High prevalence rates and negative outcomes of peer-based aggression and victimization during early adolescence underscore the need to identify causes and consequences of these outcomes. Limited research has examined the impact of environmental and contextual factors, such as school climate, on peer aggression and victimization. Few studies have addressed relations between school climate and specific subtypes of physical and relational aggression and victimization. Although school climate has been assessed via interpersonal subsystems (i.e., student-student and student-teacher relationships), little research has incorporated the role of student awareness and reporting of violence and safety concerns. Further, studies are needed that consider the bi-directional relations between school climate and peer aggression and victimization over time. To address these limitations, the current longitudinal study examined associations between school climate (i.e., student-student and student-teacher relationships and awareness/reporting) and peer aggression and victimization over six months among a sample of 265 middle school students.

There are three purposes of this study: (1) to determine the degree of interaction between pupils and student teachers and teaching effectiveness as rated by pupils; (2) to determine the significance of difference of pupil ratings between those who express "more" and those who express "less interest" in the course taught by the student teacher whom they were asked to rate; and (3) to study other variables such as sex, age, and achievement in order to show how they relate to pupil and student teacher interaction.

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the perceptions of reflective dialogue by members of two student teaching triads. The triads each consisted of a music student teacher, cooperating teacher, and college supervisor. The data was gathered over fourteen weeks through recorded reflective sessions, participant journals, and a group interview session. The research questions were: What are the student teaching triad members' perceptions of the nature and use of intentional reflective dialogue during the music student teaching experience? What are each of the student teaching triad members' perceptions of his or her role in engaging in intentional reflective dialogue? Five themes emerged after an analysis of the data: conversations, feedback, relationships, self-realization and mentoring. The use of intentional reflective dialogue within the student teaching triad aids in the professional and personal growth of the pre-service music teacher by providing a vehicle through which the student teacher can explore her feelings about her teaching experiences. The conclusions suggest that student teachers place great value on the reflective conversations and that growth in the student teachers occurs as a result of consistent intentional reflective dialogue.

Student-teacher relationships have been studied by numerous researchers from a variety of perspectives. Evidence consistently suggests that the quality of student-teacher relationships can have a profound impact on children’s social and cognitive development. Although researchers seem to agree on this point, their theoretical conceptualizations of the relationships and how they measure them are often quite different. This study provides empirical insights for both measurement integration and theory integration regarding students’ internal relationship representations. Items from 14 different student-teacher relationship instruments were systematically combined and administered as a composite instrument to 628 college students. The participants responded to all items in reference to a single, recent relationship with a high school instructor. This allowed comparative examination of the original 14 scales independently for internal consistency and predictive validity. The study also examined a hypothesized multidimensional structural model of students’ internal representation of their relationship with a teacher based off relational schema theory. An alternative, more parsimonious model was examined as well. The hypothesized model was not supported by the data. The study demonstrated that multiple measurement models of various items could produce acceptable fit. The study provided evidence as to which of the 170 items from the 14 original scales most closely measure the core of student-teacher relationship quality. The study exemplified the method effect dangers of negative item wording. Finally, the study provided strong evidence for conceptualizing student-teacher relationships as a single, global relationship quality construct.

During the past fifteen years there has been increasing interest in the role of reflection in professional development, especially amongst teacher educators. Yet although many preservice programs now place considerable emphasis on encouraging and assisting student teachers to reflect on their practice, reflection remaings a problematic notion. There is little consensus, for example, about what constitutes reflection, how it might be identified, and whether it can be promoted. This thesis reports a longitudinal study conducted over four years which explored the above issues within the context of an early childhood teacher education program, in Sydney (NSW), Australia. The specific purpose of this study was to investigate changes in student teachers' reflection on their professional development and practice during their enrolment in the Guided Practice component of their preservice program. A strength of this study is its focus on reflection as a multidimensional phenomenon involving far more than the processes of analytical thought typically addressed by most previous research in this area. Drawing on an eclectic range of literature, this thesis argues that emotion, imagination, intuition, and contemplation can also play an integral role. As such, it asserts that reflection can be seen, in effect, as a complex and holistic search for meaning. Conceptualising reflection in this holistic manner raises numerous methodological challenges. These challenges and the methodological decisions made in response to them are outlined prior to developing profiles of the participants' reflection. These profiles indicated that there was little consistent change in the reflection of eight of the 18 participants. For four student teachers, on the other hand, there was some change, while for six, there was considerable change. Several factors which appeared instrumental in hindering or promoting these student teachers' reflection are identified. These include commitment (or lack of) to teaching and to reflection; an epistemological perspective of received or constructed knowing; and the extent to which the learning environment was perceived as supportive. The study concludes with a discussion of some of the implications for teacher educators and for those intending to undertake further research into reflection.

