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Article
Publication date: 14 August 2017

Khalid Arar and Ruth Abramovitz

The purpose of this paper is to explore teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation of new computer technology to improve teaching and learning products at a private Arab school…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation of new computer technology to improve teaching and learning products at a private Arab school in Israel. Specifically, the aim was to individuate teachers’ factors associated with higher productivity of this technological change.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used the mixed-methods approach to enrich the data derived from a case study. It employed a questionnaire of 81 items administered among 55 teachers and in-depth interviews with both teachers and senior management team members at one private Arab school in Israel.

Findings

Results show some features that characterize the teachers who rated the productivity of this new management change highly. Those teachers tend to have high expectations of the change and to view the change implementation process favorably. Teachers with such characteristics tend to be female teachers. The influence of teachers’ education was latent. Their teaching experience influenced only their expectations and views of the process, but not their perceptions of the change products.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focused only on one private school known for its excellence and teaching staff, and thus may not apply to the entire Arab education system in Israel. Nevertheless, the findings indicate how to increase teaching productivity when planning the management of technological change for increased teaching benefits in schools with similar characteristics.

Originality/value

This paper explored a case in which technological change was implemented through a careful process of management planning, in order to facilitate the construction of a model of indicators to facilitate change.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 October 2021

Chris Brown, Robert White and Anthony Kelly

Change agents are individuals who can successfully transform aspects of how organisations operate. In education, teachers as change agents are increasingly seen as vital to the…

1668

Abstract

Change agents are individuals who can successfully transform aspects of how organisations operate. In education, teachers as change agents are increasingly seen as vital to the successful operation of schools and self-improving school systems. To date, however, there has been no systematic investigation of the nature and role of teacher change agents. To address this knowledge gap, we undertook a systematic review into five key areas regarding teachers as change agents. After reviewing 70 outputs we found that current literature predominantly positions teacher change agents as the deliverers of top-down change, with the possibility of bottom-up educational reform currently neglected.

Book part
Publication date: 4 February 2008

Kenneth Wolf and Grace Taylor

Teachers are central to the learning of their students, and teacher learning is integral to teaching quality. In this study, six teachers who had recently completed the National…

Abstract

Teachers are central to the learning of their students, and teacher learning is integral to teaching quality. In this study, six teachers who had recently completed the National Board assessment in the Middle Childhood/Generalist certificate area were interviewed over a six-month period about the effects of the certification process on their views and practices. Overall, the six teachers described changes in their practices for each of the eleven standards, with nearly all of the teachers describing changes in three areas in particular – reflection, assessment, and family involvement. In addition, most of them reported that the certification experience increased their confidence as teachers in part because it validated their current practice and in part because others treated them with more respect. Overall, four of the six teachers described their experience as having had a significant positive effect on their practice, with one teacher characterizing the effect as modest, while another reported little change. The teacher who reported few changes did so because she believed that her practices were already consistent with the National Board vision. A number of features of the National Board certification process appeared to contribute to the professional development of these teachers, including the standards themselves, the portfolio process (but not the assessment center exercises), writing structured commentaries, and collaborating with colleagues.

Details

Assessing Teachers for Professional Certification: The First Decade of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1055-5

Abstract

Details

Policy Matters
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-481-9

Book part
Publication date: 12 September 2017

Kate Rollert French

Beliefs about teaching influence practice and can play a powerful role in the day-to-day decision-making of teachers. Pre-service teachers commonly accrue their original set of…

Abstract

Beliefs about teaching influence practice and can play a powerful role in the day-to-day decision-making of teachers. Pre-service teachers commonly accrue their original set of beliefs on teaching from teacher preparation programs or personal experiences, but unlike teachers with more experience, new teachers are more susceptible to changing their beliefs on teaching once they become official teachers of record. If these beliefs change in a negative way, such as by adopting a set of beliefs that views students through a deficit lens, or capable of achieving less than their privileged counterparts, then schools will continue to foster tendencies for social reproduction instead of tendencies for social justice. In urban schools, this increase in negative perceptions of students is even more common as new teachers face challenges that are less likely to occur in non-urban schools. Findings suggest that new teachers do change their beliefs during their first year, and that these beliefs often reflect the beliefs of trusted and close colleagues within their social networks. While some teachers experienced positive changes in their beliefs and teaching practices, other teachers experienced negative changes in their beliefs that unfavorably affected students. Most teachers were unaware of their belief changes, but offered explanations for how and why their beliefs could have changed without their noticing over the course of the study. Implications and possible directions for future research are discussed.

