Characteristics Of Effective Teachers Research Articles

Teachers' organisational behaviour in public and private funded schools

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare teachers' organisational behaviour in publicly‐ and privately‐funded schools in the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector.Design/methodology/approachA percentage of all middle managers in publicly and privately funded schools (72 per cent and 43 per cent respectively) distributed self‐report questionnaires to their teachers measuring teachers' attitudes, sense of identification and perception of the school climate. The sample consisted of 705 teachers in publicly funded schools and 25 teachers in privately funded schools. Data were analysed through multilevel analysis accounting for the dependency of teachers working within the same teaching unit.FindingsThe analyses show that teachers in publicly funded schools report a less curriculum‐oriented attitude, a lower sense of identification, and perceive a less supportive school climate than teachers in privately funded schools. Funding did not have an effect on the extent to which teachers have a student‐oriented attitude. In addition, the analyses show significant effects of teacher characteristics, the disciplinary sector, and affiliation characteristics on teachers' organisational behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper clearly indicates differences in teachers' organisational behaviour in publicly and privately funded schools. Contrary to common beliefs, the institutional context hardly influences the extent to which teachers have a student‐oriented attitude.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to insights in behavioural aspects of the fading boundary between the public and private sector.

Classroom teachers styles of using and development materials of inclusive education

Teaching students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom may be regarded as a challenge for teachers accustomed to teaching in the regular classroom; therefore teachers should require the basic characteristics of effective teaching. The use of educational materials makes learning and conprehension easier for students at all levels. For students who have learning difficulties, educational materials are more important. In this research study, it is aimed to determine classroom teachers’ ways to choose, develop, and use of instructional materails for inclusion students in their classes. It is also important to support the development of inclusion programs by using the knowledge gathered in this research study. Qualitative and quantitative data collected throughout the research study display the inefficiency of teachers to develop and use instructional materials for inclusion students.

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Characteristics of an Effective Teacher as a Function of Discipline Orientation: A Mixed Methods Investigation

This mixed methods study investigated the extent to which preservice teachers' discipline orientations are consistent with their perceptions of what makes an effective teacher. The study's first purpose was to determine whether preservice teachers tend to possess a predominant discipline style. The second purpose was to ascertain the degree to which preservice teachers' endorsement of each of the three discipline styles (i.e., interventionist vs. interactionalist vs. non-interventionist) predicts their perceptions of characteristics of effective teachers. Participants were 63 preservice teachers enrolled at a large southeastern university. Both interventionism and interactionalism received significantly greater endorsements than did non-interventionism. A phenomenological analysis revealed seven characteristics that many preservice teachers considered to reflect effective teaching: student-centered, effective classroom and behavior manager, competent instructor, ethical, enthusiastic about teaching, knowledgeable about subject, and professional. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that the degree of discipline orientation was a predictor of some of these characteristics. Implications are discussed.

Comparison and contrast: similarities and differences of teachers’ views of effective mathematics teaching and learning from four regions

This paper brings together the findings of the previous papers in this volume and makes comparisons between the findings from each of the four regions considered. The findings of these comparisons suggest that there are particular characteristics of effective teachers and teaching in mathematics that can be ascribed to Eastern cultures and some other characteristics that can be best ascribed to Western cultures. However, perhaps more strikingly, there are many similarities in the ways in which teachers from the four regions see effective mathematics teaching and learning.

Australian teachers’ views of effective mathematics teaching and learning

Thirteen Australian teachers who had been nominated by their professional mathematics teachers’ associations as excellent teachers of elementary school mathematics were interviewed on their beliefs about mathematics, mathematics learning and mathematics teaching. In particular, they were asked to discuss the characteristics of effective teachers of mathematics and excellent mathematics lessons. In spite of their differences in location, experience and teacher education, the teachers displayed a lot of consistency in their responses and in their lists of characteristics. While this group of teachers cannot be claimed to be representative of Australian teachers, they have provided a snapshot of what is regarded as effectiveness in mathematics education in Australian elementary schools.

There’s more to teaching than instruction: seven strategies for dealing with the practical side of teaching1

In this paper, we highlight the importance for teachers of having sound practical skills in interacting with students, parents, administrators and other teachers, and argue that the development of such skills is often insufficiently considered in professional training. We then present a new framework for conceptualizing practical skills in dealing with others that follows directly from Sternberg’s theory of successful intelligence. Finally, we outline and discuss an approach to measuring teachers’ preferred strategies for dealing with others that we believe has promise, both for future research into the nature and characteristics of effective teachers and schools, and for the development of teacher expertise.

