What is your cred in the classroom?

#TeacherCred

The term Teacher Credibility is used to describe students' beliefs that they can learn from a teacher. That is whether they see their teacher as "believable, convincing, and capable of persuading students that they can be successful" (Fisher & Frey, 2018). 

Research shows that Teacher Credibility is a vital factor in ensuring student learning. In fact, with an effect size of 0.9 (Hattie, 2016), there is clear evidence that if students see their teachers as a credible they are more likely to succeed.

Teacher Credibility is not simply a matter of students “liking” their teacher though. It is about whether they perceive them as being a teacher who will enhance their learning. As Hattie has said "if a teacher is not perceived as credible, the students just turn off". Worse still, an erosion of a teacher’s credibility can quickly spell disaster for their students learning (Haskin, 2000). We also know that students are attuned to whether their teachers will an impact on their learning. As Hattie has stated “students are very perceptive about knowing which teachers can make a difference to their learning”. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to seek feedback from our students.

The history of Teacher Credibility research dates to the 1980s and the work of Dr James McCroskey, an expert in the field of communication studies. Since this time the concept of Teacher Credibility has evolved to include four key factors related trust, competence, passion/dynamism and immediacy.

Trust

Like in any human relationship Trust is fundamental to teacher-student relationships. Improving students' relationships with teachers can have important, positive and long-lasting implications for students' success. Indeed, teachers who foster trusting relationships with their students create classroom environments more conducive to learning and meet students' developmental, emotional and academic needs.

Competence

Teacher competency is about much more than knowing your stuff. For a teacher to be perceived as competent by their students then a teacher must have mastered their subject area and be capable of delivering it in a meaningful and engaging manner. Also fundamental to this is having great classroom management skills and routines, the ability to answer questions and a capacity to breakdown and explain complicated topics and concepts into ways students can understand.

Passion/Dynamism

Teacher Passion or Dynamism is focussed on the enthusiasm teachers bring to the classroom and content and their ability to communicate this enthusiasm to their students. This does not necessarily mean that a teacher must always display a high level of energy. Dynamic or teachers are those who appear to take charge of the situation at hand and are expected by their audience to take the lead (Haskin, 2000).

Immediacy

Social psychologist Albert Mehrabian is credited with defining the concept of immediacy in terms of his "principle of immediacy, which states "people are drawn toward persons and things they like, evaluate highly, and prefer; and they avoid or move away from things they dislike, evaluate negatively, or do not prefer" (Mehrabian, 1971). In the context of the classroom and immediate teacher is one who leans in to help their students and is related to student perceptions of their teacher’s capacity to break down barriers between themselves and their pupils and the accessibility and relatability of their teacher.

Want to know more about your Teacher Credibility?

Clearly Teacher Credibility is an important aspect of teacher practice for all teachers. If you would like to find out more about your credibility in the classroom then check out our Classroom Vibe Student Perception Survey which is helping teachers around the world make evidence of their teaching visible.

Dr Timothy O'Leary ([email protected])