Profile No. 7dic 5.p65
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PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE 7 (2006):
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras
The Construction of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge in
Initial Teacher Education
La construcción del conocimiento teórico y práctico en la formación inicialLa construcción del conocimiento teórico y práctico en la formación inicialLa construcción del conocimiento teórico y práctico en la formación inicialLa construcción del conocimiento teórico y práctico en la formación inicialLa construcción del conocimiento teórico y práctico en la formación inicial
del profesoradodel profesoradodel profesoradodel profesoradodel profesorado
Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão*Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão*Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão*Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão*Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão*
mahevieira@yahoo.com.br
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Brazil
This paper presents results from an interpretive research which has analysed how language
student-teachers construct their knowledge about language teaching and learning during pre-
service teacher education. The study, embedded within the general frameworks of teachers’
thinking and socialization, involved language student teachers from a public university in Brazil.
KKKKKey worey worey worey worey wordsdsdsdsds: Initial education, beliefs, language teaching and learning
Este trabajo presenta resultados de una investigación interpretativa que ha analizado cómo
los profesores de lenguas construyen su conocimiento sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de
lenguas durante la formación pre-servicio. En el estudio, arraigado en los esquemas generales
de reflexión y socialización de los profesores, participaron profesores de lenguas de una
universidad pública en Brasil.
Palabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras claves: Formación inicial, creencias, enseñanza y aprendizaje de lenguas
* Maria Helena Vieira AbrahãoMaria Helena Vieira AbrahãoMaria Helena Vieira AbrahãoMaria Helena Vieira AbrahãoMaria Helena Vieira Abrahão is an Applied Linguistics professor at the São Paulo State University (UNESP), located in São José
do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. She has a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and is especially
interested in foreign language teaching and language teacher education. She has super vised dissertations and theses related to these
research areas.
This article was received on March 31st, 2006 and accepted on June 20th, 2006.
87-99
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INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION
There is evidence in educational and Applied
Linguistics literature that the theoretical and
practical knowledge developed in teacher
education programs has little influence on the
student-teachers’ subsequent practical activities
(Zeichner, Tabachnic, and Densmore, 1987). This
evidence points to the fact that teachers are highly
influenced by their beliefs, which are results of their
personal values and background knowledge.
There are also research findings which support
the fact that student-teachers have the tendency
to remember their own personal experiences as
students which were acquired through their
"apprenticeship of observation" (Lortie, 1975) and
to construct their knowledge and teaching practice
upon these remembrances. Beliefs, assumptions
and knowledge acquired before the student-
teachers’ entrance into teacher education programs
work as mediators, filters of the input received by
means of the theories and knowledge to which
student-teachers were exposed to (Lortie, op cit;
Zeichner & Grant, 1981; Tabachnic & Zeichner,
1984; Kagan, 1992; Roberts, 1998, among others)
and, according to Kagan (op cit), implicit
knowledge, values and practice tend to be stronger
than the teacher education programs interventions,
no matter the underlying theories of orientation.
In-service teachers also, according to Schön
(1983), interpret and organize their experience by
means of a repertoire of values, knowledge, theory
and practice which they bring with experience, which
he calls “appreciative systems”. These “appreciative
systems”, highly investigated, have been named
differently by distinct researchers such as teachers’
personal practical theories (Connelly & Clandinin,
1988); practical theories (Handal & Lauvas, 1987);
teachers’ strategic knowledge (Shulman, 1986);
practical knowledge (Elbaz, 1983) and BAK - beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge (Woods, 1996).
No matter what teachers’ knowledge is called,
there is something that seems evident: every student-
teacher provides input to his university teacher
education program and every teacher uses his
teaching practice beliefs, assumptions, values,
knowledge and experience which seem to exert a
strong influence upon his/her theoretical and
practical knowledge construction and development.
Besides those teachers’ socialization studies
which evidence the weak impact formal education
can exert to alter the apprenticeship of observation
effect (Feimann-Nemser & Buchmann, 1986 and
Pennington, 1990), we evidence others which argue
that classroom experience is the main source of
teachers’ knowledge (Claderhead & Miller, 1985;
Shulman, 1986 & 1987). Almarza (1996), on the
other hand, brings evidence in her study that
student-teachers’ knowledge transformation
occurred during a teacher education program and
before the beginning of her/his teaching practice:
Thus, teacher education played a very influencial
role in shaping student-teachers’ performance
during teaching practice. It was knowledge
learned in teacher education that became
apparent during teaching practice (p. 72).
