During the fall 2013 semester, a group of seven preservice theatre teachers engaged in a devised playbuilding project with the aim of exploring and interrogating their own identities. This thesis uses identity theory and the methodology of playbuilding as qualitative phenomenological research to interrogate the multiple identities of the preservice theatre teacher. Through qualitative analysis of that playbuilding process, this thesis reports on the perceptions, experiences, and stories of seven participants currently enrolled in the BFA Theatre Studies program at The University of Texas at Austin as they explored identity. Their experiences and perceptions reflect the multiple, and sometimes simultaneous, identities of the participants such as Student, Student-teacher, Teacher, Artist, and Person. / text

This is a study to answer ¡§who am I ?¡¨ in educational context. ¡§Who am I ? ¡¨ is the beginning of self identity. Identity uncover one¡¦s images of himself as a way of understanding his practice, explicitly seeking a link between image and practice. By concerning identity and education, this study focus on preservice teacher¡¦s identity. The purposes are investigating preservice teacher¡¦s identity and the factors influencing it. The participants are five elementary preservice teachers. This study employs the qualitative research as the methodology for this study. The qualitative research is base on the way of one-year interview to collect the information and use the interview document to record the feeling and experience by writing word to word. The main findings are summarized as follows: 1. Preservice teacher¡¦s identity is constructed by interaction between self and others in practical training. 2. Preservice teacher¡¦s identity includes multiple role performances. 3. Facing the identity confusion, preservice teacher presents passive resistance. 4. Preservice teacher¡¦s identity affects perfprmances in practical training and obtaining teacher identity. 5. Colleagues help a lot in practical training. This study show the model and the pictures (role performances) of preservice teacher¡¦s identity. the model provides a framework to realize preservice teacher¡¦s identity. Finally, some suggestions are proposed for student teachers, teacher preparation system and future studies.

The purpose of this research will be (1) to explore the preservice teachers¡¦ understanding of issues in classroom management; (2) to investigate the impact of asynchronous online discussion on preservice teachers¡¦ learning about classroom management; (3) to investigate the relationship between preservice teachers¡¦ reflections, worksheet and asynchronous online discussions; (4) to analyze preservice teachers¡¦ opinions about incorporating asynchronous network system into their classroom and teaching. The participants of this study come from 56 preservice teachers taking Classroom Management Course in NSYSU Teacher Education Program. The Classroom Management Course requires teaching practicum as well as encourages preservice teachers to participate in SCTnet, which is an online professional community for teachers. They can interact, discuss and share experiences online. This 18-week course includes a series of activities such as seminar discussion, interviewing intern and expert teachers, assignment, small group activities in the classroom and asynchronous online discussion. The course aims to integrate theory and practice and to develop preservice teachers¡¦ professional competences in teaching and their classroom management skills. Qualitative research methods were implemented to conduct these studies. The data collection includes assignments, comments of asynchronous discussion board, interviews and questionnaires. Document analysis is used to explore preservice teachers¡¦ interpretation of classroom management knowledge and reflection. This study reaches the following five conclusions: 1. It is a progressive process that preservice teachers understand classroom management issues with the help of course instructor and assignments. 2.The course instructor initiated and leaded discussions in asynchronous discussion board. As time goes by, preservice teachers can actively propose issues for discussion and make statements. Through dialogues, preservice teachers better understand classroom management issues. 3. Due to the lack of practical experiences in teaching, there are over 50% of preservice teachers whose reflection of assignment stagnates no-reflection level. 4. Preservice teachers¡¦ reflection level is influenced by their involvement level in learning, information use behavior and the types of discussion topics in asynchronous discussion board. 5. Most preservice teachers feel satisfied with Classroom Management course and the instructor¡¦s teaching method. In addition, based on the above conclusions, the author proposes recommendations on teacher education curriculum, preservice teachers¡¦ reflection and issues for future research.

This study was done to investigate the types and intensity of teaching concerns preservice teachers have during their coursework and how these are connected to early field experiences (EFE). A survey was conducted comparing preservice teachers in an on-campus versus an on-site course at a local elementary school. Participants (N = 99) were asked about 26 types of concerns and these groups were compared; only one significant difference was found, that the on-campus group had more general teaching concerns than the on-site group. Fuller's (1969; 1974) research on immature versus mature teaching concerns was corroborated by the survey items and factor analyses, although no change over time was found. School-based field experiences were significantly listed by both groups as being the most useful experience in their teacher education; therefore, it is recommended that opportunities be created for preservice teachers to participate in EFEs.

“Becoming” is a natural phenomenon that is experienced throughout one’s life, and yet it does not appear to involve a simple process. This study was about how preservice teachers become teachers. As such, it was focused on the developmental processes that preservice teachers experience as their conceptions of teaching and their teacher identities change throughout their teacher education program. Although the two developmental aspects have been importantly considered by teacher educators when setting goals for teacher education and have been popular topics to educational researchers, few studies have explicitly observed how conceptions of teaching and teacher identities are related to each other in preservice teachers’ professional development trajectories. In a longitudinal study that tracked eight preservice teachers for three semesters of their teacher preparation, naturalistic observations of student teaching and semi-structured interviews served as the primary data sources. Data analysis was inductive and interpretative, using the qualitative methods of grounded theory. All of the preservice teachers in the study experienced conceptual change in their conceptions of teaching toward the direction aligned with their teacher education program, though their developmental patterns varied in terms of nature, speed, and distinctiveness. In the process of conceptual development, preservice teachers’ attention shifted from a focus on self to a focus on students, which I called an outward journey. They also evolved their teacher identities throughout the program with increasing confidence in becoming a teacher every semester. The formation of their teacher identities began by recognizing self as a teacher as positioned by others and continued with self-cultivation as a teacher, a process I called an inward journey. Needing continuous validation and reflection, the two journeys were closely related, sharing some characteristics and mechanism of growth and reciprocally influencing each other. Through interpretation of the data, I concluded that these two journeys cannot be separated from each other but, instead, should be integrated into external and internal development of becoming a teacher. As lifelong learners, preservice teachers are beginning the continual journey of becoming a good teacher throughout their career. / text

