Otto Von Bismarcks and unification of Germany Essay

Otto Von Bismarcks and unification of Germany - Essay Example True to his word, in 1863, the Poles began to fight for concessions from Russia, The Russians believed that retaining control of Poland was essential to their policy. France stood with the Poles but Bismarck threw his support to Russia forming a friendship relationship with Russia. This was strategic on Bismarck as he felt a free Poland would threaten the Prussian territory. While this was going on, Austria called a meeting of the Germanic Confederation to have the Berman Princes find the best way of preserving a German Confederation. Franz Joseph, the Emperor of Austria wanted the support of the historic dynasties to help in containing liberalism, democratization and socialism. Since Austria had the dominant control in this Confederation, Bismarck did not want the King of Prussia to attend. These two politicians disagreed for some time over the Prussian King’s decision, and finally, after much emotion persuasion, the Prussian King did not attend the meeting. Since he was the second most powerful leader, after Austria, no decisions could be made at the meeting. Austria was having problems at home at this time as well so the matter was tabled. This was a victory for Bismarck. Austria seemed to be losing their power as the Margyars, Poles and Czechs were pulling away feeling less important (Gall, 121-148).Next, Schleswig and Holstein was uncomfortable under the Treaty of London of 1852 which put the Dannish King as the Duke of Holstein and the Duke of Schleswig. Schleswig. Schleswig and Holstein were made up mainly of Germans, at least in the south and they resented having a Danish leader. In 1863, Busnarcj exploited the demise of the King of Denmark and joined with Austria in the Danish War putting Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenberg into the Prussian and Austrian control. In 1865, Holstein was put under the Austrian control and Schleswig was controlled by Prussia. This was a big step forward for Bismarck. Through all of this Bismarck was constantly trying to persuade the Prussian kind to put

A Comparison between the Hindu Gods of Good and Evil Essay Example for Free

A Comparison between the Hindu Gods of Good and Evil Essay In Hinduism, the primary goal of an individual is to achieve the so-called Nirvana or â€Å"becoming one with God. † Nirvana connotes the transcendence of the human spirit to the Oneness of the Divine Spirit (Hemenway, 2003). Hence, many Hindus practice a variety of evolved rituals and esoteric practices to enable their spirit to adapt to the divine essence. The hope of spiritual transcendence given by Nirvana became the basis for creation or conceptualization of many gods in the Hindu religion. These gods are basically derivatives of the â€Å"One God†; the â€Å"One God’ being represented in all aspects of nature (Hemenway, 2003). Thus, in order to simulate the specific characteristics of this God, Hindus focus on worshipping all the representations of this God. In general, the Hindu religion speaks of about 300 major and lesser gods. The primary three gods are known as the Holy Trinity. Brahma is the creator; Vishnu is the preserver (pattern-maker); and Shiva, the destroyer. The three are inseparable from each other. In order for creation to proceed, there must be a period of destruction. In order for destruction to occur, a period of preservation must happen (prior). Thus, the existence of the three gods presents a vivid description of the Hindu’s belief on the existence of man. If man is to be born, he must be preserved from the impediments of bad life and evil, and he must face the reality of death. To be born is to be created; to be preserved is to be rectified from the evils of daily living; to die is to acknowledge the origin of the human spirit. Only in this way that the human spirit would be able to achieve Nirvana (transcendence of the human spirit to the divine essence). Thus, Hindus hold on the assumption that once man is born (and reborn) in this world, there are powers who would guide and misguide him to attain Nirvana. The guiding powers are essentially the gods of good. The powers misguiding man to his true purpose are the gods of evil. This is though unlike the Christian conception of good and evil. Evil here is not seen as non-functional. Rather it serves as a manifest of test during the preservation period of man’s being; that is, the necessity to achieve Nirvana. Good here is seen something as an end; that is, the representation of Nirvana on earth. We can therefore assume that the conception of good and evil is a rectification of ideological misconceptions in the Hindu religion. The first clarification is concerning the source of good and evil. It is quite clear in Hindu religion that both good and evil gods came from the same source. Evil is the perversion of good. In order for evil to exist, good must first come into existence. The second clarification states â€Å"good gods are often transformed into evil gods as they experience strange circumstances. † The conception connotes the existence of One Divine Essence represented as both good and evil in nature. Evil is not a natural phenomenon, it springs from the Divine Essence serving as a test to humanity. Thus, when we compare Hindu gods of good and evil, take note that we are essentially talking of functional difference. This functional difference is manifested in the perceived roles of the gods in nature. The Hindu gods of good are represented in things â€Å"perceived† by the Hindus as rudiments of a â€Å"good life. † For example, Ganesha is often described as a god of good because he bestows good fortune to those seeking his favor. Specifically, he is considered the source of prosperity and wealth for Hindus. Some call Ganesha the Lord of Good Fortune and the Destroyer of Obstacles. Often, Hindus attribute their economic and social well-being to the hands of Ganesha. Added to that, because man is located in a physical world full of dangers and obstacles, he continuously provide his divine guidance to man. Hence, he is sometimes called the god of wisdom and intellect in Hinduism. Ganesha is seen as a good god who bestows his wisdom and divine intellect to man in order for him (man) to attain Nirvana. Frankly speaking, he is seen by many Hindus as the source of hope and aspiration. Besides Ganesha, there are three other gods considered to be good by many Hindus. Durga is a goddess representing the power of the Supreme Being who maintains moral order (Hindu Gods, 2005). In Sanskrit, her name means a â€Å"fort or a place that is protected. † Thus, Durga is known as the Divine Mother. In her arms, she protects the human race from evil by destroying the sources of evil. Like Ganesha, Lakshmi is considered a goddess of good-living and prosperity. In Sanskrit, her name literally means â€Å"goal† (Hindu Gods, 2005). Thus, she signifies the goals of life. These goals of life can be achieved either in the physical or spiritual realm. Most Hindus pray to her for guidance. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, and wisdom. She is often associated with Brahma, the creator of the universe. In Sanskrit, her name means â€Å"the essence of the self† (Hindu Gods, 2005). Hinduism puts knowledge on a higher pedestal, being the prerequisite for creation. To the Hindu worshipper, Saraswati provides guidance to humanity in accomplishing their daily tasks. Hindus believe that Saraswati, during the early part of creation, provided man with practical knowledge. This practical knowledge allowed man to create civilizations, far greater than any in the animal kingdom. In Hinduism, there are gods considered to be the source of evil in this world. In Pauranic traditions, Asuras and Devas are the step sons of Kasyapa, an unknown god considered to be the primordial source of evil. They are considered to be demon gods projected as enemies of humanity. The Asuras (this is a group of demon gods) became too proud of their ancestry and power. Thus, the Devas became enraged over the war mongering of the Asuras and decided to punish them. The punishment though was self-serving. The Devas thought by forcing the Asuras to serve them, they would be able to project themselves as rulers of the physical world. This view of the Asuras and Devas was expanded in Iranian mythology. Iranian mythology presented Asur Mazda as the embodiment of good in this world and Devas as the villain. It should be noted though that in Hindu mythology, both the Asuras and the Devas are perceived as demon gods; that is, gods that would take all hope from humanity in the attainment of the Nirvana. The term Asuras, unlike the terminological evolution in Iranian mythology, came to signify in later times (in Hinduism) as the representation of evil; demon itself. In Hinduism, there are gods considered evil precisely because they are perceived to be enemies of the â€Å"good gods† and humanity in general. Vritra, for example, is a serpent god often called as the â€Å"enemy of the gods† (The Complete Book of Devils and Demons, 2005). His favorite animal, the serpent, carries the scent of death to those who would call his name. Yama is a Hindu god considered to be the lord of death. His two dogs drag humanity into the fervor of spiritual death; the essence of which is the loss of spiritual transcendence to the Divine Essence. The same is true for Ravana, the Demon King (The Complete Book of Devils and Demons, 2005). He is seen as the incarnation of evil in this world. At times, he would lure humans into his trap, forcing them to pledge loyalty to his evil will. There are also evil creatures considered to be the direct descendants of the evil gods. Kasyapa, the primordial source of evil (and the father of both the Asuras and the Devas) gave birth to the Daityas. These are unpleasant demons who roamed the physical world to destroy man’s sacrifices to the good gods. The good gods are therefore their natural enemies. Kasyapa also gave birth to the Danavas (The Complete Book of Devils and Demons, 2005). These are creatures often disguised as man to motivate man to rebel against the good gods. These creatures (who at times became demon gods) possessed powers of persuasion and bad luck. They often seduce man to covet the properties of the gods and to stop offering sacrifices. Added to that, they also offer their services to the primary â€Å"evil gods† in their fight against the good gods. The good gods are sometimes forced to seek refuge to other places in order to avoid the rage of these demonic creatures. In the end, however, the good gods succeed in defeating these evil creatures (in alliance with the evil gods). There are also other â€Å"entities† described as evil in the Hindu religion. The Darbas are destructive that â€Å"tears† human flesh (hence the name, â€Å"tearers†). The Rakshasas are goblins and ghouls which descended from the foot of Brahma. They can be titans or as little as a cat that haunt cemeteries and other religious places. They disturb sacrifices, animate the dead, eat people, and spread disease and disorder. These creatures often serve the evil gods in their fight against the good gods. In sum, evil goods in the Hindu religion are either the enemies of the gods and humanity or those which prevent humanity from attaining Nirvana. These gods descended from the three primary gods (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva). At times, they trace their ancestry to good gods. This explains the proposition stated earlier that the â€Å"good is the prerequisite of evil. Added to that, some evil Hindu gods (like the Asuras and the Devas) in Hinduism present their identity as the result of perversion on the part of the good gods. Take note that the â€Å"good gods† are not by nature good. Like in Greek mythology, Hindu gods are often involved in intrigues that affect their functions as gods. At times, even the good gods struggle against each other for supremacy. Only when the threat of evil becomes preeminent, the good Hindu gods join forces to defeat the evil gods. Most of the time, they achieve success. At some time, they flee from the hordes of the evil gods. We come now to the discussion of the primary differences of Hindu gods of good and evil. As stated earlier, the main difference between these gods can be derived from the concept of functionality. Hindu gods of good are represented as the â€Å"good rudiments† of nature (and man’s guidance in attaining Nirvana). Hindu gods of evil are essentially the symbols of a corrupt humanity. This corruption is the ultimate obstacle (and often irreversible) of man in attaining Nirvana. There are though specific differences between these sets of deities. Here are as follows: ) Culturally speaking, the Hindu gods of good are often associated with the mystical founders of Hindu civilization (Hemenway, 2003). For example, in the Vedic manuscripts the ancient founders of the Indus civilization are often given divine attributes. These gods are the progenitors of practical and divine knowledge to the people. The evil gods are often associated with the invaders; that is, the barbarians who destroyed the Indus civilization and established the caste system (note that the caste system is functional in the eyes of a Hindu – this connotes that evil itself is functional in some ways); ) The good gods are often represented as the symbols of perpetuity and healthy living (Hemenway, 2003). Animals such as the elephant, cow, and rat are associated with the good gods because of their dual symbol of power and humility: the very virtues that humanity adheres to. The evil gods are represented by serpent, monkey (symbol of arrogance and maliciousness), and in some cases the vulture: symbols of decay and corruption of the human spirit. Take note however that these creatures are respected in the Hindu religion because evil is seen as a manifest test of humanity in achieving Nirvana; ) Lastly, the good gods are usually are represented as bringers of justice and love to humanity. The eight arms of Ganesha symbolize love for humanity. The swords loaded to arms of Ganesha symbolize justice and his will to protect humanity from evil powers. The evil gods carry weapons that aim to destroy and misguide humanity. We must though take note that there is no sharp demarcation between good and evil (Abhedananda and Math, 2007). In Vedanta philosophy, there is no such thing as a natural good. Any action can be viewed as either good or bad depending on the one who views it. Thus, it can be said that â€Å"every action, whether backed by good or bad motives, is covered with its opposite, as fire is enveloped with smoke† (Abhedananda and Math, 2007). Thus to assume that the good gods in the Hindu religion are naturally good is a misconception. It is often noted some â€Å"good gods† gave birth to evil ones. This instance indicate that evil is the offspring of good.

Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in Teaching

Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in Teaching 2.1 Belief Research In the mid-1970s a new body of research began to emerge that worked to describe teachers thoughts, judgments and decisions as the cognitive processes that shaped their behaviors (Calderhead, 1996, Clark and Peterson, 1986; Dann, 1990). As a consequence of this, a surge of interest in the area of teacher belief systems has appeared (Pajares, 1992). This research â€Å"has helped to identify the nature and complexity of the teachers work , and helped to provide ways of thinking about the processes of change and support† (Calderhead, 1996, p.721). Researchers found that teaching could not be characterized simply as behaviors that were linked to thinking done before and during the activity but rather that the thought process of teaching included a much wider and richer mental context. As Shavelson and Stern (1981, p.479) explained, research on teacher cognition made â€Å"the basic assumption that teachers thoughts, judgments, and decisions guide their teaching behavior†. Kagan (1990, p. 420) noted that teacher cognition is somewhat ambiguous, because researchers invoke the term to refer to different products, including â€Å"teachers interactive thoughts during instruction; thought during lesson planning, implicit beliefs about students, classrooms and learning; reflections about their own teaching performance; automized routines and activities that form their instructional repertoire; and self-awareness of procedures they use to solve classrooms problems†. Currently, there is increasing recognition that the beliefs individuals hold are the best indicators of the decisions they make during the course of everyday life (Bandura, 1986). Pajares (1992, p. 307) argues that the investigation of teachers beliefs should be a focus of educational research and can inform educational practice in ways that prevailing research agendas have not and cannot. Educational researchers trying to understand the nature of teaching and learning in classrooms have usefully exploited this focus on belief systems. The research of Jakubowski and Tobin (1991) suggests that teachers metaphors and beliefs not only influence what teachers do in the classroom, but that changes in these same metaphors and beliefs can result in changes in their practices. A belief can be defined as a representation of the information someone holds about an object, or a â€Å"persons understanding of himself and his environment† (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.131). This object can â€Å"be a person, a group of people, an institution, a behavior, a policy, an event, etc., and the associated attribute may be any object, trait, property, quality, characteristic, outcome, or event† (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.12). While Rokeach (1972) defined a belief as â€Å"any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does, capable of being preceded by the phrase ‘I believe that† (p.113), Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) defined a belief system as a hierarchy of beliefs according to the strength about a particular object. Researchers exploring teachers beliefs at the primary and secondary levels have used a number of definitions: â€Å"the highly personal ways in which a teacher understands classrooms, students, the nature of learning, the teachers role in the classroom, and the goals of education† (Kagan, 1990, p. 423); â€Å"psychologically held understandings, premises or propositions about the world that are felt to be true† (Richardson, 1996, p.103); and â€Å"generally refer to suppositions, commitments and ideologies† (Calderhead, 1996, p.715). Beliefs play an important role in many aspects of teaching as well as in life. They are involved in helping individuals make sense of the world, influencing how new information is perceived, and whether it is accepted or rejected. Teachers beliefs are a term usually used to refer to pedagogic beliefs or those beliefs of relevance to an individuals teaching (Borg 2001b). Teacher beliefs have been identified by Kagan (1992a) as tacit, often unconsciously held assumptions about students, about classrooms, and the academic material to be taught. The literature on teacher knowledge and beliefs from the primary and secondary levels has developed a number of terminological differences. Kagan (1990, p.456) highlighted this problem by noting: â€Å"Terms such as teacher cognition, self-reflection, knowledge and belief can be used to refer to different phenomena. Variation in the definition of a term can range from the superficial and idiosyncratic to the profound and theoretical†. The use of these varying terms makes it difficult to investigate in this area of teacher cognition. Pajares (1992) addressed this difficulty: Defining beliefs is at best a game of players choice. They travel in disguise and often under alias-attitudes, values judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptual systems, preconceptions, dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories, internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of practice, practical principals, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy, to name but a few that can be found in the literature. (p.309) Defining beliefs is not a very easy task. There is a â€Å"bewildering array of terms† as Clandinin and Connelly (1987, p. 487) put forward including teachers teaching criteria, principles of practice, personal construct/theories/epistemologies, beliefs, perspectives, teachers conceptions, personal knowledge, and practical knowledge. 2.1.1 Belief Research in English Language Teaching The concept of belief, which has been a common feature of research papers in education for the past decade, has recently come into favor in ELT. In the field, various terms have been used to refer to the term ‘belief: pedagogical thoughts (Shavelson and Stern 1981), perspective (Zeichner, Tabachnick, Densmore, 1987), theoretical orientation (Kinzer, 1988), image (Calderhead, 1996), theoretical belief (Kinzer, 1988; Johnson, 1992; Smith 1996). Terms used in language teacher cognition research include theories for practice (Burns, 1996) which refer to the thinking and beliefs which are brought to bear on classroom processes; philosophical orientation and personal pedagogical system (Borg, 1998) which corresponds with stores of beliefs, knowledge, theories, assumptions and attitudes which shape teachers instructional decisions; maxims (Richards, 1996) to comprise personal working principles which reflect teachers individual philosophies of teaching; images (Johnson, 1994) which means general metaphors for thinking about teaching that represent beliefs about teaching and also act as models of action; conceptions of practice (Freeman, 1993) to cover ideas and actions teachers use to organize what they know and to map out what is possible; BAK (Woods, 1996) which includes the concepts beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge, In all those studies the core term on which there is focus is â€Å"belief†. Despite the popularity of the term, there is no consensus on meaning yet. The definition set forth by Rokeach (1968) claims that a belief is any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does and knowledge is a component of belief. Rokeach uses the term ‘attitude to refer to the beliefs teachers have about constructs. Richards and Lockhart (1996, p.30) state that â€Å"teachers beliefs systems are founded on the goals and values that teachers hold in relation to the content and process of teaching, and their understanding of the systems in which they work and their roles within it†. These beliefs and values serve as the background to much of teachers decision making action and hence constitute what has been termed the â€Å"culture of teaching†. Richards and Lockhart (1996) summarize those teachers beliefs systems, which are derived from a number of different sources. They are, a) their own experience as language learners, b) their experience of what works best for their learners, c) established practice, d) personality factors, e) educational based or research-based principles, f) principles derived from an approach or method (pp.30-31). Borg (2001b) discusses three aspects of the term belief: The truth element-drawing on research in the philosophy of knowledge, a belief is a mental state which has as its content a proposition that is accepted as true by the individual holding it, although the individual may recognize that alternative beliefs may be held by others. This is one of the key differences between belief and knowledge must actually be true in some external sense. The relationship between belief and behavior most definitions of belief propose that beliefs dispose or guide peoples thinking and action. Conscious versus unconscious beliefs on this point there is disagreement, with some maintaining that consciousness is inherent in the definition of belief, and others allowing for an individual to be conscious of some beliefs and unconscious of others. The field of language teaching has been one of tradition and transition since its beginning hundreds, indeed, by some accounts, thousands of years ago (Kelly, 1969; Howatt, 1984; Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Even though a much newer pursuit than the teaching of languages such as Greek and Latin or Chinese, the teaching of the English language has already been through many transitions in methodology. What are now considered traditional methods were once the innovations of their time, characterized by the attitudes and values of their creators, who recommended that other educators abandon one method and choose another, with unquestioning optimism, as though this latter method were the solution to their classroom concerns (Clarke, 1982). In the past 50 years alone, English language teaching has gone through a whirlwind of transitions in its methodology, from grammar translation to direct method, to audiolingualism, to cognitive code, and a host of variations in each. In recent years, the most substantive transition in English language teaching has taken place through a collection of practices, materials, and beliefs about teaching and learning that are known by many different names, e.g. communicative methodology, communicative language teaching, and the communicative approach (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Contemporarily, English teaching methodology is going through yet another transition. This transition, frequently referred to as the `post method condition (Kumaravadivelu, 2001), Research in the area of teacher thinking has grown rapidly particularly since the 1980s, with the consequence that the literature is vast and is often focused on very specific aspects of teaching. Nevertheless, the research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs is of considerable relevance to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a; Pajares 1992). The reasons are: first, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outcomes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship between beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest. By the mid 1980s, a rising view of teaching began to highlight the complex ways in which teachers think about their work as being shaped by their prior experiences as students, their ‘personal practical knowledge (Golombek, 1998). More recently the notion of work context has been recognized as central in shaping teachers â€Å"conceptions of their practices† (Freeman, 1993). Language teaching is defined as a dynamic process, which arises out of the meeting and interaction of different sets of principles: different rationalities. In this sense, a rationality is the inner logic which shapes the way in which participants perceive a situation and the goals which they will pursue in this situation (Tudor, 1998). Tudor proposes that to understand language teaching, a first step is to explore the different rationalities which are present in each situation in order to discover the reality the participants involved in. There are four different types of rationalities: those of the students and teachers, socio-cultural rationalities and then the rationality of methodology. While describing teacher rationalities, Tudor (1998) argues that research into subjective needs has led us to appreciate the uniqueness of each learners interaction with their language study. More recently something similar about the teachers has been realized. They, too will perceive and interact with methodology they are implementing in the light of their personality, attitudes, and life experience and the set of perceptions and goals which these give rise to. For this reason there is a need to listen to the teachers voices in understanding classroom practice. There is a need to understand teachers perceptions and the way in which these perceptions influence teachers classroom behaviors. The maxims (Richards, 1996) or the pedagogic principles (Breen et al.2001) teachers use are important in understanding their pedagogical actions. The reality of classroom teaching is how the teachers interpret official curricula or the recommended materials. Teachers are not skilled technicians who dutifully realize a given set of teaching procedures in accordance with the directives of a more or less distant authority. They are active participants in the creation of classroom realities and they do this on the basis of their own attitudes and beliefs, and their personal perceptions of interaction with their teaching situation. All teachers hold beliefs about their work, their students, their subject matter, and their roles and responsibilities. They are individuals with their personal perceptions and goals, which go to shape the rationality which will guide their actions in the classroom and their interaction with the context in which they are operating (Tudor, 1998, p. 324). A major goal of research on teachers thought processes is to increase our understanding of how teachers think and behave in the classroom. The drive for this area of research comes from the assumption that what teachers do is a reflection of what they know and believe, and that teacher knowledge and teacher thinking provide the underlying framework or schema which guides teachers classroom practices (Sutcliffe and Whitfield 1976, Westerman 1991, Flowerdew, Brock Hsia 1992, Kagan 1992a, Richards and Lockhart 1994, Bailey 1996, Woods 1998, Borg 1998, Richards 1998). Therefore, in order to understand teaching, we must understand how thoughts get carried into actions (Clark and Yinger 1977, Shavelson and Stern 1981, Clark and Peterson 1986, Johnson 1992, Nunan 1992). Pajares (1992) reviewed research on teacher beliefs and argued that ‘‘teachers beliefs can and should become an important focus of educational inquiry (p. 307). He then sketched numerous facets of beliefs and acknowledged that a variety of conceptions of educational beliefs appear in the literature. Citing Nespors (1987) influential work, he suggested that ‘‘beliefs are far more influential than knowledge in determining how individuals organize and define tasks and problems and are stronger predictors of behavior (p. 311). Studies on teacher beliefs have slowly gained prominence, especially with regard to teacher change issues. Guskey (1986), for example, examined 52 teachers who participated in teacher development programs and concluded that change in teachers beliefs ‘‘is likely to take place only after changes in student learning outcomes are evidenced (p. 7). In contrast, Richardson, Anders, Tidwell, and Lloyd (1991) found that change in beliefs preceded change in practices. The current view is that relationships between beliefs and practices are interactive and ongoing (Fullan, 1991; Richardson, 1996). Richardson (1996) even states that ‘‘In most current conceptions, the perceived relationship between beliefs and actions is interactive. Beliefs are thought to drive actions; however, experiences and reflection on action may lead to changes in and/or additions to beliefs (p. 104). Pajares (1992) promoted 16 ‘‘fundamental assumptions that may reasonably be made when initiating a study of teachers education beliefs (1992, p. 324). These assumptions include among others, the notions that (a) beliefs are formed early and tend to self perpetuate, persevering even against contradictions caused by reason, time, schooling, or experience; (b) individuals develop a belief system that houses all the beliefs acquired through the process of cultural transmission; (c) beliefs are instrumental in defining tasks and selecting the cognitive tools with which to interpret, plan, and make decisions regarding such tasks; (d) individuals beliefs strongly affect their behavior; and (e) knowledge and beliefs are inextricably intertwined (for complete discussion of all 16 assumptions, see Pajares, 1992, pp. 324-326). 