The Practicum: student‐teacher perceptions of teacher supervision styles

This paper describes a study of 28 student‐teachers during a three‐week practicum in which participating students were asked to keep an unstructured journal describing their experiences and reactions to the practicum. The paper examines the perceptions that these students had of the supervision provided by their cooperating teachers. It identifies four distinct styles of teacher supervision, ranging from neglectful practices which alienate students from the practicum experience, to collegial practices which prove to be empowering. The paper concludes that supervision which is collegial is more likely to facilitate the professional growth of student‐teachers and enhance reflective action.     

Filipino and American student perceptions of teacher effectiveness

Filipino and American undergraduate students rated college instructor characteristics according to their perceived importance for effective teaching. Items were selected to reflect relevant value orientations in Filipino and American cultures. Factor analysis of the ratings revealed six underlying dimensions. MANOVA results showed that the group ratings on the six corresponding subscales were significantly different. Discriminant function analysis revealed that Filipino students rated items pertaining to authoritarianism and personal appearance of the instructor as significantly more important for effective teaching than did American students. This suggests that cross-cultural differences in perceptions of effective teaching may be predictable from a knowledge of both similar and conflicting value orientations in the specific cultures. Implications for the academic adjustment of students from different cultures were discussed.     

Teachers' perceptions of student threat to teacher status and teacher pupil control ideology

Three hypotheses were examined. The first posited a direct relationship between teachers' perceptions of student threat to teacher status and custodialism in teacher pupil control views. The other two proposed that secondary school teachers, compared with elementary teachers, would perceive greater student threat to teacher status, and would be more custodial in pupil control ideology. The hypotheses were tested, using a sample of 373 teachers. None of the hypotheses could be rejected. The first hypothesis served as a premise in a theoretical framework used in past research. Since a test of this theoretical proposition was carried out, an opportunity was afforded more directly to disprove the theory.     

A comparison of student perceptions of Dutch physics teachers' interpersonal behavior and their educational opinions in 1984 and 1993

According to the literature, in the 1980s the intended science curriculum exhibited a worldwide movement toward a curriculum for all, with a more contextually embedded approach. In writings about science teaching pedagogy, a trend can be observed to consider seriously students' conceptions, based on the premises of constructivism. This article examines consequences of these trends for teacher behavior and concludes that classes should become more student centered. In terms of the model for interpersonal teacher behavior (Wubbels & Levy, 1993), teachers must give their students more responsibility and act in a more understanding way. It is to be expected that teachers' beliefs and opinions have to change before this trend can be implemented in the classroom. We have therefore tested whether teachers' opinions about objectives and content of physics education, on the one hand, and the implemented curriculum, particularly teachers' interpersonal behavior, on the other, display the same trend observed in the intended curriculum. In 1984 and 1993, data on students' perceptions of their teachers' behavior were gathered from ninth-grade students of a random sample of Dutch physics teachers. Data on the teachers' self-perceptions of their behavior and their opinions about physics education also were included. The results show that teachers were more in favor of realistic teaching content in 1993 than in 1984, a shift that is in line with the trend in the intended curriculum. Students' perceptions indicated clearly that Dutch teachers behaved less dominantly and more cooperatively in 1993 than in 1984. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 447–466, 1997.     

The Impact of teacher behavior,teacher sex,and student sex upon student self-disclosure

The effects of systematically varied teacher verbal and nonverbal evaluative behavior upon student willingness to self-disclose were studied within an experimental microlesson. Subjects were 126 sixth-grade students who were removed from their classrooms to participate in a vocabulary lesson with one of the four experimental teachers (two male and two female). Within each experimental condition, the teacher employed one of four evaluative styles: (1) verbally and nonverbally positive, (2) verbally positive and nonverbally negative, (3) verbally negative and nonverbally positive, or (4) verbally and nonverbally negative. The data analysis indicated that teachers' verbal behavior influenced self-disclosure. The magnitude of student self-disclosure scores was a direct function of the positiveness of teacher verbal behavior. Nonverbal behavior also influenced self-disclosure, interacting with student sex. This effect varied across individual teachers, however, and no consistent pattern was evident.     

The motivational paradox of feedback: teacher and student perceptions

The notion that future performance can be affected by information about previous performance is often expressed in terms of ‘closing the gap’. Feedback has long been recognised as a mechanism through which teaching and learning may be influenced. The current wave of support in the United Kingdom for assessment for learning echoes these sentiments. This paper examines the feedback strategies employed by two experienced literacy practitioners in England. Using data gathered from field observations, interviews and documentary sources, the paper presents evidence of espoused practice associated with feedback, demonstrating that whilst teachers may claim that they make effective use of some feedback strategies to support pupils’ learning and motivation, that this is not supported by empirical data. The paper also identifies that whilst some teachers aim to mark every piece of pupils’ written work for perceived motivational benefits; such a strategy can undermine pupils’ intrinsic motivation and lead to a culture of over-dependency, whereby the locus of control with regard to feedback lies solely with the teacher. The paper concludes by exploring some possible implications for practice with regard to the provision of written feedback in particular.     

