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Changing personal epistemologies in

early childhood pre-service teachers
using an integrated teaching program
a a a
Jo Brownlee , Anne Petriwskyj , Karen Thorpe , Phillip Stacey
a a
& Megan Gibson
a
Queensland University of Technology, Centre for Learning
Innovation , Brisbane, Australia
Published online: 28 Jun 2011.

To cite this article: Jo Brownlee , Anne Petriwskyj , Karen Thorpe , Phillip Stacey & Megan
Gibson (2011) Changing personal epistemologies in early childhood pre-service teachers using an
integrated teaching program, Higher Education Research & Development, 30:4, 477-490, DOI:
10.1080/07294360.2010.518952

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 Higher Education Research & Development
Vol. 30, No. 4, August 2011, 477 –490

Changing personal epistemologies in early childhood pre-service

teachers using an integrated teaching program
Jo Brownlee∗ , Anne Petriwskyj, Karen Thorpe, Phillip Stacey and Megan Gibson

Queensland University of Technology, Centre for Learning Innovation, Brisbane, Australia

(Received 5 October 2009; final version received 13 August 2010)

This study investigated changes in pre-service teachers’ personal epistemologies as

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they engaged in an integrated teaching program. Personal epistemology refers to

individual beliefs about the nature of knowing and knowledge and has been
shown to influence teaching practice. An integrated approach to teaching, based
on both an implicit and explicit focus on personal epistemology, was developed
by an academic team within a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood). The
teaching program integrated content across four units of study, modelling
personal epistemologies implicitly through collaborative reflexive practice. The
students were also required to engage in explicit reflections on their personal
epistemologies. Quantitative measures of personal epistemology were collected
at the beginning and end of the semester using the Epistemological Beliefs
Survey (EBS) to assess changes across the teaching period. Results indicated
that pre-service teachers’ epistemological beliefs about the integration of
knowledge became more sophisticated over the course of the teaching period.
Qualitative data included pre-service teachers’ responses to open ended questions
and field experience journal reflections about their perceptions of the teaching
program and were collected at the end of the semester. These data showed that
pre-service teachers held different conceptions about learning as integration,
which provided a more nuanced understanding of the EBS data. Understanding
pre-service teachers’ epistemological beliefs provides promising directions for
teacher preparation and professional enrichment.
Keywords: early childhood care and education; epistemological beliefs;
interdisciplinary teaching; personal epistemology; teacher education

Background
In a climate of international concern for quality in early childhood, the professional
preparation of early childhood staff is an important factor in promoting good outcomes
for young children (Early et al., 2007; Karp, 2006). There is evidence to suggest that
qualifications and specialised training have an impact on quality in early childhood set-
tings (Kreader, Ferguson, & Lawrence, 2005; Vandell, 2004). Formal education has
been linked to teaching practices that reflect more intellectual stimulation, responsivity
and sensitivity with children (Kreader et al., 2005) as well as more effective provision
and use of activities (Vandell, 2004). The combination of degree level professional qua-
lifications and early childhood specialisation has been shown to promote views that
∗
Corresponding author. Email: j.brownlee@qut.edu.au

ISSN 0729-4360 print/ISSN 1469-8366 online

# 2011 HERDSA
DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2010.518952
http://www.informaworld.com
 478 Jo Brownlee et al.

children are capable and competent learners and thereby improve pedagogical practice
(Vandell, 2004).
However, not all research demonstrates a clear link between qualifications and
quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC). Evidence from a range of
contexts (Mashburn et al., 2008; Pianta, 2006) indicates that there is considerable
variability in teacher practice, and subsequent child achievement, amongst teachers
with early childhood qualifications. In the US context, Pianta demonstrated that links
between professional preparation and quality were not clear. He describes the research
evidence as mixed and weak and goes on to suggest that this demonstrates that pro-
fessional preparation is not effectively ensuring quality in ECEC. Pianta suggests
one way to investigate issues of program quality is to examine teachers’ individual
characteristics, although little research has focused on these aspects of quality. This
study investigated the impact of an integrated teaching program,1 called the Splice
program, on teachers’ personal epistemology.
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Personal epistemology
Personal epistemology refers to the beliefs one holds about the nature of knowing and
knowledge. They are described in this study as teacher characteristics because there is
evidence to suggest that epistemological beliefs are relatively stable across contexts,
although context-specific beliefs may also be evident (Muis, Bendixen, & Haerle,
2006). While a range of paradigms exist for researching this construct, one that has
been quite prominent over the last 30 years relates to epistemological development.
Development, as is the case with current psychological theories, does not refer to ‘matu-
ration’ but rather focuses on social construction, in which the roles of contexts and
experience, in particular education, transform personal epistemology (Hofer, 2004).
From a social constructivist perspective, personal epistemological beliefs change
over time, often as the result of academic experiences. Initially individuals are likely
to believe that knowledge is absolute and certain, leaving little scope to engage in
critique of knowledge. Authorities such as teachers, lecturers and parents simply
need to deliver information that is passively absorbed. This view is described using a
variety of labels but a more recent description by Kuhn and Weinstock (2002) refers
to it as absolutism. Next, individuals may advance to subjectivist views and see
knowledge as involving personal opinions (Kuhn & Weinstock, 2002). In this sense,
individuals no longer believe that knowledge is absolute. As was the case with
absolutism, there is no need to engage in a critique of knowledge because it is based
on personal opinion. However, when an individual develops evaluativistic views,
associated with experiences and engagement with higher level of education, there is
a substantial shift in understandings of knowledge and knowing (Kuhn & Weinstock,
2002). At this level individuals have come to a realisation that opinions need to be
evidence-based using multiple forms of evidence or perspectives. Therefore, within
an evaluativistic frame, knowledge is evolving, tentative and evidence-based. In a
similar manner, Bendixen (2002) showed that personal epistemological beliefs
changed from a view of knowledge and knowing as simple and dualistic in nature to
one in which knowledge is understood as constructed and judgements of quality of
knowledge are evidenced-based.
Another body of epistemic research has emerged in response to a dissatisfaction
with the developmental paradigm. Schommer’s (1993) seminal research takes a view
that epistemological beliefs are multidimensional and independent. Her early work
 Higher Education Research & Development 479

reported five dimensions, which have been revised by Kardash and Wood (2000).
These revised dimensions include beliefs about the:

. structure of knowledge (is knowledge integrated?),

. speed of knowledge acquisition (does learning take place quickly or not at all?),
. knowledge construction (is knowledge constructed to create personal meaning?),
. attainability of truth (is knowledge absolute?) and
. characteristics of student success (does learning take place due to one’s innate
ability or through effort?).

A multidimensional focus on epistemic beliefs means that individuals can hold a variety
of beliefs about knowing and knowledge, which are not always consistent. For
example, it is possible for an individual to think that knowledge is certain and unchan-
ging (attainability of truth) and yet also believe that knowledge is integrated (structure
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of knowledge) and constructed (knowledge construction).

A range of research indicates that these dimensions of epistemological beliefs are
variously related to aspects of student’s learning. In this study, however, we are particu-
larly interested in beliefs about the structure of knowledge because it is hypothesised
that a focus on integrating knowledge across units in the Splice program (see below)
will have an impact of this dimension of epistemological beliefs. Students who
believe that knowledge is integrated are more likely to show heightened levels of under-
standing and metacognitive reflection. For example Braten, Stromso and Samuelstuen
(2008) found that pre-service teachers who viewed knowledge as complex and inte-
grated were better able to understand multiple texts than those who viewed knowledge
as simple. When students view knowledge as interconnected, they are more likely to
view knowledge as complex rather than categorical and so are more likely to engage
in thinking that requires evaluation and critique.

