How Teaching Styles Develop: Beliefs about Teaching
Beliefs are often mistaken for attitudes, values, judgments, opinions, ideologies, and so on (Pajares, 1992) , and currently there is not a standard definition for what the term belief means (Pedersen & Liu, 2003). However, for the purposes of this study, beliefs are subjective ideas about what we think is true about our world and about ourselves and are formed through our interactions with the world.
Since teaching beliefs are a product of personal beliefs and values about knowledge, society, education, and politics (Kagan, 1992) , as well as a process of enculturation and social construction (Pajares, 1992) , it may be impossible to separate teaching beliefs from life beliefs. Woods (1993) points out that the personal dispositions and experiences accumulated over the years help shape the professional role of teacher as it is subjectively experienced, meaning we are a product of our experiences and environment, and that is reflected in our profession. As Pajares reminds us, all teachers hold beliefs about their work, students, subject and roles, and responsibilities (1992) . For example, if a teacher believes that all students have an equal ability to learn, this belief will be reflected in methodology and teaching style. If a teacher believes that males are particularly suited for science and math, and females for language and reading, this becomes a part of teaching beliefs in that a teacher may teach males differently in subjects like language, and teach females differently in the sciences. The methods a teacher chooses for these educational situations will reflect his/her own beliefs (see Cuban, 1984, p. 245). Two teachers may have similar knowledge, but teach in very different ways. This would indicate that beliefs are more powerful than knowledge in understanding how teachers make decisions (Ernest, 1989) . Consequently, Pajares has called teacher beliefs a "messy construct" (1992, p. 307).
Kagan (1992) says that teacher beliefs are stable and resistant to change, even in the face of contradictory evidence such as reason, time, or experience (Pajares, 1992) . Pajares goes further,
Belief change during adulthood is a relatively rare phenomenon, the most common cause being a conversion from one authority to another or a gestalt shift. Individuals tend to hold on to beliefs based on incorrect or incomplete knowledge, even after scientifically correct explanations are presented to them. (1992, p. 325)
Pajares believes that beliefs about teaching are well established by the time a student goes to college. What this essentially means is that teacher beliefs or beliefs about teaching are formed early, are difficult to change, and may not be based on rationality nor on the latest educational research.
Teaching Style and Instructional Technology
At least one study has found that teachers who were committed to using technology in the classroom were also committed to using technology in their daily lives (Galloway, 1997) . This commitment to using instructional technology reflects a personal value system or pedagogical belief(Becker, 2000). If technology is important and there is an educational value in its use, then its value is more likely to become a part of a teacher's beliefs about teaching, and its use possibly incorporated into teaching style. Applied to the classroom, these beliefs are played out through choice of methods, which would mean incorporation of instructional technology into the classroom. Zhao and Cziko (2001) point out that using technology requires pedagogic changes, and some teachers do not share the same philosophy fixed in these changes. Their example is that the use of technology involves a more student-centered approach to education that some teachers do not philosophically accept. To incorporate technology would mean to abandon a potentially life-long belief about teaching and learning. Becker (2000) found that there was a clear relationship between teaching philosophy and whether a teacher used computers with students. For example, at least two studies suggest that teachers who use computers in the classroom are more constructivist than teachers who do not (Becker, 2000; Dexter et al., 1999) . Lumpe and Chambers (2001) posit that these beliefs toward technology use are "most likely formed during time spent in the classroom either as teachers or students. These experiences help form teacher beliefs that may or may not be consistent with the literature about best practice," (p. 94). Pedersen and Liu (2003) similarly believe that teacher implementation is tied to experiences the instructor had both as a student and as a teacher.
Summary
A person's identity is a social construction. Beliefs are a part of identity, and therefore arguably also socially constructed. It follows then that beliefs about teaching are socially constructed as well. These beliefs are guides and determiners for the classroom decisions that we make as teachers. If a faculty member does not believe in instructional technology as an appropriate methodology, it may influence incorporation. Much research has been done to determine why faculty choose not to readily incorporate technology into their teaching. There are extrinsic barriers that prevent incorporation, such as a lack of institutional and financial support, lack of time, lack of technical knowledge, and reliability of the technology. There are also intrinsic barriers. Even though there has been a wealth of research into both types of barriers, the focus in terms of faculty development has been on overcoming the extrinsic barriers. Faculty support centers on college campuses nationwide have been designing and conducting technology workshops that have focused design and resources on eradicating the extrinsic barriers that faculty face in the quest to incorporate technology. This extrinsic barrier focus of the workshops may be the reason that incorporation has generally been slow and sporadic. To improve and increase faculty technology incorporation, resource centers must first understand the beliefs that faculty hold, and then address these beliefs in terms of teaching style and instructional technology.