Teachers’ Instructional Beliefs and Their Practices in Teaching Writing to First Grade Students in Indonesia
University of Muhammadiyah Makassar
ABSTRACT
The study reported in this paper aimed to examine first-grade teachers’ instructional beliefs about how writing should be taught to first grade students in Indonesia, what factors seemed to influence their beliefs and whether or not their beliefs were consistent with their actual practices in the classroom. Thirty first-grade teachers from South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, were involved in this study. These teachers teach at a variety of elementary schools, which represent a range of contexts and socio-economic conditions. To collect data, a questionnaire, which consisted of closed, semi-closed and open-ended questions, was used. The findings revealed that all of the teachers’ instructional beliefs in this study appeared to be consistent with a more traditional approach, and were apparent in their practices. However, about 20% of them seemed to hold certain values that were somewhat relevant to a more progressive approach although these were not evident in their practices. The findings also revealed that these teachers’ beliefs seemed to be mostly influenced by the teachers’ experiences when studying at teacher training college.
KEYWORDS
Teachers’ Beliefs, Teachers’ Practices, Writing