Understanding teachers' beliefs and practices - Education
Transcript of Understanding teachers' beliefs and practices - Education
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Integrative perspectives of understanding Science teachers’ beliefs and practices
A paper accepted for presentation at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) annual conference at Heriot Watt
University, Edinburgh from 3-6th September, 2008.
Nasser Mansour
University of Exeter, UK
Many studies have investigated science teachers’ beliefs about what science is, and how it
should be taught (Hewson & Hewson, 1987, 1988; Bryan, 2003; Tsai, 2002), while other
research has focused on teachers' beliefs regarding teaching tools (e.g., Zacharia, 2003;
Windschitl & Andre, 1998). Another trend has involved studies of teachers’ beliefs about
teaching efficacy and classroom management (Woolfolk et al., 1999; King & Wiseman, 2001).
However, little attention has been given to the nature of teachers’ beliefs about their roles,
their students, the subject areas that they teach, such as STS, and the schools in which they
work. Most studies of beliefs in general and those concerning STS in particular have been
carried out in Western cultures rather than Islamic cultures (Reiss, 2007).
1.1. Aims of the study and the associated research questions
This study explored Egyptian science teachers’ beliefs and practices concerning Science-
Technology-Society (STS) education. Its aims to reveal science teachers’ beliefs and
practices regarding teaching and learning science through STS; to examine the factors that
might shape their beliefs; to establish whether there was any relationship between teachers’
beliefs and practices, and to reveal the factors which influenced the ways in which teachers
put their beliefs into practice.
1. What beliefs do science teachers in Egypt hold about teaching/learning science
through STS Education?
2. What are science teachers’ perceptions of the factors which affect their beliefs?
3. How far do science teachers’ classroom practices reflect their beliefs about STS?
4. What are science teachers’ perceptions of the factors that affect the way they put
their beliefs in practice?
1.2. The research approach
It is clear that there is no single method that ensures that research data obtained are valid
and reliable. Studying teachers’ belief systems is a problematic field of research, mainly
because teachers’ beliefs cannot be accessed directly. The data collection techniques used in
this study have potential strengths and weaknesses. One way to emphasize the strengths
and minimize the weaknesses is to use complementary multiple methods of data collection for
triangulation. So, to achieve the aims of study, data has been collected using multiple sources
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of data, including a questionnaire, interviews, teachers’ journal, and classroom observations
to map the field and to enable triangulation of the data.
According to the research aims and the research design, sampling procedures came in three
stages. On the first stage, a total of 162 Egyptian preparatory science teachers was selected
randomly and responded to the questionnaire. On the second stage, based on findings of the
questionnaires, the maximum variation strategy was used to sample ten teachers with diverse
beliefs. The interviews with those ten teachers aimed to explore teachers’ beliefs and their
perceptions of the factors that influence their beliefs and practices. Then, on the third stage,
based on the analysis of the semi-structured interviews with the ten teachers, four case
studies were chosen to represent the different relationships between teachers’ beliefs and
practices. Theoretical sampling drove the second and third rounds of data collection. To
achieve the aims of this research, I adopted the principles of Multi-grounded theory to build a
theory or model.
Analysis through Multi-Grounded theory identified five main themes: the mixed beliefs of
Egyptian science teachers about STS education; the degree of consistency or inconsistency
between their beliefs and practices; how personal religious beliefs in shaping and reshaping
beliefs and practices; the influence of teachers’ social-cultural contexts on their beliefs and
practices; the mediating factors which influenced the ways in which beliefs were translated
into practices. From these themes, three models illustrating different aspects of the
relationships between teachers’ beliefs and practices emerged, a personal religious beliefs
model; a social-cultural contexts model and a constraints model. These models were then
combined into an ‘Integrated Understanding Model’’. Implications of this model for developing
STS education and science teacher education and development in Egypt are considered.
References:
Bryan, L. (2003). Nestedness of beliefs: Examining a prospective elementary
teacher’s belief system about science teaching and learning. Journal of research in science education, 40 (9), 835-868.
Hewson, P. & Hewson, M. (1987). Science teachers’ conception of teaching: implication for teacher education. International Journal of Science Education, 9(4), 425-440.
Hewson, P., & Hewson, M. (1988). An appropriate conception of teaching science: A view from studies of science learning. Science Education, 72 (5), 597-614.
King, K., & Wiseman, D. (2001). Comparing Science efficacy beliefs of elementary education majors in integrated and non-integrated teacher education. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 12(2), 143-153.
Reiss, M. J. (2007). Imagining the world: The significance of religious worldviews for science education. Science & Education. June 15, 2007, Available on-line, at http://www.springerlink.com/content/8l44675174184750.
Tsai, C. (2002). Nested epistemologies: science teachers’ beliefs of teaching, learning and science. International Journal of Science Education, 24(8), 771-783.
Windschitl, M., & Andre, T. (1998). Using computer simulations to enhance conceptual change: the roles of constructivist instruction and student
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epistemological beliefs. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 145-160.
Woolfolk, A. Rosoff, B., & Hoy, W. (1990). Teacher’s sense of efficacy and their beliefs about managing students. Teaching and teacher Education, 6(2), 137-148.
Zacharia, Z. (2003). Beliefs, attitude, and intentions of Science teachers regarding the educational use of computer simulations and inquiry-based experiments in physics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40 (8), 792-823.