Going Beyond Belief Systems: Exploring a Model for the Social Influence on Mathematics Teacher Beliefs

This article discusses an approach to teacher belief systems which casts an eye away from cognitive constructs toward sociological constructs to complement existing ideas about the nature and genesis of beliefs. I offer some theoretical ideas for extending the notion of beliefs and describe two contrasting senior mathematics teachers, conceptualising the basis for their differences. These differences move away from beliefs about mathematics, toward ideological and discursive positions which in turn construct the nature of beliefs about teaching and learning.     

新课程理念下中学英语教师信念与课堂教学关系调查

通过访谈,结合问卷调查和实际课堂教学观摩,研究新课程理念下中学英语教师的教学信念与实际课堂教学的情况,结果发现中学英语教师的传统信念已经被现代先进的教师信念所替代。但是,这些信念在实际教学中的执行程度并不高,其主要原因是目前的社会文化环境和课堂教学实际制约了教师信念的实施。     

A Guidance Curriculum for Student Development: A Qualitative Study

This study examined the implementation of developmental guidance as a formal curriculum in a Hong Kong secondary school. A qualitative approach was employed to explore teachers' perceptions of the curriculum and of the factors which facilitated or hindered its implementation. The study found that teachers perceived the curriculum exerting positive effects on students' self-appreciation, self-control and behaviour, and on teachers' attitudes and management style. Implementation of this curriculum also facilitated a more inviting school atmosphere. Teachers' acceptance of the belief advocated in the curriculum, the use of experiential teaching approaches, and support from the school system were crucial in the process of implementation. The implications of the findings for school's implementation of developmental guidance via a formal curriculum were discussed.     

Adapting Reform Ideas in Different Mathematics Classrooms: Beliefs Beyond Mathematics

The goals of this study are to understandelementary school teachers' beliefs andpractices and to unveil factors that influencethe way teachers adapt mathematics reformrhetoric when trying to adopt it. In theresearch, I searched for beliefs beyondmathematics that influence teachers' decisionsand choices for teaching mathematics. Workingwith children from different socioeconomicbackgrounds, teachers interpret reform indifferent ways. Based on their concept of students' needs, teachers select which partsof the reform documents are appropriate fortheir students. While children from uppersocioeconomic backgrounds experience problemsolving, those from lower socioeconomicbackgrounds undergo rote learning. Because notall children have the opportunity to learn thesame quality mathematics, the emerging concernof this study is the issue of equity inmathematics teaching.     

Is there room for multidimensional learning in a standardized curriculum?

This article presents the results of a study that interpreted views of curriculum and practice of teacher education faculty at a public institution of higher learning in the USA. It offers information about the ongoing challenges of affecting a balanced approach to teacher education at colleges and universities in a standardized learning setting. Participants' responses indicated professors perceive curriculum and standardization differently than instructors. Professors are more likely to describe the curriculum they teach ideologically whereas instructors described course content or paraphrased course titles. Further, professors were more likely to question whether they were meeting the needs of students and the impact of the standardization of curriculum. These findings raise many questions about the intellectual integrity of teacher preparation programs that are increasingly standardized and increasingly reliant on instructors rather than tenured faculty to teach program courses.     

教师个人教育观念:反思与改善教师教育的新视角

教师教育的低效性部分缘于教师教育过程中对教师个人教育观念的忽视。教师个人教育观念对教师教育具有重要意义。从教师个人教育观念的视角可以发现教师教育存在的诸多问题及其深层原因,因此应该将教师个人教育观念作为教师教育的起点,在此基础上改善教师教育的理念、内容与方式。     

Teacher beliefs and the mediation of curriculum innovation in Scotland: A socio‐cultural perspective on professional development and change

The purpose of this study was to investigate socio‐cultural factors underpinning curriculum change by examining teacher beliefs in the context of professional development. Scottish teachers in the study were participating in policy implementation based on formative assessment. Teachers were selected who were positive about the formative assessment initiative, so as to examine the inter‐relationships amongst beliefs, policy, and practices when teachers intended to implement curriculum innovation. The aims of the study were to investigate: (a) the nature of teachers’ beliefs about teaching, learning, and the professional development programme; (b) how those beliefs influenced the teachers’ mediation of reform policy in their own classrooms; and (c) points of resonance or tension between teacher’s beliefs and the council’s philosophy towards and management of policy implementation. A qualitative interpretive cross‐case study approach was used with five participant teachers from different secondary subject areas. Results suggested that the unique stance of district administrators to give teachers the opportunity to create their own reform methods, a ‘bottom up’ mode of implementation, appeared to be a significant factor in promoting the reform policy.     

More than a conversation: using cogenerative dialogues in the professional development of high school chemistry teachers

This paper focuses on content-based and pedagogical instructors’ use of cogenerative dialogues to improve instructional practice and to evaluate program effectiveness in a professional development program for high school chemistry teachers. We share our research findings from using cogenerative dialogues as an evaluative tool for general assessment of various program-related issues. We discuss how engaging students in cogenerative dialogues improved teaching and learning in chemistry and chemistry education courses. This research provides insights and direction for improving content-based professional development programs for science teachers and the learning experiences of high school science students. Cogenerative dialogue has the potential to expand evaluation methodologies that will position participants more centrally in not only the collection of data, but also the analysis of these data to catalyze transformative practices in educational programs.

教师个体教育观念:反思与改善教师教育的新机制

教师教育的低效性部分地缘于教师教育过程中对教师个体教育观念的忽视。教师个体教育观念对教师教育具有重要意义。从教师个体教育观念的角度可以发现教师教育的诸多问题及其深层原因,因此应该将教师个体教育观念作为教师教育的起点,在此基础上改善教师教育的理念、内容与方式。     

Beliefs and gender differences: A new model for research in mathematics education

The major focus of this study is to propose a new research model, namely the Modified CGI gender model, for the study of gender differences in mathematics. This model is developed based on Fennema, Carpenter, and Peterson’s (1989) CGI model. To examine the validity of this new model, this study also examines the gender differences in teacher and student beliefs about mathematics and compares gender differences between teacher and student beliefs about the importance and difficulty of certain mathematics topics. Using the British Columbia Mathematics Assessment data, the study conducted a series of ANOVA. The findings of this study indicate that the new model appears to be a useful tool to describe gender differences in mathematics and to guide research in this area. The conclusions drawn from the data analysis show that male and female teachers differed significantly in their beliefs about Numbers and Operations. Male teachers perceived this topic to be more important than female teachers. Second, gender differences have been largely found in student beliefs about the difficulty of the selected topics. Finally, gender differences found in teacher beliefs are similar to the gender differences in student beliefs about the importance and difficulty of mathematics topics.