Teachers' beliefs about socially disadvantaged pupils in the Czech Republic

Abstract

One of the significant factors influencing education of socially disadvantaged pupils is the teachers' beliefs about the group of pupils. Teachers' beliefs can influence teachers' judgements and teaching approach. The aim of this study is to determine if there is any relation between teachers' beliefs of socially disadvantaged pupils and selected determinants. In the context of the sociocognitive theories the study presents the results of the survey which point out the impact of the selected determinants to teachers' beliefs about socially disadvantaged pupils. We suppose that the determinants can significantly affect teachers' beliefs about the group of pupils. The research sample comprised 245 teachers who work at the educational level ISCED 1 and 2 in three regions of the Czech Republic. For the research was used variety of the research methods: questionnaire and Semantic differential (containing 12 scales with bipolar adjectives). Within the survey it was found that teachers' beliefs are influenced by the sociocultural context of the locality where the teachers work and length of practice. It was also found that teachers' beliefs about socially disadvantaged pupils are not influence by, experience with education of socially disadvantaged pupils and positive perceptions of pupils' diversity. Presented study by using various research methods, tries to point out the significant determinants of education of socially disadvantage pupils. The focus of the research is the teachers' beliefs of socially disadvantaged pupils, which might be according to our findings influenced by the socio-cultural context and length of practice. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.