Epistemological beliefs on teaching and learning: a survey among pre-service teachers in Singapore

Personal epistemological beliefs influence one's cognitive and metacognitive operations in a significant way. They also influence how teachers conceptualize teaching. It is therefore essential for teacher educators to understand the epistemological beliefs that pre-service teachers are holding to foster mature epistemological outlooks that could facilitate educational reforms. This study surveyed 537 Singapore pre-service teachers' epistemological beliefs. The results indicate that Singapore pre-service teachers were fairly homogenous in their beliefs. They place much emphasis on learning effort. Although they seem to be inclined to believe that knowledge is uncertain, they also tend to believe in the experts. Generally, the profiles suggest that it may be necessary for Singapore teacher educators to foster more mature epistemological outlooks among its pre-service teachers.