abstract: Drawing on Lave and Wenger (1991) this study explores how preservice elementary teachers develop themselves as teachers of mathematics, in particular, from the time of their teacher education courses to their field experiences. This study also researches the critical experiences that contributed to the construction of their identities and their roles as student teachers in their identity development. The stories of Jackie, Meg, and Kerry show that they brought different incoming identities to the teacher education program based on their K-12 school experiences. The stories provide the evidence that student teachers' prior experience as learners of mathematics influenced their identities as teachers, especially their confidence levels in teaching mathematics. During the mathematics methods class, student teachers were provided a conceptual understanding of math content and new ways to think about math instruction. Based on student teachers' own experiences, they reconstructed their knowledge and beliefs about what it means to teach mathematics and set their goals to become the mathematics teachers they wanted to be. As they moved through the program through their student teaching periods, their identity development varied depending on the community of practice in which they participated. My study reveals that mentor relationships were critical experiences in shaping their identities as mathematics teachers and in building their initial mathematics teaching practices. Findings suggest that successful mentoring is necessary, and this generally requires sharing common goals, receiving feedback, and having opportunities to practice knowledge, skills, and identities on the part of beginning teachers. Findings from this study highlight that identities are not developed by the individual alone but by engagement with a given community of practice. This study adds to the field of teacher education research by focusing on prospective teachers' identity constructions in relation to the communities of practice, and also by emphasizing the role of mentor in preservice teachers' identity development. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Mathematics Education 2012

This study examined whether the Koru mindfulness intervention led to improved wellness outcomes, as evidenced by decreases in anxiety and stress scores, and increases in mindfulness scores of preservice teachers. This study also investigated the extent to which participants implemented the Koru intervention with fidelity and were satisfied with the intervention. The research is guided by the following questions: (1) To what extent do preservice teachers who volunteered and were randomly selected for a mindfulness practice (MP) intervention implement the intervention with fidelity (i.e., come to the workshop and practice at home) throughout the period of the intervention? (2) How satisfied are participants with the intervention throughout and at the end of the intervention? (3) To what degree does intervention participation affect students’ stress levels, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983)? (4) To what degree does intervention participation affect students’ anxiety levels, as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI-Y; STAI-Y; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983)? (5) To what degree does intervention participation affect students’ mindfulness levels, as measured by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003)? Major findings from this study demonstrate that Koru did significantly reduce preservice teachers’ anxiety and stress levels; however, no significant effects on mindfulness were observed. Findings from this research show mindfulness training can potentially benefit preservice teachers’ wellness outcomes. / Educational Psychology

The purpose of this case study was to better understand the nature of the experiences of a preservice teacher, self-identified as having mathematics anxiety as she planned and implemented instruction during her internship by answering: What is the nature of the experiences of a preservice teacher, self-identified as having mathematics anxiety, as she planned for mathematics instruction during her final internship? What is the nature of the experiences of a preservice teacher, self-identified as having mathematics anxiety, as she implemented mathematics instruction during her final internship? Using an interpretivist approach to a case study inquiry, I used semi-structured interviews, observations, audio journals, and artifacts to collect data on a preservice teacher, cooperating teacher, and college supervisor. Member checking was used with interview data and a peer reviewer reviewed all data collection and analytic procedures. I analyzed the data using content and thematic analysis. The findings indicated that lack of planning, lack of instructional support, lack of content knowledge, and lack of transfer of what she learned in the mathematics methods course impacted the preservice teacher’s planning and implementation of mathematics instruction. In this way, the study identified the importance of instructional support for preservice teachers during K-12 classroom experiences, theory-to-practice connections between coursework and field experiences, and preservice teacher reflection to recognize weaknesses and seek out solutions to solve problems of practice. The study closed with a discussion from the viewpoint of reviewed literature, my interpretation of the findings and suggestions for future research.

This study is a predictive validity study investigating if teaching candidate performance on the teacher work sample predicted post-assessment achievement of K-5 students. Teaching candidate scores on the teacher work sample for 124 pre-service teachers were matched with the post-assessment scores of the 1,321 K-5 students to whom they taught a one- to two-week instructional unit. The pre-service teachers were in a semester-long field placement prior to student teaching in four rural, low-income elementary schools. Three of the thirty-two individual indicators of the teacher work sample were significant predictors of K-5 student achievement: knowledge of community, school, and classroom factors (Contextual Factors); sound professional practice (Instructional Decision-Making); and adjustments based on analysis of student learning (Instructional Decision-Making).

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students, students of color, and students with disabilities are failing school and being pushed out at much higher rates that majority populations students while also experiencing high rates of bullying, harassment, and physical violence in school. This study explores efforts to reduce the violent experiences and academic disparities for these students through teacher practice at the classroom level. It examines public pedagogy and conflict pedagogy as curricular strategies in a preservice teacher education course over 5 years. The course aims to develop and support an advocate/activist teacher identity, a teacher identity that is not neutral and can challenge and disrupt the ideas and practices that have become normalized in our schools. This research draws on three theoretical frameworks to inform the design and analysis of this study on teacher identity: poststructuralism, feminist pragmatism, and queer theory. These theories provide a conceptual vocabulary for critically examining anti-oppressive teacher education curricula. Specifically, this work looks at the way public and conflict pedagogy can be used to achieve anti-oppressive curricular ends through the potential impact on preservice teacher identity.