Pre-service Teacher Education Students' Epistemological Beliefs and Their Conceptions of Teaching

Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 25, Issue 2, February 2009, P. 319-327.

A study using both quantitative and qualitative methods was conducted in the final year of a Bachelor of Education program. The study explored the student-teachers' epistemological beliefs and conceptions of teaching. The results show that most of the student-teachers (i) strongly believed that learning effort was more important than innate ability, (ii) strongly believed that knowledge changes, and (iii) were inclined to question the authority of knowledge. Although student-teachers who had sophisticated or mixed epistemological beliefs tended to believe in constructivist or mixed conceptions of teaching as predicted, inconsistent cases were identified. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.