scholarly journals Teachers’ beliefs about child participation in Grade R

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naseema Shaik
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Child Participation ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Different Sources

<p>The focus of this paper is to examine teachers’ beliefs about child participation in Grade R. Five Grade R teachers working with children between the ages of five and six participated in this study. Participants were interviewed about their epistemological beliefs on teaching and learning in Grade R and specifically the role of child participation in development at this grade level. Data were analysed deductively using typologies by Perry and Rokeach. The findings of this study showed that these teachers’ beliefs concerning child participation were complex, ‘messy’, context-bound and did not fall neatly into one category. Teachers’ views were multidimensional: primitive, dualistic, derived, multiplistic or relative. Teachers drew from different sources of experience and their own knowing to shape their thinking about children’s participatory roles in the Grade R experience and implementation of child participation. The findings show how teachers’ beliefs were influenced by issues of background, tradition, power and voice.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>teacher beliefs; Grade R; child participation</p>

Adopting Technology in Third World Classrooms: Students' Viewpoint about Computers in Science Teaching and Learning

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olugbemiro J. Jegede ◽  
Peter Akinsola Okebukola
Keyword(s):  
Grade Level ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Third World ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Nigerian Students ◽  
Senior Secondary ◽  
Developed World

The use of computers in education, which has emerged as a result of the considerable growth in information technology, has several implications for the global search for effective strategies in teaching school subjects. In contrast to what happens in the developed world, several developing countries like Nigeria are yet to fully appreciate the full benefits of computers and their usage in every day life. In Nigeria the Federal Government has only just taken the bold step to introduce computers into some selected classrooms as a modest beginning to the full scale use of computers in the society. The literature is replete with accounts indicating that the importation of several ideas into environments other than where they have been developed or meant, has often caused pedagogic and cultural problems. The paradigm of constructivism argues for the need to begin any instructional endeavor with pupils constructing their own knowledge using prior knowledge. This proposition motivated this study with the aim of seeking information that could be relevant to the effective introduction and use of computer in Third World classrooms. What for example, do Nigerian pupils perceive as the role of computers in the classroom? What is their concept of a computer and do they nurse any apprehensions? What sociocultural consequences would this have? This study was designed to gather and provide answers to these and other related questions. Using a four-part questionnaire with a total of 29 items, data were collected from a sample of 200 senior secondary one (grade level 10) students from the Lagos metropolitan area. The results of this study strongly suggest that the majority of Nigerian students: welcome and are enthusiastic about the introduction of computers into their classrooms; are concerned about their socio-economic status; demonstrate possession of computers have significant effect on their attitudes; and most of the students nurse some social and cultural apprehensions regarding the presence of computers in their classrooms.

scholarly journals Initial Beliefs of Preservice Chemistry Teachers in Croatia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-57
Author(s):  
Lana Šojat
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Chemistry Teachers ◽  
Teaching Objectives ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching ◽  
Teacher Professional

In the past thirty years, there have been many political changes in Croatia. These changes have had an impact on the education system, as well. The success of such educational changes depends on the teacher. The importance of teachers’ knowledge and their beliefs about teaching and learning for their action in the classroom is well known. Beliefs influence teachers’ representation of science, science knowledge and the organisation of knowledge and information. Keeping teacher professional development in mind, preservice teachers’ beliefs need to be sought out and examined by educators. These beliefs should be developed in the direction of teaching chemistry taking into account recent reforms, as well as teaching and learning theories. Various studies have been undertaken in different education backgrounds and systems regarding the beliefs of both preservice and in-service teachers. These studies show different results depending on the context in which they are undertaken. Transferring data to the Croatian system is therefore difficult. However, there are no studies in Croatia focusing on the teachers’ beliefs regrading teaching and learning chemistry. The present study evaluates the initial beliefs of preservice chemistry teachers in Croatia. The participants were instructed to draw themselves as chemistry teachers in a typical classroom situation in chemistry, and to answer four open questions. Data analysis follows a pattern representing a range between the predominance of more traditional orientations versus more modern teaching orientations, in line with educational theory focusing on: 1) beliefs about classroom organisation, 2) beliefs about teaching objectives, and 3) epistemological beliefs. The data revealed mostly traditional and teacher-centred knowledge among all of the participants. In the present paper, the data will be discussed and the implications for Croatian chemistry teacher training will be established.

scholarly journals A new approach to understanding teachers’ classroom practices

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyla Alsalim
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Teacher Practices ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Recent Reform

