Journal of Education and Psychology

Abstract

Through the administration of a Teacher Belief Inventory, 40 math teachers in middle grades of elementary schools were selected, 20 with traditional beliefs, and the other 20 with progressive beliefs. All participating teachers were interviewed individually under four situations. In each situation, one student (either with high or low achievement) was presented, who either got an incorrect answer on a problem or got a correct answer with non-standard procedures. Teachers were requested to report their responses on the student’s performance and their reasons behind their responses in each situation. The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between a teacher’s belief and his or her teaching strategy.

The results showed that: (1) As a lower math level student presented the wrong solution, the teachers with traditional beliefs more often took a “demonstration to imitate” type of teaching strategy, and the teachers with progressive beliefs more often took a “hint to think” type of teaching strategy. (2) As the student presented the wrong math solution, the teachers with traditional beliefs more often took a “hint to think” type of teaching strategy for a higher math level student, but a “demonstration to imitate” type of teaching strategy for a lower math level student. (3) As the student presented the correct math solution with non-standard procedures, the teachers with both types of teaching beliefs took an “approval in understanding” type of teaching strategy. (4) The teachers with traditional beliefs frequently give lectures, while the teachers with progressive belief encourage discussions with fellows.

From the analysis of teachers’ reasons for their chosen responses, this study suggested that teachers with two different types of teaching beliefs had different viewpoints about teaching techniques. As a consequence, teachers were in favor one kind of teaching strategy over the others.

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