Junqing Zhai and Xiaomei Yan

Journal of Education for Teaching

2022   Volume 48   Issue 2

https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2021.2004075

Abstract:

An increasing number of studies in science education have proved the positive effects of students’ epistemic beliefs on their academic achievements and self-efficacy. Despite the critical roles of teachers’ classroom talks on shaping students’ epistemic beliefs, little research has explored teachers’ talks from epistemic perspectives. Therefore, this study undertook an epistemic analysis of two high school science teachers’ class talks in China. The findings show the teachers’ talks were focused on ‘constructing knowledge’ practices, with very few of ‘explanation’ operation. In the observed classes, teachers led most ‘description’ and ‘argument’ operations, while the students were involved in a low level of epistemic load. The epistemic features of teachers’ talks were influenced by both exam pressures and teachers’ pedagogical beliefs. This study argues that the latter was undermined by exam pressures in education systems and was neglected in the current teacher education system. This study indicates the context-dependent nature of teachers’ epistemic talks in science classes and advocates the explicit teaching of epistemic cognition in teacher education courses.

Keywords: Epistemic talk; teacher education; middle school; classroom discourse