This study aimed to explore Taiwanese piano teachers’ beliefs about good teaching, and their practice, particularly teachers who teach beginners or young children; and to gain understanding of how Taiwanese piano teachers perceive creativity in their teaching. The perceptions of piano teaching of seven Taiwanese teachers were explored through using a qualitative methodology, which included an open questionnaire, two interviews separated by observation of classroom practice, and a reflective diary prepared by the participants which was facilitated by video-stimulated recall. The principal areas and findings of my research were that Taiwanese piano teachers’ beliefs about what constituted good lessons are diverse. These were explored from three perspectives, namely, the characteristics of effective teachers, the components of effective lessons, and effective teaching strategies. The participant teachers’ attitudes towards creativity in teaching were also different, and can be categorised as ranging from fixed and rigid, to flexible and open. They identified several teaching strategies as creative teaching, such as using metaphor, storytelling, and Internet resources. Additionally, their various purposes in using creative teaching were observed to be to develop learners’ musical abilities; for enjoyment; and to impart a specific teaching point. Although the teachers’ own experiences were found to have a positive effect on their teaching beliefs, the influence of these benefits was not always evident in their actual practice. Pupils’ low motivation to learn and insufficient practice were considered as the common challenges and, when reflecting on their own teaching in the second interview and in the diaries, most of the participants focused mainly on analysis of pupils’ playing errors, and tended to believe that repeated practice by the learners was the best approach to improving performance. In contrast, two teachers believed their expertise in both music and teaching could help their learners to deal with learning difficulties. Based on these research results, I conclude that creativity in piano lessons can be understood from two perspectives. The first relates to how teachers perceive their own teaching and whether they are content with what they do or seek to develop their teaching competence; the other is associated with teachers’ own philosophy of the function of education, which affects how teachers develop their teaching.

A few reasons taken together have led to the undertaking of this study: an urgent need to examine classroom teaching in the drastically growing teaching-Chinese-as-a-second/foreign-language (TCSL/TCFL) industry; a personal interest in probing a cross-cultural Chinese teacher’s treatment of communication in teaching; and the implications from theories of teacher beliefs and practice. Thus, this study investigated how a TCFL teacher posits her teaching beliefs and practice in light of her communicative habits when facing a variety of tensions (e.g., those from culture, ideology, educational tradition, curricular prescription, and pedagogical trend). This qualitative case study was triangulated with multiple data sources: interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, with an experienced teacher in Canada who has taught in both China and Canada. The findings of the study supported the literature on teacher beliefs and practice, and on the implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT). The majority of this teacher’s practices were based on the premise that they corresponded to the actualization of her beliefs. Meanwhile, there existed a few minor gaps between her educational beliefs and practices. This teacher demonstrated adaptability in tailoring her teaching to be most suitable in meeting her educational needs and beliefs. This study first provides insights to TCFL classroom teaching and program development in North America with CLT implementation in this area. In addition, the results of the study have implications for the evolving process of teachers’ belief systems and patterns of practice and future research into this field. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-06-25 17:02:58.559

No description available.

This dissertation is a combination of two manuscripts. By using autoethnography in manuscript one, this study first reflects on my learning English as a foreign language journey and the influences that brought to my life. The seven stories in this study cover many aspects of foreign language education, including teaching contents, teaching methods, and teacher preparation. Through the lens of autoethnography, I will further explore factors that influence foreign language education. Through detailed analysis, I discover language learning is not isolated. Foreign language teaching and learning will be influenced by economy, politics, cultures, and society. Based on these findings, I ask many thought-provoking questions on foreign language education, such as teaching contents and teaching methods. Manuscript two is traditional qualitative research using ethnographic methods. I use in-depth interviews to explore teachers' beliefs and practices of one supervisor and three foreign language teachers. I first present findings on their beliefs and practices in foreign language teaching and learning, including changes and challenges in the division's language education and foreign language teachers' beliefs and practices and their alignment with the ACTFL Standards. I will also use the ACTFL Standards as a lens to analyze how their beliefs and practices match with the 5Cs: Communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, communities. Finally, I will provide suggestions for future similar studies. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation is a combination of two manuscripts. Manuscript one reflects on the author's journey learning English as a foreign language and the influences that had brought to her life. The seven stories in this study cover many aspects in foreign language education, including teaching content, teaching methods, and teachers' preparation. The author further explores the causes and other related factors in foreign language education. Through detailed analysis, the author discovers language learning is not isolated. Foreign language teaching and learning will be influenced by economy, politics, cultures, and society. Manuscript two is traditional qualitative research using ethnographic methods. The author uses interviews to explore teachings beliefs and practices of one supervisor and three foreign language teachers. She provides suggestions for future studies.

