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JURNAL TARBIYAH 28 (2) (2021) 82-93
JURNAL TARBIYAH
http://jurnaltarbiyah.uinsu.ac.id/index.php/tarbiyah
EFL TEACHER'S PEDAGOGICAL BELIEFS IN TEACHING
AT AN INDONESIAN UNIVERSITY
Diah Safithri Armin1, Ayu Meita Puteri Siregar2
1Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
2Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri Mandailing Natal, Mandailing Natal, Indonesia
Email: 1 diahsafithriarmin@uinsu.ac.id, 2 ayumeitaputeri@stain-madina.ac.id
DOI : 10.30829/tar.v28i2.1119
Accepted: October 9th, 2021. Approved: December 28th, 2021. Published: December 30th, 2021
ABSTRACT
Teachers should have pedagogical beliefs in their studies, which function as a filter and
guidance for their decision-making and teaching methods in the teaching-learning
process. To promote an active and meaningful learning experience, Indonesian
curriculum policy incorporated principles that place students at the center of the learning
process. However, most of the time, teachers are in charge of the teaching-learning
process and become the center of the learning process, while students are passive
recipients of knowledge.This study was conducted to find out teachers' pedagogical beliefs
in teaching at university. The present study was a basic interpretative qualitative study
with five English teachers as the participants, and the data were collected through
observation, questionnaire, and field notes. The data were analysed by data reduction,
data display, and concluding. The study results showed that the teachers believed that
teaching is the process of transmitting and constructing knowledge. This study implied
that the EFL teachers believed and implemented a student-centered approach in the
teaching-learning process.
Keywords: Role of School Principals, Teacher Performance Improvement
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INTRODUCTION
Since pedagogical beliefs function as a guide and filter for the teacher's choice and
classroom instruction, instructors should have pedagogical beliefs about how to teach
successfully and how students should learn. To provide students with active and
meaningful learning experiences, the focus of teaching-learning processes should be on
the students, with teachers serving as facilitators and mentors. Students should actively
participate in teaching-learning processes. The Indonesian curriculum concentrates on
the teaching-learning processes of the students in order to achieve this goal.
Teachers' beliefs have been found to influence how teacher approaches knowledge
provided in teacher professional development programs and how they use it in their
classrooms (Fives & Buehl, 2012). Kumaravadivelu (2012) claims that belief functions as
a filtering process through which new occurrences and experiences are screened,
absorbed, and interpreted. Teachers' ideas and behaviors are also mutually informative,
with contextual circumstances mediating the interaction between them (Song, 2014).
Meanwhile, According to Shavelson and Stern, teachers' beliefs can impact how they
make instructional decisions, choose resources, and select specific approaches or
instructional practices (cited in Utami, 2016), roles, their objectives, methods, classroom
interaction patterns, and students (Kuzborska, 2011). Calderhead (1996) classified these
beliefs into five domains: teacher's beliefs in learner and learning, teaching, subject
matter, learning to teach, and self and teaching role. However, a pedagogically-based
concept of teachers' beliefs is different from other types of beliefs (Pajares, 1992) in which
pedagogy focuses on the relationship between teaching and learning as well as how it
produces knowledge and understanding.
