?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Knowledge+construction%3A+The+role+of+the+teacher's+interpersonal+attitudes&rft.creator=Mate%2C+Davide&rft.creator=Brizio%2C+Adelina&rft.creator=Tirassa%2C+Maurizio&rft.subject=Applied+Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Developmental+Psychology&rft.subject=Pragmatics&rft.subject=Social+Psychology&rft.description=Socio-constructivist+perspectives+on+adult+education%2C+as+well+as+many+practitioners+in+the+field%2C+assume+that+the+teacher's+interpersonal+attitudes+influence+the+process+of+knowledge+construction+on+the+part+of+the+participants.+The+aim+of+this+paper+is+to+contribute+to+an+empirical+evaluation+of+this+view%2C+and+in+particular%3A+(i)+to+understand+whether+the+actions+enacted+by+an+educator+toward+learners+may+be+taken+as+local+cues+of+her+underlying+general+interpersonal+attitudes+in+and+about+the+situation%3B+(ii)+to+try+to+describe+such+behaviours+and+to+gather+them+into+meaningful+clusters%3B+(iii)+to+explore+possible+differences+in+the+general+interpersonal+attitudes+of+novice+vs.+expert+educators%3B+(iv)+to+correlate+such+attitudes+with+the+learners'+behaviours.+Fifteen+training+courses+for+adults%2C+each+involving+different+educators%2C+participants+and+topics%2C+were+observed.+All+the+courses+took+place+in+classrooms+in+the+city+of+Torino%2C+Italy.+Each+course+was+simultaneously+observed+by+three+independent+judges.+Factor+analysis+led+to+the+identification+of+four+main+interpersonal+attitudes+of+the+educators%2C+namely+favouring+cooperation%2C+directivity%2C+flexibility%2C+and+focusing+on+the+group.+These+attitudes+were+then+correlated+to+indexes+of+the+participants'+levels+of+attention%2C+participation+and+understanding.+The+results+corroborate+the+hypothesis+that+the+interpersonal+attitudes+of+the+educators+correlate+with+the+mental+attitudes+of+the+learners.+In+particular%2C+a+cooperative+orientation+appears+to+foster+the+conditions+for+the+construction+of+new+knowledge.+The+two+subgroups+of+expert+and+novice+educators+achieved+different+levels+of+effectiveness.+Overall%2C+our+findings+support+the+idea+that+learning+is+a+process+of+knowledge+transformation+that+takes+place+within+an+interpersonal+context.&rft.date=2011&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F7704%2F7%2F2011-Teaching-RPE.htm&rft.identifier=++Mate%2C+Davide+and+Brizio%2C+Adelina+and+Tirassa%2C+Maurizio++(2011)+Knowledge+construction%3A+The+role+of+the+teacher's+interpersonal+attitudes.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F7704%2F