Greek-Cypriot elementary teachers’ epistemological beliefs about mathematics

Drawing on data from the Republic of Cyprus, this paper uncovers elementary teachers' epistemological beliefs about mathematics. Twenty-two experienced teachers were invited to individual semi-structured interviews. Thematic data-driven analyses identified three themes and eight sub-themes, which I discuss, taking their socio-cultural context into consideration. This study suggests that applying predetermined frameworks directly taken from the literature when examining teachers’ epistemological beliefs in mathematics can be problematic, as they might hinder other culturally specific beliefs from emerging. In closing, this paper presents some implications for the results on teacher education and professional development, as well as ideas for future research.     

Early childhood and elementary preservice teachers’ beliefs

Abstract

In this study we examined 382 preservice teachers’ perceived efficacy, their beliefs regarding teaching and learning, and the relationship between these two variables by analyzing quantitative and qualitative data using a modified version of the Gibson and Dembo Teacher Efficacy Scale and six open‐ended questions. A general linear model analysis revealed that several factors differ across certain preparation programs. Preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs increased at the end of these two different teacher education programs. Qualitative analyzes revealed variance in preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning between the two majors and in the two locations which they were studying. Most ending‐level preservice teachers had adopted the views of the way teachers are supposed to teach promoted by the particular teacher education program. The internal program coherence, program structural contexts, program's goals, and learning experiences in the program may act as important factors on preservice teachers’ beliefs. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

Enhancing student teachers’ epistemological beliefs about models and conceptual understanding through a model-based inquiry process

In this study we present the structure and implementation of a model-based inquiry teaching–learning sequence (TLS) integrating expressive, experimental and exploratory modelling pedagogies in a cyclic manner, with the aim of enhancing primary education student teachers’ epistemological beliefs about the aspects, nature, purpose and change of models as well as their conceptual understanding of light phenomena related to properties of optical fibres. The subjects were 16 prospective primary teachers involved in modelling activities, employing both hands-on experiments and computer modelling activities, based on the application of the ray model. Student teachers were tested before and after the implementation of the TLS by semi-structured interviews and a written questionnaire. Results show that before the TLS most students adopted epistemologically naïve realistic beliefs about models, whereas after the TLS there was an overall significant transition from naïve to more sophisticated epistemological beliefs, as well as significant improvements in their conceptual knowledge about light phenomena. Nevertheless, the relation between epistemological beliefs and conceptual understanding seems to be aspect-dependent, so our evidence suggests that more educational effort is required in order to establish a coherent relationship between them.     

Early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and beliefs about children’s moral learning

There is strong political and social interest in values education both internationally and across Australia. Investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society; however, little is known about early years teachers’ beliefs about moral values teaching and learning. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between Australian early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Three hundred and seventy-nine teachers completed a survey about their personal epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Results indicated that teachers with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs viewed children as capable of taking responsibility for their own moral learning. Conversely, teachers who held more naïve or simplistic personal epistemic beliefs agreed that children need to learn morals through learning the rules for behaviour. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for moral pedagogy in the classroom and teacher professional development. It is suggested that in conjunction with explicitly reflecting on epistemic beliefs, professional development may need to assist teachers to ascertain how their beliefs might relate to their moral pedagogies in order to make any adjustments.     

Irish student teachers’ levels of moral reasoning: context,comparisons, and contributing influences

The moral role of the teacher has long been recognised and this has implications for the selection and education of student teachers. There is growing recognition of the importance of teachers’ capacity to make sound moral judgements and of the influence of teachers’ levels of moral reasoning on their professional practice. The paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study of 102 undergraduate student teachers who completed the DIT 2 measure of moral reasoning, at the beginning, mid-point and end of their four-year degree programme at an Irish university. While these students’ levels of moral reasoning were found to be higher than those of their international peers, more than half of graduating students were reasoning at the conventional level as defined by Kohlberg. These findings are located in the context of Irish education policy and practice. Some possible explanations for the students’ performance are suggested and discussed including their entry characteristics, the status of the teaching profession in Ireland, the nature of their teacher education programme and participation in the Transition Year option.     

