This article was downloaded by: [University of California Davis]On: 18 October 2014, At: 14:23Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Asia-Pacific Journal of TeacherEducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/capj20

The Integration of PreserviceTeachers’ Naive and InformedBeliefs about Learning and TeachingJoanne Brownlee a , Barry Dart a , Gillian Boulton‐Lewis a &

Andrea McCrindle aa Queensland University of TechnologyPublished online: 02 Jun 2006.

To cite this article: Joanne Brownlee , Barry Dart , Gillian Boulton‐Lewis & AndreaMcCrindle (1998) The Integration of Preservice Teachers’ Naive and Informed Beliefs aboutLearning and Teaching, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 26:2, 107-120, DOI:10.1080/1359866980260203

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1359866980260203

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warrantieswhatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions andviews of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. Theaccuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independentlyverified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liablefor any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly inconnection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, 1998 107

The Integration of Preservice Teachers' Naive andInformed Beliefs about Learning and Teaching

JOANNE BROWNLEE, BARRY DART, GILLIAN BOULTON-LEWIS &ANDREA McCRINDLE, Queensland University of Technology

ABSTRACT Preservice teacher education students are likely to have acquired naive beliefsabout learning and teaching, that need to be integrated with theoretically informed beliefs, ifthey are to function effectively in classrooms. This study explored the nature of such integrationusing a sample of Graduate Diploma in Education students engaged in an educationalpsychology subject which was designed to help students develop constructivist beliefs andapproaches to learning. Investigation of students' journal entries, written statements,and stimulated recall interviews related to videotaped practice teaching sessions, revealed thatstudents were able to integrate prior beliefs with the theoretical content of the course, enablingthem to describe, and in some cases, evidence informed conditional knowledge.

Introduction

Research related to cognitive psychology over the last 20 years or so has had limitedinfluence on educational practice at the tertiary level (Biggs, 1991). In particular,research into learning has been unable to clarify why many students have difficultieslearning in a meaningful way (Schommer, 1990). A growing body of research suggeststhat students' beliefs about learning and knowing may influence their understanding(Beers, 1984; Hofer, 1994; Schommer, 1990, 1993a,b) and, therefore, it may be usefulto consider such beliefs in an attempt to understand the nature of students' learning.

Beliefs may be considered to reflect subjective constructions that influence behav-iour, whereas knowledge is more commonly considered to reflect objective truths(Pajares, 1992). Although a distinction is often considered to exist between knowledgeand beliefs, the interdependent nature of beliefs and knowledge may be a more usefulissue to pursue. Rokeach (1968) asserted that beliefs are dependent on knowledgewhen he described the cognitive dimension of all beliefs. Hence, it seems reasonable tosuggest that the cognitive aspects of beliefs include the three main kinds of teaching-related knowledge described by Berliner (1986) and Borko & Livingston (1989) asdeclarative knowledge (e.g. 'knowing that' teaching is transmission), procedural knowl-edge (e.g. 'knowing how' to teach transmissively by engaging students in rote learningof number facts) and conditional knowledge (e.g. 'knowing why' such transmission ofinformation is considered to be useful for learning). Lewis (1990), conversely suggestedthat all knowledge is dependent on beliefs. According to Bern (1970), knowledge isdependent on primitive beliefs in the authority of the source of knowledge and in one'sown cognitive processing abilities. In this study, the intertwined nature of beliefs andknowledge is recognised, but a focus is maintained on beliefs which are considered tobe stronger predictors of behaviour.

1359-866X/98/020107-14 © 1998 Australian Teacher Education Association

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

108 J. Brownlee et al.

Beliefs may also be described as naive or informed. In this study, naive beliefsrepresent little or no evidence of a theoretical knowledge base and/or represent a lackof relational understanding of a theoretical concept. Informed beliefs are considered toreflect a theoretical knowledge base and a relational understanding of concepts. Teach-ing, as a profession, needs to be supported by informed beliefs in educational decision-making and teacher educators need to help students to construct such beliefs. However,student teachers' naive beliefs about learning and teaching are often not addressedwithin teacher education programmes (Nespor, 1987) and therefore persist. Evidenceis mounting to suggest that teacher educators need to consider preservice teachers'beliefs in teacher education, since such beliefs are likely to influence performance in theclassroom (Richardson et al., 1991; Lawrence, 1992; Pajares, 1992; Renne, 1992;Shaver, 1992).

Of these naive beliefs, an example of a common perception held by students is thatgood teaching practice means that teachers must transmit knowledge (Lawrence, 1992;Sedleck, 1987 cited in Fang, 1996). Such transmissive processes may be influenced bya range of beliefs about learning, such as those described by Marton et al. (1993) as(a) increasing knowledge, (b) memorisation and reproducing and (c) applying knowl-edge. These are considered to be quantitative in nature because the learner aims toacquire amounts of knowledge without any transformation or real understanding.When student teachers hold quantitative beliefs about learning and teaching, they aremore likely to perceive that they need to acquire good subject matter knowledge andcommunication skills, and that their students need to do the same.

