This study was directed at investigating the need for practical experiences in the undergraduate education of secondary school teachers in Greece.The judgement concerning such a need was based on the conclusions drawn from the examination of international practices in the field of practical experiences and from the perceptions of first year Greek teachers regarding the need for such experiences.The education of Greek secondary school teachers was compared with the education of similar teachers in France, Germany and the United. States. The perceptions of Greek teachers concerning the need for practical experiences were assessed through their response to a questionnaire. Of the 350 beginning teachers contacted, 180 responded. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items which described skills identified through the literature as outcomes of practical experiences. The twenty skills were classified under the following seven subcategories:1. Classroom management2. Planning for instruction3. Application of learning theories4. Teacher awareness of his/her strengths and weaknesses 5. Awareness of student needs 6. Student evaluation 7. Awareness of the multiple duties of the teacherUsing a four-point, agree-disagree scale, the respondents rated each skill first as to its importance and then as to the adequacy of their training with regard to the skill. The relative importance and adequacy score for each skill was determined by calculating the percentage of respondents who rated the skill important or their preparation adequate.Demographic information on the teachers was collected for the description of the sample and to serve as independent variables in the analysis of the data.. One-way analyses of variance were performed to investigate the significance of the selected variables on the degree of importance and adequacy of each subscale. On the basis of the one-way analyses of variance, two independent variables were selected for a multi-analyses of variance.The following conclusions were based on the findings of the comparative examination of teacher education systems and on the analyses of the survey data.1. In all systems except that of Greece the importance of practical experiences has been recognized and ways have been devised to incorporate practical experiences in the education of secondary school teachers.2. In the French, the German, and the American systems, there was a discernible trend toward improving education courses offered in universities by strengthening the practical experiences component.3. The analysis of the survey data indicated that more than 84°,%% of the Greek teachers felt that the skills were important, but less than 37% considered their training in these skills adequate.4. Greek teachers' perceptions of the importance of the classroom management skills differed significantly depending on the university from which they had graduated.5. Greek teachers' perceptions of the importance of skills for the application of learning theories differed significantly depending on the kind of pre-service teaching experience the respondents had. Those teachers with substitute teaching experience rated these skills more important.6. Teachers who had not received any kind of practical experiences during their education rated the adequacy of their preparation in classroom management skills as less adequate.7. Math/science teachers, more than any other subject matter teacher, considered classroom management skills important. They also perceived their preparation regarding these skills as least adequate.International developments regarding practical experiences in teacher education and the need for such experiences expressed by Greek teachers strongly suggest that some form of practical experiences be incorporated into the education of secondary school teachers in Greece.

The purpose of this study was to determine important elements and placement practices of student teaching as perceived by teacher educators and how well each student teacher perceived his/her quality of experience based on these criteria. Data were collected using mail questionnaires following procedures by Dillman (2000). Three different mail questionnaires were used to gather information from 50 different head teacher educators (35 responding), 77 teacher educators (45 responding), and 204 student teachers from the 2001-2002 academic school year (140 responding). Head teacher educator respondents indicated that the number one placement practice for placing student teachers was that of the cooperating teacher having at least three years teaching experience (mean=4.61) Teacher educator respondents indicated that a cooperating center having access to the World Wide Web (mean=4.79) was the most important element of a cooperating center. Additionally, teacher educators indicated that a cooperating teacher who supports other school activities was the most important cooperating teacher element (mean=4.28). As a whole, student teachers indicated that they learned a great deal from their student teaching experience (mean=4.65) and that the student teaching component of their teacher education program was the most valuable component (mean=4.54). Statistically siginificant relationships between student teacher perceptions of their cooperating center elements and the quality of their student teaching experience existed. The elements with a positive correlation and statistical significance included cooperating center facilities (r=.447) and cooperating teacher and student teacher relationships (r=.853). The correlation coefficient (r=.389) between the level of importance of student teaching placement methods and the quality of the student teacher experience indicated a low positive relationship (Davis, 1971, but was not significant at the .05 alpha level. This indicated that the more time and effort teacher educators spend on placing student teachers may increase the student teacher's quality of experience.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-201). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-201). Also available on the Internet.

This thesis reports on an ethnographic inquiry into student teachers’ professional learning and development in a four-month practicum, during which no mentor is present. The subject background is Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (TCSL) in mainland China. This study draws on a variety of theories, such as Wenger’s social learning theory, Brookfield’s significant personal learning theory, Fuller’s teacher concern theory and Ghaye’s reflection hierarchy model, to conceptualize a theoretical framework to interpret collected data. The research involves two phases, i.e., the pilot and main study, each of which includes three participants. This thesis mainly reports the three cases in the main phase, with a brief account of the pilot phase. The methodological orientation of this research is naturalistic inquiry, which involves multiple data collection methods, such as student teachers’ reflective journals, individual and group interviews, lesson observations, documentary analysis, field notes and email correspondence, of which reflective journals are the main data source. The findings suggest that the student teachers are highly self-reliant in undertaking professional learning when no mentors are present. Very little participation in the professional community has been identified in all of the six cases, which is presumably attributed to the no mentorship context. Student teachers who possess a strong passion for teaching make attempts to expand their professional communities at the initial stage of the practicum; however, they are demotivated when their attempts fail. They thereafter have to rely on their own initiative by drawing on their prior teaching experiences or other resources available in their personal communities. Those who are not passionate about teaching do not take the initiative to widen their professional communities and make no changes throughout the practicum. The results also indicate that the student teachers suffer extreme anxiety, often for the whole practicum period. They are tormented by self-doubt and panic about the uncertainties and emergencies in teaching. They show great concern for “self” throughout the practicum and rarely demonstrate concern for “tasks”, “teaching performance” or “learners”. Their concern for survival predominates the whole practicum. The student teachers’ reflections as revealed in their teaching journals are basically at the descriptive and perceptive level. Little higher-level reflection has been identified. This is also likely to be associated with the no mentorship context. Recommendations for the TCSL teacher preparation programmes and the student teachers are highlighted. For the programmes, providing a more structured and supportive environment is suggested. The student teachers are advised to take more initiative to widen their professional communities and to have more peer learning and self-directed learning. A good combination of formal and informal learning can enable them to achieve the maximum professional growth in the practicum. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to see if student teachers could bridge the gap between what is taught in higher education courses and what they observe practiced in primary school classrooms by implementing developmentally appropriate practices through the use of the Project Approach promoted by Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard. Issues and attitudes that developed were also reviewed.Two student teachers provided the data for this qualitative study. The case studies consisted of interviews, observations, and documentation examination. Positive attitudes toward research and theory emerged. Issues that were identified included time, writing lesson plans, lack of a model, and the student teaching triad. Despite the issues it was determined that providing a framework to implement theory assists student teachers when they attempt to implement theory. In this particular study, providing the framework of the Project Approach aided the student teachers in implementing developmentally appropriate practices. / Department of Elementary Education

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purpose of the study was to prepare a confluent curriculum to be used in conjunction with seminars which were held during the Spring Semester of 1974 for twenty-four student teachers enrolled at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.