Across the Divide: Parents' and Teachers' Beliefs About Learning and Teaching

• In Event: 33.080 - Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: 33.080-3 - Motivational and Cognitive Processes: Teachers' Beliefs, Judgments, and Knowledge

Abstract

Teachers’ beliefs have been shown to influence educational practices, but it remains unclear how teachers’ beliefs differ from those of parents, who typically lack professional training in education. Survey results indicate that (a) parents favored the survey’s curriculum-centered items while teachers preferred the student-centered ones, (b) parents produced higher ratings for curriculum-centered items than did teachers, while teachers produced higher ratings for student-centered items than did parents, and (c) parents preferred a curriculum-centered pedagogical blend while teachers favored a student-centered blend. The results support the theory that our culture’s folk psychology manifests pedagogical beliefs that are remote from beliefs held by professional educators, potentially making communication difficult among stakeholders in schools.

Author

• Bruce Torff, Hofstra University