Understanding the role of refutation texts on pre-service teachers’ mathematics-related beliefs

Researchers converge around the idea that attending to teachers’ beliefs is essential for any instructional reform effort to be effective. However, given the mixed results of belief change efforts, questions remain about what approaches will trigger belief change. One approach that has been shown to be effective in belief and conceptual change in other disciplines, but seldom used in mathematics education, is the use of refutation texts. We investigated the influence of refutation texts on 13 Ghanaian pre-service teachers’ mathematics-related beliefs. Further, we explored the underlying process by which refutation texts may have elicited belief change by applying the Knowledge Revision Components (KReC) Framework. We observed that pre-service teachers’ reflections after engaging with the refutation texts showed a greater alignment with the content of the texts. The KReC framework provided insight into the processes underlying this belief change. Implications for teacher development are discussed along with suggestions for future research.