What do student teachers think and feel about educational research? The role of epistemic beliefs and epistemic emotions

This interview study, located in England, explores the role of epistemic beliefs and emotions relating to student teachers’ views of research. It is based on the premise that to further understand and attend to the theory-practice divide in initial teacher education, we should look beyond contextual elements that influence views about research knowledge and learn more about different person- centred factors. It therefore studies the reasons for different student teachers’ beliefs about research knowledge, which are bound up with beliefs about knowledge and coming to know (epistemic beliefs), and the related role of prior experiences. It also investigates influences on epistemic emotions, those that student teachers experience when they engage with academic coursework, and how these relate to epistemic beliefs or other factors. The findings are presented in four ‘emplotted narratives’, linking different elements to generate stories. The narratives reveal explanations for different epistemic beliefs and emotions and how these interact both in different combinations and with context. They also illustrate three key themes: the impact of individuals’ prior academic, professional or personal experiences; the influence of contextual factors and significant others on epistemic emotions; missed opportunities to develop more availing epistemic beliefs and emotions to address the theory-practice gap.