Onderwysers se selfpersepsies

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)The purpose of this study is to determine what teachers' beliefs are concerning their profession: their tasks and behavior: their beliefs about themselves as educators: whether these beliefs enhance effective teaching: and how to ensure that teachers' beliefs about themselves are positive. If teachers make a difference in the classroom, it is essential to explore the perceptions teachers believe to be true about themselves. Although very little research has been done to determine what teachers believe about themselves, current research has indicated beyond doubt that teachers' beliefs and perceptions can no longer be regarded as of minor importance and has found that the teacher's beliefs about himself and his students, are the most important factors which determine the success of a teaching program. The point of departure is the Perceptual tradition and Self-concept theory. This tradition operates on the premise that all behavior is a function of the individual's perceived world. Each person has a unique system of perceptions about self and this self-concept: causes behavior and is selective as far as the assimilation of other perceptions is concerned. This tradition maintains that each person is a conscious agent who considers, constructs, interprets and then acts. Research was undertaken to investigate the beliefs that teachers hold true about themselves in respect of certain characteristics of the effective teacher as described in earlier research. The database is a conversion of the Invitational Teaching Survey (ITS) and was used to study aspects of this phenomenon. The data involved was analyzed by means of Chi-square, a cluster analysis and a factor analysis