The influence of student teachers on the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction

Much attention has been given to the impact of cooperative teachers on the pedagogical behaviour of student teachers. In many cases, however, cooperating teachers gain as much from the student teacher as the student teacher acquires from them. This study was designed to elicit answers to the following two questions: (1) What are the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction in the Jordanian context? and (2) Does the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers engaging in early reading instruction change as a result of working with student teachers? The study targeted a sample of 25 cooperating teachers and 28 student teachers who participated in the study by completing a questionnaire, and follow-up interviews were also conducted with 13 cooperating teachers. Results of this study indicate that cooperating teachers endorse the phonics method more than the whole language (WL) approach. Unlike past research, the results of this study revealed that (1) the student teaching experience had no effect on the perspective of cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction and (b) the perspectives of cooperating teachers do not become similar to those of their student teachers who were WL-oriented. The results have implications for early childhood teacher education programmes and professional development for kindergarten teachers.     

Early Childhood Teachers' Curriculum Beliefs: Are They Consistent With Observed Classroom Practices?

Research Findings: This study examined the consistency between early childhood teachers' self-reported curriculum beliefs and observations of their actual interactive behaviors with children in classrooms. Also tested was the hypothesized moderation by teacher and classroom characteristics of the association between beliefs and practices. A total of 58 preschool teachers completed a survey describing their professional backgrounds and curriculum beliefs. Their classroom practices were observed using a newly developed instrument that documented teacher interactions with children. Most teachers in this sample strongly endorsed child-initiated learning beliefs, although their beliefs about teacher-directed learning varied considerably. The most frequently observed teacher behaviors in the classroom were giving directions to children, responding to children's initiations, and engaging in non-interactive classroom management activities. Overall, teachers' curriculum beliefs and observed classroom practices were weakly correlated. However, there were moderation effects. Stronger congruence between teacher-directed learning beliefs and observed teaching behaviors was found among teachers who had more professional training and more years of teaching experience. Practice or Policy: These results support the importance of early childhood teacher professional development. They suggest that teacher preparation and professional development programs should focus on the intellectual transformation between teacher knowledge and teacher practice, promoting both aspects of development.     

The Influence of Teachers’ Efficacy and Beliefs Regarding Mathematics Instruction in the Early Childhood Classroom

This was a correlational study conducted with a population of prekindergarten educators from a large, metropolitan school district. The purpose was to examine if there were relationships between and among early childhood teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, their beliefs about the importance of mathematics, and their mathematics instructional practices. Examining teachers’ efficacy and beliefs can inform educational practice and help to differentiate between more and less successful instructional practices when teaching mathematics in the early childhood classroom. Data were collected on teacher efficacy and teacher beliefs about the importance of mathematics with two self-report questionnaires. The hypothesis that the teachers higher in efficacy will rate the importance of mathematics higher on the teacher-belief scale than the teachers with lower efficacy was found to be true with this sample, but the correlation was weak. The level of efficacy of the early childhood teachers in this sample confirmed that in assessing their capabilities, they rate themselves high in instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. The early childhood teachers did not rate their belief in mathematics as high as their efficacy. Observations of mathematics instructional practices were conducted with twenty teachers. It was hypothesized that the combination of high teacher efficacy and high teacher mathematics beliefs would show alignment with the presence of standards-based mathematics instructional practices. The results were not statistically significant. No correlation signals a need for more research to explore what other personal or external factors relate to mathematics instructional practices in the early childhood classroom. The research may inform pre kindergarten teachers and teacher educators about effective instructional strategies and knowledge needed to launch early childhood students on a developmentally appropriate pathway to mathematical literacy.     

Prospective classroom teachers’ metaphorical images of selves and comparing them to those they have of their elementary and cooperating teachers

Currently, it is strongly suggested that our thought processes are largely metaphorical in nature. Indeed, the metaphors we use not only represent the way we perceive the world and reality but also shape our professional ideas, attitudes, and practices. This study employs metaphor as a means of research to provide insights into the images prospective classroom teachers have of themselves as future teachers (i.e., professional self-images), their elementary teachers (i.e., former classroom teachers), and their cooperating teachers (i.e., supervisors of student teaching practices). Data for this study were gathered through the administration of a Likert-style questionnaire consisting of 20 metaphorical images of “classroom teacher” to 363 exit level elementary teacher education students enrolled in the Faculty of Education of Selcuk University in Turkey during the 2002–2003 academic year. Results indicate that the teacher candidates in this study appear to be less teacher-centered and more student-centered than their both elementary and cooperating teachers. Also, female teacher candidates appear to be less teacher-centered and more student-centered than their male peers. Implications for preservice teacher education and further research are discussed.     

The implementation of equitable teaching strategies by high school biology student teachers

Teachers can perpetuate stereotypic cultural beliefs regarding girls' ability in, aptitude for, and suitability for science by their teaching practices and behaviors. As teachers have a major influence on girls' career choices their equitable teaching practices in the classroom are important to encourage all students, but especially girls, to continue with science. Researchers have studied science classrooms and have defined common strategies and practices that can help create an equitable classroom environment. The purpose of this study was to determine if high school biology student teachers could transfer learned equitable teaching strategies to actual teaching and the support conditions necessary for that transfer. Two support conditions were assessed: cooperating teacher and peer group support. Seven preservice teachers were placed into three groups. One group had both support conditions, the second group had only one condition (peer support), and the third group did not have either support condition. Both qualitative and quantitative data sources were collected. Results showed that preservice teachers could transfer learned equitable teaching into actual teaching practice. However, they were more successful in achieving the transfer if they were supervised by cooperating teachers who are sensitized to the issue of gender equity in education. Being involved in a peer support group was not as crucial to using the strategies as having a supportive cooperative teacher.     

From the Editors: Math Achievement and Early Childhood Teacher Preparation

The researchers conducting this study investigated the relationship between early childhood teachers' educational levels and their beliefs about appropriate and inappropriate practices by examining the differences between lead teachers and teacher assistants in publicly funded prekindergarten classrooms. For this purpose, the researchers analyzed self-reported teachers' beliefs using analysis of variance and examined 26 individual items. Findings of this study suggest that lead teachers endorsed developmentally appropriate practices more strongly than did teacher assistants. Teacher assistants were more likely than lead teachers to agree with developmentally inappropriate practices. Despite the significant differences between the two groups of teachers, it is important to note that there was a general tendency for both lead teachers and teacher assistants to endorse developmentally appropriate practices. Thus, although there appears to be a link between teachers' educational levels and teacher beliefs, teachers' educational levels alone may not be sufficient for understanding their beliefs and practices in the classroom. Implications for practice and future research in teacher education are also discussed.     

Knocking on the door to the teaching profession? Modeling the entry of prospective teachers into the workforce

We use a unique longitudinal sample of student teachers (“interns”) from six Washington state teacher training institutions to investigate patterns of entry into the teaching workforce. We estimate split population models that simultaneously estimate the impact of individual characteristics and student teaching experiences on the timing and probability of initial hiring as a public school teacher. Not surprisingly, we find that interns endorsed to teach in “difficult-to-staff” areas are more likely to find employment as public school teachers than interns endorsed in other areas. Younger interns, white interns, and interns who completed their student teaching in suburban schools are also more likely to find a teaching job, all else equal. Prospective teachers who do their internships at schools that have more teacher turnover are more likely to find employment, often at those schools. On the other hand, few of the characteristics of an intern's cooperating teacher are predictive of workforce entry. Finally, interns with higher credential exam scores are more likely to be hired by the school where they did their student teaching.     

Helping Student Teachers Understand Conflict among Preschool Children

A growing number of early childhood teacher educators are attempting to apply principles of good early childhood teaching to the preparation and professional development of adults. Rogers and Sluus (1996), for example, call for the application of developmentally appropriate practices to the teaching of adults. Hamilton and Hitz (1996) applied principles of constructivism to an early childhood teacher education course they co-taught and assessed the effects on student beliefs.     

The impact of Child Development Associate training on the beliefs and practices of preschool teachers

This study examined the impact of Child Development Associate (CDA) training on the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers who did not have college degrees or early childhood college coursework. Preschool teachers who were enrolled in CDA classes (n = 76) and a comparison group of teachers (n = 50) completed two surveys of beliefs and practices. Repeated measures Multivariate Analyses of Variance indicated that the CDA training teachers decreased the amount they endorsed beliefs and practices that contrast with Developmentally Appropriate Practice over time more than the comparison teachers. Results suggest that CDA training can be an effective means of increasing the developmentally appropriateness of beliefs and self-reported practices of early childhood teachers, which past research suggests will ultimately impact classroom quality.     

A comparison of early childhood and elementary education students’ beliefs about primary classroom teaching practices

Two professional preparation paths lead to teaching positions in the lower primary grades; their different histories and emphasis result in potentially conflicting paradigms. We examined the viewpoints of 119 pre-service teachers who were either at the beginning or near the end of their programs in early childhood (ECED) or elementary education (ELED). They completed a survey of their beliefs about primary classroom practices. ECED students, compared to ELED students, favored practices more consistent with the constructivist nature of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) guidelines in several areas, including teaching strategies, expectations of the children, assessment strategies, and teacher- and child-directed activities. One significant difference was found between beginning students and student teachers, with student teachers favoring more frequent use of less developmentally appropriate behavior management strategies.     

