This study highlights tensions and challenges experienced by language teachers in CLIL contexts. Using an example from the Netherlands, it explores the pedagogical and collaborative practices of Teachers of English in Bilingual streams (TEBs). The study shows how, using formal and practical theories, pedagogical and collaborative practices were formulated and used to investigate the beliefs and practices of language teachers in bilingual settings. The paper presents the operationalisation of 36 practices for TEBs and reports on an online survey investigating TEBs’ stated beliefs and practices. The findings suggest this set of practices has potential, both as a professional development tool for language teachers in bilingual education settings, and for further research. Results of the online survey revealed that the disciplinary identity of most Dutch TEBs leads to a focus on language, communication, literature, and language arts. TEBs are not necessarily aware of, and do not automatically consider, possibilities for expanding their own pedagogical practices in relation to subject-specific language or supporting and collaborating with their subject teacher colleagues. We suggest that policy guidelines, curricula development and teacher education programmes should pay more attention to the unique position of language teachers in these settings.
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Teacher beliefs have been shown to play a major role in shaping educational practice, especially in the area of grammar teaching―an area of language education that teachers have particularly strong views on. Traditional grammar education is regularly criticized for its focus on rules-of-thumb rather than on insights from modern linguistics, and for its focus on lower order thinking. A growing body of literature on grammar teaching promotes the opposite, arguing for more linguistic conceptual knowledge and reflective or higher order thinking in grammar pedagogy. In the Netherlands, this discussion plays an important role in the national development of a new curriculum. This study explores current Dutch teachers’ beliefs on the use of modern linguistic concepts and reflective judgment in grammar teaching. To this end, we conducted a questionnaire among 110 Dutch language teachers from secondary education and analyzed contemporary school textbooks likely to reflect existing teachers’ beliefs. Results indicate that teachers generally appear to favor stimulating reflective judgement in grammar teaching, although implementing activities aimed at fostering reflective thinking seems to be difficult for two reasons: (1) existing textbooks fail to implement sufficient concepts from modern linguistics, nor do they stimulate reflective thinking; (2) teachers lack sufficient conceptual knowledge from linguistics necessary to adequately address reflective thinking.
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Student achievement is a frequently debated issue in many European countries. In most public debates, it is assumed that all school-level stakeholders hold the same beliefs about student achievement. This paper contributes to the debate by presenting the results of research on the beliefs of teachers regarding student achievement.The results reveal four beliefs about student achievement held by teachers. The beliefs are centred on student efficiency, learning and enhancing skills, personal development, and active citizenship. The dominant belief is about the preparation for a profession in which a high-achieving student has good prospects of becoming a successful professional in a particular field. The results also show that the dominant belief held by school administrators(management), namely that student achievement is the same as student efficiency (how quickly students complete their studies), is questioned by teachers.
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Kinderfysiotherapeuten begeleiden baby's waarbij zorgen zijn over de motorische ontwikkeling. Interventies richten zich op ondersteuning van ouders in gelijkwaardige samenwerking. Kinderfysiotherapeuten zien een diversiteit aan ideeën en overtuigingen over de ontwikkeling (Parental Beliefs) die de basis vormen van de zorg (Parental Practices). Het is belangrijk dat kinderfysiotherapeuten zicht hebben op de Parental Beliefs.
