Abstract:
This study aims to explore the current conditions and problems of cram schooling for disadvantaged elementary school students in Taiwan’s urban areas, as well as their coping measures. The study adopted questionnaires and interviews. First, the investigation of elementary school teachers in the 6 urban areas including Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung was conducted with stratified random sampling for understanding the current conditions and motivations of disadvantaged students who attended cram schools. 1,580 copies of the questionnaire were issued, and 719 valid copies were retrieved. Second, 5 scholars were invited to conduct counseling interviews in order to investigate and explore the relevant issues of coping measures of cram schooling for disadvantaged elementary school students. The following conclusions were made according to the findings: (1) There were no less than three cram schools located around half of the elementary schools. (2) Nearly 60% of the disadvantaged students participated cram schools for talents and skills, and approximately 40% of them participated in cram schools for school subjects. (3) The major reason for disadvantaged elementary school students to attend cram schools was that their parents had no time to pick them up or take care of them after school. (4) The coping measure for cram schooling of disadvantaged elementary school students is a combination of community resources and school resources. Four suggestions were proposed according to the conclusions: (1) Various school club activities should be developed to increase available opportunity for disadvantaged elementary school students to learn talents and skills. (2) A learning system with family support should be constructed to improve the learning effectiveness of disadvantaged elementary school students. (3) The learning support system for disadvantaged elementary school students should be strengthened to improve their learning effectiveness. (4) The issue of "learning voucher" could be taken into consideration in order to provide disadvantaged elementary school students with diverse choices in learning.
Keywords: cram schooling, the disadvantaged in urban areas, remedial instruction, after-school care
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