Description/Abstract:
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The intent of this project is to provide, from actual elementary classroom situations, a series of cases designed to help student teachers make more fruitful application of basic educational concepts and principles to the practical problems of classroom control. The writer outlines the apparent need of student teachers for such help, identifies educational principles which have application to the solution of problems of a disciplinary nature, and seeks to substantiate the appropriateness of the case method as a teaching tool.
PROCEDURES
Procedures used in developing Part I -- Foundations for the Study -- included (l) a review of literature describing the kinds of problems with which student teachers in the elementary school are beset, (2) an analysis of writings indicating the utility of the case method as it applies to the professional preparation of teachers, and (3) a search for principles set forth by recognized authorities in the fields of psychology and learning theory pertinent to the analysis of disciplinary concerns of teachers.
Part II of the study -- Using Cases with Student Teachers -- involved the collection of case materials through interview, and the subsequent writing of a number of cases with their accompanying study questions. Cases were tested by using them with individual student teachers over a two-year period. Substantial rewriting of the case materials was accomplished as the need for such revision became apparent, and suggestions pertaining to practical utilization of the case materials were developed.
MAJOR OUTCOMES
The study confirms that discipline is a paramount concern of the student teacher, a concern which often remains unalleviated during the early years of teaching. Also confirmed is the belief that the case method is a tool appropriate for use in presenting educational theory to the student teacher.
Nine principles relating to the real or case-posed disciplinary problems of student teachers comprise another outcome of the study. Suggested by the writings of authoritative figures in the fields of psychology and learning theory, these principles provide the theoretical materials which the cases are designed to test.
The final outcome of the study is a group of twenty-two cases dealing with disciplinary situations in grades one through six. These, together with case-related comments designed to promote thoughtful individual and group discussion, form the teaching tools this study was designed to produce.