Preparing Future Teachers: Documenting Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge and Application of Effective Instruction

• Other Authors: Scarborough, Kathryn M. (Kathryn McGaughy) (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Teachers > Training of
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-5167

Teachers play a crucial role in the academic success of their students. As such, there is great interest in how teachers are prepared for their important position. The purpose of this study was to document pre-service teachers' knowledge and application of effective instruction as it related to early literacy. The theoretical framework, How People Learn, was used to define effective instruction, design the university course, and analyze the data. Literature pertaining to teacher education, reading instruction, and early childhood education was reviewed in order to inform this study. Thirty-one, early childhood education majors, enrolled in an early literacy course participated in this study. Using a qualitative, case study research design multiple forms of data were collected and analyzed. The researcher was also the instructor of the course offering a unique perspective. The findings reveal pre-service teachers know and apply essential components of effective instruction and attribute their increase in knowledge to the group presentations, field experience, and student tutoring. The findings suggest that the pre-service teachers in this study know more than has been previously documented, well planned cooperative learning can be viewed as beneficial by pre-service teachers, and the pre-service teachers in this study understand and can use explicit instruction. This case study does not attempt to generalize the findings to other samples, rather offers a reader a rich description of a course that may be transferred to other settings. === A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Fall Semester, 2011. === September 26, 2011. === early childhood education, literacy education, teacher education === Includes bibliographical references. === Stephanie Dent Al Otaiba, Professor Directing Dissertation; Leigh Edwards, University Representative; Ithel Jones, Committee Member; Vickie Lake, Committee Member; Shelbie Witte, Committee Member.