The Impact of Science Teachers' Beliefs on Teaching Science: The Case of Saudi Science Teachers

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Alabdulkareem, Saleh Abdullah

2016-01-01

The researcher aims to investigate Saudi science teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching issues. The sample consisted of 247 middle school teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study conducted in the academic school year 2014/2015, and utilized a questionnaire and an interview that included 10% of the sample. The questionnaire targeted the…

34 CFR 611.2 - What management plan must be included in a Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants Program application?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What management plan must be included in a Teacher... TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT GRANTS PROGRAM General Provisions § 611.2 What management plan must be... appropriate, a management plan that includes a proposed multiyear workplan. (b) At a minimum, this workplan...

Experiences and factors influencing a sample of teachers in New York state public elementary and middle schools to focus on environmental education in their teaching

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Tooker, Gail Patricia

This study focuses on how fourteen elementary and middle level teachers in New York chose to teach environmental topics as part of their science curricula. Prior research suggested that factors influencing teachers to make curricular decisions are different from those that motivated them to become teachers in the first place (Espinet, et.al. 1992). This was supported by the results of this study, which found that most of these teachers made the decision to begin teaching environmental education (EE) well after deciding to become teachers and that the decision to teach EE was influenced by a variety of factors including participation in EE-oriented in-service programs, media coverage of environmental issues, encouragement from colleagues and school administrators to undertake EE, and personal experiences in childhood or early adulthood with the environment and/or with EE. Studies examining experiences that influence people to practice "environmentally responsible" behaviors (Chawla, 1995; McGarry, 1994; Tanner, 1994) suggested that positive childhood contacts with nature were important predictors for such behavior in adulthood. Findings of this study were largely consistent with these results, however, this sample of teachers viewed their childhood nature experiences as being mostly responsible for the development of their appreciation of the environment, while their actual decision to begin teaching EE was primarily influenced by other experiences, as discussed above. This study also examined how these teachers prepared themselves for teaching EE. The findings indicate that these teachers used a wide variety of preparation strategies. A minority reported becoming prepared for teaching EE through their pre-service teacher education programs. These results were in agreement with prior findings that most teacher education programs in this country do not include a focus on EE. Even where preparation for EE is included, it has been rated by the participants as

Middle School Teachers' Strategies for Including Overweight Students in Skill and Fitness Instruction

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Rukavina, Paul B.; Doolittle, Sarah; Li, Weidong; Manson, Mara; Beale, Angela

2015-01-01

As part of a larger study, this paper describes teachers' perspectives and strategies on including overweight and obese students (OWS) in instruction related to motor skill/game play and fitness development in physical education. Using the Social Ecological Constraints framework, a qualitative multicase study was conducted using multiple in-depth…

Validating Teacher Commitment Scale Using a Malaysian Sample

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Mee Thien

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to validate an integrative Teacher Commitment scale using rigorous scale validation procedures. An adapted questionnaire with 17 items was administered to 600 primary school teachers in Penang, Malaysia. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA with SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 19.0, respectively. The results support Teacher Commitment as a multidimensional construct with its four underlying dimensions: Commitment to Student, Commitment to Teaching, Commitment to School, and Commitment to Profession. A validated Teacher Commitment scale with 13 items measured can be proposed to be used as an evaluative tool to assess the level to which teachers are committed to their students’ learning, teaching, school, and profession. The Teacher Commitment scale would also facilitate the identifications of factors that influence teachers’ quality of work life and school effectiveness. The practical implications, school cultural influence, and methodological limitations are discussed.

VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHER MORALE STUDY--A COMPARISON OF SELECTED FACTORS IN SCHOOLS WHERE THE MORALE OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS IS "HIGH" WITH SCHOOLS WHERE THE MORALE OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS IS "LOW".

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BENTLEY, RALPH R.; REMPEL, AVERNO M.

A STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE WHETHER DIFFERENCES EXISTED WITH RESPECT TO STUDENT ATTITUDE TOWARD THEIR TEACHER, FEELINGS ABOUT SCHOOL WORK PROBLEMS, AND ACADEMIC APTITUDE BETWEEN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENTS IN WHICH TEACHER MORALE WAS HIGH AND THOSE IN WHICH TEACHER MORALE WAS LOW. THE TEACHER SAMPLE INCLUDED 21 WITH THE HIGHEST…

Predictors of Teacher Educators' Research Productivity

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Nasser-Abu Alhija, Fadia M.; Majdob, Arin

2017-01-01

This study examined the relationship between teacher educators' research productivity (RP) and their background and professional characteristics, attitudes, motives, obstacles and time devoted to research. The sample included 161 teacher educators from four teacher education colleges in Israel. The findings indicate the significance of five…

Comparing Levels of Professional Satisfaction in Preschool Teachers Whose Classes Include or Do Not Include a Special-Needs Student

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Koyutürk, Nazife; Sahbaz, Ümit

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the professional satisfaction of the preschool teachers in whose class there is a student with special needs to the preschool teachers in whose class there are not any students with special needs. The research study group was composed of 185 pre-school teachers who work in the city and county center in…

Effects of workload on teachers' functioning: A moderated mediation model including sleeping problems and overcommitment.

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Huyghebaert, Tiphaine; Gillet, Nicolas; Beltou, Nicolas; Tellier, Fanny; Fouquereau, Evelyne

2018-06-14

This study investigated the mediating role of sleeping problems in the relationship between workload and outcomes (emotional exhaustion, presenteeism, job satisfaction, and performance), and overcommitment was examined as a moderator in the relationship between workload and sleeping problems. We conducted an empirical study using a sample of 884 teachers. Consistent with our predictions, results revealed that the positive indirect effects of workload on emotional exhaustion and presenteeism, and the negative indirect effects of workload on job satisfaction and performance, through sleeping problems, were only significant among overcommitted teachers. Workload and overcommitment were also directly related to all four outcomes, precisely, they both positively related to emotional exhaustion and presenteeism and negatively related to job satisfaction and performance. Theoretical contributions and perspectives and implications for practice are discussed. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Autonomy and job satisfaction for a sample of Greek teachers.

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Koustelios, Athanasios D; Karabatzaki, Despina; Kousteliou, Ioanna

2004-12-01

Analysing the relation between Job Satisfaction and Autonomy in a sample of 300 Greek teachers (114 men and 186 women, 28 to 59 years old) from primary and secondary schools, showed statistically significant positive correlations between Job Satisfaction and Autonomy. Particularly, Autonomy was correlated with Job Itself (.21), Supervision (.22), and the Organizational as a Whole (.27), aspects of Job Satisfaction. Findings are in line with previous studies conducted in different cultural contexts. Percent common variance accounted for is small.

Evaluation of the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale-Teacher Report Form for Assessing Behavior in a Sample of Urban Adolescents.

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Farrell, Albert D; Goncy, Elizabeth A; Sullivan, Terri N; Thompson, Erin L

2018-02-01

This study evaluated the structure and validity of the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale-Teacher Report Form (PBFS-TR) for assessing students' frequency of specific forms of aggression and victimization, and positive behavior. Analyses were conducted on two waves of data from 727 students from two urban middle schools (Sample 1) who were rated by their teachers on the PBFS-TR and the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS), and on data collected from 1,740 students from three urban middle schools (Sample 2) for whom data on both the teacher and student report version of the PBFS were obtained. Confirmatory factor analyses supported first-order factors representing 3 forms of aggression (physical, verbal, and relational), 3 forms of victimization (physical, verbal and relational), and 2 forms of positive behavior (prosocial behavior and effective nonviolent behavior), and higher-order factors representing aggression, victimization, and positive behavior. Strong measurement invariance was established over gender, grade, intervention condition, and time. Support for convergent validity was found based on correlations between corresponding scales on the PBFS-TR and teacher ratings on the SSIS in Sample 1. Significant correlations were also found between teacher ratings on the PBFS-TR and student ratings of their behavior on the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale-Adolescent Report (PBFS-AR) and a measure of nonviolent behavioral intentions in Sample 2. Overall the findings provided support for the PBFS-TR and suggested that teachers can provide useful data on students' aggressive and prosocial behavior and victimization experiences within the school setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Teachers' emotional experiences and exhaustion as predictors of emotional labor in the classroom: an experience sampling study.

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Keller, Melanie M; Chang, Mei-Lin; Becker, Eva S; Goetz, Thomas; Frenzel, Anne C

2014-01-01

Emotional exhaustion (EE) is the core component in the study of teacher burnout, with significant impact on teachers' professional lives. Yet, its relation to teachers' emotional experiences and emotional labor (EL) during instruction remains unclear. Thirty-nine German secondary teachers were surveyed about their EE (trait), and via the experience sampling method on their momentary (state; N = 794) emotional experiences (enjoyment, anxiety, anger) and momentary EL (suppression, faking). Teachers reported that in 99 and 39% of all lessons, they experienced enjoyment and anger, respectively, whereas they experienced anxiety less frequently. Teachers reported suppressing or faking their emotions during roughly a third of all lessons. Furthermore, EE was reflected in teachers' decreased experiences of enjoyment and increased experiences of anger. On an intra-individual level, all three emotions predict EL, whereas on an inter-individual level, only anger evokes EL. Explained variances in EL (within: 39%, between: 67%) stress the relevance of emotions in teaching and within the context of teacher burnout. Beyond implying the importance of reducing anger, our findings suggest the potential of enjoyment lessening EL and thereby reducing teacher burnout.

Teachers' and School Administrators' Attitudes and Beliefs of Teacher Evaluation: A Preliminary Investigation of High Poverty School Districts

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Reddy, Linda A.; Dudek, Christopher M.; Peters, Stephanie; Alperin, Alexander; Kettler, Ryan J.; Kurz, Alexander

2018-01-01

This study examined attitudes and beliefs regarding teacher evaluation of teachers and their school administrators in the state of New Jersey, USA. The sample included 33 school administrators and 583 Pre-K through 12th grade teachers from four high-poverty urban school districts (22 schools). Participant attitudes and beliefs were assessed using…

Characteristics of Israeli School Teachers in Computer-based Learning Environments

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Noga Magen-Nagar

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to investigate whether there are differences in the level of computer literacy, the amount of implementation of ICT in teaching and learning-assessment processes and the attitudes of teachers from computerized schools in comparison to teachers in non-computerized schools. In addition, the research investigates the characteristics of Israeli school teachers in a 21st century computer-based learning environment. A quantitative research methodology was used. The research sample included 811 elementary school teachers from the Jewish sector of whom 402 teachers were from the computerized school sample and 409 were teachers from the non-computerized school sample. The research findings show that teachers from the computerized school sample are more familiar with ICT, tend to use ICT more and have a more positive attitude towards ICT than teachers in the non-computerized school sample. The main conclusion which can be drawn from this research is that positive attitudes of teachers towards ICT are not sufficient for the integration of technology to occur. Future emphasis on new teaching skills of collective Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge is necessary to promote the implementation of optimal pedagogy in innovative environments.

Teacher Attitudes on Including Students with Behavior Intervention Plans in a High-School Inclusive Classroom

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Tucker, Thurman D.

2017-01-01

This research examined attitudes to determine factors influencing teachers' attitudes toward including students with behavior intervention plans in inclusive high-school classrooms. For Research Question 1 one-way ANOVAs analyzed quantitative data with no significant differences found and qualitative data discovered common patterns that BIPs are…

Comparison of Mother, Father, and Teacher Reports of ADHD Core Symptoms in a Sample of Child Psychiatric Outpatients

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Sollie, Henrik; Larsson, Bo; Mørch, Willy-Tore

2013-01-01

Objective: To explore the significance of adding father ratings to mother and teacher ratings in the assessment of ADHD symptoms in children. Method: The ADHD Rating Scale-IV, the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Teacher Report Form were filled out by all three informants for a sample of 48 clinically referred children (79% boys) aged 6 to 15 (M…

What Do K-12 Teachers Think about Including Student Surveys in Their Performance Ratings?

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Dretzke, Beverly J.; Sheldon, Timothy D.; Lim, Alicia

2015-01-01

This study investigated K-12 teachers' opinions about the use of student surveys as a component of a teacher evaluation system. Surveys were administered to teachers at the beginning of the school year and again in the spring. Analyses of teachers' responses on the fall survey indicated tentative support for the inclusion of student feedback in…

Teacher Educators' and Student Teachers' Beliefs about Preparation for Working with Families Including Those from Diverse Socioeconomic and Cultural Backgrounds

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D'Haem, Jeanne; Griswold, Peter

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study examined teacher preparation for developing family partnerships. The attitudes and practices of teacher educators and the attitudes and experiences of student teachers were explored in focus groups, documents, and a survey instrument. Results indicated that although partnerships were considered important by faculty and…

Comparison of mother, father, and teacher reports of ADHD core symptoms in a sample of child psychiatric outpatients.

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Sollie, Henrik; Larsson, Bo; Mørch, Willy-Tore

2013-11-01

To explore the significance of adding father ratings to mother and teacher ratings in the assessment of ADHD symptoms in children. The ADHD Rating Scale-IV, the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Teacher Report Form were filled out by all three informants for a sample of 48 clinically referred children (79% boys) aged 6 to 15 (M = 10.1) years. Correspondence between father and teacher reports on ADHD-specific symptoms (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = .38) exceeded that between mothers and teachers (ICC = .23). Fathers rated their children as having fewer problems than did mothers and teachers on Total scale scores and the Inattention subscale of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV. Mother ratings were more sensitive to an ADHD diagnosis, whereas father ratings better predicted an ADHD diagnosis requiring the two-setting criterion. The choice of parent informant and informant combination had a considerable impact on parent-teacher concordance and estimates of ADHD symptoms and subtypes in the child.

Preservice Science Teachers' Beliefs about Astronomy Concepts

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Ozkan, Gulbin; Akcay, Hakan

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice science teachers' conceptual understanding of astronomy concepts. Qualitative research methods were used. The sample consists of 118 preservice science teachers (40 freshmen, 31 sophomores, and 47 juniors). The data were collected with Astronomy Conceptual Questionnaire (ACQ) that includes 13…

Level of Psychological Burnout of a Sample of Secondary Phase Teachers in Ma'an Governorate and Its Relationship with Some Other Variables

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Alkhateeb, Omar; Kraishan, Osama M.; Salah, Raid Omar

2015-01-01

This study aimed at identifying the level of psychological burnout of a random sample of secondary phase teacher in Ma'an Governorate and its relationship with some other variables. The study sample consisted of 80 male and female Islamic education teachers in the schools of Ma'an Governorate in the southern part of Jordan. To this end, the…

Teachers' Perceptions of Bullying of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students in a Southwestern Pennsylvania Sample.

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Kolbert, Jered B; Crothers, Laura M; Bundick, Matthew J; Wells, Daniel S; Buzgon, Julie; Berbary, Cassandra; Simpson, Jordan; Senko, Katherine

2015-05-28

This study was designed to ascertain teachers' perceptions of bullying of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth. In a sample of 200 educators (61.0% female; 96.5% White) from a county in southwestern Pennsylvania, there was a significant positive relationship between the teachers' perceptions of the supportiveness of school staff towards students regardless of sexual orientation and those teachers' reports of the frequency of bullying victimization experienced by LGBTQ students. Teachers' perceptions of a higher level of staff and student support was associated with higher reported frequencies of students' use of derogatory language about LGBTQ individuals and various types of bullying of LGBTQ students. Teachers with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientation were found to rate the school staff and students as significantly less supportive of students regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in comparison to heterosexual teachers. Finally, teachers who either were unaware of or believed that their school lacked an anti-bullying policy reported significantly higher rates of physical bullying victimization of LGBTQ students when compared to the rates observed by teachers who reported knowledge of their schools' anti-bullying policies.

Measurements of light at night (LAN) for a sample of female school teachers

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Rea, Mark S.; Brons, Jennifer A.; Figueiro, Mariana G.

2012-01-01

Epidemiological studies have shown an association between rotating shiftwork and breast cancer (BC) risk. Recently, light at night (LAN) measured by satellite photometry and by self-reports of bedroom brightness has been shown to be associated with BC risk, irrespective of shiftwork history. Importance has been placed on these associations because retinal light exposures at night can suppress the hormone melatonin and/or disrupt circadian entrainment to the local 24-h light-dark cycle. The present study examined whether it was valid to use satellite photometry and self-reports of brightness to characterize light, as it might stimulate the circadian system and thereby affect BC incidence. Calibrated photometric measurements were made at the bedroom windows and in the bedrooms of a sample of female school teachers, who worked regular dayshifts and lived in a variety of satellite-measured sky brightness categories. The light levels at both locations were usually very low and were independent of the amount of satellite-measured light. Calibrated photometric measurements were also obtained at the corneas of these female school teachers together with calibrated accelerometer measurements for seven consecutive days and evenings. Based upon these personal light exposure and activity measurements, the female teachers who participated in this study did not have disrupted light-dark cycles like those associated with rotating shiftworkers who do exhibit a higher risk for BC. Rather, this sample of female school teachers had 24-h light-dark and activity-rest patterns very much like those experienced by dayshift nurses examined in an earlier study who are not at an elevated risk of BC. No relationship was found between the amount of satellite-measured light levels and the 24-h light-dark patterns these women experienced. It was concluded from the present study that satellite photometry is unrelated to personal light exposures as they might affect melatonin suppression and

Validation of the Technology Acceptance Measure for Pre-Service Teachers (TAMPST) on a Malaysian Sample: A Cross-Cultural Study

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Teo, Timothy

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the cross-cultural validity of the technology acceptance measure for pre-service teachers (TAMPST) on a Malaysian sample. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 193 pre-service teachers from a Malaysian university completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to five constructs in the…

Collective pedagogical teacher culture, teacher-student ethno-racial mismatch, and teacher job satisfaction.

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Stearns, Elizabeth; Banerjee, Neena; Mickelson, Roslyn; Moller, Stephanie

2014-05-01

Teacher job satisfaction is critical to schools' successful functioning. Using a representative sample of kindergarten teachers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, we investigate the association among professional learning community and teacher collaboration, teacher ethno-racial group, teacher-student ethno-racial mismatch, and teacher job satisfaction. We find that White teachers are significantly less satisfied than African-American and Latino teachers, especially when they teach in majority non-White classrooms. However, the existence of a professional community moderates the negative influence of teacher-student ethno-racial mismatch on White teachers' job satisfaction. In effect, strong professional communities serve as a cushion to bolster teacher job satisfaction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Responses to Including Parents in Teacher Evaluation Policy: A Critical Policy Analysis

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Fernández, Erica; LeChasseur, Kimberly; Donaldson, Morgaen L.

2018-01-01

The intersection of development in family and school settings has been well established and education policies have begun to promote ways to bridge the two contexts (i.e. teacher evaluations). For this manuscript, authors focus on how teachers and principals used a state educator evaluation policy to position parents as authorities on education.…

Job Stress and Locus of Control in Teachers: Comparisons between Samples from the United States and Zimbabwe

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Crothers, Laura M.; Kanyongo, Gibbs Y.; Kolbert, Jered B.; Lipinski, John; Kachmar, Steven P.; Koch, Gary D.

2010-01-01

This study examines the relationship between educators' locus of control and job stress using samples from the US and Zimbabwe. Multiple regression analyses are used to identify significant relationships in the US sample between teachers' external locus of control and the severity of the job stress that they experience, coupled with the perceived…

EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning in Tabuk City

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Alfahadi, Abdulrahman M.; Alsalhi, Abdulrhman A.; Alshammari, Abdullah S.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning. It also aims to investigate (a) the teachers' views on blended learning content and process, and (b) how blended learning is effective in developing teachers' performance. The study sample included 35 EFL Saudi teachers in Tabuk City, KSA. In order to…

Secondary School Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge Levels and Use of History of Mathematics

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Bütüner, Suphi Önder

2018-01-01

This study describes secondary school mathematics teachers' use of history of mathematics in their classes and their knowledge levels in this field. The study population included a total of 58 secondary school mathematics teachers working at the secondary schools located in Yozgat city center, and the sample included 32 mathematics teachers from…

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF STUDENT TEACHER ABSENTEEISM IN TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

OpenAIRE

Dr. B. S. Gupta

2017-01-01

A school was a place to get knowledge. A student absentee is a major concern for lecturers at institutions of teacher education learning. Absences create a dead, tiresome, unpleasant classroom environment that makes students who come to class uncomfortable and the lecturer irritable. The objective of the study was to study the causes of student teacher absentees in teacher education institution. The investigator selected the sample through random sampling, 994 student teachers were selected f...

Preservice and Inservice Teachers' Perceptions of Appropriateness of Teacher Self-Disclosure

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Zhang, Shaoan; Shi, Qingmin; Tonelson, Stephen; Robinson, Jack

2009-01-01

This study investigated preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions of appropriateness of teacher self-disclosure. A sample of 180 preservice teachers and 135 preK-12 teachers participated in the study. Results showed statistically significant differences between the groups of teachers in their perceptions of appropriateness of teacher…

VISUAL ART TEACHERS AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Charles

Senior Secondary school visual art teachers constituted the sample of this ... and Performance Assessment Methods in Nigerian Senior Secondary Schools – Bello .... definition includes knowledge, skills, attitudes, metacognition and strategic ...

The Effectiveness of "Teach for America" and Other Under-certified Teachers

OpenAIRE

Ildiko Laczko-Kerr; David C. Berliner

2002-01-01

The academic achievements of students taught by under-certified primary school teachers were compared to the academic achievements of students taught by regularly certified primary school teachers.  This sample of under-certified teachers included three types of under-qualified personnel: emergency, temporary and provisionally certified teachers.  One subset of these under-certified teachers was from the national program "Teach For America (TFA)."  Recent college graduates are placed by TF...

Assessment of Educational Neuromyths among Teachers and Teacher Candidates

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Canbulat, Tuncay; Kiriktas, Halit

2017-01-01

The aim of study is to determine the neuromyth level of teachers and pre-teachers and reveal if there is significant difference in terms of some variables (gender, class, etc.). Research was designed in survey model. The research sample was formed with 241 teachers and 511 teacher candidates. In the collection of data, "Educational neuromyths…

Teacher Self-Efficacy According to Turkish Cypriot Science Teachers

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Olmez, Cemil; Ozbas, Serap

2017-01-01

This study examined the self-efficacy of Turkish Cypriot science teachers working at high schools in Northern Cyprus. The study sample was 200 science teachers who participated in the survey. The Teacher Self-Efficacy (TSE) Scale was used as a data source. It was observed that the science teachers' efficacy beliefs about student engagement in…

Teacher-student relationship climate and school outcomes: implications for educational policy initiatives.

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Barile, John P; Donohue, Dana K; Anthony, Elizabeth R; Baker, Andrew M; Weaver, Scott R; Henrich, Christopher C

2012-03-01

In recent discussions regarding concerns about the academic achievement of US students, educational policy makers have suggested the implementation of certain teacher policies. To address the limited empirical research on the putative educational impact of such policies, this study used multilevel structural equation models to investigate the longitudinal associations between teacher evaluation and reward policies, and student mathematics achievement and dropout with a national sample of students (n = 7,779) attending one of 431 public high schools. The student sample included an equal number of boys and girls averaging 16 years of age, and included a White (53%) majority. This study examined whether associations between teacher policies and student achievement were mediated by the teacher-student relationship climate. Results of this study were threefold. First, teacher evaluation policies that allowed students to evaluate their teachers were associated with more positive student reports of the classroom teaching climate. Second, schools with teacher reward policies that included assigning higher performing teachers with higher performing students had a negative association with student perceptions of the teaching climate. Lastly, schools with better student perceptions of the teaching climate were associated with lower student dropout rates by students' senior year. These findings are discussed in light of their educational policy implications.

Attitudes towards Teachers' Motivation, and Classroom Strategy, in English Language Classrooms

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Pahlavanpoorfard, Samira; Soori, Afshin

2014-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the attitudes of Iranian EFL students towards teachers' motivation and classroom strategy in English classroom. The subjects of the study included a sample of 235 students in their classes. The findings of this study revealed that teachers' motivation and classroom strategy used by teachers have effects on the…

[Psycho-social sources of stress and burnout in schools: research on a sample of Italian teachers].

Science.gov (United States)

Pedditzi, Maria Luisa; Nonnis, M

2014-01-01

Numerous studies show the existence of stress and burnout among teachers. The psycho-social sources of stress and burnout in teachers cover many aspects, often of conflictual nature, affecting the relationship with the school organization, colleagues, parents, students, and many other variables. This study aimed at exploring the incidence of burnout among teachers in primary and secondary schools and to describing the characteristics of burnout taking into account the educational level, the location of the school and the teacher's length of service. Another objective of this study was to identify, among the principal sources of teachers' job stress, those sources that are more able to predict the occurrence of burnout. Among these predictors of stress we considered the personal image of the teacher with respect to the work-family interface and the gap between professional and social status. 882 teachers from the cities of Rome, Bari, Cagliari and Sassari completed the Maslach burnout Inventory (MBI), and an adaptation to the school environment of the OSI (Organizational Stress Indicator, Cooper, Sloan & Williams). The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and analysis of the multivariate variance. 29.9% of the teachers surveyed presented high levels of emotional exhaustion, 33.8% had the highest scores of depersonalization; 28.3% had a low level of professional achievement; 8.2% of the teachers were in burnout. Interpersonal conflict and personal image were included among the predictors of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The study highlights the existence of burnout among teachers and the need for prevention, particularly against depersonalization, that affects the quality of both the teacher-student relationship and the teaching-learning process.

Teachers' Beliefs about the Development of Teacher-Adolescent Trust

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Russell, Shannon L.; Wentzel, Kathryn R.; Donlan, Alice E.

2016-01-01

In this study, we examined teachers' beliefs concerning the meaning and nature of teacher--student trust in a diverse sample of secondary-school teachers (n = 34). Using a grounded-theory approach, a process model of teacher-adolescent trust emerged based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Antecedents of trust could be categorised as…

Reliability and validity of teacher-rated symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder in a clinical sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Ise, Elena; Görtz-Dorten, Anja; Döpfner, Manfred

2014-01-01

It is recommended to use information from multiple informants when making diagnostic decisions concerning oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of teacher-rated symptoms of ODD and CD in a clinical sample. The sample comprised 421 children (84% boys; 6-17 years) diagnosed with ODD, CD, and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teachers completed a standardized ODD/CD symptom rating scale and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). The reliability (internal consistency) of the symptom rating scale was high (α = 0.90). Convergent and divergent validity were demonstrated by substantial correlations with similar TRF syndrome scales and low-to-moderate correlations with dissimilar TRF scales. Discriminant validity was shown by the ability of the symptom rating scale to differentiate between children with ODD/CD and those with ADHD. Factorial validity was demonstrated by principal component analysis, which produced a two-factor solution that is largely consistent with the two-dimensional model of ODD and CD proposed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV-TR, although some CD symptoms representing aggressive behavior loaded on the ODD dimension. These findings suggest that DSM-IV-TR-based teacher rating scales are useful instruments for assessing disruptive behavior problems in children and adolescents.

Role of Teacher Educational Institutions in Developing Personality of Student Teachers

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Prakash, Srinivasan; Xavier S. J., S. Amaladoss

2014-01-01

Teacher Education is an integral part of any educational system. It should provide a platform in developing the holistic personality of a student teacher. This paper reports on personality of student teachers and the role of Teacher Educational institutions in developing it. The sample consists of 1,080 student teachers of Madurai revenue…

Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Job Satisfaction among Female High School Teachers

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Zamani, Mahmmood Reza; Karimi, Fariba

2015-01-01

The present paper aims to study the relationship between spiritual intelligence and job satisfaction among female high school teachers in Isfahan. It was a descriptive-correlation research. Population included all female high school teachers of Isfahan (2015) in academic year 2013-2014. Sample size calculated was 320 teachers by Krejcie and…

Kindergarten Teachers' Experience with Reporting Child Abuse in Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Jui-Ying; Huang, Tzu-Yi; Wang, Chi-Jen

2010-01-01

Objective: The objectives were to examine factors associated with reporting child abuse among kindergarten teachers in Taiwan based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Method: A stratified quota sampling technique was used to randomly select kindergarten teachers in Taiwan. The Child Abuse Intention Report Scale, which includes demographics,…

Primary teachers' subject matter knowledge: decimals

Science.gov (United States)

Ubuz, Behiye; Yayan, Betül

2010-09-01

The main objective of this study was to investigate primary teachers' subject matter knowledge in the domain of decimals and more elaborately to investigate their performance and difficulties in reading scale, ordering numbers, finding the nearest decimal and doing operations, such as addition and subtraction. The difficulties in these particular areas are analysed and suggestions are made regarding their causes. Further, factors that influence this knowledge were explored. The sample of the study was 63 primary teachers. A decimal concepts test including 18 tasks was administered and the total scores for the 63 primary teachers ranged from 3 to 18 with a mean and median of 12. Fifty per cent of the teachers were above the mean score. The detailed investigation of the responses revealed that the primary teachers faced similar difficulties that students and pre-service teachers faced. Discrepancy on teachers' knowledge revealed important differences based on educational level attained, but not the number of years of teaching experience and experience in teaching decimals. Some suggestions have been made regarding the implications for pre- and in-service teacher training.

Burnout in a sample of primary school teachers in the city of Copiapó

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Ricardo Jorquera Gutiérrez

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The present investigation sought to establish a relationship between burnout and a number of demographic and organizational variables. The sample consisted of 191 primary school teachers of municipal, subsidized and private educational institutions of Copiapó. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI and the Cuestionario de Evaluación del Sindrome de Quemarse en el Trabajo (CESQT were used as tools to gather information from burnout levels presented by teachers. Two of them demonstrated an adequate reliability and concurrent validity. The results show a statistically significant relationship between absenteeism variable and all dimensions of burnout as measured by both instruments. No statistically significant differences between variables MBI and CESQT compared by sex, type of contract and income level were observed. When comparing the different dimensions of burnout by type of holder, statistically significant differences were detected in all of them. The results favor the private schools, showing the worst results in municipal schools. Alongside this, a negative correlation between levels of emotional exhaustion and psychological wear developed by teams of teachers and the results of the tests SIMCE [Sistema de Medición de la Calidad de la Educación] for second and fourth grade is observed.

What Do Primary and Secondary School Teachers Know About ADHD in Children?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohr-Jensen, Christina; Steen-Jensen, T.; Bang-Schnack, Maria

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To identify what primary and secondary school teachers know about ADHD in children and, furthermore, to identify which factors predict their knowledge. METHOD: A 29-item questionnaire about ADHD was distributed to a random, nationwide, and representative sample of Danish primary...... and secondary school teachers. Data were analyzed descriptively and by hierarchical regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 528 teachers were included. Most teachers identified the symptoms of ADHD (79%-96%) and effective classroom intervention strategies (75%-98%). However, knowledge about other...... knowledge about ADHD to successfully include and manage children with ADHD and, additionally, to ensure positive working environments for teachers and support constructive school-home working collaborations....

Applying Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling to Examine the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale in a Representative Greek Sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsigilis, Nikolaos; Gregoriadis, Athanasios; Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Zachopoulou, Evridiki

2018-01-01

Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a fundamental prerequisite for children's social, emotional, and academic development. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is one of the most widely accepted and used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher-child relationships. STRS is a 28-item questionnaire that assess three relational dimensions, Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. The relevant literature has shown a pattern regarding the difficulty to support the STRS factor structure with CFA, while it is well-documented with EFA. Recently, a new statistical technique was proposed to combine the best of the CFA and EFA namely, the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the factor structure of the STRS in a Greek national sample. Toward this end, the ESEM framework was applied in order to overcome the limitations of EFA and CFA, (b) to confirm previous findings about the cultural influence in teacher-child relationship patterns, and (c) to examine the invariance of STRS across gender and age. Early educators from a representative Greek sample size of 535 child care and kindergarten centers completed the STRS for 4,158 children. CFA as well as ESEM procedures were implemented. Results showed that ESEM provided better fit to the data than CFA in both groups, supporting the argument that CFA is an overly restrictive approach in comparison to ESEM for the study of STRS. All primary loadings were statistically significant and were associated with their respective latent factors. Contrary to the existing literature conducted in USA and northern Europe, the association between Closeness and Dependency yielded a positive correlation. This finding is in line with previous studies conducted in Greece and confirm the existence of cultural differences in teacher-child relationships. In addition, findings supported the configural, metric, scalar, and variance/covariance equivalence of the STRS

Applying Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling to Examine the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale in a Representative Greek Sample

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Nikolaos Tsigilis

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a fundamental prerequisite for children's social, emotional, and academic development. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS is one of the most widely accepted and used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher-child relationships. STRS is a 28-item questionnaire that assess three relational dimensions, Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. The relevant literature has shown a pattern regarding the difficulty to support the STRS factor structure with CFA, while it is well-documented with EFA. Recently, a new statistical technique was proposed to combine the best of the CFA and EFA namely, the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM. The purpose of this study was (a to examine the factor structure of the STRS in a Greek national sample. Toward this end, the ESEM framework was applied in order to overcome the limitations of EFA and CFA, (b to confirm previous findings about the cultural influence in teacher-child relationship patterns, and (c to examine the invariance of STRS across gender and age. Early educators from a representative Greek sample size of 535 child care and kindergarten centers completed the STRS for 4,158 children. CFA as well as ESEM procedures were implemented. Results showed that ESEM provided better fit to the data than CFA in both groups, supporting the argument that CFA is an overly restrictive approach in comparison to ESEM for the study of STRS. All primary loadings were statistically significant and were associated with their respective latent factors. Contrary to the existing literature conducted in USA and northern Europe, the association between Closeness and Dependency yielded a positive correlation. This finding is in line with previous studies conducted in Greece and confirm the existence of cultural differences in teacher-child relationships. In addition, findings supported the configural, metric, scalar, and variance/covariance equivalence of

Secondary school teachers' attitudes towards and beliefs about ability grouping.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallam, Susan; Ireson, Judith

2003-09-01

Internationally and historically considerable research has been undertaken regarding the attitudes of secondary school teachers towards different types of ability grouping. There has been no recent research taking account of the changing educational context in the UK. This paper aims to explore secondary school teachers' attitudes and beliefs about ability grouping taking account of school type, gender, experience and qualifications. The sample comprised over 1,500 teachers from 45 schools divided into three groups based on their ability grouping practices in years 7-9 (the students were aged 11-14). The sample included all the lower school teachers of mathematics, science and English and a random sample of teachers from other subjects in each school. Teachers responded to a questionnaire which explored their attitudes towards ability grouping through the use of rating scales and open-ended questions. The findings showed that the teachers' beliefs broadly reflected research findings on the actual effects of ability grouping, although there were significant differences relating to the type of school they taught in and the subject that they taught. Separate analysis of school types showed that length of time teaching, individual school differences and teacher qualifications were also significant predictors of attitudes. Teachers' beliefs about ability grouping are influenced by the type of groupings adopted in the school where they work, the subject that they teach, their experience and qualifications. As pedagogical practices are known to be influenced by beliefs these findings have important implications for teacher training.

Pre- and In-Service Preschool Teachers' Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Aslan, Durmus; Tas, Isil; Ogul, Irem Gürgah

2016-01-01

In this study, pre- and in-service preschool teachers' science teaching efficacy beliefs were investigated. The sample included 100 pre-service (50 first grades and 50 last grades) and 73 in-service preschool teachers. As a data collection tool "Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument" was used. Findings indicated that in-service…

Computer Processing 10-20-30. Teacher's Manual. Senior High School Teacher Resource Manual.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Mel; Lautt, Ray

Designed to help teachers meet the program objectives for the computer processing curriculum for senior high schools in the province of Alberta, Canada, this resource manual includes the following sections: (1) program objectives; (2) a flowchart of curriculum modules; (3) suggestions for short- and long-range planning; (4) sample lesson plans;…

Relationships Between Selected Teacher Behaviors and Pupil Academic Achievement: Preliminary Observations (Sample Project A). The Effect of Teacher Input on Student Performance (Sample Project B). Technical Report #35.

