Exploring Teachers’ Beliefs and the Processes of Change

Ex plor ing Te a che r s' Be lie fs a nd t he Pr oce sse s of Cha nge

Jack C. Richards, Pat rick B. Gallo, Willy A. Renandya SEAMEO Regional Language Cent re, Singapore

I ntroduction

The nat ure of t eacher change is crucial t o t he field of second language t eacher educat ion. Since m ost of what we do in t eacher educat ion seeks t o init iat e change of one sort or another it is im portant to try to better understand the nature of change and how it com es about. The nat ure of what is m eant by change is com plex and m ult ifacet ed. As m any ot hers including Bailey ( 1992) and Jackson ( 1992) have point ed out , change can refer t o m any things including knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, understanding, self- awareness, and teaching practices. Several assum ptions about the nature of teacher change underlie current approaches to teacher professional developm ent:

! teachers' beliefs play a central role in the process of teacher developm ent; ! changes in teachers' practices are the result of changes in teachers' beliefs ! the notion of teacher change is m ultidim ensional and is triggered both by

personal factors as well as by the professional contexts in which teachers work.

These assum pt ions reflect a bot t om up view of t eacher change rat her t han t he t op down m odel of change often seen in traditional m odels of innovation, where change is viewed as t he t ransm ission of inform at ion from educat ors or policy m akers t o t eachers ( DarlingHam m ond 1990) . The present st udy was prom pt ed by an int erest in t he kinds of beliefs t eachers describe in relat ion t o t heir pract ice and how t hey concept ualized t heir own process of teacher developm ent. I t therefore sought to clarify the following questions:

! What core beliefs do language teachers hold about the processes of teaching and learning?

! How do teachers see their teaching as having changed over tim e? ! What were the sources of change?

I nvestigating teachers beliefs and changes

I n order to investigate the questions above we adm inistered a questionnaire to 112 second language teachers, the m aj ority of whom were from Southeast Asian countries. 14 teachers from Australia also took part in the survey ( See Appendix 1, 2) . I nform ation was collected in relation to each of the questions above, nam ely the teachers' beliefs, the changes teachers reported in their approach to teaching, and the sources teachers reported for those changes.

1 . The teachers' beliefs

The st udy of t eachers' beliefs form s part of t he process of underst anding how t eachers conceptualize their work. I n order to understand how teachers approach their work it is necessary t o underst and t he beliefs and principles t hey operat e from . Const ruct ivist t heories of t eacher developm ent see t he const ruct ion of personal t heories of t eaching as a central task for teachers. Such theories are often resistant to change and serve as a core reference point for teachers as they process new inform ation and theories ( Golom bek 1998, Robert s 1998) . Clark and Pet erson ( 1986) ( sum m arized and discussed in Breen, m s., pp. 47- 48) proposed that:

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! The m ost resilient or " core" t eachers' beliefs are form ed on t he basis of t eachers own schooling as young students while observing teachers who taught them . Subsequent teacher education appears not to disturb these early beliefs, not least, perhaps, because it rarely addresses them .

! I f teachers actually try out a particular innovation which does not initially conform to their prior beliefs or principles and the innovation proves helpful or successful, then accom m odation of an alternative belief or principle is m ore possible than in any other circum stance.

! For t he novice t eacher, classroom experience and day t o day int eract ion wit h colleagues has the potential to influence particular relationships am ong beliefs and principles, and, over tim e, consolidate the individual's perm utation of them . Nevertheless, it seem s that greater experience does not lead to greater adaptability in our beliefs and, thereby, the abandonm ent of strongly held pedagogic principles. Quit e t he cont rary in fact . The m ore experience we have, the m ore reliant on our " core" principles we have becom e and the less conscious we are of doing so.

! Professional developm ent which engages t eachers in a direct explorat ion of t heir beliefs and principles m ay provide the opportunity for greater self- awareness through reflection and critical questioning as starting points for later adaptation.

! The t eacher's concept ualizat ions of, for exam ple, language, learning, and teaching are situated within that person's wider belief system concerning such issues as hum an nature, culture, society, education and so on.

Ot her researchers ( e.g., Bailey, 1992; Golom bek, 1998) affirm t he not ion t hat changes in teachers' beliefs precede changes in their teaching practices. Sim ilarly, Ham pton ( 1994) notes that teachers' beliefs or " personal constructs" determ ine how they approach t heir t eaching. These beliefs m ay be quit e general or very specific. For exam ple Harste, Woodward, and Burke ( 1984) identified nineteen separate beliefs about t eaching and learning t hat were built int o a sim ple prim ary- one level act ivit y. Teachers' beliefs strongly affect the m aterials and activities they choose for the classroom . Ham pton suggests that som e of these core beliefs are changeable, but others are " im perm eable and difficult or im possible to change" ( p. 129). Breen ( m s) describes the core beliefs of a group of 167 teachers who participated in a language learning experience and who reported on the practices they thought facilitated the learning of the language. These are sum m arized in t erm s of nine principles.

1. Selectively focus on the form of the language 2. Selectively focus on vocabulary or m eaning 3. Enable learners t o use t he language/ Be appropriat e 4. Address learners' m ental processing capabilities 5. Take account of learners' affect ive involvem ent 6. Directly address learners' needs or interests 7. Monit or learner progress and provide feedback 8. Facilit at e learner responsibilit y or aut onom y 9. Manage t he lesson and t he group

Exam ining language t eachers' beliefs, t hen, should t herefore help clarify how t eachers change t heir approaches t o t eaching and learning over t im e.

I n t he present st udy t he respondent s were asked t o provide a writ t en response t o t he following statem ent:

Briefly describe one or tw o of your m ost im portant beliefs about language teaching and learning that guide( s) you in your day- to- day teaching ( e.g. gram m ar plays an im portant/ trivial role in language learning) .

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From t he responses given, a t ot al of 207 sum m ary st at em ent s were recorded in t he dat a base. Thirt een cat egories of beliefs em erged from t he responses; nine m ain cat egories sum m arize the m aj ority of the responses, while four sm aller categories contain less than 5% of the total num ber of com m ents; hence, these final four categories were put t oget her under ot her. Table 1 list s t he cat egories and t he num bers of responses t hat fit in that category.

Re su lt s

The m ost com m only report ed core belief cent ered on t he role of gram m ar in language t eaching and t he relat ed issue of how gram m ar should be t aught . Out of 38 responses, 25 discussed the im portance of gram m ar for com m unication, com prehension and clear expression. Ot hers described gram m ar as t he foundat ion of English language learning or referred to the need for gram m ar at the early stages of language learning.

Table 1 Teachers' Most im portant Beliefs about Language Teaching and Learning

Ca t e gor y The role of gram m ar and gram m ar t eaching Beliefs about learners The language skills Teacher charact erist ics Class at m osphere/ condit ions for language learning Purpose of language t eaching and learning Teaching procedures Met hods Role of pract ice in language learning Ot her: Personal philosophies

Learner errors The st at us of English Teaching/ learning processes

Fr e q u e n cy 38 30 25 24 21

Pe r ce n t 18 14 12

11.5 10

16

8

16

8

11

5

10

5

6

3

4

2

3

1

2

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