In order to have a relational understanding of the important factors that influencelearning, it may be necessary for teachers to hold constructivist beliefs about learningand teaching. From this perspective, beliefs about learning may include (d) understand-ing, (e) seeing something differently or (f) changing as a person (Marton et al., 1993),where learning is viewed as a process of active, personal construction of meaning.Constructivist beliefs are qualitative in nature, because understanding is perceived as atransformation of the information in relation to the learner's prior knowledge ratherthan a focus on aggregating quantities of information that remain unconnected.

Shaver (1992) reported that many social science teachers fail to teach from aconstructivist belief system because they are not exposed to such beliefs during theirpreservice course. This is undoubtedly a concern for many preservice teacher educa-tors. However, an increasing number of preservice teacher education courses are beingdeveloped in accordance with a constructivist perspective, where students are encour-aged to actively construct informed beliefs by developing their own understandings ofthe information to be learned (O'Loughlin, 1988; Gunstone & Northfield, 1992;Loughran, 1994). In particular, this means that student teachers must choose theinformation they perceive to be relevant, and interpret this according to their currentbeliefs, needs and perceptions of practice.

Integrating Naive and Informed Teacher Beliefs

In order to help student teachers apply informed beliefs to practice, teacher educatorsneed to draw on students' naive beliefs when introducing theoretical content and assistthem to integrate these with informed beliefs. Unless this is done, we believe thatteachers will rely on their naive beliefs and, hence, experience problems with transfer oftheory into teaching practice. Effective teacher education, therefore, should assiststudents to achieve integration of naive and informed beliefs about learning. In this

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Integration ofPreservice Teachers' Naive and Informed Beliefs 109

paper, integration refers to developing understanding of new ideas about learning andteaching by either modifying or relinquishing existing beliefs in order to make links tonew theoretical concepts.

Nisbett & Ross (1980) believed that all people develop theories or beliefs about theirworld and the earlier these are established the more difficult they are to change(the primacy effect), since these beliefs are more enduring and, thus, may affect theprocessing of new knowledge. Beliefs about learning are likely to develop early in lifethrough educational and family experiences. Hence, some student teachers may con-tinue to maintain their naive beliefs about learning throughout teacher educationprogrammes (Tabachnick & Zeichner, 1984; Feiman-Nemser & Buchman, 1986;Zeichner, 1989; Strauss, 1993, 1996; Strauss & Shilony, 1994).

To change pre-existing beliefs about teaching and learning, student teachers mayneed to question them explicitly (Strauss, 1996). Such reflection can cause students tochallenge their beliefs by providing opportunities to evaluate them in relation toalternative views and to decide whether or not to reconstruct them. This reflectiveprocess constitutes an essential element of professional growth (Francis, 1995). Schon(1983, 1987) has described reflection related to action. 'Reflection-on action' focuseson thinking after the completion of the event. 'Reflection-in action' is related tothinking that occurs during an event and allows for modification of actions as theyoccur, which is characteristic of a competent professional. Both of these types ofreflection may result in constructing and reconstructing experience and knowledge.

Apart from reflecting on naive beliefs about learning and teaching in relation totheoretical information, student teachers also need to reflect on how they go about theirown learning, so that they may develop better knowledge and regulation of themselvesas learners (Brown, 1987). This is referred to as metacognition. Metacognitive knowl-edge includes what individuals know about their own learning; recognition of strengthsand weaknesses in learning; understanding which aspects of a task influence approachesto learning; and information about which learning strategies are effective. The regu-lation component of metacognition is comprised of metacognitive awareness (e.g. 'whatdo I know about this task?') and control (planning, monitoring and evaluating as anoutcome of awareness) (Beyer, 1987; Brown, 1987; Dart et al., 1996). Hence, metacog-nition is also likely to be an outcome of reflection (Baird, 1991). When students aim tointegrate new information with prior, naive beliefs, then conscious reflection is requiredand this may lead to enhanced metacognition and 'allows the learner to undertake theconstructivist processes of recognition, evaluation and revision of personal views' (Bairdet al., 1991, p. 164). In order to facilitate reflective thinking and metacognitive strate-gies needed for the integration of naive and informed beliefs, students need to beexposed to learning activities that teach them how to use metacognitive skills (vonWright, 1992).

