preschool children (special teachers and
preschool teachers) are well prepared for the transition of a child from preschool to elementary
school setting. Professional development of the teachers is a useful step in that direction. This
strategy will result in the reduction of stress of a child during the transition period and will also
result in better academic and social outcomes of all children.
Conclusions
Special education preschool program was superior to regular preschool program in

improving the math abilities of children with intellectual disability. Special education teachers
have a broad set of skills in implementing evidence-based methods in working with children
with intellectual disability. Current research indicates that children with intellectual disability
have more academic gains in specialized settings in which they receive more individualized
attention. In order to close this gap in the achievement, it is advised that all preschool institutions,
not just special preschools, engage special education teachers who will support children with
intellectual disability as well as preschool teachers. In addition to this, preschool teachers
working in regular preschool institutions should have more pre-service classes regarding
children with intellectual disability and evidence-based methods. Another advice that would
probably result in better academic outcomes is that mandatory preschool programs in Serbia
should start at younger age of children. Besides academic benefits, the earlier age of enrollment
into the preschool program would also have many societal benefits as well.
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Ashcraft, M. H., & Krause, J. A. (2007). Working memory, math performance, and math
anxiety. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2), 243-248.
Banković, I. (2014). Early childhood professionalism in Serbia: Current issues and
developments. International Journal of Early Years Education, 22(3), 251-262.
Brownell, M. T., Sindelar, P. T., Kiely, M. T., & Danielson, L. C. (2010). Special education teacher quality
and preparation: Exposing foundations, constructing a new model. Exceptional Children, 76(3),
357-377.
Conti-Ramsden, G., & Durkin, K. (2012). Language development and assessment in the preschool period.
Neuropsychology Review, 22(4), 384-401.
Dettre, J. H. (1983). Bridges to academic success for young at-risk children. Topics in Early Childhood
Special Education, 3(3), 57-64.

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Dimitrov, D. M., & Rumrill Jr, P. D. (2003). Pretest-posttest designs and measurement of 163
change. Work, 20(2), 159-165.
Hardy, J. K., & Hemmeter, M. L. (2019). Systematic instruction of early math skills for preschoolers at
risk for math delays. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 38(4), 234-247.
Heckman, J. J. (2006). Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged
children. Science, 312(5782), 1900-1902.
Hojnoski, R. L., Caskie, G. I., & Miller Young, R. (2018). Early numeracy trajectories: Baseline
performance levels and growth rates in young children by disability status. Topics in Early
Childhood Special Education, 37(4), 206-218.
Jordan, N. C., Kaplan, D., Ramineni, C., & Locuniak, M. N. (2009). Early math matters: Kindergarten
number competence and later mathematics outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 850-
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Kagan, S. L., Moore, E., & Bredekamp, S. (Eds.). (1998). Reconsidering children’s early development
and learning toward common views and vocabulary: National Education Goals Panel. Darby,
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Klibanoff, R. S., Levine, S. C., Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., & Hedges, L. V. (2006). Preschool children’s
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Markwardt, F. C. (1997). Peabody Individual Achievement Test – Revised/normative update. Bloomington,
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Margetts, K. (2000). Indicators of children’s adjustment to the first year of schooling. Journal of Australian
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Maxwell, K. L., & Clifford, R. M. (2004). School readiness assessment. Young Children, 59(1), 42-46.
McIntyre, L. L., Blacher, J., & Baker, B. L. (2006). The transition to school: Adaptation in young children
with and without intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 50(5), 349-
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Melhuish, E. C. (2011). Preschool matters. Science, 333(6040), 299-300.
Memisevic, H., Biscevic, I., & Pasalic, A. (2018). Predictors of math achievement in elementary school
students grades 1-3. Acta Neuropsychologica, 16(3), 249-258.
Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., & Wu, Q. (2011). Kindergarten children’s growth trajectories in reading and
mathematics: Who falls increasingly behind? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(5), 472-488.
Nye, B., Hedges, L. V., & Konstantopoulos, S. (1999). The long-term effects of small classes: A five-
year follow-up of the Tennessee class size experiment. Educational Evaluation and Policy
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Raghubar, K. P., Barnes, M. A., & Hecht, S. A. (2010). Working memory and mathematics: A review
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Richter, L. M., Daelmans, B., Lombardi, J., Heymann, J., Boo, F. L., Behrman, J. R., ... & Bhutta, Z. A.
(2017). Investing in the foundation of sustainable development: Pathways to scale up for early
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Sarama, J., & Clements, D. H. (2009). Early childhood mathematics education research: Learning
trajectories for young children. New York, NY: Routledge.
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in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational
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17. Remedial and Special Education, 34(3), 154-165.

