Search results

This paper explores the relationship between transformational principal leadership and individual teacher innovativeness, considering the mediating role of teacher agency (TA) and the moderating role of teacher trust (TT).

We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) using survey data collected from 676 teachers at 25 schools in Turkey.

The results indicated no direct correlation between transformational leadership (TL) and teacher innovativeness but revealed a significant and positive association between TL and teachers' agency, as well as between teachers' agency and innovativeness, suggesting that TA fully mediates the association between TL and teacher innovativeness. Additionally, teachers' trust positively influenced the link between principal leadership and teachers' innovativeness, with the impact of TL on teachers' innovativeness being stronger when trust levels were higher.

This study contributes to the literature, providing an understanding of the mechanisms through which leadership can exert an influence on teacher innovativeness.

This study also suggests that the strength of the influence is likely to vary under different circumstances. Trust among teachers appears to play a key role in the effect of school leadership on teachers, particularly when aiming to support and sustain innovativeness.

Trust-based relationships within a school are essential for school principals to influence innovative practices. We conclude that, in the absence of trust as a key component of school climate, achieving a comprehensive understanding of the role of school leadership in fostering teacher innovativeness seems unattainable.

This paper expands existing knowledge regarding the effect of TL in leading teacher innovativeness by indicating the indispensable role of TA and trust.

The paper aims to clarify how work-specific characteristics at both the individual and organizational level influence professional civil servants’ readiness for change during the implementation of reforms in public administration. We examine the influence of work characteristics at the individual and organizational levels, such as reform-related strains, organizational climate, and organizational professionalism, on the employees’ response to change. In addition, we also consider the interaction between these specific work characteristics.

This article employs a quantitative multi-level analysis to examine the influence of individual and collective predictors of employees' readiness for change. For our analysis, we used data from the evaluation of a school reform in Switzerland aimed at aligning teachers' working conditions with those of other administrative employees. The survey conducted for the evaluation includes responses from 2,162 teachers.

Our study expands the understanding in public management research of work characteristics that either promote or reduce employees’ readiness for change in the public sector. Our findings suggest that the organizational level, in our case the school level, influences the individual’s response to change. Furthermore, the role of organizational professionalism in terms of a reform-related transformation of the identities, structures, and practices of the actors concerned is highlighted as a potential stressor and catalyst that reinforces the negative correlation between reform-related stress and willingness to change.

This paper offers insights into how public managers can effectively overcome challenges in the implementation process of public school reforms. This also includes the awareness among change agents that positively associated changes at the organizational level may have negative consequences at the individual level, due to the fact that they affect professional understanding, for example, which may cause the affected actors to respond with resistance.

This paper contributes to the small number of multi-level research studies on the responses to change in public administration and answers the call for research to investigate the hurdles that may arise when implementing change. Further, the paper contributes to the literature on the impact of new public management (NPM) on the identity of professional civil servants.

We’re all just looking at the stars; how behavioral economics helps us understand the barriers to education programming in Tanzania.

This article uses a qualitative approach to explore the behaviorally normed barriers to quality classroom instruction that contribute towards low learning outcomes. Themed text analysis was applied to qualitative secondary data from seventeen classroom observations and teacher interviews collected from low-performing schools in rural Tanzania.

It was found that teachers in poor-performing schools in Tanzania were focused on the delivery of curriculum and pedagogy, with a misplaced belief that their pupils were performing adequately. The study found no evidence of teacher resistance to change; instead, the teachers were content and often happy to implement the reading program, believing that teaching phonics-based instruction improved their teaching approach. Teachers sought confirmation of their quality instructional practice from convenient yet inaccurate sources that did not include effective pupil assessment.

As a result of the chosen research approach, findings may lack generalizability.

While existing models of teacher change rely on logic and reason for decision-making, this paper provides evidence that teacher models of change are much more complex and irrational, aligned more closely with insights from behavioral economics (BE). Additionally, this paper justifies that traditional research frameworks that study what works provide an incomplete picture to support effective program improvement.

The application of behavioral economics to research and education programming focused on reducing the restraining forces rather than pushing incentives and other program components.

This study explores the consequences of digitalization in the field of education, particularly in relation to teachers’ course processes in higher education institutions. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how information systems (IS) support not only individual tasks but also processes as a whole. The results reveal that process practices have not been considered comprehensively and even core processes may be unseen.

A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the extent to which teachers’ processes are discussed in the literature. A qualitative case study was then conducted at a Finnish higher education institution to identify course processes and their relationships to IS.

Teachers’ processes have scarcely been discussed in the literature, and the process support provided by ISs is remarkably limited. It seems that course processes, which are core to education, are a blind spot in education digitalization. To support evaluating the level of support by IS, novel course process indicators were introduced.

Developing core processes, teachers’ course processes and thesis processes in education field, supports improving service quality. In all industries, organizations should consider whether processes are properly recognized and whether IS support not only individual tasks but also processes as a whole. We recommend recognizing and applying business process management practices to better support teachers’ work and to improve overall efficiency in education.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first education sector study that attends to teacher’s work as a comprehensive process.

This article explores the education crisis in Cameroon, focusing on the personal experiences of teachers and the strategies they employ to reduce school dropout during the transitional phase from primary to secondary education.

Based on a teacher training programme, 31 interviews with primary and secondary school teachers were conducted. An exploratory research design with an inductive thematic approach was used to identify themes and establish code categories. This design allowed for flexibility in investigating contextual crisis factors by eliciting interpersonal stories and exploring the dynamics of each case.

Three types of dropout prevention strategies – either standalone or mixed – are identified, depending on network, opportunity or service factors. Network-based strategies are considered the most effective and popular, as school dropout is largely influenced by students’ social backgrounds, and teachers remain key players in community life. Lies and fictional narratives, through opportunity- or service-based strategies, create dishonesty and unrealistic expectations regarding final education outcomes. Each type of strategy has significant limitations due to the highly fragmented education system in the country.

The article reveals that school dropout prevention in Cameroon is hampered significantly by education disorganisation. Teachers’ individual practices are insufficient to convey the actual value of education and reverse dropout decisions made after careful consideration. A national pedagogy plan is needed to ensure continuity.

Teachers’ organisational identification is crucial for the success of educational reform in the change process. This study investigates how and under what conditions authentic principal leadership contributes to teachers’ organisational identification.

Data collected from 7907 public high school teachers across Türkiye were analysed using bootstrapping method. This research tested a moderated mediation model of authentic principal leadership effects on teachers’ organisational identification by incorporating teacher academic optimism as a mediator, and teacher collective responsibility as a moderator.

Results revealed significant direct and indirect effects of authentic principal leadership on the teachers’ organisational identification via teacher academic optimism. Teacher collective responsibility significantly moderated the effects of authentic principal leadership on both teacher academic optimism and on teachers’ organisational identification. The positive effects of authentic principal leadership were strengthened when the collective responsibility was higher.

This study integrates authentic leadership theory with social identity theory, which provides a more theoretically accurate understanding of how authentic principal leadership influences teachers’ organisational identification.

In this chapter, we explore the ways in which media postpandemic responses communicate clearly the excessive entitlement reflected in the public discourse about teachers. During the pandemic, we noted many parent posts on social media lauding teachers. They expressed gratitude for the challenges teachers faced in teaching students on distance platforms and moving learning forward. Yet, we noted that the media reports following the pandemic were noticed a shift in the discourse following the pandemic. Thus, we became interested in exploring how teachers were represented in public discourse following the pandemic. Since the public discourse on teachers has consistently reflected a deficit orientation, given the praise of teachers during the pandemic, we wondered if this acknowledgment of teachers' sacrifice and service might shift the discourse after the pandemic to more positively represent teachers. To pursue this inquiry, we collected and analyzed narratives and examples from postpandemic media representations where teachers and teacher educators were represented as nonpersons. We also collected anecdotes and research and media reports to examine the ways in which teachers were represented. We identified three themes: lack of teachers' voices, the teacher shortage, and loss of learning. Our analysis identifies how teachers and teacher educators are positioned within society and the impact of treating teachers as nonpersons on teachers and the teaching profession. Such depictions fail to represent the vital role of teachers in the progress of society.

This paper aims to unveil opportunities for promoting teacher ethics through quality school-based professional development (S-BPD) programmes to improve teachers’ ethical conduct in Tanzanian primary schools.

This qualitative study uses an institutional ethnography design. The data were collected through interviews, focus group discussion, observation and documentary review. Data analysis was guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) framework of thematic analysis.

Opportunities to promote teacher ethics drew on quality S-BPD programmes. These opportunities include interactions with morally committed teachers, introduction of the civic and moral subject, prevalence of teacher misconduct, ideal school leadership and development and access to affordable technology.

The study provides useful insights into how to reshape teachers’ ethical competences and to link theory and practice in teaching. Moreover, the study suggests school-based solutions to the problem of resource scarcity for teachers to retool their professional competences.

The opportunities revealed are critical for promoting teacher ethics through quality S-BPD programmes in primary schools because teacher ethics is learned. The study offers insights into how to improve teacher ethics in primary schools. It concludes that internalising these opportunities as a whole is vital, as they have the potential to promote teacher ethics in Tanzanian public primary schools.

Preservice teacher (PST) professional development programs are crucial for cultivating high-quality STEAM teachers of the future, significantly impacting the quality of regional STEAM education. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as a region of cross-border cooperation, integrates the resources and advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, possessing rich cultural heritage and innovative capabilities. Transdisciplinary Education for Cultural Inheritance (C-STEAM) is an effective approach to promoting educational collaboration within the Greater Bay Area, facilitating the integration of both technological and humanities education. This study aims to develop a Technology-Enabled University-School-Enterprise (T-USE) collaborative education model and implement it in the Greater Bay Area, to explore its role as a support mechanism in professional development and its impact on C-STEAM PSTs' professional capital.

Adopting a qualitative methodology, the study interviewed PSTs who participated in a C-STEAM teacher education course under the T-USE model. Thematic coding is used to analyze their knowledge acquisition, interaction benefits with community members, and autonomous thinking and decision-making in theoretical learning and teaching practice.

The findings show that the T-USE model significantly enhanced the PSTs' human capital, including teaching beliefs, knowledge, and skills. In terms of social capital, PSTs benefited from collaboration with PST groups, university teaching teams, in-service teachers, and enterprises, though challenges such as varying levels of expertise among in-service teachers and occasional technical instability emerged. For decisional capital, the T-USE model provided opportunities for autonomous thinking and promoted teaching judgment skills through real teaching challenges and scenarios. Reflective practice activities also supported PSTs' professional growth.

This study reveals the effectiveness and internal mechanism of the T-USE model in C-STEAM PST training, offering significant theoretical and practical references for future PST education.

This study aims to supplement the international knowledge on factors determining retention in the teaching profession with findings from the Czech Republic. The study aims to answer the question of what factors on the part of schools and teachers are related to teachers’ decision to leave the teaching profession, either temporarily or permanently. It also examines the differences between teachers at the beginning and end of their professional careers.

This study presents a secondary analysis of the data collected in a survey of 1,230 Czech secondary school teachers implemented in 2021 in the same schools as the TALIS survey in 2018. The longitudinal design makes it possible to observe the impact of school variables on teachers’ willingness to remain in the profession. Data are analysed through logistic regression.

The analysis shows the importance of sufficient financial evaluation, the composition of the student body, instructional leadership, and school innovativeness for the retention of teachers in the profession. The analysis further shows that the factors causing teachers to leave the profession differ for those at the beginning and at the end of their teaching careers.

The limitations of the study lie in the fact that this is a secondary analysis. The questionnaires were not designed in accordance with the aim of our study, and so the variables were constructed from existing data to best fit our chosen framework.

The results of our analysis indicate that the Czech education policy should focus not only on general increases in teachers’ salaries, but also on the adjustment of increases over the course of a teacher’s career. The starting salary may be important for retaining young teachers in the profession, while at later stages in their careers their decision to stay may be more influenced by other factors. Our research also showed the importance of leadership. In schools where the principal supports his or her teachers and takes care of their professional development, teachers have a greater tendency to stay in the profession than in schools where the management does not perform this function.

The study enriched international knowledge about factors affecting teachers' retention in the profession with findings from the Czech educational system characterized by high school autonomy and low teacher salaries.