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ontextualising Teaching 131
(In)effectiveness and Student
(Under)achievement
Tina Vršnik Perše
Abstract: Teachers’ competencies are one of the key aspects of teaching that can
be studied and that are also reflected through the achievement of individual learn-
ers. In addition to the teacher’s role in the classroom interaction, other factors al-
so affect teachers’ attributions for the causes of students’ performance. These fac-
tors include the teacher’s perception of the student’s past performance as well
as the student’s characteristics, including race, social class, end sex and also the
structure and organization of subject matter (Clark and Petersen, 1986). Study re-
sults, however, show that there is a large discrepancy between how teachers and
students perceive teachers’ actions in a classroom (e.g. Ivanuš Grmek et al., 2007;
Vršnik Perše et al., 2013). The diverging views between the participants of the ed-
ucation system could be one of the factors that can, by altering teachers’ subjec-
tive views and actions, lead towards changing the teaching practices and thus
improving the academic achievement of students. Studies show that the charac-
teristics of teachers’ professional development influence their actions, (Gow and
Kember, 1994; Schein, 1998) thus, on a systemic level, it makes sense to promote
professional development. Teachers’ professional development is thereby not lim-
ited merely to expanding and acquiring new content and didactical-methodolog-
ical knowledge, but encompasses a wider area including teaching competencies.
These competencies, according to C. Peklaj (2006), include: effective teaching; life-
long learning; management and communication; and examination and assess-
ment. Peklaj moreover includes monitoring the students’ progress and wider pro-
fessional competencies, which also includes the competence to (self)evaluate in
its broadest meaning. Facilitating teachers’ critical thinking, reflection, self-evalu-
ation, acceptance of changes and altering their practices are among those meas-
ures that will be the focus of this paper and that can, within the context of the
(In)effectiveness and Student
(Under)achievement
Tina Vršnik Perše
Abstract: Teachers’ competencies are one of the key aspects of teaching that can
be studied and that are also reflected through the achievement of individual learn-
ers. In addition to the teacher’s role in the classroom interaction, other factors al-
so affect teachers’ attributions for the causes of students’ performance. These fac-
tors include the teacher’s perception of the student’s past performance as well
as the student’s characteristics, including race, social class, end sex and also the
structure and organization of subject matter (Clark and Petersen, 1986). Study re-
sults, however, show that there is a large discrepancy between how teachers and
students perceive teachers’ actions in a classroom (e.g. Ivanuš Grmek et al., 2007;
Vršnik Perše et al., 2013). The diverging views between the participants of the ed-
ucation system could be one of the factors that can, by altering teachers’ subjec-
tive views and actions, lead towards changing the teaching practices and thus
improving the academic achievement of students. Studies show that the charac-
teristics of teachers’ professional development influence their actions, (Gow and
Kember, 1994; Schein, 1998) thus, on a systemic level, it makes sense to promote
professional development. Teachers’ professional development is thereby not lim-
ited merely to expanding and acquiring new content and didactical-methodolog-
ical knowledge, but encompasses a wider area including teaching competencies.
These competencies, according to C. Peklaj (2006), include: effective teaching; life-
long learning; management and communication; and examination and assess-
ment. Peklaj moreover includes monitoring the students’ progress and wider pro-
fessional competencies, which also includes the competence to (self)evaluate in
its broadest meaning. Facilitating teachers’ critical thinking, reflection, self-evalu-
ation, acceptance of changes and altering their practices are among those meas-
ures that will be the focus of this paper and that can, within the context of the
