Beliefs and Language Teacher Education
English Language Teacher Beliefs - Farahnaz Faez
Farahnaz Faez [+]
University of Western Ontario
Michael Karas [+]
University of Western Ontario
Description
This chapter discusses teachers’ beliefs and language teacher education programs. Teachers enter teacher education with their own pre-conceived notions about teaching that are often “highly idealistic, loosely formulated, deeply seated, and traditional” (Richardson, 2003, p. 6). The question as to if (language) teacher education can impact teachers’ beliefs has long challenged researchers. Anecdotally, it is often believed that teachers’ beliefs are immune to teacher education; they enter with highly established beliefs, and a short teacher education program can do little to change them. This notion has been challenged more recently, and key to this, is reflective practice. This chapter discusses how teachers’ beliefs can be addressed in language teacher education programs, with a special focus on modern day TESOL programs that offer “borderless expertise” (Freeman, 2016, p. 187) to prospective teachers who come from international contexts.