Personal epistemology and early childhood teaching

A substantial amount of research has investigated personal epistemology in the context
of teaching across a diverse range of teaching contexts. However, very little research
has investigated how such beliefs impact on teaching practice in the early childhood
context. Beliefs about knowing and knowledge have clear implications for ECEC
teaching practice. For example, teachers who conceive of knowing and knowledge
as absolute and received from an authority are more likely to view teaching in a trans-
missive way (Brownlee, Boulton-Lewis, & Berthelsen, 2008; Chan & Elliott, 2004).
Such teaching practices are predominantly based on the notion of delivering infor-
mation with teaching as prescribed method. However, teachers with more evaluativistic
beliefs recognise that knowledge is constructed and evidence-based and so are more
likely to view teaching as a constructivist practice in which learning is a two-way
process (Brownlee et al., 2008; Chan & Elliott, 2004). This reciprocal relationship
between teacher and child is characteristic of participatory approaches to learning in
early childhood. Penn (1999) suggested that the professional preparation of early
childhood teachers would provide optimal outcomes if there was a focus on promoting
flexible, evidenced-based processes of learning involving deep reflection. These beliefs
about knowing and knowledge suggest that teachers would be more likely to weigh-up
a range of viewpoints, drawing on evidence that is both theoretical and practical as the
platform for effective practice with young children.
 480 Jo Brownlee et al.

There is some evidence to suggest that current difficulties experienced in many

teacher education programs are the direct result of teaching programs that remain
insular and unconnected (Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training,
2007). Young and Lucas (1999) suggested that new pedagogies are required to enable
this shift towards developing connective knowledge and we would argue that new ways
of thinking about knowing and knowledge underpin these new pedagogies.

Changing personal epistemologies

While there is evidence to suggest that personal epistemology is related to teaching
practice, it is also important to consider whether intervention to promote changes in
such beliefs can be effected. Baxter Magolda and Terenzini (2004) suggested that
changes in personal epistemology can be supported when teacher educators provide
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opportunities for students to explicitly reflect on their personal epistemologies and

model integrated approaches to knowing in their teaching programs (implicit focus).
With regard to an explicit process, there is an extensive body of research that indicates
that students are more likely to reconstruct their personal epistemologies if they have
had the opportunity to actively reflect on their beliefs (Brownlee, Purdie, & Boulton-
Lewis, 2001; Nist & Holschuh, 2005; Stacey, Brownlee, Thorpe, & Class EAB016,
2005). This process needs to help students to reflect on how evaluativistic thinking
in teaching is often required, especially in the context of ill-defined problems (Kuhn
& Udell, 2001). Changes in personal epistemology can also be affected through mod-
elling or what is known as an implicit focus. This may occur when teacher educators
model evaluativistic personal epistemologies in their own teaching and assessment
practices.

A program of epistemological beliefs research

The current study extends on an existing program of research focused on changes in
personal epistemology in a teacher education programme. In Phase 1, Brownlee,
Purdie and Boulton-Lewis (2001) interviewed and surveyed 29 graduate pre-service
teacher education students before and after completing a year-long educational
psychology unit. During the course of their studies in this unit, students were required
to explicitly think about their personal epistemologies in journals and class discussions.
Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis demonstrated changes in student beliefs
over the course of the year (Brownlee et al., 2001).
In Phase 2, we further investigated changes in undergraduate pre-service teachers’
epistemological beliefs during a semester-long research methods unit (Stacey et al.,
2005). Like the Phase 1 study, we focused on explicit reflections on epistemological
beliefs through the assessment task. Students were required to interview a critical
friend about his/her epistemological beliefs before and after the semester-long research
methods unit. They then analysed the interview data to see if any belief changes had
occurred and wrote a research report. The content of the unit provided students with
skills in conducting research. Such skills were focused on participating effectively in
research, which also promoted the development of epistemological beliefs by
helping students to gain first-hand experience of using knowledge creation. Changes
in epistemological beliefs were assessed pre- and post-test using Schommer’s (1993)
epistemological questionnaire. The data showed that students became more
 Higher Education Research & Development 481

sophisticated in their beliefs that learning was based on effort rather than predetermined
ability (Innate Ability).
The current study, which is Phase 3, continues this investigation of personal
epistemology and teacher education using an integrated teaching program that
focuses on explicit reflections on personal epistemology. However, in addition to
explicit reflections described in Phases 1 and 2, we have integrated curriculum
across a range of subject areas rather than within a single area as was the case in the
previous studies. It was expected that such a cross-unit focus would promote
sophisticated epistemological beliefs, particularly in regard to beliefs in integrated
knowledge.

