Understanding teachers’ motivation for and commitment to teaching: profiles of Chinese early career,early childhood teachers

ABSTRACT

To better understand the reasons underlying attrition and the teacher shortage, and to develop ways to attract and retain high-quality teachers in early childhood education, it is necessary to explore teacher motivation and commitment to teaching. Although previous research has investigated various aspects of teacher motivation and commitment to teaching, little attention has been paid to this in the context of early childhood teachers, especially early career teachers. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 12 early career, early childhood teachers in mainland China, this study aims to examine early career early childhood teachers’ motivation to teach and commitment to teaching in the Chinese context. Four distinct types of early career, early childhood educators were identified: committed passionate, committed compromiser, undecided, and uncommitted. Each of these had unique motives for teaching and different levels of commitment to kindergarten teaching in mainland China. The four types of early career early childhood teachers identified in this study demonstrate the diversity and complexity of teaching motivation and commitment to teaching in the field of early childhood education. The findings from this study can provide implications for policy-makers and teacher educators to enhance novice teachers’ motivation and commitment to teaching in the early childhood context.     

中小学教师继续教育工程实施中的问题与对策

以基础教育课程改革为核心内容的中小学教师继续教育工程自实施以来，主要存在认识不足，行为不到住，师资培训等方面的问题，本文针对此提出了相应的对策。     

To jump the wave or not: teachers’ perceptions of research evidence in education

This article presents a microanalysis of how a group of primary school teachers deals with research evidence in their work. Based on analysis of a group of Norwegian teachers’ interactions over issues of educational research and research-based knowledge, we find that teachers’ representations of educational research particularly center on the following issues: educational research being perceived as circular, ‘polyphonic’, and a matter of accommodation to their experience-based knowledge. These metaphors also shed light upon the dilemmas that arise when research evidence meets teachers’ more contextual knowledge. We conclude that teachers’ practice-based evidence may take new forms with an increased policy focus on research-based evidence, as well as bringing forth challenges for teacher work and professionalism.     

Nurseries and emotional well‐being: evaluating an emotionally containing model of professional development

Despite official endorsement of attachment principles in nursery work, these are often not translated into nursery practice. One possible reason for this is that staff training does not sufficiently address the personal implications and anxieties that children's attachments may entail for practitioners. Working from a psychoanalytic perspective on organisational functioning and group learning, this paper describes action research with a group of nursery heads who participated in a professional development programme designed specifically to explore emotional experience in professional work. The positive evaluations of the programme by heads and their staff are described including examples of experiential learning and of increased staff awareness about, and responsiveness to, the emotional experience of children. However, the research also concluded that sustained effectiveness of the model is likely to be dependent on an ongoing culture of attention to the emotional experience of nursery staff within nursery umbrella organisations.     

增强教学交往促进专业课教学质量的提高

教学交往是一种实现教学目的有效手段,它能创设一种师生互动、互惠的教学关系,能激发学生的学习热情和兴趣.由于专业课中的新概念多、实践性强,在教学中很容易引起学生学习的倦怠.应该充分发挥教学交往的最大效能,创造多种途径的教学交往模式,促进专业课教学质量的提高.     

Sustaining and retaining beginning special educators: It takes a village

The need to support and retain beginning teachers has become critical given: (1) the shortage of teachers in certain disciplines, and (2) the current emphasis on teacher qualifications and student achievement. In this study, five first year special education teachers in the southwestern section of the United States provided information on the persons and activities that supplied them with much needed and valued support. The results indicate that having a strong network of support and a variety of resources positively influenced these teachers’ ability to focus on student learning and on their intent to remain in their positions.     

关于教师的幼儿事务自主观念的研究

儿童对个人事务的自主权对其自我的发展、自主性的增强及个性的形成有着重要的意义。本研究对大连市区371名幼儿教师进行了问卷调查和访谈。结果表明：（1）教师区分了个人事务、道德事务和常规事务；（2）教师在各事务领域给予幼儿自主权限的程度差异显著；（3）教师在各事务领域对待幼儿的方式差异显著；（4）教师给予幼儿各事务自主权限的程度在教师工作年限、幼儿年龄等因素上的差异不显著。     

基础教育改革对外语教师的挑战及应对策略

英语新课程标准的教育理念、课程目标、内容标准、课程评价、教学实施等对外语教师提出了严峻的挑战，广大教师应从以下几方面积极寻找应对策略：因材施教，认真钻研教法；大力推行实用性教学．淡化应试教育；加强课程资源的开发和利用；自我加压，不断提高自身业务水平。     

优秀教师应该具有哪些特点

优秀教师应该有个性、善变，要多读闲书，有丰厚的文化底蕴，还应该进行教育教学研究。     

中小学教师数据素养评价指标体系构建

教育数据在教育领域不断渗透,教师的数据素养水平对于有效利用教育数据、合理判断学生的行为具有重要影响。本研究旨在用德尔菲法构建中小学教师数据素养评价指标体系,为评估中小学教师数据素养提供参考依据。通过文献分析梳理中小学教师数据素养评价指标,选择相关领域专家12人,采用德尔菲法进行2轮专家意见征询,根据专家打分计算指标权重,形成中小学教师数据素养评价指标体系。问卷征询专家的积极系数为100%,专家权威程度均值为0.72,确定的一、二级指标重要性均值均大于4.00,变异系数均小于0.25,符合德尔菲法要求。最终形成了包含数据意识、数据知识、数据操控技能、数据应用能力、评价交流数据、数据思维6个一级指标和19个二级指标与40条具体内容的中小学教师数据素养评价指标体系。对46位教师进行小范围试用,验证了其科学性与可靠性,该评价指标体系可作为评价中小学教师数据素养发展水平的参考测量工具。