Values as professional capital: the role of teacher identity in shaping teaching practice

This paper investigates teaching practices at the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC), which comprise a unique official development assistance (ODA) program funded by the Government of Australia (GoA) and managed through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) with the aim of training and equipping workers from the Pacific Island Forum member countries with Australian technical qualifications that will be recognized by the industry and governments in the concerned countries. Using both an online survey and structured interviews with teachers who are currently working (or have worked) in the program in one of the four campuses of the APTC on the island countries, the research looks into off-shore teaching experiences, practices and identities of these teachers. Themes that are addressed include the professional development needs of VET teachers who are working on short and long-term overseas assignments, teaching practices in an aid/development context, and the identities of VET teachers who work on aid/development projects.

This study investigated how different dimensions of digital literacy (DL) competence were related to digital literacy practices in teaching and teacher identity. Survey data were collected from 910 pre-service teachers in China. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to analyse the data. Findings indicated that among the five dimensions of DL competence, three were significant positive predictors of digital practices in teaching, including information and information literacy, communication and collaboration, and security. In addition, digital literacy practices significantly and positively predicted teacher identity and mediated the effect of DL competence on teacher identity. The study suggests the significance of enhancing DL competence and integrating digital technology as pedagogical tools to help pre-service teachers bridge the gap between their personal use of technology and teacher identity in relation to digital literacy.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine gender's influence on the relationship between Generation Y consumers’ individual levels of cultural values and service quality expectations. Cultural values were measured regarding variables of power distance, collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. Service quality was measured from SERVQUAL scale. This paper is descriptive in nature and data have been collected using questionnaire and an empirical method. Sampling was conducted among Generation Y of Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science and Research Branch. Exploiting stratified random sampling proportional to size method, 412 acceptable samples were collected. Data were analyzed using covariance matrix and multiple regressions. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to verify the factor structures of both constructs while structural equation modeling was employed to examine the measures for cultural values and service quality dimensions. Based on results, service quality expectations have a significant direct relationship with uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation but not with masculinity. Collectivism is directly related to responsiveness, reliability, and empathy; power distance is directly related to responsiveness; and conversely related to reliability and empathy. In addition, gender's impact was not found to be significant on the relationship between individual-level cultural values and service quality dimensions. Key words: Power distance, collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, gender, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, empathy, tangibles.

It has often been said that any student engagement that is poorly monitored during teaching practice (TP) will not necessarily contribute much to their professional development and teacher identity. This applies specifically to initial undergraduate teacher training. This concern became the main focus of the study on which this article is reporting, as part of a broader project – FIRE (Fourth-year Initiative for Research in Education), which commenced in 2015. We wanted to determine how we could complement a community of practice engagement by using Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) as intervention that could eventually contribute to the development of student teachers’ teacher identity during teaching practice. This article reports on the outcomes of a study conducted on a sample of 2,309 final-year student teachers between 2015 and 2017 at a tertiary institution in Pretoria. Data were generated by participating student teachers during three-hour, on-campus workshops approximately a quarter of the way into their teaching practice. They were required to respond to a single question by addressing how student teachers perceive the roles of expert teachers in terms of their curriculum and subject knowledge, their expertise in teaching and learning, caring and providing learner support, and the managerial and professional skills of teachers. The results confirmed that PRA is a dynamic research and data collection strategy to create networks through which participants can benchmark their experiences against peers and other stakeholders. Furthermore, it is again confirmed that traditional TP experiences often fail to expose student teachers adequately to the full dynamics of the educational landscape, as certain interactions and activities are conflict-dependent, and only emerge when opposing and conflicting forces create imbalances and inequity. PRA drew our attention to serious flaws in our teacher training programmes, urging a reassessment of the objectives and actions of TP. Keywords : community of practice; participatory reflection and action; subject methodology; teacher identity; teaching practice

This paper examines teaching practices prevailing across five cities (Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei) for the underpinning pedagogical identities that inform practice (identity grafting). The study adopts innovative approaches via OECD teacher surveys to identify relationships between pedagogical identities (highly effective, outcome-centred, discipline-centred, diversity-centred and lowly effective) and teaching effectiveness in implementing pedagogically informed practice (instructional: learning-focused and assessments; classroom management: motivational, discipline and diversity). An original concept of identity grafting is employed to highlight which pedagogical identities best support teaching effectiveness (blending, integrating, reversing and repressing). Cluster analysis rigorously compares teachers’ pedagogical identities, teaching effectiveness and identity grafts in all five cities. Shanghai and Singapore have the largest segments of highly effective teachers within the local teacher population. However, Singapore likewise has the largest segment of lowly effective teachers among the cities, and Shanghai teachers are overall less likely to value diversity management than teachers in other cities. Across the cities, teachers who implement diverse practices by blending or integrating, and, to some extent, reversing pedagogical identities, have more effectiveness than those who repress their identities. The results provide globally significant insights into targeted professional development for different teacher segments within and between contexts.

