Touching & Teuchrr Educarron. Vol 3. No 2.

pp 7740, I V87
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Perpmon Journals Lrd
STUDENT TEACHERS UNDERSTANDINGS OF SUCCESSFUL AND
UNSUCCESSFUL TEACHING
HILDA BORKO
University of Maryland, U.S.A.
ROSARY LALIK
Virginia Tech, U.S.A.
and
ELLEN TOMCHIN
Radford University, U.S.A.
Abstract- Student teachers expressed conceptions of successful teaching were examined by
analyzing their descriptions of successful and unsuccessful lessons and self-assessments of profes-
sional development recorded in journals throughout a year-long field experience. The seven
stronger and seven weaker student teachers recorded similar descriptions of successful lessons;
however, their descriptions of unsuccessful lessons differed. This pattern suggests that they held
similar conceptions of successful teaching, and that weaker student teachers unsuccessful lessons
were more discrepant from this conception. Their expressed conceptions of successful teaching re-
mained stable throughout the year. Participants may have entered their final year of teacher prep-
aration with a declarative knowledge of successful teaching and begun to acquire compatible pro-
cedural knowledge through participation in the field experience.
Teacher education in the United States has re-
cently received much public and media atten-
tion. Spurred by several highly critical reports
about public education (e.g., Goodlad, 1984;
National Commission on Excellence in Educa-
tion, 1983), people have been calling for im-
provements in the quality of teacher education
programs (as well as teaching and schools). The
educational research communitys response to
this call has been, for the most part, to suggest
that we base improvements on existing research
on teacher effectiveness (e.g., Berliner, 1984;
Gage, 1984). That is, the recommendation has
been to design teacher education programs
based on what we know about how experienced
teachers teach.
As Berliner, Gage, and others point out,
recent research has done much to broaden our
understanding of the teaching of effective ex-
perienced teachers. Much has been learned
about their teaching behaviors (for recent re-
views see Brophy & Good, 1986; Good, 1983)
and thought processes (for recent reviews see
Burke & Niles, in press; Clark & Peterson,
1986; Shavelson & Stern, 1981). In reflecting on
the progress that has been made in research on
effective teaching, Berliner (198-1, p. 94)
suggests that for the first time, we have a body
of knowledge and a fresh set of conceptions on
which to base teacher education.
However, research within the field of cogni-
tive psychology suggests that the application of
teacher effectiveness research to teacher educa-
tion may not be as straightforward as one might
77
78 HILDA BORKO er al.
initially think. Specifically, recent research on
the nature of expertise indicates that there are
qualitative differences in the thinking and ac-
tions of experts and novices (cf. Berliner, 1986;
Reed, 1982). For example, novices and experts
use different strategies for solving problems
(Frederiksen, 1984; Larkin, et al., 1980). Infor-
mation which is useful for experts may hold
little meaning for novices (de .Groot, 1965;
Egan & Schwartz, 1979). Experts are more sen-
s&e to the task demands and social structure
of a job situation (Housner & Griffey, 1985).
These differences in thinking suggest to us that
attempts to educate novice teachers by present-
ing them with information about how expert
teachers think and act and asking them to adopt
the routines or actions of experts may be insuffi-
cient. Rather, educational programs which take
into account what is known about the thinking
and action of novices (as well as experts) and the
process by which novices become experts might
be more useful.
Unfortunately, little is known about the pro-
cess of learning to teach (Nemser, 1983) or
the thinking and action of novice teachers
(Tabachnick & Zeichner, 1984). The present
study was designed to explore one aspect of
the process of learning to teach, the develop-
ment of conceptions of teaching. Specifically, it
examines student teachers written expressions
about what constitutes successful teaching.
In searching the literature on preservice
teachers, we found only a few studies that ad-
dressed student teachers conceptions of teach-
ing. These studies examined various aspects of
student teachers conceptions including their
thoughts during teaching, concerns, and per-
spectives. Galluzzo (1984) used a stimulated re-
call technique to interview 10 student teachers
about their thoughts at decision points during
interactive teaching. Three categories of con-
cerns accounted for over 60% of their reported
thoughts: pupil learning (23%), pupil attitude
(23%), and the task or learning activity (20%).
In contrast, experienced teachers in a similar
study conducted by McNair and Joyce (1978)
mentioned numerous concerns including mod-
ifying the lesson, pacing the lesson, facts and
ideas in the content of the lesson, achieving the
objectives they wrote in their plans, and mate-
rials they used in the lessons. Galluzzo con-
cluded from these differences that one charac-
teristic of teachers development is attention to
a greater variety of concerns about their teach-
ing.
Tabachnick, Zeichner, and colleagues (e.g.,
Tabachnik & Zeichner. 1984) examined the im-
pact of the student teaching experience on the
process of socialization into the profession of,
teaching. Defining perspectives as ways in
which teachers think about and conduct their
work, these researchers observed and inter-
viewed student teachers to determine their per-
spectives on the teachers role, teacher-pupil
relationships, knowledge and curriculum, and
student diversity. They concluded that student
teaching did not significantly alter the substance
of the teaching perspectives examined. How-
ever, the student teachers studied appeared to
become more confident about their perspec-
tives across time and better able to implement
them within the classroom setting.
Adler (1984), who worked with Tabachnick
and Zeichner, investigated four student
teachers teaching of social studies in the
elementary classroom. Two of the student
teachers attempted to implement a variety of
learning activities. In talking about teaching,
both stressed the importance of the childrens
personal experience, and both emphasized de-
veloping in children the skills of learning and
reasoning. The other two student teachers re-
lied heavily on textbooks or other prepackaged
materials. Both stressed the learning of a body
of knowledge and skills developed by scholars,
and both emphasized the teaching of content
over processes of learning and reasoning. Adler
concluded that the social studies teaching of all
four students was best understood in the broad
context of their perspectives toward teaching,
learning, and the teachers role, as well as their
perspectives toward social studies.
