Epistemic Beliefs and Interpersonal Communicative Competences in Preservice Teachers’ Dialogic Argumentation (Poster 18)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 8:00 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Focusing on Teachers and Student-Teacher Interactions

Abstract

Preservice-teachers’ epistemic beliefs/EB, interpersonal-communicative-competences/ICC and metadiscourse in pair-discussions were explored (mixed-methods) for sociocultural-variation and developmental patterns. Cross-gender epistemic-beliefs analysis suggests males’ inflexible cognitions about learning (non-amenable/effortful/non-evolving knowledge-nature), inconducive to sophisticated EB development in higher-education. Cross-age ICC-analysis indicates egalitarianism, empathic/affiliative and communicative flexibility of younger preservice-teachers (Supportiveness, Immediacy/open-stance). Cross-teaching-experience analysis of ICC reveals less-experienced (so younger) student-teachers’ edge in Empathy-subscale, calling for elder student-teachers' supports. Developmental trends in metadiscourse with non/para-verbals reveal strengthened argumentation/epistemic credence (ethically/logically appealing evidentials), higher/metacognitive considerations of interlocutors’ psychological and epistemic needs for free/uninterrupted self-expression/interaction-management, altercentrism, autonomy, knowledge-sourcing. Relationships of teaching-experience, ICC, EB with metadiscourse offer implications for awareness-raising of epistemic-understandings (uncertain knowledge, effortful learning, questionable expert-knowledge) to enhance constructivist/transformative views of teaching and interpersonal-communicative-competences/ICC in teacher-education.

Authors

• Beata M. Latawiec, Wichita State University

• Christie Henderson, Wichita State University