The place of beliefs and of concept formation in a language teacher training theory

Abstract

It is accepted that a teacher's theory of teaching and learning processes evolves during his professional life. It is accepted also that belief systems contribute heavily to teacher's behaviour at the levels of “approach”, “method” and “technique” (Anthony, E. (1963) English Language Teaching 17, 63–67). This paper argues that the same is true for the teacher trainer and that a danger for teacher training lies in the trainer not evolving as coherent and articulated a theory of teacher training as is possible; and that, while beliefs have their place, there is a danger of the trainer relying too heavily on them for too much of his career. It is hypothesized here that concept formation has a key role to play in teacher trainer development and action, and it is suggested that this direction has not been adequately described or followed up. An attempt is made to show how concept formation could help in developing the teacher trainer beyond a reliance on beliefs. The paper ends by hoping that controlled research will be further carried out into (a) the role of concepts in the development and practice of teacher training, and (b) the possibilities for describing and teaching the relevant concepts.