Teachers’ Belief Systems: Implication of Teacher Professional Development Program and Educational Change
Abstract
This article discusses teachers‟ belief systems, sources of teachers‟ belief systems and the relationship between teachers‟ belief systems and their classroom practices. It also presents ways in which teachers‟ belief systems influence the implementation of curricular innovations. The discussion is based on the findings of studies conducted in different countries by other researchers and in Ethiopia by the writer of this article. It finally underlines the importance of taking into consideration teachers‟ belief systems in professional teacher development programs and in the efforts made to introduce changes in education in the country.
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References
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Goodman, K. (1986). What’s Whole in Whole Language? Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. Johnson, K. E. (1994). The Emerging Beliefs and Instructional Practices of Pre-service English as a Second Language Teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 6/1, 439-440. Karavas-Doukar, E. (1996). Using attitude Scales to Investigate Teachers’ Activities to the Communicative Approach. ELT Journal, 50/3, 187-194. Lazanov, G. (1978). Suggestology and Outlines Suggestopedy. New York: Gordon and Breach. Markee, N. (1997). Managing Curricular Innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C. and C. Lockhart. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pennington, M. C. (1995). The Teacher Change Cycle. TESOL Quarterly 29/4, 705-731. Richards, J. C. (1998). Beyond Training: Perspectives on Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tudor, I. (1996). Learner-centeredness as Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Woods, D. (1996). Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching: Beliefs, Decision-making and Classroom Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Published
2009-06-01
Section
Articles