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Teachers' ethnotheories of the ‘ideal student’ in five western cultures

Teachers' ethnotheories of the ‘ideal student’ in five western cultures This paper explores teachers' ethnotheories of the ‘ideal student’ in five western societies: Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the US. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to derive culture‐specific profiles of the ‘ideal student’ as described by kindergarten and primary school teachers in semi‐structured interviews (sample n's = 12 to 21). Discriminant function analysis shows that teachers' descriptor profiles can be correctly assigned to their own cultural group in up to 94% of all cases. Qualitative analysis of the interviews suggests both shared themes (e.g. motivation, independence) and culturally specific understandings of their meaning and significance. Contrary to the prevalent focus on cognitive qualities emphasized by western educational assessment practices, teachers in all the samples talked more about the importance of social intelligence and self‐regulation for success in school. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Comparative Education Taylor & Francis

Teachers' ethnotheories of the ‘ideal student’ in five western cultures

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References (33)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1360-0486
eISSN
0305-0068
DOI
10.1080/03050060601162438
Publisher site
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Abstract

This paper explores teachers' ethnotheories of the ‘ideal student’ in five western societies: Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the US. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to derive culture‐specific profiles of the ‘ideal student’ as described by kindergarten and primary school teachers in semi‐structured interviews (sample n's = 12 to 21). Discriminant function analysis shows that teachers' descriptor profiles can be correctly assigned to their own cultural group in up to 94% of all cases. Qualitative analysis of the interviews suggests both shared themes (e.g. motivation, independence) and culturally specific understandings of their meaning and significance. Contrary to the prevalent focus on cognitive qualities emphasized by western educational assessment practices, teachers in all the samples talked more about the importance of social intelligence and self‐regulation for success in school.

Journal

Comparative Education – Taylor & Francis

Published: Feb 1, 2007

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