Teachers' beliefs about the teaching of physical education in Guayaquil

The objective of this study was to examine the epistemological and pedagogical beliefs of physical education teachers and to reveal the relationship between these beliefs. The participants in the study were 364 graduate teachers from the Technical University of Manabi and the University of Guayaquil. The "epistemological beliefs questionnaire" and the "teaching and learning conceptions questionnaire" were used as data collection tools. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics, independent samples ttest, Pearson correlation analysis and path analysis were applied. It was determined that the average scores of the physical education teachers in the learning process -doubt of authority/expert knowledge, learning effort and constructivist conception were high, while their scores in innate/fixed ability, certainty of knowledge and traditional conception were moderate. According to the results of the path analysis, it was revealed that their innate/fixed ability and knowledge certainty beliefs positively predicted traditional conception, while their learning process beliefs, doubting authority/expert knowledge and effort of learning, positively predicted the constructivist conception. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that, in general, physical education teachers believed in the importance of effort and the process in learning, and that they adopted a constructivist conception. Furthermore, it was revealed that epistemological beliefs are an important variable in the prediction of pedagogical beliefs.