The aim of this investigation was to predict the extent of curriculum implementation in early childhood education from several variables defined as (1) school related factors, (2) teacher demographics, (3) teaching beliefs, and (4) teacher self-efficacy beliefs. A total of 308 early childhood teachers employed in public schools in the central districts of Ankara, Turkey, selected through cluster sampling, composed the sample of this study. Data were collected with the instrument including Curriculum Implementation Scale, Turkish Version of the Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy Scale, Teacher Beliefs Survey, and Personal Information Form. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to provide evidence for validity and reliability of the scales. Two separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses were, moreover, employed at the alpha level of .025 to answer research questions. The results overall demonstrated that teacher self-efficacy and teaching beliefs significantly predicted the extent early childhood teachers implemented current curriculum as regards content selection and learning process, while teacher demographics were only significant for the extent of curriculum implementation regarding learning process. On the other hand, school related factors did not contribute to the extent of curriculum implementation for both content selection and learning process. In particular, constructivist teaching beliefs and teacher efficacy beliefs for student engagement and instructional strategies explained the extent of curriculum implementation regarding content selection. Considering the implementation of learning process, teachers&rsquo / years of experience was, moreover, found to be a significant predictor along with constructivist teaching beliefs and teacher efficacy beliefs for student engagement and instructional strategies.

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa realizada no âmbito do PIBID-Física da USP entre os anos de 2014 e 2015. Trata-se de uma observação participante que teve o objetivo principal de identificar o que quatro licenciandos pensavam em relação à motivação dos alunos. De que forma eles levam em conta essa questão? Além disso, identificamos suas crenças sobre ensino e aprendizagem, procurando indícios de uma evolução nessas crenças durante o período em que eles participaram do grupo assim como se há relação entre elas. Nosso trabalho de observação buscou acompanhar todas as reuniões de grupo realizadas no período, gravando o áudio de cada uma delas. Utilizamos como dados suas declarações diretas, relatórios, análises e discussões ocorridas ao longo dessas reuniões. Também realizamos uma entrevista semiestruturada com cada um dos sujeitos. Através dos resultados concluímos que há relação entre as suas crenças de ensino e aprendizagem com as motivacionais. O nível de desafio oferecido pelo contexto onde os licenciandos desenvolvem sua prática é um ponto importante para a evolução de suas crenças, assim como a reflexão do trabalho desenvolvido pelos licenciandos ao longo das reuniões. Ademais os professores supervisores têm papel importante em relação a essa evolução, assim como as disciplinas cursadas pelos licenciandos. / This paper presents the results of a research carried out within the framework of the PIBID-Physics of USP between the years 2014 and 2015. It is a participant observation that had the main objective of identifying what four licensees thought about the motivation of the students . How do they take this issue into account? In addition, we identify their beliefs about teaching and learning, looking for evidence of an evolution in these beliefs during the period in which they participated in the group as well as whether there is a relationship between them. We use as data your direct statements, reports, analyzes and discussions that have occurred throughout the meetings of the group. We also conducted a semi-structured interview with each of the subjects. Through the results, we conclude that there is a relationship between their teaching and learning beliefs and their motivational beliefs. Supervisory teachers have an important role in relation to evolution, as do the courses taught by the licenciandos.