THIS STUDYTHIS STUDYTHIS STUDYTHIS STUDYTHIS STUDY
As an Applied Linguistics lecturer and foreign
language teacher-educator at a public university in
Brazil, I see it extremely relevant and necessary to
study foreign language teachers’ knowledge
construction in different stages (pre-teacher
education; in-teacher education and post-teacher
education) in order to enlighten the influence each
type of knowledge brings to the theoretical and
practical education and development of this
professional. This research was conducted with this
purpose. It is an interpretive investigation which
aims at analysing the language teachers’ knowledge
construction or, rather, beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge that are brought by student-teachers
to their education program; how these beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge interact with the
theoretical and practical content which are focused
on the education program and how these different
kinds of knowledge are manifested in their practice
and produced during this stage. This research was
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PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE The Construction of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge
guided by the following major research question
and three minor ones:
How does language teachers’ knowledge
construction occur while they are in university?
a) Which beliefs, assumptions and knowledge
are brought by student-teachers to their university
foreign language education program and what are
the origins of these beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge?
b) To what extent are student-teachers’ beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge brought to university
modified by the theoretical and practical reflections
provided by the education program?
c) What kinds of knowledge are expressed (pre-
teacher education knowledge or in-teacher
education knowledge) or acquired by the student-
teachers during their teaching practicum?
This research can be justified as follows:
1. For helping student-teachers to be
conscious of their own beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge which are tacit most of the time. This
consciousness, even partial, may represent a first
step towards their professional education and
development. Helping pre-ser vice teachers to
reveal, think about and examine their own language
and teaching conceptions is essential for educating
them as reflective professionals (Clandinin, 1986);
2. The comprehension of how student-
teachers’ knowledge is constructed in a pre-
ser vice foreign language teacher education
program -although this research involved only six
participants- is likely to provide contributions for
teacher educators by helping them in their planning
of strategies and content specification, so as to be
able to develop the different kinds of knowledge
in an appropriate manner.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGYRESEARCH METHODOLOGYRESEARCH METHODOLOGYRESEARCH METHODOLOGYRESEARCH METHODOLOGY
ResearResearResearResearResearch Naturech Naturech Naturech Naturech Nature
This is an interpretive research which is
characterised by the description and study of
concrete and singular situations and by the
consideration of the participants’ perspectives
(Erickson, 1986; Bogdan & Biklen, 1998 and
Silverman, 2000). There was no pretension of
testing hypotheses, using pre-established categories
or generalizing its results, although data collection
and analysis were done systematically, which makes
its results meaningful to other situations and contexts.
Context and ParticipantsContext and ParticipantsContext and ParticipantsContext and ParticipantsContext and Participants
This research was developed in a "Letter
Course"1 of a public university in Brazil. Six student-
teachers in their third year volunteered to be
participants. Four of them were future teachers of
English (Ali, Ka, Ma, and So) while two were future
teachers of Spanish (Am and Fa)2 .
Third-year student-teachers were chosen for
they had had no contact with formal theories of
Applied Linguistics by the time this research began.
This is an important fact since I wanted to uncover
beliefs, assumptions and knowledge brought by
these learners to their pre-service language teacher
education program; more specifically, to the
discipline Applied Linguistics-Foreign Language
Teaching, which they take in the second semester
of their third year of studies.
Ali, Ma, So and Fa had studied only in public
institutions since elementary school. Am and Ka,
on the other hand, had gone to public and private
institutions. All of them had studied foreign
language or languages outside regular schooling in
private or public language institutes.
Four of them (Ali, So, Fa and Ka) had already
started their professional activity by teaching English
in private and public institutions while engaged in
the project.
ResearResearResearResearResearch Phases and Instrumentsch Phases and Instrumentsch Phases and Instrumentsch Phases and Instrumentsch Phases and Instruments
During what I called phase I (first semester of
2001), we collected data in order to study the
student-teachers’ beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge by means of the use of a teachers’ belief
inventory, adapted from E. Horwitz (1987). It
1 Pre-service graduation program for language teachers which
lasts four years.
2 The first letters of the student-teachers’ names were used in
order to protect their identities.
