Szczecin 2013
Lenka Pelcerova
VSB-Technical University o f Ostrava,
Czech Republic
S T U D E N T PE R C E PT IO N OF TEACH ER’S PER SO N A LITY
Introduction
Teachers are often exposed to stressful situations, w hich gives th e m m in im u m tim e to
rest an d m e n tal p reparation. N ow adays, fo rm a tio n o f stress is influenced by various factors,
su c h as large n u m b e r o f stu d e n ts in class w h ere th e n u m b e r o f p ro b le m a tic stu d e n ts is
growing; austerity m easures w hich has to be dealt b y school an d teacher; n u m b e r o f lessons
etc. Except th ese stressful situations, teachers face in c re asin g d em a n d s a n d requests th e n
reflected in quality o f their work. Especially, there are also dem ands on their skills and abilities
to flexibly an d correctly rea ct w h en w orking w ith in fo rm a tio n , th e ir effective search, and
reception and processing. F orth betw een these requirem ents and dem ands can be so rted e.g.
en durance, consistency, justice, conscientiousness etc. D ep en d in g on h ow teacher can cope
w ith th e requ irem en ts an d how he can cooperate w ith students, induces subjective stu d en ts’
view n o t only on his w ork b u t also o n his personality. Trend o f cu rren t society is em phasis on
flexibility, originality a n d n ew approaches. That is w hy is teachers’ d u ty to p repare students
for creative th in k in g and in d ep en d en cy in course of sem inars, n o t to be afraid to experim ent
an d to tr y new an d alternative approaches.
Questionnaire investigating information on how selected students perceive work
of the current university teachers
The q u e s tio n n a ire w h ich w as u se d as a rese arch m e th o d w as an o n y m o u s. The
q u estio n n a ire in c lu d ed 15 q u estions fo cu sed o n u n iv e rsity teachers; fro m w h ich 10 w ere
fo rm e d on scale 1 to 6 an d 5 questions were “o p en questions”. The sam ple consisted o f 124
stu d en ts o f VSB-Technical U niversity o f O strava o f w hich 71 were from second year an d 53
stu d en ts from 3rd year. F rom w hich 86 m e n an d 38 w om en.
Q uestion No. 1 (Graph 1):
S ubject th a t I a tte n d e d was in m y o p in io n le d by teacher:
uninteresting, b o rin g , v ery interesting.
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Lenka Pelcerova
G raph 1
A s ■y o u c a n s e e f r o m F i g u r e N o , 1, m o s t o f t h e a n s w e r s a r e a r o u n d t h e m e a n v a l u e ,
w h i c h s a y s t h a t s u b j e c t w a s l e d n o t i n v e r y a t t r a c t i v e w a y f o r s t u d e n t s .
Q uestion N o. 2 (G rap h 2)
- W h a t is tir e c l a s s r o o m e n v i r o n m e n t - w i t h p o s s i b l e r n s w e r s
- u n d u l y n o i s y ( s t u d e n t i n t e r f e r e n s e ) , e r e a t i v a , i n s p i r i n g ( m o d e r a t e d b y t e a c h e r )
G raph 2
T h is q u e s t i o n w a s a n s w e r e d m o s t l y w i t h a n s w e r N o . 4 a n d t h e n f o l lo w e d 3 , 2 a n d 5. W e
c a n a s s u m e t h a t : s h u d e n t s с o n s i d e e t i t e e n v i r o n m e n t s l i g h t l y c r s a t i v e a n d i n s p i r i n g .
Question No. 3 (G raph 3) -
u n d e r s t a n d a b i l i t y o f g i v e n l e c t u r e s - m o s t o f t h e l e c t u r e s c o p e
w a s f o r m e - i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e , d u lly u n d e r s t a n d a b le .
G raph 3
F r o m G r a p h 4 is v i s ib l e t h a t a n s w e r 3 w a s s t r o n g l y r e p r e s e n t e d , f o l l o w e d b y -4 a n d 2.
W e c a n c o n c l u d e t h a t t h e t e a c h i n g s u b j e c t w a s n o t f u l l y u n d e r s t o o d .
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Lenka Pelcerova
Question No. 8
e v a l u a t e d t e a c h e r ’s s p e e c h - W h a t w a s y o u r i m p r e s s i o n f r o m t e a c h e r ’s
s p e e c h ? T h e c h o i c e o f a n s w e r s w a s - i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e , i n c o m p l e t e , u n d e r s t a n d a b l e , l o u d
e n o u g h , a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e . O n l y 4 s t u d e n t s e v a l u a t e d t h e t e a c h e r s s p e e c h a s u n d e r s t a n d a b le
a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e . M o s t l y ( 5 6 ) s t u d e n t s c h o s e g r a d e 3 , 2 0 c h o s e g r a d e 4 a n d 18 c h o s e 2 . It
c o u l d b e s a i d t h a t t e a c h e r ’s s p e e c h w a s e v a l u a t e d m o r e o v e r n e g a tiv e ly .
Question N o. 10
( G r a p h 6 ) w a s f o c u s e d o n , h o w t h e l e s s o n is l e cL T h e q u e s t i o n i t s e l f
w a s : “ L e s s o n is l e d w i t h p r e d o m i n a n c e o f ” m e c h a n i c a l t r a n s m i s s i o n o f i n f o r m e t i o n , w i t h
e m p h a s i s o n t h e p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n o f n e w k n o w l e d g e .
T h is q u e s t i o n w a s e v a l u a t e d m o s t l y b y g r a d e 2 - 5 , w h e r e 3 w a s c h o s e n b y 4 6 s t u d e n t s .
W e m a y c o n c l u d e t h a t t e a c h e r s t i l l t a k e s i n m i n d u s i n g n e w k n o w l e d g e i n p r a x e s o n l y p a r t l y
a n d n o w a d a y s m e c h a n i c a l t r a n s m i s s i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n s t i l l p r e v a i l .
O t h e r q u e s t i o n s w e r e f o c u s e d o n h o w t h e e d u c a t i o n is l e d . A m o n g m o s t f r e q u e n t a n s w e r s
t o q u e s t i o n “W h a t 3 n e g a t i v e r e m a r k s t o y o u r t e a c h e r y o u h a v e ” w e r e t h e s e : u n i n t e l l i g i b i l i t y
( 2 7 ) , w e i r d a c t i n g ( 2 0 ) , c a n n o t w o r k w i t h s t u d e n t s ( 1 6 ) .
T o t h e q u e s t i o n “W h a t a r e y o u r 3 p o s i t i v e c o m m e n t s t o t h e t e a c h e r ”, s t u d e n t s a n s w e r e d a s
f o llo w s : N i c e m a n n e r i n t h e c l a s s r o o m ( 2 2 ) , a l w a y s w e l l d r e s s e d ( 2 0 ) , a n d v e r s a t i l e e d u c a t e d
( 1 2 ) .
Conclusion
B e i n g a t e a c h e r m e a n s t o b e a b l e t o l e a r n a n d u n d e r s t a n d e d u c a t i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t ,
s t u d e n t s a n d a ls o h i m s e l f , t o b e a b le t o s e n s i t i v e l y r e a c t o n s c h o o l s i t u a t i o n s , t o p r o p o s e a n d
r e a l i s e o p t i m a l e d u c a t i o n a l s t r a t e g i e s . I t is e x p e c t e d f r o m u n i v e r s i t y t e a c h e r s , a s e d u c a t o r s
o f a d u l t s , p e d a g o g i c a l a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l c o m p e t e n c e . E v e r y u n i v e r s i t y t e a c h e r s h o u l d r e a l i s e ,
w h e t h e r h i s t e a c h i n g a b i l i t i e s , s k ills a n d c o m p e t e n c i e s a r e s u f f i c i e n t a n d c o n v i n c i n g i n c o u r s e
o f e d u c a t i o n a l p r o c e s s a n d w h e t h e r h e h a s s t i l l e n o u g h t o o ffe r.
S e l e c t e d s e t o f s t u d e n t s p o s i t i v e l y e v a l u a t e d s t a t e d c r i t e r i a f o r g e t t i n g a c r e d i t a n d
t e s t , f u r t h e r m o r e a p p r e c i a t e d e x c e l l e n t p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m , t e a c h e r o v e r a l l a p p e a r a n c e a n d h i s
i n t e r e s t t o a n s w e r a l l s t u d e n t s ’ q u e s t i o n s . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a m o n g t h e n e g a t i v e s t h e y
m e n t i o n e d w e i r d b e h a v i n g , i n c o m p r e h e n s i b i l i t y a n d m e c h a n i c a l t r a n s m i s s i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n .
T e a c h e r s ’ s p o k e n q u a l i t y is o n e o f t h e c r u c i a l a s p e c t s o f e f f e c tiv e t e a c h i n g . W e s h o u l d k e e p
i n m i n d t h a t i n a v e r y b e g i n n i n g o f e d u c a t i o n a l p r o c e s s s h a l l b e f o r m e d a b i l i t y t o w o r k w i t h
i n f o r m a t i o n i n m e a n i n g t h a t n o t o n l y s e a r c h a n d m e c h a n i c a l t r a n s m i s s i o n , b u t m a i n l y t h e i r
