Writing A Thought Paper

Pedagogical beliefs and practices 1
Philosophical Basis of Turkish and American Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs and

Practices
Cennet Engin Demir

Middle East Technical University
Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of

Geneva, 13-15 September 2006
Abstract
This small-scale exploratory study describes some of the findings from a larger
ethnographic study on the school environment and hidden curriculum in American and
Turkish middle schools, offering a cross-cultural perspective on the philosophical basis of
the pedagogical beliefs and practices of middle school teachers. Nine Turkish and 10
American teachers, and 24 Turkish and 18 American 6th, 7th and 8th grade students
participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observation were
used as the main methods of data collection. Overall results of this study revealed that
there was a difference between philosophical orientations of Turkish and American
teachers. Turkish teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices implied essentialism as a
dominant philosophy while American teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices implied
progressivism as a dominant philosophical orientation. However, the influence of
essentialism among American teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices can not be
underestimated.
Keywords: philosophy of teaching, pedagogical beliefs, pedagogical practices, cross-

cultural study
*Paper presented at Annual the Conference of European Educational Research Association (ECER)
September, 2006, Geneva.
** Contact: E-mail:cennet@metu.edu.tr, METU, Depertment of Education, 06531, Ankara/Turkey.
Introduction and Purpose
Teachers’ classroom practices reflect, to a large extent, what they believe about the
purpose of schools and good teaching, and their beliefs about schooling and good
teaching reflect their understandings of how students learn. While teaching, teachers face
many immediate concerns that derive from the day-to-day problems of classroom
management and lesson preperation (Ornstein & Levine, 1993). How do teachers deal
with those problems and concern reveal their educational philosophy which can be
defined as a set of beliefs about how human beings learn and grow and what one should
learn in order to live the good life (Parkay & Stanford, 1992).
Educational philosophy of a teacher consist of what a teacher believe about all aspects
of education. It includes “the assumptions, theories, and beliefs one holds for key aspects
of effective teaching such as the purpose of schooling, perception of students, what
knowledge is of most worth, the value of certain teaching techniques and pedagogical
principals” (Parkay, & Stanford, 1992; p. 201) Teachers’ philosophy of education
influences their daily educational life in two ways: Teachers plan lessons, interact with
students, and judge students’ performances according to their views of knowledge, which
may depend heavily on their memories of being a student and their idealized conceptions
of the role of the teacher. Philosophy suggest writing of curricula, the preparation and
scoring of tests (McNergney & Herbert, 1995).
Richardson (1996) emphasizes that orientation and beliefs are important concepts in
understanding the teacher’s thought process, classroom practices and behaviors. He
suggests that an understanding of a teacher’s practice concerning both belief and action
is enhanced by research through interview and observation. In this context, the purpose
of this small-scale qualitative study is to explore philosophical basis of Turkish and
American middle school teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices. This exploratory
study describes some of the findings from a larger ethnographic study on the school
environment and hidden curriculum in American and Turkish middle schools, offering a
cross-cultural perspective on the philosophical basis of the pedagogical beliefs and
practices of middle school teachers.
Since commonly accepted philosophical theories of education are essentialism and

progressivism which represent two opposite views in education – conservative vs.
progressive or subject-centered vs. students centered. These educational theories were
considered as bases in describing philosophical basis of teacher’ pedagogical beliefs and
practices in Turkish and American middle schools.
Theories of Education
Educational theories are categorized as traditional/conservative vs. progressive or

subject-centered vs. child centered. The most commonly accepted educational
philosophies are essentialism and progressivism in public school systems. Essentialists
are often called traditionalist or conservatives (Travers & Rebore, 1995) who believe that
the goal of organized education is to “prepare people to be productive civil and patriotic
individuals” (Gutek, 2004; p.277). Essentialism emphasizes an academic subject-matter
curriculum and encourages teachers to stress order, discipline and effort (Orstein &
Levine, 1993). The learning of the essential curriculum requires discipline, hard work and
skilled professionals both in subject-matter and in teaching (Gutek, 2004). Instruction
should be adapted to organized learning in the form of textbook. “The method of
instruction should center on regular assignments, homework, recitations and frequent
testing and evaluation” (Orstein, & Levine, 1993, p.465).
On the contrary, a child-centered philosophy of education, progressivism, sees “education

