Building well-being among university teachers: the roles of psychological capital and meaning in life

The present study aims to address the issue of temporal precedence linking psychological capital and meaning in life and, further, to examine the relationship between meaning in life, psychological capital, and well-being among university teachers. Data were collected in three measurement waves; 412 university teachers in China were selected as the final sample, completing the measures of Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and Psychological Well-Being Scale at all three time points. The results showed that university teachers’ psychological capital positively predicted their meaning in life over time, but not vice versa; meaning in life and psychological capital positively predicted well-being over time; furthermore, meaning in life partially mediated the effect of psychological capital on well-being among university teachers over time.     

Mentoring in-service chemistry teachers: acquirements as mentees

The aim of this study is to identify a group of chemistry teachers’ (mentees) acquirements of mentoring program by analyzing their reflective journals. Four mentees participated in this study and they met with their mentors once a week for eight consecutive weeks. The mentees devised lesson plans as well as activities during the mentoring sessions. After each mentoring session, the mentees were asked to reflect the process and their gains to their journals. The journals were analyzed in two stages; content analysis of the journals and the analysis of the mentees level of reflections. The analysis of the mentees’ journals showed that the mentorship program supported the mentees to improve their pedagogical content knowledge; allow them to utilize various methods, techniques, and materials in their lessons. Besides, the mentees indicated that they performed chemistry courses more effectively with the help of the acquirements from the mentoring sessions. The result of this study showed also that mentors can play key roles in supporting professional developments of teachers. It is suggested that rehearsing lesson plans before going into the classroom would make the mentoring sessions more beneficial.     

Inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and EFL learners’ reflective thinking and the role of teaching experience and academic degree in reflection perception

The present study investigated Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perception of their own reflective teaching, of inhibitors to their reflective teaching, of inhibitors to their students’ reflective thinking, and the impact of teaching experience and academic degree on their perception of reflective teaching. To this end, 304 private-language-institute English as a Foreign Language Teachers teachers participated in the study by completing English Language Teaching Reflection Inventory developed by Akbari, Behzadpoor, and Dadvand, Inhibitors to EFL Teachers’ Reflective Teaching Questionnaire and Inhibitors to EFL Learners’ Reflective Thinking Questionnaire, with the last two instruments being developed and validated by the researchers. The results indicated that (1) Iranian EFL teachers perceived their reflective teaching to lie at a medium level, (2) three types of inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching included ‘lack of knowledge’, ‘affective-emotional’ and ‘teaching situation’ inhibitors, and (3) three types of inhibitors to EFL learners’ reflective thinking also comprised ‘affective-emotional’, ‘cognitive’ and ‘learning situation’ inhibitors. The results of two-way ANOVA indicated both academic degree and teaching experience significantly differentiated Iranian EFL teachers with respect to their reflective teaching perception, but the interaction effect of them did not do so. The results are discussed in detail in the article.     

Public and private schoolteachers' differences in terms of job attitudes in Albania

In the present study, the attitudinal differences between public and private schoolteachers in Albania were investigated. Since the type of the organization varies, one would expect different climates for the emergence of job attitudes--mainly job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment, the most frequently studied job attitudes in the industrial and organizational psychology literature. It was hypothesized that the private schoolteachers would be more satisfied than public schoolteachers, especially due to high levels of payment and other desirable conditions. However, the public schoolteachers will be more involved than the private schoolteachers since they have to justify their continued work under the undesirable conditions. The commitment level of the private schoolteachers will be higher than the public schoolteachers since there is usually high correlation between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Data were gathered from a total of 429 teachers working in public (n = 254) and private (n = 175) schools in Albania, in high and middle schools. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance with age as a covariate. The results indicated that the private schoolteachers were more satisfied, as expected, revealed a weaker job involvement and were more committed to their school than their colleagues in the public sector. The results were found to be in line with previous studies conducted in the west. However, this study is believed to have a potential contribution to the literature in general, and to the Albanian local literature in particular. To the knowledge of the authors, there has been no similar study in Albania. Discussion is provided along with the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.     

Enhancing Students' Engagement by Increasing Teachers' Autonomy Support

Engagement refers to the behavioral intensity and emotional quality of a person's active involvement during a task. Recognizing the benefits highly engaged people experience, we tested whether classroom teachers could incorporate the relatively foreign concept of autonomy support into their motivating styles as a way to promote their students' engagement during instruction. Teachers in an experimental group and teachers in a delayed-treatment control group received information and guidance consistent with self-determination theory on how to support students' autonomy. Over a series of 3 classroom observations, trained raters scored each teacher's autonomy support and 2 measures of their students' engagement–task involvement and influence attempts. Trained teachers displayed significantly more autonomy-supportive behaviors than did nontrained teachers. Further, the more teachers used autonomy support during instruction, the more engaged were their students. This was true on both measures of engagement.     