Two of the studies (Adler, 1984; Tabachnick
& Zeichner, 1984) provide evidence for a re-
lationship between student teachers thoughts
and their actions in the classroom. Given this
evidence, it is reasonable to believe that student
teachers conceptions of successful instruction
influence their teaching behavior, and to con-
clude that investigations of student teachers
thinking about successful teaching are an im-
portant component of research on learning to
teach. Yet, none of the investigations we found
specifically examined student teachers
Student Teachers Undemanding of Teaching 79
thoughts about what constitutes successful in-
struction .
The present investigation examines student
teachers conceptions of successful teaching, as
expressed in descriptions of successful and un-
successful lessons and assessments of their own
professional development recorded in journals
kept throughout a year-long clinical field ex-
perience. In designing the study, we incorpo-
rated three sets of contrasts which, we hoped,
would help illuminate the process of learning to
teach. Specifically, we look for changes in jour-
nal entries over the course of the year, differ-
ences in written comments about successful and
unsuccessful lessons, and differences in the
journal entries of stronger and weaker student
teachers.
Method
Research Sample
This study was part of an ongoing research
program which examined the professional de-
velopment of 26 elementary majors from a
southeastern university of the U.S.A. One of
the participants was a male; 25 were female.
All 26 participants kept journals throughout
their senior year experience. For the purposes
of this study we analyzed the journals of a sub-
sample of seven stronger and seven weaker
student teachers. We felt that because of the
variability in these student teachers experi-
ences, their journals would reflect the range of
conceptions of successful teaching present in
the entire group. Further, this subsample would
be sufficient to determine the existence and na-
ture of any relationship between expressed con-
ceptions of successful teaching and success as a
student teacher. (See Denzin, 1978, for discus-
sion of the use of contrasting cases.)
To identify the subsample of stronger and
weaker student teachers, we asked five inde-
pendent judges, at the end of the academic year,
to rate the participants on their success in stu-
dent teaching. Judges, who included the
cooperating teacher for the final assignment,
the school principal, the university supervisor
and the two university co-directors of the stu-
dent teaching program, rated participants on a
seven-point scale, ranging from 1 (extremely
unsuccessful) to 7 (extremely successful). The
interrater reliability for the five categories of
judges was 0.86 (Cracker & Algina, 1986). The
five ratings for each student teacher were aver-
aged and student teachers were ranked on the
basis of the average ratings. The seven student
teachers who were ranked in the upper quartile
(ratings ranging from 6.8 to 5.9) were labeled
stronger student teachers. The seven who were
ranked in the lower quartile (ratings ranging
from 4.5 to 3.1) were labeled weaker student
teachers. These seven stronger and seven
weaker student teachers comprised the sample
for this investigation.
Research Site: The Professional
Development Year
During the 1983-84 academic year, the par-
ticipants were seniors engaged in a year-long
professional field experience. Within this ex-
perience, they completed seven university
courses in professional studies (e.g., methods,
curriculum) and four clinical field experience
assignments. Participants remained in the same
elementary school building for all four clinical
field experience assignments. At least one as-
signment was at each of the following grade
levels: kindergarten, primary, and inter-
mediate. All professional studies courses were
taught by university faculty members at one of
the elementary schools. The courses were
scheduled in the afternoon during Fall and
Winter quarters, following their classroom ex-
periences.
Each of the four classroom assignments in-
cluded observations, teacher aide activities, and
teaching responsibilities. Over the course of the
year, the amount of actual teaching responsibil-
ity increased so that by the fourth assignment
most participants taught full-time for at least
half of the lo-wee,k experience. All participants
were observed by their university supervisors
once a week, and by each of the program direc-
tors at least once during each classroom assign-
ment.
The majority of the student teachers actual
teaching experiences were in the subject areas
of reading and mathematics. Teachers in each
elementary school were supplied by the county
with basal materials (texts, workbooks, work-
sheets) for reading and mathematics, and their
teaching generally followed the basal programs
very closely.
According to written descriptions of the prog-
ram and verbal comments made by university
personnel, the major goal for the professional
year was to help student teachers develop a
problem-solving approach to teaching. In most
of their courses, student teachers were pre-
sented with typical classroom problems, given
opportunities to consider alternative solutions
to those problems and asked to implement and
evaluate selected alternatives. When these as-
signments involved trying out of alternatives in
their public school classrooms, cooperating
teachers generally were very supportive.
Given these characteristics of the student
teachers and preservice professional prepara-
tion program, and the fact that our data are
based on only 14 subjects, our findings have im-
plications only for other situations in which
similar characteristics are found. However,
these findings also provide the basis for for-
mulating hypotheses to test in other, related
situations (Erickson, 1986; Le Compte &
Goetz, 1982).
Data Collection
The primary data source for this investigation
was journals kept by student teachers. Journal
entries, recorded on a weekly basis throughout
the year, consisted of responses to sets of
questions designed to guide student teachers
reflections about their experiences. Typically,
student teachers alternately responded to ques-
tions about successful and unsuccessful lessons
and questions about successful and unsuccessful
interactions with students. Exceptions to this
response pattern occurred at the end of each
classroom assignment, when student teachers
responded to questions about their professional
development during the assignment.
For this study we examined responses to sets
of questions about successful lessons, unsuc-
cessful lessons, and professional development.
The questions about successful lessons directed
student teachers to select the lesson which they
considered to be their most successful lesson for
the week, outline what they attempted to do in
the lesson, comment on how the students
80 HILDA BORKO et al.
reacted, and indicate why they believed the les-
son was successful. The questions about unsuc-
cessful lessons were parallel, focusing on the
lesson they selected as the least successful les-
son of the week. The questions about profes-
sional development directed student teachers to
assess their progress during each clinical field
placement, focusing on areas of strength during
the assignment, areas of teaching in need of im-
provement, growth during the assignment and
future goals.
