Selection and allocation functions of teacher education systems - Development and test of a model based on Open Systems Theory
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Starting from several conceptual and methodological shortcomings of current research on the relation of teacher education and student achievement (Study 1), this thesis aims at developing an alternative, organizational perspective on teacher education based on Open Systems Theory. The resulting model of teacher education as an open system focuses on the selection and sorting of student teachers, as well as on the allocation of trained teachers to schools in the education system. This focus allows addressing the connection between student teachers, organizational features of teacher education, and the context of teacher education. At the same time it allows investigating the inherent selection and non-random allocation problem of research on the relation of teacher education and student achievement. The model includes characterizations of teacher education’s selection and allocation functions as arrangement of structural elements governing the selection and allocation processes. Their characterization and the model are validated further by means of an interview study with experts in the fields of teacher education, education systems, and comparative education (Studies 2 and 3). The model is tested by means of two international comparative studies implementing a multigroup structural equation modeling approach. In case of the selection function, its structural arrangements in the teacher education systems of Singapore, Poland, and the USA are compared with regard to their impact on the motivational orientation of student teachers and their relation to their use of learning opportunities (Study 4). While the results show no differences in the relation between the motivational orientation of student teachers and their use of learning opportunities, there are differences in the motivational orientation of and the use of learning opportunities by student teachers across the three structural arrangements. In case of the allocation function, its structural arrangement in the teacher education systems of Singapore and Finland are compared with regard to associated differences in the degree of positive matching (Study 5). The results of this study show differences in the degree of positive matching across the two structural arrangements. Despite some methodological limitations, which are mainly due to characteristics and availability of adequate data, the results of both international comparisons allow deriving several policy recommendations. Eventually, these recommendations and the potential use of the model in further research are discussed.
Author: Christoph König
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W158229310