Student perceptions of a good teacher: the gender perspective

BACKGROUND: A large-scale survey of pupils' perceptions of a good teacher in the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago is reported. An essay-based, interpretative mode of research was used to elicit and identify constructs used by boys and girls. AIMS: The study explores similarities and differences between boys and girls in their perceptions of a good teacher, in a society where girls achieve superior academic performance (than boys). SAMPLE: A total of 1756 pupils and students aged between 8 and 16 provided the sample, which was proportional, stratified, clustered. Within these constraints classrooms were randomly selected to be representatives of primary and secondary school schools across the two islands. METHOD: Altogether 1539 essays and 217 interviews were content analysed, coded for age development and compared between boys and girls. Content items identified by the pupils were logically grouped into: physical and personal characteristics of the teacher, quality of the relationship between the teacher and pupil, control of behaviour by the teacher, descriptions of the teaching process, and educational and other outcomes obtained by pupils due to teacher efforts. RESULTS: Female pupils identified more good teacher concepts at all age levels than males. There was some commonality concepts at all age levels than males. There was some commonality between the sexes in concepts regarding interpersonal relationships and inclusiveness in the good teachers' teaching practices and boys showed significantly greater concerns regarding teacher control and use of punishment. Males as young as 8 years stated that good teachers should be sensitive to their needs. Only among the 16 year old males and males noted as good teachers. CONCLUSION: Consideration is given to the roles of male and female teachers, how their classroom actions may set the basis for future success (or failure) of their pupils, and the needs of pupils with regard to teacher support within developing and developed countries(AU)

Student perceptions of a good teacher: the gender perspective.

BACKGROUND: A large-scale survey of pupils' perceptions of a good teacher in the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago is reported. An essay-based, interpretative mode of research was used to elicit and identify constructs used by boys and girls. AIMS: The study explores similarities and differences between boys and girls in their perceptions of a good teacher, in a society where girls achieve superior academic performance (than boys). SAMPLE: A total of 1756 pupils and students aged between 8 and 16 provided the sample, which was proportional, stratified, clustered. Within these constraints classrooms were randomly selected to be representative of primary and secondary schools across the two islands. METHOD: Altogether 1539 essays and 217 interviews were content analysed, coded for age development and compared between boys and girls. Content items identified by the pupils were logically grouped into: physical and personal characteristics of the teacher, quality of the relationship between the teacher and pupil, control of behaviour by the teacher, descriptions of the teaching process, and educational and other outcomes obtained by pupils due to teacher efforts. RESULTS: Female pupils identified more good teacher concepts at all age levels than males. There was some commonality between the sexes in concepts regarding interpersonal relationships and inclusiveness in the good teachers' teaching practices and boys showed significantly greater concerns regarding teacher control and use of punishment. Males as young as 8 years stated that good teachers should be sensitive to their needs. Only among the 16-year-old males were males noted as good teachers. CONCLUSION: Consideration is given to the roles of male and female teachers, how their classroom actions may set the basis for future success (or failure) of their pupils, and the needs of pupils with regard to teacher support within developing and developed countries.

Pupils' perceptions of a good teacher: a developmental perspective from Trinidad and Tobago.

The study reports on a large-scale survey of pupils' perceptions of a good teacher in the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago. An essay-based, interpretive mode of research was used to elicit and identify constructs used by pupils between ages 7 and 17. The sample was a proportional, stratified, clustered, yet randomly selected representation of primary and secondary schools across the two islands. 1633 essays were content analysed and coded for age developmental comparison. Factor analysis showed no consistent underlying groupings of the 166 conceptual items by age, thus analysis was undertaken within logically constructed sets of items that are described: physical and personal characteristics of the teacher, quality of the relationship between teacher and pupil, control of behaviour by teacher, descriptions of the teaching process, and expected educational and other outcomes obtained by pupils due to teacher efforts. Results showed a general increase in number of conceptual items (and words per essay) by age, but this confuses four further criteria of item used. The four criteria were: age constancy, characteristics of younger pupils, characteristics of 11-13 year-olds, and characteristics of the oldest pupils. All ages perceived good teachers by physical presentation (clothing and appearance), teachers' care for pupils, descriptive teaching actions, and trustworthiness. Younger pupils focused on appearance, subjects taught, and assertion of physical punishment. Mid-aged pupils focused on the range of classroom control used by teachers (including distributive and retributive punishments), actions involved in the teaching process, and a growing awareness of the individual needs of pupils. Oldest pupils understood that good teachers must be well trained and highly motivated, should be sensitive and responsive to the needs of pupils, draw the pupils into the learning process, and have a major responsibility in preparing the pupil for the world of work and further education. Important aspects of the study show the link between pupils' conceptual reality and classroom environment, that pupils are very concerned about the relationship between themselves and teachers, and that the curriculum dominated approach to teaching does not meet pupil expectations.

Pupils' perceptions of a good teacher: a developmental perspective from Trinidad and Tobago

The study reports on a large-scale survey of pupils' perceptions of a good teacher in the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago. An essay-based interpretive mode of research was used to elicit and identify constructions used by pupils between ages 7 and 17. The sample was a proportional stratified, clustered, yet randomly selected representation of primary and secondary schools across the two islands. 1633 essays were content analysed and coded for age developmental comparison. Factor analysis showed no consistent underlying grouping of the 166 conceptual items by age, thus analysis was undertaken within logically constructed sets of items that are described: physical and personal characteristics of the teacher, quality of the relationship between teacher and pupil, control of behaviour by teacher, descriptions of the teaching process, and expected educational and other outcomes obtained by pupils due to teacher efforts. Results showed a general increase in number of conceptual items (and words per essay) by age but this confuses four further criteria of item used. The four criteria were: age constancy, characteristics of younger pupils, characteristics of 11-13 year olds, and characteristics of the oldest pupils. All ages perceived teachers by physical presentation (clothing and appearance), teachers' care for pupils, descriptive teaching actions, and trustworthiness. Younger pupils focused on appearance, subjects taught, and assertion of physical punishment. Mid-aged pupils focused on the range of classroom control used by the teachers (including distributive and retributive punishment), actions involved in the teaching process, and a growing awareness of the individual needs of the pupils. Oldest pupils understood that good teachers must be well trained and highly motivated, should be sensitive and responsive to the needs of pupils, draw the pupils into the learning process, and have a major responsibility in preparing the pupil for the world of work and further education. Important aspects of the study shows the link between the pupils' conceptual reality and classroom environment, that pupils are concerned about the relationship between themselves and teachers, and that the curriculum dominated approach to teaching does not meet pupil expectations.

Interaction dynamics of cooperative learning groups in Trinidad's secondary schools.

This study investigated adolescent students' changes in choice of workmates before and after cooperative learning in order to identify relationships between these changes and existing friendship and clique patterns, socioeconomic status, race, and achievement perceptions. Also investigated were students' perceptions of specific preferred or nonpreferred others. From these, four cases were identified and are described. The pattern that emerged was that while actual choices changed, the principle upon which these choices were made remained the same. Therefore males continued to select others using achievement as their criterion, while females used socioeconomic status. Choices based on same race decreased, and the number of friendship groups increased. Additionally, in spite of a general lessening of negative attitudes toward others, specific students remained very popular or very unpopular for reasons that seemed context based. In all cases, however, the unpopular students did not perceive themselves as of equal status to others in the group, a situation that may well affect the interaction dynamics of the group.