Bundeskanzleramt/Verfassungsdienst Zul?ssigkeit universit?tsautonomer Studiengeb��hren; Rechtsgutachten des o. Univ.-Prof. DDr. Heinz Mayer

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Bundeskanzleramt/Verfassungsdienst Zul?ssigkeit universit?tsautonomer Studiengebühren; Rechtsgutachten des o. Univ.-Prof. DDr. Heinz Mayer     

Students' Perceptions of Interpersonal Aspects of the Learning Environment

This study examined variables associated with differences in students' perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior. The perceptions of 3023 students and 74 teachers in 168 classes in seven secondary schools were used in the analyses. Investigating variance at the student, class, teacher and school levels revealed that several variables are significantly related to students' perceptions: student and teacher gender, student and teacher ethnic background, student age and grade, class size, grade level, subject taught and teacher experience. There were interaction effects between some variables, such as student ethnicity and student gender, as well as student and teacher gender. While significant, the amount of variance explained by these was low (around 10%). The outcomes generally confirmed earlier research, although some new effects were found. Perhaps the main result of the study was its verification of the complex and interactive nature of students' perceptions of the learning environment and researchers' understanding of it.     

Developmental Links between Teacher-Child Closeness and Disobedience for Boys Placed in Special Education

The aim of this study was to examine developmental links between disobedience and teacher-child closeness in a sample of boys with psychiatric disorders (i.e., emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD)) and special educational needs who are placed in special education. More specifically, this study examined whether developmental links were different between boys with EBD (n = 150) versus boys with ASD (n = 122). Developmental links between disobedience and teacher-child closeness were investigated by incorporating a multi-informant perspective using teacher, child, and peer ratings and analyzed using autoregressive cross-lagged models across three waves within one school year. Results showed that in general, developmental links between teacher-child closeness and disobedience were stronger for boys with EBD than for boys with ASD. Specifically, boys with EBD experiencing less teacher-child closeness showed more disobedience, which in turn negatively affected their relationship development according to teacher ratings. Surprisingly, for boys with ASD, higher levels of disobedience predicted higher levels of teacher-rated teacher-child closeness during the school year. Our results offer more insight into the differential impact of teacher-child closeness on the behavioral problems for children with EBD and ASD.     

The importance of being literate: Reading development in primary school and its consequences for the school career in secondary education

From 1979 till 1987 the Department of Education of the University of Nijmegen carried out a longitudinal reading research project. In this article some of the main research results are presented and discussed. Two research questions are in the focus of interest. The first question deals with the concept of reading development. Here reading development is defined in the way interrelations between latent reading variables — i.e. decoding, reading comprehension and spelling — change during the years of primary education in school. In the second research question we examine the relation between reading ability in primary school and the school career in secondary education. Besides giving answers to these specific research questions, some benefits and shortcomings of longitudinal reading research are discussed. The results indicate that, by conducting longitudinal reading research, it is possible to get a better and more detailed picture of the changing relationships between reading variables. And the somewhat obvious and trivial notion that reading and spelling ability in primary school affects the school career in secondary education has become more specific and clear.     

Of Mermen and Monsters: A Slippery Story of Drama in Education and Related Classroom Practices

The account of the evolution of a classroom teacher (me) that follows is suggestive of a degree of agency and creativity that is rarely acknowledged. Teachers are currently positioned in ways that underline their instrumental role – their duty to students, parents, school and government to ensure that students achieve. A lack of faith in teachers’ capacity to innovate on their own terms means that creative practice in schools is routinely overlooked or mistrusted. My own history serves to illustrate the complex ways in which teachers develop their practice, and the cultural and political influences that play their part in the process. This article ends with some comparison between my own experience and that of my student teachers as they embark on their teaching careers nearly 30 years later.     

Veteran teachers’ job satisfaction as a function of personal demands and resources in the relationships with their students

Many teachers experience their profession as stressful, which can have a negative impact on their job satisfaction, and may result in burnout, absenteeism, and leaving the profession. The relationship with students can have both positive and negative implications for the job satisfaction of teachers, both early and later in their careers. The current study focused on the relationship between veteran teachers’ job satisfaction and their aspirations in teacher-student relationships. Data were gathered among 12 Dutch veteran secondary school teachers, including interviews, the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction, and the Questionnaire on Teachers’ Self-Efficacy. Veteran teachers’ job satisfaction appeared to be positively related to the extent to which their aspirations in teacher-student relationships had been realized. Teachers who had failed to realize their aspirations in teacher-student relationships showed relatively low job satisfaction, or avoided feelings of low job satisfaction by reducing the number of tasks that were directly related to teaching students. An implication for coaching veteran teachers is the need to pay more attention to the teacher-student relationship so that they can adhere to the way they would like to teach students.     

Using Mind Maps to Make Student Questioning Effective: Learning Outcomes of a Principle-Based Scenario for Teacher Guidance

Research in Science Education - Student questioning is an important learning strategy, but rare in many classrooms, because teachers have concerns if these questions contribute to attaining...