17 - Collective Teacher Efficacy & Credibility with Students - The 4 types of Teachers

The Teacher's Guide Podcast

A few weeks ago I attended an online conference about visible learning and other teaching strategies.
I particularly enjoyed a presentation by American based Educator Douglas Fisher. Along with Nancy Frey, Douglas has done research about many aspects of teaching, but what caught my attention was this idea of Collective teacher efficacy & credibility among colleagues & students.
On this scale, there are 4 types of teachers There’s the teacher we’ll call the ‘amplifier’, who has high levels of teacher efficacy, and very high credibility with students. This is the teacher that we all should strive to be. We’ll dig deep into that one last. So that’s the ‘amplifier’.
At the other end of the spectrum we have a teacher with low collective teacher efficacy and low credibility with students and. I’ve nicknamed this teacher the ‘burning out’ teacher.
In the middle there’s the ‘talker’. Now the ‘talker’ has very high levels of collective teacher efficacy, but actually has quite a low level of credibility with students.
Then there’s the independent contractor. This teacher is fantastic in the classroom, has very high levels of credibility with students. Buuuuut, they don’t really engage with their colleagues, have a negative view of the school, and keep their resources to themselves.
The amplifier is the teacher that we should all aspire to be.
This teacher has a high level of collective teacher efficacy and very high credibility with students. This teacher is Perceived as competent, trustworthy, dynamic, caring and accessible by colleagues & students. They are Professionally generous with colleagues & Seek to learn from them.
The amplifier also teacher Has an optimistic view of students, colleagues & the school.
So you wouldn’t find the amplifier complaining about management, or whinging about this student and that students in the staff room. They would radiate positivity with all the encounter in the school. And deal with grievances or concerns in a professional way.
And the part from Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey’s work that I love the most, is how they note that when it comes to a teacher who is an amplifier, Students & colleagues reach their potential because of this person.
Students & colleagues reach their potential because of this person.
So the question for all of us is: Are my students, and my colleagues, reaching their potential because of my presence in our learning community.
Am I bringing out the best in my students?
And am I actively working to contribute positively to the work of my colleagues, and am I allowing them to reach their full potential.
More videos about this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSINhoh5b4c
This episode of The Teacher's Guide Podcast is perfect for beginner teachers, aspiring teachers, prac teachers, uni students, experienced teachers, primary teachers, high school teachers and more!
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