This thesis focuses on why prospective teachers want to teach. It argues that prospective teachers draw on their own perceptions of what teaching means to them and that these perceptions are clarified and refined during the initial stages of their university study. Firstly, it examines what attracts and holds first year student teachers to teaching and whether they really want to be teachers. Secondly, it compares students’ perceptions of teaching at the start, during and at the end of their first year of their first year of university studies. Finally, it identifies the kind of early experiences at university and school sites that can either strengthen the initial commitment to become a teacher or might lessen the original desire to teach. The context of the study is a regional university in a provincial city in Central Queensland. The selection of constructivism as a theoretical framework informed the research approach and allowed data to be gathered in a case study format using an iterative process to permit probing and identification of change, and reconstruction of relevant issues. In this research, data was collected through three individual interviews with nine first year prospective student teachers at the beginning, mid and end of that year. Constructivist analysis concepts were employed to draw from the data coded patterns, themes and issues displaying student teachers’ emerging perceptions of their first year of learning how to teach. The thesis reports that student teachers in their initial year were enabled to articulate their co-construction of what it means to be a teacher. During the year they were able to build up their construction of what it means to be a teacher which, over time, alleviated earlier uncertainties as their decision to teach was affirmed. The process of construction of being a teacher identified qualities, knowledge and skills identified from the start to the end of the program, building from perceptions to reality, from the old to the new. Conceptions of teaching as work, and the importance of relationships in teaching contributed to the satisfaction of student teachers and helped affirm their commitment in anticipating their future as a teacher. The findings of the study exemplify that a well-structured, collaborative teacher education program in the initial year will attract and retain many prospective teachers. This thesis gives a wider understanding of the first year of a teaching career. The research builds a contemporary picture of what prospective teachers think about teaching in their first year of a teacher education program. The issues and problems identified in the context of a regional campus, underpin the results of this research. This research enables students’ voices to be heard and will inform teacher educators and others involved in teacher education to examine specific cases in the attraction and retention of prospective teachers.

Teaching efficacy beliefs of agricultural science student teachers, and their relationship with their cooperating teachers during field experiences, are variables that may affect the number of student teachers entering the profession. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects implementing structured communication between student teachers and cooperating teachers would have on student teachers’ self-perceived teaching efficacy, and the relationship between the student teacher and cooperating teacher during the student teaching experience. The learning environment of these field experiences must be more fully understood to explain why some student teachers enter the profession of agriculture science teaching, and others do not. A conceptual model guiding this study, based upon a thorough review of the literature, explains the role of constructivism, teaching efficacy, and communication theory. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a non-random sample in a multiple time-series design. The average respondent in this study was a 23 year old white undergraduate female placed at a multiple placement cooperating center. Respondents in an environment where the amount and type of communication between student teachers and cooperating teachers was structured were less efficacious when compared to those respondents who were not in a structured communication setting. In addition, student teachers in a structured communication environment declined in their teaching efficacy measurements overall, whereas student teachers who were not involved in structured communication increased in their self-perceived teaching efficacy levels. Through contrast analysis, the age and academic standing of student teachers significantly affected their perception of the value cooperating teachers placed upon student teacher – cooperating teacher relationships. Structured communication influences student teachers’ beliefs regarding their ability to teach and their perception of their relationship with the cooperating teacher. In order to better understand the perceptions of student teachers regarding their teaching efficacy levels, and the student teacher – cooperating teacher relationship, additional research should be conducted in these identified areas. In addition, further research should be conducted on these variables at other institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs in agricultural education.

