Researching Teaching and Learning 2 – Assessment Task 2 – Literature Review – Ethan Sais – 17974628

Research Teaching Learning 2 - Literature Review

Ethan Sais
Group Focus: What areas of Personal practice can a teacher improve upon to be more
responsive to student needs?

Individual Question: How do teachers negotiate their personal values and beliefs to address

student needs in our diverse value driven school communities?

This literature review sets out to identify the impact teacher values and beliefs have on their

students and their classroom culture. The articles examined in this literature review provide an

insight into how a teacher’s culture, experience, knowledge, values and beliefs shapes their practice

and role within the school community and the values it cherishes. The prevailing consensus in these

articles is that teacher beliefs and values have a lasting impact on what and how students learn

about varying topics in the classroom and reflect what teachers perceive as their role as educators

and the goals they set (Demeer, 2004, Petit, 2011). Stachowski et.al. (2003) argue that values and

beliefs are an inherent part of the education system. Not only due to the political and social values

held by the varying stakeholders in society (Petit, 2011, Van Kan et.al., 2013) but also due to the

choices and values made by the classroom teacher and the school as a whole (Stachowski et.al.,

2003).

According to Barrett there is an expectation of teachers that they are moral archetypes for

their students (2015). Furthermore, the lives of teachers both personally and professionally are

influenced by the values and beliefs they hold. These beliefs and values play a major role in how they

interact with colleagues and students, the curriculum, their teaching practices and standards they

employ (Barrett, 2015). As such teachers not only make professional decisions based on curricular

requirements but also take into account what they believe will be beneficial to their students

learning and overall social and emotional development (Van Kan et.al., 2013). Van Kan et al. explains

that educators often find there to be conflict in educational policy and standard practices when

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pitted against the experience and understanding teachers have within their own context (2013). This

experience shapes the values teachers attribute to varying teaching practices, the skills they

disseminate and the ideas they portray. This can be very powerful because teachers have accounted

for the local context of their students and skills that are important to them (Van Kan, et.al., 2013).

Because students learn values explicitly in the classroom through interaction with activities,

the school and the wider community. It is clear that teachers need to be aware of the values that are

going to play a role in their teaching careers, those of the school, those of the wider community and

their own values (Ryan et.al., 2013). Korvinthan (2016) highlights that there has been little research

on refugee students in diverse classrooms and how teacher values and beliefs impact upon how

these students are perceived in the classroom or the effect these have on their educational

experiences. Furthermore, Korvinthan argues that barriers can be imposed by teachers and

preservice teachers through their biases and that they need to address the misconceptions,

attitudes, and perspectives that they may have formed around refugee students and how they

inform our practice (2016).

Korvinthan (2016) provides a number of vignettes examining the experiences of students

and teachers that highlight how these in some cases stereotypical misconceptions can impact on a

student and their connection to the school, their teachers, peers and the wider community. Teacher

beliefs can reproduce a range of deficit ideologies including low expectations biased assessments,

learnings materials and practices and reinforce unequitable power dynamics (Kahn et.al., 2014).

Teacher beliefs are very important in the education of non-English speaking students. Deficit

approaches obviously have a huge negative impact but high expectations and inclusive practices will

equally have the opposite effect and provide students with greater clarity and a passion for their

education and their achievements (Petit, 2011). Thus it is imperative that teachers examine their

own political beliefs, practices and commitments as they would their content and pedagogical

knowledge (Korvinthan, 2016).

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According to Mergler (2008) teachers are becoming more and more responsible for and

accountable to their actions and moral compass and as such begining teachers are often unprepared

to take on such a role. Mergler (2008) contends that teaching is a moral process which shapes and

challenges students to help them grow and as such universities and other institutions needs to

change. This paper argues that preservice teachers need to know how to uphold and challenge the

specific values embedded in the curriculum, teaching standards and society as well as their own

beliefs and values. This is because in schools and classrooms that are as diverse as those found in

Australia, it is inevitable that teachers will come across students and colleagues with beliefs and

values that will challenge and conflict with their own. Teachers must be prepared to identify and

challenge these beliefs and values in the classroom by providing students with the opportunity to

discuss these ideas using critical thinking, compassion, open mindedness and empathy (Mergler,

2008).

