Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2013

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Thomas G. Edwards

Abstract

ABSTRACT

ENGAGEMENT, CAPACITY, AND CONTINUITY: A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION IN ALTERNATIVE PRE-STUDENT TEACHING PLACEMENTS

by

JODIE ROSE

December, 2013

Advisor: Dr. Thomas Edwards

Major: Education Curriculum and Design

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The training and preparation of prospective teachers includes an important phase where the future teachers begin to make a transition from learner to teacher. During this time, prospective teachers begin to utilize the knowledge they have gained through coursework and life experience to begin teaching students of their own. During this time, assignments and activities that prospective teachers undergo become less about conveying personal knowledge to professors, being learners, and more about being able to effectively convey knowledge to others, being teachers. These initial experiences are valuable in the development of effective teachers.

For many future teachers, these initial experiences occur during a phase in the university training called pre-student teaching. Pre-student teaching is a transitional phase between coursework and student teaching. At the school where this study was conducted, pre-student teaching takes place in two differing internship programs. In the more traditional program, pre-student teachers are placed in a K-12 classroom where they mostly observe the classroom teacher, but also participate in some teacher responsibilities, including a few experiences where they teach lessons to students. In the alternative program, pre-student teachers work with a partner pre-student teacher to instruct their own group of 12-year old students during a full-day Saturday extra-curricular program.

To better understand the influence of these internship experiences on the prospective teacher's development, pre-student teachers from both programs were studied. The conceptual framework of Engagement, Capacity and Continuity, developed by Campbell, Jolly & Perlman (2004), anchored this study. Interviews, observations, and written artifacts were utilized during this study to illuminate the pre-student teachers' transitional process.

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