The aim of this study is to explore Dutch primary school teachers' perceptions regarding their pedagogical practices, and, specifically, whether they consider these practices under pressure. We conducted a survey among a sample of 261 primary school teachers from 115 schools, that included open and closed questions. The analyses showed that primary school teachers' perceptions of pressure varied: 75% of the teachers indicated that their pedagogical practices are under pressure and one-quarter of the teachers reported experiencing low or no pressure. Furthermore, the variety in experienced pressure is not influenced by teachers' experience or educational beliefs. The data show that a lack of coherence between teachers' personal vision and the school's vision influences the extent to which teachers experience pressure. This study builds on theoretical research into teachers' pedagogical practices by showing that pressure on teachers' pedagogical practices is a general problem in primary education.
Developing fluency in arithmetic facts is instrumental to mathematics learning. This study compares the effects of two practice conditions on children's fluency in simple multiplication facts. Third and fourth graders in the Netherlands (N = 282) practised in either a conventional recall condition where they produced answers to problems, or a choice condition where they had to choose between competing answers that included common multiplication errors. Practice in the choice condition was faster and as accurate as recall practice but was not more beneficial to performance on speed tests of practised facts. For more experienced students, recall practice led to greater improvement on a conventional recall fluency test. Differential effects of practice conditions on test performance are explained in terms of practice-to-test transfer demands. The relative merits of recall and choice tasks in multiplication fact learning are discussed.
Preservice teachers face the complex challenge of balancing the requirements of teacher education programmes and schools and developing a professional identity as a teacher. Developing the knowledge and skills to manage working as a teacher is important to prevent emotional exhaustion during teacher education and later in the teaching career. Therefore, it is important to begin building resilience during the teacher education programme. Dutch policymakers and teacher educators recognize this need; however, there are currently no structural practices in teacher education programmes to help preservice teachers build resilience. Thus, introducing the BRiTE framework and modules could be a beneficial opportunity for Dutch teacher education. This chapter focuses on describing the Dutch teacher education context and teacher educators' perceptions of resilience. We also discuss how the BRiTE modules can be implemented in Dutch teacher education programmes. Keywords Resilience • Preservice teachers • BRiTE • Dutch teacher education programmes • Implementation 9.1 Introduction By sending you this email I want to express that I am not doing so well at the moment. Last week I was feeling ill, but mainly stressed out. I also noticed that I have been feeling down. Since Christmas holidays, I noticed that the pressure from school and my field experience made me push myself to the limit. This made me dislike education, which made me feel bad, especially since I was very enthusiastic in the beginning.
Background: Primary teachers' pedagogical practices (TPP) are strongly focused on supporting pupils' psychological needs, creating a safe learning climate, and encouraging pupils' developmental and learning processes. As a core motivation for teachers is the desire to interact constructively with children, pedagogical practices can be understood as central to teachers' work. A familiar problem in many international contexts is that TPP can come under pressure, typically as the result of interplay between personal and contextual factors. However, which contextual factors influence TPP, and how they do so, remains unclear. Purpose: In this study, we aimed to better understand how context influences primary school teachers' pedagogical practices, within the setting of primary education in the Netherlands. We were particularly interested in which contextual factors were perceived as important and how they influenced TPP. Methods: Data were collected through open questions in a survey among 215 primary school teachers in the northern part of the Netherlands. Focus group interviews were then held with 11 of the survey participants. The data were analysed qualitatively, using a framework approach with five stages of familiarisation: identifying themes, indexing, charting, and mapping and interpretation. Findings: The analysis identified nine contextual factors that, according to participants, both positively and negatively affected TPP. The most frequently mentioned threats to TPP were educational accountability and standards, and organisation of work in the classroom, whilst school improvement and pupils' educational needs were regarded as the most important stimulating factors. We clustered the factors into four patterns which reflected the way that teachers appraised them: organisation of daily classroom practices, school culture, educational improvement, and contribution to pupils' development. Conclusions: According to the teachers, the interplay between TPP and the context can cause pressure, frustration, and feelings of incompetence because there is insufficient time for achieving pedagogical goals. Our study draws attention to the complex challenges that teachers face in terms of balancing pedagogical practices and other educational tasks, and draws out implications for policy and practice.
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