Zoekresultaten

Teachers' Personal Constructs on Problem Behaviour

Present study focuses on revealing and developing personal constructs regarding problem behaviour in classrooms. The main idea is that teachers’ opinions about their students and themselves influence the way they interact with them. Their thoughts and ideas about students - their personal constructs - are generally unconscious. We used the Personal Construct Theory from Kelly (1955) and his Repertory Grid Technique for exploration mental constructs. They can give an impulse to the development of thinking and acting of teachers. We think it can help them to build up their professional identity towards ‘problem children’. Twenty-nine teachers formed the sample that worked with this method. We investigated the number of unique construct pairs mentioned by the teachers. This number happened to be remarkably high. While assessing pupils, the teachers use primarily personality characteristics. There is hardly any agreement between the teachers’ constructs, which complicates their communication about their pupils. We considered the number of construct pairs named by one participant. This number seems to depend on the type of education the teacher is involved in. The type of the school the teacher is working at also influences the average scores on the constructs. We shall also turn to the issue of pupils’ sex and its role – if any – in the teachers’ scores. No significant differences have been found.

Differentiating instruction: Understanding the key elements for successful teacher preparation and development

Primary and secondary school teachers are expected to adapt their teaching to the diverse educational needs of students through differentiated instruction (DI). This review included 29 peer-reviewed published articles from 2010 to 2020 evaluating the contribution of preservice and in-service teacher programs for DI. We synthesized program components, outcomes and contextual interplay. Results indicate that successful programs incorporate active learning, collaboration and reflection and were often longitudinal, comprehensive and addressed attitudes, knowledge and skills. Contextual (school) factors acted as facilitators and impediments to program efficacy. Balancing school ambitions with realistic expectations is a concern. Educational and policy implications are further discussed.

The Role of Tensions and Quitting Intentions in Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy

ArtsSciences Design-a-thon: Solving Complex Problems in Interdisciplinary Teams

In this empirical study, the one-day project Robot Love Design-a-thon was designed for an interdisciplinary group of preservice teachers (in arts, sciences, and primary education), and evaluated through observations and learner reports. An analysis of the observations and the learner reports showed that having to go through a complete design process in a single day worked well: it facilitated the exchange of ideas and critical discussions between students concerning the project’s socially engaged theme ‘Tenderness and Technology’. In addition, interdisciplinary collaboration emerged as an important learning outcome. All students found working in mixed teams a relevant and educational experience as they could profit from each other’s expertise.

The development of interaction skills in preservice teacher education

Significant attention has been paid in the international literature to the effect of in-service training on the interaction skills of teachers in early childhood education and care. The growth of pre-service teachers during teacher education has received relatively little attention to date, however. In a mixed-methods longitudinal study, we monitored the development of interaction skills among a group of Dutch pre-service teachers with repeated measures for 3 years and structured interviews. The results of a linear mixed-effects model revealed an impressive growth of interaction skills during the pre-service training. The qualitative interview data revealed progress of pre-service teachers’ professional reflection on their interaction with young children. These outcomes show the effectiveness of pre-service training for the development of interaction skills and professional reflection in early childhood education and care. However, progress is relatively modest for instructional skills and this domain needs further investment in pre-service training.

Standardising coaching of preservice teachers in the classroom

Providing high-quality feedback is essential for improving preservice teacher performance. Rather than post-lesson feedback, immediate performance feedback while teaching is considered effective. This article reports on developing and piloting a standardised tool for synchronous feedback. Eight teacher educators from a Dutch higher education institution were trained to use the tool (based on accepted models of teacher roles, observation criteria and feedback levels) with pre-recorded lessons. Interobserver reliability was good for teacher roles and sufficient for feedback levels. Positive evaluations of the tool and educators’ interest in its application, warrant further research into scalability and effectiveness of synchronous feedback delivery.