Under pressure? Primary school teachers’ perceptions of their pedagogical practices

Gemmink, Michelle; Fokkens-Bruinsma, Marjon; Pauw, Ietje; Veen, Klaas van

doi:10.1080/02619768.2020.1728741

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Accordingly, they would not be likely to accept changes without giving them thought and, instead, would be likely to seek to engage with school improvement projects (van der Heijden et al 2018). From this perspective, the coherence between teachers' educational goals and the school's educational strategy tends to influence how teachers experience their pedagogical practices at school (Gemmink et al 2020;Honig and Hatch 2004). Finally, individual professional development might be a pertinent factor in the micro system because it can stimulate and motivate teachers to strengthen their pedagogical practices (Desimone 2009;Hattie 2009).…”

Section: Contextual Factors In a Multi-layered Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over a 4-month period (November 2015 -February 2016), we collected two types of data: responses to open questions in the survey (N = 215) and interview data from focus group interviews (N = 11). In this survey, we investigated TPP by inviting participants to complete a questionnaire focusing on perceptions of TPP in the classroom (Gemmink et al 2020). One of the open questions asked respondents to describe which contextual factors affected their pedagogical practices positively (stimulating factors).…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a core motivation for teachers is the desire to interact constructively with children, pedagogical practices -such as supporting pupils' psychological needs, creating a safe learning climate, and encouraging pupils' developmental and learning processes -can be understood as central to teachers' work. In the Netherlands, as elsewhere, pedagogical practices in primary schools can often come under pressure: however, such tensions tend to be overlooked (Biesta 2010;Gemmink et al 2020) in comparison with research into teachers' increasing workloads and stress more generally (Ballet and Kelchtermans 2008;Ballet and Kelchtermans 2009;Bodenheimer and Shuster 2020). This study explores how teachers' work context influences perceived pressure regarding teachers' pedagogical practices (TPP).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How contextual factors influence teachers’ pedagogical practices

Gemmink

Fokkens-Bruinsma

Pauw

et al. 2021

Educational Research

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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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Section: Contextual Factors In a Multi-layered Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How contextual factors influence teachers’ pedagogical practices

Gemmink

Fokkens-Bruinsma

Pauw

et al. 2021

Educational Research

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“…On the other, over-regulation, which extends to scripted practices in the classroom, can lead to every skerrick of creativity, agency and joy being washed out of education and replaced with a dull, rinse-and-repeat set of rules. A Dutch study (Gemmink et al ., 2020) reported increases in teachers' workloads as intensifying pressures on a profession already rife with stress from the emotional work of interactions with students. Hochschild (2012) recognised the emotional burden of work as commercialisation of human feeling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disrupting the rhetoric of education: separating the spin of teaching and learning from the reality

Pelosi

2023

QRJ

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PurposeThe Instagram site, teacherwhispers, was created as part of a qualitative research project that chronicled the stories and lived experience of preservice and graduate teachers. Since 2020, the purpose of the study was to identify themes connected to the participants' experiences of current trends in education. The intent was to situate the research as a critical interruption into the bigger political discourses surrounding education. The study sought to question why pedagogical practices are increasingly being positioned and located for political and economic reasons and to frame the questions of how we emerge as teachers in specific moments in time.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology employed in the project was ethnographic and narrative-based, representing stories of teachers and teaching. Ethnography as embodiment contributes to an evocative portrayal of the participants' experiences. Teacher stories can be used to progress understandings of schools and schooling and play an important role in reflecting upon and learning from experience.FindingsThe selection of posts from teacherwhispers have brought into sharp focus the broad range of difficulties and rewards that are inherent in teaching. The site has been a microcosm of current issues in education. As a problematic and uncomfortable site of public pedagogy, it has been a site for sharing the realities, specificities and challenges of situatedness. The places where teachers work within their respective communities are highly diverse and can be a source of pressure both professionally and personally. Consequently, in the analysis of teacherwhispers, generalisations have been avoided.Research limitations/implicationsAs a repository of data for research, a public online site has its challenges; research is meant to be generalisable but in teaching each setting is unique and generalisations can be problematic. Sites of public pedagogy for teachers tend to be kaleidoscopic representations: diverse locations, groups, interests and disciplines. They are a stark reminder to be sceptical of accepting the statement, “research tells us” without questioning the positioning and biases that are inherently at play.Practical implicationsPractical elements of the project have included navigating a public online space for the dissemination of data.Social implicationsCreated in the spirit of problematising the methodology of public pedagogy, the online space at the centre of this project eventuated into something of a definition of what can be problematic in defining teachers' spaces of connection. The site was a place where opinions were expressed in confidentiality and that problematised methodology by putting into question what that methodology may be in a public sphere. What came forth as a result of putting methodology at the centre, rather than a definite answer, was unpredictability.Originality/valueThe online space has been an original place to display unanalysed data. The willingness to tell stories through an intermediary was juxtaposed by the public readership's unwillingness to engage with the stories, which would have meant exposing their identity. The online space is one that is increasingly relevant in public sharing and communications relating to communities of practice. This research is a critical interruption to the bigger political discourses in education. It questions why pedagogical practices are increasingly politicised. The project has been significant in mapping the stories of emerging educators at a time of unprecedented pedagogical change.

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“…This imposes requirements on a teacher, who must focus both on forming the ability to learn and on developing relationships. This heterogeneity of professional tasks often creates internal tension and difficulties in the daily practices of primary school teachers (Dubrovina & Lubovsky, 2017;Gemmink et al, 2020). The professional standard that is specific to a primary school teacher highlights the ability to respond to children's direct requests and recognize actual personal problems behind them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%