Research Publications

Academic theses and dissertations are regularly published and widely disseminated in YUOE Journal, Monographs, Universities Research Journal (URJ), Myanmar Academy of Arts and Science (MAAS) Journal, AsTEN Research Journal and International online Journals for sharing knowledge and contributing to the development of our education.

Myanmar Academy of Art & Science List of Research

No. Researcher Title Abstract Year
1871 Pyae Phyo Thu AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF CONDUCTING ACTION RESEARCH IN EDUCATION COLLEGES This study highlights the challenges and benefits of conducting action research in Education College. In this study, 32 teachers from five Education Colleges were interviewed to investigate the benefits and challenges of conducting action research. Semi-structured interview was utilized to explore the perceived benefits and the challenges teachers faced. Based on the responses of teacherparticipants and research findings, it can be concluded that there were many benefits as well as challenges when conducting action research for Education College-teachers. The benefits teachers perceived were improving knowledge about action research, knowing and practicing new teaching methods, understanding deeply about the subject matters, improving good relationship and having a habit of reflective practice. The challenges were insufficient knowledge, insufficient time, insufficient supports, insufficient reference materials and experts and finally insufficient attitudes. 2021
1872 Ei Khaing Win INVESTIGATING THE PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF TEACHING AS A CAREER The aim of this study is to investigate the prospective teachers’ perceptions on their motivational factors influencing the choice of teaching as a career in two Education Colleges in Mandalay Region. The questionnaire survey was developed on the basis of Self-Concept Theory, the Expectancy-Value Theory, the Self-Determination Theory, Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory and Motivational Factors Influencing Teaching Scale developed by Richardson and Watt (2014). It included 48 items which had three subscales; intrinsic motivation, altruistic motivation and extrinsic motivation. A five-point Likert scale was used in this study. Although a total of 300 prospective teachers from two Education Colleges in Mandalay Region were selected as target population of the study, 295 prospective teachers participated in the study. After collecting the data, descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one way ANOVA, Post Hoc multiple comparison tests were calculated to analyze the data. The findings showed that the prospective teachers’ perceptions on altruistic and intrinsic motivational factors influencing the career choice of teaching were higher than those perceptions on extrinsic motivational factors. The results of this study highlighted that prospective teachers had more intrinsic and altruistic motivation than extrinsic motivation in choosing teaching as a career. It was found that there was no significant difference in perceptions of prospective teachers according to their gender and specialization but significant differences were found in perceptions of prospective teachers according to their grade level and age. Information gained by the responses of two open-ended questions was complementary to the quantitative findings. 2021
1873 Aung Soe Win SELF-INITIATED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATORS This study focuses on self-initiated professional development of teacher educators from two universities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of self-initiated professional development of teacher educators from two universities located in Sagaing Region. A survey instrument, Self-initiated Professional Development Questionnaire (SPDQ) developed by the researchers was used to measure self-initiated professional development of teacher educators. It included44 items using five point Likert scale and consisted of four dimensions: ways of learning, opportunities to learn, attitude changes, and challenges. The reliability of Self-initiated Professional Development Questionnaire, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, was 0.864. One hundred and ninety three teacher educators from two universities located in Sagaing Township were selected by using purposive sampling method. Descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviations, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc multiple comparison tests (Tukey HSD and Games-Howell) were used to analyze data. The results of the study indicated that collaborative learning was highly practiced by teacher educators than other three dimensions, and extrinsic support of the institution was higher than intrinsic support. In addition, teaching practice and pedagogical knowledge of teacher educators were at the high level of changes after selfinitiated professional development activities. Moreover, teacher educators showed that they faced more challenges in the dimension of “autonomy” than in others. In a way, this means that teacher educators often use self-initiated professional development activities to develop their institutions which is essential for reforming the education system and encounter some shortcomings that needed to be fulfilled in their daily life. 2021
1874 Nay Lin Soe RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PRINCIPAL’S RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES, ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND TEACHERS’ JOB PERFORMANCE This research aims to explore the relationships among principal’s resource management competencies, organizational climate and teachers’ job performance at Basic Education High Schools in Mandalay. A total of six principals and 307 teachers from six sample high schools participated in this study. Quantitative research method was used in this study. Data were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviations, and Pearson-product moment correlations. According to the findings, it was found that School 2 had “open climate”, School 1 and School 3 had “autonomous climate”, School 4 and School 6 had “paternal climate”, and School 5 had “closed climate” respectively. Moreover, there was a positive and moderate correlation between “overall principal’s resource management competencies” and “overall teachers’ job performance” in sample high schools. Similarly, when studying the relationship between organizational climate and teachers’ job performance, five dimensions such as “aloofness”, “production emphasis” , “thrust”, “consideration”, and “intimacy” were positively and moderately correlated with “overall teachers’ job performance”. Again, there was a weak and negative correlation between “disengagement” dimension and “overall teachers’ job performance” and a weak and positive correlation between “hindrance” dimension and “overall teachers’ job performance”. However, “esprit” dimension had high and positive correlation with “overall teachers’ job performance”. 2021
