School composition, teacher efficacy and teachability complexity : the mediating role of schools’ faculty trust

School composition, teacher efficacy and teachability complexity The mediating role of schools’ faculty trust

Lennart Van Eycken

and Mieke Van Houtte

Teachability perceptions reflect teachers’ assumptions about students’ ability to meet the normative and academic expectations imposed on them in school. It is known that teachers’ expectations and trust are less positive regarding low-SES students, especially boys, because teachers perceive those students as having less promising futures than high-SES students. Research concerning teachers’ perceptions of students’ teachability and the school’s socioeconomic composition is abundant, however, the underlying mechanisms for understanding this relationship are mostly neglected. Investigating teachers’ prejudices existing in low-SES schools, such as teachers’ teachability perceptions, could be a promising path for policy makers, practitioners and educational researchers to pursue inclusive school practices. Moreover, teachers have individual notions about their teaching capacity that affect their perceptions and expectations when teaching in specific educational environments. Controlling for contextual indicators, teacher efficacy may influence teachers’ beliefs and expectations, such as trust and perceived teachability, as well. Studies indicate that efficacious teachers are more tolerant toward their students and less likely to perceive students as problematic. This suggests that efficacious teachers are more likely to perceive the students as teachable. In this study, we try to explain the associations of schools’

SES, gender composition and teacher efficacy with perceived teachability by implementing faculty trust.

Multilevel analysis was carried out on data of 1247 teachers gathered in 59 schools (2012-2013). Our results show that schools’ SES, gender composition and teacher efficacy influence perceived teachability. Faculty trust in students partially mediates the effect of schools’ SES, whereas faculty trust in parents completely mediates this effect.

1 Department of Sociology, Ghent University, Korte Meer 5 9000 Gent, Belgium

2 Corresponding author, [email protected]