Teachers’ Understanding Of Contemporary Approaches To Teaching And Learning

Abstract

21st century is marked by many changes in all aspects of life. The great changes have led to paradigm shift in education in order to prepare people who can face the challenges of these changes. Research Questions: 1) which elements of the new learning paradigm proposed by the education researchers of Tartu University and Tallinn University are implemented; 2) what promotes or inhibits their implementation? The aim was to find out about the teachers’ teaching philosophies which definitely influence students’ learning and identify the factors which contribute to teachers either accepting or rejecting the new approaches. The participants were language teachers from Estonian and Czech military schools. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted which focused on the teachers’ descriptions of their teaching practices. Then the questionnaire was administered which comprised statements about teaching practices which the participants had to mark according to how often they do them. The questionnaire also included open-ended questions as for what promotes or inhibits the use of the activities. The majority of the language teachers is aware of the paradigm shift in education and implements many of the aspects described in the new paradigm. The factors that have so far inhibited the implementation of the elements of the new paradigm can be dealt with by incorporating different teaching methods and a variety of activities for different learners. It is important that teachers are motivated in developing themselves as teachers, because development of teachers’ teaching improves students’ learning outcomes. But, in order to do this, teachers have to be aware of their teaching skills.