The NCATE requirements introduced in 2004 presented a new challenge for teacher educators in that they had to define, develop, and assess teacher dispositions in their programs in systematic ways (Dottin, 2009; Schussler, Bercaw, & Stooksberry, 2008). Extant research suggested that as an initial step to overcome this challenge, it was important to define and understand what exactly is meant by "disposition" (Notar, Riley, & Taylor, 2009; Shiveley & Misco, 2010; Thomas, 2010). In order to reach to an agreeable and clear definition of teacher dispositions, it is important understanding teacher educators' perceptions about teacher dispositions (Freeman, 2007; Notar, Riley, & Taylor, 2009). In the light of these, the following research question were guided this study: 1) What are the perceptions of teacher educators about teacher dispositions in terms of the extent to which selected dispositions are innate or teachable? 2) What are perceptions of teacher educators about teacher dispositions in terms of the extent to which selected dispositions are important to being a teacher? 3) To what extent do teacher educators report that they are teaching dispositions in their classes? 4) What are the perceptions of teacher educators about the effectiveness of integration methods of teacher dispositions into the coursework and conceptual framework? The study involved 118 teacher educators employed in the eleven NCATE accredited teacher education institutions in the State of Florida during the spring semester of 2011. The data were gathered using an online survey. In the survey the teacher educators rated 42 dispositions using four subscales to indicate their perceptions about dispositions. In addition, teacher educators rated the effectiveness of 7 integration methods. By the exploratory factor analysis, three main structures or factors were extracted from the data. Using the factor loadings composite scores were calculated for each subscales. A series of a series of paired t tests revealed statistically significant differences of teacher educators' perceptions toward teacher dispositions and integration methods. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / August 31, 2011. / Defining Dispositions, Educators' Perceptions, Importance of Dispositions, NCATE, Teacher Dispositions, Teacher Education / Includes bibliographical references. / Ithel Jones, Professor Directing Dissertation; Sande Milton, University Representative; Diana Rice, Committee Member; Thomas Ratliffe, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183166 |
| Contributors | Varol, Volkan, 1978- (authoraut), Jones, Ithel (professor directing dissertation), Milton, Sande (university representative), Rice, Diana (committee member), Ratliffe, Thomas (committee member), School of Teacher Education (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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