Ridwan Maulana

Development and evaluation of a questionnaire measuring pre-service teachers’ teaching behaviour: A Rasch modelling approach

The present study examines the development of a measure tapping students’ perceptions of (pre-service) teachers’ teaching behaviour to explore the practical value of such a measure in teacher education and teacher professional development programs. From a sample of 1,635 students of 91 pre-service teachers teaching in secondary education in The Netherlands, random subsamples of 809 students of 45 teachers and of 826 students of 46 teachers were used for analyses. Classical test analyses were used as a preliminary approach prior to utilizing Rasch modelling to the data. Additionally, multilevel analyses were used to examine the predictive validity of the measure on student academic engagement as an external criterion. Results revealed that a shortened and representative measure of teachers’ behaviour meets the requirements of the Rasch model sufficiently. In addition, the predictive quality of the shortened measure was confirmed. Implications of findings for research and educational practices were discussed.

Longitudinal effects of induction on teaching skills and attrition rates of beginning teachers

The teaching profession faces a shortage as well as a decline of teaching skills. A possible way to mitigate this is to implement evidence-based induction arrangements. Seventy-one schools with 338 beginning secondary education teachers were randomly allocated to an experimental or a control group. The experimental schools used induction arrangements; the authors measured the effects of these arrangements by using repeated lesson observations and by comparing the rates at which beginners in the control and experimental groups left the teaching profession. Three years later, 14% of the control group and 12% of the experimental group had left. Leaving the profession could be explained by a lack of certification and low initial teaching skill levels. The experimental group exhibited greater improvement in teaching skills compared to the control group. Workload reduction influenced the skill level negatively, and coaching and observing had a strong positive influence on the skill level in Year 3.

Influencing the psychological well-being of beginning teachers across three years of teaching: self-efficacy, stress causes, job tension and job discontent

In this study, the path of influence of support programmes for beginning teachers (BTs) is examined. Longitudinal relationships between self-efficacy and stress causes experienced by BTs and their job tension and discontent are investigated. Differential effects are explored in the relationships between the perceived psychological variables for induction and non-induction groups, after a period of three years. A total of 62 secondary schools and 338 BTs, in the Netherlands, were randomly selected to two context conditions. In the experimental condition, an induction arrangement was provided to the BTs. The remaining schools and BTs followed their regular (induction) arrangements. Results show that school and class efficacy are negatively related to job tension and job discontent. Stress causes were positively related to job tension and discontent. The link between classroom self-efficacy and stress outcomes is much stronger in the induction group. For school self-efficacy, however, the link is weaker in the induction groups. Implications of the findings for practice and theory are discussed.

Measuring teaching quality and student engagement in South Korea and The Netherlands

ABSTRACT Six observation scales for measuring the skills of teachers and 1 scale for measuring student engagement, assessed in South Korea and The Netherlands, are sufficiently reliable and offer sufficient predictive value for student engagement. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis shows that the factor loadings and intercepts of the scales are the same, within acceptable boundaries, in both countries. Therefore, we can compare the average scores of teachers in both countries in a reliable and valid way. The 289 Dutch teachers score significantly better on “creating a safe and stimulating learning climate” and “intensive and activating teaching” and almost significantly on “efficient classroom management”. We find no significant differences in “clear and structured instruction”. The 375 South Korean teachers perform significantly better than the Dutch teachers on “teaching learning strategies” and almost significantly on “differentiating instruction”. Furthermore, we find better student engagement in South Korea.

Validating a model of effective teaching behaviour of pre-service teachers

Abstract Although effective teaching behaviour is central for pupil outcomes, the extent to which pre-service teachers behave effectively in the classroom and how their behaviour relates to pupils’ engagement remain unanswered. The present study aims to validate a theoretical model linking effective pre-service teaching behaviour and pupil’s engagement, incorporating the role of context and teacher characteristics. The study included a sample of 264 pre-service teachers from 64 secondary schools throughout the Netherlands. Pre-service teachers were observed using the International Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching to measure effective teaching behaviour and pupils’ engagement. We used multilevel modelling to account for the hierarchical structure in the data. Results show that the quality of teaching behaviour of pre-service teachers is below that of experienced teachers. Class size and (partly) teacher gender explain differences in the quality of teaching behaviour. All domains of teaching behaviour are related to pupil engagement, with classroom management and clarity of instruction showing the strongest relationships with academic engagement compared to the other domains. The results make it plausible to approximate minimum standards for the assessment of pre-service teachers based upon a normative criterion based on the impact on pupils’ academic engagement.

