Abstract
In educational literature, collaborative contexts have been highlighted as effective teacher development promoters. Especially in initial teacher education (ITE), the role of communities of practice gains prominence during school placement. Given the relevance of preservice teachers' (PSTs) beliefs in their professional growth, this work aimed to understand these communities' value in developing epistemological systems. Eleven PSTs of an ITE in Physical Education were intentionally chosen for this study. Data collection took place during the school placement year. Three focus group moments and reflexive logs were explored. Data analysis was carried out through the procedure presented by Charmaz (2006) based on theoretical and deep coding, where emerging themes were identified. The study has shown that: a) the cooperant teacher was a catalyst for PSTs' personal discovery about their role as teachers, and b) the communities of practice enhanced the understanding of knowledge as evolving and connected. The engagement with guided discovery, experimentation, empowerment, and knowledge construction through different voices of the community led the PSTs to understand the nature of knowledge as mutable and knowledge development as a collaborative effort. Since communities of practice during the school placement represented availing epistemology, it is possible to understand that these contexts enable PSTs to perceive knowledge in a complex manner, rejecting absolutist thoughts. This rejection of absolutist thoughts is a crucial aspect of the learning process, as it allows for a more open-minded and dynamic understanding of knowledge. Similar practices can enhance PSTs' knowledge, ITE reconfiguration, and teacher training policies.
Author Information
Margarida Barros, University of Porto, Portugal
Isabel Mesquita, University of Porto, Portugal
Paula Queirós, University of Porto, Portugal
Paper Information
Conference: ECE2024
Stream: Teaching Experiences
This paper is part of the ECE2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Barros M., Mesquita I., & Queirós P. (2024) Shaping Epistemological Profiles: School Placement Communities’ Impact on Preservice Teachers’ Personal Discovery and Knowledge Evolution ISSN: 2188-1162 The European Conference on Education 2024: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 1025-1033) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2024.79
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2024.79
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