Teacher Perceptions of Decision-Making with Aggressive Students: A Multiple Case Study
Open AccessTeacher decision-making has been widely studied; however, teacher decision-making specifically with students who have been identified as aggressive has not. This qualitative case study investigated teacher decision-making with three traditional public-school K-12 teachers through case study methodology. Data were gathered through a semi-structured interview, a stimulated recall interview, journal entries, and an observation. The Listening Guide as well as emotion coding of facial expressions was used in the analysis process. Three themes emerged across the case studies: school context, teachers’ inner landscape, and the student and teacher relationship. In all three cases, the power of the environment had a significant effect on the range and type of decisions teachers were able to make. Levels of autonomy and efficacy (high and low) were also affected. The data showed the importance of positive relationships and suggested that conscious and unconscious internal states influence teachers’ decisions. The data also suggested that high-stakes teacher evaluation systems negatively affect decision-making specifically with this population, possibly due to the reprioritization of goals and teacher stress. Based on these findings, recommendations are offered for policy and practice.
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