The present study examined the concerns of teacher candidates in an early field experience. Thirty-five teacher candidates completed the Teacher Concerns Checklist (TCC, Fuller & Borich, 2000) at the beginning, middle and end of their early field experiences. Results showed that teacher candidates ranked impact as the highest concern, self as the…

The present study investigates, through path analytic techniques, the influence of teacher efficacy on the career indecision of pre-service teachers. The sample consists of 305 students enrolled in Teacher Education programs at two southeastern universities. Results indicate that general teacher efficacy and career self-efficacy have significant…

As African American mothers and teacher educators, the authors' investment in teacher education is both personal and professional. The authors build upon these personal and professional investments in their teaching practices with primarily White pre-service teachers, in the hopes of better preparing them to teach African American children. This…

The flexible, multi-contextual use of language is essential to integrated learning and thinking. Likewise, learning and thinking in an integrated way is essential to multi-dimensional teaching. This study examines the ways pre-service secondary teachers define their subjects. Students enrolled in a secondary reading methods course were asked to…

The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service teachers' support for character education and analyze their perceptions of character as an effective deterrent to negative school behaviors. In addition, the author of this study sought to ascertain pre-service teachers' opinions regarding the importance of character education in undergraduate…

Of the innumerable problems facing American schools today, one of the most pressing is the shortage of teachers equipped with the skills necessary to help diverse students achieve academic success. Lack of aggressive efforts to include strategies to help preservice teachers understand and develop culturally sensitive and relevant pedagogy will…

Four African American teacher-researcher-participants contributed to this self-reflective autobiographical, narrative analysis of learning to teach, becoming certified, and teaching. Each participant reflected on her educational stories of experience, as all four were educated on White university campuses and transitioned to teaching in…

A teacher education course used photography, a city's school buildings crisis, and a focus on standards to help preservice teachers "see" how a broad range of standards are played out in the aesthetics and designs of schools, classrooms, and other educational environments. Such methods provide teachers with concrete tools for engaging their…

Teacher education lacks structural coherence, often results in training regimens or decoupled practices but not professional education experiences, and resists change. Two reforms to enhance professionalism are proposed: creating tracked programs that consider special populations and contexts, such as rural or Catholic schools, and developing…

The proportion of time that teacher candidates in field-experience programs spent on eight types of classroom tasks was examined for two field-experience programs that differed in constancy of placement. In both programs, teacher candidates spent most of their time on clerical tasks and little time on whole-class teaching (their most valued task).…

Changes in preservice teachers' level of reflective thinking over a three-quarter period were explored by analyzing their journal entries on readings and field experiences. Even without specific reflection training, levels of reflection increased significantly due to simply asking preservice teachers to reflect. However, only one participant…

Content analysis of 61 student teaching supervision handbooks from Midwest teacher education programs found that these guides did not clearly state program objectives nor clearly define the roles of cooperating teachers and university supervisors. Correlation analysis indicated a lack of congruence between program goals and the outcomes assessed…

Outlines 10 problems of teacher education and strategies to address them. Issues include negative perceptions of public schools, lack of educational foundations, unclear notions of teacher scholarship, student prior knowledge and experience, lack of attention to diversity, inadequate field experiences, student immaturity, college "turf battles,"…

Nine middle school teachers developed objectives and activities for a pilot early field experience to introduce freshman teacher candidates to the complexity and student diversity of urban education. Compared to 30 freshmen placed in a traditional (tutoring) field experience, project freshmen demonstrated greater personal teaching efficacy,…

Ninety preservice teachers completed the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), a diagnostic inventory of 10 scales, before and after an educational psychology course that included learning strategies instruction. By course completion, student LASSI mean scores improved on six scales but continued to show a need for remediation. Scores…