The Effects of a Teachers Religion in the Classroom

The Effects of a Teachers Religion in the Classroom

Abstract
Educational investigators now acknowledge that educators’ spiritual beliefs and knowledge determine how they design their classroom practices. Even though not much research has tackled instructors’ spiritual convictions about evaluation practices, it stands to argue that their notions of what comprises good classroom appraisal equally mold their assessment practices. Existing studies on instructor’s spiritual convictions and understanding concerning teaching either has failed to address an educator’s alignment of his instructional practices and evaluation or has done it presumably. This paper provides a traditional literature review on the impact of a teacher’s religion in the classroom.
Keywords: teachers’ beliefs, pedagogy, classroom practices

The Effects of a Teacher’s Religion in the Classroom
Introduction
Teachers’ religion has been seen as a vital section that requires being tackled in the perspective of most educational modifications. This is particularly so when teachers are to aid students’ learning in the classroom because a teacher’s beliefs could affect his/her teaching practices. It is vital for teachers to comprehend the intricate association between their epistemic beliefs (beliefs concerning information and learning), pedagogical beliefs (beliefs concerning teaching), and the manner in which the teaching contexts affect the endorsement of these beliefs. Teachers are not supposed to support or disparage some particular religions or not have any spiritual belief. Teachers are expected to be exceedingly perceptive to revere, and not impede, students’ religious beliefs and practices by not interpolating personal perspectives or advocating those of some students (Chai, 2010). The main aim of this study is to establish the degree to which teachers plan their classroom teaching and assessments so that they are geared toward their personal spiritual beliefs. An associated purpose is to establish whether learners perform better on their teachers’ perspectives due to belief or on the state assessments if educators are compelled only to pursue a strict curriculum. The research question employed is: To what level are teachers’ instructional activities focused on personal belief compared to concentrating on state assessments that are administered?
Definition of Terms
Pedagogy-for the present study, refers to the activity of training or teaching and the techniques applied to teach.
Beliefs-in this study denotes the decisions and assessments that we make concerning ourselves, concerning others, and concerning the world surrounding us. They are individual beliefs founded on reasonable ways of thinking. Van Hover (2006) described beliefs to mean a set of perceptions and views that are installed in a person through his experiences and the overlaying of ideas throughout the learning courses.
Educators’ Beliefs- in the present study denotes the mindsets and ideals regarding training learners, and the learning process those educators bring to classrooms. They are the notions held by the educator in the instruction and learning process, which affect his classroom instructional performance.
Classroom Practices-A group of instructional strategies and techniques of training utilized in the classroom. Van Hover (2006) described the interface between the educator and his learners to develop their cognitive and proficient experiences through the proper classroom administration, will power to instruct, and constant assessment to attain the preferred instructional goals.
Literature Review This research is based on the idea that the individual instructor 's spiritual beliefs are powerful pointers of his/her teaching classroom practices. These convictions can be regarded as leading beliefs that educators affirm to be right and that function as lenses by which new experiences can be inferred. When people judge something as right, they recognize information backing that conviction. What educators perform in the classroom is known to be controlled by what they trust, and these convictions habitually operate as sieves through which instructional decisions and choices are formed (Levin & He, 2008). A study has shown that educators have a huge range of complex spiritual convictions about educational matters. Accommodating the nature and the theoretical function of these spiritual convictions is vital to comprehend the instructional preferences and judgments that educators make. It has become extensively accepted that the educators’ pedagogical convictions play a fundamental role in their instructional practices because these spiritual convictions are demonstrated in the training techniques, in selecting teaching subjects, decision-making, and formulation of class assessments (Levin & He, 2008).
From the point of view of Levin and He (2008), the instructors’ spiritual beliefs are depicted as being the most imperative in the psychological constitution of the educator. They suppose that there is an urgent want to delineate the theory of educators’ spiritual beliefs, while realizing that there is a complexity in distinguishing a comprehensible description of the spiritual beliefs because of the divergence of investigators’ and scholars’ opinions. These researchers observe that the convictions are a type of notions that envelop all issues that there is inadequate comprehension about, but that have sufficient faith to practice them. Sadler, Amirshokoohi, Kazempour and Allspaw (2006) describe spiritual beliefs in the education context as the educator’s spiritual contentions, and their perspectives on instruction and training. Conversely, other researchers perceive that the educators’ beliefs are the holistic concept of a number of aspects connected to the beliefs about teaching and learning, the syllabus and the training career generally, and that such convictions outline the “education culture” that influences pedagogical goals and principles.
