Teacher perceptions of empowerment and promotion during reforms

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between teachers’ professional role, their sense of empowerment, and their attitudes toward managerial promotion (career development) following the implementation of educational forms.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in Israel in 2015 and included 663 teachers, 250 elementary school teachers and 413 middle or high school teachers. A questionnaire and statistical analyses (ANOVA, multivariate analysis, and correlations) examined the attitudes of teachers in one of four professional roles toward managerial promotion (their desire for future promotion and sense of organizational fairness). This was compared with their sense of empowerment (comprising feeling respected, professional growth, influence, autonomy, self-efficacy, and decision making), while controlling for their demographic and professional backgrounds.

Findings

Four-fifths of teachers were interested in pursuing managerial promotion and they perceived the promotion process as moderately fair. The greater teachers’ sense of empowerment, the greater their desire for future promotion and their belief in the fairness of the promotional process. Teachers currently holding a leadership position expressed the strongest sense of empowerment.

Practical implications

The study presents a multivariate model to predict teachers’ attitudes to managerial promotion on the basis of their professional role and sense of empowerment. The findings have implications for educational policy-making, particularly where there is a national focus on increasing school autonomy.

Originality/value

The findings will contribute to local and international research on teacher empowerment and career development.

TPACK Revisited: A Systemic Perspective on Measures for Predicting Effective Integration of Innovative Technologies in School Systems

TPACK (Technology Pedagogy Content Knowledge) is currently considered one of the most useful frameworks for describing the types of knowledge that teachers should master in integrating technologies effectively in their teaching. According to the TPACK framework, these types of knowledge consist of technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK). This article suggests improving the authenticity and the holistic nature of the TPACK framework by (a) adding a new aspect (the affective aspect, which involves teachers’ attitudes toward change) and (b) elaborating on the systemic-organizational aspect (associated with the teachers’ perception of school as a learning organization) and the cognitive aspect (related to the cognitive skills required for effective use of educational technologies), which are not discussed in enough detail in TPACK.

Educational equity amidst COVID-19: Exploring the online learning challenges of Bedouin and Jewish Female Preservice Teachers in Israel

Amidst COVID-19, teacher education has shifted to online learning. Although much is known about digital inequity in routine times, little is known about it under constrained conditions, particularly among women of minority groups. The study's goal was to explore the online-learning challenges encountered by (minority) Bedouin female preservice teachers (n = 41) compared to those encountered by (majority) Jewish counterparts (n = 60). Data from reflections (N = 101), focus groups (2), and (68) interviews underwent qualitative-constructivist content analysis. Group comparisons revealed socioculturally-based differential learning pathways, leading to educational inequities. We discuss possible ways to ensure equitable online teacher education using the "digital divide" perspective.

Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory to conceptualize the mobile-learning adoption process in teacher education in the COVID-19 era

Using mobile learning (ML) has become exceedingly relevant in times of distant teaching. Although much is known about the factors affecting ML usage, less is known about the ML adoption process under constraints such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this exploratory case study was to gain insight into the ML adoption process using the lens of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Participants were in-service (32) and preservice (29) teachers who attended ML training. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (20), focus groups (6), and participants' reflections (183) at three time points. Data underwent multilevel analysis (content and linguistic analysis), revealing 12 themes that denote the ML adoption process and demonstrated intergroup similarities and differences. The study provides theoretical insight into the ML adoption process under crisis and highlights the features that must be addressed to promote optimal ML adoption in teacher education in both routine and emergency conditions.

Teachers’ perceptions of educational reform: the schools’ readiness, supporting mechanisms and contributions of the reform

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of teachers toward national reform in education according to the reform stage (Initiation, Implementation or Institutionalization) attained in their school. The study aim to examined: How do teachers perceive the current reform?; Is there a correlation between teachers' perceptions and reform stage?; To what extent are teachers' perceptions affected by school's mechanisms and school's readiness?

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is quantitative. Teachers (N = 288) completed a written questionnaire. One-way ANOVA was used to investigate teachers' perceptions of the reform and its contributions to school effectiveness and to teachers' working conditions according to reform stage, while controlling for managerial position, teaching experience and school level. Multivariate modeling was used to examine the relationships between the variables.

Findings

Teachers' overall attitudes toward the changes associated with the education reform lay between moderately negative and neutral. Reform was perceived to have made a greater contribution to school effectiveness than to teacher working conditions. School readiness for reform and the presence of school mechanisms supporting reform explained much (41%) of the variance in teachers' attitudes. Teachers holding leadership roles and those whose schools were in the Institutionalization stage exhibited more positive attitudes toward the reform and perceived it as having improved their working conditions to a greater extent than those without leadership roles or whose schools were in the Initiation or Implementation stages, respectively.

Originality/value

Teachers' attitudes toward reform have not previously been examined in the context of reform stage.