Conceptualizing teaching quality: problems, prospects, and a proposal for moving forward

Journal article

Empirical studies in Teaching Effectiveness Research (TER) have largely yielded small and inconsistent effects. To better understand and explain these effects we argue that it is core to consider how teaching and its quality have been conceptualized and defined in TER. Looking both within and beyond TER, we identify and discuss three potential contributors: lack of a common definition of teaching and its quality and overemphasis on effects on student academic achievement in the definition of teaching quality; a simplistic assumption that there is a universally valid conceptualization of teaching; and inaccurate conceptualization of the dynamics among different aspects of teaching. To address these challenges, we offer three steps related to giving conceptualization a more prominent role in TER; defining and using terms more clearly, consistently and transparently; and enriching, extending, or revising TER models to better embrace the complexity of the work of teaching.

Authors: Charalambous, CY; Muijs, D; Lindorff, A; Steffensky, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Journal: School Effectiveness and School Improvement
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 164-191
• Publication date: 2025-05-13
• Acceptance date: 2025-03-13
• DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2025.2482576
• EISSN: 1744-5124
• ISSN: 0924-3453
• Language: English
• Keywords: teaching effectiveness; teaching quality; conceptualization; teaching; theory of teaching