Bibliography: leaves 94-102.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 114-122). Also available in print.

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.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dilemmas pre-service science teachers encounter in relation to their participation in a project which sought to establish a constructivist and collaborative model of teaching and learning. I also explored the strategies the pre-service teachers implemented to manage the dilemmas they encountered, as well as how they perceived those dilemmas to have influenced their teaching practice and their personal philosophies of teaching and learning (PPoTaL). Since the construct of voice was an important factor in this study, I used a research method that I refer to as intercontext. This method has three major components: stimulated linkage, reflexivity and the dialectical conversation. To enact this research method, I conducted five interviews with each of the six pre-service teachers over the 12-month period of their professional preparation. In addition, I had many informal conversations with them and observed them several times during their university and school practicum experiences. I argued that social constructivism provides a fruitful theoretical framework to interpret the results of this study, because this orientation to teaching and learning is based on the notion that knowledge is socially constructed and mediated by.cultural, historical and institutional codes. In this light, three broad dilemmas were identified in relation to the students' experiences with the teacher education program's course content and design and six dilemmas were identified in relation to the roles the participants felt they needed to perform during their school practicum. The variety of dilemmas the pre-service teachers encountered and the direct and indirect strategies they implemented to manage those dilemmas could be explained in terms of two overarching issues. The first had to do with the difficulties associated with bridging the theory and practice of learning to teach in two distinct communities of practice (i.e., in the university and the school communities). The second general factor had to do with the type of relationship the pre-service teachers established with their school advisor(s) or/and faculty advisor; that is, from the the students' point of view they wondered to what extent they could trust their advisors to allow them to take the risks associated with asking questions, trying innovative approaches in the classroom, and exploring their own teaching identity without any of these reflecting negatively in their final evaluation reports. Finally, a number of suggestions for practice and further research are provided.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the praxis (theory and practice) of oral language by student teachers during their practicum. Specifically, this study identified and described the factors which 13 British Columbia student teachers perceived of as affecting the establishment of an orally interactive environment within their practicum classroom. Through the analysis of dialogue journals, interviews, and questionnaires, 24 factors in 5 categories were identified and described that affect the development of orally interactive teaching. The factors were grouped into categories of knowledge, position, expectations, structures, and assumptions. This study concludes that the identification of factors affecting orality in the practicum can assist teacher education programs and teachers to more effectively address the potential of orality as a medium for negotiation and meaning making in the classroom.

There is a shortage of secondary mathematics teachers throughout the United States (Howard, 2003, Matus, 1999). This deficit is heightened in urban areas (Bracey, 2002; Howard, 2003). Understanding how urban teachers develop into highly qualified, motivated teachers of urban learners may provide guidance in decreasing the shortage of urban secondary mathematics teachers and provide direction for teacher education programs in preparing future teachers of urban learners. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the experiences pre-service teachers undergo during student teaching and how those experiences impact their views on teaching in an urban context, as well as how their experiences impact the construction of their identities as teachers of urban learners. Six secondary mathematics pre-service teachers who have made the conscious decision to teach in urban schools participate in this study. Phenomenology is used as a philosophical and methodological framework. The theories of teacher thinking, situated cognition, and social identity provided a foundation to examine to research questions: How do pre-service teachers experience student teaching in an urban context; how do pre-service teachers’ experiences impact their views on teaching in urban schools; and how do pre-service teachers’ experiences impact the construction of their identities as teachers of urban learners? Data were collected via initial interviews, journaling throughout the student teaching experience, and phenomenological interviews. Colaizzi’s method for phenomenological data analysis was used to develop textual and structural descriptions of the phenomenon. This method of analysis led to concluding that constructive student teacher – cooperating teacher relationships lead to positive views of teaching in urban contexts and collective teaching dispositions. Negative relationships caused an aversion to teaching in urban environments and individualistic classroom practices. In regards to the construction of an identity as teachers of urban learners, the quality of the student teacher-cooperating teacher relationship was a factor. When an affirming relationship was present the student teachers embraced some of the characteristics of their cooperating teachers. Whereas, detrimental relationships caused the pre-service teachers to dismiss the practices of their cooperating teachers and the rejection of any performance feedback provided.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Thesis (MEd)--University of South Australia, 1997

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2004. / Typescript. Title taken from first page. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 235-244.