Metrics
7 File views/ downloads
62 Record Views
Dissertation
Exploring Relationships between Teachers' Philosophical Beliefs and Practices Relative To Unforeseen interruptions in Elementary Classroom instruction
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2012
Abstract
Teachers' knowledge, goals, beliefs, and decision-making activities were explored individually and combined relative to their philosophical beliefs and practices in the elementary classroom setting in response to unforeseen interruptions. Schoenfeld's Theory of Teaching-in-Context and Brown's The Experimental Mind in Education were used as the framework for the study. The theory focused on the interaction of teachers' knowledge, goals, beliefs, and decision-making actions to understand why teachers do what they do when they are engaged in teaching. Brown's Personal Beliefs Inventory/Teacher Practices Inventory instrument was used to explore the relationship of teachers' philosophical beliefs and teacher practices relative to teachers' reaction time (in seconds) in response to an unforeseen interruption. This research was a quantitative study utilizing a correlation design to determine the extent of the influence teachers' philosophical beliefs and teacher practices have in relation to teachers' reaction time (in seconds) to unforeseen interruptions in the classroom. Thirty teachers agreed to participate in the study. Each teacher completed a written survey and received an application of an unexpected interruption to their regularly planned classroom activity. Trained observers visited the classrooms of the participants unannounced and purposefully dropped a large collection of papers with a small verbal commotion. The observers annotated the amount of time teachers used in response to addressing the disturbance. Teachers' knowledge, goals, beliefs, and decision making actions are components of philosophical beliefs and were found to influence reaction time when philosophical beliefs were correlated with reaction time (in seconds) to unforeseen interruptions in the elementary classroom setting. Teachers' philosophical beliefs total scores were then combined with teacher practices and found to influence reaction time when philosophical beliefs and teacher practices were correlated with reaction time (in seconds) to unforeseen interruptions in the elementary classroom setting. Findings from this study imply teachers' philosophical beliefs influence their reaction time to classroom interruptions. Findings also implied that reaction time decreased for veteran teachers when teachers' philosophical beliefs and teacher practices were combined.
Details
- Title
- Exploring Relationships between Teachers' Philosophical Beliefs and Practices Relative To Unforeseen interruptions in Elementary Classroom instruction
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 120
- Copyright
- © 2012 Faye Jeanette Mays
- Identifiers
- 99380090751006600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida