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Finding and speaking their own voices:Using an online survey to elicit pre-service teachers' reflectivity abouteducational beliefsFunmi A. Amobi aa Arizona State University West, Phoenix, Arizona, USA E-mail:Published online: 18 Aug 2010.

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Reflective Practice, Vol. 4, No. 3, October 2003

Finding and Speaking Their Own

Voices: using an online survey to elicit

pre-service teachers’ reflectivity about

educational beliefs

FUNMI A. AMOBIArizona State University West, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; e-mail:funmi.amobi@asu.edu

ABSTRACT Developing a workable system of educational beliefs to inform classroomeventualities is an intellectual operation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to assistbeginning secondary and special education pre-service teachers to begin the intellectualprocess of defining and analyzing their personal beliefs about education. Firstly, pre-serviceteachers completed the Witcher-Travers Survey of Educational Beliefs online. Secondly,they were prompted to react to their survey analyses in writing, and write a statement oftheir educational beliefs about the purpose of education. Using the framework of Dewey’stri-level approach of creating educational purposes namely, (a) the exercise of observation;(b) the application of knowledge and past experiences; and (c) making judgment aboutobservation, knowledge and past experiences, the researcher assessed pre-service teachers’responses to their survey classifications and written statements of educational beliefs. Theexamination of participants’ reactions to survey analyses and the ensuing statements ofeducational beliefs indicated that pre-service teachers used creditable observations, andknowledge and experience premises to reframe their survey-prescribed philosophicalclassifications. In this way, the survey served as a useful stimulus for evoking pre-serviceteachers’ emergent thinking about educational beliefs.

Introduction

Educators have long proclaimed that the core values and philosophies that teachershold about education underlie the way they approach their profession and theeveryday decisions they make in the classroom as they interact with the young.There is a mutually reinforcing relationship between philosophy and practice ineducation. One’s system of educational beliefs informs practice, and practice in turnhelps develop and clarify educational beliefs. This ongoing process depicts thecyclical nature of the relationship between educational belief and practice. For thiscycle to be set in motion, it is crucial that educators define and critically articulate

ISSN 1462-3943 print; 1470-1103 online/03/030345-16 2003 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10.1080/1462394032000112246

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the specific beliefs about teaching and learning that constitute their educationalphilosophy.

John Dewey’s (1938, 1998) tri-level model of creating purposes in educationqualifies as a purposeful approach for facilitating pre-service teachers’ ability todevelop a philosophy of education that lends itself to continuous reflection uponpractice. Since educational philosophy involves first and foremost stating the pur-pose of education, and specifying the teaching and learning performances that givecredence to the stated purpose, Dewey’s model is particularly instructive.

The opening statement of the chapter entitled, ‘The Meaning of Purpose’ inExperience and Education (Dewey, 1998) communicated right from the beginningthat intellectual activity is front and center in the creation of educational purposesas Dewey asserted unequivocally, ‘the formation of purposes and the organization ofmeans to execute them are the work of intelligence’ (p. 77). Having further estab-lished that the most important element in the philosophy of progressive educationwas the involvement of learners in the development of the purposes that underpintheir learning, Dewey was constrained to define and explicate the meaning ofpurpose and how it develops, from conception to birth.

According to Dewey, purpose is initially conceived as an impulse. When action isdelayed upon initial impulse, it progresses into a desire. However, desire does notdefine purpose. Developing an educational purpose is not a flight of fancy; rather theprocess encompasses purposeful thought. The conversion of desire to an educationalpurpose demands knowledge and ‘foresight of the consequences which will resultfrom acting upon impulse’ (Dewey, 1998, p. 78). The acquisition of foresight ofconsequences rests on three intellectual operations: (1) the exercise of observation;(2) the application of knowledge and experiences; and (3) making judgment basedon observation, and knowledge and experience recollections (Dewey, 1998). Thesethree operations work together to bring about foresight of consequences andultimately translate impulse and desire to a serviceable purpose.

The exercise of observation is triggered by an encounter and interaction with aconcrete circumstance or condition. This encounter produces a reaction that causesone ‘to stop, look, and listen’ (p. 79). As one stops, listens and reflects, pastknowledge and experiences—personal and those of more knowledgeable others—arerecalled to frame and explain the new phenomenon. The application of knowledgeand experiences to the observation of and reaction to a concrete condition orcircumstance produces judgment. The judgment that is formed as a result ofreflecting on an observation of a new experience in light of past knowledge andexperiences, produces a heightened understanding of the consequences that willresult from the present situation. Having acquired a foresight of consequencesrelated to an observed condition, one is better equipped and intellectually preparedto develop a purpose, a plan of action for implementing impulse and desire. AsDewey (1998) reiterated:

In an educational scheme, the occurrence of a desire and impulse is not thefinal end. It is an occasion and a demand for the formation of a plan and

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Finding and Speaking Their Own Voices 347

a method of activity. Such a plan, to repeat, can be formed only by studyof conditions and by securing all relevant information. (p. 85)

This designation of the intellectual trajectory of the formation of purpose whichprovides the conceptual framework for reflectivity in the study, resonates withDewey’s much-quoted definition of reflective thinking as ‘active, persistent andcareful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of thegrounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends’ (1933, p. 9).

In the present study, the Witcher-Travers Online Survey of Educational Beliefswas used as a concrete condition to trigger exercise of observation from 47 first-semester pre-service teachers. The examination of participants’ initial observationsof the survey and the reflections that their survey results generated validatedDewey’s (1998) assertion that the development of educational purpose should notoriginate from impulse and desire alone. Rather, action on impulse and desireshould be postponed until foresight of consequences has been procured through theworking of the tri-level intellectual operations of exercise of observation, applicationof knowledge and experiences and making judgment. Furthermore, presentingpre-service teachers with the Witcher-Travers Survey as an observation stimulus ora ‘supposed form of knowledge’, and providing an opportunity for them to considertheir observations in light of supporting premises before making their judgmentsabout the purpose of education, ensured the resonance between stated observationsand knowledge and experience premises and resultant judgments.

Method

Respondents and Setting

Participants in the study were 34 secondary education and 13 special educationmajors in the first semester of their teacher education program at an urban,commuter university in the Southwest of the USA. The demographics of thepopulation were representative of the general undergraduate student population atthe university which was mostly Caucasian, first generation and non-traditionalcollege student. The 37 secondary education students consisted of 18 male and 16female students, while the 13 special education students were all female.

The Witcher-Travers Survey of Educational Beliefs

According to its creators, the Witcher-Travers Survey of Educational Beliefs is acomputerized instrument developed to help educators assess their tendencies towardeither the transmissive that is traditional, teacher-centered or the progressive,student-centered educational belief system (Witcher & Travers, 1999). The com-pleted survey is quickly scored online and the respondent receives a classificationindicating tendencies toward transmissive, progressive or eclectic educational view-point. Possible scores range 0–40, where lower scores ranging from 0–16 indicateinterest in transmissive educational belief, the highest scores in the range of 24–40denote an interest in progressive educational belief, and the middle range scores of

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348 F. A. Amobi

17–23 are described as evidencing a tendency toward an eclectic educationalviewpoint.

In addition to providing a survey score and subsequent educational beliefclassification, the instrument also generates a narrative analysis of the survey results.The analysis consists of two parts: a descriptive synthesis of the respondent’ssurvey-prescribed educational belief category, and a chart that depicts the viewpointespoused by the particular educational belief system (transmissive, progressive oreclectic) regarding pertinent educational commonplaces such as the school’s pur-pose, curriculum, student motivation, the role of the teacher and evaluation.

Data Collection Procedures: exercise of observation

The first means of generating exercise of observations involved inviting 34 beginningpre-service secondary education students to take the Witcher-Travers Survey ofEducational Beliefs online at � www.abacon.com/witcher-travers � in one of theuniversity’s computer laboratory classroom during a regular class meeting. Follow-ing instructions related to the activity, secondary education majors completed thesurvey, obtained scores and printed out their survey analyses. Next, secondaryeducation majors were prompted to (a) react to the analysis, pointing out anyelement of surprise with the results; and (b) explain why the analysis is or is notrepresentative of your educational belief tendencies as you presently perceive them.

The 13 first beginning special education pre-service students that participated inthe study completed the survey in one of the university’s computer laboratoryclassrooms during a regular class meeting for one of their first semester core courses,Issues in Special Education. The special education students followed similar direc-tions as their secondary education counterparts.

Data Analysis Procedures: the exercise of observations

The interpretation of data to establish first semester secondary and special educationstudents’ use of exercise of observations proceeded in two ways. Firstly, the range ofscores obtained from the survey analysis of each respondent was used to denote anddistinguish three survey-prescribed educational belief classifications: transmissive,progressive, and eclectic.

