Characterization of Primary School Teachers’ Beliefs about Narrative Writing and their Relationship with Cognitive Style

Introduction

Beliefs constitute internal representations that are formed during the course of a person’s entire life [1] and they can contribute positively or negatively to professional training [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29]. Likewise, Ortega and Gasset [24] point out that these conditions influence thoughts, the way of perceiving reality, value judgments, and the decisions that are chosen or not made as navigation maps that guide the different decisions and practices carried out in the classroom [8]. They can also be transformed through reflection and experience, specifically in pedagogical practice; however, Blázquez, et al. [30] emphasize that they are difficult to modify since they have been built in formal educational contexts, and are deeply rooted. It should be noted that beliefs are usually constant during educational practices, play a causal role in decision-making, and in the development of certain activities proposed by the teacher in the classroom.

From this perspective, it is pertinent to highlight that the beliefs held by teachers influence the choice of activities implemented during the writing process, and consequently affect the quality of the texts. In this regard, White, et al. [31] point out findings from two lines of research, which they called transmissive beliefs and transactional beliefs, related to writing. Both beliefs play a mediating role in the processing of new information, serve as mental examples to construct and evaluate one’s own classroom practice, and influence the didactic transposition that occurs in the different teaching- learning processes [19]. In this regard, people who hold transmissive beliefs have a lower cognitive demand compared to people who hold transactional beliefs Rosales. The last one requires greater mastery, or experience in the writing task. In that sense, transmissive beliefs have been directly associated with reproductive learning of low reflexivity, and meaningfulness. Teachers who hold this type of beliefs understand writing as a unidirectional act in which they act as a simple intermediary that transfers information orally, or in writing, after obtaining it from other sources [16].

On the other hand, transactional beliefs have been related to the construction of meaning, the use of deep processing strategies, the global interpretation of the text, and the recall of information. In this sense, it is understood that people who possess this type of beliefs perceive reading-writing as a dynamic, active and participatory process on the part of those who write the text [21]. Similarly, Hernández and Rodríguez [17] mention that people who present this type of beliefs assume writing as an essentially transformative activity, mediated by the subjectivity of the writer who goes beyond previously known information.

On the other hand, the concept of cognitive style is defined by Hederich and Camargo [15] as the habitual, and constant way a person uses to solve problems, think, perceive, and remember. It is also related to specific conscious, and automatic patterns for processing, storing, and retrieving information, which contributes to the development of knowledge. For his part, Hederich [14] postulates that cognitive style is the result of the combination of several factors, or variables that intervene in individuals, such as: family, cultural, sociocultural, environmental, gender, or age. In this regard, Gero, et al. [12] define cognitive style as the preference of strategies that a person uses to solve a problem. They also argue that difficulties in communication and collaboration between teachers and students increase as the gap between the cognitive styles of the interacting subjects grows.

In summary, transmissive and transactional epistemological beliefs and teachers’ cognitive style play an important role in the configuration of literacy practices [22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33]. In this regard, White, et al. [31] point out that there is a correlation between the type of beliefs about literacy, and its relationship with the field independence-dependence cognitive style. In this sense, it is emphasized that in order to transform or maintain the practices that teachers have about the stages of the writing process, it is necessary to investigate:

What kind of beliefs do language teachers have about the process of writing narrative texts, according to the field independence-dependent cognitive style?

Problematic

The literature shows that the development of literacy contributes significantly to all formative stages, and areas of knowledge of students. However, Borzone [3] and Vine-Jara [33] mention that there are students who finish primary, and secondary school without reading, and writing well. From this perspective, the Saber 5° Standardized Tests that have been applied in Colombia in recent years show that only 1 in 10 students reach a higher level, and 65% of students are at the minimum, and insufficient levels. In this regard, Hernández and Rodríguez [16] emphasize that teachers do not conceive writing as a strategic learning activity, which is why they tend to evaluate more superficial aspects, such as spelling, and punctuation, and not complex aspects, such as critical reading, text coherence, and reflections. It should be emphasized that reading and writing are skills that do not develop naturally, but require intentional actions on the part of teachers in the classroom. Therefore, teachers should guide their students to develop both skills as a learning tool oriented with a real, and explicit purpose [32].

In the same way, Castelló, et al. [6] highlight that students present difficulties in understanding, and producing academic texts. Therefore, students do not have the necessary competencies to assume the writing tasks that are developed every day in the classroom. In the same sense, the difficulties presented by students in academic literacy may derive from various factors. One of them is the beliefs held by elementary school teachers, since according to Piñeros, et al. [26] about 95% conceive writing as a simple activity of moving words, or letters from the board to the notebooks, and not as an act that contributes to represent, analyze, review and transform knowledge [28].

Likewise, Di Stefano and Pereira [9] state that the beliefs held by teachers influence the teaching-learning process of reading and writing. It should be noted that these are the beliefs that guide, influence the selection of strategies, and cognitive operations deployed by the teacher in the classroom. In this sense, it is pertinent to inquire about the beliefs that teachers have regarding the writing of narrative texts, since they are the main ones in charge of determining the dynamics of what happens inside the classroom. However, beliefs have a strong mediating effect on cognitive, linguistic processes, attitudes, and motivation for text composition [10].

Procedure

The research took place in 14 Educational Institutions in the urban sector in different municipalities of Colombia. Once the appointment was arranged with each of the institutions, and with the previous authorization of the principal, and/or coordinator of the educational institution. The researcher implemented the instruments with previous consent of each of the participating teachers. It should be noted that both instruments (questionnaire of transmissive and transactional beliefs and the Masked Figures Test) were applied individually, and in physical format in 1-hour time slots.

Ethical Approval

Each participating teacher signed an informed consent form in which the objective of the research was described and the voluntary participation, and the possibility of withdrawing at any time, without any consequence, was made explicit. Likewise, the confidentiality of the data, and the anonymity of the responses were assured. This is a descriptive study in which two instruments were applied, so it presents no known risks for the participants. The research from which this article was derived, it was approved by the Ethics Committee at Antonio Nariño University.

Statistical Analysis

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25 was used for the statistical analysis. All the data were entered in a Microsoft Excel master spreadsheet, and then processed by the statistical program.

Results

In relation to the cognitive style variable, it is indicated that the score achieved by the participants in the Masked Figures Test (MFT) has a normal distribution. For this sample, the variable yielded a minimum score of 3 points and a maximum score of 50 points. On average, the participating teachers obtained a mean score of 25.11 points with a standard deviation of 11.32. Figure 2 shows the distribution of the cognitive style variable.

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(Source: Investigation data). Figure 2: Results Masked Figures Test.

The following Table presents the scores of the Masked Figures Test grouped into three categories: dependent, intermediate and independent.

On the other hand, the results show that 6 out of 10 teachers present transmissive beliefs (TBM) about the writing process. From this perspective, teachers with this type of beliefs conceive this skill as an act of mobilizing concepts and writing from the board to the notebooks, and not as a process composed of stages that allows representing, analyzing, revising, and transforming knowledge. In relation to this, Daisey, [7] and Munita [23] state that a teacher who values and enjoys reading in his or her personal space, enthusiastically shares his or her passion, and contributes significantly as a mediator between the reading and literary learning of children, and young people.

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(Source: Investigation data). Figure 3: Results Masked Figures Test.

Discussion

The following, it is a description of the beliefs held by teachers about each of the stages of the writing process:

Conclusion

It is highlighted that beliefs have a significant impact on the teaching and learning strategies, and methodological orientations implemented by teachers to develop reading, and writing skills in the classroom. Therefore, exploring how their students learn, and their relationship between cognitive style contributes to performance in academic achievement. It should be noted that the development of both skills corresponds to a competence inherent to the teaching profession, for which one must be motivated, and updated on their work in the classroom [35]. In this sense, the relevance of teachers updating their teaching practice, and knowing not only their beliefs, and cognitive style, but also that of their students, allows them to design contextualized learning strategies to strengthen reading and writing. From this point of view, teachers have the responsibility to promote them in all areas of knowledge, and stages of the educational process.

In accordance with the above, and within the framework of the research, most of the participating teachers have transmissive beliefs about the stages of the writing process called time to: read, plan, write, revise, correct, share, rewrite and publish. Therefore, these teachers still conceive writing as an act of moving concepts from the board, or from books to notebooks; and not as a process that allows representing, analyzing, and transforming knowledge. In particular, about 70% of the participants do not take into account the planning stage when writing a narrative text; then, how are teachers going to motivate, and promote the different stages of the writing process, if they do not implement them in their work? From this point of view, the role of the teacher should be to facilitate meaningful, and comprehensive learning by attending to the needs, and interests of the students. In other words, teachers should approach their students in a critical, argumentative, and proactive manner, taking into account the characteristics of the activities, and resources, contents, and cognitive components, teaching, and evaluation methods, motivational components, and the student’s own implications in learning. Also consider schedule, scenarios, behaviors, procedures, among others, for greater academic performance according to the characteristics of the context, and the strategies implemented by students to access knowledge.

In summary, the classroom is one of the best scenarios to motivate, and promote the development of reading and writing. In this sense, the teaching-learning process of these skills improves when teachers reflect on their beliefs related to the writing of narrative texts. However, other variables should be considered, such as the learning style when performing a task and the student’s ability to self- regulate learning, according to his or her preferences, and to appropriate the elements required for academic achievement. From this perspective, it is understood that both, teacher and student are active subjects of an intentional, planned, and systematic educational process in which processes, difficulties, and needs are taken into account in order to provide, and develop meaningful activities; that is, activities that favor learning, and engage students in their work in the educational context.

Conflict of Interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.