The study has focused on determining the impact of social media on the teaching and learning practices. The design of this study is quantitative as the data has been gathered from the students and teachers through survey questionnaire. The number of respondents were 280. The analysis was carried out on SmartPLS in which the Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used. Therefore, the data was analysed using measurement model and path assessment with reflective constructs. The results revealed that there is overall significant effect of collaboration and interaction, creativity and knowledge sharing on learning practices. On the other hand, creativity, knowledge sharing and use of SNS had significant influence over teaching practices. The study is limited to the educational practices as it determines the effect of SNS on the teaching and learning practices.

Teacher identity is complex, changeable over time, and a poly-component assembly like the social identity. Since there were some problems in analyzing teacher identity with the existing binary methods using NNEST (Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher) and NEST (Native English-Speaking Teacher), various analyzing methods were adopted in this study, such as investigating the linguistic identity of the participants. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate teacher identity of two female professors teaching English conversation in Korea and find out how their different teacher identities and learning and teaching experiences affected their teaching practices. Data collection consisted of six semi-structured interview sessions with two participants and one classroom observation for six months. To triangulate the data, the study analyzed the classroom observation field notes and background survey sheets along with the transcripts of the interviews. The present study discovered that the first participant (EB-elective bilingual) positioned herself as a NNEST and Korean who spent most of her lifetime practicing and teaching English in Korea with studying experience for about three and half years in the U.S. In the meantime, the second participant, a circumstantial bilingual, perceived herself as a NEST and Korean, who studied and practiced English in the U.S. and in some Asian countries but taught English language mostly in Korea. Even though both professors confessed that a well-prepared class was important, their different linguistic identities, learning and teaching experience caused the different teaching practices. In addition to such findings, the present study attempted to uncover the relationships between teachers’ NNEST identity and their actual teaching practices in the classroom. Hence, this study offers important implications for teaching English conversation in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) contexts.

Academic self-efficacy, academic amotivation, attitude toward the teaching profession, and classroom management anxiety are four of the most significant factors for both teacher training and performance because these psychological and behavioral constructs are first developed during the initial training, and reflect on the actual teaching quality of teachers. Therefore, investigation into their development and relationships, particularly with regard to prospective teachers, is significant both for the theory and practice of teaching. Hence, the current study aims to explore the casual relationships between these variables with a sample of prospective mathematics teachers, using the structural equation modelling (SEM). The participants were selected using simple random sampling method from prospective mathematics teachers studying at educational faculties of seven universities in different regions of Turkey. The data were collected using the academic amotivation scale, academic self-efficacy scale, attitude toward the teaching profession scale, classroom management anxiety scale, and a personal information form developed by the researchers. Data obtained from 581 participants were analyzed using path analysis. The findings showed that prospective mathematics teachers had a positive attitude toward the profession, and were eager to teach. Their academic self-efficacy predicted their attitude toward the teaching profession. Similarly, prospective mathematics teachers’ attitude toward the teaching profession correlated negatively with their academic amotivation. In other words, as prospective mathematics teachers’ attitude scores toward the profession increased, their academic amotivation scores decreased. However, prospective mathematics teachers had a high level of classroom management anxiety. Interestingly, prospective mathematics teachers with a positive attitude toward the profession experienced higher levels of classroom management anxiety. The findings mostly supported previous results in the literature. Implications were suggested both for teacher training and practice of quality teaching.

Digital natives are a new cultural generation born of aggressive digital technology penetration. The rapid development of technology is influencing their learning habits and behaviours, and consequently this generation has a unique way of thinking and learning. The purpose of this research is to analyse the behaviours and preferences of digital natives through understanding their preferences in the use of technology and their cultural values, as a basic strategy for selecting learning methods. This research uses a survey method to explore the use of technology and the cultural values of digital natives on accounting courses. The cultural values referred to in this paper are Hofstede's cultural dimensions, namely power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. The research results reveal two main findings: 1) the level of use of technology for non-academic purposes tended to be high, and the preference of the students was to use smartphones rather than fixed PCs or laptops. This suggests that lecturers must actively use technology in the classroom, thus ensuring that pre-service accountancy teaching students are themselves ready to use technology in their teaching practice; 2) analysis results of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions indicate that the students prefer learning in technological environments, informal learning structures, unlimited space and time, that they expect quick feedback, prefer teamworking, and prefer active learning rather than reading and listening. These results can be used as the basis for designing quality learning methods.

