The Conceptual Confusion of Teaching Quality and Teacher Quality, and a Clarity Pursuit

Awuradjoa Aidoo,Luo Shengquan

doi:10.46966/ijae.v2i2.168

Abstract

This study aimed to establish and understand the conceptual confusion between teaching quality and teacher quality and design a path for their distinction. The study conducted searches on ERIC, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, Sage Journals, Sage Knowledge, Web of Science, and random Google search engine utilization for teaching quality, teacher quality, differences between teacher quality and teaching quality, and conceptual confusion. The study applied Gidden's structuration theory to foster clarity development amid conceptual confusion. The study also highlighted the relevance of the concepts' distinction, inter-relatability, and connecting boundaries and was guided by the research questions: how can the concepts be distinguished from each other? How can the conceptual confusion between them be cleared? The study discovered pathways to understand the conceptual differences through deconstruction, classification, and relationship and role pairing. The study discovered: differences do exist between the two concepts in content and realization; some of the relationships between the concepts serve as their explicit conceptual differentiators: some were discovered to possess purposes of linking the concepts, while some detached the concepts; the existing relationships also unveiled the deriving roles of the concepts on each other and in practice; and proposed a framework for their distinction and clarification. Implications for practice include enablement of professional development needs identification for teachers; clarification of areas for leadership coaching and mentoring of teachers; self-awareness creation for teachers in seeking professional growth; student achievement; school improvement and action research enhancement.

Highlights

The study highlighted the relevance of the concepts' distinction, inter-relatability, and connecting boundaries and was guided by the research questions: how can the concepts be distinguished from each other? How can the conceptual confusion between them be cleared? The study discovered pathways to understand the conceptual differences through deconstruction, classification, and relationship and role pairing
For instance, again identifies teacher quality (TrQ) in its use as a description of the person(teacher): with the function here identified to be an adjective, thereby placing the term as a modification of the individual- that drives student learning and describes Teaching quality (TgQ) as the verb, that drives student learning
Such distinction offered by Perez leads us to one of the approaches to distinguish the two concepts, which is through the consideration of 'teacher' in teacher quality as a person/personality, and 'teaching' in TgQ as a an action of measurement, as her definition stipulates

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The term has been identified to replace teacher quality (TrQ), and vice versa, in literature (Churchward & Willis, 2018) This practice has implications for further and detailed study into the individual concepts, serving as obstacles to comprehend their dimensions, components, definitions, measurement, influential impact, development, input sources, differences, and related informing topics. For instance, again identifies TrQ in its use as a description of the person(teacher): with the function here identified to be an adjective, thereby placing the term as a modification of the individual- that drives student learning and describes TgQ as the verb (thereby conveying the occurrence or action practiced by the teacher), that drives student learning Such distinction offered by Perez leads us to one of the approaches to distinguish the two concepts, which is through the consideration of 'teacher' in teacher quality as a person/personality (noun), and 'teaching' in TgQ as a (verb) an action of measurement (to measure teacher actions toward student learning), as her definition stipulates. This stage offers an opportunity for cultural custodians to review and locate for themselves space within which to assert their meaning amid the multiple viewpoints imposed on them

Capturing the core of the focal phenomenon

CONCLUSION