Beliefs and Perspectives of First-Year, Alternative Preparation, Elementary Teachers in Urban Classrooms

School Science and Mathematics, Feb 2004 by Hart, Lynn C

Results from an earlier study (Hart, 2002) suggested that a group of 14 teachers participating in an alternative preparation program for elementary teachers had developed beliefs that were consistent with current thinking in mathematics education. The current study follows 8 of those teachers into their first year of teaching in an urban classroom. Qualitative data were collected from three sources: reflection logs, mathematics case discussions, and field notes made during classroom observations. This provided a triangulation of perspectives: the teachers' views of themselves, the teachers' views of others, and the university faculty member's view of them. Also, teachers completed the Standards Belief Instrument (Zollman & Mason, 1996) at the end of Phase I and at the end of Phase II. Results from the instrument and the qualitative analysis suggest that the teachers maintained a strong reform perspective in their beliefs, but they were unable to consistently implement pedagogy that was consistent with those beliefs.

Rationale and Theoretical Perspective

In response to research on teaching and learning, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has developed reform recommendations that form the basis for most teacher education programs in mathematics in the United States (NCTM, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2000). The reform practice described in the NCTM documents is unlike the teaching most preservice teachers observed in their years as K-12 students or in their beginning years in college. The change required to teach mathematics from a reform perspective is more than learning new techniques. It requires actually reconceptualizing one's notion of teaching, learning, and mathematics. It requires a major restructuring of mathematics practice (Goldsmith & Schifter, 1997). It requires a paradigm shift and, most likely, a change in beliefs and perspectives.

The role of beliefs in teacher change in mathematics education is well documented (Cooney & Shealy, 1997; Pajares, 1992; Richardson, 1996). Pajares (1992) suggested that beliefs about teaching are well established by the time a student enters college. They are developed during "the apprenticeship of observation" that occurs over their years as students (Lortie, 1975). These beliefs are hard to change and include perspectives about what it takes to be an effective teacher. They are brought to their teacher preparation programs where the beliefs are seldom challenged (Zeichner & Gore, 1990).

Even in the face of conflicting evidence, beliefs are often resilient. Confronting and changing beliefs is, therefore, a daunting task that takes time, but teacher education programs typically have a short amount of time with preservice teachers. In elementary programs, the mathematics education and mathematics content courses are usually only a small part of the overall program requirements. Change is limited further when the underlying learning principals are contradictory; for example, when preservice teachers are taught mathematics content from a behaviorist perspective and are taught mathematics methods from a constructivist perspective (Hart, 2002).

Unfortunately, teacher shortages and forecasts of future teacher shortages have produced numerous initiatives aimed at producing classroom teachers in even shorter amounts of time through nontraditional, alternative preparation programs (Clewell, 2000). Many of these programs attract nontraditional, career-change students who are anxious to complete the certification process quickly (Birrell, Alfred, & Butler, 1999). Also, these alternative programs are frequently aimed at recruiting and preparing teachers for working in the urban setting where the number of youth who live in poverty is growing and the demand for teachers is often greatest. This push to move students quickly through the certification process and into urban classrooms produces a dilemma for colleges and universities who want to develop high quality programs that can produce first-year teachers who are prepared to teach in urban settings and who hold the underlying belief systems that support a reform perspective in mathematics.

An important goal then for programs preparing mathematics teachers for urban classrooms is to assess their impact on students' beliefs. Ascertaining if a program is preparing teachers with perspectives and beliefs that support reform provides a mechanism for assessing the program and it provides useful information about the students' readiness to teach. However, it is only the first step. Cooney & Shealy (1997) argued that beliefs that are psychologically central in one context may not be psychologically central in another. Preservice teachers may demonstrate a reform perspective in their coursework and fieldwork, but that perspective may not be evident in their work as classroom teachers. The viability or centrality of a belief is tested only against experience and only in a social environment (Tobin, Tippins, & Hook, 1994).

Evidence exists, also, that novice teachers respond to the pressure of the school, the classroom, and other teachers and that many of their beliefs are based on these influences that tend to reinforce the status quo (Gomez, 1997). During their preservice program the other teachers are their professors and fellow students in the program. Development of beliefs consistent with a reform perspective is likely, because the newly formed ties created in the culture of the preservice program provide a new world view for the preservice teacher. Aston and Hyle (1997) described these new connections as "weak ties" that afford people the opportunity to be exposed to a larger range of ideas and perspectives outside their "comfort zone."