Transfer of professional development to classroom teaching. An analysis of professional development courses at the University College of Teacher Education in Vienna, Austria.

Martin Klein, M.Ed.

Doctoral thesis

Anotácia:

Why do some students learn from teaching within a lesson while others do not? Many researchers have tried to explain the phenomenon of learning; however, the more research we do, the more we find out that it is not a simple stimulus – response relationship. In addition to explaining the process of learning, we also attempted to measure it. The number of tests and educational standards has increased recently, and effectiveness and output-orientation have become current topics. It is certainly no surprise that tertiary institutions have implemented evaluation tools for their programmes in order to increase their efficiency. Most of these tools usually keep to a single survey at the end of a course, even though there is a scientific discussion whether such a simple perspective is enough to determine any impact on the learner. For institutions such as the University College of Teacher Education it is necessary that courses for teachers have a verifiable impact on them. It should even go one step further: the courses are intended to have an impact on the students of those teachers as well. As a consequence, this study attempts a different approach to the evaluation of professional development courses and their impact on classroom teaching. It investigates the relation between successful use of course ideas in the classroom and influences on this process such as the social work environment, perceived course quality and motivational aspects. My research is founded on two main theories. The first one is the learning theory with models such as the offer-uses model of Helmke (2004), which helps me to position professional development in the process of teaching and learning. Helmke describes teaching, or more precisely a teacher’s instruction, as an offer for the learner, who perceives the information influenced by individual qualification, motivation, social organization of the classroom, and so on. Ultimately the learner might use the generated knowledge in new situations. The second foundation of this research is motivation theory, which explains the individual’s behaviour in different situations and influences from different sources (which can be of individual or social nature) (Ryan and Deci 2017). These influences can range from strongly controlling (external) to highly self-determined (such as intrinsic motivation). This theoretical background helped to develop a framework which is intended to describe transfer processes in professional development and support our understanding of them. The research design consists of a quantitative and a qualitative study. The quantitative part investigated participants of a professional development course by means of three surveys and accompanies their transfer process from influences prior to the attended course (survey one about pre-knowledge), during the course (survey two about subjective course quality and achieved knowledge) and after it (survey three with experiences about the transfer process). As a second step, I used interviews with teachers to find answers to unsolved questions from the surveys and to focus on the social work environment of the participants. Results from both studies are intended to answer how the three basic psychological needs – autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan and Deci 2017) – influence the transfer of professional development to classroom teaching. Regarding the first need (autonomy), my data confirmed that it is important for transfer processes. Within a specific group of the sample (English Experts ), I was able to verify that having the choice of whether to enrol in a course leads more frequently to successful transfer than do enforced settings. In terms of competence, I was able to detect a moderate effect of course quality on transfer processes of rho = 0.37. Interviews confirmed this finding, with examples from personal experience. One respondent mentioned colleagues with poor language skills which negatively affected their implementation

Anotácia:

process. The final need, relatedness, was also important for successful transfer processes. Accordingly, a good atmosphere among colleagues, represented by the act of sharing ideas from a seminar, showed higher transfer rates (+27.1% on the highest rating of the specific item) compared to participants who did not share such ideas. Beyond that, qualitative data (from interviews and open-ended questions in the surveys) also highlighted the importance of the practical value of seminars. This might be an occurrence within the specific target group of this study (teachers in Primary school), but it could also affect other occupations. However, an interviewee claimed that we can remember ideas easier if we literally carry them out (as social-cognitive learning theory of Bandura (1986) suggests), so that practical seminars might also decrease the gap between a seminar’s setting and use in a new situation, in contrast to courses which focus on abstract ideas. The findings of this study should help us to understand professional development in a more holistic way. They can also enhance professional development itself by reporting results of the participants’ transfer experiences to course instructors and course coordinators, who will plan future course programmes. As a result, this higher quality of professional development courses can also help our children to learn better in the classrooms. In conclusion, this thesis suggests that the school system needs to consider professional development as a holistic process, recognizing it as more than the transmission of information on individuals, but to look at it as a social process which thereby needs superiors who provide autonomy-supportive environments and open colleagues. These ingredients were shown as significant in helping the individual realize ideas which help our pupils in their learning processes. References: Bandura, Albert. 1979. Sozial-kognitive Lerntheorie. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. Helmke, Andreas. 2004. Unterrichtsqualität erfassen, bewerten, verbessern. 2nd ed. Seelze: Kallmeyersche Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH. Ryan,Richard M.and Deci,Edward L. 2017. Self-Determination Theory. Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development and Wellness. New York, London: The Guilford Press.

