A Successful Method of Teaching Primary Students Reading - Essay Example

Running head: HOW TEACHER BELIEFS, ASSUMPTIONS AND KNOWLEDGE MAY AFFECT THE CONTENT OF A LESSON/COURSE. How Teacher Beliefs, Assumptions And Knowledge May Affect The Content Of A Lesson/Course. [Writer’s name] [Institution’s name] How Teacher Beliefs, Assumptions And Knowledge May Affect The Content Of A Lesson/Course. Introduction Teaching primary school children how to read has always been something important. However, to manage such a difficult task teachers tend to follow a set of beliefs along with theories. These beliefs become the teacher’s source of designing successful method of teaching primary students reading. Teachers’ beliefs and values, and their relationship to classroom action, are increasingly coming to be accepted as an important dimension in understanding teaching Richardson (1996) has reviewed this construct and presented a working definition. She says beliefs “name, define, and describe the structure and content of mental that are thought to drive a person’s actions” (p. 102). They cannot be directly observed or measured; therefore, beliefs must be inferred from people’s verbalizations and actions (Pajares, 1992). Teaching beliefs are part of one’s broader general belief system (Pajares, 1992). The following paper shall discuss how teachers’ beliefs have an effect on the teaching reading to primary school students. Analysis Within the educational literature, the study of teaching beliefs has been problematic due to poor and often conflicting conceptualizations, lack of definitional clarity, and dissimilar understandings about beliefs (Pajares, 1992). Teaching beliefs usually develop from personal experience (Clandinin, 1986), prior schooling and instructing experiences (Anning, 1988; Britzman, 1991; Knowles, 1992), and interaction with formal knowledge. Formal knowledge may be imparted, for example, through interaction with school personnel, books, television, and religious classes. A number of studies have shown the resilience of the teachers’ beliefs; their entrenched ideas strongly affect what and how they internalize the content of the teacher education program (Massengill, Mahlios, and Barry, 2005; Britzman, 1991; Calderhead & Robson, 1991). These studies have indicated that teacher education programs and university preparation have minimal impact; pre-service teachers possibly aligned their opinions with the prevailing university culture in a veneer-type layer to insulate themselves, but there was no real change. Bullough, Knowles, and Crow (1992) and Butt and Raymond (1987) assert that these held beliefs of teachers influence how teachers think, act, and view the teaching experience. Too often, ideas and views of pre-service teachers have been ignored (Carter, 1990; Connelly & Clandinin, 1988). Pajares (1992) stated that the lack of exploring the teachers’ beliefs may be one cause for outdated and ineffective teaching practices. Consequently, their beliefs should be recognized, valued, and acted upon by teacher educators. It has been in more recent years that research has shown the impact of teacher education programs on teacher beliefs. Grossman et al. (2000) followed teachers during the first 3 years of their career. They learned that teacher education programs can affect beginning teachers’ thinking and practice. They alert researchers to not make conclusions based solely on the first year of teaching. Based on more than a decade of research, there appears to be contradicting evidence on the influence of teacher education programs. Zeichner and Gore’s (1990) theory of teacher socialization posits that an individual becomes a participating member in the society of teachers through a process that is influenced by pretraining experiences as a pupil, formal pre-service teacher education, and in-service years of teaching. Academic analysis alone is insufficient for encouraging personal responses to beliefs; teacher candidates become socialized into the profession during the practice teaching component. Meaning is derived through social interaction between persons and modified through a largely internal process of interpretation. Becoming a professional teacher is an interactive, dynamic, and interpretive process between the meaning making of a novice teacher in relation to the context of his teacher education program and the context of his actual practice. This theory of teacher socialization promotes coalescence and coherence between thought and action. Zeichner and Gore’s (1990) theoretical framework was used in this research study for examining teachers’ belief. Researchers have looked at the question of beliefs and practices in reading instruction in different ways. The researchers have utilized methods like self-report instruments, interviews, observations, and at times they even used all three methods together. Frerichs (1993) , carried out a study on sixteen kindergarten teachers . It was carried out in 7 different schools of the same district. The researcher utilized a survey method. The study was carried out to find out if the teachers beliefs and practices were related in 4 basic areas of teaching : Reading, Writing, concept regarding Print, as well as Letters and their association with Sound. The researcher then used correlations, the results yielded a weak relation between teachers’ beliefs and practices. The results yielded no significant correlations for Reading area and only four teacher’s results showed that they combined the reading beliefs with their practices when teaching reading. The teachers in this study basically held whole-language beliefs however the practices they applied in their classrooms differed from their belief system. Where as, Burgess et al. (2001) in study found that the teacher’s beliefs regarding reading matched completely with their preferred practices. The researchers took an survey of 240 teachers all over Virginia. They then used factor analysis and ANOVA analyze their data. The results yielded were positive. The teachers believed in a whole-language oriented approach, and that is exactly what they applied in their classroom whilst teaching reading Islam (1999) carried out a study on preschool, kindergarten as well as first grade teachers in Mississippi. After carrying out study when the researcher made a comparison of the beliefs, practices, and knowledge of the selected sample , it yielded a high positive correlation of 86 between beliefs and activities reflected in the class of the teachers who taught reading. Whereas Frerichs (1993)’s concluded that the belief system of teachers had no effect on