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consisted of a questionnaire, an autobiography and
life history sessions.
During phase II (second semester of 2001),
the interaction between the student-teachers’
beliefs, assumptions and knowledge and the
theoretical and practical knowledge introduced and
discussed in their teacher education program
during Applied Linguistics classes as well as in
weekly meetings with this researcher were studied.
For data collection, student-teachers and this
researcher kept reflective diaries and every weekly
meeting was audio-recorded.
During phase III, which took place in 2002,
when the student-teachers were involved in their
teaching practice in the last year of their
undergraduate course, their classes were video-
recorded so that we could analyse the kinds of
knowledge which were expressed in their practice.
Reflective diaries were kept by the participants and
semi-structured interviews were collected.
As far as analysis procedures are concerned,
six case studies were first developed and later
compared. All data were categorised and registers
collected by different instruments and perspectives
were considered.
THEORETICTHEORETICTHEORETICTHEORETICTHEORETICAL FOUNDAL FOUNDAL FOUNDAL FOUNDAL FOUNDAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION
This study, which has its focus on teacher
education, has characteristics of studies developed
by two research frameworks, namely: research on
teachers’ thought processes and on teachers’
socialization.
The first framework has as a main assumption
the premise that teachers’ actions are influenced
by mental processes. Teachers’ mental life is
described and from this description researchers
try to understand and explain how and why the
observed professional activities are the way they
are (Clark & Peterson, 1986). The same authors
identify the following three categories in the
teachers’ mental process: theories and beliefs;
proactive planning and decision-making; and
interactive decisions. The first one, which includes
information, attitudes, values, expectations,
theories, and assumptions about language teaching
and learning, is considered the main source of
teachers’ classroom practices.
The second one, which studies teachers’
socialization, is interested in investigating how
beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and values are
transmitted. For Feimann and Floden (1986),
several socialization definitions have been used.
For example, some see socialization as any change
in the teachers’ behaviour. Others see it as the way
new teachers acquire values and practices due to
the interaction with more experienced
professionals.
This research is directly based on Woods’ work
(1996) in which he presents an integrated view of
teachers’ beliefs, assumptions and knowledge (BAK),
its features and evolution and its role in the teachers’
interpretive processes. According to the author,
beliefs, assumptions and knowledge “do not refer
to distinct concepts, but rather to points on a
spectrum of meaning, although they have been
treated for the most part as separate entities in the
literature”. I share Woods’s definition of belief,
assumption and knowledge for whom belief is “the
acceptance of a proposition for which there is no
conventional knowledge, one that is not
demonstrable, and for which there is accepted
disagreement”. Assumption, on the other hand, is
defined as a “temporary acceptance of a fact (state,
process or relationship) which we cannot say we
know, and which has not been demonstrated, but
which we are taking as true for the time being”.
Knowledge is used by the author to refer to “things
we ‘know’-conventionally accepted facts” (p. 195).
In this research, we analyse beliefs, assumptions
and knowledge as an integrated construct for it is
difficult or even impossible to categorize them
separately.
THE RESULTHE RESULTHE RESULTHE RESULTHE RESULTSTSTSTSTS
Phases 1 and 2Phases 1 and 2Phases 1 and 2Phases 1 and 2Phases 1 and 2
A comparative analysis of the beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge provided by the six
student-teachers involved in this study suggested
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PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE The Construction of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge
changes in a year ’s period, after teachers’
exposition to the theoretical and practical
reflections in the Applied Linguistics course and
during the weekly group meetings.
Such changes could be mainly observed in
relation to these categories: language, teaching,
learning, learning a foreign language, most important
factors which influence language learning and
teaching, and teachers’ and students’ roles. Other
categories which were salient and recurrent in the
data of teaching a foreign language were an efficient
language teacher, error, correction and evaluation.
Coursebooks in language teaching and learning
were practically unchanged as will be explained later
in this paper.
In the first step of the research, the participants
defined language as an instrument of
communication, which suggests a structuralist view;
as an instrument which leads to transformation (a
functional view of language); as a product of social
interaction, which reflects a socio-interactional
perspective and as a social practice and power
instrument, a discursive perspective of language.
In the second step, the same conceptions were
still present in the participants’ discourse, but the
socio-interactional and discursive perspectives
were more emphasized (see Figure 1).
