TY - JOUR
T1 - Writing knowledge, practices, efficacy, interests, attitudes, and beliefs of deaf education teachers
T2 - a randomized controlled trial
AU - Wolbers, Kimberly
AU - Dostal, Hannah
AU - Graham, Steve
AU - Branum-Martin, Lee
AU - Allen, Thomas
AU - Holcomb, Leala
AU - Saulsburry, Rachel
N1 - Funding Information:
The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R324A170086 to the University of Tennessee. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Wolbers, Dostal, Graham, Branum-Martin, Allen, Holcomb and Saulsburry.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Writing teachers play an extraordinarily important role in their students’ writing development. Teachers’ motivational beliefs, such as attitudes toward writing, perceptions of their efficacy to teach writing, or preparation to use evidence-based instructional practices, impact their writing instruction, which directly affects the advancement of students’ writing skills. Deaf writers are a subpopulation of writers who may face discriminatory beliefs toward their writing development stemming from ableism, audism, or linguicism. Deaf education teachers may doubt their abilities to teach bilingual/multilingual students or teach deaf students experiencing language deprivation. The current study investigates whether deaf education teachers’ beliefs can be fostered through an intensive one-year professional development (PD) program designed specifically for deaf education teachers. In this randomized controlled trial, we examine the extent to which the participation of deaf education teachers in specialized PD and subsequent writing instruction implementation (n = 26) impacts their pedagogical content knowledge, use of evidence-based practices for teaching writing, interest, attitudes, efficacy in teaching writing, and epistemological beliefs about writing compared to teachers in a business as usual condition (n = 24). Pre-post regression analyses indicate statistically significant group differences (with the treatment group scoring higher) on all variables except attitude and some epistemological beliefs. We speculate that specialized, sustained PD paired with supported implementation of writing instruction and ongoing teacher reflection are contributing factors to changes in teachers’ motivational beliefs.
AB - Writing teachers play an extraordinarily important role in their students’ writing development. Teachers’ motivational beliefs, such as attitudes toward writing, perceptions of their efficacy to teach writing, or preparation to use evidence-based instructional practices, impact their writing instruction, which directly affects the advancement of students’ writing skills. Deaf writers are a subpopulation of writers who may face discriminatory beliefs toward their writing development stemming from ableism, audism, or linguicism. Deaf education teachers may doubt their abilities to teach bilingual/multilingual students or teach deaf students experiencing language deprivation. The current study investigates whether deaf education teachers’ beliefs can be fostered through an intensive one-year professional development (PD) program designed specifically for deaf education teachers. In this randomized controlled trial, we examine the extent to which the participation of deaf education teachers in specialized PD and subsequent writing instruction implementation (n = 26) impacts their pedagogical content knowledge, use of evidence-based practices for teaching writing, interest, attitudes, efficacy in teaching writing, and epistemological beliefs about writing compared to teachers in a business as usual condition (n = 24). Pre-post regression analyses indicate statistically significant group differences (with the treatment group scoring higher) on all variables except attitude and some epistemological beliefs. We speculate that specialized, sustained PD paired with supported implementation of writing instruction and ongoing teacher reflection are contributing factors to changes in teachers’ motivational beliefs.
KW - deaf education
KW - efficacy
KW - instructional practices
KW - professional development
KW - teacher beliefs
KW - writing instruction
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U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1214246
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1214246
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165495876
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 14
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 1214246
ER -