Shanlax International Journal of Education

Construction and Validation of the School Environment Scale for English (SESE)

2026-03-17T10:32:43+00:00

Overview: This study introduces the School Environment Scale for English (SESE), a rigorously developed instrument designed to assess environmental factors influencing English language learning within school settings. The scale was developed based on established theoretical frameworks of the school environment and refined through empirical validation methodologies.
Methodology: This Descriptive research involved a multiphase process encompassing item generation, expert review, pilot testing, and comprehensive statistical analysis. Data were collected from samples of 100 and 296 secondary students for item analysis and reliability testing of the scale.
Results: Internal consistency measures demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.909, split-half approach= 0.876), with subscale coefficients ranging from 0.516 to 0.768. The final scale has 38 items in five dimensions: (1) Infrastructure and English Exposure at School, (2) English Teacher’s Support and Interaction, (3) English Teaching-Learning Process, (4) Classmates Influence on English Learning, and (5) Technology and Internet Uses for English Learning.
Findings: The findings highlight the importance of a well-supported school environment in facilitating English language acquisition and underscore the SESE’s utility as a diagnostic tool for educators and policymakers.
Suggestion: By providing a validated framework tailored to English learning contexts, the SESE advances both theoretical understanding and practical application in educational measurements. Future research could extend the scope of the SESE through predictive validation, cross-cultural adaptation, application to different school subjects, longitudinal studies, and comparative studies to strengthen its global relevance.

Distributed Leadership of School Administrators Affecting Teachers’ Work Performance in Schools Under the Samutprakan Primary Educational Service Area Office 1

2026-03-17T10:32:43+00:00

This study aimed to examine the levels of school administrators’ distributed leadership and teachers’ work performance, investigate their relationship, and identify the specific aspects of leadership that influence performance. The sample comprised 306 teachers from schools under the Samutprakan Primary Educational Service Area Office 1, determined using Cohen’s table at a significance level of .05 and selected through stratified random sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire with an IOC between 0.60 and 1.00 and a reliability coefficient of 0.976. Data were analysed using frequency, mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression analyses using the Enter method. The findings revealed that both distributed leadership and teachers’ work performance were at high levels. Distributed leadership showed a significant positive correlation with teachers’ work performance at a high level (p < .01. Furthermore, the four components–leadership practice, teamwork culture, shared vision, and participative decision-making–jointly predicted teachers’ work performance, accounting for 64.6% of the variance, with statistical significance at the .01 and .05 levels. These results indicate that developing leadership practices and a collaborative teamwork culture are essential for enhancing teacher performance. Future research should extend the investigation to broader educational contexts and explore additional factors that influence teachers’ work performance.

Approaches to Developing Innovative Leadership among School Administrators within the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

2026-03-17T10:32:43+00:00

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to 1) examine the needs for innovative leadership among school administrators within the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), and 2) identify approaches to developing innovative leadership among school administrators within the BMA.
Methodology: A mixed-methods research approach was used, which was divided into two phases. Phase 1 examined the need for innovative leadership using a quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 370 government teachers within the BMA, selected through multistage random sampling, and the data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the modified Priority Needs Index (PNImodified). Phase 2 identified approaches to developing innovative leadership through semi-structured interviews with seven specialists in educational administration.
Results: The research findings revealed that 1) the overall need for innovative leadership among school administrators was high to the highest level. The area with the highest need was Risk Management, followed by Transformational Vision, Information Technology, Innovative Organizational Climate, Innovative Collaboration, and Innovative Creativity, respectively. 2) The approaches to developing innovative leadership among school administrators were as follows: Transformational Vision included Strategic Foresight; Innovative Creativity included Initiative; Innovative Collaboration included building trust; Risk Management included Knowledge Management; Innovative Organizational Climate included Building Maker Spaces; and Information Technology included Principal’s Technological Leadership.
Conclusion: The findings highlight the urgent need for developing risk management competency among BMA school administrators. The proposed innovative leadership model provides a concrete basis for operational improvements. Future research should focus on validating the implementation of these guidelines across diverse educational contexts and monitoring and evaluating their long-term sustainability.

