intergenerational learning among teachers petr novotný karla brücknerová
TRANSCRIPT
Intergenerational Learning among Teachers
Petr NovotnýKarla Brücknerová
Qualitative analysis
Questions
• How can intergenerational learning situation be identified?
• Is it possible to find an order in the complexity of intergenerational learning in teaching staff teams?
Methodology• qualitative survey
– Czech primary and secondary schools– several theoretical underpinnings
• a basis for:– description of learning situations– typology of situations of intergenerational learning
Generations in Czech school
• Empirical data allow us to define groups – generations – which perceive themselves as distinct.– (importance of duration and nature of teaching experience)
• The youngest generation (students of teaching, beginner, those, who do not have the full-fledged status of a teacher, „young teachers“)
• The middle generation (experienced teachers)• Older generation (teachers and management mention
their age spontaneously)
Theoretical underpinnings• comprehensive theory of learning by Knut Illeris
(2007, 2010)
• Learning processes described using three main dimensions – content – incentive– interaction
Forms of interaction We have applyed the following categories proposed by Illeris to describe intergenerational learning among teaching staff:
•Perception •Transmission•Experience•Imitation •Participation
Perception
• “Each teacher is watching the other one, very attentively. Those specific situations. There are one million and one hundred fifty of them in school every morning. Some are pretending they look after themselves but it’s not true.”
• The first form of interaction is relatively inconspicuous and, moreover, sometimes only one of the learning participants knows of it.
Transmission
“Once a colleague approached me with the question what methodology she should use to teach kids dividing two-digit numbers, so I told her what I do […] and she said it helped her a lot.”Irena
Transmission: there is at least one active participant who has decided to pass something on to the other.
Experience
Observation:During the teaching staff meeting teachers revisited the breakdown of a pupil during an event involving the whole school. They summarized and reviewed the steps taken to deal with the situation (who and when was calling an ambulance, who, when and how contacted the parents, how the pupils watching the breakdown were approached etc.) and agreed on specific measures to apply to prevent similar situations in the future.
Experience: those situations which include experience (action) in which at least one of the participants is actively involved, followed by its interpretation, analysis or another form of looking back directed at the learner.
Imitation“The teacher … started using centres of activities with the kids. So I basically tested it out this year based on what she told me about it […] I always took a peek during the intermission.”Eliška
With imitation the content of the change is apparent to the learner during the action as such, is being shaped intentionally imitating a specific model.
Participation“And then the teacher, for instance the form teacher, chooses another teacher, even from among the young ones, to be the deputy form teacher. And he or she guides him or her, so that the young teacher learns to communicate with the kids more, like during the adaptation course […].”
Adam, the headmaster
Significantly influenced by the learning participant, and in some instances of participation it may be even difficult to distinguish which of the participants provides the impetus for learning and which is the learning one.
Conclusions
Describing forms of interaction in intergenerational learning among teachers (and the two remaining dimensions of the process of learning – incentive and content) can be used to:
•description of the situations of IGL among teachers,•creating typology of IGL among teachers,•explanation of relations among the individual kinds or forms of contents, incentive, and interactions.
Quantitative analysis
The questionnaire
The questionnaire has been developed based on previous research.
The questionnaire consisted of – general part, the same for all three environments under study (communities, workplace, schools)-specific part addressing specificities of the individual environments.
Closed and open questions, sets of statements
The questionnaire survey including a pilot study was conducted in March – June 2015
Analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics 22 software
Research questions
1. What is the frequencyfrequency of processes of intergenerational learning in the schools under observation?
2. What is the intensityintensity of processes of intergenerational learning in the organizations under observation?
3. What conditionsconditions for intergenerational learning have been set up and how do they hinder or support learning
processes in the organizations under observation?
