Pre-service teachers’ position taking in socio-scientific issues: authoritative information and skepticism in a post-truth world

Title
Pre-service teachers’ position taking in socio-scientific issues: authoritative information and skepticism in a post-truth world
Author(s)
Quinn, Frances
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3144-3416
Email: fquinn@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:fquinn
Charteris, Jennifer
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1554-6730
Email: jcharte5@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jcharte5
Fletcher, Peter
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6605-471X
Email: pfletch2@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pfletch2
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Routledge
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1080/13540602.2026.2723339
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/74823
Abstract

In a post-truth world where information is so widely accessed online, critical engagement with sources of truth is essential, especially for teachers, who are charged with teaching information literacy and critical thinking in schools. This article is drawn from a cross-curricular initiative integrating information literacy into an assessment task requiring pre-service teachers to respond to a socio-scientific issue. The study was conducted in Australia with 11 undergraduate pre-service teachers (primary and secondary) enrolled in a compulsory ICT unit within an initial teacher education programme at a regional university. We explore how pre-service teachers engage with sources of information, authority, and display a sceptical stance in this task. Findings highlight that the participants frequently used non-authoritative sources and displayed limited scepticism in invoking claims made by authorities to justify their position. An argument is lodged for pre-service teacher education addressing information literacy, critical thinking and scepticism that transcends a focus on specific tasks or the cognitive domain.

Link
Citation
Teachers and Teaching, p. 1-23
ISSN
1470-1278
1354-0602
Start page
1
End page
23

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