TEACHER’S MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS AND STUDENTS’ METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES

Abstract

A b s t r a c t The aim of this research was to establish the correlation between teachers' mental characteristics and students' metacognitive strategies. Teachers'' mental characteristics were examined through: positive emotional reactions, negative emotional reactions and teachers' indifference. The issue is about the students' estimations of teachers' mental characteristics. Metacognitive strategies which are explored are: consciousness of students' own cognitive function, planning and monitoring of the same. Research was realized in two elementary schools in the area of East Sarajevo, using the sample of the seventh, eight and ninth-grade students. The results show that the emotional positive reaction is the only variable which appears as a positive predictor in realizing of all metacognitive strategies. Teachers’ mental characteristics A teacher influences not only with teaching methods and acts but also with all his/her person. It is emphasized that teacher’s mental characteristics (teacher’s person) are the most important factor in the teaching process. A good curriculum and good methods can’t replace teacher’s love and interest in pupils. Bosiljka and Jovan Djordjevic’s findings (1988) show that pupils don’t care about teacher’s didactical knowledge as much as they care about teacher’s kindness and will to help them. Evans as quoted by Laketa and Vasilijevic (2006) paid special attention to teacher’s person and concluded that the teacher has the biggest influence on pupils after parents. He also established that success of pupils in the teaching process depended on teacher’s behaviour. When exploring definitions regarding teachers’ mental characteristics, it was necessary to delimit differences in terms which exist. What Jersald (1972) called human qualities, universally human characteristics, Laketa (1998) called general human attributes, as noted by reference to the Pedagogical Dictionary (1967). In the Pedagogical Dictionary it was said that a person represents an organization of physical, mental and psycho-social characteristics. PON Inventory (PON- teacher’s mental characteristics) was constructed for the needs of exploring teachers’ mental characteristics on the base of accessed literature whose aim was to research teacher’s