Investigating the relationship between teachers' teaching beliefs and their affinity for lifelong learning: The mediating role of change tendencies

In today's era of rapid change, lifelong learning is one of the most important ways for individuals to keep up with social, cultural, economic and technological developments. This applies especially to the teaching profession, which shapes the future of societies by teaching students how to construct knowledge. The aim of the study presented here was to investigate the mediating role of change tendencies in the relationship between teachers' teaching beliefs and their affinity for lifelong learning. Using three existing questionnaires (the "Teaching Beliefs Scale", the "Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory", and the "Change Tendencies Scale"), the research team collected responses from 288 teachers (147 female, 141 male) serving in public secondary schools in the province of Karaman, Turkey. In their analysis of the data, the researchers found a significant negative relationship between teachers' traditional (teacher-centred) teaching belief, change tendencies and lifelong learning affinity; whereas the relationship between a constructivist (student-centred) teaching belief, change tendencies and lifelong learning affinity turned out to be significantly positive. The results seem to indicate that change tendencies fully mediate the relationship between teaching beliefs and lifelong learning affinity. Based on these results, the authors conclude that teachers' potential openness to change - and their affinity for lifelong learning - are greater when their teaching is guided by a student-centred approach than when they adhere to a teacher-centred perspective.