The effect of video-based approach on prospective teachers’ ability to analyze mathematics teaching

This is an intervention study that explored the effect of using video lesson analysis methodology (VLAM) on the ability of prospective middle/high school mathematics teachers to analyze mathematics teaching. The sample of the study consisted of 26 female prospective mathematics teachers enrolled in a methods course at the United Arab Emirates University. The participants were divided equally into two groups, experimental and control. The experimental group was involved in video lesson analysis where they analyzed ten video lessons throughout the semester. The group members interacted via discussion forums through Blackboard technology. Both groups wrote analyses of two video lessons, one before the intervention program and another at the end of it. It was found that the intervention remarkably improved the ability to analyze mathematics teaching of the experimental group while little improvement occurred to the control group. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.     

The effect of short online pedagogical training on university teachers’ interpretations of teaching–learning situations

The aim of the study was to explore whether short online pedagogy courses can have an effect on university teachers’ interpretations of teaching–learning situations. Before and after participating in a short online pedagogical training programme, a total of 66 participants wrote their interpretations of two short video clips, which depicted a content-focused teacher and a learning-focused teacher, respectively. The training was successful in changing participants’ interpretations from a knowledge-transmission view to a learning-facilitation view of teaching. This result indicates that even short online training programmes have the potential to affect participants’ interpretations of teaching–learning situations, especially when participants are not very experienced in teaching. Therefore, pedagogical training should be offered already at the early stages of teaching careers.

     

The effect of tertiary teachers’ goal orientations for teaching on their commitment: the mediating role of teacher engagement

This study explored the effect of tertiary teachers’ goal orientations for teaching on their commitment, with a particular focus on the mediating role of teacher engagement. The results of a survey of 597 Chinese tertiary teachers indicated that teacher commitment was positively predicted by ability approach, mastery and relational goals, but was negatively predicted by work avoidance goals. Ability avoidance goals positively predicted teacher commitment to institution and to students, but negatively predicted teacher commitment to profession. Moreover, teacher engagement mediated the effect of ability approach, mastery and work avoidance goals on teacher commitment. The mediation effect of teacher engagement between teachers’ ability avoidance and relational goals and teacher commitment was not significant. The results of this study have implications for understanding the nature of teachers’ psychological state and attitudes towards teaching and for the enhancement of teacher commitment.     

The contribution of extracurricular coaching on high school teachers’ job satisfaction

The purpose of the present study was to explore the contribution of extracurricular coaching on high school teachers’ job satisfaction. Specifically, the study looked at how perceptions of the coaching environment (athlete relationships, colleague relationships and opportunities through coaching) influenced teachers’ perceptions of stressors (athlete-related and workload-related) and coaching efficacy, and how this in-turn influenced teachers’ job satisfaction. The sample examined 2949 teachers from across Canada who volunteered as high school sport coaches, above and beyond their regular teaching load. The results supported that the data fit the model well (SBχ²₍₂₆₄₎ = 973.36, p < .001, SRMR = .08, CFI = .91, TLI = .90, RMSEA = .055 CI₉₅ [.052, .059]) and that teachers who reported a positive coaching environment had increased coaching efficacy and decreased perceptions of athlete-related and workload-related stressors. Increased coaching efficacy predicted higher job satisfaction, while increased perceptions of stressors predicted lower job satisfaction.     

Leading with teachers’ emotional labour: relationships between leadership practices,emotional labour strategies and efficacy in China

Emotional labour has been demonstrated to play a critical role in teaching and leading in the past decade. This study explored the relationships between leadership practices, emotional labour and teacher self-efficacy, with a focus on the mediating role of emotional labour strategies. A sample of 1026 teachers from 3 provinces in China participated in a questionnaire survey. The results show that leadership practices had a negative effect on surface acting and positive effects on deep acting, expression of natural felt emotion and all three aspects of teacher efficacy. Mediation analysis indicates that surface acting and expression of natural felt emotion significantly mediate the effects of leadership practices on teaching efficacy. Implications for school leadership and teacher development 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.     

The influence of teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning on their technology acceptance

Prior research has attempted to incorporate different personal variables within extant theories of technology acceptance models (TAMs). This study further extends TAM by incorporating teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning (CoTL) in two forms: constructivist and traditional conceptions. The moderating effects of teachers’ demographic variables including age, gender, teaching experience, teaching level, and technology experience were tested. Our findings demonstrated that incorporating CoTL could provide a richer and more nuanced understanding of technology acceptance, although no moderating effects on any demographic variables were found.     

