Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Research in Teaching and Education
Year: 2025
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Pre-Service and Novice Teachers’ Beliefs about Foreign Language Teaching and Learning – the Perspectives from Poland
Magdalena Aleksandrzak
ABSTRACT:
Pre-service and novice language teachers start their teaching careers equipped with several beliefs concerning the nature of language learning and teaching. Teachers’ beliefs (Turner, Christensen & Meyer, 2009; Kalaja & Barcelos 2003; Peacock 2001), usually reflect their own experiences as language learners, the specific character of the teacher education programme they have completed and the nature of educational and institutional culture(s) they have been confronted with so far. On this basis, newly qualified teachers form a set of beliefs which influence how they plan and organize their teaching. The paper examines the beliefs of a group of Polish university students who plan to start their teaching careers after graduation. The study follows a qualitative research format (focus group, semi-structured interviews and individual open-ended questionnaires are the research techniques employed in the project) in an attempt to identify both the student teachers’ beliefs, their sources and the potential resultant challenges or problems they may face during their first years of teaching. The conclusions may help teacher educators in designing programs which facilitate the transition from university to the language classroom and enable young teachers to take more informed decisions concerning their teaching process and professional development.
Keywords: beliefs; language learning; subjective theories; teacher education; teaching process