Science teacher typologies: A first Australian perpective

The development of Australian typologies of teacher-student interpersonal behaviour has not been done before. Therefore, this study reports on the first development in Australia of Science teacher typologies. Teacher-student interpersonal behaviour was measured by asking students for their perceptions of their teachers' interpersonal behaviour using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Earlier work with the QTI in the Netherlands has revealed eight different interpersonal styles, or typologies. These eight styles were later confirmed in an American sample of Secondary school teachers. The present study investigates the extent to which typologies found in earlier studies also applies to a sample of Australian secondary school Science teachers. Student perception data has been aggregated to the class level. Data was first checked with SPSS to examine whether the eight types found in the Netherlands and U.S. were also present in the Australian data. A cluster analysis using various clustering methods and procedures was used to determine Australian typologies and compare these to earlier Dutch findings. Results of the cluster analyses were verified by analyses of variance (ANOVA), by plotting QTI scale scores graphically and by presenting a set of sector graphics to two independent researchers and having them sort these into different styles as found in the statistical analyses. The resultant typologies are presented in this paper.