as multi-functional and geared to the whole child – emotionally, physically, socially and
intellectually- rather than exclusively academic (Gutek, 2004, p. 300 ). Progressives
prefer using informal, less structured and open methods of instruction that they believe
allow children to follow their interests and use their creativity (Gutek, 2004). Progressive
education “focused on the child as learner rather than on the subject, emphasized
activities and experiences rather than verbal and literacy skills and encouraged
cooperative group learning activities rather than individualized lesson learning.” (Orstein
& Levine, 1993, p.472). The focus for progressive educators is teaching students how to
think rather than what to think. Therefore, a progressive teacher needs to use projects,
group work, problem solving and activities as instructional methodologies to develop
thinking skills. Teacher serves a resource facilitator who encourages children’s self-
expression in informal classroom environments that satisfy individual interests and needs.
Minor educational philosophies are perennialism, reconstructionism, existentialism and

critical pedagogy. As a conservative educational theory perennialism perceives the aim
of education as to acquiring knowledge of unchanging principles or great ideas. For
perennialists, skill and subject-matter-based curriculum and teacher-directed
instructional approach are best ways to achieve the development of intellect (Orstein &
Levine, 1993; Gutek, 2004). Reconstructionism originated in the fabric of progressive
education. Reconstructionists concern with social change while recognizing the
importance of children’s individual needs and interests. They incline to use schools for
social reform and emphasizes that schools and teachers have a role in introducing
controversial issues; in examining important social, political, and economic problems,
and in seeking to solve them (Gutek, 2004). For the existentialists the most important
aim of education is to develop human consciousness about the freedom to choose and to
illuminate the meaning of choice. An existentialist teacher would encourage students to
define their own essence by exposing them to various paths they may take in life and
creating an environment in which they may freely choose their own preferred way, The
existentialist curriculum emphasizes the experiences and subjects that are based on
philosophical dialogue (Orstein & Levine, 1993). Art, drama, music, dance, and creative
writing provide opportunities for students to express themselves in the process of
exploring their own values (Gutek, 2004). Lastly, Critical Theory can also be considered
as a progressive educational theory which argues that “society, education and schooling
are arenas in which groups contend for power and control” (Gutek, 2004, p.310). Critical
theorists suggest that the role of education is to raise the consciousness of dispossessed,
marginalized groups and encourage them to work toward their own empowerment
(Gutek, 2004). They use a Freirean mode of dialogue for helping students understand the
nature of power and oppression, recognizing the existence of inequities in the society, and
helping them develop a sensibility where they feel that change is both possible and
desirable.
After the foundation of Republic in 1923, Turkish Educational sytem had operated as an
agent of social change in transforming a traditional society into modern one (Kazamias,
1968). In this context social reconsructivism was influential philosopy in Turkish
Education until 1950s. However, for over 50 years Turkish Education has been greatly
influenced by essentialist theory which emphasizes academic subject-matter and
encourages teachers to stress order, disipline and effort (Orstein & Levine, 1993). School
has been perceived as a sociocultural agency whose primary function is the formal and
academic education of students in prescribed essential skills and subjects (Gutek, 2004)
through a standard curriculum. Last year the primary school curriculum was revised and
claimed that constructivism was one of the basic philosophy of curriculum. Therefore
there are attempts to focus on student rather than on the subject-matter especially in
primary school curriculum.
In the United States various philosophies such as realism, idealism and pragmatism and
educational theories such as perennialism, essentialism and progressivism had an effect
on American Education. Among them progressivism had been influential starting from
late nineteenth and early twentieth (Orstein & Levine, 1993). Progressivism grew out of
the progressive political and social movement in 1920s. Its influence decreased during
the 1950s, particularly after the 1957 launching of Sputnik by the Soviets prompted
schools to emphasize traditional instruction in math, science, foreign languages, and other
defense- related subjects. Progressive education was seen as too permissive, creating low
academic standards and possessing no clear direction for student maturation. In the late
1960s and 1970s, many of Dewey’s ideas a renewed popularity becuase of citizensip
education and educational relevance which decrease again during the education reform
movement of 1980s. Since 1970s a “back-to-basics” movement has helped to revival
essentialism in American schools (Orstein & Levine, 1993). During the 1980s, a series of
national reports on Ameican education which brought some educational reforms were
described as neoessentialist in character.
Method
Participants
Two schools in the United States and two schools in Turkey were selected for the study.
SES as determined by the variable of neighborhood was taken into consideration in the
selection of schools. Nine Turkish and 10 American teachers, and 24 Turkish and 18
American 6th, 7th and 8th grade students participated in the study.
Data Collection Procedures
Semi-structures interviews and class observations were used as the main methods of data
collection. Interviews focused on teacher’s personal goals, their belief about good
student, ways of decision-making, teaching methods used, methods of assessment,
classroom management strategies and their statement of their own philosophy of
education. Each teacher interviewed was observed two times over a 4-week period.
Observations were focused on the type pedagogical strategies and the materials that the
teachers used for teaching, their way of designing the physical setting, interaction with
students etc. Selected students from the observed classrooms were also interviewed and
were asked to describe a typical lesson, assessment methods and teacher-student
relationship in their classes.
Data Analysis
Interviews were fully transcribed and observation notes taken by the researcher were
compiled. The data collected from schools in each country were content- analyzed,
similar opinions were grouped and presented according to themes, and interpreted by the
researcher. Then, the differences and similarities between Turkish and American teachers’
pedagogical beliefs and practices, and their philosophical orientations were described.
Findings
Pedagogical Beliefs
As mentioned earlier the educational philosophy of a teacher consists of what a teacher

