The impact of collaboration on teachers’ individual data use

ABSTRACT

Research considers collaboration to be a significant factor in terms of how teachers use data to improve their practice. Nevertheless, the effects of teacher collaboration with regard to teachers’ individual data use has remained largely underexplored. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the interplay between collaboration and the personal factors that influence teachers’ data use. This paper addresses this research gap by defining factors that affect collaboration, and by investigating the impact of collaboration on teachers’ individual data use. The resulting research questions were answered by drawing on questionnaire data from 1,472 primary and secondary school teachers in Flanders. The findings indicate that collaboration is the main explanatory factor for teachers’ individual data use compared to teachers’ self-efficacy and attitude. Therefore, this study demonstrates the value of collaboration for future research and for creating a supportive environment for teachers’ individual data use.

KEYWORDS:

• Data use
• collaboration
• attitude
• self-efficacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Research Foundation – Flanders under Grant number 130043.

Notes on contributors

Roos Van Gasse

Roos Van Gasse is a PhD researcher at the Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Her general research interests involve policy making and assessment in schools. More specifically, her PhD research examines the contribution of collaborative data use for teachers’ professional development.

Kristin Vanlommel

Kristin Vanlommel is a PhD researcher at the Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Her general research interests involve policy making and decision making in schools. More specifically, her PhD research examines rational and intuitive decision making of teachers.

Jan Vanhoof

Jan Vanhoof is a full professor at the Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. His current research activities focus on school policy and quality care in general, and on school self-evaluation and data use in schools in particular.

Peter Van Petegem

Peter Van Petegem is a full professor at the Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. His research interests are education and school policies and environmental education.