Who believes in me? The effect of student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectations

Teachers are an important source of information for traditionally disadvantaged students. However, little is known about how teachers form expectations and whether they are systematically biased. We investigate whether student–teacher demographic mismatch affects high school teachers’ expectations for students’ educational attainment. Using a student fixed effects strategy that exploits expectations data from two teachers per student, we find that non-black teachers of black students have significantly lower expectations than do black teachers. These effects are larger for black male students and math teachers. Our findings add to a growing literature on the role of limited information in perpetuating educational attainment gaps.     

Who becomes a teacher? The characteristics of student teachers in four countries

This paper reviews the characteristics of students entering initial training in four countries—Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, and Trinidad and Tobago. First a brief overview of the teacher education systems is provided. Second, biographical data is reviewed on age, religious affiliation, ethnic group and mother tongue, parental occupations and academic achievement, and students’ educational qualifications. Third, some insights into trainees’ perceptions about teaching and the teaching profession are presented. Finally, comparisons are made for two countries on cross-sectional data comparing the perceptions of entering and exiting trainees and newly qualified teachers. The results draw attention to the qualities and perceptions that those on initial training programmes bring to the teacher education curriculum. They provide a reminder that teacher education curricula should recognise these characteristics and be designed to respond to needs that they create.     

From externalizing student behavior to student-specific teacher self-efficacy: The role of teacher-perceived conflict and closeness in the student–teacher relationship

Data gathered from a longitudinal study within regular upper elementary schools were used to evaluate a theoretical model within which teachers’ perceptions of conflict and closeness in the student–teacher relationship were considered as the intermediary mechanisms by which individual students’ externalizing behavior generates changes in teachers’ student-specific self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) across teaching domains. Surveys were administered among a Dutch sample of 524 third-to-sixth graders and their 69 teachers. Longitudinal mediation models indicated that individual students’ externalizing behavior generally predicted higher levels of teacher-perceived conflict, which, in turn, resulted in lower student-specific TSE across teaching domains (i.e., instructional strategies, behavior management, student engagement, and emotional support). Teacher-perceived closeness, however, was not found to mediate the link between externalizing student behavior and student-specific TSE. Instead, support was found for an alternative model representing the hypothesis that TSE, irrespective of teaching domain, mediated behavior-related changes in teachers’ perceptions of closeness in the student–teacher relationship.     

Helping students make meaning of authentic investigations: findings from a student–teacher–scientist partnership

As student–teacher–scientist partnerships become more widespread, there is a need for research to understand the roles assumed by scientists and teachers as they interact with students in general and in inquiry learning environments in particular. Although teacher roles during inquiry learning have been studied, there is a paucity of research about the roles that scientists assume in their interactions with students. Socio-cultural perspectives on learning emphasize social interaction as a means for students to make meaning of scientific ideas. Thus, this naturalistic study of classroom discourse aims to explore the ways scientists and teachers help high school students make meaning during authentic inquiry investigations. Conversational analysis is conducted of video recordings of discussions between students and teachers and students and scientists from two instances of a student–teacher–scientist partnership program. A social semiotic analytic framework is used to interpret the actions of scientists and teachers. The results indicate a range of common and distinct roles for scientists and teachers with respect to the conceptual, social, pedagogical, and epistemological aspects of meaning making. While scientists provided conceptual and epistemological support related to their scientific expertise, such as explaining scientific phenomena or aspects of the nature of science, teachers played a critical role in ensuring students’ access to this knowledge. The results have implications for managing the division of labor between scientists and teachers in partnership programs.     

Anatomy of a teacher–student feedback encounter

This study examines the anatomy of a teacher–student feedback encounter by qualitatively analysing live recordings of feedback between a teacher and her student in upper secondary school in Norway. By conducting a conversation analysis, this research identifies the overall organisation of the encounter. The results reveal that, first, the teacher used questions to establish a basis to promote her own agenda and worked to optimise students' contributions by providing positive feedback and minimising critiques and disagreement and second, the student approached the teacher's feedback with resistance. The study concludes with pedagogical implications for practice.     

Teacher–student relationship quality and math achievement: The mediating role of teacher self-efficacy

The relation between social dyadic variables such as teacher–student relationship quality (TSRQ) and student achievement have been well-documented within prior work; however, less research has focused on how TSRQ associates with achievement. We used longitudinal structural equation modeling to investigate the extent that teacher self-efficacy mediated the relationship between TSRQ and math achievement for 881 children in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study. Teacher–student closeness had moderate to large positive effects on teacher self-efficacy, whereas teacher–student conflict had small to moderate negative effects on teacher self-efficacy, which then had small positive effects on math achievement. Closeness only had indirect effects on math achievement via teacher self-efficacy, whereas conflict had direct and indirect effects on math achievement. The results were consistent across grades, lending strength to the findings. This study provides researchers and practitioners evidence of an area that can be developed to potentially enhance student success in math.     

