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Abstract(s)
The main aim of this research is to study the receptiveness of teachers to pedagogical innovation, understood as the more or less favourable attitudes they assume towards it, in their teaching roles, as well as the influence that personal variables (personality or teacher training) or variables of the school context have upon their predisposition to innovate.
The empirical research involved investigating a sample of 377 teachers of the 2nd and 3rd cycles of Basic and Secondary schools from Viseu county. A specially designed scale of attitudes (AFIP) was used to assess the role of some independent variables (teacher's personality characteristics, variables of teacher training and of the school context) in accounting for the variance of the dependent variable. A hierarchical multiple regression model of statistic analysis was the procedure adopted.
The main conclusions drawn from the analysis of the data point to the importance of the personal variables in relation to receptivity to innovation, and in particular personality characteristics, which account for a significant portion of the variance in the teachers’ attitudes towards pedagogical innovation. However, the data also emphasise the relevance of the variables of the school context and the continuous training of the teacher, which explain a significant, though smaller portion of that variance.
The implications of this study are of several kinds. To summarise we enumerate the following: the teachers who are potentially more innovative should be identified and their performance should be given incentives; programmes of personal development of teachers might be promoted so as to make them more receptive to innovation; specific psycho-social dimensions of the school context, conducive to innovation, should be enhanced; the continuous training of teachers should be directed towards the promotion of individual and institutional change.
Description
Keywords
Teachers Pedagogical innovation Receptiveness Personal variables School context
Citation
Cardoso, A. P. (2002). Towards a new direction in teacher training practices in view of new challenges. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Lisbon, 11-14 September, 2002. Education–Line. British Education Index. Disponível em http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002376.htm)