believe about the goals of education and the perception of students. This part reports the
data produced by the semi-structured interviews with teachers. In order to understand
teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, teachers were asked to respond questions related to their
personal goals, their beliefs about students and their statements of their own philosophy.
Personal goals
Teachers were asked to state their personal goals in classroom other than the formal goals
stated in the curriculum. The responses given to this question are also expected to reveal
what values the teachers wish to impart to their students in their classrooms. When the
personal goals stated by Turkish Teachers are examined carefully it was observed that the
majority of personal goals stated by teachers emphasized the development of good
citizens for the country. Examples of the goals are: helping students behave, respect
elders, being democratic and respect each other; teaching students Atatürk very well;
preparing students for standard examinations; covering curriculum; being a model for
students to be planned and orderly individual. On the other hand, some of the teachers
also stated goals which are more related to individual development. These are: Helping
students respect art; encouraging students to go an exhibition; helping students not scared
from teacher; helping student to have ideals; and helping students to have a personal
point of view. It was observed from the results that most of the Turkish teachers’ personal
goals are not much different from the goals stated by Ministry of Education.
The most commonly stated personal goals by American teachers are: Helping students to
have more active social life and have some other interests; helping students to be
creative; teaching diversity and non-gender specific areas; helping students to
understand that they are important; finding different ways of teaching; getting to know
students. A detailed analysis of American teachers indicated that most of their goals are
related to individual development.
Beliefs about student
In order to understand teachers’ beliefs about students their responses for two questions
were analyzed: Can you describe an ideal student? ; What do you expect from your
students? It was observed that the responses given for those two questions were similar.
The most frequently stated expectations of Turkish teachers from their students are
working hard, studying on time, being planned and organized, having a sense of
responsibility, following directions, behaving himself/herself and respecting teachers and
other students.
I expect my students to study before coming to the class. I expect them to talk
when they are given permission… I expect them to listen to the teacher.
I expect my student to be planned and orderly individuals who are aware of their
responsibilities.
I expect them to remember what I thought. They must be responsible

individuals….
Two teachers mentioned that they expect their students to be reflective, curious, open-
minded, enthusiastic and self-confident individuals. One of them commented:
I like to have students who think. Students must have a problem in their minds to
solve all the time…. I expect my students to feel that they study…
The most frequently stated expectations of American teachers from their students are
doing homework everyday, paying attention to their work, following directions, trying to
do best, trying to success behaving himself/herself, being respectful to teachers and
peers and getting involved in class activities.
I expect them to come into class on time, everyday unless they are sick, I expect
them to take their notes and follow my directions and try to do their best on the
math. I expect them to do their homework everyday, to ask for help when they
have questions. And treat me another people with respect.
I expect communication, honesty, to cooperate in classroom, to do their school

work, to take some risks.
I expect that they try. Try to succeed. Try to follow directions, try to experiment
stuff that we put out there. If we tell them that keep their lockers clean I expect
that they try to do that. I expect my students behave. Respect other students.
I expect them to work up to their potential. And that is so varied in school that we
have students with learning disabilities... I expect them to work up to their
capabilities and I expect them to start learning to get along socially , learning to
treat adults as authority figures to respect .
Some other expectations mentioned by teachers are being responsible, being curious,
following rules, communicating, co-operating in class, being critical and creative
thinkers.
I like students that are creative, challenge themselves, one that take responsibility
for their own learning. Students are better if they are independent and creative…
Teachers’ statements of their own educational philosophies
Teachers were asked to define their own philosophy of teaching. Six of the nine Turkish
teachers stated that they wanted to have a good relationship with their students while they
were teaching them to be curious, critical and open-minded individuals who can solve
their own problems. One of the teachers emphasized that having a loving relationship
with students will make easier to develop the desired student characteristics mentioned
above:
My philosophy is… Love… I believe that we can teach anything to kids with
love. We also need to consider students’ needs and interests.
Three other Turkish teachers mentioned the importance of teaching subject-matter well
and working hard to be an effective citizen of Turkish society. One of the teachers
believes that students need to be forced to work hard to be successful:
I want my students to be successful in difficult situations. Therefore, I force them

by asking difficult questions. They will use what they learn here at high school
and at University Entrance Examination.
One teacher believes that a teacher is a subject-matter expert:
I want to transmit all the knowledge that I possess to students.
Nine American teachers out of 10 emphasized the necessity of considering needs and
interests of students in planning and implementing lessons. They also mentioned that
learning should be meaningful and related to students’ real life. Teachers believe that a
student is a whole person therefore one should consider students’ feelings and emotions
in teaching. One of the teachers stated:
Well, every student is different they are all individual, they all learn in different
way. I try to focus in each student what they need including what their
background he/she has. I think my philosophy is that we are created so differently
we need to focus on these differences. Not try to make all students to learn in the
same way. So, I try to teach in different way sometimes I do lectures sometimes...
I do stuff up on the board sometimes they get into groups because they do learn so
differently.
One American teacher believes that teacher is a subject-matter expert who can effectively
and efficiently impart knowledge to students in a disciplined and controlled classroom
environment:
My philosophy is that I wanna be a master teacher. I wanna be most

knowledgeable as I can. Continuing education is very important. Okay I am
concerned more about the whole of the classes. My job is to teach as many kids in
public schools as I can. So my philosophy is someone …It gets to the behavior
part. If I have a student that can not be controlled in my classroom so I have to
get rid of that student so I guess my philosophy is to teach more students to the
best of my ability.
Pedagogical Practices
Teaching strategies
How a teacher view teaching and learning process is an important component of a

teachers educational philosophy. Based on their view teachers plan their lessons and use
appropriate teaching strategies and assessment methods to implement their plans.
Teachers were asked to state the teaching strategies that they mostly use in their classes.
For the majority of Turkish teachers, the most frequently used teaching strategies are
teacher-directed questioning and lecturing. Some of the teachers mentioned that they
sometimes use students’ presentation and teacher-led discussion to encourage students
participate in the lesson. One of the Turkish teachers stated that she sometimes used
group work and drama.
Results of the student interview and observation more or less verified the teachers’
statements about teaching strategies. That is, almost all of the teachers observed mainly
used teacher-directed questioning and lecturing. In a typical lesson teacher presents and
explains information and then ask some questions to students to check their level of
understanding topic or to encourage students to participate. In some occasions students
are required to read the topic in advance and answer questions asked by the teacher in the
classroom or present the topic to their friends. Home economics and art teachers used
combination of hands on activities and questioning as teaching strategies. It was
observed that teacher-centered and textbook-centered instruction is dominant in Turkish
classes. Teacher is the authority who controls the students. In addition, use of lecturing
and questioning does not reinforce student-student interaction in the classroom.
American teachers are more likely to use variety of teaching strategies in their classroom.
Independent study, lecture, small group work, questioning and teacher-led discussion are
among the most frequently reported teaching strategies used in the classroom. All of
American teachers emphasized that they tried to keep lecturing short:
I use variety of teaching strategies depending on what my objective. I try to keep

lecturing short. Use teacher-led discussion, and group activity.
I like to have them work in small groups because middle school students
especially need to move around. It is difficult to them sit in one place for long
time. So, we try to do things that they can move. Hands on strategies are the best.
Small groups, class discussion in social studies, very often lecture to give basic
information.
Co-operative learning ... As much as different strategies that are being used. I try
to encourage them being cooperative as much as I can. I have noticed in this
particular classroom that students are kind of independent learners. And they
wanna know what to do, so they can do it right away and I let them to do.
Results of observations in American classrooms showed that the most frequently used
teaching methods are questioning, lecturing, independent study and small group work.
Two of the observed teachers used small group work, and one teacher used teacher-led
discussion. This result is verified by students’ interviews.
Lesson Planning
Regarding planning their lesson all of Turkish teachers use yearly plan as a base of their
daily plans. The yearly plan is prepared by a group of teachers who teach same course.
Most of the teachers mentioned that because of a strict requirement on covering the
curriculum in an education year, they rarely make changes in their plans according to
emerging needs of the students.
Regarding lesson planning, the examination of American teachers’ responses indicated

that teachers try to follow curriculum and standards in lesson planning. Most of the
American teachers highlighted that they changed their lesson plans according to needs
and interest of their students:
Well I look at my overall unit and I have objectives so I need to accomplish. I

would look at then I plan. I look what the students have achieved what they learn
from the day before. I change my plans depending on the needs of the students.
Sometimes I do not know what I will do tomorrow until I am done for today.
I consider what is going on in the community, what is going on in the school, the
students backgrounds. I take into consideration all of these things. I change the
plans when necessary.
Assessment
Most commonly used methods of assessment of the students’ performances by Turkish

teachers are short answer type written examinations, oral exam and assessment of
participation level of students based on teacher observation. Most of the teachers assign
oral exam grades of students by considering the level of student’s participation in teacher-
led discussion and level of answering teacher’s questions correctly.
Almost all of the American teachers interviewed have reported that they used a
combination of homework, test, quizzes and observation of participation in class
discussions and small-group work for the purpose of assessing students’ success:
I evaluate different ways. I give test, open note test, through daily assignment,
through observation and through projects.
For their grades they do their homework, they have short quizzes and then they
have tests.
Two American teachers mentioned the use of portfolio as one of the methods of assessing
students’ success.
Classroom physical arrangement
The classroom environment including physical structure and the arrangement of the
classroom is a direct expression of the educational philosophy (Martin, 2002). Regarding
the physical setting observation results showed that most of the Turkish teachers
organized their classroom in rows which limits the student-student interaction and allows
teacher to control the students easily (Weinstein, 1996). Rows also direct students’
attention toward the teacher, so they are particularly appropriate for teacher-centered
instruction. Home economics and science teacher in one of the schools arranged the desks
as clusters so that they use small group work.
As most Turkish teachers most of the American teachers’ organized their classrooms in
rows. However, the desks used in American classrooms are suitable to be easily moved
when the teacher make a decision of using small group or whole class discussion as a
teaching strategy. Two of the teachers used “U” shape classroom design to increase
student-student interaction.
Decision –Making
While teaching teachers face many immediate concerns and derive from day-to day
problems of classroom management and lesson preparation. The way the teachers deal
with these problems and concerns reveal their philosophy of teaching (Ornstein &
Levine, 1992). Therefore, teachers were asked to describe how they make decisions in the
classroom.
Majority of Turkish teachers have reported that they make their decisions considering
students needs. Some of them mentioned that they involve students in decision-making
process in a democratic manner in the classroom:
I generally ask students’ opinions about it. Of course, I have my own rules and
principles… but I consider their interests and needs especially in making
decisions about teaching methods.
I make 70% of the decisions by asking students’ opinions. It depends on the age
level of students. For example in 6th grades I mainly make decision but in the 8th
grades I ask their opinions.
Most of the American teachers have stated that they did not involve students in decision-
making process in the classroom:
I am my own boss here. I do tell the kids it is not a democracy in the classroom
and I am the dictator. I make decisions in terms of structure and discipline and
material that I have to give.
One of the teachers does not seem to include students in decisions-making process but
she considers students’ emerging needs and interests during the implementation:
I usually don’t include students in my decisions but sometimes I do. Today, in the
class that you were observing, I was starting another topic but I heard kids saying
that “we don’t understand yet” so I walked around and got the idea that there was
a question here. So then I made that decision based on their input. I changed the
plan a little bit.
Another teacher mentioned that he tried to discuss his decisions with his students
depending on the situation and the nature of decision made:
We have rules in the classroom. Rules set up by our teams. We make

consequences both positive and negative. Those kind of decisions are made by my
peer and by myself and but I read and discuss them with the students. Most
decisions are made by me and students accept that. But often when the
opportunity presents itself we vote to make decisions. Yeah … it depends on the
situation and what the decision is.
In sum results indicated that most of the American teachers do not tend to include
students in decision-making process in the classroom, however they still try to take needs
and interest of the students into consideration.
Discipline strategies
The way a teacher manages discipline problems in the classroom will be determined a
great deal by their personal philosophy and their actual experiences in teaching. A
teacher’s views of management and discipline can be categorized by the degree of control
that he/she exert on the students and the classroom (Burden, 1995).
Both observation and interview data were analyzed to understand the discipline strategies
used by teachers in the classroom. Turkish teachers have reported that they set the rules
and teach them to their students at the beginning of the year. Both teachers’ statements
and observation results showed that when misbehavior occurs almost all of Turkish
teachers use verbal non-verbal intervention strategies.
I make eye-contact with the students first. Then I talk to students ask the reason of
misbehavior. I try to not embarrass students, otherwise they grow obstinate.
Sometimes I walk among the students. I believe that the teacher’s desks should be
higher than students’ desks to convey the message that the teacher is the authority.
I try to teach my students behave themselves in the classroom.. I don’t want to

