Attitudes and Attitude Change of Student Teachers Toward the Complexity of Teaching

• In Event: 42.061 - Managing Classrooms: Beginning Teachers' Developing Emotions, Attitudes, and Beliefs and How They Translate Into Practice

Abstract

Teaching is characterized by high complexity (Doyle, 1986, 2006). Dealing with complexity is a major challenge, especially for those student teachers who do not yet have certain routines. So far, not much research has been conducted into how novices experience this complexity and how their attitudes to-ward this complexity change with teaching experiences. Based on the features of Doyle (1986) the cur-rent study presents the development and validation of the scale attitudes toward the complexity of teaching. The theoretical six-factorial structure of the construct can be empirically proved. The scale was used in a longitudinal study at the University of Flensburg (N = 233). The findings show that stu-dents evaluate the complexity of teaching less exhausting after a 10-week internship.

Authors

• Andreas Bach, University of Salzburg

• Horst Biedermann, Saint Gallen University of Teacher Education

• Thomas Fischer, Europa-Universität Flensburg