The influence of teachers' expectations and teaching behaviour on learners' learning experiences and motivation to learn

Abstract

This dissertation examines the influence of teachers' expectations and teaching behaviour on learners' experiences and motivation to learn, also known as Self-Fulfilling Prophecy or the Pygmalion Effect. Extensive research concerning the influence of teachers' expectations and teaching behaviour (Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Pygmalion Effect) was done in other countries such as Canada and Israel. The fact that research into this phenomenon in South Africa was limited, motivated me to explore the influence of teachers' expectations and teaching behaviour on learners' learning experiences and motivation to learn within the South African educational milieu. The literature study focused on teachers' expectations, teaching behaviour and learnerteacher relationships. "Pygmalion in the Classroom" by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) was the platform from which this research was launched . The literature study focused on various researchers' research and findings concerning SFP and the effect of teachers' teaching behaviour. Most of the researchers came to a similar conclusion, namely that some learners experienced SFP during the teaching and learning process and that teachers' teaching behaviour correlates with their suspected expectancy of the learners' academic abilities. In other words, teachers react and teach according to the information they believe is true about the learners. SFP affects the low achievers more than high achievers. Another aspect that assists in the formation of positive SFP is a good learner-teacher re lationship, and in this research important learner-teacher relationships were explored as a factor contributing to the learners' motivation to learn. The literature study explored the different causes of negative SFP that limit learners' motivation during the teach ing and the learning process. Researchers mention teachers' favouritism as one of the biggest causes of negative SFP. Learners who are already negatively inclined towards school can fall even more behind academically if teachers favour the more apt learners above the less apt learners. Through the literature study the conclusion was reached that a constructive teacher-learner relationship and positive supportive teacher behaviour are vital for learners' motivation to learn . This study further revealed that SFP can be investigated to address differences in classroom atmosphere, culture combinations in the South African context and teachers' attitude towards education. My research only touched on SFP, but more of the perspectives mentioned above can be explored for further studies in the field of SFP in the teaching and learning process. The boundaries of this case study were set in the qualitative case study design with a specific focus on the constructivism-hermeneutical-interpretative paradigm. I conducted this research from a participant's perspective as a teacher currently teaching at an English high school in Middelburg, Mpumalanga. The constructivist-hermeneutical-interpretivist paradigm suited this study because it allowed me to determine a fresh meaning, expand my knowledge and corroborate what is already known about the influence of teachers' expectations and teaching behaviour on learners' motivation to learn. Furthermore, the hermeneutical paradigm was used because I believed that this research could clarify the readers' perspective of the phenomenon being studied, while the interpretative paradigm placed the analyses in the context of the research aims. The interpretative qualitative case study allowed me to gather critical and detailed data that assisted me in reaching the research aims through the semi-structured individual interviews with the learners. Four high schools with different educational backgrounds and learner attendance in Middelburg , Mpumalanga were selected to participate in this research . The schools were. Purposive and convenience sampling methods suited this research because they allowed me to choose learners for a specific purpose, and convenience sampling gave me the opportunity to make use of the learners who were readily available. Eight learners from each school were randomly selected to participate in the semi-structured individual interviews, totalling thirty-two learners in all. The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder and then transcribed into a Word document for each of the learners interviewed. The transcripts were used to analyse the data through a coding process that forms and describes the different themes. Five themes were identified through the coding process of the semi-structured individual interviews. These were identified as teacher expectations; teaching behaviour; learner and teacher relationships; enthused learning and heartbeat teaching. The NWU's ethical requirements were met and they approved this research . The required consent forms were obtained from all the participants in this study, namely the DoE, circuit managers, school principals, parents and learners. The analyses confirmed the following findings: • Learners responded positively to and experienced constructive positive criticism by the teachers as motivational. • Positive teacher expectations inspired and stimulated learners to believe in themselves and to react positively towards the SFP. • Bu ilding trust and respect in the teaching and learning process is crucial for good effective teacher-learner relationships that influence the teaching and learning process and generate positive SFP, thus leading to learner motivation. • Another level of positive SFP that stood out from the analysis was enthused learning . The study confirmed that the learners responded better to teachers who teach with confidence, passion and commitment. • The most surprising result was that high school learners expected from teachers some type of reward for work well done, for example a star or motivational sticker in the exercise book, showing appreciation for good work done. This validates the notion that positive SFP is a tool to enhance learner motivation to learn through the teaching and learning process. • All the findings of this research corroborate the characteristics of heartbeat teaching, namely passionate, enthusiastic, committed and competent teachers inspire learners to learn and form the heart of motivation to learn. • The research highlighted the opposite of heartbeat teaching. I called it suicide teaching. Suicide teaching is characterised by negative, incompetent and critical distant teachers ' teaching behaviour. Learners responded negatively towards the teaching and learning process and would put little effort into the learning process to improve their academic performance in that subject. • Favouritism, passive teachers and unreasonably strict teaching were identified by all learners as unconstructive teaching behaviour.Through the semi-structured individual interviews it was found that teachers tend to favour the learners who are thought to be high achievers, thus - according to the participants - the teachers do not recognise their favouritism towards the high achievers. However it is necessary to clarify that the effect of positive SFP is not always immediately visible during the teaching and learning process, but that positive SFP has the potential to transform and influence the learners' future life. In contrast, the effect of negative SFP is immediately visible during the teaching and learning process and demotivates the learner to perform well in a specific subject. In conclusion , the most essential part of constructive learner motivation is positive teacher expectations and heartbeat teaching