The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of self-efficacy enhancement in building pre-service teacher resilience to prevent symptoms of burn-out in Swaziland; how engaging in reflective practices can act as a protective factor. Not much research focuses on pre-service teacher burn-out and how to mitigate its effects, and this creates a gap that this study sought to address. Through the interpretivist perspective, and employing participatory action research (PAR) and some elements of pre-test, post test design, seven pre-service teachers who were doing their final year of a three year teacher’s diploma programme; four males and three females were engaged in the study. Data were collected by using the resilience scale questionnaire, participants’ reflective journals, researcher’s diary and transcribed recordings from a focus group interview. Three themes emerged; (1) that pre-service teachers in Swaziland do experience symptoms of burn-out during teaching practice. Seven risk factors that contribute to the experience of burn-out were cited by participants; learners’ behavioural issues, heavy workloads, demanding supervisors, lack of support from colleagues, teaching learners who are high achievers, feelings of inadequacy and lack of prioritising. (2) Pre-service teachers were able to draw strength and possibly avert burn-out by mobilising external and internal protective sources. (3) Reflective practices proved to be a viable intervention that enhanced pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy and helped promote resilient coping. Future research might look into other factors that predispose pre-service teachers to stress and how reflective practices may be infused in the curriculum for pre-service education. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

This phenomenological multiple case study provides the details, reasoning, and discussion of the role of study abroad experience and its perceived impact(s) on three in-service teachers. Two research questions were posed: What are the perceived impacts on in-service teachers' practice of a study abroad program experience and how does the in-service teacher's perception of impact change over time within a teacher's career? Results of this study suggest that the teaching practice of in-service teachers who study abroad would benefit, especially in the area of intercultural competence, if this experience is structured in a way where the curriculum of the study abroad program aligns with the content of their future teaching assignment i.e. curricular bridging. Case evidence further suggests that long-term impact of a study abroad experience upon a teacher's practice is related to providing the future teacher an opportunity for to develop and maintain pedagogical relationships with students while abroad. The term ‘submersion' is introduced to help articulate depth of impact during a study abroad program experience.

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This scoping review examines studies on the instruction of early literacy practices to pre-service teachers in teacher education programs. The research questions for this scoping review are: a) What are the major themes in the literature surrounding instructional strategies for early literacy in Bachelor of Education programs? and b) Are there any gaps in the existing literature? Six major education databases were systematically searched, which resulted in 16 articles. After conducting a thematic analysis of these articles, three themes were identified in the literature: B.Ed. program have needs that should be addressed, there are gaps in knowledge and content, and perceptions of pre-service teachers. An unexpected theme appeared during the exclusion process, which was the lack of studies on what pre-service teachers learn in B.Ed. programs regarding early literacy practices, and the high number of articles which study pre-service teacher’s perceptions, opinions, feelings, and beliefs about what they learn in B.Ed. programs, regarding early literacy practices. This demonstrates a gap in the literature and the need for further research on early literacy instruction in B.Ed. programs.

Teacher education researchers and policy makers recognize field experience, particularly student teaching, as a critical component of pre-service teacher learning and development. The co-teaching model of student teaching, in which cooperating teachers and student teachers jointly plan and deliver instruction, has been adopted by university-based teacher education programs across the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between elements of the co-teaching model of student teaching and teacher efficacy outcomes for student teachers. Research suggests that teacher efficacy, a teacher’s beliefs in his or her capacity to affect student performance, is positively associated with teachers’ behaviors and commitment to teaching as well as student achievement and motivation. This quantitative study utilized multiple regression statistical analyses to examine the relationship between co-teaching overall and the relationship, communication, classroom applications, and knowledge base elements and teacher efficacy overall and the domains of efficacy in student engagement, efficacy in instructional strategies and efficacy in classroom management. Descriptive statistics indicated that the relationship and communication elements of student teaching were more prevalent than the classroom applications and knowledge base elements. Student teachers in the sample reported higher levels of efficacy in instructional strategies than efficacy in classroom management and efficacy in student engagement. A positive and statistically significant relationship between teacher efficacy overall, efficacy in student engagement, efficacy in instructional strategies, and efficacy in classroom management and the co-teaching model of student teaching, after controlling for gender and credential program, was found. The findings of this study substantiate teacher education policy makers’ support for the co-teaching model of student teaching.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which six cognitive and attitudinal variables predicted pre-service elementary teachers' performance on line graphing. Predictors included Illinois teacher education basic skills sub-component scores in reading comprehension and mathematics, logical thinking performance scores, as well as measures of attitudes toward science, mathematics and graphing. This study also determined the strength of the relationship between each prospective predictor variable and the line graphing performance variable, as well as the extent to which measures of attitude towards science, mathematics and graphing mediated relationships between scores on mathematics, reading, logical thinking and line graphing. Ninety-four pre-service elementary education teachers enrolled in two different elementary science methods courses during the spring 2009 semester at Southern Illinois University Carbondale participated in this study. Each subject completed five different instruments designed to assess science, mathematics and graphing attitudes as well as logical thinking and graphing ability. Sixty subjects provided copies of primary basic skills score reports that listed subset scores for both reading comprehension and mathematics. The remaining scores were supplied by a faculty member who had access to a database from which the scores were drawn. Seven subjects, whose scores could not be found, were eliminated from final data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted in order to establish validity and reliability of the Questionnaire of Attitude Toward Line Graphs in Science (QALGS) instrument. CFA tested the statistical hypothesis that the five main factor structures within the Questionnaire of Attitude Toward Statistical Graphs (QASG) would be maintained in the revised QALGS. Stepwise Regression Analysis with backward elimination was conducted in order to generate a parsimonious and precise predictive model. This procedure allowed the researcher to explore the relationships among the affective and cognitive variables that were included in the regression analysis. The results for CFA indicated that the revised QALGS measure was sound in its psychometric properties when tested against the QASG. Reliability statistics indicated that the overall reliability for the 32 items in the QALGS was .90. The learning preferences construct had the lowest reliability (.67), while enjoyment (.89), confidence (.86) and usefulness (.77) constructs had moderate to high reliabilities. The first four measurement models fit the data well as indicated by the appropriate descriptive and statistical indices. However, the fifth measurement model did not fit the data well statistically, and only fit well with two descriptive indices. The results addressing the research question indicated that mathematical and logical thinking ability were significant predictors of line graph performance among the remaining group of variables. These predictors accounted for 41% of the total variability on the line graph performance variable. Partial correlation coefficients indicated that mathematics ability accounted for 20.5% of the variance on the line graphing performance variable when removing the effect of logical thinking. The logical thinking variable accounted for 4.7% of the variance on the line graphing performance variable when removing the effect of mathematics ability.

The study of self-efficacy in pre-service bilingual education teachers is not a thoroughly researched topic. This dissertation provides qualitative research about the inception of Spanish language self-efficacy of pre-service bilingual education teachers from a large university in Texas. By juxtaposing the experiences of two students with high levels of Spanish self-efficacy with two students who have low levels of Spanish self-efficacy, data gives insight to what influenced varying perceptions of self-efficacy amongst students who are in their last semester of coursework prior to student teaching. An extensive literature review provided the foundation for the conceptual framework. The framework includes individual backgrounds, societal influences, personal interactions, and modeling by others to note the evolution of each individuals' perception of self-efficacy in the Spanish language. Explicit instances of what experiences have had an impact on participants' Spanish language self-efficacy are highlighted. The resulting impacts to bilingual education and self-efficacy are discussed. Finally, the conclusion focuses on how this research can assist in promoting language equity for bilingual and multilingual students at varying academic levels.