Developing the scales on evaluation beliefs of student teachers

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to investigate the validity and the reliability of a newly developed questionnaire named ‘Teacher Evaluation Beliefs’ (TEB). The framework for developing items was provided by the two models. The first model focuses on Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered beliefs about evaluation while the other centers on five dimensions (what/ who/ when/ why/ how). The validity and reliability of the new instrument was investigated using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis study (n=446). Overall results indicate that the two-factor structure is more reasonable than the five-factor one. Further research needs additional items about the latent dimensions “what” ”who” ”when” ”why” “how” for each existing factor based on Student-centered and Teacher-centered approaches

Thriving not just surviving: A review of research on teacher resilience

Retaining teachers in the early stages of the profession is a major issue of concern in many countries. Teacher resilience is a relatively recent area of investigation which provides a way of understanding what enables teachers to persist in the face of challenges and offers a complementary perspective to studies of stress, burnout and attrition. We have known for many years that teaching can be stressful, particularly for new teachers, but little appears to have changed. This paper reviews recent empirical studies related to the resilience of early career teachers. Resilience is shown to be the outcome of a dynamic relationship between individual risk and protective factors. Individual attributes such as altruistic motives and high self-efficacy are key individual protective factors. Contextual challenges or risk factors and contextual supports or protective factors can come from sources such as school administration, colleagues, and pupils. Challenges for the future are to refine conceptualisations of teacher resilience and to develop and examine interventions in multiple contexts. There are many opportunities for those who prepare, employ and work with prospective and new teachers to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors and so enable new teachers to thrive, not just survive

Transforming educational experience for children, parents and teachers practitioner research from the CDI/NUIM Masters Programme 2013

The purpose of this action research thesis was to implement an evidence based initiative that could help better engage students in school. This research investigated factors that affected students' choice of Leaving Certificate Science subjects and devised actions that would enable and inform this choice. The factors affecting student choice were investigated using qualitative and quantitative methods of enquiry. The research was set against a drop in the numbers of students choosing science subjects for Leaving Certificate (Smyth and Hannan, 2006). The research took place in a community school in the south west area of Dublin.

Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Abstracts 2005

Proceedings of the Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Regional Conference held at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005

Factors influencing language teacher cognition: An ecological systems study

Learning about language teacher cognition (LTC) is useful for understanding how language teachers act in the classroom. Employing an ecological framework, this study aimed to explore the factors influencing language teachers’ LTCs at different levels. To this end, qualitative data using semi-structured interviews and observation were collected from 62 (30 males and 32 females) Iranian EFL teachers. The results indicated that, at microsystem level, factors such as teaching equipment and facilities, teachers’ mood and feelings, their job satisfaction, and language proficiency influenced LTC. At mesosystem level, LTC was influenced by teachers’ prior learning experience, the collaboration and collegiality among teachers working in the language institute, teachers’ self-efficacy, and critical incidents that happened when teaching or learning. Additionally, the results indicated that exosystem level factors including teacher appraisal criteria, the teaching program and curriculum, and teacher immunity affected LTC. Moreover, LTC was subject to the influence of the government’s attitudes about ELT and religious beliefs about self and interaction, and friendliness with students at macrosystem level. More importantly, it was found that the factors influencing LTC were interrelated and interconnected and in several cases, LTC was a product of joint effect of several factors at various ecosystem levels. Finally, findings in this study suggest that language teaching programs provide recent educational technology in the classroom, foster collaboration and collegiality among teachers, and clarify teacher appraisal criteria for teachers in order to help create positive language teaching beliefs

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation with Spanish-Speaking Families

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) is a strengths-based, problem-solving, decision-making model of service delivery that involves parents and teachers working collaboratively to promote positive outcomes related to a student’s development (Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008). Research has indicated that CBC is an acceptable and effective model. However, very little research has been done to assess the effectiveness of CBC with minority clients, and even less work has been done that focuses on Spanish-speaking Latinx families. Additionally, the research that investigates consultation with minority clients who have limited English skills often involves interpreters. The purpose of this study is to extend the CBC literature to working with Spanish-speaking Latinx families. The present study will investigate several possible outcomes for implementing empirically supported interventions within the context of CBC for children or adolescents exhibiting externalizing behavior concerns in the school and home setting. In particular, there is interest in the extent to which conducting CBC using a Spanish-speaking consultant will result in positive outcomes on various measures for all participants

What are the impacts and cost-effectiveness of strategies to improve performance of untrained and under-trained teachers in the classroom in developing countries?

What are the impacts and cost effectiveness of strategies to improve performance of untrained and under-trained teachers in the classroom in developing countries