The Relationship between Professional Uncertainty and Teachers Collaboration

Transcription

1 The Relationship between Professional Uncertainty and Teachers Collaboration DGfE Congress 2010, Mainz Andreas Soltau & Malte Mienert

2 Approach of this symposia: Introduction What are the benefits of teachers collaboration? Organisational Level Group Level Teachers collaboration Students performance Teachers health Individual Level Teachers Uncertainty Innovations in schools Our approach: Which conditions inhibit/ foster teachers collaboration? 2

3 About teachers uncertainty Lortie (1975) compares teaching with other occupations: All craftsmen must adjust and readjust their actions in line with hoped for outcomes [...] Yet the monitoring of teaching effectiveness, defined as achieving instructional goals, is fraught with complications (p. 135). Since Lortie (1975), several authors have described typical conditions which shall prevent a reliable selfassessment of teachers 3

4 Work place conditions leading to uncertainty? Lack of standardised professional knowledge (2 item scale, α=.61) Expertise on good teaching exists in the profession of education ( ) (Rosenholtz, 1989, p. 47) Vague performance criteria (3 item scale, α=.87) I m certain what my headmaster believes to be good work performance. ( ) (Schmidt & Hollmann, 1998, p. 24) Imprecise measurement of students learning progress (3 item scale, α=.87) I measure the skills of my students so exactly that one could divide them into high and low performance groups based on this data. ( ) Bos et al. (2005, p. 340), adapted Role ambiguity (2 item scale, α=.61) When asked, I am able to tell someone exactly what the demands of my job are ( ) (Starnaman & Miller, 1992, p. 46) Strain by new teaching methods (7 item scale, α=.85) What do you think about establishing more open forms of teaching in your school? I would find it awful. (König, 2003, p. 93), adapted Lack of systematically feedback (3 item scale, α=.80) My superior often discusses my way of teaching with me. ( ) (Ramm et al., 2006, p. 363), adapted Response: 1= not true at all,, 4= exactly true 4

5 Lack of stand. knowledge Vague performance criteria Imprecise student tests Role ambiguity Strain by new teaching methods Lack of feedback 7 item scale, α=.82; I think I am didactical and pedagogical successful at my school. (Körner, 2002, p. 238) Occupational self esteem According to this literature, the uncertain nature of teachers work often elicits uncertainty about their own effectiveness (Helsing, 2007, p.35) Teachers collaboration 5

6 Occupational self esteem and teachers collaboration... with teachers uncertainty comes the need to avoid situations that threaten to disclose it. " (Rosenholtz, 1989, p.43) But... the isolated teachers whom Rosenholtz interviewed do not actually say they feel uncertain. Rosenholtz, rather, imputes the construct of uncertainty to describe the social organization of the teachers' group (Hargreaves, 1993, p. 55)...insularity functions to protect the professional image of individual teachers by placing a buffer between them and the criticisms they fear they might receive if others saw them at work" (Ashton & Webb, 1986, p. 49) But Ashton and Webb's allegations of feared criticism are not directly observed but are functionally imputed" (Hargreaves, 1993, p. 56) 6

7 Lack of stand. knowledge Vague performance criteria Imprecise student tests Role ambiguity Strain by new teaching methods Lack of feedback 4 item scale, α=.69; In order to obtain feedback, my colleagues and I observe each others teaching. (Fussangel, 2008, p.199) Occupational self esteem (+) Coconstruction 7

8 Teachers collaboration: Theoretical differentation by Gräsel et al. (2006) Exchange: Teachers exchanging work related material, opinions or information 3 item scale, α=.79; My colleagues and I communicate about the content of our teaching. (Fussangel, 2008, p. 199) Synchronisation: Teachers co ordinating each others work by synchronising or subdividing tasks 3 item scale, α=.87; My colleagues and I work on the development of new ideas on how to teach. (Fussangel, 2008, p.199) Co construction: Teachers work together for the largest part of the process; they exchange knowledge to solve problems and to reach a common task 4 item scale, α=.69; In order to obtain feedback, my colleagues and I observe each others teaching. (Fussangel, 2008, p.199) Response: 1= never,, 4= very often 8

9 Hypotheses (1) Work place conditions are negatively correlated with occupational selfesteem. (2) Occupational self esteem is positively correlated with teachers collaboration Testing simultaneously in one model using SEM with latent variables 9

10 Method and demographics Data collected during staff meetings in 16 schools (Bremen, Germany) with questionnaire from October till December 2009 N=377 teacher Gender: 249 female, 125 male (3 missing) Age: median years Primary school Special school Secondary school Number of schools Number of teachers Response rate 84% 88% 44% 10

11 School type differences 11

12 School type differences 12

13 (+) Lack of stand. knowledge (+) (+) Vague performance criteria Imprecise student tests Occupational self esteem (+) (+) Role ambiguity Co construction Strain by new teaching methods Lack of feedback Note: N=377, Estimates are standardized; observed variables and errors are hidden 13

