Naslov
Case study of positive attitude towards teaching in higher education: the „issue“ of generalization

Autori
Miočić, Ivana

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
ATEE-EDITE-ELTE Online Conference - Research In Teacher Education: The Next Generation

Mjesto i datum
Online Conference, 11.06.2021

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
case study ; generalization ; higher education ; professional socialization

Sažetak
The purpose of this paper is to present the methodological considerations of the qualitative case study that deals with the development of junior researchers' positive attitude towards teaching in higher education, during their professional socialization. The process of socialization in the academic profession is much longer and more complex than in other professional fields (Höhle and Teichler, 2013), so therefore it presents an interesting research phenomenon. It is a process of adapting to norms and rules in a certain professional environment as well as gaining values, attitudes, skills, and behaviours related to “surviving” in academia and establishing a personal status in academia (Schein, 1971 ; Tierney, 1988 ; Hakala, 2009). The main goal of this study was to look deeply at junior researchers' professional socialization (at a personal/micro level, institutional/meso level and disciplinary/macro level) in order to understand how it contributed to the development of a positive attitude towards teaching. Four dimensions of a positive attitude towards teaching are recognized in their professional experience (emotional dimension, dimension of professional development ; dimension of a constructivist approach to learning and teaching ; dimension of teaching and research nexus). The case study selected five women – junior researchers – employed in various institutions and disciplines in the Croatian higher education system. The decision to choose these five cases was based on the “maximum benefit” criterion, which means that the selected cases are rich in information about the phenomenon under investigation (Flyvbjerg, 2006). For the purpose of this study, various qualitative data sources (e.g. interviews, documentation, etc.) were collected and analyzed. After the cases were analyzed individually, a cross-case analysis of the data was made to understand the key findings that are largely common to all five cases. Among the many methodological considerations that marked this research, one of the most important was the “question” of how to generalize research results, because there is a myth that generalization in a case study is not possible and therefore case studies cannot contribute to scientific development (Flyvberg, 2006). This case study was guided by the idea of naturalistic generalization and phronetic research approach (e.g. Stake, 1995 ; Thomas and Myers, 2015 ; Flyvbjerg, Landman and Schram, 2012). It means that characteristics of professional socialization and their impact on the development of a positive attitude towards teaching can be recognized (transferred) in some other higher education contexts, other disciplines, or other cases of academic workers or teachers, and not just to those who participated in this research. The researcher should aim to illustrate cases deeply and in detail so the readers can recognize, reasonably understand and transfer those experiences into their own context.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Pedagogija

Napomena
This work has been fully supported by the
University of Rijeka (project number uniri-drustv-
18-19).

POVEZANOST RADA