Impact of in-service Master of Education programmes on teachers and their working environment

ABSTRACT

In these uncertain times, politicians and society have been voicing high expectations from teacher education asking for evidence of added value and impact on the student. In this study a longitudinal mixed-methods approach was used to determine the impact of in-service Master of Education programmes on teachers (N = 1,917) and their work environment in the Netherlands. The results of online surveys were explained by means of realist evaluation using focus-group and in-depth interviews. The study shows that Master of Education programmes had an impact on professional and pedagogical skills of teachers, and in some cases also on their work environment. A two-tier mechanism is proposed: the Master’s programmes provide teachers with more in-depth knowledge about teaching and learning and a more critical stance through inquiry and research. Consequently, some teachers contribute to a culture of inquiry in their schools, provided that the schools facilitate them in new roles.

KEYWORDS:

• In-service Master of Education programmes for teachers
• difference-in-differences method
• propensity score matching
• realist evaluation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research study has been commissioned and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education.

Notes on contributors

Marco Snoek

Dr.Marco Snoek is professor Teacher learning and school development at the Centre of Applied Research in Education at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. In his research he focusses on teachers’ professional development, teacher leadership and their impact on schools. His publications cover topics like initial teacher education, induction of novice teachers, teacher policy and teacher leadership. On these areas he is an advisor to the Dutch ministry of education and to stakeholder groups in the Netherlands.

He is a member of the European Commission’s working group Schools, representing the Netherlands.

Dubravka Knezic

Dr.Dubravka Knezic is a senior researcher at the Centre of Applied Research in Education at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Her research areas are the impact of Master’s programmes for teachers, and the use of Socratic dialogue in teacher education and in multicultural classrooms. Next to her task as a researcher, she is teacher educator at the Faculty of Education of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, working both in initial teacher education programmes and in-service Master’s programmes.

Emina Van Den Berg

Emina van den Berg is a data analyst at SEO Amsterdam Economics. Within this social-economic research institution she is involved with several quantitative research projects in a variety of contexts, including education. She is an expert in complex quantitative research methods and quantitative analyses.

Yolande Emmelot

Yolande Emmelot is a senior researcher at the Kohnstamm Institute of the University of Amsterdam. Within this educational research institute she is an expert in the combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods and the method of realist evaluation. Her research areas cover themes like the impact of Master’s level programmes for teachers, teacher development, learning outcomes of pupils, and professional learning communities.

Arjan Heyma

Dr.Arjan Heyma is head of the cluster Employment and Education at SEO Amsterdam Economics. As an economist and philosopher he has specialized in economic analyses of labor market developments and on the impact of labor market policies on innovation and productivity and outcomes in education. He is an expert in complex quantitative research methods in relation to policy evaluations.

Henk Sligte

Henk Sligte is a senior researcher at the Kohnstamm Institute of the University of Amsterdam. Within this educational research institute he has been involved in a large amount of research projects combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. Together with colleagues he has contributed to the development of the method of realist evaluation within the Dutch context. His research areas cover ICT in education, teacher development, school development, the use of theory and knowledge by teachers, and the evaluation of educational policies.