Classroom practices of cooperating teachers and their relationship to collaboration quality and time: perceptions of student teachers

This study examined the complexities of the collaborative relationship between student teachers and cooperating teachers in secondary mathematics from the perspectives of the student teachers. Four cohorts of student teachers (N = 170) in secondary mathematics were surveyed using a questionnaire that measured their perceptions of two dimensions of their student teaching experience: collaboration with their cooperating teachers and the classroom practices of their cooperating teachers. Although analysis of the responses revealed that student teachers were generally satisfied with the amount and quality of the collaboration, two important results were revealed. First, about half of the respondents reported spending less than an hour collaborating weekly with their cooperating teacher in various contexts. Second, certain classroom practices of the cooperating teachers were found to be significantly associated with whether they spent more or less than an hour collaborating with their student teachers, and were significantly correlated in most cases. This explicit linkage suggests that the classroom practices of cooperating teachers may extend to the mentoring approach they take when working with student teachers. Suggestions for teacher education programs and cooperating teacher support are shared.     

The Relationship Between Teacher Beliefs and Practices,and Head Start Classroom Quality

Within early childhood research considerable emphasis has been placed on examining teachers' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to describe Head Start teacher beliefs and self-reported practices as they relate to classroom quality and examine the potential differences in the beliefs of those teaching in high, average, and low quality classrooms. Scores on two subscales, appropriate and inappropriate, for both self-reported beliefs and practices were used as the dependent variables. Analysis of variance was used to examine differences between the self-reported beliefs and practices of teachers in classrooms of differing quality. The results for both the appropriate beliefs and appropriate activities subscales were statistically nonsignificant. However, the results for the two inappropriate subscales were statistically significant. These results would seem to indicate that teachers in the low quality group tended to respond more favorably to statements about inappropriate beliefs and practices than did those teachers in either the high or average quality classrooms. These findings provide important information about offering professional development opportunities for Head Start teachers that focus on providing theoretical perspectives on children's development and instructional practices aimed at changing beliefs about teaching practices.     

Examining a program designed to improve supervisory knowledge and practices of cooperating teachers

This article reports on how a program based on educative supervision supported the supervisory knowledge and practices of three cooperating teachers. The program was planned as a kind of practicum: the cooperating teachers participated in the program while working with a student teacher. The program included activities where the cooperating teachers reflected on their supervisory beliefs and practices in collaboration with each other. The case study method was used, where the case was the designed program. Data analysis indicated some changes in the supervision styles of the participating cooperating teachers toward educative supervision. First, the percent of speech given by the student teachers in the post-lesson conferences increased after the discussion of educative supervision in the program. Secondly, the amount and depth of talks on mathematics pedagogy increased. Thirdly, the cooperating teachers moved away from conveying their feedback directly to the student teachers; they started asking more open-ended questions to have the student teachers reflect on their teaching.     

The Relationship Between Teacher Beliefs and Practices, and Head Start Classroom Quality

Within early childhood research considerable emphasis has been placed on examining teachers' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to describe Head Start teacher beliefs and self-reported practices as they relate to classroom quality and examine the potential differences in the beliefs of those teaching in high, average, and low quality classrooms. Scores on two subscales, appropriate and inappropriate, for both self-reported beliefs and practices were used as the dependent variables. Analysis of variance was used to examine differences between the self-reported beliefs and practices of teachers in classrooms of differing quality. The results for both the appropriate beliefs and appropriate activities subscales were statistically nonsignificant. However, the results for the two inappropriate subscales were statistically significant. These results would seem to indicate that teachers in the low quality group tended to respond more favorably to statements about inappropriate beliefs and practices than did those teachers in either the high or average quality classrooms. These findings provide important information about offering professional development opportunities for Head Start teachers that focus on providing theoretical perspectives on children's development and instructional practices aimed at changing beliefs about teaching practices.     

Pedagogical influence of interaction with cooperating teachers on the efficacy beliefs of student teachers

Abstract

Cooperating teachers are often identified as some of the most important figures in the preparation of new teachers, and the reasons are not difficult to understand. Surprisingly, however, very little research has been conducted to quantify the effects of cooperating teachers on student teachers. This study examines the impact of student teachers' perceived interactions with their cooperating teachers and the influence that interaction has on student teachers' self‐efficacy for teaching. Results indicate a moderate correlation between perceptions of teaching efficacy and cooperating teacher‐student teacher interactions. Differences were found in the frequency of interaction based on the certification level of the student teacher, with elementary level student teachers perceiving a greater amount of interaction with their cooperating teachers. However, no differences based on certification level were detected in perceived efficacy. Student teachers' perceptions of the level of guidance offered by their cooperating teachers provided the most reliable predictor for their efficacy belief.     