Data Analysis
The procedures used to analyze journal en-
tries were designed to ensure systematic, reli-
able coding of participants written comments
into categories determined inductively from the
data, as well as to capture our holistic impres-
sions of the journals and preserve verbatim
particularly representative remarks. Analysis
consisted of four major steps. These steps are
summarized below. *
As a first step, the two principal researchers
independently read the journals of two stronger
and two weaker student teachers and sum-
marized each description of successful and un-
successful lessons and each self-assessment. We
compared our summaries to inductively deter-
mine major categories of information in the
descriptions of successful and unsuccessful les-
sons. We then developed a checklist incorporat-
ing these categories for use in coding journal en-
tries about successful and unsuccessful lessons.
In the second step of the analysis, three re-
searchers (the two principal researchers and a
graduate research assistant) coded all entries
about successful and unsuccessful lessons for
each of the 14 focal student teachers. (Each re-
searcher read the journals of different student
teachers.) For each entry, the date was re-
corded as a column heading on the coding sheet
and a check mark was used to indicate that a
particular category of information appeared at
least once in the response for that date.
To ensure consistency in coding, intercoder
agreement was calculated on five successful les-
sons and five unsuccessful lessons (Miles 8~
Huberman, 1984). The proportion of agree-
ment among all three researchers for the 13 in-
Additional information about the analysis procedures is available from Hilda Borko or Rosary Lalik.
Student Teachers Understanding of Teaching 81
formation categories for successful lessons
ranged from 0.76 to 0.92, with a mean of 0.86.
For the 1.5 information categories related to un-
successful lessons, the proportion of agreement
ranged from 0.75 to 0.94, with a mean of 0.86.
An inspection of the coded journal entries
indicated that there were no consistent patterns
of change over time in student teachers re-
sponses. We therefore decided to summarize
the data for each student teacher by calculating,
for each information category, the percentage
of journal entries in which that category was ad-
dressed. We then computed average percen-
tages for stronger student teachers and weaker
student teachers. These average percentages
are presented in Table 1.
During this step in the analysis, we recorded
our holistic impressions of each journal by de-
scribing the essence of the student teachers
written comments related to each information
category addressed repeatedly in the journal.
We also recorded verbatim remarks that were
particularly representative of the student
teachers written comments. We recorded the
holistic impressions so that we could use them in
the reporting of results, to communicate the
meaning (in addition to frequency) of student
teachers comments related to each information
category. We recorded verbatim remarks to use
as illustrations of patterns in the data.
In the third analysis step we constructed a sec-
ond checklist, to code student teachers re-
sponses to questions about their professional
development. We derived the categories for this
checklist by comparing our initial summaries of
the self-assessment entries in the four journals
(see Step One) with categories on the first
checklist. We coded responses to each of the
four questions-strengths, areas in need of im-
provement, areas of growth, and future goals -
separately. Because we again saw no consistent
pattern of change over time, we summarized the
data for each student teacher by recording the
percentage of journal entries in which each in-
formation category was addressed. We then
computed average percentages for the stronger
student teachers and weaker student teachers.
These data are presented in Table 2. During this
phase of the analysis, we also recorded our
holistic impressions and representative com-
ments for each journal.
In the fourth analysis step, we compared the
coded data, holistic impressions, and represen-
tative comments for all 14 student teachers. In
particular, we searched for patterns of
similarities and differences in responses of
stronger and weaker student teachers and in re-
sponses regarding successful lessons, unsuccess-
ful lessons, and self-assessments.
Results
Student teachers conceptions of successful
teaching, as expressed in their journals, are pre-
sented below. In organizing this presentation,
we decided to group the coding categories con-
cerning students (learning process, quality of
work, learning, student affect, participation/in-
volvement, cooperation/social interaction, and
behavior) because they are conceptually re-
lated. This decision resulted in the identifica-
tion of five major topics which represent the
central issues in the journal entries: instruc-
tional uniqueness, management of instruction,
planning and preparation, behavior manage-
ment and classroom control, and student
characteristics and outcomes. Within the sec-
tion that addresses each topic, we report pat-
terns in comments about successful lessons, un-
successful lessons, and self-assessments and
compare the responses of stronger and weaker
student teachers. Since no differences across
time were found, the issue of time is not dis-
cussed.