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa realizada no âmbito do PIBID-Física da USP entre os anos de 2014 e 2015. Trata-se de uma observação participante que teve o objetivo principal de identificar o que quatro licenciandos pensavam em relação à motivação dos alunos. De que forma eles levam em conta essa questão? Além disso, identificamos suas crenças sobre ensino e aprendizagem, procurando indícios de uma evolução nessas crenças durante o período em que eles participaram do grupo assim como se há relação entre elas. Nosso trabalho de observação buscou acompanhar todas as reuniões de grupo realizadas no período, gravando o áudio de cada uma delas. Utilizamos como dados suas declarações diretas, relatórios, análises e discussões ocorridas ao longo dessas reuniões. Também realizamos uma entrevista semiestruturada com cada um dos sujeitos. Através dos resultados concluímos que há relação entre as suas crenças de ensino e aprendizagem com as motivacionais. O nível de desafio oferecido pelo contexto onde os licenciandos desenvolvem sua prática é um ponto importante para a evolução de suas crenças, assim como a reflexão do trabalho desenvolvido pelos licenciandos ao longo das reuniões. Ademais os professores supervisores têm papel importante em relação a essa evolução, assim como as disciplinas cursadas pelos licenciandos. / This paper presents the results of a research carried out within the framework of the PIBID-Physics of USP between the years 2014 and 2015. It is a participant observation that had the main objective of identifying what four licensees thought about the motivation of the students . How do they take this issue into account? In addition, we identify their beliefs about teaching and learning, looking for evidence of an evolution in these beliefs during the period in which they participated in the group as well as whether there is a relationship between them. We use as data your direct statements, reports, analyzes and discussions that have occurred throughout the meetings of the group. We also conducted a semi-structured interview with each of the subjects. Through the results, we conclude that there is a relationship between their teaching and learning beliefs and their motivational beliefs. Supervisory teachers have an important role in relation to evolution, as do the courses taught by the licenciandos.

Universities make claims about student learning that graduates don't often achieve and are under pressure to show improvement in teaching and learning in their undergraduate programs. This has been the constant focus of university-level professional development programs, but most teachers are still not using the most effective teaching methods. Individual departments need to find ways to help their instructors overcome three main challenges associated with adopting more effective student-centered teaching methods. No matter what strategy is adopted, instructors need considerable support to 1) change their beliefs about what constitutes effective teaching and learning, 2) learn to effectively implement new strategies, and 3) help their students change their beliefs about teaching and learning. We investigated whether M.S. Geoscience Education graduate students could offer the support instructors need to overcome the challenges listed above. We successfully piloted this approach during 2006 to 2008. Receiving consistent and individualized support from a Geoscience Education graduate student, the instructor changed his beliefs about teaching and learning and learned to effectively implement active learning strategies. His teaching satisfaction and student ratings also increased. Advantages of our approach include 1) the time the graduate student devoted to making course changes, 2) the consistent support the instructor received which allowed him to transfer research supported educational theory into his teaching practice, and 3) the instructor is now a departmental resource that other instructors can go to for guidance. Disadvantages include 1) the graduate student's lack of experience as a teaching consultant and 2) the difficulty of transforming a professor/student relationship into a client/consultant relationship.