The Relationships between Belief Change and its Influential Factors for Student Teachers in Junior High Schools Yuan-yu Chu Abstract The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between belief change and its influential factors for student teachers in junior high schools. The participants included 163 student teachers and 163 corresponding mentors in public junior high schools of South Taiwan. The employed instruments were Teacher Belief Appraisal, Professional Growth Scale for Junior High School Teachers, Intrapersonal Intelligence Appraisal, and The Questionnaire of Perceiving Teaching Environment. The employed analysis methods were descriptive statistics, Hotelling¡¦s T2, multivariate analysis of variance, repeat measure analysis, discriminant analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance, and multiple stepwise regression. The findings of this study revealed that (a) the student teachers¡¦ beliefs were toward open orientation on the whole, but their degree of openness varied in the four aspects of teacher beliefs; (b) gender did not have significant effects on the student teachers¡¦ beliefs at the beginning of their practice teaching; (c) teacher preparation systems, teaching areas, size of schools had significant effects on the student teachers¡¦ beliefs at the beginning of their practice teaching; (d) overall speaking, the student teachers¡¦ beliefs were quite stable through their practice teaching period; (e) the mentors¡¦ beliefs had positive effects on their student teachers¡¦ belief change; (f) the student teachers¡¦ professional growth motivation and teaching environment had positive effects on their beliefs at the beginning of practice teaching; (g) the student teachers¡¦ professional growth motivation and their mentors¡¦ beliefs had positive effects on their beliefs at the end of practice teaching. Finally, some suggestions were proposed for teacher preparation institutions, schools of practice teaching, student teachers, and future studies.

A challenge faced by agricultural educators across the country is a lack of qualified teachers entering the profession. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between student teacher perceptions of the student teacher/cooperating teacher relationship and the decision to enter the teaching profession. Background/demographic characteristics were also examined to determine if relationships existed with the decision about entering teaching. These characteristics included gender, age, academic classification, race/ethnicity, previous agricultural work experience, and semesters of high school agricultural science courses completed. The target population of this study consisted of preservice agricultural education students at Texas A&M University. The sample consisted of 33 student teachers who completed their student teaching in the fall semester 2004. The instrument consisted of three parts. Part I of the instrument contained six background/demographic variables (gender, age, semesters of high school agricultural science courses completed, academic classification, race/ethnicity, and agricultural work experience). Part II of the instrument contained 14 items measuring student teacher perceptions of the student teacher/cooperating teacher relationship. For each item, participants were asked to indicate the importance of each characteristic and the current level of their cooperating teacher using a modified five point Likert-type scale. Part III of the instrument consisted of a single item, “Do you plan to teach agricultural science when you graduate?” accompanied by a seven point response scale ranging from definitely yes to definitely no. There was no relationship found between the student teacher/cooperating teacher relationship and the decision to teach. However, a relationship was found between previous agricultural work experience and the decision to teach, as well as a relationship between the semesters of high school agricultural science courses competed and the decision to teach. By knowing how many high school agricultural science courses a student had completed, one could better predict the decision to teach. As a result of the study, the researcher recommends that agricultural education programs recruit students who have completed high school agriculture courses. High school agricultural science teachers should encourage their students to pursue careers in agricultural education.

Teaching efficacy beliefs of agricultural science student teachers, and their relationship with their cooperating teachers during field experiences, are variables that may affect the number of student teachers entering the profession. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects implementing structured communication between student teachers and cooperating teachers would have on student teachers’ self-perceived teaching efficacy, and the relationship between the student teacher and cooperating teacher during the student teaching experience. The learning environment of these field experiences must be more fully understood to explain why some student teachers enter the profession of agriculture science teaching, and others do not. A conceptual model guiding this study, based upon a thorough review of the literature, explains the role of constructivism, teaching efficacy, and communication theory. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a non-random sample in a multiple time-series design. The average respondent in this study was a 23 year old white undergraduate female placed at a multiple placement cooperating center. Respondents in an environment where the amount and type of communication between student teachers and cooperating teachers was structured were less efficacious when compared to those respondents who were not in a structured communication setting. In addition, student teachers in a structured communication environment declined in their teaching efficacy measurements overall, whereas student teachers who were not involved in structured communication increased in their self-perceived teaching efficacy levels. Through contrast analysis, the age and academic standing of student teachers significantly affected their perception of the value cooperating teachers placed upon student teacher – cooperating teacher relationships. Structured communication influences student teachers’ beliefs regarding their ability to teach and their perception of their relationship with the cooperating teacher. In order to better understand the perceptions of student teachers regarding their teaching efficacy levels, and the student teacher – cooperating teacher relationship, additional research should be conducted in these identified areas. In addition, further research should be conducted on these variables at other institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs in agricultural education.