Ways of Evaluating Teacher Cognition: Inferences concerning the Goldilocks Principle

Kagan, Dona M.

doi:10.2307/1170760

Cited by 81 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

105

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Rather than recommending a few speci®c techniques, we suggest the use of multimethod designs (cf. Kagan, 1990). Obviously, the teachers' existing practical knowledge should not be considered as the norm per se.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In her review of methods for investigating teachers' cognitions, Kagan (1990) is rather critical of research designs in which only one method or instrument is applied. She argues that such designs are problematic, because the complexity of a teacher's practical knowledge cannot be captured by a single instrument.…”

Section: Research Rationale and Methodological Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Obviously, in the context of curriculum reform, it is often relevant to monitor changes in teachers' practical knowledge. On the basis of her review, Kagan (1990) concludes that techniques to measure short-term changes in teachers' beliefs often suffer from a lack of ecological validity. She suggests that this may be due to short-term conceptual change being``super®cial and ultimately transient'' (Kagan, 1990, p. 459).…”

Section: Research Rationale and Methodological Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers' practical knowledge

Driel¹,

Beijaard²,

Verloop³

2001

J. Res. Sci. Teach.

668

298

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, professional development in the context of the current reforms in science education is discussed from the perspective of developing teachers' practical knowledge. It is argued that reform efforts in the past have often been unsuccessful because they failed to take teachers' existing knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes into account. Teachers' practical knowledge is conceptualized as actionoriented and person-bound. As it is constructed by teachers in the context of their work, practical knowledge integrates experiential knowledge, formal knowledge, and personal beliefs. To capture this complex type of knowledge, multimethod designs are necessary. On the basis of a literature review, it is concluded that long-term professional development programs are needed to achieve lasting changes in teachers' practical knowledge. In particular, the following strategies are potentially powerful: (a) learning in networks, (b) peer coaching, (c) collaborative action research, and (d) the use of cases. In any case, it is recommended that teachers' practical knowledge be investigated at the start of a reform project, and that changes in this knowledge be monitored throughout the project. In that way, the reform project may bene®t from teachers' expertise. Moreover, this makes it possible to adjust the reform so as to enhance the chances of a successful implementation.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Rationale and Methodological Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Rationale and Methodological Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers' practical knowledge

Driel¹,

Beijaard²,

Verloop³

2001

J. Res. Sci. Teach.

668

298

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…According to this position, one type of paradigm is best for one type of research, while another paradigm is best when doing another type of research. Kagan (1990) gave out five different approaches to the evaluation of teacher cognition: (a) direct and non-inferential ways of assessing teacher belief, (b) methods that rely on contextual analyses of teachers' descriptive language, (c) taxonomies for assessing self-reflection and metacognition, (d) multimethod evaluations of pedagogical content knowledge and beliefs, and (e) concept mapping (p. 1). Creswell (2003) proposed three types of mixing quantitative and qualitative approaches in investigation of teacher's cognition, i.e., (a) Sequential explanatory procedures, (b) Concurrent procedures, and (c) Transformative procedures (pp.…”

Section: Research Paradigm Approach Strategies and Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Mixed Approaches Method Used to Investigate Teacher Cognition of English Language Teaching

Hùng¹

2012

ELT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper is a part in a bigger research project related to ELT quality in secondary schools in Vietnam since the implementation of the new series of English textbooks was officially passed by in 2006, and the innovated direction was paid to task-based language teaching (TBLT). The purpose of this paper is to make argumentation on why, what and how to use mixed approaches method to investigate two subdomains of teacher cognitionteacher perception and teacher belief. Firstly, an introduction in the research project and research questions about secondary school teacher perception of TBLT and teacher belief of textbooks is shortly made. Secondly, the question what the mixed approaches method are like is dealt with. Next, the question why the mixed approaches method should be used in investigating teacher cognition in general and teacher perception as well as teacher belief in particular is answered and illustrated by writer's framework of research paradigm for the suitability and applicability. Lastly, the question how the mixed approaches method should be implemented to answer the research project questions is clarified and argued for its suitability.

show abstract

“…As Nespor puts it, "... people read belief-based meanings into situations where others would not see their relevance" (p. 321). This unboundedness may explain why Kagan (1990) argues that teachers' knowledge about students can be rather objective and yet so subjectively ingrained that she does not feel it necessary to distinguish between the two terms. Nespor's two belief systems can be used to define tasks and select cognitive strategies, and facilitate retrieval and reconstruction in memory processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The repertory grid technique: path to teacher description or teacher potential?

Herman

1996

Instr Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Teachers' decisions are based on certain criteria which teachers believe can justify what happens in their classes. Identifying and measuring those criteria requires multiple approaches in order to triangulate the data as thoroughly as possible. In one case study of a fourth grade teacher, a repertory grid technique was used as the format for a series of in-depth interviews to supplement classroom observations and other interview data. Each subsequent interview generated an increasingly evolved description of teaching that revealed interesting and new associations when the same information was presented to the teacher in a different format. A variety of explanations for the new perspectives are presented, along with recommendations for future research.Teacher thinking can be viewed from both the hypothetical stance as well as from verifiable rationales about teachers' choices and behaviors. Hypothetical stances, for example, can generate from teachers' applying theory to case study samples (McAninch, 1993), or from interpreting videotaped classroom vignettes (Copeland et al., 1994). This hypothetical perspective is common for in-service teachers and trainees. The other, more verifiable view derives from teachers who predict their own thinking and decisions and then analyze their own video-taped teaching, or respond to actual classroom observers who seek supporting evidence for teacher assertions through classroom observations (Morine-Dershimer, 1983;Nespor, 1987). Some studies ask teachers to hypothetically analyze their own teaching, without observation evidence for corroboration (Ben-Peretz, 1984;Munby, 1982;Olson, 1981).Many such analyses result in a list of categories, or criteria, that justify the behaviors and teachers' decisions that occur in the classroom (Clandinin & Connelly, 1987). These categories are often generated and labeled by the teachers themselves, language that provides great insight into the minds of teachers and the way they think. Therefore, in order to delve into the mind of a teacher, attending to the actual wording of her responses as well as to the content of her self-analysis is crucial.The present case study demonstrates a tangible view of one elementary school teacher. The main purpose was to elicit the specific topics that played 440 a conscious role in her thinking, planning and decision-making across her school day. This paper presents findings from one case study teacher, examples of certain discrepancies that occurred between some stated beliefs and my own observations, possible explanations for those discrepancies, and recommendations for future research using the data-gathering techniques.

show abstract

Ways of Evaluating Teacher Cognition: Inferences concerning the Goldilocks Principle

Cited by 81 publications

References 0 publications

Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers' practical knowledge

Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers' practical knowledge

A Mixed Approaches Method Used to Investigate Teacher Cognition of English Language Teaching

The repertory grid technique: path to teacher description or teacher potential?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About