Mergler and Spooner-Lane (2012) discuss the role of teaching from a values perspective,

highlighting the role of the teacher as a not only an educator of values and beliefs but also as a

model. Requiring teachers to not only develop a hyper awareness of their own values, beliefs and

assumptions but it also to reflect on the values and ideas they want their students to develop and

how their actions reflect them (Mergler & Spooner-Lane, 2012). Accordingly, Mergler and Spooner-

Lane (2012) found that preservice teachers feel under prepared to teach from on a values education

perspective because universities and teacher education courses do not address the morals or values

development of pre-service teachers or the skills they will need to engage with these ideas in the

classroom (Mergler, 2008, Arthur-Kelly et.al., 2013, Ryan et.al., 2013).

Ryan et.al. argues that education is a field riddled with biases and beliefs (2013). Biag (2016)

discusses these biases in relation to school connectedness. Emphasizing the impact of teachers’

deficit perspectives and its disruption to student learning and their wellbeing. Biag demonstrates

how teacher values and beliefs about students can lead to approaches that may be detrimental to

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the students learning and achievement (2016). Even though a strong connection between teachers

and their students can have a range of positive effects on student outcomes it is clear that school

structures are designed in a way that make student and teacher bonds extremely hard to build in

any meaningful way (2016).

Kahn et.al. (2014) argue that the prevailing demographic of educators are predominantly

from a female, white, heterosexual and middle class perspective and that their prevailing

experiences struggle to find commonality to the experiences and culture and values with that of the

diverse students and community they serve. I would argue that every teacher has their own

experience and cultural background and that this would have implications for the values and beliefs

they present to their students. An instance of this comes from Turley (1994) who reflects on how

identity and authority is used by teachers and the implications this has for the subsets of their

identity and values. Turley characterises his patriarchal authority through his gender, race and

sexuality drawing from aspects of his masculinity, queerness and whiteness (1994). Turley like Kahn

discusses the limitations of his perspective but also acknowledges that even though he is not an

authority of these aspects of his identity the understandings they provide him with provide an

opportunity to expand the social and emotional development of his students (1994).

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References – Literature Review

Arthur-Kelly, M., Sutherland, D., Lyons, G., Macfarlane, S., & Foreman, P.,. (2013). Reflections on
enhancing pre-service teacher education programmes to support inclusion: perspectives
from New Zealand and Australia. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 28(2), 217-
233. doi:10.1080/08856257.2013.778113

Barrett, S.E.,. (2015). The Impact of Religious Beliefs on Professional Ethics: A Case Study of a New
Teacher. Canadian Journal of Education, 38(3), 1-21. Retrieved April 2019

Biag, M.,. (2016). A Descriptive Analysis of School Connectedness: The Views of School Personnel.
Urban Education, 51(1), 32-59. doi:10.1177/0042085914539772

Demeer, S.A.,. (2004). Classroom goal orientation in high school classrooms: revealing links between
teacher beliefs and classroom environments. Educational Research, 46(1), 73-90.
doi:10.1080/0013188042000178836

Forlin, C.,. (2006). Inclusive Education in Australia ten years after Salamanca. European Journal of
Psychology of Education, 21(3), 265-277. Retrieved March 2019

Kahn, L.G., Lindstrom, L., & Murray, C.,. (2014). Factors Contributing to Preservice Teachers' Beliefs
about Diversity. Teacher Education Quaterly, 53-70. Retrieved March 2019

Korvinthan, T.,. (2016). Learning and Teaching With Loss: Meeting the Needs of Refugee Children
Through Narrative Inquiry. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 10(3), 141-155.
doi:10.1080/15595692.2015.1137282

Mergler, A. (2008). Making The Implicit Explicit: Values And Morals In Queensland Teacher
Education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 33(4). Retrieved March 2019, from
http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2008v33n4.1

