Teacher quality for marginalized students

• In Event: Teacher quality, responsibility, and agency in a context of accountability

Proposal

The study aims to explore how and why teacher quality is different for marginalized students than for advantaged students. The significance of teacher quality for student quality education can’t be overstated. However, its merits and the need for marginalized students are even greater, especially in the context of developing countries, (Luschei & Chudgar, 2017; Stronge, 2018) to make quality education more inclusive and equitable. The issue of teacher quality for a marginalized students is important, as these students depend more on teachers for their learning than the students from the advantaged group. Tackling the marginalization is not only important for quality education for all but also carries a high price for nations, societies, and individuals. Marginalization is important in increasing social and economic inequalities (UNESCO, 2010). Historically, marginalized groups have been underrepresented in terms of access to education (Benavot & Resnik, 2006). And those who are in school have less access to quality teachers (Akiba et al., 2007; UNESCO, 2010). Whereas there is ample literature available on the access of quality teachers to marginalized or disadvantaged students, literature on the nature of teacher quality required for these students to meet their diverse needs is lacking.
The study will be based on teachers’ perceptions of teacher quality for marginalized students. I conducted detailed semi-structured interviews with ten primary and secondary teachers in public schools in the rural areas of Pakistan. The study uses sensemaking theory (Weick, 1995, 2001, 2009, 2012) as a theoretical framework. ‘Sensemaking unfolds as a sequence in which people concerned with identity in the social context of other actors engage in ongoing circumstances from which they extract signals and make plausible sense retrospectively while enacting more or less order in those ongoing circumstances’ (Weick, 2009, p. 131). The framework is suitable for the study as it helps us understand how teachers make sense or construct the idea of teacher quality for marginalized students based on their experience and interactions with them in the school setting. Understanding the teacher quality in teachers’ perception is important role teachers play in teacher quality-related policies and their successful implementation (Akiba & LeTendre, 2018). Teachers are also the ones who are directly involved in the phenomenon.
The interview data analysis shows that what constitutes a quality teacher for marginalized students is different than for advantaged students. Further, a higher level of similar features is required to achieve the same performance increase in marginalized students. The implications of the absence of quality teachers are more serious for marginalized students than for advantaged students. The study also includes policy recommendations on how to increase teacher quality for marginalized students.

Author

• Shehzad Iqbal Awasi, University of Maryland College of Education