Student teachers’ competence and career certainty: the effects of career anxiety and perceived control

In comparison to other professional faculties, student teachers are less certain about their career decisions. Consequently, examining the factors that influence their perceptions of career competence and certainty may be beneficial for their professional development. We examined how student teachers’ (n = 194) gender, grade of instruction, practicum, career anxiety, and perceived control affected their career competence and certainty. Anxiety had large and negative effects on competence and certainty. In contrast, primary control enhanced competence whereas secondary control enhanced certainty. High-practicum ratings were also associated with greater competence and certainty; however, these effects were mediated by anxiety and perceived control. These findings help us understand the transition that student teachers make from studentship to becoming professional teachers.     

教师和家长关于儿童入学准备观念的调查研究

本研究对218名家长和370名教师进行了问卷调查。从身体和运动发展、情绪和社会性发展、学习方式、言语发展、认知发展和一般知识基础、家庭6个维度,考察了家长和教师对儿童入学准备的看法,并比较了家长、幼儿教师和小学教师对儿童入学准备观念的差异。结果发现:(1)整体上看,家长、幼儿教师和小学教师最重视身体健康、注意力、教养方式、自信心、学习兴趣、会听课等方面的问题;(2)幼儿教师和小学教师有关儿童入学准备的观念比较接近,而小学教师相对重视服从权威、父母教育程度、文明礼貌、自我中心和表达能力等方面的问题;幼儿教师相对重视抗挫折能力、亲子关系、学习态度、自我控制、身体健康等方面的问题;(3)家长与教师的观念在整体上存在显著差异。     

Who are they and What do they Need: Characterizing and Supporting the Early Childhood Assistant Teacher Workforce in a Large Urban District

Scholarship and policy emphasize strengthening the early childhood education (ECE) workforce, but this work neglects a large segment of the workforce: assistant teachers. This study responds to gaps in knowledge by examining the demographic characteristics, qualifications, professional supports, and workplace experiences of assistant teachers (N = 120) in a representative sample of ECE centers (n = 35) in a large urban district. In addition to studying assistant teachers’ receipt of in‐service training and coaching, we draw from social network theory to investigate the professional support assistant teachers provide and receive via their collegial networks. We use a variance decomposition approach to explore how on‐the‐job supports, such as training, coaching, and networks, contribute to assistant teachers’ work‐related stress and job satisfaction—two key predictors of ECE teacher attrition. Results indicate that few ECE staff members seek assistant teachers for work‐related advice. Coaching is found to be an important contributor to assistant teachers’ job satisfaction; professional advice via collegial networks is a meaningful but under‐examined source of support for stress and job satisfaction. We consider implications for supporting and retaining assistant teachers and propose next steps for research on this understudied segment of the teaching workforce.     

Managing dyspraxia: Pre-school teachers’ perceptions,experiences and strategies

Dyspraxia is a childhood developmental disorder that manifests as a difficulty in thinking, planning, and executing planned movements or tasks. Dyspraxia affects approximately 5–6% of school-aged children. This study aimed to explore pre-school teachers’ awareness and understanding of dyspraxia, and the support they desire for teaching children with dyspraxia. Informants were 15 pre-school teachers from the Cape Peninsula, South Africa (black = 1; coloured/mixed race = 13; white = 1). The teachers completed semi-structured interviews regarding their awareness and knowledge of dyspraxia and the support they require to better facilitate the learners’ development. A thematic analysis of the data suggested that the teachers were aware of the behavioural and cognitive difficulties associated with dyspraxia and that they need to seek professional development to enhance their management of children with dyspraxia. Early intervention strategies, in partnership with the parent carers of the children, appear to hold good prospects for the successful management of dyspraxia among school-aged children.     

中学教师工作倦怠量表的编制

目的探讨工作倦怠在我国中学教师中的表现以建立其本土化定义并编制相应的测量工具。方法首先采用自下而上的思路对47名中学教师进行深入访谈,探索该职业领域工作倦怠的本土化定义;随后在质性研究的基础上编制教师工作倦怠量表,并对266名中学教师施测,考察各项信效度指标。结果中学教师工作倦怠主要表现为热情枯竭、精力枯竭和职业成就感丧失,分别对应Maslach倦怠问卷(MBI)中的讥诮态度、衰竭以及专业自我效能降低;修订后的量表各项信效度指标良好。结论国外工作倦怠的三维度定义在国内中学教师群体中得到独立验证,但衰竭维度的核心地位被热情枯竭所取代。