The influences of school climate and teacher compensation on teachers’ turnover intention in China

This study employed survey research to investigate the differential relationships between dimensions of teachers’ job satisfaction (e.g. salary) and their turnover intention, after controlling for demographic variables (e.g. school location). Five hundred and ten teachers from a northeastern city of China participated. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that (a) teachers were more likely to stay in teaching profession if they worked in urban schools, always wanted to become a teacher or had a realistic view of teaching before they began their career training and (b) a negative relationship existed between teachers’ compensation and their turnover intention. This study offered some implications for Chinese educational policy-makers and practitioners regarding how to remain qualified teachers.     

Unpacking teachers’ intentions to integrate technology: A meta-analysis

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is a key model describing teachers' intentions to use technology. This meta-analysis clarifies some of the contradictory findings surrounding the relations within the TAM for a sample of 45 studies comprising 300 correlations. We evaluate the overall fit of the TAM and its structural parameters, and quantify the between-sample variation through meta-analytic structural equation modeling. The TAM fitted the data well, and all structural parameters were statistically significant. On average, the TAM variables explained 39.2% of the variance in teachers' intentions to use technology. Several sample, measurement, and publication characteristics, including teachers’ experience and the representation of the TAM variables, moderated the relations within the TAM. Overall, the TAM represents a valid model explaining technology acceptance—however, the degree of explanation and the relative importance of predictors vary across samples. Implications for further research, in particular the generalizability of the TAM, are discussed.     

The effect of student teaching experience and teacher beliefs on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy and intention to use technology in teaching

The student teaching experience has been considered important in establishing pre-service teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards their teaching. However, few studies have investigated the effect of student teaching experiences as an educational intervention for increasing technology integration – especially pre-service teachers’ pedagogical beliefs as an internal barrier to technology integration. Thus, this study examined how technology-centred student teaching experiences differently affect pre-service teachers with different teaching beliefs with regard to self-efficacy and intention to use technology. Participants were 55 pre-service teachers in a student teaching practicum. The findings revealed that technology-centred student teaching experiences increased pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy regardless of their teacher beliefs. Additionally, pre-service teachers with traditional teacher beliefs had a low level of intention at the outset but significantly increased their intention after experiencing technology-centred student teaching; however, those with constructivist teacher beliefs showed no meaningful differences in their intention levels. Implications for teacher education and the limitations of this study are discussed.     

Investigating older adults’ intention to learn health knowledge on social media

ABSTRACT

Abundant health knowledge resources are available on social media to facilitate technology-enhanced knowledge learning among older adults. The objective of this study is to investigate the predictors and the underlying formation mechanism of older adults’ intention to learn health knowledge on social media. We propose a novel model to examine how older adults’ emotional state (i.e., health anxiety) and cognitive state (i.e., e-health literacy) during knowledge acquisition influence threat appraisal (i.e. perceived severity and perceived susceptibility) and coping appraisal (i.e. self-efficacy and perceived benefits), thereby shaping older adults’ intention to learn health knowledge. Survey data from 337 Chinese older adult users of social media was collected to test the research model. Results reveal that perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy and perceived benefits exert positive effects on older adults’ health knowledge learning intention, while the impact of perceived severity on health knowledge learning intention is not statistically significant; health anxiety is positively correlated with perceived severity and perceived susceptibility, and e-health literacy is a powerful predictor of self-efficacy and perceived benefits. This paper enriches the literature related to technology-enhanced knowledge learning and online health behavior among older adults. Effective strategies are proposed based on the findings for practitioners dedicated to promoting health knowledge via social media and older adults who apply health knowledge to address health-related needs.     