Teaching is generally considered a complex practice that involves the constant and dynamic interaction between the teacher, the students and the subject matter. One of the main goals of most education reform initiatives has been to change teachers’ classroom practices. Most recent reform curricula focus on highlighting teacher practices that promote and evoke students’ understanding alongside the changes in content (Tirosh & Graeber, 2003). Changes to a teacher’s role that are included in the education reform movement call for more research in order to understand and theorise teachers’ classroom practices. In this paper, I will present patterns-of-participation (PoP) as a promising framework that aims to understand the role of the teacher for emerging classroom practices. Instead of relying on a traditional approach to understanding classroom practices by analysing teachers’ beliefs, this framework applies a participatory approach to look for patterns in the participation of individual teachers in many social practices at the school and in the classroom. Some of these practices are directly related to the teaching and learning of mathematics while others are not. And some of them relate to communities that are not actually present in the classroom or at the school. PoP views teachers’ social interaction in a certain community as a piece which is influenced by other pieces of social interactions. In every interaction, the ‘pieces’ shape a ‘fluctuating pattern' that shows the shifting impact of different, previous practices and the dynamic relations between them (Skott, 2010; 2011; 2013).

scholarly journals Explorations of Beliefs about EFL Teachers’ Roles from Both Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives through Metaphor Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (29) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharihan Shawkat Azeez
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The University

Metaphor acts as a window into comprehending teachers’ experiences through providing insights into complex concepts of teaching and learning. As a result, it plays a crucial role in exploring beliefs about teachers’ roles in the teaching and learning process. To elicit ideas and beliefs which both teachers and students held about the role of English teachers, questionnaires were given to 30 teachers and 85 students in the University of Duhok, English Department. The questionnaire asked the subjects to provide their beliefs about English teachers’ roles by using a sentence completion task “An English teacher is…. because….”. Eight conceptual categories are introduced from the linguistic metaphors and example metaphors for each category are given in the results tables. The eight conceptual categories include: teacher as devotee, teacher as nurturer, teachers as provider / source of knowledge, teacher as cultural transmitter, teacher as authority, teacher as guider, teacher as a friend, and teacher as a nice beautiful soul. All participants expressed the same conceptual categories, but still they use different metaphors to express their views. An interesting feature of these results is that there are some parallel and overlaps of metaphors among different subjects. The findings of this study suggested subtle differences between students’ and teachers’ beliefs. This study will benefit teachers, curriculum designers, and researchers. Researchers may carry out comprehensive studies using metaphor as an investigating tool to better understand both students and teachers’ perceptions of the teachers’ roles. The results will help develop comprehensive and inclusive methods of teaching. Larger samples with variables such as gender, age, different locations, and proficiency of participants should be taken into consideration during future studies.

scholarly journals Segregated in the City, Separated in the School. The Reproduction of Social Inequality through the School System

Urban Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Aina Gomà Garcia ◽  
Joel Muñoz Aranda
Keyword(s):  
Educational Level ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Educational Levels ◽  
Youth Survey ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Educational Careers

This paper explores the relationship between urban segregation and the educational level of the population. In the first place, the impacts of segregation in educational careers are analysed. Secondly, the contribution explores the interrelationship between urban segregation and schooling in Barcelona. For this aim, different sources have been used: The map of urban segregation in Catalonia at the census tract level; data about the formal educational levels of the population, aged between 15 and 34 years, from the Catalan Youth Survey (Enquesta de Joventut de Catalunya); and schooling data in Barcelona’s schools and neighbourhoods. The research shows how urban segregation effects the educational level and fosters social inequalities amongst neighbourhoods. It also points out how choosing school and enrolment strategies could act by increasing school segregation in Barcelona. Therefore, the role of segregation in the reproduction and perpetuation of inequalities in the living conditions of the population is exposed.

scholarly journals Teacher Beliefs, Knowledge, and Reported Practices Regarding Numeracy Outcomes in the Solomon Islands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Adrian Alamu
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Interview Protocol ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

