STELIOS ORPHANOS FREDERICK UNIVERSITY CYPRUS

CCEAM CONFERENCE 2012Principal-teachers relationships and their influence on teachers’instructional practices4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. CyprusSTELIOS ORPHANOSFREDERICK UNIVERSITYCYPRUS1

1. Introduction to the topic of the study2. Synopsis of past research, research questions3. Data and methodology4. Results5. Conclusions4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus2

School principals have detectable effects on school/student outcomes andthese effects are mediated by school/classroom factors well (Robinsonet al., 2008; Leithwood et al., 2004; Hallinger and Heck, 1998; Waters etal., 2003).Emphasis on specific leadership practices and activities (Leithwood & Sun,2012; Supovitz et al.,2010).Therefore in this study we are looking at how ….4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 3

TRUST: Within the last 15-20 years, appears as a significant predictor ofschool improvement efforts.4:57 PMpre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus4

Through SER and TER we know that certain teaching practices have positiveimpact on student outcomes such as ……stating clear instructional goalsOpportunity to learnExpectations for successFeedbackAcademic stress, higher order learningLearning environments connected to authentic and real-life contextsDifferentiation due to students’ differences in interests and learning stylesSo , how are teaching practices related to relationships among schoolpersonnel?4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 6

Stoll et al, 2006: Teacher collaboration positively affects teachers’professional learning and improve teaching practices.Price, 2012: Principals’ relationships with teachers positively affect teachersatisfaction and commitmentSupovitz, 2010: Principal leadership and teacher peer influence positivelyimpact teachers’ instructional practices and student learningWahlstrom & Louis, 2008 : Principals’ support and teachers’ professionalrelationships positively affect teachers’ practices.(Thoonen et al , 2012: Efficacy the most important motivation factor forexplaining teachers’ professional learning and teaching practices)4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 7

Teachers’professionalefficacyTrust betweenPrincipal andteachersUse of effectiveteachingpracticesRelationshipsbetween teachers4:57 PMpre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus8

Cyprus’ educational context•In Primary Education: approx 50000 students and 4500 teachers employed.•Centralized ed. System – all major decisions originate at the MoE•Little autonomy resides at schools or school principals.•Half of elementary schools are considered to be small schools (serving under100 students).4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 9

Population:The population of the study includesall full-time teachers who wereemployed in the Limassol Districtduring the school year 2011-12(approximately 950 teachers).Half of the district’s schools wererandomly selected forparticipating in the study.Surveys mailed to schools andcompleted by teachers and sentback to researcher. Surveys wereadministered from February 2012through April 2012.Sample :The final sample consists of 236teachers who returned a fullycompleted survey for a responserate of 54%.Sample descriptive stats:73% female26% with a Masters or a doctorate,21% had less than 5 years ofprofessional experience11% had more than 20 years ofprofessional experience4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 10

Data: Teacher survey developed for the purposes of the study. Contains itemsfrom established instruments such as the Learning from Leadership project.Latent variables constructed (via CFA):Latent Variable Description Items1 Effective teaching practices(Wahlstrom & Louis, 2008)2 Teachers’ focus and flow oflesson (Wahlstrom & Louis,2008)FREQUENCY OF USE: Exploration, reallifeproblems, interests, differentiationDESCRIPTIONS OF TEACHING: Pace, nodisruptions, higher-order learning3 Trust Principals- Teachers Discussions, trust, innovation, Buildssustainsculture, collaboration, sharedleadership4 Relationships betweenTeachersProfessionalism, exchange of ideas,observations, feedback5 Professional Efficacy Ability to impact student outcomes 44:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 114468

CFA resultsFactor Loadings CR* AVE**1 Effective teaching practices .59-.77 .79 .582 Teacher Focus- Flow of lesson .65-.78 .84 .663 Trust Principals- Teachers .79-.89 .95 .754 Relationships between Teachers .72-.86 .88 .715 Professional Efficacy .82-.89 .96 .77*CR: Composite Reliability**AVE : Average Variance Extracted4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 12

Analysis:The links between the study variables mentioned in the theoreticalframework were analyzed with structural equation modeling techniques.Measurement error into considerationestimation of simultaneous effects between the study variables.4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 13

Effects of principals’ trust and support, teachers’ professional relationships andefficacy on use of effective teaching practices (while controlling forpersonal/professional characteristics):Trust betweenPrincipal andteachersTeachers’professionalefficacy.07*.16**Use of effectiveteachingpractices.03Relationshipsbetween teachers.18**4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 14

Effects of principals’ trust and support, teachers’ professional relationships andefficacy on teachers’ flow of lesson (while controlling for personal/professionalcharacteristics):Trust betweenPrincipal andteachersTeachers’professionalefficacy.06*.18**Teachers’ focusand lesson flow.03Relationshipsbetween teachers.19**4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 15

Limitations whileconsidering theconclusions to bepresented:1. Survey data not perfectindications of actual behavior(esp. for reported use of teachingpractices)2. Perceptions of teachersregarding their principal andtheir accompanied measurementerror3. Somewhat problematicrepresentation of teachingpractices latent variables (lowAVE)4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 16

Role of trust somewhat limited (disagreement with general researchresults, in agreement with Wahlstrom & Louis,2008), perhaps works in adifferent way and not directly on teaching practices or teachers’relationships.Professional relationships among teachers strongly influences teachers’practices – need to consider how to better promote these relationships .Efficacy is a strong influence on teaching practices (agreement withThoonen, 2012)4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 17

Two areas of future research:1. How do the main variables of the study (relationships among the schoolpersonnel, trust, collaboration) may be associated with studentoutcomes (achievement data) via teaching practices2. Observational and interview data in order to better understand howprincipals affect relationships in schools.4:57 PM pre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus 18

CCEAM CONFERENCE 2012Principal-teachers relationships and their influence on teachers’instructional practicesThank you for your attention!STELIOS ORPHANOSFREDERICK UNIVERSITYEmail:pre.os@fit.ac.cy4:57 PMpre.os@fit.ac.cy Stelios Orphanos / Frederick Univ. Cyprus19