Embed explicit reflection on epistemic beliefs within constructivist teaching practice so beliefs evolve through enacted epistemic cognition¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 2 studies (1 review, 1 theoretical), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends that changing teachers' epistemic beliefs requires more than standalone reflection: reflection should be embedded within actual teaching practice that is constructivist in nature. It argues that "teaching experiences need to be accompanied by explicit reflections on how epistemic cognition might be related to one's actual teaching practice", a process it calls enacted epistemic cognition and which forms the basis of the 3R-EC Framework. This strategy is drawn from the article's synthesis of Adibelli and Bailey and Fives and Buehl.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teaching experiences that are supportive of, and mirror, the epistemic beliefs being reflected upon
• Reflection focused specifically on how epistemic cognition relates to actual teaching practice

Constraints¶

• The article notes few researchers have provided a framework for how reflection on beliefs and practices might occur, and the framework's strength awaits empirical testing

Target Learners¶

• Preservice teachers
• Practicing teachers in professional learning

Target Learning Goals¶

• Changing epistemic beliefs through enacted epistemic cognition
• Connecting epistemic cognition to classroom practice

Affordances¶

• 3R Ec Framework Epistemic Reflexivity

Claims¶

• Explicit reflection on epistemic beliefs during science units has been followed by changes in student teachers' epistemic beliefs [+W]
• Preservice teachers with placements promoting successful constructivist science teaching were more likely to report evaluativist personal epistemologies [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Embed the 3R-EC Framework in teacher education assignments such as reflective writing, discussion groups and video journaling
• Staff development should make teaching principles explicit through articulation, reflection and evaluation, supported by institutional incentives and training

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Jo Lunn Brownlee, Leila E. Ferguson & Mary Ryan (2017). Changing Teachers' Epistemic Cognition: A New Conceptual Framework for Epistemic Reflexivity. Educational Psychologist, 52(4), 242–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1333430