Teacher educators conceptions of Learning Compared to Non-teacher Educators Conceptions

Author(s):

Marija Javornik Krečič(presenting / submitting)Milena Ivanus Grmek Jernej Kovac

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Poster

Session Information

10 SES 05.5 PS, General Poster Session

General Poster Session

Time:

2014-09-03

12:30-14:00

Room:

Poster Area E (in front of B001-B003)

Chair:

Rasa Nedzinskaitė

Contribution

Researchers studying the behaviour of teachers and how they were trained stress the importance of knowing what teachers think and what their beliefs are. Our study is also grounded in the theory of teacher cognition (Pajares 1992, Kagan, 1992, Fang, 1996, Trigwell & Prossner 1996, Knowles & Cole 1996, Hofer & Pintrich 1997, 1998, Korthagen 1999). Within the frame of a cognitive-constructive understanding of teachers’ professional development, their behaviour and actions are believed to be closely connected with their individual systems of beliefs, values and principles. Slick (1998) as well Cochran Smith (1998) pointed out the complexity of university teachers. Our research deals with teacher educator's cognition concerning their students' learning compared to other university teachers (non-teacher educators).

Method

Our empirical research focused on university teacher cognition. We were interested in how the conceptions of teacher educators – all those who actively facilitate the (formal) learning of student teachers and teachers (defined at the working conference entitled “The Profession of Teacher Educator in Europe”, Iceland, June 2010) – differ from those of university teachers who do not educate teachers (referred to as “non-teacher educators”). We would once again like to emphasize the importance of researching teacher cognition (as presented in the theoretical part of the article), because it influences a teacher’s actions. Taking the teacher’s role in schools into consideration, teacher educators should be aware of and change the ways teachers think and act. The research was based on descriptive and causal non-experimental methods of empirical pedagogical research (Sagadin, 1993). The main constituents in the study were university teachers at the University of Maribor. At the level of inferential statistics, a simple random sample was used. The questionnaire for the university teachers dealt with their conceptions of student learning. It consisted of two sections. In the introductory section, the purpose of the survey was presented. There were instructions for completion and general questions about the participant (gender, faculty, work experience). In the second part the descriptively expressed scales of binary items described two extremes: the traditional conception and the process-oriented perception.

Expected Outcomes

After evaluating the results, we can conclude that teacher educators' cognitions are more process-oriented than those of non-teacher educators. These findings are encouraging, because in light of these results we could conclude that teacher educators at the University of Maribor are process-oriented. We could say that they are quite modern in their thinking (in accordance with modern theoretical trends). That said, we need to point out that having certain conceptions does not automatically mean that teacher educators act in accordance with their conceptions. the study can be used for future research, which is definitely necessary. As was stressed at the international conference in Brussels (March 2012) entitled “Policy Support for Teacher Educators”, the work of teacher educators is crucial for our future. These are key players in determining the quality of Europe’s education system. It is they who are present at every stage of the teacher's life-cycle, teaching and guiding; it is they who model and exemplify in their daily teaching what it means to be a professional learner-centred teacher; and it is they who undertake the key research that develops our understanding of teaching and learning.

References

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Author Information

Marija Javornik Krečič (presenting / submitting)

University of Maribor

Faculty of Arts

Maribor

Milena Ivanus Grmek

University of Maribor, Slovenia

Jernej Kovac