Black Student Teachers' Self-Concept and Attitudes Toward Their Training Program

Abstract

A great deal has been written about the need to improve teacher education programs. According to Okey and Brown,' one major problem is the lack of a sufficient number of teaching skills which can be shown to have impact upon teacher performance. Another problem appears to be the absence of research evidence to support the effectiveness of programs. In summarizing research efforts on teacher education during the last century, Clarke2 states: The review of research cited agree that there has been considerable activity in teacher education concentrating on implementing new programs. But there was a dearth of theory, a dearth of revolutionary, new proposals for teacher education programs, and no research on programs as such.3 This clearly suggests the need for research efforts to determine the effectiveness of teacher education programs. The most important component of any teacher education program is student teaching. It is at this point that the trainee must be able to demonstrate his ability to perform learned skills with children in a classroom situation. Oestreich4 stated that 'student teaching constitutes perhaps, the most significant step in the sequence of professional courses leading to certification.