Pre-Service Teachers' Personal Practical Theories and Autonomy: Development during Professional Internship Experiences
Open AccessAbstract of DissertationPre-Service Teachers' Personal Practical Theories and Autonomy: Development during Professional Internship Experiences Professional internship experiences play a critical role in the development of pre-service teachers. This research investigates pre-service teachers' personal practical theories (PPTs) and autonomy and how they are developed during professional internship experiences. This study also explores relationships that exist for PPTs and autonomy and how PPTs prevent or impede development of autonomy. Four pre-service teachers were selected and followed during their year-long internship, constituting four case studies. Data was collected through multiple methods: participant information sheets, semi-structured interviews, focused observations, selected reflective writing pieces and artifacts from portfolios, and other supplemental data such as researcher field notes, and program documents. The case studies yielded the following findings: (1) although the participants went through the same stages, their personal internal processes of theory building and personal beliefs of teaching and learning were individually different; (2) pre-service teachers are vulnerable during the internship experiences because it involves enacting their own PPTs through their autonomy. How PPTs are enacted or not enacted are influenced by autonomy aspects. Thus, understanding pre-service teacher's PPTs is important in encouraging their enactment during the professional internship experiences because experiences are key to changing or adapting belief systems; (3) pre-service teachers hold varying PPTs on teaching and learning, such as the role of a teacher, instruction, classroom, student, family, community, and their own education. This finding is important in that it supports the notion that pre-service teachers, as adult learners, have varying aspects of autonomy regarding their own beliefs toward engaging in learning; and (4) by identifying pre-service teachers' PPTs regarding their ability to engage in learning using different learner autonomy aspects, designers of the professional internship experiences can be proactive in addressing pre-service teachers' needs. As this study shows, not all pre-service teachers develop their PPTs from the professional internship experience in the same manner. Additional research is needed to understand how teacher educators can create contexts where pre-service teachers have opportunities to be autonomous and enact their PPTs.
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