The study
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The study had two main research questions:

(1) How do students’ epistemological beliefs change as they engage in a teaching

program designed to focus on integration of knowledge across units?
(2) How do students perceive the value of the teaching program for their own
learning?

Context for the study

The integrated teaching program drew on multiple disciplines in four units (subjects) in
the third year of a four-year Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) course at the
Queensland University of Technology in Australia. The teaching program was based
on a social constructivist framework by focusing on how the educational context
could promote personal epistemology changes and aimed to promote changes
through implicit (modelling) and explicit reflection on personal epistemology (Baxter
et al., 2004).
The pedagogy that is described in this research is referred to as the Splice program.
This program involved integrated teaching across four semester 1 units in the third year
of the course at the Queensland University of Technology. The connection and align-
ment of unit content was aimed at promoting sophisticated personal epistemologies,
specifically in regard to integrating of knowledge across units. The (university) teachers
in the Splice program focused on the following themes: evidence-based thinking and
practice, multiple perspectives in ways of knowing and understanding, relationships
as foundational for effective teaching and learning and the construction of meaning
and reflexivity. The four units involved in this study were:

(1) EAB005: Inclusion in Early Childhood Settings.

(2) EAB016: Research in Early Childhood Education.
(3) EDB013: Field Studies 3 – Diversity and Inclusivity.
(4) EAB012: Early Childhood Curriculum – Arts 2.

Weekly unit topics were aligned so as to support integrated, evidence-based approaches

to thinking and learning. The 13-week teaching semester was structured so that students
attended on campus for lectures and tutorials in each of the four units initially for seven
weeks, with classes timetabled over a two-day period each week. This was followed by
a four-week field experience placement in a child care centre (with children aged from
 482 Jo Brownlee et al.

birth to three years), with one week on campus both at the midway point and end point
of this placement. The on-campus component during field experience and at the end of
the semester provided rich opportunities for supporting students and revisiting core unit
content. In particular, this model of timetabling field experience provided scope for
further highlighting the connections between the four units.
The EAB016 Research Methods lecture was the final lecture in the series each
week and so it was used as a forum for students to reflect on the ideas they could
see emerging across all units. For example in Week 1 the integrating idea across
the four units was an understanding of the value in linking personal experiences
with evidence-based professional knowledge. This involved students reflecting on
their earlier personal experiences with diversity and inclusion (EAB005), the arts
(EAB012), child care (EDB013) and research on teaching (EAB016) across each of
the lectures. The EAB016 lecture was then used to encourage students to consider
what they had discussed in all of the lectures and how their early experiences had
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shaped their current knowledge and thinking on the various topics. The EAB016
unit also served another purpose in this study. This unit was focused on enabling
students to explicitly reflect on their personal epistemologies. Students were required
to complete a small-scale research project in which they reviewed the literature about
personal epistemologies and teacher education and then interviewed a fellow student
about their personal epistemologies.
In addition to the interconnected weekly topics, throughout the semester four Splice
panels were held in the EAB016 lecture timeslot, where unit co-ordinators discussed a
particular topic that was being addressed across all units. The use of the panel discus-
sions enabled students to engage with a topic with their four unit co-ordinators present
so that links between the units could be made more explicit.
Unit co-ordinators also met weekly throughout the semester to review teaching
and learning for that week and discuss the content and process of teaching in the
week ahead. Often these meetings were witnessed by our students as the meeting
took place in a public space at the University and, on occasions, students would
join in the discussions. This approach to collegiality enriched reflexivity and assisted
academic staff to listen to each other and take on multiple perspectives about teach-
ing and learning across the other units. It was crucial that, as a team, the staff
members demonstrated the same flexibility and sophisticated epistemological
beliefs (a view of knowledge as integrated and evidenced-based) that we wanted stu-
dents to display.
It was important that the teaching team had shared understandings about not only
the nature of integration, but also what content knowledge we wanted to focus upon
across all four units. All co-ordinators were lecturers in the School of Early Childhood,
three of whom were currently engaged in their own higher degree research as Doctoral
students. As a group, they held strong views about the need for ECEC practice to be
evidenced-based, which became a clear theme in many of the panel discussions.
They also believed strongly that the content across the units could be integrated
using this themes of evidenced based-practice.
In summary, the Splice program involved curriculum integration (preliminary topic
alignment and shared readings), explicit statements on connective issues and personal
epistemology (panel discussions and weekly linking) and authentic modelling by
teacher-educators of collegial reflection and sophisticated epistemological beliefs
(weekly meetings).
 Higher Education Research & Development 483