Comparisons of the responses of stronger and
weaker student teachers are made on the basis
of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of
journal entries. That is, we compare the fre-
quency with which categories of information
were mentioned by stronger and weaker stu-
dent teachers. We also compare the nature of
written comments about each topic made by
stronger and weaker student teachers. Tables 1
and 2 summarize the quantitative data. Table 1
presents the percentages of successful lesson
and unsuccessful lesson journal entries in which
categories of information were mentioned by
the group of stronger student teachers and the
group of weaker student teachers. Table 2 pre-
sents the frequencies with which categories of
information were addressed in self-assessment
responses concerning strengths, areas in need of
improvement, areas of growth, and future
82 HILDA BORKO er al.
Table 1
Mean Percentages of J ournal Entries in which Stronger and Weaker Student Teachers Mentioned Characteristics of
Successful and Unsuccessful Lessons /Means and (Standard Deviations)1
Successful lessons
Journal entries
Unsuccessful lessons
Characteristics Stronger Weaker Stronger Weaker
Instructional uniqueness
Management of instruction
Planning/preparation
Management of behavior
Student learning
Learning process
Quality of work-specific
Learning
Other student characteristics
Student affect
67.7
(20.9)
39.0
(3;:;)
( 8.0)
-
60.9
(2:
(1815)
3.4
( 6.0)
-
21.1
(;;:;)
Vi:;)
(12.3)
25.4 8.3
( ;.;)
( 7:3)
3.3
( 6.0)
10.9
(15.9)
8.7
;;:;I
(19.7)
( 7.8)
70.6 64.6 20.7 17.1
(17.2) (16.3) (18.0) (12.7)
18.7
(;;:;)
(18.9)
11.4
(96::
(13.3)
(18.3)
18.4
(1:::)
(11.3)
Involvement/participation 54.0 44.7 16.4 32.4
(12.8) (29.8) (13.3) (19.1)
Cooperation/social
interaction
Behavior
No good lesson
No really bad lesson
10.4 6.6 2.6. 4.9
(14.3)
( 9.0)
- -
(*;.;) 0;:;)
- -
(11:3) (14.6)
0.0 0.1
- -
( 0.0)
( 0.4)
- -
- -
37.7 15.0
- -
(16.6) (15.5)
No opportunity to teach
( :::, ( ::x,
2.4 1.0
( 1.5) ( 0.8)
None recorded
goals.*
0.6
( 0.8)
I nstructional Uniqueness
For all 14 student teachers, successful teach-
ing involved more than simply following sugges-
tions in teachers manuals or implementing a set
of routine instructional activities. It entailed
doing something unique, something not typi-
cally done in their field placement classrooms.
0.6 0.9 1.0
( 0.8) ( 0.9) ( 1.5)
Thus, in their descriptions of successful lessons,
student teachers often reported supplementing
the standard curriculum with creative activities,
outside materials, and a variety of experiences
related to the particular skill or concept being
taught. For some, it was also important to try
out their own ideas rather than ideas thought of
by someone else. Marilyns,? description of a
lesson on the foods of Mexico captures the es-
sence of this view,
*This study was designed as a descriptive study of a small group of student teachers. We did not intend to test hypotheses
about a larger population of student teachers or to assign probability values to the comparisons we make. However, we did
calculate eta as a measure of strength of association for each comparison. We used these etas as a benchmark for determin-
ing which comparisons between means to interpret. For each comparison we report as indicating a difference between
stronger and weaker student teachers in the study, the value of eta was greater than 0.50.
tAIl names used in reference to this study are pseudonyms. Subscripts identify participants as either stronger(s) or weaker
(w) student teachers.
Student Teachen Understanding of Teaching 83
Table 2
Mean Percentages of Selfassessment JOWMI Entries in which Stronger and Weaker Student Teachers Mentioned
Characteristics of Lessons [Means and (Standnrd Deviations)]
Characteristics
Self-assessment journal entries
Strengths Areas in need of Areas of growth Future goals
improvement
Stronger Weaker Stronger Weaker Stronger Weaker Stronger Weaker
Uniqueness
Management of instruction
Planning/preparation
Behavior management
Student learning
Student affect
Student involvement
21.4 7.1
(17.3) (12.2)
35.7 32.1
(28.3) (34.5)
32.1 17.9
(22.5) (12.2)
7.1 3.6
(12.2) ( 9.4)
(3i.8)
( 8.0)
(1::;)
(19.7)
7.1
(;;::)
(;;.;)
V$)
(f8t
(2i.8)
( 8.0)
( 0.0)
10.7
Vi.;)
0;:;)
(;;I;)
(56.7)
(Z)
( 8.0)
( 8.0)
42.9
0f.i)
($;)
(it;;)
(13.4)
10.7
(:;:;)
(1i.i)
( 9:4)
I brought in Mexican cookbooks, pictures and infor-
mation. . . We compared Mexican foods to the foods
we eat. We also made plans for a food-tasting party
which went over just great. I felt the lesson was suc-
cessful for it provided experience in a variety of
ways. 1 supplemented what was in their textbook
with a lot of outside materials which proved to be
very useful. I think the more different things you can
provide children with, the more interested they will
be.
Evidence for the priority these student
teachers placed on unique, creative instruc-
tional activities also can_ be found, although to a
lesser extent, in their descriptions of unsuccess-
ful lessons. This issue was more prevalent in the
unsuccessful lesson journal entries of stronger
student teachers than weaker ones (see Table
1). Particularly for several of the stronger stu-
dent teachers, a salient characteristic of unsuc-
cessful lessons was that they were boring and
uncreative. Again, one of Marilyns, comments
is representative, I think the main reason it [a
language arts lesson] wasnt so successful was
that it was kind of boring. I knew I had to teach
these certain skills. . . but I did not know a more
interesting way to present them. Student
teachers often expressed frustration when re-
quired adherence to the prescribed instruc-
tional program precluded use of additional ma-
terials or activities. As Tammy, commented
about a reading activity, It did not have much
relevance or meaning so I was not excited about
teaching it and I couldnt supplement it because
of very strict time constraints.
All of the student teachers addressed issues
related to creativity and uniqueness in their seif-
assessments. Stronger student teachers wrote
about uniqueness as a strength more frequently
than did weaker ones; weaker student teachers
cited uniqueness as an area in need of improve-
ment more frequently than did stronger ones
(see Table 2). The importance of trying out new
ideas was a common theme in these self-assess-
ments. Joans, discussion of goals for her final
placement reflects this theme, I want to gear
myself for first grade . . . I would like to build on
my creative ideas. I would like to use a lot of my
own ideas. I want to concentrate on my lessons
so they are effective, creative, and geared to the
students. Jane, addressed the issues of unique-
ness and creativity in each of her self-assess-
ments. While she was pleased that she had tried
out more new ideas as the year progressed, she
continued to see lesson uniqueness as an area in
need of improvement. In her last self-assess-
ment she wrote, The area I feel I most need to
develop is finding activities for different units of
teaching. I have trouble sometimes being crea-
tive. I want fewer of my lessons to be ordinary
and more of them to be excellent.
