Factors Influencing Primary Teachers' Conceptualisations of Literacy

Abstract

This chapter tries to discover how primary school teachers understand what literacy is and to what extent this conceptualisation is influenced by factors indicated by previous literature, such as training, previous experiences, or beliefs (see Korthagen, 2001; and Pozo et al., 2006), while also considering whether working in a bilingual context or being a bilingual teacher may be influential to produce certain types of definitions. Data was gathered using an online questionnaire directed to teachers in Years 3 and 4 in the Madrid Autonomous Community. The responses from the participants (n=115) were categorised and analysed using SPSS. The findings indicate that most definitions rarely fulfil the requirements to be considered complete or entirely accurate. Results also show that only age is a significant variable in producing better definitions. Finally, the study recommends reshaping and offering appropriate teacher training on literacy to update teachers' knowledge and ultimately boost leads to better learning in the classrooms.