The beginnings of expertise: A Neo-Piagetian perspective on student teachers' representation of the problem of adapting instruction to individual differences among learners

Abstract

How student teachers represent the real life teaching problem of adapting their instruction to individual differences among learners and how their representation changes over the course of the practicum experience is explored. The extent to which Case's (1985, 1991) neo-Piagetian conceptual framework may describe the development of these student teachers' ability to represent this real life teaching problem was also examined. The non-random sample consisted of 39 intermediate level student teachers who completed three sets of questionnaires prior to and during the fourth and ninth weeks of the practicum experience. Twelve faculty supervisors also completed rating forms and observations on the student teachers they supervised during the same weeks. Student teachers' responses were rated according to the levels of problem representation derived from Case's neo-Piagetian theory of intellectual development. Faculty supervisors' rating forms and observations provided a means of assessing whether student teachers translated their representations into action. An additional variable of interest to the study included the nature of the individual differences noted by student teachers. Results indicate that (1) student teachers' level of problem representation and description of the problem increased in complexity over the course of the practicum experience; (2) Case's neo-Piagetian conceptual framework may provide a useful theoretical tool for describing the development of student teachers' ability to represent the individual differences teaching problem.