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Teachers’ Beliefs, Teacher Education and Teacher Evaluation

Author: HeYi
Tutor: LinWenZhi
School: Southwest China Normal
Course: English Language and Literature
Keywords: Teacher Education Teacher Evaluation English Teacher Teaching skills Faith Classes College English Teaching Teacher capability Professional guidance Decision nature
CLC: H319
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2005
Downloads: 875
Quote: 7
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Abstract

College English teachers are key to the success of college English education. However, many teachers have beliefs about teaching that are incompatible with those underlying the teaching quality enhancement effort. Because these beliefs play a critical role not only in what teachers teach but also in how they teach, this incompatibility blocks further advancement both in teaching reform and teachers’ individual development. More importantly, their beliefs, such as beliefs about teaching, students and efficacy are unexceptionally influenced by the teacher evaluation that is often designed to serve two purposes: to measure teacher competence and to foster professional development and growth. An effective teacher evaluation system should not simply give teachers useful feedback on classroom needs, the opportunity to learn new teaching techniques, and counsel from principals and other teachers on how to make changes in their classrooms but also help teachers construct self-awareness and self-observation which are much as a component of teachers’ ongoing professional development. The prevailing reflective teacher education advocates that without providing teachers the scope to develop their professional proficiency and judgment, their teaching will be reduced to the level of a craft which cannot provide a sound basis for the quality in theforeign language teacher education. The definition of teacher education has shifted from the " teacher training " or "familiarizing teachers with techniques and skills to apply in the classroom" to the conceptions like developing theories in teaching, understanding the nature of decision making and strategies for critical self-awareness and self-assessment. Thus, it is significant to help teachers achieve their further progress by fostering correct teaching beliefs with the implementation of effective teacher evaluation.Since teachers’ beliefs have such a great impact upon their active role in education, it is necessary to examine the nature, sources, application, and significance of teachers’ belief. With a survey carried out among College English teachers in three provincial level colleges of Sichuan province, the thesis aims to investigate the teachers’ beliefs towards teaching practice, current teacher education and evaluation. This survey shows the in-service teachers’ beliefs when they are undergoing the profound changes brought by the reform of higher education. Eighty questions covering various teaching dimensions, education and evaluation are waiting for these teachers’ responses and their actual heavy workload, their teacher-student ratio and class size are taken into account in the survey.Inspired by previous studies about teachers’ beliefs, the thesis also suggests that it is crucially important to innovate teacher education and evaluation for the sake of perfecting the teachers’ belief system embodied in this investigation. Furthermore, This thesis gives a brief account of the views held by the educational administration, educators, and teachers themselves toward teachers’ belief system. On the basis of the research of the current teacher education models, it is suggested that teacher education innovation be strategically launched in the aspects of program-design, pedagogy, and teachers’ self-adaptation. Teachers are demanded to be reflective practitioners so as to offset the discrepancy between their espoused beliefs and theories-in-action; and the critical reflection is aimed not only at the inwards, i.e., an awareness of their own belief system and successive supervision upon the consistence of action and beliefs, but also at the outwards, i.e., the knowledge of others’ views on teaching: collaborative learning and peer assistance.The current teacher evaluation system, which proves to be a traditional top-down one, usually frustrates teachers as displayed in the survey. The suggested new evaluation framework attaches much importance to its evaluation content, validity and its positive effect upon teachers’ professional improvement. A progressive evaluation system can

Teachers’ Beliefs, Teacher Education and Teacher Evaluation

Abstract

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