Teacher Beliefs and their Manifestation in Teaching from the Perspective of Pre-service Teacher Trainees

Zuzana Lukáčová, University of Prešov, Slovakia;      Abstract: Teacher beliefs play an important role in addressing the issue of teacher training. Teaching philosophy has long been a question of great interest in a wide range of fields in teacher education. There is a growing body of literature that recognises the importance of what teacher trainees or teachers in general think, believe and do in teaching. Studies over the past two decades have provided important information on the possible factors that may impact the formation of teacher beliefs. The paper attempts to explore the relationship between previous school experience and the formation of teacher beliefs among teacher trainees who can provide viewpoints of a teacher and a student at the same time. Moreover, the paper examines teaching methods and techniques that the trainees apply in their teaching as a result of what they believe in as teachers. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with pre-service teacher trainees as a part of feedback sessions during teaching practice. By employing a qualitative approach, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of the formation and manifestation of teacher beliefs in teaching.

Key words: method, teacher beliefs, teaching philosophy, teacher trainee