&I HILDA BORKO et al.
Management of I nstruction
The topic of organization and management of
instructional experiences was more prominent
for weaker student teachers than for stronger
ones in unsuccessful lesson journal entries and
self-assessments of growth, areas in need of im-
provement, and future goals. A comparable
pattern was not found in successful lesson jour-
nal entries (see Tables 1 and 2).
Three organization/management factors
most prevalent in the student teachers' journals
were time, pacing, and grouping. Student
teachers wrote about time as a limited resource
which must be carefully allocated and used in
the classroom. They noted that some activities
were not accomplished because of time con-
straints. For example, Jane, considered one
creative writing assignment to be unsuccessful
because we havent had time to revise. It seems
that another beneficial and interesting activity
has been postponed due to the abundance
of workbook pages!!! This comment, like
Tammys, in the previous section, illustrates the
frustration they expressed when time con-
straints and competing priorities for time alloca-
tion limited the possibilities for creative supple-
mentary activities.
Student teachers sometimes reported pacing
to be an important determinant of success.
Donna, commented about a successful kinder-
garten lesson, I think that because we did so
much and kept changing the activity they stayed
with me. I learned about quick pace from [the
cooperating teacher]. More often pacing was
seen as a factor in unsuccessful lessons. Louise,
noted, I started addition too slow, which [sic] I
speeded up the pace. As I got to subtraction, the
pace was too fast. I had to reteach the introduc-
tion. For these student teachers, appropriate
pacing was pacing which promoted student in-
volvement and learning. Problems arose when
the rate at which material was presented inter-
fered with these student outcomes. This view of
pacing is reflected in one of Tracys, self-assess-
ments, I have trouble knowing when to slow
down or speed up a lesson to ensure the students
understand the subject and are not being bored
by redundancy.
The third feature of instructional manage-
ment addressed in the student teachersjournals
was grouping or, more generally, the organiza-
tion of students within lessons. Both stronger
and weaker student teachers explored various
ways of organizing students for instruction
(e.g., small groups, pairs, individuals working
at the chalkboard). Elaine, described a unique
game which ensured active participation in a
lesson on compound words, I gave each stu-
dent a card with a word on it. They in turn had
to find a classmate who would put his/her word
with theirs to make a compound word. In her
final self-assessment, Rhona, reflected on her
use of small groups, Before I was afraid that
groups may have been a hindrance to my lesson
(I wouldnt have covered all of the material) but
I have found that the children have learned
more . . . because they are doing the work and
investigating.
Planning and Preparation
Planning and preparation were addressed as
important aspects of teaching by most student
teachers. Stronger student teachers, more often
than weaker ones, wrote about planning as an
area of strength; weaker student teachers, more
often than stronger ones, identified planning as
an area in need of improvement and as a future
goal (see Tables 1 and 2).
Many of the student teachers (both stronger
and weaker) wrote about the role of planning in
successful teaching in very general items. They
focused on planning as a vehicle for thinking
up new ideas or find[ing] new strategies that I
can use for the children to learn in my class-
room.
Most student teachers wrote about lack of
preparation as a serious stumbling block in their
efforts to teach effectively. Many expressed
frustration on more than one occasion because
they were asked to teach lessons at the last mi-
nute, without being given time to prepare.
Marilyns, reaction is typical, My least success-
ful lesson this week was a math lesson. It was to-
tally spur of the moment. I found out I was
teaching it five minutes before Math class. Talk
about winging it. I really detest being unpre-
pared. I feel that the children can really sense
it. Rhonas, remark about a situation in which
her cooperating teacher asked her to teach with-
out giving her time to prepare, in order to see
how she would do, captures the frustration stu-
dent teachers felt in these situations. I guess I
Student Teachers Understanding of Teaching 85
passed but I thought, it was kind of a rotten way
of doing it. Donnas, comment about planning
in her last self-assessment is one of the most em-
phatic summary statements concerning lack of
preparation. *It is also essential to be planned!
. . . It is a crime upon the students if a teacher is
not sure and prepared for what she teaches.
Both stronger and weaker student teachers
discussed planning as an occasion for learning
the content of lessons. Several of the stronger
student teachers wrote about this function of
planning in positive terms. For example, in
evaluating her strengths during one assignment
Karen, noted, I spent a lot of time learning
content and planning well-thought out lessons.
In contrast, some of the weaker student
teachers seemed almost overwhelmed bythe
task of learning content. Debbies, comment is
illustrative, I had forgotten much of the mate-
rial in social studies and science that I havent
had since high school and it was difficult to go
back and learn every detail. When Debbie,
did not plan in enough detail, content or subject
matter knowledge became a problem. When
the kids needed more examples I would pull
them from my head and sometimes it was
wrong. For example splitting the words into
syllables.
Several of the stronger student teachers dis-
cussed an additional function of planning not
mentioned by the weaker student teachers -
planning as a tool for anticipating and solving
instructional problems in advance of the actual
teaching episode. This use of planning is illus-
trated in Rhonas, comment, I now take even
more time perfecting my skills and organization
of lessons. I try to think of every possible poten-
tial problem in order to prevent it before it actu-
ally occurs. Similarly, Karen, reported as one
of her strengths the fact that I spent time at
night planning my lessons and thinking about
what could go wrong and how to make changes
quickly.
Behavior Management and Classroom Control
Behavior management and classroom control
were discussed as important aspects of teaching
by all of the student teachers. Further, all 14 saw
management and control as areas of teaching in
which they needed to improve (see Tables 1 and
2).
Comments about behavior management ap-
peared almost exclusively in descriptions of
unsuccessful lessons and in self-assessments.