The Role of Autonomous Motivation for Academic Engagement of Indonesian Secondary School Students: A Multilevel Modelling Approach

Motivational theories coming originally from Western countries, like the self-determination theory, recognize that autonomous motivation provides energy for students to be actively engaged in academic learning. The theory assumes that the importance of autonomous motivation is cross-culturally generalizable. However, it remains inconclusive whether or not findings from past Western research are valid for the Indonesian context. Particularly, it is unclear whether or not the two types of autonomous motivation as conceptualized by the self-determination theory (identified and intrinsic) contribute equally strong to Indonesian students’ academic engagement. The present study was designed to examine the relationship between the two types of autonomous motivation and academic engagement in the Indonesian secondary education. Importantly, the hierarchical structure of the data was taken into account. A total of 4000 students (grades 7 to 12) from 200 classes/teachers from 15 secondary schools participated in the study. All students responded to the questionnaires on academic motivation and academic engagement in the middle of the school year. Multilevel modelling was used to analyse the data. Results show that autonomous motivation is significantly and positively related to academic engagement. This means that the higher the level of autonomous motivation, the better the level of academic engagement. Both identified motivation and autonomous motivation are important predictors for students’ academic engagement. However, identified motivation could explain more variance in students’ academic engagement than intrinsic motivation. Findings suggest that schools should emphasize on providing a stimulating and safe learning environment that is conducive for sustaining students’ autonomous motivation (in the Indonesian context).

The relationship between beginning teachers’ stress causes, stress responses, teaching behaviour and attrition

ABSTRACT In this study, the relationships between beginning teachers’ perceived stress causes, stress responses, observed teaching behaviour and attrition is investigated employing structural equation modelling (SEM). A total of 143 BTs were surveyed using the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work-BTs (QEEW-BT). Teaching behaviour was observed using the ICALT observation instrument. Results show that BTs’ perceived negative pupil aspects relate positively to the stress responses perceived tension, discontent and negative emotions. Negative emotions, in turn, are negatively associated with observed teaching behaviour. This study also shows that discontent positively relates to attrition. Additionally, this study provides important cues to improve professional support programmes for BTs.

Measuring general and specific stress causes and stress responses among beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands.

ABSTRACT The main aim of this study was to adjust the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work (QEEW) in order to measure stress causes and stress responses of beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands. First, the suitability of the original QEEW stress scales for use in the beginning teachers (BTs) context was investigated using a sample of 356 beginning teachers from 52 different secondary school locations in the Netherlands. Confirmatory Factor Analyses, Principal Component Analyses and Mokken scaling item reduction was applied to create high concise and precise scales. Hereafter, based on the teacher stress literature, additional teacher specific stress items were added, resulting in the adjusted version of the measure, the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work – Beginning Teachers (QEEW-BT, study 1). To cross-validate the results and to examine the internal consistency and validity of the adjusted instrument a different sample of 143 beginning teachers from 61 different secondary school locations in the Netherlands was used (study 2). The present findings provide adequate support that the QEEW-BT is a reliable and valid instrument to measure stress causes and responses for beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands.

Do Teacher-Student Relationships Deteriorate Over Time?

This research on Teacher-Student Relationships (TSR) in education has shown that TSR is an important determinant of classroom environments and suggests that a good TSR is beneficial for student learning and outcomes (Davis, 2003; den Brok, Brekelmans, & Wubbels, 2004; Henderson, Fisher, & Fraser, 2000; Opdenakker, Maulana, & den Brok, 2012).

The longitudinal effects of induction on beginning teachers' stress.

Background Teaching is a stressful profession especially for beginning teachers. Induction programmes can support beginning teachers. Little is known concerning which elements of induction programmes can influence (the change in) teachers’ stress over time. Aims This study aims to investigate the growth of stress causes and stress responses during the first 3 years of professional practice and to reveal the influence of induction arrangement elements on the initial level as well as the change in stress levels over the 2 years that followed. Sample Longitudinal data from a sample of 393 beginning teachers (56.5% female) were collected at three measurement occasions. All teachers were offered four different induction arrangement elements. Method Results of multiple group confirmatory factor analysis confirmed longitudinal measurement invariance. Multivariate latent growth curve modelling (MLGM) was conducted to examine the initial status, the subsequent linear growth, and the influence of the individual induction arrangement elements on the stress causes and stress responses. Results MLGM results show that perceived stress caused by high psychological task demands increases over time (d = 0.22), whereas perceived stress caused by negative pupil aspects decreases over time (d = −0.52). Further, workload reduction decreases the level of perceived high psychological task demands, negative social aspects, and all the stress responses. Perceived support for effective teaching behaviour decreases the level of perceived negative emotions and discontent. Further, school enculturation has an influence on the change in perceived discontent over time. Conclusions Perceived stress causes and stress responses can change over time. Specific induction arrangement elements appear to be powerful elements to reduce the level, and the change over time, of specific perceived stress causes and stress responses.