The influence of student teachers on the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction
Abstract
Much attention has been given to the impact of cooperative teachers on the pedagogical behaviour of student teachers. In many cases, however, cooperating teachers gain as much from the student teacher as the student teacher acquires from them. This study was designed to elicit answers to the following two questions: (1) What are the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction in the Jordanian context? and (2) Does the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers engaging in early reading instruction change as a result of working with student teachers? The study targeted a sample of 25 cooperating teachers and 28 student teachers who participated in the study by completing a questionnaire, and follow-up interviews were also conducted with 13 cooperating teachers. Results of this study indicate that cooperating teachers endorse the phonics method more than the whole language (WL) approach. Unlike past research, the results of this study revealed that (1) the student teaching experience had no effect on the perspective of cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction and (b) the perspectives of cooperating teachers do not become similar to those of their student teachers who were WL-oriented. The results have implications for early childhood teacher education programmes and professional development for kindergarten teachers.
Reference
Ihmeideh, F. & Coughlin, C. (2015). The influence of student teachers on the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 43, 243-261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2014.934198.
Journal
Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
- mixed methods
- Qualitiative
- Quantitative
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
- early childhood education
Research Location Context
- field placements (not related to methods courses)
Preservice Participants
- undergraduate preservice teachers
Preservice Sample Size
28
Other Participant Data
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Interviews
- Questionnaires
Data Analysis Tools
- Qualitative Content Analysis
- Quantitative Content Analysis
- Statistical analysis
- Statistics Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) programme
- t-test
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
(1) What are the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction? (p. 243)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
(2) Do the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers engaging in early reading instruction change as a result of working with student teachers? (p. 243)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes