Abstract
European educational reforms call for the implementation of evidence-based teaching (EBT) in universities. Based on the evidence-based research paradigm in medical education, this study investigates the relationship between teacher educators' research experience, practical knowledge, self-efficacy beliefs, and frequency of EBT implementation. We report on survey data from N = 243 teacher educators from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. A set of mediation analyses were run to identify the mediating role of self-efficacy beliefs and practical knowledge in the interplay among teacher educators' research experience and frequency of research evidence implementation. The results indicate that self-efficacy beliefs are a strong predictor of how frequently teacher educators implement EBT. Implications about the role of self-efficacy beliefs in teacher educators' professional learning and development along with future steps that are necessary to increase the implementation of EBT practices in teacher education will be discussed.
Highlights
The gap between research and practice in teaching has been extensively discussed in the teacher education literature (e.g., Broekkamp and van Hout-Wolters, 2007; Korthagen, 2007)
Teacher educators may experience differences in their practical knowledge and self-efficacy beliefs, differences that may affect the implementation of evidence in their teaching practice
In the interplay between self-efficacy beliefs and practical knowledge, self-efficacy plays a more important role concerning evidence-based teaching (EBT) implementation in practice than knowledge; the fact that teacher educators know how to apply EBT practices seems to be less significant to EBT implementation
Summary
The gap between research and practice in teaching has been extensively discussed in the teacher education literature (e.g., Broekkamp and van Hout-Wolters, 2007; Korthagen, 2007). Recent studies in teacher education emphasize the implementation of evidence-based teaching (EBT) practices as a way to bridge this gap (Slavin, 2002; Wiseman, 2010; Bauer et al, 2015). The necessity for the implementation of EBT practices has been increasingly fostered by national and international standards, which highlight the need for strengthening the professional profile of all teaching professions (European Commission, 2012). Because teacher educators act as “the teachers of the teachers” (Kelchtermans et al, 2018), their role in fostering EBT practices in the teaching profession is of great importance (Darling-Hammond, 2016). We are interested in university-based teacher educators
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