Joanne M. Brownlee

Changing Epistemological Beliefs in Pre-service Teacher Education Students

A teaching programme designed to foster the reflection on and development of more sophisticated epistemological beliefs was implemented with 29 pre-service graduate teacher education students at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. As part of the year-long teaching programme, students were required to reflect in journal entries on the content of an educational psychology unit in relation to their epistemological beliefs. The students engaged in this teaching programme (the research group) were interviewed in relation to their beliefs at the beginning (Time 1) and conclusion (Time 2) of the teaching programme. Students in a comparison group were not encouraged to explicitly reflect on their epistemological beliefs. They were asked to complete written statements about their beliefs about knowing at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the year-long unit. Schommers (1988, 1990) epistemological beliefs questionnaire was administered to both the comparison and research groups at Time 1 and Time 2. This questionnaire measured beliefs about knowing. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that the group of students engaged in the teaching programme experienced more growth in sophisticated epistemological beliefs. The success of the teaching programme has implications for how teacher educators develop learning environments.

Teacher Education Students' Epistemological Beliefs: Developing a Relational Model of Teaching

A teaching program based on relational pedagogy (Baxter Magolda, 1993a) was implemented to foster the development of epistemological beliefs in 29 pre-service teacher education students at a large metropolitan university in Australia. Epistemological beliefs are those personally held beliefs about the nature and structure of knowing. The students were interviewed in relation to their epistemological beliefs at the beginning (Time 1) and conclusion (Time 2) of the teaching program. The results of the qualitative data analysis indicated that students described more sophisticated relational epistemological beliefs over time. This finding is important given that teachers with relativistic epistemological beliefs are more likely to conceive of teaching as a transformative (constructivist) rather than transmissive. The perceived success of the teaching program has implications for the development of a relational teaching model in teacher education courses.

Opportunities for authentic experience and reflection: a teaching programme designed to change attitudes towards disability for pre-service teachers

Teachers increasingly need to manage and interact effectively with a broad range of students, including those with disabilities. Positive interactions require positive attitudes towards children with disabilities. In this qualitative study from Australia, Joanne Brownlee and Suzanne Carrington investigate the beliefs and attitudes towards people with disabilities of 11 pre-service teachers. The results of this study have implications for the structure of teacher education programmes in generic teacher education courses.

Changes in Primary School Teachers' Beliefs about Knowing: A longitudinal study

A teaching programme designed to facilitate the reflection on and development of more sophisticated epistemological beliefs was implemented with 29 pre-service graduate teacher education students at a large metropolitan university in Australia in 1997. As part of the year-long teaching programme, the students were required to reflect in journal entries on the content of an educational psychology unit in relation to their epistemological beliefs. The students engaged in this teaching programme were interviewed in relation to their beliefs about knowing at the beginning (Interview 1) and conclusion (Interview 2) of the teaching programme. Eleven participants were then interviewed again (Interview 3) in their third year of teaching. The results of the qualitative data analysis of all three interviews indicated that, over time, seven participants became more constructivist in their beliefs about knowing, two maintained the same beliefs, while two described less constructivist beliefs. Implications for teaching are discussed.

Childcare workers’ and centre directors’ beliefs about infant childcare quality and professional training

While there has been extensive research exploring quality in childcare programs for children older than three years, less attention has been directed to the nature of infants’ experiences in centre‐based childcare programs. In this study, six childcare workers and six centre directors located in centre‐based childcare programs in metropolitan Australia were interviewed about their beliefs about quality care and training for infants. In each of the participating centres, the infant programs were also observed using an observational measure that focused on the nature of adult–infant interactions. Both centre directors and childcare workers expressed beliefs that quality in infant care was related to affective dimensions (e.g. care, love, attention) and programming for infants’ learning and development. They also expressed views that infant care training should have a strong practical focus to provide the necessary knowledge and skills for interacting with infants. Only centre directors discussed beliefs about quality programming explicitly in terms of the impact on infants’ learning. Further, the centre directors were more likely to reflect on the nature of staff learning when engaged in infant care training programs. Implications for training are discussed.

Developing Relational Epistemology Through Relational Pedagogy: New Ways of Thinking About Personal Epistemology in Teacher Education

Personal epistemology research over the past few decades has helped us to understand better the nature of effective learning and teaching in teacher education. However, personal epistemology has been based predominantly on psychological frameworks in which knowledge and beliefs are individually constructed. In this chapter, we present a social constructivist perspective on the development of epistemological beliefs in which beliefs are constructed through interactions with social and learning contexts. We argue for the term “relational epistemology” to be used rather than “personal epistemology” to better reflect the role that external and internal relations play in the social construction of epistemological beliefs. From this framework, we then report on research into early childhood professionals’ beliefs that provide new ways of thinking about the referential and structural dimensions of relational epistemology and how these might be facilitated using an extended model of relational pedagogy in teacher education.

Respecting Children's Agency for Learning and Rights to Participation in Child Care Programs.