their calls room practices during teaching reading. On the other hand, Burgess et al. and Islam’s studies concluded that there was a high positive correlation between the teaching methods and beliefs of primary school teachers. As to why there is the huge variation in results of the above mentioned studies is still not clear , it may be possible that Frerichs did not present sufficient data regarding the sample where Burgess et al. and Islam gave ample data regarding their sample. Another study which supports the notion that the teacher’s belief system effects eth calls room practices during teaching primary school children reading was carried out by Foertsch (2003). The researcher’s study concluded that the teachers of kindergarten till eighth grade implement practices in their class regarding reading and language which completely was based on their belief system. When they were requested to rate themselves on a scale they said that they were balanced when it came to their belief systems and approaches they utilized. Moreover, the Georgia Department of Education, for the assessment one its most well known Reading First program, analyzed the beliefs and practices of primary school teachers by organizing discussion groups, visiting schools and carrying out surveys. The researcher’s study conclude that most of their sample’s belief system was according to the Reading First program, and thus the reading activates they held in their classroom was according to the before mentioned program. Furthermore, the researchers also found that a small number of differences were present in the beliefs or practices of teachers who used the program in question and those who used other reading programs. Excluding Frerichs (1993)’s study, the before mentioned studies provides ample proof to the fact that beliefs and practices of primary school teachers who teach reading tend to match. The researcher in which the practices of the teachers were based on the belief system, the teachers followed the curriculum which was based on their beliefs. (Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, 2005). The important role of teachers’ beliefs in mediating the extent to which they will adopt innovations in curriculum or pedagogy, or accept advice and support from external sources, has been highlighted by a number of educational researchers (Richardson et al., 1991). They have pointed out that ignoring teachers’ beliefs in implementing innovations can lead to disappointing results in the longer term Although teachers’ beliefs and values, and their relationship to classroom action, is increasingly coming to be accepted as an important dimension in understanding teaching, it is an area of research in which there has been considerable diversity of approach. Apart of the problem has been that beliefs, and their relationship to knowledge, have been defined in different ways by educational researchers. Some researchers, usually within a psychological perspective ( Kagan, 1990), assume beliefs and knowledge to be the same; whereas others, often with an interest in philosophy and epistemology (Fenstermacher, 1994), have drawn a distinction between them. A further challenge has been the fact that teachers’ beliefs and values are often implicit and not easy to access directly. The relationship between beliefs and practice is complex: it appears to be dialectical rather than unilateral, in that practice does not always follow directly from beliefs; and, sometimes, changes in belief may come after, or as a result of, change in practice. In an overview of research on the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practice. Fang (1996, p. 52) identifies the `consistency thesis’ as dominating much of this work. He points out that researchers have reached varied conclusions about the degree to which teachers’ beliefs and practice are consistent. He also points out that in research on reading, a substantial number of studies support the notion that teachers possess theoretical beliefs towards reading; and that such beliefs tend to shape the nature of their teaching (Richardson et al., 1991). However, other studies . Highlight apparent inconsistency between teachers’ stated beliefs, intentions, and their observed classroom practice. Duffy and Anderson, (1984) suggest that although there may be some congruence between practice and beliefs, the relationship is not strong. Pajares (1992, p. 326) warns that regarding teachers’ educational beliefs as detached from, and unconnected to, broader belief systems and values, is `ill-advised and probably unproductive’. Drawing on the work of Munby (1982, p. 216), he suggests that when teachers’ beliefs about a particular subject are inconsistent with their practice in that area, it may be that different and weightier beliefs are the cause. Pajares (1992)claimed that it is vital to think of relations amongst beliefs, instead of beliefs as autonomous sub-systems. Apparently inconsistent findings can happen to clearer and more important once educational beliefs are circumspectly conceptualized, and their implications seen against the background of a broader belief system. Pajares (1992) maintains that, overall, despite the theoretical and methodological diversity in studies of teachers’ beliefs, the research literature does suggest that teachers’ educational and pedagogical beliefs and values influence their classroom practice and teaching decisions. But he also cautions that researchers need to examine and make explicit their assumptions, and operational definitions of teachers’ beliefs in order to make clearer what has been considered to be a `messy construct’ (ibid., p. 329). Teacher educators regard entering beliefs of teachers as starting points in learning to teach (Borko & Putnam, 1996). Borko and Putnam (1996) specify that teacher education programs “must help prospective teachers make their implicit beliefs explicit and create opportunities for them to confront the potential inadequacy of those beliefs” (p. 701). Most of the teachers firmly believe even at the end of the course that reading aloud and testing usually plays a central role in reading comprehension classes. The source of such misconceptions lie both with their prior experiences of reading lessons, which they uncritically accepted as adequate, as well as with their own inadequate reading skills. Their prior beliefs will interfere with their acquisition of theory and appropriate instructional procedures to teach reading. It is not that the new material will not have any effect at all. Teacher usually selectively chosen components from their readings and lectures, but with