As far as teaching is concerned, we could
observe that in the first phase of this study, the
student-teachers understood teaching as a
transmission of knowledge, a traditional and
positivist view that knowledge is something stable
and finished. After a year, they seemed to have
assumed a constructivist perspective, for which the
individual has an active role as constructor of
meanings from the world and from experience. The
learner is considered someone who brings
knowledge and experience to the classroom and it
is through them that he/she makes sense of the
learning experience (see Figure 1).
In the first step, learning was defined as the
accumulation, acquisition, assimilation or absorption
of new knowledge. Two of the student-teachers
mentioned knowledge and experience upon which
new knowledge is anchored, suggesting a cognitive
view of learning, which focuses on the comprehension
of the way human beings think and learn. Although
the data suggested some of the students’ familiarity
with a cognitive view of learning, we found that all of
them still saw knowledge as something ready and
finished. They did not seem to know clearly that
knowledge is constructed and that each person, by
means of his/her previous knowledge, assumptions
and beliefs, constructs it in a particular way.
After a year, learning was conceptualized as
construction of knowledge; as knowledge
adaptation in a reflexive and critical way; as
acquisition in a reflexive and critical manner; and
as a process which involves autonomy and
intellectual independence. One can observe that
although they expressed themselves in different
manners, which suggested that each one made a
different interpretation of the experience and
theories they were exposed to, the student
teacher ’s discourse reflected a constructivist
perspective of learning.
Learning a foreign language was seen by the
participants in a very traditional way, namely:
learning a language is to learn grammar; it is
repeating and practicing a lot; it is absorption of
structures and vocabulary and it is absorption of
the knowledge transmitted by the teacher. In the
second step of the research, we could verify
changes in participants’ perspectives for the focus
was turned to language use, namely: learning a
language is to develop the four abilities; a foreign
language is learned when it is useful; and learning a
language is experiencing real situations of language
use. The analysed data pointed out that a traditional
view of language learning was replaced by a
communicative perspective.
As far as the factors which affect learning and
teaching are concerned, in the first step the
participants mentioned the following in their data:
materials; students’ participation and involvement;
relevance of the teaching content; adequate
affective environment, motivation, and teacher-
student interaction and teachers’ knowledge level.
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CategorCategorCategorCategorCategor yyyyy
LanguageLanguageLanguageLanguageLanguage
TTTTTeachingeachingeachingeachingeaching
LearningLearningLearningLearningLearning
Learning a foreignLearning a foreignLearning a foreignLearning a foreignLearning a foreign
languagelanguagelanguagelanguagelanguage
Factors that affectFactors that affectFactors that affectFactors that affectFactors that affect
learning andlearning andlearning andlearning andlearning and
teachingteachingteachingteachingteaching
Phase 1Phase 1Phase 1Phase 1Phase 1
Structuralist; functional,
sociointeractional and discursive
conceptions
I see language as a very important
instrument of communication...(Ka)
Language is not only an instrument of
communication, but transformation too
(So)
Knowledge transmission
Teaching is transmitting knowledge and
abilities (Am)
Teaching is knowledge transmission (Ali)
Accumulation, acquisition, assimilation or
absorption of new knowledge
Learning is knowledge accumulation (Ali)
Learning is the acquisition of new
information (Am)
Learning grammar; it’s repeating and
practicing; asbsorption of structures and
vocabulary; absorption of knowledge
transmitted by the teacher
Absorption of structures, vocabulary and
intonation…(Am)
Acquisition of structures transmitted by
the teacher and their translations…(Fa)
Materials; students’ participation and
involvement; relevance of the teaching
content; adequate affective environment;
motivation, teacher-student interaction
and teachers’ knowledge level.
Teacher-student and student-student
relationship (Ma)
Students’ interest to learn (So)
Phase 2Phase 2Phase 2Phase 2Phase 2
Structuralist, functional, socio-
interactional and discursive conceptions
(the last two were more frequent)
Besides communication, language is
an instrument of social domination
(Ka)
Language is a socially systematized
mechanism, which is used for
communication and for societal
transformation (So)
Knowledge construction
…Teaching must contribute to the
construction of particular visions of
the world… (Am)
Construct knowledge in relation to
learning (Ali)
Knowledge construction,
knowledge adaptation in a reflexive
and critical way; a process which
involves independence and autonomy.