Science.gov (United States)

Au, Kathryn H.

This Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) report describes two studies on the effects of student-teacher interaction on student performance. Study I explored the relationship between three kinds of teacher behaviors (modeling, teacher attention to individual students, and praise-giving to individual students) and the pupil's academic…

Assessing the Impact of Teacher Job Satisfaction among Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Ansah-Hughes, Winifred

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine job satisfaction among teachers in the Techiman Municipality. Three hundred and six (306) teachers were randomly sampled from a total of one thousand four hundred and sixty-one (1461) Junior High School and Senior High School teachers in the Municipality. The instrument used for the data collection was the…

Data Stewardship in the Ocean Sciences Needs to Include Physical Samples

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, M.; Lehnert, K.

2016-02-01

Across the Ocean Sciences, research involves the collection and study of samples collected above, at, and below the seafloor, including but not limited to rocks, sediments, fluids, gases, and living organisms. Many domains in the Earth Sciences have recently expressed the need for better discovery, access, and sharing of scientific samples and collections (EarthCube End-User Domain workshops, 2012 and 2013, http://earthcube.org/info/about/end-user-workshops), as has the US government (OSTP Memo, March 2014). iSamples (Internet of Samples in the Earth Sciences) is a Research Coordination Network within the EarthCube program that aims to advance the use of innovative cyberinfrastructure to support and advance the utility of physical samples and sample collections for science and ensure reproducibility of sample-based data and research results. iSamples strives to build, grow, and foster a new community of practice, in which domain scientists, curators of sample repositories and collections, computer and information scientists, software developers and technology innovators engage in and collaborate on defining, articulating, and addressing the needs and challenges of physical samples as a critical component of digital data infrastructure. A primary goal of iSamples is to deliver a community-endorsed set of best practices and standards for the registration, description, identification, and citation of physical specimens and define an actionable plan for implementation. iSamples conducted a broad community survey about sample sharing and has created 5 different working groups to address the different challenges of developing the internet of samples - from metadata schemas and unique identifiers to an architecture for a shared cyberinfrastructure to manage collections, to digitization of existing collections, to education, and ultimately to establishing the physical infrastructure that will ensure preservation and access of the physical samples. Repositories that curate

An Evaluation of Teachers' Attitudes and Beliefs Levels on Classroom Control in Terms of Teachers' Sense of Efficacy (The Sample of Biology Teachers in Turkey)

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Kurt, Hakan

2014-01-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate biology teachers' attitudes and belief levels on classroom control in terms of teachers' sense of efficacy. The screening model was used in the study. The study group was comprised of 135 biology teachers. In this study, Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and The Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control…

Harassment in workplace among school teachers: development of a survey

OpenAIRE

Russo, Andrea; Milić, Ranko; Knežević, Bojana; Mulić, Rosanda; Mustajbegović, Jadranka

2008-01-01

Aim To develop a questionnaire on harassment in the workplace among teachers at primary and secondary schools. Methods We analyzed the existing questionnaires on harassment in the workplace and developed a new one was to specifically address harassment of teachers in the public education sector. The questionnaire was then experimentally applied to a sample of 764 primary and secondary school teachers in Split Dalmatia County, Croatia. It included three scales –exposure to harassment,...

Validity and reliability of the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire in a sample of 673 Italian teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zurlo, Maria Clelia; Pes, Daniela; Siegrist, Johannes

2010-08-01

This study explores the explicative potential of effort-reward imbalance Model to unveil the dimensions involved in teacher stress process and analyses the psychometric characteristics of the Italian version of the ERI Questionnaire (Siegrist, J Occup Health Psychol 1:27-43, 1996) with respect to a homogeneous occupational group: Italian school teachers. The Italian version of the ERI Questionnaire was submitted to 673 teachers randomly drawn from a cross-section of school types. Internal consistency, reliability, discriminative validity, and factorial structure were evaluated. Predictive validity was explored with respect to a measure of perceived strain, the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index. Discriminative validity was explored with respect to age, gender, education, type of school, the presence/absence of physical pains in the last 12 months before the survey, and teachers' intention to leave the profession. Item-total correlations are for all items included between 0.30 and 0.80 (p teachers, which reported to suffer for physical pains. Higher efforts (T = -5.26, p teachers inclined to give up the job. Multiple regression analyses have highlighted that higher efforts, higher overcommitment, and lower rewards are significantly predictive of higher levels of free-floating and somatic anxiety as well as depression and global psychological strain. This preliminary analysis of the reliability and validity of the Italian version of the ERI Questionnaire reveals that it constitutes a useful and reliable measure to analyse work-related stress with respect to the school setting. The validity of the ERI model to describe the dimensions involved in teacher's stress and to highlight those associated to leaving intentions and to several physical and psychological strain outcomes in Italian school teachers has been confirmed.

Ethics Education in Australian Preservice Teacher Programs: A Hidden Imperative?

Science.gov (United States)

Boon, Helen J.; Maxwell, Bruce

2016-01-01

This paper provides a snapshot of the current approach to ethics education in accredited Australian pre-service teacher programs. Methods included a manual calendar search of ethics related subjects required in teacher programs using a sample of 24 Australian universities and a survey of 26 university representatives. Findings show a paucity of…

How special are teachers of specialized schools? : a quantitative investigation of Turkish mathematics teachers' self-confidence levels in the technology domain

OpenAIRE

Çatma, Zehra

2013-01-01

Ankara : The Program of Curriculum and Instruction, Bilkent University, 2013. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2013. Includes bibliographical refences. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether specialized high school mathematics teachers, who were selected to educate selected students, were mentally ready to integrate Fatih project technologies into their teaching. The sample consisted of 40 teachers, who voluntarily participated the study and work...

Mental health and patterns of work-related coping behaviour in a German sample of student teachers: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, Linda; Unterbrink, Thomas; Pfeifer, Ruth; Wirsching, Michael; Rose, Uwe; Stößel, Ulrich; Nübling, Matthias; Buhl-Grießhaber, Veronika; Frommhold, Markus; Schaarschmidt, Uwe; Bauer, Joachim

2012-11-01

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the mental health of student teachers, to analyse the extent to which they feel prepared for their profession by the university curriculum and to investigate patterns of coping with occupational stress. A sample of 481 German student teachers was investigated using two standardised instruments: GHQ-12 (General Health Questionnaire) and AVEM (Arbeitsbezogenes Verhaltens- und Erlebensmuster), an occupational stress and coping questionnaire describing four patterns of work-related coping behaviour. In addition, we asked how well the student teachers felt that the curriculum prepared them for their profession. Forty-four per cent of the student teachers report impaired mental health in the second teacher training period, indicated by a GHQ value equal to or over the cut-off of four. The AVEM responses revealed more than 40% showing risk patterns (A or B) compared to only 26.3% displaying a healthy coping style (G), while 32.8% demonstrate an unambitious style (S). These GHQ values are inversely correlated with the extent to which student teachers feel prepared for their work by the university curriculum. Our data indicate a problematic stress level for student teachers in the second training phase (high exposure to health risks and unfavourable coping styles). Since teaching is clearly an extremely demanding job, it is vital that teacher training systems contribute towards protecting the health of teachers by focusing on fostering healthy personal attitudes and equipping young teachers with coping styles and skills that will better prepare them for the challenges facing them in their daily work. Self-care health management should also be part of the teacher training curriculum.

Examining Media Literacy Levels of Prospective Teachers

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Taskın INAN

2012-04-01

Full Text Available As in many other countries, following the 2007-2008 education year when media literacy courses began to be included in the curricula, media literacy has become one of the discussion topics among educators and decision makers in Turkey. Discussion topics related to media literacy have included who is going to give the media literacy courses, what qualifications will be sought out in media literacy education teachers, what will be included in the media literacy curriculum in terms of its content, and at what level the media literacy course will be given. The current study which aims to examine media literacy levels of prospective teachers utilized thesurvey method. The sample of the study included prospective teachers (480 attending Elementary School Education, Social Studies Education and Turkish Language Education departments in the Education Faculty at the Dumlupinar University in the 2008-2009 education year. The results of the study showed that prospective teachers have a low level of reaction to media messages, do not educate people around enough about the effects of media, but make use of different sources of media to gain information, and are cognizant of media literacy.

Examining media literacy levels of prospective teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taşkın İnan

2012-03-01

Full Text Available As in many other countries, following the 2007-2008 education year when media literacy courses began to be included in the curricula, media literacy has become one of the discussion topics among educators and decision makers in Turkey. Discussion topics related to media literacy have included who is going to give the media literacy courses, what qualifications will be sought out in media literacy education teachers, what will be included in the media literacy curriculum in terms of its content, and at what level the media literacy course will be given. The current study which aims to examine media literacy levels of prospective teachers utilized the survey method. The sample of the study included prospective teachers (480 attending Elementary School Education, Social Studies Education and Turkish Language Education departments in the Education Faculty at the Dumlupinar University in the 2008-2009 education year. The results of the study showed that prospective teachers have a low level of reaction to media messages, do not educate people around enough about the effects of media, but make use of different sources of media to gain information, and are cognizant of media literacy.

Workplace Stress Among Teachers in Kosovo

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Fleura Shkëmbi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching has been regarded as one of the most stressful professions, and workplace stress within this professional category has been thoroughly investigated. Nonetheless, no empirical research so far has examined workplace stress among teachers in Kosovo. The present study aimed to identify age and gender-related patterns of workplace stress as well as examine the role of marital status, educational level, and working experience in a sample of Kosovo teachers. The different types of stressors reported by teachers were also examined. The sample consisted of 799 teachers (Mage = 42.94; SD = 11.50, 33.8% males and 65.2% females. The measures included the National Stress Awareness Day (NSAD Stress Questionnaire, and one self-report questionnaire designed by the authors for the purpose of the research. Results showed that 33.2% (265 participants of the sample reported high levels of stress. Workplace stress was significantly predicted by place of residence (β = −.442, p < .00 and level of education (β = −.191, p < .00 but not age, gender, marital status, or working experience F(6, 520 = 34.162, p < .001, R2 = .283. As regards the specific stressors, the most frequently reported were inadequate wages (36.8%, physical working environment (30.1%, and undisciplined students (26.2%. Results are discussed in the context of practical implications they have and suggestions for future research are provided.

Italian Teachers' Knowledge and Perception of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Science.gov (United States)

Frigerio, Alessandra; Montali, Lorenzo; Marzocchi, Gian Marco

2014-01-01

Teachers' perceptions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can influence the diagnostic rates of the disorder and the management of children in schools. This study investigated the knowledge and perceptions of ADHD in a sample of 589 Italian primary school teachers using a self-report questionnaire that included the ADHD perceptions…

Preschool Teachers' Language and Literacy Practices with Dual Language Learners.

Science.gov (United States)

Sawyer, Brook E; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Cycyk, Lauren M; López, Lisa; Blair, Clancy; Sandilos, Lia; Komaroff, Eugene

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool teachers. Observational data were collected on practices. Teachers self-reported on language and culture beliefs, Spanish speaking ability, and classroom composition. Results indicated that teachers, including those who spoke Spanish, used few linguistically responsive practices to support preschool DLLs. Only Spanish-speaking ability was related to practices. Implications for targeted professional development are discussed.

Healthy lifestyle in teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pirzadeh, Asiyeh; Sharifirad, Gholamreza; Kamran, Aziz

2012-01-01

The role of individual healthy behaviors like physical activity, nutrition and stress management on reduction of rate of disease mortality and morbidity is well known. The aim of this study is to determine healthy life style in teachers employed in district No.4 in Isfahan, Iran, in 2010. The participants of this cross-sectional study were 96 teachers in district No. 4, selected via random sampling method. The data collection was performed using a questionnaire including demographic healthy lifestyle questions. Analysis of the data was performed through Software SPSS version 18. The mean age of the subjects was 40.26 ± 6.05 years and, BMI mean was 25.08 ± 3.20. 96.8% of them were married and 3.1% also were single. 1% of the teachers had a weak lifestyle, 13.5%had moderate, 85.4% had a good lifestyle. In terms of nutrition, 2% of the teachers had a weak lifestyle, 23% moderate, 74% good. 76% in terms of physical activity, 29.2% smoking and 21.9% stress had a weak lifestyle. According to the results, planning for teachers in school for receiving information about healthy lifestyle is important.

Parent-based diagnosis of ADHD is as accurate as a teacher-based diagnosis of ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Bied, Adam; Biederman, Joseph; Faraone, Stephen

2017-04-01

To review the literature evaluating the psychometric properties of parent and teacher informants relative to a gold-standard ADHD diagnosis in pediatric populations. We included studies that included both a parent and teacher informant, a gold-standard diagnosis, and diagnostic accuracy metrics. Potential confounds were evaluated. We also assessed the 'OR' and the 'AND' rules for combining informant reports. Eight articles met inclusion criteria. The diagnostic accuracy for predicting gold standard ADHD diagnoses did not differ between parents and teachers. Sample size, sample type, participant drop-out, participant age, participant gender, geographic area of the study, and date of study publication were assessed as potential confounds. Parent and teachers both yielded moderate to good diagnostic accuracy for ADHD diagnoses. Parent reports were statistically indistinguishable from those of teachers. The predictive features of the 'OR' and 'AND' rules are useful in evaluating approaches to better integrating information from these informants.

University Teachers' Perception of Inclusion of Visually Impaired in Ghanaian Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Mamah, Vincent; Deku, Prosper; Darling, Sharon M.; Avoke, Selete K.

2011-01-01

This study was undertaken to examine the university teachers' perception of including students with Visual Impairment (VI) in the public universities of Ghana. The sample consisted of 110 teachers from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), the University of Education, Winneba, (UEW), and the University of Ghana (UG). Data were collected through…

A Quantitative Correlational Study of Teacher Preparation Program on Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Dingman, Jacob Blackstone

2010-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to identify the relationship between the type of teacher preparation program and student performance on the seventh and eighth grade mathematics state assessments in rural school settings. The study included a survey of a convenience sample of 36 teachers from Colorado and Washington school…

Teacher Perceptions of School Consultant Social Influence Strategies: Replication and Expansion

Science.gov (United States)

Owens, Julie Sarno; Schwartz, Madeleine E.; Erchul, William P.; Himawan, Lina K.; Evans, Steven W.; Coles, Erika K.; Schulte, Ann C.

2017-01-01

The goals were to (a) replicate the findings of previous research with regard to the Consultee/Teacher Version of the Interpersonal Power Inventory (IPI), and (b) advance the literature by examining IPI scores about a current consultation relationship. Sample 1 included 99 elementary school teachers (44.4% Hispanic) who completed the IPI. Results…

[Teacher enhancement at Supercomputing `96

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-02-13

The SC`96 Education Program provided a three-day professional development experience for middle and high school science, mathematics, and computer technology teachers. The program theme was Computers at Work in the Classroom, and a majority of the sessions were presented by classroom teachers who have had several years experience in using these technologies with their students. The teachers who attended the program were introduced to classroom applications of computing and networking technologies and were provided to the greatest extent possible with lesson plans, sample problems, and other resources that could immediately be used in their own classrooms. The attached At a Glance Schedule and Session Abstracts describes in detail the three-day SC`96 Education Program. Also included is the SC`96 Education Program evaluation report and the financial report.

A Survey of K-12 Teachers' Utilization of Social Networks as a Professional Resource

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Leah J.; Hall, Cristin M.

2018-01-01

Teachers are increasingly using social networks, including social media and other Internet applications, to look for educational resources. This study shares results from a survey examining patterns of social network application use among K-12 teachers in the United States. A sample of 154 teachers (18 males, 136 females) in the United States…

Physics Teachers' Views on Their Initial Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Buabeng, Isaac; Conner, Lindsey; Winter, David

2016-01-01

This paper explores New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers' and physics educators' views about Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Perspectives of physics teachers nationally indicated that in general, teachers considered themselves not well-prepared in some content areas including electronics, modern physics, and atomic and nuclear physics. This may be…

Followership Styles and Job Satisfaction in Secondary School Teachers in Serbia

Science.gov (United States)

Hinic, Darko; Grubor, Jelena; Brulic, Lida

2017-01-01

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of followership styles, and their connection with job satisfaction and satisfaction with extrinsic/intrinsic aspects of work in teachers. The sample included 206 secondary school teachers of three grammar and three vocational schools in three towns in Serbia. The results indicate that the most…

Investigation Of The Perceived Mobbing Behaviours By Counselor Teachers

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Murside EMIROGLU

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to research into the mobbing behaviour perceived by teacher counsellors in terms of variables. Descriptive research method has been used in this study. The universe of this study has included the teacher counsellors working at Gaziantep. As it is desired to be reached the whole of the universe in the study, the way of sampling is not preferred. 219 teachers working on seven different districts of Gaziantep have comprised the sample group of this study. With the purpose of providing the description of the personal information of the people included in the study, ‘Occupational Satisfaction Scale’ has been used, and with the purpose of evaluating the perceived mobbing behaviour ‘Mobbing Detection Scale’ which includes 35 items has been used. Data collection tools were delivered to the schools with a directive and they were retaken in closed envelopes. The obtained data was analyzed with SPSS program. With the aim of determining whether occupational satisfaction and personal variables predicts the perceived mobbing, regression analysis has been used in the study. The variables of marital status, educational level, occupational seniority and school types have been found to be a meaningful predictor of mobbing behaviour perceived by teacher counsellors. Suggestions have been developed in line with the obtained data. Key

Teacher-Child Relationships and Pedagogical Practices : Considering the Teacher's Perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thijs, Jochem T.; Koomen, Helma M.Y.; Leij, Aryan van der

2008-01-01

This study explored the link between teachers' reports of their relationships with individual kindergartners and their self-reported pedagogical practices toward these children. Two samples of kindergarten teachers were examined. They were questioned about, respectively, 117 and 167 children

Determination and Interpretation of the Norm Values of Preschool Social Skills Rating Scale Teacher Form

Science.gov (United States)

Omeroglu, Esra; Buyukozturk, Sener; Aydogan, Yasemin; Cakan, Mehtap; Cakmak, Ebru Kilic; Ozyurek, Arzu; Akduman, Gulumser Gultekin; Gunindi, Yunus; Kutlu, Omer; Coban, Aysel; Yurt, Ozlem; Kogar, Hakan; Karayol, Seda

2015-01-01

This study aimed to determine and interpret norms of the Preschool Social Skills Rating Scale (PSSRS) teacher form. The sample included 224 independent preschools and 169 primary schools. The schools are distributed among 48 provinces and 3324 children were included. Data were obtained from the PSSRS teacher form. The validity and reliability…

Impact of Children's Identified Disability Status on Parent and Teacher Behavior Ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Schwehr, Ethan; Bocanegra, Joel O.; Kwon, Kyongboon; Sheridan, Susan M.

2014-01-01

This study was an examination of the possible influence of a child's pre-identified disability on parent and teacher behavior ratings and whether a child's disability status affected parent ratings, when controlling for parenting stress. The sample included 206 kindergarten through third grade students and their teachers and parents from a…

Academic Dishonesty Tendencies and Values of Teacher Candidates

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Ayşegül KADI

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the values and academic dishonesty tendencies of teacher candidates. The population of this study included teacher candidates who received pedagogic formation education during 2013-2014 academic semester at the Faculty of Education at Ege University. The study was conducted with 244 teacher candidates, who were chosen through convenient sampling method. Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale and Portrait Values Questionnaire were used to collect data. It was a correlational study due to the investigation of the relationship between values and academic dishonesty tendencies of teacher candidates. It was also a survey study since the academic dishonesty tendencies and values of teacher candidates were examined in relation to demographic variables. The results suggested that there wass a significant difference between the values and academic dishonesty tendencies of teacher candidates for gender variable. The values and academic dishonesty tendencies of teacher candidates did not differ for different fields of study. There was not a significant relationship between the academic dishonesty tendencies and values of teacher candidates.

Epidemiology of Voice Disorders in Latvian School Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Trinite, Baiba

2017-07-01

The prevalence of voice disorders in the teacher population in Latvia has not been studied so far and this is the first epidemiological study whose goal is to investigate the prevalence of voice disorders and their risk factors in this professional group. A wide cross-sectional study using stratified sampling methodology was implemented in the general education schools of Latvia. The self-administered voice risk factor questionnaire and the Voice Handicap Index were completed by 522 teachers. Two teachers groups were formed: the voice disorders group which included 235 teachers with actual voice problems or problems during the last 9 months; and the control group which included 174 teachers without voice disorders. Sixty-six percent of teachers gave a positive answer to the following question: Have you ever had problems with your voice? Voice problems are more often found in female than male teachers (68.2% vs 48.8%). Music teachers suffer from voice disorders more often than teachers of other subjects. Eighty-two percent of teachers first faced voice problems in their professional carrier. The odds of voice disorders increase if the following risk factors exist: extra vocal load, shouting, throat clearing, neglecting of personal health, background noise, chronic illnesses of the upper respiratory tract, allergy, job dissatisfaction, and regular stress in the working place. The study findings indicated a high risk of voice disorders among Latvian teachers. The study confirmed data concerning the multifactorial etiology of voice disorders. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Research to Practice: Teacher and Pediatrician Awareness of Phenotypic Traits in Neurogenetic Syndromes

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Lee, Tammy H.; Blasey, Christine M.; Dyer-Friedman, Jennifer; Glaser, Bronwyn; Reiss, Allan L.; Eliez, Stephan

2005-01-01

Pediatricians' and teachers' knowledge of physical, cognitive, and behavioral features associated with three genetic syndromes were assessed and the effectiveness of information sources about these syndromes evaluated. The surveyed sample included 53 pediatricians and 69 teachers from Northern and Central California. Respondents demonstrated…

Chinese Middle School Teacher Job Satisfaction and Its Relationships with Teacher Moving

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Chen, Junjun

2010-01-01

This study examined teacher job satisfaction in Chinese middle schools from the aspects of school, community, and life and the relationships between these factors and teacher moving. A convenience sample of 294 teachers was approached through a 35-item questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Three major results were found: (1) Chinese middle…

Headteachers' managerial behaviour and teachers' task ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The result of the study revealed that head teachers' decision-making strategy and head teachers' leadership style have significant influence on teachers' task performance in the sampled schools. And that head teachers' communication skills significantly relates to teachers' task performance in the area. Based on this result, ...

Third and Fourth Grade Teacher's Classroom Practices in Writing: A National Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Brindle, Mary; Graham, Steve; Harris, Karen R.; Hebert, Michael

2016-01-01

A random sample of teachers in grades 3 and 4 (N = 157) from across the United States were surveyed about their use of evidence-based writing practices, preparation to teach writing, and beliefs about writing. Teachers' beliefs included their efficacy to teach writing, their orientations to teach writing, their attitude about teaching writing, and…

Including Below Detection Limit Samples in Post Decommissioning Soil Sample Analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jung Hwan; Yim, Man Sung [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

To meet the required standards the site owner has to show that the soil at the facility has been sufficiently cleaned up. To do this one must know the contamination of the soil at the site prior to clean up. This involves sampling that soil to identify the degree of contamination. However there is a technical difficulty in determining how much decontamination should be done. The problem arises when measured samples are below the detection limit. Regulatory guidelines for site reuse after decommissioning are commonly challenged because the majority of the activity in the soil at or below the limit of detection. Using additional statistical analyses of contaminated soil after decommissioning is expected to have the following advantages: a better and more reliable probabilistic exposure assessment, better economics (lower project costs) and improved communication with the public. This research will develop an approach that defines an acceptable method for demonstrating compliance of decommissioned NPP sites and validates that compliance. Soil samples from NPP often contain censored data. Conventional methods for dealing with censored data sets are statistically biased and limited in their usefulness.

Teacher-Child Relationships and Pedagogical Practices: Considering the Teacher's Perspective

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Thijs, Jochem T.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; van der Leij, Aryan

2008-01-01

This study explored the link between teachers' reports of their relationships with individual kindergartners and their self-reported pedagogical practices toward these children. Two samples of kindergarten teachers were examined. They were questioned about, respectively, 117 and 167 children selected as socially inhibited, hyperactive, or average…

Assessing teachers' positive psychological functioning at work: Development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire.

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Renshaw, Tyler L; Long, Anna C J; Cook, Clayton R

2015-06-01

This study reports on the initial development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (TSWQ) with 2 samples of educators-a general sample of 185 elementary and middle school teachers, and a target sample of 21 elementary school teachers experiencing classroom management challenges. The TSWQ is an 8-item self-report instrument for assessing teachers' subjective wellbeing, which is operationalized via subscales measuring school connectedness and teaching efficacy. The conceptualization and development processes underlying the TSWQ are described, and results from a series of preliminary psychometric and exploratory analyses are reported to establish initial construct validity. Findings indicated that the TSWQ was characterized by 2 conceptually sound latent factors, that both subscales and the composite scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, and that all scales demonstrated convergent validity with self-reported school supports and divergent validity with self-reported stress and emotional burnout. Furthermore, results indicated that TSWQ scores did not differ according to teachers' school level (i.e., elementary vs. middle), but that they did differ according to unique school environment (e.g., 1 middle school vs. another middle school) and teacher stressors (i.e., general teachers vs. teachers experiencing classroom management challenges). Results also indicated that, for teachers experiencing classroom challenges, the TSWQ had strong short-term predictive validity for psychological distress, accounting for approximately half of the variance in teacher stress and emotional burnout. Implications for theory, research, and the practice of school psychology are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Differences in Mathematics Teachers' Perceived Preparedness to Demonstrate Competence in Secondary School Mathematics Content by Teacher Characteristics

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Ng'eno, J. K.; Chesimet, M. C.

2016-01-01

A sample of 300 mathematics teachers drawn from a population of 1500 participated in this study. The participants were selected using systematic random sampling and stratified random sampling (stratified by qualification and gender). The data was collected using self-report questionnaires for mathematics teachers. One tool was used to collect…

Primary school teacher's knowledge and attitudes toward children with epilepsy.

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Abulhamail, Albaraa S; Al-Sulami, Fahad E; Alnouri, Mouneeb A; Mahrous, Najeeb M; Joharji, Dima G; Albogami, Maha M; Jan, Mohammed M

2014-04-01

Primary school teacher's knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy can have significant impact on the performance and psycho-social development of the child with epilepsy. Our objectives were to study teacher's knowledge and attitudes and identify areas in which further teacher training and education are required. A stratified random sample survey involving a group of primary school teachers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia included private/public schools designated for male and female students. A structured 37-item questionnaire was used to examine their demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and experience with epilepsy. Six hundred and twenty primary school teachers working in public (58%) or private (42%) schools were included with ages ranging between 21 and 59 years (mean 36). Most teachers (79%) were of Saudi Arabian nationality and 66% had a college or university degree. Their years of experience ranged from 1 to 35 (mean 13.5). Only 17% of the teachers felt very well informed about epilepsy. Teachers with higher education were more likely to have good knowledge (p=0.009). Teachers of Saudi nationality were also more likely to report good knowledge, independent of their educational level (p=0.013). Overall, teachers with good knowledge were less likely to have negative attitudes including minding to have an epileptic child in their class (p=0.028) or thinking that they should be placed in a special classroom (p=0.029). Primary school teacher's knowledge about epilepsy needs improvements. Their attitudes correlated highly with their knowledge. Educational campaigns about epilepsy are needed to develop a well informed and tolerant community. Copyright © 2014 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teachers' Attitude towards Corporal Punishment: Elementary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

administered instrument pack with three sections including a CorpAtt Scale from a sample of 199 first ... But, they argue that CP has more harm than benefit ... some more problems associated with CP such as lower levels of self- control, more ... Teachers hold attitudes such as CP is the best way of motivating students to.

Long working hours and psychological distress among school teachers in Japan.

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Bannai, Akira; Ukawa, Shigekazu; Tamakoshi, Akiko

2015-01-01

Long working hours have the possibility to influence human health. In Japan, it is well known that teachers have long working hours, and the number of leaves of absence due to mental disorders among public school teachers increased from 2,687 in 2002 to 4,960 in 2012. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between long working hours and psychological distress among school teachers. This cross-sectional study was conducted from mid-July to September in 2013 in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,245 teachers in public junior high schools. Information about basic characteristics, including working hours, and responses to the General Health Questionnaire-28 were collected anonymously. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for the association between long working hours and psychological distress by gender. Of the 1,245 teachers contacted, 558 (44.8%) responded. After excluding responses with missing data, the final sample included 522 teachers (337 males and 185 females). Psychological distress was identified in 47.8% of males and 57.8% of females. Our results showed a significantly increased risk only in males working >60 hours per week (adjusted OR=4.71 [95% CI 2.04-11.56]) compared with those working ≤40 hours per week. There were no significant associations between long working hours and psychological distress for females. There is a significant association between long working hours and psychological distress in male teachers. However, the causal relationship remains unclear. Further studies such as cohort studies with large sample sizes are needed.

The perceptions of teachers and principals toward providing additional compensation to teachers in high-need subject areas

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Longing, Jeffrey Lucian

The purpose of this study was to determine possible differences in the perceptions of teachers teaching in high-need areas (i.e., math, science, special education, etc.) and teachers not teaching in high-need areas, (i.e., business education, physical education, etc.) as defined by the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, regarding higher compensation for high-need teachers. In addition, possible perception differences among principals and teachers were determined. The independent variables consisted of gender, position held, years of certified experience, and certification areas. The dependent variable was the perceptions of the participants on providing higher compensation for high-need teachers in order to attract and retain them. The data for all variables were collected using the Teacher Compensation Survey. The sample for this study was limited to teachers, grades 9 through 12, and principals of public high schools in south Arkansas and north Louisiana. Forty-four school districts in south Arkansas (Arkansas Department of Education, 2008a) and north Louisiana (Louisiana Department of Education, 2008a) met the criteria for this study. Twenty-two superintendents gave permission for their districts to participate in the research. A sample of 849 teachers and 38 principals were identified in these districts. Surveys were returned from 350 teachers, creating a 41% response rate. When the 31 principals that returned surveys were added to the total population, the response rate increased to 43% with 381 of the 887 surveyed responding. However, 42 of the teachers and two of the principals skipped some of the questions on the survey and were not included in the study. The researcher used a One-Way ANOVA and independent t-tests to determine the presence of statistical differences at the .05 level. The data showed that most math and science teachers agreed that high-need teachers should be compensated at a higher rate than teachers not teaching in high-need areas. The data

Callings, Work Role Fit, Psychological Meaningfulness and Work Engagement among Teachers in Zambia

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Rothmann, Sebastiaan; Hamukang'andu, Lukondo

2013-01-01

Our aim in this study was to investigate the relationships among a calling orientation, work role fit, psychological meaningfulness and work engagement of teachers in Zambia. A quantitative approach was followed and a cross-sectional survey was used. The sample (n = 150) included 75 basic and 75 secondary school teachers in the Choma district of…

Mentor teachers : Their perceived possibilities and challenges as mentor and teacher

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaspers, W. Marieke; Meijer, Paulien C.; Prins, Frans; Wubbels, Theo

2014-01-01

This interview study, including seven case studies of mentor teachers in primary education, explores the possibilities and challenges these mentor teachers perceive when they (sequentially and simultaneously) combine the teacher and mentor roles. Mentor teachers perceive two challenges while

Creationist and evolutionist views of South African teachers with different religious affiliations

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Michèle Stears

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Concerns have been raised in the scientific community that many teachers do not accept evolution as a scientific, testable phenomenon, and this is evident in their teaching. The non-acceptance of evolution theory is often heavily influenced by religious groups that endeavour to eliminate evolution from the curriculum. In South Africa, the inclusion of evolution in the curriculum is a recent event. This study focused on teachers views of evolution in relation to their religious affiliations. A questionnaire was developed and was validated by the Biohead-Citizen Project, and was then administered to more than 300 South African teachers and student teachers. Equal numbers of pre-service and in-service teachers were sampled. The groups included equal numbers of biology, English, and generalist teachers at primary school level. The results showed differences between teachers from different religions with regard to their views of evolution. Among teachers who identified as agnostic or atheist, 17% held creationist views. Among teachers who identified as Protestant, other Christian, or Muslim, 70% held creationist views. This study also examined, for the first time, the views of teachers belonging to religions not included in previous research. Of these, only 25% of Hindus held creationist views. Fewer adherents of African Independent Churches held creationist views compared with teachers from traditional Protestant denominations; for example, only 30% of Zionist followers and 40% of Shembe followers held creationist views. This study adds important knowledge by including the views of teachers from religions not previously researched.

An Exploration of EFL Teachers' Attributions

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Ghonsooly, Behzad; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh; Ghazanfari, Mohammad; Ghabanchi, Zargham

2015-01-01

The present study investigated English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' attributions of success and failure. It also set out to investigate whether these attributions vary by teachers' age, teaching experience, gender and educational level. To do so, 200 EFL teachers were selected according to convenience sampling among EFL teachers teaching…

Teacher Valuation and Use of Posters to Promote Sustainability of Wetlands in Kenya

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Ndaruga, Ayub Macharia

2009-01-01

Posters have a long history of use as tools to promote awareness on diverse issues including environmental conservation. A study was done using 39 primary school teachers in Kenya to explore their valuation and use of a wetlands poster during their teaching at school and within the community. The teachers were sampled using a non-purposive,…

Internet Literacy of Vocational High School Teachers

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Vernanda, D.; Abdullah, A. G.; Rohendi, D.

2018-02-01

Internet literacy is needed to know the development of the world in various things quickly and precisely, as well as in the world of education, especially teachers. Seeing the importance of internet literacy, there is an interest to discuss and analyze the level of internet literacy of teachers. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The sample of research is vocational school teacher (SMK) as many as 99 respondents. Data are collected through questionnaires. The theory used is adopted from Suitable Learning Object Type (LRE APV4.7) and Three Elements of Literacy Digital. The result data of the questionnaire is processed and analyzed using Capability Maturity Model theory, the result of the research shows that the level of internet literacy of vocational teachers is at level 2, meaning that SMK teachers have used the internet many times to assist their daily activities and have pattern of repetition in internet utilization. The use of internet by teachers of SMK with various needs that support the process of teaching, communicating, sharing knowledge, but the most dominant is to communicate through social media. Factors affecting internet usage include age, gender, and employment status.

Are teachers' judgements of pupils' ability influenced by body shape?

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Shackleton, N L; Campbell, T

2014-04-01

Evidence indicates that teachers can judge pupils on the basis of their physical appearance, including their body shape. Teacher bias towards obese pupils has been suggested as a potential pathway through which obese children attain relatively lower academic levels. The aim of this study was to investigate whether teachers' judgements of pupils' ability are influenced by the body shape of the child. The sample includes English, singleton children in state schools from the Millennium Cohort Study. The data were taken from the fourth wave of data collection, when the children were approximately 7 years old. In all, 5086/5072 children had teacher ability ratings of reading and maths. Logistic regression analyses were used to test whether teachers' perceptions of the child's reading and mathematics ability were influenced by the pupil's waist circumference, conditional upon cognitive test scores of reading and maths ability. After adjustment for cognitive test scores, no significant overall relationship was found between the pupil's waist circumference and the teacher's judgements of ability. No statistically significant differences were observed in the probability of being judged as above average after further adjustments were made for potential confounders. There is little evidence that teachers' judgements of pupils' ability are influenced by obesity.