varying degrees of integration; for some teachers the components remain in a fragmented form, while others developed more interlinked networks. However, there is a struggle to incorporate the new ideas with their old views of treating reading as a test of reading comprehension. In short, if teachers have poor experiences during their own schooldays, that is if they did not receive adequate instruction to manage their reading tasks, then they are willing to explore strategies in their teaching. In this way their beliefs regarding reading are formed .The effects of such negative experiences have also been noted by Knowles & Holt-Reynolds (1991). But when teachers consider their own school experiences as adequate, they are less open to change. To begin this review, a discussion of the term self-efficacy is in order. The term self-efficacy derives from Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which highlights the important ace of individual’s ability to give special attention to self-organizing, self-regulating, proactive, as well as self-reflecting in effecting the way that people behave. Self-efficacy is defined as an individual’s feelings about their abilities to produce. Selected amounts of performance that have an effect on events that influence their lives (Bandura 1994). This ability is even present in teachers who teach reading. Their beliefs about their abilities to successful teach primary school children, are usually moulded due to this ability. Educators make constant decisions in their classrooms regarding practice, and their beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and priorities both shape these decisions and are related to their classroom behaviours (Fang 1996). One of the few studies to specifically examine preschool teachers’ literacy beliefs was conducted in Australia by Ure and Raban (2001). They argued that primary school teacher’ beliefs regarding reading have an effect on the selection of resources made available to their students as well as the point to which students are encouraged to investigate print-related experiences. The researchers also found that preschool teachers had an overwhelming uncertainty about the role of literacy in their programs and believed that their knowledge about early literacy development was limited. Therefore, they felt less competent in their roles as early childhood educators. For many of the early educators in their study, preschool teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about how they should approach early literacy came solely from their own experiences as students in the classroom. In a very real sense, the teacher’s personal thoughts, beliefs, values, and practices about literacy remain opaque, as does the impact of these on students’ exposure to and experiences with literacy. Relatively few examples exist in which preservice or in-service teachers are requested to replicate on their ongoing personal reading practices, the history or storyline (Meyers, 1996) of their practices, and in what ways they believe these practices connect to classroom pedagogy and climate. Therefore, a question that might be asked is “How do teachers’ literate selves as represented in their personal literacy beliefs and practices connect across home and classrooms?” As Drake, Spillane, and Hufferd-Ackles (2001) argued, “What and how teachers learn is also shaped by and situated in their identities, both as teachers and as learners” (p. 2). Further, their “literate identities”—their sense of self as literate people, their knowledge and beliefs about literacy, and their values and dispositions toward literacy in and out of the classroom (Drake et al., 2001) likely shape how teachers create contexts for becoming literate and connecting to literacy in the classroom. . Therefore, another question that might be asked is “In what ways, if any, are classroom learners exposed to teachers’ interest in texts, approaches to texts, and ruminations about the joys and challenges of texts?” What is needed is an exploration of how teachers’ background experiences, values, and beliefs might contribute to developing supportive reading methods at school. Personal attributes and unique experiences of beginning teachers who teach reading are likely to play a powerful role in shaping their classroom practices as well as their understanding of teaching and learning. Personal attributes also consist of the teacher’s belief system and individual characteristics. It is proved that, the experiences which teachers had when they were primary and secondary school students has an effect on the methods they use in their classroom (Richardson, 1996). Students of teaching provide influential, theories based on their past experiences regarding classroom practices in their method of teaching (Holt-Reynolds, 1992). Concepts and beliefs regarding teaching reading and language. Due to this it strongly affects how new and experienced teachers learn things regarding teaching. It even effects how they implement teaching methods in their classroom. (Richardson, 1996). Conclusion From the above given analysis it is safe to conclude that when primary school teachers design a method for teaching reading to the class, they tend to reproduce what they beliefs. Beliefs tend to play an important role in class room practices of teachers. This also serves as something positive in their method of teaching children how to read. They tend to use what they experienced in their schools or what is taught to them in educational programs either way their beliefs help them to produce good readers. As the base of reading starts from primary school, their belief based practices at times may also be flawed. At times students may not be able to cope with the method the teachers are using. However, it could be said that teacher tend to use their belief system to teach reading to students. References Anning A. (1988) . Teachers' professional learning, Teachers' theories about children's learning. ed Calderhead J New York : Falmer Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V.S. Ramachaudran (Ed.) Encyclopedia of human behaviour Vol.4, . New York: Academic Press Borko, H., & Putnam, R. T. (1996). Learning to teach. In D. C. Berliner, & R. C. Calfee (Ed.), Handbook of educational psychology Britzman, D. P. (1991). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach. Albany: State University of New York Press Bullough, R. V., Jr., Knowles, J. G., & Crow, N. A. (1992). Emerging as a teacher. New York: Routledge. Burgess, K. A., Lundren, K. A., Lloyd, J. W., & Pianta, R. C. (2000). 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