Relationships between teacher characteristics, interpersonal teacher behaviour and teacher wellbeing
K. Van Petegem, B.P.M. Creemers, Y. Rosseel, A. Aelterman
Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Geneva, 13-15 September 2006
Drs. Karen Van Petegem
Ghent University
Department of Education
H. Dunantlaan 2
9000 Ghent, Belgium
tel. +32.09.2646259
fax. +32.09.2646480
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Abstract
The classroom as a microsystem is characterised by many interpersonal relationships. These relationships are perceived differently by the teacher than they are by the students. We want to examine the relationship between formal teacher characteristics, interpersonal teacher behaviour as perceived by the teacher and teacher wellbeing. We conclude that teacher gender has an influence on how he perceives his submitting-opposing interpersonal behaviour in the classroom. A second finding is that male teachers with children can be situated more near the cooperating pole of the interpersonal teacher behaviour typology. Thirdly, male teachers without job security and teachers without job security who have children perceive themselves more as leaders with helpful/friendly behaviour in comparison with their colleagues with job security. Fourthly, years of experience have an impact on teacher wellbeing. Finally, the wellbeing of teachers with a high score on the dominance-cooperating quadrant increases, whereas the wellbeing of teachers with a high score on the submission-opposition quadrant decreases.
Relationships between teacher characteristics, interpersonal teacher behaviour and teacher wellbeing
1. Introduction
Quality of learning is determined by the classroom environment. Several studies about perceptions of psychosocial aspects of the classroom environment have firmly established classroom environment as a thriving field of study (Fraser, 1994; Fraser & Walberg, 1991). A distinction can be made between the pedagogical, methodological perspective of teaching (which includes the selection and organisation of teaching materials, methods of instruction and assessment) and the interpersonal perspective which focuses on the teacher-student interpersonal relationship (Wubbels & Levy, 1993; Tartwijk, Brekelmans & Wubbels, 1998). Apart from gaining knowledge and developing learning strategies as goals of the methodological perspective, attention must also be paid to social competencies and relationships as goals of the interpersonal perspective. These social competencies are not related through just one course of study. They are to be integrated into the whole learning programme because eventually students will have to participate and function autonomously within society. The classroom can be considered as a microsystem where students learn to manage different situations, especially relationships with others. This study examines student-teacher relationships as an important aspect of the classroom environment. There are interpersonal relationships between all members of the classroom. This creates a system in which interactions with certain dynamics take place.
Teaching is a very complex activity that is affected by the subject matter, the time available, the character of the teacher, the disposition of the learners, resources, etc. The school, and more specifically the classroom, is the working place of the teacher in which he wants and needs to feel good. He not only leads the group but also participates and cooperates in the activities. The teacher is an important actor in the system. There are essential interpersonal relationships between the teacher and the students. Different teachers advocate different levels of control over their students. Some teachers prefer a disciplined environment for learning, whereas others want to create a pleasant classroom atmosphere where students can take risks and be creative. He wants to bring the students to a higher level in a pedagogical and didactical manner.
The main goal of our research project is to detect if there is a link between formal teacher characteristics, the interpersonal relationships experienced by the teacher within a classroom, and how the teacher perceives his own wellbeing. Since interpersonal relationships are brought about by affective aspects, principal components of emotional states like wellbeing, examining this relationship is the focus of this study.
1.1 Interpersonal perspective on teaching
We are interested in the classroom at its micro level. We will examine it thoroughly from an interpersonal perspective on teaching which concerns creating and maintaining a positive, warm classroom atmosphere conducive to learning (Williams & Burden, 1997). This perspective focuses on the relationship between students and teachers. Teachers have both direct and indirect influences on students. As a result they contribute to the learning environment of these students.For example, teaching behaviours, teaching styles and student perceptions of the learning environments have been studied and found to be related to student learning (Bennet, 1976; Brophy & Good, 1986; Fraser et al., 1991). According to Moos (1979) the relationship between students and teachers is an important dimension of class climate. He distinguishes three dimensions of classroom atmosphere. These are, relationships within the classroom, personal development and goal orientation, andmaintenance and changes within the system. From an interpersonal perspective, it is the first dimension which interests us. This dimension represents the nature of personal relationships within the classroom, particularly the support a teacher offers his students. Involvement and affiliation are classified under this dimension as well. Based on these three dimensions, Maslowski (2003) describes class climate as 'the collective perceptions of students with respect to the mutual relationships within the classroom, the organisation of the lessons and the learning tasks of the students'. It is important to mention that the relationship between students and teachers go hand in hand with classroom climate.
