Characteristics of Preservice Teachers in Multi-Campus Settings: Using Demographics and Epistemological Beliefs to Unpack Stereotypes

Abstract

The last two decades have seen the massification of preservice teacher education and critiques of its quality in Australia and elsewhere. Part of the strategy of massification has been the establishment of satellite campuses in growth corridors. This paper enters the debate on the quality of preservice candidates. The purpose of this research is two-fold: to note comparisons and parallels in demographics across main and satellite campuses, and to advance research on the epistemological beliefs of first year preservice teachers according to campus location. In doing so, we offer an alternative metric for characterising these two groups of students. The results show that the students from both campuses are demographically diverse but are similar in terms of the beliefs they hold about knowing and learning. These findings talk-back to the critique of entry standards for preservice teachers in general and satellite campus students in particular.