Relationship between teacher pedagogy and practice serving the individual learner in a diverse school community /

by Kilgore, Jenny.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER PEDAGOGY AND PRACTICE: SERVING THE INDIVIDUAL LEARNER IN A DIVERSE SCHOOL COMMUNITY By Jenny Kilgore A report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (2000) regarding the effectiveness of different aspects of ‘school’ on student learning found that although much research has been conducted to identify a relationship between resources and student achievement, very little has been done to identify a link between teacher pedagogy and student learning. This study, using one hundred twenty four middle school teachers, developed a twenty item, four-point Likert survey. The survey assesses respondent disposition and preferences for utilizing traditional and inclusive teaching pedagogy. Each respondent receives a traditional and an inclusive score. The higher of the two scores is assumed to be the respondents strongest pedagogical preference. Observations of twenty respondents’ teaching practices and informal interviews provide information concerning the teachers’ understanding of a relationship between their perceived and enacted pedagogical practice and provide observational validity for the instrument. The findings of this study will benefit the education community by providing a better understanding of the relationship linking teacher pedagogy and its classroom enactment, a means for pedagological teacher self-evaluation, and a better understanding of a teaching-learning classroom environment.