Next, the reactions of respondents to their survey-prescribed classifications andaccompanying survey analysis were examined in order to determine their observa-tions of a concrete condition, which in this case, was the Witcher-Travers surveyclassification and analysis. A content analysis of the written reactions of respondentsclassified as showing a tendency toward a transmissive, progressive, or eclecticeducational belief yielded four recurring themes:

1. fully agreed with classification and analysis2. agreed with a qualifier3. agreed with a caveat4. disagreed with a qualifier or a caveat

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Finding and Speaking Their Own Voices 349

In this respect, fully agreed observations meant that the respondents acknowledgedtheir survey classifications and analyses as being representative of their educationalbelief viewpoints. Agreed with a qualifier defined respondents who expressed partialagreement only with both or either the survey-prescribed educational beliefclassifications and/or the accompanying analyses. Agreed with a caveat describedobservations in which respondents tentatively agreed with survey classifications andanalyses, citing lack of knowledge of educational beliefs and classroom teachingexperience as reasons for the transitory agreement. Disagreed with a qualifier or acaveat observations signified respondents’ expression of dissatisfaction with thesurvey classification or analysis. Whereas disagreed with a qualifier denoted respon-dents’ acknowledgement of greater areas of disagreement than agreement withsurvey results and analysis, disagreed with a caveat observations conveyed respon-dents’ allusion to limited knowledge of educational issues and undeveloped educa-tional belief position as the basis for disagreement.

Data Collection Procedures: application of knowledge and experience

To establish the premises on which beginning secondary education pre-serviceteachers based their observations, they were further prompted to support theirreactions with information derived from their understanding of the perennialist,essentialist, progressivist and existentialist philosophies of education and recollec-tions from course readings.

Their special education counterparts were prompted to support their observationswith information derived from their understanding of the teacher-centered (tra-ditional) and child-centered (progressive) philosophies of education as well asrelated special education readings.

Data Analysis Procedures: application of knowledge and experience

The examination of the knowledge and experience premises that informed respon-dents’ observations of their survey results and analyses involved three qualitativemethods. Firstly, the survey-prescribed classifications—transmissive, progressive,and eclectic—used to structure the analysis of observations, were replaced with acategorization format that focused solely on previously specified observations: fullyagreed, agreed with a qualifier, agreed with a caveat and disagreed with q qualifieror a caveat.

Secondly, the knowledge and experience recollections that respondents used tosupport their observations were analyzed and recurring themes were clustered.Three clusters of frequently occurring knowledge and experience recollectionsemerged as follows:

1. self-knowledge recollections2. teacher education content knowledge and field experience recollections3. Witcher-Travers survey descriptive analysis recollections

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Self-knowledge recollections. Self-knowledge recollections encompassed references tothe respondents’ personality traits, personal qualities and dispositions; personalexperiences, for example, parenting and schooling experiences; and personal beliefsand values as premises for explaining observations.

Teacher education content knowledge and field experience recollections. These subsumedrespondents’ references to teacher education course content information.Specifically, secondary education students called up class discourse and readingsrelated to educational philosophy, and special education students recalled classdiscourse and readings related to human development, special education issues, andteacher education field experiences as premises for illustrating observations.

Witcher-Travers descriptive analysis recollections. These consisted of respondents’references to information included in the analyses of survey results provided bysurvey creators, as premises for reflecting on observations.

Thirdly, each cluster of knowledge and experience recollections was juxtaposedwith the four observations in order to record the number of times each cluster wascited in an observation set. A numeric value was assigned to signify the frequency ofoccurrences of each cluster of recollections in the four observation sets collectively.

Data Collection Procedures: making judgments about educational purpose

To assess the developing educational belief judgments that should crystallize fromthe observations of the results of the Witcher-Travers survey and the ensuingreflections premised on knowledge and experience recollections, the culminatingprompt directed respondents to construct a statement of educational belief inresponse to the following question: What is the purpose of education, secondary orspecial education?

Data Analysis Procedures: making judgments

The operative idea for data analysis with respect to making judgments is resonance.‘Resonance means to resound or sound again’ (Hagstrom et al., 2000). Therefore,the focusing question for data analysis was: (a) Did respondents’ statements ofeducational belief relative to the question above ‘ring true’ to their premisedobservations of survey classifications (Hagstrom et al., 2000, p. 24)? Once again, thefour sets of observations focused data analysis. The educational belief judgmentsthat the respondents made were analyzed in association with identified observations(fully agreed, agreed with a qualifier, agreed with a caveat and disagreed with aqualifier or a caveat) and antecedent survey classification (transmissive, progressiveor eclectic) in order establish resonance. In other words, resonance was a functionof the agreement between reactions to erstwhile survey- prescribed classificationsand the culminating judgments that respondents made as they spoke their ownvoices about educational beliefs.