The use of case-based learning in the development of student teachers’ levels of moral reasoning

The important role of the teacher in developing morally sensitive individuals is widely acknowledged. This paper examines the integration of context-specific moral development interventions within a four-year undergraduate teacher education programme in Ireland. The intervention strategy employed a case-based pedagogical approach where participants (n = 123) explored and discussed classroom scenarios to prepare them for a six-week school-based placement. Using the Defining Issues Test, results indicate statistically significant increases in levels of moral reasoning post intervention, suggesting that the use of a layered case-based pedagogical strategy provides students with alternative perspectives on their classroom practices and challenges their lay theories.     

The development of student teachers’ research knowledge,beliefs and attitude

This study reports on the development of second-year student teachers’ knowledge of research, and the changes in their beliefs and attitude regarding research during an introductory course at an institute for primary teacher education. Questionnaires and concept maps were administered before and after the course. The results showed that student teachers’ knowledge about research grew during the introductory course and that their positive beliefs about research became more positive, while their negative beliefs about research decreased. A positive change was found concerning the attractiveness of research to student teachers. Furthermore, student teachers’ self-efficacy regarding research appeared related to their beliefs and attitude: the more the student teachers were convinced of their abilities to conduct and use the results of research after the course, the more positive their beliefs and their attitude regarding research were. This study provides guidelines for institutes for teacher education on integrating research activities into their curricula, so that their student teachers develop research knowledge and positive beliefs and attitudes towards research.     

Feedback during active learning: elementary school teachers’ beliefs and perceived problems

Giving feedback during active learning is an important, though difficult, task for teachers. In the present study, the problems elementary school teachers perceive and the beliefs they hold regarding this task were investigated. It appeared that teachers believe conditional teacher skills, especially time management, hinder them most from giving good feedback. The most widely held belief was that “feedback should be positive”. Teachers also believed that it is important to adopt a facilitative way of giving feedback, but they found this difficult to implement. Only some teachers believed goal-directedness and a focus on student meta-cognition were important during active learning and teachers did not perceive problems regarding these aspects. It was discussed whether teachers’ feedback behaviour was in line with these perceived problems and beliefs. The results give directions for the professional development of teachers to improve their feedback during active learning.     

Prospective teachers’ reasoning and response to a student’s non-traditional strategy when dividing fractions

Recognizing meaning in students’ mathematical ideas is challenging, especially when such ideas are different from standard mathematics. This study examined, through a teaching-scenario task, the reasoning and responses of prospective elementary and secondary teachers to a student’s non-traditional strategy for dividing fractions. Six categories of reasoning were constructed, making a distinction between deep and surface layers. The connections between the participants’ reasoning, their teaching response, and their beliefs about mathematics teaching were investigated. We found that there were not only differences but also similarities between the prospective elementary and secondary teachers’ reasoning and responses. We also found that those who unpacked the mathematical underpinning of the student’s non-traditional strategy tended to use what we call “teacher-focused” responses, whereas those doing less analysis work tended to construct “student-focused” responses. These results and their implications are discussed in relation to the influential factors the participants themselves identified to explain their approach to the given teaching-scenario task.

Measuring student teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about family-teacher communication: Scale construction and validation

This article describes the development of a self-report survey measure of student teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about family-teacher communication. Consistent with a guiding conceptual framework (Walker & Dotger, 2012), an exploratory factor analysis (n = 266) suggested a two-factor structure: (1) structuring the conversation (α = .92) and (2) responsiveness to parents (α = .87). Confirmatory factor analysis with a second sample (n = 315) also indicated a good fit between the hypothesized two-factor model and the observed data. Despite their lack of experience, student teachers’ self-efficacy ratings were relatively high. Efficacy for structuring conversations (M = 6.7, SD = 1.02; range = 0–10) was lower than efficacy for responsiveness (M = 7.57, SD = 1.04; difference, -0.83, t(581)=−21.32, p < .01). Development of this measure is important because it underscores the complexity of family-teacher conference communication and the need for teacher competence at separate but related facets of communication. Implications for research and teacher education practices are discussed.     

