Abstract
Research indicates that underperforming teachers have a profound impact on students and on principals who struggle to deal with the underperformance. However, the impact on, and responses of, other teachers (i.e. co-workers) is rarely studied, in spite of the importance of teacher collaboration in contemporary education. Therefore, we interviewed co-workers about incidents of teacher underperformance, using the Critical Incident Technique. Our respondents reported various types of underperformance, including student-related and team-related underperformance, as well as task underperformance and counterproductive work behaviours. Dependent on the specific incident, co-workers were more directly or indirectly affected by the underperformance. They expressed frustrations, concerns, and feelings of injustice, not only about the underperformance itself, but also about a lack of response by the school principal. Moreover, we found that co-worker responses depended on how they perceived the necessity, appropriateness, and utility of responding, as well as their responsibility to respond. This was influenced by characteristics of the underperformance, underperformer and co-worker, and leadership and team factors. Implications for educational research, policy, and practice are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Researchers use different terms to indicate that a teacher is not performing according to an acceptable standard/norm: incompetent teacher (e.g. Cheng 2014), marginal teacher (e.g. Kaye 2004), ineffective teacher (e.g. Nixon et al. 2013), challenging teacher (e.g. Yariv 2004), poor performing, and underperforming teacher (e.g. Rhodes and Beneicke 2003). We adopt the term ‘underperformance’, since it indicates that one performs below the norm or expectations, without a priori adjudicating on the severity, cause, or type of underperformance.
References
Adams, J. S. (1963). Towards an understanding of inequity. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(5), 422–436.
Bisel, R. S., & Arterburn, E. N. (2012). Making sense of organizational members’ silence: a sensemaking-resource model. Communication Research Reports, 29(3), 217–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2012.684985.
Bowen, F., & Blackmon, K. (2003). Spirals of silence: the dynamic effects of diversity on organizational voice. Journal of Management Studies, 40(6), 1393–1417. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00385.
Bowling, N. A., & Lyons, B. D. (2015). Not on my watch: facilitating peer reporting through employee job attitudes and personality traits. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 23(1), 80–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12097.
Bradfield, M., & Aquino, K. (1999). The effects of blame attributions and offender likableness on forgiveness and revenge in the workplace. Journal of Management, 25(5), 607–631. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639902500501.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Brinsfield, C. T. (2009). Employee silence: investigation of dimensionality, development of measures, and examination of related factors. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1236294604&disposition=inline.
Butterfield, L. D., Borgen, W. A., Amundson, N. E., & Maglio, A.-S. T. (2005). Fifty years of the critical incident technique: 1954-2004 and beyond. Qualitative Research, 5(4), 475–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794105056924.
Campbell, J. P., & Wiernik, B. M. (2015). The modeling and assessment of work performance. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2(1), 47–74. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111427.
Campbell, J. L., Quincy, C., Osserman, J., & Pedersen, O. K. (2013). Coding in-depth semistructured interviews: problems of unitization and intercoder reliability and agreement. Sociological Methods & Research, 42(3), 294–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124113500475.
Causey, K. (2010). Principals’ perspectives of the issues and barriers of working with marginal teachers. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/causey_kelly_k_201012_edd.pdf
Chell, E. (2004). Critical incident technique. In C. Cassell & G. Symon (Eds.), Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research (pp. 45–60). London: SAGE Publications.
Cheng, J. N. (2014). Attitudes of principals and teachers toward approaches used to deal with teacher incompetence. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 42(1), 155–175. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2014.42.1.155.
Cheng, Y., & Tsui, K. (1999). Multimodels of teacher effectiveness: implications for research. The Journal of Educational Research, 92(3), 141–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220679909597589.
Christ, O., Van Dick, R., Wagner, U., & Stellmacher, J. (2003). When teachers go the extra mile: foci of organisational identification as determinants of different forms of organisational citizenship behaviour among schoolteachers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73(3), 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709903322275867.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education (7th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Dalal, R. S. (2005). A meta-analysis of the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), 1241–1255. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1241.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Rothman, R. (Eds.) (2011). Teacher and leader effectiveness in high-performing education systems. Washington , DC: Alliance for Excellent Education and Stanford, CA: Stanford Centre for Opportunity Policy in Education.
Detert, J. R., Burris, E. R., Harrison, D. A., & Martin, S. R. (2013). Voice flows to and around leaders: understanding when units are helped or hurt by employee voice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58(4), 624–668. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839213510151.
Edwards, M. S., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Gardner, J. (2009). Deciding to speak up or to remain silent following observed wrongdoing: the role of discrete emotions and climate of silence. In J. Greenberg & M. Edwards (Eds.), Voice and silence in organizations (pp. 83–109). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.
Felps, W., Mitchell, T. R., & Byington, E. (2006). How, when, and why bad apples spoil the barrel: negative group members and dysfunctional groups. Research in Organizational Behavior, 27, 175–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-3085(06)27005-9.
