دانلود رایگان ترجمه مقاله تمرین های آموزشی، اعتقادات و رفتارهای معلمان (سال 2014)

فرهنگ آموزشی: تمرین های آموزشی، اعتقادات و رفتارهای معلمان

School Culture: Teachers’ Beliefs, Behaviours, and Instructional Practices

Abstract

This mixed-methods research project documents the school culture of Hope University’s Language Institute and reveals the reciprocal relationship between the school culture and the instructional practices of the English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in this particular institute. Altogether, 62 EFL teachers agreed to complete a questionnaire. Of these, 14 participated in semi-structured interviews and classroom observations; 2 agreed to be interviewed but did not allow their classrooms to be observed. Quantitative data demonstrated strong correlations among eight social organizational variables of a school culture. Qualitative data further revealed the influences of a school culture on these teacher participants’ instructional practices.

1 Introduction

School cultures are unique and distinctive. They are created and re-created by people considered members of a context; i.e., teachers, students, parents, and communities, among many others. Deal and Peterson (1999) defined that school cultures as a collection of “traditions and rituals that have been built up over time as teachers, students, parents, and administrators work together and deal with crises and accomplishments” (p. 4).

School cultures are influential. They shape and re-shape what people do, think, and feel (Beaudoin & Taylor, 2004; Cooper, 1988; Craig, 2009; Deal & Peterson, 1999, 2009; Guise, 2009; Hongboontri, 2003; Hongboontri & Chaokongjakra, 2011; Jurasaite-Harbinson & Rex, 2010; Kleinsasser, 1993, 2013; Lieberman, 1988, 1990; Maslowski, 2001; McLaughlin, 1993; Muhammad, 2009; Rosenholtz, 1991; Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004; Schien, 2010). Rosenholtz’s (1991) quantitative and qualitative study of elementary school teachers in America convincingly demonstrated how school cultures molded these teachers. With data gathered from 1,213 completed questionnaires and 74 interviews, Rosenholtz identified two types of school cultures; i.e., nonroutine/certain and routine/uncertain. In the nonroutine/certain environment, teachers worked collaboratively, were involved in goal setting, and had opportunities for professional development. These, in turn, maximized students’ academic growth. In contrast, teachers in the routine/uncertain environment worked in isolation, had little (or almost no) involvement in school goal setting, and had fewer opportunities for professional development. Students’ performances were, as a consequence, minimized.

The influences of school cultures on teachers have also been extensively covered in the field of foreign language (FL) education. Kleinsasser’s (1993) findings of his triangulated study with 37 FL teachers in five school districts in America emphasized the power of school cultures. Similar to Rosenholtz (1991), Kleinsasser found two types of school cultures: nonroutine/certain and routine/uncertain. The nonroutine/certain culture promoted, Kleinsasser explained further, collaboration within a community. In other words, his participating FL teachers collaborated not only with their colleagues in the FL department but they also worked with teachers from other subject disciplines, students, parents, administrators, and communities. Through collaboration, these FL teachers could create a successful learning environment where their students had the opportunity to use the second language for communication. On the contrary, in the routine/uncertain culture where collaboration was scarce (or almost nonexistent), the FL teachers not only individually planned their own instructions but also pursued different goals of teaching and learning. Classroom instructions were mostly text driven and focused largely on grammar; students had little (or almost no) opportunity to use the second language for communication.