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1 – 10 of 320Bethany R. Mather and Jeremy D. Visone
This study explored teachers' perceptions of a specific, collaborative peer observation structure, collegial visits, and collegial visits' connection to collective teacher…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored teachers' perceptions of a specific, collaborative peer observation structure, collegial visits, and collegial visits' connection to collective teacher efficacy (CTE). The research question was: how do teachers perceive collegial visits, particularly with respect to their influence on CTE?
Design/methodology/approach
Within this qualitative descriptive study, 13 K-12 educators from three northeastern USA schools (one urban high school and a suburban middle and elementary school) were interviewed individually and/or in a focus group.
Findings
Utilizing social cognitive theory as a framework for analysis, the authors found a theme of a shift from uninformed to informed perceptions of the collective. Results demonstrated that collegial visits foster positive CTE beliefs.
Practical implications
Since collegial visits were found to increase participants' CTE, a construct others have associated with increased student achievement, school leaders should consider implementing collegial visits as a professional learning structure in their schools after considering their specific context.
Originality/value
Though there has been recent scholarship connecting peer observations and CTE, there has been no research, to date, to examine the effect of the specific structure of collegial visits on CTE.
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Baburhan Uzum, Bedrettin Yazan, Sedat Akayoglu and Ufuk Keles
This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project.
Design/methodology/approach
Forty-eight TCs participated (26 in Türkiye and 22 in the USA) in the study. TCs discussed critical issues in multicultural education on an online learning platform for six weeks. Their discussions were analyzed using content and discourse analysis.
Findings
The findings indicated that TCs approached the telecollaborative space as a translingual contact zone and positioned themselves and their interlocutors in the discourse by using the personal pronouns; I, we, you and they. When they positioned themselves using we (people in Türkiye/USA), they spoke on behalf of everyone included in the scope of we. Their interlocutors responded to these positionings either by accepting this positioning and responding with a parallel positioning or by engaging in translingual negotiation strategies to revise the scope of we and sharing some differences/nuances in beliefs and practices in their community.
Research limitations/implications
When TCs talk about their culture and community in a singular manner using we, they frame them as the same across every member in that community. When they ask questions to each other using you, the framing of the questions prime the respondents to sometimes relay their own specific experiences as the norm or consider experiences from different points of view through translingual negotiation strategies. A singular approach to culture(s) may affect the marginalized communities the most because they are lost in this representation, and their experiences and voices are not integrated in the narratives or integrated with stereotypical representation.
Practical implications
Teachers and teacher educators should first pay attention to their language choices, especially use of pronouns, which may communicate inclusion or exclusion in intercultural conversations. Next, they should prepare their students to adopt and practice language choices that communicate respect for cultural diversity and are inclusive of marginalized populations.
Social implications
Speakers’ pronoun use includes identity construction in discourse by drawing borders around and between communities and cultures with generalization and particularity, and by patrolling those borders to decide who is included and excluded. As a response, interlocutors use pronouns either to acknowledge those borders and respond with corresponding ones from their own context or negotiate alternative representations or further investigate for particularity or complexity. In short, pronouns could lead the direction of intercultural conversations toward criticality and complexity or otherwise, and might be reasons where there are breakdowns in communication or to fix those breakdowns.
Originality/value
This study shows that translingual negotiation strategies have explanatory power to examine how speakers from different language backgrounds negotiate second and third order positionings in the telecollaborative space.
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Olasunkanmi James Kehinde, Jeff Walls, Amanda Mayeaux and Allison Comeaux
The purpose of this study is to propose and explore a conceptualization of decisional capital that is suitable for early career teachers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose and explore a conceptualization of decisional capital that is suitable for early career teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses exploratory factor analysis on a sample of early career teachers to examine a literature-derived conceptualization of decisional capital.
Findings
The factors that emerged support the literature-derived conceptualization. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis on a second sample of early career teachers offers additional evidence for the proposed conceptualization. An exploration of the underlying factor structure comparing results across four competing models (i.e. unidimensional, correlated factors, second order, and bifactor) suggests that a second order factor explains the variance across the three proposed factors well. We conclude that this second order factor is decisional capital.
Originality/value
This is the first study that examines the discrete elements of decisional capital. Understanding these discrete elements is an avenue for investigation into the development of decisional capital beyond the acknowledgment that it takes time to develop.
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This study aims to examine the relationship between TQM practices and teachers' job satisfaction in Qatar, visualizing this relationship through a path causal model.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship between TQM practices and teachers' job satisfaction in Qatar, visualizing this relationship through a path causal model.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey from different schools in Qatar was conducted, using a questionnaire administered to 359 teachers. Factor analysis was used to establish the construct validity of the questionnaire, using two statistical tests: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy, and Bartlett's test of sphericity.