2.2 Teacher Knowledge Research Meanwhile doubts arose also from the scientific community about a conception of professionalism that asked professionals (such as teachers) to just apply the theories and insights provided by others. Schà ¶n (1983, 1987) analyzed the work of various groups of professionals and concluded that they applied a certain amount of theoretical knowledge in their work, but that their behavior was not at all ‘‘rule governed and that they had no straightforward way to determine which behavior was adequate in specific circumstances. Schà ¶n contrasted this principle of ‘‘technical rationality to the principle of ‘‘reflection-in-action, which pertained to the thinking of the professional during professional activity and implied a continuing dialogue with the permanently changing situation. This situation does not present itself as a well-defined problem situation. On the contrary, defining the problem is itself one of the most difficult tasks of the professio nal. This recognition of the centrality of the teacher and the teachers knowledge and beliefs regarding each educational process, including educational innovations, is relatively recent (Calderhead, 1996). Birman, Desimone, Porter, Garet (2000), for example, searched for key features of effective professional development and, based on their research, reported that professional development should focus on deepening teacher knowledge in order to foster teacher learning and changes in practice. Similarly, Hawley and Valli (1999) considered the expansion and elaboration of teachers professional knowledge base as essential for their professional development. In the literature about teacher knowledge, various labels have been used, each indicating a relevant aspect of teacher knowledge. The labels illustrate mainly which aspect is considered the most important by the respective authors. Together, these labels give an overview of the way in which teacher knowledge has been studied to date. The most commonly used labels are ‘‘personal knowledge (Conelly and Clandinin, 1985; Elbaz, 1991), indicating that this knowledge is unique; ‘‘the wisdom of practice (Schwab, 1971), and in more recent publications, ‘‘professional craft knowledge (e.g., Brown and McIntyre, 1993; Shimahara, 1998), referring to a specific component of knowledge that is mainly the product of the teachers practical experience; ‘‘action oriented knowledge, indicating that this knowledge is for immediate use in teaching practice (Carter, 1990); ‘‘content and context related knowledge (Cochran, DeRuiter, King, 1993; Va n Driel, Verloop, De Vos, 1998); knowledge that is to a great extent ‘tacit (Calderhead and Robson, 1991); and knowledge that is based on reflection on experiences (Grimmet and MacKinnon, 1992). It is important to realize that in the label ‘teacher knowledge, the concept ‘knowledge is used as an overarching, inclusive concept, summarizing a large variety of cognitions, from conscious and well-balanced opinions to unconscious and unreflected intuitions. This is related to the fact that, in the mind of the teacher, components of knowledge, beliefs, conceptions, and intuitions are inextricably intertwined. As Alexander, Schallert, and Hare (1991) noted, the term ‘knowledge is mostly used to encompass ‘‘all that a person knows or believes to be true, whether or not it is verified as true in some sort of objective or external way (p. 317). This is particularly relevant with respect to research on teacher knowledge. In investigating teacher knowledge, the main focus of attention is on the complex totality of cognitions, the ways this develops, and the way this interacts with teacher behavior in the classroom. Following Pajares (1992), knowledge and beliefs are seen as inseparable, although beliefs are seen roughly as referring to personal values, attitudes, and ideologies, and knowledge to a teachers more factual propositions (Meijer, Verloop, Beijaard, 2001). 2.2.1 Teachers Knowledge and Beliefs About Teaching In his extensive review of the literature, Calderhead (1996) found that many different kinds of knowledge have been described as underpinning effective teaching. The main forms are those related to the subject being taught, to teaching methods, and to the ways in which students develop and learn. The extent to which teachers have conscious access to this knowledge is, however, far from clear. Some researchers argue that much of this knowledge is implicit or tacit, derived from experience rather than from any conceptual framework. The research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly work concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, which reflect their experiences, is of considerable relevance to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a; Pajares 1992). First, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outcomes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship between beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest. Pajares (1992) attempts to clarify the confusion with the distinction between knowledge and belief. However, as many researchers have found, it is not so much that knowledge differs from beliefs, but that beliefs themselves constitute a form of knowledge. In his attempts to characterize beliefs, Nespor (1987) provides some distinctions between beliefs and knowledge. He singles out four features of the construct previously identified by Abelson (1979) and considers them in relation to teachers: Existential presumptions or personal truths are generally unaffected by persuasion and are perceived by the teacher as being beyond his/her control or influence. Alternativity is a feature of beliefs that would include situations such as when teachers attempt to establish an instructional format of which they have no direct experience but which they might consider ideal. Belief systems can be said to rely much more heavily on affective and evaluative components than knowledge systems. Teachers values and feelings often affect what and how they teach and may conflict with their knowledge. Belief systems are composed mainly of episodically stored material which is derived from personal experience, episodes or events which continue to influence the comprehension of events at a later time. Whereas beliefs reside in episodic memory, knowledge is semantically stored. A further distinction between beliefs and knowledge, notes Nespor (1987, p.313), is that, while knowledge often changes, beliefs are static. As well, whereas knowledge can be evaluated or judged, such is not the case with beliefs as there is usually a lack of consensus about how they are to be evaluated. Furthermore, there do not appear to be any clear rules for determining the relevance of beliefs to real world events. While there is no doubt other distinctions can be made between the two constructs, a better understanding may be gained by exploring the relationship between the two and by considering beliefs as a form of knowledge. This form of knowledge could be referred to as personal knowledge. Kagan (1992a) refers to beliefs as a particularly provocative form of personal knowledge and argues that most of a teachers professional knowledge can be regarded more accurately as belief. According to Kagan, this knowledge grows richer and more coherent as a teachers experience in classrooms grows and thus forms a highly personalized pedagogy or belief system that actually constrains the teachers perception, judgment, and behavior. In terms of beliefs being personal knowledge, Kagan explains: A teachers knowledge of his or her profession is situated in three important ways: in context (it is related to specific groups of students), in content (it is related to particular academic material to be taught), and in person (it is embedded within the teachers unique belief system) (p.74). Like Clark (1988) who equates ‘implicit theories with beliefs, Nespor (1987) explains how beliefs become personal pedagogies or theories to guide teachers practices: Teachers beliefs play a major role in defining teaching tasks and organizing the knowledge and information relevant to those tasks. But why should this be so? Why wouldnt research-based knowledge or academic theory serve this purpose just as well? The answer suggested here is that the contexts and environments within which teachers work, and many of the problems they encounter, are ill-defined and deeply entangled, and that beliefs are peculiarly suited for making sense of such contexts. (p.324) Munby (1982) also equates implicit theories with teachers beliefs. Clark and Peterson (1986) in their review of the literature on teachers thought processes, argue that teachers theories and beliefs represent a rich store of knowledge. Teachers make sense of their complex world and respond to it by forming a complex system of personal and professional knowledge and theories which, as Kagan (1992a) describes, are often tacit and unconsciously held assumptions about students, classrooms and the material to be taught. 2.2.1.1 Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge Throughout this study the term BAK is used as an inclusive term to refer to beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge. Therefore, the following section describes the rationale behind using this term. In the discussion so far, approaches which divide aspects of teacher cognition were examined in separate categories. A more recent strand of research, however, challenges the categorical distinctions outlined above. Woods (1996) suggests that these dichotomies do not accurately reflect the relationship between Teachers beliefs, assumptions and knowledge and their practices in the classroom. In order to take appropriate action, people need to understand; and to understand they need knowledge about the world and specifically about the situation they are in (Woods, 1996, p. 59). Woods (1996) develops a multidimensional cycle of planning and decision making within teaching. He describes three phases of assessment, planning and implementation which operate recursively to inform different hierarchical levels of the teaching process going from the most local level of discrete events in the lesson plan to the most global level of whole course planning (p. 139). Woodss analysis of interview data suggests that knowledge structures and belief systems ‘‘are not composed of independent elements, but [are] rather structured, with certain aspects implying or presupposing others (p. 200). Woods proposes a model to signify the evolving system of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge (BAK) that recursively informs or is informed by the context of teaching: the BAK was part of the perceiving and organizing of the decisions. Woods has demonstrated that language teachers create and maintain background networks of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge which constitute a valid theory of teaching and learning. These background theoretical networks are grounded in every level of routine classroom practice in much the same way that educational theory is grounded in the systematic collection of empirical data. This construct (BAK) is supported by MacDonaldo, Badger and White (2001). They also suggest that while there is some support for a categorical di stinction between theory and practice in language education, it is suggested that the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of teachers are in fact inextricably bound up with what goes on in the classroom. 2.3 Research on the Relationship between Teachers Beliefs, Instructional decisions, and Practices Beliefs are manifested in teaching practices because teachers instruction tends to reflect their beliefs. Pajares (1992) and Richardson (1996) investigated the relationship between teachers beliefs and their teaching practices, concluding that teachers beliefs were reflected in their actions, decisions and classroom practices. Kagan (1992a) also supported Pajares and Richardsons claim that teachers beliefs served as a vital role in influencing the nature of the instruction. In her study, Johnson (1992) examined the relationship between ESL teachers defined, theoretical beliefs about second language learning as well as teaching and instructional practices during literacy instruction for non-native speakers of English. Three tasks, such as an ideal instructional protocol, a lesson plan analysis, and a beliefs inventory were used to determine how much ESL teachers beliefs were reflected in skill-based, rule-based, and function-based orientations. The findings in Johnsons study showed that ESL teachers defined beliefs were congruent with their theoretical orientations, and teachers with different theoretical orientations gave quite different instruction for ESL students. Therefore, her study concluded that overall, teachers had different teaching approaches, selections of teaching materials, and images of teachers and students according to their beliefs about learning and teaching. For example, a teacher whose dominant theoretical orientation was function-b ased focused generally on comprehending the main idea, following a pattern of pre-reading as well as post-reading questions, and discussion as usual reading activities in her instruction. In addition, Smiths (1996) study explored the relationship between nine experienced ESL teachers beliefs and their decision-making in classroom practices. The result of her study showed that teachers articulated theoretical beliefs were consistent with their instructional planning and decisions. For example, those teachers who believed in communication of meaning as a primary goal in learning a language designed and implemented tasks which promoted student-interaction and meaningful communication, such as small-group or pair activities. Golombek (1998) examined how two in-service ESL teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice through a description of a tension each teacher faced in the classroom. The teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice by serving as a kind of interpretive framework through which they made sense of their classrooms as they recounted their experiences and made this knowledge explicit. The results of this study suggested that L2 teacher educators should recognize that L2 teachers personal practical knowledge is embodied in individuals. For this reason, personal practical knowledge is important to acknowledge in L2 teacher education practice and research. Similarly, in his article Borg (2001a) presents two cases which illustrate the extent to which teachers perceptions of their knowledge about grammar emerged as one of the factors which influences teachers instructional decisions in teaching grammar. The two case studies suggested clearly that teachers self-perceptions of their knowledge about grammar had an impact on their work. Two conclusions emergi Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in Teaching Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in Teaching 2.1 Belief Research In the mid-1970s a new body of research began to emerge that worked to describe teachers thoughts, judgments and decisions as the cognitive processes that shaped their behaviors (Calderhead, 1996, Clark and Peterson, 1986; Dann, 1990). As a consequence of this, a surge of interest in the area of teacher belief systems has appeared (Pajares, 1992). This research â€Å"has helped to identify the nature and complexity of the teachers work , and helped to provide ways of thinking about the processes of change and support† (Calderhead, 1996, p.721). Researchers found that teaching could not be characterized simply as behaviors that were linked to thinking done before and during the activity but rather that the thought process of teaching included a much wider and richer mental context. As Shavelson and Stern (1981, p.479) explained, research on teacher cognition made â€Å"the basic assumption that teachers thoughts, judgments, and decisions guide their teaching behavior†. Kagan (1990, p. 420) noted that teacher cognition is somewhat ambiguous, because researchers invoke the term to refer to different products, including â€Å"teachers interactive thoughts during instruction; thought during lesson planning, implicit beliefs about students, classrooms and learning; reflections about their own teaching performance; automized routines and activities that form their instructional repertoire; and self-awareness of procedures they use to solve classrooms problems†. Currently, there is increasing recognition that the beliefs individuals hold are the best indicators of the decisions they make during the course of everyday life (Bandura, 1986). Pajares (1992, p. 307) argues that the investigation of teachers beliefs should be a focus of educational research and can inform educational practice in ways that prevailing research agendas have not and cannot. Educational researchers trying to understand the nature of teaching and learning in classrooms have usefully exploited this focus on belief systems. The research of Jakubowski and Tobin (1991) suggests that teachers metaphors and beliefs not only influence what teachers do in the classroom, but that changes in these same metaphors and beliefs can result in changes in their practices. A belief can be defined as a representation of the information someone holds about an object, or a â€Å"persons understanding of himself and his environment† (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.131). This object can â€Å"be a person, a group of people, an institution, a behavior, a policy, an event, etc., and the associated attribute may be any object, trait, property, quality, characteristic, outcome, or event† (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.12). While Rokeach (1972) defined a belief as â€Å"any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does, capable of being preceded by the phrase ‘I believe that† (p.113), Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) defined a belief system as a hierarchy of beliefs according to the strength about a particular object. Researchers exploring teachers beliefs at the primary and secondary levels have used a number of definitions: â€Å"the highly personal ways in which a teacher understands classrooms, students, the nature of learning, the teachers role in the classroom, and the goals of education† (Kagan, 1990, p. 423); â€Å"psychologically held understandings, premises or propositions about the world that are felt to be true† (Richardson, 1996, p.103); and â€Å"generally refer to suppositions, commitments and ideologies† (Calderhead, 1996, p.715). Beliefs play an important role in many aspects of teaching as well as in life. They are involved in helping individuals make sense of the world, influencing how new information is perceived, and whether it is accepted or rejected. Teachers beliefs are a term usually used to refer to pedagogic beliefs or those beliefs of relevance to an individuals teaching (Borg 2001b). Teacher beliefs have been identified by Kagan (1992a) as tacit, often unconsciously held assumptions about students, about classrooms, and the academic material to be taught. The literature on teacher knowledge and beliefs from the primary and secondary levels has developed a number of terminological differences. Kagan (1990, p.456) highlighted this problem by noting: â€Å"Terms such as teacher cognition, self-reflection, knowledge and belief can be used to refer to different phenomena. Variation in the definition of a term can range from the superficial and idiosyncratic to the profound and theoretical†. The use of these varying terms makes it difficult to investigate in this area of teacher cognition. Pajares (1992) addressed this difficulty: Defining beliefs is at best a game of players choice. They travel in disguise and often under alias-attitudes, values judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptual systems, preconceptions, dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories, internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of practice, practical principals, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy, to name but a few that can be found in the literature. (p.309) Defining beliefs is not a very easy task. There is a â€Å"bewildering array of terms† as Clandinin and Connelly (1987, p. 487) put forward including teachers teaching criteria, principles of practice, personal construct/theories/epistemologies, beliefs, perspectives, teachers conceptions, personal knowledge, and practical knowledge. 2.1.1 Belief Research in English Language Teaching The concept of belief, which has been a common feature of research papers in education for the past decade, has recently come into favor in ELT. In the field, various terms have been used to refer to the term ‘belief: pedagogical thoughts (Shavelson and Stern 1981), perspective (Zeichner, Tabachnick, Densmore, 1987), theoretical orientation (Kinzer, 1988), image (Calderhead, 1996), theoretical belief (Kinzer, 1988; Johnson, 1992; Smith 1996). Terms used in language teacher cognition research include theories for practice (Burns, 1996) which refer to the thinking and beliefs which are brought to bear on classroom processes; philosophical orientation and personal pedagogical system (Borg, 1998) which corresponds with stores of beliefs, knowledge, theories, assumptions and attitudes which shape teachers instructional decisions; maxims (Richards, 1996) to comprise personal working principles which reflect teachers individual philosophies of teaching; images (Johnson, 1994) which means general metaphors for thinking about teaching that represent beliefs about teaching and also act as models of action; conceptions of practice (Freeman, 1993) to cover ideas and actions teachers use to organize what they know and to map out what is possible; BAK (Woods, 1996) which includes the concepts beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge, In all those studies the core term on which there is focus is â€Å"belief†. Despite the popularity of the term, there is no consensus on meaning yet. The definition set forth by Rokeach (1968) claims that a belief is any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does and knowledge is a component of belief. Rokeach uses the term ‘attitude to refer to the beliefs teachers have about constructs. Richards and Lockhart (1996, p.30) state that â€Å"teachers beliefs systems are founded on the goals and values that teachers hold in relation to the content and process of teaching, and their understanding of the systems in which they work and their roles within it†. These beliefs and values serve as the background to much of teachers decision making action and hence constitute what has been termed the â€Å"culture of teaching†. Richards and Lockhart (1996) summarize those teachers beliefs systems, which are derived from a number of different sources. They are, a) their own experience as language learners, b) their experience of what works best for their learners, c) established practice, d) personality factors, e) educational based or research-based principles, f) principles derived from an approach or method (pp.30-31). Borg (2001b) discusses three aspects of the term belief: The truth element-drawing on research in the philosophy of knowledge, a belief is a mental state which has as its content a proposition that is accepted as true by the individual holding it, although the individual may recognize that alternative beliefs may be held by others. This is one of the key differences between belief and knowledge must actually be true in some external sense. The relationship between belief and behavior most definitions of belief propose that beliefs dispose or guide peoples thinking and action. Conscious versus unconscious beliefs on this point there is disagreement, with some maintaining that consciousness is inherent in the definition of belief, and others allowing for an individual to be conscious of some beliefs and unconscious of others. The field of language teaching has been one of tradition and transition since its beginning hundreds, indeed, by some accounts, thousands of years ago (Kelly, 1969; Howatt, 1984; Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Even though a much newer pursuit than the teaching of languages such as Greek and Latin or Chinese, the teaching of the English language has already been through many transitions in methodology. What are now considered traditional methods were once the innovations of their time, characterized by the attitudes and values of their creators, who recommended that other educators abandon one method and choose another, with unquestioning optimism, as though this latter method were the solution to their classroom concerns (Clarke, 1982). In the past 50 years alone, English language teaching has gone through a whirlwind of transitions in its methodology, from grammar translation to direct method, to audiolingualism, to cognitive code, and a host of variations in each. In recent years, the most substantive transition in English language teaching has taken place through a collection of practices, materials, and beliefs about teaching and learning that are known by many different names, e.g. communicative methodology, communicative language teaching, and the communicative approach (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Contemporarily, English teaching methodology is going through yet another transition. This transition, frequently referred to as the `post method condition (Kumaravadivelu, 2001), Research in the area of teacher thinking has grown rapidly particularly since the 1980s, with the consequence that the literature is vast and is often focused on very specific aspects of teaching. Nevertheless, the research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs is of considerable relevance to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a; Pajares 1992). The reasons are: first, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outcomes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship between beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest. By the mid 1980s, a rising view of teaching began to highlight the complex ways in which teachers think about their work as being shaped by their prior experiences as students, their ‘personal practical knowledge (Golombek, 1998). More recently the notion of work context has been recognized as central in shaping teachers â€Å"conceptions of their practices† (Freeman, 1993). Language teaching is defined as a dynamic process, which arises out of the meeting and interaction of different sets of principles: different rationalities. In this sense, a rationality is the inner logic which shapes the way in which participants perceive a situation and the goals which they will pursue in this situation (Tudor, 1998). Tudor proposes that to understand language teaching, a first step is to explore the different rationalities which are present in each situation in order to discover the reality the participants involved in. There are four different types of rationalities: those of the students and teachers, socio-cultural rationalities and then the rationality of methodology. While describing teacher rationalities, Tudor (1998) argues that research into subjective needs has led us to appreciate the uniqueness of each learners interaction with their language study. More recently something similar about the teachers has been realized. They, too will perceive and interact with methodology they are implementing in the light of their personality, attitudes, and life experience and the set of perceptions and goals which these give rise to. For this reason there is a need to listen to the teachers voices in understanding classroom practice. There is a need to understand teachers perceptions and the way in which these perceptions influence teachers classroom behaviors. The maxims (Richards, 1996) or the pedagogic principles (Breen et al.2001) teachers use are important in understanding their pedagogical actions. The reality of classroom teaching is how the teachers interpret official curricula or the recommended materials. Teachers are not skilled technicians who dutifully realize a given set of teaching procedures in accordance with the directives of a more or less distant authority. They are active participants in the creation of classroom realities and they do this on the basis of their own attitudes and beliefs, and their personal perceptions of interaction with their teaching situation. All teachers hold beliefs about their work, their students, their subject matter, and their roles and responsibilities. They are individuals with their personal perceptions and goals, which go to shape the rationality which will guide their actions in the classroom and their interaction with the context in which they are operating (Tudor, 1998, p. 324). A major goal of research on teachers thought processes is to increase our understanding of how teachers think and behave in the classroom. The drive for this area of research comes from the assumption that what teachers do is a reflection of what they know and believe, and that teacher knowledge and teacher thinking provide the underlying framework or schema which guides teachers classroom practices (Sutcliffe and Whitfield 1976, Westerman 1991, Flowerdew, Brock Hsia 1992, Kagan 1992a, Richards and Lockhart 1994, Bailey 1996, Woods 1998, Borg 1998, Richards 1998). Therefore, in order to understand teaching, we must understand how thoughts get carried into actions (Clark and Yinger 1977, Shavelson and Stern 1981, Clark and Peterson 1986, Johnson 1992, Nunan 1992). Pajares (1992) reviewed research on teacher beliefs and argued that ‘‘teachers beliefs can and should become an important focus of educational inquiry (p. 307). He then sketched numerous facets of beliefs and acknowledged that a variety of conceptions of educational beliefs appear in the literature. Citing Nespors (1987) influential work, he suggested that ‘‘beliefs are far more influential than knowledge in determining how individuals organize and define tasks and problems and are stronger predictors of behavior (p. 311). Studies on teacher beliefs have slowly gained prominence, especially with regard to teacher change issues. Guskey (1986), for example, examined 52 teachers who participated in teacher development programs and concluded that change in teachers beliefs ‘‘is likely to take place only after changes in student learning outcomes are evidenced (p. 7). In contrast, Richardson, Anders, Tidwell, and Lloyd (1991) found that change in beliefs preceded change in practices. The current view is that relationships between beliefs and practices are interactive and ongoing (Fullan, 1991; Richardson, 1996). Richardson (1996) even states that ‘‘In most current conceptions, the perceived relationship between beliefs and actions is interactive. Beliefs are thought to drive actions; however, experiences and reflection on action may lead to changes in and/or additions to beliefs (p. 104). Pajares (1992) promoted 16 ‘‘fundamental assumptions that may reasonably be made when initiating a study of teachers education beliefs (1992, p. 324). These assumptions include among others, the notions that (a) beliefs are formed early and tend to self perpetuate, persevering even against contradictions caused by reason, time, schooling, or experience; (b) individuals develop a belief system that houses all the beliefs acquired through the process of cultural transmission; (c) beliefs are instrumental in defining tasks and selecting the cognitive tools with which to interpret, plan, and make decisions regarding such tasks; (d) individuals beliefs strongly affect their behavior; and (e) knowledge and beliefs are inextricably intertwined (for complete discussion of all 16 assumptions, see Pajares, 1992, pp. 324-326). 2.2 Teacher Knowledge Research Meanwhile doubts arose also from the scientific community about a conception of professionalism that asked professionals (such as teachers) to just apply the theories and insights provided by others. Schà ¶n (1983, 1987) analyzed the work of various groups of professionals and concluded that they applied a certain amount of theoretical knowledge in their work, but that their behavior was not at all ‘‘rule governed and that they had no straightforward way to determine which behavior was adequate in specific circumstances. Schà ¶n contrasted this principle of ‘‘technical rationality to the principle of ‘‘reflection-in-action, which pertained to the thinking of the professional during professional activity and implied a continuing dialogue with the permanently changing situation. This situation does not present itself as a well-defined problem situation. On the contrary, defining the problem is itself one of the most difficult tasks of the professio nal. This recognition of the centrality of the teacher and the teachers knowledge and beliefs regarding each educational process, including educational innovations, is relatively recent (Calderhead, 1996). Birman, Desimone, Porter, Garet (2000), for example, searched for key features of effective professional development and, based on their research, reported that professional development should focus on deepening teacher knowledge in order to foster teacher learning and changes in practice. Similarly, Hawley and Valli (1999) considered the expansion and elaboration of teachers professional knowledge base as essential for their professional development. In the literature about teacher knowledge, various labels have been used, each indicating a relevant aspect of teacher knowledge. The labels illustrate mainly which aspect is considered the most important by the respective authors. Together, these labels give an overview of the way in which teacher knowledge has been studied to date. The most commonly used labels are ‘‘personal knowledge (Conelly and Clandinin, 1985; Elbaz, 1991), indicating that this knowledge is unique; ‘‘the wisdom of practice (Schwab, 1971), and in more recent publications, ‘‘professional craft knowledge (e.g., Brown and McIntyre, 1993; Shimahara, 1998), referring to a specific component of knowledge that is mainly the product of the teachers practical experience; ‘‘action oriented knowledge, indicating that this knowledge is for immediate use in teaching practice (Carter, 1990); ‘‘content and context related knowledge (Cochran, DeRuiter, King, 1993; Va n Driel, Verloop, De Vos, 1998); knowledge that is to a great extent ‘tacit (Calderhead and Robson, 1991); and knowledge that is based on reflection on experiences (Grimmet and MacKinnon, 1992). It is important to realize that in the label ‘teacher knowledge, the concept ‘knowledge is used as an overarching, inclusive concept, summarizing a large variety of cognitions, from conscious and well-balanced opinions to unconscious and unreflected intuitions. This is related to the fact that, in the mind of the teacher, components of knowledge, beliefs, conceptions, and intuitions are inextricably intertwined. As Alexander, Schallert, and Hare (1991) noted, the term ‘knowledge is mostly used to encompass ‘‘all that a person knows or believes to be true, whether or not it is verified as true in some sort of objective or external way (p. 317). This is particularly relevant with respect to research on teacher knowledge. In investigating teacher knowledge, the main focus of attention is on the complex totality of cognitions, the ways this develops, and the way this interacts with teacher behavior in the classroom. Following Pajares (1992), knowledge and beliefs are seen as inseparable, although beliefs are seen roughly as referring to personal values, attitudes, and ideologies, and knowledge to a teachers more factual propositions (Meijer, Verloop, Beijaard, 2001). 2.2.1 Teachers Knowledge and Beliefs About Teaching In his extensive review of the literature, Calderhead (1996) found that many different kinds of knowledge have been described as underpinning effective teaching. The main forms are those related to the subject being taught, to teaching methods, and to the ways in which students develop and learn. The extent to which teachers have conscious access to this knowledge is, however, far from clear. Some researchers argue that much of this knowledge is implicit or tacit, derived from experience rather than from any conceptual framework. The research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly work concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, which reflect their experiences, is of considerable relevance to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a; Pajares 1992). First, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outcomes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship between beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest. Pajares (1992) attempts to clarify the confusion with the distinction between knowledge and belief. However, as many researchers have found, it is not so much that knowledge differs from beliefs, but that beliefs themselves constitute a form of knowledge. In his attempts to characterize beliefs, Nespor (1987) provides some distinctions between beliefs and knowledge. He singles out four features of the construct previously identified by Abelson (1979) and considers them in relation to teachers: Existential presumptions or personal truths are generally unaffected by persuasion and are perceived by the teacher as being beyond his/her control or influence. Alternativity is a feature of beliefs that would include situations such as when teachers attempt to establish an instructional format of which they have no direct experience but which they might consider ideal. Belief systems can be said to rely much more heavily on affective and evaluative components than knowledge systems. Teachers values and feelings often affect what and how they teach and may conflict with their knowledge. Belief systems are composed mainly of episodically stored material which is derived from personal experience, episodes or events which continue to influence the comprehension of events at a later time. Whereas beliefs reside in episodic memory, knowledge is semantically stored. A further distinction between beliefs and knowledge, notes Nespor (1987, p.313), is that, while knowledge often changes, beliefs are static. As well, whereas knowledge can be evaluated or judged, such is not the case with beliefs as there is usually a lack of consensus about how they are to be evaluated. Furthermore, there do not appear to be any clear rules for determining the relevance of beliefs to real world events. While there is no doubt other distinctions can be made between the two constructs, a better understanding may be gained by exploring the relationship between the two and by considering beliefs as a form of knowledge. This form of knowledge could be referred to as personal knowledge. Kagan (1992a) refers to beliefs as a particularly provocative form of personal knowledge and argues that most of a teachers professional knowledge can be regarded more accurately as belief. According to Kagan, this knowledge grows richer and more coherent as a teachers experience in classrooms grows and thus forms a highly personalized pedagogy or belief system that actually constrains the teachers perception, judgment, and behavior. In terms of beliefs being personal knowledge, Kagan explains: A teachers knowledge of his or her profession is situated in three important ways: in context (it is related to specific groups of students), in content (it is related to particular academic material to be taught), and in person (it is embedded within the teachers unique belief system) (p.74). Like Clark (1988) who equates ‘implicit theories with beliefs, Nespor (1987) explains how beliefs become personal pedagogies or theories to guide teachers practices: Teachers beliefs play a major role in defining teaching tasks and organizing the knowledge and information relevant to those tasks. But why should this be so? Why wouldnt research-based knowledge or academic theory serve this purpose just as well? The answer suggested here is that the contexts and environments within which teachers work, and many of the problems they encounter, are ill-defined and deeply entangled, and that beliefs are peculiarly suited for making sense of such contexts. (p.324) Munby (1982) also equates implicit theories with teachers beliefs. Clark and Peterson (1986) in their review of the literature on teachers thought processes, argue that teachers theories and beliefs represent a rich store of knowledge. Teachers make sense of their complex world and respond to it by forming a complex system of personal and professional knowledge and theories which, as Kagan (1992a) describes, are often tacit and unconsciously held assumptions about students, classrooms and the material to be taught. 2.2.1.1 Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge Throughout this study the term BAK is used as an inclusive term to refer to beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge. Therefore, the following section describes the rationale behind using this term. In the discussion so far, approaches which divide aspects of teacher cognition were examined in separate categories. A more recent strand of research, however, challenges the categorical distinctions outlined above. Woods (1996) suggests that these dichotomies do not accurately reflect the relationship between Teachers beliefs, assumptions and knowledge and their practices in the classroom. In order to take appropriate action, people need to understand; and to understand they need knowledge about the world and specifically about the situation they are in (Woods, 1996, p. 59). Woods (1996) develops a multidimensional cycle of planning and decision making within teaching. He describes three phases of assessment, planning and implementation which operate recursively to inform different hierarchical levels of the teaching process going from the most local level of discrete events in the lesson plan to the most global level of whole course planning (p. 139). Woodss analysis of interview data suggests that knowledge structures and belief systems ‘‘are not composed of independent elements, but [are] rather structured, with certain aspects implying or presupposing others (p. 200). Woods proposes a model to signify the evolving system of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge (BAK) that recursively informs or is informed by the context of teaching: the BAK was part of the perceiving and organizing of the decisions. Woods has demonstrated that language teachers create and maintain background networks of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge which constitute a valid theory of teaching and learning. These background theoretical networks are grounded in every level of routine classroom practice in much the same way that educational theory is grounded in the systematic collection of empirical data. This construct (BAK) is supported by MacDonaldo, Badger and White (2001). They also suggest that while there is some support for a categorical di stinction between theory and practice in language education, it is suggested that the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of teachers are in fact inextricably bound up with what goes on in the classroom. 2.3 Research on the Relationship between Teachers Beliefs, Instructional decisions, and Practices Beliefs are manifested in teaching practices because teachers instruction tends to reflect their beliefs. Pajares (1992) and Richardson (1996) investigated the relationship between teachers beliefs and their teaching practices, concluding that teachers beliefs were reflected in their actions, decisions and classroom practices. Kagan (1992a) also supported Pajares and Richardsons claim that teachers beliefs served as a vital role in influencing the nature of the instruction. In her study, Johnson (1992) examined the relationship between ESL teachers defined, theoretical beliefs about second language learning as well as teaching and instructional practices during literacy instruction for non-native speakers of English. Three tasks, such as an ideal instructional protocol, a lesson plan analysis, and a beliefs inventory were used to determine how much ESL teachers beliefs were reflected in skill-based, rule-based, and function-based orientations. The findings in Johnsons study showed that ESL teachers defined beliefs were congruent with their theoretical orientations, and teachers with different theoretical orientations gave quite different instruction for ESL students. Therefore, her study concluded that overall, teachers had different teaching approaches, selections of teaching materials, and images of teachers and students according to their beliefs about learning and teaching. For example, a teacher whose dominant theoretical orientation was function-b ased focused generally on comprehending the main idea, following a pattern of pre-reading as well as post-reading questions, and discussion as usual reading activities in her instruction. In addition, Smiths (1996) study explored the relationship between nine experienced ESL teachers beliefs and their decision-making in classroom practices. The result of her study showed that teachers articulated theoretical beliefs were consistent with their instructional planning and decisions. For example, those teachers who believed in communication of meaning as a primary goal in learning a language designed and implemented tasks which promoted student-interaction and meaningful communication, such as small-group or pair activities. Golombek (1998) examined how two in-service ESL teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice through a description of a tension each teacher faced in the classroom. The teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice by serving as a kind of interpretive framework through which they made sense of their classrooms as they recounted their experiences and made this knowledge explicit. The results of this study suggested that L2 teacher educators should recognize that L2 teachers personal practical knowledge is embodied in individuals. For this reason, personal practical knowledge is important to acknowledge in L2 teacher education practice and research. Similarly, in his article Borg (2001a) presents two cases which illustrate the extent to which teachers perceptions of their knowledge about grammar emerged as one of the factors which influences teachers instructional decisions in teaching grammar. The two case studies suggested clearly that teachers self-perceptions of their knowledge about grammar had an impact on their work. Two conclusions emergi