Fractions as a Foundation for Algebra within a Sample of Prospective Teachers

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Zientek, Linda Reichwein; Younes, Rayya; Nimon, Kim; Mittag, Kathleen Cage; Taylor, Sharon

2013-01-01

Improving the mathematical skills of the next generation of students will require that elementary and middle school teachers are competent and confident in their abilities to perform fraction operations and to solve algebra equations The present study was conducted to (a) quantify relationships between prospective teachers' abilities to perform…

An empirical study of stressors that impinge on teachers in secondary schools in Swaziland

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C I O Okeke

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study employed the descriptive-correlation research design to determine whether secondary school teachers experience work-related stress. Participants included 239 teachers selected from schools in the Hhohho region of Swaziland. A questionnaire was used as the instrument to determine the level ofwork-related stress experienced by these teachers. Findings showed that teachers were moderately stressed by their work. Contractual problems and the nature of their work were two aspects that were reported to be the main stressors for the sample, while the work environment and work relationships were only mildly stressful. There was a weak relationship between the level of work-related stress and the demographic variables of gender, marital status, and qualifications. Age had a moderate significant relationship with the level of work-related stress for the sample. The study recommends that stress management programmes for teachers are imperative to deal with the consequences of stress.

Pre-Service Music Teachers' Metaphorical Perceptions of the Concept of a Music Teaching Program

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Kiliç, Deniz Beste Çevik

2017-01-01

This study was intended to reveal pre-service music teachers' perceptions of the concept of a "music teaching program" with the use of metaphors. Its sample included 130 pre-service music teachers in the Music Teaching Program of Fine Arts Teaching Department in Balikesir University's Education Faculty. The study data were collected by…

How pupils percieve the teacher's motivational techniques?

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Bodroža Bojana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Current research in the field of education indicates that the behaviour of the teacher affects significantly the quality and level of the pupil's motivation. The aim of our research was to determine the structure of the motivational style of teachers seen from the pupils' perspective, and to find out whether the pupils' perceptions of the teacher's motivational style depend upon cultural-educational influences of the family, and some characteristics of the students (academic achievements, gender. The sample included 856 pupils from 40 elementary schools in Serbia. We used the questionnaire with Likert's scale to obtain the evaluation of the teachers' behaviours. By the factor analysis we extracted three components of the teacher' behaviour: stimulating pupils' interest and competences, de-motivational teachers' behaviours and stimulating freedom of thinking and expression. The results show that the pupils whose parents have lower levels of education think that the behaviour of the teachers is directed to stimulating interest and competencies, as well as freedom of thinking and speech than the pupils of the parents of higher educational status. The control of the influence of the education of parents showed that the pupils of lower academic achievement perceive the teacher's behaviour as de-motivational. Compared to girls boys estimate more highly that teachers stimulate their interests and competencies. A suggestion is offered how a teacher should develop a behavioural style which would positively influence the quality of the pupils' motivation.

Impacts of Contextual and Explicit Instruction on Preservice Elementary Teachers' Understandings of the Nature of Science

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Bell, Randy L.; Matkins, Juanita Jo; Gansneder, Bruce M.

2011-01-01

This mixed-methods investigation compared the relative impacts of instructional approach and context of nature of science instruction on preservice elementary teachers' understandings. The sample consisted of 75 preservice teachers enrolled in four sections of an elementary science methods course. Independent variables included instructional…

Teachers' Attitudes toward Web-Based Professional Development, with Relation to Internet Self-Efficacy and Beliefs about Web-Based Learning

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Kao, Chia-Pin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2009-01-01

This study was conducted to explore the relationships between teachers' Internet self-efficacy, beliefs about web-based learning and attitudes toward web-based professional development. The sample of this study included 421 teachers, coming from 20 elementary schools in Taiwan. The three instruments used to assess teachers' Internet self-efficacy…

Teacher Career Motivation and Professional Development in Special and Inclusive Education: Perspectives from Chinese Teachers

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Feng, Yan

2012-01-01

Limited evidence is available from the existing literature that relates teachers' career motivation to their attitudes towards special and inclusive education and their motivation for professional development in China. A mixed-method approach was used to investigate teachers' perspectives in this respect. A sample of teachers at seven mainstream…

Connecting Pre-Service Teachers with Contemporary Mathematics Practices: Selecting and Sequencing Students' Work Samples

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Livy, Sharyn; Muir, Tracey; Downton, Ann

2017-01-01

One of the challenges facing teacher educators is providing our pre-service teachers (PSTs) with authentic experiences that cross the boundaries between Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and the classroom. An additional challenge facing the mathematics teacher educator, is addressing and deepening PSTs' mathematical content knowledge (MCK), which…

Teacher coaching supported by formative assessment for improving classroom practices.

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Fabiano, Gregory A; Reddy, Linda A; Dudek, Christopher M

2018-06-01

The present study is a wait-list controlled, randomized study investigating a teacher coaching approach that emphasizes formative assessment and visual performance feedback to enhance elementary school teachers' classroom practices. The coaching model targeted instructional and behavioral management practices as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS) Observer and Teacher Forms. The sample included 89 general education teachers, stratified by grade level, and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) immediate coaching, or (b) waitlist control. Results indicated that, relative to the waitlist control, teachers in immediate coaching demonstrated significantly greater improvements in observations of behavior management strategy use but not for observations of instructional strategy use. Observer- and teacher-completed ratings of behavioral management strategy use at postassessment were significantly improved by both raters; ratings of instructional strategy use were significantly improved for teacher but not observer ratings. A brief coaching intervention improved teachers' use of observed behavior management strategies and self-reported use of behavior management and instructional strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Who's doing the talking? Teacher and parent experiences of parent-teacher conferences

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E M Lemmer

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The most common form of direct communication between parents and teachers in schools worldwide is the parent-teacher conference. Purposeful parent-teacher conferences afford the teacher and the parent the opportunity to address a particular topic related to the child, such as academic progress and behaviour. However, teachers are seldom trained to interact with parents, and both parents and teachers often find such encounters stressful and ineffective. This paper investigates parent and teacher perspectives on the parent-teacher conference through a qualitative inquiry. This is framed by the contributions of ecological theorists to home-school communication and an overview of extant themes in the literature. In the present qualitative inquiry, teacher, parent and learner participants were selected by purposeful and snowball sampling and data were gathered by individual and focus group interviews, school visits and the perusal of written parent-teacher conference reports. The findings indicate that parent-teacher conferences are ritualised school events in all types of schools; parents and teachers' expectations of conferences are limited; teachers are not trained to conduct parent-teacher conferences; and conferencesare overwhelmingly directed at problem solution. Parent-teacher conferences are characterised by a client orientation to parents, rather than a partnership orientation to home-school relations.

Secondary Preservice Teachers' Perspectives on Teacher Self-Disclosure as Citizenship Curriculum

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Zhang, Shaoan

2010-01-01

This article explores secondary preservice teachers' attitudes toward the use of teacher self-disclosure as a tool for citizenship education. Based on the notion that teacher self-disclosure may function as citizenship curriculum, this study addressed critical issues of teachers' sharing their knowledge about religions (including their own) and…

Exploring the relationship between entrepreneurial behavior and teachers' job satisfaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

do Carmo Amorim Neto, Roque; Rodrigues, Vinicius Picanco; Panzer, Shannon

2017-01-01

and private schools responded to the survey. Statistical analysis revealed a moderate correlation between entrepreneurial behavior and job satisfaction. Results also show that gender and educational level are associated with entrepreneurial behavior. The discussion includes theoretical and practical......This exploratory study has two goals: exploring the relationship between entrepreneurial behavior and job satisfaction among teachers, and identifying the demographic characteristics associated with both variables. Using a snowball technique, a sample of 385 K-12 Brazilian teachers from public...

Influence of Teacher Empowerment on Teachers' Organizational Commitment, Professional Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Schools

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Bogler, Ronit; Somech, Anit

2004-01-01

The present study focuses on the relationship between teacher empowerment and teachers' organizational commitment, professional commitment (PC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It examines which subscales of teacher empowerment can best predict these outcomes. The data were collected through a questionnaire returned by a sample of…

The Effectiveness of "Teach for America" and Other Under-certified Teachers

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Ildiko Laczko-Kerr

2002-09-01

Full Text Available The academic achievements of students taught by under-certified primary school teachers were compared to the academic achievements of students taught by regularly certified primary school teachers.  This sample of under-certified teachers included three types of under-qualified personnel: emergency, temporary and provisionally certified teachers.  One subset of these under-certified teachers was from the national program "Teach For America (TFA."  Recent college graduates are placed by TFA where other under-qualified under-certified teachers are often called upon to work, namely, low-income urban and rural school districts. Certified teachers in this study were from accredited universities and all met state requirements for receiving the regular initial certificate to teach.  Recently hired under-certified and certified teachers (N=293 from five low-income school districts were matched on a number of variables, resulting in 109 pairs of teachers whose students all took the mandated state achievement test. Results indicate 1 that students of TFA teachers did not perform significantly different from students of other under-certified teachers, and 2 that students of certified teachers out-performed students of teachers who were under-certified.  This was true on all three subtests of the SAT 9—reading, mathematics and language arts.  Effect sizes favoring the students of certified teachers were substantial.  In reading, mathematics, and language, the students of certified teachers outperformed students of under-certified teachers, including the students of the TFA teachers, by about 2 months on a grade equivalent scale.  Students of under-certified teachers make about 20% less academic growth per year than do students of teachers with regular certification.  Traditional programs of teacher preparation apparently result in positive effects on the academic achievement of low-income primary school children.  Present

Using the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales with lower-primary teachers

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Ren, Lixin; Green, Jennifer L.; Smith, Wendy M.

2016-06-01

The Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS) are among the most popular instruments used in studies of attitudes toward mathematics. However, the FSMAS has been mainly used among student populations and rarely used with teachers. In the present study, three scales from the FSMAS— Confidence, Effectance Motivation, and Anxiety—were revised and used with lower-primary (kindergarten to third grade) teachers. This study includes three parts: (1) a pilot study to ensure the modifications made to the FSMAS were appropriate to use with teachers, (2) confirmatory factor analyses to assess the factor structure of the revised FSMAS with 225 lower-primary teachers, and (3) measurement invariance analyses using data from a similar sample of 171 lower-primary teachers to examine whether the revised FSMAS measures each construct in the same way as in the previous sample. The final three-factor model, after removing three problematic items, achieves acceptable model fit, with each construct meeting all conditions for strict measurement invariance. Additionally, repeated measures analyses were performed on data collected from 39 in-service lower-primary teachers who participated in an elementary mathematics specialist program to examine the use of the revised FSMAS in program evaluation. Overall results suggest that researchers and program evaluators may use the revised FSMAS to reliably measure lower-primary teachers' mathematical attitudes, and it can be a valuable tool for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development programs.

The job self-efficacy and job involvement of clinical nursing teachers.

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Yang, Hui-Ling; Kao, Yu-Hsiu; Huang, Yi-Ching

2006-09-01

This paper explored the present status of self-efficacy and job involvement of clinical nursing teachers and investigated the predictive power of teachers' personal background variables on such, as well as the relationship between self-efficacy and job involvement. A total of 419 participants in the survey sample were chosen among clinical nursing teachers at 19 public and private institutes of technology and junior colleges in Taiwan in 2004. The self-developed structural questionnaire was categorized into three sections, including personal background data, job self-efficacy related to the clinical teaching inventory and job involvement related to clinical teaching inventory. Of the total 419 questionnaires distributed for this cross-sectional survey, 266 valid copies were registered, at a recovery rate of 63%. Findings indicated that both the job self-efficacy and job involvement of clinical nursing teachers are at a medium to high level and that significant differences exist in job self-efficacy and job involvement based on differences in age, marital status, teaching seniority, teacher qualifications, and job satisfaction. Second, samples have significantly different performance in self-efficacy due to differences in education level attained and the medical institution to which nursing teachers had been assigned. Self-efficacy and job involvement are significantly positively correlated. These results can serve as a reference for the cultivation of nursing teachers and reform of clinical nursing education in the future.

Multiculturalism in Schools: The Professional Absorption of Immigrant Teachers from the Former USSR into the Education System in Israel

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Michael, Orly

2006-01-01

The purpose of this research was to determine the professional absorption of immigrant teachers from the Former Soviet Union in comparison to veteran teachers working in the same schools in Israel. Findings are based on data from 272 questionnaires. The sample included 117 teachers working in Israeli schools who immigrated from the Former Soviet…

An Investigation on the Relationship between Prospective Teachers' Early Teacher Identity and Their Need for Cognition

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Arpaci, Dilara; Bardakçi, Mehmet

2016-01-01

Investigating the relationship between them can reveal important implications vital for classroom practice in teacher education institutions. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between pre-service teachers' early teacher identity and their need for cognition. The research data was collected with the sample which consists of 449…

Secondary Mathematics Teacher Differences: Teacher Quality and Preparation in a New York City Alternative Certification Program

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Evans, Brian R.

2011-01-01

Providing students in urban settings with quality teachers is important for student achievement. This study examined the differences in content knowledge, attitudes toward mathematics, and teacher efficacy among several different types of alternatively certified teachers in a sample from the New York City Teaching Fellows program in order to…

The Relationship between Special Education Teachers' Sense of Teacher Efficacy and Their Intent to Leave

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McCarty, Kristine A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine if there is a predictive relationship among special education teachers' sense of teacher efficacy and intent to leave while accounting for job satisfaction and a special education teacher's perceptions of principal support. Electronic surveys were sent via Survey Monkey to a random sample of…

Mother and preschool teacher as assessors of the child's language competence

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Urška Fekonja Peklaj

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Many researchers include child's parents as assessors of his/her language development as the results of many studies suggest their assessments to be valid and reliable measures of child's language competence. In the longitudinal study, presented in this paper, we examined whether child's mother and his/her preschool teacher can provide a valid estimation of child's language development. The sample included 80 Slovenian children from different preschool institutions, aged 3;1 years at first and 4;1 years at second assessment. Children's language competence was assessed individually, directly by the testators using Language Development Scale and Storytelling Test and indirectly by mothers and preschool teachers using the Child's Language Competence Questionnaire for Parents and Preschool Teachers. The achieved results showed that the estimates given by mothers and preschool teachers represent valid measures of child's language competence but not stable in time. The estimations given by mothers and preschool teachers explain a small share in variability of children's achievements on the Language Development Scale and Storytelling Test.

TEACHER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

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Guadalupe Iván Martínez-Chairez

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This research report comes from a study that was developed during the school years 2013-2014, 2014-2015, in the southern state of Chihuahua central region, in the education sector 25 consisting of five school zones that provide services to Meoqui municipalities, Julimes and Delicias. The study is a mixed court, correlational comprehensive sequential procedure. Some of the results is that there is a correlation between the 578 years of service of teachers and the score assigned to students in teaching career, but there is no association between teacher performance and the context in which it works, in addition there is no relationship between the teacher performance and school performance of students on standardized tests. 2.4% of the representative sample presented an excellent teacher performance, 7.3% have a bad teacher performance, but it is noteworthy that 39% of teachers observed lies with good teaching performance.

The linguistically aware teacher and the teacher-aware linguist.

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McCartney, Elspeth; Ellis, Sue

2013-07-01

This review evaluates issues of teacher linguistic knowledge relating to their work with children with speech, language and communication difficulties (SLCD). Information is from Ellis and McCartney [(2011a). Applied linguistics and primary school teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], a state-of-the-art text deriving from a British Association of Applied Linguistics/Cambridge University Press expert seminar series that details: linguistic research underpinning primary school curricula and pedagogy; the form of linguistic knowledge useful for teachers supporting children with SLCD in partnership with speech and language therapists; and how and when teachers acquire and learn to apply such knowledge. Critical analysis of the options presented for teacher learning indicate that policy enjoinders now include linguistic application as an expected part of teachers' professional knowledge, for all children including those with SLCD, but there is a large unmet learning need. It is concluded that there is a role for clinical linguists to disseminate useable knowledge to teachers in an accessible format. Ways of achieving this are considered.

Persisting mathematics and science high school teachers: A Q-methodology study

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Robbins-Lavicka, Michelle M.

There is a lack of qualified mathematics and science teachers at all levels of education in Arkansas. Lasting teaching initiative programs are needed to address retention so qualified teachers remain in the classroom. The dearth of studies regarding why mathematics and science teachers persist in the classroom beyond the traditional 5-year attrition period led this Q-methodological study to evaluate the subjective perceptions of persistent mathematics and science teachers to determine what makes them stay. This study sought to understand what factors persisting mathematics and science teachers used to explain their persistence in the classroom beyond 5 years and what educational factors contributed to persisting mathematics and science teachers. Q-methodology combines qualitative and quantitative techniques and provided a systematic means to investigate personal beliefs by collecting a concourse, developing a Q-sample and a person-sample, conducting a Q-sorting process, and analyzing the data. The results indicated that to encourage longevity within mathematics and science classrooms (a) teachers should remain cognizant of their ability to influence student attitudes toward teaching; (b) administrators should provide support for teachers and emphasize the role and importance of professional development; and (c) policy makers should focus their efforts and resources on developing recruitment plans, including mentorship programs, while providing and improving financial compensation. Significantly, the findings indicate that providing mentorship and role models at every level of mathematics and science education will likely encourage qualified teachers to remain in the mathematics and science classrooms, thus increasing the chance of positive social change.

Development of an Attitude Scale to Assess K-12 Teachers' Attitudes toward Nanotechnology

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Lan, Yu-Ling

2012-05-01

To maximize the contributions of nanotechnology to this society, at least 60 countries have put efforts into this field. In Taiwan, a government-funded K-12 Nanotechnology Programme was established to train K-12 teachers with adequate nanotechnology literacy to foster the next generation of Taiwanese people with sufficient knowledge in nanotechnology. In the present study, the Nanotechnology Attitude Scale for K-12 teachers (NAS-T) was developed to assess K-12 teachers' attitudes toward nanotechnology. The NAS-T included 23 Likert-scale items that can be grouped into three components: importance of nanotechnology, affective tendencies in science teaching, and behavioural tendencies to teach nanotechnology. A sample of 233 K-12 teachers who have participated in the K-12 Nanotechnology Programme was included in the present study to investigate the psychometric properties of the NAS-T. The exploratory factor analysis of this teacher sample suggested that the NAS-T was a three-factor model that explained 64.11% of the total variances. This model was also confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis to validate the factor structure of the NAS-T. The Cronbach's alpha values of three NAS-T subscales ranged from 0.89 to 0.95. Moderate to strong correlations among teachers' NAS-T domain scores, self-perception of own nanoscience knowledge, and their science-teaching efficacy demonstrated good convergent validity of the NAS-T. As a whole, psychometric properties of the NAS-T indicated that this instrument is an effective instrument for assessing K-12 teachers' attitudes toward nanotechnology. The NAS-T will serve as a valuable tool to evaluate teachers' attitude changes after participating in the K-12 Nanotechnology Programme.

Teacher Salaries and Teacher Unions: A Spatial Econometric Approach

OpenAIRE

John V. Winters

2011-01-01

The author uses a spatial econometric framework to examine the determinants of teacher salaries in the United States, including union activity in the teachers' own and in neighboring districts, teacher salaries in nearby districts, and other school district characteristics such as size and student-teacher ratios. Using the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey as well as the School District Demographic System and Bureau of Labor Statistics data sets, he finds that union activity increases sal...

Stress among Secondary School Teachers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Suggested Interventions in the Worksite Milieu

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Nwimo, Ignatius O.; Onwunaka, Chinagorom

2015-01-01

The aim of the study was to determine the level of stress experienced by secondary school teachers in Ebonyi State. The dimensions of stress studied included physical stress, mental stress, emotional stress and social stress. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey design using a sample of 660 (male 259, female 401) teachers randomly drawn…

Correlation of Dimensions of an Effective Teacher with Students’ Entrepreneurial Motivation

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Bijan Rezaei

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: This study was conducted to evaluate the association of dimensions of an efficient teacher with entrepreneurial motivation from the viewpoint of students. Methods: The study population of this research included 110 pharmacy students (above third semester at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, among whom 86 students were selected as the study sample through simple random sampling using Cochrane formula. The effective teacher questionnaire (researcher-made, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.95, and the entrepreneurial motivation scale, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.81, were used to collect the data. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS.21 software using correlation coefficient and simple linear and simultaneous regression analysis. Results: The results showed a significantly positive correlation between personality traits from among the dimensions of effective teacher and students' entrepreneurial motivation (P<0.01. Other dimensions had a slight impact on students' entrepreneurial motivation. Conclusion: The personality traits of an effective teacher can significantly explain entrepreneurial motivation. Thus, personality traits are the most essential factors to be used to achieve educational objectives and to inspire entrepreneurial motivation.

Social discomfort in preadolescence: predictors of discrepancies between preadolescents and their parents and teachers.

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Tu, Kelly M; Erath, Stephen A

2013-04-01

The present study investigated whether salient preadolescent behaviors and experiences predicted parents' and teachers' underestimation of preadolescents' shyness. Participants included a community sample of 129 fifth and sixth graders, along with one parent and teacher per preadolescent. Preadolescents, parents, and teachers provided reports about preadolescents' shyness, and parents and teachers rated preadolescents' prosocial and aggressive behaviors, peer victimization experiences, and academic performance. Results indicated that parent- and teacher-reported prosocial behavior, teacher-reported aggressive behavior, and parent-reported peer victimization were associated with lower parent and teacher reports of preadolescent shyness, relative to preadolescent reports, controlling for demographic variables and parent stress. Additionally, higher parent-reported academic performance was associated with lower teacher reports of preadolescent shyness, compared to preadolescent reports. These findings suggest that preadolescents with higher levels of relatively conspicuous behaviors and experiences feel more shyness than their parents and teachers report.

Secondary Special Education Teachers as Teacher Leaders: Redefining Their Role

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Mulrine, Christopher F.; Huckvale, Manina Urgolo

2014-01-01

As the responsibilities and challenges of special education teachers at the secondary level increase, their roles are expanding to include mentor, coach, and facilitator for other teachers. In these roles, they lend their expertise and skills to become the new teacher leaders for today's inclusive secondary classroom settings.

Children's Social Self-Concept and Internalizing Problems: The Influence of Peers and Teachers

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Spilt, Jantine L.; van Lier, Pol A. C.; Leflot, Geertje; Onghena, Patrick; Colpin, Hilde

2014-01-01

This study aimed to understand how relationships with peers and teachers contribute to the development of internalizing problems via children's social self-concept. The sample included 570 children aged 7 years 5 months (SD = 4.6 months). Peer nominations of peer rejection, child-reported social self-concept, and teacher-reported…

Knowledge levels of pre-school teachers related with basic first-aid practices, Isparta sample.

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Sönmez, Yonca; Uskun, Ersin; Pehlivan, Azize

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of knowledge of pre-school teachers working in the province center of Isparta related with basic first-aid practices and some factors which affected these levels of knowledge. In this cross-sectional, analytic study, 110 pre-school teachers working in the province center of Isparta constituted the population. A questionnaire questioning sociodemographic properties and the level of knowledge related with first-aid practices was applied under supervision. The level of knowledge was evaluated on a 20-point scale. In the analyses, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests and Spearman's rank correlation were used. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee for Clinical Studies of Süleyman Demirel University School of Medicine (registration number: 105). The mean score of first-aid knowledge of the pre-school teachers was found to be 11.9±2.9. The least known issues included washing the wound by soap and water after a dog bite, information related with the necessity of immobilization of a child who has fallen from a high level and the phone number of National Poison Information Center (16.4%, 20.9% and 22.7%, respectively). The scores of the subjects whose knowledge of first-aid was evaluated to be well were higher compared to the subjects whose knowledge of first-aid was evaluated to be moderate (p=0.009) and poor (p=0.001). It was found that first-aid scores did not show significant difference in terms of age, working period, having received first-aid training and having faced with a condition requiring first-aid previously (p>0.05, for all comparisons). It was found that pre-school teachers had insufficient first-aid knowledge. Since the first-aid knowledge scores of the subjects who reported that they received first-aid training before did not show significant difference, it was thought that the quality of training was as important as receiving training.

Pre-Service Mathematics Teacher Efficacy: Its Nature and Relationship to Teacher Concerns and Orientation

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Pyper, Jamie Scott

2014-01-01

In a mixed method study, teacher efficacy and contributing theoretical constructs of teacher concerns and teacher orientation with Intermediate/Senior mathematics preservice teachers from two Ontario Faculties of Education are examined. Data sources include a web-based questionnaire containing two teacher efficacy scales and short answer…

Effective Children's Rights Education from the Perspectives of Expert Teachers in Children's Rights Education: A Turkish Sample

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Öztürk, Ayse; Dogan, Gülay Özdemir

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate Effective Children's Rights Education (ECRE) from the perspectives of classroom teachers who are experts in children's rights education (TECR). The data were collected through focus group interview method in this research designed as a case study. The sample of the study consists of six qualified…

Social justice representations of students and teachers in Spain

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Sainz Vanesa

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this empirical study, we designed a questionnaire that seeks to analyse the representation that Spanish students and teachers have about Social Justice. The questionnaire includes a set of different dilemmas about social justice issues, especially in educational context The questions equitably represent three fundamental dimensions in social justice: Representation, Redistribution and Recognition. The questionnaire for students has 30 dilemmas and for teachers has 39 ones. The instrument has been applied to a sample of teachers and students of secondary education in 17 secondary public schools of different Spanish Communities Autonomous. The results show a good reliability of our instrument and differences in social justice conceptions regarding level of education, age and gender. These results show a developmental and gender trend and differences between students and teachers in the accessibility to the three dimensions of Social Justice: Representation, Recognition and Representation.

Mindfulness Training and Reductions in Teacher Stress and Burnout: Results from Two Randomized, Waitlist-Control Field Trials

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Roeser, Robert W.; Schonert-Reichl, Kimberly A.; Jha, Amishi; Cullen, Margaret; Wallace, Linda; Wilensky, Rona; Oberle, Eva; Thomson, Kimberly; Taylor, Cynthia; Harrison, Jessica

2013-01-01

The effects of randomization to mindfulness training (MT) or to a waitlist-control condition on psychological and physiological indicators of teachers' occupational stress and burnout were examined in 2 field trials. The sample included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female) from Canada and the United States. Measures were…

The Relationship between of Teacher Competence, Emotional Intelligence and Teacher Performance Madrasah Tsanawiyah at District of Serang Banten

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Wahyuddin, Wawan

2016-01-01

This study wants to examine the relationship between teacher competence and emotional intelligence that held by teachers to increase the teacher performance Madrasah Tsanawiyah at district of Serang Banten. This research was conducted with the quantitative method, through analysis descriptive and inferential. Samples the research were teachers…

Students at Risk: Perceptions of Serbian Teachers and Implications for Teacher Education

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Jovanovic, Olja; Simic, Natasa; Rajovic, Vera

2014-01-01

While legislation is in place for the promotion of inclusive education in Serbia, the adoption of teaching practices that support diversity in schools is still lacking. This study looks at teacher perceptions of students at risk (SaR), their relationships with peers and the teachers' own roles as sources of support, using a sample of 94 interviews…

Female and Male Teachers' Pro-Environmental Behaviour, Conceptions and Attitudes Towards Nature and the Environment Do Not Differ: Ecofeminism Put to the Test

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Mc Ewen, B.; Clément, P.; Gericke, N. M.; Nyberg, E.; Hagman, M.; Landström, J.

2015-01-01

Teachers' pro-environmental behaviour, conceptions and attitudes towards nature and the environment were investigated using 47 questions from the BIOHEAD-Citizen questionnaire. The sample included 1,109 pre- and in-service teachers from Sweden and France. Analyses showed only few significant differences between female and male teachers. Forty-one…

Comparison of Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers with Respect to Personality Traits and Career Adaptability

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Ali Eryılmaz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is to compare teachers and pre-service teachers in terms of personality traits and career adaptability. The relationships between personality traits and career adaptability are also investigated. A total of 176 pre-service teachers took part in the study, including 90 men and 76 women, and a total of 204 teachers took part in the study, including 98 men and 106 women. The data collected included items from the Big Five Inventory and the Scale of Career Adaptability. The relationship between variables was examined by using independent t-tests for gender differences and multiple regression analysis techniques. According to the results, the level of career adaptability is higher in teachers than in pre-service teachers. Additionally, career exploration and plans were related to certain personality traits. The results of the present study might be used in career counselling, and also teacher profession development.

Using Different Conceptual Change Methods Embedded within 5E Model: A Sample Teaching of Endothermic-Exothermic Reactions

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Turk, Fatma; Calik, Muammer

2008-01-01

Since Widodo, Duit and Muller (2002) addressed that there is a gap between teacher's theoretical knowledge and their practical classroom constructivist behavior, we presented a sample teaching activity about Endothermic-Exothermic Reactions for teacher usage. Therein, the aim of this study is to design a 5E model to include students' alternative…

Should I stay or should I go? Physical education teachers' career intentions.

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Mäkelä, Kasper; Hirvensalo, Mirja; Whipp, Peter R

2014-06-01

This study investigated Finnish physical education (PE) teachers' intentions to leave the profession and the reasons behind them. A large sample (N = 808) of PE teachers who graduated between 1980 and 2008 (432 women, 376 men) answered a modified job satisfaction and teacher follow-up questionnaire that elicited career perceptions, intentions, and current work duties. In this sample, 26% of the respondents were contemplating leaving their jobs as PE teachers and an additional 13% were actually in the process of transferring from PE teaching but planned to remain in school teaching. To determine the reasons for considering leaving the PE teaching profession, principal axis factoring with direct oblimin rotation was performed on the 35 items of the questionnaire. These factors were labeled as status of the PE teaching profession, pupils, working conditions, colleagues, expertise, workload, administration, and stress. The most influential factors were poor facilities, poor equipment, and isolation from the peers. Additional factors included working conditions, low status of the PE teachers, and workload. For women, workload and stress were more significant reasons for leaving the profession than they were for men (p = .010-.040, d = 0.34-0.43). PE teachers in the age group of 40 to 44 years old constituted the largest group who were considering leaving the profession. Thirty-nine percent of the PE teachers considered leaving the profession. Even though PE teachers face a variety of challenges in their work, the majority intend to remain in the teaching profession. Improved resourcing and collegial support could potentially reduce PE teachers' intention to leave.

Modelling the Effects of Teacher Demand Factors on Teacher Understaffing in Public Secondary Schools in Kenya

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Wamukuru, David Kuria

2016-01-01

The secondary school teacher labour market faces many challenges including, escalating teacher wage bill, teacher shortages that occur alongside teacher surpluses, inadequate teacher distribution and inefficient teacher utilization. There is the need therefore to understand the effects of the factors determining demand for secondary school…

Becoming a science teacher: The competing pedagogies of schools and teacher education

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Rozelle, Jeffrey J.

A culminating student teaching or internship experience is a central component of nearly every teacher education program and has been for most of teacher education's history. New teachers cite field experience and student teaching as the most beneficial, authentic, or practical aspect of teacher education. Teacher educators, however, have cause to view student teaching skeptically; student teachers often move away from the reform-minded practices espoused in teacher education. This multi-site ethnographic study investigated a full-year internship experience for six science interns at three diverse high schools as part of a teacher preparation program at a large state university. In taking an ecological perspective, this study documented the dynamic and evolving relationships between interns, cooperating teachers, teacher educators, and the school and classroom contexts. The goals of the study were to describe the changes in interns throughout the course of a year-long internship as a science teacher and to determine the relative influences of the various aspects of the ecology on interns. Data include fieldnotes from 311 hours of participant observation, 38 interviews with interns, cooperating teachers, and teacher educators, and 190 documents including course assignments, evaluations, and reflective journals. Interns' teaching practices were strongly influenced by their cooperating teachers. During the first two months, all six interns "used their mentor's script." When teaching, they attempted to re-enact lessons they witnessed their cooperating teachers enact earlier in the day. This included following the lesson structure, but also borrowing physical mannerisms, representations, anecdotes, and jokes. When interns could no longer follow their cooperating teacher due to an increased teaching load, they "followed their mentors' patterns"---implementing instruction that emphasized similar strategies---regardless of whether they were experiencing success in the

A STUDY OF THE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS REPORTED BY PRINCIPALS AND OBSERVED BY TEACHERS AND ITS RELATION WITH PRINCIPALS’ MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

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Zaid Sardarzahi, Zaid

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The present paper aims to study the leadership behaviors reported by principals and observed by teachers and its relationship with management experience of principals. A quantitative method used in this study. Target population included all principals and teachers of guidance schools and high schools in Dashtiari District, Iran. A sample consisted of 46 principals and 129 teachers were selected by stratified sampling and simple random sampling methods. Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ developed by Kozes and Posner (2001 was used for data collection. The obtained data were analyzed using one sample and independent t-test, correlation coefficient and pearson chi-square test. The results showed that teachers describe the leadership behaviors of their principals relatively good. However, the principals themselves evaluated their leadership behaviors as very good. In comparison between leadership behaviors self-reported by principals and those observed by teachers, it was found that there is a significant difference between the views and evaluations of teachers and principals on all components of leadership behaviors of principals, except empowerment. In fact, principals have described their leadership behaviors at a better and more appropriate level than what teachers have done. From the perspective of both teachers and principals, there is no significant relationship between none of the components of leadership behaviors and management experience of principals.

Investigating Teachers' Life Satisfaction

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Dagli, Abidin; Baysal, Nigah

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the life satisfaction perceptions of teachers working at public primary schools according to some variables. In this study, descriptive survey model was used. A random sample of 200 teachers from 25 public primary schools in Diyarbakir/Turkey during 2013-2014 academic year were selected to represent the…

Teacher Efficacy of Secondary Special Education Science Teachers

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Bonton, Celeste

Students with disabilities are a specific group of the student population that are guaranteed rights that allow them to receive a free and unbiased education in an environment with their non-disabled peers. The importance of this study relates to providing students with disabilities with the opportunity to receive instruction from the most efficient and prepared educators. The purpose of this study is to determine how specific factors influence special education belief systems. In particular, educators who provide science instruction in whole group or small group classrooms in a large metropolitan area in Georgia possess specific beliefs about their ability to provide meaningful instruction. Data was collected through a correlational study completed by educators through an online survey website. The SEBEST quantitative survey instrument was used on a medium sample size (approximately 120 teachers) in a large metropolitan school district. The selected statistical analysis was the Shapiro-Wilk and Mann-Whitney in order to determine if any correlation exists among preservice training and perceived self-efficacy of secondary special education teachers in the content area of science. The results of this study showed that special education teachers in the content area of science have a higher perceived self-efficacy if they have completed an alternative certification program. Other variables tested did not show any statistical significance. Further research can be centered on the analysis of actual teacher efficacy, year end teacher efficacy measurements, teacher stipends, increased recruitment, and special education teachers of multiple content areas.

Why Do I Feel More Confident? Bandura's Sources Predict Preservice Teachers' Latent Changes in Teacher Self-Efficacy

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Pfitzner-Eden, Franziska

2016-01-01

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) is associated with a multitude of positive outcomes for teachers and students. However, the development of TSE is an under-researched area. Bandura (1997) proposed four sources of self-efficacy: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states. This study introduces a first instrument to assess the four sources for TSE in line with Bandura's conception. Gathering evidence of convergent validity, the contribution that each source made to the development of TSE during a practicum at a school was explored for two samples of German preservice teachers. The first sample (N = 359) were beginning preservice teachers who completed an observation practicum. The second sample (N = 395) were advanced preservice teachers who completed a teaching practicum. The source measure showed good reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity. Latent true change modeling was applied to explore how the sources predicted changes in TSE. Three different models were compared. As expected, results showed that TSE changes in both groups were significantly predicted by mastery experiences, with a stronger relationship in the advanced group. Further, the results indicated that mastery experiences were largely informed by the other three sources to varying degrees depending on the type of practicum. Implications for the practice of teacher education are discussed in light of the results. PMID:27807422

The SUPERCOMET 2 Project: Teacher Seminar and Teacher Guide

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Engstrom, V.; Ireson, G.; Latal, H.; Mathelitsch, L.; Michelini, M.; Peeters, W.; Rath, G.

