An Analysis of Social Studies Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs and Teaching Styles in terms of Several Variables

Abstract

As studies on individual differences increased, research on epistemological beliefs and learning & teaching styles has also grown. Accordingly, this study aimed determining the epistemological beliefs and teaching styles of social studies teachers and to analyze them across several variables. Employing survey model, this research utilized demographic information form and scales of epistemological beliefs and teaching styles. Participants were 202 Social Studies teachers. Data were analyzed on SPSS 20.0 software. Participants strongly believe that ‘Learning is Dependent on Effort’. There is no significant relation between epistemological beliefs and the variables. Most frequent styles are Facilitator, Personal Model, and Expert styles. Furthermore, significant relations were found between teaching styles and teachers’ seniority, the faculty of Bachelor’s degree, and the schools they worked for.