ERIC Number: ED545506
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 304
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-2675-7292-9
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Pre-Service Career and Technical Education Teachers' Perceptions of Their Subject Matter and Learning to Teach It: An Action Research Study
Green, Jeffrey M.
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Rochester
Our nation's public schools have been given the task of preparing our students for success in college as well as future careers. Determining how to best prepare future teachers is not an easy task, and the current state of public education has had an impact on what it takes to be a successful teacher. Involving pre-service career and technical education (CTE) teachers in research on their student teaching experiences should help them in their student teaching and future teaching careers as well as aid CTE teacher educators in the preparation of future CTE teachers. With those goals in mind, the following two main research questions guided this study: 1. How do pre-service CTE teachers perceive CTE? 2. How can CTE teacher educators support pre-service CTE teachers in negotiating the differing messages regarding CTE? Four graduate business and marketing education students who completed their student teaching practicum experiences during the fall 2011 semester participated in this study. Using action research, the researcher employed written surveys, individual interviews, group discussions, participant reflection journals, and a researcher reflection journal to collect data. A grounded theory methodological approach guided qualitative analysis of the data to determine emerging themes that directly address the goals of the study and the research questions. Through interaction with the data three themes emerged that represent the perceptions of pre-service CTE teachers and what CTE teacher educators must understand to support pre-service CTE teachers: 1. Pre-service CTE teachers appreciate and advocate for CTE. 2. Pre-service CTE teachers lack understanding as to why others do not value CTE. 3. Pre-service CTE teachers are students first and teachers second. The concept of self-efficacy, as a part of social cognitive theory, serves as an ideal theoretical framework to analyze the findings because it contends that people are agents who have control over their behaviors and will act according to their best interests. Analyzing the data through this lens provides the opportunity to evaluate the impact of the study on the participants, the researcher, and other key stakeholders. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Student Teaching, Student Attitudes, Graduate Students, Business Administration Education, Marketing, Practicums, Action Research, Interviews, Student Surveys, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Researchers, Grounded Theory, Self Efficacy, Social Theories, Epistemology, Vocational Education
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A