Details

The Power of Resistance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-462-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2022

Kristin Vanlommel, Selia Neeske van den Boom-Muilenburg, Jan Thesingh and Èvi Kikken

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study reflects on the development of professional capital through understanding collective cultural factors, namely, academic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study reflects on the development of professional capital through understanding collective cultural factors, namely, academic optimism and shared vision. Second, it aims at exploring teacher learning. Teacher learning resulting in changes to teacher knowledge, attitudes and practices is crucial for the necessary changes education is continually confronted with. This learning is too often studied as a result of individual traits or structural factors, such as motivation or time. The authors investigated how teacher learning is influenced by academic optimism and shared vision.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors administered an online web-based survey to 278 teachers in higher education, using the educational change to online learning due to the covid pandemic as a unique chance to study the role of collective cultural factors in teacher learning.

Findings

Results showed how teachers characterized their learning, academic optimism and shared vision during the educational change to online learning resulting from the covid pandemic. The authors found that teacher learning was greatly influenced by teachers' collective sense of efficacy, an aspect of their academic optimism. Teachers' strong belief in each other, that they as fellow professionals could handle the challenging changes that the covid pandemic required, strongly enhanced teacher learning during the covid pandemic. Teachers' feeling of a professional community helped teacher to make sense of, and push through, the undeniable chaos that was the covid pandemic.

Originality/value

Collective cultural factors are rarely studied in conjunction with educational change. Insights into how a collective culture of professionalism enhances or hinders teacher learning are important for theory, policy and practice as it helps understand how teacher teams can be supported to build their professional capital by learning from educational change.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Frank Wai‐ming Tam

Previous research on pedagogical reforms has seldom looked at how reform may contribute to aggression in school organizations. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that…

Abstract

Purpose

Previous research on pedagogical reforms has seldom looked at how reform may contribute to aggression in school organizations. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that teachers’ disengagement from school mediates the tendency for teachers to manifest aggression when they are implementing pedagogical reform in school. Behind this hypothesis is the assumption that people are bound to encounter obstacles when implementing changes, and the resultant frustration can easily grow into feelings of disengagement and aggression which block the changes.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 845 teachers in 30 secondary schools in Hong Kong were surveyed and path analysis employed to look at how constraint in an organization and feeling of disengagement within the school hampers the successful implementation of reform towards constructivist pedagogy.

Findings

Results of the study suggest that feelings of disengagement amplify the negative impact of instructional change and cause aggressive impulses within the school to intensify, but support from school can significantly reduce the feelings of disengagement and constraint experienced by teachers. Findings of the study contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of change and its impacts on school organizations.

Originality/value

Although some studies have looked at workplace aggression in a school setting, there is no work being done to look at how mandated school reform contributes to workplace aggression.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2000

Russell F. Waugh

Proposes a new model of teacher receptivity to system‐wide educational change, where the change is planned and implemented in a centrally controlled educational system involving…

1223

Abstract

Proposes a new model of teacher receptivity to system‐wide educational change, where the change is planned and implemented in a centrally controlled educational system involving teachers in their classrooms. Suggests a measure of teacher receptivity (based on the model) to help administrators plan a change and manage the implementation. Teacher receptivity is proposed to consist of four first‐order aspects, operationally defined by a number of second‐order aspects. These are: characteristics of the change (comparison with the previous system and practicality in my classroom), managing the change at school (alleviation of concerns, learning about the change and participation in decisions at my school), value for the teacher (personal cost appraisal, collaboration with other teachers and opportunities for teacher improvement) and teacher perceived value for students. Teacher receptivity is measured with three aspects for each of the 50 stem‐items and there is an ordered set of response categories relating to these aspects.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 April 2022

Xiangming Chen, Qunhui Ou, Chao An and Dongyun Zhang

The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative approach to teacher learning on top of the usual practices of listening to experts' lectures and conducting school-based…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative approach to teacher learning on top of the usual practices of listening to experts' lectures and conducting school-based activities among peers in China. A boundary-crossing lesson study (BCLS) through school-university partnership served as an example to illustrate how a class teacher's mindset changed towards her students in equal interactions with university scholars.

