THE ROLE OF TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN MEXICO

Öz

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Teacher knowledge
• beliefs
• teaching practices
• learning and teaching experiences

THE ROLE OF TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN MEXICO

Abstract

The present article drew on a larger interpretivist case study research of the role of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs in their teaching practices. It was constructed with the participation of four teachers that studied the same BA in ELT program and worked in the same state university in Mexico. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the role of learning and teaching experiences in the development of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs and of their implications for language teacher education. Observations, interviews, conversations, class video recordings and teachers’ journals were the methods used for the collection of the data. The case study not only shows that teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and teaching practices inform each other persistently in a dynamic process but also illustrates the significant role that learning and teaching experiences seem to have in the development of teachers’ knowledge and as sources of their beliefs. Teachers’ teaching practices appear to be mainly supported by their experiential knowledge and driven by their core beliefs; beliefs that are grounded in experience. Awareness of these aspects in the BA in ELT curriculum and in its delivery would enhance the education of future teachers of English as a foreign language.

Keywords

• Teacher knowledge
• beliefs
• teaching practices
• learning and teaching experiences

Kaynakça

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