Within the system theoretical perspective of communication, it is assumed that the behaviours of participants mutually influence each other. The behaviour of the teacher both influences and is influenced by the students in many events in the classroom, such as the creation and maintenance of a good classroom climate, the behaviours that determine the quality of relationships and feelings. A circular communication process develops which not only consists of behaviour, but determines behaviour as well. The link between teacher behaviour and student behaviour (Wubbels & Levy, 1993) suggests that teachers can benefit directly from knowing how their interpersonal behaviour affects student behaviour. This mutual relationship is therefore an essential topic. The complex character of classroom environment implies that multiple perceptions are necessary to get a comprehensive image of the education process. Since perceptions are the result of an interaction between the person and his environment, they reveal how someone experiences a classroom situation.
Considering the teacher as an actor in the interpersonal relationship, we focus in this study on his perception of the situation. Most teachers perceive the classroom environment more positively than their students (Brekelmans, 1989). This may be because teachers complete the questionnairefrom a more idealistic perception of the context than students do. Their answers can also be geared to the more socially desirable or they underestimate their influence on students. In relation to this, Brekelmans (1989) also points out the difference between actual and ideal perceptions. Our study is restricted to actual perception. Teachers describe the actual educational situation,how it is experienced at the moment.
1.2 The teacher’s wellbeing
We are interested in how the teacher experiences teaching and how this is reflected in his wellbeing. In an earlier study wellbeing is defined as 'a positive emotional state that is the result of a harmony between the sum of specific context factors on the one hand and the personal needs and expectations towards the school on the other hand' (Engels, Aelterman, Van Petegem, & Schepens, 2004).
An analysis of this definition leads to different components. First, it deals with 'a positive emotional state'. This means incorporating a positive connotation. As compared with other studies we put the focus on the positive emotional state and not on deficiency, absenteeism, burnout or stress. The vision behind this definition is one of dynamic involvement and positive change and corresponds with a direction in positive psychology. Secondly, the 'harmony' between context and person refers to endeavouring to a Person-Environment fit model (Kristof, 1996). Teachers have to be capable of attuning their own needs and expectations to specific context factors and demands of the school. Consequently we have to keep in mind that it is an important precondition for teachers to feel good in schools. They have to ‘fit’ into the school system. Teacher’s personal qualities which allow for the development of authentic human relationships with his students and the capacity of creating a democratic and agreeable classroom are important attributes for effective teaching. Entwistle (1987) affirms that ‘there are emotional and moral, as well as cognitive sources of satisfaction in schooling’ (p 21). So the affective domain is very important in successful interactions between teachers and students.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research design and questions
Educational processes are situated at different levels. A macro, meso and micro level can be distinguished. This study focuses on the micro level or classroom level. Nineteen technical and vocational training schools are participating in this research and about 260 teachers are cooperating. For each group of students a teacher of mathematics, language and a practical course are asked to fill in questionnaires. Technical and vocational training schools are our focus group due to the present educational policy of reappraisal of this type of school. We want to know how interpersonal relationships are perceived by these teachers, how they are influenced by personal characteristics and how this is related to the teacher’s wellbeing. The two research questions of this study are:
1) Which teacher characteristics influence interpersonal teacher behaviour as perceived by the teacher?
2) What is the relationship between teacher characteristics and interpersonal teacher behaviour on the one hand and the teacher’s wellbeing on the other hand?
2.2 Questionnaires
Different instruments are used to understand the complex dynamics of interpersonal relationships and the wellbeing of the teacher within a classroom. Interpersonal teacher behaviour is measured as perceived by the teacher. Also the information about the teacher’s own wellbeing is gauged by the teacher himself. Teacher characteristics are taken into account to explain certain findings.
Two questionnaires are used. These are the questionnaire on teacher interaction as designed by Wubbels, Créton, Brekelmans and Hooymayers (1987)and the questionnaire on teacher wellbeing as designed by Aelterman, Engels, Van Petegem and Verhaeghe (2003).
