ABSTRACT
In a recent review of research on teachers’ beliefs and practices it was suggested that an accurate portrayal of the relationship between teachers’ situational beliefs, knowledge, teaching behaviours and contextual factors (i.e., cultural environment, life histories and narratives) will contribute to a more complete picture of teachers’ cognitive activity and, ultimately, improve teaching effectiveness (Fang, 1996; p. 51). This chapter attempts to do this by presenting the case of one (high) school teacher of English in some detail. Only one example is provided because work of this kind, in which an external collaborator works with teachers over time, in order to assist in raising to an explicit level the thinking that underpins practice, observe that practice, gather views of practice from other sources, and continue to work with teachers in processes of change, is rarely documented.