With respect to survey classifications, the criterion for assessing resonance was the

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Finding and Speaking Their Own Voices 351

TABLE 1. Results of observations of survey classifications with samplerespondents’ observations

Observation sets Transmissive Progressive Eclectic

Fully agreed T(a) N � 4 P(a) N � 9 E(a) N � 5Agreed with a qualifier T(b) N � 5 P(b) N � 2 E(b) N � 8Agreed with a caveat T(c) N � 0 P(c) N � 1 E(c) N � 9Disagreed with a qualifier T(d) N � 0 P(d) N � 1 E(d) N � 3or a caveatTotal N � 9 N � 13 N � 25

fidelity of the judgments that respondents made about the purpose of education withthe Witcher-Travers survey’s descriptive summary of the viewpoint of each educa-tional belief system about school purpose:

• Transmissive. Focused on developing the mind and transmitting cultural heritageand permanent values.

• Progressive. Focused on developing the whole child and emphasizing social prob-lems and themes.

• Eclectic. Focused on a blend of transmissive and progressive purposes by combin-ing a child-centered view with the need to cater to the need of the community.

The determination of resonance constituted of assigning a numeric value to theinstances of resonance in the statements of educational purpose within each of thefour observation sets that comprised a survey-prescribed classification. For example,among the respondents classified as progressive, each respondent’s statement wascompared with not only the survey classification, but with the individual’s statedobservation (fully agreed, agreed with a qualifier, agreed with a caveat or disagreedwith a qualifier or a caveat) as well, in order to adjudge its resonance. Specificstatements of belief about educational purpose are also excerpted to illustrateresonance or dissonance.

Results

Finding their Own Voices: observations to a concrete condition

The concrete condition that generated the observations of the participants in thestudy was the educational belief classifications that ensued from completing theWitcher-Survey of Educational Beliefs. As shown in Table 1, the survey-prescribedclassifications of the educational beliefs of the participants along the lines oftransmissive, progressive and eclectic engendered four observations: fully agreed,agreed with a qualifier, agreed with a caveat, and disagreed with a caveat or aqualifier (see Table 1 for observations of survey classifications).

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Fully Agreed Observations. Whether in the transmissive, progressive or eclecticdomain, fully agreed observations designated as T(a), P(a) or E(a) evidencedunequivocal and enthusiastic acceptance of survey-prescribed classification as anaccurate depiction of the respondents’ educational beliefs as demonstrated by thefollowing narratives:

Wow, this survey seemed to tell me what I already knew about myphilosophy of education. (R1) [1]

… I am considered to have eclectic views on education. While reading thedescription of those considered to have eclectic viewpoint on education, Ican identify with them. (R2)

Agreed with a Qualifier Observations. Again, as shown in Table 1, whether in thetransmissive, progressive or eclectic domain, agreed with a qualifier observationsdefined as T(b), P(b) and E(b) indicated partial agreement on the part of respon-dents with both or either the survey-prescribed educational belief classification andor the survey descriptive analysis as follows:

I agree and disagree with the results from the analysis. I agree with beingsomewhat traditional and conservative, but I also think I have a progressiveviewpoint on some matters. (R3)

I do lean toward progressivism, but I also follow certain elements of thetransmissive approach. My analysis suggests that I have not clarified myviews on education. I believe I have. It is possible to agree with elementsof both philosophies. (R4)

Agreed with a Caveat Observations. Designated as T(c), P(c), and E(c), theseobservations denoted diffident agreement with survey-prescribed educational beliefclassification. The caveat in the observations consisted of a stipulation and aforewarning that pointed to (1) underdeveloped knowledge about educational issuesand belief system; and (2) misconception of the implications of the educationalterms in the survey little or as grounds for the momentary agreement with surveyclassification as exemplified by these statements:

I am not surprised with the analysis that I lean toward progressivism, butI can see where my philosophy has not congealed. Some of the wordings(and also my poor understanding) led me to choose an answer I would nothave chosen. (R5)

… I may have fallen into this category because of my lack of clarity. Myviews on educational issues are a little shaky and that is because I don’thave a lot of experience with the matter yet. (R6)

Disagreed with a Qualifier or a Caveat. The observations represented as T(d), P(c),or E(d) exemplified two characteristics: a mixed view in which the respondentmostly disagreed with the survey result while pointing out one element of agreement,

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and an ambivalent view in which respondents acknowledged paucity of knowledgeof educational matters as the basis for disagreement as illustrated by the followingnarratives:

… I thought I strongly believed in the progressive philosophy of education.The survey indicated that I fell into the eclectic view of education. I wouldhave to disagree with the eclectic view about the school’s purpose. I agreemore with the eclectic viewpoint on motivation. (R7)

I scored a 24 which just barely put me with the progressive group. This isa surprise because I thought my educational philosophy was that of anessentialist … I do not know whether I agree or disagree with these scoresbecause I am still confused on what philosophy I am. (R8)

Observation of a concrete condition, which in this study is depicted as initialreactions to the Witcher-Travers survey classification and analyses of pre-serviceteachers educational beliefs is the first step in Dewey’s tri-level procedure ofarticulating an educational purpose. The observations that 47 pre-service teachersmade about their survey results were clustered into four observation sets; fullyagreed, agreed with a qualifier, agreed with a caveat, and disagreed with a qualifieror a caveat. What knowledge and experience premises did pre-service teachers citeto support these observations?

Finding their Own Voices: application of knowledge and experience

Dewey (1998) pointed out that the authenticity of observations rests on the groundson which the observations were based. Thus, the second phase in the intellectualprogression toward developing a defensible and practicable educational purposecalls for reaching inward: to recall the personal knowledge and experiences that gaverise to observations, and reaching outward and beyond oneself, in order to bring tobear on declared observation ’ the information, advice, and warning of those whohave had a wider experience’ (p. 80). The explanation of observations in light onone’s recollection of personal knowledge and past experiences and the knowledge ofmore knowledgeable others paves the way for making a valid judgment abouteducational purpose.

Self-knowledge Recollections. As shown in Tables 2 and 3, with reference to eachobservation set: one or more element in the self-knowledge cluster was mentionedas the observation premise by (a) all 17 respondents that registered fully agreedobservation; (b) 15 out of 17 respondents that agreed with a qualifier; (c) by 4 outof 9 respondents that agreed with a caveat; (d) by none of the respondents thatdisagreed with a qualifier or a caveat. The following are representative self knowl-edge premise statements:

I realize that I am a fairly progressive person … As a parent, I believe thatmy job is primarily as a guide … I’d rather hold my child’s hand throughher life-journey, than to walk in front of her to show her the way. (R9)

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TABLE 2. Results of application of knowledge and experience

Observations

Fully agreed Agreed with a qualifierPremise Total N � 17 Total N � 17

Self-knowledge recollections N � 17 N � 15Teacher education content N � 13 N � 8knowledge recollectionsWitcher-Travers Survey N � 7 N � 9descriptive analysisrecollections

I am not too surprised by the survey results because I tend to be moderatein most things I do in my life, so it doesn’t surprise me that I am moderatewhen it comes to education. (R10)

Teacher Education Content Knowledge Recollections. Overall, respondents referred toteacher education content knowledge 26 times as the premise for observations. Asshown in Tables 2 and 3, among respondents that registered fully agreed, agreedwith a qualifier, agreed with a caveat, or disagreed with a qualifier or a caveatobservations, this premise occurred 7 times out of 17, 8 times out of 17, 2 times outof 9 and 3 times out of 4 respectively. The use of teacher education contentknowledge as a premise for observations included references to the statements of‘respected voices’ in education; course readings and discourse citations; and teach-ing and learning events from field-based experience as follows:

I have noticed in my Kaleidoscope [Ryan & Cooper, 2001] [2] readingsthat I mostly identify with more progressive articles like James Beane’s,

TABLE 3. Additional results of application of knowledge and experience with samplerespondents’ premises

Observations

Disagreed with a qualifierAgreed with a caveat or a caveat Tables 2 & 3

Premise N � 9 N � 4 N � 47

Self-knowledge N � 4 N � 0 Tables 2 & 3recollections N � 36Teacher education N � 2 N � 3 Tables 2 & 3content knowledge N � 26recollectionsWitcher-Travers N � 5 N � 2 Tables 2 & 3Survey descriptive N � 23analysis recollections

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Finding and Speaking Their Own Voices 355

titled, Curriculum Integration and Disciplines of Knowledge. His articlemotivated me so much that I even (erroneously) wrote an essay about it forthis class. (R9)

I believe the student is important and that learning occurs both ways,meaning interaction and cooperative learning are important. That is theprogressive philosophy as described in the TWCT [3] book [Ryan &Cooper, 2000]. However, I strongly disagree with curriculum inte-gration … I believe the basic disciplines of knowledge are very important ineducation and therefore cannot be left out. (R8)

