The relationship between teacher’s autonomy support and students’ autonomy and vitality

Abstract

Within education, some teachers’ interpretation of professionalism emphasizes conformity to the perceived norms of collective associations. Unprofessional behaviour, often equated with ‘unethical’ behaviour, is seen by many to be that which threatens solidarity and loyalty to colleagues. Informal norms typified by casual collegial relations as well as more formal attachments to organized unions or teachers’ federations exert a significant influence on individuals’ behaviour within the group. Professional ethics, in this sense, become concerned primarily with how one relates to colleagues rather than how one fulfils moral responsibilities to students. Qualitative findings from interviews with elementary and secondary school teachers suggest that, as a result of an ethic of collegial loyalty, some teachers experience personal moral and ethical dilemmas that they find difficult to resolve. Some respondents acknowledged that this can enable serious situations to be ignored or ‘covered up’. This paper examines some of the tensions and dilemmas experienced by teachers and raises questions about the ethical adequacy of defining professionalism in terms of inter‐colleague behaviour.     

Professional Development for Teachers Working with International Students

The commercialisation of education and the massive recruitment of international students across different vocational education and training (VET) systems including the US, UK, Canada and Australia have led to significant changes in the VET teaching and learning landscape. This situation compels the VET sector to design and develop new professional development programs to support the immediate and changing needs of teachers working with the diverse international student cohort. However, to date, teacher professional development in response to the growing population of international students has not been an explicit focus of empirical study and theoretical conceptualisation in VET research. This study responds to this paucity. It draws on a broader three-year research project funded by the Australian Research Council (2014–2017) that involves fieldwork, participation in and observation of staff professional development activities and interviews with 102 VET staff in Australia. It uses positioning theory as a conceptual framework to examine how VET teachers position themselves and their professional development needs in response to international students. The results call for a critical need to re-examine the focus of the current professional development programs offered for VET teachers. The current context requires teacher professional development in international VET to focus on developing teachers’ capabilities to re-examine their pedagogical beliefs and practices and to understand international students’ various needs and cultural backgrounds. The study also stresses the importance of ongoing professional learning to equip teachers with the skills and knowledge to appropriate their pedagogical practices in response to the critical need to prepare all students for the intercultural labour market and to use students’ diversity as a resource for teaching and learning.     

Ethical dilemmas on social media: Swedish secondary teachers’ boundary management on Facebook

With the aim of contributing to the research about the educational use of social media, the paper explores teachers’ experiences of ethical dilemmas on Facebook. The paper draws upon focus group interviews with Swedish secondary teachers. Two main categories of ethical dilemmas, related to the border between private and professional, are detected. The dilemmas concern (1) teachers’ moral responsibility for pupils’ actions and (2) how teachers appear on social media. Different boundary work practices created and used by teachers are identified. The main conclusion is that, by having contact with pupils in a virtual social arena originally intended for private use, teachers’ use of social media brings to fore and intensifies deep-rooted ethical questions about what the teacher role is and should be. Teachers’ participation on social media such as Facebook compels them to reflect upon and position their preferred teacher role in these new social arenas.     

How Competency‐based Training has Changed the Role of Teachers in the Vocational Education and Training Sector in Australia

Most formal vocational education and training (VET) in Australia is now competency‐based. When competency‐based training (CBT) first became government VET policy in the early 1990s, there was heated and acrimonious debate about its desirability. During the last few years, debate about CBT has all but disappeared, and VET teachers and trainers have been struggling with the implementation of CBT with, often, little support, and certainly with little interest from the VET research community. A research project examined, in late 1996, the effects of CBT on teaching and learning. A number of creative responses to CBT were discovered, with a major effect of the change to CBT appearing to be an impetus for teachers to re‐examine what they do with their students. Despite changes in teaching methods, CBT nevertheless allows teachers to exercise their skills, although the skills needed are in some respects different from pre‐CBT teaching. This paper reports on the project findings, and looks at the changes in teachers’ activities and roles using definitions of teaching propounded by Fenstermacher, and Miller and Sellar.     