Research sample
Representation of generations in organization
Frequency PercentAll generations represented equally 142 52,6Majority of younger generation 24 8,9Majority of middle generation 82 30,4Majority of elder generation 22 8,1Total 270
Research sample
Considering herself/himself a member of
Frequency Percent
Younger generation
60 22,1
Middle generation
152 55,9
Elder generation
60 22,1
Total 272
Frequency of learning situations
Between individuals In groups In the organization
Commonly 79,3 63,0 58,4
Exceptionally 19,3 34,1 36,5
Never 1,5 2,9 5,1
N (100 %) 276 273 276
How often do you yourself get involved in knowledge and skill sharing between different generations? (in %)
Frequency of learning situations
Between individuals In groups In the organization
Commonly 74,8 65,4 62,3
Exceptionally 23,7 33,1 34,8
Never 1,5 1,5 2,9
N (100 %) 276 276 276
Assess how often you can see members of different generations in your organization sharing knowledge and skills. (in %)
Some results 1
The quality of relations among employees depends on the generational structure of the workplace.
The quality of relations among staff, in its turn, influences the nature and frequency of forms of intergenerational learning interactions.
Some results 2
The age structure of the team of staff influences the quality of intergenerational relations.
The assessment of relations among teachers belonging to various generations was the most negative in schools where the senior generation prevails.
The presence of various generations in a single staff office is the best environment for intergenerational learning.
Some results 3
Among the important results of the research is uncovering the relationship between the position of a teacher in the generational structure of the staff and his/her involvement in various forms of intergenerational learning interactions.
Frequency of participation by generation
How often do you yourself get involved in knowledge and skill sharing between different generations? (between individuals)
1 = Commonly2 = Exceptionally3= Never
Frequency of participation by generation
How often do you yourself get involved in knowledge and skill sharing between different generations? (in groups)
1 = Commonly2 = Exceptionally3= Never
Frequency of participation by generation
How often do you yourself get involved in knowledge and skill sharing between different generations? (in the whole school)
1 = Commonly2 = Exceptionally3= Never
Frequency of type of interaction by generation
How often do you yourself get involved in knowledge and skill sharing between different generations? (in the whole school)
1 = Commonly2 = Exceptionally3= Never
Perception
Scale:1 = during each encounter2 = now and then3 = hardly any time4 = never
Frequency of type of interaction by generation
Frequency of type of interaction by generation
Transmition
Frequency of type of interaction by generation
Experience
Frequency of type of interaction by generation
Imitation
Frequency of type of interaction by generation
Participation
Conclusions 1
The results of analysis we obtained certainly cannot be regarded as an empirical confirmation of the concept proposed by Illeris.
The research tool used by us has been a product of a strongly reductionist operationalization, with each form of interaction being represented by two statements only.
Despite this fact, the results at least show that the concept of forms of interaction is worth continuing working with.
Conclusions 2
Different forms of interaction may be of varying significance in various stages of professional career. The frequency of occurrence of some forms of interaction tends to decrease during one’s life while the frequency of others may increase.
Last but not least, we believe that this stage of analysis of results of the questionnaire survey suggests what potential certain recommendations concerning the generational structure of the staff and intergenerational learning may have.
References
Bergman, M. M. (2008). Advances in mixed methods research. London: SAGE. Creswell, J. V., & Clark, V. P. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. London: SAGE. Illeris, K. (2007). How we learn: Learning and non-learning in school and beyond. New York: Routledge. Novotný, P. (2009). Učení pro pracoviště. Prostor pro uplatnění konceptu workplace learning v českém prostředí. [Learning for workplace: Scope for the applying the concept of workplace learning in Czech context.] Brno: Masaryk University. Patterson, C. (2007). The impact of generational diversity in the workplace. The Diversity Factor, 15(3), 17–22. Tempest, S. (2003). Intergenerational learning: A reciprocal knowledge development process that challenges the language of learning. Management Learning, 34(2), 181–200. Verbiest, E. (2011). Developing professional learning communities. Paper presented at the AERA conference, New Orleans, USA.