The curriculum should be arranged to meet the state requirements but alsoit should be flexible enough to change … For instance, the tragedy of lastmonth [4], when that happened, all curriculum goals for that day were setaside and the problem at hand was discussed. This was at the school of myfield placement. (R11)

Witcher-Travers Survey Descriptive Analysis Recollections. Respondents brought upinformation from the Witcher-Travers descriptive analysis as the premise for obser-vations twenty-three times. As shown in Tables 2 and 3, information from theWitcher-Travers survey analysis was featured as a premise 7 times out of 17, 9 timesout of 17, 5 times out of 9, and 2 times out of 2 by respondents that exhibited fullyagreed, agreed with a qualifier, agreed with a caveat, or disagreed with a qualifier ora caveat observation respectively. The application of information from the descrip-tive analysis to back up survey-classified observation fell along two interrelated lines:(1) completely or partially assenting to the viewpoints of educational commonplacesexpressed in the survey analysis and reframing them as needed to accurately reflectthe respondent’s own views; or (2) pointing out that the survey’s descriptive analysiswas instrumental in helping the respondent make sense of the survey results, anecessary precursor to constructing a reaction to education belief classification as thefollowing statements attest:

It [survey analysis] also said that I respond to the regard of the communityas the mission of the school. This is true. If the school does not want meto talk about religion, then I won’t … I don’t want to get fired … Thesurvey did not get it right when it comes to motivation. It states that I amhard with rules and consequences, of course, I believe in rules andconsequences, but I am not going to be a mean or super strict teacher.(R12)

Before beginning the assessment, I had no theories on my philosophy at all.I really respect the idea of a traditional school, but I also like the ideabehind the progressive, child-centered school of thought. I really feel thatthe community should play a part as to what we teach our children. (R13)

The results of the application of knowledge and experience showed that the citationsof personal recollections as a premise for observation of survey-classified educational

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belief occurred 36 times, whereas reference to the recollections drawn from othersources occurred a combined total of 49 times. The latter number consisted of 26occurrences of teacher education content and 23 references to the Witcher-Traverssurvey descriptive analysis as the premises for observations.

Speaking their Own Voices: making judgments about the purpose of education

The results of the analysis of resonance in respondents’ judgments of the purpose ofeducation are shown in Table 4. Overall, only six statements of educational purposewere found to be inconsistent when assessed on the grounds of the affinity betweenthe Witcher-Travers descriptive summary of purpose for educational beliefclassifications, and the respondents’ observations of those classifications. Represen-tative resonant statements are as follows:

The first purpose of education is the understanding of what the schoolsdeem necessary. When you get to the specialized areas such as mathemat-ics, the teacher as well as the school system should determine what thestudent needs for his or her educational instruction. (R1) (Transmissive,fully agreed)

The purpose of education is to present, demonstrate, and provide opportu-nities for children to learn, function, grow, and be able to effectively applythat knowledge in an ever-changing world. Likewise, in special educationthe goals are the same … Presently, I am in support of a fully inclusiveclassroom that participates in multi-sensory learning styles … (R14) (Pro-gressive, fully agreed)

Schools should assist students in developing skills that will allow them tosurvive. Skills such as problem solving are necessary in life. In order todemonstrate problem solving ability, one must possess the essential knowl-edge. (R4) [5] (Progressive, agreed with a qualifier)

The purpose of education is to instruct young growing minds about basicuniversal truths. This type of education should be coupled with knowledgeon how to discover more meaningful and personal truths … Basic truthsneed to be taught through hands-on experiences with guided group andindividual exercises. Once basic skills are mastered, the mind becomesmore receptive to discovering new truths. R15 (Eclectic, agreed with aqualifier)

My personal philosophy about the purpose of education reflects my strongattitude about children with disabilities. I feel all children deserve a greateducational experience and especially those with a disability. It should beprovided in a proper setting such as in a special education classroom,resource room, pull out program or inclusion. (R16) [6] (Eclectic, agreedwith a caveat)

Two representative dissonant statements follow:

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Finding and Speaking Their Own Voices 357

TABLE 4. Results of making judgment about the purpose of education withsample respondents’ statements of purpose

Respondents’Survey results observations Resonance

Classifications Sets of observation Yes NoTransmissive N � 9 Fully agreed N � 4 3 1

Agreed with a qualifier N � 5 5 0Progressive N � 13 Fully agreed N � 9 9 0

Agreed with a qualifier N � 3 3 0Agreed with a caveat N � 0 0 0Disagreed with a qualifier ora caveat N � 1 1 0

Eclectic N � 25 Fully agreed N � 5 4 1Agreed with a qualifier N � 9 8 1Agreed with a caveat N � 8 6 2Disagreed with a qualifier or acaveat N � 3 2 1

The purpose of education is to help prepare students for the real world. Ido not plan on teaching my students how to live but I will incorporate lifeexperiences into my lessons … I feel that the purpose of education shouldbe left to the student. (R17) (Transmissive, fully agreed)

The secondary school, I have to admit, is a place to shape the individ-ual … I think it was a place where I developed relationships with oth-ers … Now, to say whether or not it was a place of learning, I would haveto admit that I am not sure. (R18) (Eclectic, fully agreed).