Knowing 'now', learning futures. The politics and knowledge practices of vocational education and training

This paper locates vocational knowledges and institutions (of the state) within the broader context of contemporary discourses of ‘risk society’, while paying attention to the history and politics of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and work-related learning in Australia VET is interrogated as institutional space(s) in and through which the projects of governance and regulation and that of knowledge management co-exist in a symbiotic relationship. Rather than position VET as an objectified site of unified knowledge, this paper attempts to map epistemological ontological terrains that shape knowledge practices inherent in VET. Although challenging and re-mapping familiar terrain may involve discomfort and anxiety, it is argued that, through such a shared endeavour, knowledge practitioners within VET - learners, teachers, researchers and policy makers - will be better situated to make sense of the epistemological ontological challenges inherent in these ‘new’ times and so continually make the case for policies and practices that have the capacity to contribute more equitable and sustainable futures.     

Neoliberal economic markets in vocational education and training: shifts in perceptions and practices in private vocational education and training in Melbourne,Australia

This article argues that the adoption of the competitive Vocational Education and Training (VET) markets in Australia resulted in shifts in institutional perceptions and practices. Using situated experiences and perspectives from quality assurance auditors, training managers, international students and VET teachers from seven commercial for-profit private VET institutions in Melbourne, Australia, the article suggests that there are emerging patterns of institutionalised market-based relationships, which can have long-term implications for pedagogy, learning and international students' outcomes in VET.     

The Just Community: a method for staff development

Abstract

This paper describes a study which examined the relationship between Just Community participation and teachers’ moral judgement. At the pre‐test stage, the teachers attributed resolution for their dilemmas to an assistant principal or administrator. Analysis of the teachers’ moral development after participation in the Just Community shows that the treatment group changed but that the comparison group did not. The study suggests that a teacher may make judgements of responsibility for moral action when s/he has experienced moral growth through participation in an on‐the‐job moral education programme which requires the discussion and resolution of real‐life on‐line moral dilemmas to fulfil the responsibilities of the perceived job role.     

The recruitment of VET teachers and the failure of policy in England’s further education sector

England’s further education (FE) sector has been characterised by instability and policy churn for at least three decades during which time reform of vocational education and training (VET) has been piled on top of reform, with few resulting in lasting change. In the context of another ambitious new reform of VET in England, this article reports on a study that examined the chronic difficulties in recruiting teachers of vocational science, engineering and technology (SET) to FE colleges. We argue that these difficulties in recruiting SET teachers reveal persistent weaknesses in policy planning for the English VET sector and help to explain the serial failure of VET policy in England.     

Between a hard place and a hard place: A study of ethical dilemmas experienced by student teachers while on practicum

Assisting student teachers to understand the ethical nature of their work and developing the moral vocabulary to deal with ethical dilemmas of practice are vital components of initial teacher education. The study explores ethical dilemmas experienced by 100 student teachers in their final year of their teaching degrees while on practicum. The data examined were written reflective statements of each of the 100 students’ ethical dilemmas. The study found that, while some types of ethical dilemmas seem universal, a more situated theory of initial teacher education ethics is required to understand the particular sociocultural factors that inform the nature of teacher practice in context-specific environments. Our study highlights the need for preservice teacher education focusing on student teachers finding their own authentic ethical voice, through the examination of ethical dilemmas via critical thinking and the wider examination of the political, historical and social contexts that led to the dilemma. The dilemmas faced by the students were likely to be, in part, identifiable with fellow student teachers in other countries, but we argue that dilemmas are strongly contextualised. Our study is useful for educators working with student teachers in the practicum environment to instil confidence in student teachers to follow their own moral compass.     

