Pairing of pre-service and cooperating teachers during student internship: opinions of collaborative relationships

This study investigated the opinions of collaborative relationships of pre-service and cooperating teachers during the internship semester. The primary purpose of the study was to determine if purposefully pairing pre-service and cooperating teachers with similar personality traits improved the opinions of collaboration. Using the method of purposeful pairing and a randomly assigned comparison group, the quality of opinions of collaboration were analyzed. Prior to the main study, a pilot study used the Opinions of Collaborative Relationships Survey (OCRS) was created by the researcher. The pilot study involved 50 participants who were randomly assigned for a practicum placement. Twenty-five of the participants were pre-service teachers. The remaining half of the participants were cooperating teachers with whom the pre-service teachers were paired. Psychometric analysis indicated the OCRS to be reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.95) and valid. Two factors were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. The two factors that were extracted were: I) components of collaboration; and II) future use of strategies learned. In the final study, the Opinions of Collaborative Relationships Survey (OCRS) and the True Colors personality assessment were administered. This study involved 66 participants that consisted of 32 pre-service and 34 cooperating teachers. Thirty-two participants were purposefully paired based on dominant personality type (blue, gold, green, orange). The remaining 34 participants were randomly assigned. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to determine the accuracy of the instrument's factor structure and found that the two-factor solution can be retained. There were two key findings from this study. The first key finding was there was no significant interaction found between method of pairing (purposeful, random), teacher classification (pre-service, cooperating), and dominant personality type (blue, gold, green, orange) on opinions of collaboration. However, there was a significant difference found between opinions of collaboration between classification of teachers. The second key finding from this study was the vastly different opinions of collaboration between classification of teachers. Cooperating teachers consistently rated opinions of collaboration for this study lower than pre-service teachers. Specifically, a significant difference was found between pre-service and cooperating teachers related to the internship being a positive experience and future use of strategies learned during the semester.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Lawley, Jennifer Avery

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Goldston, M. Jenice
• Coleman, Julianne M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Scherff, Lisa
• Wilson, Elizabeth K.
• Godfrey, Ann C.

• Elementary education
• Educational leadership
• Educational administration

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

u0015_0000001_0001106
Lawley_alatus_0004D_11304

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/1585