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大学英语教师信念系统研究

College English Teacher’s Belief System

【作者】 丁仁仑

【导师】 戴炜栋;

【作者基本信息】 上海外国语大学 , 英语语言文学, 2014, 博士

【摘要】 当今世界,英语作为国际通用语的地位毋庸置疑,其作用也愈加重要。由此,在国际化人才培养过程中,对英语教学也就愈加重视。大学英语教学是我国外语教育战略蓝图中非常重要的一部分,大学英语教师也成为我国教育体系中一个非常庞大的群体。尤其是随着近年来外语教育事业的蓬勃发展,大学英语教学已成为中国高等教育的一道风景线。《国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要(2010-2020)》第十七章这样写道:“教育大计,教师为本。有好的教师,才有好的教育。”教师在教学系统中的主体地位至关重要,在教学实施过程中的关键作用也毋庸置疑,由于教师信念直接决定着其教学行为和效果,因此关于大学英语教师信念的研究也就尤为重要。近年来,仅从中国知网(www.cnki.net)来看,有关教师信念的研究就越来越多,对其关注度也越来越高,尤其是自2004年以来的近十年,教师信念研究受到广泛重视。然而,这些研究大多是集中于基础教育和中学教育阶段的教师信念。虽然近年来对于高等教育阶段教师信念的探讨开始有所增加,但其中很多是仅仅针对优秀教师群体或是个体的研究。教师信念并非只是一个单纯的信念,而是教师从自身学习经验中就开始积累,并在其教学环境中不断检验探索最后形成的一个信念系统。在已有的教师信念研究中,信念系统多有提及,但对其具体的研究尚少。本研究基于教育生态学和教育心理学有关理论,探讨大学英语教师信念及其系统的构成。本研究的主要内容或主要解决的问题是:1)大学英语教师信念,即大学英语教师对其教学环境诸要素的信念;2)大学英语教师信念系统的构成及各信念间的关系;本研究不仅探讨大学英语教师对教学环境诸要素的信念,还研究由于教师在性别、教龄、年龄、职称、学历、国外学习等方面的个体差异而导致教师在信念上的差异;在大学英语教师信念研究的基础上,讨论教师信念系统内各子信念间的相互关系,以及教师信念系统的构成与发展。为大学英语教学改革,尤其是大学英语教师发展提供有益的借鉴和较为科学的理论参考。本研究的理论基础主要有教育生态学和教学心理学等有关理论。教育生态学是运用生态学原理来研究教育现象,探讨教育规律的科学。生态学是研究有机体与其周围环境相互间关系的科学。根据生态学原理,生态系统内各因子相互关联、相互作用、相互转换,共为一体。与之相仿,教师信念同样是一个信念间互为关联、互为影响、相辅相成的系统。这个系统如同生态系统一样,有中心系统、中间系统和外围系统。教育心理学同样为本研究提供了坚实的理论支撑。首先是皮亚杰(Jean Piaget)的认知发展理论(Theory of Cognitive Development)(伍尔福克2008)与维果茨基(Vygotsky)的社会文化理论(Socialcultural Theory)(Vygotsky1978;Woolfolk2013)。前者强调个体心理结构的形成与发展,后者强调社会文化环境的作用与影响。这些都适用于教师信念的研究。信念是个体的心理结构,而作为社会的人,所在的社会文化环境对其有不言而喻的影响与作用。其次是布朗芬布伦纳(Bronfenbrenner)的人类发展的生物生态模型(Bioecological Model)(Woolfolk2013)和阿尔伯特班杜拉(Alerbert Bandura)的社会认知理论(Social Cognitive Theory)中的三元交互系统(Bronfenbrenner1993;Woolfolk2013)。根据这些理论,教师处在一个多层次的教育生态系统中,即小系统(Microsystem)、中间系统(Mesosystem)、外系统(Exosystem)和大系统(Macrosystem);各系统间是相互影响、交互作用的。教师信念系统同样可以分为类似的系统。在这个系统中,个人、行为和社会相互作用、相互影响,共为一体,而信念恰恰是个人因素当中的一个变量。这都为教师信念系统的假设提供了很好的理论支撑。本研究采用定量和定性相结合的方法,定量研究数据收集主要通过问卷调查,定性研究数据主要来自于半结构式访谈。调查问卷从性别、教龄、年龄、职称、学历、国外学习六个维度对调查对象做了分类比较;在教师信念方面,做了社会因素、学生、同事、学校环境、课程、教材、网络、教学方法、教师发展、课堂教学、教学评估等11种教师子信念的分类。来自浙江工商大学和其他以浙江省高校为主的11所兄弟院校的136名大学英语教师参加了调查问卷,其中有效问卷127份。参与人所在的12所高等院校中主要有文科类院校、理工科类院校、师范类院校和财经类院校。