Prospective Student Teachers’ Concerns Regarding the Student-Teaching Experience

Abstract

The capstone requirement for all kindergarten to grade 12 teacher candidates is the student-teaching experience, and teacher educators must prepare prospective student teachers well for this event. An awareness of characteristics and concerns expressed by prospective student teachers may support teacher educators’ efforts to prepare teacher candidates to be effective in the classroom and to learn from the student-teaching experience. Using Q methodology, data from 54 prospective student teachers were collected and analyzed regarding their concerns specifically related to this experience. Four discrete student types emerged, each with distinctive subjective concerns: (a) managing students, (b) managing instruction, (c) making the grade, and (d) managing difference. The authors believe that Q methodology was uniquely beneficial in providing a nuanced and thus potentially valuable picture of teacher- candidates’ concerns regarding the student-teaching experience.