Journal Writing and the Teaching Process

The use of learning journals is one way of assisting students to reflect on their ownlearning in such situations (Dart & Clarke, 1991; Ballantyne & Packer, 1995). Journalwriting is similar to diary writing and may be denned as a series of records kept byindividuals over a period of time according to a specific set of instructions (Zimmerman& Wieder, 1977). Journal writing may assist students to reflect on and reconstruct theirown beliefs (Freidus, 1991 cited in Hatton & Smidi, 1994) and to make their ownthoughts and actions explicit (Ballantyne & Packer, 1995). Learners can be helped to

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

110 J. Brownlee et al.

recognise their own relevant ideas and beliefs (recognition), evaluate these in terms ofwhat is to be learned and how it is to be learned (evaluation), and decide whether ornot to reconstruct their ideas and beliefs (decision). Thus, journal writing may be usedas a tool where active construction of personal knowledge is facilitated and this serves'the important function of integrating course content, self-knowledge and practicalexperiences with teaching and learning situations' (Yinger & Clark, 1981, p. 25).

In summary, journal writing aimed at assisting students to integrate naive andinformed beliefs can be used to encourage students to reflect actively on and constructtheoretically informed beliefs about learning and teaching. The resulting beliefs arethen likely to facilitate appropriate decision-making within the classroom. Lecturers canattempt to facilitate this process through teaching interventions that are constructivistin nature and encourage reflection.

In this study, the teaching was focused on theoretical content which was presentedfrom a constructivist perspective on teaching and learning. Students experiencedtheoretical content which included aspects of learning (theories of learning, models oflearning, and learning strategies), motivation, structuring effective learning environ-ments, learning styles and the effect of teacher expectations taught from a constructivistframework. Students worked in collaborative learning groups, in which they discussedissues, shared their understanding and reflected on their own and others' beliefs inresponse to questions (both lecturer and student generated) related to assigned readingsand allied material. Other activities that took place within the groups included theanalysis of case studies and the use of role plays relating to teaching and learningactivities, such as classroom management episodes. Whole group discussion followedsmall group activities. These teaching strategies are similar to those used by Dart(1994), which were designed to enable students to focus on their beliefs about andintentions for learning to engage in what Baird (1991, p. 102) described as 'theconstructivist processes of recognition, evaluation and possible reconstruction of per-sonal views' and to develop relational understanding of the content of the subject. Thisrequired reflection and metacognition, as well as the acceptance of self-responsibilityfor learning (Biggs & Moore, 1993).

Method

The research described in this paper was intended to investigate (i) naive beliefs aboutlearning and teaching (declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge) held bybeginning postgraduate teacher education students, with a particular focus on if andhow these beliefs became informed and integrated with those concepts taught andassessed from a constructivist perspective in an educational psychology subject; (ii) howsuch naive and informed beliefs influence classroom decision-making and teachingbehaviours (the link between declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge); and(iii) how and when changes in beliefs took place.

The original sample consisted of 35 students from two classes who commenced a1 year Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary Teaching) at the beginning of 1995.One student held a Ph.D. in science, seven other students held first degrees in Science,14 held first degrees in Arts and the remaining 11 students held degrees in a variety ofother disciplines. Their ages ranged from 20 to 41 years with a mean of 26 years anda standard deviation of 6.7 years. Complete sets of pre- and post-subject writtenstatements were available for 28 students. A sample of ten students were interviewed

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Integration of Preservice Teachers' Naive and Informed Beliefs 111

regarding their teaching practice using the stimulated recall technique (cf. Meade &McMeniman, 1992). Reflective journals were obtained from 27 of the 28 students whohad completed the written statements about learning.

Students were asked to write statements at the beginning and end of the subjectregarding their beliefs about learning and teaching. This facilitated the investigation ofthe nature of naive and informed declarative knowledge about teaching and learning.Ten students were videotaped for one lesson during their second teaching practice,followed by stimulated recall interviews to determine the extent to which informedbeliefs determined their behaviour. The discussion of their own teaching during thestimulated recall sessions assessed procedural and conditional knowledge andthe connection with declarative knowledge and, hence, allowed for comparison betweenwhat they believed, what they did and how they justified their behaviour. Students wererequired to keep a journal for the duration of the subject. These journal entriesprovided information about changes from naive to informed declarative, proceduraland conditional knowledge.

A constant comparative method of analysis was used to determine categories fromthe written statements, stimulated recall interviews of practice teaching, and journals.The level of abstraction at which the analysis occurred is typical of the descriptive-interpretative approach (cf. Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). That is, the categories thatemerged were interpreted in the light of the relevant literature, rather than representinga grounded theory approach to analysis.

First, the written statements were analysed to determine the general changes inbeliefs about teaching and learning. This was facilitated by using the Q.S.R. NUD*IST(Non-numerical Unstructured Data Indexing Searching and Theorising; Richards &Richards, 1994) package which helped in the organisation, cross-referencing andsynthesising of the qualitative data that emerged from the written statements.

