Students from Taiwan Junior High School Education

In the 101st academic year (August 2012-July 2013), there were 844,884 junior high school students in Taiwan, including 440,711 boys and 404,173 girls. . This group of teenagers aged between 12 and 15 years old are in the pre-pubertal stage and are experiencing great physical and mental changes. Physiologically, the sexual organs of boys and girls in pre-puberty gradually develop and secondary sexual characteristics begin to appear. Boys' voices become deeper, beards and pubic hair grow, and Adam's apple becomes more obvious. Girls also begin to have menstruation, grow pubic hair, and breast swells. Psychologically, teenagers are beginning to have the ability to think abstractly about society and themselves, but they still lack experience in judging right and wrong. The human body's endocrine system makes it difficult to control emotions at this stage, and mature sexual characteristics also make it difficult to control sex, gender, and gender. Identity enters the life of teenagers. In addition to their own physical and mental changes, Taiwan's junior high school students also need to face multiple social pressures such as schoolwork, relationships, family, and peer relationships when they are studying. The number of emotional outbursts may not be more frequent, but the persistence is higher than in childhood. Comes a long way. Therefore, junior high school students need counseling and support from their families, schools and society to get through this period of psychological surge.

Taiwanese society is trending towards a low birthrate. The low birth rate has caused the number of newborns to decrease every year, which has also gradually affected Taiwan’s education market. According to a forecast report made by the Ministry of Education in the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China (2011), Taiwan’s total number of junior high school students in the 115th school year (August 2026-July 2027) will be only 493. There were 884 students, and there were only 162,000 first-year freshmen that year. The negative growth of this wave of junior high school freshmen intensified in the 1999 academic year, because the negative growth of junior high school freshmen intensified in the 93 academic year (August 2004-July 2005), and this also means that the negative growth of high school freshmen It will break out in the 102nd academic year (August 2013-July 2014). The decrease in the number of students means that schools will face transformation and even mergers, which will also aggravate the problem of surplus teachers.

In accordance with Article 12 of the National Education Act, ordinary classes are taught in small classes, with about 32 students in each class, and a tutor is responsible for supervising the lessons. Class formation is based on the principle of random selection. Classes are organized on a regular basis, but students can be divided into groups according to teaching needs. Schools can arrange classes according to the intelligence test results of junior high school freshmen through S-shaped arrangement, open lottery, computer random number, etc. Transfer students can also be admitted into classes by lottery. In terms of group learning, group teaching is conducted in groups of 2 or 3 classes, limited to English, mathematics, and nature and life science and technology. Intensive classes are illegally set up by some schools in order to increase the enrollment rate. Students with excellent grades in ordinary classes are given intensive classes. However, because the operation method is similar to cram schools on campus, they are expressly prohibited by the Ministry of Education.

In terms of special education, national middle schools can set up resource classes or special education classes to provide resource counseling for students with hearing impairments, language impairments, visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, dyslexia, autism and other physical and mental disabilities. Students in resource classes are enrolled in regular classes and usually go to school in regular classes. They only go to resource classrooms to receive guidance during part of the time. Students in special education classes are enrolled in special education classes, and their schedules follow the special education class schedule. In addition to ordinary classes that focus on academics, junior high schools can also have special specialty classes such as "artistic classes" (music, art, dance), "folklore classes" and "physical education classes" that also belong to special education. If the school wants to set up artistic talent classes and physical education classes, the teaching plan must be submitted to the education supervisory unit for review. Only after passing the approval can the admission appraisal be processed, and each class must not exceed 30 people. In the 99th academic year, there are 311 classes with artistic talents, 124 classes with excellent academic aptitudes, 49 classes with excellent general intelligence, 34 classes with outstanding resources without classified talents, and 4 classes with other special abilities. In accordance with the Art Education Act, the art talent class in the 101st academic year will return to the regular class teaching method. The gifted group leader will be abolished, the class guide will be reduced to one person, and there will be two full-time teachers.

Class cadres are usually elected by the students themselves, headed by the monitor and deputy monitor, and are responsible for the duties of discipline, academics, health, physical education, general affairs, environmental protection, information, books, tutoring, and recreation to assist students. , teachers and administrative staff handle the daily affairs of the class.

The Ministry of Education has held a number of public hearings to listen to opinions from all parties. Although there is a general understanding of the need to amend the law, and it is believed that counseling can help prevent school bullying, there is still no general understanding of the licensure of tutors, special legislation and system reform. Therefore, the "Student Counseling Law" ” is still only a draft and does not have legal status. Junior high schools in Taiwan generally encourage students to join clubs and have at least two classes a week for "co-curricular activities." Although the nine-year consistent curriculum does not clearly stipulate club courses, most schools still maintain the curriculum standards promulgated in 1994 and encourage students to participate in clubs. Participation in these student clubs is voluntary and is not restricted by classes or grades, but teachers are required to be present for guidance. Junior high school student clubs can be divided into seven categories: academic, arts, recreation, science and technology, sports, service and fellowship, among which academic, arts, recreation and sports are the most common.

Junior high school students in adolescence pay special attention to interpersonal relationships. For junior high school students, peers are the most important important others, not family members or teachers. Because peer groups have a great influence on junior high school students, they will strive to integrate into the group and hope to be accepted by the peer group. In terms of participation, students who participate in club activities more times per week have better interpersonal relationships and more stable emotional changes. Club cadres have better centripetal force towards the club. In terms of gender, girls are more satisfied with club participation than boys. Boys are relatively prone to interpersonal problems. But regardless of gender, the higher the grade, the lower the level of club participation. This phenomenon is true regardless of age, from elementary school to university.

Although club activities in junior high schools are encouraged by the government, students and parents, they are still often misappropriated or canceled due to weather, administrative incompetence, campus activity arrangements, examinations, and secondments to make up classes. In addition, student clubs in junior high schools often face a shortage of venues, funds, equipment and teachers. This is mainly related to whether the school attaches great importance to the development of student clubs, because the school can choose how many resources to subsidize student clubs, and can even control the length of the club time, which has a significant impact on the development of the club.