Findings
The TQM practices measured were information, professional development, teachers' involvement in decision-making, teamwork and salary. Regression analyses showed that only four of the five constructs were significant in predicting teachers' job satisfaction. The path causal model's results revealed that each explanatory variable's direct effect was strengthened via the effect of the other independent variables.
Practical implications
Teachers who are highly satisfied with their jobs are willing to give their best. This study proposes a conceptual causal model for TQM adoption in the Qatar educational system. The proposed causal model will help policymakers and decision-makers in Qatari schools to draw strategies based on the antecedents and consequences of teachers' involvement in decision-making.
Originality/value
Empirically, this article has employed the concepts of TQM and job satisfaction to construct a causal model, demonstrating the effect of TQM practices on teachers' job satisfaction in schools in Qatar, thus bridging the gap between the two fields. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no prior studies have examined this relationship within Qatari schools.
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Sophie Cole and Richelle Duffy
This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study, exploring Trainee Teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and learning experienced during university-based…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study, exploring Trainee Teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and learning experienced during university-based teacher education programmes, specifically the theoretical components. Findings led to the development of a model of program design, pedagogy and teaching strategies that were successful in creating opportunities to build Professional Capital. This paper aims to share this model, highlighting the significance of Professional Capital amidst challenges in English Teacher Education, and to suggest implications for application of the model within broader workforce development.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 trainee teachers from four English universities. To support the development of the theoretical framework, researchers employed inductive and iterative constant comparative methods aligned with constructivist grounded theory to sensitise concepts and codes, which were verified using theoretical sampling.
Findings
Informed by the findings of this study, a model is presented which highlights that participants developed human, social and decisional capital during their academic programs helping them to widen their perceptions of what counts as educationally important, beyond narrow performativity measures that are pervasive in a school system. By actively adopting a transformative pedagogy and employing constructivist approaches to curriculum design and delivery, optimal learning environments for learners to build their professional capital can be provided.
Practical implications
These findings may prove valuable to Higher Education academics as a model when designing and delivering professional, student-centred programmes. There are also implications for policymakers seeking to redesign initial teacher education towards schools-led and practice-oriented approaches, who wish to consider the perceptions, values and motivations of trainee teachers.
Originality/value
The findings highlight the significance of teacher trainees’ active engagement with academic literature and theory, in terms of contributing to the development of their professional capital, resilience and professional commitment.
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Fatemeh Abbaspour, Rezvan Hosseingholizadeh and Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş
Current school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap…
Abstract
Purpose
Current school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap in understanding how principals facilitate professional learning, especially in centralized educational settings. This study aims to address this gap by examining the role of school leadership in enhancing teacher professional learning within a highly centralized education system.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study delves into the lived experiences of 15 teachers and eight school leaders in eight primary schools in Mashhad, Iran. Through semistructured interviews, researchers employed open and axial coding to systematically explore and categorize qualitative data. The study focuses on understanding the role of principal leadership in facilitating teacher professional learning by connecting themes and sub-themes across transcripts.
Findings
Effective principals worked on the cultivation of a culture that champions perpetual personal growth and development, the nurturing of a collaborative learning community, and the provision of essential resources and support. Findings showed the pivotal role of principals in promoting teachers' self-development, facilitating idea exchange and acknowledging their efforts. Principals appeared as key to encouraging information sharing, fostering collective learning, promoting professional development, overseeing teaching practices and ensuring the availability of resources to cultivate a supportive climate in a centralized education context.
Originality/value
We concluded that in centralized education, leadership practices for promoting teacher learning share similarities and differences with decentralized settings. The findings offer guidance for principals in centralized systems, supporting them in facilitating teacher professional learning in their schools.
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Hui-Ling Wendy Pan and Wen-Yan Chen
The importance of teacher leadership in enhancing school outcomes is recognized, but there remains a scarcity of research addressing the conditions for principals to nurture such…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of teacher leadership in enhancing school outcomes is recognized, but there remains a scarcity of research addressing the conditions for principals to nurture such leadership. This study examined how school contextual factors, i.e. faculty trust and academic emphasis, moderate the impact of principals' distributed leadership lon teacher leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
A nationwide survey was conducted among junior high school teachers in Taiwan. The sample encompassed schools from different geographical regions and sizes, yielding a total of 1,340 valid responses. Hierarchical regression analyses were employed to analyze the potential moderating effects of interest.
Findings
There were interactive effects of principals' distributed leadership and school contextual factors on teachers' adoption of leadership roles. The impact of principals' distributed leadership on teacher leadership was amplified in environments marked by elevated levels of trust relations and reduced academic emphasis.
Practical implications
This study uncovers the critical prerequisites principals must address to cultivate teacher leadership. To effectively encourage heightened teacher engagement in leadership, principals must place a premium on nurturing trusting relations with their teaching staff and acknowledge that the influence of their leadership might be lessened in an environment where credentialism holds sway.
