Journal of Educational Practice and Research (Jun 2023)
Does Effort Matter? The Effects of Teachers’ Beliefs about Ability, Effort, Community Learning and Learner-Centered Instruction on Their Behavioral Intention for Curriculum Reform
Abstract
The study aimed to investigate the effects of teachers’ ability-based beliefs and effort-based beliefs on their behavioral intention for curriculum reform via their beliefs about learning. Data was collected through a survey from 1,195 public junior high and senior high school teachers in Taiwan. The data analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The main findings were as follows:1) Teachers’ score on effort-based belief was significantly higher than their score on ability-based belief, reaching a high-intermediate level. Teachers’ beliefs about community learning and student-centered instruction reached high and high-intermediated levels. Their change behavioral intention showed a positive attitude toward the curriculum reform at a high-intermediate level.2) In the mediation model, teachers’ effort-based belief directly affected their beliefs about community learning and learner-centered instruction. Moreover, the effort-based belief could positively influence change behavioral intention through different indirect paths via its impact on belief of community learning and belief of learner-centered instruction. Conversely, the ability-based belief had a negative effect on teachers’ change behavioral intention. The study revealed that teachers’ beliefs about community learning and student-centered instruction were critical to their behavioral intention for the reform. Moreover, teachers’ beliefs about effort and ability were found to be fundamental cultural factors influencing their conceptions of learning and their behavioral intention for change.
