Discipline Problems at Teachers' Colleges: Lessons for Lecturers and Students
Source: Journal of Education for Teaching, Volume 36, Issue 2 (May 2010),
p. 227 – 237.
This article describes the results of a case study which worked with 80 lecturers drawn from Israeli teachers' colleges.
The lecturers reported that they face relatively few discipline problems; most appeared to be related to low motivation and/or dishonest behaviour. They treated each case in an ad hoc way, responded mildly and avoided imposing sanctions.
It is argued that the student teachers' misconduct could have been used by their lecturers as excellent raw material to analyse the conditions in which problems are likely to occur in the school classroom, as well as to discuss possible underlying motivation of the provocative conduct, and to suggest ways for teachers to cope with these situations.
Unfortunately, the lecturers did not draw any connections between the misbehaviour of the student teachers and the skills and moral values prospective teachers need to possess.
The lack of transference from the college setting to the student teachers' experience in the classroom is discussed with regard to the current highly competitive climate in which colleges must attract students.