The Case Study Of The Structure And Characteristics Of The Primary Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs

More expectation is given to the change of teachers.Teachers are the vital factors whichimpact on the success on the failure in the reform. Teachers' beliefs are stable cognitivevariables in the brain, and they are formed and developed from the interaction between theprivates and the outside system. The beliefs are hard to be changed when they have formed.Beliefs have the filtration to the new ideas and new knowledge., and influence theirperceptions and judgment. Through more than ten years of new curriculum reform, few wouldargue what is the true beliefs teachers hold influence their practice, what beliefs have beenaccepted and implemented in the classroom, what difference is between the espoused and theenacted in practice. The research on teachers' beliefs is helpful to the understanding theteachers' practice in the classroom and improvement the teacher development and theteaching.Thus, the fundamental question is: What is the beliefs structure of the mathematicsteachers? What is the characteristics on the beliefs structure? The research inclined that thereare two dimensions in the beliefs structure: the contents of beliefs and the level of beliefs. Inthis research the micro-ethnographic and case-study methods, including the in-depthinterview and field observation based on3primary mathematics teachers, were adopted toinquire into teachers' beliefs and the characteristics of the belief system. The paper found thedifferent belief system model based on the data of3mathematics teachers' beliefs and impliedthe core beliefs teachers hold influence the practice. The analysis of the characteristics sshows that there are3different types of the beliefs structure, which is correspondence to the3reform orientation: tradition-keeper, blindness-follower and practitioner.Also, it could befound that the confirmation to the practice and personal knowledge and capability have theeffect on the formation of the beliefs system.From the research, some conclusion can be produced.(1) there are two dimesions-thecontent and the level of beliefs in the belief structure.(2)the unconscious beliefs have animportant effect on the beliefs system (3) the system can refect the complexity and variantbetween the espoused beliefs and the enacted beliefs.Some characteristic on the structure canbe found that (1) the subject beliefs is the key element in the structure;(2) the relaitionshipbetween the espoused beliefs and enacted beliefs are interactive and mutual constructive.Based on the findings and conclusion, some suggestion on the improving the teachers'beliefs are rendered as below. Encouragement and opportunity should be given to reflect andexposure the teacher' beliefs. The teachers' knowledge should be enriched and improved tomake the connection between beliefs and context. The mathematics beliefs should be thefocus in the formation and improvement of the beliefs system. The professional developmentitems should be designed according to the characteristics of beliefs.