<p>The low level of basic numeracy achievement in the Solomon Islands education system is a growing concern to key stakeholders. Apart from monitoring numeracy standards, no attempt has been made to explore how Solomon Islands teachers structure mathematics teaching and learning, or the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning in schools. It has been widely recognised that teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and practices are major influences in teaching and learning mathematics in classroom situations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore Solomon Islands primary school teachers' beliefs, knowledge, reported practices, and professional learning experiences that enhance numeracy outcomes. The review of literature thus focuses on teacher beliefs about mathematics, its teaching, and learning; teacher pedagogical content knowledge; and professional development. Sixteen mainly urban based primary school teachers were interviewed to explore teachers' beliefs, pedagogical content knowledge, and professional learning experiences. A phenomenological approach to qualitative methodology was adopted to explore the phenomenon. A methodological triangulation of data collection was used involving a Belief Cards exercise and a semi-structured interview protocol. The combination of these methods helped to provide a coherent picture of teacher beliefs, knowledge, and practices. The results were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings of the Belief Cards exercise showed that individual teachers held disparate and inconsistent views and beliefs about mathematics, its teaching, and learning. Although the majority of the teachers agreed with beliefs about the nature of mathematics as problem solving and favoured pupil-centred approaches, when it came to specific beliefs representing pedagogic strategies about teaching and learning of mathematics, teachers held differing views about linking mathematics to real life situations; mathematics as teacher-centred and transmitted, and pupils as passive listeners; and teachers' enthusiasm about doing mathematics. The study also indicates most study teachers displayed a combination of traditional-transmission and contemporary-constructivist beliefs and views about mathematics, its teaching, and its learning. Further findings based on the interview protocol included that almost 50 per cent of the teachers claimed to have insufficient knowledge about mathematical content and theoretical perspectives about learning, inadequate specific mathematics teaching resources, and 75 per cent claimed a lack of ongoing professional development support in mathematics. Some constructivist mathematical practices were reported; however, the teaching described by some teachers tended to reflect the traditional-transmission approach to teaching and learning of mathematics. The overall results showed a disparity between teacher beliefs and practices exists.</p>

Teacher Beliefs and Epistemologies

Education ◽  
2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Belief ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Core ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Self Learning ◽  
Core Issues

Teacher beliefs are implicit and explicit suppositions held by educators which have relevance for their professional and instructional practices, interactions with students, and learning processes. They may include beliefs about students, self, learning, knowledge, and knowing. Beliefs about knowledge and knowing—teacher epistemologies—are a specific and important type of teacher belief. Teacher beliefs and epistemologies merit investigation given their influence on teaching practices and student learning, yet the form, nature, development, and propensity to change with respect to these constructs are open to question. Further, their expression in teachers’ practice is complex, not least because both the construct and content of “belief” and “epistemology” are equivocal, elaborate, and closely connected to other constructs. Much of the teacher beliefs and epistemology research has emerged from the field of educational psychology. This chapter describes five central issues related to teachers’ beliefs and epistemologies during recent decades. Similar core issues were identified in the Oxford Research Encyclopedias in Education article “Reviews of Teachers’ Beliefs.” Within each of five sections, which represent the core issues in the field, we first explore teacher beliefs in general followed by teacher epistemologies specifically. In the first section, we provide general overviews of teacher beliefs and epistemologies to introduce the reader to key texts in both fields. The second section is a review of conceptualizations of teacher beliefs and epistemologies, in which we highlight the ways in which beliefs and epistemologies are characterized. The third section explores relationships between teachers’ beliefs/epistemologies and teaching and learning practices. Measuring teachers’ beliefs and epistemologies is the focus of the fourth section, which explicates different ways in which beliefs and epistemologies have been studied. Finally, in the fifth section, we examine research and theorization about the ways in which teachers’ beliefs and epistemologies might undergo change.

scholarly journals Role of Smart Applications for Teaching Mathematics at Government School in Oman

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jomana Saif Mahfudhi ◽  
Juhaina Al Raisi ◽  
Vikas Rao Naidu ◽  
Bushra Al Kalbani ◽  
Rajani Rani Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning System ◽  
School Level ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Government School ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Different Sources

Education technology is important for every educational organization in these days. With the advancement in smart technology and Wi-fi enabled campus, it is possible to implement various online and e-learning tools to support the educational content in order to enhance teaching and learning experience. This research aims to apply such technology into practice at the primary school level, where the teachers will be able to customize or develop their own applications using some freely available resources. This will facilitate an understanding of mathematics through customized user experience and even a teacher with minimal knowledge of computer will be able to make use of technology to make the mathematics class more interesting. This research collected data from different sources such as questionnaires and interviews. The authors found from the data that majority of the participants strongly agreed that such e-learning system was greatly beneficial, especially, for the abstract subjects such as mathematics.

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