Van Hover (2006) showed that an educator’s spiritual convictions originate from three sources that encompass individual experiences of the educator in ordinary life and teaching, educator’s experience as a learner, and the educator’s knowledge from his religious affiliations. This experience, as said by Sadler et al. (2006), characterizes the attainment of the teaching career via direct examination because it presents the educators with information associated to the teaching career. It as well assists them in the development of particular theories regarding the way training should be. From the point of view of the traditional instructional study, the views and assumptions the educators obtain from this source may be regarded as an extremely strong control in impacting their instructional beliefs (Levin & He, 2008). Early educator spiritual condition studies concentrated on a set of features connected to school with the creation of educators’ convictions, the organizational support, the mind-set of workmates, school climate, learners’ capabilities and backgrounds, as well as the canons and guidelines that apply in a specific school.
Sadler et al. (2006) recapitulated the outcomes of study on educators’ religious convictions by demonstrating that there is a strong correlation between religious convictions of educators and their design for training, teaching judgments, and classroom practices. They suggest that the religious beliefs of educators before joining the profession play a vital role in the clarification of understanding and instructional behavior when joining the teaching career. In his view, these religious beliefs are the most substantial aspects on which we can forecast the teaching behavior. Sadler et al. (2006), as well, articulates that educators’ religious convictions have a strong impact on the teaching practices by changing those convictions into a practical actuality. Similarly, Van Hover (2006) perceives that educators’ religious beliefs are a wealthy depot of knowledge that may influence teaching programs and ideas.
There is a rising interest in examining the correlation between educators’ religious convictions and their classroom instructional practices. Even though some research outcomes (Van Hover, 2006; Levin & He, 2008) have revealed that the educators’ instructional practices were incoherent with their religious beliefs, some studies established that the educators’ religious convictions played a significant part in the alignment and design of their classroom instruction and assessments. In the teaching profession, there is a rising need to review the traditional literature on the religious beliefs of the educators to recognize the aspects that influence their classroom practices.

Beliefs and State Assessments It appears that the degree of epistemic beliefs demonstration relies mainly on what educators envisaged as their priorities with respect to objective attainment and their insight of students’ willingness (Rideout & Morton, 2007). In this regard, it appears significant to modify the framework in which educators function if the reforms based on state assessments are to begin. On this note, researchers have found out that it is not adequate for teachers to enhance improvement in teachers’ beliefs. A favorable setting mutually generated by policy makers and stakeholders, such as the school leadership, has to be instituted for success of state assessments. Devoid of such a favorable environment, educators could opt to embrace traditional methods of teaching that work successfully only for passing of examinations and assessments. It is this optimism that leads to this study demonstrating a complex interplay between the beliefs of teachers and the success of state assessments, from a teacher’s perspective. In spite of some considerable challenges with state assessments, the deep-seated mistake in such a move is the presumption that the presence of an excellent progression in the course of observation links to the academic achievement of learners. If the learning of students is the ultimate objective of state assessments, then it ought to be gauged directly and not being interpolated from inadequate observations of classroom teaching and teacher’s beliefs. A reasonable advance to teacher assessment would entail an examination of the understanding of instructions, in addition to the outcomes of tutoring (Rideout & Morton, 2010). Nevertheless, the application of classroom reflection to promote teaching enhancement cannot be underestimated. The success of both students and teachers can be evaluated and illustrated by both understanding of instructions and the learning achievements of learners. The majority of teachers would concur that they are accountable for student learning, but the career as an entirety has avoided assessments anchored in measures of student learning (Ross & Gray, 2006). This at times is explained excellently, given the inequitable advances that have been recommended. Nonetheless, the solution is not to maintain traditional policies merely due to their being benevolent and comfortable, but instead to generate just and rational ways of assessing teacher achievement with learners. A good number of school structures and teaching plans have discovered inventive means of attaining suitable and consistent information on student learning to inform the educator-assessment progression (Rideout & Windle, 2010). Generating reasonable advances for the evaluation of the success of teachers demands an unwavering glance at both the justifiable considerations that have propelled the prevention of outcomes direction in the past, and the potential capacities that lead to it being more gorgeous in the modern climate of enhanced responsibility for student learning results.