1875 Lum Hkung RELATIONSHIPS AMONG INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY, PRINCIPAL OPENNESS AND TEACHER OPENNESS TO TEACHER LOYALTY TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, THE PRINCIPAL AND COLLEAGUES The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among teachers’ perceptions of institutional integrity, principal openness, teacher openness, teacher loyalty to the school system, the principal and colleagues at selected Basic Education High Schools in Lashio Township. The study was guided by three research questions. The study used quantitative research design. The research participants purposively selected based on research were 271 teachers and 5 principals from 5 selected Basic Education High Schools in Lashio Township. The data of the study were collected through “The School Climate and Health Questionnaire (SCHQ)” developed by Reiss and Hoy (1998, as cited in Walker, 2003) and “The Rutgers School Loyalty Questionnaire (RSLQ)” developed by Reiss and Hoy (1998, as cited in Walker, 2003). Pearson product-moment correlation was used for the analysis of the three research questions. Regarding to the results from the data analysis, it was found that there was no significance relationship between “institutional integrity” and “teacher loyalty to the school system”. “Principal openness” was found a significance positive relationship with “teacher loyalty to the principal” and it also found that there was a significance positive relationship between “teacher openness” and “teacher loyalty to colleagues”. The findings of this study have implications to the role of principal in leadership behaviour and teacher collegiality. Based on the findings, this study also provides recommendations for practices and further research. 2021
1876 Min Thu RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PRINCIPALS’ ETHICAL LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE AND TEACHERS’ ORGANIZATIONAL CYNICISM The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among principals' ethical leadership, organizational justice and teachers' organizational cynicism at selected high schools in Indaw Township. In this study, a mixed methods approach was used. Quantitative data were collected through three instruments; (i) "Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS)" developed by Yilmaz (2006, as cited in Karaköse, 2007) to find out teachers' perception of principals' ethical leadership, (ii) "Organizational Justice Scale," developed by Niehoff and Moorman (1993, as cited in Polat 2007) and adapted by Polat (2007) to measure teachers' perception of principals' organizational justice and (iii) "Organizational Cynicism Scale" developed by Brandes, Dharwadkar and Dean (2000, as cited in Gerald, 2002) to explore teachers' organizational cynicism. The sample involved 233 teachers from seven selected high schools identified through a purposive sampling process. In order to gather qualitative data, structured interviews were conducted with 24 teachers from four selected high schools. The findings of this study revealed that teachers' perception of principals' "ethical leadership" was positively and highly correlated to teachers' perception of principals' "organizational justice" (r=0.934, p<0.01) while it was negatively and highly correlated to teachers' "organizational cynicism" (r=-0.669, p<0.01). Similarly, there was also a negatively and highly correlation between teachers' perception of principals' "organizational justice" and their "organizational cynicism" (r=-0.658, p<0.01). The qualitative data provided by interviews with teachers were consistent with the findings of quantitative findings. In line with the results, the more principals perform ethical leadership practices in schools, the more their organizational justice increases, and the fewer teachers' organizational cynicism decreases. Therefore, principals should manage and lead the schools ethically. Moreover, a replication of this study should be conducted in other townships. 2021
1877 Aye Chan Myae THE EFFECTS OF PRINCIPALS’ TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON TEACHERS’ COMMITMENT TO CHANGE IN THE CURRICULUM REFORM The purpose of the study is to explore the effects of principals’ transformational leadership on teachers’ commitment to change in the curriculum reform at Basic Education Primary Schools in Sinkaing Township. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were executed to gather the data. The sample for quantitative study consisted of 213 teachers from 60 Basic Education Primary Schools in Sinkaing Township. The teachers completed two survey instruments: “Transformational School Leadership Questionnaire” developed by Leithwood (2012, as cited in Liu, 2013) and “Organizational Change Process Survey” developed by Leithwood, Dart, Jantzi, and Steinbach (1993, as cited in Liu, 2013). Furthermore, the qualitative data were gathered by interviewing 10 principals and 30 teachers from 10 selected primary schools. The findings showed that all teachers perceived that their principals highly performed all dimensions of transformational leadership in their schools. Moreover, they performed their work with a high level of commitment in the curriculum reform. Results of correlation testing indicated that principals’ transformational leadership was significantly and highly related with teachers’ commitment (r=.800, p<0.01). Besides, the result of multiple regressions showed that one dimension of “Setting Direction” was a positive predictor for changing the teachers’ commitment. According to linear regression, the adjusted R squared value (R 2 = .638, p<.001) indicated that 64% of the variance in teachers’ commitment can be predicted from principals’ transformational leadership. In conclusion, the more principals practiced the transformational leadership at schools, the more teachers performed their tasks with higher commitment (Liu, 2013). Furthermore, principals’ transformational leadership can be effective when the principals guided a clear direction and created a good cooperation among teachers, students, and all stakeholders (Rutledge, 2010). 2021
