Students’ accounts of their participation in an intensive long-term learning community

Collaborative learning environments have been analysed extensively, yet we know relatively little about how students experience their participation in long-term learning communities where learners work together over extended periods of time. This study aims to understand pre-service teacher–students’ experiences and accounts of their participation in a university-based long-term learning community. The study investigates issues of change and stability, with respect to the students’ perceptions of participation over the first 2 years of their work within the learning community. The study also addresses the relations between the students’ accounts of participation and their learning experiences in terms of ‘teachership’. A teacher–trainee group of nine students, who had studied for 3 years within a Masters level teacher education programme which had adopted an intensive community-based approach, individually appraised their participation and learning within the programme. Using empirical data derived from the learners’ own evaluations of their learning experiences, the study draws on the accounts given by students concerning their orientations to and positions within the learning community. Videotaped recordings of some of the student's seminars were used as resources to support the giving of appraisals using questionnaires which contained both closed- and open-ended questions. Results showed that the students’ qualitative accounts of their participation revealed great differences in their orientations to group activities. Considerable differences in orientations could be found with respect to: students’ relation to power; to socio-emotional involvement; to the degree of participation; to the subject-matter and to theoretical interests. These were related to the quantitatively evaluated level of participation. Based on the analysis of students’ perceived trajectories of participation over 2 years, three qualitatively different trajectories could be identified: highly involved participation, increased participation and decreased or marginal participation. A comparison of the perceived learning experiences arising from these different kinds of participation revealed considerable diversity in the students’ major learning objectives and in the social and affective aspects of their learning. The most impressive and comprehensive learning took place among those reporting increased participation. For those reporting highly involved participation, the group functioned first and foremost as a source of motivation. However, those group-members who reported decreased and marginal participation found the learning experience to be emotionally and affectively very negative. The results suggest that if students cannot have an active participatory role in the community, they are in danger of being marginalized and this in turn has consequences for learning

A BRiTE Journey: 2013–2019

Resilience is widely acknowledged as important for teacher success, yet how to assist pre-service teachers build the skills and strategies for professional resilience is a question often asked by teacher educators. This chapter overviews the design, development and features of a series of five online learning modules designed to support pre-service teacher resilience. The BRiTE modules were informed by an analysis of the literature and content created to address the key themes. Five modules were developed: Building resilience, Relationships, Wellbeing, Taking initiative and Emotions. Each module was designed to be interactive and personalised, enabling users to build their personal toolkit to support their resilience. Since their launch in 2015, the modules have been widely used by pre-service teachers, teachers and a range of stakeholders with over 14,000 registered users at the beginning of 2020. Potential for future use in supporting teacher resilience is discussed

Understanding and examining teacher resilience from multiple perspectives

In this chapter, I argue that differing conceptualisations of the construct of resilience shape and enrich the research questions and methodology used to examine it. In addition, the conceptual focus has implications for questions such as whose responsibility it is for the development of resilience. Research conducted within two Australian projects, Keeping Cool and BRiTE (Building Resilience in Teacher Education) is used as an illustration of the impact of a changing conceptual focus. For example, beginning with a psychological perspective led to an examination of risk and protective factors for individuals. More contextual approaches involved a comparison of countries. Recent systemic views support a model that encompasses both personal and contextual characteristics, as well as strategies used and outcomes achieved. It is argued that taking multiple perspectives in this programme of work has enabled the incorporation of a broad range of research methods and findings, and contributed to a deeper understanding of the construct of teacher resilience

Self-Efficacy in College Teaching

The essay describes self-efficacy (that is, an instructor’s judgment about his or her capability to promote student learning and motivation) and its application to college teaching

1 Teacher Efficacy: Its Meaning and Measure

This article was published in the Review of Educational Research (RER), and copyright is retained by the American Educational Research Association, which publishes RER. Academic publishers allow authors to post material on web servers without permission, but users are asked not to copy or repost the material without permission from the appropriate publishe

Collective efficacy beliefs: Theoretical developments, empirical evidence, and future directions

The authors wish to dedicate this article to the memory of their friend and colleague Dr. Paul Pintrich of the University of Michigan. This analysis synthesizes existing research to discuss how teachers’ practice and student learning are affected by perceptions of collective efficacy. Social cognitive theory is employed to explain that the choices teachers make—the ways in which they exercise personal agency—are strongly influenced by collective efficacy beliefs. Although empirically related, teacher and collective efficacy perceptions are theoretically distinct constructs, each having unique effects on educational decisions and student achievement. Our purpose is to advance awareness about perceived collective efficacy and develop a conceptual model to explain the formation and influence of perceived collective efficacy in schools. We also examine the relevance of efficacy beliefs to teachers ’ professional work and outline future research possibilities. Over a quarter century ago, Albert Bandura (1977) introduced the concept of self-efficacy perceptions or “beliefs in one’s capacity to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments ” (Bandura, 1997, p. 3). Since that time, research in many arenas has demonstrated the power of efficacy judgments in human learning, performance, and motivation. For example, efficacy beliefs are related to smoking cessation, adherence to exercise and diet programs, performance in sports, political participation, and academic achievement (Bandura, 1997). The last arena is of particular importance to educators. In the past two decades, researchers have found links between student achievement and three kinds of efficacy beliefs—the self-efficacy judgments of students (cf. Pajares, 1994, 1997), teachers ’ beliefs in their own instructional efficacy (cf. Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998), and teachers ’ beliefs about the collective efficacy of their school (Goddard, Hoy, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2000). Of the three, perceived collective efficacy is the most recent construct developed and has received the least attention from educational researchers. The purpose of this inquiry is to advance awareness about collective efficacy beliefs and de