The Correlation of Perceptions of Professional Roles and Teacher Beliefs with the Quality of Teacher Interaction 

Abstract

The literature and research results suggest that teachers' behavior in the classroom is under the strong influence of teachers' beliefs about their own role in the educational process. The aim of this study was to examine the perception of teacher's professional roles and teacher's beliefs about teaching, and their correlation with the quality of teacher interaction. The study was conducted on a sample of 99 primary school teachers. The perception of the role of teachers and pupils was examined by the metaphor technique, and the Approaches to Teaching Inventory and Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction were applied. The results show that teacher beliefs differ depending on the research approach. The qualitative approach shows a dominant protective - traditional orientation in understanding the role of a teacher, and a typical traditional orientation in understanding the role of pupils, while the quantitative approach based on teacher self-assessments points to the dominance of the constructivist approach focused on the pupil. There was also a weak correlation between teacher beliefs and teacher interpersonal behavior, which is considered in the context of data collection technique, teacher self-assessments.