ASEAN Journal of Education

The Study of Cognitive and Employability Diagnosis Factors for Supporting Role-Play Learning with Workshop Teaching Model in the Employability Diagnosis System

Luo Jiangxia, Jaemjan Sriarunrasmee, Kanokphon Chantanarungpak — Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0700

This study was a part of the ongoing research project Developing a role-play learning with workshop teaching model using an Employability Diagnostic System to improve the employability of Chinese college students. Employment ability is a social issue that China currently attaches great importance to and a problem that local government departments and universities attach great importance. According to the survey results, students are presently aware of employment ability diagnosis. This research proposes two objectives: 1) To synthesis the factors of Social Cognitive and Employability Diagnosis. 2) To study the correlation of the Social Cognitive factors and Employability Diagnosis. This study used quantitative research methods to explore the impact of various factors in Social Cognitive Career development theory on students' Employability Diagnosis to support the construction of role-play learning and workshop teaching model based on Employability Diagnosis System. The study included a sample of a hundred students selected by using Simple Random Sampling and Purposive Sampling methods. The research instruments was a survey questionnaire. The results indicated that the Social Cognitive Career theory included five factors 1) Personal variable 2) Environmental variable 3) Learning experience 4) Human capital 5) Goal identification. The diagnosis of Employability had five aspects: 1) Job search motivation, 2) Job opportunity exploration, 3) Job performance, 4) Job search efficacy and 5) Monitoring and regulation. Furthermore, it was found that the five factors of Social Cognitive Career theory can have a positive correlation on the five aspects of students' Employability Diagnose is in every aspect, with a significant>0.5, indicating that Social Cognitive and Employability Diagnosis factors could support and promote the development of role-play learning with workshop teaching model based on Employability Diagnosis System to enhance students' employability skills.

Development of Phonics Teaching Instructional Material for English Teachers in Thailand

Anucha Khaengkhan — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0700

This study aimed to develop phonics instructional materials tailored for English teachers in Thailand to tackle specific pronunciation challenges encountered by Thai speakers of English. It utilized a mixed-methods research approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The research sample consisted of 2,000 Thai individuals selected through stratified random sampling, ensuring diverse representation across various regions, age groups, and socioeconomic statuses, thus providing comprehensive coverage of the population's phonetic challenges.

Quantitative data were gathered through a structured survey designed to pinpoint specific pronunciation challenges at the alphabet, word, and phoneme levels, particularly focusing on sounds absent in the Thai language. Qualitative data were collected from 300 English teachers who implemented the developed phonics materials, "Phonics Focus," in their classrooms. These teachers provided feedback via reflection notes, which were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the materials.

The results revealed significant pronunciation difficulties, particularly at the alphabet and word levels, with 47% of participants encountering challenges at the alphabet level, 31% at the word level, and 22% with sounds not found in Thai. Additionally, rhythm analysis indicated a distinct preference for three-syllable English phrases across all age groups, with 92% of the surveyed population reporting a notable comfort level.

Based on these findings, the "Phonics Focus" materials were developed, incorporating segments such as A to Z Phonics, AEIOU Phonics, and FIXED Phonics to address specific phonetic challenges. Feedback from teachers indicated high satisfaction, with the majority achieving competence level three or above in teaching English pronunciation using the newly developed phonics approach.

Coaching and Mentoring Practices in School Context: Basis for Enhanced Coaching and Mentoring Program

Carla Jobelle J. Culajara, Juan Paolo Martin Culajara — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0700

Coaching and mentoring are essential components in both personal and professional growth. It provides guidance, support, and knowledge to attain the teachers’ full potential as well as to accomplish and attain the curriculum goals. The study used a qualitative research design employing phenomenological approach in a secondary public school in the Philippines using Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to acquire an in-depth understanding on the coaching and mentoring practices. Participation in FGDs was by eight (8) master teachers also known as “Highly Proficient Teachers”. The FGDs aimed to explore and analyze the positive effects of coaching and mentoring, assisting teachers’ in enhancing instructional competencies and to formulate inputs toward coaching and mentoring. An interview guide was used in the study to acquire an in-depth understanding on the coaching and mentoring practices. Based on the responses, themes emerged: Knowledge Transfer, Strengthening Teachers Capabilities, Positive Organizational Culture, Individual Support, Feedback and Reflection, Peer Learning. Through these themes, the researcher aims to provide inputs to policy formulation in the school-based coaching and mentoring practices. Coaching and mentoring allowed the growth and enhancement of teacher instructional competencies. Thus, coaching and mentoring emphasize the value of strengthening and producing a positive organizational culture as well as the development of skills and competencies.

Strategy Formulation for Enhancing Personnel Competencies to Support Digital Era Tasks at the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education

Nittaya Jantungyai, Narin Sungrugsa, Wannawee Boonkoum — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0700

This policy research aimed to: 1) study the circumstances and expectations of personnel competencies required to support digital era tasks within the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education; 2) propose strategies for enhancing personnel competencies; and 3) present and endorse these strategies. Qualitative research and the Ethnographic Delphi Futures (EDFR) technique were employed. The research process comprised three steps. Firstly, 30 academic experts and stakeholders were interviewed, and their responses were analyzed using content analysis, SWOT analysis, TOWS Matrix, PESTEL analysis, and 7's MCKINSEY analysis to assess personnel competencies. Secondly, the three-round Ethnographic Delphi Futures technique was utilized to propose strategies for enhancing personnel competencies, involving 25 experts in reviewing the drafted strategy. Thirdly, a policy meeting was conducted with 30 participants, including administrators, experts, academics, and practitioners, to present and endorse the draft strategy, with data collected analyzed using content analysis.

