What Is the Purpose of Education? Student Voices, Student Choices

• In Event: Teacher Pathways: Lessons Learned and Insights for the Future

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate student beliefs about the purpose of education in a small liberal arts university to gain insight on how to redesign the teacher education program. Student essay writing and online asynchronous discussion provided the data sources for analysis which was completed by NVivo, a qualitative research software. Early findings indicate that student beliefs about the purpose of education could be leveraged to redesign teacher education program offerings to guide pre-service teachers to use their years of classroom experiences as learners to help guide teacher program reform as well as transform teaching rather than replicating how they were taught.

Authors

• Pamela L. Whitehouse, Midwestern State University

• Janise McIntyre, Midwestern State University