M Maaike Koopman

Teachers' Learning Experiences in Relation to Their Ownership, Sense-Making and Agency.

The aim of this study was to gain understanding of how teachers familiarise themselves with a new pedagogy during their everyday practice, in this case the implementation of the coaching role in vocational education. For this purpose, 11 teachers reported their learning experiences in a digital log. An identity perspective was used as a lens to reflect and interpret these learning experiences. More specifically, it was looked at the extent to which teachers expressed ownership in their learning experiences with this new pedagogy, the ways they made sense of their learning experiences, and the extent to which they expressed agency in their learning experiences. On the basis of their initial positioning in terms of their ownership, sense-making and agency, these teachers were divided into an engaged and a reserved group. Differences were found in the learning experiences both between and within these groups. The digital logs of the engaged teachers showed more ownership than those of the reserved group and their sense-making was more active and explicit. Agency was present in the digital logs of both groups. Within the two groups, differences were found, particularly between teachers in the reserved group.

Primary School Pupils' Views of Characteristics of Good Primary School Teachers: An Exploratory, Open Approach for Investigating Pupils' Perceptions.

This article reports on results of a study on pupils’ perceptions on teacher quality in primary education. Pupils’ perceptions of desired characteristics of good teachers in primary education were compared to results of research into teacher quality from different perspectives: (1) perception studies of ideal teaching-and-learning environments; (2) school effectiveness studies of desired teacher behaviour; (3) teachers’ professional knowledge; and (4) teachers’ professional identity. Pupils’ perceptions were investigated by having them complete an open teacher-spider questionnaire, in which they reported important characteristics for good teachers. The results showed that the perceptions of pupils about teacher quality were extensive. In total, 143 different characteristics in 11 varying categories were reported. The emphasis was on the personality of the teachers (fitting both the professional identity perspective on teacher quality and the results of perception studies). Second and third, didactic skills and guidance, and authority were often mentioned. Small differences were found for pupils who were taught by male teachers and pupils who were taught by female teachers. There were also differences found between preferences of younger and older pupils.

Unraveling the Complexity of Student Teachers’ Learning in and From the Workplace

This study reports on how student teachers’ workplace experiences were transformed into learning experiences. In total, 26 stories from 10 student teachers were collected by means of digital logs and in-depth interviews and unraveled using a new technique of reconstructing stories into webs. In these webs, the factors that played a role in student teachers’ learning processes, the relationships between these factors, and the chains of student teachers’ activities and experiences in their learning processes were visualized. The results show that student teachers’ learning from experiences is a process involving many interrelated personal and social aspects, including past and present experiences gained in multiple situations and contexts over time. Four chains of activities and experiences could be distinguished in their learning processes. The findings indicate that reconstructing stories into webs is a promising technique for unraveling the complexity of learning from workplace experiences.

How to investigate the goal orientations of students in competence-based pre-vocational secondary education : choosing the right instrument

Abstract This study explores the psychometric properties of three instruments: a semi-structured interview, a questionnaire and a sorting task. The central question is which instrument is most suitable to investigate the goal orientations of students in competence-based pre-vocational secondary education. The questionnaire proved most accurate. The interview provided relevant supplementary information on the goals of the students and underlying motives. The sorting task appeared to be less suitable.

The influence of teachers' career guidance profiles on students' career competencies

In this article, we examine the relationship between different career guidance styles of vocational education teachers and vocational education students’ career competencies (i.e. career reflection, career exploration and networking). Questionnaires on students’ perceptions of the career guidance of their teachers during career conversations, and students’ career competencies were issued to 579 vocational education students. By using multilevel analyses, the relationship between different career guidance styles of vocational education teachers and students’ career competencies was investigated, while controlling for student variables such as locus of control and career decision-making self-efficacy. The results showed that very little variance could be explained at the teacher level. Most of the differences between students’ career competency levels were related to differences between the students. Still, two of the four existing teacher profiles were positively related to career reflection of students.

Overarching professional identity themes in student teacher workplace learning

ABSTRACT This study reports on how student teachers learn in the workplace. Data from 10 student teachers were collected by means of digital logs and in-depth interviews. By reconstructing data into stories and unravelling these stories, it became clear that the learning process of each student teacher was dominated by one specific theme, such as student-centred teaching or creating a positive learning climate. These themes could be typified as professional identity themes, because all appeared to be both personal and professional. Five student teachers experienced their workplace learning process as continuous: they integrated their teaching experiences relatively easily into their personal conceptual framework. The other five experienced their workplace learning process as discontinuous: they experienced tensions caused by frictions between personal and professional aspects of becoming a teacher. Both types of learning can stimulate and hinder student teachers’ professional development. The findings indicate that reconstructing data into stories and unravelling these stories is a useful technique for understanding student teacher workplace learning as a result of the interaction between personal and professional aspects of becoming a teacher.

Factors influencing students’ proficiency development in the fraction domain: the role of teacher cognitions and behaviour

Abstract In this study, we investigated which teacher characteristics influence student proficiency development regarding fractions in Grade 5 of Dutch primary education. At least three domains of research (i.e. perspectives) on effective teaching can be distinguished: studies focusing on teachers’ background characteristics, on their knowledge and conceptions regarding the subject they are teaching and on the domain-specific and general pedagogical characteristics of their teaching. In this study, effects of the three perspectives on student fraction proficiency were examined simultaneously using multilevel analyses. Findings revealed that teachers’ age and experience in the upper grades, their pedagogical content knowledge and the degree of student participation in their lessons had positive effects. Their subject matter knowledge, quality of their concept maps and the richness of the mathematics in their lessons had negative effects. Thus, effects were found pertaining to all three perspectives on teachers and their teaching we included in our study.