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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices: a study of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong

This study examines the discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices in Hong Kong kindergartens and the factors that influence this discrepancy. Three kindergartens, considered by the Hong Kong Education Bureau to be of varying quality, were chosen from different areas of Hong Kong. Questionnaires about teaching beliefs were administered to 35 teachers from these kindergartens. These quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data gathered during individual interviews with five of the teachers and the three principals. In addition, a focus group of five early childhood education specialists commented on the videotaped observations of the classroom practices of the five interviewed teachers. The findings showed that all of the teachers endorsed the advocated teaching beliefs, but there was a discrepancy between their beliefs and practices. The most significant factors contributing to the discrepancy were teachers’ professional education and their attitudes towards personal teaching introspection. Teachers were also under pressure from parents’ curriculum requests, demands on the children’s academic abilities and expectations for a strong link to Primary One. Enhanced early childhood education training that helps teachers to be introspective about their own teaching practices and beliefs is recommended. Government support is also required to teach parents what constitutes a high-quality learning environment for young children.     

Exploring teachers’ beliefs and feelings about race and police violence

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors analyzed White teachers’ open-ended responses to three critical items on the Teachers’ Race Talk Survey (TRTS). The authors focused on: (1) teachers’ beliefs about the importance of discussing race in the classroom with their students; (2) teachers’ feelings of preparedness to have race conversations in the classroom with their students; and (3) teachers’ beliefs about discussing, in class, police violence against Black people. Findings showed that while most White teachers believed race was important to discuss in order to unlearn and disrupt their prior beliefs, the majority described fear as a primary factor for feeling unprepared to actually discuss race in the classroom. Despite their beliefs about the importance of race, teachers’ beliefs about police violence against Black bodies reflect a color-blind approach by either viewing police violence as a natural occurrence or minimizing the role that race plays. To continue developing teachers’ critical knowledge related to race, the authors discuss implications for examining the quality of race-centered curriculum in teacher education programs and they pose broader questions related to the evolving knowledge base for teaching.     

The social functions of teachers’ beliefs in an online class

This study presents an investigation of teachers’ beliefs about working with English learners, as constructed in online class discussions. Using conversation and discourse analysis from a discursive psychology (DP) perspective, analysis focuses on the discursive production of beliefs and the social actions achieved by this production in interaction. By orienting to teachers’ beliefs as interactionally emergent phenomena, findings highlight the ways that teachers account for their belief claims and the ways that teachers’ statements of belief work to perform certain social functions within the forum itself, including affiliation and disagreement. Implications for teacher education and for the potential of DP to contribute to research on teachers’ beliefs are discussed.     

Measuring and exploring the structure of teachers’ educational beliefs

This study explores the structure of French teachers’ educational beliefs. First, instruments to measure these beliefs are adapted and developed. Data is collected through focus group discussions and an online survey (n = 302). Factor analyses reveal a three-factor structure to measure teachers’ general beliefs about teaching and learning: ‘beliefs about student regulation of learning processes and knowledge construction’, ‘beliefs about teacher regulation of learning processes’, and ‘beliefs about knowledge reproduction’. Furthermore, a two-factor structure to measure teachers’ subject-specific beliefs about French language teaching is found: ‘traditional beliefs about French language teaching’ and ‘constructivist beliefs about French language teaching’. Second, this study explores the relationships between and within teachers’ general beliefs about teaching and learning and their subject-specific beliefs about French language teaching. Results show two distinct and independent belief structures: a traditional and a constructivist belief structure. Via cluster analyses, two clusters of teachers are found whose beliefs are consistent with these belief structures.     

Turkish elementary student teachers’ epistemological beliefs and moral reasoning

The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationships among Turkish elementary student teachers’ epistemological beliefs and moral reasoning, and to determine which types of epistemological beliefs elementary student teachers exhibit. The findings of the present study demonstrated that epistemological beliefs did not make a unique contribution to moral reasoning and student teachers’ epistemological beliefs developed as more or less independent beliefs. The factor analyses results suggest that multidimensional theory is more appropriate than unidimensional theory in explaining student teachers’ epistemological beliefs.     

Preservice teachers’ teacher efficacy beliefs and constructivist-based teaching practice

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between preservice teachers’ (PTs) teacher efficacy beliefs and their constructivist-based teaching practices. Data were gathered through the questionnaire (Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale) and the observation protocol (Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol) administered to the participants. A total number of 101 PTs (53.5 % from science education and 46.5 % from mathematics education) from a university in eastern part of Turkey participated in the study. Also, qualitative data were also used in order to clarify quantitative data. The semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 PTs who voluntarily participated in these interviews. Results showed that PTs’ constructivist-based teaching practice was positively correlated with their teacher efficacy beliefs. Also, qualitative findings confirmed that finding. To conclude, PTs with high teacher efficacy tend to employ constructivist approach in their teaching while PTs with low teacher efficacy tend to use traditional approach, lecturing in their teaching.     

