Abstract
There is a growing desire to improve the quality and the equity of education around the world. Educational improvement requires understanding that the chief actors in the education system – teachers and students – and the educational context in which they operate, are indispensable in this pursuit. This book contributes to understanding educational systems and personal factors that influence teaching behaviour and student learning and engagement. Particularly, the book focuses on the work of teachers – in terms of effective teaching – as key players in education. Effective teaching refers to classroom processes or instructional practices related to student learning (Wagner et al., 2013). This broad definition encompasses various terms used in the literature on teaching to refer to similar constructs and ideas. It is therefore important to note that the scope of this book represents various strands of research on teaching.
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There is a growing desire to improve the quality and the equity of education around the world. Educational improvement requires understanding that the chief actors in the education system – teachers and students – and the educational context in which they operate, are indispensable in this pursuit. This book contributes to understanding educational systems and personal factors that influence teaching behaviour and student learning and engagement. Particularly, the book focuses on the work of teachers – in terms of effective teaching – as key players in education. Effective teaching refers to classroom processes or instructional practices related to student learning (Wagner et al., 2013). This broad definition encompasses various terms used in the literature on teaching to refer to similar constructs and ideas.Footnote 1 It is therefore important to note that the scope of this book represents various strands of research on teaching.
Although research on effective teaching has a rich history of over half a century, the knowledge base is still growing. Research on effective teaching has consistently revealed that in general, teachers’ work is a significant factor for student learning and outcomes (Kyriakides et al., 2009). However, understanding the specific conditions, specific interactions of teachers with specific students, and the underlying mechanisms that enhance learner engagement remain to be explored in more depth, as they require massive and perpetual endeavors to align with the dynamic nature of education in different settings. Studies on effective teaching have been dominated by developed, mostly Western, contexts (e.g., Australia, North America, The UK, and Europe). Extending the knowledge base beyond national boarders by studying and sharing insights of education between more and less developed parts of the world, can foster reciprocal and global educational improvement.
This book aims to bring together theoretical, empirical, methodological, and practical insights from diverse countries and educational contexts on effective teaching. It particularly focuses on discussing issues pertaining to effective teaching behaviour including framing and conceptualizations, characteristics, measurements, antecedents, correlates, and importance to teacher and student outcomes from national perspectives. The book draws upon the rich cultures and diverse contexts around the globe including Asia, Australia, Africa, America, and Europe, in order to improve understanding of effective teaching from a wide spectrum of educational systems.
This book is not intended to supersede the existing excellent books in the field (e.g., Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Hall et al., 2020; Kyriakides et al., 2018; Scherens, 2016). Rather, it aims to complement and extend the body of knowledge on teaching. This may be the first book documenting a wide variety of topics and rich contents related to effective teaching from such highly diverse international contexts. Particularly, the book presents research that is presently absent in the current literature. First, it integrates research on effective teaching from various frameworks, operationalisations, and professional development perspectives. Second, it presents contributions from various countries/cultures across five continents. Third, it includes a number of observation and survey studies on effective teaching across countries using the same instruments in the same classrooms (over time). Fourth, it represents various educational systems that vary in quality based on popular international testing studies. Fifth, it provides discussion about effective teaching from the perspectives of authors in situ, highlighting the scientific and practical implications for the specific as well as potential global contexts. Sixth, it includes various levels of education ranging from primary to tertiary education. Finally, the book also dedicates a section on differentiation and adaptive teaching that is currently gaining more popularity in education. The book is structured in five sections that each serve a different purpose.
Part I presents conceptualizations and measurements of effective teaching. Part II provides insights into effective teaching from various international contexts. Part III presents studies on effective teaching from various cultural contexts taking the comparative perspective. Part IV documents studies on effective teaching and its correlates. Part V compiles a number of studies on a contemporary issue in effective teaching: differentiation and adaptive teaching. This book closes with an Epilogue chapter drawing together insights and ideas discussed from Part I to Part V, taking into account commonalities and differences across the sections and chapters. Finally, this book closes with a Concluding chapter by the editors that provides reflections and future directions for studies on effective teaching from international perspectives, and suggests potential recommendations for research, policy, and practice. The book can serve as a contemporary reference on effective teaching, with diverse content and research approaches that will be highly relevant in various scientific and educational programs across the world.
Notes
- 1.
Other scholars use various terms such as quality of teaching (e.g., Hattie, 2009), teaching quality (e.g., Fauth et al., 2014), teaching effectiveness (e.g., Seidel & Shavelson, 2007), classroom quality (e.g., Hamre et al., 2014), classroom management (e.g., Arens et al., 2015), classroom environment (e.g., FraserDay et al., 2015), classroom learning environment (e.g., Fraser & Goh, 2003), instructional quality (e.g., Rjosk et al., 2014), instructional style (e.g., Jang et al., 2010), teaching styles (e.g., Wentzel, 2002), and interpersonal teacher behaviour (den Brok et al., 2004).
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Maulana, R., Helms-Lorenz, M., Klassen, R.M. (2023). Prologue. In: Maulana, R., Helms-Lorenz, M., Klassen, R.M. (eds) Effective Teaching Around the World . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31678-4_1
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