1st Edition
International Handbook of Research on Teachers' Beliefs
Teacher beliefs play a fundamental role in the education landscape. Nevertheless, most educational researchers only allude to teacher beliefs as part of a study on other subjects. This book fills a necessary gap by identifying the importance of research on teacher beliefs and providing a comprehensive overview of the topic. It provides novices and experts alike a single volume with which to understand a complex research landscape. Including a review of the historical foundations of the field, this book identifies current research trends, and summarizes the current knowledge base regarding teachers’ specific beliefs about content, instruction, students, and learning. For its innumerable applications within the field, this handbook is a necessity for anyone interested in educational research.
Biography
Helenrose Fives, Ph. D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Teacher Education at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Michele Gregoire Gill, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Central Florida.
'When teachers walk into classrooms, their beliefs about their role can be more critical than their lesson plan, the assessment, the students, or the structure of the class. A book dedicated to these beliefs is welcome. This book, one of the first on this topic, is more an introduction via a pleasant dip than full immersion...‘the key construct of the field, the one of beliefs is ill defined; its methods are acknowledged to be problematic; and the fundamental rationale, the one of beliefs as an explanatory principle for practice, is refuted as much as confirm’. This is why this book is so critical. It brings together various perspectives, and poses a great direction for future researchers, for PhD teams, and for those who have innovative measurement skills. If, as I would defend, it is the beliefs of teachers that matter most, then this field needs to grow up. I commend this book, warts and all, as a forerunner for exciting things to come. That, at least, is my belief.'- Professor John Hattie, Director, Melbourne Education Research Institute Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist