"Teacher dispositions" refers to the attitudes, values, and personal qualities that teachers possess, which greatly influence their behavior, interactions with students, and overall effectiveness in the classroom. It reflects how teachers approach their work and relate to their students.
Full definition
Her current research focuses on market - based education reforms in urban communities, and its cultural and pedagogical impact
on teacher dispositions, teacher professional autonomy and identity, and the development of inclusive classroom practices.
Much attention has recently focused on how to enhance teacher knowledge about using GIS (e.g., Baker, 2015; Bryant & Favier, 2015; Doering, et al., 2014; MaKinster & Trautmann, 2014) but has been far less focused on how to
enhance teacher dispositions toward implementing GIS into classrooms.
Empirical evidence is lacking about the effect
of teacher dispositions on the uses of GST in the classroom, although researchers have emphasized willingness among teachers to learn more about and undertake an intellectual endeavor for teaching with GST as one of the key factors to achieve successful integration of GST in education (Coulter, 2014).
Reliability and validity of the instrument have not yet been established, but this is the only available instrument in the literature to
assess teacher disposition related to teaching spatial thinking.
The study of
teacher dispositions for GST will benefit from research that is longitudinal with a sizable sample and refined instrumentation.
The last attribute — curiosity and passion to learn more — is related more to
teacher disposition than knowledge or skills.
Furthermore, this study should encourage teacher educators to attend to
teacher dispositions and to experiment with similar types of activities in their methods courses.