Often, behavior problems were discussed as
factors contributing to unsuccessful lessons. As
Jane, noted, one of her lessons was unsuccess-
ful because Some of the kids got silly and pun-
chy when Id ask them questions pertaining to
the unit. I felt they were pushing me to see what
they could get away with. Similarly, Amy, de-
scribed as unsuccessful a lesson in which the
children had an extremely difftcult time follow-
ing along. They were fidgeting, talking, fidget-
ing with one another.
Both stronger and weaker student teachers
wrote about instances in which they successfully
dealt with behavior and classroom management
problems. For example, Jane, continued about
her unsuccessful lesson discussed above, I
maintained my firmness without getting angry,
and communicated to them that I was there to
teach them . . . Well they eventually settled
down.
At times, some of the student teachers-par-
ticularly the weaker ones -described their ina-
bility to successfully handle discipline problems
that arose. For example, Amy, wrote about one
lesson,
The reason I felt this was not an adequate lesson was
because children began to get squirmy . . . I think
that I forgot these are young children and this is ex-
pected. When I get worried that I am losing the chil-
drens attention, I become frustrated. I feel as
though my tone as well as my facial expressions show
my feelings. I think that in this instance I failed to use
a lot of positive feedback. I mainly feel that the les-
son was not successful because of my reactions.
Lindas, comment captures the frustration
student teachers felt when discipline problems
were not successfully handled. I didnt have
control over the room. I felt so helpless.
Differences in stronger and weaker student
teachers expressed perceptions of the success
with which they handled discipline and behavior
management are seen clearly in their self-
assessments. While all student teachers men-
tioned management and discipline, on at least
one occasion, as areas in need of improvement,
the stronger student teachers saw them as areas
of strength more often than did the weaker
ones. They also were less likely to mention them
as problems by the end of the school year.
Rhona, reported in October, The largest area
86 HILDA BORKO ef al.
that I need to work on is disciplining the chil-
dren. Many times I do not feel as if I am firm
enough. Sometimes I know the children are try-
ing to take advantage of that. In May she
wrote, I dont worry any more about discipline
problems. I tackle them as they come. While
Rhonas, attitude was more self-confident than
those expressed by most of the stronger student
teachers, others did reflect a satisfaction with
the progress they had made in this area. As
Marilyn, noted in her fourth self-assessment,
Once again I feel the area in which I need the
most improvement is in classroom manage-
ment. I think I have learned a lot this assign-
ment and throughout the course of the year. I
have seen many different styles and I think I am
finally beginning to figure out what my style is.
In contrast, some of the weaker student
teachers did not indicate progress in their class-
room management skills. In her last self-assess-
ment Tracy, wrote, I need most improvement
in discipline. That was what I had the most
trouble with while teaching. I need to gain more
control of the class rather than having cir-
cumstances control my actions. I need to be
more aware of what is occurring or going to
occur and be ready for it.
Student teachers comments about classroom
management were not limited to discussions of
its importance or assessments of their progress
in the area. Their journals also included numer-
ous statements reflecting the nature of their pre-
ferred classroom management strategies. Most
of the student teachers worked to implement
a positive approach to management, utilizing
positive reinforcement rather than punishment
whenever possible. After her third assignment
Rhona, reported being miserable screaming at
kids, and noted that she was making a big
effort to reinforce children for their good be-
havior. Marilyns, goal for her first year of
teaching well represents the sentiments expres-
sed by most, I want to have a classroom that
makes the children comfortable being there . . .
I want to maintain control by stressing the posi-
tive and hopefully that will do away with most of
the negative.
Student Characteristics and Outcomes
Student characteristics and student outcomes
were prominent features of all student teachers
descriptions of successful and unsuccessful les-
sons. The four student attributes mentioned
most frequently were learning (particularly in
descriptions of successful lessons), affect (par-
ticularly for successful lessons), participation or
involvement, and behavior (particularly for un-
successful lessons). Below we present findings
for student learning and then for other student
characteristics.
Student learning. Attention to student learn-
ing was more prevalent in discussions of suc-
cessful lessons than unsuccessful lessons or self-
assessments. Student learning was mentioned
as a factor in successful and unsuccessful lessons
and in self-assessments with equal frequency by
stronger and weaker student teachers (see
Tables 1 and 2).
However, stronger and weaker student
teachers differed in the qualitative nature of
their comments about student learning. De-
scriptions of student learning in stronger stu-
dent teachers journal entries tended to be more
specific and more detailed. The following
quotes illustrate the vagueness characteristic of
the weaker student teachers comments: the
students were thinking and wondering about
the story. They all did well. Each of them
learned something. While the stronger student
teachers also made vague references to student
learning (see, for example, the quote from
Marilyns, journal in the section on student af-
fect), several of them described more specific
aspects of the learning process and learning out-
comes. For example, concerning a successful
social studies lesson, Rhona, wrote, They also
learned to hypothesize and put themselves in
another persons place. Karen, considered a
lesson on homophones to be successful be-
cause the students were actively involved in the
lesson, they were motivated to pay attention,
and they could verbally use the homophones
correctly in a sentence and they could also write
them a sentence.
While student learning typically was not a
focus in discussions of unsuccessful lessons, it
was not completely ignored. Most comments
about learning problems, by both stronger and
weaker student teachers, were very general. As
Marilyn, noted, I did not feel this lesson held
the interest of the children very well, which hin-
dered the learning process. Donna, wrote
Student Teachers Understanding of Teaching 87
about one lesson, I dont feel that they gained cessful lesson journal entries did not differ.
too much from the activity. In contrast, Stronger and weaker student teachers selected
Rhona, made one of the most specific com- similar types of lessons to report and described
ments about learning problems in her discussion similar dimensions of the lessons. These pat-
of a lesson on regional dialect. The children terns suggest that they held similar beliefs about
began confusing regional dialect with standard what constitutes successful teaching, and that
dialect [standard English]. The students student teachers within each group were able to
thought that yall was standard because they teach at least some lessons which they consi-
said it. dered to be successful.