Learning involves content, teacher
and student. Together they construct
knowledge… (Ali)
Learning is knowledge
construction… (Am)
Developing the 4 abilities;
recognizing usefulness; through real
situations
Development of 4 abilities in real and
relevant situations (Am)
Use the language in real and relevant
situations (Fa)
Materials, students’ participation and
involvement; relevance of the
teaching content; adequate affective
environment; motivation, teacher-
student interaction
The human and the affective factors
are the main ones (Ma)
Students’ motivation, useful activities
(So)
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PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE The Construction of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge
In the second step, there was little change
related to these opinions. They only left aside
teachers’ knowledge level and kept intact the other
factors. It is interesting to emphasize that in the
first step of data collection the participants had
had no contact with language learning and teaching
theories and stated what seemed more favourable
to them by considering their previous experiences
as students or as language teachers, (Some of them
had already started their professional life working
in private language institutes.).
Their beliefs, assumptions and knowledge
regarding teachers’ role in the first step were as
follows: mediator of cultures; knowledge
transmitter; classroom commander; collaborator,
motivator, responsible for an adequate affective
environment, and worried about students’
necessities and performances. They saw the
students’ role as information receptor; mediator
among students; learner and questioner; active and
critical agent, collaborator and researcher.
It is interesting to observe that when defining
teachers and students’ roles, some participants had
already included in their discourse some
contemporary positions attributing to the student
an active role of knowledge constructor and the
teacher the role of mediator-collaborator. This is
mixed to traditional positions that could also be found
as follows in their discourse: teacher as knowledge
transmitter; classroom commander and the student
as information and knowledge receptor. The
presence of contemporary beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge in the student teachers’ discourse is
probably due to their experience as language
students at the university in which the language classes
are oriented by a communicative approach.
In the second step of the research the traditional
conceptions about teachers and students’ roles
were replaced by contemporary ones. They saw
teachers as the ones who lead to knowledge
construction, in other words, knowledge
constructors - the ones who create conditions for
learning; and mediators between the student and
the new language and facilitators of knowledge. As
far as the students’ roles are concerned, they
characterized them as interagents who were co-
responsible for learning; autonomous; efficient and
were teacher conductors in the use of teaching
strategies. These participants’ perspectives are
coherent with their contemporary views of language
learning and teaching presented in the second step.
After having provided a summary of the main
modifications observed in the teachers’ discourse,
we discuss origins of these beliefs, assumptions
and knowledge in the following section.
The OriginsThe OriginsThe OriginsThe OriginsThe Origins
Mapping the origins of one’s beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge is a very difficult if not
impossible task. All that can be done is to raise
hypotheses based on life history facts and reflections
to get a glimpse of these origins. That is what we
attempted to achieve with the data obtained from
the student-teachers’ autobiographies and life
Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1. Results: Beliefs, assumptions and knowledge in phases 1 and 2 of the study.
Culture mediator; knowledge transmitter;
someone worried with students’ needs and
performance
Teach the students the language
construction (Ka)
…the teacher must assume the role of
mediator and collaborator (Ma)
The one who offers the chance of
constructing knowledge; conductor of
knowledge construction; mediator
between the student and the target
language and learning facilitator
Create conditions so that learning can
happen, be constructed (Ka)
Create conditions for learning (Ma)
TTTTTeachereachereachereachereacher’s r’s r’s r’s r’s roleoleoleoleole
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history interviews. They will be presented here
briefly.
From these data, I found that the six student
teachers had brought good and bad remembrances
from their elementary and secondary public
schooling, where they had had the best and the
worst of teachers. From these teachers they might
have constructed part of the image of a good
teacher they had by the time of the research,
namely: a fair, delicate person who has good
content knowledge, who is worried about students’
individualities and necessities, and who stimulates
criticism and talents. The image they had of the
English teachers they had studied with in public
and private schools (Two of the student-teachers
had spent a few years in private institutions.) was
very negative. They had had no proficiency in the
foreign language, their classes were very dull and
they taught only grammar and translation. This
opinion was also stated in the belief ’s inventory
they answered, in which they all disagreed with the
following statement: English can be learned in a
public school and English can be learned in private
elementary and secondary schools.
