Teaching for what? - Investigating the effect of teacher's pedagogical knowledge on elementary school students' life satisfaction and outcome

Abstract

Teachers' pedagogical knowledge determines learning environment for students. But teachers' pedagogical knowledge is not always congruent with their actual teaching practices. This research aimed at exploring effect of teachers' pedagogical knowledge on students' life satisfaction and outcome. Causal-comparative was used as research design. Data were drawn from 222 students of grade 4-6 and 23 elementary school teachers using questionnaire. Statistical analysis was conducted by employed MANOVA followed by ANOVA. This research finds that there is a significant effect of teachers' pedagogical knowledge on students' outcome but not on students' life satisfaction. Students who were taught by teachers with cognitive-constructivism gain the highest outcome, followed by students who were taught by social-cognitive teachers and behaviorism teachers. Although there are differences in students' life satisfaction based on teachers' pedagogical knowledge, the differences are not statistically significant. This research comes to the conclusion that learning theories held by teachers influence students' learning outcomes. This research calls for teachers to adjust their teaching practices according to students' characteristics. Teachers also have an option whether they want to teach for academic achievement or for students' satisfaction. Moreover, finding of present research indicates the need for further investigation to disentangle the links between teachers' instructional practices and students' life satisfaction.