Gathering and analysing data

Once ethics approval was gained through the formal University mechanisms, students
were invited to participate during the first lecture in EAB016. They were provided with
an information package that described the nature of the research and then asked to sign
a consent form to indicate willingness to be involved. It was stressed that their partici-
pation was entirely voluntary.
Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods were used to
gather information about the effectiveness of the Splice program in terms of changes
in personal epistemology. Mixed-method designs may be used to provide both triangu-
lation and complementarity (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham, 1989). The use of triangu-
lation allows the inquirer to investigate the convergence of data, whereas methods that
focus on complementarity measure overlapping but also different facets of a phenom-
enon, yielding an enriched, elaborated understanding of that phenomenon (Greene
et al., 1989). In the current study, qualitative and quantitative data were gathered to
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see how the open-ended statements and journal reflection data complemented the epis-
temological beliefs questionnaire data. The questionnaire investigated core beliefs
about knowing that were not explored in the open-ended statements and journals.

Quantitative data
It was predicted that students’ epistemological beliefs would become more sophisti-
cated across the period of the learning program. This would be evident if we identified
statistically significant increases in scores on the five scales of the Epistemological
Beliefs Survey (EBS), between those measured at entry and those measured at com-
pletion of the semester (addresses research question 1). The EBS, initially developed
by Schommer (1993), has evolved through the work of Kardash and Wood (2000).
Kardash and Wood’s questionnaire assesses various student beliefs about the struc-
ture of knowledge, speed of knowledge acquisition, knowledge construction, character-
istics of student success and attainability of truth. Responses are scored on a 5-point
Likert scale anchored at 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores
on all measures represent more sophisticated beliefs. Cronbach’s alphas indicated
acceptable consistency of the EBS of subscales and ranged from .54 to .74.
Responses were collected from 73 students aged between 18 and 40 years (mean
age ¼ 21.21 years, SD ¼ 3.66). Change in epistemological beliefs was tested using
2-point repeated measures t-tests. Time 1 was measured in class during the first
EAB016 lecture and Time 2 was measured in the final lecture and tutorials for this unit.

Qualitative data
The qualitative data collection included students’ responses to open-ended questions on
the EBS and journal reflections made whilst students were on practicum (addresses
research question 2).

Open-ended responses
When students completed the EBS at the end of the semester, they were also asked to
respond to an open-ended question about how they perceived the value of the Splice
activities for their own learning. A total of 25 students responded to this open-ended
question.
 484 Jo Brownlee et al.

Journal reflections
Students were required to complete a reflective journal as a core component of the
assessment for the unit EDB013 Field Studies 3: Diversity and Inclusivity. The reflec-
tive journal was part of a curriculum project that also included developing a field
experience folder for submission. In the journal, students were required to write
weekly entries that included reflections on the unit (topics, readings, own experiences
and provocations) and links between the Splice units (particularly around the key links
around relationships, evidence-based practice, personal journeys and multiple ways of
knowing and understanding). The reflective journal was marked by the unit co-ordina-
tor of EDB013 and constituted a 20% weighting of the total mark. A total of 51 students
reflected on the Splice links between the units that they were enrolled in.

