How important is practicum to pre-service teacher development for inclusive teaching? Effects on efficacy in classroom management.

Authors

  • Laura Sokal University of Winnipeg
  • Debra Woloshyn University of Winnipeg
  • Savannah Funk-Unrau University of Winnipeg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v59i2.55680

Keywords:

Teacher Education, practicum, Inclusion, efficacy, classroom management

Abstract

Sixty pre-service teachers were surveyed about their confidence, concerns, and efficacy for inclusive classroom teaching before and after a course on inclusive education. Some students experienced a practicum in an inclusive setting alongside the coursework, and some students did not. Both groups made significant gains in all dependent variables and their subscales from pre- to post-treatment. However, the students who experienced a practicum in an inclusive setting developed greater teacher efficacy in classroom management than those students with no practicum. Given the importance of successful classroom management to teacher retention and student success, the findings support the importance of high-quality inclusive practica as an essential feature of effective inclusive teacher preparation programs.

 

Nous avons fait une enquête auprès de soixante enseignants avant l’emploi; les questions portaient sur leur niveau de confiance, leurs préoccupations et leur efficacité à créer une salle de classe inclusive avant et après un cours sur l’éducation inclusive. Certains étudiants ont fait un stage dans un milieu inclusif en plus de leur travail de cours, d’autres n’ont pas suivi le stage. Les deux groupes ont réalisé des progrès importants relativement à toutes les variables et leurs sous-échelles entre le pré- et le post-traitement. Toutefois, les étudiants ayant passé par le stage dans un milieu inclusif sont devenus plus efficaces dans la gestion de salle de classe que ceux n’ayant pas fait le stage. Compte tenu de l’importance d’une bonne gestion de classe dans le maintien à leur poste des enseignants et dans la réussite des élèves, les résultats de cette étude viennent appuyer le rôle d’un stage de qualité dans un milieu inclusif comme composante essentielle des programmes de formation des enseignants.

 

Author Biographies

Laura Sokal, University of Winnipeg

Laura Sokal is an award-winning professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg. She enjoys learning with and from her students.

Debra Woloshyn, University of Winnipeg

Deb Woloshyn is the Director of Student Teaching at the University of Winnipeg.

Savannah Funk-Unrau, University of Winnipeg

Savannah Funk-Unrau is a student in her final year of undergraduate studies with the University of Winnipeg's Faculty of Education. She is currently participating in a ten-month practicum program in Thailand.

Downloads

Published

2014-04-15

How to Cite

Sokal, L., Woloshyn, D., & Funk-Unrau, S. (2014). How important is practicum to pre-service teacher development for inclusive teaching? Effects on efficacy in classroom management. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 59(2), 285–298. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v59i2.55680

Issue

Vol. 59 No. 2 (2013): Summer

Section

ARTICLES

License

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA COPYRIGHT LICENSE AND PUBLICATION AGREEMENT

If accepted, authors will be asked to sign a copyright agreement with the following points:

A. Where there is any inconsistency between this Copyright License and Publication Agreement and any other document or agreement in relation to the same subject matter, the terms of this Agreement shall govern.

B. This document sets out the rights you are granting in relation to publication of your article, book review, or research note entitled (the “Article”) through inclusion in the academic journal titled Alberta Journal of Educational Research (the “Journal”) published through the Faculty of Education, representing the Governors of the University of Alberta (the “Journal Editor”).

C. There will be no payment to you for this publication and grant of rights. In consideration of the agreement to publish the Article in the Journal:

1. You are warranting that:

  1. the content of the Article is your original work, and its content does not contain any material infringing the copyright of others; or, where the Article is not entirely your original work, you have obtained all necessary permissions in writing to grant the rights you are giving in this agreement;
  2. the content of the Article does not contain any material that is defamatory of, or violates the privacy rights of, or discloses the confidential information of, any other person;
  3. the Article has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part, and you will not allow publication of the Article elsewhere without the consent of the Journal Editor;
  4. the names of all co-authors and contributors to the Article are:

2. You agree to license the copyright in the Article to the Journal Editor, on a worldwide, perpetual, royalty free basis; and to the extent required by the terms of this agreement. You shall retain the right at all times to be acknowledged as the/an author of the Article.

3. You further agree that the Journal Editor has the entitlement to deal with the Article as the Journal Editor sees fit, and including in the following manner;

  1. The right to print, publish, market, communicate and distribute the Article and the Journal, in this and any subsequent editions, in all media (including electronic media), in all languages, and in all territories, ing the full term of copyright, and including any form of the Article separated from the Journal, such as in a database, abstract, offprint, translation or otherwise, and to authorize third parties to do so;
  2. The right to register copyright of the Journal;
  3. The right to edit the Article, to conform to editorial policy as the Journal Editor sees fit.

4. If any co-author or contributor to the Article does not sign this agreement, the Journal Editor reserves the right to refuse to publish the Article.