Research Briefs THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Volume III Issue 1 - October 2009
Degree of Alignment Between Beginning Teachers’ Practices and Beliefs About Effective Classroom Practices Authors Alysia D. Roehrig, The Florida State University Jeannine E. Turner, The Florida State University Crissie M. Grove, The Florida State Univeristy Naomi Schneider, The Florida State University Zhu Liu, The Florida State University Abstract Six beginning teachers were compared to an exemplary, experienced teacher. Teacher beliefs, classroom practices and student engagement data were coded from theory-driven and data-driven perspectives. The strongest teachers demonstrated alignment between promotive/positive practices, beliefs and students’ engagement. The weakest teachers, whose students were less consistently engaged, demonstrated alignment between undermining practices and beliefs. For beginning teachers, with misaligned practices and beliefs, there may be potential for improving practices with experience. A testable model emerged depicting a metacognitive feedback loop for teachers who are aware of their shortcomings and place responsibility for students’ behaviors and learning on themselves. Practical Application Our findings have implications for future development of and research on teacher professional development. Citation Roehrig, A.D., Turner, J.E., Grove, C.M., Schneider, N., & Liu, Z. (2009). Degree of Alignment Between Beginning Teachers’ Practices and Beliefs about Effective Classroom Practices. The Teacher Educator, 44, 164–187. For more information, contact Alysia Roehrig (aroehrig@fsu.edu)
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