Abstract:

Why do some students learn from teaching within a lesson while others do not? Many researchers have tried to explain the phenomenon of learning; however, the more research we do, the more we find out that it is not a simple stimulus – response relationship. In addition to explaining the process of learning, we also attempted to measure it. The number of tests and educational standards has increased recently, and effectiveness and output-orientation have become current topics. It is certainly no surprise that tertiary institutions have implemented evaluation tools for their programmes in order to increase their efficiency. Most of these tools usually keep to a single survey at the end of a course, even though there is a scientific discussion whether such a simple perspective is enough to determine any impact on the learner. For institutions such as the University College of Teacher Education it is necessary that courses for teachers have a verifiable impact on them. It should even go one step further: the courses are intended to have an impact on the students of those teachers as well. As a consequence, this study attempts a different approach to the evaluation of professional development courses and their impact on classroom teaching. It investigates the relation between successful use of course ideas in the classroom and influences on this process such as the social work environment, perceived course quality and motivational aspects. My research is founded on two main theories. The first one is the learning theory with models such as the offer-uses model of Helmke (2004), which helps me to position professional development in the process of teaching and learning. Helmke describes teaching, or more precisely a teacher’s instruction, as an offer for the learner, who perceives the information influenced by individual qualification, motivation, social organization of the classroom, and so on. Ultimately the learner might use the generated knowledge in new situations. The second foundation of this research is motivation theory, which explains the individual’s behaviour in different situations and influences from different sources (which can be of individual or social nature) (Ryan and Deci 2017). These influences can range from strongly controlling (external) to highly self-determined (such as intrinsic motivation). This theoretical background helped to develop a framework which is intended to describe transfer processes in professional development and support our understanding of them. The research design consists of a quantitative and a qualitative study. The quantitative part investigated participants of a professional development course by means of three surveys and accompanies their transfer process from influences prior to the attended course (survey one about pre-knowledge), during the course (survey two about subjective course quality and achieved knowledge) and after it (survey three with experiences about the transfer process). As a second step, I used interviews with teachers to find answers to unsolved questions from the surveys and to focus on the social work environment of the participants. Results from both studies are intended to answer how the three basic psychological needs – autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan and Deci 2017) – influence the transfer of professional development to classroom teaching. Regarding the first need (autonomy), my data confirmed that it is important for transfer processes. Within a specific group of the sample (English Experts ), I was able to verify that having the choice of whether to enrol in a course leads more frequently to successful transfer than do enforced settings. In terms of competence, I was able to detect a moderate effect of course quality on transfer processes of rho = 0.37. Interviews confirmed this finding, with examples from personal experience. One respondent mentioned colleagues with poor language skills which negatively affected their implementation

Abstract:

process. The final need, relatedness, was also important for successful transfer processes. Accordingly, a good atmosphere among colleagues, represented by the act of sharing ideas from a seminar, showed higher transfer rates (+27.1% on the highest rating of the specific item) compared to participants who did not share such ideas. Beyond that, qualitative data (from interviews and open-ended questions in the surveys) also highlighted the importance of the practical value of seminars. This might be an occurrence within the specific target group of this study (teachers in Primary school), but it could also affect other occupations. However, an interviewee claimed that we can remember ideas easier if we literally carry them out (as social-cognitive learning theory of Bandura (1986) suggests), so that practical seminars might also decrease the gap between a seminar’s setting and use in a new situation, in contrast to courses which focus on abstract ideas. The findings of this study should help us to understand professional development in a more holistic way. They can also enhance professional development itself by reporting results of the participants’ transfer experiences to course instructors and course coordinators, who will plan future course programmes. As a result, this higher quality of professional development courses can also help our children to learn better in the classrooms. In conclusion, this thesis suggests that the school system needs to consider professional development as a holistic process, recognizing it as more than the transmission of information on individuals, but to look at it as a social process which thereby needs superiors who provide autonomy-supportive environments and open colleagues. These ingredients were shown as significant in helping the individual realize ideas which help our pupils in their learning processes. References: Bandura, Albert. 1979. Sozial-kognitive Lerntheorie. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. Helmke, Andreas. 2004. Unterrichtsqualität erfassen, bewerten, verbessern. 2nd ed. Seelze: Kallmeyersche Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH. Ryan,Richard M.and Deci,Edward L. 2017. Self-Determination Theory. Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development and Wellness. New York, London: The Guilford Press.

Keywords

\transfer, \professional development, \education, \social environment, \motivation, \learning, \teaching, \teacher, \school, \self-determination

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 23. 4. 2020

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 22. 9. 2020
• Vedúci: prof. PhDr. Tomáš Katrňák, Ph.D.
• Oponent: doc. Mgr. Klára Šeďová, Ph.D., doc. Mgr. Jana Poláchová Vašťatková, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Doctoral programme / odbor:
Sociology / Sociology