Preparedness to teach : a comparison between consecutive and concurrent education students

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the differences between consecutive and concurrent preservice education students concerning both their feelings of preparedness to teach and the classroom management and discipline problems experienced. It also explored the relationship between students' feelings of preparedness to teach and the classroom management problems they encounter during their practicum. This research is essentially exploratory in nature due to a paucity of literature regarding the differences between the consecutive and concurrent education students. Data obtained through the use of the "Student Teachers' Feelings of Preparedness to Teach" scale and the Haines Inventory were analysed. The results of the research reveal that the combined effects of classroom instruction and practicum are sufficient to enable students enrolled in a consecutive program to develop feelings of preparedness to teach equivalent to those of the concurrent students. The results also suggest that there is no significant difference in the number of classroom management problems encountered by the two groups during their practicum. In addition, a low positive correlation was found between the feelings of preparedness to teach score and the total score on the classroom management and discipline problem inventory. The study supports Bandura's (1986) theoiry that self-efficacy grows out of the reciprocal relationships between the individual's pre-dispositions, his or her behaviour, and the environment in which the behaviour occurs.