SOC 463/663 (Social Psych of Education) - Teachers

Teachers

Melanie B. Tannenbaum, Ph.D.SOC 463/663Spring 2015

What is a teacher? What is a mentor?

● What is the role of a mentor?

● What is good mentorship?

● Relationship between mentor & mentee?

Teacher Feedback

Back to Praise & Blame● Praise enhances motivation & criticism stifles, but….● Developmental trajectory● At young age:● Praise ! positive attributions● Blame ! negative attributions

● Post-elementary paradoxical effects:● Praise ! low ability, high effort● Blame ! low effort, high ability● Perceived task difficulty is important!

● Ability praise vs. effort praise

Self-efficacy

● How does feedback contribute to self-efficacy?

● Effort feedback

● Criticism often necessary to validate student effort & ability

● Praise alone is ambiguous

● Might reflect low expectations?

Feedback as Information● About student’s academic work

● About instructor’s views of the students

● About instructor’s views of a student’s group

! Feedback giving is risky business!

ATTRIBUTIONAL AMBIGUITY

“Is this feedback a valid reply to my performance, or is it driven by a response to my group membership?”● The Crocker et al. (1991) feedback & blinds experiment

● When your group membership is NOT known…● Take feedback/evaluations seriously

● When your group membership is known…● Discounting of feedback/evaluations

ATTRIBUTIONAL AMBIGUITY

Experiences in Intergroup Relations

Member of a stereotyped group● Uncertainty● Does the other person see me the way I want to be seen?● Does the other person see who I am or what I am?

● Anxiety● Being judged?● Not being viewed as a competent, full-fledged human being?

● Threat● “I don’t know what to do” ● “I am sure the person is prejudiced against me”

Member of a potentially stereotyping group● Uncertainty● Am I behaving “correctly”?● Does the other person see me the way I want to come across?

● Anxiety● Fear of behaving incorrectly● Fear of being judged

● Threat● “I don’t know what to do”● “I am sure the person thinks I am prejudiced against him/her.”

Experiences in Intergroup Relations

Positive biases toward minorities: Harber (1998)

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RISK MANAGEMENT Feedback givers more concerned about their own appearance than adequacy of feedback

No differential feedback whenclear right-or-wrong standards

Differential feedback when standards are in part subjective

Content feedback

Mechanics feedback

“False Self-Concept”● Unjustified positive feedback

● Inflated student self-concept

● Criticism ! Opportunity for Improvement

● May undermine future effort!

Teaching Styles

Controllable Uncontrollable

Stable

Student is very smart.Student is also very lazy.

Never does the homework.Never pays attention in class.

Bright, but never puts in effort.Did poorly on this exam.

Student is not very smart.Has trouble doing well, no

matter how hard they study.Put in a lot of effort.

Did poorly on this exam.

Unstable

Student is very smart.Usually pays attention.

Can be flaky sometimes.Didn’t try hard on this exam.


Student transferred into class right before the exam.

Missed some of the lectures that were important for exam.

Tried hard, but didn’t have time to master the material.


Controllable Uncontrollable

Stable

Student is very smart.Student is also very lazy.

Never does the homework.Never pays attention in class.

Bright, but never puts in effort.Did poorly on this exam.

Student is not very smart.Has trouble doing well, no

matter how hard they study.Put in a lot of effort.


Unstable

Student is very smart.Usually pays attention.

Can be flaky sometimes.Didn’t try hard on this exam.


Student transferred into class right before the exam.

Missed some of the lectures that were important for exam.

Tried hard, but didn’t have time to master the material.


What kinds of feedback do students get for failures?

Retribution: Punishment

Utilitarian: Trying to Help

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ControllableNot Controllable

Retribution

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ControllableNot Controllable

Utility

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Controllable Not Controllable

Feedback Positivity

Controlling AutonomyTeachers pressure students to think,

feel, or behave in specific wayTeachers identify, nurture, and develop

students’ inner motivations

Focuses on teacher’s perspective Focuses on student’s perspective

Intrudes into students’ thoughts, feelings, or actions

Welcomes students’ thoughts, feelings, and actions

Extrinsic motivators Intrinsic motivators

Neglect explanatory rationales Provide explanatory rationales

Pressure-inducing language Noncontrolling, informational language

Impatience towards students Patience for self-paced learning

Use power to overcome complaints Acknowledge & accept complaints

Motivation Engagement Performance

Intrinsic Motivation Engagement Higher Grades

Competence Positive Emotions Better Performance

Relatedness Class Attendance Higher Test Scores

Mastery Goals Persistence Conceptual Understanding

Perceived Control/Self-Efficacy Lower Dropout Rates Deep Processing

Curiosity Self-Regulation Strategies

Internalized Values

Development & Well-Being

Self-Esteem/Self-Worth School/Life Satisfaction Vitality

Creativity Preference for Challenges Happiness

Benefits of Autonomy-Supportive Teaching

Why Be Controlling?1. Power Differentials

• Normal for “higher power” people to take charge & talk first

2. Responsibility & Accountability

• Pressure to get students to hit test scores, standards, etc.

3. Cultural Values

• Controlling teachers seem more competent (even if they aren’t)

4. Structure

• (Misguided) idea that controlling classrooms seem more organized/structured and less chaotic

Why Be Controlling?5. Student Passivity

• Reaction to inattentive, disruptive, or noncompliant students

6. Maximal-Operant Principle

• Belief that high rewards can “turn on” motivation & work well

7. Control-Oriented Personalities

• Some people are…just controlling.

