Implications for teacher training of differing expectations of professionalism in training and teaching.

  • Patricia Haywood-Hicks

Student thesis: Doctoral ThesisPhD

Abstract

The professional attitudes of student teachers, their tutors in training institutions and staff in schools were investigated at a time of reorganisation of teacher education. The initial stage of the research included a close examination of the problem area in order to obtain an assessment of the scope of the current research in the context of investigations in adjacent areas. The examination of aspects of teaching as an occupation and of the organizational frameworks within which professional expectations develop highlighted the problems of transfer between stages of occupational socialisation. The core of the research the preparation of an attitude scale. Conservatism was considered as basic to the development of professional attitudes and hence an Educational Conservatism questionnaire was created and presented to students in their third or postgraduate years of teacher training in colleges and universities, to their tutors, and to probationer and senior teachers in schools. Individual item scores and total scores (C-scores) were calculated and compared to find coherence and division between the attitudes of these occupational groups. From analysis of these scores students and their tutors were found to be more in sympathy with each other's professional expectations than with those of staff working in schools. The probationer teachers occupied a transtition state more educationally conservative than the members of the training institutions and yet less educationally conservative than their senior colleagues in schools. This was found to be the case whether training/experience was confined to work with Primary children only or included Secondary work. The effects of the age group and the sex of respondents were not found to be more than marginal compared with the influence of the institutional climate. Members of university Schools of Education were found to be significantly less educationally conservative than members of Colleges of Education. The present decrease in the use of monotechnic institutions for teacher training and the developing patterns of initial and in-service education are factors which appear to reduce the opportunities available for intensive professional socialisation, particularly at the first stage. From the C-score analysis a need was seen for organisational studies to be included in the initial training curriculum. This would present opportunities for developing an understanding of the circumstances giving rise to differing professional expectations and maximise the chances for training tutors to prepare students for the school environment. This could help to reduce stress at the transition stage, as the student emerges into the 'real world' of teaching.
Date of Award1977
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University of Bath

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