"Preservice teachers' beliefs about classroom management before and aft" by Bonnie Gayle Ballard

Award Date

1-1-2002

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

First Committee Member

Jane McCarthy

Number of Pages

260

Abstract

Preservice Teachers Beliefs About Classroom Management Before and After Student Teaching describes a qualitative research study that explored student teachers' beliefs about effective classroom management before they began their student teaching and then again at the end of their internship. This study examines the differences in these student teachers' beliefs about effective management techniques after they have had actual classroom experiences with their cooperating classroom teachers; Four student teachers and their nine cooperating teachers identified their management styles through the use of two surveys. The Inventory of Classroom Management Styles (ICMS) determined responses based on a continuum of control from teacher-controlled beliefs to student-controlled ideology. The Classroom Questionnaire provided evidence of the participants' levels of knowledge, importance, and use of twenty-one strategies based on Weber's classroom management approaches. Additionally, student teachers completed a concept map, or graphic organizer, in which they identified their beliefs about establishing and maintaining effective classroom management. Individual in-depth interviews and classroom observations were conducted to obtain further interpretations of these beliefs. This data collection was completed twice for the student teachers, initially prior to their student teaching and again at the end; Data revealed that prior to student teaching, the preservice teachers held similar views regarding effective discipline in the classroom. However, there seemed to be no common scoring patterns when examining various strategies chosen on the surveys. The student teachers' scores fell along the continuum of teacher and student control of management; In describing management beliefs following the student-teaching experience, some similar patterns emerged. When comparing the two concept maps each student teacher completed, the substance and structure remained similar but the beliefs were expanded or explained in more depth on the second map, especially in the discipline dimension. Additionally, strategies from the person dimension of management had been added to the graphic organizer. On the survey results, most of the changes in the students' scores moved in the direction of their cooperating teachers' thinking on the control continuum, except in the area of discipline. In this dimension, the student teachers' beliefs stayed the same or moved toward a more teacher-controlled focus, regardless of their cooperating teachers' beliefs; The findings from this study add to the growing body of research that has identified the need to develop preservice teachers' beliefs about effective classroom management more fully. Care should be taken in placing student teachers in classrooms that can build on their beliefs and expand their knowledge of effective classroom management strategies and techniques.

Keywords

Beliefs; Classroom; Classroom Management; Management; Preservice; Preservice Teachers; Students; Student Teaching; Teachers; Teaching

Controlled Subject

Teachers--Training of

File Format

pdf

File Size

4986.88 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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Rights

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