A study on social justice and afterschool programs in Taiwan

The pursuit of equality of educational opportunity and social justice has been regarded as one the primary mission that education should play since the beginning of schooling. Unfortunately, sociologists and educators discover that the achievement gaps between the rich and the poor, have and have-not, and advantaged and disadvantaged are much bigger than they were before. In this study, the principal investigator conducts a series of interviews including 12 elementary school kids themselves, their corresponding schoolteacher, tutors, social workers, and classmates. Along with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems that could interpreted into student/family, school, and the afterschool tutoring program, the researcher analyzes the transformation of disadvantaged elementary school students who participate the Yonglin School of Hope via Otto, McMeemy, and Smith successful remedial teaching principles. Following these veins, the principal investigator concludes the following discoveries. First, the higher motivation that disadvantaged students have to join the afterschool tutoring program influences a lot on the positive transformation. Secondly, align the learning material with the authentic performance of the disadvantaged students. Thirdly, implementing the remedial teaching step by step, providing feedback and enforcement, making the learning and subject materials meaningful, helping students remember the key concepts, encouraging the students to have good relationship with their colleagues, providing enough opportunities to practice, and setting up successful learning experiences for the disadvantaged students are also essential points for effective remedial teaching. Finally, the author suggests the afterschool tutoring program should pay more attention on how to make the learning material meaningful to the disadvantaged students individually especially in math, how to maintain positive learning motivation as long as possible, and how to scaffold the disadvantaged students’ successful learning experience back to their normal school setting.