2008-05-01

The Leonardo da Vinci pilot projects SUPERCOMET (2001-2004) and SUPERCOMET 2 (2004-2007) developed and tested teacher training materials for active, minds-on learning of electromagnetism and superconductivity at the level of upper secondary school. New multimedia materials for the pupils supported the teacher materials, including a teacher seminar in 4 half-day modules detailing the scientific contents, teaching methods, using ICT in physics teaching and learning, online collaboration and further resources for exploring the selected topics. The aim of these projects were to improve the quality of physics teaching on a European level, involving a combined total of 45 partners in 16 countries, and conducting trials at 67 schools with approx. 230 teachers, 280 trainee teachers and 2200 pupils. New follow-up projects develop hands-on materials for carrying out the activities described in the teacher guide and seminars and additional teacher materials involving modelling, simulations and data logging.

Predicting Turkish Preservice Elementary Teachers' Orientations to Teaching Science with Epistemological Beliefs, Learning Conceptions, and Learning Approaches in Science

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Sahin, Elif Adibelli; Deniz, Hasan; Topçu, Mustafa Sami

2016-01-01

The present study investigated to what extent Turkish preservice elementary teachers' orientations to teaching science could be explained by their epistemological beliefs, conceptions of learning, and approaches to learning science. The sample included 157 Turkish preservice elementary teachers. The four instruments used in the study were School…

Analysis of pre-service and in-service views of evolution of Serbian teachers

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Stanisavljević Jelena

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We analysed the potential differences between the conceptions of Serbian pre-service and in-service teachers using controlled parameters such as acceptance of the evolution theory. Our sample includes Primary School teachers as well as Secondary School teachers of Biology and of Language. We show that the ideas of pre-service (PreB and in-service biology teachers (InB are more evolutionary than those of their colleagues. In contrast, most creationist responses came from the groups of pre-service language (PreL and pre-service primary teachers (PreP. The agnostic teachers are more evolutionist than other teachers. The more a teacher believes in God and practices religion, the more creationist he or she is, but a great number of teachers who believe in God are evolutionist or simultaneously evolutionist and creationist. There is a positive correlation between evolutionist answers and the attitude that „Science and religion should be separated“, and „religion and politics should be separated“. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 173038 i br. III 43001

A Handbook for Teacher Leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellicer, Leonard O.; Anderson, Lorin W.

This handbook is written for teachers in leadership roles, including team leaders, lead teachers, department chairpersons, and master teachers. Part 1, "The Nature of School Leadership," is devoted to a description of teacher leaders and how they lead. Results are provided from research on teacher leaders, and persistent obstacles to…

Selection Component Analysis of Natural Polymorphisms using Population Samples Including Mother-Offspring Combinations, II

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jarmer, Hanne Østergaard; Christiansen, Freddy Bugge

1981-01-01

Population samples including mother-offspring combinations provide information on the selection components: zygotic selection, sexual selection, gametic seletion and fecundity selection, on the mating pattern, and on the deviation from linkage equilibrium among the loci studied. The theory...

Impact of Including Authentic Inquiry Experiences in Methods Courses for Pre-Service Secondary Teachers

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Slater, T. F.; Elfring, L.; Novodvorsky, I.; Talanquer, V.; Quintenz, J.

2007-12-01

Science education reform documents universally call for students to have authentic and meaningful experiences using real data in the context of their science education. The underlying philosophical position is that students analyzing data can have experiences that mimic actual research. In short, research experiences that reflect the scientific spirit of inquiry potentially can: prepare students to address real world complex problems; develop students' ability to use scientific methods; prepare students to critically evaluate the validity of data or evidence and of the consequent interpretations or conclusions; teach quantitative skills, technical methods, and scientific concepts; increase verbal, written, and graphical communication skills; and train students in the values and ethics of working with scientific data. However, it is unclear what the broader pre-service teacher preparation community is doing in preparing future teachers to promote, manage, and successful facilitate their own students in conducting authentic scientific inquiry. Surveys of undergraduates in secondary science education programs suggests that students have had almost no experiences themselves in conducting open scientific inquiry where they develop researchable questions, design strategies to pursue evidence, and communicate data-based conclusions. In response, the College of Science Teacher Preparation Program at the University of Arizona requires all students enrolled in its various science teaching methods courses to complete an open inquiry research project and defend their findings at a specially designed inquiry science mini-conference at the end of the term. End-of-term surveys show that students enjoy their research experience and believe that this experience enhances their ability to facilitate their own future students in conducting open inquiry.

Science teachers' knowledge development in the context of educational innovation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Henze-Rietveld, Francina Adriana

2006-01-01

The research reported in this thesis is concerned with the knowledge development of a small sample of experienced science teachers in the context of a broad innovation in Dutch secondary education, including the introduction of a new syllabus on Public Understanding of Science. The aim of the study

Attitude of Regular and Itinerant Teachers Towards the Inclusion of Hearing Impairment Children

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Kamal Parhoon

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Inclusive education is a process of enabling all children to learn and participate effectively within mainstream school systems. It does not segregate children who have different abilities or needs. This article explores the attitudes of regular and itinerant teachers about inclusion of hearing impairment children in their schools in general education. Methods: In a descriptive Survey research design, the sample included 100 teachers (50 regular and 50 itinerant who were selected randomly, according to a multistage sampling method. Data was collected by using questionnaire with 32 questions regarding their attitudes. One-way Analysis of Variance and t-test were performed to obtain between- group comparisons. Results: The results indicated that the teacher's positive attitudes towards inclusive educational system of students with hearing impairment. Significant difference in attitudes was observed, based on the teaching experience, gender, level of teaching. The results also indicate that most teachers are agreeable to the inclusion of students with hearing impairment in their classrooms. Discussion: successful inclusion for hearing impairment children in regular classrooms entails the positive attitudes of Regular and itinerant teachers through a systematic programming within the classroom.

Does content knowledge matter for new teachers?

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Todd D.

There is considerable evidence that new teachers are ill prepared for classroom practice, including self-reported evidence collected from teachers (e.g., Levine, 2006), and statistical evidence for differences in the achievement of students with new versus more experienced teachers (Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005). In light of the challenges encountered by new teachers (e.g., Levine, 2006), this study examined the value of different forms of teacher knowledge for teachers with different levels of experience. In particular, this study investigated the interactive relationship between teaching experience and teacher content knowledge, and student achievement in mathematics and science. In New York City, Boyd et al. (2009) linked practice-focused teacher preparation to student mathematics achievement in the first year of teaching and teacher content preparation to achievement in the second. However, other studies demonstrated interactions between teaching experience and content knowledge with different interpretations (e.g., Kukla-Acevedo, 2009; Monk, 1994). At the same time, this study examined the interactive relationship between teaching experience and teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, and student achievement. Extant models of teacher career development (Huberman, 1989; National Research Council, 2010) and how teacher education affects student achievement (e.g., Desimone, 2009) offered theoretical grounding for the study. With nationally representative samples of fourth and eighth grade U.S. students--participants in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study--this study employed hierarchical linear modeling to address its research questions among an array of student achievement outcomes in the domains of mathematics and science. This study attempted to account for salient student, teacher, and contextual factors, and the probabilities of teachers' receipt of various teacher education "treatments" (i.e., propensity score analysis) to

Six Beginning Music Teachers' Music Teacher Role Identities

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Paise, Michele Paynter

2010-01-01

In this study, I used a qualitative approach to explore the music teacher role identities of six beginning music teachers prior to, during, and after their student teaching experience. Data collection included participant-observation, interviews, and e-mail communication. Specifically, I looked at what each of these beginning music teachers…

Barriers to providing the sexuality education that teachers believe students need.

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Eisenberg, Marla E; Madsen, Nikki; Oliphant, Jennifer A; Sieving, Renee E

2013-05-01

Sexuality education teachers' perspectives are important to gain a full understanding of the issues surrounding teaching this subject. This study uses a statewide sample of public school teachers to examine what sexuality education content is taught, what barriers teachers face, and which barriers are associated with teaching specific topics. Participants included 368 middle and high school teachers with sexuality education assignments in Minnesota. Survey data included topics they teach, what they think they should teach, and barriers they face. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between barriers and teaching each of 9 sexual health topics, among those who believed the topic should be taught. Almost two thirds of participants faced structural barriers; 45% were concerned about parent, student, or administrator response; and one quarter reported restrictive policies. Structural barriers were inversely associated with teaching about communication (OR = 0.20), teen parenting (OR = 0.34), and abortion (OR = 0.32); concerns about responses were associated only with teaching about sexual violence (OR = 0.42); and restrictive policies were inversely associated with teaching about abortion (OR = 0.23) and sexual orientation (OR = 0.47). Addressing teachers' barriers requires a multipronged approach, including curriculum development and evaluation, training, and reframing the policy debate to support a wider range of sexuality education topics. © 2013, American School Health Association.

Links between teacher assessment and child self-assessment of mental health and behavior among children affected by HIV/AIDS.

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Du, Hongfei; Li, Xiaoming; Weinstein, Traci L; Chi, Peilian; Zhao, Junfeng; Zhao, Guoxiang

2015-01-01

Teachers are considered to be one of the most important influences in the lives of students. Teachers' assessments of students may be a primary source of information on children's mental and behavioral health; however, this topic has received little attention in research. We examined this issue through linking teachers' ratings of students and mental and behavioral outcomes of children affected by HIV. The hypothesis is that teacher ratings will be predictive of specific child mental and behavioral health outcomes. A quantitative cross-sectional design with self-administered paper-and-pencil instruments was used. The sample included 1221 children (aged 6-18, grades 1-11) affected by HIV including 755 orphans who lost one or both parents to AIDS and 466 vulnerable children living with HIV-infected parents in a central province of China. The corresponding teacher sample included 185 participants. Each child completed an assessment inventory of demographic information and mental and behavioral health measures. Teachers completed a questionnaire about children's school performance. SEM analyses revealed a good model fit according to all fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.93, root mean square error of approximation = 0.07, and standardized root mean square residual = 0.04. Structural equation modeling revealed that problem ratings by teachers were positively associated with child loneliness and behavioral problems, social competence ratings by teachers were negatively related to child depression, and personal growth and social interaction ratings by teachers were negatively related to child loneliness, depression, and trauma. The current study represents a unique contribution to the field in that it recognizes that teachers can be a valuable source of information on children's psychological health. Results from this study have implications for health prevention and intervention for children and families suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Teachers' Emotional Labour, Discrete Emotions, and Classroom Management Self-Efficacy

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Lee, Mikyoung; van Vlack, Stephen

2018-01-01

Extending research on teachers' emotions beyond general educational contexts and Western samples, we examined how teachers' emotions correlated with their emotional labour strategies and classroom management self-efficacy with an East-Asian sample in an English teaching context (127 Korean English teachers). Surface acting (emotional expressions…

Teacher Perceptions of NeuroEducation: A Mixed Methods Survey of Teachers in the United States

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Serpati, Lauren; Loughan, Ashlee R.

2012-01-01

Pickering and Howard-Jones (2007) reported educators' enthusiasm for NeuroEducation from a sample of teachers attending neuroscience professional development courses. Their results revealed teachers: (1) are enthusiastic about the role of neuroscience in education; (2) believe an understanding of the brain for educational program development is…

Antecedents of Norwegian Beginning Teachers' Turnover Intentions

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Tiplic, Dijana; Brandmo, Christian; Elstad, Eyvind

2015-01-01

This study aims at exploring several individual, organizational, and contextual factors that may affect beginning teachers' turnover intentions during their first years of practice. The sample consists of 227 beginning teachers (69% female and 31% male) from 133 schools in Norway. The results show four important antecedents of beginning teachers'…

Work stress among university teachers: gender and position differences.

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Slišković, Ana; Maslić Seršić, Darja

2011-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate exposure to stress at work in university teachers and see if there were differences between men and women as well as between positions. The study was carried out online and included a representative sample of 1,168 teachers employed at universities in Croatia. This included all teaching positions: assistants (50%), assistant professors (18%), associate professors (17%), and full professors (15%). Fifty-seven percent of the sample were women. The participants answered a questionnaire of our own design that measured six groups of stressors: workload, material and technical conditions at work, relationships with colleagues at work, work with students, work organisation, and social recognition and status. Women reported greater stress than men. Assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors reported greater stress related to material and technical conditions of work and work organisation than assistants, who, in turn, found relationships with colleagues a greater stressor. Full professors, reported lower exposure to stress at work than associate professors, assistant professors, and assistants.

Growth Models and Teacher Evaluation: What Teachers Need to Know and Do

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Katz, Daniel S.

2016-01-01

Including growth models based on student test scores in teacher evaluations effectively holds teachers individually accountable for students improving their test scores. While an attractive policy for state administrators and advocates of education reform, value-added measures have been fraught with problems, and their use in teacher evaluation is…

A Phenomenological Study of the Perceptions of Candidate Teachers about the Concepts of School, Teacher and Student in Their Dreams

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Yildiz, Sevgi; Gizir, Siddika

2018-01-01

It was aimed in this study to determine through the metaphors how the first and fourth grade candidate teachers in the faculty of education dream of the school, student and teacher and to discuss the findings in the context of teacher training. The sample of the study is composed of 315 candidate teachers (181 in the first-grade and 134 in the…

An Analysis of the Model and Enacted Curricula for a History of Science Course in a Nationwide Teacher Education Program

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Nouri, Noushin

2017-01-01

The UTeach program, a national model for undergraduate teacher preparation, includes "Perspectives on Science and Mathematics," a class designed to share content about the History of Science (HOS) with preservice teachers. UTeach provides a model curriculum as a sample for instructors teaching "Perspectives." The purpose of…

Evaluation of a Cultural Competence Assessment for Preservice Teachers

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Bustamante, Rebecca M.; Skidmore, Susan T.; Nelson, Judith A.; Jones, Brandolyn E.

2016-01-01

Globally, public schools enroll culturally and linguistically diverse student populations and teacher preparation programs must assess the cultural competence of preservice teachers. Yet, few adequately tested measures of teacher cultural competence are available. In this research study, a sample of 396 preservice teachers were surveyed to…

Aspects of Teacher Education that Affect Student Success in Arizona Public High Schools

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Faith Elizabeth Andreasen

2009-03-01

Full Text Available This study was designed to investigate what aspects of teacher education (if any affect student success. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of high- and low-performing urban and rural public high schools across Arizona. Quantitative variables that were researched include the level of degree a teacher attains, the route a teacher chooses to achieve certification, teachers’ attendance at core-subject related workshops, teacher mentoring, and teacher collaboration using data based information to drive decision-making. Qualitative research enabled teachers to state a valuable skill learned in college that promotes student success and to reveal what they felt their current school does to promote student success. A mixed methodology approach was used to analyze the data; quantitatively through regression analysis and qualitatively through coded themes.A detailed explanation was presented with accompanying data to support the statements. The results of this research support teacher mentoring and attendance at core subject related workshops as vehicles to promote student success. This dissertation provides information for policy makers, administrators, and teachers who are invested in promoting student success.

Teachers' Interpretations of Student Statements about Slope

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Nagle, Courtney; Moore-Russo, Deborah; Styers, Jodie L.

2017-01-01

This paper describes seven in-service teachers' interpretations of student statements about slope. The teachers interpreted sample student work, conjectured about student contributions, assessed the students' understanding, and positioned the students' statements in the mathematics curriculum. The teachers' responses provide insight into their…

Career Intentions of Australian Physical Education Teachers

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Mäkelä, Kasper; Whipp, Peter R.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate Australian physical education (PE) teachers' career intentions and factors influencing their intentions. A sample (N = 234) of Western Australian PE teachers responded to a questionnaire determining PE teachers' work and the primary motivators for intention to leave the profession. Half (51.3%) of the…

The History of Winter: teachers as scientists

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Koenig, L.; Courville, Z.; Wasilewski, P. J.; Gow, T.; Bender, K. J.

2013-12-01

The History of Winter (HOW) is a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center-funded teacher enrichment program that was started by Dr. Peter Wasilewski (NASA), Dr. Robert Gabrys (NASA) and Dr. Tony Gow (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, or CRREL) in 2001 and continues with support and involvement of scientists from both the NASA Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory and CREEL. The program brings educators mostly from middle and high schools but also from state parks, community colleges and other institutions from across the US to the Northwood School (a small, private boarding school) in Lake Placid, NY for one week to learn about several facets of winter, polar, and snow research, including the science and history of polar ice core research, lake ice formation and structure, snow pack science, winter ecology, and remote sensing including current and future NASA cryospheric missions. The program receives support from the Northwood School staff to facilitate the program. The goal of the program is to create 'teachers as scientists' which is achieved through several hands-on field experiences in which the teachers have the opportunity to work with polar researchers from NASA, CRREL and partner Universities to dig and sample snow pits, make ice thin sections from lake ice, make snow shelters, and observe under-ice lake ecology. The hands-on work allows the teachers to use the same tools and techniques used in polar research while simultaneously introducing science concepts and activities to support their classroom work. The ultimate goal of the program is to provide the classroom teachers with the opportunity to learn about current and timely cryospheric research as well as to engage in real fieldwork experiences. The enthusiasm generated during the week-long program is translated into classroom activities with guidance from scientists, teachers and educational professionals. The opportunity to engage with polar researchers, both young investigators and renowned

Measuring Student Achievement in Travel and Tourism. Sample Test Questions.

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New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Business Education.

The sample test items included in this document are intended as a resource for teachers of Marketing and Distributive Education programs with emphasis on hospitality and recreation marketing, and tourism and travel services marketing. The related curriculum material has been published in the Travel and Tourism syllabus, an advanced-level module in…

Teacher knowledge of error analysis in differential calculus

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Eunice K. Moru

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The study investigated teacher knowledge of error analysis in differential calculus. Two teachers were the sample of the study: one a subject specialist and the other a mathematics education specialist. Questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. The findings of the study reflect that the teachers’ knowledge of error analysis was characterised by the following assertions, which are backed up with some evidence: (1 teachers identified the errors correctly, (2 the generalised error identification resulted in opaque analysis, (3 some of the identified errors were not interpreted from multiple perspectives, (4 teachers’ evaluation of errors was either local or global and (5 in remedying errors accuracy and efficiency were emphasised more than conceptual understanding. The implications of the findings of the study for teaching include engaging in error analysis continuously as this is one way of improving knowledge for teaching.

Teachers' Job Dislike Areas: Implications for Operational Modifications

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S. 'Tayo Subair

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Teaching is the act, practice and occupation of a teacher. A teacher is a person who provides education for learners at a school or other place of formal education. The use of teacher in this study is conceptualized to involve all cadres of instructors and teaching team from primary and junior secondary (basic education to senior secondary school. The study examined the areas of job dislikes among teachers with their attendant implications for practice. Using a self-designed and pilot-tested questionnaire, data were collected from a random sample of 3,000 teachers drawn from Lagos, Ogun, and Osun states in the Southwestern geopolitical zone of the country. Specifically, 400 primary and 600 secondary school teachers were drawn from each state. The data were analyzed using simple percentage. It was found that teachers job dislike areas though differ but were within seven areas thus: writing lesson notes (98.5%, marking subject attendance register (98%, disciplining of students in school (90%, and serving as members of committees (78.9%. Other dislike areas include taking students out of school for extramural activities (73.3%, partaking in co-curricular activities in the school (60.3% and examination invigilation (59.1% as areas of common dislike and capable of inhibiting the satisfaction levels of teachers.Furthermore, it was found that differences exist in job dislikes between male and female teachers. The common job dislikes among male were non-interest in marking of scripts and invigilation of examinations whereas the female showed dislikes for serving as committee members and as year tutors.Thus, it was recommended that: some modifications in the operational approaches of classroom teachers (such as deemphasizing lesson note writing and marking of subject attendance register would be required. Teachers should also be financially encouraged via allowances for all other activities outside teaching.

EPISTEMOLOGICAL PERCEPTION AND SCIENTIFIC LITERACY IN LEVEL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS

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Ramiro Álvarez-Valenzuela

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Research in science education has helped to find some difficulties that hinder the teaching-learning process. These problems include conceptual content of school subjects, the influence of prior knowledge of the student and the teachers have not been trained in their university education epistemologically. This research presents the epistemological conceptions of a sample of 114 high school teachers university science area, which refer the ideas about the role of observation in scientific knowledge development and the work of scientists in the process of knowledge generation. It also includes the level of scientific literacy from the literature that is used as a source of information on the teaching. The result also identifies the level of scientific literacy in students and their influence on learning.

Teacher Grading Decisions: Influences, Rationale, and Practices

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Kunnath, Joshua P.

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study applied a decision-making theoretical framework to an investigation of teacher grading in a large urban school district in California. A sample of 251 high school teachers of core subjects were surveyed, and 15 teachers participated in four focus group interviews in order provide data on the influences, rationale, and…

Teachers\\' practical rationality of mathematics teaching and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

mathematics teaching as a practice and the way that teachers learn in such a practice. Conversations during interviews with the teachers in the sample indicate that SchoÈn\\'s notion of reflection-in-action is a key to understanding how teachers use their practical rationality as they try to understand nuanced meanings of the

Teacher Training and Pre-Service Primary Teachers' Self-Efficacy for Science Teaching

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Velthuis, Chantal; Fisser, Petra; Pieters, Jules

2014-01-01

This study focuses on the improvement of pre-service teachers' self-efficacy for teaching science by including science courses within the teacher training program. Knowing how efficacy beliefs change over time and what factors influence the development by pre-service primary teachers of positive science teaching efficacy beliefs may be useful for…

Teacher Burnout.

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USA Today, 1985

1985-01-01

Teacher burnout is characterized by three factors: emotional exhaustion and fatigue; negative, cynical attitudes towards students; and the loss of feelings of accomplishment on the job. Important predictors of burnout include a lack of participation in decision-making, inappropriate job expectations, a lack of teacher autonomy, and role conflict.…

Sustaining Physics Teacher Education Coalition programs in physics teacher education

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Rachel E. Scherr

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Understanding the mechanisms of increasing the number of physics teachers educated per year at institutions with thriving physics teacher preparation programs may inspire and support other institutions in building thriving programs of their own. The Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC, led by the American Physical Society (APS and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT, has supported transformation of physics teacher preparation programs at a number of institutions around the country for over a decade. In 2012–2013, PhysTEC supported an independent study on the sustainability of its sites after project funding ends. The study sought to measure the extent to which programs have been sustained and to identify what features should be prioritized for building sustainable physics teacher preparation programs. Most of the studied sites have sustained increases in the number of physics teachers educated per year as well as funding for physics teacher preparation. About half of the programs are thriving, in that in the post-award period, they have further increased both the number of physics teachers educated per year and funding for physics teacher preparation. All studied sites that sustained increases in the number of physics teachers educated per year have two features in common: a champion of physics teacher education and institutional commitment. The thriving physics teacher preparation programs in this study implemented different elements of physics teacher preparation according to diverse local priorities and opportunities, including the unique expertise of local personnel.

Influence of Head Teachers' General and Instructional Supervisory Practices on Teachers' Work Performance in Secondary Schools in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda

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Jared, Nzabonimpa Buregeya

2011-01-01

The study examined the Influence of Secondary School Head Teachers' General and Instructional Supervisory Practices on Teachers' Work Performance. Qualitative and qualitative methods with a descriptive-correlational research approach were used in the study. Purposive sampling technique alongside random sampling technique was used to select the…

A Study on Chocolate Consumption in Prospective Teachers

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Ozgen, Leyla

2016-01-01

This study was planned and conducted to determine the chocolate consumption habits of prospective teachers. The study population was comprised of students attending the Faculty of Education at Gazi University in Ankara and the sample consisted of 251 prospective teachers selected with simple random sampling. 96.4% and 3.6% of the prospective…

Perspectives of Teachers Regarding Inclusive Education in Ghana

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Deku, Prosper; Vanderpuye, Irene

2017-01-01

The study explored teachers' perspectives on the curriculum, the physical environment and their preparation for the inclusive education programme. Data was collected using questionnaires. A sample of 120 teachers from schools identified as inclusive was used for the study. The t-test of independent samples and chi-square test were used to analyse…

Academic gender stereotypes of pre-service teachers

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Ćirović Ivana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This research was aimed at studying the content of academic gender stereotypes of pre-service teachers who are being prepared for working in different cycles of education. The sample included 408 students of teaching programmes of the Teacher Training College, Faculty of Mathematics and Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. It has been established that future class and subject teachers have gender stereotypes about the interests and achievements of students in different school subjects. pre-service teachers from both groups are of the opinion that girls get interested more easily than boys in the majority of school subjects, as well as that girls are more talented for the subjects in the field of humanities and languages, while boys are more talented for the subjects in the field of sciences. Pre-service teachers estimate that boys typically have a low achievement in languages, arts and music, while girls have a low achievement in physics, computer science, technical sciences and physical education. Since teachers’ gender stereotypes can affect students’ achievement, educational and career choices, it is important to raise awareness about the content and consequences of such beliefs in teachers and focus on certain actions towards their altering. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179034: Od podsticanja inicijative, saradnje, stvaralaštva u obrazovanju do novih uloga i identiteta u društvu i br. 47008: Unapređivanje kvaliteta i dostupnosti obrazovanja u procesima modernizacije Srbije

Relations between Teachers' Classroom Goals and Values: A Case Study of High School Teachers in Far North Queensland, Australia

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Pudelko, Claudia E.; Boon, Helen J.

2014-01-01

To date, there is an empirical gap in the evidence of the relations between teachers' classroom goals and values, two key variables linked to students' achievement motivation. The purpose of this study was to investigate this relationship in an Australian teacher sample. We surveyed 102 high school teachers from seven schools in Cairns, Queensland…

Teachers' reported practices for teaching writing in England.

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Dockrell, Julie E; Marshall, Chloë R; Wyse, Dominic

To date there have been no systematic studies examining the ways in which teachers in England focus and adapt their teaching of writing. The current study addresses this gap by investigating the nature and frequency of teachers' approaches to the teaching of writing in a sample of English primary schools, using the 'simple view of writing' as a framework to examine the extent to which different aspects of the writing process are addressed. One hundred and eighty-eight staff from ten different schools responded to an online questionnaire. Only the data from class teachers (n = 88) who responded to all items on the questionnaire were included in the final analyses. Respondents enjoyed teaching writing and felt prepared to teach it. However, despite feeling that they were effective in identifying approaches to support students' writing, nearly half reported that supporting struggling writers was problematic for them. Overall teachers reported more work at word level, occurring several times a week, than with transcription, sentence or text levels, which were reported to occur weekly. Planning, reviewing and revising occurred least often, only monthly. For these variables no differences were found between teachers of younger (age 4-7) and older students (age 8-11). By contrast, an examination of specific aspects of each component revealed differences between the teachers of the two age groups. Teachers of younger students focused more frequently on phonic activities related to spelling, whereas teachers of older students focussed more on word roots, punctuation, word classes and the grammatical function of words, sentence-level work, and paragraph construction.

Inclusive Education in Government Primary Schools: Teacher Perceptions

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Itfaq Khaliq Khan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The perceptions of primary school teachers towards inclusive education was investigated in mainstream government schools of Islamabad capital territory where inclusive education was being supported by Sight savers and other international organizations. The study was carried out involving 54 teachers in six randomly selected primary schools. The sampled group comprised both, teachers trained in inclusive education and teachers working in same schools, but not trained in inclusive education. Purposive sampling method was used to select the teachers. Structured questionnaire (Likert Scale and structured interview method was used for data collection. The results of the study revealed that inclusive education is considered to be a desirable practice. The teachers believed that all learners regardless of their disabilities should be in regular classrooms and they showed more favorable attitude towards children with mild disabilities, but were not very optimistic about children with severe disabilities. The study also recognized teachers’ capacity as an essential component of inclusive education and recommends that inclusive education should be a part of pre and in-service teacher education.

Social Studies Teachers' Viewpoints of the Social Studies Lesson "Sample of Turkey and Afghanistan"

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Sonmez, Omer Faruk

2014-01-01

This study was conducted to reveal the perceptions of history, geography and social studies teachers giving the social studies lesson at primary schools in Turkey and Afghanistan towards the social studies lesson. The working group of the study involves history, geography and social studies teachers rendering service in Tokat and Kayseri provinces…

Physical Education Teachers' Organizational Commitment

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Demir, Hayri

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine physical education teachers' organizational commitment levels. The sample consisted of 204 physical education teachers working in the city center of Konya in the 2011 to 2012 academic year. The respondents were randomly selected in this research. Data collected for this research by using the Scale for…

Perceptions around teacher's social support with student achievement motivation

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Maria Oktasari

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Several indications that indicate student in low achievement motivation, among others: (1 lack of enthusiasm to follow the lesson, (2 less attention to the teacher, (3 the students have not targeted yet, (4 students tend to ignore the task, (5 (6 students are less harmonious with teachers, (7 students are lazy to learn, and (8 some students feel scared with the teacher. Students 'perceptions of teacher's social support are factors that allegedly influence students' achievement motivation. This study aims to determine the relationship of students' perceptions of the social support of teachers with achievement motivation. The method used throughout this research is quantitative with regression technique. Samples numbered to 206 students of SMA Negeri 1 V Koto Timur Padang Pariaman, and selected by proportional random sampling. The instrument used is the student's perception scale of teacher's social support and achievement motivation. The research findings indicate that there is a significant correlation between around teacher's social support with student achievement motivation.

Better for Both--Thoughts on Teacher-Pupil Interaction.

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Kilburn, John

1978-01-01

To remove the adversary emphasis from pupil-teacher interactions, the author presents a simple model, showing how an intervention can potentially make a situation better, worse, or unchanged for the pupil and the teacher. A sample scenario is provided of two teachers dealing with a misbehaving child. (SJL)

Job Satisfaction of a Physical Education Teacher as Seen by School Community

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Rutkowska Katarzyna

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In A high level of satisfaction with a job influences the effectiveness and increases the quality of performed tasks. In the case of physical education teachers it is connected not only with a higher commitment to passing knowledge and skills but also with instilling passion in their students. The aim of the study was to analyse how school community perceives job satisfaction of physical education teachers. The research included 148 teachers and 171 students who were divided into three groups by means of random-purposive sampling. The groups were as follows: physical education teachers (n=22, teachers of other subjects (n=22 and students (n=22. The results obtained from these respondents (n=66 were subjected to further analysis. In the study a modified Polish version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS prepared by Juczyński (2001 was used. It made it possible to diagnose the job satisfaction of physical education teachers. The analyses revealed that the subjects assess the job satisfaction of a physical education teacher at an average or low level. This assessment showed significant differences between physical education teachers and teachers of other subjects. The study also revealed differences between groups with regard to two out of five scores in the SWLS.

Promotion of scientific literacy: Bangladeshi teachers' perspectives and practices

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Sarkar, Mahbub; Corrigan, Deborah

2014-05-01

Background: In Bangladesh, a common science curriculum caters for all students at the junior secondary level. Since this curriculum is for all students, its aims are both to build a strong foundation in science while still providing students with the opportunities to use science in everyday life - an aim consistent with the notion of scientific literacy. Purpose: This paper reports Bangladeshi science teachers' perspectives and practices in regard to the promotion of scientific literacy. Sample: Six science teachers representing a range of geographical locations, school types with different class sizes, lengths of teaching experience and educational qualifications. Design and method: This study employed a case study approach. The six teachers and their associated science classes (including students) were considered as six cases. Data were gathered through observing the teachers' science lessons, interviewing them twice - once before and once after the lesson observation, and interviewing their students in focus groups. Results: This study reveals that participating teachers held a range of perspectives on scientific literacy, including some naïve perspectives. In addition, their perspectives were often not seen to be realised in the classroom as for teachers the emphasis of learning science was more traditional in nature. Many of their teaching practices promoted a culture of academic science that resulted in students' difficulty in finding connections between the science they study in school and their everyday lives. This research also identified the tension which teachers encountered between their religious values and science values while they were teaching science in a culture with a religious tradition. Conclusions: The professional development practice for science teachers in Bangladesh with its emphasis on developing science content knowledge may limit the scope for promoting the concepts of scientific literacy. Opportunities for developing pedagogic

Globalization and Teacher Education

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Flinders, David J.

2009-01-01

Educational researchers and teacher educators are often concerned with immediate and practical questions. How can health teachers help youth avoid substance abuse? Should a high school biology teacher show Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," or is that film too political for a science classroom? What sports should be included in a physical…

Teachers' Perceptions of Effective Teaching: A Comparative Study of Elementary School Teachers from China and the USA

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Meng, Lingqi; Muñoz, Marco

2016-01-01

This international study investigated Chinese and American elementary school teachers' perceptions of effective teaching. The sample comprised Chinese (n = 108) and US (n = 110) participating teachers. The Effective Teaching Quality Survey (ETQS) was adopted for this comparative education research, an instrument that operationalized Stronge's…

A structural model of the dimensions of teacher stress.

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Boyle, G J; Borg, M G; Falzon, J M; Baglioni, A J

1995-03-01

A comprehensive survey of teacher stress, job satisfaction and career commitment among 710 full-time primary school teachers was undertaken by Borg, Riding & Falzon (1991) in the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo. A principal components analysis of a 20-item sources of teacher stress inventory had suggested four distinct dimensions which were labelled: Pupil Misbehaviour, Time/Resource Difficulties, Professional Recognition Needs, and Poor Relationships, respectively. To check on the validity of the Borg et al. factor solution, the group of 710 teachers was randomly split into two separate samples. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out on the data from Sample 1 (N = 335), while Sample 2 (N = 375) provided the cross-validational data for a LISREL confirmatory factor analysis. Results supported the proposed dimensionality of the sources of teacher stress (measurement model), along with evidence of an additional teacher stress factor (Workload). Consequently, structural modelling of the 'causal relationships' between the various latent variables and self-reported stress was undertaken on the combined samples (N = 710). Although both non-recursive and recursive models incorporating Poor Colleague Relations as a mediating variable were tested for their goodness-of-fit, a simple regression model provided the most parsimonious fit to the empirical data, wherein Workload and Student Misbehaviour accounted for most of the variance in predicting teaching stress.

Behaviorally Challenging Students and Teacher Stress

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.A. Everaert; J.C. van der Wolf

2005-01-01

The present study focuses on the level of stress a teacher perceives when dealing with the most behaviorally challenging student in his or her classroom. To measure stress in Dutch elementary classrooms, a sample was drawn of 582 teachers. Two questions concerning this relation between student and

Work Adjustment of Vocational Education Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Muncrief, Martha Crawford

To investigate work adjustment of vocational education teachers, a nation-wide study was conducted focusing on vocational needs, job satisfaction, and job success. The study involved 180 secondary teachers from three vocational areas, business, home economics, and industrial education. A multistage sampling process was utilized to select…

Preschool Teachers' Level of Attitudes toward Early Mathematics Education

OpenAIRE

Çelik, Meryem

2017-01-01

Purpose of this study isexamining the preschool teachers' level of attitudes toward early mathseducation and correlation between these levels and various variables.“Preschool Teachers' Attitudes towards Early Childhood Math AssessmentInstrument" is applied to 60 teachers who were pre-school teachers in 2013and formed the sample of this study. As a result of these analysis, it has beenprecipitated that teachers' level of attitudes toward early maths education isgood. Meanin...

The importance of making progress in teacher professional development

OpenAIRE

Stamatović, Jelena; Kundačina, Milenko

2014-01-01

Professional development of teachers depends on many conditions, but the most distinguished ones are teachers' motivation and their opportunities for development and advancement. Quality planning of professional teacher development contributes to better development of school and teachers. This paper presents research that is aimed to acquire knowledge on important issues related to the promotion of teachers in professional development. The study sample consisted of 786 primary and secondary s...

