AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
the questionnaire is saturated by 8 items. The selected diagnostic
instrument was adapted to our conditions of primary education.
We used quantitative and qualitative methods to process data.
The questionnaire was evaluated through mathematical-
statistical methods. The new data, acquired through the above
methods, are analysed and processed with qualitative methods of
logical operations and procedures: deduction, induction,
analysis, synthesis, analogy, comparison.
Statistically, the data were processed by the software IBM SPSS
ver. 21. For their description, methods of descriptive statistics
were used: number, mean, standard deviation, standard error of
the mean, and percentages. Before the application of inferential
methods, the normality of data distribution was being detected.
Based on Shapiro-Wilk test, it was found out that the data are
distributed normally, and for further analyses parametric tests
were opted for: the Pearson correlation coefficient and Student´s
t-test.
4 Analysis and interpretation of research findings
The theoretical analysis not only allowed several views of a
teacher´s teaching style, which can be understood as certain
applied didactic procedures and preferred attitudes and opinions
on teaching, but also pointed to many factors which may
significantly determine individual didactic procedures, attitudes
and opinions of teachers. Our aim was thus to explore the extent
of the influence of selected factors on the teaching styles of
primary school teachers. We searched for an answer to the
research question: What is the measure of the influence of
selected factors on the teaching styles of primary school
teachers? Individual selected factors were put into five proposed
groups, given in the theoretical part. The following part will
present exploration of the factors related to the pedagogical and
personal history of the teacher. Table 1 presents factors related
to the pedagogical and personal history of teachers and the
measure of their influence on preferred teaching styles.
Tab. 1: Factors related to pedagogical and personal history of
primary school teachers and a measure of their influence on
preferred teaching styles
Variables
N
M
SD
SEM
6. The knowledge I have in individual
subjects.
404
5.70
0.091
1.831
8. The way I prefer and apply in learning,
i.e. my learning style.
404
5.64
0.108
2.180
7. The history of participation in further
education and self-study as forms of self-
education.
404
5.32
0.113
2.269
3. Knowledge and skills in a given field
(which I acquired the preparation for
profession both at theoretical as well as
practical level).
404
5.28
0.102
2.054
4. The experience I acquired in the
position of a beginner teacher.
404
4.82
0.107
2.145
1. Style of upbringing in the family (in
which I was brought up and educated).
404
4.18
0.117
2.355
2. My experience from the teaching of my
teachers (their teaching style, or the way
in which I was taught).
404
4.15
0.108
2.172
5. The success I experienced as a
pupil/student, or learner.
404
3.68
0.105
2.101
Key: N – number; M – mean; SD – standard deviation; SEM – standard
error of the mean.
Table 1 results show that average figures range from 3.68 to
5.70. They indicate that the factors whose influence on teaching
styles was marked by teachers as most significant are related to
their knowledge (items 3, 6, 7), and, consequently, to a way they
prefer in learning, i.e. their learning style (item 8). A slightly
lesser measure of influence on teaching styles was recorded in
item 4 (the experience I acquired in the position of a beginner
teacher), while least influential were factors involving some
retrospective influence on the teachers´ teaching style (items 1,
2, 5). A detailed look at the factors with highest value points to
their mutual relation. The highest level of influence was
identified with the knowledge from individual subjects
(M=5.70), the knowledge and skills in a given field (M=5.28),
and a great significance was given by teachers to the
participation in further education and self-study (M=5.32). It
may be stated that the acquired high scores in these items gives a
clear picture of the fact that pedagogical knowledge and skills
are the most influenceable layers of teachers´ teaching styles.
The group of factors with the highest score also includes the
teacher´s preferred way of his/her own learning, i. e. his/her
learning style (M=5.64). The results indicate that what
procedures teachers use in their own learning may significantly
influence the procedures applied in their teaching. In this
context, it is important to compare and consequently modify
one´s own teaching style with pupils´ learning styles. Some kind
of harmonisation, or respect of pupils´ learning styles, may
significantly increase the teacher´s role in the successful learning
of his/her pupils. Somewhat lower figures were recorded with
the factor experience acquired in the position of a beginning
teacher (M=4.82). It may be inferred that teachers give great
significance to the experience acquired in the position of a
beginning teacher. This experience may thus have significant
influence on their teaching style. Therefore, it is assumed that a
teacher´s teaching style at the beginning of his/her teaching
career may be quite different from the teaching style applied
with the increasing length of his/her pedagogical practice. I.
Turek (2014) claims that it is the beginner teachers for whom a
nondescript teaching style is typical. At the beginning of their
profession teachers as if they were looking for themselves,
applying teaching styles depending on the situation (especially
on the attitudes of pupils), once trying to be authoritative,
another time liberal or democratic. It is important to draw
attention also to the factors with the lowest figures in the
monitored group (items 1, 2, 5). They may be characterised as
the factors involving a kind of retrospective influence on a
teacher´s teaching style, namely style of family upbringing (in
which the teacher was brought up and educated); experience
from his/her teachers (or their teaching style) and success the
teachers experienced as pupils/students, or as learners. These
factors may be considered to have direct influence on teaching
styles, but, in comparison with the above-mentioned ones,
teachers attribute a lower measure of impact to them.
Based on the analysis and interpretation of research findings, it
may be stated that the hypothesis assuming that teaching styles
are most significantly influenced by the way teachers prefer and
apply in their learning, i.e. their learning style, has not been
proved.
May authors agree with the idea that teachers pay only very little
attention to the evaluation of educational process, its conditions
or overall performance. A greater attention is paid to the
acquisition of a set of key competences for successful
performance of the teaching profession. Attention is focused on
teachers´ use of a wide spectrum of activating methods, modern
technology, various alternative conceptions of teaching, and
many other approaches of making educational process more
effective. However, the real way of the effective performance of
teaching profession does not lie in the application of ever new
and modern approaches. What is important is that teachers
reflect their strategies, procedures, theories, opinions, attitudes
and convictions. But individual strategies, procedures, preferred
attitudes and opinions may be influenced by various factors. The
aim of this part of our research was to analyse teaching styles in
a broader contextual framework of factors determining them. We
were searching for an answer to the following research question:
Which factors influence teachers´ individual teaching styles?
The previous part of the research brought relevant findings on
the factors which are related with pedagogical and personal
history of teachers and influence, to various extent, the teaching
styles applied by teachers at primary level of education. A more
detailed analysis is focused on the relation between individual
teaching styles and the selected factors which influence them.
The findings are given in Table 2.
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