Fostering English Reading Ability of Thai EFL Science Pre-service Teachers through the Instruction of Cognitive Discourse Functions and Collaborative Strategic Reading in Science Related Theme: A CLIL Approach

2026-03-24T10:25:41+00:00

English reading comprehension is a core competence for pre-service science teachers because it enables access to scientific knowledge, supports learning from English-medium materials, and prepares future teachers for English-supported science instruction. This study examined whether integrating Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) with Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDFs) within a CLIL approach could enhance English science-text reading comprehension among Thai EFL preservice science teachers. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was embedded in a one-group pretest–post-test framework. The participants were 27 first-year pre-service science teachers in the Science Education program at a public university in Bangkok. The intervention employed CSR-CDF lesson plans built around science-related reading topics, integrating CSR routines with seven CDFs. Quantitative data were collected using a researcher-developed reading comprehension test. Qualitative data were gathered from weekly reflective journals and post-intervention focus-group interviews. The results showed significant gains in overall reading comprehension and all sub-skills. Qualitative findings indicated that CSR supported procedural understanding, while CDF-guided tasks clarified disciplinary meaning-making. Participants also reported greater confidence, productive peer-supported comprehension, and perceived transfer to future teaching practices. Future studies should replicate the intervention with comparison groups and larger samples across contexts. Process-focused data (e.g. observations/recordings of peer talk) would clarify how CSR and CDFs operate during reading. The transfer to written and oral scientific explanations should also be examined.

The Impact of School Administrators’ Positive Interaction on the Work Performance of Civil Service Teachers in Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Schools

2026-03-17T10:32:43+00:00

The objectives of this study were to: 1) examine the positive interactions of school administrators in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA); 2) assess the work performance of civil service teachers under the BMA; 3) explore the relationship between the positive interactions between these positive interactions and teachers’ work performance; and 4) identify specific aspects of positive interactions that influence work performance. The study employed a quantitative design. The sample consisted of 370 civil service teachers from BMA schools during the 2024 academic year, selected via a multi-stage random sampling procedure. The research instrument was a questionnaire. Data analysis included means, standard deviations, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. The findings revealed that: 1) both the positive interactions of school administrators and the work performance of teachers were at a high level; 2) there was a strong positive correlation (p < .01) between administrators’ positive interactions and teachers’ work performance; and 3) the dimensions of optimism, creating motivations, and engagement significantly influenced teachers’’ work performance, collectively explaining 37.40% of the variance. The study concludes that positive administrative interactions-particularly engagement, motivation, and optimism-are critical predictors of teacher performance. Administrators who foster these positive interpersonal dynamics can significantly enhance teacher effectiveness and school quality. Future studies should expand the scope to other educational regions and incorporate qualitative methods to gain deeper insights into the specific experiences of administrators and teachers.

Global Standards, National Adaptations: Teacher Evaluation in Turkey’s 2025 Curriculum Reform

2026-04-16T12:43:37+00:00

In this study, Turkey’s newly introduced Teacher Monitoring, Evaluation, and Development Model (2025) was examined through comparative document analysis in relation to two international frameworks/standards: the Danielson Framework for Teaching and the OECD TALIS teacher standards. The analysis revealed significant commonalities in planning, instruction, assessment, collaboration, and professional learning. Meanwhile, the Turkish model diverges by emphasising curriculum compliance alongside centralised accountability and student development on moral-ethical aspects. Thus, it may be considered a hybrid model with features of the global references that have become integrated into the curriculum reform process in the Turkey Century Education Model (TYMM) context. The research locates teacher evaluation as a curriculum policy tool that mediates between global discourses related to professionalism and national educational agendas. Despite extensive global research on teacher education, Turkey’s 2025 Teacher Monitoring, Evaluation, and Development Model has not yet been comparatively analysed in relation to established international frameworks or standards. Thus, this study presents comparative implications relevant to balancing accountability goals and teacher agency with greater progressive instructional change. Future research may focus on exploring how the new model is experienced in practice in different school contexts through teacher perspectives and classroom implementation.

