A second-order confirmatory factor analysis model of primary school administration promoting 21st century skills

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen

Acquisition of skills among learners is central to survival and is increasingly embedded in education objectives, while technology reshapes both teaching and skill development. Although 21st century education aims to prepare learners for future efficiency, challenges remain in how schools implement training and how skills acquisition is monitored and promoted. This study evaluates how primary school administration should reflect 21st century skills, identifying promoting factors and confirming them statistically via second-order confirmatory factor analysis.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

The concept of 21st century skills

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 10(1), pp. 28-37, February 2022 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.101.22.002 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper A second-order confirmatory factor analysis model of primary school administration promoting 21st century skills Wisana Abdulloh, Wuttichai Niemted*, Recha Chusuwan and Jirawat Tansakul Faculty of Education, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. Accepted 14 February, 2022 | ABSTRACT
The acquisition of skills amongst learners is integral for their survival. This is the reason why most of the pedagogies integrate them as part of the core learning objectives. However, the advent of technology has revolutionized teaching approaches as well as skills training. Many of the skills in 21st century education highlight ingenuity, critical analysis and IT literacy. Though it is understood that these prepare learners tobe efficient in the future, there are significant underlying issues and challenges in how schools partake in the training process or how skills acquisition amongst learners are monitored and promoted in the schools’advocacies. This research is aimed at evaluating primary school administration how 21st century skills should be reflected in the school system . Identified factors that help promote 21st century skills were analyzed using content analysis and focus group discussion of ten (10) experts and later on evaluated and confirmed statistically through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) . Four hundred respondents: two hundred (200) school directors and two hundred (200) academic headteachers from 322 schools in southern Thailand were considered as samples. A 5-rating scale questionnaire was used for data collection. Through second-order confirmatory factor analysis, the results confirmed eight (8) factors that promote 21st century skills in primary school administration. Arranged in descending order by goodness offit, these factors were: 1) teacher quality development (0 .97), 2) educational evaluation (0 .92), 3) teaching and learning management (0 .90), 4) learning environment (0 .88), 5) curriculum, learning media, and technology (0 .87), 6) budget for education (0 .84), 7) community cooperation (0 .66), and 8) volunteer supervision (0 .64) . The measurement of all factors (R2) also indicated positive reliability ranging between 0.41-0.94.
Keywords: Factor analysis model, primary school administration, 21st century skills. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. E-mail: [chaiwut7326@yahoo.com. Tel:](chaiwut7326@yahoo.com. Tel:) +66814026768. | INTRODUCTION Parts of the agenda stipulated in the policies set by The National Education Plan of Thailand for 2017-2036 for education management are (1) to secure that all Thai people have access to education and lifelong learning opportunities, and (2) to improve the quality and efficiency of educational management at all levels by providing education that conforms consistently with the changing trends of the 21st century , especially continuous self-learning to maximize potentials and abilities to be internationally competitive (Ministry of Education, 2017) . What the policies had failed to acknowledge is the consistency of implementing educational administration based on the local context. Thongmak (2017) reiterated that educational administration is necessary to understand and take into account the political, social, cultural context, as well as respect for individual differences. Southern provinces in Thailand like Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat, for example, are considered multicultural areas where people exist with shared differences in ethnicity, religion, and local customs. In 2018, it was found that the basic national educational test scores of grade 6 students in these three border Abdulloh et al. 29 provinces had consistently shown a grade point average lower than the national average in all subjects especially Thai language, mathematics, science, and English (Narathiwat Provincial Office of Educ

FAQs

What is the purpose of this research paper?

The study evaluates how primary school administration should reflect 21st century skills and aims to identify factors that promote these skills.

How were the promoting factors identified and confirmed?

Factors were analyzed using content analysis and focus group discussion with ten experts, then evaluated and confirmed statistically using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

What data and participants were used in the study?

The sample included 400 respondents from southern Thailand: 200 school directors and 200 academic headteachers across 322 schools.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen