The Values Dimension of Quality Teachers: Can we prepare Pre-service Teachers for this?

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi

Explores how teacher quality extends beyond skills and knowledge into values, dispositions, empathy, communicative capacity, self-awareness, and student–teacher relationships. Reports a qualitative case study with pre-service teachers in an Australian Faculty of Education, examining the impact of explicit values-based pedagogy. Findings highlight benefits from participating in Philosophy in the Classroom, which increased awareness of the values dimension of quality teaching and supports more holistic teaching that can enhance student achievement and well-being.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Quality Teaching

Productive Pedagogy Model of Quality Teaching

Intellectual Quality

Table 1. Intellectual Quality Criteria

The Values Dimension of Quality Teachers: Can we prepare Pre-service Teachers for this? By Elizabeth Curtis 􀀍 The idea of teacher quality is at the forefront of educational debates and research globally. A teacher for the 21st Century must be equipped with a sophisticated range of skills and capabilities, but it must go beyond knowledge, understanding and skills, to include effective dispositions, strong student/teacher relationships, communicative capacity, empathic character and self-awareness. Teacher quality encompasses many aspects, including skills, knowledge, attitudes, dispositions and values. This paper reports on a qualitative case study conducted with pre-service teachers in a Faculty of Education in an Australian university. One of the findings of the study points to the benefits of pre-service teachers engaging in an explicit values-based pedagogy. Through their engagement with such pedagogy, in this case Philosophy in the Classroom, the participants became more aware of the values dimension of quality teaching. If teachers are better prepared in the values dimension of teaching, this will make them more holistic quality teachers which will in turn positively impact upon student achievement and well-being. Keywords: philosophy in the classroom; pre-service teacher education; Quality teaching; values education Introduction The latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century has seen a new learning paradigm emerge where research and practice into quality teaching, values education, and authentic pedagogy are united by the belief that learning is holistic (Lovat, Toomey, Clement, Crotty, & Nielsen, 2009) . This has resulted in a resurgence of educational literature surrounding quality teaching, with a "call for appropriate professional development to advance the quality of teaching in order to improve student achievement"(Clement, 2007, p. 22) . Despite this plea though, little in-depth attention has been given to the development of quality teaching dimensions in pre-service teacher education. Whilst research exists to prove that there is a positive link between quality teaching and values education (see for example Lovat, 2007; Lovat & Toomey, 2007b, 2007c; Lovat et al., 2009), this has not been investigated in any depth with regard to pre-service teacher education. It is hoped that the findings of this research may go some way in assisting the transparency of the relationship between values and quality teaching. Quality Teaching 􀀍 Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. [https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.2-4-2](https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.2-4-2) doi=10.30958/aje.2-4-2 A good teacher makes a difference, with it being argued that " there is no more important empirical determinant of student outcomes than good teaching"(Barber & Mourshed, 2009, p. 27) . Teacher excellence is an elusive concept and various definitions abound. Generally, much of the educational research literature surrounding the defining of „expert‟ or „quality‟ teachers has tended to focus on "technical, observable aspects of teaching" (Collinson, 1999) . I would argue though that effective teachers are people who are competent across an array of domains including behaviour, cognition, content, character as well as knowledge of and sensitivity to cultural, social, political contexts and environments. Productive Pedagogy Model of Quality Teaching The Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study (QSRLS) (The University of Queensland, 2001) produced a model of Productive Pedagogies (PP) to describe quality teaching. This model uses four dimensions: intellectual quality; connectedness; supportive classroom environment; and recognition of difference. Intellectual Quality. The first of the PP dimensions is intellectual quality and it may be described in a variety of ways through a variety of criteria. Table 1. Intellectual Quality Criteria | Productive pedagogy criteria | Explanation | | --- |

FAQs

What does the paper identify as the broader meaning of teacher quality?

Teacher quality includes skills, knowledge, attitudes, dispositions and values, along with effective student/teacher relationships, communicative capacity, empathic character, and self-awareness.

What was the study approach and who participated?

A qualitative case study was conducted with pre-service teachers in a Faculty of Education in an Australian university.

How did Philosophy in the Classroom influence participants?

Engagement with explicit values-based pedagogy increased participants’ awareness of the values dimension of quality teaching.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi