An Investigation of Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs About the Certainty of Teaching Knowledge

Ferguson, Leila E.; Brownlee, Joanne M.

doi:10.14221/ajte.2018v43n1.6

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Taken together, master’s-level students show more sophisticated knowledge about the nature of educational psychology and show more preferable epistemological beliefs (partly confirming Hypothesis 3). This is in line with research revealing that epistemological beliefs change during academic studies (e.g., Ferguson & Brownlee, 2018; Päuler-Kuppinger & Jucks, 2017; Trautwein & Lüdtke, 2007). Nevertheless, the reported scores provide space for further development, because most of the values are rather low.…”

Section: Study 2 – Change Of Epistemological Beliefs During the Programmesupporting

confidence: 91%

Development and Application of a Scale for Assessing Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Educational Psychology

Moser

Zumbach²,

Deibl³

et al. 2021

Psychology Learning & Teaching

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Epistemological beliefs are subjective views about the nature of knowledge and knowing. A large number of research approaches are dedicated to this field. Yet, there is no research investigating the beliefs that pre-service teachers have towards educational psychology, a highly relevant domain for their prospective profession. Based on this theoretical background, two studies have been conducted. In the first study, epistemological beliefs with regard to contemporary educational psychology research and their change during a research-based lecture on educational psychology have been assessed ( N = 82). In a second study, the aim was to examine these epistemological beliefs during different phases of a pre-service teacher programme ( N = 252). Findings indicate that students entering a programme are already partly aware of the nature of educational psychology. Results also reveal that students’ knowledge and beliefs develop during the programme, although the relevance of educational psychology as being a central part future professional practice is not recognized. Findings also imply that especially the trust in scientific quality and the awareness of the importance of this field for teacher training and practice could be enhanced. Possible solutions could include more research-oriented courses and a more reflected integration of educational psychology within the curriculum.

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Section: Study 2 – Change Of Epistemological Beliefs During the Programmesupporting

confidence: 91%

Development and Application of a Scale for Assessing Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Educational Psychology

Moser

Zumbach²,

Deibl³

et al. 2021

Psychology Learning & Teaching

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These findings emphasise the necessity for combining methods, while calling for alternative approaches to ascertain educator stances at scale, and, in particular, whether these stances are more or less reflected. Given that the present participants' learning perceptions resembled epistemic beliefs, one avenue is to expand upon methods from this field (see Ferguson and Brownlee 2018;Madjar, Weinstock, and Kaplan 2017). Another is scenario-based methods, for instance, eliciting respondents' interpretations in a manner framed within recurring dilemmas of play-based teaching (Bubikova-Moan, Hjetland, and Wollscheid 2019; Pyle, Poliszczuk, and Danniels 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What counts as learning in play? Uncovering patterns in perceptions of South African early educators

Jensen

Kvalsvig

Taylor

et al. 2020

International Journal of Early Years Education

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Early educators' perceptions of play and learning influence whether they adopt responsive roles to facilitate learning in play. While studies have investigated perceptions of play as pedagogical practice and its perceived relevance for learning, few have also interrogated educator learning perceptions, and hence compared these perceptions. This study explored perceptions among South African early educators by contrasting their interview and questionnaire responses. Findings revealed play perceptions encompassing structured, adult-led activities alongside childmanaged play. While play was highlighted as active, joyful and chosen, participants emphasised appropriate, real-world play over children's self-directed explorations and make-believe. Learning perceptions presented a span that primarily centred on correctness, followed by children understanding and applying lessons. Surprisingly, less nuance emerged for learning in play: rather than viewing play as a context for practicing and improving, respondents saw play as a 'stage' where children could demonstrate proficiency. Finally, patterns in play and learning perceptions came out more clearly in interviews than the questionnaire. These findings point to a need for alternative atscale methods when eliciting educator perceptions, and for supporting educators to develop reflected, nuanced notions of play as practice and children's learning in play.