The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) uses the systems approach to communication developed by Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson (1967). They assume that circular communications develop in the classroom, which not only consist of certain behaviours but also determine them. The QTI is also based on Leary's study (1957) of interpersonal diagnosis of personality (Wubbels, Créton & Hooymayers, 1992). Leary suggests that interpersonal interactions are controlled by a desire to avoid anxiety while maintaining self-esteem. Successful interactions are repeated so that these interaction patterns are sufficiently established to be recognised as a specific style of communication. Dimensions of interpersonal behaviour can be arranged to represent behavioural variation. This model is adapted to instructional settings such as the classroom.
The result is a typology of eight sectors based on two dimensions (Figure 1). These dimensions are 'influence' and 'proximity'. The influence dimension reflects to what extent and how often a teacher controls communication in class. In this dimension we distinguish between dominance (D) and submission (S) poles. The proximity dimension indicates to what extent a teacher cooperates with students. Within this dimension the poles are cooperation (C) and opposition (O). Combinations of these four poles and the two dimensions lead to eight possible sectors describing teacher interpersonal behaviour. These are leadership (DC), helpful/friendly (CD), understanding (CS), student responsibility and freedom (SC),uncertain (SO), dissatisfied (OS), admonishing (OD) and strict (DO) behaviours. Scores between 0 and 1 are measured for each sector of teacher behaviour. The higher the score appears on the scale the more a teacher shows behaviours from that sector.
We are using this questionnaire to pinpoint relationships within the classroom environment. This questionnaire is completed by the teacher. The information obtained by means of the questionnaire includes perceptions of the behaviour of the teacher towards the students as a class. This makes it possible to measure the perceptions relating to in-class teacher behaviour. The scientific value and usefulness of this questionnaire has been established (Brekelmans, 1989; Wubbels & Levy, 1993). Den Brok (2001) confirms the reliability of this instrument.
The detailed typology linked with this questionnaire is the result of a far-reaching operationalisation of interpersonal teacher behaviour. To promote the workability of this typology, we would like to introduce a reduction of sectors. The strong interdependency between the eight sectors of this circumplex model makes a simplification of typology necessary before analysis. This simplification is based on a cluster analysis with the statistical programme Permap. Using this cluster analysis the perceptions of teachers are classified into two basic dimensions. These are ‘influence’ and ‘proximity'.
This allows us to place the seventy-seven items of the questionnaire into four quadrants. The dominance-cooperation quadrant, the submission-cooperation quadrant, the submission-opposition quadrant and the dominance-opposition quadrant can be distinguished. Each item has a value on the dominance-submission continuum of the influence dimension. Also, for each item a value from cooperation to opposition can be read from the proximity dimension. The different types of questions visualised in Figure 2 are based on the traditional association of the items to the eight sectors (Brekelmans, 1989). This assigns the ‘leadership’ and ‘helpful/friendly’ behaviour sectors to the dominance-cooperation quadrant. The ‘understanding’ and ‘student responsibility and freedom’ sectors form a unit within the submission-cooperation quadrant. ‘Uncertain’ and ‘dissatisfied’ teacher behaviour become a group within the submission-opposition quadrant and ‘admonishing’ and ‘strict’ teacher behaviour form part of the dominance-opposition quadrant.
We conclude from Figure 2 that a simplification of the circumplex model to two dimensions is warranted. We note a rather strong orientation of initial items of the submission-cooperation quadrant to the dominance pole. These items can be focal to the optimum purpose of the questionnaire.
The questionnaire on teacher wellbeing (Aelterman et al., 2003) is based on a qualitative and quantitative study. In the qualitative part, teachers were asked to mention all possible indicators of their wellbeing at school. This inventory was linked with theoretical models from the literature which resulted into a pilot version of the questionnaire. The results of this pilot version led in the quantitative part to some adjustments to make it more valid and reliable. Afterwards a confirmative factor analysis, with the statistical programme LISREL, was performed and a more simplified model was derived. The major components or indicators of the latent variable ‘teacher’s wellbeing’ are about teacher efficacy, support from the school board and student orientation. The most important factor is teacher efficacy which includes the feeling of success in his profession and of being appreciated. Teachers have the feeling that they can control the class, that students listen to them, that they have a good relationship with the students, that they succeed in motivating the students to study independently. They have a feeling of success in developing cognitive and social skills. The questions asked reflect the importance of this crucial factor. The indicator support from the school board means having an employer who is interested in its teachers at a personal level. Finally, teachers who are student oriented find dealing with students the most satisfying aspect of their job.