They were conscious of the necessity of
learning English and since they believed they would
not learn it in regular schools, the six participants
attended private language institutes where they
experienced new forms of teaching and learning
English, such as small groups of students in the
classrooms, audiovisual resources, audiolingual and
communicative methodologies, fluent teachers,
colourful imported materials, etc. According to
their impressions, this contrast made them reflect
on the best routes to teaching and learning a foreign
language and this reflection suggested that such
experience was important for the construction of
the knowledge they brought to university.
According to their narratives, they were good
students in regular schools and loved literature and
grammar, which they thought would be the focus
of the “Letter Course”. They stated that they were
very surprised to verify that grammar would not
be the main focus of the course at university, once
their professors adopted a communicative
approach. During the period before the beginning
of this research, after two years at the university,
they were exposed to this teaching approach which
included different resources and interaction
organization for teaching. They stated that these
two years had been extremely important for the
construction of their perspectives of language
teaching and learning, constructed by means of
experience and little contact with theories.
Considering the student teachers’ conceptions
and the realities of their school lives, we could
conclude that although they had had little or no
contact with formal theories regarding language
learning and teaching until that first step, they had
brought some contemporary perspectives with
them that seemed to be possible by means of what
Lortie (1975) calls “apprenticeship of observation”.
That is what seems to have happened with their
beliefs, assumptions and knowledge regarding the
categories, namely, teaching a foreign language,
error, correction and evaluation and coursebooks.
Since their perspectives were contemporary and
compatible with the theoretical-practical content
developed in the education program, they were
not questioned and were kept unchanged.
It is implicit in the previous paragraph that in
order to have beliefs, assumptions and knowledge
modified or replaced, questioning is necessary.
Before questioning, however, it is indispensable
to make them explicit. Education programs are
responsible for helping the student-teachers
uncover the construction they make of the world,
namely: what they know; what they believe; and
where and who they are so that they can construct
meanings which are relevant to them (Williams,
1999). Horwitz (op cit) agrees with this position
by saying that the first step for teachers’
development, since the methodology contents are
interpreted through the beliefs system each one
brings with him/her, is to uncover the beliefs.
Teacher development is seen by the author as a
continuous construction and reconstruction of
knowledge, and I totally agree with her.
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PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE The Construction of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge
My results reinforce the theoretical position that
beliefs are mutable when they are adequately
approached (Rokeach, 1968; Burns, 1999; Barcelos,
2001; Johnson, 1992 and 1999; Roberts, 1998;
Williams, 1999 and Cabaroglu & Roberts, 2000).
In the next section, the methodology that was used
to make the participants’ beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge explicit will be presented.
M e t h o d o l o g y U s e d t o E l i c i t B e l i e f s ,M e t h o d o l o g y U s e d t o E l i c i t B e l i e f s ,M e t h o d o l o g y U s e d t o E l i c i t B e l i e f s ,M e t h o d o l o g y U s e d t o E l i c i t B e l i e f s ,M e t h o d o l o g y U s e d t o E l i c i t B e l i e f s ,
Assumptions and Knowledge (BAK)Assumptions and Knowledge (BAK)Assumptions and Knowledge (BAK)Assumptions and Knowledge (BAK)Assumptions and Knowledge (BAK)
The modification of part of the students’ beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge probably occurred by
means of the methodologies we used , which is
similar to the one used by Johnson (1999, p. 39),
and will be presented considering their different
steps.
1) First of all, conditions were created so that
the student-teachers could uncover their own
beliefs, assumptions and knowledge by means of
writing an autobiography, answering a questionnaire
and a beliefs inventory adapted from Horwitz (op
cit) and participating in life history sessions. The
latter were audiorecorded and later transcribed by
the student-teachers themselves.
2) Once their beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge brought to the education program were
expressed, or at least part of them, we tried to create
conditions so that they could be examined in the
light of what the participants knew intellectually and
not just felt. This was done when the collected data
were analysed by the student-teachers themselves.
3) By analysing their data and writing a report
about them, the student-teachers were able to
identify beliefs, assumptions and knowledge which
they thought were conflicting.
