Great Expectations: The Mismatched Selves of a Beginning Teacher

As university supervisors we were alerted to heightened emotional responses (i.e., crying, not eating, not sleeping), expressed by paid-interns in an accelerated Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) cohort of STEM practitioners. While research has shown teachers prepared in alternative programs tend...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative report 2014-10, Vol.19 (42), p.1
Main Authors: DiCicco, Michael, Sabella, Laura, Jordan, Robert, Boney, Kate, Jones, Pat
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative Teacher Certification
Analysis
Anxiety
Apprenticeship
Awards & honors
Beginning Teachers
Behavior
Education
First year teachers
Internships
Learning
Personality
Practice
Social aspects
Student teachers
Studies
Study and teaching
Supervisors
Teacher education
Teaching
Teaching Methods
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Summary:As university supervisors we were alerted to heightened emotional responses (i.e., crying, not eating, not sleeping), expressed by paid-interns in an accelerated Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) cohort of STEM practitioners. While research has shown teachers prepared in alternative programs tend to have greater difficulties (Darling-Hammond, 1990), few studies have examined alternatively prepared teachers’ beliefs and expectations about teaching and learning (Tigchlaar, Brouwer, & Vermut, 2010; Good et al., 2006). This inquiry describes one paid-intern’s teaching expectations during her first year of teaching. In this phenomenological case study, part of a larger cross-case study, we collected data from interviews, observation notes and university supervisor evaluations in an effort to answer: (1) What are the expectations about teaching of a student in an accelerated M.A.T. program who is also a first-year teacher completing a paid internship and (2) In what ways did she address those expectations? We utilized self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) that provides an understanding of how expectations can produce negative effects, such as anxiety or depression. Discoveries suggest the intern held idealistic expectations about teaching, influenced by her personality, prior experiences, and the accelerated M.A.T. program, which she could not reconcile with her experiences as a teacher.
ISSN:1052-0147
2160-3715
DOI:10.46743/2160-3715/2014.1098