Mergler, A., & Spooner-Lane, R.,. (2012). What Pre-service Teachers need to know to be Effective at
Values-based Education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 37(8), 66-81. Retrieved
March 2019, from at: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol37/iss8/5

Pettit, S.K.,. (2011). Teachers' Beliefs About English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom:
A Review of the Literature. International Multilingual Research Journal, 5(2), 123-147.
doi:10.1080/19313152.2011.594357

Ryan, T.G., Schruder, C.R., & Robinson, S.,. (2013). Concurrent pre-service teachers: An analysis of
values. Issues in Education Research, 23(3), 394-414. Retrieved March 2019

Stachowski, L.L., Richardson, J.W., & Henderson, M.,. (2010). Student teachers report on the
influence of cultural values on classroom practice and community involvement: Perspectives
from the Navajo reservation and from abroad. The Teacher Educator, 39(1), 52-63.
doi:10.1080/08878730309555329

Turley, H.,. (1994). Queer in the Classroom: Authority and Space in Computer-Assisted Instruction.
The Radical Teacher, 45, 34-37. Retrieved March 2019, from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20709806

Van Kan, C.A., Ponte, P., & Verloop, N.,. (2013). How do teachers legitimize their classroom
interactions in terms of educational values and ideals? Teachers and Teaching, 19(6), 610-
633. doi:10.1080/13540602.2013.827452

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Consent Form

Dear Potential Participant:

I am working on a project titled ‘Navigating Personal Beliefs and Values in the Classroom’ for the class,
‘Researching Teaching and Learning 2,’ at Western Sydney University. As part of the project, I am
collecting information to help inform the design of a teacher research proposal.

This project aims to ascertain the role teacher and preservice teacher personal beliefs and values play in
the classroom. This project will be administered through a short interview that will run for approximately
10-15 minutes. The information collected during these interviews will be recorded electronically and
transcribed that it can be collated and used to determine what effect beliefs and values have on teacher
practice, student achievement and teaching goals.

By signing this form, I acknowledge that:

 I have read the project information and have been given the opportunity to discuss the
information and my involvement in the project with the researcher.
 The procedures required for the project and the time involved have been explained to me, and
any questions I have about the project have been answered to my satisfaction.
 I consent to participating in a one on one interview which will be recorded electronically, and
used in the project ‘Navigating Personal Beliefs and Values in the Classroom’
 I understand that my involvement is confidential and that the information gained during this
data collection experience will only be reported within the confines of the ‘Researching Teaching
and Learning 2’ unit, and that all personal details will be de-identified from the data.
 I understand that I can withdraw from the project at any time, without affecting my relationship
with the researcher/s, now or in the future.

By signing below, I acknowledge that I am 18 years of age or older, or I am a full-time university student
who is 17 years old.

Signed: __________________________________

Name: __________________________________

Date: __________________________________

By signing below, I acknowledge that I am the legal guardian of a person who is 16 or 17 years old, and
provide my consent for the person’s participation.

