The Effects of Implementing Clinical Supervision Model on Supervisors’ Teaching Perspectives and Qualifications: A Case Study in an EFL Context

This study set out to determine the possible impacts of implementing the Clinical Supervision Model (CSM) on supervisors’ philosophy of teaching, in both theory and practice. In order to gather the required data, two highly experienced supervisors were recruited according to the degree of homogeneity of the educational context in which they were working. By applying qualitative case study design, the required data were collected by conducting two distinct phases of classroom observations, accompanied by semistructured interviews. Considering the nature of the investigation, it was decided to employ the Transcendental Phenomenology (TPh) approach to analyze the data in order to determine the supervisors’ accurate perceptions and lived experiences regarding the nature of taking on a supervisory role and the effects of implementing CSM on their teaching career. The empirical findings in this investigation provided a new understanding of the probable effects of implementing CSM on supervisors’ general attitudes towards both teaching and supervisory careers. The results of the study indicated that CSM can be potentially effective in encouraging critical thinking, providing more constructive feedback in postobservation meetings, and improving the teaching quality of both teachers and supervisors.

Development of a Questionnaire To Measure Teachers’ Student-Centred Perspectives Based On The Onion Model

Background Teachers with a teacher-centred perspective have difficulties applying student-centred approaches in Problem Based Learning (PBL) because they are inclined to show teacher-centred behaviours. The six aspects explained in Korthagen’s Onion Model (environment, behaviour, competencies, beliefs, identity, and mission) are assumed to contribute to teachers’ perspectives, showing that both the environment and personal characteristics influence behaviours. For teachers to function properly in PBL, those six aspects should reflect a student-centred perspective. Previous instruments to measure teaching perspectives focused on only a few of these relevant aspects. Therefore, we developed the Student-Centred Perspective of Teachers (SCPT) questionnaire with subscales for each aspect in the Onion Model. This study aimed to provide evidence for its internal and external validity. Methods The SCPT was distributed in a survey to 795 teachers from 20 medical schools. For the internal validation, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed to analyse theoretical fit model validation, convergent validation, and discriminant validation. For the external validation, teachers’ perspective scores were compared among three groups of amount of PBL training using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Least Significant Difference (LSD) tests. The p-value for all tests was set at .05. Results A total of 543 out of 795 teachers (68.3%) participated. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed the evidence of the SCPT’s internal validation with acceptable fit for the six subscales measured by 19 items and the following Composite Reliability scores: environment (.72), behaviour (.74), competencies (.63), beliefs (.55), identity (.76), and mission (.60). All items’ factors loadings reached a good standard (.5 or greater). Only the environment subscale had the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) score higher than .5 and the Maximum Shared Variance score lower than the AVE score. ANOVA and Post-hoc LSD tests showed that teachers who participated in more PBL training showed significantly higher student-centred perspectives, providing evidence for external validity. Conclusion The SCPT is a reliable and valid instrument to measure teaching perspectives. Identifying aspects that do not represent the adoption of a student-centred perspective may provide valuable input for faculty development in the context of PBL.

Strumenti e dispositivi di analisi e valorizzazione della professionalità docente in Università

Il contributo presenta tre strumenti progettati e messi a disposizione con finalità e funzioni diverse per valorizzare la professionalità docente.1) L'indagine "Didattica e Insegnamento in Università" (Felisatti & Serbati, 2017; Felisatti & Clerici, 2020) si è proposta di sviluppare e sperimentare a livello nazionale un protocollo di rilevazione che, integrando dati "oggettivi", disponibili negli archivi amministrativi delle Università partecipanti, con dati "soggettivi", direttamente rilevati presso i docenti attraverso una survey di tipo Cawi, delineasse un quadro delle pratiche didattiche in uso e definisse una classificazione di expertise, bisogni e interesse rispetto alle attività di insegnamento svolte nelle aule universitarie.2) Il Teaching Perspectives Inventory (Pratt et al., 1998; Pratt & Collins, 2000) è un questionario self-reported validato che permette di rilevare le prospettive di insegnamento; lo strumento ha l'obiettivo di promuovere una riflessione personale e/o collettiva sulle proprie prospettive di insegnamento e sul loro equilibrio o sulle eventuali differenze, identificando possibili inconsistenze interne (tra credenze, intenzioni e azioni) ed esterne, tra le prospettive.3) Il Teaching Practices Inventory (Wieman & Gilbert, 2014) è uno strumento self-reported ampiamente testato, costruito per mappare le pratiche che caratterizzano la didattica, indagando le metodologie adottate dai docenti nell'attività di insegnamento, attraverso una lista di quelle rinvenute in letteratura. Il questionario offre utili informazioni per comparare diverse azioni didattiche compiute dai docenti in diversi contesti e per un confronto e un apprendimento reciproco tra colleghi.