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What Do Teachers Believe? Capturing Accounting Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Beliefs in the Context of Educational Reforms in China

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Abstract

This study develops a framework for describing the components and variations of pedagogic content beliefs (PCBs) held by accounting teachers in vocational schools in Shanghai. Semistructured interviews were held with 17 in-service teachers from four vocational schools in Shanghai. The findings show that the PCBs of accounting teachers are a complex that contains five components: maximizing students' learning opportunities in accounting, accounting content organization, epistemic conviction about accounting knowledge, accounting learning purposes, and causes of students' learning difficulties in accounting. Although teachers' responses show that the average endorsement of constructivist beliefs was stronger than that of traditional beliefs, it has been proven that the reform-oriented ideas are not transmitted equally in each component of teachers' PCBs. The variations of beliefs between individual teachers are inspected in relation to their teaching experience. By reflecting on the findings in relation to international empirical research on teachers' beliefs, we suggest that it is important to understand the variation in teacher beliefs and recognize the specific needs of teachers at different stages.

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Notes

  1. “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan of the National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Vision for 2035” [EB/OL]. http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021-03/13/content_5592681.htm, 2021-03-28.

  2. Global beliefs refer to teachers’ perception about the nature of the subject knowledge, entity beliefs about teaching subject, and beliefs about subject abilities.

  3. The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) found that among 23 countries surveyed, the average endorsement of constructivist beliefs was stronger than that of direct transmission beliefs among lower secondary teachers (OECD, 2009).

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Funding

Funding was provided by Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (Grant No. DJA190343).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tourism college, Shanghai Normal University, No.500, Haixu Road, Fengxian District, Shanghai, 201418, China

    Yijun Zhou

  2. Institut für Berufsbildung, Tongji University, Gebäude Jishi, Zi. 355 Caoan Highway Nr.4800, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Jianping Zheng

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  1. Yijun Zhou
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Correspondence to Yijun Zhou.

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Zhou, Y., Zheng, J. What Do Teachers Believe? Capturing Accounting Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Beliefs in the Context of Educational Reforms in China. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 32, 507–515 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-022-00672-3

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