Teaching practices and learner commitment: teacher conceptions and scientific conclusions
How to improve the level of commitment of adolescents in the classroom? This is a question that teachers ask themselves on a daily basis: ‘do I need to encourage them? Punish them? Let them do what they want? Be more structured?’ Classroom management practices are influenced by many factors such as teacher conceptions and beliefs ascribed to education, feelings of personal efficacy, or past experiences as a teacher and learner. A research project (‘Evolution of teachers’ conceptions during teacher education’) conducted over a period of three years by SFIVET in partnership with the University of Geneva (SNSF subsidy no. 100019_146351) focussed on these questions, particularly within the conte
The present research project ‘Teaching practices and learner commitment: teacher conceptions and scientific conclusions’ builds from the aforementioned research project. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF subsidy no. CRAGP1_171661), through the Agora funding scheme, which seeks to disseminate research findings to the general public. The findings and conclusions from the research project ‘Evolution of teachers’ conceptions during teacher education’ will be presented in a public interactive photographical exhibit, which will be hosted in several towns of the French-speaking region of Switzerland from the fall of 2018 to the spring of 2019. This travelling exhibit is intended to show people the various practices that teachers use in an effort to improve learner commitment together with the corresponding impact of these practices on learner commitment.
Because this public exhibit will be both interactive and shown in different locations, it will serve as a means of gathering input on how the general public perceives teaching. At the same time, the exhibit will raise public awareness of the impact of teaching practices on learner commitment and learning. In this manner, visitors will recall their own experiences with education or their own conceptions of school and teaching. At the same time, they are likely to ask themselves the following question: ‘What would I do in this situation?’
Within this framework, the project is intended to show the relevance of scientific research as a means of improving the quality of teaching, encouraging reflexion on teaching practices and creating an educational experience. An interactive book and/or website will also be produced to present these photos and the principle behind the exhibit. This research project is a response to recurrent debates on the purpose of school, on the orientation of teacher training as well as on teaching practices that should be adopted by teachers. It enables one to draw correlations between scientific conclusions and public representations, thereby encouraging reflexion on this period of life that everyone goes through: school.