Cornelis J. de Brabander

Teacher Isolation and Communication Network Analysis in Primary Schools

The aim of this study is to analyze teacher isolation at the level of communication behavior of teachers. The usefulness of communication network analysis is explored in eight elementary schools. The first research question is whether and in what way the communication behavior of teachers varies within as well as between schools. The second research question is how teachers’ communication network participation is related to their perception of different types of tasks. Our findings support the idea that teacher isolation at least partly results from the behavior of individual teachers. Results regarding the relationship between communication network participation and task perception yield insights that can be helpful in developing and supporting collegial relationships in schools.

Knowledge Definition, Subject, and Educational Track Level: Perceptions of Secondary School Teachers

This study investigates the effects of subject and track level on the definitions of knowledge used by teachers in secondary education. Responding to 20 scales of an inventory, 202 teachers provided 313 judgments of the characteristics of their own subject as they actually taught it to students of one or more track levels. The first dimension of a principal components solution was interpreted as a contrast between everyday knowledge and academic knowledge. The second dimension involved a contrast between general and specialized knowledge. As far as individual teachers responded to more than one track level, they, generally speaking, maintained a single definition of their subject for all track levels. Subject identity explained most of the differences, but teacher variables were also relevant. If it is allowed to order teachers hierarchically, based on their teacher training and their experience with track levels, then in the group of teachers with the highest level of teacher education and teaching at the highest track level, only the science subjects were judged as extremely hard a n d specialized. In groups of teachers ranking lower, some other subjects such as the foreign languages were judged as relatively hard and specialized, whereas the science subjects were judged less hard and less specialized. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.This study investigates the effects of subject and track level on the definitions of knowledge used by teachers in secondary education. Responding to 20 scales of an inventory, 202 teachers provided 313 judgments of the characteristics of their own subject as they actually taught it to students of one or more track levels. The first dimension of a principal components solution was interpreted as a contrast between everyday knowledge and academic knowledge. The second dimension involved a contrast between general and specialized knowledge. As far as individual teachers responded to more than one track level, they, generally speaking, maintained a single definition of their subject for all track levels. Subject identity explained most of the differences, but teacher variables were also relevant. If it is allowed to order teachers hierarchically, based on their teacher training and their experience with track levels, then in the group of teachers with the highest level of teacher education and teaching at the highest track level, only the science subjects were judged as extremely hard and specialized. In groups of teachers ranking lower, some other subjects such as the foreign languages were judged as relatively hard and specialized, whereas the science subjects were judged less hard and less specialized. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Role of the Special Services Coordinator in Dutch Primary Schools A Counterproductive Effect of Inclusion Policy

The focus of this study is the role of the special services coordinator in Dutch primary schools, whose function is to act as a consultant for colleagues regarding students with special needs, and to coordinate the delivery of special services in the school. The question is how the new role is interpreted in primary schools, and whether this interpretation will provoke counterproductive effects. This question is answered by means of an exploratory study in 12 primary schools. The study consists of a survey and interviews with special service coordinators, principals and teachers of Grade 3. Findings suggest that the interpretation of this new role promotes the development of a separated system of special education within the regular school. The delivery of services for students with special needs remains the exclusive task of specialists, and classroom teacher’s learning is not promoted. To promote inclusive education the professional aspects of the special service coordinator’s role as a consultant should be strengthened, and the middle management aspects of the role should be kept in the background.

Empirical Exploration of a Unified Model of Task-Specific Motivation

The aim of this investigation was to explore the merits of the Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation (UMTM). As in this model task-specific components from several partly conflicting theories were integrated, this study constitutes an important contribution to the further development of consensus about motivation theory. Four relatively independent types of valences are the core of the UMTM. Affective and cognitive valences represent feelings while doing an activity and thoughts about the value of its consequences respectively; both types of valences can be positive and negative, hence calling for approach and avoidance motivation respectively. The interaction between these four categories of valences results in a valence expectation, which influences readiness for action. Valences in turn are influenced by four categories of task-specific antecedents, namely appraisals of autonomy, feasibility, and social relatedness, and subjective norm. The global question we tried to answer was to what extent motivational data on specific activities could be modeled in accordance with the UMTM and how different, specific activities affect the influence that the components of the model exert. Structural equation modeling of questionnaire responses of 335 teachers on all components of the model except negative valences with respect to three imaginary types of professional learning activities (formal training, personal study, and reflection on practice) revealed that characteristics of the task determine to what extent components of the model come into play. It is concluded that the model represents a first promising step towards reuniting conflicting theories of motivation.