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.     

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 study of student perceptions of physics teacher behavior

This study investigates student perceptions of the behavior of physics teachers in relation to some other variables in the classroom situation. The research was carried out as a Dutch option of the Second International Science Study. Data were gathered in 65 classrooms of physics teachers with pupils 15 years old. Some of the teachers (21) used the new PLON curriculum and the others a traditional one. Student perceptions of teacher behavior were measured with a questionnaire based on the interpersonal theory of Leary (1957). The aspect of behavior measured is called interactional teacher behavior. We found remarkably high correlations between student perceptions of teacher behavior and affective outcomes such as appreciation of the lessons and motivation for the subject matter. Also, the correlations with cognitive outcomes measured with a standardized international test were significant. It appears that some differences exist between teacher behaviors that are favorable for high cognitive outcomes and behaviors favorable for high affective outcomes in physics lessons. Hardly any differences were found in teacher behavior between teachers using the traditional and the new physics curriculum.     

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.     

Teacher anxiety,teacher effectiveness,and student anxiety

The relationships between teacher anxiety while teaching, student anxiety, and student perceptions of teaching effectiveness were examined. The teachers were 19 nurse educators and the students were 72 student nurses in Sydney, Australia. The teachers taught a lesson selected at random and completed a state anxiety questionnaire before the lesson began and, again, after the lesson in terms of how they felt while teaching. After the lesson, the students completed an assessment of the teacher's effectiveness and a questionnaire to record the anxiety levels experienced while being taught. Teacher A-State while teaching was found to be closely related to student perceptions about lesson organization, teacher affect, and teacher confidence. Teacher A-State while teaching was also found to be significantly related to the level of A-State experienced by the students while being taught.     

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.     

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.     

Teacher effectiveness and teacher growth from student ratings: An action research of school-based teacher evaluation

Teacher effectiveness evaluations are considered an effective mechanism for promoting teacher growth. We implemented teacher effectiveness evaluations in three Chinese secondary schools over two years and (a) developed an action research framework for school-based teacher evaluations composed of five links, i.e., purpose and consensus, data collection and analysis, data interpretation and feedback, data use, and evaluation of the actions and (b) found that “school-based” instruments of student ratings have valid statistical properties, and teacher effectiveness can be regarded as a single-factor holistic concept in different schools. We also (c) analysed 2-year longitudinal data and identified changing trajectories of teacher effectiveness as an example for data feedback and use. Teacher effectiveness presents changing trajectories for different subgroups, representing different ecologies in three schools and provides insights for teacher growth. A (d) meta-evaluation of the actions shows that most teachers are positive about this evaluation, although differences are observed between schools.     

The 'Ideal Teacher'. Implications for student evaluation of teacher effectiveness

Assessment of teachers through student opinions has been the most used method to define the characteristics of teaching quality. There is no previous literature applying the Semantic Differential (SD) with this objective. SD can detect the attributes of the 'ideal teacher', and find the evaluative, emotional or affective components linked to this concept. In this work, we analyse the factorial structure of a SD scale, to test the hypothesis of the existence of EPA factors, usually found in research directed to different objects of attitude. The most relevant dimensions of the 'ideal teacher' show similar profiles to those dimensions obtained with other assessment procedures. This result confirms the adequacy of SD as an instrument to assess of quality teaching.     

Measuring teacher regulating activities concerning student learning in secondary education classrooms: Reliability and validity of student perceptions

.This article describes the use and validation of the Pedagogical Practices Inventory, which uses student perceptions arranged into five subscales to measure teacher activities concerning the regulation of student learning in secondary education. To determine the reliability and validity of the instrument, an inventory study (N = 2128) and a study in which observational data (N = 11) and inventory data (N = 201) were combined, were carried out. Analysis of the inventory data showed internal subscale reliabilities between .83 and .90, indicating consistency of the PPI subscale scores. Correlations between inventory and observational data showed significant relations for three of the five subscales, indicating that the PPI is suitable to tap teacher regulating activities in classroom contexts.     

Test anxiety and learned helplessness is moderated by student perceptions of teacher motivational support

The aim of the present study was to examine the interplay between test anxiety (i.e. worry and emotionality) and learned helplessness in a sample of adolescents (N = 845, aged 13–17 years) in secondary schools in Germany. In accordance with the buffering hypothesis, it was hypothesised that the detrimental association between both components of text anxiety and helplessness in school would be buffered by students’ perception of their teachers as positive motivators (TPM). TPM refers to student motivation within the academic context, which results from their perception of teacher support. Interesting differences between the two components of test anxiety were identified: emotionality was positively associated with helplessness in school, whereas worry was negatively associated. Using latent moderated structural equations (LMS), the findings revealed that TPM functions as a moderator in the interplay between emotionality and learned helplessness. Despite these results, TPM did not operate as a buffer between emotionality and learned helplessness since helplessness in school was the highest when students perceived some degree of TPM. These findings make a case for implementing specific psychological interventions within the school context in order to prevent helplessness in school.     

Improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness: are student ratings reliable and valid?

This paper reviews the evidence on whether student ratings are reliable and valid enough to be used for the purpose of the improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness. A consensus of evidence available in the literature tends to show a measure of consistency, stability and validity of student ratings. Several variables such as sex of rater and ratee, class size, mood of students, rank of instructors, grades students were expecting, time of the day courses are taught, to mention only a few, have been found to have a low to high positive relationship, with student ratings. It also appears that the use of student ratings leads to the improvement of instruction, provided the evaluation data are fed back to the instructor and that an expert or consultant provides assistance to the instructor.