EFL/ESL Students' Perceptions of Distributive, Procedural, and Interactional Justice: The Impact of Positive Teacher-Student Relation

The correlation between teacher-student interpersonal relationships and students' perception of different dimensions of justice using in the learning context has been found absolutely important since it can provide a nice learning environment for students in which they can comfortably learn a new language. Even though several studies have been carried out regarding the above-mentioned points, a review paper that focuses on the importance between these two variables by which students' learning is influenced seems of great interest. In this study, the author has strived hard to highlight the interplay between the aforementioned variables. First of all, Justice and its dimensions including distributive, procedural, and interactional justice are described in the learning context. Then the effect of the positive relationship between teachers and students is accentuated. Following it, different types of characteristics that are crucially noticeable considering teacher-student interpersonal relationship including “teachers care,” “teacher clarity,” “teacher confirmation,” “teacher credibility,” “teacher immediacy,” “teacher stroke,” “teacher-student rapport” are discussed. The term “positive psychology” accompanied by its factors is defined then. What is discussed then is classroom justice as a teacher-student interpersonal factor. Finally, it is concluded with implications and suggestions for future studies.

Orientalism is not my opinion: Decolonial teaching and the problem of credibility in IR courses with a MENA focus

Teaching about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in politics or international studies courses in ‘the West’ is challenging due to the many stereotypes that inform students’ imagination. A common pedagogical purpose is to help students recognise their biases and work through them. This often renders the classroom a controversial place and the teacher suspect of lack of objectivity. The specialised literature points at ‘cognitive dissonance’ as an intervening factor. On occasions, cognitive dissonance leads to harm on teachers’ credibility. This article evaluates the question of credibility in two activities developed in International Relations (IR) undergraduate courses with a MENA focus, where students had to identify the impact of ‘Orientalism’ in the film Argo and in analyses of the ‘Arab Spring’. The article argues that to fully grasp episodes of cognitive dissonance and attending problems of teacher credibility, the disciplinary context in which learners are socialised into needs to be considered – in this case, IR. The article advocates the articulation of a student-centred decolonial teaching pedagogy that renders subjectivity an object of learning and, at the same time, prepares students to understand the potentialities and weaknesses of different IR paradigms.

Developing Teacher Credibility in Urban Environments: A B.E.A.R. Necessity

Teacher credibility is a prerequisite of effective instruction. A credible teacher is honest, knowledgeable, and caring. Credible teachers do the right thing when no one is watching; they are in control of the learning environment, but they do this in an enthusiastic and engaging way. Credibility takes time to develop. This study investigated ways in which urban teachers develop and maintain credibility in their classrooms. Participants were 22 secondary mathematics and science teachers in their first year of teaching. The researcher used the B.E.A.R. framework developed by Riner in 2008 to interpret the results. In this framework, B stands for believability; E stands for expertise; A stands for attractive power, and R stands for relationships. Results show that the participants developed credibility by being believable, by possessing content and pedagogical content knowledge, by being in charge of the classroom in a positive way, and by developing relationships with their students. Credibility is a prerequisite of effective instruction, and, in some cases, it takes time to develop. A credible teacher is honest, knowledgeable, and caring. This study investigated ways in which urban teachers develop and maintain credibility in their classrooms. Participants were 22 secondary mathematics and science teachers in their first year of teaching. Results show that the participants developed credibility by being believable, by possessing content and pedagogical content knowledge, by being in charge of the classroom in a positive way, and by developing relationships with their students.

Exploring Instructor Evaluation, Affective Learning and Teacher Credibility in International Classrooms

In recent years the globalization trend in higher education has continued. This borderless educational world provides students opportunities to select and follow a study programme anywhere in the world. The resulting international classrooms create challenges and opportunities for international study programmes in preparing their diverse student populations for the demands posed by today’s fast-paced (business) environment. The teacher plays a pivotal role in accommodating the increasingly diverse student body and facilitating learning while being mindful of different learning styles, expectations and needs. Whereas initially the consequences of having an international classroom was taken for granted, higher education institutions have increasingly become aware that it involves more than offering the curriculum in English. In this study we explore the linkages between the student diversity, in terms of self-reported nationality, ethnicity and native language, affective learning and teacher credibility in the context of international classrooms. A key objective of this study was to check the reliability of the measurement items and scales for use in research pertaining to international classrooms. For this study, data was collected from 183 students following the International Business programme at an undergraduate level at one of the most international Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The study sample had students from 35 different countries with the Dutch (42%) and German (19%) students constituting the largest group. The sample was divided into two groups: those with the same ethnicity, nationality and native language as the teacher (student-teacher congruence), and those who were different (student-teacher incongruence). The results of this research suggest that the measurement tools for teacher credibility and affective learning are valid, whereas the tool for nonverbal immediacy did not prove reliable. In addition, the theory-driven hypotheses were not supported as no significant difference was found between the scores of affective learning and teacher credibility between the two different groups of students.