Teacher Candidates Speak Out: Exploring Concerns Related to Pupil Learning and Efficacy When Learning to Teach

• In Event: Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Research: Challenging the Dominant Narrative

Abstract

Research shows that teachers’ efficacy relates to pupil achievement. Strong efficacy, or a self-belief that one can positively impact pupil learning, is risked when teachers develop concerns related to pupil learning. This study explored the perceived concerns of teacher candidates (N=3) throughout an eight-week clinical field experience. Qualitative analysis from interviews, focus groups, sorting tasks, and reflective writings, show that there is an inverse relationship between efficacy and concerns and that the relationship changes over time. As full time practitioners, the authors’ roles helped to secure ecological, dialogical, and democratic validity to support their claims. Suggestions for how to systematically address teacher candidates’ efficacy are situated in Bandura’s (1992) and Fuller’s (1969) seminal works.

Authors

• Sharline Derosier

• Elizabeth Gayle Soslau, University of Delaware