Ferguson, A. J., Ormiston, M. E., & Moon, H. (2010). From approach to inhibition: the influence of power on responses to poor performers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 305–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018376.
FitzGerald, K., Seale, N. S., Kerins, C. A., & McElvaney, R. (2008). The critical incident technique: a useful tool for conducting qualitative research. Journal of Dental Education, 72(3), 299–304.
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51(4), 327–358.
Goddard, Y. L., Goddard, R. D., & Tschannen-Moran, M. (2007). A theoretical and empirical investigation of teacher collaboration for school improvement and student achievement in public elementary schools. Teachers College Record, 109(4), 877–896.
Greenberg, J. (1990). Organizational justice: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Journal of Management, 16(2), 399–432.
Gremler, D. D. (2004). The critical incident technique in service research. Journal of Service Research, 7(1), 65–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670504266138.
Gruys, M. L., Stewart, S. M., & Bowling, N. A. (2010). Choosing to report: characteristics of employees who report the counterproductive work behavior of others. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18(4), 439–446. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2010.00526.x.
Hallinger, P., Heck, R., & Murphy, J. (2014). Teacher evaluation and school improvement: an analysis of the evidence. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 26(1), 5–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-013-9179-5.
Hanushek, E., Kain, J., O'Brien, D.,& Rivkin, S. (2005) The market for teacher quality. NBER working paper no. w11154. Retrieved from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=669453.
Hargreaves, A. (2001). The emotional geographies of teachers’ relations with colleagues. International Journal of Educational Research, 35(5), 503–527. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(02)00006-X.
Harvey, P., Madison, K., Martinko, M., Crook, T. R., & Crook, T. A. (2014). Attribution theory in the organizational sciences: the road traveled and the path ahead. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(2), 128–146. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2012.0175.
Haycock, K. (1998). Good teaching matters... a lot. Magazine of History, 13(1), 61–63.
Henriksen, K., & Dayton, E. (2006). Organizational silence and hidden threats to patient safety. Health Services Research, 41(4), 1539–1554. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00564.x.
Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (2004). Organizational justice in schools: no justice without trust. International Journal of Educational Management, 18(4), 250–259. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540410538831.
Huber, S., & Skedsmo, G. (2016). Teacher evaluation—accountability and improving teaching practices. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 28(2), 105–109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-016-9241-1.
Huber, S., & Skedsmo, G. (2017). Standardization and assessment practices. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 29(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-017-9257-1.
Hughes, H., Williamson, K., & Lloyd, A. (2007). Critical incident technique. In S. Lipu (Ed.), Exploring methods in information literacy research (pp. 49–66). Wagga Wagga: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
Hung, T. K., Chi, N. W., & Lu, W. L. (2009). Exploring the relationships between perceived coworker loafing and counterproductive work behaviors: the mediating role of a revenge motive. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(3), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-009-9104-6.
Jackson, C. L., & LePine, J. A. (2003). Peer responses to a team’s weakest link: a test and extension of LePine and Van Dyne’s model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 459–475. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.459.
Johnson, S. M., & Donaldson, M. L. (2007). Overcoming the obstacles to leadership. Educational Leadership, 65(1), 8–13.
Kaye, E. B. (2004). Turning the tide on marginal teaching. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 19(3), 234–258.
King, N. (2004). Using interviews in qualitative research. In C. Cassell & G. Symon (Eds.), Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research (pp. 11–22). London: Sage Publications.
King, G., & Hermodson, A. (2000). Peer reporting of coworker wrongdoing: a qualitative analysis of observer attitudes in the decision to report versus not report unethical behavior. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 28(4), 309–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909880009365579.
Knoll, M., & van Dick, R. (2013). Do I hear the whistle…? A first attempt to measure four forms of employee silence and their correlates. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(2), 349–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1308-4.
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C. M., Hildebrandt, V. H., Schaufeli, W. B., de Vet, H. C. W., & van der Beek, A. J. (2011). Conceptual frameworks of individual work performance a systematic review. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 53(8), 856–866. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e318226a763.
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174.
Lavely, C. (1992). Actual incidence of incompetent teachers. Educational Research Quarterly, 15(2), 11–14.
Le Fevre, D. M., & Robinson, V. M. J. (2014). The interpersonal challenges of instructional leadership: principals’ effectiveness in conversations about performance issues. Educational Administration Quarterly, 51(1), 58–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x13518218.
Lepine, J. A., & van Dyne, L. (2001). Peer responses to low performers: an attributional model of helping in the context of groups. The Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2001.4011953.
Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., & Kraimer, M. L. (2001). Managing individual performance in work groups. Human Resource Management, 40(1), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.4016.
Little, J. (1990). The persistence of privacy: autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. The Teachers College Record, 91(4), 509–536.
