by: Alex Pass
Answers are due on Friday, Nov. 12th, at the start of class.
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In the article “Conceptions of Grammar Teaching : A case study of Teachers’ Beliefs and Classroom Practices” author Thomas S.C. Farrell sets up and experiment between to English teachers teaching grammar to students in Singapore to find out different factors that play apart in the teacher’s practices. In the introduction, Thomas Farrell explains that “what teachers do in the classroom is said to be governed by what they believe and these beliefs often serve to act as a filter through which instructional judgments and decisions are made.” Anything that has happen in teacher past big or small has an impact on how her kids will learn from her teaching methods. Thomas decides to conduct an experiment to see what kind of beliefs the teachers have will impact on the teaching of English grammar on students in Singapore.
Thomas Farrell next point in his research paper is Teacher Beliefs. He starts out by stating “working within the field of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), has suggested that teacher beliefs are neither easy to define nor study because they are not directly observable. You can’t study someone’s beliefs because you would have to observe a person their entire life just to find out how they came to the conclusions on some of their beliefs. Also he or she could have had different beliefs imprinted into their DNA too. What you can do is learn from their beliefs and watch them use their different beliefs and knowledge’s used in the ways they teach students.
Thomas sets up two questions and asks “What are the two teachers' beliefs about the way grammar should be taught in primary school? What are their actual classroom practices of teaching grammar? He also stated that he will also observe any other factors he feels that will also have an effect on his research. When the results came back from his table “teachers’ belief statements”, found out they both agree that grammar is very important for students to maintain correct grammar structure in their writing works. His next table his next questions focused on “teachers’ classroom practices when teaching grammar”. Thomas states that they “adopted somewhat of a traditional approach to grammar teaching. The observed lessons were mainly teacher-centred, with both teachers providing explanations and instructions, and asking questions and eliciting responses from the students on their knowledge of grammar items”. They both felt that the way to teach grammar is to explain and have interaction with the students to make sure they feel like they understand what is being taught by their teachers.
The results of this experiment Thomas says “The findings suggest that teachers do indeed have a set of complex belief systems that are sometimes not reflected in their classroom practices for various complicated reasons, some directly related to context of teaching”. My opinion on how he came to this conclusion on his experiment is that not all their beliefs will have an impact on their teaching but their past on how they were taught will have impact on the way they will teach. To find out if their beliefs have an impact on how a teacher teaches you would have to study them from the day they were born till they stop teaching because this one way you would see the impact of their beliefs has on teaching.
It is sad that many teachers teach with our centering the focus on the students. Although teachers may "believe" one method of teaching, it is often the case that they are subject to federal requirements, forcing them to teach in a way other than they prefer. It is important that educators understand how much they affect their students in how they teach. It also needs to be understood that different students will learn different ways. There is no "perfect" method to teaching grammar, but rather better ways for different students. That being said, the author presented some excellent points in this article.
ReplyDeleteA belief is such a board term that is so often disconnected with the actions of a person who holds it. As a future English instructor, I have many beliefs about teaching and many ideals that I hope to display in my classroom. If I succeed in creating a correlation between by efforts and beliefs, I have succeeded despite obstacles in time restrictions, federal regulations, and parental complaints. Actions within the classroom cannot always mirror the beliefs of teachers because of the reality of the situation. For example, I believe that we should emit less carbon into the air. My actions of driving everyday to school, to work, and to home do not coincide with this system of beliefs. The reality of the situation is that I have to drive to manage my schedule; to compensate for this disjunction between beliefs and actions, I purchased a hybrid car. I think this is what teachers do within the classroom. They have to compensate for the disjunction between their personal set of beliefs and the reality of the classroom restrictions through creating a hybrid manner of teaching that allows them to obey their conventions and to adhere to the law.
ReplyDeleteI think beliefs are complex and abstract. Beliefs affect all teachers' teaching. From their behavior management plan to their teaching styles to how much time they spend teaching each subject area. The most important belief that teachers have that they should share with their students is that education is very important. It can be very difficult for some students to accept this belief but it is a teacher's job to try his or her hardest to persuade every student that education is important and that he or she should take it seriously.
ReplyDeleteWhile teachers may have different beliefs about how they should teach, they are restricted by federal law, time obstacles, etc. They should find a middle ground between their beliefs and what federal law and the school boards allow. Also, different students will learn in different ways so teachers should be prepared to be flexible for them.
ReplyDeleteTeachers have set regulations and laws when it comes to teaching. However, I feel that the way they teach and incorporate their beliefs is what sets good teachers away from average. When you look back on school days there is that one teacher that always stands out in your mind. Because, they had some kind of an influence on you or helped in some way. Im sure at some point we all struggled slightly with grammar and writing. It is viewed as a negative thing and I think that anyway a teacher can approach the subject and convey understanding to students would be progress.
ReplyDeleteI think that a teacher's beliefs can't necessarily have a huge impact on the way they teach. They are required by law to teach certain things which may or may not go along with their beliefs. I think that teaching methods have a lot to do with how the teacher has been taught. I feel that they will teach in the way that was easiest for him or her to understand when they were in school.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is an important aspect to teaching, because teachers are often those who give the largest impressions to most students. I feel that by teachers showing, yet not forcing their beliefs is an 'okay' way to teach. I feel like this, because without beliefs, values or morals there would be little left. It's ironic, because I recently read an article for our research paper about the impact of how teacher's feelings are over a subject impacts their teaching. The study found that most teachers, in a grammar context, teach only what they see as being correct. This resulted in some students lack of knowledge, because the teacher did not teach what they did not personally see as correct. Sometimes, however, I feel teachers and others need to teach even that which they do not believe in.
ReplyDeleteThere are many different ways in which one can teach their students, but federal regulations may interfere with the way one teacher prefers to teach. This is problem, but a teacher should always have back up methods on how to present information to their classroom.
ReplyDeleteA teacher may not always be able to teach how they want to, but if a teacher has enough training and education, they should be able to adapt their teaching around the federal guidelines. Always using regulations as an excuse of why they can't do things isn't fair. A teacher needs to mold to the way their student's learn. Their beliefs should not take over everything in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteTeachers should not limit their teachings because of federal regulations. They are put in our schools to teach students and this is why they go into this profession. Many students have very different learning styles and teachers need to adapt to their students. Teachers should not be limited.
ReplyDeleteI am not studying to be a teacher unlike many of my classmates. However, I can say that throughout my education, my favorite teachers have been ones that have found special methods of teaching. I think everyone student learns differently, but I also believe that teachers should be able to adapt to this. Teachers who have found creative methods have really impacted my education.
ReplyDeleteI agree that maybe in someway a teacher's "believes" might affect the way they teach. If their way of teaching works then why not use it? As long as the teaching method is affective then there's nothing wrong. However, if the teacher's "beliefs" in how to instruct a subject is not working then the teacher must change her way of teaching. There is not one set of teaching any subject, but some ways are more affective than others. As far as the federal regulations, I believe that teachers may work within these boundaries and still come up with a creative way of teaching.
ReplyDeleteEvery teacher has his/her own way of teaching. There is also rules and laws they must follow also. I think it is good that teachers put their own personality in their teaching lessons.
ReplyDeleteI think absolutely that a teacher's beliefs impact his or her students. Teachers serve as role models and persons of trust to their students. Their beliefs also completely impact students. No one teacher teaches the same as any other. Each teaching style yields different results.
ReplyDeleteTeacher beliefs should play a part in the way that they teach their class but to a certain extent. I describe a teacher's beliefs would be the way he/she want to teach the class, whether he/she wants the class to be boring or interactive, but still the federal laws does put restrictions on it.
ReplyDelete