Data analysis
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The written responses to the open-ended statements and the journal reflections were
analysed for emerging patterns and themes using content analysis (Berg, 2007). A
data-driven, inductive approach was used as the initial strategy to enable students’ per-
ceptions to emerge from the data. While initially the analytic strategy was designed to
allow themes to emerge from the data, it became clear that the responses broadly fell
into two main ways of viewing learning in the Splice teaching program. These two
themes were: (1) the Splice program helped to acquire more knowledge and (2) the
Splice program helped to change the way students thought about knowledge. These
two broad dimensions reflected Marton, Dall Alba and Beatty’s (1993) quantitative
and qualitative conceptions of learning respectively. Quantitative conceptions relate
to a view of learning that is focused on aggregating increasing amounts of information,
without necessarily showing an understanding of the new information and how it is
interconnected. Qualitative conceptions, on the other hand, are beliefs about learning
that involve a transformation of the new information in some way. This transformation
may involve a change in how one understands the new information, seeing things
from another perspective or change as a person. At this stage, the analysis became
deductive in nature because we imposed these two broad pre-existing categories
upon the data.
Two unit coordinators from the Splice group independently analysed the statements
and compared their analysis of the responses to establish trustworthiness (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2000). This analysis was then scruntinised by the remaining team members
and one additional researcher who was not a current team member but had participated
in an earlier phase of the research (Phase 2). Because we were using a basic two-cat-
egory analytic strategy (qualitative or quantitative conceptions of learning), it was a
relatively simple process to allocate students’ statements to a category and, hence,
very little disagreement existed in how these responses were categorised. Any disagree-
ments were resolved through discussion.

Results
Changes in students’ epistemological beliefs
Students’ epistemological beliefs at the commencement of the semester were compared
with those at close of semester across the five EBS subscales. Evidence of change was
determined by statistical analyses setting significance at the .05 alpha criterion. These
 Higher Education Research & Development 485

analyses revealed that students’ epistemological beliefs did become significantly more
sophisticated through out the semester. Students’ beliefs about the structure and inte-
gration of knowledge (mean time 1 ¼ 2.75 [.58], mean time 2 ¼ 3.00 [.62], t(23) ¼
-4.07, p , .001), speed of knowledge acquisition (mean time 1 ¼ 3.88[.56], mean
time 2 ¼ 4.17[.46], t(23) ¼ -3.28, p ¼ .003), knowledge as the construction of personal
meaning (mean time 1 ¼ 3.56[.37], mean time 2 ¼ 3.68[.41], t(23) ¼ -2.16, p ¼ .041),
view of student success as based on innate ability (mean time 1 ¼ 3.43[.67], mean time
2 ¼ 3.66[.85], t(23) ¼ -2.16, p ¼ .042) became more sophisticated over the course of
the teaching program. Only their beliefs about the certainty and attainability of truth
did not achieve a statistically significant level of change. Students’ mean scores for
Time 1 and Time 2 are presented in Figure 1.
We were most interested in the structure of the knowledge dimension because this
was connected to our focus on integrated knowledge in the teaching program. This
dimension of the EBS reported a notable effect size of .53, which equates to approxi-
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mately a 6% gain in score across the duration of the unit (see Cohen, 1988; Rosenthal &
Rosnow, 1991). While limitations in our design prevent attributing cause directly to the
teaching program, this is a highly significant change in a targeted core belief over a
brief period. These data provide evidence that the cohort of student teachers studied
demonstrated significant increase in sophistication of epistemological beliefs over
the course of the semester. Of particular interest is the development of beliefs that
knowledge is integrated rather than segmented.