Newly qualified teachers’ work engagement and teacher efficacy influences on job satisfaction,burnout, and the intention to quit

Teacher policy is high on national agendas and countries are seeking to improve schools. Demands on schools and teachers are more complex and it is expected that a larger number of teachers will enter the profession. Studies indicate that the period when teachers are newly qualified is a peak time for leaving the profession. The purpose of this study was to investigate work engagement and teacher efficacy and their relationship to job satisfaction, burnout and the intention to quit among newly qualified teachers. 750 questionnaires were distributed to teachers who had less than six years experience as a teacher after they had completed their teacher education from one university in southern Norway. 192 completed surveys were returned, a response rate of 25.6%. In line with the hypothesis, proposed work engagement and teacher efficacy are positively related to job satisfaction but negatively related to job burnout and the intention to quit. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The impact of the teacher’s role and pupils’ ethnicity and prior knowledge on pupils’ performance and motivation to cooperate

How can the teacher bring about effective cooperative learning (CL) in multiethnic elementary classrooms? To answer this question we hypothesized that when the teacher stimulates pupils’ helping behaviour (experimental group), this increases pupils’ performance and CL motivation more than when the teacher lets pupils fend for themselves (control group). Subjects were 166 pupils from 10 schools. The results show that national pupils in the experimental group outperformed pupils in the control group and teams with low and medium prior knowledge performed better in the experimental group. Additionally, immigrant teams with high prior knowledge in the control group outperformed their low prior knowledge counterparts and had a higher CL motivation. Our results suggest that, next to the teacher’s role, attention has to be paid to both the pupil background characteristics ethnicity and prior knowledge and the teacher’s experience with CL.     

The subject and the setting: re-imagining opportunities for primary teachers’ subject knowledge development on school-based teacher education courses

The landscape of teacher education is undergoing significant change in many countries and this is often associated with a move towards greater school involvement in the preparation of teachers. One aspect of teaching expertise that is particularly challenging for primary student-teachers is the development of subject knowledge across a wide range of subject areas. Subject knowledge for teaching is multi-faceted and is itself linked to broader questions about curriculum and the content that should be taught. It is timely, therefore, to consider how subject knowledge development might be reconceived in a school setting and how university and school staff might work in new ways with student-teachers to this end. Communities of practice theory is employed as a framework for analysing the learning environment and evaluating these future possibilities. It is argued that collaboration with peers, with their mentoring teachers and with a wider professional community is an under-exploited way of integrating facets of subject knowledge: giving this time and status through structured activities might be a particularly fruitful form of hybrid working in situ. The paper concludes by proposing four principles to underpin this sort of practice.     

The effect of teacher education programs on future elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge: a five-country analysis using TEDS-M data

This article addresses the problem of how opportunities to learn in teacher education programs influence future elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge. This study used data collected for the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M). TEDS-M measured the mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and the mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) of future teachers in their final year in teacher preparation programs. The purpose of this study is to explore whether elementary teaching candidates’ MCK and MPCK are associated with their opportunities to learn in mathematics courses and mathematics methods courses in five countries. The results showed that opportunities to learn in some teacher preparation components are more important than in other components.     

Opening Teachers’ Minds to Philosophy: The crucial role of teacher education

Abstract

Why has the ‘Philosophy for Children’ movement failed to make significant educational inroads in Australia, given the commitment and ongoing efforts of philosophers and educators alike who have worked hard in recent decades to bring philosophy to our schools? In this article we single out one factor as having particular importance, namely, that, on the whole, teachers consider philosophical inquiry to be futile. We argue that the explanation rests with teachers’ underlying epistemological beliefs and that openness to philosophy depends upon teachers being disposed to engage in the practices of reason-giving and reason evaluation, being aware of the epistemic value of such practices and, concomitantly, having highly developed reasoning skills. Drawing on both anecdotal evidence and wide-ranging research from within cognitive psychology, we go on to make a case for change within teacher education programmes.     

The impact of inquiry-based professional development on teachers’ capacity to integrate literacy instruction in secondary subject areas

This mixed-methods study explores the impact of an inquiry-based PD model designed to support teachers in integrating literacy and content learning. The study drew on classroom observations of 34 ELA, history, and science teachers with reputations for good instructional practice. An analysis of video data from observed lessons revealed that a subset of 16 teachers who had previously participated in Reading Apprenticeship PD offered significantly more opportunities and support for complex literacies and greater integration of literacy and content learning. Findings have implications for PD with the potential to improve literacy instruction in secondary content area classrooms.     

Voices of teacher candidates of color on white race evasion: ‘I worried about my safety!’

