Pakistani tertiary teachers' beliefs and perceptions about the teaching-learning continuum: A case Study

Abstract

Perceptions about teaching, oft described as an “honourable or noble profession” in contexts such as Pakistan, appear to be undergoing a shift, though perhaps not at the same pace as in the Western world.Studies conducted in the West specially conclude that teacher education programmes need to be responsive to possible shifts in belief and value systems.

The present study sought to examine the crucial qestion through investigating Pakistani tertiary teachers’ beliefs, perceptions and values related to their teaching-learning situations and higher education in Pakistan.The study used mixed methods to explore its main and subsidiary research questions. The focus of this research study was to obtain rich descriptions (Geertz, 2003) of the phenomena being investigated. Accordingly, though a mixed model approach was employed to collect qualitative and quantitative data, the data analysis framework was primarly qualitative and entailed engaging in an extended content analysis of the data sets. This is a baseline study that provides descriptive data on a vastly under-researched areaand needs to be followed up with larger studies across Pakistan.