Overview
- The first book to examine the extent to which western theory on teacher beliefs may be applied to Chinese educational contexts
- Offers a practical introduction to the ways in which teachers implement curriculum reforms to EFL in their classrooms
- The first work that applies complexity theory to the study of teacher cognition both as the theoretical and methodological framework.
Part of the book series: English Language Education (ELED, volume 4)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
Keywords
- Chinese educational context
- EFL in China
- EFL teachers in Chinese secondary education
- English as a foreign language in primary schools
- English in Chinese highschools
- complexity theory in education
- curriculum reform
- interpretivist ecological and sociocultural perspecitves
- language classroom practice
- national curriculum reform in China
- pedagogical choices in language education
- relationship between teachers' beliefs and practice
- teacher beliefs
- teacher cognition
- teacher education in China
- teachers' belief systems
About this book
The volume is a practical introduction to the ways in which the teachers deal with classroom events in the context of change for researchers, teachers, administrators who wish to implement curriculum reform to EFL in schools. The author provides insights into the beliefs of Chinese teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), and their pedagogical choices in the context of the National English Curriculum Reform. The complex nature of EFL teachers’ beliefs about EFL teaching and learning are exposed, how their beliefs interact with mental and actionable processes triggered by classroom practice, and how their beliefs co-adapt with contexts to maintain the stability of the teachers’ belief systems.
This is the first study to present complexity theory in a narrative context of education, exploring the non-linear and unpredictable features of the relationship between the teachers’ beliefs and practices. Integrating complexity theory with interpretivist, ecological and sociocultural perspectives, this book contributes to the research agenda by providing a systematic framework for examining teacher beliefs as a whole, and examining the extent to which western theory may be applied to Chinese educational contexts.
Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Teacher Beliefs as a Complex System: English Language Teachers in China
Authors: Hongying Zheng
Series Title: English Language Education
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23009-2
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Education (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-23008-5Published: 16 October 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-37204-4Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-23009-2Published: 05 October 2015
Series ISSN: 2213-6967
Series E-ISSN: 2213-6975
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 170
Topics: Language Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Applied Linguistics, Curriculum Studies