Conceptions of learning and pedagogy: developing trainee teachers' epistemological understandings

Abstract

This work has a particular focus on exposing important connections between trainee teachers' personal beliefs about knowledge (epistemological beliefs) and their conceptions of learning. These, the authors argue, are central to the assumptions which underpin their pedagogy when working with children in school. The link between these constructs emerged as key issues during a collaborative research project between five practitioners across two universities which explored the use of a ‘learning to learn’ (L2L) approach with a particular emphasis on postgraduate ITT courses. This seems particularly pertinent to expanding the capacity to learn of trainees, yet, to date, it has received little attention within research on L2L, given its more immediate focus within the school setting. The authors believe, however, that the climate is now ripe for research focusing on the context of lifelong learning, in particular teacher trainee learning in ITT. They argue that a focus on the role of epistemology in helping to shape teaching approaches is likely to be a key element in developing students with a capacity to reflect critically on practice.

Keywords:

• epistemology
• ITT
• learning to learn
• trainee teachers

Acknowledgements

With grateful thanks to Laura Osborne, Ian Phillips and Graham Rogers for their contribution to the original ESCalate report from which this article stems.