As a result of growing attention in cross-cultural research, existing measurement instruments developed in one language are being translated and adapted for use in other languages and cultural contexts. The benefits of having the same instrument across cultures can only be realized if the process of translation and adaptation of the measurement instruments produces measurement operations that function similarly across national and cultural boundaries. Producing invariant measurement instruments that assess educational and psychological constructs provide a way of testing the cross-cultural generality of theories that include these constructs. The major purposes of the study were to translate and adapt the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (Pratt, 1992, 1990) from English to Bahasa Malaysia and compare the psychometric properties of the two versions. The TPI is an instrument developed by Pratt (1992) to ascertain the different conceptions that teachers in higher education have about teaching. The TPI has 45 items, which are divided into five subscales or perspectives referred to as Transmission, Apprenticeship, Developmental, Nurturing, and Social Reform. The first phase of this study translated and adapted the TPI from English into the Malay language of Malaysia or Bahasa Malaysia (BM) using multiple approaches as recommended by the International Test Commission. The approaches used to translate the TPI included forward and back translations, an expert panel review, a pilot study, and cognitive interviews. In the translation process, three initial translators, two back translators, and six expert panel members, including the researcher, came up with a pre-final version of the Malay TPI. During the translation process, two items were found to contain expressions that had no exact equivalent forms in Malay: "virtuoso performers" and "higher ideals." Overall, translating the TPI was a challenging task due to the relatively large number of items in the instrument (45) as well as the complexity and very abstract nature of the constructs. Many of the words and expressions that were brief and concise in the English version became longer and more verbose when translated in Malay. As a result, the translated TPI version appeared longer than the original version. Pilot testing with 25 native speakers of Malay who were faculty members from a number of public universities in Malaysia revealed nine items that needed modification. Cognitive interviewing with five participants from the pilot group revealed one item requiring a change by adding a borrowed word "novis" in brackets next to the Malay expressions, which refers to the original word novice. Due to the confusion with the words referring to `people' in many of the items, additional instructions were added at the beginning of the survey to ensure that the participants responded according to the original intention of the items, which focuses on learners in the faculty's specific classroom context instead of people in the society in general. Following changes to the TPI, this instrument was administered in phase two to a Malaysian sample of 561 faculty. In the second phase, the study assessed the psychometric properties of the original English version of the TPI with 605 faculty in the U. S. and the translated TPI version of the TPI with the Malaysian sample. The overall internal consistency reliability of both the English (α=.88) and the Malay TPI (α=.93) appeared to be adequate. At the subscale level, the internal consistency reliabilities of all the scales were on the lower side considering the large number of items (9) for each subscale (range = .67 to .83 for the U. S. and .59 to .81 for Malaysia). It was found that three out of the five subscales of the U. S. and Malay TPI had similar alpha reliabilities (Apprenticeship, Nurturing, Social Reform). To assess the cross-cultural factorial validity and measurement invariance of the TPI, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out for both the original and the Malay TPI. The sample size for the U. S. group was 605 and the Malay group was 561. The fit for both the U. S. and the Malay correlated five-factor models was less than adequate with the Malay model showing a much worse fit. Correlated errors were found between 64 item pairs in the U. S. model and 389 item pairs in the Malay model. The correlations between the five perspectives in the Malay sample were much higher than those in the U. S. sample suggesting that the perspectives had limited discriminant validity. For example, the correlations between the Nurturing and Developmental perspectives and Nurturing and Social Reform perspectives were 1.0. The inadequate fit of the five-factor correlated model in the Malaysian sample and the minimally acceptable fit in the U. S. sample led to the decision to carry out analyses and compare the groups one subscale at a time. Model modifications for each subscale of both samples were carried out to improve the fit by adding one or more parameters (i.e., correlated errors) for each subscale model to obtain acceptable baseline models. The results of the invariance testing for each subscale did not support the existence of measurement invariance. Overall, the results indicate that the Malay version of the TPI is not ready for use and additional translation and adaptation work is recommended. Future efforts could incorporate improvements in the translation process in the form of recruiting a larger number of certified translators who have in-depth knowledge of teaching in higher education as well as a deep knowledge of the philosophy and purposes behind the TPI. Additional cognitive interviews before and after pretesting and pilot testing of the pre-final version are recommended. Finally, adding a large sample of bilingual educators who would complete both the Malay and English versions of the TPI would provide important psychometric data on the equivalence of the TPI items.

The fact that people tend to alternate between languages for various communicative purposes seems to increasingly interest researchers all over the world. Thus, the linguistic phenomenon of codeswitching has been given more academic attention in recent years than ever before. This particular topic has also been infused by new research because of an ongoing pedagogic debate about whether languages other than the target language should be used in foreign languages classroom or not. The debate consists of two major opinions. On one side, adherents claim that use of non-target languages limits natural target language-input and therefore damages the learning process. On the other, it is argued that non-target languages may even be beneficial for the learning process since they carry many pedagogic opportunities with them otherwise gone lost. This paper aims to find out how, and to what extent, foreign language teachers at a Swedish for Immigrants-school codeswitch into English in class. Moreover, it is also of interest to investigate how they think about their own codeswitching and how their reasoning may reflect their codeswitching self-awareness. In search for answers to these questions, three teachers have been observed in class. Later, the teachers have been interviewed to reflect upon their own codeswitching. The study revealed clear differences in the teachers’ codeswitching and codeswitching-reasoning, However, similarities were also found, and that all three teachers shared the main objective to develop their students’ communicative competence. Moreover, they also proved to have a rather realistic picture their own codeswitching. Not only were they able to roughly estimate how, and how much, they each codeswitched. Their individual results also went in line with their reasoning to a high extent, suggesting that they all have a high degree of codeswitching self-awareness.