Student affect, invotvement, and behavior.
For both stronger and weaker student teachers,
almost all of the successful lessons reported
were characterized by positive student affect
(e.g., enjoyment, interest, enthusiasm). The
majority were also characterized by active par-
ticipation or high levels of involvement. Typi-
cally, comments about these student charac-
teristics were brief and very general. Marilyns,
statement is representative, I think this was a
good lesson because . . . it involved student par-
ticipation. I feel the children enjoyed the lesson
and learned a lot from it (see Table 1).
Statements about negative affect or lack of in-
volvement, though less common, were found in
the majority of descriptions of unsuccessful les-
sons. Typically, students were described as
being bored, uninterested, or inattentive during
these lessons. Student behavior was also a fac-
tor in unsuccessful lessons. Most often, students
were characterized as squirming, wriggly, and/
or fidgety. Comments about these attributes,
like comments about their positive counterparts
in successful lessons, typically were brief and
general.
Statements about student affect and involve-
ment were relatively infrequent in student
teachers self-assessments. The only exception
to this pattern was self-assessments of strength;
stronger student teachers saw student affect as
an area of strength more frequently than did
weaker ones (see Table 2).
The conception of successful teaching rep-
resented in their successful lesson journal en-
tries is a multidimensional one, encompassing
many aspects of the teaching/learning process.
For both stronger and weaker student teachers,
successful teaching utilizes unique, creative
ideas to present the curriculum in a way that fos-
ters students active participation, learning, and
positive affect. It is further characterized by ef-
ficient use of time, pacing appropriate to the
learners, suitable (often innovative) organiza-
tion of learners, and a positive approach to
classroom management and discipline. This
conception of successful teaching is a broader
one than might be expected based on the study
by Galluzzo (1984), in which student teachers
reports of thoughts during interactive teaching
focused almost exclusively on the learning activ-
ity, student learning, and student attitudes. It
may be that student teachers are able to attend
to only a few aspects of the teaching-learning
situation while actually involved in interactions
with students (as Galluzzo suggested); how-
ever, when the immediacy of the situation is not
present, they are able to reflect on many more
dimensions. This explanation seems reasonable
given what we know about differences in the
pattern recognition of experts and novices.
Novice teachers, like novices in other areas,
have less well-developed knowledge structures
than experts. As a result, they recognize and re-
call fewer characteristics of a situation to which
they are exposed for a limited amount of time
(Berliner, 1986).
Discussion
Patterns of similarities and differences in the
journal entries of stronger and weaker student
teachers provide insight into their conceptions
of successful teaching and the relationship be-
tween these conceptions and their clinical field
experiences. In general, the two groups suc-
In contrast to the descriptions of successful
lessons, unsuccessful lesson journal entries of
stronger and weaker student teachers differed
in several ways. Stronger student teachers
noted much more frequently that none of the
lessons they taught during the week were unsuc-
cessful. When they did write about unsuccessful
lessons, they were more likely than weaker stu-
dent teachers to describe a lesson as not really
88 HILDA BORKO er al.
bad but not as good as they would have liked.
Also, their descriptions of unsuccessful lessons
focused more on uniqueness (e.g., uncreative
lessons) than did the weaker student teachers
descriptions. In comparison, the weaker stu-
dent teachers were more likely than the
stronger ones to discuss student involvement
and behavior, classroom management, man-
agement of instruction, and planning/prepara-
tion as factors in unsuccessful lessons.
This pattern of similarities in descriptions of
successful lessons combined with differences in
descriptions of unsuccessful lessons suggests
that while stronger and weaker student teachers
held similar conceptions of successful teaching,
the reality of their teaching experiences dif-
fered. Weaker student teachers appeared to fall
further from the mark than did their stronger
counterparts. They taught more lessons which
they considered to be unsuccessful, and their
unsuccessful lessons seemed to be more discrep-
ant from the shared conception of successful
teaching.
Another difference between stronger and
weaker student teachers concerns the role of
planning in their teaching. Both groups agreed
on the importance of two functions of planning
-
the identification of unique, innovative
teaching ideas and the learning of lesson con-
tent. Some of the stronger student teachers also
mentioned using planning to anticipate and pre-
vent potential problems. This broader view of
planning reflects a similarity to experienced
teachers not shared by the weaker student
teachers. While experienced teachers report
that planning helps them to learn subject matter
content, they also note that it helps them to en-
vision potential disturbances so that they can be
prevented before they occur (Clark & Yinger,
1979; McCutcheon, 1980). In fact, in Housner
and Griffeys (1985) study of planning for phys-
ical education instruction, the ability to antici-
pate situations likely to be encountered and
generate contingency plans for those situations
was an important distinction between experi-
enced and inexperienced teachers. This pattern
in findings suggests that the weaker student
teachers might benefit from broadening their
view of planning to include the notion of anti-
cipatory problem solving. Thus, one practical
implication of this study is that the curriculum
for preservice education include instruction on
how to use planning as a tool for anticipating
and preventing classroom problems.
In addition to these differences between
stronger and weaker student teachers, we found
several differences in descriptions of successful
and unsuccessful lessons. Perhaps most in-
teresting is the role played by classroom man-
agement and discipline. Student teachers often
cited behavior problems and inability to man-
age them as contributing factors in unsuccessful
lessons. However, they rarely mentioned suc-
cessful management of behavior as contributing
to the quality of successful lessons. One possible
explanation for this difference is that while the
student teachers clearly viewed management
and discipline as integral components of suc-
cessful teaching, they apparently considered
them to be necessary but not sufficient for suc-
cessful teaching. This interpretation of their
view of the role of management is consistent
with Doyles (1979) notion that a teacher must
gain the students cooperation before he or she
can engage them in meaningful learning tasks.
