Do Student Teachers Have Domain-Specific Beliefs About Talent? An Intra- and Inter-Individual Comparison

Abstract

This study examines the nature of talent beliefs among student teachers. As teacher beliefs are linked to disciplinary content and teacher identity, understanding if these beliefs are influenced by specific domains is important to shaping future teacher education. To assess this, 215 student teachers from two Austrian Universities were surveyed, including 43 mathematics and 93 language majors. The results show intra-individual differences for beliefs about mathematics and verbal talents and inter-individual differences for beliefs about mathematical talents across math and language participants. However, this was not the case for beliefs about verbal talent. Future studies should consider examining domain-specific talent beliefs and their predictive effects on teaching quality.