TEACHERS BELIEF

They are the perspectives or points of view teachers have about:

Their values
Conceptions of their place or role
Views of the world

These beliefs have a great influence on:

The way teachers plan their lessons

Decisions they make
Classroom practice

Such beliefs are culturally bound, formed early in life and resistant to change.
Beliefs about learning begin when the student gets to school (Weinstein, 1989). These beliefs are closely
related to what we think we know, but provide an affective filter which screens, redefines, distorts, or
reshape subsequent thinking and information. (Nespor, 1989).

The beliefs we have about a subject can be interconnected and also related to central aspects of our
personal belief systems, like: attitudes and values about the world and our place in it.

There might be several approaches about teachers beliefs:

Teacher who is constantly reevaluating his or her beliefs in the light of new knowledge
Teacher who has a deep-rooted belief about how language is learned

TEACHERS BELIEF ABOUT LEARNING

The teachers belief about learning involves several aspects:

What, how, and how much learners learn

What exactly learning is for

Then, teachers must be clear in their minds about what kind of learning outcomes they want their students
to achieve. If the teacher just wants the students to learn a series of language items to pass and exam, its
going to have implications in his/her practice. On the other hand, if the teacher sees learning a new language
as a lifelong process with much broader social, cultural, and educational implications, then, the teacher will
take a different approach to teaching it.

Based on these facts and the comprehensive review of the literature related to learning, Gow and Kember
(1993) suggest that most approaches to learning can be subsumed (considered) under one of the following
headings.

1. A quantitative increase in knowledge: lead to transmission of knowledge about how language operates
or explanation of grammar rules.
2. Memorisation: learning of vocabulary or verb tenses

3. the acquisition of facts and procedures which can be retained and / or used in practice: teaching of
skills such as guessing meaning of words from context

4. The abstraction of meaning: is considered an interesting category because it is related to two aspects:
the communicative approach and techniques such as: task- based listening, reading with information
transfer, or tasks requiring meaningful interaction.

5. An interpretative process aimed at the understanding of reality: it has to do with task based
techniques, for instance: listening, reading task or other tasks that require interaction.

6. some form of personal change: would lead to the selection of activities that have personal relevance to
the learners, which lead to some personal benefit such as learning to think, some social skill, or about
the world

The first three can be considered under the heading reproductive approaches
The other three can be considered under the heading meaning based

Based on all the above aspects, we are now in position to make our own statement regarding two aspects:

what we believe learning involves

what we consider represents central aspects of our own espoused theory:

We believe that worthwhile learning:

 is a complex process
produces personal change of some kind
involves the creation of new understanding which are personally relevant
can take a number of different forms
is always influenced by the context where it occurs
results mainly from social interaction
often needs to be mediated
differs from individual to individual
is an emotional as well as a cognitive process
is a lifelong process
is closely related to how people feel about themselves.

Each one of these statements reflects an important aspect in social constructivism with the additional
emphasis upon the affective as well as the cognitive fields.

TEACHERS BELIEF ABOUT THEMSELVES

This aspect has to do with the perspective or point of view about themselves as persons and what they
believe is the best form to interact with the learners that may affect the classroom atmosphere. According to
Pine and Boy (1977) effective teachers create learning atmospheres which are cognitively and affectively
expanding, learning atmospheres which enable the learner to become a more adequate and knowledgeable
person

This approach is pretty humanistic. Therefore for humanistic teachers, teaching is essentially a personal
expression of the self, which has particular implications with regard to teachers' views of themselves, since a
teacher who lacks self-esteem will not be able to build the self-esteem of others. The teacher who does not
accept his learners for who they are makes it difficult for them to accept themselves. By the same token, the
language teacher needs to impart a sense of self-confidence in using the language, while at the same time
respecting learners' attempts to communicate in the foreign language.

Humanistic approach is considered learner-centered teaching. However, it is also considered as person

centered because every teaching act involves that the instructor has to define himself/herself as a person
despite the fact that according to humanism everything the learner does or says has or could have an impact
on the his personal growth and development.

Conclusion

There is no such thing as "the perfect teacher." Giving a homily on what "good teachers" do appears to be
unhelpful and unrewarding to those who want to improve their own practices. A far more helpful approach
seems to be the study of teachers' beliefs, which inform and shape their actions. Constructivism lies at the
heart of this endeavour, as it offers valuable insights into the cognitive as well as affective aspects of the
relationship between teachers and their self-images, and teachers and students. Teaching is not merely
information or knowledge, but mainly an expression of values and attitudes. What teachers usually get back
from their students is what they themselves have brought to the teaching-learning process.