Teachers' Beliefs In The Basic Education Curriculum Reform Research

The aim of vitalizing China through education requires teachers have perfect and firm teaching beliefs, and the present task of the curriculum reform in the basic education also demands teachers have scientific teaching beliefs. Difficulties of basic education reform caused by problems concerning teacher's beliefs make it urgent to research into teacher's beliefs. On the basis of related researches at home and abroad this study made some further theoretical researches into the meaning, ideal structure and elements of teachers' beliefs. It studied the present situation and existing problems of teachers' beliefs when the basic education curriculum reform was going on. It analyzed the historical factors, educational elements and the present social situations which caused the existing problems of teacher beliefs in terms of the history of the development of Chinese teachers' beliefs. And on the basis of the above mentioned researches it put forward the new teacher belief system of basic education, and made some suggestions on how to carry out belief education in normal universities and also on how to guide teacher beliefs.This dissertation believes that teacher beliefs are series of concepts which are believed by the teacher and directly or indirectly control his/her teaching. And teacher beliefs include his/her understanding of the value of his/her life, interpretation of the social value of his/her profession and ideals, judgment and choice of the ways to his/her life or professional ideals, realization of the meaning of the subject he/she taught and bearing of his/her teaching, and understanding and choice of the instructional strategies and techniques.The ideal structure of teachers' beliefs is made up of three different kind of content. The first layer is life faith which is a teacher's interpretation of life and its value. The next is educational beliefs which reflect a teacher's understanding of the social value of his/her profession. The third is instructional beliefs which illustrate a teacher's realization of the special function of the subject he/she taught and the ways to realize such functions in carrying out educational responsibilities. Among the three kind of teacher beliefs, teacher's understanding of the social value of his/her profession is the core which is the major part of teacher beliefs and it is a teacher's general understanding of his life beliefs, social ideals and his/her instructional activities, and which includes a teacher's understanding of human beings, society, school educational value, students and their developmental needs which decides a teacher's understanding of his/her significance in a certain subject and the related instructional activities and also decides his/her choice of instructional strategies.On the basis of the above theoretical interpretation a field research was done into teacher beliefs while teaching reforms were going on. By interviewing and observing teachers in instructional reform activities it was found that different teachers had obviously different teaching beliefs. Belief structures of outstanding teachers were perfect and could resist undesirable impacts. And such teachers could closely integrate their life faith and value persuit with their professional value persuit. Some ordinary teachers'belief structures were perfect but couldn't resist undesirable impacts and some others had imperfect belief strctures which clearly influeced their choice of classrom teaching strategies and their teaching performance and became obstacles to classromm instruction and curriculum reforms. This desertation believes that the present teacher belief problems can be classified into two kinds, the first is the imperfection of teacher belief strctures which are shown as absence of teachers'life faith and imperfection of their educational beliefs and the other is weak strength of teacher beliefs and such teachers can't stick to certain educational values when they face adverse factors in different educational reforms.The roots of the teachers'belief problems were studied in terms of Chinese historic and cultural influences and the present educational and social influences. This desertation believes that teachers'understanding of the aims of educational activities is the foundation which helps teachers to establish self-values, grasp the inherent laws of educational and instructional activities and develop their instructional judgement abilities. In the course of Chinese educational develooment denial of Chinese traditional culture, over-introduction of western education and low-grade imitations to it caused teachers to loose their original cultural faith and their interpretation of the ultimate aims of education, and finally they become one of the means of mordern industrial production. Undue-persuit of knowledge and skills, neglecting of human problems and students'feelings in the present basic education and teacher education ignored the belief guidance of student teachers. And the contemporary consumerist values, the irrational administrative system and the related multilateral interest conflict in schools have negative influences on the belief formation and development of in-service teachers.This study proposes a system of basic education teachers' beliefs. The basic education teachers' beliefs should include the faith on the fine traditional culture of the nation, and the faith about the core value from the world's outstanding cultural, it also include the kindness, the truth and the beauty faith on education, as well as the teaching beliefs that can support the whole development of the child's life.On the basis of the above analysis this dissertation suggests that teacher education must lay emphasis on the guidance and guardianship of teacher beliefs, the significant influence of teachers' life faith on their professional beliefs and help them to develop the core values and intellect feelings necessary for them to accomplish their mission, and remold teachers' images. In order to achieve the aims, pre-vocational teacher education should perfect their teacher belief education content and adjust their teaching modes, and with respect to the in-service teacher belief guidance, it should be emphasized that school administrators have the responsibilities to guide the in-service teacher beliefs and they should guide and support the in-service teacher beliefs develop healthily through scientific school management.