Influenced by the cognitive revolution in psychology, the popularity of qualitative research paradigm, and the conception of the teacher as a thoughtful professional, teacher education researchers have, in the past decade or so, demonstrated growing interest in aspects of teacher thought processes (e.g., teacher planning and teachers\u27 theories and beliefs) and their relationship to sound pedagogical practices in the classroom. This signals that research on teaching and learning have shifted from a unidirectional emphasis on correlates of observable teacher behavior with student achievement to a focus on teachers\u27 thinking, beliefs, planning, and decision-making processes (Clark and Peterson, 1986). This new line of research has generated findings that are of practical implications for teacher education (Ashton, 1990)
