Investigating the Effects of Social Constructivist Teaching on Prospective Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching and Learning and In-class Implementations

Abstract

. In this study, the effects of social constructivist teaching on the modifications of pedagogical beliefs of the teacher candidates who attended a certification program in education and the reflections of these belief modifications on their in-class implementations were explored. This study was a case study as a naturalistic inquiry. Qualitative data was gathered from six teacher candidates through semi-structured interviews (i.e., pedagogical beliefs) and metaphors (in-class implementations). In order to explore the effects of social
constructivist teaching on the linkage of belief-practice, implementations were maintained for 14 weeks by an expert scholar. The analysis of the interviews with the teacher candidates showed that they held traditional or behaviorist pedagogical beliefs prior to implementations, however, after implementations teacher candidates’ pedagogical beliefs were considerably modified into learner-centered teaching. The metaphorical reasoning of the teacher candidates that were considered to estimate their in-class implementations showed that they will be teaching through teacher-centered methods indicating modifications in the beliefs will not be changed their future in-class practices. Various recommendations were offered regarding the certification program in
education and teacher education in the context of Turkey