Does Student Teaching Matter? Investigating Pre-service Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy and Preparedness

Source: Teaching Education, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2015, pages 77-93

This study aimed to investigate how student teaching experiences impact the sense of teaching efficacy and feelings of preparedness of pre-service teachers in a nearly and elementary teacher education program (EC-6).

The study used an action research, mixed-methods design.
The participants were seventy-one pre-service teachers at a large public university in the southwest.
They completed surveys about their preparedness to teach and teaching efficacy pre and post the student teaching semester.

Findings indicate that pre-service teachers’ perceptions of preparedness and sense of teaching efficacy both increased significantly from pre-student teaching to post-student teaching.
In addition, three themes emerged from the answers to open-ended questions on learning components of student teaching experiences: opportunity for hands-on teaching, the opportunity to observe experienced teachers, and the relationship with their cooperating teacher.