The Teacher Belief Inventory: Measuring The Theoretical and Practical Orientations of Preservice Teachers (2nd author with Kathryn Nottis, Joseph Murray, and Don Adams)

Most teacher education programs purport to have either a theoretical or practical orientation, or a combination of both. For example, some conceptions of teacher preparation view the road from novice to expert as a process of progressive problem solving (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1989). Educators who hold this view believe that effective teachers are those who continuously strive to resolve classroom problems by applying a systematic approach of hypothesis generation, empirical testing, and adjustment. Other programs focus more on a practical approach to teaching involving the study of instructional techniques appropriate for various situations encountered by most teachers (Joyce & Weil, 1986).This dichotomous conceptualization of both teaching style and teaching preparation raises a number of important questions that are of particular interest to education faculty. How can the orientation of preservice teachers be measured? What effect does the orientation of a teacher training program have on preservice teachers? Do preservice teachers leave their training programs having adopted the program's orientation? Does their orientation change once they are student teaching?