Making the Case for Differentiated Teacher Effectiveness: An Overview of Research in Four Key Areas

Research into teacher effectiveness has traditionally attempted to uncover generic characteristics of effective teachers. However, recently the realisation that teacher effectiveness may be differentiated across different domains has gained recognition. In this article, we propose that researchers and policy-makers develop more differentiated models of teacher effectiveness. An overview of research is given that looks at whether there is evidence for differentiated effectiveness in four areas: different subject and curriculum areas, pupil background and ability, pupils' personal characteristics, and different teacher roles.

Caring Pharmacists, Caring Teachers

“Let robots do the counting, you do the caring,” read a headline in a pharmacy newsletter several months ago. The article went on to call for pharmacists to recognize that they cannot compete with technology in the dispensing arena and must focus on what they can do: care for patients. Caring is uniquely human. In her recent book, The Tending Instinct, Shelley Taylor argues compellingly that “The most marked characteristics of human daily life are caring and cooperation, not the unbridled selfishness that many describe as ‘human nature.’” Accepting this proposition of human nature has profound implications on our understanding of pharmacy practice and pharmacy education. The nursing literature is filled with writing on caring. Research papers, textbooks, and curricula have embraced caring as a skill integral to the nursing profession and as a skill that can be identified, analyzed, and learned. Caring, in the professional context, has been defined as expressing attitudes and actions of concern for patients, in order to support their well being, alleviate undue discomforts, and meet obvious or anticipated needs. Pharmacy, on the other hand, while embracing the idea of pharmaceutical care, and publicly stating the importance of caring in a myriad of policy statements, is just beginning to understand and define caring behaviors and how they relate to pharmacy education and our patients’ health. Over the last several years there has been some research and discussion on caring in pharmacy. We have tested a model predicting caring behaviors in pharmacy students using a multi-school sample. Using the same instrument, we have also assessed levels of caring abilities in practicing pharmacists. What have we learned from these studies? First, the college culture can make a difference in students’ levels of caring abilities. Teachers’ attitudes and feelings toward their profession, their school, and their students are powerful tools in shaping students’ behavior. We suggest that it is not so much what we teach and how we teach, but who we are as teachers that affect students’ caring abilities. We also know now that pharmacists demonstrated caring abilities equal to the low to midrange of nurse’s caring abilities, as reported previously. Caring, as we know, has long been central to the nursing profession. Many of us have heard from countless prospective students, “I want to be a pharmacist so I can help people.” It should be no surprise therefore that pharmacists are demonstrating levels of caring abilities that are somewhat comparable to nurses. Galt, in her work on caring, has suggested specific behaviors in the professional arena as well as the personal arena that could describe pharmacist caring. For example, caring behaviors could be “to act directly to fulfill any health care related needs expressed by the patient” or “to pray for the patient.” From this work, she has also gone on to develop a “caring curriculum” and to evaluate the effectiveness of that course in changing caring behaviors. The point of this abbreviated review is this: as pharmacists and pharmacy educators we have recognized the need for caring behaviors and their potentially positive benefit on patients. We have begun to define caring and understand how caring behavior is learned. Our next step, as Galt has already begun to do, is to integrate caring into our curricula. I would like to suggest that the best way to teach caring behaviors is through our behavior. As we have learned, caring is modeled. Noddings has said, “the capacity to care may be dependent on adequate experience in being cared for.” We need to care for our students. What does this mean for teachers? Being respectful, honoring appointments, grading examinations on time, providing feedback, listening, following up, looking at someone in the eye, the reassuring touch, taking the time to ensure understanding. If you examine caring behaviors, many of them are also characteristics of effective teachers. Think about memorable teachers in your past. They may have been challenging, but most likely they are memorable because they cared about you. Corresponding Author: Nancy Fjortoft, PhD. Address: Chicago College of Pharmacy, Midwestern University, 555 31st Street, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1235. Tel: 630-9716417. Fax: 630-971-6097. Email: nfjort@midwestern.edu. As educators we believe in the power of education

Characteristics of Effective Teachers of Gifted Students: Teacher Background and Personality Styles of Students

This study was designed to explore characteristics of exceptional teachers of gifted students. Participants included 63 teachers and 1,247 highly able students. Teachers responded to 2 measures: a background questionnaire and the Myers Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), a self-report personality inventory. Students also completed the MBTI. In response to the background questionnaire, the majority of teachers reported holding advanced degrees in a content area; most were not certified to teach and reported completing no formal coursework in gifted education. Results from the MBTI indicated that exemplary teachers were more likely to prefer N (intuition) and T (thinking), as compared to a normative teacher sample. The personality types of teachers were in many ways similar to the personality types of the gifted students. These findings suggest that teachers who are judged to be highly effective in working with gifted students prefer abstract themes and concepts, are open and flexible, and value logical analysis and objectivity. Results suggest that teacher personality and cognitive style may play a role in his or her effectiveness in teaching gifted students.