Measuring student teachers’ practices and beliefs about teaching mathematics using the Rasch model

Several attempts have been made to measure and categorize beliefs and practices of mathematics teachers [Swan, M. 2006. “Designing and Using Research Instruments to Describe the Beliefs and Practices of Mathematics Teachers”. Research in Education 75 (1): 58–70]. One of the reasons for measuring both beliefs and practices is to characterize teachers in terms of the relationship between their beliefs and practices. However, the practice-instruments and the beliefs-instruments discussed in the literature are predominately based on differing constructs. Consequently, it is challenging to compare the relationship between beliefs and practices solely based on these instruments. As such, we argue that practice- and beliefs-instruments based on the same construct would be desirable when both beliefs and practices are at stake. This paper presents two Rasch-calibrated instruments that measure the level of teacher-centredness with respect to student teachers’ practices and beliefs about teaching mathematics. From a sample of 160 student teachers, 15 items have been established as being beneficial for measurement, both when the items are translated as practice items and when translated as beliefs items. By studying the invariance between both translations, we conclude that measures from both instruments can be directly compared.     

Changing preservice teachers’ epistemological beliefs about teaching and learning in mathematics: An intervention study

We investigated a theoretical model including an instructional intervention and systematic processing to account for change in preservice teachers’ epistemological beliefs about teaching and learning in mathematics. General and subject-specific epistemological beliefs and systematic processing were assessed in 161 preservice teachers, randomly assigned to an experimental group whose epistemological beliefs about mathematics were activated and challenged through augmented activation and refutational text or to a control group who read a traditional expository text. The model was partially supported. The treatment group receiving the instructional intervention demonstrated greater change in implicit epistemological beliefs than the control group, and partial support for systematic processing as a mediator of the relationship between general epistemological beliefs and change in specific epistemological beliefs was obtained.     

The relationship among elementary teachers’ content knowledge,attitudes, beliefs,and practices

This study investigated 481 in-service elementary teachers’ level of mathematical content knowledge, attitudes toward mathematics, beliefs about the effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction, use of inquiry-based instruction and modeled the relationship among these variables. Upper elementary teachers (grades 3–5) were found to have greater content knowledge and more positive attitudes toward mathematics than primary teachers (grades K-2). There was no difference in teachers’ beliefs about effective instruction, but primary level teachers were found to use inquiry-based instruction more frequently than upper elementary teachers. Consistent with Ernest’s [Ernest (1989). The knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the mathematics teacher: A model. Journal of Education for Teaching, 15(1), 13–33] model of mathematics teaching, content knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs were all found to be related to teachers’ instructional practice. Furthermore, beliefs were found to partially mediate the effects of content knowledge and attitudes on instructional practice. Content knowledge was found to be negatively related to beliefs in the effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction and teachers’ use of inquiry-based instruction in their classrooms. However, overall, teachers with more positive attitudes toward mathematics were more likely to believe in the effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction and use it more frequently in their classroom. Teacher beliefs were found to have the strongest effect on teachers’ practice. Implications for the goals and objectives of elementary mathematics methods courses and professional development are discussed.

The effect of student teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration in the UAE

This study examines the effect of the student teaching experience on preservice elementary teachers?? self-efficacy beliefs and the sources of their beliefs about technology integration in teaching in the UAE. The participants were 62 pre-service elementary teachers at the United Arab Emirates University. Pre- and post-survey was administered to examine participants?? self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration prior to and at the end of the teaching experience. Additionally, a purposeful subset of the sample (n?=?16) were interviewed based on their high self-efficacy belies to explore the sources of the high self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed a significant effect of student teaching experiences on participants?? judgment of their self-efficacy about technology integration. Mastery experience and vicarious experience reported to be the most influential sources of self-efficacy to integrate technology among preservice elementary teachers.     