An Evaluation of the Classroom Research Competency Preparation Project for Pre-service Teachers

2026-04-16T13:31:59+00:00

This study aimed to evaluate the Classroom Research Competency Readiness Project for pre-service teachers utilising Stufflebeam’s CIPP model.
Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study involved a sample of 559 participants. This comprised three project advisors, eight committee members, and nine guest speakers selected via purposive sampling, alongside 539 pre-service teachers from Thaksin University selected using simple random sampling based on Yamane’s formula. Data were collected through structured interview forms and questionnaires and subsequently analysed using percentage, mean, standard deviation, and content analysis.
The findings revealed that the overall evaluation of the project was at the highest level. Specifically: (1) Context: The project strongly aligned with national policies regarding research competency and demonstrated high practical feasibility. (2) Input: Budget allocation and facilities were sufficient, supported by policy-based mechanisms to resolve any deficits. (3) Process: Project operations successfully achieved defined goals through inclusive committee participation across all sectors. (4) Product: The initiative effectively encouraged pre-service teachers to genuinely apply their acquired knowledge to pedagogical practice.
For future research, conducting longitudinal studies to track the sustained impact of these RC competencies during actual teaching practicums is recommended. Additionally, investigating the integration of this readiness model with professional learning communities (PLCs) could provide specific insights into collaborative teacher development.

The Relationship Between Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Critical Pedagogy and Critical Thinking Levels

2026-04-16T13:52:15+00:00

This study explores the critical thinking levels of pre-service EFL teachers and their perceptions of critical pedagogy. A quantitative research design was employed. Data were collected through the Critical Thinking Questionnaire with 25 items and the Critical Language Pedagogy Questionnaire with 17 items. The two questionnaires were administered to 80 pre-service English language teachers at a state university in Turkey. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS, including independent t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Spearman’s correlation analysis. The findings showed that while pre-service EFL teachers had high levels of critical thinking across all six cognitive domains (analysing, evaluating, creating, remembering, understanding, and applying). Moreover, a moderate positive correlation was found between awareness of critical pedagogy and critical thinking. There were no differences between participants’ genders and both variables. Additionally, the findings revealed a moderate positive correlation between critical thinking and critical pedagogy awareness, suggesting that higher engagement with critical pedagogy increases critical thinking ability. Based on the findings, researchers suggest that integrating critical pedagogy into teacher education programs may enhance critical thinking.

Teaching Strategies for Cultural Transmission: Adapting Bai Ethnic Folk Music for Modern Music Classrooms

2026-04-16T13:57:30+00:00

This study explores how Bai ethnic folk music from Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province, can be systematically integrated into a modern music curriculum while preserving its cultural significance and relevance. This study aims to define and develop teaching strategies that translate oral traditions into a structured pedagogical framework. This study further investigates how Western instructional methods, particularly piano-based training, can function as a pedagogical bridge to promote cultural sustainability rather than cultural assimilation. A qualitative case study approach was used, which included four steps: observing Bai folk performances in the field, analysing the music’s tones and modes, adapting it into a structured piano arrangement, and conducting a four-week teaching trial with ten undergraduate piano students. The primary data included field recordings, transcriptions, interviews with recognised inheritors of Bai folk music and specialist informants, and performance assessment rubrics. The analysis focused on the D Shang modal framework, pentatonic pitch structure, melodic contour, and rhythmic elasticity characteristics of the original 3/4 vocal version. These elements were translated into a 2/4 piano arrangement designed to provide rhythmic scaffolding while preserving the modal purity and stylistic features. The results show that a structured instrumental pedagogy can maintain modal consistency, pentatonic resonance, and characteristic ornamentation. The rhythmic scaffolding method helped students understand Bai modal identity better and made their performances more stable without using Western functional harmonies. This study proposes a Pedagogical Translation model, demonstrating that culturally sensitive adaptation can embed minority musical traditions into contemporary music education. The findings relate to wider conversations about keeping cultural traditions alive, understanding different musical modes, and creating educational programs that respect various cultures in diverse learning environments in the following ways. Future research should expand the participant sample, include longitudinal assessments of learning outcomes, and examine the applicability of the Pedagogical Translation model across additional Bai repertoires and other ethnic musical traditions to evaluate its broader transferability and long-term impact.

The Impact of School Administrators’ Collective Leadership on the Organizational Happiness of Schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

2026-04-25T07:17:53+00:00

This study aimed to assess the current levels of collective leadership and organizational happiness within schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), analyse their correlation, and determine the predictive influence of specific collective leadership dimensions on organizational happiness. A quantitative research design was employed, with a sample of 370 BMA government teachers selected through multi-stage random sampling for the 2025 academic year. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire and analysed using Pearson’s correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses. The findings indicate high levels of both collective leadership and organizational happiness, with a significant positive correlation between them (p < .01). Stepwise regression revealed that four dimensions—shared decision-making, operation and implementation, shared planning, and shared benefits—collectively accounted for 40.10% of the variance in organizational happiness. The results emphasise the importance of participatory governance in fostering positive school climates. Future research should explore additional determinants of happiness and develop practical leadership models in a broader range of educational contexts.