欧盟职业教育教师能力结构标准及其启示

职业教育教师能力结构标准研究是当前职业教育研究的重要课题。近年来,欧盟多数成员国职业教育领域合作不断增强,欧盟职业教育教师能力结构标准研究取得新进展。新能力结构标准涵盖管理、培训、发展与质量保证,以及工作关系网构建等能力领域。其特点表现为在职业教育教师能力要求上突出工作关系网构建能力、增强团队合作能力、重视培训能力以及强调管理能力等。此能力结构标准内容及特点对我国职业教育改革具有启示意义。     

Care and Responsibility in 'The Best Interest of the Child': Relational voices of ethical dilemmas in teaching

This paper discusses ethical dilemmas in early childhood education as identified by kindergarten and elementary school teachers ( n = 26). Ethical dilemmas are investigated in the theoretical framework of virtue epistemology. The moral stances of care and responsibility are identified as basic elements in teachers' professional morality. The empirical findings present conflicts between teachers and parents, collegial conflicts between teachers, and inter-institutional conflicts in the community. The method used in the study is a relational reading of teachers' narratives. Interpretative accounts are created to give room for both care and responsibility voices in teachers' written reports. The analysis of the data reveals that the ethical dilemmas in early childhood education are very relational and deal with competing interpretations of 'the best interest of the child'. Teachers have taken the moral stance of care by identifying the ethical conflict. However, the responsible professional action has been more difficult for them to accomplish. Most of the time, discussions have not produced the desired results. Ethical conflicts in teaching invite teachers to consider the moral relevance of each dilemma by taking the perspectives of the involved parties.     

Let right be done: trying to put ethical standards into practice

The development of ethical standards by professional associations, boards, councils and colleges of teachers, responds in part to a moral imperative that teachers and school leaders be accountable to the wider community, and in part to a desire to enhance the overall professionalism of educators' behaviour. This article explores the conceptual and practical complexities inherent in defining ethical standards for the teaching profession with a particular focus on their questionable capacity for implementation. In combining empirical evidence from previously reported research studies with newly fabricated first person narrative responses to the evidence, the article seeks to illustrate the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of applying ethical standards to actual situations in any professionally and ethically satisfying way. It argues further that moral dilemmas facing teachers are potentially resolvable only by communities of educators internalizing and applying principles of ethics, not formalized codes or standards.     

Integration of learning for refugee and migrant students: VET teachers’ practices through practice theory lens

The study reported here used a practice theory lens to understand vocational education and training (VET) teachers’ current practices in supporting integration of learning in educational institutions and workplaces – specifically for refugee and migrant students. A case study was conducted with 10 teachers delivering aged care programmes in South East Queensland, Australia and in a municipality in West Sweden. During in-depth interviews teachers explained the enabling and challenging aspects of their practice, and specific strategies they used to support students with integration of learning in the two main sites. Analyses of data concentrated on understanding three types of arrangements in the practice architectures at the two learning sites. Teachers extended their everyday pedagogical approaches to support integration of learning and meet the specific needs of refugee and migrant students. Their teaching comprised interdependent practices of VET and aged care in two settings, each with distinct ecologies of practice. Their narratives reflect contestations between practice traditions of aged care practices in Australia and Sweden, and students’ understandings and reflections of practices in their birth countries. We conclude that teacher training and adjustments to these arrangements can bridge contestations between the enacted and experienced curriculum in the two sites.     

Organisational transition challenges in the Finnish vocational education – perspective of distributed pedagogical leadership

The article examines organisational challenges in the Finnish vocational education and training (VET) to support students’ lifelong learning pathways. Investigation of organizational challenges is done through the students’ transitions either within one school level or from one school level to another or to working life. For supporting the students’ learning pathways, it is argued here that specific attention has to be paid to collaborative practices of the personnel in order to guarantee the transitional fluency. This kind of collaboration is here called distributed pedagogical leadership. For examining the shared practices in the frame of distributed pedagogical leadership, the article introduces both quantitative results from a national survey and a Finnish VET case school and qualitative results from this particular school as several interviews of the leadership team and the teachers.     

The impact of reform policies on teachers' work and professionalism in the Chinese Mainland

This paper examines the impact of reform policies on the work of Chinese teachers. It explores the policy context in which a fragile teaching profession attempts to develop and discusses the dynamics of interacting societal forces that have created the dilemmas for the teachers. The authors argue that while the continual implementation of reform policies has fostered a new outlook in Chinese schools, calls for profound change in schooling have caused much anxiety among teachers. The teachers' anxiety stems from the incongruence between their professional outlook, which is intimately linked to student academic achievement, and the dictates of state reform measures, which seek to broaden the conception of education to include other areas of human development. Throughout the years of reform, teachers have had to stretch their professional capacity in order to satisfy competing demands engendered by reform measures and educational reality. It is in the tensions caused by the implementation of reform policies that the humanism of teacher professionalism is magnified. In this paper, the authors discuss the educational and social issues that surround the teachers' preference for conventional practices.     

