Changes in Prospective Teachers' Beliefs About the Teaching Profession: A Longitudinal Study

The beliefs that prospective teachers hold about the teaching profession play an important role in shaping their professional identity and future teaching practices. The present paper examines the changes in the pedagogical beliefs of prospective teachers in Goa regarding the teaching profession during the B.Ed. programme. This paper is based on data drawn from the researcher’s larger longitudinal study on the pedagogical beliefs of prospective teachers. The original study examined seven dimensions of pedagogical beliefs, of which the present paper focuses on one dimension, namely beliefs regarding the teaching profession. The study adopted a longitudinal research design, as the same group of 300 prospective teachers was studied at three stages of the B.Ed. programme: at entry, at the end of the first year, and at the exit stage. The population of the study consisted of prospective teachers enrolled in colleges of Education in Goa affiliated to Goa University. Data was collected using the Pedagogical Beliefs Scale (PBS) developed by the researcher. The tool was prepared after reviewing related literature and was validated by subject experts to ensure the relevance and clarity of the items. A pilot study was conducted on 40 prospective teachers, who were not the part of the final sample. The content validity of the tool was established through the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), which was found to be satisfactory. Reliability of the tool was ensured through internal consistency measures. The data for the present dimension were analysed using Repeated Measures ANOVA, followed by the Bonferroni post hoc test to identify the differences across the three stages. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the beliefs of prospective teachers regarding the teaching profession across the three stages of the B.Ed. programme. The findings reveal that the professional convictions of future teachers progressively reinforced throughout their teacher education program. The research emphasises the importance of teacher training programs in fostering positive professional attitudes in prospective educators.