Pre-service Teachers’ Belief Change and Practical Knowledge Development during the Course of Practicum

Abstract

This study deals with the nature of change processes that pre-service teachers undergo throughout their training in an English Language Teaching programme. It also explores the types of beliefs about learning and teaching that pre-service teachers held before starting the practical phase of the programme and whether and how the practical phase changed their beliefs in nine-month period. Participants included 12 pre-service teachers at a university in Northern Cyprus. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in three different phases: at the beginning, during and at the end of the training programme. Diaries were also used on a regular basis. The study found that when the participants started the training programme, they held numerous beliefs about learning and teaching—many based on theoretical rather than practical knowledge. An analysis of the data obtained in the latter phases indicated that all the participants underwent changes in the various beliefs they initially held. Furthermore, the participants faced many difficulties when their theoretically derived beliefs were confronted with the reality of practice, which, in several instances, led to changes in beliefs and the development of practical knowledge.