研究样本采集学校虽然有些在省内享有声望,有独特的大学英语教学方法或模式,并在近年来的大学英语教学改革中取得了较好成绩,其中有多所教育部大学英语教学改革示范点学校,还有在大学英语教学改革方面获省级及省级以上教学成果奖的学校,但无论从办学水平、办学规模,还是从学科设置上等诸方面来看,都是省属或地方高校乃至全国普通高等院校群体中的普通成员,因此,样本采集学校具有一定的代表性。半结构式访谈对象均来自同一所院校,但在男女比例、教龄、年龄、职称、学历、国外学习经历等方面均有考量。在运用SPSS19.0统计软件和相应的统计方法对调查问卷结果进行定量分析后,又对17位大学英语教师做了18次深度采访,其中有2位被访谈对象的2份录音材料因技术等原因而剔除,对其余15人共16份录音材料进行了转录、整理、编码和解码,并以此为基础,进一步展开分析和讨论,再综合定量和定性研究结果,最终得出研究结论。本研究的主要发现如下:1)教师信念受其周围环境的影响,是经过教师漫长时间不断地积累、实践、摸索而形成的。新教师的教学信念主要来源于其个人学习经历,经过1至2年的教学实践,开始形成自己的教学信念。教师发展具有阶段性,教师信念分为不同维度或层次,并相互交叉。2)在不甄别信念层次的情况下,社会因素、学生、同事、学校环境、课程、教材、网络、教学方法、教师发展、课堂教学和教学评估这11类教师信念间大多相互密切关联,其中,只有学生明显与其他信念关联度有所减少。同事信念的认同度最高,教学评估的认同度最低。综合性别、教龄、年龄、职称、学历和国外学习对11类教师信念的影响,显著性差异主要表现在学生、同事、学校环境和教学评估信念上;其次是在教材信念上;再次是在社会因素、课程、网络和教师发展信念上。调查没有发现在教学方法和课堂教学信念上有显著性差异。这表明,被调查人在上述两方面的信念上大致相同。3)在性别、教龄(教学经历)、年龄、职称、学历(学习经历)、国外学习(学习经历)等维度中,性别在学生、同事和教学评估信念上呈现显著差异;教龄和年龄在学生、学校环境、教材和教学评估四方面信念上均呈显著性差异,同时,年龄还在社会因素信念和同事信念上呈现显著性差异;职称在同事、学校环境、教学评估信念上呈显著性差异;学历在教师的学生、同事、课程和网络四方面信念上呈显著性差异;国外学习对教师在学校环境和教师发展信念上有显著影响。研究发现学习经历和年龄的影响最为显著,教龄紧随其后,其次是职称和性别。4)与教师教学行为相关联的所有要素构成教师信念系统,关联度越高,则越是位于核心地带,因此,教师信念的中心—边缘的确存在,中心和边缘信念会因人因时而有所不一。但是教师作为教学的主体,课堂教学作为教学的主阵地,学校作为教学行为的主要场所的地位不会变,因而也相应地决定了教师信念的中心与边缘,也就是核心和外围,或者是主要和次要的地位。教师信念是个十分微妙而且又繁杂的系统。研究表明,大学英语教师信念系统主要由教师内心信念系统、课堂教学信念系统、学校环境信念系统和社会因素信念系统等四个层面组成,如图1教师信念系统。教师内心信念系统隐性呈现,最为关键也最为复杂,包括其性别、教龄、年龄、学历、职称、国外学习等多个维度,其个人学习经历、年龄和教龄维度最为重要。如图1所示,教师信念其余三个层面相对内心信念系统来说均呈显性,其中课堂教学信念系统层面是其教学行为的集中体现,最为活跃;学校环境信念系统层面与课堂教学信念系统层面交叉性很大,说明二者之间关联度很高,最外围的信念为社会因素信念系统。很多教师信念的子信念是活跃在一到二个甚至多个层面之间的,比如家庭,还比如网络和课程等。教师信念从大的方面来说是动态的,因为,不仅教师个体间有差异,即使个体也会随着时间的变化而有所变化。图1教师信念系统本研究的主要启示如下:1)对大学英语教学改革的启示教师信念是一个系统,大学英语教学改革(乃至其他教育改革)更是一个系统工程,而教师是教改的推广者和实践者,也是课堂教学等一系列教学改革最终端的组织者和监督者,只有重视并提高大学英语教师在教学各要素上的信念,才能使其教学组织与管理事半功倍,进行有效教学或成功教学。只有认真重视并对待影响教师信念的各个环节,才能培育良好的学校教育文化环境,形成和谐向上的教师信念,从而合力推进大学英语教学改革。2)对大学英语教师发展的启示大学英语教师信念及其系统的研究显示,教师个体的因素是其最为核心的信念,尤其学习经历和年龄的作用与影响最大,教龄紧随其后;而随着教学实践的增加,其教学经历的影响会日益增加。虽然有些信念维度是先天的无可改变,比如性别;但是有些却是以后天为主,比如其学习经历和教学经历。因此,首先要重视对大学英语师资的培养、培训、教育和发展。重视大学英语师资的培养是指首先要重视对职前教师的培养。其次,要持之以恒地重视对在职大学英语教师队伍的培训、教育和发展,培育新型的自主学习型大学英语教师。本研究不仅对大学英语教学和教师信念有理论参考价值,对外语教师,乃至普通意义上的教师研究,以及教师的培训、管理与标准制定同样具有参考借鉴价值。本研究创新点有:1)在研究内容上,探讨了大学英语教师信念及其系统内部各子信念间的关系;2)在研究角度上,以教育生态学和教育心理学等有关理论为基石探讨了大学英语教师信念及其系统;3)在理论创新上,提出大学英语教师四层面(四维)信念系统。