The appearance of tablet technology in the classroom is considered an obvious modernisation milestone. In the last few years school professionals in Poland have made large investments in digitalisation, especially through one to one model (1:1), using digital devices such as tablets. Researches on tablet technology integration in school classrooms convince that digital technologies are closely related to the discourse of educational change. What really changes when digital technology is used in the classroom? This is a driving question for the present study. This research contributes knowledge and new insights into learning and teaching practices in two classrooms in a Polish primary school that were observed over a longer perspective of three school semesters. The design of teaching and learning with tablet technology was explored using the didactical design framework. This perspective focuses on both teachers’ practices and students’ learning activities in the classroom and how tablet technology is integrated into teaching and learning practices. Although the research project was performed on a small scale, it can be defined as one that documents the changes to learning and teaching practices happening in the traditional educational culture of the school under analysis. These changes were identified through the data collected by means of classroom video ethnography (63 teaching hours of recording) and follow-up interviews (18) with classroom’s teachers. The analysis resulted in three distinct maps of emergent teaching and learning practices and a series of conflicts and tensions teachers experience in their everyday tablet-mediated teaching practices. The findings point out that tablet technology integration needs the alignment of the classroom pedagogy - technology relationships.

The study reported in this paper involved six teachers, who were born abroad, but working in their heritage environment (Northern Cyprus). The participants represented a range of individual differences: three identified as male and three as female, ages ranged from 23 to 50, and teaching experience ranged from 1.5 to 25 years. A questionnaire and interviews were used to explore these teachers’ attitudes to their heritage language and culture and the effect it had on their teacher identity and teaching practice. The results suggested that attitudes towards their heritage identity and the effect it had on their teaching practice were generally positive: in addition to contributing to their self-confidence regarding their own level of language proficiency (especially pronunciation), it enabled them to empathise with their students difficulties and to employ their common language when communication by means of the target language failed. Implications of these findings for teaching and teacher education are suggested, including that teachers should be encouraged to value their heritage background in view of the positive effect on their personal as well as their teacher identity and teaching practice. Suggestions for further research are also made, for instance regarding similar studies in other contexts.

The role of cultural values in teacher and student self-efficacy: Evidence from 16 nations

Cultural determinants of infection control behaviour: understanding drivers and implementing effective change

This paper aims at investigating leader-follower value congruence in the Egyptian hotel industry. The impact of employees’ cultural values (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism vs. collectivism) on their perception of the appropriate leadership style (transactional and transformational leadership style) was theoretically discussed and empirically tested. To date, no studies have sought to link these two constructs (leadership styles and employees' cultural values), and therefore no model exists to theoretically and/or practically link these concepts within the hospitality industry in Egypt, a gap this paper aims to fill. A structured questionnaire derived from an extensive literature review was completed by employees in five star hotels. A total of 500 responses were obtained. One hundred uncompleted questionnaires were eliminated leaving 400 usable questionnaires with a response rate of 80%. Reliability of the variables was analyzed by employing Cronbach’s alpha method, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to test the dimensional structure of the study variables, and finally, Path analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to assess the research hypotheses. The results of the current study give evidence that might help hotel managers to adopt certain leadership styles to fit with the employees’ cultural values. The implications of the current study results were then discussed and interpreted.

This study aimed to explore the influence of cultural values on the development of attitudes toward cultural products and purchase intentions while considering country image as a mediating variable in this relationship. Cultural dimensions were categorized into five groups: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and long-term orientation. A web-based questionnaire was distributed to 974 Asian consumers who had purchased and used foreign cultural products. Data analysis was conducted in two stages: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using SPSS, and structural equation modelling (SEM) using EQS 6.4. The results revealed that power distance, individualism and collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity had significant positive impacts on attitudes toward cultural products, whereas long-term orientation did not. Positive attitudes toward cultural products are linked to high purchase intent. Country image was identified as a mediator in the relationship between attitudes toward cultural products and purchase intention. This study contributes to the literature by identifying and explaining the relationship between cultural values and consumer behavior, and selecting and consuming these consumers’ rational, emotional, and reasonable cultural products. It is necessary to increase explanatory power by developing various cultural values and introducing additional variables, as in Hofstede’s theory of cultural value. The practical and theoretical implications of this study are outlined in the conclusion.