FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education
This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19’s impacts on teaching... more This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19’s impacts on teaching at upper secondary schools through Cambodian teachers’ perceptions of online teaching. It presents teachers’ current challenges and needs as well as future impacts on their teaching practices. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from 29 subject teachers and their school directors. This study concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the quality of teaching and learning due to the limited functions of monitoring students rather than limited digital knowledge and skills. The classroom management is still required although the learning is online. The empirical evidence suggests this effect in science disciplines; especially for calculation-related subjects. However, COVID-19 was viewed as providing secondary education with a great deal for implementing the digital revolution of education 4.0 and created some practical issues for policymakers and implementers...
FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, 2022
This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19's impacts on teaching... more This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19's impacts on teaching at upper secondary schools through Cambodian teachers' perceptions of online teaching. It presents teachers' current challenges and needs as well as future impacts on their teaching practices. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from twenty-nine subject teachers and their school directors. This study concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the quality of teaching and learning due to the limited functions of monitoring students rather than limited digital knowledge and skills. Classroom management is still required although the learning is online. The empirical evidence suggests this effect in science disciplines; especially for calculationrelated subjects. However, COVID-19 was viewed as providing secondary education with a great deal for implementing the digital revolution of education 4.0 and created some practical issues for policymakers and implementers. Although the findings concur with previous literature on online teaching during the pandemic, they also draw contextspecific features of the issue.
Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are bann... more Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are banned from engaging in PT during official hours and holidays. Literature has proven common root causes across contexts such as low salaries, class size, insufficient instructional times and high-stakes examinations. With a new attempt, this narrative paper aims to discuss PT and its effects from the different stakeholders’ perspectives and to reflect PT functions towards mainstream education. On the one hand, symbiosis generates a ‘dependency system,’ divided into two relationships such as ‘commensalism’ between PT and the mainstream system, and ‘mutualism’ between supply and demand side including the mainstream system. On the other hand, parasitism (professional misconduct) exists owing to policy implementers’ laissez-faire approach in exercising the approved codes of conducts. Hence, the parasitism remains in the public classrooms owing to the lack of accountability and monitoring system ...
TEFLIN Journal - A publication on the teaching and learning of English
Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries... more Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries. However, English private tutoring (EPT) attracted a limited number of studies, although English is viewed as the key to success in non-English speaking countries like Cambodia. By observing EPT as a choice, this mixed-method study, using the convergent design, aimed to explore factors affecting Cambodian 12th graders towards quitting or not quitting EPT during the year of the national examination. Quantitative data were collected from 639 twelfth graders in Cambodia via a self-rated questionnaire, while qualitative data were obtained from 8 respondents. Findings reveal that the decision of leaving EPT is more influenced by their parents, while that of continuing EPT is stirred by educational aspirations, internal motivation as well as part-time employment during their university life. Surprisingly, unlike private tutoring of other core exam subjects, this study found that students from...
With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement a... more With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement as well as to discover factors affecting pupils’ academic achievement, this study employed a 2-level Hierarchy Linear Model (HLM) for its analysis using the data from 1,131 Cambodian fourth graders and their families from 30 rural primary schools. Mathematics test scores was used as an outcome variable. Interview-guided questionnaire was used to collect data from these group of pupils due to limited knowledge to read and understand some concepts of questions. This study revealed that the effect of school was larger than that of the family like previous findings in other developing countries. Firs ever, using home-school book were claimed to have positive relation with the academic achievement. Child labor was found to be one of the determinants decreased the pupils’ test scores. However, if children helped parents with in-home housework showed modestly positive association with improving ...
Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are bann... more Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are banned from engaging in PT during official hours and holidays. Literature has proven common root causes across contexts such as low salaries, class size, insufficient instructional times and high-stakes examinations. With a new attempt, this narrative paper aims to discuss PT and its effects from the different stakeholders' perspectives and to reflect PT functions towards mainstream education. On the one hand, symbiosis generates a 'dependency system,' divided into two relationships such as 'commensalism' between PT and the mainstream system, and 'mutualism' between supply and demand side including the mainstream system. On the other hand, parasitism (professional misconduct) exists owing to policy implementers' laissez-faire approach in exercising the approved codes of conducts. Hence, the parasitism remains in the public classrooms owing to the lack of accountability and monitoring system of the in-charge stakeholders. Its presence enlarges the capacity of the dependency system to cast a shadow over the incomplete shape and size of the mainstream system. Thus, it should be alerted that when it is oversized, this symbiotic function may downplay the mainstream system and moves it away from the core attention of the demand side.
Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries... more Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries. However, English private tutoring (EPT) attracted a limited number of studies, although English is viewed as the key to success in non-English speaking countries like Cambodia. By observing EPT as a choice, this mixed-method study, using the convergent design, aimed to explore factors affecting Cambodian 12 th graders towards quitting or not quitting EPT during the year of the national examination. Quantitative data were collected from 639 twelfth graders in Cambodia via a self-rated questionnaire, while qualitative data were obtained from 8 respondents. Findings reveal that the decision of leaving EPT is more influenced by their parents, while that of continuing EPT is stirred by educational aspirations, internal motivation as well as part-time employment during their university life. Surprisingly, unlike private tutoring of other core exam subjects, this study found that students from better income families in Cambodia do not seem interested in investing in EPT. It is proposed that an 'exam-career balance' syllabus be developed and implemented in both mainstream schools and EPT classes to boost the success probability of Cambodian 12 th graders in their exams as well as their future.
With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement a... more With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement as well as to discover factors affecting pupils' academic achievement, this study employed a 2-level Hierarchy Linear Model (HLM) for its analysis using the data from 1,131 Cambodian fourth graders and their families from 30 rural primary schools. Mathematics test scores was used as an outcome variable. Interview-guided questionnaire was used to collect data from these group of pupils due to limited knowledge to read and understand some concepts of questions. This study revealed that the effect of school was larger than that of the family like previous findings in other developing countries. Firs ever, using home-school book were claimed to have positive relation with the academic achievement. Child labor was found to be one of the determinants decreased the pupils' test scores. However, if children helped parents with in-home housework showed modestly positive association with improving test scores with a threshold of three hours. However, socioeconomic status had no statistically significant contribution towards predicting the academic achievement in this study. Absenteeism of teachers and school principals had negative association with the test scores. This current study, additionally, recalled for more attention from any educational stakeholders to the rural schools in order to ensure the realization of national curriculum goals and national goals by 2030.
FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education
This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19’s impacts on teaching... more This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19’s impacts on teaching at upper secondary schools through Cambodian teachers’ perceptions of online teaching. It presents teachers’ current challenges and needs as well as future impacts on their teaching practices. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from 29 subject teachers and their school directors. This study concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the quality of teaching and learning due to the limited functions of monitoring students rather than limited digital knowledge and skills. The classroom management is still required although the learning is online. The empirical evidence suggests this effect in science disciplines; especially for calculation-related subjects. However, COVID-19 was viewed as providing secondary education with a great deal for implementing the digital revolution of education 4.0 and created some practical issues for policymakers and implementers...
FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, 2022
This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19's impacts on teaching... more This limited topical life history study aims to gain insights into COVID-19's impacts on teaching at upper secondary schools through Cambodian teachers' perceptions of online teaching. It presents teachers' current challenges and needs as well as future impacts on their teaching practices. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from twenty-nine subject teachers and their school directors. This study concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the quality of teaching and learning due to the limited functions of monitoring students rather than limited digital knowledge and skills. Classroom management is still required although the learning is online. The empirical evidence suggests this effect in science disciplines; especially for calculationrelated subjects. However, COVID-19 was viewed as providing secondary education with a great deal for implementing the digital revolution of education 4.0 and created some practical issues for policymakers and implementers. Although the findings concur with previous literature on online teaching during the pandemic, they also draw contextspecific features of the issue.
Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are bann... more Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are banned from engaging in PT during official hours and holidays. Literature has proven common root causes across contexts such as low salaries, class size, insufficient instructional times and high-stakes examinations. With a new attempt, this narrative paper aims to discuss PT and its effects from the different stakeholders’ perspectives and to reflect PT functions towards mainstream education. On the one hand, symbiosis generates a ‘dependency system,’ divided into two relationships such as ‘commensalism’ between PT and the mainstream system, and ‘mutualism’ between supply and demand side including the mainstream system. On the other hand, parasitism (professional misconduct) exists owing to policy implementers’ laissez-faire approach in exercising the approved codes of conducts. Hence, the parasitism remains in the public classrooms owing to the lack of accountability and monitoring system ...