4) In the second step of the project, the
participants had the chance to get in contact with
alternative ways of thinking and teaching, which was
caused by contact with public and academic theories
(Eraut, 1994), by means of readings and discussions
in the Applied Linguistics classes and in the weekly
group meetings, as well as the participants’
professional experience exchange, since some of
them were starting the professional exercise in private
language schools. It is interesting to emphasize that
our meetings were oriented by a social-constructivist
perspective (Williams & Burden, 1997). Knowledge
was never seen as a universal truth to be transmitted
to the students and to be implemented in their
classrooms. The technical rationality model was
avoided (Schön, 1983) and we tried to pursue a
reflective approach (Wallace, 1991 and 1998;
Zeichner & Liston, 1996, Zeichner, 2003),
provoking the students to compare their personal
theories to the public ones, constructing if it were
the case, new personal theories.
Results of Phase ThreeResults of Phase ThreeResults of Phase ThreeResults of Phase ThreeResults of Phase Three
The analysis of the data collected in the third
phase of the project, which had as its objective to
analyse the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge
expressed in the student-teachers’ practice during
their practicum activities, revealed that the student-
teachers’ practice reflected new perspectives that
were constructed during the teacher education
program which reinforces the importance of
reflection upon theories and practices for the
student-teachers’ knowledge construction.
In figure 2, we can see that the participant Ka
expresses the view of language as an instrument of
communication and self-expression; teaching as
creating opportunities for learning creatively; learning
in general and learning a foreign language as a critical
act, guided by usefulness and motivation and the
importance of an appropriate affective environment,
which can be reinforced by playful activities and an
error positive view. In Ka’s planning, communicative
and motivational activities were emphasized and
these were selected according to the students’
interests and communicative necessities. Cultural
aspects were to be discussed in order to get
students more competent in the target language.
As far as her practice is concerned, the following
recurrent actions were observed: Interaction was
valued in the classroom by the intense use of
communicative activities which took for granted
students’ needs, interests and prior knowledge; the
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Vieira PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE
teacher worked as a facilitator, was worried about
the students’ motivation and treated students’ errors
carefully in order to provide an appropriate affective
environment for learning; also, grammar and cultural
aspects were focused on according to the students’
communicative necessities.
In figure 3 such coherence could also be
obser ved. In his planning Ma expresses a
sociocultural perspective of language, teaching and
learning. To him we learn a foreign language by
interacting in this language and when teaching a
foreign language we must consider the students’
learning culture, their expectations and interests in
order to create an adequate affective atmosphere in
the classroom. He sees errors as a natural aspect of
learning as well as students’ need to save face in the
correction process. His objective for teaching was
the following: to create conditions so that pupils
could reflect on the culture and society of the native
speakers of the target language and on their own
language. His practice is characterized by the
following recurrent actions: frequent interaction
among students in the discussion of updated and
polemic texts, focusing on cultural aspects; use of
strategies to promote the students’ autonomy; and
consideration of the students’ learning culture,
expectations and interests in choosing texts and
planning activities. Errors were seen as natural and
students’ dignity was preserved in the classroom,
although Ma confessed to feeling insecure as far as
error correction and treatment were concerned.
Such coherence relating student-teachers’ BAK,
objectives and teaching practice seems to have
occurred due to the following aspects:
1. The student-teachers had had opportunities
to discuss their beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge over a whole year and seemed to be
conscious of them.
2. The participants were completely engaged in
the research project and understood that with more
coherence, their teaching practice was better.
3. The participants had complete freedom in
planning their courses and lessons. There was no
imposition whatsoever.
4. The students were stimulated to reflect on
their practice by means of keeping reflective diaries,
in which they were invited to reflect upon the
beliefs, assumptions and knowledge which
supported their actions.
5. Some classes were videotaped and viewing
sessions were organized so that student-teachers
could discuss their practice with the researcher
and their colleagues.
6. The weekly meetings focused on the
participants’ practices and participants had the
opportunity of sharing their experiences, anxieties
and conflicts, which might have contributed to the
later coherence in their work.
7. The participants’ practicum was informally
evaluated by their colleagues and the researcher
and formally by the Applied Linguistics and
practicum teacher.
The rare incoherent procedures which
characterized the participants’ practices were most
of the time perceived and reformulated by them,
which indicates their preoccupation with coherence
related to what they said, planned and did.
We could also evidence moments in which the
student-teachers manifested to be constructing
knowledge from their practice. For example, when
Ma questions the affective filter theory, saying that
he had discovered from his experience with
students that a tense state could be connected to
the lessons and a permanent state of vigilance for
new knowledge acquisition. This experience
probably brought modifications to Ma’s BAK as well.
