Abstract
Teachers' beliefs in human values significantly affect their interaction with students in effective classroom learning. Whether a teacher has taken a humanistic approach or behavioral approach in the classroom is a curious question especially in a culturally mixed Hong Kong society. In response to this question, the researcher attempted to find out what the teachers believed in human values and how they practiced their beliefs in the classroom. As part of the major research, this paper aimed to elaborate on the teachers' beliefs and practice during teacher pupil interaction and whether their beliefs and practice were affected by the East and West educational philosophy. Education values and beliefs in whole child development underpin the aims of education in the 21st century. Literature showed that a teacher's belief in humanistic approach in bringing out the holistic development of a child plays an important role in fulfilling the education ideology. The study of a group of 35 in-service primary school teachers in Hong Kong was launched in 1999/2000 regarding their teacher-pupil interaction. The research methods mainly included in-depth interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations. The research findings revealed that the participant teachers practiced both humanistic and behavioral approaches, and the cultural perspective on humanistic or behavioral approach was not prominent. Although a considerable number of them believed in the affective approach, they had technical difficulties in the implementation owing to the constraint of time and resources. The research outcome implied that further teacher development in affective education is essential to facilitate student learning in the current educational change.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - Jul 2004 |
Citation
Tung-Cheung, E. (2004, July). Teacher's beliefs and practice in classroom learning in culturally mixed Hong Kong society. Paper presented at the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) World Assembly 2004: Teachers as learners: Building communities for professional development, Hong Kong, China.Keywords
- Teacher Education and Professional Development
- Teacher Education