Master's program in English Didactics

Curriculum Design and Development

Milagro Agudelo

Novozhenina

June 18th, 2021

HARMONIZING TEACHERS' BELIEFS AND STUDENTS' NEEDS

Teaching is a practice that implies making a lot of decisions. As teachers, we

always have to face decision-making situations. From the very beginning of planning a

course, we cope with deciding what to teach and how to teach. Most of the time, we tend

to feel overwhelmed due to the wide range of options. There are many approaches,

methodologies, techniques, materials, and topics we need to decide on, so commonly, we

find ourselves wondering which is the best choice. Indeed, there is always a right choice.

Equally, Graves (2000) mentions that there is always an answer for us to find. Those right

choices are subjective. For instance, what could depict the correct teaching methodology

for me could be the worst for another teacher. Graves (2000) suggests that selecting the

right choice depends mainly on the teachers' beliefs and the context, including students'

needs. Thus, A curriculum should be the result of harmonizing teachers' beliefs and

students' needs.

On the one hand, we have teacher's beliefs. Pehkonen and Pietila (2003) define

beliefs as subjective knowledge based on experience. Likewise, Khader (2012) states that

beliefs are personal ideas based on observation and experiences. These definitions

highlight the fact that our beliefs come from our experiences. In the framework of teaching

and learning languages, Graves (2000) points out that our experiences "provide the basis
for understanding how languages are taught and learned and the beliefs that guide our

choices" (p. 25). Most of the choices we make are based on our beliefs. What we do in our

classes reflects what we consider is essential in teaching and learning languages. In other

words, as Richards and Rodgers (2001) suggest, beliefs help teachers to get a particular

approach to teaching. Our beliefs allow us to identify most of the things we as teachers do

in the classroom. Therefore, it is clear that when we make choices about what to teach

and how to teach, we consciously or unconsciously pay special attention to our beliefs.

They reflect what we consider that works. However, we can not assert that teachers'

beliefs are the only thing to consider when planning a course and making our choices.

On the other hand, we have students' needs. They are as essential or even more

essential than teachers' beliefs. As for this, we can not deny that we often find ourselves

teaching in a way contrary to our beliefs. Possible reasons for this discrepancy can be the

strict guidelines of the institution we work in that do not allow us to articulate our beliefs.

But also the mismatch between our beliefs and students' needs, forcing us to restructure

and adapt classes to meet those needs. Li (2012) claims that if teachers determine and

recognize learners' needs, they will choose and modify their educational choices

accurately. Hence, it is possible to consider a course with little influence from teachers'

beliefs, but a curriculum that does not meet students' needs would be ineffective.

Ultimately, it is necessary to assert again that teachers' beliefs are of great

importance when designing a course since they predict teachers' decisions and classroom

practices. As Graves (2000) states, beliefs help us understand why we make the decisions

we make. Nevertheless, it is crucial to remark that a good curriculum should meet

students' needs, namely, objective and subjective needs. Consequently, to make the right

choices, harmonizing teachers' beliefs and students' needs is vital. Harmonizing implies

neglecting which one is more important to make way for creating a balance. Riley (2009)
claims that if teachers' beliefs and students' needs match each other, learning will be

magnified. Accordingly. All the efforts we make in articulating our beliefs and determining

students' needs to harmonize them will result in a better learning process.

References
Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teacher. Boston: Heinle &

Heinle Publishers .

Khader, F. (2012). Teachers' Pedagogical Beliefs and Actual Classroom Practices in

Social Studies Instruction. American International Journal of Contemporary

Research, 73-92.

Li, X. (2012). The Role of Teachers' Beliefs in the Language Teaching-Learning Process.

Theory and Practice in, 1397-1402.

Richards, J. C. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Riley, P. (2009). Shifts in Beliefs about Second Language Learning. RELC Journal, 102-

124.