The purpose of this study was to examine the epistemological beliefs held by
educators and to determine whether beliefs influence approaches to teaching in
specific disciplinary contexts. Educators' beliefs and approaches were analyzed
in both quantitative and qualitative measures, determining the degree and
dimensionality of beliefs, and the variation in approaches to teaching
experienced. A total of 136 educators teaching in higher education, secondary
education and outdoor education responded to two questionnaires, a discipline focused epistemological beliefs questionnaire and an approach to teaching
inventory. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to condense the
underlying latent variables present in the data, followed by independent t-tests
and analyses of variance to dete1mine the interaction and main effects
independent variables had on beliefs and approaches. Interviews were another
major source of data, conducted with 20 teachers in higher education, analysed
using a phenomenographic approach to reveal the variation in educators' ways
of experiencing epistemology, teaching and learning expressed as conceptual
categories, with relationships between the categories indicated as key themes.
The phenomenographic findings suppo1t the stages, positions and perspectives
in epistemological development identified by Perry ( 1968) and Belenky et al.
(1986), from dualism and multiplicity to relativism, indicating aspects of
received knowing, subjective knowing and constructed knowing. The statistical
analyses revealed a set of core epistemological dimensions, relating to the way
educators experience the nature of knowledge and knowing in specific
disciplinary contexts. The dimensions emergent were ce1tain knowing, expe1t
knowing, relative knowing and experiential knowing, varying in their degree of
naivety or sophistication between teachers. Variation in educators' teaching
intentions and strategies revealed two approaches to teaching, an information
transfer/teacher-focused approach and a conceptual change/student-focused
approach. The quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that academic
characteristics influence both epistemological development and teaching
techniques, and that beliefs exhibit some influence over the approaches to
teaching adopted in specific disciplinary contexts.