Engaging the epistemic dimension of preservice teachers' identity: a pedagogical tool

Abstract

A teacher's personal epistemology (i.e., their way of knowing) exerts a powerful influence on their ability to perceive and engage the diversity and complexity of educational environments. This paper introduces and illustrates a pedagogical tool for engaging the epistemic dimension of preservice teachers' pedagogical identity. The Binary Differential Grid (BDG) facilitates the development of increasingly complex, contextualised, and evaluative epistemologies. A pilot study with 19 graduate level preservice teachers utilised the BDG to engage the epistemic dimension of five binary constructs related to teaching. The five binary constructs include, (1) teacher-centred and student-centred approaches to learning, (2) beliefs about natural and nurtured ability, (3) inclusive and exclusive approaches to diversity, (4) intrinsic and extrinsic approaches to motivation, and (5) permissive and authoritarian approaches to management. The study reveals the potential use of the BDG as a catalytic tool for epistemic development.