The mediating role of school culture on the relationship between effective school components and the quality of lesson study among primary school teachers

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Master of Curriculum Planning. Tabriz University. Tabriz. Iran

2 Faculty member of Tabriz University. Tabriz. Iran

3 PhD student in Higher Education Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Carrying out serious educational reforms in the new millennium is one of the common processes, which is led by the development of teachers' professions. In this context, teachers need knowledge to change and make better and more effective decisions. Part of this knowledge is acquired through research, which is one of the ways to strengthen education and training, spread research culture and encourage teachers to participate in research. This method is known as the most effective teacher professional development program. Research in the field of education has different levels, some of which are dedicated to teacher-centered research methods. Lesson Study is one of these research approaches for the development of teachers' professions and is a kind of school-based career development that includes an action cycle in which a group of teachers work together with a group of students. This approach is a research circle in which teachers research and collaborate on curriculum topics in groups. Despite the great emphasis of the educational system on the use of lesson study, studies indicate its lack of acceptance and low application in the educational system; This lack of acceptance is more evident when most of the activities performed in the field of lesson study in our country's educational system are based on cop out and are not in line with the standards of lesson study and do not have the necessary quality. A review of the research background also showed that no research has been conducted to investigate the mediating role of school culture in the relationship between effective school and the quality of lesson study, and it is expected that the results of the present study will be used by officials, school principals, teachers and researchers. This area should be used to increase the quality of research by using the results; Therefore, considering the importance of the lesson study and its quality, it is necessary to study the factors affecting the improvement of the quality of the lesson study.The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of school culture on the relationship between effective school components and the quality of lesson study among elementary school teachers.
Method: In terms of purpose, the present study is applied research and in terms of the nature of research is descriptive-correlational research and in terms of data collection method is part of field research. The statistical population of the present study consists of teachers of Marand city who have conducted lesson study in the last three years. To determine the sample size of the research, Krejcie Morgan table was used. According to this table, for 95 people in the statistical population, 74 people were selected as the sample size. After determining the number of sample sizes, the available sampling method was performed and the questionnaire was given to those active in the field of research that were available to researchers. Three questionnaires were used to collect data: 1- Effective school questionnaire Imani, Bagheri, Gorchiyan & Jafari (2019): which includes 16 dimensions and 64 items and is in the five-point Likert scale (1 = very low, to 5 = very high). The reliability of the questionnaire in the study (2019) Imani et al through Cronbach's alpha was 0.86; And its validity in terms of form and content has been confirmed by several experts. 2- School Culture Questionnaire (2007) Salfi & Saeed: which includes 5 dimensions and 29 items in the five-point Likert scale (5 = strongly disagree to 1 = strongly agree). The validity and reliability of this questionnaire has been guaranteed by experts and experimental tests in this field in 2006 and the reliability coefficient has been set at 0.96 based on Cronbach's alpha. Thus, using Cronbach's alpha, the reliability coefficient of the teacher professional competency subscale is 0.83; Teachers' interaction with staff and management, 0.93; Teachers' interaction with each other, 0.79; Parents' participation in school activities was 0.87 and school physical facilities was 0.92. In the study (2020) Tahmasbzadeh Sheikhlar, Taghipour, Qureshi & Imannejad, to determine the validity of the questionnaire, the opinions of supervisors and consultants were used and to determine the reliability, Cronbach's alpha was used and its value was calculated to be 0.78. The study has 24 items and is in the five-point Likert scale (5 = strongly disagree to 1 = strongly agree). The validity of this instrument was confirmed by three professors in the field of education in the university and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the research, which was 0.73. Descriptive statistics as well as Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling using PLS software were used to analyze the data.
Results:The results showed that there was no significant relationship between effective school and the quality of lesson study, while there was a significant relationship between school culture and the quality of lesson study at the level of 0.314.school culture has a mediating role on the relationship between effective school components and the quality of lesson study among elementary school teachers and effective school due to school culture by 0.666 plays a role in the quality of lesson study. It can be concluded that the effectiveness of the school in the quality of the lesson study is functional using the school culture and only the effectiveness of the school without considering the school culture does not play a big role in the quality of the lesson study. Due to the need to increase the quality of curriculum and also the role of school culture in increasing the quality of lesson study, it is recommended that teachers in schools use each other's experiences and design, teach, observe their desired courses jointly and in collaboration. Analyze and revise to improve the quality of the experiences they have used to learn students, thereby building self-confidence among them. There must also be a culture of transforming schools from a place of learning to a place of learning and replacing systemic and critical thinking so that the teacher feels a sense of belonging to the school and its function and considers itself a member of the school system.

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