Exploring changes in student teachers’ meaning-oriented learning

This study reports on changes in student teachers’ meaning-oriented learning during teacher education and their perceptions of what enhances this learning. Students with a meaning-oriented learning pattern view learning as an active process of knowledge construction, are capable of regulating their learning, want to understand a topic thoroughly, form their opinions about it and draw their own conclusions. This study is situated in Dutch academic primary teacher education, covering student teachers’ entire study period. Quantitative data on changes in their learning patterns were collected using a pre-test/post-test design (N = 21). The student teachers’ perceptions of what enhanced meaning-oriented learning were explored by conducting semi-structured interviews after their graduation (N = 9). At the group level, changes were limited to an increasing use of deep processing strategies. At the individual level, changes varied from a moderate decrease to a high increase in meaning orientation. Increases appeared to be related particularly to student teachers’ perceptions of opportunities to learn from their own interests and to regulate their own learning; student teachers who reported having experienced such opportunities increased their meaning-oriented learning. The study indicates that student teachers could benefit from explicating and discussing these opportunities.     

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.