Child-care chaos and teachers' responsiveness: The indirect associations through teachers' emotion regulation and coping.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Lieny; Hur, Eunhye; Buettner, Cynthia K

2016-12-01

Teachers in early child-care settings are key contributors to children's development. However, the role of teachers' emotional abilities (i.e., emotion regulation and coping skills) and the role of teacher-perceived environmental chaos in relation to their responsiveness to children are understudied. The current study explored the direct and indirect associations between teachers' perceptions of child-care chaos and their self-reported contingent reactions towards children's negative emotions and challenging social interactions via teachers' emotional regulation and coping strategies. The sample consisted of 1129 preschool-aged classroom teachers in day care and public pre-K programs across the US. We first found that child-care chaos was directly associated with teachers' non-supportive reactions after controlling for multiple program and teacher characteristics. In addition, teachers in more chaotic child-care settings had less reappraisal and coping skills, which in turn, was associated with lower levels of positive responsiveness to children. Teachers reporting a higher degree of chaos used more suppression strategies, which in turn, was associated with teachers' non-supportive reactions and fewer expressive encouragement reactions to children's emotions. Results of this exploratory study suggest that it is important to prepare teachers to handle chaotic environments with clear guidelines and rules. In order to encourage teachers' supportive responses to children, intervention programs are needed to address teachers' coping and emotion regulation strategies in early childhood education. Copyright © 2016 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual factors: what are the relationships?

Science.gov (United States)

Rubie-Davies, Christine M; Flint, Annaline; McDonald, Lyn G

2012-06-01

There is a plethora of research around student beliefs and their contribution to student outcomes. However, there is less research in relation to teacher beliefs. Teacher factors are important to consider since beliefs mould thoughts and resultant instructional behaviours that, in turn, can contribute to student outcomes. The purpose of this research was to explore relationships between the teacher characteristics of gender and teaching experience, school contextual variables (socio-economic level of school and class level), and three teacher socio-psychological variables: class level teacher expectations, teacher efficacy, and teacher goal orientation. The participants were 68 male and female teachers with varying experience, from schools in a variety of socio-economic areas and from rural and urban locations within New Zealand. Teachers completed a questionnaire containing items related to teacher efficacy and goal orientation in reading. They also completed a teacher expectation survey. Reading achievement data were collected on students. Interrelationships were explored between teacher socio-psychological beliefs and the teacher and school factors included in the study. Mastery-oriented beliefs predicted teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management. The socio-economic level of the school and teacher gender predicted teacher efficacy for engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, and a mastery goal orientation. Being male predicted a performance goal orientation. Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual variables can result in differences in teacher instructional practices and differing classroom climates. Further investigation of these variables is important since differences in teachers contribute to differences in student outcomes. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Preservice elementary teachers' actual and designated identities as teachers of science and teachers of students

Science.gov (United States)

Canipe, Martha Murray

stories and enactments in order to determine which storytellers were significant narrators for the preservice teachers' identities. The findings from this study show that significant narrators vary among the preservice teachers and include artifacts such as curriculum materials and instructional models in addition to people who are expected to be significant narrators. Furthermore, differences between preservice teachers' actual and designated identities influence opportunities to learn about what it means to be a teacher of science and students. This took different forms with each preservice teacher. In one case the preservice teacher worked to enact aspects of her designated identity and reflected about how she was not quite able to be the teacher of science she wanted to be as a novice teacher. Another case showed how the gap between actual and designated identities could limit opportunities to learn when the preservice teacher's strong actual identity as a novice led her to consider certain aspects of her designated identity as things which could not even be tried at this point. Finally, in the third case the preservice teacher's strong actual identity limited opportunities to develop a designated identity because she did not see herself as being a different kind of teacher of science in the future than she was right now as a student teacher. These findings suggest that supporting preservice elementary teacher identity development as teachers of science is an important part of preparing them to teach science in ways that engage students in scientific practices. Additionally, it is essential to examine identity stories and enactments in concert with each other in order to gain deeper understandings of how identities are developed and put into practice in classrooms.

Inclusive Education in Government Primary Schools: Teacher Perceptions

OpenAIRE

Itfaq Khaliq Khan; Shujahat Haider Hashmi; Nabeela Khanum

2017-01-01

The perceptions of primary school teachers towards inclusive education was investigated in mainstream government schools of Islamabad capital territory where inclusive education was being supported by Sight savers and other international organizations. The study was carried out involving 54 teachers in six randomly selected primary schools. The sampled group comprised both, teachers trained in inclusive education and teachers working in same schools, but not trained in inclusive education. Pu...

Comparison of Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers with Respect to Personality Traits and Career Adaptability

Science.gov (United States)

Eryilmaz, Ali; Kara, Ahmet

2017-01-01

The aim of the study is to compare teachers and pre-service teachers in terms of personality traits and career adaptability. The relationships between personality traits and career adaptability are also investigated. A total of 176 pre-service teachers took part in the study, including 90 men and 76 women, and a total of 204 teachers took part in…

Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusive Education in Jordanian Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Zyoudi, Mohammed

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in Jordan, and the factors that influenced such attitudes. Qualitative research was used to gather information from all general education and special education teachers. The sample consisted of 90 teachers at 7 schools. The results of this study showed…

Preparing Teachers for Anti-oppressive Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baber, Sikunder Ali

2004-01-01

While theories and recommendations continue to proliferate in the educational research literature on what it means to teach towards social justice and to prepare teachers for such teaching, so do concerns that these theories and recommendations fail to account for the ways that the contexts...... of teaching cultural contexts, national contexts, political contexts always affect teaching in idiosyncratic, unpredictable and even contradictory ways. Given that much educational research fails to trouble the US-centric nature of prevailing conceptions of social justice and teacher education......, it is important to learn about the unique as well as shared challenges facing teacher educators around the globe. In this article, teacher educators from Asia, Africa, North America and South America offer a sampling of initiatives in anti-oppressive teacher education; that is, initiatives to prepare teachers...

Emotions in prospective secondary teachers when teaching science content, distinguishing by gender

Science.gov (United States)

Belén Borrachero, Ana; Brígido, María; Mellado, Lucía; Costillo, Emilio; Mellado, Vicente

2014-05-01

Background:Until recently, the affective components of education had long been undervalued. Today, one finds ever more studies on cognitive and affective interrelationships that are lending support to the idea that affect and cognition are best understood when viewed as independent and complementary mental functions. Purpose:The present work analyses the emotions of prospective secondary education teachers, distinguishing them by gender, in relation to the teaching of Biology, Geology, Physics and Chemistry in order to contribute to designing subsequent interventions targeted at improving science teachers' occupational health. Sample:The total sample consisted of 178 students (53 male and 125 female) of the post-graduate teaching certificate course at the University of Extremadura, all of whom were prospective secondary school teachers. We also worked with a sub-sample of 66 Science and Engineering graduates (33 male and 33 female). Design and methods:A questionnaire was prepared that includes items on each of the emotions that the prospective teacher might feel when teaching the science content of the proposed courses. The chi-squared test was used to determine whether a relationship exists between emotions and the variable gender when it came to their teaching Biology, Geology, Physics and Chemistry at the compulsory secondary education level. Results:The results showed that the male teachers more frequently report positive emotions than the female. The latter manifested an increase in negative emotions in teaching Geology, Physics and Chemistry content. And the study of the sub-sample showed positive emotions are more frequently reported than negative ones in all four subjects, with this being particularly so in Biology. Conclusions:The study of emotions is vital in the educational formation of prospective secondary teachers. These students will soon face day-to-day life in the classroom, and many of them, especially the women, declare themselves to be

Children's social self-concept and internalizing problems: The influence of peers and teachers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spilt, J.L.; van Lier, P.A.C.; Leflot, G.; Onghena, P.; Colpin, H.

2014-01-01

This study aimed to understand how relationships with peers and teachers contribute to the development of internalizing problems via children's social self-concept. The sample included 570 children aged 7 years 5 months (SD = 4.6 months). Peer nominations of peer rejection, child-reported social

Experienced teachers' informal workplace learning and perceptions of workplace conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekstra, A.; Korthagen, F.; Brekelmans, M.; Beijaard, D.; Imants, J.

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail how teachers' perceptions of workplace conditions for learning are related to their informal workplace learning activities and learning outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: From a sample of 32 teachers, a purposeful sampling technique of

Inclusion in Early Childhood Education: Pre-Service Teachers Voices

Science.gov (United States)

Majoko, Tawanda

2016-01-01

This study examined pre-service teachers' understanding, attitudes, preparation and concerns regarding inclusion in early childhood education (ECE) in Zimbabwe. Entrenched within inclusive pedagogy, this descriptive study draws on a sample of 24 pre-service teachers purposively selected from the largest teachers' college with the oldest…

To Include or Not to Include--This Is the Question: Attitudes of Inclusive Teachers toward the Inclusion of Pupils with Intellectual Disabilities in Elementary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Malki, Sharon; Einat, Tomer

2018-01-01

Numerous studies have emphasized the relationship between success of policies of inclusion and acceptance and accommodation of students with intellectual disabilities in mainstream settings and teachers' positive attitudes toward them. Using semi-structured interviews and interpretive and constructivist strategies, the present study qualitatively…

Teacher Research as Professional Development for P-12 Music Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Colleen; Edgar, Scott; Hansen, Erin; Palmer, C. Michael

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of seven music educators who conducted teacher research in their classrooms and to document whether the teachers and the local school district considered the project as professional development. Research questions included: (1) How do these music educators describe the experience of planning…

Combining Marriage and Career: The Professional Adjustment of Marital Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Rizvi, Afroz Haider

2016-01-01

In the paper, the researcher attempted to assess Professional Adjustment status and level of teachers according to their marital status on a sample of 792 teachers. Teachers have been classified into two categories viz. married and unmarried. To evaluate the status of professional adjustment of teachers, a tool viz. "Manual on Teachers…

Key Influences on Special Education Teachers' Intentions to Leave: The Effects of Administrative Support and Teacher Team Efficacy in a Mediational Model

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Sharon; You, Sukkyung

2017-01-01

The subject of special education teachers' intentions to leave has been a longstanding concern of researchers and practitioners. This paper reports on a study that examined the workplace predictors of teachers' intentions to leave for a nationally representative USA sample of 2,060 secondary school special education teachers (with students aged…

Probing Language Teacher Accountability in Utilizing Self-developed Language Teaching Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjan Vosoughi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at recognizing constraints on the way of some Iranian language teachers' utilization of self-developed, localized, English language teaching resources. To this aim, three sets of teacher variables on pedagogical and personal accounts were examined including Language teachers' experience (novice/experienced, their educational level (BA/MA/PhD and their gender. Data were collected in two phases. In the first phase, through stratified sampling, some eighty-three volunteering, English language teachers (Male and Female, who were indulged in the Iranian Ministry of Education (MoE, university settings (public and private and language institutes were randomly selected.  Teachers’ responses to a validated researcher-made questionnaire on language teacher curriculum autonomy revealed an overall significant Multiple R with F (3, 80 =.88, (0.04 but each individual above-cited predictors could not significantly predict teacher curriculum autonomy score. In the second phase for triangulation aims, three above-cited teacher variables were mapped over the insights gained through written interview sessions with some fourteen English language teachers.  Language teachers' self-reported 'challenges' and 'opportunities' for using self-developed language teaching resources for class use were content analyzed. It became evident that teaching experience was mystified in some respects in terms of its influence over interviewed teachers since diverse intentions on the part of the language teachers in this research might have deterred them not to use their full potential over using their own materials in class. Possible reasons for this situation have been fully discussed in the end.

Children’s social self-concept and internalizing problems: the influence of peers and teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Spilt, Jantine L; van Lier, Pol A C; Leflot, Geertje; Onghena, Patrick; Colpin, Hilde

2014-01-01

This study aimed to understand how relationships with peers and teachers contribute to the development of internalizing problems via children’s social self-concept. The sample included 570 children aged 7 years 5 months (SD = 4.6 months). Peer nominations of peer rejection, child-reported social self-concept, and teacher-reported internalizing problems were assessed longitudinally in the fall and spring of Grades 2 and 3. Teacher reports of support to the child were assessed in Grade 2. Results showed that peer rejection impeded children’s social self-concept, which in turn affected the development of internalizing problems. Partial support was found for individual (but not classroom-level) teacher support to buffer the adverse effects of peer problems on children’s self-concept, thereby mitigating its indirect effects on internalizing problems.

An Investigation on Balance between Professional and Personal Work of Women Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Priya, J. Johnsi

2017-01-01

The present study aims to examine the work-life balance of women teachers in Chennai city. In this normative survey study, 100 women teachers were selected as sample by using convenient sampling technique. The data were collected from 100 women teachers who are working in eight Higher Secondary Schools at chennai city using the Work-life Balance…

Factors influencing exemplary science teachers' levels of computer use

Science.gov (United States)

Hakverdi, Meral

This study examines exemplary science teachers' use of technology in science instruction, factors influencing their level of computer use, their level of knowledge/skills in using specific computer applications for science instruction, their use of computer-related applications/tools during their instruction, and their students' use of computer applications/tools in or for their science class. After a relevant review of the literature certain variables were selected for analysis. These variables included personal self-efficacy in teaching with computers, outcome expectancy, pupil-control ideology, level of computer use, age, gender, teaching experience, personal computer use, professional computer use and science teachers' level of knowledge/skills in using specific computer applications for science instruction. The sample for this study includes middle and high school science teachers who received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching Award (sponsored by the White House and the National Science Foundation) between the years 1997 and 2003 from all 50 states and U.S. territories. Award-winning science teachers were contacted about the survey via e-mail or letter with an enclosed return envelope. Of the 334 award-winning science teachers, usable responses were received from 92 science teachers, which made a response rate of 27.5%. Analysis of the survey responses indicated that exemplary science teachers have a variety of knowledge/skills in using computer related applications/tools. The most commonly used computer applications/tools are information retrieval via the Internet, presentation tools, online communication, digital cameras, and data collection probes. Results of the study revealed that students' use of technology in their science classroom is highly correlated with the frequency of their science teachers' use of computer applications/tools. The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that personal self-efficacy related to

The Impact of Including Below Detection Limit Samples in Post Decommissioning Soil Sample Analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jung Hwan; Yim, Man-Sung [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

To meet the required standards the site owner has to show that the soil at the facility has been sufficiently cleaned up. To do this one must know the contamination of the soil at the site prior to clean up. This involves sampling that soil to identify the degree of contamination. However there is a technical difficulty in determining how much decontamination should be done. The problem arises when measured samples are below the detection limit. Regulatory guidelines for site reuse after decommissioning are commonly challenged because the majority of the activity in the soil at or below the limit of detection. Using additional statistical analyses of contaminated soil after decommissioning is expected to have the following advantages: a better and more reliable probabilistic exposure assessment, better economics (lower project costs) and improved communication with the public. This research will develop an approach that defines an acceptable method for demonstrating compliance of decommissioned NPP sites and validates that compliance. Soil samples from NPP often contain censored data. Conventional methods for dealing with censored data sets are statistically biased and limited in their usefulness. In this research, additional methods are performed using real data from a monazite manufacturing factory.

Authoritative school climate, aggression toward teachers, and teacher distress in middle school.

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Juliette K; Cornell, Dewey

2016-03-01

Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less distress. The sample of 9,134 teachers in 389 middle schools came from the Virginia Secondary School Climate Survey, a statewide survey administered to all public schools with 7th and 8th grade enrollment. The majority of teachers (75%) were female. More than half (53%) reported that they had more than 10 years of teaching experience; 23% reported 6 to 10 years; 24% reported 1 to 5 years. Students reported on the degree to which their schools were structured and supportive. Teachers reported on their experiences of aggression by students, their level of distress, and their feelings of safety. Staff-related infractions computed from Department of Education records were also used. Multilevel modeling revealed that teachers in authoritative schools experienced less aggression and felt safer and less distressed. Lower aggression by students mediated the association between more authoritative schools and lower distress such that more structured and supportive schools had greater teacher safety and, in turn, less distress. The findings support the idea that more structured and supportive schools relate to greater safety for teachers and, in turn, less distress. Research limitations and implications for practice are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Bureaucracy and Teachers' Sense of Power

OpenAIRE

YuÌ cel, Cemil

1999-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of Hall's (1961) conceptualization of Max Weber's (1946) theory of bureaucracy as an analytical tool in Turkey. The population was 1946 teachers in 91 public schools that employ five or more teachers. The instruments were distributed to 725 teachers in 68 schools in Karabuk province. Useable returns were 486. A pilot sample (one third of the useable returns) was generated to test the instruments by utilizing a series of item analyses. Remai...

Turkish Student Teachers' Concerns about Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Boz, Yezdan

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching concerns of Turkish student teachers and how these concerns differ among year groups within the teacher education programme. Data were collected from 339 student teachers using the Teacher Concerns Checklist. Analysis of the data, including both descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis…

Preservice Teachers' Work Stress, Self-Efficacy, and Occupational Commitment in Four Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Klassen, Robert; Wilson, Elaine; Siu, Angela F. Y.; Hannok, Wanwisa; Wong, Marina W.; Wongsri, Nongkran; Sonthisap, Panwadee; Pibulchol, Chaleosri; Buranachaitavee, Yanisa; Jansem, Anchalee

2013-01-01

In this study, we examine the teaching-related stress, self-efficacy, and occupational commitment of preservice teachers from two culturally western and two culturally eastern countries. The sample included 1,187 participants from Canada (n?=?379), England (n?=?203), Hong Kong (n?=?211), and Thailand (n?=?394). Self-efficacy partially reduced…

Are Teachers' Beliefs Related to Their Preferences for ADHD Interventions? Comparing Teachers in the United States and New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, David F.; Hamilton, Richard J.; Moore, Dennis W.; Pisecco, Stewart

2014-01-01

This investigation examined the relationship between teachers' beliefs and their preferences for classroom interventions for behaviours consistent with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teacher ratings of intervention acceptability, effectiveness, and rate of change were compared across United States and New Zealand samples. Beliefs…

Designer Babies? Teacher Views on Gene Technology and Human Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Schibeci, Renato

1999-01-01

Summarizes the views of a sample of primary and high school teachers on the application of gene technology to human medicine. In general, high school teachers are more positive about these developments than primary teachers, and both groups of teachers are more positive than interested lay publics. Highlights ways in which this topic can be…

Concerns of early career agricultural science teachers and the perceived effectiveness of educator preparation programs in addressing those concerns

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, Camilla E.

Little is known about the concerns and needs of early career agricultural teachers associated with the various routes to certification and how these routes address those concerns. The purpose of this study is to determine how selected early career agriculture teachers perceive their teacher preparation program and how effective their programs were at addressing these concerns during their first year of teaching. The sample consisted of secondary agricultural teachers in Texas FFA Areas V and VI, who self-identified themselves as an early career agricultural teacher in their first 3 years of teaching. The first phase included a web-based survey administered to assess the concerns of early career agricultural teachers. Two Likert-type scales were used, and these were used to assess the perceived importance of problems faced by early career agricultural teachers and the frequency in which they encounter those problems. The second phase included a qualitative interview to better understand the perceived relationship between participants' undergraduate preparation, experiences in agriculture and related organizations, and other related activities in preparing them as agriculture science teachers. The teachers interviewed in this study indicated that overall, they were pleased with their preparation. Teacher educators from both programs should address the concerns presented from all teachers to further prepare them for issues faced by early career teachers because it is evident that these issues are not going away.

School Principals' Leadership Behaviours and Its Relation with Teachers' Sense of Self-Efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Mehdinezhad, Vali; Mansouri, Masoumeh

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between school principals' leadership behaviours and teachers' sense of self-efficacy. The research method was descriptive and correlational. A sample size of 254 teachers was simply selected randomly by proportional sampling. For data collection, the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale of…

Healthy lifestyle in teachers

OpenAIRE

Pirzadeh, Asiyeh; Sharifirad, Gholamreza; Kamran, Aziz

2012-01-01

Introduction: The role of individual healthy behaviors like physical activity, nutrition and stress management on reduction of rate of disease mortality and morbidity is well known. The aim of this study is to determine healthy life style in teachers employed in district No.4 in Isfahan, Iran, in 2010. Materials and Methods: The participants of this cross-sectional study were 96 teachers in district No. 4, selected via random sampling method. The data collection was performed using a question...

The Relationship between Happiness, Subjective Well-Being, Creativity and Job Performance of Primary School Teachers in Ramhormoz City

Science.gov (United States)

Jalali, Zohreh; Heidari, Alireza

2016-01-01

The research aimed to investigate the relationship between happiness, subjective well-being, creativity and job performance of primary school teachers in Ramhormoz City. Hence, a sample of 330 individuals was selected through random stratified sampling. The research tools included Oxford Happiness Inventory, Subjective Well-being Scale by Keyes…

Secondary School Mathematics Teachers' Attitude in Teaching Mathematics

OpenAIRE

Mulugeta Atnafu

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine Addis Ababa secondary school mathematics teachers’ attitude in teaching mathematics. 148 mathematics teachers were selected using cluster sampling from Addis Ababa administration region. The study used survey method of data collection and it includes both quantitative and qualitative research methods. From the independent t-test, ANOVA, tukey test and regression analysis, some of the results obtained were: the majority of the secondary school mathemati...

Aquaculture. Teacher Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Susan S.

This color-coded guide was developed to assist teachers in helping interested students plan, build, stock, and run aquaculture facilities of varied sizes. The guide contains 15 instructional units, each of which includes some or all of the following basic components: objective sheet, suggested activities for the teacher, instructor supplements,…

Assessment of an On-Line Earth System Science Course for Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Shuster, R. D.; Grandgenett, N.

2009-12-01

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) has been offering on-line Earth System Science coursework to in-service teachers in Nebraska since 2002 through the Earth Systems Science Education Alliance (ESSEA). The goal of this course is to increase teacher content knowledge in Earth Science, introduce them to Earth System Science, and have them experience cooperative learning. We have offered three different ESSEA courses, with nearly 200 students having taken ESSEA courses at UNO for graduate credit. This effort represents a close collaboration between faculty and students from the Colleges of Arts & Sciences and Education, with periodic assistance of the local schools. In a follow-up study related to ESSEA coursework, UNO examined the perceptions of teachers who have taken the course and the potential benefits of the ESSEA courses for their own educational settings. The study was descriptive in design and included an online survey and a focus group. The results of these assessments indicated that the teachers felt very positive about what they learned in these courses, and in particular, how they could incorporate cooperative learning, inquiry based activities, and Earth System Science interconnections in their own classrooms. Problems identified by the teachers included a perceived lack of time to be able to integrate the learned material into their science curriculua and a lack of computer and/or technological resources in their educational settings. In addition, this Fall, we will conduct two teacher case studies, where we will interview two teachers, visit their classrooms, acquire work samples and talk with students. All of the results of our survey and focus group will be presented.

A Study of Teacher Stereotypes: How Do Tuition-Free Teacher Candidates and General Undergraduates Think about Middle School and University Teachers in China?

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Youxia; Zhao, Yufang; Peng, Chunhua; Chen, Youguo

2017-01-01

A tuition-free teacher candidate is an undergraduate who receives tuition-free teacher education and must work as a teacher in a middle school after their graduation. Tuition-free candidates are of the focus of many researchers; however, no study reports how tuition-free teacher candidates think about teachers. The present study explored stereotypes about middle school and university teachers held by teacher candidates. Specifically, we looked for the differences between the stereotypes held by the teacher candidates and general undergraduates. This study attempted to provide a potential tool to predict the actual willingness of teacher candidates to work as middle school teachers. University and middle school teachers were evaluated using descriptive phrases or words on a five-point Likert scale by 116 tuition-free teacher candidates and 155 general undergraduates. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a three-factor stereotype model including occupational cognition, occupational personality, and occupational emotion. Compared with general undergraduates, teacher candidates held more positive occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers; they held more negative occupational emotions toward university teachers. Further, the undergraduates' willingness to be middle school teachers positively correlated with positive occupational emotions and negatively correlated with negative occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers. This supported previous studies that individuals' professional willingness were influenced by their stereotypes about professions. PMID:28469587

A Study of Teacher Stereotypes: How Do Tuition-Free Teacher Candidates and General Undergraduates Think about Middle School and University Teachers in China?

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Youxia; Zhao, Yufang; Peng, Chunhua; Chen, Youguo

2017-01-01

A tuition-free teacher candidate is an undergraduate who receives tuition-free teacher education and must work as a teacher in a middle school after their graduation. Tuition-free candidates are of the focus of many researchers; however, no study reports how tuition-free teacher candidates think about teachers. The present study explored stereotypes about middle school and university teachers held by teacher candidates. Specifically, we looked for the differences between the stereotypes held by the teacher candidates and general undergraduates. This study attempted to provide a potential tool to predict the actual willingness of teacher candidates to work as middle school teachers. University and middle school teachers were evaluated using descriptive phrases or words on a five-point Likert scale by 116 tuition-free teacher candidates and 155 general undergraduates. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a three-factor stereotype model including occupational cognition, occupational personality, and occupational emotion. Compared with general undergraduates, teacher candidates held more positive occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers; they held more negative occupational emotions toward university teachers. Further, the undergraduates' willingness to be middle school teachers positively correlated with positive occupational emotions and negatively correlated with negative occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers. This supported previous studies that individuals' professional willingness were influenced by their stereotypes about professions.

Intrinsic Motivation and Flow Condition on the Music Teacher's Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Torres Delgado, Gabriela

2017-01-01

The aim of these research is to identify if music teachers and teachers from other areas are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, to identify the dimensions of the flow state, and to identify if there is a relationship between intrinsic motivation and flow state in these teachers. The sample was made up of 738 active teachers. The presence of…

The Validity of Teacher Ratings of Adolescents' Social Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogden, Terje

2003-01-01

Examined the validity of teacher ratings of adolescents' social skills in a followup of a cohort sample of 395 students from seventh to ninth grades. Findings show multi-informant consistency in ratings; teacher ratings consistently covaried with teacher ratings of problem behavior and academic competence, nominations by peer students, and grade…

Classroom Activity Structures and the Generalizability of Teacher Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Lorin W.; Mandeville, Garrett K.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of several instructional formats (e.g., lecture, discourse, seatwork) on the generalizability of teacher behaviors. Two structured observation instruments were used to observe two samples of teachers: 42 fifth grade science teachers on eight occasions, and 87 fifth grade mathematics teachers…

Elementary pre-service teachers' conceptual understanding of dissolving: a Vygotskian concept development perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Harrell, Pamela; Subramaniam, Karthigeyan

2015-09-01

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify the nature and the interrelatedness of pre-service teachers' misconceptions and scientific concepts for explaining dissolving before, during, and after a 5E learning cycle lesson on dissolving, the intervention. Sample, design, and methods: Guided by Vygotsky's theory of concept development, the study focused specifically on the spontaneous, and spontaneous pseudo-concepts held by the 61 elementary pre-service teachers during a 15-week science methods course. Data included concept maps, interview transcripts, written artifacts, drawings, and narratives, and were thematically analyzed to classify concepts and interrelatedness. Results: Results of the study showed that spontaneous pseudo-concepts (1) dominated pre-service teachers' understandings about dissolving throughout the study, and (2) were simply associated with scientific concepts during and after the intervention. Conclusion: Collectively, the results indicated that the pre-service teachers' did not acquire a unified system of knowledge about dissolving that could be characterized as abstract, generalizable, and hierarchical. Implications include the need for (1) familiarity with pre-service teachers' prior knowledge about science content; (2) a variety of formative assessments to assess their misconceptions; (3) emphasizing the importance of dialectical method for concept development during instruction; and (4) skillful content instructors.

Analyzing the Relationship between Positive Psychological Capital and Organizational Commitment of the Teachers

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Yalcin, Sinan

2016-01-01

In this study it was aimed to determine the relationship between teachers' positive psychological capital levels and organisational commitment. The study was conducted as a correlational survey which is one of the quantitative methods. The sample group consists of 244 teachers selected by using random sampling method among 1270 teachers working in…

Examining Science Teachers' Argumentation in a Teacher Workshop on Earthquake Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Cavlazoglu, Baki; Stuessy, Carol

2018-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the quality of science teachers' argumentation as a result of their engagement in a teacher workshop on earthquake engineering emphasizing distributed learning approaches, which included concept mapping, collaborative game playing, and group lesson planning. The participants were ten high school science teachers from US high schools who elected to attend the workshop. To begin and end the teacher workshop, teachers in small groups engaged in concept mapping exercises with other teachers. Researchers audio-recorded individual teachers' argumentative statements about the inclusion of earthquake engineering concepts in their concept maps, which were then analyzed to reveal the quality of teachers' argumentation. Toulmin's argumentation model formed the framework for designing a classification schema to analyze the quality of participants' argumentative statements. While the analysis of differences in pre- and post-workshop concept mapping exercises revealed that the number of argumentative statements did not change significantly, the quality of participants' argumentation did increase significantly. As these differences occurred concurrently with distributed learning approaches used throughout the workshop, these results provide evidence to support distributed learning approaches in professional development workshop activities to increase the quality of science teachers' argumentation. Additionally, these results support the use of concept mapping as a cognitive scaffold to organize participants' knowledge, facilitate the presentation of argumentation, and as a research tool for providing evidence of teachers' argumentation skills.

ROLE OF RESPONSIBILITY IN EMOTIONAL BURNOUTOF TEACHERS AT INITIAL STAGE OF PROFESSIONALIZATION

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S I Kudinov

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents a comparative analysis of the empirical research results of the formation of burnout symptoms in the teachers with low and high levels of personal responsibility. The sample of respondents was made by teachers with five years’ experience of work. At the preliminary stage the peculiarities of situational and personality anxiety, as well as indicators of emotional stability and neuroticism were studied. As a result of the data analysis the teachers with average anxiety and emotional stability were included in the final group of the subjects. The procedure of the respondents selection was motivated by the desire to exclude the respondents, potentially predisposed to intense emotional burnout due to their individual susceptibility to it from the empirical sample.During carrying out the basic research the responsibility indicators were studied at the first stage. According to the hierarchical distribution of the harmonic variables of responsibility the contrasting levels of the manifestation of this property were revealed and characterized. The high level of responsibility manifestation included mainly the positive characteristics responsible for the intensity of the display properties, such as ergicity, sthenicity, internality, socio-centeredness, meaningfulness and productivity. The second group included the respondents in whose hierarchy of variables property manifestation is dominated by the disharmonious components responsible for the weak manifestations of the property: aergicity, asthenicity, externality, ego-centeredness, etc. The selected indicators of responsibility in the both groups differed at a statistically significant level. At the following stage the emotional burnout indicators in each group were analyzed. The study confirmed the put forward hypothesis that the emotional burnout developed more intensively in the teachers with a high level of personal responsibility, rather than that of the respondents with a

Elementary school teachers' attitudes to teamwork

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Vasilijević Danijela N.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Research to date has shown that teacher teamwork results in higher motivation among students and higher quality knowledge, and also facilitates the sharing of professional experiences and stimulates teachers' creativity and their openness to change. Team forming and development depend on multiple factors, particularly on the individual and group traits of team members. This paper examines teachers' attitudes as an individual factor significant for their inclination for team teaching, and the aim of the study presented in the paper was to study teachers' attitudes to teamwork. The sample consisted of 240 teachers from fifteen elementary schools in Belgrade. Factor analysis has singled out three factors around which teachers' attitudes are grouped: a teaching; b team and individual development; and c professional challenge. The study has shown that overall, teachers have a positive attitude to teamwork because it is conducive to a stimulating environment for work and learning, and also provides an opportunity for teachers' personal and professional development. Significant differences in the perception of teamwork have been noted among lower-grade teachers depending on their years of service and the extent to which they have been engaged in team teaching.

Thinking Styles of Primary School Teachers in Beijing, China

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Wang, Ying; Pang, Nicholas Sun-Keung

2013-01-01

Previous studies on teachers' thinking have usually related to teaching and learning, and concentrated on classroom-level outcomes. In this study, an organizational and administrative perspective was adopted in examining teachers' thinking style. Data collected were from a sample of 268 in-service teachers from 6 primary schools in Beijing, China.…

Notes on the Redesign of Teacher Education. Teachers for the Future: What Do We Want?

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Hawley, Willis D.

These notes offer an overview of the elements that must be considered in designing an effective teacher education program. Each of the following is discussed: (1) the characteristics of an effective career teacher; (2) professional knowledge capabilities and skills often identified as topics that should be included in the teacher education…

Reducing Behavior Problems Among Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Coaching Teachers in a Mixed-Reality Setting.

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Pas, Elise T; Johnson, Stacy R; Larson, Kristine E; Brandenburg, Linda; Church, Robin; Bradshaw, Catherine P

2016-12-01

Most approaches aiming to reduce behavior problems among youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) focus on individual students; however, school personnel also need professional development to better support students. This study targeted teachers' skill development to promote positive outcomes for students with ASD. The sample included 19 teachers in two non-public special education settings serving students with moderate to severe ASD. Participating teachers received professional development and coaching in classroom management, with guided practice in a mixed-reality simulator. Repeated-measures ANOVAs examining externally-conducted classroom observations revealed statistically significant improvements in teacher management and student behavior over time. Findings suggest that coaching and guided practice in a mixed-reality simulator is perceived as acceptable and may reduce behavior problems among students with ASD.

Examination of Relationships between Instructional Leadership of School Principals and Self-Efficacy of Teachers and Collective Teacher Efficacy

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Calik, Temel; Sezgin, Ferudun; Kavgaci, Hasan; Cagatay Kilinc, Ali

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between school principals' instructional leadership behaviors and self-efficacy of teachers and collective teacher efficacy. In this regard, a model based on hypotheses was designed to determine the relationships among variables. The study sample consisted of 328 classroom and branch…

Beginning German in Grade Three: MLA Teacher's Guide. A Course of Study Including Methods, Materials, and Aids for Teaching Conversational German to Third-Grade Children.

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Wittman, Nora E.; And Others

This guide is planned to help the FLES teacher develop pleasurable language learning experiences in spoken German for children at the third-grade level. Experiences included in this guide present German in life situations, as well as insight into German culture. The guide offers suggestions for classroom procedures, and detailed directions are…

Development of Teachers as Scientists in Research Experiences for Teachers Programs

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Faber, Courtney; Hardin, Emily; Klein-Gardner, Stacy; Benson, Lisa

2014-11-01

This study examined the teachers' development as scientists for participants in three National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers. Participants included secondary science and math teachers with varying levels of education and experience who were immersed in research environments related to engineering and science topics. Teachers' functionality as scientists was assessed in terms of independence, focus, relationships with mentors, structure, and ability to create new concepts. Hierarchies developed within these constructs allowed tracking of changes in functionality throughout the 6-week programs. Themes were further identified in teachers' weekly journal entries and exit interviews through inductive coding. Increases in functionality as scientists were observed for all teachers who completed both the program and exit interview ( n = 27). Seven of the 27 teachers reached high science functionality; however, three of the teachers did not reach high functionality in any of the constructs during the program. No differences were observed in demographics or teaching experience between those who did and did not reach high functionality levels. Inductive coding revealed themes such as teachers' interactions with mentors and connections made between research and teaching, which allowed for descriptions of experiences for teachers at high and low levels of functionality. Teachers at high functionality levels adjusted to open-ended environments, transitioned from a guided experience to freedom, felt useful in the laboratory, and were self-motivated. In contrast, teachers at low functionality levels did not have a true research project, primarily focused on teaching aspects of the program, and did not display a transition of responsibilities.

Descriptive Indicators of Future Teachers' Technology Integration in the PK-12 Classroom: Trends from a Laptop-Infused Teacher Education Program

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Hughes, Joan E.

2013-01-01

This research examined preservice teacher graduates' positioning toward integrating technology in future teaching. Participants included 115 preservice teachers across three cohorts in 2008-2009 who graduated from a laptop-infused teacher education program. The study implemented a case study methodology that included a survey administered upon…

Development of a work environment rating scale for kindergarten teachers.