Design/methodology/approach

With the lenses of action science theory and boundary-crossing learning theory, the study used qualitative research approach to collect and analyze data. One Chinese primary school class teacher from a workshop on narrative action research was selected as the case for this study. Interviewing, observation and document analysis were used to collect data. Data analysis methods included categorization and contextualization of the teacher's mindset change towards her student.

Findings

The case teacher, Mrs. Li, collaborated closely in paired teaching with her university partner AP Yu in all the four phases of their BCLS. Each phase was marked with an interactive event such as dialogic illumination, reflexive theorization, embodied conversation, and fusion of teacher and trainer roles. With inspirational trust as a major interactive mechanism, Mrs. Li jumped out of her single-loop learning (changing strategies according to results) to double-loop learning (changing both strategies and values/values). As a result, her mindset changed from attribution to appreciation towards her low-achieving student.

Originality/value

This study made contributions in two ways. First, it examined a class teacher's mindset change towards her student, rather than that of subject matter teachers towards their teaching materials and methods. Second, it revealed how reflective interactions in a special kind of BCLS by school teachers and university scholars may promote the teacher's mindset change. The findings further confirm that having differences as boundaries is not enough for teacher learning. For deep learning like Mrs. Li's mindset change, it requires a respectful and inspirational relationship between school teachers and university scholars in the BCLS.

Details

International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2016

Peng Liu

The willingness of teachers to be part of and contribute to education reform is crucial for its success and effectiveness. Based on the motivation theory of Bandura (1986)…

Abstract

Purpose

The willingness of teachers to be part of and contribute to education reform is crucial for its success and effectiveness. Based on the motivation theory of Bandura (1986), Leithwood et al. (1999) conceptualized teachers’ motivation as part of educational change and described it using four dimensions including personal goals, context beliefs, personal beliefs, and emotional arousal. They also defined teachers’ commitment to change as teachers’ identification with or desire to be part of the change process. To date, most studies relating to teacher commitment to change have been conducted quantitatively, with comparatively little qualitative investigation into teachers’ lived experiences during a period of curricular reform. The purpose of this paper is to fill this qualitative gap in the literature and describes the realities of Chinese secondary teachers during a period of curricular reform. It investigated how the four dimensions of teachers’ commitment to change interact with one another during the change process, and how internal and external school factors affect teachers’ levels of commitment to change.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, the purposive sampling strategy was used. Age, gender, years of service, and the type of school at which teachers taught were taken into consideration. In all, 23 Chinese teachers with different numbers of years of work experience participated in this study. According to Hargreaves (2005), teachers can be categorized into three groups based on their years of working experience. Teachers with one to five years’ teaching experience are regarded as early career teachers, teachers with six to ten years of teaching as mid-career teachers, and teachers with more than ten years of working experience as experts. The samples all had upper secondary school teaching experience. They were all certified teachers in China. Their years of working experience ranged from 1 to 5, 6 to 10, and more than 11 years. Their teaching subjects included English, literature, math, geography, physics, biology, and chemistry. Semi-structured, open-ended, in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Open-ended interviews were used to give teachers the opportunity to expand and elaborate upon their perception and experience of their commitment to change and describe in detail their experiences in school contexts where their commitment to change was supported or hindered.

Findings

The research revealed that teachers in different age groups had different perceptions of teachers’ commitment to change and also that internal and external organizational factors have different effects on their perceptions. This study seeks to contribute to teachers’ professional development in the Chinese school context and may help school administrators across cultures to adopt more appropriate methods for realizing effective change in their schools.

Originality/value

This study seeks an in-depth understanding of Chinese teachers’ motivation to be part of school reform, in particular the motivation process of Chinese teachers with different amounts of teaching experience. It contributes to the understanding of effective education change in China and other similar contexts.

Details

International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2396-7404

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 54000