The diverse facets of power in early childhood mentor–student teacher relationships

The aim of this study was to describe the diverse experiences of early childhood student teachers and mentors during the teaching practicum over the period of one semester, and trace power aspects within the relationship of 20 dyads. Data collection included repeated entries within a reflective journal, following specific guiding questions. The data were analysed using patterns of common reference to relationship issues. Findings of the study identified trends of power which present a powerful mentor and an empowered student teacher in relation to practicum issues. Both parties exhibited powerful behaviour in different situations, suggesting that a healthy professional relationship allows for parallel contribution. Thus, when considering teaching practicum for student teachers and programmes for mentors, an elaborated discussion on the diverse facets of power should take place.     

The roles of teacher and student gender in German teachers’ attitudes toward ethnic minority students

Implicit and explicit attitudes play crucial roles in teachers’ judgments and behavior and might be part of the reason for the varying school performances of ethnic minority compared with ethnic majority students but also of female compared with male students. In this study, we investigated 80 female and 80 male German secondary school teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward female and male Turkish students, expecting more favorable attitudes toward same-gender students. However, implicit and explicit attitudes toward male and female students were independent of teachers’ gender. An IAT revealed more negative implicit attitudes toward female than male ethnic minority students, while teachers explicitly favored female ethnic minority students. Results are discussed in terms of culturally divergent social norms and gender.     

Learning about the world of the student: writing poetry for teacher–student understanding

The authors aim to assist teachers to gain a deeper understanding of the inner lives of students especially those with special educational needs. This aim is pursued in two ways. The first is an exploration of the experience of writing poetry using the students' sentiments, actual words and phrases – a poetic engagement. The second is to argue for the transformative potential of this poetic engagement for the practitioner seeking to ‘get alongside’ the student.     

Values—— A study of teacher and student perceptions in four countries

The study aimed to assess and compare the values prevalent among the students and teachers of Universities in Bangladesh, Japan, USA and Germany. The sample consisted of 480 students and 236 teachers. The sample included 120 undergraduate students Japan; 120 undergraduate students from Bangladesh; 120 undergraduate students from USA, and 120 undergraduate students from Germany. The faculty sample included 60 teachers from Japan, 60 teachers from Bangladesh; 60 teachers from USA, and 56 teachers from Germany. To identify the value preferences of the individuals a list of 10 values, pro-social, achievement, power over others, security, self direction, otherworldliness, fatalism, narcissism, inner directed, and conservative, based on previous values studies by Singh and Parek were prepared. The first five values were identified in previous studies as functional （Singh, 1975） and other five were identified as dysfunctional （Parek, 1988） in the context of national development of Asian cultures. The results revealed that Bangladeshi students held stronger preferences for values identified as functional values than for those identified as dysfunctional. Japanese students indicated stronger preferences for the values identified as functional values except narcissism. The American students indicated a preference for three of the five values identified as functional but also ranked narcissism and other worldliness as third and fifth preferred values respectively. German student showed a preference for functional values, except narcissism which they also ranked as third. Bangladeshi teachers＇ preferences for functional values were higher than dysfunctional values. Japanese teachers indicated a preference for functional values except narcissism. American teachers preferred functional values except other worldliness. German teachers＇ value preferences were also functional, except for narcissism which they ranked as fifth. Students and teachers in the four countries sampled indicate preferences for values identified as functional with few exceptions. This research suggests that value preferences among university students and teachers are more similar than different, suggesting a homogenizing effect （Boli, 2005） on human values.     

Teachers' expectations of teacher–student interaction: Complementary and distinctive expectancy patterns

In this study it is investigated what student responses teachers expect in particular teacher behaviour vignettes, and whether experience and gender produce differences in expectations. Teacher behaviour vignettes were presented to teachers (N = 46), who described the student responses they anticipated. Anticipated student responses were then rated on their level of control and affiliation. Results indicated teachers' expectations were indeed complementary except for hostile vignettes, where teachers expected more submissive responses than other populations. There were no significant differences as a result of experience, however, female teachers expected friendlier responses than male teachers in friendly as well as in hostile vignettes.     

The importance of teacher–student interpersonal relationships for Turkish students’ attitudes towards science

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between Turkish high school students’ perceptions of their science teachers’ interpersonal behaviour and their attitudes towards science. Students’ perceptions of the teacher–student interpersonal relationship were mapped with the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), which uses two relational dimensions: influence and proximity. Data on Students’ subject‐related attitudes were collected with the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). A total of 7484 students (Grades 9 to 11) from 278 science classes (55 public schools) in 13 major Turkish cities participated in the study. Multilevel analyses of variance indicated that influence was related with student enjoyment, while proximity was associated with attitudes towards inquiry and with enjoyment.     

Who benefits from dyadic teacher–student interactions in whole-class settings?

