Explore Instructional Leadership in Chinese Program of Ekamai International School in Thailand

Abstract

It is well known that language learning is always closely linked with surrounding environment. Beyond the influence of outer environment, students’ autonomy is another vital aspect. Instructional leadership is predicated on the assumption that teachers and principals need to work together as colleagues to improve teaching and learning in school. Chinese is regarded as a third language in Thai international school, so Chinese learning is closely linked with students’ autonomy and their social community circumstances. Principals take the lead in operative and professional endeavor, in the end it is the teachers who determine their success. Two very important strands of students’ Chinese learning quality lie in self-agency of students (including academic self-efficacy, behavior self-control, and academic self-determination) and their relationship (teacher-student relationship, peer relationship, home-school relationship). Weiner’s theory of Causal Attribution posits that an individuals’ effort in their ability to manage their own learning will be predictive of their active participation in current learning, which will in turn be predictive of instructional leadership at school. In this study, Ekamai International School (EIS) selected Chinese language subject from elementary level diversity students as the sample of study to exam their current situation, namely, their interpersonal support and social relationship influence. This paper described a small-size validation study of a questionnaire to measure for primary level students. The original was first developed by researchers in America in 2005. It was slightly modified for the current study and completed by a sample of students (n=37) who selected Chinese class in EIS in Thailand. The modified questionnaire is composed of six parts (Believe in me, My teacher, Take charge, My classmates, Following the class rules and Talk with my parents) contain 41 items. The reliability analysis result manifests five of six parts is valid and reliable. The Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients of Take change is .288, less than 0.6; it indicated the part of “Take change” has no reliability.