This study focused on preservice teacher' cognitions and preconceptions about teaching. It examined what and how student teachers thought about teaching as they began their experience, the relationship between their thinking about teaching and their teaching behaviors, and how their thinking about teaching changed over the course of the…

Field experiences in preservice teacher education may be both valuable and problematic. Problems may arise from: (1) previous experiences of teachers and teaching; (2) previous experiences in classrooms; (3) the potential influence of the norms and values of the setting; (4) the difficulties of relating theory and practice; (5) the challenge of…

As we look for direction in improving teacher education, we should examine what research is telling us about the student teaching experience. This paper addresses the following areas: (1) a survey of literature documenting the critical role of student teaching and the cooperating teacher in teacher preparation and reporting related research on…

Research studies focusing upon longitudinal assessment of instructional competency revealed that elementary school teacher education students rated themselves relatively high in classroom management, in contrast to reality and to literature on the subject of beginning teachers' performance. A study explored: (1) how classroom management skills are…

A common aim of teacher education is to have prospective teachers inquire about their teaching. In that regard, there has been concern about the effects of contexts within which such inquiry takes place. Recent deliberation and research about context has tended to focus on the structure and content of teacher education courses, the environmental…

Central Missouri State University faculty forged partnerships with teachers in urban charter schools in Kansas City in an effort to ensure that early childhood teacher candidates' field experiences would take place in school environments with diverse populations of students. During the spring 2001 semester, early childhood teacher candidates were…

This study compared the efficacy beliefs of Taiwanese preservice teachers at the beginning of early childhood teacher preparation with those of preservice teachers near the end of preservice preparation. The 298 predominantly female participants were from 4 teacher colleges and a polytechnic institute. Participants completed a slightly revised…

This study investigated changes in mathematics anxiety levels among future teachers in two different mathematics materials and methods classes. The changes were a function of using (1) Bruner's framework of developing conceptual knowledge before procedural knowledge, and (2) manipulatives to make mathematics concepts more concrete. The study…

This paper presents the cases of four preservice teachers enrolled in a critical multicultural education course during Spring 2000, showing how the readings, cross-racial dialogues, and journal reflections that were part of the course helped students, for the first time and irrespective of race and gender, discuss their experiences and question…

This study employed the repertory grid technique to investigate how a sample of 27 student teachers in Hong Kong developed a personal sense of teaching efficacy. The analysis indicated that third-year students' perceptions were more homogeneous than were those of first-year students. The results also indicated that teaching efficacy was viewed in…

This study examined preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about their elementary language arts teaching after being prepared in a Professional Development School (PDS). Participants were preservice teachers in the first semester of their field-based senior year of teacher preparation, all of whom were placed in one of several PDS clusters.…

This book presents an inside look at the "white talk" of teacher education students, presenting information from an action research project in which student teachers and faculty explored white racial identity, examined the meaning of whiteness, and confronted the difficulties of thinking critically about race and racism. The book strives to deepen…

This study used qualitative and quantitative methodology to ascertain preservice teachers' attitudes toward multiculturalism and diversity and determine how they viewed their student teaching and internship experiences with respect to issues of diversity. The 46 participating student teachers completed a cultural inventory in the spring of 1998…

Teacher education in the U.S. faces a critical dilemma: preparing white, middle-class preservice teachers to teach increasingly diverse student populations in public schools. Early field experiences (EFEs) show promise for addressing this mismatch, yet little is actually known about what happens to preservice teachers in practicum experiences.…

This review presents a rationale for teaching Australian teachers to understand and teach Aboriginal Studies, describing the structure and development of the Teaching the Teachers: Indigenous Australian Studies Project of National Significance. The project was designed in response to a government recommendation that all teacher training programs…