Changing Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Self-Regulated Learning: The Role of Refutational Texts and Instructional Analogies

Pre-service teachers develop belief systems about teaching, learning, and self-regulated learning (SRL) that are often shaped by their own schooling experiences, which typically promote traditional teacher-centered views. During teacher education, they are introduced to student-centered approaches aligned with SRL, but these new beliefs often coexist with prior conceptions, resulting in internal inconsistencies. This study examined pre-service teachers’ beliefs about learning, teaching, and SRL, and evaluated whether specific instructional techniques—refutational texts and instructional analogies—could reduce conflicting beliefs. One hundred and sixty pre-service teachers completed a pretest-posttest questionnaire measuring their beliefs. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of four instructional texts about SRL-based teaching: explanatory or refutational, with or without analogies. Prior to the intervention, participants showed mixed and often conflicting beliefs about SRL. After the intervention, the refutational text combined with analogy proved most effective in reducing belief inconsistencies. These findings suggest that targeted instructional materials can support belief change by explicitly addressing and challenging prior misconceptions, thereby facilitating the adoption of coherent, student-centered perspectives aligned with SRL.