A longitudinal examination of African American adolescents' attributions about achievement outcomes

Developmental, gender, and academic domain differences in causal attributions and the influence of attributions on classroom engagement were explored longitudinally in 115 African American adolescents. In Grades 8 and 11, adolescents reported attributions for success and failure in math, English and writing, and science. In Grade 11, English and mathematics teachers rated students' classroom engagement. Boys were more likely than girls to attribute math successes to high ability and to attribute English failures to low ability. Both genders' ability attributions for math became more negative from eighth to eleventh grades. Grade 8 attributions of math failure to lack of ability were negatively related to Grade 11 math classroom engagement. Results illustrate the gendered nature of motivational beliefs among Black youth.     

Elementary teachers' perceptions regarding school behavior problems: Implications for school psychological services

The study focuses upon teachers' perceptions of school behavior problems and preferred classroom management actions. Two hundred elementary school teachers were evaluated with a questionnaire comprising assessment of causal attributions and goal‐directed behavior on the part of the teachers, when dealing with classroom misbehavior problems. Internal student‐related attributions were those most frequently adopted by the teachers, even though teachers' explanations varied significantly across school problems. Misbehavior‐related attributions were significantly associated with teachers' preferred practices. Our results support the application of psychological principles to educational practice through an understanding of teachers' discipline‐related theories. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The structure of primary and secondary teachers' attributions for pupils' misbehaviour: a preliminary cross-phase and cross-cultural investigation

The purpose of this study was to see if systematic contrasts in educational culture and curricular emphases might affect the underlying structure of teachers' attributions for children's behaviour. Thus, responses to a questionnaire developed from earlier work by Miller and colleagues (2000, 2002) were gathered from primary and secondary school teachers in England and the Republic of Ireland. Exploratory factor analyses revealed that teachers participating in the study appear to have attributed pupils' misbehaviour at least as much to teachers' and adult behaviours as much as to any distinctive parental or home factors. The structure of primary and secondary teachers' attributions appears to have differed, with primary teachers distinguishing between their own and parental influences on children's behaviour. However, contrary to expectation the demands of the curriculum did not seem to have figured highly in these teachers' perception of causes of misbehaviour. Finally, some speculations on possible differences in relative weighting between English and Irish teachers' views are offered. Teachers in the Republic of Ireland appear to have attached greater importance to children's personalities and pressures on children. Further, teachers in primary schools in England seem to have rated their classroom management strategies and other more general adult behaviours as more important associates of behaviour than did their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to cultural and curricular differences and teachers' constructions of behaviour and special educational needs.     

Differences in teachers' perceptions of personal control of positive versus negative student learning outcomes

Past research on teachers' causal attributions has shown there to be little relation between perceptions of responsibility for positive versus negative student learning outcomes. In this study, Weiner's model for causal attributions was employed to explore these perceived attributional differences. Data were gathered from 184 teachers from two metropolitan school districts. Statistically significant differences between attributions for positive versus negative outcomes were identified along the dimensions of both internality/externality and stability of cause. Relations to overall efficacy, teaching experience, grade level taught, and teacher gender were also explored; however, only grade level differences were found to be statistically significant.     

教师个人教学效能感与成就目标及学生学习归因关系的研究

通过对192名中学教师的个人教学效能感与成就目标取向以及学生学习归因关系的研究，结果表明：教师个人教学效能感与成就目标取向存在显著相关；与学生学习的外部归因，如学生努力、环境影响有显著相关。其中16年以上教龄教师个人效能感与学生学习的努力、能力、环境影响、教师作用各内外归因都显著相关。     

Designing Reflections on Practice: Helping Teachers Apply Cognitive Learning Principles in an SFT — Inquiry-Based Learning Program

The objective of this research into teacher education was to provide teachers with a deeper understanding of the cognitive goals of an inquiry-based learning program — Schools for Thought (SFT), and how these might be fostered using specific classroom activities. The classroom activities the workshops analyzed are derived from cognitive research aimed at fostering constructivist learning environments and include various strategies for facilitating collaborative learning and discussion among students (Bruer, 1993; Brown & Campione, 1994). The study documents 13 workshop sessions with teachers from grade 6,7, and 8. Teachers were asked to videotape segments of classroom activities in each of four phases of the SFT research cycle. The videotapes were edited by the authors and then discussed with teachers focusing on their effectiveness at implementing the cognitive goals for each unit phase. Analysis of these sessions reveal a shift in the focus of teachers' discussion from identifying procedures or the planning sequence of inquiry-based activities, to the usefulness these activities have for fostering specific cognitive and pedagogical goals. However, important differences remain in what researchers and teachers consider important when reflecting on teaching.     

