Abstract：The thesis presents different conceptions of teachers"" beliefs and explores teachers"" beliefs about learners, learning and teaching, and teachers themselves. The findings suggest a strong relationship between teachers"" beliefs and their planning, instructional decisions, and classroom practices.
Key words：teachers"" beliefs, learners, learning and teaching
中图分类号：H319.5 文献标识码： A 文章编号：1672-1578（2012)04-0003-02
1 Conceptions of teachers"" beliefs
A variety of conceptions of teahers"" beliefs have appeared in literature. Porter and Freeman (1986) defined "orientations teaching" as including teachers"" beliefs about students and the learning process, about the role of schools in society, and about teachers themselves, the curriculum, and pedagogy. These predispositions and beliefs also included questions about the purpose of schooling, about teachers"" responsibility for achieving their goals, and about beliefs that students are capable of achieving these goals.
In this thesis, "teachers"" beliefs" refers to the viewpoints that teachers hold trustfully toward teaching, teachers"" role, students and learning in real teaching process, which cover the teacher training experience and individual teacher""s experience. It is the primary guiding principle of teachers"" classroom practice, which may influence the teaching process and students"" achievement in learning.
2 Teachers"" beliefs about learners, about learning and teaching and about teachers themselves
2.1 Beliefs about learners
The sociologist Roland Meighan(as cited in Williams&Burden,2000) has suggested there are at least 7 different ways in which teachers can and do construe learners and that such constructions reflect individual teachers"" views of the world and also have a profound influence on their classroom practice.
In exploring the relationship between teachers"" interest in individual differences and learning styles, Clark and Peterson (as cited in Prawat, 1992) illustrate that teachers tend to focus a great deal on learners, but they seem more concerned with whether the message is being received (i.e., heard or seen by students) than with what sense students are making of it once delivered. Teachers"" beliefs about children""s performance have been posited to affect children""s learning and achievement by influencing children""s perceptions of their competence and other achievement-related beliefs (Eccles&Wigfield, 1985; Stipek, 1996).