Leadership for Transformation

School improvement has been the dominant model for educational reform for many educational systems in recent years. It is still the most robust model in terms of its academic integrity, its capacity to inform policy making and its impact on professional practice in schools. The dominance of school improvement in largely explained by its consistent success. There is little doubt that it has had a significant impact on the comparative performance of schools and school systems. Evidence from a wide variety of national systems points to the demonstrable success of the model against a wide range of criteria. In essence, performance has improved, achievement has been raised and a range of related outcomes have been met. However, this success has always been subject to questioning when the criteria for success are changed from generic, system wide improvements to a focus on the achievement of the individual child. Whether it is the realisation of the potential of an outstandingly gifted young person or the maximisation of the life chances of a young person with profound learning difficulties the prevailing system does not always seem able to accommodate specific, personal needs. What might be described as the ‘Improvement Movement’ has created an effective hegemony since the mid 1980s. The combination of an emphasis on measurable outcomes and the improvement of the internal processes of the school has created an orthodoxy which has been reinforced by models of accountability and the redefinition of the characteristics of effective teaching and management in schools. It is an hegemony because it is a highly integrated model with educational policy moving from an enabling function to being deterministic. One of the key characteristics of educational policy making by many governments has been the increasing specificity of regulations and guidelines. It could therefore be argued that the school system is approaching an optimum state — it is difficult to envisage what else might be done to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. However, one characteristic of the school improvement strategy that is practised by governments is that it has not in any way questioned the fundamental premise of the nature of the school as an organisation or of the system of administering schools. There has been a tacit acceptance of the school as the optimum means of organising education. Indeed, education has come to be defined as the outcome of schooling. This notion will be questioned later in the following discussion.

Preservice Teachers' Educational Beliefs and Their Perceptions of Characteristics of Effective Teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice teachers' perceptions of characteristics of effective teachers, as well as to investigate whether these perceptions are related to educational beliefs (i.e., progressive vs. trans-missive). Data for this study were collected from 134 preservice teachers enrolled in several sections of an introductory-level education class for education majors at a large university in southern Georgia. During the 1st week of classes, the authors gave students (a) a questionnaire asking them to identify, rank, and define characteristics that they believed excellent teachers possess or demonstrate and (b) a published survey that identified participants' educational beliefs as either progressive or transmissive. A phenomenological analysis of responses revealed several characteristics that many of the preservice teachers considered to reflect effective teaching. In order of endorsement level, the following 7 themes emerged from these characteristics: (a) student centered (55.2%), (b) effective classroom and behavior manager (33.6%), (c) competent instructor (33.6%), (d) ethical (29.9%), (e) enthusiastic about teaching (23.9%), (f) knowledgeable about subject (19.4%), and (g) professional (15.7%). With the Bonferroni adjustment, a series of chi-square analyses revealed no relationship between the 7 perception categories of effective teachers and preservice teachers' year of study, preferred grade level for teaching, and educational belief. However, significantly more men than women endorsed teacher characteristics that were associated with being an effective classroom and behavior manager.

Effective Teachers: An Investigation from The Perspectives of Elementary School Students

The topic of effective teachers is of significance to the field of teacher education as well as to the entire education community. While an abundance of research on this subject identifies findings from adult viewpoints, this qualitative study uses ethnographic interviews with fifth grade students to examine the characteristics of effective teachers from the perspectives of children, the consumers in education. Categories of characteristics and themes found in the descriptive data of transcripts reveal the way children define effective teachers and identify their skills, knowledge, and dispositions. Implications for the goals and content of teacher education programs are discussed. Based on findings from this study, the author argues in support of including the voices of children in the research arena. The article concludes that in an age of technology, elementary school students retain a humanistic vision of teaching and learning.

The theoretical beliefs of effective teachers of literacy in primary schools: an exploratory study of orientations to reading and writing

Raising standards of literacy has become a key issue for education policy in many countries. A critical factor in any attempt to improve education is the quality and consistency of teaching: thus there has been an increasing interest in teachers themselves. This has included not only what teachers do, but also what they know and believe; and how teachers' knowledge and beliefs relate to classroom practice. This paper reports an exploratory study of the theoretical beliefs of a sample of 225 British primary school teachers who were identified as successful in teaching literacy. The research took place in England between 1996 and 1998. Its main aim was to examine the characteristics of effective teachers of literacy – in particular their background, experience, professional development, knowledge, beliefs and classroom practice – and to compare them with a sample of 71 primary teachers who represented the range of effectiveness in literacy teaching. The findings of this study indicated differences in theoretical orientation to literacy within the effective teacher sample, according to the type of teacher training course taken, the number of years' experience of teaching gained after qualifying, and the highest level of professional qualification. There were also differences in theoretical orientation between the effective teachers and the comparison sample. The paper concludes that these differences in beliefs about literacy and its teaching have implications for policy and professional development.