Considering pedagogical beliefs as the teacher's guide in the teaching performances,
the RISTEKDIKTI policy on implementing constructivist belief in teaching-learning
process but opposite in reality, and previous studies which is still less in discussing
English teachers' pedagogical beliefs in teaching at university in Indonesia, this study was
conducted to find out "what do English teachers' pedagogical beliefs in teaching and
learning refer to at university?". The scope of this study was in teachers' pedagogical
beliefs in teaching and their teaching approach. The study results are expected to be
beneficial for both theoretical and practical as well as a reflection and input for the
readers' and teachers' pedagogical beliefs in improving their professionalism and
producing effective and efficient teaching-learning process.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Beliefs in teaching refer to teachers' beliefs in the purposes of teaching, teaching
as a process of transmitting knowledge or facilitating learning (Calderhead, 1996). If
teaching is transmitting knowledge, the teacher is the teller of the truth and the controller
of the classroom environment and students' behavior, while the students are the passive
actors who listen to their teacher and do the exercise. This belief is called traditional
beliefs. Then, this belief was challenged by another belief which is called constructivist
belief. Constructivist belief changes the teacher to be a facilitator of the student's needs
in the learning process, and the students act as an active actors who should give their
effort in understanding the material.As a result, instructors will encourage active learning
through peer interaction and self-reflection, as well as respond quickly in determining
what and how the learning process will take place (Wong et al., 2009). Teachers who
believe in teaching as the transfer of knowledge will use a content-oriented approach as a
teaching technique, whereas teachers who believe in teaching as active and meaningful
learning experiences will use a constructivist approach.
The term "preconceptions language learners have about the task of learning the target
language" refers to "beliefs language learners have about the process of learning the target
language" (Huang, 1997, p. 29 cited in Abdi &Asadi, 2015). The phrases "opinions,"
"ideas," and "views" all relate to "beliefs" (Kunt & Wang cited in Abdi &Asadi, 2015).
Calderhead (1996) offers another definition of beliefs in learning, arguing that these views
are related to instructors' ideas about how their students learn, and therefore these beliefs
will affect the teachers' teaching task approaches and the connection between teachers
and students.
The teachers' views in learning may be summarized as their beliefs on how their
pupils learn. These ideas will aid teachers in determining how learning will take place, the
appropriate methods for implementation, and how they should interact with pupils. The
transmission and constructivist beliefs in learning are the same as the transmission and
constructivist beliefs in teaching. According to transmission beliefs, learning is viewed as
a process of obtaining information, with the instructor as the transmitter and the students
as the passive receiver.Teachers are seen as facilitators by constructivists, while students
are seen as active participants. As a result, this study will combine Calderhead's (1996)
definition of learning beliefs as the teacher's beliefs about how his students learn, which
influence the teacher's teaching approaches and the relationship between teacher and
students, with Johnson's (2001) views on language and language learning.
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Constructivist belief, then, is adapted in the Indonesian higher education
curriculum (RISTEKDIKTI, 2016) that sees the students as the focus of the learning
process and becomes one of the national standard principles to create an active and
meaningful learning experience for the students. However, most of the time, the English
teachers in Indonesia are still authoritative in managing the whole teaching-learning
process. The students passively receive the knowledge, especially at university, where the
teachers consistently implement lecturing techniques and a teacher-oriented approach.
Many kinds of research have been conducted on teachers' pedagogical beliefs. This
research can provide meaningful input and reflection to improve teachers' performance
in teaching and to learn English. Research by TALIS (2009) in some European countries
found two kinds of pedagogical beliefs implemented in the teaching-learning process in
western countries, namely transmission and constructivist beliefs. Khader (2012), which
involved 21 teachers and 529 students, figured out the relationship between the teachers'
pedagogical beliefs and their teaching performance from the students' perspective, and it
showed that there is no significant correlation between teachers' beliefs and their
teachingperformance. Then, Uddin (2014), who investigated teachers' belief in teaching
writing by involving fifteen private university teachers, found that their beliefs and
teaching in the classroom were inconsistent. Other research by Larenas, Hernandez, and
Naverrete (2015) found seven categories of teachers' belief in teaching and learning
English: the use of English in the lesson; the teacher's role; the student's role; teaching
components; the role of teaching and learning context; the role of language curriculum;
and the relation between language curriculum and course-book content. However, there
is still limited research that focuses on English teachers' pedagogical beliefs in teaching
at universities in Indonesia.
RESEARCH METHOD
This study applied basic interpretative qualitative method due to its purpose to
reveal the teacher's pedagogical beliefs in teaching since belief relates to "attitude, values,
judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptions conceptual systems,
preconceptions, dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories,
internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of practice, practical principles,
perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy" (Pajares, 1992, p. 309).
