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.     

Student teachers’ development of a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills

The aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of student teachers participating in an introductory course, designed to stimulate the development of a positive attitude towards research and to stimulate the development of research knowledge and skills by second-year student teachers of an institute of primary teacher education. A questionnaire (N = 81) was used to measure the students’ attitude and perceptions of the development of their attitude towards research, their perceived development of research knowledge and skills and what parts of the introductory course they perceived to be responsible for these developments. According to the students’ perceptions, the introductory course contributed to the development of both a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills. The students indicated that examples from practice, authentic learning tasks and working in pairs or groups contributed most to the development of their attitude, knowledge and skills.     

Teachers’ implementation of the coaching role: do teachers’ ownership, sensemaking, and agency make a difference?

The aim of this study was to explore whether teachers’ positioning towards an innovation is related to their implementation of it. Positioning was reflected in terms of teachers’ ownership, sensemaking, and agency. The innovation that was of central focus in this study pertained to the changing role of teachers towards a more coaching role in the classroom. Teachers’ implementation of the coaching role was examined through student perceptions. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire, completed by 253 of the students of 10 teachers. The findings showed that these teachers appeared to be implementing their coaching role to a reasonably strong degree. Moreover, a relationship was identified between the extent to which this role was implemented and teachers’ feelings of ownership, their processes of sensemaking, and their experiences of agency. The results therefore suggest that ownership, sensemaking, and agency do make a difference in the implementation of an educational innovation.     

Assessors’ perceptions of their judgement processes: Successful strategies and threats underlying valid assessment of student teachers

As current procedures for teacher assessment are often based on non-standardized, qualitative information derived from multiple sources, the overall validity of the assessment depends heavily on the judgement processes of the assessors. Because it is of great importance for assessors to be aware of their own judgement processes and of the possible threats to validity in these processes, investigating assessors’ perceptions is of vital significance. In the present study, the perceptions of 22 assessors who judged a student teacher pair-wise using a specific assessment procedure were explored using semi-structured interviews. A qualitative analysis of the individual assessors’ perceptions with regard to the essential judgement processes of consideration of evidence and combination of evidence to attain an overall judgement resulted in an overview of successful strategies and threats underlying a valid assessment process. General implications for ensuring the validity of the assessment process and the preparation of assessors are discussed.     

Teachers' Prior Experiences and Actual Perceptions of Professional Identity

Abstract

After a review of literature, 14 items were generated which represent teachers' professional identity. The participating teachers (n = 28) were requested to express and clarify their actual perception for each item. In addition they were asked to draw so‐called story‐lines from the present to the past and to clarify the highest and lowest points in these lines. The respondents were secondary school teachers with an average teaching experience of 21 years. All of them perceived their actual professional identity as positive. The teachers' stories of their experiences demonstrate so‐called progressive rather than regressive lines in their careers. Some teachers also demonstrate so‐called stability story‐lines, i.e. lines without high(est) and low(est) points. It is argued that—in the long term—these and other research findings can be relevant to those who are responsible in schools for the further development of teachers' careers.     

Exploring knowledge processes based on teacher research in a school–university research network of a master’s program

School–university research networks aim at closer integration of research and practice by means of teacher research. Such practice-oriented research can benefit both schools and universities. This paper reports on a multiple-case study of five participants in a school–university research network in a Dutch master’s program. The research question was: In what way is knowledge based on practice-oriented research by master’s students developed, shared, and used in school–university research networks in which education is primarily offered within a university setting? Twenty interviews were conducted, on the basis of logs, over a period of 10 months. Results show that (1) for master’s students, the most significant motive for developing, sharing or using knowledge was that the content knowledge about their research topic could be useful to school practice and colleagues; (2) research supervisors reported more than master’s students about the procedural knowledge that they had developed and shared. This knowledge focused on the collaborative process of supporting research and knowledge processes in school and university; (3) activities of knowledge sharing and use appeared to depend to a significant extent on individual purposes and leadership initiatives of master’s students and their supervisors; and (4) in the school–university research network, master’s students and research supervisors continued—to a limited extent—knowledge processes based on master’s students research after their graduation. Outcomes indicate that use of existing network structures in master’s programs is complex, but could be a promising avenue for creating successful school–university research networks.     

Teachers' Interpersonal Role Identity

This article investigates the link between teachers' appraisal of specific interpersonal situations in classrooms and their more general interpersonal identity standard, which together form their interpersonal role identity. Using semi-structured and video-stimulated interviews, data on teachers' appraisals and interpersonal identity standards were collected and analyzed using appraisal and interpersonal circumplex theory. Results show a variety of interpersonal identity standards, although the majority of the teachers mentions standards focusing on the codes steering and being friendly. The situation “reacting to student positive behavior” evoked most appraisals that confirmed identity standards. For 13 of the 29 teachers, their identity standard matched with their appraisals. In most cases, however, this match was only to some extent (10 teachers) and sometimes not at all (six teachers). The results suggest that teachers can enhance their relationship with students by becoming more aware of the meanings teachers attach to this relationship in specific situations.     

Experienced teachers' informal learning: Learning activities and changes in behavior and cognition

In this study on 32 teachers' learning in an informal learning environment, we analyzed changes in conceptions and behavior regarding students' active and self-regulated learning (ASL), and relations with the teachers' learning activities. Few relations were found between observed changes in behavior and learning activities. Changes in conceptions appeared to correlate with the activities obtaining new ideas, experimenting with new methods, and reflecting on why certain teaching methods seem to be effective and others not. Only one teacher became more ASL-oriented in both behavior and conceptions. The apparent variation in teachers' informal learning should lead to differentiated support for teacher learning in the workplace.