The relationships between teachers’ emotional labor and their burnout and satisfaction: A meta-analytic review

Teaching is an emotional endeavor. Unlike mass service employees, teachers enjoy considerable autonomy in their teaching and maintain relatively stable relationships with students, parents, and colleagues. This study is a meta-analytic review of the associations between teachers' emotional labor strategies (i.e., surface acting, deep acting, and the expression of naturally felt emotions) and other relevant constructs. The meta-analysis is based on 85 empirical articles and 86 independent samples, with the experiences of 33,248 teachers represented in the articles reviewed. The meta-correlations are generally in the expected direction. Surface acting is positively related to the individual and interpersonal components of burnout and negatively related to teaching satisfaction. Deep acting is not significantly related to the individual or interpersonal components of burnout, but positively related to teaching satisfaction and the efficacy component of burnout. The expression of naturally felt emotions is negatively related to teachers’ burnout and reduced teaching satisfaction. The moderation analysis of relevant correlates also provides some insights about the research development.     

Student teachers’ emotional teaching experiences in relation to different teaching methods

The role of emotional experiences in teacher training is acknowledged, but the role of emotions during first experiences of classroom teaching has not been examined in large samples. This study examines the teaching methods used by student teachers in early teaching practice and the relationship between these methods and emotions experienced. We modified the Academic Emotions Questionnaire for the assessment of emotions and used an abridged version of the Instructional Approaches Questionnaire for the assessment of teaching methods. The results indicate that good preparation and a willingness to use constructivist pupil-oriented methods reduce student teachers’ negative experiences and promote learning about teaching.     

The effect of high-stakes examination systems on teacher beliefs: Egyptian teachers’ conceptions of assessment

Egypt is currently attempting to introduce a greater formative use of assessment while maintaining a public examination system. This study investigates teacher beliefs about the purposes of assessment in Egypt, using the Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (TCoA) inventory. The TCoA inventory elicits responses about four main factors: Improvement, School Accountability, Student Accountability and Irrelevance. A large sample of (n?=?507) Egyptian pre-service and in-service teachers completed an Arabic version of the TCoA inventory. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the Egyptian teachers’ responses against the pre-existing New Zealand model, which was found to be inadmissible. Consequently, an ecologically rational three-factor model was found. The model yielded a strong positive relationship between Improvement and Student Accountability, consistent with previous studies. It is argued that greater changes to the examination system are required if teacher beliefs are expected to be more positive about the priority of formative, improvement-oriented uses of assessment.     

The impact of secondary history teachers’ teaching conceptions on the classroom use of computers

During the past 15 years, various studies have described factors affecting the use of computers in the classroom. In analysing factors of influence, many studies have focused on technology-related variables such as computer experience or attitudes toward computers, and others have considered teachers’ beliefs as well; most of them have studied undefined categories of teachers and focused on explaining the frequency of technology in classrooms. The present study centres on secondary history teachers’ teaching conceptions as a precursor to the ways in which they use computing technology in the classroom. The research is a qualitative study examining the theoretical assumption that teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning guide their pedagogical action. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 Chilean history teachers, and their didactic sequences were filmed extensively. The research found patterns among educational uses of technology in relation to teaching conceptions (defining the latter based on three conceptual groups: direct instruction or individual or social construction of knowledge) in terms of the allotment of time and the manner of teacher technology use, and less sharply defined patterns were also noted in student technology use and teacher–student–technology interactions.     

Impact of satisfaction and commitment on teachers’ organizational citizenship

This study examined the impact of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in a structural equation model. The study was employed to a group of teachers and their supervisors. The results indicated that job satisfaction and commitment to the school had an impact on OCBs of the teachers and organizational commitment mediated the relation between job satisfaction and OCB.     

The centrality of teachers’ judgement practice in assessment: a study of standards in moderation

There is a strong quest in several countries including Australia for greater national consistency in education and intensifying interest in standards for reporting. Given this, it is important to make explicit the intended and unintended consequences of assessment reform strategies and the pressures to pervert and conform. In a policy context that values standardisation, the great danger is that the technical, rationalist approaches that generalise and make superficial assessment practices, will emerge. In this article, the authors contend that the centrality and complexity of teacher judgement practice in such a policy context need to be understood. To this end, we discuss and analyse recorded talk in teacher moderation meetings showing the processes that teachers use as they work with stated standards to award grades (A to E). We show how they move to and fro between (1) supplied textual artefacts, including stated standards and samples of student responses, (2) tacit knowledge of different types, drawing into the moderation, and (3) social processes of dialogue and negotiation. While the stated standards play a part in judgement processes, in and of themselves they are shown to be insufficient to account for how the teachers ascribe value and award a grade to student work in moderation. At issue is the nature of judgement as cognitive and social practice in moderation and the legitimacy (or otherwise) of the mix of factors that shape how judgement occurs.     

The effect of student teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration in the UAE

This study examines the effect of the student teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers?? self-efficacy beliefs and the sources of their beliefs about technology integration in teaching in the UAE. The participants were 62 pre-service elementary teachers at the United Arab Emirates University. Pre- and post-survey was administered to examine participants?? self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration prior to and at the end of the teaching experience. Additionally, a purposeful subset of the sample (n?=?16) were interviewed based on their high self-efficacy belies to explore the sources of the high self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed a significant effect of student teaching experiences on participants?? judgment of their self-efficacy about technology integration. Mastery experience and vicarious experience reported to be the most influential sources of self-efficacy to integrate technology among preservice elementary teachers.     

