An exploration of student perspectives of quality teaching at multi-level education environments

It is important that teachers are open to look at evidence of how their teaching impacts on students classroom engagement and therefore are better able to meet the educational needs of students. The education sector is nationally and globally recognised as being committed to advancing teaching into a profession of the highest calibre teachers. Institutions and their teaching staff have an obligation to provide the necessary conditions, opportunities and expectations for engagement to prevail. Key among effective teaching practices is teacher-student interaction or the degree to which the teacher is able to engage the students. Calls are made for coherence across the education sectors as to the importance of transition between post-primary (PP) and higher education (HE) and the implementation of quality teaching initiatives that are equally effective between the levels. The phenomenographic method and incumbent techniques of focus groups and one-to-one semi-structured interviews at both PP and HE levels yield valuable insights into how quality teaching can be achieved across the education levels. The benefits of letting students have a voice are evident from the current study and the literature. It appears that educational stakeholders must share a fundamental commitment to improving outcomes for students and there is an emerging recognition that, to make a difference, change must be meaningfully situated and sustained in the classroom. The Refined Quality Teaching Initiatives Framework devised from this study’s findings outlines how successful transition of students between education levels can happen, with the quality teaching initiatives recommended being equally effective across education levels. Active listening by the teacher and the student is a precursor to dual interaction modelling dialogue. Collaboration and reflection between the teacher and student leads to dual engagement where students and teachers become co-constructors of knowledge at the classroom level. Students can transition with ease between PP and HE because similar constructs exist at both levels. The outcomes of this research study propose to establish stronger links between quality teaching initiatives at PP and HE, suggest an approach for putting these initiatives into practice and provide proposals for improvements in policy to make these changes happen.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

other

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of East Anglia

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• O'Brien, Breda

Language dc:language

en