An Examination of Locus of Control, Epistemological Beliefs and Metacognitive Awareness in Preservice Early Childhood Teachers.

AbstractThis study aims to explore the locus of control, epistemological beliefs and metacognitive awareness levels of preservice early childhood education teachers and to determine the interrelations among these variables. 206 teacher candidates have been asked to fill out Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, Central Epistemological Beliefs Scale and Metacognitive Awareness Scale. The statistical analyses revealed that there were meaningful correlations between Locus of Control and the first two factors of Central Epistemological Beliefs Scale, namely, Belief in Supernatural Powers, and Belief in Superstitious Rituals; and between Metacognitive Awareness and the last two factors of Central Epistemological Beliefs Scale, namely, Belief in Science as a Source of Knowledge, and Belief in a Rational Society. Another important finding was that Belief in Supernatural Powers and Belief in Superstitious Rituals were important predictors of Locus of Control.Key WordsEarly Childhood Education Students, Locus of Control, Epistemological Beliefs, Metacognitive Awareness.Teacher personality is one of the important qualities determining the effectiveness of a teacher (Pigge & Marso, 1994; Stronge, 2002). Research also indicates that the more sophisticated students' beliefs about knowledge and learning are, the better their thinking and problem solving skills are (Hong & Lin, 2010; Schommer, 1994; Stacey, Brownlee, Thorpe, & Reeves, 2005). Consequently, locus of control, epistemological beliefs, and metacognitive awareness has been examined within the educational literature, especially in relation to academic achievement, learning and teaching practices.Locus of ControlThe concept of "perceived control" has initially attracted attention of researchers in the field of psychotherapy due to the differing interpretation of the changes during the process of therapy by patients. It has been observed that some patients attribute the improvements in their psychological state to new experiences acquired through therapy, while some others attribute to the factors such as chance and powerful others unrelated to their own efforts or actions. Various therapists from differing clinical orientations have attempted to explain the differences by such terms as hopelessness, ego strength and the sense of inferiority. However, the best theoretical explanation about this phenomenon has been offered by Rotter (1966) who coined the term "locus of control". Rotter has formulated the concept of locus of control within the framework of his Social Learning Theory and defined it as the general belief of a person about the extent to which the consequences of events are under his/ her own control. According to his definition, individuals who believe that the events are controlled by their own actions and traits are considered to have internal locus of control, while those who believe that they are driven by such factors as other people or chance, uncontrolled by themselves, to have external locus of control Rotter. According to Rotter, individuals with external locus of control inclination, unlike those with internal locus of control, prefer to avoid taking responsibility and to remain passive rather than fight when faced with environmental conflict. The concept of locus of control has attracted attention of researchers from various fields and has been explored by several studies in the field of education to this day. In the study of Murray and Stabeler (1974), the locus of control of elementary school teachers and students has been explored. As a result, it has been determined that whether the students have external or internal locus of control, the students taught by teachers with internal locus of control score higher in tests than those taught by teachers with external locus of control. McIntyre (1984) has found out that teachers with external locus of control express more exhaustion. Bein, Anderson, and Maes (1990) have discovered that secondary school teachers with internal locus of control had greater job satisfaction. …