THE IMPACT OF CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON TEACHER CONCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING: THE MEDIATOR ROLE OF CAREER IDENTITY
THE IMPACT OF CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON TEACHER CONCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING: THE MEDIATOR ROLE OF CAREER IDENTITY

Summary/Abstract: The present study investigated the connections between teacher education students’ teacher conceptions about teaching and learning (i.e. constructivist conceptions, traditional conceptions), career identity and critical consciousness components (i.e. critical agency, critical reflection, critical action). The sample included 141 (mean age=21.95, SD=3.17) future primary school or kindergarten teachers enrolled in the second and third year at the university. Self-reported measures were employed to assess students’ teacher conceptions about teaching and learning, their career identity and critical consciousness components. The results showed that the career identity was significantly positively related to constructivist conceptions whilst the traditional conceptions held no significant associations. Constructivist conceptions were also significantly positively related to critical agency, critical action, and egalitarianism. Career identity mediated the relation between teacher conceptions about teaching and learning and critical agency. Further, the educational implications of the findings are thoroughly discussed.

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