Feeling voice: The emotional politics of ‘student voice’ for teachers

In recent years, student voice has become a popular school reform strategy, with the promise of generating relations of trust, respect, belonging and student empowerment. However, when student voice practices are taken up by schools, student voice may also be associated with less affirmative feelings: it is often accounted for in terms of teacher ‘fear’, ‘resistance’ or ‘uncertainty’ about altered power relations. Such explanations risk individualising and pathologising teachers’ responses, rather than recognising the complexities of the institutional conditions of student voice. This article considers the affective politics of student voice: that is, the contestations that attend who gets to name how student voice feels in schools. Working with data from an evaluation study of three Australian primary schools who engage in ‘exemplary’ student voice practices, we listen to school leaders and facilitating teachers’ accounts about the responses of other teachers at their schools to student voice. Parallels are drawn between the construction of some teachers as reluctant, and previous analyses of ‘silenced’ student voices in schools. We argue that, in order to analyse the enactment of student voice in more nuanced tones, it is necessary to consider the profoundly emotional experience of teaching and learning, the ambivalences of teachers’ experiences of student voice and contemporary reconstitutions of teacher subjectivities.     

The effect of university attended on graduates’ labour market prospects: A field study of Great Britain

Utilising data for comparable B.Sc. graduates in economics who have studied in different universities that had set the same entry standards, we compare job seekers’ employment prospects when they search by themselves for jobs by submitting CVs to the same firms. The outcomes suggest that graduates who studied in universities that are ranked in better positions, based on the UK league tables, gain more invitations to interviews (access to vacancies) and higher entry-level annual salaries than those who studied in universities that are ranked in lower positions. To clarify the assigned pattern, we utilised further qualitative indicators, and we estimated that both membership of a scholarly group of universities and universities’ research intensity can positively affect their graduates’ invitations to interviews and entry-level annual salaries. Interestingly, by assessing the influence of degree grades, the study suggested also that applicants’ degree grades can moderate the relation between university attended and employment prospects.     

Formative observation of teaching: focusing peer assistance on teachers’ developmental goals

Peer observation of teaching can provide valuable insights into effective educational practices. By adopting a developmental focus, peer observation can also provide insights into how practices might be enhanced and, importantly, how enhancements in practices might be aligned to teachers’ development goals. However, a review of peer observation of teaching undertaken at Australian universities demonstrates that observation instruments and protocols typically do not explicitly afford alignment of peers’ observations with teachers’ developmental goals. Analysis of observers’ uses of popular peer observation instruments through the deployment of the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme through multiple institutions across Australia has informed the development and trial of a novel observation instrument and protocol design that is aligned with observer use characteristics, and provides a focus on development goals. This study will be of interest to teachers and academic developers researching and implementing goal-oriented curricular and pedagogical development through peer observation.     

The effect of standardized test information on teachers’ assessment of ability in their classes

Abstract

The responses of three groups of teachers to a rating task in which they were asked to indicate how many of their pupils were “bright”, “above average”, “below average” and “dull” were compared. In two of the groups, teachers had been provided with test information based on performance on nationally standardized ability and attainment tests. In the third group tests had been administered but no results were provided.

No differences between the groups were found in terms of the extent to which teacher ratings of ability levels correspond with mean ability test scores. In addition, teachers, irrespective of the group to which they belonged, were found to display a tendency to place more pupils in the above average categories than the below average categories. Finally, no support was found for an hypothesis which suggested that test information would differentially affect the ratings of teachers of classes with pupils who were typical and untypical with respect to age.

The fact that the correlation between mean ratings and mean test scores were found to be fairly high in all three groups (they ranged from .51 to .60) suggests a reason for the failure of test information to impact on teachers’ judgements. The degree of agreement between teachers and tests that the correlations reveal means that there is less scope for a convergence of ratings on tests to occur than might otherwise be the case.     

The influence of teaching experience and professional development on Greek teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion

On the assumption that the successful implementation of any inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators being positive about it, a survey was undertaken into the attitudes of Greek teachers to inclusion. The 155 respondents were general education primary teachers drawn from one region of Northern Greece, with a proportion deliberately selected from schools identified as actively implementing inclusive programmes. The analysis revealed positive attitudes towards the general concept of inclusion but variable views on the difficulty of accommodating different types of disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Teachers who had been actively involved in teaching pupils with SEN held significantly more positive attitudes than their counterparts with little or no such experience. The analysis also demonstrated the importance of substantive long‐term training in the formation of positive teacher attitudes towards inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for developing critical professional development courses that can result in attitudinal change and the formulation of genuinely inclusive practices.