Signed: __________________________________

Name: __________________________________

Date: __________________________________

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Interview Questions
Participant: Date and setting:
Participant demographics:
Teacher perceptions Refers to the role curriculum, government and politics play in dictating
of education system teacher beliefs and values and the values and beliefs they have to display
(Petit, 2011, Van Kan et.al., 2013)
- How do you plan the curriculum at your school?
- Do your beliefs and values play a role in that process?
- How do you negotiate the values presented in the curriculum with your own?
- Do you think teaching is too politicised?
- Do you ever feel pressure to present or refrain a particular point of view either from
the curriculum or your own values and beliefs?
Teachers’ practice These questions highlight the professional decisions teachers make based
on their values, beliefs and experiences (Van Kan, et.al., 2013, Ryan et.al.,
2013, Korvinthan, 2016).
- What effect do beliefs and values have on the classroom?
- To what extent have beliefs and values informed your practice in the past?
- To what capacity do your values and beliefs influence your relationships with students,
colleagues and the community?
- How do you incorporate values and beliefs into your lessons and practice in general?
- Do you reflect on your values and beliefs?
- Reflecting on your values, beliefs and actions, how do they affect your students outcomes
or engagement?
Impact on teaching Teachers beliefs and values regarding teaching and learning, highlighting
and learning aspects of social and emotional learning. (Kahn et.al., 2014, Biag, 2016)
- It is argued that as a teacher you are moral model for your students. What are your
thoughts on this?
- Do you think it is your role as a teacher to provide a moral compass for your students?
- Do you think beliefs and values are important for your classroom?
- How do values and beliefs help you address student wellbeing in the classroom?
Navigating beliefs How teachers deal with different values and beliefs in the classroom
(Barrett, 2015, Van Kan, et.al., 2013, Korvinthan, 2016)
- How diverse are your students?
- How do you negotiate the diversity of beliefs and values within your classroom and school
community?
- What are some aspects of your classroom environment that allow your students and
yourself to express beliefs and values?
- What difficulties have your encountered navigating the values and beliefs of your
students?
- In your experience have activities incorporating beliefs and values been beneficial to
students, why or why not?
- What types of activities have you engaged with?
Teacher education The lack of preparation pre-service teachers have in relation to dealing
with and reflecting upon their own beliefs and values (Mergler & Spooner-
Lane, 2012, Mergler, 2008, Arthur-Kelly, 2013)
- What improvements to teacher education would you recommend to improve how
teachers navigate beliefs and values in the classroom?
- Has your own education and training prepared you to deal with the myriad of beliefs and
values you have encountered in your experience?
Interviewer Reflection:

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Data Collection Protocol Explanation

The literature on this topic is generally geared towards the struggles pre-service teachers

experience when dealing with conflicting values and beliefs in the classroom highlighting the lack of

training pre-service teachers receive during their teaching degrees. The literature also focuses on the

implications of teacher beliefs and values and less on how teachers navigate the values and beliefs

of other stakeholders within the school community. Therefore, this project aims to uncover the role

of teacher beliefs and values in the classroom and how teachers navigate incorporating their own

beliefs and values into their practice while acknowledging those of the school, the school community

and their students.

This project will be administered through a set of semi structured interviews including both

in-service teachers and pre-service teachers. These interviews will require participants to answer a

small set of open ended questions pertaining to their experiences navigating not only their own

beliefs and values but those of other stakeholders throughout their teaching practice (Efron and

Ravid, 2013). This methodology has been chosen for this project because it delivers more detailed

information and allows the interviewer to probe further into participant responses to accumulate

richer qualitative data. Even though this information could possibly be ascertained through a less

time consuming data collection process like surveying which would allow for a larger number of

participants. It is clear that the data collected would be insufficient and would not allow for the type

of detailed answers this particular research question requires (Efron & Ravid, 2013).

The Participants chosen for this project will be both in-service teachers and pre-service or

graduate teachers with at least one professional practice block of experience teaching in a

classroom. This is because these participants will generally have enough experience and knowledge

to answer the questions posed to them as well as understand the aim of this project (Efron & Ravid,

2013). These interviews will be recorded and transcribed afterwards to ascertain the data collected

the interviewer will also engage in reflection immediately after the interview to reflect upon the

interview process and the themes and ideas that were brought up by the participant (Efron & Ravid,

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2013). The questions asked will pertain directly to the participant’s experiences and the values and

beliefs they hold. The types of questions used in these interviews will include: experience questions,

belief questions, background and demographic questions as well as feeling questions (Interviewing

for Action Research, 2010, Efron & Ravid, 2013). These type of questions will facilitate the types of

answers this study is looking for. As this will be a semi structured interview process this project will

have a set of questions and general formula for the interviewer to follow which will allow for any

follow up questions to be asked or the ability to skip questions if they have been answered

previously.

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References – Research Protocol

Efron, S. E., & Ravid, R. (2013). Action research in education : A practical guide. Retrieved April 2019,
from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Electronic Textbook: "Ask and Ye Shall Recieve:" An Introduction to Interviewing . (2010). Retrieved
from Interviewing for Action Research :
(http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~mid/edr725/class/interviewing/introduction/reading4-1-1.html

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