Developmental theory in the classroom

Two questions are discussed with reference to the role of developmental psychology in the understanding of classroom learning and teaching. One question is whether a developmental perspective provides an adequate basis for a theory of the classroom. The second question concerns the utility to teachers of the adoption of such a perspective. Both questions are discussed in response to a series of critical reviews of current applications of psychology to educatonal practices. Firstly, the adoption of a developmental perspective in classroom investigation is valid since: it is not clear which theoretical principles underpin teachers' practices; developmental theorising already constitutes a corpus of knowledge; the common culture in which teachers work includes developmentally-based applications; existing classroom research on children's learning sometimes lacks a developmental dimension. Secondly, it is argued that the application of a developmental perspective to the classroom is both distinctive and fertile. Instructional psychologists explicitly accept the need for classroom variables to be systematically investigated. Five examples of the application of a developmental perspective are discussed: task-analysis; the diagnosis of children's prior knowledge and the matching problem; learning strategies; assessment and criterion-referencing; methods of investigating children's thinking. Two conclusions are drawn. Firstly, further research is needed to explicate the theoretical principles underpinning teachers' practices. Secondly, further research is needed in the investigation of a developmental perspective in classroom settings. It is an empirical, and open, question as to which type of research will provide a preferential understanding of classroom learning and teaching.     

Causal Attributions and Reading Achievement: Individual Differences in Low-Income Families

In this study the development of causal attributions about reading within low-income families was examined. Specifically, relations between children's reading achievement and their causal attributions were investigated as well as relations between the children's attributions about themselves and their parents’ attributions about them. A total 513 students from Grades 3, 6, and 9, and one parent of each student, all from low-income families, participated. Students and parents independently rated the importance of seven causal variables (effort, intellectual ability, liking for reading, the teacher, help at home, difficulty of reading material, and luck) for the students’ good and poor reading outcomes. The major findings were that (a) at each grade, students’ attributions were reliably related to their reading achievement on the Gates–MacGinitie reading comprehension test, with attributions to ability, liking for reading, and help at home especially critical; (b) at each grade, parent attributions were reliably associated with student attributions; and (c) as students’ grade in school increased, they focused more on themselves and less on others as causal determinants of their reading performance. The implications of these findings for research and education are discussed.     

“To make the tacit explicit”: Teacher education, emerging discourse, and conceptions of teaching

The influence of teacher education on teaching is a problematic area, both in practice and in research. Often, because much research adopts a “first-order” perspective which focuses on teachers' behaviors, influences of teacher education are seen as temporary, negligible, or difficult to determine. The study reported here grew out of a general concern to document, via a “second-order” perspective which examines their thinking and perceptions, how teachers modify or improve what they do through formal teacher education. It addresses three important areas which have received little attention in recent research: foreign language teaching, in-service graduate education, and the role of a shared, professional discourse in developing teachers' conceptions of teaching. The paper presents a summary of the findings of an 18-month longitudinal study which examined how foreign language teachers' conceptions of their classroom practice developed as they took part in an in-service teacher education program. The paper discusses how the program's shared professional discourse contributes to increasing the complexity of the teachers' thinking about their teaching and suggests that as they learn to articulate their de facto ways of thinking in the shared discourse, the teachers gain greater control over their classroom practice and are thus more able to shape it to their own ends.     

Teachers' in-flight thinking in inclusive classrooms

This article explores the thinking of five junior high school teachers as they teach students with learning difficulties in inclusive classrooms. Insights into the ways these teachers think about students in these inclusive secondary school contexts were obtained through triangulating data from semistructured interviews, stimulated recall of in-flight thinking, and researcher field notes. Exploration of teachers' in-flight thinking (i.e., the thinking of teachers as they engaged in classroom teaching) revealed a knowledge of individual students that was not related to categorical notions of learning difficulties. This research has implications for the practice of teaching in inclusive settings as well as for teacher preparation. Specifically, it suggests that attention to student differences should be replaced by the development of teachers' knowledge about individual students as a rich source of practical knowledge and the basis for developing effective instructional techniques.     

Elementary teachers' use and perception of rewards in the classroom

In the past four decades much research has gone into the use of rewards in education yet little attention has been given to the use of rewards from the perspective of teachers. This mixed method study examined how elementary school teachers define and use rewards in their classrooms and how various motivational constructs such as goal orientation, self-efficacy, and autonomy relate to teachers' use of rewards. Results revealed that all teachers in our sample use some form of rewards in their classrooms and the majority use some form of tangible rewards. Rewards were most frequently given for behaviour management, but there was a significant relationship between the use of rewards for behaviour and those given for academic achievement. Performance goal orientations for teaching were positively related to the use of tangible rewards and a higher degree of classroom control and negatively related to teacher self-efficacy. When asked to report on the appropriateness of using rewards in the classroom only one-third of the teachers reported that they should be used conditionally.     

研训教师与一线教师双赢发展模式探索

教师专业化越来越受到关注,研训教师是教师专业化的先行实践者和指导者,直接服务于教师成长。以研训教师＂研修室＂为载体,探索双赢发展模式,能够提高教师的实践能力,促进研训教师与一线教师的专业化发展。     

Teachers' Causal Attributions for Behaviour Problems in Relation to Perceptions of Control

The general aim of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' perceptions of control and their causal attributions for behaviour problems. Elementary teachers ( n = 305) were asked to rate each of 12 factors as the possible cause of the behaviour problem described in a vignette and they also completed the Spheres of Control Scale. Teachers seemed to agree that family and pupil-related factors might cause behaviour problems, while they rejected school and organic factors. Overall, teachers seemed to have a high perception of control in three distinct spheres of life, i.e. personal efficacy, interpersonal relationships and sociopolitical behaviour. Nevertheless, only perceived control in the area of interpersonal relationships was found to be significantly correlated with 4 causal attributions. Results are discussed in the framework of in-service training for regular education teachers.     

意图性判断的观察者和行为者偏差

道德评价影响意图性判断是指人们将负性副作用判断为有意的情况显著多于对正性副作用的判断,也称副作用效应。但过去的研究忽略了是否存在观察者和行为者偏差。本研究采用两种副作用情景,考察了作为观察者,个人对他人副作用的意图性判断和作为行为者,个人对自己副作用的意图性判断。结果发现在观察者条件下出现副作用效应,而在行为者条件下,副作用效应并不存在。说明行为角度在考察道德影响意图性判断的研究中值得重视。     

Towards a constructivist perspective: An intervention study of mathematics teacher development

A constructivist perspective provided the basis for a four stage intervention with teachers. The intervention which combined intensive summer courses with ongoing support in the classroom was designed to stimulate teachers' development of a constructivist view of learning to serve as a basis for their instructional decision-making. Impact of the intervention was studied through analysis of teachers' writings and the use of an interview-based instrument developed by the researchers. The results indicated that this intervention had an important effect on teachers' beliefs about learning which in turn affected the decisions that they made in the classroom.     

国外教师情绪研究的视角转换与启示

自20世纪80年代以来,教师情绪逐渐得到研究者的重视,成为多学科研究的对象。这些研究表现出较为明显的阶段性特征,在第一阶段,研究者倾向于把教师情绪作为教师个人的内部心理特征,旨在确立教师情绪在教育中的价值;在第二阶段,研究者侧重从社会关系层面看待教师情绪,积极关注社会关系、政策改变与教师情绪体验之间的联系;在第三阶段,研究者开始把教师情绪的社会文化特征纳入研究之中,侧重从权力关系、情绪规则等研究教师情绪的塑造、转换和抵制。     

Classroom disruptions,the teacher–student relationship and classroom management from the perspective of teachers,students and external observers: a multimethod approach

This study used questionnaires and systematic behavioural observations to examine how teachers, students and external observers perceived classroom disruptions, the teacher–student relationship and classroom management in grade 5 and 6 classrooms in Switzerland. The questionnaire showed that the students of a class agreed to a certain extent in their ratings of classroom disruptions, the teacher–student relationship and classroom management. Comparison of teachers’ and students’ ratings showed that agreement on these constructs varied. We found weak to moderate agreement on classroom disruptions, a weak correspondence for the teacher–student relationship, and no association on classroom management. The results of the behavioural observation showed a moderate agreement between external observers’ and students’ ratings, but no association between external observers’ and class teachers’ ratings and only a weak correspondence with the subject teacher ratings. Thus external observers’ low-inference observations corresponded far better with students’ than teachers’ ratings. To sum up, students, teachers and observers perceive classroom processes differently.

     

The relationship between teacher sign skills and student evaluations of teacher capability

This study examines the extent to which deaf students' perceptions of their teachers' effectiveness and ease of communication in the classroom are related to the teachers' sign skills. Thirty-three faculty, teaching a variety of courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), were rated on "teaching effectiveness" and "communication ease" by their students over a 2-year period. Faculty sign proficiency was evaluated independently using the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI). Results indicate a moderate relation between students' perceptions of communication ease and teaching effectiveness, and a weak relation of these two variables to the teachers' assessed level of sign skill. The data also show that the students could clearly differentiate three levels of teacher sign skill in the classroom. Results are discussed in relation to the component parts of effective communication from the perspective of students in the classroom.     

Teachers' Conceptions of Education: A Practical Knowledge Perspective on 'Good' Teaching

Research on teachers' practical knowledge is considered to be an alternative to several other research approaches to teaching which study teaching from a limited point of view and from an outsider's perspective, often with the aim of exerting control over teachers. It is argued that research on teachers' practical knowledge takes into account in a better way what really matters in teaching because it emphasizes the knowledge and beliefs of teachers themselves about teaching. In this study, the issue of 'good' teaching is highlighted from a perspective on teaching based on teachers' practical knowledge. The conceptions of education of eight experienced teachers were investigated with a multi-methodical approach. Teachers' conceptions of education consist of their views on the objectives of education, the contents of the curriculum, and the role of the teacher and the students in the teaching and learning process. Several contextual factors and teachers' interpretations of these factors seem to exert influence on teachers' conceptions of education, such as the schools in which they work, the characteristics of the students and subjects they teach, and general developments in society. It is concluded that it is difficult to give a precise definition of good teaching from a practical knowledge perspective because of the personal and context-embeddedness of teachers' practical knowledge. However, the results indicate that research on teachers' practical knowledge adds new information to the discussion of good teaching when compared with the results of more traditional research approaches to teaching.