Educators’ Implicit Theories About Teaching Skills and Their Relationship to Professional Development Choices

• In Event: Roundtable Session 95
  In Roundtable Session: The Varied Terrain of Teacher Beliefs: Exploration and Development

Abstract

Research has shown that implicit theories about the malleability of skills/abilities predict people¹s willingness to participate in learning opportunities. Our prior work found that implicit theories of teaching (i.e., beliefs about whether teaching skills can change substantially with
effort) predicted instructors¹ self-reported interest in professional development (PD) that could improve teaching. The current study: a) further validated our ³implicit theories of teaching² measure; b) examined whether prior findings replicated in a new sample, and c) added a measure of teaching self-efficacy and a behavioral measure of interest in PD.
College instructors completed online questionnaires that assessed implicit theories of teaching, teaching self-efficacy, interest in PD, and other variables. Analyses are underway. Findings have both theoretical and applied implications.

Authors

• Vandana Thadani, Loyola Marymount University

• William Breland, University of Southern California

• Jacqueline Dewar, Loyola Marymount University