Second, students' naive and informed beliefs about teaching and learning, as evi-denced in the interviews about the videotapes, were categorised and organised usingQ.S.R. NUD*IST. The relationship between students' beliefs and behaviour was thenexamined to investigate the nature of the integration of informed and naive knowledge.

Third, journal entries were coded for each of the three categories that emerged(information, integration of theory and practice, and development as a teacher andlearner), and these were described over five time stages: stage 1 (SI), 9 weeks ofuniversity-based learning; stage 2 (S2), 5 weeks of practice teaching; stage 3 (S3),7 weeks of university-based learning; stage 4 (S4), 6 weeks of practice teaching; andstage 5 (S5), 3 weeks of university-based learning.

Results

Examples of the responses in the written statements, journals, and stimulated recallinterviews are presented in order to illustrate the changes that took place in thestudents' beliefs about learning and teaching. The changes in beliefs will be presentedin two main ways. First, changes from naive to informed beliefs about learning andteaching related to declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge will be de-scribed. Second, informed conditional knowledge will be described with a view toinvestigating the integration of naive and informed beliefs.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

112 J. Brovmlee et al.

Changes from Naive to Informed Beliefs

In the pre-subject written statements, students reflected on their beliefs. All of thepre-subject responses evidenced naive declarative knowledge about learning, describedin 'everyday' language with very little support from theoretical understanding. Many ofthese statements (n = 24) were qualitative in nature. However, in the post-subjectstatements, all students (n = 28) described beliefs about learning from a theoreticallyinformed qualitative perspective. Most of these informed comments in the post-subjectstatements were related to learning in general (w = 23), as the following commentsexemplify. An example of a pre- and post-subject response is presented to demonstratehow students changed from naive to informed beliefs.

To be taught does not always result in learning. To learn is to understand.Only through understanding, and naturally a certain amount of knowledge,can we learn. 'Learning' is therefore an accumulation of knowledge andunderstanding. (preO6)

Learning is the meeting of new material, be it whatever subject, and theprocessing of this material such that the individual is then able to apply it anduse it successfully in a variety of situations. The process of learning alsoinvolves constant evaluation of the material and how and when it doesn'twork. In this situation the learner would then be able to re-evaluate andredefine, to allow success. (post06)

In the journal entries, students reflected on various learning and teaching beliefs(declarative, procedural, and conditional) from a naive or theoretically informed per-spective. Figure 1 illustrates change for the whole group over the year from naive tomore informed declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge. As in the learningstatements, students were more focused on naive declarative knowledge in their journalentries at the beginning of the subject (SI). However, during the remaining stages,students described informed conditional knowledge. These beliefs are exemplifiedspecifically for approaches to learning and teaching, behaviour management andteaching strategies. The examples are not intended to represent changes within individ-ual students. They exemplify typical statements demonstrating a general trend towardsmore informed beliefs over the year. For the examples that follow, the studentidentification number (01-27) and the timing (S1-S5) are given.

Examples of changes in students' declarative knowledge about approaches to learningand teaching over the course of the year are as follows:

Students are like sponges—ready to soak up anything teachers throw atthem... To teach is to cover content (20) SI. (naive declarative)

I am very excited to discover the variety of learning styles there are. Idiscovered I am a visual learner—no wonder I enjoy working in visual media.I will have to be diligent in teaching to include strategies for all learning stylesand not just favour my own learning style (11) S3. (informed declarative)

Behaviour management was described by students in their journal entries and theseextracts demonstrate change from naive procedural to informed procedural knowledge:

If the teacher shows that he or she cares, then I believe the majority of thestudents will respond to this in a positive manner (12) SI. (naive procedural)

I believe I enhanced metacognition in my classrooms during prac, particularlyin relation to behaviour and peer relationships, by asking particular students

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Integration of Preservice Teachers' Naive and Informed Beliefs 113

Time Stages

FIG. 1. Naive/informed information journal entries over the five time stages.

to reflect on their behaviour and attitudes and evaluate and understand theeffects of this behaviour. Three students became more aware and conscious oftheir behaviour, and started to 'apply a set of internal criteria for thosebehaviours which they considered good'. Peer and teacher support and feed-back were important in establishing what was good behaviour and why (11)S5. (informed procedural)

The following exemplars illustrate naive and informed conditional knowledge withregard to teaching strategies:

When should strategies be used, and why should they be used? I think that thisseems more difficult than it probably is for the teacher (07) SI. (naiveconditional)

Lately I have been trying to put into practice a few diings I have learned—likecatering for different learning styles: audio, kinaesthetic, reading, visual. I havebeen trying to create more handouts, and am now breaking out of the flow Iwas in last prac. I have started using OHTs, and am benefiting from it, in diatI have more time to talk to the class, and monitor them, instead of writing onthe board. I can also present material with colourful diagrams, which aid morevisual learners. I have also been trying to put things in tables, comparing andcontrasting, to enhance student understanding (07) S4. (informed con-ditional)

