THE SOURCES OF EPISTEMIC BELIEFS OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS AND IT'S CORRELATES

Beliefs about knowledge and knowing directly impact pre-service teachers' teaching and learning strategies. The study was conducted on the pre-service teachers of Lucknow city (U.P.). The purpose of this study was to investigate the entire process of the development of epistemic beliefs of pre-service teachers. This study aimed to examine the sources of epistemic beliefs, how they change over time, and how their beliefs influence pre-service teachers' teaching strategies and learning outcomes. Through purposive sampling technique, participants in this study included 200 pre-service teachers (93 male; 107 female) of Lucknow city. A 50-item questionnaire was used to measure the epistemic beliefs of pre-service teachers. Factor analysis was used for data interpretation. The findings of this study indicated the influence of authority and surroundings on the development of pre-service teachers' epistemic beliefs, which may change from the beginning to the end of their teachers' training courses.