【Abstract】 Simon Borg says,“What teachers do is important, but if we want to understand whatteachers do, if we want to promote change, we also need to look at beliefs (Birello2012:88).” Therefore, teacher’s beliefs should be taken into consideration, especially whenlarge-scale education reforms are ended very often with minimal results even though a lotof time and money have been invested. That is the very reason why the past two decadeswitnessed that more and more educational researchers shifted their focus from teacher’sbehavior to teacher’s beliefs.This dissertation attempts to answer the following three questions:1) What are the college English teacher’s beliefs at present?2) What are the correlations between the beliefs?3) What does college English teacher’s belief system constitute?The study is underpinned by the relevant theories of educational ecology and educationalpsychology. Educational ecology indicates that factors of the environment interact,interchange, and interplay with each other, which implies that teacher and teacher’s beliefscan also be in the same way. Theories of Cognitive Development, Socialcultural Theory,Triarchic Reciprocal Causality and Bioecological Model of Human Development allconvey that beliefs influence and are influenced by various factors. Therefore, teacher’sbelief system can also be depicted as a system consisting of subsystems. Thus, groundedon above-stated theories, this study proposes the theoretical hypothesis on the teacher’sbelief system.Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are employed in this research. All datareceived are from127questionnaires and16semi-structured interviews. On one hand,teacher’s beliefs are surveyed of six dimensions of gender, teaching time, age, professionaltitle, the level of education and overseas learning experience respectively. On the otherhand, beliefs are also analyzed into eleven categories: social factors, students, colleagues,school environment, curriculum, teaching materials, the internet, teaching methods, teacherdevelopment, classroom teaching and teaching assessment. The findings of this study are: 1) Teacher’s beliefs originate from and develop with years of learning and teachingexperience, and the beliefs are exposed to various factors relevant to teachers throughouttheir teaching career. The novice teacher’s beliefs are mainly guided by his or her personallearning experience. A teacher’s beliefs change as his or her teaching experiences grow.2) Various factors interact with each other, and they all influence college Englishteacher’s beliefs, among which, beliefs about students, colleagues, school environment andteaching assessment are of greatest significance; beliefs concerning teaching materials alsoplay an important role; some other beliefs regarding social factors, curriculum, the internetand teacher development weigh differently. The research indicates that there is nosignificant difference in beliefs as far as teaching methods and classroom teaching areconcerned.3) Gender makes a difference in beliefs regarding students, colleagues and teachingassessment; both teaching time and age affect beliefs with respect to students, schoolenvironment, teaching materials and teaching assessment, and age also influences beliefsabout social factors and colleagues; professional titles play an important role in beliefsconcerning colleagues, school environment and teaching assessment; the level of educationinfluences beliefs in relation to students, colleagues, curriculum and the internet; overseaslearning experience matters in the beliefs about school environment and teacherdevelopment. Age, learning experiences and teaching practice exert the most powerfulinfluences, which verifies the above conclusions at the same time.4) College English teacher’s belief system, which is illustrated in the Figure1below,consists of four inside-out subsystems: inner core beliefs, classroom teaching beliefs,school environment beliefs and social factors beliefs.The inner core beliefs are implicit and complicated compared with the other beliefs, butthey play a central role; the peripheral beliefs are relatively explicit consisting of classroomteaching beliefs, school environment beliefs and social factors beliefs. Only if they areintegrated into the inner core beliefs, do they function. However, in the presence ofadministrative power, social factors beliefs may exert powerful influences on teacher’sinner core beliefs directly, which may also manipulate teacher’s teaching behaviortemporarily. Figure1demonstrates teaching-correlated factors in the teacher’s belief system. Thestronger the correlation, the closer the factor or the belief is to the inner core beliefs, andthe more central it is in the belief system. Inner core beliefs subsystem includes personalfactors such as gender, teaching time, age, the level of education, professional title, andoverseas learning experience. Classroom teaching belief subsystem and schoolenvironment belief subsystem overlap and interact with each other correspondingly.Teacher’s beliefs are subtle and complex, and they overlap at the same time, which alsoimplies that teacher’s beliefs are dynamic because variables are changing and they areinterchanging with each other constantly, especially when both teaching and learningexperiences are enriched.Figure1Teacher’s Belief SystemThis research is not only valuable to the study of teacher’s beliefs, proposing the constructof teacher’s belief system and revealing the correlations between beliefs of the collegeEnglish teacher’s belief system. It also contributes to teacher education researches,providing insights into teacher’s training, teacher’s education, teacher’s development andteacher’s learning. Moreover, findings of the present study are also beneficial toeducational management.

  • 【分类号】H319
  • 【被引频次】6
  • 【下载频次】1493
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