CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT DURING TEACHER EDUCATION AND PHASES OF THE CHANGE IN THE EVOLUTION OF VOCATIONAL TEACHERS’ CONVICTIONS

Classroom management is known to be a central issue for teachers, and especially for novice teachers, who claim poor classroom climate. Classroom management is associated with a key competence for experienced teachers, that reveals a necessity for professional development in classroom management. When studying classroom management, it is essential to consider as the convictions as the practices of teachers. A major part of research assumes that convictions are concomitant with practices. Extensive research has been conducted with respect to the practices motivating student engagement and methods to maintain engagement appearance. Research is also aimed at analysis of student-centred and constructivist practices. The position accepted in the present research is rooted in the self-determination theory, socio-cognitive framework, which allocates the following types of practices presented as autonomy support versus control, and structure versus chaos. The survey comprised means of self-reported classroom management practices, general pedagogical convictions, and convictions about motivating students. Confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the relevance and variability of the scales depending on time. We studied intra-class correlations in a baseline variance component model to understand what proportions of the variance to be identified by time-varying features, and what proportion by participant qualities. The present mixed-methods study has a pupose to investigate the ways teachers change, reasons they change, considering the teacher education setting, the university setting, and the teacher’s personal character. The article studies the evolution of 64 vocational teachers’ classroom management as a result of the inputs of a teacher education program, and to clarify the incentives that propel or discourage teacher change. Research comprises axial analyses conducted with the use of a multilevel approach and interviews. This mixed-method study unfolded that vocational teachers’ classroom management evolved into the convictions and practices propelled by the teacher education program. The contradictions in the results of the research regarding the effect of teacher education on classroom management may raise from the feasibility that teacher education is not the only way encouraging teacher change in classroom management. Thus, it is relevant to study a broader prospect regarding other teaching and learning experiences.