The complex development of student-teachers’ thinking
Abstract
Studies of student-teacher development have tended to suggest a three-stage model of development in which the novices' concerns shift outwards from an initial preoccupation with self, to a focus on tasks and teaching situations, and finally to consideration of pupil learning. This paper, based on sequence of post-lesson interviews conducted with 25 student teachers following 1-year postgraduate courses within school-based partnership schemes of initial teacher education, questions the adequacy of such a model. Analysis of the reasons that the student-teachers offered for their teaching decisions, and of their lesson evaluations suggests a high level of concern for pupils' learning and an awareness of the complexity of teaching from very early in their training. The implications of these findings are explored; in particular, the challenges that they pose to teacher educators in terms of course structure and curricula, and the need to be responsive to individual learners.
Reference
Burn, K., Hagger, H., Mutton, T., & Everton, T. (2003). The complex development of student-teachers' thinking. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 9(4), 309-331.
Journal
Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
yes
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
unclear
Research Approach
- "longitudinal": across varying classes over time
- Qualitiative
- Quantitative
Geographic Setting
- Cambridge
- Oxford
- United Kingdom
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
Research Location Context
- student teaching placement schools
- University
Preservice Participants
- Post Graduate Certification in Education (PGCE)
Preservice Sample Size
36
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Interviews
- interviews (post-lesson)
- Transcriptions
Data Analysis Tools
- chi-square test
- coding (emergent categories)
- coding Atlas.ti
- Inductive analysis
- inter-coder reliability study
- iterative analysis
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
"Studies of student-teacher development have tended to suggest a three-stage model of development in which novices' concerns shift outwards from initial preoccupation with self, to a focus on tasks and teaching situations, and finally to a consideration of pupil learning. This paper questions the adequacy of that model" (p. 309). Its data appear to "lend weight to the views of those who [also have] questioned the adequacy of a model of discrete stages of teacher development" (p. 310).
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination