Initial Epistemological Beliefs Transformation in One Teacher Education Classroom: Case Study of Four Preservice Teachers

This article was published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 26, Issue 6,
Author(s): Madalina Tanase and Jian Wang, “Initial Epistemological Beliefs Transformation in One Teacher Education Classroom: Case Study of Four Preservice Teachers“, Pages 1238-1248, Copyright Elsevier (August 2010).

Education literature suggests that preservice teachers hold similar initial beliefs, viewing the teacher as the authority figure passing knowledge to the students.
In consistency with constructivist practice, these beliefs should be challenged to enable the preservice teachers to develop alternative ideas, seeing the students capable of constructing knowledge with the help of the teacher. These beliefs are found difficult to change in the course environment.

This study examined the beliefs of four preservice teachers in an introduction methods course. The data for this study were collected through surveys and teaching observations The results showed that the four participants had different epistemological beliefs, some beliefs being more resistant to change than others.