Teachers' Beliefs about using psychological knowledge in teaching practice

school teachers, teachers beliefs, psychological knowledge, psychological competence, professional motivation, TOP-20 APA principles

The problem of using psychological knowledge in practice by teachers has been discussed for more than 120 years, starting with the works of W. James and G. Munsterberg. There are several research areas on this problem, each of which uses its own terminology (psychological competence of teachers, teachers' beliefs, teachers' psychological knowledge). Within the framework of this study, the methodology of teachers' beliefs was chosen, since a) beliefs can be measured using questionnaire methods, b) beliefs reflect not just knowledge, but knowledge that teachers really believe in, which means they are likely to use in practice, c) beliefs based on evidence-based psychological knowledge are likely to lead to a more effective learning process. The purpose of our study was, on the one hand, to study situations and settings, which according to teachers require psychological knowledge and, on the other hand, compliance of teachers' beliefs with evidence-based teaching psychological principles. The third goal was to study relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their motivation. As the research methods we used the author's questionnaire of teachers' psychological beliefs (Sidneva, Tarasenko, 2022), which was based on the TOP-20 APA psychological principles. We also used Professional Motivation Questionnaire (Osin, Gorbunova, Gordeeva, 2017). The study was performed on a sample of 339 Russian school teachers. The results of the study showed, that as situations requiring the use of psychological knowledge, teachers often refer to situations in which they face problems (low motivation, strong emotional reactions etc.). Secondly, teachers with a predominance of false beliefs have less productive types of motivation. The study also found differences related to the region of residence and work experience. The main conclusion of the study may be that teachers need not just high-quality psychological knowledge, but an understanding of how and why this knowledge can really help them work more effectively.

Download

Download presentation