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“…Research on teachers' beliefs about teaching knowledge, while limited, has yielded some valuable findings (Ferguson & Brownlee, 2018;Fives & Buehl, 2008;Hofer, 2002;Mosvold & Fauskanger, 2013;Sinatra & Kardash, 2004). Fives and Buehl (2008), for instance, described the concept of personal epistemology in the context of studies about teaching knowledge.…”

Section: Beliefs Of Teaching Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the research briefly reviewed in the preceding sections is relevant to the understanding of how teaching knowledge influences the quality of teaching, how teaching knowledge functions in the teachinglearning process of pre-service teachers during teacher training remains to be established. Extant studies on this topic suggest that teaching knowledge should be examined through the lens of pre-service teachers' perceptions of knowledge domains (Kilic, 2015), their self-perceptions of the tasks of teaching (O'Meara, Prendergast, Cantley, Harbison, & O'Hara, 2019), and their views on and understanding of the certainty of teaching knowledge (Ferguson & Brownlee, 2018). Empirical evidence shows that teachers' beliefs have a strong influence on the way they approach students' specificities and learning needs , comprehend mathematical knowledge (Cady & Rearden, 2007), and develop their identity as a teachers (Ponte, 2011).…”

Section: Beliefs Of Teaching Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of Pre-Service Teachers’ Understanding of the Knowledge Necessary to Teach Mathematics: A Case Study in Malawi

Jacinto¹

2020

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Globally, progress in education has been made in recent years to promote learning opportunities for all. However, significant gaps remain in lowincome countries. In Malawi, a developing country where the educational system is under development, primary education is a major concern. Several initiatives have been made to bridge this gap through improving the quality of teacher education, but research has shown that there is still a need to further understand the learning process of preservice teachers during the teacher education program. The present study aimed to gain knowledge about the primary preservice teachers’ process of learning, particularly, the development of their understanding of the knowledge necessary to teach mathematics. The current study addressed the question: How do pre-service teachers develop their understanding of the knowledge necessary to teach mathematics throughout teacher education? In the study, the knowledge necessary for teaching mathematics refers to the knowledge that teachers need to carry out the tasks of teaching mathematics. To further examine this matter, the overall question was divided into three sub-research questions: (1) What understanding do pre-service teachers have of the knowledge needed to carry out the tasks of mathematics teaching at the beginning of their teacher education? (2) To what extent does the pre-service teacher’s understanding of the knowledge needed to carry out teaching tasks evolve through the discussion of practical experiences in college? (3) How do pre-service teachers develop their understanding of the knowledge necessary to carry out the tasks of teaching throughout teacher education? These questions were compiled into a qualitative case study with six preservice teachers in a two-year primary teacher education program at a college in Malawi. Each of these pre-service teachers represented a different profile with teaching experience, subject preferences in high school, and a favorite subject to teach during college. The research occurred over three different moments in a two-year teacher education program in which the pre-service teachers were enrolled: an initial moment at the beginning of the program consisted of a questionnaire survey and individual interviews; a second moment during teaching practice that involved mathematics lessons observations and post-lesson interviews; and a third moment at the end of the program that included a focus group discussion. The data gathered were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The themes of analysis were designed based on the six domains of mathematical knowledge for teaching theory. Findings show that pre-service teachers develop different paths of development of their understanding of the knowledge needed for teaching mathematics during teacher education and that such development has influences in how they acknowledge effective teaching in Malawi. The current thesis includes four articles that present the main data and results of the study. The first two articles present findings from an analysis of the pre-service teachers’ understanding of the subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, and the third article presents an analysis of the pre-service teachers’ understanding when discussing teaching practice. The fourth article explores the understanding pre-service teachers developed throughout the teacher education program. The contribution of this thesis is to not only offer new empirical and theoretical insights to teacher education but also to suggest a path for further research in teaching knowledge.

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An Investigation of Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs About the Certainty of Teaching Knowledge

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Development and Application of a Scale for Assessing Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Educational Psychology

Development and Application of a Scale for Assessing Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature of Educational Psychology

What counts as learning in play? Uncovering patterns in perceptions of South African early educators

The Development of Pre-Service Teachers’ Understanding of the Knowledge Necessary to Teach Mathematics: A Case Study in Malawi

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