ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the nature of personal theories and beliefs by examining how they have been defined, their origins and the impact they may have on teaching and learning. A selection of research studies illustrate ways in which teachers’ personal theories and beliefs can influence the development, academic achievement, behaviour and motivation levels of their pupils. These highlight the need for teachers to subject personal theories and beliefs to careful scrutiny and critical analysis to make explicit the taken-for-granted assumptions, ideologies and intuitive screens we may have about teaching which can unwittingly underpin much of our work. Bandura’s social cognitive theory has been introduced and drawn on to explain, in part, how the decisions teachers make and ways in which they exercise control and personal agency in the classroom are strongly influenced not only by self-efficacy beliefs but also the collective efficacy of those with whom they work.
