An Investigation of Teachers’ Beliefs about Learning

• Main Authors: Bay, Erdal; Faculty of Education, Gaziantep University, Ziya Gokalp, İlhan, Mustafa; Faculty of Education, Dicle University, Aydın, Zeynep; Faculty of Education, Gaziantep University, Ziya Gokalp, Kinay, İsmail; Faculty of Education, Dicle University, Yiğit, Celal; Faculty of Education, Gaziantep University, Ziya Gokalp, kahramanoğlu, Recep; Faculty of Education, Mustafa Kemal University, Kuzu, Sekvan; Faculty of Education, Mustafa Kemal University, Özyurt, Melike; Faculty of Education, Gaziantep University, Ziya Gokalp
• Format: Text
• Language: Croatian; English
• Published: Faculty of teacher education 2014
• Subjects: beliefs about learning; constructivist learning; cognitive; social and radical constructivism; teachers’ educational beliefs; traditional learning; kognitivni; društveni i radikalni konstruktivizam; konstruktivističko učenje; uvjerenja o učenju; uvjerenja učitelja o učenju; tradicionalno učenje; sami
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/129527; http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/191395; http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/191377

The aim of this study was to investigate teachers’ beliefs about learning. So, we investigated the level of teachers’ beliefs about the traditional and constructivist approach (cognitive, social and radical). Further, it was questioned how teachers developed qualifications needed for the constructivist approach. The study was conducted on 233 teachers working in the city centre of Gaziantep in Turkey during 2011-2012 school year. “Beliefs about Learning Scale”, developed by the researchers, was used for data collection. The results revealed that the teachers adopted the constructivist approach at a higher level than the traditional approach. Speaking about the constructivist approach dimensions, the teachers adopted the social constructivist approach at a higher level than cognitive and radical constructivist approaches. According to the gender variable, the extent to which the female teachers adopted the constructivist approach was higher in comparison with the male teachers. Moreover, it was found that the level of classroom teachers’ beliefs about the traditional approach was higher than that of subject teachers’ beliefs according to seniority. Another finding was that the increase in seniority increased the teachers’ beliefs about the traditional approach. The findings indicated that the teachers adopted qualifications for the constructivist approach mostly during their undergraduate and post-graduate education. Cilj je ovog istraživanja odrediti uvjerenja koja učitelji imaju o učenju. Istražili smo stoga razinu njihovih uvjerenja o tradicionalnim i konstruktivističkim pristupima (kognitivni, društveni i radikalni). Štoviše, tražili smo odgovor na pitanje kako učitelji razvijaju kompetencije potrebne za konstruktivistički pristup. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 233 učitelja koji poučavaju u središtu turskog grada Gaziantepa tijekom šk. godine 2011./2012. Ljestvica za utvrđivanje uvjerenja o učenju, koju su izradili sami autori, korištena je za prikupljanje podataka. Rezultati su otkrili da učitelji usvajaju konstruktivistički pristup na višoj razini u odnosu na tradicionalni pristup. Kada je riječ o dimenzijama konstruktivističkog pristup, učitelji usvajaju društveni konstruktivizam na višoj razini nego kognitivni ili radikalni konstruktivizam. S obzirom na rod kao varijablu, učiteljice usvajaju konstruktivistički pristup na višoj razini od učitelja. Pokazalo se, štoviše, da je razina uvjerenja što ih razredni učitelji imaju o tradicionalnom pristupu viša nego u slučaju predmetnih učitelja kada se promatraju godine staža. S porastom godina staža rastu i uvjerenja učitelja o tradicionalnom pristupu. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na to da učitelji usvajaju kompetencije potrebne za konstruktivistički pristup uglavnom tijekom dodiplomskog i poslijediplomskog obrazovanja.