Stereotyping in The Way We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson Essay -- stereoty

In the essay The Way We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson writes that â€Å"All the ‘isms’-racism, sexism, ageism, et al.-are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the clichà ©, which are lies of exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are always dangerous. They take a single tree and make it a landscape.† This quote is important due to the fact that stereotypes play a major role in many aspects of our society. In American society we have a tendency to pass judgment on people just because of a pre-existing stereotype that our society has formed on particular groups over the years. American Society tends to create stereotypes because of the simplicity it adds to our lives, but stereotypes can cause us to oversimplify the characteristics of others, encourage prejudice, and can even create many more severe dangers. Everyday we experience stereotyping in one way or another. Over the years stereotyping has become such a large part of our society that it is a vital part of our everyday communication. It has caused many of us to not really think about who a person really is, or what they are about, but to accept instead a certain stereotype that has already been created by our society and given to an individual. Stephanie Ericsson makes an excellent point in her essay when she says â€Å"they take a single tree, and make it into a landscape.† The statement she was trying to make by saying this is that many times, a stereotype is made by an individual because of something done by one particular person in a certain group, but is then given to the whole group as a result. Our society has given a stereotype to practically every form of human being out there. Some examples of this are the blond that is said to be dumb, the kid with glasse... ...ypes. These crimes are called â€Å"hate crimes†, and are directed towards a particular individual not because of something he or she has done, but simply because of the group they belong to. Hundreds of innocent people die each year due to a title that was created for them. Because of a stereotype that some other individual somewhere in our society created, and decided certain individuals belong, and should be hated for, innocent people in our society end up being killed. It is not fair for innocent people to die. Nor is it even fair for any individual to have to walk down the street, knowing that they are hated because of something that is beyond their control. Whether it be their skin color, hair color, appearance, or the way they walk, it can be a stereotypical characteristic that creates the risk of being judged by another individual, or perhaps even killed.

Character Analysis: Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood

Grace Marks being the protagonist of the historical novel Alias Grace matures and grows as most protagonist do. Grace goes through many stages in her life where she needs to adapt to the situation in order to not be taken advantage of. She Is either too naive, too deep in self-pity or too self-aware. She Is a dynamic character who goes from being a scared little girl Into a convicted murderess. The stereotype surrounding her being a woman – making her too fragile to take part In such a crime actually helps her and saves her from the noose.Like every proper girl Grace was very naive when It came to things of the sexual nature. When she observes Nancy dress to have some Ink-Sis snuff stains she tells herself â€Å"she most likely slipped and fallen down† (262) She TLD understand where the stains could've came from, besides getting dirty doing house work. Throughout her story Grace speaks a lot about Mary Whitney and all she taught her regarding men such as ‘not sitt ing where a man just sat' and how street whore's made money. Unfortunately Mary died while going through an abortion, which ironically Grace did not understand at the time.All of this new information did scare Grace, until she finally realized how naive she really was when she was informed about Mr†¦ Skinner and Nancy relationship as to which she remarked â€Å"l was much surprised , and said so; â€Å"l was not so knowing as I thought myself, and could scarcely see the nose before my face†. (295-296) Grace started losing luck as soon as she decided to work for Mr†¦ Skinner. Chapter 23 in the novel is named â€Å"Snake Fence† hinting Grace is walking into danger. Immediately after she enters the town she is confronted by a stranger before being saved by Jeremiah (239).Once she began working in the new village she felt very isolated † . It struck me at once how very solitary I was, as I had no friends here except Nancy, if she could be called a friend . . .1 did not know where my family was, which was the same as having none†. (301-2), she also confesses tootsie Walsh, â€Å"l felt would cry again, and said simply, I have no friends here. † (303). Unfortunately Grace soon finds out that that sort of loneliness is nothing compared to what was waiting for her in solitary confinement, where she would soon have to learn how to entertain herself â€Å"l sing a song, Just to hear a voice and keep myself company†. 37) By the end of the novel grace becomes very self-aware of how people view her, she knows people view her as a type of romantic notion and tells Lydia â€Å"But If I laughed out loud I might not be able to stop; and also It would spoil their romantic notion of me. Romantic people are not supposed to laugh, I know that much from looking at the pictures†. (27) And later admits â€Å"l look at him stupidly. I have a good stupid look which I have practiced†. (43).Her role playing seems to throw ma ny off when It comes to her being guilty or not, because she is so deep into her role of playing the â€Å"Lady of complete truth to Doctor Jordan it would never be known, with all the role playing she admits to doing. Grace's character and Tattoo's feminist views play a big part in how Grace is portrayed throughout the book. Just analyzing Grace acutely one cannot miss how her traits and situations make her seem to usually be the victim. But then again, if this wasn't the case, her story wouldn't be so interesting to the masses.

Extrinsic vs Intristic

There are many approaches that stem from motivation these come in the form of environmental factors, psychological bases of motivation as well as a biological factor. Motivation is a factor that lies within each individual both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is the motivation where the basis comes from a psychological perspective. Intrinsic motivation is when an individual takes on a task when the pay-off or reward is internal.Extrinsic on the other hand is where an individual carries out a task and is forced or driven by and external factor this may example this may be the drive for a person to carry out a task where the individual may receive a promotion in their place of employment. Individuals from the moment they are born are programmed with instincts. From the moment an infant is born they are programmed to cry when they are in need of something for instance the need to be fed this in a biological approach to motivation.Needs and drives are also a benefactor to motivation. Individuals have the need to rid of waste, for food to satisfy hunger, also for water for the relief of thirst and also an individual’s need to avoid pain. Environmental factors have been found to also contribute to motivation as well as an individual’s behaviour. In today’s society it has shown that an individual’s performance at work and their motivation has been a major benefactor (www. businessperformance. com). There are also cultural and social bases for motivation.Some individuals social needs regarding motivation can over write the biological bases for motivation example an individual who diets from a social perspective that need to achieve for what they seem to be perfect in society can over write the need for biological need for instance food in that particular case. Power motivation is also a benefactor in certain individuals. This may come in the form of an individual wanting to somehow control the outcome of a certain situation using the forc e of power.Winter (1991) states â€Å"The need for power involves the desire to tell others what to do and to use rewards or punishment to control the behaviours of others† (winter 1991, as cited in Bourne and Russo 1998). A household may experience this if a child is told to carry out a duty or chore in one case where a reward is offered the chore will be carried out in a greater manner than if the chore had not had a payoff or a reward is not offered.Motivation is an individual’s driving state or force. Motivation can also affect an individual’s state of arousal. Arousal comes in many forms this may range from an individual feeling anxiety, stress or motivation. Individuals may think that anxiety may be a negative but in cases this can be a driving force for an individual to complete certain tasks or duties and may also result and the amount of input and motivation used in that particular situation.Every individual at some point in their life will feel anxiety in a task for instance an example an individual with a mortgage if there was no arousal felt that mortgage may not be paid so motivation is a benefactor in situations like the example just shown. As human being we a need to form relationships and friendships with the people around us this is also a benefactor of motivation.With these relationships and friendship we are driven by motivation to fulfil the need and sensation of belonging with another person or persons. Individuals have the urge and willingness to succeed and to be the best they can possibly be motivation and emotion plays a big role in the way and individual plans and what steps they take to reach their goals. Not all individuals are the same that is why we are call individuals but in today’s Australian society the need for success and accomplishment is rated somewhat high.There are different incentives behind motivation Bandura explains that there are five different reasons for incentives these being primary i ncentives, this being the incentive of food, secondary incentive is the incentive to complete, plan or carry out new tasks, third is social incentives this is the need for recognition or praise, forth is the monetary incentive which may come in the form of a salary increase and finally activity incentive this incentive may come in the form of time off work.As human beings individuals dislike the feeling of failing or not being able to complete a certain task. All individuals have different driving forces and levels of motivation what one may find important to one person may not be important to another. Individuals use a somewhat standard of excellence to evaluate their status of other individual.A person with a lower drive to succeed or a lower level of motivation is less likely to accomplish what task was set out by that certain individual; people with lower level of motivation will also seek out or take on tasks which they feel that they can master quickly without much difficulty compared to a person who has a high range of motivation who is in more of a position to challenge themselves and face the task at hand and will work hard to accomplish whatever it is that they have set out for themselves or what has been set out before them.There are many theories surrounding motivation one being the push and pull theory, this can simply be broken down. The push theory for instance can be best explained for an individual planning a holiday, the push theory is the actual desire to travel. The pull theory on the other hand is best described to be the force where the attributes of that destination are the benefactor (www. businessperformance. comt). Another theory that was stated by Fredrick Winslow Taylor and this theory are based surrounding people and their place of employment.Fredrick Taylor Winslow states the idea that most individuals are driven and motivated mainly by salary or pay. He also states that generally workers do not certainly or naturally enjoy work a nd close supervision and control of workers from their employers is needed (www. tutor2u. net). Taylor’s theory has been used in a wide variety of work and business places. His theory has been a benefactor in businesses opting for the use of production lines.Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970) put forward his theory which is a pyramid which details five separate stages which focused on an individual’s psychological needs. The bottom or lowest level of the pyramid being the most basic of the psychological this is the need of basic survival; this includes food, water and sex. The next stage is the need and want of safety. This may come in the form of family, an individual’s well-being and health and also a person’s security of employment.The next stage up the pyramid is the relationship, love and belonging as earlier stated as individuals we are built to social creatures and to build friendships and relationships is the motivation to fulfil this particular need. The fourth stage is a person sense of self-esteem. This also includes the respect we have of ourselves and the respect we have of other’s; it is our confidence. The highest point of Marlow’s hierarchy of needs and the top of the pyramid is the ultimate fulfilment.This stage is known as self –actualisation. It is the level that a person realises one self and one’s potential and is the desire or driving force for an individual to become all that they can possibly become. Elton Mayo also put forward another theory, this is the theory that not all individuals regarding the workplace are not only focused on the money but could also be focused by the social need of an individual to be fulfilled in their place of employment.When working in groups together or when a group is given a certain task there are benefactors who may drive a person’s strive for the input of motivation given by a particular person this could be from benefactors from the size o f the group, and an individual’s belief about what other individuals in the group are doing and also the amount of creativity required. If there is a larger group a person’s drive or motivation may not be as strong because the amount of workload can be reduced on a certain individual.Another benefactor is if individuals feel that a peer or peers are not doing their part or doing the best that they can that individual may also not perform to the best of their ability. If the task that is given out requires low level of creativity the motivation may also not be as strong as that if a task requires a higher amount of creativity or input. Bourne and Russo (1998) also explain that motivation and emotion are closely linked. Motivation involves the needs and goals, whilst emotions involve our feelings when expectancies are not fulfilled (ACAP notes week 9).According to Robert Plutchik (1980) there are eight primary emotions these being joy, sadness, acceptance, disgust, fear, anger, surprise and anticipation. These emotions can be combined to produce another certain amount of emotion this may come into the form of a mixture of joy and acceptance can produce love; our relationships and friendships are influenced by emotions. Psychologists have discovered a ways that individuals can improve their amount of motivation so an individual can accomplish personal goals. Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen wrote an article covering the topic.The finding within the article suggested that is to view circumstances from a third person’s perspective rather than that of a person who view issues from a first hand or personal view. Psychologists have found that using the term he or she rather than I can help individuals fulfil their goals and increases the level of motivation a person has for achieving whatever it is that they wish to achieve (www. suite101. com). The subject of improving or strengthening motivation has also shown to be a popular topic with in the work place. Mayo suggests that managers take a greater interest in employees (www. utor2u. net) As individuals we all have the need and want to live a comfortable lifestyle where we are happy and fulfilled but to accomplish this motivation is a major benefactor in the completion of goals or steps that is necessary to be at that stage in life where individuals feel a sense of happiness and completion. If an individual psychologically has the right mind set and motives behind that particular driving force anything is possible.References: ACAP notes weeks 1 – 9 www. businessperformance. com www. businessperformance. com www. tutor2u. net www. suite101. com

Instagram purchase intentions in Thailand fashion industry

Instagram purchase intentions in Thailand fashion industry Overview of Relevant Theories Consumer behavior is a complex field. The complexity arises from the difficulties associated with predicting human behavior. People exposed to the same conditions do not always respond in the same way. This makes the study of consumer behavior important to help determine the potential range of consumer responses that arise from exposure to marketing communication.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Instagram: purchase intentions in Thailand fashion industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are many theories that seek to explain why consumers behave in certain ways. In this section, the theories reviewed are the Theory of Reasoned Action, and the Theory of Social Comparison. In addition, it will be important to review Kozinets’ Model that describes online consumer user typologies, and the one-to-many communication model. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was the precurs or to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The main assumption that led to the development of TRA was that all behavior arises from the intention to do something. This means that every person makes a deliberate choice to behave in a certain way. The researchers attributed the intention to do something to three factors. The first factor was the attitude of the individual towards the activity. If a person was favorably disposed towards a certain activity, then the individual was likely to engage in it. The second factor put forward by the researchers was that the intention to carry out an activity depended on the subjective norms of the individual. This meant that if the activity was within the experience of the individual, then the likelihood of engaging in it was higher. The third element that contributed to behavior was the perceived behavioral control of the individual. It was necessary for the person to have the capacity to direct their actions to carry out a specific activity. The realization that some behavioral patterns were involuntary led to the emergence of TPB. This change made it possible for researchers to account for involuntary behavioral traits that the TRA model could not explain. The second theory that is of interest to this project is the Theory of Social Comparison. This theory postulates that people judge their personal worth based on social comparisons.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The measures used for social comparison include intelligence, wealth, and personal attractiveness. This theory seeks to explain consumer behavior based on the realization that people take action to improve their perceived social value. Consumers buy certain products to increase their social worth. Kozinets model deals with the specific factors that influence consumption in online communities. Consumers in online communities do not ha ve sufficient social pressure to drive them to make decisions based on social comparison. Kozinets picked two main measures to develop four basic typologies of online consumers. The first measure was social ties within the online community. A new member in an online community does not have any ties with the other members of the community, despite sharing an interest. If the new member chooses to become active in the online community, the member develops social relationships with other members of the online community. This increases the member’s sense of belonging to that online community. The second measure identified by Kozinets (1999) was the level of priority of the consumption activity to the users. Accordingly, a user was likely to spend money online if the activities of the specific community were a priority for that user. This decision usually depended on the personal relationships and the interpersonal dynamics at play in the online community. Based on these two measu res, Kozinets developed a model that classified online consumers into four quadrants as shown in figure 1 below. The four main types of online consumers according to the model are devotees, â€Å"minglers†, insiders, and tourists. Devotees refer to members of an online community who have a high level of association with the activities of the online community, but have weak social ties. Figure 1: User typology for communities of consumptionAdvertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Instagram: purchase intentions in Thailand fashion industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The fourth model of interest in this project is the one-to-many communication model. It describes communication from one point to many other points. It resembles traditional broadcasting. A central station beams messages to a large audience of passive listeners. Other models within this framework include the one-to-one model, which describes p ersonal marketing communications targeting specific marketing needs. There is also the many-to-many model that represents the participation of a community in several discussions within the network. Each of these models has implications and applications in marketing communication. Perhaps the best way to capture these ideas is to take into account that communication has shifted from mass communication to communication within networks. Consumers have varying levels of power over their buying behavior. The three dimensions of consumer power include consumer sovereignty, cultural power, and discursive power. Consumer sovereignty assumes that a consumer is fully in charge of their buying behavior as modeled by the Theory of Reasoned Behavior. Cultural power on the hand refers to a power matrix piled against the consumer by political and social processes. In this case, the consumer is under the influence of culture, politics, and the views of opinion leaders when making purchasing decisio ns. Discursive power is the combined action of both consumer sovereignty and cultural power to yield a blend that has space for consumer decision making as well as the other influences in the making of buying decisions. Celebrity Consumption Strong brands are very attractive to consumers in Thailand. The consumers associate strong brands with status and value. This phenomenon is not unique to Thailand. In the Western world, strong brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have global recognition. In the technology field, companies such as Google, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, and HP have a big market share because of the strengths of their brands. Branding is an essential aspect of the every business. A survey conducted by the Grey Group in Thailand found that many consumers based their purchasing decisions on the image and social status associated with brands. In addition, up to 26% of the respondents in the same study felt that image and social status were the most important aspects to consid er when making purchases, regardless of personal economic circumstances.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This phenomenon is associated with vigorous advertising campaigns in Thailand. The adverts create a strong consumer culture that encourages luxury spending on fashion and design items that Thai people associate with success and prestige. In addition, the adverts use celebrity endorsements to persuade consumers to purchase the products. Association of brands with celebrities usually leads to a great demand for the products. In relation to this trend, Chadha and Husband (2006) stated, â€Å"luxury brands are a modern set of symbols that Asians are wearing to redefine their identity and social position.† One of the signs of this phenomenon in the Thai society is the many female students who look at themselves as trendsetters because of their exposure to the internet. Subsequently the female students spend huge sums of money on designer items. This is because young women are more impressionable which makes them more willing to spend their money on luxury items promoted by celebri ties. This wave of young internet savvy consumers being transformed into ferocious consumers is fuelling electronic commerce in Thailand. Some commentators feel that the proliferation of the consumer culture in Thailand will jeopardize the future of the county. Consumerism tends to encourage debt spending. This will rob the country of its ability to meet it long-term obligations and may derail the economic progress of the country. Traditionally, Thai people have been good at saving and have not had strong materialistic tendencies that the young people are now embracing. Social media is playing an important role in the transformation of Thailand into a consumer society. One of the strongest areas of economic growth in the country is electronic commerce. A survey by MasterCard in 2010 revealed that online shopping is growing very fast in Thailand . This can be explained by the growth in the uptake of smart phones in Thailand. Many people are using mobile phones to access the internet and to make purchases. The smart phones are also making it very easy for consumers to access information from their online social networks. Thailand is a collectivist country in its consumption patterns . This means that people tend to buy products based on a group mentality in order to fit in peer groups. In this culture, people tend to rely on the collective wisdom of their communities to make decisions. Therefore, before making purchases, people in Thailand are likely to confer with their peers on the merits and demerits of their intention. The traditional word-of-mouth process still governs commerce in many societies. With the recent advances in technology, people are now using the internet to confer with their peers concerning their intention to make purchases. Online marketers refer to this process as electronic word of mouth (eWOM). When celebrities are involved in eWOM, the impact it produces increases significantly. Celebrity eWOM can increase the consumption of a product b ecause their endorsement increases the brand recognition of the product . According to the theoretical models reviewed earlier, the behavior of Thai consumers tends to conform to TRA. In many cases, the consumers remain in charge of their decisions to buy, but they allow the opinion of celebrities to guide their decisions. In the same vein, there is a strong correlation of this behavior with the Theory of Social Comparison. As a community, the Thai people are collectivists. The society encourages conformity rather than competition. Therefore, everyone seeks to attain a prosperous self- image, which is consistent with the national psyche. Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) The availability of information plays a major role in the purchasing decisions of international customers. Consumers take a keen interest in the acquisition of information because of the role information plays in the reduction of purchasing risks. Word of Mouth (WOM) plays an important role in the gathering of informa tion, which in turn influences consumer attitudes, choices, and purchasing decisions. A related development is that advertising is becoming outdated because of an erosion of consumer trust from conventional advertisements. Consumers have been questioning the reliability of advertisements as a means of acquiring accurate information about a product because of the obvious interest of the manufacturer in the sales and marketing of the product. This makes WOM more popular than seeking information from conventional advertisements. Subsequently, WOM has a strong effect on consumer choices. WOM takes different forms, which range from face to face communications, to the use of social media to convey information. When WOM takes place on line, its name becomes Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM). Another way of looking at eWOM is that it is an attempt by organizations to influence communication between consumers. When viewed in this sense, eWOM becomes a strategic and deliberate approach by a com pany to capitalize on good rapport with its clients. Opinion leaders such as celebrities are responsible for the success of eWOM because people trust their views and opinions. Opinion leaders may vary in nature, but their common trait is that they have some influence over portions of the online community. Opinion leaders are not only celebrities. They include fashion bloggers, critics, and the dominant or active members of online communities. Opinion leaders control the discussions held through eWOM when they give their views to their online audience. These views often make the difference between the success and failure of a product. One of the significant challenges facing eWOM is the presence of wrong information. In fact, eWOM suffers from many problems associated with communication such as noise and distortion. Consumers have the duty of sifting through their sources in order to assess the credibility of the information provided. Another challenge associated with WOM is that it relies on the subjective experiences of individual when using a product. The experiences that people usually have with products are not necessarily universal. Therefore, there is a high the risk of finding false information in the eWOM network. Secondly, the anonymity of the internet makes eWOM risky. Fraudsters attempt to use eWOM networks to take advantage of unsuspecting consumer. Despite these challenges, many consumers still rely on eWOM to find information to help them to make purchasing decisions. Online Communities The emergence and proliferation of online communities is giving consumers more avenues for sharing information and experiences relating to products in the market place. Online communities are an extension of human social organization found in other spheres. These communities exist in various forms such as online forums, bulletin boards, and newsgroups. Usually, online communities arise from shared interests. The major output derived from online communities is info rmation. The tools for encoding and sharing information have increased in number and efficiency since the popular acceptance of the internet as a means of global community. The multiplicity of online information outlets is giving consumers a wide range of opportunities to upload information using video, audio, pictures, and text as they share their experiences with other consumers. A large percentage of communication stills takes place in the real world without the assistance of technology. Consumers interact with their friends during social functions, where they obtain advice on their purchasing choices. This notwithstanding, there is an increase in the number of people using the internet to access services because of the increasing confidence in electronic commerce. People are spending increasing amounts of time online, especially in the social media. This trend is likely to increase the volume of electronic commerce. The Theory of Social Comparison and the Theory of Reasoned Acti on are ideal for explaining the dynamics of eWOM and the extent to which eWOM influences the buying intentions of consumers of designer products. A study conducted to ascertain the role that travel blogs play in tourist purchase decisions found that tourists do not always rely on rational calculations based on cost benefit analysis when making the decision to visit tourist destinations. They use eWOM from blogs that talk about tourist issues to determine whether they will visit a certain place or not. Travel blogs also host adverts from various tourism-related businesses. The level of involvement of the blog in the issues tends to influence the effectiveness of the adverts placed on their sites. The adverts have a big impact because of the contextual placement of advertisements. While this is going on, marketers carry the responsibility of maintaining the brand reputation of their products because strong brands get better exposure to online traffic when they advertise on travel blog s. Electronic Word of Mouth is evolving along the same lines as the evolution of social media. As indicated earlier, offline WOM is a force to reckon with in social structures that are enclosed within physical boundaries. On the other hand, eWOM uses the power of the internet to do away with boundaries. This ensures that information within the eWOM network reaches audiences in various parts of the world. The success of eWOM arises from the number of people that now receive information via the internet. For instance, news about a new product spreads very quickly in the internet. This shows that eWOM has a very large impact on the transfer of information. Apart from the simple acquisition of knowledge, consumers have faith in the information they derive from eWOM, making it one of the most influential decision support systems in the purchase of electronic products. At the same time, the increasing use of smart phones in Thailand makes it very easy for consumers to access information v ia eWOM networks. The possession of a smart phone is a status symbol in Thai urban areas, and the unfettered access to internet is consistent with the image of luxurious living that many people aspire to have. A study in China showed that people are likely to generate and distribute information via eWOM networks if a product gives them a good feeling. It seems that eWOM derives its energy from the human desire to share good news. In other words, eWOM is the result of relationship marketing. In recent years, the concept of viral marketing has surfaced, also aided by online media. Viral marketing works similarly to eWOM, but it has a higher degree of intensity. It comes about when consumers identify strongly with the marketing campaign or the product. Products that go viral usually receive a large amount of attention over a small period. Uptake of Instagram in Thailand The main objective of the research project will be to study the role that the social media plays in the marketing of luxury products in Thailand. The impact of social media varies from one segment to another, which then means that an effective study must focus on one industry. The industry of interest in this project is the fashion and design industry. The emergence of Instagram as one of the leading smart phone applications in Thailand has intensified the exchange of eWOM among Thai consumers . Instagram is making it relatively easy for the public to access reliable information via eWOM by following celebrities who have Instagram accounts. Instagram is very compatible with the consumer culture in Thailand. According to a Bangkok-based brand agency called Zocialrank, Instagram has become very popular in Thailand. Instagram has more than 150,000 users in Thailand who have already uploaded over 11 million photos. This makes Thailand one of the largest users of Instagram. Thai people keep up with new trends by following celebrities through Instagram in order to find out the current â€Å"must haveâ €  items. One of the clearest indictors of this trend is the following that a single celebrity can command in Thailand. The actor Aum Patcharapa has almost one and a half million followers on Instagram. Marketing campaigns in Thailand use celebrities to promote products. Celebrity endorsements spur consumers to buy the products based on the notion that the products are superior. Instagram allows celebrities and marketing companies to post pictures showing the celebrities promoting the latest trends in the fashion industry. Customers get a glimpse of the new products as well as their favorite celebrities adorning the fashion items. The element of Instagram that makes it stand out as a platform that support eWOM is that it eases the sharing of photos. This means that people can share photos showing celebrities wearing the latest fashion items. This makes Instagram a very powerful tool in eWOM marketing, and influences consumer decision making. Research indicates that the physical a ppearance of a storefront can influence buying behavior. In the context of eWOM, a good-looking store will attract positive eWOM, which can then drive up its sales. This shows that customers want to associate with well-to-do brands. A research project was undertaken to find out whether being a fan or a follower of a celebrity changed the purchasing behavior of an individual. The researchers found that more than half of the fans were likely to purchase or recommend a product endorsed by the person they are following. Celebrity Endorsement Studies conducted to determine the impact of celebrity endorsements on brands show that celebrities increase the visibility of a brand, and create positive attitudes towards the brand. Endorsements from celebrities also increase brand loyalty and set the stage for positive eWOM for the brand. Celebrities influence consumer choices when consumers imitate the dressing mode and character of the celebrities. Wei and Lu (2013) examined how the relationsh ip between celebrity endorsements and online customer reviews can influence the shopping behavior of female consumers. The research revealed that although the image of a celebrity creates a positive impact on buying behavior, consumers hesitate from buying the endorsed product if the endorsement is perceived to be a commercial campaign. However, the same consumers will rely more on customer reviews written by other consumers to make buying decisions. Consumers prefer to ape the celebrities but frown upon direct calls by the same celebrities to buy the products. Consumers look at the pictures and the lifestyles of the celebrities to find out the brands they are wearing. They use their findings to decide on which products to buy based on the assumption that the celebrity likes the product. An experiment by economic psychologists found that celebrities are more persuasive than people who are not famous even if the other people are as attractive as the celebrities. Respondents displayed a stronger intention to purchase a product when it was presented in close association with a celebrity. The effectiveness of celebrity endorsement usually depends on the greater cultural constructs of the specific country or region. The two main perspectives in this regard are whether the dominant cultural philosophy in the region is individualism or collectivism. Individualism refers to cultures with a high level of autonomy. In such societies, people tend to rely on social structures developed by the state rather that a culturally derived one. Countries such as Thailand have had a long time to evolve as a people. This has given the country the opportunity to streamline its collective aspirations, which has led to a homogenous worldview among the Thai people. A study designed to compare how a person’s attachment to a celebrity affects buying behavior revealed that a person who feels strongly attached to a celebrity is likely to make purchasing decisions based on a single en dorsement by the celebrity. On the other hand, multiple endorsements from a celebrity in regards to multiple products or multiple endorsements of the same product, adversely affected the purchasing decisions of the people who felt strongly attached to the celebrity. On the contrary, multiple endorsements increased the likelihood of making a positive purchasing decision among those who did not feel strongly attached to the celebrity. This finding illustrates that while the celebrities have the ability to influence purchasing behavior, their influence must be exercised with care to achieve maximum impact. However, Wei and Lu (2012) who carried out research on the relationship between endorsements and purchasing behavior were not focusing on Instagram. This means that their findings should not be generalized to all forms of eWOM. Some studies support the positive impact of eWOM on the buying decision of consumers. Other studies support the positive impact of celebrity endorsements on b uying decision. A Study in Thailand showed that the four factors that influenced consumer behavior were physical factors, personal identity, lifestyle, and store environment. This study did not include the role of eWOM, or social media on how consumers make their decisions. Therefore, there is need for fresh research into the impact of Instagram and social media in general on consumer behavior in Thailand. This research project intends to fill this gap by examining the impact of Instagram as part of eWOM, on Thailand’s consumer behavior. A study that was evaluating the role of visual elements in advertisements that utilized social media platforms found that the visual elements that attracted the highest number of users were shock and sex appeal. Sex appeal can go hand in hand with celebrity endorsement if the celebrity in question is also a sex symbol. A good example is actor Aum Patchrapa, who is not only a well-known celebrity, but also a sex symbol. This project intends to take a specific look at the role celebrity endorsements on Instagram play in consumer purchasing decisions. Methodology The research philosophy chosen for this project is positivism. The choice of this paradigm comes from the need to quantify the impact that Instagram has on consumer choices in Thailand. The research project will not be aiming at proving the impact, but rather measuring the impact. Positivism is ideal for proving objective reality. Positivism asserts that a scientist is capable of using a scientific perspective in the observation of a social behavior in order to perform objective analysis. Data analysis for a research project undertaken using a positivist philosophy requires using quantitative methods to describe large-scale phenomenon. In this case, it will be necessary to use quantitative research methods to ensure that the data is analyzed in line with the dimensions of the problem. The results developed from the data analysis will show the level of influence th at eWOM has on consumer decisions in Thailand’s fashion industry. The results will also show consumer behavior and the underlying market forces driving online commerce in Thailand. Data collection will be done using survey instruments developed for the project. A survey is the best tool for collecting a large pool of data. Surveys are considered rigid in comparison to other research tools such as interviews. However, they provide the only realistic way of dealing with a large data set. In order to make sense out of the data, it is imperative to identify the dependent and independent variables that can help in the identification of consumer characteristics in the Thai market. The main tool for data collection will be an online questionnaire. The target group identified for the project is Thai females aged 18-30. The total number of respondents for the project will be 400 individuals. The social class targeted in the survey is the young women from middle class families living i n the urban areas of Bangkok. The inclusion criteria for the respondents will include a range of dimensions such as the fulfillment of personal desires. The goal of this approach is to ensure that the sample contains respondents who have varying economic power because it will help to determine whether purchasing power affects purchasing behavior when it comes to fashion products. The survey will be divided into the following four sections. The first section will deal with the demographic profile of the respondents. The second and third sections will deal with their Instagram use habits and the degree of reliance on eWOM for decision making when it comes to fashion products purchases. The fourth section will deal with impact of eWOM from celebrities on the purchasing behavior of the respondents. The extent of influence on each of these measures will be captured using Likert Scales. The level of influence will have a five point Likert scale with â€Å"1† corresponding to  "strongly disagree†, and â€Å"5† corresponding to, â€Å"strongly agree†. 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