To what extent can teacher–student dyadic interactions modify the hierarchy of student performances within a single class? To answer this insufficiently researched question, the authors conducted two parallel studies involving 33 Grade 5 classes in France (759 students) and 15 Grade 5 classes in Luxembourg (243 students). Interactions were observed during whole-class lessons. Posttest scores were analyzed using multilevel models controlling for five level-1 variables and two level-2 variables. The authors did not find any effect of dyadic interactions on relative student performance in mathematics or in language (French or German), in France or in Luxembourg. This result is interpreted in terms of both the public character of dyadic interactions in whole-class settings and the class management functions of these interactions.     

Negotiation in immersion teacher–student interaction

This paper explores the role of negotiation in teacher–student interaction and argues that the negotiation of meaning, defined as a set of conversational moves which work toward mutual comprehension, is too narrow a construct to fulfil its pedagogical potential in teacher–student interaction in communicative and content-based second language (L2) classrooms. Drawing on examples from immersion classrooms, where the overriding focus is on delivery of subject matter in the L2, an argument is presented in support of a more comprehensive view of negotiation that accounts for corrective feedback and distinguishes between meaning-focused and form-focused negotiation.     

The effect of international accreditations on students’ revealed preferences: Evidence from French Business schools

This paper evaluates how three different international accreditations for business schools (AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA) affect student preferences, expressed via enrollment decisions. Focusing on the French context, we build a relative preference indicator to compare schools using data collected by the central clearinghouse that allocates students to schools. We observe that all three accreditations positively and significantly influence students, but that the impact of the AACSB accreditation is larger than the other two accreditations. Having an AACSB accreditation is equivalent to moving up four places in rankings by L’étudiant magazine, whereas the impact of having EQUIS or AMBA is similar to moving up two places. We also find a sizeable “triple crown” effect, meaning that the three accreditations tend to complement each other. Our results are robust to different ways of assessing potential self-selection into accreditation.     

Development of student–teacher relationships in rural early elementary classrooms

An increasing body of literature documents associations between student–teacher relationships, children's academic success, and children's social competence in school. Less is known about characteristics and processes involved in the quality of relationships between students and teachers, and little research has examined these issues with populations of young students and teachers living in rural communities. The current study examined the relationships between rural kindergarten and first-grade students and their teachers in spring of the school year, predicted by child demographic factors, child process factors, and teacher characteristics. Using a multi-level model to account for clustering of children in classrooms, children's behavior and literacy skills were examined as contributors to the teachers’ perceptions of the developing teacher–student relationship, focusing on their potential to mediate associations between more distal characteristics and teacher–student relationships. Controlling for relationship conflict in fall, boys and African American students were more likely to have relationships with teachers that were higher in conflict in spring. When behavior and literacy skills measures were added to the model, children's behavior mediated the effect of gender, such that behavior problems accounted for much of the variance in student–teacher conflict associated with gender. However, neither behavior problems nor literacy skills mediated the effects of minority status on conflict; African American students had poorer relationships with teachers regardless of behavior or literacy skills.     

The reflection on the blackboard: student teacher self‐evaluation

A common aim of teacher education is to encourage prospective teachers to analyze carefully their instructional performance. Yet, research on teacher cognition heretofore has concentrated primarily on experienced teachers’ planning and instructional thinking. We need more information on how student teachers think about and engage in the evaluation of their teaching performance. This study used data from initial structured interviews to elicit student teachers’ self‐evaluation concerns and examined the student teachers’ journals, a final written self‐evalution, and tapes from post‐teaching interviews to create a profile of each student teacher's responses about self‐evaluation. In this paper I analyze the student teachers’ pre‐conceptions about success, examine their processes of self‐evaluation, and explore a conception of “interactive self‐evaluation.” I offer suggestions about the conditions that may enable student teachers to enhance their analytical processes.     

Towards a broader understanding of authority in student–teacher relationships

In this paper we problematise the notion of authority as it appears in discourse relating to school discipline. The account of authority that dominates is narrow and restricted, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for control. This prohibits full consideration of the range of relationships in which authority manifests itself. We draw on sociological and philosophical literature, and argue that a multi-dimensional concept of authority may offer a more nuanced framework for theorising student–teacher relationships in schools. We consider how each of the forms of authority outlined by Wrong (2002 Wrong, D. H. 2002. Power: its forms bases and uses, 3rd edn., London: Transaction Publishers.  [Google Scholar])—coercive, legitimate, competent, personal and authority by inducement—may have some application to the classroom setting. In particular we explore the concept of ‘personal authority' and its potential to enhance understanding of the contested and under-theorised concept of authority. We begin by exploring ways in which the current policy context presents challenges to particular forms of authority.     

Examination of the gender–student engagement relationship at one university

Research examining the relationship between gender and student engagement at the post secondary level has provided mixed results. The current study explores two possible reasons for lack of clarity regarding this relationship: improper parameter estimation resulting from a lack of multi‐level analyses and inconsistent conceptions/measures of ‘student engagement’. Data from the 2006 administration of the National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE) at a southeastern university were analysed. Results indicated that the relationship between gender and engagement is related to engagement type as well as an institution level factor (gender composition). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.