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1 – 10 of over 6000
Article
Publication date: 19 November 2020

Ahmad Raza Bilal, Tehreem Fatima, Khyzer Bin Dost and Muhammad Kashif Imran

Students' satisfaction is termed as their subjective evaluation of the fulfillment of expectations and pleasure experienced from the teaching services. This study intends to…

Abstract

Purpose

Students' satisfaction is termed as their subjective evaluation of the fulfillment of expectations and pleasure experienced from the teaching services. This study intends to examine the role of teachers' work engagement in inculcating students' satisfaction from their teachers taking a self-determination perspective. It moreover highlights the underlying mechanisms of teacher–student interaction and teachers' sensitivity.

Design/methodology/approach

We used 278 valid and matched responses from teachers and students of higher secondary/intermediate/degree colleges operating in Pakistan through multi-stage sampling. The data were gathered in three waves and multiple mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS model 4 to analyze the data and infer results.

Findings

The results revealed that college teachers' work engagement (i.e. vigor, dedication and absorption) is required to create their willingness and motivation to invest in effective pedagogical decisions and inculcate students' satisfaction. This engagement, in turn, improves their interaction with students and makes them more sensitive in meeting the needs of students that causes students to have satisfying educational experiences.

Originality/value

This research has taken a unique standpoint of considering teachers' engagement as a precursor of students' satisfaction, in contrast to the prior focus on assessing the role of institutional dynamics, demographics and teachers' competence. It has also unraveled the role of teachers' sensitivity and student–teacher interaction in the above-mentioned association based on self-determination theory (SDT). Moreover, it has emphasized the teaching dynamics and its outcomes in the college sector instead of the much-examined university and school settings.

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2018

Shalva Tabatadze and Natia Gorgadze

The purpose of this paper is to assess the intercultural sensitivity of students in teacher educational programs at higher education institutes (HEIs) in Georgia.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the intercultural sensitivity of students in teacher educational programs at higher education institutes (HEIs) in Georgia.

Design/methodology/approach

This research explored the intercultural sensitivity among 355 randomly selected students in teacher education programs at higher education institutions in Georgia. A questionnaire based on the Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) and Cushner et al. (2006) model of sources of cultural identity was developed as a research instrument and adjusted to the Georgian context to measure the students’ intercultural sensitivity.

Findings

The results showed that a majority of the students were in the ethnocentric phase of intercultural sensitivity, as defined by Bennett (1993); students in teachers’ educational programs were selectively sensitive to different sources of cultural identity; students were selectively tolerant to different groups in the population with the same source of cultural identity and the level of educational attainment, as well as the location of the higher education institution affected students’ level of intercultural sensitivity.

Practical implications

The findings of this study carry valuable practical importance as they can be used to improve teacher education programs at higher education institutions in Georgia.

Originality/value

The study has scientific value in that the instrument used to assess intercultural sensitivity was developed for the Georgian context, and students’ intercultural sensitivity to 12 different sources of cultural identity was investigated.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Yaoying Xu, Chenfang Hao and Mary Ellen Huennekens

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intercultural competence of pre-service special education teacher candidates through the contents of a graduate-level…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intercultural competence of pre-service special education teacher candidates through the contents of a graduate-level multicultural perspectives course.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a graduate-level multicultural perspectives course to examine the intercultural competence of special education teacher candidates. A paired-samples t-test of significance was performed to investigate the pre- and post-growth of participants’s cultural sensitivity using the intercultural development inventory (IDI).

Findings

Participants’ intercultural sensitivity mean score suggested that their intercultural competence needs to be improved. The results showed no significant difference in the overall mean developmental scores between pre- and post-tests. However, significant differences were found between the pre- and post-test scores in perceived orientation and acceptance cluster.

Originality/value

A significantly higher perceived score was identified suggesting that participants might overestimate their level of intercultural sensitivity. Different from the existing literature, this study suggested that gender and education level were significant predictors of post-test developmental scores.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 September 2021

Walead Etri

This qualitative research set out to understand what teachers’ assessments were of the context of teaching as it relates to the curriculum, and what they consider appropriate for…

1486

Abstract

Purpose

This qualitative research set out to understand what teachers’ assessments were of the context of teaching as it relates to the curriculum, and what they consider appropriate for an optimal teaching and learning experience in a university English language teaching (ELT) context.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data were deemed required to understand the effects and understanding teachers had of the ELT curriculum as it played out in their teaching context. Focus group interviews and observations were the main method for data generation.

