ACEID2023 Pre-Recorded Virtual Presentations

69161 | Relegating School Principal Leadership from Teacher Professional Learning: Social Network Analysis Approach

Lita Mariana, Universitas

Indonesia, Indonesia

Mone Stepanus Andrias, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Researchers have been trying to identify which ‘path’ of the principal’s leadership practice is most impactful to the quality of teaching and learning as a preferred outcome. On the other hand, there are some evidence that its influence on student learning is indirect. This study investigates school leadership's impact on teachers' professional knowledge by analyzing their relationship using a social network analysis (SNA) approach. SNA is applied to examine the level of leadership influence in the observed schools through teachers’ trust and agency as moderating variables by using density and centrality. Simple regression analysis, bootstrapping method, and moderated regression analysis are performed to verify the hypotheses. Meanwhile the sociogram produced will visualise the functioning leadership within the school. This research aims to clarify the relationship between school leadership and teacher professional learning in the Indonesian context. It also offers insights to Indonesian policymakers and education practitioners on how they could provide sustenance for school leadership and teacher professional learning accordingly.

69125 | An Investigative Analysis of the Difficulties and Challenges of Beginning Principals

Rujer Wang, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan

Principals need support throughout their careers to lead effectively and improve continuously, and research indicates that principals are facing new and unprecedented educational challenges. Beginning principals often face professional isolation and loneliness, so it is essential to provide professional support and assistance to beginning principals. This study examines the difficulties and challenges beginning principals face. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to understand the difficulties and challenges of beginning principals to serve as a reference for planning the professional support system for beginning principals. In order to achieve the above research purposes, the research methods used are document analysis and questionnaire survey. The respondents to the questionnaire are all the 22 principals who participated in the principal mentor training programs of Changhua County and Hualien County. The main research findings include: 1. Solving interpersonal conflicts is the most challenging and complex item for new principals; on the contrary, effectively controlling the use of school budgets is the least challenging and complex item. 2. Promoting progress is the weakest item for the leadership of the new principal; in comparison, creating an atmosphere is the best item.

67526 | Gender Analysis for the Pre-university Education Sector in Albania

Suela Kusi Drita, University of Tirana, Albania

Zyhrada Kongoli, Kongoli Law Firm, Albania

Gender equality concept is unquestionably linked to the quality in the education system, as the foundations of the intellectual and social development of children. Achievement of gender equality in education system is an important challenge not only for the children but also for all responsible government institutions and their respective education and social policies. While schools may seem as "the Albanian society in miniature" i.e. undeniably loaded with gender stereotypes imparted through school and hidden curricula, educators have distinguished role to teach their students those intrinsic layers of “biological sex” versus “socially constructed gender” and that being a boy or a girl should not impact their perspectives in life. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure for all children access to quality education as it is high time to give gender equality the place it deserves foremost in education system and Albanian schools, from social to exact science subjects, from kindergarten to universities, from general to vocational schools. The analysis was carried out during the period February-May,2022, and it explored the following two questions: What are the main gender gaps in Albania’s pre-university education system? How can the national policies and interventions address the identified gender gaps to maximize its intended impact? Analysis is based on a desk study of internal and external gender assessments, reports, and surveys relevant to the purpose. While the analysis is primarily concerned with examining the gender gaps in the pre-university education sector, it also explores linkages and correlations with other sectors, which have a bearing on the identified gender gaps or where the gaps manifest themselves more starkly (e.g. the labor market).

Educational Research, Development & Publishing

67797

| Implementing Soft Skills in Education Through Use of Internships

Angela Peterson, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, United States

Many accounting and business students in the United States are required to complete an internship before graduation yet others are not. Several studies have documented the importance of these internships. There are many advantages to having an internship however, that are often overlooked by some colleges when creating curriculum. Internships not only assist students in applying practice to theory-based instruction, but they also help with career connections, and solidifying the instruction the students have learned in their classes. The link between internships and the skills received from those experiences have received little attention from universities. In addition, employers who are looking to hire recent grads are looking for certain soft skills that are necessary in the workplace and without internships, these soft skills are often undeveloped or undefined. Internships therefore provide a link between what employers are looking for beyond the technical skills graduates learn in the classroom. This study differs from previous research in that the skills included in this survey were based on the needs of employers who were looking to hire full-time accountant graduates and to fill in the gaps that might be present. In addition, this study helps to reinforce the internship model as a viable and necessary component of accounting education aceid.iafor.org/aceid2023-virtual-presentations