Integration of Naive and Informed Beliefs

The content of the learning statements and journals changed generally from naive toinformed beliefs over the year (Dart et ah, 1996). In particular, the journal entriesreflect changes from naive declarative to informed conditional knowledge. It is possible

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

114 J. Brownlee et al.

that such informed conditional responses reflect an integration of the taught theoreticalcontent with the learner's naive beliefs. However, in order to determine whether thesebeliefs were really integrated and not merely the espousing of compartmentalisedknowledge or rhetoric, it was important to investigate how these were evidenced instudents' teaching practice. Therefore, informed conditional knowledge was evaluatedby students' responses in stimulated recall interviews relating to videotapes of theirpractice teaching lessons. To a lesser extent, the integration of beliefs was also observedin students' journal entries that described connections between theory and practiceteaching experiences.

Students' responses in the stimulated recall interviews about videotapes of theirteaching provided some evidence of informed conditional knowledge during the secondpractice teaching experience. Ten students reflected on their videotaped performanceafter teaching a lesson during their practice teaching experience. The interviewsreflected naive and informed declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge, witha predominance of informed conditional comments.

Specifically, many students described informed conditional knowledge relating to thenotions of prior knowledge (n = 10) and constructivism (n = 5). These are exemplifiedrespectively:

Learning Chemistry is like learning a foreign language. It is totally different toanything. So I try to relate it back to something that they can relate to, orsomething outside of Chemistry, which is why I use things like travelators.They can relate to it—you hop on it and if you stop, or if it's going theopposite to you and you stop walking, you're going to fall down. And so I tryto use examples that they can relate to ... It's taking everything back for all thestudents, no matter what level they're at, back to a common denominator, soyou've got somewhere to start for everybody ... It's bringing what they knowinto the classroom and out of them (08).

The other reason was I wanted the children/students to be able to constructthe good sentence pattern for themselves. I didn't want to say 'OK now we'regoing to learn the experience of doing something, this is how you do it, noweveryone practice these sentences'. I wanted to give them a really broadpicture of it, have them look at some sentences and then think to themselvesnow how might we have done that actually ourselves, how can we make someother sentences [along] the same lines. So we practised verbally several times,they got to the stage where they were able to give me a sentence back withouthaving constructed the whole sentence, but just repeated, which I then wroteon the board, and then said to them now you look at it and you tell me whatthis sentence is made up of, you tell me how to make up the sentence. Andthat way, I think if they can construct their own meanings from the sentence,if they can work out for themselves how to get there, then more likely they'llremember to do it. I found from experience if I write a sentence on the board,they copy it, and they think they know it, but they don't because they're justcopying something off the board. If they had thought of the sentence patternfor themselves, if they have created it themselves, then they know what it'sabout, they can understand it and they are far more likely to be able to actuallyuse it (21).

All of the interviewed students demonstrated informed conditional knowledge withregard to motivation, class management, and learning styles (exemplified respectively):

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Integration of Preservice Teachers' Naive and Informed Beliefs 115

I guess again that's self-efficacy theory—it raises the motivation of the rest ofthe class if they can see that one member of the class who is not necessarilythe brightest kid in the class or anything, was able to do it, so that gives themmore chance to expect success, that they also will get hold of it (21).

Expectations. I think if we're talking about behaviour management, then Ioutlined a few of my expectations to this group when I started with them atthe beginning of the unit and I said OK this is what I expect. Some people talkabout you discussing them with the group. I think in theory we talk aboutnegotiating rules etc., but at this point it seems to me it's probably a betteridea that I do it. Maybe when I can teach in a year or so, I probably will wantto include the children in negotiations. At the moment it's easier if I just doa few and think about what I do expect. I said to them I would really like itif you would participate in discussion, feel free to say whatever you feel aboutan issue, don't be afraid to say something in fear of being wrong (13).

I have used a video, [conducted] an experiment, and I have described it tothem in words. I have put it into a table later on in this lesson, and I have alsogiven it to them in terms of equations. So in every conceivable sense they havetaken in this concept of simple harmonic motion (09).

These examples of informed conditional knowledge show evidence of theoreticalconcepts taught and assessed in the subject from a constructivist perspective. Studentshave relied on informed declarative knowledge to describe (procedural knowledge) andjustify their actions (conditional knowledge). A lack of integration would have beenevident in their interview responses if they had been unable to appropriately justify theiractions theoretically. The predominance of such informed conditional responsesdemonstrates the extent to which informed beliefs have been used in such classroomdecision-making (the link between declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge).

It was also possible to consider the extent of integration of naive and informed beliefsby exploring the theory and practice relationships described in the journal entries. Inthe journal entries, theory and practice were categorised as isolated, when theory wasconsidered as existing alone, unrelated to practice, and likewise when practice wasunrelated to theory. They were categorised as connected, when theory had been appliedto practice and feedback from this had further established or modified the theory in areciprocal manner. Figure 2 shows changes in reciprocal connections between theoryand practice over time, with students mostly perceiving connections betweentheory and practice (as opposed to perceiving them as isolated), during the practiceteaching experiences and towards the end of the subject.

The following are examples of extracts from journals showing the relationship/lack ofrelationship students saw between theory and practice. The first examples evidence asense of disconnection:

On the weekend I read a chapter on Erik Erikson's Theory of IdentityDevelopment... While this is a great diagram, and it provides me with interestin determining what stage I am at, I am concerned that at this point in mydevelopment as a teacher, I cannot see where I can apply this knowledge (30)SI.

Cognition: the act of knowing; involved with thinking, remembering, prob-lem-solving, obtaining knowledge, decision-making. Metacognition: thinkingabout your thinking; is involved in choosing, planning to do, monitoring what

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

116 J. Brownlee et al.

FIG. 2. Theory and practice journal entries over the five time stages.

is being done, and evaluating what is done... I have difficulty understandingall this jargon. I don't have a clue about what Barry is going on about!Hopefully, the penny will drop soon (27) SI.

Examples of theory and practice connected reciprocally include the following:

Prac teaching focus—Qualitative learning. From my observations, this classhad been exposed to a learning environment which was dominated by theteacher. In my lesson, I modelled, then let them work in pairs, and encour-aged them to try and work it out for themselves. I moved around the room sothat I was not the focus. Outcome: Students felt empowered as though theywere just as smart as the teacher—they were constructing their own meaning(20) S2.

This lesson is only concerned with facts and procedures—surface learning.Most of the questions asked required only a right or wrong answer—defining.The disadvantage of this type of questioning is that there is no move towardsa deeper understanding—the answers will only be seen one way, and there isno relationship to any prior knowledge or meaning (27) S4.

Summary of Changes in Beliefs

In post-subject statements about learning, students described informed qualitativeconceptions of learning, including notions of constructivism, the influence of priorknowledge, motivation and teaching concepts and learner characteristics. In the jour-nals, knowledge changed from being naive and declarative to mostly informed, con-ditional knowledge. Tentative evidence of the integration of naive and informed beliefswas observed in the stimulated recall interviews and to a lesser extent in the theory andpractice connections in journal entries where students were able to describe anddemonstrate why (conditional knowledge) they had chosen particular teaching strate-gies (procedural knowledge) in terms of theoretically informed beliefs (declarative

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Integration ofPreservice Teachers' Naive and Informed Beliefs 117

knowledge). However, it is also important to consider when such changes occurredduring the subject, in order to consider the implications for teaching.

When and Why Changes Occurred: implications for teaching

Integration of naive and informed beliefs tended to occur after stage 3 when studentshad experienced both a practice teaching experience and theory (university-basedlearning). Hence, the first notable increase in informed conditional knowledge tookplace at university, during stage 3 (S3) and remained high thereafter (see Figs I and II).By stage 3, students had been able to reflect on action, integrating theory and theirpractice teaching experiences. Informed conditional knowledge further increased dur-ing the second practice teaching experience (as evidenced by the stimulated recallinterviews, journal entries in Fig. I and two-way theory practice connections in Fig. II)as they attempted to put theory into practice, but decreased marginally at the end of thesubject where little new theory was introduced in S5. The final stage (S5) was also verylimited in time, and this coupled with assessment deadlines, meant fewer journal entriesoverall were made. The timing of such belief changes would suggest that both theuniversity-based and practice teaching experiences are important in facilitatinginformed conditional knowledge.

The following exemplars indicate student's reflections on when they perceivedchanges in their beliefs in relation to teaching and learning occurred. The followingexamples refer to belief changes in teaching:

Until this year, I really didn't know that such a variety of learning stylesexisted—I thought that it was like you see on the label 'one style suitsall'—how naive I must have been, I now have the skills to cater for everyone(20) S5.

My third lesson was one which resulted in a conclusion as to what strategiesworked best with regards to the class and myself. I realised it was notnecessary for the teacher to be the one talking for the whole lesson andproviding information (28) S3.

When I enlarged on my theoretical descriptive beliefs of student-centredlearning, I set new goals that shifted the focus from me delivering content togreater student involvement (13) S5.

The following examples refer to belief changes in learning:

Learning difficulties were something I had never given much thought to beforetoday—the seminar really opened my eyes and presented a much wider viewof teaching than I had ever thought possible, or to be honest, necessary.Suddenly a whole set of barriers to learning has been presented to me whichI am going to need to incorporate into my philosophy of teaching (06) S3.

It all started to feel like it had some relevance to me when I came back toQUT after prac. I started to see the connection between what I was readingand what I had been doing in the classroom. I was able to reflect on myteaching and see how a particular approach was working, or why it perhapswas not working, and what could better be applied (06) S5.

Most students' reflection on changes in their beliefs about learning and teaching tendedto occur during the subject itself (SI, S3 and S5), rather than during their practiceteaching experience (S2 and S4). Given the difficulty associated with reflection-in

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

118 J. Brownlee et al.

action (Schon, 1983, 1987), this outcome is not surprising. Students, overall, havebeen more able to reflect-on action during their time away from their practice teachingexperience.

To summarise, the development of informed conditional knowledge tended to occurduring stage 3 and thereafter, when students had experienced both the theoretical andpractical components of teaching. Students' reflections on changes in their beliefsappeared to be more likely to occur during university-based experiences. Hence, itseems likely that both university-based and practice teaching experiences contributed tochanges in students' informed conditional knowledge.

The learning experiences and the assessment in this subject were designed specificallyto help students reflect upon and develop constructivist beliefs and approaches tolearning. By deliberately addressing student teachers' beliefs about learning and teach-ing in the subject and designing appropriate learning activities and assessment tasks, itseems that students have been able to integrate their naive beliefs with the theoreticalcontent of the course, enabling them to describe, and in some cases, evidence informedconditional knowledge. In particular, the use of journals as a constructivist learningactivity has undoubtedly facilitated the reflective thinking and metacognitive strategiesneeded to integrate naive and informed beliefs. That is, learners have been helped torecognise their naive beliefs (recognition), assess these in terms of the theoreticalcontent and how it is to be learned (evaluation) and decide whether or not toreconstruct ideas and beliefs (revision of personal views).

Correspondence: Joanne Brownlee, Centre for Cognitive Processes in Learning, Facultyof Education, Queensland University of Technology, Locked Bag #2, Red Hill, QLD4059, Australia.

REFERENCES

BAIRD, J. (1991) Individual and group reflection as a basis for teacher development, in: P. HUGHES(Ed.) Teacher's Professional Development (Hawthorn, Victoria, Australian Council for EducationalResearch).

BAIRD, J., FENSHAM, P., GUNSTONE, R. & WHITE, R. (1991) The importance of reflection in improvingscience teaching and learning, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 28, pp. 163-182.

BALLANTYNE, R. & PACKER, J. (1995) Making Connections: using student journals as a teaching/learningaid (Australian Capital Territory, Higher Education Research and Development Society of Aus-tralasia).

BEERS, S.E. (1984) An analysis of the interaction between students' epistemological assumptions andthe composing process, paper presented to the 35th Annual Conference on College Composition andCommunication, New York City, March.

BEM, D.J. (1970) Beliefs, Attitudes, and Human Affairs (California, Brooks/Cole).BERLINER, D.C. (1986) In pursuit of the expert pedagogue, Educational Researcher, 15, pp. 5-13.BEYER, B. (1987) Practical Strategies for the Teaching of Thinking (Boston, Allyn and Bacon).BIGGS, J.B. (1991) Teaching for Learning: the view from cognitive psychology (Hawthorn, Victoria,

Australian Council of Educational Research).BIGGS, J.B. & MOORE, P.J. (1993) Processes of Learning (Melbourne, Prentice Hall).BORKO, H. & LIVINGSTON, C. (1989) Cognition and improvisation: differences in mathematics

instruction by expert and novice teachers, American Educational Research Journal, 26, pp. 473-498.BROWN, A. (1987) Metacognition, executive control, self-regulation and other more mysterious

mechanisms, in: F. WEINERT & R. KLUWE (Eds) Metacognition, Motivation and Understanding,pp. 65-116 (Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum).

DART, B.C. (1994) Teaching for improved learning in small classes in higher education, proceedingsof the Australian Association for Research in Education, University of Newcastle, November.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

Integration of Preservice Teachers' Naive and Informed Beliefs 119

DART, B., BOULTON-LEWIS, G.M., BROWNLEE, J.M. & MCCRINDLE, A.R. (1996) Change in knowledge

of learning and teaching through journal writing, paper presented at the Joint Conference of theEducational Research Association (ERA), Singapore, and the Australian Association for Research inEducation (AARE), Singapore, November.

DART, B.C. & CLARKE, J.C. (1991) Helping students become better learners: a case study in teachereducation, Higher Education, 22, pp. 317-355.

FANG, Z. (1996) A review of research on teacher beliefs and practices, Educational Researcher, 38,pp. 47-65.

FEIMAN-NEMSER, S. & BUCHMAN, M. (1986) The first year of teacher preparation: transition topedagogical thinking? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 18, pp. 239-256.

FRANCIS, D. (1995) The reflective journal: a window to pre-service teachers' practical knowledge,Teaching and Teacher Education, 11, pp. 229-241.

GUNSTONE, R. & NORTHFIELD, J. (1992) Conceptual change in teacher education: the centrality ofmetacognition, paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational ResearchAssociation, San Francisco, April.

HATTON, N. & SMITH, D. (1994) Reflection in teacher education: towards definition and implemen-tation, Teaching and Teacher Education, 11, pp. 33-49.

HOFER, B. (1994) Epistemological beliefs and first year college students: motivation and cognition indifferent instructional contexts, paper presented at the 102nd Annual Conference of the AmericanPsychological Association, Los Angeles, August.

LAWRENCE, C.L. (1992) Preservice teachers' development of pedagogical understandings andepistemological frameworks, paper presented to the Annual Conference of the Educational ResearchAssociation, San Francisco, April.

LEWIS, H. (1990) A Question of Values (San Francisco, Harper & Row).LOUGHRAN, J. (1994) Learning how to teach: unpacking a teacher educator's thinking about pedagogy

in pre-service education, paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American EducationalResearch Association, New Orleans, April.

MARTON, F., DALL'ALBA, G. & BEATY, E. (1993) Conceptions of learning, International Journal ofEducational Research, 46, pp. 4-11.

MAYKUT, P. & MOREHOUSE, R. (1994) Beginning Qualitative Research: a philosophic and practical guide(London, The Falmer Press).

MEADE, P. & MCMENIMAN, M. (1992) Stimulated recall—an effective methodology for examiningsuccessful teaching in science, Australian Educational Researcher, 19, pp. 1-18.

NESPOR, J.K. (1987) The role of beliefs in the practice of teaching, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 19,pp. 317-328.

NISBETT, R. & ROSS, L. (1980) Human Inference: strategies and shortcomings of social judgment (Engle-wood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall).

O'LOUGHLIN, M. (1988) Reconceptualizing educational psychology to facilitate teacher empowermentand critical reflection, paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Midwestern Association forTeachers of Educational Psychology, Bloomington, IN, October.

PAJARES, M.F. (1992) Teacher's beliefs and educational research: cleaning up a messy construct,Review of Educational Research, 62, pp. 307-332.

RENNE, C.G. (1992) Elementary school teachers views of knowledge pertaining to mathematics, paperpresented at the Annual Meeting of the American Research Association, San Francisco, April.

RICHARDS, T. & RICHARDS, L. (1994) QSR NUD*IST (California, Alladin Systems).RICHARDSON, V., ANDERS, P., TIDWELL, D. & LLOYD, C. (1991) The relationship between teachers'

beliefs and practices in reading comprehension instruction, American Educational Research Journal,28, pp. 559-586.

ROKEACH, M. (1968) Beliefs, Attitudes and Values (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass).SCHOMMER, M.A. (1990) Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension, Journal

of Educational Psychology, 82, pp. 498-504.SCHOMMER, M.A. (1993a) Comparisons of beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning among

postsecondary students, Research in Higher Education, 34, pp. 355-370.SCHOMMER, M.A. (1993b) Epistemological development and academic performance among secondary

schools, Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, pp. 406-411.SCHON, D. (1983) The Reflective Practictioner: how professionals think in action (New York, Basic Books).SCHON, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass).SHAVER, J.P. (1992) Epistemology and the education of social science teachers, paper presented at the

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014

120 J. Brownlee et al.

International Conference on Subject-Specific Teaching Methods and Teacher Education, Santiago deCompostela, Spain, July.

STRAUSS, S. (1993) Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge about children's minds and learning:implications for teacher education, Educational Psychologist, 28, pp. 279-290.

STRAUSS, S. (1996) Confessions of a born-again constructivist, Educational Psychologist, 31, pp. 15-21.STRAUSS, S. & SHILONY, T. (1994) Teachers' mental models of children's minds and learning, in:

L. HIRSCHFELD & S.G. GELMAN (Eds) Mapping the Mind: cognition and culture, pp. 455-473(New York, Cambridge University Press).

TABACHNICK, B. & ZEICHNER, K. (1984) The impact of student teaching experience on the develop-ment of teacher perspectives, Journal of Teacher Education, 35, pp. 28-36.

VON WRIGHT, J. (1992) Reflection on reflection, Learning and Instruction, 2, pp. 59-68.YINGER, R. & CLARK, M. (1981) Reflective Journal Writing: theory and practice (Occasional Paper no. 50)

(East Lansing, MI, Michigan State University Institute for Research on Teaching).ZEICHNER, K. (1989) Learning from experience in graduate teacher education, in: A. WOOLFOLK (Ed.)

Research Perspectives on the Graduate Preparation of Teachers (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall).ZIMMERMAN, D.H. & WIEDER, D.L. (1977) The diary: diary interview method, Urban Life, 5,

pp. 479-498.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

alif

orni

a D

avis

] at

14:

23 1

8 O

ctob

er 2

014