FINAL CONSIDERAFINAL CONSIDERAFINAL CONSIDERAFINAL CONSIDERAFINAL CONSIDERATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS
We can conclude by stating that a pre-service
education program, founded on a teaching and
learning social-constructivist perspective (Williams
& Burden, op cit), which started by offering
conditions for student-teachers to be conscious
of the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge they
had brought to university (that created conditions
for the interaction of these beliefs with theories and
experience in a critical and provocative way and led
to the construction of personal theories), offered
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PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE The Construction of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge
Main BAK Main BAK Main BAK Main BAK Main BAK
LanguageLanguageLanguageLanguageLanguage: Communication
instrument; expression of beliefs
and perspectives
TTTTTeachingeachingeachingeachingeaching: Create conditions so
that the student can acquire
knowledge in a reflective and
critical manner
LearningLearningLearningLearningLearning: Acquire knowledge in
a critical way, so that it can be
used
Learning a Foreign LanguageLearning a Foreign LanguageLearning a Foreign LanguageLearning a Foreign LanguageLearning a Foreign Language:
When there is motivation and one
feels the usefulness of knowledge
TTTTTeaching a Feaching a Feaching a Feaching a Feaching a Foreign Loreign Loreign Loreign Loreign Languageanguageanguageanguageanguage:
Playful activities; useful tasks;
adequate affective environment
ErErErErErrrrrrororororor: Positive perspective
Planning Planning Planning Planning Planning
GoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGoals: Offer the students
communicative activities
which present language in a
contextualized way
according to the students’
realities and necessities,
creating motivation; work
with cultural aspects so that
the students can become
more competent speakers
Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice
Interaction valuing:
Development of
communicative activities
Importance of students’
previous knowledge
Teacher as facilitator
Grammar according to
students’ necessities
Error: seen in a positive way;
careful with corrections
Worried about student
motivation
Cultural content
Figure 2Figure 2Figure 2Figure 2Figure 2. BAK planning and teaching practice (student-teacher K).
Figure 3Figure 3Figure 3Figure 3Figure 3. Main BAK, planning and practice (student-teacher M).
Main BAK Main BAK Main BAK Main BAK Main BAK
LanguageLanguageLanguageLanguageLanguage: built-in social
interaction
TTTTTeachingeachingeachingeachingeaching: experience exchange;
construction of knowledge
LearningLearningLearningLearningLearning: an active process
which involves autonomy and
independence
Learning a Foreign languageLearning a Foreign languageLearning a Foreign languageLearning a Foreign languageLearning a Foreign language:
interacting in the target language
TTTTTeaching a FLeaching a FLeaching a FLeaching a FLeaching a FL: to consider the
students’ learning culture,
expectations and interests; an
adequate, affective atmosphere
ErrorErrorErrorErrorError: natural, student’s dignity
has to be preser ved
Planning Planning Planning Planning Planning
ObjectivesObjectivesObjectivesObjectivesObjectives: Create
conditions so that the
students can reflect on the
culture and society of the
native speakers of the
English language and on
their own culture
Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice
Frequent interaction among
students in the discussion of
updated and polemic texts,
focusing on cultural aspects
Strategies to promote
students’ autonomy
Consideration of the students’
learning culture, expectations
and interests in choosing texts
and planning activities
Errors seen as natural and
students’ dignity is preserved
(difficulties in treating students’
errors)
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Vieira PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE
elements for the construction of a classroom
practice that was coherent with these theories,
constructed throughout the education process.
Closing this article I bring the following two
student-teachers’ words which evaluate the benefits
of their participation in the described project:
“Besides having reflected about my beliefs and
modified many of them, I can say that nowadays
I feel more confident and prepared for the
exercise of my profession, since I can explain
my choices and consequences. Studying beliefs
is very important: this knowledge makes the
teacher a coherent professional who knows
how to explain and justify his attitudes and
keeps him far from being a dogmatic teacher.”
(Final interview –student-teacher Ka)
“Considering the data from the autobiography
I could find out that the student-teacher
abandoned a passive attitude of absorbing the
theoretical content to reflect upon his learning
and teaching practice… Formal, structural
aspects were replaced by communicative and
affective ones… The reflections developed
during the project allowed the participant to
uncover these transformations, making them
more explicit and concrete.”
(Research report, student-teacher M)
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