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Wong, Yau-ho P

2015-08-01

Kindergarten education in Hong Kong serves children aged 32-68 months. However, there is no extant scale that measures kindergarten teachers' perceived work environment, an important influence on their well-being. To develop a new instrument, the Teachers' Perceived Work Environment (TPWE) scale, and to assess whether kindergarten teachers with higher TPWE ratings had higher scores for job satisfaction, self-esteem and mental health. A 25-item rating scale was developed and used with a sample of in-service kindergarten teachers. Their perceived work environment was represented by five factors (ergonomics, staffing, teaching space, work hours and social space). These teachers also completed three well-being inventories: the Job Satisfaction Survey, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory and the General Health Questionnaire-12. In a second stage, a new sample of in-service kindergarten teachers was used to cross-validate the findings from the earlier assessment. In the first sample of 141 teachers and the second of 125, social space, staffing and work hours were associated with job satisfaction, while ergonomics was a significant negative predictor of mental health complaints. The TPWE exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity. Some factors were differentially associated with specific types of well-being. The results may inform future studies of the working conditions of kindergarten teachers. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Assessing Pre-Service Teachers' Computer Phobia Levels in Terms of Gender and Experience, Turkish Sample

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Ursavas, Omer Faruk; Karal, Hasan

2009-01-01

In this study it is aimed to determine the level of pre-service teachers' computer phobia. Whether or not computer phobia meaningfully varies statistically according to gender and computer experience has been tested in the study. The study was performed on 430 pre-service teachers at the Education Faculty in Rize/Turkey. Data in the study were…

Commitment to philosophy, teacher efficacy, and burnout among teachers of children with autism.

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Jennett, Heather K; Harris, Sandra L; Mesibov, Gary B

2003-12-01

Variables that may be related to burnout in teachers of students with autism, including commitment to an underlying philosophy of a treatment and professional self-efficacy, were explored. Teachers using one of two different treatment approaches to autism participated: those using Applied Behavior Analysis (n = 34), and those using TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication-Related Handicapped Children) (n = 30). Participants completed the Autism Treatment Philosophy Questionnaire, developed by the authors to differentiate between the philosophy of the approaches; Teacher Efficacy Scale, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results indicate a significant difference in philosophical commitment between the groups, but no differences in teaching efficacy or burnout. The relationship between a commitment to one's teaching approach and certain dimensions of teaching efficacy and burnout was found to be significant. Implications include the need for adequate training of teachers of students with autism.

Study on the use of computer in practice teaching, of the primary schools teacher in the municipality of viseu

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Maria Martins de Sousa

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The current challenges of school education are undoubtedly the skills of teachers and educators in the field of information and communication technologies, including the use given to them in the context of the classroom. In this article is made an approach to the issues of utilization and monetization of these technological resources in schools, specifically for teachers in the first cycle of basic education in the municipality of Viseu. To this end, it was assumed as a methodological option, the development of a quantitative and qualitative research. The course addresses a quantitative nonprobabilistic sample of 229 teachers of the 1st CEB (primary schools, of the municipality of Viseu. The ride quality on the basis of reference covers the discursive devices of a purposive sample of two teachers of the 1st CEB a school contemplated by Technological Plan of Education. The findings reveal that the vast majority of teachers are positive about the benefits for students of 1st CEB with the use of ICT and in this follow-up, seem benefits on the one hand, inherent to the work of the teacher and the other inherent to the student.

Spanish language teacher program

CERN Multimedia

Caraban Gonzalez, Noemi

2017-01-01

These one-week programmes are held in one of the national languages of CERN Member States. National teacher programmes are also open for teachers from other countries speaking the same language. To follow up after each teacher programme, the lecture material and video recordings of selected lectures are archived to act as unique resources for all physics teachers when introducing particle physics into the classroom. CERN provides all scientific, administrative and technical support for the programme free of charge. This includes the scientific content and provision of national language facilitators, lecturers, and guides. However, costs for travel, accommodation and meals have to be covered individually by the teachers or by official sources, e.g. educational foundations or national authorities.

Evolution. Teacher's Guide.

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Bershad, Carol

This teacher's guide was developed to assist teachers in the use of multimedia resources for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) program, "Evolution." Each unit uses an inquiry-based approach to meet the National Science Education Standards. Units include: (1) "What is the Nature of Science?"; (2) "Who Was Charles Darwin?"; (3) "What is the…

Teachers' Competence and Students' Academic Performance in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the influence of teacher's competence on students; academic performance in senior secondary chemistry. A random sampling technique was used to select 6 secondary schools out of 10 secondary schools in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State. 200 students, 20 teachers and 6 principals ...

Influence of teachers' competence on students academic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the influence of teachers' competence on students; academic performance in senior secondary school chemistry. A random sampling technique was used to select 6 secondary schools out of 12 secondary schools in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State. 200 students, 20 teachers and 6 ...

influence of teachers' competence on students academic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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This study investigated the influence of teachers' competence on students; academic performance in senior secondary school chemistry. A random sampling technique was used to select 6 secondary schools out of 12 secondary schools in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State. 200 students, 20 teachers and 6 ...

Psychometric properties of the Turkish adaptation of the Mathematics Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument for in-service teachers.

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Cetinkaya, Bulent; Erbas, Ayhan Kursat

2011-11-01

Teaching efficacy beliefs have attracted researchers' attention in recent decades because of its close association with and potential impact on the implementation of new ideas and skills in education. In the present study, we have explored the psychometric properties and construct validity of the Turkish adaptation of the Mathematics Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument developed by Enochs, Smith, & Huinker (2000) for in-service mathematics teachers. The instrument distinguishes between two dimensions of efficacy beliefs for mathematics teachers: personal mathematics teaching efficacy and mathematics teaching outcome expectancy. The sample consisted of 1355 in-service elementary school teachers and middle school mathematics teachers from 368 schools. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure similar to that found in other studies. Also, scores from the two subscales indicated acceptable internal consistency.

Using Questionnaires in Teacher Research

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Xerri, Daniel

2017-01-01

Teacher research is described as being beneficial and yet it is hampered by teachers' lack of knowledge about research, including how to use popular research methods. Given that accounts by teachers describing their use of such methods in a systematic manner might prove useful for their peers, this article describes my experience of using a…

Teachers' Engagement in Professional Learning: Exploring Motivational Profiles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen in de Wal, Joost; Den Brok, Perry; Hooijer, Janneke; Martens, Rob; Van den Beemt, Antoine

2017-01-01

This study investigated to what extent secondary school teachers are motivated to work on their professional learning. To this end, profiles ofmotivational dimensions fromself-determination theorywere explored in a sample of 2360 teachers by means of latent profile analysis. The motivational

A Survey into Czech Teachers'Attitude towards Inclusive Education

OpenAIRE

Hui, Luo

2006-01-01

Teachers are considered the key elements in promoting inclusive education and their attitude toward inclusion may influence school learning environment and the availability of equal educational opportunities for all students. The survey was carried out in Prague, Czech Republic to examine teachers' attitude toward inclusive education and the sample comprised of 104 regular and speciál school teachers. The analysis of data confirmed findings of many previous studies on teacher attitude toward ...

Language Development in the Early School Years: The Importance of Close Relationships with Teachers

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Spilt, Jantine L.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; Harrison, Linda J.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their…

Revealing teacher agendas: An examination of teacher motivations and strategies for conducting museum fieldtrips

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Kisiel, James Francis

The purpose of this investigation was to identify the motivations and strategies that comprise teachers' agendas when leading a student fieldtrip to a museum or similar site. Two data collection methods were used. A survey regarding field trip experiences and rationale was mailed to upper elementary teachers, resulting in a variety of open-ended responses that were analyzed and coded to identify recurring themes. In addition, ten teachers accompanying students during a school trip to a natural history museum were interviewed and observed. Data collected from these in-depth studies were used to verify findings from the survey instrument and to refine and enhance the definitions and descriptions of actual practice. Eight fieldtrip motivations were identified including to connection with the classroom curriculum, to provide a general learning experience, to encourage lifelong learning, to enhance interest and motivation, to provide exposure to new experiences, to provide a change in setting or routine, for enjoyment, and to meet school expectations. Fieldtrip strategies used by teachers could be divided into pre-visit, during-visit or post-visit strategies. The commonly reported pre-visit strategies included familiarization and supervision preparation. During-visit strategies focused on structured student engagement strategies (such as worksheets or guided tours) and unstructured strategies (such as interpretation, connecting, facilitation, label-reading, advance organizers and free exploration), as well as event documentation and supervision tactics (such as keeping track and refocusing). Post-visit strategies included review and discussion, documentation , and assessment. Comparison of stated motivations and observed strategies revealed few links. However, results indicated that connecting to the classroom curriculum was an important consideration, even though teachers had different interpretations of what this meant. Providing hands-on experiences was also critical

Qualities of an effective teacher: what do medical teachers think?

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Singh, Simerjit; Pai, Dinker R; Sinha, Nirmal K; Kaur, Avneet; Soe, Htoo Htoo Kyaw; Barua, Ankur

2013-09-17

Effective teaching in medicine is essential to produce good quality doctors. A number of studies have attempted to identify the characteristics of an effective teacher. However, most of literature regarding an effective medical teacher includes student ratings or expert opinions. Furthermore, interdisciplinary studies for the same are even fewer. We did a cross-sectional study of the characteristics of effective teachers from their own perspective across medicine and dentistry disciplines. A questionnaire comprising of 24 statements relating to perceived qualities of effective teachers was prepared and used. The study population included the faculty of medicine and dentistry at the institution. Respondents were asked to mark their response to each statement based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. These statements were grouped these into four main subgroups, viz. Class room behaviour/instructional delivery, interaction with students, personal qualities and professional development, and analysed with respect to discipline, cultural background, gender and teaching experience using SPSS v 13.0. For bivariate analysis, t-test and one way ANOVA were used. Multiple linear regression for multivariate analysis was used to control confounding variables. The top three desirable qualities of an effective teacher in our study were knowledge of subject, enthusiasm and communication skills. Faculty with longer teaching experienced ranked classroom behaviour/instructional delivery higher than their less experienced counterparts. There was no difference of perspectives based on cultural background, gender or discipline (medicine and dentistry). This study found that the faculty perspectives were similar, regardless of the discipline, gender and cultural background. Furthermore, on review of literature similar findings are seen in studies done in allied medical and non-medical fields. These findings support common teacher training programs

Teacher Burnout: Stylish Fad or Profound Problem.

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Cunningham, William G.

1982-01-01

Evidence suggests that teacher burnout has significant impact on the quality of education and on teacher job satisfaction. Its causes include job stress and organizational structures or professional relationships. Reduction of burnout may come from such strategies as increased teacher role differentiation, greater teacher support, and improved…

An Analysis of the Relationship between School Managers' Change Leadership Style and Multi-Factorial Leadership Styles from the Views of Teachers

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Ozkan, Suna; Alev, Sedat; Ercan, Abdulkadir

2015-01-01

The aim of this study has been to identify school managers' leadership styles and levels in terms of teachers' perceptions. The focus of the study includes primary, secondary and high schools in Sahinbey and Sehitkamil districts of Gaziantep. In the study, the selection of the sample, which consists of 228 teachers, was carried out by using the…

Reconsidering the concept of nursing as handled by Japanese nursing teachers : The nursing network formed by innovative nursing teachers

OpenAIRE

山梨, 八重子; ヤマナシ, ヤエコ; Yamanashi, Yaeko

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the originality of nursing given by nursing teachers. From the results, I concluded that, taking nursing from the viewpoint of Kant education, all teachers including the nursing teachers, and nursing teachers make teachers and others to bring out the important nursing skills in themselves. Further the network formed from these interactions is the origin of the nursing provided by nursing teachers.

Facilitating Creativity in Science Students' through Teacher ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study ascertained how teachers facilitate the creativity skills of the Pupils as an outcome of professional development. 450 primary school pupils and 50 Basic science teachers in the primary schools were sampled. The study adopted the Solomon four group design. The Torrance Test for Creative thinking (TTCT) and ...

Challenges of the ward round teaching based on the experiences of medical clinical teachers

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Kamran Soltani Arabshahi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Holding educational sessions in a clinical environment is a major concern for faculty members because of its special difficulties and restrictions. This study attempts to recognize the challenges of the ward round teaching through investigating the experiences of clinical teachers in 2011. Materials and Methods: This qualitative research is carried out through purposive sampling with maximum variation from among the clinical teachers of major departments in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (9 persons. The sampling continued until data saturation. Data were collected through semi-structured interview and analyzed through Collaizzi method. Data reliability and validity was confirmed through the four aspects of Lincoln and Guba method (credibility, conformability, transferability, and dependability. Results: Three major themes and their related sub-themes (minor themes were found out including the factors related to the triad of clinical teaching (patient, learner, and clinical teacher (concern about patient′s welfare, poor preparation, lack of motivation, ethical problems, factors related to the educational environment (stressful environment, humiliating environment and poor communication and the factors related to the educational system of the clinical environment (poor organizing and arrangement of resources, poor system′s monitoring, bad planning and inadequate resource. Conclusion: Ward round teaching has many concerns for teachers, and this should be recognized and resolved by authorities and teachers. If these problems are not resolved, it would affect the quality of clinical teaching.

Confirmatory factors analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand world-class standard schools

Science.gov (United States)

Thawinkarn, Dawruwan

2018-01-01

This research aims to analyze factors of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools. The research instrument was a five scale rating questionnaire with reliability 0.986. The sample group included 500 science teachers from World-Class Standard Schools who had been selected by using the stratified random sampling technique. Factor analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools was conducted by using M plus for Windows. The results are as follows: The results of confirmatory factor analysis on science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools revealed that the model significantly correlated with the empirical data. The consistency index value was x2 = 105.655, df = 88, P-Value = 0.086, TLI = 0.997, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.022, and SRMR = 0.019. The value of factor loading of science teacher leadership was positive, with statistical significance at the level of 0.01. The value of six factors was between 0.880-0.996. The highest factor loading was the professional learning community, followed by child-centered instruction, participation in development, the role model in teaching, transformational leaders, and self-development with factor loading at 0.996, 0.928, 0.911, 0.907, 0.901, and 0.871, respectively. The reliability of each factor was 99.1%, 86.0%, 83.0%, 82.2%, 81.0%, and 75.8%, respectively.

Challenges of the ward round teaching based on the experiences of medical clinical teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Arabshahi, Kamran Soltani; Haghani, Fariba; Bigdeli, Shoaleh; Omid, Athar; Adibi, Peyman

2015-03-01

Holding educational sessions in a clinical environment is a major concern for faculty members because of its special difficulties and restrictions. This study attempts to recognize the challenges of the ward round teaching through investigating the experiences of clinical teachers in 2011. This qualitative research is carried out through purposive sampling with maximum variation from among the clinical teachers of major departments in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (9 persons). The sampling continued until data saturation. Data were collected through semi-structured interview and analyzed through Collaizzi method. Data reliability and validity was confirmed through the four aspects of Lincoln and Guba method (credibility, conformability, transferability, and dependability). Three major themes and their related sub-themes (minor themes) were found out including the factors related to the triad of clinical teaching (patient, learner, and clinical teacher) (concern about patient's welfare, poor preparation, lack of motivation, ethical problems), factors related to the educational environment (stressful environment, humiliating environment and poor communication) and the factors related to the educational system of the clinical environment (poor organizing and arrangement of resources, poor system's monitoring, bad planning and inadequate resource). Ward round teaching has many concerns for teachers, and this should be recognized and resolved by authorities and teachers. If these problems are not resolved, it would affect the quality of clinical teaching.

Teachers' and School Administrators' Perceptions and Expectations on Teacher Leadership

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Semra Kıranlı

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this study it is aimed to find out primary school teachers’ and principals’ expectations and perceptions related to teachers’ leadership. The population of this survey consists of primary school teachers and principals in Odunpazarı, one of the two central municipalities in Eskişehir, in 2011-2012 educational year. Teachers and principals of eight primary schools were taken as a sample among low, middle, high socio-economic level primary schools in Odunpazarı. 195 teachers and principals participated in this study. In this study a data device which consisted of two sections was used to accomplish the purpose of the study. A personal information form to define teachers’ and principals’ demographical features made the first section, whereas “The Questionnaire of Expectations and perceptions of Teacher Leadership Roles” developed by Beycioğlu (2009 and consisting of 25 items made the second section. Each item in the questionnaire has a five scale Lykert type evaluation and belongs to one of the three dimensions of both perception and expectation. These dimensions are institutional development, professional development and collaboration with colleagues.

Teacher drug use: a response to occupational stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, W D; Short, A P

1990-01-01

Work-related stress is predicted to be correlated with wanting to leave the teaching profession and drug use. A stratified random sample of 500 Texas teachers was surveyed (56.5% responded), regarding working conditions, collegial and supervisory relationships, job satisfaction, rigidity of attitudes and drug use. Two-thirds of teachers may want to quit the profession, while 36.4 percent are likely to quit. Teachers report higher rates than a national sample of lifetime alcohol, amphetamine, and tranquilizer use and higher rates of alcohol use in the last year and last month. Selected measures of stress are correlated with drug use, particularly amphetamine use, over the lifetime, last year, and last month.

Production of Intonation Patterns of Non-English Major Student Teachers

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Emily Luib-Beltran

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The study described the production of intonation pattern of the Non-English major student teachers during their on-campus teaching. The qualitative research method was used to analyze the data and describe their intonation patterns. The utterances were investigated in distinction between falling and rising intonation of wh-questions and yes/no questions. In the conduct of analysis, an interview guide was used to gather data on the language profile of the student teachers. Data confirm that the student teachers’ mother tongue (Filipino was commonly used in most of their verbal exchanges activities. It is worthy to note that the utterances of the student teachers displayed evidence of intonation patterns variation on wh-questions and yes/no questions. The erratic production of intonation patterns of the student teachers was resulted from the common linguistic phenomenon in which they tended to carry the intonation and pronunciation rules from their mother tongue (Filipino into their English spoken discourse. This qualitative research study implies that there is an interference of Filipino language in the production of the student teachers’ intonation patterns which describes the Philippine English intonation pattern for wh- questions and yes/no questions. Forthcoming studies may obtain more valued insights by gathering geographically varied samples that would include student teachers across disciplines.

Movement integration in elementary classrooms: Teacher perceptions and implications for program planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Collin A; Zarrett, Nicole; Cook, Brittany S; Egan, Cate; Nesbitt, Danielle; Weaver, R Glenn

2017-04-01

Movement integration (MI), which involves infusing physical activity (PA) into regular classroom time in schools, is widely recommended to help children meet the national guideline of 60min of PA each day. Understanding the perspective of elementary classroom teachers (ECTs) toward MI is critical to program planning for interventions/professional development. This study examined the MI perceptions of ECTs in order to inform the design and implementation of a school-based pilot program that focused in part on increasing children's PA through MI. Twelve ECTs (Grades 1-3) from four schools were selected to participate based on their responses to a survey about their use of MI. Based on the idea that MI programming should be designed with particular attention to teachers who integrate relatively few movement opportunities in their classrooms, the intent was to select the teacher who reported integrating movement the least at her/his respective grade level at each school. However, not all of these teachers agreed to participate in the study. The final sample included two groups of ECTs, including eight lowest integrating teachers and four additional teachers. Each ECT participated in an interview during the semester before the pilot program was implemented. Through qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts, four themes emerged: (a) challenges and barriers (e.g., lack of time), (b) current and ideal resources (e.g., school support), (c) current implementation processes (e.g., scheduling MI into daily routines), and (e) teachers' ideas and tips for MI (e.g., stick with it and learn as you go). The themes were supported by data from both groups of teachers. This study's findings can inform future efforts to increase movement opportunities for children during regular classroom time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing levels of school performance to science teachers' reports on knowledge/skills, instructional use and student use of computers

Science.gov (United States)

Kerr, Rebecca

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative and basic qualitative study was to examine fifth and eighth grade science teachers' responses, perceptions of the role of technology in the classroom, and how they felt that computer applications, tools, and the Internet influence student understanding. The purposeful sample included survey and interview responses from fifth grade and eighth grade general and physical science teachers. Even though they may not be generalizable to other teachers or classrooms due to a low response rate, findings from this study indicated teachers with fewer years of teaching science had a higher level of computer use but less computer access, especially for students, in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers' choice of professional development moderated the relationship between the level of school performance and teachers' knowledge/skills, with the most positive relationship being with workshops that occurred outside of the school. Eighteen interviews revealed that teachers perceived the role of technology in classroom instruction mainly as teacher-centered and supplemental, rather than student-centered activities.

The Implications of Demographic Variables as Related to Burnout among a Sample of Special Education Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Joy; Dikes, Catherine

2015-01-01

The attrition rate of highly qualified special education teachers is a pervasive problem in the United States. This study investigated the association between the burnout subscales of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment relative to 10 demographic variables. Sixty-five special education teachers constituted the…

Texas Science Teacher Characteristics and Conceptual Understanding of Newton's Laws of Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Busby, Karin Burk

extrapolated to determine any correlations. The sample size for this study was small (n=24), requiring a second study investigate potential correlations to teacher characteristics. The second study was conducted using the 2013-2014 school year participants in the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching [TRC] (Texas Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, 2013), a statewide program led by The University of Texas at Austin Center for STEM Education (Texas Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, 2013). Participants completed a demographic survey and took the TRC Physics Assessment instrument developed for the TRC to determine current conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics as defined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. The TRC also collected demographic data including Texas Educational Agency region, participant's sex, years of service in teaching, current teaching position, level of highest degree earned, whether or not the participant had a STEM degree, and certification type. Correlations were determined between overall average and conceptual force questions only. The sample size was substantial (n=368) but due to time constraints in its development, the TRC Physics Assessment was unable to undergo reliability or validity testing before implementation. Test question pertaining to each of Newton's three laws of motion were extrapolated to determine any correlations. A significance value of p= 0.05 was used for all tests. Both content assessments indicated that, on average, teacher-participants had a considerable misunderstanding of Newtonian mechanics with Newton's third law questions especially difficult for the populations. Teachers' current teaching assignment was statistically significant for most tests, suggesting that high school physics teachers have more conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics than middle school teachers but have not

Awareness and Attitudes of Primary Grade Teachers (1-4thGrade) towards Inclusive Education

OpenAIRE

P. Maheshwari; M. Shapurkar

2015-01-01

The present research aimed at studying the awareness and attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education. The sample consisted of 60 teachers, teaching in the primary section (1st – 4th) of regular schools affiliated to the SSC board in Mumbai. Sample was selected by Multi-stage cluster sampling technique. A semi-structured self-constructed interview schedule and a self-constructed attitude scale was used to study the awareness of teachers about disability and Inclusive...

Teaching Probability to Pre-Service Teachers with Argumentation Based Science Learning Approach

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Can, Ömer Sinan; Isleyen, Tevfik

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore the effects of the argumentation based science learning (ABSL) approach on the teaching probability to pre-service teachers. The sample of the study included 41 students studying at the Department of Elementary School Mathematics Education in a public university during the 2014-2015 academic years. The study is…

Exploring the Innovative Personality Characteristics among Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, Nooraini

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore the characteristics of innovative personality among teachers in Malaysia. Samples of the research were randomly selected among secondary school teachers in three districts in Malaysia. Research instrument was self-developed by the researchers based on interviews carried out with some resource persons who are…

Measuring the environmental literacy of teachers | Swanepoel ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The crucial role that teachers' environmental literacy plays in realising the goals of environmental education and the importance of the ability, to determine their level of environmental literacy, are argued. A measuring instrument was developed in this regard and was applied to a sample of teachers. An analysis of the results ...

Teachers'Skills in Identification and Management of Students'Talents in Ondo State Secondary Schools

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M. A. Yusuf

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The study examined the teachers' skills in identification and management of secondary school students' talent in Ondo State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design for the study. The population of the study com-prised 3462 secondary schools' teachers in Ondo Central Senatorial District while the sample consisted of 360 teachers. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the sample. The first stage was a simple random technique to select three Local Government Areas from six Local Government Areas in the District. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select 24 secondary schools from the three Local Government Areas selected. The last stage in-volved using proportionate stratified random sampling to select a total of 360 teachers. Data for the study were collected using questionnaire tagged Teachers Shills in Identifying Students' Talents Questionnaire (TSITQ.Data collected were analysed using frequency count and simple percentages. The results showed that the predominant skill used by teachers in identifying students' talents were Guidance and Counselling, Motivation, Creative teaching and Pedagogical. It was found out that motivational strategy (in form of gifts, prizes and scholarship was predominantly used by teachers in managing students' talents followed by independent study, creative teaching and pro-gramme planning. Based on the findings of the study it was therefore recommended that teachers should improve on their strategies such as independent study, creative teaching, individualised instructions and programme planning in managing secondary school students' talents.

Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of autism spectrum disorder in a stratified sampling of preschool teachers in China.

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Liu, Yingna; Li, Jialing; Zheng, Qiaolan; Zaroff, Charles M; Hall, Brian J; Li, Xiuhong; Hao, Yuantao

2016-05-13

In China, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can potentially benefit from universal education policies and recent initiatives designed to address the needs of children with developmental disorders. However, adequate schooling is often unavailable for children with ASD, in part because teachers lack the knowledge and skills needed to work with this population. To better understand the current state of knowledge of ASD in China, we surveyed knowledge and attitudes regarding the disorder in preschool teachers. A total of 471 preschool teachers in the cities of Guangzhou and Foshan, China completed questionnaires assessing participant demographics, knowledge of typical child development and knowledge of ASD, attitudes towards ASD, practices and self-perceptions of efficacy in the education of children with ASD, and awareness of organizations and intervention approaches devoted to the care of individuals with ASD. The correlation between individual- and school-level variables with current knowledge of typical child development and ASD was examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. The majority (84%) of participants answered correctly more than half of the questionnaire items assessing understanding of typical child development. In contrast, 83% provided inaccurate responses to more than half of the questionnaire items assessing knowledge of ASD. Knowledge of typical child development and knowledge of ASD were both associated with geographic region (teachers in Guangzhou had greater knowledge than those in Foshan, p teachers in China, and greater teacher training and instruction is needed. Nonetheless, teachers report a willingness and motivation to gain the skills needed to maximize the educational experiences of children with ASD.

Language Teachers: Research and Studies in Language(s) Education, Teaching, and Learning in "Teaching and Teacher Education," 1985-2012

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Kleinsasser, Robert C.

2013-01-01

The article reviews twelve of 79 articles focusing on language teachers, language(s) teacher education, teaching, and learning published in "Teaching and Teacher Education" since 1985. The twelve articles, divided into three sections, include narrative inquiry and identity, teacher education topics, and contexts. The articles provide local and…

Information Communication Technology to support and include Blind students in a school for all An Interview study of teachers and students’ experiences with inclusion and ICT support to blind students

OpenAIRE

Rony, Mahbubur Rahman

2017-01-01

The topic of this is this study is how blind students and teachers experiences Information Communication Technology as a tool to support and include blind students in a school for all. The study investigates how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enables blind students to adjust into non-special schools. The research method used to collect data is interview. The goal is to get insight to teachers and students’ experiences with inclusion and ICT as a tool to support blind student...

American Elementary Education Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes towards Biotechnology Processes

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Chabalengula, Vivien Mweene; Mumba, Frackson; Chitiyo, Jonathan

2011-01-01

This study examined elementary education pre-service teachers' attitudes towards biotechnology processes. A sample comprised 88 elementary education pre-service teachers at a mid-sized university in the Midwest of the USA. Sixty and 28 of these pre-service teachers were enrolled in Introductory Science Methods course and Advance Science Methods…

Teachers' engagement in professional learning : exploring motivational profiles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen in de Wal, J.; Brok, den P.J.; Hooijer, J.G.; Martens, R.L.; Beemt, van den A.A.J.

2014-01-01

This study investigated to what extent secondary school teachers are motivated to work on their professional learning. To this end, profiles of motivational dimensions from self-determination theory were explored in a sample of 2360 teachers by means of latent profile analysis. The motivational

Influence of Teachers' Teaching Experience on Students' Learning ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

cce

Items 1 - 6 ... should encourage experienced teachers to stay on the job through the provision of incentives .... sampling technique. The instrument used to collect data was an inventory titled 'secondary schools teachers' teaching experience and students' learning .... Source: Statistics Division, Ministry of Education, Akure.

Head Teachers and Teachers as Pioneers in Facilitating Dyslexic Children in Primary Mainstream Schools

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Fahima Salman Jaka

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study explores the perceptions of school heads and teachers in facilitating young dyslexic children in primary mainstream schools of Pakistan. Through purposive sampling, the researcher selected eight participants: Four primary school heads and four primary teachers from elite schools of Karachi. The research instrument selected for this study was in-depth interviews to get a deeper insight of school heads and teachers perceptions regarding the facilitation of dyslexic children. The findings revealed that children with dyslexia face many emotional and academic problems and only a few elite schools provide policy to facilitate them in mainstream education. Findings showed that some schools hired remedial teaching services or special education services and the school heads and primary teachers put in immense effort in preparing intervention plans and evaluation plans to suit individual and young dyslexic children needs. It was also suggested that positivity of the learning environment depends upon the teachers. The findings further disclosed that unlike the more developed nations, apart from a few elite schools in Pakistan, there is no importance paid to professional training related to dyslexia.

Chinese and US Middle-School Science Teachers' Autonomy, Motivation, and Instructional Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Laura; Jones, M. Gail

2013-06-01

This study examined Chinese and US middle-school science teachers' perceptions of autonomy support. Previous research has documented the link between teachers' perceptions of autonomy and the use of student-oriented teaching practices for US teachers. But is not clear how the perception of autonomy may differ for teachers from different cultures or more specifically how motivation factors differ across cultures. The survey measured teachers' motivation, perceptions of constraints at work, perceptions of students' motivation, and level of autonomy support for students. Exploratory factor analysis of responses for the combined teacher sample (n = 201) was carried out for each of the survey assessments. Significance testing for Chinese (n = 107) and US (n = 94) teachers revealed significant differences in teachers' motivation and perceptions of constraints at work and no significant differences for perceptions of students' motivation or their level of autonomy support for students. Chinese teachers' perceptions of constraints at work, work motivation, and perceptions of student motivation were found to significantly predict teachers' autonomy support. For the US teachers, teacher motivation was the only significant predictor of teachers' autonomy support. A sub-sample of teachers (n = 19) was interviewed and results showed that teachers in both countries reported that autonomy was important to their motivation and the quality of science instruction they provided to students. The primary constraints on teaching reported by the US teachers related to materials and laboratory space while the Chinese teachers reported constraints related to the science curriculum and standards.

Design and validation of a standards-based science teacher efficacy instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Kerr, Patricia Reda

National standards for K--12 science education address all aspects of science education, with their main emphasis on curriculum---both science subject matter and the process involved in doing science. Standards for science teacher education programs have been developing along a parallel plane, as is self-efficacy research involving classroom teachers. Generally, studies about efficacy have been dichotomous---basing the theoretical underpinnings on the work of either Rotter's Locus of Control theory or on Bandura's explanations of efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancy. This study brings all three threads together---K--12 science standards, teacher education standards, and efficacy beliefs---in an instrument designed to measure science teacher efficacy with items based on identified critical attributes of standards-based science teaching and learning. Based on Bandura's explanation of efficacy being task-specific and having outcome expectancy, a developmental, systematic progression from standards-based strategies and activities to tasks to critical attributes was used to craft items for a standards-based science teacher efficacy instrument. Demographic questions related to school characteristics, teacher characteristics, preservice background, science teaching experience, and post-certification professional development were included in the instrument. The instrument was completed by 102 middle level science teachers, with complete data for 87 teachers. A principal components analysis of the science teachers' responses to the instrument resulted in two components: Standards-Based Science Teacher Efficacy: Beliefs About Teaching (BAT, reliability = .92) and Standards-Based Science Teacher Efficacy: Beliefs About Student Achievement (BASA, reliability = .82). Variables that were characteristic of professional development activities, science content preparation, and school environment were identified as members of the sets of variables predicting the BAT and BASA

Kindergarten risk factors, cognitive factors, and teacher judgments as predictors of early reading in Dutch.

Science.gov (United States)

Gijsel, Martine A R; Bosman, Anna M T; Verhoeven, Ludo

2006-01-01

This study focused on the predictive value of risk factors, cognitive factors, and teachers' judgments in a sample of 462 kindergartners for their early reading skills and reading failure at the beginning of Grade 1. With respect to risk factors, enrollment in speech-language therapy, history of dyslexia or speech-language problems in the family, and the role of gender were considered. None of these risk factors were significantly related to reading performance. Cognitive factors in this study included letter knowledge, rapid naming ability, and nonword repetition skills. Of these skills, letter knowledge seemed to have the highest correlation with reading. Kindergarten teachers' judgments, including a task assignment scale and teachers' predictions, demonstrated a significant relationship with reading. Finally, to judge whether these predictors could identify reading disabilities, the discriminatory power of all predictors was assessed and appeared to be insufficient. Implications for screening purposes are discussed.

Teacher-to-Teacher Consultation: Facilitating Consistent and Effective Intervention across Grade Levels for Students with ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Gormley, Matthew J.; Dupaul, George J.

2015-01-01

Teacher-to-teacher consultation (TTC) is an extension of standard behavioral consultation that seeks to transfer an established and effective intervention across a grade-level transition by including teachers from both grade levels as conjoint consultees at the beginning of the second school year. The purpose of the current study was to determine…

The Role of Principals in Reducing Teacher Turnover and the Shortage of Teachers. Policy Brief 2018-2

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Edward J.; Pendola, Andrew; Young, Michelle D.

