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Borg’s model of TC is significant as it depicts teachers’ personal dimensions of teaching, as well as the social and contextual dimensions of teaching (Underwood, 2012). According to Borg (2003), what teachers do in classrooms is linked to what they know, think and believe. The overarching relationship between TC, classroom practice and related factors can be presented in Figure 3.5 below.

Figure 3.5 Teacher Cognition, Schooling, Professional Education, and Classroom Practice (Borg, 2003, p.82)

The figure above indicates that the development of TC is influenced by teachers’ learning experience as students, teachers’ classroom practices, teachers’ professional coursework, and various contextual factors which can be viewed as the four sources of TC. Borg’s concept of TC is in line with the argument from Breen et al. (2001) that when interacting with complex classroom factors, teachers classroom work is strongly affected by their knowledge, which is derived from training, learning experience and their teaching career. As such, to apply the SFL genre pedagogy as a pedagogical innovation, it is therefore necessary to understand teacher participants’ initial sources of cognition. On this basis, teachers’ perceptions of the SFL genre pedagogy can more easily be understood. It can also help to illustrate the impact of pedagogical training on TC as well as on their teaching practices (as will be done in the current study).

Teachers’ schooling experience (experience of learning as a learner) is the first major influence on TC and provides teachers with an image of teaching behaviour and constructs teachers’ initial perceptions of teaching (Borg, 2003, 2006; Johnson, 1994; Richardson, 1996). Teachers establish their beliefs of teaching through their experience as learners, which is also referred to as “craft

knowledge” (Calderhead, 1996, p.717) or “the wisdom of practice” (Shulman, 1987, p.11). Similarly, Lotie (1975) asserts that teachers generate an idea of what teaching is through ‘apprenticeship of observation’. Through personal experience, teachers create their image of what a teacher should be like (Clandinin, 1985; Elbaz, 1983). Teachers’ memories from their learning experience as students contribute to teachers’ decisions about images of teaching materials, classroom activities and organizations, and teachers (Johnson, 1994). For example, teachers’ beliefs regarding teaching and learning writing start to develop when they are learning how to write in their primary schools as a student. This early experience continues to influence teachers’ beliefs regarding learning writing and even teaching pedagogy in their own careers as teachers. In short, from teachers’ schooling experience, teachers generate their initial concept of ‘what teaching is’, ‘what teachers should be like’ and ‘how to teach’. Arıoğul (2007) argues that this schooling experience helps teachers to better understand their students and make instructional decisions. Therefore, investigating teacher participants’ schooling experience was particularly useful in understanding teachers’ initial pedagogical choices in teaching writing.

The second influence on TC is contextual factors, which also influence teaching practices. Contextual factors refer to social, psychological and environmental realities of schools and classrooms (Borg, 1998). As illustrated in Figure 3.5, the types of contextual factors impacting TC are diverse. Borg (2003) points out that teaching practices are shaped by all those contextual realities and sometimes they may hinder teachers’ ability to adopt practices that reflect their real beliefs. This argument is in line with the viewpoint from Anning (1988) and Yinger and Hendricks-Lee (1993) that teacher knowledge lies within the interaction of particular contexts and situations, and that teaching involves interacting within these systems. Contextual factors could also shape teacher participants’ beliefs in the SFL genre pedagogy in the present study. As a consequence, attention should be paid to those factors when analysing the relationship between teachers’ cognition about the genre pedagogy and teachers’ implementation practices.

Another factor influencing TC is classroom practice, which is highlighted as the most important factor influencing the development of TC (Richardson, 1996; Tsui, 2003). Borg (2003) explains that practice and cognition influence each other: On the one hand, the interaction of TC and contextual factors result in classroom practice; on the other hand, teachers’ classroom practices impact TC. Borg’s viewpoint is in line with Anning’s (1988) concept that teachers develop their practical skills by interacting with complex contextual factors within classroom teaching. In this sense, teacher participants’ stated beliefs concerning the SFL genre pedagogy are shaped not only by teachers’ schooling experience and contextual factors, but also by the results of interaction between implementation practice and the contextual factors.

Professional coursework (professional training) is the final influence that impacts TC in Borg’s model. While researchers argue about the great impact of training, they also point out the variables of changes between teachers, and discuss the relationship between changes in TC and teaching practice. Even though some researchers (e.g. Kagan, 1990; Peacock, 2001) state that the impact of teacher education is not significant, in many cases researchers (e.g. Baker, 2011; Borg, 1998; Freeman, 1993; Johnson, 1994) have demonstrated the powerful influence of professional training on TC, which is clearly reflected in their teaching practices. Moreover, previous studies (Borg, 2003) also attest to the varied extent to which changes take place in TC after teachers undertake professional training. Borg’s concept is supported by a more recent study by Baker (2011). She revealed that the training teacher participants had received as part of their Masters-level coursework strongly affected their cognition, albeit to varying degrees. For three of the teachers studied, their graduate education was found to strongly impact their teaching practice. By contrast, the influence on the other two teachers was minimal. In Almarza’s view (1996), the variety of the teachers’ acceptance of the value of their formal training appeared to be largely influenced by their individual experience prior to the training. These research findings in relation to the impact of training on TC suggest that the training in the SFL genre pedagogy would impact teacher participants’ cognition in the present study, but the extent to which changes happened to their TC probably varied between teachers.

While identifying professional coursework as a source impacting TC, Borg (2003) also argues that the relationship between TC and teaching behaviours during, or as a result of, teacher education is not definite. A change in TC may not necessarily imply changes in teaching practices. For example, Freeman (1993) concluded earlier in a longitudinal study that in contrast to a clear impact on TC, the influence of the education program on teachers’ classroom behaviour was inconclusive. Some behavioural changes were revealed in teaching practices and some remained unchanged. This result suggested that the professional training in the SFL genre pedagogy would lead to inconsistent changes in teacher participants’ cognition about the genre pedagogy and implementation practices. The four sources in Borg’s model of TC are widely applied in research on TC, and are therefore important considerations in subsequent research on the same area, such as in the current study.

There are three main reasons why this TC model is a suitable framework for this study. To start with, the relationships between TC and classroom practice, and associated factors in those two areas, are clearly illustrated in this model. Furthermore, Borg’s model could help to figure out the contextual factors that might influence teachers’ cognitions and/or practices. Last but not least, because the investigation of the current study was based on workshop trainings in the SFL genre pedagogy as a pedagogical change, Borg’s model was appropriate in illustrating to what extent teacher participants’ beliefs and practices were shaped by the training, and how much the two were connected to each other. Changes in teacher participants’ cognition and practices could then be compared with their students’ learning outcomes to seek any links. The comparison of results would not only reveal their relationships, but also provide supporting evidence to show the effects of the SFL genre pedagogy in helping students’ learning of writing.