This thesis examined the relationship between the level of endorsement of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) by 14 second-grade teachers and the construction of self-concept of children in their classrooms. Teachers were given the Primary Teacher Questionnaire, a beliefs scale that assesses the level of endorsement of DAP, and were…

This report deals with the follow-up stage of a longitudinal study which examined socialization into teaching as reflected by teachers' attitudes towards the control of students. Preservice secondary school teachers were observed in their final year of training, and, in 1978, this "five years later" follow-up was conducted, investigating…

In order to compare the differences in cognitions of experienced and beginning teachers, the perceptions of six experienced teachers, six student teachers, and six probationer teachers (in their first year of teaching after college training) were studied at various times during the course of a school year, using a variety of methods (interview,…

A study sought: (1) to discover the size of the physical education curriculum gap between theory and practice by determining the percentage of the schools studied used recommended procedures; (2) to determine if school size had any influence on teachers using recommended procedures; (3) to discover the size of the theory practice gap by…

This study was conducted to learn how a new "experience" component in education foundations' core course work would be evaluated by teacher-trainees and their critic teachers, who were experienced classroom teachers. Project subjects were 186 men and women (84 senior students in a required Foundations of Education senior level core course, and 102…

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…

The situations and attitudes of a total of 15 teachers and former teachers were investigated as part of a followup study conducted four years after a study at the completion of the teachers' first year of teaching. Using many of the same questions as in "The First Year Teacher Study," interviews were conducted, and three survey instruments were…

An attempt was made to ascertain the relationship between (1) occupational experience, (2) teaching experience, and (3) amount of education and rated effectiveness of vocational electronics teachers. Current status, teacher strengths and weaknesses, and educational and hiring applications were also examined. Teacher effectiveness ratings by 2,738…

This study, conducted in three elementary schools, examined several merit pay issues: (1) the congruence of teachers' ratings of themselves and their peers with principals' ratings; (2) teacher confidence in the ratings by themselves, their peers, and their principals; and (3) the relationship of teaching experience, teacher rating, and teacher…

When making collective educational decisions, junior high school teachers drew only on personal classroom experiences. This exclusion of nonclassroom experience, e.g., parenting, revealed not so much an unawareness of other perspectives but a shared cultural valuation of classroom experience to the exclusion of virtually all other kinds of…

Teachers attending a 5-week in-service retraining course completed a survey asking them to rate their current competencies and training needs in 24 variables (N = 210). Intuitively, teacher competencies and their perceived needs of retraining should be negatively correlated. However, the correlations between teacher competencies and perceived…

This autobiography relates the early teaching experiences of Kentucky teacher and author Jesse Stuart (1906-1984). Barely 17 years old, he first taught in a one-room, isolated rural school in eastern Kentucky for $60 a month. His 35 barefoot students in the eight grades ranged in age from 5 to 20 years. The students' passion for learning…

Jesse Stuart, poet, novelist, lecturer, teacher, principal, superintendent, educational reformer, and farmer, approached education as a calling or sacred quest. In his books he portrays the teacher as a devoted liberator and nurturer, a hero rescuing children and their families from decline, illiteracy, or economic instability. Stuart's…

This paper compares and contrasts the author's adult learning experiences with those of another adult learner in order to understand the inter-relationship between the domains of education and "work and love" (Merriam, 1993) imbedded in adult development theory. The author interviewed a female colleague of similar age and place of…

An instructional problems survey administered to 178 elementary and secondary teachers did not confirm the hypothesized developmental difference between beginning and experienced teachers' concerns and problems. The personal, institutional, and task problems found to be common to all respondents are listed and suggestions made for addressing them…