TEFLIN Journal - A publication on the teaching and learning of English
Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries... more Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries. However, English private tutoring (EPT) attracted a limited number of studies, although English is viewed as the key to success in non-English speaking countries like Cambodia. By observing EPT as a choice, this mixed-method study, using the convergent design, aimed to explore factors affecting Cambodian 12th graders towards quitting or not quitting EPT during the year of the national examination. Quantitative data were collected from 639 twelfth graders in Cambodia via a self-rated questionnaire, while qualitative data were obtained from 8 respondents. Findings reveal that the decision of leaving EPT is more influenced by their parents, while that of continuing EPT is stirred by educational aspirations, internal motivation as well as part-time employment during their university life. Surprisingly, unlike private tutoring of other core exam subjects, this study found that students from...
With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement a... more With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement as well as to discover factors affecting pupils’ academic achievement, this study employed a 2-level Hierarchy Linear Model (HLM) for its analysis using the data from 1,131 Cambodian fourth graders and their families from 30 rural primary schools. Mathematics test scores was used as an outcome variable. Interview-guided questionnaire was used to collect data from these group of pupils due to limited knowledge to read and understand some concepts of questions. This study revealed that the effect of school was larger than that of the family like previous findings in other developing countries. Firs ever, using home-school book were claimed to have positive relation with the academic achievement. Child labor was found to be one of the determinants decreased the pupils’ test scores. However, if children helped parents with in-home housework showed modestly positive association with improving ...
Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are bann... more Offering private tutoring (PT) to their students is legal in Cambodia. However, teachers are banned from engaging in PT during official hours and holidays. Literature has proven common root causes across contexts such as low salaries, class size, insufficient instructional times and high-stakes examinations. With a new attempt, this narrative paper aims to discuss PT and its effects from the different stakeholders' perspectives and to reflect PT functions towards mainstream education. On the one hand, symbiosis generates a 'dependency system,' divided into two relationships such as 'commensalism' between PT and the mainstream system, and 'mutualism' between supply and demand side including the mainstream system. On the other hand, parasitism (professional misconduct) exists owing to policy implementers' laissez-faire approach in exercising the approved codes of conducts. Hence, the parasitism remains in the public classrooms owing to the lack of accountability and monitoring system of the in-charge stakeholders. Its presence enlarges the capacity of the dependency system to cast a shadow over the incomplete shape and size of the mainstream system. Thus, it should be alerted that when it is oversized, this symbiotic function may downplay the mainstream system and moves it away from the core attention of the demand side.
Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries... more Private tutoring is not a new phenomenon for education in both developed and developing countries. However, English private tutoring (EPT) attracted a limited number of studies, although English is viewed as the key to success in non-English speaking countries like Cambodia. By observing EPT as a choice, this mixed-method study, using the convergent design, aimed to explore factors affecting Cambodian 12 th graders towards quitting or not quitting EPT during the year of the national examination. Quantitative data were collected from 639 twelfth graders in Cambodia via a self-rated questionnaire, while qualitative data were obtained from 8 respondents. Findings reveal that the decision of leaving EPT is more influenced by their parents, while that of continuing EPT is stirred by educational aspirations, internal motivation as well as part-time employment during their university life. Surprisingly, unlike private tutoring of other core exam subjects, this study found that students from better income families in Cambodia do not seem interested in investing in EPT. It is proposed that an 'exam-career balance' syllabus be developed and implemented in both mainstream schools and EPT classes to boost the success probability of Cambodian 12 th graders in their exams as well as their future.
With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement a... more With attempts to understand the effect of school level and family level on academic achievement as well as to discover factors affecting pupils' academic achievement, this study employed a 2-level Hierarchy Linear Model (HLM) for its analysis using the data from 1,131 Cambodian fourth graders and their families from 30 rural primary schools. Mathematics test scores was used as an outcome variable. Interview-guided questionnaire was used to collect data from these group of pupils due to limited knowledge to read and understand some concepts of questions. This study revealed that the effect of school was larger than that of the family like previous findings in other developing countries. Firs ever, using home-school book were claimed to have positive relation with the academic achievement. Child labor was found to be one of the determinants decreased the pupils' test scores. However, if children helped parents with in-home housework showed modestly positive association with improving test scores with a threshold of three hours. However, socioeconomic status had no statistically significant contribution towards predicting the academic achievement in this study. Absenteeism of teachers and school principals had negative association with the test scores. This current study, additionally, recalled for more attention from any educational stakeholders to the rural schools in order to ensure the realization of national curriculum goals and national goals by 2030.
Uploads
Papers by Sopha Soeung