An investigation into the role of university-based initial teacher education in teacher-student relationships: A comparative analysis of Germany and Tanzania
The need to empower student teachers with positive teacher-student relationships (TSRs) competencies resonates with the fact that students are not merely cognitive but also emotional and social beings. Indeed, the interactions of the cognitive, emotional and social dimensions work to impact on their...
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| Format: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: | http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-221040 https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A15436 https://ul.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A15436/attachment/ATT-0/ |
| Summary: | The need to empower student teachers with positive teacher-student relationships (TSRs) competencies resonates with the fact that students are not merely cognitive but also emotional and social beings. Indeed, the interactions of the cognitive, emotional and social dimensions work to impact on their learning and performance. The benefits for positive teacher-student relationships within and outside class contexts cannot be overemphasised. Students are hard-wired with the need to connect in relationships with their teachers. Teacher-student relationships determine students’ school engagement, their adaptation to developmental changes and their motivation to learn. Also, TSRs influence students’ discipline, stability to social adjustments, value orientation and their identity formation and development.
Undeniably, the building of positive TSRs and teaching and learning processes are essentially mutually inclusive. To be able to form and sustain positive TSRs, student teachers need well-developed knowledge, beliefs, and self efficacy attributes. This comparative study of Tanzania and Germany argues that positive teacher student relationships form a critical requirement for effective teaching, learning, and holistic development of students in schools. To this end, the initial teacher education has a duty to nurture the TSRs attributes alongside other teacher competencies.
Despite the acknowledgement of the necessity for positive TSRs by researchers, educators, and administrative authorities, literature provides no evidence of the contribution of the initial teacher education to the positive TSRs abilities. The existing studies on TSRs have focused mainly on TSRs in schools and on the problems related to unhealthy TSRs (Giles, 2008; Jones, 2009; Knoell, 2012; Raufelder et al., 2013; Sands, 2011; Wubbel et al., 1993) and others. This disjuncture between the reported problems faced by teachers in forming and sustaining positive TSRs and the opportunity for initial teacher education to empower student teachers for positive relational exchange frames this study.
The study employed a combination of the conceptual change, self-efficacy, and goal contents theories. The utilisation of the theories was justified by the study assumptions that in order to produce teachers who are capable of handling positive TSRs in schools, the initial teacher education has to transform, orient, and reorient student teachers on the relational exchange knowledge. Secondly, apart from the pro-relational knowledge, student teachers ought to demonstrate improved self-efficacy as a yardstick of their preparedness and commitment to positive TSRs. Lastly, the study examined the implication of student teachers’ motivational reasons for joining teaching on their TSRs self efficacy. Motivational dynamics have been proven to influence teachers’ occupational satisfaction and their behaviours (Weiss & Kiel, 2013; Vansteenkiste & Ryan, 2013). Hence, the motivational reasons held by student teachers to join the teaching profession were viewed as an important construct which also may influence the student teachers’ self-efficacy for positive TSRs.
This study sought to answer the following question: Does the university¬¬ based initial teacher education contribute to positive TSRs (competencies) among student teachers? To ascertain for this role, the study investigated and compared student teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, perceived self efficacy, as well as the approaches employed in this regard. The study was anchored on the Pragmatism epistemology and ontology. The study used qualitative and quantitative techniques to study two typical cases, namely; the Universities of Leipzig and Dar es Salaam, in Germany and Tanzania respectively. The study deployed both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling techniques to arrive at the sample size N=721 for student teachers; both final-year (n=548) and beginners (n=173) and eight (8) university teacher educators.
Findings of the study show the presence of significant changes in the student teachers\'' knowledge, beliefs, and perceived self-efficacy for positive TSRs. Comparatively, student teachers in Germany revealed higher levels of the TSRs knowledge and perceived self-efficacy than their Tanzanian counterparts. However, the qualitative findings revealed inadequacies in TSRs knowledge among the final-year student teachers in both countries. The beginner student teachers in Germany demonstrated higher command in positive TSRs knowledge and self efficacy than their Tanzanian counterparts. It was further unveiled that the student teachers’ knowledge had a significant association with their self-efficacy for positive TSRs. The approaches employed in promoting positive TSRs competencies include the teaching practice, educational courses and role modelling. However, these approaches were constrained by the strict focus given on academic performance, lack of clear orientation on the nature of positive TSRs, and overlook of important and potential aspects of initial teacher education. Despite having approaches to promoting positive TSRs abilities, teacher educators demonstrated varied and contradicting perspectives of what constitutes the nature and character of positive TSRs. The study considered contradicting perspectives among the hurdles to the effective orientation of the positive TSRs.
Moreover, findings indicated that student teachers in Germany and Tanzania joined the teaching profession as a result of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational reasons. It was found out that the intrinsic motivation reasons were more important among German student teachers. Conversely, extrinsic motivational reasons were relatively more important among student teachers in Tanzania. The analysis of motivational reasons indicated a strong positive association (Cramer’s V .175) between intrinsic motivational reasons and perceived self-efficacy for positive TSRs.
The study concludes that although positive TSRs feature in the initial teacher education, its implementation has suffered inconsistency, underrepresentation, and misinterpretation by teacher educators and student teachers. The study recommends for an integration of a compulsory positive TSRs content or module to address for depth, breadth and evaluative treatment of the competencies (the proposed framework of integration has been suggested). Moreover, the study recommends for the redefinition and reaffirmation of the positive TSRs phenomenon in the theoretical and practical aspects of the university based initial teacher education. |
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