What Can Young Children Really Do? Pre-Service Teachers’ Contradictory Beliefs and Implications for Professional Teacher Education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22042587 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Natassa Kyriakopoulou (0000-0003-1282-6056, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Irini Skopeliti (0000-0002-8402-037X, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 861 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Education Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/educsci16060861 |
| OpenAlex | W7163379493 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 58 |
Pre-service teachers’ (PTs) beliefs about young children’s cognitive abilities shape both their instructional practices and their developing understandings of teaching and learning. This study examined PTs’ beliefs about preschool children’s cognitive abilities, focusing on cognitive operations, conceptual change, and learning processes, in relation to emerging professional identity development. A cross-sectional comparative design was employed with a convenient sample of 241 students from Early Childhood Education Departments who completed the Childhood and Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire. The findings revealed statistically significant differences between participants with and without practicum experience, with the former reporting more sophisticated beliefs, aligned with constructivist learning approaches. However, many participants simultaneously endorsed child-centered perspectives and traditional transmission-based conceptions of teaching, indicating the coexistence of contradictory beliefs. Correlation and cluster analyses further suggested that participants’ beliefs formed broader but only partially coherent belief systems rather than consistent conceptual profiles. These findings may reflect tensions within PTs’ emerging professional identities and suggest that practicum-related experience may coincide with opportunities for reflection on and restructuring of prior beliefs, processes associated with a coherent professional identity. Overall, this study highlights the importance of teacher education programs systematically addressing misconceptions about children’s cognitive abilities, while fostering coherent, research-informed professional identities and evidence-based instructional practices in early childhood education
Cognition · Cognitive development · Conceptual change · Early childhood · Early childhood education · Practicum · Professional development · Restructuring · Teacher education · Child and Animal Learning Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Innovative Education and Learning Practices
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| Highly cited | No |
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