Thus, the data of this study was teachers' perception and perspective on how to teach
English and their role as English teachers in teaching English.
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This research was conducted in one of the State Universities in Indonesia. Two
fundamental reasons for choosing this site were its convenience and accessibility, and the
second was its development. Alwasilah (2009) suggests that the convenience factor is one
factor that the researcher should consider in deciding the research site due to supporting
the researcher in collecting data. The research site was the researcher's undergraduate
university, so it gives easy access to the researcher get permission in doing research and
collecting data. Then, this research site is a university that has developed from institute
to university in 2014. To support this development, the university has increased its
quality, including the teachers; hence, the researcher was interested in finding out the
English teachers' pedagogical beliefs in teaching at this university.
The participant of this study was four English teachers in English department. These
teachers were chosen based on their teaching experiences and teaching skill. The first and
the second teacher are male teachers who have taught for 15 years, and one of them is a
favorite teacher based on a questionnaire distributed to the English department students.
The third teacher is a female teacher who has taught for more than 20 years at this
university. The fourth teacher is a male teacher who has taught for more than five years.
The last teacher is a female teacher who has taught for more than five years and was
chosen as the favorite teacher.
The data were collected through a closed-ended questionnaire, observation
checklist, and field note. To keep the trustworthiness of the data, all of these instruments
were triangulated to find out the teachers' perspectives on how to teach English and their
teaching approach in teaching-learning process. Then, the data were analysed by
implementing three steps: data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions
(Alwasilah, 2009; Miles & Huberman in Malik & Hamied, 2014).
RESULTS
Based on the data analysis, the EFL teachers believe teaching is transmitting
knowledge as well as constructing knowledge. In addition, the EFL teachers applied a
student-centered approach in their teaching practice.
Transmitting Knowledge
To explore teachers' belief in teaching as a transmitting process, the researcher used a
questionnaire consisting of ten statements. The results of the questionnaire can be seen
in the table as follows:
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Table 1. Percentage of EFL Teachers’ Belief in Teaching as Transmitting Knowledge
No.
Statement
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
1.
The teaching-learning process is a
process of transmitting knowledge.
80%
20%
0%
0%
2.
The teacher establishes learning goals
and the rules of conduct for the
students.
80%
20%
0%
0%
3.
Asking the students to prepare
themselves well for every meeting.
80%
20%
0%
0%
4.
I control the students’ behavior and
classroom environment.
0%
100%
0%
0%
5.
I manage the learning activities and
the duration of every learning
segment.
80%
20%
0%
0%
6.
I am the resource of the knowledge in
the classroom.
0%
80%
20%
0%
7.
I teach the materials by using the
local-produced materials.
0%
80%
20%
0%
8.
I give the exercise after presenting the
materials.
0%
80%
20%
0%
9.
The students’ achievements are based
on their test scores.
80%
80%
0%
0%
10.
I explain the materials clearly while
the students only listen to my
explanation.
20%
0%
60%
20%
The first statement asks whether teachers believe teaching as transmitting
knowledge, and 80% of the teachers strongly agreed, and 20% agreed, which shows that
all the participants agreed to teach as transmitting knowledge. It means that the EFL
teachers see themselves as the sources of the knowledge and the students as the passive
actors who receive knowledge from the teachers.
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The second statement asks whether the participant formulated the rules and learning
goals by themselves, and the participant 80% strongly agreed, and 20% agreed they
established the rules and learning goals. It indicates that the EFL teachers have full
authority in formulating the rules and learning goals. It was confirmed by the data from
field notes which showed how the EFL teachers determine the students' attitude in the
classroom.
The third statement asked if the EFL teachers ask their students to prepare
themselves before coming to the class in every meeting, and 80% of participants strongly
agreed, and 20% agreed. It showed that the EFL teachers hoped their students read some
sources so they have prior knowledge and could easily follow the lesson in the classroom.