As mentioned earlier, the resonance of the judgments made by the respondents inthis study was not assessed only in terms of the compliance of the judgments withthe viewpoint of each of the transmissive, progressive or eclectic classification onpurpose. Instead, the observations that the respondents made about their survey-classifications featured prominently in determining resonance. Analyzing the reson-ance of respondents’ judgments about the purpose of education in light of theobservations that preceded such judgments, showed compliance with the pro-gression and interdependence of the elements that constituted Dewey’s tri-levelsystem for the formation of purpose namely observation of a concrete condition,application of knowledge and experience, and making a judgment.

Discussion

Developing a system of educational beliefs to focus professional practice is anongoing reflective activity. Forty-seven pre-service teachers completed an intellec-tual exercise that started with reacting to the results of an online survey of educa-tional beliefs and culminated in making a judgment about the purpose of education.The procedure yielded an end-product: the formation of respondents’ statements of

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purpose. This outcome did not, by itself, underscore the goal of the operation,which was to capture the varied thinking processes that informed the eventualoutput. Given this emphasis, the study focused on highlighting the voices ofrespondents as they worked through the intellectual process of explaining theirstandpoint on an educational phenomenon.

Some respondents wisely pointed out that the voices that they spoke at this initialstage in their teacher education curriculum only represented where they were intheir thinking about education at that present time, not where they would bedevelopmentally at the end of the program. In fact, a secondary education studentopined, ‘I think that it will be interesting to come back and take the survey againafter I have had a chance to be in more classes and observe different teachers …’.However, merely taking the survey over and over will not promote the kind ofintellectual operation that Dewey (1998) suggested should frontload the formationof educational purposes. That will only happen when the results of the survey arecontinually re-examined in light of increasing knowledge and experience. After all,as cited earlier, Dewey (1933) had also defined reflective action as ‘ … carefulconsideration of any belief and supposed form of knowledge in light of the groundsthat support it and the further conclusions to which it leads’ (p. 9). In the contextof this definition of reflection and the tripartite procedure for constructing educa-tional purpose, the Witcher-Travers’ Survey of Educational Beliefs, was used in thestudy not as an end by itself, but as a means to the end of engaging pre-serviceteachers to think critically about their supposed belief classifications in light ofpersonal and acquired knowledge of consequences, before making a tentative judg-ment. To have used the survey as anything other than as a tool for drawing outreflection, would be a time-consuming but totally mindless exercise.

The most remarkable outcome of the study was the preponderance of theoccurrence of self-knowledge recollections as a premise for observations whencompared with the number of occurrences of teacher education content, or Witcher-Travers’ descriptive recollections. This was made more interesting because respon-dents were not prompted to cite personal knowledge, experiences and the otherelements of self-knowledge recollections as premises for observation. At face value,one could argue that the pre-service teachers in the study drew on self-knowledgerecollections because of their limited knowledge of and experience in education.However, this explanation alone does not account for this outcome. Given thatseveral of the respondents already acknowledged their limited educational experi-ence, the unprompted references to the ‘self’ cannot be easily explained away as amere place-saver for knowledge. Therefore, the preponderance of self-knowledgerecollections could point to a well-known, albeit, not widely-acknowledged fact inteacher growth and development, that the personal traits and proclivities of teachershave an impact on the way they approach the work of teaching.