Cooperation does not ensure engagement, but
lack of cooperation generally precludes it. Ef-
forts to achieve cooperation are thus prominent
in teachers thoughts and actions until coopera-
tion of students has been secured. At this point,
cooperation becomes less salient and teachers
are able to focus more attention on other class-
room tasks.
Finally, the question of the impact of student
teaching on participants conceptions of suc-
cessful teaching remains to be addressed.
Stronger and weaker student teachers entered
into the clinical field experience with similar
conceptions of successful teaching, as reflected
in their journal entries. Despite differences in
the realities of their teaching experiences, they
maintained these similar conceptions through-
out the year. However, as their self-assessments
suggest, many (both stronger and weaker) be-
came more confident in their ability to teach les-
sons that measured up to these conceptions.
This evidence for unchanging conceptions of
successful teaching supports Lorties (1975)
claim that teachers internalize models of good
teaching while they are students, and that for-
mal pedagogical preparation does little to mod-
ify the ideas learned during this apprenticeship
of observation. Further, the pattern of stable
conceptions combined with increased confi-
Student Teachers Understanding of Teaching 89
dence supports and extends the work of
Tabachnick and Zeichner (19&l). They con-
cluded after following 13 student teachers
through a semester-long experience that, stu-
dent teaching did not significantly alter the sub-
stance of the teaching perspectives that the 13
students brought to the experience . . . For the
most part, students became more articulate in
expressing, and more skillful in implementing,
the perspectives which they possessed in less de-
veloped forms at the beginning of the experi-
ence. Further, most student teachers grew
increasingly comfortable with their initial posi-
tions, more confident in their abilities to handle
a classroom in their preferred styles (p. 33).
Our investigation extends this finding of stable
perspectives (conceptions) coupled with in-
creased confidence by suggesting that it holds
for specific conceptions of what constitutes
successful instructional practice, as well as for
the more global educational perspectives
examined by Tabachnick and Zeichner.
Moreover, in our study, preset-vice teachers
conceptions remained stable over a year-long
experience which included both formal
pedagogical coursework and clinical field as-
signments.
The finding of stable conceptions does not,
however, minimize the importance of the clini-
cal field experience. The distinction between
declarative knowledge (knowing that) and
procedural knowledge (knowing how to;
e.g., Anderson, 1976; Gagne, 1985) provides a
framework for understanding one important
contribution of student teaching suggested by
this study. Through their apprenticeship of ob-
servation, prospective teachers acquire a de-
clarative knowledge of good teaching. How-
ever, it is not until the clinical field experience
that they have the opportunity to translate and
adapt this declarative knowledge into a system
of procedural knowledge. When the clinical
field setting provides an environment in which
they can try out their own ideas about teaching
and receive feedback about the success of their
attempts, student teachers are able to learn how
to operationalize their conceptions of teaching.
The clinical field experience for student teach-
ers in this study provided such an environment.
The conceptions of successful teaching which
they brought into the experience were compati-
ble with the conceptions held by their university
supervisors. Further, while their cooperating
teachers often relied heavily on basal instruc-
tional materials, they saw student teaching as a
time for novices to try out new and creative
ideas - a view which was also promoted by the
school principals. Finally, the university courses
provided the student teachers with many con-
crete suggestions regarding how to implement
their conceptions of teaching. Thus, the two in-
stitutions together created an environment in
which student teachers were able to begin to ac-
quire the procedural knowledge compatible
with their declarative knowledge of teaching. In
this environment, it is not surprising that their
conceptions remained stable while their confi-
dence in their ability to implement these con-
ceptions increased.
This discussion of the role of declarative and
procedural knowledge is compatible with recent
analyses of differences between expert and
novice teachers conducted from the perspective
of cognitive psychology. As Leinhardt and
Green0 (1986) note, a major difference be-
tween expert and novice teachers is that
whereas experts teaching is characterized by
well-practiced routines, novices display a con-
stantly changing pattern in how they perform in-
structional activities. Leinhardt and Green0
hypothesize that these differences are due, in
large part, to expert teachers complex systems
of knowledge about lesson structure. They
further hypothesize that the main feature of
these knowledge systems is a set of schemata for
teaching activities. The concept of schemata for
teaching activities is similar to the concept of
procedural knowledge of teaching. In addition,
their interpretation that novice teachers do not
have well-developed schemata for teaching
activities is consistent with our hypothesis that
student teachers begin to acquire procedural
knowledge of teaching as they try out ideas rep-
resented in their declarative knowledge systems
during the clinical field experience.
This discussion of the declarative and pro-
cedural knowledge bases for teaching lends
some support to our initial speculations regard-
ing the relationship between conceptions of suc-
cessful teaching and teaching behaviors. How-
ever, the support is limited by the fact that we
did not examine the actual teaching behaviors
of these student teachers. A research project
which investigates the relationship between stu-
90 HILDA BORKO rr al.
dent teachers conceptions of teaching and their
actual teaching behaviors, across the entire clin-
ical field experience, is an important next step in
increasing our understanding of learning to
teach. Such an investigation would directly
examine the relationships we have hypothe-
sized between novice teachers declarative and
procedural knowledge of teaching, and be-
tween teaching conceptions and teaching be-
haviors.
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Acknowledgements - The authors thank Ms. Maria Yon
and Ms. Mary Alice Barksdale for their assistance with data
analysis and the Division of Curriculum and Instruction,
Virginia Tech, for its financial support. They thank Dr. Lar-
nie Cross, Dr. Jim Impara, and Ms. Janice McBee for their
advice on statistical issues and procedures, and Drs. Ruth
Gamer and John Guthrie, University of Maryland, for their
editorial comments. Finally, special thanksgo to the student
teachers who participated in this investigation.