Bridget Percy

Thesis Title
Moments of clarity: A study of Higher Education Teachers' Professional Learning Experiences

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Ms Percy investigated ‘aha’ moments experienced by a group of early career higher education teachers and the role those moments played in their teacher self-efficacy development. If we fully understand events that influence teacher self-efficacy development, there is the potential for professional learning opportunities that specifically target and support teacher self-efficacy promotion. This is important because self-efficacy is linked to successful student outcomes. Ms Percy found that ‘aha’ moments were personal learning realisations that contributed to change in teacher self-efficacy. The transformational development of teacher self-efficacy involves a process containing four distinct phases located within a theoretical liminal space. Furthermore, the transformative ‘aha’ moments and in particular those that constituted teaching specific threshold concepts, provided teachers with an enhanced awareness of teaching capability. Finally, mastery experiences (successful and unsuccessful) were the most commonly described source of efficacy information related to the teachers’ ‘aha’ moments.

Supervisors
Associate Professor Maggie Hartnett
Associate Professor Nick Zepke

Percy, B. (2013). The realm of realia: The use of authentic materials in the English language classroom. Global Education Review.

Percy, B. (2012). Concept thresholds: The key to self-efficacy and effective teaching in higher education. New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work, 9(2).