Lomos, C. (2017). To what extent do teachers in European countries differ in their professional community practices? School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 28(2), 276–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2017.1279186.
Marcus, B., Taylor, O. A., Hastings, S. E., Sturm, A., & Weigelt, O. (2016). The structure of counterproductive work behavior: a review, a structural meta-analysis, and a primary study. Journal of Management, 42(1), 203–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313503019.
Marzano, R. J. (2012). Wat werkt op school. Research in actie [What works in schools. Research in action]. Meppel: Printsupport4U.
Menuey, B. P. (2007). Teachers’ perceptions of professional incompetence and barriers to the dismissal process. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 18(4), 309–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-007-9026-7.
Milliken, F. J., Morrison, E. W., & Hewlin, P. F. (2003). An exploratory study of employee silence: issues that employees don’t communicate upward and why. Journal of Management Studies, 40(6), 1453–1476. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00387.
Morrison, E. W. (2011). Employee voice behavior: integration and directions for future research. Academy of Management Annals, 5, 373–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2011.574506.
Morrison, E. W. (2014). Employee voice and silence. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1, 173–197. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091328.
Morrison, E. W., Wheeler-Smith, S. L., & Kamdar, D. (2011). Speaking up in groups: a cross-level study of group voice climate and voice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020744.
Mortelmans, D. (2007). Handboek Kwalitatieve Onderzoeksmethoden [Handbook qualitative research methods]. Leuven: Acco.
Motowildo, S. J., Borman, W. C., & Schmit, M. J. (1997). A theory of individual differences in task and contextual performance. Human Performance, 10(2), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1002_1.
Mowbray, P. K., Wilkinson, A., & Tse, H. H. M. (2015). An integrative review of employee voice: identifying a common conceptualization and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(3), 382–400. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12045.
Neff, N. L. (2009). Peer reactions to counterproductive work behavior. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/9413
Nixon, A., Packard, A., & Dam, M. (2013). Principals judge teachers by their teaching. The Teacher Educator, 48(1), 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2012.740154.
OECD. (2014). TALIS 2013 results. An international perspective on teaching and learning. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264196261-en
OFSTED/TTA. (1996). Joint review of head teacher and teacher appraisal: summary of evidence. London: TTA.
Oplatka, I. (2009). Organizational citizenship behavior in teaching. International Journal of Educational Management, 23(5), 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540910970476.
Page, D. (2016). The multiple impacts of teacher misbehaviour. Journal of Educational Administration, 54(1), 2–18. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-09-2014-0106.
Penninckx, M., Vanhoof, J., & Van Petegem, P. (2011). Evaluatie in het Vlaamse onderwijs: beleid en praktijk van leerling tot overheid. [Evaluation in Flemish education: policy and practice from student to government.] Antwerpen: Garant.
Plas, D., & Vanhoof, J. (2016). Onderpresterende leraren in het Vlaamse secundair onderwijs: een situatieschets vanuit schoolleiderperspectief. [Underperforming teachers in Flemish secondary education: the school leader’s perspective.]. Impuls - Tijdschrift voor Onderwijsbegeleiding, 46(3), 131–143.
Pugh, E. (2014). Pittsburgh teachers receive comprehensive view of their performance on first educator effectiveness reports in state [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/Page/4184
Range, B. G., Duncan, H. E., Scherz, S. D., & Haines, C. A. (2012). School leaders’ perceptions about incompetent teachers: implications for supervision and evaluation. NASSP Bulletin, 96(4), 302–322. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636512459554.
Rhodes, C., & Beneicke, S. (2003). Professional development support for poorly performing teachers: challenges and opportunities for school managers in addressing teacher learning needs. Journal of In-service Education, 29(1), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674580300200205.
Richardson, B. K., Wheeless, L. R., & Cunningham, C. (2008). Tattling on the teacher: a study of factors influencing peer reporting of teachers who violate standardized testing protocol. Communication Studies, 59(3), 202–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510970802257531.
Rivers, J. C., & Sanders, L. (2002). Teacher quality and equity in educational opportunity: findings and policy implications. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press.
Robinson, S. L., & Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviors: a multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 38(2), 555–572. https://doi.org/10.2307/256693.
Robinson, S. L., Wang, W., & Kiewitz, C. (2014). Coworkers behaving badly: the impact of coworker deviant behavior upon individual employees. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1, 123–143. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091225.
Roe, R. A. (1996). Arbeidsprestaties. [Work performance.]. In P. J. D. Drenth, H. Thierry, & C. J. de Wolff (Eds.), Handboek Arbeids- en Organisatiepsychologie. [Handbook of Work and Organizational Psychology.] (pp. 1–103). Deventer: Kluwer.
Runhaar, P., Konermann, J., & Sanders, K. (2013). Teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviour: considering the roles of their work engagement, autonomy and leader–member exchange. Teaching and Teacher Education, 30, 99–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.10.008.
