| This study investigated teachers' implicit theories and beliefs about teaching and learning and their perceptions of the relationship between their beliefs and the implementation of a complex curricular innovation. The study was focused on what teachers say about their practice, recognizing that the capacity to talk about practice may differ from practice itself.;Twelve teachers working in one public elementary school in a large urban school district located in the Midwest were the centerpiece of this project. The two-way bilingual approach to second language acquisition is the innovation providing the study's context.;The primary method of data collection employed to uncover the teachers' implicit theories and beliefs was a semi-structured interview format shaped around a modified version of the repertory grid technique and a think aloud exercise about the ways teachers would approach a given set of dilemmas in teaching, which arise when implementing the innovation. The semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire were used to obtain information about the participants' perceptions of the relationship between their implicit theories and beliefs and the implementation of the innovation.;The study documented the teachers' beliefs and theories about teaching and learning, in general, and second language acquisition, in particular. It also documented the teachers' perceptions of the relationship of their implicit theories and beliefs to the way they implemented a curricular innovation, which has very specific principles embedded in it.;The study found that, for the most part, the teachers' beliefs and the principles embedded in the innovation were in sync. However, the teachers' confusion about whether a child must be literate in his/her first language before learning a second language, caused most of the teachers to abandon an essential principle of the innovation. All of the teachers were deeply committed to having the children learn the second language, but they were unwilling to let them fall behind in learning the subject matter content.;The findings of this study support previous research about the relationship between teachers' beliefs and the ways teachers respond to curricular innovations. It has implications for practitioners, staff developers, curriculum designers, and policymakers attempting to change instructional practices. |