“Maybe I can teach those kids.” The influence of contextual factors on student teachers’ efficacy beliefs

This study investigated student teachers’ efficacy beliefs, collective teacher efficacy beliefs, and perceived cooperating teachers’ efficacy beliefs. These student teacher beliefs were examined with the focus on context, primarily the school setting (i.e., rural, suburban, and urban), to determine whether setting played a role in the development of the student teachers’ efficacy beliefs. The research participants included 102 student teachers. All three setting groups exhibited significant increases in teachers’ sense of efficacy following student teaching. Urban student teachers exhibited significantly lower perceived collective efficacy. Perceived cooperating teachers’ efficacy was predictive of and positively related to the student teachers’ post-TSES scores.     

Assessing Beliefs of Preservice Early Childhood Education Teachers Using Q-Sort Methodology

The purpose of this study was to assess the beliefs of students and faculty in a 4-year birth–kindergarten teacher preparation program using the Teacher Belief Q-Sort (TBQ). Data were collected over one academic year from a total of 63 students, 35 students at the beginning of their coursework and 28 students at the end of their program, completing their student teaching experience. The faculty (n = 8) in the program completed the TBQ to provide a criterion sort as well as to assess the consistency in philosophy across faculty members who teach preservice teachers. Compilations of rankings are presented to describe beliefs related to children, discipline, and teaching practices held by students who are at different points in their education program. Criterion comparison results indicate that student teachers at the end of their education program report beliefs more similar to faculty beliefs than students at the beginning of their education program. However, findings suggest that the student teaching experience does not appear to significantly alter beliefs about children, discipline and teaching practices. These results are discussed in terms of child-directed versus teacher-directed styles of preservice teachers and implications of assessing beliefs for teacher preparation programs.     

Challenging and Appropriating Discourses of Power: Listening to and Learning from Early Career Early Childhood Teachers of Color

ABSTRACT

The racial mismatch between teachers and students has become a salient issue in efforts to counter the historical failure of children of Color in American (pre)schools. To address this mismatch, scholars have argued for the critical need to recruit and retain teachers of Color. In this article, we propose that to successfully prepare teachers of Color so that they remain committed to the profession, we must learn from their experiences during their preservice preparation and their first years of teaching. Against the backdrop of normative institutional discourses shaping teachers and teaching, we sought to learn from the ways in which six early career early childhood teachers of Color reconciled their preservice teacher education experiences, identities, and beliefs about education with the construction of their identities as teachers. To do so, we asked: How do the discursive spaces of early childhood teaching and teacher education shape the practices, beliefs, and identities of early childhood teachers of Color during their teacher education programs and within their three first years of teaching? Through Critical Narrative Analysis of in-depth interviews, we sought to unveil the discourses that shape and are shaped by the experiences of early career early childhood teachers of Color. Findings indicate that instead of being colonized by institutional discourses and oppressed by others' perceptions, to remain in the profession, these early career early childhood teachers challenged and appropriated institutional discourses, reauthoring them agentively. Implications underscore the responsibility of teacher education programs in preparing teachers of Color to negotiate the ever-so-normative discursive space of early childhood teaching and teacher education, if they are to enter and remain in the profession.     

Does one size fit all? The induction experience of beginning science teachers from different teacher‐preparation programs

The number of induction programs available to teachers is increasing rapidly, and by necessity these programs are designed to meet the needs of all teachers regardless of their preparation and academic background. This study examines the impact of a science‐focused induction program on secondary science teachers from different preparation programs. The 16 teachers were first‐year secondary science teachers who graduated the previous year from one of four different teacher‐preparation programs. All teachers were monitored during their first year of teaching, as they participated in the induction program, to understand their teaching beliefs, instructional practices, and experiences in the classroom. The analysis of data revealed that the preservice training of a science teacher influenced the type of support the teacher derived from the science‐focused induction program. Teachers from a preservice program with an extended student‐teaching experience and two science methods courses held beliefs aligned with student‐centered practices and implemented more reform‐based lessons than did other teachers during the year. This study reinforces the importance of induction programs for teachers and suggests that there is a need for specialized support programs for beginning science teachers. The study also provides specific suggestions for improving the preparation of secondary science teachers. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 963–985, 2006