English Teachers’ Beliefs And Professional Identity

Since the1970’s, education researchers have shifted their focus from investigating effective teachingmethods to exploring the teacher behavior and teacher thinking. EFL teachers’ beliefs and professionalidentity are important in understanding the teachers’“inner” factors. Research on teachers’ beliefs andprofessional identity has been an important part in western educational research, but it has just started inChina.The author does a case study in five senior schools in Huining county, aiming at realizing the currentsituation of senior EFL teachers’ beliefs and professional identity, and then, exploring the relationshipsbetween EFL teachers’ beliefs and professional identity. Based on gender and teaching experience, theauthor analyzes the differences in high school English teachers’ beliefs and professional identity. The studyexplores the teachers’ internal factors. According to the description and analyses, some implications are putforward. Hence, the present study will shed light on high school English teacher education and professionaldevelopment.This thesis is made up of seven parts. The first part is the introduction, which illustrates thebackground and significance of the current study, and offers the main structure of the whole thesis. Part twopresents an overview of literature relevant to this study and reviews previous studies at home and abroad.Part three introduces the theoretical framework of the study: a social constructivist theory and a humanisticapproach. The fourth part presents the research questions, some information concerning the subjects,investigation instruments, investigation procedures and data analysis. The questions are:1) What beliefs dothe EFL teachers in senior high schools have in the current situation? Are there any differences in thebeliefs of the EFL teachers with different gender and teaching experience? If so, what are the differences?2)What is the situation of the EFL teachers’ professional identity in senior high schools? Are there anydifferences in the professional identity of the EFL teachers with different gender and teaching experience?If so, what are the differences?3) Is there a correlation between EFL teachers’ beliefs and professionalidentity? If so, what are relationships between the two? One hundred EFL teachers in five senior highschools in Huining county, which is located in Gansu province, are the subjects. Teachers’ BeliefsInvestigation Questionnaire (TBIQ) and Teacher Professional Identity Investigation Questionnaire (TPIIQ)are used, and8EFL teachers are interviewed. In part five, results of the questionnaires, discussions ofinterview and some findings are presented. The sixth part summarizes the results of the study, and contains the implications and limitations to the study.The results show that (1) senior high EFL teachers’ beliefs are positive and open-minded. Differentdimensions of teachers’ beliefs show remarkable differences, and teaching and learning are main beliefs.Female teachers’ beliefs are more positive and open-minded than those of male teachers. There are nodifferences in different gender. Significant differences do exist in senior high schools in different teachingyears stages: the teachers with1-5teaching years have more positive and open-minded beliefs; the teacherswith6-10years of teaching become conservative; the teachers with11-20teaching years hold moreconservative beliefs; and the beliefs of the teachers with more than20teaching years tend to beopen-minded.(2) Senior high EFL teachers hold a higher professional identity. There exist remarkabledifferences in different dimensions of teachers’ professional identity. Female teachers professional identityis higher than that of male teachers. Teachers’ professional identity in gender and teaching years existsignificant differences. The investigations and interviews show that the teachers with1-5teaching yearshave a higher professional identity; the teachers’ professional identity significantly declines in the6-10and11-20teaching years, compared to that of1-5teaching years; the teachers’ professional identity increaseswhen their teaching experience is more than20years.(3) Positive correlation exists between Teachers’beliefs and professional identity. To some extent, teachers’ beliefs positively predicts teachers’ professionalidentity.Based on the research, some suggestions are made for the EFL teachers and teacher education.1) Theteachers should reflect on their own beliefs and professional identity, and strengthen communication withcolleagues. By means of firming up teachers’ beliefs and improving professional identity, teachers canpromote professional development.2) For teacher education, schools and administrators should attach animportance to teachers’ belief development and try to improve teachers’ professional identity.