Lammassaari Heidi, Hietajärvi Lauri, Salmela-Aro Katariina, Hakkarainen Kai, Lonka Kirsti
Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa.
Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 25;13:861437. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.861437. eCollection 2022.
Current educational reforms concerning curricula and digitalization challenge educators to meet new demands for learning and schooling. What is common for current educational reforms is that they tend to emphasize competencies that are not related to the traditional subject-matters and reflect a stance which presents learning as a naturally reflective and collaborative act. It is often assumed that teachers are automatically ready to implement ideas of this kind in practice. In this study, we propose that teachers' theories about knowledge, knowing and learning, particularly their epistemic theories, may be related to how teachers approach these reforms which challenge their previous ways of working and how they perceive their wellbeing at work. To examine these matters, we explored the dynamic interrelations between teachers' epistemic theories, conformity with the novel curricular and digital reforms (ideas behind the new curriculum and digitalization program), perceptions of the school leadership, work engagement and burnout. Participants (Study 1 = 228; Study 2 = 200) were Finnish class teachers and subject-matter teachers. Both data sets were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic. For data analysis, we plotted correlation network figures. Results showed that if teachers' epistemic theory was in harmony with the curricular or digital reforms, there is a positive association with work engagement and negative association with burnout. In sum, results of this provided a hint of the phenomenon suggesting that teachers' epistemic theories may be a factor which buffers teachers to meet the current epistemic and developmental challenges of teachers' profession, and furthermore, serve as grounds for a positive association for teachers to feel adequate and satisfied in their work.
当前有关课程和数字化的教育改革对教育工作者提出了挑战，要求他们满足学习和学校教育的新需求。当前教育改革的共同之处在于，它们倾向于强调与传统学科无关的能力，反映出一种将学习视为自然的反思性和协作性活动的立场。人们常常认为教师会自动准备好在实践中实施这类理念。在本研究中，我们提出教师关于知识、认知和学习的理论，尤其是他们的认知理论，可能与教师应对这些挑战其以往工作方式的改革的方式以及他们对工作幸福感的认知有关。为了研究这些问题，我们探讨了教师认知理论、与新的课程和数字化改革（新课程和数字化计划背后的理念）的契合度、对学校领导的认知、工作投入度和职业倦怠之间的动态相互关系。参与者（研究1 = 228人；研究2 = 200人）为芬兰的班主任和学科教师。两组数据均在新冠疫情之前收集。对于数据分析，我们绘制了相关网络图表。结果表明，如果教师的认知理论与课程或数字化改革相契合，那么与工作投入呈正相关，与职业倦怠呈负相关。总之，本研究结果暗示了这样一种现象，即教师的认知理论可能是一个因素，它能缓冲教师应对当前教师职业的认知和发展挑战，此外，还能成为教师在工作中感到胜任和满意的积极关联的基础。
