Promoting VET teachers’ innovative behaviour: exploring the roles of task interdependence, learning goal orientation and occupational self-efficacy

Abstract

Changing employer demands, new technological and pedagogical insights are examples of developments which urge Vocational Education and Training (VET) institutes to continually renew and innovate their educational programmes. This, in turn, requires teachers to show innovative behaviour. Our study focuses on the effects of task interdependence on VET teachers’ innovative behaviour. In addition, the mediating roles of learning goal orientation and occupational self-efficacy in this relationship are examined. A two-wave survey study among 342 teachers, from 54 teams of 6 Dutch VET institutes, showed that task interdependence enhanced teachers’ learning goal orientation, which enhanced their engagement in innovative behaviour over time. Task interdependence also increased teachers’ occupational self-efficacy, which in turn increased their engagement in innovative behaviour. This effect, however, appeared short lived. Apparently, once teachers exceed a certain level of occupational self-efficacy, other variables, like learning goal orientation, play a more important role in sustaining innovative behaviour. © 2016 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

Keywords

Author Keywords

teachers vocational education and training Occupational self-efficacy Learning goal orientation Task interdependence Innovative behaviour

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Education and Competence Studies Chair Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands

Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia

UNSW Business School, Kensington, NSW, Australia

Management School, University of Liverpool Management School, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom

Funding & Acknowledgements

No funding information

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Promoting VET teachers’ innovative behaviour: exploring the roles of task interdependence, learning goal orientation and occupational self-efficacy

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