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Second starts: A multiple case study of three non-traditional age student teachers
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of three purposefully selected non-traditional age student teachers, two men and one woman, engaged in a semester of student teaching in a traditional teacher certification program. The researcher employed a qualitative case study approach. Data were collected from multiple sources, including (1) interviews with student teachers, cooperating teachers and university supervisors, (2) observations of student teachers at their work, (3) written journals kept by informants and (4) artifacts such as student work. A cross-case analysis concentrated on the three broad themes of "Journeys to Student Teaching," "Relationships with Cooperating Teachers and University Supervisors" and "The Experience of Student Teaching." Analysis of the data supported the following conclusions: (1) Non-traditional age student teachers enter teaching with an assortment of backgrounds and goals. Among these are economic and family considerations, a desire to make a difference with children and a guest for personal fulfillment. (2) The relationships older student teachers form with their cooperating teachers and supervisors are complex. They can be benign, destructive, supportive or mentoring. (3) Non-traditional age student teachers demonstrated these characteristics during their student teaching: perseverance, flexibility, self-doubt and the ability to draw upon previous life experiences. (4) Non-traditional age student teachers placed a high and, to them, unexpected value on mentorship. (5) There were frequently tensions between the expectations of cooperating teachers and university supervisors and the realities of performance by the student teachers. Cooperating teachers and supervisors tended to expect more expertise in pedagogy from the older student teachers, on the basis of age alone, than they would from younger student teachers, even though the older student teachers were novices in education. These tensions resulted in distructive relationships. Recommendations for practice and further research are presented.
Subject Area
Teacher education|Adult education|Continuing education
Recommended Citation
Eifler, Karen Elizabeth Perlenfein, "Second starts: A multiple case study of three non-traditional age student teachers" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9730266.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9730266