Research and reflection competences in Initial Teacher Education

Abstract

Research studies have assessed the development of research and reflection skills of pre-service teachers and for this several surveys, questionnaires and inventories have been designed. However, their authors do not necessarily report validity and reliability indexes of such instruments. This limits the possibilities of conducting replication studies, conducting meta-analyses and limits the understanding and development of this research area. Accordingly, in this paper we report the findings of two studies. Study 1 introduces the Research and Reflection Competences in Initial Teacher Education Questionnaire (RRC-ITE) to the research community by describing the design, piloting and validation measures undertaken. In Study 2 the RRC-ITE questionnaire is used to assess the research and reflection competences of 162 pre-service teachers from Chile. Results show that the participants lack knowledge about (1) research design, (2) data collection and data analysis procedures, (3) ethical considerations and (4) issue identification. Findings also show that pre-service teachers perceive to be highly-competent in transversal competences to do with collaborative work, decision-making, and reflection. Avenues for further research along with study limitations are also described.