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated the negative impacts minority teacher candidates receive from white teacher candidates in a required multicultural education class. The findings reveal that four teacher candidates of color had difficulty positioning themselves among the overwhelming silencing power of whiteness in the class. The white students were tactful at evading power and race and flattening the existing hierarchical power relations through the discourses of colorblindness and by preying on the minority instructor. Their understanding of diversity was also shallow. On the other hand, the teacher candidates of color were afraid that they might be labeled as the ones who spoke up against the white students and fearful of the possibility of retaliation and ostracism from the white peers. It seems that the teacher education program’s structure allowed the white candidates to impose strong negative peer pressure on the teacher candidates of color.     

The influence of textbooks on teachers’ knowledge of chemical bonding representations relative to students’ difficulties understanding

Background: Textbooks are integral tools for teachers’ lessons. Several researchers observed that school teachers rely heavily on textbooks as informational sources when planning lessons. Moreover, textbooks are an important resource for developing students’ knowledge as they contain various representations that influence students’ learning. However, several studies report that students have difficulties understanding models in general, and chemical bonding models in particular, and that students’ difficulties understanding chemical bonding are partly due to the way it is taught by teachers and presented in textbooks.

Purpose: This article aims to delineate the influence of textbooks on teachers’ selection and use of representations when teaching chemical bonding models and to show how this might cause students’ difficulties understanding.

Sample: Ten chemistry teachers from seven upper secondary schools located in Central Sweden volunteered to participate in this study.

Design and methods: Data from multiple sources were collected and analysed, including interviews with the 10 upper secondary school teachers, the teachers’ lesson plans, and the contents of the textbooks used by the teachers.

Results: The results revealed strong coherence between how chemical bonding models are presented in textbooks and by teachers, and thus depict that textbooks influence teachers’ selection and use of representations for their lessons. As discussed in the literature review, several of the selected representations were associated with alternative conceptions of, and difficulties understanding, chemical bonding among students.

Conclusions: The study highlights the need for filling the gap between research and teaching practices, focusing particularly on how representations of chemical bonding can lead to students’ difficulties understanding. The gap may be filled by developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge regarding chemical bonding and scientific models in general.     

Capturing student teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) using CoRes and digital technology

During the last decades, digital technologies have become more common in providing opportunities for reflection and in-depth analysis of classroom practices and have afforded new ways of organising teacher education. In particular, videotaped lessons have proven to be a valuable tool for capturing teaching episodes, subsequent reflection and development of student teachers’ professional knowledge, here referred to as ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ (PCK). The aim of this project was to investigate how the use of the reflective tool, content representations (CoRes) in combination with video and associated digital tools might be used as a means for capturing student teachers’ professional knowledge of practice. In the study we explore how a group of 24 secondary science student teachers were provided with Content Representations (CoRe) and video annotations to support their reflection-on-action during their practicum. Video annotations, alongside a written reflection of critical incidents in the student teachers’ teaching constituted data for analysis. Our findings suggest that the different tools enabled the student teachers to connect captured examples of teaching instances with theoretical issues, and in this way offered the ability to see as well as to analyse their teaching practice. As such, the CoRe, together with the video annotation tool, proved to be successful in scaffolding and structuring student teachers’ reflection-on-action, allowing them to connect their reflections to components of PCK and further to articulate connections between these components.     

The social studies methods course: what do teacher candidates know and want to know about teaching social studies?

During the past decade, there has been more than an adequate amount of research addressing issues regarding social studies methods courses. However, the apparent void is that there is no clear understanding of what pedagogical content knowledge or understanding of pedagogical approaches teacher candidates bring with them to social studies methods courses or what they expect from their time in social studies methods courses. The purpose of this study is to determine the mentality of the typical social studies methods course student, as he or she enters a social studies methods course. Employing analytic induction (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007 Bogdan, R. C. and Biklen, S. K. 2007. Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods , (5th ed.), Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.  [Google Scholar]; Erikson, 1986 Erikson, F. 1986. “Qualitative methods in research on teaching”. In Handbook of research on teaching , (3rd ed.,, Edited by: Wittrock, M. C. 119–161. New York, NY: Macmillan.  [Google Scholar]; Patton, 2002 Patton, M. Q. 2002. Qualitative research & evaluation methods , (3rd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.  [Google Scholar]) and content analysis (Patton, 2002 Patton, M. Q. 2002. Qualitative research & evaluation methods , (3rd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.  [Google Scholar]) to analyze and interpret the data, 9 categories for what the students know and 8 for what the students wanted to know were constructed.     