Grammar on the Fly: L1-Mediated Explanations in a Young Learner Classroom

2026-04-25T07:19:08+00:00

Research on grammar explanation in young language learner (YLL) classrooms remains limited, particularly in contexts where learners’ first language (L1) is routinely used as a medium of instruction (MI). Addressing this gap, this study examines the sequential organisation of on-the-fly grammar explanations in YLL classroom interactions, focusing on how such explanations emerge in response to locally occasioned interactional contingencies rather than as pre-planned instructional events. Adopting a conversation analytic (CA) approach, this study draws on approximately 40 hours of video-recorded classroom interactions collected from three YLL classrooms at a private language school in Ankara, Türkiye. Through a detailed single-case analysis, this study traces how a grammar explanation sequence is initiated by an explicit student request and collaboratively developed through teacher–student interaction over multiple turns. The analysis shows that the grammar explanation is accomplished through a systematically organised sequence comprising an opening, core, and closing, consistent with prior CA research on instructional activities. Distinctively, however, the sequence is student-initiated and emerges prior to any observable error, a trajectory that remains under-documented in CA studies of grammar teaching. The findings further demonstrate that learners display interactional agency not only by launching explanations but also by shaping their pedagogical unfolding, including proposing instructional resources. Throughout the sequence, L2–L1 translation is recurrently mobilised as a central interactional resource through which grammatical understanding is publicly displayed and assessed, while the teacher’s embodied conduct scaffolds meaning and manages participation, particularly in coordinating competing students’ responses. By documenting how grammar explanation is interactionally negotiated and multimodally accomplished in an L1-mediated YLL classroom, this study challenges monolingual assumptions that continue to inform dominant accounts of early language pedagogy. This highlights the need for further CA research on L1 use, learner agency, and translation practices across diverse instructional contexts to develop a more empirically grounded understanding of grammar instruction in early language learning.

Research on the Cultural Innovation and Educational Role of the Art Village Construction Practice in Ancient Weir Painting Village

2026-04-25T07:20:32+00:00

Taking the Ancient Weir Painting Village in Lishui, Zhejiang, China, as an example, we examine how the construction of an artistic countryside can be transformed into a sustainable educational process through cultural activities from the perspective of cultural innovation and the educational role. This study aims to identify the resource system and operating model of cultural innovation in Ancient Weir Painting Village, reveal the key mechanisms by which cultural activities are transformed into learning processes, and establish a traceable evidence chain to demonstrate the educational and heritage effects. A qualitative case study method was adopted, integrating participant observation, semi-structured interviews and the analysis of text and media materials, to reveal the resource system of cultural innovation in Ancient Weir Painting Village and the generation mechanism and evidence chain of the educational process. The results of the research show that the cultural innovation in Ancient Weir Painting Village is a systematic collaboration and coupling between activity systems, spatial nodes, and participation structures. In developing cultural activities, the learning process is organised through situation creation, community interaction, narrative construction, and feedback evaluation. This promotes the transformation of local experiences into on-site aesthetic educational practices. Its educational function can be identified in four dimensions: cognition, emotion, value, and action. Among these, action transformation is particularly dependent on the guarantee of channels and institutional support for continuous participation, showing higher sensitivity to these factors. To ensure the continued stable fulfilment of the educational function of art villages, it is necessary to encourage cultural innovation organisations to engage in extensive learning and promotion activities within society. The conclusion highlights that, to stabilise the effectiveness of real estate in producing people, the construction of artistic countryside must transform cultural innovation into a sustainable, socialised learning device; organise activity tasks and evaluations with curriculum logic; enhance community subjectivity with community logic; and form an extended path of action transformation through school-site collaboration, residency mechanisms, and achievement implementation. Future work could also involve gradually developing a systematic evaluation index system based on qualitative research, combining it with mixed research methods to improve the comparability of evidence and the effectiveness of extrapolating conclusions.