Findings

The context has a bearing on the ongoing development of teachers’ intercultural sensitivity (IS) frames and how they address IS over time in their context of teaching as it pertains to curriculum.

Originality/value

This is an original research paper which gives insight to knowledge about the relationship between ELT, curriculum and culture.

Details

Higher Education Evaluation and Development, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-5789

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 September 2017

Nasibeh Hedayati, Elina Kuusisto, Khalil Gholami and Kirsi Tirri

This chapter studies how in Iranian schools the power of resistance is evident in female students’ moral dilemmas. The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a turning point in Iranian…

Abstract

This chapter studies how in Iranian schools the power of resistance is evident in female students’ moral dilemmas. The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a turning point in Iranian educational system in which the role of religion and the desire for Islamization of all aspects of the society was emphasized. The data was gathered from one girl and one boy school in Tehran in 2016, and it includes lower secondary school students’ essays (Female n=175, Male n=165) about moral dilemmas. The study reveals the impact of Islamic values in school life and that the power of resistance is weak since students cannot criticize Islamic values. However, female students’ moral dilemmas indicate aspects of resistance in terms of questioning the schools rules that are based on these religious values and principles. This chapter examines female cases in detail to discuss how issues related to gender and religion are interconnected in Iranian schools.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2012

Lena Lippke

Because of high drop‐out rates among the students entering vocational education in Denmark retention of students has become pivotal to Danish educational policy. Thus vocational…

2302

Abstract

Purpose

Because of high drop‐out rates among the students entering vocational education in Denmark retention of students has become pivotal to Danish educational policy. Thus vocational educational training (VET) colleges have been asked to work on implementing different kinds of retention initiatives and as a result, most colleges have established extended basic courses aimed at students with personal, social and/or academic difficulties. This paper aims to explore the emotional aspects of vocational educational teachers' work and present a preliminary analysis of the notion of care as socially situated within the vocational educational system.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper derives from a study based on fieldwork at a VET college offering extended basic courses. During the fieldwork nine weeks of participating observations and 13 interviews with teachers were conducted.

Findings

The paper provides empirical insights into the emotional practices and the management of emotions related to prevention of dropout within an educational setting. It shows how emotional practices can provide both teachers and students with positive identities and make out a productive force that prevents students from dropping out. However the management of emotions also involves a range of dilemmas and ambivalences revealing the difficult limitations related to an institutionalization and professionalization of human care.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research design more studies on the emotional aspects of prevention of drop‐out from both the perspective of teachers and students are needed.

Practical implications

The emotional dimension of retention remains to be recognized and critically discussed more widely among stakeholders at different levels within the VET system and policy makers within education. Handling both the possibilities and the pitfalls of emotional practices requires that teachers are not left alone feeling responsible for the fate of their students.

Originality/value

The paper contributes with descriptions of how emotions can be productive forces preventing students from dropping out of education. At the same time it identifies a need for further critical examination of the emotional aspects of teachers' working life.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 24 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2019

Zeki Arsal

This study aims to examine the effect of critical multicultural education on the multicultural attitudes of preservice teachers in a teacher education program.

3358

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the effect of critical multicultural education on the multicultural attitudes of preservice teachers in a teacher education program.

Design/methodology/approach

The study sample consisted of 76 preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program. This study used a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental research design with pretest-posttest. The multicultural content integration was implemented in an experimental group for one semester, and data were collected using the teacher multicultural attitude survey.

Findings

Analyses indicated that preservice teachers who were exposed to the critical multicultural education program showed significantly greater progress in their multicultural attitudes compared with teachers in the control group. The results of this study indicate that the integrating critical multicultural education content into teacher education program has a positive effect on fostering preservice teachers’ multicultural attitudes.

Practical implications

Teacher education program planners should integrate multicultural content, materials and activities into teaching methods courses to promote change in preservice teachers’ multicultural attitudes.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the multicultural studies on teacher education.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2017

Rongjin Huang, Jianyue Zhang, Ida Ah Chee Mok, Wenjun Zhao, Yuanfang Zhou and Zhengsheng Wu

The purpose of this paper is to explore what professional knowledge and competence (PKC) that knowledgeable others, namely, mathematics teaching research specialists (MTRS) in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore what professional knowledge and competence (PKC) that knowledgeable others, namely, mathematics teaching research specialists (MTRS) in China, need to know, and how they may develop their PKC.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts mixed methods. A survey on PKC with 549 MTRS is utilized to examine MTRS’ perceived held and ideal PKC and perceived effective ways of developing their PKC. The responses to the open-ended questions on the survey were used to identify additional dimensions of PKC and ways of developing PKC. Multiple techniques of quantitative data analysis were employed to feature the characteristics of PKC and structure of the survey, and the relationship between background variables and perception of PKC. Collectively, this study paints a rich and comprehensive picture about Chinese knowledgeable others’ knowledge and competence, and its development.