Consistency and development of teachers’ epistemological and ontological world views

We examined epistemological and ontological world views using self-report surveys, brief written reflections, and an extended written action research project for a sample of 16 graduate students enrolled in an education class at a large university on the West coast of the USA. We made two predictions. We anticipated that the majority of students would hold consistent world views across the 13-week semester, and that individuals with inconsistent beliefs would move from a realist (i.e. teacher-centred) to contextualist (i.e. student-centred) world view. Results indicated that approximately 55% of the participants expressed consistent beliefs. In addition, participants who did not self-report consistent beliefs typically moved from a realist to a more contextualist world view by the end of the semester. We discuss the role of active reflection as a component of the learning environment that enhances the development of beliefs.     

Irish student teachers’ beliefs about self,learning and teaching: a longitudinal study

This paper explores the beliefs about self-as-teacher, learning and teaching of preservice elementary teachers during a three-year undergraduate programme. Using a qualitative grounded theory analysis, the study examined the initial beliefs or personal theories of 27 preservice teachers during their first Semester. Longitudinal data were gathered from 7 of these students over the three-year duration of their teacher education programme through iterative interviews and reflective journal analysis. The findings demonstrate expansion in preservice teachers’ understandings of the teacher’s role, the value of reflective practice, the differential needs of learners and approaches to pedagogy. Findings point to lacunae in preservice teachers’ capacity for critical reflective practice and demonstrate how classroom management concerns can cause preservice teachers to adopt more cautious and traditional pedagogical approaches, despite their espoused commitment to child-centred principles.     

The psychological environment and teachers’ collective-efficacy beliefs

The psychological environment of schools is a powerful determinant of staff well-being and educational outcomes for children. The work reported here explored teachers’ Collective-Efficacy (CE) and well-being. Staff in a sample of schools completed a survey of their CE. A sub-sample of teachers was interviewed to elicit views about the relationship between CE and leadership practices. Overall staff CE was correlated with key indicators of pupils’ attainments. Four themes in the interviews indicated attributions for staff well-being and motivation: Communication, Learning, Supporting Roles, and Stress Management. Enhancing CE is critical for staff well-being. At a time when staff recruitment, retention and well-being may be jeopardised, the findings here indicate the critical importance of professional relationships for the ethos and effectiveness of schools.     

Pre-service teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about multiculturalism

The present study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity before and after taking a multicultural education course. Data from 38 degree students in an urban university in the southwest of Finland were analysed using a mixed method approach. The results indicate that pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels increased with respect to diversity and multicultural education after taking the course. In addition, pre-service teachers felt more competent and prepared to teach students with diverse backgrounds after the exposure. The implications of the findings for teacher education programmes and teacher educators are discussed.     

Pre-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs and emotional states

Teachers’ efficacy beliefs play an important role in how they create quality learning environments. When pre-service teachers (also known as initial teacher trainees) develop strong efficacy beliefs, they can be confident in their abilities to be successful teachers once they enter the field. One way pre-service teachers obtain efficacy information is through their emotional states. Positive emotional experiences like joy and satisfaction may enhance a teacher’s sense of efficacy, while undesirable emotions such as fear and worry could be debilitating to efficacy beliefs. The current study investigated how feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress contributed to efficacy beliefs among a sample of 297 American pre-service teachers. Results from regression analysis showed that depressive symptoms negatively predicted teacher efficacy beliefs. However, reports of anxiety and stress did not significantly predict efficacy. Student teaching experience also did not significantly predict teacher efficacy.     

Promoting social inclusion in the early years of elementary school: a focus on children’s epistemic beliefs for moral reasoning

As classrooms continue to diversify, there is an increasing need to understand children’s inclusive behaviours and moral reasoning. Research shows that epistemic beliefs (beliefs about knowing and knowledge) can influence reasoning for adults, but we know little about this relationship in younger children or how classroom contexts relate to epistemic beliefs for moral reasoning. Thirty-one elementary school children (mean age 6.5 years) participated in epistemic beliefs and moral reasoning tasks in the first year of a three-year longitudinal study. Findings showed that while children described objectivist epistemic beliefs (right/wrong answers) about social inclusion, their justifications revealed an unexpected, more complex set of epistemic beliefs. Implications for moral pedagogies are discussed.