The fourth statement was about controlling students' behavior and classroom
environment, and the participants 100% agreed. By 100%, participants agreed to this
statement indicates that the EFL teachers are the controller of the student's behavior and
the manager of the learning environment. The EFL teachers have high expectations of
how the learning process has to be suitable to their plans.
The fifth statement is about managing learning activities and the duration of learning
segments. 80% of participants strongly agreed, and 20% agreed that they manage
learning segments' learning activity and duration. These percentages were suitable to the
percentage in the second statement in which the EFL teachers set the learning goals by
themselves, so it means the EFL teachers have to manage the learning activity and
learning duration by themselves.
The sixth statement asked whether the EFL teachers see themselves as the source of
the knowledge in the learning process, and only 80% of participants agreed. It means that
the EFL teachers want their students to acquire knowledge from various sources and
confirm their perception that they should prepare well before coming to the classroom.
The seventh statement was about teaching material by using locally produced
material. 80% of participants agreed that they use locally produced material. It indicated
that the EFL teachers also use other sources, which is in line with their perception in the
previous statements that they ask the students to find the material from other sources.
The eighth statement was about giving exercise after explaining the materials, and
80% of participants agreed while the rest chose to disagree. This finding is quite
interesting where some of the participants chose disagreed with giving exercise while one
of the learning processes should be evaluated. The researcher confirmed this statement
by interviewing the participant's reason for choosing to disagree. In her perception, it is
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not necessary to give the students exercise after presenting the material. Exercise could
be changed to be a class discussion or practicing the material because learning English
means learning a language, and a language is a communication tool. For example, when
the material is about giving an opinion orally, the best step after explaining the material
is to ask the students to give their opinion on a determined topic.
The following statement was about students' achievements is based on their scores.
For this statement, 20% of the participants strongly agreed, and 80% agreed. It indicates
that all the EFL teachers use the students' scores as the parameter of students'
achievement.
The last statement was about the EFL teachers explain the material and the students
only listen to it. Among other statements, this statement had a different result in which
the participant 20% strongly agreed, 60% disagreed, and 20% strongly disagreed. This
percentage indicated that the EFL teachers believe that the teaching-learning process is a
transmitting knowledge process, but it does not mean that the students only listen to their
teachers passively; they also need to perform their roles actively.
All these findings cross-checked through semi-structured interview to the
participants and were reflected in the teaching-learning process which were noted in the
observation sheet. Thus, the EFL teachers believe teaching is transmitting knowledge
from the teacher to students.
Constructing Knowledge
In the same questionnaire, the researcher provided ten statements about teaching
as constructing knowledge, and the results can be seen in the table as follows:
Table 2. The Percentage of Teachers’ Belief in Teaching as Constructing Knowledge
No.
Statement
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
1.
Teaching-learning process is a
process of constructing knowledge.
60%
40%
0%
0%
2.
The teacher is a facilitator of the
students’ needs.
0%
60%
40%
0%
3.
Asking the students to find the
information from the other resource.
60%
40%
0%
0%
4.
Using authentic teaching materials.
100%
0%
0%
0%
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5.
Implementing role-play and group
work as the teaching techniques.
60%
40%
0%
0%
6.
Questioning the students and asking
them to answer it by discussing in a
small group.
60%
40%
0%
0%
7.
Dividing the students into small
groups and asking them to present
some of the learning materials in
front of the classroom.
20%
40%
40%
0%
8.
Assessing the students formally and
informally, such as presentation,
portfolio, group project, and their
participation in the classroom.
100%
0%
0%
0%
9.
Assessing the students continuously
during the teaching-learning
processes.
0%
100%
0%
0%
10.
The learning goals established
together (teacher and students).