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164
Received: December 24, 2018 Accepted: February 02, 2019
Marija Slavkovic Elementary school “Sava Jovanović Sirogojno”, Belgrade, Serbia.

E-mail: marija.mmd@gmail.com
Haris Memisevic PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Sarajevo,
Skenderija 72, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
E-mail: hmemisevic@gmail.com
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Haris_Memisevic

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GUIDE FOR AUTHORS
ISSN 1822-7864 /print/ ISSN 2538-7111 /Online/
General Information
The publication language is English. All authors must take care of the language revision on their
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The editor reserves the right to send the manuscript to be reviewed. If English is a second language
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Format of Manuscripts
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The main research idea/problem should be reflected in the title. The title should show the nature
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The title of the paper 14-point, bold with capital letters, align left; titles in the text (chapters) 12-point
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The body of the text of the manuscript must generally have the following parts:
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Focus the discussion to the two important questions: What is already known about your topic? What
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This part is not a summary. Bring out the significance of your research. Show how you’ve brought
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References 167
The title „References“ must be used. APA style for writing references in the text and in the reference
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1995). If necessary, the page can be indicated: (Martin, 1995, p. 48). The list of references should
be presented after the text.
The author should make sure that there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between the names and
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For the sake of accuracy, references should always be as updated as possible, also in the interest of
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Notes
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Problems of Education in the 21st Century, Vol. 77, No.

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MISCONCEPTIONS AND “LEARNING DOCTORS”

SYNERGETIC EFFECTS MANIFESTATION BY FOUNDING COMPLEXES DEPLOYMENT

VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS TOWARDS ICT

MAJOR PERSONALITY TRAITS INFLUENCING ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE:

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GEOGEBRA WHEN TEACHING LINEAR FUNCTIONS

AN EXPLORATION OF HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF GEOMETRIC

THE RELIABILITY OF STUDENTS’ EVALUATION OF TEACHING

ENHANCING LIBYAN STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE THROUGH

THE STATUS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION IN LATVIA: VIEWS OF THE TEACHERS

COMPARISON OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL PROGRAM AND

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS ............................................................................. 165

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MISCONCEPTIONS AND “LEARNING 5

ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online) doi: https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/19.77.05

doi: https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/19.77.05 ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online)

Consequently, misconceptions are not only the problem of educational community, 7

Received: January 10, 2019 Accepted: February 10, 2019

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Vladimir S. Karapetyan, Alla M. Dallakyan

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Issues related to the research of a complex phenomena of “creativity” are given

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The research of the problem was carried out in three stages:

2. Considered the same motivational figure, expressed an interest in

3. The choice of teachers in these disciplines was carried out on the

4. The factor of emotional stability and extroversion of the student was

Instrument and Procedures

The quantitative assessment of the synergistic effect of a trainees’ creative activity in

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development of a complex methodological complex including the diagnosis of the following 11

Table 1. Components, criteria of creativity and diagnostic means.

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Figure 1. The legend about four diamonds.

Figure 2. The paradox of cutting the chessboard.

Figure 3. Theorem of Pythagoras on the chessboard.

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Figure 4. E’tude by Rikhard Reti.

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Figure 5. To place 8 rooks on the chessboard.

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The hypothesis of a study on the promotion of funding complexes of mathematical

Table 2. The diagnostics for creative effect.

Motivational <28 29-44 45-60

Self-eval- -1<r<-0,39 -0,38<r<0,37 0,38<r<1

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.2 , p< .05 for the motivational component, χ 2 = 6

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Figure 6. Visual representation of empirical data.

The problem of the formation of creativity in the process of mathematical education

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The modern concept of a student’s personality development is based on the actualization

The research was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project No.16–18–10304).

Bogoyavlenskaya, D. B., & Nizovtsova, A. N. (2017). On a problem of relationships of general, special

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