Originality/value
The exploration into faculty trust and academic emphasis yields insights into the conducive conditions for principals to foster teacher leadership. The identified attenuating impact of academic emphasis on principal effect within an Asian societal context highlights its significance not only as an organizational property but also as a manifestation of national cultural values.
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Salla-Riikka Kuusalu, Päivi Laine, Minna Maijala, Maarit Mutta and Mareen Patzelt
This study aims to explore how university language students evaluate different sustainability themes and examine the overall relevance of ecological, social, cultural and economic…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how university language students evaluate different sustainability themes and examine the overall relevance of ecological, social, cultural and economic sustainability dimensions in language education.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was designed to study Finnish university language students’ (n = 55) order of priority for sustainability dimensions and their sub-themes and the justifications for the priority orders using a mixed methods design. Qualitative content analysis was conducted using NVivo software, and weighted rankings were used to analyse the quantitative data.
Findings
The findings of the study showed that language students evaluated the social and cultural dimensions as the most relevant in language teaching. In all dimensions, students approached sustainability mainly by prioritising larger issues and advancing towards smaller ones. Most non-directional responses appeared in the economic dimension. In addition, individual prioritising and justification approaches varied between different sustainability dimensions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies have examined language students’ evaluations of and justifications for all four sustainability dimensions. The results highlight the need to use multiple, holistic approaches and systems thinking to incorporate education for sustainable development.
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Dag Yngve Dahle and Sivert Skålvoll Urstad
In the deregulated public sector upper secondary school field in Oslo, Norway, turnover among teachers is found to be high. The purpose is to examine whether instrumental…
Abstract
Purpose
In the deregulated public sector upper secondary school field in Oslo, Norway, turnover among teachers is found to be high. The purpose is to examine whether instrumental practices like control-oriented HRM, performance appraisal and heteronomy directly or indirectly lead to turnover intention, as a crucial pre-stage to turnover. Another purpose is to examine whether this varies with feedback format.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study is based on a survey (N = 1,055) carried out among upper secondary school teachers in Norway. Data were analyzed with path analysis, and mediation and moderation analyses were performed.
Findings
The study shows that control-oriented HRM, PA dissatisfaction and heteronomy are antecedents to turnover intention for teachers receiving feedback in three different feedback formats. The effect of control-oriented HRM and PA dissatisfaction on turnover intention was generally not stronger among numerically rated than among those rated otherwise. For most feedback format groups, leader–member exchange mediated between turnover intention and PA dissatisfaction and heteronomy, respectively, but not between turnover intention and control-oriented HRM. For teachers rated with text, figures or colors, LMX moderated between control-oriented HRM and turnover intention.
Research limitations/implications
The paper advances that introduction of instrumental practices will be seen as breaches of the psychological contract, but this does not apply to all feedback format groups, for example those receiving numerically rating. Limitations involve self-reported measures, direction of causality issues and a relatively low sample size for some groups.
Practical implications
Practitioners should note that both control-oriented HRM, performance appraisal and little autonomy may cause teachers to consider leaving their jobs. Practitioners should also be aware of the importance of the relationship between employee and leader, as negative responses to instrumentality may work through the leader–employee relationship, leading to turnover intention and, possibly, turnover.
Originality/value
The present study is among the first to examine whether and how antecedents to turnover intention vary with feedback format. A rare interaction between HRM and LMX is uncovered. Few other studies have analyzed the relationship between instrumental practices and turnover intention in light of psychological contract theory.
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Asadu Glory Chinasa and Hale Ozgit
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, African students studying tourism and hospitality internationally had diverse experiences in their professional endeavours. This study seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, African students studying tourism and hospitality internationally had diverse experiences in their professional endeavours. This study seeks to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the career progression and perspectives of African undergraduate students specialising in higher education in the fields of tourism and hospitality.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised qualitative content analysis, which involves subjectively interpreting text data by systematically categorising and coding it to identify themes or patterns.
Findings
The findings deviate from how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the career advancement of African international students studying tourism and hospitality in North Cyprus. Consequently, most developing nations face an increased need for security measures. Tourists will pay higher prices to visit highly secure areas rather than risking their lives. This is one of the reasons why many students from developing nations choose to pursue their careers in developed countries.
Practical implications
It is imperative for the governments of developing nations to make substantial financial contributions to the development of their respective tourism sectors. Augmented investment has the potential to allure international tourists, thereby generating employment prospects for the host economies. The lack of investment forces young individuals to pursue their education overseas. Furthermore, it is imperative for developing nations to enhance their security infrastructure.
Social implications
Our findings suggest that policymakers should establish a diverse management team that includes student employees to develop suitable strategies for industry management. Insufficient student inclusivity can result in a lack of dedication, whereas involving them in management strategies can contribute to the industry’s prosperity.
Originality/value
The findings obtained from this research can stimulate the formulation of strategies within the tourism industry to tackle the intersection of career obstacles.
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