Emmy Vrieling

Exploring teachers’ inquiry-based attitude

ABSTRACT Having a well-founded insight into the characteristics of teachers inquiry-based attitude (IA) supports operationalising IA as a learning goal in teacher education (TE). The aim of this study is to refine the notion of IA from an ill-defined global concept into something with reliable and valid characteristics. To do so, data were gathered on three different occasions amongst three different cohorts of teachers who participated in a masters programme at a Dutch university for applied sciences. This process of exploration and reconceptualisation was performed in collaboration with teacher educators. The results indicate that, statistically, IA has an internal reflective dimension and an external knowledge-sourcing dimension. Both dimensions can also statistically be differentiated from the personality traits openness to ideas, openness to change and epistemic curiosity. The implications of these findings for TE, plus recommendations for future research, are addressed.

Self-regulated learning and social media – a ‘natural alliance’? Evidence on students’ self-regulation of learning, social media use, and student–teacher relationship

Research on the educational consequences of social media has led to divergent findings that are difficult to integrate and studies often examine specific courses. It remains unclear what types of social media use in classroom prevail on a broader scale and how teachers, if at all, can affect outcomes. We contribute to answering these questions by studying classroom social media use of 459 secondary school teachers in The Netherlands teaching in the humanities, the social, and the natural sciences. We test the idea that the use of social media would be ‘naturally allied’ with self-regulated learning (SRL). Results show that teachers apply social media for information sharing with students outside of the class and, more often, for teaching within the class. A bottleneck consists of the application of social media for the facilitation of SRL. Only in the performance phase of SRL, teachers facilitate SRL via social media slightly. Consequently, the limited use of social media for the facilitation of SRL does not affect student–teacher relationships. Testing the hypothesis of a natural alliance between SRL and social media use, we find evidence for the claim that teachers, who practise SRL in the classroom, are more inclined to use social media.

Professional development of teacher-educators towards transformative learning

This study explores the specific characteristics of teacher-educator professional development interventions that enhance their transformative learning towards stimulating the inquiry-based attitude of students. An educational design research method was followed. Firstly, in partnership with five experienced educators, a professional development programme was designed, tested and redesigned. Secondly, a qualitative multiple case study was conducted to examine the active ingredients of the designed interventions with regard to educators’ changes in beliefs and behaviour. The study was carried out in four different educational settings in which 20 educators participated during nine months. Data sources included videos, questionnaires, interviews and written personal theories of practice. The analyses indicated that aligned self-study interventions on a personal, peer and group level guided by a trained facilitator supported the intended leaning.

Successful learning: balancing self-regulation with instructional planning

ABSTRACT Many recent studies have stressed the importance of teacher candidates’ (TCs) self-regulated learning (SRL) skills for successful learning. Because of the promising consequences of SRL for academic performance, teacher educators (TEs) are encouraged to increase TCs’ SRL opportunities in educational programs. Because of the difficulty and complexity for TEs to successfully guide TCs towards SRL, the present study contributes to the discussion how to best facilitate TEs in finding a balance between student- and teacher-control. For this purpose, a conceptual model is presented. The model draws upon literature related to the perspective of the learner, the teacher and the learning task. Besides the context of teacher education, the model is beneficial for higher education as well as teaching and teacher professionalization. It will help instructors provide a more balanced approach between teacher- and student-controlled learning, and support students develop essential SRL skills.

Facilitation of Social Learning in Teacher Education: The ‘Dimensions of Social Learning Framework’

To understand the organization of social learning by groups in practice, this chapter elaborates on the use of a framework of dimensions and indicators to explore social learning within (prospective) teacher groups. The applied framework that we call the ‘Dimensions of Social Learning (DSL) Framework’ is built upon four dimensions including 11 indicators corresponding to these dimensions. The DSL Framework was induced by a literature review that applied notions of social networks, communities of practice and learning teams as the main underlying perspectives and has been tested empirically in higher education. In this chapter, to validate the framework, we present the findings of a case study that applied the DSL Framework to explore the social dimensions of particular teacher learning groups and to reflect on the usefulness of the indicators in terms of compiling an image of the learning group’s social configuration. The case study suggests that the framework appears fruitful for assessing the social configuration of teacher learning groups. Moreover, the resulting image allows teachers to analyse whether their group’s configuration fits its learning goals, or whether adjustments are required. It is therefore possible to improve learning processes within teacher learning groups.