Teaching for the Pursuit of Truth in a Post-Truth World

Abstract

This study investigated teacher profiles with regards to their conception of truth. The explanatory sequential design began with the first phase administering a survey to a random sample from across the American southeast. Results were aggregated and each teacher was profiled with regards to four diverse views of truth: correspondence, relativist, pragmatist, and critical. The second phase of the study analyzed open-ended responses to a set of questions about instructional practices of teachers for comparison of common practices based on truth profile. The results of this investigation found a significant proportion of teachers hold contradictory views of truth while those who are firmly within one profile have noticeable distinctions among priorities, perspectives, and practices. Implications for these findings are discussed with practical consideration for the classroom regarding salient topics such as learning online, engaging in social media, and combatting fake news.