Belief Statements about Teaching Belief Statements about Teaching What a teacher believes about both teaching and learning can have a major impact on the classroom environment. Teachers tend to implement classroom practices that reflect their philosophical beliefs. Below are a number of common beliefs about teaching. To have understanding, students must be able to state and apply the concept.
Cognitive conflict can fuel the learning process.
New information may fit the existing mental structures, and the students can explain the phenomenon, OR there is a mismatch between observations and mental structures. Students should coordinate their knowledge with what they already know. The main purpose of education is to develop students' ability to think critically and integrate ideas, rather than to accumulate facts. There will be no significant changes in the performance of novice physics teachers that does not have as its center teacher attitudes. Teaching, as opposed to instructing, is primarily about process.