NAME : PHILISWA MBATHA

STUDENT NUMBER : 220075782

MODULE CODE : EDES 412

MODULE NAME : EDUCATION STUDIES: RESEARCHING EDUCATION

LECTURE : DR. L R MAHARAJH

A very interesting introduction. You provided relevant discussion of literature, and you
also tried to engage with it. Your referencing is good just minor errors.

40/50

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE- CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION
The literature review on teacher’s understandings of teaching starts with a discussion on the
goals that teachers have in the classroom, teachers strive to improve students' academic
performance and foster their academic independence, enabling them to successfully complete
assessments on their own (Biesta & Miedema, 2002). It continues to discuss about the theory
of intelligence which is when we look at how well do the teachers expect their students to
perform. This hypothetical perspective provides insights into how teachers perceive student
capabilities, set appropriate challenges, and adapt their teaching strategies to meet individual
learner needs. Teacher’s understandings of teaching are also explained with looking at self-
regulation, teachers play a vital role in promoting self-regulated learning in students, helping
them develop the skills and strategies necessary to regulate their own learning process
(Zimmerman, 2002). Assessment is another area investigated, where we look at how teachers
measure student learning and progress. We also look at objectives the teachers have about
their lesson which is what the teachers want their learners to achieve after the lesson. We then
review the purpose, and strategies teachers use to conduct their lessons and to ensure that the
learners understand. In this chapter we look closely to the teacher’s understandings of
teaching by reading and gathering information on relevant literature.
GOALS
Teachers have a multitude of goals and strategies in their daily work, these goals are
academic as well as socio-emotional (Biesta & Miedema, 2002). All teachers have a goal of
improving student’s academic performance. They want students to achieve academic
independence in the classroom so that they are going to be able to complete assessments on
their own successfully. Teachers also want to promote social contact between students and
themselves, they want to have positive relationships with all the students so that it would be
easy for students to talk to teachers about any issues and enhance student’s motivation which
will make students academically engaged. Positive relationships contribute to enhanced
communication, support, and understanding between teachers and students, ultimately
fostering a conducive learning environment. The purpose of education is to enable autonomy
and individual critical thinking, and the teacher is fundamental in this process (Ball, 2003).
THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE
Theory of intelligence is how well do teachers expect their students to perform in the
classroom. According to Dweck (1999) individuals believe that intelligence is either fixed or
it can be developed and grown over time. Teachers can influence the intelligence beliefs of
their students through language used to motivate, challenge and praise students (Rattan, Good
& Dweck, 2012). According to research, most teachers expect their students to perform very
well in the classroom and assessments, given that they think they have delivered content in
the most excellent way. However, the intelligence levels of the students are not the same and
students have different capabilities, they do not all excel in Mathematics or Language.
Teachers can enhance their student’s intelligence by applying multiple intelligence theory by
Howard Gardner. This approach will provide opportunities for authentic learning based on
student’s need, abilities, interests, and talents.
SELF-REGULATION
Self-regulation is the ability of students or teachers to monitor, control and direct their own
learning process. “Teacher self-regulation can be seen as an active process where teachers
direct and maintain their metacognition, motivation, and strategies for effective instruction
“(Saez-Delgado, 2022). Teachers must be self-regulated, and they need to learn how to
effectively teach their students to self-regulate the study and learning processes. Teachers are
responsible for fostering self-regulation skills to their students. Teacher needs to give
students more control over their learning to promote independent academic intelligence. Reis
and Green (2002) recommend that teachers use some practices to support students in their
development of self-regulation learning skills. These practices are to guide students’ self-
belief and goal setting. They provide feedback, help learners link new experience with prior
learning, require learners to reflect, evaluate and record successful strategies. Teachers help
students understand the value of strategies and decide which strategies to teach their students.
Self-regulated learners need to have self-efficacy which simply refers to an individual who is
confident that he or she can accomplish a specific goal (Bandura, 1997).
ASSESSMENT
Teachers need to know if their students understood the concept. To achieve that they have to
assess the students. Assessment is divided into two parts which is the formative assessment
and the summative assessment. Formative assessment is a continuous process used by
teachers to gather evidence of student learning and provide feedback to improve learning.
According to Black,2006, formative assessment is centred on five main types of activity
which are: sharing success criteria with learners, classroom questioning, comment only
marking, peer and self-assessment and formative use of summative tests. Teachers engineer
effective classroom discussions and other learning tasks that elicit evidence of student
understanding, teachers then provide feedback that moves learners forward (William &
Thompson, 2007). Teachers use several types of activities in class to see if the learners
understand, they use worksheets, interactive charts, open-ended questions, homework’s and
class discussions. Teachers also use summative assessment to determine the student’s overall
achievement in a specific area of learning at a particular time (Harlen, 2004). Teachers have
primary responsibility for designing and using summative assessment to evaluate the impact
of their own instruction and measure the learning progress.
OBJECTIVES
Objectives are the specific statements that provide clear focus and direction for teaching and