40%
0%
60%
0%
In the first statement, the EFL teachers were 60% strongly agree, and 40% agree if
they see teaching as a constructing knowledge process. They believe that the teacher is a
facilitator in the learning process, and the students are the main actors. So, the learning
process should be dominated by the students. This perception is confirmed in the second
statement, which asks whether they consider themselves as a facilitator or not, and 60%
of the participants agreed while 40% disagreed. Although only 60% of the participant
agreed, it showed that the EFL teachers believe teaching is the process of constructing
knowledge.
Further, in the third and fourth statements, all the participants strongly agreed and
agreed if they asked the students to find information or read other sources and prepare
authentic material. It means that the EFL teachers do not consider themselves as the only
source of knowledge. They try to provide the material authentically but still give a chance
to the students to explore the knowledge from other sources.
Then, the fifth statement is about implementing role-play and group work as the
teaching technique, and 60% of the participant strongly agreed, and 40% agreed. This
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result indicates that the EFL teachers fully see teaching as constructing knowledge in
which constructive belief focuses on the students. So, it proves that these EFL teachers
have firm constructivist beliefs.
In the sixth and seventh statements, the researcher focused on the EFL teachers'
teaching techniques. In the sixth statement, the EFL teachers, 60% strongly agree, and
40% agree that they give a question and ask the students to answer it in a small group.
However, in the seventh statement, the EFL teachers, 20% strongly agree, 40% agree, and
40% disagree that they ask the students do a group presentation. 40% of the participants
disagree, which showed that the EFL teachers prefer to do brainstorming and make the
students be active on the spot directly rather than make the students do a presentation
that perhaps some of the group members do not contribute.
Next, the eighth and ninth statement focus on how the EFL teachers assess the
students' achievement. The EFL teachers 100% strongly agree that they assess the
students formally and informally, and 100% agree that they continuously assess their
students. It indicates that the EFL teachers keep watching their students' progress and
every progress affects their evaluation.
The last statement of this questionnaire is about establishing the learning goals. Only
40% of the EFL teachers strongly agreed that they established with the students, while
the rest disagreed. It means that the EFL teachers account that determining learning goals
is the teachers' right. This finding is not surprising since all the EFL teachers strongly
agree and agree that they established the learning goals in the transmitting knowledge
questionnaire.
These findings were confirmed to the EFL teachers through semi-structured
interviews and observation. Thus, it could be concluded that these EFL teachers have firm
constructivist beliefs.
Pedagogical teaching beliefs are divided into two kinds: transmission belief and
constructivist beliefs (Calderhead, 1996). Based on the finding, all of the participants have
both of these beliefs. TALIS (2009) also found a similar research finding in European
countries in which constructivist and transmission beliefs are implemented together.
Nevertheless, in this research, the EFL teachers have a higher percentage of constructivist
belief than transmission belief. Besides, this finding was apposite to Khader's (2012) and
Udin's (2014) research findings that showed there is no significant relationship between
EFL teachers' beliefs and their performance. In contrast, the present study participants
showed that they implement what they believe in their teaching in the classroom.
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CONCLUSION
This study was conducted to find the EFL teachers' beliefs in teaching at University
in Indonesia based on the Indonesian Higher Education Curriculum, which adapted
constructivist belief, but the reality shows contrast conditions. The results showed that
the EFL teachers have constructivist beliefs and transmission beliefs in which teaching
transmits knowledge and facilitating the students' needs and learning activities. They
combined these beliefs and applied them in the teaching-learning process.
In teaching English, the participants choose behaviorist and
mentalism/rationalism. They believe if teaching English should be a habit process.
Therefore, during the learning process, the teachers and the students speak English.
Furthermore, the teachers believe that their role in the classroom is as controller, director,
manager, facilitator, prompter, tutor, and resource. Thus, they implement a student-
centered approach, so the students have a big responsibility in the learning process.
This research involved five EFL teachers due to specific reasons. For further
research, it recommends involving a more significant number of EFL teachers chosen
randomly to figure out the EFL teachers’ beliefs in teaching deeper.
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