Teachers’ Instructional Activities To comprehend which prospective educators require learning, it is vitally significant to comprehend their beliefs and their personal characters that could aid in their associating beliefs and teaching. Tsai, Jessie Ho, Liang, and Lin (2011) suggested that the beliefs of teachers are the foundation of the judgements, practices, and activities that they make about in the progression of teaching and assessments because the belief systems of educators, their discernments, and examinations of best practices have a vital function in determining teaching performances. Gürşimşek (2014) affirmed that learners take up teacher education plans with an array of beliefs concerning education, classwork, and students emanating from their educational encounters. For example, teachers’ beliefs concerning the significance of teaching as transferring a pre-established tenet of knowledge from educator to learner could be n line with affirmations in relation to teachers’ beliefs concerning the task of the learner, and the beliefs regarding the function of educators and the effects of a teacher’s religion in the class. The beliefs of teachers generate a challenge to their operations aimed at advancing the functions of future teachers. The aforementioned challenge arises because in students’ learning it is evident that it is more intricate to unlearn taught beliefs as compared to other beliefs. Educator’s education-teaching processes are a fundamental source of cognitive, psychological, and ethical advancement of learners. It is distinguished that teaching conducts, teaching techniques, administration policies, and learners’ discernment of the learning atmosphere are associated with the learners’ learning and generation of beliefs concerning themselves and other people. On this note, educators must adhere to a broad array of concerns and challenges in the classroom (Tsai et al., 2011). The outcomes of different studies illustrate that amid others, the greatest concern of educators and starting candidates is the administration of learners’ conduct and learners’ control.
The Effect of Teaching Method and Leadership Approach Studies have shown a link involving the teaching methods of educators, the leadership approaches of school principals, and teachers’ directions of student management. The results from studies by Decker and Rimm-Kaufman (2008) are in agreement with the general idea in research: teaching methods and custom of a school are closely linked to leadership approach and conduct. In this regard, after assessing the functions and operations linked to school principals and educators, Tsai et al. (2011) affirmed that the leadership approach extends all through the school and has an impact on the teachers’ teaching methods. In a study that was carried out, the School Description Inventory (SDI) was applied to twenty secondary school principals, 300 teachers, and 7,400 students to seek views of the teaching methods and leadership approach. With the application of teachers’ SDI responses, it was assumed that a positive association would exist between teaching methods of teachers, hierarchical conduct in leadership approach, and tutelary student control directions as recognized in the student management beliefs. The hypothesis of this study was proved as indicated by the Pearson correlation coefficients and with respect to the different specific characteristics. The study concluded that the Pupil Control Ideology of public secondary school educators is tutelary in schools that are bureaucratic, and humanist in non-bureaucratic schools. In contrary, a transformational leadership approach promotes different attributes linked to humanist school customs. Such customs are in agreement with the Theory Y, where leaders see workers as self-induced, accountability-taking, and dependable. The interpretation of successful leadership with respect to democratic deliberation of teacher’s concerns as evident in research and the representation of humanist student control beliefs are consistent with the facilitation of confidence and strengthening dealings between educators and learners. A comprehensive empirical study of the effect of the school principal’s leadership approach on the learning atmosphere and the success of students was carried out by Tsai et al. (2011). The study used a varied sample of 2,800 students, 500 educators, and 25 school principals in 20 schools, in the United States. In this study, there were statistically significant indications in the learning atmosphere and in the success of students that were seen to be associated with the leadership approach of school principals. Even though studies affirm that the school learning atmosphere relies on the leadership approach, they also find a powerful trend for school principals to employ the supporter approach of leadership that has a sturdy direction in satisfying the requirements individuals and engaging parents and the society in the judgment-making progression. In the present school leadership approaches, school principals are more probable of creating learning societies where the enlightenment of teachers happen in the course of the practices, actions, and associations. Gürşimşek (2014) established that the perception of school principals as the only instructional directors makes the endowments of educators go underexploited. For schools to be self-governing, all-encompassing, and a successful society, the empowerment of teachers is vital and for this to be attained, the leadership approach has to be transformative. Studies also have affirmed that teachers start becoming causal, developing constituents of the learning setting when they are taken as partners in the progression. School principals who go beyond the hierarchy form of proficiency distinguish the proficiency in other people and guide in the transformative approach for learning communities to be successful. In this regard, the pedagogical beliefs of both teachers and school principals will be cognition transmissionist.