1878 Htet Htet Kyaw RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTONOMY, JOB SATISFACTION, AND BURNOUT OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout of teachers at selected Universities in Mandalay. This study was based on Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory, Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory, and Maslach’s Multidimensional Theory of Burnout. In this research, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to carry out the study. “Teaching Autonomy Scale (TAS)” developed by Pearson and Hall (1993) to study the perceptions of teachers on autonomy, “Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ-Short form)” developed by Weiss, Dawis, England and Lofguist (1977) to find out the perceptions of teachers on job satisfaction, and “Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-ES)” developed by Maslach, Jackson and Schwab (1996) to examine burnout perceived by teachers were used. Besides, interview questions were utilized to gain detailed information about autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout of teachers. In the quantitative study, the target sample was 317 teachers, and 30 teachers participated in the qualitative study. Descriptive statistics such as means, and standard deviations, and Pearson-product moment correlation coefficient were used to analyze data. And data collected from interviews with teachers were categorized and analyzed to complement quantitative findings on autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout of teachers. The findings of this study indicated that autonomy was positively and moderately correlated with job satisfaction (r = .582, p < .01). So, it can be interpreted that if autonomy of teachers is increased, their job satisfaction will also be increased. Moreover, it was found that there was a negative and low correlation between autonomy and burnout of teachers (r = -.255, p< .01). So, it can be concluded that if autonomy of teachers is increased, the feeling of burnout at their job will also be decreased, and vice versa. 2021
1879 Myat Thiri Soe PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES RELATED TO CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT The objective of this study was to explore preschool teachers’ beliefs and practices relating to classroom management at the selected public and international private preschools in Mandalay. A total of 38 preschool teachers from six chosen preschools, which include three public preschools and three international private preschools were invited to participate in this study. A mixed research method (both quantitative and qualitative methods) was used in this study. In order to collect and analyze the quantitative data, one instrument was constructed by the researcher based on the result of pre-interviews and literatures. There were four dimensions for classroom management, namely organizing of physical environment, management of planning and programming activities, management of relationship and communication, and management of children’s behaviours. There were ten items for each dimension. The purpose of the instrument was only used to collect data for preschool teachers’ beliefs related to classroom management. For qualitative analysis, observation, and interviews were performed on six teachers from public preschools and four teachers from international private preschools from Mandalay. According to the results of quantitative analysis results, preschool teachers from the selected preschools possess high beliefs concerning to classroom management. When observing and interviewing preschool teachers, some of their practices were inconsistent with their beliefs, therefore, our results show that there were consistency and inconsistency between their beliefs and practices. 2021
1880 Ei Thinzar Maung RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES AND TEACHERS’ FOLLOWERSHIP STYLES The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ followership styles at Basic Education High Schools in Nyaung Shwe Township. The theoretical framework of this study was developed based on Hersey, Blanchard (1996, as cited in Safitri & Fahmi, 2014) and Kelley (1992, as cited in Safitri & Fahmi, 2014). Mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) was used in this study. For quantitative study, 255 teachers from 11 selected schools participated in this study. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) was 0.854. According quantitative analysis, principals from schools in Nyaung Shwe Township mostly exhibited telling leadership styles and teachers from schools mostly exhibited conformist followership styles. Furthermore, according to integration model, out of 11 selected schools, 7 schools (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 and S9) were found that principals’ leadership style corresponded with teachers’ followership style. And then, 4 schools (S7, S8, S10 and S11) were found that principals’ leadership style did not correspond with teachers’ followership style. According to the results, if the principals cannot exhibit the correspondent leadership styles, the improvement of schools will not be achieved as they wished. Moreover, if the principals exhibit the correspondent leadership style with teachers’ followership styles, the teachers will be happy to stay at their schools and they will try their best and they will perform the schools’ activities actively and as the result, the school will improve. 2021