Teacher Perceptions of the Characteristics of Effective Teachers of Aboriginal Middle School Students

This paper reports a component of research that involved interviewing teachers identified as effective with Aboriginal students in selected primary and secondary schools in urban and regional Western Australia. The research shows that characteristics of effective teachers include understanding Aboriginal culture, history, and students’ home backgrounds; an ability to develop good relationships with Aboriginal students and their families, a sense of humour, and preparedness to invest time to interact with Aboriginal students out of the classroom in order to strengthen relationships. The research also indicates that effective teachers understand that Aboriginal students are often more independent than others, do not chastise or embarrass them in front of others, set challenging and achievable objectives, and include cultural relevance and recognition in the curriculum and classroom environment. This research provides directions for teacher pre-service training, teacher induction, and teacher in-service professional development. It is suggested that schools consider middle schooling pedagogy and curriculum principles as a means of better providing for adolescent Aboriginal students.

Developing Reflective Judgment Through MSW Education

Discussion of the nature of critical thinking and the ways in which it can be enhanced has increased in recent years among social work educators, and yet little is known about the impact of MSW education on the critical thinking of students. This paper examines the nature of critical thinking, presents an adult cognitive developmental model, the Reflective Judgment Model (King & Kitchener, 1994), which holds promise for enlarging social work's understanding of critical thinking and examines approaches to teaching which enhance critical thinking. The Reflective Judgment Model focuses on the development of assumptions about knowledge and the process of knowing as development occurs through adulthood. Specific implications for creating classroom and field learning environments are detailed, including characteristics of effective teachers and of effective assignments.

Teaching Reading: Lessons from the Experts

There have been several investigations into the effective teaching of reading, but very few into the qualities of teachers who are effective practitioners in this area. In this article, the authors report some of the findings of a project commissioned by the Teacher Training Agency to investigate the characteristics of effective teachers of literacy. The effective teachers studied had a number of features in common, including a coherent set of beliefs about the importance of meaning in literacy teaching and an ability to help their pupils to make connections between language at the text, sentence and word levels.

The characteristics of effective teachers of literacy

Fresh demands are currently being made upon teachers of literacy. How do these fit with what we know about teachers who are effective at teaching literacy? The research reported here aimed to explore the characteristic features of teachers who were effective literacy teachers, in terms of their knowledge, beliefs and teaching practices. It was found that effective teachers were already teaching literacy in a manner sympathetic to that implied in the National Literacy Strategy. The article goes on to discuss some of the implications of these findings, especially in terms of the design and content of future in-service courses.

Analysis of Teacher-Student Interactions in the Piano Lessons of Adults and Children

The purpose of this investigation was to identify and describe the characteristics of effective teaching in the piano studio. Thirteen piano teachers were videotaped with one adult student and one child student during three consecutive lessons each. An 8- to 12-minute segment showing work on a piece in progress was excerpted from each of the 78 lessons. Computerized observation procedures, designed specifically for this and related research, were used to record and analyze teacher behavior, student behavior, and lesson progress. Ten representative excerpts were evaluated by five expert piano pedagogues, who rated the teaching effectiveness observed in each. The expert pedagogues were generally reliable in identifying ineffective teaching, but were less reliable in assessing effective teaching. Correlational analyses were used to identify the lesson characteristics associated with effective and ineffective ratings. Relatively active teachers were ranked higher than were inactive teachers. Active teachers provided more modeling and gave more feedback. Student performance episodes generally were shorter among the more active teachers, and students of the more active teachers tended to perform mare successfully. The duration and pace of behavior episodes were important variables in discriminating among levels of instructional quality, with shorter episodes and, thus, faster pace associated with more effective teaching.

Recruiting Community Faculty

The success of community-based resident education depends on a partnership between a residency program and a variety of individuals, physician and nonphysician, in the community. The process of recruiting community faculty in the education of pediatric residents begins with selection of learning objectives. Next, characteristics of effective teachers and teaching sites should be listed so that appropriate faculty may be identified and recruited. A residency program's existing physician network of both referring physicians and graduates of the residency is a good beginning point for making contacts. Selection of specific educational goals, objectives, and activities will lead to identification of potential nonphysician participants. Understanding why community colleagues might want to become part of the training program leads to techniques for contacting and recruiting them.

West Indies: Effective teachers: views and actions of Caribbean special education teachers in training

Winnifred M. Hall (Faculty of Education, the University of the West Indies, Jamaica) and Mary Dixon (Department of Special Education, Mico College, Kingston, Jamaica) consider the views of Caribbean special‐education teacher‐trainees on the characteristics of effective teachers; examine their patterns of interaction during practice; and suggest revisions to the structure and content of their training programmes.