Department of Foreign Languages, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran
In the complex environment of 21stcentuey public education, a consensus has emerged that one of the most important factors contributing to student learning is the quality of teaching. Following the fact that an explicit focus on teacher thinking is an important outcome for professional development, the research presented here examines the impact of one form of professional development program, Guided Modeling Story Technique (GMST), on shaping teachers’ beliefs and affect related to inquiry in the classroom. By examining GMST, this study incorporates 4 months of data collected from 30 participants, which include 19 females and 11 male EFL teachers. The theoretical framework for the research draws on identity formation within communities of imaginative practices based on Vygotsky’s imagination theory asserting that creating an imaginary situation can be regarded as means of developing abstract thought (Vygotsky, 1978). Evidence was drawn from analysis of multiple instruments measuring EFL teachers’ self-efficacy, pedagogical discontentment, and beliefs about teaching and learning English. The results indicate that GMS program was successful in shaping teachers’ beliefs and affect particularly in decreasing pedagogical discontentment and enhancing beliefs about reform. The GMS program was successful in shaping teachers’ beliefs and showed a great influence on teachers’ practice. The findings in the data show the unbelievable effect of furnished imagination. The imagination was furnished through interactions with Guided Modeling Stories.
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.TLLL.IR), 2-3 February 2017, Ahwaz.
