Research on teachers' (personal) theories and beliefs and their (practical) knowledge derived from experience, whether held implicitly or stated explicitly as their personal practical theories (PPTs), indicates that such beliefs can influence teachers' classroom practices and, therefore, the opportunities that their students have for learning. This study uses a content analysis of 472 self-reported PPTs collected from 94 prospective teachers to develop a model of categories of beliefs, and describes the relationship between the content and sources of teacher candidates' beliefs, expressed as PPTs. The purpose of this study is to help teacher educators better understand beliefs that teacher candidates bring to their teacher education program as we try to influence their knowledge and practices.
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