Personal Construct Psychology as a framework for research into teacher and learner thinking

Some illuminating ELT studies associated with CALS have used Personal Construct Psychology as their theoretical framework. Results suggest that PCP is useful for researchers who wish to understand teacher and learner thinking from the inside: ‘the world of lived experience from the point of view of those who live it’ (Schwandt, 1994: 118). In Section I the fundamentals of PCP are outlined. Section II contains a justification for its use. Section III summarizes two Ph.D. studies (in language learners’ perceptions of the curriculum and student teachers’ changing constructions of good teaching), which exemplify the usefulness of PCP as a framework. In Section IV some issues relevant to supervision are discussed: research values, validity, and the scope of PCP in intercultural studies.