Teachers' Personal and Teaching Epistemic Practices: A Four-Country Survey and Interview Exploration of Argumentation Implementation

Abstract

Three hundred and eighteen in-service teachers from Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Hungary participated in a professional training program aimed at promoting their metacognitive and epistemic thinking and practices, with argumentation as a prominent teaching practice. Pre-program survey results revealed that teachers' personal and teaching epistemic practices were underdeveloped, with particularly low engagement in the latter. Personal epistemic practices predicted teaching ones. Cultural differences emerged, with Greek and Cypriot teachers reporting higher engagement in both epistemic practices than Romanian and Hungarian teachers. In-depth interviews with six Greek and Cypriot teachers who implemented argumentation post-program indicated that argument-based practices improved students' epistemic understanding, particularly in appreciating multiple perspectives, evaluating sources and using evidence. Teachers acknowledged receiving limited preparation for promoting students' epistemic understanding and argumentation skills. These findings highlight the need for higher education programs to develop pre- and in-service teachers' epistemic practices. Implications for higher education and policymakers are discussed.