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Exploring Pre-service Teachers' Beliefs and Knowledge Systems

This study delves into preservice teachers' beliefs regarding knowledge, learning, and teaching in relation to their broader belief systems. It investigates the relationships between their teacher efficacy, pedagogical knowledge values, and beliefs on teaching abilities. The research explores how these beliefs evolve in response to teacher education courses. Two studies examine domain-general and domain-specific knowledge beliefs, considering factors like prior knowledge, experience, and demographic profiles of participants. Key findings discuss the interplay between epistemological beliefs, pedagogical knowledge importance, and self-efficacy for teaching beliefs among preservice educators.

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Exploring Pre-service Teachers' Beliefs and Knowledge Systems

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  1. Contextualizing Beliefs: Explorations of Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge Beliefs in Relation to their Broader Belief System Helenrose Fives, Montclair State University Michelle M. Buehl, George Mason University Reese Todd, Texas Tech University

  2. Theoretical Overview • Teacher Beliefs • Epistemological Beliefs • Domain-General Beliefs • Domain-Specific Beliefs • Importance of Pedagogical Knowledge Beliefs • Self-efficacy & Ability Beliefs • Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy • Teaching Ability Beliefs • Relations among Beliefs, Knowledge, Experience and Learning

  3. Research Questions • How are preservice teachers’ beliefs about knowledge related to their sense of teacher efficacy beliefs, valuing of pedagogical knowledge, and beliefs about the ability to teach? • How are preservice teachers’ beliefs about knowledge, learning, and teaching related to their previous knowledge and experience and future learning? • How do preservice teachers’ beliefs about knowledge, learning, and teaching change in response to the instruction received in a teacher education course?

  4. METHODOLOGY: Study I Explorations of Domain-General Knowledge Beliefs • Participants • 89 preservice teachers (66.3% female; 65.2% Caucasian; planned to teach at all levels of school) • Measures and Tasks • Domain-general Knowledge & Student Learning Beliefs • Importance of Pedagogical Knowledge Beliefs (IPKBS) • Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) • Teaching Ability Belief Scale (TABS) • Prior Knowledge and Learning about Instructional Practices from Text • Procedure

  5. METHODOLOGY: Study 2 Explorations of Domain-Specific Knowledge Beliefs • Participants • 41 preservice elementary teachers from 2 sections of a social studies methods course (90% female; 90% Caucasian) • Context • Measures • Importance of Pedagogical Knowledge Beliefs (IPKBS) • Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) • Teaching Ability Belief Scale (TABS) • Domain-Specific Knowledge Beliefs (Math & Social Studies) • Efficacy for Teaching Social Studies • Previous Coursework • Academic Performance (GPA) • Procedure

  6. Key Findings • Relations among beliefs: epistemological, pedagogical, efficacy, and ability (findings 1-3). • Relations among beliefs, experience, and knowledge (findings 4-6) • Differences and changes in beliefs (findings 7-9)

  7. Relations among beliefs: epistemological, pedagogical, efficacy, and ability Findings 1-3

  8. Finding 1Relations with Epistemological Beliefs • Domain-general Gradual acquisition of knowledge beliefs (Table 2) • Negative Relation to Importance of Strategies instead of theory • Positive relation to teaching ability as innate but required training/polish • Domain-specific isolation of knowledge beliefs (Table 3) • In Social Studies • Negatively related to teaching ability as innate but required polish (T1 & T2) • Negatively related to Social Studies Sense of Teaching Efficacy • In Mathematics • Negatively related to beliefs in the importance of knowledge about learning theories and development (T1 & T2) • Negatively related to teaching ability as learned (T1 & T2)

  9. Finding 1 continuedRelations with Epistemological Beliefs • Domain-specific beliefs about authority as a source of knowing in Social Studies (Table 3) • Negatively related to self-efficacy for teaching social studies (T1 & T2) • Positively related to belief in the importance of knowing teaching strategies over theory (T1) • Domain-specific beliefs about the certainty of knowledge • In Social Studies & Mathematics were negatively related to Social Studies Teaching Efficacy (T2) • In Social Studies is negatively related to a belief in the ability to learn to teach as innate but requiring polish • In mathematics is positively related to a belief in the importance of knowledge about strategies over theory.

  10. Finding 2 Importance of Pedagogical Knowledge and Self-Efficacy for Teaching Beliefs • Beliefs about the Importance of pedagogical knowledge were related to teachers’ sense of efficacy (Table 2) • Teachers’ sense of efficacy beliefs were positively related to (Table 3) • Beliefs about the importance of knowledge about learning theory and development (T1 & T2) • Beliefs about the importance of knowledge about instructional methods (T2) • Beliefs about the importance of classroom management knowledge (T2)

  11. Finding 3 Beliefs about the Ability to Learn how to Teach • Beliefs that Teaching is a learned ability were positively related to • Beliefs in the importance of content and pedagogical content knowledge (Study 1, Table 2) • Beliefs in the importance of knowledge about learning theory and development (Study 1, Table 2) • Teacher’s sense of efficacy for teaching (Study 2, T2. Table 3) • Beliefs in the importance of knowledge about instructional methods (Study 2, T2. Table 3) • Beliefs in the importance of knowledge about classroom management (Study 2, T2. Table 3)

  12. Relations among beliefs, experience, and knowledge Findings 4-6

  13. Relations to Domain Course WorkFindings 4 & 5; Table 4 • Domain-specific beliefs about the isolation of knowledge are positively related to the • Number of university level social studies courses taken • Number of low level university social studies courses taken • Social studies teaching self efficacy is positively related to • Number of university level social studies courses taken • Number of low level university social studies courses taken

  14. Relations to Demonstrated KnowledgeFinding 6; Table 2 • Beliefs about the importance of instructional methods are positively related to post-test demonstrated knowledge of a text about instructional strategies

  15. Differences and Changes in Beliefs Findings 7-9

  16. Differences in Domain Specific BeliefsFinding 7; Table 1 • Domain-specific beliefs about • Certainty • Authority as a source of knowing • Personal justification of knowledge • Were significantly different at T1 and T2 for mathematics and social studies knowledge

  17. Changes in Beliefs During a Social Studies Methods CourseFindings 8 & 9; Table 1 • Significant changes in Social Studies domain-specific beliefs from T1 to T2 • Certainty of Knowledge beliefs decreased from T1 to T2. • Authority as a Source of Knowing beliefs decreased from T1 to T2 • Personal Justification of Knowledge beliefs increased from T1 to T2 • Significant increases in efficacy beliefs were demonstrated from T1 to T2.

  18. Final Thoughts • This work emphasizes the interwoven nature of teachers’ beliefs. • Preservice teachers who reported less sophisticated beliefs about knowledge, that it is isolated, certain, and comes from an authority also reported less confidence in their ability to teach social studies and a preference for learning about strategies instead of theory. • The number of social studies courses taken was positively related to beliefs that social studies knowledge is isolated and self-efficacy for teaching.

  19. Final Thoughts • Participants epistemological beliefs and efficacy beliefs changed over the course of the semester • Thus beliefs can be changed • However the duration of this belief change is unknown • Future work is needed to determine the salience of these beliefs on preservice teacher engagement in course work, teaching practices, and teaching goals

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