The Relationship between Student Teachers' Perception of Intelligence and Their Goal Orientation

Abstract

This study examines the views of student teachers in a Turkish university about intelligence (entity theory vs incremental theory) and goal orientation (performance goal orientation vs learning goal orientation) and the relationship between the two. Specifically, it seeks to understand whether there are any differences in participants' perceptions of intelligence and goal orientation across the 4-year (Years 1 to 4) teacher education programmes and across the seven disciplines (majors), and between males and females. The study includes an adaptation of the "Goal Orientation Scale", originally developed by Dweck [1], in order to measure students' goal orientation in Turkey. The study also uses the "Implicit Theory of Intelligence Scale" which was adapted into Turkish by Ilhan-Beyaztas and Hymer [2] in order to identify students' perceptions of intelligence. A group of 1409 student teachers were found to score higher on entity theory and performance goal orientation, as compared to incremental theory and learning goal orientation respectively. There also existed variations across majors, years of learning, and between genders. Positively significant relationships were found between entity theory and performance goal orientation, and between incremental theory and learning goal orientation.