Exploring a triad model of student teaching: Pre-service teacher and cooperating teacher perceptions

In the student teaching triad model adopted in this study, pairs of pre-service teachers worked collaboratively with cooperating teachers during a 12-week field experience. The main objectives of the study were to document the benefits and challenges for pre-service teachers and cooperating teachers who participate in a triad model and to describe the co-teaching models that would emerge during this experience. Pre-service teachers and their cooperating teachers reported several strengths of the triad model in the following areas—learning from each other, professional support, outcomes for K-12 students, comprehensive feedback about teaching and classroom practice, and pre-service teacher confidence. Limitations and concerns identified by both groups included dependency, confusion with classroom management issues, loss of individuality, and competition between the pre-service teachers.     

Science teacher characteristics by teacher behavior and by student outcome: A meta-analysis of research

A meta-analysis was conducted of studies which addressed characteristics (gender, course-work, IQ, etc.) as the independent factor, and: (1) their teaching behavior in the classroom (questioning behavior, teaching orientation, etc.); and (2) student outcome characteristics (achievement, attitude toward science, etc.) as the two dependent factors. The population under study was science classes, ranging from kindergarten through twelfth grade, located in the United States, and the teachers of these classes. The studies integrated were reported in dissertations, journal articles, and other forms. Relationship data obtained from the studies were converted to Pearson product moment correlations. In general, quite low relationships were found between teacher background characteristics and (1) their touching behavior in the classroom and (2) student outcome characteristics. Summary tables showing the relationships are presented along with discussion of the strongest relationships.     

Correlations between teacher and student background and teacher perceptions of discipline problems and disciplinary techniques

A survey of elementary school teachers was conducted to examine the relations between teacher perceptions of discipline problems and disciplinary techniques and five background characteristics of teachers and students: (a) teacher education, (b) teacher experience, (c) student social class, (d) student ethnicity, and (e) student grade level. In general, more experienced and educated teachers preferred confronting students about misbehavior, while less educated teachers rated physical or verbal punishments more favorably. Teachers in schools serving lower social classes and/or more minority students reported more discipline problems and more use of physical punishment. Many other significant relations were reported.     

Teacher attributions of student failure and teacher behavior toward the failing student

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between teacher attributions of student school failure and teacher behavior toward the failing student. A structural equation model was proposed and its ability to fit the data was tested. It was found that teachers tend to behave in ways that indicate more pity and less anger when they attribute a student's low achievement to her or his low abilities, whereas they express more anger when attributing low achievement to the student's low effort. In contrast to previous research that argues in favor of anger as a high ability cue, this study has found that the presence of anger was associated with a teacher tendency to give‐up efforts to help the student improve. This giving‐up behavior was negatively related to the tendency of the teachers to accept some responsibility for the student failure. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

From veteran parent to novice teacher: A case study of a student teacher

This paper presents a case of a secondary student teacher in a midwestern school in the United States. She was one of the growing number of women who are making the decision to become professionals later in life, after having experienced roles such as marriage, parenting, and other jobs. The study focuses on her adaptation to the role of a teacher and factors that influenced the adaptation process. The student teacher's development is traced, during the 10-week term of student teaching, through changes in her teaching and related changes in the language with which she described her experiences as a student teacher. These changes included increased time devoted to the impact of instruction on order in the class, and less time to classroom management alone. Her adaptation to the role of teacher was influenced significantly by the personal resources she had due to her age and life experience. They provided her with the strength to operate according to own values, even when they differed dramatically from those of her cooperating teacher.     

A multilevel approach to understanding student and teacher perceptions of classroom support during early adolescence

Learning Environments Research - Supportive classroom environments are associated with improved student outcomes, particularly during early adolescence (ages 10–14 years). Applying...     

Observational,student, and teacher perspectives on interpersonal teacher behavior: Shared and unique associations with teacher and student emotions

Teachers’ interpersonal behavior in class is important for teacher and student emotions. Often the same rater (either teacher or students) is used to assess both perceptions of teacher behavior and emotions, which makes it vulnerable to common-method bias. Including other perspectives on teacher behavior has been proposed as a solution, but it is unclear to what extent different perspectives are correlated and how to separate their shared and unique variance in explaining emotions. Behavior of 80 teachers was rated from three perspectives (observers, students, and teachers) in terms of Agency (i.e., social influence) and Communion (i.e., friendliness). The three perspectives overlapped more strongly for teacher agency than for communion. Especially for students, teacher communion was a stronger predictor of emotions than agency. Our innovative statistical approach showed that the strong association between ratings of teacher behavior and emotions of the same rater are unlikely to result from common-method bias only.     

Tutor and student perceptions of what makes an effective distance language teacher

This collaborative research project sought to determine the attributes, skills and expertise/knowledge needed by distance language teachers. The first phase of the project explored tutor perspectives using discussion groups, questionnaires, interviews and a yoked-subject technique. Statements and categories of expertise were identified, elaborated on and refined to produce a taxonomy of teaching expertise. The second phase explored how distance language students viewed the domains of teaching expertise put forward by tutors, and attempted to identify any gaps, differences and points of convergence. Tutor and student views were generally aligned, but differed in emphasis. Issues related to articulation of non-verbal communication, differentiation and empathy with the learner were highlighted. This article argues for the value of enquiring into student and tutor perspectives on teaching expertise, and concludes with implications for linking research and practice and for teacher professional development.