The impact of field experiences on prospective preservice teachers’ technology integration beliefs and intentions

This study investigated how field experiences impacted the technology integration beliefs and intentions of prospective preservice teachers. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), a three-way interaction between the type, frequency, and quality of field technology observations predicted changes in beliefs and intentions. Beliefs about the utility of technology directly predicted intentions to use technology and intentions to use Meaningful Learning approaches to technology integration. Additionally, beliefs about technology’s importance in education indirectly predicted both variables. Positive impacts of field experiences on beliefs and intentions only existed when prospective preservice teachers saw technology used frequently by skilled teachers using Meaningful Learning approaches.     

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.

Associations among preservice teachers’ psychological traits and classroom performance ratings

Abstract

Educational theorists and researchers have often overlooked potential links between successful teaching and a teachers personal qualities. This investigation explored associations among three psychological characteristics and classroom performance ratings of prospective teachers. Fifty‐three students enrolled in a teacher education program participated in the study. The students were assessed on personality style, creative thinking, motivation, and classroom performance competency during student teaching. Correlational statistical analysis found significant relationships among three creativity measures and ratings of preservice teachers’ classroom performance. Further, regression analysis revealed originality, one subscale of creativity, was a significant predictor of effective student teaching. Findings indicate that creative constructs may have potential value in assessing teacher education candidates.     

Pre-service teachers’ personal epistemic beliefs and the beliefs they assume their pupils to have

In their workaday life, teachers are faced with multiple complex tasks. How they carry out these tasks is also influenced by their epistemic beliefs and the beliefs they assume their pupils hold. In an empirical study, pre-service teachers’ epistemic beliefs and those they assume of their pupils were investigated in the setting of teacher education for vocational schools in Germany. Results of the empirical study point at significant inconsistencies between pre-service teachers’ beliefs, the beliefs they assume of their pupils and beliefs conducive to the curricular and didactic concept preferred for vocational schools. Partly, these inconsistencies can be explained by pre-service teachers’ learning experiences in school and university. It seems important that the education of teachers in vocational education aims at scaffolding pre-service teachers in developing beliefs that are conducive for their future profession.     

Pre-service and in-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning chemistry in Turkey

This paper describes beliefs held about teaching and learning chemistry by Turkish teachers and student-teachers. The study investigated different aspects of pre-service and in-service teachers’ belief structures. Part of the study examined teachers’ overall beliefs, based on participants’ drawings of classroom situations. A qualitative evaluation was employed to offer information on (student-)teachers’ beliefs about classroom organisation, their beliefs about teaching objectives, and their stance on epistemological beliefs. Beliefs ranged from very traditional, teacher-centred ideas to modern, student-centred ones. Data evaluation was triangulated using a quantitative approach, which focused on whether beliefs were characterised by either teacher-centredness or learner-centredness. Additionally, a Likert questionnaire was used to evaluate the educators` beliefs about the nature of good education. The results for the group of participants are presented and compared. Implications for chemistry teacher education in Turkey will also be addressed.     

The curricular importance of mathematics: a comparison of English and Hungarian teachers’ espoused beliefs

This paper reports an interview study of 45 English and 10 Hungarian teachers of mathematics. The semi‐structured interviews focused on the teachers’ professional life‐histories and invited them to discuss their beliefs about the necessary subject content for the teaching and learning of mathematics. Substantial differences emerged between the two cohorts, which accord with well‐defined national perspectives on education in general and mathematics education in particular. They reflect, at national rather than individual levels, the expectations of the curricular frameworks within which teachers operate. English teachers tended to view mathematics as applicable number and the means by which learners are prepared for a world beyond school. Hungarian teachers privileged mathematics as problem‐solving and logical thinking.     

Addressing the discontinuity of students’ and teachers’ diversity: a preliminary study of preservice teachers’ beliefs and perceived skills

The authors of the present investigation provide baseline data regarding preservice teachers’ beliefs about addressing the needs of students whose backgrounds and abilities differ from their own. These data provide the guidance for subsequent in-depth longitudinal investigations about the ways in which preservice teachers’ beliefs inform their classroom behaviors toward the aforementioned students, as well as suggestions for teacher educators about program improvements.