How To Be Autonomy-Supportive?1. Build lessons around student interests

2. Personalize lessons

3. Allow students to make choices

4. Focus on intrinsic motivators

5. Opportunities to discuss/ask questions

6. Allow students to collaborate/share expertise

7. Give reasons for instructional/curriculum choices

8. Allow time/patience for self-paced learning

9. Acknowledge & accept negative emotions/complaints

DQ: Teaching StylesHow can we train and evaluate teachers’ methods to ensure that (a) these teaching styles are utilized regularly and (b) each student gets

equal and fair treatment of their academic failures?

Outside of teaching styles, what else can be done in schools or within the curriculum to foster motivation and autonomy in students?

I'm not saying control should be equated with structure, but what is an autonomy-supportive teacher supposed to do if students refuse to do assignments or follow rules? There has to be a balance of control and

autonomy support otherwise there would be some level of chaos, right?

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

● Rosenthal & Jacobson (1966/1968)

● Administered an ability (IQ) test to students classes 1-6

● Randomly selected student names

● Told teachers that these students would “bloom” that year

● Re-administered same ability test 8 months later

● How did the students perform?


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Why does this effect occur only for the youngest

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● Expectancy effects occur primarily when…

● Teachers don’t know students very well

● Students do not yet have crystallized self-concepts

● Teachers rigidly cling to expectancies in the face of expectancy-inconsistent behavior of the student

● Why/How Does This Happen?

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Rosenthal’s “Four Factor” Theory

● Climate

● Emotional Support (Babad)

● Feedback

● Input

● Learning Support (Babad)

● Output

Are teacher expectancies avoidable?● “No — but that’s not a problem.”

● Teacher expectancy effects = “student effects on teachers”

● Expectancies are based in actual student performance

● Accurate, reality based

● Correctable

Teachers’ expectations may accurately reflect what they can expect

from a student.

Are the effects of teacher expectancies avoidable?

● “Yes — they’re weak and fragile anyway.”

● “No — and that’s a problem for equal education.”

● “No — but that’s not a problem because that’s often what we want in order to allocate extra help.”

● Costs to students, teachers, classrooms?

● Role in tracking/ability grouping?

DQ: Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

What do you think is the biggest reason why teachers project self-fulfilling prophecies? What can

we do so that we stop projecting these expectations? Does it have to do with all the

stereotyping we do in todays society?

Teacher-Student Relationships

DQ: “The Line”How involved is too involved? How do we reconcile the contrasting images of the a)

real teacher who knows his/her boundaries with their students, and b) the ever-popular "father/mother figure" teacher in the movies who makes a huge impact on his/

her kids? Is one of these more "right" than the other?

For teachers who don’t want to be involved, is it their to job to be, whether they want to or not? What does a personal relationship with a teacher do for a child’s education?

How important is it that a new teacher be aware of the types of boundaries that exist?

What training do teachers get exactly? What happens if a teacher creates an emotional bond with a student? Can teachers get into trouble if another student finds

out and assumes they get special treatment?

Teaching Evaluations

Teaching Evaluations: What Are They?

● Controversial Topic

● Validity?

● Power?

● Importance?

DQ: Evals

What do you think the professor reviews really mean in college? (What are they really measuring?)

Pros & Cons

Pros ConsQuality Control

Students as “clients”/consumersCan students really judge quality?

Separate “teacher” from “teaching”

Student Empowerment Undermines academic standards

Improves Practice of Teaching Often based on student’s grades

Teaching Evaluations: GOOD

● Student ratings are multifaceted and complex

● Mirrors the complexity of teaching

● Student ratings often correlated with…

● Expert judgments

● Learning outcomes

● BUT only when evals are taken before students know final grade

Teaching Evaluations: NOT SO GOOD

● “Half a Minute” Study (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1993)

● 30 second video, professor teaching at semester start

● Nonverbal behavior; no sound on the video

● End of semester evaluations highly correlated with…

● Nonverbal behavior (Expressiveness)

● Initial ratings of the 30 second clip

● Limited room for skill to influence evaluations


● Nonverbal behaviors

● Smiling

● Eye contact

● Relaxed face

● Expressive hands & body

● Moving around in space

● Orientation toward audience

● Changes in posture

● Changes in intensity

● Expressive, modulated voice


● Student evaluations are partly driven by grades

● Higher expected grade → Better evaluations

● Grade Inflation?

● Do higher grades cause better teaching ratings?

● Do higher grades and higher teaching ratings reflect objectively better teaching?

http://www.gradeinflation.com/

Grade Inflation

● Why is grade inflation a problem?

● Undermines academic standards

● Students may work less for same grade

● Reduced expectations

● Lower levels of learning and achievement

● Creates ambiguity in the meaning of grades

Politics & Evaluations?

“If you are like me, I love you!”

DQ: Partisan TeachersWoessner mainly uses these findings to discuss student

evaluations, but I think this study has interesting implications for student attributions, too. Perhaps a

student who is at odds with a professor's political views negatively attributes a poor mark or an instructor's

comment to their liberal or conservative status?

Is it important for a professor to keep their personal beliefs out of the classroom?

The Present

The Future?