The relationships among sources of teacher pedagogical beliefs, teaching experiences, and student outcomes

Abstract

Teachers’ beliefs are derived from various sources such as experiences and personality (Kennedy, 1997; Donaghue, 2003; Ellis, 2008), childhood learning experiences (Rokeach, 1968), teaching experiences (Zeichner and Tabachnick, 1981), and folk pedagogy (Bruner, 1996). The relationship of these sources and learners’ outcomes are under question; therefore, this study investigated the relationships among sources of teacher pedagogical beliefs, teaching experiences, and student outcomes. The researchers classified these sources into two categories “Experienced Pedagogical Beliefs” and “Educational Pedagogical Beliefs”. To conduct this study, 150 Iranian ELT instructors had been chosen randomly. Their students’ scores were also used in data analysis. A beliefs’ questionnaire and interview were employed to elicit instructors’ sources of pedagogical beliefs. The results suggested that a significant proportion of the total variations in learners’ outcomes were predicted by teachers’ sources of pedagogical beliefs and teachers’ teaching experiences. The implications for improving the quality of teacher education programs were also discussed.