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An Exploration of Causal Attributions of Teacher Educators: A Single Case Study

Year 2016, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 107 - 131, 08.10.2019

Abstract

In this study, an academic’s who has been employed in a foundation-supported university teaching barriers and accompanied attributional reasoning were examined in the context of his belief system with regards to learning, teaching and knowledge. This study is a basic naturalistic inquiry. By means of qualitative data gathering and analysis, it was aimed at estimating how the relation between teaching barriers and attributional reasoning was influenced being held pedagogical-epistemological belief system of the academic. Qualitative data was collected through two different semi-structured interview protocols and gathered data was analysed with an inductive and interpretivist manner. The scholar’s beliefs system’s divergences (teacher-centred vs. learner-centred) allowed to explore the presumable relation of barrier-attribution in the context of pedagogical-epistemological belief system. It was detected that the academic held a more teacher-centred pedagogical belief system. In this context, it was also detected that the academics was liable to make attributions to overly external, non-controllable and stable factors in illuminating her barrier-attribution relation. Major outcomes of the study are evaluated by means of psychological (i.e., attribution theory) and instructional (pedagogical-epistemological beliefs) lenses and suggestions are offered in the context of higher education.

References

  • Anderson, R. D. (1996). Study of curriculum reform. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Anderson, R. D. (2002). Reforming science teaching: what research says about inquiry? Journal of Science Teacher Education, 13(1), 1-12. Arksey, H. & Knight, P. (1999) Interviewing for social scientists, London: Sage. Bibou-Nakou, I., Kiosseoglou, G., & Stogiannidou, A. (2000). Elementary teachers’ perceptions regarding school behavior problems: Implications for school psychological services. Psychology in the Schools, 37, 123-134. Brophy, J.E., & Rohrkemper, M.M. (1981). The influence of problem ownership on teachers’ perceptions of and strategies for coping with problem students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 295-311. Brophy, J. (1996). Teaching problem students. New York: Guilford. Clark, M. (1997). Teacher response to learning disability: A test of attributional principles. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 69-79. Colburn, A. (2000). An Inquiry Primer. Science Scope, Special Issue, 42- 44. Conway, A. (1989). Teachers’ explanation for children with learning difficulties: An analysis of written reports. Early Child Development and Care, 53, 53-61. Darley, J. M., & Fazio, R. H. (1980). Expectancy confirmation processes arising in the social interaction sequence. American Psychologist, 35, 867-881. Davis, B., & Sumara, D. J. (1997). Cognition, complexity and teacher education. Harvard Educational Review, 67, 105-125. Georgiou, S., Christou, C., Stravrinides, P., & Panaoura, G. (2002). Teacher attributions of student failure and teacher behaviour toward the failing student. Psychology in the Schools, 39, 583-595. Gilbert, D. T., & Malone, P. S. (1995). The correspondence bias. Psychological Bulletin, 117(1), 21-38. Guba, E.G. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries, Educational Communication and Technology Journal, 29, 75–91. Gosling, P. (1994). The attribution of success and failure: the subject/ object contrast. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 9, 69-83. Hashweh, M. (1996) Effects of science teachers’ beliefs in teaching, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(1), 47-63. Hashweh, M. (2005) Teacher pedagogical constructions: a reconfiguration of pedagogical content knowledge. Teachers and Teaching, 11(3), 273-292. Ho, I. (2004). A comparison of Australian and Chinese teachers’ attributions for student problem behaviour. Educational Psychology, 24, 375-391. Hockey, J., Robinson, V. & Meah, A., Cross-Generational Investigation of the Making of Heterosexual Relationships, 1912-2003 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], October 2005. SN: 5190, http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-5190-1. Humphrey, R. (1985). How work roles influence perception: Structural cognitive processes and organizational behavior. American Sociological Review, 50(2), 242-252. Johnson, C. C. (2006). Effective Professional Development and Change in Practice: Barriers Science Teachers Encounter and Implications for Reform. School Science and Mathematics, 106(3), 150-161. Jones, E. (1979). The rocky road from acts to dispositions. American Psychologist, 34, 107-117. Kagan, D. (1992). Implications of research on teacher beliefs. Educational Psychologist, 27, 65-90. Kennedy, M. M. (2010). Teacher assessment and the quest for teacher quality: A handbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kielborn, T.L., & Gilmer, P.J. (Eds.) (1999). Meaningful science: Teachers doing inquiry teaching science. Tallahassee, FL: SERVE. Kulinna, P. H. (2007). Teachers’ attributions and strategies for student misbehavior. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 42(2), 21-30. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Matteucci, M. C. (2007). Teachers facing school failure: the social valorization of effort in the school context. Social Psychology of Education, 10, 29-53. Mavropoulou, S., & Padeliadu, S. (2002). Teachers’ causal attributions for behavior problems in relation to perceptions of control. Educational Psychology, 22, 191-202. Medway, F. J. (1979). Causal attributions for school-related problems: Teacher perceptions and teacher feedback. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 809-818. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education: Revised and expanded from case study research in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ministry of National Education [MNE] (2004a) Mufredat Gelistirme Sureci: Program Gelistirme Modeli Cercevesinde Yapilan Calismalar (Curriculum Development Process: Activities Conducted around the Curriculum Development Model). Ankara, Turkey: MNE. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] (2004b) Tebligler Dergisi (Official Bulletin of MoNE), 67(2562), Ankara, Turkey: MoNE. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] (2004c) Tebligler Dergisi (Official Bulletin of MoNE), 67(2563), Ankara, Turkey: MoNE. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] (2004d) Tebligler Dergisi (Official Bulletin of MoNE), 67(2566), Ankara, Turkey: MoNE. Newman, W. J., Abell, S. K., Hubbard, P. D., McDonald, J., Otaala, J., & Martini, M. (2004). Dilemmas of Teaching Inquiry in Elementary Science Methods. Journal of Science Teacher Education 15(4), 257- 279. Pajares, M.F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307-332. Peterson, P. L., & Barger, S. A. (1985). Attribution theory and teacher expectancy. In J. B. Dusek (Ed.), Teacher expectancies (pp. 159-184). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Pintrich, P. R. & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in Education, Teacher and Classroom Influences. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 07458. Poulou, M., & Norwich, B. (2000). Teachers’ casual attributions, cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to students with emotional and behavior difficulties. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 559-581. Reyna, C., & Weiner, B. (2001). Justice and utility in the classroom: an attributional analysis of the goals of teachers’ punishment and intervention strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 309-319. Reyna, C. (2008). Ian is intelligent but Leshaun is lazy: antecedents and consequences of attributional stereotypes in the classroom. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 23(4), 439-458. Roehrig, G., & Luft, J. (2004). Constraints experienced by beginning secondary science teachers in implementing scientific inquiry lessons. International Journal of Science Education, 26(1), 3-24. Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 173-220). New York: Academic Press. Rossman, G.B. & Rallis, S.F. (1998). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Soodak, L. C., & Podell, D. M. (1994). Teachers’ thinking about difficultto- teach students. Journal of Educational Research, 88, 44-51. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998) (2nd ed.). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Tollefson, N., & J. S. Chen (1988). Consequences of Teachers’ Attributions for Student Failure. Teaching and Teacher Education 4 (3), 259-265. Weiner, B., & Kukla, A. (1970). An attributional analysis of achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 1-20. Weiner, B. (1972). Theories of motivation. Chicago: Markham. Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548-573. Weiner, B., Amirkhan, J., Folkes, V. S., & Verette, J. A. (1987). An attributional analysis of excuse giving: Studies of a naïve theory of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 316-324. Weiner, B. (1994). Integrating social and personal theories of achievement striving. Review of Educational Research, 64, 557-573. Weiner, B. (2010). The development of an attribution-based theory of motivation: a history of ideas. Educational Psychologist, 45, 28-36. Welch,W. Y., Klopfer, L. E., Aikenhead, G. L., & Robinson, J. T. (1981). The role of inquiry in science education: Analysis and foundations. Science Education, 65, 33-50
Year 2016, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 107 - 131, 08.10.2019

Abstract

References

  • Anderson, R. D. (1996). Study of curriculum reform. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Anderson, R. D. (2002). Reforming science teaching: what research says about inquiry? Journal of Science Teacher Education, 13(1), 1-12. Arksey, H. & Knight, P. (1999) Interviewing for social scientists, London: Sage. Bibou-Nakou, I., Kiosseoglou, G., & Stogiannidou, A. (2000). Elementary teachers’ perceptions regarding school behavior problems: Implications for school psychological services. Psychology in the Schools, 37, 123-134. Brophy, J.E., & Rohrkemper, M.M. (1981). The influence of problem ownership on teachers’ perceptions of and strategies for coping with problem students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 295-311. Brophy, J. (1996). Teaching problem students. New York: Guilford. Clark, M. (1997). Teacher response to learning disability: A test of attributional principles. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 69-79. Colburn, A. (2000). An Inquiry Primer. Science Scope, Special Issue, 42- 44. Conway, A. (1989). Teachers’ explanation for children with learning difficulties: An analysis of written reports. Early Child Development and Care, 53, 53-61. Darley, J. M., & Fazio, R. H. (1980). Expectancy confirmation processes arising in the social interaction sequence. American Psychologist, 35, 867-881. Davis, B., & Sumara, D. J. (1997). Cognition, complexity and teacher education. Harvard Educational Review, 67, 105-125. Georgiou, S., Christou, C., Stravrinides, P., & Panaoura, G. (2002). Teacher attributions of student failure and teacher behaviour toward the failing student. Psychology in the Schools, 39, 583-595. Gilbert, D. T., & Malone, P. S. (1995). The correspondence bias. Psychological Bulletin, 117(1), 21-38. Guba, E.G. (1981). Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries, Educational Communication and Technology Journal, 29, 75–91. Gosling, P. (1994). The attribution of success and failure: the subject/ object contrast. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 9, 69-83. Hashweh, M. (1996) Effects of science teachers’ beliefs in teaching, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(1), 47-63. Hashweh, M. (2005) Teacher pedagogical constructions: a reconfiguration of pedagogical content knowledge. Teachers and Teaching, 11(3), 273-292. Ho, I. (2004). A comparison of Australian and Chinese teachers’ attributions for student problem behaviour. Educational Psychology, 24, 375-391. Hockey, J., Robinson, V. & Meah, A., Cross-Generational Investigation of the Making of Heterosexual Relationships, 1912-2003 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], October 2005. SN: 5190, http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-5190-1. Humphrey, R. (1985). How work roles influence perception: Structural cognitive processes and organizational behavior. American Sociological Review, 50(2), 242-252. Johnson, C. C. (2006). Effective Professional Development and Change in Practice: Barriers Science Teachers Encounter and Implications for Reform. School Science and Mathematics, 106(3), 150-161. Jones, E. (1979). The rocky road from acts to dispositions. American Psychologist, 34, 107-117. Kagan, D. (1992). Implications of research on teacher beliefs. Educational Psychologist, 27, 65-90. Kennedy, M. M. (2010). Teacher assessment and the quest for teacher quality: A handbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kielborn, T.L., & Gilmer, P.J. (Eds.) (1999). Meaningful science: Teachers doing inquiry teaching science. Tallahassee, FL: SERVE. Kulinna, P. H. (2007). Teachers’ attributions and strategies for student misbehavior. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 42(2), 21-30. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Matteucci, M. C. (2007). Teachers facing school failure: the social valorization of effort in the school context. Social Psychology of Education, 10, 29-53. Mavropoulou, S., & Padeliadu, S. (2002). Teachers’ causal attributions for behavior problems in relation to perceptions of control. Educational Psychology, 22, 191-202. Medway, F. J. (1979). Causal attributions for school-related problems: Teacher perceptions and teacher feedback. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 809-818. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education: Revised and expanded from case study research in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ministry of National Education [MNE] (2004a) Mufredat Gelistirme Sureci: Program Gelistirme Modeli Cercevesinde Yapilan Calismalar (Curriculum Development Process: Activities Conducted around the Curriculum Development Model). Ankara, Turkey: MNE. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] (2004b) Tebligler Dergisi (Official Bulletin of MoNE), 67(2562), Ankara, Turkey: MoNE. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] (2004c) Tebligler Dergisi (Official Bulletin of MoNE), 67(2563), Ankara, Turkey: MoNE. Ministry of National Education [MoNE] (2004d) Tebligler Dergisi (Official Bulletin of MoNE), 67(2566), Ankara, Turkey: MoNE. Newman, W. J., Abell, S. K., Hubbard, P. D., McDonald, J., Otaala, J., & Martini, M. (2004). Dilemmas of Teaching Inquiry in Elementary Science Methods. Journal of Science Teacher Education 15(4), 257- 279. Pajares, M.F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307-332. Peterson, P. L., & Barger, S. A. (1985). Attribution theory and teacher expectancy. In J. B. Dusek (Ed.), Teacher expectancies (pp. 159-184). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Pintrich, P. R. & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in Education, Teacher and Classroom Influences. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 07458. Poulou, M., & Norwich, B. (2000). Teachers’ casual attributions, cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to students with emotional and behavior difficulties. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 559-581. Reyna, C., & Weiner, B. (2001). Justice and utility in the classroom: an attributional analysis of the goals of teachers’ punishment and intervention strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 309-319. Reyna, C. (2008). Ian is intelligent but Leshaun is lazy: antecedents and consequences of attributional stereotypes in the classroom. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 23(4), 439-458. Roehrig, G., & Luft, J. (2004). Constraints experienced by beginning secondary science teachers in implementing scientific inquiry lessons. International Journal of Science Education, 26(1), 3-24. Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 173-220). New York: Academic Press. Rossman, G.B. & Rallis, S.F. (1998). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Soodak, L. C., & Podell, D. M. (1994). Teachers’ thinking about difficultto- teach students. Journal of Educational Research, 88, 44-51. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998) (2nd ed.). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Tollefson, N., & J. S. Chen (1988). Consequences of Teachers’ Attributions for Student Failure. Teaching and Teacher Education 4 (3), 259-265. Weiner, B., & Kukla, A. (1970). An attributional analysis of achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 1-20. Weiner, B. (1972). Theories of motivation. Chicago: Markham. Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548-573. Weiner, B., Amirkhan, J., Folkes, V. S., & Verette, J. A. (1987). An attributional analysis of excuse giving: Studies of a naïve theory of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 316-324. Weiner, B. (1994). Integrating social and personal theories of achievement striving. Review of Educational Research, 64, 557-573. Weiner, B. (2010). The development of an attribution-based theory of motivation: a history of ideas. Educational Psychologist, 45, 28-36. Welch,W. Y., Klopfer, L. E., Aikenhead, G. L., & Robinson, J. T. (1981). The role of inquiry in science education: Analysis and foundations. Science Education, 65, 33-50
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Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Yilmaz Soysal

Hatice Tanık This is me

Sevinç Tunalı This is me

Publication Date October 8, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2016 Volume: 2 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Soysal, Y., Tanık, H., & Tunalı, S. (2019). An Exploration of Causal Attributions of Teacher Educators: A Single Case Study. İstanbul Aydın Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 2(2), 107-131.

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