Teacher Authority in Schools: A case study from Finland

This paper discusses the nature of teacher authority in Finnish schools. Current trends in Finnish teacher education are presented with an emphasis on the high academic status of teachers. The empirical findings examine moral dilemmas in schools as identified by teachers and students. The methods of the study include interviews and essays. The analysis of the data reveals that the most problematic conflicts in schools are related to teacher-given punishment. The teachers have failed in practising their deontic authority. Teachers' behaviour has included manipulative means to control life in the classroom. The results of the study indicate that moral dilemmas in schools and the nature of teacher authority in solving these conflicts should be addressed more in pre-service teacher education.     

Teachers' Ethical Choices in Sociomoral Settings

This article discusses ethical dilemmas in early childhood education as identified by kindergarten and elementary school teachers (N = 26). Ethical dilemmas are investigated in the theoretical framework of moral relevance and moral conflict (Wallace 1988). Professional ethics challenges teachers to collaborate with colleagues and parents. The empirical findings present conflicts between teachers and parents, collegial conflicts between teachers, and cultural conflicts in the community. The method used in the study is a relational reading of teachers' narratives. Interpretative accounts are created to give room to different voices in teachers' written reports. The analysis of the data reveals that the ethical dilemmas in early childhood education are relational and deal with competing interpretations of "the best interest of the child". Relevance and conflict problems arise when people have to co-ordinate their actions with others. Most of the time, discussions have not produced the desired results. Ethical conflicts in teaching invite teachers to consider the moral relevance of each dilemma by taking the perspective of each party involved.     

困境与出路:当代教师的道德使命

从现实处境来看,新课程改革在教育目标、教学方式、以及评价方法等方面所做的调整与重构,如果没有教师道德使命的自觉担当与充分践履,将难收其效。然而,社会氛围的功利化倾向、教育制度的不合理安排、教师教育的去道德化、以及教师自身的条件性依赖假设,却为当代教师的道德使命担当设置了重重困境。为了从这些困境中突围,我们一要坚定教师改变大环境的信心;二要做好教育制度的不断调整;三要增加教师教育中的道德因子;四要鼓励教师成为积极的道德行动者。     

Broadening the resource base for entrepreneurship education through teachers' networking activities

The purpose of this paper is to examine the activities of vocational education teachers when networking in entrepreneurship education. The study examines how the background characteristics of the teachers and their participation in planning and training activities explain the level of use of external stakeholders. As a method, a linear regression analysis has been used. The data consists of 448 Finnish vocational education and training (VET) teachers.The results show that the teachers' business background or work experience does not lead to richer practices regarding utilizing different external stakeholders. However, teachers that participated in school or regional-level entrepreneurship education planning or training utilize external stakeholders significantly more than their colleagues.     

Apprentice or Student? The Structures of Construction Industry Vocational Education and Training in Denmark and Sweden and their Possible Consequences for Safety Learning

There is a notable difference in occupational injury rates in the two Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Denmark, with the latter having a 40% higher rate of fatal occupational injuries in the construction industry. This study explored differences in the vocational education and training (VET) systems between Sweden and Denmark that may be important for students’ safety learning and practice during VET. In both countries, students participate in full-time education, and the curriculum includes school-based as well as company- based training. However, during company- based training Swedish students retain their student status, whereas Danish students are employed as apprentices. From a perspective of viewing safety as a social practice developed through interactions of different social and institutional bodies, the analysis points to this difference in employment status as important for their safety practices and also for the teachers’ position to influence safety learning and practices during company-based training. An analysis of interview and survey data focusing on how VET students enact safety ‘knowings’ across learning sites, suggest how different forms of connectivity models in VET promote various forms of safety learning among students.