2018-01-01

New research has identified teacher working conditions as having a greater effect on teacher turnover than most other factors, including student achievement and student characteristics. Importantly, research has debunked the conventional wisdom that teachers often leave schools because of student characteristics. This brief discusses how teacher…

Construction of teacher knowledge in context: Preparing elementary teachers to teach mathematics and science

Science.gov (United States)

Lowery, Maye Norene Vail

1998-12-01

The purposes of this study were to further the understanding of how preservice teacher construct teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of elementary mathematics and science and to determine the extent of that knowledge in a school-based setting. Preservice teachers, university instructors, inservice teachers, and other school personnel were involved in this context-specific study. Evidence of the preservice teachers' knowledge construction (its acquisition, its dimensions, and the social context) was collected through the use of a qualitative methodology. Collected data included individual and group interviews, course documents, artifacts, and preservice teaching portfolios. Innovative aspects of this integrated mathematics and science elementary methods course included standards-based instruction with immediate access to field experiences. Grade-level teams of preservice and inservice teachers planned and implemented lessons in mathematics and science for elementary students. An on-site, portable classroom building served as a mathematics and science teaching and learning laboratory. A four-stage analysis was performed, revealing significant patterns of learning. An ecosystem of learning within a constructivist learning environment was identified to contain three systems: the university system; the school system; and the cohort of learners system. A mega system for the construction of teacher knowledge was revealed in the final analysis. Learning venues were discovered to be the conduits of learning in a situated learning context. Analysis and synthesis of data revealed an extensive acquisition of teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge through identified learning components. Patience, flexibility, and communication were identified as necessities for successful teaching. Learning components included: collaboration with inservice teachers; implementation of discovery learning and hands-on/minds-on learning; small groupwork; lesson planning

Students' Individual and Social Behaviors with Physical Education Teachers' Personality

Science.gov (United States)

Arbabisarjou, Azizollah; Sourki, Mehdi Sadeghian; Bonjar, Seyedeh Elaham Hashemi

2016-01-01

The main objective for this survey is to assess the relationship between physical education teachers' personality and students' individual with social behaviors. The statistical population of the study was all the teachers of physical education working at high schools in the academic year 2012-2013. The sample consisted of sixty teachers that were…

Student Teachers' Conceptions of Creativity in the Secondary Music Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Kokotsaki, Dimitra

2011-01-01

This study aims to explore the meaning of the concept of creativity from the perspective of student teachers pursuing a one year teacher training course following their first degree. Seventeen student teachers following a specialist music teaching route in secondary education were selected as the sample for this study to offer their understanding…

Psycho-Social Factors Causing Stress: A Study of Teacher Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Geetika; Tyagi, Harish Kumar; Kumar, Anil

2015-01-01

Purpose: The present investigation was planned to determine the influence of type of personality, gender, age, qualification and experience causing stress among teacher educators at work. Method: A sample of 100 subjects from male and female teachers teaching in teacher training colleges, Delhi, India was drawn randomly. The data was collected by…

The impact of science methods courses on preservice elementary teachers' science teaching self-efficacy beliefs: Case studies from Turkey and the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Bursal, Murat

Four case studies in two American and two Turkish science methods classrooms were conducted to investigate the changes in preservice elementary teachers' personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) beliefs during their course periods. The findings indicated that while Turkish preservice elementary teachers (TR sample) started the science methods course semester with higher PSTE than their American peers (US sample), due to a significant increase in the US sample's and an insignificant decline in the TR sample's PSTE scores, both groups completed the science methods course with similar PSTE levels. Consistent with Bandura's social cognitive theory, describing four major sources of self-efficacy, the inclusion of mastery experiences (inquiry activities and elementary school micro-teaching experiences) and vicarious experiences (observation of course instructor and supervisor elementary teacher) into the science methods course, providing positive social persuasion (positive appraisal from the instructor and classmates), and improving physiological states (reduced science anxiety and positive attitudes toward becoming elementary school teachers), were found to contribute to the significant enhancement of the US sample's PSTE beliefs. For the TR sample, although some of the above sources were present, the lack of student teaching experiences and inservice teacher observations, as well as the TR samples' negative attitudes toward becoming elementary school teachers and a lack of positive classroom support were found to make Turkish preservice teachers rely mostly on their mastery in science concepts, and therefore resulted in not benefiting from their science methods course, in terms of enhancing their PSTE beliefs. Calls for reforms in the Turkish education system that will include more mastery experiences in the science methods courses and provide more flexibility for students to choose their high school majors and college programs, and switch between them are made. In

An Analysis of School Principals' Listening Skills According to Teacher Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Yavuz, Mustafa

2010-01-01

This study investigates school principals' listening skills according to teacher feedback in terms of a number of variables. The study is conducted according to a general survey model. The sample consists of 477 elementary, general and vocational secondary school teachers working in Konya, Turkey, in the 2007-2008 education year. The sample was…

Teachers' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Supportive Behaviors toward LGBT Students: Relationship to Gay-Straight Alliances, Antibullying Policy, and Teacher Training

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, Katie; Gettinger, Maribeth

2016-01-01

This study focused on the association between 3 school-level supports for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward LGBT youth. Framed within social support theory, the study used survey method with a sample of 98 teachers in Grades 6-12. The purpose was to examine the relation…

Restructuring Teachers' Work

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Lisa Kirtman

2002-05-01

Full Text Available Despite repeated attempts to reform schools, teachers' work has remained surprisingly stable. The purpose of this study was to investigate implementation of a state-funded restructuring initiative that intended broad changes in teachers' professional roles. Sponsors of the founding legislation reasoned that changes in teachers' roles would contribute to higher student achievement. This study examined the question of whether and how this program of comprehensive whole-school change promoted changes in teachers' roles in school governance, collegial relations, and the classroom. Further, the study traced the relationship of these changes to one another, and weighed the likelihood that they had the capacity to affect core educational practices. Theoretically, this study is situated in the available literature on teachers' collegial relations; participation in shared decision making; and classroom roles, relationships and practice. Three elementary schools served as the sites for intensive qualitative data collection completed over a two-year period. The schools differed in geographic location (two urban, one rural, but all enrolled a racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse population of students, and more than half of the students in each school qualified for free or reduced price lunch. The study resulted in multiple types and sources of data on teachers' professional roles, including: observations in classrooms, collegial interactions, and governance situations; interviews with teachers (including teacher leaders, parents, administrators, and students; and documents pertaining to the restructuring plans and process. Findings show that changes in the three areas were achieved unevenly in the three schools. All three schools introduced changes in classroom practice and roles, ranging from the adoption of multi-age classrooms to more modest innovations in curriculum or instruction. In only one case were changes in professional roles outside

Preservice Teachers Connecting Mathematics and Drumming

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Anne Marie

2014-01-01

Increasingly, elementary classroom teachers are being called to teach a myriad of subjects, including visual art, dance, and music. Preservice teachers must be prepared to teach and integrate multiple subjects. To that end, preservice teachers will need experiences in their preparation that help them to see connections across content areas and…

Assessing Residents' Readiness for OR Autonomy: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Expert Surgical Teachers' Best Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaodong Phoenix; Sullivan, Amy M; Alseidi, Adnan; Kwakye, Gifty; Smink, Douglas S

Providing resident autonomy in the operating room (OR) is one of the major challenges for surgical educators today. The purpose of this study was to explore what approaches expert surgical teachers use to assess residents' readiness for autonomy in the OR. We particularly focused on the assessments that experts make prior to conducting the surgical time-out. We conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with expert surgical teachers from March 2016 to September 2016. Purposeful sampling and snowball sampling were applied to identify and recruit expert surgical teachers from general surgery residency programs across the United States to represent a range of clinical subspecialties. All interviews were audio-recorded, deidentified, and transcribed. We applied the Framework Method of content analysis, discussed and reached final consensus on the themes. We interviewed 15 expert teachers from 9 institutions. The majority (13/15) were Program or Associate Program Directors; 47% (7/15) primarily performed complex surgical operations (e.g., endocrine surgery). Five themes regarding how expert surgical teachers determine residents' readiness for OR autonomy before the surgical time-out emerged. These included 3 domains of evidence elicited about the resident (resident characteristics, medical knowledge, and beyond the current OR case), 1 variable relating to attending characteristics, and 1 variable composed of contextual factors. Experts obtained one or more examples of evidence, and adjusted residents' initial autonomy using factors from the attending variable and the context variable. Expert surgical teachers' assessments of residents' readiness for OR autonomy included 5 key components. Better understanding these inputs can contribute to both faculty and resident development, enabling increased resident autonomy and preparation for independent practice. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Science teachers in deaf education: A national survey of K-8 teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Cynthia

A survey was conducted with 67 science teachers who taught deaf children at the elementary school level. Teacher background variables, information about teacher preparation and certification, preferred teaching methods, communication methodologies, curriculum, and the use of technology were gathered. A purposeful, convenience sampling technique was employed. Utilizing a non-experimental, basic research design and survey methodology, the researcher reviewed both quantitative and qualitative data. The majority of science teachers in this survey at the elementary school level are female and hearing. More than half have deaf education masters degrees. Few have science degrees. The majority of teachers had less than 10 years teaching experience with deaf students. Sixty percent were highly qualified in science; only forty percent were certified in science. They were equally employed at either a state residential school or a public day school. Two-way chi-square analyses were carried out. Hearing teachers preferred to observe other teachers teaching science compared to deaf teachers chi2 (1, N = 67) = 5.39, p translanguaging than hearing teachers (chi2 (1, N = 67) = 4.54, p < .05). Hearing teachers used the computer more often in the classroom than deaf teachers (chi 2 (1, N = 67) = 4.65, p < .01). Hearing teachers had their students use the computer more regularly than deaf teachers (chi2 (1, N = 67) = 11.49, p < .01). Teachers who worked in residential schools compared to working in public schools attended more state department of education science workshops chi2 (1, N = 67) = 6.83, p < .01, attended national or state science meetings chi2 (1, N = 67) = 7.96, p < .01, were familiar with the Star Schools program chi2 (1, N=67) = 13.23, p < .01, and participated more in Star Schools programs chi 2 (1, N = 67) = 15.96, p < .01. Compared to hearing teachers, the deaf teachers used web-based science materials (chi2 (1, N = 67) = 4.65, p < .01), used codeswitching chi2 (1, N

The impact of the abolition of corporal punishment on teacher ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is a direct correlation between (teacher) morale and (learner) discipline at sch ool. Since the scrapping of corporal punishment, a sense of despair seems to have taken over amongst teachers in South Africa. The findings of this study indicated that more than 65% of teachers, out of a sample population of 80 ...

Teachers' Perception Regarding Facial Expressions as an Effective Teaching Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Butt, Muhammad Naeem; Iqbal, Mohammad

2011-01-01

The major objective of the study was to explore teachers' perceptions about the importance of facial expression in the teaching-learning process. All the teachers of government secondary schools constituted the population of the study. A sample of 40 teachers, both male and female, in rural and urban areas of district Peshawar, were selected…

Exploring the Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusive Education System: A Study of Indian Teachers

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Kumar, Anil

2016-01-01

This article explores the attitudes of university and school teachers towards inclusive education system. One hundred teachers having equal number of male and female population was included in the study. Participants were administered an attitude scale namely--Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale (ATIE), developed by Wilczenski (1992) to…

The Art of Teaching Reading: A Study of Teachers' Perceptions of Their Teacher Education Reading Course

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Lebsock, Rene Mendel

2016-01-01

This qualitative study examined the influence of a teacher education reading course on teachers' actual classroom reading instruction. The research included a pilot study, followed by a full study consisting of a demographic survey and four focus groups. Fifteen teachers, 9 beginning (1 to 3 years of experience), and 6 seasoned (4 to 8 years of…

ICT and special educational needs: analysis of ICT skills teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inmaculada Tello Díaz-Maroto

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Today, we must consider the initial training of teachers with ICT, and continued learning, both of them essential for teachers for the quality of their educational work. In the field of ICT applied to education, technical training and pedagogical training are both necessary. We must accompany the accessibility of these resources with their educational use. ICT opens a new way to access information and offers a great communication bridge for contact and learning. However, for teachers to make use of these tools effectively they must first know the procedure, so they must be one of the main actors involved in the process of teaching and learning. Therefore, they should be updated in the proper use of ICT. To check the level of ICT training of teachers in service, we have used a questionnaire focusing on several dimensions related to ICT in the classroom: knowledge of these resources, teaching methodology, resource selection, evaluation and training received. The study sample consists of 147 teachers from 4 Spanish regions and 9 provinces. The sample used has been a purposive sampling, selecting teachers who have attended a training course on the use of ICT. The results show several differences in understanding the use of ICT in the Spanish territory and a high demand for specific training adapted to the reality of each center.

A Path Analysis Study of School Culture and Teachers' Organisational Commitment

Science.gov (United States)

Karadag, Engin; Baloglu, Nuri; Cakir, Abdullah

2011-01-01

In this study, the direct and indirect relations between school culture and the organisational commitment of primary school teachers were analyzed. The subjects of the research consisted of primary school teachers who worked at a district in Istanbul in the academic year 2007-2008. The sampling group was defined by the cluster sampling method. In…

The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Tara G; Atkins, Marc S; Frazier, Stacy L

2013-09-01

This study examined the factor structure of the Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary version (OHI-E; Hoy, Tarter, & Kottkamp, 1991) in a sample of 203 teachers working in 19 high-poverty, urban schools and the association of organizational school health with teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and job satisfaction. Results indicated a similar factor structure of the OHI-E as compared with the population of schools in the original sample (Hoy et al., 1991), and that specific components of organizational health, such as a positive learning environment, are associated with teacher efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Overall, teachers' relations with their peers, their school leadership, and their students appear especially critical in high-poverty, urban schools. Recommendations for research and practice related to improving high-poverty, urban schools are presented.

Who chooses to become a teacher and why?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reimer, David; Dorf, Hans

-secondary pupils. The nature of the data collected enables us to characterize teacher education students in contrast to a baseline reference group eligible to apply for teacher education and to compare these differences across countries (difference-in-differences estimation). This analytical strategy allows us......We analyze in this article to what extent beginning teacher education students at the primary school level differ with respect to previous educational pathways, socio-demographic characteristics, academic self-concepts and occupational motivations. In order to overcome methodological problems...... of most previous empirical studies on teacher recruitment we draw on data from a recent comparative study on teacher recruitment based on two different samples: In both Denmark and Finland we surveyed a representative group of first year teacher education students as well as last year upper...

A study of the effectiveness of a four semester preservice Secondary Science Teacher Education program regarding changes in teacher perceptions and practices

Science.gov (United States)

Yakar, Zeha

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development and change in constructivist behaviors of preservice science teachers of the Iowa-Secondary Science Teacher Education Program (SSTEP) over the four semester sequence. Constructivist behaviors were investigated from four perspectives; including actual classroom performances as viewed from videotapes, teacher perceptions of teacher use of constructivist teaching practices, and teacher beliefs as gained from open-ended questions, and written artifacts. The participants of the study included a total of 41 secondary science preservice teachers in four different semesters of their teacher preparation program. Three instruments were used to generate the main data to answer the research questions. The three instruments were: (1) Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), (2) Philosophy of Teaching and Learning (PTL), and (3) videotape portfolio evaluated with the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Major findings include the following: (1) Preservice teachers' perceptions regarding constructivist approaches become significantly and increasingly more student-centered in terms of Personal Relevance, Critical Voice, Shared Control, and Student Negotiation as they prepare through the four semester sequence. (2) Preservice teachers' conceptions concerning teaching and learning become significantly and increasingly more student-centered in terms of what students need to do to improve their understanding of science concepts. (3) Preservice teachers conceptions and their perceptions about actual classroom practices rarely align with observed teaching practices in their classrooms. Although preservice teachers hold student-centered beliefs and perceptions, their actual classroom teaching practices were "transitional constructivist". (4) Preservice teachers' constructivist practices of teaching and learning began to decline in the third semester with preservice teachers moving towards more teacher

Teacher Enhancement Institute

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall-Bradley, Tina

1994-01-01

During the 1980's, a period of intense concern over educational quality in the United States, few indicators of U.S. student achievement garnered the interest of policy makers and pundits as successfully as the results of international testing in mathematics and science. This concern was so great that as a part of the Goals 2000 initiative, President George Bush indicated that 'By the year 2000, U.S. students should be first in the world in mathematics and science.' The Clinton Administration is placing a major emphasis, not only on rigorous academic standards and creating a new system for assessing students' progress, but also including professional development as a major focus. The argument being that teachers need more sustained, intensive training to prepare them to teach to higher standards. Executive order 12821 mandates that national laboratories 'assist in the mathematics and science education of our Nation's students, teachers, parents and the public by establishing programs at their agency to provide for training elementary and secondary school teachers to improve their knowledge of mathematics and science'. These and other issues led to the development of ideas for a project that addresses the need for excellence in mathematics, science and technology instruction. In response to these initiatives the NASA/LaRC Teacher Enhancement Institute was proposed. The TEI incorporated systemic reform perspectives, enhanced content knowledge for teachers, and teacher preparation. Emphasis was also placed on recruiting those educators who teach in impoverished urban school districts with at-risk student populations who have been traditionally under represented in science, mathematics, technology and engineering. Participants in the Teacher Enhancement Institute were 37 teachers from grades K-8, teaching in Region 2 in the state of Virginia, as well as 2 preservice teachers from Norfolk State University and one teacher from Dublin, Virginia, where a Science

Mobile Phone as Pedagogical Tools: Are Teachers Ready?

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, Issham; Azizan, Siti Norbaya; Azman, Nizuwan

2013-01-01

This study examined the teachers' perceptions on the implementation of mobile learning via mobile phone at schools. The sample for this study comprised thirty eight teachers who were teaching Information Technology (IT) subjects from various primary schools in Penang, Malaysia. A quantitative survey was administered to the respondents whereby…

Pre-service teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated pre-service teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge in teaching geometric transformation. Eighty-two pre-service teachers from two Colleges of Education in the Ashanti region of Ghana consisted the sample size. The study was a quantitative study which employed survey as a strategy of ...

Becoming Reflective and Inquiring Teachers: Collaborative Action Research for In-service Chilean Teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martine Pellerin

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the outcomes of a case study that engaged Chilean in-service teachers in systematic action research (AR as a means of improving their pedagogical practice and effecting changes in their educational context. The study involved six in-service teachers from a region of Chile and two university researchers. The findings show that knowledge of systematic AR provided the teachers with the necessary means to engage in a critical reflection and inquiry process regarding their own practice. The teacher participants also perceived the self-reflective spiral of reflection and action to be crucial in establishing new habits of inquiry and reflection about their own pedagogical actions. The findings support earlier studies (e.g., Price & Valli, 2005; Steven & Kitchen, 2005, 2011 concerning the necessity of including knowledge of systematic AR in teacher preparation programs in order to foster strong habits of inquiry and reflection among preservice teachers. Finally, the study suggests that participation in a systematic reflection and inquiry process contributes to empowering in-service teachers to become agents of pedagogical change through their own actions.

Relationship Between Dyadic Coping Strategies With Stress, Marital Satisfaction And Burnout In The Teachers

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روح‌اله محمدی

2014-03-01

Full Text Available There is a mutual relationship between work and family dimensions. Present study compares the relationship between dyadic coping strategies with stress, marital satisfaction and burnout. Findings can have practical implications for couples and therapists in the field of preventive training programs. Statistical population was all teachers (N=9151 in three educational levels in the 2011-2012 school-year who lived in Zanjan. Sampling was through multi-stage cluster sampling. Sample size consists 406 teachers from 38 schools. Different questionnaires were used in present study including dyadic coping inventory (DCI, scale burnout (MBI and the scale of marital satisfaction (MAT. Findings demonstrated the relationship between coping strategy and burnout subscales for spouses. There is also a relationship between dyadic coping strategy and marital satisfaction. Results can have practical implications in order to formulate and implement educational and preventive training programs to deal with stressful professional conditions of one earner couples in the field of teaching.

Distributed but Undefined: New Teacher Leader Roles to Change Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Margolis, Jason; Huggins, Kristin Shawn

2012-01-01

This article examines teacher leader role development and definition by looking at one emergent model of distributed leadership: the hybrid teacher leader (HTL). HTLs are teachers whose official schedule includes both teaching K-12 students and leading teachers in some capacity. Participants included six HTLs across four school districts over 2…

The Twenty Statement Test in Teacher Development

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Ahmet Aypay

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to describe teacher characteristics using Twenty Statements Test (TST. Study group includes a total of thirty-five individuals, including teachers, guidance and counselors and research assistants. The study used a qualitative approach on teacher identity. TST is one of the qualitative methods that were used to determine individual self-conceptualization. Study group were requested to write twenty statements that describe themselves responding to the question “Who I am?” in a free format. The findings indicated that teachers were overwhelmingly in group c (reflective. No differences were found in terms of gender and profession. Only few significant differences have been found based on marital status. The utility of TST in teacher training and development was discussed.

The Twenty Statement Test in Teacher Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Aypay

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to describe teacher characteristics using Twenty Statements Test (TST. Study group includes a total of thirty-five individuals, including teachers, guidance and counselors and research assistants. The study used a qualitative approach on teacher identity. TST is one of the qualitative methods that were used to determine individual self-conceptualization. Study group were requested to write twenty statements that describe themselves responding to the question “Who I am?” in a free format. The findings indicated that teachers were overwhelmingly in group c (reflective. No differences were found in terms of gender and profession. Only few significant differences have been found based on marital status. The utility of TST in teacher training and development was discussed

Science and Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs of Pre-School Teachers

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Aydogdu, Bülent; Peker, Murat

2016-01-01

The aim of this research was to examine science and mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-school teachers in terms of some variables. The sample of the study was comprised of 191 pre-school teachers working in a city in Aegean Region of Turkey. Since it attempted to define self-efficacy beliefs of pre-school teachers toward science and…

Appreciation of historical events and characters: their relationship with national identity and collective self-esteem in a sample of public school teachers from the city of Lima.

Science.gov (United States)

Rottenbacher de Rojas, Jan Marc

2010-11-01

This study analyzes the relation between national identity and the appreciation of the characters and events of Peruvian history in a sample of public school teachers from the city of Lima (N = 99). Adapted versions of the NATID Scale (Keillor et al., 1996) and the CSES Scale (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) are used as measures of national identity. National pride and interest in knowing about Peruvian history are variables also included in this study. The study shows that appreciation of historical characters is more positive than appreciation of historical events. There is a positive association between national identity and appreciation of Peruvian historical characters. A multiple linear regression model is proposed; this model shows that appreciation of cultural heritage and national pride has a positive impact on the appreciation of characters of Peruvian history.

Barriers to Providing the Sexuality Education That Teachers Believe Students Need

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenberg, Marla E.; Madsen, Nikki; Oliphant, Jennifer A.; Sieving, Renee E.

2013-01-01

Background: Sexuality education teachers' perspectives are important to gain a full understanding of the issues surrounding teaching this subject. This study uses a statewide sample of public school teachers to examine what sexuality education content is taught, what barriers teachers face, and which barriers are associated with teaching specific…

Grooming Great Urban Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Michele; Lewis, Jeffrey; Onafowora, Laura

2005-01-01

Master teachers working in real urban classrooms have shared their exemplary teaching practices in an After-School Pedagogical Laboratory (L-TAPL), a program for elementary students that aims to improve the achievement of urban students and the competence of their teachers. The L-TAPL enrichment program curriculum includes language arts, math,…

Finnish Cooperating Physics Teachers' Conceptions of Physics Teachers' Teacher Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Asikainen, Mervi A.; Hirvonen, Pekka E.

2010-01-01

This article examines Finnish cooperating physics teachers' conceptions of teacher knowledge in physics. Six experienced teachers were interviewed. The data was analyzed to form categories concerning the basis of teacher knowledge, and the tradition of German Didaktik and Shulman's theory of teacher knowledge were used in order to understand the…

Voices of Children, Parents and Teachers: How Children Cope with Stress during School Transition

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Mun

2015-01-01

This study explores how children's perceptions of stress factors and coping strategies are constructed over time. Children were interviewed before and after they made the transition from preschool to primary school. This study also explores teachers' and parental strategies in helping children to cope with stress at school. The sample included 53…

Spanish Oral Language Guide: Kindergarten Level. Espanol como Segundo Idioma. Teacher's Guide: Level I.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbell, Gloria; And Others

This teacher's guide to Spanish language at the kindergarten level includes a recommended subject presentation sequence for the Spanish curriculum, a sample schedule, a grouping of students using three stations, and a classroom layout. The grouping would be effective when at least one-third of the children are Spanish-speaking or bilingual. The…

Sexual Harassment in the Classroom: Teacher as Target.

Science.gov (United States)

Tochterman, Suzanne; Barnes, Fred

1998-01-01

Discusses teachers as victims of sexual harassment in their classrooms. Includes examples involving preservice and new teachers. Discusses the impact of harassment on teachers themselves and on classroom performance. Offers strategies to support and intervene with new teachers who have been victims of sexual harassment. (MKA)

Well-being and associated factors among elementary school teachers in southern Brazil

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Mariane Lopez Molina

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to verify the prevalence of well-being and its association with sociodemographic features, health and work-related conditions, and vocal behavior in elementary school teachers in the city of Pelotas, RS. Methods: a cross-sectional observational study with 575 teachers from urban and rural areas. The participants answered a structured questionnaire that included items on sociodemographic, health and work-related conditions. The Faces Scale (Andrews was used to evaluate their psychological well-being. The Vocal Behavior Profile verified occurrences of abuse and vocal misuse. Poisson regression was used for the multivariate analysis. Results: of the total sample, 79.5% of teachers experienced well-being. It was observed that vocal behavior profile was significantly associated with well-being, and the number of students in the classroom showed a trend towards significance. Conclusion: most teachers had a satisfactory well-being perception. Moreover, a lower well-being perception in the teaching population was mainly related to abusive vocal behavior and, less clearly, to the high number of students per classroom.

Contributions of Teachers' Thinking Styles to Critical Thinking Dispositions (Istanbul-Fatih Sample)

Science.gov (United States)

Emir, Serap

2013-01-01

The main purpose of the research was to determine the contributions of the teachers' thinking styles to critical thinking dispositions. Hence, it is aimed to determine whether thinking styles are related to critical thinking dispositions and thinking styles measure critical thinking dispositions or not. The research was designed in relational…

Pre-Service Secondary Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

Science.gov (United States)

Costello, Shane; Boyle, Christopher

2013-01-01

The attitudes held by pre-service teachers have been shown to affect their willingness and ability to implement an inclusive approach to education. A sample consisting of 193 pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in secondary education courses at an Australian university were surveyed to determine their attitudes towards inclusive education,…

The Relationships between Teachers' Self-Concepts and their ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The goal of this study was to explore the relationships between teachers' self concepts and their classroom interaction patterns. The sample comprised 70 Junior Secondary School Teachers in the three Educational Zones in Cross River State. The two instruments used for the study were (i) The Adjective Self Description ...

Awareness on Learning Disabilities among Elementary School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Menon K. P., Seema

2016-01-01

The study aims to find out the awareness on learning disabilities among elementary school teachers. The sample for the present study consisted of 500 elementary school teachers of Kerala. In this study the investigator used an Awareness Test on Learning Disabilities to measure the Awareness on Learning Disabilities among Elementary School…

Physics Teacher Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Andrew; Bixler, David

2010-03-01

Physics Teacher Quality at Angelo State University (ASU) and Education Service Center Region XV is funded through a US Department of Education grant. In this program secondary science teachers from local and rural districts within Region XV learn and practice physics and principles of technology concepts emphasized in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), improve practice of 5E model of guided inquiry, and complete activity-based laboratories and field investigations. Investigations include field and laboratory safety, environmental responsibility, ethical practices, application of scientific methods to open-ended problems encountered in the physical sciences, and critical thinking and problem solving. Teachers are assessed through pre- and post- testing, lab practicum, and classroom observation over a two-year cycle. Assessment data from 2004 through 2008 indicates Physics Teacher Quality is changing teaching behavior in the secondary classroom.

Exploring science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in the teaching of genetics in Swaziland

Science.gov (United States)

Mthethwa-Kunene, Khetsiwe Eunice Faith

Recent trends show that learners' enrolment and performance in science at secondary school level is dwindling. Some science topics including genetics in biology are said to be difficult for learners to learn and thus they perform poorly in examinations. Teacher knowledge base, particularly topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), has been identified by many researchers as an important factor that is linked with learner understanding and achievement in science. This qualitative study was an attempt to explore the PCK of four successful biology teachers and how they developed it in the context of teaching genetics. The purposive sampling technique was employed to select the participating teachers based on their schools' performance in biology public examinations and recommendations by science specialists and school principals. Pedagogical content knowledge was used as a theoretical framework for the study, which guided the inquiry in data collection, analysis and discussion of the research findings. The study adopted the case study method and various sources of evidence including concept maps, lesson plans, pre-lesson interviews, lesson observations, post-teaching teacher questionnaire, post-lesson interviews and document analysis were used to collect data on teachers' PCK as well as how PCK was assumed to have developed. The data were analysed in an attempt to determine the individual teachers' school genetics' content knowledge, related knowledge of instructional strategies and knowledge of learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties. The analysis involved an iterative process of coding data into PCK categories of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of learners' preconceptions and learning difficulties. The findings of the study indicate that the four successful biology teachers generally have the necessary content knowledge of school genetics, used certain topic-specific instructional strategies, but lacked knowledge of

VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS- RULE OR EXCEPTION?

OpenAIRE

Siniša Opić; Maja Lokmić; Vesna Bilić

2013-01-01

Abstract- The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of violence against teachers by students. The study included 175 teachers, five primary and five secondary schools. The age of respondents (teachers) ranges from 20 to 65, with average age being 44,33 years. The used  instrument has assessed violence against teachers and has consisted of  data about the characteristics of respondents, frequency and type of violence experienced from students.The results suggest that violence ag...

Teacher Perfectionism and Iranian English Language Learners’ Motivation and Achievement

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Reza Rezvani

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Educational psychology has recently reflected a policy shift from focusing on “what goes wrong” in schools, including psychological, physical, and educational disabilities, to recognizing and promoting strengths and positive aspects of students and their environments. Within this scope, some lines of research have examined the extent to which setting personal high standards influences such positive outcomes as educational achievement and high level of motivation. The present study was motivated by the concern that Iranian English language teachers' setting high standards, i.e. perfectionism, may predict English language learners’ motivation and language achievement. Through cluster random sampling, a total of 30 English language teachers with more than one year of experience and 300 elementary English language learners were selected from English Language Institutes in Fars province, Iran. Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism scale and Motivations Underlying English Language Learning questionnaire were used to measure teachers' perfectionism and learners’ language learning motivation, respectively. The learners' final scores in the English courses were collected as a measure of their language learning achievement. The result of simple regression analysis revealed that the teachers' perfectionism did not predict English language learners’ motivation and language achievement. In other words, Iranian English language teachers' perfectionism did not account for any variance in these two variables of interest. Keywords: Perfectionism, Motivation, Language Learning Achievement

Vocational Teacher Perceptions on the use of ICT in Learning Computer Network

Science.gov (United States)

Yannuar; Rohendi, D.; Yanti, H.; Nurhabibah; Mi'raj, Y. Z.

2018-02-01

ICT has been widely used in primary education to vocational schools, but has not been so clearly integrate ICT in the learning process. While the teacher is the key to the effective use of ICT processed. This paper reports a study of surveys that examine the perspective of vocational school teachers. Current research aims to examine a vocational school teacher knowledge about ICT and support for computer use for learning. The sample in this research group consists of 25 teachers of vocational schools. The findings of this research use descriptive method with engineering survey with sampling purposes. Resources in research is journals and book report research results. The results showed teachers have a positive outlook towards the use of ICT in learning. The conclusions resulting from this research is the use of ICT to help teachers be more effective in teaching in the classroom and can improve student learning.

Organizational Conflict among Teachers and the Principal's Strategies of Dealing with It from the Teachers' Perspective in Schools of Jordan

Science.gov (United States)

Jubran, Ali Mohammad

2017-01-01

This research aimed to evaluate the degree of organizational conflict among teachers in Jordanian schools, along with the principal strategies to deal with them effectively. The research population was based on a sample of 123 teachers from Irbid, Jordan for the academic year 2013/2014. A descriptive research approach was adopted with the help of…

The Evaluation of Teachers' Job Performance Based on Total Quality Management (TQM)

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Shahmohammadi, Nayereh

2017-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate teachers' job performance based on total quality management (TQM) model. This was a descriptive survey study. The target population consisted of all primary school teachers in Karaj (N = 2917). Using Cochran formula and simple random sampling, 340 participants were selected as sample. A total quality management…

A Study of Occupational Stress and Organizational Climate of Higher Secondary Teachers

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Benedicta, A. Sneha

2014-01-01

This study mainly aims to describe the occupational stress and organizational climate of higher secondary teachers with regard to gender, locality, family type, experience and type of management. Simple random sampling technique was adopted for the selection of sample. The data is collected from 200 higher secondary teachers from government and…

The Day-to-Day Reality of Teacher Turnover in Preschool Classrooms: An Analysis of Classroom Context and Teacher, Director, and Parent Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Cassidy, Deborah J.; Lower, Joanna K.; Kintner-Duffy, Victoria L.; Hegde, Archana V.; Shim, Jonghee

2011-01-01

The purpose of the current study is to examine teacher turnover comprehensively by triangulating the experiences of teachers, directors, parents, and children through actual, "real-time" turnover transitions. We intentionally examined turnover with a small sample size (N = 13 classrooms) to facilitate comprehensive data collection utilizing…

An Empirical Investigation of the Moral Judgment Development of a Sample of High School Kuwaiti Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Shurai, Saad

2012-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate the moral development of one hundred Kuwaiti high school teachers. They ranged in age from 23 to 48 years with a mean of 28.6 years and a standard deviation of 8.3 years. The teachers' individual moral judgment levels were assessed by the Defining Issues Test (DIT)--an objective test designed by James Rest…

Teacher preparedness for inclusive education

African Journals Online (AJOL)

lynette

Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Economic & Management ... paredness of teachers for this new policy of inclusion. ... of inclusive classrooms, if viewed in global perspective (Dyson & .... teachers experience stress when including learners with special needs. ..... Stress areas and coping skills of South African.

A Study Examining the Extent of Including Competencies of Inclusive Education in the Preparation of Special Education Teachers in Saudi Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Alquraini, Turki Abduallh S.; Rao, Shaila M.

2018-01-01

Educators all over the world are trying to revise and/or build their teacher education programmes to ensure pre-service teachers working on their teaching credentials are competent and ready to manage classrooms from day one. This study surveyed 179 faculty from 30 colleges and universities in Saudi Arabia to find out the extent to which they…

Teachers' Perception of School Violence in a Sample from Three European Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Linares, Jose Jesus Gazquez; Diaz, Adolfo Javier Cangas; Fuentes, Maria del Carmen Perez; Acien, Francisca Lucas

2009-01-01

The objective of the present study was to explore, in three European countries (Spain, Hungary and the Czech Republic), teachers' perception of the prevalence of different problematic aspects related to coexistence in schools, and of how they are personally affected by these aspects. The results reveal a high prevalence of fights, insults and…

Student Teachers' Approaches to Teaching Biological Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Borgerding, Lisa A.; Klein, Vanessa A.; Ghosh, Rajlakshmi; Eibel, Albert

2015-06-01

Evolution is fundamental to biology and scientific literacy, but teaching high school evolution is often difficult. Evolution teachers face several challenges including limited content knowledge, personal conflicts with evolution, expectations of resistance, concerns about students' conflicts with religion, and curricular constraints. Evolution teaching can be particularly challenging for student teachers who are just beginning to gain pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge related to evolution teaching and who seek approval from university supervisors and cooperating teachers. Science teacher educators need to know how to best support student teachers as they broach the sometimes daunting task of teaching evolution within student teaching placements. This multiple case study report documents how three student teachers approached evolution instruction and what influenced their approaches. Data sources included student teacher interviews, field note observations for 4-5 days of evolution instruction, and evolution instructional artifacts. Data were analyzed using grounded theory approaches to develop individual cases and a cross-case analysis. Seven influences (state exams and standards, cooperating teacher, ideas about teaching and learning, concerns about evolution controversy, personal commitment to evolution, knowledge and preparation for teaching evolution, and own evolution learning experiences) were identified and compared across cases. Implications for science teacher preparation and future research are provided.

Teacher-to-Teacher Mentoring. For Tech Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Gora, Kathleen; Hinson, Janice

2004-01-01

Many principals want to provide effective professional development to assist teachers with technology integration, but they don't know where to begin. Sometimes teachers participate in professional development opportunities offered by local school districts, but these one-size-fits-all experiences seldom address teachers' specific needs or skill…

Turkish Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Preferred Learning Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Kandil Ingec, Sebnem

2015-01-01

This study aims to determine the dominant learning styles of pre-service physics teachers and to examine them in terms of variables such as gender, information and communication technologies skills, academic achievement and type of motivation. Survey model was used. The sample composed of 50 pre-service physics teachers. The data were collected…

Motivation among Public Primary School Teachers in Mauritius

Science.gov (United States)

Seebaluck, Ashley Keshwar; Seegum, Trisha Devi

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to critically analyse the factors that affect the motivation of public primary school teachers and also to investigate if there is any relationship between teacher motivation and job satisfaction in Mauritius. Design/methodology/approach: Simple random sampling method was used to collect data from 250 primary…

The Impact of Past Language Arts Teachers on the Reading Motivation of Twelfth Grade Students

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Shepard, Courtney A.

