Abstract
We studied the role of the valence of female teachers’ perceptions in predicting various student outcomes. Using a prospective design, at the beginning of Grade 5 (T1), we assessed evaluations by 43 female teachers of either mathematics or German, belonging to 22 secondary schools in Germany. We combined a qualitative measurement by using an open-ended question, with a quantitative data analysis. At T1 and T2 (4 months later), the assigned students (N = 635) reported their subject-specific achievement, learning and performance goals, and quality of relationship to their teacher. Multilevel analyses revealed that positive teacher perceptions increased future student achievement, while negative teacher perceptions reduced immediate and future learning and performance goals. Further, positive teacher perceptions explained differences in student outcomes between classes, whereas negative teacher perceptions explained differences in student outcomes between schools.
Highlights
Teachers’ perceptions (TPs) of student attributes are critical for students’ learning experience and educational success
We operationalized teacher perceptions as teachers’ social cognitions when freely describing students according to their own understanding, whereas we distinguish teacher perceptions from teacher expectations in the sense that teacher perceptions can be understood as antecedents to teacher expectations (Hofer 1986) or in line with Brophy and Good (1974) as a more generalized aspect of teacher expectations
The aim of the present study was to examine the valence of TPs and to investigate whether this is associated with different student outcomes
Summary
Teachers’ perceptions (TPs) of student attributes are critical for students’ learning experience and educational success. Teachers’ perceptions of particular student outcomes, such as achievement, have been studied extensively (e.g., Rubie-Davies 2007), whereas effects on students’ social and motivational outcomes have been considered less frequently. In order to narrow this gap in the literature, we tested the associations between teachers’ general perceptions of students and three student outcomes: their achievement, their goal orientations, and the quality of relationships with their teachers. We were interested in the associations involving teachers’ general perceptions of students as a teacher-centered variable (e.g., Rubie-Davies 2006, 2007). We operationalized teacher perceptions as teachers’ social cognitions when freely describing students according to their own understanding, whereas we distinguish teacher perceptions from teacher expectations in the sense that teacher perceptions can be understood as antecedents to teacher expectations (Hofer 1986) or in line with Brophy and Good (1974) as a more generalized aspect of teacher expectations
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