warn students often. My students should stop talking when I look at their eyes.
I generally try to prevent misbehavior by considering needs and interests of

students in my classes. I think students can be taught to behave in the classroom.
Beating students is not appropriate for philosophy… There are some teachers
who try to solve problems by beating…… It is not acceptable.
One of the Turkish teachers admitted that she used corporal punishment such as pulling
students’ ears and cuffing students. Observation results indicated that reprimanding is
most frequently used verbal intervention strategy in dealing with misbehaviors in Turkish
classes.
Overall it can be argued that most of the Turkish teachers endorse more control than
freedom for students in their classes. In this sense, their discipline practices imply that
they more use high control approaches. That is most of the Turkish teachers have a high
control in the classroom and the degree of students’ control is low. Teacher who has a
high control approaches in his/her views classroom management and discipline selects
desired student behaviors, reinforce appropriate behaviors and take actions to extinguish
inappropriate behaviors. “Teachers using high control approaches believe that students’
behavior must be controlled because the students themselves are not able to effectively
monitor and control their own behavior.” (Burden, 1995, p. 49)
American teachers reported that they set their rules and consequences and teach them to
students at the beginning of the year by considering the rules and policies of their
schools. One of the teachers stated:
I push values I respect honesty, sharing being kind, independence, belonging and
generosity. I pushed those values with class work cooperation and I call it on the
kids what I see it is happening. I usually give them a choice. If the behavior
continues they get a document and if they need to be sent out of the room I try
hallway first then they continue…Downstairs suspension room.
Another teacher believes that one needs to be flexible in order to prevent misbehaviors:
Pretty much you need to follow through what you say you are gonna do. I dont
have much problems. And the kids that are mostly behavioral kids I give them a
little more slack - give them more opportunity to be bad to- I would say this is
not okay … this is what expect you sometimes they forget… they need to jiggle
around. I give them more opportunity to mess up. .. I try to be more flexible.
One of the teachers tends to praise positive behaviors rather than punishing negative
behaviors:
I like to approach it positively. I give all thank you to kids if they just so
something nice. I have a whole bunch of papers saying thank you in different
languages… Japanese, Germany….
Observation results supported American teachers’ statements about their discipline

strategies they more use in their classes. It is worth to note that compared to Turkish
teachers American teachers have relatively less misbehaviors in their classrooms. When
the misbehavior occurs, American teachers mostly used non-verbal and verbal warning in
dealing with it.
When interview and observation results are examined carefully it can be concluded that
American teachers generally have from low to medium control discipline approaches.
That is although teachers set rules they discuss them with their students and help them to
recognize appropriate behavior and selected rules and procedures. Teachers’ intervention
strategies do not include coercion and corporal punishment. They more use logical
consequences and cooperation to deal with misbehavior (Dreikurs et al., 1982).
Discussion and Conclusions
The present small-scale qualitative study was an attempt to understand the philosophical
basis of pedagogical beliefs and practices of selected Turkish and American middle
school teachers. For the purpose of understanding teacher’ pedagogical beliefs interview
data related to their perceptions of personal goals, beliefs about students and their
statements of their own philosophy of teaching were analyzed. To understand their
pedagogical practices both interview and observation data were analyzed under the
categories of teaching strategies, lesson planning, assessment, classroom physical
arrangement, decision-making process in the classroom and discipline strategies used by
teachers.
Pedagogical beliefs
A detailed analysis of personal goals of Turkish teacher, their beliefs about students and
their statement of their own philosophy of teaching indicated that most of the Turkish
teachers’ pedagogical beliefs imply essentialism as a dominant philosophical orientation.
Result revealed that the majority of Turkish teachers’ personal goals and beliefs about
students emphasized the development of good and patriotic citizens for the country. They
would like to have students who follow directions, respect teachers, work hard, have a
sense of responsibility and are planned and orderly. It was also observed that most of the
teachers’ personal goals are not much different from formal goals stated by the Ministry
of Education. When the data related to Turkish teacher’ statements of their own
philosophy of education examined, it was observed that more than half of the teachers’
statements were consistent with the progressivist point of view. For example, most of the
teachers mentioned the importance of having a loving relationship with students and
considering their needs and interests while helping them to be curious, independent and
creative individuals. On the other hand, a considerable number of teachers’ statements
are more likely to imply essentialist point of view. That is these teachers mentioned the
importance of transmitting a suggested body of knowledge and forcing students work
hard to be an effective citizen in the Turkish society.
On the other hand, the most commonly stated personal goals of American teachers are
more likely to imply that they have progressive point of view. That is American teachers
desire to help their students to be independent, creative and socially active individuals
who have different interests. They also mentioned that they want to know their students
well and find different way of teaching to reach all of the students. However, the data
related to American teachers’ beliefs about students showed that their expectations from
their students pointed to essentialism as a dominant philosophy. As Turkish teachers most
of the American teachers expect their students to work hard, follow directions, do
homework, to respect to teachers etc. However, American teachers’ personal statements

