Abstract
This chapter highlights the significance of contextual factors contributing to the relationship between the teachers’ beliefs and practices. The contexts in the study are divided into the macro-context of society, the exo-contexts of schools and the micro-contexts of classrooms. By investigating the interplay among the teachers’ beliefs, their practices and the contexts, this chapter elicits the features of ‘openness’, ‘dynamic interaction’ and ‘self-organisation’ of the teachers’ belief systems. The contextual factors, such as time constraints, school requirements, the NECS, examinations and so on, exerted different influences on the teachers’ beliefs and practices. Moreover, the idea of the mutual adaptation between the teachers’ beliefs and contexts is presented by stressing the importance of the teachers’ initiatives in educational reform. The conclusion is that the complexities of classroom life, varying psychological, social and environmental realities, shape the relationship between the teachers’ beliefs and their practices.
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Notes
- 1.
The reason that I regard the teachers as agents in the study is that, in the sense used by complexity theorists, the teachers are one of a number of agents within different systems. It implies that the system I explore is broader, wider and more contextualised than purely that of individuals and subjects.
- 2.
As in Chap. 5, in the notation T.3rd SR interview, T refers to Tang; the first number ‘3rd SR interview’ refers to the number of the stimulated recall interview. This format of notation is used throughout this chapter. T refers to Tang; X refers to Zhixi; Y indicates Ying; P indicates Zhiping; L indicates Li; J indicates Juan.
- 3.
For Chinese secondary schools, there are usually seven to eight EFL lessons (40 min per lesson) a week, about 20 weeks a term (including 2 or 3 weeks for examination preparation and examinations), two terms an academic year. In each term, teachers must finish teaching 12 units, which will be tested in the final examination.
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Zheng, H. (2015). Adaptive Dynamics Between the Teachers’ Beliefs and Contexts. In: Teacher Beliefs as a Complex System: English Language Teachers in China. English Language Education, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23009-2_6
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