Theo Wubbels

Time: 17 September, 9:30 - 10:30

Place

Teaching and teachers can be studied from multiple theoretical perspectives. We study teaching from an interpersonal perspective that describes, analyzes and interprets teaching in terms of the teacher-student and teacher-class relationships. In such an approach questions to be answered are e.g. What determines the character of the teacher-class relationship? How do teachers proceed in building positive teacher-student relationships? What types of teacher-class relationships can be distinguished? Are characteristics of these relationships connected to student cognitive and affective outcomes? Do relationships develop over time? Can student teachers learn to build positive relationships? Research has shown that the quality of teacher-studnet relationships is a major predictor of student achievement and attitudes. During the teaching career in the eyes of the students these relationships improve in the first five years and become less positive after 20 years of experience. An analysis of the teacher student interactions from a communicative systems and interpersonal perspective helps understand how subtle changes in teacher behaviour influence student behaviour and vice versa. Such small changes in teacher student interactions can lead in the long run to considerable improvement or deterioration of the relationships. Recent research shows how teacher student interactions in classrooms with positive teacher-student relationships differ from interactions in classroom with less positive relationships. In my keynote I will review such studies and discuss what teachers can do to create and sustain positive relationships in class.

CV

Theo Wubbels is a Professor of Education and Associate Dean for Academic affairs at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Utrecht University the Netherlands. Formerly he was among others an associate professor and director of teacher education in the IVLOS Institute of Education. His main research interests developed in his career from the pedagogy of physics education, via problems and supervision of beginning teachers and teaching and learning in higher education to studies of learning environments and especially interpersonal relationships in education. His most recent work focuses on multicultural classes, assessment of teacher interpersonal behavior, teacher learning and teacher cognitions about interpersonal relationships. He was the co-editor of Do You Know What You Look Like? (1993, Falmer Press) and published over 200 peer refereed articles in scientific journals on science education, teaching, teacher education and educational research. He also co-edited Linking Practice and Theory. The Pedagogy of Realistic Teacher Education (2001, Lawrence Eralbaum associates), which was translated in German (2002), Japanese and Czech (2010). He is fellow of the American Educational Research Association.

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