Students’ perceptions of the value of the program for their own learning
Overall, the responses (n ¼ 25) to the open-ended question and the journal reflections
(n ¼ 51) about the value of the Splice program in terms of learning, indicated that
learning was conceived of in two main ways. The first presented change in learning
as a quantitative increase in knowledge while the second presented change in learning
as a qualitative change in thinking differently.

Figure 1. Student teachers’ means scores with standard errors for time 1 (white) and time 2
(black).
 486 Jo Brownlee et al.

Open-ended responses and journal reflections that were coded as increased knowl-
edge indicated that the explicit interconnections made between units throughout the
semester increased their knowledge about a range of topics, the most significant
being about the role of relationships in early childhood pedagogy. This reflects a quan-
titative conception of learning as described by Marton et al. (1993). For example:

There have been connections made throughout the unit on various topics. The most
obvious connection I have noticed has been the topic of relationships. This has either
been maintained through assessment pieces both individual and group or our interviews
with our critical friend. (Open ended response: Sarah)2

I found however that I could make more connections to EDB013 and EAB005 more so
than EAB016. I also found that identifying with children who had special needs, as
well as looking at the centre in relation to inclusion, was beneficial in making connections
between EDB013 and EAB005 theory that I may have not done otherwise. (Journal
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response: Leah)

Sometimes these responses simply indicated that knowledge was interconnected

without any elaboration about what sort of learning was taking place. Overall the
responses indicated that integrated learning involved increasing knowledge, for
example, by one subject clarifying another.
In the second category, the Splice activities helped me to think differently, there was
a clearer indication that the explicit interconnections helped students to understand or
construct meaning about a range of topics. This reflects a qualitative conception of
learning (Marton et al., 1993). For example:

Making connections between my conscious thoughts about my epistemological beliefs

and my evaluations of practice during field experience has been valuable. Also making
connections between an evaluativistic approach to practice and things like relationships,
inclusivity, diversity has made me question how well I evaluate myself and how honest I
am with myself when I reflect and evaluate. (Open-ended response: Caitlin)

The links made by lectures and the encouragement to think in this way has really helped
me seeing how the subjects fit together as a whole and how information, ideas, theories,
perspectives, etc presented in one subject are present in others. . . . My thinking and under-
standing about all of my subjects has particularly been challenged by the research subject
(EAB016). I am doing the beliefs study and this has really challenged me to question to
own epistemological beliefs and how I view and learn information presented in all of the
subjects. (Journal reflection: Jan)

What was evident in both the open-ended statements and the journal reflections was
how learning as integration could be broadly conceived of as either quantitative or
qualitative in nature. For some it was simply a matter of acquiring more knowledge
about a range of topics, while others seemed to reflect more deeply on how the inter-
connections had promoted increased understanding of topics.

Discussion
The evidence provided by the EBS data indicates that over the course of the semester
the epistemological beliefs of the cohort of students studied became significantly more
sophisticated. This addressed research question 1: How do students’ epistemological
beliefs change as they engage in a teaching program designed to focus on integration
 Higher Education Research & Development 487

of knowledge across units? Of particular interest are the data which showed the
development of beliefs that knowledge is integrated rather than segmented. Such
beliefs are likely to lead to increased comprehension and metacognition when knowl-
edge is conceived of as complex and integrated (Braten, Stromso, & Samuelstuen,
2008). This means that when knowledge is seen as interconnected students are more
able to think across disciplines and integrate ideas, therefore promoting broader and
deeper understandings of issues in early childhood education (Penn, 1999). The devel-
opment of the connectedness and inter-relationship of content was a core goal of the
explicit weekly linking of unit content by academic staff and the series of panel presen-
tations. The explicit reflection on personal epistemology in the research project in
EAB016 was also designed to achieve these changes. We are unable to determine if
the Splice teaching program alone has caused this change to occur yet we do know
that similar changes have been reported elsewhere (Brownlee et al., 2001) using a
similar approach. In the Brownlee study both an explicit (reflection on beliefs) and
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implicit (integrated curriculum) focus on personal epistemology was used with

