Case 2: Flora
R. 3. How do the Two Teachers’ Beliefs as English Teachers outside the Formal
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5. Parents’ expectation Serious concern for parental expectation
The present study revealed that the two English teachers outside the formal educational system did not adhere to their beliefs as FL learners because of the groups of perceived problems in the teaching contexts: (1) students’ learning context, (2) curriculum, (3) school policy, (4) students’ conditions, and (5) parents’
expectation.
R. 3. How do the Two Teachers’ Beliefs as English Teachers outside the Formal Educational System Develop?
As presented in Figure 5.1, the teachers’ beliefs as FL learners, teacher training, and teaching experience all contributed to the formation of their beliefs as English teachers. However, only a part of their beliefs as learners can be connected to their beliefs as teachers. They would make teaching decisions inconsistent with some of their beliefs as FL learners because of their perceived problems in teaching contexts.
They would also abandon some of their beliefs as learners due to the contradictions between their beliefs as learners and as teachers.
Owing to their experience of been the examinees of the strict entrance exams under great academic pressure for many years, the two English teachers outside the formal educational system tended to pay much attention to students’ conditions. The evidence is obvious. First, even though they had to fulfill the institutional
requirements, they still paid much attention to their feelings of learning (i.e., to persuade their parents not to push them too hard). Second, when two of their beliefs conflicted with each other, the beliefs about students’ conditions were considered prior to the ones about pedagogical approaches. The teachers cared about their
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students’ feelings of learning much more than their learning achievements. Their roles in students’ learning are helping them to fight with their academic pressure rather than exerting pressure on them.
Figure 5.1 The Formation of Teachers’ Beliefs as English Teachers outside the Formal Educational System
In conclusion, the study discovered that, English teachers outside the formal educational system in Taiwan are like language teachers in other teaching contexts, holding beliefs derived from their FL learning experiences, teacher training, and teaching experience. Their beliefs as English teachers emerged from their beliefs as learners concluded beliefs in both cognitive and affective aspect. Their beliefs related to their informal teacher education are not as many as the beliefs relevant to their learning experiences. Their beliefs derived from their teaching experience mainly focused on students’ conditions.
However, inconsistencies were found between the two teachers’ teaching Beliefs as
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decisions and their beliefs as FL learners for reasons of their perceived problems in their teaching contexts and their beliefs as teachers. The perceived problems are about: (1) students’ learning context, (2) curriculum, (3) school policy, (4) students’
conditions, and (5) parents’ expectation.
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CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The present study is a qualitative case study on the formation of teachers’
beliefs of two English teachers outside the formal educational system. The study suggests that teachers’ beliefs as FL learners, teacher training, and teaching
experience may contribute to the formation of their beliefs as English teachers, and their perceived problems in teaching contexts and the priority of their beliefs may cause inconsistency between their beliefs as learners and teaching decisions. This chapter presents a summary of the study, pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research.
Summary of the Study
The study aims to explore the formation of the beliefs as English teachers of two teachers outside the formal educational system, adopting a qualitative case study method. The participants, Esther and Flora, are two English teachers with rich experience of teaching students aged from two to sixteen at various informal
educational institutes. Data collection methods are in-depth interviews in
semi-structure of format. Holistic-content approach was employed to present their life histories, including their FL learning experiences and English teaching
experience. The life stories are also the contexts for their beliefs to be discussed in.
On the other hand, categorical-content approach was applied to analyze their beliefs as FL learners as well as English teachers. The findings revealed that the two
teachers outside the formal educational system held beliefs as English teachers
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derived from their prior learning experiences, teacher training, and teaching
experience. However, the teachers would make teaching decisions inconsistent with their beliefs as FL learners by virtue of their perceived problems in teaching contexts and their beliefs as English teachers. For the sake of the perceived problems, they would abandon their beliefs about pedagogical approaches. Their beliefs about pedagogical approaches would also yield to their beliefs which concern about students’ conditions. Although the teachers were unable to change the teaching materials, depart from the syllabuses, or violate the institutional policies, they still paid attention to students’ feelings of learning and tried not to frustrate them. The two participants’ perceived problems in their teaching contexts which caused them to make teaching decisions inconsistent with their beliefs as FL learners are about:
(1) students’ learning context, (2) curriculum, (3) school policy, (4) students’
conditions, and (5) parents’ expectation.
Pedagogical Implications
The present findings contribute to the understandings of the teaching and learning contexts outside the formal educational system. First of all, although the JHSEE and the JCUEE have been abolished for over a decade and replaced by the Multiple Schemes for Entering Senior High Schools and the Multiple University Entrance Exam, one major goal of most of the informal educational institutes involved in the study is still to improve the students’ academic achievements.
Second, as discussed above, Prawat (1992) proposed that language teachers would be the major obstacles for education reform when they firmly adhere to beliefs in inopportune pedagogical approaches. However, in the present study, it is found that both of the two teachers believed that the purpose of FL learning is to communicate.
They also held beliefs about language function instructions. But the realization of
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the beliefs was constrained by their perceived problems in teaching contexts: the lack of English speaking environment, inappropriate teaching materials, set
syllabuses, restricting institutional policies, and parental expectations for children’s academic achievements. It is hoped that the findings may provide a useful insight of the teaching and learning contexts outside the formal educational system.
Limitations of the Study
Despite the case study’s advantages, it does have some limitations. First, this case study only reveals the formation of the two particular teachers’ beliefs as English teachers. A broad understanding of the educational contexts outside the formal educational system will be gained if more cases are investigated. Then, the findings of the study are based on the teachers’ reported practice, which may not be real. Moreover, even though the information of various informal institutes was obtained through the present study, what is presented here is only the tip of the iceberg; educational institutes, belonging to private business, may not have uniform institutional policies. The involvement of more institutes may gain deeper
understanding of such informal contexts. Finally, the trustworthiness of the
qualitative research was guarded by having the interview questions tested on another English teacher with experience of teaching in informal educational institutes, conducting the interviews in quiet places, and carrying out an extra interview to check the transcripts, clarify confusions, and obtaining details of particular events.
But if more research instruments can be adapted, such as classroom observation, more comprehensive understanding may be achieved.
Suggestions for Further Research
This study has demonstrated the informal educational contexts from the
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perspectives of two English teachers. However, the understanding of the teaching and learning contexts must be enriched. The opinions from other aspects such as informal educational institutes, students, and parents are necessary for expanding the understanding of the informal educational context. Furthermore, as presented in previous chapters, informal English teacher training programs exerted limited influence on the two teachers’ beliefs in the present study. The finding is much different from those of the reviewed study which advocated the strong influence of teacher education programs on teacher’s belief. More efforts of researchers are invited to get a deeper understanding of the informal English teacher training situation.
Conclusion
Learning English outside the formal educational system has been considered a must among students and parents for decades. However, the teaching and learning contexts have not been understood deeply enough. The present study revealed the formation of English teachers’ beliefs is related to their learning experiences, teacher training, and teaching experience. But teachers may make teaching decisions
inconsistent with their beliefs as FL learners for reasons of their perceived problems in teaching contexts and their beliefs as teachers. We wish that this study has
provided an insight into the informal educational contexts of Taiwan and to help researchers, educational policy makers, informal educational institutes as well as parents to better understand the learning and teaching situation outside the formal educational system.
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