Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 25, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 12-23
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
The study reported here examines whether teaching skills included in the dynamic model of educational effectiveness can be grouped into types of teacher behavior and whether these types are related with different student outcome measures. The data stem from a study which was conducted in order to test the validity of the dynamic model.
Stratified sampling was used to select 52 Greek Cypriot primary schools, but only 50 schools participated in the study. All the year 5 students (n = 2503) from each class (n = 108) of the school sample were chosen. Although this study refers to other variables such as the socio-economic status of students and their achievement levels in different outcomes of schooling, there is no data about these characteristics of the Greek Cypriot students of year 5. Therefore, it was not possible to examine whether the sample was nationally representative in terms of any other characteristic than students' sex and the size of class. However, it can be claimed that a nationally representative sample of Greek Cypriot year 5 students in terms of these two characteristics was drawn. The teacher sample was also found to be nationally representative in terms of their background characteristics.
Results reveal that teaching skills can be grouped into five types of teacher behavior which are discerned in a distinctive way. They also move gradually from skills associated with direct teaching to more advanced skills concerned with new teaching approaches and differentiation of teaching. Teachers exercising more advanced types of behavior have better student outcomes. Suggestions for research on teacher education and professional development are drawn.
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