Abstracts - Earli

Construction and validation of an instrument for assessing feedback cultures in organisationsKatrin Kahmann, University of Regensburg, GermanyRegina H. Mulder, University of Regensburg, GermanyFeedback culture is supposed to have an effect on organisational outcomes. Assessment offeedback culture is valuable to organisations. We developed an assessment instrument formeasuring feedback culture. Therefore a questionnaire was developed and analysed to assess thefeedback culture of an organization (FBCQ). The instrument has 46 items. Factor analysis (N =128 employees) yields three factors: 1) feedback quality, 2) importance of feedback and 3) supportfor feedback use. Regarding criterion validity we found satisfactory results for affectiveorganisational commitment. Our results suggest that, validated with regard to central psychometricproperties, the FBCQ allows a standardized and efficient measurement of feedback culture inorganisations.Teachers’ interactions and their collaborative reflection processes during peer meetingsDineke Tigelaar, Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching, NetherlandsDiana Dolmans, Maastricht University, NetherlandsPaulien Meijer, Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching, NetherlandsWillem de Grave, Maastricht University, NetherlandsCees Van der Vleuten, Maastricht University, NetherlandsTeachers’ reflections are often narrowly focused on technical questions (‘how to’) and less on theunderlying moral, political and emotional aspects of their functioning. However, for a betterunderstanding of teaching practice it is important to uncover beliefs and values that usually remainimplicit. Meeting with others is considered crucial for enhancing the quality of teachers’reflections. However, little is known about how any beneficial effects of such meetings arebrought about. We explored the relationship between medical teachers’ interactions andcollaborative reflection processes during peer meetings. Five experienced teachers and a teachertrainer participated in the study. Three peer meetings were videotaped and transcribed. Teachers’interactions and collaborative reflective processes were analysed. The interactions promotedreflection not only on technical questions but also on moral, political, and emotional issues.‘Guiding/directing’, ‘proposing an alternative’ and ‘exploring an alternative’ appeared to be theprincipal interactions. The results may be useful for teachers and trainers who are consideringorganising and/or improving peer meetings.Experienced teachers’ perspectives of curriculum reforms and professional development inmathematicsShirley Yates, Flinders University, AustraliaFailure of curriculum reforms in mathematics is a significant problem worldwide, which hasimplications for classroom teachers and the learning potentials of their students. However, fewstudies have investigated teachers’ perspectives of curriculum reforms in mathematics and theprofessional development (PD) associated with the reforms. The poor history of reform inmathematics has been attributed to a lack of congruence between the intent of curriculuminnovations and teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, beliefs and practises (Cuban, 1993). Althoughteacher PD is seen the panacea of reform efforts (Elmore & Burney, 1997) and integral toimprovements in teacher quality (Borko, 2004), understanding the breadth, depth, and nature ofteachers’ learning experiences remains limited (Scribner, 1999). The present study examined 350experienced elementary and lower secondary South Australian teachers’ perspectives garnered– 720 –