SummaryThe rights of participation for children in child care programs have not received strong attention. This is because the primary purpose of such programs is not to serve the needs of children. Government in many western countries support and promote child care primarily to serve economic imperatives related to parental participation in employment. The nature of many child care programs act against the recognition of the rights of young children in these institutional settings unless adults appreciate that children are agents of their own learning. This paper reports an empirical analysis of child care workers’ understandings of toddlers’ learning, within centre-based child care programs. The analyses draw on responses from 21 child care workers to questions about how children learn, how they know when children have learnt something, and examples of learning by young children which they had observed in their practice. The analyses provide insight into child care practices as the child care workers explain their experiences and understandings about children’s learning. The analyses revealed a sense of mutual engagement in learning between adults and children. Children’s participation is encouraged by collaboration between adults and children, shared understandings, and adult respect for children’s autonomy and independence.RésuméLes droits de participation des enfants aux programmes de garde à l’enfance n’ont pas été l’objet de beauccoup d’attention. La raison est la suivante: la fonction principale de ces programmes n’est pas de répondre aux besoins des enfants. Les gouvernements de nombreux pays occidentaux soutiennent et favorisent la garde à l’enfance d’abord pour des impératifs économiques liés à la participation parentale à l’emploi. La nature de bien des programmes de garde à l’enfance va à l’encontre de la reconnaissance des droits des jeunes enfants dans ces institutions, à moins que les adultes ne reconnaissent que les enfants sont les agents de leur propre apprentissage. Cet article présente une analyse empirique de la compréhension de l’apprentissage des toutpetits par les éducateurs, à l’intérieur de programmes centralisés de protection de l’enfance. Les analyses se basent sur les réponses de 21 éducateurs à des questions sur la façon d’apprendre des enfants, sur leur manière de savoir quand les enfants ont appris quelque chose, et sur des exemples d’apprentissage par les jeunes enfants qu’ils ont pu observer au cours de leur travail. Les analyses donnent une idée des pratiques en matière garde à l’enfance, les éducateurs expliquant leur expérience et leur compréhension de l’apprentissage des enfants. Les analyses ont révélé un certain engagement mutuel dans l’apprentissage entre adultes et enfants. La participation des enfants est encouragée via la collaboration entre adultes et enfants, la compréhension mutuelle, ainsi que le respect par les adultes de l’autonomie et de l’indépendance des enfants.ResumenLos derechos de participación de los niños en programas de asistencia infantil no han recibido la atención que se merecen. Esto se debe a que el objetivo principal de estos programas no es atender las necesidades de los niños. El gobierno de muchos países occidentales apoya y fomenta la asistencia infantil principalmente para que los padres puedan trabajar y favorecer así la economía del país. La mayoría de estos programas se opone al reconocimiento de los derechos infantiles en el ámbito institucional. El único modo de que esto no ocurra es que los adultos comprendan que los niños son responsables de su propio aprendizaje. Este documento recoge un análisis empírico acerca de cómo interpretan los profesionales la enseñanza de los pequeños dentro de programas que se centran en la asistencia infantil. El análisis refleja las respuestas de 21 educadores a preguntas acerca de cómo aprenden los niños y cómo saben cuándo el niño ha asimilado los conocimientos. También recoge ejemplos de aprendizaje que han podido observar en algunos niños. Estos datos nos permiten comprender los métodos de asistencia infantil utilizados, ya que los maestros nos explican sus propias experiencias en este sector y su interpretación sobre el modo en que los niños aprenden. El análisis pone de manifiesto la necesidad de que exista un compromiso mutuo entre adultos y niños para que el proceso de aprendizaje se Ileve a cabo con éxito. La participación de los niños aumenta cuando existe colaboración y comprensión mutua entre niños y adultos, y los adultos respetan la autonomía e independencia de los niños.

The Integration of Preservice Teachers’ Naive and Informed Beliefs about Learning and Teaching

Abstract Preservice teacher education students are likely to have acquired naive beliefs about learning and teaching, that need to be integrated with theoretically informed beliefs, if they are to function effectively in classrooms. This study explored the nature of such integration using a sample of Graduate Diploma in Education students engaged in an educational psychology subject which was designed to help students develop constructivist beliefs and approaches to learning. Investigation of students’ journal entries, written statements, and stimulated recall interviews related to videotaped practice teaching sessions, revealed that students were able to integrate prior beliefs with the theoretical content of the course, enabling them to describe, and in some cases, evidence informed conditional knowledge.

Understanding first year university students: personal epistemology and learning

Whilst participation in higher education has increased dramatically over the last two decades, many universities are only now beginning to pay more attention to the learning experiences of first year students. It is important for universities to understand how first year students conceive of learning and knowing in order to promote effective approaches to learning. Even though an extensive body of research demonstrates that beliefs about learning and knowing influence student approaches to learning and learning outcomes, there has been no Australian research that has investigated this critical learner characteristic across first year university students. This paper reports on preliminary data from an ongoing longitudinal study designed to investigate first year students’ beliefs about knowing and learning (epistemological beliefs). Students from teacher education and creative industry faculties in two Australian universities completed the Epistemological Beliefs Survey (EBS) in the first week of their first semester of study. A series of one‐way ANOVA using key demographics as independent variables and the EBS factor scores as dependent variables showed that epistemological beliefs were related to the course of study, previous post‐school education experience, family experience at university, gender, and age. These data help us to understand students’ beliefs about learning and knowing with a view to informing effective learning in higher education.

Measuring and Manipulating Epistemological Beliefs in Early Childhood Education Students

Abstract Engendering sophisticated epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowing and learning) in student teachers is a critical function of higher education. We report the preliminary results of a collaborative teacher education course and study examining the development of epistemological beliefs among early childhood pre-service teachers (N = 65). The program was unique in that it promoted sophisticated beliefs through explicit reflection on both personal epistemology and content related to research methods. Explicit reflection on the nature of beliefs about knowing and learning has been shown to impact on the development of students’ personal epistemology. In this study, such reflection took place through tutorial discussions, practicum reflections and students interviewing critical friends about epistemological beliefs. Personal epistemology was also developed through a focus on research methods as the content of the course, which provided students with a first-hand experience of using evidence-based knowledge – a key component of sophisticated personal epistemologies. Students were both the subject of, and joint researchers in, the study. The program taught, and the study utilised, quantitative and qualitative research methods. Changes in epistemological beliefs were assessed pre-and post-test using Schommer’s (1998) epistemological questionnaire. The results demonstrate the utility of explicit reflection and genuine experience in research pedagogy in developing sophisticated epistemological beliefs.