The research findings were as follows:

Personnel competencies exhibited basic abilities and understanding of digital technology but lacked comprehensive analysis of development needs, hindering optimal performance. Additionally, budget constraints limited personnel development coverage across all job positions.
The strategy for personnel competencies comprised four draft strategies: 1) Enhancing personnel abilities, skills, and competencies in digital technology for job tasks; 2) Cultivating cultures, mindsets, values, and attitudes fostering self-development in digital technology to adapt to evolving trends; 3) Developing flexible, modernized personnel management systems to address digital era tasks; 4) Improving digital technology systems, mechanisms, and infrastructures to enable efficient digital task performance. These draft strategies received significant endorsement from experts.
The strategy and its endorsement were unanimously agreed upon by stakeholders, indicating consensus on its faultlessness, appropriateness, probability, and feasibility for implementation at the highest level.

Strategy to Promote Student’s Reading and Writing Skills in Small Schools under Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

Piyatida Kessuwan, Supalax Meepan — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0700

The objective of this research is to achieve three main goals: 1) to investigate the reading and writing conditions of students in small schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, 2) to analyze factors influencing these conditions and develop strategies to promote reading and writing skills, and 3) to evaluate the suitability and feasibility of these strategies in small schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The research employed reading and writing evaluations, interviews, and questionnaires as instruments. The findings revealed that 1) result of the literacy and writing skills of most students were at a fair level, with more than 50 percent showing improvement. 2) the factors affecting students' literacy in the Thai language were generally at a high level. When considering each factor individually, it was found that the school factors and environmental factors had the highest average impact, followed by the influence of teachers. Strategies to promote student’s reading and writing skills in small schools under Bangkok Metropolitan Administration consist of four main strategies as follows: (1) Management that facilitates the development of reading and writing, (2) Enhancement of learning management to improve reading and writing, (3) Development of technology and learning resources to support literacy, and (4) Collaboration in developing reading and writing skills. The first strategy includes 7 strategies and 8 goals, the second strategy includes 5 strategies and 5 goals, the third strategy includes 3 strategies and 3 goals, and the fourth strategy includes 3 strategies and 3 goals, The overall appropriateness of the strategies to promote literacy skills in students was rated at the highest level.

Developing a Teaching Practicum Model for ‘Krurakthin’ Scholarship Recipients in the Bachelor of Education Program, Kalasin University

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0700

This research aims to 1) investigate the current issues and challenges in the teaching practicum of early childhood education teachers and 2) examine the components of the teaching practicum model for student teachers under the Teachers Return Home (henceforth Krurakthin) project at Kalasin University. The study targeted a group of 21 participants, including mentor teachers, school administrators, educational supervisors, representatives from destinations where schools were located, and faculty members specializing in early childhood education in the university network through purposive sampling. This research utilized focus group interview recording forms and an evaluation form to assess the appropriateness and feasibility of the training model. Data analysis involved calculating means, standard deviations, and content analysis. The research findings reveal challenges in the teaching practicum of early childhood education teachers within the Teachers Return Home (Krurakthin) project. Specifically, among student teachers, there are issues related to planning instructional activities, organizing experiences, classroom management, conducting classroom research, creating appropriate instructional materials, and assessing student outcomes. Mentor teachers exhibit a lack of understanding of their roles and inadequately demonstrate their responsibilities, coupled with a deficiency in collaborative efforts with instructional supervisors and educational institutions. School administrators lack a comprehensive understanding of their roles in guiding student teachers during their professional experience. In addition, instructional supervisors face challenges due to a lack of experience and skills in mentorship, and the execution of mentorship activities deviates from the planned guidelines. Some practicum schools chosen by students lack quality and fail to serve as exemplary institutions for student teachers. Furthermore, the teacher education institutions involved in the project exhibit inadequacies in their systems for supervising student teachers, with unclear assessment tools and criteria, and a deficiency in establishing understanding with the practicum schools. These identified challenges underscore the need for improvements in the overall structure and implementation of the teaching practicum model under the Krurakthin project. Additionally, the components of the training model for student teachers under the Teachers Return Home (Krurakthin) project at Kalasin University consist of five components: principles, objectives, operations, outcome assessment, and guidelines for successful implementation. The evaluation results indicated a high level of appropriateness (X̅=4.03, S.D.=0.68) and feasibility (X̅=4.02, S.D.=0.71) of the model.

Challenges in Education posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 +0700

This review article provides an overview of the challenges that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) may pose for education as reflected in scientific articles, white papers and other up-to-date publications. The approach taken here does not make distinctions among different educational levels but instead aims to highlight overarching challenges across the education sector as a whole, providing the opportunity to identify general or cross-cutting risks that may arise from the 4IR. The topic of digitization - one of the main pillars of the 4IR - seems highly controversial within the research studies examined, with disagreement regarding both possible harmful effects of digitizing classrooms and the fundamental benefits of multimedia. There seems to be a clear trend of many authors to recommend necessary adjustments that enable various stakeholders to adapt to the developments prompted by the 4IR. The main recommendations here are flexibility, personal responsibility, and self-reliance. Relatively few researchers - such as Yong Zhao - recommend active engagement in order to consciously influence or even delay the dynamics of the 4IR. Leaders in particular are called upon to make greater efforts to adapt, e.g. by implementing AI and AI-powered personalized learning into pedagogies and curricula, teacher support in using AI tools and developing ethical standards, fostering access and equity, data-driven decision making, future-ready skills development, partnerships with tech companies, continual adaptation and lifelong learning, and taking into account human aspects regarding the digitalization of education, such as the impact on people when they learn and work on computer screens or in virtual worlds.