Proposal view
| Proposal Type: | Individual Paper |
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| Domain: | Teaching and Teacher Education |
| SIG: | Conceptual Change |
| Type | Submitted Paper |
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| Paper Details |
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| Title | Conceptual change beliefs – That is the question. Preservice teachers' beliefs about learning, reading, and writing |
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| Abstract | Beliefs about teaching and learning are well-established by the time preservice teachers begin their formal teacher training (Holt-Reynolds, 1992; Pajares, 1992). A major focus of the present study on teachers' beliefs was literacy. Review of the literature suggested two things: there is no consensus, and in fact there is significant disagreement, on theoretical orientations or approaches to reading; and there appear to be two loosely organized but opposing views on reading (and by extension, to literacy in general) (Harlin, 1999; Kagan, 1992). Aims of the study 1. Investigating the initial and final orientations of future teachers toward the instruction and learning of reading and writing; 2. Comparing explicit and declarative beliefs with implicit beliefs of the future teachers in problem-resolution situations; 3. Analyzing possible changes of beliefs and the factors that influenced said changes. In this research, conducted from a qualitative perspective, four preservice teachers were asked to provide accounts of their perceptions and judgments, over a three-year period, about their practice teaching experiences in schools, both with learning and with acquiring literacy (reading and writing). We collected data, narratives, interviews, critical incidents, reflective narratives, and educational simulations. We used concept mapping techniques to follow preservice students' development as learners, as well as their reflective thought. The data collection and data reduction techniques were based on methods most specifically discussed byStrauss and Corbin (1991). Findings suggest that during three years of study in an educational college, practice teaching in schools and curricular intervention, the future teachers broke with beginning teachers' ordinary ways of thinking about children, text, and teaching. This study addresses ways in which educators and mentors might help preservice teachers make connections between their past experiences as learners and their present practice as beginning teachers, between their present experiences and their future complex roles as teachers. |
| Summary | Research tells us that beliefs about teaching and learning are well established by the time preservice teachers begin their formal teacher training (Calderhead & Robson, 1991) and that these beliefs are "tenacious and powerful" (Holt-Reynolds, 1992, p.344), relatively inflexible, and resistant to change (Pajares, 1992). This is because those who enroll in preservice teacher education courses are 'insiders' who already have a strong sense of what it means to be a teacher. This situation sets preservice teacher education apart from other professional training courses, and presents a particularly complex context for teacher educators. One of the difficulties in examining teacher beliefs, in addition to the fact that they are not directly observable, is that there is some disagreement over the differences between beliefs and knowledge (Thompson,1992; Harvey,1997).A constructivist perspective on teacher beliefs was adopted for this study. In this perspective, teachers are seen as knowing, meaning-making beings, and this knowledge and meaning influence their actions (Nespor, 1987; Clark & Peterson, 1986; Richardson, Anders, Tidwell, & Lloyd, 1991; Pajares, 1992; Artiles, Mostert, & Tankersley, 1994; Fang, 1996, Mallart Navarra, 2000). A major focus of the present study on teachers' beliefs about assessment was literacy, specifically reading and writing. A cursory review of the literature suggested two things: first, there is no consensus, and in fact there is significant disagreement, over theoretical orientations or approaches to reading; and second, there appear to be two loosely organized but opposing views to reading (and by extension, to literacy in general). One perspective suggests that reading is a skill, best taught in a predefined, hierarchical fashion with a primary emphasis on fluency and decoding, limited by teacher control of the curriculum, and best measured through decontextualized standardized assessments. The opposing viewpoint suggests that reading is an interactive process between the reader and him or herself, embedded within a specific social context, carried out for authentic purposes, and best monitored through the performance of authentic activities over time (Florio-Ruane y Lensmire, 1990; Kagan, 1992; Harlin, 1999). The Aims of the study 1. Investigating the initial and final orientations of future teachers toward the instruction and learning of reading and writing; 2. Comparing explicit and declarative beliefs with implicit beliefs of the future teachers in problem resolution situations; 3. Analyzing possible changes of beliefs and the factors that influenced said changes Procedure In this research, conducted from a qualitative perspective and designed as a case study, four preservice teachers were asked to provide accounts of their perceptions and judgments, over a three year period, about their practice teaching experiences in schools, both with learning and with acquiring literacy (reading and writing). We collected data, narratives, interviews, critical incidents, reflective narratives and educational simulations. We used concept mapping techniques to follow preservice students' development as learners, as well as their reflective thought. The study's analytic methods were based on an interpretive paradigm. The language utilized by the students and the meaning of that language determined through reading and analysis was the central concern in analyzing, reducing the data and triangulation of the findings by the future teachers. The data collection and data reduction techniques were based on methods most specifically discussed byStrauss and Corbin (1991). Four research questions were formulated: 1. What are the beginning and final orientations of preservice teachers' beliefs? 2. What are the implicit and explicit beliefs about the child's capacities at the beginning of their early reading stage? 3.What is the conceptual change of belief with respect to the teacher's role in the class, the diversity of material and the activities used in the practices? 4. What are the factors that influenced the conceptual changes of belief of preservice teachers? The Findings The results showed: 1. The analysis revealed a continuum between two opposing dimensions of educational paradigms: description of transmission or interactive/experiential pedagogical approaches, specifically as they apply to educational practices related to literacy. These opposing positions tend to be rooted and suggest a subjective elaboration that learning is a complex process of constructing meaning. 2. The narratives of preservice students in this study provided a rich context in which to examine student beliefs about learning and about becoming a teacher. The pre-service teachers' concerns about themselves as future teachers were simple and one-dimensional. Such results indicate that part of the turmoil of beginning teaching experiences may be generated by dissonance, not just between theory and practice, but also between conflicting beliefs about teaching and the roles of the teacher. 3. The representation of beliefs about the child's learning capacity were implicit and were based first, on a traditional model experience in the home; and second, by relationships with teachers who were central in their discussion of schooling experiences. In addition, such beliefs were implicit because preservice education students often made projections from their past experiences as students about how they would be or want to be in the future when they became teachers themselves (Teberosky, 1993). 4. During the three years, the future teachers developed their beliefs about the complex roles and relationships involved in teaching, and they generated a new vision of the teacher's role as a mediator. 5. Findings suggest that during three years of study in an educational college and practice teaching in school and the curricular intervention, the future teachers broke with beginning teachers' ordinary ways of thinking about children, text, and teaching. Conclusions and Educational Implications 1. Learning to teach can be enhanced through reflection on beginning practices and reflection on past experiences as they influence preservice teachers' beliefs about the complex roles and relationships involved in teaching. 2. This study should address ways in which teacher educators and mentors might help preservice teachers make connections between their past experiences as learners and their present practice as beginning teachers, between their present experiences and their future complex roles of teachers. |
| Keywords | Beliefs Case studies Teacher thinking |
| Appendices | |
| Authors | ||||||
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| Name | Surname | Institution | Country | EARLI Number | Presenting | |
| Teresa | Lewin | Kaye College of Education | Israel | teresa@or-haner.org.il | * | |
| Joan | Mallart Navarra | Universitat de Catalunya | Spain | joan.mallart@ub.edu | ||
