Theorizing Teacher Epistemology: An Exploratory Case Study of Primary and Secondary Schools in the Philippines

Abstract

Five epistemological belief dimensions were identified from a survey study of a sample of 1068 practicing Filipino teachers from 14 primary and secondary Catholic schools. The dimensions of epistemological beliefs of this sample - identified as Authority/Expert Knowledge, Learning Effort, Learning Process, Fixed Ability, and Innate Ability - differed from previous studies that employed Chan & Elliott's Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ) possibly due to differences in socio-cultural contexts. For future investigations of teacher epistemology for Philippine samples, a six-factor model of epistemological belief dimensions is proposed, which suggests an additional hypothesized dimension labeled "Access to Knowledge" that requires empirical confirmation. The relevance of the study's findings and their implications on the participating schools were also discussed, especially in relation to staff professional development programs.