12 Chapter 1 To summarise, this study focuses on how medical educators working in learning-centred educational contexts can develop their perspectives on being a teacher, and how these perspectives relate to their beliefs about teaching and learning. This will provide insights into the development of medical educators, and may uncover important tools and strategies to facilitate faculty development in medical schools, benefitting the education of future health care professionals. To give an introduction into the research of beliefs about teaching and learning, and perspectives on being a teacher, we will first define and describe terms commonly used in this research. This is followed by an overview of current insights into beliefs about teaching and learning including existing classifications of these beliefs. Subsequently, we will further elaborate on what is known about perspectives on being a teacher. We will describe a theoretical model, developed previously in teacher education, which we used to explore educators’ perspectives on being a teacher. According to the model, beliefs are largely influenced by identity and mission as a teacher. However, little is known in the medical education research literature about the relationship between beliefs on the one hand and identity and mission on the other. This empirical gap is subsequently also addressed in our work: how medical educators’ beliefs about teaching and learning are related to their educational identity and mission. Finally, since little is known about the development of medical educators’ perspectives on being a teacher over time, we will discuss the need to increase our understanding of how educators develop their perspectives on being a teacher, to help promote the maturation of educators towards more learningcentred beliefs and behaviours. Description of terms Medical educator A medical educator, according to the Glossary of Medical Education Terms, is a professional who focuses on the educational process necessary to transform students into physicians.29 The term often refers to professionals who, in addition to teaching, fulfil other educational roles, such as curriculum design and evaluation, educational leadership and innovation, as well as research in education.30 Since in this study we deliberately selected professionals with longterm teaching experience and multiple educational roles in medical schools, we have adopted the term ‘medical educator’ to describe the participants in our studies.
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