of their own philosophy of teaching indicated that majority of teachers predominantly had
a progressive point of view. Nine teachers out of ten mentioned the necessity of taking
students’ needs and interests into consideration in planning and implementing teaching
learning activities.
Pedagogical practices
Results of both interviews and observations revealed that majority of Turkish teachers
generally use teacher directed questioning and lecturing. Teacher-centered and textbook-
centered instructions are dominant characteristics of Turkish classrooms. Turkish
teachers make their daily lesson plans based on a yearly plan prepared by a group of
teachers based on the standard curriculum. They mentioned that because of a strict
requirement of covering curriculum, they rarely made changes in their plans according to
emerging needs and interests of students. The most frequently used assessment methods
by Turkish teachers are short answer type written examination, oral examination and
observation participation. Consistent with teaching methods used almost all of the
Turkish classrooms were arranged in rows which limit student-student interaction and
allow teachers to control the students easily. Regarding discipline strategies results
indicated that most of the Turkish teachers endorse more control than freedom for their
students in classes. Teachers set rules and teach them to their students. The most
commonly used intervention strategies for misbehaviors are verbal and non-verbal
warning. There is also evidence that some teacher use corporal punishment in dealing
with misbehaviors. Most of the Turkish teachers stated that they involve their students in
decision-making process in the classroom. This result is not consistent with observation
results. It was observed that Turkish teachers have a misconception about involving
students in decision-making process. That is, after they make a decision teachers
sometimes ask students opinions by saying “What do you think?” or “Shall we do this?”
and consider this as involving students in decision-making process.
The results of interviews and observations revealed that Turkish teachers’ pedagogical
practices in classroom reminded essentialism as a dominant philosophical orientation. In
Turkish classes the mastery of required material for their grade level is the main
requirement for students to promote to the next higher grade. Teachers implement a
standard curriculum developed by the Ministry of Education which determines what is
important for the students to learn and place little emphasis on students’ needs and
interests, particularly when they divert time and attention from the academic curriculum.
Turkish teachers are more likely to use traditional-teacher-directed questioning based on
prior reading as a method of teaching in a disciplined and an authoritarian classroom
environment. They tend not to make changes in their plans according to the needs and
interests of students.
Interview and observation results indicated that American teachers use variety of teaching
strategies in their classrooms. Independent study, small-group work, teacher-led
discussion, projects and lecturing are among the most frequently stated teaching
strategies by American teachers. Results of observation showed that questioning, class

