Contextualizing Beliefs: Explorations of Preservice Teachers

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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)

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Relations among beliefs epistemological,
pedagogical, efficacy, and ability

• Findings 1-3

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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)
• Teachers 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)

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Relations among beliefs, experience, and knowledge

• Findings 4-6

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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

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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

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Differences and Changes in Beliefs

• Findings 7-9

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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

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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.

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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.

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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