significant changes occurring in pre-service teachers’ beliefs over a one-year period.
The Splice teaching program alone may not have caused the change to occur,
however the results are worthy of further investigation. In future semesters it may be
useful to establish reliability by repeated measurement across a year cohort.
While the quantitative data demonstrated changes in epistemological beliefs with
regard to integrated knowledge, the qualitative data provided nuanced information
about how students actually conceptualised the EBS dimension of structure and inte-
gration of knowledge. This addressed research question 2: How do students perceived
the value of the teaching program for their own learning? By asking students how they
perceived the value of the Splice program for their own learning we were able to find
out about students’ conceptions of learning as integration. For some students, the focus
on the integration of units simply increased their knowledge of a range of topics in
ECEC, while others experienced integration as promoting different ways of thinking.
This nuanced understanding about conceptions of learning as integration may lead to
the development of more targeted strategies in future research. For example, students
could be encouraged to reflect explicitly on the nature of their own learning in terms
of how information is differentiated and then integrated to form understanding.
The changes in personal epistemology demonstrated by students in the teaching
program provide some interesting new directions for teaching quality. Current research
suggests that a focus on teacher qualifications alone does not ensure quality in ECEC
settings (Mashburn et al., 2008). We know that ECEC teachers with Bachelor qualifi-
cations do not necessarily teach in ways that promote sensitive, responsive and/or intel-
lectually challenging experiences for young children. Our study has responded to
Pianta’s (2006) call to explore quality in ECEC by investigating teachers’ individual
characteristics, which in our study focused on personal epistemology. There is evidence
in the personal epistemology research to suggest that teachers with more evaluativistic
beliefs tend to focus on active, meaningful learning experiences for children ( e.g. Chan
& Elliott, 2004), however little research has investigated ECEC teaching and how to
promote such changes in beliefs. Our results suggest personal epistemology is a fruitful
focus for further examination, including the association with child outcomes.
While the value of staff drawing attention to links between content and overtly mod-
elling collaborative reflexive practice cannot directly be determined from the data, it
appeared to be a valuable way of making explicit connections that are usually implicit.
Jaruszewicz (2006) argued the need for teacher educators to both model (implicit) and
 488 Jo Brownlee et al.

facilitate critical reflection (explicit) grounded in theory to promote effective learning

and our data offer some support for this position. The combination of explicit class
discussion and implicit staff modelling offers a possible avenue for supporting more
sophisticated understandings, potentially reducing reliance on pedagogies based on
views of teachers as technicians (Penn, 1999).
We endeavoured to ensure interconnections between content. However, the assess-
ment items essentially remained unconnected with students needing to manage at least
eight pieces of assessment across the semester. This is something that could be
addressed in future iterations of the Splice activities. A more integrated set of assess-
ment items would not only rationalize students’ assessment load but would be more
authentic in making connections between unit content thus further promoting integrated
epistemologies. One exciting challenge might involve the use of examination based on
interviews as integrated assessment so that students are provided with opportunities to
articulate interconnections across units.
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Another student-related consideration has to do with how the unit coordinators

made decisions about the nature of Splice activities without student consultation. If
we want to develop sophisticated epistemological beliefs, which take into account
multiple perspectives, we need to model these beliefs and engage students in the
Splice program planning. This would make more explicit and visible that the unit
co-ordinators are living the message they are delivering, which promotes authenticity
in relationships with students as well as staff. This will enable us to work in more
collaborative ways with students rather than transmitting our views about the nature
of the interconnections to them. Also, there is a potential for student voice to be
heard in joint publications with staff. This would promote induction into the pro-
fessional academic world.
While the outcomes of a single semester of study of students’ evolving understand-
ings offer only tentative findings, the change in sophistication of student thinking indi-
cate the potential value of the integrated approached to teaching or ‘the Splice’ process.
The collaborative reflexive interactions within the staff group provided an avenue for
extending student understanding.

Notes
1. This term was coined by the course leadership team to describe collaborations among
concurrently delivered units.
2. Pseudonyms are used.

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