Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Montana instructional coaches receiving resources and support to increase effectiveness(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2021) Flamm, Devon Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ann EwbankMany school districts rely on instructional coaches to improve teaching to increase student learning. Using survey and interview data from Montana schools that received government funding, this mixed-methods analysis sought to find a link between providing resources and support to instructional coaches and increased school improvement. The research was conducted at 58 schools within 21 school districts in Montana. The majority of the schools were rural, and most were on or near Indian Reservations. Coaches who were able to build relationships with their principal and teachers, provide and have impact on teacher pedagogy, along with having an understanding and being part of the data analysis process had a greater impact on their school showing a greater growth in school improvement through a Needs Assessment. Schools can increase the effectiveness of a coaching program by understanding how coaching is a fundamental part of making instructional improvements within classrooms.Item How part-time untrained teachers of adults learn to be effective teachers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1996) Waring, SuzanneIn most communities adult education opportunities are available through local universities or colleges, community colleges, or public school adult education programs. In addition, business and industry, labor unions, government, park and recreation departments, museums, health care facilities, and libraries, to name a few, provide courses and training. Like no other time in history, adults are interested in lifelong learning and make use of these institutions and agencies for providing learning opportunities. As a result, many teachers of adults are needed. Teachers of adults are knowledgeable in their subject field; therefore, that requirement has often been the sole criterion for an agency to hire a particular individual - often without a job interview. Furthermore, many individuals who teach for those agencies and institutions are untrained as teachers of adults. Nevertheless, many of them become effective teachers. The purpose of this qualitative research, using the case study approach, was to discover how untrained, part-time teachers learn to become effective teachers. The data were gathered by surveying the supervisors and students of effective teachers and by surveying and interviewing the effective teachers themselves. First, it was determined that the characteristics and practices encouraged by the adult education field were the same as those stressed by not only the students of these effective teachers, but also the effective teachers themselves. Jointly, the teachers and students spoke of enthusiasm for teaching and for the subject, respect/concern for the students, and patience as outstanding teacher characteristics. The effective teachers displayed a self-assurance that provided a foundation for the outstanding characteristics and practices they utilized as they went about their teaching responsibilities Effective teachers in this study often reflected on their teaching. They thought about their own effective teachers from high school and college and attempted to model after them They reflected on their own experiences in the classroom to determine what techniques or procedures were or were not effective for providing adults with worthwhile learning experiences. This ability to reflect on their own experiences as students and to think and react to their own teaching may be a key to these teachers’ effectiveness.Item Great teachers on teaching adults : comparison of philosophy and practice from antiquity to the present(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1997) Covington, Marsha ElaineItem Determining teachers' perceptions of self empowerment through professional development facilitated by asynchronous distance delivery instruction in classroom-based action research(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2002) Graves, Carl JohnstonItem Baleiichiwee (the story of understanding) : the conscientization processes of effective teachers of American Indian students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2012) Doyle, Megkian Aliisa; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jayne DowneyThe success of all students is an intimate concern for all good teachers and those who engage daily with America Indian students have a vested interest in identifying what works in their unique contexts, in spite of the difficult circumstances presented on American Indian reservations in Montana. Engaging in education that is effective is a concern that has many levels of complexity, but this study focuses on community perspectives on effective teaching and on the teacher and his/her conscientization process as two of the essential pieces to this puzzle. Qualitative focus group data was used to construct a list of characteristics/qualities grounded in community values and a list of effective teachers was compiled through "community nomination". A collective case study gathered the living educational theories and teaching philosophies of six nominated teachers, compared these to the community-determined characteristics/qualities, and examined elements of each teacher's life history that played a role in developing and informing each effective teacher's pedagogy. It was determined that conscientization played a significant role in molding effective pedagogy, and social intelligence provided the precursory relationships that allowed teachers to effectively teach students according to a responsive pedagogy in the optimal zone of cognitive efficiency. A new model for adaptive teaching in cross-cultural contexts was proposed as were suggestions for further study.