Conclusion
As it appears, there are only a few teachers who have highly advanced epistemic beliefs. On this note, the teacher educators and other stakeholders should offer a chance for teachers to elucidate their beliefs. Teachers beliefs regarding teaching appeared to differ from knowledge attainment to knowledge creation. Moreover, it appears that the teachers’ religion manifestation relies mainly on what their teachers believed to be their priorities with respect to goal attainment and their knowledge of students’ willingness. It thus appears significant to adjust the circumstance in which teachers function if teachers’ belief-based efforts are to bear better fruit. A highly favorable learning environment mutually generated by the policy-makers and the school principals has to be established. Devoid of such a school environment, teachers could decide to take up traditional teaching methods that were only directed to passing of examinations and assessment rather than overall betterment of students. This study has demonstrated the intricate interchange involving teachers’ beliefs and their teaching perspectives from a teacher’s viewpoint. In sum, it is significant for future studies to aim at discovering teachers who are capable of solving the tension between their beliefs and their teaching perspectives in any given environment and ensure their students’ overall triumph.

References
Chai, C. S. (2010). Teachers ' epistemic beliefs and their pedagogical beliefs: a qualitative case study among Singaporean teachers in the context of ICT-supported reforms. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 9(4), 128-137.
Decker, L. E. & Rimm-Kaufman S. E. (2008). Personality characteristics and teacher beliefs among pre-service teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(2), 45-64.
Gürşimşek, I. A. (2014). Preschool Teacher Candidates’ Pupil Control Ideology and Educational Beliefs. Education and Science, 39(171), 436-444.
Levin, B., & He, Y. (2008). Investigating the content and sources of teacher candidates ' personal practical theories (PPTs). Journal of Teacher Education, 59(1), 55-68.
Rideout, G. W., & Morton, L. L. (2007). Pre-service teachers ' beliefs and other predictors of pupil control ideologies. Journal of Educational Administration, 45(5), 587-604.
Rideout, G., & Morton, L. (2010). Pre-service teachers ' beliefs and pupil control ideology: the custodializing practicum. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(1), 64-88.
Rideout, G., & Windle, S. (2010). Beginning Teachers ' Pupil Control Ideologies: An Empirical Examination of the Impact of Beliefs about Education, Mentorship, Induction, and Principal Leadership Style. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 1(104), 1-35.
Ross, J. A., & Gray, P. (2006). School leadership and student achievement: The mediating effects of teacher beliefs. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l 'éducation, 29(3), 798-822.
Sadler, T. D., Amirshokoohi, A., Kazempour, M., & Allspaw, K. M. (2006). Socioscience and ethics in science classrooms: Teacher perspectives and strategies. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43(4), 353-376.
Tsai, C. C., Jessie Ho, H. N., Liang, J. C., & Lin, H. M. (2011). Scientific epistemic beliefs, conceptions of learning science and self-efficacy of learning science among high school students. Learning and Instruction, 21(6), 757-769.
Van Hover, S. D. (2006). Teaching history in the old dominion. Measuring history: Cases of state-level testing across the United States, 1, 195-219.

References: Chai, C. S. (2010). Teachers ' epistemic beliefs and their pedagogical beliefs: a qualitative case study among Singaporean teachers in the context of ICT-supported reforms. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 9(4), 128-137. Decker, L. E. & Rimm-Kaufman S. E. (2008). Personality characteristics and teacher beliefs among pre-service teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(2), 45-64. Gürşimşek, I. A. (2014). Preschool Teacher Candidates’ Pupil Control Ideology and Educational Beliefs. Education and Science, 39(171), 436-444. Levin, B., & He, Y. (2008). Investigating the content and sources of teacher candidates ' personal practical theories (PPTs). Journal of Teacher Education, 59(1), 55-68. Rideout, G. W., & Morton, L. L. (2007). Pre-service teachers ' beliefs and other predictors of pupil control ideologies. Journal of Educational Administration, 45(5), 587-604. Rideout, G., & Morton, L. (2010). Pre-service teachers ' beliefs and pupil control ideology: the custodializing practicum. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(1), 64-88. Ross, J. A., & Gray, P. (2006). School leadership and student achievement: The mediating effects of teacher beliefs. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l 'éducation, 29(3), 798-822. Sadler, T. D., Amirshokoohi, A., Kazempour, M., & Allspaw, K. M. (2006). Socioscience and ethics in science classrooms: Teacher perspectives and strategies. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43(4), 353-376. Tsai, C. C., Jessie Ho, H. N., Liang, J. C., & Lin, H. M. (2011). Scientific epistemic beliefs, conceptions of learning science and self-efficacy of learning science among high school students. Learning and Instruction, 21(6), 757-769. Van Hover, S. D. (2006). Teaching history in the old dominion. Measuring history: Cases of state-level testing across the United States, 1, 195-219.