Rogers and Freiberg (1994), Banner and Cannon (1997) and Palmer (1998) haveexpressed the concern that the knowledge of the ‘who’ of teaching is the missing linkin what is supposed to be the knowledge triangle of preparing effective teachers. Inother words, teacher preparation programs focus their teacher development andinduction efforts on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of teaching while the subject of the

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Finding and Speaking Their Own Voices 359

selfhood of the neophyte, the knowledge of the self who teaches, is usually neglected.Yet according to Banner and Cannon, ‘What teachers do cannot be distinguishedfrom who they are … It is the components of their very selves that give theirknowledge and technique both meaning and effectiveness’ (p. 3). Palmer (1998)also advocated the need to help prospective teachers connect self, subject and theirstudents in the fabric of teaching. Reminiscing on three decades of teaching, hemaintained:

… every class comes down to this: my students and I, face to face, … Thetechniques I have mastered do not disappear, but neither do they suffice.Face to face with my students, only one resource is at my immediatecommand: my identity, my selfhood, my sense of the ‘I’ who teaches—without which I have no sense of the ‘Thou’ who learns. (p. 10)

When examined through the lens of the foregoing advocacy for giving credence tothe personal identity as part of the apparatus for teacher development, the prepon-derance of unsolicited self-knowledge recollections is a confirmation of the obvious:whether they are equipped with sophisticated knowledge about teaching and learn-ing or not, aspiring and practicing educators tend to draw on what they know aboutthemselves—their personal traits and past experiences—to think about and explainthe work of teaching.

Conclusion

The Witcher-Travers survey was used in this study as a triggering event to generatea reaction from 47 pre-service teachers during their first semester curriculum inteacher education. Given the opportunity to support their reactions with associatedpremises, the pre-service teachers posited two likely forms of supporting evidencethat is, teacher education content knowledge recollections and the readily availableWitcher-Travers descriptive analysis recollections, and an unexpected large numberof references to an unplanned for self-knowledge recollections. The final step in thereflective procedure involved stating a judgment about the purpose of education.The analysis of the culminating judgments showed a high level of consistency withboth the respondents’ observations of survey-classified belief systems and the educa-tional purpose focus of each belief system.

While easy to use, the Witcher-Travers Survey of Educational Beliefs and otherinstruments like it that are used to assess beliefs should not be employed as a quickfix for dulling pre-service teachers into passive acceptance of prescribed educationalpositions, regardless of their accuracy, When it comes to the nuances of knowledgeand experiences that compose the development of a statement of educational beliefs,the result of a survey is just the tip of the iceberg. In this study, pre-service teacherswere empowered to look beyond survey classifications as they gave voice to theiremergent judgments of educational purpose. Providing beginning pre-service teach-ers such an opportunity enhanced their recognition of having ownership of their owneducational beliefs. Being so empowered, beginning pre-service teachers have ac-

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quired the impetus to question and reexamine these beliefs in the future whenincreased knowledge and experience might dictate a change.

Notes

1. R means respondent. Several respondents’ stated observations, premises and judgmentswere documented to lend credence and voice to the results of the study. The numberassigned to each cited respondent reflected the sequence of the entry. When a respondentwas cited more than once, the original number code was maintained.

2. One the two textbooks in the secondary education foundations course.3. The second textbook used in the secondary education foundations course.4. Reference to the September 11 2001 terrorist attack on the USA.5. This respondent also qualified a progressive classification with this observation: ‘There is a

major element of the transmissive approach that I agree with. The basic subjects such asmath and reading need to continue to be emphasized’. The eventual statement of educa-tional purpose echoed the respondent’s transmissive bent.

6. Although this respondent had initially made this caveat observation, ‘I don’t feel confidentabout my educational philosophies at this time’, the resultant educational purpose forspecial education articulated by the respondent resonated with the personal and academicdevelopment focus of the eclectic viewpoint.

References

BANNER, J.M. & CANNON, H.C. (1997) The ‘who’ of teaching, Education Week, April 16, pp. 1–5.Retrieved June 26 2001, from http://www.edweek.org

DEWEY, J. (1933) How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to theEducative Process (Lexington, Heath and Company).

DEWEY, J. (1998) Experience and Education: The 60th Anniversary Edition (West Lafayette, IN,Kappa Delta Pi).

HAGSTROM, D., HUBBARD, R., HURTIG, C., MORTOLA, P., OSTROW, J. & WHITE, V. (2000)Teaching is like … ?, Educational Leadership, 57 (8), pp. 24–27.

PALMER, P.J. (1998) The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life (SanFrancisco, Jossey-Bass).

ROGERS, C. & FREIBERG, H.M. (1994) Freedom to Learn (New York, Macmillan CollegePublishing Company).

RYAN, K. & COOPER, J.M. (2001) (Eds) Kaleidoscope: Readings in Education (Boston, HoughtonMifflin).

RYAN, K. & COOPER, J.M. (2000) Those Who Can Teach (Boston, Houghton Mifflin).WITCHER, A. & TRAVERS, P. (1999) The Witcher–Travers Survey of Educational Beliefs [Online,

available at: www.abacon.com/witcher–travers].

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