discussion, lecturing, independent study and project are frequently used strategies. Most
of the teachers tend to use hands on activities to promote learning by doing. American
teachers stated that they plan their lessons based on curriculum and standards however
they can make changes in their plans according to needs and interests of students. Most
frequently used assessment methods are homework, test, quizzes and observation of
participation. American teachers are more likely arrange their classroom in rows
however, compared to Turkish classes the desks used in American classes are more
suitable to be easily moved to change the arrangement according to the teaching strategy
used. Regarding decision-making, most of the American teachers do not tend to include
their students in decision-making process in the classroom however they still take the
needs and interest of students into consideration. Both interview and observation results
indicated that American teachers have relatively less misbehaviors in their classroom.
The most commonly used intervention strategies are verbal and non-verbal warning in
dealing with misbehaviors. Therefore it can be concluded that American teachers
generally have from low to medium control discipline approaches.
Overall, it can be argued that pedagogical practices of American teachers are more
consistent with the principals of progressive philosophy of education. However, some of
the practices of some teachers imply essentialist point of view. American teachers are
more likely to adapt their teaching strategies and their plans to goals of the course and
needs of the students. Compared to Turkish teachers American teachers are more likely to
provide a flexible learning environment for students and encourage their students to be
more active in teaching-learning process.
It is worth to note from the data provided by semi-structured interviews is that Turkish
teachers rarely had anything that could be called philosophy of education in the sense of
integrated, coherent set of ideas. Confusion and contradictions are more common
characteristics of their views. For example, when the data concerning teachers’ personal
statement of their own educational philosophy examined it is seen that the dominant
philosophy of education is progressivism. However, when the data concerning their
personal goals, belief about students and pedagogical practices are scrutinized, it is seen
that there is a contradiction between them. There might be two reasons of the lack of a
coherent educational philosophy of Turkish teachers: First, Turkish teachers may have not
been reflecting on what they do when they teach. The second reason might be the lack of
a requirement for pre-service teachers to write a teaching philosophy statement when
applying for a teaching position. Therefore, Turkish teacher educators should take note
that writing a ‘teaching philosophy statement’ would help candidate teachers to reflect on
what they want to do when they work as a teacher. Since U.S. teachers are required to
write a statement of teaching philosophy they might have more reflected on what they
believe and do.
In general most studies about teachers’ beliefs and practices showed a discrepancy
between what teachers said and their actual teaching practices (Shim and Herwig, 1997).
There are some discrepancies between Turkish teachers’ beliefs about the goals of
education, perception of students and statements of their own philosophy and their
pedagogical practices. For example, although some teachers stated that they expect their
students to be curious, open-minded, critical thinkers who can solve their own problems,
their pedagogical practices are not conducive to develop those characteristics. That is the
mostly frequently used teaching strategies such as lecturing and teacher-directed
questioning and the teacher-centered and textbook centered instructional environment
allow limited interaction among students. Furthermore the criterion for evaluation of
students’ success is in general the recall of mastered knowledge. One should note that
many other factors affect teachers’ individual practices besides their philosophy of
teaching. For example, in Turkish classes larger class sizes, the standardized curriculum
and content of the specific textbook provided to teachers and lack of materials may
prevent teachers from helping students to develop desired students characteristics
mentioned above.
Overall, results of this cross-cultural study revealed that there was a difference between
philosophical orientations of Turkish and American teachers. In general, Turkish teachers’
pedagogical beliefs and practices imply essentialism as a dominant philosophy. However,
American teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices more imply progressivism as a
dominant philosophy but the influence of essentialism should not be underestimated
among American teachers’ beliefs and practices. It can be argued that individual
teachers’ philosophical orientations are influenced by the dominant educational
philosophy of Educational systems of two countries. That is to say, in American
Education the influence of progressivism and essentialism were felt in different periods
of time in last century, however, essentialism has been a dominant philosophy in Turkish
educational system over 50 years.
References
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Gutek, G. L. (2004). Philosophical and ideological voices in education. Boston: Pearson.
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Pedagogical beliefs and practices 1

Philosophical Basis of Turkish and American Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs and

Cennet Engin Demir

Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of

Keywords: philosophy of teaching, pedagogical beliefs, pedagogical practices, cross-

Introduction and Purpose

Since commonly accepted philosophical theories of education are essentialism and

Educational theories are categorized as traditional/conservative vs. progressive or

On the contrary, a child-centered philosophy of education, progressivism, sees “education

Minor educational philosophies are perennialism, reconstructionism, existentialism and

Data Collection Procedures

As mentioned earlier the educational philosophy of a teacher consists of what a teacher

Beliefs about student

I expect them to remember what I thought. They must be responsible

I expect communication, honesty, to cooperate in classroom, to do their school

Teachers’ statements of their own educational philosophies

I want my students to be successful in difficult situations. Therefore, I force them

One teacher believes that a teacher is a subject-matter expert:

I want to transmit all the knowledge that I possess to students.

My philosophy is that I wanna be a master teacher. I wanna be most

How a teacher view teaching and learning process is an important component of a

I use variety of teaching strategies depending on what my objective. I try to keep

Regarding lesson planning, the examination of American teachers’ responses indicated

Well I look at my overall unit and I have objectives so I need to accomplish. I

Most commonly used methods of assessment of the students’ performances by Turkish

Classroom physical arrangement

We have rules in the classroom. Rules set up by our teams. We make

I try to teach my students behave themselves in the classroom.. I don’t want to

I generally try to prevent misbehavior by considering needs and interests of

Observation results supported American teachers’ statements about their discipline

Discussion and Conclusions

homework, to respect to teachers etc. However, American teachers’ personal statements

strategies by American teachers. Results of observation showed that questioning, class

Burden, P.R. (1995). Classroom management and discipline: methods to facilitate

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