14 Lack of stand. knowledge Vague performance criteria Imprecise student tests Occupational self esteem Role ambiguity Co construction Strain by new teaching methods Lack of feedback Model 1: 2 = , df = 484, p< /df =1.99; CFI=.89 RMSEA=.05, PCLOSE=.31 14

15 Explorative data analysis Imprecise student tests Role ambiguity -.39 Occupational self esteem Strain by new teaching methods Co construction Lack of feedback Model 1: 2 = , df = 484, p< /df =1.99; CFI=.89 RMSEA=.05, PCLOSE=.31 Model 2: 2 = , df= 339, p< /df= 2.12; CFI=.89 RMSEA=.06, PCLOSE=.09 15

16 Explorative data analysis Imprecise student tests Role ambiguity -.39 Occupational self esteem Strain by new teaching methods Lack of feedback Co construction Model 1: 2 = , df = 484, p< /df =1.99; CFI=.89 RMSEA=.05, PCLOSE=.31 Model 3: 2 = , df= 338, p< /df= 1.93; CFI=.91 RMSEA=.05, PCLOSE=

17 Results Descriptive: Teachers reporting low levels of uncertainty related work place conditions (except Lack of feedback ) Secondary school teachers reporting significantly higher levels than primary school teachers SEM Role ambiguity, imprecise student tests and strain by new teaching methods are negatively correlated with occupational self esteem Lack of feedback and strain by new teaching methods are negatively correlated with co construction No correlation between occupational self esteem and coconstruction 17

18 Results & Conclusions From the teachers perspective only the lack of systematically feedback is about moderately true. Like Hargreaves (1993) said, again teachers do not actually say they feel uncertain (p.55). But even if only experienced on a low level, some of the measured work place conditions come along with lower occupational selfesteem as claimed by Lortie (1975): Role ambiguity imprecise student tests strain by new teaching methods Occupational self esteem and teachers collaboration seem to be unrelated constructs: No evidence for isolation from uncertainty Outlook: Distinguish between voluntary and compulsory collaboration 18

19 Thank you for your attention 19

20 Literature Ashton, P. T., & Webb, R. B. (1986). Making a difference. Teachers' sense of efficacy and student achievement. New York: Longman. Bos, W., Lankes, E. M., & Prenzel, M. (Eds.) (2005). IGLU. Vertiefende Analysen zum Leseverständnis, Rahmenbedingungen und Zusatzstudien. Münster: Waxmann. Fussangel, K. (2008). Subjektive Theorien von Lehrkräften zur Kooperation. Eine Analyse der Zusammenarbeit von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern in Lerngemeinschaften. Dissertation, Bergische Universität Wuppertal. Gräsel, C., Fussangel, K., & Pröbstel, C. (2006). Lehrkräfte zur Kooperation anregen: eine Aufgabe für Sisyphos? Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 52 (2), Hargreaves, A. (1993). Individualism and individuality: Reinterpreting the teacher culture. In J. W. Little & M. W. McLaughlin (Eds.), Teachers' work. Individuals, colleagues, and contexts (pp ). New York: Teachers College Press. Heidtmann, V., Soltau, A., Mienert, M. (2009). Soziale Erwünschtheits Skala für Lehrkräfte (SES L): Neuentwicklung und erste Ergebnisse. Poster presented at the 73. AEPF congress, Bochum. Helsing, D. (2007). Style of knowing regarding uncertainties. Curriculum Inquiry, 37 (1), König, S. (2003). Der Einfluss von Ungewissheitstoleranz auf den Umgang von Lehrenden mit schulischen Belastungen eine quantitative Analyse an Berufsschulen. Dissertation, Martin Luther Universität, Halle Wittenberg. Körner, S. C. (2002). Das Phänomen Burnout am Arbeitsplatz Schule : ein empirischer Beitrag zur Beschreibung des Burnout Syndroms und seiner Verbreitung sowie zur Analyse von Zusammenhängen und potentiellen Einflußfaktoren auf das Ausbrennen von Gymnasiallehrern. Berlin: Logos Verlag. Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Ramm, G., Prenzel, M., Baumert, J., Blum, W., Lehmann, R., Leutner, D., et al. (2006). PISA Dokumentation der Erhebungsinstrumente. Münster: Waxmann. Rosenholtz, S. J. (1989). Teachers' workplace. The social organisation of schools. New York: Teachers College Press. Schmidt, K. H., & Hollmann, S. (1998). Eine deutschsprachige Skala zur Messung verschiedener Ambiguitätsfacetten bei der Arbeit. Diagnostica, 44 (1), Starnaman, S. M., & Miller, K. I. (1992). A test of a causal model of communication and burnout in the teaching profession. Communication Education, 41,