learning, it describes what students are expected to learn at the end of the lesson. Objectives
are set by teachers and each lesson has its own specific or different objective. Learning
objectives include knowledge, skills and values. Setting objectives is a prominent process of
regulated learning to guide instruction (Pintrich & Schunk, 2005). Teachers aim for
developing problem-solving skills, collaboration and effective communication (Marzano. R.
J, 2009). Teachers want students to succeed, they want their students to understand the
content they deliver. For example, in a science lesson a teacher would want students to
develop skills in experimentation, observation, problem-solving and manipulating apparatus.
Teachers also want students to achieve understanding of the lesson, for example, in a lesson
the teacher wants learners to understand the unfamiliar terms or new vocabulary as well as
the topic. Indeed, it is obvious that students must understand a certain amount of the basic
vocabulary in a subject area before they can understand the facts, generalizations, and
principles within a content area (Marzano, 2004).
PURPOSE
Purpose refers to a “stable and generalised intention to accomplish something that is both
meaningful to the self and of intended consequence to the world beyond the self’ (Damon,
Menon, and Bronk, 2003). Teachers aim to create effective, supportive, and challenging
environments in which pupils can learn skills, dispositions, and behaviours to direct their
lives successfully (Morano & Mariano, 2016). Teachers teach to inspire curiosity and
encourage creativity. Teachers teach to establish engaging and supportive learning
environments where students can acquire the necessary skills, attitudes, and behaviours to
navigate their lives effectively. Teachers also teach for passion and their love for learners,
some teach because being a teacher is the same as being a lifelong learner which means they
enjoy or love learning. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have been highlighted as the most
important groups of reasons for deciding to teach (Brookhart & Freeman, 1992). Intrinsic
motivations are internally driven and stem from personal satisfaction, while extrinsic
motivations are external factors that influence one's decision to teach. Most teachers teach
because of their intrinsic motivations.
STRATEGIES
Teachers use various teaching strategies in class, they consider students' diverse cognitive
levels, learning styles, and preferences to tailor their instruction accordingly (Tomlinson &
Eidson, 2003). There are various kinds of teaching strategies used by teachers aimed develop
metacognitive higher order thinking such as predicting, questioning, comparing,
summarizing, classifying, and clarifying. Effective teaching strategies help create an
engaging and motivating learning environment. By employing different instructional
techniques, such as active learning, hands-on activities, and visual aids, teachers can capture
students' interest and increase their motivation to learn. Teachers use scaffolding strategies to
provide support and guidance to students as they develop new skills or knowledge.
Scaffolding helps students work at their current level while gradually building towards more
complex tasks or concepts (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). Effective teaching strategies create
a supportive and engaging learning environment that allows students to actively participate,
develop a deeper understanding of concepts, and achieve better learning outcomes.
REFERENCES
Ayua, G. A. (2012a). Assessment of Makurdi serving teachers’ expectations on what is an effective
primary science teacher education programme. Journal of Research in Curriculum and Teaching, 6 (1),
459-465.
Ball, D. L., & Cohen, D. K. (2003). Developing practice, developing practitioners: Toward a practice-
based theory of professional education. In L. D. Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the
learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., & Pastorelli, C. (2001). Self-efficacy beliefs as shapers of
children’s aspirations and career trajectories. Child Development, 72, 187–206.
Biesta, G., & Miedema, S. (2002). Understanding social and personal goals in the work of teachers.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 23(4), 527-537.
Cutler, C-R, Mallaburn, A. Putwain, D.W. and Daly, A. ‘Teachers’ theories of intelligence and
instruction in English Secondary Education’, TEAN journal 11(2), pp. 59-70.
Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied
Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0703_2
Dweck, C.S. (1999). Self-theories: their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia:
Psychology Press.
Hagger L. E, M. S., & Leung, J. (2018). Teacher motivation in the classroom: An overview of the
literature. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, 90-100.
Harding., S., Nibali., N., English., N., Griffin., P., Graham., L., Alom, BM., and Zhang., Z. (2018). Self-
regulated learning in the classroom: Realising the potential for Australia’s high-capacity students.
Assessment Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education
Marzano, R. J. (2009). What works in schools: Translating research into action. ASCD.
Rattan, A., Good, C. and Dweck, C.S. (2012) “It's ok — Not everyone can be good at math”: Instructors
with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students. Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 48(3), 731 - 737.
Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M., Spilt, J. L., & Oort, F. J. (2011). The influence of affective teacher–
student relationships on students’ school engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic approach.
Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493-529.
Schunk, D. H. (2005). Self-Regulated Learning: The Educational Legacy of Paul R. Pintrich. Educational
Psychologist, 40(2), 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4002_3
Tomlinson, C. A., & Eidson, C. C. (2003). Differentiation in practice: A resource guide for
differentiating curriculum, grades K-5. ASCD.
Watt, H. M. G. (2003). Why teachers teach: A study of motivations influencing student teachers' career
choice and commitment. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73(3), 397-417.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem-solving. Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89-100.
Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2001). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement:
Theoretical perspectives (2nd ed.). Routledge.