Sackett, P. R., Berry, C. M., Wiemann, S. A., & Laczo, R. M. (2006). Citizenship and counterproductive behavior: clarifying relations between the two domains. Human Performance, 19(4), 441–464. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1904_7.
Schwappach, D. L. B., & Gehring, K. (2014). Trade-offs between voice and silence: a qualitative exploration of oncology staff’s decisions to speak up about safety concerns. BMC Health Services Research, 14, 303–312. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-303.
Sonnentag, S., & Frese, M. (2002). Performance concepts and performance theory. In S. Sonnentag (Ed.), Psychological management of individual performance (pp. 5–25). Chichester: Wiley.
Stronge, J. (2013). Educational assessment, evaluation, and accountability: Special issue introduction. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 25(3), 155–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-013-9172-z.
Struthers, C. W., Miller, D. L., Boudens, C. J., & Briggs, G. L. (2001). Effects of causal attributions on coworker interactions: a social motivation perspective. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23(3), 169–181. https://doi.org/10.1207/153248301750433560.
Taggar, S., & Neubert, M. (2004). The impact of poor performers on team outcomes: an empirical examination of attribution theory. Personnel Psychology, 57(4), 935–968. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2004.00011.x.
Taggar, S., & Neubert, M. J. (2008). A cognitive (attributions)-emotion model of observer reactions to free-riding poor performers. Journal of Business and Psychology, 22(3), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-008-9058-0.
Tam, A. C. F. (2015). The role of a professional learning community in teacher change: a perspective from beliefs and practices. Teachers and Teaching, 21(1), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.928122.
Tangirala, S., & Ramanujam, R. (2008). Employee silence on critical work issues: the cross level effects of procedural justice climate. Personnel Psychology, 61(1), 37–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2008.00105.x.
Tremblay, M., Cloutier, J., Simard, G., Chênevert, D., & Vandenberghe, C. (2010). The role of HRM practices, procedural justice, organizational support and trust in organizational commitment and in-role and extra-role performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(3), 405–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190903549056.
Tuytens, M., & Devos, G. (2017). Teacher evaluation policy as perceived by school principals: the case of Flanders (Belgium). Teachers and Teaching, 24(3), 209-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2017.1397508.
Vakola, M., & Bouradas, D. (2005). Antecedents and consequences of organisational silence: an empirical investigation. Employee Relations, 27(5), 441–458. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450510611997.
Van Den Ouweland, L., Vanhoof, J., & Roofthooft, N. (2016). Onderpresterende vastbenoemde leraren door de ogen van schoolleiders. Een verkennend, kwalitatief onderzoek naar hun visie op onderpresteren, aanpak en ervaren obstakels. [Underperforming tenured teachers through the eyes of school leaders. An exploratory, qualitative study of their views on underperformance, actions and perceived obstacles.]. Pedagogiek, 36(1), 71–90. https://doi.org/10.5117/PED2016.1.OUWE.
Van Dyne, L., Ang, S., & Botero, I. C. (2003). Conceptualizing employee silence and employee voice as multidimensional constructs. Journal of Management Studies, 40(6), 1359–1392. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00384.
Vangrieken, K., Dochy, F., Raes, E., & Kyndt, E. (2015). Teacher collaboration: a systematic review. Educational Research Review, 15, 17–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.04.002.
Vanhoof, J., Vanlommel, K., Thijs, S., & Vanderlocht, H. (2013). Data use by Flemish school principals: impact of attitude, self-efficacy and external expectations. Educational Studies, 40(1), 48–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2013.830245.
Vekeman, E., Devos, G., & Valcke, M. (2016). Human resource architectures for new teachers in Flemish primary education. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 44(6), 970–995. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143215587309.
Vekeman, E., Devos, G., Valcke, M., & Rosseel, Y. (2017). Do teachers leave the profession or move to another school when they don’t fit? Educational Review, 69(4), 411–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2016.1228610.
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548–573.
Weiner, B. (2010). The development of an attribution-based theory of motivation: a history of ideas. Educational Psychologist, 45(1), 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903433596.
Whiteside, D. B., & Barclay, L. J. (2013). Echoes of silence: employee silence as a mediator between overall justice and employee outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(2), 251–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1467-3.
Yariv, E. (2004). ‘Challenging’ teachers: what difficulties do they pose for their principals? Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 32(2), 149–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143204041881.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Participation was anonymous and voluntary, and participants signed an informed consent stating the purpose and method of the study, as well as participant rights. The Ethics Committee of the University of Antwerp also approved the study.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Den Ouweland, L., Vanhoof, J. & Van den Bossche, P. Underperforming teachers: the impact on co-workers and their responses. Educ Asse Eval Acc 31, 5–32 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-019-09293-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-019-09293-9