Findings

The data analysis reveals that the participants appreciated the six-dimension model of MTRS’ PKC. They were confident with their PKC in general, but varied in different aspects. The factor analysis showed the six-dimension model could be further clustered into two components: knowledge about mathematics teaching and learning and competence in mentoring and educational leadership, and knowledge about content, assessing student learning, and use of technology. The participants perceived their learning through multiple ways including: learning through reading, attending specific training programs, attending and mentoring teaching research activities both school-based and across regions, observing and debriefing lessons, sharing within online learning communities. All these venues jointly contribute to developing MTRS’ PKC.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study on MTRS’ PKC and its development in China based on such a large sample. The findings of this study not only contribute to an understanding of knowledgeable others in Chinese lesson study and providing suggestions for support of their development, but also provide implications for studies of practice-based mathematics teacher-educators globally.

Details

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 November 2018

Svanborg Rannveig Jónsdóttir and M. Allyson Macdonald

The purpose of this paper is to construct a means of assessing the feasibility of implementing innovation and entrepreneurial education (IEE) in schools. The study focuses on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to construct a means of assessing the feasibility of implementing innovation and entrepreneurial education (IEE) in schools. The study focuses on teaching IEE in middle school (Grades 5–7).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from six middle school teachers in three Icelandic compulsory schools through on-site observations and semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals. Data including documentary evidence were subjected to the method of constant comparison. A model of nested systems provided concepts to create categories for a general rubric of feasible IEE development, the Social ecology rubrics for innovation and entrepreneurship in schools (SERIES).

Findings

Profiles of the six IEE teachers emerged during data collection. Teachers found some IEE methods challenging, especially “standing back” allowing students freedom and agency. Implementation was fragile when IEE developed without support from neighboring systems. In all three schools the weakest connections were with the exosystem (general views in society).

Practical implications

The range of knowledge, skills and competences that emerged in the data could be discussed with teachers as a source of professional development. The application of the SERIES approach can benefit policy, research and practice and developing similar rubrics can provide a valuable assessment approach in other curriculum areas.

Originality/value

An advantage of the rubric is that it is descriptive rather than prescriptive, giving schools an opportunity to develop their own standards. Any professional group can produce their own profile, with categories of levels and systems that reflect their own practice and development.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Allan M. Canonigo

While lesson study may be powerful, it may also be either misguided or superficial. Further, cultural change is difficult and norms such as teacher isolation and autonomy are well…

Abstract

Purpose

While lesson study may be powerful, it may also be either misguided or superficial. Further, cultural change is difficult and norms such as teacher isolation and autonomy are well entrenched. These concerns point to the need for a non-coercive process that has a positive focus, is essentially self-organizing, encourages deep reflection, and avoids the pitfalls of manipulation by school administrators and or knowledgeable others. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative case study framed by an appreciative inquiry (AI) theoretical research perspective, the author documents the experience of teachers who worked through a complete lesson study cycle with tenth-grade Mathematics in the Philippines, systematically reconstructed from field texts and deliberate co-construction techniques.

Findings

AI can provide the inclusive collaborative relationship for lesson study to be non-coercive because it takes into account the teachers’ voices, provides a relational space for interactions, offers opportunities for meaningful dialogue, empowers teachers to take action, and manages cultural differences, which avoid the dangers of contrived collaboration that are used to manipulate and control teachers. Thus, many of the benefits of lesson study were achieved through deepened relationships and more collegial atmosphere in the schools.

Research limitations/implications

The study was conducted in a public high school participated by three mathematics teachers teaching grade 10. This paper limits only to social interactions and dynamics that emerged when the lesson study was first introduced in a particular school. As its limitation, it did not include revisions of the lesson developed, because this study concerned only on describing the process to engage mathematics teachers in lesson study.

Social implications

This paper poses that more attention needs to be given to the key issues related to social interactions and group dynamics that emerge when lesson study is introduced to existing school cultures and stakeholder relationships.

Originality/value

This first-hand account of using AI as a non-coercive process for teachers to change their practice to collaborate through lesson study hopes to prompt a conversation about the role of culture for lesson study to be successful in schools.

Details

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 6000