The impact of curriculum developed in line with authentic learning on the teacher candidates’ success,attitude and self-directed learning skills

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of the curriculum developed in line with authentic learning on the teacher candidates’ success, attitudes towards courses and self-directed learning skills. The study, that is quantitative in nature, is carried out with 64 teacher candidates studying at Near East University and taking the course of “curriculum development”. During the implementation which lasted 12 weeks, while the experimental group was implemented with the curriculum developed in line with authentic learning, the control group was implemented with a traditional curriculum. The results obtained from the research have indicated that the curriculum developed in line with authentic learning has increased the success of the teacher candidates. Also, there has been a meaningful difference in the attitudes of teacher candidates towards the course of curriculum development. Yet, the same developed curriculum has increased the self-directed learning skills of teacher candidates from a moderate level to a high level.     

The (mis)use of the Finnish teacher education model: ‘policy-based evidence-making’?

Abstract

Background: International achievement studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have an increasing influence on education policy worldwide. The use of such data can provide a basis for evidence-based policy-making to initiate educational reform. Finland, a high performer in PISA, is often cited as an example of both efficient and equitable education. Finland’s teachers and teacher education have not only garnered much attention for their role in the country’s PISA successes, but have also influenced education policy change in England.

Main argument: This article argues that the Finnish model of teacher education has been borrowed uncritically by UK policy-makers. Finnish and English philosophies of teacher preparation differ greatly, and the borrowing of the Finnish teacher education model does not fit within the teacher training viewpoint of England. The borrowed policies, thus, were decontextualised from the wider values and underpinnings of Finnish education. This piecemeal, ‘pick “n” mix’ approach to education policy reform ignores the fact that educational policies and ‘practices exist in ecological relationships with one another and in whole ecosystems of interrelated practices’. Thus, these borrowed teacher preparation policies will not necessarily lead to the outcomes outlined by policy-makers in the reforms.

Sources of evidence: Two teacher preparation reforms in England, the University Training Schools (outlined in the UK Government’s 2010 Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching) and the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL), are used to illustrate the problematic nature of uncritical policy borrowing. This article juxtaposes these policies with the Finnish model of teacher education, a research-based programme where all candidates are required to complete a Master’s degree. The contradictions exposed from this analysis further highlight the divergent practices of teacher preparation in England and Finland, or the disparate ‘ecosystems’. Evidence of educational policy borrowing in other settings is also considered.

Conclusions: Both the MTL and the White Paper reforms overlook the ‘ecosystem’ surrounding Finnish teacher education. The school-based MTL contrasts with the research-based Finnish teachers’ MA. Similarly, the University Training Schools scheme, based on Finnish university-affiliated, teaching practice schools, contrasts heavily with the rest of the White Paper reforms, which contradict the philosophies and ethos behind Finnish teacher education by proposing the move of English teacher preparation away from the universities. The analysis highlights the uncritical eye through which politicians may view international survey results, looking for ‘quick fix’ options instead of utilising academic evidence for investigation on education and education reform.     

The dolphin’s grammatical competency: Comments on Kako (1999)

Kako (1999) reviews the evidence for syntactic competencies in several animal species exposed to artificial language systems, emphasizing the importance of core syntactic properties such as argument structure and closed-class items. We present evidence from our dolphin studies for the acquisition of the closed-class functionality of demonstratives, prepositions, conjunctions, and locatives. Sensitivity to argument structure is also evidenced by wholly untrained and consistent interpretations of the dolphin to probes of anomalous syntactic structures. These results are generated within our comprehension-based paradigm, which enables us to provide convincing objective evidence for the development and generalization of concepts by the dolphin subject. Demonstrations of animal language competencies may illuminate certain aspects of human linguistic competence by suggesting that the particular modeled subsets can derive from general cognitive mechanisms, rather than language-specific ones.