Civilia 2019, 10(1):68-93 | DOI: 10.5507/civ.2019.004

Impression of a novice teacher Case study of teacher's subjective theories at the birth stage

Petr Koubek

Národní ústav pro vzdělávání, Weilova 6, 102 00 Praha 10

The study is a summary of findings resulting from exploring the ideas of a novice teacher about the aims and contents of civic education and the ways of their formation in the education at the earliest stage of her professional development. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between the "emerging subjective theory of a teacher" and her thinking in a particular pedagogical situation (reflection in action). In this respect, the research follows the tradition of research of cognitions conducting behaviour of teachers during an education. In terms of the type of situations, teaching can be characterized as a succession of teacher-intended situations or processes of pupils' learning that are difficult to predict but are meaningful to the teacher's intentions, but also to pupils' learning goals. The teacher's behaviour in such situations is irreparable in the sense that the situations could always be intentionally planned, evaluated and managed as efficiently as possible. At the same time, reflection in a particular pedagogical situation has its importance in both teacher and pupil learning and development. In this context, pedagogy is concerned with the professional development of teachers as the development of their specific professional cognitions (routines, subjective theories), which, in spite of this, allow effective management of such situations. The research summarized in this text is a follow-up to three studies by the author dealing with the qualities of such guiding cognitions of teachers with long teaching experience. At the end of the text, with the support of existing knowledge from domestic and foreign sources and our own research, it will consider how fragmentary impressions displayed during the research of our novice teacher can develop into subjective pedagogical theories that would enable her to efficient, for the purpose of pupils' learning functional teaching.

Keywords: Qualitative research, Subjective theories of teachers, Relationship of teachers' Thinking and behaviour, Pedagogical case study

Published: June 15, 2019  Show citation