From beliefs to action
How does a teacher's belief-knowledge system translate into observable behaviour?
1.2.4.1 Planned
behaviour and intuitive action
1.2.4.2 A model
of planned action
1.2.4.3 Being a
teacher: what does it mean to you?
1.2.4.4 Learning
to be a (better) teacher
1.2.4.1
Planned behaviour and intuitive action
One model for explaining action sees decision-making primarily in terms
of plans, intentions or goals. In a particular situation, we make a decision
(plan) about what we will do next in order to achieve our intended goal.
Our plan is shaped by our beliefs about how we can best achieve this type
of goal. We then go on to act out our planned behaviour (unless something
happens to prevent this), which may or may not lead to successful achievement
of our goal.
Much of a teacher's conscious decision-making occurs at the lesson planning stage, although it can also occur during and after lessons. Decision-making is also often subconscious, especially during lessons. As Kennedy (1999: 108) points out, 'routines and tacit or intuitive plans of action are influential'; indeed, it would be mentally exhausting to try to consciously consider every action we might take. But intuitive action is still based on underlying, tacit knowledge and belief structures.
1.2.4.2
A model of planned action
Woods (1996) draws on ideas from cognitive
science to develop Miller, Galanter and Pribram's (1960)
recursive model of planned action. This shows how each action or experience
feeds back through the filter of understanding or interpretation to either
challenge or reinforce our beliefs, thus influencing the way we plan future
action.
For example, a teacher might plan to introduce a new structure to his or her class by showing an example, explaining the rule, and then asking students to invent more examples using the same structure. During the class (the action or event) the teacher may follow his or her plan, but quickly discover that after explaining the rule the students look confused - the plan has not gone as anticipated. After the lesson he or she may reflect on what happened and change his or her views on how to present new structures (developing understanding). This could mean reinterpreting the presentation stage to include extra example material, and / or clearer and simpler explanations, or it could mean a much more radical reinterpretation so that this way of teaching structures is abandoned, perhaps in favour of a more inductive approach, where students try to work out the rule for themselves. This new understanding / interpretation will then inform the next planning session that the teacher undertakes.
1.2.4.3
Being a teacher: what does it mean to you?
According to the model of teacher action or behaviour presented above,
'being a teacher' means acting according to one's underlying beliefs about
how teachers should behave. As you saw in section 1.1.2.4,
this concept of 'teacher' is likely to be highly individual. It is also
likely to be a complex and sophisticated concept, since we all have a
very extensive range of experiences of different teachers and teaching
out of which our concept has grown, and which have given us many opportunities
to develop, embellish and refine this concept (see 1.1.2.9).
- Go back to the list of
characteristics of a good language teacher that you drew up in section
1.2.2.2. Do you feel that these describe you?
- Are there any characteristics
that you would change, add or delete to provide a more accurate image
of yourself as a teacher?
- If you felt that your original
list did not provide an accurate description of you, can you explain
why? (We will revisit this area in activity cycle 4.)
- If possible, spend ten minutes or so comparing notes with a colleague on what 'being a teacher' means to you.
1.2.4.4 Learning to be a (better) teacher
- Choose one or two of the characteristics from your 'good teacher' list that you think do describe you well, and try to
- say what the belief underlying this characteristic might be
- suggest where you might
have acquired this belief (or, in other words, how you learned to
be like this).
- Select one or two characteristics
or aspects of your teaching behaviour that you would like to change
(maybe items from your 'good teacher' list that you aspire to), and
make a note of these in anticipation of activity cycle 1.6 (you may
find it easier to do this after the classroom project activity suggested
below).
- Look at the responses that you made to the questionnaire at the beginning of this activity cycle. Do you want to make any changes? Why (not)?