2017-01-01

Adolescents' motivation to read continues to decline. The purpose of this embedded single case study was to explore adolescent reading motivation to determine some ways in which adolescents are motivated to read. Through purposeful sampling, the participants included seven twelfth grade students and three English Language Arts teachers in grades…

WebQuest experience: Pre-Service secondary maths and chemistry teachers

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Erdoğan Halat

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine the impact of developing WebQuests on the attention, confidence, relevance and satisfaction, or motivation, of pre-service secondary mathematics and chemistry teachers in the instructional technologies and material design course. There were a total of 67 pre-service teachers, 32 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers and 35 pre-service secondary chemistry teachers involved in this study, which took place over seven weeks. The pre-service teachers in both groups designed their WebQuests suitable for the level of high-school students. The researcher used a questionnaire in the collection of the data to find the motivational level of the participants. It was given to the participants by the researcher before and after the instruction during a single class period. The paired-samples t-test, independent samples t-test and ANCOVA were used in the analysis of the quantitative data. The study showed that designing WebQuests had more effect on the attention, confidence and relevance of the pre-service chemistry teachers than of the pre-service mathematics teachers. However, in general, although developing WebQuests had positive effects on the motivational levels of both pre-service secondary maths and chemistry teachers, there were no statistically significant differences found in relation to the motivational levels of both groups.

A Study on the Relationship between Teacher Self Efficacy and Burnout

Science.gov (United States)

Savas, Ahmet Cezmi; Bozgeyik, Yunus; Eser, Ismail

2014-01-01

The major purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between teacher self efficacy and burnout. In order to collect the related data, "Maslach Burnout Inventory" and "Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale" were used. The sample of the study consisted of 163 randomly chosen teachers who worked in various primary and…

Designs for the Evaluation of Teacher Training Materials. Report No. 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Okey, James R.; Ciesla, Jerome L.

This paper describes methods to assess the impact on students of a teacher using skills learned in a training program. Three designs for assessing the effects of teacher training materials are presented: time series design, equivalent time-samples design, and posttest-only control group design. Data obtained by classroom teachers while using the…

A Graduate Student's Experience and Perspective on a Student-Teacher-Researcher Partnership

Science.gov (United States)

Bostic, J.; Stylinski, C.; Doty, C.

2017-12-01

Teachers and their K-12 students lack firsthand experience in science research and often harbor misconceptions about science practices and the nature of science. To address this challenge, the NOAA-funded Student-Teacher-Researcher (STAR) partnership that provides rural high school students with authentic research experiences investigating the amount and sources of nitrate in schoolyard runoff. Teachers received training, guiding curricular materials aligned with NGSS and in-classroom support. With a focus on evidence-based reasoning skills, students actively participate in the research process through sample collection, data analysis, and an in-person discussion of conclusions and implications with our scientist team. As a member of this team, I assisted with refining the study design, analyzing nitrate isotope runoff samples, and sharing insights and feedback with students during the in-person discussion session. Assessment results indicate student gained an understanding of nitrate pollution and of science practices. As a graduate student, young scientist, and possessor of a B.S. in Science Education, I already recognized the value of involving K-12 students and teachers in authentic research experiences, as these experiences expose students to the nature of science while also improving content knowledge. During the STAR partnership, I learned firsthand some of the obstacles presented during outreach involving partnerships between a research institution and schools, such as inflexibility of school scheduling and the need for flexibility with research questions requiring complex lab analysis. Additionally, I discovered the challenge of working systemically across a school district, which can have broad impact but limit student experiences. Highlights of my experience included interactions with students and teachers, especially when students have unexpected answers to my questions, providing novel explanations for patterns observed in the data. Despite the

The influence of professional teachers on Padang vocational school students' achievement

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Ramli Bakar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study determined: (1 the competency of professional teachers teaching in the classroom, (2 students' achievement in vocational schools in Padang, and (3 the influence of professional teachers on vocational school students' achievement in Padang. The population was 2,647 students in vocational schools. The sample, consisting of 160 students, was selected using a multistage, random sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaires and documentation, and then analyzed and presented using the SPSS software. The results showed: (1 overall, the professional teachers of vocational schools in Padang had good qualifications in pedagogical competence, professional competence, social competence, and personal competence, (2 the learning process of vocational schools in Padang was going well and in general, student achievement was at a good level of performance, and (3 there was a significant influence of professional teachers on vocational school students' achievement in Padang. Keywords: professional teacher, student achievement, vocational school

Measuring the Multicultural Dispositions of Preservice Teachers

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Jensen, Bryant; Whiting, Erin Feinauer; Chapman, Sara

2018-01-01

Claims abound in the research literature regarding multicultural teacher dispositions, including how to foster them in teacher preparation programs. However, measures of multicultural dispositions of teachers that (a) capture the range of conceptually rich constructs and (b) demonstrate strong psychometric properties are not represented in the…

Climate Profile and OCBs of Teachers in Public and Private Schools of India

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Garg, Pooja; Rastogi, Renu

2006-01-01

Purpose: This research aims to assess the significant differences in the climate profile and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of teachers working in public and private schools of India. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprised of 100 teachers, out of which 50 teachers were from public school and 50 teachers were from private…

Perceived Effectiveness of Identified Methods and Techniques Teachers Adopt in Prose Literature Lessons in some Secondary Schools in Owerri

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F. O. Ezeokoli

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The study determined the methods adopted by teachers in prose literature-in-English classrooms, activities of teachers and students, teachers’ perceived effectiveness of techniques used. It also examined the objectives of teaching prose literature that teachers should address and the extent teachers believe in student-identified difficulties of studying prose literature. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 85 schools in Owerri metropolis and in each school, all literature teachers of senior secondary I and II were involved. In all, 246 literature teachers participated out of which 15 were purposively selected for observation. The two instruments were: Teachers’ Questionnaire (r = 0.87 and Classroom Observation Schedule (r = 0.73. Data were analysed using frequency counts and percentages. Results revealed that teachers adopted lecture (28.4%, reading (10.9% and discussion (7.3% methods. Teacher’s activities during the lesson include: giving background information, summarizing, dictating notes, reading aloud and explaining and asking questions. The adopted techniques include: questioning, oral reading, silent reading and discussion. Teachers’ perceived questioning as the most effective technique followed by debating and summarizing. Teachers identified development of students’ critical faculties and analytical skills, literary appreciation and language skills to be of utmost concern. It was concluded that the methods adopted by teachers are not diverse enough to cater for the needs and backgrounds of students. Keywords: Methods, Techniques, Perceived Effectiveness, Objectives, Literature-in-English

Challenges to Vocational Teacher Education.

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Erickson, Richard C.

1985-01-01

Challenges to vocational teacher education include technological change that is sending large numbers of adults back to school; increasing numbers of women, minorities, and handicapped individuals who are seeking employment in nontraditional occupations; vocational preparation for jobs in the information economy; teacher recruitment; and creative…

Three Characteristics of Effective Teachers

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Steele, Natalie A.

2010-01-01

This article discusses three characteristics that are often associated with successful music educators. The three characteristics discussed include nonverbal communication, teacher self-efficacy, and servant leadership. Although there is no magical combination of characteristics that will produce an effective music teacher, these three attributes…

The influence of student ethnicity on teacher expectations and teacher perceptions of warmth and competence

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Raisa Akifyeva

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background. Previous research shows that incorrect teacher expectations about students can affect students’ academic success. Moreover, students’ ethnicity was found to be one of the most influential characteristics affecting teacher expectations, which can be based on ethnic stereotypes. Most studies test this relationship by comparing teacher expectations of multiple ethnic groups; however, we propose here another perspective, assuming that the connection between ethnic stereotypes and expectations may be determined by the content of the stereotypes. Objective. This study examines the influence of students’ ethnicity on teacher expectations and stereotypes, as well as the relationship of teacher expectations and stereotypes toward ethnic minority students, by including the stereotype content model in the analysis. Design. Thirty-four primary school teachers participated in the experiment in which they analyzed six fictional profiles of students, two of which were experimental. The experimental profiles contained identical information (annual school grade, a teacher testimonial, gender, but differed in names of the students and their parents, and in their migration background. Thus, we manipulated only the information related to ethnicity and migration history of two students. Results. Teacher expectations about the performance of minority students were always unfavorable compared with expectations about the performance of the majority students, but their expectations about the abilities of minority and majority students, which include teachers’ beliefs about students’ educational skills, attitudes and motivation, and capacity for school work, were mixed. We also discovered that the teacher expectations were positively related to perceptions of competence and not to perceptions of warmth. However, the minority student was evaluated by teachers as just as warm and competent as the majority. Conclusion. This study shows the relevance of

Teacher Transformation: An Exploration of Science Teachers' Changing Professional Identities, Knowledge, and Classroom Practices

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Whitacre, Michelle Phillips

This qualitative, multiple case study examines five teachers' experiences with a National Science Foundation-funded professional development (PD) program focused on science literacy. Using a three dimensional conceptual framework combining transformative learning theory, communities of practice, and sociocultural conceptions of identity it explores: the ways the "Science Literacy through Science Journalism" (SciJourn) project built professional community and influenced teacher learning; the influence of the project on participating science teachers' professional identities, knowledge, and classroom practices; and the ways teachers were or were not transformed by participation in the project. To this end, data from surveys and phenomenological interviews were analyzed through qualitative textual analysis and narrative analysis. Four of the teachers experienced a change in their stories to live by, aka, an identity shift. Three predominant themes emerged across these cases. These included a changed conceptualization of science literacy, the importance of student engagement and authenticity, and the value of SciJourn's professional development and community. The changed conceptualization of science literacy was particularly salient as it challenged these teachers' assumptions, led them to rethink how they teach science literacy, and also influenced them to re-evaluate their teaching priorities beyond the PD. Consequently, this study concludes that PD efforts should focus as much, or more, on influencing teachers' ideas regarding what and how they teach and less on teaching strategies. A close comparison between two teachers' diverging experiences with the program showed that student engagement played a significant role in teachers' perceptions of the value of project, suggesting that whether or not teachers sustain a new practice is closely tied to their students' feedback. Additionally, this analysis showed that a teacher's individualized needs and sense of efficacy

A descriptive study of the reported effects of state-mandated testing on the instructional practices and beliefs of middle school science teachers

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Font-Rivera, Miriam Josefa

. Recommendations for further research include collecting samples of teachers' lesson plans, classroom observations, and teacher interviews. Other variables that should be further explored with science teachers include school SES, achievement level of students, and teaching experience. Students' and principals' perceptions on the effects of state-mandated tests should also be investigated.

A Study of Early Childhood Teachers' Conceptions of Creativity in Hong Kong

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Cheung, Rebecca Hun Ping; Mok, Magdalena Mo Ching

2013-01-01

The study aimed to uncover the conceptions of creativity among early childhood teachers in Hong Kong. The sample comprised 563 early childhood teachers. Factor analysis supported the multidimensional hypothesis of teachers' conceptions of creativity. Five dimensions were found: novelty, product, problem solving, cognitive processes and personal…

Antecedent and Consequence of School Academic Optimism and Teachers' Academic Optimism Model

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Hong, Fu-Yuan

2017-01-01

The main purpose of this research was to examine the relationships among school principals' transformational leadership, school academic optimism, teachers' academic optimism and teachers' professional commitment. This study conducted a questionnaire survey on 367 teachers from 20 high schools in Taiwan by random sampling, using principals'…

Teachers' Self-Reported Pedagogical Practices toward Socially Inhibited, Hyperactive, and Average Children

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Thijs, Jochem T.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; Van Der Leij, Aryan

2006-01-01

This study examined teachers' self-reported pedagogical practices toward socially inhibited, hyperactive, and average kindergartners. A self-report instrument was developed and examined in three samples of kindergartners and their teachers. Principal components analyses were conducted in four datasets pertaining to 1 child per teacher. Two…

Attitudes of Mathematics Teachers toward Using Smart Board in Teaching Mathematics

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Muhanna, Wafa; Nejem, Khamis Mousa

2013-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the attitudes of mathematics teachers toward using a smart board in teaching mathematics and also to determine the effect of gender, experience, and qualification of teachers on their attitudes. The sample of this study consisted of 74 mathematics teachers--35 males and 39 females--from private schools in Amman…

Teachers' Responsibilities in Preventing School Violence: A Case Study in Turkey

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Yavuzer, Yasemin; Gundogdu, Rezzan

2012-01-01

It is generally acknowledged that teachers play an important role in preventing or reducing violence in schools. The objectives of this study were: (a) to identify teachers' responsibilities in terms of preventing violence among school children and (b) to solicit teachers' views as what they have been doing in preventing violence. Sample for the…

Adjusted State Teacher Salaries and the Decision to Teach

OpenAIRE

Rickman, Dan S.; Wang, Hongbo; Winters, John V.

2015-01-01

Using the 3-year sample of the American Community Survey (ACS) for 2009 to 2011, we compute public school teacher salaries for comparison across U.S. states. Teacher salaries are adjusted for state differences in teacher characteristics, cost of living, household amenity attractiveness and federal tax rates. Salaries of non-teaching college graduates, defined as those with occupations outside of education, are used to adjust for state household amenity attractiveness. We then find that state ...

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TURKISH EFL STATE SCHOOL TEACHERS' CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL WELL-BEING

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İ. EFE EFEOĞLU

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Cultural intelligence is described as the ability of a person to behave adequately in culturally diverse environments. It involves comprehending the effects of cultural background on the attitudes of people for auspicious participation in any social setting. Cultural intelligence may be positively and significantly correlated with professional well-being among English as foreign language (EFL teachers. So, the present study sought to investigate the correlation between Turkish EFL state school teachers' cultural intelligence and their professional well-being. A sample including 120 EFL state school teachers completed two questionnaires: (1 Cultural Intelligence Scale developed by Cultural Intelligence Center (2005; and (2 the Scale of Teacher Perception of Professional Well-Being developed by Yildirim, Arastaman and Dasci (2016. The results of the study indicated significant correlations between Turkish EFL state school teachers' cultural intelligence and their professional well-being. This study may help English Language Teaching (ELT departments to implement materials to their curriculum for aiding EFL teachers in terms of developing cultural intelligence. Furthermore, this paper makes a unique contribution to the area of cultural intelligence by identifying whether there is a relationship between cultural intelligence and professional well-being.

"I Don't Really Understand Probability at All": Final Year Pre-Service Teachers' Understanding of Probability

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Maher, Nicole; Muir, Tracey

2014-01-01

This paper reports on one aspect of a wider study that investigated a selection of final year pre-service primary teachers' responses to four probability tasks. The tasks focused on foundational ideas of probability including sample space, independence, variation and expectation. Responses suggested that strongly held intuitions appeared to…

An Assessment of Teacher Retention on Job Security in Private Secondary Schools in Ogun State, Nigeria

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M.F. Faremi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study assessed the relationship between teacher retention and job security in private secondary schools in Ogun state, Nigeria. The study assessed ade-quacy in teaching and learning infrastructure, evaluated mode of recruitment of teachers, the factors responsible for high teacher turnover and teachers retention strategies employed in private secondary schools. Descriptive research of the survey design was employed in this study. Data were collected using questionnaire. Multistage sampling technique was used for data collection among 200 teachers including the school principals. Data collected were analyzed with a mixture of descriptive and inferential statistics. Percentages, mean and frequency counts were used to answer the research questions raised while Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient and t-test analysis were used to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from this study revealed that teaching and learning infrastructure were inadequate in most of the schools. It was observed that books, classroom and teachers were very adequate in some of the schools. However, few of the schools had internet facility for knowledge transfer and student exposure to the worldwide web. The study also showed that the proprietors were primarily responsible for staff recruitment although there were instances where formal advertisement for recruitment was made. The study further revealed a significant relationship between teacher retention strategies and job security in private secondary schools in Osun state. The study also showed a significant relationship between teacher turnover and job security in the schools. In addition, the findings showed a significant relationship between teacher turnover and job security in private secondary schools in Osun state. Lastly, the study revealed a significant difference in the mean rate and female teachers' turnover in the selected private secondary schools. Based on the

Integration of Geospatial Science in Teacher Education

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Hauselt, Peggy; Helzer, Jennifer

2012-01-01

One of the primary missions of our university is to train future primary and secondary teachers. Geospatial sciences, including GIS, have long been excluded from teacher education curriculum. This article explains the curriculum revisions undertaken to increase the geospatial technology education of future teachers. A general education class…

Expressions of agency within complex policy structures: science teachers' experiences of education policy reforms in Sweden

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Ryder, Jim; Lidar, Malena; Lundqvist, Eva; Östman, Leif

2018-03-01

We explore the experiences of school science teachers as they enact three linked national curriculum and assessment policy reforms in Sweden. Our goal is to understand teachers' differing responses to these reforms. A sample of 13 teachers engaged in 2 interviews over a 6-9-month period. Interviews included exploration of professional background and school context, perceptions of the aims of the policy reforms and experiences of working with these reforms in the classroom. Analysis was guided by an individual-oriented sociocultural perspective on professional agency. Here teaching is conceptualised as an ongoing interplay between teachers' knowledge, skills and personal goals, and the characteristics of the social, institutional and policy settings in which they work. Our analysis shows that navigating the ensuing continuities and contradictions results in many different expressions of teacher agency, e.g. loss of autonomy and trust, pushing back, subversion, transfer of authority, and creative tensions. Typically, an individual teacher's enactment of these reforms involved several of these expressions of agency. We demonstrate that the sociocultural perspective provides insights into teachers' responses to education policy reform likely to be missed by studies that focus largely on individual teacher knowledge/beliefs about reform or skills in 'implementing' reform practices.

Perceptions of Support, Induction, and Intentions by Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers on Job Retention

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Bond, Sharon C.

This study was designed to examine the teacher characteristics, workplace factors, and type of induction supports that contribute to the retention of secondary science and mathematics teachers. Using the sample of secondary science and mathematics teachers extracted from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) 2007--2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), research was conducted to analyze teachers' responses relative to induction and support by looking at what teachers valued, what they actually received, and what impacted their decision to remain in the teaching profession. In addition to predisposing characteristics that have been shown to influence retention, the research conceptualized the type of induction to include mentoring, professional development, and administrative supports, and employed logistic regression to estimate the individual and collective effects of these factors on teachers' decisions to stay in the profession. Consistent with many areas of education, the fields of science and mathematics in North Carolina remain predominantly White (81%) with Blacks holding 14%, while Asians and Native Americans represent less than 5%. The examination of the Schools and Staffing Survey 2007--2008 showed that the primary supports received by beginning teachers were seminars or classes, common planning, mentoring, and communication with principals. Controlling for certain teacher characteristics, research indicated that science and mathematics teachers in North Carolina rated positively many variables related to support, climate, and classroom practices. Primarily, secondary science and mathematics teachers indicated satisfaction in the areas of mentoring, working conditions, and administrative support, and remained in teaching.

Expectations and Anticipations of Middle and High School Special Education Teachers in Preparing Their Students with Intellectual Disability for Future Adult Roles Including Those as Partner and Parent

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Pedersen, Mette

2012-01-01

Through a series of individual ethnographic interviews and focus groups, I explored the expectations and anticipations of middle and high school special education teachers as they carry out their professional charge of educating their students with intellectual disability for lives in the least restrictive environment, including possible adult…

Estonian Vocational Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusive Education for Students with Special Educational Needs

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Rose, Richard; Kaikkonen, Leena; Koiv, Kristi

2007-01-01

This paper presents the findings from research conducted with two samples of teachers from Estonian Vocational Schools. The first sample comprised a group of teachers who had received professional development directly related to the management of students with special educational needs in vocational education settings. Their attitudes and…

Communication: importance sampling including path correlation in semiclassical initial value representation calculations for time correlation functions.

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Pan, Feng; Tao, Guohua

2013-03-07

Full semiclassical (SC) initial value representation (IVR) for time correlation functions involves a double phase space average over a set of two phase points, each of which evolves along a classical path. Conventionally, the two initial phase points are sampled independently for all degrees of freedom (DOF) in the Monte Carlo procedure. Here, we present an efficient importance sampling scheme by including the path correlation between the two initial phase points for the bath DOF, which greatly improves the performance of the SC-IVR calculations for large molecular systems. Satisfactory convergence in the study of quantum coherence in vibrational relaxation has been achieved for a benchmark system-bath model with up to 21 DOF.

Are Learning Assistants Better K-12 Science Teachers?

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Gray, Kara E.; Webb, David C.; Otero, Valerie K.

2010-10-01

This study investigates how the undergraduate Learning Assistant (LA) experience affects teachers' first year of teaching. The LA Program provides interested science majors with the opportunity to explore teaching through weekly teaching responsibilities, an introduction to physics education research, and a learning community within the university. Some of these LAs are recruited to secondary science teacher certification programs. We hypothesized that the LA experience would enhance the teaching practices of the LAs who ultimately become teachers. To test this hypothesis, LAs were compared to a matched sample of teachers who completed the same teacher certification program as the LAs but did not have the LA "treatment." LAs and "non-LAs" were compared through interviews, classroom observations, artifact packages, and observations made with Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP) collected within the first year of teaching. Some differences were found; these findings and their implications are discussed.

In-Service Preschool Teachers' Thoughts about Technology and Technology Use in Early Educational Settings

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Kara, Nuri; Cagiltay, Kursat

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to understand in-service preschool teachers' thoughts about technology and technology use in early educational settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 in-service preschool teachers. These teachers were selected from public and private preschools. Convenient sampling was applied because teachers who…

Validation of a Teachers' Achievement Goal Instrument for Teaching Physical Education

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Wang, Jian; Shen, Bo; Luo, Xiaobin; Hu, Qingshan; Garn, Alex C.

2018-01-01

Purpose: Using Butler's teacher achievement goal orientation as a conceptual framework, we developed this study to validate a teachers' achievement goal instrument for teaching physical education. Methods: A sample of 322 Chinese physical education teachers participated in this study and completed measures of achievement goal orientations and job…

Principals' and Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusion in Israel

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Hess, Itay; Zamir, Sara

2016-01-01

The main goal of this study was to determine whether, in schools that practice inclusion, there is a correlation between the attitudes of school principals and teachers in their schools, towards inclusion of student with special needs. For this purpose, 38 schools were sampled in each of which the school principal and five teachers who work with…

Pre-Service Teachers and Climate Change: A Stalemate?

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Boon, Helen J.

2016-01-01

Findings from the second phase of a study of pre-service teachers' attitudes to environmental education and knowledge of climate change are reported in this paper. A sample of 87 pre-service teachers participated in a survey study in the last year of their Bachelor of Education degree to examine developments to their attitudes to environmental…

Teacher Professional Development through Digital Content Evaluation

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Xie, Kui; Kim, Min Kyu; Cheng, Sheng-Lun; Luthy, Nicole C.

2017-01-01

In this study, researchers designed and implemented a 1-year professional development (PD) program that focused on supporting teachers in evaluating and selecting digital learning contents. Participants in this investigation included 109 teachers who consented to the study amongst a total of 171 teachers from five school districts across central…

Teacher License Reciprocity. 50-State Review

Science.gov (United States)

Aragon, Stephanie

2017-01-01

This policy report defines and provides a 50-state review of teacher license reciprocity, explores how state-specific licensing requirements impact the teacher labor market, and includes examples of national and state efforts to facilitate reciprocity.

Exploring nutrition education resources and barriers, and nutrition knowledge in teachers in California.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Anna Marie; Zidenberg-Cherr, Sheri

2015-01-01

To determine barriers to nutrition education, nutrition education resources used, and the relationship between nutrition knowledge and whether public school teachers in California teach nutrition in the classroom. A total of 102 teachers in California participated in a Web-based survey about nutrition education barriers, resources used to plan nutrition lessons, and factors that would encourage inclusion of nutrition. A validated questionnaire was used to assess nutrition knowledge. Analyses included ordinary least-squares regression. Common barriers were lack of instructional time and unrelated subject. Teachers were unaware of many nutrition education resources. Nutrition knowledge was not associated with nutrition lessons but was positively associated with teaching high school (β = 5.13; P Barriers of time and lack of unrelated subject matter are difficult to address but lack of awareness of resources indicates that promotion of existing resources may encourage teachers to provide nutrition education. Larger studies are needed to determine whether this holds true in a broader sample. Copyright © 2015 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of pre-service physics teacher skills designing simple physics experiments based technology

Science.gov (United States)

Susilawati; Huda, C.; Kurniawan, W.; Masturi; Khoiri, N.

2018-03-01

Pre-service physics teacher skill in designing simple experiment set is very important in adding understanding of student concept and practicing scientific skill in laboratory. This study describes the skills of physics students in designing simple experiments based technologicall. The experimental design stages include simple tool design and sensor modification. The research method used is descriptive method with the number of research samples 25 students and 5 variations of simple physics experimental design. Based on the results of interviews and observations obtained the results of pre-service physics teacher skill analysis in designing simple experimental physics charged technology is good. Based on observation result, pre-service physics teacher skill in designing simple experiment is good while modification and sensor application are still not good. This suggests that pre-service physics teacher still need a lot of practice and do experiments in designing physics experiments using sensor modifications. Based on the interview result, it is found that students have high enough motivation to perform laboratory activities actively and students have high curiosity to be skilled at making simple practicum tool for physics experiment.

Private Universities in Kenya Seek Alternative Ways to Manage Change in Teacher Education Curriculum in Compliance with the Commission for University Education Reforms

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Amimo, Catherine Adhiambo

2016-01-01

This study investigated management of change in teacher education curriculum in Private universities in Kenya. The study employed a concurrent mixed methods design that is based on the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A multi-stage sampling process which included purposive, convenience, cluster, and snowball sampling methods…

In-Service Science Teachers' and the Use of Multimedia as a Teaching Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Ameyaw, Y.; Quansah, E.

2013-01-01

The study investigated the attitudes of in-service teachers' towards the use of multimedia as a tool for science teaching in Junior High Schools in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The population sample consisted of 100 Junior High School (JHS) science teachers made up of 60 urban teachers and 40 rural teachers from three selected districts…

Teachers' Perception on the Relationship between Change Leadership and Organizational Commitment

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Savas, Ahmet Cezmi; Kosker, Erkan; Demir, Selcuk; Utar, Nurten

2015-01-01

The aim of this survey is to analyze the perception of teachers regarding the relationship between change leadership and organizational commitment. The study sample is 221 teachers working in the schools of Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Mardin during the 2014-15 educational year since it is easier to reach them. The sample choice of our study has been…

Undergraduate Teacher Candidate Perceptions Integrating Technology in Classroom Instruction

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Anderson, Charlise Askew

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze undergraduate teacher candidates' perceptions on integrating technology in the classroom. The study was embedded in the "Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge" theoretical model. A sample of 143 undergraduate teacher candidates participated in the study. They were asked to address items on a…

Teacher Role Stress, Higher Order Needs and Work Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Sharon; Woosley, Sherry A.

2000-01-01

Using a sample of 371 elementary and secondary teachers, this study examined whether three role stresses (role ambiguity, conflict, and overload) are related to two individually and organizationally related values and how teachers moderated stresses. Organizational commitment is affected by role stress. Teaming might increase role ambiguity.…

Gender Perceptions of Challenging Student Behavior and Teacher Stress

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.A. Everaert; J.C. van der Wolf

2006-01-01

The present study focuses on the level of stress male and female teachers perceive when dealing with the most behaviorally challenging student in his or her classroom. To measure stress in Dutch elementary classrooms, a sample was drawn of 582 teachers. First, they rated the most challenging student

Appraisal of in-service trainee teachers' competency on applications ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Most procedures used to obtain information about student learning are subsumed under assessment. This study appraised in-service trainee teachers' competency on applications of principles of test items writing. One Study Centre was purposively drawn from the National Teachers' Institute for the study. A sample of 33 ...

Technology Acceptance among Pre-Service Teachers: Does Gender Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Teo, Timothy; Fan, Xitao; Du, Jianxia

2015-01-01

This study examined possible gender differences in pre-service teachers' perceived acceptance of technology in their professional work under the framework of the technology acceptance model (TAM). Based on a sample of pre-service teachers, a series of progressively more stringent measurement invariance tests (configural, metric, and scalar…

Teachers' Self-Efficacy vs. Parental Involvement: Prediction and Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Yael; Kostelitz, Yifat

2015-01-01

This research examines the influence of teachers' views regarding parental involvement on their perception of self-efficacy. Data were collected from a sample of 319 Israeli elementary schools teachers. A path analysis procedure was employed to test the mediating effect of personal background and organizational variables and perceived parental…

Estimated Prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a Sample of Panamanian School-Aged Children

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Sanchez, Emelyn Y.; Velarde, Silvia; Britton, Gabrielle B.

2011-01-01

The present study investigated the prevalence of ADHD in a school sample of children ages 6-11 years in the city of Panama. The assessment battery included the Conners' Parent and Teacher Rating Scales, the Structured Developmental History of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC-2), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children…

Teachers of high ability pupils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cándido Genovard

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In this article we analyze the characteristics of gifted and talented students’ expert teachers. The subject background and the specific proprieties of the instructional process to meet gifted students’ educational needs are analyzed. The value of teacher-student interactions and of teaching and learning styles are highlighted. Also, we include different action guidelines and instructional resources to use in the classroom to teach these students. There is not an ideal teacher for high ability students. However, teachers must know what the teaching-learning processes are and how these work, and the diverse psychological, content and contextual variables involved in such processes.

Effective Teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beverly A. King Miller

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on the educational strategies that can be used to support female students of African descent in their persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM education and careers. STEM careers have historically been White male and White female dominated, which has yielded an underrepresentation of those of African descent. Drawing from a grounded qualitative case study, the data used for this article share the responses of Afro-Caribbean females in STEM who have immigrated to the United States from the country of Panama. As Latinas, they are representative of the changing face in the American educational system—bilingual, multicultural, and of African descent. The strategies offered reflect their own teaching practices, their former teachers, or experiences with their children’s teachers. What emerged were descriptions of four strategies and behaviors of effective teachers that align with Ladson-Billings’s culturally relevant pedagogy and Gay’s culturally responsive teaching. Included in the findings are the high standards and expectations embodied by effective teachers that serve to positively inspire their students. Culturally responsive teachers create an atmosphere of learning that supports academic success, conveying their belief in their students’ ability based upon their own reflectivity. As the U.S. educational system continues to become multilingual and multicultural, there is need for strategies for the successful inclusion and progression of students in STEM educational pathways and careers. This will occur as teachers challenge themselves to be the agents of change in the lives of their students.

Cultivating teacher mindfulness: Effects of a randomized controlled trial on work, home, and sleep outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Crain, Tori L; Schonert-Reichl, Kimberly A; Roeser, Robert W

2017-04-01

The effects of randomization to a workplace mindfulness training (WMT) or a waitlist control condition on teachers' well-being (moods and satisfaction at work and home), quantity of sleep, quality of sleep, and sleepiness during the day were examined in 2 randomized, waitlist controlled trials (RCTs). The combined sample of the 2 RCTs, conducted in Canada and the United States, included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female). Measures were collected at baseline, postprogram, and 3-month follow-up; teachers were randomly assigned to condition after baseline assessment. Results showed that teachers randomized to WMT reported less frequent bad moods at work and home, greater satisfaction at work and home, more sleep on weekday nights, better quality sleep, and decreased insomnia symptoms and daytime sleepiness. Training-related group differences in mindfulness and rumination on work at home at postprogram partially mediated the reductions in negative moods at home and increases in sleep quality at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Teachers come to learn at CERN!

CERN Multimedia

Patrice Loïez

2003-01-01

PhysicsTeachers@CERN is an annual three-day meeting at CERN for teachers from all over Europe. The programme includes seminars, visits and educational activities. It is designed to give physics teachers new insights into contemporary particle physics. The fifty participants in the 2003 meeting, which took place from 21 to 23 February, are pictured in the garden adjoining Microcosm, CERN's on-site science centre.

Morphing from Teacher to Cybrarian.

Science.gov (United States)

Nellen, Ted

1999-01-01

Discusses how the use of computer technology in the classroom is changing the roles of teachers. Topics include integrating technology into the curriculum, teaching teachers how to develop Web pages for their classes, software development, retention rates based on teaching methods, student perceptions, and changes in learning processes. (LRW)

Characteristics of Independent Music Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Upitis, Rena; Abrami, Philip C.; Brook, Julia; Boese, Karen; King, Matthew

2017-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to learn about the characteristics of independent music teachers, their beliefs about music teaching, and their studio practices. A self-report survey included questions about the teachers' (a) background experiences, (b) pedagogical approaches, (c) use of digital technologies, and (d) professional development…

Differentiating Science Instruction: Secondary science teachers' practices

Science.gov (United States)

Maeng, Jennifer L.; Bell, Randy L.

2015-09-01

This descriptive study investigated the implementation practices of secondary science teachers who differentiate instruction. Participants included seven high school science teachers purposefully selected from four different schools located in a mid-Atlantic state. Purposeful selection ensured participants included differentiated instruction (DI) in their lesson implementation. Data included semi-structured interviews and field notes from a minimum of four classroom observations, selected to capture the variety of differentiation strategies employed. These data were analyzed using a constant-comparative approach. Each classroom observation was scored using the validated Differentiated Instruction Implementation Matrix-Modified, which captured both the extent to which critical indicators of DI were present in teachers' instruction and the performance levels at which they engaged in these components of DI. Results indicated participants implemented a variety of differentiation strategies in their classrooms with varying proficiency. Evidence suggested all participants used instructional modifications that required little advance preparation to accommodate differences in students' interests and learning profile. Four of the seven participants implemented more complex instructional strategies that required substantial advance preparation by the teacher. Most significantly, this study provides practical strategies for in-service science teachers beginning to differentiate instruction and recommendations for professional development and preservice science teacher education.

Six teachers' experience with a video-based professional development program: Its implementation and development

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Marianne T.

Many professional development programs fall short of accomplishing their objectives. Recently, programs have been developed that would appear to appeal to teachers and to enhance their potential to influence teachers' practice. My research describes six teachers' responses to a professional development program that employs video as a key feature. The Next Move program consists of eight two-hour sessions, and includes a one-hour video intended to stimulate discussion among a group of teachers. All group participants were invited to participate in the study. My interview sample consisted of six teachers from two groups who volunteered to participate in the study. The first group consisted of four study participants from an urban district. Twelve teachers from this district attended the initial session. Of these, seven became regular participants who completed all sessions. Most of them registered for the graduate credit option. Two study participants were from a single suburban elementary school that had five teachers; they occasionally met jointly with a group from another elementary school, so the numbers varied. Teachers volunteering for this study had from four to seventeen years experience. They were all Caucasian and included four women and two men. My data set consists of three interviews with each teacher, one at the start of the program, one after the last session, and one at the end of the school year. I interviewed each facilitator and jointly interviewed the program's producer and project manager. Additional data was obtained from observation of program sessions and classrooms. Print data sources were the program guide and the project summative evaluation. The data analysis suggests a poor match between the funder's intent and what the teachers expected, based on the program title and information in the promotional flyer. Because of these discontinuities, the program failed to meet its objectives fully. However, some interesting benefits did appear. For

Teachers' tendencies to promote student-led science projects: Associations with their views about science

Science.gov (United States)

Bencze, J. Lawrence; Bowen, G. Michael; Alsop, Steve

2006-05-01

School science students can benefit greatly from participation in student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects. For various possible reasons, however, students tend not to be engaged in such inquiries. Among factors that may limit their opportunities to engage in open-ended inquiries of their design are teachers' conceptions about science. To explore possible relationships between teachers' conceptions about science and the types of inquiry activities in which they engage students, instrumental case studies of five secondary science teachers were developed, using field notes, repertory grids, samples of lesson plans and student activities, and semistructured interviews. Based on constructivist grounded theory analysis, participating teachers' tendencies to promote student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects seemed to correspond with positions about the nature of science to which they indicated adherence. A tendency to encourage and enable students to carry out student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects appeared to be associated with adherence to social constructivist views about science. Teachers who opposed social constructivist views tended to prefer tight control of student knowledge building procedures and conclusions. We suggest that these results can be explained with reference to human psychological factors, including those associated with teachers' self-esteem and their relationships with knowledge-building processes in the discipline of their teaching.

Transformation and Framework of Teacher Professional Development in Taiwan